Here he cometh to show the effect of this anointing and
praying, though it is notable he ascribeth it rather to the prayer than to the
oil, the moral means being much more worthy than the ritual and ceremonial;
and, therefore, he doth not mention the anointing, but the prayer of faith; as
also to show that this is the standing spiritual means of cure, the other being
but an arbitrary rite suited to those times.
The prayer of faith; that
is, made out of, or in faith. This is added to show that this remedy should
only be effectual when they had a special revelation or persuasion of the
success of it, there being required to the miracle faith both in the elders and
person sick; faith in him that did the miracle, and faith in him upon whom it
was wrought; otherwise the one was not to attempt it, or to the other, if
administered, it would not prove successful We see unbelief did ponere obicem,
let and hinder our Saviour's, operation: Mark vi. 5, He could do no mighty
work,' &c.;
Shall save the sick, soosei, save. - He speaketh of a
corporal infirmity, and therefore it is meant of a corporal salvation, that is,
shall restore to health: so saving is used for healing, Mat. ix. 21; Mark vi.
66, 'were saved,' or 'made whole.'
And the Lord shall raise him up,
egerei - It is used for a resurrection out of death, and a restoration to
health out of sickness, not only here but elsewhere: Mark i. 31, 'He came and
took her by the hand,' ègeiren autèn, 'lift her up,' or 'raised
her up.' So Mat. viii. 15, ègerthè kai dièkonei, 'She was
raised, and ministered to them.' The reason of the word is, because sick
persons lie upon their beds, and when they are recovered we say, he is up
again, upon his legs again. 'The Lord shall raise him up;' this is added to
show by whose power it is done. Faith's worth and efficacy lieth in its object,
so that it is not faith properly, but God called upon in faith, that saveth the
sick.
And if he have committed sins. - Why doth the apostle speak
hypo-thetically? Who is there that can say 'my heart is clean'? Prov. xx. 9. I
suppose the apostle would imply those special sins by which the disease was
contracted and sent of God. Now herein he might speak by way of supposition,
sicknesses being not always the fruit of sins, but sometimes laid on, as a
means to discover God's glory, John ix. 2.
They shall be forgiven him.
- But how can another man's prayer of faith obtain the remission of my sins? I
answer - Very well in God's way, and as they procure means of conversion and
repentance for me; not as if because they pray and believe, though I do what I
will, I shall be forgiven; but they pray, and therefore God will give me a
humble heart, and, in the way of the gospel, the comfort of a pardon; for
certainly we are to ask spiritual matters for others, as well as temporal; and,
if we ask, there must be some hope at least that God will grant. Out of this
verse observe: -
Obs. 1. That means, whether moral or ritual, are no
further effectual than they are accompanied with faith; anointing will not do
it, prayer will not do it; but 'the prayer of faith shall save the sick.' In
the primitive times, when miracles were in their full force and vigour, the
effect is always ascribed to faith: Mat ix. 22, 'Thy faith hath made thee
whole.' Christ doth not say, thy touching my garment, but thy faith. You shall
see it is said, Mark vi. 56, 'As many as touched his garment were made whole;'
and, therefore, the woman thought that the emanation was natural, and not of
free dispensation. To instruct her, Christ showeth it was not the rite, but her
faith; so Acts iii 16, 'His name, by faith in his name, hath made this man
strong.' Mark, that place showeth, that as means cannot work without faith, so
neither will the principal cause, - 'his name, through faith in his name' The
disciples, though invested with high gifts, could not cure the lunatic for want
of faith: Mat xvii. 17, 'I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not
cure him; and Jesus said, O faithless generation.' Well, then, learn that in
all duties and means we should mind the exercise of faith, and we should strive
to make the persuasion as express and particular as the promises will give
leave: acts of trust are engaging, and the way to get God's power exercised is
to glorify it in our own dependence
Obs. 2. That all our prayers must
be made in faith; our apostle beateth much upon that argument: James i. 6, 'Let
him ask in faith,' &c. Faith is the fountain of prayer, and prayer should
be nothing else but faith exercised; none can come to Christ rightly but such
as are persuaded to be the better for him; all worship is founded in good
thoughts of God. We have no reason to doubt; we always find a better welcome
with him than we can expect; therefore, in all your addresses to God, pray in
faith; that is, either magnifying his power by counterbalancing the difficulty,
or magnifying his love, by referring the success to his pleasure.
Obs.
