I'd ask you to turn with me in your Bible to the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation. And to the chapter number eight. Revelation chapter eight. We read from verse two, 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 angel's hand." It's interesting to me that in the tabernacle of old, there was a piece of furniture known as the golden altar of incense. And we have here in Revelation 8, a heavenly scene in which there also appears a golden altar where incense was offered. We'll say more about that in a moment or two. We are looking at Christ in the Old Testament, and particularly at this time, at the tabernacle and how it reveals to us our Savior, the Lord Jesus. In the tabernacle of old, there were several items of furniture. We've yet to look at one that is on the inside of the inner veil, that is the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat above it. But we have already mentioned going in order from the outside of the court. As you pass through that gate, that hanging, you see, first of all, a brass altar of sacrifice Then beyond that, there is a large bowl-like structure made of brass, and it's called the laver. Then there was a second veil. That is the first veil, as it were, going into the two rooms of the tabernacle. And as you went through that first veil, there is the holy place. And in there, you have several items. On the left-hand side, you have the candelabra, the candlestick. that gives light, the only source of light actually in there. To the right, you have a table that has loaves upon it, arranged in two sets of six, 12 loaves in all. Speaking of the number of the children of Israel, it's called the table of showbread. And then beyond that, just before that second veil that leads into the most holy or the holiest of all, you have this altar of incense. Now, obviously, as we've been pointing out, all of these pieces of furniture are of spiritual significance. They're all instructive, and they all, to some degree and measure, speak to us of the Lord Jesus Christ and of some aspect of the work of Christ. For instance, when we think back on the altar of sacrifice, that obviously speaks to us of the Lord Jesus, the burnt sacrifice, the blood was shed, the animal had its body burned, and it speaks of the atoning work of Christ. But then you have the laver where the priests would wash, and it speaks to us of the Word of God, the Word of Christ. And then there's the candelabra that speaks of Christ, the light of the world, but also of the word of Christ, which is also known as light. And it speaks of the church as well, because the church reflects the light of Christ. He is the light of the world, and he said to us, ye are the light of the world. Then you have the table of showbread. As we noticed, that speaks of Christ. It speaks of the church as well, because the 12 loaves Representing the united company of God's people are supported and held up by the table. But that table and the bread upon it speaks to us of Christ and it speaks to us of the word of Christ. But now we have something else. And I want us to concentrate upon it this evening. That is the golden altar of incense. It's very much like the table of showbread in that it was made of shiddum wood, the acacia wood, the incorruptible wood, and then it was covered over with pure gold. It also had rings on the side for staves to carry it, and the staves were also made of wood covered with pure gold. There was a crown of gold around the top of it as well, reminding us of the table. But the thing about the altar of incense It also has to do with the ministry of the great high priest. He was one who lit the lamps, who lit the candlestick every day at morning and in the evening, and we'll come to that again in a moment or two. He's also the one who arranged the loaves upon the table, and he would put fresh bread out there once every week, and then the priests would eat the bread that was taken from the table. But the priest is also inseparably connected with the altar of incense. The priest had what was known as a censer. And by the way, that's mentioned as well in Revelation chapter eight, where it speaks of this messenger, this angel coming and standing at the altar, having a golden censer. In that censer, there would be incense that would be set alight and burned. and the smoke of that incense would ascend up before the Lord, and it speaks to us of effectual prayer, effectual prayer that is offered through Christ, our great high priest. He is the one who is signified by Aaron and his progeny, but also by this messenger, this angel in Revelation chapter 8. You'll see there And again, it's something we will return to, that the smoke of the incense came with the prayers of the saints, and it ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. That's really significant. Our prayers are effectual through Christ. They're offered through Christ, our great high priest. Now, incense in the Bible is quite often associated with the subject of prayer. I want to just give you a few references here very quickly. You can turn them up with me. Psalm 141 to begin with. Psalm 141. And many of the Psalms you will know are prayers. And this is no exception. And as he's praying, he's speaking about the subject of prayer. Lord, I cry unto thee. That's what prayer is. Make haste unto me. Give ear unto my voice when I cry unto thee. In other words, Lord, please answer prayer. And then he says this. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice." That's a really significant verse in the Bible when it comes to the matter of prayer. But just leaving that for a moment, let's go over to the New Testament, to Luke's Gospel. Luke's Gospel chapter 1. And there we have the record of the birth of John the Baptist, and it speaks about his father and mother, Zacharias and Elizabeth. We know that Zacharias was the Lord's priest. In fact, he's identified as such in Luke 1, verse 5, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abia. It says in verse 9, according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. So here's a man who operated at the golden altar of incense, not in the tabernacle, but in the temple, which was fashioned after the tabernacle in many ways. It says, And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. Isn't that remarkable? When he's in there offering incense to the Lord, the people are outside praying. That's because there is an inseparable connection between prayer and the offering of the incense. we have the verses that we read from Revelation chapter 8 verses 3 and 4. We'll not read them again at this point, but we will go back to Revelation chapter 5 and there in verse number 8 it says, And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints." Odors. Again, that brings to our minds the smoke of the incense, which is mentioned in Revelation 8 verse 4. The smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints. Prayer you see in Scripture is typified and pictured by that cloud of sweet odors. The offering of the incense teaches us something about true prayer. And as we think about the altar, the golden altar of incense, we cannot but think of the subject of true prayer. And we think in the first place of its purpose. What is the purpose of prayer? Well, prayer, as we read in the Scripture, is typified by incense, the offering of the incense, as the psalmist puts it in Psalm 141. He would like for his prayer to ascend up before God as incense. That's how he speaks of it. Let's look at that verse again. Psalm 141 and verse two, let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense. You go back to Exodus chapter 30 and verse eight, And it says that when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. Those words are important. And again, to quote that verse in Revelation chapter eight and verse four, the thought comes to us of ascending, of something that comes before the Lord. The smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. You can imagine that incense being set on fire and the smoke billows upwards. That's a picture of prayer ascending to God. And it's important for us to note that simple fact, because I think sometimes people may forget that prayer is not to be vertical, but horizontal. When we pray, we're not praying for the amens and for the clap on the back from other people, thinking that our prayer was a wonderful prayer. nor are we to direct our praying to other people, to try to correct others through our praying. I've heard that type of thing through the years in many a place, thankfully not in our own church, but it's a sad thing when people imagine that the prayer meeting is a place to correct other Christians. I remember someone threatening to use the prayer meeting in one particular church as a means of getting at somebody or several somebodies in that church. And when they said that they were going to do this, they were basically going to clean up these other people in their prayer, the comment was made by another person to that person. Well, that's not prayer then. You're not really praying when you're doing that. What you're doing is just speaking to other people. That's not prayer. Prayer is that which ascends to God. You're praying to the Lord, you're not praying to other people. So the idea that you're going to use the prayer meeting, which is a really terrible thing, you're gonna use the prayer meeting in order to correct other people who are in that same meeting, is so wicked and so wrong. Prayer ascends up before God like the incense. And furthermore, when we pray to the Lord, we do not meet to impress one another. I should never pray in order to create an impression among other believers. Matthew chapter 6 verse 5 contains the words of Jesus, and when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. They wanted people to look at them and think that they really were something. And once more, the Lord addressed him in Matthew 23 in verse 14. He said, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer. Therefore you shall receive the greater damnation. For a pretense. It wasn't genuine. We don't meet to impress one another, nor do we meet to instruct one another. I had a gentleman once in one of my former churches telling me that prayer was a teaching ministry, and therefore the women folks shouldn't pray. I said, well, where do you read that in the Bible, that prayer is a teaching ministry? I've never read that anywhere in Scripture. I'm not there to instruct other people in prayer. I'm there to pray to the Lord. In everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4, verse 6. Again, Acts chapter 4 records these words in verse 24. Acts 4, 24. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord and said, Lord, thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is. They lifted up their voice to God with one accord. That's the direction in which the prayer was going, upwards. Again, as they prayed in Acts chapter 12, It's clear the direction of that praying. Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Prayer unto God. Real prayer ascends. Real prayer goes up. Even our catechism speaks of that, that prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God. True prayer, is not a mere repetition of words and phrases. I often say my prayers, but do I really pray? And do the motions of my heart go with the words I say? It's easy to say prayers. It's easy to repeat phrases parrot fashion. without ever touching heaven. Remember this, our prayer is to be like the smoke that ascends up before God. Our aim should be, as the hymn puts it, to enter heaven with prayer, to ascend in communion with God. See that illustrated in 2 Chronicles. The book of 2 Chronicles, in the chapter 30, And verse 27. Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven. Their prayer came up to his holy dwelling place, even unto heaven. May our prayers really ascend up before God. But as well as the purpose of true prayer, there's the passion of true prayer that is really illustrated by the incense. Notice in Exodus chapter 30, three things repeated, or something that's repeated three times, I should say, in verse one, in verse seven, and in verse eight. Thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon. Again, verse seven. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense. When he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And then verse eight. