Chapter VI
Directions given to guide us in our endeavouring to believe. That we ought to furnish our thoughts with all such considerations as are motives and en
couragements offaith, and lay them up in our hearts, and meditate often upon them. That we should attempt to exercise the very act of believing
itself. Objections answered.
What remains is to give some directions to guide us in our endeavours to believe.
Direct. 1. The first that I shall give is this, to provide and lay up in
thy heart all considerations that are matter for faith and believing, that
although the true act of faith be from the working of God alone, yet do thou cast in the seed (they are the materials of believing), and retain them in thy soul. As for example now, to go over some instances, it is true thou canst not see the excellency of Christ spiritually without an
almighty power, which thou must wait till God be pleased to enable thee with. Suppose this, yet all those excellencies materially thou canst lay together, and thou canst furnish thy heart with the consideration of them, which are the materials that are to draw and win thy heart to Christ. So
if we consider all those promises of free grace, that Christ came into the world to save sinners ; and
* Look to me, all ye ends of the earth, and be saved ; and I am thy Saviour, and there is none besides me, &c. ; and
also if we consider all sorts of answers to all objections made of thy un-
CHAP. VI.J OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 581
worthiness and thy sinfulness, &c., all such things thou mayest collect
together and furnish thy heart continually withal, these thou mayest study and chew upon, and revolve them in thy mind, as they of old that sacri
ficed, who though it is true could not bring fire from heaven to hum their
sacrifice, yet they could, in dependence upon God, lay their sticks together, and fetch the bullock out from the stall, and bring it to the altar, and lay it thereon, and bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar, and wait till
fire came from heaven and set all on a flame. Suppose thou wert thus to wait till the power of God come sensibly upon thee, yet in the mean time thou mayest go thus far. The word which the apostle here useth, Heb.
iv. 11, which we translate
* let us labour, is let us study ; and it signi fies the study of the mind. Let us study (saith he) as a man whose head
ploddeth upon a thing, and gathers together many notions and materials
for such a head, so let us study to believe and to enter into that rest. Saith Solomon, Prov. ii. 1, If thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee (it is Wisdom that speaks it, and by command ments there is not meant only the ten commandments, but it is a gospel precept, and they are the promises, the revelations of God that he
* if thou seekest for wisdom as for
mean^s). If thou wilt do so, saith he,
silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasure ; then shalt thou under stand the fear of the Lord. And yet, ver. 6, he saith, The Lord giveth wisdom ; and out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding ; which in the language of the Old Testament is as much as to say, he giveth faith. But yet, saith he, do thou hide all the promises and all the com mands within thee ; do but thou search for them, and take them out of the veins where they lie in the Scriptures, and treasure them up in thine
heart, and then God will come and he will mint faith for thee before thou
art aware of it. Thus saith the prophet, Lam. iii. 19, 20, Remembering I remembered (as it is in the original) my afflictions; he chewed upon them. So likewise remembering he remembered what might comfort him,
viz., all the materials of it: This I call to mind, saith he, verse 22, therefore have I hope. In Isaiah Ixvi. 11, the promises are called the
breasts of consolation, which he saith they shall suck and milk out.
Now, if thou findest thou canst not suck, or if thou suckest and none
cometh, yet do as children do, who oftentimes lie with the breast and the
teat in their mouths, so do thou ; lie with such thoughts and promises as
are the materials of faith in thy heart. And whilst thou endeavourest to
suck, or perhaps canst not, yet lying so, thou shalt, it may be, find it flow
ing in upon thee before thou art aware of it ; and whilst thou takest some
thing of this into thy mouth, somewhat will go down.
I might likewise instance in all such motives as the Scripture useth to
be urged unto God, to move him to be merciful and favourable to a poor
soul. All such thoughts also thou mayest live in the midst of, and dwell
in, and gather together a bundle of them, and lay them up in thy heart, and meditate on them . continually. This is a certain rule ; look what
motives the Scripture holds forth as those which move God ; they, whilst
the heart thinks of them, move it to believe, rather than they move God to
be merciful : and the intention of all the motives the Scripture useth to move God to be merciful to us by, is rather to strengthen and to beget
faith in us, to move and raise up faith in our hearts, that God will be thus
merciful to us, and to stir up hopeful thoughts thereof, rather than to move God himself. Multitudes of these instances might be given, as Ps. cxix.
12, when David would desire God to teach him his statutes, who only was
able to do it, what saith he? Blessed art thou, Lord; teach me thy
582 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART III. BOOK IV.
