touch eth, it turneth into gold, that is, into our good. If our faith touches the promises, it turns them into our good ; whatsoever faith lays its hand upon, it appropriates to itself, and turns it into the soul's good. If faith looks upon God, it saith, ' This God is my God for ever and ever, and he shall be my guide unto death,' Ps. Ixiii. 1 ; Ixxxix. 26. When it looks upon Christ, it saith with Thomas, ' My Lord, and my God,' John xx. 28. When it looks upon the crown of righteousness, it saith, ' This crown is laid up for me,' &c. Faith is bread to nourish us, and wine to cheer us, and a cordial to strengthen us. Faith is a sword to defend us, a guide to direct us, a staff to support us, a plaster to heal us, a friend to comfort us, and a golden key to open heaven unto us. Faith, of all graces, is the most useful grace to the soul of man. ' With- out faith it is impossible to please God,' Heb. xi. 6 ; iv. 2. All those services are lost, wherein faith hath not a hand. You may write loss upon all the prayers you make, and upon all the sermons you hear, and upon all the tears you shed, and upon all the alms you give, if all be not managed by a hand of faith.
(4.) Fouiihly, You should labour above all to be rich in faith, he- cause faith is that 'princely grace that Christ is iniost taken with.
Cant. iv. 9, ' Thou hast ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes,' — that is, with that piercing eye of faith that looks up to my mercy-seat — ' with one chain of thy neck.'
There are two things that with open mouth speak out Christ to be most taken with the faith of his people.
And the_^?'S^ is, his uncrowning himself to crown his people's faith. Christ doth often take the crown off his own head, and put it upon the head of faith. Witness such passages as these, which are frequent in Scripture, ' Thy faith hath healed thee,' ' Thy faith hath saved thee,' ' Thy faith hath made thee whole,' &c. Christ takes the crown off his own head, and puts it upon the head of faith ; and no wonder ; for of all graces, faith takes the crown off a man's own head, and puts it on the head of Christ. Man naturally is apt to crown anything but Christ. He is apt to crown his prayers, and crown his desires, and crown his endeavours, &c. Oh but now faith acts like a king of kings, and un- crowns all, and sets the crown upon the head of Christ.
And then a second thing that speaks out Christ to he most taken with the grace of faith is this, that he overlooks all other graces in comparison of faith, as you may see in the Canaanite woman, Mat. xv. 21-29. The poor woman shews a great deal of compassion, a great deal of Avisdom, a great deal of humility, a great deal of love, and a great deal of self-denial ; but in the close saith Christ, ' O woman, great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt.' He doth not say, O woman, great is thy love ; nor, O woman, great is thy wisdom ; nor, 0 woman, great is thy humility and self-denial ; nor, O woman, great is thy patience, &c. ; but, ' O woman, great is thy faith I He overlooks, as it were, all other graces, and sets the crown upon the head of faith : * O woman, great is thy faith.' So in Mark v., the woman that had a bloody issue twelve years comes to Chri.st for cure, and in the close of the story saith Christ to her, ' Woman, thy faith hath made thee whole.' He doth not .say. Woman, thy pressing hard to come to me hath made thee whole, but ' Thy faith hath made thee whole.' He doth not say, Woman,
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thy earnest desires and endeavours to be made whole hath made thee whole, but ' Thy faith hath made thee whole.' He doth not say, Woman, thy fear and trembling hath made thee whole, but ' Thy faith hath made thee whole,' &c. So in Luke vii. 50, ' Thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace.' Though she wept much, and loved much, yet Christ doth not say, Thy tears have saved thee, thy sorrow hath saved thee. He doth not say. Thy humility, thy charity hath saved thee ; but ' O woman, thy faith hath saved thee.' Christ overlooks all other graces, as it were, and casts a lovely' eye upon the grace of faith, &c.
(5.) And then again, in the fifth place, you should above all labour to be rich in faith, because of all graces in the soul of '^nian, foAth Diakes him most lively and active.
There is no grace, I say, no grace in the soul of man, that makes him so full of life and action, as the gi'ace of faith. Faith is the prhnw^m 'mobile, the first pin, the first wheel that moves all the golden wheels of obedience. In Heb. xi., you read what those worthies did ; they left their country, their kindred, upon a bare command of God. Faith hath Rachel's eye, but Leah's womb ; it makes souls very fruitful in ways of well-doing. Faith is as the spring in the watch, that moves the wheels. Not a grace stirs till faith sets it on work. Faith is like Solomon's virtuous woman^ that sets all her maidens on w^ork. Faith sets joy on work. ' Abraham desired to see my day, and saw it, and rejoiced.' Faith sets love on work ; it works by love ; Gal. v. 6, it sets hope on work, Rom. viii. 24, 25 ; it sets godly sorrow at work, Zech. xii. 10 ; it sets patience at work. I believe that God is wise and loving, and what he doth is out of some noble design to do my soul good ; this spins out patience. Faith fits a man to do, to suffer, to wait, to walk, &c., there- fore labour above all to be rich in faith. ^
(6.) And then, sixthly, of all graces, faith renders the soul most in- vincible ; and therefore you should labour above all to be rich in faith.
It renders the soul invincible and unconquerable under all the hard- ships and trials it meets with in this world. Faith makes a man triumph in all the changes and conditions of this life. It was their faith that made them invincible in Dan. iii. 16-18, ' O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace ; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship thy golden image which thou hast set up.' And so Daniel's faith stopped the lion's mouth ; it made him too strong for the strongest beasts of prey, as you may see in Dan. vi. Though the enemies of *a believer are very subtle, strong, and experienced, and though the battle be hot and long, yet a soul rich in faith shall have the day. Faith will render a believer victorious in the close : ' He may suffer death,' as Cyprian said to Cornelius, ' but never conquest.'^ Faith renders the soul a lion,