The Preparatory Prayers of Christ

The Preparatory Prayers of Christ

(No. 3178)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30TH, 1909,

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST
7, 1873.

"Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus,
also being baptized, and praying, the Heaven was opened, and the Holy
Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice
came from Heaven, which said, You are My Beloved Son, in You I am well
pleased." Luke 3:21,22.

"And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to
pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, He
called unto Him, His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also
He named Apostles."

Luke 6:12,13.

"And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, He took
Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as
He prayed, the fashion of His Countenance was altered, and His raiment
was white and glistening."

Luke 9:28,29.

"And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain
apart to pray: and when the evening

was come, He was there alone. But the boat was now in the midst of the
sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth
watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea."

Matthew 14:23-25.

"Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead were laid.
And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You
have heard Me. And I know that You hear Me always: but because of the
people here, I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me."

John 11:41,42.

"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have
you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for you, that
your faith fail not: and when you are converted, strengthen your
brethren."

Luke 22:31,32.

"And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He sad, Father, into Your
hands I commend My spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost."

Luke 23:46.

THERE is one peculiarity about the life of our Lord Jesus Christ which
everybody must have noticed who has carefully read the four Gospels,
namely, that He was a Man of much prayer. He was mighty as a Preacher,
for even the officers who were sent to arrest Him said, "Never man
spoke like this Man." But He appears to have been even mightier in
prayer, if such a thing could be possible! We do not read that His
disciples ever asked Him to teach them to preach, but we are told that,
"as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His
disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray." He had no doubt been
praying with such amazing fervor that His disciples realized that He
was a master of the holy art of prayer and they, therefore, desired to
learn the secret for themselves. The whole life of our Lord Jesus
Christ was one of prayer. Though we are often told about His praying,
we feel that we scarcely need to be informed of it, for we know that He
must have been a Man of prayer. His acts are the acts of a prayerful
Man. His words speak to us like the

words of One whose heart was constantly lifted up in prayer to His
Father. You could not imagine that He would have breathed out such
blessings upon men if He had not first breathed in the atmosphere of
Heaven! He must have been much in prayer or He could not have been so
abundant in service and so gracious in sympathy.

Prayer seems to be like a silver thread running through the whole of
our Savior's life and we have the record of His prayers on many special
occasions. It struck me that it would be both interesting and
instructive for us to notice some of the seasons which Jesus spent in
prayer. I have selected a few which occurred either before some great
work or some great suffering, so our subject will really be the
preparatory prayers of Christ–the prayers of Christ as He was
approaching something which would put a peculiar stress and strain upon
His Manhood, either for service or for suffering. And if the
consideration of this subject shall lead all of us to learn the
practical lesson of praying at all times–and yet to have special
seasons for prayer just before any peculiar trial or unusual
service–we shall not have met in vain!

I. The first prayer we are to consider is OUR LORD'S PRAYER IN
PREPARATION FOR HIS BAPTISM. It is in Luke 3:21, 22–"Now when all the
people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus, also being baptized,
and praying," (it seems to have been a continuous act in which He had
been previously occupied), "the Heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit
descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from
Heaven, which said, You are My Beloved Son, in You I am well pleased."

The Baptism of our Lord was the commencement of His manifestation to
the sons of men. He was now about to take upon Himself in full all the
works of His Messiahship and, consequently, we find Him very specially
engaged in prayer. And, Beloved, it seems to me to be peculiarly
appropriate that when any of us have been converted and are about to
make a Scriptural profession of our faith–about to take up the
soldier's life under the great Captain of our salvation–about to start
out as pilgrims to Zion's city–I say that it seems to me to be
peculiarly appropriate for us to spend much time in very special
prayer! I would be very sorry to think that anyone would venture to
come to be baptized, or to be united with a Christian Church without
having made that action a matter of much solemn consideration and
earnest prayer. But when the decisive step is about to be taken, our
whole being should be very specially concentrated upon our supplication
at the Throne of Grace.

