2. The duties always have their difficulty, if rightly understood ; for if we believe so as to be affected with what we believe, so as to be drawn off from what we love, confess so as to practise what we confess, and be true to it, nothing can be added. The scripture supposeth that we are rational creatures, that we will act as we understand, and that we are sincere in our profession, and that we will do what we confess we are bound to do.
Doct All that would be accepted with God unto righteousness and life must be such as believe in Christ with the heart, and openly con- fess with the mouth that he is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world.
I shall do these three things —
SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10. 251
1. Open the nature of faith and confession.
2. Show the respect between them.
3. That God hath established faith as the means to be justified, and confession as the means to be saved.
I. To open the nature of faith and confession.
First, Faith is such a knowledge of Christ as doth not hover in the brain, but is seated in the heart ; and may be determined, partly by the object or matter believed, partly by the subject of it, or the acts of the soul towards it.
1. The object, or matter believed, is in short this : that there is a God, Heb. xi. 6. That God, having made man, he hath right and power over him, to govern him by his laws : James iv. 12, ' There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.' That man, failing in his obedience, he and all his posterity are subject to the wrath and vindictive justice of God : Rom. iii. 19, * That all the world may become guilty before God ; ' Eph. ii. 3, ' And were by nature children of wrath, even as others.' That such was God's love, that, to recover man out of this wretched condition, he sent his own Son into the world, John iii. 16 ; ' That Jesus Christ, who was the Son of God, died for our offences, and rose again for our justification,' Eom. iv. 25 ; that is, died to expiate our sins, and rose again to convince the unbelieving world of the authority and dignity of his person and offices, and also of the truth of his law and covenant ; that having died and rose again, he hath acquired novum jus imperii, a new right of command and empire over the world : Eom. xiv. 9, ' For this cause he both died, and rose again, and revived, that he might be Lord of dead and living ; ' that is, have full power and dominion to dispose of us, dead and living. That Christ, having this full power and dominion over all flesh, hath established and enacted a law of grace, or new covenant, wherein par- don and righteousness, or title to life, is assured to penitent believers : Mark xvi. 16, 'Whosoever belie vetli shall be saved;' and Luke xxiv. 47, ' And that repentance and remission of sins be preached in his name to all nations.' And shall actually be bestowed upon all that obey him, Heb. v. 9. But those that refuse this Christ shall be eternally miserable : John iii. 19, ' This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, •because their deeds are evil.' This is the sum of what is to be believed.
2, It may be determined partly by the subject of it, or the acts of the soul about it. The subject is the heart, both understanding and will. The understanding assents to all this as true, both what is said of the person of the Redeemer and his covenant, and accordingly disposeth the heart of man to carry itself towards both.
[1.] To the person of the Redeemer. We thankfully and broken- heartedly receive him to the ends of the gospel, or to be to us what God hath appointed him to be, and do that for us that God hath appointed him to do for poor sinners. To be our Lord and Saviour, John i. 12, Col. ii. 6, as Lord to obey him, and as Saviour to depend upon him, and trust ourselves in his hands for our happiness, what- ever befalleth us : 2 Tim. i, 12, ' I know whom I have believed, and Sim persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.'
252 SERMON UPON ROMANS X. 10.
[2.] Towards the covenant, which he hath appointed as the law or rule of commerce between us and God. There are promises and precepts, commands and ofifers of grace. (1.) For the promises, you heartily accept them as the greatest happiness that can be bestowed upon you, and depend upon them as things that surely will be per- formed ; for there comes in the consideration of true and good : 1 Tim. i. 15, ' This is a true and faithful saying ; ' Eph. i. 13, ' In whom ye trusted after ye heard the word of truth ; ' as true, doubts are opposite to them ; as good, carnal inclinations, (2.) For the precepts and duties required ; you bind yourselves to perform them upon these hopes, whatever it cost you ; and there comes into the nature of faith sincere resolution and absolute self-denial ; sincere resolution to per- form what God hath required, that you may obtain what he hath offered, which is called a giving up of ourselves to the Lord, 2 Cor. viii. 5 ; and absolute self-denial, or selling all for the pearl of price, Mat. xiii. 46 ; and so that faith, which is made such a difficult thing to explain, as it were, a bugbear to affright poor christians from all thoughts and study ^out it, is made easy and facile to the understandings of the meanest christians, who must live by it, and be saved by it. This then is believing with the heart.