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Les diagrammes suivants lllustrent la m^thode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 bl4' THE CONDITIONS OF CHRIST'S PRESENCE WITH CHURCH SYNODS. A SERMON PREACHED IN THE CATHEDRAL OF QUEBEC, BEFORE THE MEETING OF THE CLERGY AND LAITY OF THE DIOCESE, ON ST. JOHN BAPTIST'S DAY, June aif 1898. fiT J. H. THOMPSON, M. A. Habrold Professor op Divinity in the University op Bishop's College, Lennoxville. itttblistieb bn Bqnest. QUEBEC J PRINTED BY WM. STANLEY, ST. JOHN STREET. 1858. 3 1 1 X mm St. Matthew, C. xviii., V. 20. *' Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them." Of all the words that Jesus spake, there are few that are more frequently appealed to by Christians, and more deeply engraven on their minds, than those which form the text. They are to us the guarantee of an especial presence, of an especial blessing, whenever we assemble in the Name of Christ, to offer unto our Heavenly Fa- ther the honour and worship that is His due. They are the sure and certain promise, which the Church pleads in her daily prayer, to obtain for us the fulfilment of those desires and petitions which we have oftered with one common voice before the throne of Grace. They tell us that the gifts of God are given, not according to the num- ber of the worshippers, but according to their unity and sincerity, — that it is not the multitude of the careless and the formal that throng the aisles which gives efficacy to the Church's prayer,— but it is the cry of the few humble and contrite ones, unheard and unheeded by man, that pierces the clouds. We take courage as we read anew these glorious words ol' promise and of hope. We feel that there is One near us, Whose truth is pledged to our succour and support. The coldness of others— the slow advance of Christ's cause — the overflowinsis of ungodli- ness no longer make us fainthearted and afraid. We have but to '* lift up holy hands, without wrath or doubt* ing," and Christ will be an ever-present Mediator and High-Priest, to obtain for us what we pray for. We may not, we cannot doubt that there are other voices raised in unison with ours in the assemblies of God's people; and B though we may not know here on earth who there are, or how many, whose fervent petitions gain acceptance even for our own, yet such, we ma) be assured, there are ; and with them, in sacred and mysterious sympathy, our hearts and desires flow heavenwards ; and the Father of Lights, the Author of every good and perfect gift, vouchsafes a favorabl<3 answer to the common prayer. " For again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree upon earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father, which is in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them." But it may be asked — What has this to do with the object for which we have been summoned this day? What has Christ's promise to united prayer to do with the Synodical action of the Church? I reply, that it was with especial reference to Church acts that these words were first used ; and that, although they are our undoubted warrant for God's blessing on common worship, yet they are evidently intended to set forth the principles on which the corporate acts of the Church are to be carried on, and to promise the presence and guid- ance of the great Head of the Church to all that is legitimately done in His Name. The earlier part of the eighteenth chapter of St. Mat- thew contains a solemn warning to the disciples to be humble and harmless ; enforced by the touching appeal to the guilelessness and humility of a little child. In the seventh and following verses, our Lord proceeds to point out the danger of a contrary spirit, of giving offence to others, or of taking advantage of their innocence and confidence to do them injury. The next lesson which He gives is to the sufferers themselves— how they were to deal with those brethren who had injured them. They were not to take the law into their own hands ; nor were they altogether to pass by the injury without notice. t f f T T t t After all private efforts had proved in vain, they were to take two or three with them, as witnesses of the truth of the accusation, or to shame him who had offended into confession and atonement, or in view of further proceed- ings. And if the offender still proved obdurate, he was to be referred to the judgment of the Church — the neglect of which was to be punished by excommunication. Nor was such sentence, duly considered and pronounced, to be lightly regarded— it would be ratified in heaven. It w^as not merely an outward sentence, which depended up- on the opinion of men for its force, but whatever was thus bound on earth should be bound in heaven, and whatever was loosed on earth should be loosed in heaven. The learned Hammond thus paraphrases this passage :— ** These censures of yours, inflicted by this commission from Me, shall be backed by Me, and so whomsoever ye shall, upon sincere repeiitance, receive into the peace of the Church again, he shall be by Me pardoned also." Immediately our Lord subjoins the text with its preceding verse. Again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree upon earth." The connection with the preceding words seems to involve reasoning from the less to the greater. If God will grant whatsoever may be asked by even two or three assembled in His Name, how much more will He ratify and confirm ^he acts of the whole Church ? Or otherwise, not only .hat ye bind upon earth shall be bound in heaven, but what is yet greater, w^hatever any two of you shall ask of common consent, they shall obtain. And the true reason why such mighty results Vv'ould follow, would be that He, the sole and only Priest and King, would be in the midst of them, speaking for them to the Father, or confirming the acts of His Ministers. The expression '* I am in the midst of them," is one of deep and glorious meaning. It is more than simply to dwell in our hearts by faith. In that manner Christ is present with all the just, whether assembled or not. T 6 No ! These words declare that Christ is present in some more especial sense. They imply not only His assistance but also His authority. I sit in the midst of them as Supreme Judge, to accept and to ratify, forgive or con- demn ; as it is written in the Psalms, " God standeth in the congregation of the mighty— He is a Judge among gods.'