statutes. Here now is a motive, and a mighty one ; it is as if lie had
said, Lord, thou art full of happiness, and thou art blessed in thyself, and livest in the midst of happiness, and knowest no sorrow, knowest not what the misery of a poor sinner is (i.e., not in experience) that is ready to
perish ; thou art blessed, but I am a poor lost thing ; without thy help I
perish for ever. Oh communicate some of that blessedness unto me, enjoy it not alone ; let a soul ready to perish be blessed by thee. Such things as these move God ; why do they move him ? Because they are the thoughts of his own heart, which moved him to communicate himself to sinners, moved him to choose men to eternal life. Now look what doth and hath moved God in his own nature and in his own will from everlasting, do thou take such things into thy thoughts, and urge them unto God, and they will beget faith in thee before thou art aware. So likewise (Ps. cxliii. 9-12) saith the psalmist, Teach me, and quicken me, &c. Why ? For thy Spirit is good. What moveth God to save a poor sinner, and to amend a naughty heart ? Because his Spirit is good, and full of goodness
* Thou art good, and doest good, saith he. The psalmist likewise useth the same motive, Ps. cxix. 68. And Christ himself puts such motives as these into our thoughts, and these beget faith when the soul liveth in them : You fathers (saith he, Mat. vii. 11) know how to give good things to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Spirit to them that ask ? He speaks to a soul that thinks he wants the Spirit, yet because this soul hears indefinitely that God is a father to some sinners, and that he is an heavenly Father, who exceeds in bowels all earthly fathers, therefore, saith Christ,
< How much more shall not he give good things, yea give his Spirit to them that ask ? Now I say, whilst we take all such motives, and when I say motives, I mean not motives to believe, drawn from our own good, but such motives as move God, for they are the great est support of faith, and do rather serve to move us and stir our hearts to believe than to move God, although they did move God once, for they were the cause why he did from everlasting purpose good to us whilst we take
these, I say, into our souls, and there let them lie, and think of them, and revolve them again and again, there is a strength, a hopefulness begotten in the soul from them, even as the stomach, by having meat put into it, is
strengthened by the food s being concocted, and digested, and assimilated to it.
Now the reason why such souls may thus far labour and study to enter into this rest, why they may take all such things into consideration as are materials of believing, is clearly and plainly this : because if those that are ministers of the word, and the preachers of it, are to present promises and such motives to beget faith in men, if they may present them to their judgments, and understandings, and thoughts, then those considerations and promises, and the like, such souls ought to digest, to revolve, to think upon, and still to say, Why is not my portion herein ? In this Heb.
iv. 1, 2, The word, saith he, namely the gospel, for so the word signifies in the original, it was preached unto them, but it profited not, because it was not mingled with faith in those that heard it. He compares faith there to that digestive faculty, as the word implies, in the stomach, which works upon the meat, and so by degrees doth assimilate the meat into the body, and into the likeness thereof. Now, saith he, that was the reason the word profited them not, because they did not mind those promises, they did not take them into their thoughts, they did not study them (as the word here in the text also signifies), and it is answerable to what he had said : verse 1, Let us therefore fear, lest a promse being left us of entering
CHAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 583
into his rest, any of you should come short of it, come short of it by not
revolving those promises, and exercising your thoughts upon them.
Direct. 2. But then, secondly, we are to attempt the exercise of the act of believing. Let me urge that upon you also, for I shall speak to the
thing itself fully and punctually. Let men exercise themselves, I say, to the act of believing, in the consideration of such promises, and of all such motives as are in Scripture held forth as moving God. And when I
say they are to exercise the act of believing, my meaning is concerning going to Christ, and relying on him, and resting on him, and casting them
selves upon him. They are not simply to seek to be humbled, or to abstain from sin, or to practise holylduties in expectation of mercy, though all these are to be done, but to inure the heart to familiar and constant acts of believing.
This is what I direct and exhort unto, and shall give you grounds for it. Take the very words of this text : Heb. iv. 11, Let us labour (or study), to enter
into that rest, which I told you is believing. And why is it called entering into that rest ? Men think, when they come to believe, that they have a
great long journey to go, as the people of Israel had in the wilderness, and
that they must go through this and through that first, see this and see
that first in themselves, and so perhaps stay in the wilderness forty years; whereas the apostle tells us plainly, it is but going over the threshold, it is but entering into that rest. Therefore, saith he, do you attempt to do it, do you labour or study to do it, it is but a step, saith he ; you are even at
* We that believe have entered into rest, saith he, ver. 3. Such souls should make this
the door, and what is the door ? It is the door of faith :
their daily task and study, and indeed all souls should do so. All a man s
labour, saith Solomon, Eccles. vi. 7, it is for his mouth. You heard
before that faith was compared to the digestive faculty in the stomach, it
being that which works upon the promises as the stomach doth upon the
meat. All a man s labour, saith he, it is for his mouth. Indeed, of
the most men it is the great labour that they may eat, and by eating live. Now all a man s labour it should be for this mouth of faith, and to furnish
it that he may live, and live by faith ; and as Christ compares it to the
eating of his flesh, and the drinking of his blood, therefore above all else
labour for this, and for all other in order unto this. And that I may put such souls upon this in an immediate manner, do but consider all these
scriptures which I shall now give
: First, that Christ says (John vi. 27-29), Labour not (or work not) for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat
that endureth to everlasting life, which the Son of God shall give you
: for him hath God the Father sealed. Then say they unto him, What shall we do that we may work the works of God ? Jesus answered and said
unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath
sent. I told you even now, that all the labour of man it was for his mouth ; now here Christ makes use of that similitude, and though I cannot say he
alludeth to it, yet he speaks in that allusion, and it is a place that may have an allusion thereto. Labour not, saith he, or work not,
* for the meat which perisheth, for outward meat, which is obtained by outward
labour, but labour for that bread which the Son of God shall give you, that
is, himself; for a man goes to Christ for Christ, and Christ doth give him
self to a sinner coming to believe on him : ver. 35, I am that bread of
life, namely, which the Son of God giveth. Now as he alone is that bread,
so it is believing alone that doth make us partakers of that bread (as that
35th verse sheweth), I am that bread of life : he that cometh unto me
shall never hunger ; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Mark now the coherence of these words one with another to that which now I
584 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PAET III. BOOK IV.
aim at : Before our Saviour Christ had said, Labour or work not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth to everlasting life. These Jews they plainly, and nakedly, and simply, and honestly ask Christ, without cavilling, what peculiar thing they should do ? (and in that case Jesus Christ always answers plainly)
: What shall we do, say they, that we may work the works of God ? by works of God they mean works accep table to God. You would have us labour, what works will you put us upon ? They thought now that there was not one special work only, but many works, therefore they express it in the plural ; and yet they thought there
might be some other thing he would teach them than what Moses s law did.
