tibxavy of Che Chwiocjicai Seminary 
 
 PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY 
 
 •a@i> 
 
 BL 550 .P464 1863 
 Phillips, E. T. March. 
 The ordinances of spiritual 
 worship 
 
LONDON 
 
 PBINTED BY SP O TTISTVOO DE AND CO. 
 
 NEW-STBEET SQUABE 
 
THE ORDINANCES 
 
 OF 
 
 SPIRITUAL WORSHIP: 
 
 THEIR HISTORY, MEANING, AND END 
 
 CONSIDERED TN A SERIES OF ESSAYS FROM THE WRITINGS OF THE 
 
 KEV. E. T. MABCH PHILLLPPS, M.A. 
 
 LATE RECTOR OF RATHERN, AND 
 CHANCELLOR OF THE DIOCESE OF GLOUCESTER. 
 
 SELECTED AND EDITED BY HIS DAUGHTER 
 
 ' That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye 
 also may have fellowship with us : and truly our fellowship is with 
 the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.' 
 
 LONDON: 
 LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, ROBERTS, & GREEN. 
 
 1863. 
 
PL 
 
 ABDICATION. 
 
 TO THE COMMUNICANTS AT HATHERN, 
 
 AND TO ALL WHO IN DATS PAST WERE HIS SCHOLARS. 
 
 When publishing the records of Mr. Phillipps' ministry amongst 
 you, I said that we hoped to publish also some of his principal 
 works. This volume, however, hardly answers to that descrip- 
 tion : its contents have been selected from a number of his 
 writings — chiefly from sermons preached at different times, as 
 occasion arose in the ordinary course of his parish ministry — and 
 they are arranged here, not according to their dates, but to their 
 subjects. To this alone it is due that they appear as a connected 
 series, and this must explain the incompleteness of the series ; 
 for had he himself planned such a treatise, no doubt both family 
 worship and the study of the Scriptures would have had a dis- 
 tinct place in it. 
 
 The third essay, the sixth and seventh, and part of the ninth, 
 were written in their present form by himself, i. e. as essays or 
 treatises; those sections which bear the date of 1847 are extracts 
 from notes of his sermons taken down at the time by one of the 
 congregation : that the wording of these is always exactly his 
 own, I cannot now be sure. All the rest are taken from sermons 
 written out by himself after he had preached them, and are given 
 here as nearly as possible in his own words, with such verbal 
 correction only as the imperfect state of the MS. and the omis- 
 sion of repetitions seemed to require. But owing to the circum- 
 stance of their having no designed connection with each other, I 
 found, on comparing the MSS. together, that the same ground 
 was gone over, and the same arguments repeated, in various forms 
 
yi DEDICATION. 
 
 and with different applications, in many of them ; whilst not 
 unfrequ entry there were two or more sermons, of different dates, 
 on the same subject. When these repetitions had been omitted, 
 together with those portions which were of merely local and tem- 
 porary interest, I found the form of a sermon was altogether lost 
 in most of them, and that a series of connected extracts only was 
 left ; hence it seemed better to adopt for all the form he had himself 
 chosen for some — that of essays, in which these extracts appear 
 in their natural order, as consecutive sections. Where there were 
 several papers on the same subject, I have thought myself at 
 liberty to adopt from each what appeared to be the fullest and 
 clearest expression of his meaning ; and in one or two instances 
 I have given an abstract from several, in preference to an extract 
 from one ; but even in this case the language used is his own. 
 When any words have been added to his, for the sake of greater 
 distinctness, the reader will find them marked thus [ - ]. 
 
 There are however some peculiarities in the language Mr. 
 Phillipps was accustomed to use, which, if left unnoticed, might 
 make his statements appear to a stranger confused, perhaps con- 
 tradictory. One of these is the use he makes of the word 
 " spiritual." The reader who took this word, either in its natural 
 grammatical sense, as the adjective of " spirit," and the opposite 
 to " material ; " or in its looser, but with many its more usual 
 sense, of religious as opposed either to irreligious or to an erro- 
 neous religious faith and practice ; would certainly find the dis- 
 tinctions here made, as to the spiritual nature and the spiritual 
 man, very unintelligible and unmeaning. Mr. Phillipps used the 
 word only in one sense, intending always by spiritual that which 
 belongs to, proceeds from, and accords with the Holy Spirit him- 
 self. Thus, the spiritual mind is that mind, temper, and will 
 which has been created in the natural, i. e. the rational moral 
 man, by the Spirit's power, is sustained in action by his presence, 
 and of its own nature thinks and wills in accordance with his 
 mind. As in the possession of our natural human life, we are 
 sensible of and able to act in respect of this present visible world ; 
 so the spiritual life, communicated at first by the Holy Spirit, and 
 continued in the soul from moment to moment by his energising 
 power, is that life by virtue of which he who possesses it becomes 
 
DEDICATION. Vll 
 
 conscious of the reality and presence of things unseen and eternal, 
 susceptive of the influences of the Spirit, and capable of choice 
 and action in harmony with them. As our natural bodies were 
 created fit instruments for the execution of the will of the rational 
 moral man, so the spiritual body must be one prepared and fitted 
 by the Holy Spirit to be the agent of the spiritual man : and the 
 spiritual man is he whose body, mind, and spirit, quickened and 
 actuated by the Holy Spirit, are in complete unison and concord 
 with themselves, and with the will of God. 
 
 There is another subject, touched on several times in these 
 essays, on which it might be easy to misunderstand him, and not 
 impossible to attribute to him either carelessness in appearing to 
 say what he did not mean, or dishonesty in not explicitly declaring 
 what he did believe. I refer to the different manner in which he 
 speaks of the redemption of the world, sometimes in connection 
 with the salvation of God's elect people, sometimes as distinct 
 from, and contrasted with it. Unquestionably he was fully per- 
 suaded, and the more so the longer he studied God's word, that 
 God sent his Son to redeem not the elect alone, but the world ; 
 to destroy all the works of the devil — to take away his power — to 
 make an end of sin — to conquer death, as man and for all men. 
 He believed this, and taught it without reservation, explanation, 
 and contradiction ; his faith was firm that Satan will not conquer, 
 that death itself can oppose no insuperable barrier to the Saviour's 
 power to accomplish his Father's purpose. He knew, and rejoiced 
 to know, that as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be 
 made alive. But he did not understand from the Scriptures, that 
 this is the work which the Saviour is now accomplishing ; rather 
 that they plainly declare it cannot be accomplished, until those 
 whom God has given to him as a peculiar people for himself, and 
 as the first fruits of his work, have been gathered together, their 
 number completed, and they themselves prepared to be his minis- 
 ters in the work of his victorious kingdom. As a minister of this 
 preparatory dispensation, Mr. Phillipps could speak only to men 
 already brought into the present covenant of God's grace (or 
 commanded to enter into it), and called to live in the faith of the 
 Holy Spirit's covenanted presence ; and in the execution of this 
 ministry he was concerned only with the present revelation of 
 
Vlll DEDICATION. 
 
 God's purposes, and the immediate objects of the present dispensa- 
 tion of God's grace. Whilst therefore he never forgot that the one 
 is incomplete, the other but for a time, he would not presume to 
 guess when or in what manner God will fulfill that wider cove- 
 nant, and perfect that complete redemption of which his word 
 speaks, but which it does not as yet explain. 
 
 In preferring the subject of spiritual worship to some others on 
 which Mr. Phillipps more frequently spoke to you, I have not 
 followed the advice of his friends, nor even what I believe would 
 have been his own judgement on their comparative importance. 
 But several reasons have decided me on making this choice : I 
 found myself less incompetent to the work of arranging and edit- 
 ing these papers, than those which deal with higher matters. I 
 have been told, also, that the records of his ministry contain too 
 much of his opinions, and too little of himself. The following 
 pages will best supply this defect, as they reveal the secret springs 
 of his life, and exhibit its real character far more truly than any 
 history of its outward form would do : for I need not remind you 
 of what you know so well — that when he was speaking to. you of 
 your relation to God, and of the communion you> are called to 
 enjoy with him, he was most literally declaring to you the things 
 which he had not only heard and seen,, but which constituted 
 the substance of his own daily life. 
 
 On more general grounds it has seemed to me, that his thoughts 
 on this subject may be of more use at the present time, than 
 would be the discussion of those further truths on which he wrote 
 more at length. When wearied with the discussion of the his- 
 torical evidences, and with framing complete definitions of the 
 boundaries, of written inspiration, it is refreshing to turn aside 
 from the study of the past, to rest on those facts of immediate 
 personal consciousness, wherein God is now revealing himself to 
 his worshipping people, in the presence of which doubts disap- 
 pear, demonstrations are unneeded, and difficulties and questions 
 are reduced to their true dimensions. And when any subject has 
 been long under discussion, so that the very confusion of the com- 
 bat makes agreement upon it for the time impossible, it is always 
 useful to leave the controversy for awhile, in order to consider the 
 original matter anew from a different and hitherto undisputed 
 
DEDICATION. IX 
 
 side. Perhaps the following essays on the true nature of Christian 
 worship, and the real use of its ordinances, which were written 
 for the purpose of practical Christian edification, and evidently, 
 from their dates, without any thought of the immediate forms 
 which several questions on these subjects have now assumed, may 
 enable many to gain such a new standing-point in respect of 
 them. Certainly when all the attempts that have been made to 
 draw Christians together in the bonds of one common worship, 
 have had no other effect than that of making their conflicting 
 views more irreconcileable ; when the only practical conclusion 
 to which they are tending appears to be the choice between a 
 church possessing a fixed creed without worshippers, or worship- 
 pers without a creed ; it cannot be mistimed to call men to con- 
 sider again the first principles of all real worship, its essential 
 character, its true end. For much as is now said about worship, 
 its forms, its spirituality, its unity — possibly because so much is 
 said — it does seem as if we were in no little danger of forgetting 
 what worship iS ; and there is, perhaps, no effort of thought 
 more difficult, than that of recovering and steadily maintaining 
 the meaning of words, which have once been emptied of their 
 meaning by an indiscriminate and familiar use. 
 
 On one side there is an evident tendency to resolve all religious 
 worship into the expression, and its utility into the cultivation, 
 of a devotional temper towards God, and a loving spirit towards 
 men. To some men indeed this appears to be so entirely the 
 whole of the matter, that they would persuade us — partly in the 
 name of Christian charity, partly in the name of the enlightened 
 spirit of the age — to omit from our forms of public worship every 
 expression that can offend the mind or contradict the opinions 
 of any possible fellow-worshipper. And granting that the final 
 end of all public worship is to unite Christian men in that feeling 
 of devotion to one common Father, and of kindness to each other, 
 in respect of which they all agree — however much they differ on 
 minor points of opinion — it is obvious we fall short of this end, 
 and miss the blessing intended for us in it, just so far as we insist 
 on retaining ceremonies or using expressions which, whether right 
 or not in themselves, are the means of keeping us aloof from those 
 who might otherwise unite with us in all that is really essential 
 
A DEDICATION. 
 
 to our worship. On the other side, the dread lest an excessive 
 attention to the outward ordinances of Christian worship should 
 withdraw the worshippers from the real and inward worship of 
 the heart, has given rise to a tendency to resolve all spiritual 
 worship into prayer, and all prayer into a means of obtaining 
 from God those things of which we stand in need, or which we 
 desire for ourselves or others. And when it appeared that letting 
 slip the outward forms of worship did not enable men to grasp 
 the reality more firmly, this tendency gave rise to the reaction, 
 which would increase the reverence of worship by multiplying its 
 rites, and adding to its visible solemnity. Thus the belief that 
 Christ rules all things in heaven and on earth, has not yet been 
 strong enough to convince his people, that he can have appointed 
 anything in his church of which they do not approve. The know- 
 ledge that the Spirit guides each individual Christian, has been 
 made destructive of the fact that he is also present with and 
 guides the church. The truth of his presence with the church, 
 is made practically to set aside his dwelling in and teaching every 
 one of Christ's people individually. 
 
 In these essays the whole subject of worship and its ordinances 
 is considered from a different point of view. There certainly is 
 not a word in them inconsistent with the truth, that our common 
 worship ought to be the expression of our devotion towards God, 
 and a bond of fellowship between men ; — that we are not only 
 permitted to make our requests known to God, but are com- 
 manded to believe that we have the things for which we have 
 prayed. But these did not appear to Mr. Phillipps to be the 
 whole, nor even the most essential parts of the matter. The 
 question before him was, how he could best help his congregation 
 to understand and realise the relationship into which God has 
 brought them with himself in Christ ; to engage intelligently and 
 heartily in that spiritual worship to which he calls them ; to 
 enter into the enjoyment of that communion and fellowship with 
 him which he has prepared for them, in and through the means 
 of grace which Christ has commanded them to use ; and thus by 
 degrees to attain to all the great and wonderful blessings designed 
 for them by his love. He looked for the true ground and warrant 
 of all spiritual worship in God's express command to his people 
 
DEDICATION. XI 
 
 to draw nigh to him, and to worship him in spirit and in truth : 
 its several ordinances he received as being what Christ has in 
 fact appointed — either directly whilst he was still on earth, or 
 since his ascension through his Spirit's guiding power — for the 
 good of his believing people : which, therefore, it was his duty 
 to explain, and to exhort them to observe, and his congregation's 
 to use and profit by ; but which no one is at liberty to slight or 
 alter without the express warrant of the same authority that 
 first instituted them. Hence it was that he was so careful to 
 trace out for them the history of each ordinance from its first 
 appointment: hence it is that he speaks of spiritual worship, 
 not as it is designed to draw out and express men's feelings and 
 thoughts about God and Christ, but rather as the means which 
 God is pleased to use in revealing himself, his mind and pur- 
 poses, to his worshipping people, and by which they are enabled 
 to hold communion with him. He speaks of prayer, not so much 
 as the means of obtaining what we need from a power that is 
 able and willing to bestow it, but as the telling out all our 
 cares and desires to a loving friend and Father, and the receiving 
 from him through the Spirit such counsel, comfort, and strength, 
 in respect of them, as shall enable us to prefer his will to our 
 own in everything that concerns ourselves, or those for whom we 
 pray. He speaks of the sacraments as ordinances in which we 
 are bid to draw near to God, in which he has declared he will 
 draw near to us. The truths revealed in each ordinance, the 
 spirit in which the worshipper must observe them, and the 
 blessings they are designed to convey to him, form the chief 
 subjects of each essay. Taken altogether, they contain a brief 
 sketch of the spiritual education God has provided for man — 
 historically from the first creation of mankind in Adam, until 
 their future entrance on the divine inheritance purchased and 
 prepared for them in Christ ; — individually and personally, from 
 his birth into the world, until his attaining the resurrection from 
 the dead. Furthermore, Mr. Phillipps argues throughout on the 
 assumption, that as the end of all spiritual ordinances is com- 
 munion between the worshippers and God, so in the case of 
 each individual worshipper the measure of communion which he 
 can enjoy must of necessity be limited by the knowledge which 
 
Xll DEDICATION. 
 
 lie has obtained of God : and one chief blessing intended for him 
 in them all is the teaching him to know God better, and to love 
 him more. But the revelation made to him in these ordinances, 
 and in respect of which he holds this communion, is not properly 
 the knowledge of a doctrine, but of a person ; (although, like all 
 truth, it can be stated in words only in the form of distinct pro- 
 positions, i. e. as doctrines). Just as a child has intercourse with 
 his earthly father upon such subjects and so far, as he can enter 
 into his father's mind and understand his purposes— just as, by 
 permitting such intercourse, the parent is teaching his child to 
 understand them, and to know himself better — so it is in this 
 spiritual communion between God and his children. And as the 
 child cannot measure the importance of his father's plans about 
 himself, by his own little capacity for understanding them, so 
 neither can Christians select the important from the unimportant 
 parts of God's revelation to them. 
 
 If these principles be those which should govern all our worship, 
 it is obviously useless to ask, how shall we keep our public 
 worship true, and yet limit the subjects of it to those truths on 
 which the " great majority of pious, thoughtful, and reasonable 
 Christian men " can agree to express themselves in the same 
 words. For the question to be considered is, what worship has 
 God commanded us to offer, and what will he receive ? And 
 we do not meet merely to confess the truths we already com- 
 prehend, but to endeavour to learn better what God is pleased to 
 reveal. One essential mark, therefore, of a form of words that is 
 really consistent with spiritual worship, and capable of becoming 
 the vehicle of its blessings, must be its capability of expressing a 
 higher communion springing from a fuller knowledge than the 
 worshippers for whose use it is designed can as yet comprehend ; 
 in other words, it must express more than they as yet know to 
 be true. 
 
 It were easy to charge the man who endeavours to apply these 
 principles to any practical purpose, with the arrogancy of assum- 
 ing that this revelation may be rightly expressed in the forms 
 which he loves to use. But such charges only serve to evade 
 the real question : is God or man the judge of the amount of 
 that knowledge of himself which he will require in all who come 
 
DEDICATION. Xlll 
 
 to worship him ? Is God or man to set the limit to the truth 
 which he will reveal to those who worship him with humble and 
 contrite hearts ? Is the Holy Spirit still with his church, and 
 are we to believe that he does direct, control, and suggest our 
 worship ; or has he indeed left it to men to discover, what 
 measure of worship it will on the whole best suit their aggregate 
 views of his truth to offer ? 
 
 It is one thing to make God's revelation of himself the rule 
 and the limit of our worship ; another, to assume we have attained 
 that limit, and can say where it is. It is one thing to insist that 
 all who worship with our church shall understand, and therefore 
 be "capable of agreeing with all that she has to teach them ; 
 another — yet very much the same kind of thing — to say she 
 must not presume to teach them anything but what they are all 
 already agreed upon. " This is life eternal, to know Thee, the 
 only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." To 
 attempt then to distinguish between the truths which are vital 
 and must be confessed, and those which are not vital and may 
 with safety be omitted, is much the same as to calculate how low 
 a degree of eternal life will ensure our escaping from eternal 
 death. The omission of a truth involves the assertion of an 
 error ; but true charity, which is ever humble, is in no such 
 dilemma : her language is not " All this truth that others knew 
 not or mistake, I am ready to forego ; " but rather, " How 
 precious are Thy thoughts unto us, O God, how great is the sum 
 of them : that which we know not, teach Thou us." 
 
 I would then ask those, who fear to attach too great a value to 
 the visible ordinances of the Gospel, lest its inward power in the 
 heart may be oppressed and stifled by them, whether any neglect 
 or depreciation of such ordinances will enable them to offer so 
 spiritual a worship, or to enjoy a more real communion with 
 God and Christ, than that which it is here shown may be, and 
 has been enjoyed by God's people, in and through their obser- 
 vance. I would ask those who are striving to increase the 
 reverence and devotion of our worship, whether any conceivable 
 addition to the beauty and solemnity of its forms, or any exalta- 
 tion of the mysteriousness of its sacraments, can so effectually 
 excite that reverence, as would the full apprehension of the truth 
 
XIV DEDICATION. 
 
 here dwelt upon — that God's most Holy Spirit is present in the 
 heart of every true worshipper ; — of the fact that in these sacra- 
 ments Christ meets his people, unites them to himself, and holds 
 personal communion with each one of them, and they with him. 
 And I would ask those who aim at obtaining a more compre- 
 hensive union of worshippers within our own church, to consider 
 whether it is possible that any union of men for such a purpose 
 should be aught but a lie, which is not first of all a union of 
 men with God ; and whether the way to attain this be humbly 
 to confess in our worship all the truth which God has revealed, 
 or to omit from it all which men have not received. 
 
 I am well aw r are that many of the discussions in the following 
 pages are very little suited to the temper or the requirements of the 
 present age : the painstaking manner in which they are treated 
 is now old-fashioned ; and as to their matter — they will be found 
 to turn for the most part on questions which are now generally 
 contemned as mere technical distinctions, of no importance in 
 themselves, but which the bondage of old creeds compel divines 
 to retain, much to the maintenance of divisions and the hind- 
 rance of Christian love. I have already confessed that they only 
 bear indirectly on the special questions of the day; they will 
 scarcely make any addition to the critical knowledge of expo- 
 sitors : and whilst they certainly will require some labour of 
 attention and consideration on the part of those who read them, 
 there is little or nothing of that attractive language, those easy 
 thoughts, those profound, and I must add, those indefinite con- 
 ceptions, which distinguish our most popular religious writings, 
 to redeem them from the charge of dullness which has been 
 brought against them. 
 
 The first objection must pass unanswered, for most probably 
 Mr. Phillipps never understood himself, certainly he did not ex- 
 plain to his scholars, the distinction between " the spirit of the 
 age" and " the fashion of this world." He held to the old, but 
 now apparently exploded notion, that the truth, in its integrity, 
 is what the world has needed, and will always need ; but that it 
 is what every present age of the world in its turn has hated, in 
 exact proportion to the practical power it has shown itself to 
 possess. As to the dullness of any subject, that depends perhaps 
 
DEDICATION. XV 
 
 quite as much on the wants and the temper of those who study 
 it, as upon the subject itself or the manner in which it is treated. 
 It was not possible that should appear dull to him which con- 
 stituted his daily inmost life, from which sprang his greatest 
 refreshment here, and which was the subject of his highest hopes : 
 and it might be very difficult for him to understand that it 
 could prove wearisome to any who were living the same life, 
 although after another fashion. I certainly shall not attempt to 
 prove to those who find these pages dull, that they are, or even 
 that they ought to be, interested by them. God's people are led 
 to live the Christian life in very different forms, and to labour 
 on very different sides of Christian truth ; and doubtless each 
 one may be divinely guided to seek the spiritual sustenance he 
 needs in a correspondingly different way. 
 
 But for the sake of the church generally, for the sake most 
 especially of those who are thus led in a very different path, I 
 must hope that there ever will be amongst us, as there has been 
 in the church, a large minority in this respect like minded with 
 him, who has in these pages unconsciously described the life 
 which he strove to live. Such men, finding their strength and 
 happiness in direct communion and intercourse with their Father 
 and their Saviour — knowing how continually they miss it, how 
 far they always come short of the measure to which they might 
 attain — will, I believe, be thankful for the help here given them 
 in collecting their thoughts and experience upon this subject, 
 and in bringing its several parts distinctly before their minds. 
 Though they may be far from agreeing with Mr. Phillipps in every 
 particular conclusion, yet, if they do not suffer themselves to be 
 deterred by the first impression of a somewhat bald and dry 
 manner and an apparent want of novelty, they will find each 
 step onward they take with him is on firm and solid ground. 
 They will sympathise with his anxiety to learn distinctly the 
 laws which God has appointed for his people's worship, and with 
 the interest he took in tracing out every particular of the pro- 
 vision God has made to secure to them both the capacity and the 
 opportunity for enjoying it. They will not count it a burden- 
 some task to examine each link of that covenant, by which God 
 bound them even in their infancy to himself: they will not be 
 
 a 
 
xvi DEDICATION. 
 
 made weary, — though they may be made sad, — by recalling the 
 memories of the days when they first became conscious of their 
 high calling in Christ Jesus, and singing hymns of victory with- 
 out fear, counted the numbers and considered the strength of 
 their enemies — by looking whether their armour be as bright 
 and as whole as when they burnished it in the camp of their 
 youth, whilst the whole battlefield lay in sight, but as yet un- 
 trodden, before them. Such men will hardly think it dull to 
 count over with him, one by one, the spiritual and heavenly 
 blessings which are stored up for them in God's sanctuary, and 
 on which Christ bids them come and feast with himself: whilst 
 the deadness and coldness of their most earnest worship, and the 
 continual interruptions of their communion from within and from 
 without, will surely lead them, as it did him, often to look wist- 
 fully at the deliverance which death will bring to them, and 
 make them love to consider, how entirely the worship they are 
 preparing to join in heaven will be the same that they are 
 striving to offer here, how very far it will excel it. 
 
 But for yourselves, there is no need that a fellow-scholar 
 should commend to you the words in which, whilst he was yet 
 Avith us, he strove to build us up in our most holy faith, and to 
 o-uideus into the enjoyment of that blessed fellowship to which 
 God has called us : with you I now leave them, with the earnest 
 prayer and the confident hope, that as they were not spoken, so 
 they have not been written by him in vain, neither for the con- 
 demnation of any ; but that, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, 
 they may still be made effectual to confirm us in the ways of 
 Christ, and to unite us in the communion of the Saints. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 OF CHRISTIAN OR SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 § 1. The nature and end of all worship ; communion with God . 1 
 
 § 2. The words themselves 3 
 
 § 3. The nature of the change indicated in them; the worship of the 
 heathen nations ; of the Samaritans ; of the Jewish nation, 
 until the coming of Christ 5 
 
 § 4. The worship of God in spirit : i. In the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 ii. In true spirituality of mind ; wherein this consists . . 9 
 
 § 5. Some supposed conditions of spiritual worship considered : i. Of 
 times of prayer, ii. Of public worship, iii. Of the use of written 
 forms of prayer in spiritual worship 16 
 
 § 6. Of the worship of God in truth ; our worship governed by the 
 revelation made to us : i. Of God the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, ii. Of the work of Christ our Saviour and Mediator, 
 iii. Of the hope set before us of eternal life in Christ, and its 
 true nature .......••• 23 
 
 § 7. The Liturgy of the Church of England tried by this standard : 
 
 its confessions, prayers, and hymns 31 
 
 § 8. The reason assigned for the change made in the worship of 
 God's people : i. The new revelation made of God in 
 Christ, ii. The more intimate communion to be enjoyed by 
 his people 34 
 
 ESSAY II. 
 
 THE SABBATH AND THE LORD'S-DAY. 
 
 § 1. The end designed in the ordinance of the Sabbath; made for man 39 
 § 2. The history of the Sabbath day : its observance in paradise ; 
 after the fall ; under the law of Moses ; from the time of Ezra 
 
 till the coming of the Lord Christ 41 
 
 § 3. The Lord's-day ; the Son of Man Lord of the Sabbath ; how he 
 used this power ; the change of the day itself; change in the 
 manner of observing it ; in the Spirit on the Lord's-day . 48 
 
 a2 
 
xvm TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 ESSAY III. 
 
 SOME DIFFICULTIES IN THE BAPTISMAL CONTROVERSY FROM 
 THE MISAPPREHENSION OF THE MEANING OF THE WORDS 
 USED IN IT; AND FROM COLLATERAL MISTAKES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 § 1. Different meanings attached to the term "original sin," at differ- 
 ent periods of the controversy : first the fault and corruption 
 
 of man's nature, then the sin of Adam 54 
 
 § 2. Uncertain use of the term regeneration 58 
 
 § 3. The nature of the change denoted by this term : i. Regeneration 
 said to he the restoration of the image of God in which Adam 
 was made ; wherein this image consisted ; that it has never 
 been lost. ii. Regeneration the change of the rational into the 
 spiritual man ; Christ the first spiritual man . . .63 
 
 § 4. The mistaken notions entertained of the actual and relative con- 
 dition of infants ; the root of corruption in the body . . 76 
 
 § 5, Recapitulation . . g \ 
 
 § 6. Conclusions : the nature and condition of the infant when brought 
 to baptism ; the change made in its condition by baptism ; the 
 blessings covenanted to it in baptism ; how these are to be 
 realized 84 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 
 ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION. 
 
 foundation ; the covenant established by God between 
 himself and the children of his people . . . . .90 
 
 2. The relation in which they actually stand to God and to Christ . 94 
 
 3. The provision made for their instruction : i. In the institution of 
 
 families, ii. By the institution of God's church, iii. Under 
 the law of Moses, iv. By the constitution given to the church 
 under Cirri st ; causes of failure 102 
 
 4. The nature of the education which the condition of baptized chil- 
 
 dren, and their relation to God and Christ, demands from their 
 parents, and from the church ; the instruction to be given 
 them ; the mode of conveying it, by historic facts ; the habits 
 to be formed ; the course of life in which they must be prac- 
 tised Ill 
 
 Conclusion, to their parents 116 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. xix 
 
 ESSAY V. 
 
 ADDRESSES ON CONFIRMATION. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 § 1. Its meaning and authority Ug 
 
 §2. Of self-dedication 123 
 
 §3. Of the duty of confession 126 
 
 § 4. The vow of renunciation : saying no ; what wc renounce ; a life 
 
 of renunciation . . . . . . . . .128 
 
 § 5. The vow of faith : in God the Father ; in Christ the Son ; in God 
 
 the Holy Ghost 133 
 
 § 6. The vow of obedience : the scope of our obedience ; the law of 
 love ; of self sacrifice ; the mind and life of Christ the law of 
 
 his people 137 
 
 § 7. The Christian's standing 142 
 
 §8. The Christian's strength : his enemies; his armour . . .144 
 § 9. The Christian's progress : in faith ; by the study of God's truth ; 
 by prayer ; by communion with God and Christ ; in his ordi- 
 nances, especially in the ordinance of his supper . . .148 
 
 ESSAY VI. 
 
 THE SUPPER OP THE LORD. 
 
 § 1. The history of its institution; its connection with the Passover 
 
 Supper 157 
 
 § 2. The revelation made in it of Christ and his work . . .161 
 
 § 3. The elements, their signification 163 
 
 § 4. The sacramental actions : Christ's consecrating the bread and wine ; 
 his thanksgiving ; his breaking the bread and pouring out the 
 wine ; his giving them to his people ; their receiving them . 166 
 § 5. Feeding on Christ by faith, with thanksgiving . . . .169 
 § 6. Announcing the Lord's death, till he come . . . .172 
 § 7. Of the command " do this :" the duty enjoined ; of disobedience 
 by neglect or by partial observance ; who are commanded to 
 attend 174 
 
 ESSAY VII. 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER, A COVENANT ORDINANCE. 
 
 § 1. The new covenant of grace : distinguished from the old or 
 Sinaitic covenant; forms a special part of the covenant of 
 redemption ; made by God with Christ and his elect people ; the 
 
 covenant of the Gospel dispensation 180 
 
 §2. The blessings of the new covenant 185 
 
 § 3. Its pledge and sign 186 
 
XX TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 ESSAY VIII. 
 
 THE SPECIAL COMMUNION WHICH BELIEVERS HAVE WITH 
 CHEIST IN THE SACRAMENT OF HIS SUPPER. 
 
 Part I. How this has been sought for and explained. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The importance of this sacrament as a vital ordinance ; the record of 
 its institution. The end proposed in it to the believer, personal 
 communion with God and Christ ; the communion enjoyed in 
 this ordinance, believed to be special and peculiar. Endea- 
 vours to increase its importance by making it mysterious, end 
 in resolving it into a material fellowship. How this notion 
 • grew ; doctrine of the Church of Eome ; protest against this. 
 A literal and material meaning still adhered to by many. Ex- 
 amination of St. Paul's words, 1 Cor. x. 15 — 22. Communion 
 not participation ; can only exist between persons . .189 
 
 'Note on Dr. Alford's Commentary on this sacrament ; Matt. xxvi. 
 
 26—28 201 
 
 Part II. In what this special communion consists, and how it is to 
 be realized. 
 
 The peculiar features which distinguish this sacrament from all other 
 ordinances. 1. In this ordinance, as in baptism, Christ gives 
 to us visible signs and pledges of spiritual truths and blessings. 
 2. Herein we renew and sustain our covenant with God ; 
 devoting ourselves afresh to his service ; meaning of the word 
 sacrament, or oath of loyal service. 3. It expresses the whole 
 work of Christ for us, from our redemption to our salvation ; 
 he reveals the union of our life with his own; manifests him- 
 self as the source and sustainer of oxrr spiritual life ; gives us 
 the pledge and sacrament of his continued support ; by his 
 Spirit enables us to feed in heart upon him and his work . 204 
 
 ESSAY IX. 
 
 THE CONDITION AND THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH IN 
 HEAVEN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OF DEATH BEFORE THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 § 1. Hezekiah's fear of death; his notions about the state of the dead 215 
 § 2. Gradual increase of knowledge as to the state of the dead ; the 
 
 present truth . . .• .217 
 
 § 3. Of their state before the ascension of Christ ; the change then 
 
 made in it 221 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN'S DESIRE TO DEPART. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1. St. Paul's desire of death 224 
 
 2. Absence from the corruptible body 226 
 
 3. Absence from the world, its temptations and cares . . . 229 
 
 4. Freedom from Satan's presence and influence .... 232 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WHAT IT IS TO BE WITH CHRIST. 
 
 1. That the believer's soul on leaving the body is with Christ in 
 
 heaven 236 
 
 2. They see him as he is, in the glory of his person, and of his work 238 
 
 3. St. John's vision of heaven; his description of its inhabitants . 241 
 
 4. The saints in heaven join with Christ in the worship he offers 
 
 there; in praise; in prayer .248 
 
 5. They share with the Lord in the work which he is carrying on . 253 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE BELIEVER'S EDUCATION IN HEAVEN. 
 
 1. The effect of being with Christ 257 
 
 2. That heaven is a state and place of education to the disembodied 
 
 spirit of the believer ; shown from the consideration of what 
 human nature is, and how it is influenced ; from the very differ- 
 ent conditions of mind in which believers enter heaven ; from 
 the necessary consequences of the relations into which they 
 are brought there 259 
 
 3. The course of the believer's progress in heaven; in knowledge; 
 
 in love to God; in more perfect communion with him. Prepa- 
 ration for the work of the kingdom, and the life of final glory 265 
 Extract from a letter on the same subject .... 269 
 
 4. Of the communion which may subsist between the saints in heaven 
 
 and on earth ; the mutual interest and fellowship believers 
 have with each other ; increased from being with Christ, and 
 witnessing his work 270 
 
XX11 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE, V. 
 THE FIEST RESURRECTION, AND THE GLORY OF THE KINGDOM. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 § 1. The mistake of the Thessalonians 275 
 
 § 2. Of the personal condition of believers when the Lord has come ; 
 
 their possession of a spiritual body ; the nature of that body . 277 
 § 3. Of the life of believers when raised, and the position they are to 
 occupy in the kingdom of Christ ; living in immediate inter- 
 course with Christ ; partaking his inheritance ; the ministry 
 
 they have to fulfill 281 
 
 § 4. Of the nature, extent, and variety of the work to which they may 
 
 be called ■ . , 284 
 
HS0L06IC&L 
 
 THE OKDINANCES 
 
 SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 ESSAY I. 
 
 OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. 
 
 (1832.) 
 
 The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at 
 Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what : we know 
 what we worship : for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and 
 now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and 
 in truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit : 
 and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." 
 
 John iv. 21-24. 
 
 § 1. The Nature and End of all Worship. 
 
 The immediate end of all religious worship is to bring 
 men into communion with God ; its final end is to bring 
 them into the likeness of God, that they may be capable 
 of the enjoyment of his presence for ever. Now, that we 
 may be capable of communion with God, it is essential 
 that we have a just knowledge of God. The conception 
 which a man has formed of God in his own mind must 
 necessarily govern all his religious acts ; for as his thoughts 
 are, so will his worship be, whether in praise or thanks- 
 giving, or in prayer and supplication deprecating wrath. 
 
 B 
 
2 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 If his thoughts are wholly false and degrading, he worships 
 not God but the phantom of his own imagination, which 
 he has in his own mind substituted for God. So when the 
 nations rejected that knowledge of God which his works 
 afforded them, and began to conceive of him as a being 
 possessing the qualities and passions of creatures, they 
 ceased to worship him : they in fact deified the creature, 
 and worshipped and served it instead of the Creator. So 
 far, therefore, is ignorance from being the mother of devo- 
 tion, that to be ignorant of Grod is to be incapable of 
 worshipping him. Well has one said " that maxim came 
 from hell to fetch the souls of men, and has carried back 
 multitudes with it, where let it abide." 
 
 And as we cannot worship Grod at all if we are ignorant 
 of his being and nature ; so in the same measure as our 
 knowledge is deficient or imperfect, our worship must fail 
 of its true end. He that cometh to God must believe not 
 only that he is, but also that he is the rewarder of them 
 that diligently seek him. Grant that a man knows and 
 believes that God is everlasting, infinite in power, wisdom, 
 and knowledge, holy, just, and righteous, and abundant 
 in mercy : yet the conscious sinner dare not approach, 
 and therefore cannot worship him, until he has sufficient 
 grounds for believing that God is ready to pardon, and 
 just in the forgiveness of his iniquity. How blessed there- 
 fore is that light, which not only reveals God to us as he 
 is, but reveals him to us in Christ Jesus, as the just God 
 and our Saviour, a God reconciling sinners to himself, 
 and righteous in justifying the ungodly. It is this know- 
 ledge alone which can reconcile sinners to God, can give 
 them confidence in him, and bring them near to him in 
 the enjoyment of that communion which is the privilege 
 of all his true worshippers. 
 
 Now out of this communion with God will arise a 
 crowing acquaintance with him, an experimental know- 
 
TITE END DESIGNED IN WORSHIP. 3 
 
 ledge of his grace and love, leading to a juster perception 
 of the glories of his holiness, to a greater delight in him, 
 and a stronger clinging in heart to him in the confidence 
 of faith and love. All the worshipper's hope in God is 
 realised, he is accepted and blest : and now his condition 
 is materially changed ; not only is his faith confirmed, but 
 his knowledge of God assumes a new character, it becomes 
 that of intercourse and acquaintance. Like the Sycharites, 
 he may say, " Now I believe, not because of the word 
 which declared God's love, but because I have proved the 
 truth of his love for myself, and know by what God has 
 done for me, that he is gracious to those who come to him 
 in his dear Son." But the effect does not stop here ; it 
 issues in a gradual transformation of the believer's mind 
 into the likeness of that image of God which has been re- 
 vealed to him in Christ Jesus. This is that change which 
 fits him for the communion of heaven, and without this 
 mind he must be for ever a stranger to its blessedness. 
 
 Such is the importance of the true worship of God, of 
 which the description is given by our Lord in these words. 
 
 § 2. The Words themselves. 
 
 There is no book so diversified in character, or so wonder- 
 ful in construction as the Bible. In some passages of the 
 scriptures, the truth is stated in all its details both of doc- 
 trine and practice : in others it is only glanced at in the 
 way of allusion, or incidentally noticed in its effects, as if 
 the writer took for granted it was received and understood 
 by those whom he was addressing. Sometimes so vast a 
 scope of divine truth is contained in the members of a 
 single sentence, that volumes would be required to draw 
 out the whole meaning in its just breadth and length ; and 
 at other times a sentence which offers to the ear a few 
 
4 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 plain and obvious truths, shall when sifted lead the mind 
 into the very depths of revelation. 
 
 Of this last description, if I mistake not, we have an 
 example in the passage I have just read to you : it is one 
 on which the mind cannot pause to reflect without the 
 conviction, that simple as are the truths which meet the 
 ear, it contains others of a far deeper character. It ex- 
 hibits indeed in a few words the full meaning and beauty 
 of spiritual worship. 
 
 I need not detail the occasion on which they were 
 spoken: our Saviour, wearied with his journey, had asked 
 a woman of Sychar for a draught of water, and she re- 
 fused him. But he, who was seeking not his own refresh- 
 ment but her good, would not suffer her churlish spirit to 
 interrupt his grace : he told her of the living water which 
 he could give, and which should be as a fountain spring- 
 in^ up in her soul to everlasting life : she could not 
 comprehend him. He spoke to her of her past life, and 
 she hastened to escape from his prophetic scrutiny. But 
 though destitute of common morality, she could yet take 
 a keen interest in the worship of God, so far, at least, as the 
 honour of her own party and nation was concerned in the 
 question, and she asked the prophet's decision on the point 
 in dispute between the Samaritans and the Jews : " Our 
 fathers worshipped in this mountain ; and ye say, that in 
 Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." 
 
 In answer, our Lord told her that the time was coming, 
 was indeed already come, when all such disputes should be 
 done away, when neither Mount Grerizim nor yet Jerusalem 
 would be peculiarly consecrated to the worship of the 
 Father. The Samaritans indeed knew not him whom they 
 worshipped ; their worship was not regulated by his laws, 
 their hopes of acceptance were not founded on his promises, 
 and their whole form of worship was a fabric of supersti- 
 tion, a human device without any divine warrant. On 
 
THE CHANGE MADE IN IT. O 
 
 the other hand, the Jewish worship was according to God's 
 appointment, and if they offered it in faith and with a 
 sincere mind, they were sure of acceptance and salvation 
 through the Saviour promised to them, to whom all their 
 ordinances referred ; and it was only by incorporation with 
 them by this worship that any other could obtain salvation. 
 But now a change was at hand : the Father was about 
 to be revealed to all nations, and would gather from them 
 such as should worship him in spirit and in truth. Hence- 
 forth this was the only worship that would be accepted by 
 him ; for he is a spirit — everlasting, immortal, invisible, 
 immaterial ; everywhere present, and perfectly acquainted 
 with all the secret thoughts and dispositions of every 
 heart ; pure and holy. In all the spirituality of this 
 divine nature, he was now revealing himself to the world 
 in Christ, and they who would worship him must worship 
 him in a manner answerable to such a revelation and to such 
 divine perfections ; they must worship him in spirit and 
 in truth. 
 
 § 3. The Nature of the Change indicated in them. 
 
 This language obviously implies, in the first place, a great 
 extension of the worship of God. The Jews justly con- 
 tended that God had chosen the city of David and the gates 
 of Zion as the place where he would be worshipped ; and 
 their proselytes from among the Gentiles conformed to God's 
 will, when they came up to Jerusalem to worship him. 
 But this limitation was from its commencement intended 
 to last only for a time ; and now that the object of it was 
 accomplished, and the promised seed was come, the pecu- 
 liar dispensation which separated Israel from the rest of 
 the nations was to continue no longer, for it would no 
 longer tend to the edification of God's people, or the 
 accomplishment of his purposes ; and the words of the 
 
b THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 prophet were to be fulfilled ; " It shall come to pass that 
 in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my 
 people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons 
 of the living God ; " for God would so reveal himself to 
 all, that u from the rising of the sun to the going down of 
 the same his name shall be great among the Gentiles ; 
 and in every place incense shall be offered in his name, 
 and a pure offering : for my name shall be great among 
 the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts" (Hosea i. 10 ; 
 Mai. i. 11). 
 
 The words imply also very clearly a great change, and 
 a change for the better, both in the nature and in the 
 form of worship : they not only imply that all the wor- 
 shippers of God were not true worshippers, but they ex- 
 press dissatisfaction with the nature even of that worship 
 which the true worshippers offered ; inasmuch as they state 
 that the hour was coming when "the true worshippers 
 shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth." 
 
 And if we consult matter of fact, we shall find that all 
 religious worship had at this time sunk to the lowest pos- 
 sible measure of formality and superstition, the immediate 
 cause of which is to be found in that ignorance which like 
 a thick veil covered the minds of the worshippers. The 
 Gentile and heathen world were in almost absolute igno- 
 rance of God. The truth that there is a God, that he is 
 our maker and preserver, that men are his offspring, that 
 in him they live and move and have their being ; this he 
 had revealed to them from the beginning, and had so 
 effectually wrought it into the very nature of their minds, 
 that few denied it ; in truth, it was the fools only who said 
 in their hearts " there is no God," and not many even of 
 them dared to avow it with their lips ; neither had God 
 ever left himself without a witness among men, giving 
 them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their 
 hearts with joy and gladness, so that from his works they 
 
THE CHANGE MADE IN IT. ( 
 
 might obtain some knowledge of himself, and of his divine 
 perfections. Yet they neither acknowledged nor wor- 
 shipped him aright: instead of studying what he was 
 revealing to them of himself in his works, they imagined 
 him to be like that which he had made : they changed the 
 glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to 
 corruptible man, aud worshipped, in fact, not the Creator 
 but the creature. The fruit of this folly they received 
 into their own bosoms ; having through their secret love 
 of carnal things framed to themselves a notion of God 
 that was wholly sensual, they lost sight of anything higher 
 than sensual things, and gave themselves wholly up to 
 their pursuit. 
 
 The condition of the Samaritans was little better; if 
 they differed in anything from the heathen, it was only in 
 this, that they acknowledged the true God, him from whom 
 Moses came, and whose words he had delivered to his 
 people. But in other respects they were idolaters like 
 the heathen, and in adoring God under the form of a 
 dove, they clearly proved that they were ignorant of him 
 whom they professed to worship. (Compare Acts xvii. 
 23, 29.) The advantages of the Jews were far greater, 
 with whom God had covenanted to be their God, to whom 
 alone he had revealed his will, to whom he had given 
 his statutes and ordinances, and whom he had made the 
 keepers of his words. And he had his true worshippers 
 among them — his Zechariahs and Elizabeths, his Josephs 
 and Marys, his Simeons and Annas — persons just and 
 righteous before God, walking in all the commandments 
 of the Lord blameless, devout persons who were looking 
 for redemption and patiently waiting for the consolation 
 of Israel. But even these worshipped God but imper- 
 fectly, and the light they possessed was but darkness 
 compared with that about to be given [in the dispensation 
 of the Spirit]. These needed therefore to be called — and 
 
8 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSIIIP. 
 
 it was the purpose of Grod that they should be called — 
 from those carnal ordinances which were but the shadows 
 of good things to come, in order that they might serve 
 him without fear, in righteousness, and holiness, and truth, 
 and that they might be made one people with all that in 
 every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and 
 worship Grod in spirit and in truth. 
 
 But the great body of Jews, whilst they were not igno- 
 rant of their advantages, and greatly prided themselves 
 upon the possession of them, had not profited by them. 
 They boasted of having a pure and holy law, but they had 
 not forsaken their iniquity ; they knew the way of access 
 to Grod, but they only dishonoured him by their worship. 
 A mere show of holiness and a lip service was the utmost 
 at which they aimed ; they prayed for show, they fasted 
 for show, they gave alms for show ; and losing all love 
 of the truth, they had lost the knowledge of it, so that 
 when he came of whom all their sacrifices and services 
 were types, of whom all their law and their prophets spoke, 
 they knew him not as their Saviour, they rejected and 
 crucified him (Acts iii. 17). 
 
 Thus had the god of this world blinded the eyes of men, 
 so that they lay in darkness and in the shadow of death. 
 But a change was at hand : through the tender mercy of 
 our Grod, the dayspring from on high has visited us ; the 
 Lord came to be a light to enlighten the Grentiles, as well 
 as a glory to his people Israel, and upon his first preaching 
 in Gralilee, it was declared that the nations which sat in 
 darkness had seen a great light. The first object of his 
 personal ministry was to remove the errors which Grod's 
 professing people had embraced, to open to them the 
 nature of true righteousness, to cause them to understand 
 their own sinful state, and to reveal the way of access to 
 the Father, even himself. The commission of his apostles 
 was to turn men from darkness to light ; and of all who 
 
OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP. y 
 
 believed in him it is expressly said, that " God had shined 
 into their hearts, to give them the light of the knowledge 
 of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 
 
 This change from darkness to light, from ignorance to 
 knowledge of God, is essential to any real improvement of 
 the souls of men and of the worship they offer. As 
 ignorance is Satan's sceptre, whereby he maintains his 
 dominion in the world, so knowledge is the key that opens 
 the door, and brings liberty to the captive ; enlightened 
 by the gospel of Christ, his mind is put into its true 
 position, that looking upward to heaven as [a being] formed 
 for communion with God, he may behold his glory, and 
 worship him as he is. 
 
 § 4. The Worship of God in Spirit 
 
 Two terms are used by our Lord to express the nature 
 of the worship required — " in spirit," and " in truth." 
 
 Various interpretations have been given of these words, 
 indeed scarcely any passage has been more abused or 
 tortured than this. It has been considered as a general 
 form of expression, used to describe that hearty worship of 
 G-od which is opposed to the mere formal service of the 
 hypocrite. The term "spirit" has been explained as 
 standing in opposition to the flesh, and denoting therefore 
 what is commonly termed spiritual worship, i. e. the 
 sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving and fervent prayer, 
 instead of the offering of bullocks and goats, or of that 
 worship, based on false conceptions of God, which the 
 heathen offered to their idols. Others have explained the 
 words as though they contrasted the types and shadows 
 of the truth respecting God, with the reality as made 
 known in Christ and recognised under his gospel. Of all 
 these interpretations, we may say, there is nothing posi- 
 tively false in them ; but we must add that they do not 
 
10 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 meet the meaning of the words employed, they are at 
 best but loose interpretations, paraphrasing rather than 
 explaining the passage ; whilst, by their vague and general 
 character, they take away all the force of the original 
 expressions. To suppose that our Lord meant only to say, 
 that henceforth the true worshippers were to worship God 
 heartily and really, is inconsistent with the fact, that they 
 had always thus worshipped him. The same may be said 
 of the types and shadows as contrasted with the reality 
 denoted by them, or of the letter of the law as opposed to 
 the spirit of the Gospel. For the true worshippers never 
 had rested on the mere outward forms nor on the mere 
 words ; they had always looked to him whom the types 
 represented, though they could not fully comprehend the 
 work he was to execute, and they regarded and tried to 
 obey the spirit of the precept, and not its letter only. 
 In fact no interpretation can meet the full sense of the 
 words, which does not set forth a worship of God of a 
 higher character than that which the true worshippers had 
 hitherto been able to offer. Now the removal of that 
 outward bodily service, in which splendid buildings, costly 
 vestments, multiplied sacrifices, and external ceremonies, 
 occupied so much of the attention of the worshippers as 
 left them little opportunity of addressing themselves to 
 God ; and the substitution of an intelligent and mental 
 service, though evidently included in our Saviour's words, 
 does not meet their full force; for such a service could 
 not be called new, the worship of (rod's people having 
 always been in some measure of this description. Neither 
 does such a change answer to the scope of the context, or 
 to what the Scriptures elsewhere say of the present worship 
 of God's people. The introductor}^ language is very 
 solemn : " Woman, believe me, the hour cometh ; " " the 
 hour cometh and now is ; " " for the Father seeketh such 
 to worship him." The whole sentence contains matter 
 
IN THE SPIRIT. 11 
 
 most important, and the close is emphatic ; certainly such 
 a commencement and such an end are inconsistent with 
 the notion, that he was only stating a truth already well 
 known and commonly acknowledged. It is clear that 
 something more than this is intended in these words. 
 
 i. And first, they were henceforth to worship God in 
 spirit ; that is — as we understand it — in the power of 
 the Holy Ghost and not with [the power of] their own 
 minds merely. The context points to the Holy Spirit as 
 denoted by the word here : our Lord had told the woman 
 of a living fountain or spring of life, of which he was the 
 distributor, and which should sustain the souls of men to 
 eternal life ; but she was too ignorant, and too carnal in 
 her notions, to understand what he meant. He then 
 graciously forced upon her the conviction of her own sin, 
 and brought her to acknowledge him as a prophet, a 
 teacher sent from God ; and will he now let her depart in 
 ignorance of that blessing for which he had taught her to 
 crave, but the nature of which she knew not ? No ; 
 taking advantage of a question of her own, he directs her 
 to the blessed Spirit — the living water of which he had 
 spoken — as the only source of all true and acceptable 
 worship of God. 
 
 In the New Testament also, the worship of God's be- 
 lieving people is uniformly ascribed to the direct and 
 personal agency of the Holy Spirit; to whom indeed, as 
 given to dwell in them and make them his temples, the 
 whole of their life is ascribed. Hence the believer is 
 spoken of as living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit ; 
 so that it is not more true in respect of our natural lives as 
 human beings, that every man lives and moves and has his 
 being in God, than it is true that the believer is indebted 
 for his spiritual life to the constant presence and power 
 of the Holy Ghost. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is the 
 author and eustainer of all spiritual life, the great 
 
12 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 administrator and Lord of all grace, communicates nothing 
 to the souls of men, except by his blessed Spirit, — by the 
 immediate agency of the Holy Ghost ; and therefore the 
 believer is warned to take heed how he resists his holy 
 influences within him, lest he quench that flame which 
 the Spirit alone can kindle and sustain in his soul.* The 
 whole mind and spirit of the believer, so far as he is con- 
 formed to the mind of Christ, is his formation.f All his 
 knowledge is derived from his teaching, J all his con- 
 fidence in God, his liberty of access to him, and the spirit 
 of a child enabling him to claim him as a Father, all are 
 from the Spirit. § So, also, are the power and the wisdom 
 to pray to God, and therefore to worship him aright. He 
 was especially promised, when his coming was foretold, 
 as " the Spirit of grace and supplication." || Believers, 
 without distinction, therefore, are spoken of by St. Jude, 
 as praying in the Holy Ghost ; and St. Paul expressly says, 
 joining himself with all other Christians in the decla- 
 ration, that though " we know not what we should pray 
 for as we ought, yet the Spirit himself maketh intercession 
 for us, with groanings that cannot be uttered " (Rom. 
 viii. 26). 
 
 It seems, then, impossible not to understand our Lord, 
 as speaking in these words of the Holy Ghost, who is the 
 sole author of all true worship. By his inspiration alone 
 the thoughts of our hearts can. be cleansed ; from him 
 alone any holy desires, any good counsel, or any just works 
 proceed. And this is the blessedness of God's people 
 under the Gospel, that having received the Holy Ghost, 
 they worship God in his power, and by virtue of his 
 agency. 
 
 * Acts vii. 51; Eph. iv. 30 ; 1 Thess. v. 19. 
 
 f Rom. -viii. ix. ; 2 Cor. iii. 18. 
 
 X John xvi. 13, 14 ; 1 John ii. 20, 27. 
 
 § Eph. ii. 18; Rom. viii. 15. 
 
 j Zech. xii. 10. 
 
TRUE SPIRITUALITY. 13 
 
 ii. Then, secondly, the immediate consequence of this 
 blessed state of things will be, that they worship G-od in 
 true spirituality of mind. Bat in using these words it is 
 necessary I should explain the sense in which they are to 
 be understood ; for there are no terms more commons- 
 used by those who profess to receive evangelical doctrine 
 than the terms spiritual and spirituality, and certainly 
 none were ever more abused. According to some, a 
 spiritual man is one who receives a certain form of doctrine, 
 who zealously maintains it, and who denounces all who 
 venture to question it (whatever evidence they may adduce 
 from Scripture in support of their exceptions), as carnal 
 men, unenlightened, and without any spiritual discern- 
 ment. The effect of this doctrine upon the life and spirit 
 of the professor is little regarded ; it is enough that they 
 receive what is termed the truth ; all other things, it is 
 taken for granted, will be found right at the last. Hence, 
 in the estimation of some, it should seem that spirituality 
 of mind consists in an aptness to give the same turn and 
 meaning to every part of Scripture ; to make the Proverbs 
 of Solomon preach the Grospel, and to assign to every 
 simple historic fact a mystical sense, declaring the dealings 
 of God with the souls of his people, or illustrative of 
 Christian experience. With others, again, a spiritual state 
 of mind is known by a certain state of feeling. He is the 
 spiritual man whose feelings are roused by the truths of 
 God's word, and who, yielding to the impressions thus 
 produced upon him, is carried fearlessly into that course of 
 conduct to which his emotions prompt him. Of this sort 
 were the stony-ground hearers. There is, perhaps, another 
 race of spiritual persons falsely so called, who love to deal 
 in pretty sayings that carry with them the dress of piety, 
 and seem to breathe its spirit ; men of a sentimental cast 
 of mind, who are more occupied with the prettiness of 
 their sayings than the piety they seem to express. They 
 
14 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 speak a language soft and tender; and one might suppose 
 them to be deeply impressed with the subject, but it is not 
 so ; their feelings are very superficial ; they make spi- 
 rituality consist in the adoption of certain phrases and a 
 certain mode of expression, which in truth pleases the 
 imagination but leaves the heart cold and unimpassioned. 
 
 Very different from all these is that spirituality of mind 
 of which we speak. It is the effect of the word of truth 
 received, not in the notion of it, however correct that 
 notion may be, but in the love of it. It is the effect of 
 that word of truth engrafted upon the soul by the power 
 of the Holy Ghost. It is the mind of one who having 
 tasted that the Lord is gracious, ever hungers and thirsts 
 for the things of God and Christ, and seeks his happiness 
 in communion with both ; who having seen something of 
 the glories of the eternal world, and [of the beauty of holi- 
 ness] is no longer content with or occupied by present 
 things, who looks for a heavenly inheritance, and rejoices 
 in the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great 
 God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is one who is God's 
 workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works ; 
 his affections therefore are such as the Spirit draws forth 
 by exercising his thoughts on the things of Christ, and 
 hence he worships God in true spirituality of heart and 
 mind. Such are the true worshippers of the Father under 
 the dispensation of the Spirit. 
 
 In objection to this, however, it may be asked, "Were 
 not believers spiritual before the Lord came ? Were they 
 not regenerate persons, and as such did not they worship 
 God in spirit ? 
 
 Unquestionably they were spiritual, and not natural 
 men. Isaac is expressly said to have been after the 
 Spirit (Gal. iv. 29). David prayed, " Take not thy Holy 
 Spirit from me ; uphold me by thy free Spirit." And 
 eminent examples are to be found among them of men 
 
TRUE SPIRITUALITY. 15 
 
 who worshipped God. Noah, Job, and Daniel seem to be 
 especially selected by the Holy Ghost as such (Ezek. xiv. 
 14, 16, 18): Abraham also was a bright example of God's 
 grace in this respect. Wherever he went he raised an 
 altar to God and called upon the name of the Lord. 
 How plain and simple, too, was his piety; how ready 
 for practice ; how energetic in action ; how free from the 
 cant of words ; how raised above the mere influence of 
 feelings ; how free from the effeminacy of the senti- 
 mentalist ; how manly in all his transactions with God, 
 yet how abased before him! Truly he was a spiritual 
 hero ; and before the Lord came, no brighter specimen of 
 God's workmanship had ever been exhibited to the world. 
 Nevertheless we must adhere to the truth, and say, that 
 before Christ was glorified, believers knew not the Spirit 
 as the indwelling Spirit, and could not therefore possess 
 that mind with which they are now called to worship God. 
 The case of the apostles will illustrate my meaning. Un- 
 questionably they were regenerate persons [before the day 
 of Pentecost], for our Lord testified, " Now are ye clean 
 through the word I have spoken unto you :" and again, 
 "Ye know him" — the Spirit of truth — " for he dwelleth 
 with you ;" but he added, " he shall dwell in you." And 
 how different was their temper and disposition of mind, 
 when they had received the promise of the Father, and 
 knew the Spirit as dwelling in them, from that which they 
 had displayed before. A steady enduring courage marked 
 the conduct of those, who had been characterised by a 
 wavering mind and disgraced by cowardice. Meekness, 
 self-control, wisdom, and discernment in spiritual things 
 displaced ambition, impatience, and an ignorance which 
 had before produced only confusion of mind and vacillation 
 of life. Thenceforth they lived with a single eye to God's 
 glory, truly devoted to the Saviour's cause, and bearing 
 towards him an unfeigned and supreme love ; and they 
 
16 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 proved the strength of their faith by their unreserved 
 submission to his will and obedience to his commands. 
 Truly the Spirit was to them the Spirit of power and 
 wisdom, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of love 
 and of a sound mind. In a word, they exhibited, accord- 
 ing to their measure, the mind of Christ, the mind which 
 was formed in the man Christ Jesus by the power of 
 the Holy Ghost given to him without measure, and to 
 which all his people are ordained to be conformed (Rom. 
 viii.). This is the mind in which we are to live to God, 
 and in which we are to worship him. It is that mind and 
 spirit which the Holy Ghost forms in the souls of God's 
 people, by the revelation of the truth of Christ. Here is 
 the connection which our Lord established between the 
 worship of God in spirit and in truth ; and hence the 
 meaning of the term is evident ; it is the worship of God 
 in the power of the Holy Ghost, and according to that 
 truth which the Holy Spirit reveals to the sinner, and which 
 he enables him with the heart to believe and embrace. 
 
 § 5. Some supposed Conditions of Spiritual Worship 
 considered. 
 
 i. As there is no true, and therefore no acceptable 
 worship of God, but that which is originated [in our hearts] 
 by the Spirit, it has been supposed by some that we ought 
 to decline prayer until we find the Spirit of God moving 
 us to the work, and can therefore be assured, by this tes- 
 timony of his presence, that we shall pray according to 
 God's will, and be accepted. 
 
 To this we reply in the first' place, that the reality of 
 the Spirit's [constant] presence is so little comprehended 
 by the generality of professing Christians, that persons 
 acting upon the mere impulse of their own feelings, and 
 following the dictates of their own minds, are often as 
 
OF TIMES OF PRAYER. 17 
 
 confident of his presence and energising power, as the 
 believer who is living under and obeying the influence of 
 his gracious and all-pervading operation. Again, you must 
 observe that prayer is a duty in which the believer is 
 bid to be continually engaged. He is exhorted to pray 
 without ceasing, to continue instant in prayer, to pray 
 always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and 
 to watch therein with thanksgiving. Our Lord spoke more 
 than one parable to this end, that men ought always to 
 pray and never faint ; and by exhortations as earnest as 
 any to be found in the Bible, pressed his disciples to 
 persevere in this work. 
 
 Taking now these things together, — that there is no 
 prayer without the Spirit, that prayer is a special part 
 of the believer's work, in which he is to be continually 
 employed, and that the supposed signs of the Spirit's 
 presence are very fallacious, seeing that he puts believers 
 on their various works, and especially on this of prayer, by 
 reminding them of their duty, and calling them to fulfil it, 
 rather than by giving them any premonitory sign of his 
 presence — taking, I say, these things together, the path of 
 the believer seems sufficiently plain. Let him never 
 neglect to pray, and let him go to this work in the con- 
 fidence of faith, that he shall enjoy the blessing of the 
 Spirit's presence ; and let him show this faith especially 
 by asking for this blessing, that he may know what to 
 pray for, and how to ask it. Nor let him ever neglect 
 those more special occasions in which he may be prompted 
 to the work unexpectedly even to himself; only bearing in 
 mind that the Holy Ghost is never the author of confusion, 
 bat of peace and order, as in all the churches of the saints. 
 Whatever, therefore, outrages their feelings, or introduces 
 disorder among them, is not the fruit of the Spirit who 
 is from above, but comes from a spirit that dwells be- 
 neath. 
 
18 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 ii. From our Lord's declaration that the time was at 
 hand when neither at Jerusalem nor on Mount (xerizim 
 should men worship the Father, it has been inferred that 
 with the establishment of evangelical or spiritual worship, 
 all external worship should cease ; and that only which is 
 internal, and therefore assumed to be spiritual, is to be 
 offered or will be accepted. 
 
 Doubtless, outward worship, without the answering 
 prayer of the heart, is vain and hypocritical; this the 
 Lord had declared long before (see Matt. xv. 8—9, and 
 Is. xxix. 13). But clearly it does not follow from this 
 that all external worship should cease. Nor does the text 
 alleged (John iv. 21) countenance the notion. The 
 worship claimed by the Samaritans as due at Mount 
 Grerizim, and that offered at Jerusalem, was the worship 
 of sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now all such worship 
 was, we know, to cease for ever, both at Jerusalem and 
 elsewhere. But had the Samaritans no other place of 
 worship than their mountain ? or did the Jews worship (rod 
 only at Jerusalem ? In every town and village they had 
 their houses of prayer and their synagogues, in which they 
 assembled both for prayer and hearing the word of God; 
 and this worship was not to cease, and did not cease ; and 
 therefore the inference sought to be drawn from this 
 passage is unwarranted. With this conclusion, moreover, 
 the practice of the Apostles and early Christians fully 
 agree. St. Luke expressly records, that whilst living in 
 the full enjoyment of the indwelling Spirit, they continued 
 daily to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and to assemble 
 together for praise and prayer (Acts ii. 46, 47; iv. 31). 
 To what purpose, indeed, did our Lord appoint the Chris- 
 tian ordinances of baptism and his supper, if there were to 
 be no assemblies in which they could be observed? The 
 practice of the apostles then is clear and decided, and the 
 history of the church shows that, however defective has 
 
 e 
 
OF PUBLIC WORSHIP. 19 
 
 been her practice, she has never forgotten the duty of 
 assembling- her members together ; that as members of one 
 body, inhabited by one Spirit, and gathered together under 
 one head, they may seek the supply of their common 
 wants from one Father, may give glory to God for the 
 grace and mercy they have received, and may offer 
 together their spiritual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. 
 Nov will this worship ever cease : it is this which assi- 
 milates earth to heaven, and prepares the members of 
 the Church on earth for their entrance into the general 
 assembly and Church of the firstborn, already admitted 
 into the presence of God and the Lamb. 
 
 iii. The last question which I will notice, arising out of 
 this passage, is of no little importance to us who are 
 members of the Established Church : it respects the 
 lawfulness of using a written liturgy and a prepared form 
 of worship. 
 
