They heard, and were never the better – Thomas Brooks

“The word did not profit those who heard it, because it was not mixed with faith.” Hebrews 4:2

He does not speak here of unbelievers but of those who had faith in the soul but not in the exercise; and therefore the word did not profit them. They heard, and were never the better. And what was the ground of it? Why, it was because they did not exercise faith upon the word. The words which fell from the preacher’s lips into their ears, were a sweet potion but they did not work effectually, because they lacked the ingredient of faith. Faith is one of those glorious ingredients, which makes every sermon, every truth, work for their souls’ advantage. Nothing will work for a believer’s good, for his gain if it is not mixed with faith. Nothing makes a man rich in spirituals, like the frequent and constant actings of faith.