Intercession
Exodus 32:11-14
The last time we looked at this the people got together while Moses was up on the mountain and they formed a golden calf to worship. They worshiped and offered sacrifices to it and refused to acknowledge that it was the true and living God that divided the Red Sea and led them through the wilderness.
Tonight I want to look at Moses response to this news because it's not the response that you would think at first
look at what the scripture says- “Moses implored the Lord His God and said, “O Lord why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?”
remember that these people have done nothing but argue and complain against moses since he started this journey with them from Egypt- The foods no good, you took us the wrong way, we liked it better in Egypt
I don't know about you but if I was in Moses' position I would see this as the one big opportunity for God to pour out his wrath against these stiff necked people, but in this passage tonight we see why God chose Moses for this job and its found in how Moses responds to this news
Instead of asking God to wipe the people out that are worshiping this golden idol that they have made he pleads to God on their behalf., He ask God to turn from his anger and to Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the promise that He had made to them.
Literally Moses is standing between God and these people and he is interceding on their behalf.
Tonight I want to talk to you about intercession and what the Bible has to say about it.
The word intercession means to pray or to petition God in favor of another person
This isn't the only place in the Bible where we see someone interceding on behalf of another
Probably the most quoted example of intercession in the Bible is when Abraham interceded on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah
Genesis 18:22
Daniel 9:16 (903)
Jesus' prayer- John 17:9
Stephen Acts 7:60
In all these cases we see the same thing- people who have a relationship with God coming to God in prayer on behalf of others. This is the act of intercession
Abraham pleaded for Sodom
Daniel Prayed for the nation
Jesus prayed for us
Stephen prayed for his enemies
So often we see Christians who spend a lot of time with their prayer turned inward that they never interceded on behalf of others. There is nothing wrong with our prayer being inward but they also need to be upward in praise and outward to those around us.
There is something I want to make clear right up front tonight: Intercessor prayer cannot force someone else to change or be saved, it can extend grace and mercy from God towards others.
In other words Stephen prayed for his enemies demonstrating Gods forgiveness and His forgiveness towards them but in order for them to be saved they would have to come to the knowledge of Christ themselves and call upon the name of the Lord
we still have to remember that God has given everyone a free will. Abraham pleaded with God for Sodom and Gomorrah, but the people of Sodom had a free will, Even when the angels came to Lot and his family Lots wife still had a free will to look back or not and she chose to look back. It wasn't because Abraham didn't plead enough, its just the way it is.
We can pray for our loved ones to be saved we can pray for God to protect them and give them mercy and grace, and I believe that because of our prayers that God will give them every chance to be saved, but they still have to come on their free will.
We are commanded in scripture to not only intercede for our loved ones but also our enemies
Mat 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Christopher Hitchens is an atheist who has tried to do a lot of harm to the Christian faith by publishing a book titled “God is not Great” (Surprising I have this book on my bookshelf because someone handed it to me after church here a couple of years ago) but anyway he has cancer and the prognosis is not good. Last year on Sept 20th was national pray for Christopher Hithcns day where Christians all around the world prayed for God's will in this mans life. There Is even a facebook page and web page that have been made to get the word out to pray for this man.
But here is where free will plays into the equation. When Hitchens was asked about people praying for him he said:
the people praying for him break down into three basic groups: those who seem genuinely glad he's suffering and dying from cancer; those who want him to become a believer in their religious faith; and those who are asking God to heal him.
He said the first group he has no use for you. The second group who want him to become a believer he said “thanks, but no thanks” But the third group those praying for his healing caused him to pause and he said, “I think of it as a nice gesture. And it may well make them feel better, which is a good thing in itself”
-Tonight there are three things from this passage that really stand out to me about intercessory prayer that we should remember when we pray on behalf of others
God is merciful
One of the things we must remember when we pray on behalf of others is that God is merciful. In the church we hear the terms grace and mercy all the time. Mercy is withholding what we deserve. Grace is giving us what we don't deserve.
Listen to what Abraham says to God when he pleads for Sodom and Gomorrah
Gen 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"
When Abraham comes to God to plead for Sodom he knows that God is merciful, righteous and just That's why he said “shall no the judge of the all the earth do what is just.”
Moses reminded the people
Deu 4:31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.
The psalmist declares God's mercy
Psa 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
It is a good thing for us today that God is full of mercy. If we got what we deserved none of us would be here today. Because of our sin we all deserved to go to a devils hell, but it is because of Gods mercy that we are saved.
Therefore, when we pray for others we come to God with the thought very fresh in our mind that God is full of mercy. It was a God of mercy that waited while Noah built the Ark, it was a God of mercy that sent his angels into Sodom and get Lot and his family out. It was a God of mercy who didn't destroy mankind at the tower of Babel. It was a God of mercy that looked down and saved Saul on the road to Damascus. That same of God of mercy looked down and saved my soul and called me to be one of his.
And He still has that mercy for people today which we need to remember when we pray for others including our enemies.
God Keeps His promises
Moses says to God in verse 13, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you swore by your ownself and said to them, I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promise I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit it forever.”
Moses knew that the journey through the wilderness was part of God promise to Abraham and because of that promise God would not bring them out there just to wipe them from the face of the earth.
Num 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Isa 55:11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Moses knew a very important truth- that God's word endures forever. Listen to what Paul says about Abraham concerning the promises of God
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
This was the faith that Abraham had that saved him, that he believed in the promises of God.
Its a good thing for us tonight to know when we pray that God keeps his pro
mises.
we have a relationship with God
The third thing to know when we pray and when we intercede on behalf of others is that we have a relationship with God.
Look at the focus of Moses in this conversation with God- in verse 11- “Your people” verse 12 “your people” verse 13, “Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel your servants”
Moses knows that Israel has a very special relationship with God that goes all the way back to Abraham.
It is the relationship that we have with God through Christ Jesus that gives us the confidence to approach God in prayer
Hbr 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Eph 3:12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.
Wrapping this all up tonight I saved the best for last. The reason that we are able to intercede for others. The reason that we are able to approach God in confidence is becaue Jesus is intercedding for us right now.
Isa 53:12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Hbr 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Rom 8:27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom 8:34 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 interceding for us.
So how do we know that God is merciful, how to we know that God keeps his promises and how do we have a relationship with God, its all found in Jesus and the work of intercession that he is doing for us each and every day
