Before the Throne of God Above

There is a particular individual
who has made it into the news of late. You may have heard of
him. His name is Elon Musk. And I
don’t know how much you know about him. He’s an exceptionally
intelligent individual. Most consider him a genius of
the highest caliber. He’s engaged his mind. to address some of our world’s
biggest challenges, energy, space travel, communication. And he’s
done so through companies such as Zip2 and Tesla, Starlink,
SpaceX, and this thing called Twitter or X. He’s made quite a name for himself
and was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 2021. And as a result of all of this,
he has been able to generate a little bit of income. He is
now considered to be the richest person on earth, with a conservative
estimate of his net worth at nearly $400 billion. And because of all that, because
of his intelligence, his influence, his wealth, he is one of the
most sought after people in the world. And that has been the
case ever since he first burst onto the scene in the early 2000s. But it’s safe to say that in
the course of the past year, he has become the most sought
after person alive. And all of that led me to ponder
a thought. Think of this for a moment. If
you had access to the wealthiest, most powerful, most influential
person in the world, what would you say? What would you ask? What favors or kindnesses would
you seek? What grand requests would you
make of your new friend? Essentially, that’s what Paul
wants to address here in this next section of Colossians chapter
4, except that Paul is not taking us into an office or boardroom
of some wealthy genius like Elon Musk. The first case, from all that
I know of him, he’s not a Christian man. At last estimate, he has
at least 13 children by numerous wives or girlfriends. And so
for all that we might seek from him, there’s much that we would
avoid. Paul is not directing us to seek
out some earthly personality, but the creator of the universe,
the one who holds all things together. He is gracious and
generous. He sees all and knows all. And he has already amply provided
for our greatest need through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.
What is more, God is wealthier than a billion billionaires.
He’s wiser than all of the geniuses of the world combined. And he’s far more influential
than any earthly personality. Paul is directing us to the throne
of grace. As the writer of Hebrews terms
it in Hebrews chapter 4, that heavenly throne where Jesus,
our high priest, is seated at the right hand of God the Father.
Where we as believers are invited, even commanded, to come and to
seek whatever mercy or grace we might need. This is Paul’s
encouragement in Colossians 4, verses 2 through 4, that we are
to come before that heavenly throne in prayer before the only
one who can address our greatest needs. If you would, follow along
as I read Colossians 4 to through four. Devote yourselves to prayer,
keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving, praying at the
same time for us as well that God will open up to us a door
for the word so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ,
for which I have also been imprisoned, that I may make it clear the
way I ought to speak. Though we’ve turned the corner
here into chapter 4 of Colossians, Paul is still in the course of
conducting his lengthy discussion, the longest section of this letter,
where he’s applying the teaching of chapter 1 and 2 to a wide
variety of aspects of our Christian life. We come now to the ninth
practical application that Paul has given us in this chapter. And since Paul is addressing
various aspects of our Christian life, as you know, I’ve already
appended the word living to each of these very basic titles. Go
back to chapter 3, verse 1, and we’ll just take a breeze through
these. In verses 1 through 4 of chapter
3, he speaks of heavenly-oriented living. In verses 5 through 8,
he speaks of sin-mortifying living. In 9 through 11, truth-grounded
living. 12 and 13, Christ-like living. 14 and 15, love-focused living. Verse 16, Bible-centered living. Verse 17, glory-driven living. section we just finished in 318
through 4.1, relation building living, dealing with all the
members of the household. And this morning, his ninth application
of doctrine, prayer guided living. That’s a greatly varied list,
and there’s still one left. And once again, as we’ve done
in weeks past, I want to consider a relatively parallel passage
in Ephesians chapter 6, if you’d begin flipping there. I say parallel,
as you know, because it addresses the same general subject that
Paul is addressing here in Colossians. And I say relatively, because
of all the parallels in Ephesians, this one is very diverse. If we could, let’s read Paul’s
words there, and then I’ll just point out a few things before
we come back to Colossians. Beginning in chapter six, verse
18, With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit,
and with this in view, be on the alert. With all perseverance
and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf that utterance
may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with
boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador
in chains. that in proclaiming it, that
is the gospel, I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.” And there
you have it. It’s indeed a discussion about
prayer, but Paul takes a very different tack here in Ephesians
6, and he says things very differently than he does in the Colossians
passage. In fact, of the some 70 words uttered in Colossians
