Corporate Prayer as a Means of Grace (5)

Introduction: The Desire for Growth and the Means of Grace

0:02 The following message was delivered on Sunday morning, April 24, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:14 Before we turn to a portion of the Word of God that will be included in the exposition this morning, encouraged by the number of you who have said that you have found it helpful to engage in your little family Lord's Day afternoon exercise, of hunt and seek, for the simple signpost that will be preached in the evening. Tonight's signpost is found somewhere in Matthew 24, between verses 29 and 51. The latter part of the chapter, verses 29 to 51, the signpost that we will consider tonight is tucked away in that portion of the Word of God. Now. Now, will you turn with me, please, to 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3, and follow as I read the first four verses. Paul's second letter to the relatively young, but very quickly experienced in persecution, this church at Thessalonica, Paul writes, saying, Finally, brethren,

1:34 Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as also it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men, for all have not faith. But the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that you both do. Do and will do the things which we command.

2:09 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. Now I want to ask two very simple questions to all of those seated here this morning who believe that they are children of God and committed to the church of Christ. Christ. Christ.

2:35 Christ. Christ. Christ. Christ.

2:36 Christ. Christ. Christ. Christ.

2:36 Christ. Christ. The first question is, do you really desire to be obedient to the command to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Do you really desire to be obedient to that command given to us through the pen of the Apostle Peter to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior?

3:06 Do you really desire to be obedient to that command given to us through the pen of the Apostle Peter to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Question number two. Do you truly desire to see this body of believers, in the language of Ephesians 4, from the pen of the Apostle Paul, growing up in all things as a body, growing up in all things into Christ? Do you really desire to see that?

3:36 Do you really desire to see that wrought among us as a congregation of God's people? Well, if you can answer an honest yes to these two questions, one focusing upon your own personal individual growth in grace, and the other upon our corporate growth as a body of Christ, then you must be settled in your conviction that there is no God but Jesus Christ. Then you must be settled in your conviction that there is no God but Jesus Christ. There are no effective substitutes for the God-appointed means of grace in living the Christian life, that is, in growing individually or corporately according to the directive of Holy Scripture. Establishing, illustrating, and applying this very basic principle with the witness of the Word of God has been our task for some time.

The Mandate for Corporate Prayer: Supporting Texts

4:37 In our Lord's Day morning ministry of the Scriptures, and our attempts to establish that principle that there are no effective substitutes for the God-appointed means of grace has been an endeavor that is part of the larger concern of maintaining in this place a balanced doctrine of the Christian life. Now, in the pursuit of establishing this very crucial, crucial principle, we've examined what are the major God-appointed private or personal or individual means of grace, and then have turned our attention to the corporate or to the public means of grace, using Acts chapter 2 and verse 42 as our framework for both identifying and embracing, amplifying the four major public or corporate means of grace as experienced by the church in Jerusalem. For it is said of that company of God's people that they all continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, that is, the assimilation of the Word of God.

6:00 They continued steadfastly in the fellowship, that is, with the manifold involvement, with the people of God. It is said also they continued steadfastly in the breaking of the bread, that is, in continual remembrance of the Son of God in the way of His appointment at His table, and in the prayers, that is, they were marked by continual dependence upon the power and blessing of God, which they expected would only come in answer, to prayer. And in opening up this fourth corporate means of grace, namely that of corporate prayer, the united prayer of the church, I set before you from Matthew 18, verses 19 and 20, that unique promise of our Lord with respect to the corporate prayers of the church. I say unique, for I know of no other promise in the Word of God, that gives to us in such plain language God's intention to bless with unusual measures of blessing the united prayers of His people.

7:19 If two of you shall agree on earth is touching what they ask, it shall be done of my Father. We then proceeded to examine the manifold mandate of Scripture concerning the duty of corporate prayer. The promise entices us, and the duty should impel us to this discipline of corporate prayer. And the most crucial text, to my understanding in the New Testament, is 1 Timothy 2, 1-8, and we sought to open up the broad lines of duty with respect to corporate prayer as outlined in that passage.

8:04 Then last Lord's Day, we began to consider, we began to consider some supporting text which pointed in the direction of the duty of corporate prayer. And we had time only to consider Romans 15, 30-32, and Philippians chapter 1 and verse 19. Now today, what I'm going to do is that which would be likened to a kind of homiletical patchwork quilt. I'm going to direct your attention.

