Sermon for Lord's Day April 9, 2023 Prayer Bells of Heaven

Let's go to Luke chapter 22 and stand with us please to honor the reading of God's Word. Luke chapter 22 and verse 39 through 46 is where we'll be reading this morning.

These are the words of the living God. He came out and went as was

His custom to the Mount of Olives and the disciples followed Him. And when

He came to the place, He said to them, pray that you may not enter into temptation. And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed, saying,

Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.

And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven strengthening Him and being in agony,

He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling to the ground.

And when He rose from prayer, He came to His disciples and He found them sleeping for sorrow.

And He said to them, why are you sleeping, rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.

Thus far as the reading of God's Holy Word, you may be seated. Our Father, our

God, our Lord and our King, we bring this simple request before your throne this morning.

God, as You have helped us thus far to worship You in spirit and in truth, we pray that You help us go the remainder of this time that You have given us as we worship

You by having read Your Word and giving the exposition of the text.

I pray that You would draw the lost to You, dear God, that You would convict the sinner, old and young, that You would convert, that You would regenerate, that You would birth anew the soul that is dead in trespasses and sins and cause life to be brought to them, that You would encourage the saint of God today, remind us, as You have already, dear

God, that our hope is in You and our hope does not end with the grave.

We praise You and we thank You for all things that You have done, are doing and shall do for it's in Jesus' name

I pray, amen. If you're taking notes today and want to put a heading on your notes,

I put the title of a song as the heading of my notes, you can change it if you want to, but I put

Prayer Bells of Heaven as the title for the sermon today. I know in this modern age there are many modes of communication.

You can call folks, you can text them, you can email, you can

FaceTime, and even memeing is a fantastic mode of communication in our day and our age.

And if you're really super old -fashioned, you can still talk to people.

For some of us here, I never thought I would be in this category of humanity, for some of us here, the very thought of video chatting was considered at the time of our youth to be some kind of futuristic fantasy.

But now all you got to do is pick up your phone and push a button and it has become the norm.

But no matter as time goes by and as technology advances, make no mistake today about this one fact, prayer.

Prayer is the timeless mode of communication between the child of God and our

Heavenly Father. The power can be out and the router can be dysfunctional and we can still pray.

You can pray while you're healthy and while you're strong. We can pray when we're sick and we can pray when we're weak.

You can pray when your voice is gone, you don't even have to have a voice. We can pray with others and we can pray when we are all alone.

Thanks be unto God for the gift that he has given us of prayer. And so one of the old songs says this, prayer bells of heaven, oh how sweetly they ring.

They ring a message unto Jesus the King. When you are burdened down with trouble and care, the song says this, ring on and on for God will answer your prayer.

I believe that today. I believe that because we've seen it in the

Word of God. It is a reality and this is what we see in verse 39 here.

Verse 39 the scripture says this, and he came out and went as was his custom or as was his practice and that is to pray.

J .C. Ryle said it's a striking fact that both the Old and the New Testament give the same prescription for coping with trouble and that is what do the

Psalms say? The Psalmist says in Psalm 50 verse 15, call on me in the day of trouble.

What does the New Testament say in the book of James? We hear the Apostle James say this, is any among you in trouble or is any among you sick?

Let him pray. Prayer is the prescription, Ryle said this, prayer is the prescription which

Jacob used when he was frightened by his brother Esau. Prayer is the prescription which

Hezekiah used when Sennacherib's threatening letter arrived to him. Prayer is the prescription which the

Son of God himself was not ashamed to use in the days of his flesh, in the hour of his agony.

The scripture tells us here that Jesus prayed. Jesus in demonstrating

His humanity, He demonstrates and shows forth His dependence upon the

Father for comfort and for strength. He came, went out and as was

His custom to the mounted olives, the scripture says, and the disciples followed

Him. And when He came to the place, these are the words that our Lord said,

He said to them, pray that you may not enter into temptation.

John Gill in his commentary said this, the human nature concerning Christ here, the human nature was to be brought into so low a condition and to be left to itself as to stand in need of the assistance of an angel.

And this shows not only the ministration of the angels to Christ, because we know what the scriptures say, are they not all ministering spirits?

