PLAIN HINTS TO A PARISH CLERK.

You have much to do with the services of the Church. You have a holy and honourable office in the House of God. As a friend then, I pray you to take heed to yourself; take heed that you act seriously in your post, and do all in a serious spirit as one who must give account. You have great privileges and great temptations; happy are you, if by God's grace you use your privileges and resist temptation; but woe be to you if you waste the one and yield to the other; woe be to you if you hold a holy office and are yet an unholy man.

It is a great privilege to have any office in the House of God. Only consider how great an honour it is esteemed to have any post or place in the palace of an earthly king; how eager men are to dwell in the courts of kings and to have to deal with kings' concerns. But how much higher is the very lowest post or place in the

House of God, who is King of kings and Lord of lords! of how much greater dignity and honour is the meanest office in His House!

But then there are temptations as well as privileges; after a time you may get to think it a mere common thing to go to Church; you may go through the Service by rote; you may be regular in your place, and join in the prayers, and repeat the responses because you are paid for it, without any heart or relish for the task, without thinking much what you are about. You may do your duty in a careless way as a mere outward form, without feeling any reverence or holy awe; the very fact that you have to attend so often and so regularly at Church may make you look upon it as mere work to be done, as a matter of business; you may look upon yourself as a clock wound up to go for a certain time, and your whole attendance at Church may be a mere clock-work affair; you may act more like a machine than a living soul drawn near Christ your Saviour. Have you not been tempted to do so? "The labourer," it is true, "is worthy of his hire;" but the Christian labourer must not think only of his hire; he must think more of his heavenly than of his earthly master, more of his recompense at the Lord's hand than the

wages paid by man; he must consider that while he may be regularly paid for regular attendance and service in the House of God, his Saviour may hereafter grievously afflict him for going through the Service as a form.

Let me then give you a few plain hints which may sometimes come into your mind when you are exercising your office in God's House.

1. First of all, do not hurry into Church without thought; say some short prayer to yourself, such as, "O Heavenly Father, grant that I may remember that Thou art very near, and teach me to worship Thee in spirit and in truth for Christ's sake.' You may also repeat to yourself some text that may check you from being careless, such as, "This is none other than the House of God, this is the gate of heaven," or that other text, "Keep thy foot when thou goest into the House of God."

2. Move about the Church slowly and carefully; if you have to do so before Service, make all your preparations quietly; find the places or place the vessels on the Altar for the Lord's Supper, if such is your task, quietly and seriously. Do not talk to any one that may be there; or if you have to speak of any matter concerning Church, speak in a low under-tone.

These things will help you to preserve godly

reverence.

3. In the course of the Service, if your attention begins to flag, if your tongue runs on while your heart has stopped, say to yourself, "I am in God's presence; He is watching me. He is looking into my inmost heart; the words of my tongue which the congregation hears will not do me good unless my heart goes with them," Try continually to bring back your thoughts, to keep them from straying away to worldly things, and remember what awful solemn words are passing from your tongue. Remember our Saviour's warning, "This people draw near to Me with their mouth but their heart is far from Me." Strive against such a sin as this, and offend not your God by lip-service in His own House.

4. After the Service, close the books, put away the vessels from the Altar, shut the doors, do all such things with care and reverence; remember that your foot is still in the House of God. Do not hurry about, as if you might throw off all seriousness the moment the Ser

vice was over. As long as you remain in the Sanctuary, refrain from loud talking or haste or noise. Touch all that is in the Church with