The Intercession of Christ

Tonight we're on lesson 14, which is the intercession of Christ. We've been looking at, as part of Christology, the offices of Christ, how Christ is prophet, how He is priest. Next week we'll be looking at how He is king. Three weeks ago we started looking at Christ as priest. We looked at our first introductory lesson and we said that as priest, Christ has two roles. One, He makes atonement, because that's what priests did in the Old Testament. They made sacrifices for the sins of the people. But priests also in the Old Testament made intercession. They prayed on behalf of Israel. The last two weeks we've looked at the atonement specifically of Christ. We looked at the nature of the atonement, and then last week we looked at the extent and the design of the atonement. Tonight we're going to be focusing just on the intercession of Christ. And in Christ's priestly work, it's probably the least understood.

It's one that, when you grasp it, will change the way you pray. It will change the way you relate to God, to know that we have a benevolent high priest who lives to make intercession for us. So let's begin by looking at Bible point number one.

The priesthood of Christ does not cease with His atoning sacrifice, but continues forever. That's the first point: continues forever. His atonement is finished, right? On the cross Christ cried out, "It is finished," right? He made the sacrifice once for sins for all time, and it's acceptable to God. But His priestly work in His intercession continues forever. It was active in His ministry during His lifetime here on earth. Remember what He told Peter? He says, "Satan has asked that he can sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you," right? And we see Him also praying for even those who were His enemies while He was being crucified, right? And that continues — His intercession continues now and for all time.

His priestly intercession began on earth and continues at the Father's right hand.

Christ's intercession is His special work in securing upon the ground of His atonement every blessing. That's the second blank. Based on His atonement, He can secure for us every blessing, whether it's a temporal blessing or an eternal blessing, whether it's a material blessing or a spiritual blessing. It's all grounded in the atonement. We talked about that last week, how in that sense, Christ died for every man because His common grace is grounded in the atonement. Because He died for us, He has given us all the chance to have a continuance in life and enjoy the good, sweet benefits of the Lord.

This blessing that comes to men — our heavenly high priest lives, that's the third blank, lives to make intercession for us. Christ rose from the dead. He's no longer in the grave. He ascended to the right hand of the Father, where He now actively intercedes for His church. Let's look at Hebrews, chapter 7, verses 24 through 25.

"But He," speaking of Christ, "because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore, He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

What do you live for?

Make intercession for us. That's what Christ does. He lives to make intercession for His people. When we ask each other what he lived for, we often get flippant answers. I live for fishing. I live for football. I live for barbecue. I live to go see my grandkids play baseball. These are all good things. But Christ lives for us. We are His bride. He lives to make intercession for us. And even right now, at the heavenly Father's right hand, there we have Christ pleading our cause and on our behalf securing all the blessings of His finished work of the atonement to be able to give to us, His people. Flip over on the back.

Hebrews 4:14-16, "Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace and help in time of need." When he continued to read in Hebrews 5, it talks about Christ and His earthly ministry: "He sought help from the Lord with tears and vehemence, and He was heard because of His fidelity to God." He was heard because of His fear of God, because of His piety, right? If He made such intercession and such prayer in His earthly ministry, think about what He does in His heavenly ministry, right? For us. Flip over back on the front.

How can you live — that's the blank — how can you live for Christ as He lives for you? Because you have a Savior whose every heavenly breath is making petition on your behalf.

How then should you live for Him?

Shouldn't our every breath be to His praise? Shouldn't our every breath be in gratitude for His love and His care and His compassion for us? To know that we have such a Savior who, though He's holding the world in existence and who is judging the nations, who is the one who gives us breath, that He is concerned about each and every one of our lives and the trials that we go through. And He totally understands those trials, because He was put to the test far more than any of us could ever imagine. Suffered beyond what we are capable of suffering. And so we can come boldly before His throne of grace and find help in time of need. Because of that, how should we live for Him? Ask yourselves that: in light of His intercession and His care, His love for you, how should you return that love? How should you return and show gratitude for His bountiful care for us? Bible point number two.

Christ's intercessory work is typified by the Levitical priest. The Levitical priests were the priests that were enacted in the old covenant, that were prescribed by God. And that office prefigured Christ — that was about prophet, priest, and king. All three of those offices were God-ordained men. They were mediators to Israel. They were anointed. They were set apart by God to be a go-between between God and Israel. And in the Old Testament, the Levitical priesthood typified or pictured and looked forward and pointed forward to Christ. Look at bullet point number one.

