have rightly apprehended the Apostle's meaning, the very question, "Despise ye the Church of God?" can ye be guilty of such irreverence? is an extension of this respect to the Christian Church now.

But if this be the objector's ground, then let me add, neither is this presence denied to us, since of that presence, even after His departure from us, thus the Lord Himself has spoken-"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." He says not only, "the Comforter shall be with you," but He says, "I am with you." Christ, therefore, absent as He is in the flesh, is present in His Church'; even as His great Apostles also speak-“Ye are come,”—not by anticipation and in expectance only, but by actual inheritance now,-"unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God "," that city" which the glory of God" doth "lighten, and the Lamb is the light thereof "."

And if it should be said, this is spoken of the

"Thus much the Scriptures seem to unfold respecting these two sacred Presences-(of Christ and of the Holy Spirit)-that the Holy Ghost dwells in the hearts of separate baptized Christians; that Christ dwells in the community of the Church; that the bodies of Christians are, one by one, temples of the Holy Ghost, but that all together are the temple of Christ; that each Christian is a separate stone, instinct with the Holy Spirit, but that all together make up Christ's temple; that where several have been duly gathered into the Sacred Name, (not without water and the renewing of the Holy Ghost,) there is Christ in the midst of them."-Moberly, "Great Forty Days," p. 85.

8

Heb. xii. 22.

9

Rev. xxi. 23.

whole collective body of Christians, it is they who form the holy temple of the Lord, of which He has spoken, both by His Apostle and His Prophet-"Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them'," I answer, neither is the presence of our Lord so limited, since we have His own most gracious assurance, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them "." If this be so, and who shall gainsay it? wherever Christians are assembled, baptized in His name, submitting to his order, observing His ordinances, there is the Lord's presence also. And we have no less ground for building, and reverently maintaining our Churches, than had the king of Israel.

Now it is a grievous thing to see how little this great duty of nature, of law, of the Gospel, has, in these latter ages, been accounted of; as we go through the length and breadth of this realm of England, on the one hand, to behold the lavish magnificence with which, not only public buildings for luxury, for refreshment, for commerce are reared, but the decorations and the comforts with which men, in our middle rank of life, ornament their private dwellings; and then to turn on the other side, and perceive some ancient church, rich in the recollections of many a century, ruinous, decayed, and despised. I thank God that the scene before us is one proof

1 2 Cor. vi. 16.

2 Matt. xviii. 20.

among many, that a better spirit is beginning to prevail, that the indevotion to God's service, the contempt for His honour, nay, the disregard for human law, all which has been dignified by the names of principle and conscience, is beginning to be understood to be sheer ungodliness, covetousness, and injustice. What, if when our houses are out of repair, we never rest till we have restored them; nay, if we readily bestow our cost and our labour on the stable for our horse, the stall for our cattle, shall we neglect and despise the House of God?-that Church wherein is set forth the word of everlasting life; that Church wherein are exhibited the mysteries of our redemption; where is opened the fount of our regeneration; where is communicated to us "that Body which is meat indeed, that Blood which is drink indeed;" -shall we despise the place where such things are done? nay, "put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground"."

But, God be thanked, I repeat, a better temper is beginning to prevail; a sense of shame to be felt in every corner of the land, for the neglect in which the houses of our God have lain. Nevertheless, there is much to be done everywhere; for so long as we are not content with simply keeping our homes free from the outward injuries of the elements, but insist upon decoration and ornament, as well as mere necessary outlays, we cannot escape the charge of "despising

3 Exod. iii. 5.

the Church of God," if our Church arrangements seem to say with Israel of old, "The table of the Lord is contemptible."

When it pleased the Lord that His tabernacle should be reared in the wilderness, thus He commissioned His servant Moses to speak in the xxxvth chapter of Exodus: "This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring an offering. And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold and every man that offered, offered an offering of gold unto the Lord."

There may be still some, who would think of all this as "idle show, and senseless profusion;" who, like a certain remonstrant of old, would ask, "To what end is this waste?" This plate, or this covering of the altar, or these books, or these carvings, or this pulpit, or these bells, might be sold for much, and given to the poor. Such, however, was the command of God; such the cheerful obedience of the

Matt. xxvi. 8.

6

giver ; not to the poor

people. This was clearly not to "despise the Church of God;" and this was acceptable in His sight. For though, as He says, "the silver is mine, and the gold is mine," nevertheless, He gives it to man to see what is in his heart. And as He gives freely, so does He love a cheerful only, for these "we have always with us, and whenever we will we can do them good,"-but still more to her whom He has youchsafed to call His "bride," and His "spouse." "Bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh"." "The alabaster box of ointment cannot be poured on His head again, for He is gone; the spices and the myrrh to embalm His body for Him are needed not, for, behold, He is alive for evermore "." 8 But that which is given to His mystical body, "the fulness of Him that filleth all in all," as He has registered it for "good when done to Himself, so does He still allow it for good when done to His Church, and in the day of judgment shall pronounce it good. For, surely, if that which is "done to one of the least of His brethren 2" He will account as done unto Himself, much more will He so account of that which is done to His collective family.

66

יין

But are those only concerned in the question,

Despise ye the Church of God," who are excited by it to "give freely "" of what they have freely re