Golden Bowls Full Of Incense

A SERMON DELIVERED ON SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 19, 1872,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of saints."
Revelation 5:8.

I SHOULD not have addressed you upon the subject of intercession today
if this week had not been set apart for general prayer, for it was only
two Sabbaths ago that I endeavored to set before you the duty and
privilege of intercession [Sermon #1049, Intercessory Prayer.] However,
as our mind is now directed to it again, it may be that the line upon
line, the precept upon precept, the here a little and there a little,
may not be without benefit to us. The vision before us is a very
remarkable one. We do not intend, for we have not the time, to go into
all the details of it. No doubt it is a vision referring to some
special occasion, but at the same time we may regard it as descriptive
of the usual worship which is offered before the Throne of God and the
Lamb.

We have sometimes in continental galleries seen a mediaeval painting
representing the assembly of the great council of the ancient German
Empire. There is the emperor surrounded by the various kings, princes,
electors, dukes, and counts. Yonder are the knights of the Golden
Fleece. There are the bishops and the cardinals, the barons, knights,
and burghers of various degrees making up a marvelous spectacle of pomp
and pageantry. If we made minute enquiries we should, perhaps, discover
the one particular Diet which the picture represented–but even without
such investigation the painting is instructive–we know that if it
represents the Diet on one occasion, the one might stand for all.

And so in the great assembly of Heaven, the outline which the seer of
Patmos gives us here may, if we wish to be very accurate, be referred
to some one particular event. But it will suffice for us to believe
that it represents in general the homage which is rendered at the
Throne of the Eternal. In considering the brilliant scene before us,
note carefully that the worship described is not confined to the
occupants of Heaven's immediate courts. Moses Stuart, believing that we
have here an entirely celestial scene, concludes that these, "golden
vials full of incense, which are the prayers of saints," represent the
intercessions of glorified spirits.

He makes the remark that the saints in Heaven still continue to pray.
To this last statement I do not object, for in the sixth chapter the
souls under the altar are said to cry for vengeance, and I see no
reason why the perfect saints above should not pray. But I very greatly
question whether we can draw that inference from this particular
passage, for the prayers here intended are not those of Heaven only,
since from the 13th verse we are taught that the scene represents the
adoration of the Lamb by the entire universe. "Every creature which is
in Heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in
the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor,
and glory, and power be unto Him that sits upon the Throne, and unto
the Lamb forever and ever."

The presence angels lead the strain. The saints made perfect join the
rapturous hallelujah, and then 10,000 times 10,000 angels swell the
growing strain. Meanwhile, from every starry orb comes up its note of
worship and the firmament rings with music. Earth from afar has heard
the sound and wakens all her life to take its part in the harmony! The
fowls of the air and the fish of the sea, the songsters of the forest
and the monsters of the deep render with zeal their tribute of grateful
praise. 'Tis not the inner circle, alone, which thus resounds Jehovah's
praise but widening and widening, the praise encompasses all space and
fills immensity! Not Heaven alone, but all creation yields the Lord His
praise.

Now, dear Brothers and Sisters, let us, by faith, pass into the inner
circle, draw near to the Throne of God and gaze upon the golden vials
full of incense, for with these we have to do this morning. It is
probably known to all of you that the idea conveyed to us, by "golden
vials," is as far removed from the meaning of the Greek word as well
could be, for a vial is to us generally a deep but narrow vessel. But
the vessel here meant is both shallow and broad. A better rendering
would be "golden bowls," or "golden goblets full of incense which are
the prayers of saints." The idea is that each one of

the 24 elders bears an open bowl or censor filled with smoking incense
which pours forth a sweet perfume before the Lord–and this is the
symbol of the supplications of the people of God.

Leaving the figure, the thoughts before us are just these. The prayers
of God's people are sweet as incense to Him. Secondly, their blended
prayers are peculiarly acceptable in His sight. And, therefore,
thirdly, let us unite our supplications with the general prayer.

