The Virtue Thereof Is. The Fifth Sermon
Being cut off with the shortness of time, and detained by the excellency of the matter, I could not in my last sermon make an end of all that I had determined to speak touching faith: now therefore, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, I will add the rest of the argument which seemeth yet to be behind. Pray to the Lord that that, which by man’s voice is brought to your ears, may by the finger of God be written in your hearts.
True faith is ignorant of all division; for “there is,” saith the apostle, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, [one] God and Father of all.” For there remaineth, from the beginning of the world even unto the end thereof, one and the same faith in all the elect of God. God is one and the same for ever, the only Well of all goodness, that can never be drawn dry. The truth of God, from the beginning of the world, is one and the same, set forth to men in the word of God. Therefore the object and foundation of faith, that is, God and the
[5 unus Deus, Lat.] Ephes. 5,6.] [bullinger.]
word of God, remain for ever one and the self-same. In one “and the self-same faith with us have all the elect ever since the first creation of the world believed, that unto us through Christ all good things are freely given, and that all truth necessary to be believed is declared in the word of the Lord: ἃ wherefore the faithful of the old world have always settled their faith on God and his word; so that now, without all doubt, there cannot be any more than one true faith.
I know very well, that in the world there are sowed many and sundry faiths, that is to say, religions. For there is the Indian faith!, the Jewish faith, the faith of the Mahometists, and the faith of the Georgians; and yet notwithstanding there is but one true christian faith, the abridgement whereof is contained in the articles of our belief, and is taught at the full in the sacred scriptures-ef beth-the Testaments. I know also that there are sundry beliefs of men, resting upon sundry things, and believing that which is contrary to true faith: but yet, nevertheless, there remaineth but one true belief in God and his word, (which is) an undoubted persuasion and confidence of things most true and assuredly certain.
This confidence doth grow with increase in the minds of the faithful, and, contrarily, decreaseth again and utterly faileth. And for that cause the apostles besought the Lord, saying: “Lord, increase our faith3,” And Paul the apostle doth in his writings everywhere wish to the faithful the increase of the spirit and faith. David also before him prayed, saying: “0 God, create a clean heart within me, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me%” For he had seen how that from Saul, whom he succeeded in the kingdom, the good Spirit of God was departed, and that instead thereof the wicked spirit had entered into his mind, which tormented him very pitifully. Hereunto belongeth that saying in the gospel: “To every one that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not
[[: Indiana fides, Lat.] [2 fides Georgiana, Lat. The Georgians are a branch of the]
[Greek Church. Mosheim’s Eccles. Hist. Book 1v. Cent. 16. Sect. 3,]
[Ch. 2. ὁ 10. ed. Soames. Smith and Dwight’s Missionary Researches]
[in Armenia, Letter 8.] [3 Luke xvii. 5.] [ Ps. li. 10, 11.]]
shall be taken away that which he hath not,” or that he maketh no account of, “and shall be given to him that hath5.” Neither was it in vain that the Lord said to Peter, “I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy faith fail not” For Paul speaketh of some in his time, that “made shipwreck of their own faith, and overthrew the faith of other?” And to what end, I pray you, do we daily hear the word of God, and make our humble petitions to the Lord, but because we look for increase of godliness, and his aid to keep us that we fall not from true faith? Verily Paul to the Thessalonians saith: “We pray earnestly day and night to see you personally, and to supply that which is wanting in your faith” And a little before he said: “For this cause I sent Timotheus, that I might be certified of your faith, lest by any means the tempter had tempted you, and so our labour had been of none effect?” The same apostle also, in his Epistle to the Ephesians, saith: Christ gave some apostles, some prophets, some pastors and teachers, to the restoring of the saints, unto the building of the body of Christ, until we all meet together in the unity of faith, and the acknowledging of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of age of the fulness of Christ, so that now we be no longer children!.” Therefore, so long as we live, we learn, that our faith may be perfect; and if so be at any time it shall be weakened by temptations, that then it may be repaired, and again confirmed. And in this diversity, (I mean) in this increase and “weakness of faith, there is mo partition or division; for the self? root and substance of faith doth always remain, although it be at some time more, and at some time less. In like manner, faith is not therefore changed or cut in sunder, because one is called general faith, and another particular! faith,
[5 Luke xix. 26, where the reading of the copies is either that which]
[he hath, or, that which he seemeth to have.] [6 Luke xxii. 32.] 7 1 Tim. i. 19; 2 Tim. ii. 18.] [ 1 Thess. iii. 10.] [ 1 Thess. iii. 5.] [0 Ephes. iv. 11—14.] [11 may not be perfect, 1587; ut perficiatur fides nostra, Lat.] [12 gelf-same, 1577.] [ specialis, Lat.]]
For general faith is no other than that which believeth that all the words of God are true, and that God hath a good-will to mankind: particular faith believeth nothing contrary to this; only that, which is common to all, the faithful applieth particularly to himself, believing that God is not well minded toward others alone, but even unto him also. So then it bringeth the whole into parts, and that which is general into particularities. For whereas by general faith he believeth that all the words of God are true; in the same sort by particular faith he doth believe that the soul is immortal, that our bodies rise again, that the faithful shall be saved, the unbelievers destroyed, and whatsoever else is of this sort taught to be believed in the word of God.
Moreover, the disputation touching faith poured into us,