say my prayers c. Ask another what is your Faith hee replies I leave my sins saith hee c. this is thy Repentance but not thy Faith There are three great parts of peoples ignorance about Faith First Many are ignorant about the ground of Faith What is the ground of Faith why the ground of my Faith is this saith one I am so and so mended of what I was formerly and God hath a little frightened mee and troubled mee for my sins and therefore I beleeve As if trouble for sin and moral amendment were a ground to build Faith upon whereas the great and the precious Promises are the onely and alone ground of Faith Secondly Others are ignorant about the Object of Faith The Object of my Faith is the Promise saith one c. Now the Promise is not the object of Faith it is true the object of Faith is in the Promise but the Promise it self is not the object of Faith It is Christ in the Promise that is the object of Faith the Promises are your spectacles thorow which you see Christ it is hee alone that is the object of your Faith which you are to eye to look and to live upon Thirdly Others are very ignorant about the working of Faith c. Many know not how Faith works therefore minde it The work of Faith is onely to bee our hands and our feet to go to Christ and to take Christ It is observable in Heb. 11. That Faith was the life of those worthies there mentioned some did this some did that some went this way some went that way but still it was all through Faith and they obtained a good report but all by Faith for it was Faith that carried them thorow all But alass how ignorant are some about the working of Faith Ask what do you when you beleeve one saith I say my prayers another I read the Bible c. Ah souls you are much to bee reproved that know not yet what that is which onely carries the soul to Christ Let that bee for reproof Use 2. It serves very much for Consolation to all those who have true Faith Bear up thy heart O Beleever with that which is in the heart The soul is ready to say sometimes in the way to Christ what have I to carry my heart up hast thou Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ beleevest thou the Scriptures beleevest thou in God upon the Son of God c. then bee of good comfort thou hast that which will carry thee thorow You know the story of Father Jacob hee must go over Jordan but hee hath no company nor help nothing but his single staff in his hand and hee walked all his pilgrimage forward and backward with that staff O! the staff of Faith thou who hast it thou mayest walk thorow a wilderness into the good Land with it Faith it is your Jacobs staff your Moses Rod c. Object But saith the soul I fear I have but a little Faith yea I fear I have none at all c. Answ 1. Thou sayest thou hast but a little Faith mark what saith our Lord If you have Faith but as a grane of Mustard seed you shall say unto this Mountain remove hence c. Matth. 17.20 Though thou hast but a little Faith it shall not fail it shall carry you thorow It is true Faith doth all this not thy great Faith Object I but saith the soul I do not see that I have any Faith at all Repl. Why Jesus Christ hee can see it when thou canst not The Woman that had the bloody Issue had great Faith though possible shee saw it not Hast thou that which that Woman had hast thou said of all the world they bee Physicians of no value and dost thou though in much fear come bee it but behinde Christ perswaded as shee was that Christ can though thou question whether hee will heal thee why comfort thy soul notwithstanding thy fear Christ will observe and own thy Faith as hee did hers Use 3. If it bee thus That it is Faith alone that carries the soul thus to Christ thorow all Discouragements this will then bee profitable for Instruction My Beloved in the Lord look within you strengthen Faith Oh my Beloved as the love of many waxes cold so the Faith of many waxes weak but remember a Christ above you and a Faith within you is all that which you ought to minde Christ above you will carry you thorow all things to glory and Faith in you will carry you thorow all to Christ But I pray look to this look to True Faith A poor fearful beleever that hath a trembling soul at a dying hour what shall relieve it then but Christ and what shall carry and keep the soul to and with Christ but Faith when your souls must immediarely go to God for Judgement nothing but Faith will or can carry you with comfort or with confidence against a dying hour prepare a living Christ and in order to a clozing with Christ strengthen Oh strengthen your Faith I shall give you two Directions If you would have Faith carry you thorow all c. First Leave Faith to it self Let Faith alone Faith alone must do it and Faith alone can do it I will tell you how God clears up the