Christian herald., December 01, 1882, Page 4, Image 4

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C hristian H erald .
we could not expect an answer to
such prayers. Hence, they would
n
EDITORS $
not l>e acceptable with him.
D. T. S tanley , B ruce W olverton ,
4. All our prayers must be offer­
ed in the name of Christ. Christ
The Bliss of Heaven.
«• The voice of weeping «hall be no more
heard.”- Ina. 65: 19.
The glorified weep no more, for
"”Tg^xrr*ìììiìi li«iMit
Calling on the Name of the tween God and man ; hence when
we go to God in prayer, we must
Lord.
approach him in the name of his
The inspired apostle Peter, in his only begotten Son.
5. But in the passage under con-
sermon on the day of Pentecost,
that whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved.”
To call on the name of the Lord
is to call on the Lord himself. The
salvation spoken of evidently in­
cludes salvation from sins whatever
else may be meant by the language.
Hence We learn from this passage
that calling on the Lord is set down
as a condition of being made free
from sin, and of standing justified
in the sight of God. If we look at
the expression, “ Calling on the
name of the Lord ” in the sense of
prayer, then it may be well to note
.
every acceptable prayer. These
may be briefly stated as follows:
1. It must be offered in faith.
We are told that “ without faith it
is impossible to please God ; for he
that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder
of them that diligently seek him.”
And again : " Whatsoever is not of
faith is sin.” He, therefore, who
goes to God in acceptable prayer
must exercise unwavering faith in
him and in his promises.
2. It must be offered with a pure
motive. James says, "Ye ask, and
receive not, because ye ask amiss,
that ye may consume it upon your
lusts.” Hence, when we ask for a
blessing from God, we must lie sure
that we ask with a pure motive,
otherwise we have no promise of
receiving anything. If God be­
stows blessings upon us in answer
to our prayers, he expects that we
will use these to glorify his name
and advance the cause of our
blessed Master.
3. We should ask for suer thinLf"
as God has promised to give us in
answer to prayer. He has not pro­
mised to perforin miracles at our
will in this age of the world, it
makes no matter how strong our
faith may l>e in ltoth his power ami
his promise. We might pray for
the mountains to be removed and
its hills to be dug down, or, like
Joshua of old, that the sun should
stand still upon Gibeon anxl the
jnoop in the valley of Ajolon, but
gg the day of miracles has passed,
•rone. There are no broken friend-
ships nor blighted prospects in
heaven. Poverty, famine, peril,
persecution and slander are un­
known there. No pain distresses;
no thought of death or bereave-
than prayer. He includes obedience
more, for they are perfectly sancti­
to the commands of Christ. Every
fied. No “evil heart of unbelief”
one, therefore, who does not pray’
prompts them to depart from the
in the spirit of humble obedience,
living God ; they .are without fault
need not
before his throne, ami are fully con -
him in his petition. /
formed to his image. Well may
Christ says: “ Not every one
■they cease to mourn who have
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of ceased to sin.
They weep rfo more, because all
heaven ; but he that doeth the will
of my Father who is in heaven.” fear of change is past. T hey know
We...learn from this that prayer that they, are eternally secure. Sin
alone is not sufficient. We must is, shut out and they are shut in-
also do something, and that which They dwell within a city which
we are to do is the will of God, shall never be stormed; they bask
- Christ
in ’prT^
7™T * ■■m..
feet harmony with that of Peter. they drink of a river which shall
Hence, when Peter declared that never dry;. they pluck fruit from a
every’ one who shall call on the tree which shall never wither
name of the Lord shall be saved, he Countless cycles may revolve, but
did not mean that whosoever shall eternity shall not lie exhausted;
simply say Lord, Lord, shall re­ and while eternity endures, their
ceive the remission of his sins but immortality and blessedness shall
he evidently had before him just co-exist with it. They are forever
.........
