the world against infidelity, and in favour of Christianity they are so many stamps and brands of the divine displeasure upon the whole system of unbelief, and of divine approbation upon the whole system of the Christian evidences. Just as the course of events in the natural world has the impress of God's approbation of prudence and forethought, and his disapprobation of carelessness and improvidence; and as his government of the moral world is filled with indications of his favour towards virtue, and his indignation against vice; so are the lives and deaths of infidels, compared with those of sincere Christians, demonstrations in favour of Christianity, and against unbelief; demonstrations which no arts can evade, no sophisms misinterpret; demonstrations which multiply upon our view the more we pursue the subject, and which the inmost soul of man cannot but feel and acknowledge; demonstrations which augment in intenseness in each case, as the respective principles are more fully acted upon, and the termination of life draws nigh; demonstrations which render speculative objections matters of direct criminality and positive perverseness and rebellion of heart in those who adhere to them; and which carry the direct evidences of Revelation to their utmost height of satisfaction to every considerate

mind; demonstrations, in a word, which turn the weapons of infidelity, as we predicted would be the case, against itself, and render them the instruments of its overthrow; so that, instead of proving any thing against Christianity, they demonstrate that a religion, attested by such solid evidences on the one hand, and opposed by the weak and unfounded cavils of such unprincipled and unhappy men on the other, cannot but be divine.

430

LECTURE XXIII.

THE FAITH WITH WHICH THE CHRISTIAN REVELATION IS TO BE RECEIVED.

1 JOHN V. 9..

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 humble 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 endeavour 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. We consider THE NATURE OF FAITH IN

DIVINE REVELATION.

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.

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.