HE refers to what he had said concerning his death and resurrection, his sufferings and glory. As nothing befell him by chance, so nothing, took him by surprise. All was laid out in his view, and he saw the end from the beginning, and foretold it all before any of it had come to pass. For what purpose? " That when it is come to pass," says he, "ye might believe."
Hence we see the importance of faith. This is what he always required in those he healed. " Only believe," said he to the ruler of the synagogue. He said to his disciples, with regard to the death of Lazarus, " I am glad, for your sakes, that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe." If a man wishes a tree to grow, he waters not the branches, but the root. Holy tempers and good works are the fruits of religion : faith is the root ; and as this is enlivened, every thing in the divine life prospers. Unbelief makes God a liar, renders the Scripture a nonentity, and leaves the soul open to every sin. But he that believeth shall be saved. Yea, he hath everlasting life. By faith we stand, walk, live. We are justified. we are sanctified by faith. Faith purifies the heart, and overcometh the world. Unless we believe, we shall not be established. We are filled with all joy and peace in believing. We read of the joy of faith, the prayer of faith, the work of faith, the obedience of faith, the fight of faith ; every thing is ascribed to faith in the word of God.
Here we learn, also, that there may be an improvement in faith, where the principle is already found. Did not these disciples believe at this very time? They had been with him from the beginning. They had heard his sayings, and witnessed his miracles, and seen his glory. And they believed on him too, and had left all to follow him. But they did not sufficiently believe. Their faith was too obscure in its views, too feeble in its hold, too powerless in its operation. Are there not, then, degrees in godliness? May there not be a growth in grace? Does not Paul tell the Thessalonians that their faith grew exceedingly? And how desirable is this progress. The strong in faith have a thousand advantages above the weak. The latter have a heaven hereafter ; the former have a heaven here too. And if the apostles were defective, and said, Lord, increase our faith, what need have we to cry out with tears, like the father of the child, " Lord, I believe ; help thou mine unbelief!"
We remark, also, that one of the best means of increasing and establishing our faith is, to compare the word and the works of the Lord together. This was the help and advantage he would here insure to his disciples : " Now I have told you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass, ye might believe." So did the church in the time of David : " As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of our God." We have heard the promises, and we have seen the fulfilment. We have heard the threatenings, and we have seen the execution. We have heard the doctrine, and we have seen the practice. As soon as Jesus had said, " Go thy way, thy son liveth," the nobleman "believed," and went his way. "But as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then inquired he of them the hour---when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth ; and himself believed, and his whole house." That is, he now believed more firmly and impressively ; and this was the consequence of comparison. Thus facts are yielding us constant and growing evidence of the truth of God's word. Upon this principle, apostates and scoffers do not scandalize us---the Scripture tells us they will come. We read in the Scripture, "the way of transgressors is hard ;" that "he who walketh uprightly, walketh surely;" that "the merciful shall obtain mercy ;" that "the way of the slothful is a hedge of thorns ;" and how little must he have observed the experience of others, or consulted his own, who is not every day more convinced of the truth of these declarations.
Finally, does not this clearly intimate that the benefit to be derived from prophecy is subsequent to its accomplishment? " Now I have told you before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass, ye might believe." He mentions the same thing in several other places; and we are informed, in more than one instance, of the result. Thus we read, "When, therefore, he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them ; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said." So also, when they had witnessed his "zeal"' in purifying the temple, "his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up." Thus we see our remark justified. And indeed, how can it be otherwise? Where is the evidence of the truth of prophecy before it come to pass? You say, a God who cannot lie hath spoken it. But God himself does not demand our faith on the announcement, but on the event. And how little can it be understood beforehand, unless as to its general bearings. A definite and particular acquaintance with the contents of divine predictions would derange the order of providence, and in many cases hinder the effect. Had this fact been duly considered, much time and attention would have been more profitably employed, than in attempts to open the seals and blow the trumpets and pour out the vials of the Apocalypse. There is no prophet among us, nor any that telleth how long; yet there are, as Fuller calls them, " fortunetellers of the church." Pastors have been drawn away from their proper work ; and " the hungry sheep look up, and are not fed." And sinners are not converted from the error of their ways. For even allowing the views advanced with so much presumption to be just and true, they are not repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle preached a crucified Saviour, and determined to know nothing else.
It is not for us to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. He has intrusted us with his commands. but not with his decrees. "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God ; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law."
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