The Doubting Believer, Chapter 3
Cap. III. …f their poſſible conſiſtence with Faith.
ANd here lies the kernell, Whether perſonall doub…ngs, Queſt. (i. e.) doubtings of a mans …articular intereſt in God, and …hriſt, and the promiſes, may …onſiſt with perſonall Faith?
To which I anſwer, They may: Sol. …or (and mark it well) though
1. Doubtings be ſinfull, for they are the ſmoakings of corruption.
2. They be no part of Faith.
3. They cannot conſiſt at the ſame inſtant with the acts of faith; for it is impoſſible that faith ſhould formally doubt. As it is impoſſible that I ſhould lay Simile.hand on the rock, and not lay hand at the ſame time; or that mine eye ſhould ſee and not ſee the colour at the ſame time; or my hand receive, and not receive the gift at the ſame time: So is it impoſſible that the ſoule when it doth beleeve, ſhould doubt, foraſmuch as Faith in In ſenſu compoſito.act, and doubt in act, are oppoſite; and the ſoule cannot poſſibly ſet out from one faculty at the ſame time oppoſite acts; I confeſſe ſucceſſively it may, yet ſimultaneouſly it cannot: But now to beleeve, and to doubt, are oppoſite; for in the one I embrace, in the other I doe not embrace; in the one I reſt, in the other not, &c.
Yet fourthly, Actuall doubtings Actuall doubtings may conſiſt with habituall faith.may be in a perſon who hath habituall faith; for this you muſt know, that faith and doubtings are not oppoſed as life and death, where the preſence of the one determinately concludes the totall abſence of the other; but as cold and heat in remiſſe degrees in the ſubject, where though the nature of cold be not the nature of heat, but naturally one is expulſive of the other, yet both lodge in the ſame roome; So Faith is not Doubting, and Doubting is not Faith, one of theſe is expulſive of the other, yet both may and doe meet in the ſame perſon:
Who is notwithſtanding called How one is ſtyled a Beleever, yet hath doubtings. Simile.a Beleever from the moſt eminent part: For as we truly call many perſons beautifull perſons, though in ſome one or other limbe there may be ſome faulty incongruity in nature, (becauſe that which is better ſtill denominates or gives the name) ſo we ſay that Chriſtian… are true beleevers, becauſe they have faith really in their ſouls, notwithſtanding many culpable doubtings which they feele and expreſſe.
It were a folly indeed that men ſhould think their fields had no corne, becauſe there are many filthy weeds; or that the heap hath no wheat, becauſe much chaffe; or the pile no gold, becauſe much droſſe; or the ſoule no faith, becauſe many doubtings.
I had almoſt ſaid (let it goe, I think it is a truth) there is none had faith, but hath found his doubtings. Did you ever ſee a… fire without ſmoke? Smoke is no part of the fire, yet it ſteams from that fuell, to which fire is put: So it is with faith, and doubtings, &c.
Nay ſee this truth put out of Beleevers have doubted.all doubt by ſeverall inſtances in Scripture: Let this of Mat. 14. 31. be the firſt, O thou of little faith, (ſaid Chriſt to Peter) Peter.Wherefore didſt thou doubt? Where, though Chriſt did reprehend him for doubting, yet as he doth intimate his doubting, ſo his faith too: Hee had faith, though little, and doubtings, though he had that faith; there was the one, and there was the other, they were both in Peter; For he had not ſtept out, but for faith, and he had …not ſunke, but for his doubtings.
Obſerve Abraham himſelfe, Abraham.the father of the faithfull; yet we find him winding and turning, ſhuffling and doubting more then once, if we reade Gen. 12. and Gen. 15. 2, 3. and Gen. 20.
So David had his tremblings, David.his faintings, his ſuſpicions; all in him was not faith; He in his haſte falls out with ſome for lyers, who yet ſpake nothing but Pſ. 116. 11the truth of God: And ſo again, Pſa. 31. 22 God hath forgotten me, &c.in his haſte, he is cut off from before the eyes of God, who yet heard the voice of his ſupplications.
Job alſo, a man of great ſorrows, and of great faith, yet had hee… Iob.not his qualmes? his ſhakings? his queſtionings? Indeed in ſome places he ſeems Heroicke in his faith, graciouſly victorious over all calamities, and riding above all waves; yet in other places we find the Man a… well as the Beleever; he ſtaggers, he feares, he is giving up.
The faithfull in Scripture are compared oftentimes to Trees, which though they be well rooted, yet may be ſhaken; and t… Noahs Arke, which though i… was a ſafe harbour, yet it was toſſed; and to an houſe built o… a rock, which though it be fir… and cannot be removed, yet … may be moved; and to Starres, which though they be heaven…y, yet are twinckling; and amongſt them, much to the Moone, which with her light hath yet ſome dark ſpots.
What ſhould I alledge examples? Experiences.Let your owne experiences, and daily complaints ſufficiently anſwer to this; let them give verdict: Some of you have not yet riſen above your fears. Let God hold up his favour, doe you not preſently doubt? Let him hold in his hand, doe you not alſo doubt? O how we toſſe, …nd rowle, and ſtagger in every …enſible difficulty! In matters of this life, ſcarce a contrary oc…urrence which doth not di…tract us. Thus is it with moſt …f us in our infancie, and in our …ettings out▪ But for you who …re of further perfection, who …re ripened unto an aſſurance, …erhaps unto a full aſſurance, …an you never remember any bowings, ſhakings, ſhiverings, doubtings? Or think you never to meet with any more? I have known the Sun one day bright, and the next covered; and Davids mountaine ſtrong: But Thou didſt hide thy face, and ano… I was troubled, Pſal. 30.
Beſides all this, conſider th… nature and condition of tru… faith in this life; It muſt the… be granted that there may b… doubtings with it, foraſ…uch as no grace is perfect in this life it hath its contrary in the ſam… ſubject in ſome remiſſe degrees And it is one work of faith ſti… to be caſting out of doub… which doe riſe in the minde which working could not b… unleſſe there they were.
But will you ſay, When… Obj. ſhould theſe ariſe? Doth God a… ter in his love, in his nature, … his fidelity? Or doe the Promiſes (which are the great ſta… of faith) goe and come, ebb… …nd flow? Doe they vary from …emſelves, either for truth or …oodneſſe? Or doth Chriſt the …undation, the rock on which …ur faith is built, is not he the …me yeſterday, to day, and for ever? …f ſo, how, why, whence is it …at a Beleever ſhould doubt?
I anſwer, That though there …e the ſameneſſe in God, in Sol. …hriſt, in the Word, yet there is …ot an oneneſſe in us; and the …ariations in us doe in no wiſe …onclude any thing in them, no …ore then the ſeverall alterati…ns in the ayre doe inferre a di…erſity in the Sunne, which is …e and the ſame in reſpect of …ſelfe, however the changes …ee multiplyed here below. …herefore know that the