Sermon 12

Isaiah 53:1. Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

We have spoken at several occasions to this first part of the verse, and before we leave it, there is one use several times hinted at already, to which there is good ground to speak, it being the design and purpose of these words to hold forth of what great concernment believing is, and of what great difficulty it is, and so many being to the ruin of their souls mistaken about it, there is ground to draw this use of exhortation from it, to wit, that then all the hearers of this gospel would be exhorted to advert well to this, that they make faith sure in itself, and that they make it sure to themselves, seeing, as I said, so many are mistaken about it and beguile themselves. The more pressingly that the gospel calls for faith in Christ, and the more weightily the Lord expostulates with the hearers of the gospel because of their unbelief, they are doubtless so much the more concerned to receive it in its offer, and also to look well that they content not themselves with guessing at faith, and that they never think that things are well with them, except they can give good proof and warrant that they are so, and that it is saving faith that they have, seeing there are so many that satisfy themselves as being believers, when yet so few are believers indeed. The said mistake and disappointment of many, should have so much influence upon us as to put us to more watchfulness, and to a more narrow trial of our own state and condition, that we may know how it is with us. All that we have spoken to the doctrines of this first part of the verse, may be as so many motives to stir you up to both these, and would to God we could be persuaded to this as the use of so many preachings, once to admit and take it for granted that it is the truth of God; that there is a necessity, an absolute necessity for us to be really rolled and cast over upon Jesus Christ by faith, for attaining of life through Him. Though this be a very common doctrine, and you would think a very common use of it, yet it is the great thing that God requires in the gospel, and the neglect of it, or not receiving His Son, the very contest and quarrel that God has with the hearers of it, and the cause of the ruin of so many souls that perish under the gospel. We shall therefore propose to you some considerations that may stir you up to this, and briefly answer a question in each of these two branches of the use.

And first, for stirring you up to this receiving of Christ by faith, 1. Consider if there be not a standing quarrel and controversy between God and you for sin; and if there be, as no doubt there is, consider how that controversy is to be removed, is there any other possible way but by faith in Christ? If we were preaching to such as had never sinned, and were never under the hazard of the wrath of God, there might possibly be a difficulty to persuade to a receiving of Christ; but when you have all this in your conscience, that there is sin, and a curse following sin, and that there is no other way for removing that curse but by Jesus Christ, is there not reason to expect that you should receive this truth? Will any of you think to stand and bide it out against God? And if not, then there is sure a necessity of believing in Jesus Christ, or of lying under the wrath of God for ever.

2. Consider that this gospel and word of salvation is preached to you in particular; when we speak of salvation, we do not say, that Christ was once preached to the Jews, or that in such a far-off nation there is a door opened for salvation in the gospel; but we would turn over the words of the Apostle (Acts 13:38) to you, and say to you in his words, Be it known to you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man (to wit Jesus Christ,) is preached to you remission of sins, etc. And this brings the gospel near you, even to your door; it lays before you the way of access to God by Christ, and puts it so close and home to you, that Christ must either have a refusal, or a welcome from you. The first consideration of your own sinfulness and misery might put you to seek after a Saviour, though he were at a great distance, but this other brings Him to your heart and mouth; and is it fit (think you) to neglect such a fair occasion? And will it be wisdom, when salvation follows you, and cries after you, and wisdom lifts up its voice in the streets, saying, O you simple ones, how long will you love foolishness, etc. to stop your ear, or to turn away from Christ, and to run upon your destruction? Do you think that this gospel will be silent always, or that your conscience will be deaf and dumb always? There are many nations that have not the gospel so near them; and it's hard to know but the day may come when you would be content to buy an offer of the gospel at a dearer rate, and when there shall not be a mediator nor a daysman to be had between God and you, and these days will then be remembered with horror, which now you securely slip over.

3. Consider what will come of this if you do not believe the gospel; know you not that many perish that hear the gospel, and that upon this same very ground, that they did not receive Christ and salvation through Him offered to them therein, and whereof they are now deprived? Are there not many this day cursing in Hell, under the wrath of God, that they let slip and passed over so many golden opportunities of the gospel without improvement? And know you not that it will come to the same sad pass with you, if you do not receive it? Do men live always? Is there not an appointed time for all men upon earth? If before we have savingly exercised faith on Him for making peace with God, we be drawn to a reckoning before His tribunal, what will come of it? And are not our precious opportunities apace and always slipping by? And is not the work of faith by delays still the more difficult? Are not our bonds still the more strengthened? And does not our indisposition still grow the greater? And is it not very ordinary to see these who have slighted the work of faith in their youth, to live stupid in their old age, and die senseless?

