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Faith. When William Huntington wrote his "Bank of Faith," some people called it a "Bank of Nonsense." I could write twenty "Banks of Faith," and every word should be as sure as an honest man could write; but the only result would be, that people would say, "Oh, well, you know, that is the resuli of the good man's fanaticism." The moment that the moderns do not like to believe a thing they call it fanatical.

Faith and repentance. Which is first, the new birth, or faith, or repentance? Nobody can tell which spoke of a wheel moves first; it moves as a whole. The moment the divine life comes into the heart, we believe: the moment we believe, the eternal life is there. We repent because we believe, and believe while we repent.

Faith casts out doubt.

I am like the good man and his wife who had kept a lighthouse for years. A visitor who came to see the lighthouse, looking out from the window over the waste of waters, asked the good woman, "Are you not afraid of a night when the storm is out, and the big waves dash right over the lantern? Do you not fear that the lighthouse and all that is in it will be carried away?" The woman remarked that the idea never occurred to her now. She had lived there so long that she felt as safe on the lone rock as ever she did when she lived on the mainland. As for her husband, when asked if he did not feel anxious when the wind blew a hurricane, he answered, "Yes, I feel anxious to keep the lamps well trimmed, and the light burning, lest any vessel should be wrecked." As to anxiety about the safety of the lighthouse, or his own personal security in it, he had outlived all that. Even so is it with me: "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." From henceforth let no man trouble me with doubts and questionings; I bear in my soul the proofs of the Spirit's truth and power, and I will have none of your artful reasonings. The gospel to me is truth : I am content to perish if it be not true. I risk my soul's eternal fate upon the truth of the gospel, and I know no risk in it. My one concern is to keep the lamps burning, that I may thereby enlighten others. Only let the Lord give me oil enough to feed my lamp, so that I may cast a ray across the dark and treacherous sea of life, and I am well content.

Faith in commander. The ship is on fire; the bales of cotton are pouring forth a black, horrible smoke; passengers and crew are in extreme danger, but a capable captain is in command, and he says to those around him, "If you will behave yourselves, I think I shall be able to effect the escape of you all." Now, if they trust in the captain they will do precisely as he orders. No sailor or engineer will refuse to work the pumps, or to prepare the boats, neither will any passenger disobey rule. In proportion to their confidence in their leader will be the alacrity with which they obey him at once. They believe his orders to be wise, and so they keep to them. Neither their fear, nor their rashness, will lead them to rush to and fro contrary to his bidding if they have a firm trust in him. When the boats are lowered, and are brought one by one to the ship's side, those who are to fill them wait till their turns come, in firm reliance upon the captain's impartiality and prudence. They will get into the boats or they will wait on board, for they consider that his orders are dictated by a better judgment than their own. So far as each man and each woman firmly believes in the superior officer, discipline will be maintained.

Faith in the promises. A person comes to the bank with a check. He believes it to be honestly his, and the signature to be correct. He puts it down on the counter, and the clerk puts out the money. But see, the man does not take it. He stands and loafs about; and the clerk looks at him, and wonders what he is at. At last, when the person has been there long enough to wear the good man's patience out, the clerk says, "Did you bring the check to have the money?" "Yes, I handed it in." "Well, then, why do you not take the money and go about your business?" If he is a sensible man, he delays no longer; nay, he would not have delayed so long. He takes the money and departs in peace. Now dear soul, if thou hast a promise from God—"He that believeth is not condemned," or "He that believeth hath everlasting life": dost thou believe? Then take the blessing and go about your business.

Faith mast be used. Did you ever hear of a captain of a vessel driven about by rough winds who wanted anchorage and tried to find it on board his vessel? He desires to place his anchor somewhere on board the ship where it will prove a holdfast. He hangs it at the prow, but still the ship drives; he exhibits the anchor upon deck, but that does not hold the vessel; at last he puts it down into the hold, but with no better success. Why, man alive, anchors do not hold as long as they are on board a ship. They must be thrown into the deep, and then they will get a grip of the sea-bottom, and hold the vessel against wind and tide. As long as ever you have confidence in yourselves, you are like a man who keeps his anchor on board his boat, and you will never come to a resting place. Over with your faith into the great deeps of eternal love and power, and trust in the infinitely faithful One.

Faith not feeling.

