and good works they are not Faith and without Faith it is impossible to please God Reckon what you can reckon and say what you can for your selves yet consider is this Faith or no If it be not Faith it cannot please God Possibly you may desire and endeavour to walk in the strictest way of profession and worship God in the closest way suppose you do so you desire to walk in Church-fellowship with the Saints but this is not Faith still and without Faith is is impossible to please God I pray consider the Apostle Paul saies Paul before he was converted and was brought to believe on Christ in Acts 16.5 says he After the most straitest sect of our Religion I lived a Pharisee And says he in another place in Phil. 3.7 8 9. As concerning the righteousness which is in the law I was blameless says he at verse 6. But now mark says he this was not faith though when he comes to believe on Christ Now says he I look at all that ever I did as nothing and I count all but dung that I may win Christ Brethren whatever we do without faith it is impossible for us to please God But possibly you will say to me I hope I do believe If you do it is well But I pray do you know what it is to believe ask this question to your own hearts Do you know what it is to believe It is not to believe that every thing that is spoken in the Gospel is true no no this Faith whereby we come to please God is another manner of Faith But suppose now that you do believe indeed and in truth I pray have you done all that ever you have done in a way of Faith and believing truly without Faith you see it is impossible to please God even you that are Believers without acting of Faith in what you do you cannot please God Quest But you will say to me then How shall a Christian man or woman so perform duties in Faith so as they may be pleasing unto God As suppose now the duty of Prayer How shall we perform the duty of prayer so as it may be pleasing unto God or for hearing the Word How shall we so hear the Word in Faith that it may be pleasing unto God and how shall we partake of the Lords-Table in Faith so as to please God I cannot come to answer this now but possibly if the Lord please I may speak something to that at some other time all that I have to say for the present is this You see Friends Brethren and Beloved what cause we have all of us I speak not only to unbelievers but to those that are believers as for unbelievers what cause have they to go home and bewail and bemoan their condition before the Lord Look back upon all that you have done throughout your whole lives and you may write this upon it all you have displeased God you have made many Prayers and confessed many Sins and given thanks to God often you have read and heard the Word and have done this and that and yet in all that you have done you have never pleased God because without Faith it is impossible to please God Go and bewail it before the Lord that you have led such a course of life that you have done nothing that hath been pleasing unto God And you that are Believers have you done all that you have done in Faith have you prayed in faith have you heard the word in faith and have you partaked in other Ordinances in a way of faith we have all cause to go home and in private fal down before the Lord and acknowledge that we have displeased God in every duty and service that we have performed But thus much shall suffice for this time SERMON VI. Hebrews XI 6. But without Faith it is impossible to please Him THe words as you have heard are an intire Proposition Doct. That without Faith it is impossible for any Man or Woman by all that ever they can do to please God You have heard it opened at large we came the last day to touch upon a word of Application and that was to shew what a sad and uncomfortable condition every unbelieving person was in that nothing that ever he hath done or can do or shall do whilst he is in this state can be pleasing unto God For Without Faith it is impossible to please Him Whatever Duties we perform whatever Ordinances we partake in if all be not done in Faith it cannot be pleasing unto God Quest You will say unto me then How shall we so act in Faith in the performance of all Duties and in the partaking of all Ordinances that so we may please God in what we do This is a great Question and I shall desire through the Lords assistance to speak something to this at this time And O Brethren this is a matter of very great concernment to do all that we do in Faith to pray every Prayer in Faith and every time we hear the Word to hear it in Faith and if we partake of the Lords-Table every time to partake in Faith or else we do not please God in any of these Duties Let me therefore a little stir you up to it that you may be provoked if possible to do all that you do in Faith Briefly Let me hint three or four words that way to shew you that it is of very great concernment for every one of us to perform every Duty and to partake of every Ordinance in a way of Faith For first of all else all that ever we do all our labour all our endeavours all our pains in our duties and performances will be all in vain And would a wise man be willing to do any thing in vain to take pains and all in vain Have ye suffered so many things saies the Apostle Gal. 3 4. in vain Truly so may we say to those that do not exercise Faith in their duties and performances have you done so many things in vain Would any of you take pains in your Callings willingly in vain and loose all your labour Are you willing that all your labour and travel and pains from day to day should be lost and all in vain You would count it a very grievous and uncomfortable thing if any of you should take any great Voyage by Sea and all your Voyage and Hazard should be in vain or if you should take any great Journey by Land in heat and cold in wet and dry through thick and thin and all your Journey should be in vain and nothing at all come of it what a grief and vexation would it be to your hearts Now Brethren I pray Consider of it if we perform duties take pains in duties day by day perform Duties in our Families and in our Closets every day presenting our Prayers and Supplications before the Lord and frequently in season and out of season atrending upon the Word of God Preached and go on thus week after