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps that even, he shall burn incense upon it. He would set it alight. The incense had to be kindled. And isn't it something to remark upon that in the book of Revelation, it speaks of the smoke of the incense. What's the old saying, there's no smoke without fire? The smoke of the incense. The incense was set alight. It was set on fire. And again, in Leviticus chapter 16, In Leviticus chapter 16 and verse 12, it records again of the great high priest Aaron, and he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small and bring it within the veil, and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony that he die not." Did you ever think about where Aaron got the fire from to light the incense? You know, what we do today, when we're going to have a barbecue, we get one of those nice little things with a gas lighter, and we press it, and there's a spark in there, and it comes alight, and you light the gas. Aaron didn't have that. Where did he get the fire from? Well, he got it from where it tells us he got it from in Leviticus 16. Obviously, that's once a year. Obviously, it's not just at the altar of incense. This is inside now, the veil. when he's coming to the mercy seat, but nonetheless, he takes a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord. Not the golden altar of incense, but the altar of sacrifice. That's where he gets the fire from. A live coal from off the altar. And that's how he lit the incense. And so our prayers, if they are to ascend to God, must be kindled, they must be set on fire. Someone said prayer can be eloquent, but not earnest. It can be very proper, but not very passionate. And how we need the fire in our souls to set our prayers alight. You don't have to shout in order to pray effectively, nor do you have to whisper. Someone once said, God is not deaf. You don't need to shout. And another person said, well, he's not nervous either. So if you're moved of the Lord to pray loudly, that's fine. If you're moved to be like Hannah and pray and your lips just move and there's not much sound or any, that's all right too. as long as the prayers are not cold, dead, and dry, because those are not the product of a heart that has been set on fire. How we need fervency, and that's really indicated here, that's really illustrated, that's really spoken of when we talk about the incense being satellite, so that the smoke will ascend. There are some words in 1 Samuel 1 that I want to read. 1 Samuel 1, and it's in relation to Hannah, who I just referenced. 1 Samuel 1, verse 10. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore." Obviously, she's fervent. She's weeping. She's crying tears. Now, verse 13 says, Now Hannah, she spake in her heart, only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Of course, that made her to be misunderstood, because Eli thought she was drunk. But then in verse 15, The Bible says this, that Hannes answered and said, "'No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit. "'I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, "'but have poured out my soul before the Lord.'" That's fervency in prayer. Is it not the case that in many churches, there seems to be a fear of anything which involves passion or feeling? Now, we know it goes to the other extreme in some places, where there's apparent fire, but it's false fire. But on the other hand, I think there are some who think that the preaching and the praying has to be all very proper and dignified, without any passion or feeling, otherwise the flesh might get in. The flesh can be just as involved in a dead place as in a place that is alive. My pastor used to say there are some places and they're very sound, but they're sound asleep. Perhaps in some places we could say, yes, there's more heat than light there. But what's wrong with having both? heat and light, fervency and prayer. You know, biblical religion is a religion which can be felt. And I know our personalities are all different. Some people, it's not hard to make them cry. Other people, the emotions are a little further, they're not as near the surface. But nevertheless, we shouldn't be afraid of passion in our praying or in our preaching. Someone once said, when they talked about the lack of results they were getting in their evangelism, I believe it was old William Booth, he said to one of his soldiers there in the Salvation Army in the early days, try tears. Try tears. Now we see there's a biblical warrant for this. Let me mention this fervency in Psalm 39 and verse 12. The man of God says, Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not thy peace at my tears, my cry, My tears, here's someone who feels what they're praying. Again, James 5, 16 and 17. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man of like passions as we are. And the Bible tells us that he prayed earnestly that there would be no rain. And then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. Passion. Oh, that the Lord would give that to us, and wasn't that the mark of the God-man himself? For do we not read in Hebrews 5, verse 7, of what happened to our Lord when he was in the garden? who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death." Strong crying and tears. Prayers that went up as incense, set alight with passion. Notice how often the psalmist speaks about crying and crying aloud unto God. Passion in prayer. The incense had to be kindled before the sweet odor would ascend. And so we must ask the Lord to enable us to feel what we pray. And if some tears fall from our eyes and there's a lump on our throat and our voice breaks, what of it? That's a good thing. the passion of real prayer, and then there's the position of true prayer. Where was this altar of incense? And we're just really kind of introducing this subject tonight because the whole issue here of incense cannot really be addressed without mentioning prayer. That's how the Bible would have us to think upon it, because of all the verses that I've already quoted to you, incense that is linked to praying. And by the way, before I forget, I probably will, so I'll mention it now. You'll notice that in verse number 10, it mentions the horns of it. And it also mentions that, by the way, earlier in verse two and in verse three. The horns thereof shall be of the same. And the horns thereof, verse three. And then verse 10. Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements. We've read in scripture of those who laid hold upon the horns of the altar. And that's where you get this expression from when people talk about that in relation to prayer, coming near to the Lord and laying hold upon the horns of the altar. It's as if you're there at the golden altar of incense, you're grasping hold of those horns. And think about it, on one day a year, those horns had blood sprinkled upon them. So there you are with your hands fastened on those horns where the blood has been sprinkled. And that's the plea that you have when you come to pray. But notice the position of this altar. In verse 6 of Exodus 30, it tells us that it was to be placed in a certain spot, an exact place. And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, that's the ark of the covenant, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony where I will meet with thee. You should understand that in between this golden altar of incense where the priests would offer the incense, between that and the Ark of the Covenant, there was a veil, a large curtain. It's that that's referred to when Jesus died on the cross in the temple. The veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom. No one ever went in behind that veil except the high priest on one day per year on the day of atonement, Leviticus chapter 16. But the proximity of the altar of incense, the golden altar of incense, the proximity of it to the Ark of the Covenant is not to be missed. And that's what the Lord is trying to teach us here. Even though there's a veil in between, it's there deliberately placed He says, thou shalt put it before the veil, that is on this side of the veil, that is by the ark of the testimony. The ark was on the other side of the veil, but it's close. Before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And again, you have the thought of prayer and communion. So the position of the altar of incense is significant. It stood in the very center of the inner court between the lampstand and the table of showbread adjacent to the veil where the Ark of the Covenant was on the other side. You see, true prayer is at the center of things. That's what we learn from this, the position of this altar. It reminds us that prayer has to have the preeminent position in the life of a Christian. And prayer must have the preeminent place in the corporate life of the church. A church that doesn't pray is a church that's going nowhere. The late Dr. Cairns used to like to say this all the time. Where there's little prayer, there's little blessing. Where there's much prayer, there's much blessing. And where there's no prayer, there's no blessing. Pray without ceasing. That's what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 5, 17. Prayer needs to be at the heart of all that we do. you're gonna speak to somebody about the Lord. When you're standing there or sitting there talking to somebody, you should be shooting up prayers up to the Lord the whole time. Lord, help me. It was said of a great debater. It may well have been Athanasius when he was dealing with Arius and that great controversy about the Godhead. Someone saw that he had a piece of, parchment or something that he had written on. And they wondered what was on his notes. And he just simply had these words, more light, Lord. More light, Lord. More light, Lord. That was a prayer. He was depending on the Lord to help him. And prayer must be at the heart of all that we do. If the Lord doesn't help us, we're going nowhere. As a preacher, I need the Lord's help. That's why we ask you to pray for us, and we pray for ourselves. In Isaiah 56 verse 7, the Lord says, Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar, for mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people." Remember how Jesus quoted that in his day? My house shall be a house of prayer, and you've turned it into a den of thieves or of robbers. The position of true prayer. What position does true prayer have in your life? Now, sometimes people will talk about praying for hours on end. But C. H. Spurgeon, who I consider to be a great man of God, once said that he seldom prayed for more than 15 minutes at a time, but that he seldom went more than 15 minutes without praying. He was always in communion with the Lord. This is a man who was living in the atmosphere of prayer. And certainly, as we look at the Scripture, we discover that the incense was offered up every day, but it also was kindled twice each day. We see that in Exodus 30, verse 7 and verse 8. He shall burn sweet incense every morning. When he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at evening, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generation. So every morning and every evening, he's offering up this incense, burning the incense before the Lord. I think that's where Spurgeon got the idea, morning and evening, from. Certainly the Bible speaks of the morning and evening sacrifice, doesn't it? Do we begin and do we end each day with the Lord in prayer and meditation upon his word? That's a really good habit to get into, to bookend your day with communion with God. Now I'm struck by the words of Revelation 8, verse three, where reference is made to much incense. A lot of incense was put into that censer to burn before the Lord. A lot of it, much incense. Is there much prayer in your life? Is there much prayer in my life? Is there much prayer ascending from this church and every other faithful evangelical church? Does it occupy the central position in our lives and in our ministry? It was the Lord Jesus who spoke a parable to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint. And of course, as we think of the altar of incense, it is not to be forgotten that there's not only the purpose of it, of prayer, and the passion of prayer, and the position of prayer emphasized, but the plea in prayer And here we again are reminded of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Exodus 30 verse 10, the Bible records an Aaron who, of course, himself is a type of