I shall now shew you how God thus appearing to us in hearing the Word does open the heart enlighten the mind and throughly perswade the will to a through closure with Christ upon Gospel Terms Naturally our hearts are shut up against the Gospel our Minds are blinded 2 Cor. 4. 4. till God shines into our hearts to give the light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ ver 6. Enlightning the eyes of our Understandings Eph. 1. 17 18. Quest. What is this Light of Faith and how does it differ from the Light of Reason Answ. The Light of Reason lies in the evidence of the thing it self as it falls under a Humane Understanding arguing from the cause to the effect drawing certain conclusions from undeniable premises granted and acknowledged by all men to be Truths in Nature Upon such Concessions they build all their acquired Knowledge and do put the stamp of Truth upon all fair inferences from thence which they judge agreeable to those first principles and notions of Truth that pass for currant under that name among credulous men who do but think they know and do rather ghess than judge so great is the uncertainty of all humane Knowledge we have little cause to glory in it The light of Faith lies in the infallible certainty of Divine Testimony faith sees not the causes of things in the things themselves but in God alone to whom all things are possible faith excells all other knowledge in as much as it sees and knows all things in their first Cause God and takes hold of them by the very root from whence they first spring arguing from the Veracity of God to the Truth of all his sayings we know that God has spoken thus and thus as Ioh. 9. 29. we know the Doctrine is of God Ioh. 7. 17. and that no prophesie of the Scripture is of private Interpretation 2 Pet. 1. 20 21. under this conviction we cannot but yield the obedience of faith to every word of God I do not deny but experience may and does give Believers some Evidence of the things themselves but this belongs rather to their after Edification then to the first act of Faith in their Conversion by which they close in with Christ upon the credit of a bare word of promise from him who cannot lie Object Since these sublime supernatural Misteries of the Gospel are so much above and so seemingly contrary to humane Reason how comes it to pass that any man should own them for Truths and be brought under the power of them Answ. 'T is by a Divine Faith I call it Divine because 't is the work of God that we believe his Testimony Ioh. 6. 29. Quest. Does not this Operation of God upon the Hearts of men in working faith in us offer violence to mans Nature and force the Will to consent to that which is above the Understanding Or how can the efficacy of Gods Grace in determining Mans Will to such a Spiritual Act of Faith in Christ Jesus be consistent with the liberty of the Will. Answ. Many intricate disputes there are about this Point managed by subtil heads not without some shew and appearance of Reason who to secure the liberty of Mans Will have denied the efficacy of Gods Grace placing the power of believing in man himself to avoid the force that otherwise they think must be offered to his Will. But to clear the efficacy of Gods Grace from this imputation I need say no more but this viz. That the Grace of God enters the Soul of man as a New Nature and therefore cannot put any force upon him Nature works kindly in all by Inclination not by Violence as Nature is from Generation so the new Nature is from Regeneration one is the birth of the Flesh the other of the Spirit as we are born Men by our first birth so we are born Christians by our second birth Artificial Christians are all name without any living Nature answerable to it being not truly born of God and thereby made partakers of his Divine Nature The breathing in of this new Nature into the Soul of man by the Spirit of God is that new Creation spoken of in the Gospel 't is the first Act of God in our Conversion 't is solely the Act of God without any concurrence of ours we have only a passive obediential power to receive the impression 'T is God that makes it upon this supernatural Principle are grounded all after proceedings in bringing the Soul forward to an actual closure with Christ all the natural powers and faculties of the Soul are gathered into this supernatural Principle do act under it are moved by it and directed in all their free motions to a supernatural end which they could not of themselves tend unto and let it not seem incredible to us that God should do this he can do no evil from the perfection of his Nature and for the same reason all good must needs be in the power of his hand the greatest good that can be done to fallen Man is thus to restore him In this new Nature are wrapped up the seeds of all Grace which by the efficacy of the Spirit are drawn out into act with the free consent of Mans Will Should God determine the Will of Man to a good act whilst it is in a bad state and under a corrupt nature this would imply force and violence but to lead out a man according to his new Nature is not to put a force upon him If Sin had that efficacy upon Man in his perfect state to encline his Will to Evil why should not Grace have the like efficacy upon Man fallen to encline his Will to good Though an inclination to Evil in Man standing was possible from the liberty of his Will in which he was created yet such an actual inclination was inconsistent with his perfect state and left such an inherent crookedness in his perverted Nature that nothing but Grace can rectifie and make streight again What is a principle of Grace but liberty to Good restored to fallen man from whence an actual inclination to choose what is good do's follow of course when God calls and excites him thereunto here is no force put upon mans Will it acts freely in the choice of good and it cannot be otherwise since Grace enters as a new Nature ingenerating a powerful Principle of Holiness in the Soul that do's incline a man freely to comply which the efficacious grace of God exciting him to those acts of Holiness so agreeable to the Nature of the new Creature as Sin reigns unto Death so Grace will reign through Righteousness unto Eternal Life Rom. 5. 21. Shall not he that raises the dead be able to quicken a dead Soul but we are more sensible of that power that God puts forth upon the bodies of Men then of that which he puts forth upon their Souls that you may know that the Son of man
