Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 42 from your hardback hymnal. Number
42, all hail the power of Jesus' name. Number 42, let's all stand. ? All hail the power of Jesus'
name ? Let angels prostrate fall ? Bring forth a royal diadem
? And crown him Lord of all ? Bring forth a royal diadem ? And crown
Him Lord of all ? Ye chosen seed of Israel's race ? Be ransomed
from the fall ? Hail Him who saves you by His grace ? And
crown Him Lord of all Lord of all. Hail Him who saves you by
His grace and crown Him Lord of all. Let every kindred, every
tribe, on this terrestrial ball, to him all majesty ascribe, and
crown him Lord of all. To him all majesty ascribe, and
crown him Lord of all. O that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall, we'll join the everlasting song and
crown him Lord of all. will join the everlasting throng
and crown him Lord of all. Please be seated. I was just thinking about what
the Lord said to Nicodemus about the wind. where it listeth, and thou heareth
the sound thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh or whither
it goeth. So is everyone that's born of
the Spirit. These events, how shall we say, are
acts of God, and he will accomplish his purpose. and he'll be glorified
through it. Let's open our Bibles to Matthew
chapter six. Matthew chapter six. I want to speak on the subject
of prayer tonight and encourage each of us to pray. And Luke tells us that when the
Lord gave us this model prayer that he gives us here in Matthew,
that the disciples ask him, Lord, teach us to pray, teach us to
pray. Matthew leaves that part out,
but same passage. And when thou prayest, thou shall
not be as the hypocrites are, For they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they
may be seen of men. Verily, I say unto you, they
have their reward. They love the praise of men more
than the praise of God. They're not praying to God, they're
praying to impress men. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into
thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door, pray to thy father,
which is in secret, and thy father, which seeth in secret, shall
reward thee openly. But when you pray, use not vain
repetitions as the heathen do, for they think that they shall
be heard for their much speaking. We just, you know, you can always
tell someone is trying to pull something over on you when they
talk too much. And she loved trying to deal with the salesman.
You just quit talking. You'd be a lot better off. People
think they're going to pull something over on God just by confusing
him with a lot of words. Be not you therefore like unto
them. For your father knoweth what you have need of before
you ask him. After this manner therefore pray
ye, our father, our father, We're approaching our heavenly father,
our loving heavenly father, with whom we have full acceptance
in the beloved. Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed or holy be thy name. We don't go before God presumptuously. We don't go to him irreverently. We go to him confessing that
he is holy. Thy kingdom come. Lord, I want your gospel to have
full effect on my life, and I want it to have free course in this
world. thy kingdom come, thy will be
done in earth as it is in heaven. Truth is, everything that happens
in earth, in time, has already happened in heaven, in eternity. God's will is being accomplished
here on earth, even as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. I am the bread of life. Give me Christ. Give me children
lest I die. Oh Lord, reveal the glory of
thy Son in my heart. And forgive us our debts. Lord,
we're indebted to you for our sin. We look to the shed blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ for the covering and the hope of
our forgiveness. As we forgive our debtors, how
can we hold an unforgiving spirit toward anyone, knowing what God
has done for us. Be kind, compassionate, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. And lead us not into temptation.
Lord, don't let me be tempted. I've had enough experience with
sin to know that if I'm tempted, I'm gonna do it. Don't even let
me be tempted. but deliver us, deliver us from
evil. For thine is the kingdom and
the power and the glory forever. Amen. Let's pray. Oh, our merciful heavenly father,
how grateful we are that we can come before thy throne of grace
with confidence, boldness, knowing that we have acceptance in the
person of thy dear son, knowing Lord that you have no wrath towards
your children, nothing but mercy, nothing but grace, nothing but
love. And Lord, we pray that the love of Christ would constrain
us in this hour as we attempt to worship you, that you would
move our hearts by your spirit causing us to rejoice in thy
love and in thy forgiveness. Lord, that you would give us
forgiving spirits towards one another, that you would cause
us to love one another even as you have loved us. Lord, we pray that you would
remind us in these times of trial and trouble that you are the
power, you are the glory, Lord, that you sit upon your throne
and that you order the events of this world according to your
perfect will and purpose and all for your glory and for the
good of your children. Enable us to set our affections
on Christ. Forgive us, Lord, for the for
the many times that we've look to the things of the earth, taking
our eyes off of Christ, and thank you for the forgiveness of all
our sin. We pray that you would keep us
safe now in these days ahead, that you'd be glorified through
it all. We pray it in Christ's name.
