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LECTURE II.

The Seed Sown.-AGREEMENT IN PRAYER, THE FORMATIVE
PRINCIPLE OF CHRISTIAN PUBLIC WORSHIP.

'Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."-St. Matt. xviii. 19.

I have to remind you, brethren, that we are at present engaged in collecting authoritative principles of Public Worship. Seeking in my last Lecture "to whom we should go" for the solution of our questions on this subject, I pointed out, first, to whom we should not go.

We must repudiate the mere commandments of man," Matt.xv.9.

even when they have zeal in their favour, or aim at the glory of God, or claim spiritual authority, or seem to be derived from the Bible. We must distrust our own

tastes and feelings, and go at once to Him "who has John vi. 68. the words of eternal life." From Christ Himself whom we worship as God, and in whose name we worship the Father, the Christian derives his principles of Worship. Whatever can be harmonised with Christ's voice may be allowed in Worship. But the first thing we have to do is to "hear" His voice. "The sheep follow Him, for John x.4,5.

they know His voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers."

That our blessed Lord should have given us some hints on this topic might well be expected. Our expectation will not be deceived. Although His words.

are remarkably few and plain they will be found suffiMark xviii. cient. He said "If two of you shall agree on earth as 19, 20. touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Luke xxii. 19. 1 Cor. xi. 24.

Another voice of His we hear, which as it has reference to a most important act of Public devotion is intimately connected with our subject. I refer to the Institution of the Lord's Supper, the words, "This do in remembrance of Me."

Doubtless both these voices have often been perverted from their proper meaning, the former not less than the latter, by the ignorance or the fancy of men. But it does not follow that we are not to use them in this discussion. The fault of others who have impressed even upon the words of Christ something of the character of "the commandments of men," must not make us despise the Saviour's voice. But it should

make us more cautious, brethren, lest we too, through want of humility or reverence, or because we have a point to prove, or a party to serve, should wander into error, and more prayerful that the Holy Spirit "bring- John xvi. 13; ing all things to our remembrance" may "guide us into

all truth."

Of these two Divine voices I select the first as chiefly meeting the purpose of our present search. We are seeking for principles, i.e. primary laws or motives of action, and it expresses a principle in the sense we mean. The other voice enforces a most important act of worship indeed, but being founded upon the previous agreement of the worshippers, as to the great object of their desires, it does itself guide us to the more elementary and comprehensive idea of agreement. The place of the Lord's Supper in our Services will afterwards form the subject of our enquiry.

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xiv. 26.

Lect. iv.

There are many other passages in the New Testament which apply to Public Worship. Of these, some will come up in the regular course of discussion. Some may be at once dismissed as not necessary to our line of thought. Thus the example of our Lord's attendance on the services of the Temple and the Synagogue, and Matt. xii. 9. the fact that the early disciples were in the habit of assembling themselves together for purposes of devotion,

Luke iv. 16.

although they are, of course, most important, and directly affect our own practice, do not affect our argument. We are already convinced of the propriety of Public Worship as an act of duty. But we want to know how it came to be an act of duty-to discover the reason which governed its performance, that we may apply the same reason, if possible, to the working out of the original idea in all matters and questions of detail.

Let it be remembered, too, that we are seeking not merely for a principle, but for a distinctive principle of Public Worship: that is, one that distinguishes Public from Private Worship.

Many so called principles of Divine Service have this defect, they are too general. The principles, for instance, that prayer should be "heartfelt" and "in the name of Christ," and "to the praise and glory of God," or that it should be not merely the claiming of a gift, but "the offering up of one's self as an oblation," are more or less essential to all prayer. When I speak of agreement in Prayer, I mean, of

moulded on such principles as these.

no real Public Worship without them.

course, Prayer

There could be

And yet it is

plain they do not constitute Public Worship, because they could all be carried out and acted upon in private.

We want to know not merely Why and How we should pray at all, but Why and How we should pray together in one place.

Now the principle of "agreement touching what we ask meets our wants in this particular. It brings us together.

It might not bring us together, perhaps, if we understood by "agreement," spiritual and mental, not active. agreement. And, of course it is admitted that spiritual agreement should exist even when people do not meet in public. There is a harmony of heart in Prayer, which, we delight to think, is felt by all who belong to the Communion of Saints, even in the most widelysundered places. But our Lord meant agreement, in no loose sense of this kind, but worked out into act, as the second verse of the text, explanatory of the first, proves.

"For where two or three are gathered together Matt. xviii.20. in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Assembling is part of the agreement required.

Very few are mentioned indeed as constituting the congregation,—only "two or three" to assemble, only "two" to agree. But no one who considers the frequent exigencies of the Church, no one who looks forth upon the thin Congregations that sometimes meet on a week-day-when the object is Prayer only-can