I. THE PRAYERS OF GOD'S PEOPLE ARE AS SWEET TO HIM AS INCENSE. This is
not due to any natural excellence or merit which they possess in
themselves and by themselves. Far from it. In the best prayer that was
ever offered by the holiest man that ever lived, there was enough sin
in it to render it a polluted thing if the Lord had looked upon it by
itself. When we approach nearest to the Throne of Grace, we still fall
very far short of being where and what we ought to be. The sins of our
holiest thoughts are, alone, enough to condemn us! We often come before
God in prayer unfit to pray, and spoil the action in the very outset by
having an unprepared heart.

At other times, when we are in the midst of devotion–when we are being
borne up upon the wings of zeal,pride will intrude–and we congratulate
ourselves upon the excellence of our worship. Alas, one dash of that
spirit mars all–it is the Pharisaic spirit, and is the bane of
devotion. At other times, just as our supplication is closing, we are
assailed with suspicions as to the faithfulness of God–doubts as to
the success of our pleas–or else some other unhallowed thought
pollutes the sacrifice. Alas, how hard it is to begin, continue, and
end a prayer in the Spirit! If any one of our prayers were put into the
scales of the sanctuary, alone and of itself, the only verdict upon it
must be it is weighed in the balances and found wanting.

No, my Brothers and Sisters, the prayers of the saints, of themselves
considered, would rather be an offense unto Divine holiness than a
sweet savor unto God. Our consolation lies in this–that our beloved
Intercessor who stands before God for us, even Christ Jesus–possesses
such an abundance of precious merit that He puts fragrance into our
supplications and imparts a delicious aroma to our prayers! He makes
our intercessions to be, through His merit, what they could not have
been without it–acceptable before the Majesty of Heaven. I think it is
Ambrose who uses a very pretty figure concerning Believers' prayers. He
says we are like little children who run into the garden to gather
flowers to please their father, but we are so ignorant and childish
that we pluck as many weeds as flowers–and some of them very noxious!
And then we carry this strange mixture in our hands, thinking that such
base weeds would be acceptable to

Him!

The mother meets the child at the door, and she says to it, "Little
One, you know not what you have gathered." She unbinds this mixture and
takes from it all the weeds and leaves only the sweet flowers. And then
she takes other flowers sweeter than those which the child has plucked
and inserts them instead of the weeds. And then she puts back the
perfect bouquet into the child's hand, and it runs with it to its
father. Jesus Christ, in more than motherly tenderness, thus deals with
our supplications. If we could see one of our prayers after Christ
Jesus has amended it, we should scarcely know it again! He has such
skill that even our good flowers grow fairer in His hands. We clumsily
tied them into a bundle but He arranges them into a fair bouquet, where
each beauty enhances the charm of its neighbor.

If I could see my prayer after the Lord has prayed it, I should miss so
much, and I should find so much there that was not mine that I am sure
its fullest acceptance with God would not cause me a moment's pride but
rather make me blush with grateful humility before Him whose boundless
sweetness lent to me and my poor prayer a sweetness not my own. So
then, though the prayers of God's saints are as precious incense, they
would never be a sweet smell unto God were it not that they are
accepted in the Beloved! Note well that true, acceptable intercession
must be composed of the prayers of saints. "Golden bowls full of the
prayers of saints."

Nothing is here said of the prayers of officials, hirelings, and
functionaries. It is thought most important by some Churches that there
should be kept up a daily repetition of certain words and sounds. This
is not done by persons selected for their eminent spirituality or
prevalence in prayer, but by officials whose appointment is arranged on
very different principles. These persons are not qualified for the
function in their ordinary dress, but derive some mystic qualification
from garments more or less savoring of the bleaching starch of the
laundry. Then, having certain words before them, they have nothing to
do but with appointed bows and scrapes to go through them–and in going
through them they believe they have offered unto God acceptable prayer!

I have always been expecting to hear that before long praying to God
would come to be managed by machinery. Our friends have, for a
considerable time, praised God in that way–and a little inventiveness
might surely arrange the same for prayer! There is now scarcely a place
of worship dedicated to Christian worship but what the most of the
praise to God is done by an organization of wind and pedals–sometimes
with the addition of electricity–and doubtless it is quite as
consistent. And they surely would believe it quite as acceptable to
God, too, that we commence to pray by wind, or water, or fire, or
magnetism, or, better still, by steam! I cannot see why what is done in
many cathedrals and churches by machines which eat bread and meat,
could not as equally be well done by engines consuming coal and coke.
The making of sounds is a mechanical business and needs only a little
attention, and we might soon have a whole service performed by figures
filled with clock-work.

