The Life of Faith, Chapter 1 – Chapter 3
CHAP. I. The Iust shall liue by his Faith.
THE basest life excels the best meere being, as much as Adam, the redde lumpe of earth whereof hee was made. The liuing Dog, the dead Lyon. Betweene life and life what a breadth of difference is there? from the Mushrome to the Angels how many kindes of life? Yea, in one and the same kind how many degrees? The bondslaue hath a life as well as the King, the sicke man as the whole; but such, as in comparison may rather bee termed a death. One best there is in eueryevery kind as it approcheth neerest to that Fountaine of Life and Being, with whom to be, and to be most happy is all one. Poore Man hath, or rather had a certaine pitch and period of happy life, consisting in the Image and fauour of his Creator, from which hauing once fallen, it would pittie one to see how lamely and blindly he reaspires thereunto. The most part groaping as the Sodomites after Lots dore, the blinde misguiding the blinde in the common Labyrinth of error; each one imagining he hath found the way, and so tells his dreame to his neighbour for a truth. The Couetous when he hath gotté goods, as if he had gotten the true Good, applaudes his soule, as if it were the soule of some Swine, Soule thou hast many goods, now, &c. The Voluptuous when he hath satiate himselfe with the huske of pleasure, cries out hee hath liued the onelyonly royall and Iouiall life. The Ambitious when hee hath climbed the pitch and slipperie hill of Honour, builds his nest in the starres, thinkes himselfe in the skie and highest sphere of happinesse. Alas, alas, doe not all these know they are in the Chambers of death? Dead whilest they are aliue, no better then walking ghosts in the shapes of liuing men: seeking and placing a spirituall and heauenly Iewell, in earthly pelfe, in watery Pleasures, in ayerie Honours, which being all dead, cannot affoord that life which they hauehave not themselues. Verily, if one liue an hundreth yeeres, beget children, plant and build, and see no other good but such as these, the vntimely byrth is better then he. What then? Is this tree of life not to be recouered, no where to be found againe, yes doubtlesse, though there be many by-pathes, there is a Way; though many errors, there is a Truth; though many deathes, there is a Life. And behold, oh man that standest vponupon the waies, inquiring after life. He that is the Way, Truth and Life that came from heauen to vanquish death, and by his death hath brought thee to life againe, who onelyonly hath the words of life, Hee hath shewed thee the true way to life. Hath he not twise or thrise shewed thee in this liuely Oracle of his,Heb. 2 4. The Iust shall liue by Faith. Yea,Rom. 1. 17. but if a man like to our selues might come from the dead that hath made proofe of this way and life,Gal 3. 11. and would speake of his own experience:Heb. 10. 38. would we heare? Behold Paul, slaine by the Law, reuiued by the Gospell, what doe wee thinke of him? Did he not from the time of his conuersion to the time of his dissolution, enioy a constant tenour of ioy; liue, if euer any, comfortably, happily: And doth not hee tell vsus, euen while he liued in the flesh, that he liued by the Faith of our Lord Iesus Christ.Gal. 2. 20, Surely he must needs be blessed that liueth by the same faith with Bloffed Paul. Come therefore, you which desire to see good dayes and lay holde on the waies of life. Beleeue and liue.
CHAP. II. Christ the Fountaine, and Faith the meane of Life.
WHat then? Commit we sacriledge against Christ in deifying of Faith? Rob we the Lord to adorne the seruant with his diuine honours? God forbid. Let that be giuen to Christ which is Christs, and that to Faith which is Faiths. Let the power of life and death be intirely reserued euer ascribed to the Lord of life, the well of life, the light and life of the World, the breath of our nosthrils, the life of our liues. Thy body, oh man! hath it soule which enliues it, and so hath thy soule its soule whereby it liues, and that is Christ the quickning spirit. Take away the soule from the body, and earth becomes earth; seuer Christ and the soule, what is it but a dead carrion? Elementary bodies lighten and darken, coole and warme, die and reuiue as the Sunne presents or absents it selfe from them, Christ is to our soules the Sunne of righteousnesse: Sin parts vsus; Faith reunites vsus: And so wee liue primarily and properly by Christ as by the soule: by Faith, secondarily, as by the spirits, the bond of soule and body: by a personall and speciall faith appropriating Christ to the beleeuer, as the leg or arme liues by proper sinews, arteries and nerues,Chrysost. in 1 Cor. 1. 10. foreign. vniting it to the liuer, heart and head, such an one as Paul had in Christ that dyed for him, whereby hee ingrosseth the common God to himselfe, as if his and no bodies else.