hearers are there in our Congregations who are stuck between Christ and the World can get neither backwards nor forwards are now where they were many years ago They dare not cast off Religion altogether neither dare they come up to the power of it they come and go to and from the place of the Holy One conversing only with the dead Letter of the Gospel are not yet brought under the glorious ministration of the Spirit 't is the Spirit gives life by bringing in Gospel Truths in their natural living Principle into the Heart then we live and the Word lives in us the heart and the Word are quickned together one was in a dead frame the other lay in a dead Letter before but now both do live together and agree with each other the sense of the Soul is the sense of the Word and the Sense of the Word is the sense of the Soul they both mean the same thing they fall in with each other they dwell together in Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding there is but one Spirit between them what one says the other does and this is the great work of God as he is the Author of Regeneration to make our hearts thus to agree with his Word by casting them into the mould of the Gospel If ever the Word be ingrafted upon the Soul it must be ingrafted upon a living Principle of Holiness that suits with it for nothing else can receive it or hold it and this is the Work of God upon the Soul in Regeneration CHAP. II. Subjects of Regeneration II. THE Subjects of Regeneration who they are viz. The Elect only the Elect and all the Elect Rom. 8. 30. Whom he did predestinate them he also called c. Let their outward Circumstances be what they will whether bond or free male or female 1 Cor. 12. 13. Gal. 6. 15. Regeneration will reach them all first or last I prove it thus It must be either by Gods Election or by Man's Election putting himself by his own free-will into this state or by Accident no body knows how I will prove it must be one of these three ways because 't is apparent that all by Nature are born in an unregenerate state and that the Devil does carry away the greatest part of mankind into Hell in their unregenerate state These Truths are plainly laid down in Scripture and are capable of clear demonstration from thence Since neither of them need any proof I 'le take them both for granted and I argue thus from them If all are born in sin and the greatest part by far dye in their sins Who makes the difference and from whence does it arise It must come either from the Eternal Purpose of God electing some and not others or from man's own choice electing himself and putting himself into this state by the power of his own free-will so that he is regenerate because he will be so he will regenerate himself and change his own nature and make himself a new creature The absurdity of this will appear by and by or else it is by an unaccountable Contingency no body knows how or why It cannot be by the two latter ways Ergo by the First viz. Gods Election 1. It cannot be by man's own free-will for it can't be supposed that corrupt nature should ever will its own destruction the flesh is not so divided against it self Satan will not cast out Satan the Devil is more at Unity with himself than so he would indeed set himself above God and dethrone him if possible as he is he would be a God he would have the use of God's Power that he might abuse it and play the Devil the more so far he would be like unto the most High but he is so much a Devil such an irreconcilable enemy to all Godliness that he would not exchange his Devilish Nature for the Holy Nature of God and so are all the Children of the Devil Acts 13. 10. Oh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness A natural man would be nothing but what he is he likes himself too well to part with his own nature 't is unreasonable to imagine such a self-destroying inclination in any creature whatsoever 't is impossible for any nature to will a change of it self A Principle of self-preservation runs through the whole Creation of God the Toad as full of Poyson as it is would be a Toad still so sinful man is as tender of himself as much in love with himself as the Holiest Angel in Heaven is with himself Whence should such an actual Will arise in man as to desire his own Annihilation that he may cease to be what he is and become a new Creature There must be another Nature put into him before he can desire to be another Man all do follow the course of Nature and cannot do otherwise therefore till nature is changed the course is and must be the same as ever it was good inclinations are never found in depraved nature an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit figs grow not upon thistles nor grapes upon thorns To suppose a man in a state of nature to will his own Conversion is to suppose him already converted if the Will be changed the Man is changed the Will is the Man. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots Jer. 13. 