We see not only the ministration of the angels to Christ as a man, but that He was at this present time, as the writer of Hebrews said, made a little lower than the angels, crowned with suffering and death.

He was the creator afterwards, more apparently through the sufferings of death, as the writer of Hebrews says this.

So as we consider this today, we consider the idea, the notion, if you want to have it, the practice of ringing the prayer bells of heaven.

A funny story, I might relate to you. Some of you may be able to identify with this.

Some of you may not. The women probably won't identify with this. The men, probably you will identify with this.

Early in our marriage, I got terribly sick, terribly sick.

Probably less than a year into our marriage. I mean, I was down, I was flat on my back and I was back in the bedroom and I didn't feel like getting up.

So I called April into the bedroom and this is what was my request. Dear, would you care to get me a bell?

Why do you need a bell? So if I need something, I can just ring the bell and you can bring it to me.

You men identify with that, right? But you ladies are thinking, there's somewhere else we need to put the bell, right?

Right. But the practice of ringing a bell is a call, it's a need, it's demonstrating that we are in need of assistance.

So let's consider prayer this morning. Prayer. What is prayer? First of all, what is prayer?

And it's important that we know as we're defining prayer here, the importance of prayer ought to be a no brainer for the

Christian. You may be in the dark, so to speak, when it comes to eschatological positions.

You may be in the dark when it comes to covenant frameworks for understanding the Old and the New Testament. But you should never,

Christian, be so ignorant to misunderstand the importance of prayer. Prayer is our life as believers.

For it is in prayer that we speak to the living and the true God. J .C.

Ryle said prayer should always interest the Christian. Prayer is the very life breath of Christianity.

Here it is, Ryle said this, here it is, that true religion begins. It is with prayer that it flourishes.

And it is with the lack of prayer that it will decay. Neglect of prayer is the sure road to a fall.

So who should be a praying people, as another question, who should be a praying people? Before we answer and define what is prayer, who should be a praying people?

God's people should be a praying people. The church of the living God should be a place where we pray not only that we not we pray not only individually in our closets when we are in at our homes and in our private lives, but we pray corporately when we come together.

And when we pray, we are seeking the will of God. So what is prayer?

Prayer is this is answered by question 105 in the Children's Catechism.

If you remember that from last year, what is prayer? Prayer is asking God for the things which he has promised to give.

Prayer is asking God for the things that he has promised to give. So how often should we pray?

The short answer for how often we should pray is always. A .L

.W .A .Y .S. Period or exclamation mark, not question mark, but always pray always.

This is what we learn from the scriptures. Let us take care that we use the our master's remedy if we want comfort in our affliction, whatever other means of relief we use.

Ryle said this. Let us pray. The first friend that we should turn to should be

God. It should not be our intellect. It should not be the

Google machine. It should be God. And I'll go so far as to say this, husbands and wives, the first friend that you turn to should be

God. Daughters and mothers, the first friend that you turn to should be

God. God has given us one another as members of individual families and as the body of Christ as a whole to lean upon, to trust in one another, to hold to one another, to encourage one another.

But our great and best defense is to go to God. For the scripture says the name of the

Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and are saved.

The first message that we should send should be to the throne of grace.

And we can see this demonstrated throughout the scriptures. Let's go first to Luke chapter 18 this morning.

Luke chapter 18, just three chapters back from where we are. Luke chapter 18 verses one through seven.

We see the importance of prayer here. The scripture says this. And he told them a parable to the effect that they are always to pray and to not lose heart.

He said in a certain city, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.

And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, give me justice against my adversary.

And for a while he refused. But afterward, he said to himself, though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me,

I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.

And the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says and will not

God give justice to his elect who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?

What Jesus was doing here was giving the natural example of somebody being worn down.

Like, for example, when your child comes to you repeatedly, mom, dad, can

I do this? Can I have that? No, mom, dad, can I? No, mom, dad, you get the picture, right?

And by the end of the day, you've twisted your hair out of your head, right?

You're stressed out and they come and they say, mom, dad, yes, just because you're beat down.

