Apostle is the euidence of things not seene and the ground of things hoped for And to Thomas saith our Sauiour Thomas thou beleeuest because thou hast seene But Blessed are those that beleeue and see not And yet Thomas he beleeued also more than hee saw for hee saw one thing saith Augustine and he beleeued another thing but blessed are they that beleeue though they see nothing at all For as the hope that is seene saith the Apostle is no hope so that Faith the ground of Hope that is seene that is the obiect whereof is seene is to speake properly no faith Faith is of no vse or force saith Gregorie there where outward sense yea or naturall reason is able to enforme vs of ought It is the efficacie of faith to beleeue what wee see not the reward of faith it shall be to see what wee beleeue when wee shall come to walke as the Apostle speaketh not by faith but by sight Who almost would beleeue that the fire of Gods wrath should be kindled already and yet not breake forth till an hundred and twentie yeeres after who would beleeue that the whole world should be drowned and returne againe to that Chaos wherein it lay buried at the first before sea and land were distinguished and seuered either from other If God should haue sent NOA but into England supposing it to haue beene then as now it is to foretell the Inhabitants of this Iland that within a few yeeres their whole Countrey should be swallowed vp of the sea would not most men haue deemed it a thing altogether impossible yet did NOA beleeue it vpon Gods bare word not concerning some one Iland a little patch of the world no more to the maine Continent than a small pond or poole to the maine Ocean but concerning the whole world and accordingly it came to passe Somewhat the like wee may obserue in the King of Nineueh and his people There commeth Ionas a Iew a meere stranger among them and telleth them that not within an hundred yeeres but within fortie daies Niniueh the greatest the strongest the chiefe the head Citie of the whole world a great part whereof the King thereof then commanded should be vtterly destroyed Had Ionas come to London and there preached the like some fortnight or three weekes before that Powder-plot was to haue beene executed who would haue beleeued it or thought it a thing credible yea or possible almost And yet wee know well how neere wee were to an vtter subuersion if God in mercy had not preuented mans malice But the Nineuites as well Prince as People though they saw no preparation towards no enemie at hand no likelihood of any sudden inuasion or of subuersion by other meanes taking Ionas as he was indeed for a Prophet of God beleeued him on his word and by their repentance and humiliation preuented that which otherwise had beene Adde we but one Example more and that shall be of the Prophet Ieremies confident cariage in this kinde He had foretold that Ierusalem should be sacked by the Chaldeans And the Chaldeans accordingly came and begirt it But the Iewes thus besieged send to Aegypt for succour And the King of Aegypt commeth with a great force raiseth the siege and releeueth the Citie Hereupon began the false Prophets to triumph and insult ouer Ieremie as if he were taken now with the manner and detected of falsehood as one that had fore-told that that was not like to be effected But the Prophet telleth them confidently relying on Gods word That though they had smitten the Chaldeans and left not one of them aliue yet should those very slaine men rise vp out of their tents and set fire vpon that Citie And the Reason hereof is because Faith resteth relieth vpon two immouable Props Gods abilitie and his fidelitie his might and his truth First vpon his abilitie might and power that was the ground of Abrahams Faith the Father of the faithfull able to bring the most vnlikely things that are to passe in an instant For many things are impossible with man but nothing is impossible yea nothing difficult with him nothing but hee can doe and doe with ease whose word is his will and his will his worke who as with a word of his mouth hee made all things of nothing so with a blast of his breath is able to bring all things againe vnto nothing For worke is as easie as word with him who can doe any thing more easily than any can say it There is much difference betweene saying and doing saith Bernard but with man not with God Secondly vpon his 〈◊〉 his truth his veracitie the maine prop of Saraes Faith Let God be true saith the Apostle and all men liers all that speake without him or not from him saith Augustine God therefore is true yea he is a God of truth And not only Deus veritatis a God of Truth but Deus veritas God Truth Truth it selfe And being Truth it selfe hee cannot lie nor deny himselfe It were a want of abilitie to be able to do so Though heauen and earth should passe away saith our Sauiour yet shall no one iot or tittle of his word passe away vntill it bee all out euerie whit of it fulfilled Now this then should admonish vs to imitate faithful NOA our father herein if we desire to be his children as well