8:37 I'm going to direct your attention to one final supporting text that points to the duty of corporate prayer. And then we're going to do a very quick specimen overview of some pivotal passages in the book of Acts that demonstrate the pattern of corporate prayer in the Jerusalem church. And then we will conclude by considering some very practical applications and implications, of the truths we have considered under this heading of continuing steadfastly in the prayers. And with that, we will be done with this element of the teaching on the fact that there are no effective substitutes for the God-appointed means of grace in living the Christian life. First of all then, having looked at Romans 15 and Philippians 1, as supportive texts, underscoring the duty of corporate prayer, I would ask you to turn to the passage read in your hearing, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. If we look upon 1 Timothy 2, 1 to 8, as a large granite block,

9:57 on which the duty of corporate prayer rests, then these three passages are like blocks of lesser size, but they are placed on top of each other. They are placed under that large block as supportive texts, underscoring the duty that is ours as the people of God. Here in this second letter, Paul, as he is drawing the letter to a close, indicates in verses 13 and 14 of chapter 2, that he is thankful to God for all of the indications that they have been the recipients of God's saving mercy. And that they will receive the full supply of that mercy, and obtain the very glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in the last day. Based upon that confidence that God has begun a good work in them, he exhorts them in verse 15 of chapter 2, to stand fast, to hold the apostolic traditions. That is, to continue steadily, steadfastly in the apostles' teaching. That's just another way of stating what is described in Acts 2.42.

Exposition of 2 Thessalonians 3:1-4: Command, Concerns, and Confidence

11:15 To hold fast to the apostolic tradition, is to hold fast to the truth which God revealed to the apostles. And then in verses 16 and 17, he commends them to the Lord Jesus and to God the Father, that he will establish them in the ways and in the work of God. Now in chapter 3, he begins by saying, finally, he begins by saying, as for the rest, and then the rest is basically comprised of two specific directives. Verses 6 through verse 15 are a directive with regard to the church exercising discipline, upon the disorderly among them. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walks disorderly. And all the way through down to verse 15, he is dealing with that subject. Count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

12:30 And then he concludes the letter with apostolic blessing upon the people of God. But the second area, first in order, but the second in trying to give you a feel for Paul's finally, or as for the rest, is a very clear commandment with respect to the subject of corporate prayer. Notice, finally, brethren, or as for the rest, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as it also is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men. For all have not faith, but the Lord is faithful who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you both do and will do the things which we command. Well, notice first in this passage the command issued. Finally, my brethren, with a present imperative of the verb to pray, Paul commands the congregation to constantly engage in prayer.

13:52 It is a command directed not to the elders, but to the brethren. And that he is thinking of the brethren in their corporate life is very clear from the context. For notice verse 6, the very strict parallel. Now we command you, brethren.

14:13 He is thinking of the brethren in their corporate life exercising discipline upon the disorderly, and unless there is some compelling reason to atomize and to individualize this passage in this setting, we must regard the command as being issued fundamentally and primarily to the congregation. It is a present imperative to engage in prayer, and it is addressed to the brethren. And then notice, having underscored the command issued, the concerns identified. What are the concerns that Paul has in view when he commands them to pray? The concerns are basically two. It is that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, and that we, Paul and his companions, may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men. He commands them to pray for the success of the preaching of the word.

15:25 The imagery that the word may run and be glorified and be crowned with glory is Paul's way of saying that the word of God will have a free entrance into the hearts of men, that it may be believed and obeyed and transform men's lives. For he says, in asking you, in commanding you to pray for us, that the word may run and be glorified, notice what the standard is that Paul has in mind. Even as also it is with you. Well, how did the word run and get glorified among the Thessalonians? Well, just read the first letter. He said, our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word of God, in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost.

16:32 And you became examples. From you sounded out the word of the Lord. Chapter 2 and verse 13 of the first letter, he says, God be thanked that when you received the word of God from us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually works in those that believe. So when he commands them, brethren, pray for us.

16:57 The first concern identified is the success of the preaching of the word. Pray for us that that word may run and be glorified that what it has done and is continuing to do in you Thessalonians, it will do wherever we go that we will see the conquest of the word of God. And furthermore, his concern focuses upon the need that the servants of God be protected and delivered from evil and unbelieving men. Not only do I command you to pray that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified, even as it is with you, but also that we may be delivered from unreasonable and evil men, for all have not faith. The root of their unreasonableness and evil disposition is their foul unbelief. They do not embrace the word that we bring, and in opposing that word, that opposition, as we saw in the study concerning Stephen, focuses upon those who minister that word. Men can't get their hands on God and on his Son, they take the next best thing,

18:27 his servants, who speak his word, in his name and in his authority. And that's why Jesus said, if they've hated me, they'll hate you. That's why Jesus said, the time will come when there are those who think they do God's service, when they will kill you. And so the apostle is a realist, and he is not just merely beseeching, but in this context is commanding the church, to pray not only for the success of the word of God, but the protection and deliverance of the preachers of the word from those who would oppose them.

19:08 And then notice thirdly in the passage the confidence expressed. The command issued, pray for us. The concerns identified, the success of the word, the protection and deliverance of the servants of God who preach the word, and now the confidence expressed. Verse three, but the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and guard you from the evil one.

19:37 He has a confidence that God's grace will continue to be sufficient towards the Thessalonians, but he has a secondary of confidence, and we have confidence in the Lord that you both do, and will do, now notice, the things which we command. Now in the context, what things have been and are about to be commanded? Well he has just issued a command, pray for us. He's about to issue a command, withdraw yourselves from every disorderly brother.

