Charity be better then Faith yet for this particular use of Justification Faith may bee better then Charity Upon this comes in Salmeron very much deriding Calvin and tells us the comparison is quite out of square for every thing is to bee taken in his owne kind A Mariner and a King be cleane of diverse kinds And though a King be never so excellent a King yet a Mariner shall still be a better Mariner that is fitter to rule a Ship though not to rule a Kingdome but the comparison is to hold in eodem genere Peter is a better footman then Iohn therefore Peter runs better Iohn a better Scribe then Peter therefore Iohn writes better So Faith is a better vertue then Charity therefore it justifies better it is a proper argument saith Salmeron for justifying is the proper work of vertue But here Heshusins very well unites the knot and states the matter beyond all further controversie replying againe upon Salmeron singularly well that he is deceived to say justification is the proper work of vertue True indeed if justification were by any merit of ours if it were possible to be justified by any workes of the Law then Charity might challenge the first place because Charity is the fulfilling of the Law But because no man is able to keepe the Law therefore in very truth no vertue justifies neither a small vertue nor a great vertue nor the greatest of all For by the worke of the Law no flesh shall be justified Rom. 3. But it is by applying the righteousnesse of another which hath fulfilled the Law for us that is our way of justifying now Being justified freely by his grace saith the Apostle through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ Rom. 3 24. This kind of justification depends not upon any vertue or any merit of man but onely upon the mercies of God and the merits of Jesus Christ Nor doth Faith justifie by any worth or efficacy of its owne but meerely as an instrument which God hath ordained for us to lay hold of his promises in Christ Jesus by as it were the hand stretched out whereby we draw to us the promises of the Gospell and the benefits of the Mediator like some Cord to keepe us from sinking It is not the length of our arme to reach to the banke nor the strength of this hand to lay hold but the mercy of God casting the Cord to us by which wee are saved but unlesse we take hold by this hand we sinke notwithstanding So Faith is the hand whereby we apprehend the meanes of our salvation and therefore it is the instrument of our justifying onely and not Charity But in the meane time Charity though it be not the hand may be as the necke or a nobler member that joynes the whole body together which though it cannot lay hold as the hand doth yet must of necessity partake of the salvation of the whole body Well then in this respect grant Charity inferiour to Faith because Faith rather justifies But then there follow other respects againe that set Faith as much behind Charity in which regard the Apostle preferres Charity As first that Faith benefits none but him that hath it but Charity extends to the whole Church and to the benefit of others Faith is like Seed hid in the ground it appeares not outwardly it is locked up in the heart But Charity shines ad extra it is appâ—ant it is beautifull in the eyes of men Faith is but an imperfect thing it is a beleeving of things which we doe not know so is Hope it is an expectation of things we doe not yet injoy But Charity is a kind of present injoying of what we love and so implyes perfection Adde to this that Faith distinguisheth and disjoynes us from Infidels So doth Hope likewise but Charity combines and unites us with all men In fine Charity and Hope though they doe abide yet is it but nunc for this present life and no further but Charity never faileth that abides for ever In the next World it shall accompany us no lesse then in this and bee far more perfect and more delightfull In this point Charity passeth all other vertues that can be named none that can abide for evermore as Charity doth therefore charity is doubtlesse the greatest Faith and Hope how great how comfortable soever here they have their period Beyond this life they cannot goe for they both imply absence of that thing they fixe upon when therefore wee shall come in presence of what we beleeve and hope for Faith and Hope shall vanish The Husbandman while hee ploweth ploweth in hope saith Musculus and by Hope he is sustained and held up till his fruiâ—es bee gathered into his Barne but when the Harvest is in his hands what should he further hope for The like it is of Faith He that hath heard of a gracious Prince but never seene him beleeves well but when hee comes to see and know perfectly his beleefe ceaseth Vision then takes up all in all And so it shall be hereafter when we shall come to see the great King of Heaven and earth in his glory which now onely wee beleeve and to injoy that happinesse in his presence which now wee hope for Faith and Hope shall then have an end and Vision and Fruition shall take up all in all In stead of beleeving and expecting we shall then see and injoy But even when we see and injoy we shall love never the lesse The lesse nay the more a great deale saith Catharinus if we loved so dearely that good we knew not how strong shall our affection be when we shall come to know and see what we love Never can the soule be wearied with that blessed sight never enough filled with that sweetest love For things eternall are much dearer belooved when we injoy them then while wee desire them saith he It is not so with temporall things These wee love dearely while we long after them but when we have once got them we grow quickly weary of them So shal it not be in heaven Those Celestiall joyes shall prove much sweeter in the injoying then now we can fancy in the desiring In them shall be the fulnesse of joy and pleasure for evermore such a fulnesse as shall never cloy us and yet such a one as shall alwaies content us such pleasures as shall ever more delight us and yet never weary us nor decay in the delighting The longer we enjoy them the more we shall be ravished with them the fuller wee are filled the more we shall still desire to be filled and yet feele no emptinesse at all O blessed and unspeakable happinesse to which that we may aspire beseech we him who is himselfe the way the truth and the life to direct our steps aright that following him in the paths of Faith of Hope and Charity while we abide here we may at length attaine that fulnesse of vision and fruition and