thing to mee You have seen a brave work-man that was to remove such a peece of Timber and hee by his own skill could remove it but there bee some that stand by and will bee helping when as wee know that they do but hinder him and saith the Artist let mee alone and I can do it my self and wee use to say let the man alone you do but hinder him hee will do it himself So here let Faith alone in its work you think to help it but you oft hinder it You have seen or heard it may bee of a man that being to go over a River and having two friends with him one saith it is deep and dangerous I will go and see if there bee any shallow place The other faith it is good to make a bridge or boat to go over Oh but saith the man I can swim and I must go and I will venture let mee alone I will swim and never look for bridge or boat Truly so it is here Faith would go to Jesus Christ but Reason and Sense will not let Faith alone Reason comes and saith Bee wise beware what you do If you will needs go to Christ saith Reason I will go make a bridge or invent a boat then cometh Sense and saith I will go look a shallow place where you may go over c. whereas Faith will swim thorow And saith the beleeving soul I must venture and swim I cannot bee drowned in a way of swiming Oh Sirs let Faith alone and it will swim to Christ Sense and Reason do but hinder not help Faith Single simple Faith doth its work alone Therefore I say Let Faith alone do not trouble
Christ is not so tied by Prophecie nor obliged by Promise but that in all his dealings hee may act as in his Prerogative Hee is the freest Agent that is It is prophesied of Christ That hee will gently lead those that are with young and promised that those that come to him hee will in no wise cast off Now Christ is not so bound up by this Prophecie or Promise but that hee may act his own Preregative And there is a double Prerogative Christ will maintain First Of his Absolute Will Secondly Of his Infinite Wisdome First The Prerogative of his Absolute Will I say Absolute Will My Brethren Jesus Christ may give Mercy to whom hee will and hee may give Mercy how hee will I finde our Lord and Saviour two times in particular standing upon the Prerogative of his Will And let us in a word consider them One is in Matth. 20.15 where hee speaks of himself in a Parable May not I do with mine own what I will The other is in the last of John 21 22. where Peter asks Christ Lord what shall this man do saith Christ in vers 22. If I will that hee tarry till I come what is that to thee Christ will have all to know his will is free Hee wills as hee wills What if God will shew mercy this way to one and another way to another hee hath his Prerogative Royal what if hee will when Jairus comes for his Daughter go presently and what if hee will dispute it with the Woman of Canaan Christ will still so act as to maintain the Prerogative of his Will Secondly Hee will maintain the Prerogative of his Wisdome Though hee come with a commission yet hee is to act as his Wisdome is And thus though hee bee a servant as hee is the Fathers servant sent with absolute command to receive poor souls when they come Yet how and when and what way is left to his own Wisdome Rejoyce and bee of good comfort Christ is bound to receive all that come to him I but how hee should receive them that is left to his Wisdome And it may bee much wisdome in the Lord Jesus Christ to receive some harshly and some sweetly Two boyes go to School the one is of a rugged nature and the other of a sofr nature The Masters wisdome knows how to deal with either of them So that now this is the general account Jesus Christ being left to the Prerogative of his own Will and Wisdome hee doth therefore sometimes entertain some souls harshly There are six particular accounts of it that I cannot now name but must leave to bee inlarged the next time Use Onely for the Use of this My Brethren you have heard a strange yet a certain Truth That the Lord Jesus doth sometimes seemingly entertain some souls harshly Now all that I would say is this 1 Do not Mistake mee 2 Do not Mistake your selves 3 Do not Mistake this Truth There are these three Mistakes that all our hearts are liable to either the one or other of them one while they mistake the Preacher and say hee spake that which never entred into his heart to speak Another while they mistake themselves and a third time the Truth it self Now I pray thee take heed of all these Therefore first Do not Mistake mee Though I tell you the Lord Jesus may entertain some harshly I do not this to keep you off from Christ Oh the Lord knows here is my heart and this must bee my labour while I live to draw you to Jesus Christ But what said Christ in John 16.3 having before been telling them of great