But if such effects can now rarely be found, yet time hath been, when they were more rife, scarce any time hath been quite destitute of them; every age since the foundation of things may have tokens and trophies to show of faith's victorious efficacy; so many actions as there have been truly great and glorious, so many gallant feats have been achieved by faith if we survey the lives of the ancient patriarchs, of the prophets, of the apostles, of the martyrs and confessors of true religion, their faith in all their works is most conspicuous.

Faith recommended that excellent sacrifice of Abel to divine acceptance, and advanced him to the rank of first martyr for piety.

most dear unto him; the son of his old age, and the comfort thereof, given to him by miracle and in special favour; the prop of his family, and the heir of promise, by whom his seed was to be propagated, and his memory to flourish; him was he ready in obedience with his own hand to slay, quelling nature and his bowels, thwarting his own hopes, defying all semblances of contradiction or clashing between the commands and promises of God.

Faith, through the rudest efforts of envy and malice, through the dismal calamities of exile and slavery, through hideous snares of temptation, through villainous slanders, through loathsome prisons and fetters of iron, all along sustained with admirable moderation and presence of mind, did rear up Joseph to the helm of that great kingdom.

Faith preserved Noah from two mighty deluges, one of sin, the other of water, overflowing the earth; by it he stemmed the torrent of the one, and rode on the back of the other; it encouraged him to be a preacher of righteousness against the grain, and a practiser of it against the fashion of the world, not regarding the common hatred and envy which he did incur thereby; it moved him to undertake that great and strange work of building the ark, for a sanctuary and seminary of mankind; the type of that spiritual vessel, by embarking into which through faith we are saved from utter ruin.

Faith disposed Abraham to forsake his country and home, his estate, his kindred, following divine conduct he knew not whither; to wander abroad and sojourn among barbarous strangers: faith inclined him, at God's command, to sacri

Luke xviii. 8.
Heb. xi. 4. 2 Pet. ii. 5; Gen. vii. 2.
Heb. xi. 8; Chrys. tom. vii. p. 17.

people.

Faith was mother of that renowned patience which exhausted Satan's quiv. er, spent all his artillery, and wore out his invention in suggesting mischiefs: I know that my Redeemer liveth, was the rock on which that unshakeable patience of Job was founded.

That pricked the ruddy stripling forward, naked and unarmed, with undaunted heart and countenance, to invade the monster of Gath, that tower of flesh, swelling with rage and pride, and all fenced with brass and steel: Thou comest to me (saith he) with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts: there lay his confidence, thence sprung his admirable courage.

To this the bold attempts, and the glorious victories of Joshua, of Gideon, of Barak, of Jephtha, of Samson, of Jonathan, of the Maccabees, are worthily as

Chrys. tom. vii. p. 17. * Job xix. 25. 1 Sam. xvii. 45.

scribed, who with small forces, upon great disadvantages, did assault, did vanquish mighty enemies and oppressors.

This inflamed the zeal of Elias, by which he alone did check and control the degenerate follies of his nation, surmounting the indignation of princes which favoured them; it fed him in the wil derness by the purveyance of ravens; it framed the wheels of that fiery chariot, which transported him into heaven."

This made Jeremy, with like zeal and courage, dare to carry most unwelcome news and unpleasant messages to an outrageous people, not daunted by their angry menaces or cruel misusages; his feet sunk into the mire, but faith bore up his heart above all discouragement."

This saved the conscience of those three brave youths clear from that impiety into which barbarous violence would have driven them, so that neither the fury of that great monarch nor his gaping furnace could terrify them into sin; faith putting into their mouths those manful words: 0 Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up their faith carried them undaunted into the flames, and kept them untouched within them; so that they be came as gold not wasted, but tried and purified in the furnace.

Neither could a danger no less terrible scare the noble Daniel from his devotions: his faith did stop the lions' mouths; and, he (saith the text) was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he trusted in his God.

Such exploits of spiritual prowess were achieved by an Old Testament faith, relying upon God's attributes and providence, although wanting a clear revelation of the promises, which then lay wrapped up in mysteries and shadows; but more heroical acts of fortitude and patience did the bright sunshine of grace

1 Kings xviii. 36; xix. 20.

⚫ 2 Kings ii. 11.

Jer. xxxviii. 4, 6.

