Stated prayer a duty binding on all men.
ACTS ii. 21.
And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.
These words are a quotation from the prophet Joel. And the whole quotation is the text, from which St. Peter preached that powerful Sermon, which was the mean of converting three thousand hearers.—He very pertinently applies the passage from that prophet to the remarkable day and time, in which he speaks; being the day of Pentecost, when the Apostles, who were all in one place, of one accord, were endowed with miraculous gifts, and qualified to carry the good news of the gospel, according to their commission, over all the earth. And the words of the text inform us, in a very concise manner, what we are to do, in order to be saved. The condition of salvation, proposed in them, is as easy as it can be made, consistently with the honour of the law, attributes, and government of God. For he, being infinitely wise and gracious, never requires of any of his rational creatures either what is hard and cruel, or unjust and improper. As he hath been pleased to make us rational creatures and moral agents, so he ever more treats us as rational creatures. In all his laws, commandments, calls, precepts, and requisitions we are considered as being what we are. He never did, and never will, do any thing incompatible either with wisdom and justice, or benevolence and goodness. Indeed, were we to sit down, and in cool and dispassionate reasoning, to propose or desire our own terms of happiness, could we desire or wish for easier, than what are contained in the text. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.——It it so indeed?—May we be saved, if we will but accept of salvation, if we desire, or ask for it?—We certainly may. And it is a glorious truth.—It is a pleasing doctrine. It is a delightful thought.—Call not the Religion of the Gospel, therefore, unreasonable. Object no longer to its offers. No more consider it as requiring impossibilities of man. It is the perfection of beauty. It is reason itself:—divine in its nature:—rich in its promises:—plain in its essential precepts:—and heavenly in its tendency.——
In the sequel, we will consider the condition, upon which Salvation is offered to us, in the text: or show that stated prayer is a duty binding on all men.
The condition upon which Salvation is offered to us, in these words now under consideration, is calling upon the name of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved. Calling upon the name of the Lord is, then, the necessary condition of our being saved. How, therefore, the interesting enquiry is, are we to call upon the name of the Lord so as to be saved—or to be intitled to the promised blessing of the text?—The name of the Lord here, and in a great variety of other places of holy Writ, means the attributes of the Supreme Being, his nature, and perfections; or God himself, the only proper object of religious fear and adoration. And calling upon him for help and deliverance, in our troubles and distress, and looking to him for temporal and spiritual blessings, for all needed good for time and Eternity, is repairing to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need, or that we may procure a supply of spiritual provision to aid us, in our journey through life, and to prepare us for everlasting rest. Let us therefore, says the Apostle, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Calling upon the name of the Lord is the usual scripture-phrase for statedly looking to him as the fountain of light, of goodness, of wisdom, of mercy, and of power, by prayer, that we may obtain all the blessings, whether pertaining to the present or future world, which our circumstances and condition may render necessary. And we are to do this, in all the ways of his appointment, and which reason suggests as proper, whether public, social, or private. I say, which reason suggests as proper: for reason is given to us, to be diligently improved in the things of Religion, as well as of the world, in the concerns of our souls, as well as in our temporal interests, and much more so, as our spiritual concerns are infinitely more important than our temporal. To set aside reason in our enquiries about truth and duty, would be no less absurd, than to reject the light of divine revelation itself. Reason is a mortal foe to enthusiastic and visionary schemes of religion. And to deny its use or office in things of a spiritual nature, is not only highly absurd, but introductory to fatal delusions. He who will have nothing to do with reason in religion, is just prepared to admit any extravagance or error, whatever in doctrine and worship.——Reason and scripture never contradict each other. And with respect to the stated duty of prayer as binding on all men, they are perfectly united. Reason pleads for it. Scripture demands it. And that stated prayer hath a happy influence on every christian grace—on every christian temper—and on the whole of Religion has been generally allowed.
