Worship viz. all kinds of virtue and moral Goodness such as Justice and Mercy Fidelity and Truth Meekness and Patience Sobriety and Temperance and 't is true of these things as well as of Worship that without faith they cannot be performed because they are all such things as God is pleased withal and 't is said in general That without Faith we cannot please him From hence 't is plain that we are thus to understand the phrase of pleasing God when the Apostle saith Without Faith we cannot please him viz. Without Faith it is impossible a man should be a worshipper of God and a practicer of Virtue More distinctly thus Without Faith a man cannot Love God or Fear him or Trust in him or Obey him or Honour him in his Thoughts Words or Deeds Nor can he be Righteous and Charitable Meek and Humble Sober and Temperate Or in a word That without Faith 't is impossible a man should be truly Religious in his life and actions If it be enquired 2. What the Apostle means by Faith without which 't is impossible to please God let us look to the following words again and we shall find the Faith the Apostle speaks of is 1. In general a persuasion of the truth of some proposition or an assent thereunto that it is true for he saith He that cometh to God must believe that he is To believe therefore to be persuaded that this proposition is true viz. that there is a God is an instance of the Faith whereof the Apostle speaks Likewise he that cometh unto God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that seek him To believe therefore or to be persuaded of this proposition That God is a rewarder of them that seek him is an instance of that Faith of which the Apostle speaks and consequently by Faith is here meant in general a persuasion concerning any Doctrine or Proposition that it is true 2. By consequence also as to the nature of those propositions which the Apostle saith we must believe if we will please God we find more particularly that the Faith without which we cannot please God is a persuasion of the truth of those propositions which are proper arguments and motives inducing a man to do those things whereby God is pleased for the Apostle saith He that cometh unto God must believe that he is And plain it is that to believe that there is a God is a reason why men should do those things which please him He says also that he that cometh unto God must believe that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Alike plain it is that to believe God to be such a rewarder is a reason or motive inducing a man to do those things whereby God is pleased and consequently the Faith which the Apostle speaks of is a persuasion of the truth of those Propositions or Doctrines which are proper motives or inducements to the doing of those things whereby God is pleased But hence we must not conclude that there are no other Doctrines or Propositions besides those here mentioned that are proper motives to Religion because all that the Apostle intends as I noted before is to give some particular instances to shew the truth of the general proposition Although therefore there be other Doctrines which are motives to Godliness and Vertue yet if without the belief of these a man cannot be induced to do those things which please God that was sufficient for the Apostle's purpose to prove that without Faith it is impossible to please him And that there are other Doctrines of like use with these I shall shew in due place If it be enquired 3. Whether by Impossible the Author of this Epistle means properly something that is absolutely impossible or more largely something that is exceeding difficult or highly improbable as sometimes the word is used to that purpose I answer This is to be resolved by considering also the following propositions to be believed the former of which is of that nature that it is absolutely necessary to be believed in order to Worship and Virtue viz. That there is a God Without this belief it is utterly impossible it implies a contradiction that a man should be a Worshipper of God and a practicer of Virtue But the latter of these beliefs that God is a rewarder c. is not in the same degree necessary that the former is because it does not imply a contradiction That that man who does not believe that God is a rewarder of them that seek him should be a Worshipper of God because 't is barely possible he may Worship God upon a belief that there is a God and a bare hope that he is a rewarder c. But then if we consider the woful corruption and degeneracy of Mankind and the power of those Temptations we are under 't is so utterly improbable that without this belief men should set themselves to do those things which please God that according to the usual manner of speaking it may be ranked with things impossible So that I do thus understand the Apostle as to what he says concerning the impossibility of pleasing God without Faith That there are some Doctrines so necessary to be believed in order to the practice of Religion and Virtue that it is naturally impossible a man should be a Worshipper of God and a doer of Righteousness without the belief of them and of this sort he hath given us one instance viz. That there is a God That also there are some Doctrines so necessary to be believed in order to the practice of Religion that 't is morally impossible a man should be a Worshipper of God and a worker of righteousness without the belief of them And of this sort he hath also given us one instance viz. That God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Thus I have by comparing one part of the Text with another given you as I am persuaded the true sence of the whole and that as I hope with great clearness of truth and plainness of words And according to this Explanation the words of the Text may be interpreted according to this Paraphrase Without the belief of some such Doctrines as are proper and suitable motives to the worship of God and the practice of Virtue wherewith God is pleased it is impossible any man should fear God and work Righteousness For some Doctrines there are so necessary in order to that end that 't is impossible to conceive how a man should find himself obliged thereto without the belief of those Doctrines Some Doctrines also there are so necessary to be believed in order thereunto that without the belief of them no man finds himself encouraged to the practice of Religion For instance the Worship of God is a part of Religion without which he will not be pleased with us but it is plain that no man can be a worshipper of God without believing that there is a God because if
