_Discourse on the Spiritual Worship of God,_ Its Nature, Auxiliaries and Impediments. Delivered before the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of West Pennsylvania, Sept. 30th, 1860 by Samuel S. Schmucker, 1799-1873 (Philadelphia: Henry B. Ashmead, 1860). --------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: The footnotes, pagebreaks, and emphasis have been removed from this text. A complete version with SGML markup according to the Guidelines of the Text Encoding Initiative is available in the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary Historic Text Archive. The gopher address is info.wlu.ca From the root directory choose academic information, then academic departments, then Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PROF. S. S. SCHMUCKER, D.D. Rev. and Dear Sir,--A number of the members of the West Pennsylvania Synod, having listened with deep interest to your sermon, delivered in the Lutheran Church in this place yesterday morning, and believing it highly calculated to accomplish good, the undersigned respectfully solicit a copy of the same for publication. J. EVANS, M. J. ALLEMAN, LUTHER A. GOTWALD, A. W. LILLY, J. H. MENGES, P. RABY, &c. &c. The Spirituality of all Acceptable Worship. "GOD IS A SPIRIT, AND THEY THAT WORSHIP HIM MUST WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH."--John iv. 24. GOD, my hearers, is the great author of that universe of worlds by which we are surrounded, and of which we are a part. But having by his almighty fiat called it into existence, he did not cast it off as an orphan child, to take care of itself. In infinite love he established a moral government over it, to direct the conduct and secure the highest happiness of all his rational creatures. In this government the boundless perfections of his nature, make him the just and only object of supreme adoration, and his relations to us as our Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer, impose on us a just obligation of supreme, unqualified, eternal obedience. His moral administration exhibits the wisdom, benevolence and justice of his laws, and their invariable tendency to promote our highest interest in time and eternity; whilst He bestowed on us intelligence to understand the law, and moral as well as physical ability to obey it. But, our first parents, being tempted by Satan, voluntarily transgressed the covenant, and having fallen from their first estate, we, their descendants, are born with a sinful nature, which inclines us to every evil. Hence, whilst our first parents in Eden had a holy nature, and were tempted only from without, the circumstances of our moral probation are changed, and we are depraved, being tempted also from within by the flesh, as well as without by the world and the devil. To the solicitations of this sinful nature, we have all voluntarily yielded, have rebelled against our God, and are disqualified for heaven, as well by natural depravity as by actual transgressions. We have dishonored his moral government, and are justly exposed to his divine displeasure. Yet, in infinite mercy, He provided salvation for our fallen race, by the mission of his Son, who atoned for our sins upon the cross, and purchased a claim to heaven by his all-perfect righteousness; to be bestowed on all, on condition that they repent of their rebellion and accept of salvation for Christ's sake,--that is, trust or believe in him, and consecrate their powers to his service, as obedient subjects of his moral government for ever. In thus restoring his rebel subjects to favor, God requires no more of us than the nature of the case demands, and than every just and benevolent monarch would do, in offering pardon to his revolted subjects. The latter requires his insurgent enemies to give heed to his message, to repent of their rebellion and acknowledge their guilt, publicly to renounce it and pledge entire and perpetual obedience. In short, they must exhibit new views of their monarch's character, new feelings towards him, and new purposes of sincere obedience. Suppose he knew that some of those who professed to accept his pardon were attempting to deceive him, and, whilst professing repentance, were still harboring rebellion in their hearts, would he accept their false professions and pardon them? Certainly not. But he would rather say, Take these mine enemies, who add insult to rebellion, and cast them into outer darkness. So also in religion, the change must be sincere, must proceed from the soul, and not be mere outward profession, must consist in an entire change of our habitual views, feelings and purposes in regard to God, and our obligations to him for time and eternity. In short, God, who is a spirit, requires that the worship and service of his creatures shall be spiritual, shall proceed from the heart; and their outward acts of worship are acceptable to him, only when they flow from the inner spirit. Our text, therefore, teaches: The spirituality of all acceptable worship of God. We shall endeavor to show I. That outward means of grace are necessary auxiliaries to spiritual worship in man. II. That these outward ordinances, being designed as channels of divine truth, are of little value to spiritual worship, unless so presented as actually to convey it. III. That true spiritual worship consists in a proper estimate and use of both. I. Outward means of grace are necessary auxiliaries to spiritual