but when a man hath a care to improve his baptism It is noted of Abraham that he had faith before his circumcision but he received circumcision the seal of the righteousness of faith for this that he might be the father of the faithful Rom. 4.19 Now he could believe incredible wonderful strange things that would have staggered him before So when David was to fight against Goliah he was a great warrier and a mighty souldier and David a weak stripling now see how he strengthned himself against Goliah he useth three argument and one is taken from the Sacrament of Gods covenant he was an uncircumcised man but David was circumcised and within the covenant What is this uncircumcised Philistin to one that is circumcised and in covenant with God and he hath given me the Sacrament of it that he will help me and be with me and stand by me in all estates and conditions So it was with the Gaoler before when the Magistrates bid him put Paul and his fellows in the worst prison he durst do no other and when he saw the prison doors open he would have killed himself he was not able to have any power over himself but when he had faith and was baptized now he was able to take them out of the prison and carry them to his own house and give them the best entertainment though the Magistrates counted them Roagues and vagabonds he had gotten strength now Secondly The Sacrament of the Lords Supper is of great force being used with faith and due preparation according to Gods Ordinance it is a Sacrament for the very nonce to help a mans faith and strengthen him in every good thing First Because this is the very nature of the Sacrament it is the Sacrament of growth and increasing in grace the other Sacrament puts a man into the estate of grace and this strengthens a man in the estate of grace therefore when Christ administred the Sacrament he tells us we may receive it as our very bread now Psal 104.15 bread strengthens a mans heart He tells us if we come to the Sacrament aright as our bodies receive bread and it strengthens them so we may receive that which will nourish our souls take eat this is my body will not this bread nourish you directly my body is such a thing that do but take it by faith it shall strengthen you just as this bread strengthens the body as Eliah went in the strength of that meat he eat forty dayes and forty nights so if we come to this Sacrament understandingly and preparedly it is most certain we shall have strength may be not that we would have our selves may be we would have more grace and more assistance but we shall have that strength whereby we shall be able to go on in the service of God doing good and shunning evil from day to day My flesh is meat indeed c. And indeed it will nourish a man as it is said of Jonathan he was weak and faint and his eyes grew dim but when he tasted a little honey his strength came to him again So the Sacrament received by a true Communicant that sets himselfe to prepare his soul to partake of it he shall have his eyes enlightned and his heart quickned he shall have some succour and relief from it to go about every good word and work Secondly It is a seal of Gods Covenant and therefore must needs strengthen a man that is in Covenant with God if he come to it as it ought to be come unto for what is the Covenant a true believer is in I will make an everlasting Covenant never to turn away from them to doe them good and I will put my fear into their hearts c. Jer. 32.40 It is an everlasting Covenant I will never let them goe I will put a strong fear into their hearts that they shall not doe as the wicked doe they shall stand in awe of God it is a strong light others shall be deluded they shall not be deluded it is a strong apprehension of the Word and Will of God this is the Covenant of God Now when a man shall come to have this sealed when God shall give this Sacrament to make this good and he takes the Sacrament upon it that he will walk according to this Covenant according to the grace that God hath given him this man hath all the witnesses in heaven and earth why should he be weak in faith then There be but three witnesses in heaven he hath these that hath faith there be but three on earth the spirit water and blood by spirit is meant the same spirit that works true faith and obedience in the hearts of his people then water that is the water of Baptism and bloâ—â— that is the blood of the Lords Supper the Lord doth witness eternal life to this mans heart therefore what can this man want Thirdly This Sacrament is Communion with Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 10.16 The cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ c. So that when a man comes to the Sacrament aright he hath communion with Jesus Christ therefore he must needs be strengthened though he were never so weak before as Solomon saith of the Coniâ—s they are a feeble folke and yet they make their houses in the Rocks Prov. 30.26 So true Christians are a feeble folk and yet they make their houses in the Rock where they eat this spiritual meat and drink this spiritual drink they drink of that Rock Jesus Christ when they draw neer to this Table they draw neer to Christ and therefore must needs gather strength they come to this Rock to be rooted and established in