The notices for the week. If the Lord will, pastor will
preach here next Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. Mr. James Gudgeon will preach
on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. There will be a prayer meeting
on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. May the Lord help us to commence
our worship today with hymn number 911, tune Jonathan 356. When saint to saint in days of
old, their sorrows, sins and sufferings told, Jesus, the friend
of sinners dear, his saints to bless, was present there. Hymn 911, tune Jonathan 3-5-6. Whose strains to sang in days
of old, Their sorrows in fiends of crimson gold, Gives us a frame of genius here,
This aim to pledge the strength of man. That man may at all his haste
embrace, To heaven and to earth be safe. Oh, how we love him, how we love
That God with us is restful now O let devotion come to thee, O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Revolution, we know. It's all the visits we bring
out. of day and of man's might, and stay left
so disheartened, From the holy and infallible
word of God, we will read this morning in the Acts of the Apostles
and chapter 12. The Acts of the Apostles, the
12th chapter. Now about that time, Herod the
king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James, the brother
of John, with the sword. And because he saw it pleased
the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then were
the days of unleavened bread. And when he had apprehended him,
he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers
to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to
the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison,
but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And when Herod would have brought
him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers,
bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door kept
the prison. And behold, the angel of the
Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison, and he
smote Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from
his hands, And the angel said unto him, gird thyself and bind
on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto
him, cast thy garment about thee and follow me. And he went out
and followed him, and wist not that it was true which was done
by the angel, that thought he saw a vision. When they were
past the first and second ward, They came unto the iron gate
that leadeth unto the city, which opened to them of his own accord. And they went out, and passed
on through one street, and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself,
he said, Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath sent his angel,
and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all
the expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had considered the
thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose
surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.
And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to
hearken named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice,
She opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter
stood before the gate. And they said unto her, thou
art mad. But she constantly affirmed that
it was even so. Then said they, it is his angel. But Peter continued knocking.
And when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. But he, beckoning unto them with
the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord
had brought him out of the prison. And he said, go, show these things
unto James and to the brethren. And he departed and went into
another place. Now as soon as it was day, there
was no small stir among the soldiers. What was become of Peter? And
when Herod had sought for him and found him not, He examined
the keepers and commanded that they should be put to death,
and he went down from Judea to Caesarea and their abode. And Herod was highly displeased
with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord
to him, and having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their
friend, desired peace. because their country was nourished
by the king's country. And upon a set day, Herod, arrayed
in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration unto
them. And the people gave a shout,
saying, it is the voice of a god and not of a man. And immediately
the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God glory,
and he was eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. But the word
of God grew and multiplied and Barnabas and Saul returned from
Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their ministry and took with
them John, whose surname was Mark. May the Lord bless the
reading of his holy word and teach us each to pray Let us
pray. O Thou holy, holy, holy Lord
God, we seek for Thy Spirit to teach us to worship Thee. Lord,
we would come and bow before Thee. We would view Thee high
and lifted up and on the throne. whose train filled the temple. And Lord, as we seek such high
views of Thee, our great God, we pray that Thou will humble
us. And Lord, give us to confess our sinfulness before Thee. For Lord, none can stand in Thy
presence. But Lord, we do have to bow down
We confess our unworthiness to come before Thee, and yet we
thank Thee for the way made in Thy dear Son, the dear Lord Jesus,
for His blood spilled at Calvary, for the blood of sprinkling,
for atonement made. And Lord, this is our only hope.
It's our only ground of acceptance with thee in prayer this morning.
Lord, it's our only hope for all eternity. My hope is built
on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. We pray that
as we gather together for worship today, that we might glory by
faith in the truth of thy death and resurrection. May it be when
to worship saints assemble, let the song to Jesus raise. Lord, we would worship and adore
thee. It is the day of worship, the
Sabbath day, the Lord's day. It's the appointed hour, Lord
of worship. And Lord, we would give thee
all the honour, glory, and praise. And Lord, as we come before thee
this morning, we pray for thy help in the service of thy house. We pray, Lord, for a true spirit
of united prayer. Lord, that thou would lead us
after thee in prayer that one speaking in public might utter
the needs and desires of the congregation here. And Lord,
that thou would send answers of peace. And we pray, Lord,
thou would bless thy most holy word. Oh Lord, what a privilege
we have it here in our hands. We meet around it, Lord. We pray
that thou would shine a sacred light upon the page this day.