There is a certain note of the organ called vox humana which certainly
is amazingly like the human voice, and as long as you have no need of
heart and soul, it cannot matter much whether the sound is made by the
vox humana of an organ or the real human voice. The fact is, vocal
prayers are nothing in themselves, whether they are said or sung,
whether they are read or intoned–it is the heart which alone prays
acceptably. I cannot believe in a God who finds any satisfaction in the
ritualistic services which I have witnessed. I have asked myself, "What
kind of a being must he be who could find pleasure in this sort of
thing?" Thought is disgusted, reason sickened, intellect provoked,
contemplation annoyed–only a florid taste and a childish love of
display are gratified. The God of these Popish ceremonialists must
surely be a huge, almighty doll-loving baby–certainly not an
intelligent Being, such as Scripture reveals to us in the God that made
Heaven and earth!

Alas, the frivolous sons of men imagine, because they go to their
operas and listen to sweet music, and because in their drawing rooms
they delight in the perfume which they scatter from their
handkerchiefs, and because they are pleased to array themselves in silk
and satin and the like, that God is like themselves, and is pleased
with chants, and robes, and incense! Truly, the God they make is like
themselves! They do not know the ever-blessed Lord! If He would be
adored with glittering blue, look at the azure of the sky, or the deep
blue of the sea! If He would be worshipped with lamps and candles,
behold yon stars, and sun, and moon! If He would be reverenced with
music, hark how the thunder rolls like drums in His awful march!

Is the Infinite mind to be worshipped by vain shows? O you sons of
earth, will you thus worship Him that rides on the heavens, before Whom
you all are but as grasshoppers? The prayers which the Lord accepts are
not the chants of functionaries, the litanies of priests, or the devout
tones of a mechanical service–they must be the prayers of saints! The
sweetness lies in the life, the character, the soul! The acceptance
comes not unless they are the prayers of saints! And who are the
saints? They are men and women whom the Lord has made holy by the power
of His Spirit. The are those whose nature He has purified. They are
those whom He has washed in the precious blood of Jesus and so
sanctified unto Himself! He has filled them with His Spirit and so set
apart to His worship.

These persons love Him, praise Him, bow before Him with solemn awe!
They lift their whole souls up in adoring love–these are they who can
offer sweet incense–their thoughts, their desires, their longing,
their confessions, their pleading, their praises–these are sweet to
God! This is music to Him! This is perfume to His heart! This is
delightful to His infinite mind, pleasant to His sacred Spirit–for God
is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth–and after no other fashion is a spiritual God to be worshipped!

Then, in the matter of intercession, one of the most important things
is the character of the person. If I live in constant sin and then go
and say, "Our Father, which are in Heaven," surely I might feel His
hand closing my mouth while I hear Him say, "How can you speak so? How
dare you say, 'Hallowed be Your name,' when you do constantly defile
it? How can you say, 'Your kingdom come,' when you will not submit to
My rule, nor yield allegiance to My government? How dare you mutter out
before Me the words, 'Your will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven,'
when you rebel against My will, and set up your own will instead of
Mine."

Such prayers–what would they be but an insult to the Hearer, instead
of sweet perfume offered before the Most High? Yes, and note too, my
Brethren–and I would note it myself with deep solemnity–that even
where the man who presents intercessory prayer is a child of God, yet,
unless he maintains, in the power of God's Spirit, his character as a
saint, he will not preserve the prevalence of his prayers. For though
our heavenly Father does not hear our prayers because of any merit in
us, yet it is written, "If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you,
you shall ask what you will,

and it shall be done unto you." If we turn aside from the Lord's
commands we shall lose power in prayer and our petitions will cease to
bring down answers of peace.

