and that was sufficient for its continuance in the church. If it were to be given up, or afterwards placed only on the ground of expediency, our Lord would have said so, or have commissioned his apostles to say so; but since he did not do either of these things, the institution must remain. No authority but that which makes a law is competent to repeal it. It follows, therefore, from the principle already stated, that the public worship of God is an institution of present and universal obligation so long as the world stands.

Take another view of the subject. It is a matter of fact, that the church of God, in all ages, has sanctioned the practice of public worship. In the science of law, when a custom has obtained time immemorial, it becomes a principle of action. It is binding on the decisions of courts, unless the written statute shall have pronounced it null and void. Judges do not fear to act upon the principle in all their decisions; and that judge who is best acquainted with such customs, and is most skilful in applying them to cases which constantly occur, is, other things being equal, the best qualified for his station. The laws of England are almost entirely made up of this kind of enactment; and if the memory of man does not reach to the contrary of any usage or custom, that usage or custom is considered in the light of a law, and binding upon all those who live where it has obtained. Now, the principles of theological jurisprudence, if I may so speak, though not so complicated, and far less difficult of application, and brought within a smaller compass, are yet just the same. Like the principles of the civil law, they are founded in common sense. A custom then which has always existed in the church, ⚫ no man can lawfully set aside, even though no book and page for it can readily be produced; unless the written word shall plainly tell him to do so. If you can prove any thing in the church to be an innovation, you can set aside its authority and place it only on the ground of expediency. Men therefore are at liberty to adopt it or not, as they see fit. Neither a doctrine nor a usage of the church, which is not ancient, is of any obligation on the consciences of men.

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Now, the church has always had the custom of assembling together for the purpose of worshipping God and such a collection of people as is familiarly known by the appellation assembly of the saints," has always existed; at least no man can point out a time when it did not exist. It follows, therefore, upon this principle, as well as the other that has been stated, that public worship is a divine appointment which is binding upon all men.

Again-The example of the apostles presents itself in a prominent light on this subject. Though the example of any one of them at a particular time cannot certainly be pleaded as an authoritative precept, because they were all imperfect men; yet their constant example, uniformly approved by themselves, is of the same nature as a divine command, because they were commissioned to act in peculiar circumstances in setting up the Messiah's kingdom, and in fixing the laws which should govern that kingdom. Now, the example of the apostles on the subject of public worship, is abundant. I shall only adduce one specimen of it;-Paul and Barnabas are said to have assembled themselves with the church at Antioch, for a whole year, and to have taught much people. And so notorious did this fact become, that the “ disciples were called christians first in Antioch." It appears from this narrative that there was a church in that place, and that they were in the habit of assembling at certain periods. Paul and Barnabas are not represented as making any new appointments, but as only complying with those which were already in existence. They assembled with the church and taught -the same language precisely that we should use in describing the temporary residence of a minister of the gospel in a particular place.

Again-The New Testament evidently proceeds on the fact that the assemblies of the saints are held, and gives precepts accordingly. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews, for example, tells us to "hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is." Now, it is

very obvious that this subject was fully understood, or it would not have been mentioned in such an incidental manner. The christians who were addressed, well knew what this assembling together was for, because they had been accustomed to it. It is plain that this assembling could not be for any other than religious purposes, because that would have no connexion with holding fast the profession of their faith without wavering, nor with provoking one another to love and good works, nor with exhorting one another with reference to the day of Judgment, as the passages joined with the exhortation in question, hold forth. How can he who neglects the public worship of God, partake of the social spirit of religion sufficient to provoke his fellow men to love and good works? How can such a man hold fast the profession of his faith? To whom is his faith shown and where is it acknowledged? and to what object does it extend? If he asserts that he shows his faith to God and acknowledges it in his closet, and worships his Maker in secret, alone; how can he enjoy that duty when, with all the social feelings of human nature about him, he does not join with his fellow men in their adorations of the same being? It is absurd to talk of it. All experience and observation show conclusively, that he who voluntarily neglects the public assemblies of the saints, never worships God in any other way. He that is a stranger to the communion of saints at the foot of the throne, is a stranger also to communion with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, in the retirement of the closet. These two kinds of divine worship are intimately connected; and the same spirit which dictates the one will dictate the other.

There is another consideration by which the fact that the assemblies of the saints are held, is recognized in the New Testament; and that is, the uniform representation of the necessity of preaching for salvation. It is asserted in many ways, that it pleases God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now, preaching can ordinarily be had only in the public assemblies of God's people. Our

Lord Jesus Christ, when he ascended up on high, commissioned a class of men to preach the gospel to every creature ; and promised to be with them, in their holy undertaking, to the end of the world. The grand theatre of these men's operations is the christian assembly. Here they proclaim from sabbath to sabbath "the tender mercies of our God, whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us ;" "the terrors of the Lord," whereby the condemnation of the wicked is made known; the motives to obedience which God has set forth; the danger of error, and the importance and sanctifying efficacy of truth. In short, here they preach Christ crucified, to some a stumbling-block and to others foolishness, but to them that believe, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

We are so constituted, that the truths of God spoken by our fellow men, have more influence upon us, than when read in retirement. There are a thousand circumstances which contribute to this effect. There is the public assembly, the multitude that keep holy day,-calculated to touch our sympathies. There are the social prayers of the church, the songs of Zion, the fact that one of ourselves is addressing us personally, the whole idea of public worship;-all contributing together to make an impression on the mind. This is according to the principles of human nature which God very well knew when he ordained that preaching should be a means of salvation. It is by the preaching of the gospel that men are excited to look into the scriptures, and read what God has to say to them from the oracles of truth. He that sets up the bible alone, unaccompanied by the preaching of the word, as the means of his salvation, is setting up his own standard and putting aside the standard of God. He is contradicting Him who tells us in this very bible, that it is his pleasure to save men through the instrumentality of preaching. Besides, where attendance on the preaching of the gospel is voluntarily neglected, the bible will not be read with dili gence and candour, if it be read at all. It is the preaching of the truths which the bible contains that awakens the care

less and the secure to a proper use of the scriptures. It is the living voice of the preacher that arrests the attention of men, and calls upon them to regard with interest the things that belong to their peace. The silent bible lies unnoticed on the shelf, till the living voice of the preacher sends men to their closet and their God. They are ignorant, it may be, of the momentous truths which the bible contains, till the preaching of the gospel excites them "to search the scriptures daily whether these things are so." The mere reading of the bible then, is not, in ordinary cases, the means of salvation. The treasure is committed to earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God. Men might be converted to the faith of Christ by the immediate power of God; but infinite wisdom has not so appointed. Even when Saul of Tarsus was struck to the ground by miraculous agency, he was instructed to go to Ananias a preacher of the gospel, for direction in the way to heaven. And when Cornelius was met by an angel who assured him that his prayer was heard, that angel was not commissioned to preach the gospel to him. 'Send men to Joppa to Peter, the man of like passions with yourself,' was the direction, "he shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved." The preaching of the gospel by feeble men is then the institution of God; and must be attended to if we wish to obtain "everlasting consolation and good hope through grace." Where that preaching is neglected, sinners sleep the sleep of death. No voice breaks in upon the universal silence, and tells the sinner of the retributions of eternity. The sacred truths of the bible are all unheeded, and its awful threatnings are as if they were not, till the miserable subject of them experiences their execution in another world. Christians, if there be any in such an abode of spiritual death, are hardly to be distinguished from others. Being destitute of the appointed means of growing in grace, they go backward; and so much are they like the world, that no enmity is excited against them, even in the hearts of the bitterest opposers. They are taken to be of the world, and therefore, as the Saviour declares, the