Lord, may it not return unto thee void. And we pray, Lord,
in the preaching and hearing of thy word this day, there might
be something accomplished. Lord, whatever thou would have
it to accomplish, whether to correct or to encourage, whether
to give assurance or to bring down, Whether to build up or
strengthen, Lord, we pray that thy word might not return unto
thee void. We do pray for those that seek
thee, Lord, that they might be finders. We pray for those who
often feel passed by in the ministry and Lord, that thou would quicken
their hearts today and bring the word close to them to profit
their souls. Be with those who hunger and
thirst after righteousness, Lord, that they might be filled this
day. Lord, we pray for the church
and people that meet here. We commit to thee our friend,
their pastor away in Canada, Lord, be with him there today.
Lord, if he is speaking in thy name, graciously help him and
give his tongue to be the pen of a ready writer. And Lord,
we pray that his holiday time might be a time of refreshing
in body, mind, and soul. It might be to him as a time
of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Oh Lord, how The pastors too
need their souls fed. We pray that thou would do that
to him this day. And we pray that thou would keep
him in health and peace and safety and bring him safely back to
his flock here. And Lord bless the ministry,
the pastoral ministry here week by week. We pray that the word
might be clothed with power that there might be a building up.
Lord, build thou the walls of Jerusalem. And we pray, Lord, for the officers
of the Church of God here, the deacons, we pray that thou would
help them week by week in their responsibilities, in the things
that fall upon them. We pray that thou would strengthen
them and give them wisdom. Lord, may they be as Aaron and
Hur, in bearing up the arms of their pastor in prayer. Be with each member of the church
and congregation, Lord, unite them in love in Christ Jesus
to one another. We pray that thou keep the evil
one from them. Oh Lord, how active the enemy
of souls is. We see him. going about the churches,
seeking whom he may devour. But Lord, keep him from us. May
we take heed and watch. And Lord, if there ever come
a root of bitterness springing up in one heart or another against
each other, O Lord, root it out by thy grace. Lord, we are each
so different in nature. We have different interests and
different personalities, and Lord, it's a miracle of grace
for there to be unity in a church of God. And yet, Lord, in mercy,
thou dost provide that miracle. But Lord, thou hast said to us,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of
peace, and we pray that therefore, by thy grace, we might be on
our watch. We pray thee, Lord, for this
town, this village. Lord, thou hast placed this chapel
here, and may it be indeed as a city set on a hill. Lord, we long to see in our chapels,
those from round about come in. Lord, put it in their hearts
to come here, even if it's just out of curiosity, Lord. But Lord,
if it could be thy will that thou would bring one and another
into some conviction and that they have to come seeking thee.
