God hath appointed a day when he will judge the world

 

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 22 JANUARY 2023

ACTS 17 VERSES 15 – 34

“He hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” Verse 31

There have been some great days in history but none greater than this one.  The day he calls a hold on all that is going on in this world.  The day when he calls his son Jesus to judge the earth.  The apostle Paul comes to Athens on his missionary journey to deliver the gospel to men and women.  He is waiting on his friends to lend him support (verse 16).  Now while Paul waits for them “his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.”  Paul was a man who had been tremendously changed on the road to Damascus.  His mission had been to find people believing in Christ, to arrest them and cast them into prison.  Now on that road he had a real life transforming experience.  He was brought face to face with the God of heaven.  That is what salvation is.  It is not signing a card or singing a few hymns, not even going to church on Sunday.  It is something down in the heart of every man who comes to God in childlike faith.  That is why Paul is in Athens.  He could see men and women given over to idolatrous worship.  They were worshiping all sorts of gods.  He looked on them in love.  His heart was stirred.  That is what it means. That is why we have a place of worship.  That is why we have the opportunity for the ingathering of souls.  People here have a passion for souls to see men and women saved.  Not to see the church filled but God moving in hearts.  This was a religious society looking for a relationship.  He is speaking here of a day yet to come.  A day when all will stand and give an account before God,

This is a sovereign day.  A day owned of God, designed of God, executed of God.  He will judge everyone on that day.  He is at present seated on the throne ruling in the affairs of man.  Verses 29 and 30.  A day when no leader will have any input whatsoever.  Neither the President of the USA or the Prime Minister of the UK nor the king or any prince.  This day is ordained of God.  He will execute it.  He will stop everything happening here on earth.  He will execute that day.  He has already planned and designed it.  He will bring it to pass.  The small, the great, the rich and the poor will stand in judgment.  There are many sitting in meetings tonight listening to the voice of the preacher, drawn to the foot of the cross but there is a rebellion going on, they don’t want to be saved.  On that particular day when God will judge the world in righteousness those who rejected the Lord will stand as their judge.  In Genesis 6 God said he would destroy the world with a flood.  It was God’s plan for the world.  The world he had created.  We are not talking of something God has involvement in.  It will happen one of these days.  In Genesis 6 God saw a people given over to their own pursuits and had no thought for God or eternal life.  God gave them 120 years on the earth.  In that period of time Noah built an ark.  God brought judgment after that period of time.  He will one day judge the earth.  God spoke to Abraham “you will be a stranger in a strange land and will be there for 400 years.  I will bring them out and judge them.” 

The setting of the day.  God has a day set aside.  We cannot fathom that day.  He has marked it on his calendar.  It is etched in the throne room of heaven.  When God declared the judgment in Noah’s day he planned that day very exactly.  He said he would destroy man and this world.  He had the exact date in mind.  Genesis 7 verse 4.  People had no time for the ark nor for Noah.  They laughed and scorned him.  Then it happened just as God said.  Genesis 7 verse 10 “and it came to pass after 7 days that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.”  Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives went into the ark.  God reached down and shut the door.  People were now crying out for entry but time was up.  The grace was gone.  The invitation was withdrawn.  Salvation could no long be obtained.  When God comes again we will be going on about our normal daily activities – shops will be opened and trading, schools will be operating, people will be driving to their place of work.  Then, as Thessalonians tells us God will come back with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God.  It will all be over.  God will wind everything up.  The dead in Christ shall rise first.  Raised up again to meet their souls in heaven.  The souls and bodies are reunited and we will live with him for eternity.  Sadly, not for the unsaved.  People will be left behind and go through 7 years, a time never like it before.  Genesis 7 verse 21 “all flesh died that moved on the earth.”  They were going about their normal days business.  They hadn’t a care or thought.  That was the day when God closed the door.  God has set aside a day for this world to be judged.  It is as real as believing.  “In such a day as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.”