As the Old Testament priest burned incense every morning and evening on the golden altar in the Holy Place — that was their job. Remember, we've talked about this before, how they would draw straws because there were so many priests. And they'd cast their lots. And it was a great honor to be able to go into the Holy Place. That's the room right before the Holy of Holies, only separated from the Holy of Holies by a veil or curtain. And there was a golden altar of incense. And they'd take fresh coals from the brazen altar outside the temple where the animal had just been slain. And they'd bring those coals in. And those coals would kindle the incense. And that incense would constantly arise 24-7 before the Lord, symbolic of prayers being lifted up to God on behalf of the people of Israel. And there in that moment, the priest who was chosen, both in the morning and also that evening, would lift up intercessory prayer for the people of Israel. Right? That's a picture of Christ. It says, "So Christ constantly" — that's the first blank here — "so Christ constantly prays for His people based upon His perfectly pleasing sacrifice."

Our Savior stands before the throne of God, the Heavenly Father, and it's based upon His sacrifice — not the sacrifice of a bull or a goat that could never take away sins, but His perfect sacrifice is the basis by which He secures all blessing for us. And He's constantly praying on our behalf. The priest that was chosen did it in the morning and also did it in the evening. Christ never ceases His intercession. He's always before the Father, securing benefits for us based on His atonement.

Bullet point number two.

As the Old Testament high priest entered the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement, so Christ entered the heavenly Holy Place with His perfect atoning sacrifice once and for all and is there forevermore.

Forevermore is the second blank for number two.

The Old Testament high priest would once a year be able to go past the Holy Place — where you had the golden candlestick and you had the table of showbread and the altar of incense — and he would be able to go through the veil into the Holy of Holies before the mercy seat, and he would pour the blood sacrifice there on the day of atonement for the sins of the people of Israel.

Christ has done far better. That just typified Christ, because Christ has gone through the veil. He has brought His sacrifice, making us forever accepted in the sight of the Lord. He doesn't have to do this every year as the high priest did. And the high priest went in, made his offering, and then he exited.

Christ has passed through the heavens and He stands 24-7 before the very presence of God. He's interceding for us and He's won merits. As we talked last week, in His act of obedience, He has provided us every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. Bullet point number three: as the Old Testament high priest symbolically bore the tribes of Israel on his breast into God's presence. We have Exodus 28 as a reference. The Old Testament high priest wore ornamental robes — on each of his shoulders he had a stone, and each of those two stones were inscribed with six of the tribes of Israel. So he had all 12 tribes on his shoulders. Then on his breastplate, he had a stone for each of the tribes of Israel, so he had 12 ornate stones there. The idea behind that is he was bearing Israel on his heart when he would go before the Lord to make his sacrifice, to make intercession for the people of God. So Christ, in union with His people, brings us truly — that's the third blank — truly into the presence of God forever. The high priest of Israel wore this ornamental breastplate and these ornamental things on his shoulder to symbolically bring Israel into God's presence. We are united to Christ. He is in us and we are in Him. He brings us truly into the presence of God.

When you pray, you have the ear of the Almighty.

His undivided attention. Remember when we talked about the nature and attributes of God, we said that God was omniscient and omnipresent. He wasn't just everywhere present, but He's fully present.

And He's fully present in all of His attributes. So, Olivia, when you pray, you have God's full attention. He knows you. He loves to hear from you when you pray. And you have His undivided attention because He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. And that is who Christ is. Christ has gone in, bringing us into the Holy of Holies, so that we have access to God — not just once a year, but 24-7. He is near to whoever calls upon Him, right?

Such ought to drive us to prayer, that here He is welcoming us into the very presence of God. What a sweet privilege that is.

Hebrews 8:1-2 says, "Now this is the main point of the things we are saying. We have such a high priest," speaking of Christ, "who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected and not man." Christ is not in some shabby tent.

He is in the very throne room of God, right? Our priest here on earth would stand ministering daily. He sat down because it is based on His atoning sacrifice, done and accomplished once and for all. Flip it on the back.

Hebrews 8:4-6, the next three verses, says, "For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this one, Christ, has also something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law." He was not born of the tribe of Levi. He would have been disqualified, but He was of the order of Melchizedek, right? Verse 5: "Who served the copy and the shadow of the heavenly things." Levi just served as copies and shadows pointing to Christ, right? I've often heard people say, "I wish I could go back into the Old Testament days and see the pageantry of the temple. How neat that would be."

