1 Kings \du. 28 — 30. Have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, 0 Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, lohich thy servant
prayeth before thee to-day: that thine eyes may be open toioard this house night and day, even toioard the place of ivhich thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer lohich thy servant shall make toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, ivhen they shall pray toward this place : and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling- place : and when thou hearest, forgive ^.
THE consecration of buildings erected for public worship obtained very early in the Church of Christ. We have the most authentic testimony that it was practised, to a very great extent, in the days of Con- stantine^ Whether it existed in the first three cen- turies, we have no certain information : but when we consider for what a holy pui'jjose they are set apart, we can have no doubt but that it is a service highly reasonable in itself, and truly acceptable unto God. We are not to suppose that the giving of the names of saints to churches was any mark of their being consecrated to them: it was to God alone that they were dedicated: and the names given to them were merely commemorative of their founder, or tokens of respect to the particular saint whose name they bore.
The idea of consecrating such edifices seems evi- dently to have been suggested by the dedication of Solomon's Temple, which exhibited altogether as glorious a scene as ever was beheld on earth. On that occasion, the king himself, a paragon of wisdom, and the greatest monarch of his day, bowed his knees before God in the sight of all the congregation of Israel, and, with up-lifted eyes and out-stretched hands, implored the favour of his God. To this prayer was vouchsafed an answer which filled all the spectators with the deepest awe: for fire came down from heaven, in the sight of all, to consume the sacri- fices ; and the glory of the Lord so filled the temple,
^ The Author being taken ill at Cheltenham at the time that this Discourse was to have been preached, it was not delivered according to his intention.
^ Eusebiu mentions it with peculiar satisfaction. See " Bing- ham's Antiqidties of the Church," Book viii. ch. 9. sec. 2.
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