332 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. II.
liope and have a certain expectation, it doth as it were taste the bless- ing ; and whilst it looks upon them in the sure promises of God, and in our head ; or that which Christ hath done for us in the first-fruits ; so our liopes are made to work upon us as if they were already accom- plished and enjoyed.
SERMON II.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for. — Heb. xi. 1.
Secondly, The benefit and advantage of this act, and the use of faith in the spiritual life.
1. It is very necessary we should have such a faith as should substan- tiate our hopes, to check sensuality, for we find the corrupt heart of man is all for present satisfaction. And though the pleasures of sin be short and inconsiderable, yet because they are near at hand, they take more with us than the joys of heaven, which are future and absent. A man would wonder at the folly of men that should with Esau sell his birthright for a morsel of meat, Heb. xii. 16, that they should be so profane as to sell tlieir Christ and glory, and those excellent things which the christian religion discovers, to part with the joys of clu'is- tianity for the vilest price. When lust is up and set agog, all consider- ations of eternal glory and blessedness are laid aside to give it satisfac- tion. A little pleasure, a little gain, a little conveniency in the world will make men part with all that is honest and sacred. A man would wonder at their folly, but the great reason is, they live by sense : ' Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world,' 2 Tim. iv. 10 ; there lies the bait, these things are present with us ; we can taste the delights of the creatures, and feel the pleasures of the flesh ; but the happiness of the world to come is a thing unseen and unknown. ' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die,' 1 Cor. XV. 32. This is the language of every carnal heart, let us take up with present things. Who will venture upon the practice of a duty difficult and distasteful to his affections, and forego what we see and enjoy upon the uncertain hopes of things to come ? Present advan- tages, nay vanities, though they be small and very trifles, yet have more power to pervert us than good things at a distance, nay, than all the promises of God to allure and draw in our hearts to God. And here lies the root and strength of all temptations; the inconveniences of strictness in religion are present, there is a present distaste and present trouble to the flesh ; and the rewai'ds are future ; here is the great snare : therefore how should we do to check this living by sense that is so natural to us ? Why, faith substantiating our hopes pro- vides a remedy ; for that makes things to come to work as if they were already enjoyed ; the day of judgment to work upon us, as if we did see Christ upon his white throne, and the books opened and heaven as if we were ready now to enter into it. Where faith is lively and strong, and is the evidence of things not seen, it baffles and defeats all
VeR. 1.] SERMONS UPOX HEBREWS XI. 333
temptations. The war and conflict in men's hearts is carried on under these two captains, faith and sense. All the forces of the spiritual and regenerate part are drawn and led up by faith ; sense on the other side marshals all the temptations of the world and the flesh ; sense is all for enjoyment and actual possession. Now faith, to vanquish it, gives a substance, and makes things to come present to us, and makes us sensible of other satisfactions and contentments, which are far better ; and there lies the strength of the renewed part ; and the great success of the spiritual battle is in the liveliness of hope and in the certainty of faith, that it may make those things work as present which sense judgeth absent and afar ofi. That is the reason why faith and sense are so often opposed in scripture ; faith forestalls the joys of heaven, and makes them to be in the mind and judgment, and upon the heart of a believer, that the restraint from present delights may seem less irk- some ; if it be laborious and difficult to serve God, yet it is for heaven. All that the devil can plead, who works by sense, is the enjoyment of a little present profit and pleasure ; he cannot promise heaven and glory, or anything hereafter ; now therein he thinks he hath the start of God — heaven is to come, but the delights and advantages of sin are at hand. Faith, to baffle the temptation, strongly fixeth the heart of a believer upon things to come, that in some sort it doth preuuite their souls and their happiness together, and by giving them heaven upon earth con- firms the soul in a belief of better things than the devil or the world can propose. Tims you see that to defeat the temptation there needs faith, that it may strongly fix the heart of a believer upon things to come and put him within the company of the blessed ; that in some sort he may have heaven upon earth, and such a certain per- suasion of better things, that he may look upon all that the devil, the world and the flesh do oppose to him as a weak and paltry thing.