The workings of a right faith. That man alone believes Jesus to be the Christ, who acts according to his belief, and who displays the power of Christianity in his life and manners. To believe in Christ, we must take him for our pattern and example to follow, as well as for the ground of our reconciliation towards God. It is not enough to receive him as the Messiah on the force of sullen authority; we must devote our hearts and affections to his love, by dedicating our lives and labours to his service.-Rev. E. W. Grinfield. Of death and judgment, heaven and hell, Who oft doth think must needs die well. Sir Walter Raleigh. Christ the Desire of all nations. As Christ ought to be what He is called, the Desire of all nations, so ought He to be the desire of every person in particular. We must all and every one of us desire to have Him for our only Saviour and Redeemer, our only Mediator and Advocate; we must desire to have Him, according to all the offices which He has undertaken for us, as our Prophet, our King, and our Priest.-Bishop Beveridge. Religious wisdom. But If there were no life after this, and we had no expectation beyond this world, the wisest thing we could do would be to enjoy as much of the present contentment of this world as we could make ourselves masters of. if we be designed for immortality, and shall be unspeakably happy or intolerably miserable in another world, according as we have demeaned ourselves in this life; then certainly it is reasonable that we should take the greatest care of the longest duration, and be content to dispense with some present conveniences for an eternal felicity, and be willing to labour and take pains for a little while that we may be happy for ever. And this is ac counted prudence in the account of the wisest men, to part with a little in present for a far greater future advantage.-Abp. Tillotson. Sent by Rev. T. FARLEY. THE APOSTLES' CREED, Proved and explained by references to Holy Scripture. (Continued from p. 214.) HE DESCENDED INTO HELL. Psalm xvi. 10.-"Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption." Acts ii. 25-31.-" David speaketh concerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for He is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover, also, my flesh shall rest in hope: because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption." THE THIRD DAY HE ROSE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD. 1 Corinthians xv. 4.-" He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures." Hosea vi. 2. John ii. 18-22. Acts x. 40. Luke xxiv. 6, 7.-" He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." 1 Peter iii. 18. Romans i. 4.- "Jesus Christ our Lord was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." Romans viii. 11. HE ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN : Mark xvi. 19.—" So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven." Luke xxiv. 51.-" And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” John xx. 17. Acts i. 9-11. Ephesians iv. 10.-" He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things." AND SITTETH AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD: Hebrews x. 12.- "This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down at the right hand of God." Acts vii. 56. Romans viii. 34.-" It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." Hebrews viii. 1. Colossians iii. 1.-"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." FROM THENCE HE SHALL COME TO JUDGE THE QUICK AND THE DEAD. Acts x. 42.-" It is He which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead." Acts xvii. 31. Romans xiv. 9-12. 2 Timothy iv. 1. "The Lord Jesus Christ shall judge the quick and dead at his appearing and his kingdom." Matthew xxv. 31, 32. John v. 22. 1 Peter iv. 5. Revelation xx. 12. 2 Corinthians v. 10.-" We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Sent by L. S. R. SUFFERINGS OF THE APOSTLES. A LITTLE diversity of opinion obtains as to the time and place in which some of the twelve Apostles suffered martyrdom the following statement is as accurate as we have been able to supply. 1. St. James the Great was slain with the sword. 2. St. Peter was crucified at Rome by Nero. 3. St. Matthew, martyred at Nadduver in Ethiopia. 4. St. Andrew, crucified at Patræ in Achaia. 5. St. Philip, stoned at Hieropolis in Phrygia. 6. St. Bartholomew, beaten with clubs, and his skin flayed off in Armenia. 7. St. James, slain with a dart in Judea. 8. St. James the Just, cast headlong from the Temple, but not being quite dead by the fall, stoned by the people. 9. St. Jude, doubtful. 10. St. Simon, the Canaanite, crucified, but the place doubtful. 11. St. Matthias, martyred, but not known where. John, cast by Domitian into a cauldron of boiling oil, and afterwards banished to the Isle of Patmos. 12. St. Sent by M. D. EXTRACTS FROM MY FAMILY BIBLE. St. Matthew's Gospel, 8th chapter, from verse 28th to the end. NOT only do the winds and waves acknowledge Jesus for their Master, the devils also believed in him, and trembled. "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?" They knew, they felt they had nothing to do with Him, the God of truth, and holiness, and love; they knew, and were certain that there was a lake of fire and brimstone prepared for their eternal torment'; but they were alarmed lest they should be cast 1 Rev. xx. 10. into it before their time was fully come. O, the dreadful state of them who only know Jesus as a Judge, and not as a Saviour; they are in the state of these devils. Hasten, dear family, hasten all of you to know the love of Christ, and your fear of Him will no longer be that of a condemned criminal waiting for punishment, but that of him who trembles lest he should wound the Spirit of one who has loved him, and who has done him such favours as he can never repay. The devils went into the herd of swine. By this you see that when persons are said to have had devils, they really and truly had devils in them. The Gergesenes prayed that Jesus might depart from their coasts: they were heathens; but not worse than many Christians who would gladly rid themselves altogether of the religion of Christ, and who do all they can to drive it away from them. Matthew, 9th chapter, verse 1 to 9. The scribes of Capernaum, our Lord's city, should have known, as they were expounders of the law, that Christ would come for the very purpose of forgiving sins; but the fact was they did not choose to see in Jesus the Saviour of whom the prophets had written. He came as a Servant, and not as a King; therefore they "despised and rejected" Him. Our blessed Lord gave them every opportunity of believing, by healing, before their face, the disease of this poor man's body, as well as those more serious diseases of his soul; yet would not these stiffnecked scribes see in Him the Christ of God. Sickness is, just as much as death, the consequence of sin; and it is doubtless sent by the Lord to draw us away from evil. Both in the Old and New Testaments it is quite clear that sickness and disease are to be looked upon as punishments for sin 3. How happy must this poor sinner have felt when our blessed Lord spake these gracious words, "Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee!" He calls him son-) -He had made him a child of God; He had seen that he had faith to lay hold on Christ, the hope of Israel, even before a word had 2 Matt. iv. 13. 3 Deut. xxviii. 22; 1 Cor. v. 5. xi. 30. |