the object: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." 2nd. That Jesus himself declares, that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." And he announces, also, on the other hand, that it is the rejection of this faith which occasions condemnation. "He that believeth not, is condemned already, because he has not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God." And many other passages might be quoted of the same purport. 3rd. That he commisioned the apostles "to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," declaring that he that believed and was baptized should be "saved," and that he that believed not should be " condemned." Now, "the gospel" is simply the glad tidings concerning Christ; that he died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, was buried and rose again, according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor. xvi. 4.) It consists of the simple story of the cross -of those wonderful facts of Christ's history which reveal him as the promised Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world. To believe these facts is to receive Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and the Saviour of men. 4th. That the apostles, in fulfilling this commission to preach the gospel, gave to those whom they addressed a concise statement of those facts in Christ's history, and presented the evidence on which they rested; thus endeavoring to produce in the minds of their hearers this belief in Jesus as the Messiah, and requiring no larger faith than this, and no more extended knowledge than this involves, for introduction into the kingdom of Christ. Take, for example, Peter's discourse, Acts ii." Ye men of Israel hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, and wonders, and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know; him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain; whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. * * Therefore, being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." The effect of this discourse was, as we are told, that three thousand persons were pierced to the heart and converted to Christ. Or take, in the following chapter, Peter's address to a different audience: "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you: and killed the Prince of Life, whom God hath raised up from the dead, whereof we are witnesses." The result of this was, we are told, that about five thousand men "believed." "Howbeit, many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand." Or take the first discourse to the Gentiles: "The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, (He is Lord of all.) This word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost, and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained to be the judge of the quick and dead. To him give all the prophets witness, that, through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Or, again, take Paul's preaching at Antioch (Acts xiii. 17-41.) 6th. That this faith in Christ is that which is expressly enjoined in order to salvation. See the address of Paul and Silas to the Philippian jailer (Acts xvi. 31)" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Or Philip's declaration to the eunuch (Acts viii. 37—“ If thou believest, with all thy heart, thou mayest;" and the satisfactory reply, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' Again: John says, "And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment." 7th. That it is this faith which not only introduces the believer into the Christian institution, but enables him to maintain his profession and sustain himself against the temptations of life. "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God." Again: "Whosoever is born of God, overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God." But I need not multiply quotations, to show that a sincere belief in Jesus as the Chirst, the Son of God, is emphatically and truly the Christian faith, and the only faith which can lawfully be demanded in order to admission to Christian privileges and church fellowship. This is the CHRISTIAN'S CREED, and the only creed to which any one may be justly called to subscribe. And this being so, all other creeds and confessions are at once nullified and repudiated, as without Divine authority, as mere inventions of men, leading the mind away from Christ and a direct and personal reliance upon him, to mere intellectual conceptions, abstract propositions, and human opinions; or, if not wholly to these, at least to subordinate truth, collateral questions, remote conclusions, which belong not immediately to what is properly the Christian faith, but to the subsequent chapter of Christian knowledge. Hence, even upon the hypothesis that the religious formularies of doctrine now in vogue contain nothing but truth, we deny the right of any one to complicate the simplicity of the Christian faith in this manner, and to demand, in advance, a degree of knowledge and experience in the child which, in the very nature of things, can be expected only in one who has attained to the stature of a man in Christ Jesus. It will appear, then, from the above, that while we regard the Bible as the great and only repository of knowledge in religion, and as the volume which is to occupy the mind and heart of the Christian student, we consider that particular portion of it which is immediately concerned with Christ's personal history and ministry, as that which is to be presented to the unconverted world as embracing the subject matter of the Christian faith-the simple gospel of Christ. This may be either read in the book itself, or presented by the living preacher. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." It is a plain and simple narrative, the truth of which was confirmed by signs and miracles— "those demonstrations of the Spirit" which attended its introduction, and which were then faithfully recorded, in order to accomplish the same purpose in all future ages. It is this gospel which is the "power of God for salvation, to every one who believes it." It is not a power of God-one of the methods which God employs to save-but it is emphatically the power of God for salvation - the only revealed way in which God can, in consistency with his own attributes, justify and save the sinner. It is the cordial belief of this love of God, thus manifested in the life, death, resurrection, and glorification of Christ, which reconciles man to God, which overwhelms the soul in penitence and contrition for its past offences, and through the influences of the Holy Spirit, produces an entire renovation of heart and reformation of character. In brief, it is Christ himself who is thus made to us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. (To be continued.) THE LIFE OF FAITH. THE life of faith being works, all | Bethel," between it and Hai, and here, faithful men are of necessity working again, he erected an altar "unto the men. Abraham is called the father of Lord, and called upon the name of the the faithful, because to him, pre-emi- Lord." So it appears Abram was a nently faithful, the promise was made devoted worshipper of God, for whereof the blessings flowing to the world ever he pitched his tent there he raised through the Lord Jesus Christ; and to an altar unto the Lord. He confided him the Apostle James refers, in illus- in the Lord, and hence, when commandtration of the perfection of faith by ed to leave his father's house, his kinworks. dred, and country, he hesitated not to obey the divine order; he knew not whither he should go. Abraham, according to the common or Hebrew computation of time, was born two years after the death of his After the separation of Abram from ancestor, Noah. But little is said of his relative Lot, again the Lord aphim till he arrived at the age of seventy-peared unto him, and renewed the profive years, when he appears on the mise of a numerous progeny. "Then theatre of action, as a most interesting he moved his tent and came and dwelt and important character. At this time in the plain of Mamre, in Hebron, and of life, he is first presented by the sacred built there an altar unto the Lord." historian as the subject of a conmand somewhat trying. "Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." Connected with this injunction were promises of a highly important character, well calculated to inspire Abrabam, for such was then his name, with courage and devotion. These promises respected his posterity and himself. "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.' Why this man was selected as the subject of Providence, is not stated by the historian, but we can be at no loss to conjecture. Men had become wicked -already had they aspired to build a tower which might reach to heaven, but God frustrated their designs by confounding their tongues. Amidst so much and so great wickedness, Abraham must have been pre-eminently upright, and possessed of just such a character as fitted him to receive the promise, and become the head of a family too numerous to be counted; yea, numerous as the stars of heaven. Passing by some interesting occurrences in the life of Father Abram, he again stands before us the object of especial care, and the recipient of renewed assurances of future fruitfulness. "Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward." But for the first time the faithful man seems to doubt, seeing he is without a child, and calls for some token of assurance whereby he might know the certainty of that whereof he had received the promise. It was under such circumstances that God made him an unambiguous and clear promise of an heir and a numerous family, saying to him, "Look now toward heaven and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them, for so shall thy seed be." The good man believes. "He believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness." He was then ordered to make an offer ing, which he did, in all particulars, as directed; and in the evening, as the sun was going down, Abram fell asleep. In this sleep was revealed to him the sojourn of his seed in bondage, in a strange land, their redemption and final entrance into the land of promise (Canaan.) Again the promise is renewed. So far Abram is found to be a most faithful, confiding, devoted servant of God. Wherever he pitches his tent, there he builds an altar, and calls upon the name of the Lord. He was indeed the "confident" of God, so faithful and devoted was he. But, as yet, he has no child, and to all human appearance, no prospect of any. At ninety-nine years of age, however, the Lord ap pears to him, makes his covenant with him, renews the promise of fruitfulness, | and changes his name to Abraham. To Sarai, also, the promise of a son is made, and her name changed to Sarah. "Abraham fell upon his face and said in his heart, shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" Yes, indeed. "Sarah, thy wife, shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him." These are remarkable circumstances, and ought to be well pondered. In due time the child was born, whose name was Isaac. He was a child of promise, and no doubt a promising child. His father circumcised him at eight days old - his mother suckled him the child grew and was weaned; and "Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned." For this son of promise, of miraculous birth, upon whom rested the fond hopes of generations then unborn, it is not unreasonable to suppose Abraham entertained the fondest affection of which the tender heart of the faithful parent was susceptible. He was the son of his old age-the pride and glory -the prop and stay of his declining years. Day after day, as the boy grew, the fond parents looked upon him with the most exquisite delight, and indulged with the most pleasing emotions, the happiness that his maturity would confer upon themselves the highest degree of earthly happiness; and that through him, would flow to the world, blessings far beyond anything they were then able to understand or properly appreciate. Hitherto, under all the eventful circumstances of his life, Abraham had remained faithful; and now, when his son has become fully twenty years of age, the Lord determined to put the faithful patriarch to a most trying test, that should he maintain his character, he might indeed be the "Father of the faithful" through all succeeding generations. Now, at an advanced age, he must be tried—sorely tried. His faith must be perfected, and perfected, too, by a test severer than any that ever went before, or that should ever come after. "Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land Moriah, and offer him there upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." To