---- CHAPTER V: The acts of faith in the will.—The believing soul trusts in Christ alone for help
CHAPTER V
The acts of faith in the will.—The believing soul trusts in Christ alone for help That this confiding in Christ is the act of faith which justifies.—The nature and properties of a true confidence in Christ.
Having displayed to you the knowledge of faith as it is expressed to us by sight in the understanding, and having proved that a bare assent to, or a mere belief of, the truths apprehended by us, is not saving and justifying faith, but that a special act of faith on the mercies and free grace of God, and on Christ as a Saviour, is necessary, I will proceed on to those other acts of faith which are in the will (which is the next faculty), and which the heart puts forth toward Jesus Christ therein.
1. As the soul sees the spiritual excellency and the glory that is in Jesus Christ, so the will doth set the highest value and esteem upon that excellency that is in him, a value and esteem far above what a man hath for all other things whatsoever; and this is to believe. This you shall find in 1 Peter 2, 4th and 6th verses compared: 'To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious. Wherefore it is contained in the scripture,
Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, and precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.' It is clear that the apostle here speaks of faith, and he makes the foundation of our believing on him to be seeing his preciousness; and therefore in Isaiah 28:16, which the apostle here quoteth, you have this stone's being a precious stone and believing on him both joined together: 'To him coming' (saith he,
verse 4) 'as to a living stone, chosen of God, and precious;' that is, you believe on him under the notion of seeing his excellency and his preciousness. And therefore the closure of all in the 7th verse is,
'Unto you which believe he is precious,' that is, you esteem him precious; and it is spoken not as a consequent of faith, but as that which goes before faith, or is joined with it, and is requisite to it, for therefore the soul comes unto him because he is precious, as the 4th verse hath it, even under that notion. There are four things under the apprehension of which a man comes to Christ, as these words hold him forth: 1, as he is a stone that hath a foundation which the soul may build upon; 2, as he is a living stone, and a fountain of life unto all that believe on him; 3, as he is the only appointed means by the Father, 'chosen of God;' 4, as he is precious, which is the thing I cite it for, both precious in himself and in all that he brings with him. In Mat. 13:45, 46 you have a believer compared to a merchantman seeking goodly pearls; his mind is set, as all men's minds are, to find precious stones; that is, to attain to that which he accounteth precious. Thus when the soul is first humbled for sin, it is taken off from seeing anything in the world that can help it; and therefore it seeks after somewhat else. And what will it seek after? After that which is precious, after pearls, after graces (for such our graces are, which our souls are said to seek after), that will beautify him, and make him acceptable unto God, these indeed are pearls, and goodly pearls. Yea, but saith the text, he found one pearl of great price, so verse 46, a pearl that was more excellent than all, and he went and sold all that he had, sold away all his graces (for that is the meaning), he accounted all, even grace itself, to be loss and dung. He put no value or price upon these pearls; but if his graces may serve to honour this one pearl, and that this may be set so in them all, that they all may be obscured, he cares not, so precious is Christ unto him. So you have it likewise in Paul, in Philip. 3:8: 'I have accounted all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ; yea,' saith he, 'I do account them dung.' I have done so heretofore, when I was first turned to God, and I am of the very same mind to this day; I do account them so to this very hour. This is the first thing in
believing on Christ, which is an act of the will. He that believeth on him, unto him Christ is precious.
2. He that believeth on Christ, God stampeth upon that man's will, upon his heart, an instinct after Jesus Christ, and after mystical union with him, so as he can never be quiet without him. This you have in John 6:44, 45: 'No man can come unto me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him. It is written in the prophets, that they shall be all taught of God: every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me;' that is, believeth on me.
Now what is the teaching, the effectual teaching, that the Father exerts upon the spirit of a man, when he draws him to Christ Jesus, and sets him on work upon coming to him and seeking of him? Why it is this, God doth plant in that man an impression, an instinct (what shall I call it?) after Jesus Christ, so that nothing will satisfy him but Christ. That which is here called teaching, is elsewhere put for a natural instinct, such an instinct as a man hath after a thing which he can never be quiet without, such as parents have to their children.
This teaching that the Holy Ghost (I will not say only aims at, but) eminently aims at here, I interpret by that in 1 Thes. 4:9, 'As touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you.' It is not a teaching from words to love one another, 'for,' saith he, 'ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.' It is an impression stamped upon one saint to love another saint; there is, as it were, a natural instinct upon their spirits to do so. So saith Christ, 'All that come to me, they are taught of God;' i.e., their coming to Christ is from another thing than merely a teaching of them by way of knowledge: it is putting an impression and stamp upon their will, that they can never be quiet till they come to Christ, and this is called a drawing of the Father. It is such an instinct as God put into the beasts that came to the ark, for what guided these poor creatures to the ark, that they should come running by couples thither? Why, the Lord made an impression upon their fancies, and upon that which is answerable to our affections, that they were never quiet till they came thither; and thither the poor creatures must come for refuge.
