Isaiah's Vision
In the Theophonies, the Lord revealed God and His glory and that there was a vision of Christ, which is verified by John. Jesus Christ is “the image of the invisible God” (see Colossians 1). In John 12:41 he says, “These things said Isaiah, when he saw His glory, and spoke of Him.” It was when Uzziah died that Isaiah saw “the Lord high and lifted up.” For this text, note 2 Chronicles 26, which describes Uzziah’s rise and fall.
The Appearance to Abraham
In Genesis 22, Abraham took the knife to slay Isaac. The angel of the Lord called to Him saying, “Thou hast not withheld thy son from Me, thine only son.” There were those kind of appearances in Jacob’s life:
(1) At Bethel he saw one in his dream who said, “I am the Lord God of Abraham, and behold I am with thee.” See Genesis 22:11-22.
(2) In Genesis 31:11-13, the one whom Jacob called “the Angel of the Lord” appeared to him and said, “I am the God of Bethel.”
(3) This experience was at Peniel in Genesis 32. The angel with whom he wrestles is described as God. After the experience Jacob says, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
The Appearance to the Children of Israel
The children of Israel experience a similar appearance. In Exodus 13:21 we see that “the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud.” Again in Exodus 14:19 we see that “The Angel of the Lord which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them.”
The Appearance to Manasseh and his Wife
In Judges 13, the Angel received the offering of Manassah. When Manassah asked His name, the Angel replied, “Why asketh thou after my name, seeing it is secret?” The word for “secret” is “wonderful,” which is one of the names used for the Lord (see Isaiah 9:6). As the offering was devoured by the flame and ascended toward heaven, the angel ascended in the flame.
Other Appearances
- In Numbers 22, the Angel appeared to Balaam.
- In 1 Chronicles 21:16-27, the Angel stood between heaven and earth with drawn signs over Jerusalem, after David had sinned in numbering the people. The sword was only sheathed when the sacrifice was offered.
- Exodus 21:10 says, “Hosea, Aaron, Nadab, Abihar, and seventy elders of Israel saw the God of Israel.”
- Daniel 10 says, “By the Tigris Daniel saw the Lord.”
- When the three Hebrew children of the Old Testament were put into the fiery furnace, they were protected. This illustrates God’s care for His own, “One like unto the Son of God.”
- Daniel’s deliverance from the lions. God protected His child and did so by illustrating His power over the roaring lion, which can symbolize Satan.
Prayer
Introduction
What is prayer? It is the highest activity of which the human spirit is capable. Prayer is communion with God, who is so great, that He fills every corner of the universe. W.M. Gladstone, one time Prime Minister of Great Britain, said that “prayer is the highest exercise of the human intellect.” Burns, the Scottish poet said that “prayer is a correspondence fixed with heaven.” President Eisenhower, addressing a large crowd of college students, ended his 40 minute talk by saying, “Prayer is still the mightiest force in the world and, when used by dedicated men and women, nothing in this world remains impossible.” The Lord Jesus found it so. May we prove it to be so as well.
James Montgomery in his well known hymn said:
“Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed,
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near.
Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on High.
Prayer is the Christian’s vital breath,
The Christian’s native air;
His watch-word at the gates of death:
He enters heaven with prayer.
Prayer is a working force in a believer’s life. It is a dynamic rather than a doctrine.
Prayer’s Place in the Life of a Believer
1 Samuel 12:23 says, “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray.” It is sin to neglect our prayer life. All great men of God have been men of prayer. Luke 18:1 says, “Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” There would be fewer lean years and desert experiences if we “prayed without ceasing.” There would not be so many spiritual dwarfs among us, nor human wrecks and castaways on the rocks of time, had we prayed without ceasing. Nearly all our troubles could be traced to our failure or negligence in prayer. Prayer should be the pilot, pivot, perimeter, source, center, and circumference of our lives. Luke 11:1 says, “And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he had ceased, one of his disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray.” We, teachers, must not shroud prayer in a robe of mysticism, but we must never make it too easy.
Conditions of Prayer
- Sincerity
- Humanity
- Repentance
- Obedience
- Faith
- Forgiveness
- Persistence
- According to Divine will
- In the Divine name
- In the Spirit
We all want to be successful in our service. One has said that the secret of success, in a scriptural sense, is to admit “Prayer is the fountain of all ministry, coordinate in importance with preaching, and the source of its power.” We should spend more time on our knees before God, than on our feet before men. If we are to be spiritual giants, and we ought to be, then we must be “men of prayer.”
