SQLite format 3@  ii!%%atableTopicsTopicsCREATE TABLE Topics (Title NVARCHAR(100), Notes TEXT)5e00 - SlatteryCL - Following Christ{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Georgia;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue255;\red0\green0\blue12Ec870\blue0;} {\stylesheet{ Normal;}{\s1 heading 1;}{\s2 heading 2;}{\s3 heading 3;}{\s4 heading 4;}} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\keepn\hyphpar0\s1\sb240\sa120\tx0\lang3082\f0\fs24\tab\lang1033\b\f1\fs32 FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \pard\keepn\s4\sb240\sa60\f0\fs28 BY CHARLES LEWIS SLATTERY, D.D. \par Bishop of Massachusetts \par NEW EDITION, ENLARGED \par \pard\nowidctlpar\b0\f2\fs24\par BOSTON AND NEW YORK \par HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY \par 1929 \par COPYRIGHT, 1928 AND IQ29, BY CHARLES LEWIS SLATTERY \par \par ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO REPRODUCE THIS BOOK OR PARTS THEREOF IN ANY FORM \par \par CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS \par PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. \par \par \pard\lang3082\b\shad FOLLOWING CHRIST\tab 1\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 I THE DEFINITE DECISION\tab 1\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 II CHARACTER\tab 12\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 III THE CREED\tab 21\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 IV\tab 38\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 THE CHURCH\tab 38\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP\tab 48\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 VI\tab 56\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 THE HOLY COMMUNION\tab 56\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 VII\tab 68\b0\shad0\f0\par \b\shad\f2 KNOWING CHRIST FACE TO FACE\tab 68\b0\shad0\f0\par \pard\lang1033\f2\par \pard\par \pard\nowidctlpar formatted by David Cox (c) 2008\par \pard{\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "mailto:dcox@davidcox.com.mx" }}{\fldrslt{\cf2\ul dcox@davidcox.com.mx}}}\cf0\ulnone\f2\fs24\par \par \par \cf3\lang3082\f3\fs23\par } d\keepn\hyphpar0\s1\sb240\sa120\tx0\tab\b\f1\fs32 I THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \pard\nowidctlpar\b0\f0\fs24\par THE Lord Jesus makes His appeal to humanity in our time with all the power with which He has appealed to men and women all down the ages. History, biography, and our own experience tell us what efficiency, beauty, and joy come into lives which answer 'Yes,' when He summons them to follow Him. Any man who has made this supreme discovery of the fellowship of Christ longs to have the whole world understand the gift which Christ holds for everyone. \par \par This book is written to tell one way in which Christ is being loyally followed, and in which His power is being received. I do not for a moment think that it is the only way in which people are consciously entering His radiant discipleship. It is the one way which I happen to know best. It is the way of confirmation. \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par Therefore I venture to put to you certain definite questions. Why should you wi sh to be confirmed? What demands has Confirmation upon you as a member of the Christian Church? What good would it do you? What is required of one who desires Confirmation? These are very common questions. They deserve frank, clear answers. I shall try to give them to you. \par \par \par You do not become a member of the Church at Confirmation. The Sacrament of Baptism is the formal initiation into the Church. Every baptized person is a member of the Church. Confirmation is the completion of Baptism. I n the Eastern Church the infant is confirmed by the priest immediately after his baptism, the two services being united. In the Western Church an interval of several years intervenes, and the child, having reached 'years of discretion, is brought to the Bishop, and the Bishop confirms him. In the Church of England and in the Episcopal Church of America, the period of adolescence is generally the time when a boy or a girl seeks \par 2 \par \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par Confirmation. We ha ve discovered that this is the time when religious aspiration and responsibility awake; the spirit within craves expression and seeks the outward and visible assurance of God's help. \par \par Good Christian people have found other ways of sealing the discipleship of the members of Christ's Church. But Confirmation is the old way. We find its use continuous through Church history, from the time of the New Testament. The eighth and the nineteenth chapters of the Book of the Acts record instances of Confi rmation in the first century. To people whom others had baptized the Apostles came, and laid their hands upon them; these people so confirmed are declared then to have received the Holy Spirit. \par \par Not the most important reason why you should be confirmed, but the first reason, is that Confirmation is the time-honoured way in which boys and girls, men and women, have all through Christian history come into the full fellowship, responsibility, and privilege of Christ's discipleship. \par \par \pa r FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par ii \par Among other things, Confirmation means decision. One of the most serious defects in character is drifting with the stream, whatever the stream may be. \par \par Even if the stream be a good stream, the man who simply floats in it fails to be any thing but a colourless, innocent nonentity. \par \par If the stream be bad, the badness of one who drifts in it is in some ways even worse than the badness of one who deliberately chooses badness. A man can lose his soul through drifting. \par \par If you decide to be confirmed, you definitely choose your leadership and your company. You are an independent, selfdetermining character. You choose whom you will serve; you say to the world that you are a follower of the Supreme Master, Jesus Christ, If you follow Him, you will hear Him say to you, 'One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren.' Then you openly acknowledge yourself part of the great fellowship, the community of Christ's brothers. In other words, you declare to yourself and to the people about you that you are openly en4 \par \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par listed on the side of Christ and His Church. \par \par That decision is filled with untold possibilities of good. Men know where you stand. The friends of good causes and of righteousness count you on their side; the foes of good causes and of righteousness know at once that they may expect from you nothing but warfare, and they let you alone. A man who goes through life with out any definite allegiance is of no use to anything or anybody. A man who stands up squarely for Christ and His Church is a tower of strength, first for his own life, and then for the world about him. He is a help towards the best everywhere. \par \par in \par Some people feel that they ought not to be confirmed unless they have a revulsion of feeling concerning their past life, an overturning of all their experiences. This we are apt to call conversion. There is no doubt that a great many people need converting, quite often people who least suspect it. If a man has been hard, exacting, with his children or his servants or his neighbours, he needs converting to tender\par 5 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par ness, patience, compassion. If a man has been indulging in some secret sin, he needs converting to the courage and the strength to snap his sin off with relentless promptness, however it begs him to give it longer hospitality. If a man has been conventional, self-complacent in his orthodoxy, making hard rules for others, a veritable Pharisee and hypocrite, he needs to become like a little child, all trust and all love. \par \par Confirmation is a time to look in on one's life, and ruthlessly to take full account of its defects, its failures, its sins. \par \par When a man becomes aware of his need of Christ, and when he finds Christ coming in to refresh him, to bless him, to re-create him, to give him new life, then he must disown his past, and make ready for a new future. He is converted as truly as Saint Paul was converted in the light of the Damascus road; as truly as Saint Augustine was converted from a life of vileness. \par \par But there are other lives which come so gradually towards the best, that it is impossible to announce the moment of conversion. A child brought up in a Christian home, taught to love the right and the 6 \par \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par true from the beginning, has had conversions daily to the best, but there has been, let us say, no one convulsive moment when life is turned upside down, and all behind seems darkness, and all before seems light. \par \par Such a life is a life of gradual unfolding in the grace of our Saviour. It is such a life as tradition ascribes to Saint John. \par \par I recall a period of great religious excitement in a certain town near which I once lived. The leader in this emotional appeal to Christianity one night before a great throng of people appealed to the leaders of the community who were seated about him to tell the exact moment when they were converted. One after another glibly told the experience which had come to him. At length a man stood up who said simply, 'As I cannot tell when first I loved my mother, so neither can I tell you when first I loved my Lord/ There was a hush. \par \par The testimony was real. The leader bowed his head, and asked no more questions. \par \par Therefore conversion, in the conventional sense, may or may not be a requisite for confirmation. I suspect that this conventional kind of conversion ought to 7 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par into people's experience more often than it is. Everyone must be converted, re-born; but the experience is not always a conscious experience. The one test that is essential is this: Are you whole-hearted in your loyalty to Christ? Do you surrender absolutely and entirely to Him? He has said quite definitely that it is impossible to serve God and Mammon. To follow Christ means taking up a cross and following the Man who was nailed to a cross. The story of the young man who knelt before Christ and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life, the young man whom the Lord Jesus instantly loved, is an exact case in point. The youth was told that the price he must pay must be all that he had. \par \par Christ must have every bit of him. You may, therefore, test your conversion by asking if you are ready for complete surrender. If you are ready for that, you are ready for Confirmation. You know that in the secret places of the Most High you have been born again. \par \par IV Some of the people who read this book \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par will have pledged themselves to Christ's discipleship in some other Communion, and now, drawn to a Communion which cherishes the ancient rite of Confirmation, will desire to be confirmed. Confirmation, for such people, cannot mean what it is for a young person who finds in Confirmation the seal of the first glad awaking to the power of Christ in the soul. That thrill, that joy, has been given him before. \par \par It was real, and is not disowned or minimized by the submission to the gift which Confirmation has in store for him. God's gifts and the ways in which He bestows them are manifold, and we should dishonour His goodness to us, if in receiving further benefits we made little of the benefits received in former years. They are all from the same loving Father, and we should be thankful for all His blessings. \par \par \par Thus far I have spoken of your decision, the things you do for yourself in Confirmation. Think now of what God does for you as you open your heart to Him in this sacred rite. You will naturally expect some 9 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par gift. For we discover that all life is filled with illustrations of ways in whichprofound gifts are given to those who deliberately and purposefully yield themselves to one who is stronger and nobler, richer in experience and in character. The boy, with admiration and love, tries to do all the out ward deeds which he knows will please his father. Through this outward conformity to his father's will, the boy begins to take into his life his father's inner qualities. He reminds others of his father, not only in facial resemblance, but in the hidden things of the spirit. His father's soul is taking possession of the boy. The alert boy or girl, if fortunate, will at length come under some teacher who is beyond all other teachers. This teacher will become to the youth a true and inspiring master. Out ward traits, such as phrases, choice of words, handwriting, perhaps certain physical mannerisms, will unconsciously be copied. People will smile, and speak of the young person's imitating his betters. But the discriminating will see a richer reward in this ardent discipleship. The heart and mind even more than the body are open to 10 \par \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par the gracious influence. The master's genius, the deeper traits and achievements of his spirit are entering into the loving pupil. \par \par He is receiving gifts which cannot be measured. \par \par In the same way, the awaking life of the boy or girl, man or woman, coming with adoring love into the presence of the Most High, as He is revealed in the life of our Saviour Jesus Christ, tries to do what, it is believed, will please Him. He does out ward things. He reads the Bible more earnestly; he goes to church with sincerer purpose; he kneels, he closes his eyes, he whispers the words of his private prayers; he decides to be confirmed, he goes to the classes or reads an informing book, he presents himself on the appointed day for Confirmation, bringing to God a great decision, and, with the Bishop, his Rector, and all the congregation, he prays for a gift from God. All these outward words and deeds are symbols of something far below the surface, an offering of the whole self, an opening wide of the heart, an emptying of the old life, that a new and higher life may flood the soul. The gift in ii \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par Confirmation is not magically given. It is given as naturally as the man, awaking from sleep, opens his eyes to the glory of a new day. God, as a loving Father, gives to the earnest and devout person, seeking, Confirmation, a great gift. That gift is a \par new and surprising infusion of His Holy Spirit, His inmost Grace and Power and Love. I \par \par We must remember that the Holy Spirit is not given for the first time in Confirmation. The Church has always taught that the H oly Spirit is given to every child in Baptism. The Holy Spirit is with everybody who kneels at his bedside to say his Q \par prayers. The Holy Spirit rejoices in every kindness achieved, and grieves over every injustice. Indeed there is not a moment of life when the Holy Spirit is not touching with His encouragement or His warning the being of every individual on the earth. \par \par Often, perhaps most often, mankind is unconscious of this abiding Presence. But now and again come great moments when th!e soul knows its good fortune, the heart is kindled to love and adore, and, space being made wide and deep, the Spirit of 12 \par \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par Wl*tr, the Living God comes in with might and joy, and the life is possessed altogether by the Holy Spirit. \par \par We cannot limit the ways in which God gives this supreme visitation of his Love. \par \par Whenever and wherever the soul of man knocks at God's door, God opens that door and the man enters. The poets and the pr"ophets give us innumerable illustrations. \par \par All I am concerned with now, however, is to assure you that, if you will come to Confirmation with loyalty and an open heart, you will receive such an inpouring of God's happy and strengthening gift of Himself as you never have known in all your past. \par \par You will look back upon the day of your Confirmation as the day in which, above all other days, you received the gift of the Holy Spirit. \par \par \b VI What difference may you believe that# this gift will make to you? \par \b0\par i \par First, it will save you in temptation. \par \par There are some temptations which you can \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par overcome in your own strength. There are other temptations which are so fierce that you cannot conquer them in your own strength: you must have God's help. \par \par Whenever, therefore, a temptation comes to you, whether you think the temptation great or small, say to yourself, 'I have within me the Holy Spirit/ Then tur$n to Him with all your life, and in that temptation He surely will give you the victory. \par \par 2 \par \par Then 3 there is trouble awaiting everyone in this world. Trouble is of various sorts. \par \par Sometimes it is physical pain such pain that you think you cannot endure it for another minute. Sometimes it is failure, you have prepared yourself for a high task, you are ready for the test, your friends stand around you, and you collapse, you utterly and completely fail. Failure is one of the %darkest moments in any life: men, in its blackness, sometimes dash their brains out. Finally there is bereavement, one you love unspeakably, goes out of your life, and you must make the rest of your journey alone. \par \par 14 \par \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par Now, whenever trouble comes to you, whatever its form may be, say to yourself with confidence, 'I have within me the Holy Spirit/ Turn to Him for help, and He will give you such help as you never dared to hope. I had once a frien&d who lost by death his little child. I did not see how he could go on without that bright presence. A day or two later I met him, and we talked of various affairs in the world. Suddenly he snapped off our conversation, and cried, *I never loved God as I do now/ What was the reason? Don't you see? In that greatest sorrow of his life he had found that he could not help him self; he had discovered that his dearest friends could not help him sufficiently; and so, perforce, he had turned to God. And he found 'God as if he had never found Him before. God was waiting for him, under standing, caring, loving him as no mother ever loved her child. Then God did more than comfort him. God lifted him high above all human friendship: God took him up into His blessed love, and he became consciously the friend and companion of God. The exaltation of that discovery was '5 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par so great that he almost dared to thank God for his misery. For through it he knew that his dear child was( completely safe, and he had entered into the highest joy of his whole life. \par \par 3 \par \par There is yet more that may come through the conscious receiving of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. Confirmation may be the moment when the earnest can didate will see all life spread out before him, and he will ask God what he shall do with it. \par \par Some people boast that they never make any plans for their lives. They simply live from day to day. They think themselves devout because they abandon) all plans. \par \par They are not devout; only foolish. I am more and more convinced that God has a plan for each person in His world. It is our task to discover what that plan is, each for himself. The time of Confirmation is the best time to ask God what He means you to do, not with to-day or to-morrow, this week, this month, or this year, but with your whole life. So, as you kneel in 16 \par \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par Confirmation, I trust that you will ask God to tell you what H*e means you to do. If you ask Him, I am sure that He will tell you. \par \par It will certainly be a dream which will be too glorious to tell to your mother, your father, your teacher, or your best friend. \par \par All these might laugh, and say that you were presumptuous or conceited to have such a dream for your life. This God-given dream is then to be a secret between God and you. It may be vague at first, but as you look on it day by day, it will become clearer. You will adapt your life to its vi+sion, and day by day you will grow towards it, you will grow into it, and at length it will absorb all your energy and thought. You will have become the dream which God has revealed to you in the power of His Holy Spirit. \par \par \b VII What will be the immediate fruits of your Confirmation? Our Saviour once said that men should be known by their fruits. \par \b0\par Sometimes, I fear, people are outwardly confirmed, but do not receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is possible to break the \par ,\par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par outward shell, and to find no meat within. \par \par How then, as the days pass, may you tell yourself that you have been truly confirmed? I could mention a good many fruits of Confirmation, but I shall tell you only three. \par \par i \par The first fruit I shall mention is strict honour in word and deed. A good many years ago I asked a young woman if she did not think that the time had come for her to be confirmed. 'No,' she replied: C I do not wish to be confirme-d this year, and I doubt if ever I shall be confirmed/ I asked why. 'Well/ she said, 'a girl in my school who was confirmed last year I saw the other day cheating in the examination. \par \par So what is the use of Confirmation?' I think I never have prepared a class for Confirmation that at least one man has not said to me: 'I am not sure that I wish to be confirmed. I know a man who is a confirmed member of the Church, who goes to church regularly, who even goes to the Holy Communion. He is not square. in his business; he is not honest. I wonder 18 \par \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par if Confirmation is not after all a sham?' \par These are serious charges. Because a seed is bad, and fails to get anything out of the soil, is no argument against the soil in which it is planted. So because someone has abused a religious privilege is no reason why you should deny yourself the same privilege. But it is arrant scandal if any one is confirmed and does not do his very best to be strictly honou/rable in word and in deed. \par \par A rector was one day approached by a maidservant who said that she wished to be confirmed. He was doubtful if she were ready, so he asked her why she thought herself in the right spirit to come. She instantly replied, 'I never used to sweep under the rugs; now I do The wise rector accepted her as a candidate. She had won a sense of strict honour in word and deed. There are other fruits of Confirmation, but the very first is this. \par \par The second fruit of Confi0rmation which I shall put down is kindness. Kindness seems to many people a very easy virtue. \par \par 19 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par It is easy for most people about half the time. There may be a multitude who can be kind three quarters of the time. But the people who are kind all the time are so rare that, among your acquaintance, you can probably count them on the fingers of one hand. Even normally kind people, when provoked by the irritating, will let flash the piercing, unkind w1ord which bites and stings. To say that the foolish meddler deserves such sharp rebuke is not to explain the unkindness away. You quickly discover, if you stop to think, that invariable kindness is a difficult and rare virtue. \par \par Kindness or graciousness was so marked a characteristic of our Saviour, that the Church has associated grace [which is an other word for kindness] with His life. The grace of Jesus Christ stands side by side with the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost as of2 the essence of the divine blessing. Read the Gospels and note how our Lord Jesus was kind under the most exasperating circumstances. Con firmed, you are bound to exert every effort to be invariably kind. Kindness is a rich and true fruit of Confirmation, oo \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par 3 The third fruit of Confirmation which I \par \par select for you is this: Show God your love. \par \par It seems preposterous to many to think that anyone could dare to believe that the Almighty and 3Omnipotent Father would care whether such tiny atoms as men should show Him love. But we know how a human father craves the expression of his child's affection; and we naturally infer that the Maker of men who put that longing into the human heart must Himself long for the expression of the love of His human children. Admitting that instinctive belief, how shall we show God our love? \par \par I find two ways. The first is by worship in church. We do not come to church, first of all, to hear sermons, or4 to sing hymns, or even to pray for the things we need and desire. We come to church, first of all, to tell God frankly that we love Him. We leave our pleasures and our human obligations to come together, at least once a week, with all our friends and neighbours, and in a public and dignified way to tell God plainly our love. It is a great act of 21 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par gratitude and affection which we give to our Heavenly Father. \par \par Then there is the Holy Communion. I s5hall later give you several reasons for this supreme service of the Church. Now I give you only one reason. Our Lord Jesus said, 'Do this in remembrance of me/ The Holy Communion is the Feast of God's love for us. We come to that Feast because we wish to give love for love. \par \par So if you are really confirmed you will determine that you shall regularly and insistently tell God your love. You will be each Sunday in church, and at regular intervals, by a fixed habit, you will partake of the Holy Comm6union. There are ways in which you can tell God that you love Him which resemble the ways in which you tell your relatives and friends that you love them. These two ways belong to God only. \par \par We may rightly believe that He rejoices in them. \par \par If you are not ready to try with all your strength to be strictly honourable, to be kind, and to be constantly at church and regularly at the Holy Communion, you are not ready to be confirmed. These three aa \par \par THE DEFINITE DECISION \par \par fruits will test the reality of your Confirmation. \par \par VIII \par \par You may now say that you are not good enough to be confirmed. I answer that of course you are not good enough. Nobody is good enough. God's gifts are not to the deserving but to those who feel the sense of their need of Him and who really desire to be their best. To the humble and meek Christ gave His richest blessings. God will make you worthy, and only He can. \par \fs22\par \par \pard\cf1\lang2058\f2\fs23\par } 5e00 - SlatteryCL - Following Christ{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Georgia;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue255;\red0\green0\blue128;\red0\green ++ u-01 - The Definite Desicin{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Georgia;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f2\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\stylesheet{ Normal;}{\s1 heading 1;}} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\nowidctlpar\lang1033\f0\fs24 FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par:Normal;}{\s1 heading 1;}} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\keepn\hyphpar0\s1\sb240\sa120\tx0\lang3082\f0\fs24\tab\lang1033\b\f1\fs32 II CHARACTER \par \tab\par \pard\nowidctlpar\b0\f2\fs24 THE vows of Baptism which are renewed in Confirmation are two, a vow of character and a vow of belief. The vow of character is twofold and is as follows, Question. Dost thou renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and t;he sinful desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt not follow, nor be led by them? \par \par Answer. I renounce them all; and, by God's help, will endeavour not to follow, nor be led by them. \par \par Question. Wilt thou then obediently keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of thy life? \par \par Answer. I will, by God's help. \par \par The Church thus puts character first. \par \par Let us analyze the archaic language of these two ancient vows concerning chararong is not really wrong: all the world does this deed, \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par it is natural; therefore enter into it, and do it. This reminds me of a visit I once made to a Sunday-school. The Rector was catechizing his children. 