Such an instinct doth God put upon the heart of a believer, a
marriage affection, call it what you will, an instinct of mystical union with Christ. The angels they know Christ, and they see his excellency, and they value him, but they have not this marriage affection to him that the soul of a believer hath; they have an affection of love and of fear of him as a Lord, but they have not that affection to him as to a husband. Such an instinct as this doth the Holy Ghost put into the heart of all those whom he doth work upon. We see it in other creatures. That I may express it by way of similitude, take a dog: when he is sick, there is a grass he runs to, and he doth it by an instinct; this is that which must cure me, saith he: not that he doth of himself make such inference, but there is an impression stamped upon the nature of that creature by God, whereby he is taught of God to do so. And so the hart, as some say, when it is struck, it presently runs to the herb called dictamnus, and is never quiet till it do so; it is taught of God to do it. So is a man taught of God to go to Jesus
Christ. Certainly it is the main meaning (I will not exclude others), and the most eminent, of that place, that he that believeth on Jesus
Christ, he is thus taught of God. The angels they are taken with the glory of Christ, and are affected with it; but a believer hath an affection after mystical union with him.
3. The soul that hath thus an instinct after Christ, and so cometh to him, looks up to him for help, with a confinement to him alone. I will have it from you, saith the soul, or from none else. This you have in Isa. 45:21, 22: 'There is no God else besides me, a just God and a Saviour. Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.' Who is this God here? What person?
It is clearly the Son of God, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; for if you look into Rom. 14:11 and Philip. 2:10, you shall find there this place quoted, to prove that Jesus Christ is Lord both of quick and dead, and that he shall come to judgment. And it is evident too to be
Jesus Christ by this, because he speaks of all the ends of the earth looking unto him; for when Christ came, he brought salvation and the gospel to be preached to all the ends of the earth. The Jews they looked upon God the Father; but when Christ came, he drew the eyes of all the ends of the earth unto him. Now, saith he, 'look unto me.'
What is faith? Faith is a casting up of the eye unto Jesus Christ for help, as they did upon the brazen serpent; they saw other things besides, but with another eye, whenas they looked upon that as the only remedy. So when the soul hath seen Christ, seen his excellency, and hath an instinct after him, and doth but open his eye, nay, his eyelids, towards Christ, the meaning of that look is, I will have help from you, and only from you; and here is a glance or cast of faith.
And as it is a looking unto Christ, so it is a looking with a confinement to him alone. This is clear out of the text: 'I am a Saviour,' saith he, 'and there is none besides me;' therefore so look unto me, as to confine yourselves to me alone. The soul of man would seek an hundred ways, when it is humbled for sin, to relieve itself; but now to have all these holes that a man would run unto stopped, and to be confined alone unto one, when God hath wrought this in the heart too, there is a great step and proceeding on in the work of faith. As in taking of God to be a man's God, he takes him so to be his chiefest good, as he is divorced from all things else, with a confinement of all his expectations of happiness only from him
—'Whom have I in heaven but thee?' saith David, Ps. 73:25;—so in taking Jesus Christ to be our Saviour, as Paul resolved to know nothing else but Jesus Christ and him crucified, so the heart resolveth too, when it goes about to believe in earnest, and it is stopped up from all ways of relief else. When Paul (that I may make the comparison) was surrounded with his lusts, in Rom. 7:24 saith he, 'Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me?' When he spake that speech, he was as a man that looked round about him, and saw no help, and so he cries out, 'Who shall deliver me?' At last he spies out Jesus Christ: 'I thank God, through Jesus Christ my Lord,' saith he. And so doth the soul; as in sanctification, so in justification, it looks about it, sees help in nothing, and betakes itself alone unto the Lord Jesus.
Jesus Christ he is more, far more jealous of your faith than of your love. He will give you leave to love subordinately other things besides himself, and with himself, but he will not give you leave to believe on any, to look for help from any but from him. This faith is reserved for
him alone. The eye of a man that believeth is shut up to all things either in his own heart, or whatsoever else there is that may help him, and his eyes are only upon Christ, as the phrase is in 2 Chron.
20:12. When a man comes to be saved by Christ, he doth Christ this honour, that he resolves to have peace and quietness, and satisfaction and salvation, and all only in, and from, and by Christ.
As a man, when he would honour a physician whom he trusteth, saith he, I will take physic of none else but of you; I will die rather; so, saith the soul to honour Christ, you alone shall save me; 'Asshur shall not save us,' as it is Hos. 14:3. 'And truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains,' Jer.
3:23. They used to worship upon their mountains, therefore now to look to the mountains for help was to look to their duties, to their worship, to their sacrifices for help; but now they renounced all this, and fixed on God alone, 'in whom the fatherless find mercy.' The soul, when it is helpless, when it is graceless, when it is fatherless, then it resolves to look to none else but unto Jesus Christ for help.
This, I say, is a great proceeding in faith also, to resolve thus to have help from none else, and to confine itself only to Christ; for the soul to say, I will so throw myself upon him, and upon that free love in him, that, if he will not save me, I will be lost for ever. Thus the heart of a believer doth look to him as the only Saviour, and as such an one that 'there is none else besides him.' And this is the third act of the will.