It is certain that every child of God who has watched it will know that
there is nothing which so weakens prayer as sin, and that to be a man
like Elijah, who can prevail with God upon Carmel, you must walk in the
Lord's ways. If you walk contrary to Him, He will walk contrary to you.
In the golden bowls the sweet incense is not the prayers of hypocrites
or formalists, but the prayers of saints. We must, by the Spirit's
power, maintain the saintly character. We must walk apart from
worldliness and covetousness. We must put aside uncleanness, anger,
wrath, and every evil thing, or else we shall not be able to present
unto the Lord such sweet odors as He delights in.

Note next that these prayers must be compounded of precious Divine
Graces, for they are compared to incense, and, as you know, the incense
used in the Temple was made up of many sweet spices, compounded,
"according to the work of the apothecary." Stacte and onycha, and
galbanum were mixed with pure frankincense, tempered together and
beaten small. Now, in prayer, that which is sweet to God is not the
words used, though they ought to be appropriate and care should be
taken with the language, which is as the golden bowl. But the sweetness
lies not in anything perceptible to the outward senses, but in secret
qualities, comparable to the essence and aroma of sweet spices. In the
incense there lies a subtle and almost spiritual essence which is
fetched forth from it by the burning coals which causes the latent
sweetness to spread itself abroad till all around confesses its power.

So it is in prayer. Beloved Brothers and Sisters, our prayers may be
very comely in appearance, and, if printed, might read most correctly
and appear to be the very paragon of devotion, but unless there is a
secret spiritual force in them they are vain things! We must speak to
God believing that He is, and that He is the Rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him. Faith must be a part of the savor of prayer. Now I
am not able to tell, when I hear a Brother pray, whether he prays in
faith or not, any more than I might, with my eyes, be able to tell
whether what is presented to me as incense has in it the proper
pungency. But God perceives the faith or the absence of it, and the
prayer is received or rejected as the case may be.

So, too, in prayer there must be the true frankincense of love. How can
I pray as a child to a Father whom I do not love? If my heart is cold
towards God my prayer will be frozen to death. There is need, moreover,
of the Grace of humility to be mixed, like precious stacte, with the
other ingredients–for he who does not pray humbly will be no more
justified than the Pharisee. There was much of this precious spice in
the publican's prayer, when he dared not lift so much as his eyes
towards Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, "God be merciful to
me, a sinner." Much of this ought to lie in every prayer. But I cannot
stay to tell you what all the separate spices ought to be which are
necessary to make up the incense of an acceptable prayer. Only let me
remind you that the incense of the Temple was mingled "according to the
art of the apothecary."

Let us bless God that the Holy Spirit is the Believer's Apothecary. He
it is who knows the proper quantity of each ingredient in prayer–how
much of faith, how much of love, how much of repentance, how much of
humility there ought to be in every supplication. He helps each
Believer's infirmities and makes for us a mixture of all choice Graces
so that when we pray our pleadings are accepted as sweet incense
because they contain an harmonious amalgamation of all the things which
are sweet to the Lord God of Sabaoth. In passing onward, let us observe
that this incense, in order to be accepted before God, must burn. It
might be the best incense in the world. It might be well compounded and
put into the golden bowls–but it was never accepted by God till it was
set on fire.

Live coals must be taken from off the altar and applied to the spices,
and then the clouds of the sweet smoke began to rise up towards Heaven.
Ah, Brethren, here many men's prayers fail! They are correct but cold,
excellent but lifeless. They lack life, vigor, earnestness–fire! Some
make up for this deficiency by noise and wild-fire, but it will not do.
The Holy Spirit alone can give us true fervor. I confess that I have
too often prayed in this pulpit and have not used the holy violence
which wins with Heaven. And in our Prayer Meetings I have heard
excellent supplications which have failed only in this–that the living
fire had never touched them. How often in the family we go through the
usual petitions, praying for ourselves and for the Church of God, and
for the heathen, and so on–and then we go our way.

We knelt down mechanically and we continued there mechanically, and we
rose up mechanically, and though the prayer was extemporaneous, yet I
fear there is no more heart in it than if we had read it from a book!
Remember well this Truth of God–that neither extemporaneous prayer nor
any other is of any use unless holy fire consume it! We must have

the live coals! I have heard prayers made up of broken, fragmentary,
ill-assorted sentences–but the man who presented them has been all
alive–and I have blessed God and felt I could say, "Amen, amen, the
Lord hear that Brother's petition." Beloved, have you not gone to your
closet and felt, "I have only one thing upon my mind, but oh, how
heavily that weighs upon me! I could not construct an elaborate prayer
if it were to save my life, for I am so distressed about that one
thing"?

