All right, turn with me, if you
would, back to 2 Thessalonians 3. 2 Thessalonians 3, and let's
read our text, which will be verses 1 and 2. Finally, brethren, pray for us. that the Word of the Lord may
have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you, and that
we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have
not faith. Finally, brethren, pray for us,
pray for us, pray for us. Now, let's begin this message
by asking some questions, all right? Answer these in your heart.
Is God sovereign or not? The word sovereign means Lord. That's what it means, Lord. It
means supreme ruler. I mean absolute supreme ruler. It means the one who possesses
all absolute power. That means he does what he will,
with whom he will, And no one can stop his hand or ask him,
what are you doing? Is God sovereign or not? Are all of God's works known
from the beginning or not? Which is it? Did God predetermine
every single thing He would do? Every single person He would
save? Are all of the saved souls already
determined or not? Did God elect a people or not?
Did He choose a people or not? Was everything that he is ever
going to do purposed before this world was ever created or not? Which one is it? Has his next move and every move
after that for the rest of time and eternity already been established
or not? Is He working all things after
the counsel of His own will or not? That means completely unaffected
by any outside influence. Completely unaffected by your
outside influence or my outside influence. Is He working all
things after the counsel of His own will or not? Are the very steps of His people
predestinated to bring them to Christ and to bring them to the
salvation that has already been accomplished in Him or not? Are all the steps of His people
predetermined to bring them to Christ or not? Is salvation absolutely finished
or not? In what we're declaring, in what
we're saying, which one is it? Is it finished or is it not? Will all of the people that He
chose to save be kept firm unto the end or not? The answer to every single one
of those questions is yes, absolutely, amen. All right, one more question
then. Here's the title of the message.
One more question. Then why pray? If all that is so, then why pray? Why should God's
people bow their heads and effectually, fervently beg Fervently, isn't that what the
scripture says? Effectually, fervently beg Him
concerning things that are taking place in their lives. If it is all ordered and sure,
I mean ordered and sure, if it is all according to His unchangeable
purpose. Here's another question, does
God change or not? If everything about God is unchangeable,
ordered, sure, purposed, rock solid, unchangeable, then why
pray? Our Lord said, I change not. I change not. Then why pray? Why call? Why ask? Why beg? Why pray? Here's the answer.
This is the answer. God said so. That's the answer. God said so. Now turn with me if you would
to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36. Verse 16 says, Moreover, the
word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the
house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by
their own way and by their doings. They defiled everything. Their
way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman, Wherefore
I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed
upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted
it. And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed
through the countries according to their way, and according to
their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto the
heathen, whither they went, they profaned My holy name, when they
said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth
out of His land." Verse 21, he said, But I had pity for My holy
name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen,
whither they went. Therefore say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes,
I'm not having pity for your sake, O house of Israel, but
for my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the heathen,
whither you went. And I will sanctify my great
name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you have profaned
in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that
I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among
the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring
you into your own land. All right, now watch how he keeps
saying I. I, verse 25. Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you, and you shall be clean. From all your
filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within
you. And I will take away the stony
heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
and I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in
My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them. And
you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you
shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will also save
you from all your uncleanness, and I will call for the corn
and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you, and I will
multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field,
that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the
heathen. Then shall you remember your
own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall
loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and
for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this,
saith the Lord God, be it known unto you, be ashamed and confounded
for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God,
in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities,
I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the waste
shall be builded, and the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas
it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they
shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden
of Eden. and the waste and desolate and
ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited. Then the heathen
that are left round about you shall know that I, the Lord,
build the ruined places and plant that that was desolate. I, the
Lord, have spoken it and I will do it." What that means is it's
a done deal. I have purposed it, I have spoken
it, I will do it. If God says he will do it, he
will do it. No ifs, ands, or buts. He said
if it entered my heart to do it, it's as good as done. Now look at verse 37. Thus saith
the Lord God, I will yet. For this, be inquired of by the
house of Israel to do it for them." They are going to pray
for it. They're gonna pray for it. They
are going to ask me for it. They are going to bow their head
and they're going to effectually, fervently beg me to do this for
them. Our God has said, In His words,
He said, I'm going to raise up pastors after My own heart, and
I'm going to put My Word in them. And they're going to go out like
sowers in a field, sowing the seed of My Word. And My Word
is not going to return void unto Me. It will not just fall on
deaf ears. I the Lord have spoken it, and
I will do it. That's how it's going to be.
