Call to Worship
Receive God’s gracious call to worship.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples! Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord! Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore! (Psalm 105:1–4)
Adoration
Offer this praise to God:
“Our Father, which are in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
We fear that we often begin our prayer with petitions for ourselves, and put our daily bread before Your kingdom, and the pardoning of our sins before the hallowing of Your name. We would not do so today, but guided by our Lord’s model of prayer, we would first pray for Your glory; and here, great God, we would adore You.
You have made us and not we ourselves. We are Your people, and the sheep of Your pasture. All glory be unto You, Jehovah, the only living and true God. With heart and mind, and memory and fear, and hope and joy, we worship the Most High.
It well becomes us to put our shoes from off our feet when we draw near to God, for the place whereon we stand is holy ground. If God in the bush demanded the un-sandalled foot of the prophet, how much more shall God in Christ Jesus?
With lowliest reverence, with truest love, we worship God in Christ Jesus, uniting therein with all the redeemed host above, with angels and principalities and powers.
We cannot cast crowns at His feet, for we have none as yet, but if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, if there be about us anything of grace and good repute, we ascribe it all to God.
We cannot veil our faces with our wings, for we have none, but we veil them with something better than angelic wings, the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. With these we cover our faces, with these we cover our feet, and with these we fly up to God in holiest fellowship of God. Glory, and honor, and power, and dominion be unto Him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and for ever.
The Law
Hear God’s perfect requirements.
These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. (Proverbs 6:16–19)
Confession of Sin
Confess and repent of sins before God.
First we would confess before You, O God, the sin we have committed, mourning over it. Touch each one’s heart now with tenderness that everyone of us may lament that You should even have a few things against us, if they be but few, for in the great love of our blessed Master He said to His churches, “Nevertheless, I have a few things against You.”
O Lord, if You have so kept us by Your grace that there have been but a few things against us, yet help us to bewail them much.
O, Infinite Love, can we sin against You at all? How debased is our nature then! Forgive, sweet Savior, forgive sins against Your love and blood, against Your wounds and death, and give us Your Spirit,
O Saviour, may we more fully live Your life while we are here among the sons of men, for as You are, even so also are we in this world, and we wish the parallel to become more close and perfect every day!
Assurance of Pardon
Hear the promise of grace:
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6–8)
Praise
Offer this praise to God:
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Matthew 6:13)
Creed
Testify what you believe of Christian truth:
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)
Catechism
Learn from Spurgeon’s catechism.
26. Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?
A. Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition (Luk 2:7), made under the law (Gal 4:4), undergoing the miseries of this life (Isa 53:3), the wrath of God (Mat 27:46), and the cursed death of the cross; (Phl 2:8) in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time (Mat 12:40).
27. Wherein consists Christ’s exaltation?
A. Christ’s exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day (1 Cor 15:4), in ascending up into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of God the Father (Mar 16:19), and in coming to judge the world at the last day (Act 17:31).
Prayer for Illumination
Ask for spiritual understanding before reading God’s Word:
We would thrust out new roots this day, and take fresh hold on the blessed soil in which grace has planted us. O Savior, reveal Yourself anew, teach us a little more, help us to go a little deeper into the divine mystery. May we grip You and grasp You; may we suck out of You the nutriment of our spirit; may we be in You as a branch is in the stem, and may we bear fruit from You.
Scripture Reading
Read Scripture with dependence and a desire to obey.
Day 10: Romans 5:1-11 (Peace with God Through Faith)
Prayer of Intercession
Make your requests with thanksgiving, and pray this prayer.
Now look in great mercy upon those who are unconverted; Lord save them. Some are quite careless; Lord, they are dead; come and quicken them. We cannot see, but You can. Oh! that some of the most remorseless and hardened might be softened by the touch of Your Spirit this very day; and may others who are not careless, but who are even seeking after eternal life, but who are going the wrong way to work, may they be shown their error, may they be led in the way by You, may they look, and, looking, live. We know how many of them are wanting to be this and that before they take Christ to be all in all; may they cease their seeking by finding everything in Christ.
As You are a prayer-hearing God, and a God of pardon, issue many a pardon from Your heavenly court today, sealed with the Redeemer’s blood, signed with the Father’s name. Oh! today, Lord, ere men grow old in sin, ere they die in their sins, save them with an everlasting salvation….. Remember all people, especially the poor, the widows and the fatherless, and any that are depressed in spirit, whose depression tends to the failure of reason; the Lord restore them, and such as are dying. O Lord, let them not die without hope, and may Your believing people learn to pass away without even tasting the bitterness of death. May they enter into rest, each one walking in his own uprightness.
Save this age from its own intellectual pride; give back the spirit of simple faith in Christ, for we desire His glory.
Benediction
Close with the blessing of God.
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:36)