Prayer’s Place in the Life of an Assembly
1 Timothy 2:1 says, “I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplication, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.” Acts 6:4 says, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and the ministry of the word.” Note the importance and the prominence given to prayer in the early church. Acts 1:14 shows us that in their tarrying for the fulfillment of the promise, “They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication.” Acts 2:42 shows us that they continued steadfastly in prayer. Acts 4:31 says, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” The result of this was a militant, triumphant, and irresistible church. The success of an assembly is assured if it is ruled by godly, praying elders, and composed of a fellowship of fervent prayer warriors/partners.
The Power of Prayer
One of the greatest tragedies in the Evangelical Church today is that we have negated the supernatural aspect of the Spirit’s work to a place of nonexistence. We have lost the vision of W. Carey whose motto was “Ask great things of God and expect great things from God.”
Examples include:
- The Sabet Family: Conversion-Trials-Baby-Girl-Boy-Vietnam
- 30th January (Donna Lindsay, The Andersons, Barbara Cormack, Al Veldoan)
- 6th February (Elane Kerr)
- 15th February (Betty Bius)
- 19th February (Sherry Hester)
Men in every age have stormed the battlements of heaven with unshakable confidence. The evidence of their victories lies all around. Shall we in our generation do less?
Summation and Challenge
Why are so many conflicts in our lives and assemblies left unresolved? Why are so many potential victories turned into defeat? Why are we, the possessors of supernatural force, often the victims of our own weakness and frailty? It is because: (1) we have grown apathetic in our prayer life. (2) We have become self-sufficient entities. We need nothing. (3) In our spiritual pride we have become carnal morons. We need a vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish. We need to rediscover the potential, the dynamic, the supernatural character of our faith; we need to know the forces that can be unleashed by the effectual fervent prayers of righteous men.
Consider 2 Kings 6:15-17. Verse15 says, “Alas, my master! How shall we do?” Then in verse 17 we find the prayer, “Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw.” Our eyes need anointing with the eye salve of heaven. The challenge can be found in Malachi 3:10, which says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”
Prayer in the Believer's Life
Introduction
Every believer should schedule an appointed time with God in prayer each day. A believer exercises his priestly function when praying. Our prayers should be intelligent, fervent, and expectant. There are five principles that we must remember concerning our time in prayer:
1. Adoration
2. Petition
3. Confession
4. Intercession
5. Thanksgiving
There is divine intimacy in prayer. Using the phrase Abba-Father can illustrate such a sense of intimacy as it translates, “Daddy.” We become more like our blessed Savior as we spend time in His presence. A life with Christ produces a life like Christ.
Confession is all important as well. Psalm 51 describes and provides us with a clear example of true repentance. This includes confession for others as well as for us. Daniel identified himself with the sins of the nation. Prayer denoted his dependence on God. Our Father appreciates this in these days of independence.
Intercession is speaking to God for oneself and for others. The importance of thanksgiving is described by the Lord Himself who says in His Word, “Whosoever offereth praise glorifieth Me.” Thanksgiving should be a part of our each and every prayer, for the small things, for the great things, and for all things.
Prayer in the Life of an Assembly
At the funeral service following the death of a believer, we should say, “He has arrived,” not “He is gone.” May every thought of him be of him in heaven, as he has now arrived to hear the Savior’s voice and see His welcoming smile. Then, we must greet again those he has left just for awhile. Do not say, “He is gone,” nor think of him as dead. But say instead, “In the Father’s house he has arrived.”
In regard to the Lord’s past, present, and future timetable, the “evening watch” was represented by the Apostolic Era. The “midnight watch” was represented by the Dark Ages. The “Awakening” was represented by the voice of protest in the European Reformation, and finally, the “Morning,” when that blessed morning comes, will be represented by the Lord’s return.
Among the many privileges that we enjoy as believers, perhaps the most precious is that of the principal, spiritual power and sweetness of prayer. How condescending is our great God to allow us to converse with Him. What a privilege we have in that we can carry everything to God in prayer.
Look now at Revelation 5:8. This verse shows us that by the “saints” we are not to understand any order of angelic beings, because the phrase “redeemed to God by Thy blood” cannot apply to angels. They cannot be the glorified ones, for in heaven they have no need of prayers. In fact there are no prayers in heaven except those of the great interceding High Priest. The saints are the believers on earth. Revelation 3:4 shows us that the angel who adds incense to the prayers of the saints is no created being.
