SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. 3. 145
2. Quieting the heart against doubts, fears, and cares. By a growu faith thoughts are established : Prov. xvi. 3, ' Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established/ Fire well kindled casteth the least smoke. We have firm ground to stand upon, there- fore we must not reel to and fro in a doubtful agitation of mind : James i. 6-8, 'Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed ; for let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.' Faith fixetli the heart against fears : Ps. cxii. 7, ' He shall not be afraid of evil tidings ; his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord ; ' Isa. xxvi. 3, ' Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee ; ' Eom. v. 1, ' Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; ' Phil. iv. 7, ' And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus ; ' Kom, iv. 20, ' Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God ; ' and Mat. vi. 30, ' Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith ! ' so Mat. viii, 26, ' He saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith ! ' The weak are mated with every difficulty : Mat. xiv. 31, '0 thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? ' Ps. xlii. 5, 'Why art thou cast down, 0 my soul ? and why art thou disquieted within me ? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.' Well, then, here is a sure note of a grown faith, the more we can quiet GUI-selves in the promises of God, and wait his leisure for their accom- plishment.
YOL. xvn.
SERMON UPON MATTHEW VIII. 5-10.
And ivhen Jesus ivas entered info Capernaum, there came unto htm a centurion, beseeching him, and saymg, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously afflicted. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion ansioered and said, Lord, I am not loorthy tJiat thou shouldest come under my roof; hut speak theivord only, and my servant shall he healed. For L am a man under authority, having soldiers under me : and I say to this man. Go, and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he cometh ; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he mar-veiled, and said to them that followed. Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. — Mat. viii. 5-10.
I COME now to the instances of a grown faith, and begin with the faith- of the centurion ; and that deservedly, for —
1. Christ owneth it as great faith : ver. 10, * I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel ;' that is, a faith so ripe and mature, and that in a military man and an heathen.
2. Because he marvelled at it. In ordinary cases wonder is a fruit of ignorance. When we are ignorant of a thing, or a thing exceedeth our capacity or apprehension, we wonder at it. But this cannot be imagined in Christ, for he knoweth what is in man, and could not be surprised, being the author of this faith. Therefore some interpret it of some external gesture of wondering, which he used to commend the centurion's faith. Why not the passion of wonder itself ? for we won- der at things strange and unusual though we be not ignorant of them ; and Christ would discover all our sinless infirmities ; therefoi-e this showeth it was a remarkable thing. We read that twice Christ wondered ; once here, and another time, Mark vi. 6, ' And he mar- velled because of their unbelief.'
3. Because he was the first-fruits of the gentiles : ver. 11, 12, ' And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down willi Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into utter darkness ; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' This was the first occasion which Christ took to 'speak of the rejection of the Jews and
SERMON UPON MATTHEW VIII. 5-10. 147
the calling of the gentiles. This man was a Konian and an heathen, but it seemeth had gotten some knowledge of the true God and the true religion ; and though he were not a proselyte, yet the Jews gave him this testimony, Luke vii. 5, * He loveth our nation, and hath built us a synagogue ; ' and indeed we read nothing but well of him. The very errand that brought him to Christ was care of his servant, and looking out for cure for him. Many have no more care of their servants than they have of their horses and oxen ; but this man was of another temper, good to the Jews, good in all his relations. Now, that we may profit by this example, let us consider these three things — (1.) What was his faith, and wherein the greatness of it lay ; (2.) How this faith was bi-ed and begotten in him ; (3.) The efi'ects and fruits of it, or how it discovered itself,