23. they may as soon do this as one born in sin can cease to live in sin we must be born again first for a sinful nature will never carry a man out to a holy Life Nature is a constant fixed Principle always keeping within its own sphere 't is not a mutable fancy that may be taken up or laid down at pleasure We see all things keep their own shape and form and 't would be monstrous were it otherwise The whole Creation would be confounded if things could run one into another and Metamorphise themselves into what different species they please the God of Nature has fixed things otherwise and I am sure none but the God of Grace can alter the corrupt nature of fallen man. It cannot be by chance by a fortuitous concourse of I know not what None but a downright Atheist will resolve it into this 't is such a denial of Providence in the chiefest design and contrivance of the Infinite Wisdom and Goodness of God as no Christian ever can bear What is Regenerating Grace but a special Providence towards the Elect carried on with wonderful Wisdom and Counsel Where known causes and special ends may be assigned there is no room for Chance we may steadily look from the beginning to the end of such a production and trace back the effect step by step to its first original cause He that is a Christian by chance not knowing how or why he came to be so will give but a sorry account of his Faith and may as suddenly with more reason turn Infidel again Therefore since Regeneration does not happen by an
our heads nor out of our hearts they lye close they lye next us always in our view My sin is ever before me Christ dwells in our hearts by Faith we have the whole state of our Souls before us from first to last Faith shews us where our true interest lies what is of absolute necessity to be done in order to Salvation We see all this in Christ who is God and Man made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him In Christ we see how matters stand between God and Man we see all that passed between God and Man in order to his recovery the whole method way and manner of our restauration from first to last we see the wages of our Sins and the price of our Redemption we see the Law and the Gospel both fulfill'd in Christ God's infinite Justice and Mercy highly exalted and glorified in him 'T is a pleasing ravishing sight to behold God in Christ reconciling the World unto himself to observe the mystery of his manifold hidden wisdom in carrying on the great work of Man's Redemption all this Faith discovers to us in some measure filling us with a Holy admiration of God's unspeakable kindness and love to us provoking us to pursue after the great ends of the Gospel How busie is the Soul how full of discourse with it self What secret inferences does an enlightned Conscience draw from what it believes This believing Jesus to be the Christ takes in all that belongs to the Person of Christ in all his Offices takes in the whole Doctrine of Christ all his Precepts all his Promises applies all to the Soul Thou art the Man spoken of and spoken to in the Gospel hear and thy Soul shall live Now is the accepted time now is the day of Salvation Faith admits of no delays won't give us one days respite from the work it hath cut out for us So Faith wrought in Paul when Christ was revealed in him immediately he consulted not with flesh and blood Faith changes our Counsels alters the whole frame of the Soul the Man is a new Man born again into a new World into a new Nature quite of another spirit This is the Regenerating power of Faith. Let us then judge of the truth of our Faith by the great change that it always makes in those who are brought out of darkness into this marvellous light Should we ask some Professors what effect their Faith had upon them whether upon their believing in Christ they found themselves born again made new creatures It may be they will say they hope they are the better for believing that their Faith has not been without some good effect Alas what a slender account is this how short of a new birth You may be the same Man that ever you were for all this in the same state in which you were first born Art thou born again born of God Speak to this Some outward Reformation there may be where there is no inward Regeneration Hast thou a new heart dost thou lead a new life is the whole course of thy life changed are all things become new within and without Faith in Christ changes us into the same image transforms us into his likeness le ts in the Spirit of Christ further and further into the Soul till we are so filled with the Holy Spirit that there will be at last no room for a worldly spirit to breathe in us it will be quite extinct and die away The more we see of this newness of spirit in any the more of the new creature appears in them When the Apostle would take off the Ephesians from a vain worldly course of life he shews the inconsistency of such a course with the true knowledg of Christ. You have not so learned Christ you have been taught better things by him than to walk as the Gentiles do in the vanity of their mind Faith in Christ works so great a change in all the faculties of the Soul in the understanding will and affections and in our outward conversation too that a true Believer may well be said to be born again from the newness of life that appears in him and to be born of God from the holiness spirituality and heavenly nature of that life which he now lives by Faith in the Son of God. Till the Regenerating power of Faith do thus appear in us we have no reason to think we are born again 4. Whosoever is born of God overcomes the world c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Omne quod ex Deo genitum est He uses the neuter gender to comprehend all sorts states