The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 462

:

FAITH

422

indeed wrought by the Holy Spirit, and affords a taste of gifts, but which has not root in itself. It is a bouquet of flowers, that for a day adorns the breast of the person who wears it, but which, being cut from its root, is not a plant in him.

which

is

the heavenly

Finally, is

we might speak

the absence of

of faith in its most general sense,

all hesitation,

which

doubt, or obstacle to receiving in

ourselves the immediate and direct inworking of the holy majesty of God,

and of the majesty

of His truth, in such a penetrating

ner that spontaneously we believe that the

Word and Being

are the ground and foundation of all things.

man-

of

God

In this general sense

Without faith it is impossible to please God"; most general sense faith also belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ. But this is not a saving faith, for it has nothing to that, "

Paul says

St.

and

in this

do with salvation. Saving Jaith embraces Christ.

How

could such Christ-embra-

cing faith dwell in Immanuel?

Rather than to spend our strength in proving this clear

fact,

we

lay before our readers Comrie's beautiful exposition of the saving

knowledge of

"We

faith, in

which he speaks

in the following penetrating

enumerate the objects of this knowledge of faith knowledge is a divine light of the Holy Ghost, through the Word, by which I become acquainted, to some extent, with the contents of the Gospel of salvation, which hitherto was to me a sealed book which, altho I understood it after the letter and in its connections, I could not apply to myself, to direct and support my soul in the great distress, conflict, and anguish which the knowledge of God and of myself had brought upon me. But now it became plain and knowable to me. Now I learn by the inshining of the Holy Ghost the contents of the Gospel, so that I can deal and commune with it. And so I suck from these breasts of consolation the pure, rational, and unadulterated milk of the everlasting Word of God. Truly, the souls that are really humbled by the imparted faith do not derive any benefit from their own notions and opinions of the truth of the Gospel on the contrary, they tend to fill them with dismay, because their knowledge which is so great is of no use to them whatever. I have known men of excellent letter-knowledge who, by reason of their will shortly

" First, this

;

;

natural understanding of the truth, in their legal fear almost cried out in

Only Thou comest to torment us before our time. remember Spira and others. I believe that the letter-knowledge of the For it often Gospel, which was despised here, shall be a hell in hell. the words of devils

'

'

:

occurs that this understanding of the

letter,

which

is

only an assent to the

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