Christ, you see, both answers at once their question, and explains what he meant by labouring for that meat which endures for ever, and the thing he
* believe on him whom God hath sent; and this, saith he, is
puts them upon is this, to
* the work of God. It is as if he had said, You speak of
works, I put you upon this as the work. It is called the work of God, as a broken heart, Ps. li., is called the sacrifice of God ; that is, that which is acceptable unto God, which God delighteth in eminently. And
as he puts them upon believing alone eminently, so he puts them upon it
immediately. These Jews whose hearts, according to their question, and Christ s speech before, were so taken off from the consideration of earthly bread, come unto Christ thus with a naked, simple, plain question, to be
instructed by him, as they in the Acts did when they asked the apostles what they should do to be saved ? You see how Christ answers
them, he puts them upon believing, and thereby explains what he meant
by labouring or working for that meat, in his own exhortation in the words before. And as he did here, so upon all occasions else he did
* If thou canst believe, &c. Come try, let me see, saith he, whether thou canst. The poor man had said unto Christ, If thou canst do anything ; and Christ saith unto him, Do not doubt of power in me, for there is power enough in me, but canst thou
likewise : saith he to the poor man (Mark ix. 23),
believe ? Come let me see. He puts him, you see, upon believing. And
* Strive to enter in at the strait
so likewise, in another place, says Christ,
gate. The words in the text here do clearly interpret his meaning to be
to put them upon believing. You know, it is called the door of faith in the Acts, which Christ calleth the strait gate, and bids them strive to enter in.
* we that believe have entered into it, saith he, Heb. iv. 3. As Christ did
* Labour, saith the apostle,
* to enter into that rest; and
thus, so did the apostles also ; they did still put men upon believing as well as upon repenting. When the jailor in the Acts did, in a plain and blunt manner, ask them what he should do to be saved ? Believe in the Lord Jesus, say they, and thou shalt be saved, and thy household. Was the jailor, think you, to wait and expect till he received a power to enable him to believe ? No ; but so far as he found his heart strengthened, so
far he was to attempt it. And, as this was the command, so they always held it forth clearly and nakedly to them. And to clear it more to you that souls are thus to make experiment of believing continually, consider but this farther. What course will you take ? Will you seek to God by prayer, as you are to do, and by the performance of all other duties ? Or
will any man direct you to prayer because it is your duty, and because the
Spirit of God may fall upon you in prayer, as oftentimes he doth upon men ? The same say I also, and there is just the same reason ; do thou
fall upon believing, and though thou beginnest and attemptest to do it with a
quivering heart, and layest hold upon Christ with a trembling hand, yet the power of God may fall upon thee in the doing of it. You use to stir up
CHAP. VI. J OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 585
yourselves to other duties, and that because they are commanded ; for I suppose now that such a soul as I speak to resolveth not to do nothing ; if you mean to be idle, there is an end of it now ; if you mean to do anything, attempt to believe ; you have no more power to do any duty than you have for believing, or, at least, it must be the almighty power of God that must help you to perform any duty spiritually as well as to believe ; therefore, so far forth as you make conscience of performing any other duty, make
conscience^of this. In Isa. Ixiv. 7, these two are joined together, None calleth upon thy name, and stirreth up himself to take hold of thee. Here
is prayer, calling upon God, and believing, both joined together, and
stirring up themselves to do it ; for what is it to take hold of the Lord ? It is the same in Isa. xxvii. 5,
< Let him take hold of my strength; that is, let him believe (it is taking hold of the arm of the Lord), and let him stir up himself to do it, let him reach as far as he can to take hold of it. I shall now, in the next place, answer such objections as oppose my preceding assertions.
Obj. 1. One objection will be this : If I have not God s power to
concur, I shall not have true faith, I shall not put forth a true act of
believing, and therefore I were as good forbear to exercise or attempt to do it.
JE Am. 1. I answer first : This holds against the use of all duties else as well as against believing ; for unless the power of God doth enable thee, thou canst not think a good thought, and according to this, thy argument, thou shouldst forbear all thoughts that are materially good, as well as the act of believing. If you are not, nor ought to be deterred from any other
duty, why should you be from this ?
Ans. 2. Secondly, I answer, Do you still try and renew thoughts and acts of faith howsoever. For if, in thy attempting to believe, God doth accompany thee, and evidence to thee that he doth come in, and fall upon thee, and perhaps manifest his love unto thee, thou shalt have cause for ever to bless God. If that thou dost attempt and thou fallest short, yet notwithstanding thou wilt then see thy defect, and thou wilt be humbled in
thy own sight, as thou art in the defective performance of all other duties, and so wilt be put upon going to God for power with more eagerness. But, however, do not therefore forbear.
