Let me invite us to turn to Hebrews and chapter 7. And that is the passage from which we will be learning this evening. As you might have guessed from the songs that we've sung this far, the subject matter for this evening is prayer. And we are seeking to learn something from the prayers of the Lord Jesus. So Hebrews chapter 5, and I'll read the first 11 verses. I'm using the New Kingdom's version. For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this, he is required, as for the people, so also for himself to offer sacrifices for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also, Christ did not glorify himself to become high priest. But it was he who said to him, you are my son, today I have begotten you. As he also says in another place, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear, though he was a son, yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered. And having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him. accord to God as I preached according to the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have much to say and are hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing." Now, the opening verses of Hebrews chapter 5 are actually a defense of the Lord Jesus as our great high priest. The writer shows that Jesus was qualified to be such a high priest because he was a man and so can and does fully sympathize with the frailties and weaknesses of his people. What is more, He says to us that Jesus received a special appointment by God as the Son of God. And he goes on to say that in fact, Jesus' priesthood was a priesthood that had no end. Jesus was appointed to be a priest forever. Now, the purpose, it would appear, that the writer is saying all these things can be found in the preceding chapter, and that is chapter four, and I would like you to turn to verse 15. We'll read it together. After having argued about the compassionate high priest we have in Christ, he says in verse 16, rather, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So the burden that the writer to the Hebrews has in this section of scripture is to encourage believers to approach God without hesitation, without doubt, but rather with full assurance. Now in verse 7 to 11, he amplifies his argument. And what he does in this section is that he argues that the Lord Jesus was actually qualified to be high priest not just because of the pronouncements that had been made by him, rather made about him, as we have read in verse five and six, but he's also qualified because of the manner in which he executed his priestly office. He is qualified on account of the way that he lived his life. Christ, when he was here on earth, lived such a life as to demonstrate without doubt that he was qualified to be such a high priest as God intended him to be. Now, I would like to suggest here that we are actually being given an example. And this evening, what I would like us to consider is simply verse 7. Now, in the translation I'm reading, this sentence begins as a continuation. This sentence is like a continuation. Verse 7 is like a continuation. But if you have the NIV and other translations, you probably will find that that is actually a new sentence. Those translations decide that they're going to do it as a new sentence. And nonetheless, we'll read it the way I earlier read it. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears, to him was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear and so forth and so on. In other translations, it reads instead of the word supplications, you have petitions. And instead of vehement cries, it reads as loud cries. I prefer those words. I would rather read this passage, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered prayers and petitions, with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death. Now, how did Jesus live out his life as a priest? Now, several things can be said, including the ones that have been mentioned in the passage that we have read. But like I said, I would just like to draw your attention to what is contained in verse 7. Jesus lived his life to demonstrate that he was qualified to be this high priest because he offered up prayers and petitions to God. Now this is significant because the sentence reads, in the days of his flesh. In other words, for the life that he lived, Jesus offered up prayers and petitions. And it's not as if he offered and stopped, but in the days of his flesh, he continually offered up prayers and petitions to God. Now this means at least the following. In terms of offering prayers, Jesus prayed regularly and often. In Luke chapter 5 verse 16 we are told that Jesus withdrew often to lonely places and prayed. When he was busy, people were coming to him to get healing, to listen to his teaching. He withdrew often to lonely places and prayed. Now, this is a wonderful picture, isn't it? A man is busy. multitudes are thronging following him, somehow he escaped. He withdrew and went often to lonely places and prayed. Sometimes you could wish that you were there and listen to the prayers that he was praying while he left the multitudes behind him. When nearing the cross, as it's recorded for us in Luke chapter 22 and verse 39, we are told that Jesus went to Mount Olives and then the writer qualifies as he was accustomed to. Drawing our attention to the fact that the prayer life of the Lord Jesus was not a one-off this today, you feel very warm and revived, whatever word you might want to use, and you are engaging in intense prayer. You are at every prayer meeting, and then you disappear for another three months until some other revival comes. No. For the Lord Jesus, he went to Mount Olives, obviously to pray. as he was accustomed to. And it is here before he faces the cross that he orders his disciples, watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation. Jesus prayed as a matter of life. The whole of his life was punctuated by continuous prayer to God. But we also notice that he prayed at special events. And