But then, that one petition has poured forth from you with all your
soul and you have been heard concerning it. The Lord teach us to pray
in earnest! May He send upon the continent of Europe, and upon America,
and upon all the world at this time His own fire and the heavenly flame
of His Spirit, the Spirit of Grace and of supplication–that saints may
know how to pray–for we must have the fire with the incense! Then the
fire, being with the incense, it was necessary for acceptance that it
should ascend. If the wind had blown the smoke of the incense downward,
scattering it to the right and to the left, it would have been an ill
omen. The incense was accepted with God as it went straight up into the
air, mounting till it seemed to join the clouds and lose itself.

Brothers and Sisters, our intercessions, when they are sweet to God, go
straight up to Him. Do your prayers always do that? Have you ever
prayed thinking, "Well, that is a very nice expression which I have
used. My learned Brethren will be pleased with that. My spiritual
friends will be able to join in that and they will think, 'What a
spiritual man he is to pray as he is now doing." Ah, my Brother, the
smoke is blowing down, you see–blowing away towards man's nostrils,
and not towards God. So much waste and only waste! The prayer which God
accepts is offered to Him alone. He who presents it cares not one atom
who likes it or who does not like it–he is talking with his God–he is
pleading with the Majesty unseen! He is very careless of the criticism
of his fellow creature–his only desire is to please the Lord. The
prayers of the Churches will never be accepted before God until they go
straight up to Him, only, having respect to Him who is invisible.

Now the question returns, why are the prayers of saints so sweet to
God? We reply, partly because they are the work of the Spirit of God.
There is no acceptable prayer in the world but that which the Spirit of
God has inspired. The Holy Spirit knows what the mind of God is, and He
writes it upon the minds of God's people, "making intercession in the
saints according to the will of God." Now, when God sees His own will
reflected in the bosoms of His own children, He cannot but accept the
work of His own Spirit. The prayers of His saints are acceptable with
Him, also, because they are the pleadings of His Son. The saints are
members of Christ's body, and, as they plead, Christ pleads in them.
The very strength of their pleading lies in this–that they urge His
merits–and the Lord delights to be reminded of His Son's
excellences–it is a theme that He delights in.

You may ring that bell as long as you ever will–the Father will never
weary of it. Tell Him what His Son has done. Remind Him of Gethsemane.
Bring up before the Father's mind the Cross of Calvary. Tell Him of His
promise to His Son–that He shall see His seed and have a full reward.
You cannot by any possibility displease God by dwelling upon this
topic. Hold Him with it, yes, hold Him with the resolution of a Jacob,
and say, "I will not let You go until You bless me, for I plead the
name and merit of Your only begotten Son." Everything about Christ is
sweet to God, and because Believers' prayers are full of Christ,
therefore they are sweet to God.

And, again, the prayers of the saints are sweet to God because they
honor Him, and this they do in many ways– first, they assert His
existence. In prayer the people of God declare better than they could
by any other means their sure belief that God is, for should we pray to
One who has no existence? Our prayer to God, therefore, is our
continual assertion that, "The Lord, He is God," "The Lord, He is God."
Our asking for special and particular mercies, and expecting them, is a
declaration of our belief in a living God, a conscious God, an acting
God, a God who is not asleep and far away, but who is near at hand
listening to human voices and able to fulfill human desires. This,
then, is very agreeable to God that we should believe and testify that
He is, and that He is the Rewarder of them that diligently seek

Him.

