up thy bed, and go to thine house" (ix. 2-7; Luke v. 19-25). "Two blind men cried, saying, Have mercy upon us, thou Son of David: Jesus said unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They say unto Him, Yea, Lord: then He touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith, be it unto you; and their eyes were opened" (ix. 27, 28, 29). By this faith, whereby the sick were healed, is understood no other faith than that which is called historical, which also at that time was miraculous. The faith was, that the Lord was Almighty, because he was able to do miracles of Himself, wherefore also He allowed Himself to be worshipped, which was not the case with the prophets of the Old Testament, who were not worshipped. This historical faith in all cases precedes, before the same becomes saving. Historical faith becomes saving with man, when he learns truths from the Word, and lives according to them.
Again, in Matthew: "A woman of Canaan, whose daughter was agitated by a demon, came and worshipped Jesus, saying, Lord, help me; Jesus said unto her, Great is thy faith, be it unto thee as thou wilt: and her daughter was healed" (xv. 22-28). In John: "A ruler, whose son was sick, entreated Jesus that He would heal his son before he died: Jesus said unto him, Go thy way, thy son liveth; and the man believed in the word which Jesus said unto him, and his servants met him, saying, Thy son liveth; therefore he believed, and his whole house" (iv. 46-53). "Jesus finding the man born blind, whom He healed, said unto him, Believest thou then in the Son of God? He answered him and said, Who is he, Lord, that I may believe in Him? He said unto him, Thou also seest Him, and He who speaketh with thee is He: he said, Lord, I believe; and he worshipped Him" (ix. 35-38). In Luke: "Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, whose daughter was dead, Fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole; and she arose again" (viii. 50,
