Affliction and Prayer

I stumbled across a tweet from @Christianaudio that commended a website called theversesproject.com. This is a website, a blog of sorts, that takes verses from the Bible, gives a commentary on it and a downloadable song using only the words from the verse cited. The recent post from the blog that I think stood out for me was this one:

2 Corinthians 4:17-18^“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

The commentary on these two verses they gave was this:

 “Affliction is something all humans deal with. Rich or poor, young or old, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, we all suffer. While many people think their belief in God should function as a "get out of jail free card" from any form of opposition or difficulty, these verses actually teach us that Christians are to look at suffering through a different lens. We must learn to see that behind the affliction is a surprising truth: that God is using that very affliction to prepare you for eternity ("an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison").

This verse isn't intended minimize the pain or suffering we may feel, but it is rather a call to see our pain in light of greater or "truer truths". As Francis Schaeffer said, there are major & minor themes in the story of life. While suffering (the things that are seen) is a true theme, in the grand scope it is a minor theme simply because one day suffering, pain, & death shall forever be banished upon Christ's return and restoration of the new heavens & new earth (the things that are unseen). This return is what Schaeffer would call a major theme, one that eventually trumps the minor themes.

So, friends, if you look out with your eyes of flesh and see only heartache and pain, look again with eyes of faith. While your eyes of flesh falter at the sight you see, your eyes of faith see a beautiful story unfolding that you would not believe even if you were told!”

Now we also see that in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians we see that we “Christian’s (are) God’s ambassador(s), with a spiritual and glorious ministry, finding in Christ consolation in all his sufferings and sufficiency for every testing.”(a)

And specifically in Chapter 4 it shows that “A steadfast adherence to the truths of the Gospel, backed by constancy and sincerity, will commend the servant of God to the opinion of wise men. They should not be of proud spirit, but realize that they themselves are but vessels of little worth and in their perplexities for Christ’s sake let them know that God is able to support them and in Him they should ever trust and hope”(a)

Further in the two verses prior to 17 and 18 we see that 15“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

How do we apply this to our prayer life? Oftentimes I think we find that our most sincere and desperate prayers are in times of need and suffering, ours and our loved ones. Our hearts weigh heaviest when they are full of the burden of pain. So while these verses graciously given to us by God may not fully relieve that pain, it may give us understanding and hope. And we are, if nothing else, hopeful beings, especially in Christ.

Therefor whether it is an undesired result from an important election, or really bad weather, or may God forbid the loss of a loved one, we need to not lose heart because of God’s ultimate plan of Grace. We must not lose sight of it; if you think that you are, pray. Ask your Father to guide you, ask him for vision, but remember the ‘the things unseen are eternal” Something’s only God knows and is meant to know.

(a) From Summarized Bible:Complete Summary of The New Testament by Keith Brooks

 

 

Gospel-Shaped Prayer

Gospel-Shaped Prayer

Along with about 1300 other people the weekend before last Pastor and I went to listen, learn and worship at the Gospel Coalition in Boston. Some of the great Pastors of our time were there including D.A. Carson, Tim Keller, and of course John Piper. It was a great time of fellowship and learning, to be live in a room hearing these men speak,  versus listening to pre-recorded sermons was at times goose pimple inducing. But it was not for the fame of these men, or the crowd of believers, or the excitement of a multitude of literature waiting at the bookstore that one got goose pimples. It was the message! The unified, Gospel centered message of Jesus that oozed out of every lesson and sermon and of course the music that was the cause of excitement.

While each speaker had their own style of speaking, Keller the calm dignified elder, Piper the impassioned intellectual, and Carson the colorful wise sage; their lectures all had the Gospel in common. Gospel, Gospel, Gospel. What is it?

As Keller said “The Gospel is news not advice”, Piper expanded on that somewhat talking about a Gospel centered mind and while I don’t have an hour to recite the entire quote properly so let me say “we need a right mind of God to stoke the white hot coals in our heart for God” and I will, God willing, never forget Carson’s advice to “gossip the Gospel”. So what is the Gospel? Can I successfully and justifiably and completely explain it in the time we have? I will give it a shot.