What if I were to say that prayer is, in itself, essentially a
doxology? It is an utterance of glory to God in His attributes. Do I
ask Him to bless me? Then I adore His power, for I believe He can. Do I
ask Him to bless me? Then I adore His mercy, for I trust and hope He
will. Do I ask Him to bless me because of such and such a promise? Then
I adore His faithfulness, for I evidently believe that He is truthful
and will do as He has said. Do I ask Him to bless me not according to
my request, but according to His own wisdom? Then I adore His wisdom. I
am evidently believing in His

prudence and judgment. I say to Him, "Not my will but Yours be done"–I
am adoring His Sovereignty. When I confess that I deserve to suffer
beneath His hand, I reverence His justice. When I acknowledge that He
does right evermore, I adore His holiness. And, when I humbly say,
"Nevertheless, deal graciously with Your servant and blot out my
transgressions," I am reverencing His Grace. We do not wonder,
therefore, that through Jesus Christ the prayers of the saints should
be precious to God, since they are a homage to the Supreme of an
eminently practical kind.

Brothers and Sisters, after all, perhaps the best reason we can ever
give why God loves to hear us pray, is one which comes home to our own
hearts. You love to hear your own little children's talk. Now you know
very well when your little girl wants a new dress, and you are well
aware that your little boy needs fresh school books–there is no
necessity whatever that Mary should inform you about her clothes, or
that Master John should tell you about his books–for you know what
they had need of long before they ask you. But you like them to feel
their needs and to recognize that they are supplied by their
father–and, therefore, you like to hear them express their desires.

Sometimes you will stop a bit and say, "No, why should I give you
this?" You set them a pleading because you like to hear their little
prattling voices and to have them put their little arms around your
neck and overcome you with kisses. You let them believe that they
master you with their pretty reasoning and fond embraces, and it is
pleasant to you as well as to them. Now, our heavenly Father is far
above us, and yet He bids us learn His Character from our own feelings
as parents. If we, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our
children, how much more shall our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit
to them that ask Him? The Lord declares that He deals with us as with
children.

I know the next word is, "For what son is there whom his father
chastens not?" But I do not believe that God's likeness to a father is
limited to His chastening. The text cannot be so cross and crabbed as
that. Oh no, there is a likeness to a father in His hearing our cries!
He loves communion with His people. The Lord loves to have the hearts
of His children talk to Him. He delights to hear them spread out their
needs before Him and order their case with arguments and prevail with
them. Oh, then never be slack in your pleadings which are pleasant to
God as fragrant incense!

II. Now, secondly and briefly, BLENDED PRAYERS ARE PECULIARLY
ACCEPTABLE TO GOD. "The prayers of saints." The prayers of a saint are
sweet, but the prayers of saints are sweeter! I had many points here,
but I think I must forego them all this morning for the sake of one.
United prayers possess the power of harmony. In music there is melody
in any one distinct note–but we have all recognized a peculiar charm
in harmony.

Now, the prayers of one saint are to God melody, but the intercessions
of many are harmony–and to God there is much that is pleasing in the
harmony of His people's prayers. Let us turn the subject over a minute.
No two children of God pray exactly alike. There is a difference of
tone. If taught of God, each one will pray graciously, but there will
be in one prayer what there is not in another. If all the fruits of the
garden are luscious, yet each one has its own special flavor. All the
bells may be of silver, and yet each one will have its own tone.

For instance, some Brothers and Sisters, when they pray, dwell very
tenderly upon the dishonor done to God by sin. They pray as if they
their hearts would break and they weep at every other sentence. "O God,
the idols are placed on Your Throne. Jesus is dishonored, the Law is
broken, the Gospel is despised." Such loving contrition for the sin of
others wails itself out in soft, low notes of magic power. But, listen
to others, and you will find their prayers pitched upon quite another
key. The Brother prays with full assurance that God's kingdom is
established upon the mountains, where its foundation can never be
removed. And though the heathens rage, and the people imagine vain
things, yet surely God's kingdom and purpose will stand and He will do
all His pleasure.

And as you hear such petitioning, shrill and clear like the sound of a
trumpet, you feel that the voice of faith is both musical and
prevalent. The man has no doubt as to God's triumphing! He is quite
certain that the Lord's hosts will win the day, and He prays in that
spirit. Now, if these varying tones are melted into one, what masterly
harmony they make! Therefore the Lord promises great things when two of
us agree as touching anything concerning His kingdom. But, now comes in
a third petitioner, and his tone of prayer differs from the other two.
The same spirit of prayer is in him, but its voice varies. He prays in
this way. Bowed down with a sense of awe in the Presence of God, the
God of all the earth, he seems to speak measuring out each word, and he
cries, "O God, shall not the nations fear You? Such an One as You are,
shall they not tremble in Your Presence? Will You not be king to them,
O You Creator and Preserver of all things?"

