This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philemon” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 13, 1998.

This morning our scripture reading begins in Leviticus chapter 10. We are in Leviticus chapter 10. Reading at verse 1. And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer and put fire therein. and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.” and Aaron held his peace. Then turning over to Philemon, beginning at verse Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy, the brother unto Philemon, our dearly beloved and fellow laborer, to Athia, the sister, and Archippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers. hearing of thy faith and love which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints, that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.

For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the vows of the saints are refreshed by thee.” Father, what is our life but a preparation for the hearing of your word? We do ask, Lord, that as we come today, we might be prepared to hear what you have to say to us. And Lord, may we be zealous for that word, so zealous in fact that we are concerned for one another, that each of us might hear it clearly, that it might come to us without distraction. We pray, Father, then, that we might give our full concentration to your word and profit from it, and may we help one another even those beside us to do the same. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Is Christian prayer unique? Is it different from other prayers, or the prayers of others? Are the petitions and prayers you are privileged to offer up to God as those who trust in Jesus Christ different. Are Paul’s prayers, for example, different now that he has become an apostle of Jesus Christ, a believer in the gospel? and can no longer be rightly described as Paul of Tarsus the Pharisee? My answer to these questions, laid out thus far in this series on Paul’s prayer in Philemon, is an emphatic yes.

To begin with, Christian prayer is different because it partakes of what we have called the new day of prayer. Christians at prayer may not be completely aware of the new day that has arrived, the new day in which they participate. Nevertheless, even apart from our full consciousness of the fact for Christianity does not depend upon our minds or our comprehension of its truth for its veracity. Still, even apart from our full consciousness of this fact, the new day of prayer has arrived with the coming of Jesus Christ.

In this day, Because of the coming of the Son, God as our Father has now been revealed as never before. In an unprecedented brilliance, the intimacy between God and his people God being a father to his people now comes to light. Because of Jesus Christ and his work, this new day of prayer has been uniquely established, sealed by our address of God as our father. This intimacy means such access that our approach to our Father through his Son exhibits a bold assurance that our Father will most certainly grant our requests. It is in the spirit of this new day of prayer that Jesus tells his disciples, All things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” He makes that statement in Matthew 21, verse 22. And your response to that may be like the response of the disciples who first heard to recoil somewhat from such a declaration by Jesus. He can’t be serious. All things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Jesus can’t be serious, can he?

Obviously, Jesus is guilty here of an overstatement Later on in Matthew’s gospel, a few short chapters later, he will plead with his father to take the cup from him that he is about to drink. But then he is compelled to say, not my will, but your will. Nevertheless, at this point, Jesus makes this bold statement so as to underscore what has happened now, that the monumental transition has come through him, and the new day of prayer has arrived. Ask what you will, believing, and you will receive it.

Such is the nature of the new day that Jesus cannot draw back from such an overstatement. Now this new day of prayer that has arrived is the case not because some new formula for prayer has been found. some new technique, or because some ancient prayer practice from among the Jews has been remembered at long last, nor because the secrets from Delphi or from the Himalayas have finally made their way to Galilee and lodged themselves in the brain and soul of Jesus of Nazareth. Now, Jesus Christ, the true and only Son of the Father in glory, has come to perform the Father’s will by saving his people from their sins, bearing their offenses in his body upon the cross, and by that route, opening up heaven for them. And this has made all the difference in the world. and it makes all the difference in prayer. Truly, with Jesus Christ, with his coming, with the fulfillment of his work, a new day of prayer has come. It is as if people hadn’t been praying previously. But this new day, you must realize, brings with it more than unprecedented intimacy and certainty with God our Father. It also brings with it its own distinctive expression of union with Christ.

We are able to see this quite clearly in Paul himself. For example, Paul says he is always praying here in Philemon. He says he is always making mention of Philemon in his prayers, verse 4. And I trust that you are able to see that Paul makes such a statement as this because he is bound up with the living Christ. he is united to the living Christ.

Think of it, Jesus Christ, the one who died, the one who rose again on the third day, the one who is now ascended into heaven, where presently in his risen body at his Father’s right hand, he is constantly making intercession for us. Texts to that effect. powerful and well known. Romans 8 verse 34, Hebrews 7 verse 25. These verses themselves testifying to the fact that Jesus Christ is alive presently and in his present life he is making mention of us always in his prayers. he ever lived to make intercession.