can be thought necessary to be said for this purpose may be reduced to Four heads of Discourse whereof the 1. Shall be to inquire What those Doctrines be which are fundamental or necessary to the practice of Religion and Virtue 2. To demonstrate that the belief of those Doctrines is an adequate or sufficient foundation thereof or inducement thereto 3. To give an account of those other Doctrines in Christian Religion which are necessary to be believed and why they are necessary 4. To apply the whole Discourse by an exhortation To add unto Faith Virtue and that Life wherewith God is pleased 1. I am to show what those Doctrines be which are fundamental to the practice of Religion and Virtue Before I attempt the performance whereof it will be necessary for me to premise this Apology That I do not here intend a Catalogue of those Fundamentals which that Excellent man Mr. Chillingworth refused to give and which he demonstrated to the Romanists was a vain thing to require almost impossible to lay down and if it were never so easy yet very needless to show For that Notion of Fundamentals wherein he and his adversary used that word was different from that wherein I now use it Fundamental with them was any Doctrine which upon any account was necessary to be believed by every Christian These Doctrines I do not speak of at present as such but I intend in due place to give an account of them shewing what relation they have to those Doctrines I am about to lay before you But by Fundamentals I mean those Articles or Propositions which are necessary to be believed in order to a good Life and what these be every Minister that pretends to be skilled in the Gospel which is the power of God to salvation if his pretence be tolerably good may and ought to lay down For this attempt signifies no other thing than to shew what powerful obligations the Faith of Christians engageth them by to live soberly righteously and godly in this present world In laying down these Fundamental Doctrines I shall observe no other rule and method than what is offered here in the Text. You are to remember what I even now made plain to you That it was not the Apostle's purpose to instance in all Doctrines that were necessary to be believed as a Foundation of Religion and Virtue but only in some that were so necessary because that was sufficient to prove his general Proposition That without faith 't is impossible to please God As for those others which are of like necessity to be believed in order to that end I shall as I said lay them down in that distinct Method to which I am led by the Apostle's Words the great and deep Wisdom whereof the more I ponder the more I admire For here 't is very observable that the Apostle when he designs to prove That without Faith 't is impossible to please God he doth first instance in a proposition necessary to be believed for that end which is a Doctrine of Natural Religion viz. That there is a God He doth secondly instance in a Proposition necessary to be believed for that end which is a Doctrine of Revealed Religion viz. That God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him But in what sense 't is a Doctrine of Revealed Religion I must briefly explain to you to prevent mistakes That God will reward every rewardable Creature is to say no other thing but God is Just and this is known by the light of nature but in strictness no man is rewardable but he that is sinlesly righteous for he that offends is liable to punishment Now of all meer mortals there is no man that is sinlesly obedient Whether therefore God will reward us if we diligently seek him tho we are sinners this depends only upon the free will and pleasure of God and consequently cannot be known by us but through Revelation The belief therefore of this truth That God is a rewarder of such men as we are if we diligently seek him is the belief of a Doctrine that belongs to Revealed Religion It is further to be remembred by us that the Apostle doth instance in this Proposition of Natural Religion That there is a God in behalf of all other Principles of Natural Religion that are of like necessity to be believed with it Likewise that the Apostle doth instance in this Proposition of Revealed Religion That God is a Rewarder of them that seek him in behalf of all other Principles of Revealed Religion that are of like necessity to be believed with that It deserves also our notice That the Proposition of Natural Religion which the Apostle instances in is the first Principle and Foundation of Religion necessary to be believed first of all That also the Proposition of Revealed Religion which he instances in is the last Principle that makes up the Foundation of Faith as I shall shew in its place So that all the other Doctrines of Faith that are fundamental to Religion and Virtue lye between these two viz. The first Principle of Natural Religion That there is a God and the last Principle of Revealed Religion That he is a Rewarder My business is to shew What those Principles be which lye between the lowest and highest part of the Foundation and they are discoverable what they are by shewing what is of equal necessity to be believed with these Doctrines in order to the inducing of men to the practice of Religion and Virtue 1. I shall according to this rule shew what Doctrines of Natural Religion are fundamentally necessary to be believed in order to Worship and Virtue 2. According to the same rule what those Revealed Doctrines are which are of like necessity to be believed for the same end The Doctrines of Natural Religion are these 1. That there is a God which is here instanced in 2. That there is a Providence 3. That some things there be wherewith God is pleased and some wherewith he is offended Now concerning all these Principles I affirm That they are so absolutely necessary to be believed that not one of them can be spared 'T is the belief of all these things together from which resulteth the necessary obligation of men to worship God and work righteousness so that if the belief of any one of them ceaseth all sense of obligation to pious and virtuous practice must withal fail and perish Some there are which add unto this Foundation the belief of a life to come but unfitly upon these two accounts 1. Because the belief hereof is not in the same degree necessary to the practice of that which is pleasing to God as the belief of the forementioned things for if a man had but an uncertain hope of a future life but firmly believed the other truths it is barely possible that by the motive and inducement of such belief joined with such an hope he might be persuaded to do those things which he is