after the Faith as we are after the Flesh to take warning when God giues it giue credit to Gods threatnings though we see them not seconded with any outward effect yet And surely if wee ought to take notice with NOA of such Iudgements as Gods word alone giueth warning of though no print or foot-step of them be to be seene otherwise how much more when we haue such euident and apparent signes euen to outward sense of some storme cōming toward vs as we cannot but see vnlesse we be of those of whom Bernard saith That they seake strawes to put out their eyes withall or of whom Iustine Martyr saith That they winke wilfully that they may not see what is comming toward them when some vnsauoury potion is ministred to them which they are content though it goe against the stomacke with them to take Yea hereby may we trie the efficacie of our Faith if we can beleeue God on his bare word when we see no likelihood of performance As for his promises when wee dare trust him on his word for the performance of them not trust him as we say only so farre as we see him trust him no further than we can see our selues that is not to trust him at all it is to trust our eyes and not him nor to trust him onely when we haue his pledge or his
beene in trouble There is no sight of faith when we doe sensibly see and feele as it were the loue and good will of God towards vs in the pregnant and plentifull effects and fruits of his fauour It is the efficacie of faith saith Augustine to beleeue what we see not for it is the reward of faith for vs to see what we beleeue But when it is winter time with vs and the sap is all downe in the root little signe or shew of it to be seene abroad or aboue ground in the branches when all outward yea and inward signes of Gods loue and fauour towards vs and of his care and regard of vs shall seeme to faile and be withdrawne from vs when we shall see and feele nothing but arguments of his anger and wrath troubles without and terrors within Gods face turned from vs or his angry looke towards vs yet euen then through these thicke and blacke clouds to descry and discerne the bright sunne-shine of Gods fauour and contrary to sense and reason carnal sense corrupt reason to beleeue that God loueth vs when he lowreth on vs and seemeth euen to loath vs that we are in fauour still with him when he knitteth the browes and frowneth on vs that he remembreth vs and thinketh on vs when he seemeth to forget vs that hee is a gratious God and a sure Sauiour to vs when he seemeth bâ—…nt to destroy vs this iâ—… the excellencie of faith indeed And for the exercise of this and other the like graces in his doth God oft withdraw himselfe from them as the Nuâ—…e doth from the childe to teach it to exercise the feet and learne to stand and goe of it selfe without helpe or hold Or as the Eagle with her young ones which when they are growne fledge shee turneth out of the nest nor beareâ—…h them euer on her wing though sometimes shee so doe but to 〈◊〉 them to 〈◊〉 â—…lieth from them and leaueth them sometime to shift for themselues God led you along the wildernesse saith Moses to the Israelites to hâ—…mble you and to teach you that man 〈◊〉 not by bread but by Gods word to teach them to swim without bladders to goe without crutches to depend vpon the baâ—…e word of God when bread and water should saile and to learne as with the Apostle not to trust in themselues so not to trust to the mâ—…anes but in him that worketh by them and that can as well worke for vs without them when they faile Thirdly to enâ—…re vs to patience and holy obedience and submission of our wils to the good pleasure of God As a father sometime will crosse his childe in those things that hee hath a minde to yea and it may be are not euill for him neither otherwise and deny him somethings that he doth most of all desire though they be such things as hee is willing enough yea and hath a purpose afterward to bestow on him only thereby to enure him to rest contented with his will and to submit and referre his desires to his pleasure So doth God oftentimes withdraw and with-hold long from his children outward ioyes inward comforts the light of his countenance the fruits of his fauour the things they most desire and that hee purposeth one day to bestow on them though he keepe them back for the present thereby to enure them to patience and childe-like submission that they may learne to practise what they daily pray and what our Sauiour as well by practise as by precept hath taught them to say Not my will but thy will be done For as patience maketh triall so triall breedeth patience As by patience and by nothing more is our sinceritie approued nothing putteth our pietie to the proofe more than patience so such trials as these doe enure to patience and obedience As it is said of our Sauiour That though he were the Sonne yet he learned obedience by those things that he suffered a lesson at the first not so easily learned of vs til by continuance of sufferings we haue beene enured to the yoake By these and the like courses therefore God