20:22 And he says we have confidence in the Lord that your relationship to Christ is such, and that the working of God in your midst is such, that as you are presently obeying the word of God through us, his apostles, you will continue to be obedient to those directives. That meant, Paul was expressing confidence in the grace and power of Christ among the Thessalonians, that they would not only be willing as soon as it was expedient under the direction of those who were over them in the Lord, 1 Thessalonians 5, 12 and following, this church was established with definable leadership, for Paul said, know them that are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. He had confidence that they would be willing to implement the very distasteful task of corporate discipline upon the disorderly. He was confident they were not a bunch of mushy sentimentalists, that they would be willing with heavy hearts, with broken hearts, with grieved hearts, but with hearts that loved Christ more than their own feelings,

21:47 and hearts that were more loyal to Christ than their buddies in the church, that they were prepared to implement the directives of verses 6 to 15. But surely, having just commanded them to pray, what he's saying is, I have confidence that as you have had us in your hearts and have prayed for us, now that I have framed that duty and privilege in the form of an apostolic commandment, that you, as a people, will do the things which we command. He was confident that his command, brethren, pray for us. Now surely he is not saying it would be wrong for them in their private places of prayer, in their family seasons of prayer, to pray for him, but I say in its setting, in its context, in the manner in which this letter would have originally come to the Thessalonians, they would have regarded this as a directive to them, as a corporate body of Christ, as a congregation to engage in prayer for the Apostle and his companions. So in summary we say, Paul assumes that an integral part of the life and activity of the Thessalonian church

23:12 is that of their discipline of corporate prayer. He is confident that they will intensify that engagement in prayer for him and his companions even as he expresses it in this passage. And furthermore, as with the Romans 15 passage, he directs their prayers once more to the great concerns of the triumphs of the gospel, the deliverance of the servants of God from all evil opposition that would impede the progress of the gospel. No doubt there were many concerns upon the Apostle's heart, but when he gives commandments for the churches to pray, again and again the focal point of those prayers are the very issues that he underscores in 1 Timothy 2, 1 to 8. The great concerns of the progress and success of the gospel, even including the prayers for kings and rulers and those in authority, to the end that a climate conducive to gospel progress may be maintained in the areas where God has planted those churches. Now to these three texts, for at the mouth of two or three witnesses

24:39 every word shall be established. To Romans 15, Philippians 1, and 2 Thessalonians 3 could be added 1 Thessalonians 5, 25, Philemon verse 22, Hebrews 13 and verse 18, and several other texts, but I'm leaving you with these three convinced that these do not persuade you that the corporate prayer of the people of God is indeed a duty, a duty encouraged by the unique promise of Christ, a promise that ought to draw us to that duty with delight, but even when our hearts fail to respond as they ought with delight in the face of the gracious promise, our duty is nonetheless clear, and the mark of true love to Christ according to his own words is that he that loves me keeps my commandments. Now then, having completed that first bit of the patchwork quilt of this morning, we move secondly to a brief specimen survey of the place of corporate prayer in the church of Jerusalem. If our understanding of this emphasis is right, then surely we should expect the church that comes to birth under the watch care and under the spiritual tutelage of the apostles,

Specimen Survey: Corporate Prayer in the Jerusalem Church (Acts 1)

26:07 those great foundation builders of the church, we should expect that corporate prayer will have a dominant, undeniable place of great importance in the life of that church. And we are not disappointed. And we're going to take just a specimen survey, this is not an exhaustive survey, a specimen survey of the place of corporate prayer in the church at Jerusalem. And the great significance of focusing upon the church at Jerusalem is that it was there in the Jerusalem church that the apostles were exercising their corporate molding influence in a concentrated form and the attention focuses there in these early chapters of the book of Acts. Turn please now with me as we go quickly through four specimen passages in the book of Acts, all of them having reference to the people of God at Jerusalem. The first is Acts chapter 1, verses 12 through 14. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is nigh unto Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey off.

27:31 And when they were come in, they went up into the upper chamber where they were abiding, both Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. Now the context of these activities I'm sure is familiar to some of you, but we have those relevant and relatively new to the basic contents of their Bibles. Let me sketch them in very quickly. Our Lord had had 40 days of post-resurrection appearance and ministry to his disciples. Somewhere in there he appeared to a group of 500 brethren gathered at once, according to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

28:39 This ministry was climaxed in the command that they not go forth and fulfill his commission to make disciples of all the nations, but that they wait at Jerusalem. The old King James tarry at Jerusalem, which has been the basis of so-called tarrying meetings. The word simply means stay in Jerusalem, stay put in Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high. And according to Luke's account at the end of his gospel record, they spent much of their time in Jerusalem in the temple in the exercise of praise and adoration.

29:22 Verse 52 and 3 of Luke 24. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God. At the end of the 40 days their Lord ascends up into heaven. After his ascension Luke says that they were continually in the temple blessing God.