Ans. 3. Thirdly, Suppose that thy attempt to believe be in itself for the kind of it but a natural act, that is not yet spiritual ; yet though thou sow
it a natural act, as I may so express it, it may rise up a spiritual one in the
very doing ; and though thou sowest it in weakness, God may make it rise
in power. God oftentimes ingrafts true acts of faith upon those literal notions we have of God and of Christ. It is evident by this, that after a man believeth savingly, who had much knowledge of the gospel before (and
materially his thoughts now are but the same thoughts he had before, only they formally differ), God comes now in with a new light, and grace hath
altered all into spirituals. And in the exercising such thoughts of faith doth God come in, and changeth them in the very doing. When Christ intended to do that miracle of turning water into wine, he doth not first
change the water into wine, but he bids them pour it out, and in the pour
ing of it out the water was turned into wine ; so is it here, even as the
loaves multiplied in the breaking and dividing of them. God doth change thy attempts to believe, they being done in subordination to his power, into
genuine true thoughts of faith, whilst thou art a-thinking; and thou believest
thyself into true believing through the power of God before thou art aware
of it ; and by plunging thyself, and by exercising thy heart and thoughts,
586 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART III. BOOK IV.
and by wallowing up and down (how shall I express it ?) in that sea of
blood, thou wilt feel thy conscience eased, and grow up to a steadier famili
arity in believing, and that in a way thou knowest not how. You find this
in other duties, that when you go to prayer deadly and coldly, you meet with life and quickness from God even in the duty. Why may it not be
so here ?
Ans. 4. Lastly, To such souls as stick at this objection, I answer: Would
any man exhort you unto any means in order unto faith, as to pray, or to
hear, or to think of your sins, and the like ? Why not to believing, why not to the acts of faith together with all these, and above all these ? For mark it, if you be put upon prayer, what is prayer ? This is certain, if thou thinkest with thyself, I shall now make but a natural prayer, and it
will not be a spiritual prayer, let me tell thee this, let the prayer thou
niakest be what it will be, so far forth as thou prayest in any reality, so far thou hast faith proportionably to thy prayer. Consider what I say ; if it be a spiritual prayer thou makest, and God turns it to be so, then he gives thee spiritual faith ; therefore thou mayest as well concurrently believe as
pray, for prayer is but the venting of faith. Therefore if thou wilt say, I will
forbear the act of believing because it may prove a natural act, an act of mine own, and not genuine and true, thou mayest upon the same grounds as well forbear praying, for so far forth as thou hast an ability to pray
aright in faith thou hast to believe, for prayer is the acting of faith, take it
in its proportion, that is, whether you consider it naturally or spiritually. Men may exhort you to means of faith, but this you will still find, that all those means are as difficult things as faith itself : and therefore the apostle
(Kom. x.), you see, directs unto faith as the most easy and short cut of all the rest ; you may forecast, saith he, this and that, but the word is nigh
thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach, ver. 8. The apostle speaks just thus, as if one should be
brought to a table full of meat, and he that is brought should say, What is
it I should do that I may eat of this meat, and be partaker of it ? Cer
tainly any one would answer, The meat is here on the table, do thou fall
: so doth the apostle say, The word, saith he, is nigh thee ; it is next door to thy mouth, and to thy heart, and thy lips, do but digest it, which is the mingling it with faith, as he speaks in Heb. iv. ; do but take
a-eating
it in thy thoughts and apprehension, and then it is in thy heart. Thou standest now at the threshold, do but step in : Enter in, saith he. But
will the man say, I must have a stomach to it ? Mark what I say, if eating and tasting will be the way to beget a stomach, were it not best to fall to ? So it is here ; Taste and see how good the Lord is. If there were meat
that would get a man a stomach by eating it, assuredly then a man would
first fall to and eat : now this meat, which is Jesus Christ, doth do so.
If coming into the sun would give eyes to a man, and cause the films to
fall off, as well as give a man light to see himself with, a man that is blind would not stand complaining of his blindness, and say, I will not go abroad, for I cannot see this sun, I will rather stay here in this dark dungeon, in
this prison, till the sun force itself through the walls, or come in at some
cranny, and so cause the scales to fall off iny eyes. No ; certainly he would
go abroad into the air, that so the sun might cure him of his blindness. Jesus Christ is the Sun of righteousness, and he hath healing in his wings,
viz., in his beams, Mai. iv. 2. It is an elegant metaphor, comparing these
diffusive beams to the spreading of the eagle s wings over her young ones.
How doth the iron come to have virtue to cleave to the loadstone ? It
is by being brought to the loadstone ; so doth the soul get power to cleave
CHAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 587
unto Christ by coming unto Christ ; and the longer the soul is kept off from exercising thoughts of faith upon Christ, it is like the iron kept from the loadstone, it grows weaker and weaker.
Obj. 2. A second objection is this : you will say, I may build myself up in a temporary faith by this course, whereas it were better for me to go and search into the falseness of that if it be false.