convinced God would be pleased withal And it seems probable that the Apostle in the first place doth instance in a sort of Doctrines without the belief whereof it is naturally impossible men should conceive themselves obliged to Godliness and Virtue and all the Principles of Natural Religion are such And that in the second place he instanceth in a sort of Doctrines without the belief whereof 't is morally impossible men should conceive themselves sufficiently encouraged thereto and all the Principles of Revealed Religion are of that nature 2. 'T is clear enough That the Faith of a life to come is grounded upon Revelation for tho it appears exceeding probable to natural reason yet by the discourses of those men that wanted a Revelation it appears withal that generally it was an exceeding hard matter to arrive at any certainty about it while they were only left to the light and conduct of natural reason in this matter 'T is only the Testimony of God in the Resurrection and Doctrine of our Saviour that hath cleared the world from all Disputes about it 'T is only the Gospel that hath brought life and immortality to light Upon these Reasons I conceive this belief is not to be ranked with those that I have already named under the head of Natural Principles whereof the first is 1. That there is a God This as I said is the Fundamental Principle of all Religion without which there is no obligation to worship and without the belief of which there can be no sense of any such obligation without the belief hereof no man can think himself obliged to Virtue since the denial thereof supposes that there is no authority to which a man can be accountable for his actions But this thing I take to be so clear that there is no further necessity of insisting upon it Since then the belief of a Deity is the Foundation of all Religion it would in this place be most adviseable to shew upon what grounds the belief of this most important and fundamental Article of Religion stands since all the Consequences naturally issuing from it will have more or less power and efficacy with us according as we are more or less under the power of this belief That there is a God Now altho the manifesting of these Reasons upon which this belief is established in humane nature the discovering of that Rock upon which this first stone in the Foundation is laid should be supposed never so needless in this Congregation yet considering the great and general importance of this Doctrine it cannot be suposed tedious to any Hearer unless withal I had reason to suspect there were any persons here to whom the Demonstrations of a Diety bring such evil Tidings that they would gladly embrace the most frivolous pretences to avoid them Upon which Supposition nothing could be more needful than to wrest their vain and running hopes away from them That possibly there is no God by the force of that reason which shews it to be eternally and immutably true That there is Wherefore tho I shall be saved much of that pains which would be otherwise requisite by the care I have formerly taken in particular Discourses to guard this part of the Foundation and to establish the belief of it in your minds yet I must needs observe that decorum of allotting it as considerable a place in my Sermon as it hath in the Text and as the Dignity of the Subject requires To believe that there is a God is to believe that there is a Being infinitely perfect i. e. Infinite in Wisdom Power and Goodness which ever was and ever will be and which is the Creator and First Cause of all things This is that Notion of God to which Natural Reason leads us inasmuch as by that Being which is called God we are to understand that which is Infinite in all Perfections Several there be which desire no other Argument to prove there is such a Being besides that Testimony which every man finds in his own breast And indeed the universal consent of mankind in this matter even of people whose Manners and Religions being as distant as their habitations were remote shew that they were never united in this persuasion by Compact or Confederacy Add to this likewise the Fears of a Diety in them who could only be supposed to invent this stratagem of governing the world if an Invention it be viz. in Philosophers and Princes who were much to blame to be afraid of their own fancies if it was but a mystery of State to possess the people with the belief of a Deity This I say so universal a Confession of this Doctrine is a pregnant evidence that 't is indeed written in the very minds and the sense thereof interwoven into the very Natures of men and if it be so there cannot possibly be any other cause offered of so uniform and constant an effect to satisfy a reasonable man besides the existence of such a Being which all men are persuaded of and who hath wrought into our Souls when he made us the Testimonies of his Eternal Power and Godhead But although the urging of this Argument of Universal Consent for the proving of a Deity together with clear Answers to all Objections that can be brought to weaken it be according to the most impartial Judgment I can make sufficient to conclude any but an unteachable mind that is unwilling to believe there is a God because 't is for its interest there should be none And although I am verily persuaded that whereas indeed many there are who live like Atheists yet there is scarce any of them to the glory of Religion be it spoken who deliberately dies an Atheist yet I confess this Argument from Universal Consent does rather suppose that there is no need of Arguments to convince an Atheist than offer any unanswerable means of Conviction to him If such a Creature there be in the World he will say to all this that the Argument supposes that to be true which he himself is an example of the falshood of viz. That all men believe the Being of a God And though it may be replied That some few Monsters there are in all the products of Nature and 't is no more to be inferred that the belief of a God is not the sense of Mankind because he is of another opinion than 't is the Law of Nature that men should be born with two Heads because a two-headed Monster once appeared in the World Yet if he should be so immodest and stubborn as to conclude against all the rest of Mankind that they are mistaken and he if alone he be is alone in the right have we then nothing left to confute this wretched Creature and by undeniable Reason to prove that Mankind is in the right and that there is a God Yes we have They are the Works of Nature which there is no man but must see and can enquire into and they
