God An unbeleeving heart is an heart departing from the living God The antithesis in the Prophet ver 7. confirmes that exposition Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is Hope and trust are the contraries to unbelief But what is the portion of this unbeleeving heart No good I warrant you The sixth verse assures us so He shall be like the heath in the desert and shall not see when good commeth As unbelief locks sinne upon our souls sorrows and judgements upon our bodies so it locks our souls out of eternall and our bodies out of temporall salvation An unbeleever shall not see when good cometh that is he shall not taste or enjoy good when it commeth So Elisha told that unbeleeving Lord when in the name of the Lord he had promised plenty in Samaria Behold thou shalt see it with thine eies but shalt not eat thereof 2 King 7. 2. That text of the Apostle carries a shew of opposition against this truth Rom. 11. 32. God saith he hath concluded them all sc Jews and Gentiles in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all It seems then that mercy rather comes in then is shut out by unbelief God hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all as if God intended to make his advantage and opportunity of shewing mercy to that people by finding them in an unbeleeving condition I answer There is a two-fold mercy First the mercy of vocation Secondly the mercy of salvation when the Apostle saith that God concluded or shut them all up in unbelief that he might have mercy upon them all he means it of the mercy of vocation The Gentiles in their time were all unbeleevers then God called them and the Jews at this time are unbeleevers they deny obedience to the Gospell yet God will call them again the calling of the Jews hereafter as heretofore the calling of the Gentiles shall be of free grace there was no preparation in the one there shall be none in the other to move God to call them to the knowledge of Jesus Christ God calls us to faith when we have no faith He calls to beleeve while we are in unbelief The mercy of vocation prevents faith God doth not call men because they are beleevers or because they have faith but he calleth them to beleeve he calleth them unto faith So the Apostle arguing about that great mercy of justification Rom. 3. 19. shewes how the Lord stops every mouth and makes all the world become guilty before him God doth not justifie any person because he is guiltlesse or holy but that he may be guiltlesse and holy He doth not justifie any man because he is free from sinne but that he may be free from sinne Thus the mercy of vocation prevents our faith and the mercy of justification prevents our righteousnesse and obedience God justifies the ungodly But in giving the mercy of salvation whether it be temporall or eternall salvation God looks upon a people or a person beleeving and therefore makes promises for faith to act upon that we may be saved that we may be established A second objection rises against this point from that speech of Christ in the close of the Parable of the unjust Judge and the importunate Widow where assuring his elect who cry unto him night and day that he will avenge them speedily he adds Neverthelesse when the Sonne of man commeth shall he finde faith on the earth that is he shall not finde faith on the earth and yet then he comes upon a gracious design the deliverance of his elect It seems then that unbelief or want of faith doth not hinder mercy for this great mercy shall be given in when faith shall not be found to beleeve it See here a plentifull harvest of comfort and yet at the same time a dearth of faith none to be found upon the earth I answer first The words import only a great declining of faith in those times not a totall decay of it Secondly The intent of those words is not to bring unbelief into any credit but only to support and cherish the faith of some few in the appearing of much unbelief and despondencie in others For in hard times we hear frequently such complaints as these Do ye not see how the hearts of men fail how their spirits are down how they give up all for lost Faith was never so low as now and therefore surely we must shortly be lower then we are this prevailing raign of unbelief among us is a sad argument that evils shall raign over us too thus the heart misgives To releeve such our Lord Christ saith Neverthelesse when the Sonne of man comes shall he finde faith on the earth As if he had said though all ought to encrease and strengthen faith in darkest times both in themselves and others yet let no man despair because some or many do not beleeve for as their unbelief shall not make the faith that is the faithfullnesse or faith-word of God without effect Rom. 3. 3. so neither shall it make the faith of other men without effect Yea in this sense the lesse faith the more hope When you see the spirits of most drooping their flesh trembling and their hands hanging down This looks most like the time wherein Christ will come to avenge his elect and do great things And those Saints in whom faith bears up its head in such times may use the generall unbelief of their brethren as a strong advantage for their own faith and representing it to God in prayer may plead thus Lord faith failes exceedingly very few of thy oppressed people do or can be perswaded to beleeve that thou wilt help them why therefore Lord hasten in help now come to our succour Is not this the day of thy comming for thou shalt scarce finde faith on the earth to beleeve thou wilt come Thirdly Though Christ will come at last to releeve his people when little faith is to be found among them yet it shall be best with those in whom he findes most faith and wo to those who neglect the raising of their faith because they hear Christ will come when faith is down The freenesse of his grace in helping an unbeleeving generation will be no excuse but a reproof of their unbelief Our duty to beleeve is not the lesse because his goodnesse to those who beleeve not is so great yea they who to put themselves into a posture for deliverance cast away their faith are cloathed with presumption And though Christ may establish those who through weaknesse or want of faith cannot beleeve yet surely they shall never be established who through boldnesse with or wantonnesse upon his grace strive not to give him glory in beleeving To cleer which I shall now proceed to give you some demonstrations of this point why unbelief is the barre and stop of blessings This appears First From the greatnesse of the sinne of
of holy rhetorique in it Beleeve in the Lord your God so shall you be established beleeve his Prophets so shall you prosper 2 Chron. 20. 20. The prosperity of our worldly affairs as well as of our heavenly depends upon and flowes from the actings of our faith In the next place Give me leave Honourable and beloved to be an informer this day against the Kingdoms greatest enemy and the hinderer of our National establishment It was the custome of the Iews as some of the Learned have observed from the story of Naboth 1 King 21. 10. upon the day of their solemn fast to accuse and charge notorious offenders How many things and persons have been and still are suspected yea charged with that notorious offence the shaking of this nation while that which is most guilty is not thought on at all by many and not enough thought on by any I mean and I 'le name it unbelief And I mean not only unbelief abroad and at large but your own in whose ears I chiefely speak this day and into whose hands that great and noble work of establishing this shaken and of uniting this divided Kingdom is committed Though it be uncomely for me to charge you yet it is the duty of this day for you to enquire of your own hearts whether your own unbelief hath not impeded that long prayed for and long waited for effect and issue of your counsels the establishment of this Nation This Nation hath been long in counsell and yet it is not established long in action and yet it is not established We have prayed long fasted long and yet we are not established I have the text and my point to warrant if I accuse and arraign unbelief as the cause of all this Why what hath unbelief done or who hath seen it doing this evil Unbelief is an invisible enemy and therefore a more dangerous enemy But though it be invisible in its nature yet it is not only visible but palpable in its effects as holy faith also is Hence as faith is called effectuall faith and prayer effectuall prayer because these break forth and operate in glorious effects so unbelief may be called effectuall unbelief because it breaks forth and operates in lamentable effects And whatsoever is or can be lookt upon as a cause of our continued troubles and shakings is without any strain or slander reducible to unbelief as the cause of those causes and therefore the cause of those effects First Some say we are not established because we are so divided And are not our divisions the fruit of our unbelief Hearts not joyned in faith to God cannot joyn or not firmely joyn to one another in love They that go off from God and every act of unbelief in us is a step from him seldome keep close to one another Faith is the cement and soder of affection Secondly If it be said we are not established because still so unreformed sinne abounds still and therefore trouble abounds still I grant it But whence is it that sinne abounds I must set that also upon the head of unbelief It is unbelief which protects sinne and keeps it alive notwithstanding the sentence of death hath gone out so often against it Though it hath so often in these sin-mortifying duties of prayer and