die for the truth's sake; one whose death is the result of his testimony to the truth, as was St. Stephen's, Acts, vii. MEASURE, v. To take account of the size, or quantity, or capacity of anything. MEASURE, sub. A certain quantity or proportion of a thing; "such a measure of God's grace" (Collect, No. 53) means grace that shall be sufficient for the end desired, viz. the obtaining of God's heavenly promises. MEDIATE, v. To go between parties at enmity with each other in order to reconcile them and make them friends again. MEDIATION, sub. The act of mediating between friends. MEDIATOR, sub. One who mediates between parties in order to reconcile them to each other; a title of Jesus Christ, as being the sole Mediator between God and men. See 1 Tim. ii. 5; Heb. viii. 6; xii. 24. The term is also applied to Moses (Gal. iii. 19, 20), as mediating between God and the children of Israel; in which respect he was acting as a type of Christ. MEDICINE, sub. A remedy given for a disease; something administered by a physician for the cure of bodily diseases. The blood of Christ is the medicine of the soul. MEMBER, sub. One of a society or company; one of the parts of the natural body. Every believer is a member of Christ's mystical body the Church; and has his peculiar office, as the members of the natural body. This office he should be careful to fulfil, not only in order to his own well-being, but also for the well-being of the other members, whose welfare is in a manner bound up in his own. MERCY, sub. Pity; compassion; undeserved kindness. See Part I. p. 74. MERCIFUL, adj. Full of mercy. See preceding word. MERCIFULLY, adv. In a merciful manner; kindly; tenderly; with pity and compassion. MERIT, sub. Worth; desert; excellence of character or conduct deserving reward, and having a just claim to it. "The reward of merit comes by right, and not simply by favour;" is not "of grace but of debt," Rom. xi. Such merit sinners can never have, for when all is done that is commanded (if that were possible), they are still “unprofitable servants." MERITORIOUS, adj. Full of merit; possessing or imparting merit. MESSENGER, sub. One who carries a message from one party to another. John Baptist is called Christ's messenger (Collect, No. 3), because sent by Him to prepare His way by the preaching repentance. Jesus Christ is called the "Messenger of the Covenant" (Mal. iii. 1), because He came from God to declare and ratify that covenant; to make known and carry into execution His Father's mind and will. MIND, sub. The understanding or judgment of man, by means of which he distinguishes between right and wrong, good and evil; man's reasoning faculties. MINISTER, sub. One who waits upon another; applied chiefly to those who are employed in the service of the sanctuary or house of God; to those who have been consecrated and set apart for that special work. MINISTRY, sub. The work or office of a minister; spe cially the work and office of the minister of God. MORTAL, adj. Subject to death; liable to decay and death; that which must come to an end. Our present bodies are mortal, i. e. they have a principle of corruption in them, and must die; for corruptible cannot inherit incorruption. Hence this present life is a mortal life, and will, sooner or later, come to an end. The next is immortal, because, our bodies being no longer liable to corruption, will undergo no change. MORTIFY, v. To cause to die; to reduce to a state of death; scripturally, to subdue the lusts and passions of the body so as to have them in complete subjection, and to deprive them of all influence and control over us as if they had ceased to exist. This is enjoined on us, Col. iii. 3. This St. Paul had done, Gal. ii. 20. MORTIFICATION, sub. The act of mortifying our bodies, i.e. the lusts of our bodies; the state of one so mortified. MOTIONS, sub. Impulses communicated to the mind, stimulating us to actions. The godly motions of Christ (Collect, No. 22) are those incitations or stirrings-up of our minds to holiness, which are the work of the Holy Spirit within us, commissioned to influence us by Christ. These motions are too often resisted, and hence the benefits which would result from attention thereto are lost; the Spirit is quenched, and man is left to himself to perish in his sins. MULTIPLY, v. To increase greatly; to produce many times over. MURDERER, sub. One who takes away the life of another unlawfully, as Cain did Abel's. MYSTERY, sub. Anything hidden and concealed; anything not publicly known. The great mystery of Paul's day, of which he speaks in Eph. iii. and elsewhere, was this, the calling of the Gentiles to an equal share in God's privileges with the Jews. The mysteries of God, speaking generally, are those truths now revealed to us in the Gospel, but which were hidden or concealed, until God was pleased to make them known to us by His Son. MYSTICAL, adj. Having some hidden or secret meaning; hidden; emblematical. The mystical body of Christ is the Church of the First-Born, "the blessed company of all faithful