it hath a crown, a kingdom in reversion ; and this makes the soul to set light by the things of this world, 2 Tim. iv. 8. Faith raises and sets the soul high. ' And hath raised us up together, and hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,' saith the apostle, Eph. ii. 6. Faith makes a man live high : ' Our conversation is in heaven,' Philip, iii. 20; and the liigher any man lives, the less, the lower will the things of this world be in his eye. The fancy of Lucian is very pleasant, who placeth Charon on the top of an high hill, viewing all the affairs of men, and looking on their greatest, richest, and most glorious cities, as little birds' nests. Faith sets the soul upon the hill of God, the mountain of God, that is, a high mountain ; and from thence, faith gives the soul a sight, a prospect of all things here below. And, ah ! how like birds' nests do all the riches, braveries, and glories of this world look, and appear to them, that faith hath set upon God's high hill. Faith having set Luther upon this high hill, he protests that God should not put him off with these poor low things. Faith set Moses high, it set him among invisibles ; and that made him look upon all the treasures, pleasures, riches, and glories of Egypt, as littLs birds' nests, as mole-hills, as dross and dung, as things that were too little and too low for him to set his heart upon. Verily, when once faith hath given a man a sight, a prospect of heaven, all things on earth will be looked upon as little and low. And so much for this third property of faith.
[4.] The fourth property of that faith that accompanies salvation is this : it purifies the heart, it is a heart-purifying faith. ' Purifying their hearts by faith,' Acts xv. 9. Faith hath two hands, one to lay hold on Christ, and another to sweep the heart, which is Christ's house. Faith knows that Christ is of a dove-like nature ; he loves to lie clean and sweet. Faith hath a neat housewife's hand, as well as an eagle's eye. Faith is as good at purging out of sin, as it is at discovering of sin. There is a cleansing quality in faith, as well as a healing quality in faith. Sound faith will purge the soul from the love of sin, from a delight in sin, and from the reign and dominion of sin, Ezek. xvi. ' Sin shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are not under the law, but under grace,' Rom. vi. 14, 21. Now faith purges and cleanseth the heart from sin, sometimes by pressing and putting God to make good the promises of sanctification. Faith takes that promise in Jer. xxxiii. 8, 'And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me;'' and that promise in Micah vii. 19, * He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us ; he will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their sins into the bottom of the sea ;' and that promise in Ps. Ixv. 3, * Iniquities prevail against me ; as for our trans- gressions, thou shalt purge them away ;' and that promise in Isa. i. 25, ' And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin;' and spreads them before the Lord, and will never leave urging and pressing, seeking and suing, till God makes them good. Faith makes the soul divinely impudent, divinely shame- less. Lord ! says faith, are not these thine own words? Hast thou said it,
^ D^mntSI, I will purify them, is an allusion to the purificfjtions prescribed in the law for the cleansing of polluted persons, till which purifications were performed they could not be admitted into the camp or congregation.
456 HEAVEN ON EARTH. [ROM. VIII. 32-34.
and shall it not come to pass ? Art thou not a faithful God ? Is not thine honour engaged to make good the promises that thou hast made ? Arise, O God, and let my sins be scattered ; turn thy hand upon me, and let my sins be purged. And thus faith purifies the heart.
Again, sometimes faith purifies the heart from sin, by engaging against sin in Christ's strength, as David engaged against Goliath, 1 Sam. xvii. 47, not in his own strength, but in the strength and name of the Lord of hosts. Faith leads the soul directly to God, and en- gages God against sin, so as that the combat, by the wisdom of faith, is changed, and made now rather between God and sin than between sin and the soul ; and so sin comes to fall before the power and glorious presence of God. That is a choice word, Ps. Ixi. 2, ' From the ends of the earth will I cry to thee, when my heart is overwhelmed : lead me' to the rock that is higher than I.' Look, as a child that is set upon by one that is stronger than he, cries out to his father to help him, to stand by him, and to engage for him against his enemy ; so faith, being sensible of its own weakness and inability to get the victory over sin, cries out to Christ, and engages Christ, who is stronger than the strong man, and so Christ binds the strong man, and casts him out. Faith tells the soul, that all purposes, resolutions, and endeavours, without Christ be engaged, wall never set the soul above its sins, they will never purify the heart from sin ; therefore faith engages Christ, and casts the main of the work upon Christ, and so it purges the soul from sin. Luther reports of Staupicius, a German divine, that he acknow- ledged, before he came to understand the free and powerful grace of Christ, that he vowed and resolved an hundred times against some particular sin, and could never get power over it ; he could never get his heart purified from it, till he came to see that he trusted too mach to his own resolutions, and too little to Jesus Christ ; but when his faith had engaged Christ against his sin, he had the victory.
Again, faith purifies the heart from sin, by the application of Christ's blood. Faith makes a plaster of Christ's blessed blood, and lays it on upon the soul's sores, and so cures it. Faith makes a heavenly vomit of this blessed blood, and gives it to the soul, and so makes it cast up that poison that it hath drunk in.^ Faith tells the soul, that it is not all the tears in the world, nor all the water in the sea, that can wash away the uncleanness of the soul ; it is only the blood of Christ that can make a blackmoor white ; it is only the blood of Christ that can cure a leprous Naaman, that can cure a leprous soul. This fountain of blood, says faith, is the only fountain for Judah and Jerusalem to wash themselves, to wash their hearts from all uncleanness and filthiness of flesh and spirit, Zech. xiii. 1. Those spots a Christian finds in his own heart, can only be washed out in the blood of the Lamb, by a hand of faith.
Again, faith purifieth the soul from sin, by putting the soul upon heart-purifying ordinances, and by mixing and mingling itself with ordinances : ' The word profited them not,' saith the apostle, ' because it was not mixed with faith in them that heard it,' Heb. iv. 2. Faith is such an excellent ingredient, that it makes all potions work for the