so called also and which the Scripture requires Either they want the Faith of assenting to some needful Truth which perhaps doth not often happen or they want the Faith of a distinct and particular persuasion and application to themselves which happens more often or they want the Faith of frequent assenting of a permanent persuasion fixt in their hearts by consideration which I doubt is the frequent defect But now the Scripture doth not barely require that we should once for all persuade our selves of the Truths of God's Word but moreover That the word of God should dwell richly in us and that we should be rooted and established in Faith that Christ should dwell in our hearts by Faith and the like which is plainly to require a fixed and lively sense of Divine Truths upon our souls caused by much conversation with them and thinking upon them Now this I say That every act of Meditation or Thought upon these things is a distinct Assent to them and is therefore truly and properly Faith Now because we are to interpret Scripture by Scripture therefore this Scripture That by Faith we are justified is to be interpreted by the aforesaid Exhortations and consequently by Justifying Faith we are to understand an habitual and permanent persuasion of the great Truths of Religion effected by a frequent and just consideration of them and such Faith will justify because it will sanctify it will procure the relative change of putting us into a state of Favour with God because it will procure the real or personal change of subduing our corrupt affections and making us obedient to God from the heart For suppose a man by constant consideration to have gained such a sense of Spiritual things as by assiduity men come to have in all matters they frequently think of and converse about how is it possible but he must be a good man in the rest of his life But men are but half persuaded that never think of these things but by chance or when they cannot help it So that this is the great point wherein we exercise liberty in matters of Religion viz. Whether we will consider or not i. e. Whether we will often persuade our selves of the great Truths of God and a World to come or but very rarely This is the main hinge upon which our state turns and here lies the principal power we have still under the Grace of God to help and reform our selves which seems to be suggested by the Scriptures insisting so much upon it That we are justified by Faith for this shews us where our strength lies Nay the just himself lives by his Faith and it is by Faith that he perseveres in Righteousness And where such Faith is as I have now described it will not fail to influence the mind and conversation For we are led by persuasion to evil as well as to good and when a man doth ill it cannot be that at the same time he should be persuaded to do well No wonder therefore that the Scripture concludes of all wicked men That they are not persuaded of the truth of those things which they profess to believe They profess says the Apostle to know God but in works they deny him Tit. 1.16 But works neither deny nor affirm any thing they only shew whether we our selves do one or the other If then all that are disobedient are in a true sense unbelievers then all who fully believe are holy By Faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac but if the command to offer up his Son was the Trial of his Faith then had he not obeyed his belief had not been true Therefore also where the belief is true where it is a fixed and lively sense of God and Religion where it doth not come in as a sojourner but dwelleth richly in the Soul it will sanctify and cleanse it In short This permanent persuasion of the Truths of the Gospel being that without which we cannot bring forth fruit unto God in all good works he hath required of us and with which we shall it must necessarily be the faith by which the just do live Finally therefore my Brethren Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil stand having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breast plate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace But above all take the shield of faith whereby ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God By all which it appears That Christian Truth is our Armour against Sin and therefore let that humble man's Prayer be ours and our care answerable Lord we believe help thou our unbelief And may the God of Truth increase our faith in us that it may be fruitful in good works to the glory of his Name and our eternal Salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen The Second Sermon HEB. XI 6. But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him THE words are the most comprehensive that I can find in all the Bible for bringing all that is necessary to be said concerning the true nature the full extent and proper use of Faith under one Text which possibly you will acknowledge if you consider with me the very deep and yet clear sense of these excellent Words The first clause of them contains a general Proposition But without faith it is impossible to please God The second contains a proof of that Proposition for he that cometh to God must c. By comparing the Proposition proved with the proof thereof we shall come to understand every phrase and word of the Text. For if we enquire 1. What is here meant by pleasing God in the general Proposition let us see what answers thereunto in the following words and we shall find by pleasing God is meant the doing of those things whereby God is pleased for saith the Apostle He that cometh to God must believe that he is Now to come to God is an obvious phrase signifying to worship God Wherefore it being supposed as the Apostle's form of arguing makes it necessary that to worship God or to come to him is to please him it must needs follow that to please God signifies the doing of those things whereby God is pleased But hence we must not conclude that the worship of God properly so called is the only thing that is pleasing to God because the Apostle's intent in the proof of his general proposition is to give some particular instance of each part thereof as I shall shew all along in the Explication of these words There are other things which please God besides