There are two degrees of this preparation: the first is a work of awakening whereby the sinner is convinced of a present necessity of peace and reconciliation with God; whereby be is put upon a diligent use of all means in order to his salvation: the other is Humiliation, whereby the sinner is brought out of himself, and off from all his carnal confidences, to yield himself a Prisoner to God: until the soul be thus humbled he is not capable of Faith: men will not come to Christ, till they are convinced of an absolute necessity of Christ: men will never take salvation as a ⟨p. 206⟩gift of free grace until they are convinced of the necessity of the free grace of God: they that are whole need not the Physician, but they that are sick, Mat. 11.12. and they that conceit themselves whole, do conceit that they don't need the Physician: men that do not come off from all their own confidences will not put their confidence in Christ; and therefore until men have this work of Humiliation God does not open their eyes to see the offer of the Gospel: so that whatsoever Faith men have that have not had a work of Humiliation, their Faith is not of the right kind: for this is the manner of God whenever he has fully prepared a soul for Faith by a work of Humiliation, then to infuse Faith: and many times he does it presently: when he has by the wonderful work of his spirit prepared a sinner for Christ, he does bestow Christ upon him: though I dare not say there is any direct promise made to Humiliation, in the Scripture a man is not an heir of the promises till he does believe; yet universal experience does confirm it: it seems to be in this case as in the work of nature, when the Child in the womb is prepared for a soul, God does always infuse a soul into it, though there be no such promise: so where the sinner is prepared for Faith, God does infuse that.
There are two degrees of this preparation: the first is a work of awakening whereby the sinner is convinced of a present necessity of peace and reconciliation with God; whereby be is put upon a diligent use of all means in order to his salvation: the other is Humiliation, whereby the sinner is brought out of himself, and off from all his carnal confidences, to yield himself a Prisoner to God: until the soul be thus humbled he is not capable of Faith: men will not come to Christ, till they are convinced of an absolute necessity of Christ: men will never take salvation as a ⟨p. 206⟩gift of free grace until they are convinced of the necessity of the free grace of God: they that are whole need not the Physitian, but they that are sick, Mat. 11.12. and they that conceit themselves whole, do conceit that they don't need the Physitian: men that do not come off from all their own confidences will not put their confidence in Christ; and therefore until men have this work of Humiliation God does not open their eyes to see the offer of the Gospel: so that whatsoever Faith men have that have not had a work of Humiliation, their Faith is not of the right kind: for this is the manner of God whenever he has fully prepared a soul for Faith by a work of Humiliation, then to infuse Faith: and many times he does it presently: when he has by the wonderful work of his spirit prepared a sinner for Christ, he does bestow Christ upon him: though I dare not say there is any direct promise made to Humiliation, in the Scripture a man is not an heir of the promises till he does believe; yet universal experience does confirm it: it seems to be in this case as in the work of nature, when the Child in the womb is prepared for a soul, God does alwayes infuse a soul into it, though there be no such promise: so where the sinner is prepared for Faith, God does infuse that.