fasting been carried out to execution Sinne laughs at all our daies of sorrow and humiliation at our fasts and prayers while unbelief backs and stands to it For as faith is a shield to the new-man which quenches all the fiery darts of the Devil so unbelief is a shield to the old-man which quenches all the holy darts of the Spirit The word cannot wound a sinner while he is armed with unbelief Sinne will save its skinne much more its heart till faith sets it naked to the stroaks and smitings of the word Thirdly If it be said Surely we are not established because we are grown so carelesse so cold and formall in those Kingdom-establishing duties fasting and prayer Many neglect to keep them as counting such daies lost out of the calendar of their lives But most are negligent in keeping them and have turned the whole businesse into a meer bodily exercise or the hanging down of their heads for a day This neglect to keep fasts and negligent keeping of them is so grosse and notorious that it makes many hearts to bleed while they think of it Hence some have thought it most safe to move for the supersedeating of these duties fearing that such setled fasts will but more unsettle the Kingdom and rather provoke the Lord then pacifie him towards us Reasons may be given for the laying down of these Monethly and the keeping only of occasionall fasts though in one sense our monethly fasts are occasionall the great occasion why they began continuing to this day But how sad is it to consider that this should be given as a reason That we have laid down these fasts because we are weary keeping them or are grown formall in keeping of them To break off from such a duty upon these terms is a lamentation and will be one What have we fasted away the tendernesse of our hearts and our sensiblenesse of Gods hand have we prayed away our zeal for God and our love to communion with him this is dreadfull But how dreadfull soever it is this which God forbid if it be so must be charged upon unbelief Why do any neglect fasts it is because they do not beleeve it will quit cost to observe them they beleeve more gain is to be got by working in their callings and more comfort will come in by letting themselves out in pleasures therefore they will not forbear their labours or abridge themselves for a day of their pleasures No man will afflict his body as in such daies he must much lesse his soul as in such daies he ought unlesse faith shew him a benefit which will bear his charge and comforts which will swallow up his sorrows in doing them And whence is it that many who appear outwardly in these duties are so formall rather personating the faster and petitioner then being fasters and petitioners is it not from unbelief They who have slight thoughts of a duty must needs act it slightly And whence is it that prayer and fasting are at any time successelesse and ineffectuall is not this from unbelief Praying without beleeving is a taking of Gods Name in vain and in regard of any fruit a vain help for man Prayer without faith is nothing but a noise of words meer babling it is but speaking not praying In the sixth of Matthew Christ reproves those who thought to be heard for their much speaking We shall surely be heard if we pray but a little but we shall never be heard how much soever we speak And if faith be mixt in the duty how long soever we continue speaking how many words yea repetitions soever we use in it Christ will not call it much speaking but much
from the words the first I shall but touch in generall take it thus Promises of mercy from God include mans duty Acts of spirituall duty and acts of corporall and civill duty Deliverance and establishment are promised to King Ahaz and his people but they cannot enjoy either except they beleeve The Lord made glorious promises for the restauration of Israel and concludes them all with this asseveration I the Lord have spoken it and I will do it Ezek. 36. 36. neverthelesse he adds ver 37. Thus saith the Lord God I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them What the Lord will do we must beleeve he will do and we must pray that he would do it These are acts of spirituall duty And these are not all when the Lord promises we must not only set our hearts awork to beleeve and pray but we must set our hands awork to labour and do While Iacob was travelling to Padan-aram the Lord appears to him in a vision at Bethel and thus encourages him Behold I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest and will bring thee again into this land for I will not leave thee till I have done all that I have spoken to thee of Gen. 28. 15. And when upon the discourteous usage of his uncle Laban he meditated a departure from him the Lord gives him his Passe-port ch 31. 2 Return unto the land of thy fathers and I will be with thee How might Iacob at the appearance of any danger have pleaded these promises and rested under the shadow of them for protection Lord I have thy word surer then the foundations of Heaven and earth for my safety unlesse thy truth or thy power fail I cannot miscarry let Esau threaten and muster all his forces against me let earth and hell enter league and associate themselves against me here I sit under the banner of those gracious promises which thou hast displayed over me I will not trouble my self Lord thou standest charg'd to keep me from all anoyance But doth Iacob make this use of the promise Nothing lesse He beleeves but he is not carelesse he trusts in God but he neglects not himself though God had said I will keep thee whither soever thou goest yet he labours to keep himself read how upon the approach of his bloudy brother he sends presents to appease him how he divides his flocks and family to make resistance or escape him That of Paul Acts 27. is eminent to this purpose where with his weather-beaten companions in that voyage having been in great stresse at sea he steps forth ver 22. to revive their fainting spirits with a comfortable message Be of good cheer for there shall be no losse of any mans life amongst you but of the ship For there stood by me this night the Angel of the Lord whose I am and whom I serve saying Fear not Paul thou must be brought before Caesar and lo God hath given thee all those that sail with thee Pauls faith closes fully with this promise ver 25. I beleeve God that it shall be even as he hath told me Yet at the 31 verse when the ship-men under colour of casting out Anchors were about to escape in the cock-boat Paul saith to the Centurion and the Souldiers except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved Not saved Paul where then is the word and promise of thy God upon which thou didst even now so confidently pronounce safety to us all If we run out of the way of God we run out of the word of God To rely upon the word and then go out of the way of God is not faith but presumption Providence will not serve our negligence neither will the promise keep us except we keep the condition of the promise If ye beleeve not surely ye shall not be established Observe secondly Without beleeving there is no establishing Vnbelief is a barre in the way of promised blessings I saith the Prophet have made you large promises but take heed ye do not straiten the hand of God in giving out the mercy promised As faith stops the severest threatnings of destruction so unbelief stops the sweetest promises of deliverance Jonah prophesies chap. 3. 4. Yet fourty daies and Nineveh shall be overthrown but the faith of Nineveh overthrew that prophecie the City stood and the prophecie fell Why The people of Nineveh beleeved God and proclaimed a fast c. ver 5. What faith can do to a prophecie of judgement the same can unbelief to a promise of mercy overthrow it The Psalmist assignes this to the unbelief of the works of God as well as of his word Psal 78. 32 33. They beleeved not his wondrous works therefore their daies did he consume in vanity and their years in trouble But are not the daies of all men consumed in vanity Is not man at his best estate altogether vanity Yes but here was a speciall vanity and somewhat more poenall and judiciall lay upon that generation for their unbelief then lies upon man-kinde as the fruit of sinne in generall And what was that even the evil threatned in the text they could not be established God lets them wander fourty years in a wildernesse up and down forward and backward now in hope anon in fear now in joy anon in sorrow now a successe by and by a disappointment They looked for Canaan but to Canaan they could not come they looked for a setled condition but God kept them upon uncertainties they went toyling about the wildernesse to seek a passage out yet most of them found none but at the door of the grave this was the spending of their years in vanity and they spent them thus because of their unbelief The land of Canaan was so much promised to the Israelites that it was called the land of promise yet unbelief kept them out fourty years The Apostle is as plain Heb. 3. 19. So we see they could not enter in because of unbelief Their unbelief built a wall between them and Canaan it locked up the passages so fast that they could not enter in And as it blockt up the way against the unbeleeving Israelites so against Moses the Captain and conductor of Israel he must deliver up his leading-staff and resign his Commission to his servant Ioshua he must die on this side Iordan The reason is given Numb 20. 12. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron saying Because ye beleeve me not to sanctifie me in the eies of the children of Israel therefore ye shall not bring this Congregation into the land which I have given them The Prophet Ieremiah chap. 17. 5. pronounceth a curse upon the man that trusteth upon man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the Lord. The Apostle expounds whose heart that is Heb. 3. 12. Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living