Ans. 1. If you take the way of the Scripture, I do not know how any man shall be fully able to answer all those temptations about a man s being a temporary believer, but only by believing ; I have known many souls beaten into that way at last, and never could have peace till then. And I find this likewise, that take the Epistle to the Hebrews, and there is no book in the New Testament, nor no passages in the New Testament, that hint more about temporary believers than that book doth, for he speaks of men that fall away through unbelief after enlightening, and he speaks extreme suspiciously of the Jews, for certainly many of them were such, what course doth the apostle take in this Epistle to keep them from falling away ? He doth not go about so much to discover to them that their faith was a temporary faith ; no, but all the course of that Epistle to such kind of men, supposing such among them, still runs upon this, to renew faith, and to take heed of departing from the living God through an evil heart of unbelief; and
* let us, saith he, hold the hope of our confidence unto the end, Heb. iii. 6, 14. I say, the whole Epistle doth not lie so much
in discovering this to be genuine, and that to be false faith, as in exhorting them to believe, for God indeed often converts such into true faith whilst
they exercise it. And certainly, let men go on in a way of believing, and
either their sins will make them leave off believing, or their believing will make them sound. And this you will find, that there is no way to cut the knot of all these temptations ; nay, there is no way for a man, of a tem
porary believer to become a true believer, but by exercising faith con
tinually, so far forth as God strengthened his heart. And then as he said
of prayer, that it will either make a man leave sinning, or his sinning will make him leave praying, so believing will either make him leave his
unsoundness, or his unsoundness will make him leave his believing. If a
a man be a true believer, and be troubled with that temptation, it is the
only way to end it ; and if he be a temporary believer, and in that state,
it is the only way to make him sound. It is that you see which the apostle directs to.
Ans. 2. Thou mayest, for aught thou knowest, be but in a temptation that thou art, or that thou mayest prove a temporary believer. That
power which hath hitherto assisted thee, may be the same power which
accompanies workings unto salvation, and then thou losest time to try it
out that way ; and to try it out, it is the difficultest controversy in the world that ever any soul entered upon ; and thou wilt never bring it to a
conclusion or determination but by believing. That must still end that
controversy ; thou mayest sooner get a new title by believing afresh, than
try out thy old title ; and after that thou hast renewed acts of faith, then thou wilt see the truth of all the work formerly wrought in thee, and not
before.
Ans. 8. On the other side, if thou shouldst be a temporary believer
at the present, which yet thou knowest not, then consider that the way to make thee sound is to put thee upon believing and renewing thy faith. Mark what I say, it is the way to make thee sound. If indeed that faith were nothing else but a secure taking for granted that a man is in the state
of salvation, that might endanger thee. But that is not it that I put
588 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART III. BOOK IV.
thee upon when I put thee upon believing, but it is to have a constant recourse, in a sense of thy wants, unto Jesus Christ, both for justification and for sanctification, and to act and exercise faith upon him, and to whet thy soul upon him, and to do this continually. Now, take this course, and let all thy imperfections and hypocrisies thou seest or suspectest to be in thee drive thee unto Christ to make thee sincere ; let them drive thee unto Christ for justification, make that improvement and use of them, still to put thee upon believing ; if anything will make thy heart sound, this will do it. Thus having recourse unto Christ, thou wilt see farther light to discern thine own emptiness and hypocrisy ten thousand times more than by poring upon and studying out thy own condition, by comparing that act and this act together, and this by-end and that by-end, and the like ; for if thou goest thus by faith unto Jesus Christ, thou dealest with the foun tain of grace ; and by exercising thyself to faith in him, and so acquaint ing thyself with him, thy heart will be changed before thou art aware of it. As Solomon saith, He that walketh with wise men shall be wise ; so he that acquaints himself thus with the Lord Jesus, constantly renewing acts of faith upon him, he shall learn wisdom, he shall learn holiness, he shall learn how to go out of himself ; he will shed light into him for to see his emptiness more, and he will shed Spirit into him for to fill him more.
The observation which I make upon the Epistle to the Hebrews is to this purpose and effect : the apostle there writes to all the Jews, whether temporary believers or other ; but suppose they were such that did profess the name of Christ in the strictness of it, yet he speaks exceeding suspi ciously of many of them. The Holy Ghost in no book holds forth so much the state of a temporary believer, and the issue and terror of it, than in that Epistle, both in the 6th, 10th, and 12th chapters ; and therefore he speaks more distinctly of the sin against the Holy Ghost, which a temporary believer is nearer to fall into, and he threateneth and aweth them with that ; yet notwithstanding, you shall find that there is no Epistle that doth by way of exhortation (though the apostle in other Epistles may commend the doc trine of faith, as he doth in the Epistle to the Romans, and in other places) so much exhort men continually to believing, all and every man : Lest any man, saith he, fail and come short of the grace of God;* and, lest there be found in any man an evil heart of unbelief. Read the 3d chapter ; it
is the whole scope of it, and it is the whole scope, in a manner, of this 4th
chapter. He lays before them the example of those that fell in the wilder
ness, and tells them it was unbelief was the cause of it; therefore he bids them labour or study to enter into that rest, and to take heed lest they fall after the same example of unbelief. You are now, saith he, of the house of God, if you continue to be so ; ye are partakers of Christ if you hold fast your confidence. So that I say, we are not so much to trouble ourselves with that great controversy, whether we be temporary believers or no, when we find the Holy Ghost stirring in us, but to improve that strength we have from the Holy Ghost in direct acts of faith towards Jesus Christ, going out to him for a supply of all imperfections and defects ; and thus having recourse unto him, it will make a man sound ; and as he said of praying, that praying would either make a man leave his sinning, or his sinning would make him leave praying ; so certainly it is in the matter of believing. Ans. 4. The last answer I shall give to the objection is this : thou canst not say thou art a temporary believer, thou mayest fear it. A true be liever may fear it, but he cannot say he is such ; and a temporary believer, though there is that in the word, which, if it were opened, might convince
CHAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 580
him, and shall do so at latter day, yet usually he cannot say it of himself that he is such an one. Therefore now, thou that wilt abstain from putting forth acts of faith for fear lest thou mayest build thyself up in a way of
temporary believing, consider this, that though thou mayest build up a
temporary faith, yet thou mayest not forbear putting forth true acts of faith, for thou mayest be a true believer for aught thou knowest, therefore thou
art to go and cast thyself upon Christ, to follow on the motions of the Holy Ghost, and that assistance he gives thee. For wouldst thou quench the motions of the new creature ? If thou knewest them to be so, I am assured thou wouldst not ; but if thou knowest them not, yet thou oughtest not to do it. I remember what a poor child about ten years of age once said : I am oftentimes, said he, tempted to take Jesus Christ, I see so much beauty in him, but I fear I shall be a hypocrite in doing of it. "What a pitiful thing was this, that such a temptation should keep such a soul when he is
again and again provoked by the Holy Ghost, from laying hold upon Jesus
Christ, from taking of him.
