SERMON.

"Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."-1 Cor. xiii: 13.

Now that is, in our present state as a probation-in this world and upon the life we are living in it, these three abide as the constituent elements of its substantial portion. In the work of our salvation, as the central business which employs and occu pies us here, each, as an attribute of our forming character, holds its assigned position in a fixed relation

Now-in this present state of our existence as preparatory for the future, (and in regard of the first two, as will be shown, NOW strictly and exclusively,) "abideth faith, hope, charity, these three"-each and all of them-jointly and severally, together and distinctly.

1. FAITH-in which the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life, moves upon the abyss of our fallen nature, and begets us again unto a lively hope in Jesus Christ; and through which, in its operation by love under that ministration of the Spirit of God which the mediation of the Son procures to bring us to the Father, we are justified and regenerated, renewed and sanctified

2. HOPE by which we are incited to rise above the adversities and trials of this present world, and to look beyond it for the soul's true home. And

3. CHARITY-by which faith and hope are inclined to a heavenly direction, and all the gifts and graces of the Divine life shaped and consolidated and made holy in the sight of God.

4. THE GREATEST OF THESE IS CHARITY-because, in distinc tion from the other two, it is an attribute of God, and constitutes in man assimilation to his Maker-the renewal of that divine image and likeness in which he was created.

It is foreign to our present purpose, under the straitened conditions of our space precluding it, to enter at large into the definition and description of FAITH. The term is variously employed in Scripture, and is expressive of a great variety of meanings. It must suffice, in the present connection, that we follow the distinctive lines of the passage under review, and confine our survey to the specific indications which it furnishes.

1. Now ABIDETH FAITH.

As employed by the Apostle in our text, and in the chapter which includes it, FAITH is the causative or actuating principle by which all our hopes and desires, all our purposes and endeavors, and even our belief, are made effectual. We say belief, because there is a distinction with a difference, between intellectual assent to the system of Divine Truth, and that justifying FAITH, which, laying hold upon the hope set before us in the Deliverer, and resting in the promises of God, brings the whole man under a divine dominion and into captivity to the obedience of Christ; and which, in its working by LOVE, demonstrates the great problem of our souls' salvation. As it "now abideth," FAITH is the provisional agency or means through which the restoration of fallen man to the favor of God is potentially effected. Though it is the condition of our justification-and the indispensable condition, in that it allies us to the Lord that bought us-still it is a part and not the whole of "our high calling of God in Christ Jesus." It is a means to the production of Christ in us, "the end of the law for righteousness."

It serves the important purpose of introducing us within the circle of divine grace; leads us to an apprehension of the hope of eternal life set before us in Christ Jesus; brings us within reach of the promised salvation which grace provides, and nerves the soul to lay hold upor. and appropriate it. Both in its nature and in its function, FAITH is inferior and subordinate to CHARITY. As an instrumentality it brings us to the law of our filial duty, while charity embraces it-for "LOVE is the fulfilling of the law." The simple exercise of FAITH brings us to Christ: The operation of LOVE makes us like Christ, conforming us unto His image in

righteousness and true holiness.

Thus with CHARITY abideth

FAITH but greater than faith is charity.

Let us not be understood in this connection, as seeking or desiring in anywise to lower the due estimate of FAITH: we are far enough from that. We acknowledge and accredit it, as the initial doctrine in the scheme of divine grace-the condition upon which our justification before God depends and hinges. "Without faith it is impossible to please Him." It is only through faith in the atonement effected by Christ, that we can look for any lasting benefit to accrue to us from His mediation.

We are, indeed, (as the Apostle says, and repeats,) "saved by grace." But that "grace of God which bringeth salvation" can only reach us "through faith " It is the appointed mediumthe way and means through which we fall in with the gracious plan of God concerning us, and work out our own salvation.

"Now abideth faith”—now, as the prime essential of our Christian state. Without it, human hope is but a wayward and delusive fancy; and human righteousness, even the highest grade of it, is but an empty show-a form without the substance--a body without the soul. Therefore, (that is, growing out of the necessity of the case,) "now abideth faith" and every thought and action of our life-every purpose and endeavor which enters into the account of what we are, must proceed and spring from FAITH, or they pass into the portion of "dead works." It is only as the quickening principle of FAITH pervades and hallows what we do, that our service becomes acceptable in the Divine sight, and thus wins for us the Divine favor. "Without faith it is impossible to please God."