Christ. And you'll see that from Hebrews chapter five and other portions that Aaron typifies Christ. It says that Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements. "'Once in the year shall he make atonement upon it "'throughout your generations. "'It is most holy unto the Lord.' "'He would put the blood of the sin offering "'upon the horns of that altar.' "'And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even,' it says, "'he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. So, think about it. He would burn incense upon that same altar that had the blood sprinkled upon the horns of it. What is our plea in prayer? Our plea is the precious blood of Jesus. This is the only reason why God will answer our cry. When the smoke of the incense ascends up before God, it is out of the angel's hand, Revelation chapter eight and verse four. That means that our prayers are acceptable through him. In what way? Well, Hebrews chapter 10, from verse 19. Words that we should really learn off by heart. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Notice the ministry of the high priest in connection with our praying. How can we draw near in full assurance of faith? Because we have a high priest over the house of God, that you could say the archpriest. Even our Lord Jesus. And as we consider the altar of incense, we're reminded of his work in making our prayers effectual before God. And sometimes I think we can get all bogged down with the wrong things when we pray. How often do you maybe take part in a public prayer meeting, I'm just throwing this out there, and you possibly start thinking to yourself after you've prayed, oh, I said this and I said that, no, that was stupid, that sounded ridiculous. And you're starting to examine your prayer, you're starting to and almost give your prayer a grade. You know, that's wrong. It really is. It's wrong. And I say this because it's true of myself as well. I think it's rooted in pride. I really do. And I know this having been in certain prayer meetings where it's a bit like you in the congregation when you're praying in the presence of a minister or ministers. I know it's intimidating. Well, as a minister, especially when you're a young minister, it's intimidating when you're among a whole bunch of ministers and they're men who can really pray. And one of the things I struggled with most as a young student minister and then in my early ministry was to go to a minister's week of prayer. And it would be 60, 70, 80 men there. Dr. Paisley, Ivan Foster, John Douglas. I could rhyme off their names, men that I have a lot of respect for, men that I looked up to, Mr. Beggs, and so on and so forth. And when you start thinking about those men, and you hear how they can pray, you feel about this size. And you say, how could I ever pray? in a prayer meeting like this. And I can recall one of the first times I ever took part in the minister's week of prayer. I was still a student minister at the time. And my mouth opened, I said a couple of words, and I thought, oh Lord, what have I done? How am I gonna continue with this prayer? And the Lord helped me, and I was able to pray. And I know that those men were praying with me, and they were praying for me as I was praying. But there's that intimidation, and there's that feeling of, well, what will this man think? What will that man think? And we hear the amens, and we can start praying for the amens, and that's pride. That's all that is. That's pride. If we just said one sentence, thank you, Lord, for saving my never-dying soul. In Jesus' name, amen. That would be a wonderful prayer. The Lord Jesus Christ makes our prayers acceptable to God. Yes, it's good to use proper English if you're an English speaker. Yes, it's good not to split your infinitives, and it's good not to get your grammar wrong. But you know what? The Lord's not concerned about any of that, really. It's the heart. It's the fervency. It's the fact that we're bringing proper requests before him. Revelation chapter 8 and verse 3 and verse 4, and another angel came and stood at the altar having a golden censer. There's the priest. And there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, not the ones that have been saved for ages, but all saints. Not the older brethren in the church, but all saints, even the young people. 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 angel's hand. And notice this in verse five. And the angel took the censer and filled it with fire of the altar and cast it into the earth. And there were voices and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake. Here you have the effects of prayer upon the earth. The Lord does things on the earth in answer to prayer. As the incense is offered, as the prayers of saints ascend to God, the Lord works. That same angel casts it into the earth. and they're all manner of manifestations of God's power, voices, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. The Lord answers prayer. So, as we think of the golden altar of incense, let us think about the great place that prayer should have in the life of the church and in the life of every individual Christian. We will come back to this subject. I'm just really scratching the surface tonight, and I do trust the Lord will bless what we've studied to all of our hearts. Let's pray. Lord, we're thankful for thy precious Word. We're thankful, Lord, for its simplicity and for its truth. O God, teach us as believers the importance of prayer, the importance of that which is signified by the smoke of the incense ascending up before God. How we thank Thee for the merits of Christ. It's because of what He is and because of who He is that God will hear prayer, that God will send the answer. So Lord, keep us looking to Thee. we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Let's sing hymn number 170. 170, and we've been thinking about the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ as our great high priest. And hymn 170 says, Jesus, in his heavenly glory, sits with God upon the throne, now no more to be forsaken, his humiliation gone. But look at verse 3. Dwelling in eternal sunshine of the countenance of God, Jesus fills all heaven with incense of his reconciling.