Those are shadows. They're empty. You have something far better. You have Christ as your high priest, right?

"Who served as copy and shadows of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, 'See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'"

"But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, and as much as He, Christ, is also the mediator of the better covenant, which was established on better promises." The Old Testament priesthood was based upon the old covenant law. As we know, the new covenant has supplanted that, right? It has surpassed that. We are established on new and better promises. We have a Savior who never tires, who never passes away, who doesn't ever have to be replaced, who has never been succeeded by any other priest, and He stands at the right hand of God — also pictured as sitting at the right hand of God, and also pictured as walking at the right hand of God in various scriptures — offering intercessory prayer for us.

The application is this: do you relate?

That's the word, relate. Do you relate, or do you worship, or do you act with God under the old or the new covenant?

Of course you say it's under the new covenant, right?

But let me ask you.

In actuality, think about this. How many times do you find yourself basing your acceptance before God on your recent performance,

by what you have or haven't done for the Lord? You look at some people who just seem to be able to do great things for God,

and think, "I'll never measure up to that. God must not accept me.

God must not love me."

The old covenant was based upon the daily sacrifices, the daily works of the priest, right, to be approved by God. Even though we're in the new covenant, let's not act as if our acceptance is based on our performance. It's totally based on Jesus Christ, right? That He is sufficient. That His work is what makes us pleasing to God. We can't add up works hoping to be approved by God. Our approval is set because Christ's work is finished, right? How about the Old Testament priest who would only go into the Holy of Holies once a year?

Is that how often we spend time with the Lord?

We're in the new covenant. We have access to the very throne room of God, right? But how many times are we content to pray occasionally rather than constantly? How many times are we content to let a minister be our intercession for us? Say, "Well, I come on Sunday and I hear the Bible preached and read by Pastor Casey. That's good enough. I don't have to open up my Bible during the week." Right? That's living under the old covenant, not under the new covenant, right? The new covenant is we have access to God 24-7. Praise the Lord. How about this: do we come before the Lord truly believing to have communion with Him, union with Christ? That we can enter into the Holy of Holies every time we pray, that Christ is actually with us, and the Father and the Holy Spirit are living within us, is what the Scripture says. Their presence is mediated by the Holy Spirit. Do we live like that? Do we live like we are in the Holy of Holies? Or is that just all symbolism — breastplate, some trinkets that we carry around and parade and put on for show, right? So my question to you is: do you relate to God as if you're in the old covenant or in the new?

Bible point number three. The general intercession of Christ is made for all — that's the first blank — all men.

And the securing of the temporal — temporal is the second blank, it's like temporary, T-E-M-P-O-R-A-L, temporal — benefits of His atoning work. Remember, His atonement secured for all men a delay in judgment, a space for repentance, an opportunity to experience the goodness of God, which is meant to draw men to repentance, right? And the very ground of common grace is found in Christ's atoning sacrifice. Humanity should have ended in the garden. We talked about this last week, but it's because of the cross of Christ and the light of the cross of Christ that humanity continues, right? So every temporal benefit and blessing that men have comes from the intercessory work of Christ. This benevolent love — that's the third blank — the benevolent love is displayed in Christ's intercession for His tormentors and revilers while He was hanging on the cross. Christ demonstrated this for us. Isaiah 53:12 says, "And He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors." That was written 700 years before His crucifixion, right? Flip over on the back.

Look in Luke 23:32-38. "There were also two others, criminals, led with Him and put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on, but even the rulers with them sneered, saying, 'He saved others. Let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.' The soldiers also mocked Him, coming to offer Him sour wine and saying, 'If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.' And an inscription was also written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: 'This is the King of the Jews.'" Note that they blasphemed Him in three different languages, right?

All during that mocking, all during that tormenting, Christ prayed for them. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Flip over back on the front.

The application is this: do you intercede for the lost — that's the first blank — and for your enemies, the second blank?

Do you intercede as Christ does for the lost and for your enemies? I'm not going to lie to you, it's hard to pray for your enemies, right?

Jesus said to pray for those and bless those who curse you, right? When you're being slapped, when you're being cussed out, it's hard to have a charitable attitude towards that person.

But remember the atoning work of Christ.