Amen. Let's all stand together again.
We'll sing hymn number 19 from your Spiral Gospel Hymns hymnal,
number 19. Sovereign ruler, Lord of all,
prostrate at your feet I fall. You are holy, wise, and just. I'm a creature of the dust. All things move at your command,
governed by your mighty hand. Heaven, earth, and hell I see,
Fulfill all your wise decree. Dares a man resist his Lord,
Stand against the sovereign God? I will bow before your throne,
Seeking grace in Christ your Son. ? Through his blood and
righteousness ? ? Lord, I plead with you for grace ? ? If you
will, you can, I know ? ? Grace and mercy to beshow ? ? Will
you, Lord, my soul forgive ? ? Grant this sinner grace to live ? I've
no other hope but this, Jesus' blood and righteousness. Now I'm conquered by your grace. In the dust I hide my face. Give me Christ or else I die. I, upon your grace, rely. Oh, for mercy, now I plead. Grant me, Lord, the grace I need. Turn, oh, turn to me and say,
all your sins are washed away. In my son, your debt is paid. He, for you, the ransom made. Please be seated. Will you turn with me in your
Bibles to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. Notice in verse 1 the first three
words, finally brethren pray. I've titled this message last
but certainly not least. Finally, my brethren, pray. After all the instructions and
admonitions and encouragements of the gospel, Paul says, don't
forget to pray. Prayer is to faith what breathing
is to life. You can't have life without breath.
You can't have faith without prayer. That's just what faith
does. Faith is always crying out. Faith is always looking and asking
and seeking. The Lord said, pray without ceasing,
and believers do. They do. They've always, always
thinking about the Lord, can't ever, always thinking about,
you know, what the Lord's purpose is and what God's grace is and
always in an attitude, a spirit, a prayer. Now, the means by which
the Lord encourages us to pray is the same means by which he
gives us faith. Faith and prayer cannot be separated.
And those things are encouraged to the children of God by the
word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
comes by the word of God. If we're to pray, prayer is a
work of grace in the heart. Prayer is not what you do because
you have faith. Prayer, just like faith, is a
work of grace in the heart. It's something that God has to
cause you to do. and he does he calls his children to terminated
good to daniel chapter ten chapter ten look at uh... look at first too
in those days by daniel was mourning three full weeks. So here he
is pouring out his heart to God in prayer for three full weeks. Now look at verse, go down with
me to verse eight. Therefore I was left alone and
I saw this great vision and there remained no strength in me for
my comeliness was turned in me into corruption and I retained
no strength. You know prayer prayers for the purpose of changing
us. We're not trying to change the
purpose of God or manipulate God with prayer. Daniel's praying
now for three weeks, and as a result of this spirit of prayer that
God has put on his heart, all the strength, all the beauty,
all the comeliness, all the abilities that he had now are turned into
corruption. He realizes the more he prays,
the more dependent he is. And so he says in verse 12, the
Lord speaks now. Then said he unto me, fear not
Daniel, for from the first day that thou did set thine heart
to understand and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words
were heard. from the very first day that
I put it on your heart to pray I heard your prayer and I and
I put that in your heart to pray because it was my purpose to
answer that prayer and had I not set your heart to pray then when
the answer came you would have known it came from me that's that's isn't that the
way we are I mean, God gives us something that we didn't pray
for, and we just presume upon the Lord and just take it for
granted, don't we? And we just go on as if, well, wasn't that
nice? That was a good thing. But when He puts it on our hearts
to cry out to Him in prayer, it's because He's purposed to
answer that prayer. And in it all, He's gonna get
glory for it, isn't He? The Lord always sets the heart
to pray before he blesses. Prayer is not for the purpose
of persuading God. It is for the purpose of preparing
us. That's it. Let me say that again. Prayer is not for the purpose
of persuading God. It is for the purpose of preparing
us. Lord, teach me to pray. Lord,
put it on my heart. I want the blessings of God.