The Gospel is that “Jesus died for our sins so that when we accept Him in faith as our personal Lord and Savior we may be saved” and while true and awesome I think we sometimes take it for granted and fail to see the actual horrible awesomeness of Jesus’ Death. It was not just the death of Jesus that saved us, it was that through His death that He was forsaken by the Father, and it was through propitiation that He took on the sins of the whole world when He died.

On being forsaken by the Father, Jesus cried out on the cross “Eloi, Eloi lama sabecthani” “My God, My God why have you forsaken me” The triune God has, as far as I know, been living in Holy union, a perfect Trinity of love for all eternity and for the first time the Father has turned his back on His Son on the cross. It is a sense of rejection that I’m sure no human being can fully comprehend, but try thinking of the greatest love in your life telling you they no longer love you and multiply it times infinity.

On propitiation for our sin, well where do I start? 1 John 2:2 ESV “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” From ESV Study Bible we find “Propitiation literally means to make favorable and specifically includes the idea of dealing with God’s wrath against sinners.” So Jesus died on the cross and dealt with God’s wrath that should have been meted out onto all the sinners of the whole world for all time, by which we now look favorable to God. Wow can I repeat that?

As Joe Biden would say …”that’s a big …deal”

Now think of the time you sinned against someone you loved, and the Holy Spirit convicted you, your heart hurt, your bones ached, maybe to the point of feeling physically ill. Now imagine the ungodly things some criminals do, it’s too early in the morning to list them, but Jesus took on those sins too, and dealt with God’s wrath for them. Did you know that “Son of Sam” is now a professed Christian and has a prison ministry, and no longer seeks parole? Jesus did that! God did that!

Without the Gospel there is no “Good News” so give thanks for the Gospel when you pray, always!

Prayer and Missions

We have the pleasure this week of Pastor Mike Gantt coming to share with us in worship, as well discussing his work in missionary projects, most recently as an advocate for the Immanuel Christian School for the Deaf. I am excited to hear what he has to say to us today.  Ever since Ben’s trip to Zimbabwe I have been thinking about missions and today’s visit has piqued my interest even more.

So let us look at what the Bible has to say about missionaries and the work Jesus calls us to do, we see for instance in Luke 9 where Jesus sends out the Twelve, verses 2 and 6 “and he sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick” “So they set out from village to village, preaching the Gospel and healing people everywhere.” Later in Luke 10 Jesus sends out the 72 who we see in verse 17 when “the 72 returned with joy and said “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name” This filled Jesus with joy through the Holy Spirit and he prays to the Father in verse23 “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure” In short He is telling us go out, preach the Gospel, heal the sick, it is for His good pleasure!

While studying and doing research on missions and how it relates to prayer I recently picked up a book I left off reading a few months ago. I opened the bookmark I had left in E.M. Bounds “On Prayer” to chapter 13 titled “Prayer and Missions”.  While we don’t have time to read the whole chapter, I would like to read a paragraph that really impacted me. Please keep in mind this was written well prior to 1900, and while some of the language may not be “P.C.” the ideas I think still stand.

“It is praying missionaries who are needed for the work, and it is a praying church who sends them out, (and it is these) which are prophecies of the success which is promised. The sort of religion to be exported by missionaries is of the praying sort. The religion to which the heathen world is to be converted is a religion of prayer, and a religion of prayer to the true God. The heathen world already prays to its idols and false gods. But they are to be taught by praying missionaries, sent out by a praying church, to cast away their idols and to begin to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ. No prayerless church can transport to heathen lands a praying religion. No prayerless missionary can bring heathen idolaters who know not our God to their knees, to true prayer, until he becomes preeminently a man of prayer. As it takes praying men a home to do God’s work, none the less does it take praying missionaries to bring those who sit in darkness to the light.”

We as a church need to be praying for missionaries, pray that we send out missionaries who pray, and ultimately pray that those who are impacted by the missionaries sent out by God will hear and accept the Word by faith and pray, by the Holy Spirit, in Jesus name to God.

Let me close up with Paul’s request to the Thessalonians for prayer in 2 Thessalonians 3 1:5 “Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray the we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”

Pray for everyone

Today I will attempt to show that God expects us to pray for all people. We should pray not only for ourselves, our families, our congregation, fellow believers, but for all men; kings and enemies alike.

