The Place of Prayer in The Apostolic Churches

The Church's Purpose and Primary Means

0:03 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?

0:46 And in a very real sense, all other questions have little or no significance until we personally have asked that question. And having asked that question, have been exposed to the only valid answer to that question, and by God's grace, have complied with the answer. You know what the answer was when the jailer cried, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? The answer was, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

1:25 However, if we have asked that question, that question of all questions, and have embraced for ourselves the biblical answer, the same scriptures that pressured us to ask, the same scriptures that give us the only valid answer to that question, those scriptures tell us that if we've asked that question, we've received God's answer, and we've complied with that answer, that we're going to ask another question. And that question is, where do I belong as one who has believed on the Lord Jesus Christ? And believing upon him, having embraced him as my prophet, and priest, and king,

2:09 in what situation, in what relationships can I bring the most glory to him? In what circumstances can I grow in my knowledge of him? In what situation can I be found with those who have the same views of themselves, that they are lost, helpless, hell-deserving sinners, and the same views of Christ? Where can I find a people who have the same motivation to please Christ, and to serve him, and to honor him?

2:40 And you know, questions like that are going to lead us to the Bible's answer, and the Bible's answer is in the church. So that we cannot take the Bible seriously with respect to what it says about the greatest question, what must I do to be saved? And then be indifferent to the Bible's pressure to ask that second question, where do I belong if I am saved? For the Bible answers both questions, very clearly.

3:08 And those who are the saved of God belong in the visible churches of God. And that is made abundantly clear in the Scriptures. Now you say, Pastor Martin, where are you going with all of that? Well, those who have been here, you know where I'm going.

3:23 This is the 16th week in which we have been considering together a series of studies entitled, Living Together in the Father's House. And that's just a rather catchy title for a mandated church, a duty that is laid upon me as an elder in this church, namely that every five years there be at least 15 consecutive Lord's Day mornings given to preaching and teaching the biblical truths contained in our church confession of faith and in our Constitution. And as we have been wrestling with this whole matter of living together in the Father's house, I have parked deliberately on what to me is perhaps the most critical section in our entire life, the entire Constitution,

4:08 namely the section which addresses the purpose of the church. And we have seen in our study of the Word of God and our Constitution has simply been a framework to move us into the Scriptures that there is what I have called a supreme and all-encompassing purpose of the church. And that purpose is to glorify the God of the Scriptures. Then secondly, we have noted following the track of our Constitution that there are God-appointed activities by which we are to pursue that glorious, all-encompassing goal and purpose of the church.

4:51 And those activities we've identified as first of all promoting the worship of God. We are made as a people of God to be worshipers. The Father seeks the people to worship Him. But then flowing out of worship, there are those internal ministries of mutual edification, mutual manifestation of the love of Christ in practical diaconal ministry to one another.

5:20 And then there is the outward arrows. There are the outward arrows, evangelizing sinners, planting and strengthening of churches. Now we've sought to work through that material in these previous messages. And we come this morning, to section two that deals with the purpose of the church as it's outlined in our church constitution.

5:44 And it reads as follows. The primary means for the accomplishment of this purpose are prayer and the public and private ministry of the word. We may also for the accomplishment of this purpose use other means and engage in other ministries, which in the judgment of the elders are biblically justified as for example, but not limited to these, the sale of books and tapes, the production of radio broadcasts, the training of men for the ministry, which additional ministries we may conversely discontinue at any time. And in that section, we're identifying what I am calling the primary and indispensable means

6:28 by which we as God's people are to pursue the purpose of the church. There are primary and indispensable means, which we as God's people are to pursue the purpose of the church. There are secondary and indispensable means, prayer and the ministry of the word. And then there are discretionary and dispensable means.

6:44 It is a matter of discretion if we shall pursue those biblically delineated purposes by other means other than prayer and the ministry of the word. But they are discretionary, and because they are discretionary, they are dispensable. And then we note what some of them are. Trinity book service.

7:04 Trinity pulpit. God's word to our nation. Trinity ministerial academy. Those are discretionary and dispensable.

Prayer as an Indispensable Mark of a Biblical Church

7:13 Now, while there is some overlapping between these matters and previously discussed issues, as I prayerfully wrestled with my responsibility as a pastor to underscore these critical matters that touch the very nerve centers of our life together, I made a judgment that it would be wise and in some ways necessary to simply part, or several weeks on this section of our constitution and the scriptural directives that it gives to us. So this morning, we're going to take up the first of those two primary and indispensable means for the church to fulfill its divine purpose, namely prayer.

7:56 Now I know that for many people, nothing could be a more boring thing to say on the front end of a sermon than to say, we're going to spend the next hour, considering this, considering together prayer. The primary means for the accomplishment of this purpose are prayer and the public and private ministry of the word. And what I will attempt to do in our time together this morning is to persuade you from the scriptures. Now, follow closely.