Like the cherubim, he veils his face in the Presence of the excellent
Glory, and your soul, by his prayer, is solemnly ushered into the
Presence of God and laid prostrate there. But mark yet this fourth man,
whose prayer is of another

mold–he is familiar with the Lord–he seems to have merged his sense
of the sublime in that of the condescending, and he speaks somewhat in
this way–"O Lord, my Father. You love the sons of men. Will You not
come and meet Your prodigal sons who are coming back to You? Have You
not given Jesus Christ to be a Man and bought men with Your precious
blood? And will You not come to them and press them to Your bosom, and
make them Yours?" As the Brother calls on God he appears to come close
to Him and lay hold upon Him, and say, "I beseech You have mercy upon
my fellow men."

Now, there is something blessed in both those prayers. I do not know
which I prefer, but I do know, when I can get the blending of the two,
the awe and the holy boldness, the familiarity and the sense of
sovereignty, I find a double sweetness fills my heart! Ah, Brothers and
Sisters, did you ever hear a prayer of that kind which moved the Lord's
heart in the wilderness–I refer to the prayer of Moses, when he said,
"If not, blot my name out of the Book of Life." This is the prayer of
self-sacrifice, when the man feels, "I must have God glorified. I must
have these people saved. I would pawn my soul for it. I would lose
myself if but this nation might be redeemed." That is grand praying–it
is not all of us who can rise to it! If that were alone and the only
prayer, it might grow monotonous, for it lacks compass, but, if you put
all these prayers together which I have mentioned–the prayers of the
tender and the prayers of the brave, the prayers of the awe-struck and
the prayers of the familiar, the prayers of the importunate, the
prayers of the self-sacrificing–then they fill the golden bowl full of
sweet incense!

For my part, I love, at Prayer Meetings, to hear the prayers of the
aged. There is a lack in our Prayer Meetings, and has been for some
months through the loss of one dear saint whose prayers used to be
marrow and fatness to some of our souls on Monday evenings. The prayers
of men on the verge of Heaven are to us as angels to lead us, also, up
to the gates of pearl. But it is very pleasant to hear the prayers of
young people, also, even the very young, for as they talk before the
Lord there is a charming simplicity and frankness too little found in
others. And then, the prayers of men in middle life, full of
experimental trouble, or, on the other hand, overflowing with
experienced joy! These have their peculiar aroma, and I believe God
loves to see them all mixed in the golden bowls!

And, what if I add He would have His people, with their various
peculiarities put their prayers together? I, as a Calvinist, remark
that our Arminian friends pray wonderfully Calvinistic! I can seldom
perceive difference between them and ourselves, but no doubt they do
view more than we do some particular parts of the Truth of God. We, on
the other hand, pay a higher regard to another part of Truth. Now these
various constitutions of Christians affect, in some degree, their
prayers. And when they are blended they give a peculiar harmony of
sweetness to the incense. At this time it is delightful to my thoughts
to think that the prayers of different nationalities are being put into
the golden bowl!

Our French Brothers and Sisters always charm me when they pray. There
is a tender, filial love–an affectionate gentleness which is most
delicious. Our American friends, so bold and sanguine, also delight us
with their confidence in God. Their prayers will balance somewhat the
timidity of the French utterance. Then, our German Brethren, with their
deep thoughtfulness, and their habit of going to the bottom of
things–how solidly they make supplication! So with all our Brothers
and Sisters of many lands, what a choice amalgam they make!