29:44 As a group they were in the temple giving praise and adoration and thanksgiving to God for all that had been accomplished in the person and work of their Redeemer. They have a much clearer perception of that work. Now that he has instructed them, they have confidence that he'll fulfill his word of promise that the Spirit of God would be poured forth upon them. But according to the same writer, Luke, they were not only engaged in worship and adoration and praise at the temple, their time was also spent in another place, in another very focused, concentrated activity.

30:28 Verse 13. When they came back to Jerusalem they went into the upper chamber where they were abiding. Where it was, who owned it, how big it was, we simply do not know. But it was big enough to hold the eleven and subsequently a twelve for we read of his election and also some of these women.

30:51 And when we read in verse 15, and in these days Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren and they are numbered at a hundred and twenty, it may be that that was the same room, it may be on this occasion there was a different place and it's a matter that's an open-ended discussion. But this much is clear. And this is the point that I want to drive home. There is no indication in the biblical record that Jesus commanded them during that time of staying put in Jerusalem either to be found in the temple blessing, God, or in this place called an upper chamber continuing steadfastly in prayer. There is no indication. Now the Lord may have, it may not be, may be part of the unwritten revelation of his will that he gave. Not everything that Jesus said is recorded.

31:49 But it is recorded that they were continuing steadfastly in prayer. The same language used in Acts 2.42. After the three thousand are added, these all continued steadfastly, same language, not only in the apostle's teaching, fellowship, baking of bread, but in the prayer.

32:15 Now what's the point? The point is this, that though there was no arm twisting, no concept of a carrying meeting in which people can overcome a reluctant God by their going on for hours begging God for the gift of the Spirit, all such notions should be purged from our minds. Yet they did not expect the promised coming of the Holy Spirit in the way of the expectation of a hyper-Calvinist who despises the use of means. The very thing that was promised was no doubt the focal point of their prayers.

33:00 And as they prayed and waited upon God and reminded him of his own promise, that very exercise of corporate prayer was the divinely ordained means to prepare them for the reception of the promised blessing. And it's interesting that of all the things that could be highlighted about what they did from the time their Lord ascended and the Spirit descended, Luke focuses only upon one here in the book of Acts, and that is they continued steadfastly in prayer. That's the activity which is highlighted in the book of Acts. The end of the Gospel record he highlights their presence in the temple blessing God. It should not surprise us then that when we turn to Acts 2 in verse 42, a passage to which we've made reference numerous times in recent months, that the three thousand who are converted on that day of Pentecost when the Spirit did come upon them, came to take up His dwelling in His new covenant living temple, and they are constituted the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the Lord by His mighty power

Specimen Survey: Corporate Prayer in the Jerusalem Church (Acts 2 & 4)

34:29 adds three thousand to them, the description of the dominant activities of that church includes the very activity which marked them prior to the coming of the Spirit. They were continuing steadfastly in one accord in prayer. Now we read they continued steadfastly in the prayers, and notice the climate, verse 44, and all that believed were together and had all things common. There was this same disposition of one accord, of intimate, warm, personal, spirit-wrought unity of heart and of mind and of interpersonal relationships among the people of God. Whatever God did to those three thousand to open their eyes to their horrible criminal act of being involved in the very crucifixion of the Son of God, whatever God did in showing them that this very Christ for whose blood they cried was God's anointed and officially installed Messiah, for Peter said he being exalted by the right hand of God has shed forth this which you now see and hear. Whatever they understood the word repent to mean when they cried out what shall we do

35:57 and Peter said repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus unto the remission of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Spirit. Whatever they understood repentance to mean, whatever they experienced of repentance, whatever remission of sin meant and the gift of the Spirit produced, this much is clear. Their conversion made them a vital part of a praying community of disciples. That much is clear.

36:30 Their conversion incorporated them into a group of disciples to whom corporate prayer was not strange, to whom corporate united steadfastness in prayer was not foreign. What they were engaging in prior to Pentecost became one of the dominant marks of their corporate life subsequent to Pentecost. Surely we must see in this that Luke is setting before us a dominant feature of the life of the church, in its freshness of spiritual power and of grace. It has always been so to say in truth of any church that it is a praying church is either to describe wholesale hypocrisy or to describe a church alive with the presence of God and the power of the Spirit, even the Spirit who is designated as the Spirit of grace and of supplication. And where a body of God's people are full of the Spirit, He is present as the Spirit not only of grace but of supplication who puts in their hearts a yearning not only to cry to God in secret but as a company of His people

37:56 to continue steadfastly in the prayers. And then in Acts chapter 4 the third passage, we'll only touch upon it briefly, since Dr. Bob expounded this some weeks ago in the adult class. You remember two of the apostles are opposed by the official religious leaders in Jerusalem.

38:20 They are threatened. They are told not to speak of Christ or to teach in His name, verse 18 of chapter 4. And then they let them go. And what did they do?