persecutions they must go thorow saith Christ These things I tell you that when they come yee might not bee offended Oh soul that is my aim intent that if thou art a poor soul coming to Christ thou mayest not bee startled I tell you before-hand Christ may frown hee may turn the deaf ear not that you should keep off but that when these things come to pass that you should not stumble nor bee offended but that you should go on And therefore is there ever a poor soul that saith God hath wrought upon mee lately but I have been going to Christ and I have knocked and hee speaks not a word Oh bee not discouraged the Lord sometimes will do thus Secondly Do not Mistake your selves Poor sinners are apt to mistake themselves as now when they hear of Christ that Christ is ready and willing to receive us what use do they make of it Why say they then wee may go when wee will and so live as they list and think to go to Jesus Christ No mistake not Christ may receive thee harshly do not deceive your selves Christ is a Lion and hee can roar though hee will not tear you to peeces yet hee knows how to carry it severely sometimes There is Hay and Stubble laid upon the foundation and yet they are saved but how but as by fire Sinners sinners you may bee saved coming to the Lord Jesus as the Woman of Canaan but beleeve it you may bee saved by fire hee may call you Dogg before hee gives you the childrens bread and make you wait long before hee answer Do not mistake your selves and provoke Christ to make you know this truth to your cost and sorrow Thirdly Do not Mistake the point A mistaken truth is the ground of some great errours as well as any thing else indeed many errours are truths mistook And there are two Errours that people may run into if they mistake this point First Doth the Lord Christ deal thus with some Therefore what therefore Why I was mistaken the Lord never dealt so with mee therefore I am not right Nay stay there I did not say the Lord dealt so with all nor alwaies but with some at sometimes there are some the Lord kisses presently Two humours coming to the Physician have not the same kinde of Physick Fine or thin humours and rough and strong humours are not alike purged the one is and may bee purged more gently the other more roughly You have an instance of two in one place viz. Lydia and the Jaylor Act. 16. Fine Lydia as I may so call her of a tender spirit the Lord takes up the latch and enters softly silently without any great noise without any rough hand but the rough Jaylor hee hath an Earthquake c. Do not say I am not right because the Woman of Canaan was so dealt with and I am not Secondly Do not mistake the point and say Well it is true and the Lord deals thus with mee and I think it will never bee better Oh say not it will never bee better No my Brethren though the Lord deal harshly with thee yet hee will use thee better Cry not Oh the Lord hath entertained mee harsh and hath been silent and not spoke and that which hee hath spoken hath been in wrath hee hath called mee dogg and therefore I can expect
by God My Beloved Faith doth therefore carry us out thorow all because it is that Grace that God alone hath appointed Read the Gospel or the Prophets and you will finde them speaking of these two great Truths First That Christ is the onely one that is appointed to bring us to salvation There is no name but his Act. 4.12 Secondly That Faith is the onely Grace appointed to bring us to Christ You have our Lord shortly in one place speaking of both in John 6.40 And this is the will of him that sent mee that every one which seeth the Son and beleeveth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day There is a great Question among Divines Why Faith rather than Charity Patience or Gospel-Obedâ—ence should bee the great instrument of Justification And my Beloved this is the absolute Answer to the Question Because God hath onely appointed it There may bee some conjectural Reasons why God hath appointed Faith but the chief Reason is because God hath appointed it Now Divine Institution being upon Faith thence it is that Faith doth the work it is not from any inherent worth in the Grace Alass What is the worth of a sinners hand to take a glorious Christ But it is onely from Gods pleasure and appointment that Faith alone shall bee the Grace to carry the soul to and help the soul in its receiving of Christ God hath appointed no other leggs to carry us and because hee hath appointed these hee will bless his own apointment to effect the work The Lords appointment makes all things operative Therefore Secondly The Reason is from the operation of Faith in us by virtue of that appointment My Beloved Faith it is a working Grace and Faith is our great strength in every working Grace it conveyeth