Untitled Sermon (15)

What comes to your mind when you think of great praying? Muller, Luther, Praying Hyde?

The Lord

What comes to your mind when you think about the prayer life of our Lord? High Priestly, the all nighter, the garden of Gethsemene.

I want to point us to another aspect of his prayer ministry? The one most intimately related to the call to prayer God has placed on our lives.

His eternal intercession for me.

He always lives to make intercession for them.

He - The Lord Jesus, the permanent priest who continues forever who never dies, and holds his priesthood by an eternal life.

Always - This is not something he dabbles in for a season, but always continually and dutifully performs.

Lives. Not his life of humiliation but his life of exhortation. His earthly life was but a preparation in eternal life. We all live for something and he lives for us, not only in his earthly life but in his eternal life in heaven.

One of the greatest things we can ever say about God is that he lives. And one of the greatest things we can ever say about the God man is that he lives (7:8, 16 - indestructible, 24 -permanent priesthood due to the fact that he lives forever. Unlike great men of God he lives forever, and unlike unseen prayer servants he lives forever.

-Spurgeon

-Guy at prairie library

-Grant and Esther Teal

to make - He is actively making intercession for us. He is busy about a work on our behalf. The work of intercession, pleading for the good of another. Mediation. His intercession is the reason for our being able to pray, what would our prayers be without his.

Christ has entered not into the holy places made with hand, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

makes intercession for the transgressors (particularly with reference to our sins). NOT A HEALTH AND WEALTH DOCTRINE - his main concern for us even now is our sins and the appropriate dealing with them. Providence rules to sand them off, the son intercedes to forgive, and the Spirit works to seperate us from them

There was no one to intercede.

Daniel interceded -

- Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified.

- And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever.

16:23-24

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceeding for us.

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

1 John 2:1 ESV

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Revelation 8:3–4 ESV

And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.

1Jno. 2:1

His is not the only intercession right now, but it is the best intercession in many senses...

Unique

Deals with sins

Eternal

Based on his own work.

(He does not simply appear for his own pleasures or purposes, but for our ours. God is a Christian Hedonist)

For them - not for all, but special prayers for us his people. His particular redemption unleashed a particular prayer ministry.

In his atonement he accomplished our redemption, in his intercession he applies it.

When is this doctrine useful to us?

When we are struggling with assurance?

When we sin?

When we are doubting the superiority of Christianity? He loves us most ()

When we are doubting the continuity of scripture (Is. 53)