And then Lord, as in days gone by, that thou would clothe the
word preached here in power to their souls and save them by
thy grace. For, Lord, thou didst have one
Rahab in Jericho and one Ruth in Moab. And, Lord, it may be
that there's one another here that thou dost have a purpose
of grace to. Then fulfil the glad hour and
bring them in, we pray, We do pray for a reviving in our churches,
a pouring out of thy spirit. And Lord, that thou would prepare
our hearts for it. And Lord, we know that thou would
have to begin with us. And Lord, we have much need of
repentance of our lukewarm condition. Lord, we pray that thou will
not deal with us as the church of Asia. when thou said thou
would spew them out of thy mouth. But have mercy upon us, Lord. Forgive us because of our lack
of light and lack of love. Lord, we come so far short in
thy ways. But Lord, that there might be
better days in our own hearts and better days in the church
of God before thou dost return again. Lord, we pray for the charities
and organisations and societies which we are associated with. And Lord, the deacons here who
thou has called to serve on these committees and boards, we pray
that thou will help them in this. And Lord, do profit to thy dear
people the work of the trust and the publications and the
Bethesda and the societies. Lord, we pray that thou would
use these to give succor and assistance and help to thy dear
people in times of need. And Lord, we pray for thy work
to the ends of the earth And Lord, as in recent years thou
has raised from amongst us those called to provide Christian education
in Ghana in the Savannah Education Trust, those called to preach
the word in Mombasa, we pray for those organisations and we
pray, Lord, that as thou has promised from the
rising of the sun to the going down of the same, thy name shall
be great amongst the Gentiles, that thou would bless these good
causes with thy spirit and with true prosperity. Lord, we pray that thou would
make us each fruitful, that, Lord, we might be that
one planted by streams of living waters. Lord, give us that our leaf might
remain green in time of drought. And Lord, that we might be strengthened,
established, settled, rooted and grounded in Christ
Jesus, our living head. And we pray that thou would forgive
our sins and wash us in the blood. even the sins of the past week,
sins of thought and word and deed. We pray we might be washed
and cleansed, for there is a fountain filled with blood drawn from
Emmanuel's veins. The sinners plunge beneath that
flood, lose all their guilty stains. We thank thee for it,
Lord. We thank thee for thy love which
took thee to Calvary. Greater love hath no man than
this, and a man should lay down his life for his friends. And may there be many here who
are gathered up in that. We pray for the dear children. Help them, Lord, at school. Be with them and keep them safe
from the wrong teaching and philosophy of this world. We pray that like
Samuel, they might hear thee speaking when they are young.
And we commit to thee the young people. Be with any who have
recently sat exams in the waiting time for their results. Be with
them in their future direction. Guide them aright, Lord. Provide
for them their next step, whether it's in an apprenticeship, or
college, or university, or going into work. Lord, go before we
pray, and make crooked places straight for them, and give parents
wisdom and help, and grandparents too, and bless the families. We pray, Lord, that Thou would
accept our thanks for the word of truth that He setteth the
solitary and fameless. But be with those, Lord, who
are not so favoured, any who feel lonely or feel passed by or on the outside. We pray that Thou would be with
them and provide for their every need. So Lord, we bring these
our prayers, our praises, our supplications before thee. Do
send answers of peace as we ask for Jesus' sake. Amen. hymn number 95, tune West Hill
262. And did the holy and the just, the sovereign
of the skies, stoop down to wretchedness and dust, that guilty worms might
rise. Yes, the Redeemer left his throne,
His radiant throne on high, Surprising mercy, love unknown, To suffer,
bleed and die. Hymn 95, June, West Hill, 262. And in the Holy Papyrus, as a
sovereign over times, Sticked on to wretchedness and
loss, a guilty one type dies. Yes, the Redeemer hath bestowed
His ancient throne on I, the Christ in mercy died The Son of the Queen and I. He took the joy in Judge's face,
and suffered in His name. O man, O Israel, Lord of praise!
O man, the Saviour made, With a flow of heavenly wonders
well, In Thy atoning heart, Thy peace from sin and death O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? And take thy new return with
joy, And make it a new beginning. greatly needing the Lord's gracious
help, I ask you to turn with me this morning to the word on
my mind for us in Acts chapter 12 and the last clause in verse
five. The Acts of the Apostles chapter
12 and the last clause in verse five. But prayer was made without
ceasing of the church unto God for him. The whole verse, Acts
12, five, reads this. Peter, therefore, was kept in
prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God
for him. We often love to speak and talk
and hear about prayer, don't we? The wonderful privilege of
prayer, the love and mercy of the dear
Saviour in making the way, the blood-sprinkled mercy seeds,
the blessedness of prayer, the power of prayer. More often in the practical application
in the Christian life, we think of personal prayer, individual
prayer, and how vital that is. We think, don't we, and we love. And sometimes of necessity, we
have to take on our lips the personal prayers recorded in
scripture, the publican who said, God be merciful to me, a sinner.