Calling upon the name of the Lord so as to be saved, includes the following things; sincerity,—devout affection,—constancy, or on all stated seasons,—perseverance,—penitence,—and correspondent practice. The manner in which the duty is to be performed is of the greatest moment. The temper of heart, with which we come to God, is a capital part of the duty.—Sincerity, therefore, is implied in calling upon the name of the Lord so as to be saved. This stands in opposition to all hypocrisy, or mere formality. No doubt, many have no more than the mere form; and while pious words and expressions are uttered, and with seeming reverence and devotion, the heart bears no part in the whole, but is wandering with the fool’s eyes to the ends of the earth; goes after its covetousness; indulges vain thoughts; or is unaffected and indevout. The most suitable, pertinent, and happily chosen words may be used, where there is no correspondence of affection. Such merely external performances, or bare lip-service can never ascend with approbation to a holy and omniscient God, who searches the heart and tries the reins of the children of men. External acts of piety, without any devotion of the heart, can be considered in no other light than as hypocrisy and form; and hypocrisy and outward show of religion are most severely reprehended by our Lord, in the words of the prophet Isaiah. Ye hypocrites well did Esaias prophecy of you saying this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouths, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Drawing nigh to God as his people, and honouring him with our mouths, while the heart is far from him, cannot be pleasing to him. There must be the fervour and friendship of an upright heart. St. James, likewise, directs us, in our approaches to a holy God, to avoid all hypocrisy and insincerity, or heart-iniquity. Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. We must not be double-minded, having one mind for God, and one for the world. Our aim must be to glorify God. Our warmest affections must centre in him, who deserves all love and praise, both of angels and men. We are told, in a most beautiful and affecting manner, by our Lord himself, in his conference with the woman of Samaria, of the absolute necessity of sincerity and devotion of heart in all our addresses to the throne of grace, whether public, social, or private.—But the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshippers, shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth. All right and acceptable worship is in spirit and in truth. To worship God in spirit and in truth is to worship him in a spiritual manner. And a spiritual worship is a sincere, holy, and devout worship. To worship God in spirit and in truth, is to worship him by the gracious aids of his spirit, and with a sincere upright heart, or with a devout temper of mind. To suppose that the only true and spiritual worship of the Deity, is in the hidden recesses of the soul, is not only a gross perversion of our Saviour’s words, but to reject all worship of him altogether. To affirm that all true worship is to be performed in the secrecy and retirement or silence of the soul is to exclude all idea of worship, to deny that man is what he is, composed of body and soul, a material and immaterial part.—Calling upon the name of the Lord so as to be saved is therefore worshipping him in spirit and in truth, or a devout frame of mind. All our religious duties, indeed, in order to meet with the divine acceptance and approbation, must flow from sincerity of heart.——
Again, calling upon the name of the Lord so as to be saved, is to worship him with affection and reverence. When we draw near to God, his dread should fall on us and his excellency make us afraid. All right homage paid to him, is accompanied with reverence and Godly fear. The affections of the soul must correspond with the solemnity and importance of the duty performed. When we commune with God in prayer, we should stand in awe and sin not. In our petitions, supplications, confessions of sin, thankful acknowledgement of mercies, and adorations we ought to feel the deepest reverence and warmth, or fervour of affection. The attention should be composed, the thoughts collected, the affections engaged, and the whole soul solemnized. The words spoken are to be accompanied with devout exercises.—All the divine glories are to be revered. High, exalted and reverential thoughts of the Majesty of heaven and Earth, the great object of adoration and religious praise, are to be entertained. Before him angels bow. The homage of the heavenly world is paid with all lowliness and reverence. The blessed inhabitants, thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, all stand before the throne, and in all the ardour, purity and sublimity of heavenly worship, cry holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. Who should not fear thee, O Lord, for thou only art holy is the language of celestial adoration. How can that mind, which has a proper sense of the infinite greatness and infinite Majesty of God, help being filled with the highest reverence? He is the king immortal, eternal, invisible. He dwells in light unapproachable and full of glory. He is the blessed and only Potentate, gracious, merciful, slow unto anger, long-suffering—forgiving iniquity transgression and sin, but will by no means clear the guilty. The heavenly arches resound with his praises. The temple of the universe is filled with his presence. All nature exhibits his glory. This is that which he hath said, he will be had in reverence by all them that draw near to him: and will be sanctified by all the people. If the affections of the heart do not go up to heaven, with our petitions and supplications, they will be all in vain. Let us, says the prophet Jeremiah in his lamentations, lift up our hearts, with our hands, unto God in the heavens. There must be the internal homage of the heart, as well as external. Both are necessary. Both must go together—Again—says the Apostle Paul, I will therefore that men pray every where lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. Holy hands and without wrath and doubting imply the affections and reverence of the heart:—having no malice or bitter passions toward fellow worshippers.—We are directed, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, in this manner, Let us have grace whereby we may serve God, with reverence and godly fear. Deep reverence and pious fear are requisite in all our addresses to a prayer hearing God. We are, moreover farther commanded not to be slothful in business; but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.—Fervour and warmth of affection should attend, therefore, all supplications to the throne of grace. A really pious and devout heart is the chief ingredient in all acceptable worship.