 Because we are now called to pray in the Spirit, it is 
 argued that they who pray ought to be left [free to follow] 
 the Spirit's guidance, and to pray as he may be pleased at 
 the time to give them utterance; and therefore the use of 
 a form of prayer can only tend to draw off men's minds 
 from dependance on the Spirit's aid, and to quench the 
 spirit of prayer which he is pleased to kindle within 
 them. 
 
 First, we must observe, this objection refers only to the 
 liberty of the ministers who lead the worship of God's 
 people, and not to the liberty of the people themselves ; 
 since an extempore prayer, however freely uttered by the 
 minister, limits the prayers of the congregation just as 
 much as any written form of prayer can do. Moreover, a 
 written form has always this advantage over an extempore 
 form— that the people, knowing the one, can freely add their 
 amen without hesitation ; whereas to the other, through 
 a natural slowness to understand at once what they hear, 
 
 c 2 
 
20 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 they may be unable to do so. And let it be remembered 
 that an ability to cast words readily into a form of prayer 
 is a very different thing from praying in the Holy Ghost. 
 I should be sorry to add my amen to every prayer that will 
 be uttered this day by those who undertake to lead the 
 devotions of the various congregations assembled for 
 worship.* 
 
 A set form of prayer, if composed by men in whom the 
 Spirit of Grod dwells, secures to a worshipping assembly a 
 form of sound words in which to pray, which no extempore 
 prayer can secure to them, since they cannot always be 
 certain that the minister is a partaker of the Holy Spirit, 
 and they can never be certain that he will actually pray 
 od a given occasion under his guidance. So far, therefore, 
 as the edification of a spiritual congregation is concerned, it 
 is an advantage to them to have a form of sound words pre- 
 pared for their use. With regard to ministers the case is 
 different : a written form of prayer limits them, who, left 
 to extempore or voluntary prayer, are unlimited ; but is it 
 not far more fit that the spirit of one man should be 
 limited for the people's good, than that their profit should 
 be endangered, and their worship circumscribed, b} r the 
 liberty insisted on by one man ? But the fact that ex- 
 tempore prayer does not secure to the people spiritual 
 prayer, dictated by the Holy Grhost, is a sufficient answer 
 to this objection; especially as a man may just as well 
 
 * The real nature of much of what is called extempore prayer may be 
 learnt from a mode of expression very common amongst those who attend 
 the places where such prayer is offered. Speaking of the minister's effusion 
 they will say, with great delight apparently, "It did me so much good:" 
 an expression clearly proving that, whatever was the real character of the 
 words used, they never prayed them ; for lie that lias had communion with 
 God could never use such terms. It is to be feared that in many worshipping 
 congregations, no prayer (nothing deserving the name of prayer) is offered to 
 God. The aim of the minister in his prayer is too often to excite the attention 
 and rouse the languid feelings of his auditors, rather than to lead them 
 into fellowship with God. The people hear one sermon on their knees, and 
 another sitting. 
 
OF WRITTEN FORMS OF PRATER. 21 
 
 write a prayer under his guidance, as speak it by his 
 dictation. In proof of this we need only refer to the 
 written prayers contained in the Scriptures. 
 
 Unless, therefore, it can be shown that forms of prayer 
 are by their very nature excluded from the worship of the 
 New Testament Church, it will be the wisdom of our 
 Church to adhere to her liturgy. We are bold to affirm 
 that no such proof can be offered. On the contrary, the 
 use of forms of prayer may be established on unanswerable 
 grounds. Our Lord has actually given to the Church a 
 form of prayer, under circumstances which can leave no 
 doubt that he designed it not simply as a pattern, but as 
 a precise form which they might at all times employ. 
 He gave it twice ; once in the first year of his ministry, 
 and again in the second year. On the first occasion 
 (Matt. vi. 9) the prayer forms part of his Sermon on 
 the Mount; the words which then introduced it will 
 certainly bear the interpretation " After this manner pray 
 ye," and may seem to warrant the inference, that he 
 designed it to be a pattern to be followed rather than a 
 form to be used. Yet even here the strict rendering of 
 the words is si thus then pray ye," equally applicable to 
 either idea. But on the second occasion his words are in 
 no degree doubtful ; they positively prescribe the prayer as 
 a form to be used by his people, " When ye pray, say." 
 This determines the question as to the laivfulness of a 
 form of prayer under the Grospel ; and the circumstances 
 that attended his delivery of this prayer confirm our 
 belief in the usefulness of such a form. Some of his 
 disciples had asked our Lord to teach them to pray, as 
 John had taught his disciples : not to teach them the duty 
 of prayer or when to pray (for every Jew knew these 
 things), but to tell them what to pray for — in fact, what to 
 say. In reply, he bid them use these words. Would he 
 have done this if all forms of prayer had been inconsistent 
 
22 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 with the spiritual worship of the Gospel ? or would he 
 have repeated the very same form of words ou both 
 occasions ? Without doubt then, it is lawful for a 
 Christian to use a -written form of prayer ; and whilst we 
 interfere not with the liberty or practice of others, we 
 have no need to be ashamed of using our own. 
 
 Another argument in favour of extempore prayer has 
 been founded upon the general proposition, that the Lord's 
 people ought to use the gifts which he has bestowed upon 
 them for their mutual edification. This, applied to prayer, 
 signifies that such as have received a great gift of prayer 
 ought to exercise it among their brethren ; and, as a pre- 
 scribed form of prayer would prevent their doing this, it 
 is not fitted for a Christian congregation. This argument is 
 too weak to require a formal answer. It is enough to say 
 that the language used is wholly unscriptural ; for in what 
 catalogue of spiritual gifts can we find the "gift of prayer" 
 enumerated? The notion of a gift of prayer is indeed 
 inconsistent with the very nature of prayer. A gift of the 
 Spirit has no necessary connection with true piety; all 
 prayer supposes it. Prayer supposes faith and reconcilia- 
 tion to God ; a spiritual gift supposes neither. The truth 
 is, there is not a believer who has not a praying spirit, 
 for there is not a believer whom the Spirit of Grod does 
 not help to pray according to his will. The talent of 
 pouring forth many thoughts and words, and casting them 
 into a form of prayer, is a natural acquirement, which a 
 Judas may possess, and which he is far more likely to 
 cultivate than a believer would be. The privilege and 
 blessedness of a believer is to pray in the Holy Ghost, and 
 to have access to God by the Spirit. Let me not be mis- 
 understood. I mean not that all believers will pray alike, 
 though they all pray in one spirit ; for their prayers must 
 be governed by the measure of their knowledge and experi- 
 ence in the truth, their understanding of the nature of the 
 
OUR WORSHIP GOVERNED 23 
 
 Christian life and warfare, and of the devices of their enemy. 
 A babe in Christ will not pray as a matured Christian ; 
 but this difference is totally distinct from that which 
 arises from the possession of a talent and its deficiency. 
 I must further observe, that the prayers of established 
 Christians are marked by increasing simplicity of expres- 
 sion, and by the use of few words — very plain in sense, 
 but having a great depth of meaning. In this respect the 
 liturgy of the Church of England is very remarkable. 
 Unquestionably it was composed by men who had great 
 insight into Christian truth, who had trodden on the high 
 places of Israel. 
 
 § 6. Of the Worship of God in Truth. 
 
 All true and acceptable worship of God is without 
 question offered in the power of the Holy Ghost. He 
 who is the minister of all grace to us, is given especially 
 to be in us the spirit of supplication, dwelling in us to 
 engage our souls in prayer, teaching us what to pray for, 
 and how to ask it. And this he does, as by his secret 
 touch, which rouses the soul and draws it to high and 
 heavenly communion, so mainly and substantially by the 
 constant revelation of the truth to our minds. For as it 
 is by this revelation that the dead sinner is originally 
 quickened, a spiritual mind formed within him, and he is 
 made capable of spiritual worship ; so it is by the con- 
 tinuance of the same operation that his life is preserved, 
 his mind carried forward to its true standard, and that 
 love and desire for spiritual things maintained, without 
 which all worship, however spiritual in form, is dead and 
 heartless. This is the second particular mentioned by 
 our Lord as descriptive of evangelical worship — the true 
 worshippers worship the Father in truth. 
 
 i. We must know God as he has revealed himself to us in 
 Christ Jesus, in the great mystery of his being ; in the 
 
24 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WOP.SHir. 
 
 subsistence of three divine persons in the same divine 
 nature, and constituting the one living and true Grod. We 
 have seen that, whilst the heathen had not lost the first 
 great truth revealed to man — the being of Grod — yet, 
 through the indulgence of their own vain conceptions, they 
 had lost both the knowledge of his unity and of his perfec- 
 tions ; and therefore they could not worship him. Very 
 different was the condition of the Jew: the very first article 
 of his creed was, "Hear, oh Israel ! the Jehovah thy Grod 
 is one Jehovah ; " and not one of all the glories of his 
 name was hidden from him. We in truth learn them from 
 him. The great body of the Scriptures, which express to 
 us the divine perfections of our Grod, are found in the 
 writings of the Jewish prophets. The Jews therefore were 
 capable of worshipping Grod, and of honouring him 
 aright ; whilst they clung to their Scriptures, there was no 
 danger of their giving the glory of their Grod to another, 
 or his praise to graven images. But they could not wor- 
 ship him as we are called to worship him ; for of that 
 glorious mystery in which the three divine persons, the 
 Father, Son, and Holy Grhost, are revealed to us as coequal 
 and coeternal partakers of the divine nature, they had no 
 distinct knowledge. I say they had not because they 
 could not. It was not then revealed. The revelation of 
 God given to them was in no respect inconsistent with 
 this further revelation, for assuredly it is [implicitly] con- 
 tained in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and may now 
 be fully established by testimonies drawn from them. A 
 divine person, named the Spirit of Grod, is exhibited in the 
 very opening of the book, as exercising an energetic and 
 life-giving power over the inert mass of chaotic matter. 
 The same divine person is described as the effectual agent 
 in man's formation, and the beautifier of the heavens with 
 all their hosts, as the inspirer of the prophets, and, indeed, 
 as the author of all the wisdom of men, and the siver of 
 
EY THE TRUTH REVEALED 25 
 
 the skill which they manifest in their various occupations.* 
 And he is spoken of as exercising this power in connection 
 with the will of another and a divine person, very variously 
 described in the word of God (Is. lxiii. 7—11). Again, we 
 find a constant reference in these scriptures to two divine 
 beings, acting in harmony together ; both acknowledged to 
 be divine, for to both the incommunicable name of Jeho- 
 vah, the self-existent, is applied ; but yet distinct from 
 each other ; for one is the Jehovah messenger or angel, 
 the other the Jehovah sender : this the Jehovah in heaven, 
 that the Jehovah who comes forth from his presence to 
 execute his will,f and both are distinctly spoken of in con- 
 nection with the Spirit (as in that passage in Isaiah), 
 though never confounded with him. Even in those very 
 passages which most expressly declare the Unity, the One- 
 ness of Grod, the language is such as plainly to intimate 
 this plurality ; as in Deut. vi. 4. But though the Jews 
 might have many thoughts suggested to them about this 
 matter by their scriptures, and might make various 
 approaches to it, yet a distinct confession of the mystery 
 they could not make, because it was not distinctly made 
 known. J 
 
 The Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity is now 
 revealed to us in the manifestation of the Father, of the 
 Son, and of the Holy (xhost, as the one living and true 
 God. Into the confession of this faith we are initiated in 
 baptism, and he is no Christian who denies it. In fact, 
 one great object of the Grospel revelation was to make 
 known this mystery of Grod, of the Father and his Christ, the 
 
 * Gen. i. 2; Job xxxiii. 4, xxxii. 8, xxvi. 13 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 2; Ezek. xi. 
 24 ; Ex. xxxi. 3.— Ed. 
 
 f Psalm ex. 1 ; Gen. xviii. ; Mai. iii. 1 ; Is. ix. 6, 7.— Ed. 
 
 | The name of Father is nowhere used in the Old Testament as de- 
 signating a divine person ; and the name of the Son is used very sparingly, 
 and only, as I think, in application to the human nature of the Lord,Christ, 
 the Man Christ Jesus. 
 
26 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 incarnate Son. Our Lord came to make known the Father 
 and his name, whom he declared to be his Father and 
 sender, and he vindicated to himself the title of Son of 
 the Father. But it is certain that neither the people at 
 large, nor his disciples, could ever understand whom he 
 meant by the Father ; and it was not until his resurrec- 
 tion from the dead, that this truth respecting the Father 
 and the Son was fully manifested, and the different inti- 
 mations of it given before were brought together, and 
 made to harmonise with each other. For indeed it could 
 only be revealed by the mutual acting of ^those divine 
 persons in the redemption and salvation of sinners. In 
 that work of Christ on earth, the Father and the Son, 
 their oneness in the divine nature, their distinct subsist- 
 ence, their mutual relation to each other, their cooperation 
 together, is clearly manifested ; whilst in the work which 
 our blessed Lord now carries on in heaven, by the power 
 of the Holy Spirit coming forth from both and revealing 
 both, and effectually operating on the souls of men, 
 enabling them to receive the record of both in faith and 
 love, the Holy Spirit himself is made known to us, and 
 with the same convincing evidence, that light becoming 
 its own discoverer. Thus the mystery of God the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is opened to our view, and 
 we are called to worship God by the offering of praise 
 and thanksgiving to each, according to the relations into 
 which we have been brought to them by their gracious 
 work in our behalf. Happy is he who in faith and love 
 can give glory to the Father for his unspeakable gift; 
 who can magnify the name of the Son who humbled him- 
 self and became obedient unto death for our redemption 
 and salvation ; and who knows the love and power of the 
 Holy Spirit, who has caused him to know this truth and 
 the efficacy of Christ's work, in the salvation of his own 
 soul. Happy is he who can go with confidence to the 
 
IN THE WORK OF CHRIST. 27 
 
 Father, resting on the work of Christ, and in the power 
 of that Spirit who enables him to cry, Abba, Father. 
 Happy is he who by the confession of a true faith can ac- 
 knowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the 
 power of the Divine Majesty can worship the Unity. This 
 is true evangelical worship, and thus only can we worship 
 God according to that perfect form of truth which he now 
 requires of his people. 
 
 ii. But whilst a knowledge of the work of Christ is 
 essential to our worship of God in truth, because in his 
 work alone can we distinctly learn to behold the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; it is equally necessary as 
 teaching us our own condition as sinners, as opening to us 
 the only way by which we can come to Grod with acceptance, 
 and as bringing us to understand what is our security for 
 continuing in that state of acceptance. It is evident that a 
 true apprehension of these things must govern our worship, 
 and frame the spirit with which it is to be offered. We cannot 
 behold the Lord who has made himself a substitute and 
 sin offering for us, and discern his glory as the only-begotten 
 Son of God; and then consider his sufferings — even to 
 death upon the cross, which he endured in obedience to his 
 Father's will, that he might deliver us from the bondage 
 of sin — without being made sensible of the hatefulness of 
 our sin, and the preciousness of that redemption for the 
 sake of which it is forgiven. Thus we learn the character 
 in which we stand before God, guilty and condemned, and 
 that when through faith in Christ we are justified and 
 enjoy peace with God, it is by his grace alone — grace 
 given to us only for the sake of what Christ has done and 
 suffered in our behalf; then the very notion of any 
 righteousness of our own passes away, like a wild and fan- 
 tastic dream of night when the light of day awakens us 
 to the realities of life : henceforth we know ourselves only 
 as sinners and ungodly, saved by grace through faith, the 
 
28 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 gift of G-od ; we cling to Christ, we rejoice in him, we put 
 no confidence in ourselves. All our confidence in Grod is 
 founded on what Christ has done for us, and is sustained 
 by what we know he ever lives to carry on for us. Like 
 the great Apostle (Phil. iii. 8 — 11) we look to him that 
 died for us, and rejoice that we have life through his death ; 
 we look to him that rose again and is alive for ever more, 
 and rejoice that he is our life, that our life is hid with him 
 in Grod, and that because he liveth we shall surely live 
 also, and for ever. Therefore in all our approaches to 
 Grod we seek him through Jesus Christ — we seek him as 
 believers who are conscious of sin still working in them, 
 who know they are daily guilty of many transgressions, 
 yet as those who have confidence in him as their Father 
 in Christ, who know they have an advocate with the 
 Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is still the pro- 
 pitiation for their sins, and whom the Father heareth 
 always. 
 
 See, then, how a knowledge of the work of Christ modifies 
 the whole worship of the believer, and frames the very 
 spirit of mind in which alone he can appear before Grod : 
 and how essential this knowledge is, would we worship 
 Grod aright, according to the truth as well as in the 
 spirit. 
 
 iii. Nor is our worship less governed by the nature and 
 the magnitude of the hope which is set before us in Christ. 
 Believers in their worship of Grod have to do with many 
 things that are past; they have still a deep interest in the 
 history of their past lives. They are often made to possess 
 the sins of their youth ; like repentant Ephraim ( Jer. xxxi. 
 18 — 20), they are ashamed and confounded, their lips 
 and their minds are closed against every self-exalting word 
 and thought; and though they know that the Lord has 
 forgiven their iniquity, in the anguish of bitter self-reproach 
 they are constrained to cry for mercy and grace, as though 
 
AND BY HIS PROMISES. 29 
 
 the burden of unpardoned guilt still lay heavy on their 
 conscience. At other times the lovingkindness of the 
 Lord in delivering them from sin, sustaining them in his 
 way, and continuing his grace and love to them, is brought 
 to mind, and they cannot but pour out their tribute of 
 praise and thanksgiving. Still more have they to do with 
 the Lord in respect of their present life; their present 
 mercies impress their minds with the liveliest emotions, 
 their present work is of paramount importance, their 
 present wants engage the greatest share of their thoughts, 
 and their present sins and declensions from God are of 
 all the most afflictive. Into all these their prayers and 
 praises, their thanksgivings and supplication, will very 
 largely enter, and frequent and continued will be their 
 intercourse with the Lord upon them. That intercourse, 
 however, is not limited to what is past or present ; having 
 a hope full of immortality set before them, their minds 
 cannot but be engaged in earnest enquiry, and be occupied 
 with many thoughts, as to the nature of that salvation to 
 which they are called to look as the end of the course set 
 before them. As believers, they will naturally pray with 
 reference to this salvation, and their prayers must be in 
 correspondence with the expectation they entertain. Now 
 if we err in our conception of the glory to be revealed, 
 what shall be the result of our prayers ? If, like the Jews 
 who confounded together the coming of Christ in the 
 weakness of the flesh, and in the glory of his kingdom, we 
 confound his appearing in the glory of his kingdom, with 
 that great day when the dead, small and great, shall stand 
 before God, and the things of the earth shall come to an 
 end — if in our thoughts we hurry on the end, and leave 
 no room for»the restitution of all things, for the deliverance 
 of the earth from the curse of sin — for the establishment 
 of Christ's glorified saints in the government of the world 
 as its rightful heirs, and his ministers in the authority of 
 
30 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 his kingdom — for the time when nations shall learn war 
 no more, when every man shall sit under his own vine and 
 none make him afraid, because the knowledge of the Lord 
 shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, — if thus 
 we blend distinct events together, we need not wonder that 
 our prayers respecting them remain unanswered, that our 
 expectations are disappointed, and that we realise little of 
 that heaven of which for the most part we only dream. 
 
 For it is clear that all our expectations, and therefore 
 all our prayers, must be limited by the promises of God ; 
 when we have his promise for the warrant of our prayers, 
 we may be confident of their issue, but not otherwise. It 
 is true our Lord said to his disciples, u If ye shall ask any- 
 thing in my name, I will do it;" but this is spoken on the 
 supposition that we abide by faith in him, and that his 
 words abide in us ; and hence the beloved apostle says, " If 
 we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us" 
 (1 John v. 14, 15). The will of God, then, is universally 
 the limit of our prayers, and so far as he has expressed that 
 will by any of the inspired writers, the written word be- 
 comes the boundary of our petitions. With respect to the 
 coming of the Lord and the things of his kingdom, involving 
 the personal glorification of the believer and his eternal 
 bliss, so far as they are revealed, they are matter either of 
 express promise or of unexplained prophecy, and by these 
 it is clear that our expectations must be governed ; if we 
 mistake the drift of the one, or the meaning of the other, 
 we are looking for that which cannot be, and sooner or 
 later must reap disappointment. In the meantime we are 
 not in respect of these our hopes worshipping God ac- 
 ceptably, for we are not seeking what is agreeable to (rod's 
 truth, or the purpose of his will, but somethmg which we 
 have devised for ourselves, and which, like every other 
 imagination of the carnal mind, must come to nothing. 
 Surely whilst we pray that God will by his Holy Spirit 
 
THE LITURGY. 31 
 
 guide ns into all truth, we have need to remember that he 
 is pleased to reveal to his people things which eye hath not 
 seen nor ear heard, nor heart of man conceived, but which 
 he hath prepared for them that love him. We mar our 
 present enjoyment of the truth when we neglect these 
 subjects ; we lose much of that preparation of mind which 
 is most important in respect of the final enjoyment of the 
 bliss designed for us ; and we altogether mistake the nature 
 and the tendency of that work, which Christ is carrying 
 on for the accomplishment of his Father's purposes. 
 
 § 7. The Liturgy. 
 
 If, then, we know, each one for ourselves, the absolute 
 necessity of the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit 
 for all real prayer, so that if we pray not in the Holy 
 Ghost we cannot pray at all — if we feel the importance of 
 having our minds cast into the mould of divine truth, 
 would we worship God as he is, in a right spirit and ac- 
 cording to his will ; — what reason have we to bless (rod for 
 the gift of a liturgy which recognises the immediate, par- 
 ticular, and direct operation of the Holy Spirit in every 
 individual worshipper, as essential to all purity of mind, 
 and to all right feeling in (rod's service ; which acknow- 
 ledge in every part the one living and true God, the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Grhost; which directs the worship- 
 per to seek the face of his heavenly Father through the 
 merits and in the name of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ the 
 Lord ; and which teaches him to pray, when laying the 
 body of a brother or a sister in the grave, " that it will 
 please God shortly to accomplish the number of his elect, 
 and to hasten his kingdom ; that we, with all them that 
 have departed in the true faith of his holy name, may have 
 our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, 
 in his eternal and everlasting glory, through Jesus Christ 
 
32 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 our Lord ? " How heartily ought we to thank Grod for such 
 a liturgy ! The prayer-book, brethren, of the Church of 
 England is not an artificial composition, framed to fix 
 the attention of the worshippers by alarming their fears 
 or exciting their feelings. It is not an artful preaching to 
 the people in the form of prayer, but it is framed for be- 
 lievers — plain, simple, serious, as true believers ever will 
 be in their dealings with (rod. It is a form, by the help 
 of which a babe in Christ may pray, and in which the most 
 established believers may pour out all the sentiments and 
 feelings of the most enlightened piety and most impassioned 
 devotion. It is no rhapsody or dream of the imagination, 
 but the composition of men who knew the deepest truths 
 of God, and the real principles of human nature ; who had 
 experienced the operation of the truth in their own souls, 
 and could say how it wrought in them that believe. 
 
 What passages of Scripture could have been selected 
 better suited to direct the mind of the worshipper, or to 
 lead him to a right spirit in his worship of Grod, than the 
 prefatory sentences with which our service opens ? If in 
 this spirit a man would confess his sins to Grod, what lan- 
 guage could he use more suitable to the feelings of a sober- 
 minded penitent than that of our general confession ? Or, 
 if his conscience is pressed more heavily with the burden 
 of his iniquities, in what words can he supplicate for mercy, 
 if not in those with which the Church has taught her com- 
 municants to approach the table of the Lord ? Or if the 
 believer's soul is pressing hard after Grod, earnestly depre- 
 cating evils deserved, and filled with longing desires for 
 salvation — for his own salvation and that of others — he will 
 find in our litany petitions which will meet and express the 
 utmost wishes of his heart. And if he would know where 
 his strength is, the nature of the life to which he is called, 
 the turning-point of that life, and the influence of the truth 
 in supporting it ; or would he learn how to turn Scripture 
 
ITS PRAYERS AND HYMNS. 33 
 
 into prayer ; he may well study the different collects of 
 our prayer-book, to the edification of his soul in righteous- 
 ness and true holiness. 
 
 What can more thoroughly try a man's knowledge of 
 divine truth, or the state of his affections, than his ability 
 to enter fully and heartily into the prayer provided for the 
 congregation, immediately before receiving the bread and 
 wine? or the second prayer provided for the same congre- 
 gation after having been admitted to the communion ? 
 
 Is his spirit filled with adoration of God most high, 
 and animated by admiring gratitude and fervent love ? Let 
 him try the angelical song of praise ; and happy is he, who 
 returning from the table of the Lord, or at any other time 
 when penetrated with the unspeakable mercies of Grod, can 
 pour forth his soul in such heavenly strains to Grod and the 
 Lamb. Or would he rise from earth to heaven, and mingle 
 in the solemnities of the church above, and take his part 
 in the worship of saints and angels ? He shall find in the 
 second hymn of every morning service such strains, that 
 [using them] in the power of the Holy Grhost, he may 
 mount up from step to step, until he realises the declara- 
 tion of the Apostle, and says, (i of a truth we are come unto 
 Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living Grod, the 
 heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of 
 angels ; to the general assembly and church of the first- 
 born, which are written in heaven, and to the spirits of the 
 just made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new 
 covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh 
 better things than that of Abel." 
 
 Oh, my brethren ! if there be coldness and formality in 
 our worship, the fault is not in its nature, construction, 
 or language, but in our dead, unfeeling hearts. Were 
 but a spark of heavenly fire hid within them, the senti- 
 ments of our liturgy, rehearsed to an attentive mind, 
 would quickly fan it to a flame, and make our hearts 
 
 D 
 
34 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 glow with the intense heat of heavenly affection. Be 
 thankful then for this great mercy bestowed upon you in 
 the possession of your liturgy. Pray for an understanding 
 heart, that you may fully enter into it. Give no heed to 
 the ridicule of the foolish, the conceited, or the perverse. 
 Seek the presence and effectual blessing of the Spirit, that 
 you may be able to pray it. Oh ! that we might ever 
 be assembled with this, its prayer, in our hearts : 
 
 Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, 
 And lighten with celestial fire ; 
 Thou the Anointing Spirit art, 
 Who doth thy sevenfold gifts impart. 
 Thy blessed unction from above 
 Is comfort, life, and fire of love. 
 Enable with perpetual light 
 The darkness of our blinded sight ; 
 Anoint and cheer our soiled face 
 With the abundance of thy grace. 
 Keep far our foes, give peace at home, 
 Where thou art guide no ill can come. 
 Teach us to know the Father, Son, 
 And thee of both, to be but one ; 
 That through the ages, all along, 
 This may be our endless song, 
 Praise to thy eternal merit, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 
 
 If this were the song of our hearts, surely each church 
 would be no other than the house of (rod, and the gate of 
 heaven. Amen and Amen ! 
 
 § 8. The Reason of the Change made in the Worship of 
 God's People. 
 
 The reason assigned by our Lord why the true wor- 
 shippers must henceforth worship the Father in spirit and 
 in truth, is simply this, " God is a Spirit." * 
 
 * The fourth sermon, in which this subject was to have been considered, 
 was never finished ; three copies of it remain, differing greatly in form from 
 
THE REASON OF THE CHANGE. 35 
 
 In entering upon this point, we would remark that no 
 interpretation of the term u God is a Spirit," can meet the 
 reasoning of the passage, which does not apply in its pro- 
 portion to the Jews and true worshippers of God, — whose 
 worship was in accordance with the measure of light and 
 knowledge (rod had bestowed on them, his peculiar people, 
 — as truly as it applies to the rest of the world ; for the 
 latter verses (23, 24) can only be interpreted in connection 
 with the former, the 21st verse. Moreover, in the de- 
 claration respecting the worship in spirit and in truth 
 (ver. 23), our Lord speaks of it as that which would 
 thenceforth be required of the true worshipper. Two 
 questions, however, may here be justly asked; first, does 
 the revelation which Grod has given us of himself in Christ, 
 differ from that which had before been made? And 
 secondly, is it such a difference as to give a new form and 
 character to the worship of God's people, and to make a 
 change in their worship necessary ? For if the revelation 
 of God in Christ be nothing more than a repetition of 
 former revelations, then whatever else might be the rea- 
 son for which a new worship was required, this could not 
 have made it necessary. Or if the new revelation has had 
 no influence in changing the service of God's true wor- 
 shippers, then it cannot explain the meaning of the de- 
 claration that God is a Spirit, and we have yet to seek the 
 true import of those words. 
 
 In answer to the first question, however, we say that 
 the revelation made to us of God in Christ, whilst it 
 
 each other, in each of which Mr. Phillipps had attempted to ascertain the 
 full significance of the term " Spirit " as used of God, and then to show 
 how the truths expressed in it corresponded to and necessitated that change 
 of worship of which our Lord was speaking. All three, breaking off in the 
 middle, bear witness to his own dissatisfaction with the results of his 
 investigation. Perhaps, therefore, in deference to his judgement, it ought 
 to have been wholly omitted ; but I cannot persuade myself to leave out these 
 passages, which, incomplete as they are, will I believe be found to contain 
 the clue he had missed for the time. 
 
36 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 comprehends all that he had revealed of himself before, is a 
 new revelation ; and to the second we reply, that it has 
 necessarily changed the mode of (rod's worship, and has 
 given it altogether a new character. 
 
 i. It is a new revelation of God. Such is the uniform 
 tenour of Scripture language. * * * You will re- 
 member that there was a revelation made of God in the 
 first man, Adam, the natural man, the man possessed of 
 the rational soul, who is expressly said (in respect of his 
 soul) to have been created in the image of God, in up- 
 rightness. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the spiritual man, 
 the man with the spirit, is declared to be "the bright- 
 ness of God's glory, and the express image of his person." 
 (See Gen. i. 26; Eccl. vii. 29; 1 Cor. xv. 45; Heb.i. 3.) 
 And the glory of God is said to shine upon us from the 
 face of Jesus Christ, so that in proportion as we know 
 Christ and his love, we are said to be filled with all the 
 fulness of God. When, therefore, God is termed "a 
 Spirit," we may well understand it as comprising all those 
 divine perfections which were then about to be revealed 
 in their full measure, and in their harmony and glory, in 
 Christ his spiritual image. Let me enlarge a little on 
 this. 
 
 The great fact of the being of God had from the be- 
 ginning been declared to man. Much of his wisdom, 
 power, and goodness, was expressed in the works of his 
 hands, and continued to be shown in his providential 
 government. His moral perfections were not only de- 
 clared to the patriarchs and prophets, as recorded in his 
 written word, but much of their nature and glory were 
 seen in his dealings with his people. But they were only 
 partially discovered, and one by one. In one act God 
 was seen and acknowledged to be a just God punishing 
 iniquity ; in another, to be a gracious Saviour, snatching 
 the sinner from destruction; but he had not been ex- 
 
THE NEW REV ELATION. 37 
 
 hibited in one and the same act as a just God and a 
 Saviour, a holy God yet justifying the ungodly; the 
 mutual harmony of these perfections had not yet been 
 revealed, mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, had 
 not yet been seen to meet together. It was in the mind 
 of the Lord Jesus, aod in the work which he wrought, 
 that this revelation was fully made (Romans iii. 25, 26). 
 Would we know the wisdom and power of God, we must 
 study both in the constitution of the Lord Christ, and in 
 the mind which was formed in him (see Heb. ii. 10). 
 Would we know the perfections of the divine nature, we 
 must contemplate them in the work Christ came to do 
 and lived to execute ; and would we know the mystery of 
 God's being, where can we learn it but from the work of 
 the divine persons in respect of the Lord Christ ? 
 
 Some faint traces, indeed, of this harmony were dis- 
 cernible in the appointed worship of old ; the fact that 
 God would unite mercy with judgement was discovered ; 
 and the illustration of this his purpose, perpetually re- 
 peated in the offering of the appointed sacrifices, fixed a 
 notion of this union of his judgement and mercy in the 
 mind of the worshipper, and kept alive his hope ; but 
 these did not discover the way in which it was to be 
 effected, still less could they display the harmony of the 
 union or the glory of God in it. And as for the mystery 
 of the divine persons, and their cooperation for man's sal- 
 vation, that could not be seen in the work of sacrifice ; the 
 Father was not visible in this representation of the work 
 of Christ; even whilst the worshipper trusted that God 
 was pacified towards him, terror always in some measure 
 mingled with his feelings. This worship, though pro- 
 fitable for the appointed time, could not exhibit those 
 views of God under the influeuce of which he was now 
 to be approached and glorified ; and therefore the full 
 discovery of the glory of God, who is a Spirit, required the 
 introduction of a new mode of worship. 
 
38 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 ii. I may add, that the designs of his grace to mankind, 
 in admitting them to intimate communion with himself, 
 equally made such a change necessary ; for it is evident 
 that the nature, extent, and blessedness of this fellowship 
 must depend on the condition of those who are admitted 
 to it, the knowledge which they have of Grod, the circum- 
 stances in which they stand before him, and their own 
 state of feeling. Any change in these particulars must 
 affect, not the nature of the communion itself, but its 
 measure, its freedom, and its blessedness. The commu- 
 nion of the worshippers of old must therefore have fallen 
 far short of that which we are now called to enjoy in 
 Christ and by the Spirit ; far short, not only in respect of 
 the distinct perception of him whom they worshipped, 
 but in respect of freedom of access and confidence in him, 
 in respect of nearness to him, and of the strength of their 
 love to him and their hope in him. 
 
 " Henceforth I call you not servants ; for the servant 
 knoweth not what his lord doeth : but I have called you 
 friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father I 
 have made known unto you." 
 
 "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the 
 Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 
 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son." 
 
 " Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his 
 Son Jesus Christ." 
 
39 
 
 ESSAY II. 
 
 THE SABBATH-DAY AND THE LORD'S-DAY. 
 
 (1847.*) 
 
 § 1. The End designed in the Institution of the Sabbath. 
 
 This our Lord plainly declared when he warned the 
 Pharisees that " The Sabbath was made for man, and not 
 man for the Sabbath " (Mark ii. 27). 
 
 We have in these words a beautiful instance of our 
 Lord's mode of teaching ; he did not teach by giving his 
 disciples express precepts, telling them what to do and 
 what to leave undone, but he delivered to them principles 
 capable of a wide, and in some instances, as in this, of a 
 universal application. He had been attacked by those 
 who were laying in wait for an opportunity of blaming 
 him, on account of what his disciples had just done, when 
 going through a corn-field on the Sabbath-day they had 
 plucked the ears of corn and eaten them ; the act itself 
 was one their law permitted (Deut. xxiii. 24, 25); but 
 because of the day on which it was done, as a deed 
 of work, the Jews counted the gathering and rubbing 
 out of the ears of corn unlawful. And accordingly we find 
 our Lord defends, not their taking the corn, which was not 
 objected to, but their doing it on that day. As this con- 
 versation is recorded by St. Matthew (xii. 7, 8), we find 
 he referred them to some words of the prophet Hosea 
 
 * From notes of two sermons made by one of the congregation. — Ed. 
 
40 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP 
 
 with which they ought to have been familiar, u I will have 
 mercy and not sacrifice ; " adding, that had they known 
 what that meant, they " would not have condemned the 
 guiltless ; " for God, who commanded burnt-offerings and 
 sacrifices, delights not in these, but in that which those 
 offerings were designed to teach, and in the spirit of 
 mercy and kindness. Such worship and such works were 
 enjoined by God, not for their own value, but simply for 
 the end they were intended to accomplish in those that 
 performed them : so sacrifices were designed to lead the 
 offerers to deeper repentance, to the more earnest looking 
 for and enquiring concerning him nvhose work was repre- 
 sented by their offering, to a more ardent longing for his 
 coming:, and to a truer sense of the benefits he would obtain 
 for them. The same thing is equally true of the Sabbath, 
 and of all other positive religious ordinances. Man 
 was not made to observe them, but they were appointed 
 for his good. There are laws and a course of observances 
 enjoined upon us, of which this is not true; — the law of 
 morality, the practice of truth, righteousness, and love ; — of 
 all that can give on earth a faint image of him who made 
 it : for man was created to show forth the glory of his 
 Creator, and he can only do so by exhibiting something of 
 his mind. We might therefore say, man was made to mani- 
 fest these, certainly they were not made for him. He was 
 made to be an image of his Maker's glory, by being just, 
 righteous, and merciful. But all those positive religious 
 ordinances commanded by God, such as the sabbath da}^, 
 public worship, or the Christian ordinances of Baptism and 
 the Lord's Supper, were made for man, not man for them ; 
 for the end and design of all these institutions, as indeed of 
 all our worship, is to enable us to have, and to lead us into, 
 communion with God ; that by communion with him we 
 may be brought nigher to him, that we may know him more 
 perfectly, and love him more entirely. Without attaining 
 
TIIE USE OF THE SABBATH. 41 
 
 this, all our worship will be of no use. At the end of 
 every ordinance, at the close of every Sabbath day, we may 
 ask ourselves whether we have had communion with (rod 
 in it : for this is not a matter of theory or of mere feeling, 
 but of fact and daily experience to God's people. As men 
 know when they have ate and slept, and wake up refreshed 
 and strengthened, so does the believer whose soul is 
 strengthened by communion with God, know that he has 
 enjoyed it : it has deepened his repentance, confirmed his 
 faith, animated his hope, and strengthened his purpose. 
 The end is what we are to look to, not simply the 
 means appointed for our attaining it. When the hus- 
 bandman sows seed he is not careless as to whether 
 there is a crop or not, but if it does not grow he sows 
 again in great anxiety lest it be too late ; so must it be 
 with us : this is our seed-time ; let us take heed that 
 we profit by it, and that the means appointed have their 
 intended end, in nurturing our souls to eternal life. 
 
 § 2. The History of the Sabbath, from its First Institu- 
 tion until the LoroVs Coming. 
 
 Its first institution is recorded in Gen. ii. 2, 3. When 
 God had finished all the works of creation in their present 
 state (that is as they now exist, and are visible in the 
 world) ; and when man, the last and chief of them, was 
 ordained to be his high priest upon earth, to celebrate the 
 praises of the Creator, and to learn the wisdom, goodness, 
 and power shown in the order and perfection into which 
 the world had been brought, out of the chaos into which 
 it had been thrown — God appointed the seventh day to 
 be a day of blessing and of rest, to be a sabbath to him. 
 Adam needed it not for bodily rest, for labour was not 
 then his portion : but engaged for six days in observing 
 and learning to understand the visible works of God 
 
42 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 around him, he needed a Sabbath to digest what he had 
 observed, to reflect on those truths which they might 
 teach him of God, and so to obtain a clearer consciousness 
 and more extended knowledge of God himself, that he 
 might be capable of enjoying fuller communion with him. 
 It was the ordinance appointed by Grod for his com- 
 memoration of the blessings he had received from Grod, 
 in his creation and preservation, and for the enjoyment of 
 fuller intercourse with him. 
 
 But to fallen men, willing outcasts from Grod, there 
 could be no access to God at all, still less any communion 
 with him, had not the declaration that in some future 
 time one should come of the seed of the woman, who 
 should undo the devil's work and destroy its fruits, again 
 opened the way : trusting in that declaration, Adam might 
 still come to God for a blessing; not as before in his 
 innocence, but as a penitent, grieving for sin, seeking for 
 pardon and grace, and offering the appointed sacrifice of 
 the Lamb as the type and figure of the promised deliverer. 
 To him, therefore, whilst the Sabbath was a day of ever- 
 deepening humiliation for his sin, on which he had to 
 consider and remember that sin and all its bitter fruits, 
 it was also a day whereon to look in hope and trust to 
 God, and therefore in joy: a joy different, but not less 
 real or blessed, than his joy before had been. For even 
 in this beginning of the opening of his mind to spiritual 
 things, which in his state of innocency and ignorance of 
 evil had necessarily been shut out from his eyes, there 
 was a. higher happiness opening to him, and a greater 
 delight than he was previously capable of entering into. 
 Kemember that every state which God has led his creatures 
 through, has been a step in advance, — an improvement, 
 — an approach nearer that spiritual state to which it is 
 his purpose at last to raise them. All has been conducted 
 by his will, and in one appointed way ; brought in when 
 
THE PATRIARCH'S SABBATH. 43 
 
 hope was given to Adam by that word declared to him 
 concerning the woman's seed, afterwards made the subject 
 of distinct promise, then certified by solemn covenant, 
 which has now been accomplished, and which will be 
 perfected in the day which God has appointed for the 
 consummation of all things. 
 
 Such was the character of Adam's Sabbath after the 
 fall. Of its continued observance we have no express 
 mention until it was commanded by the law of Moses. 
 Yet as the institution of God himself— the ground of it 
 being so manifest, in the duty of reasonable creatures to 
 own and to worship their Creator, a duty not at all 
 affected by their sin — it was clearly their duty to observe 
 it : whilst their need of it was far greater than before ; 
 they needed it, not only to render thanks to God for their 
 creation and preservation, but also for the greater mercy 
 they were told to look for in the deliverer ; they needed 
 it for the diligent seeking of God's pardoning mercy, and 
 for rest from their daily labour. And accordingly, we 
 find several distinct intimations of the remembrance of a 
 Sabbath, in the records given of their manner of dividing 
 their time. From the history of Noah it is evident that 
 the division of time into weeks was familiar to him, 
 and must therefore have obtained amongst men before 
 the flood ; and certainly we can only explain the origin of 
 this division into weeks, by the original appointment of 
 the Sabbath. So also in the history of Jacob, we find 
 enough to show that men still counted by weeks ; and in 
 the oldest records we have of heathen writers we find 
 weeks mentioned, and almost always in connection with 
 some religious observances. The next direct mention we 
 find of the Sabbath-day, is on the exodus of Israel from 
 Egypt, or about three weeks after it, when on the sixth 
 day they gathered twice as much manna as on any other. 
 Here (Exodus xvi. 22 — 26) the mention of the seventh as 
 
44 • TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 the Sabbath-day, is made quite abruptly without any ex- 
 planation of what it was, nor why it should be kept ; from 
 which it is clear that it was no new thing to the Israelites, 
 but that, though perhaps long neglected, it was known to 
 them at least by tradition ; for whenever Moses gave them 
 a new ordinance, he always gave a reason for it, telling 
 them both why it was to be observed, and what it was 
 meant to teach ; that he did not do so now, when re- 
 minding them to keep the Sabbath-day by rest, is a proof 
 that it was not a new thing to them. When, shortly after 
 this, it was incorporated into the summary of God's moral 
 law, given in the ten commandments, the original reason 
 of its institution is given ; — Grod had hallowed, and 
 blessed it ; appointed it, that is, to be a day of blessing to 
 those who used it according to his command. 
 
 Being thus made a part of the law of Moses, the insti- 
 tution was greatly changed. It seems indeed more than 
 probable, that a change of the day itself was made, and 
 that the day chosen for the Israelites to observe was the 
 day on which they came out of Egypt; for though in 
 Exodus xx. the original reason of the institution is given, 
 when Moses (Deut. v. 12 — 15) recapitulated the law, the 
 original ground is not recognised, but their deliverance 
 from Egypt is given as the reason for its observance, and 
 as the blessing which they were to commemorate on every 
 returning Sabbath-day : so that the Israelites had two 
 blessings to commemorate, and gave thanks both for their 
 creation, and for their deliverance from slavery. The 
 strictness also and severity with which it was to be observed 
 by them, was made accordant to the whole nature and 
 spirit of that law which said of all its precepts, " this do, 
 and live ; in the day thou transgressest, thou shalt surely 
 die." This was very different from anything appointed to 
 Adam or known by the patriarchs. But, like all the 
 ordinances of the law, the Sabbath-day was now to be 
 
THE MOSAIC SABBATH. 45 
 
 regulated by precept, and to be kept by obedience to 
 precept : it was one of the ordinances prescribed to them 
 to observe, by striving to obey which they were led to 
 know more of sin, and to the practice of constant sub- 
 mission and- exact obedience to all Grod's commands: for 
 the law was to them a school, a system of discipline, by 
 which they were taught that there was no remission of 
 sin but through the shedding the blood of the atonement ; 
 whilst by their attempts to practise the things enjoined, 
 they were trained up to do Grod's will, were led to aim at 
 practical righteousness, and thus were raised to something 
 of a righteous nature — that something of holiness might 
 be shadowed forth in their hearts. 
 
 Nor was the Sabbath any longer confined to one day in 
 seven ; the first and last days of all their great feasts, the 
 day of blowing the trumpets, and the day of atonement, 
 were to be Sabbaths to them, and to be kept with the 
 same strictness. Thus was the Sabbath modified and 
 changed from its first institution, that it might be brought 
 into accordance with that system of teaching and discipline, 
 under which Grod's people were now placed, and by which 
 they were to be led, step by step, to a more perfect know- 
 ledge of Grod and of the promised deliverer ; under this 
 system they were kept till the Lord came. But during 
 this period some very important changes were made in 
 the manner of its observance. At first, Sabbath worship 
 was necessarily confined to the tabernacle, or the temple : 
 in the towns and villages generally, it coulfl only be 
 observed in the negative way of a day of rest ; excepting 
 so far as individuals might privately, or in their own 
 families, join in worship or in reading the law, there were 
 no public meetings for worship. But after their return 
 from Babylon, their leaders, guided doubtless by the 
 Lord's directing providence, were led to consider the 
 cause of the repeated apostacies of their nation, and to 
 
46 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 desire a system of ordinances for the maintenance of the 
 knowledge and worship of Grod amongst them. For this 
 end they commanded synagogues to be built in every 
 place where as many as ten Jewish families lived, and 
 arranged the order of the worship to be observed in them 
 on every Sabbath-day ; and this continued in force until 
 the Lord came ; when we all know how he and his 
 apostles went every Sabbath-day to the synagogues to 
 join in the service and to teach the people. The order of 
 that service was this : they joined in prayer ; a portion out 
 of the law, and out of the prophets — appointed for each 
 Sabbath throughout the year — was read to them ; they 
 joined in singing some of the psalms, and then the ruler 
 of the synagogue called upon some one present to give a 
 word of exhortation to the people ; this form of worship, 
 which is the same as our own, is as old as the time of 
 Ezra. And doubtless this was the great means which 
 kept the Jewish people from idolatry, and made them 
 from that time such steady resisters of it. 
 
 Yet it is impossible for human nature under any cir- 
 cumstances, or under any system, to escape from self- 
 pollution and corruption ; we might have thought " surely 
 now they must have grown in the knowledge and lived in 
 the true worship of God ; " the natural effect of this in- 
 stitution was to bless them thus. But they corrupted it ; 
 they made arbitrary distinctions as to what might, and 
 what might not be done on the Sabbath ; they straightened 
 its observance more and more, and made obedience to 
 their self-invented rules a matter of merit and glory : 
 and the end was they became the greatest hypocrites the 
 world ever saw. 
 
 We see this in the accounts given of them in our Lord's 
 life ; how they watched anxiously to find our Lord break- 
 ing these their rules, that they might find fault with and 
 condemn him ; how, though they scrupled not to save 
 
THE SABBATH AND CHKIST. 47 
 
 their own property on that day, they were too scrupulous 
 for its holiness to allow the suffering sons and daughters 
 of Abraham to be relieved from suffering, even by a word 
 spoken. So, also, when they found our Lord walking 
 through the corn-fields on the Sabbath-day, the same 
 spirit was shown. And here I would remark, no intima- 
 tion whatever is given in the history, that this walk was one 
 of necessity; for anything said, it might just as well have 
 been a walk for relaxation and refreshment, the one sup- 
 position is at least as probable as the other. And cer- 
 tainly the act of the disciples in gathering and rubbing 
 out the corn, was not a work of necessity ; whatever was 
 the motive of the walk, they were now going home, and 
 they could not have been so hunger-starved that they 
 were unable to wait an hour or a couple of hours for food, 
 had there been the least reason for their doing so. But 
 they took the corn, and the Lord justified their doing so, 
 whilst he pointed out and rebuked the sin of those who 
 so readily " condemned the guiltless." On another oc- 
 currence of the same kind, he took occasion to teach a 
 principle — closely allied to that he had formerly laid 
 down, "I will have mercy and not sacrifice," — to be a 
 guide whereby they might distinguish what was and what 
 was not lawful to do on the Sabbath-day : " wherefore it 
 is lawful to do good on the Sabbath-day." 
 
 The three great principles then given us by Christ, by 
 which our observance of the Sabbath is to be regulated, 
 are these : first, that the Sabbath is made for us, for our 
 profit ; then, that it is always lawful to do good (temporal 
 as well as spiritual good) on the Sabbath-day ; and, lastly, 
 that God prefers acts of mercy to acts of worship. 
 
 It is not therefore our assembling together here, 
 and uniting in the outward worship of Grod, that is to be 
 our observance of this ordinance. What is true of all 
 ordinances is true of this, we must observe it in a manner 
 
48 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 and in a spirit in accordance with the dispensation under 
 which we are placed. We have seen how true this was of 
 the Jews, and of the observance of the Sabbath enjoined 
 upon them ; it was part of a discipline under which they 
 were placed for a time that it might produce certain 
 effects, preparing them for further progress. It was not 
 intended to continue, and it has not. The law of their 
 Sabbath is no law for us, who are placed under the law of 
 the Spirit of life ; but it is well for us to mark, how en- 
 tirely they lost the benefit of their Sabbaths and abused 
 them for their own corruption, who made it a matter of 
 arbitrary observance, an outward ordinance, which when 
 they had exactly kept, they might rest fully satisfied, 
 without any regard to the end for which it was given, 
 without any worship of God, or any communion with him 
 in their hearts. Their service was only one of set works, 
 on the ground of which they claimed (rod's favour ; the 
 end was, that the precepts enjoined being manifold, and 
 not fulfilled, the pretence to fulfil them made them 
 hypocrites. 
 
 We have now to consider what is that modification of 
 the institution which Christ has made, and what is essen- 
 tial to our profiting by it, who are placed under the 
 Grospel ; but bear this already in mind, that if you do 
 anything under the Grospel as an outward duty, you will * 
 have your reward, but no more. You must not hope 
 thus to be disciplined for heaven; you cannot go back to 
 the discipline of the law, nor profit by it as they did 
 whom Grod placed under it. 
 
 § 3. The Lord's-day. " Therefore the Son of Man is 
 Lord also of the Sabbath." — Mark ii. 28. 
 
 We have seen how the Jewish teachers had perverted 
 tliis ordinance, so that whilst they never scrupled to do 
 
CHANGE TO THE LORDS-DAT. 49 
 
 all that their own interest required to be done on that 
 day, they laid down strict laws for others, forbidding the 
 taking a walk for relaxation, or the gathering corn in the 
 field, or the showing mercy to the poor and afflicted, even 
 when it was done by a word spoken. Our Lord took a 
 course in respect of the Sabbath directly opposite to all 
 this ; he himself looked out for every occasion of exercising 
 his power, in showing love and compassion, especially on 
 this day ; and instead of giving his disciples any positive 
 commands as to their observance of it, he gave them 
 general principles to teach them so to use it as would best 
 enable them to profit by it. And he claimed for himself 
 no less than absolute power to legislate for it, to modify 
 and change it as he would. [Because the Sabbath was 
 made for man, therefore he] the Son of man is the Lord 
 of the Sabbath. 
 
 And this power he has actually exerted : he has changed 
 the day of its observance ; even in respect of the day, the 
 Christian Sabbath is not the same as the Jews' was ; and 
 certainly a new law was needed to authorize the change. 
 But when and how did he change it? 
 
 When Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the 
 week, he appeared to the disciples assembled together on 
 that day; and the following week, they being again 
 assembled, he appeared with them again ; but this alone, 
 though sanctifying their assemblies on the first day of the 
 week by his own presence, would not warrant us in saying 
 he intended to change the day of rest from the seventh to 
 the first day of the week. But we find that this practice 
 actually did arise immediately in the Christian body ; 
 they all agreed to keep this day holy. In the year 59, 
 twenty-five years after the Lord's resurrection, we find 
 the Christians at Ephesus met together on the first day 
 of the week to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and it is 
 named as their customary course ; they met in the evening. 
 
 E 
 
50 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 So in writing to the Corinthians, St. Paul, speaking of 
 the collection to be made for the poor saints at Jerusalem, 
 says ; " Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you 
 lay by him in store, as (rod hath prospered him ; " mention- 
 ing it as the usual day of their assembling together, and 
 therefore the most convenient opportunity for making this 
 collection. In the Revelations, we find St. John speaking 
 of " the Lord's-day : " "I was in the Spirit," he says, " on 
 the Lord's-day;" a name which we know from history 
 was never given to any but the first day of the week, and 
 which he uses without any explanation, as a term well 
 known and familiar to the Christian Churches. From 
 history also we find that at first no other day was ob- 
 served in the Christian Church as a body, though many 
 Christians still continued to observe the Jewish Sabbaths 
 and days (Col. ii. 16; Romans xiv. 4—6). But on the 
 first day of the week, they all assembled for their own 
 worship ; and this practice, which had the sanction of the 
 Lord himself and of the apostles, has continued to be the 
 constant practice of the whole Christian Church to the 
 present day, and that by his legislation. For it is thus 
 that Christ legislates for his Church, by guiding their 
 practice through his Spirit, through whom he teaches and 
 governs them, and who supplies in all things his absence. 
 Whatever the Spirit leads the Church to do is the law of 
 Christ; his laws are written, not on tables of stone but in 
 the hearts of his people ; they are not given in the way of 
 precept. Thus it was that as the lawgiver for the Sabbath, 
 he changed the day of its observance ; and thus also he 
 has changed the manner of its observance, that in all 
 respects it might be an ordinance consistent with the con- 
 dition into which he has brought his people, by redeeming 
 them from sin and its curse with his own blood, and trans- 
 lating them from the bondage of sin and death into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN RULE 51 
 
 We are then commanded by his teaching to keep our 
 rest on the Lord's-day ; the day on which he rose from 
 the grave and entered into his rest. The blessing the 
 Israelites commemorated on their Sabbath was the de- 
 liverance of their nation from bondage in Egypt; the 
 blessing we commemorate is the redemption of the world 
 from sin and its curse, and Christ's resurrection as the 
 first-fruits from the dead. So the first Christians were 
 wont to do, when on every Lord's-day morning they 
 greeted each other with the words "the Lord is risen 
 indeed." And this is the proper work of the Lord's-day 
 — to give thanks for this great deliverance ; — to com- 
 memorate the conquest over sin and death which Christ 
 obtained by his one sacrifice of himself ; — to look forward 
 by faith to the completion of his whole work in the 
 establishment of his kingdom over the earth, — and to 
 hold communion with Grod and Christ, through the Holy 
 Spirit given to us as the earnest of our inheritance. 
 
 It is clearly, therefore, no longer possible to keep our 
 Sabbath by any exactness of obedience to precept or 
 conformity to rules ; and hence we find that no rules are 
 laid down for Christians concerning it. None ever kept 
 the Christian Sabbath who was not " in the Spirit on the 
 Lord's-day," in whom the Spirit does not dwell. It is the 
 day of the Christian's rest still ; he rests from the fear of 
 evil to come, through Christ, and in faith on his Father's 
 love ; for " he that believeth hath entered into rest." 
 When obedience is to precept it is in order to attain some 
 end beyond itself, to form some habit or nature, which 
 will be the fruit of that obedience. But we are called to 
 enjoy this blessing already; through faith in Christ we 
 do enter into rest, and our rest is only to be enjoyed 
 through faith. And unless we come on the Lord's-day to 
 Grod, seeking for his mercy, grace, and blessing, to be 
 ministered to us by the Spirit from Christ himself, we 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 shall go away unblessed ; let our minds have been as 
 much enlightened as they may, it is only communion with 
 the Father and with Christ that can strengthen our hearts 
 for God's service, or send us on our way determined to 
 pursue our course in another manner than hitherto we 
 have pursued it ; for though we have aimed at it before, 
 we shall then see that all our attempts to reach it have 
 been poor, wretched, and valueless. This is the spirit of 
 the believer in coming to the house of God; he has 
 nothing to bring, he has everything to seek; and as to 
 coming and joining in the worship as a duty! he does it 
 because it is a matter of necessity to him, that he may 
 get nigh to God, and have communion with him, and be 
 blessed by him with the blessing, without which he cannot 
 live to him. 
 
 Thus the Christian's Sabbath is observed in consistency 
 with the dispensation under which he is placed— the dis- 
 pensation of the kingdom, and of the Spirit. He knows 
 that Christ is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on 
 high, having all power in heaven and earth put into his 
 hands, and that he dispenses the Spirit to every penitent 
 believer, as the evidence of his possession of the kingdom. 
 Believers of old had a hope of this heavenly inheritance, 
 and of a Kedeemer, and in that hope they partly enjoyed 
 the blessing. But we have come to the kingdom itself; 
 we have come to the general assembly and church of the 
 firstborn, and to God the judge of all, and to Jesus the 
 mediator of the new covenant : laying hold on this by 
 faith, we realize and enjoy it; and the fruit is rest and 
 peace, enabling us to live a life of thanksgiving, glorying 
 in the Lord, and counting all things but loss for his sake. 
 For we have not received the spirit of bondage, but the 
 spirit of adoption : the power to go to God as a father is 
 the fruit of this gift of the Spirit to dwell in the believer ; 
 it is God's testimony to him of his own work in his soul ; 
 
FOR ITS OBSERVANCE. 53 
 
 we know this truth by realizing it and acting upon it. 
 Not only on the Lord's-day, but day by day in private the 
 believer seeks for these blessings, and lives upon them ; 
 but the Lord's-day is especially set apart for the enjoy- 
 ment of communion in them ; then he comes to meet his 
 brethren, to congratulate and encourage each other on the 
 blessings they enjoy in Christ their Lord, and so to help 
 each other on in their course ; they come to unite in the 
 same prayer, to join in the same praise, to hear the same 
 word, and to feed at the same table on the bread of life 
 which Christ has given for their souls. 
 
 I have given but a poor faint exhibition of the Christian's 
 Sabbath, yet even here you may see that there is nothing 
 of duty in its observance — that it cannot be observed as 
 a duty, nor by following any precepts or rules. When 
 therefore men attempt to legislate for its due observance, 
 or to lay down positive precepts by which to tell what is 
 keeping and what is breaking the Sabbath, they deny its 
 nature altogether. The Son of Man alone is Lord of the 
 Sabbath. 
 
54 
 
 ESSAY III. 
 
 SOME DIFFICULTIES IN THE BAPTISMAL CONTEOYEESY' 
 
 ARISING FROM THE EVIDENT MISAPPREHENSION WHICH THE DISPUTANTS 
 FREQUENTLY SHOW OF EACH OTHER' S MEANING AND OPINION J AND FROM 
 SOME MISTAKES FREQUENTLY MADE ON SEVERAL SUBJECTS MATERIALLY 
 AFFECTING THE NATURE AND EFFICACY OF BAPTISM. 
 
 (1851.) 
 
 § 1. Different Meanings attached to the Term " Original 
 Sin" at different Periods of the Controversy. 
 
 An instance of such misapprehension may be observed in 
 the wrong use of the term " original sin." 
 
 When the controversy, now judicially determined, com- 
 menced, the term " original sin " was used to express " the 
 fault and corruption of our nature," as defined in our 
 Ninth Article; and which in the opening of our service 
 for the public baptism of infants, is expressed by our 
 " being conceived and born in sin " (Ps. li. 5). The 
 remedy for this state was properly expressed by "regene- 
 ration," or the new birth ; and the question discussed was 
 this : whether that remedy is applied in baptism, and the 
 corrupt and diseased nature of the baptized person is, 
 strictly speaking, necessarily and universally healed by the 
 ministration of that ordinance ; or whether only the rela- 
 tive condition of the infant in respect of Grod is changed, 
 and a preparation thereby made for his subsequent healing 
 in respect of his natural inclination to evil. (Article IX.) 
 
 The advocates of baptismal regeneration (in the sense 
 now noted) unequivocally affirmed the cure to be effected. 
 
OF ORIGINAL SIN, 55 
 
 Some might stipulate for the administration of the ordi- 
 nance by a lawful minister — thus opening a wide and 
 interminable field of controversy — others might insist on 
 precision in the form and the words employed, but Chris- 
 tian baptism being allowed to have been really administered, 
 they declared the person who received it to be in every 
 case regenerated and healed in respect of the fault and 
 corruption of his nature ; they applied to him all the terms 
 used in Scripture to denote the real Christian ; they 
 declared him to be a real and living member of Christ — a 
 partaker of his nature — to have been born again, to have 
 been made a spiritual being, an heir of the kingdom, and 
 not only an heir but also capable, in his nature, of enjoying 
 eternal life and glory with Grod and Christ. 
 
 The opponents demurred. They did not deny the pos- 
 sibility of such a fact ; they confessed that such a change 
 might be effected when and how Grod is pleased to pro- 
 duce it ; nor did all deny that the baptism of the infant, 
 when duly pursued and acted upon, would by Grod's ap- 
 pointment lead to this effect. But they did deny that the 
 regeneration of which we speak is the constant attendant on 
 baptism, and coextensive with the administration of the 
 ordinance ; and they appealed to facts, uncontrovertible as 
 they deemed them, to warrant that denial. 
 
 Upon this issue was joined, and the controversy was 
 maintained with such ability, learning, and subtle dis- 
 tinction of differences, as the respective parties could pro- 
 duce in furtherance of what they maintained. Now, 
 however, the ground of controversy has been evidently 
 shifted. Instead of understanding by the regeneration 
 spoken of, the cure of the corruption of our nature ; it is 
 assumed to mean the remission of original sin ; and the 
 opponents of baptismal regeneration are charged with 
 denying an article of the Nicene creed, " one baptism for 
 the remission of sins." Now without mooting the question 
 
56 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 whether the baptism intended in the creed be that of 
 water, and not rather that of the Spirit, evidencing such 
 remission; and without dwelling on the fact, that these 
 words of the creed refer to the remission of all the sins of the 
 baptized believer, whether original or actual ; it is evident 
 that the term " original sin " has undergone a change. It 
 was used to denote the fault and corruption of our nature ; 
 it is now used to denote the original transgression of Adam. 
 And though it is true that our birth-sin, or the corruption 
 of our nature, is the fruit of that original transgression (for 
 it is the effect of a corruptible body, the fruit of that sin, 
 producing, as we shall see, a carnal mind) ; yet the effect 
 is not to be confounded with the cause, nor is the remedy 
 for the one the same as the cure for the other. The 
 remedy for transgression is in remission or forgiveness ; 
 the cure of corruption lies in the removal of the habitually 
 carnal mind which marks it, and in the production of 
 another and antagonistic mind, that which is spiritual. 
 
 It is perfectly true, indeed, that baptism looks to the 
 whole condition of the sinner ; who, as Adam's offspring, 
 lies under condemnation because of his transgression, and 
 is also necessarily infected with a carnal mind. And, 
 therefore, in the first prayer used in our baptismal service, 
 the application of baptism is recognized as a mystical 
 washing away of sin ; and we are taught to pray that Grod 
 will mercifully look upon the child, and not only " wash 
 him," i. e. from his sins, but " sanctify him also with the 
 Holy Ghost, that he being delivered from wrath," from 
 subjection to wrath by the forgiveness of his sins, " may be 
 received into the ark of Christ's Church." 
 
 It is equally true that the very same means is appointed 
 for obtaining both these blessings — and that is the blood 
 of Christ. As it is the blood of Jesus Christ which speaks 
 peace to the sinner's conscience, testifying the forgiveness 
 of his sins ; so it is the same blood which cleanses him 
 
ITS REMEDY. 57 
 
 from all unrighteousness, purging his conscience from dead 
 works to serve the living Grod (Eph. i. 7 ; ii. 13 ; Heb. 
 ix. 14; 1 John i. 7 — 9). But the remedy is very dif- 
 ferently applied. In the first case, the Holy Spirit applies 
 it to the conscience of the sinner, testifying to him that 
 the shedding of the blood of Christ has made reconciliation 
 for his iniquity, that Grod is pacified towards him, and is 
 at all times ready to receive him, coming in the name of 
 the beloved Son, and to bless him by the forgiveness of all 
 his trespasses. The blood of Christ cleanses the sinner 
 from his corruption, by the Holy Spirit's teaching him to 
 see, and causing him to feel the evil of sin, in the fact that 
 he could not be redeemed from its curse but by the 
 shedding of the precious blood of that spotless Lamb of 
 Grod in his obedience to death, even the death of the cross ; 
 thus he reveals to him not only the love of the Father in 
 the gift of his dear Son, and the love of the Son in making 
 himself an offering and sacrifice for our sins, but he dis- 
 covers to him also the hatefulness of sin, which made such 
 a sacrifice necessary in the wisdom of Grod, for the righteous 
 pardon of sin, and to justify the mercy shown to the sinner. 
 This discovery turns him in godly sorrow against sin, and 
 makes him long and strive, in dependence on the effectual 
 agency of the Holy Spirit, to purify himself from all 
 filthiness of the flesh and of the Spirit, and to perfect 
 holiness in the fear of the Lord. 
 