Of course we do not believe in any sacramental efficacy attaching to
the observance of the ordinance, but we receive a special blessing in
the act, itself, because we are moved to pray even more than usual
before it takes place and at the time. At all events, I know that it
was so in my own case. It was many years ago, but the remembrance of it
is very vivid at this moment and it seems to me as though it only
happened yesterday! It was in the month of May and I rose very early in
the morning so that I might have a long time in private prayer. Then I
had to walk about eight miles, from Newmarket to Isleham, where I was
to be baptized in the river. I think that the blessing I received that
day resulted largely from that season of solitary supplication and my
meditation, as I walked along the country roads and lanes, upon my
indebtedness to my Savior and my desire to live to His praise and
Glory. Dear young people, take care that you start right in your
Christian life by being much in prayer! A profession of faith that does
not begin with prayer will end in disgrace. If you come to join the
Church, but do not pray to God to uphold you in consistency of life,
and to make your profession sincere, the probability is that you are
already a hypocrite! Or if that is too uncharitable a suggestion, the
probability is that if you are converted, the work has been of a very
superficial character and not of that deep and earnest kind of which
prayer would be the certain index. So again I say to you that if any of
you are thinking of making a profession of your faith in Christ, be
sure, then, in preparation for it, you devote a special season to
drawing near to God in prayer.

As I read the first text, no doubt you noticed that it was while Christ
was praying that, "the Heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended
in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven,
which said, You are My Beloved Son, in You I am well pleased." There
are three occasions of which we read in Scripture when God bore audible
testimony to Christ And on each of these three occasions He was either
in the act of prayer or He had been praying but a very short time
before. Christ's prayer is especially mentioned in each instance side
by side with the witness of His Father–and if you, beloved Friends,
want to have the witness of God either at your Baptism or on any
subsequent act of your life–you must obtain it by prayer! The Holy
Spirit never sets His seal to a prayerless religion! It has not in it
that of which He can approve. It must be truly said of a man, "Behold,
he prays," before the Lord bears such testimony concerning him as He
bore concerning Saul of Tarsus, "He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear
My name before the Gentiles."

So we find that it was while Christ was praying at His Baptism that the
Holy Spirit came upon Him, "in a bodily shape like a dove," to qualify
Him for His public service! And it is through prayer that we, also,
receive that spiritual enrichment that equips us as co-workers together
with God. Without prayer you will remain in a region that is desolate
as a desert! But bend your knees in supplication to the Most High and
you have reached the land of promise, the country of benediction! "Draw
near to God, and He will draw near to you," not merely as to His
gracious Presence, but as to the powerful and efficacious working of
the Holy Spirit! More prayer–more power! The more pleading with God
that there is, the more power will there be in pleading with men, for
the Holy Spirit will come upon us while we are pleading and so we shall
be fitted and qualified to do the work to which we are called of God!

Let us learn, then, from this first instance of our Savior's
preparatory prayer at His Baptism, the necessity of special
supplication on our part in similar circumstances. If we are making our
first public profession of faith in Him, or if we are renewing that
profession. If we are moving to another sphere of service, if we are
taking office in the Church as deacons or elders, if we are commencing
the work of the pastorate. If we are in any way coming out more
distinctly before the world as the servants of Christ, let us set apart
special seasons for prayer–and so seek a double portion of the Holy
Spirit's blessing to rest upon us!

II. The second instance of the preparatory prayers of Christ which we
are to consider is OUR LORD'S PRAYER PREPARATORY TO CHOOSING HIS TWELVE
APOSTLES. It is recorded in Luke 6:12, 13–"And it came to pass in
those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all
night in prayer to God. [See Sermon #798, Volume

14–SPECIAL PROTRACTED PRAYER.] And when it was day, He called

unto Him, His disciples: and of them He chose twelve, whom also He
named Apostles."

Our Lord was about to extend His ministry. His one tongue, His one
voice might have delivered His personal message throughout Palestine,
but He was desirous of having far more done than He could individually
accomplish in the brief period of His public ministry upon earth. He
would therefore have 12 Apostles and afterwards 70 disciples who would
go forth in His name and proclaim the glad tidings of salvation. He was
infinitely wiser than the wisest of mere men, so why did He not at once
select His 12 Apostles? The men had been with Him from the beginning
and He knew their characters and their fitness for the work He was
about to entrust to them, so He might have said to Himself, "I will
have James, John, Peter and the rest of the twelve, and send them forth
to preach that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and to exercise the
miraculous powers with which I will endow them." He might have done
this if He had not been the Christ of God–but being the Anointed of
the Father, He would not take such an important step as that without
long continued prayer. So He went alone to His Father, told Him all
that He desired to do and pleaded with Him, not in the brief fashion
that we call prayer which usually lasts only a few minutes–but His
pleading lasted through an entire night!