'Children/ he said, 'if you know a thing is wrong, what do you do?' Every boy and girl shouted, * Don't do it.' 'If you are not sure that a thing is wrong/ pursued the Rector, 'what do you do?' With equal force came the answer, 'Don't do it.' 'And what do you do? then?' asked the Rector. And the full answer followed from every throat, 'Ask my mother!' That is sound doctrine for every Christian, old as well as young. \par \par Don't do anything of which you are doubtful till you have consulted someone whom you love and respect as a normal child loves and respects his mother. \par \par I do not here give specific illustrations. \par \par The Christian is expected to use his conscience. The conscience which is not tampered with knows instinctively what is wron@g. When a companion or a great bratoT or a clever newspaper tries to tamper with your conscience, take counsel with the best and noblest person you know. \par \par Fortify your conscience,' Keep it clean and \par \par CHARACTER \par \par straight. Be sure that you decline to do the things which you know are wrong. \par \par \par Secondly, the vain pomp and glory of the world. Worldliness must be renounced. \par \par There are things, perfectly innocent in themselves, which must be renounced wheAn they stand in the way of something that is better. \par \par Card-playing, if it is not for money, is a sound and right diversion among friends. \par \par Tired people can lay aside their cares, and so gain refreshment for harder work the next morning. But when card-playing is made a business, when it absorbs the interest of life, when women can talk of little else than their bridge scores, and all good reading and sensible conversation are crowded to the wall, card-playing becomes a sin, and the ChBristian must flee from it. \par \par I recall a summer holiday which I spent among high mountains at a great inn. \par \par Every morning and every afternoon as well as every evening a group of people met on the porches to play bridge. I never met them on a mountain trail, I never saw 27 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par them open a book, I never saw them even look at a mountain. They were in the presence of a unique opportunity in a marvellous scene, but they turned their backs upon it tCo play cards. Even the man of the world said that they were fools. \par \par There have been times when the Puritan sense which is a fine strain, to be honoured has said that a Christian ought not to dance or go to the theatre. Improper dancing and improper plays are, of' course, to be shunned. If your conscience tells you that a kind of dancing is wrong, or that a play is bad, let no one meddle with the veracity of your conscientious judgment. But is it possible that even good dancing and good plays maDy be wrong? I answer, Yes: whenever they become so absorbing that they drive out something better. For example, it is wrong to go to a dance on Saturday night and to be so wearied by it that you are not fresh and alert for the Sunday morning worship. I am convinced that to bring the best and clearest mind and heart to the Sunday morning at church is so far the best thing a man or woman can do for himself or his 28 \par \par \par CHARACTER \par \par neighbour during the whole week, that I plainly put Edown as a sin any otherwise innocent diversion on a Saturday night which can dull the soul to its great opportunity of inspiring cooperation in worship with all the people. Theatre-going, like wise, may be so incessant and engrossing, that people may use up their emotions on a tragic scene, weep as if they had lost a near relative, and then come out into the night to meet face to face a real tragedy in a broken life which staggers by them; they do not so much as see the tragedy, much less imagine the agonFy which is hidden there. \par \par To the phrase the vain pomp and glory of the world, the vow adds, with all covetous desires of the same. The most worldly are often people who have no money or position but who crave them inordinately. \par \par They covet worldliness. Think of business. \par \par Business in its highest aspect may be counted a real vocation. The affairs of this world are important and must be administered honestly and capably. Further, it is right that a man should plan for the suGp port and education of his children. But 29 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par business may easily outrun its proper bounds. A man may forget everything but the joy of amassing money. He may give such unwearying thought to the fluctuations of the market, such anxiety to his possible losses and gains, that he can think of nothing else. He has no interest in literature, or science, or religion. Sometimes men plan to give up business at a certain age and devote themselves to the richer compensatHions of life. But they often find it too late. Poetry bores them, Macaulay or Charles Lamb puts them to sleep, and they cannot keep their attention on even a short service in church. They are thinking all the time of their offices or the Stock Exchange, of their business victories and defeats. Their minds and hearts are dried up. They have wasted their lives on what must die with them. \par \par So too a woman may covet a place in the world which she has not yet attained. \par \par She may basely humbIle herself to the dust before some social leader for the chance of an invitation. She may even sacrifice her daughter to an unhappy marriage with some conspicuous man who has everything 30 \par \par \par CHARACTER \par \par but character and love. The tragedies which follow worldly, ambitious mothers are heart-breaking. \par \par The Christian Church grew in power while it was dangerous to be a Christian. But when the Emperor Constantine brought his court into the Church, and made Christianity fashJionable, the Church almost died of worldliness. It is r*o accident therefore that the Church puts upon the lips of its children this vow to renounce worldliness. The world and Christianity cannot keep company. Christ said, 'Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world/ \par We must overcome it too. It matters not whether we have great place or little place in the world. To exult in that place or to repine is equally vicious. Our only rejoicing must be that we are members of that Lord Jesus who, with no eaKrthly symbols of grandeur or power, was King of kings. \par \par It is still possible to gain the whole world and to lose our own souls. It is still possible to say, 'Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years/ and then instantly to hear the Voice, 'This night is thy soul required of thee' and we wake to find 3* \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par that we have no souls: they have been frittered away in worldliness. \par \par Whether a man be rich or poor, learned or ignorant, eminentL or insignificant, he cannot speak, or even think, of social classes. There are no social distinctions in Christianity. One is our Master, even Christ; and all we are brethren. Being his brothers we have the highest rank in earth or heaven, and any other rank is not only worldly but is the merest tinsel. In the long eternity before us all, we shall find the unknown saints in the high places and the outwardly prominent of this world who have nothing but an exterior pomp will be in the little places for whiMch their poverty of soul has fitted them. We may each go about his tasks in this world; enjoying the innocent pleasures which the worldprovides, but not depending on the world, not coveting its glory, remembering only the great and absorbing reality of being the honoured disciples of the King of kings. \par \par A Christian then must definitely and absolutely renounce the world, just as Christ the Master renounced it. \par \par \par CHARACTER \par \par 3. \par \par Thirdly, the Christian must renNounce \par the sinful desires of the flesh. The Duty towards my Neighbour defines this vow, *To keep my body in temperance, soberness, and chastity/ Saint Paul defines it, 'To keep under my body/ \par \par There are great physical desires hidden away in our lives. Every one of them, in due time, has its legitimate opportunity, which in the sight of God is sacred. The sin comes in gratifying our desires at the wrong time, or in excess. \par \par Temperance we ordinarily associate with drink. It applieOs equally to food, and above all to what we call temper or anger. \par \par To be always eating candy is intemperance. To be greedy at the table is in temperance. To let fly the biting, sarcastic remark on every provocation is intemperance. To be always smoking, so that one's clothes reek offensively with the smell of stale tobacco is intemperance. To grow hot with rage, and so blur the vision, when calmness would win justice, is intemperance. \par \par Still in the sin of intemperance the 33 \par \pPar \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par danger of overdrinking is paramount. The problem for us in America is complicated by the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Loyalty to law and order is involved as well as loyalty to a man's individual sense of right. The Nation has recognized the grave peril of intoxicating drink: it sees peril to travellers by motor or by railway; it sees peril to industry in all its highest forms; it sees peril to the family of the wage-earner, by whichQ little children shall not have enough to eat; most of all it sees peril to the genius, to the talented, by which their skill shall be lost to the world. Whether the Nation has taken the right way to meet this peril is beside the question. Every man with an open mind and the wit of a bird knows that there is peril. That a nation tries to meet it in any way whatever deserves both sympathy and cooperation. \par \par Quite apart from the Eighteenth Amendment, I have this counsel for any boy or girl, for anRy young man or young woman. \par \par The disaster is so overwhelming, that were I you I should determine to be a total abstainer. It is easy to say No if you say that 34 \par \par \par CHARACTER \par \par you never touch strong drink; and you will always be respected. When I see a boy, whose father, uncle, or grandfather has made a wreck of life through hard drinking, and when I see that boy, in college, in the bonds of what he calls good-fellowship, drinking recklessly, not often but some times tSo drunkenness, I tremble for the future. Here is a boy, with education, with warm friends, with spirit, perhaps even with genius, who is walking on the edge of a precipice. He may walk safely on, and come out on the heights; or, just as easily, he may, in a moment of unconsciousness or stupor, fall over the edge, and be one more ruin in the ranks of privileged humanity. \par \par The way surely to be temperate in drink, is to be a frank and avowed total abstainer. \par \par A total abstainer may help Tothers than himself. Bishop Henry Potter once told a brilliant young man that through in temperance, he was in danger of ruining his career. The young man replied, c But I see you take your glass of wine at dinner/ \par Instantly the Bishop replied, c lf that is what troubles you, I shall gladly sign a pledge with you to be a total abstainer the 35 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par rest of my life/ The young man saw how much the Bishop cared, and thus was saved for a beneficent future. It isU pathetic to see fathers who care more for what they call their personal liberty than for their sons' happiness and success, setting these sons bad examples of caring more for a personal indulgence than for the certainty of self-control and self-mastery. \par \par When we turn to the delicate subject of purity, we shall find the best counsel from the mother, the father, the rector, or the beloved family physician. Every boy and girl has a right to the sacred facts of life from one who feels full responsVibility and has a real love and reverence for the growing lad or lass. I can, therefore, give here only a few general principles. \par \par Let everyone remember that his body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. If any companion or older person tempts to any deed or word that would stain that body, let the No of the conscience be instantly obeyed. \par \par If the tempter persists, share your perplexity with your mother or your father, or with one who stands in their place the headmaster of your school,W for example. \par \par 36 \par \par \par CHARACTER \par \par The surest guide is God's Voice speaking directly to the conscience. Let no one tell you that the Do or the Don't which He speaks to you can be shaded down. \par \par When the time comes for marriage, be sure that you know thoroughly the person whom you intend to marry. Take counsel with older and wiser people. Be sure that when you say, 'Till death us do part/ you mean it. Remember that marriage is not self-indulgence, but love in allX its aspects, including mutual consideration, self-sacrifice, infinite patience. There will be no question for you of separation or divorce, if you hold before you this white ideal of the sacredness of marriage. And if you have not this ideal, you have no right to the privilege and happiness of marriage. \par \par Like all greatest things in life, marriage makes great demands, and these demands must be met by every Christian with full loyalty and lifelong devotion. \par \par Only God can give you streYngth to be victorious in the temptations of life, and you will fail again and again. You there foresay that by God's help you will endeavour not to follow, nor be led by your 37 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par temptations. You have the will to avoid all that is wrong; and it is your will for which God asks in Confirmation. God is patient about all the rest. \par \par ii \par OBEDIENCE \par \par Renunciation alone is not enough. Renunciation is only negative goodness. \par \par TherefZore the Church asks of us positive virtues. We are not given a list of virtues, but are asked if we will keep God's holy will and commandments, and will walk in them all the days of our life. God's will and commandments are known best through Christ. The Sermon on the Mount is the most authoritative divine statement of the virtues which belong to a Christian. \par \par Therefore the most important command and the most inclusive, is the command of Christ, 'Follow me/ How then shall we follow our Saviour?[ \par \par \par First, we may follow Christ by knowing about Him. That means reading over and over again the Four Gospels, We may \par 38 \par \par \par CHARACTER \par \par never assume that we know them, for each time we read a page of the Gospels we discover that since the last time we read that particular page, our own experience has thrown new light on its words and its deeds. It is important if we are to follow the example of Christ that we live day by day with Him as we discover Him in the \simple Gospel record. There we shall kindle our love; there we shall learn what will please Him; there we shall begin to enter His friendship. \par \par 2 \par \par Secondly, we may follow Christ as we see Him enshrined in the noble people who live about us. There are some people who are so good that the only way we can explain them is to say that Christ lives in them. \par \par In Milan is Da Vinci's painting of the Last Supper. Soon after it was painted, the walls being damp, the picture began to ]fade away. Artists tried to restore it, but only indifferently succeeded. It is hard to know the picture Da Vinci painted as one stands before the original in the old monas39 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par tery in Milan. But before Da Vinci died his pupils began to copy the great picture; and to-day copies and copies of those copies are scattered over Europe. So when we in America wish a copy of this painting, we send the artist to see, first of all, the dim original, and then to see the e^xcellent copies. One copy will have one trait of the original; another, another. So the artist builds up his new copy, and at length brings home what, we may be confident, is a just idea of the original picture as Da Vinci painted it. \par \par In much the same way we may think of the first disciples who saw our Lord face to face. They so loved and adored Him that He came to live with and in them. When He had vanished, I think men said as they saw Peter and John going through their villages, 'It seems a_s if the Lord Jesus had been here to-day!* and of course He had been there, in the lives of His true and earnest followers. Before this first generation of disciples passed, the youth of the next generation caught up the life of Jesus as they knew Him in their masters and friends. And so all down the ages Christ 40 \par \par \par CHARACTER \par \par has been passing from man to man, in a living succession, and we see Him to-day in the good and true around us. One has one great trait; another, another`. And as we study this life or that which embodies His transcendent Spirit we learn as we can learn in no other way the goodness and truth and beauty of the Lord Christ. \par \par Follow Him as you see Him in the noble people of your own time. Learn virtues which you never could learn from any book. Catch the glory of His life, and admit Him to your own everyday living. \par \par Bid Him enter and abide with you. \par \par 3 \par \par Finally, we may follow Christ by knowing Him directly. Our Mastaer is not a dead Christ. He is not simply an historic character. He is alive with power as no other on this earth is alive. We may learn from Him face to face what He would have us do. \par \par We sometimes read of men who confine their obedience to Christ to the conditions of the first century. They try to fit the expanded and varied difficulties of our day \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par into one of our Lord's days in Galilee. And if they are honest, they find the task impossible. Christ gavbe men great principles, and the definite applications of those principles will necessarily differ from age to age. We know this by studying the lives of men who are obviously filled with the life of Christ, men who knew Him not only as He lived in Palestine, but as He lived with them in their own century. So we must become intimate with the Christ of our 7 own day, just as Saint Paul became aware of the Christ of the Damascus Road, just as this same Saint Paul could say, * It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me/ \par If you would have the positive virtues and joys of a Christian, you must follow the living Christ. Pray that you may enter that living discipleship. \par \par Once more, the pledge to the positive goodness of Christianity is not a pledge of attainment, or an infallible promise of perfection. It is but the will to be like our Master, and it is pledged by God's help. It is by what we wish to be that God judges us. \par \par \fs22\par \par \pard\cf1\lang2058\f3\fs23\par } OEi02 - Character{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Georgia;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\stylesheet{ 9e0\f2\fs24\par I\par THE first vow which is renewed in Confirmation is a vow of character, The second is a vow of belief. We pledge ourselves to take the Apostles' Creed as our rule of faith. \par \par Question. Dost thou believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith, as contained in the Apostles' Creed? \par \par Answer. I do. \par \par \par Why do we have a Creed? In the Apostolic Church, we read [Acts vm. 37] that the only credal requirement was no longer than * I believe that Jesus Christ isf the Son of God.' These words are not in some of the oldest manuscripts of the Book of the Acts, but they are certainly very ancient. \par \par Then, almost from the beginning the Church met the influences of surrounding philosophies and religions. The straight and simple teaching of our Saviour was in 43 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par danger of being overlaid or distorted. So the Church had to ask of those who came to be baptized and confirmed that they made clear that they understood tghe content of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The time came, for instance, when men protested that Jesus Christ was not truly man, they said that He only seemed to be man, God used Him only to show the Divine Nature in a dramatic succession of events, entering Him at His baptism and leaving Him at the crucifixion. Marcion protested that He came down suddenly from heaven, a full-grown man. So we have the details in this brief Creed that the Son of God was born of a woman, whose name is given, that he died hat a definite time in history, under a Roman governor, whose name is also given, and then what seem unnecessary words are used to emphasize the fact of His sharing death with humanity. c He was crucified, dead, and buried: He descended into hell.' Again, the time came when men said that God is not really omnipotent: He shared, they thought, the dominion of the world with evil, either impersonal or personal, and the outcome 44 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par was in doubt. So the first paragraph of ithe Creed became necessary to make clear that the Christian believes that the Father controls every action of the universe as its only and omnipotent Sovereign Lord. \par \par In other words, the Creed is not a hard, outward thing, invented, either early or late, by a group of ecclesiastics, and pushed down relentlessly over the reluctant minds of Christ's disciples, but it is a breathing, living witness in history to the love of God for man, as this love was revealed once for all in Jesus Christ. It grjew naturally and necessarily as it strove jealously and lovingly to guard this love from all the shadows with which a surrounding world might darken its light and its joy. \par \par The Creed is not to be thought of as a barrier or a stumbling block, but as a radiant help towards the complete trust in the love of God, revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. \par \par ii \par Further, in making the Apostles' Creed the only test of our understanding of Christian teaching, the Church discrimi45 \par \par \kpar FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par nates between essentials and unessentials. \par \par The essentials are very few. There is a wide range of truth and doctrine which the person who is baptized and confirmed need not consider. Nothing is asked about the way in which the Bible is inspired; nothing is said about the form of Christian worship; nothing is said about the Christian ministry. \par \par Even within this brief Creed there are distinctions. The Church, in its Catechism, has, after the Creed, thils significant question and answer, Question. What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy Belief? \par \par Answer. First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made me, and all the world. \par \par Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind. \par \par Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the people of God. \par \par There are some things much more important than others in these ' articles of our belief/ We should try to grasp these firmst and let the subordinate parts group them selves about them. \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par Still further, it is right that we should go back to the most ancient creed of which we have record: 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God/ This means for us that in the character and life of our Saviour we have the complete revelation of the character and life of God. Coming down to the deepest truth in that revelation, we find the short sentence, *God is love'; and we hear our Master say, 'Comne unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest/ \par \par In the recent 'Life of John Singer Sargent/ we find the criticism which the great painter made of a portrait which one of his pupils had painted. 