Percival Jackson

“ The critical spirit, as we now use criticism, is not the spirit of worship. For the spirit of worship is moved by Faith—Faith supremely in God, but also faith in the words which we use, and in the people with whom we use them. ”

“ The Apostles' Creed is a summary of those things which the Bible tells us of God's Being. There can be no higher act of the soul of man than to dwell Upon the Being and Attributes of God. It is a great step upwards, to purify one's life from evil. But plainly it is a further and higher step, to purify the soul: for the man who refuses to do evil is not so far on as the man who refuses to feel and think evil. It is however possible for him to reject evil only because it is bad for himself. A life of selfishness may be wonderfully free from the doing of evil. ”

“ We might as well expect a horse to understand the nature of man. When a man tries to make a horse understand kindness, he is often disappointed with the lower nature which seems unable to appreciate it: but he perseveres, and expects some response to his efforts.
In like manner we may believe that God expects us to respond when He reveals something of His own Nature to us.
Assuming that He is perfectly Wise, we must own that what He tells us about Himself it is good for us to believe, and to try to understand. The Revelation is itself a claim upon our Worship. ”

“ Thus the truest cure for Doubt is Worship. If my faith in a friend weakens I must go to see him, to speak with him, to restore our mutual {vii} confidence and love. In like manner, if my faith in God through Christ weakens, I must go to Him, speak with Him, seek a return of the old confidence and love.
In the belief that God is calling us to know Him more perfectly by the Worship which we offer in heart and life, and in the confidence that our Branch of the Church has the guidance of the Indwelling Spirit, this book is dedicated to His glory. ”

“ Science explains something of the ways of God's working: from it we learn something of His principles, and also of His methods: when we are surest of scientific laws, we are then confronted with the assumption that there is, or that there is not, a God. The Bible is the Book of Faith—Faith that there is a God. But, since it interprets History, it plainly recognises History, as one of God's Lesson Books. Also, since it appeals to Reason, and is consistent with Reason, it recognises Reason, as another of the Lesson Books. ”

“ When a few people gather together with the same difficulties, temptations, dangers, sins, successes, a truly extempore prayer may be made by one of them without creating any discord of desire amongst the rest: but as soon as the congregation begins to include men and women of different occupations, tempers, ideas, talents—if moreover the persons for whom intercessions should be made are widely scattered and very variously employed—it becomes necessary to supplement by careful preparation the impulses of any one who leads the worship of a congregation. ”

“ O God, by thy love grant us safety, mercy, compassion, and protection. The Laity. Lord, have mercy.
The Deacon. For the peace that is from above, for the love of God towards man, and for the safety of our souls, let us beseech the Lord. The Laity (after each suffrage) . Lord, have mercy.
The Deacon. For the peace of the whole world, and the unity of all the holy churches of God, let us &c. ”

“ It is always the reason for our prayer, that God is able and willing to hear us: every name of God when named by His children is an appeal to Him.
When we expand the address, we do so in order to include a claim, to be heard because some quality in God has a special relation to that which we are about to ask. Because God loves peace, we can ask Him for Peace: because He is merciful, we can ask Him for forgiveness: because He gave at Pentecost, we can ask Him for the same gift on Whitsun Day. ”

“ Prayer, on the other hand, is that kind of worship which acknowledges God as the Source of all our help. Our needs are necessarily in our minds when we pray. We think of them in order to ask Him to help us; and we think of them again when we thank Him for the help which we have already had.
Thanksgiving might be coupled with Praise because its aim is to glorify God: but as its motive is the thought of human wants which have been already supplied, Thanksgiving is placed with the Prayers, which also relate to human wants. ”

“ Thus the Psalms often rise to the conception of the Messiah; and, even when that is not their thought, they proceed from other thoughts to Rest in God and Praise of His Holy Name.
The most difficult Psalms for worship are those which regard sin with horror, but express the horror without mercy. Man is unable to hold the two qualities of Righteousness and Mercy simultaneously. We find it difficult in these days to detest sin because we are learning the quality of mercy. ”