What our Lord asked for, or how He prayed, we cannot tell, for it is
not revealed to us. But I think we shall not be guilty of vain or
unwarranted curiosity if we use our imagination for a minute or two. In
doing so, with the utmost reverence, I think I hear Christ crying to
His Father whom the right men might be selected as the leaders of the
Church of God upon the earth. I think I also hear Him pleading that
upon these chosen men a Divine influence might rest, that they might be
kept in character, honest in heart and holy in life–and that they
might also be preserved in sound Doctrine and not turn aside to error
and falsehood. Then I think I hear Him praying that success might
attend their preaching. That they might be guided where to go, where
the blessing of God would go with them and that they might find many
hearts willing to receive their testimony. And that when their personal
ministry should end, they might pass on their commission to others so
that as long as there should be a harvest to be reaped for the Lord,
there should be laborers to reap it–as long as there should be lost
sinners in the world, there would also be earnest, consecrated men and
women seeking to pluck the brands from the burning. I will not attempt
to describe the mighty wrestling of that night of prayer when, in
strong cries and tears, Christ poured out His very soul into His
Father's ear and heart! But it is clear that He would not dispatch a
solitary messenger with the glad tidings of the Gospel unless He was
assured that His Father's authority and the Spirit's power would
accompany the servants whom He was about to send forth.

What a lesson there is in all this to us! What Infallible Guidance
there is here as to how a missionary society should be conducted! Where
there is one committee meeting for business, there ought to be 50 for
prayer! Whenever we get a missionary society whose main business it is
to pray, we shall have a society whose distinguishing characteristic
will be that it is the means of saving a multitude of souls! And to
you, my dear young Brothers in the College, I feel moved to say that I
believe we shall have a far larger blessing than we have already had
when the spirit of prayer in the College is greater than it now is,
though I rejoice to know that it is very deep and fervent even now!
You, Brothers, have never been lacking in prayerfulness. I thank God
that I have never had occasion to complain or to grieve on that
account, but still, who knows what blessing might follow a night of
prayer at the beginning or at any part of the session–or an all-night
wrestling in prayer in the privacy of your own bedrooms? Then, when you
go out to preach the Gospel on the Sabbath, you will find that the best
preparation for preaching is much praying! I have always found that the
meaning of a text can be better learned by prayer than in any other
way. Of course we must consult lexicons and commentaries to see the
literal meaning of the words and their relation to one another–but
when we have done all that, we shall still find that our greatest help
will come from prayer! Oh, that every Christian enterprise were
commenced with prayer, continued with prayer and crowned with prayer!
Then might we, also, expect to see it crowned with God's blessing!

So once again I remind you that our Savior's example teaches us that
for seasons of special service, we need not only prayers of a brief
character, excellent as they are for ordinary occasions, but special
protracted wrestling with God like that of Jacob at the Brook Jabbok,
so that each one of us can say to the Lord, with holy determination–

" With You all night I mean to stay,

And wrestle till the break of day." When such sacred persistence in
prayer as this becomes common throughout the whole Church of Christ,
Satan's long usurpation will be coming to an end and we shall be able
to say to our Lord, as the 70 disciples did when they returned to Him
with joy, "Even the devils are subject unto us through Your name!"

III. Now, thirdly, let us consider OUR LORD'S PRAYER PREPARATORY TO HIS
TRANSFIGURATION. You will find it in Luke 9:28, 29–"And it came to
pass about eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and
James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the
fashion of His Countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and
glistening." You see that it was as He prayed that He was transfigured.