'That/ said Sargent, 'is not a head: it is simply a collection of features/ So, some Christians make of the Creed, not one supreme assertion of joyful trust in God's love through Christ, but a series of hard definitions, which together do not proclaim the great Head of the Cohurch, but make only a confused blur of His shining Face. \par \par The first question you should ask your self as you say the Creed, is not, 'What does the Church mean by the second com47 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par ing of Christ, or by the resurrection of our bodies?' but rather this: 'Do I surrender myself with complete trust and love to the loving heavenly Father revealed by my Saviour?' To repeat the Creed is an act of personal allegiance to the loving God. \par \par Everythingp else sinks below that highest level of faith; and once you surrender loyally to Him in this act of faith, everything else falls into place. It is exactly as Sargent said of a portrait, if the head is correctly drawn, the eyes, nose, and mouth present no difficulties: they find their necessary places. \par \par Possibly a man might believe himself perfectly orthodox on every article of the Creed, and yet lose its soul. This would be an application of our Lord's words, 'What shall it profit a man if he gqain the whole world, and lose his own soul/ The soul of the Creed is, 'God is love/ \par \par in \par I now ask you to think what we mean when we say, 'I believe/ \par \par If I see a burning house, and watch it till it is reduced to ashes, I may rightly say 48 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par that I know that the house has burned down. If I am not at the scene of the burning, but am told that the house has burned, I do not, strictly speaking, know that the house has burned. But, if I have conrfidence in the veracity of the man who has given me the information, I may say that I believe that the house has burned. \par \par I may be just as sure of the fact as if I had been an eye-witness. There faith or belief begins. Further, I may infer certain facts from the facts which I know. I see a richly carved chair. I know the chair. I infer that at least one man made the chair. I do not, strictly speaking, know that any one made the chair. A tree might have been struck by lightning, and the forces osf nature might have made this chair. But, from my past experience, I do not believe that the chair is due to accident. I believe that human hands fashioned it. \par \par The Creed is made up largely of in formation and inference. The second paragraph is a summary of our Saviour's life, as the facts are recorded in the New Testament. The first paragraph is largely inference. Here is this marvellous world. My 49 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par reason refuses to believe that it is an accidentt. I find intelligence in it and behind it. So, by inference, I say, 'I believe in God, the Maker of the earth.' But, more important than information and inference is knowledge. In so far as I test the facts of the Creed, they cease to be merely in formation and inference: I come, at length to feel, to know, that God is my Father, who, through the Holy Spirit, speaks to me, warning me, encouraging me, giving me vision and aspiration. I come to know that there is forgiveness of sin, because I know that He uhas forgiven me. Above all, I come to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, because every day, as I read, and reflect, and listen to the inner Voice, I learn to know through Him who God is. \par \par From another point of view, we may say that the Creed is made up of personal religious experience, historical statement, and the dogmatic conclusions of the Church. These are only other words for knowledge, information, and inference. In either case, knowledge or personal religious experience is always vparamount. Unless the information and inference, the history So \par \par THE CREED \par \par and the theology, are transmuted into life and experience they are of no value. \par \par The original form of the Nicene Creed began not with 'I believe/ but with 'We believe/ This is still the use in the Eastern Church. Whether we use\rquote T or 'We' in this great affirmation of our faith, we are not merely individuals or groups of individuals, but we are speaking for the whole Church, affirming the histworic confidence of Christendom. There is a cathedral in Uganda where every Sunday morning seven thousand black people come together for Christian worship. I am told that when these seven thousand Christians say together the Apostles' Creed the stranger is overwhelmed with the witness of the Church. The whole Church in all its history is speaking, through these simplehearted, earnest negroes. They are not capable of analyzing the various articles of the Creed. They know nothing of critical scholarship or oxf theology. But they do know God their Father, Christ their Redeemer, the Holy Spirit who speaks to their consciences. And with enthusiasm and joy they proclaim their trust in their \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par glorious Lord. No wonder the stranger is moved. The Church is saying its Creed; and the individual stranger, perhaps burdened with difficulty and doubt, is caught up in the majesty of it. Inevitably he cries out, 'Lord, I too believe; help thou mine unbelief/ The individual may take himy self too seriously, talking about his honesty, and inferring that others are either unintelligent or dishonest. The Creed whether it begins with \lquote I' or 'We* is not an individual act, but the act of a congregation. A man, with trust and love, has a right to enter into the trust and love of all the Church, of which he is a tiny and in significant part. \par \par There is one more thought in connection with this subject of what we mean when we say, 'I believe.' The Church has two Creeds: the Apostlzes' and the Nicene. The Nicene is longer and more elaborate, but has the same meaning. The Church assigns the shorter and simpler Creed to the Service of Baptism; the longer, more detailed Creed to the Service of the Holy Communion. This is a tacit admission that the Church expects growth in the expres\par \par THE CREED \par \par sion of the faith of its children. Devout men in the Church have urged that the very first Creed put on the lips of the young be the Creed of the Apostolic Church, 'I believ{e that Jesus Christ is the Son of God'; that they go on later to the Apostles' Creed; and still later, to the Nicene Creed. There is much to be said for this emphasis upon our increasing faith beginning with Apostolic simplicity. I believe that the time will come when we shall return to this divine trust in God's truth. But, whether this come to pass or not, the principle of growth is already emphatic in the present teaching of the Church. As the Lord Christ was satisfied with the follower who said, 'Lord|, I believe: help thou mine unbelief/ so I am sure that He is glad to have His Church accept in this present time, any earnest person who utters, with a like modest and reverent hesitation, the Creed of Christendom. The important fact to remember, however, is that the man in the Gospel story did not rest content with his partial belief; we may be sure that as he entered into fuller obedience to Christ he had a 53 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par fuller Creed. So when a man says, 'Help mine u}nbelief/ he does not smugly rest content with his unbelief, but really prays to have his faith grow richer. That prayer is not achieved when a man puts himself on a pedestal of intelligence, and says that he believes as much now as any honest man who knows anything at all can possibly believe. If a man grasps anything of the truth as it is in Jesus Christ, he sees before him the infinite reaches of the mystery of the Love of God, and he dare not, out of sheer honesty, put any limits to what God may convin~ce him is true. In the light of God's illimitable truth a man's sense of honour fades into the honour of God. \par \par IV \par \par We are now ready to examine the details of the Apostles' Creed* \par \par i \par The first paragraph of the Creed is our belief in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. \par \par Really to believe in God is the beginning and the end of all life. I remember when 1:54 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par was still a collegian I was trying to persuade a comrade to believe in Jesus Christ. \par \par He was patient and kind, but turned at length upon me with the confession: 'I \par think I could believe in Christ, if only I could believe in God. The trouble is that I don't believe in God/ So the first question an earnest man must ask himself is whether he really believes in God. \par \par The Christian believes in God first by information. If he has had a good mother, she has taught him even as a little child to say, 'Our Father/ He asks many questions, and she tries to explain who God is. \par \par She tells her child that God made him and all the world: she points to the stars and the flowers, the hills and the sea; that is, she teaches him by inference to believe in God. And all the time she finds in him an instinctive tendency to believe. When the boy becomes a man, he puts away childish things. He may become bewildered, and he may even put away whatever faith in God his childhood has given him; but, if he be wise, he will listen reverently to the heroes of the ages, who in prophesy and poem, in biography and history, declare 55 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par that they know God, and that therefore He is. That information ought to make a man stand still and think. \par \par The reverent scientist looks through his telescope and sees the order of the stars, then through his microscope and sees the order of the minute life within a drop of water. He sees law and order, growth and beauty; and he must ask whence it comes. \par \par It is preposterous, he thinks, to believe it accident. Equally preposterous, he thinks it, to ascribe it to warring creators. There must be one Mind who has made and who now controls the heavens and the earth. \par \par The familiar illustration will never grow stale which tells of men who found a box of letters arranged in the words of Ham let's soliloquy. One man said the wind blew them into this exact order; another, more sane, was sure that a mind had arranged the letters deliberately in these majestic sentences. It is hard for most people who know even a little of the world not to say, /I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth/ \par \par Information and inference lead inevitably to knowledge, to experience. Josiah \par 56 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par Royce in one of his books x says that the plain man knows what is meant by saying, 'Out of the depths have I cried/ He knows, writes Professor Royce, that there are depths, that out of them he can cry, and that the being who hears his cry from the depths is God. In other words, out of his desperate need he discovers God. The immortal illustration of God's revelation of Himself in our time is the story of Miss Keller. Helen Keller, a little child blind, deaf, dumb, was taught by a teacher to communicate with the outside world through the touch of the hand. This teacher, able to control everything that came into the child's life, determined that she should know nothing of God till she had reached a certain age; then Phillips Brooks came, and told the child of God. \par \par When he had finished, there was a smile on the child's face, and she said, through her teacher, *I have always known Him, but I never before knew His name.' To that child in the darkness and the silence God had come. To her He was known face to face. \par \par 1 Sources of Religious Insight, p. 228 f. \par \par 57 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par To believe in God is not always easy. \par \par Days of doubt may come. There are many stern riddles which the human mind can not solve. The chief difficulty is that the natural world does not always speak of love. On a bright May morning all is joy and peace. But the day comes when men read of the earthquake, the tidal wave, the tornado, and the eruption of a volcano. \par \par Then the world seems in possession of a tyrant, crushing men in the teeth of a relentless machine. Who is to interpret the God of nature? The answer is that Jesus Christ has come into the life of men, and by His deeds as well as by His words He has shown men the nature of God. The highest information about the Father has come from Jesus of Nazareth; and those who follow Christ, watching Him, listening to Him, loving Him, find the assurance of their own experience, that His words and His deeds have ultimate authority within them, So the first paragraph of the Creed melts into the second, and the second becomes part of the first. \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par 2 \par \par The second paragraph of the Creed is our belief in Jesus Christ; the only Son of the Father: our Lord. Before I ask you to examine the details of our Saviour's life which follow, I ask you to think of the meaning of these few words. Who is Jesus Christ? \par \par As we read the Gospel story we find our Saviour different from all the rest of humanity, even the most saintly, in that He had no consciousness of sin. It is a mark of saintship that it is supersensitive to its own sin. It speaks of sins which ordinary humanity ignores. Christ being obviously of at least saintly character, lacked entirely the consciousness of any sin in Himself. \par \par You need no proof texts. The fourfold Gospel story proclaims it on every page, not by direct assertion, but the indirect and therefore more authoritative implication. Unconscious witness is always the most impressive. This Man, unconscious of sin, spoke words of Himself which make Him different in other ways from all other sane and noble spirits. He said, * Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest/ \par 59 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par From any other these words would be presumptuous. From Him they are altogether natural. He spoke of the commands given by Jehovah through Moses, 'Ye have heard of old time thus and so; but I say unto you this and that/ Even the men by the roadside said, 'This man speaks with authority/ It was the supreme authority of His Father. He did not speak as a prophet, 'Thus saith the Lord/ He was different from all the prophets in that He spoke in His own name: 'I say unto you/ \par Now who is this Man, different from all other men, even the holiest? I could give you a theological answer, but I wish to give you a simpler answer, which may perhaps more directly convey to you the truth. He is not only man, tempted in all points like as we are, though without sin, but He is infinitely more than man. Christian experience, as recorded in the New Testament and through all the years of Christian history, has found in Him *the express image ' of the Father. In Him * the fulness of the Godhead dwelt'; in Him 'the Word was made flesh/ In Christ men saw in human terms the exact character of God. \par \par 60 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par The best illustration of which I can think is the translation of a great book from one language to another; from Greek, let us say, into English. Every scholar will tell you that an exact translation is impossible. The Greek language hides subtle meanings in its single words; its verbs have shades of meanings which require much circumlocution when translated into an other language, particularly into English. \par \par But when the many words have been inserted to make clear these delicate modifications of the single Greek word about which they centre, the concise force and proportion of the original are sacrificed. So it comes about that scholars admit that there is no such thing as an exact translation. The English Psalms have in them more beauty than the Hebrew Psalms. \par \par Fitzgerald's translation of Omar Khayyam is richer and finer than the original. On the other hand, Sophocles and Plato have never really been adequately translated, great as many of the translations are. The translations are always less than the music and power of the original Greek. \par \par Now to the Christian the character of 61 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par God is perfectly translated into human terms in the character of Jesus Christ. The proportion, the emphasis, the most delicate distinctions are there perfectly preserved. \par \par So for the Christian, the character of Christ is not similar to the character of the Father, it is not almost like it; but the character of Christ is the character of God. \par \par We know what that great mystic, the author of the Fourth Gospel meant, when he put upon our Saviour's lips the words, 'He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. 5 Through the translucent medium of an absolutely perfect translation, we see in Jesus Christ the love, the character, the very life of the most high God, Every divine trait of character is translated into its human equivalent, and we see God face to face. In Him we know all that Man is and all that God is. He is, in one word, both God and Man, and He is both completely. He did not merely seem to be a man. While He was and is Man, the character of God shines through Him, translated to the last syllable, to the last shade of intricate meaning, in His adorable human life. \par \par 62 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par This opening part of the second paragraph of the Creed is to be distinguished from what follows. It is on a higher, more authoritative level than what follows. It is to be distinguished from it, as knowledge is distinguished from information. It is hardly likely, but it is possible, that a man might believe in this first clause and know nothing of the historic facts which succeed it, or, knowing them, suspend his judgment about them. This first clause for the Christian is direct experience, axiomatic, needing no proof outside his own life. He knows that Christ is the only Son of God because he has lived with Him; he has heard His voice; he has done His will, and therefore he knows His doctrine. He has heard Christ say to him as Christ said once to Philip, 'Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?* He knows Christ as Saint Paul knew Him; to him too, to live is only one thing it is Christ. Christ is for him an immediate reality, needing no argument or external demonstration. \par \par The facts in this second paragraph of the Creed go back to the New Testament for \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par their authority. Scholars are diligently at work upon the difficult problems connected with these facts; and whatever the verdict may be upon this fact or that, the loyalty and belief in Jesus Christ cannot be shaken in the heart and mind and spirit of his real disciples. I am confident that those facts testified by a long Christian history will be credited through all time, but it is important to see that to one who knows the Lord Jesus directly everything else be comes subordinate. Once we truly know whom we have believed, that immediate belief nothing outward whatever can ever remove. \par \par What are these facts of the Creed concerning Jesus Christ? The first is the fact of Christ's human birth. There is solid ground for believing that the reason for this clause was to assert that Jesus Christ had a human mother. He was not a seeming man, but a man as truly and naturally as any man who has lived. And, to be quite definite, the Creed gives the very name of His mother. Beyond this is the assertion that our Lord's mother was a Virgin, and that He was born by the operation of the 64 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par Holy Spirit. We speak of this as the miraculous birth from a Virgin mother. I do not believe that the authors of the Creed put as strong emphasis on this fact as many of us put upon it, because I find that the two great Christian teachers of the first century. Saint Paul and the author of the Fourth Gospel, put little or no emphasis upon it. But it is certainly part of the Gospel record, incorporated in the exceedingly important dual document by Saint Luke, the Third Gospel and the Acts. \par \par What virgin birth may mean I do not know; but neither can I explain my Master. I know Him, but He is a great Mystery. That so transcendent and unique a being should have entered the world in a way different from all other men does not seem to me at all hard to believe. God in Him was making a new creation. The whole world, whether or not conscious of the change, or conscious, much less, of the source of the change, has been different from His day. He has made all things new. \par \par It does not astonish me to think that so radical a change in humanity should have been introduced by the exercise of some 65 \par \par \par FOLLOWING. CHRIST \par \par law hitherto unknown or unused; for matter and spirit are not mutually exclusive terms; but are always the symbol the one of the other. The birth of any soul into the world is to me so perplexing in its mystery that a little more mystery, or a different mystery, in the birth of the Son of God into the world does not confuse me. The Church, through much of its history, has found in the Virgin birth of our Saviour a great lesson. It is not a proof of Christ's divinity. That proof is hid in the immediate and authoritative presence of Christ in the human heart. But it is not lightly to be ignored. If at our present stage of scientific inquiry it seem difficult or unnecessary, I should advise the earnest doubter to suspend his personal judgment, and have a deep respect for the faith of the Church. Whatever you do, do not dare to deny a belief which has meant chivalry and honour in rough periods of the world's history; have a sense of the mystery of life; and await the time when, having seen through a glass darkly, you shall at last see face to face. \par \par I have already spoken of the words 66 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par which tell us our belief in our Saviour's physical death. They are definite, assuring us of the Church's confidence that even in the darkness of death Christ is one with us. \par \par The clause * descended into hell ' has made difficulty. It does not mean that Christ went to the place of torment, but only to that place to which everyone who dies must go. In one of the Epistles, we are told that the Church believes that, during this interval between His death and His resurrection, Christ preached to the 'spirits in prison.' We may be sure that He did every loving kindness that He had done on earth. \par \par In any case, all this clause need mean to us is that Christ not only died as we all die, but even after death, sought or received no special privilege, but was joined with all His human brothers in the experience after death which awaits us all. It is really only one more emphasis upon the fact that He really died. \par \par The great fact of all is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Saint Paul spoke of two facts in Christ's life which to him meant everything: Christ Crucified and Christ Risen. The resurrection of Christ was to 67 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par the early Church so essential a fact to keep before men always that when a disciple was to be chosen to fill the place in the Twelve Apostles made vacant by the death of Judas, the one qualification necessary for such honour was that the new Apostle must have been a witness of the resurrection. Before these first Apostles died, they committed this witness to others, who were officially chosen to continue it. And so down to our own time there is this living chain of witnesses. Many have died rather than deny the fact. Beyond this we have a unique document, the fifteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, which was written by a great scholar who knew the value of evidence and of words, telling us why he believed that, less than a generation before, Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. At least two hundred and fifty witnesses of the resurrection still lived when Saint Paul wrote. Some of these he had seen, and he had conferred with them. \par \par Though he had seen Christ on the Damascus road, he confirmed that vision by a scholar's thorough investigation of evidence. The institution of the Lord's Day, 68 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par commonly called Sunday, as a weekly memorial of the resurrection of Christ, is also a bulwark for the great fact. The evidence for Christ's resurrection is very strong. \par \par The fact of Christ's ascension into heaven is the description of His final vanishing from men's sight, to be present forever after, through the Holy Spirit, in the hearts of men everywhere. We no longer think of heaven as up or down. Since men have known that the earth is a ball whirling through space the literal ascension has merged its meaning in a transcendent spiritual fact. Christ, Son of God and equally Son of Man, is in the place of honour in the life of God; for Christ's victory is both God's victory and man's; therefore we say that Christ ' sitteth on the right hand of God.' \par \par The last clause of this second paragraph of the Creed refers to Christ's second coining to judge the living and the dead. \par \par Scholars do not agree just what the Day of the Lord means, but we are agreed that we shall all meet this Lord who is both human and divine, as our Judge. Whether Here turn in physical form at a remote day, or \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par return constantly in the Spirit, He is ever brooding over us, loving us, pleading with us, judging us. And before Him we shall stand at the last to know just what we have become. We ought to feel awe and godly fear of that august testing of our character, but there is no other judge