worship among beings constituted as we are. This necessity arises from the compound nature of man, who consists of a body, formed out of the dust of the earth, and an invisible, immortal soul, breathed into his nostrils by the great Creator. This soul is connected with the universe around it only by certain bodily senses, which are its inlets for knowledge, not only of the objects on our globe, but of distant planetary and stellar worlds: by which knowledge alone these objects can influence it. As it is the soul, which is the seat of all religion, and is to be influenced by the truth; as it is to be awakened, converted, sanctified and saved by a positive religion addressed to it from without; it follows that these communications of truth, must reach the soul through certain external ordinances, acting on and through the senses. Angels communicate by thought, without oral words or written records; for they have no bodies, and the conjectures of some ancient fathers, that angelic beings had spherical bodies of refined matter are fallacious. Probably in the future world our disembodied spirits will possess the same power; for we shall be like the angels, which are in heaven. But in this life nothing can reach the soul from without, except through our bodily senses. God can indeed communicate thoughts or truth to the soul, as he did to the prophets and apostles, without oral or written words, leaving the thoughts to suggest the words by the principle of association; but this constitutes inspiration, and is supernatural. Having in this way communicated the necessary truths to the inspired writers, he also moved them by the Holy Ghost to record them, thus making the written word the standing code of his kingdom, and appointing the gospel ministry as an order of uninspired men, who, "giving themselves wholly to these things," should study these records and publish them to all nations. Accordingly, the ordinances of religion, the exercises by which ministers are to communicate truth to the souls of their hearers, and the hearers to exercise themselves unto godliness, are certain outward means, addressing truth to the senses, and designed through them to reach the soul; communicating knowledge of divine things, exciting religious feeling, and prompting to religious action. Such ordinances are the preached and written word, singing divine truth, prayer, and the sacraments. II. But our second position is, that the outward means, being designed as channels of divine truth, are of little use to spiritual worship, unless they do convey it. These ordinances are means, and not the end; and they are useless if they fail of that end, if they do not reach the soul, imparting know]edge, and producing other appropriate results. Preaching accomplishes no good unless it is heard; for "how," says Paul, "shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" It can convey no instruction. Hence, all noise which prevents the preacher from being understood, whether it be within the circle of worshippers or without it, interrupts the communication of thought, and impedes the work of God. For the same reason, churches should be constructed with a view to hearing, in accordance with the laws of acoustics, or the science of sound, and edifices of dimensions beyond the reach of an ordinary voice of the preacher, are manifest violations of the grand design of preaching, are constructed more to gratify a love of worldly pomp and splendor, than a desire for spiritual worship. The written word is also ineffectual, unless it attain the same end. When rightly employed, it is "quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword;" but it is useless to put it into the hands of the people in an unknown tongue, in the Greek or Hebrew, or, as the Romish church formerly did, and in some countries still does, in a Latin version; for it will convey to them no knowledge, and cannot edify them. The Protestant practice of disseminating God's word amongst all nations in their vernacular tongues, is essential to its full influence in promoting spiritual worship and the salvation of souls. The great Apostle of the Gentiles pronounces him "who speaks in an unknown tongue to be as a barbarian to his hearers;" for unknown words or signs cannot convey knowledge, or subserve spiritual worship. 1 Cor. xiv. 11. And the same is true of the written word. Singing, as a means of grace, contemplates the same end, and is ineffectual unless it conveys truth to the mind, and fixes the attention upon it. The apostle commands us to "speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts unto the Lord." Eph. v. 19. The psalms and hymns here referred to, are all effusions of religious thought, which are impressed upon the mind by being attentively sung. And when we are told that the Saviour himself, after instituting the holy supper, sang a hymn with his disciples, that hymn was probably a part of the last six psalms, which the Jews were wont to sing at the passover, and not a mere tune without words. That Paul regarded singing as a vehicle of thought, and not merely of feelings, is evident from his declaration to the Corinthians, "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also:" and also to the Colossians, "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." But all artistic singing or playing, is calculated to divert the attention from the truth to the performers, instead of aiding us