Dan. iii. 16, 17, 18.
Heb. xi. 33; Dan. vi. 10, 22, 23.

and glory upon the minds of our apostles and primitive saints produce: animated by faith, a little troop of them marched out with resolution to attack all the powers of hell, and to beat down the kingdom of darkness, to despatch all the prejudices and errors of mankind, and to subdue the world to the obedience of Christ; so armed, successfully did they knock down and trample upon all opposition to their glorious designs; they defeated all the secular power and policy, they baffled all the wit, the learning, the eloquence, which stood in their way, or gave them resistance; they triumphed over persecutions, and in regard to all sufferings were more than conquerors; to forsake and forfeit all they had, was their gain; to have nothing, was their wealth; to incur disgraces, was their glory; to be in continual labour and travail, was their ease; fastings, hunger, and thirst, were their pleasure, their feast, their luxury; prisons were chapels to them, in which they preached, and prayed, and sang praises to God; their joy was to suffer; to receive stripes, and undergo torments, was their triumph and their glory; they constantly defied, they often courted, death.

That they were able to perform such prodigious acts, and to endure things so insupportable, was not from a stupid insensibility of things, from a sturdiness of spirit, or stiffness of humour; but from a true magnanimity inspired by faith; because they were persuaded of God's will, because they confided in God's help, because they relied on God's word, because they did expect rewards from God able to satisfy for all their pains and losses; this made them to undertake so bold enterprises, and carried them with insuperable constancy through all; hence were they glad to abandon their ease and pleasure, to prostitute their honour and reputation, to part with their substance, to venture their safety, to sacrifice their lives for God's truth: Therefore do we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe, is the short account which St.

Rom. viii. 35; Eph. iii. 13. f Acts xvi, 25.

credible testimony;* for whatever we assent unto, and judge true upon any such grounds and inducements, we are commonly said to believe), this is the popular acceptation of the word; and according thereto I conceive it usually signifies in holy scripture; which being not penned by masters of human art or science, nor directed to persons of more than ordinary capacities or improvements, doth not intend to use words otherwise than in the most plain and ordinary man

ner.

Belief therefore in general, I suppose, denotes a firm persuasion of mind concerning the truth of what is propounded; whether it be some one single proposition (as when Abraham believed that God was able to perform what he had promised; and Sarah, that God who had promised, was faithful,') or some system of propositions, as when we are said to believe God's word (that is, all which by his prophets was in his name declared ;) to believe the truth (that is, all the propositions taught in the true religion as so;) to believe God's commandments (that is, the doctrines in God's law to be true, and the precepts thereof to be good ;) to believe the Gospel (that is, to be persuaded of the truth of all propositions asserted or declared in the gospel.)

2. I observe, secondly, that whereas frequently some person, or single thing, is represented (verbo tenus) as the object of faith, this doth not prejudice, or in effect alter the notion I mentioned; for it is only a figurative manner of speaking, whereby is always meant the being persuaded concerning the truth of some proposition, or propositions, relating to that person or thing: for otherwise it is unintelligible how any incomplex thing, as they speak, can be the complete or immediate object of belief. Beside sim

Aut proba esse quæ credis; aut si non probas, quomodo credis ?-Tertul. Adv. Marc. v. 1.

*Όταν γὰρ πῶς πιστεύη, καὶ γνώριμοι αὐτῷ ὦσιν αἱ ἀρχαῖ, ἐπίσταται.—Arist. Εth. vi. 3.

̓Αριστοτέλης τὸ ἐπόμενον τῇ ἐπιστήμη κρῖμα ὡς ἀληθὲς, τὸ δέ τι πίστιν εἶναί φησι.-Clem. Strom. ii. p. 289.

Ἔνιοι γὰρ πιστεύουσιν οὐδὲν ἧττον οἷς δοξάζουσιν, ἢ ἕτεροι οἷς ἐπίστανται.—Arist. Eth. vii. 3.

b Rom. iv. 21; Heb xi. 19, 11; Psal. cvi. 24; lxxviii. 32.

c 2 Thess. ii. 12.

• Mark i. 15; Phil. i. 27.

d Psal. cxix. 66.

ple apprehension (or framing the bare idea of a thing) there is no operation of a man's mind terminated upon one single object; and belief of a thing surely implies more than a simple apprehension thereof: what it is, for instance, to believe this or that proposition about a man, or a tree, (that a man is such a kind of thing, that a tree hath this or that property), is very easy to conceive; but the phrase believing a man, or a tree, (taken properly, or excluding figures), is altogether insignificant and unintelligible: indeed, to believe, noτEUE is the effect 1оù лεлεîσα, of a persuasive argument, and the result of ratiocination; whence in scripture it is commended, or discommended, as implying a good or bad use of reason. The proper object of faith is therefore some proposition deduced from others by discourse; as it is said, that many of the Samaritans believed in Christ because of the woman's word, who testified that he told her all that ever she did: or as St. Thomas believed because he saw; or as when it is said that many believed on our Lord's name, beholding the miracles which he did: when, then, for example, the Jews are required to believe Moses (or to believe in Moses, after the Hebrew manner of speaking), it is meant, to be persuaded of the truth of what he delivered, as proceeding from Divine revelation; or to believe him to be what he professed himself, a messenger or prophet of God. So, to believe the prophets, or in the prophets,* was to be persuaded concerning the truth of what they uttered in God's name (that the doctrines were true, the commands were to be obeyed, the threats and promises should be performed, the predictions should be accomplished: to believe all which the prophets did say, as our Saviour speaks; to believe all things written in the proph ets, as St. Paul.) So, to believe God's works (a phrase we have in the Psalms) significs, to be persuaded that those works did proceed from God, or were the ef fects of his good providence: to believe

