and my fortress, and мy deliverer; MY God, MY strength, in whom I will trust; MY buckler and the horn of MY salvation, and мy high tower.'" And it is worthy of notice, that the first word of the Lord's prayer has this appropriating character; "OUR Father, who art in heaven."

It is here, in connection with this form of faith, that we find the great and effective instrument of progress and of victory in the Interior Life. If we possess an appropriating faith, and if our faithbe operative and strong as it should be, we shall not only gain the victory over the various temptations which beset us in the present life, but shall find ourselves rapidly forming a new and wonderful acquaintance with God. In the present life a strong and operative appropriating faith is the key which unlocks the mysteries of the divine nature, and admits the soul to a present and intuitive acquaintance with its exceeding heights and depths of purity and love. No man, who has not this faith or has it not in a high degree, can be said to live in true union with the divine mind, with God and in God. Hence we consider it important to say distinctly, in endeavoring to sketch some of the traits and principles of the interior or hidden life, that those persons will have no true and experimental knowledge of the things which we affirm, who merely believe generically and not specifically; in other words, who believe for others rather than themselves; who, in the exercise of a sort of discursive faith which embraces the mass of mankind, cannot be said to possess it individually

and personally, and for their own soul's good. Let us, then, begin to learn the great lesson of faith; of faith in its general nature; of faith in its various modifications; and particularly the indispensable lesson of appropriating faith. Well has Martin Luther somewhere remarked, that the marrow of the gospel is to be found in the pronouns MEUM and NOSTRUM, MY and OUR.

Faith is better to us, far better, than mere intellectual illumination; better than any strength of joyous emotion; better than any thing and every thing else, except holy love, of which it is the true parent. The fallen angels, in their primitive state of holiness, had illuminations, great discoveries of God and of heavenly things, and great raptures. But when their faith failed, when they ceased to have perfect confidence in God, they fell into sin and ruin. Our first parents fell in the same way; because they ceased to have confidence in God; because they ceased to believe him to be what he professed to be, and that he would do what he declared he would do. Their previous glorious experiences, their illuminations and joys, availed nothing, as soon as unbelief entered. Unbelief in them, and unbelief in their descendants, has ever been the great, the destructive sin. And faith on the other hand, an implicit confidence in God, a perfect self-abandonment into his hands, ever has been, and from the nature of the case ever must be, the fountain of all other internal good, the life of all other life in the soul.

And it may be remarked here in addition to what

has been said, that God, in his infinite mercy, knowing the ruinous effects of unbelief, seems determined to try and to strengthen the belief of his people during their present state of probation. His word declares, that they must walk by faith in the present life. All his various Providences point in the same direction. He, who attempts to walk in any other way, will find himself inconsistent, changeable, subject to unsuitable elevations and depressions; and in many respects falling short of what a Christian ought to be. Not that faith is the only Christian principle, or the only Christian grace. By no means. But it is the fundamental principle; the prerequisite and preparatory element; especially of that Love, which purifies the heart, and is the "FULFILLING OF THE LAW."

CHAPTER SIXTH.

Consecration to be followed by the faith of acceptance.

It would seem from what has been said, that the sanctification of the heart and all those various blessings which are involved in sanctification, depend, if not exclusively, yet certainly in a great degree, upon two leading principles; FIRST, an entire consecration of ourselves to God, and, SECONDLY, a full and unwavering belief that the consecration is accepted.

Upon this second principle, which has already been briefly referred to on a former occasion, we propose to say something further in the present chapter. In making a consecration to God in the manner which has been indicated, we take a step, which, considered in any point of view, may be regarded as absolutely necessary. It is not enough, however, to offer all. In the same spirit of reliance on God, we must also BELIEVE THAT ALL IS Accepted.

It is the belief that God is faithful to his word; and that, in accordance with his word, he will receive and does now receive all that unreservedly lay themselves upon his altar, which seems especially to secure the presence of a sanctifying efficacy. On the contrary, he who consecrates

himself to God, however sincere he may be in the act of consecration, but who greatly dishonors the veracity of God by remaining without the faith of ACCEPTANCE, deprives himself of that mighty power, which faith alone is capable of imparting, and necessarily lies prostrate and exposed to all the dreadful attacks of the adversary.

It is in connection with this view, as it seems to me, that we are enabled to appreciate and correctly understand certain passages of Scripture, which are frequently mentioned in connection with the subject of present sanctification; such as the following. "Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11: 24. "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know, [that is, have full faith or confidence in him,] that he heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." 1 John v: 14.

The doctrine of these important passages is this. In consecrating ourselves to God, and in praying sincerely for those things which are agreeable to the will of God, such as our sanctification and those Christian graces which are implied in sanctification, we may be certain that they will be given to us, and that they are now given to us, if we have no doubt in God's word. The certainty of the result, when the condition on which it depends is fulfilled, viz. a full belief of the truth of the divine declaration, is necessarily involved in the veracity of