The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-06-02
CENTRAL PRESB YTERI IN.

swelling notes of praise to God, not delega-
ting to "a C0mmittee,' this delightful part Of
the worship, but each one making melody in
his own heart unto the Lord and the meek
and lowly Christian heart will there hearken
with filial meekness to Shear what God the
Lord will say unto His people," by his com
missioned servants. And as all the parts Of
Divine Worship strengthen each other; as
prayer and praise quicken and elevate the
mind of the worshipper to appreciate more
properly, and improve more wisely, the truth
of God as proclaimed in the Sanctuary; SC
the love of Christ which is the impulsive
spirit of all true worship and service, finds
its fitting expression not only in praise but
in offerings, mot only in prayers, but in
aims, as well. The rich Christian under the
Divine influence of the greatest of the three
queenly Christian graces-Charity-a he
devoutly ssnters the courts of the Lord
with thanksgiving" on the first day of week,
with lowly feart weighed down by sense
of his obligation, gives to the Lords treasury
of his abundance; and the poor widow with
timid humility, and shrinking modesty, drops
into the SAM receptacle "all the living that
she has," wlile both, realizing not only the
pressure of he duty, but the preciousness Of
the privilegeof thus laboring together with
the Lord, unoad their grateful hearts before
God and say '"Who am I, that should be
able to offerso willingly after this sort? for
all things ONE to Thee and of thine own
have we given, Thee
Nor is this all. The entire life of the
Church, as it passes in the view of the world,
must be enc eversounding hymn Of praise
to God, so that all shall behold her children
actuated by holy and enlightened zeal for
Gods glory; by an earnest and unwavering
desire to please Him; by "doing justly,
loving mercy and walking humbly with
God" In proportion as a church worships
thus inwardly and outwardly, after this pat
tern, she may humbly claim, that to this ex-
tent at least, "the Spirit of Glory and Of
God resteth. upon her. 1t is in point to
observe, then, if these things be so, that ii
is something more than a round of ceremo-
NAL observances and exercises, pompous
and imposing ritual.
1t rests not in the worship of the Host as
it is elevated in the view of the faithful; in
genufexions, in holy-water and the sign of
the cross; in rosary-countings, and mutter-
ings of invocations of the Virgin and the
Saints, or in Latin prayers, unintelligible
even to the suppliants, in robes and vest.
ments, cross and crosier incense and auricu.
lar confession; "having the form of godli
ness" while too often, alas, strangers to the
''power thereof No. No! the'heart, the
heart, is everything in worship. This is the
source of a pure offering temple of the
Holy Ghost From such an altar rose the
earnest cry Of the contrite Publican, "God
be merciful to me asinner" while the voice
Of the proud Pharisee uttering words Of
self.satis6ed boastfulness came into the ears
of the Lord God of Sabaoth only to be re,
corded as sacrilege, and to rise in Judgment
against Him in the Day of Wrath. "God
is Spirit and seeketh such to worship Him
as worship in spirit and in TRUTH" and then
only do they worship in the beauty of ho-
linessW
8. The glory of the Church is also closely
connected with the true succession Of a
standing ministry.
With the distinct protest against the the,
cry of "No Church withouta Bishop" we
hold nevertheless, that the christian ministry
is an ordinance of Divine appointment, to
be pefpetuated to the end of Time Such
an ordinance, with incumbents regularly ap.
pointed by Divine authority, has always .ex-
listed in the Church under all dispensations.
During the Patriarchal age the Head of the
family was the Household Priest, and the
First,born Son was his legitimate successor.
Under the Mosaic Dispensation the Levites
were Solemnly set apart to the Priesthood ;
and they thus constitute the only instance
of personal succession I'M Ministry anywhere
recorded in the Word of God. For special
reasons, connected with the peculiar nature
Of that Dispensation, they formed an indis-
pensable part of the Jewish system of reli-
gion, and this order of religious teachers
was insured and protected by laws specially
enacted br that purpose, and by genealogi-
cal tables; so that the genuineness of per-
sonal succession might at any time be estab-
ished beyond doubt by simple reference to
the records. The same order was foretold
by the Prophets, as certainly to be continued
under the Christian Dispensation, with this
necessary variation, that he who was a
Priest in the Old Testament Church, should
be religious teacher, with delegated pow.
er of ordination, with authority to offer sac
rifces, ir-as. much as all the apparatus of
the Levitical Priesthood vanish at the open
ing of the Christian system; and Jesus
Christ to whom all the types and shadows Of
the old economy pointed, came and closed
up the work of the Priesthood forever, Him
self the last and the only Great High Priest
of our Profession.
These things being so, it becomes ques-
ton of deep interest, "In what sense can
there be succession of standing ministry
perpetuated to the end of timer" In OPP
position then to the theory that there was to
be ga Register of Bishops" through whom
Gas the sole channel of communication, the
Divine mercy" is to flow out to the world
and San unbroken series of ordinations up
on which the very existence of the Church,
and the enjoyment of salvation were to be
suspended" we hold that the great COM
mission of the Master given to His Church,
in its collective capacity, on the eve of His
ascension, is 'the true, and only charter of
the Ministry, and of the Church that its
very terms pre- suppose perpetual success
sion OF the Ministry for the reason that the
command to carry it to every creature in all
the world could not be executed in person
by the Apostles then living, especially as
the accompanying promise, "Lo, am with
you always, even unto the end of the world, p"
implies that the fulflment of the commits
sion contemplates period running to the
end of time, so as to reach not only those
who we're then living, but all who should live