^ God is a Spirit. This relates to the nature of God ; and as a spirit is the most excellent of beings that we have any notions of, God is represented under this character to heighten our thoughts of Him. We indeed know but little of the nature of spirits; the most of our acquaintance with them lies in the consciousness we have of our own souls, which all allow to be the noblest part of the man. And the most natural, obvious thought that arises in our minds about a spirit is that it is an incorporeal and invisible being, with life and action, understanding and will.^
Observe yon concave blue. That seems to close around our human view.
And ends by sun and star Our keenest survey of those heavens afar.
And yet we know full well, False is the specious tale our senses tell;
That is no azure sky, Or solid vault, that meets our lifted eye.
What curtains roand our gaze. The background of the sun or starry maze,
Is but blue-tinted light That veils from us the aerial infinite.
* Guyso,
r
ST. JOHN IV. 24 245
And so, when we define Great heaven's immensity by verbal sign,
We act as though our bent Were here again to feign a firmament.
Words in array we place, And deem therewith we see God face to face.
Poor fools, and blind; not seeing Our words but mask and hide His unsearched Being.^
2. The great truth that God is a Spirit, purely held, would be the bjest^qrrective_oi ialse doctrines in religion, the richest spring of peace, the most constant inspiration of duty. Examine a narrow creed, and it will not be difficult to point out where it forgets that God is a Spirit. A heart not at rest is a heart that does not know the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. A dishonoured conscience, a violated sentiment, a rebellious will, are only other names for a broken fellowship with the Father of our spirits. A soul cleansed from unspiritual thoughts of God, and in daily communion with Him, however far it might be from the fulness of objective Truth, would have in it no springs of error, of troiible, or of sin.
(1) The first error that arises from an unspiritual conception of God is a tendency to localize God. The woman's question was, in fact, " Where ? " Christ's reply was, " Nowhere in particular — everywhere." This question lies at the root of all superstition. It is observable among the heathen, who confine the agency of a god to a certain district; among the uneducated poor of our own country, in their notions of a cemetery ; and among the more refined, in the clinging mysterious idea which they attach to a church, an altar, and the elements of the sacrament. Let us define what we mean by sanctity of place. It is a thing merely subjective, not objective ; it is relative to us. It belongs to that law of association by which a train of ideas returns more easily by suggestion in some one place than in another. Worship in a festive room or over a shop, would suggest notions uncongenial with devotion. Hence the use of setting aimrt or consecrating places for worship. There is no other sanctity of place. We hear an objection to this. It is said to be dangerous to say this :
* John Owen.
246 TRUE WORSHIP
it will unsettle people's minds; a little of this illusion is wholesome, especially for the poor. Christ did not so reason. Consider how unsettling this was to the woman. The little religion she had clung to Gerizim. The shock of being told that it was not holy might have unsettled all her religion. Did Christ hesitate one moment? He was concerned only with truth. And we are concerned only with truth. Some people are afraid of truth. As if God's truth could be dangerous ! The straight road is ever the nearest. People must bear, and shall, what an earnest mind dares to say. Is God there or not ? If not, at our peril we say He is.^
(2) A second error is the idea that forms are iminutable. " Our fathers worshipped in this mountain," therefore so must we. How much of the mischief of the separation of sects, with all the bitterness and mistrust that have come with it, has arisen from the fact that the form of worship has been mistaken for the worship itself.
^ It was about one o'clock in the morning. I was the only white man then on the island, and all the natives had been fast asleep for hours! Yet I literally pitched my hat into the air, and danced like a schoolboy round and round that printing-press ; till I began to think, Am I losing my reason ? Would it not be liker a missionary to be upon my knees, adoring God for this first portion of His blessed Word ever printed in this new language ? Friend, bear with me, and believe me, that was as true worship as ever was David's dancing before the Ark of his God! 2
(3) A third error is to mistake the object of worship. There is a feeling of devoutness inherent in the human mind. We hear the solemn tones of a child when repeating his prayer or hymn. Before what is greater, wiser, better than himself man bows instinctively. But the question is,j£/i'5^ will he worship ? The heathen bent before Power. To him the Universe was alive with Deity; he saw God in the whirlwind, in the lightning, and the thunder. But the forces of Nature are not God. The philosopher bows before Wisdom. Science tells him of electricity, gravitation, force. He looks down on warm devoutness; for he sees only contrivance and mind in Nature. He admires all calmly, without