Two last Verses In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if God peradventure will give them Repentance to the acknowledging of the Truth God may peradventure give them repentance though it is a certain Truth that without Faith it is impossible to please God Yet thus much I may say to help to take off this objection That there is a perhaps if you be found diligent in seeking God and humbling your Souls before the Lord peradventure you may be forgiven I do not say you shall certainly be forgiven and God will certainly hear you but perhaps as Peter said to Simon Magus perhaps and if peradventure says Paul God will give them Repentance then here is a perhaps for those that are Unbelievers that God may graciously please to have respect towards them though God be not pleased with them not their prayers and duties therefore let not this Temptation prevail over you upon that account namely to give over all because you cannot please God by what you do peradventure God may have respect towards you but now if you go on and cast off seeking God and the ways of God and go on in your sinful ways and courses there is no perhaps for such no but if Men sin willfully mark the expression in Heb. 10.25 26. If Men sin wilfully and cast off the means of Grace wilfully there is no perhaps for such He puts an impossibility upon himself ever to be recovered therefore give not way to the Temptation but say Well there is a peradventure and perhaps for me though I be an Unbeliever But Secondly Let me answer it in another thing Though it be true that without Faith it is impossible to please God Nay though we do displease God by all that we do make the objection as strong as you can it is impossible to please God by all my Prayers Tears and Confessions in my waitings upon God yet notwithstanding know and understand it for a Truth that there are degrees of displeasing God a man may displease God more or less Look into Zachariah 1.15 I am very sore displeased with the Heathen that are at ease for I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction God may be sorely displeased and God may be less displeased with a person as now if one sin doth displease God will not many sins displease him much more if that which we call a small sin will displease God then a greater sin will diplease him much more So now if we displease God by our Duties and Services then may we not displease God much more by casting off duties Nay may we not displease him most of all not only by casting of Duties but by running desperately and Headlong into all manner of Evil. Mark how you conclude you cannot please God by what you do therefore you will displease him more this is to run headlong and desperately into the lowest Hell As there are degrees of glory in Heaven as one Star differs from another Star in Glory so there are degrees of Torment in Hell It shall be more tollerable for Sodom and Gommorah at the day of Judgement than for those that have the Gospel and do not improve it As she hath fared deliciously saies God so much the more Torment give her saies God in Revelations 18.7 So now because we do displease God by what we do in our duties and services therefore shall we run further on to displease God more and more Is it not enough to displease God by doing things irregularly and unbelievingly but shall we therefore run headlong upon wickedness and care not how much we displease God O! therefore let us have a care of this Temptation for it is very great and dangerous because we cannot please God by doing what we can therefore we will run headlong on to displease him all that we can So now I have finished the explication of this Truth That without Faith it is impossible to please God I cannot now come to that Application which I chiefly intend Appli But in a word because I would not leave you wholy without some word of Application Use Here then let all those that are Unbelievers understand and know this day from the Lord what a dangerous state and condition they are in it is such a state and condition as is not to be rested quietly in because that they cannot possibly please God by all that they can do I would not speak any thing to discourage and cast down any but to awaken poor Souls Understand and know this day from the Lord that you never yet did please God by all that ever you have done you have made possibly many Hundred prayers and petitions to God you have been exercised in holy Duties and Services all along from day to day yet you have not pleased God in any thing that you have done Nay without Faith you cannot please God in whatever you shall do it is impossible What should I say more read but the Text saies the Apostle without Faith it is impossible to please God The Apostle doth not only speak of such as live in open known sins of