unbelief Every sinne in the nature of it is a barre in the way of mercy Ier. 5. 25. Your iniquities have turned away these things and your sinnes have withholden good things from you But unbelief is a huge mountain and when once we have removed the mountain of unbelief all other mountains will quickly become plains and vallies before us Unbelief is a sinne of a very high stature a sinne of the first magnitude it is a spirituall wickednesse and therefore a great wickednesse There is much dispute among the learned whether unbelief were not the first sinne that which opened the door to let in every sinne I beleeve we shall not wrong unbelief in giving it precedencie or in affirming that as unbelief now shuts the door and keeps out mercy so unbelief opened the door to let in misery upon the world it was faith respecting the threatning of God which the Devil laid his first siege against and against which he first prevailed Man had never eaten the forbidden fruit had he beleeved death was in the morsell Hence unbelief is called a provocation To be provoked is more then to be displeased Provocation notes the highest act of displeasure and therefore that sinne which is a provocation is one of the highest sinnes A day of unbelief is a day of provocation Heb. 3. 8. Harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of tentation in the wildernesse Now what was the provocation of that day or by what did the people provoke God at that time Was it the making of a molten Calf and falling down before it Was it the joyning themselves unto Baal-Peor and eating the offerings of the dead Was adultery or unclenenesse acted in the day of that provocation All these are provoking sinnes yet none of these denominated that day a day of provocation unbelief gave the name to that day For the Israelites provoked God at the red sea Psal 106. 7. and that was before they made their idol calfe to worship it and before they fell into those bodily abominations and defiled themselves their fear and murmurings storied Exod. 14. were but the overflowings of their unbelief and these provoked God at the red sea Again The greatnesse of the sinne appears from the many provisions which God hath made against it God hath even studied the prevention or the cure of this sinne He hath appointed faith many helps much assistance he hath prepared many antidotes against many remedies for unbelief Now look how much the more provision God makes to keep us off or pull us out of any sinne by so much the greater is that sinne if we fall into or continue in it When God gives many charges against a sinne and sets many barres in the way to stop us from it and yet we break thorow all this mightily aggravates a sinne and makes it out of measure sinfull For the cure of unbelief we have not only the Word of God but secondly the Promise of God and thirdly the Covenant of God and fourthly the Oath of God fiftly all elder and later experiences the mighty works which God hath done the signes which he hath given the wonders and miracles which he hath wrought Hence after Christ had preached and done many wondrous works among his countrymen it is said Mark 6. 6. that he marvelled at the unbelief of the Iews unbelief is a marvellous sinne and which makes it most marvellous Christ marvelled at it We read not that Christ marvelled at any other sinne of that generation he marvelled not at their adulteries or oaths or hypocrisie c. why then doth he marvell at their unbelief Not because it is a sinne above or besides the nature of man nor because it was a rare sinne a sinne he had not seen before Unbelief is as levell to our sinfull nature and as daily acted as any sin whatsoever The reason then of this marvell was the strange course which those men ran and all do in acting their unbelief They over-run and sleight the word of God the promise of God the Covenant of God the Oath of God all the works the wonders marvels and miracles of God is not this a marvellous sinne which breaks thorow all these Lastly Unbelief is a very great sin for it is the mother of most sins and the sweetner of every sinne many sinnes had never seen the light and all sinne would be gall and wormewood bitternesse in the acting did man beleeve it would be as it will be bitternesse in the end Unbelief gilds over that poisonous pill and wraps it up in sugar and so man takes it down as a sweet bit as pleasant bread with death and hell and all If then a great sinne be a barre to blessings unbelief must which was in order the first sinne which is in kinde a spirituall sinne in degree one of the greatest sinnes a provoking sinne a marvellous sinne a mother sinne a promoter of sinne Secondly Unbelief is a stop in the way of blessing and establishment because it diverts us from the fountain of blessings from him who only can establish from him who bears up the pillars of Kingdoms when they shake and totter If not then where and who is he Job 9. 24. shew me the creature man or Angel that can do these things The Apostle describes unbelief to be a departure from God Heb. 3. 12. That which carrieth us away from the fountain carries us from the waters that which carrieth us from the Sunne must needs carry us from the light If then unbelief carry us away from God who is our fountain who is our Sunne who is all good and who hath all good how or where or by whom shall we be either comforted or established Is it possible to gain by deserting him who is our treasure upon what coasts shall we trade to fraught our vessels when we have loosed and set sayl from Heaven As that Disciple said unto Christ Joh. 6. 68. when he questioned them Will ye also go away Go away saith Peter Lord to whom shall we go Thou hast the words of eternall life Where shall we mend our selves where shall we have life if we go from thee who hast the words of eternall life So may we say to whom shall we go when a dying distressed Kingdom lies upon our hands where shall we get help or strength or deliverance if we depart from God the living God the God who gives and preserves the life both of persons and nations Thirdly The stability of a people is founded upon promises but unbelief attempts to shake the promises and more to make them of none effect Though we have precious promises laden and enricht with blessings yet we can do nothing with them nor make any earnings out of them except we set faith to work upon them Nothing can fetch out the sweetnesse of a promise but faith nothing can suck those brests or draw water out of those wels of salvation but faith faith makes a living out of a word of promise but unbelief will
let us die and starve in the midst and throng of all the promises yea unbelief as to us destroyeth the promises and cuts the sinews of them so that they cannot stirre hand or foot to help us Yet further unbelief as much as in it lies turnes all the promises into fallacies and the truth of God into a lie Faith feeds upon the goodnesse of the promises and unbelief devours the truth of them Surely they shall never receive the good of a promise who deny and destroy the truth of a promise A fourth reason is this Unbelief destroys all former mercies therefore certainly unbelief will hinder future mercies by unbelief God loses all the favours he hath bestowed upon us when we beleeve not what is to be done we unbeleeve all that God hath done He that having been pardoned his sinne doth not beleeve that God will pardon him still unbeleeves that he was ever pardoned It is so in the case of temporals And can we think he will bestow new favours where he hath lost those he hath bestowed God will never trust that which distrusts him The seven lean kine of Pharaoh eat up the fat kine though we have had seven fat kine and full ears of corn though God hath given us seven full mercies seven great deliverances yet unbelief will swallow them all at a bit as it were and yet be as lean and empty as before We see it clearly in that passage of the people of Israel Exod. 14. 11. God had wrought a great deliverance for them he had brought them out of Egypt with a strong hand and they had seen the wonders of God ten times there but as soon as ever they came to the red sea unbelief seized upon them Oh they should never overcome that difficulty never get past that danger What doth this their unbelief even what I have said it devoured all former mercies Nay it not only took away former mercies but turned them into afflictions and crosses so we may enterpret their complaint Because there were no graves in Egypt hast thou taken us away to die in the wildernesse wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt for it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians then that we should die in the wildernesse See how angry they were at former mercies how they preferre bondage before deliverance Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us out of Egypt Can we judge a people who are angry with former mercies fit to receive new mercies Such is the language of unbelief at this day How many in their distresses when they are brought as it were unto the red sea wish that this Reformation had never been begunne it had been better for them to have served their old task-masters both in spirituals and in temporals then to endure such hardship then to run such hazzards and be at such cost to free themselves they look upon all the wonders which God hath wrought as matters of their sorrow We see what we have brought our selves to O that we had suffered any thing rather then what we suffer Fiftly Unbelief robs God of his honour and that which takes glory from God must needs hinder mercy from man we can never enrich our selves by robbing God unbelief is a God-robbing sinne and it robbes God of that which is most precious to him unbelief is a bold sinne it goes into Gods Cabinet and takes away his chiefest jewell it takes away that which he saith he will not give away his glory The glory of God is nothing else but Isa 42. 