I want to know the grace of God. I want to experience the forgiveness
of His grace. I want to know Christ. I want
His gospel to have free course as we see in our text. Go back
with me to our text. What does James say about praying?
I mentioned this Sunday morning. When you ask, ask in faith. Nothing wavering. For he that
wavereth is like the wave of the sea. He's double-minded. Let that not thy man think that
he'll receive anything from the Lord. What is it to ask him?
Why did it take Daniel three weeks? Why did God put it on? Why did Daniel pray for three
weeks? Because he had to be brought
to that place where his comeliness was turned into corruption before
the Lord was gonna bless him. And that's what it is to pray
in faith. To pray in faith doesn't mean that you're asking for something
and you just believe, if I just believe strong enough God's going
to give it to me, then it's going to come. Praying in faith is
going before God on the basis of the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ alone. The only access that I have before
the throne of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Lord, I've
got no comeliness. I've got no beauty. I've got
no strength. I've got nothing to bring you,
to persuade you, or to manipulate you, or to do anything. I'm completely dependent upon
you, and that's what prayer does. Prayer makes us dependent upon
Him. Prayer turns our comeliness into
corruption. And that's the purpose of it.
that the Lord would bring us to the place where we ask in
faith. Faith. What is faith? Total dependence. Suffer the little children to
come unto me, for such is the kingdom of God. That's a baby.
That's a baby. Lest you have the faith of a
little child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. God describes
faith, He defines faith as what a child has, a baby has. A baby? What's a baby capable
of? What are they capable of? You've heard me say this before.
I'm going to say it again. They're capable of two things, crying and messing
themselves up. And that's about all we're capable
of, isn't it? When God makes, when God gives us faith, all
we can do is cry out for mercy and he shows us how messed up
we are. Lord, I thought I had some strength.
I thought I had some, I thought I had some ability. I thought
I could take care of this. I've been trying to fix it. And
now my comeliness has turned into corruption. Let me tell you a good example
of that. And we all have conflicts with
people in this world. Sometimes family members, sometimes
neighbors, sometimes co-workers. We have conflicts with people.
And there are times when people do us wrong. I mean, they really
do us wrong. And they're wrong on every level. Pray for them. Pray for that person. You can't
maintain an unforgiving spirit against somebody that you're
praying for. You just can't do it. It's impossible. Why? Because your comeliness is going
to turn into corruption. You're going to see your absolute
total dependence upon the Lord through the processor and you're
going to be a forgiving person. God's going to make you to forgive
them and really have their best interest at heart. Want God's
blessings on them. And so Paul says, Finally, my
brethren, pray. Pray. It's my last instruction
to you in this letter, but it's certainly not the least thing. Pray for, what do we pray for?
When the Lord said, whatsoever you ask in my name, you'll receive
it. Praying for the important stuff.
The important stuff. Praying to be saved. Praying
to know Christ. Praying to have no temptations. Deliver me from
evil. Or don't... Praying about a sin. Praying for grace. Praying for mercy. Praying to
know Christ. Those are... You see, when people
think about prayer, what do they think about? Well, I'm just going...
But James deals with that, doesn't he? You ask a myth that you might
consume it upon your own lust. That's what most folks pray for.
They pray for things that they want to have pleasure in in this
world. And the Lord's saying, you know,
your Heavenly Father knows what your needs are. And in that same
Sermon on the Mount that we just read from in Matthew chapter
6, the Lord said, consider the lilies of the field. Solomon
in all of his glory was not arrayed as one of them. And by the way,
every single one of us live right now a more comfortable life than
Solomon knew anything about. Solomon could never walk into
his house and flip a light switch on. Solomon didn't have indoor
plumbing. Solomon didn't have air conditioning.
I mean, all the comforts that we enjoy in this world. And Solomon,
the richest man in the world, didn't enjoy the comforts that
we enjoy in our lives. And yet we lust after more, don't
we? But the Lord said, Solomon and
all of his glory was not arrayed as one of them. Consider the
birds of the field. They don't fret. They don't go around worrying
about where their next meal is going to come from. Lord pray. Does your Heavenly Father not
love you more than He loves the birds of the air? He knows your
needs. Pray for those things that are
important and trust God to provide for you those material things
that you need to get by in this world. But pray for the things
that are important and if you pray for those things, pray for
grace, pray for understanding, pray for knowledge, pray for
faith, pray to know Christ, pray for peace, pray for forgiveness,
pray for those things that are spiritual, those things that
are eternal, and pray for them in Christ and know that God's
going to give them to you. Now you can't know if He's going
to give you some of those other stuff you pray for. A lot of
things we pray for we have to say, Lord if it be Thy will.
