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Meps, plates, cherts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hend corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmte A des taux de reduction diffArents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cliche, 11 est film* A partir de I'angle suptrieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. rrata to [)elure. D 32X 1 2 • 3 1 2 3 4 S 6 S^' K f»# PE A YEE. A OONFIRMATION LECTURE. BMNO OKK OF A GOUBSE DlBMVfilll© TO CANDIDATES FOR C0KFIR1|ATI0K 3T f fiS BEy. HfiKBY j^E, B.A., lSGVm$l0T qw 8T. WATTHKW'a OHA?S% Q^BBJC. ^«tfr2t«A«osition of a young Christian setting out in right earnest to fight the good fight of faith ! You go from your confirmation — which is a re- newing of your oath of allegiance to Christ, a re-enlisting under His banner — with His blessing fresh upon you, strengthened with the Holy Ghost the Comforter, with no burden of unforgiven sin upon your conscience, but cheered with the happy consciousness that the great and Holy God is your Heavenly Father. Y'ou go oat, knowing indeed m t. Witliout 1 vow. But w that with rumont that ) — His grace ever can bo not help you ly difficulty of it. You sorrow tluit JK'. On llie ^solution, of ill bo stronir to obey and not do any- uit help you er you can vn. Prayer rlid, Heaven cending and Bd. Prayer open before afe. ; Christian >od fight of cli is a re- re-enlisting upon you, er, with no but cheered 1 Holy God ing indeed that your spiritual foes are many and fearfully dangerous, but looking not so much at them as at the good work which you have to do, and tiieSaviour, whose hand you are to hold and cling to, as you are daily endeavouring to fol- low the blessed steps of His most Holy Life. Vou go out knowing that you carry with you a secret instrument by which you can at any moment summon a mighty One to your aid. How, then, can you fail? In those dear old stories which we listeneci to in our child- hood with such delight, wo lieard of some mighty Genie or powerful Fairy summoned In a moment by the pressing cf a ring or the rubbing of a lamp or some other simple appointment, and we longed intensely for some such means of summoning some miglity one to do our will. In a beau- tiful religions allegory of our own day, called The Distant J/ills, this idea is adopted, and the children journeying to the Distant Hills are supplied each with a flute, by playing upon which they can call a Shining One to their aid at every time of need. The flute played upon is the soul lifted up to God in prayer; and thus the dreams of our childhood become glorious and awful realities. For at one simple prayer, one earnest faithful cry of the soul, God Ilimsel:" flies to the rescue, and throws around His child the sh'jlter of His everlasting arms. O then how great a thing for you, young Christians, to know and to learn how to pray aright ! Who is to teach you this ? The Spirit of God's Son whom He hath sent forth into your hearts, — He alone can teach you vitally, practically, savingly. If you seek His teaching, if you listen to His voice, He will be in you a ^ a. tpirit of prayer, evermore crying Abba, Father, kindling ^vithin you those holy desires after God which prayer alone will satisfy, making prayer, to you, not only a not burdensome, but necessary as your daily bread, and in time, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb- — more precious than thousands of gold and silver. Now being anxious to keep as close to the Catechism in these lectures as possible, I propose to speak upon the several points which are suf^gested by the question in the Catechism which introdaces the Lord's Prayer, " My good child, cfcc." Here, then, you are told that you must learn to call upon God by diligent prayer-^to pray at all times — to pray for God's special grace — and not only to use the Lord's Prayer, but also to pray always in the spirit and temper of that holy model of all right prayer. On these points I shall briefly speak to you. 1. First, then, when you are told that you must learn to call upon Qody and that hy diligent ■prayer, theso words intimate to you that prayer is not a slight or easy work, which any one can do, and in which you need no instruc- tion. No, it is far otherwise. In religion (as in every tiling else) there is nothing valuable that can be got without pains or trouble. Prayer is so important a part of reli- gion that it may almost be said to be the whole of it ; and yet there are many persons who think that any one can pray at anytime without preparation or instruction ! You must take pains with your prayers, you must learn to pray better and better, to improve and grow in this grace as in every other. Diligent