The Syrophoenician woman, from her knee, cried, Lord, help me. But the text of my heart this
morning is describing not personal prayer, not the prayer in your
closets or privately at home, but what we'd call corporate
prayer. the prayer made when the Lord's
people are assembled together. And with the Lord's help, I'd
like to open this scripture up to you under four headings. Firstly, prayer was made of the church,
corporate prayer. Then secondly, ceaseless prayer. Prayer was made without ceasing.
And then thirdly, intercessory prayer. Prayer was made without
ceasing unto the church, of the church unto God, for him, for
Peter. Intercessory prayer. And then
fourthly, the power. The wonderful, wonderful, blessed
power of corporate prayer. The wonderful deliverance Peter
knew. But before we come to the immediacy of the text, I feel
the necessity to just go through this passage. It was a very difficult time
for the early church at Jerusalem. Herod, the wicked king, seeking
to curry favor with the Sadducees, the Pharisees, the Jewish rulers,
determined for political reasons to persecute the Church of God. And his strategy was to kill
their leaders. And so we read there in verse
2, and he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. James,
one of the favored trio of disciples. How often in the Gospels we read
of Jesus took Peter, James, and John, now cruelly killed in his
prime. And now it was Peter's turn. Peter, no doubt grief-stricken,
imprisoned by this wicked Herod, in prison. And we read that,
don't we? It was in brackets. Then were
the days of unleavened bread. It was Easter. No doubt he thought
back to a year or two before at this very time when his Lord
and Savior was taken out to Calvary and crucified. And now was Peter
having to follow him in suffering, in a martyr's death? And the
situation seems impossible. Herod, perhaps remembering that
just a few months before he had imprisoned Peter and an angel
had delivered him, thought he would protect against that this
time. He delivered him four quaternions of soldiers to keep him, four
units of four soldiers, 16 guards. intending after Easter to bring
him forth to the people. And it seems that the eve of
his judgment and execution, there
Peter was in prison. What did the church do? Did they
wring their hands? Did they speak and talk to one another
in horror? Did they go to their closet to
pray alone? No, by grace, they assembled
themselves together. They came together, they dropped
everything else, and they came to pray without ceasing unto
God for Him. And while they were there in
Jerusalem, in Mary, the mother of Mark's house, where it seems
they used to assemble for worship, the other side of the city in
the prison, Peter, had gone to sleep. Surely not, Peter, you're gonna
be executed tomorrow. And you're fast asleep, peacefully
sleeping. I've often thought about that
when I've tossed and turned, worried about something tomorrow.
What grace Peter had to leave it all in the Lord's hands. But
there he was, asleep, and one wrist chained to a soldier on
one side, his other wrist chained to a soldier on the other side,
and the two other guards by the door. He was gonna die tomorrow. And then in the night, in the
darkness of that prison cell, Peter felt a tap on his side. And he came to and there was
an angel saying, rise up quickly, be quick. And his handcuffs fell
off and the angel said, gird up your garments and put your
sandals on and be quick, get your coat and we're going. And
leaving the soldiers sleeping in the cell, they went past the
first keep and then the second keep. But there was the gate
to the prison in front of them. How would this be dealt with?
