SERMON I. THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. MATTHEW Viii. 10. Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. WHENCE came, then, the incredulity with which Jesus Christ at present reproaches the Jews; and what cause could they still have for doubting the sanctity of his doctrine and the truth of his ministry? They had demanded miracles, and, before their eyes, he had wrought such evident ones, that no person before him had done the like. They had wished that his mission were authorized by testimonies; Moses and the prophets had amply born them to him; the precursor had openly proclaimed, Behold the Christ and the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world; a Gentile renders glory in our gospel to his almightiness the heavenly Father had declared from on high, that it was his well-beloved Son; lastly, the demons themselves, struck with his sanctity, quitted the bodies, in confessing that he was the Holy, and the Son of the living God. What could the incredulity of the Jews still oppose to so many proofs and prodigies? Behold, my brethren, what, with much greater surprise, might be demanded at those unbelieving minds, who, after the fulfilment of all that had been foretold, after the consummation of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, VOL. III. A |