8:26 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.

8:39 I'm a salesman in that sense. I want to persuade you from the scriptures that as surely as no church can lay claim to be a biblical church which is not committed to glorifying God, as surely as no church can claim to be a biblical church that is not committed to edifying the saints, as surely as no church can claim to be a biblical church that is not seeking to evangelize sinners, to plant and strengthen churches, as surely as no church can claim to be a biblical church, a healthy biblical church at least, that is not committed to the enunciation of God's changeless standard of right and wrong, the law,

9:24 the proclamation of God's changeless method of making sinners right with Him, the gospel, the preservation of God's changeless body of revealed truth, contending for the faith. I trust we're all agreed, having covered that ground, no church, no church can lay legitimate claim to being a biblical church, at least a healthy biblical church, if these things are not patent in its life. Well, I want to persuade you that in the same way that we can say that of these other marks of a healthy biblical church, no church,

10:04 can lay claim to being a biblical or a healthy church that is not marked in its life pervasively as a praying church. And the way I'm going to try to persuade you is to take up our Bibles and consider the place of prayer in the apostolic churches.

The Church Born in a Pervasive Atmosphere of Prayer

10:28 You've been reminded periodically, according to Ephesians 2 and verse 20, that the church of which we are a part, has as its foundation the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ himself, the chief cornerstone, Ephesians 2.20. And as we trace out the kind of churches planted, established, nurtured, and shaped into form and structure under apostolic guidance, we have a picture of what the church ought to be. And I want to look at three categories of the biblical evidence, demonstrating the place of prayer in the apostolic churches.

11:10 Category one, the church was born in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. Then we're going to see that the church flourished and was nourished in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. And thirdly, that the churches are exhorted to maintain a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. So those are the three categories.

11:36 Categories into which we will put the biblical data. First of all, then, the church was born in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. Turn, please, with me to the book of Acts, chapter 1. Most of you, I trust, know the sequence of events.

11:56 When Jesus presented himself to John to be baptized,

12:01 John said, I baptize in water, but there stands one among you, whose shoes I'm unworthy to unloose. He shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit. Matthew 3, 11. And then in John, chapter 1, the same John that points to Jesus and says in verse 29, Behold, the Lamb of God goes on to say, The one upon whom the Spirit comes is the one who shall himself baptize in the Spirit, and he is the Son of God.

12:35 So in our Lord's officiality, in our official identity, he is the Lamb and the Baptizer. He is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. He is the Messianic King who will baptize his people in the Holy Spirit. And on the night before he was crucified, you remember our Lord in the upper room discourse, speaks again and again in the coming, about the coming of the Comforter, the one who will be his other presence.

13:06 And then Jesus dies, rises from the dead, and this brings us now to Acts, chapter 1. Note what Luke writes, as he writes to Theophilus. The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit, unto the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also showed himself alive after his passion, by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem,

13:49 but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, you have heard from me. For, taking us right back now to Matthew 3, John 1, John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized, you shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence. And so our Lord tells them that they are to wait in Jerusalem, and the promise of the Father will be fulfilled with respect to Jesus baptizing them in the Holy Spirit. Now we read in verse 6, They therefore, when they were come together,

14:30 they asked a question concerning the kingdom and Israel. And the Lord says to them, This is a matter, in essence, that is not to be of concern to you at this point. Verse 8, You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit is come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost part of the earth. Then Luke describes our Lord's ascension, and following our Lord's ascension, enveloped in the clouds.

14:58 Verse 12, Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, and I to Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey of. When they were come in, they went into the upper chamber where they were abiding. Then he names who was there. Verse 14, These all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.

15:22 Now, bear with me, because it's crucial that we understand what God is doing here. If we only read this passage, we would get the impression that they were having one extension of an extended prayer meeting during the period from our Lord's ascension, and the descent of the Holy Spirit sent from the ascended and the enthroned Christ. But Luke has already informed us at the end of his gospel, Luke chapter 24, that they were not only in that upper room in some extended concentrated seasons of corporate prayer, but they were also making their way into Jerusalem proper, and they were in the temple, worshipping and praising God. Verse 50 of Luke 24,

16:07 He, Jesus, led them out until they were over against Bethany, lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. So bringing together Luke's two independent witnesses, we find that during this period, in obedience to their Lord, they are waiting in Jerusalem.

16:38 Some of the time is spent in the temple, worshipping and praising God. Some of the time is spent in this upper chamber, verse 13 of Acts 1, wherever that was. And what they are doing is praying, and there is a key word that is introduced here. Verse 14, These all with one accord, now this is the key word, continued steadfastly in prayer.

