INVITATION TO UNITED PRAYER,

FOR THE

OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT,

On MONDAY, 1st of January, 1844.

BEING THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW YEAR.

DEARLY BELOVED IN THE LORD,

It is under a deep sense of the rapid progress of time, and of the commanding influence our Lord's warning to his Church should have at the present moment," Behold, I come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments,"-that I now, for the EIGHTH TIME, call upon you to unite in a GENERAL CONCERT FOR PRAYER FOR THE OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, which it is purposed, by Divine permission, to hold on THE FIRST DAY OF THE NEW YEAR, MONDAY, JANUARY THE FIRST, 1844.

The day of the week on which the New Year falls, affords a very favourable season for this devotional union. For the FIRST OF JANUARY, 1844, will dawn upon you with the sweet savour of the Sabbath still fresh upon your spirit;-on the day also which, for several years past, has been set apart by many of the Lord's servants for special Prayer for the extension of his kingdom. So that when united with those devout Christians who belong to your own commuJANUARY, 1844.

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nion, you will be in fellowship with "the excellent of the earth" in all parts of the world.

May our Heavenly Father, for his dear Son's sake, pour out upon his people “the Spirit of grace and of supplication," that their prayers, presented before the throne by their Great High Priest, may ascend as an acceptable offering, and bring down a very abundant blessing.

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The aspect of the times specially calls for this United Prayer of the Faithful; for the New Year approaches as a day of darkness and of gloominess;"-a darkness so thick, that the Lord alone can clear the sky, or dissipate the clouds now suspended

over us.

In adverting to these dark shades, it is very far from my intention to speak of them in a spirit of reproach or unkind accusation. I refer to these events with feelings of deep sorrow. For to a mind in any degree influenced by our Lord's command to his disciples, "Love one another," how humiliating is the state of our highly favoured, but deeply sinful Protestant country.

In England, alas! instead of being united in maintaining the religion of our Protestant forefathers, our Church continues to be disturbed by Tractarian errors. Even Transubstantiation, or something very similar to it, has been preached,— and so widely has the leaven spread, that one of our Bishops in our sister island, to check its influence, has published the powerful Charge he delivered against these errors; whilst the Bishop of Calcutta in the East, and the Bishop of Ohio in the West, have found it necessary, even in those distant climes, to guard their clergy against them.

Nor is this the only cloud. For such, alas! is our divided state, that whilst most persons of sound wisdom and intelligence consider, humanly speaking, that the safety of our country depends, under God, upon providing the working-classes with a Scriptural education, the attempt to introduce this national blessing has been prevented by that want of union which is so desirable upon so vital a subject. These are the clouds now suspended over Protestant England.

In Scotland, alas! the prospect is still more gloomy. For the disruption in the Church, which was only apprehended last year, has actually taken place; and now-oh! who does not deeply lament it!—we see a divided family. They "who took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company," are now separated-and, as many consider themselves to be, are constrained by conscience to avoid communion with, if not actually to oppose, each other.

And as to Ireland, what meets us there, but undisguised efforts to burst the bonds which now unite the British Empire, kept under only by the strong arm of the law, or by military force?

Such are the calls for a devotional union among those "who sigh and cry for the abominations that are in the land." And imperious indeed is the call. For if Almighty God, in his unmerited mercy, does not help us, who can? Who but he, who dispels error by giving "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ;" who softens down contending Brethren, by shedding abroad a spirit of love in their hearts; and who "makes the wrath of man to praise him, the remainder thereof

he restrains ;"-who but this great and glorious God, the Omnipotent Ruler of the universe, "the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ;"-who but He, of whom it is declared that "when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him ;"—who but He can befriend us? Blessed be his name! He has said, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver you-and thou shalt glorify me."

Who, then, "that loves the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," '-or remembers his last prayer that all who believe on Him "may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one, in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me"will not join in this devotional concert, and, as with one heart, present their united prayer that the Lord, for his dear Son's sake, may pour down the abundance of the enlightening, enlivening, strengthening, comforting, and sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit, so that the clouds now hanging over us may pass away, and "the bright and morning Star" in due time appear.

It seems almost unnecessary to offer other motives for this devotional union, so powerfully ought the state of our country to press upon us; still I cannot but mention these additional reasons.

First, the state of the Lord's ancient people. When the invitation for a concert for prayer on the first day of this present year was given, the foundation of a Protestant Church was laid on Mount Zion, and the building was progressing; but, as if Satan's agents were simultaneously at work in all parts, the Turkish Governor has issued an order to our Missionaries to stop the building of the Church.

Application has since been made to the Sultan at Constantinople to have this order reversed, and a firman granted allowing the work to proceed; but no satisfactory answer has as yet been returned.

Let, then, prayer ascend, that He who inclined the Persian Monarch to make a decree that what was "commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven;" that this same gracious God may exercise His overruling providence for the building of our Protestant Church in Jerusalem, and that, when built, the house may “be filled with the glory of the Lord."

Ob! "pray for the peace of Jerusalem;" remembering the promise, "They shall prosper that love thee." Secondly. During the present year, the door for sending the Gospel to China has been widely opened, by the ratification of the Chinese treaty. Our Eastern territories, also, have been enlarged; so that, besides our other possessions, the highly venerated Bishop of Calcutta-already placed over a large portion of the globe, called a Diocese-has now Scinde added to the whole of Hindostan, and the Straits of Malacca, and the coast of Arracan. Surely we need only to be reminded of these fresh openings for sending the Gospel to the heathen, to lead us gladly to unite in this devotional concert. These are some of the special calls for prayer, which are made at the approach of the New Year. May they find a response in every Christian heart!

Devout persons will be encouraged by this fact: that the concert for prayer, on the first day of the present year, was far more extensively held, than on any former one. It was observed on the Continent of Europe, in Canada, in the United States, on the