======================================================================== BEHOLD THE THRONE OF GRACE by C.H. Spurgeon ======================================================================== Spurgeon's devotional centered on prayer and the Holy Spirit's presence, celebrating the reality and accessibility of God's grace and emphasizing that the Spirit is near wherever believers gather in prayer. Chapters: 71 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. BOOK: Behold The Throne of Grace (Prayers and Hymns) 2. Invocations: The Holy Ghost Is Here 3. Invocations: God of Our Fathers and Our God 4. Invocations: A Word To The Heart 5. Invocations: A Day of Delightful Remembrance 6. Invocations: The Saviour In The Midst 7. Invocations: The Soul's Yearning For God 8. Invocations: Refresh Our Waiting Spirits! 9. Prayers: Jesu's Presence Delightful 10. Prayers: Sorrowing, yet Always Rejoicing 11. Prayers: Mercy's Streams 12. Prayers: Such Love As Seraph Know 13. Prayers: Oh, To Be Like Christ! 14. Prayers: The Saint's Inalienable Portion 15. Prayers: Nothing But Jesus! 16. Prayers: Blessings of the Justified 17. Prayers: Come Nearer, Nearer, Nearer! 18. Prayers: Accepted In The Beloved 19. Prayers: The Gift Unspeakable 20. Prayers: A Great God and A Great Company 21. Prayers: Praise At All Times 22. Prayers: The Blesser and the Blest 23. Prayers: Enrich Us All! 24. Prayers: Always Our Helper 25. Adoration: Psalm 30 26. Adoration: Adorable Trinity 27. Adoration: Let All The People Praise Thee! 28. Adoration: Children of Abraham 29. Adoration: The Cross and the Throne 30. Adoration: The Love of the Firstborn 31. Adoration: Look unto Him 32. Adoration: Anticipation of Glory 33. Thanksgiving: Christ in His People 34. Thanksgiving: Father, Son and Holy Spirit 35. Thanksgiving: The Blessings of the Covenant 36. Thanksgiving: Our Supreme Delight 37. Thanksgiving: Goodness and Mercy 38. Thanksgiving: "Though He Slay Me, Yet—" 39. Thanksgiving: The Blood-Sprinkled Mercy-Seat 40. Thanksgiving: The Lamb Upon The Throne 41. Thanksgiving: Washed and Made Whole 42. Confession: Psalm 15 43. Confession: Ashamed of Jesus! 44. Confession: Sin Shall Not Have Dominion 45. Confession: Victory Through The Blood 46. Confession: The Feast of Jehovah 47. Confession: Rest and Refreshing 48. Supplication: Early Morning Prayer Meeting 49. Supplication: Heal Us, Immanuel! 50. Supplication: Sincere Faith Desired 51. Supplication: A Sigh For Holiness 52. Supplication: That Christ May Be In Us 53. Supplication: Fragrant Fellowship 54. Supplication: With Christ In The Heavenlies 55. Supplication: Oh For Newness of Life! 56. Supplication: Go on to Fashion Us! 57. Supplication: Conformed to the Image of the Firstborn 58. Supplication: Grace for Everything 59. Supplication: Through Bondage to Liberty 60. Supplication: Being Rather Than Doing 61. Supplication: For The Reign of Christ 62. Supplication: Up to the High Mountain 63. Intercession: Psalm 82 64. Intercession: Great Designs of Love 65. Intercession: Comforted and Made Ready 66. Intercession: The Christless Multitudes 67. Intercession: Delight In The Lord's Day 68. Intercession: Save The People! 69. Intercession: For All Classes and Conditions of Men 70. Intercession: "Today He Rose and Left the Dead" 71. Intercession: The Harvest Season ======================================================================== CHAPTER 1: BOOK: BEHOLD THE THRONE OF GRACE (PRAYERS AND HYMNS) ======================================================================== Behold the Throne of Grace C. H. Spurgeon's Prayers and Hymns Selected and Arranged by Chas. T. Cook ======================================================================== CHAPTER 2: INVOCATIONS: THE HOLY GHOST IS HERE ======================================================================== The Holy Ghost is Here For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us. Acts 15:28 The Holy Ghost is here, Where saints in prayer agree, As Jesu's parting gift He's near Each pleading company. Not far away is He, To be by prayer brought nigh, But here in present majesty, As in His courts on high. He dwells within our soul, An ever welcome Guest; He reigns with absolute control, As Monarch in the breast. Our bodies are His shrine, And He th' indwelling Lord; All hail, thou Comforter divine, Be evermore adored. Obedient to Thy will, We wait to feel Thy power, O Lord of life, our hopes fulfil, And bless this hallowed hour. Tune: "Trentham." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 3: INVOCATIONS: GOD OF OUR FATHERS AND OUR GOD ======================================================================== God of Our Fathers, and Our God Blessed be Thy Name, Thou ever-living God. Our neighbours die; friend after friend departs; few of us have not lost someone dear to us; but Thou abidest the same, and of Thy years there is no end. We come to Thee. Thou art this day as strong to deliver as in our fathers' time; as true to Thy promise, and as mighty to perform Thy Covenant as when Thou spakest unto Abraham at Mamre, or didst work mightily in the field of Zoan for the Children of Israel. Thou, O God, art for ever strong and mighty. Never can Thine arm know palsy, nor can Thy brow decay. We look up to Thee with joyful confidence, knowing that Thou art an inexhaustible fountain of every good thing, and believing that Thou wilt supply our need out of the riches of Thy fullness of glory by Christ Jesus. Wilt Thou refresh our souls. We come as the Children of Israel came to the wells of Elim, and we would now sit by the palm-trees thereof. Let our souls gather strength. Give comfort to the mourners; give rebuke to those that slumber, and a word in season to everyone. As for the minister, may he be as one that bringeth forth out of the treasury things new and old. May there be food fitted for strong men, as well as milk for babes, and may we all of us retire from the Master's house feeling that He has satisfied us with good things, and made us rejoice in Himself. Our Father, hear and bless us for Jesus' sake. Amen. April 19 (Morning), 1863. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 4: INVOCATIONS: A WORD TO THE HEART ======================================================================== A Word to the Heart Permit us, Lord, to behold again the light of Thy countenance. May our glad spirits approach again to the Throne of Grace, receiving grace from the Throne enabling us so to do. Oh that Thou wouldst have a word with our heart! May the truth be mighty; may it pierce into the conscience, may it reach the inner man. May those who are born again, and those who are afar off, receive some good thing. Vain is the help of man. The preacher depends on nothing of his own, but behold, here he is at Thy feet. Speak through Thy servant to this great assembly, and let not a word fall to the ground; neither may there be a deaf ear nor a hard heart. God Almighty, glorify Thy Son Jesus by Thy Holy Spirit. We ask it for His sake. Amen. April 19 (Evening), 1863. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 5: INVOCATIONS: A DAY OF DELIGHTFUL REMEMBRANCE ======================================================================== A Day of Delightful Remembrance Gracious God, preserved by Thy goodness, we are permitted to come up to Thy house. We desire here to pay our vows in the midst of Thy people. We hail the Sabbath as a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable. We delight to find ourselves in the place where prayer is wont to be made, and we humbly hope that this day our supplications will be heard in heaven. Let our praise be accepted at the Throne, and that there will be for each of us a portion of meat in due season. Oh for the bedewings of the Holy Spirit upon every plant of the Lord's right-hand planting. Let every soul be nourished in this house to-day. As trees planted in the courts of the Lord, so may we flourish and bring forth fruit. May this be a day to be remembered by us. May Thy people, especially, be in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. And though they may not, like John in Patmos, behold the Lord with their visible eyes, yet may they see Him spiritually, and rejoice in the glory of His presence. Bless the Word this morning. The burden of the Lord is upon us. Help us to deliver Thy Word with power. Oh, that Thou wouldst enable us to plead with sinners. We have sought to plead with God for men; now may we plead with men for God. Throughout the whole service may a deep solemnity rest on every mind. May those who know the art of prayer be holding up Thy servant's hands as did Aaron and Hur. May they be praying, like Moses on the mountain, while we, like Joshua, fight in the plain. Let the Spirit come down upon the unconverted this morning, and save them with a great salvation. We ask it for the Saviour's sake. Amen. July 5 (Morning), 1863. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 6: INVOCATIONS: THE SAVIOUR IN THE MIDST ======================================================================== The Saviour in the Midst O God, our hearts are up unto Thee. We want to feel that Thou art here. We cannot expect this if we ask so great a blessing in our own name, but we ask it through the merits of Jesus Christ. Divine Saviour, Thou hast said, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." Be here now, for we are more than two or three. Thou hast been pleased to give us Thy Holy Spirit to be the Comforter that shall abide with us for ever; may He abide with us to-night. We have to confess that sometimes we go through the service as a mere matter of routine. We are afraid that many of Thy people do not join as they should do in prayer, nor does their heart go up with the sacred longing. May it not be so now. May there be real worship the whole service through. When we come clustering round the Table, may we be hungering and thirsting after Jesus, who is the Bread of Heaven, and may we eat of His flesh, and drink of His blood. The Lord give us His help. We are perfect weaklings. There is nothing else that we are perfect in. Lord, give us the perfect strength, for Jesus' sake. Amen. July 5 (Evening), 1863. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 7: INVOCATIONS: THE SOUL'S YEARNING FOR GOD ======================================================================== The Soul's Yearning for God O Lord, Thou delightest to dwell in the midst of Thy people. Where Thy saints gather themselves together in the Name of Jesus there art Thou in the midst of them. Let us feel Thy presence here throughout all the services of to-day. Nothing short of this can satisfy us. It is in vain that we see the minister in his place, or that we are enabled to join in the customary voice of song. We want to feel that Thou art here. Our heart panteth after Thee as pants the thirsty stag for the water-brooks. Come and refresh our spirits! Earth shall be made like heaven if Thou wilt be with us, and if Thou art absent Thy house becomes but as other houses, and the sanctuary itself has lost its power to bless. Father, forgive our sins. Help us to wash our hands in innocency, and so to compass Thine altar. Our Father, draw us near to Thyself. Let the attractions of heaven overcome the lesser attractions of earth. Close to Jesus may we come this day. Beneath that cross where once did hang our hope, there let us find our joy. May there be to-day in the hearts of many of Thy people a renewed consecration to Thy service. May there be a giving of the Spirit afresh to Thy people, and oh, let sinners be converted to-day! While we try to cast the net, do Thou bring them to it. Make the hands strong that shall draw the bow, and do Thou direct it so exactly that the arrow may find out the joint in the harness. O Spirit of God, be not absent from us, but from the first opening prayer to the last amen, may Thy power be revealed, for Christ's sake. Amen. August 16 (Morning), 1863. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 8: INVOCATIONS: REFRESH OUR WAITING SPIRITS! ======================================================================== Refresh Our Waiting Spirits! Our Father, delight Thy children with Thy presence. Indulge us with Thy smile. For a little longer we are spared in this vale of tears; but soon we hope to see Thy face behind the curtain, in the land of the blessed, in the home of Thy people. Till then, refresh our waiting spirits. Give us drops of heaven's glory before we come to bathe our souls in it. Refresh us with heaven's manna before we sit at the heavenly table. Let us have the clusters of Eshcol before we go up to take possession of this goodly land, and may Thy people, despite the weakness of the flesh and the infirmities of nature, be so filled with grace that like Moses they may climb to the top of Nebo and have a vision across the stream. Our Father, which art in heaven, we are persuaded that our great request is none too great for Thee. Bring us up to heaven now. Illuminate our eyes that we may behold Thyself in Thine own light, through Jesus Christ. Be thou a help to the speaker and to every hearer. For Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. August 16 (Evening), 1863. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 9: PRAYERS: JESU'S PRESENCE DELIGHTFUL ======================================================================== Jesu's Presence Delightful Then... came Jesus and stood in the midst.John 20:19. Amidst us our Beloved stands, And bids us view His pierced hands; Points to His wounded feet and side, Blest emblems of the Crucified. What food luxurious loads the board, When at His table sits the Lord! The wine how rich, the bread how sweet, When Jesus deigns the guests to meet! If now with eyes defiled and dim, We see the signs but see not Him, Oh may His love the scales displace, And bid us see Him face to face! Our former transports we recount, When with Him in the holy mount, These cause our souls to thirst anew, His marred but lovely face to view. Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts, Thy present smile a heaven imparts! Oh lift the veil, if veil there be, Let every saint Thy beauties see. Tune: "Whitburn." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 10: PRAYERS: SORROWING, YET ALWAYS REJOICING ======================================================================== Sorrowing, yet Always Rejoicing Expecting to receive the precious help of Thy Holy Spirit, we would wait upon Thee, O Lord, with all earnestness of desire, with all sincerity of heart, and with all confidence of faith. Oh that now our fellowship may be with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ! May this be a season of access to God through Christ Jesus. May we not stand at a distance from Thee, but may we now speak to our God as a man speaketh with his friend. Our Father, we feel that we must praise and bless Thy Name this morning. Thou hast smitten us during this week; very many of our families have been made to mourn, but still— "Thy strokes are fewer than our crimes, And lighter than our guilt." We are constrained to say, now, when Thy chastening hand falls upon us—"The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." It is impossible for Thee to do that which is unkind, and if we have received good at Thy hands, shall we not receive with equal cheerfulness that which appears to be evil? Thou doest well, O Lord, and nothing shall alter us in this our boasting, that in everything Thou doest the best thing that could be done. We would not only be resigned to Thy will, but we would feel a divine pleasure and satisfaction in the thought that Thou hast Thine own will; for who should have it, who should reign, who should be the disposer of events, but Thyself? O our gracious Friend and Father, we bless Thee, then, with all our hearts for Thy trying dispensations, and for the mercies with which Thou art pleased to sweeten them. Oh how good hast Thou been to us, Thy people. In old eternity Thou didst ascribe our names in the Book of Life. In the fullness of time, Thou gavest Thy Darling from Thy bosom, that He might be offered up a sacrifice for us, and then when the full time was come, Thou didst call us by Thy grace from wandering in the ways of sin unto the paths of righteousness. Thou didst take us out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay. Thou didst set our feet upon a rock, and didst establish all our goings. Therefore will we praise the God of grace. While we have any being we will extol the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And when we leave this clay to be the food of worms, it shall be in confident expectation that our body shall rise again, and our spirit shall mount to heaven, singing as it mounts, to look for ever into the face of God, for ever to sing the praise of Kim who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His blood. Oh that we knew the language of heaven! Would that we could borrow the notes of angels:— "Teach us some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above." Oh for the music of those golden harps, and the notes that fall from perfect lips! "Had we our tongues, like theirs, inspired, Like theirs, our joys should rise." But till then, good Lord, we offer Thee such as we have, and since 'tis perfumed with a Saviour's merits, and put into the golden censer which waves in His hand, we believe that even our poor frankincense and myrrh shall not be unaccepted, but that Thou wilt receive it through Jesus Christ, the great High Priest. Father, we now desire Thee to have pity upon us, Thy children; who have of late erred and strayed, even as we have done aforetime. Thou hast washed us,—in that Fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins, we have found perfect cleansing. But as the priests needed to wash their feet in the laver every day, so do we. Oh wash us clean again; and as before the judgment seat we are clean, so now before our Father's face, let us, too, be clean. O Thou that dwellest in Zion, rid us of corruptions within. Drive out the Canaanites. Some of our besetting sins are like those that have chariots of iron; but do Thou drive them out before us by the irresistible power of Thy grace, till the whole land of Mansoul in its uttermost lengths shall belong unto God alone. O Father, we have a thousand wants, and we have but few words in which to express them; but Thou knowest them altogether. Our Father, which art in heaven, we want more love to Thee! Sometimes we feel the spirit of adoption, and we can cry "Abba Father;" but there are times when this world creeps in, and when gloomy doubts prevail, and we fear to call Thee ours. Strengthen our faith, that our love may be strengthened too. Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that we love Thee. Oh for grace to love Thee more! and we want to have a greater longing, and hungering, and thirsting after Christ. We would not be indifferent to His charms. He has given Himself to us. Oh let us not live as though we were destitute of such a Treasure. He is, we hope, dearer to us than all our senses are, our limbs, our passions, or our eyes. Oh let us live nearer to Him, or, when absent, let us mourn as the dove that lamenteth for her mate. If we may not drink of Him, give us at least grace to hunger and thirst after Him. Most glorious and inestimably precious Jesus; we desire to honour Thee more. How few are the jewels which we put into Thy Crown! How small is the homage which we pay to Thee! Do Thou help us to live talking of Jesus, and walking with Jesus, receiving His image. May our lives be distinct portraits of the life of Christ. May we so live that men may take knowledge of us that have been with the Nazarene, and have caught His speech, His manner, and His conduct. Most glorious Spirit, it is Thine to make our bodies temples of the Holy Ghost, and to drive out from us everything which would prevent Jesus from dwelling within. Do Thou do this, until we shall live wholly and only for Him. Better to die for Jesus than to live for self; better to bleed for Jesus than to preserve one's life wholly unsuffering, separated from Him. Let this church ever have in its midst the sweet savour of Thine ointments! Oh that the name of Jesus might always charm the members of this church. Whatever others may do, may we fear and love Jesus. Oh crucify us, nailing us to His cross. Let us die with Him; let us slumber in His grave; and then let us wake up and live only in His resurrection. And may our life be an ascended one, which He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Do Thou look upon each member of the church now. There are so many families that have been bereaved, that we pray for all. Thou takest away a mother here; Thou takest away a husband there; Thou removest a child yonder; Thou art smiting on the right hand and on the left. We would kiss the rod and the hand that wields it, but we pray that the richest consolation may be given, especially, to those who through years and infirmities suffer much. We pray that richer consolation than usual may be given where most it is required. Do Thou sanctify their bereavements. May the whole of the flock feel that when the Shepherd is taking away one after another, it is time for us to be ready for His coming. May these things be as a shout in the midnight—"Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet Him." May a deep spirit of earnestness pervade the members. May we walk as those who are Christ's, as men who are alive from the dead, and cannot live as they were once wont to do. Remember with equal favour the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. Do Thou revive Thy work in the midst of the years. Wherever and by whomsoever Thy cross is lifted up, there let the energy of the Spirit be found, and there let sinners believe and live, and let Thy saints be comforted. O Father, remember those present who are not as yet converted to God. O Spirit of God, go forth into their hearts to slay, and like healing balm, make them whole; wound and heal, for Thou must do both. Thou great Omega of our souls, be Thou the Alpha to their souls. Thou who wilt complete, do Thou begin. Mighty Finisher, be Thou the Author. May some man be led to feel that he can go no farther. May some sinner be brought this very morning to a dead pause. May he stand still and say: "This will not do! I must reverse my course; no longer will I live unto the world, for that the time past sufficeth. Now will I live unto Him." Make our word this morning encouraging, and at the same time arousing, to Thy people, and in the evening come up with us, that the word may be specially blessed to unconverted hearts. Father bless this land. We pray earnestly for our fellow-countrymen, and we pray especially for the Queen. God bless her! May all the blessings of the Covenant be hers, and may its rich consolations be enjoyed. Let all nations know their God. Wherever there are wars and strife, let them cease when the end is answered. Let slavery loose her fetters; let liberty reign everywhere. Let the Advent of Christ soon arrive. Let the idols be dashed in pieces; let all false foundations be razed to the ground, and may He come whose right it is to reign. O Jesus, the world hath waited long; and we have heard the word which saith, "Overturn; overturn;" but when wilt Thou stop the overturn to establish the righteous things, and to cast down all evil? When wilt Thou come to be King of kings and Lord of lords? And now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory for ever and ever, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. April 19, 1863. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 11: PRAYERS: MERCY'S STREAMS ======================================================================== Mercy's Streams Our Father which art in heaven, we are not worthy to be called Thy sons. We have so sinned against Thee that if Thou should drive us for ever from Thy house of love, and from Thy heart of mercy, we could not blame Thee. Justice would but have its due if we were this day sorrowing with the rich man. Lord, we thank Thee for Thy long-suffering mercies, that Thou hast not cut us down as cumberers of the ground. We thank Thee that Thou didst not permit eternal ruin to fall upon us. And we thank Thee that though, since we have known Thee, we have been very unfaithful, and are always going astray from Thee, starting aside like a broken bow, yet still Thy lovingkindness holdeth good, and Thy mercy is not put away from Thy people. We know not which most to wonder at, Thy lovingkindness or our ingratitude. How stupid, how stolid have we been. The ox knoweth its owner, and the ass its master's crib, but we have not known, we have not considered. Even the sheep follow their shepherd but we would not follow Thee, but we went astray after any leader rather than follow Him who is now to-day our All-in-All. Gracious God, we have all sinned peculiarly in our own position. Thy servant would confess his own want of earnestness and faithfulness in his ministry. With shame and confusion of face would he make his confession before Thy footstool. And Thy servants who are members of the Church of Christ would acknowledge that they have not lived for God as they should. How little have we done for Him who died to save our guilty souls. Our love is cold. Thy mercies flow to us like rivers, but returns are but scanty drops. Lord, forgive us all. We come to Thee conscious that we are guilty, and most of all ashamed of ourselves that we are not more ashamed, and blushing that we do not blush, mourning that we do not mourn. God be merciful unto us sinners. With the publicans we take our place. Our cry is the cry of the returning prodigal. O Father, we are not worthy to be called Thy sons, but our faith beholds the promise, the sweet and assuring promise made to sinners, and we know that God was in Jesus Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imparting to us our trespasses. O Lord Jesus, our souls fly to Thee. Thou art the only refuge of our heart. Our confidence is fixed upon Thy blood and righteousness, and we believe that these will never fail us. We are persuaded that if we build upon this Rock of ages, the floods may come, and the winds may beat upon that house, but it shall not fall because it is built upon the rock. Renew the faith of Thy people. Let its former simplicity come back. May we each of us come to Jesus as we did at first, weary, and overworn, and sad, and sinful, and find in Him all that our largest want can possibly demand. Oh for grace to-day to take a bleeding Saviour at His word, and to believe Him to be the propitiation for our sins. But, our Father, we have many petitions to put up to Thee this morning. We pray Thee hear them. We are sometimes afraid that we Thy people are growing cold in heart. Thou hast brought summer weather upon our bodies, and Thou makest the whole earth to rejoice in the light of the sun; but how often is there winter within while there is summer without. We are afraid that too often we come up to the house of prayer without prayer, and go away from it, in consequence without a blessing. How little heart is there in our praise! How little true earnestness in our prayers! Lord, we would confess our sanctuary sins; but we would be delivered from them. There have been times when we have worshipped Thee with a holy enthusiasm, when the blessed fire has rested upon every heart. Bestow upon us those tokens. Help the minister to preach better. May there be some life in the ministry. Help the people to hear better; may there be a deeper and more solemn attention to the Word. Especially this morning, while we feel God's burden pressing very heavily upon us, so that our hearts are borne down to earth, do Thou help us to deliver it with boldness, with fidelity, with earnest affection. At this hour, Lord, inspire the heart of every child of Thine to true prayer. Help us to feel the weight of men's souls. May the wondrous value of a soul be opened up to our understanding; may the preciousness of a soul be laid upon our hearts, and may we pray, every one of us, as if we have never prayed before, and if we have had power with Thee, may we have a special power now, while silently we are pleading. God have mercy upon us, and have mercy upon sinners this day. Lord, Thy servant blesses Thee that Thou hast not altogether taken away Thy blessing from his ministry. Still Thy saints rejoice. Still are sinners converted, but we want to see larger ingatherings. We thirst and pant for more numerous conversions. Our souls travail in birth for the souls of others till Christ be formed in them. Nothing can satisfy us until we see more sons born unto Christ. Our Father which art in heaven, there are young men and women here who listen to us whose hearts are untouched; put out Thy finger now and make their hearts dissolve. Here are men who are parents, women who are mothers; they are in middle life, but as yet the hammer of God has not come home to the heart. Lord bring it home to-day, and while the law is being preached may it act as a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. Here, too, are some aged men who are tottering on the brink of Jordon, and on the other side there is a dismal country without hope or light. Oh save them, save them, save them yet, that they may cross the river after another fashion, and land in that blest country of which our cheerful voices have been singing. There are strangers within Thy courts: they are unknown to us, but Searcher of all hearts, Thou knowest them. May they hear a sermon they shall never forget. May the arrows of God stick so fast that they may never be drawn out, except by that healing Hand that once was pierced. O Jesus, we cannot pray as we would, but our hearts are full of bursting with an anxious desire to see men saved. Father, hear our cry. We have one argument that Thou wilt hear. It is that Jesus died. Behold we set His bloody sweat before Thine eye, His flagellations, His piercings on the mount of doom. Remember Jesus, O Thou mighty Father. Look with eyes of love on Him, and then with eyes of pity look on us. Canst Thou deny us? Wilt Thou not hear us when we have such a plea as this? If the preacher urged aught that he has said, or aught that his hearers have done, well mightest Thou turn Thy back upon us. But we urge what Jesus did. O Thou mighty God, we cannot let Thee go except Thou bless us. As Jacob laid hold upon the Angel and wrestled with Him, so lay we hold upon the Covenant Angel now. We must have a blessing. What shall our hearts do if Thou hearest us not? Our soul crieth unto Thee; out of the depth of our nature we cry unto Thee. Oh give us this day souls to our ministry, and souls for our hire. Father, we want to feel this morning that we are in the Spirit. We are afraid that too often we sing, and it is but a form; that we pray and it is but an utterance of words. Bring every one of us into the Spirit to-day. Let us be over-shadowed by Him, baptized in Him, till there shall be no room for any thought or emotion but concerning things divine. Let us feel as we have sometimes felt: "Surely God is in this place and I knew it not." Oh come now and spread the skirts of Thy convenant love over us, and Thou shalt have the glory. Bless our country, and bless it through the ministers of the Gospel. May they begin to preach with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. Restore to us the Revival, the skirts of whose departing presence we begin to see. Take not Thy blessing from England; extinguish not her candle; put not out her light. Men have been warned and called, and entreated, and this city has had its day of visitation. Oh take not that day away for ever, but return, Thou blessed Spirit, return. And first return to this house, and let a new season of wonderful revival begin in this house of prayer, and then spread from house to house, and from country to country, until the whole land shall be covered with its divine light. Our Father, come to us now. We have asked amiss we know, but Thou wilt forgive the error of it. But we love asking through Jesus Christ, and Thou canst not deny us. Lord, we believe. We would not waver; we shall have nothing of the Lord if we waver. We believe that Thou wilt bless us. We believe that souls shall this morning be saved, and that our souls shall be stirred up. We ask it again, believing that we shall receive it, for His dear sake, to whom, with Thee and the blessed Spirit, be glory for ever. Amen. July 5, 1863. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 12: PRAYERS: SUCH LOVE AS SERAPH KNOW ======================================================================== Such Love as Seraphs Know O Lord, Thou knowest that our body exercises great influence upon our soul, and to-night, by reason of the great heat of this day, many feel weary, and Thy servant has spent his strength in preaching Thy Word this morning. Wilt Thou, however, give so much of the blessed Spirit, that, notwithstanding the weakness of the flesh, our spirit may have fellowship with God. We specially desire, to-night, to cry unto Thee upon one or two accounts, and we trust that we may be heard in heaven Thy dwelling-place. First, we do very devoutly pray Thee to let the word of this morning live in the hearts of those who heard it. We could not wrestle as we would, but still we did pour out our heart for this people, and our soul went out after them as a mother's heart goeth out after her sick child. We know that many of Thy people have been lifting up their hearts in prayer. Let our united supplication bring a blessing upon the congregation, and out of the many who listened to us, may a large number be brought to Christ. Now to-night, we are soon to come to Thy Table. As a church we ask that there we may have Thy presence in a very remarkable and delightful manner. Some of the people have been much in trouble. May they get ease from every care, and relief from every anxiety, while they behold their Saviour offered up for them. Some of Thy people we know, are getting cold in heart and backsliding. Grey hairs are upon them here and there, and perhaps they know it not. May this evening's service restore to them the love of their espousals. May they be brought back to that first heat of youthful piety, when first they knew the Lord. It may be that there are some here who have backslidden very much. They have come to forget the assembling of themselves together. Prayer has been neglected; the closet is not often entered; it may be that family prayer is almost given up. There may be some in Thy presence who have even fallen into outward sin, and yet they are come up here to-night. Lord, may they come as mourners. Make this place to them a Bochim: may they repent of their sin. May this be the place of their return unto Thee; and may they hear Thee say, "Return unto Me, for I am married unto you." Let the divine attractions of infinite affection and love lift each one of us up from the world. Oh, Thou hast loved us with a love surpassing thought. Thou hast redeemed us with a price beyond all price; and can we be cold and indifferent towards Thee? Come, blessed Spirit, come, and fire us with heaven's own flame! Oh that we may be filled with such love as seraphs know, with more than a seraph's delight and more than a seraph's energy. Lord, if Thou seest any of us dead and cleaving to the world, Thou canst lift us up. This is our comfort, that we cannot be so dead that Thou canst not quicken us. Let the hand of love that drew us first, draw us now. Jesus, if Thou be mine, assure my conscience of her part in Thy most precious blood. If our lips can only lisp "Abba Father," may the Spirit of adoption be with us now. Hide not Thyself from Thine own flesh, our divine Husband. Thou who art the Head of Thy Body, be not strange to the members of Thy frame. Reveal Thyself to us, for Thou wilt make us all that we should be. Thy love can make us loving; Thy presence can make us joyous; Thine example can make us holy. Come Jesus, then; come and tabernacle with Thy people; and while we preach, and when we sit at the Master's Table, may Thine ointment give forth a sweet smell. Gracious Lord, wilt Thou bless many in this house to-night. Crowded together, they are come here, they scarce know what for. May some good word drop like good seed into prepared soil. O God, have mercy upon those present who never had mercy upon themselves. There is the blasphemer here, who scarcely speaks without an oath. Forgive him Lord. Give him a new heart, and help him to live in Thy fear. Here are those that never pray, and they may soon die, and then prayers will be too late. Lead them to see their state by nature. Let their desperate danger be set before them in its true colours. Bring them to the Saviour. Wash them in His blood. Save them with His great salvation. Our soul pleadeth with Thee for the dying sons of men. Jesus, is not Thy blood able to cleanse? Spirit, hast thou not power to change the heart? Now, even now, let the sinner live to the praise and the glory of Thy grace. We have many things to ask of Thee, but we will not ask them now. Only do for us exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask, or even think, for Jesus' sake. Amen. July 5 (Evening), 1863. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 13: PRAYERS: OH, TO BE LIKE CHRIST! ======================================================================== Oh, to be Like Christ! O God, we feel the hands of Thy love holding us fast, and the cords of Thy love drawing us towards Thyself. Oh, that every one now in this house felt the same! Let every one now become truly a suppliant, and out of all this company may there not be one wandering heart, nor one spirit that does not now draw nigh unto God. Our Father which art in heaven: here at Thy footstool we confess that our hearts are full of evil. We are always going astray from Thee; and though we have tasted of Thy love, and know something of its constraining power, yet is our soul as full of vanity as a cage that is crowded with unclean birds. Even when we would pray, our distracted thoughts are flying hither and thither. How little of our time do we spend in Thy service. How few are the words that we speak about Thee, or for Thee. How little is the savour of Christ upon our garments. How seldom do we rise to God, or taste of joy above! We are of the earth, earthy; and though we hope that in some degree we are spiritual, yet alas, we are compelled to feel that we are carnal. We acknowledge, O God, our sins of omission. We have all of us forgotten Thee and forsaken Thee, times without number. Nor are we without sins of commission too, for we have erred and strayed from Thy ways like lost sheep. We have done those things which we ought not to have done, as well as left undone those things which we ought to have done. Oh, that Thou wouldst have mercy upon us and blot out all our sins. Father, we do not love these things, our souls strive against them; and though we do not fight with the powers of darkness as we ought, neither are we adversaries as we should be, yet there is a something within us which pants after holiness. The divine spark which we have within us cannot be content till it has burned up sin. Thou hast been pleased to quicken us by Thy grace, and to make us Thy children; and nothing ever will content our spirits till we are wholly given up to Thy service; till the very being and power of sin shall be cut out root and branch, and we shall be made in all things like unto Thyself. This is our longing desire; and we feel that we shall never have any rest till we attain to it; and since we know we shall never attain to it on earth, we are convinced that there remaineth a rest for the people of God, and towards that rest we would push forward with earnestness of desire. Our gracious God and Father, since Thou hast taught us to hate these wandering thoughts and these sins, wilt Thou not give us grace to overcome them? Oh that we could be what we want to be! We are well aware that even our model which we have painted in our own mind, is not a perfect one, for we have not fully understood the perfection of the Lord Jesus, so as to set Him before us as our example. We do complain, gracious God, that even in trying to draw the picture of that example we fail, and that our thought makes an imperfect Christ out of Him who is altogether matchless. Yet, even to that poor ideal of Christ we never have as yet attained. Oh that we could reach it! Oh that we could be like Christ! We feel that we want to be some use in the world. We would not live here selfishly, merely to be ourselves saved, and ourselves to enjoy the pleasures of this life. Lord, help us to honour Thee. By some means or other do Thou get glory out of us. Put as much grace into us as we can hold, and put us to as much service as that grace can make us perform; or to as much patient endurance as that grace can enable us to sustain. We would be used to the utmost. We would not be laid by the side of the altar, but would be put upon it and be utterly consumed, till the caul and the fat and inwards and every part of us, shall be wholly given up to the Lord's own work. Lord, help us to think nothing of toil, of contempt, of ignominy; but may we be prepared by evil report, good report, by honour and by dishonour, as deceivers and yet true, by being all things to all men, by some means, or by any means, to glorify Thy name, and to bring sinners to Thyself. We come to Thee now, having asked that the power of sin may be subdued, and we humbly pray for a perfect cleansing in the precious blood. Just as we are come to that cross of Calvary, and where the blood drops, we hide ourselves. "Other refuge have I none; Hangs my helpless soul on Thee." Jesus, once the dying Saviour, but now risen and ascended, wilt Thou not look down on us? We do believe that Thou canst save. Thou art very God of very God; there is nothing impossible with Thee. Here on Thy cross we hang; into Thy hands we commend our spirits without reserve. We have no hope but in Thyself; but we believe that Thou art mighty to save, and that Thou canst save us, even us. Let each man say—"Even me; even me," and may there be, this morning, in every individual, a distinct and personal putting himself into the hands of the great Surety, by an act of simple faith. "Lord save me, or I perish." "God be merciful to me, a sinner." Let this be the prayer of each heart this morning. Now, great Father, hear a pastor's prayer for his people. Thou knowest that at the thought of this multitude, our soul is bowed down within us. Thy servant Moses could not carry the burdens of the people which Thou broughtest up out of Egypt; much less can we carry the burden of this host upon us. O God, Thy servant feels His own inability every day, more and more, till sometimes his heart is ready to break with a sense of the overwhelming responsibilities which Thou hast laid upon one of the weakest creatures whom Thou didst ever honour in Thy service. But O God, wilt Thou not be the Pastor of this people? Wilt Thou, Jesus, not be the great Shepherd and Bishop of these souls? Help the brethren who help us. Stand by the church officers in all that they seek to do for Christ, and grant to them that they, being good shepherds of the flock, may have a good reward. Keep our members. Some of them are very poor. Oh let them not be too much cast down. Let them not lack any good thing. Supply their wants out of Thy fullness. Some of them are very young. Keep them; let not early temptations be too strong for them. Many of them are very weak in faith: comfort and strengthen them. Some, Thou knowest, are very much tempted; every day they are tempted; and perhaps they are tempted by their besetting sin. Oh keep them! Some of them are going back: they are backsliding. Gracious Father, rouse them. Besides these, there are some that are sick, and some that are desponding in spirit, and there are some who have lately had to mourn over sad bereavement. Do Thou visit every aching heart, and give consolation to every troubled spirit this day. Feed the whole company of Thy children with bread to the full. We feel even more anxiety for the unconverted part of our congregation. O God, save them we pray Thee. Those who listened to the Gospel till it has become an old thing with them; those who listen to it, and yet never feel its power—by the blood of Christ, we beseech Thee, to save them. Oh, by Thy promised blessing upon the Word, let these be gathered in unto Christ: let these be made part of His purchase, the reward of His soul's travail. Save them! aye, save them this day! Bless the services of last Sabbath-day. Let the brother who then filled our lack of service have a blessing upon himself and upon his people. Bless to-day all the works that are going on: the Sabbath-schools, and all who are preaching the Gospel. Throughout all England, let the Spirit of God be seen in His great power. Throughout the world, let the Kingdom of Jesus come. But here, this morning, clothe the minister with salvation, and make Thy people shout aloud for joy. We have nothing, Lord; give us Thyself. We have no power, Lord; clothe us with Thy power. And as of old Thou didst make Thy prophet speak words that moved the heart, and made men feel the terror of Jehovah's presence, so do Thou speak to-day through us. Take us into a divine rapture, a holy enthusiasm. Let the glowing coal touch our lips, uncircumcised though they be. And now to-day, even to-day, let Thine ancient Gospel be as a two-edged sword in Thy mighty hand, to cut, and pierce and divide; to slay, to kill, and to make alive. And unto Thee shall be the glory, world without end. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 14: PRAYERS: THE SAINT'S INALIENABLE PORTION ======================================================================== The Saint's Inalienable Portion O Lord, the God of Thy people, those whom Thou hast chosen, and called, and redeemed, and saved, must and will bless Thy holy Name. Surely, if we were to refuse Thy praises, our silence would be sinful in the highest degree. We would praise Thee, O Thou blessed God, not only with our hearts but with our voices. Blessed be the day in which Thou didst bring us to accept Thee as our portion, and our heritage, for now we find in Thee a possession ample and wide. There is no limit to Thy goodness, Thy riches are unsearchable. Thou hast all good things within the compass of Thyself, and Thou hast given Thyself to us according to Thy word, "I will be their God, and they shall be My people." We bless the Lord that our heritage is never exhausted. The world hath its winter, but Thou hast none. Even the world's sun hath its wintry times, and we see but little above the horizon, but Thou art ever a summer's sun into Thy people, without variableness or shadow cast by turning. We bless Thee that we can never lose our portion. Time cannot impair it: death cannot take it from us, or take us away from it. Rather, we expect death, which would destroy all mortal things, to bring us nearer to the God we love, and in our disembodied state we shall behold Thee more clearly than we do now. In the latter day when our Kinsman shall stand a second time upon the earth, this is our joy—that though the worm devour this body, yet in our flesh shall we see God, whom our eyes shall see for themselves and not another. O God, we know not how to express our delight in Thee. Thou art the happy God, and Thou art the happy-making God. Thou hast often come to us and lifted us up out of danger, and set us on our high places. Thou hast tuned our harps. When every string was broken Thou hast come and repaired it, and taught us how to sing a new song unto the Lord God of our life. Oh, that we had nothing else to do but to praise Thee! And truly, we have nothing else to do; but we are so slow to know this. We get full of cares and troubles and doubts and fears and sins. Lord, cleanse and purge Thy servants; and give us to feel that all that remains for us: "Is but to love and sing And wait until the angels come To bear us to their King." Oh for a well-tuned harp! Oh for a life that shall be one of minstrels—a life that shall be a psalm full of Hallelujahs. Accept, this morning, the thanksgiving of some that have been sore sick, but who once again feel strength returning. Accept the thanks of others that have been far across the sea, and have come home again safely. Receive the thanksgiving of yet others who have been delivered out of great trouble, or who have seen their dear ones raised up from beds of languishing. We have all some cause for thankfulness, therefore will we praise the Lord from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same. Now Lord, if there be any cause of disquietude upon the heart of any of Thy servants so that they cannot praise Thee upon the high-sounding cymbals, but feel bound to sit down in the dust, hear Thou their complaints. Lies there upon the conscience of any child of Thine a sin unforgiven? Then help Thy dear child to confess it with his head in his Father's bosom, and to receive full absolution. Do Thou say, "Daughter, Thy sins be forgiven thee. Son, go in peace, Thy sins be forgiven thee." Or, is it that we are mourning under some great grief, which perhaps has not yet happened, but the shadow of which is upon us? Give Thy servants great patience. Teach them to bear Thy will, and oh give them the happy art of "glorying in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience," and that out of patience shall come glory to God. Are there any here that feel heavy because those whom they love are not here this morning? There are such. There are precious ones that are detained at home for whom we earnestly pray that they may be speedily restored to health. Meanwhile, help us, even in this, still to feel that the Lord is good and His mercy endureth for ever. Let us not rob Thee of our song. Lord deal tenderly with Thy people. Thou blessed Shepherd! Thou dost never drive. We have it concerning Thee that Thou "carriest the lambs in Thy bosom," and that Thou dost "gently lead those that are with young." Deal tenderly with them, and with all the flock; we pray that every child of Thine may get a sweet refreshment. May there not be one of us that shall be without a smile for the Father's face, and a kind gentle word dropped into our spirit by the Holy Spirit that shall sink all our fears and send us away happy. Lord, we pray another prayer, which is this: that those now present who do not know the believer's joy, may learn it to-day. Oh that this day may be as the beginning of days to some that shall enter within these walls. Today, may some when they hear of the plenitude of blessing which Thou givest to Thy people be made to long to be amongst that happy number. Create, we beseech Thee, a soul thirst in such as are self-satisfied. Breed a sharp hunger in the hearts of those who have been content with the good things of time and sense. May they begin to long after something more enduring, more satisfying; and when Thou has set them longing, reveal Christ Jesus to them, and let them see how He can fill the soul with peace and joy, and how through Him: "Immortal joys come streaming down; Joys, like His griefs, immersed unknown." Do, Father, grant to Thy servant this great privilege and honour, of conducting some to the Saviour. Oh happy we shall be, now that Thou permittest us to occupy the pulpit again. Do grant that Thy servant may not preach in vain. May every sowing of the seed produce a harvest; and some of the regular hearers do Thou decide this morning. Some of the strangers do Thou take in the meshes of the Gospel net this day. Oh do give us fruit in this May time. Give us to see the buds of hope, and the blossom of desire, and may there be fruit to the glory of God. God bless the Church at large, and send times of great revival. Oh that there may be more fruit in every church, all Thy servants seeking to be fruitful. Let the members of this church each one seek to bring others to Christ. May there not be one barren one among us. Lord save us all. Save the grey heads among us. Save the little children that have come, perhaps for the first time, into the pew to-day. Save all of us; and in the day when the muster roll is read, may each one of us answer to his name and say, "Here am I." We are bound at this time to remember our country, and we do. O God, in Thy great wisdom, interpose at this time of anxiety and dread. Oh that peace may come to our poor sister island. By Thy great mercy, teach our senators wisdom. We have already prayed before Thee that justice might be executed upon those who have committed such cruel murder; but we do pray that no policy of vengeance may be followed, that we may, in a Christian spirit, seek to overcome evil with good. We are afraid that our senators have not grace enough to do it, but we pray that they may have it, and that still firmly but yet not vindictively the ship of state may be steered through these troubled waters and brought at last to a peaceful haven. Oh send forth Thy light and Thy truth to every troubled country. Let the Gospel come; for where it goes liberty follows, and there shall be no liberty except Christ make men free. Let all nations know their Saviour. Bless all missionary operations. Let Thy power go forth, Lord, with all that preach Christ, wherever He is proclaimed. God bless the Queen and all her household, and all those that manage affairs of state. Send us peace in all our time, good Lord, we do entreat Thee. Now before the throne of Thy magnificence we bow ourselves with deep humiliation. What are we, and what is our father's house that we should take Thy name upon our lips? Yet Thou, Jehovah, Maker of heaven and earth, art our covenant God. Thou hast sworn by Thyself that Thou wilt bear us as on eagles' wings. We cast ourselves before Thee. Lead us into perfect holiness. Lead us into glory; and there when we shall see Thee, we will eternally adore Thee, even as we adore Thee now, saying, "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end." Amen. May 14, 1882. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 15: PRAYERS: NOTHING BUT JESUS! ======================================================================== Nothing but Jesus! O Thou that dwellest in the highest heavens, yet dost dwell in lowly hearts, make us lowly; set us free from all wrath, and pride, and foul desire, and grovelling worldliness. Make us conscious of sin; trembling at Thee but rejoicing in Thy mercy; hoping in Thy salvation; triumphing in Thy love. Even so, our hearts become a temple, and God, even God, that filleth all things, shall come and fill us also, with all the fullness of God. O God, we cannot live without Thee. Thou hast spoiled us for the world. We cannot now be content with it; and Thou hast spoiled us for all things short of Jesus. We believe in nothing else but in Jesus, and in all else that we do, we go back with intense delight to the preaching and the hearing of the Gospel. There is none like it. We thank Thee, O Thou blessed Saviour, that Thou art such a wonderful lover of the sons of men; so willing to go out of Thy way after a poor sinner as to be under a compulsion to go the way through Samaria where a guilty one shall come and speak with Thee, and Thou shalt speak with her. We do admire Thy blessed condescension in making Thy first convert to be one who had so foully fallen and in winning that one heart, and thereby winning so many more. Far be it from us ever to come to Thee in the filthy rags of our own righteousness. They are worse than nothing. Oh that we might be willing to come to the Saviour as people that want saving, to come to His blood to be washed, to come weak and feeble, to find strength in Him, and nowhere else. Thou wilt not meet us on any other terms but these. The Pharisees Thou wouldst not meet. Thou didst go away from them when they had heard about Thee that Thou didst make and baptize disciples: then Thou didst avoid them, for Thou hadst not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Oh it was a sweet day when Thou didst turn my way, my Lord, to meet me. Many of Thy dear ones here this morning, most blessed Lord Jesus, praise Thee for the singular adaptation of the Gospel to their own case. Nothing else could have helped them. They were under too deep a sense of sin to be relieved by the doctrine of mere reformation. They were too far gone to be healed by any flattering unction that could be laid to their soul as to what they could do. But they found all in Thee, as indeed we do this morning. Some of us have been acquainted with Thee these thirty years and more. A third of a century have some of us known Thee, and some for half a century have been living upon Thee in dependence upon Thy bounty. But we have never had a want that Thou could not supply. We never had a grief which Thou couldst not assuage, but we have not, even now, in prospect of death and the grave, any fear which Thou canst not allay. It has pleased the Father that in Thee should all fullness dwell, and God forbid that we should ever think of adding to Thee, or going beyond Thee, for Thou art our All-in-All. O precious Christ, we take Thee over again to-day, and come with all our emptiness and sin, and folly and weakness, and spiritual death, just as we are, and cast ourselves on Thee, as man casts himself into the sea, not to up-bear himself, but to be upborne. So cast we ourselves into the sea of Thy fullness, to be upborne by Thee all the days we have to spend in this house of our banishment. Blessed Lord Jesus, Thou wilt never cast away a soul that has cast away everything else for Thee. Thou art bound to those who trust Thee by the bands of Thy promises that never can be broken. And here we are, this morning, babes that hang upon Thy bosom—emptinesses that are being filled, and sometimes are filled, only they cannot hold all of Thee. The sea is in us, but we are in the sea. We are filled with the fullness of God, and into that fullness are we still sinking deeper and deeper. Lord Jesus, cure our sins, and among the rest, take away our fears. Give us to trust Thee with a simple childlike confidence. May we have no difficulties, because God is with us. May we have no disturbance, because the peace of God doth keep our heart and mind by Christ Jesus. Oh now to take Thee o'er again—our Life, our Health, our Righteousness, our All-in-All, from this time forth and even for evermore. Spirit of God—come upon us now, that this may be so with all Thy people. Bless Thy dear saints—all of them. Comfort them in their afflictions, and bear them up in any trouble of mind. Be very gracious to Thy people here, binding us more and more firmly together in a holy, living unity; and stir us up more and more to seek the good of the sons of men, and more especially to seek the glory of our divine Lord and Master. Jesus, we are Thine and belong to nobody else. No cause engrosses our hearts but Thine. All our sympathies run one way—in the channel where flows the precious blood of our redeeming Lord. All for Christ and none besides, in our heart at this time. Oh keep it so; keep it so till we behold the Well-beloved in His glory, and are wrapped up in His splendour with Him. Bless, at this time, those who are beginning to seek after better things. Though perhaps as yet they know not the Lord, if there is any stirring up of grace to seek somewhat better, Lord, lead them further than they mean to go. Bring them to Thyself, and let the stir that has been made here this week, end in conversions, else shall we care nothing about it whatever. If Jesus be not glorified, we shall loathe it rather than love it. O dear Saviour, bring men up from the very depths of transgression, from lust, and drunkenness, and wrath, and rioting, and evil speaking—bring them up, Eternal Spirit. How glad we are to get a word with them; how anxious that that word should, like the Master's, reveal them to themselves, and then reveal Him to them. Oh save, Lord, "Salvation, let the echo fly The spacious earth around." Let it be so. Let the dark parts of the wicked city see the flame-flash of Christ's eye. May it come to pass that there should be added to our church of such as shall be saved, who once were among the number who seemed right to be damned. Oh save Lord, save every unconverted one here this morning—the old, the young, and righteous in themselves, and the truly righteous. Now look upon our country. God bless it. Oh, in infinite mercy end this horrible war. Our soul weeps, to think that this war should have been perpetrated by those whom we thought better of. O God Almighty, may it come to a speedy close, and may a permanent peace be established. Let the whole earth sit still and be at peace. Sword of the Lord, wilt Thou never rest? Wilt Thou never be quiet? We beseech Thee, O God of infinite mercy, turn men's minds from all the sins that breed the cruelties and wickednesses of war, and may there come next a peace of soul and heart with God, and then a peace with our fellow men. Oh for the Kingdom and the Coming! Oh that Christ Himself would soon appear! But if in mercy He tarrieth till men repent, then come, divine Spirit, and lead them to repentance, and let the elect of God be gathered together out from among the sons of men, and the divine purpose be accomplished, and let Jesus see of the travail of His soul. Our heart asks infinitely better than our lips can do. Oh hear us for Jesu's sake. Amen. September 10, 1882. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 16: PRAYERS: BLESSINGS OF THE JUSTIFIED ======================================================================== The Blessings of the Justified O Lord, give to all that have believed in Thee a sense of perfect deliverance from sin. Let us not be saying, "I know that I shall be justified in the Day of Judgment." Let us not postpone that blessing, but may we enjoy it now; for truly if Thou art the Resurrection so that we may believe in Thee now, surely Thou art our Justification to be accepted and rejoiced in now? And we do accept Thee—Jesus. Thy blood is our cleansing; Thy righteousness is our vesture. We stand accepted in the Beloved, as many of us as have believed in Thy holy Name. Let Thy people enjoy now that sweet peace which comes of being justified by faith; and if any here have not believed, oh that they might put their trust in Christ! May faith be wrought in them. May they cheerfully and at once receive the great Atonement and be saved thereby. O our Blessed Lord, Thou hast ascended on high and received gifts for men. We pray Thee to grant us our measure of those gifts. Give to Thy believing people the Holy Spirit. May we receive Him abundantly, in clearness of insight into Thy Word, in closeness of fellowship with Thyself, in greater likeness to Thy character, in greater zeal for Thy glory. What are Thy people, without Thy Spirit rest on us? Holy Ghost, dwell in us. We cannot even pray aright without Thee; and for those works of holiness to which we are set apart, we have no strength without Thee. But if Thou art with us, we can perform all things. Rest on the preacher when he tries to preach to the congregation; on every minister in every place who shall tell of Jesus' love. And rest also in large measure upon all who personally speak to individuals, upon all who teach in our schools, upon all who stand in the street to proclaim a living Saviour. Come Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove, the Riches and the Endowment of the Church, and let us realize Thine extraordinary power to-day. It is Thine to convince Thy people, and to convert them, so that truth shall be in their hearts a deep convincement, and comfort shall rise into delight. But we want Thy power upon the unconverted. Oh come, sweet Spirit, to take away the heart of stone out of men's flesh, and give them the heart of flesh. Now the stone to flesh convert! Let the obdurate accept their Lord, the prejudiced, the wilful, be subdued to the sweet sceptre of divine love. We want to see the churches built up and increased with the increase of God. Multiply us with men as with a flock, and let every scatterer of the good seed reap an hundredfold harvest. We want for ourselves, also, that we may grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We long to be confirmed and established in the truth, and in the life of God. We wish to rise higher and higher in the likeness to our Lord, and in the possession of His Spirit. Oh bring us up out of our grave, out of our sins, out of the world, and everything that drags us down. Bring us up into the higher regions of spirituality, and of divine light and power. Oh, be with us our God; give us all the blessings of the Covenant without stint. Take care of all sick ones very graciously, and may such as are appointed unto death feel a sweet agreement with the appointment, and find heaven begun in their hearts while yet they linger here below. The Lord prosper His own cause throughout the earth. Let the heathen be brought to Christ by myriads. May men that now sit in darkness behold great light. Remember our country. God save and bless the Queen, and all in authority and let this land be visited with providential power. May there be a quickening of trade! May there be more work for the poor and the needy. May there be less complaining in our streets. May there come better and brighter days for this country. We pray the same for all lands, for we feel that there is a touch of grace which has made us one with all the saints in every nation. We forget nationality in our being all citizens of the New Jerusalem. The Lord send a blessing upon all saints everywhere; and chiefly this blessing, that He Himself may come. Come quickly, even so; come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen. April 20, 1884. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 17: PRAYERS: COME NEARER, NEARER, NEARER! ======================================================================== Come Nearer, Nearer, Nearer! O God, Thou art our God, and therefore do we seek unto Thee. We have a covenant interest in Thee. Thou hast given Thyself to us of old in the person of Thy dear Son. Thou art our Surety. Thou, O Saviour, didst stand for us in the transactions of eternity. Thou didst also redeem us in the fullness of time, laying down Thy life that we might live, and now Thou art All-in-All to us. Our life is not in ourselves, but in Thee. Our truest and best self is Christ, for we live not, save only as our "life is hid with Christ in God." Lord, we want this morning to enter into closest possible fellowship with Thyself. In days gone by Thou hast cast Thy skirt over Thy servants. In the shadow of Thy wing we have rejoiced. In the light of Thy countenance we have been ready to die of excessive joy. The coming near to us of our God has been heaven, it is indeed all the heaven we expect in the future, as it is all we have known in the past. Come near, O our God, come nearer, nearer, nearer. Still some secret to our heart reveal, as yet undiscovered. Thou hast led some of us into darkness and not into light, and Thou hast covered us in the night watches and made it darkness round about us, till our spirit sank within us. Now it is Thy way to bring light out of darkness, and joy out of sorrow. Oh, make our joy to-day to be like Jabez, of whom we read that he was more honourable than his brethren because his mother bare him with sorrow. Oh, that the sorrow pang might bring forth to-day in Thy people some new joys, some blessed novelty of fellowship, that we may enter yet more and more into the secret places and tabernacles of the Most High, and dwell beneath the shadow of the Almighty. O Lord, Thy people want this; nothing can so strengthen comfort, lighten, sanctify and perfect us as this. Are we earth bound? Oh, for Thy presence, and we shall be of a heavenly mind. Are we deeply depressed in spirit? Oh, for the light of Thy countenance, for it shall make us gladder than a wedding day. Oh that we might get at Thee, our God, for then shall the bonds of this world seem like cobwebs and disappear. If Thou be near us, we can do or bear, we can suffer or we can sing; all things are possible when the Omnipotent is within. If the all-sufficient God shall but reveal Himself to us, we care not what our circumstances are. Then are we rich when Christ is near. Then are we full of joy and strength when He draweth near to His servants. Peradventure, some have come here from a week of great anxiety. Help them to be anxious no longer, to cast their care on the Lord. Oh, let not the sheep take to shepherdising, but may they leave the Shepherd to do His own work for them. Oh, deliver Thy people from attempting to rule the world. Let us not want to drive our Father's horses, but be satisfied to ride with Him. Some of Thy children may have come here in conscious sin; they know they are Thine but they equally know they are not what they ought to be. Thy presence can light them up; it can spiritualise, it can purify; and they shall feel in the presence of God that the Lord hath sanctified them by His truth and Himself. O Lord, we have heard of some that can look back upon their lives with pleasure and satisfaction, but we wish to look nowhere but to Thee, our Saviour. Thou art our Wisdom—not our experience: Thou art our Righteousness—not our good deeds and almsgivings; Thou art our sanctification—not our prayers and watchings. Thou art everything to us, and we are just nothing. We were nothing when Thou didst begin with us, when we lay wallowing in the blood, cast out in death in the open field to perish. Then didst Thou say "Live," and we lived by virtue of that word, and by that word of God shall men live, and so do we live. O Lord, Thou art emptying us from vessel to vessel. Thou art letting us see the dregs of our depravity and the violence of our nature; and we loathe ourselves till we are ready to cry, "Bury my dead out of my sight! "Yet this we do know, that in Christ we are lovely, and comely, and Thou seest no sin in Jacob, neither iniquity in Israel. Thou dost delight Thyself in Thy people; Thou hast loved them with an everlasting love, therefore hast Thou drawn them; therefore dost Thou draw them; and therefore wilt Thou draw them, till Thou hast drawn them to perfection in Thyself, to dwell with Thee for ever. O Redeemer of our spirits, visit Thy people this day! Thou art our next of kin; be not strange unto Thine own flesh. Thou hast laid down Thy life for us: what value dost Thou set upon us! Let us be precious in Thy sight and honourable, because Thou hast loved us; and may we know it to-day. Take every doubt from the heart of Thy people; let not a single thought of mistrust abide with any one of us. May we just lean on Christ as hard as we can, with a full weight of weakness and sin and sorrow, and just swoon away into the eternal love, and there lie passive in His hand. To know no will but His, nor active be until He makes us so by His own power. Bless Thy ministering servants before Thee. The Lord fill them full of His truth, with power to speak it. Oh that we might be clear at the last 1 The Lord look upon the many that there are nowadays that are preaching another gospel, that is not another, and let a blast and confusion from the Eternal go out against those who undermine the essential doctrines of Thy word. O God, we grow negligent often in our prayers as we cry out before Thee against those who would rob Thy Son of His deity, His precious blood of its value, sinners of their only hope, who even dare to blot out the terrible threatenings of Thy Word, and make sin to be such a trifle as to be scarcely worth mentioning. Oh raise up a race of true preachers, we beseech Thee. O God of Wesley and Whitefield, let not the breed die out. May we have again men that can thunder when God would have them be like a tempest, but can speak with soft and gentle words when God would find a Barnabas to comfort the sons of men. O God of the Eternal Truth, let the old doctrine yet prevail, and may those that hate it be put to the rout. Lord save the world, we pray Thee, with the Gospel; let it go forth even to the ends thereof. Let these lands know the power of Christ, and the great land across the Atlantic, and that other country on the other side of the world where they dwell of our kith and kin, and every race of man. Oh that Christ might be King of kings openly, as we know He is secretly, and let the whole earth bow at His feet, and pay homage unto Him who wore the crown of thorns and surrendered hands and feet to the nails. Oh for His glory! Oh for His glory! Oh for ten thousand thousand hearts for Him! Oh for nations to come and pay homage to Him who hath given His life for men. Our heart and flesh cry out to Thee on behalf of the Well-beloved. Why tarriest Thou, our Father, in rewarding Thy Son? His work is finished, but He hath not yet seen of the full travail of His soul. Pluck Thy right hand from Thy bosom, O Thou Eternal God, and give Thy Son yet the precious reward of His Passion. Hasten it, we pray Thee. Come quickly, even so, come quickly! All Thy people cry to Thee. Why tarriest Thou? The wheels move so tardily. The Gospel spreads so slowly. Oh for the days of the Son of man in the glory of His second Advent! We ask it for His Name's sake. Amen. September 14, 1884. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 18: 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. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 19: PRAYERS: THE GIFT UNSPEAKABLE ======================================================================== The Gift Unspeakable O God, thrice holy, infinitely blessed, we can meet Thee at the Cross. Thou art well pleased with Jesus, and so are we. Thy pleasure in Him is as constant as it is boundless. Our pleasure in Him increases every day. That is all our salvation and all our desire. With Thomas, we have put our hand into the great gash in His side, and we have cried "My Lord and my God!" Our very heart loves Jesus; oh that we loved Him more! Still do we delight in Him. Our happiest moments are in His company—Jesus the Well-spring and River of joy. We are our Beloved's, and our Beloved is ours. Help us, we pray Thee, in spirit and in truth, to come near to the Cross of Him who hath redeemed us from death and hell by His death. We would first of all praise Thee. The heavens are telling of Thy glory; but not so loudly as the greatest providence declares Thy kindness, and not so sweetly as the cross. Here we behold Thine inmost heart. Here we see the love of God made manifest. Behold what manner of love is here! We could not have imagined it; but we do believe it. It could not have seemed true at first blush that Thou should pierce Thy Son with the sharpest smart, that we might enjoy the richest life; yet so it is, and we believe it. It pleased the Father to prove Him. Thou hast put Him to grief: Thou hast made His soul an offering for sin. Lord, we cannot praise Thee as we would for the Gift unspeakable: it is unspeakable, and so we must leave it. We can each one of us feel with emphasis how true this is: for me, unworthy me, God, the Lord of love and glory, the Eye of the Universe, the Jewel of heaven, died a villain's death for me! Lord we shall always wonder at it: we shall always feel we can never comprehend the height of this. Our heart is filled with the praise which shall make us sit silent—praise sits silent on our tongues. We can never sufficiently express Thy goodness. But we ask also that this morning in coming to the Cross, we might then exhibit before Thee a true repentance for sin. But what have we done? We have put to death the Son of God! What have we done? It seemed playing when we sinned, but it turns out to be dreadful work, work of the most solemn kind. We playfully brought ourselves into a mischief, out of which nothing could redeem us but His death. We laughed and sported when we transgressed, but it cost Him cries and tears and bloody sweat, and agonies unknown, to bring us back again from our foolish wandering. God forgive us—yea, Thou hast forgiven us! This sacrifice of Christ upon which we do rely is the assurance that Thou hast put away our sin—that we shall not die here. As the Scapegoat, He has carried our transgressions into the wilderness of forgetfulness: they shall not be numbered against us any more for ever. But Lord, whilst Thou dost forgive us, we cannot forgive ourselves. We would chide ourselves as long as we live for having cost our Lord so dear. Such love, and such an ill return! Dear Saviour, wilt Thou so deal with us when Thou dost wash us, that Thou shalt not only take away the guilt of sin, but the power of it—that henceforth we may treat Thee better; that holiness and true reverence, and hearty loyalty may be our service all our days. O Thou, who didst hang naked on the cross, we pray Thee, we beseech Thee, take our whole body, soul, and spirit, and dwell in it and reign over it, and get to Thy glory from it, while we live and when we die, and when we rise again, and to eternity. We would further ask, while we stand this morning at the foot of the Cross, that we may be crucified with Christ to all the world. Oh that the spear might go through our hearts; that the heart henceforth might be dead to all but Christ. And may hands and feet—the instruments of action and of motion—be fastened to His Cross, that we may stray no more, and serve no more the old masters, but may become henceforth wholly the Lord's. We desire, sweet Saviour, to feel the power of Thy Death, that we may know the power of Thy Resurrection. We ask that we may see the world crucified unto us, and that we may be crucified unto the world; that henceforth Christ only may live in us, and we may only live in Him. Lord, bless Thy people, that this high privilege—for we are persuaded it is a high privilege—may indeed become ours—to be dead with Christ, to be buried with Christ, to be risen with Christ, to be reigning in Christ, and henceforth to be in loving, living, lasting union with Him who hath redeemed us to God by His blood. But Lord, there are here this morning some who know nothing yet of the power of Jesus Christ; and our prayer is that they may look on Him whom they have pierced, and may mourn for Him, and be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. And this day, may there be opened in the House of David, and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a fountain which shall cleanse them from sin and from uncleanness. Oh that to-day some might stop and ask: What is this? The Son of God in death 1 Why? May none of them pass by, as if it were nothing to do with them, but may a great multitude stand and look at Jesus—look till they live, until they weep, until they wipe their tears away with a holy joy because He died that sin might die. Lord Jesus, work in the world more powerfully than Thou hast done of late. Our heart is often heavy as we see sin of every kind around us, and especially the insidious advance of error in the midst of Thine own Church, which makes the Cross of Christ of none effect. Lord Jesus, reign, we beseech Thee. O Son of God, we beseech Thee, reign from the Tree. Thou art gone up on high: Thou hast led captivity captive. All power is in Thine hands: exert that power, graciously exert it, for the salvation of myriads of men. Let the earth bow before Thee. What a little flock is still Thine! We beseech Thee, gather the nations; let the whole earth call Thee blessed. Our prayer is, "Let the whole earth be filled with His glory!" May "Hosanna" be our one cry, which shall make us forget every other prayer this morning. Oh, this one thing we do desire—that the hearts of all would acknowledge Thee; that every closed door should be opened to Thee; that every obstinate spirit could yield to Thee. Lord Jesus, reign in the hearts of our young children, of our husbands, wives, brethren, friends, and families. Lord, rule in the hearts of our neighbours. Lord Jesus, save London! Lord Jesus, look at this United Kingdom. Look at all the kingdoms and republics of the earth. May the whole earth know Thee, Thou exalted One. By the merit of Thy Passion, we beseech the Father to glorify Thee. Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. And unto Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be glory world without end. Amen. April 3, 1887. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 20: PRAYERS: A GREAT GOD AND A GREAT COMPANY ======================================================================== A Great God and a Great Company Great God, we are an exceeding great number of people and how shall one pray for all? Help by Thy Holy Spirit, that the words uttered may be suitable for all gathered here. But if not, put prayer into the heart of each individual; may every person here this morning pray, and if he cannot use the words of the one speaker, may he in his heart pray for himself. Oh, let no man, let no woman, let no child, go out of the Tabernacle this morning without having prayer towards God. Thine honour is here; Thy glory is here revealed. In the great congregation of Thy people Thou art wont to be present. May we, every one, have an audience of God. To some of us Thou hast long been sweetly familiar; we have spoken more to Thee than to anyone else. There are those here that have spent more time with God than with any other individual. Certainly we have asked larger things of Thee and have obtained greater answers from our requests to Thee, than from our requests to our fellow men. Lord, hear our prayers. Some here, however, have never prayed; may the unfamiliar prayer be breathed this morning for the first time. Lord compel men to come near their God. They will have to come to Thee: they will have to come before Thy Judgment Seat; let them not refuse Thy Mercy Seat. While yet the day of grace lasts, let them not turn their backs on God, but rather may they seek Thee now with full purpose of heart, and seek till they find salvation. Some here once prayed but they have backslidden, and now they have forgotten their hiding place, their resting place. So long is it since they enjoyed prayer that now this morning they are quite strange to it. Come, Holy Spirit, bring the wanderer back. Dear Shepherd, fetch home the stray sheep, and since it may be too lame to come home, put it on Thy shoulder and bear it home rejoicing. Glorify the power of Thine arm as well as the love of Thine heart in bringing home Thy wanderers. And now, Lord, if Thou wilt help us to pray we will begin by adoring Thee. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Here, all prayer should begin with reverent homage to the Most High. Thou art our Creator, Preserver, Benefactor; all good comes from Thee, Thou deep abyss of love. Every drop of the rain of comfort falls from heaven. Every dewdrop of consolation, art Thou not the Father of it? We ascribe all honour and glory to Thee, for every good gift and every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning. May Thy Kingdom come among men. We long to see Thee reign over every class of society. Oh that the great ones of the earth would humble themselves before Thee. Oh that the multitude would own Him who is exalted out of the people, the people's Friend. May Thy will be done, O Lord, on earth, as it is in heaven. That would make earth a nether heaven. Would God that men would give up their own wills, their own lustings, their own pride, and follow after God and be obedient. Holy Spirit, Thou alone canst do this. All the eloquence of preachers will effect nothing without the Holy Ghost. We trust not in music, nor education, nor in civilization, nor in anything but the distinct power of the Holy Ghost, working in men to will and to do of God's own good pleasure. Our Father, take to Thyself Thy great power. Thou art Lord of all, and even the will of man which Thou hast made so free, is in bonds till Thou art Master of it, and then, when it is in bond to Thee, it becomes alone truly free. Lord God, sacred Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, reign on earth. Let Thine eternal purposes be accomplished. Let the decrees of Thy sovereignty be carried out. Let Thy grace be glorified. Let the whole earth be filled with Thy glory. We know no deeper and no higher prayer than this: oh, that it were fulfilled right speedily! Now suffer us to speak for ourselves, having thus endeavoured to pay Thee homage. We confess that we have sinned. Father forgive us. To many, forgiveness has been once for all bestowed. Thou hast washed us, and he that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet. But give us the foot washing, this morning. Oh that we might come to the laver and be clean, and then go in as priests into the Holy Place of the Most High. Jesus, we believe in Thy precious blood. Once for all, it has put away sin; the great Sacrifice has made complete atonement; it can never be repeated, it never needs to be. In that one Sacrifice we are clean, as many as have believed, and there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. But Saviour, we now sin in another fashion, as children against paternal government, against a Father's love, and as children we ask to be pardoned. Hide not Thy face from us, put not Thy servants away in anger; deal graciously with Thy children, and let us walk in the light, as God is in the light, and have fellowship with the Father and with the Son, and may joy and peace abound in us. Is there anything this morning between us and God; doth anything darken our light? Lord take it away. Have we any doubts? Let the light remove them. Does anything trouble us? May we cast our care on Thee. Have we any dark foreboding? May we put our foreboding away, for sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Enable every child of God to have perfect rest in God, this morning. May we be on loving terms with God. May we have not even the least grit in the machinery. May there not be a speck of dust in the eye, for in dealing with God our heart is tender, as the apple of the eye, and the least thing offendeth. May we be, in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, dear to God, and may God be dear to us. Oh, for the inflowing of divine love. May we feel the heart of God beat toward us, this morning. Open our hearts, Lord, to receive Thy heart, and let Thy great heart flow into us, till our heart flows back to Thee with tides of warm emotion and tender love. Thy servant will not be able to edify Thy people this morning by any power he has, but may the Holy Spirit come; may the floods of God come, and may this be a blessed time to the people of God, a time of great nearness to God, and the light of God shining into every secret part of the soul. What a number of Thy children are met together here this morning! Lord, if we are all right with Thee, what an amount of happiness there is here, what a heaven this Tabernacle is! And if Thou wilt come and set us all working for Thee, what an amount of light will go forth from this place! If by our lips and lives we henceforth bear testimony to our God, what a result we shall see; how many will be taught, how many will hear, how many will be blessed! Lord, we are not what we ought to be, we are not what we want to be, we are not what we shall be. Come upon us, we pray Thee, come and use every child of Thine here for the conversion of others. Come and make us to be burning and shining lights, each one in our day and generation. The members of this church, Lord, make them a holy people. May we not only have the name of Christians, but may we have the life of Christians. Lord, forgive the inconsistent ones. Sanctify, we pray Thee, the consecrated ones, and if any are unconsecrated, take them to-day; make them to feel that they are not their own, but are bought with a price. Father, bless those who are newly added to us. May they be good and strong. May the Spirit of God build them up, and make them to be temples for His own indwelling. Bless all the work done by this church, in every department. Among the young, do Thou prosper us in the Sunday school, in the classes, in the Orphanage—everywhere may young children be born to God. Bless the work of the church in reference to the drunkard. May the mission of the past week be blessed of God, and may the days that yet remain be fuller of blessing than those that are passed. Remember the mission work of the church—all our sons and daughters that are in foreign lands, preaching for Christ. Bless the Convention of this week; may it stir up much missionary zeal, and may many be led to devote themselves to the Lord's work in regions far off. Our God, use each one of us. Use me, even me, O my Father. There is many a young girl praying, "Lord use me." There is many a worker in the Tabernacle this morning, quite unknown, who is saying, "My Father, use even me." Condescend, Lord, to hear that prayer, and make us to glorify Thee on earth, that we may be ready to glorify Thee in heaven. Now remember the unconverted among us, and call them to-day. Call the careless; call the seeker: let him be a seeker no longer, but become a finder. Comfort the despairing; bring the broken-hearted to the great Physician, who can make them whole. Oh save us; save everyone. Is there one person here that is like to be left out of our prayer? Lord, we pray twice for him, for her. Save that prayerless one. Are there any here who despise prayer? Lord change their hearts and renew them. Are there unbelievers here, for whom there is no God and no hereafter? Open their blinded eyes and let them see their God. Do save this company! We are such a mixed multitude it is impossible to pray for every one distinctly, and yet we make the attempt, saying, Our Father bless each one! Omit not one, for Christ's sake. Amen. October 13, 1889. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 21: PRAYERS: PRAISE AT ALL TIMES ======================================================================== Praise at All Times O God, our God, we would praise Thee this morning, not only with the voice of song, but with the heart. Sometimes our praise takes the form of thankfulness; and, indeed, we have good reason to thank Thee for mercies more numerous than the sand. "Bless the Lord, O my soul." Sometimes we praise Thee by believing in the teeth of appearances. We have praised Thee for this wet Sunday. We do not know why Thou shouldst send rain on the Sabbath, and keep the people from coming together; but we Believe it is so ordered by Thy wisdom and Thy goodness that we would thank Thee for it. We would learn also to thank Thee when Thy hand is heavy and Thy ways are dark. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: blessed be the name of the Lord." We are persuaded that the sweetest praise that ever comes to Thee comes from Thy tried children when, under a smarting rod, they kiss the rod, and Him that hath appointed it. Help Thy dear children who are much afflicted, to praise Thee by a cheerful submission to Thy will. It must be right, for God hath done it; it must be for the best, for God is love. Father, when Thou dost stagger us, when we seem at our wits' end, and know not what to do or what to say, may we still hold to Thee, and feel it is the Lord. Let Him do what seemeth to Him good. Here, in Thy presence, we would each one render that form of praise which is suitable for the hour. The healthy and the happy praise Thee with exultant voice. The sick and the sorry praise Thee with a living hope. Those who are suffering and bowed down, praise Thee with a willing acquiescence, desiring that even from the loosened string some music may come to the Most High. Our Father, when we shall get up to see Thee; when Thine unveiled face shall appear unto Thy perfected ones, we shall fain have nothing to do but to praise. There will be no regrets, no remembrances of any hard words from Thee, or rough stroke from Thy rod. It will be praise and only praise; as it will be so, as it ought to be so. Let it be so now. And here, with heavenly minds, may we be unanimous in praise; may there be no child of God that refuses to praise God this morning. If any have left their harps so long upon the willows that they almost forget the songs of Zion, teach them over again. Let a new flash, a new light arouse the hallowed instincts of their inner life, and may they begin with double zest to praise God who has brought them out of their captivity. While we praise Thee this morning, we are longing that others might do the same. The deepest prayer of our own heart is, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Lord, bring our friends and kinsfolk to praise Thee—everyone. Just as all the tribes stood in their representatives around their father's bed, so may all Thy children gather to the living God and praise Him: let no one be absent. We pray Thee now to bring in the lost sheep of the House of Israel; the many redeemed by blood, not yet redeemed by power, the many chosen who have never chosen Thee, the many who will be in the glory but as yet are glorying in their shame and minding earthly things. Bring, we pray Thee, many under the influence of the Gospel, myriads to worship Christ and to be saved by Him; and may His name be as ointment poured forth in every place to-day, enchanting many and attracting them to bow at His feet. Our Father, we pray Thee forgive Thy children all the wrong they have done during another week. If there be anything between us and God, take it away. Thou hast taught us to ask and it shall be given us; Thou hast bidden us seek if we cannot find Thee, and seek until we find. But Thou hast also added, "Knock," as if there might be a door between us and Thee: "Knock and it shall be opened." Lord, if there is any door between us, may that door be opened; may we begin knocking at it now, and never cease until it opens. We would not have even the beginning of a cloud between our heart and our Father. Lord, put away the sin as between a child and his father. Thou hast put away our sin as between a subject and a king. We are pardoned; we are clean; we are washed with the blood of Christ—so many as have believed in His name—there is no sin remaining on us. But, as children, we come under another discipline, and members of a family that offend our Father. Our Father, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us." We do very freely and very heartily and very truly forgive anybody who may have aggrieved us. Do Thou so with Thy children, and let us feel of a certainty now that we are perfectly reconciled with God, and that we are one with Thee, and speak with Thee as a man speaketh with his friend. Then, our Father, when Thou hast thus put away everything that interposes lead us into Thy truth. Teach us more of Thy Word; teach it to us by experience; may we have it burned into our hearts; may we know the truth not only in the letter of it, but in the life and spirit of it. And, teach us to be holy. Oh how we long for this! We would have every passion under subjection; we would have every power and faculty bitted and held in with a bridle; nay, we would have every evil tendency killed, and have every holy tendency imparted. Take us, Lord, and sanctify us. We are not content with justification; we want sanctification. Make and keep us pure within, clean in motive, clean in imagination. Oh, how difficult! Make us so that our very thoughts shall be a matter of conscience, and every thought shall be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ our Lord. Oh, that we could live as angels do here in this mortal body, living as purely, as joyfully, as obediently, as they do; not bound down by the body nor kept in subjection to any of its appetites but made free to be the servants of God with enhanced delight! Remember any child of those here who may have slipped; Lord restore him. And, if any of us have wandered and are not aware of it, bring us back at all events; and if grey hairs are upon us here and there, and we know it not, restore to us our youth; bring back to us whatever of energy and holiness we once had, and somewhat more. Oh make us like Christ: we do pray Thee, make us like Christ. We would even accept His cross and the vinegar, if we might have His holiness. We make no exception of anything of Christ's; we would take Him as He was, or as He is: only let Christ be formed in us, the hope of glory. We pray with great earnestness that Thou wouldst bless this church. We thank Thee for additions constantly made to our members; we pray that they may be good men, and true, holy women, in their very hearts. Lord, keep those that are in membership. Let us not fall; let us not fall. Make us all useful. Keep the church in unity, peace and concord, and give it zeal and passionate longing for the conversion of the souls of men. O Lord, we do pray Thee to remember us to-night, when we come to Thy Communion, may the Lord be there! And when we gather together, and our dear evangelists will be here, may a very large tide of blessing come. May many be brought in who now think nothing of Thee. While we are preaching, may the Holy Spirit be working, may souls be saved by thousands. Remember the churches of our neighbours round about whenever Christ is preached. May there be a revival of pure and undefiled religion where Christ is not preached. The Lord comfort the ministers, the Lord comfort the churches. Oh, put an end to that revival of heresy, which we see on every side! Thy glorious Word is treated as a common book. nay, hardly so well respected as a poor almanack. The Lord have mercy upon those who doubt His Word, and bring back a reverence for every line of inspiration, above all a deep love to the Atoning Sacrifice. Let it not be despised, but may the precious blood be preached everywhere and multitudes washed in it and made clean. We pray for our country and our Queen. We pray for every other country, and ask that peace may rule everywhere; and we close our prayer with this deepest wish: "Thy Kingdom come"—Thyself, Great King, even so come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen and Amen. November 3, 1889. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 22: PRAYERS: THE BLESSER AND THE BLEST ======================================================================== The Blesser and the Blest Our Father, we feel unworthy to go into Thy holy presence and to take Thy name upon our lips, yet in Christ we have a worthiness which is perfect. Making mention of His name we are not afraid to stand before the blessed throne of Deity. For Christ's sake hear us, we pray Thee. But we are also impotent in prayer. Thy servant feels that to pray for such an assembly as this is far beyond his power. Who can pray aright for himself without the teaching of the Spirit of God? Who can pray for all this mass of people? My Lord, I am as unable as I am unworthy; nevertheless hear and help. First would we praise Thee. The last week was a week of signal blessing with many of us, and if we did not praise Thee we could not pray, for he that does not remember favours received, can hardly ask for more. Thou hast done great things for us, whereof we are glad. Thou hast daily loaded us with benefits, our cup runneth over. "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name." Let not Thy people spare their praises; may they pour them out like rivers of oil. As the incense rose in clouds from the holy altar, so may praise go up to God like the smoke of the morning sacrifice. But, Lord, we also adore as well as praise. We worship Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the one God of Israel. We wish every blessing to the God of blessing, to whom be glory, and honour, and power, and light, and might, and dominion for ever and ever. We wish we could be always adoring. It is our heaven on earth, and it will be our heaven in heaven for ever to glorify God. This is our chief end, and we only find our bliss as we are able to reach unto it. But, Thou blessed God, words cannot speak our reverence; praise sits on our tongue while we adore the God of the Covenant, the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our God for ever and ever, who shall be our guide even unto death. And now look upon Thy people here and bless us. There are many workers in the midst of this house to-day. O God, help us. We are very weak, and if we get a little strength, it only adds to our weakness. We grow more and more dependent upon an Almighty arm. If we had not God, we had nothing. Bless Thy servants who preach the Gospel. May they never dream that they can save a soul. May they leave salvation with the Saviour whose work it is. May we be instruments in the hands of God, and be content to give Him all the praise when we have the largest success. Lord, if Thou would save everybody in the Tabernacle we can take no credit for it, but lay it down at the feet of the divine Spirit, who rules the will of men, and leads men to put their trust in Christ. Yet would we work as if all depended upon us; throw our whole soul into every sacred exercise, and with all our might and main, plead with men and warn them, and entreat them to flee from the wrath to come. O God, the Holy Spirit, work in every congregation, in every Sunday school, and work in the private houses of men and women who do not come out to public worship, and bring them while they read Thy Word at home; or work by Thy providence and bring them to Christ somehow, that He may see of the travail of His soul. Bless Thine own people, especially, by giving us more faith. May we believe up to the hilt. May we believe, and believe, and still believe! May we never stagger at a promise through unbelief, and may no affliction ever stagger us. If we are in the cave may we sing David's cave-song: "O God, my heart is fixed, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise." Lord save us from unbelief, which brings misery, but a childlike trust brings happiness. Give us greater love to Thee; shame that we should need to pray the prayer, but we do. Inflame us with Thy love; may all our hearts be taken up with love to Christ; may we live love to Him and so to our fellow-men. God bless His dear people with patience; make patience have her perfect work that we may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. The Lord give us perfect consecration, and a holy waiting for His coming. May we be looking for the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and so be kept ever on the watch for the setting loose of earthly things, finding our joy not here nor there, but in Him and waiting for His appearing. Revive Thy Church at this time. O that there would come a heavenly wind to blow over Thy fainting Church! Lord, she has been ill-fed of late; she has eaten ashes with her bread, false doctrine with Thy truth. Come and purge away false doctrine and error, and may Thine own truth be proclaimed again. Then men, feeding upon it, shall have the old gladness, the old holiness, the old service of God. The Lord remember this our beloved church. Lord we cannot keep it, it has long ago outgrown all our ability. Come Thou and be the Shepherd of the flock, and preserve Thy sheep, even to the end. At this hour remember our many dear friends who are away. The Lord grant that their holiday may do them good, and oh grant that to-morrow, none of the feebler sort may be tempted into sin. We sometimes dread the effect of holidays upon some who get into company and are allured into sin. Lord keep them to-day, and to-morrow. And now as there are many strangers here to-day who fill up the places of our own friends, give them a blessing. Remember the stranger that is within Thy gates, for many of them are no strangers to Thee, though they may be to us. God bless them, and the churches to which they belong. Give them a good meal to-day. May they have a square meal of Gospel food, and go away greatly refreshed. And if any have come to the Tabernacle this morning who are not converted, may this be their birthday. This day, may they confess their sin and flee to Christ, and believe in Him, and know their sin forgiven, and go away with a heart full ready to leap with joy because the Lord has met with them. Thy servant feels very unfit for preaching: do Thou help him. Oh, give us souls this morning. If we speak feebly, yet do Thou work mightily. Bring many to Christ's feet. Do it Lord; we have a simple desire for Thy glory. While we thus pray, honour Thyself, honour Thy truth, honour Thy Son, indulge Thy mercy, magnify Thy name in the conversion of men. We ask it all in the name of the Well-beloved. Amen. May 25, 1890. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 23: PRAYERS: ENRICH US ALL! ======================================================================== Enrich Us All! O Lord, enrich us with all spiritual blessings according to Thy riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Give us first complete peace of mind. Deliver us from all slavish fear. Let us rest in the great Father's love. Save us also from carefulness and that anxiety which doth fret and eat as doth a canker. Help us to-day to cast our burden upon Thee, whatever that burden may be. Work in us, O God, the precious gift of faith, and increase faith if we have it. Let us not only have life, but have it more abundantly. Brighten our hope, and may we joyfully expect the coming of the Lord. Every day inflame our love, and may we more intensely love our God, our Saviour, and our brethren, and our fellow men. Work in us, we pray Thee, the blessed character of our divine Exemplar. Lead us to follow in His steps. May we be truly Christians, as truly as He was Christ. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 24: PRAYERS: ALWAYS OUR HELPER ======================================================================== Always Our Helper O God, Thou art our God. Early in life many of us were brought to put our trust in Thee, and since then Thou hast been our God in many and many an experience. We have been in troubles often, but Thou hast always been our Helper. We have been in danger, but He that keepeth Israel hath neither slumbered nor slept. We can truly say this morning, "Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice." What a God Thou hast been to us in our experience—so tender over our weakness, ever teaching us little by little as we have been able to bear it; so long-suffering with our follies, chastening only in measure, and comforting without measure. Lord, Thou hast heard our prayers, even when we have hardly thought they could be answered. We have been unbelieving, but Thou hast been faithful. We have been undeserving, but Thy grace has never failed. There are many of us present who have known Thee now as long as Israel knew Thee in the wilderness, these forty years, and never once hast Thou failed to keep Thy promise, or to remember Thy people for good. May our faith grow exceedingly. May we that have had experience of Thy goodness, feel ashamed ever to entertain a doubt, and when the dark thought ever crosses our mind which would make us mistrust, may we chase it as a strange and vain thought, which must not even lodge, much less dwell, within our hearts. "The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock"—strong to keep His promise, unchanging, unexhausted, ever the eternal Fountain of good things to His waiting peoples. We pray, O Lord, that those who have not believed in Thee, may take courage from the experience of Thy people to be assured that Thou wilt keep them also. There may be some here just beginning to believe—little children—the Lord strengthen them. May they feel no hesitation in committing their souls to the keeping of the great God. May they come to Thee, our Father, through Jesus Christ Thy Son, and now believe, and leave the future, the past, the present—leave everything—with Thee. We do heartily pray Thee for some here present who are not far from the Kingdom, who have been upon the verge of believing for months, but they think it is a venture, they are afraid lest they may not believe, though Thou dost command them: may they come and taste and see that the Lord is good, for blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee. Look in great mercy upon Thy people gathered here. Some of them are full of joy. Thou hast sown their sky with stars. Their way is bright with inward joy and with surrounding comforts. May they not begin to worship their comforts, nor kiss their hands to the stars, nor begin to make a god of the things around them. O Lord, keep Thy people in the hour of prosperity. May our hearts never wander from the living God, and may we walk as much by faith in the unseen as we should do if we were in the dark. But many of Thy people here are in quite another case. Some of us are in pain. Oh help us to forget we have a body. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Help us to rise above the flesh. Some here are remembering household troubles. Enable them not to forget them, but to feel that they come from the Father's hand, and that He must have a good intent in them. So may they accept the bitter cup, and as they drink it, may the cup of consolation be set to their lips. Remember some that are at this moment remembering the dead, unburied yet. Their sorrows are green. O God, send new comfort where Thou hast sent fresh grief. Deal graciously with us, O Lord, whatever our circumstances may be. It may be our trouble is not without, but within—"Some deep sense of sin renewed; This will work us lasting good" if we carry it not too far. It may be we have had great battles of late with Satan, with some old corruption. Make us victorious. It may be that some one of Thy promises, even, has been too great for us, and we have scarcely been able to believe it. O God, visit Thy people. What strange creatures we are! The little world within has its summer and its winter, its heartquakes, its tornadoes, its storms. Great Master, govern the world of our inner nature as Thou dost govern the world of nature, and may we conquer yet. May we yet come into the certainties, where the birds sit on the waves and all is still. We shall come there we know in heaven, but even now give us the peace of God which passeth all understanding, the perfect rest of conquered self, and of simple confidence in Thee. Why art thou troubled; why art Thou cast down, O my soul, why art Thou disquieted within me? Bring Thy people again to the hill Mizar and to the land of the Hermonites; and yet again may they praise Him, who is the health of their countenance and their God. As a church, we want the presence of God more fully. We pray that this week, during the Mission that is to be held, many may be brought in who are far from God in moral conduct, and be converted. May they give up the drink, but may they also give up all sin, by being created anew in Christ Jesus by the Holy Ghost. O God, continue to add to our number, for many have gone home to heaven, and many are growing old, and in the ordinary course of things will not be long with us. Lord add to us at the one end, as Thou dost diminish at the other. Bring in our children, bring many to the Sabbath school. Bring in the young men and women. Bring in the outsiders who live near this place, and yet never enter it. May they come and hear for eternity, and may their souls live. We wish, O God, with all our hearts, that this church and its many branches and schools, its college and orphanage, its evangelists and colporteurs, might all be under the divine benediction. O Lord, we have an agency, and a great machinery, but we must have the power. Come, Holy Spirit: we adore Thee from the bottom of our hearts, and we pray Thee to work mightily with Thy people, that work may be done and Christ may be glorified. Save, we pray Thee, those now present to-day who have not yet tasted that the Lord is gracious. Save them now. May a second thought drop into their hearts, and work there like a fire spot, setting their sin alight that it may be consumed. May many be so impressed this morning as never to forget, but to turn to God with full purpose of heart. O my Lord, continue to give me fruit among this people. I beseech Thee, bring my hearers to be obedient to Christ. Thy people are praying with me now, as with one heart—Lord save the ungodly! Save those, also, who are hearers but have never felt the divine power with the word. Save them now even this day. Bless our country. God be pleased to rule and overrule. Give peace and quietness among all ranks and conditions of men. God bless those who rule among us. May the Queen be the special object of Thy divine power. May the blessing of God rest on all our foreign relations. May God bless the United States, and the myriads of our brethren there, and all the scattered in every nation that fear God. Best of all, come, O Thou great King of all the earth! Son of God, make haste to come. We pray Thee, appear and be glorified in the eyes of men, and reign among Thy nations, and end the world's strife and sin. We ask it for Thy glory's sake. Amen. October 12, 1890. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 25: ADORATION: PSALM 30 ======================================================================== Psalms 30 Thou hast... girded me with gladness. I will exalt Thee, Lord of hosts, For Thou'st exalted me; Since Thou hast silenced Satan's boasts, I'll therefore boast in Thee. My sins had brought me near the grave, The grave of black despair; I looked, but there was none to save Till I looked up in prayer. In answer to my piteous cries, From hell's dark brink I'm brought: My Jesus saw me from the skies, And swift salvation wrought. All through the night I wept full sore, But morning brought relief; That hand, which broke my bones before, Then broke my bonds of grief. My mourning He to dancing turns, For sackcloth, joy He gives, A moment, Lord, Thine anger burns, But long Thy favour lives. Sing with me then, ye favoured men, Who long have known His grace; With thanks recall the seasons when Ye also sought His face. Tune: "Abridge." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 26: ADORATION: ADORABLE TRINITY ======================================================================== The Adorable Trinity O Lord, we feel as if we must just stand before Thee in adoration. Glory be unto the Triune God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, "the God of the whole earth shall He be called." Let Jehovah be worshipped everywhere. Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, the Friend and Helper of man: unto His name be glory for ever and ever. Thou hast revealed Thyself unto us in trinity as well as in unity, and we adore Thee as Thou dost reveal Thyself. Glory be unto the Father. We feel the love of children within our hearts; we can say Abba, Father. Oh, how we love Thee, our God. Father of Jesus, Father of all that are in Jesus, our Father—sweeter word than Abraham could use. Thou hast given us more light and introduced us to a nearer and dearer place than the patriarch knew: shall we not worship? Inconceivably glorious: we are awe-struck. Inconceivably good: we are quickened into boldness. Our God, our Father—we mingle the two words and we feel it to be very sweet to be in the immediate presence of such an One. With equal honour and depth of love do we adore the Son of God, not only God but also Man, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. We have not seen Thee and still must rest in faith alone; but we believe that Thou didst come to earth, didst live and die, that Thou wast buried, and on the third day didst rise again from the dead; and Thou art gone up into glory, and Thou shalt shortly come again to take Thy people from among men to dwell with Thee. Our heart expects Thee, we long for Thee; even so, come quickly Lord Jesus. Meanwhile, our spirit bows in lowliest and most loving reverence. With all the shining ranks above of cherubim and seraphim, we adore the Lamb in the midst of the Throne as God over all, blessed for ever. And Thou, too, O Sacred Spirit, the Holy Spirit, we reverence and love Thee, for Thou art our Comforter. Thou art now the power of this dispensation. Thou art with us, and Thou wilt abide with us. Thou dwellest in our hearts; we worship Thee and bless the condescending love that deigns to dwell in such poor tenements as our nature. Blessed be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Our soul would take a flight out of our bodies for a moment up to the gate of pearl. It is open, and we pass along the golden streets, and we behold Thy glory, too excessive for the eye. We hear in spirit the eternal song, and lo, we bow with all the redeemed by blood. We have no crowns to cast at Thy feet, O God, but all that we have, and all we are, we ascribe unto Thee, "By the grace of God I am what I am." We have no words, we can only in the silence of our spirit adore, and again adore, and magnify and extol the Lord that liveth for ever. Accept our poor worship, through the Mediator Jesus Christ. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 27: ADORATION: LET ALL THE PEOPLE PRAISE THEE! ======================================================================== Let All the People Praise Thee! Oh that we could praise Thee! We do not feel like praying just now so much as praising Thee— "Oh for a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer's praise." Oh for an overflowing power of the Holy Ghost kindling our whole soul, our whole being, like a burnt-offering, that we might smoke toward heaven, rising in flames of rapturous love and mighty adoration. The Lord liveth. Blessed be my rock, and let the God of Israel be exalted. He is my God, and I will extol Him. He is my father's God and I will prepare Him a habitation. Oh let the people praise Thee, great God, let all the people praise Thee; then shall the earth yield her increase, and God, even our God, shall bless us. Oh, give a special blessing to this dear church of ours. Continue to multiply us; continue to give us more gifts and more graces. Make us a holy people, and keep us so, a devoted, earnest, eager people, longing to extend the dominion of Christ. The Lord hear the daily prayers of this congregation. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 28: ADORATION: CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM ======================================================================== Children of Abraham O God, Thou art our God, and we will exalt Thee. Thou art our fathers' God, and we will exalt Thee. Thou art the God of Abraham, and of Moses, and of Jacob. Jehovah, the God of David, the God of the whole earth shalt Thou be called. Our soul doth magnify Thee, for Thou hast manifested Thyself to us more clearly than to the patriarchs and kings of old. In the face of Jesus Christ we see Thy glory. The express image of Thy person, hast Thou made Him to be; and we worship and adore Thee in Him, magnifying with all our hearts the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the Triune God of Israel, to whom be blessing for ever and ever! Happy are the people who call Thee their God. Happy are we who have by Thy mighty grace been born the children of the promise, the true seed of Abraham, seeing we have believed, and are thus the children of believing Abraham. Amen. Behold the Throne of Grace: C. H. Spurgeon's Prayers and Hymns. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 29: ADORATION: THE CROSS AND THE THRONE ======================================================================== The Cross and the Throne O Thou infinitely glorious Jehovah, to praise Thee is our delight. We never feel so blessed as when we are either at the foot of the Cross, or at the foot of the Throne, and we bless Thee that we know both places. We know not where of the two we can best adore. O Thou blessed One, that ever Thou should come from heaven to earth to bleed and die! What can our hearts say? What can our souls render? Our eyes are better than our lips in this adoration, for we can weep to the praise of the mercy which we see in the bleeding Son of God; but still at the foot of the Throne we would worship Him that liveth for ever. All glory be to our Creator, Preserver, Redeemer, Comforter. It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves: we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. We would worship and bow down; we would kneel before the Lord our Maker, in the reverence of our hearts. All honour and glory and power and dominion be unto Him that sitteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever! We would adore the Most High as we take a retrospect of all His dealings with us. Thou hast dealt well with Thy servants, according to Thy word. We have often provoked Thee, but Thou hast as often forgiven us; we have started aside like a deceitful bow, but Thou hast been faithful to Thine every word of promise. We have been feeble and weak, and are not worthy of Thy regard, but Thou hast shown Thyself strong on the behalf of them that serve Thee. The right hand of the Lord is exalted, the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. In our life and in our experience we have seen what great things the Lord doth for them that put their trust in Him, and we can say, "Happy is the man that hath the God of Jacob for His confidence." O Hope of Israel, Thou dost not deceive. Thou givest us no eggs that will not hatch, no mockery of blessing; but he whom Thou blessest is blessed. None can reverse the benediction. We bless Thee, O God, for our election or ever the earth was, for our calling by Thine effectual grace. We bless Thee for our pardon bought with blood. We bless Thee for the power of grace which has kept us until now. Who could hold us up but Thou? And as we set up our Ebenezer to-day, it is with songs of gratitude unto the Lord whose mercy endureth for ever. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 30: ADORATION: THE LOVE OF THE FIRSTBORN ======================================================================== The Love of the Firstborn Our Father, we love Thee with all our hearts for Thy matchless love in giving up Thine only-begotten Son for us. Thou wast ever well-pleased with Him. Thou hast delighted in Him and He in Thee. Yet for our sakes, for the sake of miserable puny beings, whom Thou mightest have swept away in a moment, Thou didst give Him that He might take upon Him our nature; that having taken our nature He might be Thy servant, and might carry out His obedience unto death, even the death of the cross. We find it very hard to see our children suffer, and if they are taken from us by death, our hearts are broken. Yet didst Thou, infinitely loving Father, give Thine only-begotten Son that He might die, and that we might live through Him. Oh, if we have a spark of love toward Thee, may Thy Holy Spirit now fan it to flame. And since the First-born has made us brethren, and is Himself the Firstborn among many brethren, may that same love which is in the heart of the Firstborn be in the hearts of the younger brotherhood, that we may all love Thee, O Father, even as Jesus loves Thee, and Thou lovest Him. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 31: ADORATION: LOOK UNTO HIM ======================================================================== Looking unto Him Great God of the Sabbath, and Lord of the assemblies of Israel, we worship Thee, Thou Most High, the Lord of Hosts, God all-sufficient. Our spirits bow into the dust before the infinite majesty of the All-in-All. The Lord liveth: God is. We are but as passing shadows and things of an hour; but, O God, Thou art for ever and ever, and our spirits worship Thee. We ask this great favour at Thy hands, that the Lord Jesus Christ may stand among us by His spiritual presence, and that we may all of us be especially conscious that He is fulfilling His promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Many of us have looked to Him and we have been lightened, and our faces are not ashamed. We would look to Him again to-day. Oh, that He might be set forth manifestly crucified among us, and as we look to Him crucified for us, may our souls drink in deep peace and heavenly repose. Give to every believer a sweet sense of pardoned sins, a blessed consciousness of divine love, a holy peace of mind, a blessed restfulness in Christ. Give also perfect consecration, strong resolve to serve the Lord while here below to the utmost of our capacity. Give more receptiveness that we may be ready to hold. Lord, enlarge us; give much faith to believe great things and to lay hold of great things. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 32: ADORATION: ANTICIPATION OF GLORY ======================================================================== Anticipation of Glory O blessed Saviour, we would ask for all believers to realize their union with Christ Jesus. Oh that our hearts might track Thee upward to Thy throne ascending high. Let us rise with Thee by a joyous confidence, for we shall be there ere long, and let us now survey Thy power, Thy state, the glories of Thy kingly condition, where Thou sittest at the right-hand of God for ever, having finished the propitiation for the sins of men. We worship Thee, Immanuel—"God with us." We now adore Thee, Jesus, before the Father's throne. There is no coming to the Father, but by Thee; but in tracking Thee we have come to the Father, and to the place where the "many mansions" are. Our spirit now anticipates her time of rejoicing when, delivered from the house of clay and from the nature of sin, we shall be for ever with the Lord. Yet further, do we anticipate yet more that last Day, when He shall come according to His promise. O Saviour, Thou shalt come, as surely as Thou hast come once Thou shalt come again, and then our bodies, now our burden, shall become our joy, for Thou wilt call them, "from beds of dust and silent clay." Thou wilt renew them, Thou wilt revive them, and then wilt Thou receive us unto Thyself to be with Thee, world without end. Lay to the hearts of Thy children, O Holy Spirit, these priceless consolations. Help us to get out of the present, if it be surrounded with pain or loss or depression, and may we live in that eternal future which is so full of excessive glory that we may well take from it now, and enjoy it without fear of diminishing it when we come to our heritage. The Lord help us to be risen with Christ and then to set our affections upon things above, where Christ sitteth at the right-hand of God. Oh for grace to do this. And may this day, therefore, be as one of the days of heaven upon earth. May our life of to-day be a fragment of the life we lead in Christ, the eternal life that we shall spend with Him in the glory. O dear Saviour, let every believer come very close to Thee now. May this be a moment in which we shall feel that if there has been distance, and wondering and doubt, there shall not be any of these any longer. We have come close to our Lord; we will lean upon the Beloved; we will abide in Him even as He bids us abide, and in the biding gives us the promise, speaks the word of command, "Abide in Me and I in you." Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 33: THANKSGIVING: CHRIST IN HIS PEOPLE ======================================================================== Christ in His People Ye have done it unto Me. Matthew 25:40 Jesus, poorest of the poor! Man of Sorrows! Child of grief! Happy they whose bounteous store Ministered to Thy relief. Jesus, though Thy head is crowned, Crowned with loftiest majesty, In Thy members Thou art found, Plunged in deepest poverty. Happy they who wash Thy feet, Visit Thee in Thy distress. Honour great, and labour sweet, For Thy sake the saints to bless. They who feed Thy sick and faint For Thyself a banquet find; They who clothe the naked saint Round Thy loins the raiment bind. Thou wilt keep their soul alive; From their foes protect their head; Languishing, their strength revive, And in sickness make their bed. Thou wilt deeds of love repay; Grace shall generous hearts reward Here on earth, and in the day When they meet their reigning Lord. Tune: "University College." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 34: THANKSGIVING: FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT ======================================================================== Father, Son and Holy Spirit Our Father, which art in heaven, it is an intense joy to us to call Thee by that endearing name, for it is no mere empty title. We feel the spirit of adoption in us "whereby we cry, Abba, Father." We feel the nature of God in us, which has been given us by the Spirit of God, the quickening, the renewal, the begetting again unto a lively hope. O Lord, we thank Thee, that we are Thy children by regeneration as well as by adoption, that we have been made partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption which is in the world through lust. And we would revel in the thought that now it is given to us to become the sons of God, even to as many as believe on the name of Jesus, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Help us to enjoy the sweet privileges which come to us through being introduced into Thy family. May we be among the number of those who dwell in Thy house and go no more out for ever; who must be still praising Thee, because they are always within the precincts of their great Father's house. Oh, what hast Thou done for us, great God? What a wonderous grace is this; and what hast Thou prepared for us? Who can tell what Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, among the sons of men? We would now approach Thee, Lord, with that filial fear which well becomes dear children who are conscious of a thousand transgressions. Yet would we approach Thee with that filial boldness which is born of a sense of love, and daily grows upon mercies perpetually given. We worship Thee, O God our Father, with all our heart, and soul and strength. We love Thee; we trust Thee; we delight in Thee; Thou art all in all to us. Thou hast made with us an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things and sure; and therefore are we bound to Thee by bonds that never can be broken. And Thou, most blessed Jesus, Son of the Highest, we also worship Thee with an intensity of affection. Thou art our Brother, our Goel, our next of kin, and we know that Thou livest; and though after our skin worms destroy this body, yet in our flesh shall we behold Thee. We shall see Thee for ourselves and not another, to which hope we are daily coming. Thou wilt come to take Thy people up to their eternal home: therefore do we adore Thee now with all our heart, and with all the sacred love of our being. Blessed be the Son of God who spared not His honour, but became a Man, who spared not Himself, but died "the Just for the unjust to bring us God." And, O Eternal Spirit, with equal reverence do we worship Thee; for it is by Thee that we come to Jesus, and it is through Jesus that we come to the Father. Oh, Thy wondrous love in dwelling in us 1 We are often astonished as we think of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit: we put it side by side with the incarnation of the ever-blessed Son, and we know not which is the greater mercy, the greater condescension of these twain. O blessed Spirit, make us deeply grateful for both, and because we know the one through the other may we rejoice in each as Thou shalt help us. Blessed be the one God, the God of Abraham, "the God of the whole earth shall He be called." With all our spirit reverently prostrate we adore and worship the only living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 35: THANKSGIVING: THE BLESSINGS OF THE COVENANT ======================================================================== The Blessings of the Covenant O Lord, we take to ourselves without stealth, but of good and honest right, all the blessings of the Covenant; seeing we are heirs of the Covenant, joint-heirs with Christ Jesus Thy Son, and therefore doth our soul again exalt in God; for Thou art ours in Covenant now, and we are Thine. Thou art the Covenant God, and we are the Covenanted ones, a people near unto Thee, whom Thy grace has chosen and called and redeemed and set apart unto Thyself; of whom Thou hast said, even of all believers: "This people have I formed for Myself. They shall show forth My praise." And, indeed, most gracious God, we feel this morning as if we must show forth Thy praise as we remember all Thy delivering mercy to us. Some of us have now known Thee for years, and we have had great and sore troubles, but Thou hast established Thy word unto Thy servants wherewith Thou hast caused us to hope. Thou hast led us by devious ways, but always by the right way. Thou hast chastened us sore, but Thou hast not appointed us unto death. Thou hast given us marks of Thy Fatherly love in every touch of Thy rod, and therefore do we bless Thy name. Thou didst bring us through fire and through water; men did ride over our heads, yet hast Thou brought us out into a wealthy place. Thou hast set our feet upon a rock and established our goings, and our soul sometimes wishes that the body would dance before the ark of God, for very joy and gratitude that overflows the soul, and would overflow the body too, till the very flesh should be made to pay homage before the ever-blessed One who hath caused His mercy to flow to us in ceaseless rivers of love. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 36: THANKSGIVING: OUR SUPREME DELIGHT ======================================================================== Our Supreme Delight Gracious God, the highest pleasure we anticipate is that of worshipping Thee to perfection with cherubim and seraphim and all the host redeemed by blood, with legions of angels and creatures innumerable we hope to pour out day without night continually songs of adoring joy, and even now one of our nearest approaches to heaven is in sacred song. O Thou, our supreme delight, our inheritance, our light, our life, our all; we can truly say we delight in God. O Thou blessed One, we love Thy Word, we love Thy House, we love Thy Day. And Thou Thyself, what shall we say of Thee! Take us more and more unto Thyself through Jesus Christ the Mediator, and let our hearts be more and more taken up with Thee. Thy servants have gone another six days' journey through the wilderness and they are glad to come to an oasis, to the Lord's Day, a day set apart for worship and spiritual improvement. Be near us Lord, to-day; put everything away. May we keep the world outside, and may we have such a fullness of God in us, and be ourselves so wholly in God, that the day may be delightful, every hour of it, even to the closing benediction when we fall asleep. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 37: THANKSGIVING: GOODNESS AND MERCY ======================================================================== Goodness and Mercy Our God, we love Thee: we can say from our very hearts we love Thee. We are not what we ought to be. We often turn aside, but still our heart is right toward Thee and Thy Covenant; though we be faint, we are yet pursuing. Through infinite mercy our faces are still Zionward; our confidence is nowhere but in our God. "From Him cometh my salvation." Glory be unto the name of Jehovah for ever and ever and ever! Our hearts cannot feel all they ought to feel, nor can our tongues express the thousandth part of the emotions of our inmost nature, as we look back upon the way whereby the Lord our God has led us; how, in the splendour of His mercy, He has kept us, and would not let go away from Him; how He has fed us, and would not suffer us to feed upon the husks that the swine do eat. And He has preserved us even to this day, and made with us an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things and sure, which neither death nor hell shall ever disannul. Accept our thanks to-day; accept the special thanks of some of us who at this peculiar season seem overwhelmed with mercy. We do not know where to begin; and if we began where could we leave off, for it is endless mercy, infinite mercy, inconceivable mercy: "Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 38: THANKSGIVING: "THOUGH HE SLAY ME, YET—" ======================================================================== "Though He Slay Me, Yet—" O Lord our God, before we ask anything at Thy hands, we desire to praise and magnify Thy name; for Thou art good in Thyself, and in all Thy thoughts, and all Thine acts, and in all that Thou doest toward us. Thou art good when Thou dost lay us low, when the bed of sickness becomes hard, and our bones are weary. Thou art good when Thou dost strip us of all earthly comforts; good when we stand at the grave's mouth and bury our dearest love. Thou art in everything good. Shall we not bless the God who takes, as well as the God who gives? We would not follow Thee as a dog follows a stranger for a bone; but we would love Thee as loving children, who love even a chastising Father, and have learned to say, "Though He slay me yet will I trust in Him." If ever, even for a moment, the thought of complaint should flit across our spirit, we beg to be forgiven. Shall a living man complain? Surely it is such a mercy that we are yet alive; that we still have our reason; that we are not cast away for ever into hopeless misery. It is such grace on Thy part, that long as we live, we will bless Thy name, yea, while immortality endures! We desire that on our dying bed, if it should please Thee, we may die singing. We would wish that our first song in heaven should be "Hallelujah unto Him that hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood; unto Him be glory now and for ever." O Lord, we would bring before Thee now our sins and our sorrows. Oh, forgive Thy servants in everything wherein we have offended. There are some here that must stand before Thee to-day as prisoners at the bar. Help them to plead guilty, to confess their sins, and to plead the precious blood, and the glorious righteousness of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, that they may be absolved, and hear Thee say: "Thy sins be forgiven thee." But there are others of us who have heard that word many years ago, and the music of it has never departed out of our minds. We ask that we may hear Thee say it now in another sense, for we are no longer prisoners at the bar; we are not under the law, but we are under grace. The one washing in the precious blood has made us clean; as before the Judge of all the earth we are whiter than snow. But now, as children, we offend our Father, we grieve the Spirit of God, we vex our Elder Brother, tender as He is, and so we say that we who have been delivered from sin in its condemning power—we say, "Lord forgive Thy children's transgressions, and let us be washed as to our feet in the water which Christ pours forth, wherewith He did wash of old His disciples' feet, and washes them still." Then may we this day, all of us, be clean every whit, and so be fit to sit with Christ in the heavenly places, and to have fellowship with the Holy Father, and with His Holy Son, and with the Holy Ghost. O Lord, grant us this perfect cleansing. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 39: THANKSGIVING: THE BLOOD-SPRINKLED MERCY-SEAT ======================================================================== The Blood-Besprinkled Mercy Seat O God Most High, the one God of Israel, we are longing to adore Thee. Adoration will be the employment of heaven. It is certainly our greatest enjoyment on earth. But we are not worthy to come unto Thy presence, or to present to Thee the vials of our praises. We would therefore, first, in lowly reverence, make confession of our state and of our guilt. We are fallen creatures, even by nature, and as our nature, such has our life been. We have come short of the glory of God and have offended in many things. We dare not look up apart from the way which Thou has provided for our uplooking, even through the Mediator, Jesus Christ. O God, if Thou hadst driven us long ago from Thy presence, and hadst forbidden us to think of worship, what could we have said? How shall we dare to tread Thy courts on the ground of merit; for surely if Thou should lay Thy justice to the line, and Thy righteousness to the plummet, there is not one of us that could stand? O Lord, we thank Thee for the Atonement, for the great expiatory Sacrifice. So would we compass Thine altar, O God. We come sprinkled with the blood to a blood-sprinkled Mercy Seat, and we are not afraid to come when we can make mention of the Righteousness of Christ and His Atonement. We feel that we are reconciled unto God by the death of His Son. Lord, let a sweet sense of pardon and perfect cleansing rest upon the hearts of Thy people. May those who have never yet come to Thee for mercy, look to Jesus and be saved; and may those of us who long ago were washed in the Fountain filled with blood, now receive the foot washing which Jesus daily gives, and, being cleansed every whit, may we be able to come with our adoration into the presence of the Eternal God. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 40: THANKSGIVING: THE LAMB UPON THE THRONE ======================================================================== The Lamb Upon the Throne O Lord God, the hosts unnumbered, washed in the blood, are bowing before Thee now, proclaiming eternal honours to Him that sitteth upon the Throne and to the Lamb. Behold all the angels in heaven join in the selfsame adoration, ascribing all honour and praise unto the Lord our God. And we, in the outward rank, further off from the central Throne, bow also, and here upon this darkened planet we worship Him who made heaven and earth. We worship the blessed One who hath redeemed us with His precious blood, and we worship that glorious Spirit by whom we have been quickened and called unto the knowledge of God. Unto the one God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, unto Him be glory for ever and ever, and from the very bottom of our hearts we utter this our doxology. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 41: THANKSGIVING: WASHED AND MADE WHOLE ======================================================================== Washed and Made White Lord, we would come with our confessions, for as often as we adore we feel how fitly we might cover our faces. The angels have six wings, but we have none. We cannot cover our faces with wings, but we bless Thy name we have something better than angelic wings; we have the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ, and with these we cover our faces; with these we cover our feet; and with these we fly out to Thee now in rapture and adoring love. Thou hast brought us very near Thee, despite our sin; and as for our sin, Thou hast cast it as far from us as from Thyself, as east is from west. Hast Thou not said, "I will cast all their sins behind My back"? And Thou hast done it. Even to as many as have looked to the wounds of Jesus Thou hast given personal cleansing, and we are clean every whit through the water and the blood; and we need not be ashamed to stand even before Thy presence, O thrice Holy One, for we have washed our robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, would we be always before Thee, and serve Thee day and night in Thy temple, dwelling ever with Thee, sleeping under the shadow of Thy wings, and rejoicing in the light of Thy countenance. But if any among us have not yet been forgiven, Father forgive them. Oh let great love convince of sin, and lead to the sin-atoning blood. This very day may many a sinner lose the burden of his sin at the sepulchre of Christ. Oh for pardons to be freely distributed! Thou art the Father of pardons. "Who is God like unto Thee, passing by iniquity, transgression and sin, and remembering not the iniquity of the remnant of Thy people?" Glory be unto Thy Name! Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 42: CONFESSION: PSALM 15 ======================================================================== Psalms 15 Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? Lord, I would dwell with Thee, On Thy most holy hill: Oh shed Thy grace abroad in me, To mould me to Thy will. Thy gate of pearl stands wide, For those who walk upright; But those who basely turn aside Thou chasest from Thy sight. Oh tame my tongue to peace, And tune my heart to love; From all reproaches may I cease, Made harmless as a dove. The vile, though proudly great, No flatterer find in me; I count Thy saints of poor estate Far nobler company. Faithful, but meekly kind; Gentle, yet boldly true; I would possess the perfect mind Which in my Lord I view. But, Lord, these graces all Thy Spirit's work must be; To Thee, through Jesu's blood I call Create them all in me. Tune: "St. George." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 43: CONFESSION: ASHAMED OF JESUS! ======================================================================== Ashamed of Jesus! Our dear Redeemer, we have read of Thy weeping at the grave of Lazarus. We have been made to feel how near akin Thou art to us. Thou art no stranger: Thou art no great noble set high above us, ashamed of us; Thou art not ashamed to call us brethren. And we have said in our hearts, "Have I ever been ashamed to own Him in any company?" We are ashamed to think that ever the bare idea of being ashamed of Christ should have crossed our spirits. "Ashamed of Jesus, just as soon, Might midnight blush to think of noon." We are nothing: Thou art everything. We are poor worms of the dust, and Thou art the Eternal Son of God. We are disgusted with ourselves that there ever could have been a temptation to be ashamed of the Crucified, ashamed of the soft impeachment that we are indeed Thy followers. Forgive us Saviour! Because of Thy great tenderness, put this away also among all our other sins, and mention it not against us for ever that such a wicked cowardliness could have made us so hold our tongue when we ought to have spoken for Thee. From henceforth may we be able to say— "I'm not ashamed to own my Lord Or to defend His cause." But we thank Thee for ever coming so near us, and our prayer is that we may have the grace to-day to feel very near to Thee. Thou art not strange to Thine own flesh, and shall we be strange to Thee? Great Bridegroom, Thou lovest us, and Thou dost delight in us, and shall we not delight ourselves in Thee? Come, take away the hardness of our hearts, and give us now to be quick and tender, sensitive to Thy love. Melt the wax, and then impress Thine image on it, and make us bear the faintest touch of Thy finger throughout the whole of life. Oh for want of sensitiveness, how we miss the highest privileges Thou dost bestow. Make us very tender. Oh that we might yield to Thy sweet love with all our hearts; and since Thou art the Man that is near akin to us, may we rejoice in Thee beyond all things, and find our heaven in the effects of Thy relationship to us. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 44: CONFESSION: SIN SHALL NOT HAVE DOMINION ======================================================================== Sin Shall Not Have Dominion Our Father, which art in heaven, forgive our evil deeds towards Thy Son! Thou delightest in Him and so do we; but we have strange ways of showing it sometimes. Give us to love Him perfectly. May we say, "Lord Thou knowest all things, Thou knowest that we love Thee." May we so love Thee that even our enemies may be compelled to say, "See how they love their Lord!" Oh make us to display our love so clearly and decidedly as our Master showed His love to buried Lazarus. Cleanse Thy people: let our conscience be purged from dead works. May we know that we are forgiven. May we have no doubt about it. May we know that we are cleansed from the guilt and the defilement of sin. May we therefore have access with boldness to our Father in heaven, and may the power of sin which has been broken, be destroyed in us. Sin is not on the throne now, but it lurks in the corners, and if it could, it would get to the front again. We thank Thee for that word, "Sin shall not have dominion over you." God grant it never may! We sorrow with deep inward anguish over some who profess to be Thy people in whom sin has had dominion. Lord, when any turn away we ask ourselves, "Shall I do this?" and we know that unless Thou hold us fast we shall decline, and prove to be like them at last. But do not let us wander; nay, let not a thought go after evil. Let us have no god but God, no christ but Christ, no spirit but the Spirit. May we be absorbed in God! In Him may we live and move and have our being, not only in a natural, but in a spiritual sense— "Take our poor heart and let it be Forever closed to all but Thee." Lord, we get high ideas sometimes; we rise into the pure air of fellowship, but our grief is that we are so soon drawn back again. Earth's attractions hold us, the flesh hampers us, our own infirmities hinder us. Lord help us! He that began the work must carry it on or it will never come to completion. Perfect that which concerneth us. Lord we would be rid of sin. We long that every tendency to sin may be burnt on the head with the hot iron of Thy love, so that it shall be compelled to die. O come, great Lord, and wield Thy sceptre over all the powers and passions of our nature, and if they need a rod of iron to subdue them, yet spare them not till grace shall reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 45: CONFESSION: VICTORY THROUGH THE BLOOD ======================================================================== Victory Through the Blood We bless Thee, O God, that there is a Throne of Grace to come to, and that it is sprinkled with the precious blood of Jesus, so that the guilty may come without fear, that Thy wrath should not break forth upon them. We come, blessed Lord, with all our hearts. Oh draw us, that we may run after Thee. Our desire is toward Thee, and to Thy fear; but oh for the Holy Spirit to enable us; for we are lame and broken, and ready to perish, except Thou help us. Breathe into us now the prayers which we shall breathe out. Write on our hearts the very words which we shall speak in Thy presence. There is the natural tendency in us towards that which is evil; and even in the hearts of those who are regenerate, that tendency still struggles for the mastery. "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." But still the battle is often very stern; and in the conflict we are made to cry out, "Oh wretched man that I am." Lord, by Thy grace we hate the very thought of sin. O Lord, we have broken all Thy commandments. We have not loved Thee with all our heart and soul and strength; nor have we loved our neighbour as ourselves. We are all condemned by that perfect law; and if sentence were executed upon us, it would only be great justice. Thanks be to Thy holy Name! Many of us have fled to Christ, and Thou hast blotted out our sin. We praise Thee for full remission, freely and graciously given, never to be reversed; for Thou hast said: "I will cast their iniquities into the depths of the sea." What a joy is this! May Thy believing people be certain of it. May they know that there is "therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." May their souls rest and triumph in the perfect washing, and the perfect clothing, which Jesu's blood and righteousness have given to us. And oh that others, who have never yet known Thy pardoning love, might come to Thee this morning, and take it, and receive it. May there be many a heart here conscious of guilt, which shall be enabled to look to Jesus, the great Sin-offering, and looking to Him, may be able to see how God is reconciled, how sin is blotted out, how the wandering prodigal child is led to the Father's bosom. O precious Sin-bearer, let many know that Thou didst bear their sin. Let them know it to-day. Is it not written, "By His knowledge shall My Righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities"? May that priceless promise be fulfilled in thousands of cases. Oh that in this house some might breathe the silent prayer, "Lord Jesus, fulfil it to me." Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 46: CONFESSION: THE FEAST OF JEHOVAH ======================================================================== The Feast of Jehovah Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy Name. Lord stir up Thy people to praise Thee this day. At this halting-place of our pilgrimage, may we keep the day with song. Ordain the day of feasting for Thy people. Come Thyself to the feast; then shall our hearts be exceeding glad, and we will sing our Hallels unto Jehovah, the ever-blessed Jah, the Lord God of Israel. O Father, in Thy presence, though we feel ourselves at peace with Thee, we cannot but lament the many times in which we have offended Thee, nor can we cease to mourn that even now we come far short of what we owe Thee. Purge us. O Lord, purge us with hyssop and we shall be clean; wash us and we shall be whiter than snow. We confess our transgressions, and our iniquity we would not hide; but we look again to the great Sacrifice. Our eyes are on the Lamb that was slain, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. Thou knowest, Father, that all our hope is here, and this is our joy, that though we walk in the light, as God is in the light, and have fellowship with Thee, yet still for every offence that comes, the blood of Jesus Christ Thy Son cleanseth us from all sin. Amen ======================================================================== CHAPTER 47: CONFESSION: REST AND REFRESHING ======================================================================== Rest and Refreshing O our gracious God, we have need not only to make confession of sin, but to ask of Thee innumerable favours. We need to be comforted, for we are often bowed down. It may be we need to be sobered, for our heart runneth astray after the idols of the world. It may be that to-day we are dull and heavy. Oh, give us the Holy Spirit that we may be quick and lively and joyful in Thy House of prayer. Whatever it is that aileth us, O Jehovah-Rophi, lay Thine healing hand upon us, and if in anything we have need, O Jehovah-Jireh, in the mount may it be seen that the Lord doth provide. Bless Thy people here. Here are many of Thy servants who delight to do Thy will, but they are, perhaps, somewhat weary: Lord, refresh them. For this is the rest, and this is the refreshing—that we come and feed on Jesus Christ the Heavenly Bread. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 48: SUPPLICATION: EARLY MORNING PRAYER MEETING ======================================================================== Early Morning Prayer Meeting My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord.Psalms 5:3. Sweetly the holy hymn Breaks on the morning air; Before the world with smoke is dim We meet to offer prayer. While flowers are wet with dews, Dew of our souls descend, Ere yet the sun the day renews; O Lord, Thy Spirit send. Upon the battle-field, Before the fight begins, We seek, O Lord, Thy sheltering shield, To guard us from our sins. Ere yet our vessel sails Upon the stream of day, We plead, O Lord, for heavenly gales To speed us on our way. On the lone mountain side Before the morning's light, The Man of Sorrows wept and cried, And rose refreshed with might. Oh hear us then, for we Are very weak and frail; We make the Saviour's name our plea, And surely must prevail. Tune: "Franconia." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 49: SUPPLICATION: HEAL US, IMMANUEL! ======================================================================== Heal Us, Immanuel! O Christ Jesus our Lord, Thou art still mighty to heal, and we are a company who have come together full of sicknesses and sores and sorrows of all kinds. We would not waste a moment while blessings are so rife, and power to heal is so remarkably present in Thee; but we would each one strive to touch Thee, if we may, and ask that this day virtue would come out of Thee, O blessed risen Christ, to heal us of whatsoever disease we have. There are some that are Thy children, beloved Lord, but they are afflicted with the palsy of a weak and trembling faith. Lord, strengthen our faith. Lift us up beyond all question. Let there be no doubts in our mind about the fundamental principles of the everlasting Gospel. Let us have no distrust of Thy power to save even us, though we be the least of all saints and a very chief of sinners. Let us have no distrust of Thy Providence, no doubt of Thy faithful love; but may we just trust Thee as a child trusts its father, without the shadow of distrust, resting in the Lord and waiting patiently for Him. Heal us, Immanuel, of our unbelief and make us strong in faith, giving glory to God. Peradventure some of Thy children here are sorely tempted; they have had many trials during the week; they scarcely know how they have lived during the week, but here they are, and Thy lovingkindness has kept them alive. "As thy days so shall thy strength be": that is the promise. "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us": that is the experience. "I will trust and not be afraid": that is the practical inference from the promise and the experience. May each child of Thine say that through the power of the touch of the Master. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 50: SUPPLICATION: SINCERE FAITH DESIRED ======================================================================== Sincere Faith Desired O Lord, we often question ourselves to know whether we have real faith in Jesus Christ our Lord, and we will now pray Thee to search us, and try us and see that we are really trusting in Him; and if we are, Lord increase our faith. But if we have merely a notional faith, rid us from the counterfeit, and give us yet the real, precious gold, which wisdom alone can furnish. Oh, for a humble but sincere faith in our divine Lord. Lord, if it be necessary to break our hearts in order that we may have it, then let them be broken. If we have to unlearn a thousand things to learn the sweet secret of faith in Him, let us become fools that we may be wise, only bring us surely and really to stand upon the Rock of Ages—so to stand there as never to fall, but to be kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 51: SUPPLICATION: A SIGH FOR HOLINESS ======================================================================== A Sigh for Holiness O God, we are often ashamed of ourselves to find how vehemently our affections will turn toward earthly loves, how soon we are carried away by a sort of spiritual harlotry after other things. Oh, make us to be chaste to Thyself; our whole heart being given up to the one ever-blessed God, in the Trinity of divine Persons, whom we would worship this morning with all our heart and soul and spirit. We ask of Thee, most blessed Father, that Thy Holy Spirit may repeat in us the life of Christ. Especially, we pray that we may know the fellowship of His suffering, and the power of His resurrection. We know that He has suffered that we may not suffer, and has taken upon Himself our griefs, that we may be filled with joy. Yet, let the shadow of His blessed grief fall over our spirits now. May that shadow begin in our souls the consciousness of the darkness, the blackness, the heinousness of sin. May we see it in its true colours, and loathe ourselves to think we ever should have loved the wages of unrighteousness, and the pleasures of transgression. What pleasure can there be in disobeying our Father, in revolting against One who loves us so infinitely? May we feel the misery of sin, and chasten our hearts as with a scourge, to think that ever they should have gone aside from the infinite purity of love. Lord we would feel the shame of sin. We would count it as a thing that is not fit to live. Oh that it might be perfectly crucified in us, and the flesh out of which it comes. Would to God the whole power of evil within us, the very embodiment of evil might be slain; and that we might be delivered from its power entirely, to serve God in holiness all the days of our lives. Saviour, help us to mortify the flesh with its corruptions and lusts. May that which was our pride become our shame; that which was our love become our hate. May every form of sin for which we have been so ready to make excuse and apologies, be condemned by us, and taken out to die a felon's death. Let not our hands spare, nor our eyes have pity upon any one of our sins; but may we smite them till we have been clean delivered from their dominion, and even from their intrusion. We sigh for holiness, we pine for it. Lord grant we may attain to it, aye, to the very fullness of it by Thy sanctifying Spirit. Amen ======================================================================== CHAPTER 52: SUPPLICATION: THAT CHRIST MAY BE IN US ======================================================================== That Christ may be in us! Most gracious Father, we who have received Christ now desire to receive something more than pardon and salvation. We long that Christ may be in us the hope of glory—aye, of glory, of perfection, and exaltation. If we are darkened to-day, may we be enlightened by the brightness of the hope that is to be revealed. Help Thy poor servants to live above poverty, because they are rich in Christ. Let Thy suffering and afflicted ones, though the body be torn with pain, yet be full of joy, because there is a hope—a glorious hope—that the body shall be raised again from the grave and shall suffer no more. The Lord grant us grace not to live in this cloudy day of the present, but to mount aloft into the eternal brightness of the future, and to anticipate those joys which Thou has reserved for them that love Thee. Lord, keep us firmly believing in Thee. Forgive us whenever we sinfully mistrust Thee, and help us to believe Thee, come what may; yea, help us when the burden is heaviest, still to believe Thee, and help us to cast it upon Thee, being assured that as our day is, so shall our strength be. We would each one of us ask of Thee, this morning, greater fruitfulness unto God. We want that our whole life should be full of honour and glory unto God. Let us be loaded down with clusters, bowed down if need be like a well-laden branch. We wish not to be broken off; but we would always be content to bear any breakage, if we might but be loaded to the full with fruit for the Well-beloved. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 53: SUPPLICATION: FRAGRANT FELLOWSHIP ======================================================================== Fragrant Fellowship Our Father, as many of us as have been pardoned now desire of Thee that the Spirit of God, dwelling within us, may daily preserve us from all sin. Sanctify our thoughts. Keep our whole being clean and sweet before God, that as priests unto God, we may be always fit to offer sacrifice, and may never be shut out of the temple because of our uncleanness. Oh for such perpetual communion with God that we may be able to exercise a perpetual ministry on the behalf of God, offering prayer and thanksgiving and testimony among the sons of men. Lord grant us this. Be it ours to be Enochs, full of the divine life, so that we cannot die; full of the divine light so that we cannot err; walking with God in unbroken fellowship year after year. Blessed Spirit, wilt Thou teach us every day to be more useful. May we know how to get at men for God. Give us the keys of men's hearts, as far as we can be trusted with them. May there be about us a savour of Christ. May we come out of the ivory palaces wherein He hath made us glad, smelling of the myrrh and aloes and cassia, and all those other beds of spices in which we have lain. May men be sure that we have been with Jesus, because our conduct and converse shall daily betray that we also have been with Jesus of Nazareth. Give us the very brogue of Canaan: give us the accent of truth, and righteousness and love, and may those about us who have hitherto despised our Lord be led by us, through Thy Spirit, to honour and reverence Him. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 54: SUPPLICATION: WITH CHRIST IN THE HEAVENLIES ======================================================================== With Christ in the Heavenlies O dear Saviour, it is such a joy to us to know that Thou art "Very God of Very God," most truly divine. We worship Thee. It is an equal joy to know that Thou art in all points made like unto Thy brethren—most truly Man, of the substance of Thy mother. We joy in Thy humanity. Our heart rejoices to have such a Brother as Thou art, born for adversities; and it is a great privilege to us to think of Thee as sitting at the right hand of God, daily interceding for us, for though Thy Passion is but once, yet the influence of it is for ever. Though Thou didst but once bring the Sacrifice, yet Thou dost present it day and night on behalf of those that come to God by Thee. And we, too, are at the Father's right hand, since Thou art there. Thou dost represent our humanity. Thou dost represent us, and we are accepted in the Beloved, and we are raised up together, and made to sit together in the heavenlies in Christ. Let us realise our privilege. Lord, let us not live as if we were merely earth-born, for we are born from heaven. Let us not live as if our portion were beneath the moon; for our best portion lies on the other side of Jordan, in the goodly land; thither Christ has gone to take possession of it in our name. And as Thou art with the Father, let us feel that we are with the Father. Forgetting all the noise and turmoil of this week of tossings to and fro; forgetting all cares and anxieties of family and of business, we would now steal away to Jesus, and feel that we have stolen away towards God, and are now speaking with our Father face to face. Lord, Thou knowest us. Wilt Thou not look upon Thy children with that sweetly-searching eye of Thine which will spy out our wants to fulfil them; our desires, to grant them; our sins to pardon them; our weaknesses, to give us strength equal to our day? Father, we, being evil, speak to our fathers, and they give us, as their children, what we need. And now we speak to Thee, and Thou art not evil, and Thou wilt surely give us exceeding abundantly above what we ask or think. Thou wilt leave no one unsupplied, no grief unassuaged. In fact, we feel perfectly happy when we feel perfectly in the presence of God. We have all we want when we come to Thee. How am I rich when Christ is mine! To Him be the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 55: SUPPLICATION: OH FOR NEWNESS OF LIFE! ======================================================================== Oh, for Newness of Life! Lord, give us to know the power of Thy resurrection. This day, may we rise from all our natural apathy, and sluggishness, and insensibility, to have a tender, fleshy heart that shall feel deep contrition on account of sin, and a profound sympathy with Christ in His griefs on account of sin. Lord, give us to leave the world behind us, reckoning it to be a grave in which we must not rest; for He hath quickened us, though we were dead in trespasses and sin. May we rise into newness of life, and as we have been buried with Him in the likeness of His death, let us rise with Him in the likeness of His resurrection. Oh, for newness of life! Hast Thou not said, "Behold, I make all things new"? Lord, let everything be new in us, and everything living, vividly living, quickened into fullness of life, life more abundantly. Grant us this, we pray Thee; and then give us fellowship with Thee, even in Thy uprising, till we be raised up together and made to sit together in the heavenlies with Christ, reigning with Him as He reigns, exercising a hallowed priesthood, even as He exercises it, being made kings and priests unto God, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 56: SUPPLICATION: GO ON TO FASHION US! ======================================================================== Go on to Fashion us! Blessed Lord, we trust there are beginnings and outlines of Thine own character in us, through Thy Holy Spirit; but let that work be carried on, putting more of the contents of beauty, more of the sweetness, the gentleness, the tenderness, that was in Thyself. O divine Sculptor, the divine Spirit; go on to fashion us, until, as Jesus was, so we may be. We will not ask to be spared pain or sorrow, if we may but grow in grace and in the likeness of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Oh make us such, that even Thou Thyself canst look upon us in Christ, and see with delight the work of Thine own hands. Some of us have a hard struggle against inward corruption and hindering circumstances, and impetuous passions. Oh subdue us, Lord. Bring every thought into captivity to the law of Christ. Lead us as captives, triumphing over us in every place, and making even devils to see how sin is conquered in us, and that Christ doth reign. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 57: SUPPLICATION: CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF THE FIRSTBORN ======================================================================== Conformed to the Image of the Firstborn We ask that we may be among those who love Christ and keep His commandments. We are very anxious about this: the Lord make us obedient to our blessed Leader. May we follow in His steps. We must complain of ourselves that we are not what we want to be, nor what we should be. Oh we do rejoice in this—that we are not what we shall be, for "When He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Wilt Thou be pleased, by Thy Spirit, O our Father, to conform us to the image of the Firstborn. Take out of us all tempers that are not according to His gentleness, all spirits that are not after the manner of His obedient, loving, filial spirit. May we be sons in whom Thou art well pleased. May we behave ourselves in Thy house in such a way that Thou canst manifest Thyself to us, and give us answers to our prayers. Help us to delight ourselves in that Thou mayest give us the desire of our hearts. We want to be all that believers can be. The Lord grant that the life of faith in us may come to its flower, and not be for ever merely in the stalk and root; may we bring forth ripe fruit unto our Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit of God. Fire us with the heavenly flame. Make us intensely earnest for the increase of the Redeemer's Kingdom, for the conservation of His truth, and for the exhibition of that truth in all its sanctifying power. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 58: SUPPLICATION: GRACE FOR EVERYTHING ======================================================================== Grace for Everything O God, we ask Thee to grant us grace to overcome every tendency to evil in our character, every habit which has been formed which genders towards sin. Help us to overcome all the inclinations of our constitution; may these be kept in due check. We know Thou hast given us for the preservation of life, certain appetites and desires which in themselves are not sinful, but they are too often the causes of sin, being carried beyond due bounds. We pray that we may each one have power over himself. May the Holy Spirit anoint us unto our kingships, that we may reign over ourselves in an imperial way. May the Lord Jesus reign over us! We should have every thought brought into captivity. We desire that spirit, soul and body may live unto Him who died for us, that we being not our own nor the world's, much less Satan's, may be the well-known property of the Lord of Hosts, and may live entirely as to every part of our nature, "Unto Him that loved us and gave Himself for us." Lord bless us in our works! Give us grace to perform our ordinary business so as to glorify God in it. Give us grace to do our spiritual work aright. Are we preachers of the Gospel? Oh for great grace to preach with a divine anointing! Are we teachers in the school? Oh for great grace to understand the nature of children and to be able to rule their hearts! Whatever else we are doing, do Thou enable us to do it as unto the Lord. Let officers of the churches be enabled to be ensamples to the flock, and to go in and out before the people, exhibiting all those rules which adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour. Lord, we want to be better Christians than we are; we want to be saturated with Thy Spirit, as Gideon's fleece was wet with dew. We are learning a little every day of our own weakness and of the corruption that lies within. Every day may we see more and more the suitability of Christ; the perfectness and suitability of His working, to bring us unto His perfect image. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 59: SUPPLICATION: THROUGH BONDAGE TO LIBERTY ======================================================================== Through Bondage to Liberty O God, remember any in this house that have never known the griefs of Christ because they have never themselves grieved over sin. O Father, let the Holy Spirit come upon them as the Spirit of bondage, convincing them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. And then let Him come as the sweet Spirit of liberty, leading them to the joy and peace in believing which come through the eternal merits and the precious blood of our redeeming Lord. Oh, that every one of us might look to Christ and live; yea, live for ever through the life that is in Him. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 60: SUPPLICATION: BEING RATHER THAN DOING ======================================================================== Being Rather Than Doing We pray Thee, Lord, to make us more like Thyself in every respect. Once we were all for doing; now we are much more for being. We would rather sit with Mary and do nothing but learn, than become cumbered with much serving like good Martha. Lord, we sometimes feel we could honestly say, some of us, we could not do any more that we know of, or else we would do it; but now we want to serve Thee better, and we pray that we may do it with a simpler motive, with greater singleness of heart, with deeper devotion to Christ. We want not only to live and work, but to have Christ living in us, and for our life to be but a branch streamlet from the mighty river of the life of Christ. Lord, make us like the Firstborn among many brethren. He is the very model of the family. Make us like Him, O our Father, for the glory of Thy Name. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 61: SUPPLICATION: FOR THE REIGN OF CHRIST ======================================================================== For the Reign of Christ O Father in heaven, take away from us all the dust of the last week's travel. Now may we wash our feet in the laver and be clean, and so let us compass Thine altar, O God. Deliver us from everything that hinders and hampers the leaping and the flying of the quickened spirit. May we run and not be weary. May we mount up with wings as eagles. May we walk and not faint, and may this be a day of high joys and of supreme delights; and if of earnest effort and of Christian labour, may all this be part of the delight. May it be that we live to pleasure for we live to Thee. Bless us as a church and a people, and continue to increase us with the increase of God. Knit us more and more together in holy love, and let the Spirit of God like a cloud rest over this place, and within the hearts of His people may He be as a flaming fire. Send times of revival and refreshing to all the churches. Let our whole country be visited with a blessing from on high. O Lord, we thank Thee that we have the open Bible, and an open ministry, and the Spirit of God with us. Let Great Britain flourish by the preaching of the Word! Bless the Throne, and the Court of Parliament, and send great wisdom at this time that everything may be done aright to Thine honour and to the prosperity of the people. Let all the nations of the earth be visited with Thy love. Let the House of Israel be remembered in the time of sorrow and captivity. O God, deliver Thine Ancient People from the hands of cruel and unrighteous men; and let the day come when we shall all feel one in Christ, and every national distinction shall be swept away; for, hast Thou not made of one blood all nations of men that dwell upon the face of the earth? And do Thou come, Messiah, Prince of Peace, and Son of Man, man's King and Lord. Come Thou and reign over us Thou Ancient of Days, without whom was not anything made. Come and take the crown which Thou didst purchase by Thy shame and death, and reign for ever over the sons of men. Now forgive us, accept us, quicken us, bless us. We ask all in the name of the Well-beloved. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 62: SUPPLICATION: UP TO THE HIGH MOUNTAIN ======================================================================== Up to the High Mountain Speak, Lord, and if there be darkness make it light with Thy Word. Speak to any that are sleeping and bid them awake. Speak to any that are heavy of heart, and bid them rejoice. May we clash the high-sounding cymbals to-day, whilst we rejoice in Jehovah who is our strength and our song, "who also is become our salvation." May we get us up to the high mountain to-day, and rejoice in Him who bids us mount and mount away. May our dwelling be on high. Dost Thou say unto us, "Who can ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall dwell in His holy place?" We desire that we may be men of that order, who would come near unto Thee. We would be as near as Jesus is, so near, so very near to God, we cannot nearer be. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 63: INTERCESSION: PSALM 82 ======================================================================== Psalms 82 Thou shalt inherit all nations. The kings of earth are in the hands Of God who reigns on high; He in their council chamber stands. And sees with watchful eye. Though foolish princes tyrants prove, And tread the godly down; Though earth's foundations all remove; He weareth still the crown. They proudly boast a godlike birth, In death like men they fall; Arise, O God, and judge the earth, And rule the nations all. When shall Thy Son, the Prince of Peace Descend with glorious power? Then only shall oppression cease: Oh, haste the welcome hour. Tune: "St. Anne." ======================================================================== CHAPTER 64: INTERCESSION: GREAT DESIGNS OF LOVE ======================================================================== Great Designs of Love Lord bless Thy people. Let the fullness of Thy grace be ours. Let us not only be believers but full believers. Let us not only be saintly, but make us real saints. May we live unto God. May we rise superior to the ordinary mass of mankind, in holy obedience, doing Thy will, that we may know of Thy teaching in holy faith, accepting the teaching so that God may dwell in us and we in God. Dear Father, save this congregation. There may be some here who have put themselves to a good deal of inconvenience to come to this place, and yet are not saved. Why they should want to hear the Word and yet not receive it, we do not know; but perhaps Thou hast great designs of love for them to-day, and the hour has come when they shall be made to know Thou hast loved them with an everlasting love. They have been indifferent and careless up till now. Perhaps they have even resisted Thy Spirit. They refused Christ and provoked Him; but now, Lord, where sin abounded let grace much more abound. May this be the beginning of days to some who shall this morning see Christ, accept Him, delight in Him, receive perfect pardon through Him and become new creatures in Him, to the praise and glory of Thy grace. The Lord bless the Word to some who little expect it. May it come to them as a wonder, as the man who ploughed his field and thought only of the clods and the oxen, and the possible harvest, yet stumbled on a treasure hidden there. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 65: INTERCESSION: COMFORTED AND MADE READY ======================================================================== Comforted and Made Ready God comfort His mourners! Let the joy of the departed ones be such joy to us that we shall scarcely know a grief. Make us ready, Lord. Keep us waiting for Thy Coming, or for our ascent unto Thyself. Oh, how short a time will intervene, and we shall see the God with whom we speak to-day! In how few days, or weeks, or months, or years, shall we have crossed the Jordan, and we shall come, each man into his heritage. God grant it be so! Let nobody in this house come short of it through unbelief, but may we all be there when the muster roll is read, to answer to our names. Oh, grant it may be so, Thou blessed Lord of love. Amen. We are greatly cheered and comforted as we remember, O Saviour, that Thou art the "Resurrection and the Life." United unto Thee we can never utterly die, and if dead, yet shall we live; for it is not possible that there should be dead members of Thy living Body. Thou art not the God of the dead but of the living, and therefore, those that have fallen asleep are yet alive. In the fullness of life they still exist; they all have still their God, and he that hath his God hath bliss. We would come close to Thee, Jesus, crowding away from the death that hovers all around us, coming from the thick darkness of the sepulchre into the brightness of Thy blessed presence; that we may live in the light, and walk in it as Thou art in the light, and have fellowship with Thy Father and with Thee. Oh the joy of being one with Thee Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 66: INTERCESSION: THE CHRISTLESS MULTITUDES ======================================================================== The Christless Multitudes Our Father, we ask of Thee a great favour; it is that others whom Christ has redeemed might be brought to know Him. O Lord, we live in the midst of millions that lie still in the wicked one, as if his bosom were their resting place. O, Saviour, be Thou exalted among men. Oh, that Thy name were sweet to them as ointment poured forth! Would God they knew the excellence of a life with Thee, the sweet peace and the brilliant peace with which Thou dost endow the hearts of Thy people! Lord, they will not be convinced, and those that are convinced yet somehow start back; they know that Thou art the Son of God, and yet they do not believe, and even those that believe Thee believe not as they should. O Spirit of God, give faith we pray Thee: work it in the hearts of millions. Bring them to the Saviour's feet, and may this day be a day of the manifestation of Thy holy power in gathering in the wanderers and strengthening those that are with God. O Lord, there are many that are with us, but there are multitudes that are not with God nor with us. The Lord change them and renew their hearts for Jesus' sake. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 67: INTERCESSION: DELIGHT IN THE LORD'S DAY ======================================================================== Delight in the Lord's Day We thank Thee, Lord, for putting the Sabbath not at the end of the week, as once it was, as though we were to work six days to get one day's rest, but now we begin the week with rest. Thou givest us that rest not earned, but given. And with that rest we are to take in strength to do the six days' work: make it so to-day. May this be the market day of the week, and may we make good marketing. May Thy servants take in large stores. It is a port at which we call. May we victual the vessel well, and then go sailing over the six leagues of days with the provision Thou hast given to us to-day. The Lord grant it! And may Thy people be fed with the finest of the wheat, and go their way as men who have been to a festival, who sing for joy of heart. Look in mercy upon Thy Church at large. Revive Thy churches; Laodicean we fear they are. Come Lord, with a live coal from off the altar, and set Thy churches on a blaze again. Oh for the days of the Son of Man, times of refreshing! We would see millions converted to God. We would see the whole Church quickened to the fullest extent by the indwelling Spirit. Thou canst do it Lord. Do it for Thy name and glory's sake. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 68: INTERCESSION: SAVE THE PEOPLE! ======================================================================== Save the People! Our Father, we do earnestly pray Thee to look upon these unconverted among us; we are always praying for them, but we would begin to pray with a greater intensity. Hear the many supplications which have gone up for some who are almost persuaded to be Christians, but not quite. Oh let them not tarry longer in that dangerous place, on the brink of faith, knowing but not obeying, hearing but not receiving the Gospel. Oh decide many this morning! While Thy servant is preaching, the Lord bring sinners to Himself; and all over London, and all over the world, wherever, whether by pastor or evangelist, or private member, the Gospel is being told out, whether among us or among the heathen, let the blessed message be backed up by the Eternal Spirit; and may men be turned to Christ by thousands, and hundreds of thousands, until the whole earth will be filled with Thy glory. Lord convert London; we bless Thee Thou hast not cast it out, but if there be any worthy to be called outcasts, the Lord gather together the outcasts of Israel and bring them to His own dear feet. Save the people, O Lord, and raise up a nation that shall fear Thy name. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 69: INTERCESSION: FOR ALL CLASSES AND CONDITIONS OF MEN ======================================================================== For All Classes and Conditions of Men The Lord bless today all His people wherever gathered, of many nations, and speaking differing tongues. We pray for our people at home, and we offer prayer for the one great family of God all over the world. Oh, that there might be a revival of religion in every country; and where as yet Christ is not known, break on the long night of heathendom. Grant that yet the people may seek after God, and God's own Gospel come to meet their seeking. O God, have pity upon London with all its sorrows, and may something be done yet to reach every inhabitant, that the Gospel may come to every house and to every heart, till this city shall be as renowned for Godliness as now it is for the multitude of men. O Lord, we long for Thy glory to be known by all mankind. Our heart sighs for the Jew, that He still refuses the Messiah, oh bring Him to the dear Messiah's feet. We cry to Thee for those who go about in Romanism and Ritualism, seeking after a righteousness of their own. They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Oh, that they might have the knowledge, and might seek Jesus, and find in Him eternal life. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 70: INTERCESSION: "TODAY HE ROSE AND LEFT THE DEAD" ======================================================================== "Today He Rose and Left the Dead" Our Father, if there be any who are mourning, and that hang down their heads, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance and make them glad. On this Day of the Lord's Resurrection may no soul be in the gloom of the sepulchre. "Today He rose and left the dead, And Satan's empire fell." May all the saints to-day rejoice in their risen Lord, and rise with Him, and sit together with Him in the heavenlies, and reign with Him in the fullness of His joy. The Lord bless our dear friends who cannot come up to Thy house. Thou rememberest them and so do we. The Lord send them His blessing in their chamber. Oh, that the house wherein they tarry might be bright with the presence of their Lord. Restore the sick; and such of our brotherhood as are appointed unto death, the Lord be solemnly with them. May they die in transports. May they depart out of this world full of the eternal life. May the great sea of God come up in flood-tide into the river of their being, so that though it beginneth to run low from its natural sources it may be filled from the supernatural deeps of God's indwelling presence. Amen. ======================================================================== CHAPTER 71: INTERCESSION: THE HARVEST SEASON ======================================================================== The Harvest Season O God, our Father, while we pray for the whole Church, we would not forget any one of Thy saints. There is not a lamb among Thy flock we would disdain to feed. Bless the tired ones! There are those that have dear ones very sick and ill: the Lord comfort and sustain them under great trouble of seeing others suffer. Remember any that are in temporal difficulties, and those who are themselves ill. But especially help those who are depressed in spirit. There are among Thine own people plants that grow in the shade. Remember the man of a sorrowful spirit, and the woman of a sad heart. Lift up the light of Thy countenance upon Thy people and let them be no more sad. Send, we pray Thee, seasonable weather for the ingathering of the fruits of the earth; but above all send a time of ingathering to Thy Church. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done. Fulfil that promise of the Father which Thou hast made to Thy Son—"They shall call them a people which was not a people, and a beloved which was not a beloved. Nations which knew not Thee shall run unto Thee." Oh draw them to-day; save them to-day. May this Midsummer Sunday be a day in which many fruits shall ripen for Christ. Lord save the people; save the whole of this people. We ask it in the name, the mighty Sovereign name, of Jesus. Amen. ======================================================================== Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/spurgeon-ch-behold-the-throne-of-grace/ ========================================================================