Quest. LXXII., LXXIII. (continued 2)

But that which we shall more particularly consider is, that this grace of faith is wrought by the instrumentality of the word. We have before observed, that the principle of grace, implanted in regeneration, is the immediate effect of the divine power, without the instrumentality of the word; but when the Spirit works faith, and all other graces, which proceed from that principle, then he makes use of the word: thus the apostle says, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God, Rom. x. 17. As it is necessary, in order to our seeing any object, that the eye be rightly disposed and fitted for sight, and the object presented to it: so there are two things necessary to faith, namely, the soul’s being changed, renewed, quickened, and so prepared to act this grace; and the objects being presented to it, about which it is to be conversant; which latter is done by the word of God: so that the soul is first internally disposed to receive what God is pleased to reveal relating to the way of salvation by Jesus Christ before it believes; and this revelation is contained in the gospel, which is adapted to the various acts of faith, as before described.

1. As faith implies a coming to Christ, or receiving him; the word of God reveals him to us as giving an invitation to sinners, encouraging them thereunto; thus our Saviour says, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink, John vii. 37. And, as a farther inducement to this, it sets forth the advantages that will attend it, to wit, that he will not reject them, how unworthy soever they be; as, he says, Him that cometh to 135me, I will in no wise cast out, John vi. 37. And there are many other privileges which he will bestow on them, namely, the blessings of both worlds, grace here, and glory hereafter, all which contain the very sum and substance of the gospel.

2. If we consider faith as including in it a giving up ourselves to Christ, to be intirely his; the word of God represents him as having an undoubted right to all who do so, inasmuch as they are bought with the price of his blood, given to him as his own, by the Father. And as they devote themselves to him, to be his servants, it sets before them the privileges which attend his service, as they are delivered from the dominion of sin, and a servile fear and dread of his wrath; lets them know the ease, pleasure, and delight that there is in bearing his yoke, and the blessed consequences thereof, in that as they have their fruit unto holiness, the end thereof shall be life everlasting, Rom. vi. 22.

3. As faith looks to Christ for forgiveness of sin, in which respect it is called justifying faith; so the word of God represents him to us, as having made atonement for sin; as set forth to be a propitiation to secure us from the guilt which we were liable to, and the condemning sentence of the law; as bearing the curse, and, as the consequence thereof, giving us a right to all the privileges of his children. It also represents this forgiveness as full, free, and irreversible; and the soul, by faith rejoices in its freedom from condemnation, and that right and title to eternal life, which is inseparably connected with it.

4. As faith includes in it a trusting or relying on Christ, the gospel represents him as an all-sufficient Saviour, able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, Heb. vii. 25. and as faith trusts him for the accomplishment of all the promises, it considers him as having engaged to make them good, inasmuch as they are yea and amen in him, unto the glory of God, 2 Cor. i. 20. And therefore, he runs no risque, or is at no uncertainty as to this matter; for Christ’s Mediatorial glory lies at stake. If there be the least failure in the accomplishment of any promise; or any blessing made over to his people in the covenant of grace, which shall not be conferred upon them, he is content to bear the blame for ever: but this is altogether impossible, since he that has undertaken to apply the blessings promised, is faithful and true, as well as the Father that gave them; and this affords them strong consolation, who are fled for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them in the gospel, Heb. vi. 18. Thus Christ is set forth; and agreeably to this discovery made of him, faith takes up its rest in him, and therein finds safety and peace.

