2. _The Holy Spirit in the Worship and Service of the Church_. Is there anything, from highest to lowest, which we are called to do in connection with the worship of God's house, of which the Holy Spirit is not the appointed agent? Believers are the instruments indeed through which he acts; but they have no function apart from his inspiration and guidance, any more than the organ-pipe has without the wind, which breathing through it causes it to resound. To make this clear, we may consider the several parts of the service of the church as we are accustomed to participate in it, and observe their relation to the divine Administrator. {143} (1) Preaching is by general consent an important factor of the work of the ministry, both for the pastor and for the evangelist. In what consists its inspiration and authority? We "have preached the gospel unto you _with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven_" (1 Peter 1: 12), is Peter's simple story of the apostolic method. And the words direct our thought to the Spirit not as instrumental but as inspiring. "_In the Holy Ghost_," the words mean literally. The true preacher does not simply use the Spirit; he is used by the Spirit. He speaks as one moving in the element and atmosphere of the Holy Ghost, and mastered by his divine power. In this fact the sermon differs immeasurably from the speech, and the preacher from the orator. How distinctly Paul emphasizes this contrast in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 2: 4). The sole substance of his preaching he declares to be "Jesus Christ and him crucified," and the sole inspiration of his preaching, the Holy Ghost: "And my speech was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power." What did good Philip Henry mean by his resolve "to preach Christ crucified in a crucified style"? More perhaps than he thought or knew. "He shall testify of me," is Jesus' saying concerning the promised Paraclete. The Comforter bears witness to the Crucified. No other theme in the pulpit can be sure of commanding his co-operation. {144} Philosophy, poetry, art, literature, sociology, ethics, and history are attractive subjects to many minds, and they who handle such themes in the pulpit may set them forth with alluring words of human genius; but there is no certainty that the Holy Ghost will accompany their presentation with his divine attestation. The preaching of the Cross, in chastened simplicity of speech, has the demonstration of the Spirit pledged to it, as no secular, or moral, or even formal religious discourse has. And when Paul writes to the Thessalonians: "Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also _in power and in the Holy Ghost_, and in much assurance" (1 Thess. 1: 5), we need only to be reminded that "our gospel" meant but one thing to Paul, the setting forth of Jesus Christ crucified in the midst of the people, and we have found the secret of evangelical power. Ought it