Morning Worship
OUR Father, who hast given us thine only begotten Son, the brightness of Thy glory, and the express image of Thy person, to take our nature upon Him, and to be born of a pure Virgin, grant that we, being regenerate, and made Thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by Thy holy spirit; till Christ be perfectly formed in us, and we be made partakers of a Divine nature, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the same Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
HYMN, or Psalm v. 1-7.
LORD, as a family we meet,
Thy goodness to proclaim;
We wait before thy mercy-seat,
And plead the Saviour’s name.
Weary and faint, by cares oppressed,
We still are travelling on
To that bright land of peace and rest,
Where our Forerunner’s gone.
Grant us thy cheering grace, O Lord,
Thy mercy freely give;
Speak by thy Spirit and thy word,
That we may hear and live.
Pardoned, accepted, reconciled,
Through Christ’s atoning blood;
May each one feel himself a child
Of Thee, our Father, God.
EZEKIEL XXXVII. 1-14.
THE hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley, which was full of bones, 2. And caused me to to pass by them round about: and, behold, there very many in the open valley and, lo, they were very dry. 3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. 4. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5. Thus saith the Lord God unto these ones, Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. 7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 9. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God, Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10. So I prophesied, as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. 12. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves,and bring you into the land of Israel: 13. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 14. And shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live; and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.
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Prayer.
ALMIGHTY Father! Hear us when we venture to approach Thee, through the mediation of Thy well-beloved Son. We bless Thee for Thy care over us during our past lives, and for that latest instance of it which this morning reveals. With more than a father’s wisdom, and with more than a mother’s tenderness, Thou has been “about our bed and about our path, and hast compassed all our ways.” Accept our gratitude for life, for health, for friends, for all things which Thou hast given us richly to enjoy. Yet more for spiritual privilege and provision; for the gift of Thy Son, for the gift of Thy Spirit, for the holy sabbath, for the unsealed word of Thy lips. “The lines have fallen to us in pleasant places, and we have a goodly heritage.”
We pray for grace, that our blessings may not condemn us. Thy Spirit has taught in our streets; may we never slight his warnings, nor neglect his great salvation. We are exalted as were the cities of old. O help us to avoid their pride and indifference, that we may escape their doom.
We desire the sabbath-spirit to-day, that we may enter into Thy courts with thanksgiving and into Thy gates with praise; that we may be thankful unto Thee, and speak good of Thy name. Enkindle, O Lord, our gratitude and our faith. Give us the docile heart and the humble spirit; for “to that man wilt Thou look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at Thy word.” Let us go to Thy house to meet with Thee, and do Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious, and beautify the meek with salvation. Let all the services of Thy house be filled with Thee, and lead to Thee. May we not rest in the means. May we press through all that is outward and human, and see Thy face, and hear Thy voice speaking to us words of counsel, and comfort, and love. Anoint Thy ministers afresh from on high. Renew their commission; make them faithful men, fearing God above many; and clothe their word with the demonstration of the Spirit and with power. Turn about the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, and let Thy word be as a hammer which breaketh the rock in pieces, so that the most stubborn hearts may this day be reached and saved.
Bless us as a family. Our needs are known to Thee. Thou knowest our inner souls, and art acquainted equally with the fears that harass us, and the temptations which beset our path. Make us strong to resist evil, and valiant for the truth upon the earth. Let Thy servants find grace in Thy sight, for we are poor and frail; and without Thee the good we would we do not, and evil that we would not, that we do. Look especially upon the young amongst us, and let the summer of their lives be Thine. Guard them from the world and from the evil one--from foes without and foes within.
Bless our land, our queen, and her illustrious house. From the throne to the cottage may peace and truth prevail, and may the nation’s God be the Lord. We ask Thee for daily grace in daily need and trial. Go before us this day, as in the pillar of cloud. In the temple and in the closet be Thou our surety and our strength. Forgive our sins, even those of our holy things; and may we at last enter into the rest which remaineth, even that of the heavenly sabbath, for Christ’s sake. Amen.
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THE CHURCH IN THE HOUSE.
O ETERNAL God, who art faithful and true, and according to Thy gracious promises hast raised up a glorious Deliverer to us, who is the Lord our Righteousness; we beseech Thee to stir up the wills of Thy faithful people, that, bringing forth plenteously the fruit of good works, they may be a people prepared for the Lord. And we pray Thee, hasten His kingdom, when He shall reign, and prosper, and execute judgment and justice in all the earth. Grant this for Thine infinite mercies’ sake in Jesus Christ, to whom, with Thee, O Father, and the Holy Ghost, be praise eternal. Amen.
HYMN, or Psalm lxxii. 7-12.
HAIL to the Lord’s Anointed!
Great David’s greater Son;
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression;
To set the captive free;
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.
He comes with succour speedy,
To those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy,
And bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing;
Their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemn’d and dying
Were precious in his sight.
By such shall He be feared,
While sun and moon endure,
Belov’d, obey’d, revered:
For He shall judge the poor,
Through changing generations,
With justice, mercy, truth
While stars maintain their stations,
Or moons renew their youth.
ISAIAH XLIX. 1-12.
LISTEN, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. 2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; 3. And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. 4. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain; yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. 5. And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. 6. And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 7. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and His Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. 8. Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages: 9. That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves: they shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. 10. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. 11. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. 12. Behold, these shall come from far; and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
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SERMON XXVI.