That's how it's going to be. Alright now, under the inspiration
of the same Spirit of God, the Apostle Paul says, Brethren,
pray for us. Alright, God in all of His might,
in all of His strength, in all of His absolute surety said,
this is what's going to happen. I will send my word out. I will
call my people. I'm gonna gather them from among
the heathen. I'm gonna do all this for them.
I'm gonna break that old stony heart. I'm gonna put a brand
new heart in them. I'm going to put my spirit in
them. And they're gonna cry out, please do this for me. And then
the apostle Paul says, those of us who have been called to
go out and sow this seed, pray for us. Pray for us, please,
please pray for us. Now, go back with me to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 3. The Apostle Paul asks right here,
asks us right here and asks the Thessalonians to pray for five
things and then he gives us the reason why. Why we should pray
for these five things. He said in verse one, finally
brethren pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free
course and be glorified even as it is with you and that we
may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have
not faith." He said, pray for the preacher, the preacher of
the Word. Pray for the Word itself. Pray for the hearer of the Word. Pray for the success of the Word. And pray for deliverance from
all hindrances. Why? because all men have not
faith. And without faith, it is impossible
to please Him. It's impossible. It's the means
by which salvation is applied to the sinner. It's the means
by which salvation is realized to the sinner. By grace are you
saved through faith. And the scripture says, faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. So pray for
the preacher, pray for the word, pray for the hearer, pray for
the success, and pray for the deliverance from every hindrance
to the ministry of the gospel. And I'm begging you, just me
being real, me to you, I'm begging you, pray for these things. Pray
for these things. All right, the first one, he
said, pray for us. Pray for the preacher. Turn with
me to Romans 10. Romans 10, verse 13 says, Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. That's what we just read about.
They are going to inquire of me to do this for them. Lord,
would you please build our desolate places? Would you please have
mercy on us? Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent, sent
with a message from God, a message from God directly to his people? I don't want to whip up something
for everybody. I really don't want to. I mean,
I sincerely don't want to. If that's all that I do, we would
be better off to not come. Don't come back. I don't want to just get an outline
together. If I don't have a message from the Lord God to His people,
then I don't want to stand up and preach. I really don't. I don't need to just hear myself
speak. I'm not that in love with myself.
If I don't have a message from the Lord God then I do not want
to stand up. I spend my time throughout the
week studying. We could call it something else.
We could call it waiting. I spend my time waiting. I read,
I pray, I search, I beg. What am I doing? Waiting. I'm
waiting, waiting for God to reveal His message, His message to His
people. I'm waiting on Him to convict
my heart with it, reveal it to my heart. The message for this
particular hour. You know, men will get up and
say, God spoke to me. That's not what I'm talking about.
God does not speak out loud. But I am waiting for God to speak
to me. through His Word to my heart in a way that confirms
to me that's the message for God's people for this hour. That's
what He would have me to say right now. Brethren, pray for
me. I'm begging you, pray for me
that God will give me His message. As His sheep, He is going to feed you through
the message of His Word. That's why we're gathered here.
We're gathered for a meal. A spiritual meal. And He is going
to feed you. If He has to remove me, He is
going as His sheep. He is going to feed you. But
we need to ask Him to do so. So pray for me, not just for
my sake, for your sake, for your own sake, pray for me. If I don't
have God's message, then it means I'm not sent. And if I'm not
sent, you will not be profited at all. Not at all. Turn with
me over to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23 verse 1 says, "'Woe
be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture,'
saith the Lord." What did they do? How did they
destroy it and scatter it? Verse 11 says, both prophet and
priest are profane, yea, in my house have I found their wickedness,
saith the Lord. They lied, they told lies on
God. Verse 13, I've seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. They
prophesied in Baal and caused my people Israel to err. They
strayed them away from the truth of the word and caused them to
err. They led them straight into error,
error from the word. Look at verse 16, thus saith
the Lord of hosts, hearken not unto the words of the prophets
that prophesy unto you. They make you vain. They speak
a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord.