Naturally speaking, that's a natural thing that happens, but what Jesus is saying is that God the

Father is not like that. God loves his children. He is not worn out to him.

He knows that we are not able to have. He knows that we stand in need of him.

We live. Pray, as was Jesus custom in Colossians chapter one, verses three through six, the apostle

Paul writing to the church at Colossae concerning prayer said this, we always thank

God and he identifies who he's speaking about.

We always thank God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we always thank

God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. When? When we pray for you.

Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you had for all the saints because of the hope laid up for you in heaven of this, you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you as indeed in the whole world.

It is bearing fruit and it's increasing as it also does among you since the day you heard it and understand the grace of God and truth.

When should we pray? Always. For whom should we pray? For one another, we should pray for one another.

Second Thessalonians chapter one. Verses 11 and 12, the word of God says this to this end, we always pray for you.

What do we pray that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith?

How? By his power. So that the name of our

Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him according to the grace of our

God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Prayer, as was discussed in Sunday school this morning, prayer is not about getting

God to align with us or getting God's will to align with our will, but it's about our will aligning to the will of God.

Going on, Aaron Case, pray for him weekly. Pastor Dunn at Eaton Chapel, he said this,

I'm going to quote him today. He said many times when a tragedy strikes, it ends up being an opportunity for many to mock prayer, saying how useless it is and what a waste of time it is.

Aaron said this, I think what that shows is a fundamental misunderstanding of what prayer is designed to do.

Prayer is not to bend God to do our will. Instead, it's quite the opposite.

It's to mold our will to his will. So we see this going on, verse 40, again, what did

Jesus say back in Luke 22 here? Verse 40, we see the word of the living

God says this, when he came to the place, when he came to the place that he was want to make prayer that he regularly prayed at, the scripture says he said to them, them are

Peter, James and John. These are the three disciples that he took with him. If you read the

Synoptic Gospels accounts, you read Matthew and Mark, you'll see that he took Matthew, Mark and John with him, or I'm sorry, and James, John and Peter, James, John and Peter, my fault,

James, John and Peter. But he said this, pray and pray to this end.

He gave specific instruction about what they were to pray. Notice that he didn't just say pray whatever's on your mind.

He said, pray to this end that you enter not into temptation.

Pray that you enter not into temptation. The word used here in the text in verse 40, pray, the

Greek word prosukamai, it means simply this, to offer prayers.

It is an intentional offering of prayers to God. It is not something that happens magically.

It is something that the Christian, that you, the individual believer, intentionally and willfully set out to do.

Now, how are we to pray for the things that we ought to pray? We have to read the word of God. We have to know what

God's word says so that we pray according to his will. That doesn't mean that we're not allowed to ask for things that we want, but know this, that the things that we want do not override the will of God.

So, Matthew chapter 6, Matthew chapter 6, verse 7 through 13,

Jacob talked about this in Sunday school. He brought this up in Sunday school. When you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the

Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him.

Pray then like this, our father, which is in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, when or where on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

So there was already instruction given to them. So this was not a random phrase.

Jesus had already taught them that they would not be led into temptation.

So Jesus is simply reminding them of something he has already communicated to him.

Now, how much can we identify with that? I would say a great deal.

We hear things so much. We sit in church week after week, the Sunday school week after week, class week after week, and you hear the truth of the scriptures spoken, taught and communicated.

And it just goes over your head. And then all of a sudden there's an event that takes place in your life.

The same scripture is brought to light and it's like, I've heard that somewhere before.

Oh, yeah, that was in the Bible, right? It's there for us.

It's there for us. We ought to be familiar with it. William Grinnell, one of the old

Puritans, said this concerning prayer. He said, ordinary prayer is the saint's food.

Ordinary prayer is the saint's food. He can as little miss the constant returns of it as his usual meals.

Do you need prayer like you need food? Amen, Shirley, amen.

Do I need prayer more than I need ice cream? Amen. Yes. Do you need prayer more than you need

Dr. Pepper? Yes. You need prayer more than coffee.

We need prayer. Grinnell called it ordinary prayer is the saint's food. But he said this, extraordinary prayer is his physic.

Now, that was an old term for medicine. Extraordinary prayer is the saint's physic.

