Sermon 3

Hebrews 11:6. He that comes to God, must believe that God is, etc.

Now we proceed to that which remains; we will show you how this point is made manifest to you by faith, that God made the heavens and the earth. It is done after this manner:

When you believe the Scriptures to be true, and find this set down in the Scripture, that God made heaven and earth, then you believe that there is an eternal deity, that is the author and maker of all these things: and thus faith gathers the conclusion:

Objection. If you ask me, how faith differs from reason, and how this second proof differs from the former.

Answer 1. I answer, after this manner: There is a double assent: One is a doubtful assent, which we call Opinion, that is, when we assent to the one part, so as we fear the contrary to be true.

The other is, a firm assent, and this is two-fold: Either it is grounded upon reason, which we call Knowledge; or else is grounded upon the authority of him that reveals it; and this we call Faith. And the difference of them stands in this: The objects of the first, which we call Knowledge, are natural things, such as God did not reveal himself, but they lie before us, and reason can find them out: but Faith believes things that are revealed by God, yet so, as that there is no reason for them, as well as for the other. For if one come and tell you anything, and if you believe it, you can give a reason of it, and why you believe it, as well as of any other natural conclusion; as that he is a wise man, and one that I know will tell the truth, I have had experience of him in the past, etc. Even so, when you believe the Scriptures, you can give a reason for it; it is, because God delivered it, and he cannot lie; but now, how do you know that God delivered it? Because the men that delivered it, in his Name, did confirm it by works, and miracles, and predictions of times; so that reason runs along together with Faith: Only there is this difference between them; Faith adds to the eye of reason, and raises it higher; for the understanding is conversant, as about things of reason, so about things of Faith; for they are proposed to the understanding, only they are above it, and must have faith to reveal them; as when Moses says, In the beginning, God made the heaven and the earth: when we hear such a proposition, reason does but look upon it, and cannot see it at first, but Faith helps reason to go further: therefore Faith is but an addition to the strength of reason; when it could go no further, Faith makes it to go further: as one that has dim eyes, he can see better with the help of spectacles: even so does the eye of reason, by a supernatural faith infused. So that all the things which we believe, have a credibility and entity in them, and they are the objects of the understanding; but we cannot find them out, without some supernatural help. As if you would choose a right jewel; (you know there are many counterfeit ones) how should you know a true one? The stander by cannot tell, but brings it to a Lapidary, or a Jeweler, and he knows it, because he is skilled in it. Now, as there are the Jewels, and they are to be discerned and distinguished, but all lies in the skill. So is it in the things that are revealed by God, and by natural reason, to know which are of God, which not; there are the things, and they are to be seen, indeed, the things themselves have characters, by which they may be discerned; but let two men look upon them, one believes, and the other does not; one man goes no further than reason, but the other does; the reason is, because one is helped from above, and the other is not, he lacks that light, that habit of skill which another has.

Now, this being stated in general; let us see how faith gathers, that the Scriptures are true, and that all that is in them is true; and consequently, that there is a God that made the world. It gathers it by these three heads:

When a man looks into the Scriptures, and sees the phrases of the prophets and apostles, saying, Thus says the Lord; he considers, if this be from God, then it must needs be true. But now the question is, whether it was delivered truly, and therefore he looks upon the men that did deliver it, as upon Moses, etc. and if he can find any evidence in them, that they delivered it truly, without collusion, then he believes that it is so, and so faith lays hold and pitches upon it; and gives solid assent to it.

Now the proofs, whereby we show that these men have spoken by the Holy Ghost, are these three:

The miracles, which they wrought: wherein this is to be considered; that they were such miracles as were done before many witnesses, they were not done in a corner, where two or three were, and so related to the people, as many false miracles are, but they were done before many thousands; as the standing still of the Sun, the plagues of Egypt, the dividing of the waters, the manna, that came down from heaven, the water flowing out of the rocks, the miracles that were wrought by Elijah, and Elisha, they were all openly done, in the view of all the people.

They were such miracles, as had a reality in them; false miracles stand only in appearance, they have only a shadow and not the substance, they have no solidity in them, as the miracles that enchanters do, they are but [illegible], as we call them; they are only appearances, and no more, as, if they give money, it will afterwards prove but dry leaves; and such were the miracles of the enchanters in Egypt: but look upon the miracles of Moses, they were solid, as the manna fed the people many years; the water that came out of the rocks did refresh them, the plagues of Egypt were real; the miracles of Christ were all of use to mankind, as when he turned water into wine, it was such as they were refreshed by; so, when he healed the people, when he gave sight to the blind, they were all useful, and had a reality in them.