A day of solemnity.  The affairs of men will be brought to an end when we stand before the judge of all the earth.  They did not give it a second thought but are now standing before him. Every detail of our lives will flash before us.  2 Corinthians 5 verse 10.  The Lord likens that day to the harvest day.  Remember the parable of the farmer who sowed the seed in the field.  The tares and weeds grow up with the good seed.  The servants asked if they should pluck the weeds and tares.  The master’s reply is ‘no wait until the day of the harvest and gather altogether and then separate them.’  The tares will be burned and the good wheat will be gathered into the barn.  Revelation 6 the kings and the mighty men, princes and rulers shall call out for the very mountains and rocks to cover them.  Why?  Because they realise this is the great day of God’s wrath.  Who will be able to stand on that day?  Solemn day, a day when you and I will be called to the judgment bar of Christ.  Not for our sins but for rewards.  A day when the ungodly will stand before the judge for all the unrighteous acts. “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power.”   At the judgment seat every deed will be poured out.  Revelation 20 “I saw the dead small and great and they stand before God.”  There is no chance of missing out.  There is no hiding place. Those who would not come to Christ are now driven from his face.  Those who rejected Christ in past days will be called again to stand before God.  Wouldn’t it be awful to leave it there. 

A solution for this day.  Verse 30.  All those who worshipped these idols, in the past God winked at, turned a blind eye to them.  Now I want them to come and repent of their sins.  It is not just joining a church, sitting at the communion table.  It is repentance that is needed.  The door of God’s grace is still open.  As long as it is light we have the opportunity to come to Christ – will you?

Let us launch out into the deep

 

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 22 JANUARY 2023

Luke 8 verses 22 – 26

A picture of our lives is seen in these 5 verses.  A few hours spent in a little boat.  Here we see the faltering and failings of the disciples.  They walked so closely with the Lord, spent time with him yet here they thought he didn’t care about them.  They thought they were going to perish.  Sometimes we get thoughts like that.  We go through hard difficult times and some times people don’t really understand what we are struggling with.  Remember Jesus on the cross.  He was going through a difficult time.  He cried “my God, my God why hast thou forsaken me.”  He prayed it himself.  We could nearly forgive the disciples here in these verses because of that.  The ups and downs of Christian living is seen here.  Some think that the Christian life is airy fairy living but it is not like that.  There are deep valleys, sorrows, burdens, heartbreaks.  So many things can happen in our living for Christ.  Those who are closest to the Lord thought their master had forgotten about them, that he would see them perish.  Thinking of these 5 verses as life’s journey.  Jesus said to his disciples “Let us go over unto the other side of the lake and they launched forth.”  No questions asked.  Let us look at this journey they were on.  They launched forth.  Have we launched ourselves, left the shoreline, depending on nothing else but the Lord?

Every journey has a commencement – there is a beginning, a starting point in the Christian life.  This was a busy day for Jesus and his disciples and it ends with a decision to be made.  They had to plan their next step.  Jesus got into the boat with his disciples and he said these words unto them: “Let us go over unto the other side of the lake.”  The disciples were prepared to do it.  Am I prepared to do what the Lord asks me to even on the busiest of days?  Are we too prepared, too settled in our own lives and not thinking of others?  Are we reading the scriptures daily?  Are we prepared to listen to what God has to say?  God speaks through his word and the disciples launched out.  They listened to what he wanted them to do and they obeyed.  Are we certain of that day, the moment when we followed Christ?  The apostle Paul came to Athens in Acts 17.  He was looking around him and he could see the whole city given over to idolatry.  Men and women were worshipping idols.  The seemed to be happy, content in it.  They had a multiplicity of gods.  One altar stuck in Paul’s mind – one to the unknown god.  They didn’t want to leave this god out.  Paul took up this theme.  "Let me tell you about this god you worship unknowingly.”  He said to these philosophers and Stoicks “one day God will judge the world, one day this scene of time will be wrapped up.”  (Hebrews 1 verse 12).  One day the Lord will fold this world up just like you fold a garment and we need to be ready for that day.  Paul told these philosophers – this lifestyle you have, God has looked at it.  God has winked at it, turned a blind eye to what you are doing.  You have heard of this Saviour.  God demands you to repent.”  As Paul looks at these people in Athens he seems them content with their religiosity,   There has to be a moment in our lives when we repented, looked to Jesus, bowed the knee to him, took him as Saviour, were born again of the Spirit of God.  Nicodemus was a very religious, righteous man.  He made his way one night to Jesus.  Jesus could say to him “except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  It didn’t depend on his religiosity.  He had to trust Christ as Saviour and Lord.  Have we launched out?  Are we following after Christ?  Have we launched out on our spiritual journey?  What about Peter?  He fished all night and caught nothing.  The next day Jesus said to him “launch out”.  Sometimes we don’t mind launching out a little bit but not too far.  We don’t want to get too involved.  Jesus passed by Matthew one day and he said to him “follow me”.  Matthew left his desk and followed Jesus wholeheartedly that day.

