look, by Divine interposition, unseen, and in a way unknown to them, they would live. And As Moses lifted up the serpent,' so has the Godman, Jesus, been lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' It was not for the dying Israelites to say, in presumptuous unbelief, Why adopt such a plan? Where is the adaptation between such means and the end of salvation from this bitter, painful, lingering death? What of the brazen serpent or the looking? It was God's simple method. And though the people could not understand the how and wherefore of the case, they had nothing to do with that. It was their part to give a submissive, obedient look of faith in obedience to God's Word, and have life as His gift. So in the bleeding victim of Calvary's Cross we see God's method of deliverance from perishing and the giving of eternal life to those that look with believing hearts to Him who was set forth a propitiation through faith in His blood. It is the moral power that centered in the death, agony, and blood of the Son of Man and the Son of God crucified for us that has opened the way by which the believing sinner may escape perishing and lay hold of the gift of everlasting life. That moral power availed-though we can only see it as through a glass darkly to harmonise the functions of law, justice, and mercy in the free justification of him who, with broken and contrite heart, believeth in Jesus.

Third, Faith, a Necessary Continuous Exercise in Christian life.— The ideal of some persons relative to religion is belief in a code of ceremonies, in a round of church forms, and in a certain line of outward moral conduct, while it does not take in the fact that Christianity is an experimental power, an inward life, maintained by ever-abiding faith. And may it not also be said that some others seem to conclude that the one act of faith at the time of conversion, when in penitent suit they came to God and believed to the forgiveness of sins, was almost all the faith that is necessary? At least, this apparently has been on the face of what one has often heard. The thought has not sufficiently possessed them that the whole of Christian life is made up of a continuous faith, like that which was exercised at the time of conversion--faith that is a recognition with the mind and an acceptance with the heart of God as He is, full of love, tender, gracious and merciful, through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Such a living faith is always necessary.

There is a higher life than that which is physical and sensuous, or than that which is to-day, and to-morrow is no more. Yes, there is an unseen inner world, the world of spiritual being. In it a life

from Heaven is shared by man in virtue of his faith in the Divine and Invisible. This life, though unseen by us with the outer eye of sense, is, nevertheless, by no means unknown. It is known to faith. Faith is its adapted faculty, inasmuch as it is spiritual in its source, its objects and effects. The true type of Christian estate is a Divine life lived by faith. Faith unites the soul with God when it is first morally renewed and transformed, enabling it to live in Him and for Him; and it is only by ever-abounding faith that this life can be sustained, perpetuated, and perfected.

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This was a Pauline faith: 'I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.' (Gal. ii. 20.) I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day.' (2 Tim. i. 12.) 'The just shall live by faith.' Thou standest by faith.' 'We walk by faith, and not by sight.' (Rom. i. 17. 2 Cor. i. 24.) This is the faith of assurance, and it can be abiding in the darkest day of sorrow, in the deepest tangle of perplexity, in the roughest and hardest conflicts of principle, under the heaviest burdens of turmoil and care, in the hotest furnace of trial, and through the ever-shifting mutations of time and humanity, because God and His truth are changeless-the same now and for ever. He is the same loving Father, the same best, greatest Friend, the same good and righteous Lord, as when in ages gone He gave the revelation of His grace and sent His Son to accomplish redemption's work, and the same as when he enfolded in His arms of mercy our believing souls, and implanted in them His own peace and joy. Whom, having not seen, we love; in whom, though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.' To what a grand height does Christian privilege rise through faith's prerogative! When the heaven's gather in blackness, when storms rage in howling blasts, when temptations come like descending hail, when destruction threatens, and when sin, earth, and hell unitedly assail, it is faith's prerogative to stand in calm unruffled majesty, standing on the eternal rock of God's changeless love and truth.

