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continued in a good condition. But in the work of redemption God doth good to evil men. God transcends in his love, because the glory of his morcy roigns in the work of redemption ; so that the power, and wisdom, uud mercy being greater in the work of redemption, it requires a more supernatural power in tho soul to apprehend this than any other truth. As the work in redemption is more glorious, so the divine grace and virtue in the soul, that makes use of this, which is ftxith, it must be more excellent than all other graces whatsoever. And as it must bo God that must save and redeem us, so it must be God that must persuade the heart of this. As Christ, who is God, must perform the work of redemption, so it must be God tho Holy Ghost that must persuade the heart, that God loves it so much, and raise the heart to apprehend it, and make use of it; no less power will do it. Let us, I say, have great conceits of this excellent grace of faith. 'AH men have not faith,' 2 Thcs. iii. 2. It is a rare grace, a rare jewel. When Christ comes, * shall ho find faith in the world?' Luke xviii. 8. Ccrtahdy it is a mystery for a man to believe in Christ, for a natural man to be brought to rely upon Christ. ' To you it is given to believe,' saith the apostle, Mat. xiii. 11.- Ho might well say, it is ' given.' It is no ordinary gift neither. Therefore let us pray with the disciples, ' Lord, increase our faith,' Luke xvii. 5 ; and with the poor man in the gospel, ' Lord, I believe, help my unbelief,' Mat. ix. 24.
The next thing I shall touch shall be this, that faith is put here for all graces. Here, in these six clauses of this ' great mystery of godliness,' there is only this one that is within us. ' God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, received up in glory' — these are all without us. But this one, ' believed on in the world,' that is only within us, and it is set down instead of all, and indeed so it is ; for it draws all other graces after it. It enlivens and quickens the soul. It is the spring of spiritual life in us. It is the first grace of all. There are Bome degrees of the Spirit perhaps before it ; but all graces have their quickening from faith. It infuseth supernatural vigour into all the parts and powers of the soul, and into all graces whatsoever. "Where Christ is ' believed on in the world,' all follows, love and patience, and courage and fortitude whatsoever ; as we see in Heb. xi. 2, ' By faith they had a good report.' They had a good report for patience and for courage, and other good works ; but all these came from faith. Therefore, ' by faith they had a good report.' Therefore the acting of all other graces, it comes from faith. By faith, ' Enoch walked with God ;' by faith, Noah and Moses did so and so, signifying that faith is the ground of all. Faith it fetcheth spiritual life from Christ for all, whatsoever is good ; it knits us to the spring of life, Christ ; it is the grace of union. Even as Satan, by unbe- lief, did infuse all his poison at the first ; for by making our fij-st parents stagger in the word of God came sin ; so by faith all obedience comes ; all have their rising and beginning from faith.
As it draws spiritual life from Christ, so the encouragements are by faith, to all other graces whatsoever, for patience and love, &c. Faith must set before them the object and the reasons from the glory to come, from the love of God in Christ. When faith propounds all this, then it stirs and quickens all graces. Faith yields strong reasons and discourse, to stir us up to whatsoever is necessary. Why do I hope for the glory to come ? I beheve it first. Why do I love God'? I believe he is my Father, in * Eather Phil i. 29.— Ed.
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Christ. All have strength from love, and that from faith : unless I believe that God loves me in Christ, I cannot love him ; unless I love him, I can express no virtue for him, no patience, no good work. So it puts hfc into all ; therefore it is hex-e put for all, ' believed on in the world.' It should stir us up to make much of this faith ; above all graces to desire it.
And being a mystery, and so excellent a grace, we have need to discern whether we have it or no. Therefore I will touch a few evidences, some of them out of the text.
1. First, If you believe, it comes usualhj after j^jreaching. We see here, ' preached to the Gentiles,' and then ' believed on in the world.' Whence came thy faith ? If not by the ordinance of God, thou mayest expect it to be a bastard faith ; it hath not a right beginning ; especially if it be joined with contempt of God's ordinance, it is no faith, buf, a presumptuous con- ceit. Preaching and believing here go one after another. Therefore examine how thy faith was wrought in thy heart.