Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Matthew chapter 6. Before we begin, let's ask our
Lord's blessing. Our Father, we thank you this
evening. for this blessed time to be able
to come together and pray, seek, ask, knock, hear your word. I ask, Lord, would you bless
the message tonight? Help us to hear, help us to worship,
for Christ's sake. Amen. I want to speak tonight for a
few minutes on the subject of prayer. I don't know a lot about prayer. Everything that I've ever thought
on prayer, I realize the inadequacy of this vessel of God's mercy to be able
to preach on it. I know that I struggle trying
to perform it, but I desire to pray to the Lord
of glory. I desire to seek His face. and to bear my heart to Him. He's promised to hear. He hears
the prayers of His people. And for that, I'm thankful. But I do know this. There's two things that I know
that are accomplished when a believer prays. I know these two things
are. I know that a believer beholds
afresh how weak he really is. I know he does. You that know
him know what I'm talking about. You see the struggle within. You see the war that goes on. There's an old man that is within. There's the wiles of the devil. There's the weakness of this
flesh, the cares of this world, and they're just there. And the
second thing I know that is beheld when a believer prays is the
mercy of God. That God doesn't cut him off.
That the Lord's long-suffering, gentle, that God sustains His
people. In Luke 11-1, one of His disciples
said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to pray. What a request. To be taught
by the Master this thing of prayer. And our Lord in Matthew 6 gave
some instruction on prayer. And I recently made some comments
concerning this issue of prayer. Tonight, I'd like for us to consider
it again. This is the expression of a new
heart. This is life. This is the evidence of grace.
A believer prays. He wants to pray, longs to pray,
and does pray. Matthew 6, verse 9, After this manner, therefore,
pray ye. Here's a manner of prayer. Here's a pattern of prayer. Not that this prayer is to be used with
vain repetition. But there's a lot of things that
we continually pray for. And pray for them over And over
and over. And they're not empty. They're
not vain. But this manner of prayer that our Lord set forth
is the spirit of prayer. The spirit of prayer. I've said before, I find myself as I try to seek the Lord and
calling Your name before our Lord, that's not empty to me. Corrie, I pray for the church
there in Cottageville daily. Praying our Lord's blessing on
you. Pastors, those that God's raised up, asking the Lord's
blessing on them. But this manner, this spirit,
after this manner, pray ye, our Father, which art in heaven. I know He is the Father of all
men by creation, but especially to His people. He is their Father
in adopting and electing grace. You who are our Father in covenant
mercy, our Father which is in heaven, Lord, You're heavenly. We're earthy. And I need to be
reminded of that. It's good for me to be reminded. Remind myself. The song we were
just singing, just, Bless the Lord, O my soul, preached on
that last time. And here's a believer talking
to himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Our
Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Holy is your character. Lord, you're sovereign. You're
good. You're just. You're merciful. Long-suffering. Lord, you're
love. Everything about you. Lord, holy. Hallowed. And our desire is that
His name, His character, be esteemed as holy in the receiving of the just
honor that is due unto you when we speak of Him. Speak respectfully. I've said before, I'd rather
somebody tell me the filthiest joke you've ever heard. Just
tell me the nastiest joke before you tell me something that is
made light of concerning our Lord. Or something about heaven,
or something about Peter. Don't speak respectfully. The Lord
is in His holy temple. that all the earth keep silence
before Him. Speak with respect when you speak
of Him. Verse 10, Thy kingdom come. You
know, when we speak of the Lord's kingdom, there's a sense in which
we speak of the Messiah Himself. Listen to this Scripture, Matthew
12, 28. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, the kingdom
of God is come unto you. The reign. The power. If I cast out devils by the Spirit
of God, then you've witnessed the reign of God. The power of
God. Thy kingdom come, and the bride
says, come. The Spirit says, come. Come quickly,
Lord Jesus. We desire that He come. But also His kingdom is the rule
and the reign over the hearts of His people. John 18.36, Jesus
answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were
of this world, If my reign and my rule in the hearts of my people,
if it was of this world only, then would my servants fight
that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom
not from hence." So knowing that the kingdom of God is the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself who rules and reigns in the hearts of His
people, We cry from that new man, that new heart. Lord, come
to me. I ask even now, Lord, right now. Lord, as I preach, Thy kingdom
come. Thy rule come. Thy reign come. Lord, come into the presence
of Your people. You promised we're two or three
together in Your name, that You're in the midst. Lord, reign in our minds and
hearts and teach us. I want to learn something. I
want to be taught. Thy kingdom come. Thy will, verse
10, be done in earth as it is in heaven. Thy will be done in
earth as Your will has been eternally established in heaven. Your secret
will in the salvation of Your elect. John 6.39, and this is
the Father's will which has sent me. Boy, when I read something
like that, we've read this before, but when we read this again,
we think, Lord, teach me this afresh. This is the Father's will which
has sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose
nothing. but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
has sent me, that if everyone which seeth the Son and believeth
on Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise Him up at the
last day." Our Lord has been pleased here
in the last couple of months to call out some of His own. What an encouragement. What a
spirit and exhibition of His power and His will. And this is what the believer
says, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. It's the
Father's will to conform the sheep to the image of His Son. One of these days, the Scripture
sets forth, we're going to be like Him. I can't enter into
the depth of that. We're going to see Him like He
is and be like Him. Ruling with Him. Seated with Him. My mind is lost because the Scripture
tells me it is. Eye hath not seen, ear hath not
heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man." I think about
that and I think about all the things that I read concerning
heaven. And I think a half of it has
never been told to my understanding. Things that I can't grasp. Give
us this day our daily bread. Materially, I know. Physically,
I know. The Lord is going to provide.
