known God is oftentimes mistaken for an act of faith. But faith in its actings has to do with the above-named opposites; well is it for you, reader, if they enter into your experience. "We speak that we do know," said one who spoke as never man spoke, and yet who is the Elder Brother of his church; and his testimony is theirs. Faith is a mystery in its being. "As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child; even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all,” Eccl. xi. 5. Faith has a divine origin, and is a supernatural faculty springing from eternal purpose and eternal union. Effects can never produce causes, and faith is set forth in the word as an effect originating with, and issuing from, the Three Persons in the glorious Trinity. "The fruit of the Spirit is faith," Gal. v. 22; Christ says, "Abide in me, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, no more can ye," John, xv. 4. And Jehovah declareth, "From me is thy fruit found;" "This is the work of God that ye believe :" and, as a created principle in the soul must have a first cause, a beginning-which is love, the great selfmoving cause of all the church's mercies-"I have loved thee with an everlasting love;" here we have the secret purpose and intention, next comes the manifestation of it in union, "therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee:" which Christ the Lord testifies unto, "No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him." God and the sinner made one, and faith imparted, wrought in, and produced, as a covenant consequent, fulfilling the various faculties of eyes to see Christ, the glories of his office, person, and work, Heb. ii. 9; hands to receive him, 1 John, i. 1; feet to draw near to him, Col. ii. 6; ears to hear him (Gal. iii. 5) Jesus, the author and finisher of all. Away then for ever with duty faith; as well may the fruit of the womb, or the fruit of the tree, be invited, commanded, or coerced into existence, as the faith of God's elect be produced, other than by the power of God springing from the love of God, and issuing from union with God. But we admit there is another meaning to be attached to the word faith, and that is, an outward admission, credence, or testimony, to the work of God as it appeared in redemption, and concerning which the written word testifies. Thus our Lord declared of the Jews in his day, "If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin ;" "If I had not come and spoken to them they had not had sin;' "Why even of selves judge ye not what is right?" We find in John, iii. 23, many believing in his name because of the miracles which he did, and yet it is added, "Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all." He made no committal or deposit of himself, no surrender or manifestation as he does to his elect, when that faith "which is of the operation of God" is produced as a faculty belonging to the new creature. Hence the condemnation of Jerusalem (Luke, xiii. 34) as given by our Lord, resulting from a rejection of him outwardly, amidst a blaze of light that left them without excuse. The case of the Ninevites proving the point, who gave this outward credence to the preaching of Jonah, and thereby averted the national calamities threatened. Tyre your and Sidon being put in contrast with Chorazin and Bethsaida; the latter having seen, despised, and rejected the ministration of Christ, to which the former would have attended. Nay, more; our Lord declares even Sodom would not now be swept off the face of the earth, had it been the scene of the wonders performed in Capernaum. Thus shall God be justified, and man's works corresponding with God's decree, "I never knew you," being united to "ye workers of iniquity," shall proclaim him "justified when he speaks and clear when he is judged." Paul addressing the Romans, follows up this strain, "For the Gentiles which have not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts" (Rom. ii. 13, 14), and by which they shall be condemned. Not for the non-existence of a faculty they did not receive and could not command, but for the nonexercise of what they did receive and would not use. Reader, hast thou received this precious gift, the faith of God's elect? see its rise-everlasting love; trace its manifestation in drawing thee to the Father through the Son by the Spirit, linking thee in love from before worlds to himself, and in time discovering his glory to thee, so that from him is thy fruit found. Thou art blessed indeed, and thou shalt be blest. If thou canst only say, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief;" if thou art clinging to the horns of the altar, with "Lord, save, or I perish," thou hast reason to bless thy God; for he and he only gave thee these desires, and he will satisfy them abundantly in his own time. Faith is in being, and it shall live and grow there ; "thou shalt see greater things than these." 