found. The silent and hidden wonders of the sinner's illumination, justification and sanctification (§ 193), the wonderful leading and drawing of the Spirit- the gradual but sure progress of the transformation and renewal of the world - the hearing of prayer (§ 187), and similar processes, are regarded by the eye of faith as greater miracles than the healing of the sick and the raising of the dead. Christianity is appointed to conquer by its own inward divine power; the world must be overcome by faith (1 John 5: 4), and no one is now led to receive that great salvation by the controlling power of miracles, since all the means on which its appropriation depends have now been furnished.

§ 186. The Means of Grace.

(The Word of God.)

The fulfilment of the design of the present period is therefore inseparably connected with the operations of the Holy Spirit through the Means of Grace (the Word and the Sacraments), the administration of which is entrusted to the Church. The Word of God is the immutable foundation on which the preaching and the knowledge of salvation altogether depend. By the power of the Holy Spirit which operates in it, the sinner is called to repentance and brought to faith, justification is proclaimed to those who repent and seek salvation, and justified believers are conducted in the way of sanctification (§§ 192, 193). The same Spirit, by whom the Word of God was begotten in the spirit of the apostles and prophets (2 Pet. 1: 21; 2 Tim. 3:16; Matt. 10:20; John 16: 13; 1 Cor. 2: 10-13), bears witness of it also in the spirit of every candid reader or hearer, so that it may accomplish the purpose for which it was sent (Isai. 55 : 10, 11; Heb. 4: 12; Jer. 23: 29; 2 Tim. 3: 15-17; John 5:39). It is, accordingly, an inexhaustible source of comfort and peace, of encouragement and admonition, a guide to salvation, a rule of life adapted to all circumstances and conditions, to all ages of the world, and to every period of each individual's life. It is so deep that the most richly endowed mind cannot fathom it, and yet so plain and intelligible that those who are the poorest in spirit, can study and comprehend it-it is a "stream in which the elephant may swim, while the lamb may wade." It is the

allotted task of each century to discover new treasures of divine wisdom and knowledge in its depths, and deliver these to the Church; it is the office of the latter to employ them in developing the Christian life of its members, and advancing the interests of the kingdom of God.

OBS. 1.-The Word of God in the Old Testament was not only a means of grace for the congregation of the old covenant (Josh. 1:8; Isai. 55: 10, 11), but remains the same for Christendom; as such, it is, by the directions of Christ (John 5: 39) and the apostles (2 Tim. 3: 15-17; 2 Pet. 1: 19), to be diligently and conscientiously employed. The circumstance, it is true, ought not to be overlooked, that the revelation of the Old Testament, although it is in itself as fully divine truth as that of the New Testament, nevertheless, belongs, on account of its educational and progressive character, to a lower stage of divine revelation, and is, accordingly, to be read and applied in the fulness of the light of the New Testament. But, on the other hand, in many other aspects of religious life, and specially, in the dangers, trials and sorrows of man, the Old Testament affords even more abundant materials adapted to edify than the New Testament, and the remarks of Luther on the Psalms (? 84. 2), apply, to a certain extent, to the other books of the Old Testament also. It conducts us to the school in which men are divinely educated for salvation; and, as the human heart is, in all ages, equally fickle, and divine grace is always alike steadfast and true, the Old Testament places in the light of divine revelation for our advantage varied types of joys and sorrows, of struggles and temptations, and of victory and defeat, occurring in our own experience.

OBS. 2. -The Canon of the New Testament (? 111. OBS.), as it is now recognized, was settled, and received the sanction of the Church at the Council of Hippo Regius (Africa), a. D. 393.* It comprises, 1, Records referring to the original establishment of the new covenant the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; 2, A record of the history of the new covenant- the Acts of the Apostles; 3, Records referring to the doctrine and religious life of the new covenant-the Epistles of the apostle Paul to the Romans, Corinthians (I, II), Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians (I, II), the pastoral Epistles to Timothy (I, II), and Titus, the Epistle to Philemon, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the general (circular) Epistles of James, Peter (I, II), John (I, II, III) and Jude;

[* See the author's Church History- Handb. d. a. Kirchengesch. 131 and 255, 3d ed. Mitau, 1853. — TR.]

4, A record of Prophecy in the new covenant-the Revelation of John. The arrangement in the German Bible of the Epistles of Peter, John, James, Jude and the Epistle to the Hebrews, varies somewhat from the above.

OBS. 3. The Holy Scriptures unquestionably are, and always must remain, the only source and rule of all Christian knowledge; we would, however, be governed by narrow-minded and false views, if we should regard any further development and expansion of scriptural doctrine as objectionable, or pronounce all that is not taught in the Scriptures in direct words, to be unchristian and unscriptural. The words of the Scriptures are spirit and life (John 6: 63); they are living seeds of knowledge, suited and designed to bear fruit more and more abundantly and gloriously, under the superintendence of the same Spirit by whom they were sown. The Church, to the care of which the seed is entrusted, is also animated and directed by the Spirit. All that is set forth in the process of ecclesiastical development, and that, in place of being contrary to the Scriptures, can rather be demonstrated to be an organic unfolding of scriptural doctrine, is therefore, necessarily, also to be regarded as the teaching of the Spirit. But, on the other hand, all that is set forth in the later development of church-life and church-doctrine, and that contradicts the doctrine of the Scriptures, is not the work of the Spirit, but is the ungodly work of man, consists of traditions of men, and ought, therefore, to be at once rejected (Matt. 15: 9). "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thess. 5: 21).

