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1. "Signs" are miracles — a branch of evidence to which our religion appeals. The sufficiency of this evidence appears from universal acknowledgment. That the authors of all false religions have pretended miracles to establish their authority does not weaken the argument; for there could be no counterfeit coin were there no genuine mintage.

2. But what is a miracle? Not every extraordinary event, although popularly so denominated. There may be extraordinary floods, droughts, earthquakes, meteors, &c., and yet all may be resolved into natural laws operating under peculiar circumstances, without any special interposition of Deity. Hence, not every portent which an ignorant people call miraculous, is to be clothed with that character; nor every occasional remarkable effect which cannot be resolved into some known natural law, as the force of imagination in curing certain kinds of diseases and infirmities. But a miracle is the effect of the immediate interposition of God, contrary to or above the ordinary laws of nature, and that for the confirmation of some doctrine or message as from Himself.

3. The miracles of Jesus are presented to our consideration.

I. AS BEARING THE UNEQUIVOCAL CHARACTER OF REAL MIRACLES, AND THEREFORE AUTHENTICATING THE MISSION AND CLAMS OF CHRIST. Consider —

1. Their number. A solitary instance might be accounted for by mistake, deception, exaggeration, or coincidence. But the number "of the signs which Jesus did" shuts out this objection. Many instances are recorded with names, places, times, &c.; whilst we have instances in which our Lord healed "multitudes."

2. Their publicity. They were wrought in the sight of multitudes in broad day, and under the eye of a whole nation for nearly four years.

3. The character of the witnesses. Even the disciples were not over credulous; for Christ was the opposite of Him whom their imaginations had depicted as the true Messiah. In the multitude there was no eagerness to proclaim a lowly peasant, the Son of David, the King of Israel. And even the Pharisees and Sadducees, whose eye was sharpened by the mixed passions of hatred, envy, and fear, never denied the facts, and had to account for them by Satanic agency.

4. The nature of the works themselves. No class of events could bear stronger evidence of a supernatural character. They are not of a nature to be referred to the effects of imagination, occult laws of nature, never till then developed, nor to fortunate coincidences. "Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind."

5. In the very age and places where these "signs" were wrought, multitudes believed on Christ who had motives for unbelief but none for credulity; and their conversion can only be accounted for from the overwhelming evidences of the real occurrence of the miracles upon which Christ placed the proof of His Divine mission.

II. AS ACCOMPANIED WITH INTERESTING CIRCUMSTANCES, AND AS MINISTERING POINTS OF IMPORTANT INSTRUCTION. In the works of Christ there are —

1. Miracles which declare His Divinity.

(1) He wrought them, not in the name of another, but in His own. "I say unto thee, Arise," &c. This distinguishes Him from prophets and apostles.

(2) He associates a miracle of healing with His authority as God to forgive sins.

(3) When He drove the buyers and sellers out of the Temple, He claimed as His own that Temple in which He often appeared as a common worshipper.

(4) And when He cast out devils, they are sometimes constrained to confess Him as the Son of God.

2. Miracles of impressive majesty. He was to appear among men in the utmost lowliness of condition, yet He was to gather a people who were to receive Him as, "the Son of God." Such a task had been too difficult for the strongest faith, had there not been "signs" which should manifest His "glory." The cloud which enveloped Him was dark; but it was the cloud of the Shechinah. Under His benediction bread multiplies, and thousands are fed; He walks upon the sea, and the yielding element sinks not beneath His footsteps; amidst the uproar of a storm He utters His simple command, "Peace, be still!" and the winds hear, and die away. At the mouth of the sepulchre He cries, "Lazarus, come forth!" And when finally He, the Conqueror of death in His own dominion, appears, Thomas naturally exclaims, "My Lord and my God!"

3. Miracles of tenderness. The works of our Lord were uniformly benevolent; but some of them were characterized by circumstances of peculiar compassion, e.g., the feeding of the multitudes; the healing of the nobleman, and the raising of the widow's son, &c.

4. Miracles designed to impress upon our minds some important doctrine. When our Lord provided for the tribute-money, He intended to teach subjection to fiscal laws. When He drove the traders from the Temple, He taught that the places and the acts of worship are to be kept free from the intrusions of secular things. The miraculous draught of fishes was designed to indicate the success of the apostles in their work of evangelizing all nations, &c.

5. Miracles involving the duty and necessity of faith; that is, a personal trust in His power and mercy, as in the case of the leper, the centurion's servant, the child tormented with an evil spirit (Mark 9.), and the Syro-Phoenician woman.

6. Typical miracles, which symbolize something higher than themselves, great and illustrious as they were.

(1) Our Lord's absolute power over nature indicated that the government of the natural world was placed in His hands as Mediator.

(2) Devils were subject to Him, which showed that He came to establish a dominion which should finally subvert the empire of Satan.

(3) When He was transfigured, He exhibited a type of that glory into which He was Himself about to enter, and into which He purposed to introduce His disciples.

(4) When the band came to apprehend Him, and He by putting forth a supernatural power arrested the arresters, He showed with what ease He can confound His adversaries.

(5) When, whilst in the act of dying, He rent the earth, and opened the graves, so that many of the saints came forth, He gathered the first-fruits of His people from the grave. And the miracle of His own resurrection was the type and pattern of our triumph over death.Conclusion: Learn —

1. The practical character of the holy Scriptures. "These are written that ye might believe"; but many other works were done "which are not written in this book." Enough, however, is recorded for practical uses; the rest are reserved to the revelations of a future state. Let us remember that we are rather to improve what is recorded, than repine that not more has been written to gratify our curiosity.

2. The end for which they are written, "that ye might believe", &c. These are the chief foundations of the Christian faith. "The Son of God" is the Divine designation; "the Christ" is the official name of the Redeemer of the world.

3. The consequence of a true faith in Christ is life. A mere doctrinal faith, however correct, cannot of itself lead to this result; but the personal trust which is exercised by a penitent heart obtains the life which is promised in Christ. The sentence of condemnation is reversed; and spiritual life, the result of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, becomes the subject of present, daily, and growing experience. By this let us try our faith.

(R. Watson.)

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KJV: And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:

WEB: Therefore Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book;