The pernicious tendency of these traditions is very strikingly illustrated, in one of our Lord’s discourses...
According to John Bunyan in The Acceptable Sacrifice: The Excellency of a Broken Heart (p.2-3), there “are four things that are very acceptable to God...
Faith staggers not: it is the voice of God, and must therefore be received and honored. Hard things and wonderful things were proclaimed to Noah...
We so often associate prayer with kneeling that we may fail to notice the various positions of prayer in the Bible. In fact, standing was often the assumed position of prayer in scripture. Genesis 19:27 "And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD." We know what Abraham was doing when he stood before the Lord. He was praying. The New Testament also supports the stand up and pray attitude. Mark 11:25 "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." The phrase, "when ye stand praying," shows that to be a common position of the body for prayer during this time. Yes, they also kneeled. This is seen in numerous passages: Luke 22:41; Acts 9:40; 20:36. But standing was a common and accepted way to pray. We should not hesitate to stand up and pray today.
In 1 Corinthians 14:24-25, Paul stressed the superiority of prophesying (as in the preaching of truth) over speaking in tongues, especially for the unbeliever. According to 1 Corinthians 14:3, prophesying is for edification, exhortation, and comfort. Therefore, Paul in this chapter is dealing with the aspects of prophesying that perfectly match Bible preaching today. When the unbeliever hears such preaching, "he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest" (v.24-25). This is the purpose of true preaching for the unbeliever. The word, convince, is related to the word convict. Jesus asked those opposing Him, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (John 8:46). The preaching of the word should convince the sinners, bring the sinners into judgment, and reveal the secrets of their hearts. Does your preaching do this? Does the preaching you listen to do this? When the unbeliever is so convinced, "falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth" (1 Corinthians 14:25). May we see once again the power of such preaching in our churches.
