The Whole Counsel

While Dr. John Snyder was in Wales pursuing his doctorate, he and his family attended Heath Evangelical Church, where Mr. W. Vernon Higham was the pastor. Mr. Higham was also a close friend of Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones and his wife. Through the years spent at Heath Evangelical, John and his family benefited greatly from Mr. Higham’s preaching, but there has been one series that John has gone back to time and again. He has also recommended it to many others. Mr. Higham preached this series on revival at the Evangelical Movement of Wales Conference. This first sermon highlights our world’s need for revival and is based on Isaiah 62. As we at Media Gratiae have been blessed by these messages, we pray you will be as well. Show Notes: W. V. Higham Trust: https://www.wvhigham.org/ The Turn of the Tide by W. Vernon Higham: http://churchawakening.com/product/the-turn-the-tide/ Lectures of the Revival of Religion, by Ministers of the Church of Scotland edited by W. M. Hetherington https://www.abebooks.com/Lectures-Revival-Religion-Ministers-Church-Scotland/31027820289/bd Free ebook: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lectures_on_the_revival_of_religion_by_ministers_o?id=T-kDAAAAQAAJ&hl=en_US&gl=US&pli=1 Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Sitting in the prayer service of a church can feel like a passive experience. But it does not have to be. As we conclude our series on the corporate prayer service, Jeremy Walker preaches to his local flock at Maidenbower Baptist Church in Crawley, England about the practice of engaging with the prayer service. It may seem there isn’t much to do with your head bowed and eyes closed, but nothing could be further from the truth. We pray this series has been a blessing to you. If you are blessed to be in a church with a healthy prayer service, our hope is that this gives you a renewed appreciation for it and equips you to be prepared for your next opportunity. If you are in a church without such a meeting, we pray there have been some helpful information in these episodes that you can apply to your situation. Show Notes: Resources from Jeremy Walker A Word in Season - https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/a-word-in-season From the Heart of Spurgeon Podcast - https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon Some of our favorite books by Jeremy: Life in Christ - https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/life-in-christ-becoming-and-being-a-disciple-of-the-lord-jesus-christ-walker.html The Brokenhearted Evangelist - https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-brokenhearted-evangelist-walker.html Books by Jeremy Walker at Reformation Heritage Books: https://www.heritagebooks.org/Search.html#/Search.html?search=Jeremy+Walker Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