prayer surely implies earnestness — that a person gives his heart to the work, that he takes pains to do it as well as he can, that his hea/rt is in it. We often see a person at a work, and we say, *He will never do any good at that, his heart is not in it'. We mean that the man is not in earnest about his work, that he only does it because he cannot help himself, he does not like his work and does not try to like it. Now this is true of too many prayers. There is no heart or life about them, no earnestness, no reality, no real wish to make them hearty and earnest. All such prayers die before they are born, they never reach the ceiling, much less the ears of God in heaven. You must, then, study and give diligence to make your prayers what they ought to be. One means of making them what they ouglit to be is taking pains to provide ourselves with proper prayers, proper forms of prayer, which we can always have ready for use. (I am of course now speaking of our regular daily nrayers.) If any one say, 'But will not God hear our oviii words, if we set our wants before him in the best way we can?' I answer, — Most assuredly He will, if you do so. But take care that you do set your wants before Him in the heat way that you can. That is not, surely, to drop carelessly upon your knees without thinking at all of what you are going to say, and trusting to any chance thoughts that may come into your mind at the time. You should prepareyourselffor prayer and have your petitions ready, before you venture into the presence of the Most High. Take pains to improve your prayers, to pray better and better. God loves to be so honoured by those who approach Him. The serious, the earnest, the pains- taking christian, the diligent man in prayer, is the one who will always go back from prayer, having the peti- tions that he asked of God. 2. Then, secondly, when the catechism says we are to " learn at all times to call upon God," this implies 2 10 that we have regular stated times of prayer. Tlie wisdom and piety of all generations have regulated this point, and required, as the very least and lowest standard, that every christian should pray to God in private evening and morning. This, then, never omit, as you value your soul's health and happiness, and God's favour and bless- ing. Watch, too, against its degenerating into a mere form — guard its awful sacredness with the greatest jealousy • Remember that the God you serve is a jealous God, and is oftended when your suffer His Holy Imago to be lightly shut out from your eye by any other object at those ap- pointed hours when nothing else should be seen by you. And you will find every day things coming in (as if it were by chance, each time, but it is the snare of the Enemy) to mar and spoil your prayers, and make them empty, earthly and unmeaning. In the morning, it will be an overpowering desire for a little more sleep ; and when you are up, seme paper or book or passing incident will attract your atten- tion, turning your heart away from God, as well as causing the time you have to give to prayer to dwindle down almost to nothing. Then your prayers will be hurried through, without heart, without comfort, with reproach of conscience ; and you will go forth to your work with heaviness and vexation, and a gnawing feeling that all is not right, which will add an almost unbearable burden to the day's toll. At night, it will be, at one time weariness and sleep- iness, at another time excitement of mind, remembrance of cares, pleasures, vexations or affronts — coming crowding i ■I I 11 •• Tlie wisdom ted this point, standard, that rivate evening ou value your vourand bless- \g into a mere eatest jealousy • Dus God, and is 3 to bo lightly ct at those ap- een by you. ling in (as if it e snare of the md make them 'wering desire are up, seme act your atteu- d, as well as ^er to dwindle ayers will be comfort, with 1 to your work g feeling that st unbearable ess and sleep- remembrance ning crowding m agai and again into the soul, and shutting out ti^ Holy ceofGod. mio /-,, ^ .^^^ '4-, r^^ lut-* «.r O my children, these day-by-day oppositions of the flesh and the Devil to your prayers, these ceaseless endeavours of the Enemy to drag you down and make you earthly and worldly-minded, to distract and divert your attention — these are the things of which your Lord espe- cially warns you when He says, "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation ;" and against which St. Peter, the loving christian pastor, warns you, saying, " Be sober and watch unto prayer ;" and St. Paul, " Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and watching thereto with all perseverance." If you here give way, and fall gradually into a habit of carelessness and formality, all your religion will evaporate, until there will be noth- ing left except the stony ground of your natural hard and selfish heart. Have, therefore, your regular hour of morn- ing and evening prayer, and guard its sacredness as you would guard your life from destruction,—" for it is no vain thing, for it is your life."