8. that reputation which he hath in the world I speak not of his essentiall glory which he hath from all eternity and shall have whether men beleeve or no but I speak of his extrinsecall manifestative and declarative glory this unbelief obscureth and casteth a vail upon yea steals quite away You know a mans glory is gone when his credit is gone if a man be in such a condition that no man will beleeve him or take his word or give him credit that man hath lost all his honour and reputation in the world Now unbelief makes God of no credit in the world let him speak what he will let him give his word his hand his covenant his seal his oath he hath no credit among unbeleevers It is said of the old Saints Heb. 11. 2. that by faith they obtained a good report There is no grace brings so much honour to man as faith doth and I do assure you there is no grace brings God so much honour as faith doth by faith God himself obtains a good report among the Saints His Name is great among those who are of great faith Gods Name is up when our hearts are up in beleeving and his Name is down when our hearts are down in unbelief He that receiveth the testimony of God sets to his Joh. 3. 33. seal that God is true but he that will not receive the testimony of God he as much as he can hath set to his seal that God is false The Apostle quaeries Rom. 3. 3. What if some did not beleeve shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect His denying question implies that this was the attempt of unbelief even to make the faith of God that is the faithfullnesse of God of none effect It is as if he should say This is it which these by their unbelief would do or to do which there is a tendencie in unbelief God doth and will right himself in honour shew himself faithfull though all the world should prove liars and unbeleevers But no thanks to unbelief that would put the highest dishonour upon God even that of falsehood to his own word and unfaithfullnesse to his people Consider this can we thrive by endamaging God or is it probable God will encrease our comforts while we are decocting and wasting his honour From all these considerations the point is clearly demonstrated that unbelief is the stop of publike blessings and therefore I conclude for the truth of it That Without beleeving there can be no establishing Hence learn first how excellent and usefull a grace faith is Some think little of employing faith in any businesse beyond the line of the justification of a sinner But as the Saints of old so we may make other improvements of it For as by faith the walls of Jericho were shaken and fell down Heb. 11. 30. so by faith the walls of Jerusalem may be setled and raised up As by faith those ancient Worthies subdued Kingdoms so by faith at this day we may establish Kingdoms We must not only go to prayer by faith but to counsell by faith and to warre by faith by this grace we may wax valiant in fight and turn to flight the Armies of the aliens ver 34. When Jehoshaphats Armies went forth to battell his military Oration had but this flower
praying Though he reproved much speaking yet he neither did nor ever will reprove much praying Now unbelief makes that which is commonly called praying how much soever it is to be but much speaking And for that because Christ is not in it neither man nor nation shall be heard The establishing of an unsetled Kingdom calls as for the highest and purest motions of reason in counselling so for the holiest and most spirituall motions of faith in praying But as unbelief darkens the light of reason that it cannot see or holds it in unrighteousnesse so it clips the wings of prayer that it cannot ascend or returns it answerlesse Fourthly Should it be said Instruments have been unfaithfull they have not acted up to the highest either of their abilities or of their duties and therefore surely we are not established Then I must return unbelief as guilty of this unfaithfullnesse Want of faith is the cause of all the unfaithfullnesse that ever was in the world the very root of apostasie both from God and man Faith keeps the heart steady and will see us die rather then offer a thought of withdrawing from a known duty Faith blasts all tempting objects yea it out-bids all tempers shewing greater good in doing our duty then the world can offer us for omitting or falling off from it shewing us greater evil in neglecting our duty then the world can threaten us with for doing or comming up to it When Paul began to be jealous of his Thessalonians 1 Ep. 3. 5 6 7. Lest by some means the tempter had tempted them he presently sent a messenger to them to know how their faith did and as soon as the messenger returned bringing good tiding of their faith namely that their faith was in heart and in good plight Paul was comforted he knew as long as their faith stood they would stand against all temptations he might turn them loose into the world they would take no hurt A beleever is the greatest conquerer This is the victory that overcommeth the world even our faith 1 Joh. 5. 4. and that which betrayes us into the hand of every temptation is unbelief It makes men act basely and render themselves prisoners to every promise of preferment or hope of profit to every whispering threat of danger and fear of losse Where unbelief reigns it either divides the man or amazes him either it makes him an hypocrite with two hearts or a coward without a heart And between those who have two hearts and those who have no hearts the best work in the world may soon miscarry Unbelief nurses ignoble emulations undue ambitions base covetousnesse it moves to self-seeking caries to self-ends makes the spirit poor and private it bids us shift and comply with all humours and advises to follow not the reason goodnesse truth or justice of an undertaking but the successes or advantages of it Fiftly Some charge our unsettlement upon unresolvednesse fearfullnesse and want of courage in carrying on the work If so These also I see by their complexion are the children of unbelief for that is it which causeth a man to hang like a meteor in the ayr between Heaven and earth not knowing which way to move They who have little faith have much fear and they who have no faith are in a readinesse to be all fear to be slain by fear so were they of whom the Prophet Jeremie speaks chap. 22. 1. They are slain and not by the sword Fear saves the enemy a labour courage in battell is usually flatted by unbelief and though some may shew valour who have no faith yet faith is the truest spring and support of valour By faith they waxed valiant in fight Heb. 11. Courage in counselling and reforming fades also and dies away by unbelief Vnbelief makes a man afraid of displeasing any one but God It speakes as the messenger to Micaiah 1 King 22. 13. Let thy word be like one of them and speak that which is good Many have given counsell before suiting both the humour and design of the King therefore said that messenger do thou vote with them too let there be no dissent among the Prophets speak that which is good that which is pleasingly good he meant no matter whether it be justly or truly good else it may go ill with thee thou mayest be cast in prison and fed with the bread of affliction and the water of affliction With such words as these will unbelief if it be admitted to speak its minde prepare the heart for counsell every morning It tells such fearfull stories or lying prophecies rather as will not let a man speak or act beyond his own interests When Hezekiah made that bold reformation removing the high places breaking the Images cutting down the groves and breaking in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses made and was now made an Idol calling it Nehushtan to the record of those noble acts the Holy Ghost affixes the character of the agent He trusted in the Lord God of Israel 2 King 18. 4 5. What difficulty or danger will not trust in God carry man thorow in Gods way And sutely it carried Hezekiah thorow very great ones in that his zealous reformation What visions of fear and danger might unbelief have represented to Hezekiah What! remove the highest places it may remove you from your high place will you cut down the groves that act may cut down your life will you break the Images especially that famous one the Brazen serpent take heed it be not the breaking of your Kingdome Do you not know how your people are engaged to these courses I grant they are superstitious but this nation will not easily part with them if you will be so strict in reforming you may embroil all Consider what the Kingdom will bear enquire how the City will take this and how the countrey it is wisedom to look to your own peace and to follow safe counsels as well as right or holy counsels How did the faith of Hezekiah triumph over these discouraging base suggestions And if ever any have been or shall be led into captivity by their power resolve it that man was first captivated by unbelief Sixtly Some charge our non-establishment upon our carnall confidence our trusting in an arme of flesh They will tell us we have made an Idol of the Parliament an Idol of our Armies we have leaned so much upon our staves that we have broken some of them crackt others and endangered the rest If this be a true charge I must lay it as all the former upon the back of unbelief They who beleeve God too little do alwaies beleeve man too much that which makes God but as a man will quickly make man as a God whereas faith while it causes us to be so diligent in the use of means as if God would do nothing for us causeth us so to withdraw our trust from the means as if God were to do all for us faith shews us as much need of