Now, Beloved, do you really desire to reach the highest possible
attainments of the Christian life? Do you, in your inmost soul, pine
and pant after the choicest joys that can be known by human beings this
side of Heaven? Do you aspire to rise to full fellowship with the Lord
Jesus Christ and to be transformed into His image from glory to glory?
If so, the way is open to you! It is the way of prayer–only there will
you find these priceless blessings! If you fail in prayer, you will
assuredly never come to Tabor's top! There is no hope, dear Friends, of
our ever attaining to anything like a transfiguration and being covered
with the Light of God so that whether in the body or out of the body we
cannot tell, unless we are much in prayer!

I believe that we make more real advance in the Divine Life in an hour
of prayer than we do in a month of hearing sermons. I do not mean that
we are to neglect the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner
of some is, but I am sure that without the praying, the hearing is of
little worth! We must pray. We must plead with God if we are to really
grow spiritually. In prayer, very much of our spiritual digestion is
done. When we are hearing the Word, we are very much like the cattle
when they are cropping the grass–but when we follow our hearing with
meditation and prayer, we do, as it were, lie down in the green
pastures–and get the rich nutriment for our souls out of the Truth of
God. My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, would you shake off the
earthliness that still clings to you? Would you get rid of your doubts
and your fears? Would you overcome your worldliness? Would you master
all your besetting sins? Would you glow and glisten in the brightness
and Glory of the holiness of God? Then be much in prayer, as Jesus was!
I am sure that it must be so and that, apart from prayer, you will make
no advance in the Divine Life–but that in waiting upon God, you shall
renew your spiritual strength, you shall mount up with wings as eagles,
you shall run and not be weary–you shall walk and not faint!

IV. I must hasten on lest time should fail us before I have finished.
And I must put together two of OUR LORD'S PRAYERS PREPARATORY TO GREAT
MIRACLES.

The first, which preceded His stilling of the tempest on the Lake of
Gennesaret, is recorded in Matthew 14:23-25– "And when He had sent the
multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the
evening was come, He was there alone. But the boat was now in the midst
of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the
fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea." He
had been pleading with His Father for His disciples and then, when
their ship was tossed by the waves, and driven back by the contrary
winds, He came down to

them from the lofty place where He had been praying for them, making a
pathway for Himself across the turbulent waters that He was about to
calm. Before He walked upon those tossing billows, He had prayed to His
Father. Before He stilled the storm, He had prevailed with God in
prayer.

Am I to do any great work for God? Then I must first be mighty upon my
knees! Is there a man here who is to be the means of covering the sky
with clouds and bringing the rain of God's blessing on the dry and
barren Church which so sorely needs reviving and refreshing? Then he
must be prepared for that great work as Elijah was when, on the top of
Carmel, "He cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between
his knees," and prayed as only he could pray! We shall never see a
little cloud like a man's hand, which shall afterwards cover all the
sky with blackness, unless first of all we know how to cry mightily
unto the Most High! But when we have done that, then shall we see what
we desire. Moses would never have been able to control the children of
Israel as he did if he had not first been in communion with his God in
the desert, and afterwards in the mountain. So if we are to be men of
power, we also must be men of prayer!

The other instance to which I want to refer, showing how our Lord
prayed before working a mighty miracle, is when He stood by the grave
of Lazarus. You will find the account of it in John 11:41, 42–"Then
they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And
Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that You have
heard Me. And I know that You hear Me always: but because of the people
here, I said it, that they may believe that You have sent Me." He did
not cry, "Lazarus, come forth," so that the people heard it, and
Lazarus heard it, until first He had prayed, "My Father, grant that
Lazarus may rise from the dead," and had received the assurance that he
would do so as soon as he was called by Christ to come forth from the
grave.

But, Brothers and Sisters, do you not see that if Christ, who was so
strong, needed to pray thus, what need there is for us, who are so
weak, to also pray? If He, who was God as well as Man, prayed to His
Father before He worked a miracle, how necessary it is for us, who are
merely men, to go to the Throne of Grace and plead there with
importunate fervency if we are ever to do anything for God! I fear that
many of us have been feeble out here in public because we have been
feeble out there on the lone mountainside where we ought to have been
in fellowship with God. The way to be fitted to work what men will call
wonders, is to go to the God of Wonders and implore Him to gird us with
His all-sufficient strength so that we may do exploits to His praise
and Glory!