The company on the journey.  The disciples were in the boat travelling with the Lord, they had their eyes fixed on him.  They had listened to what he had to say.  They were happy to be in the boat because Jesus was with them.  How important company is on life’s journey.  Paul said to the Corinthians “be not unequally yoked with unbelievers.”  He was speaking of relationships and friendships, the saved and the unsaved working together.  People get into trouble whenever they go with the wrong crowd.  In Psalm 1 we read the testimony of the psalmist “blessed is the man”  He has found something good.  He is not walking with the ungodly, not standing in the way of sinners and not sitting in the seat of the scornful.  You usually find there will be people to encourage you in life but there are plenty of others who just want to pull you down and discourage you.  Company is important.  Fellowship is important.  When Mathew rose up from that desk that day he was following good company.  He had his eyes set on the Lord but he was following the Lord.  He didn’t know what was in store for him.  The disciples didn’t know what would happen when Jesus told them to launch out.  Maybe we want to know our end from the beginning.  We don’t need to know that but rather need to follow Christ.  In Numbers 22 the children of Israel had to pass through the land of the Moabites.  Balak was their king and the children of Israel were a threat to him.  He sent word for Balaam to come and curse them.  God took notice of this meeting.  Balak sent messengers to Balaam with news that he would give him great riches.  God told Balaam not to go.  God is interested in our company.  The same thing happened to Rehoboam.  When he came to the throne he went to the peer group he had grown up with and asked them for advice on how he was to rule.  He neglected to listen to the older men.  Paul said in Corinthians “come out from among them and be ye separate” (2 Corinthians 6 verse 17).  We are living in a society where church is a social movement made up of all sorts of functions.  It is no longer the place where the gospel is proclaimed.  People are sitting under a man who does not proclaim the gospel message.  We need to be in good company today.

The crisis that hit.  After the toil of the day Jesus went and fell asleep in the boat.  You can almost see what happened next.  A storm arose and the boat began to fill with water.  The disciples tried to deal with it in their own ability but couldn’t get out of the crisis.  The master was there all the time.

The confusion – the disciples were confused about the master’s position.  They had forgot the master had said “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.”  Jesus asked them “where is your faith?”

The comfort.  Jesus got up and rebuked the winds.  Everything was calm.  Calmness came through the word of the living God in that time of crisis and confusion.  We will find comfort in the word of God.  The people in the Corinthian church were scared.  They thought they had missed out on Jesus’ return.  Paul said “comfort ye with these words”.  We find comfort in God’s words.  Let’s leave the shore behind.  It is safe there yes but will we say to the Lord today “here I am, I am willing to go wherever you want me to and do whatever you want me to do.”

That I might preach him

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 1 JANUARY 2023 PM

GALATIANS 6 VERSES 1 - 16

"To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood."

Paul's words "that I might preach him" was his commission.  1 Corinthians 1 verse 21 says it is through the "foolishness of preaching" that men and women are saved.  Paul himself told these Corinthians believers "my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."  Paul had a tremendous grasp of the word of God.  He was not going to dress it up - God's power was working in him.  When the angels came to the shepherds on the hillside they told them "for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour which is Christ the Lord."  Peter said in Acts "neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4 verse 12)  What a challenge for everyone who preaches the word of God even today!  What did Paul mean when he said he would preach Christ?

He would preach about his person.  This man left the splendour of heaven, the praise of the angels to come into this sin cursed world.  Paul was not going to preach a man's theory, only Christ to all and sundry in every town and city.  The main topic will be the Lord himself.  "We preach Christ and him crucified".  Paul speaks of his calling in verse 15 "But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace."  What a life he had led - a zealous religious young man yet God had his hand on him.  One day he had letters in his hand which would enable him to find, arrest and even kill anyone who followed Christ.  On that road to Damascus God brought him to his knees and showed him the insincerity of his heart.  Sin had stained him, heavens door was closed to him.  God said to Jeremiah "before I formed you in the belly I knew you." (Jeremiah 1 verse 5) God has a tremendous knowledge of each of us tonight. The Psalmist could also say "such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it." (Psalm 139 verse 6)  God knows where we stand spiritually tonight.  Paul knew when he preached about Christ he was preaching about an unique person.  When Jesus was baptised the heavens opened, the Spirit came down in the form of a dove and God spoke "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."  God's perfect son had come to earth, he died on Calvary's tree for our sins.  John 3 verse 16 - this was God's motive.  Jesus was unique in his birth, he was born of the virgin Mary and conceived of the Holy Spirit.  He was given his name while he was still in the womb.  The angel told Joseph "thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins."  Jesus was unique in his life - he never sinned.  He was unique in his burial and resurrection.  Romans 8 verse 3.