4. As a man thus looks to Jesus Christ for help, and confines himself unto him alone, so he then comes to him. This you have here in this
John 6 ver. 37, 'All that the Father giveth unto me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.' The soul goes out of itself naked, a naked soul, to naked Christ, empty, and stripped of all things, and comes unto Christ, and deals and treats with him about everlasting salvation. You have faith also expressed under this notion in Heb. 7:25, 'He is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him.' And the like is in 1 Pet. 2:3, 'Unto whom coming, as unto a living stone.' The Holy Ghost hath on purpose, in a gracious manner, variously expressed faith to us,
because the apprehensions that souls have of their own way of believing is various. Some souls cannot say they have received Christ, but they can say they have looked up to him, and confined all their expectations to him, and they have come to him, &c. Now, when the soul comes to Christ, what is the business and errand that the soul hath? for one comes to none but he hath some business, some errand with him. See how Christ himself expresseth the errand and aim of the soul in coming to him, John 5:40, 'Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.' This is the errand of the soul, it comes to Christ, that it may have life from him. He doth not only express there what is the consequent of the soul's coming to him, namely, that it might have life as the consequent of its coming, as that which he will bestow, but that which is the aim, the errand, and business that faith hath with Jesus Christ; therefore, Heb. 6:18, we are said to have fled unto him, fled to him as unto a city of refuge. Now what was the aim, and business, and errand that a poor murderer had that fled to the city of refuge? He came thither, with all might and main, to be let in there, that he might have succour and help, and that he might be safe; and when the high priest died, he was delivered. So the soul comes unto
Christ for refuge, comes unto him that he may have life. We have it to the same purpose expressed Gal. 2:16; speaking there of the faith of all the apostles, saith he, 'Even we who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,' we apostles, 'knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; even we,' saith he, 'have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ.' How doth he express faith? He expresseth it by this—a coming unto, or a believing in Jesus Christ, that we may be justified, that we might have life; this being the aim, and errand, and business the soul hath with Christ in its coming to him. Here, now, lies that act of faith (if it be a spiritual act, if it be joined with that spiritual sight I mentioned before), it is not that we believe that Jesus Christ did justify us, and had justified us, but we believe that he may justify us. When the apostles first believed, this was not the act of faith they put forth, that they were justified, but 'we have believed,' saith he, 'that we might be justified.' So that the
aim and errand the soul hath with Christ in coming to him is, that it might have life, and accordingly it comes unto him.
5. The soul's coming unto Jesus Christ, and treating for salvation with him, doth grow up to a believing on him, to a resting on him, to a trusting in him for it. I shall not need to give you many scriptures to prove that this act of trust is the great and eminent act that is in faith, and that upon which God doth rather pronounce and pass the sentence of justification upon a man than any other. The text hath it here, and you shall find it almost everywhere, that it is called believing on him. Some would place that great act of faith whereby we are justified in believing the thing, in believing him to be the Son of God, and a Saviour. I confess it is a great act of faith, but that is only the act of the understanding whereby we see and know him, which I have opened before; but the eminent and the principal act of the will of a man (and he must believe with his whole heart) is trust, is believing on him: 1 Pet. 2:6, 'Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone: he that believeth on him shall not be ashamed.' And you have the like again in Rom. 9:33. You shall hardly have a place which, usually, men allege to prove that all the act of faith as justifying lies in believing the thing, but immediately after follows this phrase,
'believing on him,' on purpose to shew that the bare belief of the thing is not the only act of faith, as some would have it to be. As, for instance, in 1 John 5:4, this is made the great act of faith there, 'This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.' And what is the faith? 'He that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.' One would think now that the apostle would make all believing to lie in believing the thing, in believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and accordingly is this place cited by some; but mark what he saith at the 10th verse, 'He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself;' there is believing on him too mentioned. Another place that is cited is in Rom. 10:9, 'If thou believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.' Here now the faith that saveth us is called believing the thing, namely, 'that God hath raised Christ from the dead;' but if you read a little on, you shall find that believing on him cometh in the 11th verse, 'The Scripture saith,
whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed;' so that, indeed, the eminent act of faith in the will is this trusting, is this believing on him. It is called rolling of a man's self upon him, leaving, committing, or betaking a man's self to him, as Ps. 10:14. It is the Old Testament expression, but it rightly expresseth the nature of faith.
There have been some that would make the act of faith in the will to be a cleaving unto Christ for his excellencies. The truth is, that is nothing but love, it is not faith; but that act of the will, which is properly faith, answers unto Christ as a Saviour, and as a means of salvation appointed by God. Now go, take Jesus Christ as a Saviour, and as a means of salvation appointed by God, it is not love answereth to that in Christ, but it is a trust and believing on him. It is not a cleaving unto Jesus Christ for his excellencies, that is that proper act of faith which we call justifying, but it is that act of the will which hath relation unto him as a Saviour, and as the means of salvation; and the proper act that answereth to that, is trust and confidence. Assuredly, God hath singled out that to be the eminent act of justifying faith, which is proper to the elect of mankind, in whom he works faith in; now, to cleave unto Jesus Christ for the excellencies that are in him, to see him spiritually, and to love Christ upon the sight of him, and to value him, and to prize and esteem him
(all these that I have named before), are all in the good angels, that yet have not faith; they believe that Jesus Christ is, for they see him every day, and they see the grace that is in him more than we do, and are taken with it more than we are, they likewise hear us preach, and attend our sermons, and pry into the things delivered, and they know all the truths about Christ as well as we. If God therefore should have made these to be those proper acts of faith, they would have been such acts as are common to the good angels, and therefore he hath singled out rather that to be the act of faith justifying, which is proper and peculiar to the elect sons of God; and what is that? It is believing on him. The angels they do not believe on him as a Saviour and Redeemer, they have not this act of trust and confidence, they do not come unto him, or rely on him for salvation, therefore, I say, God hath singled out this believing on him as the eminent act of faith
justifying: 'He that seeth the Son, and believeth on him,' saith Christ, John 6:40, and in John 14:1, 'If you believe in God, believe also in me;' and so in a multitude of places else. And there is a great deal of reason that this act of faith should be pitched upon, to be the eminent act upon which God justifies us. For,
(1.) It is an act that is competent to all estates of a Christian, whiles he is here below. When the soul is in temptation, when a man comes to die, when he first believes, let him be in what condition he will, this act of trusting in God is that act which is common to all believers in all estates. It is most reason and fit therefore, that this act of faith should be pitched upon as the eminent act in our justification. If assurance that Jesus Christ is mine had been to be it, though many of the saints have it, yet they have it not always; when they first began to believe, even the apostles themselves came unto Christ that they might be justified, and so it was not believing that they were justified.
