The Nature and Necessity of Prayer
Prayer is a blessed means whereby we fellowship with an almighty and loving Father, who eagerly awaits such communion with His children. Biblical praying is the channel through which the very power of God is unleashed in our lives and in the world. The reason so few of us pray as we ought is because we do not fully understand what prayer is all about, because we are so weak in our faith, because we are not sold out to His plan for the world, and because we do not pursue after that which we are commanded.
Evangelism and prayer are deeply intertwined and mutually reinforcing. It is unthinkable to imagine engaging in any evangelistic endeavors without first beginning with prayer and continually bathing those efforts with prayer.
The Relationship of Preaching and Prayer
Biblical texts linking preaching with prayer
Romans 15:30-33
Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find refreshing rest in your company. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. (Emphasis is mine)
Paul wrote these words while he was in Corinth, Greece during his third missionary journey. He was on his way to Jerusalem having gathered financial gifts from the Gentile churches to aid the suffering church in Jerusalem, and he wanted prayer because he anticipated opposition from the unbelieving Jews. But, Paul is looking forward to coming to the Roman church in great joy by God’s will and finding refreshment in his fellowship with them.
When our loving heavenly Father hears our earnest prayers, He often will answer those prayers in such a way that we never imagined in order that His greater glory might be manifested. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Paul will go to Jerusalem, but he had no idea how God was going to direct steps. Because of his actions in Jerusalem, a mob rushed upon him, seeking to kill him (Acts 21:30). Because of the great uproar in the city, the commander of the Romans sent soldiers to deal with the turmoil. The mob was in the process of beating Paul, but when the mob saw the Roman soldiers, they stopped beating him. The Roman commander put Paul in chains and was about to have him whipped in order for him to confess why the crowd wanted to kill him. Once Paul informed the Roman commander that he actually was a Roman citizen, he was not beaten and was released to speak to the chief priests and the Council. As Paul was speaking to the Council, there was a great dissension. The Roman commander perceived that Paul was about to be torn to pieces and ordered Paul to be brought to the Roman barracks. While in the barracks, we read from Acts 23:11 that the Lord came to Paul saying, “ Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.” Here we see the truth of Proverbs 16:9 becoming a reality. Paul was going to go to Rome, but in a way he never anticipated, and all the circumstances occurring in Jerusalem was in the plan of God!
The Scripture indicates that there was a conspiracy of 40 Jews who swore an oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul (Acts 23: 12-15). The murderous plot was exposed to the Roman commander. The commander ordered Paul to be delivered to the city of Caesarea where Governor Felix would adjudicate the matter, but Felix put Paul under house arrest for two years before a new governor, Festus, would succeed him. In the meantime, Governor Felix would often visit Paul and converse with him (Acts 24:26). We are not told the outcome of those conversations, but we can only imagine how the civil official would be evangelized by Paul with the gospel message!
Governor Festus wanted to let Paul stand trial in Jerusalem regarding the serious charges made against him; however, Paul was concerned that he would not get any kind of fair hearing so he exercised his right as a Roman citizen to take his case directly to Caesar in Rome. Consequently, governor Felix said, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go”(Acts 25:11).
God answered the prayer that Paul requested to come to the Roman church, but he came to Rome in a way he never anticipated because God wanted him to impact the very household of Caesar. While imprisoned in Rome, Paul writes his epistle to the Philippian church where he writes:
Philippians 1:12-14
Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well-known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.
Paul had a plan, which was good, but the Lord altered the plan for a better one – the gospel got into the very household of the Roman Emperor. God was answering the prayer of the saints at Rome, but he answered it in a different way that brought Him the greatest glory!
In Romans 15:30-32, Paul urges the church in Rome to “strive together” with him in their prayers to God for him. The Greek word for strive together is sunagonizomai. This is a combination of two words agonizomai and sun. The preposition sun conveys “together with.” The word agonizomai conveys the idea of contending for victory in the public games. It commonly came to mean to fight, to wrestle with great pains, straining to achieve victory in the contest. Bringing this to our text and understanding the spiritual meaning, we see that Paul urges intercessory prayer on his behalf in his preaching. In doing so, the faithful prayers of the saints are really contending with Paul in his struggles to preach the gospel.
