In my last address I called your attention to Paul's prayers for two churches--that at Thessalonica, which suffered severer persecution than any other of the churches that he planted; and the one at Rome, whose fame for faith and obedience had spread throughout the Roman empire. He prayed for these most fervently, mentioning both of them in every prayer. The same is true of the church at Philippi and the church at Corinth. We have his own words for his constant remembrance of these four churches in every prayer, naming them and offering, doubtless, for each such supplications as he knew they most needed. We have no right to suppose that these were the only churches of which he constantly made mention in his prayers. There was Berea, and Ephesus, and some others. He was a man of prayer, then, upon whom was laid the care of all the churches, mentioning all these congregations to the Lord in all his prayers. He was worthy of being entrusted with the "care of all the churches". And he who is worthy to be given the care of a single church can not too earnestly and too often pray for it.

      But Paul did not confine this constant remembrance of others to congregations. He extended it also to individuals. He says to Timothy, "I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers in a pure conscience, how unceasing is my remembrance of thee in my supplications, night and day longing to see thee, remembering thy tears, that I may be filled with joy:" He had left Timothy in a flood of tears when he last parted from him and those tears were constantly on his mind, and with that constant memory went up his petitions for that young man. And so in regard to Philemon, a man whom he had never seen so far as the record goes, but of whom he had heard much: He says, "I thank my God always, making mention of thee in my prayers, hearing of thy love and of the faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus, and toward all the saints." Such a man as that he could not forget when he bowed his knees before God in prayer. Thus we see the mind and heart and memory of this praying man, loaded with the [53] wants, the dangers, the necessities of a large number of persons. For if he prayed thus for Timothy and Philemon, what about Priscilla and Aquila, who once laid down their necks to save his life; or Epaphroditus, or any other of the heroes of the faith whom he loved with all his heart, and who were bound to him by cords of steel? Thus he prayed for the churches with which he was connected, and for individual saints both male and female whom he had known who were his fellow-servants, and whose names were written in the Book of Life. Not only so, but he did not falter in that precept which was taught in the sermon on the Mount--"Love your enemies." His own countrymen had caused his expulsion from Antioch and Iconium; and more recently from Thessalonica which he had to leave by night. They had also on five occasions stripped him of his garments and given him thirty-nine lashes on his naked back. If there ever was a people whom a man might hate, and whom any one of us would hate, it was the Jews in their dealings with Paul. But in the epistle to the Romans he makes a statement which would be unthinkable with common men, "I have great heaviness and unceasing sorrow in my heart: for I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." If he had said, "I have unceasing wrath in my heart," it would not have surprised us; and in the same epistle he says "My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they may be saved." Brethren, who is it in the church today that thus prays for those who hate him? He goes farther than even this. "I could even wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh:" He did not say, I wish it, but I could wish it. I think if he had said, I do wish it, he would have done wrong. I cannot think of myself as wishing myself accursed from Christ for anyone, however near he might be related to me. It is possible that when he said he could wish this, he would have failed had he been put to the test. But those expressions show a devotional and self sacrificing spirit almost equal to that of the Christ himself.

      (When Paul reached the end of his pilgrimage you would naturally expect to read there some splendid prayers, [54] but not a word of it. When he was ready to lay down his neck that the sharp sword of the executioner might sever his head from his body, he did not spend his last hours in prayer. He had reached the point where prayer is turned to praise, faith to sight and sight to full fruition. He says to Timothy, "The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing." So instead of spending his last hours in prayer, calling on faithful men to pray around his bed and comfort him, as, we in our weakness often do, he left this world with a shout of triumph.

      This now is the way in which this man of God passed through trials and sufferings at the hands of men, often at hands of those who should have been his friends, and gave up his life in the service of his master. I commend his character and example for your imitation. The more earnest your prayers for others, the more pleasing you will be in the sight of God. It is singular that in the record of his prayers you find him recording only one which he offered for his own personal welfare.

      He had been so exalted by revelations from heaven, that it was necessary for him to receive an affliction which would be humiliating. He calls it a thorn in the flesh, an emissary of Satan to buffet him. To buffet means to smite you in the face. What could be more irritating than to have an enemy stand by you and frequently smite you in the face? And what could be more humiliating in the presence of others looking on? He says, Three times I have prayed God to remove this from me. That prayer was never answered. Paul says, "He said to me, My grace shall be sufficient for you." Instead of taking it away God gave him grace to bear it. And we are to suppose that he had to endure it to the day of his death. He learned, however, to say, "When I am weak, then I am strong." And in this connection he makes a statement that is as incredible as that about the Jews. "I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake:" God gave him in answer to that prayer, [55] not the relief for which he petitioned, but that strange feeling which relieves those who reach it by prayer from the pain of suffering and the shame of affliction, so that he no longer felt humiliated as he once did, but on the contrary, he says, "I take pleasure." What a strange pleasure! He took pleasure in afflictions which he had prayed God three times to relieve him from without being relieved. How great a soul was that! How unconquerable the spirit. How devoted to God, to Christ and to humanity! Let him be your example next to the example of your Lord and Savior. [56]

[CT 53-56]