By the atoning work of Christ, men experience all the goodness of God, right? And it's meant to show men, to lead men to repentance. When someone mistreats you and you intercede for them, you forgive them — are you not showing them the grace of Christ? Aren't you extending them an opportunity to repent and to place their trust and faith in the Savior, the one who died for them? Of course. So we're to pray for those who curse us. We're to pray for our enemies, and we're to pray, of course, for the lost, as Christ did even in the midst of His suffering.

Bible point number four: the special intercession of Christ. This is in comparison to the general intercession of Christ we just looked at. The special intercession of Christ is reserved only — that's the first blank — for His particular people. We talked about last week how, in a sense, Christ died only for His particular people, His chosen, His church, His friends. The elect is what we read in various scriptures last week. Well, in the same way, the special intercession of Christ is reserved only for His particular people. This is the chief intercessory ministry of Christ revealed in Scripture. Special intercession secures divine acceptance — acceptance is the second blank — divine acceptance of believers in the sight of God, and the bestowment of all gifts — gifts is the third blank — the bestowment of all gifts needful for their salvation.

You're accepted before God, believer, because Christ has made you accepted before God.

You are one who exercises faith and repentance because God has given you faith and repentance, right? He's bestowed upon us all gifts needful for their salvation. Christ's high priestly prayer for us includes our perseverance, our unity, our joy, our protection, our sanctification, our mission, and our glorification.

That's a lot of words. Look at John 17:9. This is where He begins His high priestly prayer. "I pray for them." Them is His chosen people. "I do not pray for the world, but those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours." This is speaking of His particular people — us, the ones that He has set His love upon. John 17:20-21: "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word." Not only did He pray for His disciples, but He prayed for the disciples of His disciples, right? Which means you.

Every single one of us stands here today because of the faithfulness of the apostles, the faithfulness of the disciples in the early church, to go into all the world and make disciples of all men.

"I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."

Flip it around to the back.

I have His entire high priestly prayer here, John 17:9-26. I'm not going to read the whole thing, but I just want to point out a few things. Look in verse 11.

"Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world," speaking of His people, His disciples, His loved ones. "And I come to You, Holy Father, keep them through Your name, those whom You have given Me." He prays for your perseverance. He prays for your protection, that God would keep them through His name, right? "That they may be one as We are." He prays for our unity.

Don't ever take the unity of the church lightly.

Christ is before the heavenly throne of God with all power, and He's praying for our unity, right? Our unity affects our witness, as we'll see here. Look in verse 13: "But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves." Christ prays for your joy when you grieve, when you're hurting, when you're despondent.

Christ knows.

Did He not grieve in Gethsemane?

Did not, from His pores, pour forth droplets of His blood, right?

He understands pain. He understands loss. He understands grief. And He prays for your joy, that you'll have joy in Christ Jesus. Joy isn't based on your circumstances, but it's based on your position in Him.

Verse 15: "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You shall keep them from the evil one."

Don't we need keeping from the evil one?

It's the devil as a roaring lion seeking about whom he may devour. You have no clue how often you have probably been in the grasp of Satan or his minions, and God protected you from him. I liken it to here in Florida — if you go to any park and you walk down by the water, Toby and I many times will walk down feeding the ducks, and within just a foot of us, we don't even see it. There's an alligator, perfectly blended in, right? It's not unlike the picture of the serpent of old, ready to jump up and devour you. Christ prays for you. He prays that you'd be kept from the evil one.

Look in verse 17: "Sanctify them by Your truth." Christ prays for your sanctification, for your progress in holiness.

Oh, brother and sister, don't get discouraged. Sometimes we say, "Am I ever going to progress? I keep doing the same old sins. I keep making the same failures. I don't seem to be up there at the same level as Mike Sampayo. I want to be, but I'm not." And so what does Christ do? He prays for your sanctification. He's interceding on your behalf when you don't know how to pray. You don't even know the right words to put it into effect. Christ sees you already as His finished work, as glorified in Him, according to Romans 8:28-29, right? Glorified is in the past tense. He sees you in Him, presented as His bride before Him in robes of white raiment, right? So He's praying that you'd be sanctified, sanctified by the Word of God.

Look in verse 21: "That they may all be one, as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." He's praying for a heavenly fellowship with the Father, with the Son, and with the Holy Spirit. "His presence manifested in us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me." And look in verse 24: "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me, that where I am, they may behold My glory."

