So where we begin giving our attention to the Word of God, let's stand together. Daniel chapter 2. And we're going to read the verses 14 through 19. And I'll give you a little context. King Nebuchadnezzar has had a dream. He's gone to his wise men and he's saying, tell me the dream and its interpretation. In other words, tell me what I dreamed last night and then tell me what it means. And the wise men of Babylon, Couldn't even get past the first part of the task. They couldn't tell him the dream. They needed to know. Well, he then wisely understood that they weren't much in the way of supernatural help or power, and he threatened to kill them all. He was very furious. Verse 12, gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. So the decree went out and they began killing the wise men, and they sought Daniel and his companions to kill them. They were numbered amongst the wise men. Then with counsel and wisdom, Daniel answered Ariok, the captain of the king's guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. He answered and said to Ariok, the king's captain, why is the decree from the king so urgent? And Ariok made the decision known to Daniel. So Daniel went in and asked the king to give him time that he might tell the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, his companions. that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven." Now we turn to 2 Thessalonians 3. And we read the first two verses. Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for not all have faith. This is the word of the living God. Turn from the preaching of the word 2 Thessalonians 3. 2 Thessalonians 3. We're looking at the first two verses. And you see the title in your bulletin, which is, Pray for Your Pastor. I have another title, actually, I thought of later, which is here in my notes, which is, You get what you pray for. Now, I know that Sunday dinners over the ages have more than once included a little bit of what we might call roast pastor. That got everybody's attention. I said over the ages, I was not making an accusation about any of you. There are times when criticism of a man and ministry are not unwarranted. A pastor can bring criticism on himself and often does, sometimes because of his sins and other times because of his weaknesses. Sometimes these can be petty. Now you might not think this one's petty. He preaches too long. Could be true sometimes or too complicated or too boring or always has three points or doesn't have three points or not direct enough or too direct. Not enough of this, not enough of that. Now I've actually been there on the receiving end of this. Perhaps the most notable time was I preached in a place far away again, Very far away, another time, another place, not related to covenant. And I got through the back doors of the church, I'm shaking people's hands, the lady came up to me and she said, now, Peter, I can't believe you did that. I said, did what? First, you read the Christmas story faster than it's ever been read before. I said, I am so sorry, man. And then she proceeded to tell me all the things that I could have done in that sermon. Probably some of them were right. And I'll tell you on the tip of my tongue, but it was one of my mother's friends from long ago, so I didn't say anything. I thought, ma'am, maybe, maybe next week you should preach and I'll listen. She had a lot of very, very deep insight into preaching at that time. Now, all the less, all the humorous and lighter parts aside, Apart from serious sin, and sometimes it can be a serious sin, sometimes there can be a lack of gifts or good communication and preaching that needs to be rectified or changed. In other words, there's something objective. God calls for a standard of holiness in the life of a minister of the gospel, and God calls someone to communicate divine truth. But there's still going to be remaining sin. There's still going to be remaining weakness in any man who ever does this. And if you men are preparing for this, you need to get used to that. You are, as Paul says, you're going to be, the best you're going to be is a jar of clay, a vessel easily broken. But in the main, this kind of tone should not be the main course of conversation when you hear preaching. As a matter of fact, I can say it even more pointedly, you should be very careful the way you talk about preaching and preachers. Now why? It's not because we're so special, but because Christ sends and uses sinful, weak men to communicate divine truth to you. Now let me make it clear. You've always been very patient with me, and I'm not complaining at all about you in any way. But there's profound questions we ask sometimes about preaching, like this. What if I'm not connecting with the ministry, maybe here at Covenant? Or what if the ministry of the Word appears to be lacking? the clarity and power that one would expect from preaching something that is nothing less than the Word of God, not the Word of men. What should I do? As I said a moment ago, a minister's sins and weaknesses can be a reason for lack of clarity or power in preaching. Can be. But maybe There's another thing that we all don't think of enough, and it's the following, that you get what you pray for. What do I mean by that? Well, Paul here has a command in 2 Thessalonians 3 and verse 1 that is very simple. Brethren, pray for us. Now, it's a command that we actually studied in the previous letter to the Thessalonians in verse 25 where he says brethren pray for us and Some of the themes in this sermon you might recognize from that earlier sermon However here he says more than just brethren pray for us He's going to flesh that out a little bit what you should be praying for exactly But this the text is a divinely inspired command that you would participate in preaching ministry by praying for that ministry. And that