delight which abide for ever in his presence hereafter Amen The end of the first Sermon THE SECOND SERMON Hebrews the 11. Chapter the 6. verse For he that commeth to God must beleeve that he is and and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seeke him BEing indebted by my promise to handle particularly the Articles of the Creed which is the summe of our Christian faith I have chosen this Scripture to begin with which is the summe of the whole Creed of all the Articles in it As Faith may bee called the Ground-worke of Religion whereupon Hope and Charity and all other Vertues are built So this Scripture containes the ground-worke of faith it self the very foundation of that on which all Christianity is founded For as no Christian can be saved without faith so no faith possible except wee bee perswaded of thus much before hand namely That God is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seeke him Which sentence I deemed so much the more necessary to handle by way of preparative before the Articles of the Creed because it appeares of more antiquity and more universality then the Creed and all the Articles of it yea more ancient then Scripture it selfe out of which the Creed is taken For thus much before any Scripture was written was necessary for all men to beleeve as appeares by the Apostles instance in this place Saint Paul is discoursing here of the faith of the Patriarkes and particularly of Abel and Enochs faith Enoch saith he was translated that he should not see death And he was translated by faith By saith he was translated because he pleased God And without faith it is impossible to please God upon which conclusion if any shall demand what saith had Enoch or what faith Abel that lived so long before any Scripture was written why this faith they had faith Saint Paul this at least without which no saith is imaginable nor any comming to God possible namely that God is and that hee is a rewarder of them that seeke him This faith they had and this as it should seeme was enough to please God and to save them as the world went then but this is not enough for us now We have more Revelations from Heaven even aboundant ones in many ages and many successions in many writings of the Prophets and Apostles and all these are necessary for us to beleeve now Even all the written bookes of the Bible and every thing contained in them for we are to acknowledge them to be Gods Word and if Gods Word then to imbrace and beleeve them and to doubt of nothing in them So that the whole Scriptures are now become necessary for every Christian man of ripe reason on perill of salvation to beleeve To beleeve I say but not particularly to know or remember that is not necessary to salvation for that is businesse enough for a learned Divine that hath nothing else to doe to understand particulars of Scripture and remember them But all must bee beleeved though beleeve I by the most ignorant and all received upon the credit of Gods Spirit as Gods Word whether knowne particularly or no. And yet though all particulars neede not by men of meane capacity bee knowne some must some particulars of Scripture knowne explicitly and beleeved expresly or no salvation for men of ripe judgement possible And those are the heads of Christianity summed up in the Creed which is a short confession of our Faith comprised by the primitive Fathers of the Church to that end that every 〈◊〉 might have it ready as an abstract of all that was necessary And this they did not to make Lay-men carelesse or lazy that they should not care to know more but to direct yong beginners and to leave all of all sorts without excuse that would not know this Because saith Aquinas Faith is the substance of things hoped for And those things only belong essentially to saving faith which concern our Hope the means of salvation And because many things contained in Scripture pertaine not so directly to these as that Isaac had two sonnes that Iacob was in Aegypt and the like therefore are those points that directly concerne mens salvation and the meanes of it summod up in the Creed so that all men are now necessarily bound to know and beleeve thus much at least how much soever they know more Thus then the Scripture is now the rule of Faith and the Creed is the summe of Faith so much as is essentially necessary to every ones salvation But of old before the Scripture was written this ground-work sufficed This may be called Abels and Enochs Creed which is the preparative also to ours and all mens else namely that God is and that he is a Rewarder of them that seeke him The words being a conclusion by way of Analysis seeme to imply not onely the summe of our Faith but of our Hope and our Charity too that is the substance of all Religion For our Charity that yee have touched in the first words Hee that comes to God Comes to God that is desires to come neâ—re him to be joyned and united to him saith Estius and such a comming is the very act of love Then for our Hope that yee have in the last words namely that God is a Rewarder of them that seeke him that grounds our Hope For our Faith it is the very heart of the Text that which the Apostle would infer He that comes must beleeve beleeve that God is and that he is a Rewarder c. So that upon presupposall of the necessity of our love St. Paul here grounds our faith and our hope too or rather shewes that our love is to be grounded in faith and hope or else it can never be a right love Love is the top of the building as yee heard last Sunday Love the goodly Tarias the beauty the Crowne and superstructure of all Well but Cogitans â—dificium charitatis necesse est ponaâ— fundamentum fidei saith a Father He that would build up this goodly Tower of Charity must lay the foundation low and strong in a sure faith Oportet accedentem credere Hee that comes that is he that would draw nigh to God by his love must first approach by his faith He that commeth to God must beleeve that he is That the Apostles way of arguing is thus analyticall appeares by what goes before There St. Paul tels us of Enochs translation at the first verse translation to heaven that is glorification glorification presupposes sanctification Before hee was translated Enoch had this testimony that hee pleased God Please God how could he except hee came to him that is except hee loved him For as glorification is the end of our way and implyes an arrivall to and an union with God So Sanctification which is by Charity is the course of our way by which wee still get ground and come neerer and neerer Now impossible we