But I'm talking about things that we know are God's will.
You pray in faith for those things that are important, and you can
depend upon the Lord to give them to you. He will. He delights in showing mercy.
He delights in revealing his glory to his children. Lord,
give us faith to pray for that which is important. Finally, brethren, pray for us,
that the word, back in first, second Thessalonians chapter
three, verse one, that the word of the Lord might have free course. And word free course means to
run, to run, that the word of God might run. What's he saying? Pray for the success of the gospel. Pray that the Lord will cause
his word to go out in power and to glorify himself and to save
sinners. Pray to that end. That the word
of God might have free course. Pray for the Lord to give opportunity. In Acts chapter 16, Paul was
in Asia and he was considering going further into Asia Minor. And he thought he would go to
one place and he prayed to the Lord and the scripture says the
Holy Spirit restrained him. And then he saw that man of Macedonia
asking him to come over and help us. And that's when Paul went
over to Philippi. Pray for opportunity. There was
a lot of opportunities in Philippi. That's where Lydia was. The Lord
opened her heart. That's where the Philippian jailer
was converted in his household and church was established in
Philippi. Paul was praying, asking the
Lord, where do I go? Pray for us that the gospel would
have free course. That's an important thing to
pray for. And what a blessing it is when
we see the Lord answer that prayer. Lord, put it on our hearts to
pray for the success of the gospel. to open up doors of opportunity.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, he said, I'm tarrying here
at Ephesus. I'm not gonna come to you yet. He's talking to the church at
Corinth. I'm gonna tarry here in Ephesus for a great door and
effectual has been opened unto me. God Almighty opened up an
opportunity here in Ephesus. There's a great hearing. There's
a great blessing. People are being saved. The Lord
is giving his gospel free course. Pray that the gospel, that the
word of God, the message of the gospel of God's free grace in
the glorious person and accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ
would find opportunity. God's got to open that door.
We can't make it happen. The Lord said the fields are
white under harvest. Say not, say not that we have
yet four months under harvest. For I say unto you, the fields
are white already under harvest. Pray that the Lord of the harvest
would send forth laborers into the harvest. Pray for God to
raise up gospel preachers, but pray for yourself that the Lord
would give you opportunity to speak to somebody about Christ.
The fields are wide in the harvest. Lord, open up an opportunity
for me. You know, I hear people talking
about their praying for their loved ones. If you pray for your
loved ones, that's a good thing. But in praying for them, it seems
to me that when God puts it on your heart to pray for a loved
one, that part of that prayer is Lord provide an opportunity
for me to speak to them. God give them an interest for
the gospel. And then you be ready to give
an answer to them that ask you for the hope that's within you.
And do it with meekness and do it with fear. But those opportunities won't
come. You see, if you pray This matter
of prayer is for the purpose of preparing us for that opportunity
so that we'll know the Lord provided that. The Lord caused that person
to ask that question. The Lord put it on them to show
an interest. The Lord made a great door and
effectual to be opened. For the last 10 years, In case you've never been up
here behind this pulpit, I'll tell you what's right here. It's
been there for 10 years. I taped it on there about 10
years ago. Psalm 127, verse one. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain, which build it. Except the Lord keep the
city, the watchman waketh, but in vain. Everything we do is
in vain if the Lord doesn't bless it. If the Lord doesn't open
our hearts, if he doesn't bring people here, if he doesn't cause
us to pray for folks and invite folks to come, pray for us, brethren,
that this Word of God would have free course. That's what we're
praying for. We're praying for the gospel
to have free course. In Acts chapter 16, I mentioned
this, Paul said he was forbidden to go to Asia. He wanted to go
to Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered him not. And then he had that
vision. The man of Macedonia, come over
and help us. And Paul went, and what was the
first place he went to? A place that was wont for prayer,
down by the river. And who did he find there? Who
did he find there? Not a man. That man from Macedonia
was a vision that God gave him to send him to Philippi to preach
the gospel to Lydia, the seller of purple. And what happened
to Lydia? God opened her heart. He opened
her heart and she believed and then she opened her home. and
had Paul and the apostles come in and stay with her. If you
find me worthy of your faith, would you please stay with me?