 But whilst it has pleased Grod in his wisdom to appoint 
 this one means to be productive of a double effect — as 
 indeed he has appointed the Lord Jesus Christ to be every- 
 thing to us, our all in all (1 Cor. i. 30; Col. ii. 10; iii. 11) 
 — yet the effects are not to be confounded together. The 
 forgiveness of sins is introductory to the cleansing from 
 the corruption of sin ; and hence the saints are described 
 as having washed their robes and made them white in that 
 blood, in which Christ has washed them from their sins 
 
58 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 (Rev. i. 5; v. 9; vii. 14). But forgiveness is not the healing 
 of corruption, nor is the remission of original sin (i. e. the 
 forgiveness of original transgression) what was signified by 
 baptismal regeneration, though both blessings may be 
 connected with the sacrament of baptism. To charge 
 those who deny that baptism is necessarily and universally 
 connected with the formation of a new and spiritual nature, 
 with denying the remission of original sin in baptism, is 
 most unfair, because it may be altogether untrue. Many 
 will acknowledge, and do rejoice to know, that the baptized 
 infant is by baptism washed from the sin of Adam ; that 
 he is no longer under its imputation, is no longer an out- 
 cast from Grod; who therefore can rejoice in the conviction 
 that, should he die in infancy, he will be gathered to Christ, 
 and saved in him, * but who do not therefore acknow- 
 ledge that this infant is necessarily made a partaker of a 
 new and spiritual nature, or that in the present condition 
 of his soul in infancy, he is capable of that mercy. 
 
 § 2. Uncertain Use of the Term "Regeneration" 
 
 The second difficulty to which I would advert is the 
 exceeding uncertainty of the meaning attached to the 
 term " regeneration." As the dispute has been maintained, 
 it seems uncertain whether regeneration is that change in 
 the sinner's state which produces repentance towards God 
 
 * Let it not be inferred that in the writer's view all unbaptized infants 
 have perished; or that the children of heathen parents, dying whilst in- 
 capable of immoral actions, have perished. All that he would express is, 
 that they do not partake of the blessings covenanted to the Church of God, 
 —to those who constitute the body of Christ, and form the first-fruits to 
 God of his creatures. No doubt, when the great white throne shall be 
 set up, and the dead, small and great, stand before God, these infants will 
 appear before the judgement-seal of Christ, and be justified; for he has 
 made reconciliation for the iniquity with which they are charged, and no 
 record of sin will appear against them (Hex. xx. 11 — 13). 
 
KEGENERATION, 59 
 
 and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; or whether it signifies 
 that condition which follows this change, and into which 
 the penitent believer is brought by receiving the gift of 
 the Holy Spirit to dwell in him. The generality of evan- 
 gelical commentators would possibly maintain the former; 
 but our Church, in her service for the baptism of adults, 
 clearly maintains the latter. For consider : — 
 
 The doctrine of the new birth is first set forth in that 
 service, and its importance and necessity enforced. The 
 candidates for baptism are then questioned on their re- 
 pentance, their faith, and their resolution to obey the 
 will of God. Then prayer is made on their behalf, that 
 they may be regenerated or born again, and upon the 
 assumption of the reality of their repentance and faith, 
 they are baptized ; having been baptized, they are declared 
 to be regenerate, and thanksgivings are offered to God for 
 the mercy that he has now, through baptism, bestowed 
 upon them. Lastly, these regenerate persons are solemnly 
 charged to walk worthy of the condition into which they 
 have been brought. What that condition is is sufficiently 
 manifest ; for it is assumed that the Holy Spirit has been 
 given to them to dwell in them, so that they are made 
 temples of the Spirit. He is given to them as their advo- 
 cate, to preserve and guide them, and to carry out and 
 perfect their salvation ; and his work appears to be three- 
 fold — to carry on their purification from all filthiness of 
 the flesh and of the spirit ; to form within them the sub- 
 stantial character of godliness ; and to embellish them 
 with the graces of the spiritual man, by revealing Christ 
 to their souls in all the glory of his spiritual nature, 
 and so changing them into his likeness, from glory to 
 glory (Rom. viii. 29, 30; 2 Cor. iii. 18). 
 
 But it is evident that this is a regeneration of which 
 the infant is incapable, for it presupposes repentance and 
 faith. It presupposes, therefore, a knowledge of sin, 
 
60 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 without which there can be no abhorrence of evil, and a 
 sense of guilt because of sin ; for both these are necessary 
 to repentance. And it presupposes some knowledge of 
 God, of his love, mercy, and righteousness, in reconciling 
 the world to himself in Christ, and in not imputing their 
 trespasses unto them ; for this is essential to the exercise 
 of confidence and love towards God — i. e. to faith. But 
 of all such knowledge of God and Christ, the infant is 
 incapable ; and it is therefore incapable of that change 
 which is declared to constitute the regeneration of the 
 sinner. 
 
 It has been suggested, however, that our service for the 
 baptism of adults is not of equal authority with that used 
 in the baptism of infants ; that it was not composed till 
 long after the latter,* and (it has been hinted) that the 
 Church was not so competent to fulfil her work, or so 
 alive to perform it, as in the former age. But such a 
 surmise is clearly inconsistent with the principles of those 
 who maintain the unbroken and uudefeasible right of the 
 Church to settle all matters of this description, a right 
 which necessarily assumes her competency at all times to 
 fulfil the work. In the case before us, she certainly 
 proved her competency, for she did her work, and did it 
 well. She took up her ground on the old foundation, 
 requiring the answer of a good conscience from her con- 
 verts before she admitted them into covenant with her 
 God and his Christ by baptism (1 Pet. iii. 21); and on 
 the assumption of the truth of this their profession, she 
 admitted them to the ordinance. Their baptism sealed to 
 them the blessing of righteousness, the reality of which 
 they already possessed, and ministered to them the Holy 
 Spirit, who was covenanted to dwell in them as their 
 
 * It was drawn up in 1662, a hundred years after the settlement of the 
 Liturgy in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. When formed, it was unanimously 
 consented to and received by both Houses of Convocation. 
 
ITS CONNECTION WITH BAPTISM. 61 
 
 living advocate ; as the sustainer and perfector of their 
 salvation, and the unfailing source of their faith, wisdom, 
 love, power, and unwearied obedience. If the two services 
 are compared together, it is plain that both have been 
 formed upon the same model ; and that model was un- 
 questionably the form of the Church in its earliest ages, 
 when adult baptism was the more common mode of its 
 administration. It would be an inversion of all order and 
 just connection, to suppose that the form of our service for 
 the baptism of adults was a mere adaptation of that for 
 the baptism of infants, designed to meet the new case of 
 adult candidates. Baptism was not first applied to infants 
 or to children, but was ministered to adult believers. Its 
 subsequent administration to their infant children was a 
 peculiar appropriation of the ordinance to those, whom 
 God when he formed his Church had commanded to be 
 brought into the same covenant with himself as their 
 parents. The meaning therefore, and the efficacy of 
 the ordinance, must be governed by the peculiar circum- 
 stances of those to whom it is applied. The children 
 are brought into covenant with Grod equally with their 
 parents ; of those blessings of the covenant which they 
 are capable of receiving, they are at once made partakers. 
 To the rest they have a covenant right, and they will be 
 invested with them, as soon as they are capable of them, 
 and qualified to plead for and claim them according to 
 the conditions of the covenant. Thus in the case we have 
 been considering ; release from Adam's sin is the imme- 
 diate fruit of the baptism of infants ; they are no longer 
 children of wrath and outcasts from Grod, but children of 
 grace, brought nigh to him, and made members of his 
 family: he is their Grod. But as none can receive the 
 gift of the indwelling Spirit without repentance and faith, 
 infants, being incapable of either, cannot receive it ; yet 
 have they a covenant right to it, and when qualified to 
 
62 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 receive it, they shall obtain it. When, therefore, upon 
 the assumption of his real repentance and faith, it is 
 affirmed of the newly baptized adult, that he is regenerate, 
 forgiven, and cleansed by the Holy Spirit, and grafted 
 into the Church of Christ ; and the same blessings are 
 declared to belong to the baptized infant ; the declaration 
 can only be made on the assumption that the latter will 
 respond to the promise made on his behalf, and fulfil the 
 conditions of the covenant on which these blessings depend. 
 Of these blessings, the gift of the indwelling Spirit is 
 one, for it was by our Lord limited to believers (John vii. 
 38, 39) ; and they, and they only, are declared to have 
 received it (Acts v. 32, compared with John vi. 29, 
 1 Johniii. 23, and Eph. i. 13, 14). Yet unquestionably 
 this is the blessing which constitutes and evidences the re- 
 generate state of the believer, and is that perfecting of his 
 condition which is set forth as his peculiar privilege and 
 blessing under the gospel (Matt. iii. 11 ; John i. 29 — 34 ; 
 Acts i. 4, 5 ; ii. 3, 4). The exercise of repentance and 
 of faith in (rod was the characteristic of (rod's people 
 from the beginning, and it still marks them; they en- 
 joyed also from the beginning grace through the Spirit 
 for obedience and faith, according to their circumstances. 
 But their present blessedness is, that they live to (rod by 
 the power of the Spirit living in them ; they live to him 
 by faith in Christ as their life, and knowing that Christ 
 lives in them by his Spirit given to them (Gal. ii. 20 ; 
 v. 16—25 ; 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20; 2 Cor. xiii. 5). And this it is 
 which brings them out of their state of pupillage under 
 tutors and governors, into the condition of men, and 
 introduces them into the full liberty of the children of 
 God. The condition of the regenerate believer is as 
 different from the condition of the believer before the 
 Spirit was given, as is the condition and life of the new- 
 born babe from that which it possessed before its birth. 
 
ITS NATUKE AND EFFECT. 63 
 
 Now he has access with confidence to God his Father, by 
 the faith of Christ and through the Spirit, and he is 
 enabled to stand in this grace, and to walk at liberty in 
 God's ways. His regeneration is not that change which is 
 effected by the enlightening, convincing, and quickening 
 of the soul which leads to repentance and faith. It is the 
 change which follows the exercise of a penitent believing 
 mind, and the confession of the truth as it is in Christ 
 (Rom. x. 9, 10). 
 
 § 3. The Nature of the Change denoted by Regeneration. 
 
 The third difficulty which I notice, arises from the 
 different views entertained as to the amount and nature of 
 the change signified by regeneration. 
 
 That regeneration signifies a change in the sinner's 
 state is granted by all. But does it denote simply a 
 change in the relation in which he stands to God, — his 
 restoration to the favour of God, and his acceptance by 
 him ? Or does it mean his deliverance from the cor- 
 ruption contracted by him ? Or does it mean something 
 beyond, and distinct from both ? Each opinion has its 
 advocates ; but it is needless for us to examine the first, as 
 it is necessarily involved in either of the two last, both of 
 which include the fact of this change in the relation of 
 the sinner to God, whilst in discussing these, it will be 
 clearly seen, that much more than this is included in both 
 of them. We proceed then to consider the second. Does 
 regeneration consist in our deliverance from the corruption 
 entailed by the fall, and our restoration to that state of 
 favour with God in which man previously stood ? This I 
 apprehend to be the opinion of most ; though it is very 
 variously expressed according to the notion its expounders 
 entertain of the original state of Adam, whether they 
 believe him to have been created a holy, or simply a 
 
64 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 moral being, That regeneration involves a moral change 
 is admitted by all ; if we prove the change to be of a far 
 higher character than this, its moral character will be 
 established — the lower being included in the higher, and 
 the less in the greater. 
 
 The opinion then that we are called to examine is this. 
 Man was created in the image of God ; by the fall he has 
 lost that image, and in regeneration it is renewed in the 
 soul of the redeemed sinner. I know not how I can 
 better introduce the subject, than by stating the argument 
 as proposed by a very pious and excellent writer, Bishop 
 Home. He is engaged in an enquiry into the nature of 
 this very image of God in which man was created : and 
 to determine the matter, he refers to two passages of 
 Scripture, one in St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians (iv. 
 22 — 24), and the other in that to the Colossians. In the 
 former, St. Paul exhorts the Ephesians "to put off con- 
 cerning the former conversation the old man, which is 
 corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and to be re- 
 newed in the spirit of their minds ; and that they put on 
 the new man, which after God is created in righteousness 
 and true holiness ; " in the latter passage, the Colossians 
 are described as having " put on the new man, which is 
 renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created 
 him." From these passages, the bishop argues thus : the 
 image renewed must have been the image lost ; but the 
 ima^e renewed is declared to consist in knowledge, rigfht- 
 eousness, and true holiness ; therefore, the image in which 
 man was originally created must have consisted in these 
 particulars; Adam was enlightened with the true know- 
 ledge of God, his mind was upright, and marked with a 
 holy character. 
 
 But to make the argument sound, the Apostle's exhor- 
 tation ought to have been addressed to Ephesians and 
 Colossians who were still Gentiles, natural men, dead in 
 
MAN CREATED IN TIIE IMAGE OF GOD. 65 
 
 trespasses and sin ; and not to believers who had been 
 quickened through the preaching of the Gospel, had been 
 created anew in Christ Jesus, and who, subsequently to 
 faith in Christ, had been sealed with the Holy Spirit of 
 promise (Eph. ii. 1, 5, 10; i. 13, 14. Col. ii. 13). It is 
 however addressed to these latter, and manifestly exhorts 
 them to make progress in that state into which they had 
 been brought, by continually putting off the old man, and 
 putting on the new man ; by growing up in all things to 
 Christ, and making progress in holiness through the con- 
 tinual renewing of that same Holy Spirit who had already 
 quickened and regenerated them [Titus iii. 5]. The 
 bishop's argument therefore altogether fails, having no 
 foundation on which to rest ; for the renewal here spoken 
 of by the apostle is descriptive of the Spirit's work subse- 
 quent to the recovery of the sinner, and not of that by 
 which a lost image is recovered. 
 
 But whence is the notion gathered that the image of 
 God in man has been lost in the fall ? The only passage 
 in scripture, so far as I am aware, which has been quoted 
 in support of it, is one in the 5th of Genesis ; in which, 
 being about to give the genealogy of the patriarchs from 
 Adam to Noah, the historian rehearses the creation of 
 man, declaring in the 1st verse that " in the day that God 
 created man, in the likeness of God made he him : " and 
 then adding, in verse 3rd, that " when Adam had lived 
 130 years he begat Seth in his own likeness, after his 
 image." The comment made on this passage seems to 
 be this : God made man in his own likeness ; but Adam 
 begat his son in his own likeness, i. e. (as inferred) in the 
 likeness of his own fallen nature despoiled of the image 
 of God. Assume that Adam had lost the image of 
 God, and the inference will stand, but without that as- 
 sumption there is no place for it, the natural construction 
 being that Seth was born in the likeness of his father, who* 
 
 F 
 
66 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 had been created in the likeness of God. The fact sought 
 to be proved from this passage must be assumed before 
 it can afford it any support at all. 
 
 Can any passages be referred to which set aside and 
 forbid this assumption that the image of God in man has 
 been lost ? I think there are some. The first I will refer 
 to is in Gen. ix. 5, 6. The passage is remarkable as en- 
 acting a new law, the judgment of death against the mur- 
 derer. When, in the first generation from Adam, Cain 
 murdered his brother, his fellow men were strictly for- 
 bidden to inflict what might seem to reason and conscience 
 the sentence of justice : but now that violence was likely 
 to abound yet more than it had done,* the murderer must 
 be put to death. But there is a special reason assigned 
 for this law, namely, that God made man in his own 
 image, and therefore the murder of a man, by marring 
 that image, dishonoured the Creator. But had man lost 
 the image of God through the fall of Adam, where were 
 the wisdom or the meaning of this act of legislation? 
 Sixteen hundred years after the loss of that image death 
 is made the murderer's doom, on the ground that he has 
 dishonoured God by slaying one Avho bore the image of 
 God ; when, in fact, according to this supposition, there 
 was no image of God in the murdered man to be dis- 
 honoured, and when immediately after its supposed loss 
 the execution of the murderer was by God's command 
 strictly prohibited. The supposition thus gratuitously as- 
 sumed is quite inconsistent with this fact; common sense 
 perceives that the image of God was still to be found in the 
 murdered man, or the murderer could not be punished for 
 having dishonoured it ; the immediate cause of the enact- 
 ment was, I believe, the probable frequency of the crime. 
 
 The next passage is of a more affirmative character ; 
 you will find it in James iii. 9. Speaking of the various 
 
 * Genesis vi. 13. 
 
THAT IMAGE NOT LOST. 67 
 
 evils which arise from the unbridled use of the tongue, 
 
 the apostle says, " Therewith bless we God, even the 
 Father, and therewith curse we men which are made in 
 the similitude of God." The persons meant by those who 
 are made in the similitude of God, are clearly not be- 
 lievers only, the regenerate, in whom the lost image is 
 supposed to be renewed ; for this would make it no crime 
 to curse the unregenerate, or the great body of mankind, 
 and would make the apostle guilty of uttering as great [an 
 immorality], as the Jewish teachers did when they taught 
 their disciples to love their neighbours, i. e. their own 
 people, and to hate their enemies, i. e. all the rest of the 
 world. No ; all mankind are evidently within St. James's 
 view, and every one is prohibited from pronouncing a 
 curse upon any other. It is clear, however, in this case as 
 in the former one, that neither the law nor the ground 
 assigned for it could carry any moral force, or approve 
 itself to human reason, if man were not still a living 
 image of his Maker. We conclude then, as many have 
 concluded before us, that man has not lost the image 
 of Grod in which he was created. 
 
 We proceed to consider in what that image consisted. 
 
 Bishop Home, as we have seen, by the misapplication 
 of the passages already referred to, concluded it to have 
 been an image of God in respect of knowledge, righteous- 
 ness, and true holiness. Man is certainly a thinking, rea- 
 soning being, endowed with an appetite for knowledge and 
 a capacity for attaining it ; and in this respect he may be 
 spoken of as an image of God the All-knowing, according 
 to his measure (though angels so far excelling him in all 
 wisdom are in this far higher images of their Maker) ; and 
 the scriptures expressly declare man was made an image 
 of God in respect of righteousness : i ' God made man up- 
 right" (Eccles. vii. 29). But that in his first creation he 
 exhibited an image of God's holiness cannot be allovred. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 Holiness necessarily involves an aversion, an abhorrence of 
 evil : " Thou art of purer eyes than to behold iniquity " 
 (Hab. i. 13). But to estimate the evil of sin there must 
 be a knowledge of sin, from which at his creation man 
 was happily exempt, and therefore though he was a pure 
 and innocent being, he could not be a holy one. Be- 
 sides, as sensitive (not sensual) beings, we seem to be inca- 
 pable of knowing anything realty, effectively, and so 
 that the knowledge is our own and not merely theoretic 
 and speculative, unless we have some experience of it; 
 whilst innocent, man could not have this experience of 
 sin, and therefore he could not have expressed a strictly 
 holy character. The writer of the apocryphal book of 
 Wisdom makes the image of God in man consist in his 
 immortality : " God created man to be immortal," free 
 from corruption, " and made him the image of his own 
 eternity" (Wisdom ii. 23). This declaration contains an 
 important truth respecting man's nature ; for his soul is 
 created immortal, and his body was in his first creation 
 free from corruption ; and though not in itself possessed of 
 an immortal nature, yet was it capable, by the use of the 
 tree of life, of an unending existence. As thus constituted, 
 what is predicated of man in this passage may fairly be ad- 
 mitted as true, but it is not the truth after which we are 
 enquiring. If we look at the passage declaring man's 
 creation, we shall see that the proposal by the gracious 
 Creators to make man in their image, and after their like- 
 ness, had reference to the creatures with' which he was 
 surrounded, and the position he was to hold amongst them. 
 On the sixth day of creation, when God had commanded 
 the earth to bring forth the living creature after his kind, 
 cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his 
 kind, it is added ; " And God said, Let us make man in 
 our image, after our likeness ; and let them have dominion 
 over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and 
 
THE SPIRITUAL MAN, 69 
 
 over the cattle, and over all the earth " (Gen. i. 24—26). 
 Man was to be made in the image of God then, to 
 qualify him to exercise that dominion with which he 
 was to be invested, as God's viceregent, over his creatures. 
 We ask therefore, what it is that qualifies man to be ruler 
 of Grod's creatures upon earth ? Certainly the qualifica- 
 tion does not lie simply in the immortality of his soul, 
 though the consciousness of such immortality must greatly 
 deepen his sense of responsibility ; nor does it lie in his 
 physical strength or in his animal instincts of contrivance, 
 subtlety, and watchfulness [in all which he is surpassed 
 by some of the other creatures], but it evidently lies in 
 his mental power and moral nature ; his capacity of 
 thought, of anticipation and preparation for the future, 
 and of indefinitely profiting from experience ; sustained 
 as it is by a power of comparing things together, and of 
 exercising judgment upon them under the direction of a 
 moral conscience, which perceives and feels what is right, 
 and commands its pursuit : and this we doubt not was 
 that image of himself in which God created man, an 
 image which confessedly men have not lost, which they 
 have fully exhibited in every succeeding generation, and 
 still possess to this day. 
 
 If then man has not lost the image of his God, regene- 
 ration cannot consist in its restoration : and we are again 
 brought to the question, in what does it consist ? and what 
 is the change which is denoted by it? We reply, it is that 
 change by which the natural rational man is created anew 
 and transformed into the spiritual man. Seen in his 
 creation, the man of earth is by the inspiration of the 
 breath of lives (Gen. ii. 7) formed into a living soul, the 
 man with the Psyche; but that Psyche is an immortal 
 creature, and gives personality to the animal frame. Seen 
 in his fallen state, man is still the creature with the soul ; 
 but that Psyche, that soul, is degraded by the judgment 
 
70 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL "WORSHIP. 
 
 of Grod to be the drudge of the body; the man has 
 become Sarkikos, the fleshly, carnal, or sensual man, 
 living to make provision for the flesh to fulfil its lusts. 
 But now in his recovery through the redemption that is 
 in Christ Jesus, this degraded carnal man is exalted (and 
 with reverence be it spoken, and in humble adoration of 
 God's wisdom, grace, and love, — he is ordained of Grod 
 through his very fall to be exalted) into the spiritual man, 
 the Pneumatikos, the man with the Spirit, animated and 
 actuated by the Holy Grhost. Of this spiritual man, the 
 first example was given to the world in Christ Jesus, the 
 son of Mary, who took our nature, and was in all things 
 made like his brethren ; was tempted in every respect as 
 they, and suffered when tempted : but by the Holy Spirit 
 given to abide in him, he was preserved free from sin, 
 was ever holy, harmless, undefiled, and being made perfect 
 through suffering, was glorified in body, and exalted to 
 the right hand of Grod in heavenly places (Heb. ii. 10, 
 18 ; iv. 14, 15 ; vii. 26 ; 1 Pet ii. 21—25). To his image all 
 his people are ordained to be conformed ; that they may 
 be so, they must be made spiritual men ; partakers of the 
 Holy Spirit, and actuated by him whose office it is to 
 purify, sanctify, and train them into the likeness of their 
 Lord. In this respect, their glorification is commenced 
 in this world ; its consummation will be effected by the 
 perfecting of their likeness to him in heaven, and the 
 final fashioning of their bodies into the likeness of his 
 risen and now glorious body, when he appears the second 
 time without sin unto salvation. The whole work designed 
 to accomplish man's salvation is to terminate in this 
 (Rom. viii. 29, 30). The Christ [the second Adam] is a 
 new, a more perfect, a spiritual image of the Father, his 
 express image ; he is not only, as the first Adam was, an 
 image of Grod's moral perfections, of his truth, his righte- 
 ousness, and goodness ; he exhibits also his spiritual 
 
FIRST SEEN IN CHRIST. 71 
 
 nature as a holy being, a quickening spirit, pervading 
 and penetrating the souls of men in their inward actings 
 within themselves ; and, taking possession of them by the 
 Holy Spirit, he holds them in communion with himself 
 and the Father through the Spirit. Such an image of 
 God was the man Christ Jesus, such communion had he 
 by the Holy Spirit w T ith his heavenly Father : his people 
 are ordained to be conformed to him, and as they at- 
 tain this conformity, they become capable of a similar 
 communion with the Father, with his Son Christ Jesus 
 himself, and with all who are partakers of the same 
 spiritual and holy nature (John xvii. 21 ; 1 John i. 3). 
 
 The process by which this change is effected is de- 
 scribed by various terms. Generally it is spoken of as a 
 new creation, the subjects of which are called new creatures, 
 of whom the Lord Jesus Christ is the firstborn, the proto- 
 type, and head ; terms which clearly refute the notion 
 that the recovery of sinners is their restoration to the 
 happy state from which Adam by transgression fell. In 
 truth, however, such restoration is in the very nature of 
 things impossible ; for innocence once lost — and surely 
 Adam, before his fall, was an innocent being — innocence 
 once lost can never be restored. But thanks be to God, 
 where sin has abounded, grace has still more abounded. 
 Man's recovery, or rather his salvation, is not a restoration, 
 but a most blessed exaltation. The natural man, the 
 Psychikos, is ordained in salvation to become the spiritual 
 man, the Pneumatikos. Hence the two races are con- 
 trasted in their respective heads. " The first man Adam 
 was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quick- 
 ening spirit : howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, 
 but that which is natural. The first man is of the earth, 
 earthy, the second is the Lord from heaven : as is the 
 earthy, such are they that are earthy, and as is the 
 heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as 
 
72 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHir. 
 
 we have borne the image of the earthy, so we shall also 
 bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor. xv. 45 — 49). It is 
 true that the apostle is here speaking of the final change 
 of the bodies of the Lord's people when he comes from 
 heaven ; but what will then be verified in respect of their 
 bodies is verified now in respect of their souls (Rom. viii. 
 28—30 ; 2 Cor. iii. 18). By the gift of the Holy Spirit to 
 dwell in him, and by that Spirit's continual ministry, the 
 natural man is constituted a spiritual man. But the 
 change is one progressively carried on, and is, as I said, 
 described by various terms. 
 
 Sometimes it is expressed by the term "quickening," 
 significant of the imparting a principle of life ; and the 
 sinner's state is correspondently set forth as that of one 
 dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. ii. 1 — 3). Then, again, it 
 is represented as an awakening out of a state of sleep, of 
 insensibility and torpor ; and sometimes both these senses 
 seem combined, as in that passage, " Awake thou that 
 sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give 
 thee light " (Eph. v. 14). But we may observe, that let 
 the terms used to express the process of salvation be what 
 they may, and however the powers of the natural man 
 may be improved and exercised subordinately to it, yet 
 the act which makes the difference between the dead 
 sinner and the sinner alive to God is a divine act, the 
 effect of divine power, and cannot be effected by any im- 
 provement, however great, of the natural qualities of the 
 human being. The history of Ephraim's conversion, 
 given in Jeremiah xxxi. 18 — 20, and the description of 
 the regeneration of the house of Israel, given in the 
 37th of Ezekiel, clearly establish this fact. The utmost 
 effort of human nature is in the cry " turn thou me, and 
 I shall be turned," if that utterance may be allowed to be 
 its cry. The acknowledgment, " surely after that I was 
 turned," confesses it was God who turned the soul to 
 
THE EFFECT OF THE SPIRIT'S 73 
 
 himself. All that moral power can produce in its utmost 
 efficacy is the reformation of men, and their recovery to 
 the forms of life without its power. The Spirit of God 
 alone can cause them to spring up, a mighty army of 
 living men, possessed of energetic power. 
 
 The first sign of such a power is to be seen, as in the 
 case of Ephraim, in repentance and its companion faith. 
 These are the two elementary principles of the spiritual 
 mind or nature, and prove those in whom they exist to 
 be after the Spirit ; and these elements of the spiritual 
 creation have been seen in all God's people since the fall. 
 
 But the regenerate state, the product of the new birth, 
 was never seen until it was manifested in our Lord ; first 
 in his soul as fully actuated by the Holy Spirit, given to 
 him without measure, and in whose power he worked out 
 all the will of God ; and then in his body which, when 
 raised from the dead, had undergone the appointed change, 
 was no longer corruptible, degraded, and weak, a mere 
 animal frame fitted for the abode of a human soul, but 
 incorruptible, glorious, and possessed of mighty power ; a 
 spiritual body fitted to be the active instrument of a soul 
 inhabited by the Holy Ghost. For as it was assigned to 
 our Lord to be the head of the new creation and the first- 
 born of its creatures, so was it assigned to him also to be 
 the firstborn from the dead, and in his body the pattern 
 of the resurrection which awaits his people, that in all 
 things he may have the preeminence (Col. i. 15, 18 ; 
 Eom. viii. 29). 
 
 Further, his people did not enter into the regenerate 
 state until our Lord had ascended to heaven, had received 
 the promise of the Spirit, and baptized his disciples with 
 the Holy Grhost. It was of this state that our Lord spoke 
 to Nicodemus, a believer already, and a disciple, though a 
 fearful one ; and which he declared was necessary for all 
 w T ho should obtain an entrance into the kingdom of God. 
 
74 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP*. 
 
 That kingdom was established in heaven when our Lord, 
 the glorified Man, was received amidst the heavenly host, 
 and made to sit down on the Father's throne. Its esta- 
 blishment was proclaimed and evidenced on earth, when 
 the followers of the Lord were baptized with the Spirit, 
 and preached the exaltation and crowning of the Saviour 
 in the Spirit's power. Most fitly, therefore, was that 
 scripture (John iii. 1 — 8) selected as the warrant of 
 the baptism of the adult believer, of the blessings to be 
 sought on his behalf, and of the assertions to be made 
 respecting him when baptized. Baptism seals to him the 
 forgiveness of his sins, which was already his blessing as 
 a believer; and the Spirit given to him testifies his 
 adoption into the family of (rod, enables him to call him 
 Father with all the confidence of a child, and assures him 
 that as a son he is an heir of God and joint heir with 
 Christ. He enables him also to pursue his course, con- 
 tending against sin, the world, and the devil, until he 
 finishes his work and is received into the glory of the 
 Lord. 
 
 This is that state of regeneration which in the New 
 Testament is required to evidence the standing of a child 
 of God in his family. Previous to the setting up of the 
 kingdom, repentance and faith, when joined with outward 
 consistency of life, were evidences of this condition, and 
 they are now hopeful symptoms of it ; but the gift of the 
 Spirit is required to certify their reality, and this gift when 
 received will be followed by a corresponding spiritual life 
 (Rom. viii. 9—14 ; 1 Cor. vi. 19—20 ; 2 Cor. vi. 14—18 ; 
 vii. 1 ; 2 Tim. ii. 19). This it is to be spiritual, to have 
 the kingdom of God within us, to have Christ formed in 
 us the hope of glory ; and nothing less than this. No doubt 
 this state is manifested in various measures in different 
 believers ; and hence we find St. Paul does not scruple to 
 speak of some Christians as not deserving the name of 
 
POWER AND PRESENCE. 75 
 
 spiritual in comparison with others, but rather that of 
 carnal persons ; and this because of their defective Chris- 
 tian life (1 Cor. iii. 1 — 4). On another occasion he makes 
 a similar distinction, grounded on the defective knowledge 
 of those to whom he was writing (Heb. v. 12 — 14). Yet in 
 both cases it is assumed of all of whom he speaks that 
 they have the Spirit. So also, when the apostle John 
 divides the whole Christian community into little children, 
 young men, and fathers (a distinction not marked by age, 
 but by their growth in Christ), if the characteristics he 
 affixes to each class are carefully examined, they will be 
 found to be such as the indwelling Spirit alone can form 
 and sustain (1 John ii. 12 — 14). 
 
 It is evident, however, as we have already stated, that 
 such a regenerate state cannot be predicated of the 
 baptized infant ; for the whole change which produces it 
 is an effect produced on the state of the soul, through the 
 understanding, enlightened by the Spirit of (rod, and by 
 his enabling the soul to embrace the truth in the love of 
 it. It is the effect of Grod's shining into the heart of the 
 sinner, and giving him the knowledge of his glory in the 
 face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor.iv. 4—6). For this condition 
 the infant or child may be in a state of preparation, but he 
 is incapable of enjoying it until he is qualified to enter 
 into and receive [some measure of] this truth. But if 
 this is so, it is high time to ask the question, Of what is the 
 infant made a partaker in baptism ? However, to answer 
 this question, two others must first be resolved : What is 
 the actual moral state of every infant ? and of What [spi- 
 ritual blessings] is such an infant capable of being made 
 a partaker ? Let us endeavour to examine these points, 
 doubt and hesitation upon which cannot but very greatly 
 perplex the determination of the question before us. 
 
76 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 § 4. Mistaken Notions of the Condition of Infants. 
 
 We come then to the fourth difficulty to be considered. 
 It arises from the confused notions entertained — first, as 
 to the actual condition of every infant ; and, secondly, as 
 to his relative condition in respect of Grod. 
 
 Let us enquire into these two points. The scriptures 
 are full and explicit upon them. They declare that we 
 are all by nature children of wrath, that Adam's sin has 
 been reckoned to us all. " By the offence of the one, 
 the many have died ; " " by the offence of one, judgment 
 came on all unto condemnation ; " " by one man's dis- 
 obedience the many were made sinners ; " reckoned as 
 such and dealt with as such (Rom. v. 12 — 21). That this 
 is the state of things is further proved by the fact that 
 all are subject to death, the punishment of Adam's sin, 
 without any reference to their own personal transgres- 
 sions. But the scriptures also declare that mankind have 
 derived corruption from his sin, in the way of natural 
 inheritance [Ps. li. 5 ; Job xiv. 4, xv. 14 ; Ps. lviii. 3], 
 and that all the natural offspring of Adam are not only 
 transgressors by imputation, but corrupt by nature and 
 outcasts because of corruption. But many questions at 
 once arise upon this : What is the corruption of the infant? 
 What is its principle, and how is it derived ? Is the seat 
 of corruption originally in the infant's soul, or in its body ? 
 The answer to this question will perhaps answer all the 
 rest : let us examine it. 
 
 Corruption by birth is acknowledged ; and the question 
 is, is its seat originally in the soul, or in the body ? Many, 
 perhaps most, will answer, it is in the soul. But consider 
 whence we derive our souls. When Grod created Adam 
 he formed his body of the dust of the ground, and then 
 breathed into that animal body the breath of lives, and 
 man became a living soul. In this respect the creature 
 
THE ROOT OF CORRUPTION. 77 
 
 man was distinguished from the rest of the animals which 
 the earth brought forth; for his animating spirit came 
 from God, and they were wholly formed of the earth, and 
 all the principles comprised within their living frames 
 could be reduced again to their origin. Is the same pro- 
 cess still pursued? when God has in his providence prepared 
 a body from the substance of the parent, does he breathe 
 into it a living spirit, capable of thought, of reason, and 
 endowed with a moral nature ; or do we derive our souls as 
 well as our bodies from our parents ? On the latter suppo- 
 sition, it would appear that the soul must be material, for we 
 ascribe, or seem to ascribe, to it divisibility. By a division 
 of matter, and the exercise of a mighty life-giving power 
 on the eliminated portion, in every generation human 
 bodies have been produced. Is it by a similar process 
 our souls are produced ? is a portion of the parental soul 
 separated together with that body, and then wrought into 
 a separate thinking creature ? 
 
 We reject the notion, not only because, by ascribing 
 divisibility to spirit, we seem to confound it with matter, 
 but because we make a representation of things inconsis- 
 tent with the scriptures. In the book of Ecclesiastes 
 (iii. 18 — 20) we find a striking statement of the close 
 similarity between the body of the man and of the beast : 
 " one thing befalle^h them ; as the one dieth so dieth the 
 other ; yea, they have all of them one breath, all go to 
 one place, all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." 
 And had the writer ended here, it might have been con- 
 cluded that neither had the advantage of the other. But 
 he adds (verse 21), "Who knoweth the sp'irit of a man 
 that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that- goeth 
 downward to the earth ? " The beast, with all that he 
 possesses, all his life, goeth down — he is wholly material, 
 and is reduced altogether to his original elements. But 
 not so is the end of the man: his body, indeed, must 
 return to the earth as it was ; but his spirit goes not down 
 
/8 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 with it ; it returns to God who gave it (Eccles. xii, 7). 
 God then gave the spirit to the new-formed body of his 
 creature, it came from him ; and hence, whilst the new- 
 born infant has a natural connection with his parents, and 
 has a certain constitutional similarity of form and of 
 character derived from them, he has, in his soul, created 
 by God, a distinct and independent existence,, which is his 
 own and not another's, and which, though subject to very 
 material influence both from its union with his own body 
 and from all other beings around him, constitutes his per- 
 sonal identity and responsibility. Doubtless this is the 
 reason that God is addressed as " The God of the spirits 
 of all flesh " [Numbers xvi. 22; xxvii. 16], and described 
 as the Maker of the souls of men [Is. lvii. 16], and as 
 the Former of the spirit of man within him [Zech. 
 xii. 1]. We conclude therefore, without hesitation, that 
 our souls have not been derived from our parents, but 
 have been and are God's creation, successively produced and 
 united by him to the bodies which in his appointed way 
 have been prepared for them. 
 
 We return then to the question, Is the seat of human 
 corruption originally in the soul of man, or is it in his 
 body ? If it be originally in his soul, it has been created 
 in or with it. Is God, then, the Author of evil — really or 
 properly so — its originator ? It is impossible ; God cannot 
 look upon iniquity without anger. He cannot do evil ; 
 he cannot be tempted with evil ; he cannot produce it in 
 any : and, therefore, he never created a corrupt or evil 
 soul. The source of human corruption, therefore, is not 
 originally in the soul, but is in the body of each human 
 being ; and it is by union to this corruptible body that his 
 soul becomes infected with evil, and is too often, alas ! 
 absorbed and carried away by it : but this needs to be 
 explained and vindicated. 
 
 I fully allow, and shall prove, that man is in his present 
 
79 
 
 state depraved, and that his depravity is the natural and 
 the necessary consequence of his condition ; but I utterly 
 deny that the awful descriptions of depravity given of 
 mankind in the scriptures are intended to describe the 
 state of men in the commencement of their lives. When 
 it is said, " God saw the wickedness of man that it was 
 great in the earth, and that every imagination of the 
 thought of his heart was only evil continually," it is not 
 meant that this is the incipient state of every human being. 
 It is manifestly false of the babe, in whose soul no distinct 
 thought or play of imagination has yet been possible ; 
 neither can it be true of such beginnings of thought as 
 may be first excited within it ; nor is it necessarily true of 
 all men. The passage is intended to describe an advanced 
 stage of depravity, when men's iniquity had come to such 
 a head that a special judgment from God was necessary 
 [to check its growth] to vindicate his righteousness, and 
 manifest his abhorrence of evil. So, also, when it is said, 
 " The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and mad- 
 ness is in their hearts whilst they live, and after that 
 they go to the dead " (Eccles. ix. 3 ; viii. 11), or that " the 
 heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked " 
 ( Jer. xvii. 9) — such passages are not to b*e interpreted of 
 children, but of those who have become habituated to evil. 
 It is true that children appear at times to have been 
 planted as in a hotbed of iniquity, and manifest a fearful 
 precocity in evil, everything seeming to conspire in ad- 
 vancing their depravity. So also they sometimes early 
 learn to practise deceit, verifying the Word which describes 
 the children of the wicked as "going astray from the 
 womb, speaking lies " (Ps. lviii. 3). That such instances, 
 however, are so rare as to be marvellous to those who 
 witness them, proves that these descriptions were never 
 intended to be applied indiscriminately to the human race, 
 much less to individuals of that race from their infancy. 
 
SO THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHir. 
 
 And, therefore, I cannot but abhor the mind and senti- 
 ments of that man who, musing upon a babe tying in its 
 cradle, can regard it as a sort of incarnation of the devil. 
 
 Examine and study that infant. The creature of Grod, 
 it is nearly a month since it was born into the world, 
 and now behold it lying in its bed enjoying the life it 
 has received and the things which minister to it. At 
 present unquestionably there is no manifestation of evil 
 in the child; it is wholly occupied with the enjoyment it 
 derives through the body, and it is with this, and with its 
 mother, that the little creature is making acquaintance. 
 Its first access to pleasure has been through the mouth : 
 thus it seeks its gratification, and thus its first desires 
 have respect to the body. Hence its first thoughts and 
 habits of thought concern the body. But is not this a 
 carnal mind ? — and that mind necessarily formed in the 
 child's soul by the influence and promptings of the body — 
 formed moreover before any other habit of thought can be 
 formed, before the mind is capable of attending to any 
 other subject ? No doubt it may be justly observed that 
 when the scriptures speak of a carnal mind they intend 
 to speak of what is positively evil, but that thoughts 
 and desires in respect of the body, and endeavours to sup- 
 ply and satisfy it, are all natural, and are not in themselves 
 evil ; and therefore such a habit of thinking is not to be 
 confounded with that carnal-mindedness which is made 
 the criterion of corruption (Romans viii. 5 — 8). We grant 
 the exception ; but in reply we say, that because of sin 
 man's body is corruptible. Adam was created in incor- 
 ruption, and his body was capable of being sustained in 
 that state by the use of the tree of life. Now our condition 
 is changed. Because of sin man's body is subjected to the 
 penalty of death ; corruption has seized upon it, and, like the 
 moth in the garment, is feeding upon it and bringing it to 
 destruction. This principle of corruption is the source of 
 
THE CARNAL MIND. 81 
 
 continual irritation and irregular action : hence arises the 
 fretting of excessive desires, and the habit of mind which 
 demands their indulgence. This is what the Scriptures 
 mean by our being in the flesh and after the flesh ; an 
 inordinate craving for the gratification of the fleshly [or 
 animal] nature [beyond what it requires for life and 
 strength], forms that carnal mind which is at enmity 
 against Grod, and which when it holds its dominion ends in 
 death. This however is the natural and necessary effect 
 in every instance, of a corruptible body operating on the 
 human soul ; and so manifestly is this corruptible body 
 the source and sustainer of this mind, that so long as it lives, 
 it never ceases to operate according to its nature even upon 
 those who are delivered from its dominion, and in whom 
 a spiritual mind has been formed ; so that whilst the Spirit 
 [the spiritual mind] in the believer lusts against the flesh, 
 the flesh still lusts against the Spirit, and he cannot do the 
 things that he would. Kom. viii. 5 — 8 will abundantly 
 prove the former, and Eom. vii. 18 — 25, the latter. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, from the very term used in 
 Scripture to designate sin in human beings, i. e. "flesh;" 
 from the natural influence of the body upon the soul ; and 
 from the necessary consequence of its irregular action ; that 
 sin has its original seat in the body. Hence the soul of 
 the child becomes infected with' corruption, and that so 
 certainly and permanently that it can never be freed from 
 its influence, until the body is put off, and mortality is 
 swallowed up of life. 
 
 § 5. Recapitulation. 
 
 The principles, then, which we have (as we judge) estab- 
 lished, are these : — 
 
 First. It seems clear that the administration of baptism 
 to infants carries with it a mystical washing of their sin, i. e. 
 
 G 
 
82 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 of all the sin with which they can be charged, and that is 
 Adam's transgression. But how the baptized infant is by 
 baptism regenerated as to a corrupt state of soul, or how 
 far it is capable of regeneration, still remains open to 
 discussion. 
 
 Secondly. It is evident from the service for the baptism 
 of adults, and from the comment made on the first part 
 of the 3rd chapter of St. John's Grospel, that our Church 
 identifies regeneration and the regenerate state with the 
 gift of the Holy Spirit to believers, and the condition into 
 which they are individually brought by being made tem- 
 ples of the Holy Grhost. But to this condition, under the 
 Gospel dispensation, repentance and faith are introductory, 
 and therefore the infant is incapable of it, because he can- 
 not repent or believe ; for the knowledge of sin, of Grod, 
 and of his Christ must precede both repentance and faith. 
 
 Thirdly. With respect to the nature of the change de- 
 noted by regeneration, it is clear that it recognises the 
 fall of man, and the total disorder and corruption of his 
 present state ; and of this state it is designed to be the 
 effectual remedy. But it does not recognise the loss of 
 that image of Grod in which man was first created, neither 
 does it propose to restore it. It involves a great moral 
 change and reformation, it involves a deliverance from the 
 corruption entailed by the fall, but it involves much more. 
 Kegeneration does not simply put the regenerate man into 
 the condition from which Adam fell ; but it advances him 
 into a state far beyond that in which Adam was created. 
 It does not simply reform and deliver him from the evils 
 of the fall, but by a new creation it raises him to a new 
 scale of being. He who was created a rational, upright, 
 and conscientious being ; and who by sin sank into a 
 carnal being, exhibiting a wisdom only earthly, sensual, 
 and devilish ; that man is by regeneration formed into a 
 spiritual being, manifesting a far higher impress and 
 
RECAPITULATION. 83 
 
 likeness of Grod than that in which he was originally 
 created. 
 
 Fourthly. The first evidence of the commencement of this 
 change is to be seen in the repentance of the sinner, and 
 his faith towards Grod and Christ. These are the elementary 
 principles of the spiritual mind and nature. But the com- 
 pletion of the new creation was never witnessed until 
 Christ was manifested as the spiritual man, the Lord from 
 heaven. When the new creation [the spiritual man] had 
 been perfected in him, and he was received up into glory, 
 he poured out the Spirit on his true people, sealing them 
 as the living members of his body, and saving them by the 
 washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy 
 Grhost. But as the whole of this change is the work of the 
 Holy Spirit in the soul of the sinner, through the revela- 
 tion he makes to him of God in Christ, the infant being 
 incapable of receiving such a revelation, cannot be so made 
 a partaker of the blessing as in infancy to enjoy it. Never- 
 theless his relation to G od, as a fallen creature, is changed, 
 and he is invested with a covenant right to all the blessings 
 of his people; and he will assuredly enter into the enjoy- 
 ment of them, when taught to know Grod, he is led as a 
 penitent to seek his mercy and grace through faith in 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 Lastly. As the fallen man has not lost that image of 
 Grod in which he was originally made, so the root of his 
 corruption is not originally in his soul, but in his corrupt- 
 ible body ; which necessarily infects the soul united to it 
 with [ungoverned] irregular lusts, forms in it carnal 
 habits, and sinks it into a carnal creature. It is from this 
 dominion that Christ delivers him : but — and I repeat it 
 again, — not by restoring him simply to the just rule of 
 his moral rational nature, but by changing him into a 
 spiritual being like himself; that under the effectual in- 
 
 o 2 
 
84 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 fluence and government of the Holy Spirit, he may be a 
 spiritual image of his Maker. 
 
 § 6. Conclusion. 
 
 Assuming the principles thus briefly summed up to be 
 true, let us endeavour, first, to give a plain and simple 
 account of what actually takes place, when, in obedience 
 to God's will, an infant is dedicated to him b} r baptism ; 
 and secondly, to show on the one hand, how the proper 
 effects of baptism are developed when no let or hindrance 
 to its efficacy is interposed ; and on the other, how they 
 are prevented or mutilated by neglect or unfaithfulness, 
 by sin and unbelief. 
 
 i. Let us remember that the infant about to be presented 
 for baptism, is not a spiritual, not a holy being, and yet 
 in itself it is a pure and innocent being. Further, it is 
 capable of perceiving, enquiring into, and gradually coming 
 to the knowledge of the objects presented to it, and of 
 exercising thought, memory, reflection, comparison, and 
 judgement upon them. 
 
 ii. This thinking soul, or rather this soul capable of 
 thought, is joined to a corruptible body, not subjected as 
 in the case of these animals to the coercive laws of instinct, 
 but free to act upon the soul without restraint, according 
 to its impulsive and (through its corruptibility) irritable 
 nature. 
 
 iii. This infant also, though pure and innocent, is, as 
 the offspring of Adam, a child of wrath, and an outcast 
 from Grod ; for Adam's transgression is imputed to it, and 
 it is subjected to death, the penalty of his sin. 
 
 iv. In this condition, by (rod's command the infant is 
 presented in his Church for baptism, that it may be brought 
 into covenant with himself, — into that gracious covenant 
 by which Grod engages to be his God, and to take him to 
 
, the infant's blessings. 85 
 
 himself as one of his children. Thus presented, the child is 
 received and baptized, and the covenant is truly made 
 between the contracting parties. On the part of the 
 child it is made unconsciously, but with a full under- 
 standing on the part of those who present it, that it is 
 their duty to bring the infant to the knowledge of its 
 baptism as soon as it is capable of understanding it. 
 Whilst on the part of God, the covenant is distinctly and 
 explicitly ratified ; by his minister he testifies that the 
 child is his, and returns it to its natural parents and 
 guardians to be brought up for him. 
 
 v. Now when thus returned to his parents, in what 
 respect is his condition changed? He is no longer a 
 child of wrath : Adam's transgression is no longer imputed 
 to him ; he is justified from that sin which his baptism 
 has significantly washed away ; no longer an outcast from 
 God, he is brought nigh to him, is gathered into his 
 family, and constituted a member of his Church : more- 
 over a special charge is given, that he be educated as the 
 child of him to whom he now belongs. 
 
 vi. Further, special [spiritual] blessings are covenanted 
 to him, which he is at present incapable of apprehending 
 or enjoying, and therefore cannot receive. Such blessings, 
 I mean, as the general aid of the Spirit to convince him 
 of sin, and righteousness, and judgement to come ; — the 
 continual forgiveness of his sins when sought in repentance 
 and through faith in Christ Jesus ; — then the gift of the 
 Holy Spirit to dwell within his believing soul, and to 
 mould him to the likeness of his Lord ; — ■ the inheritance 
 of the kingdom, and eternal life. All these are covenanted 
 to that child, as the appointed portion of every member 
 of God's family. 
 
 vii. But it is evident that in order to enjoy these bless- 
 ings, he must have some knowledge of them. We will 
 suppose this knowledge to be imparted. The child is 
 
86 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 taught, so soon as he is able to learn, what is the state into 
 which he has been brought. The Holy Spirit blesses that 
 knowledge to enlighten his mind, to produce within him 
 confidence towards Grod and love to him, submission there- 
 fore to his will, and a thankful heart to seek his mercy 
 and grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. Then that 
 child is competent to receive, because competent to seek 
 and to live upon, all the blessings of the covenant of 
 baptism. And it is impossible for us to say how soon this 
 state of mind may not be produced. As soon as a child 
 is capable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and 
 of willing what is wrong, he is capable, by the Spirit's 
 teaching and influence, of willing what is right. And 
 without doubt there are numberless instances on record 
 (what innumerable instances therefore must be unrecorded), 
 in which children, from the first opening of their minds, 
 have shown a decided spirit of piety towards God according 
 to the measure of their knowledge of him. So that they 
 have never been known or recognised but as (rod's chil- 
 dren, sanctified, as it is justly said, from the womb. 
 
 viii. It is perfectly true, that in all these cases, the cor- 
 ruptible body has wrought upon the soul, and has cor- 
 rupted it as far as permitted : has disturbed the temper, 
 suggested thoughts of evil, and excited desires after it. 
 By this very operation, however, such a child is brought 
 to a sense and consciousness of sin, and therefore to a 
 capacity of repentance from it, — to a conviction of his 
 need of a Saviour, and so to faith in him who is the only 
 Saviour. Whilst it is very manifest that the promised 
 aid of the Holy Spirit may well be exerted to neutralize 
 the effects of a corruptible body, to prevent the contraction 
 of sinful habits, and to form habits of prayer, of spiritual 
 thought, and spiritual practice, until the principles of 
 repentance and faith are fully formed and brought out 
 into action, and the penitent believer is warranted to 
 
LOST BY NEGLECT, 87 
 
 plead for the sealing blessing of the covenant, the gift of 
 the Indwelling Spirit, — the Lord's promised baptism. 
 
 ix. How soon a child may be brought to this condition, 
 it is, as I have already said, impossible to say. But I am 
 persuaded it is sadly retarded, and sometimes apparently 
 rendered impossible, by the fault of those who have made 
 themselves responsible to (rod for the work of teaching 
 others, but who by unfaithfulness, by neglect, or by im- 
 perfect if not false teaching, pervert their work. Alas for 
 us parents and sponsors, how grievous is the condemnation 
 under which we lie? What have been our prayers, — 
 what our endeavours, for the good of those committed to 
 our charge ? where our watchfulness, our faithfulness, our 
 earnest desires for our children, our abiding sense of our 
 own responsibility, and of the importance of their salva- 
 tion ? Yielding to sloth, how many opportunities we have 
 lost, how short-lived have been our efforts, whilst instead 
 of steadily pursuing our work and labour of love, we have 
 pleaded the difficulty of the duty in excuse for its abandon- 
 ment ! But can such delude themselves with the notion 
 that the love of Christ governs their lives in sincerity ? 
 This matter ought to come home to each of us indi- 
 vidually, and compel us to pause and consider what we 
 are. But certainly, in the retrospect of what we have 
 done, or rather have failed to do, we shall not wonder that 
 our dedication of our infants to Grod has been so fruitless 
 of results, or that our early and fervent anticipations of 
 good have not merely been disappointed, but have been 
 succeeded with a monstrous growth of evil. 
 
 For consider, if the dedicated child is never instructed 
 in the knowledge of Grod and his Christ ; is never trained 
 in obedience to his commands, or only occasionally, 
 and not with line upon line, and precept upon precept, 
 here a little and there a little (Isaiah xxviii. 9, 10, 
 the only way of teaching these), how shall the fear and 
 
88 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIEITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 love of God, or faith in him and obedience to Christ, be 
 formed in his soul ? What rational hope can be enter- 
 tained, therefore, that the power of the corruptible body, 
 ever weighing upon the soul, shall be resisted and abated ; 
 the formation of a carnal mind arrested, or a spiritual 
 mind generated ? Or what Christian hope can there be, 
 that the blessing of the Lord — and this is all in all in 
 the matter — will follow the feeble and desultory attempts 
 of the lukewarm, whom he abhors? I know that such 
 transgressors not unfrequently seek to excuse their sin 
 with the purpose of God, and to silence a reproaching 
 conscience with the thought, that had they done all they 
 could, they could not have changed that purpose, they 
 could not have given life, or prevented the progress of 
 death. 
 
 But clearly the judgement of God against the un- 
 faithful watchman lies against all such (Ezek. iii. 18 — 
 20; xxxiii. 6 — 10). Our duty was obvious, and we ought 
 to have followed it ; the purpose of Grod was not revealed 
 to us, and therefore could form no ground of action for 
 us. " The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, 
 but those things which are revealed belong to us and our 
 children for ever, that we may do them." * 
 
 The guilt, however, of this evil, lies not only on the 
 parents and sponsors of the baptized; it lies also, and 
 perhaps more frequently, on the children themselves, who 
 are commonly the causes of their own destruction; cer- 
 tainly in no case can they perish but by their own con- 
 currence in this iniquity. For if when instruction is 
 offered, they refuse to hear ; if when they have attained 
 to some knowledge of right doctrine, they will not act upon 
 it, will not seek for God's grace, will not endeavour to frame 
 their lives according to his will, but set themselves in 
 
 * Deut. X2qx. 29. 
 
OR BY WILFUL REJECTION. 89 
 
 their own way, how can they inherit the blessings of 
 baptism, or profit by that dedication of themselves to God, 
 which he accepted, but which they now repudiate ? Their 
 parents acted faithfully and kindly in bringing them into 
 the covenant, and may as faithfully have endeavoured to 
 bring them into the enjoyment of its blessings ; but they 
 have broken it, and the judgement of a broken covenant 
 awaits their unfaithfulness, and finds them without excuse. 
 The expostulation of God with his people Israel, and the 
 judgement denounced against them, may well be applied 
 to such (Isaiah v. 1 — 7; Jer. ii. 19,21). Their bap- 
 tismal covenant has already been the ground of many 
 blessings bestowed upon them ; God has remembered it, 
 and been faithful in doing them good ; had they abided 
 in it, it would have profited them still ; had they confessed 
 it, God had blessed them still, even to eternal life ; but 
 they have denied him, and he must deny them. If we 
 believe not, yet he abideth faithful ; he cannot deny him- 
 self! His word of threatening and of judgement must 
 be executed, as well as that of promise and blessing. 
 
90 
 
 ESSAY IV. 
 OX CHKISTIAX EDUCATION. 
 
 (Chiefly from a Sermon preached 1850 at St. Martin's, Leicester.) 
 
 Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not : for of such 
 is the kingdom of heaven. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands 
 upon them, and blessed them."— Mark x. 14. ''Bring them up in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord." — Eph. yi. 4. 
 
 § 1. Its true Foundation. 
 
 It is remarkable that these are the only passages in the 
 New Testament which make reference to the education of 
 children, and positively enjoin it on their parents. The 
 } 7 oung are indeed exhorted to be obedient, serious, and 
 sober-minded ; and parents are required to keep them in 
 subjection ; children also are incidentally spoken of as 
 instructed in the Holy Scriptures from their youngest 
 years. And thus it seems to be always taken for granted 
 that they are brought up in a Christian manner ; but yet, 
 so far as I am aware, no other positive assertion is made 
 on this point in the New Testament. We may wonder 
 that when a new and perfecting dispensation was being 
 introduced into the world, no regulation, or next to none, 
 should be given on a point so important to every com- 
 munity as the education of their children and their right 
 instruction in the ways of the Lord. But so it is; and 
 indeed these two passages are fully sufficient for our 
 direction in this work. They fully warrant our dedi- 
 
THE OLD FOUNDATION 91 
 
 cation of these children to Christ ; and they enjoin on 
 Christian parents the duty of giving a Christian education 
 to the children committed to their care. Their sufficiency 
 might be questioned, if the dedication of the infant 
 children of God's people to G od were a new institution, 
 unknown before the dispensation of the Gospel, or had 
 their religious education never been previously insisted 
 on, nor made a special part of the duty of the Church to 
 its members. But whilst the Christian is, in a certain 
 sense, a new dispensation, -it is also a perfecting dispen- 
 sation, built upon the old foundations which are assumed 
 to remain firm and entire; and consequently, the old 
 relation established by Jehovah between himself and the 
 children of his people continues unchanged. Now the 
 dedication of the infant children of God's people to God, 
 was as old as the constitution of his Church. When he 
 took Abraham and his household into covenant with him- 
 self, and appointed circumcision as the sign and seal of 
 their dedication to him, he expressly commanded that 
 their children should be included in that covenant by 
 receiving the same circumcision. He engaged to be the 
 God of those children, equally as of their parents, to bless, 
 teach, and keep them, to be their shield and exceeding- 
 great reward. He engaged to bestow on them spiritual 
 blessings, and required them to live in the hope of the 
 promised inheritance, as strangers and pilgrims on the 
 earth. 
 
 Hence, when St. Peter was asked on the day of Pente- 
 cost by his conscience-stricken hearers, " Men and breth- 
 ren, what shall we do?" he said, "Repent and be bap- 
 tized every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for 
 the remission of sins ; and ye shall receive the gift of 
 the Holy Ghost. For the promise is to you and to your 
 children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the 
 Lord your God shall call." The promise referred to was 
 
92 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 the promise of the Holy Spirit, in which the children 
 were equally interested with their parents, not only by 
 virtue of the promise as given by Joel, but because of 
 the covenant which put them into the same condition as 
 their parents (Isaiah xliv. 3; Joel ii. 28). Nor was the 
 promise confined to the Jewish nation alone : it extended 
 to the heathen and their children, to all whom the Lord 
 their God should call to the knowledge of himself and 
 bring into his covenant. In this application of the pro- 
 mise, the Apostle was therefore building on the old foun- 
 dation — on the original promise made to Abraham, that 
 in him all the nations and families of the earth should be 
 blest,* and on the special covenant by which God took his 
 whole household, composed of members of various tribes 
 and nations, to be his people, and partakers with Abraham 
 — they following the faith of their father Abraham — of 
 all the promises. 
 
 Our Lord had indeed virtually expressed the same mind, 
 when some parents, having brought their children to him 
 to be blessed, his disciples would have prevented their 
 troubling him ; thinking apparently that their Lord's time 
 was not to be expended on objects so incapable of profit- 
 ing by his teaching. But he rebuked them, and corrected 
 this notion. As the children had been brought into God's 
 Church of old, and their instruction had been provided 
 for by his express appointment, so must they be no less 
 cared for under the Gospel. As the good shepherd, he 
 was to feed the whole flock, but specially to gather the 
 lambs in his arms and to carry them in his bosom. For 
 whilst it was the glory of his dispensation to perfect all 
 that had preceded it, yet this did not put its blessings 
 above the reach of the weakest members of his Church, 
 and they would be as capable of enjoying them as they 
 
 * Gen. xii. 3; xvii. 1-4, 9-H; Rom. iv. 9-12; Gal. iii. 26-29. 
 
OF ALL EDUCATION. 93 
 
 had been of eDJoying the blessings of Abraham in common 
 with their parents. 
 
 Nor is anything less than this contained in the brief 
 precept addressed to parents by St. Paul, " Bring them 
 up ; " educate them, continually nourish them both in the 
 discipline and in the knowledge of the Lord ; that their 
 minds may be fully instructed in his doctrine, their prin- 
 ciples of life formed in accordance with his life, and them- 
 selves trained in habits of obedience to his truth, so that 
 they may be set right in his ways, prepared for the faith of 
 Christ and the true following of him. It was the duty of 
 Jewish, of believing parents, thus to educate their chil- 
 dren in the knowledge of the Lord Jehovah, according to 
 the revelation of himself which he had given them ; and it 
 is equally the duty of Christian parents to educate their 
 children in that knowledge of the Lord their God which 
 is revealed in Christ. But as the duty of the former was 
 specially grounded upon the relations into which their 
 children were brought to Grod, and on the covenant by 
 which these relations were formed; so the injunction laid 
 on Christian parents, to bring up their children in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord, presupposes the es- 
 tablishment of similar relations between their children and 
 the Lord Christ, on the ground of which it becomes their 
 duty so to educate them that their feet may stand right in 
 His ways. 
 
 We have then to enquire, first, what are the relations 
 which subsist between the children of Christians and the 
 Lord, their reconciled Grod and Father in Christ; secondly, 
 what provision he has made for their instruction in the con- 
 stitution of his Church, and in the course of his Providence; 
 and lastly, what is the education which this relationship 
 ought to secure for them, not from their parents only, but 
 from the whole body of the Lord's people — the Church of 
 God. 
 
94 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 § 2. The relation in which the Children of God's People 
 actually stand to God and his Christ 
 
 I have said that the dispensation of the Spirit necessarily 
 rested as a perfecting dispensation npon the old and true 
 foundation of grace through faith ; not upon the law of 
 Moses, which served for a time, and was to be done awa} 7 , 
 but on that first laid in the declaration of God's purpose 
 respecting the woman's seed, and subsequently explained 
 and amplified by every succeeding revelation. Nor is it 
 otherwise with the relations established between Christian 
 children and the Lord their God ; they equally rest, not 
 on the peculiar institutions of the Mosaic law, but on the 
 original covenant of the Church. 
 