4. Consider what sort of folk they are, of whom the Scripture speaks as unbelievers, and whom the Word of God holds forth to be eternally secluded from the presence of God for the want of faith; Many think that it's but the grossly profane, or such as never had so much as the form of religion, and such as others would scunner and loath to hear them but mentioned, that it's (I say) only such that are accounted unbelievers; But the Scripture speaks of some that seek to enter in and shall not be able; that desire to be in heaven, and take some pains to win in, and yet are never admitted to enter into it, and what is the reason, because they took not the way of believing for the obtaining of life and coming to heaven; they took the way of works, they took the way of prayer, of purposes, promises and resolutions to amend and grow better, quite overlooking Christ and the way of believing in Him, and so took the way of presumption, and promised themselves peace when there was no true peace, nor any solid ground for it.

5. Consider (which is of affinity with the former consideration) them that are secluded from the presence of God for the want of faith, they are even men and women as we are, that lived in the same kingdom and city with us, that prayed in the same company with us, that thought themselves as sure of heaven as many of us do, that were guilty of the same or like sins, that we are guilty of, that have heard many of the same preachings that we have heard, and yet they perish for want of faith, for not believing in the Son of God; Why then should we think that impossible as to us, that is so common and frequent in others? Is not the same nature in us that's in others, and are not our hearts naturally as deceitful and corrupt as those of others? And so may not we be beguiled as well as others? And is it not the same rule that He will walk by in judging of us, that He walked by in judging of others? What can be the reason, that folk will read and hear the Word, and will promise to themselves heaven, when the same Word clears it plainly, that destruction is that which they have to look for from the Lord: It is nothing else but this confident and proud presumption that many take for faith. Let not your precious opportunities slip away, and beguile not yourselves in such a concerning matter as faith is; you will never get this loss made up afterwards if you miss faith here.

Lastly, Consider the great necessity that the Lord has laid upon all men and women, by a peremptory command and charge, to believe in the Son of God; He has not with greater peremptoriness required prayer, nor dependence upon Him, nor any other duty, than He has required this (1 John 3:23). And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the Name of His Son Jesus Christ; indeed it's singled out as His main commandment: If that great inquiry be made, What shall I do to be saved? This is the answer, Believe on Jesus Christ; Do you think that our Lord, (who has so marked and signalized this command in so special a manner,) will never take account for the slighting of it? Or do you think to satisfy Him by your other duties without minding this? It cannot be; Suppose you should mourn all your lifetime, and your life were a pattern to others, yet if you want this one thing, faith in Christ, you will be found transgressors, as having neglected the main work.

