Today is the 41st anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision declaring abortion a fundamental right. Yesterday on my other site (see here (Xanga) / here (WP)), I wrote about the Rev. James Haldane Stewart's 35 year effort to stir up God's people to pray for the Holy Spirit. The following is an excerpt from Stewart's "Hints for the General Union of Christians for Prayer, for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit," originally published in early 1821. Though Stewart's words were penned almost 200 years ago, they are fresh, vibrant, and timely today because Stewart viewed social problems through the lens of Scripture. As Christians, we can and we should attempt to protect unborn children, to aid mothers in crisis, and to enact just laws — and yet Stewart reminds us there is even more needed...

In the present day, a day which for obvious reasons, may be called a day of trouble, of rebuke and of blasphemy; and yet a day which, from the advance of true religion, shines with many a ray of bright hope and earnest expectation; —in such a day, in which hope and fear thus alternately prevail, one great question that ought to occupy the mind — How to overcome the evil, and to extend the good; how to confound the works of Satan, and to enlarge and establish the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many are the attempts now making for this purpose. Societies are in active operation to suppress vice, to reform our prisons, to afford a refuge for the destitute — to provide an asylum for the penitent — to educate the young — to circulate the Holy Scriptures — to evangelize the heathen — and to promote Christianity among the Jews. Each of these institutions has its peculiar excellence, but they are all limited in their object and in their effort. No one great and extensive plan has yet been adopted, which may, at the same time, effectually benefit ourselves, our families, our country, and the world at large.

The aim of this paper is humbly to suggest such a plan, not to disparage other benevolent attempts, but to give life, and vigour, and energy, to them all. The plan is this:—TO UNITE ALL SINCERE CHRISTIANS IN EARNEST PRAYER FOR THE GENERAL OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. This will meet the full extent of both of our wants and of our desires.

The limits of this paper require brevity; but if the Scriptures are examined, the following truths will be clearly seen; viz. That no human effort is of itself sufficient to change the heart of man, or to build the spiritual temple of the Lord. God employs men as instruments, but he is himself the great agent. Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but God only giveth the increase. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts...¹

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, though we walk in the flesh, let us remember that the warfare we wage is not according to the flesh. How often do we become engaged in benevolent attempts and rely on ourselves — and end up neglecting to seek the face of God for the supply of the Spirit? May the attempts of God's people be many, but at the same time, may we earnestly plead with God to pour out His Spirit to give "life, and vigour, and energy to them all."

Yesterday (January 11) was the anniversary of the homegoing of the Welsh Calvinistic minister William Williams Pantycelyn (1717-1791). You may be familiar with Williams' hymn "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah," which was originally penned in the Welsh language. Williams also wrote hymns in English. All of his hymns meld Biblical doctrine with vibrant Christian experience.

As I was looking through Willliams' "Hosannah to the Son of David" (his first collection of English hymns, published in 1759), the hymn "Breathing after God" caught my eye. I thought the hymn was a wonderful prayer for the beginning of a new year, and that verse 2 was a fitting complement to my last post on Jonathan Edwards, spiritual dullness, and resolutions.

HYMN XL. (from "Hosannah to the Son of David")
Breathing after GOD.

1 LORD, do descend and visit me,
I cannot bear the loss;
All the creation does afford
But vanity and dross.

2 My spirit follows after Thee,
Renew'd by special grace,
And cannot, will not, thus inclin'd,
Renew its former chase.

3 LORD, why hast Thou created me?
My mind, to what employ?
Why passions planted in my soul,
But Thee I might enjoy?

4 O Holy, Holy, Holy LORD,
Be my companion still,
That so each corner or my heart,
May have its plenteous fill.

5 Then all I leave, I all resign
That flesh and blood approve,
All earthly objects of delight,
And only for Thy love.

Though we as Christians may resolve to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, Williams is right to remind us that our spirits need to be renewed by God's "special grace," because distractions, excuses, and temptations abound so we might break our resolutions and renew our former chase!

Luke 9:57  As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58  And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59  To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60  And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61  Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62  Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

These things are written as examples to us. Let us take heed, lest we fall. The writer to the Hebrews warns us not to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (see Hebrews 3). If left to our own selves, given our treacherous hearts, soon enough we will find ourselves drifting, hardening our hearts, and looking back rather than following Jesus. Isaiah reminds us that "even youths shall grow faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted..." -- so, my friends, what hope is there for a 55 year old woman like myself! –– what hope is there for any one of us!?

BUT
they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
HE does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
HE gives power to the faint,
and to HIM who has no might HE increases strength.

