Since all our principal comfort must come from God, we must first
presuppose, in him to whom we shall give any effectual comfort with
any ghostly counsel, one ground to begin with, on which all that we
shall build may be supported and stand; that is, the ground and
foundation of faith. Without this, had ready before, all the
spiritual comfort that anyone may speak of can never avail a fly.
For just as it would be utterly vain to lay natural reasons of
comfort to him who hath no wit, so would it undoubtedly be
frustrate to lay spiritual causes of comfort to him who hath no
faith. For unless a man first believe that holy scripture is the
word of God, and that the word of God is true, how can he take any
comfort in that which the scripture telleth him? A man must needs
take little fruit of scripture, if he either believe not that it be
the word of God, or else think that, though it were, it might yet
for all that be untrue! As this faith is more strong or more faint,
so shall the comforting words of holy scripture stand the man in
more stead or less.
This virtue of faith can no man give himself, nor yet any man to
another. But though men may with preaching be ministers unto God
therein; and though a man can, with his own free will, obeying
freely the inward inspiration of God, be a weak worker with
almighty God therein; yet is the faith indeed the gracious gift of
God himself. For, as St. James saith, "Every good gift and every
perfect gift is given from above, descending from the Father of
lights." Therefore, feeling our faith by many tokens very faint,
let us pray to him who giveth it to us, that it may please him to
help and increase it. And let us first say with him in the gospel,
"I believe, good Lord, but help thou the lack of my belief." And
afterwards, let us pray with the apostles, "Lord, increase our
faith." And finally, let us consider, by Christ's saying unto them,
that, if we would not suffer the strength and fervour of our faith
to wax lukewarm--or rather key-cold--and lose its vigour by
scattering our minds abroad about so many trifling things that we
very seldom think of the matters of our faith, we should withdraw
our thought from the respect and regard of all worldly fantasies,
and so gather our faith together into a little narrow room. And
like the little grain of mustard seed, which is by nature hot, we
should set it in the garden of our soul, all weeds being pulled out
for the better feeding of our faith. Then shall it grow, and so
spread up in height that the birds--that is, the holy angels of
heaven--shall breed in our soul, and bring forth virtues in the
branches of our faith. And then, with the faithful trust that
through the true belief of God's word we shall put in his promise,
we shall be well able to command a great mountain of tribulation to
void from the place where it stood in our heart, whereas with a
very feeble faith and faint, we shall be scantly able to remove a
little hillock.
And therefore, as for the first conclusion, since we must of
necessity before any spiritual comfort presuppose the foundation of
faith, and since no man can give us faith but only God, let us
never cease to call upon God for it.
VINCENT: Forsooth, good uncle, methinks that this foundation of
faith which, as you say, must be laid first, is so necessarily
requisite, that without it all spiritual comfort would be given
utterly in vain. And therefore now shall we pray God for a full and
fast faith. And I pray you, good uncle, proceed you farther in the
process of your matter of spiritual comfort against tribulation.
ANTHONY: That shall I, cousin, with good will.