Now for the question, you will say, what this is we are bidding you do when we bid you believe? Answer: When we call you to believe, we call you, 1. To be suitably affected with the sense of your own naughtiness, sinfulness, and [reconstructed: Hazard]; till there be something of this faith in our Lord Jesus has no access, nor will ever get welcome; deep apprehensions of the wrath that is coming, and a standing in awe at the thoughts of our appearing before Him, contribute much to it; I am not preaching desperation to you, as some mutter, but we would press upon you the faith of the Word of God, that tells you what we are, and liveliness under that impression, that you may not be stopped or hindered till you come to a thorough closure with Christ; the most part of hearers come never this length, and this is the reason why many stumble in the very threshold, and make never progress. 2. We call for and commend this to you, that you would study to be thorough and clear as to the usefulness and excellency of Jesus Christ, as to the efficacy of His death, as to the terms of the covenant of grace, whereby a sinner comes to obtain right to Him; to be sensible of sin and hazard without this, is only the way to make a man desperate and mad, but when this is clear, it makes an open door to the sinner that he may see where to run from the wrath to come; I do not only mean that you would get the [reconstructed: Catechism], and be able to answer to all the questions concerning the fundamentals of religion contained therein, but that you would also and mainly seek to have the faith of these things in your [reconstructed: hearts], and to have faith in God, that you may be persuaded, that He that was, and is God, died for sinners, and that by the application of His satisfaction, sinners may obtain life, and that there is a sufficient warrant given to a sinner to hazard himself upon Him. The first of these speaks the necessity of some sense, the second holds out the necessity of a general faith, according to that word (Hebrews 11), He that comes to God, must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him; we must know that there is a warrant to come, and ground to expect acceptance from God upon our coming, or else we will never come to, nor believe in Christ. The third thing that we call you to, when we call you to believe, is, that the sinner would actually stretch out that faith, as the soul's hand for the receiving of Christ, and for the application of Him to himself, and would actually cast himself upon the satisfaction of Jesus Christ for covering that sinfulness that is in him, and would catch hold of, and grip to Him that is an able Savior, for keeping the sinner from sinking under the weight of sin that he lies under. This is the exercise and practice of faith when it flows from the general doctrine of the necessity of believing such things to be truths in themselves, and when it's extended and put forth in practice, that we who are so certainly and sensibly lost, must needs share of that salvation which we believe to be in Jesus Christ, and so for that, roll ourselves on Him. The first piece of sense may be in a reprobate, the second piece of faith, that there is a sufficient salvation in Christ to be gotten by them that believe in Him, may be in a devil; but this third of actual use-making of the satisfaction of Christ, for paying our debt, and rolling ourselves upon Him, that's the faith and exercise of it that is peculiar to a sound believer, and the very thing that constitutes a believer, and it is that which we commend to you, that you may not stand and please yourselves with looking only upon Christ, but that you may cast and roll yourselves over upon Him, that Christ may get your weight, and that all your burdens and wants may be upon Him, which to do you must be enabled by the mighty power of grace, whereof in the next part of the verse.

The second branch of the use which follows upon this, is, that we would desire you not only to follow this way of making your peace with God, but to follow the trying and proving of it to your own satisfaction, that you may be warrantably confident that it is so. There is a great difference between these, to believe in Christ, and to be clear and certain that we do believe in Him; as there is a necessity of the first, without which there cannot be peace with God, so there is a necessity of the second, though not simply, as without which there can be no peace with God, yet upon this account, as without which we cannot be so comforted in God; And seeing there are so many who do not believe, who yet think themselves to be believers, and seeing there is nothing more common among the hearers of the Gospel, than to reject Christ offered in it, and to misbelieve, and yet nothing more common than to be confident that they do believe; There is good ground here to exhort you to put your faith to the touchstone, that you may know whether you can abide the trial, and whether you may confidently assert your own faith upon good ground, and abide by it. We would think if it were remembered, and seriously considered, how great a scarcity there is of believers, and how rare a thing it is to get any to receive Christ, that folk needed not be much pressed to put their faith to the trial; and when there will not be one among many found who will pass under the account of a real believer with Jesus Christ, should not the most part suspect themselves, seeing the most part that hear the Gospel are the object of this complaint, Who has believed our report? or very few have believed it; you would study to have some well grounded confidence in this, that you are not guessing and presuming, and going upon grounds that will fail you at last, but that you be in a position to say on solid grounds with the apostle, I know whom I have believed, etc. There is a faith and hope that will make many ashamed; and certainly, in the day of judgment, when Christ shall have to do with these persons, that never once thought to be thrust away from Him, they of all men shall be thrust away from Him with greatest shame; O! the confusion that will fill and overwhelm them who had a profession of Christ, and yet had never the root of the matter in them above and beyond many others. Dare many of you, upon the confidence you have, look death in the face? It's no great matter to be confident in the time of health; but will you then be able to comfort yourselves in the promises of God? Do not promise to yourselves the things in the covenant, except you be endeavoring in God's way to be sure you are believers indeed. Our life depends upon our faith, but our consolation depends much upon our clearness that we have faith, and that we are in Christ, and therefore there is much need to press this upon you; There is no way to rid you of the terrors of God, and to make you comfortably sure of your particular interest in the promises of God, but by making it sure and clear that you are believers in Christ indeed.

