fixed on that better Land, towards which every wave is bringing them nearer.

And O happy thought! our good and gracious Shepherd has not only provided a Fold on earth for His sheep, in which their present wants and their present safety are provided for. But He has made ready for them a Fold above, in which they will be perfectly safe, and perfectly happy, through all eternity.

In that Fold there will be nothing imperfect, nothing wanting. Into that Fold no sin will ever enter, no wolves will alarm, no mixture of chaff will spoil the wheat. From that Fold there will be no departure, no going out any more. Within that Fold we shall serve God day and night in His temple.

That is the Church which St. Paul describes as "a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but holy, and without blemish." And again he speaks of it as "the heavenly Jerusalem-the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven."

God give to you and me, dear Reader, a portion and a place in that heavenly Church!

41

CHAPTER V.

OUR FORM OF WORSHIP-IS IT AN ADVANTAGE OR A DISADVANTAGE?

Ir is surely very desirable that we, who belong to the Church of England, should be fully acquainted with those Public Services, in which we are in the habit of engaging. And if we can add life and warmth to those Services, and make them more the offering of our hearts, will it not be a great blessing to each one of us? Oh that we may ever be true worshippers in the sight of God!

Let us dwell for a moment on Public Worship generally.

I would not for a moment undervalue the importance of Private Prayer. We shall all pray thus, if there is any life in our souls. For what is Prayer? It is the Stepping-Stone to heaven. It is the Wing by which we soar

upwards. It is the Bow which we draw by the hand of faith, and which carries our message to God. It is the Pitcher with which we go to the never-failing Fountain. It is as needful for our souls, as eating and drinking is for our bodies.

Yes, Private Prayer is very important; and indeed our souls cannot live without it. Still it is not the only kind of Prayer we ought to use. God has always encouraged His people to meet together for Public Worship also; to pray with one another; and to join together every now and then, to tell out their many wants to Him who is more ready to give than we are to ask. Just as the separate members of a Family do several things alone and apart from the rest; but at stated times they meet for the family meal: so we, as members of a great Christian Family, though we have each of us our private prayers, and private reading of Scripture, yet on certain fixed occasions we meet together to offer up our united supplications to the great Father of us all.

The Jews in former times had the Temple, where numbers of them used to congregate for Prayer. They had also, in every town,

smaller places called Synagogues, where they assembled for Public Worship. And Christians too in every land have their Houses of God, where they meet for purposes of devotion.

There is a special sacredness about these Buildings, because there we bend our knees and speak with God. And has He not promised, "In all places where I record my name (that is, in every place which I stamp with my holy presence) I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee"; and again, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them "?

What do we indeed meet our Lord in the Sanctuary? Is He in the very midst of us? And shall we come into His presence with careless hearts, as we would go into any common house? When we set our foot within those walls, He seems to say to us, as He said to Moses, when he approached the burning bush, "Take off thy shoes from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." He seems to say, "Draw near with reverence and godly fear."

Yes, let us always remember, when we

enter that place, it is God's holy house; and He Himself is present among us, though we see Him not.

But I now come to another point, and that a very important one to us of the Church of England. We are in the habit of using a Form of Prayer. Now, is this an advantage, or a disadvantage? I think it is a great advantage; and I will tell you why.

One advantage is that we all thus know beforehand what we are going to ask for, and we can therefore enter the more heartily into the Prayers that are offered. If I was praying alone, it would be very different. I should have my own particular wants; and I should perhaps find it best to use my own words, just as those wants press upon me. Or again, if I knelt down to pray with a sick person, there would most likely be something special about his case, and I should pray accordingly. But when a Congregation prays in public, and when the Minister has to suit his petitions to the general wants of all, then I know of no plan so good as that which we are in the habit of adopting. We need not be always