Ministry of the word by William Taylor (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Lecture IX (The conduct of public worship-reading of the scriptures).
Today we begin to read Taylor's thoughts on the conduct of public worship.
Firstly Taylor speaks about the importance of the other acts of public worship alongside the sermon - they act and react upon each other. He then encourages us that the first grand indispensable qualification for the leading of public worship is a filial heart. If we understand we are a child of God, dull devotion is radically cured.
Then the bulk of the chapter concerns Taylor's thoughts on publicly reading the word of God. He provides tips on how to carefully select passages and how to read them well.
To conclude the chapter, Taylor considers whether running comments are appropriate. He thinks it depends upon the minister and they are rarely done well.
I liked this paragraph on why the word of God should be read in church: ' The day has gone, I trust forever, when the public reading of the Scriptures can be regarded as a work of supererogation, or as a device of a poorly-prepared preacher for filling out the time allotted for the services of the sanctuary. They tell in Scotland that when a worthy minister in Aberdeenshire was remonstrated with by a committee of his parishioners for making this exercise a prominent part of public worship, he covered his censors with confusion by turning to the title-page of the Bible, which, as you know, is printed in Great Britain by royal authority, and showing them these words, " By His Majesty's special command appointed to be read in churches ! " But we have " another King, one Jesus," and when we learn that " He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath-day and stood up for to read," we have the highest possible warrant for bringing into the foremost place in the exercises of the sanctuary the Word of the living God.'
King Jesus saw the Scriptures as fit to be read in the gathering of God's people. We should follow his example.
Read Lecture X (The conduct of public worship-praise and prayer).
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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