Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org
Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org
CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. Adam Clarke XIV.—PUBLIC WORSHIP. BY adoration we are to understand that reverence that is due to the highest and best of beings. The word "adoration" signifies that act of religious worship which was expressed by lifting the hand to the mouth, and kissing it, in token of the highest esteem and the most profound reverence and subjection. It implies a proper contemplation of His excellences, so as to excite wonder and admiration; and of His goodness and bounty, so as to impress us with the liveliest sense of his ineffable goodness to us, and our deep unworthiness. It implies the deepest awe of his divine Majesty while even approaching him with the strongest sensations of filial piety; a trembling before him while rejoicing in him; the greatest circumspection in every act of religious worship; the mind wholly engrossed with the object while the heart is found in the deepest prostration at his feet; the soul abstracted from every outward thing; no thought indulged but what relates to the act of worship in which we are engaged, nor a word uttered in prayer or praise the meaning of which is not felt by the heart; no unworthy conceptions of such a Majesty permitted to arise in the mind; the same worshipping in spirit and in truth; no carelessness of manner, no boldness of expression, permitted to appear; the body prostrated while the soul, in all its powers and faculties, adores; no lip service, no animal labour, allowed to take place; nothing felt, nothing seen, but the supreme God, and the soul made by his hand and redeemed by his blood. Worship, or worthship, implies that proper conception we should have of God, as the great governor of heaven and earth, of angels and men. How worthy He is in his nature, and in the administration of his government, of the highest praises we can offer, and of the best services we can render! Every act we perform should bear testimony to the sense we have of the excellence of his Majesty, and of the worthiness of his acts. "Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth," is the language of the true
worshipper. He seeks to know the will of his Lord, that he may do that will. Every prayer is offered up in the spirit of subjection and obedience; and in the deepest humility he waits to receive the commands of his heavenly Master, and the power to fulfil them. He feels that he cannot choose; he knows that his Lord cannot err. "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," is not an unmeaning petition while proceeding from his mouth. His soul feels it; his heart desires it. Obedience is the element in which his soul lives, and in which it thrives, and increases in happiness. In his sight God is worthy of all glory, and praise, and dominion, and power, because He is not only the Fountain of being, but also the Source of mercy. He waits on his God, and he finds that his God waits to be gracious to him. He waits on his God, and he finds that this God, who is his friend, condescends to be his companion through life: therefore his heart is fixed; nor is he afraid of evil tidings; for he trusts in the name of the Lord. He draws nigh to God in every act of worship, and has communion with the Father and the Son through the Holy Ghost. He is kept in perfect peace, for his mind is stayed upon God, because he trusts in him. All his powers are sensible of this truth, "Thou God seest me;" and his experience proves that God is the "rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The very eyes should be guarded: they often affect the heart in such a way as to mar and render unprofitable this most solemn act of devotion. The objects that they see will present images to the mind which call off or divide the thoughts, and produce that wandering of heart so frequently complained of by many religious people, whose own unguarded eyes and thoughts are the causes of those wanderings which spoil their devotions. I never could understand how any man can have a collected mind or proper devotion in prayer, who, while he is engaged in it, has his eyes open; not indeed fixed on one point, but wandering through the house, beholding the evil and the good. He must be distracted, and his prayers such, unless technical or got off by heart; then indeed he may say his prayers, but he cannot pray them.
- Page 183 and 184: In examining this grand subject far
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- Page 193 and 194: frequently under a dense mask, and
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- Page 199 and 200: e filled with all the fulness of Go
- Page 201 and 202: things to heart, and answer this qu
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- Page 205 and 206: atom of the comb or wax is separate
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- Page 209 and 210: out of every Christian's creed. The
- Page 211 and 212: confess their own sore and the plag
- Page 213 and 214: making one who is already a child o
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- Page 217 and 218: espect inconceivable: no mind can g
- Page 219 and 220: and presumptuous worshippers. Were
- Page 221 and 222: sufficiently insisted on it; they a
- Page 223 and 224: oxen?" Yes, and he mentions them wi
- Page 225 and 226: All who are addicted to riot and ex
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- Page 229 and 230: Suppose the stories to be true, or
- Page 231 and 232: and when he has thus got it, he boa
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- Page 237 and 238: prevent the light from coming in."
- Page 239 and 240: It is not merely to tell God our wa
- Page 241 and 242: perishing from the blessedness of b
- Page 243 and 244: I suppose the grossly absurd and pe
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- Page 249 and 250: God has put it in the power of ever
- Page 251 and 252: unrighteous judge; and, in conseque
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- Page 255 and 256: Here it may not be improper to rema
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- Page 263 and 264: monarchy, a civil government by the
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- Page 277 and 278: than celibacy; and hence I execrate
- Page 279 and 280: supposes the fact of the bride's gr
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worshipper. He seeks to know the will of his Lord, that he may do that<br />
will. Every prayer is offered up in the spirit of subjection and obedience;<br />
and in the deepest humility he waits to receive the commands of his<br />
heavenly Master, and the power to fulfil them. He feels that he cannot<br />
choose; he knows that his Lord cannot err. "Thy will be done on earth as<br />
it is in heaven," is not an unmeaning petition while proceeding from his<br />
mouth. His soul feels it; his heart desires it. Obedience is the element in<br />
which his soul lives, and in which it thrives, and increases in happiness.<br />
In his sight God is worthy of all glory, and praise, and dominion, and<br />
power, because He is not only the Fountain of being, but also the Source<br />
of mercy. He waits on his God, and he finds that his God waits to be<br />
gracious to him. He waits on his God, and he finds that this God, who is<br />
his friend, condescends to be his companion through life: therefore his<br />
heart is fixed; nor is he afraid of evil tidings; for he trusts in the name of<br />
the Lord. He draws nigh to God in every act of worship, and has<br />
communion with the Father and the Son through the Holy Ghost. He is<br />
kept in perfect peace, for his mind is stayed upon God, because he trusts<br />
in him. All his powers are sensible of this truth, "Thou God seest me;"<br />
and his experience proves that God is the "rewarder of them that<br />
diligently seek him."<br />
The very eyes should be guarded: they often affect the heart in such a<br />
way as to mar and render unprofitable this most solemn act of devotion.<br />
The objects that they see will present images to the mind which call off<br />
or divide the thoughts, and produce that wandering of heart so frequently<br />
complained of by many religious people, whose own unguarded eyes and<br />
thoughts are the causes of those wanderings which spoil their devotions.<br />
I never could understand how any man can have a collected mind or<br />
proper devotion in prayer, who, while he is engaged in it, has his eyes<br />
open; not indeed fixed on one point, but wandering through the house,<br />
beholding the evil and the good. He must be distracted, and his prayers<br />
such, unless technical or got off by heart; then indeed he may say his<br />
prayers, but he cannot pray them.
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