But now, let the saints be in the heaviest desertion that can be, let them be in never so much darkness, in never so great temptation, either when they first believe, or when they come to die, or at any time in all their lives, still, whether they have assurance of the love of God, or not assurance, yet (as the psalmist saith, Ps. 62:8) they 'trust in God at all times;' and the soul still comes to Christ and relies on him. Therefore, I say, there was the greatest reason in the world, that of all acts else this should be pitched upon. The first act of faith cannot be assurance, for the thing must be made mine, before I can believe it is mine; and afterward temptation comes, and overthrows a man's assurance, but it never overthrows a man's believing on Christ; since this is that anchor that tides it out all a man's life, that cable that bears the stress in all storms, as well as in the fair weather, it is reason that to it the act of justification should be attributed. Now let the ship be in what storm it will, it is this that holds it, this is the cable, this act of our believing on him. You shall find that you can bottom your heart on God, and on Christ, when you cannot believe that he is your God and your Saviour.
(2.) Of all acts of faith, this of pure trust doth honour God most, and hath indeed more of faith in it. The purer the trust is, the greater the trust is; and the greater the trust is, the greater the faith is; and the greater the faith, the greater honour comes unto God. The end why
God hath ordained faith is, that his free grace might be glorified; now his free grace is glorified by no act of faith more than by this of pure trusting in him. In Rom. 4:20, where Abraham's faith is set out to us, it is set out by this, that 'he gave glory to God.' You do not honour
God so much with your love, you do not honour him so much by being assured of his love, as you do by trusting in his love. It magnifies the sovereignty of God, which God aims at to magnify in our salvation, it leaves the soul at God's feet, for that is the posture of the soul, when it says, Here I am, and I will trust in thee alone; it magnifies the faithfulness and fidelity of God, and faithfulness is that attribute which, in one that makes a promise, is the chief thing he aims at. Now faith takes hold of Christ through a promise, therefore it is a grace suited and fitted to magnify the faithfulness of God in making this promise; and so there is nothing that doth glorify the faithfulness of God more than believing on him. If a man have assurance, he doth glorify God in a way of rejoicing, in a way of triumphing, in a way of thankfulness, but pure trust doth another way glorify God, it glorifies God in a way of obedience. I do shew as much admiration and esteem of a man, if I am sueing to him for his friendship, and depend upon him, and do all acts I do in such dependence, as I do by acts of requital and thankfulness when I am assured he is my friend; and so it is here, and therefore now hath
God chosen out this act of trust and confidence, believing on him, as John 6:40, 'He that seeth the Son, and believeth on him.' I shall now assign a property or two of this trust and confidence, that I may the more fully explain it. And, [1.] This confidence in God is to trust perfectly upon him; that is, wholly and entirely. I use the Scripture phrase, which you have in 1
Pet. 1:13, and I shall thereby open a scripture to you, which (as I take it) our translation hath not rightly rendered, and I find very learned interpreters of the same judgment; he exhorts them there to trust
perfectly in the grace that hath been brought to them, through the revelation of Jesus Christ. We read it, 'hope to the end;' look in your margins, the Greek is, 'hope perfectly.' 'Hope perfectly,' saith he, 'on the grace that is brought;' for so it is in the original, φερομένην, and not, that is to be brought, as we translate it. Hope and trust in the Scripture are usually put for one and the same, as Job 13:15, 'Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him;' it is, 'I will hope in him'; and many other places might be given. Now, saith the apostle Peter, 'trust perfect, or entirely, on the grace that is brought in the revelation of Jesus Christ;' it is not only said to be the revelation of Christ, which shall be at latter day, but it is a revelation of Christ which we have now under the gospel. The gospel is said to be the revelation of Jesus
Christ, and in the revelation of the gospel and of Christ is the grace of God made known to us. I shall not need to heap up places to shew you that by the revelation of Jesus Christ is meant the gospel; in Rom. 16:25, you have the word so used: 'The preaching of Jesus
Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery,' &c. You have the like in Gal. 1:12, where Paul, speaking of his knowing the gospel, he useth the very same phrase: 'I was taught,' saith he, 'by the revelation of Jesus Christ;' and ver. 16, 'It pleased God to reveal his Son in me;' and so in other places. That which I cited the text in 1 Peter 1:13 for is, that he saith, 'Trust perfectly upon this grace, which is brought or tendered to us' (and to trust upon free grace and Christ is all one; the gospel reveals nothing for matter of confidence to us, but the free grace of God, and Christ himself). Now when he saith, Trust perfectly upon it, what is his meaning? It is this: he would have you to do it entirely, both for subject and object, as I may so express it; he would have all in you to put this trust and confidence in him, to believe on him with the whole heart; and he urgeth this exhortation, because the soul hath a great deal within itself that doth not come forth to trust in Christ; for though all in a man believes in this sense, that there is never a faculty but goes out to Jesus Christ, especially the will, yet there is a great deal of infidelity still remaining, and so a man cannot trust perfectly in this life. As for subject, take the subject of confidence, that is, all that is in a man doth not trust perfectly and entirely without doubting in the grace brought by Jesus Christ; but
