SERMON XXIX.

THE EXCELLENCY OF FAITH.

JOHN XX. 29.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

THE apostles, who beheld Christ after his crucifixion and burial, were satisfied, on the evidence of their senses, that he had risen from the dead. The certainty which they enjoyed of his resurrection was not so properly the result of faith as of knowledge. What we see, we know to be true: what we are assured of on sufficient testimony, we believe to be true. The evidence, therefore, which arises from testimony, though a sufficient foundation for faith, regulating our conduct in the most important events of life, and producing on the mind full conviction, is still not so striking nor so strong as that which is produced by our senses, and which leads to knowledge.

Let us then seriously consider the nature of that faith to which is annexed the promise of salvation, in reference to the exercises of the understanding, to the dispositions of the heart, to its moral effects, and to the divine agency by which it is produced.

Those of the apostles, therefore, who saw our blessed Lord, enjoyed the greatest possible certainty of his resurrection. But Thomas was not present when Christ appeared unto the rest of the

apostles; he refused, therefore, to believe, on their testimony, that Christ had risen, and required the evidence of his senses. Except," says he, "I

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shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe." Jesus afterwards appeared unto the apostles when Thomas was present, and called to him: "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing." Convinced by this irresistible evidence, Thomas exclaimed, in the ecstacy of adoration, "My Lord and my God."

Thomas was convinced of the resurrection of his Master on the evidence of sense. But belief founded on the evidence of testimony, on the statements of credible witnesses, is a law of our nature. To reject as false, every thing which we do not know from the evidence of our senses to be true, would so far abridge human knowledge, and diminish human activity, that the business of life would be arrested, and the human mind, now so complex and powerful in its operations, and extensive in its range, would sink into the mere instinct that guides the brutes to the preservation of animal existence. Confidence in the testimony of those who could not be deceived, who had no motive to deceive, or who are too honest to deceive, even if interest urged them to the attempt, is one of those laws incorporated with our nature by its Almighty Maker, on which all men act, which is essential in the daily intercourse of life, in the improvement of their minds, and in the enlargement of their knowledge; and without the agency of which, the beneficial and exalted operations of civil society could not proceed in guarding, strength

ening, and completing the happiness and prosperity of the human race.

The testimony, therefore, of the disciples, his companions, who had seen the Lord, ought to have satisfied the incredulous Thomas; and for his unbelief he was therefore gently reproved by our blessed Lord: "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed:" adding, in commendation of that faith which is founded, not on the evidence of sense, but of testimony: "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

Brethren, in this declaration of our blessed Lord we are deeply concerned. We do not possess the evidence of our Lord's resurrection, and of the divinity of his mission, which the apostles enjoyed: they repeatedly saw and conversed with that same Jesus whom they had beheld crucified and committed to the tomb. On the evidence of their senses, therefore, they were satisfied that Jesus had risen from the dead, and they adored him as their Lord and their God. rection, of the consequent divinity of his mission, and of the doctrines which by him, or by his authority, were promulgated, we receive on the testimony of the apostles. We therefore are of the number of those who have not seen, and yet have believed: and if our faith be sincere and holy in its operations on our hearts and lives, we shall be entitled to that commendation of our Lord:

The truth of his resur

"Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have

believed."

The text, therefore, leads us to consider the excellence of faith, and the blessedness of it. The excellence of faith consists

I. In its rational character, as the assent of the understanding founded on sufficient evidence; II. In the exalted dispositions which are connected with it;

III. In the moral effects which it produces;

IV. And in its divine origin, as excited and called into exercise by the agency of the Holy Spirit of God.

I. The excellence of faith consists in its rational character, as the assent of the understanding on sufficient evidence.

The object of Christian faith is the revelation which God has made of his will by Jesus Christ. In order to command the assent of the understanding to the truth of this revelation, it must appear that a revelation is possible, that it was necessary, that this revelation has been made.

Revelation is possible. The Being who made and who rules all things, is the infinite source of truth and of wisdom; and therefore he can devise that system which will convey moral truth and wisdom to his intelligent creatures; and almighty and irresistable in power, he can make known to them his will. And it was necessary and expedient that the Governor of the universe should proclaim to man, by a special revelation, a system of religious truth and duty. For human reason had proved an incompetent guide in those interesting subjects connected with the spiritual and immortal interests of man. On points in which it was essential that he should arrive at certainty, reason could only offer conjecture and hope. Prompted by the general view of God's mercy, she might indulge the hope that he would extend par

don to the penitent sinner; but no effort of reason could determine the mode in which the Ruler of the world, consistently with his holiness and justice, could exercise the attribute of mercy. This holiness and justice, violated by man's sin, seemed to require a propitiation; but where was this propitiation to be found? Of what avail was the saerifice of thousands of rams? to what purpose flowed rivers of oil? worse than in vain, the offering of the fruit of the body for the sin of the soul. On the subject of human guilt it still remained a painful mystery," how God, just as well as merciful, could be just, and yet justify the sinner." The light which human reason shed on the attributes and will of the Maker of the universe, and on the obligations and rules of virtue, was obscured by the prejudices and passions of a corrupt heart and imagination. On the scenes of man's future existence there rested clouds which reason could not dispel. A revelation, therefore, that should cast certainty on these infinitely interesting topics, was the most invaluable gift that man could receive from his Maker.

But what was to be the evidence of the divine origin of this revelation? Having respect to the divine nature and counsels, it must necessarily contain doctrines transcending the comprehension of human reason. Its internal excellence, therefore, could not be a complete evidence of its divine origin. This must be established by those miraculous works which divine power alone could effect. These miraculous works were performed in attes tation of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For all these events we have the testimony of eye-witnesses, sealed by their blood,