common in the Scripture, and which deceive only those who, through their own dulness, deceive themselves, is not to be guilty of lying or falsehood, when we take this method only in order to their spiritual advantage, and leave them under their mistake but a very little time.

14. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 15. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

That which here happened to Lazarus, is an emblem of God's withdrawing his grace, which is often instrumental to the salvation of many, though it be attended with the fall of a just person. All things work together for good to the elect; every thing tends to promote their faith and their salvation, when God is pleased it should be subservient to that end. He frequently permits the fall of some of them, on purpose to strike the most holy with a salutary dread; to render those who fall more humble, vigilant, and penitent; to edify the church by their repentance; and to encourage the greatest sinners to have recourse thereto. Christ could have cured Lazarus at a distance, his divinity being present in all places; but this was the proper time of honouring his human nature as the instrument of his divine, to which it was united in his person. He gently blames the little faith of his apostles, that he may make them more attentive to the miracle which he is going to perform.

16. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

These words of Thomas are very proper to be used by a true disciple, always ready to die with his Master, as a proper form wherewith he may encourage himself to follow his example, and to expose himself to every thing, depending upon his grace, and conforming himself to his holy dispositions, and to his spirit of sacrifice. A priest who is filled with this spirit, will, as he goes to the altar with his mind fixed upon Christ crucified, excite and animate himself by these words to unite himself to him, and offer himself with him in sacrifice, in what manner soever God shall please to dispose of him, of his life, his repose, etc.

SECT. II.-MARTHA'S DISCOURSE WITH JESUS.

17. Then, when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.

A habit of sin is the grave of the soul: the soul cannot come out of it without a miracle. There is no sepulchre so loathsome and insupportable as the conscience of an inveterate sinner, in which he has buried himself alive. Christ was pleased that the greatest of his miracles should be an emblem of the conversion of such sort of sinners, to the end that none of them might be without hope from his mercy to recover the life of his soul. He is able to raise them all, let them have lain ever so long buried in their vicious habits, because his mercy and his power have no bounds: but he actually raises very few, for reasons which it belongs not to us to dive into; and perhaps, too, because he would not have us take occasion. from thence to have less abhorrence of sin, and to continue long in it with a false peace, by rashly presuming upon the mercy of God.

18. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off. 19. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

We condole with a person who has lost a brother by death; but we do not compassionate a soul which has lost its God by sin. Where is our faith? Had these comforters but looked into the grave of their own heart, they would there have found souls more dead than Lazarus, through their incredulity and envy. Every one ought to search into his heart on the like occasions. A man who is dead in sin cannot comfort himself any otherwise than by the hopes of being converted, and by having recourse to God to beg of him the grace of conversion through Jesus Christ; for there is no other comfort or consolation under the death of the soul.

20. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him but Mary sat still in the house.

We must go to meet Jesus by our desires, we must wait for him in retirement with patience and peace of mind. What a comfort must it needs be to a poor sinner, when, by the first inspirations and motions of conversion, and by a disgust for

the world, an aversion to its pleasures, and a clear sight of the deformity of sin, he plainly perceives that Jesus Christ is coming toward his heart! Then is the time for Martha to go to meet Jesus by works of charity and a liberal distribution of alms; and for Mary to continue still in the house, by prayer, meditation, and recollection, and by searching into the heart to examine its most secret thoughts, inclinations, and disorders.

21. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Martha says nothing here but what is very consistent with Christ's own words, (ver. 15.) Her experience of his continual goodness, her belief of his almighty power, and the rule he seemed to have prescribed himself, (of refusing no cures which should be asked of him while he was present by his sacred humanity,) persuade her that he would have been moved by the prayers and tears of her and her sister, as well as by those of so many other persons. And in this she judged rightly, for he wept at the sepulchre of Lazarus, though he shed no tears when he first knew of his death.

22. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

The just person believes that God can work a miracle at any time: but he does not always ask one, because he does not know whether it may be useful and expedient. Let us not tax this holy person with want of faith, since Christ himself speaks even to the same purpose, (ver. 41.) It is her faith in this divine Mediator which causes her to speak in this place, as it is her belief of his divinity which makes her do it a little lower, (ver. 27.) Let us learn from her, that we are to ask nothing of God but through Jesus Christ our only mediator; that we can obtain nothing without him, and that by him we obtain every thing; but that he gives as God whatever he asks as God-man, as high-priest, and as advocate with the Father, in virtue of the rights of his divine person and merits.

23. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

How just soever the praise was which Martha here gave to Christ, he takes no notice at all of it. By making her a ge

neral promise, he gives her occasion to reflect upon a resurrection much more desirable than that which she desired for her brother. God generally allows time for our too great earnestness in seeking any temporal blessing to abate and cool, that we may not receive it in the imperfection of nature, but with the submission and purity of faith.

24. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

The belief of a general resurrection was, it seems, settled among the Jews by Scripture and tradition; but it had been particularly confirmed in this family by the instructions of the Son of God. The fidelity of Martha in preserving in her heart this fundamental truth, ought to excite us to reflect frequently upon it.

25. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26. And whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die. Believest thou this?

Christ, after his usual manner, takes occasion, from the favour which is asked of him, to deliver such truths as have relation thereto. There is no person who has not some opportunities of imitating this zeal and pastoral care. What Christ is, what he does, and what he will do, are three foundations upon which Martha ought to build the hope of her brother's resurrection. (1.) He is the principle of all resurrection and life in his members, being the life by his divine essence and his eternal birth. (2.) He is the source of the resurrection from infidelity to faith, by the inspiration of faith itself into the soul; and from sin to grace, by the infusion of charity. (3.) He is the author and model of the resurrection to a glorious and immortal life, by the communication of his own. It is by our believing these truths that we prepare ourselves to receive the accomplishment of them. A sinner who desires the resurrection of his soul, or the perfection of that resurrection, ought to have a firm belief of the power of grace over his heart.

27. She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

The exercise of faith, which is the source of prayer, is very

often too much neglected. Christ recommends it more than the exercise of other virtues, because it is the seed of them. Nothing seems incredible or too great to be hoped for from Christ, when there is a lively belief of his divinity; but when this foundation is shaken, the whole building falls to the ground. The faith of Martha comprehends all in a few words, and is a direct and full answer to the question of Christ. It soars up to the very bosom of the Father, the living God, the principle of a living God, and who, by this very Son, is the fountain of all life; and from thence it comes down again into the world, to the virgin's womb, where Christ was formed, by the union of the Son of God with flesh, that he might become the head and the principle of life to the children of God.

SECT. III. JESUS GROANS, WEEPS, PRAYS, CRIES OUT, AND RAISES LAZARUS: THE APOSTLES UNBIND HIM.

28. And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. 29. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.

It is necessary that both Mary and Martha-both the prayers and good works of the church-should concur to the conversion of a sinner. It is to both that Christ is pleased to promise and grant the resurrection to grace and glory. In this family Christ has no other name but Lord and Master, because it is a family of faith and obedience, wherein nothing is learned but Jesus Christ, and that from Jesus Christ himself, and nothing is done but what he commands and desires. Happy is that Christian family which resembles this! Mary, without the least delay, leaves those comforters who do but add to the weight of her grief, and goes to seek the only true Comforter. It is only at his feet that we can find that sovereign consolation which reaches even the heart.

30. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. 31. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.

This crowd of Jews know not that Christ was the person