Paul would preach about the passion of Christ.  His death on the cross was the most important thing.  There is nothing to merit our acceptance by the thrice holy God.  There is nothing we could do.  Jesus came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost.  Remember on the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus the entire topic of conversation was the Lord's death on Calvary.  Such was the importance of this particular topic.  Because Christ has died for us we can enter into God's presence directly at death.  "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures." (1 Corinthians 15 verse 3)

Paul would preach about Christ's power.  Those women who went to the tomb on the first day after Jesus had died realised that God's power had raised him from the dead.  Acts 2 verse 24 "whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."  The same power the Holy Spirit exercised when he was raised from the dead is able to save you today.

He would also preach about the promise of Jesus.  Jesus said to his disciples "in my Father's house are many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself."  The first time Jesus came to earth was to bear the sacrifice of our sin but the next time he will come as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Are you looking forward to that event?  This was the reason why Paul preached Christ.

Let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not

 

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 1 JANUARY 2023

GALATIANS 6 VERSES 1 - 10

"Let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

1 Peter 1 verse 23 "Being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever."

Hebrews 4 verse 12 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Psalm 119 verse 130 "The entrance of thy word giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple."

God's work is not easy, it doesn't matter what part you are involved in.  The devil is prepared to weary us, to get us out of doing God's work but Paul says here "stick at it"!  Why should we?  Because "in due season we will reap."  Whatever you do for the Lord will reap a harvest.  Paul was aware of the enemy of the work.  Paul himself suffered physically - 2 Corinthians 11 verses 23 - 28.  Why? For "the care of all the churches".  That weighed on him more than anything else.

In his letter to the Galatians Paul warned them to watch out for themselves but also for one another.  Notice in this verse ...

A duty spoken of.  we cannot ignore what we can do for God.  Jesus said to his disciples that this is our duty - "let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  We should live our lives in such a way to bring glory to God whatever our situation.  James said "a man may say, thou hast faith and I have works; shew me thy faith without thy works and I will shew thee my faith by my works."  Our faith should be in Jesus not in who I am or what I have done.  He took on himself our sin and went to Calvary to die, to be buried and then to rise again.  Faith in self will take you to this side of the grave but it will part with you there.  That is the reality today.  Peter spoke of the Christians being ridiculed, mocked, slandered but he told them "having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."  In Jesus' day the Pharisees followed him and his disciples.  They realised that his disciples were uneducated men but they had been with Jesus and that made the difference.  "For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2 verse 10)  So often we don't want to talk about good works as these will never save us but we are saved unto good works not by them!  The woman with the alabaster box poured all its content on Jesus' feet.

The diligence that has to be sought.  Galatians 6 verse 10 "As we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men."  We have to open our eyes and see the opportunity to do good to all men.  That woman with the alabaster box gave the equivalent of a years wages.  She saw the opportunity to anoint Jesus.  She realised that opportunity would not come again.  She seized the opportunity to display her service to the Lord.  In the gospels we read of a man who owned a great property.  He gave 3 men talents according to each.  He went on a journey to a far country.  The 2 men with 5 and 3 talents brought back double what had been given to them but the man with the one talent had dug a hole and buried it.  Will we in 2023 look for the opportunities God gives us to work for him?  To increase God's work perhaps?

The danger described here.  In verse 9 we are told not to "be weary" and "faint not".  We should not give up in praying for individuals.  Paul encourages us to keep on going.  Paul mentioned Demas in 2 Timothy 4 as "hath forsaken me having loved this present world."  He forsook Paul but didn't lose his faith altogether.  Jesus gave that wonderful illustration of the unjust judge.  A woman had a difficulty in her life and she continually came to the judge.  Eventually he listened to her words, why because he was concerned that by continually coming to him she would weary him.  Jesus then went on to say "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him though he bear long with them?"  Nehemiah took on that great task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.  The enemy came against him and asked him to stop for a while and talk with them.  Nehemiah replied he couldn't because "he was doing a great work".

A delight that results - "for in due season we shall reap."