God in our fullnesse as in our wants It is a hard thing to depend upon God in the weaknesse and want of means but it is harder to depend upon him in the fullnesse and strength of means This is the noblest act of faith And though we know in Heaven sense will swallow up faith yet on earth faith ought to swallow up our sense When we see and hear and enjoy most of the creature we should be as if we heard and saw and enjoyed nothing of the creature but lived upon God alone Observe this instanced in two great Kings Asa had an Army of men that bare targets and spears out of Iudah three hundred thousand and out of Benjamin that bare shields and drew bowes two hundred and fourscore thousand 2 Chron. 14. 8. A gallant Army Yet when Zerah the Ethiopian came against him with a more numerous Army Asa cried unto the Lord his God and said Lord it is nothing with thee to help with many or with them that have no power ver 11. But are six hundred thousand men no power Asa's faith saw no power in this compleat Army that he might see all power in God and engage him in the battell We rest on thee let not man prevail against thee He makes nothing of his Army in case of victory while he made nothing of it in case of an overthrow Let not man prevail against thee That of Jehoshaphat is yet more full who had an Army of eleven hundred and threescore thousand fighting men besides his Garisons for the field as appears upon his muster-roll 2 Chron. 17. 14 15 16 c. yet when the Moabites and the Ammonites made warre upon him he prays thus chap 20. 12. O our God wilt thou not judge them for we have no might against this great company that commeth against us neither know we what to do but our eyes are upon thee What had he no might knew he not what to do when he had 1160000 men in the field No not he He had no eye to see these or any thing but God and therefore saith Our eyes are not upon our Armies but upon thee In this faith of the creatures nothingnesse and the all-sufficiencie of God he prevailed over the Ammonites as Asa had done before over Zerah the Ethiopian We then receive most by humane helps when we expect least unbelief either takes our hearts off from God or which is as dangerous divides them upon the creature for when we lean upon two of which one is infirm we shall not stand by that which is strong but fall by that which is weak faith bids us use means and unbelief bids us trust it And though faith will trust some means in regard of their faithfullnesse yet it will trust none in regard of effectualnesse As God calls for all our obedience so for all our confidence confidence in man is ever accompanied with jealousies upon God such confidences God rejects and therefore we have not we cannot prosper in them Should this inquisition be enlarg'd and the lot cast to finde out every accursed thing which hath obstructed the influences of Heaven from making this Land a quiet habitation I might with like ease and cleernesse resolve them all into unbelief and therefore I leave unbelief under the guilt of this grand charge The Kingdoms enemy the hellish vapour which continues this our long Church-quake and State-quake or in the word of the text The stop of our establishment Let me then a while call in the help of faith as the noblest expedient for the cure of all our evils It is said Joh. 7. 37. that In the last day of the feast Jesus stood and cried saying He that beleeveth on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water Will it not be seasonable in this great day of your Fast and solemn humiliation to lift up a voice for faith and cry out saying If ye beleeve surely ye shall be established Set faith awork in every work let it be an ingredient in all your counsels in all your actions Ye act but as men not as the people of God as a Roman not as a Christian Senate without faith As by faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice then Cain his brother so by faith one offers the Church the state better advice then his neighbour When you prepare armes and Armies arme your selves with this shield Faith is the best weapon It will quench the fiery darts of men as well as the fiery darts of the Devil if your Armies were weak faith would recruit and strengthen them now they are strong faith will continue and encrease them when your affairs are at a stand faith will put them in motion faith is a friend at a dead lift If there be but a little meal in your barrell and a little oyl in your cruze faith will lead you into the store-houses of Heaven and shew you all the treasures and riches which are laid up there As Hezekiah led the Ambassadors of Babylon from chamber to chamber and shewed them all the riches and provisions of his royall house both for peace and warre so will faith but upon better principles take you by the hand and lead you from one attribute of God to another and shew you all fullnesse of all things there unsearchable riches of mercy here unchangeable faithfullnesse there infinite strength and here purest exactest wisedom to improve and manage it We can never be at a losse while we can beleeve for that will finde out helpe for us when sense can see none when reason and policie can project none If Information be desired how or when we act by faith towards publike establishment take it thus First Faith acts in the strength upon the truth and goodnesse of a promise Promises are the aire and element in which faith breathes and lives Faith languishes unlesse fed and dieted by divine engagements it relishes no fare but of Gods own providing it must have a promise in the word or a promise in the works of God to rest upon The works of God have a promise in them as well as the word of God and are therefore the objects of faith not only as faith notes the beleeving of what is done but also as it notes the beleeving of what is to be done In which sense we are to understand that reproof of the Jews Psal 78. 32. They beleeved not his wondrous works They did beleeve the history of his works namely that such things as are there recorded were done They could not but beleeve that God had wrought wonders for them in Egypt that he had drowned Pharaoh in and brought them safe thorow the red sea they saw these things their senses were witnesses but yet they did not beleeve the prophecie or promise which was vertually in those works namely that God would do more wonders for them till he had finisht and accomplisht their deliverance That history of their bringing thorow the red sea
For when faith is up and acts strongly upon this point that God is able it seldome doubts about his will We have a great instance of this Numb 11. 19. when God promised Moses to spread such a table in the wildernesse that all the Israelites should eat flesh not only one day or two daies or five daies or ten daies or twenty daies but even a whole moneth Moses begins to argue ver 21. The people amongst whom I am are six hundred thousand foot-men and thou hast said I will give them flesh that they may eat a whole moneth As if Moses had said Lord I pray consider your words are you able to make good your promise shall the flocks and the herds be slain for them to suffice them Or shall the fish of the sea be gathered together for them to suffice them What is the meaning of these questions even that Moses himself doubted whether God could performe this whether God had not out-promised his own power That it was so is seen clearly by the answer that God makes ver 23. And the Lord said unto Moses Is the Lords hand waxed short Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to passe or not The hand of God is the power of God and the shortning of his hand the shortning of his power Is Gods power shortned Moses his question intimated that it was So Isa 59. 1. The Lords hand is not shortned that he cannot save Now as in Common-wealths good Laws shew ill manners for Laws are medicines applied by wise Magistrates to cure the severall distempers of a people so good counsels and proofs shew the evil which is in the heart of man When God askes the question Is my hand shortned when he saith My hand is not shortned we may gather Moses and the Jews had an apprehension that Gods hand was shortned that his power was not so great as he had reported Again If it be not doubting of the power of God why do we beleeve least when dangers are greatest in little dangers we beleeve God is willing why not in greater dangers surely because then a greater power is required so that the stick is at the power of God though usually his will be pretended When Abraham that mighty giant in beleeving had overcome this difficulty that God was able nothing stood in his way Rom. 4. 19 20. Being not weak in faith he considered not his own body now dead neither yet the deadnesse of Sarah's womb he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully perswaded that he who had promised was able also to performe Observe he doth not say that Abraham was fully perswaded God was willing to performe what he had promised Abrahams faith acted most to assure and settle him that God was able to performe And as soon as he gave glory to God by beleeving him all-sufficient his faith had no stop So the holy Ghost expresseth the other great triall of his faith Heb. 11. 