But consider Paul now, in light of what we have just said. Paul is joined by faith to Christ in heaven, and he is guided, even compelled, by this union with Christ. So Paul always prays. But in making this observation concerning the relationship between Paul and his Savior, we are drawn more deeply into the truth and reality of this new day of prayer of which we have been speaking. You see, it is not as if this new day wasn’t anticipated in the Old Testament.

You remember the altar of incense in the tabernacle? The altar of incense was situated in the center of the holy place. directly in front of the Ark of the Covenant. On that altar, incense was burned morning and evening as a perpetual offering by the priests. We’ve read about Nadab and Abihu, and an offering of incense that they were making. We would assume that they were envisioning placing their offering upon that altar of incense. But think of the symbolism of the tabernacle and the altar of incense. The incense was always being offered and its fragrance was always present.

Do you know what the incense represented? It represented the prayers, the prayers continually ascending to God. But what was intended by that ancient form, what was communicated by an incense ritual in the Old Testament, receives its definitive fulfillment in the New Testament.

Christ’s perpetual prayer in the true tabernacle above in heaven, answers the Old Testament’s shadow and declares that what could be presented only in picture form previously is now a substantive reality in Christ. That the new day of prayer has arrived becomes all the more clear to us because those ritualistic from the Old Testament have given way to all that those forms anticipated. A picture of continual prayer has given way to the reality of continual prayer.

And not only is Paul no longer satisfied with the form, he is now participating in the substance of that reality, not simply pointing it out to others and speaking about it, but actually entering through Christ into its expression. Something of a confirmation then of his own faith is at issue here, since for Paul to believe that Jesus is raised from the dead, for him to believe that Jesus is presently alive and is presently praying constantly, means that he can do nothing less. In fact, we can say the concrete expression of Paul’s conviction that he personally has died with Christ, that he personally has been raised with Christ, that he personally now has been seated with Christ in the heavenly places, is for him, Paul, to be always at prayer.

Do you believe that you have died with Christ? Do you believe that you have been raised with him? Do you believe that you are presently seated with the living Christ in heaven? Are you praying? Here is the concrete expression of your faith. If you are not praying, if you are not a Christian at prayer, don’t flatter yourself. with vain conviction that you are in fact in the war.

I dare say that the uniqueness of Christian prayer and the radical character of the new day of prayer that has arrived in Christ is coming into focus. But now by taking another look at Paul’s prayer, it is my hope that, yes, Christian prayer in its uniqueness and this new day of prayer that has arrived will come into sharper focus still. To be sure, Paul’s prayers set before us wonderfully the fulfillment of Old Testament forms, the altar of incense. At the same time, they introduce us to something previously unheard of when it comes to prayer. Paul’s prayers set before us wonderfully the fulfillment of Old Testament forms, but at the same time they introduce us to something previously seemingly unheard of in prayer. That is, something new that belongs to the New Day.

Specifically, Christian prayer, after the model of Paul’s prayers, now in this present situation, offers up genuine thanksgiving for other people. It’s going to get harder for you as you go down this road. We have scrutinized your faith this morning in light of your prayer life. We’re about to delve deeper. Not just that you pray, but how you pray.

Christian prayer after the marvel of Paul’s prayers now in this new day Offers up genuine thanksgiving to God for other people Now it might come as a shock to you to learn that that nowhere in the Old Testament do you find an example of prayer in which the person praying expressly gives thanksgiving for other people. It ain’t there. Not in the Psalms, not in any of the other prayers that you find in the Old Testament.

But Paul regularly gives thanks to God for those to whom he writes. This is his meaning in Philemon 4. He writes, “‘I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers.'” His thanksgiving to God is clearly bound to Philemon. It is equally clear a thanksgiving for Philemon himself.

A very direct version of what Paul intends here appears in Ephesians 1.16, where Paul says, I do not cease to give thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers. Fewer words, the same thought, as in Philemon 4. But now the $64,000 question arises. Where does such a thought come from? If it’s not found in the Old Testament, where does such a thought as this come from?

We have already grounded Paul’s continual prayers, the fact that he prays always in the Old Testament ceremony of the altar of incense, that no such explicit Old Testament connection exists for Paul’s practice of giving thanks to God for other people. We have also grounded Paul’s continual prayers in his union with Christ, but again, even going over into the New Testament testimony of the Gospels, again, when it comes to Christ’s practice of giving thanks to God, we find no example in his recorded prayers of him having given thanks for other people. Are we to say, then, that Paul’s practice lacks warmth?

