Thou hast taught us in Thy Word, O Lord, and we have experienced the truth of it, that every good gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variableness, neither shadow cast by turning. We thank Thee for this great truth, that Thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thou art the Author of all things that are, the Creator of all worlds.

Thou art the same, and though changes take place in Thy creation, Thou art the same, and Thy years do not fail. The terms of admission to Thy holy presence are ever the same; Thy disposition toward Thy children is always the same. Thou dost not weary of our coming; Thou hast summoned us to Thy presence. Thou hast given us Thy promises of grace that our faith may stand upon them, and that we may with confidence, and without wavering, come to the mercy seat. Through Jesus Christ by one Spirit we have access to the Father, and we come that we may worship the Holy Trinity. And as we desire so to do we cast ourselves upon Thee and Thine abounding grace, that we may be enabled to render to Thee an acceptable worship. Thou hast told us that as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Thy thoughts higher than our thoughts, and Thy ways than our ways. It is not possible for us to understand the thought of God. We cannot do so by any unaided attempt to discover the truth ourselves. Only as the spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God, and reveals to us the treasures which are wrapped up in Thy manifold Word, and we really understand that which is written.

We thank Thee for the unfailing storehouses of grace, like those of Joseph in the long ago, thou infinitely transcending them. They are so filled that they are beyond human power of exhaustion, for no matter how often Thou dost enrich us, how frequently we may call upon Thee, Thou art never the poorer for Thy giving. Thou art still able to do all that we ask of Thee, and even more.

We thank Thee that Thou hast not called us to a life of stagnation, which Thy salvation is something vastly more than a ticket to heaven, than an assurance of safe entrance within the gates of pearl. Thou hast come that the works of the Devil might de destroyed, Lord Jesus. We have been predestinated that we might be conformed to the image of God's Son. We thank Thee for all the provisions of grace, and for all the ministries of Thy Word, and of Thy church, which are designed to be means of grace, that this great desideratum may be realized in our experience, that we may grow up into Christ in all things, daily becoming at least just a little more like Jesus. O that the Christ that has been formed in us, the hope of glory, may be manifest in our thought, in all our deliberations, in all our planning and performing! In all the expressions of life without may that which has its centre in the Lord Jesus characterize the life of Thy people. Oh help us to demonstrate the truth of Thy gospel. Grant us Thy Spirit, that we being led of the Spirit and shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

And now this evening, O Lord, in this hour of worship, we pray that Thou wilt shut us up to Thyself. Every one before Thee has many earthly interests, many family ties. It is not Thy will that we should ignore them, or become indifferent to them, but rather that they may be sanctified and sublimed to holy uses. So hear the muttered prayers of fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, and friends and children, and grant to us all a fulfillment of our secret and holiest desires. For Thou hast said that if we delight ourselves in the Lord He will give us, not merely what we ask, but the desires of our heart. Grant us this, O Lord, This evening.

But we acknowledge our limitations; we recognize that we are brought sadly into bondage; into the bondage of circumstances, even into the bondage of the weather sometimes. We do not always ride upon our high places. We need Thy help, the consolation of Thy grace, the inspiration and energizing of Thy dynamic Spirit, that we may not live little lives, cribbed, cabined, and confined, but that we may live largely and luxuriously as the children of the King, who are familiar with His wardrobe. O clothe us with Thy righteousness, make us such Christians as the angels shall not be ashamed of, and bring us ever more into stricter and closer conformity to Thy will, and therefore to Thine image and likeness. Then shall we be able to do Thy work. If Thou wilt restore to us the joy of Thy salvation, then shall we be able to teach transgressor Thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.

We think of all the assemblies of Thy saints, large and small, in the cities, and in the country, and in all countries; of those who keep lonely vigil in the sick room, and of those who stand alone amid all the perplexities of life, feeling a bitterness, and the stranger doth not intermeddle with its joy. But Thou knowest how to minister to the hearts of men; Thou hast the tongue of the learned to speak a word in season to the weary. So do Thou exercise Thy great ministry of grace, Thou Head of the church, Thou Father of our spirits, Thou Holy Ghost the Comforter and teacher: throughout the world at this hour may multitudes be lifted a little nearer heaven, for Jesus' sake, Amen.