So often, Christians do not understand the dynamic of prayer. Paul says that our prayers on his behalf place us spiritually with him in the struggle. We can rightly refer to those who engage in these intercessory prayers as prayer warriors. We are fighting with all those for whom we are praying. This should have sweeping ramifications in praying for missions.
I must ask my reader, “How serious are you about prayer?” If God has promised the victory of the gospel in the present age, if Jesus is reigning victoriously at the Father’s right hand, if God promises that all His enemies will be subjugated, and if Jesus is empowering His church, then what is stopping us from praying for this victory? It must be laziness, which should shame us. It must be a lack of faith in His promises, which should shame us.
Believing and persistent prayer is the foundation in one sense for the great success of the gospel; it is the energizing agent that Christ uses to extend His dominion over the nations. It is the calling upon our sovereign Lord to do what He has promised! Prayer demonstrates our complete dependence upon our Lord to accomplish His glorious purposes. Since the Scripture pictures the church as an offensive army assailing the gates of hell, we should see prayer as the absolutely essential supply line to keep the army pressing on to its victory. Cut the supply line and one causes the advancing army to grind to a halt. Our enemy will do what he can to discourage Christ’s church to pray. With believing and persistent prayer combined with the faithful preaching of the gospel, the domain of darkness, Satan’s citadel, will be overcome, and those residing in darkness will be set free and led to Christ’s obedience.
When believers constantly engage in prayer for those on the mission field who are engaged in spiritual battle for the souls of men, not only are they spiritually fighting with God’s preachers, but they have the wonderful promise of sharing in the blessings of what God does in that harvest field. When Jesus sent the disciples out to the cities of Israel to preach the gospel, He said:
He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward. (Matthew 10:41-42)
We can legitimately extrapolate from this passage that prayer warriors who are agonizing in prayer for the souls of men, can reap that reward that God’s preachers also receive. Once we understand the amazing dynamics of prayer warriors in conjunction with Jesus’ preachers, we ought to be excited. Do you want those blessings? Then start agonizing in prayer for God’s preachers wherever they are!
Ephesians 6:17-20
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
This beautifully shows the correlation of wielding the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, with the ministry of intercessory prayer. This intercessory prayer is to be persevered in, and for all the saints. As Christians, we all desperately need each other’s prayers in our personal fight against the wiles of the devil, but we also need prayers for the mission of the church. Paul wanted prayer on his behalf for what purpose? It was for him to boldly preach the gospel, even if he is an ambassador in chains. When believers persevere in prayer for Jesus’ preachers to be fearless in the proclamation of the gospel, then heaven is summoned to grant that glorious request!
Colossians 4:2-4
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.
This is another wonderful call for believers to uphold preachers and their proclamation of the gospel. As believers we are commanded to devote ourselves to prayer that God may enable doors to be opened for the preaching of the gospel. The Greek grammar for “devote” is a present imperative, meaning that it is a command to constantly be praying for doors to be opened for God’s preachers. We should be praying every day for those preachers!
Matthew 9:36-38
And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to his disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.
Jesus felt compassion for the multitudes, for He saw them as those who were sitting in darkness under the shadow of death, having no hope in the world. Those who go into the harvest field to proclaim the gospel not only need to be fearless but compassionate for lost souls, not wanting any to perish in hell forever. What should we do as believers? We need to do exactly what God wants us to do – pray to Him to raise up fearless men who are willing to go and sacrifice everything if necessary to win souls for Christ.
Persevering in Prayer for the gospel
Isaiah 62:6-7
On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night they will never keep silent. You who remind the Lord, take no rest for yourselves; and give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
This is a magnificent passage urging God’s people, particularly watchmen on Jerusalem’s walls, to assail the throne of God with believing and relentless prayer until God’s glorious purpose for His church comes to pass in the earth. The passage presumes that Jerusalem will be a praise in the earth; hence, victory for the church is pictured, but this reality comes to pass through the faithful application of the means that God has appointed for His church. Prayer is the energizing agent for the success of the gospel. This is a wonderful hyperbole whereby God says, as it were, see if you can wear me out in your prayers to Me by giving Me no rest until I accomplish what you are praying for. This is surely one of the greatest promises in all of God’s word.