take the object, and so even the meanest believer may trust, and doth trust perfectly, in that grace which is brought to light in the gospel by Jesus Christ; that is, he relies upon nothing else, he entirely, and wholly, and fully, and with the whole will, doth lean upon our Lord and Saviour Christ, and upon nothing else; upon nothing in himself, and upon nothing in the world else, but upon that which revealeth grace, and Jesus Christ unto him; no, he relies not upon the promises further than they have the grace of God and Jesus Christ as the subject of them. And this is the property of all true faith, that it doth trust perfectly in that grace that is in God, and in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. As now when the soul doth magnify and glorify
God as the great God, it doth do it perfectly and entirely in this sense, that it sees how great a God he is, and that there is none besides him so to be honoured and glorified. It falls short indeed of honouring him perfectly; as for the subject, that is, all in a man cannot do it; but yet, saith he, I see that God requires all that is in me to glorify him, therefore I will glorify him alone, and thus entirely glorifies the object; and so in this sense doth the soul trust perfectly in the grace that is revealed in the gospel.
[2.] The soul doth trust Jesus Christ with all and for all. I will put them both together; with all it hath, or ever shall have, and for all it ever looks for. It doth trust Jesus Christ with all, even as in Gen. 39:6 we read that Potiphar trusted Joseph;—I bring it but for an allusion, to shew what confidence he had in Joseph, and what ours should be in Christ—the text saith, that 'He left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he knew not aught he had, save the bread which he did eat.' Now if you come to believe on Christ you must thus put your trust in him, thus believe on him, thus leave yourselves, and all you have and are, with him, and at his disposal, and at his service; even as if you should out yourselves of your estate, and put it all into another man's hands, and be at his finding for ever; so Paul in 2 Tim.
1:12: 'For the which cause,' saith he, 'I suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.' What did Paul do when he came to believe? Saith he, I had
a little righteousness, and I flung it all away, I resolved that I would never trust in it; I had learning, and knowledge, and parts, and I threw it all away, I gave it all up to Christ, to be at his dispose. He took Jesus Christ upon those terms, to give up all to him; and, saith he, For the which cause I suffer these things, I do trust him beforehand, I have committed to him all I am and have, I have not my reward yet, but I trust him, and he goes upon trust with him; he beforehand hath put me upon a great many sufferings, and for this cause I suffer all these things, because I know whom I have believed.
If Christ now should fail, Paul he had been the most befooled man that ever was, he had missed of all the happiness he should have in this world; for usually they that believe in Christ, they are of all men most miserable in respect of the world; but mark it, 'Nevertheless,' saith he, 'I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have trusted.' When a man believes he puts off all to Christ, and betakes himself to him, and to what he shall do for him, and if Christ should fail this man of his trust, the poor creature would be the veriest fool that ever was; but I know I shall not be ashamed, saith Paul; and in relation to this doth the Scripture often use this word: 'He that believeth shall not be ashamed.' Isa. 28:16. Oftentimes a man trusteth God for the salvation of his soul, and goes on so to do, and doth not of a long while know that God hath received him; he hath not received an earnest-penny a long while, not of what he trusted God for: for joy in the Holy Ghost is the reward of faith. Now to stand this out of purse for many years, before a man receives a penny, this is a great and mighty trust, yet thus oftentimes the soul doth; to be sure at first it doth so. A man parts with all, leaves all with Jesus Christ, betakes himself clearly and entirely to him, and whatsoever he is or can be in this world, he leaves it with him; and to be disposed of according to the directions that he shall give to his spirit and conscience for evermore. I expressed it before by that of Potiphar to Joseph, but there is a more lively expression of it, and that in a way of faith, though not upon Christ as justifying, yet it was drawn out of that faith which also doth justify; the instance is in that poor widow of Zarephath, in 1 Kings 17. You know she had but so much meal in a barrel, and oil in a cruse, as would make a cake for herself and her
child; and behold, saith she, ver. 12, 'I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.' What saith Elijah to her? 'Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me.' Alas! it would make but a little cake in all, for it was but a handful of meal, and a little oil in a cruse, even little enough all of it to serve Elijah himself; yea, but, saith he, make me a cake first. This woman had need have a great deal of confidence in the prophet's words, that there should be meal and oil multiplied for her and her son, after Elijah had done; she might have thought that the prophet, as a man half-starved, had come to put a trick upon her, to get away that little provision she had. Let me be served first, saith he; she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and made a cake for him first, and then you see the oil and meal increased, but first God would have her trust the prophet. Even thus doth God and Jesus Christ deal with us; when we come to believe on him, he will have us to trust him first, and put over all to him; and to do so is to trust perfectly.
