Corporate Prayer as a Means of Grace (2)

Driving home: As a man would stagger under the physical weight of a refrigerator strapped to his back, so some of the promises of God are so, so weighty in their spiritual substance, that we are tempted to stagger beneath them.

The promise of God is so vast and weighty that it makes people stagger, like a man staggering under the physical weight of a refrigerator strapped to his back, illustrating the profound nature of God's promises.

It is said of our spiritual father Abraham, that he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. The clear implication of such a statement is that some of the promises of God, are so vast and weighty, that they tend to make the people of God, to whom the promises are made, to stagger beneath the sheer volume of their spiritual weight. As a man would stagger under the physical weight of a refrigerator strapped to his back, so some of the promises of God are so, so weighty in their spiritual substance, that we are tempted to stagger beneath them. Such is the unique promise of our Lord i...

2:17 - 3:44 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin introduces the third main heading: the reason for this precious promise, found in Matthew 18:20. He emphasizes the logical connection indicated by the word 'for,' linking…

The angel's explanation to Joseph in Matthew 1:20, using 'for' to connect a directive with its reason, illustrates how the word 'for' in Matthew 18:20 indicates a logical connection.

And while much expectation, consolation and even exhilaration of expectancy has come to the people of God in ways totally unrelated to corporate prayer, nonetheless, verse 20 does come to us with a word that indicates that there is a logical connection between what precedes and what now unfolds. Verse 20 begins with the word for. And this word for is generally used as an umbilical cord of rationale or reason explaining the connection between one thing and another. It is found literally hundreds of times in the Greek New Testament. Just one example that makes it significant, very obvious, when ...

11:58 - 13:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: His people are described as those whose supreme point of reference as they are found gathered is Jesus Christ himself.

Describes someone staggering out of bed, half-heartedly attending church, or resentfully going to a prayer meeting, to illustrate what it is NOT to gather 'in his name' with Christ as the supreme reference point.

And the promise is nullified if this is not the basis of their being found gathered together. In other words their being found gathered together is not mere religious habit. They've staggered out of bed on a Sunday morning staggered to the closet reached out for a matching shirt or tie or dress and appointments and thrown things together thrown down some breakfast half awake half asleep with a mind full of the world and the events of the week they stagger into a place of gathering and half-heartedly open a hymn book half-heartedly let their minds wander and occasionally come into contact with ...

21:02 - 22:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Self-examine if you are one who trusts only in the mediation of Christ as the final and gloriously perfect high priest, whose sacrifice cleanses from sin and whose mediation secures access to God.

Describes believers agreeing in prayer as 'orchestrating from one score, the word of God, under the tutelage of one conductor, the Holy Spirit,' illustrating the unity and divine guidance in corporate prayer.

Furthermore we stand gathered as those who gladly and soberly submit to his word as our final and glorious prophet. For he said if you abide in me and my words abide in you ye shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Our Lord envisions his people gathered not to pour out their corporate carnal ambitions in the ears of almighty God but as those who have been gathered not only in his name but in a fellowship of commonality of trust in Christ alone as their priest but in this common glad sober submission to the word of Christ as their prophet they gather and can agree on what they a...

27:03 - 28:31 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He details two aspects of Christ's promised presence: it focuses on a specific place (where two or three are gathered in His name, regardless of physical location) and pledges His…

Examples of Paul and Silas in jail, believers in caves or catacombs, or Covenanters meeting in the moors of Scotland, illustrate that the 'place' of gathering is not about physical structure but where people gathered in Christ's name are found.

four three three two text. The promise of his presence focuses upon a specific place. And what is the place? Look at the text. For where? Ah, where? In the place where two or three stand as gathered together in my name, that place, I'm in the midst of them. It may be a jail for Paul and Silas or in stocks. But if in that place they are in stocks, a mini church, because of their attachment, they could plead this promise. Because in that place, Christ would be uniquely present. It may be in a cave. It may be in the catacombs. It may be as in the days of

37:13 - 38:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He details two aspects of Christ's promised presence: it focuses on a specific place (where two or three are gathered in His name, regardless of physical location) and pledges His…

Describes a 'market-friendly' Christianity that presents Jesus as inoffensive, a 'megavitamin' for a carnal life, or uses entertainment like 'Christian rock artists,' to illustrate what it is NOT to be gathered in Christ's name.