We’ve now spent two weeks focusing on the corporate prayer service. It is our prayer that, if you are not participating in your church’s prayer service, or if your church does not have one, you will find a way to begin this sweet means of grace. In this episode, Jeremy Walker and Teddy James discuss some helpful resources on learning to pray, both privately and corporately. Teddy also asks Jeremy for his counsel toward those in churches without a prayer service. How can a pastor begin to lead his flock toward this precious practice? How can a church member encourage his or her pastor to consider it? Next week we will wrap up this series with the second sermon from Jeremy Walker, which offers counsel to those sitting in the prayer service and not praying aloud. This is not an hour of passiveness for them. It should be a time of great, intentional activity. Show Notes: Piercing Heaven - https://www.wtsbooks.com/products/piercing-heaven-prayers-of-the-puritans-9781683593348?variant=31497830793278 Valley of Vision - https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/devotional-books/the-valley-of-vision/ Prayer by John Bunyan - https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/christian-living/prayer-by-john-bunyan/ A Way to Pray (A Method of Prayer) by Matthew Henry - https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/christian-living/way-to-pray/ Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This week we continue our series on the corporate prayer service. As stated last week, we are sharing the first of two sermons Jeremy Walker preached to his congregation on corporate prayer. Taken from 1 Corinthians 14:16 and Acts 4:24, Jeremy seeks to give practical counsel for those leading out in the prayer service. He discusses how we can come into the service prepared to pray. He also hits on ways we can be a blessing or a discouragement to brothers and sisters in the congregation with us by things as simple as the volume of our prayer. Next week Jeremy and Teddy will continue the series by seeking to answer the question: What if my church doesn’t have a prayer service? How can I help get one started as a pastor? How can I encourage my pastor to start one? Show Notes: Resources from Jeremy Walker A Word in Season - https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/a-word-in-season From the Heart of Spurgeon Podcast - https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon Some of our favorite books by Jeremy: Life in Christ - https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/life-in-christ-becoming-and-being-a-disciple-of-the-lord-jesus-christ-walker.html The Brokenhearted Evangelist - https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-brokenhearted-evangelist-walker.html Books by Jeremy Walker at Reformation Heritage Books: https://www.heritagebooks.org/Search.html#/Search.html?search=Jeremy+Walker Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Recently some of our team members listened to a sermon series preached by Jeremy Walker on the corporate prayer service. We were so blessed by it that we wanted to share it with you. But Jeremy preached those sermons for his own church where there is already a foundational understanding of the purpose and focus of the corporate prayer service. To better help our audience, we thought it would be beneficial for Jeremy and Teddy James to have a few discussions to help establish that foundation and answer a few questions that may arise from the sermons. So in some ways this new series will be different than what we have done in the past. For this introductory episode, Jeremy and Teddy are talking in our normal format. Next week we will share the first sermon of Jeremy’s series. The following episode will be Jeremy and Teddy again in our normal format. And the final episode will be Jeremy’s second sermon. We are excited about this series and pray it is a blessing to you. Show Notes: How to ruin your spiritual life sermon series - https://www.sermonaudio.com/series/185833 A Word in Season - https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/a-word-in-season From the Heart of Spurgeon Podcast - https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon Some of our favorite books by Jeremy: Life in Christ - https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/life-in-christ-becoming-and-being-a-disciple-of-the-lord-jesus-christ-walker.html The Brokenhearted Evangelist - https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-brokenhearted-evangelist-walker.html Books by Jeremy Walker at Reformation Heritage Books: https://www.heritagebooks.org/Search.html#/Search.html?search=Jeremy+Walker Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

We have spent the last several weeks discussing the life of prayer in the Christian. Only those who have cried out to the Lord for the salvation of a child, parent, spouse, or other loved ones know the desperation one can feel in this situation. We are regularly tempted with the whisper of the enemy that our prayers aren’t working. We continually pray, but that loved one seems to only put more distance between himself and God. So what do we do? Dr. John Snyder and Hugh Morrison discuss how we can approach these situations in faith and how we can answer the enemy’s lies with Scripture. A danger the duo points out is that one tactic of the enemy is to make us withdraw from prayer and turn to our own schemes. But God has told us that he will only be found by seeking his face. And prayer is one of the primary means by which we seek his face. So do not despair and do not surrender the sacred privilege of prayer in your life today, particularly in regard to loved ones. Show Notes: Psalm 102 Exodus 2 Psalm 107 Psalm 116 To hear Hugh’s sermons at Christ Church New Albany: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvnJqlEs5pO6h_fRk2vMVWJqEL112dvIW Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

How do Christians pray when we aren’t sure God is going to answer positively what we pray for? That is the heart of the discussion this week between Dr. John Snyder and Hugh Morrison, pastor and HeartCry missionary in Canada. As Hugh says in the podcast, our role in prayer is to ask; God’s role is to answer. So how do we ask? We bring questions God has told us to ask. He has told us to pray for the salvation of loved ones. He has told us to pray for the healing of the sick. He has told us to pray for sanctification and holiness. And he has told us to pray for all of those things without doubting. But when it comes to praying for healing or for the salvation of a loved one, how do we persevere when we doubt? We begin by confessing the doubt to God and giving it up to him. As Hugh later said during one of his sermons at Christ Church New Albany, we reject what we see as reality and replace it with God’s reality. This is not an easy task to accomplish. But it is one that God has obligated himself to help his children do. So cry out to him for help, and he will, like a loving father, walk alongside you and help you pray to him. Show Notes: Autobiography of George Muller: https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-George-Muller/dp/0883681595 Hudson Taylor Biography: https://www.davidsonpublishing.org/hudson-taylor.html Amy Carmichael: Beauty for Ashes: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/history-biography/amy-carmichael/ The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd: With Notes and Reflections by Jonathan Edwards: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/history-biography/diary-and-journal-of-david-brainerd/ To hear Hugh’s sermons at Christ Church New Albany: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvnJqlEs5pO6h_fRk2vMVWJqEL112dvIW Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