There are three or four sorts of people to whom we would speak a little here. 1. There are some who think that if they could do other duties, though they should never do this, to wit, to make their calling and election sure, they would be and do well enough; are there not many of you that never so much as set yourselves to try whether your faith would abide God's trial or not? Ah! Ah! an atheistical indifferency, a slighting of the consolations of God, abounds among many, so that they think the promises and the consolation that is to be gotten in the promises, are not of so much worth, as to be thereby put to take pains to try and see whether they belong to them or not; but the day will come that many of you will curse yourselves for your neglecting and slighting of this. A second sort are these, who because they were never sure of peace with God themselves, and because they were never sure of their own faith, neither ever concernedly endeavored to be, they think it's all but fancy that's spoken of assurance of faith, and of peace with God, they think it's but guessing at the best; there is such a sort of persons, who think they may be doing as they do, and need not trouble themselves with such fancies or nice things, but if you ask them what will come of them at last? They will tell you, they will trust that to God: think you it for nothing that God has laid so many commands on you to make your calling and election sure? And think you it for nothing that He has given so many marks to try it by? And that some of the people of God do holily and humbly glory and boast so much of their communion with God out of their assurance of His love to them, and of their special interest in Him? Do not all these say that there is such a thing as this to be had? There is a third sort that please themselves with mere conjectures about this matter, and the greater their security be, they persuade themselves the more that they have faith; this is as sad as any of the former, when they grant all, that folks should make their calling and election sure, and should endeavor to be sure of their faith, but in the mean time take peace with the Devil, and peace with their lusts for peace with God, and a covenant with Hell and Death, for a real bargain with God: this is as true as this Word of God is, that there are many that put by all challenges by this, and never suspect their faith, they hope that all shall be well, and they must always believe; as if that were the whole duty of faith to keep down all challenges. A fourth sort is, even of the generation of them that have something of God in them, who shrink in a manner from making all sure, and think it is a piece of humility and of holy and tender walking to maintain doubting, even as others think it faith to maintain presumption; they are always complaining, as if all things were wrong, and nothing right in their case and so foster and cherish unbelief; there is such a thing as this, that hinders even serious souls in their endeavors to make their calling and election sure, and as long as this is, they cannot win to the suitable discovery of this excellent grace that God calls them to exercise, even faith in the Lord Jesus: need we make use of motives to press you to this trial of your faith, and to this giving of all diligence to make it sure, who have especially until now neglected it? If you knew anything of the vexation that unbelief has with it, and what horror in conscience from the sense of distance from God were, you would think it a great matter to be clear in this thing; and if it were known and believed how this delusion and uncertainty of faith destroys the most part of men in the world, even of the visible Church; dare men lie in their security as most do, without all endeavors to make it sure on good ground, that they do indeed believe? Dare they lie still under God's curse, if they thought themselves to be really under it, and did not foolishly fancy that it is otherwise with them? Dare men treasure up wrath to themselves, if they thought not that the hope they had were good enough? O! but presumption beguiles and destroys many souls; and particularly this same presumption of folks thinking themselves right when they are wrong, has destroyed, and does destroy, and will destroy more members of the visible Church, than profanity, drunkenness, whoredom, theft, desperation, or any other of these gross, and much abhorred evils do; this is the thing that locks folk up in their sin, even their presumption, when they say on the matter, We shall have peace though we walk in the imagination of our own heart? It's this that makes men without fear, steal, and lie, and commit adultery, etc. that they say, Is not the Lord among us? Is not this the thing that keeps many of you that you never tremble at the Word of God? We have faith in God (say you,) we trust in Him; therefore since presumption is so rife, have you not need to try your faith? If there were so much counterfeit money in the country, that it were a rare thing to get one good and upright piece of money, you would think yourselves greatly concerned and obliged to try it well, lest you were cheated with base and counterfeit coin; is there not need then, indeed infinitely much more need for them that would be so wise as not to be beguiled about the salvation of their souls, to search and try whether their faith will abide God's trial or not?

You will readily move this question, what then are the characters or evidences of a solid and sure faith that will abide the trial, by which the pretended faith that is among the men of this generation may be examined and put to just trial?

I shall first name some direct Scriptures holding out some things essentially accompanying faith, and then shall add others having more specific characters for the more particular differencing of this, helping to the decision of this great question.