this Rock and therefore must needs get strength Fourthly Because this Sacrament is a Sacrament of communion with the members of Christ a man that rightly receives it doth increase the communion of Saints over all the world though he never saw them yet he is loved more and more of all the Saints therefore he must needs grow stronger Take a man that is woven into every man there is hardly any man of any power but loves him he hath friends everywhere this man is a strong man as it is said of Absolom he grew strong for the people increas'd continually with him 2 Sam. 21.15 So a Christian must needs grow strong that truly heares the Word and receives the Sacrament for people still come flocking more and more unto him for still as the Church comes to grow or any soul comes to believe in Christ he strengthens himselfe as Paul was strong in every Town where he went in regard of the communion of Saints such a man is strong in regard of his infirmities he hath many to help him to bear them he is strong also in regard of advice and counsel he shall have the counsel of the Saints Job 4.3 If a man be doubtful what course to
according to the flesh Rom. 9. yet notwithstanding that Church was cut off When the holy City proved a Harlot when these people grew to be weary of God and his Ordinances and grew to be loose and would not be ruled by God and his Word the Lord gave them a Bill of Divorcement and sent them away therefore let us be warned by them it is a fearfull thing when God for Idolatry shall cast off Churches and yet we not tremble but live under security and hardness of heart and take not warning by it Jer. 3.8 God saith Yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not but played the harlot When God cast off the ten Tribes Judah saw this and heard of this and could not chuse but understand this and yet she did not fear for all this So when this Parish or any other Parish shall hear of any Parish that is unchurched and unministred and God hath taken away his presence from among them and there shall be no signe of his gracious presence any more the Gospel is gone from such a place and we hear of it and yet doe not fear but are as secure as ever as unfruitful under the means as ever and doe not stir up our selves to be more obedient to God and his Ordinances but goe on to play the harlot and goe a whoring from God from day to day nay we are even ready to promise our selves peace for all this this is a fearful thing Mark what the Lord saith Jer. 7.11 12 13 14 15. He speaks there of Jerusalem So when God hath poured out his plagues and punishments upon other Parishes and other places and hath taken away his Ark and the glory is departed from them and they are left in the shadow of death and we see it and yet tremble not at it God calls upon us from day to day to amend our lives that we might finde mercy with him God tells us as he hath done to other Parishes in the Kingdome so he will doe to us the Lord will lay us desolate and waste as other parts of the land are and certainly the Lords wrath and vengeance is hard at our heels if we doe not speedily repent who knows how soon God may deprive us of his Word and Ordinances For I have not found thy works perfect before God If we take these words in sunder they containe these five Propositions First That the covenant of grace requires works Secondly That these works should be perfect Thirdly That they should not onely be perect in the sight of men for that is nothing but perfect in the sight of God before God Fourthly That the Lord Jesus searcheth whither they be so or no. Fifthly Upon due search he finds it out many times not onely in particular persons but in particular Churches as we see here in the Church of Sardis that their works are not so For the first of these That the second Covenant requires works we see here that the Lord Jesus looks for works in the Church of Sardis that were in covenant with him 't is true there is this difference between the two Covenants the first covenant requires works as the condition of it He that doth them shall live in them Gal. 3.12 The doers of the Law shall be blessed Rom. 2.13 Therefore it is called the covenant of works and that in two senses First In that works are the condition of it Secondly In that it is left unto man God gives onely a power not to sin if so be that man will but he doth not give the will Now the second covenant is not a covenant of works the condition of it is not works but the condition of it is faith The just shall live by faith Rom. 1.17 Therefore it is called a covenant of grace and that in two respects opposite to the former not onely in regard that these works are done by another and so nothing is required of the party justified but onely faith for his justification but also because though the covenant of grace require works yet God doth not expect a man should doe any thing of himself but it is by grace we are saved by grace through faith and not of our selves it is the gift of God I say the second covenant is a covenant of grace and yet it requires works And works are here necessary First by necessity of presence for though faith be the condition yet it is such a faith as hath necessarily good works together present with it as the Apostle speaks Faith if it have not