Title: Striving Together
Text: Rom 15: 30-33
Date: July 26, 2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
Romans 15: 30: Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord
Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together
with me in your prayers to God for me; 31: That I may be delivered from
them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for
Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; 32: That I may come unto you with joy
by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.
One of the greatest privileges a believer has is to
approach God’s throne of grace. The
price to give us that admission is amazing.
Christ is the new and living way into the holiest of holies. This new way has been consecrated for us by
his blood by him laying down his life for his people. Our risen Redeemer is our High Priest with
God. He has washed us in his blood,
washed us in regeneration—made us righteous and holy—so now we are accepted in
the holiest of holies into God’s presence in prayer. Amazing!
How precious, and how comforting, for a believer to know
that his brethren pray for him. Paul
knew he would face many dangers at Jerusalem and in his travels to Rome. Paul says, “I beseech you, brethren”—he
entreats them strongly. “He beseeches
them as brethren” chosen by the same Father, quickened by the same Spirit, redeemed
by the same Savior. Brethren one
unbreakable bond.
Proposition: By
the Spirit of God believers strive together in prayer for the glory of Christ
and the good of his church.
Subject: Striving
Together
Divisions: 1)
Our chief motive 2) The manner 3) The essence of our requests
THE MOTIVE OF PRAYER
Romans 15: 30: Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord
Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit…
The chief motive in prayer is “for the Lord Jesus
Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit.”
The preeminent motive in prayer is “for the Lord Jesus
Christ’s sake.” Paul was Christ’s servant. It was Christ’s Gospel that he preached. He wanted Christ glorified. Christ receives the glory for sending the
gospel. Christ is the message we
preach. He entered covenant for his
people. He redeemed his people. Christ gives boldness to preach. Paul often asked for boldness to preach
Christ crucified as he ought to preach.
We declare Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone who believes. We declare
Christ is the Righteousness of every believer and the Holiness of those in whom
he dwells. We declare it is
Christ reigning and ruling on his throne above.
Paul wanted to see
Christ glorified in calling out his lost sheep through Paul’s preaching. Christ is our Life. He sends forth the Holy Spirit to regenerate
dead sinners. Christ grants repentance
and faith—a sinner cannot generate it. Christ
calls out his lost sheep through the gospel and receives all the glory.
Therefore, Christ is our chief motive in prayer because we
owe Christ everything. God the Father
loves his people with an everlasting love because he loves us in Christ the
Beloved. We were dead in sins, ignorant
of spiritual things. We could not and
would not receive them. But now, Christ
is our Wisdom to know whom we have believed.
By him we know he is able to keep that which we have committed unto him
against that day. Our redemption from
the curse of the law is Christ our Redeemer.
Christ is the constraint of our hearts
Christ’s yoke of faith and love is so much lighter and so
much stronger than the law. Every joy
and every comfort are in Christ. It is
Christ the Word, Christ the Life, that makes the written word life and comfort
to us. Even our access to the throne of
grace into God’s holy presence is due to Christ our High Priest and his
precious blood that has washed us and made us accepted. So our prayer is not only in Christ’s name,
it is preeminently for Christ’s sake.
2 Thessalonians 3:1: Finally,
brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be
glorified, even as it is with you:
United with that motive is "for the love of the
Spirit.” One, this means for the
Spirit of God who is love and who loves us.
God is love: God the Father is love, God the Son is love, God the Holy
Spirit is love. In love the Holy
Spirit gave us the holy scriptures—"Holy men of old spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost.” In love the Spirit regenerated
us and made us worship in spirit and in truth—"Now we have received, not
the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God.” In love the Spirit convinced us
of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. In
love the Spirit of God is the earnest and pledge of our heavenly inheritance
who sealed us—“grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the
day of redemption.” In love he is the
Spirit of adoption by whom we pray unto God as our Father.
Romans 8:15…ye have received the Spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit of God
gives true prayer. From the first hour
it is the Spirit who gives us life to cry, “Abba, Father.” The Lord told Ananias that he had called Paul
by saying, “Behold he prayeth.” From
the first hour that the Spirit quickens and calls a sinner until the last we are
found casting all our care upon God. It
is due to the love of the Spirit of God toward undeserving, helpless sinners
like us.
Two, “for the love
of the Spirit” means the love he sheds abroad in our heart manifesting the
love of God toward us whereby we love Christ and love one another. Brethren are one by the same Holy Spirit of
God. Scripture teaches that believers in
Christ are bound together in an unbreakable bond of holy love called “the
family of God.” We are of the same
household of faith; members one of another.
