Nor is there any other channel whereby the divine blessings can flow down to ush On these accounts we must "stretch out our hands towards” HIM We must view HIM as our only source of spiritual blessings-] They who truly seek after God will soon experience II. The efficacy of prayer when attended with those requisites Carnal, cold, or unbelieving petitions will receive no answeri But humble and believing prayer will obtain the richest blessings 1. National [The passage before us relates to the whole Jewish nationIt supposes them to have incurred the heavy displeasure of God And teaches them how they are to avert his wrath Nor did God leave them in suspense about the issue of such humiliation He declared in a vision to Solomon that his petitions were acceptedk The Jewish history affords many striking instances of deliverance vouchsafed to a repenting people' Nor can we doubt but that the same means would still be crowned with the like success"] 2. Personal He who "knows our heart" will grant all that we can desire" Forgiveness of sin man? [Who more infamous and abandoned than that wo Yet she, in humility and faith, applied to JesusP— And received an assurance that her iniquities were forgiven-] h John i. 16. i Jam. iv. 3. Matt xv. 8, 9. Jam. i. 6, 7. k2 Chron. vii. 12-14. 1 Jehosaphat praying according to the direction in the text, 2 Chron. xx. 5-13. expressly reminded God of his promise, ver. 9. And the success of his prayer far exceeded all reasonable expectation; see ver. 22-25. m If this were a Fast Sermon, it would be proper to enlarge a little on this idea in reference to the peculiar state of the nation at the time. n 1 John v. 14, 15. P Luke vii. 38. • Luke vii. 37, 39. a Ib. 47, 48, 50. Peace of conscience [How troubled, almost to distraction, were the murderers of our Lord! But, according to Peter's direction, they looked to JesusAnd were immediately filled with "peace and joy in believing" - * Deliverance from temporal troubles [We cannot conceive greater temporal affliction than that endured by Jonah" Yet, when to appearance irrecoverably lost, he prayed in this manner And experienced a most unparalleled deliverance"] * Victory over our spiritual enemies [With what vehemence did Satan assault the apostle Paul! The afflicted saint cried with earnestness to the Lord Jesus_ His troubles were immediately turned into triumphant exultationsb-] Renewal after the divine image [Nothing on earth does a believer desire so much as thisYet this shall be attained in the same way An humble and believing view of Christ shall effect it—] * A peaceful death [Stephen died by the hands of cruel and bloodthirsty enemies But he offered an humble and believing prayer to ChristAnd his death was to him as a serene and peaceful sleep—] A glorious immortality [He who died justly by the hands of the public executioner must have merited in an high degree the wrath of GodsNevertheless in his last hour he directed his eyes to Christ— And that very day was he admitted with Christ to Paradise] APPLICATION sins [Let none despair on account of the greatness of their Or of the judgments of God which are already inflicted on them God will suffer none to "seek his face in vain" Let every one then bewail" the plague of his own heart"And offer up believing prayers towards God's holy oracle"-*] * This will suffice for two Sermons, the first head being the subject of one, and the second head of the other. If it form the ground of one Sermon only, those particulars which are marked with an asterisk* under the second head may be omitted. CCCXXX. GOD WILL BE FOUND OF SINCERE end. WORSHIPPERS. Jer. xxix. 11-13. I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. THE calamities which God inflicts upon mankind in this world are intended to bring them to repentance: and though he often removes his rod in anger, when he sees that it produces not the desired effect, yet he often continues to punish till he sees that the heart is humbled for its iniquity-Thus he dealt with the Jews whom he sent captive to Babylon-They at first despised his chastening, and promised themselves a speedy return to their native land but he declared that their captivity should be protracted to the end of seventy years; and that at the expiration of that time, when they should have learned to acknowledge him, he would again appear for them, and bring them back in answer to their fervent petitions -His declaration respecting this suggests to us two important observations I. God's purposes of love and peace shall all in due time be accomplished God has "thoughts of peace" towards many who never think of him [Even before the foundation of the world God determined to remedy the evils which he foresaw sin would bring upon mankind-When our first parents were ruined, and fled from his face, he sought them out and communicated to them his gracious intentions relative to the substitution of his Son, in their stead-And while the Jews were imbruing their hands. in the blood of his Son, it was his fixed purpose to pour down his spirit upon them, and to bring them into a state of reconciliation with himself-And have not we also reason to confess, that whatever we either possess or hope for is the result of his purpose and grace which he purposed in Christ Jesus before. the world began?"