who could be so pitiful, so gracious, so patient, as He; for, by His own life on earth, He knows all the difficulties and sorrows of mankind. In our exultant Te Deum we sing, 'We believe that thou shalt come to be our Judge'; and, as we learn to love Him, our love casts out our fear. \par \par 3 \par \par The third paragraph of the Creed begins with our belief in the Holy Spirit. In the Holy Spirit God speaks to our consciences. \par \par He guides men into the truth. He teaches us to pray. He helps us to be righteous. \par \par The Holy Spirit is the bond of fellowship. \par \par He binds the faithful together in the Holy Catholic Church. I shall speak later of the Church in detail. Here it is necessary only to say why the Church is called Holy and Catholic. \par \par 70 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par The Church is holy in -the sense that Saint Paul wrote of the holiness of his friends: he said that they were called to be saints. The Church is called to be holy. \par \par But especially is the Church holy because it is organically and corporally the home of the Holy Spirit. It is Catholic because it is everywhere and always it is universal. \par \par The next clause is joined more closely to its predecessor than are the other clauses to one another. This is shown by the punctuation; a semicolon being used rather than a colon. The Communion of Saints is simply another name for the Church, another name for the fellowship in and with the Holy Spirit. The Church of to-day is one with Saint Paul, Saint Athanasius, and Saint Francis, and with all the great saints who shall come in the future. \par \par It is one with our own dear ones, unheralded and unsung. All the people bound into the Church in all ages are alive in God, the Ever-Living; and therefore in Him they are alive and known to one another. He is the great medium of all who love Him; through Him they may tell their love one for another. We sometimes speak 7i \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par of the Church Militant (here on earth), the Church Expectant (in Paradise), and the Church Triumphant (in Heaven). But the whole Church is one, altogether and always living, in the always Living Lord. \par \par The next clause, 'I believe that there is forgiveness of sins/ is born out of human experience and is therefore one of the facts which the Christian may be said to know. \par \par When a man has stumbled and fallen, when he is in the first dismay of his selfishness or his hate, he wonders if God can forgive him. Then, as he surrenders to Christ's love, it sweeps over him that he never can wander beyond that love. He is as the returning prodigal son in the parable. He knows forgiveness. The story is told of the monk Martin Luther that he had been so oppressed with his unworthiness that he spent all one night in agony on the floor of his cell. In the morning as he entered listlessly into the worship with his brothers he heard as for the first time, I believe that there is forgiveness of sins and in that glad moment his heart found peace. He knew that, without merit of his own, without works, he had won God's 72 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par everlasting love. He had but to open his heart to receive it. And he did receive it, henceforth he knew. \par \par We next say, * I believe that there is the resurrection of the body/ We do not mean by this that the exact particles which go down to the grave come together to make the resurrection body. Even on this earth from decade to decade the material of the body vanishes, yet the identity of the body persists through all material changes. \par \par There is what in Saint Paul's paradox [I Cor. xv] we call the spiritual body. We see it shining through the physical body. \par \par It is evident in a smile, a familiar gesture, an inflection of the voice. There are characteristics of the body, when it is inhabited by an ardent and loving spirit, which vanish at death. The body before us ceases to be the body of our beloved. When, therefore, we announce our confidence in the resurrection of the body, we tell our selves that we are sure that we shall be united with all whom we have known and loved, in another sphere of existence. We shall know our relatives and friends; we shall know Plato and Dante; but most of 73 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par all shall we know the Lord Jesus of Galilee. \par \par There will be that in them which willpreserve and carry over their identity with the past. As we go from strength to strength in the companionship of the Risen Christ, as we grow into His likeness, we shall still know and be known. \par \par The final clause of the Creed speaks of our belief that there is life everlasting. Life eternal would be a better translation of the idea of this final trust. For we have the conviction that when this life of time is over we shall enter the eternal Now. In any case there are no negatives in the Creed. We have nothing to say of eternal or everlasting death. For all the Creed may say to us, there is no bar to the larger hope. We may dare to believe, so far as the Creed is concerned, that every being whom God has, made shall, by how ever rough roads and deep tragedy, come at last into the light and joy of the Father's presence. The same love which died for men on Calvary, we may hope, shall go on giving itself through all eternity, till all are won, and, like the younger son in the greatest of parables, come home to the ever 74 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par loving Father of us all. The Creed allows us that Christlike hope. \par \par \par Many good disciples of Christ have no difficulties with the Creed. Loyal to the Church, they accept unquestioningly what the Church presents to them. Others, just as good and just as loyal, have intellectual difficulties. I have tried to show that the Creed is intended to be not a burden but a help. I hope that you feel how beautiful is its trust, and how deep is its conviction in this trust through the faithful in all Christian generations. I wonder if you do not wish to believe it. \par \par Once a visitor to Turner's studio, after gazing upon one of his ethereal landscapes, said in despair, *I can't see anything like that in nature.' Turner looked at him with mingled amazement and pity, saying, 'Don't you wish you could!' If you find difficulties with the ancient Creed, I hope that you are not satisfied or complacent in your hesitation. I hope that you wish that you could find peace through the trust of the Church in the loving God our Father 75 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par and in His most gracious plans for His be loved world. If you truly wish to believe I think that you will come at length to lift up your heart in this great hymn of trust. \par \par You will believe indeed. \par \par In any case the Creed is but the door to the acceptance of Christ as your Lord and Saviour. In the Conference at Lausanne in 1927, the report on the Church's Confession of Faith closed with the paragraph. \par \par While recognizing the place and value of a common Confession of Faith, we would emphasize the supreme importance of personal spiritual experience, and the fact that our faith is in Christ Himself. \par \par In the meeting of the Committee this was amended by Bishop Gore to read as follows, Finally, inasmuch as in dealing with the subject of creeds, we have been occupied in considering the place and importance of a common Confession of Faith, we desire at the same time to leave on record our solemn and unanimous testimony that no external and written standards can take the place of that inward and personal experience of union with the living Christy which is the only evidence of spiritual vitality, and that the object \par 7 6 \par \par \par THE CREED \par \par of our faith is not any statement about Christ but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. \par \par Thus we may say that the Creed is like the little tugboat which tows the great ocean sailing-vessel out of the harbour. \par \par The sailing-vessel is meekly guided on its way by the small steamer till the mouth of the harbour is passed and the great ship is out on the open sea. Then the tug is cut loose; the winds fill the sails of the ship; the depths of the sea are a safe path; and onward goes the vessel to its appointed haven, sure of its own ability to catch the power of God's winds. The Creed is to the soul of a man who is in search of Christ what that tugboat is to the ocean vessel. \par \par It is to start him, inspire him. Then he feels the winds of the Spirit of God blowing him on; he knows that he shall find the Living One; he shall know Him for himself, and he shall know Him face to face. \par \par \fs22\par \fs24\par \par \pard\cf1\lang3082\f3\fs23\par } wwIE]03 - The Creed{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Georgia;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\stylesheet{ Normal;}{\s1 heading 1;}} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\keepn\hyphpar0\s1\sb240\sa120\tx0\lang3082\f0\fs24\tab\lang1033\b\f1\fs32 III THE CREED \par \pard\nowidctlpar\bdttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Georgia;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\stylesheet{ Normal;}{\s1 heading 1;}} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\keepn\hyphpar0\s1\sb240\sa120\tx0\lang3082\f0\fs24\tab\lang1033\b\f1\fs32 IV \par \tab THE CHURCH \par \tab\par \pard\nowidctlpar\b0\f2\fs24 THE Church in the Apostles' Creed is called holy and catholic. In the Nicene Creed it is called one, catholic, and apostolic. We may say that there are, then, four notes of the Church, which, for convenience, I arrange in this order: apostolic, catholic, holy, and one. \par \par \par That the Church be apostolic, it must have a continuous life from the earliest time. There is a verse in the book of the Acts which summarizes this continuity, 'They continued steadfastly in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers? [Acts u. 42], As we look over Christendom we see some people who have remained loyal to the Apostles' fellowship that is, the apostolic ministry; but they have frankly abandoned the Apostles' teaching. This is true of the Church of Rome, which has full 7* \par \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par fellowship with the historic ministry, but has abandoned the New Testament as a full test of doctrine, adding much, through a theory of development, which is quite different from the teaching of the Apostolic Church; adding, indeed, two doctrines so lately as the nineteenth century. This theory of development must be respected; for the Holy Spirit was promised to guide the Church. On the other hand, most of the Protestant Churches while testing all their doctrines by the primitive teaching of the New Testament, by unhappy circumstances either were forced to abandon the historic continuity of their ministry with the past, or deliberately chose to make the break. This break in fellowship occurred during the Reformation in the sixteenth century. At this same time the Church of England was seeking a return in doctrine to the simplicity and purity of the Apostles' teaching; but so large a proportion of the clergy, as well as laity, went over to the Reformation, that the historic ministry was maintained. Thus the Church of Eng land and its daughters in America and in the English colonies, have steadfastly 79 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par clung to the Apostles' teaching and fellow ship. It has deep regard for what is called tradition, but tests this tradition by the New Testament. \par \par The breaking of bread refers without doubt to the Holy Communion. The prayers refer to Christian worship. From the worship of the synagogue, and especially from the Lord's Prayer, a form of Christian worship was beginning, at fimmore or less free, with large discretion for the ministrant, and only gradually crystalizing into definite forms. With a variety of emphasis, and with many shades of usage and teaching, all Christian people have, with few exceptions, 'continued in the breaking of bread and the prayers/ The Quakers and some others have abandoned the Holy Communion in any form. \par \par It becomes important to make clear that the Church of England, our Mother Church, did not in any sense begin new in the time of Henry VIII. Just what did happen in sixteenth-century England? \par \par Henry VII had arranged for the marriage of his son Arthur, Prince of Wales, with Katharine of Aragon, the daughter of the 80 \par \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par rich King of Spain. The marriage had barely been solemnized when Arthur died. \par \par Only one third of the ample dowry pledged by the Spanish King had been paid, and the avaricious English King could not endure the thought of losing the rest of it. \par \par So he asked the Pope to grant a dispensation and to allow the new Prince of Wales, Henry, to marry his brother's widow. \par \par Prince Henry was little considered in the arrangement: King Henry did it all. The Prince formally protested, but the bargain was made; and, when he became King, he loyally married Katharine, who bore him a daughter, Mary. But there was no son to succeed him as King. We can make no plea for the character of Henry. He was able and strong, but his personal life cannot be defended. He fell in love with Anne Boleyn, and, wishing to marry her, appealed to the then-reigning Pope asking him to cancel the action of his predecessor, and declare the marriage with his brother's widow illegal and therefore null and void. \par \par Evidently the Pope of Henry's time was quite willing to comply with his request. \par \par The only difficulty was that Charles 5:81 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, was the nephew of Katharine, and strenuously objected to having the Pope humiliate his aunt. So while Henry made his plea for the divorce, Charles made an equal demand for maintaining the marriage. The Pope was hard put. He did not wish to alienate the powerful King of England, and he wished still less to alienate the more powerful King of Spain. He gave both Kings hope, trusting that he might be able in some way to avoid a decision. But Henry was too impatient to wait longer, and appealed to the Archbishop of Canter bury and the English Parliament to sustain him in the legality of his matrimonial change. They did sustain him. Without help from Rome, Katharine was declared divorced from her husband; Henry was immediately married to Anne; and Anne's daughter was to become one of the greatest rulers England has ever had. Politically, by this act, England was free of the Pope's dominion, and Henry called himself the Head of the English Church. \par \par What we need most to remember is that even so strong a personality as Henry 82 \par \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par could not have accomplished this declaration of independence, had not the people, together with their ablest leaders, been in sympathy with him. The noblest of the ecclesiastics and the more intelligent and spiritually minded laity had for a long time chafed under the scandals of the Mediaeval Church. With the blood of free islanders in their veins, feeling their foreign bondage more than they could bear, they only awaited an opportunity to bring the English Church back to that Apostolic simplicity of which they were beginning to read in the New Testament, both Greek and English. They now knew that the Church had been overlaid with teaching and traditions which had nothing to do with the primitive age, and which had well-nigh destroyed the continuity of its life and doctrine with the Apostolic past. \par \par Henry followed as well as led his people. \par \par The development of the English Church under Edward VI and Elizabeth was from within, and carried with it a large proportion of the English people. When Richard Hooker, one of the wisest and best of men, wrote his ' Ecclesiastical Polity/ he showed \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par how sanely and how learnedly the Church of England had been led to restore its Apostolic simplicity. Continuity with the past was regained in England by the Re formation, just as an old house, covered with trees and ivy is sometimes quite for gotten; but, by courageous cutting away of all foreign growth, is freed from its disguise, and stands revealed in all its stately lines, its stone shining in the sun. It is not a new house, but a house restored to its pristine beauty. The Church of England lost continuity with its overgrown trees and vines, to regain a sturdier, more essential continuity with the long and great past. \par \par We read in the Book of the Acts that the Earliest Church was the most perfect of democracies. 'All that believed were together, and had all things common' [\cf1\ul Act_2:44\cf0\ulnone ]. This full realization of the Christian fellowship did not long last. Worldliness and love of power insidiously crept in. Force, again and again, has taken the place of love. Men like Saint Francis have risen from time to time to plead for the way of Christ, the way of patience and \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par sacrifice and love, listening to the Lord Himself when He said, 'One is your Master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren/ Because our own Communion tries hard to be a true Christian democracy, we may rejoice in our further effort to return to the simplicity of the Apostles. \par \par The Church of England was established in America with the first permanent settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.' Because at the time of the Revolution many of the clergy were Royalists, the Church lost strength for a time; but when the Nation became independent, the Church also became independent. Largely the same men who framed the Constitution of the Nation framed the Constitution of the Church. Thus as we have in Congress the Senate and the House of Representatives, so in the General Convention we have the House of Bishops and the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies. As a Governor and a Legislature govern a State, so a Bishop and a Diocesan Convention govern a Diocese. A Diocese has a certain amount of self-direction, but it is also directed by the General Convention. Cor85 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par responding with the local township is the Parish governed by a Rector and a Vestry, who are elected in turn by the people of the parish. These same parishioners in parish meeting elect [or delegate their Vestry to elect for them] representatives to the Diocesan Convention. The Diocesan Convention made up of the Bishop, all the clergy of the Diocese, and the laymen thus elected from the parishes elects four clergymen and four laymen to represent the Diocese in the General Convention. \par \par [Each Missionary District sends one clergy man and one layman.] Further, on all important matters the clergy and the laity vote separately. Nothing may be done from which a majority of the lay delegates in either Diocesan or General Convention dissent. The Bishops and clerical deputies in General Convention might vote unanimously for a certain change in the Constitution or in the Prayer Book, but unless a majority of the laymen voted for it there would be no change. The Bishops, more over, are constitutional rulers. Their rights and their duties are rigidly defined. They are servants of the people, and rule by in86 \par \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par fluence and love rather than by any mechanical power vested in them. No Bishop, for example, may be out of his diocese for more than three months at a time without the formal consent of the Standing Committee of the Diocese. \par \par The Episcopal Church is a fundamentally democratic institution. The layman is forced to take responsibility, and his ample rights are clearly designated. Many are the times that the laity have saved the Church from hasty and unwise action. \par \par And, again and again, laymen have been developed, through this responsibility, to become leaders in the thought and advancing life of the Church. \par \par We may not speak with disparagement of others. Some have one virtue of the past, others have other virtues. But we may be thankful that our forbears preserved in our own Communion so many marks of the Apostolic Church, whereby we may say with thanksgiving that we have < continued in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.' \par \par \par 7 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par ii \par How shall we test the catholicity of the Church? No single communion in a di vided Christendom may rightly lay claim that it alone is the Catholic Church. Even the Church of Rome prefixes the adjective Roman to its title [the Holy Roman Apostolic Church]. 1 The only defensible definition of the Holy Catholic Church is that it includes all persons baptized with water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, to whatever communion of the Church these people may belong. \par \par All cannot be right, perhaps none are wholly right; but we believe that the Lord of the Church receives them all as members of the Church Catholic. It remains for us to ask why we believe that our Communion, in its orders and ministry, is a true branch of the Holy Catholic Church. \par \par In our ordination service the Preface says, ' It is evident unto all men diligently reading Holy Scriptures and Ancient Authors, that from the Apostles' time there \par * In the declaration of 1928 concerning the unity of Christendom, the Pope speaks of his Church as the Apostolic Roman Church, not using the word Catholic at all. \par \par 88 \par \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par have been three Orders of Ministers in Christ's Church Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.' If we emphasize the word ' from/ we find modern scholarship endorsing this statement. These orders were certainly established from the end of the first century. 1 To this statement, the Church of Rome adds the Pope of Rome, as a necessary officer of the Church. What we must discover, therefore, is whether the Pope has been always a necessary officer. A glance at Church history shows us that at the Council of Nicea in 325 the Bishops were evidently all equal. The Bishops of the great sees, such as Alexandria and Antioch, had naturally greater influence, which the Council itself recognized as just. \par \par Eusebius of Cesarea, as the friend of the Emperor, had probably greatest influence of all The Bishop of Rome was not pre\par \par 1 The New Testament mentions all three orders, but it is not clear that they functioned together. For example, bishops and presbyters [later contracted to 'priests'] were assigned the same duties. Out of a number of 'orders* [\cf1\ul 1Co_12:28-30\cf0\ulnone ], the three permanent orders emerged in the beginning of the second century as witnessed by Ignatius [ad Magn. 2, 3]. Ignatius writes that these three orders, bishops, presbyters, and deacons, are in his day established. \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par sent, but he would have had large power had he been there, because he was Bishop of the imperial city. With Constantine's conversion, Christianity spread so rapidly that the organization of the Church be came more elaborate; and Bishops of certain chief cities became Archbishops, Patriarchs, or Popes. Thus there came to be Patriarchs, or Popes, in Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, Carthage, Milan, Rome, and other places. Within the next few centuries two catastrophes tended to strengthen the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome. The first was the Barbarian Invasion from the North. To the ancestors of these barbarians former Bishops of Rome had sent missionaries, so that when the old civilization yielded to the new, the conquerors had respect only for the Church as represented in the Pope. The Barbarian Invasion vastly strengthened his authority. Meantime, in the seventh century, the Mohammedan Invasion so overwhelmed the Eastern part of the Church, that the Popes of most of the Provinces were reduced nearly to nothing. By the weakening of all the Eastern patriarchates, the \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par advantages accruing to the Roman Patriarch by reason of the Barbarian Invasion were largely increased by the Mohammedan Invasion. \par \par Gregory the Great [590-604], assuming of necessity, because of the destitution of Italy, functions of civil authority, became a powerful secular prince, and so may be called the founder of the temporal power of the Papacy. On Christmas Day 800 the barbarian Emperor Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope of Rome. This power of the Pope was a gradually growing power; and at this time, and for several centuries after, the leadership of the Pope was of great benefit to a distracted Church. \par \par We may rightly thank God for it. \par \par From 857 to 1453 the breaking asunder of the Greek and the Latin Churches was accomplished. Beginning with misunderstandings, passing into avowed doctrinal divergence, the final decisive separation came after six hundred years of vain efforts at reunion. The almost solitary point of doctrinal difference was the change of the Nicene Creed by the Latin Church by which the West said that the Holy Ghost \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par proceeds from the Father and the Son, while the East still maintains the ancient declaration that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father. The Greeks found the real difficulty, however, in the papal claims to the primacy. The oldest Apostolic sees, Jerusalem and Antioch, refused to bow to the sole claim of Rome. \par \par Quite apart from the rejection of the papal claims by the oldest part of Christendom, the chief difficulty with the Papacy was that its spiritual service was sometimes lost in its political mastery. The Pope was steadily ceasing to be a servant of men, and tended to become their lord. [This tendency is a danger in the ministry of all communions.] Because the office became worldly, worldly (even wicked) men sought and