66 But secondly, faith in its doing is mysterious; it has to do with impossibilities. Faith is opposed to carnal reason, as we see illustrated in the case of Abraham; "he considered not his own body now dead, nor yet the deadness of Sarah's womb; he staggered not at the promise of God." Reason and faith here were at right angles with each other, but faith acting upon the word of God, put reason aside; "being fully persuaded what God had promised he was able also to perform.' We have the effects of carnal reason in the case of Nicodemus; here we have the Jewish ruler, the "master in Israel," coming forth with his intellectual conclusions and reasoning faculties, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born?" and again, "How can these things be?" Faith has to do with invisibilities-things unseen; "He endured as seeing him who is invisible." Here we have sight, as in the spiritual eye-invisibility to carnal reason; "Whom having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice;" faith beholding things unseen. But faith has to do with infinities, as respects things past and things to come; the covenant of grace is planned, undertaken, and executed by the eternal Three in One, and the manifestation of covenant purpose in time, and its full accomplishment in eternity; "He shall receive of mine and show it unto you, and he will show you things to come." But the mystery and complexity of faith belong to the being and doing of faith, yet simplicity characterises it too; and here we come to the actings of faith. Faith has natural or instinctive actings belonging to it as a principle; so it is as natural to faith to act when faith is given, as it is natural to the babe to draw food from the breast. Life being communicated, food provided, appetite given, the babe receives the nourishment suited to its wants; hence faith is described by this figure, "As new-born babes desire the sincere milk, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious." It belongs to the eye to see, and it takes in surrounding objects by a simple look ; this illustrates faith, and when faith is given there is the same simplicity in using it. The exercising of the eye does not change the scene, or alter the prospect, but only beholds it; faith in exercise consists in a giving and a receiving. At the ordination of the high priest we read (Exod. xxix. 24, 25) that the people were commanded to bring their offerings and put all in the hands of Aaron and his sons, who were to wave them before the Lord; and then there was to be a receiving of them from their hands again, before they were burnt upon the altar for a burnt offering before the Lord. Here we may discover the character of faith, it is a committal and a receiving; faith in exercise comes with childlike simplicity, and lays its cases, sins, and sorrows, in the lap of the Lord, and receives peace and quietude of mind. The soul, as it were, makes a deposit, and receives a premium; "Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me"-here is the committal. "The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day "-here is the receiving. The soul enabled to cast itself upon the Lord, and the Lord giving forth of his own consolations and encouragement. So there is, as it were, an abandonment, a giving of all away that is painful and perplexing, a committing of it into the High Priest's hands; and then there is a precious reception, a taking in as the babe at the breast, and a consequent satisfaction of soul-"peace and joy in believing." Reader, what knowest thou of this sort of faith? In the present day we have speculation, reason, intellect, all put in the place of faith. None but God's elect are the recipients of faith; and as there are many false professors in the world, it was necessary for Satan to produce a false faith, to quiet the consciences of those who have none. Faith hath for its object the Christ of God simply; "We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." A sense of personal interest, or the assurance which faith brings home to the soul, being a subsequent act, and not to be confounded with faith itself, "He that believeth hath everlasting life; and faith in this view carries its own evidence to the soul, "Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief;" though it may not be with the comfort and consolation which a higher exercise of faith imparts: hence the Lord implants a feeling of disquietude and anxiety in a gracious soul till this is made known. So that a mere rational conclusion, an intellectual acquaintance with the adequacy of Christ's salvation, the power of his blood, the completeness of his work, will not satisfy a guilt-stricken conscience, until the Spirit of God makes it a personal matter, and unfolds individual interest in covenant mercy. But some object to this, and cry out, "We have only to do with Christ, we must not look within for our evidences; belief in the record which God hath given us concerning his Son is all : that is necessary." Now though this is truth, yet it is only part of the truth; truth so far as it goes, but not truth as to its extent. The written word gives its testimony to an internal work, and experience corroborates it; hence we see the union and harmony in the Divine Persons on behalf of the sinner. The work of the Spirit being necessary to seal home upon the heart, not salvation in the abstract, but salvation suited to the sinner's need, and his suitability for it; the Christ of God being the Spirit's first revelation-the sinner's Christ, the second. That ministration which sets forth the first faithfully waiting for the manifestation of the second, is often a very awakening one, and children are often begotten in the likeness of such a father; but the