3. Because there are some objects of faith that are inter cognosci-
422 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION UPON [ISA. LIII. 11.
hilia, amonj:^ those things that are only to be known and apprehended by us according to the reveUition of God. I say, all that faith hath to do about them, is to understand and apprehend the truth of them, according to the discoveries of the word ; as the creation of the world ; the making man out of nothing : and therefore the apostle saitli, Heb. xi. 3, ' Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God ; so that the things which are seen were not made of things that do appear.' That was the great riddle to the philo- sophers, but by faith we understand it.
4. Because faith is opposed to such things as imply a defect and want of knowledge, and therefore there is a knowledge in faith ; as to ignorance, darkness, and folly. Therefore Paul maketli his ignorance and unbelief the joint causes of his rebellion against God : 1 Tim. i. 13, ' But I did it ignorantly in unbelief.' It must needs be so, if in unbelief. So Mat. iv. 16, unbelief is made to be a state of darkness ; ' The people which sat in darkness saw great light.' Till men come to believe the gospel, they are under darkness. So Rom. xi. 25, the apostle saith, ' Blindness in part is ha])pened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.' Now the great sin of the Jews is un- belief, and rejecting the light of the gospel. So Eph. iv. 18, the state opposite to faith, or to the learning of Christ, is expressed by ' the vanity of the mind,' ' the darkness of the understanding,' and ' blind- ness of heart.' Which three expressions note vain principles, corrupt inferences, and want of spiritual wisdom to oversway the affections, and all the inclinations of the heart, into a subjection to the will of God.
5. Because God's work, in reference to the begetting of faith, is plainly expressed to be a work upon the understanding ; as by opening the eyes: Acts xxvi. 18, ' To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God.' The first creature in the new creation is light opening the eyes, and many of Christ's cures were about the sight ; as he dispossessed Satan, so he opened the eyes ; for I plainly find they had a spiritual signification : John vi. 44, 45, ' No man can come unto me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him ; ' ' They shall all be taught of God.' There must be teaching as well as drawing ; a work upon the understanding as well as the will. So Mat. xi. 25, there is mention made of reveal- ing the things of God : a main cause of faith is this revelation. Thus it is proved.
Secondly, To demonstrate the point, or to show why it must be so, and that for these reasons : —
1. ]5ecause otherwise faith would not do its work : the work and business of faith is to show us things unseen to sense and reason. The apostle's word is iXeyx^'i' the force of which I shall show you by and by. It is to carry us within the veil, to reveal to us tlie things of God, such as ' Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive,' 1 Cor. ii. 9 ; that is, such as cannot otherwise be discovered without this light. There is a know- ledge for faith and in faith ; a knowledge tliat followeth it, and a knowledge that maketh it up. It is d(j)6uXno<; r?";? '^l'X')?, the eye of the soul. Look, as sense is the light of beasts, and reason of a man,
ISA. LIII. 11.] TUE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. 423
SO is faith of a Christian. It is to guide and direct ns to, and to ravish us with the beauties of Christ; to show us what is in our beloved more than in another beloved, Cant. v. 9. It is to provoke holy- desires and fervent affections towards God. All this cannot be done without knowledge.
2. Because there must be something done to sanctify the under- standing, something to irradiate and enlighten the mind : grace must have influence upon every faculty, upon the understanding, much more, for these reasons : —
[1.] Because the understanding is the great wheel of the soul, and guide of the whole man. Usually there the business of the salvation sticketh : either we do not rightly apprehend Christ, or not rightly determine concerning Christ, and therefore we do not close with him. The rest of the faculties follow that same dictamen mtellectus, the dictates and decisions of the understanding. It is with men accord- ing to their knowledge : the same grace which enlighteneth the mind worketh again to the subduing of the affections. We see men are as their minds are : God giveth men up first to vain minds, and then to vile affections, Rom. i. 28. This is the primum mobile, the great and first moving cause, and great wheel of the soul : Eph. ii. 3, 'Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind.' They are the wills of the mind, and therefore of the flesh, of the lower and more sensual soul. A corrupt judgment embaseth the spirit.