Use. It shows what should be our principal care — to get faith and to maintain faith.
1. To get faith, in some sense there is as great a necessity of faith as of Christ. What good would a deep well do us without a bucket ? John iv. 11, ' The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep ; ' so for us to have a deep well and a fountain of salvation, when we have nothing to fetch water out of these wells of salvation, what will it stead us ? Faith is the life of our lives, the soul of our souls; the 2)yimu)n mobile, that moves all the wheels of
376 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeK. VL
obedience. He that hath a mind to work wouhl not be without his tools. We can do notliing in rehi^ion without faith. Oh ! beg faith ; it is necessary — necessitaie medii : j^ou may as well want Christ as faith ; God will not violate his own order. All other graces follow the proportion of faith.
2. Maintain and keep it lively. Of all graces it is the most excel- lent, and of all graces it is most assaulted. The malice and spite of Satan is at your faith. Saith Christ to Peter: Luke xxii. 31, 32, * Satan hath desired to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faitli fail not,' lie would undermine thy faith. Usually there are no defects in the life, but first there is some decay of faith. You had need keep tliat grace lively by which you live. The scripture speaks not only of a living faith, but of a lively faith and a lively hope, 1 Peter i. 3. The means to keep it lively are —
[1.] Meditation ; that is the great fuel of faith, it keeps in the fire in the soul ; it is both wood and bellows. Now meditation must look forward and backward ; l)ackward with thankfulness, and forward with hope. (1.) Backward with thankfulness upon the love of Christ, often considering the greatness and willingness of his passion. There is not a greater incentive to obedience than to consider the sufferings of Christ. A soldier, when his request was denied, showed the emperor his wounds. Oh ! feed your faith with such a sight, show it the wounds, and the sufferings and bruises of Christ, then the soul will not be so sluggish and averse from duty : 2 Cor. v. 14, ' The love of Christ con- strains us.' Meditation helps faith, and faith awakens love, and then love presseth and urgeth the soul to obedience, and will not let us be quiet. I have observed that we are more affected with what men suffer for us than what men do for us, because there is more self-denial in suffering, but only courtesy in doing. Oh, what hath Jesus Christ suffered for us? He came from heaven, and when he was to go up to Grolgotha, there was no reluctation in his spirit; he did not plead, It will cost me dear, it is a hard work ! but, Lo, I come to do thy will, Ps. xl. 7, 8 ; here are cheeks for the nippers, a back for the smiters, here is a body for the cross ; and when faith urgeth this, the soul will be ashamed to go less cheerfully to the throne of grace than Jesus Christ went to the cross. (2.) Look forward upon Christ's purchase. Heaven is a fair field for meditation, and faith hath a pleasant walk when it can walk through the land of promise ; as (Grod bade Abraham : Gen. xiii. 17, ' Ai-ise, Avalk through the land in the length of it, and in the breadth of it, for I will give it thee.' Meditation should awaken faith, and encourage it to walk through the land of promise, All tliis will the Lord give thee. Moses' faith was the more resolved because heaven was still in his eye : Heb. xi. 26, ' For he had respect to the recompense of the reward.' Keep the eye steady in the view of glory. The transfiguration of Jesus Clirist fitted him for his suftering. The messengers of the cross, they came to him in shining garments, 'to talk of his decease that he should accomplish at Jerusalem,' Luke ix. 31. It will not be mercenary for us to use the same art. Let faith climb up into the high mount by meditation, and in our thought foretaste the glory of the everlasting state, that we may be fitted to do and suffer for God.
YkII. 2.] SERMONS UPOX HEBKEWS XL 377
[2.] Frequent act and exercise : James ii. 22, ' By works faith was made perfect.' How could this be ? rather faith makes works })erfect. It is not meant in tliat sense, as if work did communicate any merit and vahie to faith, but only that hereby it is more increased, more drawn up to the height and perfection. All graces are perfected by much use and exercise ; so is faith. Look, as the exercise of the mem- bers of the body increaseth their vigour and strength, and therefore the right arm is biggest, because of much exercise ; so inwardly the soul is bettered, and faith is much improved by frequent operation. Neglect of grace is the ground of its decrease and decay. Wells are the sweeter for the draining ; so graces are the better for this exercise.