Direct. 3. The third direction is only a farther exhortation to continue to renew acts of faith, and not to cease or faint, or to give over. The very scope of this 3d chapter of the Hebrews is to put them upon renewing acts
of faith, and holding out to do so continually. He doth both bid them continue to do it, and also he bids them daily to renew acts of faith, and
expresseth it under both kinds of expressions. First, he exhorts them to a
constancy of holding out : ver. 6, to hold fast their confidence and the
glory of their hope, or the rejoicing of their hope, or their faith unto
* hold fast the beginning of their confidence sted-
the end. And ver. 14, to
* departing from the living God ; and therefore by faith to abide and stay by God. But that is not all : he
fast unto the end, opposing it there to
exhorts them likewise to renewed acts of faith ; you shall see his expressions in the 7th verse, and so in other verses :
* "Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, ver 7. Hearing his voice there is
believing ; so he interprets it himself in the end of the chapter. So like
wise, ver. 13, he bids Christians to exhort one another daily, while it is
called to-day, and therefore answerably, to renew their faith daily
: for
that is his scope, and the thing he calls upon them to do in answer to those
* Whilst it is said, To-day, if ye will hear his
exhortations. So ver. 15 :
voice, harden not your hearts ; and unbelief will harden your hearts, saith
he. I observe this, that he doth speak to these Jews converted ; suppose whether some were temporaries or no, however he speaketh to them all, even as we use to speak to any soul that is acoming on to Christ, whom we would move to turn to God at a sermon, telling him that now is the day
of grace, now is an acceptable time, and therefore cleave to him, and turn
to him. Even such kind of motives as we would use to such an one, doth
the apostle use to them that are already converted, or enlightened at least, and had long professed the name of Christ : Whilst it is called To-day,
saith he ; and take heed lest at any time (so the word is in the original,
* lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing, or neglecting it : but to-day, saith
* that you do cease from believing, or
ver. 12),
he, hear his voice. So that in deed and in truth, what we would say, or
any man would say, unto one that is now to be converted, the same he
saith to them ; for a Christian s life it is, and ought to be, a continual
renewing of faith, and so a renewal of his conversion, as you have them
: Luke xxii. 32, I have prayed thy faith fail not ; when thou
put together
art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And the apostle contents not
himself only to speak in the language of words of constancy, and to bid
590 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART III. BOOK IV.
them to do it daily, Today, &c., in a positive way ; but he useth nega tives too : Take heed, lest at any time there be in any of you an evil heart
of unbelief, ver. 12. Take heed, lest you let go your hold, lest you cease
to believe ; for if you do not renew acts of faith, certainly corrupt nature
will renew acts of unbelief ; and if one be not acted, or if it be intermitted, the other will steal up. And the house of God are we, saith he, if we do
thus daily hear and obey his voice ; and we are made partakers of Christ,
if we hold fast thus the beginning of our confidence. I take it his mean
ing is this : the doctrine, saith he, which we teach, it is the right way to
heaven ; and you need not doubt of that, saith he, for it is that which will
build up the house of God, and will make men partakers of Christ. Now,
saith he, if ye continue thus to act faith, and do but practise according to
that doctrine that is taught in the house of God, in the church, you will
become his house in deed and in truth, according to the doctrine taught in
the church.
Obj. Now there is an objection will also attend this direction, which I
would meet withal, and that is this : Yea, but will the soul say, I have
renewed faith often, and done it long, and I find not yet that power accom
panying my faith, which doth evidence it to be true ; and notwithstanding
all I have done, I do not yet know whether all the acts of faith I have put
forth be not in vain ; and as they have been, so they may still be, and
therefore I had as good give over.
Ans. I will answer thee, speaking to this objection, so far as it relateth
to the point in hand, viz., the power of God co-working with us.
