■SOS SEKMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. XLVIL
4. Do they put. you upon thauksgiviDgs in tlie midst of wants, straits, and miseries ? Faith is a bird that can sing in winter, and a believer can rejoice in his hopes when he hath little in hand. The patriarchs built altars, and offered sacrifices of praise, whenever God renewed the promises to them. Faith triumphs before the victory ; though you have not the blessing, can you praise God for the promise ? Ps. xiii. 5, ' But I have trusted in thy mercy ; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.' You are assured mercy shall come, though never so un- likely and never so far off. Is thy heart thus carried out to triumph in God when you have but his bare word, to hug the promises with ■delight, to praise God not only for his blessings, but for his word, and to rejoice and give thanks before the mercy come ? So Ps. Ivi. 10, ' In God will I praise his word, in the Lord will I praise his word.' Can you praise him not only for his acts of mercy, but for his promises of mercy ? Though there be nothing of performance, yet there is ground not only of hope but of praise that we have his word ; and David redoubleth it, as a thing of undoubted experience.
5. Do the promises stir up any longing and looking for the blessings promised ? There will be looking, there will be not only more fre- quent meditation, but a more earnest expectation. Faith will thrust out the head, and look if it can see God a-coming, there will be a con- stant observation how the word is made good ; for faith is required not only for our comfort, but that we may be witnesses of God's faithful- ness, that we may see how he makes good his promises : Joshua xxiii. 14, ' Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you ; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.' And then for longing, when shall it once be ? The nearer we come to enjoy Christ, the more impatient should we grow : 2 Peter iii. 12, ' Looking for and hastening unto the ooming of the day of God.' Faith is earnest, but it doth not give over looking out for the mercy expected.
6. What influence have the promises of God upon your prayers ? Can you come into God's presence with more confidence because you have the word of God on your side, and cast yonrselves upon his word in the midst of doubts and fears, and in the face of discouragements ? Can you put promises in suit ? Ps. cxix. 25, ' My soul cleaveth unto the dust ; quicken thou me according to thy word.' Can you throAv in to God his hand-writing, and put him in remembrance of his pro- mises ? Lord, whose are these ? As Tamar, when Judah was about to condemn her, said, Gen. xxxviii. 25, ' Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.' Prayer is faith acted ; there we come to exercise that trust that we have had in the promises : James i. 7, ' But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting ; ' there we show how we can bear up ourselves upon the word, and put a humble challenge upon the Lord ; we come to put his bond in suit. Now can you thus draw near to God, seeking the full performance of his word ? as David ; Ps. cxix. 49, ' Kemember thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.' David there pleads two things ; God's promise, and his hope. The grant of a promise and the gift of faith ; thou hast caused me to hope, therefore make good thy promise. Ey two things God becomes a debtor, Deus promiilendo se fecit debit orem, et Deus doncmdo debet — God makes himself a debtor by pro
VeR. 13.] SERMONS UPON HEBRE^VS XI. 309"
mising, and by giving grace. He will not disappoint faith, otherwise he would stir np such an excellent grace in vain.
7. What influence have the promises upon your j^ractice and conversa- tion ? By that you may judge whether you have this faith : 2. Peter iii. 11, 12, ' What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness ; looking for and hastening to the coming of the day of God.' The course of our lives doth discover the certainty of our hopes ; they that are not such manner of persons do not look for such things. Can a man look for the resurrection of the body, and only use his body as a strainer for meats and drinks, and a channel for lust to run in ? Can a man look to be one of the virgins that shall follow the Lamb, that defiles his soul with every base lust ? Can a man look to see God, and suffer his eyes to run after vanity ? to be with Christ hereafter, and walk in disobedience to his commands for the present ? And as the quality of our hopes will be hereby discovered, so will the strength of our hopes also : James i. 8, 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.' He that is full of doubts will be off and on in point of obedience ; he will be unstable in his way because unstable in his faith. You may know the rate and measure of your faith by your conversa- tion : he that is firmly persuaded, and hath his heart fixed in the promises, will be more constant in the course of his obedience ; his religion will not be by fits and starts, now and then a good pang, and then off again. For the promises are the great motives of obedience, we work as we are persuaded of them ; but when we are up and down, at least it argues an interruption of faith. A wavering trust and a fickle carriage go together.