38:32 Verse 23. And being let go they came to their own company, either a reference to the believers, the company of the church, or to the apostolate, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And they, when they heard it, lifted up their voices to one another saying, Enough is enough! They put our Lord to death.

39:00 Now they're threatening us. We're going to send an envoy to Rome and we're going to see that we can put a stop to this issue. We're going to form a power block that's going to bring pressure to bear upon the Roman Senate. This stuff has got to stop.

39:17 No. They didn't start forming a political movement to vindicate their Christian rights in Jerusalem. It says they lifted up their voice to God with one accord. They prayed.

39:33 And they prayed not as individuals. Peter and John did not go back to their own closet to pray. They came to their company. They came to the people of God.

39:44 They laid out their case and with one accord, with one heart, as a people believing that the God of heaven had a hand over the hearts of even the blinded, wicked members of the Sanhedrin, they cry to God. And God hears their cry. And God answers them by a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. A fresh indument of power to speak the word of God with boldness.

40:13 Verse 31. This is what God did in answer to their prayers. But now the significant thing is this. Luke does not record this as though it were some strange thing that they did.

40:27 There was a kind of spiritual instinct among them that if something has happened that threatens the ongoing growth and stability of the church, then the church ought to be apprised of it and the church ought to cry to the God who sits in the heavens in the person of his Son and laughs at all the attempts of the nations to oppose his rule and his government. They quote from Psalm 2 as you have been apprised in your study of the passage. Here you see there are no political power tactics there is no scheming there is no attempt to sit down at an ecumenical table and come to some agreement of common ground. No, they engage in corporate prayer that God will make them yet more bold and that God will attest the validity of the message by the unique signs and wonders given to the apostles and God answered that prayer. And then the final specimen passage is over in Acts chapter 12. Remember what we are trying to do is to show the prominence of corporate prayer in the life of the Jerusalem church as we are given information about that church.

Specimen Survey: Corporate Prayer in the Jerusalem Church (Acts 12)

41:49 Chapter 12 Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hand to afflict certain of the church. He began by what we would call milder forms of prayer or selective persecution. Herod this wicked unprincipled man now ruler over all of that area he wants to curry the favor of the Jews and so he selectively picks on certain ones of the church and in pursuit of that goal of ingratiating himself more to the Jews to promote his own political ambitions he killed James the brother of John with the sword. He is afflicting certain but he kills James. Then he gets his pollsters to go out in the streets and find out what his present popularity rating is. And he finds out it has gone up fifteen percent.

42:57 Once the Jews have heard that he killed James he said, Aha! If one sends me up fifteen percent maybe two will send me up thirty percent. So verse three when he saw that it pleased the Jews he proceeded to seize Peter also. And those were the days of unleavened bread and when he had taken him he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him.

43:24 That is four groups of soldiers each one would take a watch of six hours so that Peter was guarded by Roman soldiers twenty-four hours a day intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people. With what view? Well with the view to having him killed as well. So that they'll cry out for his blood and that he'll be able to put him to death even as our Lord had been put to death.

43:51 Peter therefore was kept in the prison but now notice that prayer was made earnestly of the church unto God for him. What did the church do? The church gave itself to prayer. But it didn't give itself to mere perfunctory prayer it was earnest prayer.

44:20 The very word used in the Old Testament translation of the translation of the Old Testament to Greek it's the very word used of what the people of Nineveh were commanded to do in Jonah 3 and verse 8 when they are told forty days in Nineveh shall be overthrown and the decree goes out from the king down to the smallest child that they are to repent and earnestly seek God. This was not playing at prayer. This was the church wrestling, grappling with God in prayer on behalf of Peter. Very simple but instructive language.

45:01 It doesn't say prayers were said. One's skin crawls when people say say a prayer. It's the prayer wheel concept. No, they were having true dealings with God.

45:14 Prayer was made unto God and it was earnest prayer and it was very pointed and specific prayer. It was concerning Peter. Now, were they praying Lord? When crunch time was on back in the days of our Lord's crucifixion he denied you Lord give him boldness to be faithful unto death.

45:37 You see when people say they were dumbfounded that their prayer was answered when Peter appeared how do you know they were praying for his release? It doesn't say that in the text. It says they were praying for him. Maybe the focus of their prayers was this Lord as James was faithful unto death and now receives the crown of life give your servant Peter to be faithful unto death.

46:02 Or perhaps they prayed oh God you have given to Peter a strategic place of leadership among us. You have made known your will that he would have a unique function in the ongoing progress of the gospel. Oh Lord for the sake of your gospel spare Peter keep him faithful and oh Lord deliver him by your mighty power if in so doing you can glorify yourself nevertheless not our will but yours be done. Maybe that was their prayer as well.

46:34 We don't know but this much is clear. When their primary leader is cast into prison they don't form a commando party and figure out a scheme to bust him loose. Nor do they form a political pressure party to bring pressure to bear upon the Roman government. They go to their faces as a church.

