580 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO CHAP. XVII.
AMBROSE. Or thisnumber isusedbecauseGod restedon
the seventhday from His works. Afterthe seventhdayof
the worldeverlastingrestispromisedus,thatas theevil
worksofthatworldshallthen cease,soalsomay thesharp
nessofpunishmentbe abated.
5. And the Apostlessaidunto the Lord,Increase
our faith.
6. And the Lord said,Ifye had faithas a grain
of mustard seed,ye might say unto thissycamine
tree,Be thou pluckedup by the root,and be thou
plantedinthesea;and itshouldobeyyou.
THEOPHYL. The discipleshearingour Lord discoursingof
certainarduousduties,suchaspoverty,and avoidingoffences,
entreatHim to increasetheirfaith,thatso theymightbe
ableto followpoverty,(fornothingso promptsto a lifeof
povertyas faithand hope in the Lord,)and throughfaith
to guardagainstgivingoffences.Thereforeitissaid,And
Greg.22.theApostlessaiduntotheLord,Increaseourfaith. GREG.or.c.2i.^,hatis^thatthef^^ w|iicnnasalreadybeeareceivedinits
beginning,mightgo on increasingmore and more unto per-
Aug.de fection.AUG. We may indeedunderstandthattheyasked
Ev.'lib.ii.fortheincreaseof thatfaithby which men believein the
qu.89. thingswhich they see not; but thereis furthersignified
a faithinthings,wherebynot withthewords only,but the
thingsthemselvespresent,we believe.And thisshallbe,
when theWisdom of God, by whom allthingswere made,
shallrevealHimselfopenlyto His saintsfacetoface.
THEOPHYL. But our Lord toldthem thattheyaskedwell,
.andthattheyoughtto believestedfastly,forasmuchas faith
coulddo many things; and henceitfollows,And theLord
said,If ye had faithas a grainof mustardseed,fyc.Two
mightyactsareherebroughttogetherinthesame sentence;
the transplantingof thatwhich was rootedin the earth,
and theplantingthereofinthesea,(forwhatiseverplanted
in the waves?)by which two thingsHe declaresthepower
offaith.
Chrys. CaRYs. He mentionsthe mustardseed,because,though
in°Matt.sma^ in s'ze,^ is mightierin power than allthe others.