The Sunday Sermon

The Magnificence of Prayer Part 2

by Alexander Whyte (1836-1921)

The Gospel of Luke Chapter 11 Verse 1

And so it was, that as he was praying in a certain

place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto

him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his

disciples.

The First Epistle General of Peter Chapter 2 Verse 9

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal Priesthood,

an holy nation, a people set at liberty, that ye

should show forth the virtues of him that hath called

you out of darkness into his marvelous light,

There is this magnificent and right noble thing in prayer. Oh, what a noble God we have! says Pascal, that God shares His creatorship with us! And I will, to the praise and the glory of God this day, add this, that He makes us the architects of our own estates, and the fashioners of our own fortunes. It is good enough to have an estate left us in this life, if we forget we have it : it is good enough that we inherit a fortune in this world s goods, if it is not our lasting loss. Only there is nothing great, nothing noble, nothing magnanimous or magnificent in that. But to have begun life with nothing, and to have climbed up by pure virtue, by labour, and by self-denial, and by perseverance, to the very top, this world has no better praise to give her best sons than that. But there is another, and a better world, of which this world at its best is but the scaffolding, the preparation, and the porch : and to be the architect of our own fortune in that world will be to our everlasting honour. Now, there is this magnificence about the world of prayer, that in it we work out, not our own bare and naked and " scarce " salvation only, but our everlasting inheritance, in corruptible and undeniable, with all its unsearchable riches. Heaven and earth, time and eternity, creation and providence, grace and glory, are all laid up in Christ; and then Christ and all His unsearchable riches are laid open to prayer; and then it is said to every one of us Choose you all what you will have, and command Me for it! All God s grace, and all His truth, has been coined as Goodwin has it out of purposes into promises; and then all those promises are made "Yea and amen" in Christ ; and then out of Christ, they are published abroad to all men in the word of the Gospel; and, then, all men who read and hear the Gospel are put upon their mettle. For what a man loves, that that man is. What a man chooses out of a hundred offers, you are sure by that who and what that man is. And accordingly, put the New Testament in any man s hand, and set the Throne of Grace wide open before any man, and you need no omniscience to tell you that man s true value. If he lets his Bible lie unopened and un read: if he lets God s Throne of Grace stand till death, idle and unwanted: if the depth and the height, the nobleness and the magnificence, the goodness and the beauty of divine things have no command over him, and no attraction to him then, you do not wish me to put words upon the meanness of that man s mind. Look yourselves at what he has chosen: look and weep at what he has neglected, and has for ever lost! But there are other men: there are men of a far nobler blood than that man is: there are great men, royal men: there are some men made of noble stuff, and cast into a noble mould. And you will never satisfy or quiet those men with all you can promise them or pour out upon them in this life. They are men of a magnificent heart, and only in prayer have their hearts ever got full scope and a proper atmosphere. They would die if they did not pray. They magnify their office. You cannot please them better than to invite and ask them to go to their God in your behalf. They would go of their own motion and accord for you, even if you never asked them. They have prayed for you before you asked them, more than you know. They are like Jesus Christ in this; and He will acknowledge them in this. While you were yet their enemies, they prayed for you, and as good as died for you. And when you turn to be their enemies again, they will have their revenge on you at the mercy seat. When you feel, somehow, as if coals of fire were from somewhere being heaped upon your head, it is from the mercy seat, where that magnanimous man is retaliating upon you. Now not Paul himself ever magnified his office more or better than that. And it was in that very same way that our Lord magnified His royal priesthood when He had on His crown of thorns on the cross, and when His shame covered Him as a robe and a diadem in the sight of God, and when He interceded ( Isaiah 53:12; Romans 8:26-27; Hebrews 7:25; ) and said "They know not what they do." ( Luke 23:34)

And then there is this fine and noble thing about prayer also, that the acceptableness of it, and the power of it, are in direct proportion to the secrecy and the spirituality of it. As its stealth is : as its silence is: as its hiddenness away with God is: as its unsuspectedness and undeservedness with men is: as its pure goodness, pure love, and pure goodwill are so does prayer perform its magnificent part when it is alone with God. ( Matthew 6:6; ) The true closet of the true saint of God is not built of stone and lime. The secret place of God, and His people, is not a thing of wood and iron, and bolts and bars. ( Isaiah 57:15; Ezekiel 37:26-27; Jeremiah 31:33; James 4:5; ) At the same time, Christ did say Shut your door. And in order to have the Holy Ghost all to himself, and to be able to give himself up wholly body, soul and spirit to the Holy Ghost, the man after God s own heart in prayer always as a matter of fact builds for himself a little sanctuary, all his own; not to shut God in, but to shut all that is not of God out. He builds a house for God, before he has as yet built a house for himself. You would not believe it about that man of secret prayer. When you see and hear him, he is the poorest, the meekest, the most contrite, and the most silent of men : and you rebuke him because he so trembles at God s word.( 1 Corinthians 1:27; Matthew 11:25; John 15:18; ) If you could but see him when he is alone with the King! If you could but see his nearness and his boldness! (Hebrews 4:16; Psalm 65:4; )You would think that he and the King s Son had been born and brought up together such intimacies, and such passwords, are exchanged between them. You would wonder, you would not believe your eyes and your ears. If you saw him on his knees you would see a sight. Look! He is in the Audience Chamber. Look! He is in the Council Chamber now. He has a seat set for him among the peers. He is set down among the old nobility of the Empire. The King will not put on His signet ring to seal a command, till your friend has been heard. "Command Me," the King says to him. "Ask Me," ( John 15:7, 16; James 1:5; Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9; ) He says, "for the things of My sons: command Me things to come concerning them " And, as if that were not enough, that man of all-prayer is still on his knees. He is "wrestling " on his knees. There is no enemy there that I can see. There is nothing and no one that I can see near him: and yet he wrestles like a mighty man. What is he doing with such a struggle? Doing? Do you not know what he is doing? He is moving heaven and earth. The man is removing mountains. He is casting this mountain, and that, into the midst of the sea. He is casting down thrones. He is smiting old empires of time to pieces. Yes : he is wrestling indeed! For he is wrestling now with God; and now with man: now with death; and now with hell. See! the day breaks over his place of prayer! See! the Kingdom of God begins to come in on the earth! What a spot is that! What plots are hatched there! What conspiracies are planned there! How dreadful is this place! Let us escape for our life out of it! Is that man, in there with God, your friend? Can you trust him with God? Will he speak about you when he is in audience ? And what will he say ? Has he anything against you? Have you anything on your conscience, or in your heart, against him? Then I would not be you, for a world! But no! Hear him! What is that he says? I declare I hear your name, and your children s names! And the King stretches forth His sceptre, and your friend touches it. He has "commanded " his God for you. He has " asked concerning " you and your sons. Such access, such liberty, such power, such prevalency, such a magnificent office has he, who has been made of God a King and a Priest unto God.