* Thus understood, the text appears admirably adapted to set forth I. The importance of the work in which we are en- gaged. II. The promise of Divine presence and assistance. III. The special conditions required for conducting that work with success, which are (I) Devotion and (2) Unity. I. We may not measure, my brethren, the importance of our work by what meets the eye, by the extent of the interest felt in it, or by the immediate value of its results. To the world at large, the meeting of a few Clergy and Lay Delegates with their Bishop at their head, from a scattered and struggling Diocese, to consult upon the concerns of their small and isolated body may hardly be worth a thought. On the other hand, the well-instructed Churchman sees in this constitutive assembly much to excite his attention, and to inspire him with hope. He sees in that ancient and reformed Church to which it is his blessing to belong, a fresh token of hfe — the earnest of great things yet in store for our Zion. He sees in the Synod of this day the revival of that Corporate action which was the strength of the Church ere yet the See of Rome had swallowed up the liberties of Western Chris- tendom, and before the jealousy of States interfered with the religious freedom of the people. He sees about to be carried into effect that system of self-government which the Fathers of the English Reformation desired but were unable to carry out, — a system modified to suit the timeSj vrUX^'i.l liUJ VWX iWU D\J TVdi ill i t I Wi (.XIV IJiUiil t t Church in the United State?. And, ahhough lie linovvs tnat no outward system of laws and regulations will endue the Church with unity and love, and with the zeal of saving the immortal souls of men, yet he believes that such assemblies are of eminent importance in promoting peace, in breaking down differences, in removing preju- dices, in conveying right ideas of the constitution, doctrine and discipline of the Church ; as well as requisite for adaptmg the rules of the Church to new circumstances for the exercise of discipline, for the uniform and orderly government of the whole Diocese. And, moreover, when the Churchman considers the weight which the deliberations and decisions of this Body will possess over the minds and consciencesof our people he IS siill more convinced of the importanre and solem- mty of this occasion. The acts of any body politic bind all the members of that body. To escape submission it IS needful to withdraw. To infringe them while under their jurisdiction incurs the specified penalty or punish- rnent. Were then the Church a mere voluntary associa- tion, Its corporate acts would be matters of the deepest concern. But as it is, we are bound to obey, not for wrath, from the fear of punishment, but for conscience' sake. All law is indeed of God. But to the acts and decrees of the Church He has given a higher sanction than even to the laws of man, inasmuch as that sanction IS a spiritual one. In the power to bind and to loose, to which we have reference in the iSth verse, we reco<^nize not only the exercise of discipline, but also the enactment and abrogation of such matters as being in themselves inditterent, and not enjoined or forbidden by God's law, are yet made binding or repealed by virtue of the power which by Christ's Commission is inherent in the Church Ot this authority the 20th Article of our Church thus' speaks : ^ " The Church hath^^power to decree Rites or v^cremomes, and authority in Uontroversies of Faith." c 8 This, however, is a power which must be sparingly, cautiously, tentatively used. Although there will be iamong us the utmost freedom of representation and de- bate, yet even in the case of a body thus constituted, the less the nice points of doctrine and of ritual are interfered with the safer it will prove. The management of Church affairs, the statistics and growth of the Ch 'ch, the en- actment of a code of Canons, the preparation of an authorized Hymnal, the establishment of suitable Courts for the trial of offences, the arrangement of parishes, the formation of a Provincial Synod, will probably furnish us with employment for a long time to come. And let it not be thought that these are of such trilling importance as to render inapplicable to them the high promises of Christ. We have need of wisdom, of Divine guidance as much in the external as in the internal domain of the Church, and that branch of her which is divided and disorganized, which has no common rule of action and no common principles, cannot do the work of God in the world. We must gather into the construction of the Tabernacle all the various gifts which the Holy Spirit metes out severally as He will ; and the result, though seemingly the work of human hands, will be instinct with the presence, and radiant with the glory of an Indwelling God. Of one thing we may be assured, that whatever be the powers of this Synod, or of any Provincial or General Synod that may be established, the Prayer Book will not be altered. That sacred heritage is too dear to us ; it has been won at too much cost, and gives expression too well to our spiritual desires and aspirations to be lightly chang- ed. Let our lay friends dismiss, if they have ever entertained, the apprehension that such change is so much as desired. Indeed, without their concurrence nothing could be done ; and we trust that in the well-instructed and intelligent lay-members of Synod, the Church of this r i 9 Diocer.o will find, as she has found olscwhere, the most resolute defenders of her doctrine and her disci- pline. 