If I'm not preaching the word to you, don't listen to me. Don't
listen. I'll make you vain. I'll convince
you of something that's just of our own imagination and heart.
Verse 17, they say still unto them that despise me, the Lord
hath said, well you know brother, the Lord says, that's what they
do. You shall have peace and they say unto every one that
walketh after the imagination of his own heart, no evil shall
come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel
of the Lord and hath perceived and heard his word? Who hath
marked his word and heard it? He's saying, why are they saying
all these things? Where did they get this? They
make it as though they stood in the council of God and heard
things, but they didn't. Verse 21, I have not sent these
prophets yet. They ran. I have not spoken to
them yet. They prophesied verse 25. I have heard what the prophet
said that prophesy lies in my name saying I have dreamed. I
have dreamed. How long shall this be in the
heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets
of the deceit of their own heart." Verse 28, the prophet that hath
a dream, let him tell a dream and he that hath My Word, let
him speak My Word faithfully. That's what a preacher's called
to do. Speak the word, declare the word. Brethren, pray for
those of us who have been called to preach. Pray that God might
put his word in us. That's how you'll know a God-sent
preacher. He'll preach the word. He'll just preach the word. Verse
30, therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the Lord,
that steal my words, every one from his neighbor. Behold, I
am against the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues
and say, he saith, but you can't find it in my word. Verse 32,
behold, I'm against them that prophesy false dreams, saith
the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their
lies and by their lightness, yet I sent them not, nor commanded
them, therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith
the Lord. Well, I can just take the good
parts and I'll throw out the bad parts. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. A little error from the truth,
error from the Word will error the whole lot. God said the man
who incorporates lies into the message is not my man. He is not my prophet. I did not
send him. He does not have the blessing
of my Spirit. And he will not profit my people
at all. And what he's saying is if they
come to meet me on the grounds of these lies that they've been
told, they're going to stand before the judgment throne with
no profit. No profit at all. No profit to
their soul. Brethren, pray for us. Pray for
us. For our sake, for your sake,
for mercy's sake. For Christ's sake. Pray for us. Now don't turn back to our text.
But he said, Brethren, pray for us that the Word of the Lord. Pray for the Word of the Lord.
And I'll go ahead and get to the point. That Christ may be
in it. That all the glory may go to
Christ. The Word of the Lord is Christ
Himself. He is the Word. If we are preaching exactly what
the Word says, we are preaching Christ. We are preaching Christ
as He declared Himself to be in His Word. John 1.1 says, In
the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was
God. And the Word was made flesh.
Christ is the Gospel of the Word. Paul said, we preach Christ. We preach Christ. He is the power
of God unto salvation. This glorious news of Him. Everything that He said He would
do. It's the power of God. Alright, now what did He do for
us? Turn over to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation 1 verse 5, it says,
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the
first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the
earth, unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in
His own blood." Glory to God in the highest. He loved us and
washed us from our sins in His own blood. Turn over to Revelation
5. Revelation 5 verse 9 says, And
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue
and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and
priests, and we shall reign on the earth." Reign with Him. That's
amazing. That is amazing. Look at Revelation
19. Verse 11, Revelation 19, 11,
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he
that sat upon him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness
he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God." The
armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed
in fine linen, white and clean, and out of his mouth goeth a
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and
he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he
hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of
kings and Lord of lords. He is the Word of God. He is the glory of the Gospel. It's all about Him. It's all
about Him. Brethren, pray that every time
I or any preacher stands up in this pulpit to preach, we preach
Christ the King. Christ the Lamb. Christ, the
only hope of redemption and glory. Christ is all. Christ is all. All right, now go back to 2 Thessalonians
3. Not much longer. Verse 1 says, Finally, brethren,
pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course,
meaning straight to the heart of the hearer. May God remove the stone of stumbling. May God truly break this rock
of offense, this hard, stony heart, my heart, your heart,
every heart. Pray that as the God-sent preacher
delivers the message of Christ, it may have a straight and peaceful
path. This is my prayer. I pray that
God's message of Christ crucified in all of His glory, everything
He has done, may have a straight, peaceful path directly into the
heart of every hearer. Pray for the preacher, pray for
the Word, pray for the hearer. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
And he said in verse 1, Finally, brethren, pray for us that the
word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even
as it is with you. Pray for the result. Pray for
the success. Pray that Christ and His word
might be glorified in the heart of every hearer. Now, every soul
that he chose to save, will that soul glorify Christ? Yes. If God has chosen to call
a sinner to Himself, that sinner will receive His Word and will
glorify God for everything that he's done. But Paul said, pray
for it. Beg God for it. Inquire of Him
for these things. It's like they told Spurgeon
one time, if you believe only the elect are going to be saved,
why don't you just preach to the elect? He said, I would if they
had a big E on their forehead. But I don't know who they are.