to worship God in spirit and in truth. All music by instruments alone, where no truth is combined, as in preludes and interludes, excites mere animal feeling, and is of doubtful utility in worship. The interlude suspends the thought and edification of the former verse for a season, and fixes the attention on a new and different train of thought, on the musical performance. Of this every one can convince himself by reflecting on his own mental operations whilst the exercise is in process. It is an admitted fact in mental science, that all feeling is consequent on cognition. That alone, therefore, can be religious feeling, which is excited by the cognition of religious truth. Hence, as the organ or melodeon conveys no religious truth, but mere sound, the feeling excited by the instrument alone, is mere animal feeling, and not religious, except in as far as association with religious thought may make it so. The same tune may be sung to sacred and secular words. In the former case, the feeling excited will be religious feeling, in the latter it will possess no religious character, and if words be irreligious, the feelings will be so also. Music may indeed attune our feelings to a cheerful or solemn mood; but neither of these is religious unless truth is combined. In the 92d Psalm, we find "the harp with solemn sound" recommended; but it is as connected with exhibitions of the loving kindness and faithfulness of God, showing that the solemn character of the music arose in part from the words accompanying it. Introductions and interludes should therefore be short, and be in the same time and spirit with the hymn. If the latter extend longer than requisite for the congregation to take breath, they create a separate interest, and divert the attention from the sentiment of the preceding verse to the mere music. Prayer also is appointed as a means of special nature to convey truth, not for the information of the omniscient Jehovah, to whom we address our petitions; but to impress them on our own hearts, and enable us to perform a duty, on condition which God has suspended important blessings. All the parts of prayer possess this character. In adoration, do we not rehearse the truths of God's word as to his attributes, works and ways. In confession, do we not appropriate to ourselves the declarations of Scripture concerning our depravity? In petition, do we not plead the divine promises of spritual and temporal blessings? And in intercession do we not repeat obediently the petitions for the benefit of others, which the word of God enjoins? "In every thing," says Paul, "by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." Philippians iv. 6. And all these requests are specific truths. Hence, in public and social prayer, all noise which renders the truths uttered inaudible, prevents the assembly from following him who leads the devotions, and impedes the benefit of the exercise. The sacraments are also designed by the Saviour to convey truth in a specially impressive manner, and can benefit the recipients little or nothing, unless due attention is paid to the truths intended, whether they be commemorative, federal, or of any other nature. Thus, baptism is designed to teach us our depravity, the necessity of spiritual purification or regeneration, and the purifying influences of the Holy Spirit. But, if an adult, receives baptism without the necessary qualification of a living faith, it will profit him nothing; yea, he is criminal before God. "If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest" be baptized, said Philip to the inquiring eunuch; implying, that if he was destitute of this faith, he was not entitled to this ordinance. The possession of this faith in the adult subject, implies that he has been taught of God to see and deplore his depravity, to renounce his sins, and trust in Christ alone for salvation,--that is, to believe in him. If baptism does not present these truths to him, and he does not accept and approve them, he is unfit for the ordinance. Infants are baptized without being able to exercise faith or comprehend truth, because the whole family is to be baptised on the faith of the parent, as in the case of Lydia, and probably the jailor, and Stephanus: and thus children are introduced into the visible church, and a Divine blessing, with Christian culture in religious truth, is secured to them. The Lord's Supper was appointed to teach and impress on the mind the atoning death of the Redeemer on the cross, "to show (proclaim) his dead, as the stated food of the soul, it is obviously no less our duty than privilege faithfully to improve them. "So then," says Paul to the Romans "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" preached. And to the Corinthians: "For after--the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." Beside, if these persons did, as they profess to do, faithfully read the word of God in private, they could not fail to meet the admonition of Paul to the Hebrews, "Let us provoke one another unto love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is:" and the injunction of the Apostle Peter, "Repent and be baptized every one of you:" and of the blessed Saviour himself, when instituting the Holy Supper, "Do this, as of the Christian profession. These symbols, like the printed or oral word, are vehicles of truth; but, through the truth thus conveyed, the Holy Spirit operates on the soul, and bestows his spiritual blessings. III. Our third position is, that true spiritual worship consists in a proper estimate and use of both the outward ordinances and the inward truths conveyed. 