The herald., 1896-08-17

if the mechanical doing ol
them were acceptable to God
and likewise to avoid q worldly. un-
loving view of them and treatment ol
them which denied as much as possible
concerning them and reduces them to q
display of symbolism teaching rea
absence of Christ.
|, We can best perform our duty herein
by directly using the two sacraments In
simpleness of heart with ever increas-
ing reverence and better and better
methods of preparation. as our life
grows. Believing in Christ, doing those
things He commanded, we are thus III
a proper condition to understand the
explanations of the sacraments given in
i the Scriptures and in the church form
ularies And we can see more clearly
the meaning of Christ and His cross to
us. from a constant following of this
divine way, so we gain glimpse OF the
system by which the Holy Spirit wins
and teaches and saves men, the all-per-
vadng sacra mental system, which binds
together sign and spirit force, outer
deeds and inner grace, external matter
and internal life.
The opposition to this word of the
Lord is not so easy to detect, but 1t ex-
lists and is a strong element In the war
fare of Satan against the armies of the
Living God. The simple fact of the
church's care to use true wine in the
sacrament of the altar contrasts with
the sectarians frequent rejec lion of
wine in their memorial of the Lord $ sup
per.
This fact betrays the dangerous ten
dency of an unsacramental preaching
/ of Christ.
In nothing is our duty more urgent
than in firmly adhering to the divine
method of salvation. The sacraments
/ stand at the head of a system which
extends throughout our religious life.
The system is harmonious and connect
ed in all its parts. Look at holy orders
and at confirmation, channels of bless
ing and connected with our senses;
they have the outward sign and the in
I ward grace. Look further at general
/ Christian exercises of devotion. In the
| case of prayer, there must be the bended
knee and the voice to complete the act.
In praise we must stand and sing, if we
would praise God in the best manner
/ that we have. Aims giving is hypo-
crisy if the heart goeth not with it. for
/ the gift without the giVer is bare.
Fasting is merely the deed Of a mod
I ern Pharisee. if it lacks the peculiar re-
/ ligious accompaniment indicated by
! our prayer book. He that believeth and
Is baptized shall be saved The creed
and the sacraments go together they
are the faith and the obedience which
the Lord desires. The Christianity of
our entire country has 0ike New Eng
| land) generally denied the need of these
! two things. The nation needs them and
| sorely needs them at once.
Now here the duty and office of a dea-
con is chiefly concerned. He is to in
struct the youth in the principles of
Christ's religion and to baptize infants
/ if the priest be abSent and to assist az
| holy communion. So the inferior clergy
| are directly concerned with the most
| essential matters of the faith and of the
| divine life. To them is entrusted the
| first portion of the great ministerial re-
| sponsibility.
! Then it is most urgently needful at
! the present anxious time of lax belief
| that you give more earnest heed to
the world behind you saying:
This is the way: walk we in it"
| Walk in the way of the creeds, in the
way of the sacraments.
! One more word l name today: "As
my Father hath sent'me, even so send
| you"
The ministry appointed for the SAL
walton of mankind is of apostolic con-
stitution. by command of the Lord him.
self, and according to the instruction
which he gave to his apostles during the
forty days between his resurrection and
! His ascension.
| 1t is worthy of most serious attention
that of all the four items set forth by
/ cur bishops in their loving invitation to
/ Christian unity, this is the cue upon
w lil'lt tlit ltSipilSC mas ptcll bhlIci III
! unfavorable.
Their appeal to men to accept the
! Bible. the two creeds and the two sacra-
| ments. was largely responded to and
elected warm approval from a vast
number of Christians. But their ap-
I peal to accept the divine ministry was
tiouted, ridculed, deemed outrageous or
| else misirterpreted so as to destroy its
! real meaning
The signs of the times are very clear
/ in telling us that we must be particular
! ly loyal to the third word of power
| LAS my Father hath sent me, even go
/ send l you"
! The reality of the mission and it's alb
/ sClute authority make it one of the es-
/ sentials of the very existence of the
/ Catholic church
! Without ministry no church! Why
/ SO? Because Christ so willed it. How
I know we this? Because Christ so made
( the church. How know we this? Be
/ cause of the unbroken declaration Of the
/ fact from the earliest times, and be-
/ cause this is absolutely in harmony with
/ the New Testament. 1t is evident unto
all men diligently reading holy scrip
lures and ancient authors that there
/ have been from the apostles time these
! orders of ministers in Christ's church.
bishops, priests and deacons.
In a general way you can trace an
I indestructible sentiment in human
! hearts in favor of this very fact OF a
ministry. Even . Congregationalist
! can befound gladly accepting the need
/ of a specially trained man to he a preach
I or Of righteousness and a conSoler in
trouble.
/ God knows thousands of hearts in this
/ wide land who would today accept the
( apostolic ministry, if they were not blind
! ed by a sectarian education. The in
( terest aroused by the Episcopal invita-
/ ton to unity is evidence of such state
/ of things.
\ good authority assures us that Con-
( grega tionalists recognize that instinct
/ of human nature which eXalts teacher
( of religion above other men. and often
/ invests his service with a mediatorial
! significance" This is direct assertion
/ of the craving of the human heart for hu-
/ man contact with Christ Jesus, which
is met and satisfied by the ministry of
| holy church. uch a ministry must be
I the creation the deliberate, solemn Gre
1 alton of the head of the church.
The holy purpose which he set before
HIM called for his full energy and wis
( do m. and he established a holy order of
/ selected men for the spiritual conflict
I with wickedness.
We must cling to the method which the
fathers bequeathed to us, knowing it to
be CAS- they have told us) a thing of
/ God. We warn friends in other Chris
tan denominations to take care, TO
examine this question, lest haply they
{ Gr,i,t a,,,e.t tod