17:03 And it becomes, as it were, almost the birthmark anticipated. We'll see it again later on in the book of Acts. It's picked up again in the epistles. Continuing steadfastly in prayer.

17:18 So here they are, filled with wonder, that their risen Lord has ascended before their very eyes. His last posture is that of priestly blessing. He lifts his hands and blesses them. They know that though they see him not, he is there seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, extending and conferring his priestly blessing upon his people, and confident that the promise of the Father will be fulfilled.

17:47 They remain in Jerusalem. They spend the time in worshipping. They spend the time in praying. Now in that context of praying, the Spirit of God underscores that there was some church business that needed to be enacted, and then we have the account of it in verses 15 and following.

18:06 Peter stands up and says there's some Scripture that bears upon our present circumstances. Judas is gone to his own place. Another should be raised up to take his place. So as they are sensitive to this principle or these directives of Scripture, what do they do?

18:24 Verse 23, They put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justice, and Matthias, and they prayed. Well, I thought they'd already been praying, yes. But they broke off praying for a little church business. And when they got the business in hand, then they prayed some more.

18:43 And they asked God to give direction and guidance in this crucial matter of the selection of the one to take the place of Judas. Then we read in chapter 2, When the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place. What were they doing? Doesn't say.

19:03 They could have been sitting. They could have been praying. They could have been praising. We don't know.

19:10 It simply says that they were all together in one place. And furthermore, they weren't all stretched out on the floor, half conscious in some kind of ecstatic state, agonizing and getting psychologically prepared for this experience. Suddenly there came from heaven the sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, that filled all the house where they were sitting. They were just sitting.

19:37 Isn't it interesting? Nothing heroic about sitting in a house with a bunch of other people. And this comes suddenly from heaven. It is not a group of people working themselves up into some frenzy to have some experience and say that came from heaven.

19:54 It's the people who in humble obedience are waiting in Jerusalem for God's promise to be fulfilled that Jesus would baptize them in the Holy Spirit. Do you see that from the passage? But though there is no action that we would call spiritually heroic, do you see that there is a pervasive climate of prayerfulness? The Holy Spirit is underscoring that while they are waiting, they are waiting with a disposition of prayerfulness.

20:23 And one can only imagine what the content of those prayers may have been. I suspect that no little part of the praying was reminding the Father of His promise. And they would be saying, Oh God, our Father, You have given a promise that Your Son, as the crowning work of being installed as the Messianic King, would baptize in the Spirit. He reminded of that just before You took Him back up into Your presence.

20:54 Holy Father, we're doing what He told us to do. We're waiting here in Jerusalem. We're so filled with joy at the wonder of what He's done. Lord, excuse us for a while.

21:05 We've got to go into the temple for a praise service. And they're in the temple praising and blessing God. And then they're back to this upper room where they are praying. And in the midst of their praying, they're reminded of a duty.

21:16 So they have a little congregational meeting with 120. Then they pray some more. And one can only, as it were, feel the pressure of Luke's account and say that this was an atmosphere of prayerfulness into which the Spirit of God came in might and in power. And Luke tells us that this coming of the Holy Spirit is the validation or he gives us the account of Peter's sermon.

21:51 This coming of the Holy Spirit is the validation that Christ is who He claimed to be. Notice toward the end of Peter's sermon telling the folk that these people are not drunk because they've been speaking in languages that they did not acquire in the normal way of acquiring languages, showing that what is happening is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Spirit, about promises made to David and his seed. Now note verse 32. This Jesus did God raise up, whereof we are all witnesses, being therefore by the right hand of God exalted,

22:35 and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He, Jesus, exalted at the right hand of the Father, has poured forth this which you see and hear. For David ascended not into the heavens, but he said himself, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies the footstool of your feet. Let all the house of Israel therefore know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified, so that the coming of the Holy Spirit in the history of redemption was the crowning validation of who Jesus was

23:19 and what His present position is. He is the enthroned messianic King who will reign till He has put all His enemies beneath His feet. Now you see that immediately takes the experience of Pentecost out of this attempt to make one to one equivalent in tarrying meetings where people say, Oh look, they tarried, they waited, they got the Holy Ghost, you tarry, you wait and you'll get the Holy Spirit. No, no.

23:43 This is an epical event in the history of redemption. And in that sense, Pentecost is as unrepeatable as Golgotha and Joseph's empty tomb. We do not ask for Christ to be crucified again to enter into the benefits of His death. We don't ask Him to be raised again.

24:01 We don't ask that there be another Pentecost. But the point that I want us to see is though this was a sovereign, divinely planned, gracious, unrepeatable event in redemptive history, it didn't come to a people unprepared or indifferent to the whole context of receiving the outpoured Spirit from the ascended Christ. The Holy Spirit has underscored that the atmosphere was pervasively an atmosphere of prayerfulness. There was a looking to God to do what only God can do.