He's praying for our glorification, because we're going to be transformed into the very image of Christ's glory, are we not? So He prays for our mission, our witness before the world. He prays for our unity. He prays for our protection. He prays for our sanctification. He prays for our keeping from the evil one. He prays for our perseverance. There's no aspect of your life that Christ does not pray for.

He's intimately concerned about you. He is the great Shepherd, and you are His dear sheep. Flip back over on the front.

The application for number four is: thank Christ for His intercession for you.

Thank Christ for His intercession for you. I guarantee you that many of you can testify that you are here today because a godly man or a godly woman prayed for you.

Maybe it was a godly mother, maybe it was a godly aunt, maybe it was a godly father who prayed for your salvation, who cared for your soul.

Christ cares infinitely more than any person could ever care for you — any mere human. Remember, He's the God-man, right? So thank God for His care for your soul.

Point number five: Christ's special intercession for His people is both judicial and moral in its function.

We think of His intercession being primarily judicial. In other words, saying, "This one's mine. This one's born in Zion. He's covered in My blood, right? He is justified. He is righteous. He's accepted because of Me." And that's true, but it's also moral in its function.

Though the atonement met all of God's holy demands, Satan desires to accuse men. Isn't that his name? The accuser, right? Doesn't he love to accuse men before God?

Christ is forever our advocate — that's the first blank — our advocate. An advocate is one who comes alongside and makes a case for you, who strengthens you and advocates on your behalf. He is forever our advocate, nullifying accusations against us. When the devil says, "Shawn, you're terrible."

What does Christ say? He says, "Yeah, but I saved him. He's My boy." Right? This one is Mine.

He nullifies the accusations against us. Christ further intercedes for us in sanctifying — sanctifying is the second blank — our prayers and service, making them acceptable to God.

The best that you can bring before God —

the best works, the best sacrifices, the best deeds you do — are as filthy rags in His sight compared to His perfect holiness. Even when we do good things, isn't it often done with bad motives? Right? I want to get some credit for this, so I'm going to post it on Facebook. Look, I fed a homeless person. Right? When we do such things for notoriety, we do it for attaboys, right?

Even our best deeds are not acceptable to the Lord. But what does Christ do? Christ makes our deeds acceptable, right? Christ has actually died for us and saved us with the intent that we should walk in deeds foreordained by Him before the foundation of the world, is what Ephesians tells us in chapter 2:8-10, right? Foreordained that we should walk in them. He sanctifies and He makes beautiful our humble sacrifices, right? If you have kids, you know that oftentimes your children — especially little children — will give you a love gift. And it's maybe a painting, a finger painting or a picture. And it looks more like Picasso than Rembrandt, you know?

But it's beautiful to you, right? Because they did it out of love. Christ takes all of your well-meaning but imperfect gifts and He beautifies them. He makes them perfect, right? Because it's by His Spirit and not by our might.

Christ also aids us in temptation — that's the third blank — as He was perfectly tested Himself. When you're tempted by sin, when you're tempted by trials, Christ comes to your aid, right? This is part of that moral aspect of His intercession. He knows we're weak. He knows our limitations. He knows we are frail and but men. And He intercedes for us, and He will not give us more than we can bear.

1 Peter 2:4-5.

Speaking of Christ: Christ is coming to God as a living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious.

"You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Do you catch that? Christ is the cornerstone. He's a stone rejected by men but approved by God. And we are living stones being built up upon Him, in union with Him, in connection with Him, so that our sacrifices are made acceptable to God through the Beloved, through Jesus Christ, right? God is pleased with your works, though they be meager. He's pleased with your sacrifices — not because your sacrifices in and of themselves merit anything, but it's because Christ's merit is transferred and you are in Christ, right?

Flip over on the back.

Romans 8:33-34.

Speaking of Christ, His intercession in its judicial aspect: "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." Christ, who rose from the dead by the very power of God, is at the right hand of God interceding for us, saying there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. "Accuser, get out of here. Your words are not true. This one is Mine. My blood is upon him. He is in Me and I in him."

Hebrews 2:14-18: "And as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself, Christ, likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death," that is the devil, "and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to the angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham." Who is the seed of Abraham? Those who believe in Christ Jesus, is what Galatians tells us. "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation — to make satisfaction, appeasement, a place for God's wrath — for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."

He has more power, more might than you can ever imagine.

