Read it from the Original.
Start at the Beginning.
(Page 162)
I. The operation of the intelligence is the first step in all human responsible action. Supernatural action must therefore begin with supernatural consciousness, and the knowledge of that higher order; and faith becomes the necessary foundation of the divine life in us. That which we can work out for ourselves by natural methods is not sufficient; it can never be more than is contained in the inferior and worldly order of things, and will never admit us into the higher universe where God is unveiled in new ways to the soul's perceptions. Faith is a necessary condition of every act of supernatural virtue. "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. xi. 6). We must have this infused gift in order to grasp divine truths, to nurture aspirations that rise beyond this world, to make the invisible a present reality to us, to feel actual love for God. We need the influence of a higher knowledge and higher hopes, to help us to resist the passions of sense, to avoid sin, to bear the troubles of life, to meet death with tranquillity and joy. What an immense field of new action faith opens to us! What value it gives to our actions ! It is not a yoke laid upon us, not a restraint and servitude of our natural faculties, but happiness, glory and new life.
II. Faith is necessary for us, because God's Providence requires the service of our highest faculties, and has decreed that the homage of our intelligence in this life shall take the form of believing on His authority without the satisfaction of fathoming the intrinsic evidence of the truths He places before us. We have to admit His supreme knowledge and supreme veracity, and to accept the knowledge of truths by the method that He has appointed, and that supersedes the natural methods which belong to our mundane life. We thus reverse the rebellious action of Adam and Eve. We withdraw from their claim to eat of the tree of natural knowledge and that alone; and God in return gives us to (Page 163) eat of the tree of life and supernatural knowledge. Faith is further necessary for us as members of an organized society, the Church of God. Trust in our fellow-men and the reception of truth on their word is one of the first conditions of any society. Of all that men know and act upon in this life, very little is the result of each man's own private investigations. If we are not self-sufficing in the natural sphere, still less are we so in regard of the truths that transcend nature. "Faith then cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Rom. x. 17). God has appointed that we should receive His word through the intermediary of the sacred writers and the rulers of His Church; and our faith is at once a homage to Him, and a social duty on which the present organization of His kingdom is based. Show always a trusting and generous faith towards God and His Church.
III. It is necessary for us to exercise our faith in different ways.
1. Internally. We must give our intellectual assent to every particle of divine truth, and value it as a crumb from the table of the Lord. Some articles we may know explicitly in their details; but if leisure or intelligence fail us, we must accept implicitly with equal firmness such articles of the divine teaching as are hidden from our view. If opportunity allows, we should cultivate an intelligent faith, studying to understand the details of religion and to give "a reason of that hope which is within us" (1 Pet. iii. 15).
2. Externally. We must acknowledge our faith when occasion arises, and be not ashamed to carry out its practices openly. "With the heart we believe unto justice; but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom. x. 10). Our Lord declares solemnly that He will either acknowledge us or deny us before His Father in heaven accordingly as we shall have confessed Him or denied Him before men (Matt. x. 32, 33). Be ready to do this duty even at the peril of your life. Be fearless in the service of God and always true to your principles.