By the remarkable power of Almighty God, the gate swung open of its
own accord. And it seems that Peter, coming
to from his sleep, wondered if it was a dream or a vision. And
then the angel left him in the dark streets of Jerusalem, and
he came to, and he realized that this was none other but the hand
of the Lord through his angel. He'd been delivered. What a remarkable, miraculous
deliverance. And by grace, it was because
a few weak, frightened believers had assembled together in Mary's
house. And we read this in verse 12,
and when he had considered the thing, what was Peter gonna do? Well, he instinctively knew where
he would find the brethren. Of course they would have assembled
together to pray for him. They must be in the assembly
room in Mary's house, so he went there. And sure enough, many
were gathered together praying. So Peter knocks on the door,
and young Rhoda comes, and she's overjoyed. She's so overjoyed. She's so thrilled, she forgets
to open the door, but runs to tell the others. And do they
rejoice that their prayers are answered? No, they said unto her, thou
art mad. Well, come back to that. Oh,
what wonders the Lord can do with our poor, faithless prayers. But she carried on, it's Him,
it's Him. And rather believe that the Lord
had answered their prayers, they believed in some superstition
Then said they, it is his angel. But Peter continued knocking,
and when they eventually opened, they were astonished. Their prayers
had been answered. But it wasn't just the deliverance
of Peter, that was remarkable. But the Lord gave them a blessed
double deliverance. We read at the end of the chapter
how their great persecutor Herod was judged of God and he was
smitten by an angel and eaten of worms and gave up the ghost. Their greatest persecutor in
Jerusalem was taken from them. And in verse 24, the word of
God grew and multiplied. And that is how the Lord works
and still works. He does more than we can ask
or think. Because prayer was made without
ceasing of the church unto God for him. So we come to our text,
and firstly, prayer made of the church, corporate prayer. The public prayer was instituted
in the New Testament church in Acts chapter two. Of course,
it was rooted in the Old Testament prayer of the temple. But there,
in Acts two, the infant church as it was formed continued steadfastly
in four things. Firstly, in the apostle's doctrine,
the preaching. Secondly, in fellowship. Thirdly,
in the breaking of bread. And fourthly, in prayers. In
praying corporately together. Now, that was the institution. The exhortation of scripture
is such. Paul, writing to the Corinthians,
says, ye also helping together with me by prayer. That togetherness
of prayer. And those exhortations to the
Hebrews to pray for us, the ministers, and in James, to pray for one
another. But the church, of Jerusalem
here, although they knew that this
was the ordained pattern, I think we're not following it
legally. The sense is that they, of necessity,
gathered themselves together. That just as they breathed together
the same air in Jerusalem to stay alive, that now the church
was threatened and in trouble. The honor and glory of God was
at stake. Of necessity, they assembled
together because the spirit of the Lord
gave them that need, that desire to pray and pray together. And what special promises are
given in God's holy word regarding corporate prayer. Really the
Lord Jesus himself taught his disciples when here
upon earth of the inestimable value and blessing of public
prayer. He says this in Matthew 18, again
I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching
anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them, my
Father which is in heaven. If two of you are agreed, it's a wonderful promise. Even
if we're weakened in numbers and there's only two or three
of us can meet together in the Lord's house at the prayer meeting,
if two of you agreed it shall be done, And that's the promise
for the answer. But there's also this, for in
the next verse, the Lord Jesus said, for where two or three
are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst. And
there's a wonderful, wonderful promise that when the Lord's
people assemble together in his name, that there the Lord Jesus
is with his spirit. Now, The Lord delights for his
people to meet together. The Lord loveth the gates of
Zion better than the tents of Jacob. And Isaac Watts, he says
it, doesn't he? He says, his mercy visits every
house that pay their night and morning vows. Your private prayers,
your family prayers, they are of great value. and he makes
a more delightful stay where churches meet to praise and pray. I was somewhat tempted, as you
might imagine, about a subject like this because it's perhaps
not our usual line of things, but how encouraging that our
very first hymn, as members of his mystic frame together met
to bless his name, While humbly at his throne we bow as God with
us, he's present now. Listen to this, oh blessed devotion
thus to meet, and spread our woes at his dear feet, call him
our own in tithes of blood, and hold sweet fellowship with God.
And that was what was happening in Acts 12 verse five. But prayer
was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. the force of their united cry. That's it, it's their united
cry. No power can long withstand. Now, I feel I need to touch on really
what is quite a difficult subject. Because we worship a sovereign
God. And we know that in our Lord's
sovereign purposes towards Peter and his early church, that this
was not the appointed time of Peter's death. The Lord had a
work for Peter to do. He had his epistles to write.
