We turn then to God's Word in
this 18th chapter in the Gospel according to St. Luke, the short
portion that we read in the opening 14 verses. And I want simply to direct you
to the first verse of the chapter. And He spake a parable unto them
to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. Part of this parabolic teaching
of the Lord Jesus, we read this parable concerning prayer and
then the other parable concerning the prayer of a righteous man
that He speaks of at verse 9 following. considering the opening parable
really, and really the theme I want to take up is that statement
in verse 1, that men ought always to pray. In a sense, just those
few words. He spake a parable unto them
to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. men ought always to pray as God's
creatures of course they ought to pray to him and there is that
promise of the coming of the gospel even in the book of Psalms
many of the Psalms are prophetic they're full of the Lord Jesus
Christ and they speak of his coming and the calling of the
Gentiles and I think of the words that we have there in Psalm 65
too, O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come,
all flesh. Men ought always to pray, they
are to call upon God, they are to worship God. And in the Scriptures
we do find everything that would really encourage men to pray.
God is a God to be sought after. He has himself given us this
holy ordinance of prayer. I like the remarks of Luther
in his commentary on the Lord's Prayer where he says the word
and promise of God and not thy devotion makes the prayer good. The prayer is good not because
of anything in us, anything of our devotion. But the prayer
is good because it's rooted in the Word, the promise of the
Lord God Himself. And our faith as we come then
is to be grounded in His Word as that God who has spoken to
us and therefore we by turn can come now and speak with Him.
We come as those who are the creation of God, dependent upon
God, indebted to God come as those who are conscious that
as his creatures we have rebelled and sinned against him we come
then to make our confessions we are then under an obligation
really to come to that God who has made us that God who commands
us remember the language of the of the law and the third commandment
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. We need to be aware of that particular
commandment when we come together and take his name upon our lips. Thou shalt not take the name
of the Lord thy God in vain. It's a negative commandment.
And we know the reason for that because there is a propensity
in fallen man to sin. that propensity to do that very
thing that we ought not to do and to take God's name in vain
and the word that's used here has the idea of emptiness, nothingness,
worthlessness to treat God's name as some cheap thing it's
interesting isn't it that in the Old Testament of course blasphemy
was Clearly a capital offense, the blasphemer was to be stoned
to death. The language that we have there
in Leviticus 24 verses 15 and 16. They shall speak unto the children
of Israel, saying, Whosoever curses his God shall bear his
sin, and he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall
surely be put to death. And all the congregation shall
certainly stone him, as well the stranger as he that is born
in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be
put to death." That's how serious an offense blasphemy was then,
there under God's law amongst his ancient covenant people.
and yet men use that name simply as a swear word that is a vain
thing to take that holy name and to use it as a swear word
and there are many minstrels aren't there and it's amazing
really at times when he is even those who profess the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ using those sort of expressions G or Gosh
that's a minstrel It's really a reference to God. And the other
word that some people like to use is Krykon. Well, what's that?
It's a minstrel. It's a reference, really, to
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, we're familiar,
I'm sure, with those who would say, oh, by Jove, which is referring
to that mysterious name, Jehovah, the Lord. And though men might
use those means those in ignorance, ignorance is no defense. It is
still blasphemy. Every idle word that men shall
speak, says the Lord Jesus, they shall give account of in the
day of judgment. And how one needs personally
to take account of those words, how many idle words we speak.
and they even speak idly of God and the holy name of God. The command is deliberately couched
in those negative terms, I shall not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain. But there is a positive aspect
surely to that same commandment. Because in in the scriptures
calling upon God's name is really equated with with prayer and
worship we're not to blaspheme the name of God certainly but
we are to take his name upon our lips when we come before
him to pray and to praise after wicked Cain had killed
his his brother Abel there was no godly seed was there? and
then we have the birth of Seth of course and it's interesting
what we read at the end of Genesis chapter 4 concerning a son being
born to Seth Enos Enos is born to Seth and then it says there
in Genesis 4.26 then began men to call upon the name of the
Lord Once more there was a godly seed. And what is the mark of
the godly man? The godly man calls upon the
name of the Lord. It's the mark of Abram, the father
of all the faithful, when he's called out of Ur of the Chaldees,
there in Genesis 12, we read of him building an altar and
calling upon the name of the Lord. Genesis 12 verse 8 again
in chapter 13 and verse 4 it's mentioned that He goes to the
altar, He calls upon the name of the Lord calling upon the
name of the Lord and God's name is what He's continually called
upon when we come to worship Him and we see that of course
in the Psalms which were continually used in the Old Testament, in
the worship of God. We see there that the psalmist
time and again calling upon the name of his God. The opening
words of Psalm 105, O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his
name, make known his deeds among the people, sing unto him, sing
psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works, glory ye
in his holy name, let the heart of them rejoice that seek the
Lord. Those Psalms which are songs
of prizes to God, but they're also prayers. It's that calling
upon the name of the Lord and when we come to the New Testament
of course, when we read the the New Testament epistles and
those four line letters how time and again he's exhorting those
New Testament Christians addressing those gospel churches to the
Thessalonians he says pray without ceasing to the Colossians continue
in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving to the Philippians
be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgivings let your requests be made known unto God and we
could repeat so many more verses when you come to those practical
parts those exhortations there is there then the command these
are all in the imperative imperative voice it's a command pray without
ceasing continue instant in prayer and
so forth. There is in the command of God,
we are under obligation, men ought always to pray, men ought
always to pray and not to faint. But God doesn't just give us
precepts He's a gracious God, so we also have the promise.