this severe command Abraham hesitated not to move in obedience. He stayed not to remonstrate against its severity, or plead its unlawfulness, but "rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, Isaac his son, and clove the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him." The good old man, with anxious heart, hastened on till the third day, when he lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off." Oh! what must have been his feelings, when his eyes first looked upon the place where his son-his lovely, dutiful Isaac, must be offered, and that, too, by his own fond parental hand? He keenly felt all the journey, but at this instant his feelings must have been heightened to a degree most intense. "Abide here," said he to the young men, "while I and the lad go yonder and worship, and come again to you." The wood for the altar is placed upon the victim, while the father--the executioner-carries in his own hands the fire and the knife. The intensity of the father's feelings is now, if possible, increased, when the innocent, unsuspecting son asks, "Father, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the victim?" What must have been the old father's feelings? No human being can fully realize. For an instant he is almost overcome; he turns his face from the lad, to hide the falling tear; then gathering up his resolution, replies, "My son, God will provide himself with a burnt offering." They hasten on, and soon the spot is approached—an altar is erected—Isaac is bound and placed upon it. Now the fatal moment is come. Fond, parental affection yearns over the lovely lad—a victim bound upon the altar; on the other hand, faith- unwavering faith, nerves for the trying moment, to strike the fatal blow. The uplifted hand, grasping the sharp knife, bespeaks the faithful determination to strike. Just at this instant, the good man nerves himself to the highest point to strike successfully. "Behold! Abraham!" calls out an angel, “lay not thine hand upon the lad, for now I know that thou fearest God, since thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from him." "I know thou fearest God," said the angel. “'Tis enough; thy faith is per fected." "Seest thou how faith wrought by works, and by works was faith made perfect?" The life of faith is works, for as the body without the SIMON PETER. Christ, but it should be done with all gentleness and affection. We should show a gentle spirit on all occasions, in imitation of our divine model the meek and lowly Jesus. SIMON PETER, an eminent apostle | of Jesus Christ, was a native of Bethsaida. His occupation was that of fishing. Our Saviour saw that this obscure fisherman would exercise great courage and fortitude to preach the Peter was one of the three whom our gospel-to be a fisher of men. He was Saviour honored to witness his transone of the first whom our Lord called | figuration on Mount Tabor, where he to be his follower. He gave him the had a foretaste of the glories of heaven. name of Cephas, or Peter, which means He saw his sufferings in the Garden of a stone made him his apostle, and Gethsemane. He was with him when commissioned him to go and break he raised to life the daughter of Jairus; down heathen superstition and Jewish and after being so highly favored by the bigotry to proclaim the good news of Saviour, attending him through his salvation to all people. It appears from ministry on earth a witness to his reading the Acts of apostles, that Peter miracles-listening to his heavenly inwas a very bold character, and showed structions, and confessing him so boldly, great earnestness, zeal, love, and strong that he should have suffered the weakfaith in the Saviour - that he was in- ness of his nature to overcome him so deed the Christ, the Son of the living much as to deny three times that he God, the Saviour of the world. He at- knew him! It was certainly a great tended him very often in his journey-infirmity in Peter; at a time, too, when ings about. Our Saviour seemed to have a strong affection for Peter, and conferred on him many marks of favor. See how he loved the Saviour, and what courage he showed when he walked on the liquid element to go to him. We think there are not many to be found among his followers who love him as Peter did who are willing to make many sacrifices, and to practise much self-denial on his account, for the sake of his holy cause which they advocate. That Peter walked on the water with Jesus must have strengthened his faith in him that he was indeed the Christ, who has power over all the work of his hands, to calm the stormy billows by a word, and make them submissive to his will. See the fervency of his love on another occasion: when they came to take the Saviour away, he thought he must resist them. He could not bear to see him injured and badly treated. In the impulse of his feelings he cut off the ear of Malchus, a servant of the High Priest. It is right for the followers of Christ to show their disapproval of sin, even the very appearance of it. They should have the boldness of Peter, to discountenance all such conduct as will tend to bring a reproach on themselves and others, to injure the cause of his suffering Lord needed his smypathy. He should have kept close to him, instead of following him afar off. When our Saviour told him he would deny him, full of self-confidence, he would not believe he would ever be guilty of such conduct, though all the rest should. How little do we know our strength? After the third denial, Peter remembered the Saviour's words, and went out and wept bitterly. In deep anguish of soul he repented, and was restored. His faith in Jesus never faltered again. After his resurrection, he appeared first to his penitent apostle to encourage him, and gave him an opportunity to declare his love for him three times as often as he denied him, then told him to feed his sheep. Always after that, Peter continued to be a very zealous and skilful fisher of men suffering a great deal for his Divine Master, whom he had so wickedly denied. Many allowances can be made for Peter, that cannot be made for us. When he saw they were determined to put the Saviour to death, not seeming to understand his words, that he would rise again to set up a spiritual kingdom, and that he would live and reign for ever-all his hopes left him-he sank in despair-he was unmanned. Satan |