God addresses us in his Word, reveals his will and counsel of salvation, and invites us to draw nigh with a submissive spirit; to that Word of God in the Holy Scriptures, the word of man, addressed to God in Prayer, corresponds; prayer expresses man's readiness and ardent desire to receive divine grace. Prayer is, consequently, the answer which man gives, while he is drawing nigh to God who has drawn nigh to him it is the union of the human will with the divine. It is, however, Christian Prayer alone, or Prayer offered in the name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Ghost, that can claim the appellation and the full blessing of a means of grace. То pray in the name of Jesus is

not to pray in our own name, in dependence on our strength and our merit (Dan. 9 : 18), but—to pray in dependence on the

redemption finished by him, to pray by his command, and as members of his body, so that our prayer appears as the prayer of Christ and possesses its power. Such a prayer cannot be offered except by the power of the Holy Ghost, who teaches and helps us to pray in this manner (Rom. 8:15, 26). Now when Prayer is founded on the merit of the Son, and sustained by the power of the Holy Ghost, it cannot fail to be heard by the Father (John 14:13, 14; 16:23), for such a prayer is precisely that which every prayer should be a perfect union of the human will with the divine. It can, therefore, occasion no surprise, that the Holy Scriptures unconditionally promise that Christian prayer shall be heard, and assign to that faith of which it is the expression, a miraculous power derived from divine omnipotence (Mark 11: 23, 24; Matt. 17:20; 21: 21; Mark 9 : 23).

OBS. 1.-The objection is unreasonable and absurd, that if God should answer us, and in consequence of our prayers adopt a course different from that which he would have otherwise chosen, he changes his counsel and ceases to be immutable. For our prayers, which God eternally foreknew, were already considered in his counsel, and it is on that account that prayer is often heard before it is pronounced (as in Dan. 9: 23; Isai. 65: 24).

:

OBS. 2. It is not less unreasonable to object that Prayer is superfluous, since God already knows our wants before we ask him, (Matt. 6 8.) For we do not pray in order that God may thus be made acquainted with the desires of our hearts; prayer is, more properly, the necessary and natural expression and action of our spiritual life.

OBS. 3.- The unconditional promise is given to true and genuine prayer, that it shall be heard; if an answer is not given, the prayer either was not genuine (that is, made without faith, James 1: 6, 7; 4: 3), or else, it only seems to be unanswered. For God often delays, in the inscrutable wisdom of his Providence, and does not grant an answer visibly, either for the purpose of trying our faith, or for reasons which we personally or the circumstances around us may have furnished; and often, too, he really and immediately hears our prayers, when, in consequence of our short-sightedness or the low degree of our spiritual life, we do not see and perceive it,―he heard us, but not as we had expected or desired.

§ 188. Continuatian. (The Sacraments in general.) The Sacraments were instituted by Christ for the purpose of enabling us through them to enter into the most intimate and essential communion of life with him, and of preserving and establishing us therein. Two conditions belong not only to natural life, but also to the new life in Christ― birth and sustenance. 1. There are, consequently, not more than two Sacraments: Baptism, the medium of the birth of the new life, and, 2, the Lord's Supper, the medium by which it is nourished and its growth is maintained; it hence appears, at the same time, that the former is to be administered, in the case of the same individual, once only, and that the latter is of necessity to be repeatedly administered. The peculiarity of the Sacraments (as contradistinguished from symbols), consists in the circumstance that, in them, the gift of grace, which is invisible and supersensual, is enveloped in elements that are visible and obvious to the senses, and is received, by means of these elements, through the external senses, in order that we may be assured even by these, of such reception.

OBS. 1.—There is an essential difference between a symbol and a Sacrament. The former is merely an image and sign, addressed to the senses, of a supersensual conception; its purpose is, to remind us of the remote and invisible object which it represents, by means of a present and visible sign. There is no essential union between it and a Sacrament. That which is sensible, or perceived by the senses in the Sacrament is, it is true, also an image and sign of that which is supersensual, but the sensible and the supersensual are not apart from each other or separated, but are connected and united in the most intimate manner, insomuch that he who receives the sensible sign, at the same time receives the supersensual gift in, with, and under it. The symbol thus becomes a Sacrament, as soon as that which it designates, is added to, and united with, it.

OBS. 2.

The external sign becomes a Sacrament when it is associated with the omnipotent Word (of the institution and promise) of Christ-which occurs at the Consecration. It is not the minister at the altar who converts the element into a Sacrament; but the Word of Christ, which he pronounces in the name and by the authority of Christ, unites the present heavenly gift of grace with the present earthly element; hence the minister's faith and devoutness cannot add aught to the blessing and the operation of the Sacrament, neither can his unbelief or unworthiness diminish aught.