4, only a handful of them are repeated here in Ephesians. Prayer,
pray, praying, be on the alert, the mystery, and as I ought to
speak. That’s it. A mere 15 words of
the nearly 70 that Paul speaks in Colossians. And so if you
would, back to Colossians now. We’ll pick up a few of those
words and phrases as we course through our consideration of
Colossians 4. What Paul wants to do in this
passage is direct his readers, not only the Colossian believers,
but us, into the matter of prayer. That’s the general subject. And
he wants to instruct them about the nature of prayer and the
efficacy of prayer. He wants to basically tell us
about the honor that we have as believers, the privilege,
the blessing that we enjoy in making our requests known to
God. It’s an amazing passage. Look at verse two, where he just
exhorts us to devote ourselves to prayer. Paul is addressing
the subject of prayer, as we said, in both epistles. But here
in Colossians, he does so much more directly. Devote yourselves
to prayer, he says. It’s a command. It’s an imperative. In Ephesians, there is no imperative. In fact, there isn’t even a main
verb in Ephesians 6. In Ephesians,
he just speaks matter-of-factly about praying. On the subject
of prayer itself, there is arguably no better passage on the matter
of prayer than Philippians 4.6. You’re only one book away, and
I want you to see this verse, if you would. Flip back just
a half a chapter or so to Philippians 4.6. One book to your left. Look at verse six of chapter
four. This answers so many questions
about the nature of prayer. Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request
be made known to God. What an amazing passage. In our
stressful, hectic world, we hear a lot about anxiety. Paul says
that it is completely out of place for the Christian. Be anxious
for nothing, he says. But even for a believer, that
is difficult, is it not? If Paul’s thoughts ended there,
it would almost be cruel. Empty advice, kind of like that
reggae song, don’t worry, be happy, right? That’s no help
at all. Even for a Christian, living
a stress-free life is difficult. And it’s only possible by God’s
enabling grace, and so Paul gives us the antidote here to anxiety. Essentially, prayer. He says,
let your requests be made known to God. That’s what prayer is.
Prayer is just communicating our thoughts, our needs, our
concerns, our worries, our desires to God. Back, if you would, to Colossians,
where I want to focus on this word devote. This word devote
immediately tests the most faithful saint in the matter of prayer,
there are few things in life to which we are truly devoted.
Some could be characterized as being devoted to their spouse,
or to their career, or to their children, or maybe even to all
three. But not a great many of us could
be considered as being devoted to prayer. The word itself refers
to attending to someone or something with a constancy, a steadfastness,
what one called a persevering attendance. Still another said that it is
an earnest adherence and attention. This is not something that we
give a passing glance but something that we are fully
intent upon. In the great task of prayer,
we are not to grow weak or faint. We are to exhibit a vigorous
endurance in that regard. Jesus told not one, but two parables
about unflinching persistence in prayer. You may remember them. In Luke 11, he tells about an
importunate friend, one who knocks on the door at midnight and does
not quit until the master of the house gets up and gives him
the bread that he needs. Jesus concludes there in that
parable, ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock
and it will be opened to you. Be persistent in prayer, Jesus
exhorts. Likewise, the importunate widow
of Luke 18, pleading her case before an unrighteous judge,
and only her determination pays off. Luke records that he told
that parable to show that at all times they ought to pray
and not lose heart. The interesting thing about this
word is that it is specially tied to the act of prayer. Devotion and prayer are blended
together in the Bible. Listen to this development of
the use of the word. In fact, if I could, we have
time. I have all afternoon. Let me
take you on a brief tour. Turn to Acts chapter one. This
is amazing to watch this development. Acts chapter 1, and when you
get there, just scroll down to verse 14. In Acts 1.14, it’s
just following Jesus’ ascension into heaven. And Luke captures
the believers doing just exactly what Jesus commanded them to
do, to stay in Jerusalem and to wait for what the Father had
promised, namely the Holy Spirit. And Luke says of them, look at
verse 14, these all with one mind were continually devoting
themselves to prayer. So there was a unity and there
was an intensity about their prayer as a church. If you would
turn over to Luke 2, 42, these Christians, They were encouraged by the fact
that their Savior had been raised from the dead and now had returned
to heaven. They were devoting themselves
to prayer. And in Acts 2.42, here now, the
church has been established. And what do you think that this
infant church is doing? Look at verse 42. They were continually
devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to
the breaking of bread, and to prayer. They were devoted to
it. They were unflinching in their
dedication to prayer. And this prayer had become a
regular feature in their worship. That’s what Luke is referring
to when he mentions the apostles’ teaching and fellowship and breaking
of bread. That’s the worship of the church.