in man (that which is so often prohibited and dissuaded) denotes the being persuaded, that man in our need is able to relieve and succour us: lastly, to believe in God (a duty so often enjoined and inculcated) is to be persuaded that God is true in whatever he says; faithful in performance of what he promises; perfectly wise, powerful, and good; able and willing to do us good: the being persuaded, I say, of all these propositions, or such of them as suit the present circumstances and occasion, is to believe in God: thus, in fine, to believe on a person or thing, is only a short expression (figuratively) denoting the being persuaded of the truth of some proposition relating in one way or other, to that person or thing, (which way is commonly discernible by considering the nature or state of such a person or such a thing;) the use of which observation may afterwards appear.

3. I observe, thirdly, that (as it is ordinary in like cases concerning the use of words) the word belief is by a kind of synecdoche (or metonymy, if you please) so commonly extended in signification, as, together with such a persuasion as we spoke of, to imply whatever by a kind of necessity, natural or moral, doth result from it; so comprehending those acts of will, those affections of soul, and those deeds, which may be presumed consequent upon such a persuasion for instance, when God commanded Abraham to forsake his country, promising him a happy establishment in the land of Canaan, with a perpetual blessing upon his posterity; Abraham was persuaded concerning the power and fidelity of God, and concerning the truth of what was promised and foretold; in that persuasion his faith, according to the first, proper, and restrained sense, did consist: but because from such a persuasion (being sincere, and strong enough) there did naturally and duly result a satisfaction, or acquiescence in the matter enjoined as best to be done; a choice and resolution to comply with God's appointment ;" an effectual obedience; a cheerful expectation of a good issue thereupon; therefore all those dispositions of soul and actions

1 Jer. xvii. 5; xlvi. 25. m Psal. cxviii. 8, &c. Rom. iv. 20.

concurring become expressed by the name of faith (that first persuasion being the principle and root of them :) for it is for his faith that he is highly commended; it is for it that he obtained so favourable an approbation and acceptance from God. Yet supposing Abraham to have had such a persuasion concerning God; and yet to have disliked what God required, or to have resolved against doing it, or to have indeed disobeyed, or to have disregarded the happy success; it is plain that Abraham as to the whole matter deserved rather much blame, than any commendation; and would not upon that account have had righteousness imputed to him, and have been called the friend of God :° when, therefore, his faith is so magnified, that word comprehends not his bare persuasion only, but all those concomitants thereof, which if they had not gone along therewith, it had been a proof that such a persuasion was not sincere (not ¿vνñóκριτος πίστις an undissembled faith; such as St. Paul commends in Timothy), or not strong enough (not adiázoros lors, an undoubting faith), but a weak, a small, a dead, an ineffectual faith; which come under blame and reproof; but the effect showed, that he did not, as St. Paul says, ¿σ0ɛveìv tỷ nlotɛi, had not a weak, or sickly faith; nor staggered at the promise of God; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; which he did not only in believing his word, but in suiting his affections, and yielding obedience thereto (лiot dлýzovσεv ššɛkfir), by faith he obeyed, so as to forsake his country, says the apostle to the Hebrews; and faith thus taken is not only a single act of a man's understanding or will, but a complex of many dispositions and actions, diffused through divers faculties of a man, denoting the whole complication of good dispositions and actions relating to one matter; which attend upon a true and earnest persuasion concerning it; right choice, submission, and satisfaction of mind, firm resolution, dutiful obedience, constant and cheerful hope, or the like.

4. I observe more nearly to our pur

• James ii. 23.

P 1 Tim. i. 5; 2 Tim. i. 5; James iii. 17; Rom. iv. 20; xiv. 1; 1 Cor. viii. 10; Rom. iv. 19; Matt. vi. 30; viii. 26, &c.; James ii. 17, 20; Gal. v. 6; Heb. xi. 8.