that shall be for our best good. How often have God's children gone with their sorrows to a throne of grace, and, casting their burden on the Lord, felt themselves sustained by the everlasting When difficulties and perplexities increase on every hand, and waves of affliction roll darkly over the soul, then is verified to them the truth expressed by the stanza: arms. From every stormy wind that blows, What a relief to a mother's burdened heart to be permitted to go to her Heavenly Father and plead for the son she loves, assured that Heaven cares for her! And trusting in God's promises, to believe that in years to come-it may be when she slumbers in the grave--those prayers shall be answered, and that loved, though wayward son, be at length gathered into the fold of the good Shepherd. How gracious the privilege accorded to the church, of coming with all her desires to a mercy-seat made accessible through the blood of her crucified Lord-being heard in his name who is head over all things for her sake. Gathered together with one accord in one place like the disciples of old, her petitions come up with acceptance before Him who is "nigh unto all that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth." Good men have always been men of prayer. Enoch undoubtedly was such; for he walked with God, and this implies communion with him, which includes prayer. Such, too, were Noah, Daniel, Job, Abraham and Jacob. David was eminently a man. of prayer as his Psalms abundantly testify. Allusion has already been made to the Saviour's example in this respect, as also to that of the apostles and early Christians who had both his example and precepts for their guide. In times nearer our own there have been many of like spirit: some standing in the high places of Zion; others moving in humbler spheres--all accustomed often to draw nigh to God in prayer. The way to the throne was familiar to them-communion with God their highest privilege. From the heart they could say with the Psalmist; "I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live." The text, my brethren, reveals the secret of all true religion. "Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you." When the backslidden Christian returns to a forsaken mercy-seat, and pours the breathings of a penitent soul into the ear of his patient Heavenly Father; when the closet is revisited as a place of sacred communion with the Father of spirits, and there the fainting heart unburdens itself of its crushing load of worldliness and sin: when the family altar has been erected again, and the morning and evening sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving is offered thereon; and when the prayer circle is re-entered by the wanderer, and his voice is again heard among his brethren supplicating the divine mercy, and pleading the promises of infinite love-then is the joy of salvation restored to that soul, and peace and hope abide there again. When we, as a church, endeavor unitedly to draw nigh to God, and plead fervently that he will draw nigh unto us that we may walk in the light of his countenance again; when all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking are put away from us, with all malice; and we are kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us; when we can carry our gift to the altar and offer it there without a brother having aught against us, and plead for God's blessing on every inhabitant of Zion; and when the dying sinner's case lies heavy upon our heart, till, like a cart pressed beneath its sheaves, we bear it before God in the name of the sinner's Advocate and Redeemer--then may we hope to see the salvation of Israel come out of Zion. "When the Lord shall build up Zion he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer." There dwelt at Ayr in Scotland two hundred and fifty years ago a clergyman of more than common piety. Before his conversion he had been remarkable for his daring wickedness. Settled at Ayr, he found a wild, reckless, drinking, fighting people. To them he preached faithfully the gospel of Christ. For them he prayed. He was known often to spend the whole night in the meeting house, alone, in prayer. When at home reclining on his bed, he always kept lying near at hand a cloak, which he was accustomed to throw over his shoulders as he rose again and again to pray during the night watches. His wife, once expostulating with him about it, he replied: Ah, woman, woman; you know not what it is to bear the burden of three thousand souls for whom you must give account. Would that every servant of God possessed the apostolic faith and fervor of John Welsh! Prayer, my brethren, is a holy privilege. The ear of him who sitteth upon the throne forever, is open to receive our supplications. We may draw nigh to him, and he will draw nigh to us. "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry." As we raise our feeble voices toward the throne, they seem wafted on angels' wings to our great High Priest who ever liveth to make intercession for us; and perfumed with his precious blood, they are offered at the mercy-seat, where of fering of his was never rejected. Then comes down the answer of peace from the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort; the soul feels the refreshing presence of Jehovah. And the Christian, all nerved again for holy enterprise, and clad with zeal as a cloak, goes forth to engage in the work to which God in his providence may call him. Elijah had felt, in common with his countrymen, the sad effects of the drought visited upon the land by reason of the wickedness of Ahab, and of the more wicked Jezebel and her court. "And it came to pass, after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go show thyself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth." But the Lord God of Elijah must first be acknowledged by that idolatrous people. After that the prophets of Baal had vainly called upon their god" from morning until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice," "it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and of Jacob; let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me; that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it they fell on their faces, and they said, The Lord, he is the God: the Lord, he is the God."