19. when he was called to sacrifice his sonne he was in a great strait but in what was his faith most tried It was about the power of God God had promised him a sonne and in that sonne a great blessing to himself and all Nations Now the text saith not that he doubted not of the will of God but he accounted that God was able to raise him up from the dead from whence also he had received him in a figure when he was setled in that he never staid at the offering up his sonne And if we search our hearts to the bottome we shall finde that our doubtings reflect most upon the power of God and we shorten his hand though we commonly say we are uncertain of his will I answer secondly to those who say they doubt of the will of God and not of his power that though we cannot directly and positively affirm God will do a thing because he can do it yet there is a mighty argument to help faith out that God will do a thing when we are assured that he can Where there wants power faith cannot work at all When the woman in Samaria bespake the King 2 King 6. 27. Help my Lord O King the King answered her If the Lord do not help thee whence shall I help thee out of the barne-floor or out of the wine-presse As if he had said There 's nothing in the barne nothing in the wine-presse and I cannot make corne or wine What could this woman expect further Where power is at an end faith is at an end too But seeing the power of God is never at an end therefore our faith in comming to him needs not Thirdly God hath exprest himself in Scripture as much yea more for his willingnesse then for his power to help therefore we need not make our uncertainty of his will the reason of our unbelief when we say we are assured of his power God hath said He is Almighty c. but there are not onely words importing that God is willing to help his people but promises and oaths that he will Ps 50. 15. Call upon me and I will deliver thee Eze. 33. 11. As I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked that place is meant primarily of a civill death a death in trouble but that the wicked turn from his way and live Yea God hath manifested a willingnesse to help a people which his power hath not seconded but he never manifested his power when his will did not concurre that most passionate exclamation O Ierusalem Ierusalem How often would I have gathered thee c. Implies a generall willingnesse in Christ to gather Jerusalem yet Christ did not act his divine power effectually for their gathering Lastly I say to such though we may not argue that God will do a thing because he hath power yet we may argue from the power of God that a thing shall be done if he hath already expressed any willingnesse to do it and made any offers or assayes towards the doing of it The Apostle would have the weak brother received Rom. 14. 1. upon this ground He shall be holden up vers 4. He affirmes confidently that He shall be holden up what doth he ground this confidence upon upon the will of God No upon his power For God is able to make him stand But how could the Apostle argue thus peremptorily from the power of God that the thing should be done He gave intimation before of the willingnesse of God for he had said in the close of the third verse God hath received him I see God hath favoured this man though he be weak therefore because I see he is one on whom God hath bestowed some mercy already I will therefore argue confidently that mercy shall be perfected he shall stand because God is able to make him stand for he hath received him We may argue thus for the publike
so he shewes them reason why they should not First from the persons who appeared so dreadfull ver 4. They are but two tails of smoaking firebrands As if he had said You look upon these men as a devouring fire or unquenchable flames but I assure you they do but smoak and they are but brands and they are but tayls of brands they have almost consumed themselves they are but brands ends and they are smoaking rather then burning As that phrase in the Gospel smoaking flax notes the lowest degree of grace which Jesus Christ will not quench or put out so here smoaking firebrands note the least degree of remaining power or malice almost spent and going out not in regard of desires but abilities to do mischief Again As the Lord shewes their power so neer extinct that they could do no great hurt so he declares his own will that they should not vers 7. For thus saith the Lord It shall not stand neither shall it come to passe Ther 's no reason we should run for fear when we are assured the counsels of our enemies shall not stand They are confederate but they shall be broken they have taken counsel but it shall not stand neither shall it come to passe The counsels of men stand or fall at the pleasure of God The opposition of all creatures cannot hinder one of his counsels and all their endeavours cannot produce one of their own Though a conclave of Achitophels every one an Oracle should lay a design yet it is at the will of God whether it shall succeed The policie of man is no match for God thus saith the Lord it shall not stand Not stand why who is able to throw it down by whose hand shall it fall Syria and Ephraim are mighty in power as well as deep in policie shall their counsels be made voide The Prophet Amos knowing the weaknesse of Iacob questions chap. 7. 2. By whom shall Jacob arise for he is small And the Prophet Isaiah knowing the strength of Syria and Ephraim might question By whom shall these fall for they are great Yes saith God I assure you how great so ever they are they shall not stand I can reckon up the greatest of their strength and the top of their confederacies The head of Syria that is the chief power and strength of Syria is Damascus the mother City and the head of Damascus is Rezin the King of Syria and in threescore and five yeers shall Ephraim be broken that it be not a people And the head of Ephraim is Samaria I can tell you likewise what strength Ephraim hath and who is the strongest person there The head of Samaria is Remaliahs sonne I can soon cast up all the power of your enemies I can go to the very head of it it is but Damascus and Rezin and Samaria and Remaliahs sonne this is the outside of their strength We may quickly see an end of all worldly perfections both in power and policie Now that which is secretly implied and couched in this contemptuous account of Ephraims and Syrias strength is that Iudah had such a head as they were not able to reach such forces as they were not able to tell over much lesse to triumph over It is as if he had said You see the head of Syria and the head of Ephraim but the head of Iudah is Ierusalem and the head of Ierusalem is Jesus Christ Who is able to reach the head of Iudah which is Jerusalem while that hath Jesus Christ for the head of it who is Rezin or Remaliahs son put into the balance with Jesus Christ The Prophet having brought them this message not to fear and strengthened it with these reasons concludes all with an Epiphonema in the words of the text If ye will not beleeve surely ye shall not be established As if he had said I have brought you as good newes as you can desire should the Lord have sent you down a blank from Heaven and bid you write the wishes of your own hearts in this condition and engag'd his own faithfullnesse and all-sufficiency to performe them what could you have requested that I have not offered could you frame any more sutable mercies as your case stands then these that your enemies shall fall that their counsels shall not stand that their projects shall not come to passe yet let me tell you ye may obstruct these blessings and deprive your selves of this promised deliverance your unbelief may weaken the arm of your salvation and re-inkindle these smoaking brands into a consuming flame your unbelief may shake your kingdome more then your feares have hitherto shakt your hearts If ye beleeve not surely ye shall not be established The words are diversly read The margin of our Bibles gives them thus out of the Hebrew Do ye not beleeve it is because ye are not stable As if he should say What! after the report of these gracious promises do ye persist in your fear still are you yet in your trembling fit ye are unbeleeving sure and therefore ye are unstable An unbeleeving heart must needs be when put to it a trembling heart The Septuagint give us another sense If ye beleeve not ye shall not understand according to which translation the text is often cited by the Ancients to prove that the Iewes did not therefore understand the Scripture because they did not beleeve faith is the light as well as the strength of the soul and they who are shut up in unblief are usually shut up in ignorance Our reading sutes the Prophets message and bears fair with the Grammaticall construction of the text If ye will not beleeve surely ye shall not be established though ye have heard of much good you shall not taste a drop of it though God hath infinite strength for you yet he will not put forth the least of it except ye beleeve There is an elegant Paronomasia â—â—â—phil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 crâ—dâ—dâ—â— fiâ—it in nâ—phal tabile statum esse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Originall That word which in the active Conjugation signifies to beleeve signifies to be established in the passive If ye beleeve not Unbelief is of two sorts either first an impotencie or inability to beleeve or secondly a crookednesse or perversenesse of disposition against the means of beleeving understand this text of the latter Again unbelief may be taken either in generall in reference to the whole revealed will of God or secondly in particular in reference to some speciall manifestation of it The Jewes to whom the Prophet here speaks were all beleevers in the former notion but many of them proved unbeleevers in the latter even as on the other hand the Ninevites who were unbeleevers in respect of the generall word proved beleevers in regard of that speciall revelation by the Prophet Ionah Surely ye shall not be established That is ye in your politike capacity as a Kingdome and Commonwealth shall not be established Two points arise