24:43 There was a looking to God on the basis of what Christ had done and what Christ had promised. And in that setting, the Spirit is given. Now, what's the purpose of all of this with regard to what I'm trying to persuade you about? Simply this.

24:58 While there is no repetition of Pentecost, there has been and there is recorded here in the book of Acts an outflow from Pentecost in which God comes to His people in seasons of gracious outpouring of His presence and His power. Not to repeat Pentecost, but as an extension of the blessings begun at Pentecost and that will continue to the end of the age. Amen. And it can be established as we'll see as we work through a number of the passages in the book of Acts this morning and in the subsequent history of the church that most frequently

25:42 God has come in those gracious visitations of His outpoured Spirit and power in a context of pervasive prayerfulness. I'm not ready to say with some every quote revival has been born in prayer. You'd have to be omniscient to say that. You would have to know as God knows.

26:08 But it is accurate to say that every record that we have of any unusual visitation of God in power almost invariably underscores that God came in power into a setting of pervasive prayerfulness. Now do you see the distinctions? We're not telling God what He can and cannot do or telling other people what God can and cannot do but we are seeking in this whole question of how do we as a church fulfill the purpose of God? That purpose to glorify Him to glorify Him by the appointed means that He has given.

The Church Flourished in a Pervasive Atmosphere of Prayer

26:50 What place does prayer have in all of this? Well surely if we turn to the biblical record and see that the church in her new covenant identity and privilege and power was born in an atmosphere of pervasive prayer then surely God is telling His people something to the end of the age. That leads us secondly then to note that the church is grew and flourished in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer. Not only is the church born in her full new covenant glory in a pervasive prayer

27:35 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.

27:55 The end of chapter 2 after telling us that while Peter is preaching and it is right after pointing to this reality that Pentecost validates who Jesus is and then it hits them. We crucified our Messiah. Manifest. This is the conclusive proof He is Messiah.

28:17 We crucified Messiah. Verse 37 They heard this they were pricked in their hearts and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles Brethren, what shall we do? And Peter answers them points them in the way of repentance and faith and open confession and then says now notice repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. You've seen the gift of the Spirit upon us.

28:46 I told you that what we are doing my friends around me speaking in languages that they did not acquire on their own speaking the mighty works of God they're not drunk. This is what the prophet Joel promised. In the last days I'll pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh and the Spirit has been poured out because Jesus has been exalted David's greater son now sits on David's throne. He has sent forth the Spirit.

29:15 The gift of the Spirit validates that Jesus is who he claimed to be. They're broken in heart they said what shall we do? He said you are called upon to turn away from your Christ killing demeanor and disposition and you are to turn away from your previous perspectives about Jesus and the cross and the shame of the cross and you are implicit in that. You are to believe upon this Christ in such a way that you're willing to be identified with him in this confessor's ordinance and as you do you're going to get what we received.

29:49 You shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. You received the Spirit on the same basis we did. We didn't receive the Spirit because we had a tarrying meeting for ten days and agonized and worked ourselves up to the point where we could babble in something in some kind of ecstatic language. We were just sitting in the room waiting.

30:11 We spent a lot of our time praying and we'd go to the temple but it was the gift of the Spirit given on the basis of what Jesus has done and who Jesus is. And when you embrace what Jesus has done and who Jesus is you will receive the gift of the Spirit. Do you see that in your Bibles? You're looking at me but do you see that in your Bibles?

30:32 And he said furthermore this promise of the gift of the Spirit given to us underscored by our Lord just before he left us now fulfilled in us the promise of the gift of the Spirit to all penitent believing sinners this promise is not exhausted with us nor with you but it's to your children and to all that are far off as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him. Receiving the gift of the Spirit is one of the identifying marks of any believer under the new covenant until the whole role

31:17 of God's elect is complete. Do you see that in your own eyes in your own Bible? Now what happens? Peter quiets them with that but he said my sermon's not done.

31:30 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them saying save yourselves from this crooked generation. Having given what the theologians would call his redemptive historical message his Christological focus he then gives his practical exhortation say if you're going to be identified with Jesus and his people this is what it's going to mean. You're going to save yourselves from this skolios this crooked generation. He preached to them the implications of being identified with Christ.

32:05 He didn't say let's fight while the iron's hot. He said they're all disturbed and hot and bothered about this thing let's not let's not let the psychological moment pass. No, no. No such nonsense with Peter.

