Great Prayers to a Great Christ

A quote from EM Bounds via Jeff Haavisto this morning - may we ask great things from a great Christ for His great
purposes!

The faith which creates powerful praying is the faith which centers itself on a powerful Person. Faith in Christ's ability to do and to do greatly, is the faith which prays greatly. Thus the leper lay hold upon the power of Christ. "Lord, if Thou wilt," he cried, "Thou canst make me clean." In this instance, we are shown how faith centered in Christ's ability to do, and how it secured the healing power.

Taken from the book The Essentials of Prayer by E.M. Bounds 1835-1913

Thy Kingdom Come!

This past Sunday I spoke on prayer from the Lord’s prayer, Mt. 6:9-13. (You can check out the message here.) Our Savior instructs us to pray,

“Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.”

I was struck by the audacity of this request! Certainly it pertains to the return of the King at the end of this age and his consummation of all that he has been commissioned to accomplish. But, it also relates to this current age where the kingdom has already come and is growing, though not yet complete.

Have you ever thought about how much our view of the kingdom affects your Christian life? If you think the kingdom is not here until the end or the church is merely surviving until Jesus comes back than you will tend to be defensive in your posture and perhaps even to seclude yourselves from greater society, hoping you can preserve some remnant of Christian goodness in a world gone mad. You will tend to think more about the glory days of old rather than what God would do in our generation. You might find yourselves pining for the glory days of the Great Awakening instead of expecting a glorious Great Awakening for your own days.

I think scripture paints a very different picture of the church age and the kingdom’s expansion in this age. Check out Daniel 2:44, Mk. 1:15, Mk. 4:30-34, Luke 11:20, 13:18-21, 17:20-21 among many others. The kingdom has come and is to be ever-expanding. Yes, this will be amidst suffering and persecution but, in the midst of this he will build his church and his church will overwhelm the gates of hell and not be subject to them. The gospel will go to every nation as Jesus promised and it will bear fruit everywhere it goes as in the book of Acts!

If we believe the kingdom has come and is to be ever growing. And if we believe the gospel is to go to all nations drawing many into the kingdom before the end. Then we will posture ourselves aggressively and in faith in our outreach and evangelism. Perhaps our God would be pleased to duplicate here what has gone on in Korea over the past generation. In one generation Christianity in South Korea went from 1 million believers to 45 million believers – that is 1/3 the population - doubling in number every decade from 1960 to 2000[1]!

Isn’t that fantastic! Can not our God do the same here in New England? Scripture teaches us to pray for this.

Thy Kingdom Come O Lord! Whatever it takes O God! Thy Kingdom Come in New England in our generation, through our lives and through your beloved church to your great reknown for this is none like You! Thy Kingdom Come!

[1] Andrew E. Kim , History of Christianity in Korea: From Its Troubled Beginning to Its Contemporary Success, http://www.kimsoft.com/1997/xhist.htm

Preach the Word!

We are in a series as a church entitled, "Walking with God Along Pathways of Grace" or, "Pathways of Grace" for short. We have been talking about the importance, blessing and function of the word of God in the life of a believer and the church.

This past Sunday I preached from 2 Tim 3 & 4 on the importance of the preached word. You can check out the message on our web site here.

Three quotes describe the vital relationship between a healthy congregation and the preacher of the word – check these out from Calvin and then about Spurgeon:

"Now the fact is that it [the church] cannot be built up, that is to say, it cannot be brought to soundness, or continue in a good state, except by means of the preaching of the Word. So then, if we earnestly desire that God should be honored and served, and that our Lord should have his royal seat among us peaceably, to reign in the midst of us, if we are his people and are under his protection, if we covet to be built up in him and to be joined to him, and to be steadfast in him to the end; to be short, if we desire our salvation, we must learn to be humble learners in receiving the doctrine of the gospel and in hearkening to the pastors that are sent to us."[1]

"A group of American clergy traveled to England in the nineteenth century to hear the great Charles Spurgeon preach and to tour his church’s facilities. After showing them through the massive sanctuary and remarkable buildings, Spurgeon asked whether they would like to see the "boiler room." The visitors politely declined, but the pastor insisted. He then led them to the church’s basement, where they found a hundred people on their faces in prayer. 'This,' Spurgeon said with a smile, 'is my boiler room.' "[2]

"When people asked the secret of his success, Spurgeon replied, 'My people pray for me.' " [3]

May God bless his under-shepherds as they preach his word to God’s people and may God’s people pray for the preachers that together we be built up for His glory and our good and the salvation of the lost around us!

God Bless, Paul


[1] John Calvin, (Sermons on Ephesians, Banner of Truth, 1973, p.374).
[2] Dr. Jim Denison, Pastor, Park Cities Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, “Studies in 2 Corinthians: Taking Ministry Personally” at http://www.bgct.org/TexasBaptists/Document.Doc?&id=1134
[3] Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The Greatest Victorian Preacher, By William P. Farley