works is dead Jam. 2.17 Good works they are inseparably joyned together with true faith for as the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also not as though works were the essential forme of true faith but the nature of faith if it be true is such as doth necessarily cause good works to accompany with it They are necessary by necessity of inseparable effects good works are not onely present together with faith but they are so present as that they doe flow from faith God hath required such a faith in the covenant of grace as doth produce good works they are not onely inseparable from faith but thus inseparable that true faith must needs produce them He that hath this hope purifies himselfe as he is pure 1 John 3.3 That is He that hath this faith he sets down faith by the effect hope and sets it down by another effect it must needs purifie it makes that man purifie himself as Christ is pure So Christ having exhorted them to believe having raised up their minds to believe the things that are above Lay up your treasure in Heaven Mat. 6.20 in the next verse he shews this will have the effect of all manner of good works For where your treasure is there will your hearts be also it will draw up your hearts and make you heavenly-minded and make you seek the things that are above where your treasure is there will your hearts be also So likewise we may see Heb. 11. thorow the whole chapter what abundance of effects are set down of true saving faith By faith Abel offered sacrifice to God By faith Noah being warned of God obeyed God and did the things that God commanded verse 7. And so by faith Abraham when he was called yielded to God So by faith believers wrought righteousness and did wonderfull things subdued Kingdomes c. They were able to work wonderful effects so that when a man hath not works when he doth not obey God through the power of faith he hath not faith it self Thirdly Good works are necessary by necessity of signs they are not only to be in a Believer as effects but as proofs of his faith for a man must justifie his faith by his works they are signes and proofs whereby he may know whether his faith be true and of the right stamp or no for if a mans faith be a lively faith a faith that doth
to you it is given saith the Apostle not only to beleeve in him but to die for him Phil. 1.29 so that God gives more grace to his people then to others he gives onely common grace to the wicked 't is true God is not wanting to the wicked God will ever be aforehand with them and they shall have more then they make use of now wicked men the Lord leaves them without excuse for they stick not at an impossibility but at a will they will not come in that they might be saved they will not do that which God hath put into the power of their hands to do God gives them knowledge and they will not practise it God shews them their sinnes and they will not leave their sins may be God makes them leave their sinnes and then they return to them againe it may be God makes them that they never return to their sins again but then they take up onely a kinde of forme and there they stick and go no further thus they stick at the will they will not have the Gospel upon Christs termes The first use of the point is this it is a great comfort and encouragement to the faith of all Gods people what an excellent and sure word is this when they shall finde that they have such an excellent warrant to lay hold upon Christ when he is so publickly tendred in the Scripture there is a common salvation in Jesus Christ Jude 3. Christ hath made it to be common for any man that will have it upon the tearms thereof it is as common as Adam was As in Adam all died so in Christ shall all be made alive 1 Cor. 15.22 not as though all men simply shall be made alive for all men possibly are not alive as all men possibly are not dead in Adam for there might be millions of men after the world is ended but only those that are in the loynes of Adam all men that came out of the loyns of Adam shall die so all they that ever are in the loyns of Christ as all they are that will have him they shall be made alive it is as general as Adam as many as were in the loyns of Adam and lived and died so shall die so all that are in the loyns of Christ and have a will to come to Christ shall be saved for it is the will that carrieth all the soul when a man will do or suffer any thing for Christ whatsoever sin Christ will have him leave he will leave it whatsoever duty Christ will have him take up he will assume it he will break through all hindrances and use all means he will have it the righteousnesse of Christ is for every one that will have it I will have it saith the soul therefore it belongs to me the Gospel of salvation is tendred to every one that hath a minde to it I have a mind to it upon the Gospels tearms and therefore it belongs to me The second use is of confutation to confute those that desire faith by the full assurance of the pardon of a mans sins and the salvation of his soul this is a dangerous doctrine and condemns the half of the generation of God nay all of them at one time or other you see how the Gospel calls a man to believe concerning justification and salvation it calls to beleeve in the record of his Son that he