the Apostle was not ashamed in his letters to the church at Rome, to the church at Corinth, to the church at Ephesus, to the church at Colossae, to the church at Thessalonica, to continually recruit the whole church to pray for preaching and for the preaching of the word. The central command here is very simple in the text. It is, brethren, pray for us. Now notice that this section is headed up by the word, finally. It's important. It's a little word, but it's Paul here in his second letter, which is the last letter we have to the church at Thessalonica. He's closing up his final thoughts to the church. The end of the record we have of Paul's ministry to this church. And so it represents, with the word finally, the things he wants to highlight in the last things he has to say to the church. In other words, this last section is finally, I'm closing up, listen carefully, what am I asking of you? Subject of the command is brethren. Adelphoi, it means in the Greek, if you understand how Greek is structured, it doesn't just mean the men in the church, it means brothers and sisters, it's a collective noun in the masculine, which covers the whole body. Brothers and sisters, brethren, he's talking to the whole church, everybody gathered, the whole assembly. Notice also that he's doing this with humility when he says, brethren, he's actually putting himself on the same level as the body. We are brothers, he's saying. You, together with me, under our elder brother Jesus Christ, under our God and Father. And so he's making an appeal here, not just as an apostle, which he could make an appeal, often Paul says, I could make an appeal as an apostle, but he's making an appeal here as a fellow Christian, under the same grace, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, at the same level in the family of God. And he does this again and again and again in his letters. He did it in the first letter, at least eight or nine times, and it's the same letter, the same pattern continues. Speaking of the whole body, with affection, with his understanding that he is part of this body, the body of Christ. The action commanded. Pray. Prayer. Prayer is commanded. Present active imperative. Do this now. What is prayer? To offer your desires to God verbally, in line with what the Bible teaches you to ask for. What do I mean by that? Some people think that the idea of prayer is pray for another million dollars, or first million, most of us. Pray for money or health or success. True prayer is prayer which is according to the will of God, according to the Word of God. the glory of God, the kingdom of God, the advance of His purposes, because we are under Him and serving Him. And the commandment is to pray to offer those desires back to God in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, thankful acknowledgement of His mercy. Paul is saying, speak to God. Brethren, speak to God. The most basic action of a believing heart. The first thing Paul did when he was converted, he prayed. And then what is he asking for prayer for? Pray for us. Who is us? Verse one, Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. Paul, Silas, and Timothy. Three preachers of the word. One apostle, three preachers. gospel ministers. And he's not asking just for any kind of prayer, general prayer for us. But if we keep reading prayer, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. He's praying. He's not asking them to pray for his sore ankle or his sick aunt. He may have had all those things. We know that he had afflictions. Paul had bodily afflictions, he felt sick, all kinds of things. He had trials and sufferings, and he was scourged and persecuted. He's asking that his fellow Christians verbally express to God according to his will, prayer, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, and that all opposition to that mission would be frustrated by the power of God. This is the command. Brethren, pray for us. Paul, Silas, and Timothy, pray that the word would run swiftly and that all barriers to our ministry would be taken down. Now let's step back again here and be reminded of something. First, Paul's theology in place of preaching. That's really what's behind this. Paul's theology of preaching is here. And what Paul understands preaching to be is critically important. We mentioned this in the first letter. I'm going to mention it again in the second letter. Paul mentions it again and again in his letters. What does he think is happening when someone's preaching? Maybe you've been to a trade show or a convention, and then you've got a keynote speaker and somebody goes on about a certain topic, about this topic, that topic, or political rallies. We're in the season for politicians to be making speeches. And you could make the very, very tragic mistake of thinking that preaching is just like all of these. It's kind of an information dump, and you kind of take or leave what you want. And if you get something inspirational or helpful for life, great. If you don't, try again next time or go somewhere else. Paul's theology of preaching, God's present method of communicating with humanity, in which there is an active cooperation between the work of the Spirit of God, the labor and work of the preacher, the minister of the gospel, and then, listen carefully, the whole church in that ministry. where there is the Spirit of God, the minister, and the congregation, the church. And Paul always sees all three actively participating in preaching ministry. Not just one, not just two, but three. Spirit of God, the minister of the gospel, and the hearers. So sometimes Paul addresses preachers. You just flip the page over to 1 Timothy 3, he says, man desires the office of a bishop, he desires good work, and then we have qualifications for a preacher. Chapter 4 and verse 13, we