Luke 18:1-8
Now he was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not lose heart, saying, ‘there was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God, and did not respect man. And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying,’ give me legal protection from my opponent.’ And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming she wear me out.’ And the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge said; now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes will He find faith on the earth?
In our prayers for the success of the gospel, are we like the widow? We know our heavenly Father seeks to save lost souls. Will we keep persevering with great earnestness until we receive our desire to see souls saved? Seeing that God is sovereign in the salvation of souls, then it is very appropriate for us to be relentless in our prayers to God.
Matthew 7:7-11
Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. For what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him!
Jesus is giving three commands: ask! seek! and knock! Jesus exhorts us to do these three things. It is important to note that in the original Greek these three commands are in the present tense, which infers a continual performance. We can see the quality of persistence taught in these passages. The petitioner is constantly asking, seeking, and knocking. The Greek grammar indicates that those who continually do these things will be continually receiving, finding, and having the door opened. What a tremendous promise for us as we agonizing in prayer for Gospel preachers! I trust that my reader is beginning to see how important prayer is in the conquest of the world for Christ.
Jesus’ Church is Engaged in Spiritual Warfare
Evangelism is not an option for the Christian. Not all of us are called to be official “preachers” of the gospel, but we are all called to bear witness of the good news (Acts 8:4,15).
Mark 16:15:
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Matthew 28:18-20:
All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age
Jesus Christ is Jehovah Sabaoth, “the Warrior of Israel.” Jesus is the “Captain of the hosts of the Lord” who leads the heavenly hosts in war against His enemies. The fact that Jesus is with His church in this capacity and “with them until the end of the age” assures the success of His Great Commission. Who can defeat God? This means His church is invincible in its capacity to be His agent in the spiritual conquest of the world.
Revelation 6:1-2:
And I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come!” And I looked and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering and to conquer.
Jesus is reigning; He is going out conquering and to conquer. He is subduing the nations; He is smiting them with the rod of His mouth. His preaching is destroying His enemies; His gospel is the very power of God that transforms enemies of God into His friends. Jesus does all of this through His church! His church is the fullness of Him that fills all in all in terms of His role as mediator.
Matthew 16:15-18:
He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ‘I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hell will not overpower it.
Jesus had elicited a response from Peter as to His true identity. With Peter’s accurate confession, Jesus stated that any such illumination is an act of God’s revealing grace because flesh and blood cannot understand it. It is upon such a confession that Jesus builds His church. No one is a genuine Christian who does not receive Him as Lord, who does not confess Him as the God/Man (I John 2:20-23). This is the glorious truth set forth in the gospel that the church preaches.
Notice as well, that Jesus said that the gates of Hell will not overpower the church. This is often misunderstood. Many view this passage as stating that the church is a blessed stronghold that not even the devil and his entire demonic realm can defeat. This view pictures the devil on the attack while the church is on the defensive, but prevailing. This is not what Jesus meant, and it is not an accurate view of the church and its relationship to the devil and his forces. Yes, it is true that Ephesians 6 pictures the Christian with his full armor who is standing firm against the devil and his schemes (Eph. 6:12), whose shield of faith does quench all the fiery darts of the evil one (Eph. 6:16). We must always understand passages in their context, and how the Scripture uses various concepts. The individual Christian is engaged in a holy war with the devil and his seed, but this doesn’t mean the church is on the defense. No, this simply reflects how the Christian is protected. The church is not on the defense, but it is on the offense! Our text in Matthew 16:18 says it is not “the gates of the church”, but it is “the gates of hell” that will not prevail. Gates are not offensive structures; they are defensive. The citadel of the devil is under attack by the church! And, the “gates,” which is the entrance to the fortress cannot overpower the church, that is, it cannot withstand the church’s assault.