“ It was necessary that argument should just fail to prove this; because it is God's Will that men should be equal before Him: the man who can argue very cleverly was not designed to have an advantage over the stupid or ignorant man in their dealings with God. The meaning of our Lord's words, The poor have the Gospel preached to them, is not to be confined to poverty in money and clothes: the man who is poor in opportunities, learning, intellect, can believe if he makes the needful effort: the intellectual man who is poor in humility has also to make an effort, and to endeavour to believe. ”

“ The Lord's Prayer may be regarded as a brief summary of the acts of worship which come after it. Much care is required in order to use its familiar words with due devotion. When it is used, as here, for Praise, the following may be taken as examples of the thoughts which should accompany its several phrases.
Our Father, God is Love.
Which art in heaven, God is a spirit. ”

“ The word Substance occurs frequently in the discussion of the Godhead of our Lord, and also in the debates about the Holy Communion. Substance is the Essential Existence: it has no necessary connection with ideas like 'hard' and 'soft,' 'heavy' and 'light'; if we are thinking of a spirit there is no question of Matter, for the Substance, i.e. the Essential Being, of a spirit is not of the nature of Matter. The phrase in the Nicene Creed Being-of-one-substance-with (the Father) is a translation of the word Consubstantial. ”

“ But apart from all inferences and arguments, the facts about God's Existence call forth from the heart of man joyful praise and adoring worship.
The name by which God is declared to His People in Exodus is I AM. The thoughts by which we too come nearest to Him are thoughts which declare what HE IS. Thus the Apostles' Creed in Morning and Evening Prayer is a Hymn of Praise. ”

“ When it is to be used for Praise, the words "for thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever" are placed at the end: when it is to be used for Prayer, the Lesser Litany "Lord have mercy upon us, Christ have mercy upon us, Lord have mercy upon us" is placed at the beginning. ”

“ These beautiful combinations show us that the Canticle after a Lesson is designed to respond to the message of the Lesson, and to make with it an act of Praise. We must dismiss from our minds all idea that our Services were put together in a zigzag fashion, introducing something different as soon as any Psalm or Lesson has been said. The Service-makers valued variety of expression and method within reasonable limits; but the Service itself proceeds from point to point in a regulated progress. When the metrical Hymns were struck out, the Canticles and the Lessons were left united together. ”

“ Morning afore Mattins. Their "setting" was as follows:
Christ rising again from the dead now dieth not: Death from henceforth hath no power upon him. For in that he died, he died but once to put away sin; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. And so likewise count yourselves dead unto sin, but living unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Christ is risen again, the firstfruits of them that sleep. For seeing that by man came death, by man also cometh the resurrection of the dead. For as by Adam all men do die: so by Christ all men shall be restored to life. ”

“ The old distinction between deadly sins and venial sins has in it only an element of truth. Those named deadly sins were Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, Sloth. Of these Pride, Lust, and Envy are mentioned here, being notable amongst sins which war against the Soul. Two phrases here include all sins: "all deadly sin," and, "the deceits of the world, the flesh, and the devil." It is not easy to decide whether such a sin as Idleness falls under the head of Covetousness, or Sloth, or Pride ”

“ It is impossible to speak with confidence about the origin of the word Collect. We find in old Services both Collecta and Collectio. It might be conjectured that these were references to Books of Collects bearing those names as their titles. But the explanations which have been offered for a thousand years, though very various, do not include that as a possibility. Some derive it from people,
(1) collected for worship: (2) collected in the unity of the Church: (3) having collectedness of mind. ”

“ We have already said that Unity of Intention is the essence of congregational worship. Hence the Intention must be the same in all the worshippers if they use words suitable for both Praise and Prayer. If one is saying "Hallowed be Thy Name" and thinking chiefly of God's holiness, his Intention will be different from that of a neighbour who is thinking chiefly of the wickedness of sin. ”

“ Hills, and valleys, and seas, are thought of as if they were human beings: they rejoice, and sing, and clap their hands, when ungrudgingly and with all the beauty and generosity of their best nature they carry out the Will of God. When man does the like, of his own will and in his {82} own place, he also sings, and makes great the praise of God. ”