Christ, and Christ alone, is competent to do this. He alone is the Mediator between God and man (see 1 Timothy 2:5). He also is our Intercessor. Romans 8:34 states that our Lord is the One “Who also maketh intercession for us.” There is one mediator and that is the Man, Christ Jesus. However, there are two intercessors: the first is Christ in heaven, and the second is the Holy Spirit upon the earth. This is illustrated in Israel’s conflict with Amelek, with Moses on the mountain, and with Joshua in the valley. To me it is thrilling to realize that the One who stands before the golden altar, waving the golden censor, blending the precious incense of His own divine merits with the prayers of the saints is none other than our Lord Jesus.
Read Revelation 8:3-4.
The vision of Revelation 5 is designed to present the Church as a “praying church.” The “bowls of incense” spoke of the prayers of the saints on earth. The lamps signify the praise of saints in heaven. Let us consider now the “golden bowls.” These precious vessels were used to hold the prayers of the saints. The lesson that I see here is that the prayer-life of sanctified believers is most precious in God’s sight. The word “incense” should really be “incenses.” These incenses are the prayers of the believers on earth. “Prayers on earth are incense in heaven.”
True prayers must rise from a golden censer. The censer of a “broken and contrite heart” is a censer of purest gold that is very precious in heaven. Psalm 51:17 says, “A broken and a contrite heart thou wilt not despise.” The censer of a “believing heart” is also precious. Resting upon the finished work of Christ and upon His infallible Word is precious in God’s sight. Prayers spoken in faith without doubting will move the hand of Him who moves the universe. The “Christ-loving heart” is a golden censer of great value as is the golden censer of a “worshipping and praising heart.” The precious cloud of worship and praise fills heaven with its odor.
The Holy Spirit has a very important place in the matter of intercession. The Spirit who makes intercession for us (see Romans 8:26) is the only One who can extract sweet and fragrant incense from our prayers. Our prayers are made fragrant when they are offered in the merits of Him who “loved us and gave Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God as a sweet smelling savor.” The Holy Spirit fills the golden censer. Jesus the obedient One, Jesus the crucified One, Jesus the risen One, Jesus the ascended, glorified, and interceding One, throws the divine fragrance of His offering around the prayers of His people; thus, enriched, they find favor with God.
What do we know of the preciousness of prayer? What do we know of the strengthening and soothing ministry of prayer? If we are to experience some of these spiritual thrills then we must guard the spiritual state of our heart. Prayer is a spiritual experience and can only be engaged in and enjoyed by spiritual people. I believe that prayer is the barometer of the soul.
Why Should I Lead Others to Christ
Winning souls is the greatest occupation. Proverbs 11:30 says, “He who wins souls is wise.” To witness is a divine command. Matthew 28 tells us to “Make disciples of all nations,” while similarly, Mark 16 tells us to “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” We must be urgent in our witness because: (1) Time is short (2) Eternity is sure, and (3) Hell is a reality.
The Qualifications of a Witness
1. He must be a saved person.
2. He must know the plan of salvation.
3. His life must be clean. “If a man purify himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified.” We are to flee youthful lusts, follow after righteousness and fight the good fight, all the while remembering that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
4. He must be spiritually healthy.
5. He must constantly be feeding on the Word.
6. He must spend much time in prayer.
7. He must be yielded to God (see Romans 12:1).
8. He must have no known sin in his life. Neither should he practice any sins.
The golden rule of soul winning is to “Live close to God.”
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus says, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”
How can a Christian lead others to Christ?
- The process actually begins in our quiet time. We should begin our day by asking God to bring into our lives those He wants us to contact. A Christian sees more on his knees.
- During the day we should be watching for opportunities to speak for Christ. Someone might use the name of the Lord in profanity, for example. This could be turned to good use in testimony. The subject of religion comes up often in conversation. We can use this as a stepping-stone in testimony. As the opportunity affords itself, tell what Christ means to you. Your success will depend on how much you love the Lord.
- Quote the Word as often as possible. Hebrews 4:12 says that the Word is “Quick, life-giving, powerful, sharper than any two edged sword.” It is the sword of the Spirit. A good soldier learns how to use the sword. After all, the Lord used it in conflict with Satan.
- Follow up in each contact. Most people have to be spoken to several times. We speak once and think we have done our duty. During this period show little kindnesses to them. Give them good literature to read. Invite them to Church and above all, be in much prayer for them. In these contacts it is important to present a challenge to accept Christ. Do not press for a quick decision. Be faithful in presenting the Word, and leave the Holy Spirit to do the work.
The Rewards of Soul-winning
There is the present joy and thrill of soul-winning, but there is also the joy in heaven. Wouldn’t it be rewarding to meet someone in heaven who said, “I’m here because you invited me?” Think of the thrill when you are rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ. “Who then is willing to consecrate this day unto the Lord?”