obtaining it which our Faith according to its various Degrees may represent unto us Faith in the Righteousness of Christ for justification is here principally intended Secondly Why must this Faith come by hearing Hearing is alwayes antecedent to Faith though Faith be not always the consequent of Hearing ver 16. 18. all Hearers are not believers though all Believers are first Hearers I shall evince the necessity of Hearing in order to Faith from these following grounds I. Hearing is Sensus Disciplinae the Sense by which all knowledge is let into the Soul. There is a two-fold Knowledge belonging to Faith one leading to it the other found in it arising from it and is the same with Faith it self The First is Litteral or Historical 't is rather notitia then cognitio a notice or particular information given us of the Contents of the Bible especially of the report which the Gospel makes of the way of Salvation by Christ we must know what we are to believe before we can be supposed to believe any thing How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a Preacher Words are the proper Object of this Sense of Hearing where nothing is spoken nothing can be heard the sound of Words must reach the ear before the sense of those Words can enter into the Understanding This Historical Knowledge do's not lye in Learning the Scriptures by roat without any Rational Knowledge of the Litteral Sense and Meaning of those Propositions of Truth that are contained therein this would be only Memory without any Understanding A Natural Man does not dis-believe the Scripture because he has not a Rational Conception of the common Notion of things spoken of there but because he has and sinding them so uncouth so seemingly contrary to Humane Reason he rejects them as Foolishness The Second Is a Knowledge more than Historical and is of the Essence of Faith all one with it it is that which we call a Saving Knowledge it lies in the Use and Application of Gospel Truths to our own Souls when we shape our selves to a real Conformity to the Call of God in every Gospel Truth acting in a way of Duty what the Word of God commands There is no Saving Knowledge of Gospel Truths but the Knowledge of Faith and no other Reason for Faith in the highest Misteries of the Gospel but the bare Word of God. That Faith is Knowledge I prove thus Because in Scripture 't is opposed to Folly Blindness and Ignorance Acts 17. 23 30. Ioh. 17. 3. Ier. 31. 34. Isa. 9. 1 2. Besides it has all the effects of Knowledge in the Soul it gives full satisfaction to the Mind of a Man removes all doubts establishes the Heart in a full perswasion of the Truth of the Word of God Humane Knowledge is liable to many Mistakes but a Divine Faith admits of no Falshood therefore Faith perfects mans Understanding because it brings in nothing but Truth no mans Errors do proceed from Faith he may err in matters of Faith but 't is not from his Faith but his Unbelief therefore Faith is Knowledge unerring Knowledge we believe and are sure we may be so if we rightly understand our selves in an act of Believing no demonstrations of Reason do give that Evidence of Truth as Faith do's as mans Understanding is too low to take in Divine Truths so Gods Understanding is too high for man to comprehend therefore we are called to yield the obedience of faith to his revealed Will God governs man rather by giving him the knowledge of his Will then lifting him up into his own Infinite Understanding that is above our Capacity our Duty lies not in knowing what God knows but in doing what God commands who gives no account of his matters to us only commands us to believe his Word and to look upon that as a sufficient ground and reason of our faith when we hear it preached to us II. Because God has appointed hearing the Word as a necessary means of faith he will not immediately speak to our hearts by his Spirit but has appointed his Word to be first spoken to our Ears and promis'd that way to let it down into our hearts thus Faith comes by Hearing Quest. How should Hearing of things above our Reason contribute any thing to our believing them One would think the oftner we hear them the more absurd we should count them to be and reject them with greater Indignation having so often tried them by the Touchstone of our own reason and pronounced them unintelligible Answ. Hearing alone will not let in these Divine Mysteries into our Understandings Isa. 6. 9 10. God must inwardly Teach us and reveal them to us by his Spirit before we can believe them which brings me to the third head viz. III. How faith is wrought by our hearing the Word 1. By a special Appearance of God to the Soul. 2. By opening the Heart enlightning the Mind and perswading the Will to a thorough closure with Christ upon Gospel Terms To these two heads may be referred all that falls under our discerning and experience of the work of the Spirit in begetting faith in us I. Faith is wrought by a special appearance of God to the Soul what this appearance of God is how it rises out of the Word in what manner 't is let into the Soul I shall endeavour to open to the experience of those who know what it is to hold Communion with God in hearing his Word there is some co-incidence in the particulars above-mentioned yet not without some distinction which I leave to your own observation the less of Art or Method there is in handling experimental points the better they come with most power to the Conscience in their own simplicity therefore I shall in a joynt Discourse run the matter close together looking sometimes on one side and sometimes on t'other till I have viewed it round that I may present the whole Truth to you in so great and necessary a point we can have no saving knowledge of God but in and by his word we must look through that Glass upon him and that appearance of God we meet with there is the beginning of all Religion the Word never comes with power to our Consciences till God appear in it How that is I am now to shew Whilst we are hearing his Word we see God standing forth in his own words declaring himself to be the Author of it this draws in our attention adds that weight and authority to the Word that we cannot but receive it as the Word of God and set our Seals to the Truth of it we see sufficient grounds for our Faith in God from this manifestation of himself to our Souls Thus God wrought faith in Abraham Gen. 17. 1. by appearing to him several times as God Almighty and All-sufficient that Abraham might not doubt of any thing that such a God should promise to him and