3. Prayers made in faith are usually heard and answered; Christ is so delighted
with it that he can deny it nothing: Mat xv. 28, 'O woman, great is thy faith;
be it unto thee as thou wilt,' Christ speaketh there as if a believer did
obtain as much as he can wish for.
Obs. 4. The efficacy of faith in the
use of means is not from its own merits, but from God's power and grace. The
apostle saith, 'Faith saveth;' but addeth, 'The Lord shall raise him up.' Faith
is but the instrument; it is a grace that hath no merit in itself; it is the
empty hand of the soul, and deputed to such high services because it looketh
for all from God. The Papists look upon it as an act in us; and because reason
will suggest that it is not of worth enough and sufficient for such high
effects, they piece it up with works, which, they say, give it a value and a
merit
Obs. 5. That sins are often the cause of sicknesses; we may thank
ourselves for our diseases. The rabbins say, that when Adam tasted the
forbidden fruit, his head ached. Certainly there was the rise and root of man's
misery: 1 Cor. xi. 30, 'For this cause many are sick and weak,' &c. The
body is often the instrument of sins, and therefore the object of diseases; the
plague and sore of the heart causeth that of the body. It is very notable that
Christ in all his cures pointeth at the root of the disease: Mat ix. 2, 'Be of
good cheer; thy sins are forgiven thee.' It would have been an ineffectual cure
without a pardon; while sin remaineth, you carry the matter of the disease
about you. So John v. 14, 'Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.'
Obedience is the best physic; while sin remaineth, the distemper may be
stopped, but not cured; it will break out in a worse sore and scab. The prophet
Isaiah saith of Christ, Isa. liii. 4, 'He hath borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows;' the meaning is, the punishment of our sins: so St Peter applieth it,
1 Peter ii. 24: 'He bare our sins in his own body on the tree,' which is the
express reading of the Septuagint; but now Matthew applieth it to Christ's cure
of sicknesses, Mat viii. 17, 'That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by
Esaias the prophet, He took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.' How
shall we reconcile those places? I answer thus - In taking away sickness, which
is the effect, Christ would represent taking away sin, which is the cause;
Christ's act in taking away sickness was a type of taking away sin. Now Matthew
applieth that to the sign, which did more properly agree to the truth itself or
thing signified; for you may observe, for the clearing of this and other
scriptures, that as the patriarchs, in their actions and in what they did, were
types of Christ; so Christ's own actions were in a manner types of what he
himself would do more principally. As casting out of devils signified the
spiritual dispossessing of Satan, and therefore there happened so many
possessions in Christ's time; so the curing of blindness, the giving of
spiritual sight, and taking away of sicknesses, the pardoning of sins. Well,
then, if sin be the cause of sickness, if we would preserve or recover health,
let us avoid sin: Exod. xv. 26, 'If thou wilt hearken unto me, I will bring
none of these diseases upon thee,' &c.; otherwise you may, as that woman,
spend your whole estate upon the physicians, and yet the cause continue. You
shall see, Deut. xxviii. 21, 22, sin is threatened with the consumption, fever,
and inflammation; usually the disease answereth the sin, the distempered heats
of lust are punished by an inflammation: Asa put the prophet in the stocks, and
he himself was diseased in his feet, 2 Chron. xvi. 9, with ver. 12. There were
times when God did more visibly plague disobedience, as in the times of the
law; when disjunctions were more corporal, diseases were a part of God's
coercive discipline. However now and then God useth the like dispensations;
sinners are met with according to the kind of their offence, though many I
confess are left to be taken out by their own rust, and, like chimneys, are let
alone so long foul till at length they be fired. But how many adulterers have
we seen going up and down like walking spittles? How many beastly epicures,
whose skins have been set a-fire by their own riot and surguedry. &c.?
Obs. 6. That is the best cure which is founded in a pardon. The apostle
saith, 'shall save the sick, and if he have committed sins, they shall be
forgiven him.' O my brethren! it were ill if any of us should be cured without
a pardon, if the stripe and wound should remain upon the conscience when the
body is made sound and whole; therefore first sue out your pardon; that is
proper physic which worketh upon the cause. David saith, Ps. ciii. 4, 'Bless
the Lord, who forgiveth all thine iniquities; and healeth all thy diseases.'
There is the right method; a sick man's work first lieth with God, and then
with the physician. Asa went first to the physician, and therefore it sped but
ill with him. When God taketh away the disease, and doth not take away the
guilt, it is not a deliverance, but a reprieval from present execution.
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