 Now, the first mention of any such relation between 
 God and the children of his people, is unquestionably to 
 be found in the institution of the covenant of circumcision. 
 The existence of God's people did not then commence. 
 From the beginning, both before and after the flood, there 
 were those who followed and worshipped Grod in faith, and 
 who were known amongst men by their practice and the 
 title they bore, " the sons of Grod." But whilst there were 
 true followers of God, and men saved by faith, as Abel, 
 Enoch, Noah, Shem, and many thousands more, they were 
 at no time during this period embodied in one community, 
 or united as such in any acts of common worship. The 
 form of their religion was patriarchal, the head of each 
 family was by birthright the conductor of its worship ; 
 and whilst all adhered to the appointed mode of worship, 
 the sacrifice of the lamb, each was as independent in the 
 exercise of his sacrificial office, as in the exercise of his 
 judicial power over the members of his household. When 
 however, after the flood, the world was almost universally 
 carried away by idolatry, it pleased God, for the preservation 
 of the knowledge of himself in it, and for the accomplish- 
 
THE COVENANT OF GOD, 95 
 
 merit of his gracious purpose for man's redemption, to call 
 out of the world a peculiar people for himself. He com- 
 manded Abraham to leave his country and his kindred ; 
 he led him from one country to another till he brought 
 him into the land of Canaan, and after thus guiding and 
 teaching him for five-and-twenty }^ears, he formed his 
 whole household into a distinct community — the visible 
 church. This he did by making with him and his house 
 a solemn covenant, of which circumcision was the sign and 
 seal, and by which God engaged to be their Grod and to 
 acknowledge them as his people ; and they engaged to give 
 themselves up at any cost to his service. 
 
 I need not stop to explain to you the nature of cove- 
 nants, or the ends for which such ordinances have been 
 used by Grod in his dealings with his people. These 
 things are familiar to you in the observance of the co- 
 venant of baptism, by which you and your children have 
 been dedicated to Grod, and his promises sealed to you. 
 They are equally familiar to you in observing the sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's Supper, at which every communi- 
 cant renews his original dedication of himself to Grod, and 
 receives anew the seal of his redemption and of the pre- 
 servation of his life in Christ, by the gift of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 Neither need I remark to you that the body of persons 
 thus taken into covenant with Grod, and constituted his 
 visible church, must have amounted to at least 1,600 souls; 
 nor that they were a mixed community, composed of un- 
 believers as well as of the faithful followers of Abraham. 
 Both these are historic facts, which cannot be disputed. 
 
 But you will observe that the blessings proposed by this 
 covenant to Abraham and his whole encampment, were 
 spiritual and not temporal blessings. This is manifestly 
 true of Abraham from the whole history of Grod's dealings 
 with him, and from the record that "Abraham believed Grod, 
 
96 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 and it was counted to him for righteousness." The Apostle, 
 in commenting on this record, tells us that the covenant 
 of circumcision sealed to Abraham the righteousness of 
 that faith which he had whilst yet uncircumcised. But 
 the imputation of righteousness to Abraham undoubtedly 
 included in it the pardon of his sins, his acceptance with 
 God, his redemption from death, the curse of sin, and 
 eternal life — all spiritual blessiugs. And the blessings 
 thus sealed and secured to Abraham by the covenant of 
 circumcision, were equally secured to all originally united 
 with him in it who were partakers of his faith, and to all 
 in every succeeding age who should follow the steps of his 
 faith. They are, in fact, the very blessings now offered by 
 the preaching of the Gospel to the outcast families of 
 Israel and Judah, and the enjoyment of which is assured 
 to them on their repentance and faith in Christ ; for the 
 substance of them all is comprised in the declaration, " I 
 will be their God, and they shall be my people." 
 
 In establishing this covenant with his servant and his 
 servant's household, God commanded them to bring their 
 infant children within its terms, by circumcising them ; 
 and engaged to acknowledge those children as his people, 
 and to be their God and the God of their children in 
 every generation, so long as they adhered to circumcision 
 as the sign of the covenant, and to the faith of which it 
 was the sign. It is manifest, therefore, that the same 
 spiritual blessings which were sealed by circumcision to the 
 faith of Abraham, and to all who were partakers of his 
 faith, were covenanted by circumcision to the children. 
 The promise made to them being the very same, proves 
 this ; and the threat, that the child in respect of whom 
 the covenant had been neglected, should be cut off from 
 the Lord's people, should not be reckoned among them, 
 nor partake of their blessings, confirms it. 
 
 This, then, is the old foundation on which the special 
 
WITH THE CHURCH, 97 
 
 relations subsisting between God and the children of his 
 people were established, and we affirm that they still 
 abide firm and entire. The Church of (rod as thus con- 
 stituted of families, of parents and their children, has 
 never ceased to exist in the world : its numbers have often 
 been diminished, its circumstances have varied, its ordi- 
 nances have been changed, but it has never been abolished, 
 and no new society has ever been established in its stead. 
 
 It is evident that when (rod called his people out of 
 Egypt, and put them under the law at Sinai, he did not 
 change his Church. The covenant of which Moses was 
 the mediator at Sinai was added to the former ; but the 
 people who were brought under it were already the people 
 of God by the covenant of circumcision. God's message 
 to Pharaoh was " Israel is my Son, even my first-born ; 
 and I say unto thee, let my Son go, that he may serve 
 me : " and it is clear from what follows, that Israel in- 
 cluded the nation, the young as well as the old. Exodus 
 iv. 22 ; x. 9. God's visible Church still stood on the 
 covenant made with the fathers : and many in every age, 
 who had nothing to do with the temporal covenant made 
 with Israel at Sinai, and who had no share in the land of 
 Canaan, were still, with all their children, recognized by 
 circumcision as members of God's Church, and saved as 
 the true seed of Abraham, and heirs of the promise with 
 him. 
 
 And when our Lord Jesus Christ came and brought 
 God's people into the full light and blessing of the 
 Gospel, he did not alter the foundation of his Church. 
 Nay, when upon the shedding of his blood, and the ful- 
 filment and consequent abolition of all the bloody ordi- 
 nances which had been used to foreshow it, the Lord 
 changed the outward seal of the covenant, and substituted 
 baptism for circumcision as the rite of admission into 
 his Church; this change neither affected the nature nor 
 
 H 
 
98 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 altered the terms of the covenant on which it was founded. 
 It added to the mercies already secured to the people of 
 God, the unspeakable blessing of the baptism of the 
 Spirit, who should henceforth dwell in them, and actuate 
 them, putting the laws of God into their minds, and 
 writino- them in their hearts : but the substantial and 
 fundamental blessing remained the same as at the first. 
 " I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee : " 
 "I will be their God, and they shall be my people." 
 (Compare Gen. xvii. 7, with Jeremiah xxxi. 31 — 34; 
 Ezekiel xxxvii. 25—28, with Heb. viii. 7—10.) 
 
 The same may be affirmed when God cut off from his 
 Church almost all the natural descendants of Abraham, 
 and received numerous bodies of Gentiles into it : the 
 natural branches were indeed for the most part broken off, 
 and wild branches from a barren stock supplied their place, 
 yet it was by engrafting them on the original stock which 
 had never died, and which will never be rooted up. As 
 therefore by the original covenant, God incorporated the 
 children of his people with their parents in his Church, 
 making them parties to the covenant, and partakers of 
 its blessings; as he never changed this covenant, nor 
 forbade his people any longer to bring their children into 
 it ; so unquestionably it is still their privilege to be made 
 members of his Church, their standing in it is the same, 
 and their blessings are undiminished. 
 
 Let us consider what that standing actually is, and what 
 are the blessings which they enjoy by virtue of these their 
 covenant relations to God. A passage in the epistle to 
 the Ephesians will guide us. St. Paul is reminding the 
 members of the church at Ephesus, of their former state 
 as Gentiles and uncircumcised ; and of the change made in 
 their condition, by their being gathered into the Christian 
 body. They had been without Christ, aliens from the 
 commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenant of 
 promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. 
 
STILL UNCHANGED. 99 
 
 Now they were brought nigh to God by the blood of 
 Christ, who as their peace had made reconciliation for 
 their iniquity, and through whom they had access to the 
 Father continually in the power of the Spirit : they were 
 fellow-citizens with the saints, and members of (rod's 
 household, and were built upon the foundation, not of the 
 apostles only, but of the prophets also. Eph. ii. 11 — 22. 
 Being brought into covenant with him, they were war- 
 ranted to claim all the privileges of his ancient people, 
 and to plead, with them, for the fulfilment of all his 
 promises ; they were in fact constituted with them, that 
 holy nation and peculiar people whom it pleased God to 
 acknowledge as his people in the world. Compare Deut. 
 vii. 6 ; xxvi. 18—19, with 1 Peter ii. 9, 10. But as the 
 covenant which sealed to Abraham the blessing of right- 
 eousness, and which brought all his household into the 
 communion of God's worship and service — secured to 
 them the knowledge of the truth, and gave them every ad- 
 vantage for obtaining through faith, eternal life ; yet could 
 not seal the blessings of righteousness to any member 
 who believed not ; so the incorporation of the Gentiles 
 with the Jews into the Church of God by baptism, could 
 not seal the blessing of righteousness to any unbelievers, 
 nor secure to these the gift of the Indwelling Spirit, for 
 all such are incapable of receiving it. 
 
 So it was, and so it still is with the children of God's 
 people. Brought into the selfsame covenant with their 
 fathers, they have an equal interest with them, in all its 
 spiritual blessings. But the blessings actually enjoyed by 
 each baptized person, are such only as he is capable of 
 receiving. 
 
 To the adult believer, coming in the profession of re- 
 pentance and faith, baptism seals the forgiveness of his 
 sins, and his acceptance with God ; it seals to him the fact 
 that God accounts him righteous — a blessing he had 
 
 H 2 
 
100 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 through faith whilst yet unbaptized : and it ministers to 
 him the Holy Spirit, as his advocate, to abide in him, to 
 actuate him, and to work in him, to will and do according 
 to (rod's good pleasure. This gift of the Holy Spirit to 
 dwell in him, is the blessing which constitutes the believer 
 a regenerate person, and secures to him the continued 
 agency of the renewing and maturing power of the same 
 Holy Spirit: in that agency, his salvation is involved. 
 But to the man who comes to baptism whilst void of re- 
 pentance and faith, no mercies are sealed or ratified, for 
 he has obtained none, and no present spiritual blessings 
 are ministered, for he is incapable of enjoying them. 
 
 The same blessings which the adult believer receives in 
 baptism, are covenanted and secured to the baptized 
 infant, but the blessings bestowed at the time are neces- 
 sarily limited to those which an infant is capable of re- 
 ceiving. His natural condition in relation to Grod is by 
 his baptism reversed. He is no longer regarded as a 
 child of sin and wrath : the sentence of condemnation has 
 been repealed ; all charge of guilt because of the imputa- 
 tion of Adam's sin is withdrawn; so that though the 
 sentence may be executed on the infant by his dying in 
 infancy, it carries with it no sting ; the infant is saved, 
 and its disembodied spirit is gathered to Christ and to the 
 spirits of the just made perfect.* Continuing on earth, 
 
 * " It may be asked, is not this the blessing of every child dying in in- 
 fancy ? I answer, no it is not. The child of the heathen parent is not lost, 
 it is not condemned. But it is one thing to be taken to Christ where he 
 now is, as one of his elect, and it is another to be saved in the day of judge- 
 ment, when the books shall be opened, and all shall appear to answer for 
 what they have done. The heathen child shall then be raised, and appear 
 at the judgement-seat, and we doubt not shall be saved for the sake of 
 Christ, who died for the redemption of the world. But the baptized child, 
 dying without having rejected its baptism by wilful unbelief, receives im- 
 mediate salvation with Christ as truly as the faithful parent receives if. 
 The heathen child is not in a state of suffering, but it is not one of the 
 peculiar people given to Christ who, being partakers of the first resurrection, 
 will be with him in his kingdom, perfected in body and soul, and employed 
 in the work of that kingdom during the whole period that intervenes be- 
 tween his coming again and the general judgement." — From a Sermon, 
 May 30, 1817, before Confirmation. 
 
AND WILL BE FULFILLED. 101 
 
 the happy infant is no longer an outcast from God, is re- 
 garded by him as one of his children, as n member of 
 Christ, and a peculiar object of his care. But it is obvious 
 that the child's continuance in this state of grace, must 
 depend, from the nature of a covenant, on the child's ful- 
 filment of the obligations laid upon him by that covenant. 
 If he is never instructed in the knowledge of God and 
 Christ, is never led to understand the relationship into 
 which he has been brought, and his consequent duties, he 
 cannot repent or believe in God, he cannot walk in his 
 ways, and therefore he is unable to enjoy his blessings. 
 He still retains perhaps his name and place in the Church 
 of God, but he is a stranger to her privileges. 
 
 A spiritual mind cannot be formed but by the exercise 
 of mind on the knowledge of God in Christ. God has not 
 covenanted to inspire the baptized children of his people 
 with this knowledge; but he has made it the bounden 
 duty of their parents, and of the whole community of his 
 people, so to bring them up, that they may attain, and be 
 capable of receiving the blessing promised. 
 
 But if when they have been brought up in the knowledge 
 of God and his Christ, they have yielded to the flesh or the 
 world, have been taken captive by Satan, and become his 
 followers, the covenant will not profit them. They have 
 broken it, and what can a broken covenant confer on the 
 faithless covenanter ? To such there is no remission of 
 the sins they have actually committed, for they are not 
 seeking it ; still less is there that baptism of the Spirit — 
 that gift of the Spirit to dwell within them, and secure to 
 their souls his advocacy, by whose power alone can any 
 man be kept through faith unto salvation ; for destitute 
 of repentance and faith, they cannot receive him. 
 
 But on the other hand, if the instructed child sub- 
 mitting to the grace of God, is by his Spirit led to the 
 apprehension and embracing of the truth in Christ, as he 
 
102 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 becomes capable of receiving it — is enabled to see and 
 feel (rod's love in Christ, and something of that love of 
 Jesus which passes knowledge ; he will grow up, as in the 
 nurture, so in the love and favour of God, increasing in 
 grace, until he is enabled openly to confess his faith in 
 Christ, and to consecrate himself to following him. And 
 then he will assuredly be sealed with the Holy Spirit, the 
 seal of his regeneration, the earnest of his inheritance : 
 and under his guidance and government, he will be con- 
 tinually purified, sanctified, and transformed into the 
 image of the Lord. Such are the blessings commenced 
 in baptism, continued and enlarged to those who abide 
 faithful in their covenant, and perfected to all who, knowing 
 its real nature, cleave to it with full purpose of heart, as 
 all their desire and all their salvation. 
 
 § 3. The Provision made for their Education. 
 
 We have next to consider what provision God has made 
 by the constitution of his Church, and by his providential 
 government, for the instruction of these his children. 
 
 i. By the law of human nature. It is a part of the in- 
 stinctive law of the mere animal to seek the good and to 
 provide for the safety of its offspring. Job xxxix. 13 — 17. 
 Still more is it a law of man's nature, whom (rod has 
 endowed with reason and conscience, with kindly affec- 
 tions and intelligent sympathies. His natural constitution 
 impels him to care for his children's safety, to seek their 
 good to the best of his power, to teach them whatever 
 he has himself learnt which may be useful to them, 
 may tend to preserve their lives, to supply their wants, 
 or to assist them in acquiring additional comforts. When, 
 therefore, the parent is brought to know the Lord his 
 God, and his own relation to him and dependence upon 
 him as his creature ; when he has learnt that most im- 
 
god's provision 103 
 
 portant of all facts, that he is an immortal being, and 
 that whilst his present life is but for a moment — may 
 literally cease at any moment — his life after death is 
 never to end, and that his condition throughout that life 
 is made dependent on his moral and religious state of 
 heart and life here ; then — if he knows and feels these 
 all-absorbing truths — he is necessarily impelled to desire 
 and seek for his children, as for himself, that highest 
 good, the security of their souls in the life to come, and 
 those blessings which Grod has prepared for them that love 
 him. The sincere and earnest religious parent cannot 
 disregard his children's salvation. And hence it has come 
 to pass that the knowledge of Grod and the practice of his 
 truth, has been preserved in certain families and tribes of 
 men, through the sedulous care of the parents : and that 
 where it has once been lost through their neglect, it has 
 seldom been recovered in the common course of things, 
 by succeeding generations. 
 
 ii. By the constitution given to his Church. We have 
 seen that when God established his visible Church in the 
 world, he made it a special part of its constitution, that 
 the parents in every generation should dedicate, not them- 
 selves alone, but their children also to his service. But 
 to enable the children to profit by this covenant, they 
 must needs be instructed in its nature, meaning, and 
 obligations ; and the duty of giving this instruction ne- 
 cessarily devolved on their parents, and upon the head of 
 each household. We need not then be surprised to find 
 that Abraham was a zealous preacher of the truth he 
 knew, to all that belonged to him. He was both the 
 sacrificer, the priest, and the prophet of G-od in the midst 
 of his own encampment, and of the surrounding tribes. 
 The Lord himself gives testimony to his faithfulness in 
 this part of his work, when he was about to overthrow the 
 cities of the plain for their enormous wickedness, by a 
 
104 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 sudden and irremediable judgement from heaven. That 
 the cause of their destruction might not be mistaken, or 
 the lesson taught lost to mankind, he would have the 
 record of it preserved ; and for this purpose he made it 
 known to Abraham ; " for I know him, that he will com- 
 mand his children and his household after him, and they 
 shall keep the way of the Lord " (Gen. xviii. 1 7 — 33 ). And 
 the consequence has been that no immediate judgement 
 from the Lord (excepting the Deluge) was ever so no- 
 torious in the world as that which destroyed these cities. 
 
 iii. By the law of Moses. When God had nourished 
 his Church into a nation, and brought it out of bondage 
 in Egypt, and subjected it to the law of Moses; the duty 
 of making known God's works and will to the children of 
 the covenant was no longer left to the impulse of natural 
 affection, or the dictates of a moral nature ; but in ac- 
 cordance with the spirit of the dispensation under which 
 the Church was now brought, it was made, like every 
 other duty, the subject of express and positive enactment 
 (Deut. vi. 6 — 9). The words of God's law were to be 
 household words ; and the mind revealed in them was to 
 be the modelling mind of each household. It was still 
 enjoined on the parents to carry on this work ; for the 
 covenant of Sinai did not supersede what was necessarily 
 involved in the covenant of circumcision, and had been 
 woven into man's constitution and made the law of his na- 
 ture, that the fathers should declare God's testimonies to 
 their children (Ps. lxxviii. 1 — 9). But this change from a 
 tribe to a nation involved a great change in the state of 
 Grod's Church, both in the form of its worship, and the 
 articles of its belief ; a change affecting the whole social and 
 religious state of the people. Hitherto the worship of the 
 Church of God, as of the sons of God from the beginning, 
 had been patriarchal ; the head of each family was its 
 teacher, and the leader of its worship; when a sacrifice 
 
FOR THEIR EDUCATION 105 
 
 was to be offered, the head of the family or tribe was the 
 sacrificer; and there was no prescribed time or order for 
 the offering, which seems to have depended on his will 
 and circumstances. But now everything to be observed 
 in the worship of God was to be fixed, and its time, place, 
 and manner, prescribed. The religious instruction to be 
 imparted was equally fixed, and was at once both ex- 
 tended and limited to the contents of the written word 
 as delivered to them by Moses, or subsequently taught by 
 the prophets whom God might employ to deliver further 
 revelations of his mind and purpose to his people. The 
 family of Aaron made chief of the tribe of Levi, held the 
 office of conducting the nation's worship, and of offering 
 all their sacrifices, and were appointed the chief teachers 
 of the people. At the three great feasts the whole nation 
 were assembled, to unite in this worship, and to receive 
 instruction in the law from the priests. Every child from 
 twelve years old was to come up to the feast with his 
 parents for this purpose. The whole tribe of Levi, one- 
 twelfth of the nation, was set apart to assist the priests in 
 both these works, and spread throughout the land in 
 their several cities, they in fact became the schoolmasters, 
 the great ministers of all religious instruction to the 
 nation ; not superseding parental education, but supply- 
 ing the deficiency of their service, which must necessarily 
 arise from the enlarged revelation which God had now 
 made to them of his will in his written word, and from 
 the impossibility of that word being generally possessed 
 by individual families (Num. i. 47 — 54 ; Deut. xxiv. 8 ; 
 Josh. xxi). This state of things, modified from time to 
 time by the peculiar circumstances of the nation, and by 
 the enlarging revelation of God's will, continued in the 
 Church of God until the coming of the Saviour (2 Chron. 
 xxxv. 1 — 6; Neh. viii. 1 — 9). 
 
 We may remark, also, that the written Word of God 
 
106 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 having been habitually read in all their synagogues on 
 every Sabbath-day, for 400 years previous to Christ's 
 coming, it had gradually acquired an authority among the 
 people independent of their appointed teachers. A race 
 of teachers also, to a great degree as it seems self-con- 
 stituted, and belonging neither to the body of the priests 
 or Levites, had sprung up, who interpreted the Word upon 
 systems of their own, and in contradiction of each other ; 
 and this had lowered the character and the authority of 
 teachers in the eyes of the nation, for it would be evident 
 to common sense, that the Word of God's truth could 
 bear but one true and consistent interpretation. Hence, 
 when our Lord came, he could appeal from these tra- 
 ditional interpretations to the Word itself, and, upon its 
 declarations, he maintained what he taught — " Search the 
 Scriptures," &c. His apostles equally appealed to them, 
 and it was as the people compared their teaching with the 
 statements of the Scripture, that believers multiplied. 
 
 iv. By the constitution of the Church of Christ. For 
 now another great change in the forms of worship, and 
 the government of the Church, was to follow the ful- 
 filment by Christ of the mission given to him by his 
 heavenly Father. By his fulfilment of the righteousness 
 of the law, and by his one sacrifice of himself on the cross 
 for the redemption of the world, he superseded the whole 
 typical service of the law, and he brought in and set up 
 his own kingdom in the world. The priesthood of Aaron 
 ceased, sacrifices were needed no more. Now Christ the 
 Great High Priest of his people had entered heaven, was 
 ever living to make intercession for them, and seated on 
 his Father's throne, was invested with all power in heaven 
 and earth, to carry on and perfect all his Father's will. 
 Still, as we have seen, when he brought his Church under 
 the dispensation of the Grospel of the kingdom, he did not 
 change its foundation. Still he commanded the little 
 
BY THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 107 
 
 children to be brought to him, and their consecration to 
 the service of their God and Saviour was still the law of 
 his Church's constitution. So it is to this day. Still by 
 that law, parents are especially commanded and pledged 
 to bring up their children in the nurture and admoni- 
 tion of the Lord, and to take care that they know their 
 standing in Christ, and their relations to God, the Father, 
 the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in Christ Jesus, according 
 to the fuller revelation of the Gospel. The authority 
 therefore of the parent, as the spiritual teacher of each 
 Christian family, and the offerer of its household worship, 
 still remains the same. This obligation, springing from 
 the very law of his nature, was enforced by his dedication 
 of his children in covenant to God, was made the subject 
 of express statute under the law, and its fulfilment is now 
 an essential part of his Christian life. Every Christian 
 parent, obeying the principles of the Gospel, must labour 
 to be the parent of Christian children, and the head of a 
 Christian household. 
 
 Nor has the Saviour, in superseding the office of sacri- 
 fices, deprived his Church of any of the helps she formerly 
 had, or of any that she now needs. He has fully pro- 
 vided for her edification, by giving her apostles, prophets, 
 evangelists, pastors, and teachers, for the perfecting of the 
 saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying 
 of his body in love. And he personally and especially 
 enjoined on Peter, and in him on all his apostles, and in 
 them on all succeeding ministers, to feed his lambs ; an 
 injunction doubtless inclusive of all the weak and ignorant 
 of the flock, but most certainly inclusive of the youngest 
 and weakest, who form a part of Christ's flock that has 
 especial need to be fed with the sincere milk of the Word. 
 Dedicated to God's service and baptized into the body of 
 Christ, they are to be watched over and tended by his 
 ministers, and fed by them with the Word of his truth, 
 
108 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 that from their childhood they may know whose they are, 
 and whom they ought to serve. 
 
 In this state the Church of Christ still subsists in 
 theory, in its families, its congregations, and its ministers, 
 all under Christ the common head of the body and of each 
 individual member. The parents ought to be the spiritual 
 teachers of their children ; the Word of God, the entire 
 Bible, ought to be put into their hands as the Word of 
 instruction which they are to use ; and the ministers of 
 Christ in their different grades, are supposed to be at 
 hand, and ready to supply whatever instruction is needful 
 in addition to the home training. They are to take the 
 consecrated stones, fitly squared and graven by the labour 
 of the parents, and [to build them up in their appointed 
 places in the temple of God, the Church of the living 
 Grod]. To give life to the whole system the Saviour has 
 promised to give his Holy Spirit to the parents indi- 
 vidually, and to his ministers individually, to enable each 
 to prosecute with success their respective parts ; and not 
 this only, but he has promised the same blessing to the 
 children also, individually, who are the subject of their 
 instruction. " For the promise is to you and to your 
 children." 
 
 It is a constitution beautiful to contemplate ; but, alas ! 
 how sadly is it broken down by human corruption and 
 infirmity. How often have parents, bearing the Christian 
 name, dedicated their children in baptism to a God of 
 whom they knew nothing, being strangers to his Word, 
 and ignorant even of the first principles of his truth. It 
 may be they cannot read a word of the Bible, or, if they 
 can, that they have no heart for it, so that it is still to 
 them a sealed book. How can he lay the foundation of 
 his children's education in Christian discipline, or set their 
 minds in the right ways of the Lord [who does not himself 
 know or follow them] ? Christian education is not in- 
 
CAUSES OF FAILURE. 109 
 
 struction ; instruction in the truth of Christ is essential to 
 it, but it is a spiritual mind only that can impart spiri- 
 tuality. Thus the work often breaks down in its true 
 commencement, the first training and teaching by the 
 parents. 
 
 Again, it continually breaks down through the absence 
 of the minister's help. Sometimes this cannot be given ; 
 in other cases it is not offered. One man is a preacher, 
 and cannot condescend to wait on and tend little children ; 
 another is too indolent ; some are too ignorant or destitute 
 of the tact of teaching. Others with a spiritual calling 
 have a worldly mind, and adopted the former only to 
 indulge the latter. And thus the system that should pro- 
 duce blessed results to the whole kino-dom of Grod, too 
 often ends in disappointment. 
 
 Our Lord indeed, who is ever watching over his Church, 
 interposes in his kind providence to remedy these evils, 
 and supplies from time to time, in other ways and by 
 other instrumentality, what the constitution of the Chris- 
 tian Church faithfully carried out would ever completely 
 furnish. And it seems to me that the institution for 
 which I am pleading this day (Sunday schools) is one of 
 those remedies which he has set up as a special means for 
 this purpose. It supplies to children some important 
 religious instruction, when their parents are too ignorant 
 or too careless to teach them ; and with the super- 
 intendence exercised over them by many of their teachers 
 during the week, it may also secure to them some little 
 measure of Christian education. By admitting the agency 
 of laymen in the work of teaching, it provides some 
 remedy against the inadequacy or indolence of the mi- 
 nister, and in a multitude of instances it affords him 
 voluntary help, in a work which it would be impossible 
 for him, unaided, to fulfil ; whilst it greatly enlarges his 
 parochial work, by bringing him into direct communi- 
 
110 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 cation with no small portion of the families of his flock 
 through their children. There can be no doubt that these 
 Sunday schools have proved of incalculable benefit to the 
 country. Probably not less than three millions in the 
 United Kingdom are receiving some instruction in them ; 
 and in all the Word of (rod is the staple book of the in- 
 struction given.* Nor is the advantage limited to the 
 children alone. Not a few of these scholars in our villages 
 have become themselves teachers, and thus carrying on 
 their own education, have become really educated Chris- 
 tians, able to conduct their family worship and com- 
 petent — alike by their spirit, their example, and the 
 instruction they are able to give — to commence the 
 Christian education of their own children. But whilst 
 we rejoice in such examples of their efficacy, we must 
 confess they commonly fail as to their great end, the 
 salvation of our scholars. Through the gross inattention 
 of parents, the careless attendance of the children, and 
 their early renunciation of instruction, it comes to pass 
 that the little knowledge they have acquired is dissipated ; 
 even the power of reading is often lost. Yet so long as 
 we have parents who cannot afford to keep their children 
 in a day school [until this part of their education is com- 
 pleted] and who are incapable of teaching them at home, 
 so long must we sedulously sustain and carry on Sunday 
 school instruction. 
 
 But we long for the time, when each family shall truly 
 become a school of Christian education, when no man 
 
 * And here I cannot but advert to that Providence by which an ample 
 supply of the Scriptures has been secured for this purpose. When these 
 schools had been established about twenty years, great difficulty was found 
 in obtaining a sufficient supply of New Testaments and Bibles for the in- 
 creasing number of their scholars. In this juncture, the Lord originated 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society, for seeing to what dimensions it has 
 grown, and what fruit it has borne, it is impossible to deny that it was his 
 planting. And let people judge of it as they may with respect to the 
 world at large, it is fully answering the demands of our own kingdom. 
 
THE INSTRUCTION TO BE GIVEN THEM. Ill 
 
 shall need to say to his brother " know the Lord ; " for all 
 shall know him from the least unto the greatest, when the 
 knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters 
 cover the sea. Amen and Amen ! 
 
 § IV. Of the Education which the condition of our 
 baptized Children, and their relation to God and 
 Christ, demands both from their Parents, and from the 
 Church of God. 
 
 We cannot dwell long on this point. The immense 
 importance, the absolute necessity of their receiving an 
 education consistent with their [real position in God's 
 Church] is evident from what has been already stated. 
 It may be more difficult to describe the true form and 
 course which such an education should take ; this may 
 seem necessarily to vary with the social state of those who 
 are to receive it, and to comprise all that belongs to fitting 
 our children for that state of life to which God has called 
 them. But our subject rather confines me to the first 
 principles of a Christian education [which are the same 
 for all], and by imparting which, I am persuaded we do 
 what is best for our children, both in respect of their 
 temporal and their spiritual life. Nor can we now go into 
 a complete scheme of Christian education ; we can but 
 glance at those few main branches which it necessarily 
 comprises. It cannot be commenced but by teaching 
 these children to understand their own natural condition ; 
 the relations in which they now stand to God ; what he 
 has done for them ; and what is the course of life they 
 must follow, would they continue in his favour, and attain 
 to eternal life. 
 
 i. Let them be taught that they were by reason of the 
 original transgression, children of wrath, and outcasts from 
 God ; but that now being by baptism engrafted into the 
 
112 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 body of Christ's Church, they have obtained the remission 
 of that transgression for the Lord's sake, are brought nigh 
 to God, are accepted by him, and recognized as his 
 children. 
 
 Lead them to understand, that by their union to a 
 corruptible body they are under the influence of an irri- 
 tating, disturbing, and corrupting nature, ever prompting 
 them to attend to the body and to seek for their own gra- 
 tification through it ; so that the law of the flesh has 
 naturally the rule over them. Show them how the world 
 under the management of its ruler the devil, is filled with 
 objects formed to gratify the lusts of the flesh, the lust of 
 the eye, a,nd the pride of life ; and that consequently, the 
 love and pursuit of the world, of its honours, pleasures, 
 and its approbation, can only strengthen that law of sin 
 which is in their members, and prevents the love of God 
 from ruling in their hearts. And never suffer them to 
 live in ignorance of that unseen power — the power of 
 Satan, who is ever operating, through the world and the 
 flesh, upon their souls; ever suggesting evil, instigating 
 them to pursue it, and labouring to corrupt, enslave, and 
 ruin them. 
 
 From the first, as soon as they can receive any notion 
 of him who dwelleth in the heavens, let them be instructed 
 in the knowledge of God, of his love to us in Christ, and of 
 the work of each of the Divine Persons for the redemption 
 and salvation of sinners. What our Church so excellently 
 sets before her communicants as their special duty in 
 coming to the table of the Lord, may well be made the 
 groundwork of instruction to all her children : — "Above 
 all things ye must give most hearty thanks to God, the 
 Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for the redemption 
 of the world by the death and passion of our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ, both God and man ; who did humble himself 
 even to the death .of the cross for us miserable sinners, 
 
• THE MODE OF INSTRUCTION. 113 
 
 who lay in darkness and the shadow of death, that he 
 might make us the children of God, and exalt us to ever- 
 lasting life." It is a most blessed summary of all essential 
 truth : endeavour to explain it to your children in all its 
 parts, as the great fact in which they are called to rejoice 
 and glory. So will the mystery of God in Christ be un- 
 folded to them, and they will begin to enter into the 
 . understanding and enjoyment of God's work, and to know 
 his special love in causing them to be dedicated to himself, 
 and in covenanting to receive and bless them. 
 
 Lastly [do not merely tell them], but teach them to 
 discern the path in which they are called to walk as they 
 
 would please God, do his will, and inherit his promises 
 
 that it does not consist in the mere observance of any 
 form of worship, however pure, nor in obedience to the 
 letter of any precept, however holy ; but that it consists 
 in [living the life] and following the example of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, walking m his steps with the same 
 mind, and by the power of the same Spirit by which he 
 Avalked. 
 
 ii. As to the mode of instruction, I would observe 
 generally, that these things are to be instilled into the 
 minds of children, by teaching them the historic facts in 
 which they are revealed to us. The Bible is a book of 
 history: it is the history of God's dealings with his 
 creatures, and specially with mankind as sinners. From 
 the time of the institution of his Church in Abraham, it 
 becomes a history of his dealings with the world as stand- 
 ing in connection with this community; giving us a 
 detailed account of his peculiar dealings with his Church, 
 in whose history that of the world is therefore merged. 
 But from the beginning it has been God's will, that all 
 men should know him, by knowing what he has done. I 
 have already referred to one remarkable instance of this 
 in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. As far as 
 
 i 
 
114 THE ORDINANCES OF SriRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 justice was concerned in the destruction of those devoted 
 cities, which had rilled up the measure of their iniquity, it 
 had been the same, whether their destruction were known 
 to be by the immediate judgement of God, or had been 
 supposed to be a casualty arising from the action of sub- 
 terraneous fires. But the lesson had been in this case 
 wholly lost to the Church and to the world, as an act of 
 God's righteous retribution, and an earnest of his final 
 judgement. Therefore God made known his purpose, and 
 the explanation shall be deposited with Abraham, because 
 he will not suffer it to be lost to his children or to the 
 Church. The same system of teaching was carried on 
 afterwards. When Israel was formed into a nation, and 
 brought under the law of Sinai, they were constantly 
 referred to God's dealings with them then, and in all their 
 subsequent history, for instruction. The great feasts they 
 were to keep, whilst full of instruction as to doctrine, were 
 so, because they were records of great historic facts — of 
 mercies they had received from the hands of the Lord. 
 The same s}^stem marks the teaching of God under the 
 New Testament. What is the great subject revealed ? 
 The love of God. How is it taught ? By the record of 
 his work of love in the salvation of sinful men by the 
 mission, the incarnation, the obedience and suffering to 
 death of his dear Son ; and by the evidence of his accept- 
 ance of that death in Christ's resurrection and ascension, 
 and in the work he now carries on — the dispensation of the 
 Spirit and the government of his kingdom. What are all 
 these but [one continuous] series of great facts? These 
 formed the groundwork of the apostles' teaching; these 
 constitute the stones of that arch of salvation by which 
 the impassable gulf is bridged over by the love of God to 
 Jew and Gentile, whilst the keystone of the whole is to be 
 found in the Lord's resurrection from the dead. And by 
 these facts our children must be taught to know God, 
 
THE HABITS TO BE FORMED. 115 
 
 would we see them rooted and built up in the truth, and 
 established in the faith as it is in Christ Jesus. 
 
 iii. We must not only teach our children to know these 
 truths, we must lead them to a course of life and action 
 consistent with them. We must lead them to prayer, that 
 God may pardon, accept, and bless them for the Lord's 
 sake : to the constant study of the Scriptures, the written 
 and abiding record of all his dealings with us, that they 
 may know the certainty of the things they have been 
 taught, and may become wise to salvation ; we must lead 
 them also to practise such duties as they are able to per- 
 form, that by experience in (rod's ways they may early 
 learn what they are, and where their strength is, and so 
 be trained to fruitfulness to his glory. 
 
 In advocating these schools to-day, I believe I advocate 
 a sj^stem of education, whose object is the formation of 
 Christian principles, habits, and manners, rather than that 
 which in the present day so much courts and obtains 
 popular admiration — extensive information and scientific 
 acquirements. I am no opponent to either. I would 
 gladly have my own little stock of knowledge increased, 
 and what measure of science I acquired in years past 
 improved and corrected by the wonderful discoveries 
 of the present day ; I would gladly see every one my 
 equal in both, and trust I should not repine if all surpassed 
 me. But I have felt all through my life, and to this day 
 I feel, the consequence of not having had what could justly 
 be called a Christian training; I mean the formation of 
 the mind and its habits of thought, on Christian principles : 
 in the ordinary routine of education pursued in schools 
 sixty years ago, it was not to be found. Other things 
 were taught, and other habits were formed upon them, 
 the results of which must ever be very unsatisfactory, if not 
 very lamentable. I rejoice, therefore, that the training of 
 these children is to be in the practical knowledge of God, 
 
 I 2 
 
116 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 and of his Christ. When this foundation has been well 
 laid, and their training here is terminated, there will be 
 ample time for the acquirement of other things, of some 
 knowledge of God's visible works, and of the inventions of 
 art, which may furnish them with much enjoyment, and 
 enable them to pursue their several callings with greater 
 hope of success. 
 
 And now one word more, in conclusion, to the parents of 
 these baptized children — a word of warning, and of counsel. 
 Think not for a moment, that by sending your children to 
 a Christian school, you are freed from the responsibility of 
 bringing them up yourself, in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord. No person can get rid of that charge for 
 which the Lord Jesus Christ has made him responsible, by 
 appointing a deputy. You dedicated your child to God : 
 God has received him, and given him back to your care, 
 with the injunction, "bring 'him up for me." You must 
 prove the sincerity of your act of dedication by steadfastly 
 endeavouring to fulfill the resulting duty. You will do 
 well to obtain the help of a well-conducted school; but no 
 school can supply, properly speaking, a Christian education. 
 They can impart an accurate and extensive knowledge of 
 Scripture, an understanding also of the great truths of 
 the Christian faith, and of the practice required of them 
 as Christians. But what can they do for the formation of 
 Christian habits, the nurture of Christian tempers, and 
 the moulding of the inner spirit, if not sustained by the 
 influence of your own spirit at home ? You may be very 
 ignorant and unfit to undertake their instruction ; but as 
 a Christian you professed to dedicate them to God, and if 
 you did this in sincerity, you can, by God's grace, live in the 
 midst of them in a Christian spirit, and thus do your part 
 in bringing them up in the nurture of the Lord. You can 
 pray for them, you can superintend and control their con- 
 duct, can enforce their Christian obedience to yourself and 
 
CONCLUSION. 117 
 
 to their teachers, and thus effectually aid their instructions. 
 My exhortation to you, therefore, is this : — Cultivate the 
 inward life of Christ in your own souls : live to Grod by 
 following Christ yourselves, so will you be enabled to lead 
 your children to live to him also. 
 
118 
 
 ESSAY V. 
 
 ADDRESSES ON CONFIRMATION. 
 
 (1829, 1832, 1847.) 
 
 § 1. Its Meaning and Authority. 
 
 (1829.) 
 
 I would anxiously set before you, especially before the 
 young, the great duty which now lies before them of 
 openly professing their faith in God and in his truth. 
 In obedience to (rod's commands you have been baptized 
 in infancy, you have been brought into a state of close 
 relationship to himself, you have been brought up with 
 some knowledge of (rod and Christ, and you are now 
 called to consider the state in which God has thus placed 
 you, and to [openly confess] and act upon the vow then 
 made on your behalf. 
 
 When by your parents and sponsors your were dedi- 
 cated to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the 
 Church received you into her fold, and prayed then, and 
 has never ceased to pray for you [that being dead to sin 
 and living unto righteousness you may crucify the old 
 man, and utterly abolish the whole body of sin ; and that 
 being made partakers of the death of the Son, you may 
 also be partakers of his resurrection, and inheritors of his 
 everlasting kingdom]. Nor has she only remembered 
 you in her prayers ; she has actively sought your good by 
 providing for your being brought up in the nurture and 
 admonition of the Lord. By her ministers she has sup- 
 plied you with the pure milk of the Word, has instructed 
 
ITS MEANING. 119 
 
 you in all the articles of the Christian faith, has set before 
 you the path of God's commandments. And now having 
 brought you to an understanding of your condition, she 
 calls upon those of you who are arrived at an age when 
 they may be capable of considering it, seriously to review 
 the dedication that was made of them in their baptism, 
 and openly to say, whether they do believe and embrace 
 the truths they have been taught, and will willingly bind 
 themselves to keep the vow then made for them, and to 
 obey (rod's holy will and commandments and walk in the 
 same all the days of their life. 
 
 For this purpose she commands her chief pastors to 
 proceed from time to time through all parts of the district 
 committed to their oversight, to put this solemn question 
 to each of her young members, and to receive from them, 
 in the presence of God and of his congregation, the con- 
 fession of their faith, and the promise of their obedience. 
 For this purpose she has appointed the rite of confirma- 
 tion, to which our Bishop now calls you. 
 
 (From Address on Confirmation, 1832.) 
 
 The form of the rite is simply this : — When the young 
 people appear before the Bishop, he enquires of them, 
 whether they renew for themselves, and bind themselves to 
 keep the solemn vow and covenant made in their name at 
 their baptism. If they declare their willingness to do so, 
 he lays his hands upon the head of each (after the manner 
 of the Church of old) imploring God's blessings upon them, 
 that by the power of the Holy Ghost, they may be con- 
 firmed, strengthened, and preserved in this mind for ever. 
 
 Confirmation then, is an avowal on the part of those 
 who receive it of their baptismal engagements. In their 
 reply to the questions put to them, they declare that they 
 are not ashamed of that act by which they were made 
 
120 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 members of the Church of Christ — that they stand by 
 their baptism, and rejoice that they have been brought 
 into so gracious a covenant with God. They avow the 
 Father, Son, and Spirit to be their God; and if the 
 avowal be made with a good conscience, Grod who 
 searcheth the hearts will answer it by the seal of his 
 Spirit, that they may be kept by his mighty power in this 
 faith unto salvation. 
 
 It is clearly a rite of great importance to the Church 
 and all her younger members. It is a matter of great 
 importance to the Church, that she should ascertain her 
 true members, and acknowledge only such as acknowledge 
 Christ by confessing the truth and communicating with 
 her at the table of the Lord. For this purpose she calls 
 upon all who have been accounted her members from 
 infancy and have been nourished in her bosom, to declare 
 their adherence to the truths they have been taught, by 
 receiving confirmation. It is the preliminary she requires 
 previous to their admission to the Lord's Supper, and by 
 administering the rite to them, she bears testimony to 
 their faith and gives them a certificate of membership. 
 It is equally a matter of deep importance to the young, 
 that upon their entrance into life, they should not be 
 allowed to go on in doubt and hesitation, halting between 
 God and Mammon, between the flesh and the Spirit. 
 They are prone to put off the decision of the question, 
 " Whom will ye serve ? " till before they are aware they 
 are drawn into the stream of the world, and carried down 
 with the unthinking multitude to ruin. It is necessary 
 therefore to their eternal salvation, that they should be 
 brought to the serious consideration of the truth of the 
 Gospel, and to an honest examination of their hearts and 
 lives by the light of it. Without this they cannot come 
 to any real decision of mind upon the great things which 
 concern God and their souls ; and whilst undecided they 
 
ITS AUTHORITY. 121 
 
 cannot take the first step in the way of duty — the dedi- 
 cation of themselves to the service of their God and 
 Saviour. 
 
 Deeply impressed then with the conviction that this 
 matter is of the highest importance to your salvation, 
 I would earnestly press you to take up the consideration 
 of the subject seriously and heartily. My prayer for you 
 is, that you may be enabled willingly to offer yourselves 
 for confirmation ; that you may personally renew your 
 baptismal vows, and present yourself in that ordinance to 
 God a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to him, which 
 is your reasonable service. In doing this, I do not urge 
 the duty upon you as one directly of God's appointment ; 
 for it is of man's institution and not of the Lord's ; but 
 this is no objection to its use. Where is the denomi- 
 nation of Christians which does not practise various rites 
 that Christ never instituted ? The Church of God has 
 always possessed authority to appoint such ordinances. 
 She exercised it under the law. The institution of the 
 annual feast of dedication is a remarkable instance of its 
 exercise. It was appointed about 1326 years after the 
 giving of the law at Sinai, or afctout 165 years before the 
 birth of our Lord ; and our Lord clearly sanctioned the 
 institution by attending its celebration (John x. 22). But 
 if this authority was possessed by the Church under the 
 law, when all things were to be so strictly regulated by 
 express precept, how much more does she possess it 
 under the Gospel, now that she enjoys the Spirit's pre- 
 sence to guide her in all things belonging to the edifi- 
 cation of the body of Christ. In the exercise, indeed, of 
 this power, two rules must direct her conduct : first, that 
 the rites instituted are not contrary to the Word of God ; 
 and, secondly, that they are calculated for the profit of 
 her members, and of importance to them. In both these 
 respects the rite of confirmation is unexceptionable. 
 
122 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 There is nothing in the word of God forbidding its use ; and 
 it has been sanctioned by the wisdom of the Church from 
 the earliest times. It may be traced, we think, to the 
 practice of the apostles in the laying on of hands, upon 
 the communication of spiritual gifts. We find the use of 
 such a rite (the laying on of hands) recorded in Acts viii. 
 14 — 17 ; xix. 1 — 7, and it is reckoned by St. Paul among 
 the first principles of the doctrine of Christ (Heb. vi. 
 1, 2). It was clearly therefore a rite designed for the 
 use of those who were as yet weak in faith and in the 
 knowledge of the truth — who were in fact babes in 
 Christ (See Heb. v. 11 — 14; vi. 1, 2). It appears also 
 from the Scriptures to have been used chiefly in respect 
 of those who had made a profession of their faith in 
 baptism; and the end of its use was that they might 
 receive the Holy Spirit according to our Lord's promise 
 (John xiv. 15 — 17, compared with Acts ii. 38, 39, and 
 Eph. i. 13, 14), and such spiritual gifts as the Lord the 
 Spirit, who divideth to every one severally as he will, 
 might be pleased to impart. These spiritual gifts, how- 
 ever, which accompanied the first outpouring of the Holy 
 Spirit on the Church, were bestowed comparatively on 
 few, and when the end for which they were bestowed was 
 answered, they ceased to be given. But the rite of laying 
 on of hands by which they were wont to be communicated 
 was retained in respect of the young, who having been 
 baptized in infancy and instructed in the truth, were made 
 willing to give themselves by their own act to the service 
 of Grod. This willingness they expressed by confessing 
 their faith before the Church, and the Church prayed that 
 Grod would give his Spirit to dwell in them, accompanying 
 their prayers with the laying on of hands.* This rite we 
 
 * We learn from August ane that in his day it was regarded as holding the 
 same place in the Church which was assigned to the laying on of hands in 
 the apostles' day, as in Acts viii. 14 — 17; xix. 1 — 6. For he affirms the 
 
SELF-DEDICATION. 123 
 
 now term Confirmation; and we do not scruple to affirm 
 that it is an ordinance which the Lord has been pleased 
 greatly to bless to the spiritual profit of young believers. 
 He has often made it a time of great confirmation to their 
 souls, and has used the remembrance of it for the pre- 
 servation of his saints in after life, when placed in cir- 
 cumstances of great difficulty, temptation, or trouble. 
 
 § 2. Of Self-Dedication. 
 
 (1847.) 
 
 " I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present 
 your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, unto God ; which is your 
 reasonable service." — Bom. xii. 1. 
 
 This passage is remarkable for being as it were the 
 hinge connecting the doctrine taught in the former part 
 of this epistle, with the practice it ought to produce set 
 forth in the latter part. The apostle had taught the 
 truth of justification by Christ, without respect to man's 
 own works, and the provision made to enable the justified 
 believer to glorify God through the Spirit, and to devote 
 all his powers to God's service in a consistent course of 
 life and action. And having shown the source of all this 
 grace in their election by Grod, he charges them on the 
 ground of these mercies to present their bodies as living 
 sacrifices holy and acceptable to God, which is their 
 reasonable service. 
 
 " To present their bodies : " not as though bodily ser- 
 vice is the only service required ; but it is specially named 
 here, because the Spirit foresaw that it would be the 
 temper of believers under the Gospel to claim sufficiency 
 
 validity of the rite, with the real imparting of the Holy Spirit to the bap- 
 tized person, though the visible sign, the miraculous gift, no longer signalized 
 the blessing. — Aug. de Bajjt. lib. 3. c. 16. 
 
124 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 to spiritual devotion, the service of the mind, and to 
 neglect the outward and practical service, that of the 
 body; though there will ever be some who, like the 
 Pharisees of old, seek in the latter an excuse for their 
 lack of the service of the heart and soul. 
 
 " A living sacrifice : " death separates soul and body ; 
 both are here joined together ; it is the living man who 
 is called to glorify God, by the devotion of all his mem- 
 bers and powers to his service. Made alive ourselves, 
 our service is to be a living service ; every new creature 
 is a living member of Christ, united to him by the Spirit, 
 who through the knowledge of God in Christ has imparted 
 spiritual life to his soul ; and thus they who have believed 
 in Christ have passed from death to life (John v. 24) ; and 
 that for ever, the everlasting life has begun in their souls 
 (Col. ii 13; iii. 1—3). Therefore "being dead to sin," 
 to which before you were alive ; and " alive to God," to 
 whom before you were dead, the life you now live is not 
 your own, but is hid with Christ in God : the life of the 
 glorified, the spiritual man, Christ Jesus, is not in himself 
 but in God : it is sustained by the Holy Spirit now, as it 
 was all the time that he tabernacled on earth with men : 
 and so it is with all his people ; their life (and their power 
 to exercise that life) is not their own, but Christ having 
 the dispensation of the Spirit, is its immediate spring and 
 sustainer (see Gal. ii. 19, 20, where St. Paul speaks of 
 this in reference to his own life). This is the state of every 
 living member of Christ, and I wish now to draw your 
 minds to it that you may better consider the exceeding 
 mercy God has bestowed upon you, in bringing you to this 
 condition, which the apostle urges upon you as the motive 
 for this living sacrifice, this presenting your bodies and 
 souls to God, which he says is your reasonable service. 
 
 " Reasonable : " for we are his already by creation. 
 He made and fashioned us, and we are bound to use 
 
SELF-DEDICATION. 125 
 
 the powers he has given us according to his will ; nor 
 can anything less than this be a reasonable service for a 
 creature to render to his Maker. But this is not all ; for 
 we having fallen from him and become outcasts through sin, 
 he has redeemed us in Christ from that fallen state, that 
 he might raise us to a higher state than that from which 
 we fell, and make us capable of receiving a share with 
 Christ in his kingdom. These blessings in the enjoyment 
 of which we have grown up, are not our's alone, they are 
 our children's also ; by baptism freed from Adam's sin, 
 brought nigh to (rod, accepted by him, and regarded by 
 him in Christ the second head of mankind, so that he has 
 engaged to be their God and Father — all the blessings 
 of the Gospel are secured to them in the belief and con- 
 fession of the truth ; so that making that confession, they 
 will be put into the full possession and enjoyment of them, 
 by receiving the Spirit into their souls, given to them by 
 Christ to work in them to will and do God's will. 
 
 It is to this [dedication of yourselves to God] that I have 
 now to call you. In obedience to God's command, you 
 have been baptized in infancy ; you have been brought up 
 in the knowledge of Christ's work ; vou have been taught 
 that God is your God, ready and willing to bless you and 
 to receive you as his own children. Thus God has shown 
 himself a father to you. By all the mercies of your 
 creation and preservation, by your baptism, by the know- 
 ledge given to yon, by God's promise to bless you; you 
 are bound to give yourselves up to him, to serve and obey 
 him, to walk in the steps of the Saviour, and to live 
 wholly devoted to his service. This is the deliverance 
 that is in Christ for us, to redeem us out of our bondage 
 to sin, and to purify us to himself. For this he gave him- 
 self to death ; and this is the deliverance covenanted to 
 you in the promise of the Spirit made to you in your 
 baptism. What now you have to seek for, is the full blessing 
 
126 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 of that covenant, by publicly confessing, and by keeping 
 the vow then made for you; for if you believe with the 
 heart and confess with the lips, it is already yours. 
 
 § 3. Of the Duty of Confession. 
 
 If this be the state of your heart and mind so far as you 
 know it, if your desire be thus towards Grod, and the 
 renewal of your covenant with him, I earnestly call upon 
 you openly to confess the truth which you believe, and 
 personally to confirm the covenant into which }^our sponsors 
 entered in your name at your baptism. Eemember, it is 
 the duty of all, who with the heart believe the truth as it 
 is in Christ Jesus, openly to confess their faith and to own 
 the one living and true God — the Father, Son, and Holy 
 G-host — to be their Grod and Saviour. Eemember how 
 constantly Christ pressed upon his disciples the necessity 
 of their open avowal of him as their Lord and Saviour. 
 And though, because he knew their hearts and was such 
 a tender and compassionate Saviour, he never turned 
 back any who came to him with even the lowest degree of 
 faith, nor disowned the faith they had; yet he always 
 taught them that the open confession of the truth was 
 needful for their salvation. Eemember what the apostle 
 expressly declares, " that with the heart man believeth 
 unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is 
 made unto salvation." The confession, indeed, to which 
 salvation is attached is not a confession in words simply, 
 though this is necessarily included in it ; it is a confession 
 with the lips, followed out by a consistent life and prac- 
 tice, as it ever will be when it comes from the heart. But 
 we know that in the Church of old this public confession 
 of faith was always required of those who came to be 
 baptized as adults;* and when St. Paul wrote those words 
 
 * See Acts viii. SO, 37. 
 
OF PUBLIC CONFESSION. 127 
 
 he was doubtless referring to what they well knew was 
 done by every baptized person ; and he assures them 
 that when the confession thus made came from a be- 
 lieving heart, salvation was given to that soul, and sealed 
 by the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Remember, on the other hand, that to decline the con- 
 fession of the truth, when we have been taught it and 
 understand it, and know our duty in respect of it, is in 
 fact to deny Christ ; and whether the denial arise from the 
 fear of man, or the love of the world or sin, it is equally 
 destructive to the soul; for whosoever, saith our Lord, 
 " shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall 
 the Son of Man be ashamed " (Mark viii. 38 ; Matt. x. 
 32 — 39 ; Luke ix. 23 — 27). Indeed such as really believe 
 a truth with their whole heart, will not be afraid or 
 ashamed to own it by their actions and confess it with 
 their lips : we see men do this in temporal things, if they 
 be to them matters of deep importance and interest that 
 really engage their hearts : nor can any who have em- 
 braced Christ as their salvation, and who live upon him, 
 ever be ashamed to confess him, or ever disown him in his 
 people. 
 
 The open confession, then, of the faith is doubtless 3^our 
 duty. You owe it to Grod, to acknowledge the grace by 
 which he has been pleased to*take you into covenant with 
 himself and to be your God. You owe it to Christ, to 
 declare that all your confidence and rejoicing is in him 
 and in his help through the Spirit, and not in your own 
 strength. You owe it to your parents and sponsors, to 
 avow as your own act what in kindness and love to your 
 soul they have transacted in your name. And you owe it 
 to the Church that received you into her communion at your 
 baptism, and in whose bosom you have been nourished, to 
 declare your adherence to the truth which she has taught 
 you, and to submit to her discipline. 
 
128 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL "WORSHIP. 
 
 I press upon you, therefore, the open and public con- 
 fession of your baptism before God and his Church ; and I 
 invite you to make it in that plain and simple way which 
 our Church employs in the rite of confirmation. 
 
 § 4. The Void of Renunciation. 
 
 For some time past I have spoken to you on subjects 
 connected with the dedication of yourselves to Grod. I 
 have pressed it upon you by the mercies of Grod in Christ, 
 and specially by those peculiar obligations which lie upon 
 you, as already made partakers by his grace of baptism, 
 members of his Church, and subjects of his Church's 
 teaching. "Now we have to consider the vow made by 
 those who come to confirmation ; which vow is the public 
 renewal of that already made in their name in their 
 baptism. The catechism divides it into three parts ; there 
 are things to renounce, things to believe, and things to 
 pursue and obey. First, therefore, we have to consider 
 the vow of renunciation. Your godfathers and godmothers 
 did promise and vow in your name — in your behalf 
 engaging that you should yourself fulfill the vow when 
 you came of age to understand it — that you should re- 
 nounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vani- 
 ties of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the 
 flesh. 
 
 We read in the Scripture that he who loves any being 
 or thing, or delights in ministering to and serving it, 
 more than he loves Christ or his service, is not worthy of 
 him. Christ himself repeatedly declares this ; and not to 
 his apostles and ministers only, but to the whole body of 
 his people, the youngest as well as the oldest, for he spake 
 it to the whole multitude (Luke xiv. 26, 27, and Mark 
 viii. 34 — 38). The serving of Christ, therefore, implies 
 the giving up everything that interferes with it, and the 
 
THE FIRST VOW. 129 
 
 renouncing all that is opposed to it — all evil that is, which 
 is briefly comprised in these three heads. 
 
 To renounce evil is to reject it altogether, declaring we 
 will have nothing to do with it. In the strong and simple 
 language of one of (rod's ministers, it is saying " No " to 
 all evil. And they who have learnt to say " No " to evil 
 have made a great and blessed progress in the Christian 
 mind ; they have, as the apostle says, added to their faith 
 virtue. Faith is the staple grace of the Christian; yet 
 other things must be added to it, must grow out of it, or 
 it will prove of little profit. And the first of these is 
 virtue — really the soldier's virtue, the courage of the 
 Christian man, the fortitude to say No. 
 
 You are called thus to renounce the devil and all his 
 works. You know by instruction, and something also you 
 must know by experience, of what the devil is, and what 
 his works are. You are conscious of a power working on 
 your minds, and stirring up evil thoughts and passions 
 and evil desires within you. I do not say that a man's 
 own mind may not raise and entertain such thoughts 
 without the help of Satan ; but that it is his constant work 
 to do this. Blessed be Grod, he cannot take possession of 
 our souls and rule them according to his will, but he can 
 and does suggest thought after thought, and take advan- 
 tage of every opportunity to tempt us to carry them out, 
 in action if possible — at least to dwell upon them and 
 desire to act them. We speak as of one being, but the 
 Scripture warns us there are many — to our capacities an 
 innumerable host of fallen angels, who combine to entice 
 our souls from God, and to keep us the slaves of sin, by 
 keeping us in ignorance of him. 
 
 You are called now to renounce this their influence and 
 dominion, and all the thoughts and the works to which 
 they would lead you; all evil is included in this, but 
 specially all pride, anger, malice, and hatred, and all 
 
 K 
 
130 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 manner and degree of lying and deceit towards men, and 
 also in respect of God. These tempers are natural to 
 Satan and his angels ; in propagating the works suitable 
 to them is their delight ; with them and the deeds that 
 spriDg from them you must have nothing more to do — no 
 part at all. 
 
 Then you are called to renounce the world. The habits 
 and principles of society, as now constituted, are framed 
 by men under the guidance of Satan, the prince of this 
 world; he has given to the habits of the world their 
 existing modes; and the object of the whole S}-stem is, in 
 one form or another, self-exaltation, self-ministration. 
 What else do men seek for when they pursue pleasure, or 
 pride, or honour, or gain ? And they who succeed in the 
 pursuit, doing good to themselves, are those whom the 
 world praises (Psalm xlix. 18 ; 1 John ii. 15; James iv. 4). 
 God made it very good ; but, under the government of 
 Satan, and abused by the lusts of men, it is fallen into 
 that [worship of self] that to follow it and its ways is 
 death, because involving departure from God. 
 
 You are called to renounce the sinful lusts of the flesh. 
 For the real secret of men's lives — that under the in- 
 fluence of which they go to the world for happiness, — is the 
 power of the flesh, of that corruptible body that brings 
 the soul into subjection to itself, forming in it habits of 
 thought about the body, and setting it to make provision 
 for the gratification of its lusts. The desires we speak of 
 are not in themselves sinful, but when indulged in- 
 ordinately they surely become evil. It is this power of 
 the body over the soul that produces the carnal mind, the 
 antagonist and the contradiction of that spiritual mind 
 which only the Holy Spirit of God can form within us. 
 And this carnal mind is not, and cannot be, subject to 
 God's law, for it demands self-gratification : the sins to 
 which it prompts us are numbered up in Galatians (v) ; 
 
THE RENUNCIATION 131 
 
 but even these are not all, and, therefore, the apostle 
 adds, "and such like." Many, indeed, learn that by- 
 yielding to such excesses they would injure their health or 
 respectability, and so would make their lives miserable, 
 who therefore refrain from the indulgence ; but this is not 
 to renounce them, it rather shows they are willing to 
 indulge in them so far as is consistent with their own 
 comfort. These and all like works you must utterly 
 resist and reject, saying u No " to them. 
 
 It is easy to say " I renounce them all " when the question 
 is put to you, and that not in hypocrisy, but simply and 
 honestly declaring you have set your minds against them, 
 because you know they are contrary to Grod and his law, 
 and because you purpose to renounce them continually. 
 But this is but the beginning of a course of constant con- 
 flict and warfare — a warfare arising about everything with 
 which we have to do in this life, and in which we must 
 continue throughout our lives; its course is described 
 in the viith of Eomans. Even this beginning cannot be 
 really made where there are not the elements of a spiritual 
 mind, for the natural carnal mind is the very thing 
 that is to be opposed and conquered [and it cannot be 
 conquered once for all]. A man looks about him in the 
 world, and sees his companions pursuing their course in it 
 with success and applause, and he feels that he also is as 
 well or better able than they are to succeed ; and will he 
 not be incited to pursue the same things, hoping to equal 
 or surpass them ? Will he not be tempted by the world 
 which surrounds him to pursue its goods, whether they 
 offer themselves to his grasp in the form of wealth, or of 
 comfort (which means just what we please), or of honour, 
 or renown ? In one shape or another the temptation will 
 come, and the conflict will ever be, will you give up all 
 the advantages you might get from the world, in order to 
 devote yourselves to following Christ ; or will you pursue 
 
 K 2 
 
132 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 them with the energy needful to gain them, which will so 
 fill your heart and mind as to shut out Christ ? To be 
 poor with Christ, having nothing yet possessing all things, 
 is not what is naturally pleasing to men, and it will not 
 be so to you; yet you must follow Christ in this, or you 
 do not follow him at all. 
 
 Be sure, too, that the devil will not cease to tempt you. 
 It is not your saying, " I renounce them all," that will 
 secure you from his attacks. He will have perpetual 
 access to your minds, suggesting thoughts of evil, leading 
 to desires and purposes of evil ; and if you resist and baffle 
 him once and again, he will return once and again ; as he 
 did with our Lord so will he tempt you. Your own flesh 
 will ever be craving indulgence ; the world will ever be 
 encouraging and provoking you to seek great things for 
 yourself: and Satan will use both for his own purposes, 
 trying to pervert your thoughts of [your heavenly Father], 
 sometimes suggesting that he does not require all this 
 strictness of self-denial, but will be merciful to pass over 
 the sins of weakness ; sometimes representing him as a 
 Grod of vengeance, with whom is no further forgiveness. 
 
 Now have you any power to resist? Have you that 
 power over your fleshly nature that you can resist or deny 
 it ? Have you that self-denial that can forego the good 
 things the world has to offer you? Or have you that 
 command over your own souls that you can keep your- 
 selves from evil thoughts ? You know that you have not 
 — that you can no more do any of these things than you 
 can fly to heaven at once. It must be a continual conflict 
 for life, and you have absolutely no strength at all to carry 
 it on for a single day. 
 
 But Grod, who requires your hearts, does not require 
 what he will not enable you to give in perpetuity. He 
 has covenanted in your baptism to give you this power, 
 and he does give it, in giving you his Spirit to enable you- 
 
OF ALL EYIL. 133 
 
 to keep your vow. In the viiith Eomans the apostle tells 
 us how in his power the flesh is to be subdued. The Holy- 
 Spirit enables the soul in which he dwells to resist and 
 overcome its desires, by opening to it the joys of com- 
 munion with God and Christ, and giving it happiness and 
 contentment in this. To gain satisfaction and happiness 
 is the object sought in yielding to the flesh. But blessed in 
 the far greater happiness of this communion, the man needs 
 no more those lower pleasures, and is enabled to pursue 
 his heavenly course to the entire subjection of the flesh. 
 