V. We shall now consider faith as strong or weak, increasing or declining, with the various marks and signs thereof. As 136habits of sin are stronger or weaker, the same may be said concerning habits of grace. It is one thing for them to be entirely lost; and another thing to be in a declining state: their strength and vigour may be much abated, and their energy frequently interrupted; nevertheless God will maintain the principle of grace, as we shall endeavour to prove under a following answer.^[65] Grace is not always equally strong and lively; the prophet supposes it to be a declining, when he says, Revive thy work, O Lord, in the midst of the years, Heb. iii. 2. and our Saviour’s advice to the church at Sardis, implies as much, when he exhorts them to strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, Rev. iii. 2. and when he bids the church at Ephesus to remember from whence they were fallen, and repent and do their first works, chap. ii. 5. Some are said, as Abraham, to be strong in faith, giving glory to God, Rom. iv. 20. and others are reproved, as our Saviour does his disciples, at some times, when he says, O ye of little faith, Matt. vi. 30. As our natural constitution is not always equally healthy and vigorous, nor our condition in the world equally prosperous, the same may be said concerning the habits of grace; sometimes they are strong, and then, as the apostle says concerning his beloved Gaius, 3 John ver. 2. the soul prospereth, and we go from strength to strength, Psal. lxxxiv. 7. from one degree of grace to another; but, at other times, we are ready to faint in the day of adversity, and our strength is small, Prov. xxiv. 10. This cannot but be observed by all who are not strangers to themselves, or who take notice of the various frame of spirit, which are visible in those whom they converse with.

But if it be enquired; by what marks or evidences we may discern the strength or weakness of faith? though this will more evidently appear from what will be said under a following answer,^[66] when we are led to speak concerning the reason of the imperfection of sanctification in believers; yet we shall not wholly pass it over in this place; and therefore, it may be observed, that the strength or weakness of faith, is to be judged of by that degree of esteem and value which the soul has for Christ, and the steadiness, or abatement of its dependence on him. The greater diffidence or distrust we have of self, and the more we see of our own emptiness and nothingness, the stronger is our faith; on the other hand, self-confidence, or relying on our own strength is a certain sign of the weakness thereof.

Again, strong faith is that which carries the soul through difficult duties; as the apostle says, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, Phil. iv. 13. Whereas weak faith is ready to sink under the discouragements that it meets 137with; the former is stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 1 Cor. xv. 58. the latter is like a reed shaken with the wind. Strong faith, as it is said of Job, Job i. 21. blesses God when he strips him of all earthly enjoyments, and rejoices that the soul is counted worthy to suffer shame for his name, Acts v. 41. and this carries him above those fears which have a tendency to deject and dishearten him: He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord, Psal. cxii. 7. Whereas, weak faith is borne down, with discouragements; he finds it hard to hold on in the performance of his duty, and sees mountains of difficulties in his way; whereby the soul is ready to conclude, that he shall not be able to get safely to his journey’s end. He does not rightly improve the consideration of the almighty power of God, and his faithfulness to his promise, in which he has engaged, that the righteous shall hold on his way; and he that hath clean hands shall wax stronger and stronger, Job xvii. 9. And when we sustain losses and disappointments in the world, or things go contrary to our expectation, then we are ready to say with the Psalmist, Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he, in anger, shut up his tender mercies? Psal. lxxvii. 9. and sometimes conclude, that we have no interest in the love of God, because the dispensations of his providence are afflictive, and fill us with great uneasiness. In this case fear looks upon every adverse providence, as it were, through a magnifying glass, and apprehends this to be but the beginning of sorrows; for it cannot say with the prophet, I will trust and not be afraid, chap. xii. 2. for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength, chap. xxvii. 4.

Moreover, the strength or weakness of faith may farther be discerned by our enjoying, or being destitute of communion with God; our conversing with him in ordinances, or being deprived of this privilege. We may conclude our faith to be strong, when we can say as the apostle does, Our conversation is in heaven, or we live above: but when, on the other hand, we have too great an anxiety or solicitude about earthly things, and an immoderate love to this present world, this argues the weakness thereof. The difference between these two may also be discerned, by the frame of our spirit in prayer. When faith is strong, the soul has a great degree of boldness or liberty of access to the throne of grace; a greater measure of importunity and fervency, accompanied with an expectation of the blessings prayed for, by a secret and powerful intimation from the Spirit, as a Spirit of grace and supplication; from whence it infers, that he that excites this grace will encourage it, as he says not to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain, chap. xlv. 19.