We are one with God the Father, one with God the Son, one with God the
Holy Spirit and one with one another. The
love of the Spirit has made us one body, one with Christ.
Ephesians 4: 1: I
therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called, 2: With all lowliness and meekness, with
longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 3: Endeavouring to keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4: There is one body, and one
Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5: One Lord, one
faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father
of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
By the Spirit dwelling in us “charity never faileth!” The love God imparts into a believer’s new
nature is more than natural affection. It
is the supernatural love of the Spirit.
God-given love is how we have true love for Christ and true love for one
another—“the fruit of the Spirit is love.”
Why do you suppose at unexpected times, one of your
brethren comes to mind and you are moved to pray for them? The love of the Spirit constrains us with true
love for one another. Paul is saying to
them, “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort
of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies” pray for
me (Php 2: 1)
THE MANNER OF PRAYER
Romans 15: 30:
Now I beseech you, brethren,…that ye strive together with me in your prayers to
God for me;
“Strive together” means “agonize as companions”, “agonize
together” with me in your prayers to God for me. The word “strive” is the same as when Christ
was in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Luke 22: 44: And
being in an agony [striving] he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it
were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 45: And when he rose up
from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,…
In the Garden, our Lord
agonized in prayer—“with strong crying and tears.” The first Adam was made sin a garden; perhaps
this is where the last Adam began to bear the sin of his people. He knew no sin. But he was touched with the feeling of our sinful
infirmities—"the spirit is will but the flesh is weak.” It was such a burden. He sweat as it were great drops of blood. So the Father sent an angel to strengthen him. But while he agonized earnestly in prayer his
apostles slept for sorrow. They could
not watch and pray with him for one hour.
He must tread the winepress alone.
But our Substitute suffered
alone so that his people do not have to suffer alone. Christ purchased his people and the covenant
promise to send forth the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He sends the Holy Spirit to turn us to him in
prayer in time of need. He causes our
brethren to turn to him and agonize with us in prayer by making us suffer together. And “the Spirit helpeth our infirmities
because we know not what to pray for as we ought.”
Brethren, this word “strive
together” “agonize together” is what the Spirit makes us do by
making us put ourselves in the shoes of our suffering brethren. He makes us empathize and pity a brother who
suffers. That brother is one with you and
you feel their suffering. When a brother
is under a heavy load it hurts like when one member in your physical body
suffers.
1 Corinthians 12: 24…God
hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part
which lacked: 25: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the
members should have the same care one for another.26: And whether one member
suffer, all the members suffer with it;
Notice, Paul was not
present. They were not together in a
prayer meeting. Still the Spirit of God makes
each of us, no matter how far apart—"strive together”—agonize together
for our suffering brethren. Prayer,
especially “striving together”, is of the Spirit of God. So many preachers hold Jacob up as mighty in
prayer. They say he strove with Christ
and wrestled Christ until Christ gave Jacob the blessing. No, Christ saw Jacob prevailed not because Jacob
was wrestling in his own strength. So
Christ touched the hollow of his thigh.
Then the only thing Jacob could do was cry and beg the Lord Jesus for
mercy—that is how scripture says Jacob prevailed with Christ.
Hosea 12:4: Yea, he
had power [with] the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto
him:…
THE ESSENCE OF PRAYER
Romans 15: 31: That I may be delivered from them that do
not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be
accepted of the saints; 32: That I may come unto you with joy by the will of
God, and may with you be refreshed.
The essence of prayer is submission to God. Paul asked for three specific things here—"let
your requests be made known to God.” When
I pray for you I try to be specific: I call you by name and ask specific requests
according to your needs. But in each request
Paul submitted to God—that “I “may” “by the will of God.” The word “can” speaks of ability, the word
“may” asks permission. Paul knows that
he is under the authority of Christ Jesus the Lord. Therefore he asks that he “may by the will
of God” do these things.
From eternity God
already purposed and predestinated each and everything thing he does. Why then
do we pray?
Ezekiel 36: 36…I the
LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. 37: Thus saith the Lord
GOD; I will yet for this be
enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
Prayer is dependence upon God. Prayer is trusting God to do what is right
and best according to his will. True
prayer is from a spirit of submission to God.
True prayer is not a believer persuading God to do our will but true prayer
is God turning the believer to surrender to God’s will.
1 John 5: 14: And
this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according
to his will, he heareth us: 15: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we
ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
It was God’s will to do everything Paul and his brethren
prayed for. But not in the way they
expected or wanted. God did it his way. And his way is the right way. The purpose of prayer is to keep his saints
ever acknowledging that we depend upon God for every gift of his grace and
every step in providence.
Amen!