(to) p. 354. — 'But as one of the ancients saith well, "If ho had gone to heaven another way, he might have come thither himself, but he could not have helped ua that way,'' ' &c. Qu. Bernard?
(n) P. 354. — ' It was a cursed wish of a Pagan emperor " When I am dead, let heaven and earth be mingled if they will.'' ' One of many wild sayings ascribed to Nero. G.
/
THE LIFE OF FAITH.
THE LIFE OF FAITH.
NOTE.
' Tlie Life of Faith forms Nos. 27 and 28 and (witli ' Salvation Applied' as its sequel) 29 in the edition of ' The Saint's Cordials' published in 1629. In the editions of 1037 and 1658, the three Sermons form Nos. 17, 18, and 19. The text followed in that of 1637, on which see note page 176 ante. The separate title-page of ' The Life of Faith' will be found below,* and that of ' Salvation Applied,' the third of the Sermons composing it, in its place. G.
* T n E LIFE OF FAITH.
In three Sermons.
WHEREIN IS SHEWED,
Wliat this Life of Faith is : Why
Faith has so much attributed unto it : And
how to live this glorious Life in all the Ecverall
passages of our Pilgrimage.
By R. S. D. D.
["Wrodcut here as before. Cf. Vol. IV. page 60.]
L ON DON,
Printed for R. Davvlman, at the brazen Serpent in Pauls Churchyard. 16 3 7.
THE LIFE OF FAITH.
SERMON I.
And the life ivhich I now live in the flesh I live htj the faith of the Son of God, ivho loved me, and gave himself for me. — Gal. II. 20.
They are the words of a man pursued by the law unto Christ, proceeding from the Spirit of Christ ; the nature whereof is, to apply generals to par- ticulars. So St Paul here, ' The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.' He sees he is dead by the law ; therefore he seeks for a better husband. The law finds him dead, and leaves him dead. Thus pursued by the tenor of the law, he flies to Christ, and says, ' I am crucified with Christ,' nevertheless I live. How ? ' Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.'
There be three ranks of men in the world, under which all men may be comprehended.
1. The estate of nature.
2. The estate of men under the spirit of bondage.
3. The estate of grace under the gospel.
This is the speech of one of the third rank, of a man awaked by the spirit of bondage, who hath attained to a clear and evident sight of his misery, and of the excellent remedies, of a man who hath attained to a new frame and temper of soul. It is the speech of a person in the state of grace, who now aspires to a more noble and excellent life. In the words we may consider divers things.
1. That there is another manner of life than the ordinary life of nature.
2. That it is a better and more excellent life than that he formerly lived ; as if he had said, Now, since I have seen the misery of my former natural estate, and the excellency of a spiritual life by faith in the Son of God, I esteem my former life to have been wretched, not worthy of the name of life, compared with that which I live now, as being founded in a better root than the ' first Adam.'
3. The spring of this life is the Son of God. God is life naturally, and we have life no otherwise than from him who quickeneth all things.
4. The conveyance of this spiritual life is by faith. Water springs not without a conduit to carry and spread it. The sun warms not without beams, and the liver conveys not blood without veins. So faith is that vessel which conveys this spiritual life, that conduit wherein all spiritual
860 THE LIFE OF FAITH.
graces rnii, for tlm framing and worldnfi; of spiritual life, conveying all, to pitch upon those excclleucics of the Son of God.
5. The object and root of this spiritual life is, faith in the Son of God, loving him, and giving himself for him.
So there is a life besides the natural life, and the root of it is Christ, who is our life. Life is the best thing in the world, most esteemed of us ; as the devil said concerning Job, * Skin for skin, and all that a man hath ■will he give for his life,' Job. ii. 4. Life is the foundation of all com- forts ; life is the vigour proceeding from soul and body. So the spiritual life is nothing else but that excellent vigour, and strong connected strength of the soul and body renewed, grounded on supernatural reasons, which makes it follow the directions of the word, over-master the flesh, and so by degrees be transformed into the image of Christ, consisting in holiness and righteousness.
Doct. The first point then is, that there is a better life than a natural life, because there is somewhat in a man which aspires and looks to a bet- ter estate. A child in the mother's womb hath life and senses in that dark place, but it is not contented therewith, but is restless as in a prison, tumbles and turns up and down ; for this life that it hath is not to dwell there, but a beginning-life to fit it to live in the more open and spacious world, whither it must shortly be sent forth. So in this dark life of ours there is a divine instinct, power, and faculty in men, that nothing here can suffice ; which shews, that there is a place to satiate the will and the under- standing, and fill the aifections ; that there is a condition which shall make a man fully happy. That there must be a better life, which is this spiritual life ; for this life which we live in the flesh is a thing of nothing. Our little life we live here, wherefore is it ? To live a while, to eat and drink and enjoy our pleasures, and then fall down and die like a beast ? Oh no, but to make a beginning for a better life. If this life be such a blessing, what is then that most excellent spiritual life we speak of? It holds out beyond all. By this spiritual life, when one is most sick, you shall see him most lively and spiritual. When sense, and spirit, and sight, and all fail, yet by reasons drawn from spiritual life he comforts himself in Christ, the glory to come, and what he hath done for him. So the apostle shews the aim of a Christian is to be in suflerings of this life for the increase of a better, 2 Cor. iv. 10, saith he, ' Always bearing about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.' When the body is weakest, the spirit is strongest. Take a man who hath not this spirit and hope, he is a la mort* at the apprehension of death, because he hath no faith, no knowledge, no quickening life, no sense or taste of more excellent things ; he knows not whether there be a Holy Ghost or not : or if he be convinced in conscience, yet he is taken up with horrors, and fears condemnation at hand for ever- more. Oh what are we without this life ? Otherwise an heathen or an infidel were as happy as we.