* 3. The question in the Catechism speaks of praying for God's special grace. This is a quality of prayer which is too little considered, and yet it is hard to understand how any serious Christian can help making his prayers, in a large measure, prayers for special grace. By 'God's special grace', I understand the help or grace that is suited to aid us in each particular act of obedience that we have to do, and to succour us in each particular temptation that we are called upon to meet Deuteronomy xxxii. 47. '^ \. ;««*•: 13 and overcome. Bltib, when Pdfcer (ready to sink as ho tried to walk on the water) stretched out his arms to Jesns, saying " Lord, save me," — or when the two blind men said to Him "Lord, that our eyes may be opened,"— or the woman of Canaan, " Have mercy on me, O Lord^my daughter is grievously vexed of a devil," — or Martha and Mary, "Lord, he whom Thou lovest is sick," — all these were prayers for special grace. Each one asked for the exact blessing he needed. So must we, trying to find out our dangers and tempta- tions, pray for grace suited to our particular characters, temptations and sins, and to the doing of those particular works which it is our duty to do. Tlie Christian youth who is really trying to grow in grace, — who * sets the Lord always before him', endeavouring to walk with God, — will pray thus instinctively. Many a time with bitter grief and tears will the soul be poured out in con- fession before the Saviour, and many a time, as a new work is undertaken, or a new project is under consi- deration, will God's counsel and direction be earnestly asked. This is the way to walk with God, and to ' live by faith, not by sight'. And this leads me to speak of another kind of prayer, which may even more properly be called prayer for special grace— I mean ejaculatory prayer. An ejaculatory prayer is a brief petition suddenly and earnestly nont up to God, as one is walking, or sitting, or standing, or otherwise engaged, for some special help in some special danger or diflSculty. An instance of it, and a beautiful one, occurs in the history of Nehemiah. It sink as it his arms en the two eyes may 7e mercy on .fa devil,"— ou lovest is ;race. Each d. and tempta- r characters, tse particular ristian youth bo 'sets the walk with a time with 1 out in con- as a new under consi- he earnestly and to ' live d of prayer, erfor special latory prayer it up to God, or otherwise ial danger or I one, occurs Nehemiah, a young Jewish noble in captivity at Babylon, was the King's cup-bearer. Hearing of the desolations of Jerusalem he was full of sorrow of heart. Tlie King, noticing his sadness, enquired its cause, and being told by the trembling youth, asks him—" What is thy request?" Now, Nehemiah had conceived in his heart a deep desire, which must have seemed even to- himself extravagant and impossible, that he should be the chosen instrument to rebuild the Holy City. When, therefore, the King said, What is thy request ? — " tlien " says Nehemiah, " I prayed to the God of Heaven." Gathering up his whole soul, the pious youth darted up one short petition to his God, that He would be pleased to move the King's heart And, lo, it was done I One sliort ejaculation, one strong shaft of prayer sent up to God, had won the restoration of the Holy City, the joy of the whole earth ! Cultivate, young Christians, this pious habit. When it is formed, then you will know the meaning of St. Paul's words, " Pray without ceasing." In all your temptations-^ and you will meet with them every day — ^in all the uprisings of angry passions in your hearts, in all the sudden darting of evil thoughts into your souls, like Nehemiali, pray to the God of Heaven. And when the temptation is past and overcome, send up after your prayer a brief thanksgiving. This is the secret of over- coming temptation, which vanishes before the thought of the awful majesty, purity and love of God, and is driven away by His gracious help. 4. The Lord's Prayer, when we come to look into it, shows us how much is included in the short word, prayer— 14 ■ I not only asking, but the holy praise of God, intercession for all estates of men, thanksgiving for benefits received, confession of sin a»d supplication for pardon, as well as asking for the supply of our wants. All these go to make up prayer. Of course, I do not propose to expound the Lord's Prayer today, but, there is one feature in it to which I desire to direct your most careful attention — it teaches us 7'&verenc6 in prayer. ]!»