 So it is with the pursuit of the world, of the things that 
 surround us in the society in which we dwell, and tempt 
 us to pursue them. The Holy Spirit reveals heavenly 
 things ; he reveals Christ now living in his kingdom, and 
 shows what is the inheritance and portion of his people 
 with him. Thus he leads them, as (rod's people of old 
 were led, to live as strangers and pilgrims in the world, 
 looking for a city which hath foundations, in which they, 
 hoping to have a portion, care not for that earthly in- 
 heritance to which they might have returned. 
 
 The Spirit of God can control Satan also, for he is but 
 a creature of God's ; and therefore greater is he that is in 
 you than all they that are against you, than all that is in 
 the world. And there is a word of special comfort to the 
 weakest and youngest, " they are kept by the mighty 
 power of God, through faith unto salvation:" the in- 
 heritance is reserved in heaven for us, and we are kept for 
 it — garrisoned, as the word is — by the power of God, 
 through the Spirit, that our faith may be sustained and 
 we may endure unto the end. 
 
 § 5. The Voiu of Faith. 
 
 The second part of the vow made for you, and in your 
 names at your baptism, was that you should believe all the 
 
134 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 articles of the Christian faith ; and these articles you have 
 been taught in the creed, which you have learnt to sum 
 up in these words : — 
 
 " First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who made 
 me and all the world. Secondly, in God the Son, who 
 hath redeemed me and all mankind. And, thirdly, in 
 God the Holy Ghost, who sanctified me, and all the elect 
 people of God." 
 
 It is the practical belief of this truth which is the point 
 now before us ; and this belief includes, as we have seen, 
 confession. Our faith in God must be answerable to the 
 revelation he has been pleased to make of himself to us, to 
 whom he, the Lord Jehovah, has made himself known as 
 the Father, Son, and Spirit; three equally divine persons, 
 constituting, the one living God, whom Abraham and his 
 seed were taught to worship. After that form of words 
 which the Lord Christ gave, and in the spirit of his direc- 
 tion, you were dedicated to God the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost, given up to their service, to faith in 
 them, and to obedience to their will. It is clear that no 
 distinction is made in this our dedication ; and whatever 
 our baptism means as applied to us in respect of the 
 Father, it means the same in respect of the Son, and of 
 the Holy Ghost; whatever faith and obedience we owe, 
 whatever obligations we lie under to the Father, the very 
 same lie upon us to the Sod, and to the Spirit. The faith 
 then which we are called to exercise on these three 
 divine persons must answer to the work of each in our 
 behalf. 
 
 We believe of God the Father, that he is our father — 
 a reconciled God and father to each of us. We believe 
 that as he sent his Son to make reconciliation, so he 
 accepted his work for us, and that he is now on the throne 
 of grace, waiting to receive sinners, and willing to bless 
 them, willing to grant them grace according to their 
 
THE SECOND VOW. 135 
 
 need, and to hear and answer their prayers for the sake 
 of his beloved Son, and through the Spirit. The faith 
 you are to exercise in him is according to this your belief. 
 In the spirit of children you are to call him, with all 
 reverence and delight, " Father," appropriating that reve- 
 lation of him to yourselves. You will be ever making 
 supplication to him, seeking his mercy and favour, casting 
 all your cares upon his love, and submitting with an 
 obedient and willing mind to his will. For though he 
 may appoint us chastisements and afflictions, or even a 
 course of sorrow through our whole lives, still in the 
 knowledge of his fatherly love, we shall strive to exercise 
 a submissive mind, and to have our submission made 
 more entire ; aiming to attain the mind of Christ Jesus, 
 the perfect spiritual man, who when suffering from his 
 Father's hand under the curse of sin, borne in submission 
 to the Father's will, prayed, " Not my will, but thine be 
 done." And who in the same perfect faith, even when in 
 the agony of his soul he cried out, " My God, My God, 
 why hast thou forsaken me?" yet could add, "Father 
 into thy hands I commend my Spirit." Such is the faith 
 we are to strive after, it being God's will that all his 
 children shall be made partakers of the Saviour's faith, 
 that they may be capable of partaking eternal life with 
 him. 
 
 Secondly. "We believe in God the Son, who hath 
 redeemed us and all mankind." This is the work of 
 Christ. He who was in the glory of the Father before the 
 world began, put off that glory for us. He was the Word, 
 the manifester of God's glory to all the hosts of heaven, 
 but that glory was eclipsed in heaven, and he was beheld 
 incarnate, as a babe, on earth. He took our nature and 
 became man : the angels saw him in a human form, and 
 acknowledged him whom they had worshipped in heaven, 
 saying, " Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
 
136 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 good will to man." As man he became the servant of men, 
 ministering to all, but having nothing himself; and he 
 became obedient, even unto death. And now that having 
 risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, he has 
 received the kingdom, this is still the secret of his rule ; 
 it is by service and ministration, not by authority and 
 power, that he governs, swaying the souls of men by the 
 service done them. And still he ever lives to complete 
 his work for us, by interceding for us as our high priest, 
 and by saving to the utmost all that come to God by 
 him. 
 
 This is the work of Christ, which we profess to believe 
 when we repeat the creed — the work which he is still 
 carrying on. His work of redemption is finished. Every 
 soul in this world is a soul redeemed by Christ. He who 
 will not receive the record of his redemption, who refuses 
 the reconciliation, he is rejected of God, not because there 
 is no redemption for him, but because he has rejected the 
 only begotten Son of God, and is become subject to the 
 second death. But none can now perish in the first 
 death. 
 
 Here then you have the scope of your faith in Christ. 
 You are called on to acknowledge him as the Lord your 
 God, as your mediator, king and Saviour, the giver of 
 repentance to you, of forgiveness, and of faith, the giver 
 of the Spirit to you. You are to live by faith in him, 
 looking constantly to him to live in you by his Spirit, 
 that you may have power to live truly and earnestly for 
 him. You are to follow him in all things, waiting ever 
 upon him through the day, and through your whole lives, 
 turning to him to mediate with the Father for you, and 
 expecting all present spiritual blessings, and all future 
 victory through him ; depending on him for the con- 
 tinuance of the Father's favour to you, for as he made 
 peace, so it is he that must continue it. 
 
FAITH. 137 
 
 Lastly. What is the faith we are to exercise in God the 
 Holy Ghost? Consider what he has done, and what he 
 is engaged to do for you. He has wrought repentance 
 and faith in your souls in such measure as they exist in 
 you. Now he comes forth to take possession of your 
 souls, that you may be sanctified, and the Father's will 
 perfected in respect of you. Give him the glory for what 
 he has done for you ; acknowledge in your inmost heart 
 that it was no wisdom or discernment of your own which 
 has led you to see the love and glory of God manifested 
 in Christ, but that it was the Spirit who revealed it to 
 you. And remember the same power which first made 
 you live must always be the power of your life ; and you 
 must continue to live in his strength and energising, and 
 by his teaching and guidance, that you may be able at all 
 to glorify God. Evermore you must look to him for 
 these blessings ; ever pray to the Father that he will grant 
 you the gift of the indwelling Spirit, and that he may 
 never depart from you, but may ever abide in and quicken 
 your souls to a new spiritual life. Day by day — what- 
 ever work you are called to do — whatever you are called 
 to refrain from doing — whatever you are called to submit 
 to — turn your hearts to the Spirit in faith, and pray that 
 as he abides in you so he will be pleased effectually to 
 work in you, to will and to do the Father's will. Never 
 for a moment suppose that you are able to do any one 
 thing to which you are called in your spiritual life — " Not 
 I, but Christ in me." 
 
 § 6. The Void of Obedience. 
 
 The last promise made for you was this, that you, being 
 instructed in the truth, will strive, by God's grace assisting 
 you, to obey it ; that, knowing what God has done for you, 
 you will do that which he commands you. Our Lord tells 
 
138 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 us (John xv. 14) that this is the only test of our being his 
 members, of our belonging to him, which he will admit ; 
 it is that without which all professions of love and faith 
 are regarded as empty words. For it is not possible we 
 should believe the love of God in giving his dear Son for 
 us, or all that Christ has done for us, and not love him ; it 
 is not possible we should love him and not obey him, and 
 that not in our own way, but according to his command- 
 ment. 
 
 Our first business, then, is to understand the law of our 
 obedience. When asked in reference to this third vow, which 
 be God's commandments, you are taught to reply that they 
 are ten, and the same which God spake in the xxth of 
 Exodus. But the promise made extends your obedience 
 beyond the tenor of the ten commandments, to everything 
 which it is the will of God his people shall do or abstain 
 from doing. In truth, men, as God's creatures, have in 
 every age been bound to obey him according to the revela- 
 tion made to them of his will. The moral conscience 
 (Rom. ii. 14, 15) is the law of the natural, the rational 
 man. When sin had entered into the world, and a way of 
 access was opened for sinners to God in the declaration 
 made to Adam concerning the seed of the woman, a new 
 law was given; for this way of access required a new 
 mind, a spiritual mind that turned from sin in real 
 aversion, and to God in real confidence. I speak not now 
 of the measure in which this new mind was formed in 
 men, but of its reality ; and I affirm that from that time 
 none have been saved but in the way of faith and re- 
 pentance ; and these are the two elements of spiritual life. 
 Hence the law of his people was, that they should live in 
 faith on him that was come to destroy the works of Satan, 
 and should express that faith by the sacrifice of the lamb. 
 To this was added, in Abraham's day, the command of 
 dedication, and later still — when the law of Sinai added 
 
THE THIKD VOW. 139 
 
 to the moral law commands which the natural conscience 
 could not teach — the law of the Sabbath, and that which 
 extends the moral law to the inward principles and desires 
 of the heart — the one absolute, the other spiritual. For 
 the inward obedience of the soul, which brings the spirit 
 of the man into conformity to (rod's will, is a part of the 
 spiritual law, under which God has purposed to bring 
 mankind, that being made partakers of that spirit, mind, 
 and temper which is like his own, they may be raised to a 
 higher, a spiritual state ; and this they could only attain 
 through the knowledge of sin. P'rom time to time, by 
 the psalmists and prophets, the spiritual nature of God's 
 law was more fully taught, repentance was more fully 
 explained and more deeply felt; and believers were brought 
 to exercise a stronger, more enlightened, and more entire 
 faith on him that was to come. 
 
 When Christ came he delivered to the Church his new 
 law. In the sermon on the Mount he showed that he 
 came to fulfill all that (rod by the law and the prophets 
 had taught ; and taking these commands one by one, he 
 showed how he requires his followers to keep them, not 
 only in outward act, but in heart and will obeying them. 
 And in doing this he did not spiritualize the old law, he 
 gave us his new law ; and we are not to ask, What did God 
 command his ancient people? but, What does Christ 
 require of us? Now there are things in this law of 
 Christ's which were in no way touched upon in the old 
 law: that was summed up in these words, "Thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and 
 strength ;" and " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." 
 The law of self-denial and self-sacrifice, the taking up our 
 cross and following Christ, cannot be engrafted on any of 
 the ten commandments, nor on this summary of them, 
 without a manifest perversion of words. It is a new law, 
 by which Christ calls us to fulfill God's will by following 
 
140 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 himself, by taking- pattern by his life, and learning from 
 his behaviour what ours is to be (John xiii. 15, 16, 34). 
 Neither is Christ's law of love the same as Moses' ; the 
 one is " love thy neighbour as thyself ; " the other is 
 " love one another, as I have loved you." It is the same 
 in respect of the substance, love ; but it is new in respect 
 of the degree of love it demands. We are to love as 
 Christ loved who sacrificed his own life for others. The 
 law of the Christian is, to sacrifice himself for others; 
 whatever path he is called to follow, however strait 
 and difficult, however contrary to his nature, he is to take 
 up his cross and follow Christ through it. There is no 
 sacrifice, however great, which he may be unwilling to 
 make, no duty he may be unwilling to perform, when it 
 comes before him in God's providence. This is the law of 
 your obedience ; and that in saying this I do not overstrain 
 the matter, you will see if you look again at 1 John iii. 16. 
 
 You see, then, the scope of the Christian's law of love ; 
 counting nothing dear to himself, willingly giving up his 
 life, so that in doing (rod's will, even to death, he may 
 finish his course with joy. Nor is it only in witnessing 
 for the truth in public that men may thus lay down their 
 lives in the cause of Christ. Without any public trial, 
 by simply carrying out their work of love, men may lay 
 down their lives in the service of Christ and of their 
 brethren by inches, in their daily life and labour, knowing all 
 the time that they are dying by little and little. And this 
 path of self-sacrifice is open to every individual Christian. 
 
 You see, then, to what you are called ; therefore sit 
 down first and count the cost, that you may not lightly 
 undertake an obedience which you are not desirous to 
 fulfill. 
 
 Nor is the mere obedience everything ; it is the means, 
 not the end. In actually doing, day by day, the things to 
 which Christ's law calls us, we are to advance on the road 
 
OBEDIENCE. 141 
 
 to heaven ; it does not merit heaven, nor can it ensure us 
 a place there, to which, if we attain, we must attain it through 
 the blood and for the sake of Christ alone : but you all 
 understand that it is (rod's purpose that every soul saved 
 by grace shall be conformed to the likeness of Christ; and 
 the means of forming our spirits to that image is this 
 course of practical obedience to his law ; it is by following 
 his example in act and life that our souls are trained and 
 moulded till the character of Christ is fully formed in us. 
 The believer does not acquire the form of Christ's cha- 
 racter impressed on his own nature ; but his own [moral 
 and rational] nature is changed into the nature of the 
 Spiritual Man, Christ the Lord. The principle of that 
 nature, which is the fruit of thus following Christ and 
 obeying his will, is love. The love of the brethren, of 
 which St. John speaks when he says, " If Grod so loved us, 
 so ought we to love one another," is not the limit of 
 Christian love. Christ's disciples are to learn a fuller love 
 than this — the love of all men ; that universal love is the 
 real character of Christ. So St. Peter, in telling us how 
 we are to press on in our Christian race, puts after 
 godliness — i. e. godlikeness — brotherly kindness, the 
 love of our brethren according to the law and measure 
 of Christ's love; and then he says this love must grow 
 till it extend to all men equally, till it is swallowed 
 up in simple, entire, universal love. This is the summit 
 at which we are to aim ; to learn what it is, study the 
 xiiith of Corinthians. You will see that whilst every 
 duty and every grace enjoined by former commands is 
 included in this, it takes in a variety of duties which could 
 not possibly have been brought under them, but which 
 are all the natural fruits of this love. 
 
 This is that will and commandment of God, which you, 
 as the followers of Christ, are to engage to aim at fulfilling. 
 When you see how high and broad it is, you must indeed 
 
142 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 say, Who and what am I, that I should engage to obey 
 it, when in me dwelleth no good thing ? Yet your Saviour 
 calls you to it ; and it is what we shall be enabled to fulfill 
 if we do indeed believe in the Father's love to us as his 
 children ; in the Son's ever living to intercede for us, and 
 to give us his Spirit; in the Holy Spirit's presence to 
 abide in us, to possess us, and to work in us to will and to 
 do God's holy will and pleasure. 
 
 Then we need never question as to whether we shall be 
 enabled to do anything to which God calls us ; then we 
 should never be overcome, never fail, but daily attempting, 
 and one by one, the things to which we are called, we 
 should be found growing up to Christ more and more. 
 Let this be the object ever set before you ; never forget 
 that it is possible, and possible for you : for whilst suffer- 
 ing is appointed by our Father for our purification to that 
 holiness without which none shall see God, the practice of 
 this obedient love is, by the Spirit's power, to form the 
 character of Christ within his people. 
 
 To these three Divine Persons you are now solemnly 
 called to give yourselves, your souls and bodies ; and to 
 devote yourselves to their service by your public act, and 
 in your lives, in order that you may be sealed by the 
 Spirit, and may be manifested to be of the number of 
 God's children by being enabled to follow Christ in the 
 power of his Spirit. Have you the mind thus to yield 
 yourselves wholly to the Lord ? Have you the heart to 
 be of the number of his pecular people, elect, obedient, 
 separate from the world ? And is it your purpose so 
 to be? 
 
 § 7. The Christian's Standing. 
 
 (Address after Confirmation.) 
 
 Consider what your condition is before God and his 
 people. You stand before him as professed Christians; 
 
143 
 
 you have been enabled by God's grace to confess his 
 truth, and profess your determination to obey it, both by 
 renouncing all evil and by obeying God's law and sub- 
 mitting to his will, whether made known to you by his 
 revelation, or by the course of his providence (and only 
 by his grace, if you were sincere, could you do this) ; and 
 now you are regenerate souls, whose sins are forgiven and 
 who are accepted, because you believe. Hence as soon 
 as you said, in answer to the Bishop's question, " I do," 
 we united to give thanks to God that he had been pleased 
 to regenerate and accept you. I press this upon you, 
 because it is very needful for you well to know the cha- 
 racter you bear, that you may live according to it. These 
 things, regeneration and acceptance, are sometimes repre- 
 sented as the end of all that the Christian has to seek for 
 and strive to attain ; but they are falsely so represented. 
 They are the very beginning of his course ; they are so 
 far from being that which he aims at in running the 
 Christian race, that they are blessings he must enjoy, in 
 order to run it at all. They are what you possess now : 
 regenerate by the Spirit, forgiven and accepted by the 
 Father, and enjoying the covenanted gift of the Spirit to 
 be an abiding presence to perfect Christ in you ; you have 
 now been brought to the commencement of your Christian 
 course. Our instruction in order to your confirmation is 
 ended ; our instruction to enable you to pursue your 
 course must never end. 
 
 You have now then come to the starting post, and set 
 off on your way ; the whole race lies before you ; at the 
 end is the prize — the crown and the palm : a crown in- 
 corruptible and that fades not away, which is not, as in 
 the races of the world, to be given only to one, but which 
 will be gained by every one who endures to the end 
 striving lawfully, that is in the path to which God calls 
 him, and in the manner his law prescribes. We are all 
 
144 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 now banded together in this race, and we have to pursue 
 it diligently and unweariedly to the end. Our law is 
 God's will ; our course is following Christ ; and that not 
 in our own strength or righteousness, but cleaving ever to 
 Christ as our wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, 
 and living in reliance on the Spirit's power to strengthen, 
 his presence to guide us. May the Lord enable us all to 
 go on running this race, and fighting the good fight of 
 faith, to the end. 
 
 § 8. The Christian's Strength. 
 
 (From a Sermon on Ephesians vi. 10 — 18.) 
 
 The apostle begins his directions by bidding the 
 Ephesian disciples u be strong." Of what use can it be 
 to bid a man be strong when he is weak? Of much, 
 when the source of his strength is plainly opened to him ; 
 as it is here, when he bids them be strong " in the Lord, 
 and in the power of his might." What I desire to press 
 upon you all, and especially on you that are young, is 
 this; that in yourselves you have no strength at all — that 
 in Christ you have all power. So St. Paul said of himself, 
 " I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth 
 me." I can do nothing. I am not capable of thinking- 
 one good thought of myself, but in Christ I have power to 
 do all things. In his own nature the spiritual man has a 
 sore enemy ; his mind is to walk according to the law of 
 the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, but still those fleshy lusts 
 he has renounced rise up within him to oppose and fight 
 against it ; the evil world lies around him, and at every 
 step offers something to allure him from God, or to oppose 
 his service of God ; and the host of evil spirits is ever at 
 hand to suggest all evil thoughts and provoke every sinful 
 passion; and unless we live in the faith that Christ will 
 give us his Spirit, we shall never be able to live to God at 
 
HIS STRENGTH. 145 
 
 all. But herein we have a power that shall never fail : 
 for our Lord and Head, he who is engaged to dwell in our 
 souls by his Holy Spirit — to be himself our strength to 
 overcome all sin within and without us — can control and 
 overthrow those evil spirits and all their works. Against 
 all this host of enemies in their various ranks, powers, 
 and means of attack, we are to wrestle and fight; but 
 greater is he that is in us, than all these that are against 
 us, and therefore, if we fight, we need not fear to over- 
 come. 
 
 But having all these enemies to your Christian course, 
 you must put on the whole armour which God has pro- 
 vided for you ; you have need to act with all precaution 
 and to use every means which God gives you for } 7 our 
 security. There is first, " the girdle of truth." You know 
 how compact and firm a girdle renders the body, giving 
 power by enabling it to concentrate the force of all its 
 muscles in one movement; now the Christian's girdle is 
 truth, sincerity and singleness of heart. They who have 
 this can turn to God, in the midst of all the accusations 
 and temptations which assail them from within or from 
 without, as to him that searches the heart, and sees they 
 are honest and sincere in the work they have undertaken. 
 
 " The breastplate of righteousness," a mind sincerely 
 set upon the pursuit of real godliness and holiness : this 
 is the Christian's aim, and his heart answers to the call ; 
 earnestly engaged in following all that is like God, all 
 that is according to his will, the evil that is around him 
 falls off from him, and he is kept free from its pollution. 
 There is armour for the feet also. The Roman soldier 
 used to be provided with iron shoes, that amongst the 
 sharpest rocks he might walk without injury. We are to 
 be shod with the Gospel of peace, that having peace with 
 God through Christ, we may walk over the roughest and 
 thorniest paths to which we are called, without any real 
 
 L 
 
146 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 hurt to [our souls]. The fear that God may not be 
 pacified towards him, is that which cripples and disables 
 the Christian soldier, and therefore he is prepared and 
 started for his warfare with this blessing : it is not a 
 question whether God will forgive him, he is forgiven, 
 and so has peace. That this is the blessing of the very 
 youngest believer, we learn from 1 John ii. 12, 13. The 
 little child in Christ knows the Father as his Father ; and 
 this knowledge will enable you, if you hold it fast, to go 
 on undiscouraged by the difficulties that he before you ; 
 though you suffer from them at the time, yet having peace 
 with your Father, they cannot so wound you as to disable 
 you from running the race set before you. 
 
 " The shield of faith : " having confidence and trust in 
 God, as being what he proclaims himself to be ; having 
 confidence in the Saviour as your Redeemer and your 
 Life, to whose care each one of you has been committed 
 by the Father, with the injunction, that of all whom he 
 gives him, he shall lose none, but shall raise them up 
 unto the last day ; having confidence, that as he who 
 gave his Son for us, will freely give us all things with him ; 
 so also that he that died for us now lives for us ; and that 
 as in his death he had power to make reconciliation, 
 much more in his life has he power to supply all our wants 
 through the Spirit, and to give us the victory. This 
 faith is the Christian's shield, to quench every dart of the 
 enemy; for if God be for us, what are they that are 
 against us ? 
 
 We are to put on also, for a helmet, the hope of 
 salvation : and we have much need of this. For we re- 
 quire our senses to be kept in constant exercise, our 
 minds cool and undismayed, our spirits unwearied, watch- 
 ful, and waiting on the Lord ; but how are we to be kept 
 in this state, when the weapons of the enemy are con- 
 stantly directed against our souls, to disturb and perplex 
 
HIS ARMOUR. 147 
 
 the very seat of thought and judgement ? It is the hope 
 of salvation, which enables us, whilst seeing the enemy 
 and what he is doing, still to persist without wavering in 
 our course, in the power of the Lord and of his truth ; 
 the sure hope of final victory, — of good to come, carries 
 us on beyond present temptation and difficulties, to look 
 forward to our rest, and keeps our hearts quiet and un- 
 troubled. 
 
 The Christian's sword is the word of (rod: make it 
 your companion, and your study ; let it be to you as it 
 was to David when he said " Thy statutes are the men of 
 my counsel." Subject all you hear to the test of this 
 word, following the example of the Bereans who are 
 spoken of with so much honour in the 1 7th of the Acts. 
 But will the young be able to read it, so as to judge for 
 themselves of its meaning ? Yes, where teachers are not 
 to be had : when they are given, God's people will gladly 
 avail themselves of their help ; but in the promised 
 teaching of the Spirit, they have far more secured to them 
 than any human teacher can give. We do not therefore 
 bid you judge your teachers, as though by your own un- 
 derstanding or wisdom you could discern any truth, or 
 any error: but we tell you, you have the teacher cove- 
 nanted to you, and therefore we bid you search the 
 Scriptures in dependence on the Holy Ghost, and looking 
 to him to show you the truth as you need to learn it for 
 [your defence, your guidance and your progress in the 
 Christian life]. 
 
 With the putting on this armour, you are to join con- 
 tinual prayer for yourselves, and for others, and watching 
 unto prayer. That is, you must make it a great part of 
 the work of your life that you have time for prayer, set 
 apart, and not broken in upon. Do not forget, that 
 without (daily) prayer, you cannot obtain the (daily) 
 blessing ; without prayer, you can no more run the Chris- 
 
 L 2 
 
148 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 tian race, than the little infant could run a race ; without 
 prayer, the law of your flesh will ever lead you to carnal 
 thoughts and objects, Satan will beguile and conquer 
 you, the world will seduce you : but Satan can prevail 
 nothing against prayer. This is beautifully imaged in the 
 contest of the Christian pilgrim with Apollyon : he was 
 down and thought to be slain, but he plucked from his 
 bosom a weapon called " all prayer," and his enemy fled. 
 .... This is the very means by which we receive the 
 blessing of the Spirit : "your heavenly Father shall give 
 the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." Lastly, look to 
 him, the Spirit, to teach you how to pray, — to be in you 
 the Spirit of supplication and prayer, and to teach you 
 for what to pray. 
 
 § 9. The Christian's Progress. 
 
 (From a Sermon on St. Jude 20, 21.) 
 
 St. Paul declares that Christ has appointed ministers in 
 his Church for this very purpose — that the whole body, 
 being edified and growing in unity of faith and the know- 
 ledge of the Son of God, may grow up in all things to the 
 measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ : and he 
 adds, that every individual believer, as a member of that 
 body, must seek to attain the full and complete image of 
 Christ (Eph. iv. 11 — 15). The being built up, edified, 
 and established in the faith themselves, and the being 
 serviceable [each in his own degree and place] to the 
 establishment of their brethren in the same faith, is the 
 object of every believer's endeavour. St. Jude bids us 
 aim at it, that we may " keep ourselves in the love of 
 God." I purpose now to consider his words one by one, 
 in their order, and in especial reference to you, who have 
 been for some time past the objects of that instruction of 
 which this discourse must be the conclusion. 
 
HIS PROGRESS IN FAITH, 149 
 
 First, you are taught to " build up yourselves on your 
 most holy faith," — to seek your edification in the truth 
 you have been taught to know and have professed to 
 receive, that being firmly established in it, faith may 
 grow stronger and fuller in you. Faith is the fundamental 
 grace of the Christian: it is the first true sign of his 
 spiritual life, the real evidence of a change of mind, of 
 the birth of a new mind within him. There may be 
 various affections and movements called forth in the soul 
 by the knowledge of the truth, before there is faith, but 
 none of these are of the Spirit, nor spiritual, unless they 
 lead us to Christ in faith. It is the fruit of a godly sorrow 
 for sin — of sorrow for sin because it is against God and 
 opposed to him. Fear and aversion are the natural feel- 
 ings of the awakened sinner, who would fly from God's 
 presence if he could ; but being brought to know the 
 actual fact that God is reconciled in Christ to the whole 
 world of sinners, and is ready to receive and bless every- 
 one who comes to him in Christ, and holding this truth in 
 faith of heart — i. e. acting upon it — he has real repen- 
 tance, — has a heart converted to God ; and filled with 
 sorrow for his sins, he comes to God with certainty of 
 acceptance for Christ's sake, to obtain his pardoning 
 mercy, and grace to enable him to obey his will. And as 
 faith is the Christian's fundamental grace, so it is as faith 
 is strengthened and increased, that the spiritual mind 
 grows in him, and his practice improves in increasing love 
 to God and man (2 Thess. i. 3). This the apostles knew, 
 when Christ had bade them take heed to give no offence 
 themselves, and to forgive all offences against themselves, 
 however frequently repeated, and feeling the difficulty of 
 keeping a command so contrary to flesh and blood, they 
 prayed " Lord, increase our faith." 
 
 How then are we to seek this increase of our faith ? are 
 there any means to be used by us, or is it only from the 
 
150 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 sovereign power of God ? Consider : the truth revealed 
 to us, making known to us God as our Father, and Christ 
 who died for us as our everlasting Saviour, as the 
 messenger of God, and the minister of his grace to us — 
 this truth first, by the Spirit's power, produced faith in us. 
 When this truth is not known, there can be no faith, and 
 there can be no advance in faith, no progress in the 
 Christian life, and no growth in spiritual strength, but by 
 advancing in knowledge : this is, indeed, equally essential 
 to our growth in every Christian grace (Col. ii. 2 — 7). For 
 example, as the believer sees more clearly how the work 
 of Christ is for the glory of God, and that all his glory is 
 revealed in it, he is more confident in resting on his 
 death : as he understands better what is the hope of his 
 calling, and the nature of the inheritance prepared for 
 him, he is strengthened in pursuing the course that leads 
 him to it; as he learns more of the work that Christ is 
 now carrying on in heaven, of his intercession and advocacy 
 with the Father for himself and for [the whole church] 
 he grows stronger and immoveable in his faith, and there- 
 fore in his love to Christ and power to obey him .... 
 The whole truth of God is necessary to make God's people 
 perfect. God himself, whom to know is life eternal — 
 God the Father, Son, and Spirit — can be known by us only 
 in the work of Christ, in its purpose, its execution, its 
 revelation : in learning to know the whole of this work, 
 we are growing in the knowledge of God, and only by 
 knowing him can we be transformed into his image in 
 Christ. To set it forth is our labour, to understand it 
 and to live upon it, is yours. You see [not yet] how large 
 the truth is which it so deeply concerns you to know and 
 to live upon : but never set a limit to it, nor think, " now 
 I know the truth of God, all I have henceforth to do, is to 
 practise it." This is a most fatal stumbling-block to the 
 believer. I do not deny that repentance and faith, if they 
 
IN KNOWLEDGE, 151 
 
 lead you to the love of God in Christ, and so set you on 
 the labour of love, do bring you to a state of salvation ; 
 but the evidence that you have them is their growth, for 
 love will set you on seeking for the more perfect know- 
 ledge of God and Christ, and this contains far more than 
 the work of atonement from which those two first prin- 
 ciples proceed. ... I have given you an example of how 
 many and greatly different conclusions we may come to 
 by searching the Scripture, and comparing its portions 
 together, than we should have any idea of, from reading 
 single portions without reference to the whole. Do 
 not forget, that you have need to know all that Grod has 
 revealed ; there is not one word which is not given for 
 our profit, to affect our nature by the Spirit's power, who 
 shows us therein something more of the mind and spirit of 
 Christ, and thereby forms his mind within us ... . 
 Seek then the increase of your faith through the more 
 perfect knowledge of what you do know, and by learning 
 what as yet you understand not ; attend to the teaching 
 of God's ministers, who are appointed by him to give you 
 line upon line, and precept upon precept, and, as good 
 stewards, to bring forth out of their store things new as 
 well as old, for you. Neglect not, nor despise their in- 
 struction; they are commissioned by Christ himself to 
 labour for your benefit and edification. And study God's 
 word, searching it diligently for yourselves, in dependence 
 on the Holy Spirit's teaching, that you may try all things 
 and hold fast that which is good. So doing, you will be 
 raised from the state of little children in Christ, who know 
 [only] that their sins are forgiven them and that God is 
 their Father, to the state of manhood : you will become 
 strong through the word, when you have so learnt it that 
 it abides in you — strong to overcome the wicked one: 
 and from the condition of young men, you will advance to 
 that of fathers in Christ ; learning to know him that is 
 
152 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 from the beginning (1 John ii. 12 — 14). Kemember always 
 that the teacher is the Spirit ; (see v. 21, which is spoken 
 of all three, and again repeated, v. 27 ;) by whom the 
 Lord secures his people from error through our imperfect 
 teaching ; by whose aid they profit from it, though it is 
 imperfect ; and under whose guidance they will also profit 
 by their own private study of his word. 
 
 The second thing enjoined on us, is " praying in the 
 Holy Ghost." It is essential to the efficacy of all endea- 
 vours for our establishment in the faith, that we live in 
 prayer, without which all hearing and reading the word is 
 in vain ; for we have no power to embrace with the heart, 
 nor to obey what we are taught, except as the Spirit en- 
 ables us, and his power is ever to be sought by prayer. No 
 mention is ever made of the gift of the Spirit but in 
 answer to prayer ; the exercise of his power is ever spoken 
 of in Scripture in connection with his work in prayer ; and 
 no prayer of ours is acceptable to God that is not offered 
 in the Spirit. So when Christ spoke to the woman of 
 Samaria of the true worship of God in spirit and in truth, 
 he immediately connected this with the gift of the Spirit. 
 And when, at their request, he taught his disciples a form 
 of prayer, he went on to bid them be confident in asking 
 for the Spirit, assuring them of God's willingness to give 
 him to them ; for having this blessing, they would have 
 no need to say, " teach us to pray," for the Spirit would 
 cause them to pray for such things as they really needed. 
 Live, then, a life of prayer; and in all your prayers seek 
 the gift of the Spirit, look to him, trust to his presence 
 with you to enable you to pray aright ; for then you will 
 ask for those things which are according to God's will, and 
 he will hear you : and you will know the reality of the 
 Spirit's dwelling in you, by obtaining what you thus 
 seek (1 John v. 14, 15). You are thus to keep your- 
 selves in the love of God. It were vain to ask whether 
 
AND IN LOYE. 153 
 
 it is meant, to keep ourselves in the exercise of love to 
 Grod, or in the enjoyment of his love to us : the uncer- 
 tainty of the expression teaches us to link in both ; there 
 is no uncertainty as to the mind of the Spirit in it, for 
 both must go together. We must seek the enjoyment 
 of (rod's love to us, as we would be quickened in love to 
 him ; and we must exercise love towards him, to have the 
 abiding sense of his love present with us. Very similar 
 is the expression used in 2 Thess. iii. 5 ; and in both 
 passages this love of Grod is connected with the believer's 
 hope of the Lord's coming. Now our souls are directed 
 into the love of Grod when we give ourselves to him, to do 
 what he has bidden us ; so the Lord himself tells us, that 
 if we love him, we shall keep his words, and he will come 
 to us, and make his abode with us. No doubt these words 
 are figurative, but every figure in Scripture has a positive 
 meaning ; and these words mean much. They point out 
 the intimate connection and communion which those have 
 who inhabit the same house, with one to whom they always 
 have access, who is always present with them. And this 
 expresses a fact that really exists between the Lord and 
 his people ; it teaches us things that are daily done, and 
 will be done between them to the end. This is the end of 
 all establishment in the faith, and of all prayer in the 
 Spirit — that we may have the love of God continued to us, 
 that we may abide in love to him, may know Christ to be 
 our life and fellowship, and may have his love abide in us, 
 and made manifest to us, in the communication of all 
 grace as we need it. 
 
 This is the end designed in all those ordinances which 
 Grod has appointed to be the means of grace to us — as the 
 reading of his word, which, used as it is given, in reliance 
 on the Spirit's teaching, is able to make us wise unto sal- 
 vation ; or as the Sabbath-day — given, that coming to Grod 
 together, and worshipping him together in the Spirit, we 
 
154 THE ORDINANCES OP SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 may be taught and replenished, and may grow in grace 
 and knowledge. But there is one ordinance [above all 
 others] peculiarly designed to communicate to us a sense 
 of the love of Grod and Christ, and to produce love and 
 reverence in our hearts towards Grod ; an ordinance ex- 
 pressly appointed to reveal to us, and to remind us of the 
 love of Grod, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, in the 
 redemption of the world through the death and passion of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. It shows us the love of the Father 
 in giving his beloved Son to die for us ; the love of Christ 
 in dying ; the love of the Spirit in manifesting both to us ; 
 for as the Spirit reveals the Father to us in the Son, and 
 the Son in his work for us, so he himself is made known 
 to us in the manifestation of these ; as the light that makes 
 all objects clear to us, makes its own nature manifest in 
 doing so. And surely here, at the table of the Lord, if 
 anywhere, the Spirit can shed abroad the love of Grod in 
 our souls, and quicken our love to the Father and to the 
 Son, by the sight of that which they are united to do for 
 our redemption and salvation. Here also the love of Grod 
 stands in connection with things to come, for whenever 
 we rightly observe this ordinance, we " show forth," we 
 announce to ourselves, to each other, and to all men, " the 
 Lord's death, till he comes ; " we have his coming in view, 
 we look forward to the end. And when we thus eat of 
 that bread and drink of that cup, there is life in both; the 
 food of the living spiritual principle within us, is in both ; 
 from contemplating the death of Christ, we rise to view 
 his life ; we behold him now living in heaven, carrying on 
 the Father's work, perfecting all who have been committed 
 to him ; and embracing this his work in faith and love, 
 rejoicing in the hope of the glory that is to be revealed, 
 [we feed upon him in our hearts, by faith, with thanks- 
 giving]. 
 
 You, who have so lately renewed your baptismal engage- 
 
THE MEANS OF GROWTH. 155 
 
 inents, have learnt to know some of the blessings you re- 
 ceived when you were brought into the number of Christ's 
 people, and made members of his visible Church ; and in 
 acknowledgement of these blessings you have professed 
 your repentance and faith — your repentance in the rejec- 
 tion of all sin — your faith in Grod the Father, Son, and 
 Spirit; and both in the devotion of yourselves to God's 
 service in the keeping of his commandments. It is a right 
 and fit profession for you to make. Now we press upon 
 you attendance at the supper of the Lord, that you may 
 be strengthened in this your resolution, and that, in the 
 remembrance that he who died for you now lives for you, 
 you may be encouraged to go on in his service. Confirma- 
 tion is designed by our church to lead you to this ; and 
 they who decline to go on to it, thereby give up all the 
 things they have professed, in the very outset ; for they 
 break an express command of their avowed Lord, and one 
 which r^e enjoins upon them for the strengthening and 
 refreshing of their souls, by bringing to mind all that he 
 has done for them by his death, all that he is doing for 
 them by his life. Nothing is required to fit you for at- 
 tendance here, but what was equally needful to enable you 
 to make the profession you so lately made of repentance and 
 faith. They who come to this supper as wretched helpless 
 sinners, having nothing to rest on or to trust to but Christ, 
 in his death and in his life ; they who know their sin and 
 feel something of its misery, and who believe that Grod is 
 really pacified to sinners, and is willing to receive all who 
 come to him — these are accepted, and blessed in coming. 
 If any one is found at the Lord's table, who in his own 
 conceit is fit to appear there, whilst he thinks of others as 
 disqualified through their great iniquity, he indeed is unfit, 
 most hateful in the sight of Grod. 
 
 Fear not then to obey Christ's invitation, and to come 
 to this feast, as sinners for mercy ; rest assured, that as 
 
156 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 you eat that bread, and drink that wine, as the emblems 
 of him who has given his body to be broken, who has freely 
 poured out his blood for each one of your souls, Grod will 
 strengthen you thereby to live in his faith and love unto 
 the end. 
 
157 
 
 ESSAY VI. 
 ON THE SUPPER OF THE LORD. 
 
 (1834—7.) 
 
 § 1. The Institution of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 Common sense teaches us, that a just knowledge of the 
 meaning and nature of any ordinance, is essential to the 
 profitable use of it. Without this, we cannot understand 
 the work in which we are engaged, much less can we enter 
 into the Lord's mind respecting it, or attain the ends for 
 which it has been appointed. 
 
 When, therefore, the Lord was pleased to institute of 
 old the great ordinance of the Passover, he strictly com- 
 manded his people to instruct their children in its history 
 and meaning. " And ye shall observe this thing, for an 
 ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall 
 come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, 
 what mean ye by this service ? that ye shall say, it is the 
 sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the 
 houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote 
 the Egyptians, and delivered our houses" (Exod. xii. 
 24—27). 
 
 There were two great points in which the Israelites were 
 to instruct their children — 1st, in the commemorative 
 nature of the Passover ; and 2ndly, in its typical meaning. 
 They were to detail the history of the institution, as it was 
 the Lord's ordinance ; and they were to explain its mystical 
 meaning, as it was the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, 
 
158 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 and therefore typical of that great sacrifice, for the sake of 
 which alone, Grod would pass over the sins of his people. 
 They were to do this, also, that when in succeeding 
 generations their children observed the instituted rite, 
 their service might be offered not with ignorance or for- 
 mality, but with intelligence and lively faith. 
 
 The same instruction is equally necessary to all who 
 would profitably partake of the supper of the Lord. 
 
 We will therefore first enquire into the history of its 
 institution. To detail this, however, fully and properly, 
 we must not merely refer to the record of its appointment, 
 but advert also to the circumstances out of which it arose, 
 and the immediate transactions in which the Lord was at 
 the time engaged. 
 
 It took place on the evening of Thursday in Passion 
 week, the day on which our Lord was betrayed. On the 
 morning of that day he had directed Peter and John to 
 prepare a place, where he might eat the Passover with his 
 disciples ; and it is evident from the history that he had 
 looked forward with peculiar interest to this last meeting 
 with them. " With desire have I desired to eat this 
 passover with you before I suffer." Whilst these prepara- 
 tions were being made, our Lord seems to have kept apart 
 from his disciples, in retirement probably for meditation 
 and prayer upon the work that was before him. Nothing 
 at least is recorded of what took place during the inter- 
 vening time ; but when all things were ready and the 
 evening was drawing on, the history is resumed, and we 
 find the Saviour at the appointed place, sitting down with 
 his chosen followers to partake of his last paschal supper. 
 
 In the observance of the Passover, we find that before 
 our Lord's day some ceremonies enjoined at its first in- 
 stitution — such as the striking the blood of the paschal 
 lamb on the lintel and side posts of the door — had been 
 laid aside, as being of no use or meaning in after times; 
 
THE HISTORY OF ITS INSTITUTION. 159 
 
 and other ceremonies had been added to it, so that the 
 form of the ordinance was materially changed. The 
 following is the account which the Jews themselves give 
 of the manner in which it was then observed. 
 
 The provision made for the feast consisted of the lamb 
 — the feast offering * — bitter herbs, wine, unleavened 
 bread, and a thick sour sauce into which they dipped both 
 the bread and the herbs. When everything was prepared, 
 the master of the family began the feast with a cup of 
 wine, which he solemnly blessed, and gave to each of the 
 guests. He then washed his hands, and the supper com- 
 menced with the eating of unleavened bread and bitter 
 herbs dipped in the sour sauce. When all had tasted of 
 these, an explanation was required and given to the 
 company of the whole ordinance, and of the reason of its 
 institution. They then sung the 113th and 114th Psalm. 
 After this, the master of the feast took a second cup of 
 wine, and disposed of it as before, washing his hands a 
 second time. The paschal lamb, and, as it should seem, 
 the feast offering also, were then brought in, and partaken 
 of by all the company as much as they would. When all 
 had supped, the master of the feast took a third cup, and 
 blessed and divided it, then a fourth ;, after which, they 
 sunof the 145th Psalm. To this was sometimes added a 
 fifth cup, when the whole terminated with the 136th 
 Psalm.f 
 
 From the knowledge of these circumstances, we shall 
 readily understand the particulars recorded in connection 
 
 * Besides the paschal lamb, other meat was sometimes partaken of at the 
 passover supper (Deut. xvi. 7 compared with Exod. xii. 8 — 10), termed the 
 feast offering. It was not essential, and was perhaps only added when the 
 family was so large that the lamb was not sufficient to afford them a meal. 
 
 f It is to be observed, also, that wine and the sour sauce formed no part of 
 the original ceremony as appointed by God in Egypt ; both were the sub- 
 sequent additions of men : yet our Lord did not reject either ; and certainly 
 the cup of wine in the Christian ordinance was derived from the custom of 
 the Jewish feast. 
 
160 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 with our Christian ordinance, and the manner of its insti- 
 tution. It was probably on the first washing of their hands, 
 after the division of the first cup of wine, that our Lord 
 arose from the table, and washed his disciples' feet; and 
 it was probably during the eating of the unleavened bread 
 and bitter herbs that he gave the sop to Judas. Whilst 
 it is quite clear from the history, that the setting apart of 
 the bread as his body took place at a distinct time of the 
 supper from the consecration of the cup as his blood 
 (Luke xxii. 20). If we examine all the records given us 
 of the institution, we shall find the entire account com- 
 prised in the following particulars. 
 
 During the early part of the supper, and perhaps after 
 the first hymn had been sung, our Lord took a portion of 
 unleavened bread, and having blessed it, — having blessed 
 the Father for the gift of bread, and begged his blessing 
 on the peculiar use to which it was now to be applied, he 
 brake it, and delivering a portion to each, commanded 
 them all to eat of it in remembrance of him ; telling them 
 at the same time that it was his body, which was given 
 for them, and now about to be subjected to the death of 
 the cross for the redemption of their souls. Afterwards, 
 when the supper was ended, our Lord took one of the 
 cups of wine, which, as we have seen, was customarily 
 drank at the passover, and having again given thanks, he 
 blessed it, as he had before blessed the bread. He then 
 delivered this also into their hands, and bade them all 
 drink of it, declaring it to be his blood — the blood of the 
 new testament — the new testament in his blood, which 
 was about to be shed for them and for many, for the re- 
 mission of their sins: and he again charged them con- 
 stantly to observe the rite in remembrance of him. 
 
 Such is a brief account of the institution of the Lord's 
 Supper. From the narrative, it is evident not only that 
 it was closely connected with the Jewish passover, but 
 
THE REVELATION MADE IN IT. 161 
 
 that it derived its form from tb-e circumstances with which 
 that ordinance was wont to be observed. There was 
 nothing, however, accidental in this connection : it was the 
 result of design and arrangement. Both the ordinances 
 were closely connected in meaning and use. It was 
 intended, also, that the institution of the Lord's Supper 
 should supersede the ordinance of the Passover, and 
 occupy that place in the Christian system which the latter 
 had held under the law of Moses. It was important, 
 therefore, that they should be evidently connected together ; 
 — important to the Jews, to whom the ordinance was 
 first to be proposed ; — important to us, among whom the 
 observance of it is to be continued till the Lord comes. 
 The connection naturally disposed the Jewish mind to 
 receive the new institution more favourably ; and it gives 
 to us an interest in all the former dispensations of Grod to 
 his people, and in their appointed modes of worship. They 
 have, in fact, all originated from the same divine mind, 
 have been designed to answer the same divine purpose, 
 have all had one meaning, have all set forth one object, 
 and are still helpful to enable us to understand it. The 
 very changes indeed effected from time to time in their 
 form and number, have been effected only to guide the 
 minds of the worshippers, as by a system of progressive 
 teaching, into a more perfect understanding of that object. 
 We need not wonder, therefore, that the ordinances of 
 older dispensations should still have their use, in enabling 
 us to judge more accurately of the meaning and use of our 
 own institutions. 
 
 § 2. The Revelation made in it. 
 
 Generally we may observe that in the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper there is a special [revelation] or exhibition 
 
162 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 of Christ himself, and that this is made not to our eyes but 
 to our faith. 
 
 The exhibition of Christ has, indeed, been the one end 
 of all divine revelation from the beginning, and of all 
 divine ordinances. From the first declaration respecting 
 the woman's Seed, and the appointed sacrifice of the lamb, 
 the type of Christ, it has been the work of God to make 
 known to sinners that Seed, and the redemption he was to 
 effect ; and this that he might reconcile them to himself, 
 and strengthen their faith in the hope set before them. 
 The ceremonies of the law and the declarations of the 
 prophets all point to Christ, centre and harmonize in 
 him, and tend to illustrate his person and his work. The 
 Gospel revelation is a history of Christ — the very counter- 
 part of the former ; an account of the fulfilment of his 
 promised work, from his coming into the world in all the 
 weakness of the flesh, until he is made to sit down as the 
 glorified Mediator on the Father's throne, there waiting 
 till his foes be made his footstooL And it closes with the 
 discovery of the order and manner in which the things yet 
 to be effected by the Lord shall be accomplished ; finally 
 terminating in the consummation of all things, when the 
 Son shall give up the kingdom to God even the Father ; 
 and the one living and true God shall be known, acknow- 
 ledged, and adored, as all in all. Christ, then, and the 
 mystery of God to be accomplished in him, is the subject 
 exhibited in every part of the written Word. 
 
 We need not wonder, therefore, that the sacraments of 
 the new covenant should be designed to exhibit Christ 
 and his work. It is so in baptism : the baptized person 
 is sacramentally buried with Christ in the baptismal 
 waters, in the likeness of Christ's burial ; and he rises with 
 him out of the water, in the likeness of his resurrection ; 
 professing in these sacramental actions his faith in the 
 efficacy of the Lord's death and resurrection, and uniting 
 
THE ELEMENTS. 163 
 
 himself to Christ in both, content to suffer with him 
 as he hopes to reign with him. So also in the sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's Supper, Christ is manifested to us in 
 his death and in his life, as the Mediator between God 
 and sinners, — in his offering and sacrifice of himself for 
 sin, and as he now appears in the presence of God for us. 
 He manifests himself to us in this sacrament in that very 
 character in which he revealed himself to his beloved 
 apostle : " Fear not : I am the first and the last, even he 
 that liveth and was dead ; and behold I am alive for ever- 
 more, amen : and have the keys of death and hell." Pie 
 reveals himself to us in it, as he appeared in the vision, 
 when the apostle beheld heaven opened, and the Lord 
 Christ standing in the midst of his throne, as a lamb that 
 had been slain: he is manifested in the efficacy of his 
 death, and in the majesty of his power, able to save to 
 the uttermost all that come to God by him, because he 
 ever lives to make intercession for them. 
 
 § 3. The Elements. 
 
 The ordinance throughout is figurative: it could not be 
 otherwise. Like the sacrament of baptism, it is intended 
 to make visible, real transactions and communications 
 between the Lord and his people : but these communica- 
 tions are altogether spiritual : their spirit of mind is 
 secret within themselves, and the Lord's mind toward us, 
 and his communication to us being wholly spiritual and 
 made to our souls, are equally invisible. From its very 
 nature, therefore, this communion can only be rendered 
 visible on the one side or the other, by signs and symbols, 
 instituted by the Lord, and used by us, to represent the 
 actions by which it is carried on. 
 
 By certain visible elements— bread and wine, — and by 
 certain sacramental actions, spiritual and heavenly truths 
 
 M 2 
 
164 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 are presented to our minds, spiritual blessings are offered 
 to our acceptance, and are actually conveyed to those who 
 receive the offer in faith and love. In the selection of 
 these outward and visible signs, our Lord has appointed 
 such as in their own nature are calculated to set forth the 
 benefits of his death and passion, of his mediation and 
 life ; and all he did with them, all the sacramental actions 
 as we term them, were either expressive of his mind 
 towards his heavenly Father in his work of obedience and 
 death, of his love to sinners in dying, or were such as 
 called forth from them an expression of the mind with 
 which they ought to regard him. For the whole object of 
 the institution is to aid our understandings in the per- 
 ception of the truth ; to lead us into communion with the 
 Lord in all he did, and in all he still carries on for us ; 
 to confirm our faith in the certainty of the blessings 
 offered ; and to assure us, as by the deposit of a pledge 
 and token, that we shall enjoy them for ever. 
 
 Our Lord, therefore, intending to express the spiritual 
 nourishment of our souls by the continual exercise of faith 
 in his death and in the fruits of his death, appointed 
 bread and wine to be the emblems to us of his body and 
 blood, because they are the special means of the nourish- 
 ment and refreshment of our bodies ; for bread strength- 
 ened man's heart, and wine makes it glad (Psalm civ. 15). 
 The distinct appointment of the bread and wine — not 
 both together, but separately — signifies the separation of 
 the body and blood, and thus preserves a constant me- 
 morial of the dissolution of Christ's human nature, of the 
 reality of his death. At his table, therefore, we have 
 communion with him in his death ; we come to God as 
 sinners pleading the sacrifice of the Lamb which Grod has 
 appointed to take away the sins of the world, and making 
 mention of his atonement, we pray that God will pardon 
 us for his sake ; we receive the bread and wine in remem- 
 
THEIR SIGNIFICANCE. 165 
 
 brance of his death, and the atonement made in it, and as 
 pledges to assure us that the blood of Christ still cleanses 
 from all sin, that unworthy as we are, the Father still 
 accepts us in him. Thus our peace is renewed, and our 
 confidence of eternal life is strengthened. 
 
 The mode in which both the bread and wine are pre- 
 pared to become our food, is equally significant of Christ's 
 suffering. The bread corn must be bruised, must be 
 crushed between the millstones : and whence is the wine 
 procured, but by the crushing of the vintage in that press 
 which is the constant emblem of the wrath of God? To 
 this did our Lord submit for our sakes ; he was made a 
 curse for us, and he knew the full misery of subjection to 
 that curse, when in the desolation of his soul he cryed 
 out, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ! " 
 
 The very form of the substances by which we com- 
 memorate his death, thus recalls to our minds the in- 
 tenseness of his sufferings ; but with the remembrance of 
 his sufferings, ever connect the fact that they are the 
 appointed means of life for many — for multitudes that 
 cannot be numbered. The grinding of the corn prepares 
 it for man's nourishment, and the crushed grapes yield 
 the wine that cheers him. All is figurative of our Lord. 
 Through the suffering of death he rose from the grave 
 incorruptible, and now sits, the glorified spiritual man, on 
 the right hand of the Father, possessed of the power of an 
 endless life : and therein he is at once the source and the 
 security of his people's life, both by virtue of his promise, 
 "Because I live, ye shall live also;" and by the efficacy 
 of his power ; " for if when we were enemies we were 
 reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more 
 being reconciled shall we be saved by his life." Whilst 
 then in receiving the bread and wine, you realise the 
 Lord's death, and dwell on the sufferings of that death to 
 which he became obedient for us, let your thoughts pass 
 
166 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP, 
 
 on to the life which he now lives ; and remember that in 
 the nature of that bread and wine is expressed the efficacy 
 of that life for the nourishment and the comfort of your 
 souls. 
 
 § 4. The Sacramental Actions. 
 
 Equally significant were the actions of our Lord in the 
 institution of the ordinance. He set apart a portion of the 
 unleavened bread, and of the wine which had been provided 
 for the passover feast, from the rest, he gave thanks to God 
 his heavenly Father, for his unspeakable love in the ap- 
 pointment of himself, his beloved, to be the Redeemer and 
 Saviour of sinners, and begged his blessing on the ordi- 
 nance which he was now instituting to commemorate their 
 redemption through his death. He signified that death 
 by breaking the bread and pouring out the wine ; he dis- 
 tributed both to his disciples ; and they, in obedience to 
 his command, all received and partook of them. These 
 are all the sacramental actions used by our Lord, and 
 observed by his ministers after his example : they are all 
 figurative acts, each has its appropriate meaning, and 
 serves to set Christ before us, or to show us our relation 
 and our duty to him. 
 
 i. The separation of the bread and wine exhibits to us 
 the Lord Christ, as appointed and set apart by the Father 
 for that work in which he was now engaged, and as 
 sanctifying himself for the fulfilment of his Father's will. 
 This he did when he came into the world ; " Then said I, 
 Lo I come to do thy will, oh God*; thy law is written in my 
 heart, yea, I have a delight therein." In his baptism he 
 made an open confession of this his purpose, by his sub- 
 mission to a typical burial in the waters of Jordan, sur- 
 rendering himself to God and to obedience to God's will. 
 Throughout his ministry he steadfastly followed that will, 
 in the path of holiness, of self-denial, and of suffering ; — 
 
THE SACRAMENTAL ACTIONS. 167 
 
 he was even straitened until it was accomplished. When 
 the time for his sacrifice approached he came up to 
 Jerusalem ; dedicated himself in the institution of his 
 supper to the work of death, as a willing substitute and 
 sacrifice for us ; and having given his closing instructions 
 to his disciples, he went forth to meet his enemies, and 
 delivered himself into their hands, — a willing sacrifice, 
 the just one suffering for ns unjust. 
 
 ii. Equally significant was our Lord's thanksgiving, of 
 his unshaken faith as to the issue of his work. It ex- 
 pressed his sure confidence that the Father would accept 
 him in it, would show him the path of life, and exalt him 
 to be a Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel 
 and forgiveness of sins. By faith he pierced the thick 
 gathering cloud, now ready to burst in wrath upon his 
 head, and confiding in his Father's faithfulness and care, 
 saw through it the glory of that eternal day, for the joy 
 of which he endured the cross, despising the shame. 
 
 iii. The breaking of the bread, and the pouring out the 
 wine, are plain and evident figures of the Saviour's suffer- 
 ings in his death ; when his body — that holy thing which 
 the Spirit of God had formed by his mighty power, and 
 had inhabited from his birth, was buffeted and spit upon, 
 was bruised and crucified ; when his precious blood was 
 forced out of every pore through the anguish of his mind, 
 and shed from every wound which his enemies inflicted ; 
 and when his righteous soul, heart-broken by reproach, 
 and destitute of all consolation, tasted death for all men ; 
 — when as one debarred from access to his Father, and 
 judicially cast out of his presence, with strong cries and 
 tears he said, " My (rod, why hast thou forsaken me," and 
 gave up the ghost. 
 
 iv. When the Lord delivered the bread and wine to 
 his disciples, and said, u Take, eat, this is my body which 
 is given for you: drink ye all of this, for this is my 
 
168 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for 
 many;" what did the action intimate but the freedom of 
 his grace and love in giving himself to be the propitiation 
 for sin, and in applying the benefit of his passion to them- 
 selves, for their personal salvation ? They had not chosen 
 him, but he had chosen them. There was nothing origi- 
 nally in themselves to attract God's favour toward them, 
 neither was there anything in their subsequent conduct 
 that could preserve them in it : they had ever been dull 
 of understanding, slow of heart to believe, proud and 
 ambitious in spirit. Yet to these men, thus unworthy of 
 the love bestowed upon them, did our Lord distribute the 
 tokens of his love, and thereby assured them of the per- 
 petual nourishment of their souls. Nor is this less true 
 of us, when by the Lord's command his supper is observed 
 amongst us, than it was of those to whom this sacrament 
 was first offered; by the gracious offer made in it of 
 himself to our souls, he teaches us to acknowledge the 
 grace wherein we stand, and to confess that his mere 
 favour has made us his, and that by his favour alone can 
 we continue to have any lot or portion in him. 
 
 v. Lastly, there is the sacramental action required of 
 those who come to the table of the Lord ; — receiving and 
 eating the bread, and drinking the wine : thus figuratively 
 denoting our exercise of faith in Christ as our life and 
 as the spiritual food of our souls, — our actual union to 
 him, and enjoyment of him. The hand that takes the 
 bread is the emblem of that faith which fixes on him who 
 is in heaven, but present with us at his table by his 
 Spirit, and through the appointed elements. The purpose 
 of his presence is, that he may sup with us, and we with 
 him ; that he may hold communion with us, receiving the 
 tender of our faith and love, and conveying to us heavenly 
 blessings, assuring our hearts of rest and peace with Grod. 
 He imparts a sense and taste of his love, assuring us that 
 
FEEDING ON CHRIST 169 
 
 we are united to him, and very members incorporate in 
 that mystical body of which he is the everlastiDg head ; 
 and that as it is the office of the head to direct, watch 
 over, and provide for its members, so will he ever watch 
 over us, preserving us by his mighty power, and exercising 
 us in all those works by which his name may be magni- 
 fied, and the Father glorified in him. 
 
 When therefore we eat the bread and drink the wine, 
 we unite ourselves to Christ in love, nor is our union with 
 him less real in itself, or in its effects, than are those 
 outward acts which are visible to all : for as truly as the 
 food we eat becomes incorporated in our very substance, 
 so truly are our souls, feeding by faith on the emblems of 
 the Lord Jesus, maintained in union with him : and as 
 certainly as our bodies are repaired and strengthened by 
 the food we eat, so certainly are our souls renovated and 
 strengthened by that blessed union, [when we receive] 
 those evidences of our interest in the riches of his grace, 
 and those pledges of his everlasting love to us. 
 
 § 5. Feed on him in your hearts, by faith, with thanks- 
 giving. 
 
 As many as by faith receive the offer of Christ thus 
 made to them in this sacrament, and by faith feed on him 
 the true manna, the bread of life to their souls, — they 
 live, and are strengthened in the power of life ; all the 
 blessings we have declared and have yet to speak of, are 
 in due time realised by them ; and thus cleaving to him 
 they will go from strength to strength, until they appear 
 before God in the glory of Christ's likeness. 
 
 But to whom is the promise of the water of life given ? 
 to the thirsty : — to him who has a mind that desires and 
 responds to the blessing offered, — who perceives its truth 
 and excellence, who admires and delights in the glory 
 
170 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 revealed to us in Christ. There is something of this in 
 the natural man — the merely moral man; until he be- 
 comes so enslaved to a corrupt nature as to lose his moral 
 sense, he not only perceives what is just, true, and kind, 
 and distinguishes between right and wrong; but he has 
 such an approbation of, and preference for, the former, as 
 to derive a sensible pleasure from contemplating them, 
 and to find a happiness when employed in them quite 
 distinct from all consideration of their consequences: 
 whilst the sight of that which is vile and brutal rouses in 
 him an indignation which strongly expresses the pain 
 occasioned even by the view of evil. But this is mani- 
 fested far more powerfully in the spiritual mind, which 
 includes a love for all moral excellence, but derives its 
 happiness from the spiritual things of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and aims at a scope of duty, and ranges after 
 objects far beyond the sight and foreign to the pursuits 
 of the natural, moral man. 
 
 Now faith is the one spiritual sense of the spiritual 
 man. Faith hears and obeys the word of Christ; faith 
 sees and delights in the holiness of Christ ; faith tastes 
 and is satisfied with the grace of Christ ; faith feels, and 
 is touched by the love of Christ. It is a living, not a 
 dead principle, and the reality of its life is always to be 
 discerned by a corresponding feeling and action. This is 
 equally true by whatever means it is brought into exer- 
 cise : the believer who comes to the Lord's table, cannot 
 in faith commemorate the Saviour's death, cannot receive 
 the pledges of his presence, or consider his sufferings, 
 signified by the broken bread and the wine poured out ; 
 he cannot reflect on the benefits derived to himself by 
 those sufferings and that death, or receive the elements as 
 given personally to himself, to seal these blessings to his 
 soul, without corresponding emotions. If by receiving 
 them he can have access to Christ, and can feed by faith 
 
BY FAITIL 171 
 
 on him whom they represent, he is satisfied. But if he 
 cannot come nigh to Christ, cannot be sure of his mercy 
 and love, he goes mourning [and unsatisfied'] to his home. 
 He who eats the bread and drinks the wine unmoved and 
 unaffected, neither expecting a blessing nor grieved for 
 the want of it, — whatever be the motive that leads him 
 there, he is destitute of faith, and has but a name to live 
 whilst he is dead. 
 
 For the exercise of this living faith we need the con- 
 stant, energising power of the Holy Spirit: he is its 
 author, and its continuance and growth are equally of him, 
 so that it is numbered among the fruits of the Spirit 
 which they who are made the temples of the Spirit are 
 called upon to bring forth (Gal. v. 22, 23). And let 
 this truth be an encouragement to all those who know 
 and lament how low is the power of the divine life in 
 their souls, who are sensible that their apprehension of 
 spiritual things is indeed dull, and that they are utterly 
 incapable of realising the truth or the blessing offered to 
 them : let them remember that the Lord's promise to his 
 people, " Ask, and ye shall have, seek, and ye shall find " 
 — spoken in respect of this very gift of the Spirit, still 
 stands firm ; and that we are appointed to salvation, not 
 only through the washing of regeneration, bnt through 
 the continual renewing of the Holy Ghost. They are 
 spiritually sick indeed, and like the sick man, can do 
 little more than complain of their want of strength — their 
 want of appetite for their spiritual food : but let them 
 still look to, and plead the promise. The Lord can as 
 effectually revive his work within them, as he originally 
 commenced it : he can so recover and renew them, that 
 animated by a faith longing for communion with God, 
 they shall wait on him and renew their strength, they 
 shall mount up with wings as eagles, shall run and not be 
 weary, shall walk and not faint (Isa. xl. 31). Nor is there 
 
172 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 any ordinance in which they may more confidently expect 
 such renewal, or to receive greater tokens of the Lord's 
 love, than at his table. Only let them come like the 
 woman that was a sinner, and sit at his feet weeping for 
 their sins ; and though they know themselves utterly 
 unworthy of a place at his table, he will bid them come 
 to him and partake of his supper. He will himself 
 minister the heavenly food, and will say to their souls, 
 " Take, eat, it is my body which was once given to death 
 to obtain your eternal redemption, and your continual 
 forgiveness. Drink this, for it is my blood shed to ratify 
 the new covenant, and secure its blessings to your souls. 
 Feed on me by faith, and be thankful, and depart in 
 peace, assured that your sins are forgiven." Nor will it 
 be in vain : they will depart in peace, rejoicing in God 
 through Christ Jesus, by whom they have received the 
 atonement. 
 