Uncleanness and Drunkeness and Swearing and Lying that they do not please God that is plain enough every one will say that these men do not please God and that it is impossible they should please God And those that live in secret Sins in secret covetousness of heart in secret oppression secret omision and neglect of duty Family or Closet-prayer do these things please God think you not that I speak to such as these are but to those that are professors and that are careful to walk strictly and conscienciously in their places as far as ever they have light and understanding you are careful possibly to deal righteously in your Callings and Trade you desire to make Conscience of your ways in buying and selling and trading and conversing with the World to walk uprightly towards all men and what doth not this please God you will say do not I please God in this I pray mark is this Faith or no The Apostle saies here without Faith it is impossible to please God suppose you perform duties wait upon God in his Worship and Ordinances are very diligent in attending upon the Word Preached and very dilligent in reading the Scriptures daily day by day and you are very diligent also in private duties such as I mentioned before doth not this please God you will say why I pray still do but have recourse to the Apostles words without Faith it is impossible to please God Can you say that these things are Faith without Faith it is impossible to please God But if a Man or Woman be so Charitable that they are ready upon all occasions to relieve the Bowels of the Saints doth not this please God why saies the Apostle without Faith it is impossible to please God Do you believe that this is a Truth that this Text holds forth our Charity
must take it as spoken to our selves and here is now the act of Faith to make that particular which is spoken in general This is now a Fourth direction I shall name but one more and so conclude Fifthly If we would hear the Word of God in Faith so as to profit by it then we should act Faith variously according to the several kinds or parts of the Word for you know there are divers parts in the Word as now there is a Word of Doctrine and a Word of Promise some are Commands and some are Threatnings now I say we should act Faith upon the Word variously according to the several parts of it as now for example if so be that we meet with a word of Doctrine as concerning the Creation of the World that was made out of nothing or the Resurrection of the Dead that every person shall be raised again or concerning the Trinity of persons in the Godhead or the union of two natures in one person or our being justified by Faith in the Righteousness of Christ c. These things are Doctrinal now Faith is to be acted here Namely by giving our assent to the truth thereof by believing of it as faithful and true He that receiveth his Testimony hath set to his seal that God is True John 3.33 And by Faith we believe that the World was created out of nothing this is acting of Faith upon this part of the Word by giving our assent to it and believing of it to be true because the Lord hath spoken it possibly we cannot understand it how there should be three persons in one essence and that the same Body shall be raised again that is mouldered into Dust we cannot understand the reason of it but because God hath spoken it we should believe it But then there is another part of the Word that contain Promises now how should Faith act upon the Promises namely by leaning and resting with expectation upon the Lord for the performance of them being perswaded that God can do it and that God will perform what he hath spoken just like Abraham Rom. 4.20 21. God had made him a promise to give him a Son in his old Age Flesh and Blood would have disputed against this promise but saies the Apostle He was strong in Faith giving Glory unto God he believed that God would perform what he had spoken it was against Flesh and Blood Sarah was Old and he was a Hundred years old or there-about he might have said how can these things be and refused to believe it no but he gave Glory to God by believing Thus we are to act Faith upon that part of the Word Another part of the Word is Commands The word of Command how is Faith to act there Namely in a way of Obedience we should yeild Obedience to what God Commands though it may be very hard to us Just as Abraham did God commanded him to go out of his own Country and to go into a Land he knew not whither Abraham by Faith obeyed and went out not knowing whither he went and so God commanded him to offer up his Son Isaac Abraham acted Faith in a way of Obedience to the Command And then another part of the Word is Threatning and how is Faith to act upon the Threatnings Namely thus in a way of fear to endeavour to avoid those Judgements that are threatned in Hebrews 11.7 By Faith Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet moâ—ed with fear prepared an Ark to the saving of his House c. Truly thus I say Faith is to 〈◊〉 set a work and to act variously according â—o the several parts of the Word of God There are several parts of the Word of Goâ— now the whole word of God is the Objeâ—â— of Faith but yet notwithstanding Faith doâ—â— act variously according to the variety oâ— the parts of the Word Now it is the wisdom of Christians to exercise Faith sutably according to that part of the Word that Faith is exercised about And thus Brethren I have briefly given you four or five Directions how we are to exercise Faith in hearing of the Word that so we may not hear