SERMON V.

JOHN XX. 29.

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Jefus faith unto him, Thomas, because thou haft feen me, thou haft believed bleed are they, that have not feen, and yet have believed.

UR Bleffed Lord took frequent Opportunities of forewarning his Disciples of the Certainty of his Death, and

the Violence of his Sufferings, but always took Care to close fuch heavy Forebodings with the comfortable Affurance of his Rifing again the third Day from the Dead. Yet ftrange it is that the Difciples should discover fuch Depths of Dejection,

Dejection, fuch Wildness of Surprize, upon thofe Sufferings which our Lord had given them fuch full Reason to expect; ftrange it is that their Surprize should even encrease upon them, and the News of our Lord's Refurrection, of which they had fo diftinct a Promife, fhould be receiv'd with fo ftupid an Incredibility. So foolish were they, So flow of Heart to believe all, that not only the Prophets, but also that our Saviour himself had spoken, that the first Reports of his Refurrection appear'd to them as idle Tales; and after it had been confirm'd by other Witneffes alfo, the Sight of Him did nevertheless terrify and affright them, fuppofing they had seen a Spirit. Thomas, one of the Twelve, not being with them, when Jefus came, obstinately stood out against the Teftimony of them all, and required the most senfible Demonstration before he would give his Affent to fo ftrange an Article ; to this his Slownefs of Belief our Bleffed Lord graciously condefcended, and at the fecond Appearance He made among his Difciples, calls upon Thomas to be con

vinced of his Refurrection, by thofe very Means which He himself required as a Proof of it; Reach hither thy Finger, fays He, and behold my Hands; and reach hither thy Hand, and thrust it into my Side; and be not faithless, but believing. Too glaring was this Evidence to admit of any farther Doubt, and the Sincerity of the Apostle broke forth into this short, but full of affectionate, Confeffion; My Lord and my God! My Lord, for that thou art the very Jefus, whofe Disciple I am, my Senfes do moft demonftratively prove; and my God, for my Faith does moft ftrongly infer, that no Power lefs than Almighty, could be able to raise you from the Dead; this you foretold you yourself would do by your own Power, and this I now find moft miraculously compleated. Thus was St. Thomas even overpowered by the Fulness of the Conviction, as tho' the over-curious Eye should prefume to gaze directly at the Brightness of the Meridian Sun, and refufe to admit any Light, but that which comes in fuch Proportions as will dazle and confound the Faculties; convinced indeed

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indeed he was, and convinced in his own Way, yet he was rebuked for not believing upon fufficient, tho' inferior, Evidence, than that which he had required. Jefus faith unto him, Thomas, because thou haft feen me, thou haft believed; bleffed are they which have not feen, and yet have believed. This is the Connection of the Words before us with the Context : The Ufe I intend to make of them at this Time is,

I. To discover the different Degrees of Evidence, in which the Matters of Fact recorded in the Holy Gofpel have been proposed to human Affent, and then we fhall difcover particularly the Grounds upon which our Belief is built; fome fee and believe, and fome believe, though they See not.

II. I SHALL confider the fuperior Bleffedness of thofe who have not Seen, and yet have believed, above thofe, who require the Evidence of Senfe to engage their Affent to thefe Articles of our Faith.

ist, THEN,

ift, THEN, let us confider the different Degrees of Evidence, in which the Matters of Fact recorded in the Holy Gospel have been propofed to human Affent ; by which means we fhall particularly discover the Grounds upon which our Belief of them is built, fome fee and believe; fome believe, tho' they fee not.

ALL Evidence relating to Matters of Fact, is either receiv'd from our Senfes, or from the Teftimony of others; the Evidence of Senfe is certainly of an higher Nature than that other Sort, and confequently demands an higher Degree of Affent; but Matters of Fact, which can in their own Nature be but once acted over, must be communicated to far the greater Part of the World under the latter fort of Evidence; and here Circumstances must be taken into Confideration, and the Degrees of our Affent must be proportioned to the Degrees of the Evidence given us concerning them: Things which we ourfelves fee carry a greater Conviction than if we had them barely related to us; thofe Things again, of which Multitudes of People bear concurrent Testimony, are