And one of the foundational elements of the worship of God’s people
was and is prayer. They were continually devoting
themselves to prayer. We don’t have to go far for the
next example. Just go down four verses to verse
46. Look at this. Day by day, Continuing
with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to
house, they were taking their meals together with gladness
and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor for all
the people. And you say, where is the devotion? It’s that little
word continuing. They were devoted to it so much
so that it was a regular feature of their gatherings. They continued
on in it. They were persevering in the
things of God And then, as you know, a dispute arose in the
church. Please turn over if you would
to chapter six. It seems that the church had
grown so large so quickly that some people felt neglected during
the church gatherings, fellowship meals and the like. But the apostles
were so busy preaching the word that they couldn’t manage the
distribution of food as well. And so they established the office
of deacon. choosing seven godly men for
this task, and that freed the apostles up to attend to their
own responsibility. Look at verse four. But we will
devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.
They were devoted. They were dedicated. They were
fixed upon this practice of prayer. Well, likewise, Paul would eventually recognize
the need for devotion to prayer. And for this, if you would turn
over to Romans chapter 12, one book to the right and deep into
it, Romans chapter 12. And once you make your way to
Romans chapter 12, Zip down to verse 10. The word is actually
used twice in this section. Look at verse 10. Be devoted
to one another in brotherly love. And I’ll just tell you, there’s
no greater way to show your devotion to one another than to pray for
one another. Be devoted to one another in
brotherly love. Give preference to one another
in honor. Not lagging behind in diligence. Fervent in spirit. Serving the
Lord. Rejoicing in hope. Persevering
in tribulation. Devoted to prayer. Contributing
to the needs of the saints. Practicing hospitality. All that
to say that this word devoted is specially bound to prayer. It’s not a stretch to say that
the Lord’s people are to be devoted to prayer. And rather than leaving
it to chance or to make this little church figure out what
Paul means on their own, Paul takes occasion here to explain
and give example to exactly what devotion to prayer looks like
in practical terms. In the verses before us, he tells
us about two important elements in the process of making our
requests known to God. Glance again at verse two, where
Paul says, devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it
with an attitude of thanksgiving. The first thing that he tells
us about the nature of prayer is our attentiveness in it. He tells us about attentiveness
in prayer, keeping alert. Paul continues this exhortation
by telling his readers that it’s not enough to pray. We could
all say that we have prayed, but that we are to keep alert
in it. This is one of the few echoes
of Ephesians chapter 6, there in Ephesians 6, Paul says, be
on the alert. It’s a clear command. In prayer,
we are neither to be weary and sluggish nor inattentive and
negligent. This alertness is a wonderful
little aspect of prayer. We might even call it watchfulness.