won it. Alexander VI, a Borgia, was perhaps the most wicked; Leo X, a member of the Medici family, was perhaps the most worldly. The Popes were sometimes thieves and not shepherds. The good men in the Church of Rome mourned this fact, and reformed these conditions in the Council of Trent. \par \par Therefore, with all other parts of West92 \par \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par ern Christendom, the Church which remained in communion with the Pope was reformed in the sixteenth century. The decrees of the Council of Trent were the symbol of the Reformation as much as the Augsburg Confession, the Westminster Confession, and the Thirty-Nine Articles were symbols of it. History, however, proves that the Church in communion with Rome was not Catholic in insisting that the Pope is a necessary officer of the Church; for the Pope cannot trace his pedigree from the beginning. James, and not. Peter, was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, which was the mother of all the Churches. \par \par The statement of the Preface to the Ordinal that 'from the Apostles' time there have been these orders of Ministers in Christ's Church Bishops, Priests, and Deacons ' has been fully proved. With out judging others who have more or less, we are on firm ground when we say that in preserving unbroken our continuity with a ministry of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, from the days of the Apostles, we are true to the Catholic heritage. We have a ministry which has continued through all 93 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par Christian history, and which in most of this time has been the one ministry recognized by the whole Church; and, even in the last four hundred years, this has been the ministry of about nine tenths of Christians throughout the world. \par \par III\par That the Church may be holy, it must put forth the character of its members as the most important evidence of its validity. \par \par Jesus Christ said, * By their fruits ye shall know them/ Whenever any branch of the Church produces liars, murderers, thieves, and adulterers, that branch shows itself far below the evils of heresy or schism. That branch ceases to be part of the true vine. \par \par Henceforth it is fit only to be cast out and to be burned. No orthodoxy of doctrine or regularity of ministry can save it. On the other hand, when we discover a group of Christians without many of the formal credentials of the Church, but with such patience, self-sacrifice, purity, and love, that one is constantly reminded of the Saviour Himself, then we know that these people are in a class with Saint Paul, who 94 \par \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par entered into the highest gifts of the Church without the outward forms counted necessary for others. \par \par There is beauty and truth in the theory of Apostolic Succession; that is, the continuity of the Christian Ministry. But there is more truth and more beauty in the succession of Christ-filled men, laymen as well as clergy. For often the lay people are greater saints, I suspect, than their clerical brethren. Monica, for example, was, I am sure, of more exalted character than her son, even after he had abandoned his evil past and had won full right to his title as Saint Augustine. Christ the Lord, living in men and women from generation to generation, is His own witness. It was not only the ordained men of the first centuries who were willing to die rather than deny the resurrection of Christ; the succession of witnesses was often in whole households of lay folk, where devout parents told, with shining eyes, to their children what their noble parents in their time had told to them. It is transparent goodness, learned from Christ Himself, which proclaims the power of the Christian Church. \par \par 95 \par \par \fs22\par \fs24\par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par IV \par \par The final note of the Church is that it is one. The effort of Christ-filled men to attain unity in Christ's Church is in sympathy with the Lord's own prayer that all who follow Him should be one, as He is one with His Father. \par \par Our own communion stands in a place of marked responsibility, for we share with the communions which call themselves Catholic the Apostolic Ministry, and with the communions which call themselves Protestant the Apostolic teaching, the measuring of our doctrine by the standards of the New Testament. We have in our own corporate life all the varieties of temperament which are found in the communions about us, which, because of the same differences, believe that they must live apart. We exult in our differences of high and low and broad churchmanship, because we prove to ourselves that our Communion is generous and comprehensive, eager to include all who love the Lord Jesus, and exceedingly loath to shut any out. \par \par Beyond this, we have put forth a basis \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par of reunion which would be satisfactory to us. This basis was first suggested by Dr. William Reed Huntington in his ' Church Idea'; was then adopted by the General Convention at Chicago in 1886; and in 1888 was affirmed by the Lambeth Conference of all the bishops of the Anglican Communion. It is called the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, and is as follows, I \par \par The Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as 'containing all things necessary to salvation/ and as being the rule and ultimate standard of Faith. \par \par II \par \par The Apostles' Creed, as the Baptismal Symbol; and the Nicene Creed, as the sufficient statement of the Christian Faith. \par \par Ill \par The two Sacraments ordained by Christ Himself, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord, ministered with unfailing use of Christ's words of institution, and of the elements ordained by Him. \par \par IV \par \par The Historic Episcopate, locally adapted 97 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par in the methods of its administration to the varying needs of the nations and peoples called of God into the unity of His Church. \par \par In 1927, five hundred delegates from nearly all Communions in Christendom met in Lausanne to confer together on the Faith and Order of the Church, and to prepare the way, if possible, for definite action towards unity by the governing bodies of the Church throughout the world. \par \par The temper of those who truly hungered for unity was evident by their humility and by their word that they prayed God to take from them all preconceived notions of how unity might come and to use them in His way to bring unity to pass, even if they must sacrifice what hitherto they had thought essential. There were natural cries that this was treason to fixed principles as if the Lord Himself could not be trusted to define what is essential!\par \par \par Meantime, great experiments were being tried in Canada, where the United Church of Canada unites most of the Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists; and also in South India, where the Church 98 \par \par \par THE CHURCH \par \par of England is waiving ordination by bishops in Communions with which it joins provided that fifty years hence all ministers of the United Church receive Episcopal ordination. In our Communion in America we have a Canon providing for the ordination of ministers of congregations outside our Communion if they and their congregations will conform to certain conditions, those ministers then being counted regularly ordained to minister to their present flocks and to our own communicants. Such practical efforts do not go far, but they are an earnest of greater things to come, and a warning that we cannot be content much longer to speak merely fair words, but must begin to act, trusting ourselves entirely to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. \par \par Meantime, there is a growing respect and a deepening of brotherly love from one group to another. The Church, more and more filled with the daring and the love of its Master, is less sure of its own wisdom, and is opening its mind and its heart wider and wider to the directing power of the Lord of the Church. \par \par 99 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par During the war a French cure was put in charge of an American wounded soldier, who was a Protestant. Day after day the loving cure ministered to the youth, and grew more and more devoted to him. The people of the parish knew what this foreign soldier had become to their pastor, and when the young American died the whole flock gathered with their leader to mingle their tears with his in the open grave. The grave had been dug in the garden just as close to the wall dividing the garden from God's acre as was possible. In the morning after the funeral, when the cure's friends came to visit the grave, they found that loving hands had pulled down the wall which separated the American Protestant's grave from the consecrated ground. The love of the cure could not endure that his dear friend should be separated from him in the fulness of his Christian hope. All this is a symbol of the growing desire for genuine unity. When all men love one another as Christ loves each one of them, the heart of the Church will no longer hesitate, and God will show them how to be one. \par \par \par \fs22\par \pard\cf2\lang3082\f3\fs23\par } {i05 - Christian Worship{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Georgia;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\stylesheet{ Normal;}{\s1 heading 1;}} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\胞MIa04 - The Church{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonuc1\pard\keepn\hyphpar0\s1\sb240\sa120\tx0\lang3082\f0\fs24\tab\lang1033\b\f1\fs32 CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \pard\nowidctlpar\b0\f2\fs24\par THE first obligation of a Christian is his duty towards God. We some times give as our reason for love and reverence towards God that He will show us how to serve our neighbours better. This is a subordinate reason. The primary and essential quality in our reverence and love towards God is not for our own sake or our neighbours' sake, but for His sake. Our Saviour taught us the proportion of our duty when He gave to His disciples the Lord's Prayer. The first half of that prayer is on God's behalf: for the hallowing of His Name, the fulfilling of His will, the coming of His Kingdom. We wish to make Him glad by understanding Him, by loving Him, by working with Him for His purposes. To reduce Christian worship to a mere inspiration for altruism is like giving a present to a business friend on your mother's birthday. We must have sufficient imagination to believe that God rejoices in the expression of our affection. \par \par Out of gratitude to our heavenly Father we erect the most beautiful and dignified churches in our power. Into the stone and wood and iron and glass we build our love. \par \par A beautiful church is a spiritual thing, kindling joy in the soul. Then into this building a Christian strives to bring the beauty of worship. So we have a Prayer Book, containing the devotion of all the Christian ages, translated into the most transparent English. \par \par \par The first meeting places for Christian worship were the houses of the Christians. \par \par St. Clement's in Rome illustrates the evolution of the Christian Church, one church after another being built on the ruins of the previous church, and, below all, the walls of the house of Clement. Sometimes persecution drove the Christians to hiding places, and at all times, until Constantine's conversion, the faithful were too poor to erect special buildings. When riches came, the covered Roman forum, called a basil102 \par \par \par CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \par ica, became the type copied for the sumptuous Christian church. Later, the round heathen temple, such as the Pantheon, be came the model; and later still, the basilica merged into what is called the Romanesque church. In the East the Byzantine church, in the form of a Greek cross surmounted by domes, was common. The Romanesque gradually merged into the Gothic, and in the middle of the twelfth century the Cathedral at Chartres was begun. In England the Early English Gothic of the thirteenth century passed, in the next century, into the Decorated; and, in the fifteenth century and later, we have the Perpendicular Gothic of King's Chapel, Cambridge, and of Henry VIFs Chapel at Westminster. The Gothic was never popular in Italy, for it always seemed to the Italians literally 'Gothic/ that is, barbarous. With the Renaissance in learning we find areturn to Greek ideals in the architecture of the Church. St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London are outstanding examples. In the nineteenth century admiration for Gothic revived, and most of our best churches to-day reflect that admiration. \par \par 103 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par Ordinarily the best churches are built of the material of the neighbourhood in which they are set. Stone is the natural material for a village or a city built of stone, but in a New England village built of wood painted white, the old New England Meetinghouse, built of wood painted white, designed somewhat after the fashion of Sir Christopher Wren, is certainly a thing of the utmost beauty and reverence. In Puritan New England as well as in mediaeval France the most beautiful building in the community was the place of worship. \par \par It was only a later day which brought the ugly, irreverent, cheap architecture, or the exotic stone church in a wooden village. \par \par Learned architects and a sounder taste in all the people are showing us how the Lord must be honoured with man's very best. \par \par With this rapid survey of the history of ecclesiastical architecture in mind, let us now think of the meaning of a church building. Ordinarily a church is so built that its chancel faces the East, the rising sun typifying the risen Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. Churches are often built m 104 \par \par \par CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \par the form of a cross in memory of our Saviour's cross. Entering by the west door we find first the church porch, a place of shelter under the roof of the church, before we enter the church proper. From the church porch we enter the nave, so named from the Latin word for ship [navis], because the Church, like a ship, is a place of safety for God's people in the storms of life. \par \par If there is a clerestory [a second storey with windows] this is supported by pillars; and the spaces between the pillars and the side walls of the church are called aisles. In a cruciform church the side arms of the cross are called transepts. Proceeding eastward from the nave, we enter the choir, in which are stalls, or seats and desks, for the clergy and the choristers. Ordinarily at or near the space dividing the choir from the nave are placed the Lectern, from which the Bible Lessons are read in Morning and Evening Prayer, and the Pulpit, from which sermons are preached. Sometimes in this space, or near it, is the Font for Holy Baptism; sometimes the Font is placed near a door, to symbolize the fact that Baptism is the entrance to the Church. \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par The communion rail, at which communicants kneel, divides the choir from the sanctuary, the most eastern part of the church, which is sometimes in the form of an apse or semi-circle. The chief object in the sanctuary is the Holy Table or Altar, on which at the time of Holy Communion the Bread and the Wine are placed for the Sacrament. At the south side of this is the Credence, so named from the side-table in a King's dining hall in the middle ages where the King's taster sat and guarded the King from poison: the derivation of the word is from the Latin credens, inspiring belief or trust. On this side-table are placed the Bread and the Wine before the moment when they are to be placed on the Holy Table. On the north side of the sanctuary is generally placed the bishop's chair. The choir and sanctuary together are called the chancel. At the west end of the church or at the intersection of nave and transepts a tower or spire is often built. The spire represents aspiration; the tower, God's protection of His people. \par \par Since the Reformation the ordinary clothing of the presbyter at the time of 1 06 \par \par \par CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \par divine service is a white linen surplice under which is worn a long black coat called a cassock, and over which, across the shoulders he wears a stole or tippet. These garments are simply the survival of ordinary clothing worn in the early centuries of the Church by the laity. In the early ages the clergy had no distinctive dress. The surplice is a development of the Roman tunic, the stole is the development of a band of cloth to protect the neck from cold; the cassock, sometimes made of fur, was for warmth in cold churches. Though these garments have nothing sacred in themselves, they serve to hide the riches or the poverty of an individual's clothing, and they have come to represent dignity and reverence in worship. The white surplice for us represents purity and the white robes of the saints; the stole over the shoulders represents the yoke of Christ worn by the clergyman as a badge of highest honour and Christian service. A deacon wears a surplice only; or he may, in addition, wear a tippet over both shoulders; or a stole over one shoulder. A bishop wears in place of a surplice, a white linen 107 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par rochet, which is a long garment with sleeves gathered at the wrists by a black band and linen ruffs. This is really only another form of surplice. Over this he wears a black satin chimere, which is, in its origin, a practical garment for warmth. \par \par Over the chimere he wears a wide tippet of black silk. This too was for warmth, and is shown in some of Holbein's pictures made of fur. \par \par The clergy are conservative and therefore cling to the dress of an age long past. \par \par The conventional street clothing of clergy men to-day is simply a survival of Dr. Johnson's time. To glance at a picture of Samuel Johnson you might easily imagine that you were looking at the picture of an English bishop of our own generation. The church clothes of the clergy go back many centuries, but they survive because they happen to be simple and beautiful. Any meaning which any church vestments may have must be read into them, from the Geneva gown of a Presbyterian elder to the most gorgeous vestment of the Pope of Rome. All are simple survivals of ordinary clothing of the past, and have no right to 108 \par \par \par CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \par survive unless they are seemly, dignified, and clean. 1 \par \par ii \par The English Book of Common Prayer dates from 1549. It has been revised only a few times and the present revision in America will, we trust, be completed in 1928. The Book remains essentially what it was when it came from Archbishop Cranmer's scholarship and genius. It includes the best of all the devotional literature of the Christian Church, with additional matter by Cranmer himself. The whole Book is in the glowing English of Tyndal, Cranmer, and other great lights of sixteenth century English prose. \par \par * For full discussion of this, see J. William Legg's * Church Ornaments and their Civil Antecedents.' University Press: Cambridge. The tunica corresponds to the linen shirt of modern times, and was of various forms: it might reach to the knees or to the ankles. It might be sleeveless [like a sleeveless Rochet], or with flowing sleeves [like a Surplice], or with close sleeves [like an Alb]. Fashions varied among gentlemen in different ages: long or short, sleeves, or no sleeves. The conservative Church kept them all! The laity of the Early Church wore over the tunica, an outer garment which they called the pcenula, this we recognize in ancient pictures as the Chasuble, or, again, as the Cope. So with the Dalmatic, the Pallium, and all the other vestments of the Church all are survivals of the dress of different ranks of the laity. \par \par 109 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par The Prayer Book is composed from four Mediaeval Service Books: The Breviary, or short monastic services for the 'hours'; The Missal, or Service for the Holy Communion; The Manual, or Services for Holy Baptism, Matrimony, Burial, etc.; and The Pontifical, or the bishop's Services, such as Ordinations. \par \par These books in turn go far back into the dim past for their origin. The daily services of the Church, which we now call Morning and Evening Prayer, are not unlike the services in the Jewish Synagogues of our Lord's day. Two Lessons were read, one from the Law; the other from the Prophets. The Psalter was their book of praise as it is largely ours. We have prayers and versicles which may be traced in embryo to that time. And some of the most sacred parts of the Holy Communion are traceable to domestic worship in the homes of the laity of our Lord's nation and time. Then our Lord's own Prayer be comes part of every service in the Prayer Book. All through the succeeding centuries great aspiration and longing found place in the more or less permanent worship no \par \par CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \par of the Church. The English Prayer Book has enshrined these within its covers; so that we may rightly claim for it the spirit of worship through all the Christian centuries and even before. \par \par \par When the monasteries were closed, there was no class in England which could go to church at intervals of a few hours through the day. The Reformers were forced to provide services for the morning and evening to take the place of these brief services. In general they provided for more reading of the Scriptures, and they combined into one service what had been divided among several services. \par \par The service of Morning Prayer begins with a sentence or sentences from the Scripture appropriate to the season. This is followed by an exhortation explaining the uses of worship; this exhortation may be omitted, and, if it is omitted, a short bidding is used in its place. [Into the various services at the Reformation short sermons or exhortations were introduced, because preaching was at a low ebb, and in \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par the people needed instruction. Now that there are many excellent sermons, the Church is either dropping these exhortations or is making their use optional.] Then follows the public confession of sins and the declaration of absolution, taking the place of private confession, which the Reformers felt had been abused. After the Lord's Prayer and Versicles, the Invitatory, called the Venite^ is sung. This is followed by other Psalms selected by the minister. A chapter from the Old Testament is then read as the First Lesson; the congregation rise to sing Te Deum, Benedicite, or Benedictus es; a Second Lesson, from the New Testament, is read; and this is followed by the singing of Benedictus [the Song of Zacharias] or Jubilate. The Apostles' \par Creed is said by all the people, followed by versicles and the prayers. Evening Prayer is the same, except that Venite is omitted, and the canticles sung after the Lessons are Magnificat and Nunc dimittis or certain Old Testament Psalms. The people are instructed to stand for praise, to sit for instruction, and to kneel for prayer. Morning and Evening Prayer are the greafc mis112 \par \par \par CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \par sionary services of the Church* and when reverently, intelligently, and simply rendered make a profound appeal. \par \par The Litany is a Service of Prayer wherein the people take large part. It was the first service of the Prayer Book to be put into English. It may be used with other services or alone. \par \par 2 \par \par Of the Holy Communion I shall speak later, and therefore postpone the consideration of the service till that time. This is the service book which was called the Missal. \par \par 3 \par \par The next book, the Manual, begins with the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. Instead of three services [Infant Baptism, Adult Baptism, and Private Baptism] we now have one service, assuming that the Public Baptism of Infants is the normal use, provision for Adult Baptism and Private Baptism being made in the course of this service. Provision is made also for immer\rdblquote 3 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par sion if the candidate or his sponsors desire it. \par \par The Catechism has been amplified and interspersed with worship, and is now called Offices of Instruction. This part of the Prayer Book is to be learned before Confirmation. Confirmation is a short service wherein the Bishop, after the custom of the Apostles, lays his hands upon baptized persons duly prepared and presented by their Rector, praying that they may be strengthened by the Holy Spirit. \par \par The Service of Matrimony has in it the history of the Church in the freeing of woman and giving her an equal place at the side of her husband. The dower rights proclaimed that she was not the mere chattel of her husband; and now we have made her vow identical with her husband's vow. Both now enter into mutual obedience, service, and love, quite equal before God and man. The Visitation of the Sick is a collection of comforting and inspiring suggestions for the use of the clergy and others in a sick room. The sick themselves may find it useful when quite alone. The Burial Service, comforting, reticent, noble, iu \par \par CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \par is the same for the great and the unknown. \par \par We leave our beloved dead, of whatever station they may be, in the hands of a loving Father. \par \par \par The fourth book is the book of Bishops' Services, called the Pontifical . It includes the services for ordering Deacons, ordaining Priests, and consecrating Bishops; also a form for the consecrating of a Church; and an office for the