and degrees of mankind he does not say he or she that is born of God c. but whatsoever is born of God every Man Woman and Child rich or poor bond or free whosoever is born of God has power and strength from Christ to overcome the World they are assured of the Victory at their first setting out because greater is he that is in them than he that is in the World. They know they are of the strongest side Christ has overcome the World already in his own Person and will not fail to conquer it in and by the Saints he will appear so great in them that the whole World shall not be able to stand before them Be of good cheer I have overcome the world and you in me have overcome it and by me you shall personally overcome it your selves I prove this to be an evidence of Regeneration thus That which overcomes the World must be of a higher extraction of a more noble descent than the World it self in its present corrupt state it must be something distinct from the World and above it whatever is born of the Flesh is but Flesh falls in with the World to which it belongs and of which it is a part but God having chosen some out of the World and called them to a Heavenly Life has promised to give them a Heavenly Nature to beget them again unto himself to put his own Spirit into them that they may walk as New Creatures who are not of the World though they live in it they are Born of God do bear his image their hearts are moulded into the belief of his word they can do nothing against the truth but every thing for the truth these are they who overcome the World the men of the world and the Things of the World the Spirit Principles of the World the Fears and Hopes of the World the Lusts and Pleasures and Temptations of the World they are dead to all these not moved by them but do steer their course by a higher light let down from heaven into their hearts and this is their Victory even their Faith they have nothing to oppose against the World and all things in it that may disquiet and discompose their Spirits but their Faith and by believing they enter into rest all who
we of our own Tenents even when we put darkness for light and evil for good things must be as we have put them At this rate the truth and power of Religion will quickly be lost amongst us unless both be better exemplified in our Lives and Conversations The Gospel is set before us as a new mould into which we our selves must be cast it comes to work a great change in us not of our opinions only but of our Hearts and Nature to create us again in Christ Jesus unto good works Is this done where this is not done that man's pretended interest in Religion will deceive him and come to nothing You may be of this or that Persuasion of this or that Party have excellent notions of Divine things in your heads and yet not have one tittle of the truth writ upon your hearts I don't ask what you hold or what you profess or what you know but what you are what Newness of Spirit do you find in your selves My Text speaks of something to be done in you and upon you Is that done Art thou born again Art thou a new creature I speak the Language of God to you a new creature is that which you must be before you die else you 'l be undone for ever it concerns you to look what that is do you look to that A new creature you must be else you perish eternally better you had never been born if you are not born again before you die Let not the strangeness of the expression nor the mystery of the thing it self take you off from seeking after this Regeneration in the Text 't is something must be wrought in you you need not go further than your own selves for a proof of it let every one view his own heart well wait for a change there carry thy old carnal unbelieving heart to God and say Lord create in me a clean heart take away this heart of Stone I lay it down at thy feet I dare not take it back again I dare not go from thee in my old sinful corrupt nature O let thy creating power pass upon me this instant that I may become a new creature Did we come with raised expectations of such a work we should see the Glory of God in some inward astonishing effects of his mighty power upon our hearts He that commands light to shine out of darkness and calls things that are not as tho they were gives them a being by his creating power Things that are not do answer to this call of God as if they had been there before they come forth out of their own nothingness deriving a real being and existence from the operative Word of the Lord he speaks and it is done So able is God to raise up Children unto Abraham even out of Stones a Stone may as soon turn it self into a living creature as a natural Man turn himself into a new creature only there is this difference a Stone has no sense to perceive any such change brought upon it but a natural Man has he is a living Soul and when converting Grace comes upon a Man living in sin to turn him from it he must needs feel the opposition that is made to the whole course of his corrupt nature the conflict that is between two living contrary principles is felt on both sides Sin feels it and Grace feels it the Flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh the Flesh is hindred from doing all the evil it would do and the Spirit from doing all the good it would do they retard each others motions one pulls one way and the other another these two are contrary they never agree in any thing A sinner finds himself dying to sin under the quickning regenerating influence of the Spirit of God though corrupt nature perceives not the beauty and glory of Grace yet it sees and feels the contrariety of Grace to it self and is full of enmity against it as the Spirit of God does assist our dying graces so the