1. Let us first form a correct estimate of the relation which external ordinances sustain to spiritual worship, in the plan of salvation. (a) Are there not some perhaps in this assembly who frequently neglect the ordinances of God's house under the most trifling pretexts, alleging that they can as well serve God in private. But we have proved the nature of man to be such that the Holy Spirit converts the soul ordinarily only in connection with the truth, and that truth can reach the mind only through the senses by the outward ordinances. Since God has, therefore, appointed stated ministrations of the truth, by preaching of the worevidence as inconclusive and endeavors to go deeper, and by personal conversation with each individual, to ascertain whether these outward means have wrought those inward mental changes of religious views, feelings and habits of life, which they were designed to produce, and without which men have merely the form of godliness without its power. The Scriptures say, "By their fruits ye shall know them," doubtless meaning internal as well as external results: but these formalists affirm, "By their outward works and attendance on outward ordinances ye shall know them." They lose sight of the spiritual nature of conversion and of religion in general, making baptism the chief converting ordinance, and the Holy Supper the principal channel of sustaining and sanctifying grace. It is true, as we have already stated, baoften as ye do it, in remembrance of me." Those of you, therefore, who neglect these external ordinances, which the Savior saw proper to establish, and by which alone the truth can reach your souls, undoubtedly reject the counsel of God with regard to your salvation, and, unless you repent, will be finally lost. (b) On the other hand, we also see the error of those (Puseyites) who, mistaking the means for the end, accept the serious attendance on these outward ordinances as certain evidence of Christian character, without knowing whether the inward changes in the soul, demanded by scripture, have been wrought or not. Both parties, the spiritualists and formalists or Puseyites, agree in urging the necessity of outward ordinances, and also in requiring sincerity in their use; but they differ in this, that whilst the latter class regards a serious attendance on the outward ordinances as sufficient evidence of spiritual worship, and treats all who thus attend on them as Christians; the other regards this evidence as inconclusive and endeavors to go deeper, and by personal conversation with each individual, to ascertain whether these outward means have wrought those inward mental changes of religious views, feelings and habits of life, which they were designed to produce, and without which men have merely the form of godliness without its power. The Scriptures say, "By their fruits ye shall know them," doubtless meaning internal as well as external results: but these formalists affirm, "By their outward works and attendance on outward ordinances ye shall know them." They lose sight of the spiritual nature of conversion and of religion in general, making baptism the chief converting ordinance, and the Holy Supper the principal channel of sustaining and sanctifying grace. It is true, as we have already stated, baptism and the eucharist do symbolize several important truths, and in so far are also means of grace; but they are inferior in importance to preaching and the written Word, by which the whole plan of salvation in all its parts is taught and explained. The Scriptures attribute each part of the great spiritual change to the influence of the truth or word of God. Thus, we are called by the invitations of the word: "Look unto me, and be ye saved all the ends of the earth." We are illuminated by the "commandments of the Lord," which are pure, enlightening the eyes. We learn to see and repent of our sins by the word preached or read: "Now, when they heard this, (discourse of Peter,) they were pricked in their hearts, and said, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" We receive faith through the preached word: "For how can they believe on him of whom they have not heard?" and "Faith comes by hearing." Finally, the crowning work of sanctification is attributed to the same instrumentality: "Sanctify them by thy truth: thy word is truth." We see, then, that in every part of this great change, by which the sinner is morally prepared for heaven, the Holy Spirit employs the instrumentality of the truth either preached or read. The Sacraments are indeed highly important ordinances ofive importance of the sacraments are overwrought and unscriptural. The Apostle Paul expressly places preaching above the administration of baptism; and says Christ sent him not to baptize but to preach the gospel. If he had believed baptism to be a converting ordinance, instead of thanking God that, during his continued labors at Corinth, he had baptized none but Crispus and Gaius, and the family of Stephanas, lest they should regard him as the founder of a new sect; would he not have spent the greater part of his time in going around and baptizing all whom h children, and on the same principles, in former ages of darkness and superstition, the ancient