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Look into your own souls, and beseech the Lord to wake up your own hearts, that they may ascend up on high to draw down things needful for you from the Lord, and that we may still look back to the cross of Christ, that it may be as recent in our memories as if we had seen it, or now saw it. The natural man, he is but a stranger to the faith and all the comforts of God that the believer has in his heart. When pagans take themselves to a promise of God, yet they know not what they are doing, nor know they what the children of God are doing when they trust a promise; but they begin to laugh at them. Yet let the world laugh as they will, still they must believe the promise of God; then, albeit the enemies mock and scorn, yet God shall have glory, the enemies shall have confusion, and your own soul shall have comfort. If all the world could believe the promise of God, there is enough for all.
Abraham, by his faith, he did great things, for he is called “the father of the faithful,” for by faith, he being called of God, left his own country, and went to a country he knew not.1 We should imitate Abraham in this, and we will do it if we have faith, even resolve to quite all things in the world for Christ’s cause and the gospel’s, even that which is dearest to us in it. We must confess God before men, as we would be confessed of him before men and angels, and so resolve to quite all that we have in the world, and once come to this, that we have it written into our souls that we would not quite our hope for all our present possessions. A natural man who knew no more but by the light of nature could say this, when he was dividing an earthly kingdom. It was asked what he had reserved for himself, he answered, “hope.” Ay, where there is hope and faith together, these cannot be unsatisfied, and we may say that the hope of the children of God is a thing that gets satisfaction, but finds not satisfaction in the creatures, but only in God himself. No less can do the turn of the child of God, and therefore, if we be the children of God, we have blessedness in fruition here, for we are sure it is to come.