In one sense, prayer is the simplest thing for a Christian. It is simply a child going to his father and talking. But it is also mysterious because it is a relational transaction between our soul and the only uncreated being in the universe. We can have communion with the Redeemer of our souls. We can walk into the presence of almighty God to have his attention. Hugh Morrison, you may remember his talk to church leaders a few weeks ago, is on the podcast this week to discuss the labor of prayer with Dr. John Snyder. This will be a three-episode series with this opening discussion focused on the necessity of meeting with God in prayer. Because prayer is seldom studied, it is often seen as something to do as part of our morning devotion, part of a worship service, part of eating a meal. But prayer is much more. Prayer should be the heartbeat, the breathing of a Christian. It is a thread through which nearness and communion with God is woven into our lives. So how can we have the prayer life we yearn for? How can we perform that work of praying to God? One help is to read all that Scripture has to say about the issue. A secondary help is to find someone you know who practices prayer. A third help, particularly if you do not have someone who can disciple you in prayer, is the use of biographies. John and Hugh share how God had used several biographies to shape their prayer lives. Show Notes: Autobiography of George Muller: https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-George-Muller/dp/0883681595 Hudson Taylor Biography: https://www.davidsonpublishing.org/hudson-taylor.html Amy Carmichael: Beauty for Ashes: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/history-biography/amy-carmichael/ The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd: With Notes and Reflections by Jonathan Edwards: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/history-biography/diary-and-journal-of-david-brainerd/ Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

If you would like some help in studying Galatians, consider Gospel Realities: Lessons from Galatians. Watch the study trailer here: https://youtu.be/HlAIb5uSBOI Find more information here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/gospel-realities-lessons-from-galatians This week we present to you session one of Gospel Realities: Lessons from Galatians. In this session, Dr. Yuille focuses on the intent of the Bible study and what he hopes to teach throughout all eight sessions. What others are saying about this study: “The gospel is the beautiful, glorious, and central message of Christianity. All of history and all of Scripture revolve around it, and unless we lay hold of it by faith, we will perish eternally. But it was precisely this gospel that was under attack among the first-century churches of Galatia. Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, wrote this forceful letter to remind the Galatian Christians of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. With faithful exegesis, concrete application, and experiential meditation, Dr. Yuille guides us into the glories of the gospel and the implications of the gospel for our lives. Excellent for personal devotions, small groups, and Bible studies!” Dr. Joel R. Beeke, Chancellor and President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan The Galatians needed Christ. They needed the whole Christ. They needed all of Christ. They needed nothing and no-one else apart from or in addition to Christ, as revealed by the Holy Spirit, to bring them into and keep them in the family of God. Clearly, warmly, sweetly, earnestly, logically, and consistently, Stephen Yuille presents to us that Christ whom Paul preached to the Galatians. In doing so, he walks us through the gospel in all its brilliance and beauty and blessing. To spend two happy months in this study would be a worthy investment of your time and effort. Jeremy Walker Show Notes: Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Media Gratiae is pleased to announce our newest, Gospel Realities: Lessons from Galatians, written and taught by Dr. Stephen Yuille. Yuille is the professor of church history and spiritual formation at The Southerwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the preaching pastor of a local church, and serves as a content director and editor at Reformation Heritage Books. We at Media Gratiae found the writing and editing of Dr. Yuille so helpful we asked him to create a study for us. Even though he has an incredibly full schedule, he was happy to do the work of preparing, writing, and preaching this study. We are grateful for his work. We pray after hearing from him you will be encouraged to study Galatians alongside us. If you would like some help in studying Galatians, consider Gospel Realities: Lessons from Galatians. Watch the study trailer here: https://youtu.be/HlAIb5uSBOI Find more information here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/gospel-realities-lessons-from-galatians Show Notes William Perkins volumes from Reformation Heritage Books: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-works-of-william-perkins-the-10-volume-collection.html A Perfect Redeemer by William Perkins: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/a-perfect-redeemer-perkins.html Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app