have, till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on hands of the eldership. Take heed to yourself and to your doctrine. He gives all sorts of instructions to ministers of the gospel. He reminds them that he is to be preaching the Word, the Apostle Paul. He says the same in 2 Timothy 1, hold fast the pattern of sound words which you've heard from me in faith and love, that good thing which is committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Hold fast to the truth. And then he goes on to say to the Apostle, then preach the Word, 4 Timothy, Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. He talks about the character of a minister. He talks about the doctrine of a minister. He talks about the preaching, the preaching ministry of a minister. And he's actually talking to Timothy, the same Timothy who's at the head of this letter, Paul, Silvanus and Timothy. So Paul speaks to the minister and he says, this is the kind of life you should live. This is the kind of doctrine you should hold. This is the preaching you should be engaged in. But then He addresses the church again and again as partners in that ministry. At the church, you're not passive receivers like the TV's on in the background and you might get something from it. Listen to what he says to the church at Rome. Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed together with you. He sees a participation in his apostolic ministry, strive together with me in your prayers. He sees the church as laboring alongside him, God's chosen apostle. He says the same thing to the church at Corinth. In 2 Corinthians 1, in verse 11, he asks them to pray for him. You also helping together in prayer for us that thanks may be given by many persons on behalf by the gift granted to us through many. The labor of many. Again. Ephesians 6, praying always with all prayer and supplication of the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. He's saying, pray for the whole church and for me. Now listen to the specific language. That utterance may be given to me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. Pray for utterance. Pray for the ability to speak boldly the mystery of the gospel. Colossians 2, that a door might be opened to us for the gospel. Prayer, prayer, prayer. If you look at Paul's or the deeper biblical theology of preaching, we have the necessity of the Holy Spirit's work, both in preaching and in hearing, and the whole church, Paul and the brethren, praying for the divine blessing of God, the ministry of the Spirit, to attend both preaching and hearing. Paul, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 4, my speech and preaching were not in persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the spirit and of power. He's saying it wasn't me, it wasn't my brilliance. As a matter of fact, pastors are completely expendable. They're instruments, jars of clay, earthen vessels. The gospel we preach does not originate with us. If I were to get hit by a bus this week, then our Lord Jesus can raise up another jar of clay instrument to preach the gospel. Not necessary. And the message doesn't originate with me. It doesn't belong to me. It's from God. Paul understands this, and he understands that because of this, apart from the Spirit of God resting on the minister and the ministry, there's no power. But he could testify to the Corinthians that it happened. Then Jesus in John 3, the other side, unless a man is born again, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. He's talking about regeneration. He's saying, you can't hear, you can't listen to, you can't understand a word I am saying this morning. Or you won't. You'll refuse to. Unless the spirit of God works in you to understand, receive, and believe in Jesus Christ. Paul's saying the whole enterprise needs prayer, because it's all dependent on the work of the Spirit of the living God. Let's mention a larger catechism. The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effective means of enlightening, convincing, and humbling sinners. Listen to this list, of driving them out of themselves, drawing them to Christ, conforming them to His image, subduing them to His will, strengthening them against temptations and corruptions, building them up in grace, establishing their hearts in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation. That's a long list. Go back and read it later today. The Spirit of God takes the Word and does all those things. Paul says to the church at Thessalonica, brothers, pray for us. Second Helvetic Confession, the preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. Powerful statement. And inward illumination does not eliminate external preaching. What the writers of the Hebetic Confession were saying is that you need the Word preached and the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit. The preacher needs the Spirit's help. Preaching has to happen, and you need to receive it. Paul, same themes in 2 Corinthians. The first chapters are just filled with his meditations on this idea of a preaching ministry. Chapter 3. Verse 8, God has made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant by the Spirit who gives life. Therefore, since we have such hope in Christ, he's saying we use great boldness of speech. Now the Lord is the Spirit. