The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-04-29 00:00:00

DORSET ASSOCIATION
_OF. CONGREGATIONAL

CHURCHEB.

rt. simnel gatherings of this association took plsoe
on Tuesday and Wedomley, ani were untrally
litter...tins. On Tuescisy evening a public meeting
wee held in the Hope Chapel, when it was amousced
the Chairman, Rev. J. Woo-I, would deliver hi.
preeidentisl a Mum. There was • g &Pendia:me of
inhalators. A hymn having been sung, and prayer
offered,
The Pititgrifiry delivered his address. The rev.
geotlemati mid—My Cn,Lstian hien 1•, I wish to
ray • few words to you thia evening upon the subject
of Tee Inner Life ,1 Devottio:' I koow it is more
customary on sacs occasions as the Present to take up
•.me topic b aring Ine/r1 i.u,lic movements or
socirni., cat features, bit lb it ii • . ft q,iently done
that I h a there will be n tingling of lacking in the
amounoement of the topic on which I wish t say •
few words. I bane not either the courage or the
hardihood to speak as • minider to 'Molders ; what-
ever mission others in ty feel I that dirgction, I do
not feel I have got any ; hut from the common stand-
point of Christian life, c melon to us all. I should like ,
if rmible to bring some eidlience to bear in c mum- '
lion with these services that might be helpful to us ,
all in this highest ma most imp otant department of
our being. And I choose this subject to-night because
I am afraid thine is • great deal t o much outside life
in us alLand that we r. sort too little tithe moot quiet
and secluded hours of devotion. lam Afraid we think
more of public meetings than of must prayers ; and
those of us who do attend public services I have no
doubt often feel the danger of giving only momenta to
Plant prayer while bows are spe..t in the vowel
worship with mixed mornablies. If there should be
any present who might he di.;, sod to me this state-
ment as a justification of their irregular attendance at
the house of God, have only Xi my, Mut all who
feel the need of quietness fe-I also the need
of all the general hop they can find In '
order to these quiet &yrs which I am pleading for
. this evening. We caneot always pray alms. God
• basso made us that on. power of preying needs the
, help of our brethren. The Mt, who stand most aloof
from social worship are ut hr moo who manifest
the highest spiritual life. There in ,y be few excep-
tions, there may hs some few in re alde toothed alone
an-I meet the optic:pinnrs f the world and the
temptations rf the Mush io sill, le, and kindle there
the lonely fire of ilmotiou. l'eih.p. we depend too
much upon helps. But, a. • rule, men who shun
social worship—who siy we need no temple., no
services, no sacraments. to whom d.,votion is purely
an indivi foal thing—exhitiit • coldness of spiritual
life, and are often the vory first tn, g vs way ta daubt
and &span fenny. I ilo not advocate therefore quiet
and seclude I tirto s of devoti .11 at the expense of
public prayer. otr Master's words will apply Xi this
also, " This ought ye to hare .lone, and not to leave
theath-r and me." F re ike a it the assembling
yourc, lye, together," has nothing in it Inc mist-nt
wit'i, Ilion, when thou preye.t, enter into thy
c'oset and shut thy door, and VI. Father which most
1,. secret binairlf shall reward thee openly." I have
• this "Th. Innor Life .1 Devotioo," not became
I think it • very *Xing t:tle for what I wish to
say. hut b•came what I may emphatically mil
hie/evinces is such an fused •I t this ktid of life,
, that althoogh the title is so.newhm. ragas, I thought
it would be better than any her. For secret, and
still thought upon the wor I -if nl, for calm con.
temptation of the attribut •s of G ,d, for matained
, silent prayer before Him, a red life of devotioa is
needed ; and this life being in exi.tanoo, I know
nothing so condoolv• to its strength ns • habit of
mind which leads to suoh seeroisea. But to
cultivate such habit rseliree math resolve
and much fervour of devotion. Fr I know of
nothing more contrary to the character of the time.
in which we live. Simplicity ant repom are not
allowed to charm us much in these days. In their plaice
we find a profusiou of effort and display. Perhaps
it I. the burry of the age that is at fault. Beauty
um learned is to 131 sought in the sweet solitudes of
nature. In lieu thereof, we Mho' I the hasty imputes.
, of admiration for whatever is big eumagli and rich
enough, and suptrficial enough t be seen with
distomtnese Ins ',arcing glance. The more numerous
and striking the features, the grater the impression
, that is then create-I ; the process of countio having to
, • large exte,t superseded that of weighing. And
, these Ming momewhat tha charm:puristice of the
times in which we live, you will easily see there is
, not much in outward circumstance likely to I .vour
, that for which lam pleading; and as even relifi us
, people are not proof ag.inst the genius of their day.,
there I. the more need to draw special attention to
, that Native of the religious life now under coosider-
ation, and to which tho circumstance. of our time.
, are no antagonistic. Brethr-n, it is not the lea of