We might also add, in the last place, that strong faith may likewise be discerned, when it is accompanied with an assurance 138of an interest in Christ’s righteousness, and our right and title to eternal life founded thereon, or that God will guide us by his counsel, and afterwards receive us to glory, and a persuasion wrought in the soul by the Spirit, that nothing shall separate us from his love: whereas weak faith is attended with many doubts concerning our interest in Christ; sometimes fearing that our former hope was no other than a delusion, our present experiences not real, the ground we stand on sinks under us; and we are ready to conclude, that we shall one day fall by the hands of our spiritual enemies. When I speak of these doubts and fears, as an instance of weak faith, I do not say that they are ingredients in faith; for they are rather to be considered as a burden and incumbrance that attends it, so that though there be some good thing in us towards the Lord our God, or a small degree of faith, like a grain of mustard seed, these doubts proceed from the weakness thereof, as opposed to that which is strong, and would denote the soul to be in a happy and flourishing condition; which leads us,

VI. To speak concerning the use of faith in the whole conduct of our lives; as every thing that we do in an acceptable manner, is said to be done by it. It is one thing occasionally to put forth some acts of faith, and another thing to live by faith; which, as it is the most noble and excellent life, so nothing short of it can, properly speaking, be called a good life, how much soever many are styled good livers, who are wholly strangers to this grace. The apostle Paul speaks of this way of living, and considers it as exemplified in himself, when he says, The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, Gal. ii. 20. He speaks of it as his constant work, or that which ran through the whole business of life. Whether we are engaged in civil or religious duties, they are all to be performed by faith. Here we shall consider the life of faith;

1. As it discovers itself in all the common actions of life; in these we act as men: but that faith, which is the principal ingredient in them, and their chief ornament, denotes us to walk as Christians; and this we are said to do,

(1.) When we receive every outward mercy, as the purchase of the blood of Christ, as well as the gift of his grace; and consider it as a blessing bestowed by a covenant-God, who, together with outward things, is pleased to give himself to us; which infinitely enhances the value of the blessing, and induces us to receive it with a proportionable degree of thankfulness.

(2.) When we set loose from all the enjoyments of this world, not taking up our rest in them, as though they were our portion or chief good; and therefore, the esteem and value we 139have for them is very much below that which we have for things divine and heavenly. When we use them to the glory of God; and account the best outward enjoyments nothing, if compared with Christ; as the apostle says, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, Phil. iii. 8. This act of faith will quiet our spirits under afflictions, and induce us to submit to the disposing providence of God; when our best outward enjoyments are removed, or we called to suffer the loss of all things for Christ’s sake, or by his sovereign will.

(3.) When all the success which we hope for in our secular employments, is considered as an instance of that care which Christ takes of his people, in which he over-rules and orders all things for his own glory, and their welfare; and therefore, we are persuaded that he will cause whatever we take in hand, to prosper, provided he sees that it is best for us; and if not, we are disposed to acquiesce in his will. This is such an instance of faith as will put us upon doing every thing in the name and to the glory of Christ, and fortify us against any disappointment that may attend our expectation, in every employment wherein we are engaged.

(4.) When outward blessings, instead of proving a snare and temptation, to draw off our hearts from Christ, are a means to bring us nearer to him, so that if our circumstances are easy and comfortable in the world, and we have more frequent opportunities offered to us, to engage in religious duties than others, we are accordingly inclined to embrace them; and when every thing we enjoy, as an instance of distinguishing favour from God, above what many in the world do, excites in us a due sense of gratitude, and an earnest desire and endeavour to use the world to his glory.

(5.) When adverse providences, which sometimes have a tendency to drive the soul from Christ, and occasion repining thoughts, as though the divine distributions were not equal, are made of use to bring us nearer to him, so that whatever we lose in the creature, we look for, and endeavour to find in him. And when, with a submissive spirit, we can say, that he does all things well for us, as we hope and trust that he will make even those things that run counter to our secular interests, subservient to our eternal welfare; and as the result hereof, endeavour to keep up a becoming frame of spirit, in such a condition of life, as has in itself a tendency to cast down the soul and fill it with great disquietude.