Suppose that there is a ship out at sea, and those on board feel they are safe. One of them says, "I know we shall not drift far out of our course. Why? Because we have such a big anchor on board." You say, "Ah, he is a cockney. He must be a fool who believes in an anchor on board." Why it is no good to anybody. It is when you let go the anchor, and lose sight of it, and the anchor gets an unseen grip down below, that it is good for something, but while the anchor is on board it is so much dead weight on the ship. You want to have your anchor on board, do you not? You do not like it to enter that which is within the veil, that is too mysterious. You want to feel something, to have something for your own.

Faith—practical.

Multitudes of people have a kind of faith in God, but it does not come to the practical point of trusting that God will deliver them. I see upon the newspaper placards, "Startling news! People in the planets!" Not a very practical discovery. For many a day there has been a tendency to refer God's promises and our faith to the planets, or somewhere beyond this present everyday life. We say to ourselves, "Oh, yes, God delivers His people." We mean that he did so in the days of Moses, and possibly He may be doing so now in some obscure island of the sea. Ah, me! The glory of faith lies in its being fit for everyday wear.

Faith subdues fear.

I knew a youth, near forty years ago, who was staying with relations when a thunderstorm of unusual violence came on at nightfall. A stack was struck by lightning and set on fire, within sight of the door. The grown up people in the house, both men and women, were utterly overcome with fright. The strong men seemed even more afraid then the women. All the inmates of the house sat huddled together. Only this youth was quietly happy. There was a little child upstairs in bed, and the mother was anxious about it; but even her love could not give her courage enough to pass the staircase windows, to bring that child down. The babe cried, and this youth, whom I knew right well, who was then but newly converted, went upstairs alone, took the child, and, without hurry or alarm, brought it down to its mother. He needed no candle, for the lightning was so continuous that he could see his way right well. He felt that the Lord was wonderfully near that night, and so no fear was possible to his heart. He sat down and read a Psalm aloud to his trembling relatives, who looked on the lad with loving wonder. That night he was master of the situation, and those in the house believed that there was something in religion which he had so lately professed. I believe that if all of us can, by God's grace, get such a sense of God's nearness to us in times of danger and trouble that we remain calm, we shall bring much honor to the cause of God and the name of Jesus.

Faith, taught by Nature.

Mungo Park, the African traveller, lost his way in the wilds, and there and then was cheered by viewing a tiny moss, and marking its singular beauty. He saw the finger of God in that small object, and felt sure that God would take care of him. So may we be taught faith; by every created thing the Creator can do all things.

Faith, the certainty of hope. When I had found Christ and joined the church, I began to teach in the Sabbath school, but my little class of boys taught me more than I taught them. I was speaking to them one day about "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved"; and one of the boys said to me, "Teacher, have you believed?" I said, "Yes." "And have you been baptized?" "Yes." "Then you are saved, teacher?" he asked. "I hope so." The boy looked me straight in the face and said, "And don't you know, teacher?" I replied, "Yes, I do know it." "Of course," said the boy, "the text says so. If it ain't true, it ain't true, and if it is true, it is true, and nobody need hope about it." So it was. The boy used good logic. The Scripture saith, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved "; and therefore he that believeth and is baptized, is saved.

Faith the greatest faculty. In the school of grace, faith is the greatest faculty by which we make advances in wisdom. If by faith thou hast been able to say, "A and B and C," it must be by faith that thou shalt go on to say, "D and E and F," until thou shalt come to the end of the alphabet, and be an expert in the book of wisdom. If by faith thou canst read in the spelling book of simple faith, by the same faith in Christ Jesus thou must go on to read in the classics of full assurance, and become a scribe well instructed in the things of the kingdom. Keep, therefore, close to the practice of faith, from which so many are turning aside.

Faith, the queen bee. The other day I saw my bees swarming; they hung on a branch of a tree in a living mass; the difficulty was to get them into a hive. My man went with his veil over his face and began to put them into the skep; and I noticed that he was particularly anxious to get the queen bee into it; for if he once had her in the hive the rest would be sure to follow and remain with her. Now, faith is the queen bee. You may get temperance, love, hope and all those other bees into the hive; but the main thing is to get simple faith in Christ, and all the rest will come afterwards. Get the queen bee of faith, and all the other virtues will attend her.

Faith to be used.