But that word watchfulness would require an additional explanation
because on the face of it, watchfulness makes it sound like if and when
we pray, we can then just sit back and watch for God to answer. That’s a misunderstanding of
Paul’s point here. This word Gregoreo in the Greek
is the primary word that is used in the Gospels of a watchfulness
for the Lord’s return. Just one example, Matthew 24,
42. Be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord
is coming. He’s coming back. And Jesus encourages
there that we would be watchful for his return. And it’s used
that way dozens of times in the Gospels. It’s used to urge a
spiritual watchfulness as well. Listen to this. This spiritual
watchfulness, Paul speaks of in Acts chapter 20, a watchfulness
over the devil and his activities. Listen to Acts 20. Be on guard
for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit
has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased
with his own blood. I know that after my departure,
savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. He’s warning them about false
teachers, even from among themselves. From among you, from among your
own selves, men will arise speaking perverse things to draw away
the disciples after them. Therefore, be on the alert. Remembering that night and day
for a period of three years, I did not cease to admonish each
one of you with tears. This church was invaluable to
Paul. Paul couldn’t bear the thought
of a false teacher coming in and decimating this flock. And
so he tells the leaders there to be on the alert. And Paul
hints very strongly at the same thing at the close of 1 Corinthians
16. There he just says in that series
of admonitions, be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act
like men, be strong. Be on the alert. Watch. over the spiritual needs and
concerns of the flock. Peter says the same thing in
1 Peter 5.8. Be of sober spirit, be on the
alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls
about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. And so this
word is used of watchfulness, not only for the Lord’s return,
but watchfulness over spiritual activity. It’s also used of watchfulness
over ourselves in temptation. Just one verse, Mark 14, 38,
keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation. And so the word is used in a
variety of ways, watchfulness for Christ’s return, watchfulness
for the devil’s schemes, watchfulness for our own spiritual weakness. But it’s used here in Colossians
and Ephesians of watchfulness in prayer. And this watchfulness
in prayer just refers to a cautionary oversight of our own prayer life,
that we not become sluggish or mechanical in it, In these verses,
it’s not so much a watchfulness over our physical lives in prayer,
which one of us doesn’t know the experience of falling asleep
right in mid-sentence. but rather a spiritual drowsiness
where our prayers really amount to nothing. We’re not asking
anything, we’re not saying anything. It’s a spiritual watchfulness
that Paul is urging here to stand watch over our lives and over
those around us, our families, our church, our missionaries,
so as to pray for them according to their need. It’s a spiritual
watchfulness. And over such, we are not to
be ambivalent, we’re not to be disinterested or distracted,
nor are we to pray in some lethargic and sluggish manner, or a cold
and formal wooden way. But we are to be vigilant and
lively, like a sentry standing at the most important post. What Paul is urging is not so
much to watch for the answer to prayer, but a watchfulness
for what to pray, to observe, to evaluate, and even to prayerfully
consider how we are to pray in any given situation. And Paul adds that we are to
do this to remain alert with an attitude of thanksgiving. You’ve likely, I say this all
the time, so I’m old and I can repeat myself, you likely have
heard of that acrostic model for prayer. Every time I mention
this, however, someone comes up to me and says that’s the
first time they ever heard it. The acrostic model of prayer
is based on A-C-T-S. Stands for adoration, expressing
our love for who God is, confession, in which as soon as we realize
we’re standing before the Holy One, our sin comes flooding into
our mind and we confess it. We don’t inform God about our
sin. We merely agree with Him about
the nature of it, that it’s sinful, wretched, the very thing for
which Christ died. He sees and knows all. We don’t
need to inform him. We confess it in the sense that
we’re agreeing with him about the nature of our deeds. Adoration,
confession, T, thanksgiving. Our prayer to God should include
thanksgiving, gratitude for all that God has done, especially
the answers to our prayers. Adoration, confession, thanksgiving,
and then finally supplication, submitting our requests before
God. And I like the order of that
model of prayer. The point of all this is that
we cannot, ought not, forget to thank God for all that He
has done in the course of any other element of prayer. Thankfulness ought to be as Paul
says, the attitude of our heart. We ought to assume that there
are things for which to give thanks, even as we begin to open
our mouths in prayer. Paul himself put a premium on
thanksgiving. In his epistles, he routinely
admonishes his churches to be enthusiastic in their expression
of gratitude to God. To the Corinthians, he urged
the giving of thanks, 1 Corinthians 14, 16. In his second letter,
he explains that such gratefulness abounds to God’s glory. It makes
God happy when we thank him. In Ephesians 5, he tells his
readers that the giving of thanks is that which replaces talk that
is unbecoming of a Christian. filthiness, silly talk, coarse
jesting. Instead of those, give thanks,
Paul says. In Philippians 4, 6, which verse
we framed our discussion this morning on what prayer is, he
says that gratitude to God is to be embedded in our prayer
to God, in everything, he says, by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving. And in his instructions to young
Pastor Timothy, he urges there that prayers and petitions and
thanksgiving be made on behalf of all men. We ought to be able
to look out, especially over the body of Christ, and to note
how we have prayed for certain people and how God has answered
that, and to give gratefulness for it. So Paul placed the expression
of gratitude in the highest place. We should enter into prayer any
time that we go before him to pray with the mindset that we
know we need to thank him for something. It’s just a matter
of calling to mind specific things for which to thank God. Just
recalling God’s gracious deeds is that which generates more
and greater requests of God. If we at once were to pause and
to give thanks for all that God has done, that would motivate
us to pray for even greater things. Well, there is to be this attentiveness
in prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.
