DELIVERED ON LORD'S-DAY MORNING, JUNE 22ND, 1879, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. Continuing instant in prayer. - Romans 12:12. THIS is placed in connection with a large number of brief but very weighty precepts. Prayer has a distinct relationship to all Christian duties and graces. It is not possible for us to carry out the holy commands of our Lord Jesus unless we are abundant in supplication. The Romans at the time that Paul wrote to them were subject to persecution, and in this verse he mentions two remedies for impatience under such afflictions, remedies which are equally effectual under all the trials of life. The old physicians tell us of two antidotes against poison, the hot and the cold, and they dilate upon the special excellence of each of these: in like manner the apostle Paul gives us first the warm antidote - Rejoicing in hope, and then he gives us the cool antidote, Patient in tribulation. Either of these, or both together, will work wonderfully for the sustaining of the spirit in the hour of affliction; but it is to be observed, that neither of these remedies can be taken into the soul except they be mixed with a draught of prayer. Joy and patience are curative essences, but they must be dropped into a glass full of supplication, and then they will be wonderfully efficient. How can we rejoice in hope if we know nothing about prayer to the God of hope.