[ow, young Christians, you must remember that public prayer is prayer, yes, and even more solemn and awful than private prayer. I fear that there is many a Chris- tian to be found who allows himself in habits at Church in time of prayer, that he would shudder at in himself in private prayer. And yet the prayers of the Church which we come here to offer to God, are far the more important of the two in God*s sight, as we are assured in His Holy Word. We come here to worship God, — to join in worshipping Him, to offer to Him the tribute of our imited homage, and unitedly to ask of Him the blessings we all need. Even in private, indeed, we do not pray as individuals, but as members of the One Body of Christ, for we say " Our Father — give ^i6." But in public, we see, we feel, we taste the Communion of Saints, we help one another here, we vie with one another in earnestness, in zeal, in devotion, in reverence, in attention ; we catch the glow of the holy fire of the love of God that bums in one another's eye and glows out from the whole person ! Is it not so ? My Brethren, Is it so'i Is it these helps to devo- tion that we find in the House of God? It is, thank God, in part. I hope it is growing to be more and more a 1 '$ 'm .yi intercession ifits received, m, as well as e go to make i the Lord's t to which I -it teaches us 3r that public n and awful any a Chris- its at Church in himself in the Church :ar the more e assured in Tod, — to join ibuto of our the blessings do not pray dy of Christ, in public, >f Saints, we another in in attention ; Q of God that m the whole Ips to devo- It is, thank } and more a lielp that we try to afford one another, and get from one another. But, what shall we say of those who presume to sit in the presence of their Maker, with knee unbent, with Avandering eye, with closed lip? Are they offering to God an acceptable sacrifice ? Are they thinking of God at all? Is it possible that any mortal man would dare to presume in God's own House to say prayers to Him, sitting at his ease before Him? I hope not. I hope that those who sit during the prayere do not add to their irre- verence the worae irreverence of deluding themselves into thinking that they can thus pray. Of course. I do not speak of those persons who from infirmity cannot kneel, or not without so much difliculty and distress as to hinder their devotional feelings. Indeed such persons when devout are seen to be so by their whole demeanour, though they do not kneel. My Brethren, I fear to say all that I feel as to the great irreverence of the habit of sit- ting at prayer in Church. I know the power of inveterate habit, and how hard it is to shake off that false shame, which cannot endure to show any solemnity or earnest ness even in God's House. But God's House is the very place where reverence should be shown, and where a reverent demeanour should be exhibited. Nothing can excuse a healthy pereon for sitting at his prayers in Church, when kneeling is possible. "O magnify the Lord our God, mdfall down before His footstool for He is Holy." " O come let us worship and fall down and kneel, before the Loid our Maker." But for you, young Christians, to whom I am speaking to day, remember that outward reverence is no small or unimportant m atter. If you saw a boy outwardly disrespect- ful to his father could anyone persuade you that he was really 16 i'lfl respectful? No more is it possible for a Christian to be outwardly irreverent, • outwardly to assume an offensive and disrespectful demeanour towards God in His House, and inwardly to honor and fear Him and hallow His Great Name. No observing person can help perceiving that the outward posture of the body has an effect upon the mind ; and it is equally certain that your behaviour in Church is either a real help or a serious hinderance to your neigh- bour's devotions. Take your place in Churcli ]>etween two persons who are reverent and devout in their demea- nour one Sunday, and between two careless persons another Sunday, and what a difference there will have been in your own prayers ! The one Sunday, it was hard for you not to feel devout ; the other Supday, devotional feeding was impossible. Even in your own room it is the same. I do not suppose that anyone thinks of sitting to say his prayers in his closet at home; but even there, if at one time you kneel in a lolling, lazy posture, and at another time you kneel up straight, with your hands reverently clasped and your eyes closed, the one posture will incline your mind to wander and your body to drowsiness, while the other posture will help you to keep in mind God's eye fixed upon you. Be reverent, then, in your manners and behaviour ; it is one step towards securing the reverence and attention of the heart and of the whole life. Eemember that Christ our Lord teaches us to say, ' Hallowed be Thy Name, in Earth as it is in Heaven.' How is it hallowed in Heaven 2 Does not every glimpse that we have in Scripture of the worship of God by the holy angels, repre- sent them to us as evincing, when they approach to their Eternal Lord, the lowliest reverence in act and gesture? 