(6.) When we devote and consecrate all we have in the world to God, considering, that as we are not our own but his; so all we have is his; and when hereupon we are endowed with a public spirit, desirous to approve ourselves blessings 140to mankind in general, to the utmost of our power; and when we have done all, not only say with David, Of thine own we have given thee, 1 Chron. xxix. 14. but as our Saviour taught his disciples to say, We are unprofitable servants.

(7.) The life of faith discovers itself in the government of our affections, namely, as they are kept within due bounds, set upon right objects, and rendered subservient to promote Christ’s glory and interest. Hereby are we prevented from setting our affections immoderately on things of this world, when faith shews us that there are far better things to draw them forth, which deserve our highest love: it also prevents our being worldly and carnal, as though we were swallowed up with the things of sense, and had nothing else to mind, and religion were only to be occasionally engaged in; or, as though an holy, humble, self-denying frame of spirit were inconsistent with worldly business. Faith suggests the contrary; puts us upon making religion our great business, and engaging in secular affairs, rather as a necessary avocation from it, than that which is the chief end of living. It also puts us upon glorifying Christ in our secular concerns, as we manage them in such a way as he ordains; and hereby the soul is kept in a spiritual frame, while abiding with God in the calling whereunto he is called. This we attribute more especially to the grace of faith, not only as it is connected with, and (as will be observed under our next head) excites other graces; but as it has its eye constantly fixed on Christ as its object, and by this steers its course, and takes an estimate of the valuableness and importance of all the affairs of this life, by their subserviency to our salvation, and the advancement of his glory therein.

2. Faith discovers itself in the performance of all religious duties, and the exercise of all other graces therein. Thus we read of the prayer of faith, whereby a soul hath access to God as a father, in the name of Christ; firmly relies on the promises which are established in him, and has a liberty to plead with him, and hope of acceptance in his sight. Moreover, when we wait on God to hear what he has to impart to us in his word, faith having experienced some degree of communion with him already, and had some displays of his love, puts the soul upon desiring more, as the Psalmist says, My soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee, to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary, Psal. lxiii. 1, 2. And whatever other ordinances of divine appointment, we are engaged in, we are hereby encouraged to hope for his presence, and draw nigh unto him herein, with a reverential fear and delight, in him: and it puts us upon the exercise of those graces which are necessary for the right performance of gospel worship in general.

141These are not only joined with it, but may be said to be excited thereby; so that faith is, as it were, the principal of all other graces. Thus when the heart is drawn forth in love to Christ, it may be said, that faith worketh by love, Gal. v. 6. and when this love is accompanied with joy unspeakable and full of glory; this we have in a way of believing, and that which tends to excite the grace of love, is the view that faith takes of Christ’s mediatorial glory and excellencies, and the obligations we are under to love him, from his grace of love to us; and this is a strong motive, inducing us to express our love to him, by universal obedience, which is called, the obedience of faith, Rom. xvi. 26.

When we exercise the grace of repentance, and thereby hate and turn from all sin, and are, in a peculiar manner, sensible, as we ought to be, of the sin of unbelief; it is faith that gives us this sense thereof, as it is best able to see its own defects. When we confess sin, or humble ourselves before God for it, faith views it not only as a violation of the divine law, but as an instance of the highest ingratitude; and when we desire, in the exercise of repentance, to forsake sin, faith makes us sensible of our own weakness, and puts us upon a firm and stedfast dependence on Christ, to enable us thereunto; and when, in the exercise of this grace, our consciences are burdened with a sense of guilt and unbelief is ready to suggest, that our sins are so heinously aggravated, that there is no room to hope for pardoning mercy, faith relieves us against these despairing thoughts, and encourages us to wait for the mercy of God, who will abundantly pardon, Isa. lv. 7. and with whom there is forgiveness, that he may be feared, Psal. cxxx. 4.

