Page:Sermons preached in the African Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Thomas', Philadelphia.djvu/62

58 prays, seems to have been very prosperous with regard to his spiritual state. This appears, 1st. From the genuineness of his faith. It is affirmed that "the truth was in himm, and that he walked in, or according to the truth." Evangelical faith may be defined to be, a hearty belief of the truth as it is in Jesus. It is not a cold speculative principle, floating in the head without influencing the heart and life. It is a living, active principle, regulating the heart and outward conduct It takes the Lord at his word. It influences the possessor to provide against the evil he threatens, and to pursue with earnestness and decision the good he promises. For instance, when God told Noah that the end of all flesh had come before him, and that he was about to deluge the earth with a flood; Noah's faith in the testimony of God influenced him to provide against the threatened evil by preparing an ark for the saving of his house. When