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 8 JANUARY 2023

1 CHRONICLES 4 VERSES 1 - 10

In verse 10 we read of a man called Jabez.  Nothing more is recorded of him than this verse.  Just a man of God, a mere man.  His example can challenge us.  This man is characterised by faith.  He called on the God of heaven and that prayer is here recorded for us.

He had a faith that was focused.  "And Jabez called on the God of Israel"  Is our focus on Jesus today?  He paid the price for our sin on Calvary.  Where is your faith today?  Think of the children of Israel on their way to the Promised Land.  As they walked through the wilderness they grumbled because they wanted water to drink.  They started to complain to Moses and Aaron.  God sent vipers into the camp who bit them.  That poison would have brought death.  Moses was told by God to make a brazen snake and set it in the middle of the camp.  When the people looked to it they would be healed.  Years later they still had that snake set up.  It was an object of worship not the object of their faith.  The apostle Paul writing to the Ephesians reminds them of how he left them.  He told them he had warned them of those who would come in after him and lead them astray.  He reminded them of the work he had put in.  He preached from place to place, testifying both to the Jews and the Greeks.  He taught them of repentance, turning away from sin and placing their trust in the Lord God.  Everyone has a degree of faith but not all in Jesus Christ.  We need faith in him otherwise it is no good. "You believe in God believe also in me."  Hebrews tells us to run the race looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

A fight that was before him.  He called on the God of Israel.  "O that thou wouldest bless me and enlarge my coast."  Are we seeking blessing from the hand of God?  "Every good and perfect gift cometh from above."  We are not asking for God to bless us but through it he might be glorified.  Jabez was in a battle and he knew he could not win.  He called on the God of heaven to help him.  Like Paul he believed "I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me."  He was asking for strength for the battle.  Paul said "we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and the rulers of darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places."  This is a battle we cannot win in our own strength.  We are told in Ephesians to "put on the whole armour of God."  That is our responsibility.  If we are facing battles, spiritual difficulties then we need to stop and put on the full armour of God that we might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  Do not live saying "I have faith" but "I have faith in Christ who died for me."  Remember David going out to fight Goliath.  He had been watching his father's sheep when his father told him to go and see how his brothers were doing.  When David arrived he found a large giant shouting and ridiculing the God of heaven.  Daivd looked at this giant and said he is only a man.  Saul thought he could get David rigged out and put on the full armour on him.  David threw it off him and went in with a sling and 5 stones from the brook.  He put them in his pouch and went out to meet the giant.  Goliath saw him coming and laughed.  David said "you have come to me with great military experience and weapons but I come in the name of the God of Israel.  That is how he would face him.  The shepherd that goes before us is the one who will take us through the battle.  David took 1 stone and put it into the sling.  With that one stone he brought the great giant down.  Caleb back in Joshua 15 was entering the land.  He said in his prayer "give me this mountain, if so be the Lord be with me then I will be able to drive them out as the Lord saith."  At 80 years of age this man was determined to follow through on what he had been promised 40 years before.  Is our faith focused on him today?  Jabez' faith was in the God of heaven.

The fellowship that is sought.  "and that thine hand might be with me."  He was crying out for fellowship with the Lord.  May that be the prayer of our hearts and lives, that the Lord would presence himself with us.  In Joshua 3 as the priests stepped down into the Jordan river the people kept their eyes on the ark.  Why? "for you haven't gone this way before".  We have never lived this year before.  We need to keep our eyes on the God of heaven.  Jesus said "for where 2 or 3 are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst."

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 15 JANUARY 2023

Galatians 6 verse 9 "And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not."

1 Chronicles 4 verse 10 "Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed and enlarge my coast and that thine hand might be with me and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me."

Jabez was a man characterised by his faith and walk with God.  He was known by that faith - steadfast and sure.  It was founded in the finished work of Calvary.  He believed that Jesus came into the world as God's own son, to die for the world's sin.  The mark of any man is in his relationship with God.  

Our reading today was from Jeremiah 29 verses 1 to 14.  Jeremiah records a letter from the hand of God.  He was writing to a people who had been carried away captive to Babylon.  Jeremiah told them that God wanted them to be model citizens.  They were to sow, plant and reap, to live off the fruit of the land.  God wants us to do the same today.  Somehow we have the attitude of "oh well God knows all about the nature I have."  That is not an excuse we should use - Jesus told us we are the light of the world and we should shine before everyone.  Why?  So that people will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.  Jeremiah warned the people that there would be dark days ahead, deceivers would come in among them and they were not to listen to them.  There are people today who have a perverted message, a message that will lead many to a lost and Christless eternity.  There is a message of hope though - 70 years from their captivity they would be brought home again.  We can be sure that God is in control today.  He promises that those deep waters will not overpower us nor will the fire burn us.

