Prayer

Revelation in chapter 8 please. Revelation chapter 8 and it says in verse number 1, when he had opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour and I saw the seven angels which stood before God and to them were given seven trumpets and another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne and the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angels hand and the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar and cast it onto the earth and there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake and I trust the Lord will bless his word. I want to notice with you here we've just been hearing about the world and its introduction, the world and its seduction, many different features of the world that surrounds us in which we are living.

I suppose we can see here heaven's grand plan. This is really the destruction of this world and this is where God is going to judge this godless world. Why should we try to invest in it when it is ultimately going to be destroyed and ultimately there is one who is going to reign? But what I have on my mind to you for to leave with you just at this closing part of the meeting is something about the fragrance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know we were speaking about yesterday the fragrance of the Lord Jesus in relation to the proclamation of the gospel, the sweetness of his of his the Thanksgiving that Paul could say thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ and makes manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. We are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. The sweetness and fragrance of the Lord Jesus in the proclamation of the gospel.

It is true that there is a fragrance related to the Lord Jesus Christ and many different situations. I have a little point in mind to come to the end here and I trust you'll just bear with me as we run rather rapidly through some different circumstances in which there was fragrance in relation to the Lord Jesus. I think of the fragrance of him as a prince, a royal heir to the throne recognized as such by the wise men in Matthew chapter 2. I think of how that this one who is called Messiah, the Messiah, the Prince.

He is called the Prince of Princes. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Prince of Life.

He is a Prince and a Savior. He is a Prince of the kings of the earth and those wise men came and fell before him that day and they opened up their coffers before him and they gave him gifts that were fitting to a king of gold and of frankincense and myrrh and there was the worship that came from those men. The recognition of the royalty of this majestic person though just a child in front of them yet they had spiritual discernment to be able to recognize something that those that were near and close to the Lord Jesus never did see at that point of the most of them for that matter but these men that came from afar were bowed in his presence.

So there was fragrance in relation to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Prince and the royal heir to the throne. I think in chapter 7 of Luke's gospel where you see the Lord Jesus and there is a woman that has come in. She has slipped in silently uninvited into Simon's house and there she is in in the presence of those people at the banquet there as the Lord Jesus along with the other invited guests are eating their meal and I think of how that woman she has a mind and a mission in her heart and that is to anoint the Lord Jesus.