47:01 Well you say how do you know there was any corporate prayer? Maybe it just means the individual members. Well if you look down at verse 12 you'll know that at least large segments of the church were gathering in a corporate way. Verse 12 After the details of Peter's deliverance we read when he had considered the thing he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark where many were gathered together and were praying.

47:37 The tenses of the verbs in the original description verse 5 indicates that prayer was not only made earnestly it was a continuance. They were being continually engaged in prayer to God earnestly for Him. And when Peter is released and comes to the house of Mary we don't know how many were there and whether there were cell prayer meetings in other parts of Jerusalem but the Holy Ghost has underscored that at least a great segment or segments of the church corporately were praying for Peter. Now what do we say in the light of this specimen overview of the place of corporate prayer in the Jerusalem church? Acts 1, 13 and 14 they're engaging steadfastly in prayer with one accord prior to Pentecost. The Spirit comes three thousand are added and one of the dominant marks of their corporate life is they continued steadfastly in the prayers.

48:49 When they face their first crisis of opposition they pray corporately and God hears and answers their cry. When they face the possible death of one of their prominent leaders they gather corporately and they cry to God. What does this show us? If nothing else it shows us that a church nurtured by apostolic guidance and apostolic exhortation and apostolic direction is a church where corporate prayer will be a dominant aspect of the life of that congregation.

49:30 Am I saying that a midweek prayer meeting on Wednesday must be a part no. Am I saying that a weekly gathering specifically for prayer must be a part no. I could not from scripture establish that our pattern of having a specific evening for prayer Wednesday nights is the law of God. I would be going beyond the scriptures.

49:58 There may be situations where God's people could not meet between Lord's days for corporate prayer. There may be situations where it would be impossible to have some stated time or place where the whole church could gather. I'm not equating what I've sought to teach with our specific application of the principles in terms of a Wednesday night prayer meeting as part of our weekly cycle of gathering and a once a month Saturday morning optional prayer meeting as part of our life together. I am not saying that what I am saying is this that if we take seriously the promise of our Lord Jesus that special unique promise given to corporate prayer if we take seriously the manifold apostolic directives for corporate prayer if we take seriously the example of a church in the freshness and flush of its spiritual life and vigor and power as described there in Jerusalem surely we can say any church that is following the biblical pattern will in its corporate life find corporate prayer as a dominant element of that life. Wherever it fits in however it fits in and here there is beautiful adaptability of the new covenant

51:26 revelation of God's will for His people adapted to all cultures and all ethnicities ethnic and sociological situations but if any church claims to be biblical surely corporate prayer will have a dominant place in its life. Now having gone through that second part of the patchwork quilt this morning that specimen consideration of the church in Jerusalem excuse me I now conclude with some very practical applications and observations. First of all consider with me an inescapable conclusion an inescapable conclusion in the light of the biblical materials we've considered there is an inescapable conclusion and it is this any professing Christian church of any name in any place which says it's regulating its corporate life by the scriptures that does not engage in regular and occasional seasons of corporate prayer that church is a church in a state of partial disobedience or temporary spiritual deadness surely we can say that much if a church of any name professing to be subject

Inescapable Conclusion: The Danger of Prayerlessness

52:55 to the word of God does not have as an integral part of its corporate life regular and occasional seasons of corporate prayer such a church is in a state of partial disobedience or temporary spiritual deadness as much as continuing steadfastly in the apostles teaching that is the centrality of the teaching and preaching of the word of God is the mark of a healthy church so another indispensable mark of a healthy church is continuing steadfastly in the prayers and may I say that the loss of spiritual life and partial disobedience of a congregation is generally seen first in respect to prayer long before it shows up in a relinquishment of the primacy of preaching generally speaking that's the pattern if you market a church that does not continue steadfastly in prayer it won't belong before it does not continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine prayerlessness is the harbinger of indifference to preaching and indifference to preaching is the harbinger of deflection from the truth

54:22 and the open door into heresy and I plead I beg in Christ's name the rising generation in this church guard with a holy jealousy the sacred appointed seasons for corporate prayer for when it ceases to be said in truth of Trinity Church they continue steadfastly in the prayers then it's only a matter of time unless God steps in and arrests that partial disobedience and that temporary deadness it'll only be a matter of time before the other three corporate means of grace will go down the tubes prayer having pulled the others down or prayerlessness having pulled the others down if the Lord delays His coming fifty years from now this is nothing but a place where people come to feel good for an hour on Sunday morning anyone who was around to track the declension will be able to pinpoint it in the area of corporate prayer God have mercy on us to lay to heart this issue then secondly consider with me not only an inescapable conclusion but a searching observation

