[3.] Though there be no certainty, yet there is an obstinate purpose to follow after Christ, It is true, the aim and end of all faith is to draw the soul to certainty and particular application, to assurance of pardon, that we may say, My God and My rock. But though the soul meets with many difficulties, yet there is an obstinate purpose ; the soul will not let go his hold on Christ. When we can plead with our own objections and fears, and say, Lord I will not give over ; and with Jacob, ' I will not let thee go till thou bless me,' Gen. xxxii. 26, and Avith Job, ' Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,' Job xiii. 15. Whatever displeasure the Lord seems to manifest against them, yet they will follow on in a way of trust : Phil. iii. 12, ' I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus,' &c. Christ hath touched my heart, and I cannot be quiet till I have got him. This is a right disposition of heart. When Christ hath apprehended us, the soul follows on with an obstinate resolution, until it can apprehend Christ and take hold of the skirt of his garment.
Use 1. To put us upon the trial, Have we true faith? there is no acceptance with God without it. The great object of trial and search is faith : 2 Cor. xiii. 5, ' Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith,' or in a believing state. Conviction mainly respects faith : John xvi. 9, 'He shall convince the world of sin, because they believe not in me,'
110 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [Seu. XXVIII.
without it, we are liable to the power and curse of tlie law against sin- ners. Faith makes the difference among men before God : Gal. v. 6, ' For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeih anything, nor nncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.' When God pro- ceedeth to judgment against sinners, he doth not ask, Is he baptized? is lie civil ? but doth he believe ? there is the most important question in Christianity.
Now there are different degrees of faith : Mark xvii. 20, * If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed ; ' Mark viii. 26, ' Why are ye fearful,
0 ye of little faith ? ' All the trees of God's garden are not of the same growth and stature, there are cedars and shrubs. The least de- gree of faith is faith, as a drop of dew is water as well as a flood ; and the lowest measure and grain of saving faith is grace ; the motion of a child newly formed in the belly is an act of life, as well as the walking of a man. Some, like John Baptist, can only ' spring in the womb ; ' they have a seed of grace, though they be not grown up into a tree. In Christ's family there are ' little children,' as well as ' fathers,'
1 John ii. 12-14. Christ himself was once a little stone, though he grew a great mountain, that filled the whole earth. All plants in Christ's garden are growing when they are young and weak. We must not despise the day of small things ; we must look indeed chiefly after truth, not growth. It is well if we endure the touchstone, though not the balance : 2 Tim. i. 5, ' When I call to remembrance the un- feigned faith that is in thee ; ' the question will be resolved into that at last. There is a counterfeit faith that is not profitable. Simon Magus believed, Acts viii. 13 ; and many believed in Christ's name, to whom he would not commit himself, John ii. 23, 24. When the devil de- stroyeth men, he doth not forbid them to believe ; he changeth himself into an angel of light. Presumption is rather of means than of end ; most deceive themselves with a false faith. There is nothing but the devil can counterfeit it — Felix trembled, Esau wept, Ahab humbled himself, Simon Magus believed, Judas repented, Pharaoh prayed, Saul confessed, Balaam desired, the Pharisee reformed — we had need to look to ourselves; But how shall Ave state the marks by which men may come to the knowledge of their state ? especially, how shall we discern what is true faith ? In the first times of the gospel the difficulty lay without; the gospel was a novel doctrine, opposed by worldly powers ; bleak winds that blow in our backs blew in their faces. The gospel, as a novel doctrine, was represented with prejudices, opposed with scorn and extremity of violence ; there was more in assent than nov/ in affiance. Xow the gospel by long prescription and the veneration of ages hath gotten a just title to our belief ; there is nothing in a literal and uneffectual assent. Every man pretendeth to esteem Christ, and acknowledge Christ for saviour of the world ; how shall we dis- ])rove them ? The scriptures are rather a treasury of doctrines than a register of experiences. But yet we are not wholly left in the dark ; by the light of the Spirit the doctrines of the word may be suited to all cases. The scripture is not such a dark rule but that it will discover the thoughts of the heart ; and what is this faith unfeigned, the minirmim. quod sic, the least degree of faith, without which we are not accepted ?