The first mark whereby you may try your faith is, the ground and rise of it, or that whereby it is begotten and cherished; faith comes (says the Apostle, Romans 10:10) by hearing; doctrinal faith comes by the preaching of the Gospel, and saving faith is wrought instrumentally by the same Word of God, it being the power of God to salvation; it being this Word that is the very ground of our faith; I would ask you where from your faith comes, and what hand the Word of God has in it? There are many that have a sort of faith not only without, but contrary to the Word of God, whereby they believe that they will get heaven, while in the mean time the Word of God does directly exclude them. Do you get your faith maintained without ever knowing the necessity of a promise for that effect? Can you maintain your peace and not have so much as any foundation in the truth and faithfulness of God to build it upon? Love never that faith that hungers not after the Word, that is supposed to be lively without being ever fed by the Word, that cannot claim either its rise and original, or its growth from the Word; I will not say from this or that word in particular, or at this or that time read or heard, but from the Word of God; the Word is the very foundation that faith builds upon: if we look to what either accompanies or follows faith, there are some plain Scriptures that will make that clear, as (Acts 15:9) and put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith, (there was indeed once a great difference between Jews and Gentiles, but now when he has brought both to believe in Christ, the difference is removed,) there is an efficacy in it to circumcise the heart, to purify it, and to banish lusts out of it, for it closes and unites with Christ, and so brings him home to dwell in the heart, and where Christ dwells He commands, and so whatever opposes Him is banished; faith gives Christ welcome, and will give nothing welcome to dwell with Him that's opposite and displeasing to Him, faith improves Christ for the subduing of its lusts and mortifying its corruptions; whereas before there might be a fair outside of a profession, and something clean outwardly, and much filthiness and rottenness within, but when faith is exercised on Christ, it purifies from all filthiness of the Spirit as well as of the flesh, it applies the promises for that end, even to get the inside made clean as well as the outside; indeed, its main work is, to have the inside, the heart purified, that being the fountain of all the pollution that defiles the man, and brings the other necessarily along with it; never love that faith that leaves the heart as a pigsty to lusts, that leaves it swarming with unclean and vain thoughts, or that leaves the heart just as it was before; or that faith that only cleanses the outside and does no more; such a faith, however esteemed by the man, will never be accounted for true saving faith before God; I do not, I dare not say that believers will always discern this heart-purity or cleanness; but this I say, that true faith will set the man a work to purify the heart, and will be making use of Christ for that end, not only to have the arm of the dominion of sin broken, but to have the soul more and more delivered from the indwelling power of it, and this will the design that he will sincerely drive, to get the heart purified within as well as the outward man; inward heart-abominations will be grievous and burdensome to him as well as scandalous out-breakings.

A second place is (Galatians 2:20-21), I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me, and the life, etc. If you would know a companion of true faith here is one, it has a life of faith with it; there is one life killed, and another life is quickened, the life that is killed is that whereby the man sometime lived to the law, I am dead to the law (says the Apostle,) a man's good conceit of himself, that once he had is killed and taken away, he wonders how it came that he thought himself holy, or a believer, or how he could promise to himself heaven in the condition he was in; there is another life comes in the place of that, and it's a life that is quickened and maintained by, and from nothing in the man himself, but it's wholly from and by Christ; the believer has his holiness and strength for doing all called-for duties, and his comfort also from Christ, and he holds withal his very natural life, his present being in the world from Christ, his all is in Christ; his stock of life, strength and furniture is not in himself, but he lives by a continual traffic, as it were on bills of exchange between Christ and him; when he wants, he sends a bill to Christ, and it's answered in every thing that he stands in need of, and that is good for him; he is a dead man, and he is a living man, and wherever true faith is, there the man is dead and there the man is living; do not I pray mistake it, by thinking that true faith is but vented, puts forth itself only in reference to this or that particular, or at this or that particular time only, for faith must be exercised not only at starts, as when we are under challenges for sin, or at prayer, but we must design and endeavor to exercise faith through all our life; that is, we must by faith look for every thing that is useful and needful for us from Christ, and be always endeavoring to drive on a common trade of living this way; we must be habituating ourselves to seek after peace, strength and consolation, and what else we need, out of the fullness that is in Him; this life of faith is to see the want of all things in ourselves, and yet to have all things by making use of Christ in all things; contenting and comforting ourselves that there is strength in Him though we be weak in ourselves, and that He has gotten the victory over all His and our enemies, and that we shall at last through Him, be victorious in our own persons, contenting and satisfying ourselves that He has complete righteousness, though we be bankrupt and have none of our own, and betaking ourselves solely to that righteousness for our justification before God; thus making a life to ourselves in Him, He living in us by His Spirit, and we living in Him by faith? O sweet and desirable but [reconstructed: mysterious] life!