And how the promises are there, of course, to encourage us in
our praying to Him. And some of the promises that
God gives are quite remarkable. He will even have His people,
when they pray, to come before Him and speak with such boldness
even as to command Him. A remarkable statement that we
have in Isaiah 45.11. He says to Israel of old, ask
me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the works
of my hand, command ye me. Concerning the works of my hands,
command ye me. Oh, what boldness we can enjoy
then, and certainly when we come through the Lord Jesus Christ, is it not that access with boldness,
boldness at the throne of grace. Ask, and it shall be given you,
says the Lord Jesus. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth,
and he that seeketh findeth, and he that knocketh it shall
be opened. And the words are repeated. We
have them in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 verses 7 and
8. But we also have that Sermon
on the Plain here in Luke 11 and the same promises really
in verses 9 and 10 that we're to come, we're to ask, we're
to seek, we're to knock, God is that one who will be sought
after, and he never says to the seed of Jacob, seek him, I face
in vain. But looking at the context there,
there is a contrast, of course, in the parable that the Lord
is using his parabolic teaching, his normal way of teaching, as
we see throughout the gospel. He's made a parable unto them,
to this end that men but always to pray and not to thank, saying,
There was in a city a judge which feared not God, neither regarded
man. And there was a widow in that
city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while,
but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God,
nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge
her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. He's a hard-hearted man, this
judge, and eventually he gives way, but he gives way only because
he's thinking of himself. This woman is troubling him. I will avenge her, he says, lest
by her continual coming she weary me. He relents simply to ease himself
of what he considers to be a problem, this woman who is such a pest
to him, a hard-hearted man. And what does the Lord go on
to say in verse 6? Hear what the unjust judge saith,
and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and
night unto him, though he bear long with them." If the unjust
judge, this wicked, hard-hearted man who's so self-centered, will
eventually give way and attend to the request of the
woman, how much more will the Lord? Shall not God avenge his
own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear
long with them. Or shall not the judge of all
the earth do right? Says Abraham. He's a righteous
God. He's a merciful God. He's a gracious
God. He's a kind God. He's a just
God. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Says Abraham there in Genesis
18. And you remember the context.
he's about to visit a terrible judgment on those wicked cities
of the plain Sodom and Gomorrah and this is where Abram's nephew
Lot is with his wife and his children and what does Abram
do? He prays to God, he pleads with
God and he's bold he's the father of all them that believe And here we have reference to
all God's elect who cry to Him day and night. How does Abraham
pray? Well, he asks God, doesn't he, if there are 50 righteous
people, if there are 50 righteous people amongst all those in those
wicked cities, will God forego the judgment? And he says if
you can find 50 I won't destroy those wicked cities and by degrees
he goes down 45, 40, 30, 20, if there are 10 if there are
10 righteous people amongst those
wicked will you forgo the judgments
and God said he will but there weren't 10 the judgment came
but the boldness, the boldness of Abraham because he knew God
and he knew that God is a good God, the judge of all the earth.
Dane the psalmist himself says in Psalm 119 at verse 68, they
are good and they do us good. The contrast between the God
that's always ready to hear and answer the prayer of his people
and the unjust judge the hard-hearted self-centered man that he was
but then isn't there also a contrast between God and us really and
I think again of those words that we have back in chapter
11 verse 13 if you then being evil know how to give good gifts
unto your children how much more shall your Heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him that seek
Him and I know that's what it says here in chapter 11 and verse
13 but in the Sermon on the Mount back in Matthew 7 it's good things isn't it? will not God give good things
to them that ask Him Ultimately, God answers His people. He answers His people, but He
never grows weary of them asking. He loves them to keep coming
and asking. He bears long with them. That's
what it says here. They cry day and night unto Him,
and He bears long with them. He loves to hear their voice
in prayers. He loves them to come again and
again and again and again. and He'll hear them and He'll
answer them. Oh, there's a difference between
God and us. We're by nature evil, we're by
nature fallen sinners. And He is that God who is good
and who does good. How much more then? How much
more will we receive those good and gracious answers from such
a God as He is? able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, says the Apostle. And so He will have His people
come to inquire of Him. And when they come and inquire,
when they come and seek His face, He will grant the thing that
they request. I will yet for this be inquired of by the house
of Israel. I will do it for them. He has
a purpose to do it. He will ever fulfill His decree,
His eternal purpose, but He has also appointed, ordained the
means whereby that will be accomplished. He will do it in answer to the
prayers of His people, and that surely should embolden us in
our prayers. Here then, we see now the Lord is that one
who is pleased ever to hear and answer the prayer of his people
but let us for a while consider two things the substance of this
prayer and the importance of sincerity in our praying first the substance of prayer,
the matter of the prayer now We have, of course, instruction
from the Lord Himself. Back in chapter 11 and verse
2, when you pray, He says, say. And then we have what is really
the Lord's Prayer. We call it the Lord's Prayer,
the Pattern Prayer. It's repeated in Matthew chapter 6 at verse
9, After this manner, therefore, pray ye. And how do we begin? Well, we are to begin by addressing
God as our Father in heaven. When you pray, say, Our Father
which art in heaven. And then the content of that
prayer, there are seven petitions, aren't there, in the Lord's Prayer.