Institution of Ministers. At the end of the Prayer Book, technically outside it, are forms of Family Prayer. These are placed here chiefly that the laity may easily find them and use them more conveniently in their own households. \par \par We need no arguments in our day for the use of formal services, printed in a book. \par \par The prejud ice against them is rapidly passing, and many gracious testimonies to their value are corning from unexpected quarters. At the same time the value of extempore prayer must never be forgotten; only it is a gift which is rare. The com\par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par pactness, directness, and reverence of the old prayers are in general the best medium of the worship of the heart. For it must be remembered that neither precomposed prayer nor extempore prayer is in itself really prayer. Unless the pray er spoken by the minister awakes the inner prayer of the soul, there is no prayer under the root of the church. \par \par My words fly up, my thoughts remain below, Words without thoughts never to heaven go. \par \par The whole matter is a question of what will make the people in the pews truly lift up their hearts to the heavenly Father. \par \par Phillips Brooks, filled with the memory of the great prayers of the Prayer Book, could on occasion pour forth such prayers from his heart that all people who heard fell to praying. But for most people, there is either stumbling or irreverent fluency, too much giving of information, too much preaching, too little direct petition, too little trust in the Father's overwhelming knowledge and love. The fact that the words are familiar is a help rather than a hindrance. They may come freighted with 116 \par \par \par CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \par association and memory. But they must be said slowly, clearly, reverently. To hear prayers muttered or gabbled, a s if it mattered not what we offered to God, is to chill the heart and to drive away all secret prayer. Rightly, honestly, and carefully said, the prayers of the Prayer Book may be like the remembered harmonies of music: the expectation of loved words and phrases finds the heart ready to mount on wings of light into the heavenly places. \par \par There is one corollary to this truth which, in justice to our human frailty, should be mentioned. Even in the most sacred services, in spite of devout effort, the mind will wander to other things. Conscientious people are often. distressed by the irrelevance of their thoughts, while solemn words are being said. I can remember a certain evening in my own youth when I heard a saintly clergyman confess that as he tried to lead the worship of the people, his thoughts would sometimes stray in every direction, and he would arouse himself to know that he himself was not worshipping, though trying to lead others. I shall never forget the comfort 117 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par which that admission gave me. I felt that I had noble company in my shortcoming, and, though I did not cease to try to put my thought and spirit into the outward worship, I ceased to accuse myself of the sin of irreverence. More and more, I am sure that, if we honestly try to lift up our hearts, God is very patient with our wandering thoughts: He pities our infirmities, and only rejoices when we succeed in filling the words of the prayers with the desires and aspirations of our hearts. \par \par Another important reason for the use of a Prayer Book is that it provides a share for the people in the worship of the Church. \par \par The responses to the versicles, the saying of certain prayers with the minister, the saying of the Amens y the reading of the Psalter, the singing of the Canticles and Hymns all belong to the people. It is the duty of every member of the Church to take full advantage of this privilege. \par \par Everyone should take audible part in every service. He is a shabby Christian who sits idly in his pew, and makes no effort to have the service hearty and inspiring. He who earnestly offers worship will help his neigh118 \par \par \par CHRISTIAN WORSHIP \par \par hours and will himself receive the greatest blessing. \par \par Above all, a beautiful church and an orderly, dignified worship of praise and prayer, may be the means by which we give to God our best our understanding and our love. \par \par \par \par \pard\cf1\lang3082\f3\fs23\par } {\s1 heading 1;}} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\keepn\hyphpar0\s1\sb240\sa120\tx0\lang3082\f0\fs24\tab\lang1033\b\f1\fs32 VI \par \tab THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \tab\par \pard\nowidctlpar\b0\f2\fs24\par Holy Communion is the profoundest outward experience of Christian worship. It is by no means the only way in which Christ is present with those who love Him. He Himself said, * Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them' [St. \cf1\ul Mat_18:20\cf0\ulnone ]. By our own experience we know the truth of these words, often in a worshipping congregation our hearts beat fast with the joy which is kindled by the fulness of Christ's presence. \par \par By our own experience, also, we know how He comes to us one by one, in our private prayers, or on a solitary walk down the open road, or through the personal talk with a beloved friend. Holman Hunt's picture, The Light of the World, we discover is the vivid story of the truth. The weeds of neglect and forgetfulness may grow over the door of our hearts, but whenever we open that door, at any time whatever, the 120 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par Lord Christ is lovingly waiting to enter, But, with all these other ways, the Holy Communion is the great corporate way in which the children of the Church come, not one by one, but in groups, by hundreds, and by thousands, to lose themselves in His mystery and His love. It is, further, a way which Christ Himself has appointed. \par \par For He said, 'This do in remembrance of me' [St. Luke xxn. 19 and \cf1\ul 1Co_11:24\cf0\ulnone ]. \par \par In loyal obedience we come to His own trysting-place. \par \par Trying to understand what the Holy Communion is, we may safely turn to the Catechism of the Church, which defines the meaning of a Sacrament as ' the out ward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof/ We learn also in the Catechism that there are two parts in a Sacrament, * the outward visible sign, and the inward spiritual grace/ The outward part or sign in the Lord's Supper is * Bread and Wine, which the Lord hath commanded to be received/ The inward part, or thing signi\par 121 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par fied, is 'the Body and Blood of Christy which are spiritually taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper/ And the benefits whereof we are partakers are 'the strengthening and refreshing of our souls by the Body and Blood of Christ, as our bodies are strengthened and refreshed by the Bread and Wine/ \par \par Angry controversies have raged in the Church about this Feast of our Saviour's Love. Enough volumes have been written about it to fill many houses. These controversies are not profitable. When you are perplexed by the dogmatic assertions of this man or that, declaring to you what the Holy Communion is or is not, you will discreetly turn to the Catechism and see what the Church teaches you. There you will learn that the gift of Christ's Body and Blood is spiritually received. The gift is a spiritual gift. As Bishop Gore has said, Faith alone is the instrument which can receive it, not the mouth of the body. The gift accompanies the material bread and wine, but is to be distinguished from it. \par \par And inasmuch as the body and blood are spiritual, they are indistinguishable or in\par 122 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par separable from the living person, the whole Christ. 1 \par \par Nearness to Him, or remoteness from Him, is a matter of faith and holiness, and not of place. 3 \par \par No better commentary could be written on the words of the Catechism. \par \par The Body and Blood are the clearest words our Saviour could have used in the upper-chamber in Jerusalem when he ate the Last Supper with His disciples to tell them that in this great Sacrament they could feed on His inmost and most real life, not only then but always. Just as the body of a friend when that friend is dead ceases to be that friend himself and is only the hollow, meaningless shell which once held his immortal spirit, so the body and blood of Christ is meaningless unless we find it filled to overflowing with His whole Spirit. \par \par We come to the Holy Communion to have our spirits fed with His Spirit, our minds filled with His Mind, our hearts filled with His Heart, our souls filled with His Soul. \par \par If we stop with the outward and visible \par * c The Body of Christ/ p. 65. \par 'The Body of Christ/ p. 141* \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par sign, we lose the overwhelming gift which transcends time and space, and which carries our eager spirits out in the unlimited regions of heaven where Christ eternally dwells. \par \par ii \par Your spiritual pastors and masters may throw light on the meaning of the Holy Communion; and you yourself, by constant and reverent receiving of the Sacrament, will find deeper and deeper revelations to your mind and heart. But the Holy Communion is not for those who are learned or who can give facile reasons. It is for all those who love the Lord Jesus; and it is enough if you can come in honesty, after hearing the invitation, Ye who do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with your neighbours, and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways; Draw near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort; and make your humble confession to Almighty God, devoutly kneeling. \par \par 124 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par i \par The first requirement is true and earnest repentance of your sins. This means deliberate self-examination. Character is the best offering we can bring to God. Only God can tell us when we fall short. Man, being frail himself, is apt to be overindulgent. Our consciences, if kept sensitive and true, will be our best guides. Very often the sins which worry us are not so bad as the sins to which we are blind. A man may worry over his hot temper, and be quite unaware that he is unjust, even dishonest, in his business. A woman may worry over a quick word which she said to a friend, and be unaware that she is a gross worldling, measuring everything by the standards of a snob, and not by the attainment of Christian character. Per haps the best way to examine yourself is to read the Ten Commandments, and the Sermon on the Mount [St. Matthew v, vi, vn], saying humbly, 'Lord, is it I?' If you hear your Saviour speaking to you, and are not truly sorry that your life is so unlike the life which He demands, you must be too hard to receive the pledges of 125 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par His love. But if you bow your head, and say, e Be merciful to me, a sinner/ your heart is tender, you do care that you are what you are, and you may come. Certainly, the Gospel tells you that the invitation is for you. \par \par Sometimes consciences are dull or confused; then  the Warnings at the end of the Service for Holy Communion in the Prayer Book, which are appointed to be read by the Minister from time to time, should be pondered and obeyed. In one of these Warnings are these words, Because it is requisite that no man should come to the holy Communion, but with a full trust in God's mercy, and with a quiet conscience; therefore, if there be any of you, who by this means cannot quiet his own conscience herein, but requireth further comfort or counsel, let him come to me, !or to some other Minister of God's Word, and open his grief; that he may receive such godly counsel and advice, as may tend to the quieting of his conscience, and the removing of all scruple and doubtfulness. \par \par After sach counsel, should you' think it \par wise to seek it, you should return to the \par solitude, and be altogether alone with God, ia6 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par that He may search you out, and reveal you to yourself, as only He can. He will examine your thou"ghts, and lead you in the way everlasting. \par \par \par To be in love and charity with your neighbours is often a severe test. A good many people stay away from the Holy Communion because they cherish a grudge against someone who has basely and deliberately injured them, or, worse still, has injured one whom they love. There are injuries which are so bitter that it requires all the love of Christ to say, * Father, for give them/ I do not believe that Christ requires full accomplishment in this hardes#t of Christian virtues, but honest desire and a real beginning. If you say that the man who has hurt you has been so foul an enemy that you do not believe that God intends him to be forgiven; if you say that you will be in charity with all mankind except this one rascal; if you argue that you have the full right to go on hating this man then you are hard, deliberately cherishing your hatred, and have no right 127 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par to come to the Holy Communion. But if, on the $other hand, while admitting that you are far from your goal, you say to God and to yourself that you will try to be rid of your hard feelings, if you follow the Lord's command and have tried to bless one who has cursed you, have tried to do good to one who has hated you, and have tried to pray for one who has despitefully used you, then you are plainly not content to fall back upon the grim excuse of the wrong that has been done you, you are recognizing the justice of the Saviour's command that you love a%ll men, even your enemies, and you have the right to come to the Holy Communion, that you may receive His strength to carry through your eager purpose of loving all men. \par \par An eloquent example of the demand for Christian charity in the Holy Communion is related in a recent book, In New Zealand the Lord's Supper was being celebrated. The first rank having knelt, a native rose up and returned to his seat, but again returned to the rank and knelt down. Being questioned, he said, 'When I went to the &table I did not know ia8 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par whom I should have to kneel beside, when suddenly I saw by my side the man who a few years before slew my father and drank his blood, and whom I then devoted to death. Imagine what I felt when I suddenly found him by my side. A rush of feeling came over me that I could not endure, and I went back to my seat. But when I got there, I saw the Upper Sanctuary and the Great Supper and I thought I heard a voice saying, \ldblquote By this 'shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another/' That overpowered me. I sat down, and at once seemed to see another vision of a cross with a Man nailed to it; and I heard him say, \ldblquote Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.\rdblquote Then I returned to the altar/ ' \par \par Anyone who knows life in its heights and its depths has the sincerest sympathy for one who has suffered an injury which causes the root of bitterness to spring up. \par \par That root may (grow into such a vine that it will strangle the very life out of a man's soul. For his own sake and for Christ's sake, the disciple must overcome that deadly grudge and hatred. He must be in \par * P. J. Maclagan, DJPhiL,\rquote T \\e Gospel and Its Working^ \par p. 82. \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par charity with all men. If he longs to gain that hardest of all victories, Christ will accept his longing, and will help him to his glorious and loving ending, even as he gave to the New Zeala)nder his triumph of complete love. \par \par 3 \par \par The firm intention to lead a new life is tested by the determination to follow God's commandments, and walk in His ways. \par \par These requirements come to us in the Ten Commandments, in the Sermon on the Mount, and most of all in our own consciences. We know what God wants us to do. We cannot plead ignorance. Often we do not really want to do the exact right. \par \par We plead excuses, or we shade down the commands for our own prejudice *and convenience. The word intend is the chief word in this third condition. We do not promise complete success. We do not promise never to stumble or fall. But now, in this moment of our admission to the high privilege of the Holy Communion we tell God that we do intend to be our best, to obey His will, and to walk in His ways. \par \par 130 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par There is nothing impossible in this third demand, but it requires all of a man's man hood, all of a woman's womanho+od. To receive God's best, we must bring to Him our very best. \par \par in \par Let us now go through the Service for the Holy Communion in the Book of Common Prayer. The arrangement of the parts of the Service is a steadily progressive order: the Introduction, the Ministry of the Word, the Offertory, the Intercession, the Preparation, the Consecration, the Communion of the Priest and People, and the Thanksgiving. \par \par i \par The Introduction begins with the Lord's Prayer and the Prayer for Pu,rity, taken out of a former Service called the Priest's Preparation. The Lord's Prayer in this place may be omitted. If said, it belongs to the people as well as to the priest. After the Collect for Purity, the Ten Commandments are read, the people responding with \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par the prayer that they may truly desire to keep each commandment; or else, instead of the Commandments, our Saviour's Summary of the Law is read. If the Summary is read, the Kyrie [Lord have mercy] is said,- followed by the collect for the day. \par \par \par The Ministry of the Word begins with the reading of the Epistle; and, while the people stand in honour of our Lord's words, the Gospel follows. Immediately the Creed is then said, and this part of the Service concludes with the sermon, which may aptly dwell upon some word or incident of the Gospel or Epistle, so binding this section of the Service into unity. \par \par 3 \par \par The Offertory begins with the saying of one or more of the Offerto.ry Sentences, and may continue with a hymn by the congregation or an anthem sung by the choristers. \par \par While the Offertory is being said or sung, the offering is collected and presented and placed upon the Holy Table. [It is never correct to speak of the money given as the 132 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par Offertory. That is the Offering, and the Offertory is the Service.], It is the duty of every communicant to lay aside each week a definite amount, according to his ability, a/nd to place that gift upon the alms-basin, as part of his worship. Money thus rises into a spiritual thing, becoming the symbol of gratitude and devotion. Besides this regular giving, on which the systematic work of the Church depends, a communicant should save and earn as he can for the emergencies which arise in the life of men, and which ought to touch the heart and the conscience. As the alms are presented and placed upon the Holy Table, a prayer should go up from each communicant that his gift may br0ing the joy and love of Christ to the man or the cause to whom or to which it shall be sent. 'The gift with out the giver is bare/ \par \par As part of the Offering, the Bread and Wine to be used in the Holy Communion are then placed upon the Holy Table. \par \par [This is a relic of the time when the people were too poor to bring money, but brought their gifts in kind, out of which the Bread 133 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par and Wine were reserved for the Sacrament.] Because the Brea1d and Wine are presented in the name of the whole people, the people should always stand till the Priest bids the people to prayer after placing the Bread and Wine on the Holy Table. \par \par 4 \par \par The Intercession consists of a single prayer, which is called the Prayer for Christ's Church Militant. In condensed form it prays for the Church, the Nation, and all the People, especially the suffering and the sorrowful, and gives thanks for the departed faithful, praying that they and we may be par2takers of the heavenly kingdom. \par \par 5 \par \par The Preparation starts with the Exhortation and the Invitation, or with the Invitation alone. This Invitation should stir our consciences, and we should ask our selves if we can truly say 'Yes' to each of its requirements. Then we kneel and say together the General Confession, repeating \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par it slowly and pausing at the end of each clause which is marked by a capital letter in the course of sentences. Mark thes3e clauses especially at the end: 'And grant that we may ever hereafter [pause] Serve and please thee [pause] In newness of life [pause]. To the honour and glory of thy Name/ If you have said this Confession with sincerity, you are then ready to hear the words of the Absolution and the Comfortable Words. The Comfortable Words are words from our Saviour, Saint Paul, and Saint John, really continuing the assurance of forgiveness in the Absolution. \par \par On this high note the Preparation closes. \par \4par 6 \par \par The Consecration opens with the very great words, called Sursum Corda, 'Lift up your hearts,' passing at length to the Ter Sanctus, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts.' [Lord Tennyson was wont to say that the words beginning with 'Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven,' and closing with the Ter Sanctus, were the most beautiful words in the English language. The music 135 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par and the glory in their choice and5 arrangement far exceed the dignity of the severe Latin from which they were translated.], The Prayer of Consecration is then said by the Priest in the name of all the people. \par \par He uses the words which our Saviour used in the upper room the night before His death; the gifts are offered to God; he prays that the Word and the Holy Spirit may so bless and sanctify the Bread and the Wine, that we, receiving them, may be partakers of the Lord's Body and Blood; and, finally, in our name, he presents u6s all as a living sacrifice, body and soul, to God, praying that He may dwell in us and we in Him. This part of the service concludes with the Lord's Prayer, said by all the people. \par \par 7 \par \par The Communion of the Priest and People begins with the Prayer of Humble Access, said by the Priest in the name of all. We say that we are fully conscious of our own unworthiness and depend only on God's patience and mercy. Then, after the Priest has received the Sacrament, the \par 136 \par \par \p7ar THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par people 'draw near with faith' and with humility to receive the very life of their Lord in the inmost life of their souls, as their bodies receive the Bread and the Wine. [It is an ancient custom for the communicant to receive the Bread in the palm of one hand reverently over the other; then, keeping both hands together, he raises his hands to his lips and consumes the Bread. Likewise, as the rubric directs, he receives the Chalice or Cup in both his hands, and raises it 8reverently to his lips, and consumes only the very smallest possible amount of the wine.], On returning to their pews, the people should kneel down and ask God to make them worthy to be filled with His life, to bless them and the causes which they love, and to bring His kingdom into the hearts of men everywhere. If you find that you cannot attentively pray through the full time while others are receiving the Sacrament, rise from your knees and sit in your place, reading the hymns or the psalms, which mean9 most to you. But be sure not to look about. Most of all, do not look about while on your knees: that 137 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par is shocking and irreverent. Keep your eyes closed or on your book. \par \par \par After all the people have received, the congregation kneels and the Priest says, in the name of the people, the Thanksgiving, whereupon all rise to sing Gloria in Excelsis. Immediately after this, while the people all kneel, the Priest lets them depart with this Blessing,: The Peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: And the Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always. Amen. \par \par [Sometimes, when there are many communicants, you may 'be tempted to leave the church before the close of the service. \par \par This is wrong; for the thanksgiving, the Gloria in Excelsis, and the blessing are great pa;rts of the whole service, and only the most extreme necessity should permit you to turn your back upon them. It is discouraging to see in some churches only 138 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par a few people remaining to the end, though many have received the Holy Communion. \par \par It is a bad example to set new communicants, an example which no new communicant should follow.], IV \par \par It may be profitable for you to know something about the necessary vessels used in the Holy Couly and have an honest answer for each of the demands in the Invitation, you should come. For broken habits are apt to be permanently broken, and a great blessing will be lost from your life. \par \par The one warning most necessary is that you do not become a mechanical communicant. It is even perhaps possible to come too often, not discerning the Lord's Body. \par \par You ought to come with constantly growing character, trying each time to have more of character to give to the Master, as you receiv?e His inestimable gift of Himself. \par \par If as you examine yourself you feel that there has been no change in your life, if sarcastic you are still sarcastic, if meddle some you are still a meddler, if conceited you are still self-centred, if underhanded you are still indirect you must ask 140 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par yourself what you really meant