Then shall we see Thee as Thou art, Christian Year. JOHN HENRY parker, oxford and LONDON, Tracts for the Christian Seasons. THE SUNDAY AFTER ASCENSION DAY. Waiting for God's Promises. PROPER LESSONS: Morning, Deut. xii.; Evening, Deut. xiii. " THE time between our Lord's Ascension and the day of Pentecost must have been a time of deep suspense to the Apostles. Their Lord had left them, left them with the promise that they should have another Comforter" to supply the loss of His bodily presence; but that Comforter was not yet come. Nor did they know certainly when He would come, further than that He was to be looked for before many days should pass. And in the meantime they were bidden not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait there for the heavenly gift. (Acts i. 4, 5.) What their feelings were during this interval we cannot guess. Nor does it signify. God has provided us with information which concerns us more; He has told us how they employed themselves. They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren." (Acts i. 14.) They prayed; they prayed together with one accord, and they continued, they persevered in prayer. In so doing, they were in each particular acting upon promises and encouragements, which their Lord had given them while yet with them. He had said to them, "If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" (Luke xi. 13.) He had promised them, "If two of you shall agree on earth, as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven." (Matt. xviii. 19.) And He had related to them the parable of the unjust judge to encourage them "to pray always," that is, to persevere in prayer, “and not to faint." And they had the reward which was to have been expected. God heard and answered their prayers abundantly, not indeed as soon as they had begun to pray; for then their patience and perseverance would not have been tried, but in His own time. "When the day of Pentecost was fully come," that is, ten days after their Lord's ascension, the promised gift was given, and the Holy Spirit shed forth in plentiful abundance upon them all. I. I speak of the gift of the Holy Spirit as given in answer to their prayers offered during this interval, and thereby imply that that gift formed a very principal subject of those prayers, because I think we may be sure that a promise having been left to the effect that that gift should be given, would lead them to make it a subject of special and repeated prayer. Some persons, it is possible, might imagine that the very circumstance of its having been promised would make prayer for it unnecessary; as though God would be sure to give it them, whether they prayed or not. But no: the promise was an additional reason why they should pray; and pray with redoubled earnestness. God's promises do not make our prayers, any more than our exertions, unnecessary. Rather are they calls to both, earnest calls. "I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them," God is represented as saying, immediately after a promise as unconditional as any recorded in Scripture, "I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them :" (Ezek. xxxvi. 37 :) that is, "I will have them pray to Me for the accomplishment of it." That pro mise was this very gift of the Holy Spirit. And here we see how the Apostles and their fellowdisciples were seeking it in the way prescribed. And do we desire this same blessed gift? Do we desire to be made partakers of God's Spirit? or if we trust that we are partakers of it in some measure, to be made more abundantly partakers of it? Are we sore let and hindered in running the heavenward race by the corruption that is within us? Do evil lusts, evil passions, evil tempers strive for the mastery, and many times shame us by the success they obtain ? And do we need a stronger arm than our own to quell them? Then see the course which we must take. Prayer is indispensable; no man can expect either this or any other blessing, who is slack or negligent here. We can look for nothing in the way of spiritual good without prayer. When God designs to impart His grace, He invariably puts it into the hearts of His people to pray for it. Are any then living without prayer? I hope it may not be said that any are without prayer of any sort. I hope no one who reads these pages lays aside the very outward form of prayer, however he may be wanting in the spirit of prayer. I hope no one who reads these pages ventures to |