enureth and instructeth his children to beare quietly such burdens as hee pleaseth to lay on them as also to wait his leasure and abide his good pleasure who knoweth what is best for them and will deny nothing in his due season vnto them but as a wise Physitian saith Augustine dieting his patient will both giue them what is fit for them to haue and giue it them then when it is fit for them to haue it Fourthly God dealeth thus many times with his children to worke in them a greater hatred and detestation of sinne whereof this hiding of his face from them is oft a fruit and an effect When you stretch forth your hands saith God by the Prophet I will hide mine eyes from you and though you make many prayers I will not heare you because your hands are full of bloâ—…d And saith the same Prophet speaking in the person of Gods people Thou hast â—…id thy face from vs and hast consumed vs because of our iniquities Yea in the Lamentations the people of God complaine that God had euerwhelmed them with his wrath and couered himselfe with a cloud that their prayers might not passe nor haue accesse to his Highnesse because they had sinned and rebelled against him and he therefore had not spared them And certainly that is one principall cause the sinnes of Gods Church and Children their rebellious courses their vntoward cariage their wickednesse their wantoâ—…nesse their euill demeanure towards him that maketh God to turne away his louing countenance from them and that not only for a time to looke off them till they humble themselues before him but euen for some space of time after also to looke strangely vpon them Hee doth as a wise and discreet Father who when his Sonne hath offended him though vpon his submission hee be reconciled vnto him and be inwardly as well affected againe towards him as euer yet will make some shew of anger still it may be and lowre and frowne on him for a long time after that hee may not suddenly take heart to grace as wee say againe but may by that meanes be drawne to be both more seriously sorie for his offence past and more fearefull for the future of offending his Father So dealeth God with his children when they haue done amisse and runne riot though vpon their repentance he be at one againe with them yet he concealeth it long many times neither is his countenance oft the same for a long time after towards them that formerly it had beene Thus dealt DAVID with Absolom and thus God himselfe with DAVID After that Absolom by a traine had made away his brother Ammon and was fled vpon it to Geshur
so seeme to forget vs so estrange himselfe from vs so withdraw and with-hold from vs the light of his countenance that the bright beames of his fauour may neuer shine forth again on vs as formerly they haue done so long as wee liue and so may we come to haue not a purgatorie but a very hell in our soules while wee liue here goe drooping and dwindling distressed distracted and deâ—…ected all our life long and be in little better case for the time than the reprobate oft are yea than the very deuils and damned soules in hell themselues Though we escape with our liues yet the cure may be so costly and the course of Physicke and Surgery that God shall take with vs may be so harsh and vnpleasant may put vs to those bitter pangs and vnsupportable paines that it may make vs curse the day that euer wee did wittingly and willingly that that might prouoke such a wrath or require such a cure and wish a thousand and a thousand times that we had beene not fast asleepe in our beds but dead and buried in our graues when wee did it It is a vaine thing therefore for any man to presume so as to say or thinke God will neuer sure deale so roughly with me though I cary my selfe otherwise then I ought towards him Yea it is most fearefull and dangerous vpon such impious imaginations to presume to displease prouoke him to wrath For to omit that it is a note of a most vngracious disposition for a man therefore to be euil because God is good and to take libertie to himselfe to wrong God because God loueth him Art thou dearer to God than DAVID was Art thou deeper in Gods bookes or higher in his fauour than he Yet how sharply God dealt with him how roughly yea how rigorously as might seeme to fleshly reason he handled him hauing prouoked him to wrath and incurred his displeasure may appeare by those Psalmes wherein at large he complaineth of it And how long it was in these cases ere he could recouer his former estate of inward comfort and sense of grace with God againe appeareth likewise by his earnest suit so oft and so instantly commenced for it both here and else-where Thirdly The consideration hereof should instruct vs not to be vtterly dismaid and discouraged if either wee shall finde and feele our owne estate or shall see and obserue the state of Gods Church and children to be such as DAVIDS was at this present and all Israels at other times That wee be not daunted and disheartned though wee meet with many afflictions and distractions as well troubles without as terrors within and shall