some of these events are so significant, I would like us to read how the gospel writers actually present them. Let me ask us to turn to Luke chapter 3 and verse 21. Luke chapter 3 and verse 21, and just follow the flavor of that passage. Luke chapter 3 and verse 21 reads, When all the people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized. And while he prayed, heaven was opened. Now, when children are being taught in Sunday school about this incident, the emphasis is often the heavens opened and the dove came And God spoke from heaven, this is my son in whom I'm well pleased. I don't know if you've ever come across anybody who mentions this, that it is as Jesus prayed that the heavens were actually opened. Luke chapter 6 and verse 12. Luke chapter 6 and verse 12. Now, it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. I've been at LBC, I think, since 1981. I don't think we as a church have ever prayed all night. At least maybe I was in the other time. Yeah, but there are churches which pray all night and sometimes we laugh at them. No, there could be abuses there, but they are doing a good job. The Lord prayed the whole night. And this is before he chose 12 disciples, just 12. He spent the night in prayer to just choose 12 disciples. And you know, when you think about this, Jesus, rather Judas, had to be part of those 12 disciples. In the purposes of God, Judas had to be part. And now, if you think of the multitudes that follow the Lord Jesus, and there are so many people he had seen before he actually chose. The chances of making a mistake, humanly speaking, are very high. The Lord spent the whole night praying to God. Look at chapter 9 and verse 29. I just want us to notice the biblical record about the prayer's life of the Lord Jesus in connection with special occasions. Luke chapter 9 and verse 29. This is the story of the transfiguration, but I just want to draw attention to verse Maybe let's begin reading from verse 28. Now it came to pass about eight days after these sayings that he took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. Verse 29, as he prayed, the appearance of his face was altered and his robe became white and glistening. As he prayed, Peter, John, and James saw the face changing and his clothes changing. They came with him. He looked ordinary as a friend, but as he prayed at the Mount of Transfiguration, his face started changing. like the face of Moses that shone when he was coming from the mountain with the tablets. He had to cover it because it was glittering with light, with the glory of the Lord. We can go on. Jesus prayed before he fed the 4,000. He gave thanks. Before he fed the 5,000, he prayed. He took the bread and before he divided it, he prayed. So that is the life of the Lord Jesus. A life made up of prayer, small or big occasion, whether about to distribute food, or about to be transfigured, or about in the baptism, or in the ordinary course of life, he prayed. This person can be a high priest. He is always in the presence of God. Everything that he does, he has the heartbeat of God. He is listening to God. He can represent his people fully because the mind of God fills his heart and mind. He offered up prayers and petitions. Now, with regard to petitions, Jesus prayed many types of prayers, many types of supplications. Here, we are only being told about petitions, but there were many prayers. We don't have time to go into detail of this, but you remember in John chapter 17, the Lord offers a long intercessory prayer, praying for his disciples that they may be kept in the faith, that they may be protected from the evil one, that they might love one another, that they might demonstrate abiding confidence in him. The Lord Jesus prayed prayers of thanksgiving and joy. You remember when the 72 returned, and it was a great occasion. We are told in Luke chapter 10, and I would like us to read it, verse 21, this is how the Lord responded. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in your sight. The Lord Jesus, even on the cross, prayed for his enemies. Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. The Lord Jesus offered short prayers and long prayers. And one of the shortest prayers is actually in John chapter 12. and verse 28, and I'd like you to tend to it. John chapter 12 and verse 28. Did I say 12? I was at 10. I don't know. I was at 10 and you said, yeah, verse 12, verse 28. Father, glorify your name. That's all that's recorded about how the Lord prayed. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified it. will glorify it again. Now in Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 7, when it says that he offered up prayers and petitions, there is a special reference that this has and it is a special reference to the prayers that Jesus made. in relation to his sufferings on the way to the cross and on the cross itself. And we'll be saying a bit more about that. So Jesus offered up prayers and petitions throughout his whole life. He lived close to heaven. Secondly, The Lord Jesus was qualified to be High Priest, indeed as our great example, because of the manner of his prayers. The manner of his prayers. And we are told that the Lord Jesus prayed with loud cries and tears. Let's take a moment to consider this phrase, loud cries, which the new KJV says vehement cries. Now the Bible records Jesus crying when he wept at the death of his friend Lazarus. But this is not the crying that is being referred to here. Instead, this is a cry to God. about one's personal circumstances or the circumstances of others. And we hear this type of cry when our Savior faces the cross. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed three times over the same thing. Father, if it is your will, let this cup pass away from me. Yet not my will, but your will be done. He said this in probably about three hours. He would go, at least we are told. He went. When he came back, he told his disciples, couldn't you watch with me one hour? So we can deduce from there that between the time that he went to prayer and the time he comes back, roughly one hour elapsed. And he went back the second time, probably another hour elapsed. He went back the third time, another hour perhaps elapsed. But he prayed three times. If you've ever faced a crisis in your life, you probably know what this is talking about. You pray and you feel you've not prayed. You go back, you pray, and you feel perhaps you've not prayed. And you go back, until you feel the burden being lifted. You feel that God has heard you. Now, it's not necessary for you to feel that God has heard you. However, in the experience of your Christian life, there are moments when you feel you must pray more and more over the same thing. And it's as if each time you repeat that thing, much more intense in your heart. Probably that's the experience that the Lord Jesus has here. He prays and he feels he must go back. He goes again and prays and feels he must go back. Now, the word cry does not appear that explicitly in the passages referring to this time when he's praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. But we can deduce it, deduce that from the language that is used. In Luke chapter 22 and verse 24, and if you are able you can turn to it, Luke chapter 24, 22 rather, and verse 44. Let me just quickly turn to it. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. then his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Now, I doubt that it's possible, humanly speaking, that you can pray earnestly to a point like the Lord went where it's recorded great drops of blood, so to speak. The sweat on his face looked like great drops of blood and somehow your eyes are dry. It's very unlikely. It's very unlikely. In one of the renderings, of this experience that the Lord Jesus had. When he went to pray, saying, Father, if it's your will, let this cup pass away from me, we are told that he fell with his face to the ground. So Pete, those who were near him, So Jesus go into a distance to pray and fell with his face to the ground. It is a moment of intense anguish and sorrow. And it's as if he can't even control his body. Actually, literally speaking, he fell prostrate. He prostrated himself to the ground. It's very unlikely that a man could do that and not shed a tear. But this question of crying is much more clear. It's clearer on the cross. And I would like us to consider two passages. in which this is made very clear. Matthew chapter 27. Matthew 27 and verse 46. In fact, both passages are actually in chapter 27 of Matthew. Matthew chapter 27 and verse 46. About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He cried out. with a loud voice. That gives us the exact connection to Hebrews chapter 5. This cry of the Lord was so loud that whoever was writing this book, of course we know it's Matthew who wrote it, felt compelled under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to include these words that he cried with a loud voice. If you've watched The Passion of the Christ, you probably get a sense of what that cry was about. Now that the actor and director of that movie, I don't know his religious beliefs, but I'm not so sure even that he's a Christian. I read a bit some years ago. I'm not so sure where he stands. But he gave this Eloi cry, probably the closest to what it was. It was a loud, compelling cry of Eloi. that anybody within the distance of his voice heard it. We find another crime in verse 50 of the same chapter. And Jesus cried out again, again notice, with a loud voice and healed up his spirit. I haven't in my life witnessed many people die in my presence, but at one time we had somebody die in our house and they were in the next, in the room adjacent to the living room. When it became clear that life was I being aware, The women who were there said, let's leave her to die. And the cry of that woman when she died lingered in my head for years. And each time I would think about it, there was a chill in my heart. This is a thousand times much more than that. That those who heard Jesus cry on the cross, first of all calling on his father and then healing his spirit, must have lived with that memory for years. There is a suggestion that Jesus cried with loud voices at other times which are not recorded. But what we need to emphasize is this, that Jesus was not talking. He was not talking. He was crying with a loud voice. Well, let's come to the question of tears. Now, apart from the incident involving Lazarus, there's not a clear passage that tells us Jesus shed tears. So where did the writer to the Hebrews get this from? I would like to suggest that it's very safe to conclude that the writer to the Hebrews received this by special revelation. Now, in the New Testament, only the apostle Paul claims that he received the gospel by special revelation. And he says in Galatians, I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man nor was taught it, but it came through special revelation. This is one of the reasons why I think that it is not absurd to believe that this book, the book of the Hebrews, to the Hebrews, that it was written by the Apostle Paul. There are many other reasons, but on the basis of this word, tears, which does not appear anywhere else in the New Testament, we can safely conclude that most likely this was written by the Apostle Paul, the Lord told him. The Lord told him. Now, the fact that Jesus shed tears in prayers is very significant. It shows us his earnestness in prayer. When Jesus prayed, it came from his heart. It moved his entire being. He poured out his emotions into his prayers. He was not saying words because they were convenient, because they were nice to say. He said them from the heart with earnestness of spirit. But it also shows us his dependence on God. Even though the Lord Jesus had authority to lay down his life and to raise it up again, he yielded that authority to the Father. Now, where are we getting this from? We can get it from many passages, but in the passage that we read, there