V. The next prayer we are to consider is OUR LORD'S PRAYER PREPARATORY
TO PETER'S FALL. We have the record of that in Luke 22:31, 32–"And the
Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he
may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for you, that your faith fail
not: and when you are converted, strengthen your

brethren." [See Sermons #2620, Volume 45–CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR PETER;
#2034, Volume 34–PETER'S RESTORATION and #2035, Volume 34–PETER AFTER
HIS RESTORATION.]

There is much that is admirable and instructive in this utterance of
our Lord. Satan had not then tempted Peter, yet Christ had already
pleaded for the Apostle whose peril He clearly foresaw! Some of us
would have thought that we were very prompt if we had prayed for a
Brother or Sister who had been tempted and who had yielded to the
temptation. But our Lord prayed for Peter before he was tempted. As
soon as Satan had desired to have him in his sieve, that he might sift
him as wheat, our Savior knew the thought that was formed in the
diabolic mind–and He at once pleaded for His imperiled servant who did
not even know the danger that was threatening him! Christ is always
beforehand with us. Before the storm comes, He has provided the harbor
of refuge. Before the disease attacks us, He has the remedy ready to
cure it. His mercy outruns our misery!

What a lesson we ought to learn from this action of Christ! Whenever we
see any friend in peril through temptation, let us not begin to talk
about him, but let us at once pray for him! Some persons are very fond
of hinting and insinuating about what is going to happen to certain
people with whom they are acquainted. I pray you, beloved Friends, not
to do it! Do not hint that So-and-So is likely to fall, but pray that
he may not fall. Do not insinuate anything about him to others, but
tell the Lord what your anxiety is concerning him.

"But So-and-So has made a lot of money and he is getting very
purse-proud." Well, even if it is so, do not talk about him to others,
but pray God to grant that he may not be allowed to become purse-proud.
Do not say that he will be, but pray constantly that he may not be–and
do not let anyone but the Lord know that you are praying for him.

"Then there is So-and-So. He is so elated with the success he has had
that one can scarcely get to speak to him." Well then, Brother, pray
that he may not be elated. Do not say that you are afraid he is growing
proud, for that would imply

what you would be if you were in his place! Your fear reveals a secret
concerning your own nature, for what you judge that he would be is
exactly what you would do in similar circumstances! We always measure
other people's corn with our own bushel–we do not borrow their bushel.
And we can judge ourselves by our judgment of others. Let us cease
these censures and judgments–and let us pray for our Brothers and
Sisters. If you fear that a minister is somewhat turning aside from the
faith, or if you think that his ministry is not so profitable as it
used to be, or if you see any other imperfection in him, do not go and
talk about it to people in the street, for they cannot set him
right–go and tell his Master about him! Pray for him and ask the Lord
to make right whatever is wrong. There is a sermon by old Matthew Wilks
about our being Epistles of Christ, written not with ink, and not on
tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart. And he said that
ministers are the pens with which God writes on their hearts'
hearts–and that pens need sharpening every now and then–but even when
they are sharp, they cannot write without ink! So he said that the best
service that the people could render to the preacher was to pray the
Lord to give them new pens and dip them in the fresh ink that they
might write better than before! Do so, dear Friends–do not blot the
page with your censures and unkind remarks, but help the preacher by
pleading for him even as Christ prayed for Peter!

VI. Now I must close with our LORD'S PREPARATORY PRAYER JUST BEFORE HIS
DEATH. You will find it in Luke 23:46–"And when Jesus had cried with a
loud voice, He said, Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit:

and having said thus, He gave up the ghost." [See Sermons #2311, Volume
39–OUR LORD'S LAST CRY FROM THE CROSS and #2644, Volume 45– THE LAST
WORDS OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS.]

Our Lord Jesus was very specially occupied in prayer as the end of His
earthly life drew near. He was about to die as His people's Surety and
Substitute. The wrath of God, which was due to them, fell upon Him!
Knowing all that was to befall Him, "He set His face steadfastly to go
unto Jerusalem" and, in due time, "He endured the Cross, despising the
shame." But He did not go to Gethsemane and Golgotha without prayer!
Son of God as He was, He would not undergo that terrible ordeal without
much supplication. You know how much there is about His praying in the
later chapters of John's Gospel. There is especially that great prayer
of His for His Church in which He pleaded with amazing fervor for those
whom His Father had given Him. Then there was His agonized pleading in
Gethsemane when "His sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood
falling down to the ground." We will not say much about that, but we
can well imagine that the bloody sweat was the outward and visible
expression of the intense agony of His soul which was "exceedingly
sorrowful, even unto death."

