And hence, if any man ascribe any thing to himself, and do not acknowledge that all things here upon earth, how small and trifling soever they may be, are received from God, but wishes himself to be something, and to attribute semething to himself, that man robs God of his glory, his creatures, and his omnipotence, and arrogates to himself that, whereby he profanes the name of God.

Wherefore, since the apostle Paul and the scripture say that we must believe that "God is," the same most holy scripture and faith constrain and compel us to confess, that there is a Most High above us, without whose power, we have not the ability to perform any good whatever, be it never so small; that he alone gives us all the power whereby we do any one good work or avoid any one evil; that we are all poor, weak, miserable creatures, filled with sin, wickedness, and a sink of every evil; and that all our works are not indeed ours, but God's only, as Paul saith, Ephes. iii. "It is God only that worketh all in all;" and therefore, the works of all creatures are the works of God. And as the same Paul saith, 2 Cor. iii. "We are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but all our sufficiency is of God:" to whom all power, all ability, all wisdom, and, in a word, all the works of all creatures, are to be ascribed. Hence, whether we will or no, we are compelled to confess that weakness and nakedness, to which, according to Paul, Rom. viii. we are all subject; and to be content with that mercy and goodwill of God, whereby he has drawn us unto his grace.

Here, all power and boasting of man is brought to the ground, that he might glory in no one thing else but in the Lord; as Paul saith, 1 Cor. i. 31, "He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord." Thou canst boast of nothing whatever in thyself, (even if thou perform every work that can be performed,) but that thou art a sinner. Hence therefore, if a man believe that "God is," without whom all our most devoted endeavours are vain, he is driven to despair in himself; and not being able to find refuge in any creatures, he buildeth himself upon that one God only who is Almighty; and relying

be prepared to worship God, and that for God's sake only. But in these matters, many men have not a right faith!

Wherefore, we will here speak a little upon these things in order that the minds of men may be the more conveniently formed unto those paradoxes which we have just set forth.

Faith teaches us two things which the apostle Paul, Heb. xi. sets forth thus. "He that cometh unto God must believe that he is God, and that he is the rewarder of them that from their heart seek him." First, when Paul saith, "must believe that he is God," he strikes at the root of all pride, presumption, rashness, boasting, and false confidence, either in himself or in any other creature, and extols the one true God as omnipotent. It is easily said that "God is," but to live a life fully corresponding with that saying, is hard indeed! Upon this one point, "God is," rests the whole foundation of faith. For if there were no God, all the sorrows, the trials, the faith, and whatever pertains unto Christians, would be altogether vain and a thing of nought. There would be even no distinction between Gentiles, Jews, and Christians: and that would be altogether contrary to the scripture and to Paul, who distinguishes us who have faith from every thing that is destitute of faith, when he says, "He that cometh unto God, must believe that he is," &c.

Moreover, the scripture commands, that all should refrain from the name of God, and not rashly meddle with it; much less therefore will it permit any one to arrogate it to himself, as the devil dared to do, Isaiah xiv.; who, assuming to himself the honour due unto God, desired to make himself equal unto the Most High. And if all are to refrain from touching the name of God, and no one is to arrogate it unto himself, then must he also refrain from those things which are God's, and which proceed from God, and not assume any of them unto himself. For God saith, Job xli., 'All things under the heavens are mine.' If therefore all things are God's, nothing belongs to any man, nor to any other creature.

And hence, if any man ascribe any thing to himself, and do not acknowledge that all things here upon earth, how small and trifling soever they may be, are received from God, but wishes himself to be something, and to attribute semething to himself, that man robs God of his glory, his creatures, and his omnipotence, and arrogates to himself that, whereby he profanes the name of God.

Wherefore, since the apostle Paul and the scripture say that we must believe that "God is," the same most holy scripture and faith constrain and compel us to confess, that there is a Most High above us, without whose power, we have not the ability to perform any good whatever, be it never so small; that he alone gives us all the power whereby we do any one good work or avoid any one evil; that we are all poor, weak, miserable creatures, filled with sin, wickedness, and a sink of every evil; and that all our works are not indeed ours, but God's only, as Paul saith, Ephes. iii. "It is God only that worketh all in all;" and therefore, the works of all creatures are the works of God. And as the same Paul saith, 2 Cor. iii. "We are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but all our sufficiency is of God:" to whom all power, all ability, all wisdom, and, in a word, all the works of all creatures, are to be ascribed. Hence, whether we will or no, we are compelled to confess that weakness and nakedness, to which, according to Paul, Rom. viii. we are all subject; and to be content with that mercy and goodwill of God, whereby he has drawn us unto his grace.