In 1 Timothy 2:1 -4 it says “¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”

Paul was writing this to Timothy to the church at Ephesus to help combat the false teaching that had arisen there. It is speculated Paul wrote this letter just after his release from Roman imprisonment (Acts 28:16-31) possibly from Macedonia. We see the advice in 1 Timothy 2:1 as an echo of Acts 10:45 “And those believers from the circumcision who had accompanied Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles,”.

 In verse 2 “for kings and all in high positions” would have, at the time, included Roman emperors who would have been violently persecuting Christians. This brings to mind Matthew 5:43-45 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ^{45 k}so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Also in 1 Tim 2:2 is an echo of Ezra 6:10 “…they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons” Further in 1 Tim 2:2“that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” To pray that we may live free from persecution of the government and be able to openly demonstrate our faith. In America today we take this for granted, not so in most of the world, and certainly not at the time this was written.

Finally 1 Tim 2:4, which is for me the most important verse, “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” It is probably the most difficult to discern. For it comes down to election, a doctrine which I find ill prepared to address here. Suffice it to say that while “knowledge of truth” refers to the hearing and understanding of the Gospel message, it does not replace faith as a response to the gospel message.

The Gospel message shocks us and challenges us to pray for ALL people, to forgive ALL people. I recently read in Tim Kellers book “The Reason for God” that “forgiveness is the beginning of the end of evil” Forgiveness needs to start somewhere, and it started with Jesus on the cross dying for our sins. Will you pray for forgiveness of your sins? And will you forgive those who sin against you? Jesus tells us to pray about it. So let us pray as He taught us….Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,¹⁰ your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen, and Amen.

Fasting and Prayer

These past few weeks have been physically rough for our church body, with so many people getting sick or with declining health, or having procedures done it’s been overwhelming. The prayer list for healing grows almost on a daily basis.

For this reason I have been looking for more effective ways to pray and ways of petitioning the Lord, and one thing has come forward time and again, fasting.

Trying to compact what the Bible has to say about fasting into a short and useful lesson is not easy, and I hope to break it down specifically for the purpose of healing up our Congregation. I believe the Lord hears our prayers, and further I believe that by fasting our prayers will become that much more intense, focused, urgent, respectful, humble and yes effective.

 It has intrigued me that depriving oneself of food would cause our Lord and Savior to sit up and take notice, as if He would say “well they must be serious now, they passed up lunch and dinner. I guess I should get on that.” However I find it to be less and less like that as I search into fasting. One thing I have found is that if you fast it will cause you to concentrate on the reason for the fast and in fact the reason for the prayer. You will remember with every hunger pang, or every time you miss the “thing” from which you are fasting why it is you are fasting.  (If for medical reasons you should not fast from food, give up something else that you enjoy, like watching your favorite show or something similar)

So what is fasting? Fasting is first and foremost to be a private matter as we see in Isaiah 58:4 ^4” Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.” And again in Matthew 6:16 “And ^twhen you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. ^uTruly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, ^vanoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. ^wAnd your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Next we see fasting as an act of humbling oneself before the Lord, especially in times of mourning. Daniel 9:3 ^“Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.” However in Acts 13:2-3 we see it as part of worship, ^2” While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ^r“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.” Also in times of danger such as in 2 Chronicles 20:3-4 “Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. ⁴ And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.”

As a side note I can’t help but wonder that when you have a family member who is suddenly taken ill or in the hospital, typically the last thing one thinks about is food. I can’t help but think that is the Holy Spirit sustaining us and guiding us to prayer and worship. So I humbly ask that you consider, if you do not already, pick a day to fast and pray for your brothers and sisters who need physical healing. I ask that you do it wisely, and pray about it.  Now as we all know; it is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. ”

Prayer in the Power of the Holy Spirit

One aspect of the triune God I think I have neglected to show the importance of in prayer is the Holy Spirit. This morning I will attempt to show our utter dependence on the Holy Spirit in prayer and in life. Without the Holy Spirit we are not righteous, not good Christians, and dare I say not Christians at all. However with the Holy Spirit in us we can do bold things, do right things in a winsome and righteous way. For example:

In Acts 3 we see where Peter and John are going to pray and are stopped by a lame beggar, and in the name of Jesus they heal him. This amazed the others going to pray who had seen this beggar for years, probably sitting in the same spot. People quickly gathered to see this miracle, and Peter immediately began to preach the Gospel to them. This drew the attention of the Sadducees, who were none too happy (to the point of jealousy), and they had Peter and John arrested.