1. First of all, consider what Christ said to Peter when he came to wash
his feet, John xiii., and Peter reluctated : What I do now, saith Christ,
thou knowest not, but thou shalt know hereafter ; and if thou knewest,
thou wouldst not reluctate. Christ requires obedience to that, the meaning whereof he knew not at the present, but should know afterward ; and when
the Holy Ghost came upon him after Christ s ascension, he found that
Christ thereby had sealed up to him the washing away of his sins, for God made that unto them a temporary sacrament, though Peter knew not the
meaning of this at the present ; and thus Christ doth many things unto us, which we know not the meaning of till afterwards. So say I to thee that
sayest, thou hast exercised acts of faith a long time, and knowest not whether
it be true. Thou mayest know hereafter, though thou knowest not now, when the Spirit comes on thee, and brings all things that are past to thy remembrance, and lets thee see the truth of all that God hath wrought in
thee ; when he comes to seal up to thee thy redemption unto the day of
redemption, there will a light come, that will shew thee that thou hast all
this while been a-believing, and a-believing truly and acceptably unto God ; and therefore, however, continue still doing so.
2. Though thou hast put forth acts of faith never so long, or never so often,
and hitherto in vain ( if in vain, as the apostle speaks), yet continue still
to do it ; and that because God works it of his good pleasure, you know
that is the encouragement. Philip, ii. 14, Work out your salvation, for
it is God that worketh in you of his good pleasure. And in 2 Tim. ii. 25,
he bids them preach to men, and to continue in so doing, to see if God
at any time will give them repentance. Though a man hath preached multitude of sermons, and men have heard multitude of sermons, yet
preach still, and go to sermons still ; for though all the former have been in
vain, there may come a time in which God may give repentance unto men. And the apostle, Heb. iii. 12, useth the very same word (though I confess
it is not in our translation), Take heed lest at any time there be in you an
CHAP. VI.] OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 591
heart of unbelief. In this case, I say, as Paul saith in Heb. x. 35, he
speaks it indeed in regard of afflictions or temptations outward, but all that is there said is applicable to this temptation, and to temptations inward :
* Cast not away your confidence, saith he, ver. 35; and ver. 36, Ye have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God ye might receive the promise ; for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and
will not tarry. Suppose now thou hast acted faith, and findest as thou thinkest nothing come, yet do not throw away that confidence, that faith, that acting upon Christ, begotten in thee ; cast it not away, as men are apt to do when they cannot attain the thing they seek for presently. I say in
this case to thee, as the apostle said there, You have need of patience ; and what was the reason he thus spake, you have need of patience ? Because the truth is, God will try every soul that doth believe, he will try their patience, if not with outward afflictions, yet with inward ; and if not with inward, then with outward. Now I apply this to thee in this case, for if any sonl needeth patience, then such a soul as this that makes this
objection needs patience ; he needs it because God puts him to it, and
patience there is put for a patient continuance, as in Rom. ii. it is called and interpreted, and so the meaning is, you need a patient continuance in
renewing still your confidence and believing, that when you have done the
will of God herein over and over, merely in submission to him, you may inherit the promise. He puts that in to quiet them in the mean time. And so say I to thee that art ready to faint, and to give up all, quiet thy self with this, that it is the will of God thou hast done all this while, and
that it is his will thou shouldst rather act faith upon him, and have recourse unto him than to have forborne it ; and though thou knowest not whether it be true faith or no, yet it is the will of God thou shouldst do it. You have need of patience, saith he, that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise
: for yet a little while, and he that shall come
will come, and will not tarry. Thou wilt find that God in the end will
come, and will give thee, to thy own sense, spiritually and truly to believe. In the mean time, I say, quiet thyself with this, that that which thou art
* This is the work of God, saith Christ, that
a-doing is the work of God:
ye believe on him whom he hath sent. And this is the waiting and sitting
still that the Scripture speaks of. It is not to sit still and to do nothing toward believing, but it is doing the will of God in continuing still to
* The just shall live by faith. Will
believe. And then the apostle adds,
a man deliberate whether he shall put forth acts of life or no, whether he
shall breathe or no ? Why, there is a necessity for him to breathe, it is
that whereby he liveth ; and therefore though thou fetch thy breath hardly,
yet fetch it still, for thou diest else. So he saith here, that faith is our life, therefore continue to put forth the acts of faith, or else thou diest. In Rom. v., speaking of the effects of faith, for that is the scope of that chapter from the beginning towards the middle, he saith there, that trials and
afflictions, whereof this is the greatest, breed patience ; and what doth
patience breed ? It breedeth experience. When a man hath patiently con
tinued to wait, to exercise faith, in the end he cometh to experience that he hath true faith ; you may apply it unto this as well as unto any other temp
tation whatsoever. And what is the issue of experience in the end ? It
breedeth hope, that is, assurance ; for it is clear it is so meant, because he adds,
* Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. It produceth, I say, that effect in the end. So that still I say to such souls,