All that Christ did and suffered was full of prayer, so it was but
fitting that His last utterance on earth should be the prayerful
surrender of His spirit into the hands of His Father. He had already
pleaded for His murderers, "Father, forgive them: for they know not
what they do." He had promised to grant the request of the penitent
thief, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom." Now nothing
remained for Him to do but to say, "Father, into Your hands I commend
My spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost." His life, which
had been a life of prayer, was thus closed with prayer–an example well
worthy of His people's imitation!

Perhaps I am addressing someone who is conscious that a serious illness
is threatening. Well then, dear Friend, prepare for it by prayer! Are
you dreading a painful operation? Nothing will help you to bear it so
well as pleading with God concerning it! Prayer will help you mentally
as well as physically–you will face the ordeal with far less fear if
you have laid your care before the Lord and committed yourself–body,
soul and spirit–into His hands. If you are expecting, before long, to
reach the end of your mortal life either because of your advanced age,
or your weak constitution, or the inroads of the deadly
consumption–pray much. You need not fear to be baptized in Jordan's
swelling flood if you are constantly being baptized in prayer! Think of
your Savior in the Garden and on the Cross–and pray even as He
did–"Not my will, but yours be done…Father, into Your hands I
commend my spirit."

While I have been speaking to Believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, there
may have been some here who are still unconverted–who have imagined
that prayer is the way to Heaven–yet it is not! Prayer is a great and
precious help on the road, but Christ, alone, is the Way! And the very
first step heavenward is to trust ourselves wholly to Him. Faith in
Christ is the all-important matter and if you truly believe in Him, you
are saved! But the very first thing that a saved man does is to
pray–and the very last thing that he does before he gets to Heaven is
to pray. Well did Montgomery write–

"Prayer is the contrite sinner's voice, Returning from his ways While
angels in their songs rejoice,

And cry, 'Behold, he prays!' Prayer is the Christian's vital breath,
The Christian's native air! His watchword at the gates of death He
enters Heaven with prayer!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: LUKE 18:1-14

Verse 1. And he spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought
always to pray and not to faint. [See Sermon

#2519, Volume 43–WHEN SHOULD WE PRAY?] An old writer says that

many of Christ's parables need a key to unlock them. Here, the key
hangs outside the door, for at the very beginning of the parable we are
told what Christ meant to teach by it–"that men ought always to pray,
and not to faint." And this is the parable.

2. Saying, There was in a city a judge who feared not God, neither
regarded man. It is a great pity for any city and for any country where
the judges do not fear God–where they feel that they have been put
into a high office in which they may do just as they please. There were
such judges in the olden times even in this land–God grant that we may
not see any more like them!

3. And there was a widow in that city and she came unto him, saying,
Avenge me of my adversary. She had no friend to plead for her. She had
nobody to help her and, therefore, when she was robbed of her little
patrimony, she went to the court and asked the judge for justice.

4. And he would not for a while. He preferred to be unjust. As he could
do as he liked, he liked to do as he should

not.

4, 5. But afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor
regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest
by her continual coming she weary me.She seems to have gone to him so
often that he grew quite fatigued and pained by her persistence! The
Greek words are very expressive, as though she had beaten him in the
eyes and so bruised him that he could not endure it any longer. Of
course, the poor woman had not done anything of the kind–but the judge
thus describes her continual importunity as a wounding of him, as an
attacking of him, an assault upon him–for he had, perhaps, a little
conscience left. He had, at least, enough honesty to confess that he
did not fear God, nor regard man. There are some of whom that is true,
who will not admit it, but this judge admitted it–and though he was
but little troubled about it–he said, "that I may not be worried to
death by this woman's continual coming, I will grant her request and
avenge her of her adversary."

