Vol 01 - Chapter 02 - That our whole inward treasure consists in faith.

Chapter 02 - That our whole inward treasure consists in faith
1. A CHRISTIAN ought to employ his greatest care and diligence, in learning the true nature and use of faith. It is faith that unites us to CHRIST, and admits us into all the felicities of the kingdom of God. Upon which account it is called a substance; " the substance of things hoped for," Hebrews 11:1. For our whole Christian life consists in a living and operative faith; not in outside shows, nor painted images of virtue. It is faith alone that can deliver us from the bondage of corruption and misery, and bring us into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Whence at our first admission into the Christian church, by baptism, through which, as through a gate, we enter into the fold of CHRIST's sheep, faith seems to be the first step, or ground-work, to the whole. " He that believeth, and is baptised, shall be saved," Mark 16:16. And so St. Paul, a This is the word of faith which we preach, that if you believe in thine heart, you shall be saved," &c. Romans 1:1-32; Romans 10:9-10. But as the nature of faith may be better known by its fruits, I shall briefly speak to them in this Chapter
2. The first of these is a spiritual release from sin and death, from the devil, from hell, and the curse of the law. For by this faith we are entitled to Jesus CHRIST, and all the treasures of his grace; particularly, reconciliation with God; remission of sins; the Holy Spirit., and eternal life.
3. He that has this faith, cannot be hurt by sin, the world, death, the devil, or hell itself. He has CHRIST dwelling in him, who is his righteousness against sin; his life against death; his help against the devil; his heaven against bell; his victory over the world; his blessing against the curses of wicked men; his happiness against all the miseries of this world: which our blessed Lord has briefly summed up in this one sentence, " If the Son shall make you free, then shall ye be free indeed," John 8:36. Whence it appears, that CHRIST is the whole of faith, and the sum and completion of all our hopes, and all our blessedness. So that faith gives quietness to the soul; peace and liberty to the conscience; freeing it from all fear and terrors, and making it rest joyfully and quietly upon God.
4. Secondly. By faith the soul is united to CHRIST, as a bride to her bridegroom: " I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, Hosea 2:13. The consequence of this espousal is, a communication of all good things; yea, and of the cross itself: so that all CHRIST has belongs to the soul; and all that the soul has, belongs to" CHRIST. As CHRIST then has all celestial and eternal gifts, such as "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, blessedness, and eternal life," 1 Corinthians 1:30; yea, is himself all these the soul is entitled to them all. And on the other hand, as our soul has nothing but sin, uncleanness, calamity, misery, sin, and death, CHRIST has taken on him all these; bestowing his good things upon us, and taking our sins and miseries upon himself.
5. But as the good things of CHRIST are eternal and omnipotent; so they root out and destroy all that sin, death, and misery that is in us. For the eternal and invincible righteousness of CHRIST is so much superior to the power of sin in us, that it utterly destroys and breaks it in pieces; and by this means the soul is delivered from its own sins, and clothed with the righteousness of Jesus CHRIST. And surely this is a blessed exchange, when a man changes sin for righteousness, death for life, a curse for a blessing, and eternal misery for eternal blessedness. So then " there is no condemnation to them that are in CHRIST Jesus;" seeing that their sins are swallowed up in his righteousness. For if, as St. Paul says, " Death is swallowed up in victory," it will follow, that sin also must be swallowed up.
