Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1836-06-02
FINNEY'S LECTURES.
IFCTERE XVI.

LECTURE XVI.
Trxr-" Aga | say unto you, That If two
Of you shall agree earth, as touching any thing
that they shall ask. it shall be done for them Of
my Father which is in heaven. "-MALrHEw
xviii. -.
Some weeks since, | used this text, in
preaching on the subject OF prayermeet-
lugs. A. present design to enter more
INFO the spirit and meaning Of the text
The evident design Of our Lord In this
text was 10 teach the importance and in
Auence Of union in prayer and effort to
promote religion. He states the strong
est possible case by taking the number
t1o, as the least number between whom
thee can be an agreement, and says that
where hco Of you are agreed on earth,
aS touching any thing that they shall ask,
it shall be done for them of my Father
which is in heaven" 1t is the fact Of
their Gg1 cement, upon which he lays the
stress, and mentioning the number two,
appears TO have been designed merely to
afford ENCOURAGEMENT 10 the smallcs. NAM
Der between whom there can be an agree
ment But what are We to understand by
being "agreed as touching' The things
we shall ask? | will answer this ques-
ton under the two following heads:
l. BY showing that we arc to be
agreed" l., prayer.
II We are to aGre" in every thing that
is essential to obtaining the blessing that
we seek.
I. In order to come within this prom
ise, we ar 10 b. agreed in prayer. This
IS particularly tau . ut in the text. That
/. We shonll agree in our desires for
the o6Ic,t. Ii is necessary to hace desires
for the object, and to b. agreed in those de-
sires. Very often individuals pray in
cords for the same thing. when they are
BY no means agreed in desiring that thing.
Nay, psrhops some Of them, in their hearts
desi the very opposite. People are
called upon 10 pray for an object, aud they
al! pray for it in words, but God knows
they often do not desire it, and perhaps he
SEES that tnc hearts of Sowe may, all the
while, hr resisting the prayer
.. We must agree in the mottre from
which we desire the object. 1t is not
en1uyh that our desires for an object
must be the same. An Individual may
des.ro revival. for the e orV OF God ana
the salvation # sinners. Another mem
Der Of ttr church may also desire revl-
val, but f., m ycrv different motives. Some,
p,rhlrs desire a revival in order to have
the on gre gatiru built up and stren4 chen
Ell, 50 as 10 make it m5r2 easy tor them
10 plv their expenses in supporting the
gospel Another desires a revival for the
sax, CT having the church increased Sc
as to Ec T.orc numerous and more re-
spe:ta5'c. Others desire a revival be
caus, they have been opposed or evi
spo zen Of and they wish to have their en-
emies know that whatever they may thinl
or sly, God bIeSScs them Sometime
people desire u revival from mere natura
affection, so as to have their friends con
verted AMI saved. II they mean to be s.
united in prayer as 10 obtain blessing
they must not Only desire the blessing
and be agreed in desiring it, but they mus
agree in desiring it for the same reason.
8. We must BE- agreed In desiring
for good reasons. These desires must NJ
only be united, and from the same motive
but they must be from good motives. Tn
supreme motive must be to honor and 81
Tity God. People may even desire r,
vival. and agree in desiring it, and agre
in the motives, ana yet if these motiv,
are not good, God will not grant their d,
sires. Thus parents may be agreed
prayer for the conversion of their chi
dren, and may have the same feelings ar
the same motives, and yet if they have e
higher motives than because they are the
children, their prayers will not be gran
ed. They arc agreed in tie reason, b
tits not the right reason.
In like manner, any number Of perso
might be agreed in their desires and m
tives, but if their motives are selfish, the
being agreed in them will only make the
more offensive to God. How is it II
we have agreed together to tempt the sp
Il OF the Lord" have seen a gr'
deal. of this, where churches have be
engaged in prayer for an object and tn
motives were evidently selfish. Son
time, they are engaged in praying for