Besides, consider the miracles which were wrought at the delivery of the Law (Exodus 19), as the thunder, the lightning, the sound of trumpets, etc. Whatever was done then, all the people saw it, and their senses were taken up about it, so that they could not be deceived. The laws that Numa Pompilius brought from the gods, he related to them, but the people saw and heard nothing; but these miracles the people all saw, the Mount burnt with fire, and thick darkness round about it; and there was thunder and lightning, and the Mount trembled. And as their eyes did see these things, so their ears were busied.

In hearing the voice of the trumpets sounding louder and louder, a great while, and hearing the voice of God himself. And this was not done only in the sight of the Elders of Israel, but all the people saw it, and heard the voice of the Lord. And such were all the miracles of the Apostles, and of all the Prophets. And this argues that they came from God himself; because they could not be done, but by a supernatural power.

Again, I will add to this the prophecies, for that is one of the ways by which the Lord confirms his word to the sons of men (Isaiah 41:22-23): Show to us the things to come, that we may know that you are Gods, etc. As if he should say; If any man be able to foretell things to come, he is God: for it is the property of God alone; and therefore he can do it.

Now I will name some prophecies, to instance in; and I will show the difference between them, and the predictions of soothsayers; for you shall find that these prophecies were particular, and not general, they were perspicuous and plain, and not obscure, and they had fixed times set, and not left at random: As in the prophecy delivered to Abraham, that the Children of Israel should be strangers, and in bondage in Egypt four hundred years: now, says the text, that very night they went forth of Egypt, the four hundred years were expired.

Moreover, that prophecy, that Judah should have the Scepter, it was a thing could not be foreseen; Judah was not the elder brother, and it was long first before it was brought to pass: therefore Moses could not see it by any thing at the present; and besides that, he should not only have the Scepter, but he should have it till Shiloh come, that is, Christ Jesus, which was about two thousand years after; which was not like to the prophecies of other nations.

Moreover, the prophecy of Jericho, that he that did begin to build it again, should lay the foundation of it in his eldest son, and set up the gates of it in the youngest, which was fulfilled (1 Kings 16, last verse).

So likewise, the prophecy of Josiah, it was a distinct prophecy, you have it in (1 Kings 13:1-3), where the Prophet comes from the Lord, and cries, Oh Altar, Altar, behold a child shall be born, Josiah, by name, etc. he names the very man that should perform it.

The like is the prophecy of Cyrus, long before Cyrus was born, that he should deliver the Jews, and take off the yoke of their captivity, etc.

So likewise, come to the prophecies of Daniel, the prophecy of the four Monarchies you see, how particular it was: Daniel, he lived but in the two first, which were the Chaldean and Persian Monarchy, it was not possible, by any thing that was then done, that he should have been able to see the succession; yet then after them was the Grecian, and then the Roman Monarchy.

So likewise the prophecy of the captivity, seventy years, and of their deliverance, you see, how distinct and particular it is.

Object. But the time of Moses is very ancient, it is out of memory, and it might be some feigned story, those things were done long ago, they that saw them are all swept away, and who can say that they were done so?

Answer. Herein lies the strength of the argument; If you could think it possible, that Moses and all the people should consent together to leave a false monument behind them, (which was impossible) yet consider that many hundred years after the same was confirmed by all the Prophets, who had miracles to confirm the same, and they all agreed in one; and it is impossible that such an imposture and falsehood should be compacted together, and carried down so strongly, for they differ not a jot: all the Prophets repeating that which was delivered by Moses. Consider the strength of this argument, for it admits of no ambiguity. If you will add to this the holiness which appears in their writing, and of the men, as in Moses; look upon the holiness in his doctrine and Law: Look upon Paul, see with what Spirit he wrote his Epistles; so consider the spirits of them all in their writings, they did, as it were, transcribere animas, they did not forbear to publish their own faults: see how they were handled, they suffered persecution, and in this, what end could they have? Moses sought not his own glory, he does not deliver the Scepter to his own Tribe, but in his prophecies he speaks worse of that Tribe than of any other, of Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, and this will confirm it, and take away all doubts of it. And this is the first proof.

