Faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ, the Son, and in the Holy Ghost is but the beginning of true religion. It is exhibited in works of obedience which will be explained in other tracts of this series. Faith is also a principle of power. All human exertion springs from its exercise. This is exemplified in all the acts of life. In a higher sense it is a spiritual force. It was by faith, in this degree, that the wonderful {210} works of the Prophets and Apostles and other holy men of old, were accomplished, as recorded in the Old and New Testaments, and in the sacred books of the Seers and Sages who were not of the Hebrew race. For, faith is the same principle in all ages and among all nations. It was by this faith that the sick were healed, the blind received their sight, the lame were made to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the sting of the serpent and the virulence of poison were made harmless, divine dreams and heavenly visions were beheld, and the glories of eternity were unfolded to the Saints and servants of God in the early Christian Church. It was by faith that lepers were cleansed, water was turned into wine, multitudes were fed with a few loaves and fishes, the winds and the waves were stilled, and the dead were raised to life, when the Divine Master walketh on earth in the flesh. These marvels are called "miracles." They are deemed supernatural, but they were the natural results of the exercise of the spiritual force called faith. It was by the same power that the heavens were closed that there was no rain for three years and six months; that the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil failed not, and that the ravens brought food in the days of Elijah the Prophet. By the same faith the children of Israel were led out of Egypt by Moses, the Red Sea was divided, manna was brought from heaven and water from the rock, and people bitten by serpents were healed in the wilderness. It was also by that faith that the early patriarchs prevailed, and some of them walked and talked with God. And indeed, it was by faith that the worlds were brought into material existence, order coming out of chaos, light springing forth from darkness, and life, in its various forms, being developed through the word of the Eternal God, in whom this principle of faith is manifest in its full and complete perfection.