 § 6. " Ye do shoiv the Lord's death, till he come." 1847. 
 
 Daily in our houses we break bread and pour out wine, 
 but these are no emblems to us of Christ : it is from his 
 appointment that the bread and wine at his table derive 
 their power to represent to us his death, and to bring to 
 our minds that believing sight of [his present life]. In 
 partaking of them here, we speak as it were to ourselves, 
 announcing to our own souls, by our very act of receiving 
 the bread and the wine from the hands of his ministering: 
 servants, the work of our Lord for us. The soul says to 
 itself, " Christ died for me ; he devoted himself to death 
 upon the cross for me; he made peace with God for me — 
 was content to suffer under wicked hands for me ; and he 
 who died for me lives for me ; he sustains the peace he 
 has made in my behalf, and I may at all times go to the 
 Father in his name, in the certainty of being welcomed 
 
SHOWING THE LORD'S DEATH. 173 
 
 and accepted through his intercession." And when we 
 come in this faith, and in real repentance for our sins to 
 the Lord's table, he gives to each one the tokens of his 
 love ; each individually is assured thereby of the love of 
 Christ and of the Father ; that the Father receives him as 
 a member of the body of his dear Son, as his own child, 
 and gives the Spirit to him to keep him for ever. 
 
 But not only do we announce these things to ourselves, 
 and receive this answer to our own souls, we announce 
 also to each other as we go up to that table, u The Lord died 
 for thee, for us." As the Christians of old were wont when 
 they met on the Lord's day to salute and encourage each 
 other by saying, "The Lord is risen indeed," — it is no 
 fable that we trust to — he is indeed risen, and hath sent 
 us the Holy Spirit in proof that he has ascended to the 
 Father, and received possession of all power in heaven 
 and earth : so when we come to this supper, we do in 
 fact assure each other, and declare each to his fellows, 
 that he who died to make peace for us, lives in heaven to 
 save us, and that all our hopes in him are sure, and 
 cannot fail any one of us. 
 
 We announce it also to all men : and so long as they 
 continue to reject the Saviour by refusing to obey this his 
 commandment — and truly " he that keepeth my word, he 
 it is that loveth me," — so long as they slight this ordi- 
 nance of which Christ says to each one, " Do this," — so 
 long each person who comes to that table, announces 
 Christ's death to them for their condemnation. His 
 obedience testifies against their neglect : he tells every 
 such person, " you are refusing the title of child of God : 
 you are neglecting to obey Christ's commandment ; you 
 are practically disowning and denying that he is your 
 Lord." It may be in ignorance that they do this ; yet we 
 must testify against that ignorance as a shame and re- 
 proach to them. If they are ignorant, it is because they 
 
174 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 do not seek to know. Is it possible to believe that if any 
 man really desires to follow Christ in all his ways, and 
 searches the word in prayer to the Spirit to make that 
 word plain and open to him ; — can we believe, I say, that 
 he will not be taught of Grod to know all that God calls 
 him to believe and do ? No : such a man will be enabled 
 to see his duty, and in an honest heart to do it. I press 
 this upon you who have always turned away from this 
 feast ; and on you who by your frequent neglect of it, 
 show how little heart you have to care about the matter : 
 do you think that to obey the command of Christ twice 
 or thrice in the year is to obey him ? When Christ bids 
 us pray, think you that he observes that command who 
 prays one day in seven? you know that we are com- 
 manded to pray always. And in like manner, common 
 sense teaches us that we are called to observe the Lord's 
 supper as often as we have the opportunity given us. 
 
 § 7. The Command « Do this:' 1834. 
 
 i. It is our duty to obey this command, by partaking of 
 the supper of the Lord. 
 
 Upon this point there can be no question. The apostles 
 were not left at liberty to observe or neglect it, at their 
 own discretion. "Do this," said the Saviour ; and 
 nothing less than the observance of the rite could show 
 their obedience to his command. The words, however, of 
 the Saviour not only enjoin the rite, but they suppose that 
 his disciples would often observe it. " This do as oft as 
 ye do it." They suppose at least that they would observe 
 it as often as they had the opportunity; and with this 
 view of the command the practice of the first Christians 
 accorded. To go from house to house breaking bread, 
 was a work as common to them as to meet at each other's 
 houses for the purposes of prayer and thanksgiving. At 
 
"do this." 175 
 
 first, perhaps, it was the work of every day : probably a 
 day never passed in which some portion of the Christian 
 body did not meet together to commemorate the Lord's 
 death, by partaking of his supper. It continued for a long 
 time to form a part of the work of every Christian sabbath. 
 And though the observance of the ordinance was accom- 
 panied in ancient times by several additions to the Lord's 
 command — additions which have long since been wisely 
 laid aside by the Church — yet no one was deemed a 
 Christian who wholly neglected the institution. Such a 
 neglect would have been regarded as a breach of the bond 
 of the brotherhood, and have been followed by the separa- 
 tion of the offender. 
 
 But, further, the precept was not limited to the days 
 of the apostles, or the first ages of the Gospel. St. Paul 
 evidently supposed that the commemoration of the death 
 of Christ would be continued in the Church until his 
 second coming : " For as oft," he says, " as ye eat this 
 bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till 
 he come," — a mode of expression altogether inconsistent 
 with the notion that the ordinance was designed only for 
 the beginning of the Christian era. Doubtless, therefore, 
 it was ordained for the Church of Christ in every age, 
 and as such has ever been regarded and observed by its 
 members. They have delighted to meet at the table of 
 the Lord, to receive in common the pledges of his love, 
 and to enjoy the revelation of it to their souls. 
 
 This, then, brethren, is our duty; and if we have any 
 just sense of our obligations to him who has loved us 
 and died for us, it will be our willing service. The Jews 
 travelled from the utmost parts of their land, they came 
 from the distant provinces of the Eoman empire, to keep 
 the feast at Jerusalem ; not a few of them appeared three 
 times every year in the place where the Lord was pleased 
 to place his name : and shall we, who are permitted to 
 
176 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 meet together in every place, and celebrate his love, think 
 it a weariness to attend his ordinances ? Did they come 
 up to the courts of Grod with joy and gladness of heart, 
 singing the songs of Zion, and bringing in their hands 
 their thankofferings for the continuance of their temporal 
 blessings ; and shall we decline to celebrate the dying love 
 of that Saviour, who gave himself for us, that he might 
 deliver us from the curse of sin, and exalt us to the kinn-- 
 dom of heaven ? 
 
 True, indeed, it is, that every precept under the law 
 was accompanied by a denunciation of judgement upon 
 him that neglected it ; whilst the precepts of the Gospel 
 claim obedience only from our gratitude and love. But shall 
 the uplifted rod have availed more with the worshippers 
 of old, than those cords of love which the Lord has cast 
 upon his servants now ? Or shall we dishonour a Saviour's 
 dying command, upon the presumption that no judgement 
 will follow our neglect ? 
 
 Be assured, however, brethren, that judgement will 
 follow. The judgement of barrenness will be the punish- 
 ment of our ingratitude. The precept of the Lord, which 
 commands our observance of the rite, is a precept investing 
 us with gracious privileges, and the health of our souls is 
 involved in obeying it. " They that wait upon the Lord 
 shall renew their strength." But leanness is the portion 
 of such as neglect his ordinances, and it will ever be the 
 consequence of neglecting the Lord's Supper. The Lord 
 comes in this ordinance to display himself to his people, 
 and to manifest his love to their souls, that he may bring 
 them into the enjoyment of his love, may quicken their 
 love to him, confirm their faith and secure their obedience. 
 It is their duty to meet him in his appointed ways, and to 
 expect the full benefit which he has designed for them. 
 To neglect his appointments is a strong mark of an 
 ungodly character. 
 
DISOBEDIENCE BY NEGLECT. 177 
 
 Eemember then, that love and duty call upon every 
 believer (0 that there were a right heart in us all !) to 
 attend the table of the Lord. And remember also, the 
 same motive should equally prompt us to embrace every 
 opportunity of attending it. 
 
 There are some who occasionally, at certain seasons, 
 once or twice or thrice a year, will gather round the table 
 of the Lord among his people, whilst at all other times 
 they turn away from it. But is this to have a lively — a 
 living and an active — faith in (rod's mercy through 
 Christ, or a thankful remembrance of his death ? If we 
 are not habitually thankful for his mercies, the occasional 
 profession of thankfulness is of little value ; but if we do 
 continually remember him in our hearts, surely we shall 
 be glad of every opportunity of showing our confidence in 
 his death and our love toward him. 
 
 There is so much seeming inconsistency and ignorance 
 in this partial observance of the ordinance, that we have 
 need to be strongly warned against the error. We do not 
 sufficiently feel the obligation of the command " Do this 
 in remembrance of me," or it would always obtain our com- 
 pliance. We clearly discard it as an ordinance, when we 
 neglect it. But surely we might as safely set aside the 
 ordinance of the preached Gospel, or of prayer, or of the 
 Lord's day, by observing either occasionally, as thus set 
 aside the ordinance of his supper. 
 
 Besides, consider one great end of the institution. Is 
 it not appointed for your profit, and will you neglect your 
 own mercies? Do your souls need to be strengthened 
 only occasionally, that you thus trifle with the means of 
 their strength ? How little do you comprehend your own 
 weakness ! How unconscious, that you are a pensioner 
 for everything on the bounty of the Lord ! You have 
 no light, but in his light; no life, but as he liveth in you; 
 no power to do anything, but as he worketh in you to 
 
 N 
 
178 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSPTIP. 
 
 will and to do it, according to his good pleasure. How 
 then can you slight the source of light, and life, and 
 strength, by turning away from him, when he calls you 
 to draw near, that he may replenish 3^011 out of his fullness, 
 and give you grace for grace ? Need we wonder that so 
 many among us are so weary of the things of God and 
 Christ? That they are so feeble in spirit; so unstable and 
 wavering in the ways of the Lord ; so conformed to the 
 practice of the world ; so covetous of earthly things ; and 
 so sensual in their habits ? It would not be thus with us 
 if we delighted in the ordinances of the Lord. It is not 
 thus with those whose hearts are in his ways ; they grow 
 from strength to strength, growing up in all things to 
 Christ, until received to himself in glory. If we would 
 thrive in the spiritual life, we must cleave to Christ, and 
 be ever seeking out of his fullness grace for grace. Would 
 we nourish as the palm tree, or grow as the cedar, — 
 would we have our souls vigorous and nourishing in our 
 old age, we must be planted in the house of the Lord, we 
 must partake of the grace communicated by the ordinances 
 of divine worship (Ps. xcii. 12 — 14): nor is there any 
 ordinance more commonly blessed of the Lord to his 
 people than this. Let us see to it, that we exclude not 
 our own mercies by neglecting it. 
 
 It is not, indeed, every one whom we invite and press to 
 partake of the ordinance; — far from it. We do not say 
 to the drunkard, come and receive the cup of the Lord : 
 for how can he partake of the cup of the Lord who par- 
 takes of the cup of devils ? We do not speak to the impure 
 fornicator, and invite him to seek communion with Christ 
 in his body ; for how can he be a member of Christ, who 
 is by practice, or in heart, the member of a harlot ? We 
 do not say to the mere worldly or covetous man, come and 
 take your part with us in that fellowship which we enjoy 
 with the Father and the Son ; for he is an idolater, and 
 
WHO ARE BIDDEN. 179 
 
 we know that no idolater hath any inheritance in the 
 kingdom of God and Christ. Neither do we bid the 
 careless, the thoughtless, and the profane, for they cannot 
 discern the Lord's body. Nor do we desire the impenitent 
 backslider or the apostate to come to this holy communion ; 
 for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous- 
 ness ? and what communion hath light with darkness ? or 
 what concord hath he that believeth with an infidel? 
 Much less would we encourage those to come whose spirit 
 is one of pride, of self-righteousness, of self-satisfaction 
 before God, or of contempt or malignity towards man ; for 
 our communion is a feast on the love of God in Christ, 
 and an exercise of faith and love towards him ; we meet 
 together to commemorate the love of Christ which passeth 
 knowledge, and to enjoy communion with each other in it. 
 But we call on every penitent, on every soul that mourns 
 for sin and prays for purity ; on every one who believes 
 that God is pacified towards sinners for the Lord's sake, 
 and who has confidence that he does receive and bless all 
 that come to him in his Beloved's name; on all such 
 sinners we call, and would earnestly persuade them to 
 renew that covenant with God into which they have been 
 brought by baptism. We entreat them to renew their 
 dedication to his service, openly confessing their faith in 
 Christ — that all their hope is in his death, and all their 
 desire is to follow him. Nor will they have cause to 
 repent of their work. God will accept them in it, will 
 answer their faith with spiritual blessings, will endue them 
 with new vigour by the power of the Holy Spirit, mil 
 direct them in their course heavenwards, and will keep 
 them through faith to that salvation which is now ready 
 to be revealed (1 Peter i. 5). Amen and Amen. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 ESSAY VII. 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER A COVENANT ORDINANCE. 
 
 (Abridged from an unpublished MS. about 1837.) 
 
 § 1. The New Covenant 
 
 In all the four records of our Lord's institution of his 
 supper, we find it reported, according to our translation, 
 that when he gave the cup of wine to his disciples, he 
 used the word "testament," calling it his blood of the 
 New Testament. Supposing this translation to be correct, 
 he must have meant, that he gave them the wine as an 
 emblem of the blood which he was about to shed for the 
 confirmation of that will or testament by which he settled 
 upon them all the riches of his grace ; and to assure them 
 that each should receive out of his fullness the grace he 
 needed, according to the measure of the gifts which he 
 was pleased to bequeath to them. In this sense the words 
 may seem to agree with his subsequent promise : " My 
 peace I leave with you," by which doubtless he meant to 
 assure them that after his death they should enjoy the 
 blessing of peace as his legacy to them — as a part of the 
 possessions he had to bestow, and which he bequeathed to 
 them. 
 
 At the same time, it is not so easy to see what the 
 shedding of Christ's blood had to do with the confirmation 
 of his will or testament: no will, indeed, can be acted 
 upon until the testator is dead, but no man dies to con- 
 
THE NEW COVENANT 181 
 
 firm his will ; nor is it in fact the testator's death which 
 establishes his will, but the sufficient evidence offered 
 that he made it as his will, and made no other after it. 
 But, in the case before us, it is clear that the wine — the 
 emblem of the Lord's blood shed for us, and therefore the 
 emblem of his death — is appointed to be to us the visible 
 sign and pledge that this new testament was ratified by 
 his death ; and it is continually offered to us in this 
 sacrament to assure us that the blessings thus secured, 
 are, and shall be, ours. As, therefore, such an appoint- 
 ment and such a use do not agree with the notion of a 
 will, we must inquire whether the word admits of any 
 other rendering that may make the passage consistent 
 with itself. 
 
 The word used by St. Paul and the Evangelists, diatheke, 
 is expressive of something that is settled, arranged, or 
 fixed by distribution, and is justly used to signify a will 
 or testament, by which a person settles how his goods 
 shall be distributed after his death ; there is another Greek 
 word, similar in its origin, expressive of something that is 
 settled by agreement or consent, and which therefore is 
 properly expressive of a covenant or contract, but this 
 word is never once used in the New Testament Scriptures. 
 It appears, however, that the former word is used by 
 Greek writers very variously, and not unfrequently to 
 denote a proper covenant. It is also the word used in 
 the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew word covenant; 
 and as this translation was familiar to two at least of the 
 writers, St. Paul and St. Luke (in whose writings the 
 word almost exclusively occurs), it is natural to suppose 
 they would use it in the same sense. Indeed it cannot 
 be denied that they have used it, when a covenant only 
 could be intended by it ; and, accordingly, it is oftener 
 rendered " covenant" than " testament " by our transla- 
 tors. On these grounds we have no hesitation in adopting 
 
182 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 this translation of the word in the passages before us;* 
 and, comparing the different records together, the following 
 will perhaps be found a full statement of all that is re- 
 corded of our Lord's words upon this matter. 
 
 " He took the cup after supper, and gave it to them, 
 saying, ( Drink ye all of it ; for this cup is my blood of 
 the New Covenant, — is the new covenant (ratified) in my 
 blood, which is shed for you (and) for many, for the re- 
 mission of sins. This do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in 
 remembrance of me.' " What, then, is this covenant of 
 which our Lord spoke ? 
 
 He calls it the new covenant ; a term which forbids its 
 being confounded with any of those covenants previously 
 existing, by which God had been pleased on various 
 occasions to bind his people in covenant relations to him- 
 self; whilst from other scriptures we learn, it was intended 
 to contrast it directly with another covenant, expressly 
 called the old covenant, which God made with Israel in 
 the wilderness of Sinai. . . . This new covenant was 
 foretold by the prophets : Jeremiah declared to the Jews, 
 that the days were coming in which the Jehovah would 
 make a new covenant with them (xxxi. 31 — 34): and 
 this he said when they were about to be carried captive 
 to Babylon — about that is, to be brought under the yoke 
 of the broken covenant of Sinai, which they had so grossly 
 transgressed by idolatry. The apostle to the Hebrews 
 cites this very passage, and identifies that new covenant 
 of which Jeremiah spoke with that better covenant, 
 founded on better promises, which God had established 
 with believers in Christ, and which, as the law and charter 
 of his Church, was proclaimed in the preaching of the 
 gospel of the kingdom by the Holy Spirit sent down from 
 heaven. Heb. viii. ix. x. 
 
 * St. Matth. xxvi. ; St. Murk xiv.; St. Luke xxii. ; St. Paul, 1 Cor. xi. 
 23—26. 
 
OF GRACE. 183 
 
 To understand this subject aright, however, we must 
 clearly distinguish between this new covenant — called 
 sometimes the covenant of grace — which God has now 
 graciously made with believers in Christ ; and that divine 
 purpose and will whereby the Father appointed his beloved 
 Son to undertake the work of man's redemption, and the 
 blessed Son engaged to fulfil his Father's will on behalf of 
 sinners, to make reconciliation for iniquity and peace 
 between God and man — such a peace that God's wisdom, 
 his holy justice, his love (all which are but so many parts 
 of his infinite goodness) might be made known to all his 
 creatures. This purpose God has been pleased to reveal 
 to us by the mode, and in the form of a covenant — the 
 covenant of redemption and of peace-making — which from 
 the beginning has subsisted between the Father and the 
 Son ; * and according to which it is God's purpose to 
 gather together in one all things in Christ, both which 
 are in heaven and which are on earth. Of this the new 
 covenant of grace is a subordinate part [brought in for a 
 time], regulating the administration of the blessings of 
 redemption to the people of Christ, and assuring them of 
 their certainty. 
 
 In accordance with this covenant of redemption, it was, 
 that believers from the beginning were justified, simply 
 in anticipation of what the Saviour was to accomplish for 
 them. Hence it was that God's professing people were 
 formed into a visible church ; that he engaged to be their 
 God ; that they were nourished into a nation, redeemed 
 from the bondage of their oppressors, subjected to the 
 discipline of the law. And hence the Lord their Eedeemer, 
 as the angel of the covenant and of Jehovah's presence, 
 became their guide, their teacher, and their keeper. To 
 this covenant the prophets continually refer : as in the 
 
 * Epli. i. 9, 10; Zech. vi. 13; Prow viii. 22-31. 
 
184 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 2nd Psalm, when the incarnate Saviour, opposed and 
 put to death by the world, established as God's anointed 
 king on Sion, and proclaimed to be God's Son, is called 
 upon to ask of Jehovah the fulfilment of his utmost 
 promises. So in the 89th Psalm, in which all the fruits 
 of the Eedeemer's work are guaranteed to him, though 
 the enjoyment of them by his professing people is made 
 dependent on their obedience to the covenant. 
 
 In the fulfilment of this divine purpose and will, the 
 Saviour assumed our nature, became incarnate, and as 
 man, yielded himself in unreserved obedience to his 
 heavenly Father's will ; he dwelt amongst men, instructed 
 them in the knowledge of the Father, taught them his 
 holy name and will, gave them in his own life a pattern of 
 the life to which they are called, and perfected his obedi- 
 ence by his death upon the cross, upon which he gave 
 himself an offering and a sacrifice to God, and as an 
 outcast endured in his own soul the curse of sin. This 
 was the act which completed his obedience, and thus he 
 became the peace of sinners, propitiated the Father's 
 favour towards them, and secured the blessings of the 
 covenant of redemption to all to whom it related. The 
 Father testified his acceptance of Christ's work by raising 
 him from the dead, and called upon him to claim all the 
 fruits of his mediation and redemption. Now it was a 
 part of those fruits that the great Eedeemer of mankind 
 should possess a peculiar inheritance, gathered out from 
 the rest of mankind, a peculiar people to be united with 
 himself in the possession and administration of the king- 
 dom, and to partake of his glory. And whilst for the 
 accomplishment of the Father's purpose, the Lord Jesus 
 Christ is exalted to his right hand, and invested with all 
 power, until his foes be made his footstool ; he specially 
 exercises his power in behalf of his peculiar people — his 
 church — his body : as their great high priest he intercedes 
 
ITS BLESSINGS. 185 
 
 for them, as their surety he answers for them, as their 
 head he guides and keeps them, and so causes them to 
 leave all and follow him, and ministers to them grace for 
 grace, that they may be raised up in his likeness, and 
 each one of them may obtain an entrance into his ever- 
 lasting kingdom. These blessings form a special part of 
 the fruits of Christ's mediation and redemption, and his 
 blood shed is the security that they shall be given and 
 enjoyed. On the ground of that blood shed, on the merit 
 of that obedience, did the Father engage to bestow them ; 
 and to assure his people of them, he has by the covenant 
 of grace pledged and secured them for ever to every 
 believing soul. 
 
 This is that new covenant of which our Lord spoke, and 
 which the apostle describes as a better covenant than that 
 of Sinai. That required obedience, but gave no power to 
 obey; this, requiring the obedience of faith, ministers 
 also the power to obey and follow the Lord, and secures 
 to the believer eternal life. 
 
 § 2. Its Blessings. 
 
 The special blessing of the gospel, and the great grace 
 bestowed upon the people of God under the gospel 
 covenant, is resolvable into the baptism of the Spirit. 
 Forgiveness and justification were the common blessings 
 of (rod's people from the first : something of the Spirit 
 also they knew under the law, as giving help and assist- 
 ance to them in their walk with God ; but they knew him 
 not as the inmate of their bosom, the immediate spring 
 and strength of their lives, the prompter and perfecter of 
 their obedience ; and hence they never could fulfil the 
 righteousness of the law. The gift of the indwelling 
 Spirit they knew not, it was the first-fruits which Christ 
 reaped after his victory over death and hell, when he 
 
186 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 ascended up on high, and " received gifts for men, yea, for 
 the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among- 
 them." This is the peculiar blessedness of Christ's people 
 under the gospel covenant. It is the Holy Spirit who 
 quickens and renews their souls ; it is he who gives them 
 a willing mind and power to do the Lords will ; it is he 
 who teaches them to learn the mystery of the Father and 
 of Christ ; who enables them in every condition to make 
 known their requests to God, who maintains their spirits 
 in peace and joy ; whose [presence is] the earnest to them 
 of their inheritance, giving them confidence that he who 
 has begun a good work in them will carry it on unto the 
 day of Jesus Christ : it is he who, revealing to them the 
 glory of God in Christ Jesus, transforms them into his 
 image, from glory to glory. Such were the blessings 
 which the Lord procured for his people when he perfected 
 the work of redemption and peacemaking by his death : 
 and these are the blessings secured to his people now by 
 the new covenant of grace, which on the ground of his 
 death, the Father has been pleased to make with them. 
 
 § 3. The 'pledge and sign of the New Covenant. 
 
 Our Church explains the connection established by our 
 Lord between the enjoyment of these blessings through 
 the commemoration of his death, and the bread and wine ; 
 when before we come to his table, she tells us, that " to 
 the end, we should always remember the exceeding great 
 love of our Master and only Saviour Jesus Christ, thus 
 dying for us, and the immediate benefit which by his 
 precious blood-shedding he hath obtained to us ; he hath 
 instituted and ordained holy mysteries, as pledges of his 
 love, and for a continual remembrance of his death, to 
 our great and endless comfort." 
 
 The bread and wine, then, are set apart to signify the 
 
ITS PLEDGE AND SIGN. 187 
 
 body and blood of Christ, and are given to us as pledges 
 of his love, and to assure us, that as certainly as our bodies 
 are nourished by bread and wine, so shall our souls, 
 cleaving to Christ as our life — the spiritual food of our 
 souls — be nourished to eternal life, and enjoy all the 
 benefits of that covenant which he obtained for us in his 
 death, and now ever lives to administer. 
 
 In all covenants between men, besides the use of ex- 
 press words signifying the assent of the parties to the 
 covenant, some token or sign is wont to be added as a 
 proof and memorial of the agreement— as with us a 
 writing signed and sealed is exchanged between the 
 parties : this does not necessarily belong to the nature of 
 a covenant, but it is useful to bring to remembrance the 
 vow we have taken of fidelity to the contract. And when 
 it has pleased God to make covenants with men, he has 
 ever appointed some visible token of them. When he 
 established his visible Church, circumcision was the sign 
 of the covenant on which it was founded ; and baptism is 
 the appointed sign of the same covenant as it is now 
 revealed to us with all its privileges and blessings. And 
 thus also, in the Lord's supper, designed for the com- 
 memoration of the covenant ratified by his death, a sign 
 is given to us in the bread and wine, as a pledge on his 
 part that he will be to us all that the sign denotes, and 
 will minister all the blessings which by the covenant are 
 secured to us. Whilst we, by receiving these tokens, declare 
 on our part our faith in Christ, our confident adherence 
 to the covenant which he has mediated for us, and re- 
 peating the dedication of ourselves to his service, we 
 renew our covenant engagements.* The bread and wine 
 
 * Baptism is God's appointed ordinance of discipleship to Christ, of ad- 
 mission into the Church of God, and into covenant with him. Whatever 
 therefore may be our thoughts and estimation of Christ, whatever profession 
 we may make of our faith in him, whilst unbaptized we have not submitted 
 
188 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 are the appointed pledges of the covenant made by God 
 with us in Christ, and are by him given us as a security 
 for the covenanted blessing, for the strengthening of our 
 faith and the consolation of our souls. 
 
 to him, have never been brought into covenant with God through him, 
 and are therefore evidently incapable of renewing any covenant engagements 
 with him. We speak, therefore, to such only as have been already bap- 
 tized into Christ ; and the inquiry they have to make is, whether they have 
 verified their baptism, and are abiding in that covenant relation to Grod 
 into which they have been brought by it. 
 
189 
 
 ESSAY VIII. 
 
 THE SPECIAL COMMUNION WHICH BELIEVERS HAVE 
 WITH CHRIST IN THE SACRAMENT OF HIS SUPPER. 
 
 PART I.— HOW THIS HAS BEEN SOUGHT FOR AND EXPLAINED. 
 
 (Two Sacramental Sermons, about 1853 or 1854.) 
 
 " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood 
 of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the 
 Body of Christ? For we being many are one bread and one body; for 
 we are all partakers of that one bread." — 1 Cor. x. 16—17. 
 
 There is, and as I suppose there ever has been, a con- 
 viction prevalent in the Church of God, that in the true 
 participation of this ordinance believers enjoy a peculiar 
 and special communion with Christ in respect of his body 
 and of his blood ; but great differences of opinion and of 
 expectation have existed with regard to the nature of that 
 communion, the very way in which it is obtained, and the 
 benefits resulting from it. Considering therefore the 
 deep importance of the ordinance, it cannot be a mis- 
 spending of our time to inquire somewhat more closely 
 into this matter. 
 
 Undoubtedly it is an ordinance which ought to arrest 
 our most solemn attention ; for it was instituted by our 
 Lord not many hours before he suffered, and bequeathed 
 by him to his disciples as a last legacy ; and its observance 
 was enjoined on all his followers as a means of preserving 
 among them a thankful remembrance of his death [until 
 his coining again!. How strange that it should ever be 
 neglected ! 
 
190 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 I must add however yet further, that it is a vital 
 ordinance, not indeed in the sense that spiritual life 
 cannot exist in the soul, or eternal life be enjoyed by it 
 without its participation ; but because it has pleased the 
 Lord, and still pleases him, to use it for the advancement 
 of his people in spiritual life, through the strength and 
 refreshment they obtain in partaking of it. The ex- 
 perience of the Lord's people of old, and of his people now, 
 bear common testimony to this fact ; it can never be un- 
 reasonable, therefore, to bring such a subject before them. 
 May it only please the Lord by his Spirit so to open it to 
 our understandings and our faith, that we may be directed 
 into such enjoyment of communion with himself as shall 
 be for the increase of our spiritual life. 
 
 The record of the institution of this ordinance, as de- 
 livered to us by the apostle, contained in 1 Corinthians 
 xi. 23 — 25, is as follows : " I have received of the Lord 
 that which I also delivered unto you ; that the Lord 
 Jesus the -same night in which he was betrayed took 
 bread : and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and 
 said, Take, eat : this is my body which is broken for you : 
 this do in remembrance of me." A similar record of the 
 institution is given by the three first evangelists ; by all 
 our Lord is declared to have said of the bread, " this is 
 my body." With reference to the cup there is a slight 
 variation in the terms used ; St. Matthew and St. Mark 
 use the words "this is my blood of the new covenant;" 
 whilst St. Paul and St. Luke, who is said to have written 
 his gospel, have the terms " this is the new covenant in 
 my blood," i.e. "ratified in my blood;" according to 
 which meaning the words, as recorded by St. Matthew and 
 St. Mark, would signify, " this is my blood — shed for the 
 ratification — of the new covenant." The meaning of 
 both is, however, essentially the same ; St. Paul and St. 
 Luke only add to the record of the former the injunction 
 
THE COMMUNION OFFERED. 191 
 
 of our Lord upon his followers to observe the ordinance 
 in remembrance of him, to which the apostle adds, as a 
 comment of his own, " for as oft as ye eat this bread and 
 drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come " 
 (ver. 26). You make an open profession of faith in the 
 efficacy of his death for securing the remission of your 
 sins, you declare that you still rest upon it for pardon and 
 peace, and all other benefits of his passiou, and as the one 
 foundation of all your hopes. 
 
 Such was the institution of the Lord's Supper, and such 
 were some of the ends for which it was appointed ; such 
 also is the use which has ever since been made of it in the 
 Church of Christ. But the immediate end which be- 
 lievers seek in observing this ordinance is personal com- 
 munion with their Grod and Saviour ; they seek access to 
 the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, and that by 
 reason of their fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and under 
 his guidance. 
 
 This, indeed, is the end proposed to them in all the 
 means of grace. It is for this end the written word is 
 given to us ; u that which we have seen and heard declare 
 ■ we unto you, that ye may have fellowship with us, and 
 truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son 
 Jesus Christ" (1 John i. 3). As we exercise faith on 
 the words of (rod, we realise the truth concerning them ; 
 by that faith we have access to him, and receive the 
 answer of our faith from the Lord our God, who gives us 
 the blessing which that word declares and is designed to 
 confer. It is so in prayer; as we pray in faith to our 
 heavenly Father for mercy and grace through Jesus Christ, 
 the Spirit enables us to believe that he hears us, and we 
 receive the return of mercy in the pardon of our sins, and 
 in grace to help us as we need. Thus in each case we 
 have communion with the Father and Son, through .the 
 intervening fellowship of the Spirit. And so it is in all 
 
192 TEE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 other ways of access to God by faith ; whether it be in the 
 offering of praise and thanksgiving, or in the doing those 
 works which he has prepared for us to carry out, we have 
 communion with God by receiving from him such things 
 as he has promised, and we have prayed for, according to 
 his will. Nor is it otherwise in the use of the Sacrament 
 of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 All acknowledge that in the commemoration of the 
 Lord's death by partaking of his supper, we are to seek 
 fellowship with him and blessings from him ; but all, with 
 few exceptions, seem to understand (as I have already 
 stated), that this communion is special and distinct from 
 that enjoyed in other ordinances ; though wherein it 
 specially consists, what is its exact nature, and out of what 
 it arises, these are points on which men have differed, and 
 continue to differ ; and this uncertainty has doubtless 
 led not a few thankfully to resolve the matter into a 
 mystery. 
 
 There is a disposition in many minds to admire and 
 embrace mysteries, matters which contain something 
 hidden, something not to be apprehended, laid open, and 
 fully discerned by human minds. Such subjects excite 
 wonder by their obscurity, are apt to produce awe, and 
 thus obtain great influence over many. People muse 
 upon them, and according to their different temperaments, 
 are led into a multitude of imaginations about them, 
 which may in the end produce a great variety of opinions, 
 and actions in no small decree extravagant. 
 
 Such has been the course of men's minds in respect of 
 the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. It commemorates 
 the death of Christ. Now that the Son of God should 
 take our nature and become man that he might be subject 
 to death, even the death of the cross, for the redemption 
 and salvation of sinners, is indeed a mystery, a great 
 mystery of love, which faith alone can receive, for it passes 
 
SOUGHT FOR IN A MYSTERIOUS 193 
 
 knowledge. We need not wonder, then, that an ordinance 
 designed to commemorate this work of love should be 
 invested with a mysterious character by those who are 
 predisposed to mysticise : and so it has come to pass. The 
 words used by our Lord when he took the bread, gave 
 thanks, and broke it, and said, " This is my body, which is 
 broken for you," have been made to express an inex- 
 plicable mystery. They have been taken in a strictly 
 literal sense to signify his flesh ; and our Lord is under- 
 stood to have said that what he then put into the hands of 
 his apostles, and which appeared to be bread, was really 
 his flesh and a part of his body. The crudest form in 
 which this opinion has appeared is that taught by the 
 Church of Rome ; according to her decree, when our Lord 
 broke the unleavened cake, made like all other unleavened 
 cakes at that season, and gave a portion to each of the 
 eleven who were with him, a great miracle was wrought 
 by him — the bread was removed away, and a portion of 
 his flesh substituted in its place, yet so that it retained 
 all the appearance and all the qualities as to taste, smell, 
 &c, of the original bread for which it had been substi- 
 tuted. They maintain therefore, that the disciples did 
 not eat any part of a wh eaten cake, but a portion of our 
 Lord's flesh. They maintain moreover, that ever since, 
 in every celebration of the ordinance when rightly ad- 
 ministered, the same miracle takes place : the bread is 
 removed away, and the glorified Saviour imparts in its 
 place a portion of his body, which the w T orshipper eats 
 instead of the bread. After the same manner they 
 understand the words recorded by St. Matthew and St. 
 Mark, " This is my blood of the new covenant," literally ; 
 and insist that by a similar miracle the wine was removed 
 out of the way, the Lord's blood was substituted in its 
 place, and that it was this the disciples drank when they 
 partook of the cup, though it still retained all the smell, 
 
 o 
 
194 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 taste, and appearance, and produced all the natural effects 
 of wine. And as in the case of the bread so also in the 
 case of the wine, they insist upon it that the miracle is 
 perpetuated, and that at every administration of the Sacra- 
 ment, they who are privileged to partake of the cup do 
 drink not wine but the blood of Christ. They insist 
 moreover, on the absolute necessity of this for the salva- 
 tion of every soul, understanding the words of our Lord 
 literally when he said, " Except ye eat the flesh of the 
 Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 
 Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath 
 eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" 
 (John vi. 53, 54) ; and they think they have found in 
 the perpetual miracle which they have engrafted on the 
 Lord's Supper, the means by which to secure this eating 
 and drinking of the flesh and blood of our Lord. To this 
 interpretation they cling, notwithstanding our Lord's cor- 
 rection of the mistake which his opponents made, who, 
 taking his words in this literal sense, naturally asked, 
 " How can this man give us his flesh to eat ? " Our Lord 
 replied, " It is the Spirit that quickeneth, the flesh pro- 
 fiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they 
 are spirit, and they are life " (John vi. 52, 60, 63). 
 
 So gross, so material, are the conceptions of the Lord's 
 Supper entertained by the Church of Eome ; nor by her 
 alone; the Greek, and other Eastern Churches, substan- 
 tially maintain the same view, though perhaps not so 
 systematically. The real source of all these imagina- 
 tions has been the mystifying spirit of men's minds, and 
 especially of Eastern minds. Throughout the East, the 
 word used to denote the ordinance of the Lord's Supper 
 is, "the mystery," or "the mysteries;" which, though a 
 word of frequent occurrence in the New Testament, and 
 used with reference to many subjects, is nowhere used in 
 connectioc with this sacrament. But mankind in general 
 
AND MATERIAL FELLOWSHIP. 195 
 
 love the notion of possessing something hidden, the very 
 obscurity of which makes it at once important, and awful 
 in its importance ; so they lay hold of metaphorical ex- 
 pressions, and endeavour to raise their sense higher and 
 higher. They did this in respect of the expressions, 
 " eating the flesh," and "drinking the blood" of Christ; 
 they tried to rise above each other in the strength of their 
 language, till at length one boldly asserted that the con- 
 secrated bread and wine are really, and without a figure, 
 changed into the body and blood of Christ. The assertion 
 was soon taken up and sanctioned by authority — was 
 formally received as the doctrine of the Church — was 
 made the most important of the whole body of Christian 
 doctrine, and all the wit and subtlety of its advocates was 
 employed to protect it against gainsayers, and to establish 
 its authority. It was, in truth, a doctrine very convenient 
 to its new patrons. The Church of Eome has carried her 
 statement of the mystery to the most awful possible height, 
 when she declares that after the consecration of the bread 
 and wine, there is in each and every part of them the 
 whole soul, body, and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 which whole soul, body and divinity the believer receives 
 in partaking of what still seems to be a piece of bread, 
 and in so partaking of it, he is saved. Without doubt 
 this is a statement which passes all comprehension, and is 
 to every human mind utterly unintelligible ; but it is so 
 much the more dreadful and awe-inspiring. 
 
 Against all such corruptions of the words and of the 
 ordinance of our Lord we protest, and insist upon such an 
 interpretation of them as is consistent with the evidence 
 of our senses, and with the common sense of our under- 
 standings. We maintain that what to the sight, and in 
 taste, smell, and all sensible qualities is bread or wine, 
 and which yields to the analyser all the common results 
 of bread or of wine, is, and must be acknowledged to be, 
 
 o 2 
 
196 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHir. 
 
 bread, not flesh, — wine, not blood. But besides the Eoman 
 and Eastern Churches, there is a large body of Protestants 
 (the Lutheran Church, for example) who, whilst they reject 
 the monstrous invention of the former, still adhere to a 
 literal meaning of the words, " This is my body," so far at 
 least that it shall signify "Herein is my body." They 
 confess the bread to be bread still, and the wine to remain 
 unchanged; but they suppose that at their consecration 
 the body of our Lord is, by his miraculous power, mingled 
 with the bread, and his blood with the wine ; so that the 
 worshipper does still feed on the body of his Lord, and 
 drink his blood, whilst he eats and drinks bread and wine. 
 So hard is it for minds infected with the notion that a 
 mystery is involved in any subject, to let it go : deprived 
 of its mysterious aspect, the truth becomes lowered in 
 their view, ceases to be to them of the same importance, 
 and has comparatively but little influence over them. 
 
 Perhaps there are not a few among ourselves who still 
 cling to the notion that the consecration of the bread and 
 wine, by which they are set apart as emblems of the body 
 and of the blood of the Lord, does make some real 
 difference in the things themselves, and not merely in the 
 believer's estimation of them : so that the bread is no 
 longer in itself common bread, nor the wine the same 
 mere wine that it was. If asked to explain the difference, 
 they cannot define it — it is to themselves mysterious ; but 
 they are content it should remain a mystery, they love to 
 have it so. Hence I have seen some, and have occasionally 
 heard of others, who have reserved a portion of the bread 
 they have received at the table of the Lord, and carried it 
 away with them, doubtless thinking it had in itself some 
 efficacy, and would in some way (I know not what) 
 benefit them at home. All these superstitious notions and 
 practices are remnants of the great error, that by consecra- 
 tion the bread becomes in substance the body — the flesh of 
 
st. paul's argument. 197 
 
 the Lord, and the wine his blood ; and I am persuaded 
 not a few still think, that in receiving the bread and wine 
 they do receive something [material] of the Lord with it, 
 that it is the vehicle of something from him personally to 
 them, so that in partaking the bread and the wine, they 
 do somehow feed in a literal sense on his body and blood. 
 Some support for these views has been sought from my 
 text. It occurs in a paragraph extending from the 15th 
 to the end of the 22nd verse, in which the apostle warns 
 the Corinthians against the dangerous license they had 
 indulged in, of frequenting the idol feasts and temples. 
 The plea on which they defended themselves was, that 
 the idol being nothing, its presence could not in any way 
 affect the character of the place in which it stood, or of 
 the feast held there. To convince them of the evil of 
 this practice, and to preserve them as a peculiar people in 
 their Christian course, St. Paul reminded them that in 
 partaking of the cup of the Lord and of the bread at his 
 table, they had communion with him in his body and 
 blood, and that such communion was inconsistent with 
 any participation in what belonged to an idol or to idol 
 worship. He addresses them as men of sense and under- 
 standing, and leaves the decision of the matter to them- 
 selves : " I speak as to wise men, judge ye what I say. 
 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the com- 
 munion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, 
 is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? For we being 
 many, are one bread and one body ; for we are all partakers 
 of that one bread." The inference drawn by some from 
 this language is, that in partaking of the cup, they drink 
 the blood of Christ, and in eating the bread, they eat of the 
 body of Christ. But turn again to our Lord's words, 
 when, in instituting the ordinance, after the same manner 
 in which he had given the bread, " He took the cup when 
 he had supped, saying, This cup is the neiv covenant in my 
 
198 TEE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 blood" Now, however the wine be supposed to have 
 been changed, it is obvious that neither the cup nor the 
 wine in the cup could literally be the new covenant made 
 between Grod and man ; and therefore the meaning of this 
 part of the sentence must be : ( this cup — the wine in this 
 cup — is significant of the new covenant about to be 
 ratified in the shedding of my blood : drink ye all of it ; 
 and when the transaction has been completed in my 
 death, continue to partake of it in remembrance of me.' 
 And what, consistently with this, is the meaning of the 
 words before us ? Surely it is this : e the cup of blessing 
 which we bless, is it not that by which we hold com- 
 munion with Christ in respect of his blood shed for us ? 
 The bread which we break, is it not that by which we 
 hold communion with Christ in respect of his body broken 
 for us ? ' This interpretation indeed is necessary for the 
 preservation of the due sense of the words. 
 
 Let it be remembered that the term communion, here 
 used, requires properly the presence of a person, either 
 expressed or understood, and not of a mere substance, be 
 that substance what it may. We may partake of a loaf 
 or of a cup of wine, but we cannot have communion with 
 a loaf nor with wine. Participation is not communion or 
 fellowship. We may have communion with a person in 
 respect of these things, and they may be in common 
 between us and him ; as the Saviour intimates to the 
 Church of Laodicea ; " Behold, I stand at the door and 
 knock ; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I 
 will come in and sup with him, and he with me " (Rev. iii. 
 20). Here is communion to be held between the Lord 
 and his obedient people, whilst they who enjoy this com- 
 munion partake of the things that are shared in common 
 between them. The things designed to constitute this 
 supper — the things of which they are to partake together 
 — are the things of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and so par- 
 
PARTICIPATION NOT COMMUNION. 199 
 
 taking of them, they will have fellowship with each other 
 in respect of them. So it is in the Supper of the Lord : 
 our communion personally is with the Lord in heaven ; 
 the things upon which we hold it, are his body broken, 
 and his blood shed for us. These are signified to us by 
 the bread and wine, and being received and applied to 
 ourselves by faith, are as truly nourishing and refreshing 
 to our souls as the bread and wine are to our bodies. 
 
 But further ; it is added, <( for we, being many, are one 
 bread and one body ; for we are all partakers of that one 
 bread : " and hence it is argued, that as the bread received 
 by all made all one body, so something of the body of 
 Christ must have been conveyed by that bread to all, to 
 constitute them one body, for the whole was the result of 
 their partaking of that one bread. And the assertion, it 
 is said, of the one fact, that we are one bread, must be 
 followed by the other — that by a corresponding communi- 
 cation of the body we are one body ; and hence the con- 
 clusion arrived at is, that though the bread is not the body 
 of our Lord, it is the vehicle conveying his body to the soul 
 of the worthy recipient. But in real truth no fact is in- 
 volved in the matter, the whole is a figure. By partaking 
 of the bread all believers are, as it were, one bread ; but it 
 is only by an " as it were " they can be so spoken of. For 
 bread in the form of bread never does become a part of 
 any of us ; all our food, of every description, is by a series 
 of changes brought into one substance, i. e. the blood, 
 from which the whole body, when in a healthy state, is 
 furnished with all it needs for repair, or supply, or growth 
 of every one of its members. With this understanding of 
 the matter the meaning of the apostle's words is very 
 plain : ' we being many [members] are, figuratively, one 
 bread ; and as that bread is significant of the body of our 
 Lord, we partaking of it are in the same sense, i. e. figura- 
 tively, one body with him.' As partakers of it, we have 
 
200 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 communion with the Lord who has appointed it to be 
 significant of himself; this our communion with him, re- 
 lates to his body which was broken for us, and therefore it 
 is communion with him in respect of the mystery of our 
 redemption by his death on the cross. The apostle fur- 
 ther illustrates this participation and communion [with 
 Christ in his sacrifice] by the case of the Israelite, who, in 
 partaking of the sacrifice presented on the altar, was a 
 partaker of the altar, and had communion with him to 
 whom that altar belonged (v. 18). 
 
 But this communion with the Lord in the participation 
 of the bread and the cup, was utterly inconsistent with 
 any participation with idolaters in their sacrifices. For 
 though indeed the idol was nothing, and represented no 
 being, yet the real objects of all idolatrous worship were 
 demons — Satan and his kindred spirits the rulers of the 
 darkness of this world, and the real authors of all idolatry ; 
 and it was not only inconsistent, but it was impossible to 
 hold communion with the Lord in his things, and with 
 Satan in what belonged to him. They could not drink 
 the cup of the Lord and the cup of the devils, they could 
 not be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of 
 devils. They might partake of the things which belonged 
 to the one, or of those which belonged to the other, but 
 communion with both they could not hold. For if their 
 minds were such that they could, with pleasure, hold com- 
 munion with devils, they could not hold communion with 
 the Lord ; if they could really enjoy communion with the 
 Lord, they would not be involved in communion with 
 devils, they must renounce their table and their cup 
 (v. 19-21). 
 
 We must then clearly distinguish between the partici- 
 pation of the bread and wine, and the having communion 
 with the Lord in them. The one is not involved in the 
 other, the bread does not convey the body, the wine does 
 
NOTE. 201 
 
 not convey the blood of the Lord. The only communion 
 with the Lord at his table is through faith in him as pre- 
 sented to us in his death, by the broken bread and the 
 outpoured wine ; the one significant of his body broken on 
 the cross, for our redemption from the curse of sin ; the 
 other significant of his blood shed for the ratification of the 
 new covenant, and to secure to every penitent believer the 
 remission of his sins : as the penitent receives the tokens of 
 these blessings at the table of the Lord, and as he exercises 
 faith upon them, he is assured that Christ has redeemed 
 him from the curse of the law, being made a curse for him ; 
 that he has redemption through his blood, the forgiveness 
 of his sins ; and that he obtains in him security for eternal 
 life. Therein, and in the things which belong to the sal- 
 vation thence arising, he has communion with his Saviour, 
 and goes on his way rejoicing. 
 
 Note. 
 
 That which is here controverted, is to be found in Dr. 
 Alford's commentary on this passage, 1 Cor. x. 16, 17, in the 
 second volume of his Greek Testament.* On referring to his 
 exposition of this Sacrament in his comment on Matt. xxvi. 26- 
 28,f I find what to me appears a very singular notion respecting 
 the body of Christ (but it may not be originally his own, it may 
 be common to him with other writers), viz., that the body of 
 Christ is literally that which sustains the world and all things in 
 it ; he says, "the mystery of the Lord's body is, that in and 
 by it is all created being upheld ; " and he refers to Colossians i. 
 17, when, after having stated that " by him (the Lord Christ) 
 were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, 
 visible and invisible," &c, the apostle adds, " and he is before 
 all things, and by him all things consist : " and, again, he refers to 
 
 * Page 528, 1st edition. 
 
 t Pages 193, 194, 1st edition, 1st vol. 
 
202 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSniP. 
 
 John i. 4, where the apostle after having stated, that " all things 
 were made by him " (the eternal Word who was in the beginning 
 with God and was God), " so that without him was not anything 
 made that was made," adds, "in him was] life, and the life" (he 
 who was the life) "was the light of men." From which Dean 
 Alford draws the conclusion, that generally, and in the widest 
 sense, the body of the Lord is the sustenance and upholding of all 
 living. So that it is true in respect of all living things, that for 
 them to live is Christ (Phil. i. 21) ; and again, " in this sense his 
 body is the life of the world, and man's (i. e. every man's) daily 
 bread." It is, moreover, on [qu. from] this general and lower sense, 
 underlying, as he terms it, all the spiritual and higher senses 
 (intended in the flesh of Christ), in John vi., that he proceeds 
 to explain after his manner the symbolic meaning of the sacra- 
 mental bread. Without going into the examination of his pecu- 
 liar exposition — peculiar at least to me — I would observe, that 
 the fact that the Lord is the upholder of all things, that by him 
 all things consist, and that he is the life of all being, is not 
 dependent upon his incarnation, on his assuming in the appointed 
 time the body prepared for him, and therefore on his humanity, 
 but it is dependent on his divine nature — on his being the eternal 
 Word and Son of the Father — the brightness of his glory and the 
 express image of his person ; it is thus that he is the upholder of 
 all things (Heb. i. 3). As such, he carried out and executed the 
 will and purpose of the Father, so that " all things were made by 
 him " so exclusively, that without him was not " anything made 
 that was made." It was he who said, " Let there be light, and 
 there was light ; " and it is he who by the word of his power still 
 maintains the light. It was he who called into being the various 
 portions of God's host on earth, and by him they continue to this 
 day. It was he who, after the consultation — to speak after the 
 manner of men — of the Divine Persons with respect to the crea- 
 tion of man (Gen i. 26), formed his body of the dust of the ground, 
 and by his Spirit breathed into him the breath of life (Job xxxiii. 
 4) ; and he being their creator, they continue to have their 
 subsistence in him, for in him, the original fountain of their life, 
 all that live, live and move and have their being. The same is 
 true of the whole vegetable creation, as indeed of the very matter 
 of the earth with its atmosjmere : all created things have their 
 
NOTE. 203 
 
 subsistence in him, and only as he "upholds them do they continue 
 in being. But it is as their creator, as the eternal Son and Word 
 of the Father, and not as the Son incarnate, the Word made 
 flesh, that they stand in this relation to him. The power that 
 brought them into existence must sustain them in it, and there- 
 fore their subsistence is in him. Moreover, that which is true of 
 this earth and its heavens, and of all the hosts in each, must be 
 equally true of all the other worlds which compose our system, 
 and of all the living creatures that may constitute their several 
 hosts ; it must be equally true of all the different systems of 
 worlds existing throughout the spaces occupied by creation. 
 Every system, with all its varied and multiplied creatures, must 
 be dependent on the presence and power of the Creator, and have 
 its subsistence only in him. But this universal relation of the 
 creature to the Creator, has no reference to the redemption and 
 salvation of man fallen off from God through sin. 
 
 It is true that, in the purpose of God, the dispensation of the 
 Christ is designed for the reconciling of all things to himself, and 
 for the gathering together of all things both in heaven and on the 
 earth, under one head (Col. i. 20, Eph. i. 10); and the whole 
 creation having been subjected to vanity through the fall, is de- 
 scribed metaphorically as groaning and travailing in pain, waiting 
 for the manifestation of the sons of God. But, however the state 
 of the intelligent creatures of God in heaven and earth is to be 
 advanced and blessed under the glorious reign of the great King, 
 and however the inferior creatures may be released from the 
 tyranny of vanity, and improved by that reign of peace and 
 righteousness — their continuance, subsistence, and being, is not 
 dependent on the work of man's redemption, but on the sustain- 
 ing power of their Creator, whose fiat, " let it be," can only be 
 suspended by his own, " let it not be." 
 
 To make, therefore, the life of all animals and living creatures 
 dependent on the human body of Christ, so that that body should 
 be their food — seeing that every existing creature, wheresoever it 
 be, has its being in him — is to make an assumption, as I believe, 
 altogether unwarrantable, and unsanctioned by Scripture. But 
 apart from the hypothesis which implies the imparting of a some- 
 thing to each creature from the body of Christ, distinct from the 
 constant exercise of the power of the Son of God in its behalf. 
 
204 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP*. 
 
 and which would carry with it the communication of something 
 from the same body of Christ to the spiritual soul as its food (of 
 which he speaks as the spiritual and higher sense of John vi.) — 
 apart from all this, the sustenance of the spiritual soul is resolved 
 into the inward and spiritual process of feeding on Christ by faith ; 
 — feeding on him as the Eedeemer, Mediator, Saviour, — feeding 
 on the work, for the accomplishment of which he assumed the 
 body prepared for him, which he carried on upon earth in all 
 the weakness of the flesh, which he continues in heaven in that 
 body glorified, and which he will perfect at his coming again for 
 their salvation. This feeding the spiritual soul actually carries 
 on in the exercise of its faculties on those truths respecting the 
 Lord Jesus Christ which are appointed, as for the quickening, 
 so also for the preservation and the perfection of the soul, in that 
 spiritual and everlasting life. 
 
 PART II. — IN WHAT THIS SPECIAL COMMUNION CONSISTS, AND HOW IT 
 IS TO BE REALISED. 
 
 " The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood 
 of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the 
 Body of Christ?" 
 
 I have said that an opinion has always prevailed in the 
 Church of Christ, that in the sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper, the believer's communion with the Lord is special, 
 and different from all that he enjoys by any other means. 
 We have seen also how the generality of Christians have 
 sought it by investing the ordinance with a mysterious 
 character, and have proposed under the shadow of that 
 mystery a literal interpretation of the words of its insti- 
 tution, seeking to satisfy themselves that this mystery — 
 this miracle indeed — whereby the bread and the wine 
 communicated to them the real body and blood of the 
 Lord, — would give them this special communion, would 
 secure their participation of both, and (by inference) 
 secure to them eternal life (John vi. 54). 
 
SPECIAL NATURE OF TIIE COMMUNION. 205 
 
 In considering those different views of the ordinance 
 (which all hinge npon a literal feeding, in one sense or 
 another, upon the body and the blood of the Lord), I have 
 endeavoured to disprove such as we are likely to be in- 
 fected with. But in doing this, have we overthrown the 
 peculiarity of this communion altogether, and resolved it 
 into nothing more than what the believer may enjoy 
 through the ordinary means of grace ? as through the 
 word read or preached, or in offering prayer to God 
 through Christ, or in the sacrifice of praise and thanks- 
 giving, or in private meditation on the things of God and 
 his Christ ? I trust not : but let us resume the subject, 
 and enquire what peculiarities belong to and distinguish 
 the ordinance itself; and then consider whether these are 
 not the things which give a peculiar character to the 
 believer's communion with the Lord in partaking of it. 
 
 i. What are the peculiar features which distinguish the 
 supper of the Lord ? 
 
 First, this ordinance and the ordinance of baptism are 
 the only ordinances under the gospel in which invisible 
 things are set forth by visible signs, and spiritual truths 
 and blessings are exhibited by outward emblems, and cor- 
 responding actions in connection with their use. 
 
 In the ordinance of baptism, the outward and visible 
 sign appointed to be used is water. Its application to the 
 person to be baptised signifies the washing away, the 
 forgiveness of his sins; it implies also, therefore, the cor- 
 ruption of his state, and the necessity of his being washed, 
 cleansed, and regenerated, that he may be capable of 
 seeing and entering the kingdom of God (John iii. 3, 5, 
 6 ; Titus iii. 4-7) : whilst the very water wherein the 
 sinner is washed, is the appointed emblem to him of the 
 Holy Spirit, the effectual agent by whom this work of 
 regeneration is commenced and carried on, promised and 
 given to all that believe. The penitent believing sinner 
 
206 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 partaking of this ordinance in faith, has communion with 
 the Lord his Grod, receiving from him the forgiveness of 
 his sins, and the gift of the indwelling Spirit to be the 
 advocate of his soul, and to preserve him to eternal life. 
 
 In the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, the outward and 
 visible signs are the bread and wine, significant, unques- 
 tionably, by express appointment, of the body and blood of 
 the Lord. The bread is broken ere it is presented to the 
 communicant, to signify to him that the body of the Lord 
 was broken for him on the cross. In like manner the 
 wine is poured out, to signify the shedding of the blood of 
 Christ, to obtain the remission of his sins. By the sepa- 
 ration of the one from the other, and the presentation of 
 each distinctly to the communicant, the death of the Lord 
 by the shedding of his blood is expressed ; for the blood 
 is the life. Whilst the nourishing power of the bread, 
 and the gladdening qualities of the wine, are equally ex- 
 pressive of the sustaining and cheering power of the life 
 of the Lord Christ in heaven : and the believer is assured 
 by these pledges, that because the Lord lives, he shall live 
 also. In receiving the bread, he expresses his faith in the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, as having borne for him the curse of 
 sin and death in his own body on the tree, and as having 
 thereby effected his reconciliation with Grod : and in par- 
 taking of the wine, he expresses his faith that his sins 
 were washed away by the shedding of the blood of Christ, 
 and that through the continual intercession of the Lord 
 in heaven, pleading that precious blood-shedding and 
 sacrifice of himself, they are continually washed away; 
 whilst consciously in himself he enjoys peace with Grod, 
 and stands before him justified from all things, a pardoned 
 and accepted sinner in Christ Jesus. But not this alone ; 
 he stands assured also that he who died for him still lives 
 for him, and that for ever ; that as by his death he has 
 been redeemed from the curse of sin and death, so by the 
 
A COVENANT ORDINANCE. 207 
 
 power of his life, he shall still be sustained and kept unto 
 eternal life. Into all this communion with the Father 
 and the Son, he enters by means of the appointed elements 
 of bread and wine, given to him in obedience to Christ's 
 command. They express truths, declare blessings, and 
 give assurance of their being actually bestowed ; as so 
 ordained he receives them, and goes on his way rejoicing. 
 Surely there is a peculiarity in the nature and in the 
 means of this communion with the Father and the Son, 
 sufficient to justify the statement, that the believer does 
 enjoy special communion with the Lord at his table. 
 Where else but there, can this accumulation of mercies 
 and blessings be presented to him, or be apprehended or 
 enjoyed by him ? 
 
 ii. Again, the ordinance of the Lord's Supper is a cove- 
 nant ordinance. So our Lord declared it to be, when 
 taking the cup he said, " This cup is the new covenant in 
 my blood ; " i. e., to be ratified in the shedding of my 
 blood. In this respect, the same character and force 
 belongs to it, as to the ordinance of baptism. Both are 
 as seals appended to the covenant of grace which Grod 
 proposes to us in Christ, and which assures each of the 
 fulfilment of the covenant of peace between the Father 
 and the Son in behalf of sinners. For it has pleased the 
 Father, for our instruction and comfort, to reveal his 
 purpose of grace in the redemption and salvation of 
 sinners by the incarnation, death, and glorification of his 
 dear Son, in the form of a covenant ... By that cove- 
 nant—the conditions of which Christ fulfilled in his 
 humiliation to death, and all the blessings of which he has 
 thereby secured to sinners— Grod engages to be their Grod, 
 to pardon, accept and bless them by giving them his 
 Spirit to sanctify and preserve them : and he calls upon 
 them to give themselves unreservedly to his service, and 
 to obey his will in everything. Into this covenant the 
 
208 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 believer enters in his baptism : by coming to, and par- 
 taking that ordinance, he sets to his seal that God is true, 
 and he gives himself np to serve him in the power of the 
 Holy Ghost, by following the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
 becoming a willing partaker of his sufferings (Romans 
 vi. and viii. 13-17). But baptism is an ordinance to be 
 administered only once ; for by it sinners are admitted 
 into covenant with God, and into the body of his people. 
 It marks the beginning of his covenant relations with 
 God. 
 
 The Lord's Supper is designed to sustain and continue 
 these relations. By partaking of it, the believer renews 
 his covenant with God : every time he receives it, he 
 comes to him as a penitent sinner confessing his sins, but 
 claiming God as his God, and confident of acceptance 
 with him for the Lord's sake. He receives the bread and 
 Avine as resealing (i. e., as a ratification of) the covenant, and 
 as pledges of God's promised mercy to his soul. He looks 
 to the Lord Jesus as having made reconciliation for him, 
 and as ever living to preserve it; he looks to him to 
 minister all grace to him, and believes that because the 
 Lord lives, he shall himself live also. Like the apostle, 
 lie lays the foundation of all his hopes on the cross of the 
 Lord Jesus, and feeding on the bread and wine, he feeds 
 by faith on him who died for him and rose again. In this 
 conviction he renews the dedication of himself to the 
 service of his God and Saviour, and in dependence on the 
 Spirit's effectual power and operation, he trusts to be 
 enabled to fulfil the works of his calling, and to glorify 
 God by a patient continuance in well-doing. 
 
 It is from this last circumstance — the believer's self- 
 dedication to God in Christ — an act required of him both 
 in receiving baptism, and in partaking of the Lord's 
 supper — that these two ordinances have obtained the 
 name of sacraments. The term itself is not a Scriptural 
 
ITS SACRAMENTAL CHARACTER. 209 
 
 one, but is derived from the latin " sacramentum," and 
 was used familiarly in the first ages of the gospel to 
 signify the oath taken by a Roman soldier when enrolled 
 in any of the legions of the empire. Just as our soldiers 
 are sworn to serve their Queen and country, the Eoman 
 soldier swore never to forsake his standard, or desert his 
 commander, or disobey his word. This oath was his 
 sacramentum or sacrament. Baptism and the Lord's 
 Supper are the believer's sacrament, wherein he takes and 
 renews his oath of service. The same devotion to the 
 cause of Christ, and the same surrender of himself to his 
 service to which he is bound in his baptism, he renews in 
 taking the bread and wine : by eating and drinking these 
 he declares the continuance of his faith in the efficacy of 
 the Lord's death, and in the power of the Lord's life ; he 
 unites himself to him in both. This stands in the place 
 of the soldier's oath, engaging the believer as a good 
 soldier of Jesus Christ to continue fighting the good fight 
 of faith, that he may lay hold on eternal life : and hence 
 the " sacramental " nature of both ordinances, and the 
 special application of the term sacrament to each. I am 
 aware that a mystical meaning has been engrafted on the 
 term, and is commonly included in it : but this was its 
 origin, and to this alone I am now adverting. 
 
 This view of the ordinance our Church also sets forth, 
 when in the first prayer formed for the use of her members 
 after having received the bread and wine, she leads them 
 to return thanks to Grod for his acceptance of that sa- 
 crifice of praise and thanksgiving in which they have been 
 engaged, and then puts them upon the solemn renewal of 
 their dedication of themselves to his service. The words 
 are very impressive and touching : " And here we offer 
 and present unto thee, Lord, ourselves, our souls and 
 bodies, to be a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice unto 
 thee; humbly beseeching thee, that all we who are par- 
 
 p 
 
210 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 takers of this holy communion, may be fulfilled with thy 
 grace and heavenly benediction : " that being replenished 
 with the grace of God, we may be enabled to abide in this 
 our covenanted surrender. Oh that each one of us may 
 be enabled whenever we come to this table, so to act and 
 to abide in the act. 
 