But Paul gives a second lesson, a second element in the process
of making our request known to God, and that is a preciseness
in prayer. A preciseness in prayer, and
we see it in verse three, where Paul says, praying at the same
time for us as well, and then he’s gonna get even more specific
as this prayer unfolds, the prayer request, rather. One of the dismal
realities of our prayer life is that we often tend to pray
in such general terms that we would have no way of knowing
whether the prayer were ever answered. God, bless so-and-so. God, this is my favorite, be
with this person. Even though they’re already in
Christ and Christ is already in them, God, I pray for this
or that. The question is, what do we pray
for specifically? It cannot be enough just to bow
before the king of the universe and to say that we pray for someone.
For what do we ask exactly? This is a truly remarkable section
here because Paul, arguably not only the apostle, but the greatest
pastor, the greatest evangelist, greatest church planter that
the church has ever known, humbly submits a prayer request to this
church in Colossae that he had never even visited. What great humility this required
on the part of Paul. He does exactly the same thing
in the Ephesians account. He had spent a great amount of
time in Ephesus, four years almost. And there he asks the Ephesians
to pray on his behalf. Please note, here in Colossians,
he asked these saints that they would be praying for us, plural. Now exactly who it was that Paul
had in mind there is probably open to a bit of discussion.
We know that Timothy was with him during part of his imprisonment
in Rome. But Paul had many other fellow
workers for the gospel for whom he solicited prayer. Barnabas,
Titus, John Mark, Silas, Epaphras, Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos, And so many more. Paul knew.
Paul knew that all of them, himself included, desperately needed
God’s grace in order to carry out the preaching of God’s word.
To take the gospel to the ends of the earth. And so he humbly
asks of these churches that they would pray for him. In your prayers, pray for us as
well. He says, Paul says the same thing to the
Romans. In Romans 15, he says, I urge
you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the
Spirit, strive together with me in your prayers to God for
me. Paul says that I certainly pray
for myself, I pray for my own ministry, but come alongside
me, if you would, and pray for me, he says. I love the simplicity
of 1 Thessalonians 5.25. Brethren, pray for us. It doesn’t give any detail at
all. One of my favorite commentators,
a pastor named John Eadie, Scottish pastor, wrote a beautiful description
of the effectiveness of prayer. I’d like to ask you to bear with
me. It’s rather lengthy, but bear with me. Human entreaty
has shut up heaven. In other words, it has stopped
God from taking action and has opened it again. At the voice
of a man, the sun stood still. Prayer has sweetened the bitter
fountain, divided the sea, stilled the waves. It has disbanded armies
and prevented conflict. It has shortened battle and given
victory to the right. It has conferred temporal abundance
and given effect to medical care. It has quenched the mouths of
lions, opened the gates of the prison house. The glory of God
manifested to Moses when he asked for it, the grace of Christ to
Paul when he sought it. Not a moment elapsed between
the petition of the crucified thief and the glorious answer.
