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our religious exercises, insinuating that they are baseless and unproductive. Many, who are not infidels, but eminently anxious for the preservation of religion, imply that they share this infidel conviction ; for they evidently fear that if the common people are educated, they will cease to be devout. They assume that when men know what and why they worship, they will give it up. We are accustomed to sing :

" If the whole world my Saviour knew,

Then the whole world would love Him too." But this proverb implies that if He were known, He would not be loved at all. Thus, by the mere spread of knowledge, the superstitions of India melt away. Tbe gods are seen to be a lie, and therefore their temples are abandoned, and their altars fall to decay. And everywhere the sooner superstition comes to an end the better. Whatever the truly enlightened understanding renounces, the pure conscience must abhor. Whatever the unperverted mind disowns, can neither benefit the creature nor honour the Creator. Falsehood and sin will welcome the darkness and revel in it; but the worship of the true God never can. That which the light kills, cannot be of Him who “ is light, and in whom is no darkness at all."

Mind is one of the highest distinctions of man. By it he is raised above all terrestrial creatures, and asserts dominion over the earth and all things on it. By it, too, he takes cognisance of the presence, perfections, and claims of the great Creator. Only thus can he be a real worshipper. Without mind man migìt, like a dog, crouch in terror, fawn in fondness, or howl in misery; but he could not worship. Man is commonly proud of his intelligence, more so than of his virtue. Many would rather be thought knaves than fools. One of the attributes of the divino likeness first impressed on man was “knowledge,” and without this, how can he be supposed to approach the “Father of spirits" ? It is incredible that when men become devout they are allowed to become irrational ; that when most directly confronted with the infinite reason, they may sink into mere sensation and feeling; and that in the discharge of the loftiest actions of their whole life, they may strip off the supreme distinction of their nature. That can never be allowed. Whatever degrades man, insults God. It is vile for man to debase himself anywhere, but most vile to do so in the immediate presence of the Most High.

It is but little that we can do to honour God; yet He has said, “ Them that honour me, I will honour." His word assures us, “ Whoso offereth praise, glorifieth me." But this can never be, unless our faculties are enlightened. In proportion as we reverence and love, we give out the full exercise of our highest powers. In speaking to children it may be necessary to simplify our ideas and to use the plainest words; but even this should never be betrayed, nor allowed beyond what is necessary. Some talk to the working classes in this style, but it repels, for it affronts their understanding. In presence of the highest intellect and culture we are respectfully silent, or we task our powers of thought and utterance to think and say our best. In presence of the Infinite Mind, and when

speaking to Him of whose intelligence all genius and science are but the faint scintillations, shall we dare to allow any indolence of thought, or offer anything less than a concentrated and earnest mind? We cannot easily fathom the meaning of the Preacher's words, “Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God, for God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few.” It has often and truly been said, that a man's letters to you, tell you not only what he is, but what he thinks of you. Yet more impressively do men reveal the same thing by their speech and conduct in your presence. Before one man they are guarded and careful in their utterance, and thoughtful and original in their conceptions. Thus they pay to him the homage due to superior intelligence. Before another man they are rash, boisterous, and frivolous, and thus they proclaim him to be a fool. In presence of a third, they are indifferent, ready to yawn, to demand a tune, or take refreshment. They say concerning him, that he may be generous and kind-hearted, but has no great intellect, nothing to rouse their effort, or impose restraint. Measure by this rule the thoughts and conduct of an ordinary congregation. What does the state of their mind proclaim concerning the object of worship ? Does it not declare unequivocally either that God deserves no reverence, or that He is not present with them ?

The extraordinary gifts bestowed on the Primitive Church, like all things else given for the use of man, involved temptation, and, being abused, became a snare. In this respect the gift of tongues occupied a most prominent place. They were for a sigu to unbelievers, and therefore of limited worth, and for transient use. Their weakest point was that, without an interpreter, they conveyed no ideas, and therefore ministered to no edification. As the mind was no way illuminated, the heart could not be improved. Yet they were startling and imposing ; sure to attract attention to their possessor, and likely to flatter his vanity. Hence some were tempted to obtrude and parade this gift. The Apostle interposed to check an abuse which turned the miracles of mercy into mischief. He resolved that their religious exercises should not sink into unmeaning verbiage and empty forms. He insists that all speaking with tongues should be followed by interpretation, and that all their communications should be in “knowledge” and “ doctrine.” He teaches that it is fatal to all religious duties if“ no man understands” them, and that it proves and perpetuates a dwarfed and childish condition of mind. He admonishes them to be “ not children in understanding," while he utters his own purpose, and declares the great Christian law, which must regulate all Christian worship: “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also ; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” Whatever fervour and enthusiasm there may be in our devotions, if truth and knowledge are absent from them, they fall short of the divine regard.

Our attention is often directed to the ascended Saviour. We are told that in the victory He achieved, before He took his place at the right hand of the Father, every good was secured. All that was needful for our happiness and usefulness, all that his generous love could demand for us, and all that He desired, in order to accomplish his own purposes, was then procured and imparted. The character and use of his gracious gifts are fully explained. “He gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers—for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." We read this charter of the Church, this inventory of the treasures of grace. How strange that we find no mention here of that which many demand or proclaim as the supreme distinction of ecclesiastical authority and grace, and as absolutely indispensable to personal enjoyment and sacramental efficacy! That elaborate ceremonial on which they lavish all their regard, and that mystic influence which is to save the soul without enlightening the mind, appear to have escaped the notice of the Great Head of the Church, and certainly have not been deemed of sufficient importance to be ever mentioned in his word. No, the Saviour seeks for us something far higher and better. He desires that our mind should be stored with knowledge, and regulated by truth.