The third place is Galatians 5:6. In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that works by love. He does not simply say faith, but faith that works by love; for faith is an operative grace, and this is the main vent of it, the thing by which it works, it works by love. Faith is the hand of the new creature, whereby everything is wrought, it having life from Christ, and we may say that love is in a manner the hand of faith, or rather like the fingers upon the hand of faith, whereby it handles everything tenderly, even out of love to God in Christ, and to others for His sake. Faith works, and it works by love. That's a sound and good faith that warms the heart with love to Christ, and the nearer that faith brings the believer to Him, it warms the heart with more love to others. And therefore love to the people of God is given as an evidence of one that is born of God (1 John 5:1), because, wherever true faith is, there cannot but be love to the children of God flowing from love to Him that begets them. That faith that's not affected with God's dishonor out of love to Him, and that can endure to look upon the difficulties, sufferings and afflictions of the children of God, without sympathizing and being kindly affected therewith, is not to be taken for a sound faith, but to be suspected for a counterfeit.

The fourth place is James 2:14. Show me your faith by your works, etc. True faith has always sound holiness with it, in all manner of conversation in the design and endeavor of the believer, which is as well through grace in some measure attained. What avails it for a man to say that he loves another, when being naked or destitute, he bid him depart in peace, be warmed, be filled, and yet in the meantime gives him nothing that he stands in need of, would not such a poor man think himself but mocked? Even so, will not God reckon you to be but mock-believers, or mockers of faith when you profess yourselves to be believers in Christ, while in the meantime you have neither indeed heart-purity, nor holiness in your outside conversation? That is but such a faith as devils may have that will never do you good. You would believe this for a truth, that there will never a faith pass for faith in God's account, and so there should never a faith pass for faith in your account, but that faith that sets the man to work to the study of holiness; that faith that works by love, that faith that purifies the heart, and that faith that puts the person in whom it is, to study to have Christ living in him, and himself living in Christ.