Searching Observation: Condemnation of Prayer-Averse Ministry

55:50 in the light of this material a searching observation and it is this any concept of the work of God in and through the church which renders corporate prayer unnecessary or an irritating burden stands under the control and condemnation of God any concept of the work of God in and through the church which renders corporate prayer unnecessary or an irritating burden stands under the condemnation of God Paul could say in 2 Corinthians 10 verses 3 and 4 with respect to his own ministry though we walk in the flesh that is we are human beings having to minister in the midst of human weakness we do not war according to the flesh our spiritual service is a spiritual warfare then he states parenthetically for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh they do not have their tap roots in mere human resources in mere fleshly human endeavors and perspectives and principles of operation

57:17 our weapons are not of the flesh but mighty before God to the casting down of stronghold and one of those mighty weapons is the weapon of all prayer and where people have a view of the work of God in and through the church that enables them without any sense of a bloody conscience to carry on their round of religious services without gathering as a congregation to cry mightily to God I say there you have a people who have a view of the work of God that stands under the frown of God Jeremiah 17 5 cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his heart and whose heart departs from the Lord God goes on to say he'll have no true fruitfulness and then he contrasts he says but blessed is the man whose trust is in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is well what is the acid test of whether or not we trust in the arm of the flesh or in the mighty arm of God what was the acid test for the church of Jerusalem here God had come in mighty power in one day had brought three thousand to himself did that lead them to say oh well this is easy

58:44 this business of reaping souls and seeing the church swell no it made them all the more prayerful they knew the blessing had come from heaven God had opened his hand and graciously given so those who were in the midst of that abounding blessing rather than be careless it says they continued steadfastly in the prayer and when they faced the crisis and their two leaders being threatened what do they do they have a view of the work of the church in which corporate prayer is crucial to facing the church's enemies Lord you the God who foresaw men's opposition to the gospel you who spoke to your servant David in the second psalm why do the nations rage oh Lord look upon their threatenings Lord look upon their threatenings grant unto your servants boldness come and confirm afresh our apostolic identity and work with psalms and wonders and God heard their cry why because they had a view of the work of God in and through the church that made prayer corporate prayer indispensable and I say it is a searching observation when human personalities and sales promotional practices and marketing methods are regarded as sufficient to get the work of God done rather than giving priority to corporate prayer such a view of the work of God in and through the church

60:13 stands under the condemnation of God the day this church ceases to be marked by a deep visceral conviction that we are utterly totally dependent upon God and His grace and His power a conviction manifested in regarding corporate prayer not as a necessary or a galling irritating burden but a marvelous privilege as well as a solemn duty a privilege to be workers together with God to think that the God of heaven has woven into the fabric of His own mysterious eternal decrees and purposes the cries of His people what a privilege to gather to agree on earth this touching what we ask that it might be done by our Father who is in heaven over the years it has been very interesting especially when we have come into critical periods as a light as a church and in the life of our church I can remember when we were contemplating these buildings and we had very little money in our hands and we had someone punch into a computer a graph of our growth patterns and our income patterns and according to the computer every day that passed literally the line of our income and our possibilities

61:40 and the line of inflation and cost they were getting wider and wider humanly speaking impossible so what did we do? we started Saturday morning prayer meetings and for a couple of years every Saturday morning the group met corporately to cry to God and then in the midst of the building program when we faced crisis what did we do? call extra prayer meetings not once not once did we call in a financial expert we had been banging on our doors wanting to come in we'll help you raise your money we said thank you but no thank you we have a better way we cry to God oh yeah well we know you pray you raise the money I said we pray oh yeah you pray but and I have people to this day when I'm showing them through these properties and they get asking when was it built? how did you find? and people will say who claim to believe the Bible well you prayed yes but what did you do to raise the money? we prayed you see it's an incipient spirit of unbelief in the advocacy of prayer and these walls and these beams are there because there were people who gathered and cried to God you sitting here are in with spiritual eyes and with hearts that love Christ why?

63:02 not because someone came to you with a clever sales pitch and persuaded you against your will to pray a prayer after them and then laid his hand on you and absolved you and said you're in no God's dealings with you strange and mysterious as they were a contact here a book here a tape there a word of witness there all of these things what are they? but the manifestation that God continues to put forth his saving power in answer to the prayers of his people but then thirdly having considered the inescapable conclusion the searching observation there is a necessary deduction from all of this material and that deduction is this any gospel which upon its professed reception does not produce a praying people is defected in its content or in its reception any gospel which upon its professed reception does not produce a praying people is either defected in its content or in its reception the apostolic gospel preached in the power of the spirit received by men wrought upon by the spirit

Necessary Deduction: The Gospel Produces a Praying People

64:28 produced a people who continued steadfastly in prayer and they didn't have to wait to have five seminars on corporate prayer from the day they were incorporated into the church they continued steadfastly in prayer one of the most tragic affirmations of the defective gospel preached in our day is that it produces in some places large congregations Sunday morning the people Sunday night one tenth of the people Wednesday night I refuse to accept that as normalcy a gospel that doesn't produce a praying people is either a defective gospel or its professed reception in saving grace has been defective and then finally I issue a sympathetic exhortation as one of your pastors in Christ's name I would appeal to you sympathetically I would exhort you sympathetically and my exhortation is this will you not this day as a member of this congregation have dealings with God