Are we to suppose that he has invented his own approach to prayer, something that he has conjured up in his own mind, that he has boldly launched out on his own, boldly gone where no man has gone before? a sort of New Testament nadab and abidu combined, mixing his own incense without any warrant from the Lord, and yet getting away with it. Not only getting away with it, but having his words set down in Scripture. Is Paul then the innovator? that some people have charged him with being. He is the inventor of a new religion, completely distinct and different from the religion of Jesus.

Maybe he has taken the line he does with prayer because his thanks for others captures so raw his generous, warm, and affectionate soul. A soul which has determined on its own that for the good of the gospel and the good of Christianity, it simply has to be more sensitive to other people.

That is, if it’s going to make an impact. And of course, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it, making an impact? You wouldn’t want to leave this world without making an impact, would you? Well, from the tone of my voice, I think that you know what I think about all these proposals.

I have to say that this is one of the most difficult questions to answer. It is in no wise simple. But the problem is there by design. The problem is there by design. That Paul’s prayers for other people have no analog is there by design. It is there to force the church to an answer.

Actually, Paul’s practice of giving thanks for others does have an adequate anchor. The key to unlocking the door of its mysterious origin is found in the combination of the thanksgiving itself with the word always. The door is still locked, isn’t it? The key to unlocking the door to the mysterious origins of Paul’s thanksgiving for others is found in the combination of that thanksgiving with the word always. What I mean is that Paul sees his prayers and himself at prayer as having reached up into the realm of the always. That is, his prayers and himself at prayer have reached up into the world of eternity where things are forever and always consistent.

However you observe, I didn’t think that we were going to be praying forever in heaven. What purpose would prayer serve if we are perfectly satisfied in eternal state? If we are living in the immediate presence of God? Truly, what further need for prayer would there be? Well, whether our prayer life continues in heaven with some connection to the offering up of our petitions is a matter that we might explore further.

But we do know this much. Without question, our thanksgiving is going to continue forever. The startling thing for us is that as far as Paul is concerned now, in light of the new day of prayer that has come, in light of the uniqueness of Christian prayer, as far as he is concerned, that thanksgiving will not only be to God for God himself and all that he has done for us in Christ by his grace, but that thanksgiving in the realm of eternity, in the world of forever, will be for one another.

You are being compelled here by what Paul is saying to consider yourself in another realm, and the constraints of that realm fall upon you. Are you going to be in heaven alone? Is that how you imagine it? Are you going to be by yourself, or are there going to be other people there? What about the people beside you this morning? Are they going to be there? In that context, do you not think that you are going to be giving thanks to God for them and their friends? And will they not be giving thanks to God for you and me?

It is this Thanksgiving then, the Thanksgiving belonging to the eternal realm, the realm of the always, which Paul presently expresses in testimony that he himself belongs to that realm. It is as if he were already there, as if he were seeing not only himself but Philemon in glory and giving thanks for that name. Now, I am asking you in light of the troubles that come upon the church and the distress that arises between people in the church, have you ever considered giving thanks for other people as you endeavor to resolve the differences and deal with the problems? Truly, as Paul will be forever thankful for Philemon despite the present problem that exists between him and Philemon, he is thankful for Philemon now.

And aren’t you thankful for each other? And don’t you say that when you pray. The question is then, am I oriented in my prayers for you as Paul is oriented in his prayer for Philemon? And are you oriented in your prayers for me as we would hope Philemon is oriented in his for Paul? If you and I are, then we together with Paul are testifying in one more way That Christian prayer is different.

For only Christian prayer reaches heaven. Only Christian prayer can express the reality of already being there. May all of your prayers be those kinds of prayers. our God as we would be devout in our thanksgiving to you, and heard within those thanksgivings is a thanks for you, may there also be heard in our prayers a thanksgiving for each other. And Lord, in this way May we who have been blessed with union with Christ be privileged to live in the light of glory already, treating others with ourselves as if we were there in heaven. Be pleased to build this church full of God by prayer, and Lord may that prayer always be filled. with a consideration for the body of believers, a consideration for one another. This we ask in Jesus name, Amen.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.