people." This is called mystical, because invisible and unknown to man, because undiscernible to mortal eyes, though "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His," 2 Tim. ii. 19. NAME, sub. A title or designation by which a person or thing is known. By the "name of God" is meant God's unchangeable nature and attributes, properties and perfections. His power, eternity, holiness, truth, life, all are included under the expression. Hence His Name does but express Himself; and whatever titles or properties are ascribed to His Name, are to be considered as applied and ascribed to Himself. God NATURE, sub. The state, or properties, of anything at its first production, or as it proceeds from its original; the course or order of things established by God in the world. Man's nature is not now what it was at first. created man upright, perfect, pure, and spotless, as all the rest of creation; but man sinned and fell from that state of purity into a state of sin. His nature, in consequence, lost its excellencies, and became corrupt and sinful; and he is now, by nature, a "child of wrath," because of his springing from a corrupted stock. Hence he must undergo a change, and have a renovated nature, ere he can become "a child of God," and recover the blessedness from which sin has debarred him. NECESSITY, sub. Want of something necessary to our existence, or at least to our happiness and comfort. NEVER-FAILING, adj. That which always continues; what is never removed from us; what never decays or perishes; such is God's care over His creatures. NOURISH, v. To bring up carefully; to educate and maintain; to cherish, and comfort, and support. OBEY, v. To submit to authority; to act as ordered; to attend to instructions. OBEDIENT, adj. Submissive to authority; acting as ordered; attentive to commands. OBEDIENTLY, adv. In an obedient manner; submis sively. OBTAIN, v. To get possession of; to secure; arrive at and lay hold on. OFFENCE, sub. Anything contrary to law. Our offences against God are our sins, which are transgressions of God's law, 1 John, iii. 4; and because of these we have merited punishment. Hence it becomes us to seek for pardon. ORDAIN, v. To set in order; arrange; appoint; to set apart to the service of God and work of the ministry by laying on of hands; to confer holy orders. ORDER, v. To appoint; give instructions to any one; to determine, or establish. ORDINATION, sub. Appointment; arrangement; the act of admission into holy orders. OUTWARD, adj. That which is external and visible; that which is on the surface of anything. OUTWARDLY, adv. In an open manner; externally; having respect to that which is external, i. e. in the case of man, to his body, not his soul; his body being outward and visible; his soul lying hidden deep within. OVERCOME, v. To conquer; to get the victory over anything; to subdue and make prisoners. The great enemies the believer has to overcome are the devil, the world, and the flesh; and until these are all conquered and overcome, he can have no rest. In fighting against these he has no carnal weapons to use, but the weapons of that spiritual armoury described Eph. vi., with which He may conquer, for they are " mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds," 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. PARDON, v. To set free from punishment; to release from the consequences of guilt; to forego a deserved penalty; to forgive sins, and the guilt of sins. To pardon is God's prerogative alone; as Sovereign of the universe, and to Him only must we turn in order to obtain that pardon which, as sinners, all of us require. PATIENT, adj. One who suffers meekly what he is called upon to endure; one who bears without repining the ills of life; one who waits in humble confidence for the fulfilment of God's promises and the accomplishment of His purposes. See Isa. xxviii. 16; James, v. 7; Heb. vi. 12. PATIENTLY, adv. In a patient manner. PARTAKE, v. To take a part in a thing with others; to share a thing with others. PARTAKER, sub. One who takes a part in a thing with others; one who shares with us in our sorrows and our joys. PASSION, sub. A violent emotion of the mind; used in the Collect and in the Litany in the sense of suffering, such being the original meaning of the word, and applied to the scenes of Christ's sufferings in Gethsemane and on Calvary, when "it pleased the Lord to bruise Him," and to "put Him to grief." On this account the week in which our Saviour suffered is commonly spoken of under the name of "Passion Week." PASTOR, Sub. One who feeds a flock; used figuratively of the ministers of the Gospel, whose office it is to feed and watch over the flock of God, the sheep of Christ's fold. PEACE, sub. A state of quietness and repose; rest from toil; quietness of mind. "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding," should be the object of all our thoughts. It comes through faith, is the result of Christ's work, Rom. v. 1; and when possessed gives a happiness not otherwise to be secured. |