CHAPTER 13
"...Golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints." -- Rev.
5:8
Christ frequently chooses some unusual place on
earth to reveal Himself to mankind. It is obviously consistent with His Divine
Nature and eternal purpose in redemption to disclose Himself in some unusual
place and in some unexpected manner.
He revealed Himself to Moses in a burning bush in
a desert. He revealed Himself to be the long expected Messiah to a woman of
unsavory reputation at Jacob's well. He revealed a measure of His effulgent
glory to three chosen disciples on a high mountain. He revealed Himself and
His purpose to give the Gentiles the Gospel to Saul of Tarsus on the road to
Damascus.
Perhaps the most amazing revelation ever given to
mortal man was given to John when the Saviour revealed Himself clothed in His
majesty and might standing in the midst of the seven churches. John said,
"...When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead...." -- Rev. 1: 17.
Christ chose to reveal Himself to John while in exile on the lonely isle of
Patmos. This holy disciple was banished to this wave-washed and wind-swept
pile of shattered stones and shifting sands,
"...For the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." -- Rev.
1:9.
The Saviour selected this faithful man to be the human channel through which
His sublime truth could be given to His trusting saints. It pleased the
blessed Lord to reveal the sublime truth about prayer in John's picturesque
language, "...Golden vials full of odours..."
Our Lord would evidently have us understand that
prayer is a part of worship. It is like the odours of sweet incense ascending
upward to God. The heavenly Father is pleased with our fervent prayers when we
fill them with the fragrance of our sincere worship.
The Saviour would have us understand that our
prayers are kept in golden vials in His Holy Place in heaven like the golden
censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, were kept
in the most Holy Place in the temple.
Perhaps God's praying people have not fully
grasped the fact that all sincere prayers are immortal, and the Lord preserves
these prayers like a sweet incense kept in golden vials.
We surely are aware that Christ's prayers are
living petitions preserved for us in His plan of eternal salvation. He
breathed the power of His endless life into His prayers. His prayers are
immortal because He is immortal. His prayers will be answered because He is
the answer to all prayer.
The prayers recorded in the Holy Scriptures are
an immortal part of the Divine plan of salvation. These petitions were made
immortal by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit enables God's
people to pray with yearnings which cannot be uttered.
"And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,
because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." --
Rom. 8:27.
It is clearly disclosed in this remarkable
Scripture that every prayer empowered by the indwelling Spirit becomes an
integral and immortal part of the entire economy of God as disclosed in the
plan of redemption.
I am thoroughly convinced that every prayer
offered according to the will of God shall be answered either in our lifetime
on earth, or after we have entered our heavenly home. However, I cannot
discover anything revealed in the Word of God to warrant anyone in believing
that the translated saints can pray for persons living on the earth. Praying
to the translated saints, and asking them to pray for us, is a modified form of
idolatry. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. All prayers
must be offered to Him, and in His Name only.
When I affirm that every prayer offered in the
Name of Jesus shall be answered, I am not saying that God will overrule the
human will in order to answer our prayers. He cannot and will not save any man
against his will, but He will convict a man of sin against his will.
Perhaps an incident will disclose what I mean
when I speak of an immortal prayer. One night during a camp meeting, a man
came to the altar weeping with deep conviction for sin. After a season of
earnest prayer, he was converted and gave a glowing testimony. His faithful
father had preached for many years and had prayed often during those years for
his unsaved son. He never lived to see his son saved, but on this particular
night in the camp meeting, the loving Lord answered prayer and saved this
erring son of the preacher.
It helps me to imagine that the Saviour called
His sainted servant and said, "My child, I have many of your prayers in golden
vials. They are like sweet odours poured out before Me. I have the prayers
you offered for your erring son during your lifetime on earth. I am now ready
to answer your prayers during the camp meeting where you preached My Gospel
many years ago. My child, I have just now granted your son a pardon in answer
to your prayers and prayers of My people." It encourages my heart to believe
that God will answer every prayer.
While praying during the quiet hours of the
morning in a hotel room some years ago, I was burdened to pray for a woman
slowly dying with a cancer of the throat. She had been a successful missionary
for many years and had returned home from the field broken in health, bitter
and resentful in spirit. I knew her saintly mother during her lifetime, and I
knew how she had prayed for her daughter.
While praying for this dying missionary, the Lord
said to me, "I am ready and willing to answer a mother's prayer, and give her
suffering daughter peace of heart and mind." I was so sure that the Lord had
spoken to me about this dying woman, and about His willingness to answer her
mother's prayers, that I wrote a letter urging certain women to go and pray
with this suffering missionary. She found peace and comfort of heart and mind,
and went home within a few weeks to be with her faithful Saviour and her
rejoicing mother.
Many of the Lord's redeemed children will live
and die without receiving the answers to many of their sincere prayers. When
we live by faith and die in the faith, we can be assured that a Just and Holy
God will not forget His certified promises regarding His willingness to answer
the prayers offered in the Name of Jesus.
The "...golden vials full of odours, which are
the prayers of the saints," shall be poured out before the mediatorial throne
of Jesus some glorious day. When that gladsome hour shall arrive on the wings
of time, we shall see the triumph of the tears we have shed in the hours of
agonizing prayer. We shall see the Father glorified in the Son.
We are living in a passing world filled with
fears and doubts; but
we can live in this transient world and not be
filled with its fears and doubts regarding the answer to our prayers. The
inspired Psalmist said,
"Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God
is a refuge for us." Psa. 62:8.
God's certified promises relating to prayer give
us the inalienable right to say,
"Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is
higher than I." -- Psa. 61:1,2.
The Scriptures encourage us to pray incessantly
and importunately knowing within ourselves that God will answer our petitions
in His own time, and according to His own will. Let us offer up prayers with
strong crying and tears unto Him that is able to save to the uttermost. Let us
pray without ceasing until the hour comes for our immortal prayer to be poured
out like sweet incense poured out of golden vials.