I. The nature of his faith. It was a firm persuasion that all power and authority was eminently in Christ, and that he could do what he pleased. The great end of Christ in all his miracles was to discover himself to be the Son of God, and one in whom the divine nature and power resided,' and so by consequence that true Messiah and Saviour of the world. This was Peter's confession of faith : Mat. xvi. 16, ' Thou ai't Christ, the Son of the living God ; ' the promised Messiah, the anointed Saviour of the world. And with Peter all the rest of the disciples join: John vi. 69, 'We believe, and are sure, that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.' This the Samaritans, being convinced and converted, confessed also : John iv. 42, ' We know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world,' This Martha acknowledges : John xi. 27, ' She saith unto him, Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, that should come into the world.' This was it which the apostles preached: Acts xiii. 23, 'Of this man's seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a saviour, Jesus.' This they required of all whom they converted to the christian faith : Acts viii. 37, ' I believe that Je.sus Christ is the Son of God.' Now this the centurion cometh off roundly with, being firmly persuaded of a divine power and authority in Christ ; for he ascribeth an omnipotency to his word, and reasoneth it out notably : ' Speak but the word, and my servant shall be healed ; ' ver. 8, 9, ' For I 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.' Here then was the greatness of his faith.
Object. You will say then. All have great faith, for all the christian world professeth this truth that Jesus is the Son of God, papists and protestants, carnal and renewed ; the rabble of nominal christians as well as the seriously godly are of this opinion that Jesus is the Son of God and the Saviour of the world.
Ans. 1. Distingue iempora — You must distinguish of the times In that age there was no human reason to believe this truth. Anti- quity was against it, and therefore, when Paul preached Jesus, they said, ' He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods,' Acts. xvii. 18. Authority was against it : 1 Cor. ii. 8, ' Which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.' Authority, not only civil, but ecclesiastical, was
148 SEUMON UrON MATTHEW VIII. 5-10.
tigainst it : Acts iv. 11, ' This is the stoue which was set at nought of you builders.' The universal consent of the habitable world was against it; only a small handful of contemptible people owned him: Luke xii. 32, ' Fear not, little flock,' /Mi.Kpov ttoI/jlviov. At that time it was the critical point, the hated truth, that the carpenter's son should be owned as the son of God. Those bleak winds that blow in our backs, and thrust us onward to believe, blew in their faces, and drove them from it ; those very reasons which move us to own Christ moved them to reject him. For many ages the name of Christ hath been in request and honour, but then it was a despised way. For meu to lay aside their old religion, and temples, and altars, and ceremonies, and rights of worship, for the new way of Jesus of Nazareth, never heard of before, born of a Jewish woman, living in a mean way, cruci- fied like a malefactor, and dead and buried ; that he should be owned us the Son of God and the Saviour of the world, what could be to appearance more unreasonable ? Alas ! what should we have done, if we had been put to encounter with these difficulties and prejudices? And no sooner did any man own this truth, but he was presently exposed to all manner of troubles and persecutions, brought before magistrates, tortured, murdered by all the cruel deaths that could be devised ; and all this to be endured upon the hopes of an unseen world. Therefore then it was an undoubted truth : 1 John v. 1, ' Whosoever Ijelieveth that Jesus is the Son of God is born of God ; ' and 1 John iv. 2, ' Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.' Nay, somewhat less than faith and great faith. At liis first appearance a certain persuasion, impressed upon the soul by the Spirit of God, of the divine power and all-sufficiency of Christ, so as to repair to him for help, was faith and great faith ; when the veil of his human nature and infirmities did not keep the eye of faith from seeing him to have a divine power, though they could not unriddle all the mysteries about his person and office, this was accepted for saving faith.