' They saw them afar off.'
' They saw them afar off, and were persuaded of them and embraced them,' &c. This is the order of God's Spirit ; first to open the eye to see, and by sight to persuade, and upon persuasion to stir up the heart and affections to embrace ; for good things are brought into the soul through the understanding, by the spiritual sight of the understanding, and from that into the will and affections by embracing the things we know. This isJGod's course daily. Therefore he saith they first saw them, and then were persuaded of them, and then embraced them.
' They see them afar off.'
Indeed, they saw them afar off. They were not fulfilled till many years and generations after, yet they see them.
By what eye ?
By the eye of faith. Faith makes things present, though in themselves they be far off. It is the nature of faith to make things that are absent to be present to the behoving soul ; and it affects the soul somewhat as if it wore present. We know things work not upon the soul but as present ; a
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danger that is many years to come, it affects not the soul unless it be apprehended as present; nothing affects the soul but as present. Now there are two ways of things being present. One is, when the things them- selves be present ; that is, when we shall be in heaven and enjoy Christ and all the joys of heaven, then the things are present themselves. And then there is a presence of faith. When faith apprehends the things promised to us as present, faith makes the things present in some sort, not in all respects, for then faith were all one with vision and possession, but in regard of certainty they are present, and in regard of sound comfort. Therefore God gives other graces, between faith and possession, to strengthen and enable faith that it do not sink in the work. Between faith and the full possession of the good things we believe, we have patience and hope, and many other sweet graces ; but all dispose the soul comfortably to wait for the accomplishment of the things believed. Now, though the presence of faith affect not so much as the presence of sight, yet it doth affect. What is the reason that a holy man is so much affected with heavenly things ? He feels no more* joy many times than a wicked man. It is the nature of faith that so represents them to him, and sets before his eyes the excellency of the things that he sees them as present.
Faith hath her eye, fiiith hath her senses, faith hath feet of her own, whereby she goes to Christ ; faith hath arms of her own to grasp and to clasp Christ. Faith hath ears of her own to hear the word of God and believe it. Faith hath eyes of her own ; and what kind of eyes ? To see things afar off ; to see things invisible ; to see things within the veil ; to see things that are upward, things that sense and reason can never reach unto. Reason sees more than sense ; but faith sees more than reason. Faith sees the resurrection of the body ; faith sees the glory in heaven, that all the eyes in the world cannot see. Faith correcteth the error of reason ; reason corrects the error of sense. ' They saw him afar off,' with the blessed eye of faith. Faith hath an eye that sees afar off; it sees things remote both in time and place.
1. It sees things far off in place. Faith sees things in heaven ; it sees Christ there ; it sees our place provided for us there ; it sees God recon- ciled there ; by it we see ourselves there, because we shall be there ere long. Faith sees all this ; it breaks through and looks through all ; it hath most piercing beams, the eye of faith. And it works in an instant ; it goes to heaven in a moment and sees Christ.
And for distance of time, the eye of faith it sees things past and things to come. It sees things past. It sees the creation of the world ; it sees the redemption of us by Jesus Christ ; it sees our sins there punished in Christ our surety ; it sees us crucified with Christ Jesus ; it sees all dis- charged by him. Faith sees this in the sacrament : when we take the bread, faith hath recourse presently to the breaking of the body of Christ and the shedding of the blood of Christ. Then Christ is crucified to us and dies to us. When we believe Christ was crucified for us and died for us, faith makes it present.
And so for the time to come, faith hath an eye that looks afar off. It sees the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Faith sees the general judgment. It sees eternal happiness in heaven ; it sees things afar off. It is the evidence of things not seen.
What is the reason of it ?
It makes things not otherwise seen be seen, and presently seen ; it gives -^ Qu. 'feels more'?— En.