From Greenville, South Carolina, we present Let the Bible Speak. Let the Bible Speak is the radio ministry of Faith Free Presbyterian Church, preaching Christ in all his fullness. Welcome to this broadcast of Let the Bible Speak. Today, Dr. Alan Cairns continues his series on the Lord's Prayer. The current focus is on the word forever, found in the concluding phrase of the prayer, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Dr. Cairns is preaching a message entitled, Lessons from the Eternity and Immutability of God. In the course of the message, Dr. Cairns is emphasizing five aspects that an awareness of eternity should produce in the lives of believers. First of all, it will impress the solemnity of eternity upon our praying, how prone we are to be taken up with mundane matters. Yet, if we would live effectively for God, we must refuse to allow the matters of time to keep us from prayer. Also, as we'll see today, the burden of our praying should concentrate on spiritual things rather than mere earthly needs. In just a few minutes, Dr. Cairns will continue the message. First, we invite your attention to a devotional thought from Faith Checkbook, a collection from the pen of the great 19th century preacher C. H. Spurgeon. Our devotional for today is entitled, Precious Things. The text is found in Deuteronomy chapter 33 and verse 13. And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the due, and for the deep that coucheth beneath. We may be rich in such things as Joseph obtained, and we may have them in a higher sense. Oh, for the precious things of heaven! Power with God and the manifestation of power from God are most precious. We would enjoy the peace of God, the joy of the Lord, the glory of our God, the benediction of the three divine persons in love and grace and fellowship we prize beyond the most fine gold. The things of earth are as nothing in preciousness compared with the things of heaven. The dew! How precious is this! How we pray and praise when we have the dew! What refreshing, what growth, what perfume, what life there is in us when the dew is about! Above all things else, as plants of the Lord's own right hand planting, we need the dew of His Holy Spirit, the deep that coucheth beneath. Surely this refers to that unseen ocean underground which supplies all the fresh springs which make glad the earth. Oh, to tap the eternal fountains! This is an unspeakable boon. Let no believer rest till he possesses it. The all-sufficiency of Jehovah is ours forever. Let us resort to it now. God will take care of you. Beneath His wings of love abide. God will take care of you. God will take care of you through every day of your life. No matter what may be the test, God will take care of you. Being weary while upon His breast, God will take care of you. God will take care of you. You're listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. We want to say that we're greatly encouraged by the response of you, our listeners, to these broadcasts. We appreciate the letters, emails, and phone calls we've received from so many of you. Some wanting to say thank you and telling us how much the Lord has blessed your heart through his word. Some speaking of life-changing experiences found through the preaching of the gospel. Some have written to ask for the literature that we offer here on the program. We want to remind you of the LTBS audio magazine. This is available in CD format only and is similar in content to the LTBS quarterly magazine, containing articles of great spiritual interest as well as sacred music that will point you to the Lord Jesus Christ. You may have a free copy of LTVS audio magazine simply by writing to Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. That's Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. You may email us at ltbs at freeprez.org. That's ltbs at f-r-e-e-p-r-e-s dot o-r-g. Or you may telephone us toll free at 866-877-ltbs. That's 866-877-5827. Also, if you enjoy the broadcast, you may like to visit us on our website, LetTheBibleSpeakRadio, or ltbsradio.com. Don't forget the word radio, ltbsradio.com. In this connection, we'd like to call your attention to a new feature on the website. During recent months, Dr. Cairns has been receiving questions from both believers and non-believers regarding various issues such as, why did Christ have to become a man? Or, why did Christ have to be virgin born? The LTVS radio website now contains video clips of Dr. Cairns providing answers to these and many other questions. These video portions are listed under Q&A with Alan Cairns. You're sure to find these presentations to be informative and enlightening. Q&A with Alan Cairns is found on ltbsradio.com. And. God Bless. the the The. A. The. Let me recommend you go back to Ephesians 1 from verse 15 onwards and go through that prayer. And when you start praying, that way you'll notice that you're praying You're praying for the glory and the light of God to dawn in your heart to teach you what you have in Christ. And then it goes on until your soul is lifted up to heaven where you see the Lord Jesus exalted far above all principality and power and every name that is named. Here's a man who had no money, and there's not a prayer about money here. Here's a man writing to a church that had its quota of sick people and dying people. There's not a prayer about health here. That's not to say those things didn't figure in his praying. Undoubtedly they did. Other scriptures lead us to that conclusion. But he's saying here is the great burden. Pray for the establishment of the saints of God. If you're going to have eternity stamped in your praying, then the things of time will not keep you from praying, and you will not allow the things of time so to eat up all your energy in prayer that you pray for nothing else. And if you're going to have eternity stamped in your praying, just pay attention to the kingdom, the power, and the glory, which are the Lord's forever, and then seek to pray so as to advance God's eternal purpose. Didn't Jesus say, when you pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. If we are going to pray with eternity in view, then there has to be the resignation of self-will. It's very dangerous for Christians to come demanding, I will, I will, without submitting that will to the will of God. You remember what the psalmist said, if my memory is right, in the 106th psalm. He gave them their desire, but sent leanness in their soul. It's always a dangerous thing to be self-willed when you pray. Our will must be submitted to God's will. And as we come to pray with eternity in view, we are saying, I want to pray so as to advance the eternal purpose of God. And you know, that's the way to get answers in prayer, because John tells us in 1 John 5 and 14, this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And then, if we're praying with eternity in view, we must pray so as to display God's eternal perfections. What we're praying for is not the