If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is

greater.

HAVING Concluded the arguments by which the truth of Christianity is established, it might be thought that nothing further need be observed; but that the whole subject should now be left to the reflections of the bumble inquirer. And thus it must be left; but not before we have described the FAITH with which the Revelation should be received, the INTERPRETATION which that faith implies, and the OBLIGATION under which every one is placed to receive and obey the religion.

For such is the corruption of man, that nothing must be taken for granted. Certainly he ought most thankfully to embrace the Christian doctrine. Certainly nothing is so reasonable and so directly calculated to promote his present and future happiness, as to welcome with joy the tidings of salvation. Yet he is far from doing this as he should. After all the arguments in the world, his perverse heart may, and often does, refuse to act upon the conclusions to which they lead; it too often yields only a tame assent to

the Revelation; it explains away the meaning of all the main truths of Scripture; it weakens or denies the practical obligations which the whole subject imposes. Thus, the great design of the Christian religion is defeated. We must explain, therefore, what is meant by faith, what is meant by a sound interpretation of the records which it receives, and the practical obligations resulting from both.

These topics will occupy the three following Lectures, and leave us at liberty to sum up the entire course in a concluding one.

On the present occasion we shall endeavor to show the NATURE of the faith with which we should receive the Christian Revelation; the REASONABLENESS of our being called on for such a faith, after having admitted the divine authority of Christianity; and the EXTENT to which, from the nature of the case, this faith should be carried.

I.

LATION.

We consider THE NATURE OF FAITH IN DIVINE REVE

Something has been incidentally said on this subject in several of our preceding Lectures, and the way prepared for the specific consideration which belongs to this place.

Faith, in its general import, is credit given to testimony; it is the reliance of the mind on the report or statement made by another. It is that peculiar act of the understanding by which we avail ourselves of information in those things which do not fall under our own observation, and do not admit of proof in the way of reasoning.

The complicated machine of human society is moved almost exclusively by this very principle which men so frequently object to, as it respects Christianity.

Testimony received and relied on, directs the determination of princes and councils, of senates and military com

(a) At every step in the External argument, we pointed out the degree of faith which should follow it, especially in Lectures vi. and vii. on the Credibility and Miracles. When we reviewed the internal arguments, we showed that they sprung from a just reliance on the truth of the Revelation as established by the preceding string of proofs. In the Lectures (xix. and xx.) on the test, faith was of necessity again touched upon. Our last two Lectures on the Objections yet more directly prepared the way for considering it.

manders, of judges and magistrates, of merchants and scholars; in short, of all the various classes of persons, in all the various ramifications of their dealings with each other. Human testimony, in matters which fall within its province, is as sure a rule of truth, as the senses and reasonings are, in the things to which they are respectively applicable. A reliance on testimony is as much a law of our nature as is consciousness or moral responsibility. Human life is governed by it. Every man has this faculty or capacity of believing; and every man exerts it according to his associations of thought and habitual feelings.

When we speak, then, of faith in a divine Revelation, we speak of a thing perfectly well known in itself, though, from the depravity of our nature, difficulties attend it when applied to this particular subject. But in itself what is faith in Christianity? It is credit given to a divine testimony-a reliance of mind on the record or statement made by almighty God in the book which we admit to be inspired and dictated by Him.

The apostles, at the promulgation of the gospel, bear witness to the resurrection of Christ. The Jews and Heathen hear their testimony, and see the miraculous works which sustain it. They act upon the infinitely important matters thus brought to their knowledge; they credit the report; they believe the gospel. This is the turning point in their conversion. The gospel and epistles are written by the same inspired men, and are sent to the different Pagan people; the evidences of the books are stated; the people receive them as divine, believe in them, rely on them-this is faith; the link between the testimony of God contained in the Revelation, and their minds. Eighteen centuries pass; the sacred books are handed down to us; they are proved to be authentic, credible, of divine authority, inspired; they are found to contain much that is obviously most worthy of God, and most suitable to man; they offer themselves to us, in some part of their contents, as the subject of actual experiment; the speculative objections raised against them are frivolous and contradictory. What next? If I act as becomes an accountable being, I repose with my whole mind

on the sure testimony of God; I exercise the same faculty of believing, by which I continually guide myself in all my most weighty and momentous temporal affairs, on this new and divine testimony which is laid before me by the infinitely wise, infinitely true, and infinitely holy Creator and Judge of the world.

And if a child relies on the witness of an earthly father; if it knows and feels something of its own weakness, ignorance, and liableness to err; and not only credits in a slight and general manner what its parent says, but has confidence. in him, relies with implicit trust and repose of mind, and receives with affectionate gratitude all his communications; much more shall man, the weak, ignorant, fallen child of a heavenly parent, receive that parent's testimony, and confide in it with repose and satisfaction of mind, with gratitude and joy.

The scripture contains a message of infinite importance from the eternal God to his rebellious creatures. The messenger arrives. His credentials are exhibited. The external evidences are admitted to be irresistible. The internal offer a series of subsidiary proofs. The overthrow of objections completes the demonstration. What follows? Man receives by faith the testimony, the well authenticated testimony, of God. Faith is the medium between the invisible truths which the Bible reveals, and the human soul; the link between the testimony of God without us, and the mind of man to whom it is made. Just as the senses are the medium between external objects and the human understanding; and as consciousness is the medium in the case of things taking place in the interior of the heart; and as reasoning in matters within the scope of the human faculties-so is faith the medium between truths presented to us on the testimony of God and our minds; faith places them within the sphere of vision, makes them palpable, enables us to avail ourselves of them. It is like the telescope to the natural eye; it brings near in their real magnitude and proportion, those objects of an invisible world, which reason could only dimly discern by its innate powers and the aid of tradition, or not discern at all.

All this is perfectly clear, I think, even to the youngest person before me. There is no difference between faith in human affairs and divine, as respects the act of the mind on the object presented to it. The object in each case is testimony; the degree of affiance, indeed, differs as greatly as divine and human, as fallible and infallible authority. But the act of the mind is in each case essentially the

same.

The great practical distinction between faith, as exercised on human testimony and on divine, arises from the fallen state of man, and the peculiar nature of the discoveries contained in the Holy Scriptures.

If the Bible were a mere theory of abstract science, or a cold historical narrative, or a simple rule of morals, there never would have been any dispute about the nature of the faith which receives it; because there would have been nothing in it contrary to the inclinations of man, and little surpassing his reasoning powers. But many of the truths of Scripture are so contrary to his pride and worldly lusts; they so far surmount his low and limited capacities; they demand such sacrifices of prejudices and passions, that no evidence is sufficient to induce a cordial belief, till the mind is prepared by prevenient grace. Man is proud, and sensual, and refuses to apply the same act of the mind which he is employing daily in matters of human witness, to the reception of the divine.

This forms the ground of the distinction between a living and a dead faith. A dead faith is a cold speculative assent to the truth of Scripture, with some general acknowledgment of its principal facts and doctrines as propounded in the creeds of Christian churches. It may include a theoretical acquaintance with all the particular doctrines of which these creeds are composed; but it neither obeys them in the affections of the heart nor the actions of the life. Accordingly, as we should say that a man who professed to

(b) I use this word as less ambiguous than preventing.

(c) "Perhaps it is the constant resistance which is made by the flesht the claims of a spiritual religion, and the consequent disinclination to a full and firm belief, which renders faith so eminently a Christian virtue."-Bishop Blomfield.