attention.

Such matters, however, will as I trust

be fairly noticed before the close.

If there

Brethren! I am speaking to you of childish things. Be it so,-for in such is the kingdom of heaven. It is true that as we grow in years on earth, there are childish things which we put away, but far greater are the childish things which we ought to keep, or if lost, must recover. be those among you, who in the first dawn of their lives, were duly vowed to the profession and service of Christ, but who since have sadly strayed amidst the ways, and the sins, and the woes of the world; oh may they find how blessed a thing it is, that even for them there is a Saviour, through whose means they may be converted, become as little children, and enter into the kingdom of heaven. And if the young and inexperienced could read and understand the heart that is either hardened in sin, stung by remorse, or softened by repentance, then would they know and feel, that blessed are they who have held the first profession of their faith without wavering; that blessed are they who abide by the guide of their youth, and the covenant of their God; that blessed are they who keep innocency, for thus shall they have peace at the last.

ON THE CHURCH CATECHISM.

LECTURE II.

FAITH.

THE CREED.

ACTS viii, 36, 37.

"And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

THE treasurer of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians, was not a mere ignorant heathen, at the time that the Holy Spirit brought him under the complete and saving instruction of Philip the Deacon and Evangelist. He had been to worship at Jerusalem, and was earnestly studying the deeper matters of God's then written word. He did indeed need an interpreter, and his want was graciously supplied by the gift of one who expounded to him the way of life more perfectly, and preached to him Jesus, of whom the prophet spake. I just mention his previous progress in the

Jews' religion, in order to shew that he is not properly to be called a Gentile convert; so that Cornelius the centurion may stand clear, as peculiarly the first gathering unto Christ from the heathen world, but I would draw special attention to his own reception of the truth, in that it was sealed by baptism, before which an open declaration of his faith was required and made. Having expressed his belief that Jesus was the Son of God, he was baptized in the name of his Saviour, and then went on his way rejoicing, removed indeed from our further knowledge, but under the eye of his God, to whom, as we trust, he even now liveth. This event was probably about only four years after the crucifixion and ascension of our Lord. We see from it, that a profession of faith was thus early required before admission to baptism, and likewise what was the substance of that profession. Baptism itself was undoubtedly administered according to Christ's own direction and words,—“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the

Holy Ghost." We judge from early Christian

writers, that all, or nearly all, the previous avowal of faith, generally required in the first ages, to be at the time of baptism openly made by the candidates for that holy sacrament, was that they believed in the Three Persons of the Godhead, in

whose name it was conferred.

For the sake of

impressing and keeping in view the special part of God the Son in the work of man's salvation, and the peculiar relationship between the word that was made flesh, and those whose nature he assumed, it became the practice, but not everywhere in the same way, to join with the assertion of faith in the co-equal and co-eternal Three, some particular and leading points of the actions and sufferings of Jesus Christ, whose name those to be baptized were to bear, and in whose body they were to be incorporated. The employment of creeds, symbols, or articles of faith, appears then to have accompanied from the first the administration of baptism itself, and it is plainly natural, that they who embraced Christianity, should make a clear and satisfactory declaration that they knew what they were undertaking. As long as there was no dispute as to what belief in Jesus taught and required, a simple avowal of that belief was enough to be received from those who were ready to enlist under his name-the further rehearsal of his deeds of infinite love for man aimed at stamping that faith with the character of heartfelt thankfulness-but in course of time need arose, not only that the heart should be prompted, but also that the head should be guided. God allowed that variety in receiving

his own word, should be the trial of man's spirit and inclination. There were those who would not be contented with the form of sound words, those who perplexed and corrupted the simplicity of the truth. The nature of God, the work of Christ, the condition of man, all furnished matters for dispute, so that the faith once delivered to the saints could not be allowed to rest for silent adoption, but of necessity was brought forward, and declared, and confessed by the mouth of the believer. Thus it is, that from very early times, creeds, and confessions, and articles of faith, have necessarily sprung up, and as we are persuaded, have rightly been maintained, in the church of Christ. They are therefore in a great measure to be regarded as a careful statement in accordance with scripture, on those points, on which at some time or other, difference of opinion has disturbed the peace of the church, and severed the Christian fellowship of its members. The points thus asserted in them will generally be found to be the avowal of some truth that has been misrepresented or contradicted. This very fact is an argument why we should not slight their use, even when time and change, or rather negligence, may in some respects have made their meaning obscure, and removed their first purpose from instant apprehension. They rose up