Though the tempter may seem great, he's no match for Christ. Christ has vanquished the tempter. He has vanquished the one who had the power of death, and he no longer has that sway to hold men in bondage anymore. Christ has set us free, and our waymaker, our Savior, is the one who is making intercession for us. Let's look back over on the front.

The application for number five is: ask Christ for peace, holiness, and help.

Ask Christ for peace. Can you make peace with God by yourself? Only through Christ.

When life is uncertain and trials are coming against you, it's hard to find peace, because you will not find peace in your circumstances. You will not find peace in your own strength. But who can you find peace in? The rock who is tried and true and tested — whoever puts their trust in Him will not be put to shame, right? So ask Christ for peace. Ask Him for holiness. If you try to live a holy life in your own strength, you're going to fail, right? Christ can make you holy. He can sanctify you by His Word, and He's at the heavenly Father's right hand praying for your success. So ask Him for holiness. Ask Him for help. Who else are you going to ask for help?

Christ has the very power of God. He's exalted at the right hand of God. He has all power, all dominion, all authority, and it's for you. It's for His church.

Bible point number six. Christ is our advocate in heaven — that's the first blank — heaven — securing from the Father the answer to our prayers. He is our heavenly advocate. He's in heaven in the presence of the Father, and He's securing answers to our prayers. The Holy Spirit is our advocate within us. Remember, Christ said, "I'm going to send you another Helper." That word is another advocate, right? So as the Holy Spirit intercedes in our heart, Christ is at the right hand of the Father interceding before the Father, and they're doing this at the same time, right? The Holy Spirit, as we'll learn when we start pneumatology in a few weeks, is also called the Spirit of Christ, right?

The Holy Spirit is our advocate within us, teaching us how to pray as we ought. Christ pleads our cause with God, while the Spirit pleads God's cause with us. Is that not what the Spirit does? He leads us and guides us into all truth. He convicts of sin, of righteousness, of judgment.

The work of Christ and the Spirit complement each other as parts of one trinitarian whole.

The impulses in our heart to pray is evidence — that's the third blank — it's evidence that Christ is urging our claims in heaven before the Father.

When you have an urge to pray, it's because Christ is praying for you in heaven.

And simultaneously, while Christ is making intercession for you in heaven, the Holy Spirit is making intercession in your heart, right? So what is the holy thing when you are moved to pray?

It's part of the triune work of God.

Don't ever say later, "I'm too busy, God." If it's at 3 in the morning and you wake up and it's in your heart to pray —

all movement towards God is the work of the Holy Spirit, right? So Christ, His voice is thundering in heaven before the throne of God when your heart is moved to pray. The Holy Spirit and Christ, they always work simultaneously in their work, right? Christ in heaven interceding for you, and the Holy Spirit in your heart interceding on your behalf.

Hebrews 9:24: "For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us."

Christ is there for us, right? What did Christ say? He said that if you have faith, you can move mountains.

I don't think we believe that sometimes, right?

But we should.

And I would argue that you already have moved mountains with your prayer. Have you ever prayed for someone to come to know Christ and seen their salvation?

It's easy to throw a rock into the sea.

Who can rebirth a soul, right? Who can take a mountain and lay it flat?

Who can raise up a valley? Who can make a highway to God? Only Christ can, right? So it's a privilege to intercede for others, to pray for others, to make His path straight, right? It is moving mountains when you see a person begin to take their faith seriously and to begin to read God's Word and begin to pray, because you've prayed for their sanctification, right? When someone comes to know the Lord, it's a miracle, right? It's a precious, holy thing to be partners with Christ in His work.

Flip over on the back.

1 John 2:1, "My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." He is our advocate. Look at John 14:16.

"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper," that's another advocate, "that He may abide with you forever." We have an advocate with the Father in Christ. We have an advocate, the Holy Spirit, within our hearts, right? Both working on our behalf.

The application for number six: pray with certainty — that's the blank — that God is drawing you near. That's the second blank. Pray with certainty, with full assurance, that God is drawing you near. If it's on your heart to pray, it's because it's the work of the Holy Spirit. Natural, carnal man wants nothing to do with God. He doesn't want to be in the presence of God. He doesn't want to even remember God. He wants to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. So if you've been compelled to pray, that is the work of the Holy Spirit within you — God drawing you near to Himself. Answer that call.

Bible point number seven. Christ's intercession is characterized by authority,

constancy, and efficacy.