Devil that evil spirit does what he can to keep alive our dying sins he would fain prevent the utter mortification of sin in Believers if it were possible You see what striving and strugling there is in every regenerate Soul two living men contending with each other the old man and the new there is a mighty strength in the old man but the new man is stronger than he enters in upon him by an irresistible force binds him and at last casts him quite out Let us either throw away our Bibles and resolve never to look into them more or else submit to the judgment of the Scriptures in so great a Case as this is Verily Verily c. THE END A DISCOURSE OF FAITH IN TWO POINTS VIZ. I. How Faith comes by Hearing II. How we are Justified by Faith. By Thomas Cole Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed for Thomas Cockerill at the Three Legs over against the Stocks-Market 1689. A DISCOURSE OF FAITH ROM 10. 17. So then Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. THE Apostle towards the close of the Ninth Chapter speaking of a twofold Righteousness of Works and of Faith tells us that the Gentiles did attain to the Righteousness of Faith but the Iews did not attain to the Righteousness of Works which they so much trusted in for they being ignorant of Gods Righteousness and going about to establish their own have not submitted themselves to the Righteousness of God Rom. 10. 3. Hence the Apostle takes an occasion to compare the Righteousness of the Law with that of Faith calling one our own Righteousness the other the Righteousness of God which the Law do's tacitly point to promising Life to perfect Obedience this not being found in any mere Man since the Fall we are directed to seek it in Christ who is the end of the Law to every one who believes ver 4. he brings in Moses verse the 5th describing the Righteousness which is of the Law that the man which doth thsoe things shall live by them Such doers of the Law we are not therefore can look for nothing but Death by Law. Verse 6th He brings in the Righteousness of Faith by a Prosopopeia speaking it self to an afrighted dejected sinner who is also brought in musing upon his wretched Condition full of sad thoughts saying over many dismal things to himself in his own Heart about his Eternal State how shall I get to Heaven how shall I escape Hell how shall I dwell with everlasting Burnings which I see no way to avoid by Law the righteousness of Faith meets this convinced Sinner in this great distress of Conscience communes with him discourses of Christ to him minds him of his Resurrection from the dead and Ascension into Heaven you seem says the Righteousness of Faith to deny both in talking at this rate your way to Heaven is plain Christ is ascended you shall as surely go to Heaven if you
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 1. 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 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 when we do this 't is always from some higher Principle when we see men acting above themselves we may conclude they are acted by something higher than themselves which is the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them This special Appearance of God with those inward effects of it upon the Soul which I have been speaking of may be known to Believers they discern it in others Acts 11. 17 18. and do when they give a true reason of their faith see it in themselves that all springs from the Fathers revealing his Son in them they can give no other reason why they believe in Jesus 't is God that opens the door of Faith and makes it effectual Acts 14. 27. We are apt to be taken with any appearance of Man in a Sermon this we look after what words of Mans Wisdom how Man acquits himself in reasoning of this or that Point 'T is true there is some skill required in Planting and Watering but all the encrease comes from God your Faith consists not in the Wisdom of Man but in the power of God if God himself do not appear as a witness to his own Truth as the great undertaker of all that he has promised what we say will prevail little your faith must terminate in God himself and in that Ability that is in him to perform his word this was the ground of Abrahams faith Paul knew him whom he believed 2 Tim. 1. 12. and so must you if ever you believe to the saving of your Souls Did you go out of the Congregation after every Sermon you hear under a sight and sense of this appearance of God in his Word speaking to you from Heaven and shewing himself to your souls in some spiritual resemblance suited and adapted to that Word you are hearing how could you reject such a Word so full of God so exactly corresponding to what you see in God himself you must yield and cry out each of you who am I that I should withstand God This is the first way that God takes to work Faith in us by our hearing the Word Preached to us Secondly Faith is wrought by opening the heart enlightning the mind and perswading the will to a through closure with Christ upon Gospel Terms
