The difficulty of and the encouragements to a reformation a sermon preached before the…

This rule doth extend, first, to matters of faith.

A sound faith is the soul of Religion, its like the Sun in the firmament, like the eye in the body; and commonly ubi male creditur, ibi nec bene vivitur, An ill faith and ill life go together: Hence Hymeneus and Philetus, as they made shipwreck of their faith, so they did also of a good conscience, 1 Tim. 2. 17. There is no building of any confessions of faith, but the materials must be fetched from this mountain. Error and Heresy have no such enemy as the Scripture. The holy Fathers were scrupulous in using the word [Greek or Hebrew] and Trinity, and all because they were not Scripture words; Hence Heretics are lucifuga Scripturarum, Owls that cannot endure the light: therefore Lindan the Papist was not ashamed to say, That it had been better for the Church if there had been no Scripture at all, but only Traditions. Now the Scripture being the ground, faith, though we be never so orthodox, yet if it be not because of Scripture, its but an humane faith. As men may have an humane repentance (when their hearts are troubled) merely upon humane considerations which is far from godly sorrow: So he may have an humane faith, merely because of education and humane custom, and all this comes far short of divine faith.

A sound faith is the soule of Religion, its like the Sunne in the firmament, like the eye in the body; and commonly ubi male creditur, ibi nec bene vivitur, An ill faith and ill life goe together: Hence Hymeneus and Philetus, as they made shipwracke of their faith, so they did also of a good conscience, 1 Tim. 2. 17. There is no building of any confessions of faith, but the materials must be fercht from this mountain. Errour and Heresie have no such enemy as the Scripture. The holy Fathers were scrupulous in using the word 〈non-Latin alphabet〉 and Trinity, and all because they were not Scripture words; Hence Heretiques are lucifuga Scripturarum, Owles that cannot indure the light: therefore Lindan the Papist was not ashamed to say, That it had beene better for the Church if there had been no Scripture at all, but only Traditions. Now the Scripture being the ground, faith, though we be never so orthodox, yet if it be not because of Scripture, its but an humane faith. As men may have anhumane repentance (when their hearts are troubled) meerly upon humane considerations which is farre from godly sorrow: So he may have an humane faith, meerly because of education and humane custome, and all this comes farre short of divine faith.