Romans 8:26-27 "The Intercession of the Spirit"

Introduction:

It is a wonderful truth to know that Jesus Christ, as our great high Priest, is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Scripture tells us that He is seated there making intercession for us before the Father.

This is one of the great comforts to the Christian in this world. Because we need someone to plead our case in our current condition.

This is truly a joyful truth in light of our current need in this fallen world.

But Jesus Christ is not the only person of the Godhead that acts as an intercessor for us.

As we see in our text this morning, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us as well. And again this is a joyful truth for us but it also challenges us to gain insight into God’s ultimate purpose and plan for our lives.

You see the intercession of the Spirit it at a depth that we most often don’t think about. Look at the depth of this intercession being described for us in verse 26:

I. The Depth of the Intercession (26).

Notice first of all that we see the word “Likewise” being used at the beginning of verse 26 in the ESV.

In the original language the term is being used to mark similarity with something in the context. If we were to examine the context in light of verse 26 we would find that there is an obvious similarity.

We have seen that creation groans for the day of our final redemption in verse 22. Then we saw that as the children of God we groan for our final redemption in verse 23. Then we see here that the Holy Spirit is groaning in His intercession on our behalf.

And by doing this He is helping us in our weakness. And specifically our weakness is that we lack discernment and understanding when it comes to praying as we should.

This is where the Intercession of the Spirit comes in. He goes beyond our perception and beyond even our ability to speak with groanings too deep for words.

Now when I was in the charismatic church years ago. I heard it preached and taught over and over again that this groaning too deep for words is the gift of tongues.

Now I do not believe this at all. Because in Acts 2:8 the people on Pentecost were hearing tongues in their own language and they are understanding it as it is being spoken. They are speaking words by the Holy Spirit that are understood by other to be their own human language.

This intercession of that the Spirit is doing here in Romans 8:26 can not be put into human language is is beyond human perception and human language. In other words it goes deeper than you or I or any other person on earth could understand or conceptualize with thought or language.

Christian we try to make sense of the events of life on merely a human level. But the true reality is that from a spiritual standpoint we are weak.

Christian this is not just in our lack of perception but because of the affects of sin on the human condition.

We may have a perception that grows progressively clearer as we are being sanctified by the Spirit through the word of God but if we are not in the word and are neglecting our sanctification then we will lack perception to a greater degree.

Christian understand that the Spirit intercedes for us at such a depth that even human language can’t grasp it. But there is a direction and an order to it. Look back to your text at verse 27:

II. The Direction of the Intercession (27).

The “He” that Paul is referring to at the beginning is God Himself. He searches the hearts of men and He knows the mind of the Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. This is key because it is not according to the will of us.

But Pastor Brett what is wrong with the way I see it? See verse 26. We lack perception due to our finite limitations and our biased distortions due to our sin nature.

Christian the Holy Spirit works in accordance with the perfect will of God. He doesn’t need to be informed by us so as to enlighten Him and to fill Him in.

The Holy Spirit is interceding for us with groanings. Like creation anticipates the final redemption and we anticipate the final redemption, in the same way the Holy Spirit anticipates our final redemption too.

This is why He doesn’t just hang around killing time. He is busy sanctifying us in truth and moving us out of our complacency into a deeper relationship with Christ.

His intercession for us is for this to take place in our lives. He desires our lives to be reflective of our eternal hope. He wants us to be convicted of our sin, He wants us to grow into a deeper love with Christ and to treasure Him above all things.

Scripture tells us these things are the will of God for us. So many people want to know what God’s will is for them. Start with what you know and take it seriously and trust Him to reveal more to you as you go through life. But as for now pursue what you know.

Have you ever prayed for something and it didn’t come to pass and then you start battling in your heart with the idea that God let you down; or He failed you; or He is not kind and good to you because He didn’t answer your prayer according to your will?

I have, and what that experience revealed is how deep the root of human pride really is. That it perceives that my will and perception is superior and more informed than the will and perception of the eternal Sovereign of the Universe.

God is more concerned with my sanctification in this life manifesting His glory and I am more concerned with my vanity and comforts in the world.

Therefore the Holy Spirit is sanctifying me for my good in light of God’s glory. Even when things don’t go my way. Even when life is not comfortable there is still a spiritual benefit related to my sanctification that is being worked out according to the will of God.

And the Holy Spirit is interceding for me beyond my ability to conceive or to voice into human language.

Christian this is partially what it means to live by faith. We trust God in light of the gospel. That He is able to take the great tragedy and injustice of the Cross and to use it for our good and His divine glory in our redemption.

Conclusion:

That is the gospel principle that gets you through tough times in life. Just like the grace of God upholds you in the gospel, that same grace upholds you in all the tragedies of life.

Christian God didn’t loose a single child of His in Uvalde, TX this past week. I think of such horrific tragedies and all I can think of is how we think the problem of such events are outside of us.

We love virtue signaling but we so often fail to see that the core problem reflects in one degree or another inside of each of us. As long as the problem is on the outside of man we can continue in our deception that we are all OK and there is no spiritual need in us.

The Cross tells a different story though. And maybe today is the day that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to your salvation.

Unbeliever you need the gospel. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit today. Believe!

Believer Confess and receive. Let’s Pray!