God never gave us faith to play with. It is a sword, but it was not made for presentation on a gala day, nor to be worn on state occasions only, nor to be exhibited upon a parade ground. It is a sword that was meant to cut and wound and slay; and he who has it girt about him may expect, between here and heaven, that he shall know what battle means. Faith is a sound, sea going vessel, and was not meant to lie in dock and perish of dry rot. To whom God has given faith, it is as though one gave a lantern to his friend because he expected it to be dark on his way home. The very gift of faith is a hint to you that you will want it; that at certain points and places you will especially require it, and that, at all points, and in every place, you will really need it.

Faithfulness.

You know what the old man servant said, in the olden time, when his master angrily said, "We must part John." "I hope not, sir. Where are you going?" He had no intention to go himself. "Ah!" said his master, "I do not intend to employ you any longer." The old servant is said to have answered, "Sir, if you have not a good servant, I know that I have a good master, and I do not mean to leave him. I cannot think of going away." It is a grand thing to feel that you are not going away from God—that you have such a good Master that you are going to cling to the posts of His door; and if He puts you out by the front door, you mean to come in at the back. Let the Lord do what He pleases, I am forever bound to belong to Him only. Brother, resolve that if you cannot preach for your Lord, you will hear for Him; and if you cannot be a leader of the church, you will be a follower somewhere; but your Lord you will serve forever.

False confidence.

Some trust in horses; it may be you have fine horses of morality and religiousness, you have many virtues upon which you think you might fairly depend: give up these trusts. Have you lately been trotting out your horses before your whole family, and saying to your wife, "I am not like many men. I never drink too much, neither do I treat my household unkindly"? Put away these horses. You cannot come to God riding on pride. Say "We will not ride upon horses." Put away every confidence in yourself, in whatever fashion it appears.

Familiarity breeds neglect.

I am told that the good people in the valley of Ohio, whose houses have been swept away by the tornado, had a warning that the storm was coming. The storm drums were out, and newspapers announced there was a great depression coming their way. They did not take any notice of that information, it did not seem very threatening, they were used to paragraphs in the paper. If it was only once in a year that the weather could be fairly depicted, we should be wanting to buy the gazette, but now, as we get it every morning, we do not take any notice of it. These poor Ohio friends took no notice, and were by no means prepared for the hurricane. Familiarity breeds neglect.

Fear about your future. When a great vessel is crossing the sea, and another comes within sight, they propose the question, "Where are you bound?" If the other vessel took no notice, gave no answer whatever, it would look suspicious. A craft that will not say where it is going, we don't like the look of. If one of Her Majesty's vessels were about, and it challenged a sail, and received no reply to the question, "Where are you bound for?" I think they would fire a shot across her bows and make her heave to till she did answer. Might not the silent craft prove to be a pirate? When a man confesses he does not know where he is going, or what his business may be, the policeman concludes he is probably going where he ought not to go, and has business on hand which is not as it should be. If you are afraid to consider your future, your fear is a bad omen. The tradesman who is afraid to look into his accounts will, before long, have them looked into for him by an officer from the Bankruptcy Court. He who dares not see his own face in the glass, must be an ugly fellow; and you who dare not behold your characters, have bad characters.

Fear of man.

Think of a king saying, "I am afraid," but that is what the French king said to Bernard Palissy, the potter. As nearly as I can remember the story, the monarch said, "Palissy, you must go to mass." "That I never will," he answered. "Then I am afraid I shall have to give you up to be burnt." "There," said Palissy, "your Majesty could never make me say such a word as that, with all your power. I am no king, only a poor potter, but nobody made me say, 'I am afraid.' "Oh that fear of men, that dread of ridicule, that wishing to avoid sarcasm! How it has made a man come down from the dignity of his office, from the honor of the position which God has conferred upon him, and has made him baser than the menials around him.

Floral preaching.

Many are the floral displays in sermons. Sheaves of corn are too plain and rustic. This is the age of bouquets and wreaths of rare flowers. Paul must give way to Browning, and David to Tennyson. There are enough in the novelty business without us: and we have something better to do. We have to give an account unto our God of what we do and say, and if we have been murderers of souls, it will be no excuse that we flourished the dagger well, or that when we gave them poison we mixed the draught cleverly, and presented it with poetical phrases.

Food—Christ our. A man is made by that which he feeds upon, and for the best manhood you need the best food. As certain silk worms have their silk colored by the leaves on which they feed, so if we were to feed on Christ, and nothing else but Christ, we should become pure, holy, lowly, meek, gentle, humble; in a word, we should be perfect even as He is.

