THE SERVICE OF GOD. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24TH. I.-The Preludes to Service. CONVERSION "Ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God."-1 THESS. i. 9. FORGIVENESS 66 A conscience purged from dead works to serve the living God."-HEB. ix. 14. SALVATION "That we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear."-LUKE i. 72-74. 66 ADOPTION "Let My son go, that he may serve Me."-Exod. iv. 23. "So shall they serve."-NUм. iv. 26. II.-The Principles of Service. LOVE "I love my master."-Exod. xxi. 5. "By love serve one another."-GAL. v. 13. REVERENCE "A servant honoureth his master."-MAL. i. 6. [cxxiii. 2. "The eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters."-Ps. OBEDIENCE-"His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it."-JOHN ii. 5. CONSECRATION "Sanctified, and meet for the Master's use."-2 TIM. ii. 21. ABILITY—“ Able men for strength for the service.”—1 CHRON. xxvi. 8. 'So shall they serve."-NUM. iv. 26. THURSDAY, JUNE 25TH. III.-The Pattern of Service. "Behold My Servant."-ISA. xlii. 1. "CHRIST JESUS, who being in the form of God-took upon Him the form of a servant."-PHIL. ii. 5-7. "I must be about My Father's business."-LUKE ii. 49. "Whatsoever things the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."-JOHN V. 19. "As the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do."—JOHNxiv.31. "I am among you as he that serveth."-LUKE Xxii. 27. "He learned obedience by the things which He suffered."—HEB. v. 8. "Obedient unto death."-PHIL. ii. 8. "So shall they serve."-NUM. iv. 26. IV.-The Pathway of Service. AFTER CHRIST-" If any man serve Me let him follow Me."-JOHN xii. 26. UPRIGHT" He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me."-Ps.ci.6. SPIRITUAL-"I serve with my spirit in the Gospel."-ROм. i. 9. BODILY-Present your bodies a living sacrifice-which is your reasonable service."-ROM. xii. 1. CONSTANT " Thou servest continually."-Dan. vi. 16. THOROUGH " In every work that he began in the service of the house of FRIDAY, JUNE 26TH. V.-The Pribileges of Service. HONOUR "If any man serve Me, him will My Father honour."-JNO.xii.26. FAVOUR-"The king's favour is towards a wise servant."-PROV. xiv. 35. PROTECTION "There stood by me-the angel of God-whom I serve." ACTS xxvii. 23. 66 "Thou Israel art My servant . . . fear thou not."-Isa. xli. 8, 10. Joy-"My servants shall sing for joy of heart."-ISA. lxv. 14. Happy are these thy servants."—1 KINGS X. 8. REST-"Take My yoke upon you-ye shall find rest unto your souls." MATT. xi. 29. FELLOWSHIP "It is enough for the servant that he be as his lord." "So shall they serve."-NUM. iv. 26. VI.-The Prospects of Service. MATT. x. 25. THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST-"Where I am, there shall also My servant be." JOHN xii. 26. CONFORMITY TO CHRIST-" His servants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. REV. xxii. 3, 4. REJOICING WITH CHRIST-"Well done, good and faithful servant-enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."-MATT. xxv. 21. PERFECT SERVICE OF CHRIST-"They serve Him day and night in His temple."-REV. vii. 15. EVERLASTING RULE WITH CHRIST-"His servants shall reign for ever and ever."-REV. xxii. 3-5. "So shall they serve."-NUM. iv. 26. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant?"-MATT. xxiv. 45. "Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?" 1 CHRON. xxix. 5. The Service of God: THE PRELUDES TO SERVICE. ADDRESSES BY S. A. BLACKWOOD, Esq., C.B. REV. ADOLPH SAPHIR, D.D. REV. HANDLEY C. G. MOULE, M. A. Wednesday Morning, June 24th, 1885. HAT wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" Such was the keynote struck, in the course of an exceedingly searching address, by the Rev. C. A. Fox at the preliminary prayer meeting on Tuesday evening, and with quickened expectation many came up to the opening meeting of the Conference. After a season of silent devotion, when, at Mr. Blackwood's request, all present bent in hushed prayer before the Lord, the hymn was sung— "Jesus, stand among us In Thy risen power; Be a hallowed hour.' The Rev. Prebendary DANIEL WILSON, D.D., the venerable vicar of Islington, who for so many years has opened the Conference, led in prayer, closing with the repetition of the prayer our Lord taught His disciples, in which the whole audience joined. S. A. BLACKWOOD, ESQ., C.B., Having read Nehemiah ix., gave the following introductory address: You will bear with me, dear friends, if not as one fitted