So we preach to every man and every woman, begging God to apply
it according to His will and His purpose. Pray that Christ
and His Word might be glorified in every sinner that hears it,
all of us. Lord, save all of us. That's
my prayer, save all of us. Glorified means celebrated, honored,
magnified. Pray that if the Lord is willing,
all things are only if the Lord is willing, we all might come
in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of
God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of
the fullness of Christ. That's what Paul prayed. And
by God's grace, that's what I pray. And I believe that's what we
all pray. The Apostle Paul said in Romans
10, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. I pray for Kingsport. I do. I pray for Johnson City. I pray
for Bristol. I pray for Tennessee. I pray
for Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina. I pray for America. Wouldn't it be wonderful if God
would send a revival in the midst of our years? I pray for this world. Oh Lord,
save us, save our souls, SOS, save us. Verse one, finally brethren
pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course
and be glorified even as it is with you. And then here's the
last one, verse two, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable
and wicked men. All of us by nature in the flesh
are unreasonable and wicked. That describes every person in
this room. All have sinned against God. All are born into this world
enemies of God, all of us. But when the word of the Lord
has free course, and is glorified in the heart of the child of
God, a new man is born, a new creation is made, one that loves
God, one that loves His word, one that loves His gospel, one
that loves His people. So the unreasonable and wicked
men that we need to pray to be delivered from are those men
who have not been called to a knowledge of the truth, and are at war
with the message of the word, at war with the message of Christ,
hate the message of Christ crucified, His glory alone, Christ alone,
faith alone, grace alone, scriptures alone, the glory of God alone.
May God deliver us from any hindrance to the preaching of this word.
And he said, the reason is because, the end of verse two, all men
have not faith, but they need it. They need it to their own
destruction. Some will never have it, but
some will. Some will. To the glory of Christ
and to the glory of the gospel, some will. Now we'll close with
this. Go with me over to John chapter
10. John 10 verse 24 says, Then came
the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost
thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and you believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But you believed not, because
you are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand." He said, all my sheep are gonna hear my voice. And in My Word they're going
to follow Me. So brethren, pray for us that the Word of the Lord
may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you. Even
as it is with you. Pray that more souls might be
saved if it's the will of God and the purpose of God to follow
Him. Are they going to be saved? Yes.
Yes they are. Are there any ifs, ands, or buts
about it? Absolutely not. Is there a possibility that one
soul that the Father chose and Christ died for can be lost?
Absolutely not. But our Lord said, I want you
to pray for it. I want you to pray to that end.
I want you to ask me for it. There was a man, before I was
called to come here, I was traveling a lot to preach and I went to
a deer congregation and filled in. And the man who presided
over the service had been under the gospel for decades and decades
and decades. And he was reading scripture,
and in his prayer, he prayed, Lord, give us a greater concern
for men's souls. And that struck a chord with
me. At that very moment, a light bulb went off in my heart, and
so far I haven't forgotten it, and I pray I never will. Pray
to God I never will. Lord, give us a greater concern
for men's souls. So to that end, brethren, pray
for us. All right.