2. The necessity of faith. There is as much necessity of faith as of Christ. What good will a deep well do us without a bucket ? and an able saviour, if we have not faith to take hold of him ? Look, as on God's part, there is need of the intervention of Christ's merit to satisfy justice ; so on man's part, that the sinner may have an actual interest herein, there is need of faith : you can neither work without it, nor please God without it.
Not work without it. There is as great a necessity of faith as of life — 'I live by the f;)ith of the Son of God,' Gal. ii. 20. And you cannot ' please God " without it ; for always you shall see all the bless- ings of the covenant are granted us upon this condition, Rom. x. 9, 'If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shait believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved ; ' he puts it upon that issue. The gospel is not only a charter of grace and precious promises, but it is a law of faith ; that is the condi- lion upon which they are dispensed ; so Acts xvi. 31, ' Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved :' it is the condition of the covenant. The Lord neither will nor can save you without faith ; he cannot, because he will not, as his pleasure is now stated. God cannot lie, he hath stated the course and order of our salvation. Now, unless the Lord should reverse the great law and institution of heaven, by which he will govern the world, we may say he cannot save without faith. So the scripture si)caks : Mark vi. 5, ' He could do no mighty works there because of their unbelief ; ' he could not, because of God's settled course, that he will not dispense blessings without faith. There- fore it is notable, that it is the great thing we must preach, and the great duty you must practise : 1 John iii. 23, ' This is his command- ment that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ.' And when we receive our commission as ministers of the gospel, this is the sum of all : ' Mark xvi. 16, ' He that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.' And this is the great work which you must practise: John vi. 28, 29, ' Y\liat shall we do that we might work the works of God ? ' What work shall
VeR. 6.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI, 103
we do? say they, speaking according to the tenor of the covenant of works : saith Christ, ' This is the work of God that you should believe on him whom he hath sent : ' all other things are but your by-works, but this is your main work, that you bring your hearts to close with me.
Now if you ask mo the reasons why G-od hath put so much honour upon this grace, why it is impossible without faith to please him ? you may as well ask me, Why God will give light to the world by the sun or water by the fountain ? The Lord's own will and designation is the supreme reason, both in irature and grace ; but because God is a God of judgment, and doth all things with advice and wisdom, because there is a sweet conveuiency and congruity in all divine appointments, therefore I shall give you some reasons why the Lord hath put so much honour upon the grace of faith. The great design of God is to humble the creature, but exalt Jesus Christ and promote holiness. Now there is nothing so serviceable for such uses and purposes as the grace of faith.
[1.] It is faith that humbles the creature, and sends us out of our- selves to look for all in Christ ; one of God's designs in the way of salvation is to hmnble the creature. Now of all graces, faith strips a man naked of his own worth, and sends him to God's mercy in a medi- ator, so the apostle arguetli : Rom. iv. 16, 'It is of faith, that it might be of grace, that the promise might be sure to all the seed ; ' therefore God hath stated the way of salvation in the way of faith, that it might be of grace. Faith is the only virtue that can stand with the free grace of God ; for it doth not work by procuring and meriting, but by expecting and receiving what God will bestow upon us ; it brings nothing to God of our own, and can offer nothing by way of exchange for the mercy we expect. It receiveth a gift, but it bringeth no price ; it deals not by way of exchange as with justice, but by way of suppli- cation and reception as with grace. If we were to deal with justice, then certainly the honour of it would be put upon othei" graces ; as love that might give somewhat by way of exchange. All that fiiith doth is to send the creature as needy and destitute to the throne of grace .: Eph. ii. 8, ' By grace ye are saved through faith ; ' justice gives what is due, but mercy gives what is promised ; the original cause is grace, the means is faith, and the end is salvation. Faith doth not come to God, as claiming acceptance for what we have done, but comes with an empty hand to receive what grace and mercy is willing to be- stow upon us in Christ.