32:17 He was faithful to their souls. What happened? Then they that received his word the word that pointed to Christ the word that pointed to the necessity of repentance the word that promised the gift of the Spirit they that received his word were baptized and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls now notice here is that first community that swells in a day from a hundred and twenty to three thousand one hundred and twenty thirty years later Luke is looking back and describing what happened when that new covenant community is being molded and shaped by the apostles who are foundation builders

33:01 in Christ's church. How did they shape that church under God under the guidance of the Spirit what form did it take? Look at verse forty two and they not half of them a third of them a quarter of them but they by and large apart from the few who have apostatized some who have gone to glory by the door of natural death Luke can write they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching they were steadfastly adhering to our teaching apostolic instruction secondly and fellowship koinonia

33:45 shared life they did not simply sit in the same pews and occupy similar space they got involved with one another there was koinonia there was true community and sharing in each other's lives and in the breaking of bread most likely an allusion to the Lord's Supper continually coming back to the Father their the epiphany the animals as they have no birth lost

34:26 God and their ahead their and say I've got everything in Christ and Christ is now at the right hand of the Father he's the sovereign messianic king he'll accomplish his purposes we'll just sit back and watch him no they as it were felt the pressure of that perspective concerning the centrality of prayer among the people of God so that God highlights it as one of the four activities which were the dominant cohesive activities

35:09 of that suddenly expanded church in Jerusalem the church grew and flourished in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer so that if you came among them you would know hey you come among this bunch you don't gather to have your ears tickled with funny little stories and with clever and catchy and interesting anecdotes from the preacher nor you gathered to just get some motivational speech to go do something for Jesus you come and your minds are stretched with apostolic doctrine you're taught more about who Jesus is what he has done the implications of what he has done apostolic doctrine

35:53 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 was manifested in verses 43 and following in this very chapter

36:37 it wasn't the Lord bless you the Lord bless you good to see you hope all things are well I'm praying for you there was real involvement life with life need exposed and met by the body but then they continued in the breaking of bread it was their delight to come to the table at which they remembered the Lord Jesus as he commanded and they found delight in the stated times of prayer and you didn't have some who say well I'm the cerebral type and I'll continue in the appearance of God and I'll continue in the appearance of God and the apostles doctrine but I'm rather reserved and this idea of exposing my life and my insides to others that's just not my cultural baggage so I'll opt out of the coin on me

37:21 but oh I love the Lord's table just me and Jesus now you don't do that they all continued steadfastly in apostles teaching fellowship the breaking of bread and you didn't have those who say well the prayers you know that's for the super duper hyper spiritual ones who've learned how to wrestle I'll cop out of the prayers and I'll just catch on the coattails of the blessing that I'll no they all continued steadfastly there was indeed a pervasive atmosphere of prayer as the church grew and flourished come to chapter 4 now we're going to gather momentum Peter and John go up to one of the stated hours of prayer at the temple the beginning of chapter 3 and they see a lame man and in the name and power of Christ they heal him

38:05 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 him walking and praising God you bet your boots they'd seen him you have somebody come in here through the back doors today down the aisle walking, leaping, praising God he'd get our attention

38:49 well this fellow got their attention and when he's ready to say that these fellows that did this are connected with Jesus that rocks the ecclesiastical boat there in the temple so we read in verse 4 as they spoke unto the people the priest and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them being sore troubled because they caught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead now notice they didn't then have a big healing meeting because this one dude got healed really healed I mean this is really sure enough apostolic miraculous healing and when the people come together they don't say let's have a healing meeting Peter says I've got a crowd here gathered by this fellow being healed I'm going to preach to him and he starts preaching about Jesus

39:33 and about the resurrection he's giving them solid doctrinal expository evangelistic preaching and so they said we've got to quiet these fellows down verse 3 they laid their hands on them put them in ward until the morrow for it was now even tide but many of them that heard the word believed what brought them to faith not this man's ankle bones being straightened out but it was the proclamation of the word and the number of the men came to be about 5,000 so the next day the rulers and elders gathered together and said what are we going to do they're filling Jerusalem with their doctrine but we can't deny something has happened here what are we going to do well they said servants of God give a good answer and we read in verse 13 when they beheld

40:17 the boldness of Peter and John perceived they were unlearned and ignorant men they marveled took knowledge they'd been with Jesus seeing the man healed standing with them they could see nothing against it so they said look we can't deny a miracle's been done this is inclining the hearts of the people to give credibility to these fellows let's just tell them shut up and Peter boldly answers and says no whether it's right in the sight of God to hearken to you rather than to you and man judge you for we cannot but speak the things we've seen and heard and when they had further threatened them they let them go finding nothing that they might punish them because of the people for all men glorified God for that which was done so here's the first open hostility to the church