She likely despite and because of her circumstances and perhaps the trade that she plied in the streets of this city or with others from other nations I'm not sure where it was but she had put out considerable outlay to bring in an alabaster box of ointment and here was a woman who had heard the call of Christ in the gospel and her heart had been touched and her sins had been forgiven and she heard his invitation if you'll allow it to come on to me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest and she comes to recognize him now not as a prince or as a potentate that is coming to reign but she is coming to recognize him as the one that has brought her a pardon for her sins and so she comes and in ways that are more eloquent than multiple words she is weeping her emotions got the best of her and they actually interfered or came before the ointment that she was planning to anoint him with so that in the end he actually got a double anointing of the tears of this woman's tears of gratitude tears of joy tears of devotion tears of affection tears of a great appreciation here was a woman that was profoundly moved and that's a lovely little study all in itself that is very interesting and it's so touching to see her bow at his feet and she wipes his she washes his feet with a shower of tears and she wipes them with the hairs of her head she takes the glory which is hers and she wipes so tenderly uses it uses her hair as a towel to express her devotion begins to repeatedly kiss his feet and what a moment of devotion what a moment of worship it was the fragrance that filled that house that day as that woman moved by the forgiveness of her sins bowed at the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ all of us who are saved can identify maybe we haven't done something so extravagant as that maybe something not so lavish as that but it strikes a note and we can identify with her can we not the thought of appreciation that fills our heart to thank God for the great wonder of his eternal forgiveness but there is a woman of course in John chapter 12 and she is going to bow at his feet and she is there not now in recognition of him as a potentate not an appreciation of the pardon and the forgiveness of her sins but now she is coming as the recognition of this one that has fulfilled all the proper credentials and requirements as the promised Messiah and she is going to bow at his feet and we all are familiar with the story of Mary Bethany Lazarus sitting at the table he has done his greatest sign the climax of his signs in the resurrection of her own brother it's entered into her own family and it's affected her personal faith and she's got a vision and a sight and an understanding of what the Messiah is yet to suffer his pending death and she's above and beyond lightyears beyond the rest of the disciples and others of our contemporary people around her as she realizes this is a Messiah who is not only going to reign but he's also first of all going to die and suffer and so she appropriately provides the fragrance of her worship at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ there as the promised Messiah but I was thinking when we come to Calvary we can hardly go by at the cross of Calvary without asking ourselves the question is there anything fragrant about the Lord Jesus there well the scripture doesn't leave us to guess does it and so you remember that in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse number 2 we have a pattern for our love for one for another and we are to walk in love as Christ also has loved us and have given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor there surely was something fragrant that happened at the cross and at the cross I see both an offering and a sacrifice an offering which speaks to us that Christ did it voluntarily a sacrifice that tells me that it was not only voluntarily but it was also something that was costly it was telling me about his submission but it is telling me also about his suffering it is telling me about his compliance but it is also telling me about what it cost him and it cost him is all and that extreme example of love on the part of the Savior when he gave himself not only for us but as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor is the character and the tenor it's the template that is set before us to guide us in our interrelationships and our love for one another and how we should walk in separation from a godless world you'll remember that they came and they took his body carefully down and they laid it in the tomb and you remember the the great weight of spices precious spices with which the Lord Jesus was wrapped in that linen spotless garment this is telling me about the purity of the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who is going to reign as the one who can release from sin as the one who meets the requirements of the Messiah as the one that offered himself in that sacrifice of such rich value and worship and devotion to God now as he rests in a tomb is marked by incorruption and purity there he is as pure in his death as he was in his life this is the one who is going to emerge on this the first day of the week on a resurrection morn and in the virtue and value of his spotless character that is even showcased for us by the fragrance no stench of death not even a trace of corruption or decomposition was taking place in that tomb the perfect spotless purity of our Lord Jesus Christ even in conditions of death I think of him as the one who is seen in Psalm 45 the 45th Psalm he is there is the great potentate he's there is the one that is at the inauguration of his great reign it is there with the bride at his side and if you'll allow the application I don't know who you think the the bride is in Psalm 45 but from the New Testament point of view we love to look upon that as the lamb the lamb the wife the bride of the lamb is there and all his garments small of myrrh aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made him glad what a moment of joy that is this one who will be anointed by the father delightful and joy and joyous will be that occasion anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows in that particular moment steps aside for steps into this world one who was introduced by the father in the inauguration of his reign beckoning the angels to worship him and they all stand around and we as the bride at the side of the lamb what a moment exhilarating moment of the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ this is the one that is coming back to reign I was thinking though in Revelation chapter 8 that we actually have his fragrance in relation to our prayers and it's interesting to me that in the very context where it is talking about the outpouring of the judgment of a wrathful righteously angry God because of sin a sinful world that is now being judged there is complete legitimacy and justification for the lamb to impose this judgment on this godless world do you know why so because he has actually suffered at the cross