Further: Faith in the fenfe under confideration is what believers live by, according as it is written, The just fall live by his faith. Some are apt to imagine that the vigorous actings of the foul are here intended. Such live (fuch a life as it is) by the workings of their own mind, which they call faith. But furely this is not the life of faith pointed to in the fcripture; far otherwife. The foul that is fpiritually quickened, lives a much nobler life than this. He lives by his faith it is true; but what is the believer's faith? undoubtedly Chrift as he is revealed in the word. He is our life, Col. iii. 4. and, This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am (fays Chrift) the living bread which came down from Heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. He, therefore, who lives by any thing else, whether his frames, feelings, his fuppofed humble breathings, holinefs, fweet fenfations, &c. is in the estimation of him who cannot err, a dead finner. Jefus faid unto them verily verily I fry unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the fon of man and drink his blood, ye have NO LIFE IN YOU, John vi. 53. Once more: under this part of the definition, we are to conceive of faith fanctifying. Acts. xxvi. 18. Sanctifyed by faith which is in me. Chap. xv. 9. Purifying their hearts by faith. Nothing else can be intended but the truth believed, according to our Lord's prayer, John xvii. 17. Sanctify them thro' thy truth: thy word is truth. Chap. xv. 3, Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you, 1. Cor. i. 30. Eph. v. 26. Thus the precious truth as it is in Jefus, dwelling in the heart, produces every good difpofition, and prompts to every good work. It dwells in the understanding, and enlightens it. It poffeffeth the confcience and purges it from dead works. It prevails in the will and dif pofes it to pray, Father, thy will be done. I It en gages gages the affections, and regulates and influences them, and of courfe the outward converfation will be adorned with every good word and work. Such are the triumphs, and fuch the correfpondent effects of divine truth in the foul. The fecond part therefore of the apostles definition of faith, leads us to conceive of it as The evidence of things not feen. From hence it appears, that they who chufe to define faith a believing without evidence from fcripture, fenfe, or reafon; differ effentially from the apostle. Paul held no fuch crude notions. As a man of good fenfe, as a pupil of Gamaliel; and as a difciple of the Holy Ghost; he knew the abfurdity of propofing any thing to be believed, without evidence of its exiftence and reality. Equally abfurd is their notion who, in order to appear more than ordinarily accurate, cenfure and folemnly condemn the idea, of believing being an act of the mind. It is acknowledged, indeed, that very unfcriptural fentiments have prevailed about acts of faith, when they are supposed to arise from fome previous principle, well difpofing the mind of unbelievers towards the gofpel. Yet, if it be admitted poffible for the foul of man to act (and who will deny that it does?) there is nothing more properly an act of the mind, than believing a truth; in which firft the mind perceives it; then confiders the evidence offered to fupport it; and finally gives affent to it. And can this comport with inactivity?. We must either fay then, that the foul acts in believing the gofpel; or that the foul is an inactive fpirit, which is abfurd. No inquiries are of greater importance in treating upon faith than, What is truth? and, upon what kind of evidence is the truth to be received? In regard to the first Christ says, I AM THE TRUTH. And what he means by that, the new Teftament is intended to illuftrate: which has been confidered in the the former Effay.-As to the evidence upon which the truth is to be received, it might be obferved in general, that evidence fhould always be of the fame nature with what is propofed to be believed.-Are we to receive the gofpel, becaufe, or just as far as it is agreeable to reafon? No: for then reafon would be fet up to inform us what God ought to fay. And as what is called reafon, wears an evil eye to the truth, it is not to be fuppofed that we can receive it in the love of it, upon this evidence. Are we then from fome impreffions upon the mind which are thought to be the convictions of the Holy Spirit? No: for then we fhould receive nothing from God, but what in fome certain way or other, we feel impreffed upon our minds. However many find it convenient to believe upon this kind of evidence; because then they can chufe what part of the word of God they like beft: and readily avoid what is difagreeable to them, likely to injure their reputation among profeffors, or hurt their worldly intereft. Are we upon the evidence, that the fathers, the