The themes which are to occupy and discipline our understandings are those which it is of infinite importance for us to know. They are just those which are best learnt, because most deeply felt, in the thoughtful stillness and solemn calm of the sanctuary, which the hurry and noise and pollution of the world disturb and repel—which are shown in most glorious light to the mind, and laid like balm on the heart, when applied by the Comforter through Him who said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I.” These truths do not require us to mount the heavens and read the language of the stars, nor to toil on earth collecting and arranging its wondrous organisms, nor to traverse the dreary ages of the world's history, collecting the elements of an uncertain philosophy. “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.” That word is sure. The only-begotten in the bosom of the Father has revealed it. That truth is glorious. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

With the brief but grand pages of the law spread out before him, the psalmist cried, “Open thou mine eyes !” When Paul remembered the converts to the Gospel, he felt that it would be most for his own relief and for their advantage to pray that “the eyes of their understandings might be enlightened.” For this, pre-eminently, Christian worship has been appointed, and every time we enter the house of prayer this also should be our hope and aim. Our Sundays are worse than lost if they do not employ and enlarge our thoughts in the knowledge of divine things. Every season of worship is sinfully wasted if it has not been used in aiding us to apprehend more of the love of Christ. We have robbed our own souls of their richest treasure, and dishonoured our Divine Father, if we have not sought and found some measure of that light speaking to Him of whose intelligence all genius and science are bu the faint scintillations, shall we dare to allow any indolence of thought, o offer anything less than a concentrated and earnest mind? We canno easily fathom the meaning of the Preacher's words, “Be not rash wit] thy mouth, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter anything before God for God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few.' It has often and truly been said, that a man's letters to you, tell you not only what he is, but what he thinks of you. Yet more impressively do men reveal the same thing by their speech and conduct in your presence. Before one man they are guarded and careful in their utterance, and thought. ful and original in their conceptions. Thus they pay to him the homage due to superior intelligence. Before another man they are rash, boisterous, and frivolous, and thus they proclaim him to be a fool. In presence of a third, they are indifferent, ready to yawn, to demand a tune, or take refreshment. They say concerning him, that he may be generous and kind-hearted, but has no great intellect, nothing to rouse their effort, or impose restraint. Measure by this rule the thoughts and conduct of an ordinary congregation. What does the state of their mind proclaim concerning the object of worship ? Does it not declare unequivocally either that God deserves no reverence, or that He is not present with them ?

The extraordinary gifts bestowed on the Primitive Church, like all things else given for the use of man, involved temptation, and, being abused, became a snare. In this respect the gift of tongues occupied à most prominent place. They were for a sign to unbelievers, and therefore of limited worth, and for transient use. Their weakest point was that, without an interpreter, they conveyed no ideas, and therefore ministered to no edification. As the mind was no way illuminated, the heart could not be improved. Yet they were startling and imposing; sure to attract attention to their possessor, and likely to flatter his vanity. Hence some were tempted to obtrude and parade this gift. The Apostle interposed to check an abuse which turned the miracles of mercy into mischief. He resolved that their religious exercises should not sink into unmeaning verbiage and empty forms. He insists that all speaking with tongues should be followed by interpretation, and that all their communications should be in “knowledge” and “doctrine.” He teaches that it is fatal to all religious duties if “ no man understands" them, and that it proves and perpetuates a dwarfed and childish condition of mind. He admonishes them to be “not children in understanding," while he utters his own purpose, and declares the great Christian law, which must regulate all Christian worship: “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” Whatever fervour and enthusiasm there may be in our devotions, if truth and knowledge are absent from them, they fall short of the divine regard.

Our attention is often directed to the ascended Saviour. We are told that in the victory He achieved, before He took his place at the right hand of the Father, every good was secured. All that was needful for our

happiness and usefulness, all that his generous love could demand for us, and all that He desired, in order to accomplish his own purposes, was then procured and imparted. The character and use of his gracious gifts are fully explained. “He gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers—for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." We read this charter of the Church, this inventory of the treasures of grace. How strange that we find no mention here of that which many demand or proclaim as the supreme distinction of ecclesiastical authority and grace, and as absolutely indispensable to personal enjoyment and sacramental efficacy! That elaborate ceremonial on which they lavish all their regard, and that mystic influence which is to save the soul withont enlightening the mind, appear to have escaped the notice of the Great Head of the Church, and certainly have not been deemed of sufficient importance to be ever mentioned in his word. No, the Saviour seeks for us something far higher and better. He desires that our mind should be stored with knowledge, and regulated by truth.

The themes which are to occupy and discipline our understandings are those which it is of infinite importance for us to know. They are just those which are best learnt, because most deeply felt, in the thoughtful stillness and solemn calm of the sanctuary, which the hurry and noise and pollution of the world disturb and repel—which are shown in most glorious light to the mind, and laid like balm on the heart, when applied by the Comforter through Him who said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I.” These truths do not require us to mount the heavens and read the language of the stars, nor to toil on earth collecting and arranging its wondrous organisms, nor to traverse the dreary ages of the world's history, collecting the elements of an uncertain philosophy. “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.” That word is sure. The only-begotten in the bosom of the Father has revealed it. That truth is glorious. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

With the brief but grand pages of the law spread out before him, the psalmist cried, “Open thou mine eyes !” When Paul remembered the converts to the Gospel, he felt that it would be most for his own relief and for their advantage to pray that “the eyes of their understandings might be enlightened.” For this, pre-eminently, Christian worship has been appointed, and every time we enter the house of prayer this also should be our hope and aim. Our Sundays are worse than lost if they do not employ and enlarge our thoughts in the knowledge of divine things. Every season of worship is sinfully wasted if it has not been used in aiding us to apprehend more of the love of Christ. We have robbed our own souls of their richest treasure, and dishonoured our Divine Father, if we have not sought and found some measure of that light

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