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. Paul's saying his ministry is to declare the glory of God, which results in powerful transformation of sinners to be conformed to the image of Christ. Therefore, since we have this ministry, And then verses five and six, we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus, the Lord in ourselves, your bond servants for Jesus sake, for it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And connecting all this together, Paul is saying, when spirit empowered preaching is received by spirit enabled ears and hearts, the light of the glory of God, shines in the face of Jesus Christ. This is what is happening. And that means that when you come to covenant on a Sunday morning, you need to come believing that this is not a trade show with another speaker. but that the living God has ordained to communicate the glory of His own name to sinners in something which Paul calls the foolishness of preaching. A sinful man preaching to sinners. And this is why our day of this kind of soft, inspirational messages to teach you a better life, give you a few tidbits for the next week. The desire for a sort of preaching that has no authority or power or boldness, but is kind of the lowest common denominator. It infects the church today, sadly. Sometimes I listen to preaching and sometimes my heart is moved and I I see something of the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ. And sometimes I think I'm listening to a weak life coach. And there's no sense of sobriety or power or glory. The New Testament, Paul teaches, the reformers following the apostle Paul especially teach that preaching is nothing short of the continuous in-breaking of God himself in human history, with exactly the same power that said, let light come out of darkness, the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead. But Paul's saying pray that something remarkable would happen. But what should you be praying for? Two things. Pray, Paul says, that the word of the Lord, it's the main subject, prayer for the word preached. But what are two things, put some flesh on this bones, what are two things when you get on your knees this week that you can ask God for? That the Word of the Lord would run swiftly and be glorified. What does that mean? The subject is the Word of the Lord. It's the gospel that He preaches. The idea here is that it would spread rapidly. It would speed ahead. That it would move quickly through the world. And as Paul goes to all of these places where there's so much opposition to the message of Jesus Christ and crucified, so many people are so in love with their sins, so in love with the world, and so full of hatred for the true and living God, that that word would still with power break through stubborn stony hearts and make a difference. It's language he borrows from Psalm 147. God is the one who is great, and mighty in power, His understanding is infinite. He sends out His command to the earth. His Word runs very swiftly. He's combining the Word of the Lord with the idea of its inherent power. And he's praying, he's asking if the church would pray that that inherent power would be made obvious as the Word quickly travels. makes progress in the world. The illustration is like a runner at the games who surges ahead so the Word would take the position of victory and win prizes for Christ. The second thing is that the Word would run swiftly and be glorified, be honored. How? By being received with faith. In Acts chapter 13, the Word was received with faith. 13 and verse 48. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. They heard the message of the gospel. They glorified the word of the Lord and as many had been appointed to eternal life, believed the word is glorified. not only when it speeds forth with power, when its power is demonstrated, the very power of God who commands His Word to run swiftly, Psalm 147, verse 15, but that you pray that it be glorified, that people listening would believe in Jesus Christ to the saving of their souls. Pray that the Word would be effective. Now, here's a mystery. Isaiah 55, the Word of God never returns to a void. It accomplishes all that He sends it out to do. You realize what this command to pray is? It's actually a command for the whole church to participate in the work of God by praying, to call you to enter into communion with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that as you ask him for the word with power to run and be glorified, that he would do the very thing that you ask for. and that you would participate in the advance of the kingdom of Jesus Christ in the world. He says, just as it is with you. In other words, as you believed it. Pray that the word so received by the Spirit would reveal its inherent glory by bringing many sons and daughters to Jesus Christ. Calvin, that preaching may have its power and efficacy in renewing men after the image of God. By the way, this is why to preach is both terrifying and exhilarating. Terrifying? You know what a preacher's greatest fear is? It's not to be embarrassed. What is that? There's a sense in which we all should be embarrassed and ashamed of ourselves. Preacher's greatest fear should be this, that you could take the message of the Kingdom of Heaven of a Christ who died and rose again, ascended and is coming on the clouds from glory, and that there would be no power, and that nothing would happen. That you could handle high and holy things and preach them, and that there would be no effect. And whether that's because of my own or any other preacher's own prayerlessness, or ours as a church, should be a terrifying thing. Not adequately communicating the glory of the triune God. Not communicating the dimensions of the love of God declared in the cross of Jesus Christ. Not faithfully speaking of the one who loved us and gave himself for us. not warning people to flee from the wrath to come and believe in Jesus Christ. The greatest joy what preachers dream of and pray for, that this word would run swiftly and be glorified just as it was with the Thessalonians, that more of what we have tasted in the gospel would be made evident to others and to us. Have you ever had some... You have a steak, it's made perfectly. It's on your plate. You take the first slice and you eat that. What do you want to do? If you like steak, which you should, what do you want to do? How