The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Chronicles — Section 262

some disciples had been baptized who did not so much as know there was e. Holy Ghost.. Whe~ th? Church went in for ~ore order, the lack of the power and the charity of earher times beca.me more conspicuous. Churches that have retained more of external unity have lacked vitality; and Christian communities which have been marked by grea.t vitality have lacked unity of charity and action. In Tertullian's days the Church almost_entir~ly lost the u~e of the sacrament of baptism by men postponing the observanoe of 1t to hfe1s end, fearing there was no further or other washing away of sins after it had taken place. To-day she has almost entirely lost the use of the same sacrament by applying it at life's begiillllllg to those absolutely unconscious of its meaning. God is always amongst us, but not always the ark, the sacraments, the proper order. Reality is rough-never more than a mere approximation to what we desire. And if so, there should be charity for differences, and we should address our- selves rather to the maintenance of" the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." II. The second lesson to be learned is: Goo :M.AKES THE MOST OF ALL THAT IB IMPERFECT, ANTI MAKES THE BEST OF WHAT IS WRONG. In what utter hopelessness would the religious state of Israel have appeared to any ancient High Churchman I The altars without the ark; the ark without the altars; no high priest with the ark. All the suggestion of Divine mercy on the one band and Divine lordship on the other which the ark suggested, lost. Both in places undistinguished. It was, for the time' an utter collapse of the entire system of sacrificial worship as instituted by Moses'. And in these circumstances what do we witness? The utter disappearance of faith :rnd godliness? Far from it. True, there was a general coldness, or such a state of things would not have been permitted to endure. But God did not abandon his people because ark and altar were separate. The same love which ordained all these arrange- ments for high, united, solemn fellowship with himself, bent its energies to supply the void caused by their neglect in some other way. Is the ark taken and the priest- hood degenerate? God raises up Samuel the prophet. Are altars and tabernacles neglected because weak through separateness? God comes near, and, through Abiathar-, Gad, Kathan, and other prophets, makes up for the lack of priestly service. Has he virtually no outward dwelling? He comes nearer to individual souls, and woos them with the mystic voice which the sheep hear and gladly follow; so that faith, service, goodness, are all found. There are probably about seventy psalms written by David, most of them in the first half of the psalter. Many of these, written after the ark had found a new dwelling in Jerusalem, breathe a profoundly spiritual attachment to" the house of God." But the greater part of them, written prior to that event, are altogether void of allusion to either tabernacle or altar ; but, like the rest, rich in devoutest recognition of the nearness, preciousness, and help of God, An old Catholic theologian supposed that, just as in the absence of rain, the usual means of fertility, there was a "mist that came up and watered Eden," similarly, in the absence of all usual means of grace, God invents fresh methods by which he reaches and refreshes the hearts of men ; even so, amidst the cold and unspiritual half-century that intervened between the death of Samuel and the establishment of the ark in Jerusalem, there were still all the Divine activities going on; and the devout found in "the Law" what they missed in" the service." And God waked many, many hearts to seek after him. In this lesson also there is vast importance. We are too apt to say a blessing is impossible unless such and such arrangements are made. Some said in olden times, "Where the Church is the Spirit is; and outside the Church is no salvation." Some in modem times hold sacraments essential to salvation. Some with more reason, but still going beyond Scripture, think Jesus can only save those who know his history. God works the more to bless us, the more through our ignorance we frustrate his means of grace. If through presumptuousness we neglect any duty, it is a sin which he will i;ternly correct ; but if through ignorance we neglect any duty, God will try and make up our loss. 'l'he evangelical Churches of to-day have mostly, I think, lost a sacrament. God makes the other sacrament do double duty, and loads it with douhle blessings. Ill. THE EXTERNAL ORDERING OF Goo's HOUSE IN Gon'e WAY CARRIES WITH IT A GREAT BLESSn<G. David was Israel's second Moses. He rehabilitated the whole tabernacle service with its solemn united access to God; helped the people to unite lD approaching God, by bringing priests, ark, and altar under one tabornad~ He did oH. xvr. 1-43.J THE FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. 259