without profit that so we may please God in our hearing for without Faith it is impossible to please God Brethren and Beloved I must not enlarge but in a word It hath been the complaint of most Christians and possibly some here present their want of profiting by the Word Oh! I hear and hear but the Lord knows I do not profit this is the matter of your complaint well now you may go home and lay your hand upon the Sore the Lord hath discovered to me this day the great Cause why I have profited no more under the Word that I have heard so often I see now it is for want of the exercise of Faith I have heard my duty but the Lord knows I have exercised Faith but little and therefore I say here is matter of humiliation for us before the Lord we should lye low in the presence of the Lord for our so little acting of Faith in our hearing the Word of God And Oh! therefore for the future as we do desire that the Lord may be pleased with our hearing so let us be careful to exercise Faith in our hearing you have heard the Directions I shall not need to repeat them but go home and consider them and be careful to put them in practice that you may be acting and exercising Faith in hearing the Word for without Faith it will be impossible for you to please God Though you should hear Sermons never so often if you neglect to act and exercise Faith you will not profit by them nor please God in your hearing And so now I have done with this particular namely how we are to exercise Faith in hearing the Word it remains that we should speak about exercising Faith in our partaking of the Lords Table But thus much shall suffice for the present SERMON IX Hebrews XI 6. But without Faith it is impossible to please him THE words of the Text is a Proposition I have spent some time in the handling of it we came by way of inference to this That if it be impossible to please God without Faith then it doth concern us every one in all the duties and services that we perform to be acting and exercising of Faith not only without the Grace of Faith but without the exercise of Faith we cannot please God and therefore to this end we came to lay down some Directions how we may come to exercise Faith in those Duties that we perform that so we may please God we gave you some Directions the last time about the exercise of Faith in hearing of the Word I come now to lay down some Directions about our partaking of the Lords-Supper in Faith That Faith is requisite and necessary to our partaking of the Lords-Table that I think is out of doubt and
week month after month and year after year labouring and taking pains in your duties and yet when all comes to all it is all in vain Truly thus it will be if it be not done in Faith you have prayed so many times in a Week and so many times in a year possibly a thousand times in your Life yet all is in vain for you see you cannot please God and therefore it is in vain You desire to please God in your Duties and in your attendances upon the Lord but all is in vain What a sad and uncomfortable thing is this Therefore certainly it is of great concernment to look to that that we do not perform Duties in vain that we do not Pray and Read and Hear without Faith for then all will be in vain Secondly Consider a little further What an uncomfortable thing is it for a man to meet with a disappointment in his great expectation When a man hath great expectations of a business and meets with a disappointment in the conclusion that his expectation is frustrated you know what Solomon saith in Prov. 13.12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick If a man have hopes of a thing and his hopes be only put off and deferred though it may be accomplished at last yet if it be deferred beyond the time it makes his heart sick Ay but when a mans expectations be not only deferred but altogether frustrated that he meets with nothing but disappointments What an uncomfortable thing is this and the greater the expectation of a man is or the greater the thing is his expectation is about the greater and sadder will his disappointment be You know how it fared with Haman in Esth 6. When the King propounded that Question to him What shall be done unto the man whom the King delighteth to honour Why thought he whom the King delights to honour is none but my self Surely I am the man here was his hope and expectation but now to be frustrated of this great expectation of being honoured and advanced and for the King to say Go take the Kings Horse and the Royal apparrel and go and set Mordecai thereon his great Enemy go and proclaim before him thus it shall be done to the man whom the King delighteth to honour thus was his expectation frustrated and it came to nothing And how did it make his heart sick He went home to his Wife and company and he was even sick at the very heart Truly Brethren when a mans expectations are raised from his Duties and Performances that he hath gone on in a way of Prayer all his Life-long and attending upon God in the way of his Ordinances all his Life-long and his expectation is great he thinks he hath been pleasing God all his life-long and when all comes to all at last he shall see that he wanted Faith and so never pleased God in all his Life by all the Duties and Services that ever he performed Here now will his expectations be frustrated and when he comes to lie upon his Death-bed he thinks he hath been pleasing God in performing Duties and attending upon God in his way he shall meet with nothing but Disappointments He hath not pleased God by all that he