It's the saint's medicine to clear and discharge the soul of all those dis -tippers which it contracts.

And it cannot conquer by the use of ordinary means as also to advance and heighten the

Christian graces into a farther degree of strength and activity.

We see this demonstrated in 1 John chapter 1, verse 9 and 10.

If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And if we say that we have no sin, the truth of God is not in us and we make him a liar. But you see this, the extraordinary prayer is medicine for the soul, for it cleanses us.

It brings us back into that right relationship that is severed and separated by sin sometimes.

The Old Testament, again, you all, I mean, Sunday school, I was like, I was just ready to hit the lead on this sermon, on my notes, because you all were all over it in Sunday school.

But we need the Old and the New Testament examples concerning prayer. Let's go to the

Old Testament, Genesis chapter 28, verse 10. Genesis chapter 28, verse 10 through 21.

Jacob has just stolen the blessing out from under Esau and yet because he is one whom

God is going to make, who's going to change, who's going to regenerate, who's going to make a new creature, makes him from a supplanter and calls him a prince later on.

But this is what we read. Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran and he came to a certain place and he stayed there that night because the sun had set.

Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and he lay it down in that place to sleep and he dreamed and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven.

And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said,

I am the Lord, the God of Abraham, your father and the God of Isaac, the land on which you lie,

I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south and in you and in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

Let me make a side note here. It wasn't because of anything that Jacob had done. It was because God was being faithful to the covenant that he had already declared and made going on.

Behold, I am with you and I will keep you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what

I have promised to you. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and this is what he said.

Surely the Lord is in this place. And I did not know it. And he was afraid. And he said, how awesome is this place?

This is none other than the house of God. And this is the gate of heaven.

So early in the morning, Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.

And he called the name of that place Bethel. But the name of the city was Luz at the first.

Then Jacob made a vow saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the

Lord shall be my God. That very last vow that Jacob made.

We see much. You could almost lay that right over the Lord's prayer. What was

Jacob seeking when he made this vow? He was asking God to provide for him the things that he needed.

He was trusting. He was relying in the Lord. He is God. And then he said, when

I so that I come again to my father's house in peace, he was depending on God to be the deliverer.

He was depending on God to bring him to where he appointed him to be.

And I've got good news. Thanks. God has promised that he has gone to prepare a place for you.

And he said to the disciples, where I am there, you may be also. And if I go away,

Jesus said, I will come again and I will receive you unto myself. Amen.

And they said, Lord, how can we know the way? Jesus said, hang on a minute, let me make it plain.

I am the way. I am the truth and I am the life.

Where do I go to the Lord? I look under the hills from which my help comes from.

The psalmist declared and cried, look unto the Lord. The New Testament example of prayer as we move to a close here, the

New Testament example of prayer can be found in Matthew chapter 8, verse 5 through 13.

Matthew chapter 8, verse 5 through 13. This is what the scripture says here.

When he entered into Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him.

What was this centurion doing? Beseeching God. Prayer. He was praying.

Who was he praying to? The Lord. Who should you pray to? The Lord.

He said, Lord, my servant is paralyzed at home and suffering terribly.

And he said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion replied, Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed.

For I, too, am a man under authority with soldiers under me.

And I say to one, go. And he goes into another come and he comes into my servant.

Do this. And he does it. And when Jesus heard this, he marveled.

This was a Roman centurion. He marveled and he said, I have not found such faith in Israel.

I tell you, many will come from the east and many will come from the west and they will recline at table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom, this world will be thrown into outer darkness.

In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And to the centurion, Jesus said this, go, let it be done for you as you have believed.

And the servant was healed at that very moment. This centurion's approach to prayer was not an approach of pride or arrogance or demanding.

If you are Hannah, probably can recognize this. She's she's getting beyond. She's in the young adult phase of life.

But did you ever want something when you were a child, maybe just a couple of years ago and you go to your mom and your dad and you say.

I want you to give me this. Have you ever done that? Did that go over good for you?

No. And we all probably have been there, right? You know that when you get beyond two or three years old, like little

John back there, that looking up at mom and daddy with the cute eyes or even pitching a fit, don't get you anywhere.