2. Whatever, then, may be the duties which it may fall upon the Synod to discharge, we may feel ourselves entitled to look for Divine guidance and blessing, pro- vided the conditions be fulfilled. It is for us to receive the promise of Christ's l^resence, to rely upon it, and strengthen ourselves by it in the fiice of any difllculties which may occur to try our faith. There have been many times in the history of the Church when it was difficult to believe that Christ could be present in the universal up- roar and strife of tongues. Yet by and bye, the horizon grew clear, and the siill small voices of Faith and Truth made themselves heard anew. It is a great sin to doubt Christ's Presence with His Church. Ko one can work manfully if fainthearted ; and that the future of our Church may be equal to its charter and its opportunities, we need men who will go forth believing not only that Christ is present with His Holy Church Universal, but that He is present with that Body to which they belong in the acts in which they are engaged. We want not only faithful Missionaries, but faithful Wardens, and faithful Laity, who will strengthen the hands of their Clergy at home, and who will come to the annual Synods as a labour of love, to contribute their own share of piety and wisdom, and to gain fresh confidence and encouragement from contact with the zeal of others. For as " iron sharpeneth iron ; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." III. (1) What, lastly, are the conditions required for successfully exerting tliose powers which are vested in the Governing Body of the Church ? They are none other than those which are not obscurely set forth in the passage of which the text forms the conclusion. Long- suffering, a readiness to bear with the prejudices, and to learn from the experience of others, are lessons much Y cauti iamo: bate less aflfa: acti a' J for forj wit not as CI as, CI di ci 1 1 i 1 remember 10 Snlf Si""'''."?' *e least when ^ shortly come h^f ""^ '" «uch acts a5?h„ 'l"-'^ ^^^o V ") >w. SSS/ "7''' '» e».cuj he ifr''!' *= Ch»S'™"' 'f "' '•'i'p'SmhL'',"' '"""' t" link .m„.i""*' V »f f'sma '',rf " ""«« rini-H? V^?^^^^®"sion or fho " 1 ' ^"^^ we have fu. ""^' ^et how 3.ro„g,;'d<;t;S,:'f "- «fficIcV scriptures condemn that 11 ietnbev the tinies often lies. JVor '"ed those 'especting hose who '^^'ch will God that eiit in all s of our ible to obably e h'ght course here ences vision f and opi- re to '•e of ngly I so ider far hat tendency to division, which was already working at Rome and at Corinth in the Apostles' days. These divisions had not gone so far as to break up the ecclesi- astical organization into contending sects, but even as displayed within the pale of the Church, they met with the strongest rebuke. The disposition to stand aloof from one another, to exalt trifling differences into vital points of disagreement, to enrol themselves under the banner of party leaders, had their prototypes of old. But against this sad tendency, are directed the severest rebukes of the Apostle — the most earnest prayers of Christ. " Every one of you saith, * I am of Paul ; and I of Apol- los; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.' Is Christ divided '] was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye bap- tized into the Name of Paul ?" igain, let me recall to you those words uttered by our Lord, in that most solemn and touching prayer which was offered up on the eve of His Passion, '* That we might all be one, as He and the Father are One." Again ; " There is One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, — one God and Father of all. Who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Where can we find stronger inducements, more potent exhortations to Unity than are here set before you ? And surely to us, members of one Common Church, linked together in a holy bond of brotherhood by the faith and sacraments of Christ, — to us who accept as Apostolic the Episcopal form of Government, or at least believe it to be the best of all, who recite the ancient Creeds, and are joined in spirit to the holy and the good of many generations by the use of that form of sound words, the Book of Common Prayer, — to us, I say, there can be little cause of disagreement. That views widely difterent are held and were intended to be held in the Church of England, is undeniable. The enforcement of nice, spe- culative points of doctrine was no object of our Reformers. Agreement in the general principles of our Ecclesiastical Dolltv, in the broad outlines of Catholic truth set forth in £ formularies was deemed sufficient for Communion. Cfir tain distinctive principles every body must have. A line musfbe drawn somewhere, beyond which divergence of op^nfon cannot be reconciled with the welfare of the ChS. Largeness of bounds is however no reason for over elng them, and it is essential that those who take pirt in the Synodical work should acquamt themselves whh the history, general principles and genms of the body ^ which they belong, in order that they may mtelhgem y lake part iK proceedings, and wisely and prudently Dromote the interests of the Church. >,. , . ,„ ^ O^ work at present is not to found a new Church, but to adapt to the requirements of a Colony the rules and Se s^rit of our Mother Church of England and Ireland. The sphere of our action is therefore greatly l.mited,- and there is a call not so much for invention and experi- ment, as for the less brilliant but safer qualities of caution, YP«;parcli and common sense. Yet leVusnot forget that, limited as for years to come, that sphere may be, great results will yet depend upon the mode and sSrit of our first steps. Our powers are great "good or for evil, and though it may be long before the re'suUs are apparent, yet follow they will most assuredly, as certainly as the report follows the flash. FbalW brethren, let us commend ourselves to God and J^lv of Hs Grace. May He Who is the Author of ^acelnd Lover of Unity preside over our delibera ions. May He Who was sent to guide the Church into al truth, Kn ever present stay tnd support May He inspire u!wUh uniting principles and charUable hear s, and may He o«rru"e our humble efforts to the glory of His great Name, and the everlasting welfare of His people.