Beloved, the day shall never come when the Church shall cease to be the temple of prayer. The fire upon this altar shall never be quenched day nor night.
"To Him shall constant prayer be made,
And princes throng to crown his head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning’s sacrifice."
There shall never lack a man in our Israel to hold up holy hands, like Moses upon the mountain, that the hosts of God may prevail in the plain below. Elijahs may be taken away, but Elishas shall follow. Apostles may cease their perpetual supplications, but a train of intercessors shall follow in their footsteps. While earth brings forth her harvests, the Church shall yield her sheaves of prayer.
Nor shall praise ever cease; the hallowed hymn, the psalm of victory, the hallelujah of triumphant joy, these shall never be suspended. In the worst days of the Church, even when she assembled in the catacombs and gathered her sons for worship in the caves of the earth, even then she had her hymn of praise, even then they sang of Christ ascended and about to come. The roaring of the sea may cease, the thunders may be hushed, and the spheres may end their song, but the redeemed of the Lord must praise the name of Jehovah world without end.
From a sermon entitled "Broad Rivers And Streams," delivered January 18, 1863. Flickr photo by b k ; some rights reserved.
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