The Place of Prayer in The Apostolic Churches

The point: Do not be indifferent to the Bible's pressure to ask 'where do I belong if I am saved?' as the Bible answers both questions clearly.

The story of the Roman jailer asking 'What must I do to be saved?' is used to highlight the ultimate importance of this question and its biblical answer.

The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, February 25th, 2001, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. There is no question of any kind that any person in any place can ever ask that is of greater importance than the question asked by a Roman jailer almost 2,000 years ago. Trembling in a prison that had just been rocked by an earthquake, trembling, he falls down before two servants of God and asks this question, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

0:03 - 0:45 Read in full sermon

Driving home: no church, can lay claim to being a biblical or a healthy church that is not marked in its life pervasively as a praying church.

Martin compares himself to a lawyer presenting biblical evidence to persuade the congregation about the centrality of prayer in the church.

I want to persuade you from the scriptures. I'm going to be the lawyer presenting evidence with a view to securing a verdict in your judgment. I want to persuade you. I'm unashamed.

8:26 - 8:39 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second category of evidence shows that the churches grew and flourished in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. Martin traces this through the early church in Jerusalem, their…

The biological law of 'bringing forth after our kind' is used to illustrate how the church, born in prayer, continues to flourish in prayer.

but the church is grew and flourished. It's a fixed law of reproduction in the physical realm that we bring forth after our kind. You find that again and again in Genesis. And it's often true spiritually and we see that stand from the very face of the record here in the book of Acts.

27:35 - 27:55 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second category of evidence shows that the churches grew and flourished in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. Martin traces this through the early church in Jerusalem, their…

Using Peter's imagery of living stones, Martin describes fellowship as 'loving to rub as it were with the other stones' in the living temple.

but neither did you say well we've heard Peter that's all church is about go to hear Peter no you just don't go to hear Peter you're part of a body the spirit of God did not come to 120 individuals scattered throughout Jerusalem they were in one place the spirit comes and constitutes them the living new covenant temple of Christ's presence and they understood that as they were incorporated into that temple they loved to rub as it were with the other stones in that living temple to use Peter's imagery in 1 Peter 2 there is shared life and there's a beautiful description of how that shared life ...

35:53 - 36:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second category of evidence shows that the churches grew and flourished in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. Martin traces this through the early church in Jerusalem, their…

The healed lame man's leaping and praising in the temple is compared to someone from a 'wildest charismatic meeting' to emphasize the dramatic nature of the event.

and this rocks the ship here this guy comes into the temple I wonder how long it had been since anyone came to the temple clicking his heels and shouting and dancing and prancing and praising God that's what this guy did I mean he would look like someone taken fresh out of the wildest charismatic meeting you've ever seen the scripture tells us this guy when he was healed he went into the temple some of you think I'm adding my rhetoric to it look at verse 8 and leaping up he stood and began to walk and entered with them into the temple walking and leaping and praising God and all the people saw...

38:05 - 38:49 Read in full sermon

Driving home: whatever we do we must not in pursuing a noble purpose in the heart of pure religion James says pure religion is to care for fatherless and widows but they said we must not even allow pure religion to destroy to weaken t…

Martin shares a personal anecdote about being exposed to 'tarrying meetings' where people were told to 'relax your jaw and just start saying Jesus' to receive the Spirit, contrasting it with biblical teaching.

through Philip that they have not yet received the Spirit so they do not give them ten rules for getting the baptism of the Spirit and call them to attend a tarring meeting now some of you have never been exposed to that nonsense and you wonder why I repeat it some of us have some of us know what it's like to kneel for hours waiting for the baptism and have people tell us relax your jaw and just start saying Jesus, Jesus, Jesus and some of you may be exposed to this so I'm not just marking time folks I'm trying to be a faithful pastor and protect you from the nonsense extracted from passages l...

49:00 - 49:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second category of evidence shows that the churches grew and flourished in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. Martin traces this through the early church in Jerusalem, their…

A quote from a Covenanter gravestone, 'prelates rage chase them up to heaven,' is used to illustrate Peter's peaceful sleep before execution, implying his readiness for martyrdom.

unto God for him and it was the season of concentrated intense protracted prayer whether they were praying God may he die a noble martyr's death I don't know I have to laugh I laughed again at my desk inwardly when I was going over this in preparation Peter so sound asleep that even when a bright angel appears it doesn't wake him up he had to whack him on the side how do you sleep so soundly the night before you're going to be executed when God by the Holy Spirit is flooding your soul with peace all they're going to do is knock me up to heaven big deal as I saw on one of the gravestones of the...

53:26 - 54:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine the spiritual temperature of your church by visiting a prayer meeting and observing attendance and the earnestness of prayers.

Visiting a church's prayer meeting is presented as the most accurate way to gauge its spiritual temperature, reflecting the membership's commitment to prayer.

I just bring these two simple words of application I assure you that as early as a church is on the way to become no church if it departs from the truth so a church is on the way to becoming no church when prayer becomes marginal or merely formal when prayer becomes merely marginal or formal it's simplistic to think that one can get the spiritual temperature of any group of God's people by a cursory visit to them but if you are limited to that one visit to one dimension of a church's life

61:31 - 62:14 Read in full sermon

The point: Be tethered to your Bible and tethered to the throne of grace.

The analogy of being 'tethered to your Bible' and 'tethered to the throne of grace' is used to describe the ideal climate for a praying church.

to the climate of prayer let that sink in ask God the implications of that for your own life I've exhorted you in recent days to be tethered to your Bible I exhort you this morning be tethered to the throne of grace when you have a people tethered to their Bibles and tethered to the throne of grace that's the climate their prayer and the word have their rightful place and there we are most likely to see God by the Holy Spirit doing that which brings great glory to his own to the Lord Jesus and then finally the way in which God forms a praying church is by turning

62:58 - 63:43 Read in full sermon

The point: If you don't pray, it's because you don't have the Spirit, and you don't have the Spirit because you're an unbeliever; go to Christ.

Martin uses the idiom 'preaching to the choir' to express his hope that the congregation already agrees with the sermon's main point, and that he is reinforcing their conviction.

and filial access to God that makes prayer worthless but it makes it a delight because we engage the God whom we love to whom we have been reconciled in the Lord God our Jesus well I've laid a lot on you this morning folks but I've cried to persuade you I hope I've persuaded you and if this amount of data doesn't persuade you I think it's because you're unpersuadable but I believe I've been preaching to the choir you know what that means preaching to the choir you're preaching to people that already agreed and I trust that what we've considered this morning has put some ballast under your conv...

67:23 - 68:08 Read in full sermon