Need I suggest to you, that you will have had an opportunity of joining in publick prayers, which must in justice be considered the principal part of publick worship; although it is unquestionable, that discourses delivered from this place, as far as they are agreeable to the word of GOD, will promote your edification; for St. Paul has put the question, How shall they hear without a preacher*? It being therefore a duty incumbent on me to preach, it is no less so on you to give an attentive hearing: and may GoD severally supply us all with his preventing grace, that we may faithfully discharge our respective duties of minister and people.

Our principal observations last evening were on CHRIST'S cursing the barren fig-tree, of his driving the buyers and sellers out of the temple, as he had done the day before, and of the offence which the chief priests and scribes took at his doctrine, by which he asserted his mission and authority from GOD: offence so great, that they sought how they might destroy him. This however they did not attempt at that time, for they feared the people who had a high veneration for

* Rom. x. 10.

him and he retired peaceably to Bethany, as he had done the night before.

We find him the next morning, that is on tuesday, the day we are about to consider, returning into the city with his diseiples; who, as they were passing by the spot on which they had, the day before, seen the fig-tree, to all appearance, in a very flourishing state, were struck with wonder and astonishment, when they perceived that the beauty of it was gone, and that it was become a withered trunk. They immediately expressed their surprise, and exclaimed, probably one to another, How soon is the fig-tree withered away! But one of them in partieular, Peter, who is frequently represented by the evangelists to be more quick in his observations than the rest of them, addressed himself particularly to JESUS, Master, behold the fig-tree which thou cursedst, is withered away. It is pleasing to remark, how readily the blessed JESUS instructed his disciples to derive information from every event: and the answer which he gave to Peter and to the other disciples, affords a lesson of the utmost importance; it therefore deserves. our most serious attention. We will give the answer as recorded by the two evangelists St. Matthew and St. Mark. And

JESUS answering, saith unto them, Have faith in GOD; For verily I say unto you, That if ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig-tree; but also, whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; it shall be done, and he shall have whatsoever he saith.

And therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, and shall ask in prayer, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

And when ye stand, praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven, forgive your trespasses.

We may consider this answer of our LORD in two points of view; one, as addressed to his disciples in particular; the other, as a standing instruction to all future Christians in general.

The promises which are here made to a miraculous faith in prayer, are not our immediate concern; but they must be restrained to the age of miracles, and to

the persons to whom they were spoken, the apostles, and first propagators of the Gospel; for it is certain from experience, that this is no ordinary and perpetual gift of Christians. And that the thing. here promised was extraordinary, appears from the faith required to it, called by St. Mark, The Faith of GOD, that is, either the greatest and most excellent faith; or else, faith that does certainly persuade us of God's extraordinary `assistance. And that this respects the apostles, is evident, because CHRIST elsewhere speaks this to them, on the account of that defect of faith, which made them fail in casting out a devil. Matt. xvii. 19, 20*.

Perhaps it may seem to you, that to this faith a promise is made of a power to perform impossibilities; for it is said, that the possessor of it shall be able to remove mountains, and by a word to cause them to be cast into the sea. Far be it from me to say, that it is not in the power of God to root up mountains, and and to remove, and even to cast them into the sea; or that he is not able to communicate this power to others; but I wish to signify to you, that there are

*Whitby..

some expressions which we are not to understand in a strict literal sense, but to interpret agreeably to the idioms of that language in which they were delivered. Now the phrase to root up, to remove mountains, is a strong figurative expression, by which is signified the performance of any, the most difficult matter: as the Jews used to say of their own doctors who were able to solve the most difficult questions, Such a one is a rooter up of mountains.

As therefore the religion of CHRIST was to be progagated and confirmed by the working of miracles; a promise is here made to the disciples, that by a firm and lively faith and trust in GoD, they should be enabled to work the greatest miracles in confirmation of the Divine truths, which they were hereafter to preach. But suffer me to impress you with a caution against entertaining any improper opinions of faith, for no encouragement is given in this promise to an enthusiastic notion of the power of it in ordinary cases: nor is this caution in these days unnecessary, when so much is attributed to the power of faith, as to supersede the necessary condition of good works, whereby this faith can alone be rendered available to salvation.