The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-24 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Progress and Prosperati: • A New-year's Sermon
preached in the Parish Church of St. Mary,
Stratford-Bow, Middlesex, on Sunday evening,
January 2, 1859, by the Rev. S. Flood Jones,
M.A., of Pembroke College, Oxford, minister of
St. Matthew's, Spring-gardens, and Lecturer of
Bow. Rivingtons.
The congregation to whom this sermon was ad-
dressed requested Mr. Jones to publish it, in order
that they might have an opportunity of reading in
their closets a discourse which made a deep impression
upon their minds when delivered from the pulpit.
We are bound to say that the congregation of Bow
displayed a very sound judgment. The ser-
mon is able, intelligent, thoughtful, pious, the
work of a gentleman who appears, to be influenced
by no narrow views, but who is capable of dealing
broadly and in a masterly way with the great
Christian truths with which it is his duty to deal. The
rev. gentleman selects for his text, " There be many
that say, Who will show us any good ? Lord, lift
thou up the light of thy countenance upon us."
Starting from the point that the New Year should
be marked by our entire and implicit dependence
upon the grace of God's Holy Spirit, he suggested
prayer as one of the great means of securing pro-
sperity for our souls. " Instead ofjoining," he re-
marks, "in the vain and disappointed cry of the
many who were seeking, but not finding, true hap-
piness in this world 'Who will show us any good,?'
the Psalmist turned at once to God to seek
from Him the blessings which could not otherwise
be found—' Lord, lift thou up the light of thy
countenance upon us.' Yes, my brethren, and
prayer will always be our best antidote against
temptation—our best companion in disappointment
and sorrow. We have no right to cling to any-
thing on earth, or to entertain any thought or wish
that we cannot pray over, that we cannot ask God
to bless to us either in its possession or its loss.
Oh ! if we were but prayerful Christians how much
more Christlike would our lives and conversation be.
Alas! too often has prayer become nearly a formal act
of worship with us, instead of being the outpouring
of our very souls to God. Every_ morning and every
night you kneel down to pray (as we say) to God ;
and yet ask your hearts, brethren, how very often
there is but very little real prayer in the few, or
hurried, or thoughtless words that escape your lips.
Let this new year, then, be marked not only by
words, but by the spirit of pray e.. Let there be
nothing that you do, or purpose, that shall be de-
prived of its hallowing influence. In the private
chamber, in the family circle, in 'the courts of
the Lord's house,'—yea, and in the busy throng,
and in the midst of this world's solicitudes, let
your prayer ascend to the God of your life. Every-
thing that is worth doing, everything that is worth
kneeling about, is worth praying over also. We
know that God's counsel can never uselessly be
asked. . . . Some sorrow, some loss, some
anxiety, I might almost with certainty predict, we
shall each be called on to sustain ere this new year
shall be numbered with the past : some gap in our
friendship, some absence from our love, some weak
ncss or sickness in our own bodies—perhaps out
own summons and death call from the world. Seek,
then, through earnest prayer, the strength to bear,
the grace to profit by whatever lot shall be un-
folded for you, as one by one the pages of this year
shall be turned over by the fingers of swift-passing
Time. I say by earnest prayer. Petitions cold
and formal will not do. Supplications occa-
sionally fervent will be of no avail. It must
be earnest prayer—as the habit of your daily,
hourly lives—as your constant and unceasing voice
on earth with Christ your advocate in heaven.
This must be the prayer which will bring the bless-
ing, and through which, like Jacob, you shall have
power with God and shall prevail." The rev. gen-
tleman dwells eloquently upon the desirableness of
mutual intercourse and communion, and upon other
means by which spiritual progress and prosperity
c may be secured. It is in every respect
a mostdit upon
ad-
mirable sermon, reflecting the highest re
theprreq requested trimeauchesetrand t
upoonptuhbeliisnhteilt.ligent congregation
who

THE PENNY RECEIPTS.—It is shown by an
official document issued on Saturday, that in the year
ended the 31st of March, the penny receipts produced
£281,115.
A correspondent, writing from Marseilles under
the date of Jan. 19, says :—A frightful accident occurred
this morning, near the Jardins Zoologiques. The premises
of a firework-maker named Meuriez were blown up and four
men-employed on the establishment, together with a child
who happened to be passing, were killed on the spot.