Cheraw gazette. [volume] (Cheraw, S.C.) 1835-1838, 1836-09-27
Importance Of Prayer in contending for til.
truth of the Gospel.

HH " hc uooPet.
The heavenly influence ofprayer on our own
souls will lead us to give very important tes-
timony to the truth, i. e. that we devote our
selves and our all TO the diffusion Of it
amongst the destitute-not that zeal, in
promulgating the doctrines we hold, is of
itself evidence sufficient to establish the
truth Of those doctrines; otherwise the
grossest absurdities would be established
as divine truths. But it manifests our sim
cerity, and, in the present case, as all admit
that the Gospel imbues its subjects with a
spirit of active benevolence, it shows that
our faith produces those fruits which it is
the tendency of the Gospel to produce.
That fervent prayer has natural tendency
to lead us to hold forth to the world this tes;i-
mony in favor ofthe truth, may be seen BY
the consideration of two or three points Of
Christian experience.
1. We shall feel more deeply the val
ue of the Gospel, and the binding obligation
of the command "Go ye into all the world
and preach the Gospel to every creature.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is
| from above, and cometh down from the
Father oflights, with whom is no variable.
ness, neither shadow Of turning"-But for
these blessings God is to be inquired of
by us 10 do it for US. Prayer appears to
be the great channel tlfroug which He has
chosen to cause his precious blessings TO
flow down in such prolusion upon his peo-
! pie. Now spiritual blessings, unlike world.
" enioyments, cause us to hunger and
thirst after more. Our appetite for worldly
qualifications frequently becomes satiated
by excessive indulgence; but the more
intimate our experience of Gospel truth, the
more rich and precious does it appear; the
more we enjoy of Christ, the more frequent
and intimate our communion with him. the
more are our hearts enlarged to receive
him, and the more precious and invaluable
do we esteem him-and then our conscien-
ces will be more tendery susceptible of
impressions from the divine mjunctions.
Indeed we shall feel ourselves bound, by
the cords oflove and gratitude, to obey
and what cords bind more strong " or more
sweetly than these? o how should our
hearts leap with JOY and gratitude to feel
that we are thus bound, and how cheerfully
should we initiate our Saviour, and say
$40 come, delight to do thy will, 0 my
God"
2. We shall be enabled more fully to
embrace the promises given for our encour.
agement. 1t is by faith that we embrace
the promises-It is by faith that We are
enabled to have respect to the recompense
ofreward-Tt is by faith that we endure as
seeing him who is invisible. But faith is
the gift of God. Itis one of those spiritual
blessings already alluded to as descending
to US through the channel of prayer. But
faith like every other Christian grace to be
strong requires exercise. At first it is
weak and languid; butfrequentapproachesto
the throne of grace give frequent occasions
for the exercise of faith. And when our
prayers are answered we are encouraged to
come again, not only because it gives US
confidence that we shall be heard again,
but because puts an additional argument
into our mouths. We were encouraged to
come at first by the invitations and promi.
ses, but now we have added the performance
of those promises. Surely then we may
come with the unwavering confidence that
since God has lured us to the mercy seat
by invitations, and promises, and the fulfil
ment ofthose promises, he will not send US
empty away. With the same confidence
may we 60 forth to deny ourselves, and
labor, and suffer, and die, if need be, in his