 But does not the fact, that this sacrament is a covenant 
 ordinance in which the believer continually renews his 
 covenant with God, and in which God is pleased to seal to 
 him anew the blessings of that covenant — and that Christ 
 appointed it for this very end amongst others — does not 
 this give to the ordinance a character peculiarly its own, 
 and lead to a communion between the believer and the 
 Lord his God, nowhere else to be enjoyed ? Where or 
 how can he renew his covenant in a way appointed by 
 God, but at the Lord's table ? 
 
 iii. Further, consider the vast body of Divine truth, 
 which is set before us in the Lord's Supper. It com- 
 prises the whole mystery of our redemption, and reaches 
 to the accomplishment of our salvation. When the Lord 
 delivered the broken bread to his apostles and said, " This 
 is my body," of what did he speak ? not simply of that 
 which was so speedily to be effected — the death of that 
 body on the cross ; but of that mysterious transaction also, 
 when in obedience to his Heavenly Father's will he first 
 assumed it, that he might thus suffer in it, and establish 
 a righteous peace between God and sinners. Sacrifice and 
 offerings for sin by the shedding the blood of bulls or of 
 goats, God did not desire ; they could not possibly take 
 away sin, so that God should be manifested to be a just 
 God whilst justifying the ungodly, they served only as a 
 shadow and teaching figure of what was to come. Whilst 
 to the Son it was proposed that he should become the 
 real sacrifice in the course of unreserved obedience to his 
 Heavenly Father, doing and suffering whatever might be 
 
THE TRUTHS IT TEACHES. 211 
 
 exacted of him. He was content to do it ; he submitted 
 to be as it were like a slave in the temple of his God and 
 Father. For this end a body was in due time prepared 
 for him (Ex. xxi. 5, 6 ; Ps. xl. 6 ; Heb. x. 5) ; he took 
 it into union with himself, became man, lived on earth 
 a life of obedience to the will of his Father, and com- 
 pleted it by his death upon the cross. The bread which 
 he gave to his disciples was the appointed emblem of this 
 body from the very beginning of its existence, until his 
 death upon the cross. It exhibits to us the mystery of 
 our redemption from the incarnation to the cross. 
 
 But it teaches yet more. It is the figure not merely of 
 him, the living One, who was from the beginning, and 
 who as man lived and died on earth, but of him also who 
 as man revived and rose again, and is alive for evermore. 
 Bread is the nourisher of the body and the main sus- 
 tainer of life ; wine is the gladdener of the heart and the 
 raiser of the drooping spirit : both are the emblems of a 
 living Saviour, the fruits of whose life are continued life, 
 peace, and joy in the Holy Grhost, to his people. Of the 
 continuance of this life, of its nourishment by spiritual 
 food through the knowledge and faith of the glorified 
 Redeemer, the sacramental bread and wine are the pledges. 
 The efficacy of the Sacrament is not limited to the re- 
 newed forgiveness of our sins and the justification of our 
 persons, but extends to every blessing comprehended in 
 the covenant, and therefore to everything which is needful 
 to establish our everlasting life and salvation. 
 
 Does not this again give to the communion of the 
 believer with his Lord at his table a peculiar character ? 
 He realises in his death the immovable foundation of all 
 his hopes ; and in his life he sees the security of his own 
 life through death to the possession of the kingdom, and 
 from the termination of the kingdom throughout eternity 
 (1 Cor. xv. 28). Where is the ordinance appointed for his 
 
 P 2 
 
212 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP*. 
 
 realising all this, but the supper of the Lord ? Different 
 portions of the Scriptures reveal different parts of the 
 work of Christ ; in the sacrament of the Lord's supper 
 the whole of his work is exhibited for the believer's con- 
 templation, and as it is opened and blessed to him by the 
 Spirit, it will give him communion with God the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Spirit, in respect of it. The Church 
 has appointed special seasons for the commemoration of 
 special acts belonging to the Saviour's work. We com- 
 memorate on Christmas-day the incarnation of the Lord ; 
 on Good Friday, his crucifixion ; his resurrection on 
 Easter-day; and on Whitsunday, the great act of his 
 kingly power in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit : but 
 on every Sacrament Sunday the whole body of Divine 
 truth is set before us in Christ [himself], even the great 
 mystery of godliness (1 Tim. iii. 16). 
 
 iv. Lastly, the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper exhibits 
 the mystery of the believer's life, hid with Christ in God, 
 and maintained by the Holy Spirit dispensed to him by 
 the Lord Jesus ; that blessed Spirit, by taking of the 
 things of Christ and revealing them to the believer, 
 purifies him from sin, advances his progress in the Divine 
 life, and changes his very nature and condition more and 
 more into the very likeness of the Lord. As the bread 
 and the wine of which he partakes are changed into the 
 blood which is the appointed nourishment of the body, 
 from which by a wonderful power of selection and assi- 
 milation its various parts are repaired or new processes 
 carried on, its growth is matured and its vigour main- 
 tained ; so it is in the body of Christ, the community of 
 his people : the things of the Lord Jesus which form the 
 substance of the truths of the inspired word, (for he 
 from the beginning to the end is the subject of its reve- 
 lation) are made known by the Holy Spirit to the soul of 
 the believer, and become his food, sustaining his spiritual 
 
THE FOOD OF LIFE. 213 
 
 life and giving power of life and action to his spirit. The 
 special wants of his soul are supplied through the appli- 
 cation of special truths by the Spirit as they are needed ; 
 and his general advancement is provided for and carried 
 on, so that the purpose of Grod shall be accomplished in 
 him, even his transformation into the image of Christ, and 
 the perfecting of that image within him. 
 
 Now of all this continuance and progress in spiritual 
 life, the Lord's Supper is the pledge and sacrament; 
 using that term not in its original meaning, but in the 
 mysterious sense which has been subsequently given to it, 
 the Christian Church of the West having employed it to 
 signify what the more natural and appropriate term 
 "mystery" signifies in the East. In this sense the sa- 
 crament sets forth the spring of the believer's life in 
 Christ Jesus ; — in him in his death, as the foundation of 
 the whole ; — in him also in his life, glorified at the right 
 hand of the Father, as its sustainer and perfecter. For 
 it must ever be remembered, that he is the Lord from 
 heaven, the quickening Spirit (1 Cor. xv. 45), who has 
 received for us the promise of the indwelling Spirit, and 
 who actually dispenses the Holy Spirit to his people ; as it 
 is that blessed Spirit who, revealing the Lord to them, 
 enables them to live by faith on him and to feed upon all 
 his work at his table, and who nourishes their souls with 
 heavenly food, the things of the coming kingdom of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Thus they have communion with the 
 Lord Christ, and know him as their life ; they know also, 
 that their life is " hid with Christ in God," is secured by 
 his unfailing purpose, and they enjoy communion with the 
 Father as the original fountain of all the mercy and grace 
 they receive, and of their hope of glory. But all this is 
 opened to them in the supper of the Lord. 
 
 With this agrees what our Church leads us to express in 
 her second prayer after all the communicants have re- 
 ceived the bread and wine. She calls us to unite in giving 
 
214 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHir. 
 
 thanks to God "who has been pleased to feed us, duly 
 receiving these holy mysteries, with the spiritual food of 
 the body and blood of our Saviour Christ;" not as if in 
 partaking of the bread and wine we had partaken of some- 
 thing, which literally had been or was a part of the body 
 of Christ, but because Grod has enabled us by his Spirit to 
 feed by faith on the work of the Lord Jesus in his death 
 and in his risen life ; the power of both being herein made 
 sure to us, who are certified in this sacrament of their 
 effectual application in our behalf. And therefore our 
 Church teaches us further to ^ive thanks for the assurance 
 thus given us, that we are very members of the mystical 
 body of Christ and heirs of the kingdom. But it is by 
 faith in Christ Jesus that we are all the children of Grod 
 and members of Christ ; and it is by the ability given us to 
 live by faith in Christ ; and (as an instance) by feeding 
 on him by faith in partaking of the bread and wine — by 
 feeding on the truths thereby set forth — by embracing 
 and living on them in application to ourselves — that our 
 souls are nourished, and we are certified that we are still 
 living members of Christ our living head, and the one 
 source of all our life, our power, and our hope — of all 
 our blessings present and to come. 
 
 But if this be the very special communion which be- 
 lievers have with their Lord at his table (as I believe it is), 
 it is indeed peculiar to the sacrament of his Supper, and 
 is to be realised nowhere else. And we have no need to 
 seek for a mysterious something, in or with the bread and 
 wine, by the supposed reception of which our communion 
 may be made special and peculiar ; the Holy Spirit gives 
 us this, in opening to us the significancy and teaching 
 of the bread and wine ; and in the fellowship of that 
 blessed Spirit, we are enabled to feed on Christ by faith 
 in the truths there taught us concerning him, and to 
 realise the blessedness of our union with him. 
 
215 
 
 ESSAY IX. 
 
 THE CONDITION AND THE WORSHIP OF THE CHUKCH 
 IN HEAVEN. 
 
 ("Written in 1849; rearranged, and somewhat shortened.) 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 OF DEATH BEFORE THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 
 
 § J. Hezekiah's fear of Death. 
 
 Nothing is more evident in the Scripture, than the vast 
 difference between the thoughts and feelings of believers 
 of old and of believers under the Gospel in respect of 
 death and the grave. We find in the former an earnest 
 longing for the continuance of life and a deprecation of 
 death ; long life, many days, are regarded as a great 
 blessing especially granted by Grod to those who enjoy his 
 favour : whilst " to be cut off as the untimely fruit of the 
 womb," to perish in infancy, to die prematurely in the 
 midst of their days, seemed to carry with it in their appre- 
 hension the marks of (rod's displeasure and judgement- 
 Hear the mournful confession of Jacob : " Few and evil 
 have been the days of the years of my life, and have not 
 attained unto the days of the years of the life of my 
 fathers." Hence the promise to Abraham, " Thou shalt 
 go to thy fathers in peace, thou shalt be buried in a 
 good old age." And an early death formed no small 
 part of the judgement denounced against Eli for his 
 
216 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 culpable neglect of his children : " There shall not be an 
 old man in thine house for ever ; . and all the 
 
 increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their 
 age." 
 
 Of this feeling we have a most striking example in the 
 case of Hezekiah, as it is recorded in 2 Kings xx. 1—11, 
 and in Isaiah xxxviii. He was a man of piety, of great 
 piety considering the time in which he lived : a man also 
 zealous in the service of God, a great reformer, and one 
 whom God had blessed with great success in his efforts, 
 and whose prayers he had answered by giving him special 
 deliverance from the Assyrians. In the midst of the 
 enjoyment of these favours from God, he was seized with 
 a mortal sickness, and received a message from God, 
 " Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die and not live/' 
 But how did the believing monarch receive the message ? 
 In the greatest dismay he is overwhelmed with grief; he 
 seems like a man about to be precipitated into an abyss of 
 darkness ; he turns to the Lord in the utmost earnestness 
 pleading for the reversal of the sentence pronounced upon 
 him. We have his own account of the whole in the 
 writing which he penned after his recovery, detailing 
 the history of his own inmost feelings throughout ; a 
 writing of which we may remark, that whilst recorded in 
 the inspired Scriptures, it forms no part of the inspired 
 text, and it was no more written under the inspiration of 
 the Holy Ghost, than were his groans and tears before 
 his recovery the fruits of the Spirit's operatiou. 
 
 His great trouble evidently was, that he was to die in 
 the midst of his days ; that he should cease from any 
 further intercourse with living men, or with Jehovah in 
 the land of the living. " The grave cannot praise thee ; 
 death cannot celebrate thee ; they that go down to the 
 pit cannot hope for thy truth ; the living, the living, he 
 shall praise thee, as I do at this day." He seems to have 
 
hezekiah's fear of death. 217 
 
 no notion of any communion with God in the grave, nor 
 any expectation of the fulfilment of the promises, nor of 
 any conscious sense of them to cheer the dead in their 
 gloom of darkness. That was the enjoyment of the 
 living ; it was the special blessedness of the fathers and 
 their every day work, to declare (rod's truth and faith- 
 fulness to their children. But among the dead there was 
 no place, according to his notions, for these things ; and 
 though the believing soul could not have the fearful look- 
 ing for of judgement, yet the king knew of no light that 
 was to cheer the abode of the dead ; in his view of their 
 state all was darkness and discomfort. He seems to have 
 entered into the saying of Solomon — or of a supposed 
 objector to the Preacher — (ix. 1 — 10), that "a living 
 dosf is better than a dead lion ; " and to have considered 
 the state of the dead to be one marked by a cessation 
 of all knowledge, motion, and feeling, in fine that they 
 lost in death all their interest in life (ver. 10). 
 
 There are, indeed, other passages in which the same 
 sentiment may seem to be expressed, and when Hezekiah 
 wrote this, his mind might have adverted to some of these 
 in the Psalms.* But if he took up their language, it is 
 clear that he did not understand it in its true sense as 
 expressive of the Spirit's teaching. This however I 
 mention not in disparagement of Hezekiah ; it was not 
 perhaps possible, that he could have understood their 
 language aright. 
 
 § 2. The gradual Increase of Knoivledge as to the State 
 of the Dead. 
 The truth has dawned upon the Church by a gradual 
 
 * The Psalms here referred to are the 6th, the 30th, the 88th, and the 
 115th. The explanation given of these passages is taken chiefly from the 
 notes of Bishop Horsley, who considers them to have been designed by the 
 Holy Spirit as prophetical of the mind of Christ, when about to die under 
 the curse of sin. I have therefore omitted it here. — Ed. 
 
218 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 and often by a very slow process. The light of Divine 
 truth which dawned on man from the beginning, has 
 gradually increased in brightness from that day to this, 
 but has not yet reached the perfect day. The patriarchs 
 before the flood knew not what Abraham understood, 
 neither did he perceive or enter into the truth which 
 Moses revealed. Moses again was in darkness compa- 
 ratively with David and the prophets that followed. And 
 in respect of the point before us — the knowledge which 
 believers of old possessed of death — how different were 
 the feelings and desires of Simeon ; " Lord, now lettest 
 thou thy servant depart in peace ; " from those expressed 
 by Hezekiah. I do not indeed ascribe to Simeon that full 
 knowledge of the salvation to be effected by the Saviour 
 which some would suppose him to possess, a knowledge in 
 fact as complete as that to which we have attained ; yet it 
 is clear that he goes to his grave as to a [welcome] place 
 of rest ; he entered into what the prophet had written of 
 the end of the righteous, and knew that in death he 
 entered into peace, resting on his bed, each one walking 
 in his uprightness. Clearly Hezekiah could not do this, 
 though it may be those words were written before his own 
 sickness (Isaiah lvii. 1, 2). Nor was such a complacent 
 welcoming of the last enemy, limited to Simeon and 
 the greater lights of the Church who were in that day 
 waiting for the Messiah's appearing.* It seems to have 
 been common then to all God's people. In the parable of 
 the rich man and Lazarus the Saviour doubtless used the 
 popular language of the day, when he described the 
 afflicted but patient and believing beggar, as carried by 
 angels into Abraham's bosom, manifestly indicating a 
 condition of rest, and^of rest with the father of the faithful ; 
 of rest therefore through faith, arising out of a common 
 
 * See Wisdom iv. 7— 16.— Ed. 
 
INCREASING KNOWLEDGE OF DEATH. 219 
 
 participation of hope in the promise of God, according to 
 that descriptive word, " these all died in faith, not having 
 received the promises : but having seen them afar off, and 
 were persuaded of them and embraced them." It was not, 
 indeed, the will of God that they without us should be 
 made perfect, but their dread of death was greatly abated, 
 and though some were all their lifetime in bondage 
 through fear of death, this was not the state of all, nor in- 
 deed — as the word rt some" necessarily implies — of most. 
 By the exercise of men's minds on the word of Grod, the 
 truth had come out more and more plainly; and whilst 
 thousands erred by receiving the traditions of men which 
 often virtually set aside that word, and others openly 
 embraced error, as the Sadducees did, to the denial of the 
 truth; yet the people of Grod were gradually learning more 
 and more, and were being prepared for the glorious reve- 
 lation to be made when the time came for the rising- of the 
 Sun of Eighteousness. This was especially true of their 
 views in respect of death. . . . And here I would 
 make a remark, on an expression of St. Peter's, which 
 appears to me to carry with it more meaning than is com- 
 monly ascribed to it. It occurs in his second epistle (i. 12), 
 " Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in 
 remembrance of these things, though ye know them, 
 and be established in the present truth." Some un- 
 derstand by this expression, the truth he was then in- 
 culcating, i.e. verses 10, 11 : others as Calvin, the whole 
 scheme of the Gospel, which had been long promised, but 
 into the possession of which they had only then been 
 brought. But I apprehend that " the present truth " is 
 intended to mean that measure and portion oFtruth which 
 was then brought out from the Gospel message, and dis- 
 covered to the people of God. Nothing is more certain 
 than that whilst the Gospel truth was broadly and unequi- 
 vocally proclaimed, the apostles themselves did not so 
 
220 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 enter into it, as to know how to apply it or to whom to 
 preach it. Though all along comprised in the truth pro- 
 claimed, there were truths (such as that respecting the 
 Three Divine Persons) which were not brought out or 
 acknowledged as the Christian body has now long re- 
 ceived them, until errors inconsistent with them were 
 broached. . . So truths once known have been lost 
 through the declension of the Church of Christ by ignorance 
 and corruption, and then again by God's mercy and the 
 teaching of his Spirit have been vindicated and restored to 
 its use; as the doctrine of free justification by faith and 
 not by works, was recovered at the Eeformation. Whilst 
 on the other hand, doctrines once known and acknowledged 
 by the people of God still remain lost to them. Such is 
 the truth concerning the Indwelling Spirit, which since 
 the Pelagian controversy has been practically hid from 
 the great body of Christ's professing people, and to this 
 day is unknown to them. They do not deny the Person 
 or the general work of the Holy Spirit in the dispensation 
 of the grace of God, but to the promise and doctrine of 
 the Indwelling Spirit under the administration of the 
 Lord Jesus Christ now seated on his throne, and as the 
 special blessing of the Lord to his people, — to this they are 
 altogether strangers. 
 
 As then the truths fully declared by the proclamation 
 of the Gospel were only gradually apprehended and acted 
 upon by believers, it is to the preservation of these truths 
 and to an increasing knowledge of them in the minds 
 of believers, that the apostle's anxiety seems here to be 
 directed. . . . The " present truth " then may well 
 comprise not only the whole Gospel truth, but specially 
 that truth in which it was the express work of the Holy 
 Spirit [at that time] to instruct the people of God. . . . 
 Hence the present truth of one age will not be precisely 
 that of another ; but will change and vary as the neces- 
 
THE PLACE OF THE DEAD 221 
 
 sities of the Church require that truths already received 
 should be amplified, explained, or defined ; or that truths 
 partially or practically lost should be recognised and con- 
 fessed in practice ; or as the developement of prophecy in 
 its fulfilment brings out new truths in the history of God's 
 dealings with his people, or which is the same thing, dis- 
 closes new facts ; for a truth is but the abstract meaning of 
 a fact, of that which God does in carrying out his own 
 purposes in Christ. 
 
 § 3. Of the State of the Dead before Christ's Ascension, 
 and the change then made in it. 
 
 It appears clear from Scripture, that previous to our 
 Lord's coming and making reconciliation for iniquity, 
 death reigned over all mankind. As in their generations 
 they died out of the world, each went to his own place, 
 but all to the place of the dead. This is evident from the 
 parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which, however figu- 
 rative in form, is still descriptive of essential matters of 
 fact belonging to the state of the dead : in it our Saviour 
 was speaking to the common apprehension of his hearers, 
 whilst drawing aside the curtain which hid from view the 
 world of the dead beneath in the earth. And what were 
 the facts disclosed ? That the place of the dead was one ; 
 but that they who had died were not indiscriminately 
 mingled together in one body. On the contrary, there was 
 a marked and awful separation into two distinct bodies, so 
 that all access from one to the other was impracticable. 
 And this separation was that of believers from the unbe- 
 lieving ; the state of the latter being one of anguish — 
 doubtless of mind — but of great anguish, for it is expressed 
 under the image of tormenting flame ; whilst the state of 
 believers was, as we have seen, one of rest. They reposed 
 in Abraham's bosom, as children in the bosom of a father ; 
 
222 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 comforted by the fact that (rod was still their shield, and 
 would be their exceeding great reward ; and resting on the 
 covenant which Grod had made with Abraham and with 
 his seed, they waited for the time when they should begin 
 to enjoy its positive blessings : their existing state being 
 simply one of rest, of freedom from all past and future 
 evils, and of hope in the expectation of good to come. 
 The description here given implies conscious existence, 
 mutual recognition of each other, intercourse and com- 
 munication of mind, but it implies, as I apprehend, 
 nothing more : the phrases used and the description given 
 do not lead to the supposition that the state of the pious 
 dead was one in which the presence of the indwelling 
 Spirit was enjoyed, or in which any ordinances could be 
 partaken of (Psalm vi. 4 — 5 ; ex v. 15 — 17). It was a 
 state of captivity, of circumscribed liberty, the conse- 
 quence of death, and until delivered from this state into 
 which they passed by separation from the body, that 
 blessedness could not be enjoyed.* 
 
 None of these when they died went to heaven, for the 
 gate was not opened until our Saviour entered it, and was 
 bade to sit down on the right hand of Grod.f The ques- 
 tion then arises, whether anything has taken place since 
 the Lord finished the work of peacemaking to alter the 
 condition of the dead, or of any portion of those who died 
 previously to that time. 
 
 In answer to this we would ask, whether when our 
 Lord ascended up and entered heaven, he entered it alone ? 
 From the history of our Lord's course it should seem that 
 when he resigned himself in death into his heavenly 
 Father's hands, his disembodied spirit appeared before his 
 Grod and Father, and he was brought to judgement. In 
 
 * Isaiah lvii. 1, 2 ; Luke xvi. ; Heb. xi. 13, 39, 40.— Ed. 
 f Psalm xxiv., ex. 1. — Ed. 
 
before Christ's ascension. 223 
 
 that judgement, his sacrifice of himself was accepted by 
 his Father, and he was justified in all things, as having in 
 his death fulfilled all his holy will ; and all the blessings 
 of the covenant under which his work was wrought were 
 assured to him.* He was thenceforth constituted Lord 
 both of the dead and of the living ; the spirit of the ran- 
 somed thief on leaving his body was brought before 
 him, and by him fixed in heaven : and thus justified, ac- 
 cepted, [and appointed king of heaven and earth,] the 
 Lord descended to the lower parts of the earth — entered 
 the place of departed spirits, and proclaimed the accom- 
 plishment of his work, and his victory over his and their 
 enemy, to all its residents. f And when he left it, he left it 
 not alone, but with the spirits of all who from the begin- 
 ning had died in faith of the Deliverer who was to come, 
 that is of himself. These were the captives whom he res- 
 cued, and led in a blessed captivity to heaven (Isaiah liii. 
 12). Of some of these, who had lately died in faith in 
 him, and whose personal features were well remembered 
 by persons still alive, not only was it true that their souls 
 left the place of the dead, but their bodies also were 
 raised from the grave, and re-united to their souls were 
 beheld and recognised by many in Jerusalem (Matth. xxvii. 
 50 — 53). No doubt this peculiar mercy granted to a few 
 was ordained as a matter-of-fact testimony to that genera- 
 tion, and therefore to all who should thereafter believe, 
 that their future resurrection was secured to them in the 
 resurrection of Christ; and also to preclude the objection, 
 that as our Lord's body never saw corruption, his resur- 
 rection could not warrant the expectation that those whose 
 bodies had by corruption been reduced to their original 
 elements, should rise again. But to return. 
 
 With this whole multitude of ransomed spirits did the 
 
 * Pages 183, 184. 
 
 t Ephesians iv. 8—10; 1 Vet. iii. 18—22; iv. 6.— Ed. 
 
224 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 Lord ascend, and with them he entered heaven in that 
 body in which he had suffered for sin, and sat down on the 
 right hand of the Majesty on high. For these he com- 
 batted in heaven against their accuser Satan and his angels, 
 making manifest their faith and its fruits, even their sanc- 
 tiflcation (Eev. xii. 7 — 11). On these he poured out his 
 Spirit in heaven, and they, together with all who, sealed 
 by the same Spirit, have been gathered to Christ out of 
 every succeeding generation, now constitute the great body 
 of the spirits of the just made perfect, to whom we who 
 are still conflicting in the flesh have access by faith (Heb. 
 xii. 23—24). 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN'S DESIRE TO DEPART. 
 
 § 1 . St. Paul's thoughts of Death. 
 
 " For I am," wrote St. Paul to the Philippians, " I am 
 in a strait betwixt two ; having a desire to depart, and to 
 be with Christ, which is far better : nevertheless, to abide 
 in the flesh is more needful for you." Hence arose his 
 difficulty : death, which would bring him to Christ, would 
 to himself be incalculable gain ; but his life might be 
 more profitable to many of the Lord's people, and there- 
 fore he was content to live, that he might still be used for 
 the confirmation and the enlargement of their joy in the 
 faith. Such was the spiritual and disinterested mind of 
 the Apostle : but what we have now to consider, is the 
 desire he expresses — his desire to depart and to be with 
 Christ. And I would first call on you to remark, that this 
 desire did not arise from the peculiar circumstances in 
 which St. Paul was placed at that time ; but that it was 
 his common and habitual feeling. Four or five years 
 
st. Paul's thoughts of death. 225 
 
 before this, when writing to the Corinthians, he had ex- 
 pressed the very same. " We that are in this tabernacle 
 do groan, being burdened ; not that we would be unclothed, 
 but clothed upon ; that mortality might be swallowed up 
 of life. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, 
 whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from 
 the Lord ; we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be 
 absent from the body, and present with the Lord." And 
 he retained the same mind to the end of his life ; writing 
 his last epistle to Timothy, he could say, " I am ready to 
 be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I 
 have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith ; hence- 
 forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." 
 This then was the Apostle's constant feeling. It could 
 not indeed be otherwise ; it arose out of principles com- 
 mon to all Christians, and it expresses a desire in which 
 they all ought to participate. In this point of view I 
 shall now regard it, and I do so without any scruple, 
 because the discussion of the subject, with the various 
 points connected with it, will show the justness of this its 
 general application. 
 
 Nor let it be supposed that this desire is characteristic 
 only of those believers who are matured in the faith, and 
 strong in the experience of God's faithfulness and truth. 
 The young Christian and the youngest believer may as 
 justly and fully desire to be released as the most advanced, 
 and especially when they are not entangled in the cares of 
 this life. The Apostle indeed says, "I am in a strait 
 betwixt two : " on the one hand, his own spiritual nature 
 longed for immediate access to God and Christ ; on the 
 other hand, the wants of his brethren, and the belief that 
 God would use him as an instrument for building them 
 up in the faith, made him willing to abide contentedly 
 with them, ministering to them, and striving to perfect 
 what was lacking in their faith. 
 
226 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 In the same manner, many a believing parent, con- 
 sidering the condition of his children, and their need of 
 his presence ; and many a believer on whose continuance 
 in life the temporal welfare of others seems to depend ; 
 and many a minister who is usefully occupying an im- 
 portant post among his brethren, may feel himself in a 
 similar strait ; having the desire natural to a faith which 
 lays hold of bliss unseen and heavenly, yet constrained 
 by the consideration of others' welfare, he is content to 
 abide and serve those, who, without his aid, might seem 
 to be left as orphans in the world. 
 
 But the young believer need be in no such difficulty. 
 For though he may be fully qualified by his age and 
 strength, and by the powers of his mind, to enter into the 
 pleasures or the business of life, his spiritual nature does 
 not prompt him so to embrace them, as to seek his happi- 
 ness in their pursuit. He has a taste for, and enjoyment 
 m things far different from these, and, unfettered by 
 worldly ties, cannot but desire the fulness of joy which 
 will arise from the sight and presence of the Saviour, and 
 long to enter into the pleasures which are at his right 
 hand for evermore. 
 
 The immediate blessedness arising out of the change 
 which death now makes in the believer's condition is 
 specified by the Apostle in two particulars, first, his de- 
 parture out of this life, and secondly, his being witli 
 Christ. 
 
 We will consider each separately, but as we do so, let 
 us apply the matter to ourselves, enquiring who they are 
 that can thus desire to depart, and to be with Christ. 
 
 What then is comprised in his departure out of life ? 
 
 § 2. Absence from the corruptible body. 
 First, there is the absence from the body — the putting 
 
ABSENCE FROM TIIE BODY, 227 
 
 off this earthly tabernacle ; this to the spiritual man is a 
 great blessing. The body is the original source of our 
 disorderly inordinate desires, for the first wishes of the 
 soul are formed by, and its first thoughts arise out of its 
 connection with the body ; and hence the first mind it 
 manifests is a carnal mind, the mind subject to the flesh. 
 Xow the tendency and the disposition of this carnal nature 
 is enmity against God ; and when it is once formed, it is the 
 continual stimulator of the soul. In fact, by the law of 
 our fallen nature, the corruptible body rules and governs 
 the natural man ; and even in the spiritual man it is a 
 perpetual hindrance and obstruction to him in the pursuit 
 of his spiritual life, i. e. in the fulfilment of God's will : 
 and " the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit 
 against the flesh, so that ye cannot do the things that ye 
 would." 
 
 A multitude of associations also are formed in the mind 
 through the body : and hence, when a certain state of 
 body — of feeling or sensation returns, the thoughts with 
 which that state was formerly associated are often revived, 
 the scene of past days recurs to the mind, and not unfre- 
 quently old desires are renewed, and the old sins again 
 committed. To the natural and corrupted man, these things 
 may, in various ways, be matters of gratification : but to 
 the spiritual man, they are not only forbidden, they are 
 offensive and hateful : he hates the garment spotted with 
 the flesh. Under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ 
 Jesus, he has been made free from the law of sin and 
 death; he is assured therefore, and triumphs in the 
 thought, that sin shall not have dominion Over him ; but 
 still he finds that this law of sin in his members wars 
 against the law of his mind, and is a perpetual obstacle to 
 his fulfilment of the perfect will of God on which his" 
 heart is set. Hence his longing desire to quit the body 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 that he may be for ever freed from its disturbing and dis- 
 tracting influence. 
 
 But which of us can thus desire to depart out of life ? 
 Not the man whose soul is made carnal by the body, that 
 prompts only the gratification of its own desires : but the 
 man who knows the misery of conflict with the body, and 
 with that carnal habit or nature that works in its members, 
 who can feelingly enter into the Apostle's thought, as 
 expressed in that wonderful passage which closes with the 
 exclamation, " Oh wretched man that I am, who shall 
 deliver me from this body of death ? " He will long for 
 complete emancipation from that lingering bondage under 
 which he groans. In him there is a spiritual nature that 
 seeks its happiness in the things of God and Christ, as 
 naturally as the carnal nature seeks it in sensual indul- 
 gence. To this spiritual nature all sins are objects of 
 hatred, specially those which dwell within us in the very 
 body that wraps us round : it seeks and earnestly strives 
 for holiness ; and the happy man who has it, will rejoice 
 to depart from the body which, disinclined to all spiritual 
 things, so grievously weighs down the soul in its pursuit 
 of them. 
 
 The body also is the soul's great hindrance and obstruc- 
 tion in the enjoyment of communion with God and Christ. 
 Even in its best estate it can never help the spirit to 
 attain this. " The earthly tabernacle weigheth down the 
 mind that museth upon many things." * Whether it be 
 full or hungry, whether weary and feeble, or fresh and 
 vigorous, whether sick and in pain, or at ease and exulting 
 in health — it is in every way a grievous hindrance to the 
 spirit, perverting or distracting the mind, enfeebling or 
 incapacitating it for the enjoyment of communion with 
 God. 
 
 * "Wisdom ix. 15. 
 
FROM TEE WORLD, 229 
 
 But who again, I ask, can desire on this ground to put- 
 off the body ? They only who know the blessedness of 
 communion with God ; who can take up the Psalmist's 
 language and say, " As the hart panteth after the water 
 brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, God. My soul 
 is athirst for God, for the living God : when shall I come 
 and appear before God ? " They will be thankful for a 
 change that brings them into the uninterrupted enjoyment 
 of what constitutes even now their chief joy, though its 
 seasons are often so broken, so short, so far apart. But 
 when a man's heart says to God, " Depart from me, I 
 desire not the knowledge of thy ways ; " when he says of 
 the Sabbath, " Oh what a weariness ! " how can he desire 
 to leave that body which is the only link between him 
 and his enjoyments, and to appear naked before him 
 whose presence he avoids and hates ? 
 
 § 3. Absence from the World, its Temptations and Cares. 
 
 Further, we leave the world and all its concerns, 
 whether we refer to its pleasures, its profits, its honours, 
 or (which is of all the most common) its cares. An ac- 
 count, indeed, remains to be given of the transactions in 
 which we have been engaged whilst living in it, but with 
 its affairs we cease to have any personal concern. In 
 death the world becomes as nothing 'to us. 
 
 So long as we continue in the world, it is a great object 
 of attraction to us all. To the young and thoughtless, it 
 offers its varied pleasures, assuring them that to-morrow 
 shall be as yesterday, and yet more prosperous; and 
 though every generation has testified to the faithlessness 
 of the promise, each succeeding generation in its turn 
 believes it, and revels in pleasure as in the possession of a 
 substantial good. For the thoughtful and serious, the 
 world has its different schemes of life, and promises to 
 
230 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 each a prize suited to their various tastes and pursuits. 
 To the ardent, it holds up distinction and renown, to the 
 covetous, increase of gain; to the ambitious, authority 
 and the glory of governing men; to all— success and 
 prosperity. And when they have yielded and made their 
 choice, whatever be the result of their course, they become 
 involved in the cares of the world, which are the plagues 
 and torments of life. Thus by one chain or another, all 
 are held fast to the slavery to which they have sold them- 
 selves; miserable captives, restless and unsatisfied, de- 
 ceived and disappointed, their cry still is, " Who will show 
 us any good ? " Not so is it with the believer : quickened 
 by the Spirit, and made partaker of a spiritual nature, he 
 has been enabled to choose a better portion, and has 
 realised something of the blessedness of heaven. By faith 
 he sees Christ Jesus at the right hand of God, acknow- 
 ledged to be his Son, and the heir of all things : he knows 
 that the glory given to Christ has been by him conferred 
 upon his people, and he looks for that blessed hope and 
 the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour ; 
 knowing that as a child adopted into the family of (rod 
 for Christ's sake, he is a joint heir with him of that 
 heavenly kingdom. Therefore he is no longer governed 
 by the present world : the lust of the flesh, the lust of 
 the eye, and the pride of life, which comprise all that it 
 can offer, have no more power to attract him. When, 
 therefore, he is called to quit the world, his heart rejoices, 
 for he is freed from that which used grievously to distract 
 his mind, by interposing its affairs between himself and 
 the true object of his desire : it was often, indeed, a matter 
 which justly claimed his regard and demanded his at- 
 tention, if not on his own account, yet for the sake of 
 others closely connected with him, so that, though de- 
 livered from the love of this present evil world, he could 
 never wholly disengage himself from its cares. At times, 
 
ITS TEMPTATIONS AND CARES. 231 
 
 he could cease from carefulness, by casting all his cares 
 upon the Lord; but still the things of the world and 
 worldly concerns would every hour rise up to perplex his 
 mind, obstruct his course, and depress his spirit. 
 
 Nor is it only with the things of the world that the 
 believer is concerned ; he has to deal also with the men of 
 the world. Of their enmity, our Lord forewarned his 
 disciples, " If ye were of the world, the world woiild love 
 its own ; but because ye are not of the world, therefore 
 the world hateth you " (John xv. 19; see also 1 John iii. 
 1, 13). The same ground of enmity still remains. And 
 though the profession of Christianity is now even ap- 
 plauded, — for many continue to cleave to Christ with flat- 
 teries;* yet the seductive influence of those who, whilst 
 they bear the Christian name, are strangers to the power 
 of Christian principles, and to the inward life which they 
 produce, who are therefore incapable of any just expression 
 of that life in their conduct and conversation — this in- 
 fluence, I say, is always acting on the believer's spirit, and 
 too often with fatal power. Beset on every side, beguiled 
 with specious reasonings, drawn by degrees within the 
 current of the world, they feel its power and are carried 
 along with it, and sometimes so forcibly, that they seem 
 to live contentedly as those whose portion is in this life. 
 Such, indeed, would be their life, did not the Lord inter- 
 pose to deliver them : by sickness, by affliction, by trial 
 in one form or another, he awakens them to a conscious- 
 ness of their state, and makes them know that the friend- 
 ship of this world is enmity against Grod. And thus he 
 compels them to retrace their steps, and renew their con- 
 secration, that they may yet be found his peculiar people, 
 washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. But we need not 
 
 * Dan. xi. 34. 
 
232 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 wonder that they who have suffered so grievously under 
 the corrupting influence of the world, should rejoice when 
 their Lord in his providence bids them " Arise and depart 
 hence, for this is not your rest." 
 
 I know well, that many who are involved in the com- 
 mon cares, disappointments, and troubles of life, will often 
 in illness, and even in expectation of death, express their 
 willingness to leave the world — declaring that they have 
 given it up — that it is nothing to them, and perhaps ima- 
 gining they have overcome it ; when, in truth, they are 
 only weary of its strife and its trials, and give it up be- 
 cause they are beaten in the battle to obtain possession of 
 it. To be weary of the world and let it go, is one thing ; 
 to overcome it, is another. The fornter is the natural act 
 of one who is disappointed in his struggles for a portion in 
 it; the latter is the victory of faith. Consider, then, 
 which is your spirit ? Knowing the blessedness of commu- 
 nion with the Father and the Son, and feeling the grievous 
 hindrance which the body perpetually opposes to its con- 
 tinuance, would you gladly drop that encumbrance, that 
 you may enjoy this happiness uninterruptedly? Knowing 
 how soon the mind's best thoughts are scattered by inter- 
 course with the world, would you thankfully depart out of 
 it, that your souls may be fixed on (rod and on his Christ ? 
 But if the carnal mind now rules in you, and if the spirit 
 of the world is your spirit still, deceive not your own souls; 
 you have not received Christ ; and oh remember, that they 
 who are in the flesh cannot please God, that if any man 
 love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
 
 § 4. Freedom from Satan's Presence and Influence. 
 
 There is yet another adversary, from whose power the 
 believer obtains deliverance in death — the great contriver 
 and author of his misery — his unceasing enemy and accuser, 
 the Devil. 
 
FREEDOM FROM SATAN, 233 
 
 Of this enemy, and of his confederate spirits, as hostile 
 to us as their leader, and of their power over us, we know 
 nothing but from the Scriptures. They assign to him 
 various names ; describing him as the god of this world, 
 the prince of the power of the air, the spirit which now 
 worketh in the children of disobedience. They represent 
 him as the head and chief of the apostate angels, and speak 
 of these as divided into distinct principalities and powers, 
 and constituting under his headship the rulers of the dark- 
 ness of this world. (Eev. xii. ; 2 Cor. iv. 4 ; Eph. ii. 2 ; 
 Jude 6. ; Eom. viii. 38 ; Col. ii. 15 ; Eph. vi. 11, 12.*) 
 
 Of the origin and history of his kingdom, and the nature 
 of his power over the minds of men, the Scriptures give 
 us explicit statements, and in detail as of matters of fact. 
 They teach us that he exercises power over mankind 
 mainly through the instrumentality of the body, and that 
 he employs the things of the world as his most useful 
 instruments for exciting the senses^and fixing the soul 
 upon sensuous and sensual objects. How far this evil 
 spirit can now act directly on the body, so as to affect its 
 physical condition, we are not distinctly informed ; he can 
 doubtless take advantage of its ever varying condition ; 
 and every experienced and watchful believer knows that 
 he can act on the soul by the continually repeated sugges- 
 tion of objects and thoughts to the mind. For he knows 
 the laws of the mind, and well understands how, by renew- 
 ing old associations, or by forming new ones, he can set 
 the soul upon the repetition of former sins, or form new 
 chains wherewith the hapless creature may be fast bound 
 to evil. But there is a special class of corruptions which are 
 peculiarly named as the fruits of his power — passions which 
 infect the soul itself, and stamp their character upon the 
 
 * See also Zech. iii. 1 ? 2 ; Jobi. and ii. ; Matth. xii. 22—30 ; Luke x. 18 ; 
 xiii. 16; xxii. 3, 31 ; 2 Cor. ii. II ; xi. 13 — lo ; John viii. 44; 1 John iii. 
 8.— Ed. 
 
234 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 very spirit — envy, pride, malice, hatred, and the like. 
 How widely these operate, and what evils they have occa- 
 sioned, will never be known until the earth disclose her 
 blood. 
 
 In all these ways the object of the tempter is to lead his 
 victims into sin, to form them to habits of sin, and thus to 
 render their consciences callous and insensible. Or if at 
 any time they are awakened to a consciousness of their 
 state, he seeks, by setting before them the enormity and 
 multitude of their sins, to drive them to despair of mercy 
 and of recovery. But should he fail in all these attempts, 
 should the o*bjects of his temptations escape his snares, and 
 by a happy juncture of circumstances, under the influence 
 of moral teaching and a right example, the restraints of 
 education and the imposition of a sound form of religion, 
 should they grow up sober and moral in spirit and conduct, 
 then his aim will be to beguile them into self-sufficiency. 
 And, alas ! how often does this bait succeed, when the 
 others have been discerned and rejected ! How often has 
 the man who has withstood the temptations of sensual 
 gratification and of worldly distinction, fallen before praise, 
 and committed iniquity within himself, in the idolatry of 
 his own excellence. 
 
 Now by one or other of these chains the natural man is 
 led captive by Satan ; and he desires no deliverance, be- 
 cause for the most part he is ignorant of his slavery. Such 
 is the art of the enemy, that he deludes his victims into 
 the disbelief of the very dominion which enslaves them. 
 The notion of deliverance from his power is their scoff, for 
 they deny his existence ; or if he exists, they know in them- 
 selves they are their own masters ; so confident are they 
 of their innate power and independence, that in persuading 
 others to follow their course, they will promise them 
 liberty, ignorant that they themselves are bondslaves of 
 Satan (2 Peter ii. 17—19). 
 
AND FROM HIS INFLUENCE. 235 
 
 But the believer who has been delivered from Satan's 
 kingdom of darkness, and brought into the kingdom of 
 light, the kingdom of God's dear Son, knows what his 
 former condition was, has felt its misery, and remembers 
 its powerlessness. He is fully sensible also, that his 
 enemy can still attack him in all these ways, and he is too 
 conscious that whenever he renews his assault, he will not 
 fail to find some part in him on which to fasten his temp- 
 tations. And therefore, whilst he prays to be wholly sanc- 
 tified and preserved blameless in body, soul, and spirit ; 
 whilst he has a hope that God will keep him through the 
 mighty power of the Spirit, through faith to salvation, yet 
 would he gladly die that he may be completely delivered 
 from the contamination of Satan's corrupting influences ; 
 for he knows and feels the misery of sin, the wretchedness 
 of distrust and unbelief, the hatefulness of self-sufficiency, 
 the cruelty of pride, envy, hatred, and those like passions 
 so truly devilish, and he longs to be delivered from all 
 temptation to them, from all consciousness of their near- 
 ness to his soul ; he longs for the time when, released from 
 the body and transferred to the presence of the Lord, he 
 shall no longer be exposed to the polluting influence of 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil ; when fully possessed 
 by the Holy Spirit, he will know the blessedness of entire 
 conformity to the image of the Lord, and be ever wrought 
 in by him to wish and do his will. 
 
 Blessed are they who live in these heavenly desires, who 
 delight to do the will of God. They will receive in their 
 souls a full performance, even to overflow, of all his rich 
 and glorious promises. The Holy Spirit, who has been to 
 the close of life, their Comforter, their Monitor, and their 
 Sanctifier, will perfect their souls, when they appear in 
 the presence of their Lord and Saviour, in complete con- 
 formity to Christ. This is, indeed, the great end and 
 object of their present life, and in the contemplation of it, 
 
236 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching 
 forth to those things which are before, they press to the 
 mark for this prize of the high calling of Crod in Christ 
 Jesus. Amen. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 WHAT IT IS TO BE WITH CHRIST. 
 
 § 1. That the Believer *s Soul on leaving the Body is with 
 
 Christ. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be thought unnecessary, by those who 
 take the same view of the subject, to establish the fact 
 that the believer's soul on departing from the body is 
 present with Christ where he is : but there are many who 
 have been in the habit of identifying the place and con- 
 dition of believers, " falling asleep in Jesus," with the 
 place and condition of those who died in the faith of 
 Christ before his ascension into heaven ; whilst others, 
 feeling the difficulties of this view, when it is confronted 
 with the positive declarations of the New Testament re- 
 specting such as die in the Lord, are ready to abstract the 
 condition of the believer from the place where he abides, 
 and to resolve that " presence with the Lord," of which 
 St. Paul spoke, into a spiritual presence — a presence 
 with him by his Holy Spirit given to the believer — a 
 condition highly advanced indeed, and one which may 
 ensure to the believer uninterrupted communion with his 
 Lord ; but a presence independent of place, and which may 
 be enjoyed everywhere. The investigation of this point 
 seems, therefore, to be necessary. 
 
 What we affirm upon it is this : that when the Apostle 
 says, " I desire to depart and to be with Christ," he speaks 
 not of a spiritual but of a real presence with the Lord — 
 
PRESENT WITH CHRIST. 237 
 
 of being with the Lord in the very place in which he now 
 is, that is, in heaven itself.* A spiritual presence with the 
 Lord the Apostle had enjoyed ever since he received the 
 Holy Spirit.f The Lord had said to his disciples, " At 
 that day," meaning the day of Pentecost, " ye shall know 
 that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." 
 And again, " If any man love me he will keep my com- 
 mandments, and my Father will love him, and we will 
 come unto him and make our abode with him" How 
 such a presence was to be realised, such an abidance to be 
 effected, the beloved Apostle testifies: " Hereby we know 
 that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he has given 
 us of his Spirit." Of a spiritual presence, therefore, with 
 the Lord, and a consciousness of the Lord's presence by 
 the inhabitation of his Spirit, the Apostle could not have 
 been speaking, for this was not so much a subject of desire 
 and hope as of constant daily enjoyment; he could, con- 
 sequently, be speaking only of a local presence with the 
 Lord, of actually being with him in heaven. Death is the 
 separation of soul from body (Eccles. xii. 7). When 
 separated from the body, the soul, the spirit must be 
 somewhere; it does not abide beside its sleeping and 
 mouldering remains, neither does the spirit of the believer 
 depart to the common place of the dead who have died in 
 ignorance of Christ, or in unbelief, but he is gathered to 
 the Lord. The same truth had been still more strongly 
 expressed by the Apostle, when writing to the Corinthians 
 he said, " Whilst we are at home in the body we are 
 absent from the Lord : we are willing rather to be absent 
 from the body, and to be present with the Lord." Now his 
 presence in the body as his temporary mansion was a local 
 presence, and his absence from the body in death must, 
 consequently, be a local absence : and as his absence from 
 
 * Acts iii. 21. 
 
 t John xiv. 16—18; Acts is. 17.— Ed. 
 
238 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL "WORSHIP. 
 
 the Lord, in the former case, must have been a local, not a 
 spiritual, absence (ver. 6), so his presence with the Lord, in 
 the latter state, must signify a local presence (2 Cor. v. 8). 
 
 There are also some notices to be found in the New 
 Testament respecting individual believers, few indeed in 
 number, yet I think amply sufficient to establish this 
 fact. When the Lord said to the thief upon the cross, 
 " To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," he plainly 
 spoke of a place in which his own spirit and the spirit of 
 the thief would be found together, on that very da}^ when 
 his body was laid in Joseph's sepulchre and the thief's 
 buried at the foot of his cross. Whatever we may under- 
 stand by the term " paradise," or whencesoever we may 
 derive its meaning, it matters not ; in the place denoted 
 by that term the spirits of the two sufferers would be 
 found together, or rather, perhaps, in the presence of each 
 other.* Again, when Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, 
 looked up stedfastly into heaven, he saw Jesus standing 
 on the right hand of God; and then it is said he died, 
 calling upon God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my 
 spirit." Unquestionably Stephen expected — and we must 
 believe him perfectly free from all delusion — to be where 
 the Lord was, to be received up into heaven, and to abide 
 there with the Lord. We conclude, then, that the believer 
 when he departs from this life is ever present with the , 
 Lord. 
 
 § 2. They see him as he is, in the glory of his Person and 
 of his Work. 
 
 This was the blessedness for which our Lord prayed on 
 their behalf, " Father, I will that they also whom thou 
 
 * The place is identified in 2 Cor. xii. 2—4, with the third heaven. It 
 is evident from Scripture that the Lord when he left the earth was received 
 np into heaven; that in heaven he now is, and must there abide until his 
 second coming. — See Acts i. 11, &c. 
 
WITNESSES OF HIS GLORT. 239 
 
 hast given me 'be with me where I am, that they may 
 behold my glory which thou hast given me." And this 
 is the blessedness of the believer in Christ, when in death 
 he is gathered to the spirits of the just made perfect 
 assembled round the Lord, and beholds him in glory on 
 the throne; not, indeed, with bodily eyes or by means of 
 natural light, but by the senses of the soul he has a full 
 perception of Christ's glorified body and a just conception 
 of his condition. 
 
 The promise of Grod to his people was, " Thine eyes 
 shall behold the King in his beauty" (Isa. xxxiii. 17); 
 and whilst this may refer to the future manifestation of 
 the Lord in glory, yet, considered with the previous 
 context (14, 15), it includes the vision of his glory which 
 they who are to be glorified with him in his kingdom, his 
 peculiar people, shall enjoy; a foretaste of which they 
 already have in the sight of the Lord Christ on the 
 Father's throne and invested with all power in heaven and 
 on earth. 
 
 For the enjoyment of this blessedness believers are 
 prepared by the present state of their minds ; for what is 
 their temper in respect of Christ ? Let the words of an 
 apostle describe it : " Whom not having seen ye love ; in 
 whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye 
 rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory " (1 Pet. i. 8). 
 How great, then, will be their delight when they shall see 
 him as he is ; when they behold the very Man that died 
 for them, and see the form that was more marred than 
 that of any man ; when they look upon the very hands and 
 feet which the nails pierced, and realise by vision all things 
 recorded of him. Nor let it be thought that this is to 
 desire a material and sensual knowledge of the Saviour ; 
 for he does not manifest himself to his people in heaven in 
 the form of mangled flesh and blood, such as men have 
 formed for themselves by crucifixes or pictures ; but it is 
 
240 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 the spiritual man that they behold, abiding in a glorified 
 body ; they look upon glorified human nature. But that 
 form, though glorified, is the very same that was seen and 
 known upon earth as that of the man Christ Jesus, the 
 son of Mary. Neither the identity of his soul or of his 
 body is lost. He is still, in heaven, in that body which 
 was formed by the power of the Holy Grhost, and in which 
 he conversed with men on earth. And the faculties of his 
 rational human soul are what they were. He who is now 
 glorified at the right hand of the Father, is the very Man 
 who was made an offering for sin ; all his sympathies and 
 affections, all his powers are what they were; and his 
 glorified body is the very body which was nailed upon the 
 cross; changed indeed, no longer corruptible, degraded, 
 weak, and perishable, betraying its earthly origin, but 
 incorruptible and spiritual ; no longer needing earthly 
 sustenance, but sustained by the immediate power of the 
 Holy Spirit: he is still that temple in which the Holy 
 Spirit dwells without measure, that he may sustain him in 
 all his works, and enable him to bring all things, in 
 heaven or earth or under the earth, into subjection to 
 himself to the glory of (rod the Father. 
 
 Thus do the disembodied spirits of his people now 
 behold the spiritual and glorified Man, Christ Jesus, in 
 heaven; they perceive and enter into his holy and un- 
 limited obedience to the will of his heavenly Father ; his 
 zeal for his glory; his meekness, lowliness, and patience 
 in all the trials to which he was subjected; his love and 
 pity for sinners ; and his holy abhorrence of evil, which 
 constrained him to make himself a sacrifice for their sins, 
 that they might be delivered from the curse of its cor- 
 rupting power. These works and this character, together 
 with the blessed fruits of both in that which he is now 
 prosecuting in heaven, are disclosed to them in the con- 
 dition to which God has exalted him, and in which they 
 
THE VISION OF IIEAVEN. 241 
 
 now behold him. Whilst the features of him who went 
 about doing good, and who suffered even to death for 
 us, are still so fully retained in that face, though glorified, 
 as to disclose his character, and give that peculiar under- 
 standing of his mind and spirit which no description or 
 precept, much less any carved representation or imitative 
 work of art, can impart. How unspeakably sweet must 
 it be thus to study the meekness and lowliness of the 
 pure peacemaker, with all his guileless unstained in- 
 nocence, in the very countenance of the glorified Man; 
 and then to recognize in the work which he is seen 
 carrying on in heaven, the very same spirit and labour of 
 love, the same constant and sympathizing affection with 
 his people which he manifested on earth, when he wept 
 at the grave of Lazarus — when he entrusted his mother 
 to the care of his friend — when he gave himself a ransom 
 for the world. This is something (though most imper- 
 fectly hinted at) of what the saints of God behold in him 
 around whom they are assembled in heaven. 
 
 § 3. St John's vision of heaven, and of its inhabit (tuts. 
 
 Several descriptions are given us in the Scriptures of 
 the persons who are blessed with a place in heaven, of 
 their relative condition in respect of the Lord and of each 
 other, and of the works in which they are engaged. One 
 of these is in the 4th and 5th of Eevelations. The evan- 
 gelical prophet beholds a door opened in heaven ; he is 
 bade to ascend, and behold the things which should be 
 hereafter. Immediately he was in the Spirit, and became 
 consciously present in the midst of the world of spirits. 
 He proceeds to give a description of what he there beheld 
 — of the place, of its glory, its inhabitants, and their 
 w r ork. This description does not belong to the things 
 which were to be — those events follow after in the opening 
 
 R 
 
242 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 of the seals, and are related in the remainder of the book ; — 
 but it tells us of the things which were spread before the 
 eyes of the prophet's understanding-, when in vision he 
 entered into the glorious place. The first thing which 
 he beholds in heaven " is a throne set and One sat upon the 
 throne," in the full possession of power and government. 
 But no name is given to him, neither is any discernible 
 image of his person spoken of : he is described only by the 
 glory which surrounds him, bright and lustrous as the trans- 
 parent jasper tinged with the glowing fire of the sardine 
 stone. A somewhat similar figure is used to set forth the 
 glory of Jehovah, when he was pleased to manifest himself 
 on the Mount to Moses and the elders of Israel ; they 
 saw no similitude of his person ; they only heard a voice, 
 and beheld " under his feet as it were a paved work as of 
 sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven for 
 clearness" (Exodus xxiv. 10, 17; Deut. iv. 12). Around 
 the throne St. John saw a rainbow, not of many colours 
 as the bow in the sky, but an emerald, green and refresh- 
 ing to look upon, the emblem of covenanted mercy and 
 peace, but of a better covenant than that of which the 
 former was the appointed sign.* Further, " round about 
 the throne were four-and-twenty seats," or strictly speak- 
 ing, according to St. John, thrones ; and upon the thrones 
 he " saw four-and-twenty elders sitting, clothed in white 
 raiment and with crowns of gold on their heads." . . . 
 And " in the midst of the throne, and round about the 
 throne, were four " (beasts, as it is rendered in our 
 translations, but it should have been four) "living crea- 
 tures, full of eyes before and behind," looking alike back 
 on the things past and forward on the things to come. 
 The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a 
 steer, and the third had a face as a man ; the fourth was 
 
 * See Ezekicl i. 26—28, and Rev. x. 1. 
 
ITS INHABITANTS. 243 
 
 like a flying eagle. Each had six wings about him, and 
 u they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day nor 
 night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which 
 was, and is, and is to come." Subsequently * the entranced 
 prophet sees " in the midst of the throne and of the four 
 living creatures and of the elders, a lamb standing, as it 
 had been slain, having seven horns," the fulness of power, 
 " and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent 
 forth into all the earth ; " entrusted with the full dis- 
 pensation of the Spirit to the Church and to the whole 
 world. "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many 
 angels round about the throne aad the living creatures 
 and the elders ; and the number of them was ten thousand 
 times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying 
 ' Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.' " 
 
 Such are the persons beheld in the vision — let us con- 
 sider who are intended by them. With respect to some 
 there can be no question. He who is seated on the throne 
 is manifestly the invisible Father ; and the Lamb slain is 
 as evidently the incarnate Son, who took our nature upon 
 him, that he might taste death for all men. It is equally 
 plain that the myriads of angels are the heavenly hosts, 
 by whom, I may observe, the whole action described in 
 this book, as directed by and issuing from God, is carried 
 out and executed. It is the common name given to all 
 the hosts of heaven, as in Hebrews i. and ii. : there may 
 be a distinction of this host into cherubim and seraphim, 
 and there certainly are differences among them in respect 
 of rank and power ; but all are termed angels, the minis- 
 tering spirits and messengers of God, and all must be 
 intended in the description here given. 
 
 The question is, who are intended by the elders and the 
 living creatures ? The title of " Elder " was the common 
 
 * Key. v. 6, 11, 12. 
 
244 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 name given to the various ministers of justice among the 
 Israelites from the earliest times, and throughout the 
 whole period of the Mosaic economy. They might be 
 taken from any tribe or rank in life, provided they were 
 men of experience, gravity, wisdom, and of authority 
 among the people, though [perhaps] for the most part 
 they were priests or levites.* In the New Testament the 
 name generally denotes such as held any office of teaching 
 or government in the Church. In the passage before us, 
 the elders are described as clothed in white raiment — the 
 garb of victors and the emblem of the righteousness of 
 the saints ; a gift bestowed upon the victors by the Lord 
 (iii. 4, 5, 18; vi. 11; vii. 9; xix. 8, 14). They sit on 
 thrones, dispensing justice, and their heads are crowned. 
 And here we must not forget what our Lord said to his 
 apostles (Matt. xix. 28 ; Luke xxii. 28 — 30) ; nor what 
 St. Paul declared of himself (2 Tim. iv. 8). They join 
 also in the song of the redeemed. Taking all these things 
 together, we consider the elders [in this vision] to be the 
 representatives of those whom God has employed as 
 ministers for the good of his Church ; whether as rulers to 
 dispense justice, or as teachers to instruct in the truth 
 and in righteousness, according to the dispensation under 
 which they lived. They may be considered therefore as 
 comprising the whole body of the rulers and teachers of 
 the Church, from its foundation until the time of the 
 vision ; and as representatives to us of all who from that 
 day to this have kept the faith, have dispensed the truth 
 and taught righteousness. Themselves encircled by the 
 angelic hosts, they surround the throne of God ; each one 
 seated on his throne, clothed with righteousness and 
 
 * See Exodus iii. 16 — 18; compared Deut. i. 15 — 17; Numbers 3d. II— 
 17 ; Dent, xxvii. 1 ; Judges xxi. 16 ; 1 Sam. viii. 4 ; Ezra x. 7, 8 — all re- 
 lating to magistrates of the bighesl order. And Deut. xix. 12 ; xxi. 4, 19; 
 Ezra x. 14— of inferior magistrates. 
 
THE GREAT CONGREGATION. 245 
 
 crowned as a victor; whilst as a part of the redeemed, 
 they acknowledge the source of all their blessedness and 
 their exaltation to be in the blood of the Lamb that was 
 slain, and to him they ascribe all the glory of their salva- 
 tion (v. 8—10). 
 
 The four living creatures also join in this song. They 
 cannot, therefore, be a part of the angelic host, for the 
 Son of Grod took not on him the nature of angels, he came 
 not to redeem angels but men. And they describe them- 
 selves, equally as the elders, as redeemed to God out of 
 every nation and kindred and people and tongue. They 
 are then of mankind, and clearly they represent a portion 
 of the redeemed; but they are variously characterized. 
 One portion exhibits the strength and fortitude of the 
 lion ; another the unwearied patience and perseverance of 
 the ox ; a third the highest measure of intelligence ; and 
 the fourth the energetic boldness and prompt daring of 
 the eagle : all of them characteristic qualities of the 
 Christian, but seldom found united in one individual ; it 
 being the will of Grod to distribute his gifts variously, that 
 he may diversify the characters of his people, making the 
 whole body complete, but so that each member shall 
 be necessary to the rest, and endowing no member so 
 largely, or with such manifold graces, as to make him 
 independent of the rest. You will already understand 
 whom I deem these to represent, — the common body of 
 Christians — the spirits of the just made perfect gathered 
 in all ages from all quarters of the world — the rem- 
 nant saved according to the election of grace, and con- 
 tinually joined by those who are still being saved by the 
 same grace and gift of Grod. 
 
 You will observe that they seem distinguished by special 
 favour, for they are described as in the midst of the 
 throne, and immediately round it, as if in a j^eculiar 
 sense nearest to their Lord, and having his joy fulfilled in 
 
246 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 themselves. And this fact has been urged in objection 
 to the interpretation I have given : they cannot, it is said, 
 represent the common body of believers, for they occupy 
 the nearest place to the Lord, and take precedence of 
 their own ministers and teachers. They must be the 
 highest order of believers, the most gifted, the most 
 eminent saints of each generation, or they would not be 
 preferred to such a position as this. But this is to forget 
 the very nature and end of the Gospel dispensation, as 
 well as the lesson our Lord so constantly gave to his 
 disciples, that the first were to be last, and the last 
 first ; that the object of the Grospel was to exalt the lowly 
 and to abase the lofty. This was marked in the original 
 calling of the individual members of his Church : " not 
 many mighty, not many wise men, not many noble are 
 called." And did not the apostles perpetually recall the 
 same truth ? " What hast thou which thou hast not re- 
 ceived ?" " Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that 
 he is exalted, and the rich in that he is made low." " In 
 lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than him- 
 self " : but they who contend for the mastery, and look to 
 be the highest, cannot attain this. Remember also the 
 Lord's rebuke, when he told his apostles that whosoever 
 would be the greatest must be the servant, the slave of 
 all, not affecting lordship over any, but ministering to 
 the meanest, as a willing helper of their joy. It is but too 
 true that ministers, even eminent ministers, are not the 
 most advanced Christians. They are characterized rather 
 by gifts, by graces ; and these very gifts tend to prevent 
 the formation of that fundamental and cementing grace 
 of the Christian — humility — the only soil in which true 
 Christian love can flourish. How strangely do we forget 
 that with the utmost measure of knowledge, and endowed 
 with the greatest profusion of gifts, and in the midst of 
 most extensive usefulness, we may be nothing. Many an 
 
THE NEAREST TO CHRIST. 247 
 
 obscure hearer, enriched by the grace of Grod through the 
 word of truth, will find his place in the midst of the 
 throne ; whilst the teacher, applauded and besieged by 
 popularity, saved only by a miracle of grace, shall stand 
 in a comparatively outer circle. 
 
 Besides, it seems to me not to be in accordance with 
 the spirit of the gospel, to suppose that extensive services 
 performed through the help of God's grace in the Saviour's 
 cause on earth, shall be met by peculiar nearness to him 
 in heaven ; but rather, when the time for action arrives, 
 by more extensive employments in his kingdom. The 
 spirit of the Saviour in heaven is what it was on earth. 
 Prophecy described him as the Shepherd that would 
 gather the lambs in his arms and carry them in his bosom ; 
 and such he was when manifested in the flesh. He com- 
 manded the children to be brought to him, he put his 
 hands on them and blessed them. He never brake the 
 bruised reed or quenched the smoking flax. He ever 
 attended to the poor in spirit and the meek in heart, 
 anticipating their wants, and fulfilling all their petitions. 
 And such he is in heaven. The infants, the children, the 
 young, the feeble and the diffident, such as are low in 
 their own eyes — these he welcomes to himself, he appoints 
 them a place nigh to himself, explaining to them the 
 truth, superintending their education, and preparing 
 them for the various works to which they are ordained in 
 his kingdom of glory. 
 
 We have found, then, the persons who now people 
 heaven: there is the innumerable company of angels; 
 there is the whole body of (rod's ministers and teachers, 
 who, from the beginning, have faithfully fulfilled their 
 office in the instruction of the world and of his people ; 
 and there is the whole body of the saved — the ransomed 
 of all ages and nations, all partakers of a common faith 
 and of the same spiritual nature, but each retaining the 
 
248 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 characteristic [graces] which marked them amid their 
 brethren [on earth], whether it was energetic zeal, spiritual 
 intelligence, patient endurance of suffering and toil, or 
 courageous fortitude in encountering the brunt of the 
 battle. What now is their work ? 
 
