Church of England SUNDAY SCHOOL QUARTERLY MAGAZINE. 1ST JANUARY, 1861. The Teacher in his Closet. A HANDFUL OF CORN FROM OLD FIELDS. FAITH. THERE is a naked, inoperative faith. Ask but some on what ground they look to be saved, and they will answer, "Because they firmly believe that, through the merits of Christ, their sins are forgiven them." But since it is hard for a man in his right wits to be confident of a thing which he does not at all know, such as are more cautious will tell you, further, "That to desire to believe is to believe, and to desire to repent is to repent." But as this is absurd and impossible, since no act can be its own object without being not itself, forasmuch as the act and the object are distinct things; and consequently a desire to believe can be no more belief than a desire to be saved can be salvation; so it is further intolerable, upon this account, that it quite dispirits religion, and cuts the nerves of all endeavour, by rating glory at a bare desire, and eternity at a wish. And because the poison of this opinion does so easily enter, and so strangely intoxicate, I shall presume to give an antidote against it in this one observation, viz., that all along the Scripture, where justifiVol. XIV. B cation is ascribed to faith alone, there the word faith is still used by a metonymy of the antecedent for the consequent, and does not signify, abstractedly, a mere persuasion, but the obedience of a holy life, performed in the strength and virtue of such a persuasion. Not that this justifies meritoriously, by any inherent worth or value in itself, but instrumentally, as a condition appointed by God, upon the performance of which He freely imputes to us Christ's righteousness, which is the sole, proper, and formal cause of our justification. But whether the obedience of a pious life, performed out of a faith or persuasion of the truth of the Gospel, ought to pass for that faith which justifies, or only for the effect or consequent of it; yet, certainly, it is such an effect as issues by a kind of connatural, constant efficiency and result from it. So that how much soever they are distinguishable by their respective actions from one another, they are absolutely inseparable by a mutual and necessary connection, it belonging no less to faith which justifies to be operative than to justify; indeed, upon an essential account more, forasmuch as it is operative by its nature, but justifies only by institution. FAITH is to be measured from the revelation which he who believeth hath, and from the opposition which he encountereth. A little faith upon little light, and maintained against a great opposition, is a great faith; though little in itself, yet great with respect to the circumstances of him that believeth. Poole. Faith FAITH has respect to evil, as well as to good; and in this it differs from hope. Hope wishes for good only. No man hopes for afflictions or evils. Hope desires rewards only; faith expects punishments as well as rewards. Faith deters from bad conduct, through fear, no less than through desire of advantage; hope allures, through promises of blessings. Faith is the full assurance or personal conviction of the reality of things not seen. looks backward to past ages, as well as forward to futurity; hope looks only forward. Thus every pious Christian, believing that what God has promised He is able to perform, looks forward with realising belief in the existence of heaven and of hell, of rewards and punishments beyond the grave, not such as are restricted to this world, but such as coincide with the immortality of the soul, and with the power and wisdom of the Supreme and Universal Judge. Rev. C. Taylor. Ir was not the meaning of our Lord and Saviour, in saying, "Father, keep them in thy name," that we should be careless to keep ourselves. To our own safety our own sedulity is required, and then blessed for ever be that mother's child whose faith hath made him the child of God. The earth may shake, the pillars of the world may tremble under us, the countenances of the heavens may be appalled, the sun may lose his light, the moon her beauty, the stars their glory; but concerning the man that trusteth in God, if the fire once proclaimed itself unable to singe a hair of his head, -if lions, beasts ravenous by nature and keen with hunger, being set to devour, have, as it were, religiously adored the flesh of the faithful man,—what is there in the world which shall change his heart, overthrow his faith, alter his affection towards God, or the affection of God to him? If I be of this note, who shall make a separation between me and my God? Shall tribulation, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No. I am persuaded that neither tribulation, nor anguish, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, nor sword, nor death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall ever prevail so far over me. I know in whom I have believed; I am not I have a ignorant Whose precious blood hath been shed for me. Shepherd, full of kindness, full of care, and full of power; unto Him I commit myself; his own finger hath graven this sentence on the tables of my heart,-"Satan hath desired to winnow thee as wheat, but I have prayed that thy faith fail not." Therefore the assurance of my hope I will labour to keep as a jewel unto the end, and by labour, through the gracious mediation of His prayer, I shall keep it. Hooker. Ir is harder to believe in Christ for righteousness than to keep all the Commandments, because keeping the Commandments hath something in the heart of man agreeing with it, but so hath not the way of justification by faith. Philip Henry. WHEN thou art told that we are justified by faith, think not that this takes place because faith is a virtue in us, by which we secure the approbation of God, or because faith is the parent stock of other virtues; but be assured of this, whenever thou hearest the word faith, that what is offered is something out of ourselves. Melancthon. THIS is the call of the Gospel,-he that dares trust Christ with his soul, upon the warrant of the Gospel, shall be saved for ever. The Lord tries his people this way. We have no more to do, but to take pen in hand, and say, "Amen, O Lord; it is a good bargain and a true word, and I will trust my soul with it." This is believing. Trail. FIVE KINDS OF FAITH. 1.-Historical Faith. 2.-Faith of Miracles. 3.-Temporary Faith. J. T. Brown. "THERE is healing in the bitter cup." God takes from us those we love, as hostages for our faith (if I may so express myself); and that to those who look to a re-union in a better world, where there shall be no separation, except that which results from perpetual progressiveness, the evening becomes more delightful than the morning, and the sunset offers brighter and lovelier visions than those which we built up in the morning clouds, and which disappeared before the strength of the day. The older I grow, and I am older in feeling than in years, the more I am sensible of this ; there is a precious alchemy in this faith, which transmutes grief into joy; or rather, it is the true and heavenly euphrasy, which clears away the film from our mortal sight, and makes affliction appear what, in reality, it is to the wise and good-a dispensation of mercy. THINK not the faith by which the just shall live Far less a feeling, fond and fugitive, A thoughtless gift, withdrawn as soon as given. It is an affirmation, and an act That bids eternal truth be present fact! Southey. Hartley Coleridge. FAITH we profess, and, indeed, generally, because it is not safe to do otherwise, that we believe the Scripture to be true, and that it contains the plain and only way to infinite and eternal happiness; but if we did generally believe what we do profess, if this were the language of our hearts, as well as our tongues, how comes it to pass that the study of it is so generally neglected? Chillingworth. |