is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world that he is eternal life that he is the way the truth and the light that he is the hope of glory that he is the way of coming to God the Father now when a man hath this faith in a lively manner and this pulls a man out of the world draws him to Christ this is the true faith this is the faith of the Gospel faith is not defined by assurance in Scripture but by beleeving in Christ John 3.18 by trusting upon Christ Ephes 1.12 by resting upon God 2 Chr. â—4 11 by relying upon God 2 Chr. 19.8 by adhering and cleaving to God in Christ Acts 11.23 this is true faith when a man relies upon God when he believes this same blessed record and throws himself and casts himself upon it and will obey God I may say to you all that have this faith as the Prophet Esay saith to such as you are Who is there among you that feareth the Lord and obeyeth the voice of his servants though he sit in darknesse and seeth no light yet let him rest upon the Lord and stay himself upon the God of his salvation Esay 50.10 as who should say though you be in the dark and have no light no assurance no sense and feeling no inkling of Gods mercy though you be in darkness and know not where you are yet if you have a heart to fear God and obey the voice of his servants and hearken to the tender of the Gospel trust in the Lord your God relie upon him for all want of sense and feeling for all darknesse for all want of light in you for all want of comfort and stay your souls that way yet trust in the name of the Lord relie upon him for all his mercies though you be at this passe Object But the soul will say I am afraid I have nothing I have no interest in Christ but what of that Answ If thou be never so much afraid mark what David saith Psalme 56.3 What time I am afraid I will trust in thee as who should say though I be in the middest of fears and doubts and terrors of conscience what time this fear comes upon me I will cast my self upon thee so that this is that which the soul is to do that beleeves the tender of the Gospel and this draws him and works upon him it is not a dead faith but an operative faith it pulls him and draws him to Christ he must have Christ and he must have righteousnesse is there such a faith then relie upon God though thy fears come upon thee yet urge thy self to trust in God Obj. And againe it may be objected I have hardly any hope that ever I shal have the pardon of my sins that ever God will hear my prayers and accept my duties and performances What of that if thou hast this faith Answ Mark how it was with Abrahams faith when God told him he should have a sonne though it were above hope besides hope against hope yet he believes in hope so though thou hast hardly any hope yet above hope believe under hope and though thou art put besides all hope and art even ready to be at the brink of despaire yet through thy self upon God if I perish I perish go on in the ways of God and seek after the ways of Jesus Christ and rest upon him from day to day and strive to draw neerer to him to have communion with him and though thou beest put
that a reprobate may believe but the event that he shall be justified and saved is the fruit of a justifying faith when a man hath justifying faith this is not the object of it but he commits himself to Christ for justifycation and salvation he truly believes the event shall be that they which truly believe shall be justified and saved and God will help their infimities and pardon their weaknesses but now justifying faith apprehends not the event that comes afterwards but faith commits it self to Christ for the event as I will shew you by a similitude a man resolves to leane upon a staffe what is in this mans minde is the object this that he shall not slip nor fall no he findes by experience that he may fall for all his staffe but he casts himself upon his staffe fall or not fall and though he do fall he will not fling away his staffe No but he will look better to himselfe afterwards he knows the fault was not in his staffe but in his own managing of it therefore he commits himself to his staffe still and resolves to leane upon it he is not sure he shall not fall but though he do fall he will up again and help himself with his staffe in his going still he knows the staffe is not in the fault but himself may be he doth not leane upon it or he knows not the right way but he is still leaning upon his staffe and venturing upon his staffe so I say true saving faith doth not truly apprehend he is justified as if a man could not be justified unlesse he did believe it this is the event justifying faith is the committing himself to God for the event Heb. 11.23 By faith Abraham being called of God went out of his owne Countrey c. By faith he cast himself upon God did he believe now whether he should go He could not tell he believed in the general that God would not faile those that trusted in him but for his own particular he knew not whether he should go but he casts himself upon God whethersoever God will have me to go I will go he commits himself to God at all adventures this is true faith and yet the event all this while may not be known but a man may be much troubled about assurance Secondly the event that a man shall be justified