God himself did betrust us all with Jesus Christ, and he was faithful to us, and Jesus Christ trusted all with God. How many millions of souls were to save after Christ died! How many thousands are to come yet under the New Testament! Christ died afore these are saved, he trusted his Father with them, and God the Father trusted him too, for he saved I know not how many thousand souls afore
Christ died. The like he requires of us; 'Make me the cake first,' saith he, and so the soul doth put over all nakedly and entirely unto Jesus
Christ, when it comes to trust upon him; it is to throw a man's self out of all possibilities of what he may be in this world. Indeed, a man must do so, if he take up Jesus Christ in earnest, for he knows not what Christ will call him unto, or what truth he will have him hold forth; now for the soul to come nakedly thus, and to give itself up to Jesus Christ, and to do this beforehand oftentimes, when he doth not know whether Christ will save him or no; to do this first, as the poor widow did to the prophet, this is a great matter. For a man to venture to sea, without either sail, or oar, or mast, or anything of his own, and to be wafted by free grace, and Jesus Christ, to commit himself
to those winds that shall blow from him, and from that promise he makes, this is the great trust, and this the soul doth when it comes to Christ.
And as it trusts him with all, so it trusts him for all; and all the happiness it looks for, is to be at Christ's finding for evermore; nay, to be so at his finding, that not only its comfort shall be from him, but all its strength to perform any duty shall be all from him, so as not to do a duty without him, no, not to eternity, to receive all happiness from him, and all comfort from him. Nature, pure nature was never brought up to this, it did not know what it meant. Adam was not called in this way to trust on God, he had a stock of grace communicated to him, which lay in the use and exercise of his own free will. Now, saith nature, therefore I will see a stock before I trust, give me my portion of goods, as the prodigal said; I will see something in myself, by which I may be able to do this, or to do that,
I will see the money in my purse, before I set a-work upon this or that; this naturally the soul doth. But now when the soul comes to trust on Christ, it doth not so, it trusts him for all, for all grace here, and glory hereafter; it believes now upon him, and trusts him, and knows not whether it shall be able to do it the next hour; 'The life which I now live,' saith the apostle, 'I live by the faith of the Son of God; and it is not I that live, but Christ that liveth in me,' Gal. 2:20.
And to do this quietly, too, is an act of entire trust; for when faith doth grow up a little, though it doth not grow up to assurance, yet it will grow up to the quieting of the heart thus, and that beforehand; and when a man is able to say, Whether I shall be saved by Christ I know not, yet I find abundance of ease and quietness by resting and trusting on him, this is a perfect confidence; thus faith is expressed in Ps. 37:7: (now as it is a trust in promises, so it is much more in Jesus Christ), 'Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him,' and 'he that trusteth in me is at perfect peace.' And as it is in Lam. 3:29, 'Put our mouths in the dust, if so be there may be hope.' Yea, a great act of this trust is to believe against hope, as it is said that Abraham did, in Rom. 4:18. For the soul to cast away itself upon God, in such a pure trust as this is, that let God at any time throw it into any
distress, so that he knows not what will become of himself, yet to be content, and to submit to it, and quietly to leave himself with God, and with Christ, this, though it is hard, yet when faith doth get a little heart and strength, it doth this, being enabled by the power of God to do it.
6. Sixthly, As the soul thus comes to Christ, and believeth on him, trusteth him with all and for all, so it abides by him, and will not stir away from him, in respect of waiting on him in his own way, both for the manifestation of his grace, and love, and salvation, with submission and quietness. I shall not say, that every soul that believes, finds distinctly all and every one of these things in him; I do not urge that, but I shall yet mention those that are in the hearts of believers, some one or other of them. And as this is as main a thing as any other, I shall open all the particulars of it.
(1.) The soul abides by Christ, and there lies, as the man did at the pool of Bethesda, or as he did that did fly to the city of refuge, who durst not stir from thence for his life, for if he should be found out of that city of refuge, he was a dead man, and therefore he went thither to take up his dwelling there; and this (as I said before) the apostle alludes to in Heb. 6:18, when he speaks of faith: 'Having,' saith he,
'fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.' In Acts 11:23, it is said, that when 'Barnabas came to Antioch, and had seen the grace of God, he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would προσμένειν, cleave unto the Lord;' that as they had come to him, and given up their souls to him, so they would abide by him, remain and continue with him, and not go away; therefore you shall find in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that the apostle opposeth to faith, departing from God. You have it first in chap. 3 verses 12 and 14, where he alludeth to the Israelites departing in their hearts and spirits from the guidance of that angel in the wilderness (which angel was Christ, as he shews in 1 Cor. 10), 'Take heed,' saith he, verse 12,
'lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.' Do not you err in your hearts through unbelief, as they did; that angel from whom they departed is the living God, is
Jesus Christ himself. And saith he, verse 14 (in which expression of his there is very much), 'we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.' It is clear that he speaks of faith; the word ὑπόστασις, which we translate confidence, is the same word that is used in Heb. 11:1, 'Faith is the evidence, or the subsistence, of things not seen.' Now when he saith, we should 'hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end,' his meaning is, that as they came nakedly unto Christ for salvation, from him, and in him alone,—for when a man's soul first cometh to Christ, it is certain he doth so, for he is emptied of himself,
—so they should continue waiting upon him, that they may be made partakers of him; he mentions that, because the thing the soul aims at in believing, is to be made partaker of Christ; seeing you did so at first, saith he, did you at first come nakedly unto him? Continue to do so still, and to wait nakedly upon him; and he gives this reason why they should do it: 'For,' saith he, 'he is the living God.' If you wait upon men, and wait long upon them, you think with yourselves, they are but men, whose breath is in their nostrils, therefore I may lose all my labour, if I wait long before they answer me in what I desire; but, saith the apostle, wait upon Jesus Christ, for he is the living God; if you should wait never so long upon him, he liveth in the end to answer you; and this indeed, in Heb. 10:38, is called living by faith, in which place also the apostle opposeth unto faith departing from God: 'If any man,' saith he there, 'draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him; but we are of them that believe to the saving of the soul.' Believing there, you see, is opposed to withdrawing from God.