And then the Lord opened an opportunity for Paul to preach in Philippi,
and with that preaching came some opposition, didn't it? A
riot broke out. Well, there was a young woman
who was possessed with a demon in Acts chapter 16. and she made
her master money by fortune telling. And she came up along besides
Paul and said, these men are men of God, listen to them. And she kept crying after them
and she did that for several days until Paul realized this
is somebody that the devil is using. to cause others to think that
we're on the same side that she's on. And Paul turned around and
rebuked the devil that was in her and cast him out in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And her master realized that
they could no longer make gain on her. And so they made false
accusations against Paul. They brought Paul in. They beat
him. They beat Paul and Silas and
threw him into prison, chained to the wall in a Roman dungeon.
And what do we have Paul doing? He's still praying. He's praying
and praising God. And what happens? God sends an
earthquake, and the doors are opened, and the chains are loosed,
and the jailer's about to kill himself thinking that he's lost
all of his inmates. And Paul stops him and preaches
the gospel to the Philippian jailer and goes to his home.
The very man who inflicted those wounds on Paul, that's what the
jailer would have been the one to do that. Now, he takes Paul
and he cleans all of his wounds and apologizes. Oh, I didn't
know. I didn't know. Takes him into his home. Takes
him from the jailhouse to his home. Paul preaches the gospel
to his family and all the jailer's family is saved. That's what
we're praying for. Lord, put it on our heart to
pray for the free course of the gospel, for you to open doors
of opportunity, for the gospel to be preached. And forgive us
for being so selfish and so short-sighted and so materialistic in the things
in which we pray for. Enable us to pray for those things
which are important. Finally, brethren, pray. Pray. This is the last thing, but it's
certainly not the least thing. Matter of fact, turn over one
page to 2nd 1st Timothy Chapter 2. 1st Timothy Chapter 2. Look at verse 1. I exhort therefore
first of all that supplications and prayers and intercessions
and giving of thanks be made for all men. for kings and for
all that are in authority, that you might lead a quiet and peaceful
life in all godliness and honesty. So here, the Lord says, I exhort you. The word exhort means
I encourage you. And that's what I'm trying to
do for you, brethren, tonight. Just to be an encouragement to
you, to believe God, to pray in faith, pray for those things
that are important, the free course of the gospel in your
own heart first. That Christ would be made real
to you. That Christ in you would be your
hope of glory. That the Lord would deliver you
from the things that this world would distract us away from Christ
with. And then pray for those that
are preaching the gospel. Pray for me, please. Please. Pray for the Lord to open up
doors that people would listen. Pray that God to give you opportunity
to speak to somebody, encourage somebody to come. The Lord's going to use the means
of faithful prayer to bless his gospel. So that when the blessing
comes, he'll get more glory. by those who prayed for it. Finally, brethren, pray for us
that the word of the Lord might have free course and be glorified. Now, turn over with me. You're familiar with this passage,
but perhaps there's somebody that's watching that's not. Turn
over with me. to 1st Peter chapter 1. 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 23, being born again. That's what the Lord said to
pray. Why we pray? Because God's got
to provide the opportunity. God's got to provide the ability.
He's got to provide the ability. for us to speak, for you to speak. Paul said, who is sufficient
for these things? We're not sufficient. Jeremiah, when God called on
Jeremiah to preach the gospel, Jeremiah said, I am but a child. I am but a child. How can I speak? And Moses, when God called Moses
at the burning bush to go get the children of Israel out of
Egypt, what'd Moses say? I'm slow of speech, Lord, my
tongue is all, I can't talk. What'd God say? Who gave you
that tongue? Who gave you that tongue? Let Aaron be my spokesman. No evidence that Aaron was ever
the spokesman for Moses. Moses spoke as he was given ability
to speak, as he was given opportunity to speak. You see, Lord, if you
don't make it so, it's not gonna happen. If you don't bless the
gospel to me first and then to others, it's not gonna be blessed
if you don't do it. Salvation's of the Lord. and then he's got to give ears
to hear, doesn't he? So he not only has to provide
opportunity, he has to provide ability, but then he has to provide
hearing. The hearing ear and the seeing
eye are both of the Lord. What did the Lord say to Nicodemus?