and shed his blood so that no one needs see one second of God's judgment either in life or in eternity these are people that are exposed to judgment in spite of the cross because they've spurned the sacrifice of the Savior so he's righteous as the one that was slain to save to now open the book and open the seals and the judgments are unleashed and they rise in an ascending note and the increase in intensity and weight and concentration and volume and they are all brought together at this moment and then for reasons I'm not really sure of there's almost like a little aside and there was little pause and there was silence in heaven about the space a half an hour and the seven angels are standing there before God and the seven trumpets are given to them and they are about to sound and there is more judgment going to come and it is just at this juncture that it says another angel comes and stands at the altar having a golden censer I was struck by the gold that's here the golden censer the golden bowls in Revelation chapter 5 referring to the same activity of prayer and the golden altar he offers it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar you know that tells me that God treasures our prayers that tells us that God actually looks with high esteem upon our prayers but it is not only the estimate of God in relation to the prayers of all saints as it says here but it is also the enhancement of those prayers it is actually the enablement of those prayers because he goes out to the altar and he is going to take those the fire from the altar but he has filled the censer and there is it says here in verse number three that he stood at the altar having a golden censer and there is given unto him much incense and this special incense is an incense that speaks to us of the fragrance of the Lord Jesus Christ and of course it's almost become worn out because it's so often heard especially in prayer meetings but it is nonetheless true even if it has become almost like a cliche that to all our prayers and prayers Christ adds his sweet perfume and love the censer raises their odors to consume that's what's happening here is we have this activity in heaven and because of the prayers which are actually described by the same word in the plural in chapter 5 in verse 8 as the incense the prayers the incense is the prayers of the saints but now it's not just the prayers in their own particular fragrance but it's these prayers of all saints have now become accompanied by the incense that speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ himself and this is what guarantees their acceptance and as a result the whole ambience and atmosphere of the holiest place in the universe the holiest of all there is fragrance that begins to flood and fill the very presence of God I don't know if I'm stretching it or extrapolating and reading something out of it instead of I understand it correctly but it strikes me as something that's tremendously impressive never underestimate the value of your prayers there is the possibility and according to this passage the actuality that your prayer increases the sweetness the redolence the perfume that makes enjoyable and enhances the very glory of the presence of the God of the universe and the God of eternity even even at this particular intersection and cross worlds of history and prophecy where judgments are being deluged upon this world there is prayers of suffering saints that are found in the presence of God and they are treasured and they are not only a treasure but they bring pleasure to God's heart and they're also something that is held in honor and high esteem and regard so I just want to put this before you today to say this I don't know if you need it but the speaker certainly needs reminder of this very frequently that if this is the way that God looks on your prayers and on mine if this is heaven's perspective on your prayers then what can I learn I can learn that there is not one single prayer of mine made according to the will of God that is ever treated as something trivial insignificant and unworthy of his attention I suppose that there are hearts here today and your heart is not only burdened it's broken maybe it's a wayward son wayward daughter maybe it's someone from your family maybe they're doing something today that's you would have thought was unthinkable maybe what they're doing is unmentionable you'd be ashamed to tell anybody even a fellow believer of what they're doing today you don't talk about it anybody else maybe you don't even talk about it as husband and wife well this is the prayers of all Saints it's not only no single prayer is overlooked made according to as well but no single prayer of any single Saint is ignored by God he's not deaf he's not blind he hasn't died and he hasn't abandoned his plan and in his own time and in his own will and in his own way he knows exactly what to do to bring about circumstances related to your prayer that'll ultimately bring about the blessing that you are crying to God for or maybe you stopped crying for it because you've given up hope maybe I'm talking to someone with a broken marriage there's a multiple maybe there's someone here and facing debilitating disease we've been hearing the names of people and the plea for prayer impossible circumstances and he doesn't always answer our prayers the way we want him to and sometimes he doesn't even answer our prayers within our own lifetime he has his own time frame he has his own agenda he has his own calendar but never forget even if your prayer is not answered the way you want it's actually achieved a very remarkable goal you know what that goal is it is brought glory to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of his sanctuary in heaven and as you continue to apply the presence of God with your pleas and your petitions and you persist and persevere in your prayers remember this your prayers have a fragrance and an incense all to themselves but they are accompanied and enhanced and enriched and enabled in the presence of God by the fragrance of the person of our great high priest so that should I hope encourage you today and just to remind us that while there are times and situations where we don't get the prayers answered the way we want it is tremendously heartening to see God take situations maybe you can't even speak to these situations maybe you can't even speak to the individuals maybe you've been cut off you can't even talk to them you can't even visit them you can't even see them you are in a humanly impossible situation but the things which are impossible with God are possible with man as this meeting comes to a close I just want to encourage you today the value the riches the wealth the tremendous worth and the tremendous weight of your prayers in the presence of God and regardless of earthly results in a heavenly sanctuary they are already having a tremendous delightful effect enhancing the very presence of God with a fragrance that is accompanied by the fragrance of our Lord Jesus Christ may God bless his work