church, the wife and learned, or the great and pious have produced? No: for then we fhould acknowledge masters upon earth, contrary to Chrift's command: neither would this be hearing his voice, but the voice of the learned, the pious, &c. and would at beft, be but "human faith." Are we to receive the truth, upon the force of a philofophical argument, or a mathematical, or logical demonftration? By no means: for this kind of evidence is unfuitable to the nature of the teftimony, which is not written in the words of man's wifdom. The truth to be believed being divine, the evidence upon which it is received must be of the fame nature. And the gofpel has its most proper evidence in itself. The majefty which clothes the facred pages evidently declares, that God himself fpeaks there. When the Spirit of truth opens the understanding, by the entrance of the word, to understand and know I 2 the 312890B the truth as it is in Jefus, the light, power, andevidence thereof produces a confidence in the fame. We believe and are fure, because the faithful and true witness has spoken it, 1. John v. 10. and this certainty of foul, grounded upon unchanging veracity, is the evidence of things not feen. However as cur knowledge of the gospel admits of degrees, fo our faith may be denominated weak or ftrong, and we be ftiled, agreeable thereunto, babes, young men, or fathers in Chrift. Believing then, whether the things believed are human or divine, is nothing more than a conviction of foul, that those things are truc. This conviction is nothing more, than the force of fatisfactory evidence. And this evidence, in the gofpel, is in the things believed. It has rather inconfiderately been faid by fome, that what we understand we cannot help believing: for this is not literally true. Two perfons may equally understand the nature of a propofition, while the one receives it as true, and the other rejects it as falfe. I may clearly understand the error of my friend; but does it follow that I cannot help believing it? Yet it certainly is impoffible, that we fhould understand a propofition to be true, and not believe it, whether the nature of the thing be agreeable or difpleafing.-When it is faid all faith fuppoles evidence, it is not to be understood, that every thing fpoken of in the fcripture is to be comprehended in all its parts, powers, and qualities, in an abfolute fenfe before we believe it; or that we should reject what we cannot fathom. For then we muft not only difbelieve that there is a God, but also every thing that neceflarily belongs to him yea, and ten thousand things in nature befides.. We believe that God IS. But How he exifts, our underftandings were not framed to conceive of, nor are we called to believe. So there is fufficient evidence, both buman and divine, that the fcriptures are the word of God; though many facred truths are only known known in their nature and extent, to him who fearches the deep things of God; for even Paul himfelf in the view of them, not being able to explore, cries out, O the depth! Yet it fhould be ob ferved that, He who is perfectly wife, and cannot be deceived; faithful and good, and will not deceive his creatures; has revealed nothing but what is worthy of himself. He does not bind his intelligent creatures to believe real inconfiftencies; for though the fublime truths are above human reason, they are not inconfiftent with it. But what evidence have we in the true fayings of God, of that which man believes for his falvation? Firft: there is evidence of the fufficiency of Chrift's work to fave to the UTTERMOST, the most guilty, the most polluted, and the most abandoned wretch on. this fide hell. This pleafing fact is confirmed in the refurrection of Chrift from the dead, wherein the infinite dignity of his perfon, obedience, and facrifice is demonftrated: for the declared import of this is, That repentance and remiffion of fins should be preached in his name, among all nations, beginning at Jerufalem. No perfon that calls this in queftion believes the gofpel: yet every one does this, who difbelieves the fufficiency of the atonement to fave him. Again: there is evidence of the freeness of this falvation. The report of it is spread amongst all nations, and directed to all forts of perfons without diftinction. All its bleffings are to be partaken of freely, as the bestowment of fovereign grace to the guilty finner, as fuch. So that the rude Barbarian and the favage Scythian, have an equal right to partake of this falvation, with the Jew, the polite Greek, or the moft decent Moralift. And when the evidence of the gospel ftrikes the mind, when a finner is once convinced of the veracity of God—. that the fcriptures are his word—and that finners as fuch are invited to partake of the benefits of grace freely; he will need nothing more to convince and 13 fatisfy |