A STRICTER ADHERENCE TO The Rubric, IN THE PUBLIC WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH: A SERMON, PREACHED IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MARY, NOTTINGHAM, ON THE EVENING OF NOV. 13, 1842. BY ARCHDEACON WILKIN THE VICAR. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. G. F. & J. RIVINGTON, B. S. OLIVER, NOTTINGHAM. 1842. 184. A SERMON, &c. 1 COR. xiv. 40. "Let all things be done decently and in order." IN matters of domestic or of civil life, confusion and embarrassment necessarily ensue, where no regard is paid to this valuable admonition of maintaining decency and order. And if such be requisite for the conduct and comfort of life, in all concerns of a temporary kind, how much more necessary and essential are they to matters of a higher and more momentous nature? When decency and order are not observed in every part of the worship of God, no spiritual benefit can be derived from it, for such cannot be acceptable to that great Being to whom it is offered. It is a wise precaution, that in seeking the best method in which a paramount duty is to be performed, especial care be taken that the duty itself be not impaired or weakened by over-attention to form, -that the shadow be not too strong for the relief of the substance; yet is it of consequence that the one should be so blended into the other as to pro duce perfect harmony in the whole: but in reference to the soul-important service to be rendered to Almighty God, it is impossible that too much pains can be devoted even to the slightest particular connected with it. In the tabernacle in the wilderness, as well as in the temple of God at Jerusalem, "the snuffers were of pure gold1." When the pious Reformers of our branch of the Catholic Church purified our religion from the dross and impurities of popish superstition and error, they prescribed a due method and order of public worship to be observed in the congregations of the people. For it is the privilege and prerogative of every Christian nation to prescribe such forms, rites, and ceremonies for its public worship as may be deemed, by the government of that nation, best suited to the genius and character of the people, provided, that nothing be decreed contrary to the written word of God. For the preservation of this decency and order in the service of Almighty God, and with an especial view to uniformity in the mode, manner, and substance of that service, the Reformers compiled a Form of Common Prayer, which being afterwards approved of by the Convocation, and sanctioned by the three Estates of the Realm, became the prescribed and established worship of the land. To this 1 Ex. xxxvii. 23; 1 Kings vii. 50; 2 Chron. iv. 22. Form are annexed directions how, when, and in what manner the prayers are to be offered up in every episcopally consecrated Church in the Empire. These directions are called "Rubrics," from the circumstance of their being originally printed in red ink, in contradistinction to the prayers, which were printed in a different colour and character. As the teaching of our blessed Lord and His Apostles enjoined unity of spirit in the bond of peace; and as in the Gospel dispensation there is "one body, and one spirit, and we are all called in one hope of our calling;—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all2:" so, to our wise Reformers it seemed good for the preservation of that unity, that the people in this Christian land, and in its Christian dependencies, should worship God, as it were, with one mouth and one voice, through the medium of one Common Form of Prayer. And that the danger of using rash, improper, or unsuitable language, when addressing the Almighty in prayer, might not be incurred, every prescribed prayer was composed in strict unison with the spirit and meaning of Holy Scripture, and every word, phrase, and sentence, was employed such as was most becoming in man to offer, and best adapted, as far as human means could be used, to the Majesty of the Most High to accept. 2 Eph. iv. 4. |