to teach, as many here are, but as occupying the place assigned to me as a servant of this Conference, I venture to say a few words with regard to this passage we have just read. There was a great Conference at Jerusalem 2330 years ago. It seems to me it may indeed prove a fit model and pattern for our Conference in London. It happened to be held on the same day of the month, the twenty-fourth. I do not dwell on that. It is merely a coincidence; you may make what application you like of it. It is not to the coincidence of date, but to the similarity of circumstance, that our attention needs to be directed. It had been a time of very great gladness, of great revival, of great reformation. The people were gathered together to seek the Lord and His strength, and to consecrate themselves afresh unto Him and His service. They were assembled in the attitude and in the garb of humiliation. They were the professing people of God, but their practice had not corresponded with their profession. God was teaching them this, and they, as His professing servants, were desiring to serve Him better and more faithfully in the future than in the past; and they took the only right and proper way, the way of humiliation before God because of failure and sin. They separated themselves from the world and from all strangers, and they confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And with that wonderful confession which occupies the main part of this chapter (Neh. ix.) there is a mingled strain of heartfelt praise the two, confession and praise, went together-sorrow because of sin, gladness because of God's unfailing mercy. In Now what had been those sins? Let me point out one or two expressions in the chapter which describe them. verse 16 they say: "They and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage." Then, in verse 26, after further mercies had been recounted, "Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their backs, and slew Thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to Thee, and they wrought great provocations." And verse 28: "But after they had rest, they did evil again before Thee." Also verse 29: "Yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not to Thy commandments, but sinned against Thy judgments." What a terrible record of failures and provocation on the part of the only people in the world who knew and professed to serve the living and true God! Now look at the mercies of God in one or two verses. Verse 17: "But"-oh, these blessed "buts" and "yets" and "neverthelesses " that tell of the mercies of God!" but Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not." Verse 19: "Yet Thou in Thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness; the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way. . . . Thou gavest also Thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yca, forty years "the very forty years described in Psalm xcv. as "the provocation -"didst Thou sustain them in the wilderness, so they lacked nothing." And again, verse 31: "Nevertheless for Thy great mercies' sake Thou didst not utterly consume them, not forsake them; for Thou art a gracious and merciful God." Thus we see the strains of thanksgiving that mingled with these expressions of humiliation and confession of sin. And surely as we stand at the commencement of this Conference, when we propose to occupy our minds so much with the solemn and blessed subject of the service of God, ought we to take any other ground than that which was taken at the conference at Jerusalem two millenniums and more ago? Surely every heart here that knows anything of its own failures and disobedience, or the true character of its service in the sight of God, and has the least conception of the faithfulness and mercies of God, will say, "The only place I am able to take is that of shame and utter confusion of face." But our gracious Master has not cast us out of His household. He will permit us to gather with His people in His service; to come together to these holy, happy, helpful services of Mildmay Conference; to sit at His feet, to hear His word, and to receive a blessing from His hand, in order that we may be restored, as newly-consecrated servants, to Him to perform His service. May He give to all of us this right spirit at the commencement of this Conference! For what has been our service? Are we stewards? Can none of us be accused of having wasted our Master's goods-temporal goods, spiritual goods? "It is |