every one shall appear in at the Resurrection There will be no doubting of any mans state at the Resurrection the method and manner of the Resurrection will decide it Christ himself will separate the Sheep from the Goats and he will do this before the Judgement Mat. 25. 32 33. You shall know a Believer then by his Station at the right hand of Christ by his Company among the Sheep The Angels are sent forth Mat. 24. 31. togather up the Elect from the four Winds from the one end of Heaven to the other They will ransack every corner of the World to find out every Saint not only the Ninety and Nine but the whole Hundred shall be presented to God not one missing we shall all stand together Now after they are thus ranked by Christ and the Angels have declared them to be Sheep to be true Believers must they come under a charge of infidelity Who must draw up this charge and manage this false Indictment Either God or good Angels or Conscience or the Devil God he hath justified them here sealed them by the Spirit of Adoption to the day of Redemption and he will never reverse his judgment The judgment of God at the last day will be pursuant to the judgment already past by his Word and Spirit in the Hearts and Consciences of Believers here Good Angels are imployed to gather up the Elect and consequently they have a true discerning who they are Our Consciences are sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus and have an answer in readiness by the Resurrection of Christ from the dead And the Devil will have something else to do in that day when he stands at the head of the wicked to receive his sentence with them the time of his torment being then come Though he be now the accuser of the brethren day and night before God he must then Eternally be cast down True he is now our accuser and we must labour to overcome him by the Blood of the Lamp as Rev. 12. 10 11. that is by Arguments drawn from the Blood of Jesus yet I say fear him not after death The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death saith the Apostle and must we have an after rancounter with the Devil Must we be set upon a fresh by him No no after death he hath done with you for ever he will not dare to look you in the face at the last day He draw up a charge against you You shall accuse judge and condemn him and all the Devils in Hell 1 Cor. 6. 3. Never fear you that dye in the Lord shall rise up under those denyable evidences of a state of Grace that neither the Devils nor wicked Men shall dare to gain-say What must poor Christians who have lived under doubts fears under buffetings and temptations under accusations and challenges from the Devil and their own Consciences must they rise so Is this to be raised in power with our Spirits made perfect Surely Paul was out in his triumph Rom. 8. 33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect Do you make good your Title to Christ now and never fear any charges afterwards at that day it will be a joyful day to Believers Look up saith Christ lift up your heads for your Redemption draweth nigh Luke 21. 28. And therefore comfort one another your Witness is in Heaven and your Record is on high as Job speaks God Christ Angles Conscience will all be on your side Aye but if this feigned process be not observed some mens notions will fall to the ground Aye and let them fall no matter how soon for they are not grounded upon the Word of God that endureth for ever Brethren we must not draw Schemes and Models from our own Brain and when we have done impose them upon God and make his proceedings in every particular exactly to suit the methods of Humane Judicatures The natural notion of these things is so strong in some mens heads that it doth carry them out beyond the line of the Gospel Good works certainly do best furthest off from the judgment seat of God. They are good and comfortable evidences here but they will make but a sorry Righteousness there for us to plead Though God may and will take notice of all the fruits of his Grace appearing in our words or works when he passeth the solemn declaratory Sentence at the last day which is but a fuller manifestation of our justification God will personally and publickly own that which he hath secretly in our Consciences done by his Word and Spirit in us God doth now act mediately by his word then he will act immediately by himself we shall hear the sentence of our Justification from his own mouth which now we hear only from the mouths of his Ministers that speak to us in his name Secondly The second ground they go upon is this they say that it is a conditional service imposed upon us by God in the new Covenant and therefore the performance of it must needs be part of our Justifying Righteousness which is very specious and very suitable to Humane Reason as most things are that contradict the Mysteries of the Gospel but it is of like sound and significancy with the other Alas At how little a hole will self-Righteousness creep in How apt are we in the pride of our hearts to distinguish our self-Righteousness into our Justification that we may have somewhat whereof to glory To prevent mistakes I will premise one thing that is this I do not deny but that to believe in God in Christ is an eminent piece of service a great act of Divine Worship the greatest act of Worship we can perform to God on this side Heaven But I deny that it is a service done in order to the procuring or purchasing those benefits which we receive from Christ as his free gift Faith receives what Christ hath already procured Faith doth not come to Christ to desire him to dye for us but having dyed for us it comes for the fruit of his death It comes on no other Errand but to receive what is already prepared Faith hath no causality or efficiency at all in contriving compassing constituting the great act of Grace wherein the pardon of our sin and our justification is held forth unto us Our Faith did not move God to promise pardon but finding all this Grace in Jesus Faith applyes it lays hold on it and God gives us leave nay commands us to do this So that Faith is a service we owe to God by way of duty in complyance with his free Grace towards us but it is not a service done by us in way of procuring that which is freely given No no we owe that to Christ and not to Faith. Brethren In common acceptation when we say come to me and I will do this and that for you pray who is the doer he that comes to have the thing done or he that doth it Certainly