Nicodemus, you can't see the kingdom of God until you're born
again. What is this? This is praying
in faith. Lord, we are completely dependent upon you. We can't
do anything. And that's all prayer is. Prayer
is an expression of our dependence upon the Lord. That's what faith is. That's
why I say prayer is what faith does. But it's a work of grace
in the heart. God doesn't give you faith and
then you come up with prayer. Prayer is faith. It's what faith
does. And what are we praying for?
We're praying that the Word of God might be glorified. Glorified
first in my heart, glorified in my city, glorified on my job,
glorified in my home. And what is it for the Word of
God to be glorified? Well, here it is. You have your Bibles open
in 1 Peter 1, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. Faith comes by hearing. Hearing comes by the Word of
God. You weren't born again by something that you did. That
would be corruptible. It's not by the works of the
flesh. For all flesh is as grass. There it is. Lord, what do I
tell them to comfort them? Tell them they're grass. Tell
them they're grass. That'll be a comfort to them.
because then they won't be looking to themselves for anything. They'll
be praying to me. They'll be asking me for everything. If they come to believe that
if through prayer their comeliness is turned into corruption, then
they will find all their dependence upon me for everything and that's
the way it's going to be. We lose sight of that, don't
we? we become so self-sufficient and so independent. And we might be strong and able
to handle material things, but the things that are important,
the things we ought to be praying for, we don't have anything for
that, do we? We're completely dependent upon
the Lord, completely dependent upon Him. You were born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, even by the
word of God. And look at the next verse. For
all flesh is grass and all the glory of man is the flower of
the grass. The grass withered, the flower thereof followed the
way. But, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. Yet a lot of fundamentalists
would say, oh yeah, we gotta preach the Word of God. And they
don't preach the Gospel. If they're not preaching the
Gospel, they're not preaching the Word of God. If they're not preaching the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, they're not preaching
the Word of God. That's why Paul said, we profess to know nothing
among you, said Christ, in Him crucified. We preach Christ in
Him crucified. This whole book is about Him.
If we don't preach the sovereignty of God in salvation, if we don't
preach election and predestination, if we don't preach irresistible
grace, particular redemption, the grace that cannot be resisted
by man, the grace that breaks through the will of man and makes
him willing in the day of God's power. If we don't preach particular
redemption that the Lord Jesus Christ actually redeemed those
for whom he lived and died, he actually redeemed them. He didn't
make an offer of redemption. He's not trying to say, folks,
that's the gospel. The gospel is the salvations
of the Lord and the gospel is what causes us to want to pray. That regeneration is irresistible. That sanctification is a work
of grace in the heart. God keeping us from falling and
presenting Him faultless, presenting us faultless before His throne.
It's all of the Lord. It's all of Him. And if we really believe it's
all of Him, we'll pray. The only reason we don't pray
is because we got this. We're taking care of this ourselves. Finally, brethren, pray that
the Word of the Lord, which is the Gospel, might have free course,
that God would bless it, Blessed to your heart, blessed to the
hearts of others, make you a blessing. Make this message a blessing.
Lord, cause it to be. Yes, it's better to speak to
men on behalf of God than it is to speak to God. It's better
to speak to God on behalf of men than it is to speak to men
on behalf of God. But if you speak to God on behalf
of men, you'll find yourself speaking to men on behalf of
God. And maybe we shouldn't say it's better, it's first. It's
first that we speak to God on behalf of men. And in so doing,
the Lord will make his word real to us and then give us opportunity
to speak to others. Notice, go back with me to our
text. There's another glorious message here that, you remember
the story of Absalom's death and Joab sending the runner to
tell David with the message? and uh... say docs on comes along
and says i want to run i want to run and and that's what i
met uh... joanne says you can't run you
on the message so i will run away joanne said go for it and
say docs on outran the first runner that that that joanne
sent to david And this presumptuous young man, who's obviously a
very fast runner, gets to David. He's so proud of himself, he
got to the king first. And he's telling the king all
about the battle. What about the young man Absalom?
