And let me say that this evening, I truly do. And I mean this as
honestly as I know how. I pray, I ask, that our Lord
bless this service this evening. You know, so often we'll make
statements like that, and it's almost like we've said that so
many times. We just expect. That's what you're
expected to say. I truly desire to be sincere. I want that. This evening, I'd like for you
to turn to Romans 15, verses 30 to 33, as we were considering
a moment ago why you're turning to Romans 15. I was thinking
back just a few moments ago, we were in for the times study. Scripture was read. Prayer was had. We came into the sanctuary and
Scripture was read. Prayer was had. on the Scripture that was actually
read when he turned to John 17, which is on prayer. And here
was the Master, our blessed Lord and Savior, our Federal Head. The Word who was made flesh. God made flesh. He who came into
this world as the representative of all that the Father had everlastingly
loved. Sovereign God. in all of my feeble attempts
to try to express something of his majesty. Luke, I've just
lost it. What to say? And here is the
one that the Father uttered from
heaven these words, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased. Now, this is God. Speaking. And here is the Lord
Jesus Christ praying. He who spoke everything. He who made everything. By Him,
all things consist. I told Brother Todd this afternoon,
We believe, and we do believe, in God's absolute sovereignty. We love to speak of Him who is
God. He who does as He will in the
army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, He who absolutely has purposed
And His counsel is going to stand. And I know that. I believe that. And here is God Himself, God-Man,
the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, praying. We got to verse 11 of John 17. It says, And now I know more
in the world, but these are in the world. I come to thee. Holy
Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given
me, that they may be one as we are. Praying the Lord Jesus Christ,
praying the Father to keep through his own name, his own character,
those whom he had given to the Lord Jesus Christ. As we rode
over this afternoon, this statement was made. I jotted this down.
It says, If our perception of God's sovereignty leads us to
forsake prayer, we have a wrong perception of his sovereignty. Let me tell you how we are. Because
I know how I am. And I just feel that we all pretty
well think the same way. Almighty God is the sovereign
God. He's going to do His will. God
is going to do what He's purposed to do. And that's absolutely
right. And I know that. And I'm so thankful for that.
He worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. Pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. You have
not because you ask not. Romans 15. The Apostle Paul is writing to
the church at Rome. In the last three verses of the
fifteenth chapter, he says now, verse thirty, I beseech you,
brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love
of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers
to God for me. that I may be delivered from
them that do not believe in Judea, and that my service which I have
for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints, that I may come
unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. Now the God of peace be with
you all." Prayer. That whichever believer, I know,
exercises but readily admits to feel himself to be weak in. Prayer. The asking, the thanking,
the crying of the new heart that longs for communion with him
who's everlastingly loved him. I want to pray. I want to talk
to Him. I want to bear my heart to Him. I want to be honest. It's the expression of the new
heart that hungers to approach Him who chose to show mercy to me. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy and I'll have compassion on whom I'll
have compassion. Bob, I want to talk to him. It's so good to talk to him. I want to talk. I want to pray.
I want to seek. I want to ask. I want to thank. Because there's three things
that I do know. Concerning prayer. Number one. The regenerated saint of God. Believes that God. Here's his prayer. This is not just a formal exercise
of a dead heart. It's real. This is real. Someone says, well, sure, it's
real. It's real. In 2 Kings 19, there
was a king whose name was Hezekiah, 2 Kings
19. And this king received a letter
from an evil king, Sennacherib. And Isaiah the prophet told the
servants of Hezekiah. In 2 Kings 19, Isaiah said unto
them concerning the letter that he had gotten, he said, Thus
saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast
heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed
me. Behold, I will send a blast,
a breath of pestilence upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and
shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall
by the sword in his own land. that Hezekiah got. It's recorded in 2 Kings 19,
verses 10 and 11, "'Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of
Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive
thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand
of the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what
the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands by destroying
them utterly, and shalt thou be The Lord said concerning that
letter that was sent by the king of Assyria, they blasphemed me. And Hezekiah took that letter,
the scripture says, starting in verse 14 of this same chapter,
received the letter of the hand of the messengers and he read
it. was a letter that was read by
a king, by a man, that was alive. He was living. Right now, we're in a vapor of
a time. That's what Scripture says. This
life is but a vapor. We're right here for right now. right there for right then. And he was alive. And that was
a real threat to him. It was a real letter. It was
a real trial. It was a real tribulation. It
was a real testing for this king. And he read that letter and basically
this is what it said. You surrender or else. And the scripture says that Hezekiah,
in the latter part of verse 14, went up into the house of the
Lord, and he spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed
before the Lord and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwelleth
between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of
all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth.