is this inference, and I want to read it. who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears, to him was able to save him from death. In fact, some people think that this word should not be read, should not be translated as from death, but rather out of death. Christ healed it. His authority to the father to raise him from the dead. It was part of an agreement between the father and the son that the father would raise his son from the dead. And so Christ depended on God. There was a contract that the father would raise him and so he cries to him. with loud voice and tears. But we may also consider this, that David was a type of Christ. The writer of the Psalms was a type of Christ. The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool. My Lord, my Lord, why have you forsaken me? That is David in the Old Testament. But he was typifying Christ. He was typifying Christ. He was a prophet. And he was prophesying that there was one greater than me who is going to come. And he was speaking those words in his behalf. So the Lord Jesus quotes David every so often. In fact, what we've read this far, those are the words of David. So that Jesus' shed tears is a fulfillment of the life of David. What life is that? It's a life of trustful reliance on God. And that often involves crying to God. Consider the Psalms, Psalm 120, 130. When David begins the Psalm with, I cried to the Lord and he heard me. And in some cases he would say, my tears. have been my food all day long." And so when the greater David appears, he cries with loud cries and tears. The manner of Jesus' prayers is significant. He prayed with loud cries and tears. But we can also add this, that he prayed with reverence. We notice that in verse 7 itself. Who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death, was heard because of his godly fear. Jesus prayed and walked about his life in reverence. When he's in the garden of Gethsemane, as we have earlier said, He fell face down and prayed. In that moment, the Lord Jesus is showing us that the one before whom he's praying is a great being. And he must submit to that great being. When Jesus is now praying in the garden of Gethsemane, it reads, and he withdrew from them about a stone's throw. And then the Bible says, and he knelt down and began to pray. That's reverence. Now, the Lord Jesus prayed in all kinds of positions, but when He is in the Garden of Gethsemane, He kneels down and prays. This was an act of submission to the will of God in a moment of great trial. Now, in biblical times, kneeling was one of the principal ways of showing respect for authority. And Paul, in his writings, makes many references to this. I kneel before God. I kneel before God in the Epistles. It was the custom of the day. But even today, kneeling has a special way of showing that we respect those before whom we kneel. There is something unique about kneeling. It's often the case that when people have listened to a humbling sermon, somehow or other in their hearts they feel like they must kneel down. Something instinctive, you feel like you must kneel. Why? I don't know. But perhaps it is the ultimate expression of submission to God, outward expression of what is happening in our hearts. Well, how do we respond to this? What this is telling us, colleagues, brethren, friends, is that our lives are to be full of prayers and petitions to God. We are to be regular in prayer. as indeed we were admonished, we were taught not too long ago. But let us emulate the Lord Jesus. He's our example. He prayed with all kinds of prayers and petitions and on all occasions. But further, We should be passionate when we pray. This seems to be a missing link. We can easily tend to be like Catholics who just say prayers. They are theologically correct, doctrinally correct, but that is all there is to it. It's just nice words. We are not wrestling with God. Do we cry to God? We should not be ashamed to cry to God, and that in a literal sense, not crying figuratively. We must not be ashamed to cry to God literally. God is not ashamed of our tears. We should not imitate the British, and I don't mean to be demeaning. The only time the British show their emotions is when they are in the soccer match. When they become so fanatical, some people even lose control of themselves. God sees and is moved by our tears. Tears coming from a sense of our need of him. You know what? The only time that tears will be removed is when the new heaven and the new earth are established. He will remove all tears. But for now, they are a legitimate expression of our relationship to God. We cry to him. But it's also telling us that we should be reverent in prayer. God is not our equal. If the Son of God humbled himself before his Father this way, how much more us? Who are we but mere worms? We must address him as our creator and the only omnipotent God who alone can destroy both body and soul in hell. The words we use before him are important. but much more the penitence of our hearts. Prayer brings us near to God. The curtain in the temple was cut into two, that we can enter the Holy of Holies and pray to God directly. In the olden days, when a priest went into the Holy of Holies, they tied a string to his leg because if he was struck by God there, nobody would go into the Holy of Holies. They had to pull him by a rope. Now we can go before God without any hindrance, without the fear that we'll be struck by his anger. Sometimes I wonder, could it be that prayer is actually the apex of our worship? Jesus calls the temple the house of prayer. In the New Testament, we are repeatedly told that all believers are now priests. to offer spiritual sacrifices to God. And in Revelation, we find that the prayers of the saints, when they reach the throne of God, God in answer to those prayers responds in judgment on the world. If prayer is not the apex of our worship, At the very least, we can say it is the one thing that God cares about very much. And we will do well to pay attention to it. Amen.