6, 7. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge says. And shall not
God avenge His own elect who cry day and

night unto Him, though He bears long with them?[See Sermon #2836,
Volume 6–PRAYERFUL IMPORTUNITY.] He is no unjust judge! He is One who
is perfectly holy, just, true and who appears in a nearer and dearer
Character than that of judge, even as the One who chose His people from
eternity! "Shall not God avenge His own elect?" Yes, that He will–only
let them persevere in prayer and "cry day and night unto Him."

8. I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the
Son of Man comes, shall He find faith on the

earth?[See Sermon #1963, Volume 33–THE SEARCH FOR FAITH.] If anybody

can find it, He can, for He is the Creator of it! Yet, when He comes,
there will be so little of it in proportion to what He deserves, and so
little in proportion to the loving kindness of the Lord, that it will
seem as if even He could not find it– although if there were only as
much faith as a grain of mustard seed He would be the first to spy it
out!

9. And He spoke this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves
that they were righteous, and despised others. It seems as if these two
things went together–as our esteem of ourselves goes up, our esteem of
others goes down–the scales seem to work that way.

10. Two men went up into the Temple to pray. [See Sermon #2395, Volume
41–THE BLESSINGS OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.] It was the place that was
specially dedicated for prayer. It was the place

where God had promised to meet with suppliants. They did well, in those
days, to go up into the Temple to pray to God. Though, in these days–

" Wherever we seek Him, He is found, And everyplace is hallowed
ground."

It is sheer superstition which imagines that one place is better for
prayer than another! So long as we can be quiet and still, let us pray
wherever we may be.

10, 11. The one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee
stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank You that I am not as
other men are–extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican It is possible that this was all true. We have no indication
that he was a hypocrite–and if what he said was true–there was
something in it for which he might well thank God. It was a great mercy
not to be an extortioner, nor unjust, nor an adulterer–but what spoilt
his expression of thankfulness was that back-handed blow at the other
man who was praying in the same Temple– "or even as this publican."
What had the Pharisee to do with him? He had quite enough to occupy his
thoughts if he could only see himself as he really was in God's sight!

12. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I posses.
Observe that there is no prayer in all that the Pharisee said. There
was a great deal of self-righteousness and self-congratulation, but
nothing else. There was certainly no prayer at all in it!

13. And the publican, standing afar off– Just on the edge of the
crowd, keeping as far away as he could from the Most Holy Place–

13. Would not lift up so much as his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon
his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinne. [See Sermon #1949,
Volume 33–A SERMON FOR THE WORST MAN ON EARTH.] That was allprayer–it
was a prayer for mercy, it was a prayer in which the suppliant took his
right place, for he was, as he said, "a sinner." He does not describe
himself as a penitent sinner, or as a praying sinner, but simply as a
sinner. And as a sinner, he goes to God asking for mercy. Our English
version does not give the full meaning of the publican's prayer, it is,
"God be propitious to me," that is, "be gracious to me through the
ordained Sacrifice." And that is one of the points of the prayer that
made it so acceptable to God. There is a mention of the Atonement in
it. There is a pleading of the sacrificial blood. It was a real prayer
and an acceptable prayer–while the Pharisee's boasting was not a
prayer at all.

14. I tell you, this man–This publican, sinner as he had been, though
he had no broad phylacteries like the Pharisee had, though he may not
have washed his hands before he came into the Temple, as, no doubt the
Pharisee did–this man, who could not congratulate himself upon his own
excellence, "this man"–

14. Went down to his house justified rather than the other He obtained
both justification and the peace of mind that comes from it! God smiled
upon him and set him at ease concerning his sin. The other man received
no justification–he had not sought it and he did not get it. He had a
kind of spurious ease of mind when he went into the Temple and he
probably carried it away with him! But he certainly was not justified
in the sight of God. [See Sermon #2687, Volume 46–

TOO GOOD TO BE SAVED!]

14. For everyone that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that
humbles himself shall be exalted. God turns things upside down! If we
think much of ourselves, He makes us little, and if we make little of
ourselves, we shall find that a humble and contrite heart He will not
despise! May He teach us so to pray that we may go down to our house
justified, as the publican was!