Obj. I have done with the exposition, only here is a doubt ; does not this confound faith and hope, to make things hoped for to be the object of faith, for graces differ in their objects ?
Sol. I answer. There is a link between the graces, but no confusion ; they are akin, but not confounded one with another. Blessedness to come is an object of faith, and an object of hope ; it is an object of faith as it is present in the promises, or present in our hearts ; and an object of hope in regard of its futurity, as it is yet to come. Faith is the ground of hope. Faith believeth, and hope expecteth. Faith first closeth with verhum Dei, the word of God, that assures us of such a blessedness ; then hope is carried out towards rem verhi, the thing promised. Faith makes all things certain, and in a sort already pre- sent ; but hope looks out for a full accomplishment. Faith gives us a right, and persuades us of the truth of things promised, and hope looks after the manifestation of them in possession. Faith is the hand, and
326 SERMONS UPOX HEBREWS XI. [SeR. I.
hope is the eye of the soul. Faith lays hold upon the promise, and hope looks out after the things promised. Faith awakens hope, and hope cherishes faith. brin2;ing in constant support to it.
Out of this first clause let me observe —
Doct. That a lively faith doth give such a reality, certainty, and present being to things hoped for and yet to come, as if they were aheady actually enjoyed.
And thus it is said of Abraham, John viii. ^(^, that ' he saw Christ's day.' Though there were many successions of ages between Christ and Abraham, yet faith made it present, represented it as if it were before his eyes ; ' he saw my day,' not by a naked supposition but by real prospect, such as wrought upon his heart, and ' he was glad,' and leaped for joy. And so in this sense a believer is said to have eternal life, John iii. 36. He is not only sure of it when he dies, but hath it here in some sense : Heb. xi. 13, ' These all died in faith, not having received the i^romises, but having seen them afar off.' Without faith we can- not see things at a distance. Here I shall show —
1. How faith doth this.
2. The benefit and advantage of this property of faith in the whole business of the spiritual life, how this is the great ground of our living by faith.
First. How does faith give a subsistence or present being to things hoped for ? How can we be said to have that happiness which we do but expect ?
I answer : Faith takes possession four ways — (1.) Spe, by hope. (2.) P^'om/.ssi's, in the promises. (3.) Cay^iVe, in our head. (4:.) Primitiis, in the first-fruits.
1. Spe. By a lively hope it doth as it were sip of the cup of blessing, and preoccupy and foretaste those eternal and excellent delights which God hath prepared for us, and aftects the heart with the certain expec- tation of them, as if they were enjoyed. It appears by the effect of this hope, which is rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory, 1 Peter i. 8. Joy is proper to fruition and enjoyment. We delight in a thing when we have it, and we delight in a thing when we hope for it ; for a christian's hope being built upon certain and unerring grounds, it causeth the same effect also. Katural hope is the flower of pleasure and foretaste of happiness : so spiritual hope is the harbinger and fore- runner of those eternal and unmixed delights which the Lord hath prepared for us. Hope must needs make things present ; for mark, it is more than supposition and conceit. Heaven in the thoughts differs very much from heaven in our hope, as much as taste doth from sight, or longing from looking. Hope causeth rejoicing — an aftection proper to present possession. Where it is anything strong, it diverts the mind from present wants and miseries and comforts us, and doth us good •vs-ith the evidence of a future blessed estate reserved for us in the heavens. Hope is not a presumptuous conceit, like the supposition of a beggar imagining himself to be a king, and how much power and glory it will bring to him when he is arrived to it ; but like the expec- tation of a prince who is the undoubted heir of a crown, and knows that one day he shall possess it. There is not only a naked supposal, but a real certainty and expectation ; therefore it must needs cause
YeR. 1.] SERMONS UPON HEBRETTS XL 327
some present joy. Bare contemplation works a kind of union. There is a union between the thoughts and the object, as there is between the 8tar and the eye ; it is present in my eye, though the star be a thousand miles distant : so there is a kind of union between the thought and the thing thought of ; but much more a union between hope and the thing hoped for . for the soul doth as it were sally out by desire, and the effect of hope is far more real than the efifects of naked and fond imagination. It filleth the soul with lively comfort : ' Eejoice in hope.' saith the apostle, Rom. xii. 12. Joy or delight is the effect of fruition or present enjoyment, yet delight is given to hope ; for delighting is the complacency of the soul in a thing obtained ; now hope, where it is strong, gives us a sweet contentment and joy from the evidence of a future blessed estate : Heb. iii. 6, ' Whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of hope firm unto the end ; ' and Eom. v. 2. * We rejoice in hoj^e of the glory of God/ Hope, by a mystery, and spiritual kind of magic, fetcheth heaven from heaven, and makes it exist in the heart of a believer. It doth not only, like the spies, bring us tidings, and a glorious report of that heaven, but makes heaven to stoop and earth to ascend, and brings the believer into the company of the blessed, and brings down the joys of the Spirit into the heart of a believer. We cannot hope for anything, but we must in part possess the thing hoped for ; much more in spiritual things. Faith doth not only unite you to Christ, but puts Christ and heaven into the soul by hope. There is the Lamb, the white throne, the glorified spirits, the upper paradise, and the tree of life in the soul, made really present to us by faith through a lively and watchful hope.