ministration that rejects the latter, and puts asunder that which God has joined, is not the divinity of the Bible nor the experience of the church and the offspring of such a ministry is a monster, all head notions warmed with party zeal-not the love of Christ; light without heat, " a name to live" while they are dead. But a word by way of caution here. Faith's food and object are not its own existence; "The life I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God;" so faith as a witness testifies of Christ. Reader, while some are making a Christ of faith, and others are degrading it to a reasoning faculty, see that thou art using it as the elect of God do, to eye the Christ of God, the preciousness of his work, the gloriousness of his person, the power of his salvation, and so drawing and deriving from the view divine satisfaction, peace, love, and joy. Well is it for thee if thou canst see and say, I believe that thou art" that Christ of God; and if the desires of thy soul are going forth after a fuller revelation of thy personal interest in covenant love, so as to be able to say to thy heart's satisfaction, "The Lord is the portion of my soul," depend upon it thy God will reveal even this unto thee, and in yet a little while thy testimony shall be that of believing Thomas, "My Lord and my God." May the Lord bless his own truth. L. ORDINATION AT CHELSEA. (From a Correspondent.) WE feel great pleasure in laying before our readers a brief outline of this interesting service; the limits of our pages will not admit of more, or we should feel it our duty to have given a long account. We hail with delight and joy every addition that is made to the ranks of the faithful ministers of the Most High God, and long to see the time when those walls which now resound with everything but a full-weight Gospel, shall echo with Gospel truth in all its purity. We live in a day "when truth has fallen in our streets," and pulpits and press groan with heresy; and we would to God, were it his sovereign will, that we had to record such an interesting service as this every month; then should our pulpits be filled with truth, hungry souls fed, God be glorified, and the enemies of the cross put to the rout. We would say to our brother-for as such we esteem him-Go forth in the strength of the Lord, unfurl your banner wide, preach a full and free salvation, lay the creature in the dust, and "let Christ be all in all." From our inmost souls we wish you God speed. On Thursday, the 29th inst., the ordination of Mr. Thomas Bayfield to the pastoral office over the Independent Church, assembling at Union Chapel, New Road, Sloane Street, Chelsea, took place. We felt truly gratified to witness such a number of faithful standard-bearers present on the occasion, to assist in the sacred services, and to congratulate Mr. B. on his ordination. Among those present we noticed the Rev. Messrs. Joseph Irons, of Camberwell; John Cayzer, of Hackney; Richard Luckin, of Clerkenwell; P. Broad, of the Borough; J. Bridgman, A.M., of West Street, Walworth; John Stenson, of Chelsea; and others who were present, but did not officiate on the occasion. Notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, and the distance many had to come, the chapel was quite full, morning and evening-and the Lord was present to bless. MORNING SERVICE. Rev. J. Stenson opened the service by singing, reading the fourth chapter to the Ephesians, and an appropriate prayer. Rev. John Cayzer gave out the hymn commencing "Dear Shepherd, grant thy presence here." The Rev. R. Luckin described the Gospel church, he spoke from the First Epistle to the Corinthians, ch. i. v. 2, "Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." He showed, in the first place, that all pretensions to the work of the ministry were entirely invalid, without the work of God the Holy Ghost on the soul. That the church of God were the whole election of grace, all that are loved, redeemed, and sanctified; and although it was divided and subdivided, it was but one church. The body of believers were the church, and not the building. He then descended to show, what the individual members of that church were-them that are sanctified-all that are set apart for God, not only in eternity by his sovereign choice, but set apart in time by the power of the Holy Spirit calling them by grace. He proceeded to show that they were praying souls, for they call on the name of Jesus Christ; that they all had the grace of prayer, if they had not the gift. He then spoke largely on the distinct officers marked down in the word of God, belonging to this church-pastors or bishops, and deacons. The office of the pastor was entirely spiritual, to preach the Gospel fully and clearly, and to administer Gospel ordinances; to watch for souls, and feed the flock. The deacons were entirely temporal, to serve at table; and concluded a long discourse by calling on the pastor and deacons to co-operate together for the good of souls and the glory of God. The Rev. J. Cayzer gave out 135th Hymn (Irons) :— "A building fair, while Atheists mock, Its firm foundation is a Rock, The Rev. P. Broad asked the usual question, dwelling at some length on the necessity of a man of God filling the office of a minister of God, and called on Mr. Bayfield to answer the question, Why do you believe that you |