(2.) I added likewise, that believing is waiting on him in his own way, even as at the first we came nakedly unto Jesus Christ, at the first looking to nothing in ourselves (for so we did if we believed); and when the soul hath begun thus to close with Christ, and with him alone, it finds that Jesus Christ long defers before he manifesteth himself; and it is apt thereupon, if not to depart, yet to desert from him, and to ease and help itself some other way than by waiting and believing on him. Now the apostle would have us still to exercise such acts of faith as we did at the beginning: 'Hold the beginning of
your confidence stedfast,' saith he, and still continue to wait on him, and to cleave to him, and to believe on him. The Galatians, you know, were soon diverted (as the apostle tells them, chap. 1 ver. 6) from the gospel they had received unto another gospel; they had begun to believe in Christ, and in him alone, but afterwards they were diverted to works, and to what was in themselves, as the soul is apt to do too much. 'You did run well,' saith he, chap. 5 ver. 7; 'who did hinder you?' 'This persuasion,' saith he, ver. 8, 'cometh not of him that calleth you.' I desire you, saith he, to consider when you were called, how you were drawn to believe on the Lord Jesus; remember but the first work of faith, how nakedly without works, or any thing in yourselves, you came unto Jesus Christ; you are now diverted, and fallen away from the grace of Christ, that is, from seeking salvation in way of free grace; do but now remember (as he said in another case,
'Remember thy first love') your first faith. Certainly this your new persuasion is not of him that called you. If this new way that you have taken up, which diverts you from Christ, had been the way, surely he that called you would have persuaded you so at first when he drew your hearts to him. The apostle speaks clearly of the point of waiting; for, saith he, speaking of himself and other believers that professed faith in Christ, and kept it up in the integrity of it, 'We through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith,' Gal.
5:5; you began to do so too, saith he, but you would not wait as you began, but you would needs divert to ease yourselves to works, and to something in yourselves. But, saith he, I have confidence in you through the Lord, that you did close with Christ at first; you will be brought about again, for God will never let you rest in yourselves; so he saith, ver. 10, 'I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be no otherwise minded' in the end. So that now to continue to wait thus upon the Lord Jesus, to wait though a man's eyes fail (for so David saith he waited, Ps. 69:3), is a special act of faith; it is a very great subjection of the creature for to wait nakedly upon God, and not to know, as oftentimes it falls out with many poor souls, what
God will do with them. The business of salvation it is so great, and self-love is such a strong principle in a man, that a man had need have such a principle of faith to quiet him in the mean time; for self-
love is impatient in matters of great moment, and would be put out of doubt presently, and so the heart is apt to turn to itself and to works; and it is apt also out of peevishness to say, as he did out of wickedness in 2 Kings 6:33, 'What should I wait for the Lord any longer?' The prophet Habakkuk, speaking of faith (for though he speaks it in the case of the Babylonish captivity, yet the apostle, citing that saying, applies it to the matter of justification and salvation, whereof the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity was a type), saith, chap. 2:3, 'The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak,' and speak home to the heart, and be accomplished, and not lie, though it tarry, and therefore wait for it;
'Because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith,' ver.
4. This text the apostle cites in Heb. 10:35: 'Cast not away your confidence,' saith he, 'for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now, the just shall live by faith.' It is an allusion to these very words of the prophet.
(3.) I mentioned also that the soul waits thus upon Jesus Christ with submission and quietness. A man doth not know how his soul may be put to it, and sometimes it is put to it with manifold temptations, and oftentimes those temptations are answered with nothing but submissions. Certainly submission unto God is the clearest answer of all other unto doubts or disquietness of spirit; and whensoever a man arriveth there, he is always upon ground, and will cease floating.
Such acts of faith as these doth God enable his servants sometimes to put forth; for I do not mention only those that are simply and absolutely necessary to salvation, but those acts that the soul puts forth towards Christ in its treaty with him for salvation in some instance or other; in Lam. 3:26, 29, the place I cited even now, where the prophet speaks of waiting, saith he, 'It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. He sitteth alone, and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust, if so there may be hope.' In those eastern countries, the manner of those that did profess an absolute subjection to another was to fall down at their feet and to kiss the
dust, as amongst the Turks they do to their emperors at this day.
Now, saith he, thus should the soul wait upon God, put his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope; not only wait when there is hope, but if there may be any hope, if there may be any supposition of hope, he is to wait upon God with putting his mouth in the dust.
