XXI. SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY,

TEXT: So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. And 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. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee.-John 4, 46–54.

Speaking of the latter days, preceding His coming unto judgment, the Lord prophesied and said: "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18, 8. With these words the Lord did not mean to say, the true Christian faith would become altogether extinct and there would be no believers at all on the earth. The Church cannot become extinct," the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16, 18. When the trump of the archangel shall resound to awaken the dead there will still be found a company of true believers on earth. But putting this question the Lord meant to say, in the latter days faith would greatly diminish on earth; it would become rare among men, so that the few believers remaining must sigh: "Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men." Ps. 12, 1.

It can not be denied that this diminishing of faith has already taken place and is continually increasing. Outwardly Chris

tendom is widening its borders, but we know that the Lord does not regard numbers, neither is He deceived by an empty profession of the lips. If we open our eyes and look around in the world we can not help but see a great falling away from faith in the very midst of Christendom. Whilst missionaries are going forth to Christianize the heathen, many of those lands, which for centuries have been the seat of the Church, are fast becoming unChristian lands. Wickedness and infidelity are prevailing in them, and thousands have fallen away from the faith of their fathers. And not only do many avow their unbelief openly, even within the bounds of the Church, among professing Christians, true and living faith is rapidly failing. This is evident from many things. We see whole churches tinkering at their creeds, not in order to bring them into closer agreement with the Bible, but to make them more acceptable to the spirit of the times. We see whole denominations professing allegiance to a certain creed, and preaching and practicing the very contrary of their own creed. We annually read reports of so many thousands having been converted, but perhaps ninetenths of them quickly became backsliders. We see many running from one church to another, now trying this, then that, never settled in their faith. We see many professing to be converted Christians who live and do just like the children of the world, so that it is often impossible to discover any difference between church-members and worldlings. These and many similar characteristics of our age surely prove that that faith which knows what it believes, which stands firm as a rock and is a living power to make man a new creature from heart, soul and mind, has greatly diminished on earth.

And even the faith of the true believers is mostly not what it ought to be. Those Christians are rare indeed who are rooted and grounded in the faith, that they stand like a sturdy oak bidding defiance to every storm. The faith of the present Christians will rather compare with a delicate reed, shaken and bent by every gust of wind. Paul, after mentioning a whole string of afflictions and trials, says: "In all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us." Rom. 8, 37.

Paul's faith stood like a rock, scorning the surgings of the waters, but how is it with us Christians of these latter days? Can we, when tried, say: "We are more than conquerors?" Alas no! but we must generally confess: We barely escaped being conquered.

Why is it that so many are uncertain about what they believe, and so wavering in their faith? One of the chief reasons undoubtedly is, because they do not build their faith on the right foundation, or do not so build on that foundation as they ought. Then only can a house stand firm, if it is built on a solid foundation, and rests upon that foundation in all its parts. Paul declared: "I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed." 2 Tim. 1, 12. He was certain that his faith rested on a solid foundation. To be certain in our faith we must be sure that our faith rests on a foundation which can neither deceive nor give way. Let us to-day earnestly consider:

THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH FAITH MUST REST, noticing

I. What that foundation is; and

II. The importance of building on it alone.

I.

It might be well first to state that we here distinguish between the object to which faith is directed, and the foundation on which it rests. The object of our faith is Christ and His merits. This is what we believe: that Christ is our Savior and heaven our inheritance. Christ is also properly called the foundation of our faith, because our hope of salvation is alone in Him and He is the chief corner stone in the foundation of the apostles and prophets, but the question before us is: On what must our faith rest? What surety have we for our faith? What reason have we to believe that Christ, the grace of God and the forgiveness of sins are ours? what have we to show for it that heaven is our inheritance? St. Peter commands: "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." 1 Ep. 3, 15. We Christians should

know why we believe that grace and salvation are ours; we should be able to show a reason for our faith. If a man asks: Why do you believe that your sins are forgiven? I should be ready to give him sound and solid reasons for my faith. Asked, why we believe that the grace of God is ours, we Christians must not be obliged to answer, that we had no particular reason for believing it, neither should we produce uncertain reasons, but be ready to give reasons which must tend to convince men that our faith is well founded. But then only can we do this, if our faith rests on the one true foundation, which is the Word and promise of God, as we learn from this text.

The miracle related in our text was performed by the Lord in the first year of His public ministrations, but His fame had already spread throughout Galilee. So also this nobleman had heard of the things which Jesus had done at Cana and Jerusalem. Perhaps he had heard Jesus preach and had seen Him perform miracles at Capernaum, and he had come to this faith that the power of God was with Jesus. Therefore when his son was stricken with a deadly sickness he in his distress went to seek help with Jesus. But his faith was not yet what it ought to have been. His mind was still entangled in errors and his heart not free from scruples. We read of him: "When he. heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death." This man evidently had the idea, to heal his son Jesus must travel to Capernaum, must be present at the sick-bed and, probably, must use certain words and perform some peculiar acts. This nobleman was like unto that leprous Syrian, Naaman, who, when the prophet Elisha would not come out to him, but simply sent him word what to do, was wroth and said: "I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper." 2 Kings 5, 11. Because the prophet did not do what Naaman had expected him to do he lost confidence in Elisha; for his trust had been connected with the idea that the prophet must heal him in a certain manner, or by a peculiar process.

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So likewise this nobleman's trust rested largely on the opinion that Jesus must come down to Capernaum, and must heal his son by a certain procedure; for when Jesus did not forthwith consent to accompany him he said: Sir, come down ere my child die." He wanted the Lord to come to his house, because he thought the Lord must be personally present at the bedside, and he wanted the Lord to come quickly, because he thought, if his son were once dead it would be too late. He did not believe that Jesus could awaken from the dead. Behold, how this man's mind was yet entangled in error and in part his trust stood on his own thoughts and ideas as to how and when Jesus must heal his son.

The consequence was that this nobleman's faith was not established and firm, but weak and wavering. He was not free from scruples and doubts. This is manifest from the words which the Lord spake unto him, saying: "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." On some other occasions the Lord forthwith consented to do what was asked of Him. When that leper said: "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean," He answered: "I will; be thou clean." Matt. 8, 3. When the centurion of Capernaum besought Him for his servant He said: "I will come and heal him." But with this nobleman the Lord did not so. Hearing his petition the Lord began to argue with the man, and spake as though He were seeking an excuse to refuse his request. Why was this? O, the Lord's words give the reason. This man did not put undivided · confidence in what he had heard of Jesus and His deeds. He came with the thought in the background of his heart that he must first see the Lord perform a miracle before putting full confidence in Him. The all-seeing eye of the Lord discerned this thought of his heart, and he held it up to him, saying: 'Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." With these words the Lord exposes the nobleman's idea that he did not regard the Word which he had heard sufficient foundation for a full and undivided trust, but wanted to see for himself. He wanted to rest his faith, not on the Word alone, but besides the Word on his own eyesight and experience.

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