The sound believer, or, A treatise of evangelical conversion discovering the work of Christs…The sound beleever, or, A treatise of evangelicall conversion discovering the work of Christs…

¹Because without this, no man will either care for Christ, or feel a need of Christ; a man may see a want of Christ by the power of conviction, but he will never feel a need of Christ, but by the spirit of compunction. ⟨p. 61⟩The whole need not the Physician, ²but they that are sick. A whole man may see his want of a Physician, but a sick man only feels his need of him, will prize him, send for him. By the whole you are not to understand such as have no need indeed of Christ (for what sinner but hath need of him?) but such as feel no need of him: as by sick cannot be meant such as are sinful and miserable, for then Christ should come actually to save all men; but those that did feel themselves so, as a sick man that feels his sickness; these only are the men that feel a need and necessity of Christ; these only will come to Christ, and be glad of Christ, and be truly thankful for their recovery of Christ. And hence ariseth the great sin of the world in despising the Gospel, not at all affected with the glad tidings of it, because they are not affected with their sin and misery; or if they be affected but in part with the Gospel, it is because they are not throughly affected with their misery before.

¹Because without this, no man will either care for Christ, or feele a need of Christ; a man may see a want of Christ by the power of conviction, but he will never feele a need of Christ, but by the spirit of compunction. ⟨p. 61⟩The whole need not the Physitian, ²but they that are sick. A whole man may see his want of a Physitian, but a sick man onely feels his need of him, will prize him, send for him. By the whole you are not to understand such as have no need indeed of Christ (for what sinner but hath need of him?) but such as feel no need of him: as by sick cannot be meant such as are sinfull and miserable, for then Christ should come actually to save all men; but those that did feele themselves so, as a sick man that feeles his sicknesse; these onely are the men that feele a need and necessity of Christ; these onely will come to Christ, and be glad of Christ, and be truly thankfull for their recovery of Christ. And hence ariseth the great sin of the world in despising the Gospel, not at all affected with the glad tidings of it, because they are not affected with their sinne and misery; or if they be affected but in part with the Gospel, it is because they are not throughly affected with their misery before.