The Whole Counsel

This week's sermon is the final in our series of revival sermons from Rev. Vernon Higham. Isaiah saw the need for revival in his day, and he cried out for it. We are also in great need of revival, and we hope the previous episodes have led you to cry out to God for it. In this final sermon, Rev. Higham shares with us the hope for revival from Isaiah 64:8-12. This hope is not the hope the world has. It is a solid, tangible thing because crying out for God’s ungrieved presence among us is a prayer that pleases him. Dr. John Snyder ends this week’s episode, as he has several others, with a book recommendation. He opted to leave you with a book edited by Richard Owen Roberts. If you have participated in the Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically study, you know Mr. Roberts. His book is titled Scotland Saw His Glory and recounts accounts of revival going back to the Scottish Puritan era. 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 Scotland Saw His Glory by Richard Owen Roberts https://www.rorbooks.com/index.php/product/scotland-saw-his-glory-a-history-of-revivals-in-scotland/ 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’s podcast is the third of four sermons on revival preached by Reverend Vernon Higham in 1984. Rev. Higham felt the need for revival in his own land, and his desire for revival is expressed throughout this powerful sermon based on Isaiah 64:1–7. We pray this series benefits you and burdens you to pray for revival in your own soul, family, church, and land. If you would like to hear more sermons from Rev. Higham, you can see the link in the show notes below for the Vernon Higham Trust. 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

“Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah? This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? ’It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.’” Isaiah 63:1 This week’s podcast continues the sermon series by Reverend W. V. Higham. Mr. Higham was the pastor of John Snyder and his family while he spent time in Wales working on his doctorate. In this sermon, Mr. Higham continues discussing the need we have for revival but also highlights the fruit of true revival such as powerful preaching, earnest prayer, and a commitment to biblical worship. The discerning hearer might realize all these things are the ordinary means of grace through which God meets His people. That is true. But in revival, all these ordinary means are made effectual to an extraordinary degree. Same means; different degree. We pray this sermon is not only an encouragement to you in the troubled days we live in, but that it also gives fuel for you as you pray for revival in our day. 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 on Revivals by William Sprague: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/theology-books/lectures-on-revivals/ 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

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