17 Christian to be le an offensive in His House, id hallow His ving that the pon the mind ; our in Church to your neigh- lurcli between in tlieir dcinea- kreless persons here will have ly, it was hard lay, devotional do not suppose rs in his closet rou kneel in a you kneel up and your eyes to wander and posture will on you. behaviour ; it and attention jmember that )wed be Thy is it hallowed ; we have in angels, repre- roach to their Ld gesture? And is not this iple? What awful • Lord's own exam} teverence, what humility, what lowly self-abasement were displayed by Him in outward gesture as well as in word in all His prayers to His Father ! " He looked up to Heaven;" "He lifted up His eyes to Heaven;" "He kneeled down;" "He fell on His Face, and prayed." Follow, then, that example. " worship the Lord in the . beauty of holiness." When you enter this House remem- ber where you are. "The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him!"* Cultivate, then, young christians, a sense of the awful- ness, the dread sacredness of prayer. Always recall to 0our remembrance, when you go down upon your knees, that you are going to speak to God. Think of the great happiness of being permitted to do so. Fill your mind with tlie Bible promises that God will answer faithful prayer. In the faith of those promises bring your requests before your God ; make known to him your wants ; ask him for particular blessings, and, in the way of your duty expect an answer, and look out for it until it comes. Ask very earnestly for spiritual blessings, and go out believing thatyouhave them.f Carry forth with you into the world from your closet a remembrance of what you saw and felt there, that your prayers may sanctify your life — that you may be, in the hurry, the bustle, the excitements of life, the same dutiful, humble, loving child of God that you wished and prayed to be, when you were upon your knees. Often through the day send up, like a swift winged arrow, a secret prayer, to keep alive the union of your soul with God. Say, "Thou God seest me" ! "Lord help me I" • Hab. ii. 20. Zech. ii. 13. t 1 John V. 15, 16. 3 J"< " Praise the Lord, my soul ;" " Thy will be done"— for this is to watch and pray, and it is the whole secret of a holy life. And how happy is such a life I Not safe only but happy, not only a preparation for Heaven, but Heaven begun. For " the Kingdom of God" , says St Paul, *< is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost" ; and are not all these secured by prayer ? What joy is equal to that of victory ovar sin and selfishness, and the sense of the approval of our Heavenly Father, when we go to thank Him for giving us the victory ? There is about some christians a brightness and light-heartedness, which are evidently the perennial flow of a well-spring of peace deep within. This is the fulfilment of our Lord's promise, ** If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink — and the water that 1 shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." It has been beautifully said by the Christian poet, " There are in thb loud stannlng tide « Of human care and oriiiie, " With whom the melodies abide " Of the everlasting chime, " Who carry music in their heart, " Through dusky lane and \i7TaDgling mart, " Plying their daily task with busier feet, " Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat.* * Music in the heart,' *the melodies of the everlasting chime' — these are the joys of the life of prayer, this is the peace which the world cannot give. Many, many si^ch a bright day the christian enjoys, feeling on his head nnceas- • Keble'a CkrUtim Yiar, St. Eatthew'c Day* ■ * % i '■':Jt. '^4 . ."fe 19 Inglj the hand of blessing which he carried with him out of lis closet. And at the worst, in the darkest and stormiest lay, there is hidden far down in his heart the conscious- less that God is with him ; and it is to One not far off that "his soul sends up the secret cry in his distress, " O be not Thou far from me, for trouble is near" ! May this be your experience of the power of prayer, young Christians ; may it be the gift of God to us all for »v Jesus Christ sake ! Amen.