THE ARRAIGNMENT OF UNBELIEF AS The Grand Cause of Our Nationall Non-establishment Cleared in a SERMON to the Honourable House of Commons in PARLIAMENT at Margarets Westminster upon the 28th of May 1645. being the Day of their Publike Fast By JOSEPH CARYL late Preacher to the Honourable Society of Lincolnes-Inne now Pastor at Magnus neer the Bridge London PSAL. 78. Ver. 32 33. For all this they sinned still and beleeved not for his wondrous works Therefore their daies did he consume in vanity and their years in trouble LONDON Printed by G. Miller for Giles Calvert at the Black-spread-Eagle at the West end of Pauls M. DC XLV May 28o. 1645. ORdered by the Commons assembled in PARLIAMENT that Sir Robert Harley and Sir Peter Wentworth do from this House give thanks to M. Caryl and M. Ford for the great pains they took in the Sermons they preached this day at the intreaty of this House at St. Margarets Westminster it being the day of Publike humiliation and to desire them to Print their Sermons And they are to have the like priviledge in printing of them as others in the like kinde usually have had H. Elsynge Cler. Parl. D. Com. August 5. 1645. I appoint Giles Calvert to print this Sermon Joseph Caryl TO THE Honourable the House of Commons Assembled in PARLIAMENT WHen I was called by your voice to prepare this Sermon your affairs were much unsetled and so were the hearts of most about them This besides the everlasting usefullnesse of the subject was one speciall motive leading me to this Text and these Meditations It hath pleased God since that to shine very graciously upon your Counsels and to prosper Those Heroes who act abroad by your Orders and Authority with amazing successes which raise this hope that God instead of punishing is healing our unbelief as also that possibly this Sermon hath had through his blessing a hand in helping on the cure When the woman touched Christ by faith he quickly perceived that vertue was gone out of him while we cannot but perceive that much vertue is gone out from Christ in giving our late Victories may we not conclude that some body hath touched him Faith may justly be sirnamed Long-hand it can reach to Heaven And one battell wonne by the hand of faith reaching Heaven is more glorious then a thousand by an earthly naked sword We read Num. 21. 14. of an ancient record of which there are now no remains but that mention whose Title-page is The Book of the warres of the Lord. And why the warres of the Lord Surely because the Lord engaged for his people in those warres What ever else may the actings of holy faith will engage the Lord. Act faith and then the records of these times on your side shall bear thus to all posterity The Book of the warres and counsels of the Lord. If these words preached have had or printed shall yet give any advantage toward such a Title of your Acts and Monuments in the great work of our Nationall establishment you have the desires and ends which lye next to the glory of God in the heart of Sirs Your humble servant in the work of the Lord Joseph Caryl Erratum pag. 38. lin 15. for proofs read reproofs A SERMON PREACHED To the Honourable House of COMMONS at Westminster upon the 28th day of May 1645. the day of their solemn monethly Fast ISA. 7. 9. the latter part of the verse If ye will not beleeve surely ye shall not be established AT the beginning of this Chapter we read a warre prepared and a strong confederacie entred against Judah and Jerusalem It was told the house of David saying Syria is confederate with Ephraim ver 2. It is worth our consideration who were joyned in confederacie and against whom Syria and Ephraim are confederate against Judah The Syrians were profest enemies to the Jewes they had no civil relation to them and their religion was at furthest distance but Ephraim was near to Judah both in religion and civill relation and yet Syria and Ephraim that is the revolted ten Tribes ioyn together and mingle their forces and counsels to invade Judah who held forth the true worship of God Whence note That mungrell corrupt professors of true religion will joyn with open enemies against those who are zealous and faithfull professors of true religion We see at this day Syria confederate with Ephraim loose libertine Protestants mixt with Papists against those who are close-covenanting and close-walking Protestants And there is a clear reason for it corrupt hearts seek their own ease and therefore will easier joyn with those who are more loose then with those who are more strict then themselves Ascents and improvements in holinesse pinch corruption nature had rather go backward then come onne in religion and thinks we have gone beyond all reproof if we keep pace with our fore-fathers and tread in their steps Syria is confederate with Ephraim This report being brought to Ahaz the King of Iudah his heart was moved and the heart of his people as the trees of the wood are moved with the winde We are ready to imitate as the sinfull actions so the passions of Princes when Magistrates and Leaders are afraid the people seldome take courage His heart was moved and the heart of his people All Iudah shakes from head to foot they shake within as well as without their hearts were moved The heart as Astronomers tell us of the highest sphere is the primum mobile the first mover whose motion turns all the spheres of this lesser world man If the heart be moved with fear all the members of the body move with fear if the heart be moved with joy all the members of the body move with joy This moved-heart is opposed to a fixed-heart Psal 112. 7. his heart is fixed The heart is like quick-silver if you can fix that you have fixed all if that flee all flees His heart was moved and the heart of his people When they were in this fit and feaver of fear shaking at the very heart behold the goodnesse of God ver 3d. Then said the Lord unto Isaiah Go forth now to meet Ahaz and say unto him Take heed and be quiet fear not Two things I will note from this in passage First That God is acquainted not only with our outward distractions and troubles but with our inward fears and perturbations He knows the stirrings of every heart if your hearts do but pant at any danger the Lord observes it And then Secondly That as soon as the Lord sees a wound in the spirits of his people he presently provides a Physician and sends a plaister As soon as ever it was said their hearts were moved God raiseth up his Prophet and puts a healing reviving word in his mouth to strengthen and settle them again Go forth now to meet Ahaz and say unto him Take heed and be quiet fear not c. As the Lord gives them counsell not to fear
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
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
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
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
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
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
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