41:01 and its witness and what do the servants of God do verse 23 and being let go they came to their own company reported all that the chief priest and the elders had said to them and they when they heard it lifted up their voice singular to God with one accord it's interesting not their voice says but their voice with one accord such unanimity why because this was not the first time they'd prayed together you see the whole idea that you can live in an atmosphere not marked by prayerfulness and then a big crisis comes and come together and you're going to pray with one accord no no no

43:48 , no and he's the God who can protect his servants and so they are filled with the spirit and they speak the word of God with boldness what is the climate what is the atmosphere into which this first open decided opposition to the gospel comes it comes in an atmosphere of prayer the people of God are a praying people then Acts chapter 6 we're just trying to demonstrate from some of these passages that the church that was born in the pervasive atmosphere of prayer the churches grew and flourished in that same atmosphere you remember the problem in Acts 6 because they are involved in real koinonia

44:32 widows don't have social security and widows insurance the church in its benevolence is caring for the widows and there's this friction and some of the widows who aren't pure-blooded Jews feel that the pure-blooded Jews are being given preferential treatment and the apostles become aware of this and they say we've got to do something about this verse 2 and the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said it is not fit it is not pleasing it's not right that we should forsake the word of God and serve tables look out among you brethren from among you seven men of good report full of the spirit and of wisdom whom we may appoint over this business but we will

45:16 now here's our code word here's our birth mark word we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word that's the word used to describe what they were doing in that upper room continuing steadfastly in prayer they got the lesson God came to us fulfilling his promise that we would be baptized with the spirit not many days hence in an atmosphere of prayer when we were confronted with opposition we came to our own company and with one accord we lifted up our voices and we prayed it's clear that the blessing that is coming upon us

46:01 and is evident within us is connected with eminent prayerfulness and they heard the hiss of the serpent in this legitimate concern of the friction between these two groups of widows and they said 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 to undermine our commitment to prayer therefore they lay out a proposal to the end not that they would have a lighter workload but that they might give themselves to that which was crucial for the blessing

46:46 of God upon their labors even apostles did not assume there was an automatic continuous supply of the spirit regardless of their prayerfulness God had taught them when you pray I come with a fresh endowment and infilling of my spirit and they want to know the continued blessing of God upon their preaching so they say we will continue steadfastly in prayer now what message did that send to the people sitting in the pew you see what it was saying to them it was saying to them in our life together prayer must never be marginalized prayer must never be regarded as something that's dispensable

47:31 it is as vital to our life as the ministry deepening in the word then you find it again in Acts chapter 8 the spirit of God attends the ministry of Philip there in Samaria and the apostle verse 14 of Acts 8 were in Jerusalem heard Samaria had received the word of God they sent to them Peter and John when they were come down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit for as yet he was fallen upon none of them I don't want to try to unravel all of the questions connected with this passage suffice it to say

48:15 I understand it to be God's visible tangible way of demonstrating the promise of Acts 1 8 you should receive power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you you should be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and all Judea Samaria the uttermost part of the earth the promise of the Spirit to every penitent believing sinner is to you your children all that are far off as many as the Lord shall call and God's going to give in the apostolic age undeniable proof that that is actually so so what happens when the gospel reaches up into Samaria these people are brought to repentance and they're baptized but they're not they're not but there is some indication as the apostles come to witness what God has done

49:00 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 like this here were the apostles what did they do they just come down put their hands on them but then they prayed even though they were conscious of their unique place as apostles

49:44 as foundation builders they do not presume that merely laying their hands and saying alright now it's going to happen they must pray and what do you think they prayed well I think it's obvious from the analogy of scripture oh Lord Jesus you are the baptizer with the spirit holy father you promised that all who embrace your son will receive the gift of the spirit Lord validate it and God does it there God does it in Acts 10 in the household of Cornelius God does it again in Acts 19 way up in Ephesus to make it clear for all ages that in any place anyone who is brought to gospel faith receives the gift of the Holy Spirit

50:29 but the point is it was natural for them to pray not just to assess the situation and then do something in their own strength but to call upon God for his gracious intervention similarly in Acts chapter 10 it's very interesting that when God is going to give us the record as how the gospel makes its way now into a Gentile household this centurion and his household how does God do it well we read in Acts 10 there was in Caesarea a man in Caesarea Cornelius by name a centurion of the band called the Italian band a devout man one that feared God with all his house gave much alms to the people

51:13 and prayed to God always he saw in a vision now what was the context in which God gave him that vision well if you look at verse 30 Cornelius tells us Cornelius said four days ago until this hour I was keeping the ninth hour of prayer in my house and behold a man stood before me in bright apparel Cornelius says it was while I was praying that I had a vision I had an angelic vision someone telling me this is what I'm to do well at the same time Peter's doing something there in Joppa now let's look at verse 9 on the morrow as they were on their journey