such a
three thousand on Pentecost. They
They weep no more, because
not only said, “ Men and brethren, every desire is fulfilled. They can
what shall we do?” but they hot wish for anything which they
obeyed the commands of the have not in possession. Eye and
A|M)stle; then, ami not till then, ear, heart and hand, judgment,
they received the forgiveness of imagination, hope, desire, will, all
their sins, and the gift of the Holy the faculties are completely satis­
Spirit. Now, in like manner, fied. And imperfect as our present
should every one call upon the ideas are of the tilings which God
Lord at the present day. Wo must hath prepared for them that love
do what we can in our feeble way him, yet we know Though,/by the
to bring alxiut the answer to our revelation of the Spirit, that the
prayers. If we pray for the con saints above are supremely blessed.
version of our neighbor, we must The joy of Christ, which is an in­
worker his conversion. We must finite fullness of delight, is in them.
not wait for the Lord to do all the Tljey bathe tlmmselvies in the bot­
work. If we pray for the success tomless, shoreless sea of infinite
of our missionaries, we must ex­ l>eatitude. That same joyful rest
pect to putourliamTTinourpockets remains for us. It may not be far
and assist in sustaining them in distant. Ere long the weeping wil­
their good work.
low shall lie exchanged for the
These, and others that might lx* palm branch of victory, and sor­
mentioned, are conditions of every row’s dew dropswill be transformed
acceptable prayer.
into Xhe pearls of everlasting bliss.
Who is faithful ? He who does “ Wherefore comfort one another
the duty of the day, whatever the with these words.” Can we not
day may be. His lot may be dark; exclaim with Dr. Watts :
but heaven opens to his view—as s “ Bln, my worst enemy before,
I
it did to the Master when he took
Shall vex my eyes and eatu no more, '
his place as a sinner, among sin­ My inward foes shall all be slain,
Nor Satan break my peace again.”
ners, identifying himself with his
brethren.— Ex,
—C. II. Eparyeon,
Personal.
—Bro. Bruce Wolverton, junior
editor of the H erald came down
from Corvallis last Saturday to be
B?nt at the celebration of the
W !anmv^Sryoitne
riage of his parents. He preached
on Lord’s day morning and re­
turned home in the afternoon.
—Bro. J. F. Floyd arrived from
El Dorado,“Kansas, • by train last
weeks on the road. He is accom­
panied by Ids wife and an infant
son.. All seem greatly pleased with
Oregon for their future home.
Bro/ Edmunds is holding a
protracted meeting at Carlton and
having fine interest and good sue-
cess. We expect a full report.
--------- -----------------
Missions the Life of the Church.
Al
* A missionary spirit in a church
is one of Tts- greatest forces, The
first great duty is to put faith in
Christ—the second great duty is to
make known.ChrLsL TLajonn.will .... ...
follow the other as surely as the
day follows the night. Where the
missionary spirit abounds in any
church you will find-ay ,mmpart
_
united, peaceful, and” vigorous
church. There is no room in /such
a church for dissension ami strife.
The great lesson is learned* ami
practised, that no church exists
simply for its own delectation, but
for .the sake of others. “ I will
bless thee ”—for what ?—“ to make
thee a blessing.” A narrow, selfish—
spirit, is death to everything like
Christian life in the soul. The
sphere of Christian activity is not
to be bounded by the confined
limits of our own little church or
denomination. It must have a
broader reach and wider field, and
that field, on the authority of the
Master himself, is the world. In
our church-work we should put the
emphasis where the Master himself
has put it, and that is—at the be­
ginning. There are no better lines
to work upon than those which
Christ himself has laid down. That
class of church members who de­
clare that they " don’t care ior the
heathen,” who have no sympathy
with the travail of Christ over the
lost world, ought to be-^either con­
verted, or weeded out of the Church
of Christ. They are a leaven of
evil, an element of weakness, a dis­
credit and djshonor. When the
church shall rise to its full duty •
am* privilege in inis
master oi
mis- ­
ami
thisjnatter
of mis
sions, it will not be iftng before we
u ) h 1 1 I pruno izA’élìO full
shall come to-the full vision of « a
redeemed earth and race, confessing
Christ as “ King of kings and Lord
of lords, ’’—Christian at Work,
I