Genesis 22:17-18:
Indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. (Emphasis mine).
It is no coincidence that Jesus uses this imagery of His church in Matthew. It has Old Testament roots. We know this to be a very important aspect and promise of the Abrahamic covenant. The church of Jesus is the seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). The promise is that Abraham’s seed will possess the “gate” of their enemies, signifying the defeat of the enemies of God by the seed of Abraham. It is more than reasonable that Jesus, who is THE seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16) was referring to this when He spoke to His church. Possessing the gates of one’s enemies means the same as the gates of hell not prevailing against the church.
How does the church of Christ attack the gates of hell?
2 Corinthians 10:3-5:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
The possessing of the gates of our enemies is not a physical warfare, but a spiritual one. We are engaged in warfare, but our weapons are spiritual and divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. In speaking about the church, Paul says that we are attacking fortresses. Sounds a lot like Genesis 22:17 and Matthew 16:18 doesn’t it?
The nature of the warfare is spiritual, for it says that with divinely powerful weapons we are destroying speculations raised up against the knowledge of God and taking captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. Is this not the scope of the Great Commission? Is this not the discipling of the nations whereby we teach them to observe ALL things that Jesus commanded? And what was the promise of Jesus? As the “warrior of Israel,” as “the Captain of the Lord’s host” is He not with His church always, assuring them of victory? Jesus said He had all authority (power) in the universe; therefore, what is the likelihood of the divinely ordained weapons He has given to His church prevailing against the fortress of hell? Hell’s citadel stands no chance!
Oh yes, you bet our weapons are divinely powerful, so powerful that Hell’s gates, Hell’s citadel stands no chance! How do we as the church bring all thoughts captive to Christ’s obedience?
How do we as the church bring all thoughts captive to Christ’s obedience? It is by the faithful preaching and teaching of the Word of God and diligent prayer. These are the divinely powerful weapons!
The Power of Preaching
It took power for Jesus to raise men physically from death to life; it took power for Jesus to be raised Himself from physical death, and in one sense it takes just as much divine power to raise a deadened soul to spiritual life.
As Jesus said, He has all the power in the universe. Who can resist the omnipotent King of kings and Lord of lords? If Jesus is empowering His preachers, preaching through them, how is it possible for the gospel not to be victorious in history?
God’s Power To Regenerate Dead Souls
The apostle Paul is relating to King Agrippa his conversion to Christ and the mission that Christ gave him.
Acts 26:15-18:
And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.
Jesus is the One who sends His preachers to deliver men from their spiritual darkness – “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God.” This demonstrates the purpose of gospel preaching. The gospel invades the domain of darkness, Satan’s domain, to set men free! Jesus’ disciples were empowered by Him to preach the gospel of the kingdom. Consequently, Jesus said that He saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning (Luke 10:18), meaning that Satan’s domain was being assaulted and overcome by the power of preaching!
Moreover, the Bible affirms that men dead in their sins have no desire to seek God’s face; they hate Jesus as Jesus stated and recorded in John’s gospel account.
John 3:19-20
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Men don’t come to Jesus because they don’t want to. They hate the light and love the darkness, and unless something supernaturally acts upon them, nothing spiritually will change. In addition to being in bondage to our sins, the Bible asserts that we are slaves of Satan to do his will.
2 Timothy 2:24-26
The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
In a very real spiritual sense, unbelievers are “out of their mind.” Their thinking is completely skewed due to the bondage to their sin nature. The hideous spiritual truth is that all unbelievers are pawns of the devil, in bondage to him, to do his evil bidding. The unbeliever has no spiritual capacity to embrace Christ as offered in the gospel.
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
The spiritual deadness of a sinner is clearly set forth. The idea that spiritually dead men can, of their own free will, choose Christ as offered in the gospel is totally false, thoroughly unbiblical. This text states that the gospel is veiled to unbelievers. Satan, the god of this world, has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel. As Jesus said, men don’t come to Him because they hate the light and love the darkness. Dead men cannot do anything! But note that if there is deliverance, it must be initiated by God Himself. God must shine in our hearts, enlightening us with the knowledge of the glory of God in Christ. How does this come? Verse 5 states that “we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord.” This glorious act of God shedding light in our dead souls normally comes through the agency of preaching! Jesus did say that only He can deliver men from such bondage.