Before Daniel even concluded his devotion, the celestial messenger
stood at his side. Prayer works. Prayer is just
simply making our request known to God and leaving the results
to Him. But Paul doesn’t ask them these praying believers, he doesn’t
ask them to add their thoughts to his prayer, as if we, like
we tend to pray, bless all the missionaries in the whole wide
world. That’s not what Paul wants of the Colossian believers. Paul
is prepared to give detailed specifics to his prayer request. He appeals to them that they
pray for two particulars. Look at the first. In verse three, these are framed on that little
word, that. This is the particular prayer
request. And the first thing that he asks
for is opportunity for the gospel. Observe this. The first thing
that Paul asks for these churches to pray about is not for himself,
Not for any earthly need or comfort, but for the advance of the gospel.
That God will open up to us a door for the Word. By this door, of
course, he’s not referring to a literal door or gate, but to
an opportunity, access to the unsaved. Bring me unbelievers,
Paul says. Cross my paths with heathens. This is what Paul and his fellow
workers most needed was opportunity, open doors, Luke may well have
cited Paul using this same figure of speech in Acts 14. Paul and
his friends had arrived back in Antioch, and they related
all that the church was experiencing, what God was doing in the heathen
world. And Luke describes it there as
an open door of faith to the Gentiles. Paul himself used this
same illustration on several other occasions, writing to the
Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 16, 9. He joyfully shared with them
that a wide door for effective service had opened to him. Ministry
opportunities were abounding. He repeated the same basic idea
when he wrote to them again in 2 Corinthians 2.12. He tells
them that a door was opened for him in the Lord. Opportunity. God had abundantly supplied gospel
opportunities to these evangelists. And so the simple prayer request
that Paul submits to these churches was for that same kind of opportunity. That whatever obstacles stood
in the way, that they might be removed. That God might open
the hearts of the people to whom He spoke. That they might find
their need of a Savior and their recognition of the truth. That
Jesus the Savior had died for sinners and by faith their sins
would be forgiven. Paul applies his special request
that given the opportunities for the gospel, that he might
speak forth the mystery of Christ. Don’t get hung up here on the
word mystery. He says it slightly differently
to the Ephesians. There he expresses his heartfelt
desire to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. That
word mystery is one of Paul’s favorite ways of referring to
the message of the gospel. In the course of his epistles,
he refers to it as the mysteries of God, the mystery of his will,
the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the gospel. And of this mystery,
he says that it has been for long ages hidden, Colossians
1 26, but now has been manifested to
his saints. He’s made the mystery known.
It’s no longer a mystery. The mystery he goes on to declare
is Christ and the church. Christ himself, Colossians 2.2.
Christ in you, the hope of glory, Colossians 1.27. When Paul mentions
both here and Ephesians 6, the mystery, he isn’t using that
word in the way that we might to speak of a whodunit. A mystery
in that sense. He’s referring to the gospel
of Jesus Christ, which for thousands of years was hinted at and prophesied,
but which had only recently been revealed. So as to be understandable,
the message of Jesus was no longer a mystery. Forgiveness from sin
and salvation by Jesus Christ, by faith alone, it was clear.
It’s the gospel. That’s the message that for centuries
was a mystery, but now has been revealed in full. In much more
straightforward terms, Paul expressed the same request of the Thessalonian
believers. Listen to this. 2 Thessalonians
3, Paul says, finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of
the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified. That’s essentially
what Paul is asking. And it was for this very mystery,
this message about Jesus for which Paul had been imprisoned. Well, Paul gives a second particular
here, not only an opportunity for the gospel, but that when
he began to preach it, there would be great clarity. Would
you look at verse four? praying at the same time for
us as well that I may make it clear the way I ought to speak. That sounds like a strange prayer
request, doesn’t it? This too seems like a strange
request for one so accomplished in the preaching of the word.