That's all I'm concerned about. What do you know about him? He couldn't give him an answer.
Well, there was a tumult over there, but whatever happened,
I don't know. Step aside. I'm not interested in your message. But isn't that the way presumptuous
messengers are? God's not sent them. They haven't
prayed. They don't have the gospel. They're just trying to impress
men with how fast they can run, but they don't have anything
to say. They can't tell about the king's son. They can't tell
about him. Can't tell men anything about
Christ. Pray. Pray that you won't be
like that. Pray that you have a message
about Christ. Pray that the Lord will open up opportunities and
pray that the Lord will open up men's hearts for what he opens,
no man can shut. And prayer is the means by which
the Lord's going to do that. So that when it happens, we'll say with Daniel, my comeliness
has turned into corruption. and I am without strength." He
did it all. He did it all. Look at verse 2, that we may
be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men for all men have
not faith. Notice that Paul didn't say that
we might not experience wicked men. Now there's going to be wicked
men. Every time the gospel is preached,
every time God gives the message of the gospel free course, there's
always going to be resistance from the enemy. Always. It's
going to happen in your family. It's going to happen in the church.
It's going to happen in the community. God blesses. He's going to provide
a test to that blessing. And the test is going to be It's
going to be Satan. Wicked men. What did Paul say? Pray that we might be delivered.
That we might be delivered. That we might not be overwhelmed.
That we might not be overcome. Everywhere Paul went, I mentioned
earlier, when he was in Philippi and the damsel that came out
and the hope for gain was gone and they beat Paul and then he
left there and went to Thessalonica. And a riot broke out in Thessalonica. He left there and went to Berea.
And they threw him out of Berea everywhere. Wicked men. Why? Because they didn't believe.
There's going to be resistance to the gospel. Just don't be
alarmed. Don't be alarmed. If you pray
that the gospel would have free course, God opens up a door of
opportunity, gives you the ability, and gives other people ears to
hear. there's going to be some resistance from evil men. But notice the last part of verse
one. This is what I want to close
with. Even as it is with you, even as it is with you, Who are you most amazed that
God saved? I mean, do you just stand amazed
that the Lord would have mercy on you? I do, not you, me. What a motivation, what a inspiration
it is for us to pray for others when the Lord shows us that it
even had an effect on you. If God could save you, if he could save me, he could
save anybody, anybody. There's no one beyond His grace.
Not if He was willing and able to save me. Why would I not pray? As soon as we think, well, you
know, they don't have an interest. They're too far gone. We cease to be the chief of all
sinners at that point, don't we? When the Lord amazes us with
how great His grace was to save us, there's nobody we won't pray
for. There's nobody we believe is
beyond the reach. What we just read in 1 Timothy,
pray for kings and for those in authority. Or it is God's
will for all kinds of men to be saved. And that's the meaning
of that passage. I know people take 1 Timothy
chapter 2 and they say, well, God's willing for all men to
be saved. It says it right there. If He's willing for all men to
be saved, all men would be saved. The point is there's no one,
no one that's breathing, that's outside the reach of God's grace.
And if He was able to save you, He can save anybody. He saved me. And what's Paul saying? Pray
for us, brethren, that the word of God, according to the gospel,
might have free course, even as it did with you. Did it have free course with
you? Is that not an encouragement to you that it can have free
course anywhere if it had free course with me? Yeah. Let's pray. Our merciful heavenly father, we pray that the admonitions
of your word and the truth of your gospel would have free course
in our hearts, through our church, in this world, and that you would be glorified
in it all. Teach us to pray. Forgive us, Lord, for our unbelief. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. 252, let's stand, 352, I'm sorry,
352. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high, hide me, O my Savior, hide. Till the storm of life is past,
Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, Hangs
my helpless soul on thee. Leave, ah, leave me not alone. Still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stained. All my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of Thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick and lead the blind. Just and holy is thy name. I am all unrighteousness. I am, thou art full of truth
and grace. Plenteous grace with thee is
found, grace to cover all my sin. Let the healing streams
abound, make and keep me pure within. Thou of life, the fountain art,
freely let me take a view. Spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity. That's when we were very, very
beautiful.