But, (for "the end of the commandment is CHARITY,") if we propose FAITH to ourselves as an end which we are to attain and stop at, we grossly mistake both its nature and its office. It is but the means through which our salvation by grace is to be wrought out. And we should always consider it only as a means -the end which it subserves being eternal life, in which FAITH will have no part nor lot. Although, as our text affirms of it, "FAITH abideth now," conjoined with CHARITY and operating by it what is holy and acceptable, yet, as all that is heavenly in its

nature is comprehended and included in that "greatest of these," which under the term "LOVE" is defined by St. Paul as "the fulfilling of the law," the truth of the affirmation in our text is made apparent: and while now abideth faith with charity, greater than faith is charity.

Let us pass to consider the second feature in the Apostle's state

ment.

2. "Now ABIDETH HOPE."

What we have shown in demonstration of FAITH as inferior to CHARITY, is applicable alike to HOPE. It" abideth now," as part of that law which as a school-master brings us to Christ. It is the great incentive to exertion in the work of our salvation. It is an important element in the entire texture of our present character; aud is interwoven as a golden thread with the whole essence of our moral being. It enters into the very substance of our fearfully mysterious life; and operates upon the whole surface of that twofold relationship in which we stand, as connected with this world, and looking on to connection with another. It makes us what we are, and unfolds to us what we shall be. Whether in things earthly and temporal, or in things heavenly and eternal, HOPE is the quickening principle which nerves to energy the heart of man, and leads him forward amidst fear and doubt to tread with a firm step the ascending path of life.

"Now abideth hope." It is the soul's youthful impulse, by

which we are cheered and comforted in the vicissitudes and adversities of our present lot; and through which, as seeking a more enduring substance than it yields, we receive accessions of courage and of strength, enabling us to grasp the realities of an immortal portion, and to "press forward toward the mark for the prize of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

"Now abideth hope." It is the light of human life, which else were cheerless to us. It fulfils a blessed ministry upon the present, whilst accomplishing its higher mission for the future. It comes to us like an envoy from the Sun of Righteousness, with healing in its wings and messages of joy upon its half-opened lips. In the exercise of its ministry as shaped to the circumstances of the fallen, and adapted to the conditions of a world

Never, but at our bidding
It keeps back the invading

sitting in darkness and under the shadow of death, it tracks its path with light, and scatters blessings all along its course. Beautiful are its feet upon the mountains, bringing glad tidings of good. The lanes and valleys of life rejoice in its visitation, and the wilderness and the solitary place are glad for it. It comes to us in our days of darkness, which are many, and cheers us with the indications of a bright to-morrow. It finds the sky of life with clouds upon it, and tinges them with radiant hues; and even when the storm is dark, bursts through its gloom, and spans the firmament with its bow of promise. It finds us sink. ing, and arrests us ere we fall. It finds us cast down, and stretches out its hand to raise us. word, does it leave us or forsake us. pressure of terrible Despair; and when the scenery of life which surrounds our present experience is barren of all comfort, and the heart grows sick, it beckons us away to the green pastures where the still waters which reflect them are radiant with the smiles of God. With unfaltering accents it tells us ever of a better portion; and even when the earthly dependence fails us in our time of need, opens new sources of enjoyment with its revealing power-still tells us that the world has pleasant places, and that "it is good for us to be here.” It transfigures the chequered aspects of our life, and makes them one with its own radiant self. Like the Only-begotten who begat it, it seeks the welfare of mankind, and goes about doing good. It comes to us when the heart is sick and ready to faint, and enlivens us with friendly words. It invests the spirit of heaviness with the garments of praise. It lifts up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees; and when joy comes not with the morning but heaviness still endnres, it "giveth songs in the night." It transforms itself into Expectation, and inspires us with fresh trust to quietly wait. It invades the domain of disappointment and the chill recesses of deep grief, and peoples them with glad sounds and happy sights It makes the parched ground to become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. The crooked ways of life are made straight before it, and its rough ways smooth. It "goeth forth to its work" with man, and its voice is to the sons of men.