of death, when the good man enters into the joy of his Lord.

Our good works enhance our eternal felicity. Christ goes before us to open heaven by his grace, but our good works follow to enhance our reward. How sweet there, as we look upon the Lamb that was slain for us, to remember that we lived for him and those he loved! When the redemption is complete, will it not be the joy of the blessed angels to remember all their acts of ministering kindness to the heirs of salvation? Will it not be the blessedness of the redeemed to remember their acts of kindness to those, who stand with them around the throne? Whose joy, whose glory will be the greatest? His, who did the most good.

O blessed SPIRIT, whose alone is the fruit of goodness, work that goodness in our hearts, that we, by thy continual help, may live the life which Jesus lived, and share the joy in which he rejoices: Even for his sake. Amen.

VIII.

FAITH.

It may seem strange to some that the apostle should not have named faith first of all, instead of after several Christian graces, as we are taught in the Scriptures, that faith in Christ is the life of Christian morality, suggesting the affection of love for God and man, and moving us to a correspondent course of conduct; and, especially, as the apostle Peter, in a passage almost parallel to the one before us, exhorts his brethren "to add to their faith" some of these very graces here named before it. (2 Peter, i. 5, 6, 7.) The explanation, however, is, that the word is not here to be understood in its more common sense.

Faith, in its pure signification, is belief in testi

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mony, as distinguished from personal knowledge. We believe that there is such a country as China, though we may never have seen it; and that there once lived such a man as Julius Cæsar, though he died nearly nineteen hundred years ago, because we have had sufficient testimony to convince us of both facts; but we know that we exist by our own consciousness, and need no further proof from others to assure us, nor could any testimony convince us to the contrary. We speak sometimes figuratively of the testimony of our senses, but strictly, what we perceive by our own senses, we know of ourselves.

If a

When faith in testimony is exercised about things in which we are personally concerned, it will, in due proportion to its strength, influence our conduct. man be ill of some dangerous disease, and is told by a physician in whose veracity and skill he has entire faith, that a certain remedy will restore him to health, he will take that remedy. If one, whom we

believe to be a person of truth and ability, offers us his friendship and aid in difficult circumstances, and we need his kindness, we will rely and count upon it; or, if we make a bargain with such an one, we will perform our part of the contract with a strong conviction that he will perform his. Faith in such a case is more than mere belief. It is confidence. Such is the nature of Christian faith, which is based upon the testimony of God in the Scriptures; and no man has true faith in the word of God, unless he believes his soul to be infinitely precious, and commits himself for salvation to Jesus Christ, and follows him in all those holy duties, the practice of which is through grace, the only way to attain everlasting life. Wherefore Paul and James agree, when one says, "Faith without works is dead;" (that is, hath no real existence;) and the other, "I will show thee my faith by my works." We are not saved by faith without works, for there is no such faith in Christ; neither are we saved by works

without faith, for no works, but those which flow

from faith, are acceptable with God..

But that is not the meaning of faith here. It is rather what is usually expressed by veracity, honesty, fidelity, or the observance of truth in all our assertions, promises, and engagements. The supposition of our truth induces others to put faith in us, and the keeping or fulfilment of that truth, is the fruit of the Spirit which is called "FAITH."

This sense of the term, though unusual, is not singular. We find the same Greek word in Titus, ii. 10, where servants are exhorted to show, "all good fidelity." In Deuteronomy, xxxii. 20, we read, "Children in whom there is no faith," or veracity; and the word in the Septuagint is the same as here. In Romans, iii. 3, the apostle asks, "Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" Shall their unbelief make God's declarations untrue? Indeed, it is common for us to speak of plighted faith, of relying upon another's