Ezekiel 36:24-27
For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
This is a wonderful exposition of God’s initiative in saving sinners, who deserve nothing but His wrath. First, God is pictured as the “initiator.” Note how many times “I” is used to describe what God is doing. God must sprinkle clean water on us to be clean. Is this not what Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3? We must be born of the Spirit and of water. God must cleanse us from our spiritual filthiness. Moreover, God gives a new heart and puts a new spirit in us. Obviously it doesn’t exist until God does it. God removes the heart of stone, giving us a heart of flesh. Essentially this is what was taught in II Corinthians 4:3-6. The hardened heart must be changed into a soft one. And finally, God puts His Spirit in us, who then motivates us to walk in God’s statutes, that is, obeying all that God commands us.
Ezekiel 37:1-14
The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’ Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.’” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.’ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.’”
This is a magnificent portrayal of God’s initiating work of sovereign grace on behalf of those who have no hope in themselves. God, in a vision, takes the prophet (preacher) Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones, asking Ezekiel if these bones can live. Ezekiel says that only God knows this. God then commands Ezekiel to prophesy over the dry bones. In other words, God told Ezekiel to preach to the dead! The result of the preaching? The bones came together, breath came into them, and then flesh came on the bones. The dry bones came to life! In fact, an exceedingly great army came to life. God explains to Ezekiel the meaning of the vision in that the dry bones was the whole house of Israel, whose hope had perished, but God caused them to come out of their graves. When God supernaturally gives life to the dead, people clearly understand who was responsible for giving them spiritual life. We have come to understand that God is not referring to the Jewish people per se (though not excluding them), for the Christian church is the new Israel of God.
I cannot help but stress the obvious. God commanded a preacher to preach, and in the human man’s preaching, God does His marvelous work of regenerating dead souls. Preaching is the God ordained primary means of the gospel being effective.
Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
The English word, “power,” is derived from the Greek word, “dunamis.” Yes, our English word “dynamite” is derived from the Greek, “dunamis.” What a magnificent illustration of the gospel. It is the very dynamite of God! Nothing is the same once the gospel is proclaimed by the preacher. Either men are condemned in their spiritual rebellion in the preaching of the gospel, or they are transformed by it. This biblical truth should excite every God ordained preacher. Nothing is the same when the Word of God is preached.
Isaiah 55:10-11
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Christ commissions His preachers to proclaim His glorious gospel. The gospel is the good news of God. It is the divine message of how God has graciously and mercifully reconciled sinners to Himself. Those who have been elected to salvation from the foundation of the world will hear the Savior calling them to Himself; others, whom God has chosen to leave in their sin and misery, will not hear Jesus calling unto them. But one thing is certain. One must hear Jesus preaching to his heart in order to be saved, as the Scripture testifies. Whenever Jesus preached, He often ended with the phrase, “he who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
1 Thessalonians 1:4-5
knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you; for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
How do men believe in the gospel? First, they must be chosen of God as were many of the Thessalonians who heard Paul’s preaching. Preaching is not a mere proclamation of words; it is Spirit anointed words. How did the gospel come? It came in power and in the Holy Spirit, bringing full conviction. All we can say is that there is a certain mysteriousness about gospel preaching. Preaching is unlike anything in the world. The Scripture plainly teaches that Jesus preaches to the hearts of His elect through His human preachers. The words of the human like preacher are anointed with power by the Holy Spirit. How do men know in their hearts that what they have heard is truth? The Holy Spirit convinces them – they just know.
John 10:25-29
Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in my Father’s name, these bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
The capacity to believe in Jesus is contingent upon the ability to hear His voice. This hearing is a hearing of the heart. When the gospel is preached, men can externally hear the words, but they may not hear gospel words with their heart. The only way to hear with the heart is to have one’s heart regenerated by the Holy Spirit; in other words, they must be born again. When the Holy Spirit regenerates a deadened heart, the person’s eyes are opened in order to see the glory of Christ offered in the gospel. We have already commented on Paul’s mission to the Gentile world. He was sent to “open men’s eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God in order that they may receive forgiveness of sin and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18).