The next day when the High Priest’s inquired by what “power” they had healed the beggar, Peter answered them boldly. Now mind you this is same Peter who had denied Jesus three times, who could not even stand up to the little servant girl who had pointed him out as being with Jesus. (Luke 22:56) And it gives witness to the power of the Holy Spirit that can change a person when Peter says to the High Priests(Acts 4:8): (And if I may take some artistic license and read this as I think Peter may have said it), “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,  let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

And notice the reference to Psalm 118 that the Sadducees and High Priests would have no doubt picked up on.

^“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.  This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

²⁷ The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us.”

The Sadducees are basically dumbfounded at the miracle and the boldness of Peter and not knowing what to do, they tell Peter and John to not speak in the name of Jesus anymore, to which Peter and John respond that they have no choice but to do so. So the Sadducees again warn them to knock it off or else and then let them go.

As soon as they return to their friends they pray and give thanks, and again quote a Psalm 2:1-2 of David, “said by the Holy Spirit” Acts 4:25

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’— “

The chapter concludes with Acts 4:31

“And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.”

As noted in “The Complete Summary of the New Testament” by Keith Brooks the summary conclusion to Acts Chapter 4

“The more resolute are Christ’s servants to witness of Him, the more spiteful will be the agents of Satan—therefore, let Satan’s agents be ever so spiteful, Christ’s witnesses must be resolute, for the Holy Spirit may be counted upon to enable them to do their part. Persecution gives wings to the truth.”

In terms of prayer I think this gives witness that we must call upon the Holy Spirit to give us the boldness to proclaim His name, especially in the times of persecution, because we are not strong enough. But if we rely upon the Holy Spirit to guide our actions, our words, and our prayers we can be sure that while persecution will come, we can be faithful witnesses to Him.

So this morning we pray, come Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and our minds, that we will be faithful witnesses in our deeds, words, and thoughts in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Lord Help my Unbelief

Mark 9:24 “Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief."”

Do you ever pray about your unbelief? Surely you say “I am a Christian, I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I believe!” It is an act of faith no doubt. Yes we know our doctrine fairly well, we attend church regularly, and we pray. We feel the Holy Spirit come into our hearts as our love for Him grows. Surely We Believe! We have so many other things to pray about, do I need to pray about my unbelief?

I am currently on my third reading of the Bible this year, well ever actually. I don’t say this to impress anyone.  If I had read it and understood, fully and wholly understood it the first time, it would be foolish to read again; but I did. I will continue reading it until I can understand it fully; and so I imagine I will read it for the rest of my life, God willing.  

As we see in John 13:31 -38 Peter wants to follow Jesus, even unto death. “I will lay down my life for you.” He says. But Jesus knows how Peter will deny him 3 times.

This is a man who has seen the miracles first hand, experienced the teachings of Jesus first hand, and yet he is still capable of denying Christ. Yes we all know after the resurrection Peter went on to be a great witness for Christ even until death, and I pray that if I can be half the man Peter was I shall be blessed.

I also think of Pastor Youcef in Iran, imprisoned today for his refusal to deny Christ, imminent death hanging over his head, his wife and children await his release, which could be granted with that denial. Yet he says that “he cannot” deny Christ. There are many others as well imprisoned to this day for Christ.

Could you do the same? I pray that I could, I pray that I would not find excuses to deny Him. “It’s only a little lie I will tell, but God knows I love him.” “Surely God does not want me to die, my children need me, He will understand. “ “Surely God has more for me to do, I will deny Him now, but I don’t mean it”

So I pray Lord help my unbelief! Lord help me to learn your Word wholly and completely! Lord help me to be faithful to you! Lord help me to realize I am but a sinner that without your Grace I am lost!

I also pray for others who claim to be Christians or religious and will go to support Chick-fil-A, “because they hate fags”, and “god hates fags”. The problem with these people is not their religion, but their ignorance of it, or unbelief. I pray I and they will not judge someone just because they sin differently than I and they do, Lord I pray to remove the plank from my eye.

Pray with me that through the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus that we will glorify God in all that we do and be faithful to his name even unto the death. Amen!