Lord, bow down thine ear and hear. Open, Lord, thine eyes
and see. Let me just inject this for just
a moment, if I may. You would think, well, Hezekiah,
do you think that the Lord couldn't bow down His ear? Do you think
that Hezekiah, the Lord, couldn't open his eyes and see? Don't
you realize, Hezekiah, that God Almighty is sovereign? in all
things that he does as he will. He was a man that was between
a rock and a hard place. And Almighty God, by His good
providence, and by His sovereign mercy and grace and compassion,
hemmed this man up. And Almighty God was going to
bring honor to Himself. And He put Hezekiah in a place
to where Hezekiah, who knew something, obviously, who God was, thou
alone, all the kingdoms, you made heaven and earth. Lord,
your God, bow down thy ears. and hear, open, Lord, thine eyes
and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib which hath sent him
to reproach the living God." One would ask, well, surely there's
no need to ask because God is sovereign and He's going to do
as He will. Ask. You have not because you
ask not. of a truth. Lord, the kings of
Assyria have destroyed the nations of their lands and cast their
gods into the fire, for they were no gods, but the work of
men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed
them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I beseech Thee, save Thou
us out of His hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may
know that Thou art the Lord God, even Thou alone. Then Isaiah
the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord God
of Israel, that which thou hast prayed to me against the Nechareth
king of Assyria, I heard you." Do you know how wonderful it
is to know that he hears? It's not dead. He actually hears. Believer believes
that. Secondly, we believe when we
pray that God cares. He cares for those who have everlastingly
been the objects of His mercy. He cares. Fasting all your care
upon Him, for He careth, He's concerned. for you. Almighty God is the source of our help. Casting how much care? All. All. The Lord Jesus in John 10, 13-15
says, The hireling fleeth because he is a hireling, and he careth
not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know
my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep." He cares. He cares. He who has everlastingly stood
in that eternal covenant of grace, he who has everlastingly answered
for me. He who laid down his life for
the sheep, he said, cast all your care, because he cares. To stop and realize, he who spoke,
David said, when I consider the heavens, who is man that you
are without of all of his people in this world at any given time, when one is brought to feel their
need of him, and to our shame how seldom that is, to realize
that we pray And he hears. And he cares. What comfort that is. Because
my burden is his burden. He careth. He's concerned. We have not a
high priest that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities,
but was at all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin,
and to know he cares and that I can approach him and ask him,
Lord, help me. I confess unto you, I know, I
know the frailty. Lord, I confess I don't even
know how to pray. I don't even know what to ask.
Lord, help me. Lord, I have this burden. And
thankfully, you have brought me to this place to cause me
to cast myself upon you. And I know you care because you
said you do. Thirdly, we believe when we pray that
God is able, knowing that He is able to do
exceedingly and abundantly all. Almighty God, able to do according
to His will all that is profitable for the eternal and temporal
good. of His people. This king, what did he do? He did all he could do. Cast himself upon God Almighty,
believing all the while that God Almighty was going to do
exactly as He said He was going to do. Lord, would you bow down
your ear to hear, your eye to see. 2 Corinthians 9, 8, And
God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always,
having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good
work. He who predestinated us according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. Paul, back in Romans 15, said
to this, said to the church at Rome, strive together with me
in your prayers to God for me. Be my companion in agony. Strive together. It's a struggle, it's a warfare. Paul said in Ephesians 6.12,
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places. It's a wrestling. Genesis 32, a man named Jacob. Verse 24, Genesis 32, 24, was
left alone. I said, I mean this. Oh, the blessing of being set
alone where Almighty God puts a man,
where God's going to deal with him. He was left alone. And there wrestled a man with
him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he
prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his side.