see no signe of Gods assistance but all shew rather of the contrary the fruits of Gods fauour and loue being all withdrawne and with-held from vs and God seeming to carry himselfe not as a friend but as a 〈◊〉 towards vs writing bitter things against vs and suffering fearefull things to befall vs. But learne as the Prophet Esay speaketh when we sit in darknes and haue no light when we can finde no light of ioy without nor sparke of comfort within yet euen then to trust in the name of the Lord and to stay our selues vpon our God We must remember that as the Apostle saith We walke by faith and not by sight So we liue by faith and not by senseFaith gâ—…eth not by feeling nay it goeth oft against feeling And this is the very pitch and height of faith as for a man with Abraham aboue hope to beleeue vnder hope so to beleeue all contrary to that that wee see and feele to beleeue that God then loueth vs is a kind Father and wil be a sure Sauiour vnto vs when we feele his hand heauy on vs and hee seemeth euen bent to destroy vs. We are saued by hope saith the Apostle but hope that iâ—… seeâ—…e is no hope And so we are saâ—…ed by faith and though this faith be a kinde of spirituall sight and that surer and certainer than bodily sight and those things that are not seene by it are better seene than those things that are seene yet the faith to speake properly that is seene is no faith for Faith is the euidence of things vnseene For a man therefore to beleeue that he is in grace with God when he hath pregnant proofes of Gods fauour it is a matter of no mastery But to beleeue then when he seeth not yea to beleeue it then when he seeth and feeleth all to the contrary in the apprehension of carnall reason this is the praise and commendation of faith indeed Wee must consider what is or should be the ground and stay of our faith not these outward props which we are wont so much to leane on and to trust to not our owne sight or sense that oft faileth and deludeth vs but Gods word and his truth and the stabilitie of his promise which though heauen and earth should passe away and all things should returne to their first Chaos againe yet shall neuer in ought faile any of those that depend vpon it Remember thy word saith DAVID vnto thy seruant wherein thou hast made me to put my trust That is my comfort in my trouble for thy word putteth life into mee And Thou art my shelter and my shield and my trust is in thy word And learne we herein to imitate the earth that we tread on Though being a massie body it hangeth in the middest of the aire enuironed with the heauens and yet keepeth his place steedily and neuer stirreth an inch from it hauing no props or shores to vphold it no beames or barres to fasten it nothing to stay or establish it but the bare word of God alone For by his powerfull word saith the Apostle hee vpholdeth all things And Thy word saith the Psalmist O Lord abideth for euer And Thy truth is from age to age thou hast laid the foundation of the earth and it standeth still It abideth by it to this day by vertue of thine ordinance And in like manner must we learne to depend vpon the bare word of God when all other props and stayes shall be pulled away from vs to trust him vpon his bare promise without pledge or pawne Else weedeale with him no otherwise than any Vsurer will with the veriest begger or banckrout that is when he commeth to borrow money of him Though he dare not trust him on his word nor on his bond neither it is nought worth nothing better than his word yet on his pawne or his pledge he dare trust either the poorest or the vnfaith fullest man that is But as Augustine saiâ—… well That it is but aâ—… hâ—…lotrie loue for a woman to loue the gift more than the giuer and so to lone the giuer no longer than hee giueth So it is but an harlotrit
destroyed eternally that being chastened in the world they may not bee condemned with the world In regard of those that perish the obstinate wicked to make them the more inexcusable that they may not say but that they had faire warning giuen them before if they would haue taken it This Gospell saith our Sauiour shall before the worlds end be preached to all Nations throughout the world to be a witnesse against them And the vse of this point to omit all others may be two-fold vnto vs To commend vnto vs Gods patience To prouoke vs to repentance First to commend vnto vs Gods patience yea his mercie and his goodnesse Who though he might smite iustly without more adoe so soone as men sinne the generall warnings that the light of Nature and the very letter of the Law afford are sufficient yet he doth not proceed ordinarily to any extraordinary iudgement but hee giueth many faire warnings of it before-hand A signe that hee desireth not to doe that that he threatneth if he were not by mans obstinacie vrged thereunto For Professed hatred we say taketh away opportunitie of reuenge A conspiracie against Commodus was frustrate by the folly of one that should haue executed it but would needs tell him what hee was to doe ere he did it Those that minde