Puseyites, as they might be styled, thrusted the consecrated bread into the mouths of dying children, vainly believing it necessary to their salvation. But, as these means of grace aid the Holy Spirit in regeneration only by conveying truth to the mind, which must also be understood and obeyed, neither of which children can do, it is evident they cannot aid in regenerating children, and the contrary opinion is inconsistent with the scriptural design of the sacraments. The rite of baptism is doubtless to be applied to children, because it is commanded; it confers on them a Divine blessing, and initiates them into the visible people of God; securing to them the supervision and care of the church in a religious education, and throwing around them an atmosphere of sacred influence. But, if this duty is neglected, the guilt falls on the parents, whilst the child, having been redeemed by the blood of Christ, and having not forfeited its interest in the Savior by voluntary sin, is in death purified from its depraved nature by the Holy Spirit, as dying saints are, and, as Luther himself affirms, is saved for Christ's sake. These Puseyite views of the efficacy and relative importance of the sacraments are overwrought and unscriptural. The Apostle Paul expressly places preaching above the administration of baptism; and says Christ sent him not to baptize but to preach the gospel. If he had believed baptism to be a converting ordinance, instead of thanking God that, during his continued labors at Corinth, he had baptized none but Crispus and Gaius, and the family of Stephanas, lest they should regard him as the founder of a new sect; would he not have spent the greater part of his time in going around and baptizing all whom he could persuade to submit to this ordinance themselves, and to subject their children to it? But, instead of being the principal means for converting sinners, the sacraments require a living and not merely a historical faith in adults, as a previous qualification. 2. We learn the important relation of the truths, communicated by these ordinances, to acceptable spiritual worship, and consequently to the salvation of the soul. (a) As the worship of God must be "in spirit," and outward ordinances of religion are necessary only as vehicles of truth, and useless if they fail to convey it; the truth itself must evidently be that on which the influence depends, and in connection with which the Holy Spirit operates on the soul. Or, in other words, truth is the essential and immediate medium of spiritual influence and worship. To obtain a clear view of this subject, we must distinguish between the truth itself and the various instrumentalities through which it is presented to the mind. Thus, the printed words of the Bible are not the truth or word of God, any more than the paper on which they are printed. Nor are the oral sounds, represented by these printed letters, or uttered by the preacher, the truth. But the revealed truths are those ideas, suggested to the minds of the inspired writers by the Holy Ghost, and expressed by them either by oral words or written language. Truth, therefore, is mental or spiritual, not material or bodily. All the different means of grace are vehicles of truth, or as truth also is still the immediate means of spiritual worship, the means of grace generally may be regarded as truth somehow or other presented to the mind, either orally by the preacher, or in writing by the Bible, or symbolically in the sacraments. (b) Again, the influence of divine truth, though somewhat affected by the circumstances of its delivery, is in a great, measure independent of the worthiness or unworthiness of the channel through which it reaches the mind. Hence although a sermon delivered by a pious minister, is ordinarily attended by far greater blessing; there are undoubted cases of conversion by the preaching of unconverted men: just as the intelligence of a victory, or of a treaty of peace, will affect the mind, regardless of the moral character of the messenger, yea, even if that messenger be the telegraphic wires, which are destitute of all moral character. The influences of the Holy Spirit are exerted through the truth itself; and not through the minister. The stream of spiritual electricity passes directly from the Holy Spirit through the truth to the sinner, regardless of all other intervening media. Hence it often reaches the soul of the inquiring sinner, when the truth is found by him in the Bible or a tract, or other pious book. How fallacious is, therefore, the boasted claim of pretended episcopal, or real ministerial succession from the Apostles, as the exclusive channel of these sacred influences, when they are often transmitted without the intervention of any minister at all! And how evident is it also, that conversion is an individual concern: for as the sinner is affected only by the truth he hears, and not by that heard by his neighbor, it follows that he must hear for himself, must be awakened, converted, sanctified and saved individually. (c) Again, we learn the fact, so often inculcated by the Reformers, that the truth does not produce its effects by the sinner's mere outward performance of the ordinance or rite, without due preparation of mind. It is true, a few cases occur in the Scriptures, such as the healing of Naaman the Syrian by Elisha, on condition of bathing seven times in the waters of Jordan, and the cure