He had his ministry to the Gentiles. The Lord wasn't going to let
Peter be killed by Herod the next day. And perhaps the skeptic amongst
you says, why pray? And perhaps when you're tempted,
you think, why pray? Now, there is a mystery in the determinism
of God that we can go this far according to scripture. that although in the sovereign
purposes of God the Lord had an eternity past ordained that
Peter would not be slain by Herod the next day he ordained that
the means by which he would be delivered by the corporate prayers
of his people and so it is today that yes, the Lord has determined
the end of the thing already, but he has also ordained the
means of prayer by which it will be fulfilled. I will be inquired
of by the house of Israel. And so we are exhorted to pray
in God's word. We are given many examples to
pray. And in our own experience, do
we not have to pray? The times the Lord brings us
individually and as a church to a place where we know we're
at the ends of ourselves and we have to say, Lord, it is time
for thee to work. Lord, help me. And It is described, isn't it, prayer
is the believer's very breath. Just as naturally we cannot live
without breathing and we naturally, without thinking about it, breathe,
so spiritually we cannot live without prayer unto our dear
Redeemer. And when the Spirit of the Lord
works in our hearts, it just comes because we have to pray. And so, perhaps the question
isn't so much why pray. God has ordained it to the means,
and we have to. But what's the purpose of prayer? Why has God ordained it such?
Well, many, many answers could be given. But the immediate answer,
what is the purpose of prayer, The purpose of prayer is to accomplish
God's will now upon earth. The Lord Jesus in his great pattern
for prayer, the Lord's prayer, just in that short prayer, thy
kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. When we come together, as the
Church of Jerusalem did this night, to pray, oh, it's to seek
that the Lord's will would be accomplished. Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done. That's why you children, young
people, the brethren, when they pray, so often I'm sure they
pray, if thy will, if thou wilt, if it's thy will, And the dear Lord Jesus, the
great head of the church, did he not in the garden three times
say, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. He prayed for the accomplishment
of his father's will. Then Secondly, the purpose of
prayer is ultimately for the glory of God. That the Lord would be glorified. It's our great God. He created all things. Gave his
son to save his people. Might be glorified. The psalmist
says, call upon me in the day of trouble. That's prayer. and
I will deliver thee. That's the answer to prayer. What's the purpose? And thou
shalt glorify me. It's the glory and honour. It's a wonderful thing if at
the prayer meetings you can plead it. Lord, it's thy church. Lord,
we don't deserve the least of thy mercies, but it's thy church.
Lord, bless us, increase us for thy honour and glory. The Lord Jesus in that Lord's
Prayer, again. Thine be the honour, the power,
and the glory forever and ever, amen. The Lord Jesus in that
beautiful, those passages in John, John 17. So often, Father,
glorify thy name. Lord, I would glorify thy name. But then the Lord has his purpose
of grace experimentally to his people in prayer. For do we not find that the place
of prayer is the place where the Lord Jesus so often blesses
us, where he speaks to us, where he communicates to us, where
his words quicken to us, where he assures us, where he corrects
us. It's the place where our faith
is deepened, where we learn more of a trust in him, where he draws
us to a closer walk with himself, where there's greater communion
with our great heirs, And so we have this most blessed
privilege and promise, an exhortation example to corporate prayer.
May it be here, amongst you here, that when your pastor prays the
public prayer from the pulpit, that you gather in corporate
prayer then at the prayer meetings, the vestry prayers, Perhaps if
there's a visit from the deacons or pastor, and prayer is made, that you might be blessed like
this New Testament church. Prayer was made without ceasing
of the church unto God for him. But now, secondly, ceaseless
prayer without ceasing. I was humbled as I meditated
on this. No doubt those people had busy
things to attend to, no doubt. They would have to be up early
to work, to teach the children. And it seems they didn't just
meet for an hour's prayer meeting. But the need was so great, St.
Peter, their minister, was gonna be killed. They prayed on and
they prayed on. A midnight came and they prayed
on. They prayed without ceasing. Prayer was made without ceasing.