“BEHOLD MY SERVANT, WHOM I UPHOLD; MINE ELECT, IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTETH,” &c.
--Isaiah xlii. 1-4.
WE find it easier, in human affairs, to discover a fault than to suggest a remedy. We complain without an effort; it is too natural to us to blame or to repine; it requires thought, time, sacrifice, to redeem or to amend. It is not so with the Scripture, which is the word of God. There, each word of rebuke is a means to an end. There is no exposure of evil to exhibit the censor’s superiority. There is no delight in the merciless anatomy of sin. There is no mockery of distress by the presentation of sorrow that is hopeless, or leprosy beyond cure. Equal to the need, and surpassing it, present as soon as the need is felt and acknowledged--there is the redemption. To illustrate this thought you have only to look at the verses immediately before the text. They give us God’s view of the world’s need -- the absence of wisdom and manliness inevitably resulting from idolatry, the folly of character, the failure of plan, the chaos of thought, the utter and hopeless abandonment of a world without God. “For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that when I asked of them, could answer a word. Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion” (Isaiah xli. 28, 29). Now, so soon as we have realized this necessity, while the heart is yet pining under the sadness which the thought of it has created, the bright light is in the clouds, and in the midst the vision of the Redeemer. “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my Spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.” It does not need that we should enter into argument as to the reference of this passage to Christ and his great work in the world. We feel instinctively that the words could refer to no other, and it strikes upon us, as a matter of course, that they should be quoted by St. Matthew in the twelfth chapter of his Gospel, and expressly applied to Jesus. Without misgiving or controversy we may enter upon our meditation, suffering our thoughts to flow around this central figure, and seeking to discern its beauty, while we consider --
I. The need of the world.
II. The designation of its Deliverer.
III. The manner and issue of his work. (continued...)
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EVENING WORSHIP.
ALMIGHTY God, who hast given Thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly life, give us grace that we may always most thankfully receive that His most inestimable benefit, and also daily endeavour to follow the blessed steps of His most holy life, that dying unto sin, and living unto righteousness, we may at last obtain eternal life, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
HYMN, or Psalm lxi. 1-5.
JESUS, Lover of my soul!
Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the raging billows fly,
While the tempest still is high!
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide;
O receive my soul at last!
Other refuge have I none;
Hangs my helpless soul on thee;
Leave, oh! Leave me not alone;
Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stay’d;
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenceless head
With the shadow of thy wing.
ACTS IV. 23-25.
AND, being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. 24. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them is; 25. Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things. 26. The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 27. For of a truth, against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, 28. For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. 29. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak they word, 30. By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. 31. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. 32. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold. 35. And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
ACTS V. 12-16.
AND by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people: (and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. 13. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. 14. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women;) 15. Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might over-shadow some of them. 16. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
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Prayer.
O LORD our God! we come again into Thy presence as the day declines. We prevented the dawning of the morning, and cried, for we hoped in Thy word; and again at even-tide will we cry unto Thee, for Thy mercy and for Thy truth’s sake. As the eyes of servants unto their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon Thee, until that Thou have mercy upon us. Let us again realize Thy presence. Bless us with mercy to pardon. Bless us with grace to help in this our time of need. We thank Thee for the audience which Thou hast given us in Thy house. Thy word has been sweet to our taste. We have sat under Thy shadow with delight. Thou hast come near to us while we have come near unto Thee. Lord, forgive whatever has been unworthy in the motive, or imperfect in the service we have endeavoured to render. We are not consciously insincere, but who knoweth his errors? Cleanse Thou us, O God from secret faults. The thought of Thy presence awes and humbles us. O, make us that we shall not be banished from Thy fellowship, nor afraid to look upon God.
Grant that the words which we have heard to-day may linger in our memories and influence our lives. Help us to walk consistently before the world. Save us, O Lord, for we are weak, and the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and our ancient enemy lieth in wait to betray. Hold Thou us up, and we shall be safe; strengthen us by the might of Thy Spirit in our inner man. Out amongst men, acting with the world’s citizens, reasoning with its reasoners, taking our part in the duty of every day, may we be strong with an inner strength; may we walk in the light, as children of the light and of the day. May our conduct approve our confession, that the world may take knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus.
Let all who are dear to us be dear to Thee. Gather our friends into Thy fold. Teach us to be faithful to those who are yet out of the way, that by our persuasion and example we may win them for Christ. Deliver us from blood-guiltiness, O Lord, Thou God of our salvation.
Where Thy truth has been proclaimed this day let a blessing from on high follow it. Let the message of reconciliation reach and soften many a prodigal heart, bring back the wanderers home, and let those who have been thoughtless hitherto be led to seriousness and prayer.
We commend ourselves to Thy fatherly keeping this night. The darkness and the light are both alike to Thee. Watchman of Israel, screen us from harm and from sin. Underneath and round us place Thy everlasting arms. Let us lie down in peace, and sleep, because Thou only makest us to dwell in safety. Renew our strength for life’s toil and duty. Give us a manly piety and a generous faith. We are frail and erring, but Christ hath died. We rest on His atonement. We plead his ceaseless and fragrant intercession. Have respect unto Thine anointed, and for His sake grant us light, and peace, and life, and to Thy name we will render praise. Amen.
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Meditations (continued...)