I promised to name a few Scriptures that speak out some more condescending characters of faith. And first, I would think it a good token of faith, to have people feared for missing and falling short of the promises, which may be gathered from Hebrews 4:1. That stout confidence that thinks it's impossible to miss the promises is a suspect and dangerous faith, not to be loved; it's a much better faith that fears, than that faith that's more stout, except there be a sweet mixture of holy stoutness and fear together. It's said in Hebrews 11:7, that by faith Noah being moved with fear, prepared an ark, etc. Noah had the faith of God's promise, that he should be kept free from being drowned by the deluge with the rest of the world, and yet he was mourning and trembling in preparing the ark. If there were much faith among you, it would make many of you more holily feared than you are. Love not that faith the worse that you never hear a threatening but you tremble at it, and are touched by it in the quick. 2. It's a good token of saving faith, when it has a discovery and holy suspicion of unbelief attending on it, so that the person dare not so trust and rely on his own faith, as not to dread unbelief, and to tell Christ of it. There is a poor man that comes to Christ (Matthew 9:23-24), to whom the Lord says, If you can believe, or can you believe? Yes, Lord (says he) I believe, help my unbelief. There was some faith in him, but there was also unbelief mixed with it; his unbelief was so great that it was almost like to drown his faith, but he puts it in Christ's hand, and will neither deny his faith nor his unbelief, but puts the matter sincerely over upon Christ, to strengthen his faith, and to amend and help his unbelief. It's a suspect faith that's at the top of perfection at the very first, and before ever you know it. There are some serious souls, that think because they have some unbelief, that therefore they have no faith at all, but true faith is such a faith that is by and beside suspected and feared or seen unbelief. That faith is surest where people fear and suspect unbelief, and see it, and when they are weighted with their unbelief, and cry out under it, and make their unbelief an errand to Christ, it's a token there is faith there. 3. The third character is, that it will have with it a sticking to Christ, and a fear to presume in sticking to Him; there will be two things striving together, an eagerness to be at Him, and a fear that they be found presumptuous in meddling with Him, and a holy trembling to think on it; yet notwithstanding it must and will be ventured upon. The woman spoken of in Mark 5:28 lays this reckoning with herself, If I can but touch his clothes I shall be whole; and she not only believes this to be truth, but crowds and pushes her way in to be at him. Yet in verse 33, when she comes before Christ, she trembles as if she had been taken in a fault, not having dared to come openly to Him, but behind him, she had to have a touch of him, but she durst not in a manner own and avouch her doing of it till she is unavoidably put to it. It's a suspect and unsound faith that never trembled at attempting to believe. There is reason to be jealous that faith not to be of the right stamp, that never walked under the impression of the great distance between Christ and the person, the sense of which is the thing that makes the trembling — I say not desperation, nor any utter distrust of Christ's kindness, but trembling arising from the consideration of the great distance and disproportion that's between Him and the person. Faith holds the sinner going to Christ, and the sense of its own sinfulness and worthlessness keeps him under holy fear and in the exercise of humility. Paul once thought himself a confident man (as we may see in Romans 7:9), but when he was brought to believe in Christ, he sees that he was a dead and undone man before. I give you these three marks of a true faith from that chapter. 1. It discovers to a man his former sinfulness, and particularly his former self-conceit, pride and presumption — I was, says Paul, alive without the law once, etc. — a man living upon the thoughts of his own holiness, but when the law came I died; he fell quite from these high thoughts. A second mark is, a greater restlessness of the body of death, it becoming in some respect worse company, more fretful, and struggling more than ever it did before; sin revived, says Paul, though he had no more corruption in him than he had before, but it wakened and bestirred itself more. I dare say that though there be not so much corruption in a believer as there is in a natural man, yet it struggles much more, and is more painful and disquieting to the believer, and breeds him a great deal more trouble, for says the Apostle on the matter, when God graciously poured light and life into me, sin took that occasion to grow angry, and to be enraged that such a neighbor was brought in beside it, it could not endure that. As an unruly and churlish dog barks most bitterly when an honest guest comes to the house, so does corruption bark and make more noise than it did before when grace takes place in the soul. There are some that think they have the more faith because they feel no corruption stir in them, and there are others that think they have no faith at all, because they feel corruption struggling more, and growing more troublesome to them. But the stirring and struggling of corruption, if people be indeed burdened, and affected, and afflicted with it, will rather prove their having of faith than their wanting of it. Love that faith well that puts and keeps people skirmishing (to say so) in the fight with the body of death; for though this be not good in itself that corruption stirs, yet sin is of that sinful nature, that it flies always more in their face that look God and heavenward, than of others that are sleeping securely under its dominion. A third mark is, when the soul has never peace in any of its conflicts or combats with corruption, but when it resolves in faith exercised on Jesus Christ, as it was with Paul in that chapter after his conversion. That is a sound faith that only makes peace at first by Christ, but that cannot (to say so) fight one fair stroke in the spiritual warfare, nor look corruption in the face, nor promise to itself an escape from any assault of the enemy, but by faith in Jesus Christ, as it was with the Apostle, who toward the end of that chapter, lamentably cries, O! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Yet immediately he adds faith's triumphing in Christ, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He, apparently, before his conversion thought he could do well enough all alone, but it is not so now, when he can do nothing without Christ, especially in this hard war with his corruption. That is a sound faith that makes the sinner make use of Christ in everything he is called to, that yokes him (I mean Christ) to work on every occasion, and particularly when it comes as it were to grappling and hand-to-hand blows with this formidable enemy — the body of death — this monster, of which when one [reconstructed: head] is cut off, another as it were starts up in its place.

For a close of this purpose, I beseech and obtest such of you as are strangers to saving faith (who are I fear far the greatest part,) to consider seriously all I have spoken of the nature and native evidences of it, that you may be undeceived of your soul-ruining mistakes about it; and let sincere and sound believers, from all, be more cleared, confirmed, and comforted in their faith.