advancement of self. It's not the glorification of a church name, title, or denomination. It is not even the establishment of a system of theology. I have never made any bones about the fact that I am a Protestant. And I love the term Protestant, and I have absolutely no apology to make for the Protestant Reformation. I've never hidden the fact that I'm a Calvinist, and I love the doctrines of grace and the sovereignty of God. I've never hidden the fact that I'm a Presbyterian. I love the entire church polity and the theological system that marks Presbyterianism. But our praying can never be that we would show the glories of Protestantism or Calvinism or Presbyterianism, but that rather, according to His will, God would use these things to show forth His own glory. Let me tell you, a Protestantism that does not show the glory of Christ is not worthy of the name, and it would be better dead and buried. A Calvinism that does not exalt the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is not full of the glories of the gospel, would be better dead and buried. And a Presbyterianism that is so wrapped up in the shroud of its own glory that it can no longer, as our Presbyterian forefathers did, show forth the glory of the living Christ, would be far better dead and buried. There is no glory in these human names. Their only purpose is to declare the perfections and the glories of our God. That's how we pray. Think again of how the psalmist prayed. In Psalm 67, he prays, God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us. The face of God shining is the manifestation of all his glorious person and perfections. That thy way may be known upon the earth and thy saving health among all nations. What is it that proves that God is near and God is among His people? What is it? It's not the learning of the preacher. It's not the beauty of the music. It's the working of God, that Thy name is near, Thy wondrous works declare, as the 75th Psalm tells us. So when we pray, we pray, God display your glorious perfections. You know, we have a name for that when it happens. We call it revival. But that's the essence of revival. That's why I have no time whatsoever for this man-made nonsense that is being paraded as a great charismatic revival. Something that is worked up by semi-hypnotic techniques, or sometimes fully hypnotic techniques. Something that is worked up by crowd manipulation and skillful conmen. That's not revival. Something that glorifies men and movements, that's not revival. Revival is when God's soul shines as to impress upon saints and sinners the eternal beauty and majesty of His own perfection. That's what happened in the great movements of the past. I'm sure you have seen or heard of in the charismatic delusion that some creature comes and he touches these people in the head and they flop down. Some of them are not very good actors and they don't fall right. But, you know, this is the mark. And the justification for this is that When Jonathan Edwards saw revival in New England, people fell to the ground. Yes, they did. Even back in those days, some of that was bogus too. Because you will always get people aping what they see. That's why the preachers sought to curtail this. But there were cases, and this is where it all started. There were cases where God so impressed people with the absolute majesty of His person and His perfections that they could not stand it. Some of them went into a coma. I think of the revival in 1859 that swept Northern Ireland. There are documented cases of people, not in any great emotional or manipulative setting, very often alone, struck with the majesty and the holiness and the justice and the righteousness of God in contrast to their own utter wickedness. Some of them fell into such a state that they could not be aroused, sometimes for days at a time. It's not something we should try to emulate. Only God can produce that. And the beauty and the glory of it is not in the experience. It is in the manifestation of the perfections of God. That's what we're praying for. Lord, show us your glory. What's missing in our church services? We see preachers, choirs, and people. What do we see of the glory of God? Show me Thy glory. That's how to pray with eternity in view. And of course, if we're going to pray with eternity in view, we should aim at God's eternal praise. Psalm 115 states this categorically as the prayer of the saints. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory. That's what true prayer is all about. That's what it means when God stamps the solemnity of eternity upon our praying. Forever. Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. The first thing, then, that this forever does as God teaches us lessons about praying from his own eternity and immutability, the first thing it does is stamp the solemnity of eternity upon our praying. In the will of God, we'll come back to look at some of the rest of the things that the same term teaches us as we seek the face of God in prayer. I hope today, however, as we leave God's house, that it will be with the solemnity of eternity upon us God forbid you come and go from this place and it's just spiritually no more important than going to the mall. God forbid that you come and go simply because it's expected or it's usual. Today we need to face eternity. Let me end as I began. If you're unsaved, there's a prayer you need to pray with eternity's values in view. Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner, and save my guilty soul for Jesus' sake. That's where you start praying for eternity. And if you're already saved, I trust today you've learned something of what it is to have the eternal dimension in your prayer. You've been listening to Let the Bible Speak, the radio ministry of the Free Presbyterian Church of North America. We hope that you've enjoyed and benefited from today's program. We are here as your servants for Christ's sake. If we can be of any further help to you in the things of God, we invite you to contact us. If you would like to receive our booklet, A New Beginning, a booklet that sets forth God's way of salvation in clear, concise, and biblical ways, you may have it free of charge simply for the asking. Our mailing address is Let the Bible Speak, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, SC 29615. That's Let the Bible Speak. 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, South Carolina 29615. If you wish, you may call us toll-free at 1-866-877-LTBS. That's 1-866-877-5827. You may email us at faithfpc at freeprez.org. That's faithfpc at f-r-e-e-p-r-e-s dot o-r-g. Also, we invite you to visit our website at www.freepres.org. If you would be interested in considering the establishment of a Free Presbyterian Church in your area, by all means let us know. Once again, you may call us toll-free, 1-866-877-5827. On behalf of Dr. Alan Cairns, this is Charles Kelch saying thank you for listening and inviting you to join us once again as we Let the Bible Speak.