“In Genesis 3, one of the great tragedies in all of Scripture occurs. Adam and Eve sin against God, and are banished from the garden as God puts a curse upon the ground. It is a heartbreaking rupture in God’s perfect creation, and it is hard not to read this text without feeling a twinge of despair. And yet, before the curse comes a promise. God declares…
Call to Worship December 22, 2024
“The shepherds were keeping their flocks by night; probably a calm, peaceful night, wherein they felt the usual difficulty of keeping their weary eyelids still uplifted as sleep demanded its due of them. On a sudden, to their amazement, a mighty blaze lit up the heavens, and turned midnight into midday. The glory of the Lord, by which, according to the idiom of the language, is meant…
Call to Worship December 15, 2024
“Fifthly, There are several kinds of prayer. I shall speak a word to these three, [instantaneous], secret, and family… 3. Family prayer. God must be worshiped in our families, as well as in our closets. (1.) God commands it, in so far as he requires every kind of prayer, Ephesians 6:18, ‘Praying always with all prayer.’ The scripture speaks of a church in Aquila’s house, Romans 16:5. Surely the…
Call to Worship, December 8, 2024
“Fourthly, In whose name are we to pray? In the name of Christ, John 14:13, 14, ‘Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it.’ This is to plead the merits of Jesus Christ. We must come to God in the name of Christ, laying all…
Call to Worship, December 1, 2024
“Thirdly, The matter of prayer, or what we are to petition and seek for. These are, the things that are agreeable to God’s will. To pray for the fulfilling of unlawful desires, is horrid, James 4:3. But the will of God is the rule of our prayers, 1 John 5:14, ‘This is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he…
Call to Worship November 24, 2024
“Of the Nature of Prayer in General; with the Import of Praying Without Ceasing 1 Thessalonians 5:17, ‘Pray without ceasing.’… Secondly, The parts of prayer are three, (1.) Confession, (2.) Thanksgiving, and (3.) Petition. 1. Confession, Daniel 9:4, 5, ‘I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant, and mercy to them that love him,…
Call to Worship December 17, 2024
“Of the Nature of Prayer in General; with the Import of Praying Without Ceasing1 Thessalonians 5:17, ‘Pray without ceasing.’THESE words are an exhortation briefly delivered, as laws use to be; and therein we have, 1. A duty proposed, ‘Pray.’ 2. The manner of it, ‘without ceasing.’ I. We have the duty itself, ‘Pray.’ It may be asked, What is prayer? I answer, It is ‘an offering up…
Call to Worship November 10, 2024
“3. Consider the evils of it; I mean its present evils. Danger respects what is to come; evil, what is present. Some of the many evils that attend an unmortified lust may be mentioned:— (1.) It grieves the holy and blessed Spirit, which is given to believers to dwell in them and abide with them. So the apostle, Eph. 4:25–29, dehorting them from many lusts and sins, gives this as the great…
Call to Worship November 3, 2024
“(4.) There is the danger of eternal destruction. For the due management of this consideration, observe,— [1.] That there is such a connection between a continuance in sin and eternal destruction, that though God does resolve to deliver some from a continuance in sin that they may not be destroyed, yet he will deliver none from destruction that continue in sin; so that whilst any one lies under an abiding power of sin,…
Call to Worship October 27, 2024
“(3.) Loss of peace and strength all a man’s days. To have peace with God, to have strength to walk before God, is the sum of the great promises of the covenant of grace. In these things is the life of our souls. Without them in some comfortable measure, to live is to die. What good will our lives do us if we see not the face of God…