therefore 't is said Rom. 4. 3. that Abraham believed God being fully perswaded that what he had promised he was able to perform ver 21. Thus God appeared to Samuel revealing himself to him by his Word 1 Sam. 3. 21. So Christ appeared to Paul by a voice and a Light from Heaven I am Jesus Acts 9. there are spiritual appearances of God now to our Souls under the Preaching of the Gospel answerable to these Visions of Old. God lets himself down into our Hearts through the apprehensions of our faith which frames in our hearts a right image of God answerable to that Character he gives of himself in the Word he shines through the Word in all his Glory when he spake of Old to the Patriarchs by an articulate voice the unwritten word then was accompanied with such convincing signs of his Presence that they could not but believe it and so is the written Word now as capable of representing God to us when he has a mind to be seen by us as that was then the Letter of the Word is but a Creature but the Truths contained in it are Eternal and do all center in God himself who is the Essential Word thus God rises out of the Word and looks a man in the Face tells him thus saith the Lord I am that Lord God Almighty who now speaks unto you he leaves no Objection unanswered shews what sure grounds of faith we have in him shall God say and not do 't is impossible for God to lie it must be so as God saies it can't be otherwise Heaven and Earth shall sooner pass away than one Tittle of the Word be broken thus in God we praise his Word Psal. 56. 4. 10. Consider the Word out of God 't will puzzle Men and Angels to make out the meaning of it to think the things spoken of possible or likely to come to pass but all things are possible with God and to those who believe in God they stick at nothing they are sure Omnipotency knows no difficulties the Counsel of the Lord must stand his thoughts shall come to pass a Soul thus struck with a sense of Gods Presence yields immediately I believe Lord with all my heart am ready to do whatever thou requirest of me so Paul Oh that God would so manifest himself to every one of your hearts this day that he would shew himself come up close to you look you in the face and say I am Jesus you could not withstand this mighty presence of God in Christ Jesus O speak Lord 't is but thy saying to each of us I am Jesus and we shall all be made to know the Lord from the least to the greatest I hope the quickning voice of the Son of God is now sounding in the Ears of your Faith while I am speaking to you and that you do receive the Word not as the word of Man but as it is indeed the Word of God quick and powerful sharper than a two-edged Sword in every one of your hearts The knowledge of the Truth as 't is in Jesus Eph. 4. 21. is one thing and the knowledge of the Truth as 't is in Ink and Paper is another they are the same Truths but as they are in the Scriptures they lie in the dead Letter as they are in Christ they are seen in their living root and principle from whence they spring meer Scriptural Knowledge is but Historical we look upon the things we read and hear rather as notions than realities till God fills up all expressions of Scripture concerning himself with a Divine Presence answerable thereunto we believe nothing that is said of him but such a presence of God in his Word captivates our hearts to the belief of it we must believe him to be such a God as the Word declares him to be before we shall count all his sayings true we must fetch strength from the name of God Rev. 2. 13. to support our Faith in all its actings upon any part of his revealed will and we never deny any Truth plainly revealed but we deny his name Rev. 3. 8. and question his Attributes some Truths bare more upon one Attribute some more upon another but all are founded in God and in the essential properties of his Nature from whence they have their verification and accomplishment so that till God appear and shew himself to the Soul all that is said to us out of the Scriptures in the name of an unknown God affects us not because it wants that which is the ground of its Credibility no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Spirit 1 Cor. 12. 3. he cannot say so and think so he cannot say so and believe what he says till the Father reveal his Son in him Paul by the Light of that Revelation of Christ in him knew all Gospel Mysteries and without such an inward spiritual manifestation of God to our Souls giving us a sight of him who is invisible 't is impossible we should ever be throughly convinced of the Divinity of the Scriptures all Divinity springs from God leads to him nay it looks him directly in the Face and can't be considered apart from him there is but one God and one Faith God must be in the view of our Faith whensoever we really act it Neither can we have that inward testimony of the Spirit convincing us of the Divine Authority of the Scriptures without this special Appearance of God in the Soul as a witness to the Truth of his Word While we are hearing the Word God has invisible wayes of access to our hearts he conveys himself through his Truth to our Souls his Divinity leads the way without some appearance of this the contents of the Word would have no place in our hearts but coming with so great a presence in so great a name and with so strong an impression God himself writing them upon the heart we cannot but receive his Testimony the Word comes into our Hearts suddenly before we are aware and seises them for God we cannot but think speak act and judge as God does the sense of the Word is the sense of our Souls so far as the Word is written in our hearts we read it without the least variation the Copy answers the Original Hence arises that habitual disposition or inclination to believe God creates this new heart I say this infused habit or principle of faith is antecedent to all acts of faith put forth by us and is in it self the sole act of God upon us in our first Conversion it is from this supernatural principle thus infused that the natural powers and faculties of the Soul of Man viz. the Understanding and the Will are enabled to take in things purely Spiritual and Divine Nature never acts above its sphere those inbred common Notions that are the Standards and Measures of Natural Truths in all their consequences will never lead us to grant or admit that which is supernatural