hath done all his life-long 3. Nay Let me add Thirdly If our Duties be not done in Faith truly then instead of being the better for them we shall certainly be the worse for all the Duties that ever we performed Now what an uncomfortable thing is it for a man to labour and take pains and all for loss You that trade in the World that take a great deal of pains are up early and down late why if so be that you go backward in your estates for all your pains-taking and labour and toyl and travel this will be very uncomfortable to you to labour and toyl night and day as it were and all for loss Suppose now a great Merchant he trades and trafficks abroad at Sea and trades at home by Land and when he comes to cast up his accounts he hath done all for loss he is not the richer but a great deal the poorer What an uncomfortable thing will this be to him that he hath been labouring and travelling and toyling and spending his strength and his time and his pains and all for loss He is the worse and not the better as 't is said of the woman that had the bloody Issue she went to the Physicians and used the means and still she was not the better but the worse You would count this a very uncomfortable thing if any of your Children or Relations should be sick and you call for the help of the Physitian and he applies means and still all the Physick that is taken tends to the hurt of the Party he is never the better but the worse for all the means that is used truly it would make your hearts ake Truely thus it is when a man hath been taking pains all his life-long exercising of himself in holy Duties and Ordinances worshipping and serving God and endeavouring to please God as he thinks but now instead of pleasing God by what he hath done he hath rather displeased God For certainly we are either the better or the worse for every Ordinance that we partake in when we come to hear a Sermon if we do not go away better we go away worse for the Word will work one way or other And so far Prayer if we be not the better we are the worse when our Duties and Services have not been done in Faith they have not been pleasing to the Lord. And when a man comes to cast up his accounts he will find himself the worse for all the Services that ever he performed because they have not been done in Faith 4. And let me add one word more If our Duties and Services be not done in Faith then I pray what have we been doing of all this time but cheating and deceiving our own Souls going on and taking pains and all to delude and deceive our own Souls We have been steering a wrong couse instead of making Christ our Righteousness we have been making a Christ of our Duties and Services and so deceive our own Souls if we do not act Faith in the performance of Duties then we make a Christ of them and so deceive our own Souls for if we do not lean upon Christ we lean upon them A man or woman that doth not act Faith in their Duties and Services they do but steer a wrong Course all their life-long Suppose now a man should steer his course at Sea by a Compass that is false he may go on and sail amain Night and Day before the Wind he may go on in his Course but all the way that he makes he doth but deceive himself he will never come to the Haven he aims at and desires to come to He doth but deceive and delude himself Why Because he sails
by a false Compass and so steers his Course wrong Truly thus it is with many Professors they perform Duties they go on with full sail in Duties they perform Duties every day and they attend upon the Lord as they have opportunity to hear the Word and read the Word daily they go on amain Ay but still they steer a wrong Course they sail by a false Compass and certainly they will never come to the Haven of Rest but will run upon their own ruine at last Therefore observe it the Devil will allow a Professor to go on in a course of Duties to pray every day in his Family and Closet he will allow him to go on in a course of Ordinances attending upon God daily so long as his Duties and Services are not touched with the Loadstone if they be not done in Faith he knows what will be the Issue of them he lets him alone because he knows he doth but deceive himself and delude his own Soul he looks to come to such a Haven but he will perish and miscarry for ever Therefore Brethren I pray consider whether it be not a matter of very great concernment for every one of us to look to it and be careful that all our Duties and Services be done in Faith or else we can never please God Well This is the Question How shall we so perform our Duties and Services in Faith as they may be pleasing unto God Answ In answer to it there are some Directions that I shall lay down that may be of general Concernment and reach all the Duties that we are to perform and shew you how we shall perform them in Faith that they may be pleasing unto God And then afterward we shall come to lay down more particular Directions how we may perform every Duty as Prayer in Faith and hearing the Word in Faith and partaking of the Lords-Supper in Faith how we may perform every Duty in Faith that so we may please God in what we do First Then for the General Rules that we may make use of in all Duties for the performing of them in Faith that so they may be pleasing unto God 1. First then take this for a general Rule that may be of concernment for every Duty Let us look especially that we be Believers that we have a Faith in Christ for if we be not Believers we can never perform any Duty in Faith we must first believe in Christ before