Thus saith hee himselfe that is the Truth and the Life,Iohn 11. 25. I am the Life and Resurrection of the World, hee that beleeueth in mee, though hee be dead, yet shall he liue and not die. And this is the testimony of those three heauenly and earthly witnesses.1 Iohn 5. God gaue life to the Sonne, And he that hath the Sonne hath Life. And he that hath Faith hath the Son. So that whateuer we lend to Faith, it redoundes to the honor of Christ; neither hauehave we any sinister intent to praise the wombe or the paps of Faith, but to cast all vponupon Christ who giues and works this Faith in vsus, vivisies and nourishes it, yea iustifies the imperfection thereof by the perfection of his merit. Nay, let Faith knowe that if shee should waxe arrogant towards her Lord, or insolent ouer her fellow seruants, she should Lucifer-like fall from her dignity, and in so doing, of the best of graces, become the worst of vices. Verily, what hath the habite of Faith in it selfe considered better or equall with louelove? Is it not a poorer and meaner Act to beleeue then to louelove: more like a beggarly receiuing, then a working and deseruing hand? Haile then oh Faith freely graced, graciously exalted aboue all Christs Handmaides. Thy Lord hath looked vponupon thy meane estate, because that hauing nothing of thine owne, as other Vertues hauehave, whence thou mightest take occasion to reioyce, thou mightest the better exclude that hatefull Law of boasting, the more humbly and frankely reflect all vponupon thy Lord: who willingly emptied himselfe that he might fill thee with honour, whiles hee sayes to the cured of the Palsey Goe thy way thy Faith hath saued thee. Hence forth cals hee thee no more seruant or friend, but stiles thee as Adam his Spouse, Chauah, the Mother of all Liuing: Counts it no iniurie to diuide his praises with thee, likes it well that thou which doest nothing but by him, shouldest bee said to doe all things which he doth: To purifie the heart, Act. 15. 9.to ouer come the world, 1 Ioh. 5. 4.to saue men, &c. 1 Pet. 1. 9.And è contra, hee to doe nothing without thee, which yet does all of himselfe. Hee could worke no Miracles in Capernaum because they had no Faith. So glorious and wonderfull things are spoken of thee: (I had almost said) so omnipotent is thy strength which hast said to the Sunne and Moone, Stand yee still; yea if but as big as the least graine, canst say to the greatest Mountaines, Remoue. What can God doe which Faith cannot doe if requisite to bee done? Questionlesse, Iustifying Faith is not beneath miraculous in the sphere of it owne actiuitie, and where it hath the warrant of Gods Word. It's not a lesser power then these, to say, Thy Sinnes are forgiuen thee, thy person is accepted of God, what-euer thou askest thou shalt hauehave, &c. Wherefore we need not doubt vnderunder Christ without feare of Praemunire, or offence to his Crowne and Dignity, to affirme of Faith, That it is Gods arme and power to the enliuing and sauing of eueryevery beleeuer, as it is written, The Iust shall liue by Faith.
CHAP. III. The third kinde of the Life of Faith.
BVt least wee seeme to speake swelling thinges, whiles we soare in the Cloud of generalities, let vsus descend to some solide particulars. Three thinges there are whence commeth Death to the Soule of Man, Sinne with the guilt thereof giues the first deadly blow, exposing it to the wrath of God who is a Consuming fire, whose anger is the messenger of Death, whence came the first Thunderbolt striking thorough the Soule, that sentence of God to Adam, Thou shalt dye; And such as Nathans to Dauid, Thou hast sinned and art the childe of Death.
The second, is the spott and corruption of sinne deprauing, yea, deading all the faculties of man to spirituall actions, which made Paul cry out, That which I would doe, I doe not; And wretched man that I am, who shall deliuer me from this body of Death.
Thirdly, that swarme of plagues and army of punishments, in the re-reward wherof comes first a second death. All which made Iob cry out, Iob 3. 20.Why is light giuen to him that is in misery, and life vntounto the bitter in soule? which long for death more then for treasures; and ioy when they can finde the graue.
Were it not for these three, man might liue, fare, and doe well, but sin hauing entred into the World, brought in Death with it, which reigneth and triumpheth ouer the sonnes of Adam with this three-forked Scepter, of Guilt, of Corruption, of Punishment.
Here comes in Faith with a three fould Antidote, brings vsus to the Tree of Life, whose fruit and whose leaues heale vsus of the sting and deadly poyson of Sinne: working in vsus a three-fold life opposite to the forenamed deaths.
The first is the life of righteousnesse, discharging vsus from the sentence of death, restoring the light of Gods countenance appeased in Christ our surty: which made Dauid cry out,Psal. 32. Blessed is the man whose sinne is couered.
The second is the life of the Spirit, or new life, regenerating & reuiuing eueryevery faculty, & quickning vsus to eueryevery good worke; which maks Paul glory, that he is able to do al things through Christ inabling him.Phil. 3
The third, is the life of ioy and comfort, cheering the soule in the middest of all trials and tribulations; which made Iob in the valley of death exult and trust in his liuing Redeemer, and Paul insult ouer all kinde of Calamities as more then Conquerour, Romaines 8.
In these three, being contained what-euer accomplisheth the life of the soule: may not Faith well be said to supply abundantly all things pertaining to life and godlinesse? But what doe I treating of the kindes of life? what should I blot paper and tyre my Reader in writing of the kinds of Faith, the degrees of Faith, or any other motions of Faith: things so well known of those that know any thing of Christ? That nothing so much vexeth me to see so much spoken and written of faith, so little done by it, the Theory of it so throughly canuased and cleered in Controuersies and Sermons, and the practise of it so obscured and disgraced in the liues of Christians.