had this prophecie in it that they should be brought safe to Canaan but they did not beleeve the voice of this prophecie When God gave them water out of the rock this work promised that he would give them meat out of the clouds if they needed it but this they beleeved not Hence the same Psalme reports their unbelief under this notion ver 19 20. They spake against God they said Can God furnish a table in the wildernesse Behold he smote the rock that the waters gushed out and the streams overflowed Can he give bread also Can he provide flesh also for his people When the Lord heard this language of unbelief he was wroth Then faith moves in the highest region of holinesse when it sees all to be done in what is done when it reads meat promised in waters given and conquers a Goliah in the conquest of a Lion when a slain Leviathan is its food in the wildernesse And thus the Lord directs the faith of his ancient people Deut. 7. 17. to outwrestle the greatest dangers If thou shalt say in thine heart these Nations are moe then I how can I dispossesse them thou shalt not be afraid of them but shalt well remember what the Lord thy God did unto Pharaoh and unto all Egypt c. Hence the reason why the people of Israel provoked God at the red sea by their fears and murmurings is thus given Psal 106. 7. They remembred not the multitude of thy mercies If then at any time you think your selves scanted in promises send back your thoughts to those many experiences both of elder and later dates The invincible Navy in 88. overcome the secret Powder-plot discovered and blown up your yesterday protections deliverances successes victories should all be served up to the table of your hearts for faith to feed upon and nourish it self up into a holy confidence That he who hath delivered you from so great a death and doth deliver will yet deliver you that thanks may be given by us all in this behalf Secondly As faith acts upon the truth and goodnesse of a promise so alwaies by the justice and holinesse of a rule No man can act that by faith which is either unlawfull to be done or is done unlawfully Faith acts in the eye of God and therefore must act holily Faith tells us that God hath no need of our sins to promote his cause and that we must not lye for God Thirdly He that acts by faith will look that his end be as good as his rule As faith will not do evil that good may come of it so neither will it do good that evil may come of it or that such a private personall good may come of it as is over-balanc'd with publike generall evils Faith never drives a trade knowingly for it self with wrong to the common stock Fourthly Faith carries with it cheerfullnesse opposite to worldly sorrow courage opposite to worldly fear resolvednesse opposite to base neutralitry zeal opposite to lazie lukewarmenesse boldnesse opposite to sinfull modesty and a sober confidence of successe or an assurance that our labour shall not be in vain opposite to all heart-sinking doubts and despondencies of spirit Thus he doth who acts by faith and all this faith will do yet not every faith True faith will do the former three but the fourth is a task for strong faith It was the Apostles caution Rom. 14. 1. Him that is weak in the faith receive but not to doubtfull disputations The works of God put us as hard questions as his word The disputes of providence are often very hard disputes A weak faith may soon be overmatch by them But where faith is strong and vigorous it will unty all those knots resolve all those doubts run thorow all that work with ease That must needs keep our souls steady and make us unwearied in the work of the Lord which fetches in constant supplies and feeds our lamp with oil as fast as it spends which wipes off our sweat and causeth us to act in his strength who can do all things But were it not better to fear alwaies then to be so high slown in faith were it not better to prepare for the worst times then to be confident of good or better I do not counsell any to slacken their preparation for evil and worser times while I stirre up your mindes to beleeve and waite for the best Sit down as oft as you please and prepare for death for sword for famine and for spoiling Sit down and commune with your own hearts upon your beds about these things Put the case to your selves and act the part of sufferers under hardest pressures Think what to do if the sword were at your brests and the fire in your houses But in the midst of your preparations for evil take heed of casting away the hopes of good An evil heart of unbelief is seven fold worse then all the evils that can fall upon you And though all the unkinde distractions and divisions at home with the oppositions abroad being considered the way of faith lies very much up-hill yea up mountains and craggy rocks yet know There is no danger so great or exigent so dreadfull which can be a plea for unbelief If any people might have been excused for their unbelief the people of Israel might for they had an Army behind them the sea before them and the mountains on either side so that the enemy said I will pursue I will overtake I will divide the spoile my lust shall be satisfied upon them I will draw my sword mine hand shall destroy them Exod. 15. 9. yet their unbelief is taxed as a provocation Never speak of the greatnesse of danger to lessen faith for dangers are the element of faith among them faith lives most because among them faith findes most promises When we have least of the world about us we have most of the word about us and when we have most of the world against us we have more of the word for us Faith hath best food in famine the fullest table in a wildernesse Faith like the Horse Job 39. 19. rejoyceth in its strength for it is the strength of God and goeth out to meet the armed men Faith mocketh at fear and is not affrighted neither turneth back from the sword A second sort mannage the objection further We know God is able be the difficulties never so great to deliver but we are not acquainted with his will How then can we act faith how can we be confident as you would have us We indeed may say as he in the Gospell Lord if thou wilt thou canst make us clean thou canst settle and establish us But we are uncertain of his will though we are sure of his power To these I answer First That howsoever the uncertainty of the will of God be usually held forth as a plea for doubting and unbelief yet most doubt and are unbeleeving upon suspition of the power of God
This Kingdom shall be holden up for God is able to make it stand How so God hath received it Do yee perceive no breakings forth of the love of God to his people in this Kingdom Hath he done nothing which intimates he hath received this people Surely he hath therefore we may argue God is able to make us stand therefore we shall be holden up for God hath received us A third objection is thus raised You will have us beleeve that we shall be established but I pray shew us a word for our faith Can you give us any promise Isaiah here brought a promise immediatly from Heaven he told the people from the mouth of God that they should be established can you do so too Faith is a wise grace Faith loves not to build upon the sand much lesse to build castles in the ayr Faith must have a sure foundation and nothing will serve faiths turne but the word of God It will not build upon the bare word of all the Preachers in the world As the great Mathematician said Shew me a place where I shall set mine engine and I will shake all the earth so saith faith Give me but a sure word whereupon I may fix my foot I will carry any thing but where is that word to be found what 's the text chapter and verse that England shall be established or have you any extraordinary revelation that it shall 'T is granted We have no such revelations as Isaiah brought to Ahaz and his people but we have that which serves faiths turn sufficiently and so much as amounts to a particular promise I may say There is as much ground in Scripture for faith to build on for the present temporall salvation of this distressed Kingdom as any man at first hath or had in Scripture to beleeve his eternall salvation I clear it thus Suppose we comming to a man lying in the state of nature and under trouble of conscience for his sinne should offer him Christ and pardon and he should say Shew a promise which belongs to me What promise could we tender him could we bring one with his name literally in it doth any promise speak explicitely Thomas or John do thou beleeve and thou shalt be saved There is no such word for the salvation of any man There are promises of three sorts in Scripture First Promises of free grace that God will justifie the ungodly and pardon sinne for his own Names sake Secondly Promises of grace that God will give faith repentance love and a new heart c. Thirdly Promises unto grace that if we beleeve and repent we shall be saved Promises of these three sorts are all we have to build our faith upon for eternall salvation and these we or any other Nation that is under the same condition hath to build assurance upon for temporall salvation There are promises of free grace to Nations that God will deliver and save them for his own Names sake such a promise we have though the Name of England be not expressed in it Again there are promises of grace to Nations that God will poure out a spirit of repentance and humiliation upon them and cause them to return Lastly we have promises unto grace that if a people call upon God repent and turn from their evil waies they shall be delivered If my people which are called by my Name do humble themselves and seek my face and pray and turn unto me I will hear in Heaven and deliver c. 2 Chro. 7. 