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would call to participate in His Kingdom. Here as on every page of the Scriptures, repentance and faith, abandonment of the world and of sin and return to God through Christ, are insisted upon as the fundamental conditions of a participation in the Kingdom of heaven and the blessings of salvation, namely the forgiveness of sins, imparted and guarrantied by Christian baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost as the principle of a new divine life. After several admonitions to repentance the susceptible hearers who cheerfully accepted the word preached, submitted to baptism, and about 3000 souls were gathered into the garners of the Christian Church during this first harvest season of the new covenant. The life-inspiring testimony of Peter and the extraordinary operation of the Holy Ghost supplied the want of a longer preparatory discipline for the solemn act of baptism which in this instance happened contemporaneously with a change of heart. But the young plant stood in need of much nourishment and assiduous care. The believers engaged with one accord in cultivating the four main elements of every genuine Christian church-life; they gave faithful attention to the instruction of the Apostles, continued in brotherly communion the bond of which was an ever-active self-sacrificing love, in the breaking of bread, that is, in the use of the Lord's Supper in connection with their daily love-feasts, and in prayer (Acts 2: 24). "And the Lord added daily to the Church such as should be saved."

Such was the normal beginning of the Church, the like of which has not since been, but will be when the prophecy of Joel shall receive its last absolute fulfillment. This young band of believers with their successors now became the salt of the earth to preserve from spiritual putrefaction the mass of mankind. It was ordained that, henceforth, from the society established on this day should proceed every real advance in morality, science, art, social prosperity and outward civilization, as well as all the important epochs of Modern History. The Apostles previously timid, now gloried in their strength and bore witness to the truth with indomitable courage. Previously unknown and illy appreciated, they now became the heroes of the age who soon attracted the attention of the whole world outside of Palestine. A few honest, poor fishermen of Galilee called upon to bear witness of the Holy Spirit and transformed from illiterate, unpolished men to infallible ambassadors of the Saviour of the world and teachers of all succeeding ages; truly, this is a miracle in our eyes!

PUBLIC WORSHIP.

Continued.'

Having made known the design of his Collection, and ascertained the character of the worship which obtained in the Reformed Church, Prof. Ebrard proceeds to enquire concerning the principles of Evangelical worship, in general. This is the most interesting chapter in his work. To appreciate it fully, we must remember that the Reformed Church originally was made up of several provincial churches, the principal of which was the Zuinglian, the Calvinistic, and the Melancthonian; from which last branch, the church of the Palatinate, the Ger. Ref. Church of America is chiefly derived. It is also to this branch that we are indebted for the Heidelberg Catechism, This venerable symbol of our faith was prepared in 1563, by Ursinus and Olivianus, the one a pupil and devoted friend of the amiable Melancthon; the other an equally attached follower of Calvin, at the commence of the Elector, Fred, III, of blessed memory, as he is styled in the preface to one of our earliest liturgies. The leading object of this excellent prince, in having this work prepared was to allay the strifes, and harmonize the views of his people in religious subjects; and by committing it to the hands of two individuals, distinguished for their learning and piety, and occupying prominent positions as the representatives of the two confessions into which the protestant church was divided, he hoped to succeed. This is a highiy significant historical fact, illustrative of the theological character of this venerable symbol, and should rule in our interpretation of its doctrines, and in all our investigations and labors with a view to a Liturgy for the Ger. Ref. Church. What then, is its theological character? It certainly can be expected to contain no view upon any questionthe Sacramental for instance-lower than Calvin would have expressed; nor any on the other hand, higher than Melancthon entertained. It must, accordingly, occupy immediate ground, as these good and wise men could not have subscribed it; nor would it have answered the end proposed in preparing it. This too is the proper platform of the Ger. Ref. Church.

It will doubtless be a relief to the minds of many to discover,

'In the Article, as it appeared in the May No. of the Review, are mistakes of the printer, “too tedious to mention." The reader will please correct the following, as interfering with the sense and construction of the passages in which they occur. In the first, and also in the third sentences of the translation on page 297, for "as" read or. In the next to the last sentence of the paragraph on page 297, for "term," read time. Near the bottom of page 304 for "church" singing, read choral singing. In the second paragraph on page 300, a period occurs in the middle of a sentence.

that of all the Reformers, none, according to Ebrard, himself a Zuricher, was more liturgical or conservative than Zuingli. He was no radical. It will also be pleasant to observe with what candour and amiability of feeling, as well as earnestness of spirit, our learned German divines discuss theological questions of the greatest moment. Their object is truth.

The Principles of Evangelical Worship.

The UNIVERSAL, VISIBLE CHRISTIAN CHURCH is a teleogical Institution. She is not, as some would define her, l'homme spirituel collectif; for then she would be the kingdom of God, and all unregenerate persons, and to carry out the idea, all who are sinners, would be excluded. Nothing would then remain, but that either we must altogether deny the existence of a visible universal Church, and merely admit, in addition to the visible particular Churches, an invisible universal Church, which would be contradictio in adjecto;' or we must insist upon a donatistic purity of the church. The church, more correctly, is the multitude of those, who have been baptized into the name of the Triune God, and includes no one who is not capable of redemption, nor any one, who does not still need it. Accord ingly, a person may with full right be a member of the Church of Christ at large upon earth, without being a member of the kingdom of God, the "invisible church;" if in a general way we would call it church.