Another particular necessarily implied, in calling upon the name of the Lord so as to be saved, is constancy, or doing it on all stated seasons and proper occasions. He who objects against the stated worship of God on proper seasons, really discards all worship. The rule of worship is the divine word, and not any supposed internal impulse on the soul. We cannot know how or when to worship God, but by his word. And internal, separate from external homage, is not sufficient. The whole man must bow before the God of the whole earth. To present ourselves statedly before him, is only to offer him that homage which reason and nature demand. As the good man is said to be sanctified throughout in soul, in spirit and in body; so it is but fit, in the very reason and nature of things, that he should render unto God homage in all these respects. There must be outward reverence and composure, and proper expressions of the inward fervors of the mind. We are to give others proofs that we worship God. We are to glorify him by social and public prayer. All creation as it were, the heavens over our heads, and the earth on which we dwell, silently worship its glorious author. By men the praises of creation should be rendered vocal. As a Priest in the temple of the Universe, he is to present prayer and praises to the almighty Architect. Shall he be dumb in praising his God, like the mute fish that can only mean his praise? What was the faculty of speech, which so distinguishes man from all the brutal world, given to us for? Why were we made with social powers? was it not, that we might jointly honor, by prayer the Maker of our frame? If so, there must be stated seasons for such divine and heavenly employment. Every work and purpose under the sun must have a stated season. And the more important the work, the greater the need for a fixed season, in which to perform it. If God is to be served at all, there must of necessity be certain fixed seasons in which to serve him. He would not command us to serve him, and allow no fixed time for his service. He is the God of order and not of confusion. He will have every thing done decently and in order. So important and heavenly an employment as that of worshipping and serving him, above all things, must have stated seasons. To deny any stated seasons of worship, is to rebel against reason, scripture, and common sense. Every body, of common sense, knows that if an important work be assigned us to perform, there must be a proper time fixed upon in which to perform it. We are not to consult our own feelings or inclinations, as to the seasons of worship, but when the hour of prayer comes, that is, the stated and fit seasons, we must engage in it, and prepare our hearts to seek the Lord; depending on the assistances of divine grace; knowing that the preparation of the heart and answer of the tongue in man, are both from the Lord. The great original law of worship, is Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. All intelligent creatures are bound, by the most powerful of all ties, to do this. All men, wherever they dwell, are obligated by Creation, to serve the Creator in all the ways, in which they are capable. Preservation in being lays also a solemn bond upon them. The relation of creatures to a Creator does the same. All the glorious excellencies of the divine character make it an indispensable duty to pay him honour divine. Indeed, the adorable attributes of God bind us to worship and serve him. And it is as plain, as any point in moral duty, that there must of necessity be stated seasons, therefore, of worship. Under the law, by God’s own appointment, were the morning and evening sacrifices. Nature herself fixes upon these seasons. The sun in the firmament teaches us the same lesson. The pleasing succession of day and night points out the seasons for family and secret worship. And the Institution of a christian sabbath, specifies the stated periods of public worship.
Besides these stated seasons appointed and determined by nature and scripture, there are other fit and proper occasions, as Providence may order and overrule things, by either favors or frowns, whether public or private, personal or relative. Upon all fit occasions, as well as fixed and stated seasons, our prayers are to ascend to the Almighty ruler of the Universe.—We are to acknowledge him, in all our ways. But we cannot acknowledge him as a prayer-hearing God, without actually praying to him, in all his appointed ways. We are to own him, as a prayer-hearing God, as well as an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, merciful, glorious, holy, and bountiful God. And no man can devise any way of acknowledging him as a prayer-hearing God, but by actually applying to him, statedly, in prayer. That he is a prayer-hearing God, we are expressly assured, in these remarkable words: O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee all flesh shall come.