mischiefe therefore are not wont to giue warning Absolom spake neither good nor bad to his brother Ammon but watched his time only and then tooke it Nor would God saith Augustine proclaime thus what he is about to doe if he were desirous to doe it But he threatneth destruction that he may not destroy as by the Prophet Ezekiel himselfe implieth And as in the Niniuites it is apparant who by being threatned with destruction were saued from being indeed destroyed It is not therefore for want either of euill desert on our part or of good cause and iust ground yea or power on Gods part that he holdeth his hand from smiting so soone as wee sinne and in this manner giueth warning before hee smite His hand is not weakned that hee cannot strike vs nor his arme shortned that he cannot reach vs. He hath not lost his power but hee exerciseth his patience saith Augustine He exerciseth his patience while he expecteth our repentance And so passe we to the second vse Where to passe by onely pointing at it in a word that vse that might bee made hereof for Imitation that as God dealeth with vs so should we also deale with others we should not be as too many are A word we say and a blow or No word and a stab For shall God be so patient and man so impatient shall God beare with vs and not we beare with our brethren No If thy brother wrong thee saith our Sauiour goe and tell him of it betweene him and thee and if he heare thee not so take two or three with thee if hee will not heare them neither then acquaint the Church with it and if hee refuse to heare the voice of the Church too then mayst thou and not before carrie thy selfe toward him and take such course with him as with an Heathen or a Publican such as they then were thou mightest But to keepe to that that we principally now intend As this commendeth vnto vs Gods patience so it should prouoke vs to repentance since that by it God calleth vs thereunto The patience goodnesse and long-suffering of God leadeth thee to repentance saith the Apostle That is the end that God aimeth at in it and that is the vse that wee should make of it Doth God giue warning of any generall Iudgement And who seeth not that he so doth at the present To say nothing of ought at home decay of trade likelihood of dearth and the like Cast we our eyes abroad into foraine parts almost on euery side of vs and see if the fire of Gods wrath be not gone out alreadie and hath taken hold of our neighbours houses yea and burnt diuers and not a few of them downe to the ground And it concerneth vs as wee say not them alone to looke to it when our neighbours houses are on fire These are reall warnings and very sensible ones if wee be not stupid and senselesse Doth God then giue warning Let vs take it when he giueth it Therefore I will doe this vnto thee saith the Lord by Amos. And because I will doe this vnto thee therefore prepare to meet thy God O Israel Let vs prepare to meet him that is comming towards vs before he come at vs. Let vs according to our Sauiours counsell dispatch Messengers our praiers and teares saith Cyprian to meet him on the way while he is yet afarre off and make an attonement with him ere his wrath breake in vpon vs. Let vs make all haste by speedie and vnfained repentance to preuent the heauie doome and sentence of death Otherwise let vs assure our selues that though Gods patience last long yet it will not be euerlasting Though he beare with vs for a long time yet he will not alwaies forbeare vs. Yea Patience ouer-much prouoked is wont to turne not into wrath but into rage And it is a iust thing with God to take those away without further warning that would not take warning when it was giuen NOA tooke warning here and was saued the World would not take warning and was suddenly destroyed And so we come to consider the fruit of this warning in regard of NOA what effect it had with him This diuine warning therefore wrought in NOA Faith Feare and Care or Gods warning wrought Faith Faith Feare Feare Care Gods warning I say wrought Faith in NOA by Faith saith the Apostle NOA fore warned of God c. not the habite of Faith which hee had before but a renewed act of it NOA beleeued this when no body but himselfe would beleeue it yea when he was counted no doubt generally a doating foole for his labour And this his Faith is commended by a circumstance of the warning giuen or the thing forewarned Of things as yet vnseene All warnings are generally of things not seene For what need any be warned of that that themselues see But this was of a thing an hundred and twenty yeeres off such as there was no signe or shew at all to be seene of such as no print or footstep of was at all yet such as neither by outward sense nor naturall reason could be apprehended or coniectured a thing most vnlikely improbable incredible yea in nature impossible Where obserue wee the nature and propertie of true Faith to apprehend things vnseene to beleeue vpon Gods bare word things not vnlikely only and improbable but euen incredible yea and in some sort also impossible Faith saith this our