THE MINISTRY OF INTERCESSION (Part 1 in series on Prayer)

THE MINISTRY OF INTERCESSION (Part 1 in series on Prayer)   2 Corinthians 3:14-17; 5:14-21 August 2, 2009 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction A man and his young daughter were visiting with his elderly mother, and at one point in the visit his mother said her only problem was that some nights her heart would beat so loudly and irregularly that she couldn’t sleep. That night as he tucked his daughter in, she volunteered to pray. She said, “Dear Jesus, please make Grandma’s heart stop so she can get some rest.” As I’ve shared with you recently, there is a powerful spiritual stirring going on among us that we should grow in our ministry of prayer. Many who have been praying specifically about this topic are in agreement that prayer should be our focus as a church for the next several weeks. In keeping with that confirmed leading I am recessing my preaching series in the book of Philippians for an as yet indeterminate length of time, while we obey this call. I begin this morning with a foundational teaching to help get us all on the same page concerning the church’s calling to prayer and ministry. Prayer and ministry are much the same; combined we call it intercession. There are two common mistakes about intercession: The first is that intercessory prayer is a gift only for a few who have a divine ability to pray with unusual effectiveness, and with a higher level of spiritual authority. Every believer is called to pray, and to grow in their effectiveness as pray-ers and in confidence, authority and faith in their praying. That said, there certainly are many who distinguish themselves as “prayer warriors” (notably, people like Dutch Sheets, Peter Wagner, Cindy Jacobs, John Dawson, Chuck Pierce, and historically prayer giants like Judson Cornwall, George Muller, Hudson Taylor, Andrew Murray, Charles Finney, Martin Luther). But I might suggest that while these and many others may have had a special calling in their lives, it is obvious they also matured as intercessors through the discipline of praying. Their journals tell us so. Sometimes it’s just a little too easy to dismiss our own obedience in the area of prayer by rationalizing, “I’m not that good at prayer.” And it is even more tragic when a believer uses such excuses to avoid efforts at maturing in the art of prayer, or, worse yet, to not pray at all. The second mistake is to miss the broader biblical picture of intercession. You see intercession is a much larger issue than simply intercessory prayer. Intercession is prayer and ministry. When most church folks hear the word intercession the first thing that leaps to mind is praying for the sick in a boring prayer meeting. But intercession is who we are and what we do with all of our lives, not just a few hours a month in concentrated prayer. Follow along with me as we look at the broader definition of inter-cession, and the implications that understanding has for our lives as disciples of Jesus. The definition of intercession is the act of interceding; mediation, pleading, or prayer in behalf of another or others. This is uncharacteristically good definition, coming as it does from Merriam Webster, where biblical and theological terms rarely get adequate treatment. Intercession is more than prayer; it is also mediation, being a “go-between.” Of course, when we pray for someone we are, in a sense a go-between, in that we are taking their needs to God in their behalf. But mediation is more than just going to bat for someone by praying for them in a particular need. It’s actually, as we are about to see, a two-way ministry. While intercession is going to God on behalf of someone; it also involves going to someone on behalf of God. In Hebrews 7:25 we’re told that Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them. What does that mean? That Jesus is perpetually on his knees saying prayers for us? No, though he certainly did, for example in John 17, intercede specifically for us. No, it means that as the eternal high priest (after the order of Melchizedek) the effect of his once-for-all sacrifice for us never ends. Because He is the RISEN Savior, salvation accrues to us in perpetuity. He’s not seated at the Father’s right hand continually pleading in intercessory prayer; he is living forever, the guarantor that our sins are forgiven and our hope is sure in heaven! Open your Bibles to the book of 2nd Corinthians  where we’ll consider a couple of texts, the first at chapter 3, verse 14-17. Here the apostle Paul breaks in with a fresh new thought about the privileges of being a servant of the gospel of Christ. This is, of course, what every Christian is—privileged servants of the gospel—whether called to pioneer the gospel throughout Rome in the 1st century, or to faithfully witness in the 21st century to those in the St. Louis metro-east area as the Lord gives us opportunity. 2 Corinthians 3:14-17 As we read through these four verses, see if you can pick up this broader ministry of intercession/mediation. …thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ What a great thought: Christ’s victory in Paul’s life and through his life as he preaches the Word. …who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. Not only Paul and his apostolic team, but every person who surrenders in faith to Jesus, becomes what Paul describes as AirWick Plug-ins, or Febreeze, in the world, spreading the knowledge of God, which is best described in terms of aroma, it is so sweet and satisfying. You know, there is a lot in this world that frankly stinks, but when the Holy Spirit breathes out the word of redemption and newness in Christ through the witness of Christian people, it gets noticed. And at least two things happen. One, it becomes a sweet aroma to God (His will is being done), and it impacts the people we come in contact with. And the Holy Spirit chooses the analogy of fragrance to describe that impact. Some in my family were raised just outside of Asheville, NC, in a little town called Canton. Canton is nestled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, and has really only one claim of notoriety—it is the home of the Champion Paper Mill. Have you ever been around a paper mill? I am pretty certain there is no worse odor on earth. Most of the town’s employed people work at Champion, and they say it smells like money. But when you drive just a little north of town, north, up into the Smokies, and the wind pushes the mill’s odor south, you are met with the sweet smell of pine trees. And it is a delicious difference from Canton. Paul says we bring a distinctively Godly fragrance with us as Christians as we live and work and interact in the world. In fact, look at his description in the next verse 15: For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. The plain fact of the matter is EVERYBODY, saved and unsaved, notice the change when Christians, the children of light, are nearby. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God. Those who are lost and have their hearts set against the work of God in Christ think we smell like death. I once sat on the metro-link train next to a man who really smelled bad. I remember that in the course of the trip to St. Louis I began to really resent him. Not long afterwards I realized I had stepped in dog doo. It was I who smelled, and it struck me that that guy was thinking of me in exactly the same terms as I had thought of him. We’re not perfect, we Christians, but honestly, for the most part we’re pretty good neighbors and co-workers! Why would we stink to people? It’s just that when someone who is full of life and light comes into contact with someone who dead and dark, it reminds him of his own spiritual death. That’s the effect God’s intercessors have on those who are perishing. Ted Turner is famously quoted as saying of Jesus: I don't want anybody to die for me. I've had a few drinks and a few girl friends. If that's going to put me in hell, then so be it. Just as Jesus predicted, we are hated in the world precisely because we are the aroma of Christ! So among those who are terminally and decisively anti-Christ, we believers stink. But, to others who are saved, and even those who are lost, but persuadable, we are a refreshing perfume, God’s intercessors. What a perfect summary of how we believers live our lives as witnesses for Jesus Christ—like men sent from God. That is what we are! No less than Paul and Timothy and Titus in the first century! Once plucked out of our sin and condemnation, washed in the blood of Christ and renewed by the Holy Spirit, we are dropped right back in to society to represent God and the gospel of Christ to others who are not yet saved. We intercede for people before God, but we are primarily to intercede for God before people! He’s makes us smell good precisely to get the attention of others who need Him. We are intercessors. Let’s go to our second text, over in chapter 5. Again, we will begin with verse 14, and again the apostle is describing his own motivations for ministry, which mirror our own. Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. The death of Jesus pays for men’s sins, and anyone who will trust him for their salvation will live because He died. Others who refuse the free gift of Christ’s salvation will go on in the state of death into eternity. 2 Corinthians 5:14-20 Meanwhile, those who are saved, who’ve trusted Christ, no longer live self-centered lives, but they live for Jesus, and His cause. Verse 16: So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! You have to know how tempting it is to stop and preach on that great, preachable text! But we need to move on to the next thought. Verse 18: All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We who are saved are compelled by Christ’s love to reach others who are not yet saved. Bill Hybels told the story of a newscaster who interviewed a man at the mobile version of the Vietnam Wall in Chicago. The soldier kept tracing a name on the wall, crying. He looked into the face of the reporter and choked out these words: This man right here gave his life for me. He gave his life for me. The camera stayed on the big man as he sobbed. It was hard for him to get his heart and mind around the sacrifice of his friend, even years later. We have that problem, too. Someone, the greatest Friend, gave his life for us, and love compels us to never grow dull to his sacrifice that saved us. Compelled by that love of Christ, we intercede for a world full of lost people. A person who realizes all that Jesus has done for him wants to do everything he can for Jesus. And the Lord has made it plain to us – he wants us to be intercessors. To live not for ourselves, but for Him and His purpose to reach others with the message of salvation. A young man applied for a job as an usher at a theater. The manager asked, “What would you do in case a fire breaks out?” “Oh, don’t worry about me. I’d get out okay.” What would you say to the question, What would you do if Jesus came back tomorrow? Would it be, Don’t worry about me, I’m saved, so I’d be okay? But you’re an usher—you’re responsible to help others get out. The text says we are new creatures AND ministers, ambassadors. We are intercessors. We go to God in prayer on behalf of others, and we go to others in ministry on behalf of Christ. Exhortation What is, then, an intercessor? The Sovereign Lord spoke one day to Ezekiel the prophet, and said, I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. Church, one of the reasons Jesus died on the cross was so that someone would be found to stand in the gap. He reconciled us in order to give us the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry of ambassador, the ministry of being the aroma of God in a fallen world, the ministry of intercession. Standing in the gap between God and man. What are we doing when we are intercessors for Christ? There are three fundamental behaviors of intercessors in scripture. First, we intercede in 1. How we live May I serve a reminder to us, the Body of Christ, of this most basic part of our calling by drawing on three New Testament metaphors? Salt and Light (Matthew 5:13-16) Influence God’s Handiwork (Ephesians 2:10) Service, Good Work Stars (Philippians 2:14-16) Blameless, Pure Behavior 2. What we say Disciple-making (Matthew 28:18-20) Opportunism (Ephesians 5:15-17; Colossians 4:5) Reasoned Defense of our Hope (1 Peter 3:15) 3. How we pray Back to intercession as prayer. I firmly believe the Lord is wanting us to grow to a new level of maturity in prayer. It will be important that we work diligently to restore prayer (not only intercession, but also prayers of thanksgiving and request and praise as well) to the place of prominence it deserves. Why? First, because He said so. Secondly, it is our primary work, in order to learn new levels of intimacy with the Lord, new levels of hearing from Him and new levels of effective ministry. Intercession is bigger than prayer, but includes prayer. Examples: Clement of Alexandria, AD 96 - We ask you, Master, be our helper and defender. Rescue those of our number in distress; raise up the fallen; assist the needy; heal the sick; turn back those of your people who stray; feed the hungry; release our captives; revive the weak; encourage those who lose heart. Let all the nations realize that you are the only God, that Jesus Christ is your Child, and that we are your people and the sheep of your pasture. Cyprian, AD 258 - We pray and we entreat God, whom those persecutors do not cease to provoke and exasperate, that they may soften their hearts, that they may return to health of mind when this madness has been put aside, that their hearts, filled with the darkness of sin, may recognize the light of repentance, and that they may rather seek that the inter- cession and prayers of the bishop be poured out for themselves than that they themselves shed the blood of the bishop. Lord, teach us to pray! Like You want us to Personally and corporately 2 Cor. 5:20-21 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin [sin offering] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.     [Back to Top]