Jesus distinguishes between believers and unbelievers with the terms, sheep or goats. On the final Day of Judgment, the believers are referred to as sheep, and the unbelievers are referred to as goats (Matthew 25:32). The sheep go into eternal life; the goats go into eternal hell (Matthew 25:34, 41)
Acts 16:14
And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul” (emphasis is mine).
As Lydia was listening to external, spoken words from the preacher, God opened her heart to hear with her heart to respond to the gospel. In theology, this is called divine enabling. We act when God first acts upon us! Lydia believes, but it was the Lord who opened her heart, giving her the ability to believe.
The ability to believe in Jesus is an indicator that one has been chosen of God, ordained by God, and drawn by the Father to Jesus. These great truths are brought out in the following passages:
Acts 13:47-48
Thus the Lord has commanded us, ‘I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the end of the earth.’ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life, believed” (emphasis is mine).
The term, “appointed,” or in some translations, “ordained,” clearly indicates predestination or election. If one has been ordained to eternal life, he/she will believe!
Jesus distinguishes between believers and unbelievers with the terms, sheep or goats. On the final day of judgment the believers are referred to as sheep, and the unbelievers are referred to as goats (Matthew 25:32).
John 6:37, 44
Jesus said, “All that the Father gives me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out… No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” Sinners must be drawn to Jesus, but no one comes to Jesus unless the heavenly Father draws him.”
What is the meaning of “all that the Father gives me shall come to me?” It has to mean those whom God has chosen or ordained to eternal life. And note, these will come to Jesus, for they are being drawn by the Father to Jesus, and the Scripture explicitly says one cannot come to Jesus is to be drawn by the father. So, when a person externally hears the gospel message, if the Father is drawing that person to Jesus, they will hear with their heart and believe!
Romans 10:11-17
For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!’ However, they did not all heed the glad tidings; for Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.’
There are many vital points from this remarkable passage. First, no one will ever be disappointed by believing in Jesus. Second, if a person calls upon Jesus, they will be saved, and the stress is on whoever. The gospel is freely offered to all men. Third, believing in Jesus means that you’ve got to hear Jesus in order to be saved. One has to hear Jesus speaking! Fourth, no one can hear Jesus speaking without a preacher! Fifth, the preacher must be sent by Christ. The reason that the feet of the preacher are said to be beautiful is because wherever he travels he is bringing the words of eternal life. It is no minor thing when a preacher shows up to preach to people, for Christ has shown up through the preacher. The only preaching that does men any good is Christ’s preaching. When human preachers faithfully preach the unadulterated gospel, then men have heard Christ. The only question is: do people hear with their heart that leads to faith in Jesus, or do the words of Christ fall upon deaf ears?
Jesus preaches through His faithful preachers!
We have established the necessity of preaching, for it is that God ordained means to bring men to salvation who are enslaved to sin, residing in darkness, under the shadow of death, and with no ability within themselves to remedy their horrible state. Salvation is something that originates outside of the sinner. The Holy Spirit must act upon the hearts of men, convicting them of their sins and showing them that Jesus is their only hope of salvation.
Conclusion
When Jesus gave His Great Commission to His disciples, as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20, He assured them that He had all authority in the universe (v.18), and that He would always be with them to the end of the age (v.20). Jesus is invincible, and His church who He is empowering is also invincible in carrying out the Great Commission. Jesus is simply carrying out the great promise that His heavenly Father bestowed upon Him as recorded in Psalm 2: 6-8:
But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to me, Thou art My son, today I have begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.
Jesus is presently at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. He is fulfilling this great truth.
Psalm 110:1-3:
The Lord says to my Lord: sit at My right hand, till I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet. The Lord will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, rule in the midst of Thine enemies. My people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power;
As His church, we have the wondrous privilege of being the instruments in His hand through prayer to accomplish this magnificent promise!
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