They prayed through the night. Dear Saviour did the same, didn't
he? Went to the mountain to pray
in the night. Paul writing to the Thessalonians
says pray without ceasing. Paul writing to the Ephesians
says, praying always in the spirit. Now some of you will know that
individually. You'll know that as you go about
your daily work. You know what prayer without
ceasing is because there is constantly that upward glancing of an eye,
that sigh, that desire, That Lord helped me. It was a time of crisis, though,
for the church. And it taught me, really, that
if there's some sudden thing comes upon a local church, we
may well pray, pray, pray at home. But do we wait for the prayer
meeting next week before we bring it to the Lord? I don't know you in Kent, but back where I come from, we're
perhaps a bit formal sometimes. Oh, for the spirit of the New
Testament to come together to drop everything to come together
in urgent pressing prayer and pray without ceasing. My father's grandfather was called
Caleb Ramsbottom and was a very godly patriarch of the church
at Haslingdon, had a profound influence on my father and one
night one of the little children from
the congregation at Haslingdon was seriously unwell. I imagine
it must have been something like sepsis before the days of antibiotics
and nothing could be done for this child. The child was fading
away with a high fever. Caleb Ramsbottom and his godly
wife and a few others assembled in his small terraced house and
they prayed. They committed that dear child
to the Lord and they prayed. Midnight come and they prayed.
They prayed without ceasing and at one o'clock in the morning,
Caleb Ramsbottom says, we can stop now, our prayers are answered. They went home and in the morning,
the child sat up and had a drink and got out of bed. Oh, for such grace. But prayer was made without ceasing
of the church unto God for him. Elijah said go again seven times. We need to move on. And to this
third heading, for him, intercessory prayer. Prayer not for ourselves
but prayer for others. And how far short I come. Perhaps you know what it is like
me that in the morning you get up and you've got a busy day
ahead of you and it's your time of prayer and you pray and you
pray for help for yourself that day and you're a bit distracted. And then the text comes in your
phone. Mrs. So-and-so from Bethesda's come
safely through her operation. And I haven't prayed for her. Prayer was made without ceasing
for him. For him. We get wrapped up in ourselves,
don't we? You know, I once heard a remarkable
sermon from the end of the book of Job, and it says this. Think
of all the trouble Job was in. Think of all the things Job had
to pray for. He was utterly bereft, his business
had failed, his health had failed. What do we read? I can't remember the exact quote,
but it was something like, and Job was delivered when? He prayed for his friends, and
it seems that he was given a spirit of prayer for Elihu and his three
miserable comforters. And then the Lord turned his
own captivity and blessed him too. You know, it comes to me, I wasn't
thinking of mentioning this, but many Bible scholars believe
that this night was the night that John Mark was called by
grace. It was his mother's home and
he was a young man. And we know from Peter's epistles
that he refers to John Mark as his son in the faith, usually
used when someone was converted under their ministry. And seemingly,
the only time that they could have been together was this night
when Peter was delivered. And there Peter's mother was,
giving her home, and they were praying for Peter. And what grace
of the Lord, if that's true, that John Mark was called by
grace that night. Oh, the need to pray for others.
You know, it's been said, hasn't it, if there was more prayer
in the pew, there would be more power in the pulpit. Oh, the
need. pray and plead for your dear
pastor, that he will be blessed in his
own soul, that he'll be given health and strength, and that
when he comes in weakness in this pulpit, the word will be
blessed. The corporate, ceaseless, intercessory
prayer for the blessing of the ministry here, for the edification
of the saints, for the strengthening of the things that remain. Oh,
to pray for others that they might be saved by grace, that
those who are tried and tempted might be blessed with assurance,
that those who are wandering might be kept, that those who
are in affliction might be sustained for the prosperity and good of
Zion. Prayer was made for him. My home chapel Bethel Luton,
there was an aged saint, who's now in glory, called Chris Rowe. She was very afflicted in her
mind and body. She couldn't get out to chapel. But she woke up each morning
early. Her husband had used to be a
postmaster, and she was accustomed to waking up at 5 o'clock every
morning. And she still woke up at 5 o'clock every morning. And
until breakfast time, she did nothing but pray for the souls
at Bethel Chapel Lutheran. And from time to time, the pastor
would go and see her to tell her so and so. is coming before
the church. I wanted to tell you, Mrs. Rowe,
because I know you won't be able to be there. And you know, more
than once she said, I know, pastor. I've been expecting you, pastor.