The second argument, by which we confirm the truth of the Scriptures, is taken from the testimonies that are given to them by our enemies; the Gentiles themselves being judges: As, to instance in the Flood, there are many that have made mention of it. Those Floods that are related by the ancient Greek historians come so near it, that they must needs have the relation of it from the Jews, though they have mingled it with many falsehoods, we have not the writings of them, but fragments in the writings of others, as of Alexander Polyhistor, in Josephus and Cyril: They say that there was a great Flood, and that there was one Nicurus, to whom Saturn revealed it, and bade him make an Ark; and he did so, and gathered some of all beasts into it, and that the Ark was in Armenia, and that the fragments of it are in Heliopolis. And Abidenus says, that it was a common opinion, that the men, that the Earth brought forth, gathered themselves together and built a great Tower, which was Babel; and the gods being angry with it, threw it down with a great wind, and from there came the confusion of tongues. And for the pillar of Salt, Josephus says, that some of it was remaining in his time. And for Abraham, many speak of him, and also of Moses, there are many that agree in their story of him, but the Chaldean historians especially, and some of the most ancient Greek historians. Diodorus Siculus relates the history of him, though mingled with falsehoods, of what he did in Egypt, and what laws he gave the people, and how he cast out the Canaanites, and that he said he received his laws from a God called Iah, and that they were such laws as separated that people from all others, and that his God was such a one, as could not be seen, etc. And Strabo says, that he reproved the Egyptians for worshipping visible gods, and therefore he was cast out, and his people with him, etc. After this, when Cyrus did restore the Kingdom of the Jews, and had overcome Darius, Xenophon reports this, that when he came into Babylon, he gave commandment, that no Syrian should be hurt: now Syria lies upon Judea, even as one shire does upon another, so that they were all called Syrians. Moreover, Megasthenes, the Chaldean historian, relates, that Nebuchadnezzar had conquered Egypt, Phoenicia, and Syria, and all those parts he brought into captivity; and after that, he made him a great Palace, which is spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, and how he ordered the people of the captivity. Moreover, Berosus says, that afterward he was struck with madness, and Evanuit, he vanished (for that is his word) he departed from among men. (Indeed one Annius, a Monk, has put forth some books under the name of Megasthenes, but they are but supposititious.) So likewise, of Sennacherib and Shalmaneser's war, and of the building of Solomon's Temple, they are recorded in the Annals of the Tyrians. This is related by those that are neither Jews nor Christians; and these testimonies are fetched from those that are our enemies, which are more fit for the press, than for the pulpit, and to be written, than delivered in a popular congregation.

I will add to this but this one; consider the exact chronology, which is found in all the Scriptures, and the agreement of them with the heathen histories.

In latter times there have been great confusions, but the greatest evidence, that is to be found, is the Tables of Ptolemy, lately found, which does exactly agree with the Scripture; he exactly sets down the time that Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus reigned; compare them with the Scripture, and you shall find these agree with Daniel and Jeremiah, otherwise chronologists differ very much: for in Joseph Scaliger's time, that Table they had not, but it was found since: So in the time when Jerusalem was taken, they agree exactly; and this is the greatest testimony that the Scripture can have from heathen men.

Quest. But this question may now be made; How should we know that these books, which we have, as written by Moses, that these are they, that there is no alteration in them, or supposititious prophecies put in?

Answ. You have the Jews agreeing with the Christians, who were enemies, and the Jews kept it exactly, yet theirs agree with ours.

Object. But how should we know that the Jews are true?

Answ. They have testimony from the Samaritans, and they were enemies to the Jews, and there being once a rent made, were never reconciled again: yet in the Samaritan Bible, there is no difference at all, to any purpose. Now add to this the testimony of the churches from Christ's time downward, still it has continued; so as in Eusebius and Baronius you shall see plentiful testimonies thereof.

The third argument is from the Scriptures themselves, if you consider but these three things;

1 The majesty and plainness of the style, and the manner of the expressions, a mere relation, and no more. In the beginning was the Word, etc. Where does any book express itself, in a manner, in the relation of any stories? So as that it carries evidence from God; so that Junius reading the first Chapter of John, was struck with an amazement, by a kind of divine and stupendous authority, and so he was converted from Atheism, as himself said in his life.

2 If you consider the purity of the doctrine. If a man would deceive the world, then the things that he teaches, must needs be to please men; but the Scripture is quite contrary, it ties men to strict rules, and therefore see how it is [reconstructed: entertained], and how hard it is for men to keep it in the purity of the doctrine, which is an argument it came from God. If the Scriptures were delivered by men, then either by good men, or by bad; if by holy men, then they would speak the truth, and not lie; if by bad men, then they would never have set down such strict rules of doctrine that they must live by, and which condemn themselves.

3 Consider the [reconstructed: antiquity] of them, they were before all other heathen stories, which will answer an objection, namely, why there is no more testimony from them of the Scriptures: The answer is, that when Scriptures ended their writings did but begin, there being little use and trading of learning in those days, but it seems the Greeks were the first, or rather the Chaldeans, but there were not so many books written then, as afterward.

Now when all these things are considered, we are brought to believe the Scriptures are the Word of God, and you find this in the Scriptures, that there is a God, that made heaven and earth, then this begets faith; and so, by faith we believe (as here says the Apostle) that there is one God. I confess all this which has been said is not enough, unless God infuses an inward light by his Spirit to work this faith, but yet there is enough left in the Scriptures to give evidence of themselves.