A couple years ago I arrived here at the building about 30 minutes before the service,
and as I usually do, I checked our telephone answering machine.
On this occasion there was a message from a trucker who had stopped for the night, staying at one of the motels over by the Flying J.
Since it was a church-night, he looked in the phone book and gave us a call, hoping that someone could pick him up and bring him to the service.
This sort of thing has occurred several times over the last few years, and when ever possible, I’ve either sent someone or gone myself to bring that stranger to the House of God.
And most of the time the person isn’t a stranger at all – but a fellow pilgrim of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe that it is important to make sure that travelers and new move-ins who are looking for one of the Lord’s churches, should be able to find one.
So we have display ads in several of the phone books in the area, which not only give the address and phone number, but which also describe who we are.
And we are listed in a couple of the newspapers.
We are a part of one of the new-comers services.
And we are listed in several topical web-sites such as those churches which are King James, or Independent Baptist, or Sovereign Grace.
But in Paul’s day, none of those sorts of things existed.
When he and the others arrived in Tyre, Syria, they couldn’t look in the Yellow Pages for the address of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When verse 4 speaks of “finding disciples” the meaning is that they were found after a diligent search.
They checked with some of the more likely shop-keepers who had booths in the market place.
They went to the synagogue and respectfully asked the rabbi.
Perhaps they went to the library, the city hall and even the county court-house.
Or maybe Paul had met one or two the saints on some other occasion, and he was asking for the whereabouts of specific people.
And then perhaps began a blessed seven day revival meeting, or missions conference, or fellowship meeting.
Probably the saints opened up their homes to these visitors, and Paul stayed in one house, Luke in another, Trophimus in a third and rest were scattered among the membership.
Perhaps they had one or two big pot-luck meals together during the week.
I would like to think that Paul took special time with the pastor or elder of the church.
Maybe they spent several afternoons visiting some of the contacts and prospects with whom he had been sharing the gospel over the previous few months.
I picture them having semi-private prayer meetings every morning and then public meetings each evening.
Perhaps Paul had some lessons on doctrines in which he could see that the brethren we weak.
And I’m sure that there was as much evangelism as time would permit.
But I wonder whether or not the brethren understood how much of a privilege this week was.
Assuming that eventually Paul was released from his upcoming Roman prison,
it is unlikely that he ever returned to Tyre.
During that week, the disciples in Tyre apparently fell in love with this Apostle to the Gentiles.
And once again the Lord revealed to them that bonds and afflictions were awaiting him in Jerusalem.
Just as so many others had done in other churches, these brethren pled with Paul not to up to the city.
Verse 5 says: – “And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.”
Apparently the little ship that the party intended to take was anchored just off shore.
The whole church – men, women and children – accompanied Paul and his friends to the beach.
And at someone’s invitation (I would like think that it was the pastor of the church) they all knelt down and prayed together.
I’d like to take the opportunity this morning to think about the Biblical doctrine of Prayer.
Only in a minor way does this message relate directly to this scripture.
But prayer cannot be over-taught, over-emphasized, over-emphasized or over-practiced.
They say that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and prayer is our link to omnipotence.
So how strong exactly are WE?
God is eternal; Jehovah has always been.
As far as the Lord is concerned, eternity is not the progression of time.
Time doesn’t dictate to the Lord, the way that it does to us;
Time is contained within and governed by the Lord.
He wanted nothing more and He needed nothing more.
It was not because He was bored, or lonely; it was not because He needed entertainment or therapy; that God chose to create.
Out of nothing He created a universe, a solar system, and a planet called “Earth.”
In five 24 hour days He created that world and prepared it for human habitation.
But why?
Philosophers and theologians have been contemplating that question for over 6,000 years now.
But if my 2 cents are worth anything: I think that God created human beings in order to give us the opportunity to enjoy fellowship with Him.
I know that this idea is not completely logical, but when it comes to these kinds of questions, the logic of man is incapable of functioning properly.
I think that God created man not that Jehovah might enjoy our company, but that we might enjoy His.
So in the cool of the evening after a wonderful day in the Garden of God, Adam and Eve were given the privilege of speaking with and enjoying their Creator.
I believe that this is the foundational principle upon with the doctrine of prayer is to be laid.
And that principle is still in effect, even though Adam and his wife subsequently chose to sin against God.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
IN HIM WAS LIFE; and the life was the light of men.”
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” not just in things spiritual, but in everything.
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
And that – in spite of the fact that every one of these creatures have been poisoned and slain by sin.
But, He has made a way, through the sacrifice of his own dear Son, for us to approach Him in the cool of the day, the dark of the night and even the heat of afternoon.
And we call it “prayer.”
Everything we need is to be found in the Lord.
And so we are enjoined to pray without ceasing.
From Bible cover to Bible cover God’s men exhort us to pray.