The hollow of Jacob's side was out of joint as he wrestled with
him, strived with him in agony with him. And he, that is the
man, the Lord Himself, said, Let me go for the day breaketh.
And he said, Oh, how these words just My heart rejoices. Hear the Lord who said, I will
never forsake you. I'll never leave you. And the Lord said to Jacob, let
me go. And he said, I will not let thee
go except thou bless me. Let me go. Let me go. Unless you bless me, I can't. The Lord asked his disciples
after some wouldn't follow him anymore. He said, will you go
away also? And Peter said, Lord, Where will
we go? You have the words of eternal
life. We can't. Turn with me to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36. I know how familiar
you are with this passage of Scripture. But we're not familiar enough. Ezekiel 36. Here's a sovereign God, God Almighty, God who will do
as He will. Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and you shall be clean. The blood
of Christ. From all your filthiness, from
all your idols, God Almighty speaking in His
sovereign, distinguishing grace to His people. I will sprinkle
clean water upon you, ye shall be clean. From all your filthiness
and from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart also
will I give you, a new spirit will I put within you. 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 statues. 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. And I will save you from all
your uncleanness. And I will call for the corn.
I will increase it and lay no famine upon you. I will multiply
the fruit of the tree. increase of the field, that ye
shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
Then shall ye remember your evil ways, your doings that were not
good, and shall loathe yourself in your own sight for your iniquities,
for your abominations, not for your sakes. Do I this, saith
the Lord God? He that knoweth 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 billed, and the desolate
land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight
of all that pass 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 by heathen that are left round about you shall know that
I the Lord build the ruined places and plant that which was desolate.
I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God, I will
yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it
for them. I will increase them with men
like a flock, as the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in
her solemn feast. So shall the way cities be filled
with flocks of men, and they shall know that I am the Lord." Almighty God has promised what
he's going to do. He will do it. He said, Yet for these things
will I be inquired of, and you will ask. clearly sets forth. Almighty
God is God. And we ask. You say it seems as though to
me. That's not the issue. He said
you will ask. You have a faithful pastor. He's
been my friend a long time. Do you believe that God's called
him to pastor this church? I know you do. Do you believe that the Lord
is going to teach him? I know you do. Ask him. Lord, would you teach our pastor? Lord, would you hold him by your
everlasting arms? You say, well, he's promised
he's never going to leave him. He's never going to forsake any
of his people. You ask him. Do you believe that God's going
to bless the assembling of his people together? Do you believe
that he's in the midst where two or three are gathered together
in his name? You say, well, absolutely, I believe that because he said
he would. Ask him. Lord, would you meet with us
this evening?" That is absolutely consistent. You say, but it seems
as though it's consistent with His Word. You ask. I will and you shall ask. I will bless you. And I will
be inquired of. Paul's confidence was founded
upon God's Word. But I'll tell you this, the Apostle
Paul was taught by the Spirit of God something by the means
of God Almighty blessing through prayer. And if it was not so,
Paul the Apostle would have never asked the church at Rome, Strive
together with me in prayer. Pray with me. Yet we ask Him who has absolutely said,
I will do all my pleasure. It's honoring to the Lord. I
can tell you that. It's honoring. And it is obedient on our part
when we ask. And it unites us in honoring Him when we pray
to Him for one another. Pray for me. While the Apostle Paul requested
the fellowship of prayer, it wasn't for his good, it wasn't
for his honor that he asked these things. Back in Romans 15, He
said, I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake
and for the love of the Spirit, not for my sake, not for my sake,
for His sake. Who is worthy of all honor? The four and twenty elders who
cast their crowns at Revelation before Him and He who had taken
the book And they said, Thou art worthy
to receive all honor, for Thou hast redeemed us. Who is worthy? Paul says, I'm
asking you for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the love
of the Spirit, I'm asking you to pray with me. Pray with me, pray for me. Who
is worthy? He is worthy. Who has everlastingly
stood as our surety? He's worthy. Who came into this
world as our federal head, as our representative? Who has made
sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him? For whose sake? For His sake. Who but the Spirit of God powerfully
blows as the wind. We don't know where He comes
or where He goes, but He's going to call out all
that everlastingly have been loved and given to Christ. Loved
of the Father, given to Him. Do we believe that all that the
Father has given Him shall come to Him? Absolutely, we believe
that. Lord, would You save my kids? Lord, if it please You, would
You save my grandchildren? There are those in my family,
those in my neighborhood, they show absolutely no interest whatsoever
in the Gospel. Lord, if it please You, would
You show mercy? Someone said, He's going to show
mercy. I'm going to ask Him. By the grace of God, Paul said,
I am what I am. There's no merit in me. All honors do Him. Strive together
with me. And the Lord places not only
the burden to ask, but He places also the burden
that you ask, that which you are praying for. Delight thyself
also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine
heart. He places within the heart of
his people that for which they ask. And they do ask according
to his will and purpose. Paul asks three things in why
we look as we Start to finish this little passage right here.
I want you to look at the things that he asked. Specific things
I told Brother Todd, I saw in this passage of Scripture. A
lot of times we'll say to someone, pray for me. If you have something on your
mind, that you desire someone to pray with you, strive with
you. Share what you can. Share what you can. I understand
there are some things that are better left unsaid. I understand
that. But I'll tell you this, you share
what's on your heart as you can for God's honor. for your good. Paul asked three things. First of all, he asked in verse
31, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea. Let me ask you this. Do you think
that the Apostle Paul knew, as we quoted the first scripture
a while ago, I shall never, I'll never leave you and I'll never
forsake you. Do you believe that The Lord hedges His people round
about. That's what Satan told the Lord
concerning Job. You hedge them about. I can't
get to Him. Do you believe that Paul knew that until God Almighty
was ready for him to leave this world, no one was going to do
anything to him outside of God's purpose and God's will? Do you
believe he believed that? Sure he did. You believe that? Sure you do. You that believe,
you believe that. I'm here. This is the day that
the Lord hath made. He's ordered it. That which comes
my way, that which crosses my path, the lock that has fallen
upon me, this is my lot. David said it's good that I've
been afflicted that I might learn. Thy statutes. It's good. This
is the Lord. It's the Lord. Let Him do that
which seemeth to Him good. Lord, would You help me in my
infirmity? Lord, if it please You, would
You heal me according to Your will and purpose? Paul said, pray with me. that I might be delivered from
those that believe not. Secondly, look what he asked,
and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted
of the saints. Well, back in verse 26 of this
chapter, it said, It hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia
to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are
at Jerusalem. And he had a gift. He had a monetary gift. And it
was from a Gentile church to the church at Jerusalem. And
you say, well, I know this, that there's no way in the world that
a believer or a believing church would not be gracious in accepting
a gift. This is from a Gentile church.
To the church of Jerusalem, you said, but yet, but they're all
believers. And we'll always be gracious to each other. and will
always see each other in the best light and will always be
thankful to God for that which he has done for all of us and
will have no prejudices whatsoever. Paul said, Pray that my service
which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints. There is enough rebellion in
all of us. I don't even have to finish that
statement. You know. Paul said, would you pray that
the church at Jerusalem would accept this gift from this Gentile
church and that they would accept it? And thirdly, he asked in
verse 32, that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God
and may be with you and be refreshed. Would you pray that the Lord
would allow me to come and visit with you. He would allow us the privilege
to be able to meet together. You say, well, the steps of a
good man are ordered by the Lord. God is going to put His people
just exactly where He's going to put them. You're right. The Apostle says, would you pray
that God would bless that our paths may be able to cross, that
we can have some fellowship. There was a time that Paul was
going to go to Bithynia. He purposed in his heart he was
going to Bithynia. And the Scripture says, but the
Spirit suffered him not. Paul said, pray with me. And
he asked specifically. We've been sent to preach the
gospel. Go into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. The reason we do that is because
He has commanded us to do it. Go into the world, preach. Jews, Gentiles, preach
to them. God's going to save His people. God's will is going to be done.