priest, and king. Christ's word at work in them has called them not only to himself in saving mercy, but to one another in the appointed acts of discipline or prayer in the context or in the wider application of the gospel. It may be in a cave. It may be as in the days of the Covenanters, erected for worship and for ministry. In whatever place, a people stand gathered, not because they've been duped into thinking Christianity is market friendly. Jesus is inoffensive. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He won't disrupt your materialistic, hedonistic, self-centered lifestyle. He'll just be an added

39:06 - 39:53 Read in full sermon

The point: God grant to each one of us a praying partner.

A quote from Spurgeon emphasizing that the prayer meeting is not a farce but holds 'omnipotence' through the pleas of God's people, illustrating the unique efficacy of corporate prayer.

It's an amazing thing when one man can have his own native lust so subdued, his own natural desires so disciplined, his own native blindness to the purposes of God so overcome, that one man will ask according to the will of God, 1 John 5, 14 and 15. And we know that if we ask anything according to His will, we know that He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, we know we have the petition we desire of Him. But ah, when God can bring two people to agree, subdue the lust of two hearts, subdue the native desires of two hearts, subdue the native blindness and insensitivity of two hearts, how ...

57:08 - 58:26 Read in full sermon

The point: God grant to each one of us a praying partner.

Spurgeon's analogy of one Jacob prevailing over an angel, and the biblical principle of one chasing a thousand but two putting ten thousand to flight, illustrates the multiplied power of united supplication.

Surely they know not the omnipotence that lies in the pleas of God's people. The Lord has taken the keys of His royal treasury and put them into the hand of faith. He's taken His sword from the scabbard and given it to the hand of a man mighty in prayer. And then he goes on to say, if one Jacob can prevail over a wrestling angel, what can two do?

58:26 - 58:50 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Do you see why corporate prayer in the number of God's people who gather and in the spirit of prayer that they have is perhaps the most accurate barometer of the state of any church?

An analogy of a war where commandos target guided missiles over handguns, rifles, or small artillery, to illustrate that the devil sends his commandos to attack corporate prayer because it is the most powerful weapon against his kingdom.

And the promise that He is already there waiting to meet them when they gather to pray. But you see, for people who have lost a passion for the person of Christ, who are no longer excited about communion with Christ, then gathering for the special presence of Christ, loses all its luster. If you were at war with an enemy out to destroy you, and you knew he had four kinds of weapons to try to destroy you, handguns, rifles, small artillery, and guided missiles,

60:35 - 61:11 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Do you see why corporate prayer in the number of God's people who gather and in the spirit of prayer that they have is perhaps the most accurate barometer of the state of any church?

Describes the dullness and reasons against attending prayer meeting as an 'imp of hell' trying to keep a commando from his duty, reinforcing the idea of spiritual warfare against corporate prayer.

And Wednesday night, when there steals over your spirit this dullness, and a hundred reasons why you shouldn't be at prayer meeting, remember the illustration. It's an imp of hell who wants to keep a commando from his God-given duty.

61:54 - 62:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Recognize that neglect of Bible reading, secret prayer, unconfessed sin, and indulging in worldly distractions erodes your passionate attachment to Christ.

The excitement some feel for NCAA basketball finals, or a 'Fiddler on the Roof' showing, is contrasted with the lack of excitement for Christ's promised presence, illustrating a misplaced passion.

Tell me there's going to be the finals of the NCAA basketball tournament shown on 16th. 16-square-foot screen. I'll be there. That excites some of you.

64:40 - 64:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Let your heart be inflamed with love and passion for Christ, and His promised presence will be all you need to get to the place where He is.

Describes substitutes for Christ as 'rancid, poisonous, and foul' fountains, contrasting them with Christ as the 'fountain of living waters,' illustrating the danger of misplaced affections.

Now, you can rationalize and say, oh, there goes Pastor Martin again, trying to be the big old killjoy. My friend, I'm not trying to be a killjoy. Whatever fountain you're drinking at that is a substitute for Christ is rancid, poisonous, and foul. And God says, my people have committed to you, they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and they've hewn them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

66:00 - 66:38 Read in full sermon