religion that wears to be all external and emimive.
, The Christian's soul is not to he like • fancy which
, has been indulged about the sue, though the means
of light and heat to the system in which he rules he is
. yet internally dark and frigid. And is there no
necessity to be watchful here? Diffusive religion is
now so much talked of that it has become •
commonplares of Christian Ipsech, and there Is so much
, running hither and thither that moment, for rellectioo
can scarcely be secured. to this condition of matters
the danger is men may be acting aunt thinking,
, tailing and never praying. Now it hi not the first time
that listsn found in relivi in the mean• of keep-
. log men away from God. If your Christianity be
It most be concentrative. A man must take
, In if he give out. In proportion, as we are useful out-
side, we must live alone. When we want to spring far
, we retreat first. If we would be busy, let us also
. know what it is to study to he quiet ; for be assured
, that "the fruit of righteousnoss must first be sown
, in peace." It is nat tensible, tam well aware—in an
, age of steam and lightning, runways and telegraph.;
, of fever and hurry, and competition—Jo times of
, crowding and movement in all dinictions, in which the
, slow and Inactive are not only pushed and elbowed
adds, but tripped op and trampled upon by
, the mitt and strong—in such times, it meet be
, acknowledged, it is not posithle for modern Onristith
men to to as their lathers lid, who, without intsrrno-
, lion, could get meny a log quit hour for devout
, reading and ',Heim. thooght Cnris; lass of to-lay—
moot of whom are iiirlige.i to le err... I Xa the li-st
and to engage in the b atle ~f Di i.e.—bays to act in
, respect to the wat-r of life very much as Gideon'.
, best arid bravest men octal in relation to the bro -k
that crowned their path. They felt that they could not
, lie down to take • full draught of the refreshing
, stream, they had to be content with taking a little in
their hands, throwing it on their lips, and then stand-
ing ready for pursuit or wain'. But even though it
, be • little, ill, better to secure that little than that
, our life should virtually be left without those momenta
; of concentration necessity for the more vigorous
actions in the more extsrosl sphere of things. Wear*
not all, however, necessarily so filled with labour that
hurried snatches of time are all we can command for
, contemplation and prayer. Even the busiest ni us, if
only the heart yearned for each privilege, could, I have
I no doubt, find surprising .paws for secret Malt fellow-
, ship with "the Father of spirits." Nor do I know
anything so calculated as this I. keep the inner @out
; fresh and spiritual. The outer wear and tear of
things go on, but they are met by the spirit of watch-
, follies@ ; weekly exhau-tion meets its remedy in
, Sabbath refreshments. The sanctuary at times unveils
again, and gives power to what the world may have
well nigh hidden. The closet lets in glimpses of the
sky, which frees the soul from the attractions of earth,
, by detecting efreah it. imiemitions and falsehoods.
Arid even we should be forced into the merest snatches,
yet thanks be to God you ale not beard for your
mach speaking. A. little Drayer may bring a large
answer, and bring it none, if eincarity and faith give it
wings. A short word may be made long mough to span
the distance between earth and heaven, lilt be struck
off from • living heart. A single text fastened on the
mind of a morning may animate and guide during •
whole day. An ejaculatory espiration thrown out on
entering the counting house, or when pawing along •
street, may atrengthen the hands to ley hold of work,
and steady and keep the feet in the way—" Tics way
of sod's comm.andmetite." I wish you specially to
observe that in these words to you this evening I am
milting for moments fir thought and meditation, am
, well as for prayer. Our Christian life is not half
I thoughtful enough. When the duty of prayer Is urged
' upon us we at once give our assent, and in some form
or other, I have no doubt, we all go through the form
of secret prime, at least night and morning. Bat I
am afraid when I ask for meditation, I shall ask for
what is not smith so familiar an exercim. And yet
the bawl" in the far off time of Abraham under the
oaks at Hebron, and lease Ping out Into the "de at
eventide, may remind as • little of Adam hearing the
voice of the Lord God in the cool of the evening among
the trees of the garden, and tbst meditation was left
a kind of exercise, in which that paradisalcsl experience ,
was somewhat brought back t i the minds of the I
godly. You all know what a rawer of realisaton I
there is in still comemplatior. Toil Mee e friend I
whom memory entwines itself in your nflazti.ins.
And how dose that affect you Why he become. a
kind of orunipremece about you. The thought of him
is with you always, and that thought mixes itself up
with your every purpose and every plan ; it comes
athwart our thoughts, and it photographs its image
upon our very self. But when I talk of meditation, •
I do oat mesa that dreamy mode, which may be