Vers. 23-25.-Oonversion prepared for. I. CONVERSION EFFECTED BY MEANS; 1. The door of the sanctuary should be an open one (ver. 23). Restrictions and hin- drances to attendance should be swept away. Non-churchgoers are often such tbrouah the action of churchgoers. 2. Means should constantly be employed in the sanctua;y, 'l'he gospel should be preached. The presence of "unbelievers" should constantly be borne in mind, and of those altogether "unlearned" in the truth. Casual hearers should not be forgotten;· the bow drawn at a venture has often done signal execution. II. PnoBADLE MEANS OF CONVERSION, 1. Order and propl'iety in the sanctuary.. The building itself should not be regarded as altogether unimportant. There are some church buildings in which it is very difficult to be converted I Wherever practicable, a suitable structure should be secured; not bare and ugly, to repel, nor unduly ornate; to distract. And the services should be well ordered and decorous, else some coming in may suppose that we are " mad." But dnlness and coldness are not decorous. Vigour and enthusiasm are in the highest degree proper. If we want to move others we must be moved ourselves. There can be great freedom in the service without over- stepping hounds. Modern Christian services tend to be too stilted, formal, frigid, unemotional. 2. Church worship. Song and prayer have won not a few from the kingdom of Satan. But the song service is sometimes a hindrance to edification; the- music attempted i~ such as no angel could learn, and, for the matter of that, such as no au gel would ever want to! Song, which should quicken, may freeze; and a freezing soul is very dillicnlt to convert. Sanctuary song should be united song. In heaven the host sings, not a selected choir. Prnyer should be earnest, real, iutelligible. There are such things as mock prayers-prayers without any praying in them. Prayers of words and time; nothing in them except letters and minutes. Often too many of these. 3. The preaching of the go.~pel. This, the pre-eminent means, should be: (1) I,,telligible. Not over the heads of the people. (2) Sensible. Not under their heels. If the sermon is deHpised, the gospel may be. (3) Direct, "lfo is convinced [or,' reproved 'J of all" (ver. 24). It is meant for him. There is something in the nospel which suits every condition. We are apt to take the edge off by general indetiuite utterance. (4) :searching. "The secrets of his heart are made mauifest." Preachers need acquaintance with human life; they should mix among men, and not live as recluses. 'l'hen under Divine influence they will be able to apply the gospel so searchingly that ofl,en hearers will think somebotly. has told the preac~er the secrets of their lives. (5) Scriplural; or it may be preacbmg, but not preaching the gospel, and no couversion can be looked for. III. TES'l'B OF 'l'HE BUI'l'.\DILITY OF MEANS. 1. What do the unbelieving and ignorant think of the means employed t Some will ind~ed scoff, but what will the common-sense and sincere ones think? \Vhat ought they to think? 2. What results follow 1 What arc the effects of our services and work? We say no man can be responsible for results. This, in one sense, is a great truth, and in another a great lie. Do men under our ministrations fall down in contrition and humility, worship God, and declare that. God is amongst us or a truth ? If they do not, there is something amiss; 1nd if we look for that something in ourselves and in our mo<les of work, wo shal'l probably look in the ri_ght place. We must not rui? the usefulne~s o~ ~cans by reaarding them as anything more than means. 'forest m them alone 1s su1cHlal. \Vo nt~d the power of the Holy Ghost. For this we shoul<l yearn, agonize, pray, as we cu. xiv. 1-40.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORrnTHIANS. 477
b.umbly obey the command" r:.ot to forsake the assembling of ourselves together," and lo " preach the gospel."-H.
Vers. 26-33, 40.-Decency and O'l'der in the Church. I. REFLECT UPON WHAT THE CHURCH IS. 1. It is the " Church of the living God" (1 Tim. iii. l:"i ). In its worship i,t worships the Eternal. It is the depository of bis truth. It is the "temple of God" (.eh. iii. 16). 2. It is the Church of Christ. "My Church " (Matt. xvi. 18). It (1) bears bis Name; (2) is the place of his presence (Matt. xviii. 20 and xxviii. 20); (3) redeemed by his blood (1 Pet. i. 18, 19); (4) his body (eh. xii. 27); (5) identified with him by the world; (6) the chief means by which bis Name is made known in the earth; (7) it is light derived from him shining in a dark place. 3. The abiding-place of the Holy Ghost. (Ch. iii. 16.) 4. The great instrumentality for the conversion of tl,e ungodly. II. '!'HE IMPORTANCE OF EVERYTHING CONNECTED WITH THE CHURCH BEING AS FREE FBOM FAULT AS POSSIBLE. Impropriety and disorder in the Church (1) dishonour God; (2) grieve Christ; (3) tend to quench the Spirit, and ( 4) to make the Church powerless for its mission. Ill. WHAT VAST RESPONSIBILlTY RESTS UPON THOSE WHO VIOLATE THE APOSTOLIC COMMAND. (Ver. 40.) God is a God of 1,eace, but in this way he is made to appear a God of confusion and disorder (ver. 33).-H.