Faith it is ordained to glorify God his own way, and in glorifying of him to cause the heart to apply itself to him in the great business of salvation. It is said of Abraham in Rom. 4:20, that 'he believed and gave glory to God.' Faith it is the great instrument of giving glory to God. Now, in the matter of salvation, what is most eminent in God? what is the flower of his glory in the way of justifying and saving a man? It is the freedom of his grace. If it be grace, then it will be free:
'I will have mercy because I will have mercy, and I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,' Rom. 9:15. Faith, then, it is also an instrument of glorifying even grace in all the ways of its freedom, according to all the advantages that free grace hath over us to glorify itself upon us, as it is free to accept us, or free to refuse us. For a man now to wait upon the Lord in the time of distress, and apply himself thus to the freedom of his grace by faith with submission, this, I say, is the highest way of faith's glorifying that which is highest in God in the point of salvation, for a man to cast away himself thus into the freedom of the grace of God. Absolute submission God requires of no man; that is, that men should be content to be damned, or the like; but hypothetical submission in supposed cases is what God enableth his servants to perform to him; that is, submission with ifs: 'If the Lord,' saith David in 2 Sam. 15:26, 'say thus, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him.'
He spake it indeed in the point of a temporal business, or a business which concerned the service of God; had it been in the case of his own salvation, it had been the highest acting of faith in the world.
What he saith in that case, the soul too saith with an if; 'Here I am, let the Lord do to me as seemeth good unto him.' You know that saying of Job, chap. 13:15, 'Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.'
In this case, this same venture for salvation thus with submission glorifies the freedom of the grace of God, and the freeness of the grace of Christ; however, a man loseth not his end, for usually when
a man begins to have such submissions appear in his spirit, God hath instantly done, and all doubts and temptations are by this answered, and so the heart is quieted, and indeed there is no objection beyond it.
7. Seventhly, True genuine faith, in its coming to Christ for justification and pardon, righteousness, or whatever else, applies and fashions the heart to 'the law of faith.' I use that phrase here, that Christ enableth the heart to apply itself in coming to Christ for all these, according to 'the law of faith,' for you have the same in Rom.
3:26 in another case, but it is applicable to this. There you shall find that the apostle speaks of the law of faith, by which he saith works are excluded, and he argues thus: If a man believe in Christ for salvation at all, works must wholly be excluded, according to the law of faith, that is, according to the nature of faith; if it be true faith, and genuine, it is impossible, saith he, that works should have any mixture with it. It is such a phrase, as we say, the laws of friendship, that is, which a man must keep to, and which are essential to him, if he will be a true friend, and not feigned; so saith the apostle, if works be mingled with faith, it is against the law of faith, it overthrows the nature of faith. As a man saith, such a thing is against the law of arms, that is, when a man doth things contrary to the principle of arms, as when a man is treating, to use acts of hostility, so it is against the law of faith to mingle works with it. When he saith therefore works are excluded, he saith it is by the law of faith, by the law of the nature of faith, as I may express it; even as elsewhere,
Rom. 11:6, he saith, 'If it be of works, it is no more of grace;' for it is the law of grace to be grace only, and it will admit no works amongst it, and so it is the law of faith, or else it is no faith at all, if you come to Christ for salvation, to renounce works. Now, what the apostle saith of the law of faith, in that sense I shall make use of to the purpose that I have in hand, namely, this, that if it he true and genuine faith which a man comes with to Christ for salvation, then it will apply itself towards Christ, according to the necessary laws and nature of faith, and according to what by believing he seeks for at Christ's hands. Now, do but consider when the soul comes to Jesus
Christ to believe, what is it that according to the law of nature in faith is necessary, that if you will believe, and believe in earnest, and believe honestly, the heart must do? It is this, that whatsoever I would have from Christ, my heart doth apply itself suitably and answerably to Christ again, as a creature should do; whatsoever I would have Christ be to me, in my proportion I desire answerably and suitably to be to Christ again. As for example, if I come to a man and desire him to be my friend, and I come on purpose to him for friendship, why now the law of friendship requireth friendship from me again; it is necessary, according to the law of friendship, that that should be the purpose and frame of the spirit of a man in so coming.
So saith Solomon: Prov. 18:24, 'A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly.' You read in Scripture (that I may yet explain this further) of a 'faith unfeigned;' as in 1 Tim. 1:5, unfeigned, without hypocrisy, without guile. You read likewise in Heb. 10:22 of drawing nigh unto God with assurance of faith; you read likewise there of a true heart: 'Let us draw nigh with a true heart, in full assurance of faith.' Now, it is not that truth of heart is itself that which God doth justify a man for, or that that hath any ingrediency (as not faith itself, not as a work) to justification; yet notwithstanding it is that which doth naturally flow from believing, if a man believe truly and in earnest, and is so conjunct with it as it is an essential ingredient, even to faith its being an unfeigned faith, faith without hypocrisy, without guile. I observe that when the Scripture speaks of believing for justification, it doth not only speak of an uprightness of sanctification, but of an honesty, and uprightness, and unfeignedness in the act of faith itself. You have it in Hab. 2:4, where he speaks of living by faith, he speaks of an upright soul; another man, saith he, that doth not believe, 'his soul is not upright in him.' And so in Psalm
32:1, 2, 'Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is not guile.' This very place of the psalmist the apostle quoteth in Rom. 4:7, 8, to hold forth this great truth, that our justification before God doth lie and consist merely in God's not imputing sin to us, but the righteousness of the Lord Jesus, and so consists in nothing in us. And therefore, if you observe it, you