Because she had wrestled for them in prayer. When Zion travailed, she brought
forth children for him, for him. And then, finally, we come to
the power of prayer. You know, we sing, don't we? I think we're going to close
with it. Wrestling prayer can wonders do. Bring relief in deeper
strains. And what John Newton wrote in
this hymn was literally fulfilled in Acts 12.5, because he says
this, prayer can force a passage through iron bars and brazen
gates. And the prayer was answered in
Acts 12.5, and we have this same God. There is a God in Israel still,
And we still have a prayer, hearing prayer, answering God. And he's
still able to force a passage through iron bars and brazen
gates. It was a remarkable, miraculous
deliverance for Peter. And the Lord answered more than
they could even ask or think because he dealt with heresy. And we talk, don't we, of the
power of prayer. It's not the power of our prayer,
is it? Our prayers are we, feeble, faithless. It's the power of the one we
pray to and the power of the Spirit that gives us to pray.
It's all of Him. You know, I did feel somewhat
encouraged by the passage. Despite the weakness of the prayers
of that New Testament church in Jerusalem, who when their
prayer was answered, thought Rhoda was mad. Reminds us, it's
famous amongst us Strip Baptists, that there was a prayer meeting
for rain for the farmers because it was a dry, dry summer. And
they all gathered at the chapel to pray for the rain. And one
dear godly old lady came with her umbrella, and a few of them
laughed at her. And they prayed for rain, and
they went home, and all the others got wet apart from that old lady. But sadly, we're often like those
that come to the prayer meeting for rain without an umbrella,
aren't we? We sing in themselves as weak
as worms. How can poor believers pray? Ah, prayers are feeble, they're
often faithless. In public, they lack eloquence. But power belongeth unto God. You see, the text says this. Prayer was made without seizing
of the church unto God. The power is in him alone. It's
not in the prayer. He hears and answers, and we can
say that Christ is God I can avouch, and for his people cares,
since I have prayed to him as such. He has heard my prayers. Now what's the mind of the Spirit
in all this for you at Lamberhurst? Well, I don't know. I don't know
your situation, your needs, and perhaps you don't know, because
sometimes the Lord gives a word, and it's lodged in your heart,
and then the Spirit brings it back to your remembrance when
it's needed. There was a remarkable occasion
when your pastor preached at Bethel-Luton, many, many years
ago and he preached on do the work of an evangelist. And it
was an unusual sermon because his whole theme was that we need
the exhortation for ministers to go out and preach the word
in the world. My wife and I, we went home and
we wondered what that was about, we prayed about it, we watched,
we remembered next year he came and next year, and then we forgot
about it. And it must have been 10, 12
years later, Timothy Parrish, who had only just been called
by grace, kept waking up at night, and in his mind's eye, he saw
Mr. Jabez right in the pulpit at
Bethel, pointing and saying, do the work of an evangelist. And when he heard those words,
he was up in the gallery with not a care about his soul away
in the world. He only came to keep the peace
with his family. And sometimes the Lord has a
purpose that only is known in years to come, and sometimes
we never know. But his word, we pray, will not
return unto him void. And so, dear brethren at Lambethurst,
by grace suffered the word of exhortation but prayer was made
without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Amen. We close with hymn 397 Tune Pentonville
488 In themselves as weak as worms
How can poor believers stand When temptations, foes and storms
Press them close on every hand? Hymn 397 Tune Pentonville 488 With themselves as beacons of
light, O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag
was still there. Re-empty they fill they are,
But they know the Word of grace, And the God who once was well, Helps them when they seek His
way. The Lord, our Lord, our God in
reign, the length of day. He gives all their hearts to
pray, whereof let them cry in vain. Real, real deep, deep and straight. praise and praise. O come, let
us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore
Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let
us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us
adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let
us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore
Him, O come, let May the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ and the love of God and communion of the Holy Ghost Be
with you all. Amen.