14. These promises were made not only to the people of Israel but to all people who are the Israel of God Say not then this stops your faith ye cannot beleeve establishment because ye want a promise of establishment these promises are ours as well as this was Jerusalems These objections and stumbling-blocks being thus I hope answered and removed out of the way of faith let your faith gird up her loynes and rejoyce like a giant to run her race Act faith for the Kingdom as you would for your own souls Is it not a duty to beleeve when you pray and seek God about temporals in their degree and kinde as well as when about spirituals and eternals in theirs Hath not God given his people sometimes as clear evidences as strong assurances that their prayers have been heard about temporals as about eternals What if we should not be under the influences of those promises which are made unto grace to a repenting reforming people yet faith hath footing enough in those which are made of grace to give give repentance and reformation to a people and in those of free-grace that God will save for his Name sake though a people are generally impenitent and unreformed A probability of prevailing is a sufficient ground both for praying and beleeving The Prophet Joel chap. 2. 14 perswades that afflicted people to fast and pray in that he perswaded them to beleeve upon this offer only Who knoweth if he will return and repent Nineve is carried up to beleeve by the same argument Jon. 3. 9. Who can tell if God will return A peradventure from God is better then an absolute promise from any creature So long as God hath not said hee will not though hee hath not said hee will let us venture God hath not yet forbidden prayer but rather bespoken it in the hearts of his people God hath not yet declared by any work of providence against England as he did against Judah by his word Jer. 15. 1 2. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me yet my minde could not be towards this people cast them out of my sight and let them go forth such as for death to death c. No he hath rather declared his willingnesse if not his resolvednesse to deliver to save to settle to establish us His heart seems to work toward us let our faith work toward him yea let our faith have a perfect work and then I doubt not but God will perfect all our works If we beleeve surely we shall be established Lastly If a shaking Kingdom be established by beleeving then how precious are beleevers Are they not the bases and pillars of a state Job puts the question concerning wisedom chap. 28. 12. Where shall wisedom be found and where is the place of understanding The depth saith It is not in me and the sea saith It is not with me ver 14. Should I put such a quaerie about the point in hand Where shall the stability of the Nation be found and what is the place of its strength Your sea would say It is not in me and your ships would say It is not in us your Garisons in fortified Cities and your Armies in the open field your correspondencies abroad and your counsels at home would or must all bring in their disclaimers and say Strength is not in us in us establishment is not to be found Where is it then the text answers Faith is our strength establishing is
by beleeving Beleevers are establishers And if they be so usefull let them be as acceptable It is but equall that they who do the publike so much good should receive good from the publike I am sure it is not safe to let them be discouraged by whom our safety is established much lesse is it safe to let them fall by whom in their capacity Kingdoms stand or to cast them down who by the rule of Divine politicks are state-upholders Stephen is described Act. 6. 8. A man full of faith and of power where saith is power is not farre off yet this man was stoned chap. 7. 59. How sad a spectacle was it to see a man stoned to death whose life was like a foundation or corner-stone establishment to the whole building Ob. But many pretend faith who have no conscience Ans I am no advocate for such for their faith is vain and they are yet in their sins And yet I conceive it is better for a supposed faiths sake to spare some who in the issue will be found to have no conscience then for conscience sake to afflict any who in the issue shall be found to have reall faith It is our Lords warning to all and it is a dreadfull one Mat. 18. 6. Who so shall offend one of these little ones that beleeve in me it were better for him that a mil-stone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea A little one beleeving or one beleeving though but a little I mean little in regard of the degree not of the object I say such a little one beleeving is a great one in the eye of Christ an offence given to such a scarce discernable beleever may bring very discernable wrath upon his offenders And if Christ take it thus ill when a little one beleeving in him is offended will he not take it worse when a great one an Abraham a Stephen a Paul in beleeving is offended Where there is greatest faith there 's greatest worth and tenderest endearments to Jesus Christ When we see faith budding out and flourishing in noble and generous fruits of holinesse when faith hath so purified the heart that it keeps hand and life pure and acts visibly surely a mil-stone is not heavy enough he shall have a mountain of mil-stones strung together for his neck who knowingly and willingly offends such a one Ob. But whatsoever their faith is they differ in opinion and will not meet us in the same practice Ans Holy love must and will bear much where it sees holy faith Charity saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 13. 7. beleeves all things I am sure it beleeves this That they who indeed beleeve in God cannot continue to be hurtfull to any society of men And though I nothing doubt but that a good man may do very ill and may very justly suffer for it too yet of how narrow a use are those excellent graces of love of meeknes of humility of patience of self-deniall if they are not among other uses to be laid out and bestowed in a brotherly hearty gracious amicable compliance with bearing of and condescention unto those who having obtained like precious faith with us do yet differ in some things which concerne order they maintaining order amongst themselves and peace with others I hope there is a good stock of charity yet among us none of which shall be lavisht out in symbolizing with the ignorant and profane or admitting them to a participation in speciall gospel-priviledges nor will it all I am perswaded be laid out though that is like to be costly to charity in admitting those of competent knowledge and unblameable carriage in their lives who yet evidence little if any thing of the life of faith But when the former charge is defrayed charity will have a faire remainder in banke for those to whom it is very due who are unquestionably eminent and active in faith though in some things they be found to differ in judgement or in practices thereon depending As to bear all differences would make charity blinde so not to bear some would make her more then lame I know Honourable Senatours your wisedom will easily finde and discerne the limit-stone between liberty and libertinisme between the humours of men and their consciences How desireable is it that all the Churches should have as one minde so one way that they should all minde and do the same thing How pleasant how blessed a sight were it to behold not only unity of spirit but uniformity of practice in all who call on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ both their Lord and ours But how wofull a sight will it be if ever it should be seen that with whom we agree in every doctrine of faith in the substance of worship and government and in many formes that from them we must irreconcileably break till we can be uniforme What a wofull dearth of Gospel-love will be found amongst us iâ— after all our former sufferings together our praying and fasting together we should upon these termes fall a vexing one another If after we have poured forth our cries our groanes our sighs our tears together in private chambers and solemn assemblies before the Lord if after we have poured out our bloud together in the high places of the field before the enemy if I say after all this we shall on these termes I say not cruelly poure out the bloud of one another but so much as unkindly move a cry a groan a sigh or draw a tear from one another what a wofull dearth of Gospel-love will be found amongst us Would it not also argue that there is some accursed thing some provocation amongst us if after the Lord hath given us such clear light to pull down the pillars of Babylon he should yet give us up to such thick darknesse that with our own hands we should upon such dissents pull down any who are pillars in Sion FINIS