Efficacy is a word we don't use a lot, but it simply means the power to accomplish that which is intended, right?

Christ intercedes with authority. He does not supplicate as a creature to the Creator, but as a Son — that's the first blank — as a Son requesting of His Father. It's just like what we just read in John 17. Father, glorify them with the same glory that You have given Me from the very beginning, right? Father, keep them from the evil one. Father, sanctify them through Thy truth, right?

He's not subjected to God the Father. He's on equal footing with God the Father. He's coming as a Son — in Scripture, "Son" means of the same essence as the Father, right? He comes to the Father as an equal.

Christ always intercedes with constancy. Constancy means continuously, never stopping.

He never — that's the second blank — never sleeps nor slumbers. We all love Psalm 121.

"I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand. He's closer to you than this shadow is on my hand. The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil. He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore."

Christ never sleeps nor slumbers. Christ's hands never hang low or need to be upheld.

I have the reference here, Exodus 17. Let me read to you. Remember Moses as an intercessor for Israel in the battle with the Amalekites? It says, "Now Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, 'Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.'" The same rod that he held up and parted the Red Sea. The same rod that he brought before Pharaoh that allowed Pharaoh to see God's miraculous works — of turning into a snake.

"So Joshua did as Moses said to him and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed, and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed." So when he could no longer hold the rod up, interceding for Israel, the enemy started to win. "But Moses' hands became heavy. So they took a stone and put it under him to sit on. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword."

Christ is our intercessor. His hands never tire.

They're always lifted up on your behalf.

He's the one who's omnipotent, right?

He's the one who has boundless supply from within. Though we fail in our intercession — have you ever fallen asleep praying?

Where your mind starts to drift, right?

That never happens with Christ. He always has His full attention. His ministry is constancy.

Christ's intercession is always efficacious — successfully securing, securing is the third blank, the intended result.

Why does it always successfully secure the intended result? It says right here, "Christ has merited all that He asked the Father for."

He's perfectly fulfilled the law, right? I mentioned last week when you read through the old covenant and you read Deuteronomy 28, there's a list of blessings if you keep the law and cursings if you disobey. And the cursings are much longer than the blessings, right? Well, Christ became a curse for us, right? And in His act of obedience, He merited all the blessings of the law, right? As a man, as the God-man. And He's able by His humanity to communicate those blessings to us. So His prayer is always efficacious. We often ask, but we ask amiss, is what James says, right? Christ never asks amiss. His will and the Father's will are one. And what He prays for comes to pass. The Father always — this is the fourth blank — always hears and answers the Son. I have a reference here, John chapter 11. I want to read this to you. This is verses 38 through 44. This is at the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Listen to Christ's efficacy with the Father. "Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself" — why was He groaning? Because He loved Lazarus, and Lazarus was dead.

"He came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, 'Take away the stone.' Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, 'Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he's been dead four days.' Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?'"

"Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, 'Father, I thank You, for You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me. But because of the people who are standing by, I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.'" He said it as a formality. He knew the Father would always hear Him, but He said it for our benefit, right? So we know that His intercession always comes before the ears of God and moves God. It's always efficacious because their will is the same.

"Now when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come forth.' And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face wrapped with a cloth. And Jesus said to them, 'Loose him and let him go.'"

He has the power to do what's unimaginable to us, right?

Because His prayers, His intercession is always efficacious. Aren't we glad that we have such a mediator? You don't have the intellect. You don't have the imagination to intercede on your own behalf, to know the incredible goodness and power that God can work on your behalf. It's not possible for us to know. But God knows, in Christ Jesus, right? He knows all things. He can ask above and beyond all that we could ever imagine, right? That's the mediator that we have in Christ Jesus, who is our intercessor.

John 10:30, He says, "I and My Father are one." Right?

So His prayers are always going to be with authority. His prayers are always going to be constant, as God is unchangeable. And His prayers are always going to be efficacious because He and the Father are one. Flip back over on the back.

John 10:27-29: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

Neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand." Then He says, "I and My Father are one." Right?

The application is: let His authority, His constancy, and His efficacy change the way you pray. Change is the blank. If you know that Christ is always before the throne of the Father, constantly ministering on your behalf, is that going to change the way you pray? Yes. I think I've shared before — I had a missionary that came when I was in seminary who had been in India. And in India they have a whole pantheon of gods. At that point in time, this was years ago, they had counted 23 million that they had actually logged, because they make up new gods all the time. And one of the gods is the firecracker god. And he lives in a well, and the priests who officiate at this well will take your money

and in return they give you a firecracker. And this god slumbers at the bottom of the well. And so you light the firecracker and you toss it in the well. And when it goes off, in that instant you better pray — and you better pray quick — before he falls right back to sleep. So that's your opportunity to bring a petition before the lord. You've got to have money, you have to have access, and it's only for a short period of time, right?

