Twenty sermons preached at Oxford before His Majesty, and elsewhere

But now to declare Faith, and to open the Mystery thereof. Faith is a great thing: It is our life; our life stands in the practice of it: That as in the offering of Christ for us, there is given him a name above every name, That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow: As, I say, in the purchasing of Redemption, so in the point of acceptation; God hath given unto this poor virtue of faith a name above all names. Faith indeed, as it is a virtue, is poor and mean, and comes far short of love: and therefore by the Apostle, love is many degrees preferred before faith, because love fills the heart, and faith is but a bare hand, it lets all things fall, that it may fill it self with Christ. Its said of the Virgin Mary, That God did respect the low estate of his hand-maid: So God respects the low estate of Faith, that nothing is required, but a bare empty hand, which hath nothing to bring with it, though it be never so weak, yet if it have a hand to receive, it is [Greek or Hebrew], a like precious faith, 2 Pet. 1.1. that of the poorest Believer, and the greatest Saint.

But now to declare Faith, and to open the Mystery thereof. Faith is a great thing: It is our life; our life stands in the practice of it: That as in the offering of Christ for us, there is given him a name above every name, That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow: As, I say, in the purchasing of Redemption, so in the point of acceptation; God hath given unto this poor vertue of faith a name above all names. Faith indeed, as it is a vertue, is poor and mean, and comes far short of love: and therefore by the Apostle, love is many degrees preferr'd before faith, because love fills the heart, and faith is but a bare hand, it lets all things fall, that it may fill it self with Christ. Its said of the Virgin Mary, That God did respect the low estate of his hand-maid: So God respects the low estate of Faith, that nothing is required, but a bare empty hand, which hath nothing to bring with it, though it be never so weak, yet if it have a hand to receive, it is 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, a like precious faith, 2 Pet. 1.1. that of the poorest Believer, and the greatest Saint.