Sympathetic Exhortation: Engage in Corporate Prayer

65:53 about your part in the patterns of the corporate prayer life of this church now I say it's a sympathetic exhortation because I know the struggle of indwelling sin in the presence of the duty to pray Paul said I find that to me who would do good evil is present with me and we're never more conscious of the presence of indwelling sin than when we purpose to do that which is well pleasing unto God and the more spiritual the activity the more violent is the opposition of indwelling sin and the minute you begin to think on a Wednesday tonight's prayer meeting night isn't it amazing how the mind can be flooded with a thousand reasons why you shouldn't be there isn't it amazing that things were there Tuesday they'll be there Thursday but somehow Wednesday they're highlighted there was a godly man one of our early pilgrim fathers founder of Harvard University who expressed the truth of this reality in a most graphic way he said it is sometimes so with me that I would rather die than pray that was godly Thomas Shepherd founder of Harvard and he said I find that it is sometimes so with me I had rather die

67:22 than pray but what made him under God the man that he was in spite of feeling that way he was led to pray by obedience to the word of God and dependence upon the Holy Spirit and he wasn't led around by the nose of his feelings not by the mouth especially without the thought that he will not die the man was less than saying "'на дядя, quietly contemporary, овesper, 2018", he said and as my sister explained to me that she could hear what I said to her and that it was the last thing they wanted to find in this life that they never chanced to find I would go to my desire so that I could be true to God the man that's been in the office, in the place of business, in the classroom, whatever your sphere of occupation may be, you feel there's nothing left to give. But has not God says, even when young men who should be the very paragons of vigor, even when they faint, they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. And cannot you testify that again and again, not perhaps every time, but nine out of ten times, when you've dragged yourself to the appointed season of corporate prayer,

68:48 and you've come with a cold heart and a weary mind and a tired body, you've left invigorated.

68:58 Isn't that the experience?

69:01 God has fulfilled His promise. And that's what we need to remember. Don't deny the weariness. Say, Lord, I'm going to prayer meeting out of sheer, dogged, naked duty, but I'm going.

69:12 But on the way, you say, Lord, turn duty into delight before the night is over. You've said they that wait upon you shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. And you throw yourself upon God and His promise and His faithfulness.

69:29 Dear people of God, I plead with you. I give you a sympathetic exhortation with respect to your own commitments and patterns of practice in conjunction with corporate prayer to do whatever must be done. To watch and to pray that you enter not into temptation. Hear your Lord saying to you as He said to the three, What could you not watch with me one hour?

69:56 What could you not give this hour? To engage me for blessing upon my word and the extension of the kingdom and the salvation of sinners. Dear people, there are no, there are no, no effective substitutes for the God-appointed means of grace. Neither private means of grace nor public means of grace.

70:21 Therefore, once we give up continuing steadfastly in the prayers, there will be no effective substitute to secure the blessing and the grace of God upon us, in us, and through us. And if that day ever comes, I pray God I'm in a better place. May God help us to lay the exhortation to heart and to respond. To the voice of our Lord Himself, speaking through the scriptures, calling us to be a people, steadfast in prayer.

71:01 Let's pray.

71:08 Our Father, we thank you for your holy word. We thank you that it is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway, both individually, in our families, and in our life as a church. And we pray that, in truth, it may be said of this congregation, that by your grace, they all continue steadfastly in the prayers. Gracious God, as we feel the growing pressure of an increasingly pagan culture pressing in upon us, as we feel the powers of hell clawing at our souls, as we feel the very atmosphere about us seeking to suck out every last ounce of spiritual life and vigor, O God, may we determine, rather than to slack off in our prayers to you as a church, may we be determined to give ourselves as never before to crying out to you for your grace and your blessing upon your word, upon your people, upon your servants, upon the causes of the gospel which you've put in our hands as a congregation. Lord, deliver us from being circumscribed by our own piddling little concerns, Lord, deliver us from being circumscribed by our own piddling little concerns, Lord, deliver us from being circumscribed by our own piddling little concerns, Lord, deliver us from being circumscribed by our own piddling little concerns,

72:29 give us hearts large enough to take in the great concerns that lie close to your heart, that caused your Son to shed his blood. Oh, we pray that you would help us in an age of self-serving and self-centeredness and self-preoccupation and self-fulfillment and self-actualization and all this other nonsense. God, have mercy, have mercy upon us. That as a body of our Lord Jesus Christ we may, like our living head, find it our joy not to serve ourselves, but to serve and to give ourselves even to this discipline of corporate prayer. Seal your word to our hearts and for those who cannot pray because they do not know you, who have no heart to pray. Have mercy upon the Lord. Have mercy upon them.

73:29 Use even your word directed to your people to be an arrow stuck in their hearts that they will not be able to pull out until broken at the feet of Christ they find their way.