when you assented to the Invitation, *Ye who do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins, and are in love and charity with you@r neighbours, and intend to lead a new life/ Without attempting to judge others, I fear that too often I have come to this Supreme Feast with my Master carelessly, trusting too much to His patience and forgiveness, and unwilling to try my utmost to fulfil His words, 'Go, and sin no more/ \par \par The test of the communicant who has truly discerned the Lord's Body, and has indeed received the gift of Himself is found in the Saviour's own test, 'By their fruits ye shall know them/ If we receive the Lord AChrist into our souls, if He lives in us and we in Him, then there must be an evident difference in us. We must make people forget what we have been. We must make them forget what we are in ourselves. \par \par We must make them think only of the Master Himself, so that they will say, 'It seems as if Jesus Christ had been here to-day/ \par \par If you have this sense of growth, of strength, of genuine possession by the 141 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par Highest, you cannot be troubled Bby the times when you will come to the Feast of Love and of Life. You will come at your regular intervals, and then you will come at other times too. You will symbolize your joy in the Birth of Christ by coming on Christmas Day; you will symbolize your joy in the Power of His Resurrection by coming on Easter Day; you will come when you have a great temptation to meet; you will come for consolation in a grievous sorrow; and finally you will come to give thanks on an anniversary; to give thanks for husband Cor wife or child, to give thanks for a difficult task brought to victory, for a new opportunity for service of men and of God, most of all to give thanks for some new conviction of God's constant loving protection and care. In other words, as you turn to a friend, inviting yourself to break bread with him when you desire sympathy in sorrow or in gladness, so you come to the ever open door of the Supper of the Lord, there to break bread with Him, and to receive not only counsel and sympathy, but Peace and DLove and Life, even the inmost Life of the Lord Christ Himself. \par \par 142 \par \par \par THE HOLY COMMUNION \par \par You will come with all that is best in you that you may make Him glad and you will go away not only with His blessing but with His very Self abiding in you, You will sing to yourself, Be known to me in breaking bread. \par But do not then depart; Saviour, abide with me, and spread Thy table in my heart. \par Therefore, let no one dispute with you about this interpretation or that of the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion. \par \par Leave all these explanations to the eternal years when the hidden things of this earth shall be made clear, and come obeying Him who said, 'This do in remembrance of me'; give Him as much love and as much goodness as you can attain, and expect to receive the unspeakable gift of His Power, His Joy, His everlasting Peace. \par \par \fs22\par \par \par \pard\keepn\hyphpar0\s1\sb240\sa120\tx0\tab\b\f1\fs32\par \pard\cf2\lang3082\b0\f3\fs23\par } um 06 - The Holy Communion{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Georgia;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\stylesheet{ Normal;}Gpar \tab\par \pard\nowidctlpar\b0\f2\fs24 A the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1928, a new question and answer were introduced into the Confirmation Service, bringing the formal vows of character and creed up into the glory of a personal allegiance. All candidates for Confirmation will now be asked, 'Do ye promise to follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour?' and each one is expected to answer, 'I do,\rquote .Thus far, in this book, we have been studying chiefly the outward aspects oHf Christian discipleship. Let us now strive to see to what heights these lower steps may lead, and how our allegiance may culminate in knowing Christ face to face. \par \par \par Our first duty must still be outward. We must do all we can to know about Christ as the records concerning Him have come down to us from the first century. These \par 144 \par \par \par KNOWING CHRIST FACE TO FACE \par \par records bear the internal evidence of authenticity. Beginning in an oral tradition, the first recoIrd to be put on parchment was undoubtedly the Words of Christ. \par \par This original document has been lost. \par \par Later our Gospel according to St. Mark was written; this with the lost document of the Words of Christ was largely incorporated in the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Matthew. These three books are commonly called the Synoptic Gospels. The Fourth Gospel is not so much a biography as a book of sermons by a great mystic, showing us how the life of the Master expressed itself through the eJxperience of a saint at the end of the first century. The Fourth Gospel is a free portrait, the most arresting portrait which words have ever painted. \par \par Side by side with this written record about Christ has been the living tradition, passed from parents to children all down the years. I believe that we should have known our Saviour's words and deeds to day, even had no record ever been made of them. But the Christian finds in the New Testament the picture of a Master 145 \par \par \par FOLLOKWING CHRIST \par \par which he instinctively feels to be true. The face of the Lord Christ shines through the fourfold story; and His own know Him. \par \par I put down, therefore, as the firstrequisite of Christian discipleship the making of a quiet time each day, when the world, with all its perplexities and allurements, is shut out, and there is freedom attentively to learn about the Master of us all. Such a quiet time is, primarily, the period in each day when we may carefully read the Gospels. ItL is wise to begin by reading the oldest Gospel, which is also the shortest and the simplest, St. Mark; then we should begin the tender, human account of St. Luke; then, when that is finished, St. Matthew, the Gospel showing our Lord as the long expected Messiah; and, finally, St. John. Having read these books through, we should begin them all again, and ever continue, however familiar we may be come with the sacred pages, to read the Gospels in this orderly way until life in this world is over, that the wMords and the deeds of Christ may be printed on our minds and our hearts for ever. \par \par 146 \par \par \par KNOWING CHRIST FACE TO FACE \par \par ii \par The next step is the frank facing of the question, 'Who is this?' In giving an answer it is not necessary to speak in hard, theological terms. It is only necessary to ask what difference Christ has made in men's thought about God. \par \par The best men in the Roman world in the first century were the Stoics. They found the world a relentlesNs and cruel power, from which escape was the only solution. \par \par They were brave and noble, but they missed the joy of living. \par \par A good many people to-day believe that the God of the universe is a heavenly Father, both just and loving. If they weigh only the same material for judgment which the Stoics had, can they really rest in that trust? The Creator seems all love and justice in the brilliance of a summer sunset, in the laughter of a little child, in the strength of a good man's face.O But when a tornado or an earthquake destroys men, when a little child dies, when a man's face is black with evil, then it is very hard to believe in a God of justice and love. The stoic fortitude is sublime, but it is hopeless. \par \par 147 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par How can you solve the tragic riddle about the nature of God's character? \par \par So far as I can see, there is only one way, and that is by accepting the revelation of God's character in Christ. It is strange that Pmen can rely upon a good and merciful God, and forget the source of that reliance as the world in history has come to grasp it. \par \par If you believe that God is like the father of the Prodigal Son, then you must bow down in reverence before the Man who by His words and His life made that greatest of all stories vivid and real. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. \par \par When you believe the message about God's character which the words and life of Christ teach you, you will not cease to have weariQness and pain and grief, but you will have a new point of view: all the troubles of life will instantly gain a meaning which they never have had before. \par \par They will be illumined as a discipline and a law which proceed out of the heart of a loving heavenly Father. Every pain and every sorrow may thereupon become the means of a victory, bringing a joy which could not have been but for the suffering. \par \par 148 \par \par \par KNOWING CHRIST PACE TO FACE \par \par The follower of Christ maRy echo for him self the words spoken by an unknown saint of the first century, 'For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross/ \par \par Believing in Christ is not a far-away problem in philosophy or theology. It is the most immediate and practical concern of the plainest man who lives. It gives triumphant assurance for the coming day. \par \par In its light, every danger can be met with equanimity, the darkest hour can be entered with confidence; for behind the most tragic circumstance isS the controlling hand of One who loves as no mother ever loved her little child. In this life we cannot understand all; but we can rest in peace, in the knowledge that God is our God, the true Father of the patient, forgiving, loving Christ. \par \par in \par Knowing about Him, believing in Him, as the New Testament and Traditionreveal Him, then yield yourself to His power. \par \par Perhaps you do not understand what His power is. But, again and again, you will come into some narrow passage in life T149 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par where all seems dark and perilous, and you are frankly afraid. Perhaps the doctor has told you that one you love is going to die. Perhaps you have been told that your own days are numbered. Perhaps you have failed disastrously, and wonder if you have the right to end your life. You know not to whom you can turn. Former helpers are inadequate. Then you think of the in visible Christ. Is He real? Can He help? \par \par All I say now is this: Try Him. YielUd yourself to Him. Yield yourself to Him as a man, frightened about his health, yields himself to his physician. Tell Him every thing. Lay your life bare before Him. \par \par Hold back not one sin. Tell Him secrets which you have never before told to any one. \par \par One of the dangers of our time is that we are exceedingly comfortable. Our whole Nation is in grave danger because of its unparalleled prosperity. We are not afraid of anything or anybody. There is among us no longer fear of parents, nVo longer dread of the law. We have even lost our deep reverence for the Eternal God; that is, until some calamity befalls us. \par \par 150 \par \par \par KNOWING CHRIST FACE TO FACE \par \par Now it is no cause for dismay when the calamity does come to one or another of us. \par \par We point to Jonathan Edwards and his alarming sermons as strange expressions of prophetic fire. But there is wholesome truth in such heart-searching prophecy. \par \par Before Christ came to men, men heard the relWentless cries of John the Baptist: Re pent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand'; C O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? ' \par \par Accordingly, part of the way by which we come to the centre of Christ's fellow ship is this earnest struggle to leave the dead past behind, so preparing for the new life in Him. We must examine ourselves to find just what we are in His sight. If we are self-centred, let us own it. If we are sarcastic, bitter, let us own it. If we areX, in letter or in spirit, breaking any of the Commandments, let us own it. If we are failing to live up to all the Lord's Beatitudes, let us own it. 'Sell all your past, every penny of it, and come, follow me,' is Christ's uncompromising command. That He may give to us His best that is, 151 \par \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par Himself we must sweep out our houses that we may make room for Him; He gives us everything; but to that end, He must find every corner of our lives free for His coming. \pYar \par And, if we comply, if we yield to Him, if we rise into His life, what will be theresult? A multitude answer out of history and biography and poetry and present-day experience. They tell us that out of the unseen the dim figure of the Man of Nazareth comes to them. But it is not by a mere wish. It is not by mere passivity. \par \par Glorious, heroic action is required. The Lord Christ comes to men's help, but He comes only to men who fulfil His stern conditions. \par \par The words of those cZonditions ring down the ages: 'Take up your cross and follow me'; 'He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it'; 'Love your enemies'; 'Do this in remembrance of me.' The Lord Christ is gracious beyond imagination, but He is also exacting. He demands yielding to the point of absolute and complete surrender. This surrender is not abject, but triumphant. You surrender to the con152 \par \par \par KNOWING CHRIST FACE TO FACE \par \par quering Christ, and at once you possess His power and share His [victory. \par \par This surrender is not negative, nor is it mere formality; it is not a price which is paid for a reward. It is the losing of the self in the life of the Master. It is such love for Him that the disciple cannot help obeying. He obeys because he ardently desires to obey; his highest wish is to please Christ. \par \par IV \par \par Then Christ's final command flashes in the heart of His follower: 'Andrew, go, bring to me thy brother Simon'; * Martha, cease serving, and go, bring to me\ thy sister Mary'; 'Love one another as I have loved you'; 'Go ye, and make disciples of every nation.' \par \par Not until we have obeyed this last command of Christ do we completely find Him. \par \par It is a common experience that no branch of human knowledge is quite learned till its pupil becomes its teacher, and succeeds in imparting it to others. In the same way, no one finds Christ till he has brought some one else to Him. He is the Lord of a King\par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par dom, ]and is known when two or three are gathered together. He is not a Master who comes to selfishness. \par \par Here I can do no better than remind you of a tale which must be familiar to most of you. A young man said one Sunday morning to his old rector: * I am not coming to church any more. I have been reading, and talking with friends and scholars, and have decided that I don't any longer believe in anything. So, much as I love you, I am not going to be a hypocrite: my church-going is over/ The old man ^made no protest, but only said: 'I want you to visit a prisoner this afternoon. Will you do it?' The young man promised to go to the prison; and in due time found himself talking to a man behind the bars. The prisoner was in despair. He felt that he had disgraced his mother and would possibly kill her with grief. He saw no future. He asked only that he might die and be over with the ghastly thing called life. \par \par Here was no holiday task for the unbeliever. Before him was a man in utter need. \par_ \par What could he do to help? Every emotion was stirred. He found himself drawing up 154 \par \par \par KNOWING CHRIST FACE TO FACE \par \par from his sub-conscious self all the reserves of his faith. He discovered himself telling about the same Christ whom in the morning he had said that he no longer believed. \par \par He was pleading that the Christ who had helped Zacchaeus and the Magdalen would surely help him. Then, as he continued speaking, the prisoner behind the bars had faded away, an`d One, all white and shining stood there. Of course it was Christ. He had foretold that so He would reveal Him self: ' Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me/ It has always been so; so it will always be. \par \par There were two elements which brought this man face to face with Christ. First, a moral struggle, by which his conceited as surance vanished; and then, merged with it, the love, borne of Christ, which made him love a man whose need was gareater than his own. Christ filled him, and Christ spoke through him. \par \par Christ can be known face to face by any man who will fulfil these conditions. \par \par Know about Him; believe in Him; yield to Him; obey Him; obey Him because you \par \par FOLLOWING CHRIST \par \par love Him; obey, most of all. His command to bring others to Him; and then, leaving behind all your sins, which you have confessed to Him, all your ignorance, all your prejudice, all your unkindness, rise unto His life, lbose yourself to find the radiant Christ. Be as St. Paul, who said, * It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me*; be as St. Augustine, who said, 'My heart is restless till it rests in Thee'; be as St. Francis, who lived so close to Christ that men saw in his hands and his feet the print of the nails which bound Christ to His cross; be as our own Phillips Brooks, who, in a moment of revealing confidence, once told a young man that the secret of his life was that he was conscious of the presence ocf Christ: Christ's presence was the most real experience of his life. \par \par All this is mystical. The invisible Christ is not simply the supreme character of history. He is alive with power, to be claimed by all who will obediently, loyally, lovingly follow Him. He will be known to you in the Holy Communion; He will be known to you as you say your prayers at your bedside; He will be known to you as 156 \par \par \par KNOWING CHRIST FACE TO FACE \par \par you talk with your friend about Him; He dwill be known as you go out into the by ways and hedges seeking the unhappy and forlorn; most of all He will be found as you come bringing some man or woman to His friendship. Then, at last, you will know the Lord Christ face to face, and He will bless you with the joy which shall make you part of Himself for ever. \par \par Follow Christ till His life fills your life; till you become the medium through which the light of His face shines into the eyes of men; till through you, they hear the accents of Heis voice; till they enter, with all mankind, into the glory of His eternal Kingdom. \par \fs22\par \par \fs24\par \par APPENDIX \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par CHAPTER I \par \par LEARN THE FOLLOWING, The Bible is God's Message to Men. It is Divided into Two Parts: Old Testament Thirty-nine Books, New Testament Twenty-seven Books: Sixty-six Books in all. \par \par OLD TESTAMENT \par \par LAW, FIVE BOOKS \par \par GENESIS. From the Creation to the Time of Joseph. \par \par EXODUS. Delfiverance of the Israelites by Moses \par from Slavery in Egypt. \par \par LEVITICUS. First Giving of the Law. \par \par NUMBERS. Wanderings in the Wilderness Forty \par Years. \par \par DEUTERONOMY. Second Giving of the Law, HISTORICAL, TWELVE BOOKS \par JOSHUA. Conquest of Canaan. \par \par JUDGES. Deliverance from the Heathen in the Land \par of Canaan. \par \par RUTH. Love of Ruth and Naomi. \par \par I SAMUEL. History of Samuel the Prophet and of \par Saul the First King. \par \par gII SAMUEL. History of David's Reign. \par \par 161 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par I KINGS. History of Solomon, Elijah, and others II KINGS. History of Elisha, Hezekiah, and others. \par \par I CHRONICLES. 1 A _, _ TT, __. \par \par II CHKO NICI.ES.\} A Condensed Hebrew History. \par \par EZRA. Return from Seventy Years' Captivity in \par Babylon. \par \par NEHEMIAH. Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem. \par \par ESTHER. God's Care of His People. \par \par POETICAL, FIVE BOOKS \par JOhB. Trust in God in Spite of Trouble. \par \par PSALMS. The Hebrew Hymnal. \par \par PROVERBS. A Book of Wise Sayings. \par \par ECCLESIASTES. A Book of Sermons. \par \par SONG OF SOLOMON. A Lyric Poem. \par \par THE FOUR GREAT PROPHETS, FIVE BOOKS \par ISAIAH. Coming of the Messiah. \par \par JEREMIAH. Warnings to the Hebrews. \par \par LAMENTATIONS. Sorrow for their _Sins and Punishment. \par \par EZEKIEL. Visions of the Future Glory of God's \par People. \par \par DANIEL. Victory oveir Sin. \par \par THE MINOR PROPHETS, TWELVE BOOKS \par HOSEA. \lang2058 OBADIAH. NAHUM. HAGGAI. \par \par JOEL. JONAH. \lang1033 HABAKKUK. ZECHARIAH. \par \par AMOS. MICAH. ZEPHANIAH. MALACHI. \par \par 162 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par NEW TESTAMENT \par \par GOSPELS, FOUR BOOKS \par \par (Gospel means Good News), ST. MATTHEW, j f the Expected King. \par \par ST. MARK. I Lives of Ourj the Servant of Men. \par \par ST. LUKE. | Saviour as | the Son of Man. \par \par ST. JOHN. I jI the Son of God. \par \par HISTORICAL, ONE BOOK \par ACTS. The Earliest Church History. \par \par (Written by St. Luke.), ST. PAUL'S LETTERS, THIRTEEN BOOKS \par ROMANS. A Christian Philosophy. \par \par I CORINTHIANS.! Practical Advice to Old ParishII CORINTHIANS. Jioners. \par \par GALATIANS. St. Paul is a True Apostle. \par \par EPHESIANS. A Letter about the Church. \par \par PHILIPPIANS. A Letter of Gratitude to his Favorite \par Church. \par \par COLOSSIANS. New Life God Would Have kUs Live. \par \par I THESSALONIANS. Second Coming of Christ. \par \par II THESSALONIANS. Many Things Must First Come to Pass. \par \par I TIMOTHY. (Bishop of Ephesus.) 1 _, TT I Be examples to \par II TIMOTHY. \\ i, ^ /TV t. rr-. \\ those you teach. \par \par TITUS. (Bishop of Crete.) J J \par \par PHILEMON. A Letter of Introduction. \par \par A LETTER BY AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR \par HEBREWS. Jesus our only High Priest. \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par GENERAL LETTERS, SEVEN BOOKS \par JAMElS. Faith and Works Go Together. \par \par I PETER.) n,. _ TT7.. \par \par IT P I Building anc * Watching. \par \par I JOHN.I \par \par II JOHN. >God is Love. \par \par Ill JOHN.], JUDE. Punishment for the Impenitent. \par \par APOCALYPSE, ONE BOOK \par REVELATION. St. John's Vision of Heaven. \par \par ALSO LEARN, Question. What is your Christian name? \par \par Answer. My Christian name is. \par \par Question. Who gave you this name? \par \par Answer. My Sponsors gave me this name inm Baptism; wherein I was made a member of Christ, the child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. \par \par Question. When were you made a member of the Church? \par \par Answer. I was made a member of the Church when I was baptized. \par \par Question. What is the Church? \par \par Answer. The Church is the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head, and all baptized people the members. \par \par Question. How is the Church described in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds? \par \par 164 \npar \par \par APPENDIX \par \par Answer. The Church is described in the Creeds as One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. \par \par Question. What do we mean by these words? \par \par Answer. We mean that the Church is \par One, because it is one Body under one Head; \par \par Holy, because the Holy Spirit dwells in it, and sanctifies its members; \par \par Catholic, because it is universal, holding earnestly the Faith for all time, in all countries, and for all people, and is sent to preach theo Gospel to the whole world; and \par Apostolic, because it continues steadfastly in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship. \par \par Question. What is your bounden duty as a mem ber of the Church? \par \par Answer. My bounden duty is to follow Christ, to worship God every Sunday in his Church; and to work and pray and give for the spread of his Kingdom. \par \par Question. What special means does the Church provide to help you to do all these things? \par \par Answer. The Church provides the Layipng on of Hands, or Confirmation, wherein, after renewing the promises and vows of my baptism, and declaring my loyalty and devotion to Christ as my Master, I receive the strengthening gifts of the Holy Spirit. \par \par Question. After you have been confirmed what great privilege does our Lord provide for you? \par \par Answer. Our Lord provides the Sacrament of the \par 165 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion, for the continual strengthening and refreshing of my sqoul. \par \par READ, The Gospel according to St. Mark, through Chap ter VIII. \par \par IF YOU HAVE TIME, READ ALSO, How We Got our Bible. By J. Paterson Smyth, D.D. Samuel Bagster & Sons: London. \par \par On the Threshold. By Theodore T. Munger, D.D. \par \par Hough ton Mifflin Company: Boston. \par \par DAILY SAY THIS PRAYER, OGOD, who through the teaching of thy Son Jesus Christ didst prepare the disciples for the coming of the Comforter; Make ready, we beseech thee, the hearts and minds of rthy servants who at this time are seeking to be strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, that, drawing near with penitent and faithful hearts, they may evermore be filled with the power of his divine indwelling; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. \par \par CHAPTER II \par \par LEARN THE FOLLOWING, St. Matthew v. l-n. \par \par LEARN ALSO, Question. What did your sponsors then promise for you? \par \par 166 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par Answer.s My Sponsors did promise and vow three things in my name: First, that I should renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh; Secondly, that I should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith; and Thirdly, that I should keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of my life. \par \par Question. Do you not think that you are bound so to do? \par \par Answer. Yes, verily; and by God's help so I witll. \par \par And I heartily thank our heavenly Father, that he hath called me to this state of salvation, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. And I pray unto God to give me his grace, that I may continue in the same unto my life's end. \par \par Question. You said that your Sponsors promised and vowed that you should keep God's holy will and commandments. Tell me how many Commandments there are. \par \par Answer. There are Ten Commandments, given in old time by God to the people of Israel. \par \paru THE TEN COMMANDMENTS \par \par I. Thou shalt have none other gods but me. \par \par II. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them. \par \par 167 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain. \par \par IV. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbathday. \par \par V. Honour thvy father and thy mother. \par \par VI. Thou shalt do no murder. \par \par VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. \par \par VIII. Thou shalt not steal. \par \par IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. \par \par X. Thou shalt not covet. \par \par Question. What does our Lord Jesus Christ teach us about these Commandments? \par \par Answer. Our Lord Jesus Christ teaches us that they are summed up in two Commandments, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with wall thy mind, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength; this is the first and great Commandment. And the second is: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. \par \par Question. What then, do you chiefly learn from these Commandments? \par \par Answer. I learn two things from these Command ments: my duty towards God, and my duty towards my neighbour. \par \par Question. What is your duty towards God? \par \par Answer. My duty towards God is to believe in him, to fear him, And to love him with xall my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength; \par \par 168 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par I and II. To worship him, to give him thanks, To put my whole trust in him, to call upon him; \par \par III. To honour his holy Name and his Word; \par \par IV. And to serve him truly all the days of my life. \par \par Question. What is your duty towards your \par neighbour? \par \par Answer. My duty towards my neighbour is> To love him as myself, and to do to all meny as I would they should do unto me, V. To love, honour, and help my father and mother; To honour and obey the civil authority; To submit myself to all my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors, and masters; And to order myself in that lowliness and reverence which becometh a servant of God; \par \par VI. To hurt nobody by word or deed; To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart; \par \par VII. To keep my body in temperance, soberness and chastity; \par \par VIII. To keep my hands from picking and steazl ing; To be true and just in all my dealings; \par \par IX. And to keep my tongue from evil-speaking, lying, and slandering; \par \par X. Not to covet nor desire other men's goods; But to learn and labour truly to earn mine own living, And to do my duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call me. \par \par Question. You are not able to do these things of yourself, nor to walk in the Commandments of God, and to serve him, without his special grace; which \par 169 \par \par \p{ar APPENDIX \par \par you must learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer. What is the prayer that our Lord taught us to pray? \par \par Answer. Our Father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever a|nd ever. Amen. \par \par READ, The Gospel according to St. Mark: Chapter ix through Chapter xvi. \par \par IF YOU HAVE TIME, READ ALSO, The Master of the World. A Study of Christ. By C. L. Slattery. Longmans, Green & Company, New York. [Read Part II on Christ as our example of Character.], William Crawford Gorgas. His Life and Work. \par \par By Marie D. Gorgas and Burton J. Hendrick. \par \par Doubleday, Page & Company: New York. [The biography of a member of the Church who loved and feared God a}nd served his neighbour truly.], DAILY SAY THIS PRAYER, ALMIGHTY God, make us to hate that \par JLJL which is bad in thought, word, and deed; \par \par make us to love that which is good; make us to \par stand up for the right and the true, as brave sol\par 170 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par diers of Christ; and, day by day, make us faithful members of his Kingdom the Church; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. \par \par CHAPTER III \par LEARN, Romans vm. 38, 39. \par \p~ar LEARN ALSO, Question. You said that your Sponsors promised and vowed that you should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith. Recite the Articles of the Christian Faith as contained in the Apostles' Creed. \par \par Answer. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell; The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. \par \par I believe in the Holy Ghost: The holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints: The Forgiveness of sins: The Resurrection of the body: And the Life everlasting. Amen. \par \par Question. What do you chiefly learn in these Articles of your Belief? \par \par Answer. First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made me, and all the world; 171 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind; \par \par Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the people of God. \par \par READ, The Gospel according to St. Luke through Chapter \par VIII. \par \par IF YOU HAVE TIME, READ ALSO ONE'OF THESE BOOKS, The Apostles' Creed. Its Origin, Its Purpose, and Its Historical Interpretation. A Lecture, with Criti cal Notes. By Arthur Cushman McGirTert, D.D. \par \par Charles Scribner's Sons: New York. [A book for scholars.], The Apostles 1 Creed. Six Lectures given in West minster Abbey. By H. C. Beeching, Litt.D. E. P. \par \par Button & Company: New York. \par \par The Apostles' Creed. Its Relation to Primitive Christianity. By H. B. Swete, D.D. University Press: Cambridge. [Lectures delivered to Divinity Students.], The Apostles' Creed To-day. By Edward S. \par \par Drown, D.D. The Macmillan Company: New York. \par \par DAILY SAY THIS PRAYER, OGOD, who hast taught us to trust in thee as our loving Father; Open our hearts to share that most daring faith which thou hast revealed to thy servants in all ages, till the littleness of our knowledge is lost in the greatness of thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. \par \par 172 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par CHAPTER IV \par \par LEARK, I Corinthians xin. \par \par > \par REVIEW, Question. What is the Church? \par \par Answer. The Church is the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head, and all baptized people the members. \par \par Question. How is the Church described in the Apostles 1 and Nicene Creeds? \par \par Answer. The Church is described in the Creeds as One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. \par \par Question. What do we mean by these words? \par \par Answer. We mean that the Church is \par One, because it is one Body under one Head; \par \par Holy, because the Holy Spirit dwells in it, and sanctifies its members; \par \par Catholic, because it is universal, holding earnestly the Faith for all time, in all countries, and for all people, and is sent to preach the Gospel to the whole world; and \par Apostolic, because it continues steadfastly in the Apostles' teaching and fellowship. \par \par Question. What is your bounden duty as a mem ber of the Church? \par \par Answer. My bounden duty is to follow Christ, to worship God every Sunday in his Church; and to work and pray and give for the spread of his Kingdom. \par \par 173 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par LEARN, Question. What orders of Ministers are there in the Church? \par \par Answer. Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; which orders have been in the Church from the earliest rimes. \par \par Question. What is the office of a Bishop? \par \par Answer. The office of a Bishop is, to be a chief pastor in the Church; to confer Holy Orders; and to administer Confirmation. \par \par Question. What is the office of a Priest? \par \par Answer. The office of a Priest is, to preach the Word of God; to baptize; to celebrate the Holy Communion; to pronounce Absolution and Blessing in God's Name; and to minister to the people committed to his care. \par \par Question. What is the office of a Deacon? \par \par Answer. The office of a Deacon is, to assist the Priest in Divine Service, and in his other ministrations, under the direction of the Bishop. \par \par READ, The Gospel according to St. Luke: Chapter ix to \par XVII. \par \par READ ALSO, The Continuity of Christian Thought. By A. V. G. \par \par Allen, D.D. Houghton Miiflin Company: Bos ton. \par \par A Popular History of the Church of England. By W. B. Carpenter, D.D, late Bishop of Ripon, John Murray: London. \par \par 174 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par Three Hundred Years of the Episcopal Church in America. By George Hodges, D.D. G. W. Jacobs, Philadelphia. \par \par The Church-Idea. By W. R. Huntington, D.D. \par \par Hough ton Mifflin Company: Boston. \par \par The Light Within. A Study of the Holy Spirit. \par \par By C. L. Slattery. Longmans, Green & Company, New York. [An attempt to show God's guidance of Christian history.], SAY THIS PRAYER ON ENTERING THE CHURCH, OGODj who makest thyself known in the stillness; Let me feel thy presence in this sacred place; make me to be of the company of brave saints who have worshipped here in spirit and in truth; through the voices of men and the instruments of praise give me to lift my heart to thee; and so, O Lord, purify my life that, going forth into the world, I may go in thy strength and in thy love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. \par \par CHAPTER V \par \par LEARN, Psalm LXXXIV. [Prayer Book Version.], REVIEW, Question. What is your duty towards God? \par \par Answer. My duty towards God is to believe in him, to fear him, And to love him with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength; \par \par 175 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par I and II. To worship him, to give him thanks, To put my whole trust in him, to call upon him; \par \par III. To honour his holy Name and his Word; \par \par IV. To serve him truly all the days of my life. \par \par Question. What is your bounden duty as a mem ber of the Church? \par \par Answer. My bounden duty is to follow Christ, to worship God every Sunday in his Church; and to Work and pray and give for the spread of his Kingdom. \par \par READ, The Gospel according to St. Luke: Chapter xvm through Chapter xxiv. \par \par IF YOU HAVE TIME, READ, I \par \par The Spiritual House. A First Lesson in Architecture. By W. R. Huntington, D.D. Thomas Whittaker: New York. \par \par The Poetry of Architecture: By^FranJc Rutter. \par \par G. H. Dor an Company: New York. \par \par ii \par A Short History of the Book of Common Prayer. \par \par By W. R. Huntington, D.D. Thomas Whittaker, New York. \par \par The Book of Common Prayer. By Samuel Hart, D.D. University Press: Sewanee. \par \par The Inner Life. By Evelyn Underbill. E. P!\par \par Dutton & Company: New York. \par \par 176 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par DAILY SAY THIS PRAYER, OGOD, who hast prepared for those who love thee such good things as pass man's under standing; Pour into our hearts such love toward thee, that we, loving thee above all things, ma y obtain thy promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. \par \par \par CHAPTER VI \par \par LEARN, Psalm xxin. [Prayer Book Version.], LEARN ALSO, Question. After you have been confirmed what great privilege does our Lord provide for you? \par \par Answer. Our Lord provides the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion, for the continual strengthening and refreshing of my soul. ^ \par \par Question. How many Sacraments has Christ ordained m his Church? \par \par Answer. -Christ has ordained two Sacraments only as generally necessary to salvation; that is to say Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. \par \par 'Question. What do you mean by this word Sacrament? \par \par Answer. I mean by this word Sacrament an out ward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us; ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge t<? assure us thereof. \par \par 177 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par Question. How many parts are there in a sacrament? \par \par Answer. There are two parts in a sacrament: the outward and visible sign; and the inward and spiritual grace. \par \par Question. What is the outward and visible sign or form in Baptism? \par \par Answer. The outward and visible sign or form in Baptism is Water; wherein the person is baptized, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. \par \par Question. What is the inward and spiritual grace in Baptism? \par \par Answer. The inward and spiritual grace in Bap tism is a death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness: whereby we are made the children of grace. \par \par Question. What is required of persons to be baptized? \par \par Answer. Repentance, whereby they forsake sin; and Faith, whereby they steadfastly believe the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament. \par \par Question. Why then are infants baptized, when by reason of their tender, age, they cannot perform them? \par \par Answer. Because, by the faith of their Sponsors, infants are received into Christ's Church, become the recipients of his grace, and are trained in the household of faith. \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par Question. Why was the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ordained? \par \par Answer. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ordained for the continual remembrance of the sacrifice of the death of Christ, and of the benefits which we receive thereby. \par \par Question. What is the outward part or sign of the Lord's Supper? \par \par Answer. The outward part or sign of the Lord's Supper is, Bread and Wine, which the Lord hath commanded to be received. \par \par Question. What is the inward part, or thing signified? \par \par Answer. The inward part, or thing signified, is the Body and Blood of Christ, which are spiritually taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's Supper. \par \par Question. What are the benefits whereof we are partakers in the Lord's Supper? \par \par Answer. The benefits whereof we are partakers in the Lord's Supper are the strengthening andrefreshing of our souls by the Body and Blood of Christ, as our bodies are strengthened andrefreshed by the Bread and Wine. \par \par Question. What is required of those who come to the Lord's Supper? \par \par Answer. It is required of those who come to the Lord's Supper to examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of their former sins, with stead fast purpose to lead a new life; to have a lively faith \par 179 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankfulremembrance of his death; and to be in charity with all men* \par \par READ, The Gospel according to St. John through Chapter vi. \par \par \cf1\ul 1Co_11:23-26\cf0\ulnone . \par \par St. \cf1\ul Mar_14:22-25\cf0\ulnone . \par \par St. Luke xxu. 14-20. \par \par St. \cf1\ul Mat_26:26-30\cf0\ulnone . \par \par St. John xni. 4-17. \par \par A ND now, O Father, mindful of the love JL\rdblquote\\, That bought us, once for all, on Calvary's tree, And having with us him that pleads above, We here present, we here spread forth to thee, That only offering perfect in thine eyes, The one true, pure, immortal sacrifice. \par \par Look, Father, look on his anointed face, And only look on us as found in him; \par \par Look not on our misusings of thy grace, Our prayer so languid, and our faith so dim; \par \par For lo! between our sins and their reward, We set the Passion of thy Son our Lord. \par \par And then for those, our dearest and our best, By this prevailing presence we appeal; O fold them closer to thy mercy's breast!\par \par 1 80 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par O do thine utmost for their souls' true weal!\par \par From tainting mischief keep them white and clear, And crown Thy gifts with strength to persevere. \par \par And so we come; O draw us to thy feet, Most patient Saviour, who canst love us still!\par \par \par And by this Food, so awful and so sweet. \par \par Deliver us from every touch of ill, In thine own service make us glad and free. \par \par And grant us nevermore to part with thee. Amen. \par \par READ ALSO, IF YOU HAVE TIME, The Holy Communion: What It Is and How to Prepare for It. By C. L, Slattery. Houghton MifHin Company: Boston. \par \par The Holy Communion. By C. L. Slattery. E. P. \par \par Button & Company: New York. \par \par DAILY SAY THIS PRAYER, GRANT, O Father, that when we receive the blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, coming to those holy mysteries in faith, and love, and true repentance, we may receive remission of our sins, and be filled with thy grace and heavenly benediction; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par CHAPTER VII \par \par SUGGESTED SERVICE INTRODUCING CONFIRMATION * \par \\The Hymn suggested for the entrance of the choristers \par is either a Hymn appropriate for the Season, or one of \par the following, 433 (verses I and 4), 434 (verses 1:4, and 5), or 539 (verses 1:2, and 3). \par \par If The Minister shall say, 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 wor ship him. St. \cf1\ul Joh_4:23\cf0\ulnone . \par \par Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Sa maria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. \par \par \cf1\ul Act_1:8\cf0\ulnone . \par \par Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. \cf1\ul Php_1:2\cf0\ulnone . \par \par The Lord be with you. \par \par Answer, And with thy spirit. \par \par Minister. Let us pray. \par \par O Lord, show thy mercy upon us. \par \par Answer. And grant us thy salvation. \par \par Minister. O God, make clean our hearts within us. \par \par Answer. And take not thy Holy Spirit from us. \par \par * This service is authorized for use, when it is desired, in the Diocese of Massachusetts. \par \par 182 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par 1f Then shall be said the COLLECT FOR THE DAY, and after that the Prayers following. \par \par OGOD, who didst teach the hearts of thy faithful people, by sending to them the light of thy Holy Spirit; Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the same Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. \par \par 1f Then, while all remain kneeling, shall be sung this portion of Hymn 204 (tune 141); and Note, that when it is desired, the first three lines of each stanza, may be sung by a single voice, but the last line of each stanza shall always be sung by the whole Congregation. \par \par HOLY Spirit, heavenly Dove, Dew descending from above. \par \par Breath of life, and fire of love; Hear us, Holy Spirit. \par \par All thy sevenfold gifts bestow, Gifts of wisdom God to know, Gifts of strength to meet the foe; Hear us, Holy Spirit. \par \par Keep us in the narrow way, Warn us when we go astray, 183 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par Plead within us when we pray; Hear us. Holy Spirit. \par \par Holy, loving, as thou art, Come, and live within our heart; Never more from us depart; \par \par Hear us. Holy Spirit. Amen. \par \par OGOD, who through the teaching of thy Son Jesus Christ didst prepare the disciples for the coming of the Comforter; Make ready, we be seech thee, the hearts and minds of thy servants who at this time are seeking to be strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, that, drawing near with penitent and faithful hearts, they may evermore be filled with the power of his divine indwelling; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. \par \par THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. Amen. \par \par f Then shall the Minister declare when the candidates shall receive the Holy Communion, and give such other Notices as he shall think fit; and afterwards shall be sung these verses of Hymn 139, during which those to be confirmed shall present themselves at the Communion Rail. \par \par JUST as I am, without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, 184 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par And that thou bidd'st me come to thee,. \par \par O Lamb of God, I come. \par \par Just as I am, though tossed about With many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come. \par \par Just as I am: thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; Because thy promise I believe, Lamb of God, I come. \par \par Just as I am, thy love unknown Has broken every barrier down; Now to be thine, yea, thine alone, Lamb of God, I come. Amen. \par \par \par 185 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par THE SERVICE FROM THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER \par THE ORDER OF \par \par CONFIRMATION,)R LAYING ON OF HANDS UPON THOSE WHO ARE \par BAPTIZED, AND COME TO YEARS OF DISCRETION. \par \par If Upon the day appointed, all that are to be confirmed shall stand in order before the Bishop, sitting in his chair near to the Holy Table, the people all standing until the Lord's Prayer. And the Minister shall say, KLVEREND Father in God, I present unto you these persons to receive the Laying on of Hands. \par \par If Then the Bishop, or some Minister appointed by him, may say, Hear the words of the Evangelist Saint Luke, in the eighth Chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. \par \par WHEN the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. \par \par 186 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par ^T Then shall the Bishop say y \par DO ye here, in the presence of God, and of this congregation, renew the solemn promise and vow that ye made, or that was made in your name, at your Baptism; ratifying and confirming the same; and acknowledging yourselves bound to believe and to do all those things which ye then undertook, or your Sponsors then undertook for you? \par \par If And every one shall audibly answer, I do. \par \par \par D \par \par \par f Then shall the Bishop say y \par O ye promise to follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour? \par \par If And every one shall answer, I do. \par \par \par Bishop. \par \par OUR help is in the Name of the Lord; Answer, Who hath made heaven and earth. \par \par Bishop. Blessed be the Name of the Lord; Answer. Henceforth, world without end. \par \par Bishop. Lord, hear our prayer. \par \par Answer. And let our cry come unto thee. \par \par Bishop. Let us pray. \par \par ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who hast JL\\ vouchsafed to regenerate these thy serv ants by Water and the Holy Ghost, and hast \par 187 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par given unto them forgiveness of all their sins; Strengthen them, we beseech thee, O Lord, with the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, and daily increase in them thy manifold gifts of grace: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and ghostly strength, the spirit of knowledge and true godliness; and fill them, O Lord, with the spirit of thy holy fear, now and for ever. Amen. \par \par \\ Then all of them in order kneeling before the Bishop, he shall lay his hands upon the head of every one severally, saying, DEFEND, O Lord, this thy Child with thy heavenly grace; that he may continue thine for ever; and daily increase in thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he come unto thy everlasting kingdom. Amen. \par \par 1f Then shall the Bishop say y \par The Lord be with you. \par \par Answer. And with thy spirit. \par \par Let us pray. \par \par If Then shall the Bishop say the Lord's Prayer, the People kneeling and repeating it with him. \par \par OUR Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this 1 88 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par day our daily bread. And forgive us our tres passes. As we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. \par \par f Then shall the Bishop say, ALMIGHTY and everliving God, who makJTjL est us both to will and to do those things which are good, and acceptable unto thy Divine Majesty; We make our humble supplications unto thee for these thy servants, upon whom, after the example of thy holy Apostles, we have now laid our hands, to certify them, by this sign, of thy favour and gracious goodness towards them. Let thy fatherly hand, we beseech thee, ever be over them; let thy Holy Spirit ever be with them; and so lead them in the knowledge and obedience of thy Word, that in the end they may obtain ever lasting life; through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth ever, one God, world without end. Amen. \par \par O ALMIGHTY Lord, and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and bodies, in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments; that, through thy most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may bepreserved in body and soul; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. \par \par 189 \par \par \par APPENDIX \par \par f Then the Bishop shall bless them, saying thus> \par \par THE Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be upon you, and remain with you for ever. Amen. \par \par \par AFTER CONFIRMATION, FREQUENTLY SAY THIS \par PRAYER, ALMIGHTY God, who hast sent thy Son into the world to be for ever the friend of man kind; Grant to me the consciousness of hispresence, that, receiving his power, I may conquer temptations and troubles, and rise with strength to do thy will; through the same Jesus Christ our Saviour. \lang2058 Amen. \par \par \par 1 04 648 \par \par \par \par \fs22\par \par \par \pard\lang3082\f0\fs24\par \cf2\f3\fs23\par } J 07 - Knowing Christ Face to Face{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Times New Roman;}{\f1\fswiss\fprq2\fcharset0 Arial;}{\f2\froman\fprq2\fcharset0 Georgia;}{\f3\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green128\blue0;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\stylesheet{ Normal;}{\s1 heading 1;}} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\keepn\hyphpar0\s1\sb240\sa120\tx0\lang3082\f0\fs24\tab\lang1033\b\f1\fs32 VII \par \tab KNOWING CHRIST FACE TO FACE \F