Here, all power and boasting of man is brought to the ground, that he might glory in no one thing else but in the Lord; as Paul saith, 1 Cor. i. 31, "He that glorieth let him glory in the Lord." Thou canst boast of nothing whatever in thyself, (even if thou perform every work that can be performed,) but that thou art a sinner. Hence therefore, if a man believe that "God is," without whom all our most devoted endeavours are vain, he is driven to despair in himself; and not being able to find refuge in any creatures, he buildeth himself upon that one God only who is Almighty; and relying

steadily upon him, he stands fast undismayed, placing implicitly all his comfort, his hope, his faith, his confidence, his whole refuge in him alone. He expects no good, no grace, no help from any one but from this one God only. And thus, without any word of his own, he is made and preserved a good man by faith only.

Hence it is collected, that faith is nothing more or less than a solid foundation for those things which are promised us of God : by which faith, God himself, and whatever is beyond the human capacity and apprehension, are known. And he who has received this anointing, attributes nothing whatever to the works of himself or of any other creature, but ascribes all to the works and undertakings of Christ; being fully persuaded, that a man is made righteous only by Christ's having fulfilled for him, and in his stead, all those things which are necessary to his attainment unto happiness; and that nothing whatever proceeds from his own merit, (which is nothing at all,) but from Christ; through whom, all things both in heaven and earth are reconciled unto them who have made peace with God through the blood of his cross, as Paul saith, Colos. i. A man endued with a faith like this, rests on a foundation so solid and so deep, that no evil spirit, no man, no angel, nor even his own conscience, can ever disturb him.And, more especially, in the approaching hour of death, when a man has most need to commit himself wholly unto Christ and to his most holy word and promises, do thou rest on what God has promised with a lively and steadily-relying mind; for, as he “ keepeth his promises for ever," we have no room to doubt that he will of his grace perform whatever he has promised to do, even though Satan and his mother (as our people say) should vent their rage against the Gospel, even till they have wasted themselves to death.

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BUT here, the wise ones of this world use this Dadalean and super-christian argument, whereby they condemn all of heresy. These holy faith-praisers, (say they) inculcate among the people nothing but faith, and utterly pass over in silence all good works. Well! (they

say) if faith alone be sufficient, then the devil himself will be saved: for he believes that "God is," and that he rewards all that do good works, and that seek him. And he believes too that God became man, and suffered death upon the cross,' &c.-We answer: We desire such, not to permit this very great and deep wisdom of theirs to raise indignation in their minds. For we also know it very well to be true, that the devil does believe all these things. But we call upon you, ye very wise ones, to tell us,-Does the devil believe that God is God and Lord unto him for his salvation? that he is a rewarder of his good works? that he was made man, crucified, dead, and buried for him? Here all their mouths are stopped! And be they as many as they may, they are compelled to answer in the negative, and cannot find one iota of the scripture to bring against us. Wherefore, it is not enough to believe that "God is," that Christ suffered death, and all those things. But thou must conceive an undoubting faith, that God is God unto thee for thy salvation! That Christ underwent injuries, death, and the cross, and rose again for thee! and that therefore, thy sins are transferred to him, as it was foretold by the prophet, Isaiah liii. The devil has no faith whatever of this kind!-Therefore, their whole argument falls to the ground!

When, therefore, faith is exalted above works, it is on this account.-A man, before he can do any work that is good, must first be justified; before that, he can do nothing good; for that word of Paul, Rom. xiv. is truth incontrovertible, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Moreover, this justification is by faith only; for faith is the beginning thereof; which takes place thus. -When God promises any thing to him " that believeth and is baptized," Mark xvi., that man immediately takes hold of that promise, knows it to be sure, and directs all the powers of his mind unto it; firmly believing that it was set before him of God for his good; and upon this oracle of God he so builds his mind, as to doubt not at all that it will be fulfilled; knowing, that if he bring it into a doubt, it is all over with him, as