First of all it is a solitary prayer.  It cost Jabez time, he had to set things aside.  There are things we have to set aside to be in the place of prayer.  We have to forego the last cup of tea, the heat of the fire just to be in the place of prayer.  It costs us to be in the place of prayer.  Abraham in Genesis 18 - the sin of Sodom was so great that the vapours of that sin reached to heavens gate.  God said "I am coming down to examine this."  God knew all about the sin going on.  He comes down right to where Abraham was.  He reveals that to Abraham.  The sin of Sodom is terrible.  I have come down to judge the penalty for that sin and it will be the ruination of Sodom.  Can you imagine the burden on Abraham's shoulders at that time.  Do we have a vision today seeing men and women going out into a Christless eternity?  What a weight this was.  Abraham had a burden to plead for the city.  We come to pray for the province and seek the Lord's face.  We pray for our family and loved ones.  "And Abraham stood before the Lord."  He knew he had a family in that city.  He got to work, he started to pray and plead for God to change his mind.  Prayer took priority in Abraham's life.  Habakkuk did the same thing.  He could see what was happening to his nation.  "I will get into the tower and wait to see what God will do."  Moses climbed up the hill.  The battle was going on down in the valley.  Moses was praying and pleading on top of the hill.  Jesus himself sent the multitude away and went up into the mountain apart to pray and when evening was come he was there alone (Matthew 14 verse 23).  That is his example but what about his teaching?  Matthew 6 verse 6.  Don't seek any other glory.  It is you and God alone.  No-one else needs to know about it.  I wonder how many knew Moses was on the mountain praying while they were in the valley?  God tells us to get away even for a few moments and seek God.  Do nothing else, no reading or anything else just praying.

The simplicity of the prayer.  He asked for what was on his heart.  He feels the need for blessing.  He cried out for something.  "As the deer pants for the water so my soul longs after you."  Isaiah said "Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down."  He is confident that God can do it.  Jesus said "ask and it will be given unto you."  Hannah came to God.  Her need was plain and clear  She knew what she was doing.  She poured out her soul unto God.  She was in bitterness of soul.  She made her request to God - "give unto thine handmaid a man child."  She was under persecution from another woman who had children and she did not have any.  God wants us to worship him in spirit and in truth.  Remember the centurion who came to Jesus one day.  His servant was lying at home in pain, ready to die.  He came into the presence of Jesus with confidence.  He told Jesus he was not worthy that he should come into his house but asked if he could speak the word only.  He knew that the Lord could touch even at a distance.  What a prayer.  The simplicity of it.  Jabez asked for the Lord to bless him. That is what we need.  Blessing on ourselves, our family and our community.  Will we pray and ask to see men and women saved?

The sincerity of his prayer.  He comes into God's presence and asks with such simplicity.  Prayer is the language of our heart when we come with sincerity.  He knew the one to whom he was coming.  He wanted to do business with God.  In Hebrews we are told "without faith it is impossible to please God."  "Him that cometh to him is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."  The message was simple - call upon me and I will hear.  The nature of the prayer.  When you seek me with all your heart.  Do you believe what you say?  Do you believe what you ask?  Jabez was more honourable than his brother.  "Because I bore him with sorrow"  Something happened in childbirth.  There was something of a danger to her and her child.  Maybe that was the moment she looked to the Lord for help, asking God to keep her and her child safe.  Perhaps she related that story and looked to God for similar blessing.  He knew the God of heaven who preserved him in the early days could save him now in the days of trouble.  It is good to teach our children, to tell them about the God of heaven.  We should not miss that opportunity.

Finally the success of his prayer -  "And God granted him that which he requested."  God heard this man as he prayed.  His prayer was simple but it came from his heart.  God still hears and God still answers prayer.  Remember Solomon.  The Lord appeared to him in the night.  Solomon was stepping into the shoes of his father David. A great example to him.  He was coming to the throne of a great nation.  God came to Solomon and asked him what he could do for him.  The young king simply asked "grant me wisdom".  1 Kings 10 verse 29 God granted him his request.  Our motto verse reminds us to not give up, to keep at it.