of the blind man by the Saviour by the application of clay to his eyes, and the case of the brazen serpent in the wilderness, in which results were effected by instrumentalities having ordinarily no tendency to produce them. But these were not stated means of grace. The effects were moreover miraculous, and let it ever be remembered, they were not moral but physical, were exerted on the body and not on the soul. As the means of grace act only by presentation of truth, so the truth itself will produce no effect if it is not heard, apprehended and received. But if the apprehension and acceptance of the truth are necessary to its regenerating efficacy; it follows, that as little children can neither apprehend nor accept either the truth or the rite by which it is conveyed to adults, their supposed regeneration must take place without moral preparation, which we have seen is not the case, or it must be miraculous, which is not promised, or it does not then occur; although a divine blessing is doubtless conferred. (d) Further, as each truth or doctrine properly received by the hearer, produces by the divine blessing, a specfic effect, in advancing the great change or conversion; either "enlightening the eyes," or as "a two-edged sword," or "hammer of the word," breaking the hard heart, or as "the incorruptible seed of the word" regenerating the soul, or as "the truth in general, sanctifying the believer;" it follows that the more uninterruptedly these presentations of truth succeed each other, and the longer the willing mind is kept under their purifying influence, the sooner will the great change be effected, and the views and feelings of the sinner be so far corrected, as to enable and induce him to surrender his heart to unto the end and inherit eternal life. (c) Weus his conversion to God be completed. How useful, therefore, are protracted meetings, when properly conducted, and how wise the regulation in our Synodical Constitution, providing for the stated recurrence of such protracted meetings, under the name Special Conferences. 3. We should ever preach and hear the truth with reference to its spiritual ends. Ministers of the gospel should habitually urge on their hearers the spirituality of religion, and of the plan of salvation. We should indeed inculcate the necessity of conscientious attendance on the outward ordinances, because they are of divine appointment, and from the very nature of man are absolutely necessary. But we ought like the illustrious Paul, to assign them their proper position as means to an end, as vehicles of those truths, by which alone the Holy Spirit ordinarily exerts his saving influence on the soul. (a) We should prove to the sinner that his guilt is found not only in external violations of the divine law, but far more in the sinfulness of the thoughts, feelings, desires and purposes of the soul. Well did the blessed Savior say: "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things that defile the man." (b) Again, we should teach sinners that conversion is essentially an inward, spiritual change; that external reformation is indeed necessary; but that this, instead of constituting conversion, follows after it, as its uniform result, thus forming the evidence of the internal renovation. We must inculcate the necessity of a radical change, in the ruling purpose of life, and a correspondent walk and conversation. We must teach our hearers to keep their hearts with all diligence, that they may prove faithful unto the end and inherit eternal life. (c) We should study so to preach, as to fix the attention not on ourselves, but on the solemn truths we deliver. All peculiarity of attire, therefore, and all eccentricity of manner should be avoided. Let the preacher be forgotten and the truths of God be alone remembered. How enviable a eulogy was that, which Louis XIV. pronounced on the preaching of the celebrated Massillon; "Sire," (said he, we give the substance from memory,) "I have listened to many celebrated preachers in my chapel, and was always pleased with their eloquence; but whenever I hear you preach, I go away displeased with myself." Happy is that man, whose sermons rivet the attention of the hearers not on the preacher, but on themselves, on their own character and relations to God! (d) We should always divide our hearers into two classes, as God's word does, into saints and sinners, converted and unconverted, into those who have obeyed the truth and those who have not, remembering the words of the Saviour, "He that is not against me is for me, he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad." There is no such thing as a half christian, a sinner half justified and half condemned, half on the narrow way to heaven and half on the broad road to hell. That minister, therefore, endangers the welfare of souls, who regards and addresses all his baptized members as regenerated, in any proper acceptation of the word, even when their life exhibits no evidence of the fact, and as needing only penitence for backsliding, and not true conversion or a radical change. On the contrary, none ought to be regarded as living members of the Saviour's body, who do not, in their walk and conversation present the evidences of spiritual life, the proof that they have become new creatures in Christ Jesus, old things having passed away, and behold all things having become new. Union with Christ by faith, must in adults be the