Prayers: Accepted In The Beloved
Accepted in the Beloved Our Father God, we wish to speak with Thee as a man speaketh with his friend. But who are we that we should draw near to Thee, for at best we are but dust and ashes? Yet we come through Him who is our Friend, who long ago introduced some of us to Thee, and has given us permission to use His name with Thee. Thou knowest Him well. He is Thine only-begotten Son, the Well-beloved of Thy heart. He is very dear to us, but He is dearer still to Thee. We do remember well when Thou didst receive us at the gate of the house, with all Thy Fatherly compassion, when Thou didst, for His dear sake, "accept us in the Beloved." Many days have passed since then; they have been happy days, days of rest compared with that wretched time in the far-off country, when we wasted our substance, and were like a waste ourselves.
Now, Father, having come to Thee in that respect years ago, we are not afraid to come to Thee this morning, making mention of the righteousness of Christ, and coming into the innermost place of Thy sanctuary without fear; for our Father will receive us, and He will hear the desires of our heart. Our first cry shall be one of gratitude to Thee for sending Thy Son, Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, that He, as the good Shepherd, might lay down His life for us, and redeem us from wrath. Oh, we have joy in God to-day, a deep fathomless joy; but it is through Jesus Christ, by whom also we have received the Atonement. We come not unto Thee Father, except by Him; and coming by Him, we bless the Father that He hath given His Son to die for us, that we might live through Him. This is the centre of all history to us. This is the light of every day, and the star of every night; the life of our life, and the light of our delight, our entrance into heaven—that He loved me and gave Himself for me. May every believer here not only know this, and be sure of it, but be deeply affected by the fact. May we be stirred to an intense affection, to a fervent gratitude to One who has done everything for us, that we might live through Him.
Now we pray Thee, our Father, by the love of Jesus Christ, that the Spirit of God dwelling in us, may sanctify us unto the service of Him who hath redeemed us with His precious blood. Take out of us, O God, everything which would grieve His Spirit. Plant in us every fair and lovely thing in which He may take pleasure. May the weeds be taken up by the roots, and may the flowers be watered until they come to a sweet perfection. Oh, how we long to live Christly lives—such lives in business, in the domestic circle—such lives even upon a sick bed, if Thou dost appoint our portion there. Oh, help us, dear Saviour, to live as those whose life is hid in Thee, to whom Thou hast become the life, linking Thyself so completely with our personality that we can say "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Our next prayer is that others may be found by Christ, and forgiven, and washed, and made white, and may become the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. O Lord, save the millions of our race. The whole world still lieth in the wicked one; comparatively, the light hath fallen upon few. O Lord, grant that the Kingdom of Christ may be extended, and the first grey beams of light that denote the morning sun be followed by the glorious noontide. Oh, that the morning might chase away the long dark ages of the world. The Lord grant power to His Gospel, in our own country, in this our own city, too.
O God, remember London. If the burden of Nineveh was heavy, what must the burden of London be, with its multitudes sickening in poverty, its multitudes sickening in vice and drunkenness? O God, have mercy upon the publicans and sinners. Oh that Thou wouldst in pity look upon those who will not look upon Thee, who give us no opportunity of preaching to them the Gospel, for they will not come to hear it. Incline their hearts towards the house of God, incline their hearts towards the Sabbath, give them to long after something better than this weary wilderness of a world can yield them, and may they turn unto the Lord who gives comfort to the comfortless. Lord Jesus, put forth Thy power, this morning, in this congregation, for there are many here that are strangers to Thee. They sit among Thy people to-day, and they will soon rise up to sing, but they know Thee not; no love in their hearts to Thee, no faith in Thy precious blood; no longings after their Father and their God.
Shepherd of the lost sheep, find the lost sheep this morning! Oh, let no man go out of this place untouched. Let conviction come at last, and let conversion follow quick upon the heels thereof. Oh do not let us gather this morning in vain, and then separate unblessed. Friend of sinners, let the sinners be gathered unto Thee.
We offer prayer to-day for such of Thy people as are unable to be with us by reason of sickness. We thank Thee for some who desire to thank God that they are here to-day, after having for a while been detained. We pray for some that will never come here again, for they are on their way to the glory. The Lord give them to fall sweetly asleep, and to wake up in their Master's likeness, in the glory land. So may it be with each of us when our time shall come. Help us to live upon the borders of eternity. Help Thy servant to preach as a dying man to dying men. Help the teachers in our schools to preach as dying men and women. Oh grant that every worker here may work as though he felt the day was far spent, and the night was coming in, in which no man can work. Lord, we do not live as we ought to do. Arouse us, we beseech Thee. We are like the cold sacrifice upon the altar. We need the fire. Oh bid the fire fall upon us until we are utterly consumed. May a divine ardour possess our spirit, and a sacred fervour run through our entire lives. May we live as those ought to live who have been bought with the heart's blood of the Son of God. Oh lift us above common living; lift us above common Christians; help us to live the true life of a Christian over again, and may the Lord to that end strengthen and sanctify, and instruct, and perfect us, that unto His name there may be some praise through us; for He hath created us for Himself, and we must show forth His praise.
Look on foreign lands, we pray Thee. Help our brethren the missionaries. Be very gracious to those who live in climates where death threatens them every day. Preserve the lives of our brethren and sisters on the Congo. Let us not have to hear of more sacrifices from that region, and let Africa be enlightened, and let its darkest parts be illuminated; and everywhere may Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven; for Thine is the Kingdom the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
September 28, 1884.