hath power to forgive sins Take up thy bed and walk Mat. 9. 6. This you all see but the actings of my saving power upon the souls of men that power that works within Eph. 3. 20. you see not let this that you see convince you of that which you see not and never dispute my power more to forgive sin I can heal the diseases of the Soul as well as those of the Body the power that God has to forgive sin is the great prerogative of God belonging to the soveraignty of his grace God walks invisibly thorow the World doing his mighty works of Grace he touches some mens hearts not others he draws some and not others by the sweet yet irresistable force of his Grace we see nothing but man mans Will mans Choice mans Act and therefore conclude all is by mans own power because we see not the wheel within the wheel the Spirit of God setting the whole soul in motion towards Christ This arcanum Iehovae this secret of the Lord is with them that fear him Psal. 25. 14. The way of the Spirit of God in the hearts of men is discerned by few 't is a very hard matter to understand how God works in us to will and to do because we find it to be our own act to believe repent and turn to God we ascribe all to our selves as if our own arm had saved us The truth is God in all the efficacious operations of his grace upon the hearts of men loves to conceal himself he will not be seen by others to do what he do's in and for his Saints no noise in the streets Matth. 12. 19. The kingdom of God comes not with observation Luke 17. 20 21. All is done within secretly and silently non are privy to this heart-work but they that feel it this is the hiding of his power from the observation of those whom he never intends to work upon and for the hardening of their hearts that they may still retain an opinion of their own ability to do that which they see others so freely and willingly addicting themselves unto Though this be a cause of stumbling to many who boast of a supposed power and freedom of will to believe and repent when they please yet such in whose hearts God has wrought these mighty works of his grace they see and feel the weight of his Arm revealed upon their souls they know it is Gods doing that a divine power has touched their hearts and carried them out to all these acts of Faith that they put forth they openly acknowledge this 1 Cor. 15. 10. Phil. 4. 13. 2 Cor. 3. 5. Gal. 2. 20. Not I but Christ. When they feel themselves most strengthned by Christ they are then most sensible of their own self-insufficiency and weakness I can do all things through Christ yet not sufficient of our selves to think a good thought when I am weak then am I strong 2 Cor. 12. 10. They would not say so if they did not find a power more then humane exerting it self within them and strengthning them with might in their inward man I live yet not I but Christ lives in me till we can thus distinguish between Nature and Grace and see God influencing our Wills in all their free motions to that which is good we shall vainly assume to our selves a power that never yet reduced it self to the least real act of Faith in any man whatever 't is easie talking of a power to believe before we come to believe in good earnest then our strength fails us if God do not support us and help our unbelief I believe help my unbelief q. d. I can't hold it my faith will fail if God do not put his Everlasting Arms underneath if we consider what difficulties what strong Objections unanswerable by Reason Faith Acts against in keeping up a lively hope of Pardon in the Conscience of a convinced sinner we must needs say 't is the work of God that we believe we may wonder at our selves as men when we consider what we believe as Christians I have spoken all this to shew that God is the Author and Finisher of our Faith 't is he only can open the heart and dispose it to give Credit to the Word of his Grace Application By way of Discovery viz. How we may know when Faith comes by Hearing even at the time of Hearing and whether it be yet come into your hearts by all you have heard hitherto Faith is a secret and a sudden work when it comes it gives some sense of it self to an observing Christian that quickly convinces us of a change in our selves a heart truly turned to God is not the same it was before not in the same posture not in the same disposition and frame there is something new appears in every new Creature that do's not belong to the Old Man but rises up in opposition to him this newness do's not lye in some one corner of the heart but every where 't is universal in every faculty all things are become new though the old leaven be not totally cast out any where but left as an occasional provocation and challenge to the Grace of God to act in more opposition to those motions of sin that put a force upon the New Creature are directly contrary to the bent and genius of our renewed Nature till Faith comes we are never sensible of any such inward Conflicts between the flesh and the Spirit but then the fight begins the good fight of Faith 'T is Faith strikes the first stroke makes the first assault upon our reigning sin and corruptions and will never cease contending with them till it has got a full Victory over them and throughly mortified them But how shall we know in the very time of hearing when Faith comes When the word Works effectually after hearing it usually gives some powerful touch upon the heart at the time of hearing so 1 Cor. 14. 24 25. he speaks there of the occasional Conversion of an Unbeliever who came into the Assembly where there was Prophesying and Preaching 't is probable some such are come in hither to day Oh that God would meet with them that they might be convinced and fall down upon their Faces worshipping God acknowledging that he is among us of a truth so Acts 2. 37. their Hearts were prick'd they cry out in the midst of the Sermon Men and Brethren what shall we do We want such publick Conversions had we more of these New Births in our Congregations we should have more of these out-cries which would be very awakening to us all if God would honour his Ordinances with such visible signs of his presence as in the Primitive Times the Word was preached with that power that it wrought a great consternation and astonishment in the whole Assembly there was a great impression upon their minds which had various effects some blasphemed and some believed but all were moved and stirred struck inwardly