It just seemed like everything that Paul said worked. But Paul took
nothing for granted. Paul desired that his speech,
his presentation of the gospel, his whole approach, his demeanor,
his attitude would be fitted to the people and the occasion. Writing to the Ephesians, Paul
strongly exhorted those believers that they were to let no unwholesome
word proceed from their mouth. Garbage. but further that they
should speak only such a word as is good for edification according
to the need of the moment.” That’s exactly what he’s praying for. If the language of believers
is supposed to be fitted to the occasion, the need of the moment,
how much more Paul and these gospel workers? The Apostle Paul isn’t saying
that he was tempted here to preach the gospel in a way that did
not honor his Savior. Rather, he desired the Spirit’s
guidance to preach in a manner that was perfectly tailored to
the people and the circumstances in which he found himself. In
our parallel passage, Paul clarifies this a bit for us. He says in
Ephesians 6 20, that in proclaiming the gospel, I may speak boldly. If we know nothing else, we know
that Paul desired to boldly preach the good news. But I want you
to step back, just watch, just think about Paul’s missionary
journeys. And to think of all the different
ways that Paul preached the gospel. Just after his conversion in
Acts 9.29, he tenaciously preached the gospel before combative Jewish
leaders. In 13.9-11, in the face of great
deceit, he preached sternly. He preached energetically in
Acts 13.16, reviewing the entire Jewish history in front of the
Jewish people of Antioch. In 1414, in front of a crowd
that suddenly wanted to worship him, he preached humbly. He preached
theologically to deal with those with a faulty idea of God in
Acts 14. He preached mercifully to a group
that only had recently stoned him and left him for dead, Acts
14.20. He preached delicately to the
women of Philippi gathered by the river. in Philippians, in
Philippi Acts 16. He preached joyfully in the prison,
hearing his fellow, in the hearing of his fellow prisoners in the
jail of Philippi. He preached selflessly to the
Philippian jailer who was prepared to kill himself because he thought
His prisoners had fled. He preached patiently and thoroughly
to the Thessalonians in Acts 17. He preached creatively to
the Athenians and their many gods. He preached fearlessly
before the heathen ruler of Corinth. Well, we only have 10 more chapters
to go in the book of Acts, but you get my point. Paul preached
according to the moment. He preached according to who
he was talking to. He let the Spirit guide him. Paul didn’t preach the same way
to every person and every circumstance. He was attuned to the Spirit
and he varied his approach greatly. And that’s exactly what he prays
for here. Paul was commissioned to preach.
He was compelled As he tells the Corinthians to preach the
good news, he wanted no more than to proclaim Christ freely
and boldly in an unrestrained manner to have the greatest impact
in the salvation of souls. How do we pray? How do we apply
this? How do we pray? I would appeal
to you that you pray for the gospel, for the advance of the
gospel, even in our city. in our neighborhood, our city,
in our region. Pray for our church in this regard,
that we would be seen as a beacon of light in darkness. Pray for our missionaries. And
not just, you know, I pray for all the missionaries of the whole
wide world, that kind of thing, but pray for the missionaries
that God would provide them an open door for opportunities that
they would be able to articulate the gospel boldly. according
to the need of the moment. Pray for the various ministries
that God lays on your heart. Many of you have your favorites.
Pray for Patrick and Tracy and the evangelism team. As the gospel
goes forth on Friday nights, that sinners would be turned
to Christ for salvation. That’s what it’s all about. Pray
for fellow believers. Pray for them in their interactions
with family and friends and pray as specifically as you know how. Pray for yourself. Pray for your
own interactions, whether it’s co-workers and friends and neighbors,
relatives. Pray as specifically as you can
for those individuals. Pray for me in the preparation,
in the preaching of the word. that God would be pleased, that
sinners would come to salvation in Christ. Would you humble yourself
before him? Our merciful King, we thank you
for this rich passage, that Paul wasn’t just saying pray, but
he’s demonstrating to them how to pray and for what to pray. God, grant us the grace to renew
our devotion to you in prayer, to take up anew this privilege
that we have to come before the throne of grace and to lay our
requests before you, to make them known. Lord God, we thank
you for the privilege that we have to know the gospel. We thank you for the added blessing
of making the gospel known. And Father, we ask your blessing
on our time and we pray, Lord, that if there are any in our
midst who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, that you would
so draw them that they would be uncomfortable until they hear
of a greater testimony, a greater clarity about our Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, you sent Jesus to draw
sinners to God through what you’ve accomplished on the cross. There
is no other way. We pray, Lord, rejoicing in our
own salvation, we pray all of these things in Jesus’ name.
Amen.