There's not going to be one of God's sheep, one of God's elect,
one that God Almighty has eternally set His affection, His love upon. Not one of them will be lost. And the Lord prayed in His high
priestly prayer, Father, I will that where they are, that where
we are, they may be also, I will. Father, keep them. Keep them
through your Word. They're not of the world. They're
in the world, but they're not of the world. I read the words
of our blessed Savior in that high priestly prayer, and I read
the words that he prayed, and I'm thankful Because of all those that He's
everlastingly loved, He said, I pray for them. And for those
that will hear through them, He prayed. Ask Him. Ask Him to do that which
He has eternally purposed to do for Christ's sake. Now, the
God of peace be with you all. The Lord said, I form the light
I create darkness, I make peace, I create evil, I the Lord do
all these things. The God of peace be with you
all. The God of all blessing be with you. He who does all things well be
with you. He who said, I'll never leave
you, the God of peace be with you. Christ who has made peace by
his blood be with you. Strive together with me. God
has ordained it. The Lord said to Peter, Satan
hath desired to have you and sift you as wheat, but I pray
for you, I pray for you, that your faith fail not. And knowing that his prayer to
Father, that's what he said, Father, I know you always hear
me. I think of that thief on the
cross. At one moment, it was Ray Lynn,
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And I mean, as you read the Scriptures,
you can just truly see, as Peter said, in the book of Acts, seeing
the grace of God. You can read in one of the Gospels
where both of them were railing on the Lord. And then one of
them said, We deserve what we're getting. This man has done nothing. And then he said to him, Lord,
when you enter into your kingdom, Well, you remember me, and I
think to myself, here is one based on the words of our master.
He said, today, you'll be with me in paradise. And I think knowing
what I know concerning God's sovereign grace, He who everlastingly
knew, is known, knows all of His people, who has always remembered
Him in mercy. He's always remembered Him. And
here was one that said, Would you remember me? I can enter in. knowing that the God of all hope
remembers. Always in mercy. Always in love. I've always loved you. But I
can say to Him, ask Him, Lord, would you have mercy on me? You
remember me. That is the sweetest request
that a sinner would ever ask the Master, would you remember
me in mercy? Lord, you said you came into
this world to save sinners. Would you save this sinner? Lord,
would you have mercy on me? Last verse of Scripture. 1 Samuel
12. People had asked, I told Samuel, we want a king.
And Samuel told him, God is your king. He said, no, we want a
king like everybody else has got. Samuel said, the Lord has said this king is going to abuse you.
I'm just telling you what he said. He's going to take your
lands. He's going to take your kids.
We want him. And the Lord gave them what they
wanted. And now they've seen something of the fallacy of their
ways. 1 Samuel 12, verse 20. And Samuel said, after the Lord
had brought them to see what they'd done, Samuel said unto
the people, Fear not, ye have done all this wickedness, Turn
not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with
all your heart. And turn ye not aside, for then should ye go
after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver for they are
vain. For the Lord will not forsake
His people for His great namesake, because it has pleased the Lord
to make you His people. Moreover, as for me, God forbid
that I should sin against the Lord. in ceasing to pray for
you, but I will teach you the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve
him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things
he hath done for you. But if ye shall still do wickedly,
ye shall be consumed, both ye and your King." It is absolutely a settled truth in the heart of God's people.
As we said at the beginning of this message, Almighty God is
going to do that which God Almighty is pleased to do. But God forbid that we should