6. Hence also arises, thirdly, the glory of faith, which is two-fold. The one present, but spiritual and invisible; the other future, visible and glorious. Now faith makes us partakers of both these kinds of glory. So then as the majesty of CHRIST consists in a kingdom and highpriesthood; so also he makes us " kings and priests unto God." An honor, which St. Peter speaking of, can hardly find words to express. " But ye," says he, " are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people." Moreover, the glory of CHRIST's kingdom consists in this, that it is eternal, and all the blessings and benefits of it are eternal; eternal grace, everlasting righteousness, unfading consolation, endless life, joy, peace, and blessedness, that endures for evermore. What good could we expect from a temporal prince All the world itself, and all.its blessings decay and perish; and there is no trust in princes, nor in any child of man. But CHRIST is our eternal King; and all his favors and blessings endure to eternity. The spiritual kingdom then of a Christian consists in this, that by faith he is spiritually exalted above all things; that nothing can hurt or hinder him, in the great affair of his salvation. Yea, all things are subject unto him, and work together for his good: as we are told, " All things work together for good, to them that love GOD," Romans 8:28 : even life, and death; the world, hell, and the devil himself.
7. Hence it appears how glorious, how illustrious, how extensive this spiritual dominion of a Christian is; that all things, whether good or evil, are forced to contribute to his spiritual good, so soon as he is possessed of CHRIST, and CHRIST of him. For the whole treasure and hope of a Christian is, CHRIST apprehended by faith. O the precious liberty of a Christian! O the mighty power of the inward man! For as the liberty, righteousness, and blessedness of a Christian; as also his slavery, sin, and misery, are not external things; so it follows, that no external thing, nothing but the mere grace and power of God can justify, sanctify, or glorify a man. What though the body enjoy liberty, health, and strength, and eat and drink well, will the soul be one jot the better for this If the body be imprisoned, sick, weak, hungry, and thirsty, will the soul be the worse Not at all. In a word, nothing that is external can make the soul either happy or miserable, whilst she preserves her inward treasure, and is true to her spiritual liberty.
8. So also in respect of her spiritual priesthood, the soul is out of danger from any thing that may happen from without. For its sacrifices, prayers, and devotions are spiritually performed by faith, without any necessary dependence upon external things, as time, place, garments, or temples. Agn-, the soul is no way the better for all the pomp of ceremonial circumstances. These are not efficacious enough to lead the soul into the paths of righteousness and liberty. For all these an hypocrite may do, without any benefit to his soul.
For there is nothing either in heaven or earth, in which the soul can live; nothing that can bestow upon her evangelical righteousness and liberty; nothing in which she can rest with comfort, but CHRIST alone, on whom by faith she comfortably and joyfully depends. This is what our Lord himself tells us, " I am the svay, the truth, and the life," John 14:6. And " Come unto me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls," Matthew 11:28. So that the soul that is by faith united unto CHRIST, standeth in need of nothing: for in CHRIST she possesseth all things, food, joy, peace, light, knowledge, righteousness, truth, wisdom, liberty, comfort, blessedness, life, and what not So that CHRIST is " all in all," as the apostle tells us, Colossians 3:11. And whatsoever external rites and ceremonies we may use for the sake of peace, order, and uniformity, we may be satisfied, that, ", to the pure all things are pure," Titus 1:15. And our Lord tells us, " Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you," John 15:3. So that nothing can pollute and defile the soul, but infidelity, and the fruits and consequences of it.
9. The fourth property of faith is, the renovation of the whole man. It kindles in him the fire of Divine love; furnishes him with all Christian graces, and works of mercy. Not as if it merited any thing from GOD, but only as it renders the soul acceptable to him. "Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay thy vows to the Most High," Psal. 50: 14. So that faith immediately begins a new life in man, and quickens the word of God within him. For all the Holy Scripture is contained in faith. As therefore the word of God is holy, true, just, living, spiritual, free, and full of all good; so also does it make all those who receive it in faith, holy, just, true, the "children of GOD, thoroughly furnished unto every good work."
10. Though the true and saving faith triumphs over the world and the devil; yet is it of such a nature, that in pure love, it makes itself servant unto all; submitting itself to all for God's sake. It considers seriously with itself, that Jesus CHRIST and all the heavenly graces are freely given us by God; so that we stand in need of no worldly thing in the concern of salvation; and with all, " that nothing can separate us from the love of GOD," Romans 8:38; and that nothing in this world can hurt us. When a man, I say, endued with a lively faith, considers all this, he cannot but acknowledge, that in mere gratitude to GOD, he is obliged to do for his neighbor, as CHRIST has done for him. As if he should say, "All my gifts and graces, my wisdom, my riches, my comfort, are all my neighbor's, as freely as Jesus CHRIST, by his infinite mercy, has bestowed them upon me."