That is not our God.

Exactly. Well, it's a false god, all right. But when we realize the constant intercession of Christ for us, when we realize the authority that He has, when we realize the efficacy of His prayers, that should change the way you pray. That should embolden you to bring everything before the Lord — no matter how small, no matter how great, no matter how seemingly impossible. The blackest soul, the meanest person — pray for their salvation, because Christ can save them.

Bible point number eight. All true intercession is either directly or indirectly — that's the first blank — indirectly the intercession of Christ. All intercession is either the direct intercession of Christ, Christ making intercession, or it's indirectly His intercession.

Believers are organs of Christ's Spirit.

Is it not what Christ tells us, that He would send another Comforter to be with us forever? Doesn't Paul say, "Do you not know that the Spirit of Christ dwells in you?" He says that to the Corinthians. He animates us. He's the one who's regenerated us. He's the one who takes the benefits of Christ and applies them to our heart. He's the one who sanctifies us. He's the one who makes intercession for us within our heart. Believers are organs of Christ's Spirit, praying in Christ's name to the Father.

To pray to other gods or to pray through men as mediators is to blaspheme Christ. That's the second blank, blaspheme Christ. There is no other mediator that brings intercession for you.

In some church traditions, they pray to the saints and they ask for the saints to help them, right?

That's blasphemy to the name of Christ. Christ is our high priest forever. Some people pray to Mary.

That's blasphemy. That's wicked. Only Christ is our intercessor, right? Only He is our mediator, making intercession to the Father for us.

We even see examples in Scripture. Remember, was it Simon Magus? "Pray for me that this will not come upon me." And it is okay to ask for other people's prayer, but you have the ability to take your prayers before the Lord, right? Christ has entered the veil before you, right? We have access to the Holy of Holies. All intercessory prayer is either directly or indirectly through Christ.

In union — this is the third blank — in union with Christ, we are constituted as intercessors

to bear before God the interest of our family, church, and the world.

It should be in that order.

Being one with Christ, do not His desires become ours? The things that He loves become the things that we love, right? His interest, His mission, His commission become ours. We become ambassadors for Christ. In the same way, we are constituted as intercessors in Christ. We pray for our family first of all — that's their point of contact. God has sovereignly placed you in a family. And now if you don't have a family, God's given you a church family, right? That's the second place we pray for. We make intercession for one another. It is so neat to hear one another pray for each other, in Sunday school, to have a prayer list that we then email, right? To pray for Miss Heidi when she goes into the hospital — it's an honor. It's a privilege. We are joining the work of Christ, in union with Him, sharing His ministry, sharing His intercessory work, when we pray on behalf of our sisters and brothers in Christ, right? We also intercede and pray for the world, right, that we may have peace in this world.

That this world may know Christ.

Joining Christ in His intercession pleases our Savior. That's the fourth point, pleases our Savior. Don't you want to please the Savior? If you want to please the Savior, go about doing His work.

Share Christ.

Be an ambassador for Christ. Be an intercessor, joining in His work.

1 Timothy 2:1, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications" — which can mean, translated, begging, pleading — "prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men."

It's pretty inclusive, right? All men. Not some men, not a few men, but all men, right? We're to pray for everyone. The jerk who cuts you off in traffic — rather than cussing under your breath, pray for them. Pray that they get home safe, right? If they're driving erratically, pray that they get a ticket, to the glory of God, right, for their own safety.

Flip over on the back.

1 Timothy 2:2-4, the next three verses, says, "For kings" — making intercession "for all men, for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and reverence." You should pray for those, whether they have a D beside their name or an R beside their name, right? Whether they're our party or not, whether they are someone you despise and detest — you pray for them. We can have peace. We can assemble together and worship, right? We can assemble together and proclaim the name of Christ.

"For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The application is this: glorify the one mediator between God and man. You glorify Him with your lips and praise. You glorify Him with your obedience. And you glorify Him in joining His work of intercession. Pray for your family. Pray for your church. And pray for the world.