they had need of patient continuance in renewing their confidence, and in
living by faith, and in the end he that shall come will come. And as the
592 OF THE OBJECT AND ACTS [PART III. BOOK IV.
apostle there in Heb. x. adds, The just shall live by faith, so he adds like
* If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. The word is a word used amongst soldiers, not to recoil, not to give over, being weary of waiting, or the like. Now as the general hath no pleasure in such a soldier, so saith he, in such an one my soul shall have no pleasure. And he adds the greatest motive in the world why men should continue
wise,
still thus to act faith, though their patience be thus tried ; for, saith he, it
is believing to the saving of the soul (ver. 39), but this drawing back, this recoiling, and seeking to do it, tendeth to perdition. We are not of them who draw back unto perdition, saith he,
* but of them that believe to the saving of the soul, that is, that continue thus to believe ; for his meaning and his argument lies thus : you must hold out, saith he, and continue to believe, for you cannot be saved else ; and if you will forbear
to act faith thus, what will be the issue of it ? You will draw back, and then God will come to have no pleasure in you ; and this, saith he, tendeth
to perdition ; you hazard perdition by it, therefore it is necessary to continue so believing. Now I say to such a soul as is wearied out with such a temp tation as this is, Whether dost thou mean to be saved, yea or no ? Thou
wilt say to me, Yes. Very good. Whether dost thou mean ever to renew
faith upon Christ again or no ? If thou sayest never, I have nothing to
say to thee, but only this, thou drawest back to the certain perdition of
thy soul. If ever thou meanest to renew faith again, or else thou canst not be saved, then, say I, though thou hast been discouraged a thousand and a thousand times, yet continue to do it still, for if ever thou comest to salvation,
it must be by having fresh recourse to Christ, and exercising acts of faith upon him. Now by discontinuing to do it, thou dost not get more
power to believe ; if it were so, there were something in it ; but thou drawest back, and puttest thy perdition upon a hazard, thou puttest thy utter hardening upon ?a hazard, therefore cease not, no, not for a moment. And let me say this to thee likewise, Thou art discouraged, because what thou hast done hitherto is in vain, and, therefore, thou fearest
that what thou shalt do will be in vain also. When thou comest to thy deathbed, or to lie under any great affliction or temptation, thy discourage ment will be greater than now, for then Satan will tell thee, thou hast often renewed acts of faith, and thou hast found it to be in vain, and thereupon hast drawn back from God, and discontinued the exercising of such acts, and therefore thou hast cause now to fear that God will have no pleasure in thee. There is no way, therefore, say I, but for thee to hold fast thy confidence, and to live by faith (thou hast need of patience, I confess that), and let the
necessity of the thing put thee upon it, for it is as necessary as the living of thy soul is. It is
* believing to the saving of the soul.
Obj. But you will say, I am weary, I have so long time exercised faith, and cannot find whether my faith be true or no, I find no strength by it, little
or no support by it. What saith the apostle, Heb. xii. 12, for there is no
Epistle where he speaks to this point in hand more than this to the Hebrews ?
Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees. Though even
all your strength be gone through weariness, yet use the strength you have ; though these hands hang down through weariness, yet with that strength you have lift them up once more, yea, again and again. It is not in this
as in other weariness. In other weariness a man gets more strength by discontinuing to labour ; but where this kind of weariness is through long
waiting, by discontinuing thou shalt not have more power against the next
time. No ; but if thou wilt lift up the hands that hang down, thou wilt
find that God will help to lift them up too. In Isa. xl. 28, the prophet
CHAP. VI. J OF JUSTIFYING FAITH. 593
there speaks to those that are ready to faint for waiting upon the Lord, and he bids them consider : Hast thou not known, saith he, hast thou
not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of
the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? Consider, saith he, that God
hath created the ends of the earth, and he upholds them every moment ; he hath done so from the beginning of the world ; and though the earth is
continually changing, and the world a-moving, yet he fainteth not to _hold up all this, as he did not faint at first when he created it ; and he givetk
power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. When thou thinkest I am even weary, I can believe no longer, yet lift up
those hands that hang down, and strengthen those feeble knees, what
strength thou hast put forth ; and that God who is the Creator of the ends
of the earth, that fainteth not, neither is weary, will give power to the
faint, and increase strength to them that have no might. Take a poor soul now that finds a defect of spiritual strength, Oh, saith he, I have no
strength at all. If thou wert a young man, and wert put to do acts of acti
vity, thou wouldst think thou hast natural strength enough to do such
things withal. Now the prophet tells thee, that thou who hast the
sense of no spiritual strength in thyself, thy case is more sure to have
strength continued to thee, waiting upon the Lord, than a young man that
hath never so much strength for youthful feats : Even the youths, saith
he, shall faint, and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall ; but
< they shall
they that wait upon the Lord, though they have no strength,
renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they^shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Therefore continue ; he that shall come will come in the end ; and in the mean time, he that up holds the ends of the earth upon nothing, he upholds thy heart to believe upon
nothing. I mean, faith is a thing depending upon nothing in a man s self. The prophet, I say, compares the promised supply of spiritual strength with
a present stock of natural strength, which a young man having, he thinks
himself able to do any natural action. Yea (saith he), they shall mount
up with wings as eagles. An eagle when he grows old grows callow, as
you call it, that is, all the feathers come off ; but washing himself in foun
tains, his wings and feathers come again, and he mounts up anew ; so,
: though thou art even faint and
saith he, thou shalt renew thy strength
grown weary, and though thou thinkest thy old stock of strength is gone, and thou hast believed all that strength out, and that thy soul is naked, and that there is nothing left, yet wait upon the Lord, look again to his
holy temple, as Jonah saith, and he will renew thy strength, and bear
thee up as with eagles wings.
END OF VOL. VIII.
VOL. VIII.