Matthew 6 sets forth all these things that the Gentiles seek.
What are we going to eat? What are we going to wear? Where
are we going to stay? Don't you know our Lord taught,
your Father knows you have need of all these things. You know, I don't think for one
second that my kids ever got up one day and said, I wonder
if mom and dad is going to come through today. I want to say
they never even thought about it. I knew they had to eat. I knew they had to have clothes
to wear and had to have a place to stay. I knew that. If we know how to give good gifts
to our kids, we're evil. How much more Shall our Heavenly
Father give us that which we need? Give us this day our daily
bread, but especially our need of Christ, the true bread of
Heaven. Lord, teach me afresh. Let me
eat afresh. Let me eat of Him who is the
bread of life Himself. My dad, My dad had a bread route. And he worked for a bakery there
in central Louisiana. And there'd be times that I would
go with him. He'd let me go and, you know,
go to work with him, go on his route with him. Oh, I thought
that was the greatest thing in the world, you know. But I'm
telling you, there was a place where he worked there in Alexandria. When you got pulled up to the
bakery, you could smell that bread. And I mean, just the smell,
the savor of that bread. I remember him telling me one
time that he was working inside the bakery and he had some bread
that was coming out of the oven. He just got him a loaf and opened
it up and put some butter and stuff in it. You know, you just
salivate just thinking about it. But all consider him who
is the bread of life, the savor. of Him who is our meat, who is
our sustenance. Lord, give me afresh of Christ
today. And forgive us, verse 12, our
debts as we forgive our debtors. A believer is taught by the Spirit
of God. He hates sin. There's a new man. Old man, new man. And there's
an old man there that does just exactly what he's always done.
He's a rebel. That old man that loves sin. But there's a new man that does
not sin. There's a new man that's born
from above, a new nature that's imparted that despises that which
is contrary to it. That's why there's a war going
on. That's why you struggle. That's why you find this fighting
going on all the time. And that new man loves mercy,
God's mercy, forgiveness. And here's the new man, here's
the me. Turn over to Romans 7. Listen
to Paul the Apostle speak under the inspiration of God's Spirit. Verse 18. Well, let's start at verse 15.
I probably could start at the first of the chapter. I'll start
at verse 15. For that which I do... Now remember, Paul is talking
about himself. And there's two men in this conversation. There's two men. And they're
both Paul. They're both Paul the Apostle.
For that which I do, that old man, I allow not. For what I would the new man,
that do I not. But what I hate the new man,
that do I, the old man. If then I do that old man, which
I would not, I consent, the new man, unto the law that is good,
now then it is no more I, the new man, that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me. For I know in me That old man,
in my flesh there dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present
with me, the new man, but how to perform that which is good
I find not. For the good that I would, that
new man, I do not." But that back and forth, back and forth.
And he sees that there's a new man that doesn't sin, and he
sees the effects of the old man, and he knows it's him. And here
is the new man, as the Lord is teaching him,
forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. That new man despises
what he is by nature in the old man. Knowing that our debt to
the law was paid in full once and for all by the Lord Jesus,
At Calvary, we ask that the Lord, for Christ's sake, forgive our
transgressions. There's an old man right here
that does no good thing. I know that in me, that is in
my flesh, there dwells no good thing. It's a body of death that
Paul says, who shall deliver me from this? And that old man,
is a rebel. And he'll always be a rebel.
Until the Lord puts him away, puts him by death, separates
me from him. And that new man continually
prays for forgiveness of the old man. The new man is praying
for the old man. Lord, forgive me. That new man
that does not sin that seeks for mercy for himself. Forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors. Not that the Lord forgives us
because we forgive others. Thanks be unto God for that.
Because none of us would have any hope. But the character of
a believer is that he desires to have a spirit of forgiveness
for the sake of Him who has forgiven me. Lord, forgive me. Believers know something about
their frame. They know what they are by nature,
and they desire for men to be merciful and forgiving to them.
I desire that you have mercy on me. I'm a frail creature. And the more
you get to know me, the more you're going to realize that.