That is not the approach that we take to the Lord. When we come before God, we are to come humble, humble, understanding that God is a gift to us.

And so this centurion comes with humility to Christ and he asks

Christ, he beseeches Christ, he prays to Christ. In Hebrews chapter four,

Hebrews chapter four, verse 14 through 16, we have this fully demonstrated, explained, shown forth plainly in the text.

Hebrews chapter four, verse 14 through 16. The scripture says since then, we have a great high priest who is passed through the heavens.

Jesus, the son of God, he said, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted as we are, yet he is without sin.

He is without sin. Let us then, or as a, as a result of what you just heard, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy, that we may receive mercy.

Boy, girl, man, woman, you need the mercy of God. If he gives you

God, it's that Jesus took the wrath of God for you, that he died on the cross, he hung there and the skies went black.

He took upon himself the wrath of God and then he hung himself or he hung his head and he gave up the ghost and he cried out those words.

It is finished. It is done.

It is complete. It is paid. There's nothing left.

And the scripture says he died. And the scripture tells us that they took his body down off that cross and they put his body in a borrowed tomb, in Joseph of Arimathea's tomb, to be precise.

And the scripture tells us that at three days, after three days, as we heard in the song, and we read it in the text of the scripture itself, three days, there was a great earthquake, the stone rolled away, the guards stood there as dead men, the

Bible says they fell down as dead men, the disciples came to the tomb and one of them had to be one of the most beautiful typifications of the mercy of God.

The mercy seat that any human being has ever seen. I mean, the priest got to go into the

Holy of Holies one time a year. It was dark in there at that, sprinkling blood on the mercy seat, maybe just catching shadows of it.

But the scripture says that when the disciples came to the tomb, that they found two angels, one gospel writer says this, one at the feet of the body of where Jesus had lain, and one at the head of the body where Jesus had lain.

Just as the mercy seat was built, one on the other side, its wings outstretched. And they said, why do you seek the living among the dead?

Because he is not here. He is risen.

He is alive. So the old song says this in the last verse, into the garden,

Jesus went to pray until his sweat became his blood.

They say, ringing the prayer bell there in agony, bringing sight, be free.

Prayer bells, they ring, the basis they keep ringing, bearing our message unto

Jesus, the King. When you are burdened down with trouble and care, ring on and on, for God will answer your every prayer.

Psalm says this, Psalm 28, the psalmist cries this, to you,

O Lord, I call, my rock, be not deaf to me.

Lest if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy when I cry to you for help, when

I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts.

Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds. Give to them according to the work of their hands, render them their due reward.

Because they do not regard the works of the Lord or the works of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more.

Blessed be the Lord, for he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

The Lord is my strength, and the Lord is my shield, and in him my heart trusts, and I am helped.

My heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.

The Lord is the strength of his people. He is the saving refuge of his anointed.

O save your people and bless your heritage. Be their shepherd and carry them forever more.

Stand with us, if you would, this morning. What is prayer? Prayer is asking

God for that which he has promised to give. Prayer in our day and time is looked at as some kind of a magic key or some kind of magic formula.

You got to get it just right, but prayer is making your supplication made known to God.

It is speaking to the Lord of glory. And some may say,

I don't know what to pray. I don't know what to ask. I don't know where I should start.

Well, if you start with this understanding that you're to pray for what God has promised to give you, you need to know this, what

God has promised to give you. I don't want to misquote this to you, because this very likely could be the most important word that you'll hear in your entire life.

In Romans chapter 10, the Apostle Paul says this in verse 8.

But what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart.

That is the word of faith which we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is

Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart, one believes and is justified. And with the mouth, one confesses and is saved.

For the scripture says, everyone, the scripture says, notice what Paul said there. The scripture says,

God said it. The scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord is

Lord over all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.

What does God say? For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

What must be, what ought to be the first prayer of the sinner? It must be,

Lord, please save me. God, please help me.

God, take me, I'm yours. And then, guess what?

From there, you're justified. From there, you're adopted.

From there, you're sanctified, being sanctified continuously over and over and over again until one day after it's over, you will be glorified.