-God was ready, having thus been acknowledged, to bestow the blessing for lack of which the land was nigh to perish. May we not hope, my brethren, that the same God has in store spiritual blessings for us? But ere he bestow them he will be honored by his own people. They must come out from the world, the love of which is enmity against Him: must turn from their covetousness, which is idolatry; and, confessing their God from whom they have departed, draw nigh to him that he may draw nigh to them. Then will the windows of heaven be opened, and blessings descend in showers, until the church, like a well watered garden, shall bloom with beauty. The 20th of June, 1630, was observed as a communion season by the Kirk of Shotts, in Scotland. During the communion-service, there were precious manifestations of the presence of the Lord with his people, who felt they could not separate without further religious exercises on the morrow. A young clergyman* was appointed to preach. In the morning, while walking alone in the fields, his soul sunk within him as he thought of the duty he was to perform. He felt inadequate to the task. The hour of service came. The minister trembled as he went forward to address the multitude that had assembled, but was sustained and helped in a wonderful manner. He earnestly exhorted the people to seek the Lord while he might be found, and to call upon him while he was near. The word spoken was with power and with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. More than five hundred souls dated their spiritual birth from the awakenings of that hour. It afterwards appeared that the preacher and several others had passed the whole previous night in prayer. Here was the secret of the power which attended that preaching. *Rev. John Livingston. Thus God honors his people. "Draw nigh to me, and I will draw nigh to you," is his language. When with importunity and humble faith they present their prayer before him, he will bestow the promised blessing. Witness Jacob at Peniel, "greatly afraid and distressed," because of the anger of his offended brother. "For I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children." Then none could deliver save He who had said to him, "Return to thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee." The God of Abraham and of Isaac was the God of Jacob too. He listened to his pleading servant, yielded to the importunity of his struggling soul, and granted the blessing asked. Israel's God still hears the cries of his children when pleading for those they love; and when Christians with holy fervor pray for perishing sinners, God is pleased to draw near, and subdue rebellious hearts unto himself. It is instructive to note how, when God is about to revive his work in any place, he begins it by imparting to his people a spirit of prayer, attended with deep humiliation and self-abasement. "In those days, and in that time," saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come; they and the Children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thitherward, saying, come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant, that shall not be forgotten." "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced; and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for an only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born." About the year 1825, a clergyman* visited the churches of East Tennessee, and proposed to them to observe what was called "the twilight concert of prayer," with reference to the revival of religion. Most of the churches visited agreed to observe this concert. Where the family could come together at the hour proposed, they would then have their evening worship, and in connection with that exercise, pray for the revival of the cause of God, and the conversion of sinners. When it was not convenient for the family to assemble, each pious member of it, in the closet, on the journey, or wherever he might be, alone would lift up his earnest prayers to God for the salvation of souls. Thus, over a very considerable extent of country, from evening to evening, a vast volume of prayer ascended to the throne of God. And "God, merciful and gracious," heard the cries of his children. In answer to their petitions, he caused the influences of his Spirit to descend, "as showers that water the earth." And the wilderness and solitary place were made to rejoice and bloom as the garden *Rev. N. Patterson. of the Lord. Every church that observed this concert shared richly in the Divine blessing. The entire result can never be known until "the Lord himself shall count, when he writeth up the people, that this and that man was born there." It is by imparting a spirit of prayer that God begins a work of grace in the sinner's heart. Of Saul of Tarsus it was said: "Behold he prayeth," and his prayer was heard by his compassionate Redeemer. Thus was it with the publican; thus with the dying thief; thus with Cornelius, and thus has it been with multitudes in later times-thus is it to-day. "Then the loftiness of man is bowed down, and the haughtiness of men is made low, and the Lord alone is exalted in that day." "I heard it, but I heeded it not," said a man of a proud spirit; "I heard again, but I hated it as if it were death. And once more I heard it, and my spirit melted. It was as if God himself, with the resistless might of his infinite love, spoke to my inner spirit. I was transfixed. Wonder, fear, hope, shame, grief, love, joy, sprang up in my soul. I wept like a child; and kneeling down before my Saviour and God, with trembling awe, I confessed my sins and sought his forgiveness." My hearers, are you accustomed to pray? I ask not you, my Christian brethren. No Christian can live without prayer. I put the question to others here. Do you pray, my friends? It may be that you do not. Possibly some of you, instead of calling upon your Maker in humble prayer, confessing your sins and seeking his pardoning mercy, use his name profanely. Beware! Soon you will be called to confront that God by whose favor you have lived; but whose goodness you have abused, the riches of whose grace you have despised, whose authority you have treated with bold or careless contempt, whose holy name you have profaned? How painful the thought of your coming to a dying hour, your peace not yet made with Him so soon to be your Judge! What an inestimable privilege, then, to be permitted to draw nigh to Him, as to your reconciled Father. But fear has taken hold on you. You know not how to approach unto him. In conclusion,--Remember, all ye who neglect or refuse to ask God for his mercy, he assures you you may call upon him when it is too late-call when he will not answer-seek him early, but not find him. Be wise, therefore, I beseech you-to-day. Defer not the work of your soul's salvation. Lest on that awful day, when the heavens and the earth shall flee at the presence of Jehovah, you who have refused to answer when God called, and refused to call while God waited to answer, shall, in your terror and dismay, vainly call upon the mountains and the rocks to fall on you, and hide you from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. The Lord God, who hears prayer, draw you by his love, and save you from the sinners' doom, for Jesus' sake. Amen. |