I have been present at Prayer Meetings when I have heard the various
nations pray, and my heart has rejoiced, and I can conceive that to God
there is a peculiar harmony in the blended prayers of the many peoples
and tongues. Look back and think of the prayers of all the ages as
being in the golden bowl at this one time. The prayers of the Apostles,
the cries of the persecuted times, the wrestling of the lonely ones of
the Middle Ages, the moans from the valleys and mountains of
Piedmont–the groans of our Brothers and Sisters during the Marian
persecution, the pleadings of Covenanters and of Puritans–all in the
golden bowl together! And all with the live coals upon them, coming up
from the hand of the great Covenant Angel who stands for them before
the Throne, pleading with God on the behalf of His people! Let us
rejoice that the blended prayers of the Church are very sweet to the
eternal God.

III. And now, lastly, Brothers and Sisters, LET US BLEND OUR PRAYERS,
however faulty and feeble they may

be, with the general supplications of the period. If united prayer is
sweet to God, and we are sure it is, O let us give Him much of it! We
cannot make God happier than He is in reality, for He is the infinitely
happy God. But yet, if there is anything concerning which He expresses
satisfaction, let us abound in it! O Church of God, cry day and night
unto Him! If your voice, O Spouse, is sweet in His ears–if He says,
"Let Me hear your voice. Let Me see your face, for sweet is your

voice and your countenance is comely," O turn not away your face and
let not your voice be silent! But cry, and even in the night watches
pour out your heart like water before the Lord your God!

We fail, I am afraid, we Dissenters, in devotion very much because we
do not value it aright. In the service of today, I believe the sermon
to be a very important part. But I do not believe, as some do, that it
is the all-important matter. I have heard friends say, "So-and-so will
take the preliminary service," as if our praying and singing were only
a little preliminary affair to be gotten through, and the preaching was
the great concern. But, my Brethren, praying is the end of
preaching–the preaching is only the stalk–the real ear is the
devotion which we pay to God. Let us see to this, and seeing God is
pleased with prayer, offer it to Him more and more. And remember that
if we do so, we shall find a blessing in it ourselves. The more we
pray, the more we shall need to pray–the more we pray, the more we can
pray–the more we pray, the more we shall pray. He who prays little
will pray less, but he who prays much will pray more–and he who prays
more will desire to pray more abundantly.

And, dearly Beloved, remember that prayer is effectual with God. We
want to see souls saved. Are we not getting weary of living in this
world among so many who are going down to Hell? Is it not terrible to
think that after all the Church is doing, thousands are being lost
every day? We ought to bestir ourselves for men's souls and we cannot
do better for them than praying for them. Let us, therefore, bestir
ourselves in prayer! In the eighth chapter of the Revelation you will
find that the great angel who stood before God with the golden censer
in his hand, full of the prayers of the saints, held it up and the
smoke went up to God.

But, after a while, when the incense was all burnt out, he took that
golden censer and he filled it with coals from off the altar, and then
you notice what he did–he emptied the golden censer out upon the
earth, and there were voices and thunders and lightning and
earthquakes. Read the passage. Now, when the censer of God's Church
shall have been well filled with prayer, and that prayer shall have
been presented to the Lord, He will begin to work, and that censer
which has been before God a weapon to prevail with Him, shall then
become against men a weapon to prevail with them! God will fill it full
of coals and pour it out upon the earth. His Divine power shall then be
seen. Then will come voices– preachers here and there will rise, in
the newspaper press, in the universities, in the public
assemblies–there will be voices denouncing oppression, voices crying
against priestcraft, voices preaching the Truth of God–voices
declaring

Christ!

Then will come thunder, for with the Gospel will go the voice of God,
which is like thunder, louder than the voice of man. Then will flash
forth lightning, for the light of God's power and Truth will come forth
with majesty, and men's hearts shall be smitten with it, and made
obedient to it. And then shall earthquakes shake society till the
thrones of despots reel–till hoary customs are dashed in pieces–till
the land that could not be plowed with the Gospel plow shall be broken
up with secret heaviness from the eternal God!

We have but to pray! All things are possible to us! Pray, Brothers and
Sisters! You have the key in the door of Heaven, keep it there and turn
it till the gate shall open. Pray, Brethren, for prayer holds the chain
which binds the old dragon! Prayer can hold fast and retrain even Satan
himself! Pray! God girds you with omnipotence if you know how to pray!
May we not fail here, but may the Spirit of God strengthen us, and to
God shall be glory forever and ever. Amen.
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The Sphere Of Instrumentality