THE OBJECT OF THE CHURCH is to enable its members to become members also of the kingdom of God. In order to this, they must be born again, and become members of the body of Christ. In this work, the Holy Spirit, and the will of man, must be co-operatiug factors. The basis, however, upon which alone this activity is possible, the conditio sine qua non, is an acquaintance with the Lord Jesus, as an historical person, inasmuch as redemption is not an idea, but a fact-an historical transaction-the manifestation of the divine counsel in an historical act.

To present this basis, this possibility to her members is the proper object of the church. It is not in her power to produce

When the Reformers speak of the universal, catholic church as invisible, they mean to express their opposition only to that sort of visibility contended for by the Papists, i. e, the necessity of a visible, supreme Bishop. That the attribute of visibility, in other respects, belongs to the universal Church, has been satisfactorily shown by Calvin & Schleirmacher.

faith magically; neither can she, nor ought she to force any one to believe. She only proposes the word of Christ, and the sacraments to every ones acceptance, and leaves it to them, to make such use of them, as they will.

She attains this object, partly, by working in an outward way upon such as ought to be, but, as yet, are not members, by means of missions, and Catechetical instructions; and partly by working inwardly, upon those who are members; and so far as this last activity has reference to the whole congregation, and not only to individuals in their private concern for the salvation of their souls, it is called wORSHIP.

From what has thus far been said, it will be seen that the Church has two sides, an ideal and a real. She stands forth as an ideal power over her existing individual members, and is related to them pedagogically. As ideal, she is possessed of saving truth, and expresses and declares what she has. The same Church is at the same time, however, a real existence, consisting of the same members, who are to be converted, redeemed, and sanctified. It follows, then, that each of these forces, at least as mininum must be present in each of her members. No one belonging to the Church, can be exclusively receptive. Every one must be qualified also, to some extent, to represent the ideal side over against others, and to exert a reflex influence upon them, even if it is only by means of a general participation in the worship, the devotional exercises of the congregation; and in this way the general priesthood of the members of the Church is maintained. Nor can any member of the Church be purely and exclusively active, so as only to represent the ideal power, the strength of the Church, and be wholly separate from the condition of those, who need salvation. The church functionary, the Minister, is only one of the congregation, himself a sinner, who needs forgiveness and sanctification; and thus of self excludes a peculiar priesthood. For the sake of order, and by the appointment of Christ, there is the office of the ministry of the Word, but not a priesthood. It is the Roman Church, which externally separates the ideal, from the real Church, and the Clergy from the Laity, and that gives to the first, all the honors of the Church, regarding it only as ideal, and as a second mediator between the Sinner and Christ. It is Sectism, that regards the Church as only real, and not as existing continually, but produces it new, every moment. In Popery, faith proceeds from the Church, and not the Church from faith. In Sectism, it is the reverse; the Church proceeds from faith, and not faith from the Church. The Evangelical Church holds

fast to both views. The Church, as ideal, is before and independent of faith, and leads her members to faith; but in her reality she renews, and sustains herself continually through the faith of her members.

So much then, must be said of WORSHIP. True evangelical worship must not be simply an exposition of the doctrines which the Church, as ideal, possesses, whether it be an exposition in words or symbols. The Sermon, particularly, as the central point of worship, must not be merely expository, not simply an expression of the religious belief, or consciousness of the ideal Church; much less of course, a mere expression of the consciousness of the existing individual, real congregation with all its imperfections. But the worship must be essentially teleological, effective, working towards a particular object. The object of the ideal universal church, to instruct her existing members, to lead them to Christ, to enable, and make it easy for them to believe, must also be at the foundation of Worship. The Worship and the sermon especially, must be one act, one work, one effort towards improvement.

It must now be perfectly evident that in this way the exposi tory side of worship is not excluded, but on the contrary, retained. If the real Church, as she exists in the concrete congregation of any particular period, is to be carried forward upon the way of salvation, and brought to Christ, there must be a leading, directing, assisting, propelling power, and that not out of the Church, but within her. It is the one, and the same church, that is to be lead, and that must lead. She must have, in addition to a sense of the need of spiritual progress, a self-propelling, or advancing power. In other words, that, which the Church should attain to as a concrete reality, must already exist within her, as an ideal power. And, thus the teleological work itself is an exhibition, at the same time, of that which is already pres ent in ideality.

In WORSHIP, the concrete members of the Church, which need salvation, will be assisted on the way of salvation, by this, that the church, which is ideal-not only through her particular functionaries, the Ministers, but through all her members, so far as in addition to their need, there is also present in them a power-suffers such stores of saving truth to be exhibited, as she has in possession.

Thus the Sermon is of service in this, that by means of it, the Minister expresses the faith of the one, ideal, Church, eternal, revealed truth. So also is the Liturgy of service in the same way, since in it the congregation expresses the faith of the one ideal Church.

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