Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Beloved, grace and peace be to you from God our Father, and the Lord
Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Psalm of praise 89:1, 18
Prayer
Psalm 119:15
Scripture reading:
2 Timothy 4
Scripture text:
2 Timothy 4:18;
Catechism Lord’s Day 52
The
Lord will rescue me from every evil and save me for his heavenly
kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
A lonely man in court. Completely on his own, because everyone who had
been close to him, deserted him. He also had to handle his defence
himself – Paul.
Against this background he wrote the following:
At my
first defence no one took my part; all deserted me. May it not be
charged against them!
What a terrible experience Paul had. When you are in distress, and your
life is at stake, suddenly you’re on your own. Those who should have
stood by you disappeared.
Once again he realised that he could not depend on man. And then the
question: Who can one then depend on? Where do I go in my distress?
Paul experienced it. The Lord stood by me.
- So, after all, he was not on his own in court. He
and the Lord were there together.
- He also tells what the Lord did. He says,
. . .
I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.
This is a well-known idiom of that time and means that he was rescued
from danger.
The beauty of Paul’s words is that he does not feel bitter against the
congregation in Rome.
- No reproach for having deserted him.
- Paul, as a believer, focuses on heaven – not on
these people. Because if you focus on the earth, you focus on sin and
evil and therein you will find no salvation.
This eventually brings Paul to writing verse 18:
The
Lord will rescue me from every evil and save me for his heavenly
kingdom. To Him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Almost the same as the closing paragraph of the Our Father:
Lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Paul no longer worries about jail and imprisonment on earth.
- He is not afraid of imprisonment that comprises the
death sentence. He specifically knows that he will enter the Lord’s
kingdom when he is redeemed by Him.
- And then he adds the reason for it – God will do it
because he has the power to do so. He has it for all eternity.
The fact that Paul also seals it with the word “Amen”, clearly
indicates that here we are dealing with a prayer– a prayer in which the
Lord is praised and thanked.
- This is exactly what the last part of the Our
Father teaches us: The Lord is praised and thanked for his power and
strength and glory. And also for his kingdom that will exist forever
and which is our final destination.
- We learn something most important here. The closing
of our prayers should always contain praises. All that we receive and
our safekeeping should always lead to expressions of praise and thanks.
We often pray being restless and frightened, sometimes even without
faith. Sometimes it seems as if our prayer gets stuck somewhere, not
reaching its destination. Then we can do what Paul did – praise the
Lord because He is omnipotent forever.
- Our prayer must reflect joy.
- This is probably one of the defects in many of our
prayers – the lack of joy and bliss because we are caught up in the
struggle of everyday life.
Paul was also in a crisis as we often are. On his own in court,
expecting the death sentence. Alone, without a lawyer and support.
- He had reason to be morbid.
- But he joyfully thanked the Lord for having stood
by him throughout the stressful court proceedings.
- And he praised the Lord with gladness because he
knew that through the Lord he will be in his kingdom eventually.
- He has no doubts about it! He knows it’s true!
Because the Lord forever has the power to do it.
This brings us to the next very important point. Our prayer must be
based on the trust that the Lord will hear it. Otherwise there is no
reason for prayer.
- There are no grounds or reason for us to pray for
ourselves or glorify ourselves. Only God the Father has a right to it.
- His kingdom already proves the cause for our
prayer. It’s a kingdom of grace and glory. It includes everything
because God rules over everything – nothing excluded.
Consider history. In the Old Testament already the kingdom was
prepared.
- The heaven and earth were created with all its
inhabitants.
- After the fall into sin redemption and a kingdom
free from blemishes were promised – a kingdom where Paul knew he would
not be in jail or in court.
And this kingdom is revealed through Christ. The Bible says that, in
his mercy, the Lord will give us everything with Christ!
- Such a King will certainly not bring ruin upon his
subjects. Christ died so that we could receive the best. Only the very
best that God has!
- Our claim to be delivered from evil is not an idle
claim. Where God reigns no devil has any claim on anyone of us without
God’s permission.
Christ also died for the entire issue of prayer.
- It was ordained by the will of God that his glory
would come into full effect in the redemption of his elected children.
That is why He ordained that his only begotten and dear Son had to die
the cursed death on the cross.
- God’s mercy is so great that He let his Son die to
save those who belong to Him. Then his Son – in his human body –
ascended into heaven. All the disciples saw Him.
- With this He also proved to us that we will be in
heaven in body and soul.
- This is also why Paul knows for certain when he
prays: the Lord will take him to his kingdom!
We have also been anointed with the Holy Spirit so that He can assure
us that Christ our King is not a powerless king. He is the King whose
commands cannot be warded off by anything. He gloriously executes the
counsel of theTriune God.
Let us also pray God to deliver us from evil and to let us enter his
heavenly kingdom. We also praise his eternal glory and then say Amen.
Because “Amen” has three
meanings.
- Firstly it is a word of agreement. We agree with
the counsel of God and we are grateful for it.
- Secondly, the word also expresses certainty. The
counsel of God and the fulfilment of everything through Christ is
without any doubt whatsoever and we will surely be part of the kingdom
of God. This is therefore a confession of the certainty of God’s
eternal power.
- But it is also a word expressing longing. I surely
long to be with this eternal King in his eternal kingdom.
Let us appeal to God to let us believe and to repent.
Let’s read together Catechism Lord’s Day 52
127. Q. What is the sixth petition?
A. And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
That is: In ourselves we are so weak that we cannot stand even for a
moment.[1] Moreover, our sworn enemies – the devil,[2] the world,[3]
and our own flesh[4] – do not cease to attack us. Wilt Thou, therefore,
uphold and strengthen us by the power of Thy Holy Spirit, so that in
this spiritual war[5] we may not go down to defeat, but always firmly
resist our enemies, until we finally obtain the complete victory.[6]
[1] Ps. 103:14-16; John 15:1-5. [2] II Cor. 11:14; Eph. 6:10-13; I Pet.
5:8. [3] John 15:18-21. [4] Rom. 7:23; Gal. 5:17. [5] Matt. 10:19, 20;
26:41; Mark 13:33; Rom. 5:3-5. [6] I Cor. 10:13; I Thess. 3:13; 5:23.
128. Q. How do you conclude your
prayer?
A. For Thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, for ever.
That is: All this we ask of Thee because, as our King, having power
over all things, Thou art both willing and able to give us all that is
good,[1] and because not we but Thy holy Name should so receive all
glory for ever.[2]
[1] Rom. 10:11-13; II Pet 2:9. [2] Ps. 115:1; Jer. 33:8, 9; John 14:13.
129. Q. What does the word Amen mean?
A. Amen means: It is true and
certain. For God has much more certainly
heard my prayer than I feel in my heart that I desire this of Him.[1]
[1] Is. 65:24; II Cor. 1:20; II Tim. 2:13.
Amen.
Closing prayer
Scripture hymn 19-1:1
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.
Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
Date: 20 June 2004 (evening)