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ing, and make a wise use of the example now before our eyes; that we may every day be farther from the danger, and safer from the infection, of apostacy; that the church, which God hath promised to preserve to the end of the world, may be preserved here; and that the little faith he shall find at his coming, may be found with us.

Amen.

SERMON XVII.

WHEN THE SON OF MAN COMETH, SHALL HE FIND FAITH ON THE EARTH?--Luke xviii. 8.

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WHEN the Son of Man dwelt among us, faith was the first thing he looked for in those with whom he conversed and if it was not found, his mission to such persons, was without effect. At his second coming, he will be looking for the same; but the text gives us little hope that he will find it. The words do not positively assert, that no faith shall then be left, but that the finding of it shall be questionable: it shall be so far lost, that the instances in which it is found shall be few and rare. With this the words of St. Paul agree; who teaches us, that in the last days perilous times shall come, 2 Tim. iii. 1; that the truth should be resisted by men, as Moses was resisted by the perverse unbelieving magicians of Egypt, Jannes and Jambres, and that they should become, as those men were, reprobate concerning the faith, ver. 8. This character of the last age of the world falls in with another equally remarkable; I mean the appearance of the man of sin: though it may well be suspected, that both these characters of the time are reducible to one for the man of sin arises out of the Christian faith, and raises himself upon the ruins of it; as the worm that destroys the fruit is bred within it. That the depravity foretold in the Scripture, is the depravity of Christians, there can be no doubt; the prediction concerning it being thus worded-"The Spirit speaketh

expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith," &c. 1 Tim. iv. 1. The corruption, therefore, foretold, is a departure from the faith; and in that we may expect to see something much worse than the corruption of uninformed savage nature. An apostate from truth adds perfidy to his wickedness: he is in darkness, because he has put out the light and can offend with that blasphemy against heaven, which is not in the power of an ignorant unbeliever.

It is not my design, however, to display his wickedness, but rather to shew how truly the text has pointed out the root and cause of it in a single word; in order to which it must first be shewed what faith is, and what place it holds in the Christian religion. Of this it is so considerable a part, and so essential to all the rest, that it is frequently put for the whole: for what does the Apostle mean by departing from the faith, but departing from Christianity? and where he speaks of the word of faith, what does he intend, but the preaching of the whole Gospel? and the Gospel is called the word of faith, because faith only can receive what it delivers. The invisible things of God and of a spiritual world must be told to us; for we can neither see them nor know them; and faith receives the testimony on which they are revealed. Things invisible can have no evidence but that of the faith which believes them and if the witness of them be from God, then is God the object of our faith and if we live and act in consequence of that faith, then our works are wrought in God; and they are accepted, not for what is done, but for the faith with which it is done. He that does not receive the witness of God, makes God a liar; and of such a person it will ever be true, that his works, however specious they may appear, will be the works of opposition and pride, and have the nature of sin. As a "branch cannot bear grapes, unless it abide in the vine," John xv. 4. no good work can be produced but in the life and faith of the Gospel. In all the works of faith, God is the im

mediate object: in all other works he has no share, and he hath promised no reward. He owes no man any thing; but he accepts and rewards every thing in those that believe in, "and diligently seek him." Heb. xi. 6. He called Abraham from his country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, Gen. xii. 1. and he went out, not knowing whither he went, Heb. xi. 8. but readily obeying such commands, as he could not thoroughly comprehend; he believed God, and it was imputed to him or accounted for righteousness, and he is proposed as a pattern to all believers. There is, strictly speaking, no such thing as righteousness in the world (" there is none righteous no not one," Rom. x. 3.) but the act of faith is accounted for it, because it shews a love and friendship to God; and it is that only which he regards. With faith a man sees every thing, he receives every thing, he is content with every thing, he loves every thing, that comes from God: without faith he sees nothing, he receives nothing, he is discontented with every thing, he hates every thing, if God has any share in it. Though a matter be incontestably proved, even to the senses, it makes no difference: it is not received, unless there be in the heart that principle, which believes God on his own testimony.

The relations of things that are seen, may be proved and understood by the natural reason of man: but the relations between man and the things which are not seen, and the relations of those things between themselves, can be understood only by faith: they must be received on testi, mony, or not at all. If we wish to see a reason, why faith is so highly accounted of in the sight of God, we may take this one instead of all the rest. Virtue may be prac

tised on worldly motives; and being only between man and man, the most specious virtue may be practised in hypocrisy, and be good for nothing: but faith being between man and God, on whom it is not possible for us to impose, there can be no such thing as hypocritical faith

in God. But when faith is established, then virtue comes in well; and therefore we are bid to add to our faith virtue. In short, there can be no duty to God, but when it is done to God, "as to the Lord, and not unto men:" Ephes. vi. 7. but God being invisible, nothing can be done as to him, but in faith. And farther, as nothing can be done towards God, nothing can be received from him but by faith. The light is without its power to the man that has no eye: no gift can be offered to him that has no hand to take it. Of the spirit of man faith is the eye and the hand, which some men have, and some have not; "all men have not faith," 2 Thess. iii. 2. How did it happen, when mercy went forth to all, that one sick man was cured, and another was not cured; but that the one "had faith to be healed," and the other had not? No mighty work could be wrought, even by Omnipotence itself, where men had no faith to be wrought upon. Therefore faith gains all, and unbelief loses all. The Israelites in the wilderness fell short of Canaan, because of their unbelief: it is true they were guilty of many acts of ingratitude and disobedience but the whole is laid to their want of faith: this was the cause of all: and so it is in every other man, with whom "God is not well pleased;" for "without faith it is impossible to please him." Heb. xi. 6. And while faith is the root of all good, it is the only remedy against all the evils of life; it gives patience, and is the "victory that overcometh the world." When the storm arises, and the waves toss themselves, it knows that Christ is with it in the ship: it levels all mankind, by making the gifts of the poor equal to those of the rich: it performs what human strength cannot accomplish; "all things are possible to him that believeth." Mark ix. 23.

I have said thus much to convince you, that in all the transactions betwixt man and God, faith is every thing: and that without it, the name of Christianity may remain, but the thing is lost.

We are now to ask, what is the present state of faith in the Christian world? But for this inquiry we shall not be well prepared, unless we attend first to a plain distinction, which is of the utmost importance in our present subject. When we speak of reason, we mean the wisdom of man: and I know of none who will not give me leave thus to define it: but by the Gospel, we mean the word of faith, or the wisdom of God. Between these two there is an essential difference; and the Scripture assures us in the plainest language, that ever since the entrance of sin, there has been an opposition. The manner in which God has thought proper to save mankind, is not approved by the wisdom of man. It is so contrary to his thoughts, and so mortifying to his wishes, that the preaching of it, being taken for foolishness, was seconded by the force of miracles; and even these were often found insufficient to make men receive it. And when it is admitted, it will always be in danger from the wisdom of man. There are in the world two interests, the human interest and the divine interest and they can no more prevail both at once, than any other two parties in opposition. The one party rejoices to own, that man is wise with the word of God; the other boasts that man is wise without the word of God. The one raises high thoughts and imaginations, as so many strong-holds and fortifications of human wisdom: the other is "mighty through God to the pulling them all down," 2 Cor. x. 4. that God alone may be exalted: what the one builds, the other demolishes. Take faith and reason for the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man, in which sense I have used them, and the opposition between them is undeniable: if that, then, be true, which a foolish man hath said, that the present age is the age of reason; then it must follow, that it is not the age of faith: which is, indeed, what he means; and then our point is proved without farther trouble. In such persons as himself and his friends, the assertion is true in its fullest sense: reason

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