and sanctified and saved is conditional until a man hath believed Suppose a natural man and yet an Elect man of God what must this man believe must he beleeve that he shall be justified and sanctified and saved No there is no such thing in the Scripture take any natural man in the world and look from the beginning of the Bible to the end there is not one text that saith a natural man shall be saved but justification and salvation are conditional till a man believes but when a man hath beleeved his justification sanctification and salvation is certain but he must beleeve before he can be said to be justified now before a man beleeves justification is upon condition if a man beleeves he shall be justified and saved so may Judas and Simon Magus Rom. 10.9 'T is true this is the condition if thou beleeve in the Son of God if thou take up his crosse and follow him thou shalt be saved this is but the condition but when a man hath believed he is justified and shall be saved it is absolute now but he believed first therefore justifying faith doth not beleeve he shall be saved and justified for he must have faith first 't is true if a man have saving and justifying faith there is the truth of the Word for it that he shall be saved therefore justifying faith must be the casting off a mans selfe upon Christ for salvation Thirdly the event that a man shall be justified and sanctified and saved this cannot be the thing that a justifying faith in the act of justification must apprehend because then we could not say to every man if thou beleevest thou shalt be saved that must be the object of a justifying faith that may be applied to any man for else how should we preach the Word we should expose our selves to cavils and open the mouthes of blasphemers we must say then this is faith you must believe you shall be saved and that you are in the favour of God and then we could not bid every man believe if it were so where the Gospel comes we are to bid every man to believe what to believe that every shall be justified and sanctified and saved No that were a lie God commands no man to believe a lie but he commands every man to believe in Christ for justification and for sanctification and for salvation Now there are two things that God requires of every man where the Gospel comes First he requires that he beleeves the Word which saith that whosoever believes in Christ shall be saved Secondly he commands him to believe in Christ for salvation and this is faith the other comes in afterwards I will make it plaine the Lord said to Ahaz Isa 7.9 Believe and thou shalt be established what must Ahaz here believe Doth God bid him believe that he should be established No for that was a lie for when all came to all he was not established but he must beleeve God and then he should be established but he not believing in God could not be established so God told Adam if he believed he should live did God now bid Adam beleeve he should live for ever No for then it had been a lie but be biddeth him believe that if he obeyed his voice he should live for ever he was not to believe that he should live for ever so God doth not command men to beleeve they shall he saved but to believe in Christ for salvation Fourthly the event is known another way and not by a justifying faith 't is true some men know the event that God intends to save them and that they shall be glorified for evermore but this is known by another thing and not by an act of faith the act of faith is the committing of a mans self to God for this thing I will set it out by a similitude suppose I have a great businesse to do at London I am condemned to be put to death and except I have a pardon got to morrow I shall be executed I cannot go my self for I am in hold but I have a friend at London and I trust to him to go to the Court to procure me a pardon in the mean time the businesse goeth forward against me and may be I am going to the place of execution but still I cast my self upon my friend that he will get me a pardon now if my friend send me a letter and send me a pardon under the Kings Seal now I know I have a pardon but my trusting my friend was nothing but my casting my self upon him and setling
in all his wayes and be with him in sicknesse and in health in misery and prosperity and in all estates and that he will do him good while he lives and when he dyes he seeth none of these things No saith the Apostle Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen though many think there is no substance in these things yet faith doth deliver the substance of them unto him and it is an evidence that he shall certainly have them and it is as it were a Sacrament therefore the Fathers call it the Sacrament of faith and the Sacrament of hopes and the Sacrament of repentance because they are certaine and sure tokens and pledges of those things that a Christian looks for Secondly the Apostle commends faith by a long Catalogue of believers of Holy Fathers and Patriarchs and Prophets and Judges and Worthies from the beginning of the world and he shewes there was no worth in them but it did proceed from faith and this he doth First generally in the second verse By it the Elders obtained a good report he speaks of them all ingeneral he calls them Elders a