“ The repetition of the word (kurios) meaning 'Lord' and 'master'—10 times in 10 verses—falls on the ear like a peal of bells, calling us to make daily life an unbroken Worship of God.
Limitation 2. We ought not to forget that life is all one piece; and that the word Worship should describe what we do and say outside our prayers, as well as what we say and think in prayer and praise. ”

“ It will be clear that if we keep from sin repentance is more intimately connected with our present lives than with the future. Yet both repentance and the gift of the Holy Spirit are required for life now and hereafter. ”

“ The pronouns used in the Lord's Prayer are 'Thy,' 'us,' 'our.' It is the voice of a people speaking to God. Even in private we may not pray for self alone; we must include our friends, neighbours, and all others.
For this reason the Lord's Prayer is singularly adapted to the services of a congregation. Its petitions are short and direct, and therefore easily thought by every one at the same moment. This is an important point, because unity of intention is the essence of congregational worship. ”

“ We admire great poets—great dramatists—great sculptors and painters: which is more worthy of admiration—he who makes images without mind and motion, or he who makes things which live and move and act? ”

“ A courtier is most courtly when he is freest from doubts and suspicions of his king. {92} The presence of discussion in a creed implies that there has been a doubt.
The Apostles' Creed has no discussion in its clauses, and has been called "The loving outburst of a loyal heart." (Harvey Goodwin.) It is therefore the Creed of Worship and Praise.
The Nicene Creed is the Creed of Self-Examination. Discussion is implied in some of its clauses.
The Athanasian Creed is a Guide to Thought concerning the nature of God. ”

“ The House of God is a place where we ought to assume that the revelation of God is the foundation of worship. Hence a Creed which recites the substance of that revelation should fairly be assumed to express the convictions of all present. ”

“ But in proportion as we realise the perfection of God's holiness, we shall find them suitable to every shade of defect and sin.
The comprehensive humility of this Confession is designed to include both modified faults and grave offences—whether by commission, omission or indolence. The full acknowledgment of the different forms of sin is followed by prayer for mercy and recovery, relying upon the promises declared in Jesus Christ. ”

“ There are many Psalms which supply us with the best Prayers in trouble, penitence or any anxiety. But when using them in these Services our Intention is not Prayer but Praise, and the thought of God must inspire our devotions.
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It will often help us if we remember that God's Righteousness is infinite, as well as His Mercy. It is impossible for man in his present state to reconcile perfect Righteousness and perfect Mercy: for Righteousness will have nothing to do with sin, while Mercy forgives it. ”

“ There are, it appears, two motives which prompt a man to worship God.
One of these is God; Man himself is the other.
a. Two Kinds of Worship.
Worship means 'worthiness,' and thence 'regarding anyone as worthy.' For this reason a magistrate is called 'his worship'; and a guild or company is called 'worshipful.' In the Marriage Service the man says to his wife "I thee worship" because he sets her before all else. In Wyclif's Bible (S. Matth. xix. 19) we find "Worschipe thi fadir and thi moder." In old days any act of mind or body acknowledging the worthiness of another was an Act of Worship. ”

“ One of the best instances of Wreathing is in the combination of the three phrases
succour all that are in danger, help all that are in necessity, comfort all that are in tribulation.
Danger, Necessity, and Tribulation are in progressive order of calamity. In danger, the calamity may be avoided—we want support for our own strength: in necessity, the blow has fallen—we want help at once from outside: in tribulation, the disaster has come—we want comfort.
If we have understood Progressive Duplication, we shall at once see that Wreathing is used in unison with it. ”

“ Much has been written, especially in recent times, showing the marvellous working of what we call, at one time, the Laws of Nature, and at another time, Laws of God. There is infinite interest, to a thoughtful {101} mind, in the reading of Bell On the Hand, Argyll's Reign of Law, Maury's Physical Geography of the Sea, even when further discovery has improved upon their explanations. It must always be remembered that God has given us Reason and Knowledge, as well as Faith. ”