Food—Heavenly.

There are different theories of what we ought to eat. One person tells us that, if anybody suffers from rheumatism, he must eat so many pounds of meat in a day. Other doctors have vehemently said, "You must not touch meat. It will heat you if you do. You must keep to a strictly vegetable diet." I believe that these learned persons know one as much as the other about it; and probably the whole of them put together know so little that a very small round nought might encompass all their certain knowledge as to health and disease. But there is one thing we do know, that the bread which the Israelites ate in the wilderness, the manna, was the best sort of food. It was God's own invention; and he who created man best knew what nutriment his life would require. It was not aerated bread, but it was celestial bread which had never been soured with earthly leaven, but had dropped immediately from the sky: the best food that men could eat if they would be healthy, active, and able to endure a hard and toilsome life.

Forces—God hidden. Our royal Leader has hidden forces at His command. Sir Walter Scott speaks of the Highland chieftain, in the lone glen, who gave his whistle shrill, and straightway an army arose, where none had been seen before:—

"From shingles gray their lances start, The bracken bush sends forth the dart, The rushes and the willow wand, Are bristling into axe and brand, And every tuft of broom gives life To plaided warrior armed for strife."

Thus can our Lord garrison His church in a moment Form—The leaves of. When tea was first introduced into this country a person favored a friend with a pound of it. It was exceedingly expensive, and when he met his friend next, he enquired, "Have you tried the tea?" "Yes, but I did not like it at all." "How was that? Everybody else is enraptured with it." "Why," said the other, "we boiled it in a saucepan, threw away the water, and brought the leaves to table; but they were very hard, and nobody cared for them." Thus many people keep the leaves of form and throw away the spiritual meaning.

Freed from sin.

I saw two men yesterday handcuffed and marched to the carriage to be taken off to prison. They could not move their wrists. But, suppose I had walked behind them with my wrists close together and had never opened my hands nor stirred them, and said, "Alas! I committed, years ago, some wrong, and have handcuffs put upon me"? You would naturally say, "Well, but are they not taken off?" And I reply, "Yes, I have heard they are, but somehow, through habit, I go about as if I had them on." Would not everybody say of me, "Why that man must be insane!" Now you, child of God, once had the handcuffs on; your sins were upon you; but Jesus Christ took them off. When you believed in Him He broke all your fetters, and now they are not there.

Fruitless action.

We may, under the influence of great love, act unwisely. I remember well seeing the action of a woman whose only son was emigrating to a distant colony. I stood in the station, and I noticed her many tears and her frequent embraces of the boy; but the train came up and he entered the carriage. After the train had passed beyond the station, she was foolish enough to break away from friends who sought to detain her; she ran along the platform, leaped down upon the railroad, and pursued the flying train. It was natural, but it had been better left undone. We had better abstain from acts which serve no practical purpose; for in this life we have neither time nor strength to waste in fruitless action.

Future state.

I verily believe, if we could see ourselves as we shall be, it would make us laugh for very joy. If we could look in some magic glass, in which a man could see himself in the glorified state, we should sit down and look at it with amazement till we should cry, "Can that be me? Is it possible that I shall ever come to such glory and beauty?"

O my brother, you are only in the egg as yet; you have chipped a little bit of it, and you have looked out; but the most that you have seen is your own shell. Know you not that you have wings? Yes, wings which you cannot stretch as yet, for they are bound down by the shell; but you shall spread them soon and mount aloft into that clear blue where eagles are at home. You shall rise above all visible things, and reach the serene abodes of the blessed.

Faith gathers the handfuls of sacred corn, from which contemplation threshes out the ears and prepares soul sustaining bread.

Faith is a salamander that lives in the fire, a star which moves in a lofty sphere, a diamond which bores its way through the rock.

Faith is the acorn from which the oak of holiness will grow.

Faith is the fountain, the foundation and the fosterer of obedience.

Faith is the mother of holiness and the nurse of virtue.

Faith knows that whenever she gets a black envelope from the heavenly post office, there is a treasure in it.

Faith laughs at that which fear weeps over.

Faith must be a constant tenant, not an occasional guest.

Faith sees sweet love in every bitter cup. Fanaticism is a tornado of the flesh.

Full assurance is the Koh i noor amongst the jewels wherewith the heavenly Bridegroom adorns His spouse.