we can perform any duty in Faith Therefore I say Let us be sure of that that the work of Faith be wrought effectually in our hearts that we do really and truely believe on Christ be sure of that lay that for a foundation and the more clear that is the more sure we are of that that there is a real work of Faith wrought in our hearts we may be the more easily perswaded that what we do we do in Faith though that alone is not enough neither But without that it is impossible for us to do any thing in Faith so as to please God it is by Faith that our persons come to be accepted without Faith our persons are not pleasing unto God No It is through the beloved that we must be accepted in our persons Ephes 1.6 And if our persons be not accepted nothing that we do can be accepted No we may pray day by day and cry aloud and we may perform extraordinary Duties too and none of these accepted if our persons be not accepted through Faith in Christ there must be the foundation of all For Brethren it is by Faith that our hearts are purified and made holy now if so be that we be not holy we cannot please God by any thing that we can do for he is a holy God and whatsoever is pleasing to God must be holy Now it is by Faith that our hearts come to be purified Act. 15.9 By Faith we come to have an habitual Holiness wrought in us though there may be and there is still a body of sin but still there is a Principle of Holiness by Faith wrought in the heart whereby we come to be made holy in Gods account For if so be that we be not made holy through Faith then all that ever we do is unclean all that comes from us is unclean look as the Fountain or Spring is so is all that issues from it every drop of water that comes from it is accordingly Can you bring forth a clean thing out of an unclean None can do it Does a bitter fountain send forth sweet water No it cannot be The fountain must first be made clean and sweet or else all the streams will be according as the fountain is A corrupt Tree cannot bring forth good fruit make the Tree good or the fruit cannot be good All that comes from a man or woman that is in a state of unbelief is unclean and whatever Duties or Ordinances he touches is unclean and polluted and therefore cannot please God Look as it was under the Law if one that was Legally or Ceremonially unclean touched any thing it was unclean Hag. 2.12 13. If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment and with his skirt do touch bread or pottage or wine or oyl or any meat shall it be holy And the Priests answered and said no it shall be unclean So now whatever Duties be performed under the New-Testament if we be not Believers if our hearts be not purified by Faith truly then all that we touch is impure and unclean to us as the Apostle saith Tit. 1.15 Unto the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled Who are those he explains it in the very next words and unbelieving is nothing pure They can do nothing that the Infinite Holy and Pure God can be pleased with Now there is no way for a Soul to be made clean to lave an habitual Holiness but through Faith wrought by the Spirit of Christ and the application and sprinkling of the Vertue of the Blood of Christ upon the Conscience So a man or woman comes to be made clean In Heb. 9.13 saies the Apostle there For if the blood of bulls and goats and the Ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifie to the purifying of the flesh that is The Holy Water under the Law that being sprinkled upon the unclean did purifie him and make him clean and if the sprinkling of that water did purifie from Ceremonial Uncleanness How much more shall the blood of Christ verse 14. Who through the eternal Spirit offered up himself to God purge your Conseiences from dead works to serve the living God Two things the Apostle doth plainly hint to us in this Scripture Namely 1. That all our Works that we perform before we be cleansed by the Blood of Christ they are all but dead works unholy and unclean And then 2. it implies thus much That we come to be cleansed from our dead works by the sprinkling of
exercised there hath been Self-emptyings The Apostle Paul was a man that did live much in the excercise of Faith and he professes it Gal. 2.20 That he Lived by the Faith of the Son of God and you may observe how the Apostle emptied himself of Self-sufficiency and Self-worthiness for Self-sufficiency says he in Rom. 8.26 We know not how to pray nor what to pray for as we ought The Apostle Paul that was such a great proficient in the School of Christ such an eminent person yet saies he We know not how to pray he was empty of Self-sufficiency and saies he in 2 Cor. 3.5 Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God Saies he I am so insufficient that I cannot so much as think a good thought What was he sufficient for then And saies he in another place I cannot so much as will or desire any thing that is good It is God saies he that worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure And saies he in 2 Cor. 12.11 though I be nothing What a word is this The Apostle Paul that was one of the eminentest Saints that lived upon the face of the earth in his days yet says he I am nothing Paul living by Faith was emptied of the sense of his own sufficiency and truly so also he was emptied of Self-worthiness of receiving any Mercy from God For all his Duties and Services saies he I am less than the least of all Saints and Ephes 3.8 To me who am less than the least of all Saints is this Grace given c. And in 1 Cor. 15.9 