be for impossible we should seeke God without his grace impossible we should offer to come to him unlesse he give us the will For we are not able to thinke any thing as of our selves saith Saint Paul As God therefore gives reward to them but seeke him so hee had need give power likewise to seeke that he may have whom to reward for except he given us we cannot seeke It is well observed therefore by one that the words are not God is a Rewarder of men propter quarendum for their seeking but God is a Rewarder quarentium of them that seeke Seeke we may and by his grace only and his help seek why not and so God be a Rewarder not of our deserts but of his owne girts in our seeking This for admonition For reprehension many kind of offenders we may take good occasion to taxe To let goe those incredulous wretches that dare call these great principles in question and doubt whether there be a God or no or whether he bee Rewarder of those that seeke him I suppose many others that professe these points with their mouths may be justly blamed as disagreeing from them in their lives And if it bee the lives of men must prove their faith I pray how doe they prove their faith of Gods being that yeeld him no manner of reverence in his House nor any where else That set light by his Word by his Ministers by his Sabbaths by his Service If they did beleeve there were no God at all could they doe more to confirme it to the World could they bee more prophane then many now adaies are If I be a Father saith God where is my honour If I be a Master where is my feare If there be a God where is our outward acknowledgement of this God in our Worship in our Reverence in our respect to his Ministers in our Tithes and Ofterings and the like To let goe these What say yee to those men that come to Church sometimes and yet live worse then Insidels lye defraud steale forsweare privily consume and devoure their Brethren Doe these beleeve that God is think yee They doe not live as if they did sure In the third place set your presumptuous insolent young Gallant that scornes all Lawes despises all government makes a mock of all wholsome order and triumphs in the contempt of all as if hee knew none above him How neare is this man in his life to saying there is no God In the fourth place yee may set the curious disputer he that will measure all grounds of faith by his reason and beleeve no more then can be proved by demonstration Let him remember that St. Paul here requires this evident principle so often proved among Philosophers by reason viz. that God is to be imbraced of us Christians by faith and not by science he that comes to God must beleeve this It is not expected he should prove it And this for oftenders against the first point touching Gods essence Against the second touching his Providence That God is a Rewarder how many more seeme delinquents and in their example appeare too much to forget this First murmurers and repiners so much blamed Psal 37. that grieve at the prosperity of the wicked that fret to see the unequall distributions of things Temporall as if God had no better blessings then these doe not these seeme to charge the Justice and Providence of God as if he had forgotten to reward them that seeke him Next unto whom yee may joyne the backslider he that begins to doe well and then gives over as if his labour were not enough considered As if he should say What prosit is there in serving God Sure I have cleansed my heart in vaine c. Nor may wee omit the politick worldling he that thinkes to contrive all events whatsoever and bring things to passe by his owne wits as if there were no providence to be acknowledged And the miserable niggard hee that will not part with any thing to the poore that is will not trust God with a halfe penny Is it likely these beleeve God a Rewarder of them that seeke him Nay sure if they did they would be more liberall and more pious In the last place set the lazy Christian that seekes after nothing at all but loyters and lyes abed trisles out his time and takes his case Doth this man thinke you perswade himselfe there is a Reward belonging to seekers that will not take the paines to seeke any thing for his soules health nor his bodies neither That seldome or never praies never reads nor meditates nor thinks on God Nay sure if this man beleeve any reward from God it is a doubt but it is certaine he doth not greatly desire it Last of all for consolation very fruitfull both Doctrines are First that God is it ministers aboundant comfort to us in all the chances and changes in all the distresses and troubles of our life that however other things vary and change God varies not How ever other helps other friends decay and perish yet God abides still Not so any comforts besides him Riches are now but shortly they will not be Health is here to day but happily gone to morrow Thy Father and thy Mother thy Husband thy Patron are but for a time shortly there will bee a time when thou maist say of these things they are â—ot But God though all other things vanish and perish yet he is still Hee is a sure friend an everlasting comfort There is our joy that though all other helpes bee taken away God can never bâ— taken away He is still where hee was Nay though ourselves be taken away yet he is our hope even in the midst of death In him we lâ—ve we move 〈◊〉 are stâ—ll even when we are not Secondly from his providence aboundanâ— comforts more That though none else regard our godly living our patient and painefull working yet God will not forget it we have a sinâ— rewarder of him God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love c. And yet though we be not by and by rewarded or reconâ—sed in these temporall things let us not grieve as if we were unrespected For it is Estius his note the word here signifies rather future then present not so much that God is as that he will be a Rewarder Though he tarry therfore wait for him For certainely God will not forget his promise And though he recompence not in temporall good things yet remember he hath better Rewards in store for us and such as are worthy our faith indeed such as he hath chiesly taught us to expect from him That Reward is his owne selfe which how ever other things may faile us shall be sure in the last place not to faile us but to make us blessed for ever in the vision and fruition of him who is for ever To which blessed vision and fruition c. FINIS