THE LIFE OF FAITH. 155
2. The reason of the event. Some read the text, ' Becanse they were not united by faitli to it ; ' so is the marginal note, and Chryso- stom and many others go that way, and they explain it thus : the greatest part of Israel Avere not of the mind whereof Caleb, and Joshua, and others were, who believed Grod's promise of bringing them into Canaan, and thereupon received no benefit by the promise. But I rather choose the text-reading, — Not being mingled with faith, firj avyK€Kpafievo<i, the word is taken from a potion, which, according to the ingredients put into it, is medicinal or mortal. The word is the potion ; if it hath all its ingredients, if mixed with faith, it produceth its effect, and becometh the power of God to salvation ; if not, it doth us no good, but hurt rather ; or as any liquor mingleth with the thing on which it is poured ; or, as to make the seed fruitful it must be incorporated with the earth, and receive of the virtue and fatness of it ; so the word must not only he heard, but digested by faith, or it will not be profitable, or stand them in any stead that hear it.
Docf. That though the word of God be so great a blessing, and so excellent a means of salvation, yet it doth no good, where it is not mixed with faith in the hearing : Rom. i. 16, ' I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth.'
Consider here — (1.) The things mixed ; (2.) The necessity of this mixture in order to profit.
Fhst, The things mixed ; they are the word of God, and faith.
1. The word of God. A divine revelation is the proper object of faith ; there is a human credulity when we believe anything spoken by man for the authority of the speaker ; but no authority of man can be such a firm and sure ground of faith as the testimony of God, who neither can deceive nor be deceived. Therefore, ' if we receive the testimony of man, the testimony of God is greater,' 1 John v. 9. Now the whole word is to be received and apprehended by faith ; but chiefly the doctrine of the gospel, which containeth the offer of Christ and all his benefits. The whole word is to be received, for faith hath a respect to all truths ; there is the same reason for one as for all, because they are all revealed by God : Ps. cxix. 160, ' Thy word is true from the beginning, and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.' From beginning to ending there is nothing but truth ; whatever is contained in the word is either history or doctrine, or precepts, or promises, or threatenings ; faith mingleth with all these.
[1.] The historical part of the word. These must be believed, because the doctrinal part dependeth thereupon ; as the creation of the world, the fall of man, the promise of the Messiah to Adam, the cov- enant made with Abraham. There is a harmony in the scripture, as in a concert all the notes agree, and suit one with another. The whole scripture suiteth with these historical passages, because they conduce much to our profit ; for they are pawns and evidences of the possibility, yea, certainty of other things that are to come : Ps. cxxi. 2, ' My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.' The scripture is not only a register of what is past, but a prognostication of what is to come. Yea, it servesfor our caution — 'Now all these thingshappened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for om- admonition,' 1 Cor. x. 11.
156 THE LIFE OF FAITH.
Now faith looketh upon these things in the word as if a-doing before our ej^es.
[2. J Doctrines ; as the mystery of the trinity, the union of the two natures in the person of Christ, the benefit of imputed righteousness, that we are healed by another's stripes, the doctrine of the resurrection, &c. All these mystical verities we receive them upon God's revelation. They are properly the objects of faith, because without God's revealing them they cannot be understood and found out by the light of natural reason , and in these things, though we cannot so presently and fully see the reason of what we believe, yet we see reason enough why we should believe them, because they are revealed in the word of God, which no otherwise appeareth to us to be his word. In these things reason must not be heard against scripture, or be set up as the highest judge in matters of religion. As reason corrects sense, so faith reason. To appearance a star is but a little spark or spangle ; but reason will tell us it is much bigger, because of its distance from us. The work of grace is to captivate the pride of our thoughts and prejudices against God's revelation : 2 Cor. x. 5, ' Casting down imaginations, and ever}' high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.' lleason must be captivated to faith, though not to fancy. If it be revealed it must be believed, how absurd and unlikely soever it seem to us ; this is ' receiving the kingdom of God as a little child,' Mat. xviii. 3. A child believeth as he is taught ; I mean by God, not men. Thou art neither fit for heaven, nor the understanding of heavenly things, till thou hast denied thine own wisdom. That which is above reason cannot be comprehended by reason ; all lights must keep their place, sense is the light of beasts, reason of men, and faith of the church ; to consult with nature in supernatural things, it is all one as if you did seek the j udgment of reason among the beasts, and determine of human affairs by brutish instinct. There are many things necessary to religion which the angels themselves could not know if they had not been revealed : Eph. iii. 10, ' That unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.' The way of salvation by Christ is such a mystery as could not have entered into the heart of any creature, no, not an angel. In these things, believe God upon his word ; pills are to be swallowed, not chewed ; if the sick man cheweth them, he spits them up when he tasteth the bitterness of them, and so loseth a wholesome remedy. Or to use Chrysostom's comparison — ' A smith that taketh up his red-hot iron with his hands, and not with his tongs, what can he exj^ect but to burn his fingers ? ' So we destroy our souls when we judge of mysteries of faith by the laws of common reason.