saies he I am the least of the Apostles that am not worthy to be called an Apostle So if you observe it you may find it in all those that lived in the exercise of Faith how they have been emptied of the sense of their own worthiness Abraham the Father of the Faithful see how he lay low and even crept in the dust before the Lord and acknowledged himself not worthy to speak to the Lord in Prayer for Sodom that he was fain to Apologize for himself at every turn Let not the Lord be angry that I who am but dust and ashes have undertaken to speak unto the Lord Gen. 18.27 30 32. I am unworthy saies he to speak unto the Lord for any Mercy either for my self or Sodom And so Jacob Lord saies he I am less than the least of all thy Mercies Gen. 32.10 I am not worthy of the least Mercy from thee Thus Faith does empty the Soul both of self-sufficiency and also of self-worthiness Now then to shew you how you should make use of this Rule It will serve for every Duty that we perform when we come to pray we should draw near to God with this sense of our insufficiency to lift up a Prayer unto God we should come to God with a sense upon our hearts of our inability to perform the work and also with a sence of our own unworthiness that God should hear our Prayers when we have prayed never so well as others may judge yet we must come with self-abasing and self-emptying So if we go to hear the Word if we would hear in Faith we should make use of this Rule Lord I am unworthy to be admitted to hear thy Word I am unworthy that thou shouldst speak to me and I am insufficient to hear thy Word as I ought to hear it Thus come with self-emptying and self-abasement So when we come to the Lords-Supper Lord I have no strength now to partake of this Ordinance as I ought to do I cannot prepare my self for it I have no strength to partake of it I have no sufficiency at all to partake of this or any other Ordinance as I ought to do and I am unworthy that the Lord should draw near to me to let me have any Fellowship or Communion with himself This is the Third general Rule Fourthly If we would perform all Duties and partake in all Ordinances in Faith so as we may please God in what we do Then let us do all that we do in the Name of Christ for there is all our worthiness and all our acceptance You know the Apostle gives us this Rule iâ— Col. 3.17 Whatever ye do in word or in dâ—ed do all in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ For if we do not what we do in his Name it is not accepted Look as it was under the Law if a man under the Law were to bring a sacrifice he was to bring it to the Priest or else it was not accepted but it was to be an Abomination in Levit. 17.3 4. Whatsoever man of the house of Israel there be that killeth an Oâ— or Liamb c. And bringeth it not unto the door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation unto the Priest that soul hath shed blood and shall be out off from among his People Though he brought never so good a sacrifice in it self yet it must be brought unto the Priest And so they were to bring their sacrifices and have them laid upon the Altar or else they were an Abomination and not acceptable to God Now Brethren Jesus Christ is our great High-Priest and Jesus Christ is our Altar too by whom and upon â—â—â—m all our services and sacrifices must be â—â—â—ered or else they are not accepted of God therefore whatever you do whatever Prayer you make whatever Ordinance you partake 〈◊〉 do all in the Name of Jesus Christ or else you do not do it in Faith and it will not be pleasing unto God Quest You will say What is it to perform a Duty in the Name of Jesus Christ so as it may be acceptable and pleasing to God Answ For answer Brethren It is not enough for us to make mention of the Name of Christ in our Prayers and to say Through Jesus Christ our Lord as you commonly conclude your Prayers I do not blame you for this But it is not the naming of the Name of Christ that is this doing of it in the Name of Christ What is it then you will say for me to pray or hear the Word or partake of any Ordinance in the Name of Christ Briefly for I would not inlarge there are these Three things implied in it First That we do look for our access into the presence of God through Christ and for his sake says the Apostle in Ephes 2.18 For through him we both have an access by one Spirit unto the Father Through him we both that is both Jews and Gentiles have access by one Spirit unto the Father we have access into the presence of the Father through Christ You know Brethren after Adam fell and transgressed he was driven out from the presence of God Before indeed he had communion with God and access into the presence of God but after he had broken the Covenant that God had made with him he was
