What a blessed thing it is that you are going forth into the highways and hedges with the Gospel of the blessed God! That you should ask for prayer is itself a token of grace, for no man preacheth aright of himself; the necessity is laid upon us, and woe is unto us if we preach not the Gospel. This weekend and the next, you shall have my heart’s cry ascending to the Throne, that the Lord may clothe you with power from on high.
Let it be your one design to exalt Christ, for to preach the Gospel is to preach Him, not a system, not a creed, but the living, dying, risen Son of God, in whom the glory of God is veiled and yet revealed. Oh, that the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ may shine into hearts darkened by sin! When you lift Him up, you promote His glory among the sons of men, and that is your greatest aim. Pray much that the Gospel may come not in word only, but in demonstration of the Spirit, for the Spirit’s work alone can turn the heart. True repentance is His gift, a repentance not of the flesh, but wrought by the love of Christ that sweetly constraineth. It is a hatred of sin, a turning from it, and above all, a giving of glory to the omniscience and righteousness of God. Without that, all sorrow is but the vomit of a dog. Beseech the Lord to grant that souls may loathe their sin because it is against so good and glorious a Being, and that they may look unto Him whom they have pierced and mourn, and yet, in that mourning, find the joy of the happy God, for the Gospel is the Gospel of the happy God!
Up, then, ye servants of the Most High! Go forth with this commission almost too vast for angels: to re-create a world by the foolishness of preaching. I am persuaded that the blaze of the Cross shall open blind eyes. Proclaim the freeness of grace, free as the air, free as the rain upon the mown grass. And as you go, I join my supplications with yours, that many may repent and believe the Gospel, to the praise of the glory of His grace. May the Lord bless you and keep you, and make you a blessing. Amen.