acters, is to have the necessary art of applying the subject to our own instruction.
There are two great principles in the church of Christ, namely, Faith and Charity. They are brethren—they ought to be united. The former is represented by Cain, the latter by Abel. Now, if we consider Adam not merely as an individual being, but as the representative of a race of beings, and those beings constituting a church, which, as the first church, may be called the MOST ANCIENT; and if we consider that the leading or introductory principles of every church must be that which induces a belief in its principles, then we can see that Cain, as the first-born of Adam, must represent the principle of faith, and thus that faith is a tiller of the ground. The next principle, its brother, is charity; or faith brought into act in deeds of love; and this is represented by Abel. It is not enough for man to know what the truth is; he must do it, or he will not be accepted. The Pharisees believed in all the words of the law, and were attentive enough in external worship; they had faith, but the Lord said: "Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Worship grounded in mere ceremonies, or in external rites, or in even full conviction of its necessity, is powerless, unless accompanied by an inward feeling of delight. Worship from the mere conviction of truth, is but the fruit of the natural mind, the fruit of the ground tilled by Cain. Such worship is, in no sense of the word, beneficial. It neither opens the heart for the reception of holy influences, nor heaven, so as to conjoin it with the spiritual worshippers of that bliss-
