Now, if you would know whether your faith groweth or no, you must discover it by the firmness of your assent, or the resolvedness of your consent, or the peace and confidence of your reliance.
1. For assent. If you believe the word of God, especially the gospel part, with an assent so strong that you can resolve to venture your
SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I, 3. 117
whole happiness in this bottom, and let go all that you may obtain the liopes which the gospel oflereth to you, certainly he hath a strong faith who taketh God's promises for his whole felicity, and God's word for liis only security ; he needeth no more, nor no better thing, nor surer conveyance to engage him to hazard all that he hath, when the enjoy- ment of it is inconsistent with his fidelity to Christ.
2. Your consent. A full, entire, hearty consent to resign yourselves to Christ ; not a feeble consent, such as is contradicted by every foolish and hurtful lust, but a prevalent consent, such as can maintain itself notwithstanding difficulties, temptations, and oppositions of the flesh, and control all other desires and delights whatsoever.
3. For reliance. When you can trust him for deliverance from the guilt, power, and punishment of sin, and to quicken, strengthen, and preserve grace in you to everlasting life. You trust him in all his offices; as a priest, when you believe his merits and sacrifice, and comfort your- selves with his gracious promises and covenant, and come to God with more boldness and hope of mercy upon the account of his intercession, especially in all extremities and necessities: Heb. iv. 14-16, 'Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession ; for we have not tm high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infir- mities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin : let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.' You trust him as a prophet when you give up yourselves as his disciples to the con- duct of his word and Spirit, being persuaded that he will infallibly teach you the way to true happiness : John vi. 68, ' Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life.' You trust him as a king when you become his subjects, and are persuaded that he will govern you in truth and righteousness in order to your salvation, and defend you by his mighty power from all your enemies : 2 Tim i. 12, ' I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded, that he is able to Iceep that which I have committed unto him against that day ; ' and 2 Tim. iv. 18, ' And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.'
SERMON III
Your faith groiuetJi exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all towards each other aboundetli. — 2 Thes. i. 3.
The growth and increase of faith may be judged of — (1.) By the nature of faith ; (2.) The properties of it ; (3.) The examples and instances of great faith in scripture.
We are now upon the second thing, the properties.
1. A dependence upon God for something that lieth out of sight.
118 SERM(JNS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. 3.
That this is an essential pi'operty of faith appeareth by the description of it : Heb. xi. 1, ' The evidence of things not seen; ' that is, not seen by sense and reason. 8ome things are invisible by reason of their nature, as God, for ' no man hath seen God at any time/ John i. 18 ; and therefore he is called ' the invisible God,' Col. i. 15. And some things by reason of their distance, because they are absent and future, as the glory of the world to come, and therefore it is an object of faith and hope : Rom. viii. 24, ' For hope that is seen is not hope ; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for it ? ' Vision and possession exclude hope, and leave no room and place for it. Now without faith a man can have no sight of these things : 2 Peter i. 9, 'He that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off.' There is a mist upon eternity, and we cannot look beyond the clouds of this lower world unless we have the eagle-eye of faith ; but by faith we can see them, so as to frame our lives accordingly : 2 Cor. v. 7, ' For we walk by faith, and not by sight.' By sense we see what is pleasing or displeasing to the flesh, but by faith what conduceth to the saving or losing of the soul. Faith being very much like sight, and serving us for the govern- ment of the soul, as sight doth for the body, it may much be explained by it. Now to bodil}'' sight there must be an object, a medium to make the object conspicuous, and a faculty or organ. (1.) The great object of faith is eternal life, as procured by Cln-ist and promised in the gospel. There is no use of sight where nothing is to be seen ; therefore the object is set before us in the view of f'Aih, in the promises of the gospel, Heb. vi. 18, and xii. 2. God's truth is as certain as sight itself can be in it ; we see all things promised as sure and near. (2.) The medium; as we see colours in the light of the air, so these spiritual and heavenly things in the light of the Spirit: 1 Cor. ii. 11, 12, 'For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given us of God.' (3.) The eye, or visive power. A blind man cannot see at noonday, nor the sharpest sight at midnight. Now this eye is faith, which is the evidence of things not seen ; we are as sure of them as if we saw them with our eyes, or as we are of those things which we now see with our eyes.