And when we use endeavours to mortify sin, this is to be done by a fiducial view of Christ crucified; and when we encourage ourselves to hope that the indictment brought against us for it, was nailed to the cross of Christ; and that there is no condemnation to us, as being in him, Rom. viii. 1. and that, as the apostle says, Our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed: that henceforth we should no longer serve sin, chap. vi. 6. all this is to be done by faith.

We might also observe, that the grace of patience is connected with, and we excited, thereunto by faith. The apostle, Heb. vi. 12. joins both these together, as supposing that faith affords a motive to patience; and elsewhere we read, not only of what faith enables us to do, but bear, in the account which we have, of the great things which the Old Testament saints did, and suffered by this grace: and therefore, whatever graces are exercised under the afflictions of this present life; faith excites in us a resignation to the will of God, and consider them as the chastisements of a merciful Father, and 142as bringing forth the peaceful fruit of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby, chap. xii. 11. and we are encouraged to bear them with such a composed frame of spirit that they seem light, and not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed. This, faith has constantly in view, setting one against the other; whereby that which would otherwise be an hindrance to us in our way, is improved, by us, to our spiritual advantage; and we enabled, not only to go on safely, but comfortably, till we arrive at the full fruition of what we now behold at a distance, and rejoice in the fiducial expectation thereof: which leads us to the last thing proposed to be considered, concerning faith, namely,

VII. How it is to be attained or increased, and what are the means conducive thereunto. Though faith, in common with all other graces, be wrought in us by the power of God, yet we are far from asserting, that there is no duty incumbent on us, in the performing whereof, we are to hope and wait for the divine blessing, upon which all the success thereof depends. To deny this would give just occasion to charge the doctrine of efficacious grace, as though it led to security, or licentiousness; which many do without ground. Though grace and duty are very distinct, yet they are not inconsistent with each other; the former is God’s work, the latter our act.

As for those duties which are required of us, considered as expecting the divine grace and blessing to attend them; these are, a diligent waiting on God in all his ordinances; looking into the state of our souls, by impartial self-examination; calling to mind our past miscarriages, and what matter of humiliation we have for them in the sight of God, as also, our natural aversion and inability to do what is good; our need of Christ’s righteousness, to take away the guilt we have contracted, and of his strength, to subdue our corruptions, and enable us to plead earnestly with him for these privileges.

As for the unregenerate, they must pray and wait on him, for the first grace, and say, with Ephraim, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, Jer. xxxi. 18. They must be earnest with him, that he would bestow upon them the grace of faith; which is styled, his gift; that he would remove every thing that is, at present, an obstacle, or hindrance to this grace, all the prejudices which corrupt nature has entertained against Christ, and the way of salvation by him; and that he would shine into their souls, to give them the knowledge of his glory in the face of Christ; reveal his arm, and incline them, by the internal working of his power, to receive the grace which is held forth in the gospel. These are duties incumbent on persons who are not called effectually, being destitute of regenerating grace.

143But, on the other hand, they who have ground to conclude that they have experienced this grace, though, at present, they apprehend that their faith is weak, and on the decline; they must be found waiting on God, in his own way; and be importunate with him in prayer for the revival of his work, that so they may recover their former experiences; they must bless him for the privileges they once enjoyed, and be humbled for their past backslidings, whereby they have provoked him to withdraw from them, and say with the church, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now, Hos. ii. 7. and, as it says elsewhere, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips, chap. xiv. 2. They must lament the dishonour that they have brought to God; and consider how, by this means, they have grieved the Holy Spirit, wounded their own consciences, and made work for a bitter repentance and humiliation before God. They must be sensible, that it is the same hand which wrought grace in them at first, that must now recover them from their fallen state, and, by exciting the principle of grace implanted, bring them into a lively frame; and when he has done this, they must still depend upon him to maintain this frame of spirit, as considering that as the beginning so the progress of grace, is owing to him who is the author and finisher of faith; who worketh in us that which is pleasing in his sight, and carries on his own work unto perfection.