prerequisite for union with his church. "If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest be baptized," be admitted to the church! (2.) And you, of sincere and entire surrender to Christ, of constant and universal obedience to the divine law, serving as well as worshipping God in spirit and in truth; and his favor will attend you. Always wait upon the Lord in his house, not to hear the eloquence of the preacher, but to learn the truth and will of God, that you may obey it. These truths possess an infinite value, and by the Spirit's blessing are able to make you wise unto salvation, even when uttered by the poorest preacher. Value your minister, not according to his eloquence, but to his fidelity in exhibiting the truth, and his success in winning souls to Christ. Be ever active in sustaining the outward ordinances, and lend your willing aid to all those associations, ecclesiastical or voluntary, designed to bring the truths of God's word in any proper form before the minds of men. Thus honoring God in the ordinances of his appointment, and careful through them to worship him in spirit and in truth, you will accomplish the work assigned you on earth, and at last be greeted with the welcome plaudit: "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joys of thy Lord." Which may God grant, for Christ's sake. Amen. APPENDIX ON CLERICAL ROBES. The question concerning clerical robes, which has recently been agitated in a few of our churches, might in one respect be regarded as adiaphoristic, whilst in another, viewed as part of a system of formalism, it is not without importance. In regard to the historic aspect of the subject, it seems to be certain, that the blessed Saviour, his apostles and the ministers of the first two centuries, always prhe blessed Savior. Whatever knowledge you now possess, has reached your soul through these ordinances of God. These, therefore, continue to honor. Use them faithfully, prayerfully, and with full purpose of sincere and entire surrender to Christ, of constant and universal obedience to the divine law, serving as well as worshipping God in spirit and in truth; and his favor will attend you. Always wait upon the Lord in his house, not to hear the eloquence of the preacher, but to learn the truth and will of God, that you may obey it. These truths possess an infinite value, and by the Spirit's blessing are able to make you wise unto salvation, even when uttered by the poorest preacher. Value your minister, not according to his eloquence, but to his fidelity in exhibiting the truth, and his success in winning souls to Christ. Be ever active in sustaining the outward ordinances, and lend your willing aid to all those associations, ecclesiastical or voluntary, designed to bring the s no reason to believe that Christ and his apostles wore any other dress in preaching than their ordinary one." Dr. Guericke, Professor in the University of Halle, declares: "From the fourth century, and probably still earlier, the priests generally, during the celebration of divine worship, were distinguished from the rest of the worshippers by a peculiar dress--which at first was white."- -Christian Antiquities, p. 43. A few traditionary rumors to the contrary, found in Eusebius, cannot overturn the grounds of the above testimony; nor can the conjectures of some modern authors, who, without adducing any historical authority, say it may naturally be supposed, that Christ and his apostles must have used peculiar robes in preaching, possess any force. In addition to this, Dr. Baumgarten informs us (p. 527): "At the time of the Reformaeached in their ordinary dress. In the third century, clothes of similar form and color, but of superior quality, were in many places worn in preaching; and in the fourth century, white robes of peculiar form were employed. Dr. J. Sig. Baumgarten says: "Clerici antiquitus habitu externo non differebant a laicis; modestis tamen utebantur vestibus a luxu et sorditie alienis." (Christ. Alterthumer, p. 526.) "In ancient times, ministers did not differ in outwrrent. How the cloth was gradually supplanted by the rustling silk, and how the coat was changed into a loose gown, we have no where seen stated. But as church and state were united in Saxony, as they were and still are all over Europe, the civil government through its proper offices, soon prescribed the gown, and in no part of that country has the question of its use, ever been referred to the ministers or churches for decision. Our own country is the first in which the use of the gown has been left optional, and here our ministers and churches have almost unanimously rejected all clerical robes. In the partial Reformation of the Church in England under Henry VIII, but little alteration was made from the complicated and mutable dress of the Romish priesthood. But at the Convocation of the Clergy in 1562, the proposition to dispense with episcopal vestments, the cross at baptism, and other Romish rites, was fully discussed, and lost by only one vote. See Hopkins' Puritans, vol. i., p. 206. Whilst we freely admit the nonessential type of this controversy, we feel averse to the use of peculiar robes in the pulpit, for the following reasons: 1. It is inconsistent with the example of Christ and his inspired apostles. The New Testament furnishes not the shadow of reason to believe, that they used any robes when preaching, other than their ordinary dress: and