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BEFORE THE NEWS, THE DAILY FOOD
By John Willison
“How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory” (2 Cor. 3:8-9).
Let me exhort all the hearers of the Gospel to pray earnestly to God for the ministry of the Spirit to them, as it hath been to our ancestors in this land in former days, and as it is this day in other countries. Let us cry with the church, “Renew our days as of old” (Lam. 5:21). And let us with David, “See Thy power and Thy glory…in the sanctuary” (Psa. 63:2), as in former times. And with Isaiah, “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old” (Isa. 51:9). Let us plead with the church, “We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old. ...Awake, why sleepest Thou, O Lord?... Arise for our help, and redeem us for Thy mercies’ sake” (Psa. 44:1, 23, 26).
It would be as wind to the sails, oil to the wheels, and make souls to run the ways of God’s commands without fainting or wearying. It would loose our bonds, enlarge our hearts, and give freedom from Satan’s temptations, and strong lusts. It would revive drooping souls, turn their water into wine, their sorrow into joy, their fears into holy confidence, their doubts into Godly assurance, their complaints into praises, and make them to sing in the ways of the Lord. It would satisfy their souls, and all their faculties, as with marrow and fatness, bring light to the mind, freedom to the will, strength to the memory, peace to the conscience, and life to all graces. Yea, it would make the soul to grow in grace and fast ripen for heaven. It would make professors of religion grow more sincere in duties, more fervent in prayer, more attentive in hearing, more frequent in meditation, more practical in knowledge, more edifying in converse, more humble for defects, and more thankful for mercies.
A day of the ministry of the Spirit would bring many rare and rich blessings along with it, such as discoveries of the Redeemer’s glory, convictions of the evil and vileness of sin, many crowns of victory, and triumph to Christ, great additions to His friends and followers. Then gospel light would shine clear, saving knowledge increase, ignorance and error vanish, riches of free grace would be displayed, and Satan be bound up. Then ministers and ordinances would be lively, secure sinners would be awakened, dead souls would live, hard hearts would be melted, strong lusts subdued, and many sons and daughters born to God. Such a day would heal divisions, cement breaches, make us all of one heart and mind, and bring down heaven to earth. Prayer and praise, spiritual converse, talking of Christ and redeeming love, would be our chiefest delight. Oh, then, pray for such a time!
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