is effective,—that in some mysterious manner, which we are totally incapable of understanding, it influences the will of God. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Moreover, we find intercessory prayer, offered by the chosen servants and messengers of the Most High, recognised, both in the Old and New Testament, as efficacious for those in whose behalf it is offered. Says God to Abimelech respecting Abraham; "He is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live." And again to Job's friends, respecting Job: "Go to my servant Job ; and my servant Job shall pray for you; for him will I accept." And again we find Samuel recognising it as part of his bounden duty to pray for the people: Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you." Again, we have the notable instance of Elijah's intercession, which, as St. James informs us, availed first to close, and then to open, the windows of heaven. And again in the New Testament: "Is there any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed." And in how very large a majority of his Epistles does St. Paul assure his converts of his prayers for them, in the most forcible and emphatic manner!—Their names are written on his heart, he intimates, as were the names of the literal Israel on the high priest's breastplate, and he is continually presenting them before God.

Now the intercessory part of the ministerial office, whereby the faithful pastor procures for his flock mercy and other spiritual blessings, is brought out in this precatory Absolution of the Communion Office. And you will observe how perfect the form is, and how much of wholesome doctrine underlies its simple phraseology; how it recognises forgiveness and acceptance as being

not the ultimate achievement of holiness, but the very first steps towards it; how it represents sanctification as being progressive, and grace as eventually merging into glory: "Almighty GoD, our heavenly Father, have mercy upon you; pardon" you (this must be done, first, before sin's power can be broken: broken however it must be, for the prayer proceeds) pardon and deliver you from all your sins; confirm and strengthen you in all goodness" (not suffer you to rest in weak beginnings, or to count yourself to have apprehended, when your race only is just begun,)" and bring you to everlasting life" (that is, finish the good work which He has begun in you); "through Jesus Christ our Lord."

66

The Absolutions found in the primitive Liturgies run always in the form of Prayer or Benediction; and in some of them there was a reciprocal prayer for the Priest by the people, and for the people by the Priest, which formed a most interesting feature of the Service, and which is nowhere represented in our Liturgy except by the mutual salutation, "The Lord be with you," "And with thy spirit." While we are convinced not only of the sufficiency, but of the excellence of our Offices as they stand, we rather regret the loss of this expression of sympathy and mutual interest between the pastor and his flock. It is, however, a loss which can easily be repaired in private. Let not the Minister limit his intercessions for his flock to the utterance of the prescribed form (though this will be the flower and crown of them), but let him carry those intercessions with him into his closet, and urge them there with that fervour and perseverance which takes no refusal at God's hand; and let his flock do the same for him, and seek to help him at the Throne of Grace in bearing the burden of his trials, and discharging himself of his responsibilities: and then the spirit of the old reciprocal Absolutions would be preserved, even while the letter of them is dropped; and we should soon see a more efficient discharge of the Ministry, arising from an increased desire on the part of the laity to co-operate

with their Ministers in Christian objects, and a more primitive zeal for the conversion of souls in those who Iwait at the altar.

And when we speak of intercession as available in behalf of one another-whether it be the personal intercession of friends for friends, or the official intercession of the pastor for his flock-let us never forget that, independently of, and apart from, the prayer of the great High Priest for us all, no prayer of man can have any efficacy whatsoever. It is only as united with His Intercession, it is only as taking its stand upon His finished and meritorious work, that any prayer, whether for ourselves or others, can receive an answer, or even gain a hearing. And the intercessory Absolution of which we have been speaking is only an earthly and dim echo of that prayer for His people, which Christ is offering in Heaven, and which, according to the laws of the economy of grace, takes up and absorbs into itself, and communicates its own virtue to, the supplications, prayers, and intercessions, which His Church below makes for all men.

CHAPTER VI

OF THE FOUR COMFORTABLE WORDS

66 Let us draw near

THE

HEBREWS X. part of ver. 22

HE fifteen Psalms which immediately succeed the 119th are called Songs of Degrees, or Songs of the Steps. One explanation given of the term is that these Psalms were sung by the Levites, one upon each of the fifteen steps which led from the court of the women to that of the men in the Jewish Temple. We have compared the Communion Office to a venerable Cathedral, having its outer precinct, by which it is approached, in the Lord's Prayer, Collect for Purity, and Decalogue

(which introductory parts of the Office speak of preparation and self-examination), and its Sanctuary or Choir in that more solemn period of the Service which begins with the Tersanctus, and upon which we hope to enter in our next Chapter. The "Comfortable Words" from the mouth of our Saviour Christ, of St. Paul, and of St. John, are our Christian songs of the steps, which we sing as we pass from the Transept into the Choir, to join in the full burst of adoration which awaits us there.

Yes, we are about to join with Angels and Archangels, and all the company of Heaven, in singing the high praise of God. But this it is impossible we should do with a heart full of doubts and misgivings. An uneasy conscience, and a mind that wavers as to its own acceptance, is not in tune for praise. "It is requisite," says the Invitation, "that no man should come to the Holy Communion, but with a full trust in God's mercy, and with a quiet conscience." To impart this full trust, and to assure and render quiet the conscience, is the great object of the Absolution, and of the Comfortable Words which follow it. Of the Absolution first. We pointed out in our last Chapter that one main object of Absolution, the great practical value of it, is the assurance of the penitent and believing sinner. We saw that Absolution was ministered by our Blessed Lord Himself in the form of an assurance : “Thy sins be" (or are) "forgiven thee." Our minds naturally crave after this assurance, and seek it sometimes in frames and feelings, which are conceived to be the inward witness of the Spirit of God, while really they are the signs of nothing more than a sanguine temperament; sometimes in certain texts of Scripture, twisted from their original connexion into a fanciful applicability to our own circumstances. Now, as against these false methods of obtaining it, the Church gives us good and solid grounds of assurance. God has commissioned His ministers officially to intercede for, and authoritatively to declare, forgiveness of sins to the penitent and believing. This ministerial commission then is the first ground of assurance which the Church here advances :

the exercise of it is the first means by which she seeks to quiet the burdened and heavy-laden conscience. And the thread of sentiment which connects the Absolution with that which immediately follows it, is very apparent, at least to one who will not allow his familiarity with our services to deaden his mind to the significance of their various parts. It is as if the Church said to us: "You have heard the prayer offered in your behalf by God's accredited messenger of reconciliation, standing upon his commission, and acting in the Name of his Master; now then, lest any disquieting doubts should still remain upon your conscience, you shall hear what is better still, the words of Our Saviour Christ, and of those Apostles who spoke infallibly by the inspiration of His Spirit. Christ shall assure you, Paul shall assure you, John shall assure you. Every human Minister has the treasure of the Gospel message in an earthen vessel. He is as full of infirmity, sin, and error, as you are yourself. And though this infirmity and unworthiness does not in the least detract from the efficacy of his ministrations, which 'be effectual, because of Christ's institution and promise,' yet the message of mercy and peace conveyed through a purer medium may haply be more satisfactory to thy mind. It shall come to thee then through the purest of all media, the holy and infallible Word of God, the Word which was spoken or written with a full foresight of thy difficulties, trials, and sins, not indeed by the human writer, but by the Spirit who inspired him. In virtue of this perfect foresight, thou mayest reasonably expect to find some word in Holy Scripture specially meeting thy need,—some word, of which thou mayest without presumption or fanaticism conclude that it was designed for thee, and that thou mayest take it to thyself."

Now observe what words are chosen from Holy Scripture for this purpose. They are the broadest and freest evangelical declarations which it is possible to find in the whole volume, those which combine the largest amount of grace with the least amount of qualification