reverend grave company and he amplifies this by giving a general ground and reason why faith can build upon nothing as it were to see to and yet is able to gather great matters though it see little or nothing verse 3. You may see this saith he by Historical faith For through faith we understand that the worlds were made by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appeare though nothing was before a mans eyes yet through this faith he might see an whole world out of nothing so though the world and flesh and blood see nothing yet he that believes in God he is able to raise a world out of nothing he may look for these things at the hands of God though for the present he sees nothing Secondly he doth divide these believers into foure several rankes The first is the Holy Fathers before the Flood and he instanceth onely in three for all the rest as Abel Enâ—ch Noah Verse 4.5 6 7. Secondly the Holy Patriarchs from the Flood to the time of Moses and he instanceth in five not as though there were no more but he contents himself with these Abraham Sarah Isaac Jacob Joseph from ver 8. to the 22. And then in the third place he takes all those Worthies from Moses to the time of the entrance into the Land of Canaan and he doth instance in Moses's Parents and then in Moses then in the children of Israel then in Rahab from Ver. 23. to 31. In the fourth place he reckons up all those Heroes from that time to the time of the Maccabees and Names Gideon and Barach and Sampson and Jephtah and David and Samuel and then he reckons them up only in generall the Prophets and Martyrs and Confessors under the persecutions of cursed Antiochus Now in all this Catalogue he shewes the admirable effects of true justifying faith what faith is able to do when a man is a true believer in God what great matters he is able to archieve it gives a man the testimony of a good conscience and makes him able to do the things acceptable to God it makes a man believe things incredible to sense and reason it makes a man forsake all and follow God it makes a man do or suffer any thing for Christ it makes a man so precious that the world is not worthy that he should dwell among them that there should be any such person in such a base place as the world is it is an excellent thing and it is set out most admirably what glorious things faith doth enable a man in the strength of God to do and his scope in all this is to exhort them to abound in faith and they that have it not to use all meanes for the obtaining of it and come by it and lye at God and to be trading in the meanes of Grace and never be at quiet till they have it and when they have it to endeare it and labour to abound in it and persevere in it to their dying day now among all this grave and venerable and reverend society of believers that he here reckons and summes up he calls out Abraham in this text to speak of him and that he speaks of him in this place is this that when God called him to leave his Countrey and Kindred and Fathers house to leave his inheritance and all his friends and acquaintance by faith he was able to obey this call By faith saith he Abraham being called out to go into a place which he should afterwards receive for an inheritance obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went Doct. So that the Doctrine which I observe from hence is this that it is faith that makes a man obey the call of God the command of God whether it be the first call and command for the coming out of sinne or all after commands whatsoever it is faith that makes a man obey them if a man have faith though he had never so stubborne and perverse an heart before though he were never so set upon his lusts and sinfull courses before faith is that which will make a man lay it downe and disavow it and oppose himself against it and he shall no longer live in it as soone as ever faith comes into the soul it makes a man obey God it brings a man home to God to do his will and to walk according to his directions and to be at his dispose and to commit and commend and resigne himself wholly to God in all his wayes this is the onely thing that heales a mans backslidings this is the onely thing that drawes a man home to God this is the onely instrument whereby a man is tyed to God himself whereby a man doth fetch downe all the graces from above so long as a man is stubborne and perverse and walks after the flesh and goeth on in any evil way he hath no faith as the Psalmist speaks Psal 78.32 For all this they sinned yet still and believed not his wondrous works that is they were disobedient therefore certainly they had no faith for if faith once looked into their hearts it would have made them to discard their sinnes and it would have made them obedient to God it would have pared them from the flesh and weaned them from their owne desires and would have made them to give up themselves to God therefore seeing they went on in their sinnes it is certaine they did not believe for faith only makes a man obey God and wheresoever it is a man obeyeth God Reas 1. Because faith seeth an indissolvable couple of attributes in God that cannot be separated and severed as it seeth his grace and mercy to draw him forward so it seeth his purity and justice and holinesse and righteousnesse