 § 4. They join ivith Christ in the worship which he offers 
 in heaven. 
 
 i. They are described as offering the worship of praise, 
 of thanksgiving and of prayer. In the scene opened to 
 the prophet we are taught, that the great body of the 
 redeemed, knowing no difference of day or night, and 
 each constituted a priest as well as a king before God and 
 the Father, are continually chanting glory to God, and 
 saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, 
 and is, and is to come. And when they do so, the four- 
 and-twenty elders fall down before him, and worship him 
 that liveth for ever, casting their crowns before the throne 
 and saying, " Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive honour 
 and glory and power, for thou hast created all things, and 
 for thy pleasure they are and were created." Again in 
 the progress of the vision, when the Lamb had prevailed 
 to open the seven-sealed book, we are told that the same 
 blessed company, the four living creatures and the elders, 
 having every one of them harps and golden vials (or bowls) 
 full of incense, fell down before the Lamb, and sung a 
 new song — a song concerning Christ and the Gospel dis- 
 pensation — the revelation of the mystery of Christ's suffer- 
 ings and the glory that is to follow (v. 9, 10). And 
 immediately the voices of myriads of angels are heard, 
 adding their chorus to the song, but claiming no interest 
 in the redemption he had effected (v. 11, 12). Finally 
 every creature,* of the things in heaven and on the earth, 
 
 * A parallel to this is to be found in Eomans viii. 19 — 22 ; where in 
 the same high-wrought metaphorical imagery the apostle represents the 
 
THE WORSHIP OF HEAVEN. 249 
 
 and under the earth, and in the sea, all without exception, 
 take up the song and say, u Blessing and honour and 
 glory and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, 
 and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." To this final 
 chorus the four living creatures, in their true character of 
 the great congregation, add their amen, and the elders 
 fall down and worship him that liveth for ever. 
 
 Such is the worship of praise offered by the spirits of 
 the just who are gathered to Christ in heaven : they are 
 ever ascribing glory to God, ever singing the praises of 
 him who has redeemed them ; and in that song the angels 
 (though not the objects of redemption) unite, and all 
 creation responds to it. 
 
 ii. Furthermore, they are described as uniting with 
 the Saviour in the prayers which he offers up to God and 
 the Father. In the 8th chapter, after there has been 
 silence in heaven for a brief space, an angel is represented 
 as coming and standing at the altar, having a golden 
 censer in his hand ; " and there was given to him much 
 incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all 
 saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 
 And the smoke of the incense which came with the 
 prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the 
 angel's hands." Whilst this scene is laid in heaven, the 
 language used is taken from what beloDged to the taber- 
 nacle service; and the work described seems to combine 
 in one act what the High Priest did on the day of atone- 
 ment (Lev. xvi. 12, 13) with what the ministering 
 priests did in the daily sacrifice (Exodus xxix. 38 — 41 ; 
 xxx. 7, 8 : Lev. ii. 2). The incense they used was made 
 according to a prescribed form : it was never to be imitated 
 
 whole creation as earnestly looking for the manifestation of the Son of God, 
 and as groaning and travailing in pain, until the creature itself also shall 
 be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the 
 children of God. 
 
250 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WOBSHEP. 
 
 by the people, nor used except in sacrifice ; it was added 
 to all their offerings, but they must obtain it for this 
 purpose from the priest; and when it was offered, the 
 priest alone could fire it, and this he must do with no 
 strange fire, but only by live coals taken from the altar of 
 burot offering on which the victim had been already laid 
 and consumed by fire — which in the first instance came 
 from heaven — in token of its acceptance (Exodus xxx. 
 1—9, 34—38 ; xl. 5, 6, 26, 27 ; Lev. x. 1—3 ; Numbers 
 xvi). The incense itself was universally significant of 
 prayer, and the Holy Ghost by this appointment signified 
 that no worshipper can pray acceptably out of his own 
 heart, and that no prayer can be accepted but on the 
 ground of the sacrifice accepted by God, and as it is 
 offered by him who made the sacrifice. 
 
 In the vision before us, the whole truth which was ex- 
 hibited variously and in part in these typical services is 
 revealed together, declaring the constant work of our 
 great High Priest in heaven in our behalf. For there 
 can, I apprehend, be no question that the angel standing 
 by the altar, is the angel of the covenant (Mai. iii. 1), the 
 Lord Jesus Christ; who, at once the sacrifice and the 
 priest, has given himself an offering for our sins, and has 
 been accepted in his work; has procured us peace with 
 God; and now abides in heaven, ever securing for us 
 the mercy and grace which we need, by his own all- 
 prevailing intercession. To him it is said, "Much in- 
 cense" is given "that he should offer it with" — or, 
 as it is in the marginal reading, " add it to the prayers 
 of all saints' 1 — a comprehensive expression to denote 
 the whole worship of the church, whether in heaven or in 
 earth. 
 
 This giving of incense to our great High Priest may 
 signify either his appointment to the office of intercessor 
 between God and his people, or it may denote the power 
 
THE HIGH PRIEST IN HEAVEN. 251 
 
 by which he carries it on, or the actual work itself. All 
 may be comprised in this expression. Of his appointment 
 to this office by God, there is no question : " there is one 
 (rod, and one Mediator between God and man, the man 
 Christ Jesus ;" " We have an advocate with the Father, 
 Jesus Christ the righteous," and it is a part of his advocacy 
 on his people's behalf to intercede for them. It is equally 
 manifest that his ability and power to execute the work 
 that is thus committed to him is from the Holy Spirit, 
 who was given to him without measure, and in whose 
 power he spake the words and wrought the works which 
 testified of him [whilst still on earth] that he was sent of 
 God (John iii. 31—34; vii. 16—18; xiv. 10, 11; Luke 
 iv. 18—21). 
 
 Nor is it otherwise now that he is in heaven. When he 
 ascended up on high, he received the promise of the 
 Father in the fulness [gift] of the Spirit, as well for the 
 execution of his own work, as for the dispensation of the 
 Spirit to his people (Ps. xlv. 6—7); and the glorified 
 man in heaven still carries on his work in the power of 
 the Holy Ghost. In his power he ever makes intercession 
 for his people ; in the typical language of the tabernacle 
 service, much incense is given to him for this purpose ; he 
 fires it with the burning coals of zeal and love from his 
 own accepted sacrifice, mingles with it the incense pre- 
 sented by his people — the prayers which they offer in the 
 Spirit's power to God through him, and makes them 
 acceptable on the ground of his own meritorious work of 
 perfected obedience. Hence it is said, " the smoke of the 
 incense with the prayers of the saints ascended up before 
 God out of the angel's hands." We find a further illus- 
 tration of this work in the former vision (chap, v.) : 
 where the whole company of the spirits of the just made 
 perfect are described as having " golden vials full of 
 incense, which are the prayers of the saints." They do 
 
252 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIEITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 not burn this incense, but they have it; they have a 
 heart given to them to pray, and they do pray ; and the 
 smoke of their incense, fired by the High Priest and 
 mingled with his own, goes up before God. 
 
 Here, then, we have a beautiful description of the whole 
 worship of the Church of (rod in heaven and in earth 
 combined together. Their union is variously set forth in 
 Scripture. It is specified in Hebrews xii. : " Ye are come," 
 says the apostle, " unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the 
 living God" (22 — 24). The 23rd verse, as I apprehend, 
 rehearses in part the 22nd : " the general assembly and 
 church of the first-born which are written in heaven," 
 answering to " Mount Zion," the true church on earth ; 
 and "the spirits of the just made perfect," to "the city of 
 the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem." All are united 
 together in Jesus Christ, their common head. He is 
 present in the assemblies of his real people on earth ; by 
 his Spirit he gives them also their incense, enabling them 
 to pray, and making their prayers acceptable by his all- 
 prevailing intercession. And he is in the midst of the 
 heavenly assembly, conducting their worship and uniting 
 with them in it, — firing their incense together with his 
 own : the worship of the church on earth is thus united 
 with that of the church in heaven, and the latter sympa- 
 thize with the former in all their petitions, and as their 
 [prayers] ascend from the hands of the angel, they join in- 
 all, adding their solemn amen- 
 
 Such is the worship which departed believers have with 
 the Lord, and hence they desire to depart and to be with 
 him. But it is manifest that believers only can desire it — 
 they to whom the Spirit of God has been given as a Spirit 
 of grace and of prayer ; who call on the name of the Lord 
 and worship the Father in spirit and in truth ; in one 
 word, they who live a life of communion with the Father 
 and the Son. And none but these can desire it, for none 
 
THE KING'S WORK IN HEAVEN. 253 
 
 but these are prepared to enjoy the heavenly worship — 
 none else, therefore, can attain it. 
 
 But it may be said, What can the blessed around the 
 throne have to do with prayer ? They are delivered from 
 all personal misery, from all jeopardy and uncertainty of 
 condition, from all that can injure or even annoy them ; 
 with every want supplied and every wish fulfilled, for 
 what can they pray ? This leads us to another particular, 
 which marks their condition, and makes many an one 
 anxious to be immediately united to the Lord where he is. 
 
 § 5. They share with the Lord in the work which he is 
 carrying on. 
 
 They are not [as yet] partakers with him as his agents, 
 carrying out in detail what he commands : yet as persons 
 interested in his work, and having an intelligent under- 
 standing of it, they have communion with him in its 
 progress. The Lord is carrying on the purpose and work 
 of the Father, constantly fulfilling that word of prophecy 
 in which its progress is darkly shadowed forth [to us] : 
 and the place and condition of his people wbo are gathered 
 to him in heaven is such, that they can attain an intelli- 
 gent knowledge and understanding of [that work]. For 
 consider : they stand in immediate connection with the 
 angelic hosts, who are the agents of God sent forth to 
 minister to those who shall be the heirs of salvation, and 
 to execute generally Grod's providential dispensations to 
 his creatures on earth. The Holy Spirit indeed is sent 
 forth to deal with the souls of Grod's people, to keep them 
 by his mighty power through faith unto salvation, and to 
 operate through the truth on the minds and consciences 
 of the world at large. But the angels are his agents to 
 effect his purposes in respect of outward things : they are 
 described as passing to and fro between heaven and earth 
 
254 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHir. 
 
 for this very purpose, and throughout the records of the 
 Old and of the New Testament, are exhibited in constant 
 action, fulfilling the will of their Creator and their Grod. 
 
 Now it is manifest from the Saviour's declaration, 
 " There is joy in the presence of the angels of Grod over 
 one sinner that repenteth," that the whole company of 
 angels has a common knowledge of the work of each. An 
 angelic spirit does not witness the conversion of a sinner, 
 and as to outward things assist in effecting it, but the 
 blessed tidings are conveyed to the whole body. Nor can 
 we suppose it to be otherwise in respect of the other 
 missions committed to them for other ends; they are 
 equally repeated and known in heaven. But these com- 
 munications and that joy cannot be concealed from the 
 knowledge of those spirits who stand within the angelic 
 circle ; for the events reported become matters of prayer as 
 the effects of grace are made subjects of praise. When, 
 for example, an angelic minister conveys the soul of a 
 saint at his death to the Saviour's presence, and the whole 
 host opens its ranks to receive and welcome their new 
 companion, shall it not be known to the whole body of the 
 redeemed [whom he joins] ? And how much more to 
 those to whom by former bonds he peculiarly belonged — 
 not indeed according to the bonds of the flesh, but of the 
 Spirit — and shall they not especially recognize and 
 welcome their companions with peculiar delight? Again, 
 when the Lamb receives power to open the seven-sealed 
 book, all the inhabitants of heaven join in celebrating the 
 work, each company offering praise and thanksgiving ac- 
 cording to their respective interest in it, and their relations 
 to their common Grod and the Saviour (v. 8 — 14). All 
 these are described as understanding what the Lamb is 
 doing ; and so also in various scenes afterwards recorded, 
 when the events which have been fulfilled are made known 
 in heaven, they give the due return of thanksgiving 
 
THE SAINTS SHARE IN IT. 255 
 
 for blessings bestowed, and of acknowledgment of the 
 righteous judgments executed.* We are to remember, 
 therefore, that the spirits of the just represented by [the 
 elders and] these living creatures have an understanding 
 of the work in which our Lord is engaged, and take part 
 with him in it ; the Holy Spirit who possessed them on 
 earth and revealed Christ Jesus in them, still possesses 
 them, and still takes of the things of Christ and reveals 
 them to their souls, that he may perfect God's will con- 
 cerning them. 
 
 But I said that in their disembodied state they are not 
 actors in his work — they cannot carry out what he has to 
 do, nor by personal cooperation accomplish his will. They 
 are represented as stationary around the throne, and 
 (excepting on one occasion, Rev. xv. 7) they are not 
 described, if I remember rightly, as engaged in any act 
 but that of worship. They are indeed imaged with six 
 wings like the seraphim, but no mention is made of their 
 using them. We must remember that these four living 
 creatures are but representatives of the whole body of the 
 saved, according to their most distinctive qualification; 
 and the wings may well denote their desire to serve God, 
 and the activity with which they will serve him, when in 
 due time, perfected in body, they shall follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever he goeth. It is remarkable, also, that these 
 wings " were full of eyes," not without, as if to aid them 
 in the discernment and prompt execution of active work, 
 but within, as enabling the agent in the midst of action to 
 look intently on the motives which govern him, taking 
 heed that he do all to the glory of God — an end which in 
 the excitement of action is so easily forgotten. In their 
 present state, however, the sjDirits of the just may be 
 incapable of any action that is external, or of any inter- 
 
 * Chapter vi. 9—11 ; vii. 9—17; 3d. 16 — 18; xv. xix. 1—7. [Ed.] 
 
256 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 course but what is mental. Unquestionably our souls 
 now can do nothing but by the intervention of our bodies ; 
 and when made spiritual by the new creation, we are still 
 incapable of [external] action but by the same instrumen- 
 tality. It may be that human souls disembodied and 
 made perfect as spiritual beings shall be incapable of their 
 proper action without spiritual bodies. We know they 
 watch and wait for the day of the manifestation of the 
 sons of God, w T hen they shall receive the full blessing of 
 their adoption in the redemption of their bodies. But I 
 would here again put the question : Who can desire these 
 things? Who can desire to be with the Lord — to behold 
 his glory ? We read of those who in the day of his coming 
 will call upon the rocks and the mountains to fall on them 
 and hide them from the face of him who sitteth on the 
 throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. We know of 
 those who are quite indifferent to all communion with the 
 Saviour — who can take no interest in his work. We fear 
 there are those who have deemed the blood of the cove- 
 nant wherewith they were sealed an unholy thing, and 
 who are doing despite to the Spirit of Grace. It is 
 manifest that none of these can desire to be with Christ, 
 and, continuing as they are, they will never be gathered 
 to him. We repeat the question : Who can really — 
 heartily — spiritually — desire to depart and to be with 
 Christ ? Those who love him, though they have not seen 
 him, and in whom, though now they see him not, yet, 
 believing, they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of 
 glory. These call upon him now — they have access to the 
 Father through him. These have the earnest of the 
 Spirit dwelling in their hearts, revealing Christ to them, 
 and transforming them into the likeness of the Lord. 
 These when they die will go to him, will abide with him 
 in heaven, and when he comes again, they will appear 
 with him in glory. 
 
THEIR EDUCATION IN HEAVEN. 257 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE BELIEVER'S EDUCATION IN HEAVEN. 
 
 § 1, The Effect of being with Christ 
 
 The next point which we have to consider is this : What 
 must be the effect upon the believer himself of his thus 
 dwelling with the Lord Christ in heaven ? 
 
 Upon the opening of the fifth seal,* the souls of the 
 martyrs slain for the word of Grod and the testimony 
 which they held, are seen beneath the altar, and the cry is 
 heard from them, "How long, oh Lord, holy and true, 
 dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that 
 dwell on the earth ? " This scene follows the opening of 
 the fourth seal, the souls of the martyrs are the souls 
 therefore of the slain during the period of the fourth 
 seal : comprising as I believe not merely such as were 
 killed by the Jews so long as they possessed the power, 
 or those who were slaughtered in the pagan persecutions 
 of the Roman Emperors ; but those also who perished by 
 the sword and by famine, in far greater numbers when the 
 empire was become professedly Christian, and specially 
 when it was urged on to its merciless executions by the 
 papal power. To each of these white robes are given — 
 the righteousness of the saints — the righteousness of Christ 
 put to their account — testifying their acceptance with 
 God, their completeness with Christ, and their security 
 for ever ; and they are bade to wait patiently a little while, 
 until the number of their brethren should be fulfilled. 
 
 The altar under which they are seen is the same as that 
 beheld in a subsequent vision (ch. viii.), from which the 
 
 * Rev. vi. 9—11. 
 
 s 
 
20» THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 incense is kindled; and they are under it; for their 
 enemies not only deemed them to be sheep fit for the 
 slaughter, but in the madness of their hearts they dragged 
 them to the altar of God, and thought that they offered 
 an acceptable sacrifice to him in slaying them. They are, 
 however, in heaven, arrayed already in their beautiful 
 garments, and they constitute a part of the whole body 
 represented by the four living creatures, to all of whom 
 the same array is finally given (Eev. xix. 8). Their pro- 
 minent mention in this place in the series of the seals 
 being intended to teach that during some period preceding 
 the end, (which I am persuaded the sixth seal brings in,) 
 there would be a pause in this work of death, and that in 
 (rod's providence it would, for a time at least, be sus- 
 pended. 
 
 Here then we have another scene, in which a part of 
 the blessed who have died in the Lord are beheld abiding 
 with him in heaven. The description given is by emblem, 
 and the language altogether figurative, but the facts dis- 
 closed by it are very clear and intelligible. From the 
 question ascribed to them, it is evident that they are 
 conversant with what is going on in relation to the king- 
 dom of G-od ; they take a deep interest in it, and they 
 long for the day when the glory of God shall be fully 
 manifested on the earth, and his just dealings shall go 
 forth as the noon day. At the same time we learn that 
 they know but imperfectly the things to come, and that 
 they need instruction for the government of their own 
 spirits. But what is true of one portion of the spirits of 
 the just must be true of all in their measure. Hence 
 the inference we draw is this, that the disembodied spirits 
 of God's people, when gathered to Christ, whilst enjoying 
 rest with him, are neither in a state of sleep, nor unem- 
 ployed; but, being made perfect as to their relations to 
 the Lord and their security in bliss, they are yet further 
 
PROGRESS ESSENTIAL TO HUMAN NATURE. 259 
 
 blessed by a continual improvement in their spiritual and 
 heavenly state. 
 
 This may seem strange, and will be unwelcome to those 
 who have been wont to think that with life all work is 
 ended, and who have regarded the ajoostle's declaration — ■ 
 "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; 
 but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which 
 are behind, I press towards the mark, for the prize of 
 the high calling in Christ Jesus" — as an expression of a 
 painful conflict, and not of a blessed exertion bringing 
 with it its own reward in progress onwards : for some 
 have considered the rest that remains for the people of 
 Grod, not only as a cessation from the experience of all 
 evil, but as the termination of all change in their spiritual 
 state, under the notion that they have already attained 
 to a completeness which allows of no addition. 
 
 But we not only affirm that the believer is ordained 
 to be conformed wholly to the image of the Lord Christ — 
 now, in nature, spirit of mind, temper, and affection, and, 
 finally, in respect of his body — but we affirm also that 
 his disembodied soul dwelling with Christ in heaven is 
 making progress in the life of God; and that this his 
 intermediate state in heaven is eminently to him a blessed 
 season of education for final glory.. This I shall now 
 endeavour to show. 
 
 § 2. That Heaven is a State and Place of Education to 
 the disembodied Spirit of the Believer. 
 
 i. The truth of this will appear if we consider w T hat 
 human nature is, and how it is influenced and wrought 
 upon. 
 
 It is natural to every human being to make progress in 
 whatever he takes delight, when circumstances allow him 
 to pursue and enjoy it. And this effect is the same, 
 
 s 2 
 
260 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 whether the object be good or evil ; whatever pursuit a man 
 follows with pleasure, he will make progress in it according 
 to his powers. He who loves pleasure and can indulge 
 his taste, will live more and more in its pursuit. He who 
 desires gain, and who prospers in its pursuit, will ter- 
 minate his course as the sordid covetous man, whom Grod 
 abhors. The same thing is true of all sensual propensities 
 and of all mental vices, as envy, pride, or hatred ; it is 
 true of all mental or scientific pursuits which have no 
 moral character ; and it is no less true of those which are 
 morally good, which aim at truth, righteousness, kindness. 
 If a man devotes himself to these things his profiting will 
 appear to all ; for it belongs to human nature that it should 
 be so. Whatever is pursued with enjoyment is remem- 
 bered and associated in the mind with the pleasure derived 
 from it ; a thousand things will in a natural way recall the 
 association and prompt the repetition of the past; that 
 repetition tends to form a habit, and the habit formed 
 demands its own continuance, and in the end grows into 
 the very nature of the actor. 
 
 It cannot be otherwise in respect of spiritual objects 
 and delights. The spiritual man is still a man, and subject 
 to all the laws which govern human nature; and every 
 believer knows that, by pursuing and enjoying the things 
 of God and Christ, he knows them better and is more 
 influenced by them : a spiritual nature, acquiring more 
 and more power over the soul, is the result. Transferred 
 to heaven, the human soul is still human ; his life is no 
 longer modified by the body, but his spiritual life, which 
 was never aided by it and was always independent of it, 
 abides the same. He still lives the life of a spiritual 
 human being, and he cannot but make rapid and glorious 
 progress in spiritual and heavenly things, when thus 
 admitted to their free and unimpeded pursuit. From the 
 
THEIR NEED OF PROGRESS. 261 
 
 very nature of his soul, therefore, heaven must be a state 
 and place of spiritual progress to the believer. 
 
 ii. This must be still further manifest from a considera- 
 tion of the very different conditions (comparatively) in 
 which believers enter heaven. As believers, they are all 
 spiritual in nature, equally the subjects of the new creation, 
 equally partakers of the Holy Spirit, and, therefore, equally 
 regenerate. But they are wonderfully distinguished from 
 each other, as to their knowledge and experience of that 
 life. The Scriptures state these, differences. There are 
 the babes in Christ, just born into his family (Heb. v. 
 12—14; 1 Pet. ii. 1,2); the little children, the young 
 men, and the fathers (1 John ii. 12 — 14); all marked by 
 their comparative progress and their attainment of spiritual 
 life and power. 
 
 Now it is obvious that believers leave the world in all 
 these varied conditions of soul, and enter into the heavenly 
 state thus different from each other. I am well aware, 
 indeed, that a common notion prevails, and is expressed 
 in the form of earnest hope, by persons expecting death, 
 that the Lord will not take them out of this world till he 
 has made them fit for a better. But this is no Scriptural 
 notion : the believer's fitness is in Christ, in being found 
 in him, washed, sanctified, and justified in his name and 
 by his Spirit ; and this is the condition of every believer. 
 In matter of fact, also, we do not commonly find that 
 rapidity of progress in the dying Christian which would 
 justify such a notion ; the fruits of the Spirit, though they 
 be fully formed on earth, have often to be ripened in 
 heaven: nay, the tree is continually transplanted when 
 only flowering or putting forth its leaves, and then the 
 whole growth of the fruit must be above. But we have 
 no authority whatever for supposing that the believer's 
 soul will learn by miracle in heaven, any more than on 
 earth. Here they learn by Grod's grace, through the 
 
262 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 Spirit's teaching them the truth as they are able to receive 
 it. The truth is presented to their minds : by the spiritual 
 nature forming within them, they have a desire to know 
 it, an aptness and readiness to enquire into it : by the 
 Spirit's teaching they are guided into the understanding 
 of it, and embrace it, and naturally act upon it. Thus 
 they grow in knowledge, and in the practice of what they 
 know. It was not otherwise that the apostles were advanced 
 in the truth by the Lord himself, when he opened their 
 understandings that they might understand the Scriptures 
 (Luke xxiv. 44—47, and 25—27). He gave them the 
 key, that they might enter into what had been written 
 concerning him and correct their misapprehensions. And 
 this he did not by miracle, but in the natural w r ay of 
 explanation and information ; the Holy Spirit enabling 
 them to understand and embrace what was imparted. But 
 that the apostles were not taught by miracle is manifest, 
 from the fact that for eight years they could not under- 
 stand, that the commission given them to go and disciple 
 all nations, warranted their preaching to the Gentiles as 
 such. 
 
 Now what the apostles did not and could not receive by 
 miracle, but by teaching only according to their powers of 
 learning, the disembodied spirits of believers can receive 
 in no other way ; for the nature of a human soul, its 
 powers and capacities, are not changed by the laying aside 
 of the body. The spiritual soul is still a rational soul, 
 making progress by investigation, by hearing, understand- 
 ing, comparing, and judging, and thence advancing in 
 knowledge. We can understand that when freed from 
 the body it is released from many impediments to its 
 course; we may easily conceive that great facilities of 
 improvement shall be attained and its progress be won- 
 derfully accelerated. But its advance must be by pro- 
 gress ; and the necessity of such advance will be at once 
 
INSTANCES OF THIS. 263 
 
 manifest from the exceedingly imperfect state in which 
 many of the souls of Grod's people leave the world. Take 
 a few examples. 
 
 The child of believing parents is dedicated to God, the 
 Father, Son, and Spirit, by baptism, and is received into 
 the body of his professing people. On that child is entailed 
 by covenant all the blessings of Grod's children, and the 
 gift of the Holy Spirit is covenanted to him, to teach, to 
 guide, and to preserve him concurrently with, and in aid 
 of his parents and the friends who have taken part in his 
 dedication : that Spirit also is covenanted to take pos- 
 session of and actuate him, when he on his part, being 
 brought to the knowledge of the truth, openly confesses 
 Christ. But in Grod's providence this infant dies within a 
 month of its baptism. What is the result ? The cove- 
 nant made with him stands good, for he has never rejected 
 it, nor by any act broken it. It will therefore be fulfilled, 
 and when his disembodied spirit is carried by the angels 
 to the Lord, he will be fully possessed by the Holy Spirit, 
 as saved and preserved in Christ Jesus. But he has been 
 translated to Christ in a state of entire nescience of the 
 truth : and the knowledge of the truth is essential to the 
 enjoyment of communion with the Father and the Son, 
 for as on earth, so in heaven all access to the Father is 
 through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. The education, 
 therefore, of such a spirit must not only be carried on, 
 but must actually commence in heaven. 
 
 Take the case of the penitent thief on the cross. He 
 has been with the Lord Jesus from their death : he died 
 a penitent and a believer : in the last hour of his life he 
 was made spiritually alive by Grod's grace, a spiritual 
 nature was imparted to him, which was manifested in the 
 exercise of repentance and faith : of this his prayer to 
 Christ was unequivocal evidence. But what was his mind, 
 what his habits, what his capacity for spiritual things ? 
 
264 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 They were all to be formed. Being possessed by the 
 Spirit, he was capable of being exercised in these things, 
 and might prove an apt and ready scholar ; but the Holy 
 Spirit must deal with him as he was capable of being 
 dealt with ; and he must make progress in order to attain 
 to the state of the saints with whom he was associated — a 
 state marked not only by knowledge and enjoyment, but 
 by the experience of the truth and its verification to 
 them by its actual power. 
 
 But it is enough for my purpose to take the case of any 
 common believer, worshipping God in the spirit, making 
 his boast in Christ, and putting no confidence in the flesh 
 (Phil. iii. 3). Every such believer will die in the con- 
 sciousness of his many and great deficiencies. He has no 
 fear of condemnation, he is accepted in the beloved, he 
 has peace with God : but he has lived in the midst of the 
 world, so much a stranger to the joys of the life of Grod, 
 that he feels unfitted, unprepared for the heavenly state. 
 What will afford him relief? You canuot propose a 
 miracle to him : you cannot tell him that by the mighty 
 power of the Spirit he will be made, through dying, exactly 
 what he would have been had he lived all his life in the 
 constant enjoyment of the love of God in Christ, for this 
 would be to delude his soul. But you may tell him, that 
 as a believer, he is complete in Christ, and is assured of 
 the Spirit of Christ to dwell in him, and work in him ; 
 and that under his teaching, he will find heaven to be a 
 place wherein to attain to a blessed proficiency in the 
 knowledge of God, and in the power of the divine life. 
 
 We might illustrate this position by a multitude of 
 examples, but enough has been said to establish it, and 
 we conclude without hesitation, that the imperfect state 
 in which the souls of believers enter heaven renders it 
 necessary that they should make progress there in the 
 divine life. 
 
THEIR PROGRESS IN KNOWLEDGE. 265 
 
 iii. I observe, that such progress must be the inevitable 
 consequence of the relations into which they are brought 
 in heaven. 
 
 We have seen into the midst of what company they are 
 brought, and with whom they live, and we have heard 
 something of their employment. That they live ever 
 conscious of their Father's presence as possessing the 
 throne, the judge of all ; that they live in the constant view 
 of the Lamb that was slain, standing in the midst of the 
 throne, exercising all the power of the kingdom ; and that 
 they join with him as their great High Priest conducting 
 the worship of his Church. Hence they cannot but live 
 in the consciousness of the Holy Spirit's abiding in them, 
 enabling them to have communion with the Father and 
 their living Head. Now such a life cannot be lived in a 
 passive, apathetic form. All the affections of which human 
 souls are capable, must be roused into action by it, and 
 fixed in delight upon the object of their worship and 
 intercourse. Nor is it possible for human beings to 
 delight themselves with any object, or to live in the en- 
 joyment of the object in which they delight, without being 
 influenced, changed, and modified in their own nature 
 and spirit, in a manner corresponding to the nature of 
 that object. 
 
 § 3. The course of the Believer's 'progress in Heaven, 
 
 i. He increases in the knowledge of Grod, and of his 
 Christ. 
 
 We have seen that Christ is now on the throne, carrying- 
 out the purposes of the Father. For the accomplishment 
 of this will, he made preparation as the angel of the cove- 
 nant, ere he appeared in the world : when on earth he 
 laid the foundation of its accomplishment in his work of 
 teaching and of obedience unto death : and he now lives 
 
266 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 in heaven to perfect them. The Holy Spirit continually 
 receives his commission from the Son, and imparts the 
 truths confided to him, as to the people of God, so to the 
 whole world according to the Father's will (John xvi. 8). 
 The holy angels have their appointed missions, and bring 
 the report of their execution to all assembled round the 
 throne. The four living creatures (the representatives of 
 the spirits of the just) take the deepest interest in the 
 whole work. As the four first seals are opened, each in 
 his order calls on the evangelical prophet to come and 
 see what the unrolled volume discloses : when the fifth is 
 loosed, the saved martyrs cry out from beneath the altar, 
 " How long, Lord, holy and true, dost thou not avenge 
 our blood ? " It is one of the living creatures who gives 
 the vials of wrath to the angels who are commissioned to 
 pour them out on the earth. And when the great whore 
 is judged, they together with the whole heavenly multi- 
 tude join in the solemn chant of Allelujah to God for the 
 judgment inflicted. Thus, throughout the whole period 
 of this revelation, the spirits of the believers who are 
 gathered to Christ in heaven, are taught the work that he 
 is carrying on (the events belonging to the establishment 
 of his kingdom), they are deeply interested in them and 
 affected by them, and therefore cannot but be perfected 
 by them. For the revelation of Christ's work is the ex- 
 planation of his nature and character ; it is therefore the 
 revelation of the glory of the Father, of whom our Lord is 
 the express image; and "this" he said, addressing his 
 heavenly Father, "this is life eternal, to know thee the 
 only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." 
 Progress then in the knowledge of God and Christ is 
 progress in eternal life ; and it is from the revelation of 
 the things of God and his Christ made to the blessed 
 above, and realised by them through the Spirit's teaching, 
 that this life is nourished and strengthened [in them]. 
 
IN LOVE AND COMMUNION. 267 
 
 ii. For thus they are confirmed and strengthened in 
 love to God. As it was God's love manifested in Christ 
 which first reconciled them to him, and the shedding 
 abroad of his love upon their hearts by his Spirit, which 
 fixed them in love to him ; so it is the continued revelation 
 of his love, in his still making all things work together 
 for their good, and for the bringing in of the great con- 
 summation, which confirms and increases their love to him 
 now they are in heaven, and quickens their joyful hope of 
 approaching glory. 
 
 iii. This strengthening their love to God brings them 
 into a fuller, more perfect, and intimate communion with 
 the Father and the Son, and thus directly strengthens the 
 spiritual life of their souls. Love is the power of the 
 soul, for love is strong as death. Faith, according to its 
 measure, gives confidence, and hope quickens to action, or 
 enables the believer patiently to wait for that for which 
 he hopes. Both, however, may fail ; faith may lose its 
 confiding power, and hope deferred makes the heart sick : 
 but love never faileth : it believeth all things, hopeth all 
 things, endureth all things. Love puts the believer upon 
 embracing every opportunity of enjoying communion with 
 God through Christ; love enables him to enjoy the mercy 
 whenever obtained; and in that very enjoyment both the 
 principle of the spiritual life, and the life itself grow and 
 are strengthened. For the habit of that life (and the re- 
 deemed man is still a creature of habit) is confirmed, and 
 the new nature is more and more fully perfected and 
 brought out. If, indeed, through the ordinances of the 
 Church on earth, believers in their present imperfect 
 state are enabled to go from strength to strength, how 
 shall not the ordinances of heaven, acting without abate- 
 ment, let, or hindrance, upon souls simply spiritual, carry 
 them forward in the eternal life, and constantly effect 
 their nearer assimilation to the Divine character ? 
 
268 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHir. 
 
 iv. Thus a continual preparation is going on for the 
 life of final glory. The Lord Christ, in the constitution of 
 his person, and in his office as the Father's instrument for 
 the effecting of his purposes, is set before us as his express 
 image ; he expresses in his own mind and spirit through- 
 out that work, what is the Father's mind, and the spirit of 
 that mind (if I may so speak) in the ordination of the 
 whole. His people in heaven live in immediate con- 
 nection and fellowship with this glorious Lord Jesus Christ, 
 the image of the Father, and the executor of his work. 
 They behold him in the^government of his kingdom, and 
 the salvation of his people, gathering together in one 
 all things which are in heaven and on earth, in himself, 
 for the glory of God the Father (Eph. L 10—12). The 
 Spirit enables them to apprehend his work, to rejoice in it, 
 to give glory to God for it. What effect must follow? 
 When on earth and in the flesh, it pleased God to shine 
 into their hearts to give them the knowledge of his glory 
 in the face of Jesus Christ, the effect was, through the quick- 
 ening power of the Spirit, to make them spiritual beings, 
 capable of delighting in God. And now that they are 
 inhabited, wholly possessed, and actuated by the same 
 Spirit, shall not the increasing revelation of God's glory, 
 made to their souls in heaven, establish and perfect that 
 spiritual nature ? 
 
 Again, whilst on earth, these very believers, as they 
 beheld in the glass of the word the glory of the Lord's 
 person, of his mind and spirit — as they beheld this with 
 the eye of delighted faith, they were changed into the 
 same image, from glory to glory : and shall not the more 
 perfect revelation of the same glorious being now enjoyed 
 by them in heaven, beholding him as he is, effect by the 
 power of the same Spirit, a fuller and more complete 
 transformation of their souls into the likeness of Christ? 
 No one can deny these inferences ; the apostle expressly 
 
IN THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST. 269 
 
 affirms them : " We," he says, " shall be like him, for he 
 shall see him as he is." 
 
 The souls of God'-s people — gathered to Christ and 
 around the throne, animated with unfeigned love to him 
 who sits upon it, and to the Lamb, being themselves in 
 their own natures reflecting images of God's glory, and 
 finding all their bliss in the continual discovery of God to 
 their souls — are being prepared to live to his glory, and 
 follow the Lamb whithersoever he may lead them ; to 
 serve him in whatsoever sphere he may be pleased to 
 place them ; having only one object — the manifestation of 
 the Father's glory, the source and spring of all their 
 blessedness. 
 
 [N.B. — The following extract is from a letter, written by 
 Mr. Plrillipps in 1852, to a sister after the death of her 
 daughter; having received it too late for insertion in the 
 Eecords of his Ministry, I have inserted it here, where it 
 appears to complete the subject of the preceding paper. — Ed.] 
 
 The gem that you have lost has not been dropped 
 into the ocean to be hid in its dark caves* but shines above 
 amidst kindred gems, dislodged indeed from their cor- 
 ruptible setting, but only that in due time they may be 
 reset in pure gold. The gems are still what they were as 
 to nature and substance, though doubtless receiving that 
 more perfect polish and more perfect cutting of which 
 they are so capable. When all is completed, according to 
 the form and measure of each, they will be reset. 
 
 I often think with much pleasure on the transition of a 
 child or of a young person (whose attainments in spiritual 
 things must of necessity be very imperfect) to heaven, 
 and consider what a blessed education they have entered 
 upon there — how rapidly and how certainly it is carried 
 on, and how blessed that it is never to end — to be always 
 
270 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIEITUAL W0ESIIIF. 
 
 progressive — that the subject of it is the knowledge of the 
 infinite, the all-perfect God, a subject inexhaustible to 
 any creature, ever filling the soul with delightful adoration 
 and love, and producing more and more of transformation 
 into his likeness. 
 
 It is a blessed thought that heaven is a place of educa- 
 tion — for infants and the young confessedly, but also for 
 us all. There is no imperfect teaching there, still less is 
 there any wrong teaching. What a comfort this, beguiled 
 as we are by the one-sided teaching, which is the only 
 teaching we can get here, so far as human teaching is 
 concerned. It is true there is an unction from the Holy 
 One that teacheth all things ; but how few know this in 
 doctrine, how much fewer still live by faith in it, and so 
 rise from childhood to manhood, and from manhood into 
 the maturity of the Christian state. 
 
 This progress is hindered by the imposition of human 
 forms, and a mode of profession prescribed by human 
 minds, which serve only to distort the Christian mind and 
 to impair the true Christian character. You may be glad 
 that your child's mind had not been so warped, and that 
 it can freely bloom and blossom and bear fruit in heaven, 
 without any blemish derived from such a source. 
 
 § 4. Of the Communion that may subsist between the 
 Saints in Heaven and on Earth. 
 
 i. The people of the Lord in heaven and on earth 
 constitute one family (Eph. iii. 15). They have, there- 
 fore, a mutual interest in each other ; an interest naturally 
 arising out of the fact that they have one common Saviour, 
 one faith, and one hope, and that they are animated by 
 one Spirit. 
 
 ii. Now the people of God on earth have a strong and 
 lively interest in each other's welfare. They pray for 
 
THE COMMUNION OF THE SAINTS. 271 
 
 each other; they try to minister to each other; and they 
 sympathise with each other in all their varying circum- 
 stances, rejoicing with them that rejoice, "they weep with 
 them that weep. This is, at least, confessedly what ought 
 to be the real state of their affections. If in individual 
 instances, however many, it is otherwise, it is only a proof 
 of what our Lord has said, that many shall call him 
 Lord, Lord, whom he never knew ; and again, that many 
 are called but few chosen ; it is a proof, therefore, that 
 many seem to be God's people who are not so, or a proof 
 of the declension of those who are his people, and of 
 their having lost their first love. 
 
 I observe, further, that when believers, who have lived 
 together in the mutual enjoyment of this spiritual union, 
 are parted from each other, even to the ends of the earth 
 asunder, yet, their spiritual condition being unchanged, 
 they do not cease to feel for each other as they did ; by 
 mutual prayer at the same throne of grace they seek 
 each other's good, and take the same interest in all that 
 befalls them, so far as they can learn it. Neither when 
 their companions are separated from them by death, are 
 the love and sympathy which animated them in any way 
 changed. The survivors have, indeed, no need to sorrow 
 or to weep with them any longer, knowing that God has 
 wiped away all tears from their eyes, and that personally 
 they can sorrow no more ; but they can rejoice with them 
 as those who are rejoicing before the throne of God in 
 heaven; and they are continually led to think of what 
 their state there is, what their employments may be, and 
 what are their enjoyments and bliss. 
 
 iii. [Such being the temper and such the sympathies 
 of believers on earth,] it is impossible to suppose that 
 when they are received into heaven they can lose any of 
 their interest in or sympathy with their brethren in the 
 faith, whom they have left on earth still engaged in the 
 
272 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 same conflict from which they themselves have been so 
 happily released. Their feelings may, and indeed must, 
 be modified in many respects, and can no longer be 
 excited by the things of the world and the flesh ; but 
 they will still be affected by all that belongs to them as 
 members of the body of Christ. It seems indeed probable, 
 that the interest felt in the body of believers on earth 
 by their brethren in heaven, may be very greatly increased 
 by the new position and circumstances into which they 
 are then brought. 
 
 For they are with the Saviour. We have seen (and the 
 Scripture affirms) that the Saviour is at this present time 
 carrying on his priestly office in heaven, as really as he 
 did when on earth he fulfilled the first part of that work 
 by the sacrifice of himself on the cross. Only his priest- 
 hood in heaven is combined with the exercise of his 
 kingly power ; and he is now a priest after the order of 
 Melchisedec, a priest upon his throne ; as such, he presents 
 the prayers of his people to Grod on the ground of that one 
 offering of himself, and obtains mercy and grace for them 
 in answer to their supplications, by his own all-prevailing 
 intercession. It is equally certain from Scripture, and 
 acknowledged matter of fact, that he has a tender sympathy 
 for all the members of his body who are still living in the 
 flesh ; that he identifies himself with them, and makes 
 them, their cause, and their sufferings his own. The 
 following* Scriptures show this: Acts ix. 1 — 5; Heb. ii. 
 17, 18 ; iv. 14— 16 ; v. 5—10 ; vii. 24—26 ; ix. 24. 
 
 His people who are now dwelling with him in heaven, 
 and who are ordained to be conformed to his image in all 
 things, cannot but participate in these his feelings and 
 sympathies. From their relation both to their Saviour 
 and to their brethren on earth, they must be moved by 
 their ever varying condition so far as it is known to them. 
 We have already seen that the worship of God and the 
 
THEIR INTEREST IN IT. 273 
 
 Lamb form a main part of their employment, and that 
 whilst the Saviour is ever making intercession for his 
 people on earth, the heavenly hosts and all his people in 
 heaven are united with him in this worship; but it is 
 evident that the subjects of the supplications, praise and 
 thanksgiving which form the substance of that worship 
 and intercession, must change with, and be dependent 
 upon, the state of the kingdom of God on earth. 
 
 The whole body of the angelic hosts now in heaven are 
 employed in ministering as they are sent by Christ to 
 the Lord's people on earth ; in ordering the affairs of the 
 world ; and in effecting such changes in its condition as 
 shall serve to develope and establish God's purpose con- 
 cerning it. Having executed their respective missions, 
 they resume their places in heaven, declaring the issue of 
 their work; and this work becomes the subject of supplica- 
 tion and of praise from all the inhabitants of heaven; 
 their glorified head [and appointed king] making sup- 
 plication according to the existing circumstances of the 
 Church and of the world, and they adding their Amen in 
 the full knowledge of the events about which they pray. 
 
 Without, then, pretending to specify the details of 
 things in heaven, or of the employments of the spirits of 
 the just in reference to the Church on earth, there are 
 abundant grounds for concluding that they can and must 
 take a deep interest in all that concerns its welfare, and 
 that they have ample means of information respecting its 
 [condition]. Their own consummation is, in fact, involved 
 in the completion of God's elect, in the second coming of 
 the Lord, in the redemption of their bodies from the 
 power of the grave, in the overthrow of the last and infidel 
 antichrist, in the recovery of God's ancient people, to be 
 his instruments for the subjection of all the nations of the 
 earth to the rule of their Lord and Head, and in the full 
 establishment of his reign of peace and righteousness 
 
 T 
 
274 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 throughout the earth, in which, as partakers of his glory 
 and as his ministers, they are to have their lot and in- 
 heritance. This conclusion, however, is limited to the 
 knowledge and feelings of believers in heaven as a body; 
 they do not necessarily involve any particular knowledge 
 of the history or of the condition of individuals of that 
 body on earth ; much less do they tend to support the 
 fabulous notion of patron saints or angels, nor the idola- 
 tries to which this has given birth. 
 
 But it is evident that as a worshipping body the saints 
 in heaven recognise, and have intercourse with, each 
 other ; and if in acts of worship they do this, so at other 
 times and in other ways they [will enjoy] mutual com- 
 munication with each other on the things of Christ, 
 acquiring [together] a deeper and fuller knowledge of the 
 mystery of God the Father and his Christ, and thus be- 
 coming more and more fitted to occupy that place which 
 is to be assigned to them in the Lord's kingdom. 
 
 It may be that the spirits of believers when received 
 into heaven shall find themselves associated with those 
 with whom they had been associated in their earthly 
 pilgrimage ; but this will not be essential to their happi- 
 ness. For all the people of God in heaven are one ; as the 
 Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, so are 
 they one in both : wherever their place is assigned them it 
 will be for their good ; for the perfecting of their state to 
 the glory of God the Father ; for the magnifying the name 
 of the Lord Jesus ; and for the manifestation of the grace, 
 love, and power of the Holy Spirit. 
 
THE MISTAKE OF THE THESSALONIANS. 275 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 THE FIRST RESURRECTION AND THE GLORY OF THE 
 KINGDOM. 
 
 § 1. The Mistake of the Thessalonians. 
 
 We have been enquiring into the blessedness of what may 
 be called the believer's educational state, during the 
 interval which is to end in the second coming of the Lord, 
 when they will receive the completion of their adoption in 
 the redemption of their bodies (Komans viii. 23 ; Phil. iii. 
 20, 21). This final completion [of their redemption] we 
 must now proceed to consider. 
 
 For its history I would refer you to the 1st epistle to 
 the Thessalonians. No one, I think, can read this epistle 
 without being astonished — if aware of the fact that the 
 apostle had instructed them in the truth for a very few 
 weeks — at the amazing and rapid progress which they 
 must have made in the knowledge of it, to be capable of 
 receiving such a letter from him with profit, or such testi- 
 monials to their proficiency and practice. With what 
 thankfulness does the apostle record their work of faith 
 and labour of love, and patience of hope in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, their joyful reception of the word in the 
 midst of much affliction, and their being examples to all 
 that believed in Macedonia and Achaia. But whilst he 
 records their progress, he gives the explanation of it when 
 he says, " Our Gospel came unto you not in word only, 
 but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much 
 assurance." They had received and embraced the fact 
 that God the Father was reconciled to them for his dear 
 Son's sake, and that the same blessed Son was living as 
 their advocate in heaven ; but they believed also his 
 abiding presence in and with them as their advocate on 
 
 T 2 
 
276 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSIIir. 
 
 earth ; they believed fully and heartily in the Holy Ghost. 
 Hence their proficiency in knowledge and in grace. 
 
 Yet great as this was, they could not be exempt from 
 the mistakes necessarily attending young disciples. In- 
 experienced and unpracticed in comparing spiritual things 
 with spiritual, they were not always competent to draw 
 conclusions from the truths they had been taught ; their 
 reasoning might seem to be sound, but it would be con- 
 tinually vitiated by their imperfect knowledge of the 
 subject, which depended equally on other facts and other 
 truths with which they were as yet unacquainted. Such 
 was the mistake noticed by St. Paul in the 4th chapter. 
 
 It is clear that the Thessalonians had been taught to 
 look for the second coming of the Lord as the great event 
 on which their minds were to be fixed ; that when he 
 came his people on earth would be found watching for his 
 coming ; that as he would come to be glorified in his 
 kingdom, so his people would be glorified and would reign 
 with him on the earth. Hence they readily assumed that 
 notion of our Lord's kingdom which the Jew^s in common 
 held, i. e. that it would be a government of men in flesh 
 and blood by rulers in the same condition ; and therefore 
 they inferred that those Christians who had actually fallen 
 asleep in Jesus, had by a premature death lost that portion 
 in the inheritance, which, had they survived till the Lord's 
 coming, they would have received in common with the 
 rest. The explanation which the apostle gives of the 
 matter is plain and satisfactory. He tells the Thessalonians 
 that none would lose their inheritance ; that in truth the 
 dead in Christ will have precedence of such of their 
 brethren as might then be found alive upon the earth ; that 
 the Lord at his coming will bring with him the spirits of 
 all who had died in the faith ; that their dead bodies must 
 first be raised in the likeness of his glorious body, and 
 their personal condition perfected ; that then all his saints 
 
THE RESURRECTION EODY. 277 
 
 still living on the earth and waiting for his appearance, 
 will be transformed without dying into the same image, 
 and equally perfected with their brethren in person, they 
 will be taken up to be with the Lord, and so the whole 
 family in heaven and earth will become one. The dis- 
 harmonising notion was the rule of believers, under the 
 headship indeed of the Lord and on spiritual principles 
 and for spiritual ends, but a rule exercised by men in 
 flesh and blood over others similarly conditioned. The 
 harmonising truth is the spiritual rule of persons spiritual 
 in soul and body, over the earth and all its hosts, for 
 spiritual ends and on spiritual principles, in respect of 
 human beings ; but a rule not palpable to sense, a power 
 not visible (except by miracle) to human eyes. 
 
 § 2. Of the Personal Condition of Believers when the 
 Lord has come. 
 
 i. Each one will, by his power, be put into possession 
 of a spiritual body. 
 
 Our Lord's glorious declaration to Martha — "I am the 
 resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me, though 
 he were dead, yet shall he live ; and he that liveth and 
 believeth in me shall never die " — has been the conso- 
 lation of his people in every age. It teaches us that all 
 who have died in the faith of Christ shall live, shallat the 
 second coming of the Lord, in the resurrection of the just, 
 receive their bodies and live ; and that all who in that day 
 shall be found living on the earth in the same faith, shall 
 be made partakers of a similar immortality without 
 tasting death. Then by raising Lazarus from the dead, he 
 proved himself to be as he had said, the resurrection and 
 the life ; not only the present life of his people, the life 
 of their souls (John xiv. 6, 19; Gal. ii. 20; Col. iii. 3, 4), 
 but their continued life, and the completion of their life 
 
278 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 in the resurrection or transformation of their bodies, the 
 Eedeemer to whom the whole -work of salvation is assigned, 
 and who will in due time accomplish each portion of it. 
 To him, indeed, the whole disposal of the work is given, 
 as of this first, so also of the second resurrection ; for so 
 he has himself declared, " All that are in the grave shall 
 hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done 
 good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have 
 done evil unto the resurrection of damnation (John v. 
 28, 29). And he will be the final conqueror of death ; as 
 of the first, so also of the second death ; for thus has the 
 apostle written : " Now is Christ risen from the dead, and 
 become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by 
 man came death, by man came also the resurrection of 
 the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
 all be made alive. But every man in his own order: 
 Christ the firstfruits ; afterwards they that are Christ's, at 
 his comiug. Then cometh the end, when he shall have 
 delivered up the kingdom to God even the Father, when 
 he shall have put down all rule and authority and power. 
 For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his 
 feet The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 
 For he hath put all things under his feet" (1 Cor. xv. 
 20-27). 
 
 Three distinct stages of a process seem marked by these 
 words : — First, the victory over death manifested in the 
 resurrection of Christ, the firstfruits: then the second 
 victory, evidenced in the resurrection of the bodies of his 
 people at his coming again: lastly, the final destruction of 
 death, when all things being subjected to him, he will 
 give up the kingdom to God even the Father. Each 
 expression notes the commencement of a new period ; the 
 duration of the last is indefinite. There is the parallel of 
 this construction in Mark iv. 28, in the words used to 
 denote the three stages in the growth f the corn. But 
 
ITS SPIRITUAL NATURE. 279 
 
 we are now concerned only with the first resurrection, the 
 victory of Christ over the first death in his raising the 
 dead bodies of his saints at his coming. This will be a 
 part of his triumph, of his dispensation of Almighty grace. 
 " He shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned 
 like unto his glorious body, according to the working 
 whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself." 
 But it is evident that in the exercise of this power, the 
 Lord acts according to the will of him, who has en- 
 trusted it to him ; as he himself said (John vi. 39, 40). 
 And it is equally evident that the power by which Christ 
 effects his Father's will, is that of the Holy Spirit who 
 willingly comes forth as sent by both, to execute their 
 common will. " If," therefore, " the Spirit of him that 
 raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you, he that 
 raised up Christ shall also quicken your mortal bodies by 
 his Spirit that dwelleth in you." And this blessedness is 
 that of all his people, all who have died in him. It 
 might seem by one passage to be limited to those who 
 have been martyred for his sake (Eev. xx. 4—6), but the 
 passage in 1 Thess. iv. declares it to be true of all who 
 sleep in Jesus, that Grod will bring them with him and 
 will raise their sleeping dust. It is equally manifest by 
 the fact that not to some only, but to each one (rod has 
 given his Spirit as the earnest of their inheritance until 
 the redemption of the purchased possession, i. e. the redemp- 
 tion of their bodies (Eph. i. 13, 14 ; Eom. viii. 23—29). 
 
 ii. The nature of that body of which every believer 
 will be put into possession at the coming of the Lord, is 
 very briefly described by St. Paul in his epistle to the 
 Corinthians xv. 42—44). The terms he uses to describe 
 it are four : it is to be an incorruptible and glorious body, 
 a body endowed with power, and in its nature spiritual. 
 But these terms, though positive in form, are not very 
 intelligible to us, because we have no acquaintance with a 
 
280 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 spiritual body nor any experience of what it is ; and yet 
 this seems to be the key of the whole description. For no 
 sooner has the apostle said, " It is sown a natural body ; it 
 is raised a spiritual body," than he affirms, " There is a 
 natural body, and there is a spiritual body," and confirms 
 the first of these assertions by a reference to the first 
 creation of man, which he briefly records, " The first man 
 Adam was made a living soul ;" his body formed from the 
 dust of the ground was united to a living soul (signified 
 by breathing into him the breath of lives). And thus the 
 animal man was constituted a living soul — a creature sub- 
 ject to the guidance and control of an immortal, rational, 
 and moral soul ; he was made a thinking, upright, and feel- 
 ing being. It is his misfortune and misery that through the 
 fall he has been prostrated to the power of the body and its 
 animal nature ; his very soul has become carnally minded, 
 whilst still retaining the principles of the original man, 
 the living soul. The earthly body, which should have 
 been the obedient subject of the rational conscientious 
 soul, gives law to it, fixes its eyes upon the earth, and 
 bears it down to the dust. But very different is to be the 
 body of the spiritual man when raised from its dishonour 
 in the dust of death. Already his soul, quickened by the 
 Holy Spirit, formed to repentance and faith, is made a 
 new and spiritual being, and as possessed by the Holy 
 Spirit is wrought in to will and do God's will in following 
 the Lord Jesus Christ ; but his body continues what it 
 was, earthly in its principles, sensual in its propensities ; it 
 is ever prompting him to follow a directly opposite course. 
 We have seen the blessedness of being rid of so great a 
 hindrance to the pursuit of the law of life. But how 
 great will be the blessedness, when the believer's very 
 body shall be made spiritual; when no longer a cor- 
 ruptible body needing to be sustained by earthly food, it 
 
 * Sec the marginal reading. Gen. ii. 7. 
 
THE LIFE OF TIIE RISEN SAINTS. 281 
 
 shall be immediately possessed and sustained in life by 
 the Holy Spirit ; and shall then as naturally sustain the 
 spiritual soul in all its spiritual work [as now in physical 
 work], as naturally serve and obey it in this, as now its 
 tendency is to debase it into a drudge to whatever is 
 earthly and sensual. Thus sustained and animated by the 
 Holy Ghost, the spiritual body will need no reparation 
 from waste or decay, no recruiting through rest because of 
 weariness by labour, but shall be able to follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever he goeth ; his people shall run and not be 
 weary, shall walk and not faint. Transference also from 
 place to place shall seemingly be at the volition of each, 
 for such appears to have been the condition of the Saviour ; 
 he was no longer a pilgrim, he was where he wished to be. 
 Unquestionably his risen body has its place; the glorified 
 man has not acquired ubiquity, he is still in heaven 
 whither he ascended, and there he must abide until the 
 restitution of all things; but his body is invested with 
 properties very different from those with which we are 
 familar as belonging to matter, and which our senses can 
 now apprehend. Such, however, as the Saviour's body 
 is, the bodies of all 'his people will be, for they are all 
 ordained to be conformed to him. 
 
 § 3. Of the Life of Believers when raised, and the Position 
 which they are to occupy in the Kingdom of Christ. 
 
 i. It is obvious that they will live in immediate com- 
 munion and intercourse with their Lord. Such, indeed, 
 by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is their inward life 
 now. Therefore they are called in Scripture members of 
 that body of which he is the head ; branches of that vine 
 of which he is the root and stock ; living stones in that 
 building of which he is at once the foundation and the 
 chief corner stone : and as a community, they are the 
 
282 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 bride, in reference to whom the Lord is the bridegroom. 
 The Holy Spirit is the bond of this union, the common 
 principle of spiritual life to the head as to the members. 
 And it is manifest, that when the Holy Spirit shall have 
 clone for the body according to its nature, what he has 
 wrought already for the soul according to its nature [and the 
 risen and spiritual body and its powers has been brought, 
 like Christ's glorious body, into harmony- with the sanctified 
 spirit that inhabits it], the life of union and intimacy 
 which now subsists between the spirits of the just and the 
 risen Saviour cannot become less real, less perfect, or less 
 endearing. 
 
 ii. They will be partakers with the Lord in the in- 
 heritance of his kingdom. To this they are appointed as 
 the adopted children of Grod, and joint heirs with Christ. 
 In all he did he worked not for himself, but for others : 
 the joy that was set before him was the joy of redeeming 
 sinners to the glory of his Father. Because of his willing 
 humiliation, God has highly exalted him; and in this he 
 rejoices, because in the exercise of this power, he perfects 
 the salvation of his people ; and he brings all things into 
 subjection to himself, that he may give up the kingdom to 
 God, and glorify the Father. Now his risen people are 
 united with him in the possession [and administration] of 
 this kingdom : but it is in subordination to him their 
 elder brother and their Head, according to his appoint- 
 ment and in executing his will. 
 
 iii. For they, like himself, have a ministry to fulfill. 
 
 The Father is pleased to reveal his glory in ministering 
 to his own creatures. Whilst the work of creation in this 
 lower world was limited to a short period, the Father 
 has never ceased to exercise his power in behalf of the 
 creatures he has made ; in him they have lived and moved 
 and had their being — if he withdrew his spirit they would 
 cease to be. 
 
THEIR MINISTRY. 283 
 
 The mission on which he sent his Son was a mission of 
 ministry : Christ came not to be ministered unto, but to 
 minister ; and that in the hardest of all services, giving 
 his own life a ransom for many. And when, having 
 finished that work, he ascended to his Father, he ceased 
 not to minister to his people as their advocate ; and in the 
 pursuit of his Father's will he still lives to carry on this 
 mediatorial ministry, nor will he cease from it till it is 
 perfected. So also it is the glory of the Holy Spirit to 
 minister in behalf of the Lord Christ. He is represented 
 in the fulness of his light and power, as having his place 
 before the throne, ready to go forth throughout the earth 
 to minister to God's people, and to prepare the world for 
 the Saviour's rule. 
 
 And thus, in consistent connection with the Divine 
 Persons, their people have a ministry to fulfill. They are 
 called to beodn it whilst here : the Saviour's first word to 
 
 o 
 
 his professed followers was, " If any man will be my dis- 
 ciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross. Ye 
 are the light of the world ; — the salt of tne earth ; — the 
 leaven which is to leaven the whole world." But who 
 dreams of a lamp lighted for its own sake — of salt never 
 intended to season the viands that need it — of leaven that 
 leavens nothing ? Hence our Lord would teach his people 
 to estimate true greatness by the arduousness and severity 
 of the service done. And the apostle says, (i No man 
 liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself; " for "ye 
 are not your own, but bought with a price." This, indeed, 
 is the one end of all the training of the Lord's people, 
 whilst they continue in the world : by a ministry expended 
 upon their brethren and the world, they are to be formed 
 to that mind which is content and happy to live for God 
 alone by following the steps of the Lord Jesus : exercised 
 and fashioned in this spirit of mind they are taken to 
 heaven, and there are fully educated in it, knowing no 
 
284 THE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WOESIIIP. 
 
 other work than uniting with their Lord Jesus Christ in 
 the worship of their common God and Father. And thus 
 when they reappear with the Lord at his coming, they 
 will be qualified to execute their ministry of service in 
 his kingdom, in whatever measure, or among whichever 
 portion of his creatures he may give them their com- 
 mission. 
 
 § 4. The Nature, Extent, and Variety of the Work to 
 which they may be called. 
 
 It is very variously described in the Scriptures. Our 
 Lord, addressing his apostles, said, " Ye which have fol- 
 lowed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall 
 sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve 
 thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." St, Paul 
 speaks of a crown which the Lord, the righteous judge, 
 would give, not to himself alone, but to all who love his 
 appearing. The crown, therefore, clearly belongs to all 
 believers, for this is the characteristic of all believers 
 under the (xospel — they are watching for and hastening 
 to the coming of the Lord. 
 
 In the description of heaven given by the beloved 
 apostle, the four-and-twenty elders are seen seated on 
 thrones and crowned: and they with the four living 
 creatures, together representing the whole body of the 
 redeemed saints, give glory to the Lamb who has re- 
 deemed them, and constituted them kings and priests— or 
 a kingdom of priests,— and close their song with the de- 
 claration that they shall reign on the earth. In the same 
 manner the partakers of the first resurrection are described 
 as reigning with Christ a thousand years (Rev. xx. 4—6 
 compared with 1 Thess. iv. 14—18). All believers, 
 indeed, from the beginning looked for a city founded of 
 God, for the establishment of a kingdom never to be 
 
THEIR DOMINION AND WORK. 285 
 
 shaken, for the possession of a crown incorruptible and 
 undefiled. Nor was anything else intended by our Lord 
 when he said, "The meek shall inherit the earth." It was 
 no inheritance to be enjoyed on earth and in this life of 
 which he spoke, for the meek have neither the strong 
 hand nor the stern nature which enables men to seize 
 upon and hold fast a portion here : but they are admirably 
 qualified by meekness and patience acquired here, and by 
 godliness and universal kindness practised here, for the 
 exercise of authority in that kingdom of which the Lord 
 of righteousness and the Prince of Peace is the Head. 
 
 What may now be gathered from all these various hints 
 respecting the world to come ? they are indeed but few 
 in number, and in comparison with the greatness of the 
 subject, very meagre : but they are enough to open a view 
 (and not a merely poetical one) of the believers' perfected 
 condition — very encouraging and animating, very consoling 
 and blessed. 
 
 All the creatures of God in this world are the subjects 
 of the dominion of the blessed man Christ Jesus, and 
 therefore of his saints. They will have therefore to guide 
 and govern the earth with all its hosts [and societies], and 
 not only so, but the heavens also, with all the hosts by 
 which they are rilled. Hence as the qualifications and 
 graces of Grod's people are so very various, and their 
 peculiar dispositions and sources of enjoyment so very 
 different ; and as they never acquire any sameness of cha- 
 racter excepting that of spirituality — a sameness perfectly 
 consistent with every possible variety of sinless character — 
 so in the diversified states of the world to come, they will 
 each have a sphere in which to exercise their [highest 
 powers], their warmest affections, their liveliest sympathies 
 and purest associations, and this in a way exactly suited 
 to their individual acquirements and distinctive disposi- 
 tions. 
 
286 TIIE ORDINANCES OF SPIRITUAL WORSHIP. 
 
 Nothing will be lost of all they have attained of the 
 spiritual life on earth : it will accompany them to heaven, 
 will there be matured and perfected according to the ap- 
 pointed measure of their stature in Christ, and will be 
 brought into fullest exercise and blessed usefulness when 
 the kingdom is established. But they will exercise their 
 power for the service of others, and they will reap their 
 own enjoyment from their ministry of blessings to the 
 creatures of (rod, ministering to them what shall make 
 them happy to whatever class they may belong. They 
 will have to minister to their fellow-creatures — to the 
 men who inhabit the earth in the day of which we 
 speak — in all spiritual things, sympathizing with them in 
 all their difficulties and trials, and rejoicing with them in 
 all their pleasures. With the angels of Grod, their fellow- 
 servants, they will have fellowship, perhaps authority; 
 whilst over their kindred but apostate spirits [it appears] 
 that it will be their office to administer judgements (1 Cor. 
 vi. 2 — 3). There will be nothing too high for the lowest 
 to fulfill, nothing too low for the highest to administer. 
 But throughout the glorified hosts, from the highest to 
 the lowest, in all their works and in all their administra- 
 tions, there will be but one mind, to do all to the glory of 
 the Father, for the magnifying the name of the Lord, and 
 for the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. 
 
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