ition, all peculiarity in clerical dress, was also laid aside in the Protestant churches; and in most places, the dress of the more respectable classes of society, and especially of members of the (city) councils, was adopted, as being a citizen's dress." This dress was black. Luther's patron, the Elector, presented him with a black cloth, which was the color of the court dress, and thus the clerical custom of wearing black clothes, seems to have become current. How the cloth was gradually supplanted by the rustling silk, and how the coat was changed into a loose gown, we have no where seen stated. But as church and state were united in Saxony, as they were and still are all over Europe, the civil government through its proper offices, soon prescribed the gown, and in no part of that country has the question of its use, ever been referred to the ministers or churches for decision. Our own country is the first in which the use of the gown has been left optional, and here our ministers and churches have almost unanimously rejected all clerical robes. In the partial Reformation of the Church in England under Henry VIII, but little alteration was made from the complicated and mutable dress of the Romish priesthood. But at the Convocmen of like infirmities with others. We freely admit, that many of the humblest and best of men have been found in churches using these robes; yet these exceptions cannot overturn the general rule. 6. Among our ministers of American nativity, and indeed all embraced in the General Synod, clerical robes must be regarded as an innovation. Hitherto their use has, with about half a dozen exceptions, been confined to ministers of foreign birth, laboring in our German city churches, whose membership is also mostly of foreign extraction. In the interior of our country, in all our older churches, bt is a safe principle in matters of worship, to follow Christ and his apostles as far as practicable. 2. It is unscriptural, there being not only no injunction to wear peculiar robes in preaching; but, on the other hand, various passages teaching, that every thing typical in the Mosaic ritual, of which priestly robes are a part, is superseded in the New Testament, when Jesus Christ the substance has come. 3. It seems to have arisen from the revival of a Judaising tendency in the ministry of the fourth century, fostered by the growth of ministerial cast, and the union of Church and State under Constantine the Great. Eusebius tells us, that Constantine presented an episcopal robe to the bishop of Jerusalem, will be tempted not to favor meetings, at which their use is inconvenient. There are, doubtless, some honorable exceptions to this remark; yet I think the history of the churches in Europe and America, which use these clerical robes, clearly demonstrates its general truth. This effect can only be produced gradually, in the course of some years. But if the tendency exists at all, ought not our brethren rather to imitate the primitive simplicity of the Savior and his apostles? 8. Finally, the rejection of distinctive clerical robes, also best comforts with the plainness and equality of our democratic or republican institutions, as well as with the acknowledged republican character and tendencies of Protestantism in general, and of our popular form of church government in particular. _________________________________________________________________ This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg by Robert Kelly and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Waltoth English and German, especially those connected with the General Synod, the gown is not used either by our American ministers, or by many of German birth. A desire of uniformity in our American church, should, therefore, lead the few who use the gown, to conform to the many who reject it; if the thing were in itself indifferent. But this, we fear, is not the case. 7. It also tends to separate the minister from the people, to disparage prayer meetings, and preaching from house to house, where it is inconvenient to wear these robes. It is natural to suppose, that if a minister regards these robes as necessary to his full official dignity, he will prefer not to minister without them, and, therefore, will be tempted not to favor meetings, at which their use is inconvenient. There are, doubtless, some honorable exceptions to this remark; yet I think the history of the churches in Europe and America, which use these clerical robes, clearly demonstrates its general truth. This effect can only be produced gradually, in the course of some years. But if the tendency exists at all, ought not our brethren rather to imitate the primitive simplicity of the Savior and his apostles? 8. Finally, the rejection of distinctive clerical robes, also best comforts with the plainness and equality of our democratic or republican institutions, as well as with the acknowledged republican character and tendencies of Protestantism in general, and of our popular form of church government in particular. _________________________________________________________________ This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg by Robert Kelly and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary. E-mail: cosmithb@ASH.PALNI.EDU Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA Phone: (219) 452-2123 Fax: (219) 452-2126 ________________________________________________________________