N13259:353
Sermons, on the following subjects
Sermons, on the following subjects; The manner in which salvation is to be sought. The unreasonableness of indetermination in religion. Unbelievers contemn the glory of Christ. The folly of looking back in fleeing out of Sodom. The warnings of Scripture in the best manner adapted to the awakening and conversion of sinners. Hypocrites deficient in the duty of prayer. The future punishment of the wicked unavoidable and intolerable. The eternity of hell-torments. The peace which Christ gives his true followers. The perpetuity & change of the Sabbath. / By the late Reverend Mr. Jonathan Edwards, president of the College of New-Jersey.
Hartford: printed by Hudson and Goodwin, 1780
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
II. I WOULD take occasion from this doctrine to exhort all to persevere in the duty of prayer. This exhortation is much insisted on in the word of GOD. It is insisted on in the old testament. 1 Chron. xvi. 11. Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually. Isai. lxii. 7. Ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence; i. e. be not silent as to the voice of prayer, as is manifest by the following words, and give him no rest, till he establish and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Israel of old is reproved for growing weary of the duty of prayer. Isai. xliii. 22. But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, thou hast been weary of me, O Israel.
PERSEVERANCE in the duty of prayer is very much insisted on in the new testament; as Luke xviii. at the beginning, a man ought always to pray and not to faint; i. e. not to be discouraged or weary of the duty; but should always continue in it. Again Luke xxi. 36. Watch ye therefore and pray always. We have the example of Anna the prophetess set before us Luke i. 36 &c. Who though she had lived to be more than an hundred years old, ⟨p. 133⟩yet never was weary of this duty. It is said, She departed not from the temple, but served GOD with fastings and prayers night and day. Cornelius also is commended for his constancy in this duty. It is said that he prayed to GOD always; Acts x. 2. The apostle Paul in his epistles ins••ts very much on constancy in this duty.