11. The fifth property of faith is, that it conquers and triumphs over every cross, making it supportable to human nature. For we find more comforts in CHRIST by faith, than we leave in forsaking the world for his sake; more honor than the united malice of the world, can take from us. In him we meet with so much love, that we shall not regard the hatred and enmities of men; so much blessing, that all the curses in the world cannot injure us; so much joy that all the world cannot make us sad. In a word, if it were possible for us to be slain and murdered ten thousand times over, yet CHRIST remains, and will for ever continue to be our Lord, and our everlasting life; infinitely to be preferred before this short and perishing life.
12. If a man could with his bodily eyes take a view of such a soul as this, he would see the most beautiful creature in the world, shining forth in all the transcendent beauties of holiness. Such a soul is united to GOD, and, by consequence a partaker of his glory. It desires nothing either in time or eternity but God alone; seeking nothing for its own sake, either spiritually or naturally. On the other hand, could we but see with our bodily eyes a soul sunk in the love of itself and the creatures; polluted all over with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and all its corrupt thoughts and imaginations externally figured by visible characters, neither earth nor hell could furnish a more dreadful monster; a more diabolical spectacle than this. But in the asst great day, when the hearts and consciences of all men shall be laid open, and the inward eye opened, so that every one shall have a full view of himself, then shall the impure soul see his secret abominations, and find in himself an eternal spring of sorrow, misery, and torment.
13. On the other hand, the pure and Divine soul shall for ever contemplate in itself the presence and kingdom of GOD, whom she shall see as he is; and by virtue of her union with him, enjoy him as her own for even And he that rightly understands this union of the soul with GOD, shall experimentally understand that expression of St. Paul, a That neither height nor depth can separate us from the love of GOD," Romans 8:39. For if it were possible, that such a soul could be thrust down into the regions of the damned, yet could it not be excluded from the presence and kingdom of GOD, to which it is most intimately united. On the contrary, should a damned spirit be admitted into the regions of the blessed, yet could he not be exempt from the torments of hell, which he continually carries about him.
14. The dignity of a believing soul consists in this, that it is the habitation and temple of GOD, in which he takes more delight than in the whole compass of heaven and earth. So the faithful soul has more of the Divine presence than all the temples made with hands; yea, than all the creatures in this world. God communicates his whole treasures of love to such a soul. He rejoices and delights in her; yea, he created all other beings only in order to make her happy and glorious. Wherefore, as God.shews so much love, and takes so much pleasure in the soul of man, he may be more properly said to dwell in it, than in any material buildings; any temples made with hands. Here he displays all the wonders of his providence and love; yea, and for this very end has he created it with nobler faculties and powers than the rest of the creatures here below; that it may be capable of these exalted communications of the Divine grace. And if God should bestow upon the soul any thing less than himself, she would -reject and despise it. As the soul is the spouse of the Son of GOD, it follows, that it is beloved by God above other creatures. It was this love that brought the blessed Jesus down from heaven to be united to the beloved soul, and to bring her back to her great original.
15. Now as God has discovered this transcendent love to the soul, it naturally follows, that the soul ought to rest in God alone; and riot to prostitute its love to any creature, at which she knows God will be offended. So great is the loveliness, so great is the beauty that is in GOD, that if the soul could take never so remote, never so obscure a view of it, she would not be separated from him to gain the whole world. The soul then that is so beloved of GOD, should be ashamed to fix its love upon any creature. She ought to be heartily ashamed and afflicted, if she has not preferred God before all creatures; proposed his glory in all things; and loved him above all things. This is the true contrition which is acceptable to God.