51:58 and drew nigh to the city Peter went up to the housetop to pray he went out up to the housetop to pray in about the sixth hour he became hungry and desired to eat but while they made ready he fell into a trance and beheld heaven opened and God is dealing with a gospel preacher as he prays to get him to a man who needs the gospel as he prays so it's no wonder when they're gathered Cornelius says now we are all here before God to hear what God has to say to us through you his servant you see the spirit of God didn't have to underscore these little details but he's done it to show us as the work of the gospel goes forward out of Jerusalem further into Judea Samaria

52:42 now as it's moving up into Gentile territory the climate in which this is happening is one marked by pervasive prayerfulness the churches grew and flourished in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer and then we could see the same in the Acts 12 passage but in the interest of time Peter's in prison James has been beheaded Herod said man this pleases the Jews if one pleases them two will please them more but what does the scripture tell us while Peter's in prayer if Peter's in prison it says let's look at it briefly Acts chapter 12 verse 5 Peter therefore was kept in the prison but prayer was made earnestly of the church

53:26 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 covenanters in Scotland a phrase I'll never forget

54:10 talked about prelates rage the rage of the Roman church chase them up to heaven so apparently Peter went to sleep that night saying well Lord in the morning they're going to chase me up to heaven Lord help me to sleep well then I'll wake up looking on the face of Jesus but it's in that context you see of their praying now would Peter have been delivered if they hadn't prayed I don't know but all I know is the God who gives us the account that he was delivered gives a very clear account that the church was praying the church was praying and this marks their life you go into Acts 13 when does the gospel take its new thrust into the uttermost part of the earth there's a group of leaders ministering to the Lord and fasting and that word ministering to the Lord

54:54 most likely refers to a season of extended prayer among the leaders and the spirit of God God says separate this one and that one and it says that when they prayed with fasting they then sent them forth you see God is telling us that the churches grow and flourish in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer now this is just a sampling then we could move into the third category the churches are exhorted to maintain a pervasive atmosphere of prayer and in the interest of time I'm going to have to just quickly give you these texts in that section of Romans that is dense with practical application Romans 12 to 16 there's verse 3

The Churches Exhorted to Maintain a Pervasive Atmosphere of Prayer

55:39 of Romans 12 he starts to describe the church functioning as a body with differing gifts and then the church ministering to itself and in the middle of all of that the apostle says in Romans chapter 12 these very critical words to this very strategic church that he hoped would be his new launching pad into gospel endeavors up in the world in Spain verse 12 rejoicing in hope patient in tribulation here's our birthmark verb again continuing steadfastly in prayer Acts 1 14 these all continued steadfastly in prayer Acts 2 42

56:23 they continued steadfastly in the prayers here we have it again he says this is to mark your life together continue steadfast in prayer prayer is to be an integral non-flagging dimension of your life together and then in that marvelous epistle of the Ephesians Paul after taking us up into the heavenlies and showing all that we have in Christ and then begins to delineate the implications of living a life in union with Christ in a wicked world he comes to his final exhortation in chapter 6 in verse 10 finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and then he lays out

57:08 the full armor of God and the capstone on all that armor is verse 18 with all prayer and supplication for all the saints and then he says for me also with all prayer Colossians 4 2 and 3 similar emphasis here's our word again Colossians chapter 4 writing to this church where he's had to correct some errors the infills the filtration of pagan philosophy demonstrating that we have all in Christ and all is in Christ verse 2 of chapter 4 here's our word continue steadfastly in prayer there it is again shows up with another church continue steadfastly in prayer watching therein

57:52 with thanksgiving 1 Thessalonians 5 16 and 17 pray without ceasing Jude verse 20 in the light of the pressure of false teachers what are you doing to do in that marvelous text verse 20 there's a central duty only one imperative and it's surrounded by three participles the imperative is that they are to keep themselves in the love of God and the means by which they do this are building themselves up on their most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit and looking for the return of the Lord Jesus but then the capstone passage is 1 Peter chapter 2

58:35 just to fly over again brethren to demonstrate that the churches are exhorted to maintain a pervasive atmosphere of prayer Paul has indicated to Timothy one of the major purposes for which he left him at Ephesus to deal with these men who are teaching false doctrine chapter 1 verse 3 and after completing that exhortation he now begins specific directives concerning behavior in the house of God and he says the first directive I give in this category of concern is this I exhort therefore first of all that supplications prayers intercessions thanksgiving be made for all men for kings those in high places

59:19 and he opens up something of the heart and purpose of God in saving design and will and as a capstone of that he says in verse 8 I desire therefore that the men pray in every place lifting up holy hands without wrath and without doubting or disputing I will that in every place there be an atmosphere marked by prayerfulness well that's a very quick flyover but I hope it's accomplished something I hope it's brought you to a new persuasion and for some perhaps a first time persuasion