strength unto all Graces There is a threefold Operation of Faith to carry the soul thorow all difficulties and discouragements in its going to Christ viz. an Inlightening an Enlivening and an Embracing work in the blessed business of closing with Christ I will a little open them all three First Faith hath an Inlightening work An inlightning work is that which carries a man thorow many difficulties and discouragements In Psal 34. you have a fine expression where David is speaking of his and others seeking God and of their incouragement in that work saith hee in vers 5. They looked unto him and were lightened and their faces were not ashamed by Faith the soul sees the necessity of Christ the inclinableness of the heart of Christ c. and this carries the soul thorow all difficulties Saith Faith look yonder there and there alone is the rock of safety And if you bee not there you must sink this makes the soul swim amain And look saith Faith there is a safe Landing Christ saith Faith stands with out-stretched arms of power and love to imbrace thee and Faith realizeth such a fight evidenceth it to the soul and so inabling the soul to see it helps the soul to go to Christ Secondly Faith hath not onely an inlightening work but an inlivening work My Beloved other graces stir us up and put us on to go to Christ but Faith doth onely enliven us Love and humility doth marvelously stir up the soul to go to Jesus Christ and so do other Graces I but these do not feed the soul nor strengthen there is a great deal of difference between the Whip and the Meat you give the horse A whip a blow that stirs it but doth not strengthen it A conviction of need a fear of hell stirs us to go to Christ but it doth not inable us or inliven us My Beloved Faith is the strengthening Grace The Just shall live by Faith Heb. 10. there saith hee you have need of patience that after you have done the will of God yee might receive the Promise c. Now The Just shall live by Faith 36 37 38. verses Do not cast away your confidence what then You have need of patience c. doth hee stay there No but adds The Just shall live by Faith True you will need patience if you go to Christ but you will live alone by Faith Wee need patience to tarry the Lords leisure to bear the Lords frowns to tarry till hee come but how shall wee live in the mean time Oh The Just shall live by Faith Faith being an enlightening Grace therefore it is an enlivening Grace Faith it findes honey as Jonathan and Faith it findes a Promise and dips in the finger and takes a little and that enlivens and strengthens the soul Nay Faith though it bee full of fears it is a soul-enlivening-Grace Take that instance of the Woman with a bloody Issue in Luke 8.44 compared with vers 46. It is clear shee had a Faith and shee had fears and shee had virtue For this Faith full of fears did gather virtue from Jesus Christ So thy Faith that is full of fears may gather virtue from Jesus Christ and therefore is it that it carries us thorow all difficulties in our going to Christ Thirdly Faith it hath an imbracing work These all died in Faith not having received the Promises What then how could they live but having seen them afar off embraced them Heb. 11.13 My Beloved Faith it hath an imbracing work of the Promise and because Faith can imbrace the Promise therefore can it carry the soul thorow all the difficulties that it meets with in the way to Christ What is the Anchor at the end of a Cable one Ship will carry a thousand Anchors but one Anchor will hold the Ship because it hath a fastening power Faith is but a little Anchor of it self I but it hath a fastening power and so Faith staies the soul In Isa 26.3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose minde is stayed on thee because hee trusteth in thee because you trust in God therefore are your minds stayed Oh Sirs what shall I say more Faith it is a catching hold of that Christ that puts thee off And because Faith imbraces and holds him that is sure and strong it doth therefore ipso facto as wee say in that very thing carry the soul to Christ thorow all difficulties Well I pray minde and meditate a little upon these things for they are of the life and Mystery of real Christianity But I will now speak to some Uses of this Point Therefore to make some Application there are onely three Uses Use I Let mee say This Doctrine is profitable for reproof Is Faith such a Grace is it Faith that carries the soul thorow all Oh then bee reproved all who profess to beleeve and yet are ignorant of what Faith is Why poor soul what shall carry thee thorow all but Faith and art thou ignorant of that Is there but one boat to carry us over the Sea and are wee ignorant of that Ask what is your Faith why saith one I say my I beleeve I