The possessors of this faith of assurance can say, 'Now are we the sons of God' And it is a matter of permanent consciousness; not the subject of uncertain inference and doubtful conjecture, but a blessed assurance, a conscious certainty. It is known by faith. It rests on God's

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promise, on the witness of the Holy Spirit, and on the testimony of man's own renewed spirit. The voice from Heaven is answered by the voice from within, saying, 'Now are we the sons of God.' This is a faith that does not merely pertain to creed, nor to facts of history, nor to theologies; but it is the vital cord that connects man's spirit with God, the Infinite Spirit. It is, too, the means of spiritual nourishment by which the inner life is lived. This life, thus sustained and lived, presents itself to my consciousness. It is my inmost self intuitively apprehending what I am-myself knowing myself. If I know anything and am sure of anything, I know what pertains to my inner life. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.' (1 John v. 10.)

This assurance of vital connection with God and of being His children and heirs to life eternal is held by a constant living faith. If it be not held fast, that life necessarily must cease of which faith is the means. Let faith cease or die; let it be supplanted or destroyed by self, the world and sin, and Divine Sonship is sacrificed; for 'We are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.' Also, as faith is the means of spiritual nourishment, by which the life of God is sustained in the soul, if the soul cast away its confidence in God, making shipwreck of obedient faith, then, as a natural, certain consequence, there cannot be existent spiritual life. No end can be answered in anything if essential means thereto are withdrawn. And no more can true Christian life continue without a continuous operative faith than a watch can keep moving and tell the time without its mainspring. We stand, live, and walk, says the infallible Word, as God's children by faith. This is the true perseverance of the saints-the holding confidence and trust in God steadfast unto the end; not being of those that draw back, but of them that believe to the final saving of the soul. Paul, who had lived his life in the flesh by the faith of the Son of God, could exclaim, at the finish of life in the flesh, 'I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.'

In the foregoing observations we have noticed faith as a human faculty, for which man is held accountable, and which God requires him to use in belief of the truth of what He has said concerning Himself and His Son, and concerning human duty; that faith is an indispensable condition of justifying grace, and that a constant, living faith is also a necessary condition, as man's act, of the continued possession of spiritual union with God; that the whole scope of Scripture argu

ment, appeal, and injunction can only have reasonableness, fitness, and unity on such grounds; and that Divine Sovereignty and man's accountability must and do completely accord with the nature, requirements, and results of faith on this basis.

Would God that the time may soon come when our orthodoxies and theologies shall be so pared, smoothed, simplified, and harmonised with the common-sense tenor of the Divine Word, and with what God has done in His creative and moral economy, that the Christian faith-the scheme of Christian doctrine-shall be presented to man's intellect and heart in its own beautiful unity.

THOMAS CROMPTON, Canada.

VIII-HINTS ON CONNEXIONAL EVANGELISM:

AN ADDRESS.

CAN the evangelistic work of the Connexion be regarded as satisfactory? If not, what can be done to improve it?

From the beginning of their history Primitive Methodists have been remarkable for their energetic evangelistic labours. In all sections of Christ's Church their past successes and present position and prospects have been and are the subjects of sympathetic remark. Need we wonder at this, for, little more than seventy years ago, Primitive Methodism had neither a name nor a place among the churches of our land, but to-day about six hundred thousand souls are directly influenced and guided by its teachings, and its places of worship are studded all over the land. So rapid, indeed, has been its progress that, according to this time, it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought? Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake.' If I am, therefore, to give an answer to the question before us, I shall most certainly affirm, in sight of the present position and prospects of the Connexion, that its evangelistic work, on the whole, has been satisfactory, and that, taking into account its feeble origin, its small means and surrounding circumstances, it would be ungenerous to find fault or complain. We would rather speak forth words of commendation and blessing upon our fathers in the ministry and upon the societies which have done so well. But if I am to restrict the question to the present and past two or three years of the Connexion's working life, we would reply in the language of the Conference to the societies under its care. The address for 1879 says:- Part of the work of the Conference, as you are aware, is to review the labour of the year which closes with the assembly, and we regret to say the retrospect has not been in all respects satisfactory. The returns of members show a decrease of 171. This is not a large decrease, certainly, but it is painful to report a decrease at all.' The address for 1880 says: The review of the past year, which the Conference in the discharge of its duties had to undertake, was not in all respects pleasant. A decrease is again reported in our membership. This is far from satisfactory, and ought to lead to deep searching of heart before God.'

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Brethren, is it not a sad fact that the last year's labours of 1,041 * This Paper was written before last Conference.