(~ Isaiah 40:30-31, 28-29, emphasis mine)

Gracious and merciful God, renew us by Your special grace, so we might be fit for Your Kingdom. We grow faint and weary, but You do not! As Your sheep, we are prone to wander, but as our Shepherd, Your covenant love is steadfast! Almighty and everlasting God, for the sake of Your beloved Son, grant Your children power and increase our strength through Your Holy Spirit. May we comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to experientially know the love of Christ that passes knowledge, that we might be filled with all Your fullness, so Your love is not merely a theological construct to us, but serves as a constraining power, so our love and our desire for You and Your Kingdom might increase, that we might come to know and to treasure Jesus Christ as the pearl of great price and as our exceeding joy, and, in turn, see the "vanity and dross" of all else, and "leave" and "resign ... all earthly objects of delight," so our souls might freely breathe and gladly pant after You as the deer pants for the water brooks, and we might cling to, enjoy, and follow hard after the Lamb wherever You go in 2014, for Your Glory! Amen.

Related:

Pressing on in the New Year
One week into 2009: a prayer to press on & manifest Jesus (Charles Wesley)
New Year’s resolutions? … not “without God’s help” (Jonathan Edwards)
dedication 2010 (reflections on God’s Word & God’s grace)
dedication 2010 (addendum): may He temper my tongue with love
my best resolutions
Sacrifice
A New Year’s Eben-ezer (Morning by morning I do awake … O! the mystery of sovereign grace)
Amazing Grace . . . upon Grace ~ the 240th anniversary
“… since thou hast been thus gracious …” ~ Susanna Anthony and grace upon grace
Jonathan Edwards and dullness: “So that it is to no purpose to resolve, except we depend on the grace of God.”

For more on William Williams, please read Martyn Lloyd-Jones' 1968 address to the Puritan Conference: William Williams and Welsh Calvinistic Methodism.

Once again, we're at the beginning of a new year, and once again there's a lot of talk about resolutions. Some of you may be familiar with Jonathan Edwards' "Resolutions." Edwards began keeping a diary in the midst of writing those resolutions, and he wrote the following at the beginning of  a new year:

1722-23, Tuesday, Jan. 1. Have been dull for several days. Examined whether I have not been guilty of negligence to-day; and resolved, No.

Wednesday, Jan. 2. Dull. I find, by experience, that, let me make resolutions, and do what I will, with never so many inventions, it is all nothing, and to no purpose at all, without the motions of the Spirit of God; for if the Spirit of God should be as much withdrawn from me always, as for the week past, notwithstanding all I do, I should not grow, but should languish, and miserably fade away. I perceive, if God should withdraw his Spirit a little more, I should not hesitate to break my resolutions, and should soon arrive at my old state. There is no dependence on myself. Our resolutions may be at the highest one day, and yet, the next day, we may be in a miserable dead condition, not at all like the same person who resolved. So that it is to no purpose to resolve, except we depend on the grace of God. For, if it were not for his mere grace, one might be a very good man one day, and a very wicked one the next... Source:  Jonathan Edwards' Works Volume One.


Psalm 33:
12  Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
13  The LORD looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14  from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15  he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16  The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17  The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
18  Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19  that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.

Psalm 147:
10  His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11  but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

O LORD our God, along with Jonathan Edwards, we confess that we often find ourselves spiritually dull! Apart from the motions of Your Spirit – without the divine sap flowing from the Vine to the branches – we are nothing, and we can do nothing! Show us that if left to our own devices, we would quickly and painfully discover every thought and intent of our hearts to be only evil continually. Show us that apart from the supply of the Spirit we would irreparably and irretrievably fall.

Merciful and gracious God, in this new year of 2014, pour out grace upon grace on Your Church, that we may be a delight and a pleasure to You! Fill us with the fear of You, so that as as we seek to make resolutions according to Your will, and as we endeavor to walk in the good works You have ordained for us, we might put no confidence in our flesh, but rather hope in Your steadfast love and trust in Your Holy Spirit to equip us to do Your good pleasure through our risen and reigning Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, all to His glory alone (Heb. 13:20-21).

There is no happiness or blessing for us apart from having You as our Help. May our boasting be in You continually! May we show our profession of You to be genuine and not lip service, and may we demonstrate we are Your holy nation and Your chosen people as we depend not upon ourselves but upon Your grace. Like Your servant David, may we learn to love, embrace, and call upon You as our strength for the praise of Your name.

Psalm 18:
1  I love you, O LORD, my strength.
2  The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3  I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

Psalm 146:
1  Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2  I will praise the LORD as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3  Put not your trust in princes,
in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
4  When his breath departs he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6  who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
7  who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free;
8  the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down;
the LORD loves the righteous.
9  The LORD watches over the sojourners;
he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10  The LORD will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!

Related:

With the New Year Come New Resolutions, but How Can We Become Entirely New? (Lloyd-Jones)
New Year’s resolutions? … not “without God’s help” (Jonathan Edwards)
my best resolutions
your resolution – “Divine Intervention” by Lecrae
Blessed dependence ~ “Leaning upon her beloved”
by my God I can leap over a wall (Psalm 18:29b)
“I cannot consider myself to have been a believer (in the full sense of the word)”