And we, well, we can turn back to chapter 11, and in a small compass of those
few verses 2, 3 and 4 we have the well verses 2, 3 and 4 we
have the petitions Hello be thy name thy kingdom
come thy will be done as in heaven so in earth Give us this day
our daily bread, and forgive us our sins. For we also forgive
everyone that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. In times past, we've gone through
those instructions of the Lord. We've
looked at the Lord's Prayer and considered the various parts
of that prayer. But there we have seven petitions. And of course, the first very
much centers in God himself. That's the great burden of our
prayer. We pray concerning God. And we pray concerning the name
of God. The name that we're not to take
in vain. Hallows be thy name, let thy
name be holy, is what we're asking there. But what a substance is
the whole content really, the whole matter of that patterned
prayer. I like the remark of Bernard
Gelpin. He remarks on the Lord's Prayer.
He says this, he says, what substance? What are we speaking of? Adoption?
Adoration? Submission? daily bread, mutual
love, love even to our enemies, forgiveness of sins, deliverance
from temptation and from all evil. It's so all-encompassing,
that patterned prayer, and surely we should seek to follow those
instructions of the Lord when we come to pray. The matter of
our praying is important. The order of our prayers is important. And so when Christ says that
men ought always to pray and not to faint, he's already given
instruction as to how we are to pray. He doesn't just leave
us to devise our own ways and even our own words. He tells
us what to say. When you pray, say. After this
manner, pray. But besides the matter of our
prayer, how important also is the manner of our praying. The manner of our praying. How we need to be those who are
sincere. How awful is insincerity, how
dreadful to come in some perfunctory, half-hearted manner when we would
address God in our prayers we're told quite clearly in that third
commandment that we're not to take the name of the Lord in
vain and we can take God's name in vain if we're insincere in
our prayers and insincere in our worship prayer is a spiritual
exercise it involves faith and we are to be those who are wholehearted
as we come before God. What does He say through Jeremiah? You shall seek me and find me
when you shall search after me with all your heart. That's sincerity,
wholehearted. Again, the language of Paul to
the Colossians, ye then be risen with Christ
seek those things that are above set your affections on things
above where Christ is at God's right hand our thoughts are to
rise above all those things of time and of sense as we come before God we come
wholehearted we have that singleness of mind the affection set and
set only upon God. How does God make us wholehearted? God has to make us wholehearted,
and the strange thing is the way in which God does deal with
his people. In order to make them wholehearted,
doesn't he at times break their hearts? And he breaks their hearts
in his dealings when he brings them into the midst of trials
and troubles and tribulation. but he is that one who knows
the end from the beginning as he says to the children of Israel
as we read also in the book of Job the end of the matter is
better than the beginning thereof God breaks our hearts but God
breaks our hearts in order that we might come before him wholeheartedly
we know not where else to turn we have to turn to him and we
have to cry to him and seek him call upon me he says in the day
of trouble I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. All ultimately is for our good
and for His glory. That's the point, that's the
purpose of our praying, that's the reason why we come together
tonight. We desire good, we desire good
here in the church. It's a prayer meeting, we gather
together, as a church to pray and principally to pray for the
testimony here in Salem and to pray for God's testimony at large
that cause of God and truth throughout our nation even to the ends of
the earth we come to pray we seek above all God's glory and
we seek that in the good that he will bring to poor sinful
men and women that he might magnify his grace in all his dealings
So we're to hear then the instruction of the Lord Jesus. May not always
to pray. Always to be a praying people.
And so often we are prone to faint. Well I'm prone to faint.
Sometimes I think I do more fainting than I ever do praying. The Lord
knows. And Christ is the one who speaks
to us here in the parable. Speaking to his disciples. He
spake a parable unto them, to this end, that men are always
to pray and not to faint. May the Lord help us as we come
again, come week by week, but we come for this very purpose,
that we might order our cause there at God's mercy seat. Well,
before we pray, I'll call upon our two brethren presently, but
before we pray, let us sing our second praise. 966 is the hymn. The tune is sorely 231. Happy
are they to whom the Lord his gracious
name makes known, and by his Spirit and his Word adopts them
for his own. He calls them to a mercy seat,
and hears their humble prayer. And when within his house they
meet, they find his presence there. 966, and the tune is 231.