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A43959 The reasonableness and necessity of the Christian faith manifested in a sermon / preach'd before the right honourable the lord mayor at Guild-Hall Chapel, Oct. 17, 1697, by John Hitchcock ... Hitchcock, John. 1697 (1697) Wing H2193; ESTC R178053 8,732 26

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The Reasonableness and Necessity of the Christian Faith Manifested IN A SERMON Preach'd before the Right Honourable THE Lord Mayor At GUILD-HALL Chapel Oct. 17. 1697. By JOHN HITCHCOCK M. A. LONDON Printed by Tho. Warren for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop ' s-Head in St. Paul 's Church-Yard 1697. Heb. xi 6. the former Part of the Verse But without Faith it is impossible to please him THis Chapter is a Panegyrick upon Faith and all its holy Champions and Martyrs from the very beginning of the World down to the Apostles time In the first Verse we have a description of Faith in its general Notion It is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen that is Faith is a confident expectation of those good things we hope for by vertue of a Promise from God and a firm perswasion of the truth of those things whereof we have no sensible Evidence by vertue of a Revelation from God In the four following Verses we have a more particular account of Faith and how pleasing it is to God in some eminent acts and examples And then this Proposition is laid down as a standing Maxim in Religion which concerns every Man and will hold true to the end of the World Without Faith it is impossible to please God My Discourse upon this subject shall consist of these four Parts I. I will explain the Nature of Religious Faith II. Evince the Reasonableness of such a Faith III. Shew the Necessity of it to render us acceptable to God IV. Represent the Power and Influence of Faith upon our Lives I. As to the nature of Religious Faith it is no more than the Assent of the Mind to the truth of any Revealed Religion This takes in the Revelation of God by Moses to the Jews and also that other by Christ to all the World both which are contained in the Writings of the Old and New Testament I will speak to the latter at this time being the last and perfect Revelation of God's Will to Mankind and that in which we Christians are more especially concerned And that we have all the reason in the World to believe this Revelation to entertain the Christian Religion in our Minds with a firm belief of the truth of it I shall now make appear which was the second Thing Proposed And I will only mention a few Arguments which I think are clear and convincing First The whole Jewish Religion proves the truth of the Christian For all the Types and Prophecies relating to the Messias were compleatly verified and fulfilled in Christ And it is impossible they should ever be applied to any other Person Which is an unanswerable Argument for his being the Messias and consequently for the Truth of his Religion Secondly The History of our Saviour's Life and Miracles comes to us as well attested and with as good Authority as any History in the World It was Penned partly by such as were his constant Companions and Eye-Witnesses of his Actions and partly by such as had the matters of Fact from Eye-Witnesses And these were all Men of unquestioned Integrity Nay they had the Testimony of God himself the Power of working Miracles for their Honesty And at last for a confirmation of the Truth of what they had said they willingly laid down their Lives Thirdly The Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists were carefully preserved by the First Christians Copies of them were faithfully taken and Translations diligently made And if the Tradition of the whole Church be of any weight we are sure that we have the Writings which contain our Religion without any Loss or Corruption Fourthly The Religion of Christ prospered in the World to the ruin of all other Religions Neither Jews nor Gentiles neither Learning nor Power could stop its progress but it made its way through the strongest opposition Conquered all the Prejudices and Interests of Mankind and triumph'd over all the Malice the Cunning and Force of its Enemies Which it could never have done if the Providence of God had not most illustriously appeared for it and attended the Preaching of it with an Extraordinary Blessing and Influence upon the Minds of Men. Lastly The Christian Religion carries the Evidence of its Divine Original in its own Nature and Constitution For it proposeth a Spiritual and Rational Worship such as is most agreeable to the Nature of God and Reason of Man in opposition to all Idolatry and useless Ceremonies It prescribes the best Rules of Life teaches us internal Righteousness and perfect Vertue which if we practise we must be Happy And then it offers the strongest Motives to the performance of our Duty Everlasting Rewards and Punishments All this it does with the greatest accommodation and simplicity the Doctrine being framed for the use of all Men is adapted to the Understandings of all 't is suited to all Relations and fitted to all Capacities No Man is left to seek his Duty or a loss to understand it What now can be more worthy of our Belief and Entertainment than this Excellent Religion of the Truth whereof we have the highest Moral Evidence the best Proof that the thing will bear and it is very unreasonable to expect any other He that will not believe a thing that is only morally certain and does not exclude all doubt must reject all ancient History and believe nothing but what he sees which is contrary to the Judgment and Practice of Mankind And if Scepticks were to manage their Temporal Affairs with the same humour that they treat Religion they would be lookt upon as Men out of their Wits and only fit to live in a dark room by themselves Besides a Faith that is grounded upon sensible Evidence and excludes all manner of doubt has nothing in it that is excellent or rewardable I can see no more Vertue in such a Faith than in believing the truth of Colours or Mathematical Demonstratious There is no resisting such evident Truths and a Man cannot but believe them Which is the reason that I do not wonder at those Mens believing in Christ who heard him speak and saw him act after his Divine and astonishing manner And Christ himself seem'd to make but little account of such a Faith when he said unto Thomas Joh. 20.29 Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed Intimating that such a Faith as Thomas's is no more than a Mans believing his Senses and deserves no Commendation or Reward But since the Proofs of our Religion are only Moral sufficient to induce but not to inforce an Assent Since the things proposed to our belief require a diligent application and study before we can well understand them our selves or give a good account of them to others This makes our Faith to be a considerate and free act of the Mind and as such to be praise-worthy and capable of reward We cannot give a reason of our Faith to others