On the day that David brought the Ark of the Covenant into the City of David he sang a new psalm, one line of which says, “Seek the Lord and his strength, see his face continually.”
Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me…”
It was to the Thessalonians that he wrote: “pray without ceasing.”
James asked, “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray.”
Because in Christ, the Word, is life, and that life is the light of men.
But their importance pales in the light of God’s own exhortations.
Matthew 7 came from the lips of the Son of God:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?”
It is Biblical theology that God loves and cares for His special people,
and that through the way made open by the blood of Christ
and empowered by the unction of the Holy Spirt,
you and I can once again walk with God in the cool of the day.
That dog may not understand a word that his human is saying, but he delights to hear the sound of his voice anyway.
That dog may be asked to do impossible things, but its tail seems to say that it absolutely delighted to get the request, even though it has no intention of doing anything at all.
God is not our pet schnauzer.
Jehovah not only INVITES us to pray, but he promises to ANSWER those prayers.
The answers may not always be what we want or expect, but the Lord does answer.
Psalm 91: – “Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.”
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”
II Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
The practical aspect of the theology of prayer is that, to put it bluntly, IT WORKS.
It’s not that prayer changes the mind of God, because God is sovereign and bows to no man.
Prayer is not the overcoming of God’s reluctance.
It’s not the power of a human argument over some sort of divine resistence.
But God has ordained our prayer as much as He has His answer.
And that means that knowing the answer is one of the keys to asking for it.
Puritan, Stephen Charnock put it this way:
desiring Him to work that in us and for us which He hath promised to us.”
Prayer works.
One of the greatest scriptures on the subject of prayer comes in the context of the Millennium:
Isaiah 65:24 – “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
I’m going to break one of my personal rules this morning; I’m going to read an article.
I began meditating about this message last Wednesday afternoon.
When I got to church and emptied the mail box, I found this copy of the “Landmark Baptist Messenger.”
It is published by the Landmark Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas, where Jack Green is pastor.
Both editions have contained a sermon by Brother Green and several articles about missions.
Landmark Baptist is very heavily involved in missions to Thailand.
I even hope that he knows the missionary wife who wrote the article.
“One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward, but in spite of all we could do she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive, as we had no incubator. (We had no electricity to run an incubator.) We also had no special feeding facilities.
Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst. Rubber perishes easily in tropical climates. “And it is our last hot water bottle!” she exclaimed.
The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the tow-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.
During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. “Please, God’ she prayed, “send us a water bottle. It’ll be no good tomorrow God, as the baby will be . dead, so please send it this afternoon.” While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added by way of a corollary, “And while your are about it, would you please send a dolly for the little girl so she’ll know you really love her?”
As often with children’s prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, “Amen”? I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything. The Bible says so. But there are limits, aren’t there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!
Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in their nurses’ training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car was gone, but there, on the verandah, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone,. So I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each know. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting.
Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys’. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages, for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored.
Then as I put my hand in again, I felt the…. Could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out-yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle, I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, “if God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!” Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted. Looking up at me, she asked. “Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so she’ll know that Jesus really loves her?”
That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God’s prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child-five months before in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it “that afternoon.”
The THEOLOGY of prayer is that it is of God.
The PRACTICALITY of prayer is that works.
Do we have any aspiring poets among us this morning?
What images rise in the heart of the poet as he sees a tearful farewell on a sandy shore with a sailboat anchored in the bay?
Doesn’t he envision the unknown?
Doesn’t he see someone leaving with the probability of never returning?
Doesn’t he see adventure, excitement, separation, and potential danger?
He might even see the symbolism of death.
The exhortation of all scripture is that we pray without ceasing.
But there are those special occasions when prayer seems to be especially appropriate.
As I’ve already suggested, I don’t know whose idea it was for everyone to kneel down on those rocks and sand and to beseech the Lord.
We don’t even know what sort of things were sought of God.
Despite those afflictions, who is to say that Paul won’t pass through them on to greater ministries across the sea?
Did they pray for the glory of the Lord, even through those bonds and afflictions?
Did they pray for the salvation of many more souls and the establishing of many more churches?
It should have been their prayer that both the church in Tyre and the Apostle Paul would be privileged to lead many more to Christ and to see more churches started in other places.
And it should be our prayer about ourselves as well.
It is my prayer that the Lord would save souls here this morning.
God hears prayer and answers prayer, but that’s assuming that those who are praying are His children.
“Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”
No rebellious sinner has any right or invitation to pray.
His invitation to the lost man is to repent.
So how should I address this invitation this morning?
Should I invite you to pray, to seek the face of God, to pray for the Lord’s glory in your life?
Or should I invite you to repent of your sins before God and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?
Perhaps I’ll let the Holy Spirit make that decision.
What is He convicting you to do this morning?