The Spiritual Temperature of a Church and the Nerve of Prayerfulness

60:03 that we can no more think biblically about the church without thinking of Christ whose church it is Christ whose redemptive work lies at the foundation of all that the church possesses we should not think of the word church with any biblical connotation without thinking of a pervasive atmosphere of prayer here is but a sampling of the biblical witness to this fact the church was born in a pervasive atmosphere of prayer the churches grew and flourished in that atmosphere the churches were exhorted to maintain it God willing next week we're going to look at the truths which were believed which produced

60:46 this tenacity in prayer you see to continue steadfastly in prayer is the result of a deep present conviction about several foundational biblical truths and I want us to isolate those and then I want to soberly exhort you that if you allow yourself to allow those truths to slip from the realm of presently held visceral convictions you're cutting the nerve of prayerfulness prayerlessness does not just descend upon us like a cloud it comes when certain truths are relinquished in their visceral grip upon the hearts of God's people and we'll deal with that next week but as I close this morning

61:31 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

62:14 that would be the most accurate reflection of its spiritual temperature visit a prayer meeting see how many of the membership are present and you know what place they give to prayer listen to the prayers are they lifeless perfunctory ritualistic or is there something of the fire of earnestness pleading with God pressing the promises of God dear people long before this prayer would preach heresy the death of this assembly in days to come the source of that death will be found in this whole area of what happens

62:58 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

Prayer as the Language of the Adopted

63:43 non-praying individuals into praying individuals you know one of the marks of an unconverted person David identifies it in Psalm 14 verse 4 he said they call not upon God he says the wicked who call not upon God I can stand here this morning without claiming any inspiration and say that I can describe every unconverted person sitting in this room this morning you don't call upon God you may mouth a little now I lay me down to sleep prayer to salve your conscience but you're not calling upon God you're not engaging God because your carnal mind

64:28 is enmity towards God it is not subject to the law of God you don't feel your need of God if you do not call upon God it's one of the badges of a wicked man or woman that's why when God is sending Ananias to go minister to Saul of Tarsus what does he say? he said behold he what? he's praying he's praying Saul the Pharisee is Saul the prayer Ananias don't be afraid he's praying he's praying and you see that's because of the truth of Galatians chapter 4 when embracing the Lord Jesus in a spirit wrought faith suffused with repentance

65:11 we are given the status of sons we are not only justified declared righteous sins forgiven declared righteous the day of judgment as it were is brought forward and in our case it has come and gone we are justified declared righteous but we are also adopted as sons and daughters that's a legal transaction on the basis of the work of Christ we are adopted but then God says it's not enough that I give you the legal status I want to give you the disposition and the likeness of sons so Paul says in the fullness of time God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law that he might redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons and because you are sons he has sent forth the spirit of his son

65:56 into our hearts whereby we cry Abba Father you see prayer is the language of the adopted spirit indwelt man or woman boy or girl that's why some of you don't pray because you don't have the spirit and you don't have the spirit because you're an unbeliever you haven't gone to Christ in Christ the gift of the spirit is given in Christ adoption justification every blessing is in Christ and some of you who by the grace of God and his common mercy and good parental control are not you're not living wild profligate openly immoral lives thank God for that but you don't pray

66:39 what a horrible thing you don't pray oh yes you say some prayers but you don't pray you don't engage God in thankfulness and praise and supplication crying out for help to deal with the sins of your heart and the temptations and praying for wisdom and grace and all the things you need no that's the mark of your unconverted state you don't pray well you see when a church begins to incorporate unconverted people into its membership you're not going to have a climate marked by pervasive prayerfulness you see that but when the spirit of adoption dwells in those who gather that spirit of adoption gives them liberty

67:23 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 conviction of the centrality of prayer in the purpose of God for this church and for any church that would be

Closing Prayer

68:08 a biblical church let's pray together our Father what a privilege to call you our Father who art in heaven many of us are ashamed that we lived so many prayerless years we marvel that you didn't strike us dead when we mouthed words of prayer but did not pray when we sought to salve our consciences by something that we called prayer oh Lord we thank you for your patience we thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit

68:52 we thank you that he enables us to cry Abba Father we plead with you this morning that you would take the things we have considered together and write them indelibly upon our hearts as a congregation of your people that we may not slack off in our commitment to pray oh Lord may we not be a people who talk about praying praying but who pray give us grace oh Lord help us we pray for those who do not pray that your word would be the instrument that brings them to own their wretched state and may they run to Christ and find in him

69:36 all that you have promised to every sinner who trusts in Jesus seal then your word and dismiss us with the blessing of your grace resting upon us we ask in Jesus name Amen