-Yea, who can tell, but that, at this moment, some careless sinner is the object of his special attention, and that this is the very hour, wherein his merciful designs shall be matured and executed?-1 These thoughts of his shall all in due season be accomplished [It may be a long time before his eternal counsels are manifested by visible and correspondent acts-But not one of his purposes shall ever be frustrated-Paul was "a chosen vessel unto him," and "separated, in the divine intentions, from his mother's womb:" but how long was he suffered to go on in the most inveterate enmity against Christ and his gospel!-Yet when his hour was come, God stopped him in his mad career, and transformed a bitter persecutor into a zealous apostle-Thus it was that Zaccheus also was made a partaker of Christ's salvation, when he thought of nothing but gratifying a foolish curiosity-And thus many of us also received our first serious impressions, when we were far enough from desiring to fear God-And it is a comfortable reflection, that many, who are yet dead in trespasses and sins, are in the divine purpose "predestinated to the adoption of children,"d and will one day be "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ"-] Nor shall any expectations founded upon his word be ever disappointed [Improbable as the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon was, God brought them out at the appointed time-And as he gave them an expected end," so will he to all of us-If an ungodly man begin to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ for repentance and remission of sins, he shall not look to him in vain--If an afflicted or tempted soul flee to him for consolation and succour, the desired aid shall not be withheld-Provided only we rely on his word, and not on any presumptuous imaginations of our own, we may rest assured that he will interpose effectually on our behalf] But however fixed his purposes may be a 2 Tim. i. 9. c Luke xix. 4, 5, 9. b Acts ix. 15. Gal. i. 15. d Eph. i. 5. II. They must nevertheless be called forth by the exercise of fervent prayer. God has appointed prayer as the means of obtaining his blessings [This is the universal voice of scripture, "Ask, and ye shall have"-Even where God most freely promises his blessings, he still says, "Nevertheless I will be enquired of by Israel to do it for them"-We do not say that he never deviates from this method of conveying his mercies; for sometimes "he is found of them that sought him not, and known 'to them that enquired not after him:" But the earnestness, with which this duty of prayer is inculcated in the text, is of itself a sufficient proof that we are to expect no blessing without it-God would have us know, and feel our wants; and by opening them before him, get our own hearts affected with them-If at any time he vouchsafe his blessings to those who have not sought him, he instantly stirs them up to prayer, which is as necessary to the welfare of a regenerate soul, as breathing is to the existence of a new-born infant-] Nor should a discovery of his purposes relax, but rather quicken, our diligence in prayer [This was the effect which was produced on Daniel as soon as ever he learned that the time fixed for Israel's captivity was near its terminations-Nor should it produce any other effect on us-As well might Hezekiah have declined the use of food because God had prolonged his life fifteen years, as we neglect the means of spiritual advancement, if we knew that God had predestinated us unto life-On the contrary, the certain prospect of success is our greatest encouragement to pray and to comply with any terms which God has prescribed-] If we use these means aright, we may be sure we shall attain whatsoever is unerring wisdom sees to be good for us [God has "never said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain"-On the contrary, he will "hearken" to our cry with parental tenderness, he will discover to the enquiring soul the riches of his grace, and "enabled us to comprehend with all saints the heights and depths of his love which passeth knowledge"-But then we must pray in earnest,` and "search for him with our whole heart"-It is not a mere listless petition that will prevail with him; we may "ask and not have, if we thus ask amiss:" but importunate and believing e Ezek. xxxvi. 37. h Isai. xlv. 19. g Dan. ix. 2-4. f Isai. lxv. 1. |