and pleasing unto God because it is not done in Faith it must be a Prayer of Faith as the Apostle James calls it so to pray as to be perswaded to believe and rest upon God that so far as my Prayer is according to his Will he will hear and answer in his own time and in his own way And so for hearing of the Word you may make use of this Rule namely to rest and wait upon the Lord and expect something to be given out from the Lord in that very Ordinance for which the Ordinance was appointed namely to hear something spoken from God to me that I may be further acquainted withal In Acts. 10.33 see what Cornelius speaks to Peter Peter was sent from God to speak to him saies he We are all here present before God to hear what God shall speak We are all here present before the Lord expecting to have something spoken from the Lord. It is the Lords Ordinance and we are to wait upon God in it with an expectation to have something from God Alas we come to hear the Word and we may go away as we come if we do not hear in Faith we should come with an expectation to hear something from God I will hearken to hear what God the Lord will speak to me it is his Ordinance and the way and means which God hath appointed to communicate of himself to us and so we must rest and rely upon the Lord by Faith for something to be spoken that may be of concernment to us And so for receiving the Lords-Supper this general Rule will help you in that Come to that Ordinance resting upon God in a way of Faith expecting something from the Lord to be given out in that Ordinance for which the Ordinance especially was appointed And what is that To have communion with Christ and a communication and participation of the Blessings of Christ of the Grace and Spirit of Christ 1 Cor. 10.16 saies the Apostle there The bread which we break is it not the Communion of the Body of Christ It was procured and purchased by Christ's Death and Bloodshed Now then I say here is the Rule When we come to a Duty and Ordinance come in a way of resting and expectation to have something communicated to us from the Lord of the Ordinance something of that which God hath appointed the Ordinance and Duty for So now you see here are five General Rules that may help us in the performance of Spiritual Duties in a way of Faith so as we may please God in them And O Brethren and Friends should any of us be willing to perform Duties and enjoy Ordinances in vain from day to day Why as you have heard if we go on not to act Faith in what we do all will be in vain And are you willing to be the worse for the Duties that you perform and the Ordinances that you enjoy Truly if we do not act Faith in them we shall instead of being the better be the worse for them we cannot please God but shall displease him more and more And so are we willing to meet with disappointments at last when we come to lie down upon our Sick-bed and Death-bed and expect that we have been pleasing God by what we have done and we shall meet with a Disappointment because we have done nothing in Faith and so have not pleased God but displeased him And are you willing to deceive your own Souls as you have heard We may go on in the performance of Duties and Services and steer a wrong Course missing of Christ if our Duties and Services be not touched with the Loadstone of Faith Therefore I say Brethren it is of concernment to us to consider these general Rules that have been given to direct us how to perform Duties and enjoy Ordinances in a way of Faith that so they may be pleasing unto God There are particular Rules that I shall desire if the Lord please to lay down How we may so pray in Faith that our Prayers may be pleasing unto God and then shew you how we may hear the Word in Faith that thereby we may please God and profit our own Souls And so come afterward to some other things as the Lord gives opportunity But thus much for this time SERMON VII Hebrews XI 6. But without Faith it is impossible to please him Doct. THis is the truth and proposition before us That it is impossible for any Soul to please God without Faith The last time we came to enter upon some directions how we might so exercise Faith in the performance of Duties and in the enjoyment of Ordinances that so what we do might please God some general Directions were laid down that may serve for all Duties I shall now go on through the Lords assistance and give you some more particular directions how we may perform particular duties in Faith that so they may be pleasing unto God 1. And in the first place we shall begin with the duty of Prayer and shew you how we may so pray in Faith as we may please God for that is the Prayer that God doth accept That is a prayer of Faith Therefore it is said in James 5.15 That the prayer of faith shall save the sick That is there must be Faith exercised in our prayers or else our prayers are not true prayers such as God accepts Suppose a man be a Believer and have a habit of Faith he prays yet if he do not exercise Faith in his prayer he prays not the prayer of Faith and it will not avail James 1.6 If any man lack wisdom let him ask it of God He must pray to God for it but says he Let him pray in faith for else if he do not pray in faith his prayer will not avail And he speaks to those that are faithful for he writes to the Twelve Tribes amongst whom were many faithful and believers If any of you lack wisdom let him ask it of God but let him ask it in faith nothing wavering for else his prayer is not pleasing to God as the Apostle says in another case 1 Cor. 14.19 I had rather speak five words with my understanding than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue So I may say in this Case a man had better put up five prayers in Faith than Ten thousand prayers without Faith and though we speak but a few Words in prayer if it be mixed with Faith it is more available than if we speak never so many words never so largely without Faith Quest Well you will say How shall we so act faith in prayer that our prayers may be pleasing unto God Answ For Answer Besides what was presupposed before that the person must be a Believer and also passing by those general Rules of direction laid down before I shall give you four or five particular directions how we should so pray in Faith that our prayers may be pleasing unto God Namely First