many of you stop? I've had enough. How can it possibly be that you've been given the heavenly bread, Jesus Christ, the best that God has to give? And you aren't praying, Lord, let your word run swiftly and be glorified so that I might have more and more of him, to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. Pray that it would sanctify you, dig into your heart, your home, your marriage, your children, spread like wildfire. Believe that there's a sense in which we're just tasting the edges of its power. Are you satisfied with the ministry you're receiving? You hunger for more than pray. Pray for your pastor, the other men here who preach, Ryan and Kurto. Pray for your elders. Pray for the ministry of the word, our missionaries. Pray, pray, pray. Pray that there might be an in-breaking of the power of the spirit of God in human history and the preaching of the word and in your life. Pray for the mission of the church. Pray that the word, the gospel would speed ahead and be glorified. Pray that the word would bring converts. There's seven and a half billion people on the world right now. Pray that the nations would come streaming to Zion, that Micah's vision of a temple high and lifted up, and the nations from every corner of the earth coming to Jesus Christ. Pray. Pray that you might see greater things. Brethren, pray for us. Pray for divine protection for the preacher of the word that will be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for not all have faith. Pray for divine protection from opposition to the Word of God, particularly for those who preach the Word. For protection here, surely from physical harm for Paul, but from false accusations, from wasted time, from those who oppose the ministry of the Word, wicked and unreasonable men. And then he says something sobering, for not all have faith, which means Paul's understanding that some of those wicked, unreasonable men were outside the church, some of them are inside the church. Paul said, pray for divine protection. He believed that this would come through the agency of a praying church. Pray for us. Let's step back now and circle around to where we began. I began by saying you get what you pray for. Jesus put this in the positive. He said, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. Or James, the negative. You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures. Selfish, earthly prayers. You put those two together, put them alongside this. Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, and we be saved from ungodly and wicked men. Build into your life prayer for word ministry here at Covenant, missionaries, other churches. What does Jesus want you to pray for? the Lord of the harvest, for more laborers for the harvest, for the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. Jesus, on His heart, was that you and we together, brothers and sisters in Christ, would pray for word ministry, for those who are preaching, for those here, for those far away, for those not yet preaching, that they would be raised up. Build it into your life. The early church met for prayer, Acts chapter 4. under heavy opposition from wicked and unreasonable men. Paul understood this in his ministry. What did they pray for? Lord, you are God who made heaven and earth and the sea and all that is in them. Now, Lord, look on the threats. Grant to your servants that with all boldness they may speak your word. When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. and they spoke the word of the Lord with boldness. Are we praying like this? Are we praying with a sense that we're participating in the mighty works of God? Are we praying with a conscious reality that Jesus is in heaven, his spirit is upon his church, he gives preachers, we together are hearers, and he asks us to pray? He says, ask for more. There have been a few times in my life, what you have to remember is that every preacher also is under the Word, and very often, in the mercy of God, we sit under preaching. There have been times in my life where I have sat under preaching, and it's probably because of me. It just came and went. Have you ever had one of those times when it came with such a remarkable clarity and power? And it felt like you couldn't move. Tears streamed from your face. And you are riveted by the Word. A few months ago, I was sitting under the preaching of a very dear friend. Someone I know well. It was as if that just began to happen. And the Word was opened with a remarkable power. It was no longer my friend on the pulpit. It was like he was gone. What happened instead was as if I was hearing from God himself. And I began to pray. I said, Lord, help him preach. Lord, we're hungry for more. Lord, speak to me the words of Christ. Let him fly. Let your word run swiftly and be glorified. Lord, we are hungry for more of this. Again, Paul Philippians 3, what was his hunger? I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Next week, we have the Lord's table. Last week, we had baptism. Every week, you have the word. Pray for God's blessing on these things. Let's pray. Lord, you have called us to pray that your word would run swiftly and be glorified, and that those who minister it in every place would be protected from unreasonable and wicked men. Lord, we pray that you would change our prayer life even by your word this morning, giving us both a greater sense of the wonder of participating in word ministry by prayer, a deeper sense of our need for your spirit in preaching and in listening, or to deeper hunger, to see that word run swiftly here in our hearts and lives and in the world. And Lord, we pray also for divine protection, that all those who oppose your word would be converted, or Lord, be moved out of the way, that you would be glorified in everything. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.