I desire that you have mercy, and I want to have mercy toward
you. Asking the Lord to have mercy
on all of us. And lead us not, verse 13, into
temptation, but deliver us from evil. I know that James 1.13 says,
God tempts no man. God does not tempt man. So we
must realize that the Lord is not teaching us to ask for deliverance
from something that He has done. God doesn't tempt. But the sense
of His instruction deals with Him not suffering or permitting
us to be tempted and overcome with either the violent assaults
of Satan or to sink under the hand of the Lord's chastisement. Lord, keep me. Deliver us from
evil. Lead us not into such circumstances
where we are overcome, but deliver us from evil, from the wicked
one, from Satan himself, from his power. Lord, don't allow
the wiles of the devil. to overcome me, you've promised
that you would not allow us to be tempted above that which you
would grant deliverance. Lord, help me. Keep me. Keep me from His arms, from His
snares. Keep me from plummeting into
despair and hopelessness from the corruption of my own nature.
The older a believer gets, I said this the other day, the more
aware he is of his frailty. For thine is the kingdom. Yours
is the rule. Yours is the royalty. Your kingdom,
which is eternal, established in covenant mercy, Your kingdom
that's yours by right, for thine is the kingdom. You're God. Thine
is the kingdom by gift from the Father to the Son. Thine is the
kingdom by willing consent of His people made so in the day
of your power. Those that come. Let me ask you
this. He that cometh unto me, the Lord
said, I will in no wise cast out you that are coming to Him
right now. Remember, today is the day of
salvation. Remember me making this statement. Today is the day. So often, you
will disappoint yourself if you try to look back. You'll disappoint
yourself. Well, thank you, Christ, right
now. Today is the day of salvation. If you just took a breath right
now, today is the day. Yesterday is gone. Yesterday
is gone. Faith cometh. Yesterday's faith
is gone. I need faith to believe Him right
now. Right now. What think ye of Christ? Right now. Thine is the kingdom. Psalm 145, verse 13, Thy kingdom,
Thy reign, Thy power is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth
and endureth and endureth throughout all generations. Your kingdom
without beginning, without interruption, without bounds, without end. Thine is the kingdom and the
power, the power to save and to call and to keep And to provide
an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, fadeth not away. Thanks be unto God for that. I'm so thankful that my life
that's hidden in Him, with Him, by Him, is not sustained by my
ability. Oh, what a comfort! What peace,
what joy. Thine is the power and the glory
forever. Lord, show me your glory. I love
this passage. I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. Lord, thank you this evening
that you would give me a heart to want to hear from you. to
want to praise you, to want to thank you. Thank you for a heart
that loves you. I think about that passage of
Scripture. There's such comfort to me in
this passage. When the Lord asked Peter, Peter,
lovest thou Me more than these? I've heard men say, you know,
what was He talking about? Was He talking about the boats?
Was He talking about the other disciples? I don't know what
he was talking about. It doesn't matter. Peter, lovest
thou me more than these? Lord, you know I love you. The
Lord asked him the second time. Peter, lovest thou me more than
these? Peter said the second time. Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. The Lord asked him the third
time. Peter, lovest thou me more than these? And Peter was grieved. Grieved himself. It hadn't been
very long before he denied Him three times. Peter was grieved
because the Lord asked him the third time. He said, Lord, You
know all things. You know I love You. I think
to myself, Lord, You know all things. You know I love You. In the midst of the struggles,
in the midst of the waverings that I see of this old man, Lord,
the way that I see myself so often so unappreciative. I don't
know how to say thank you. I don't know how to be appreciative
as I ought. I don't know how to be. I read
a scripture like, deliver them from going down to the pit. I
found a ransom. Eternity would never exhaust
My thankfulness that is owed to Him. The glory forever. His glory
and the salvation of His people. A hidden glory to the world.
Turn to Matthew 11 as we wind this up. Matthew 11.20. I want to read through verse
26. I was reading this today, and I put all the way through
26 in with it. Normally, when I read it, I stop
at 24. But I want to read through 26
and look at this passage of Scripture. Matthew 11, 20, Then began He
to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were
done. because they repented not. Woe
unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! For
if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth
and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment
than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven,
shall be brought down to hell. For if the mighty works which
had been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day. But I say unto you that it should
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment
than for thee." At that time, Jesus answered and said, I thank
thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast
hid these things. from the wise and prudent has
revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight." His glory in the salvation of
His people is hidden from this world, and it's revealed to His
people. That is His glory. to reveal
His heart. Show me Your glory. Show me, Lord, Your will. Show
me Your purpose. I will have mercy. Mr. Spurgeon was heard to say this,
and I'll close with this. He said there's two prayers always
worth praying. Show me myself. And Lord, show me thyself. May both be heard, he said, and
you will be well taught of God. Lord, bless these words to our
hearts for Christ's sake.