The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-12-06
THE PULPIT.
AN ELOQUENT SUNDAY SERMON BIZ
THE REV. c. l.. PALMER:
Subject. Ancient Worship,

Kingston, N. Y.-The following cru.
dite and eloquent sermon on Ancient
Worship" was preached Sunday In the
Reformed Church Of the Comforter by
the pastor, the Rev. G. L. Palmer. DR..
Palmer said:
History discloses that the worship
Of the New Testament is not the crea-
ton of the later dispelsation. but is
the result of a long and complex pro-
cess of evolution. All we know re-
~specting the time of its inception is
that it is as old as the human family.
which confirms the belief that religion
and life are inseparable.
Three principal elements constitute
religion, worship, doctrine and life.
Worship is the a&itude of the individ-
ual or nation toward its. deity. Doc
trine is the abstract formation of truth
into definitions and conception. Life
is the conduct that is presupposed to
conform to ones belief. Which shall
be more prominent is determined by
the spirit of the age.
Since religion is both natural and su-
pernatural we must look beyond the
former for the channels Of revelation.
All creation is one harmonious d0Xol-
ogy to the Creator. but His works do
not give US all the information re-
quired for the true worship of God.
Accordingly God has appointed certain
ones to communicate His will. The
prophets were a class chosen to III
struct the people in the character and
requirements Of God. Their teachings
are called the "word" of God. Sages
! uttered proverbs, riddles and dialogues
while priests gave instruction il. tue
form of law, which recognized no dis
tinction between civic and religious
life.
Notwithstanding forms and habits
have undergone many radical changes,
there are. certain features OF worship
that remain essentially the same.
There has always been a certain place
dedicated to the service Of God. With
us it is the church. but in the early
times it was the temple. synagogue,
tabernacle, altar or grove.
A certain number Of men are dedi-
Gated to the work Of the Christian mill
istry, but in the earlier days there
were priests and prophets who labored
for the elevation of mankind. At a
still earlier time the father of a family
or head one Of a tribe or clan conduct
ed the worship.
Sacrifcial offerings have been dis
continued among Christians, because
| the Lord" Jesus Christ has been sacri-
sfced once for all. 1t was: not so III
the distant past. 1t was then be-
liered that the fellowship between God
and His. people was fostered by sacri-
flee. The occasion was not unlike q
social meal in which the god of the
clan or family partook of the repast
with it's members. While the original
idea of communion with the deity was
paramount. sacrifice did not assume
its full religious significance until per-
fected in the temple ritual. Other
acts of worship, such as prayer and
the VOW, have ever occupied an i'm
portant place, as we'll as music, and at
times dreams, sorcery and dancing.
Worship presupposes a time for the
service of God. In the remote past
when the people lived a wandering
life, it was not possible to have a par
ticular time and place, but when they
settled down to agricultural life three
feasts were instituted, one in the
spring. another in the early summer
and the third in the autumn, CORE
spending to our modern Easter, pente'
cost and thanksgiving.
Worship without hymns and songs is
uncomfortable. IF we were deprived
of. some of QUIZ fayorite hymns it would
destroy one of the most potent motives
of worship. The psalms were just as
precious to the ancients as the modern
HYMNS are to us, and exertcd the same
influence.
The most reliable scholars are of the
conviction. that the legal code of the
Old Testament was not the result OF a
single authorship, but the work of q
redactor who compiled existing tradi'
tions and documents. This is more III
harmony with the method God EN-
ploys to accomplish His purpose, anu
is certainly explanatory of the way
that our Bible took form.
1t should be borne in mind that 1t Is
not my purpose to present the ideal
worship of the New Testament. but to
study the course of religious develop.
ment that eliminated in the service OF
the Christian church. In so doing we
shall encounter many things that are
very much below the Christian stand
ard, but We may not OF that account
ignore them, SINCE they are necessary
to illustrate the progress n which we
have now occasion to rejoice.
The evolution of worship is too vast
a theme to v in one discourse
we shall therefore confine our atten'
ton to its e: rliest phases.
I. The ancient Semitic worship
This ~antedates the religion of Israel
and contains practices that would not
be endured by the church OF Christ
though we must not forget that the
now unchristian land of Arabia wa
the mother of religion. The Semitic
family has given the world the two
earliest known forms Of civilization
Egyptian and Babylonian and the
three highest faiths, judaism, Chris
tianity and Mohammedanism.
In the earliest period belief and life
constituted a very insignificant part OF
worship. Then the emphasis was upon
the forms. The amount of ones reli-
gion was estimated by his devotion to
ceremony. 1t was not until a very
much later time that doctrine and
practice were given the attention they
deserve.
At this time there were no states OF
nations. The people were Joined to-
gether in families. tribes or clans
They had no abiding place, but jour
neyed from place to place to furnish
their cattle with pasturage. The god
of the tribe was supposed to be all an
ccstor, who determined their prosper
| ity or n diversity