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promises, and see a necessit}' of obepng the one as well as resting upon the other : Ps. cxix. 66, ' Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I have believed thy commandments/ There is a faith that is con- versant about the commands as well as the promises ; these are part of his word, and therefore must be believed. Faith is an assent to the whole doctrine of G-od, not only that part which coucerueth our privi- leges, but that other part which concerneth our duty ; the one part is as true as the other, and if we assent to it heartily, or ' receive the word gladly," Acts ii. 41, we are bound to acknowledge the precepts as well as to expect the graces and benefits of the new covenant.
[2.] Take faith for dependence, or a confident relying upon God's mercy in Christ, and still faith and holiness are near akin, and do one imply the other. Partly, because when we choose and accept of Christ, we choose and accept of him as a lord and king, as well as a saviour ; Acts V. 31, ' Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a saviour," for Christ is the perfect antitype to Melchisedec king of Salem, which is by interpretation, ' king of righteousness, and after that, king of peace.' As a saviour to beget peace, so a king to command ihe heart , so that if we take Christ with all his titles, we must necessarily mingle resolutions of duty with expectations of mercy ; and as we thrive in the one, we grow in the other. Our confidence in God's mercy can be no gi-eater than our fidelity to God's commands. When love to the world or the flesh tempts us to omit any part of our duty, or work any disorder in our souls, JSatan will easily weaken our confidence thereby, and sin will breed distrust, when the soul is serious. Confidence and comfort follow grace, as heat doth fire ; and fears and doubts follow sin, as pain doth the pricking of a needle, or some sharp thing where- with a man goreth himself. And partly, because faith in this sense is an act of obedience to God"s will, and thertfore drawetli all other parts of obedience along with it ; for we believe in Christ, because God hath commanded it : 1 John iii. 23, ' And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ ; ' and John vi. 29, ' This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent' Many times a poor soul hath no other motive and encouragement, but ventiu-eth in the face of difiiculties on the encouragement of a com- mand ; as Peter : Luke v. 5, ' We have toiled all night, and taken nothing ; nevertheless, at thy command, I will let down the net.' So say, Lord ! I am an unworthy, poor, frail creature ; yet at thy command I will believe. Well then, I reason thus, that which is itself the obedience of a command cannot be the cause of disobedience. We must not pick and choose ; the main work doth not exclude the rest, but enforce it. Certainly if we believe on God's command, we will make conscience of other things that are commanded, as well as faith ; for he is truly obedient to no precept that doth not obey all : James ii. 10, * Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.' The same reason that maketli us believe, upon believing will make us obey God in other things, for all are enforced by the same authority. And partly, because this dependence of faith is the endeavour of a contrite or broken heart to come out of his misery, and to seek happiness of God by Christ. Now a broken heart cannot wax wanton against God ; if we seek our relief by Christ, we cannot
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allow ourselves in rebellion against Christ : there is a contradiction in the thing ; he cannot be an enemy to Christ, and hate him in whom he would trust. Among men dependence begets observance : Ps. cxxiii. 2, ' Behold, as the eyes of servants look upon the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden on the hand of her mistress ; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that he hath mercy upon us ; ' or rather: Phil. ii. 12, 13, ' Work out your salvation with fear and trem- bling, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do.' Men will not ojEFend him from whom they look for their all. So that dependence and obedience mutually infer one another.
III. I come to the third thing, to show what faith doth in order to obedience.
1. It urgeth the soul with. God's authority, and chargeth the heart, as it will answer it to him another day, not to neglect or despise the duty we owe to him. It is faitli alone that doth acknowledge and im- prove God's sovereignty, and worketh the sense of it into the heart to any purpose. And that for these reasons —