INTERCESSORS FOR A SINFUL WORLD

SERMON STARTER

The spiritual gift of Intercession is appointed to certain people who believe in prayer, and are willing to persist in prayer for as long as it takes. 

 

7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NKJV)

 

A 2015 Christian movie entitled, "The War Room" comes close to giving you a practical understanding of how the Gift of Intercession works. An elderly woman discovers how to change herself and troubled people one at a time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DbRwcrhiLA

The real paycheck for intercessors is intimacy with God. When you draw close to God, you learn what He desires for yourself and for sinful humanity around you. You get to know God as a Loving Father. You get to know His heart.

          Godly Intercessors stand between sinful humanity, including themselves, and God. For example, Moses interceded for the Jewish people when they rebelled. God responded and granted mercy. Consider also when Jesus Interceded from His Cross,

"Father forgive them for they know not what they do!"

            I've read the Intercessory Prayer books of E.M. Bounds when I was much younger. Here are quotes from one of his books,

 

“What the Church needs to-day is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men -- men of prayer.”

                                                          ― E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer

 

“Jesus isn’t just praying for us when He says, in John 14:14‘If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.’  In John 17:26,27 He says He is interceding so we can pray.“In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;  for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.’ “       

Pastor Phil   <><<

June 03, 2018, Sheepfold Ministries

Pastor Phil Roland

 

intercessors FOR A SINFUL WORLD

EXODUS 32:1-14

"We've been taught to intercede and pray for worthy victims of life's injustices. What about praying for unworthy perpetrators of the pain and suffering of others? Today's message is an appeal to pray for those actively sinning against God and yourself?"                              Pastor Phil  <><<

 

30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.      Ezekiel 22:30-31

 

Hebrew, “PA-GA” = Come (betwixt), cause to entreat, make intercession, intercessor, intreat, meet (together), pray, reach, run

 

BACKGROUND:

In their 300 years in Egypt the Jews became secular. They forgot the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel had spent three centuries exposed to Egypt's pantheon of gods. They thought the Lord God was no different that the worthless idol gods of Egypt. They were wrong.

 

Moses became an Intercessor for a Sinful World because:

I.  MOSES DETERMINED TO KNOW GOD - Exodus 32:11a

11 But Moses sought the favor of the LORD his God. "O LORD," he said, "why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?   NIV

A. God was ready to wipe out the Children of Israel – vs. 9,10

                    9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a

              stiff-necked people! 10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn

              hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great

              nation."
                    1. God determined to make the desert a Crematorium

                    2. Hell is nothing compared with His Wrath unleashed

                    3. Remember Sodom? It was a mere glimpse of God's wrath

B. Moses stood between his people and God

                    1. First, he fasted 40 days

                    2. Purpose for a 40 day fast? To get his flesh out of the way

                    3. In the Western World we are obsessed about food

                    4. We spend 40% of our waking time procuring, fixing, eating,                          cleaning up afterwards, and thinking about food                      

C. Moses pleaded with God for Mercy

                    1. He reminded God of His Promises to Abraham

                    2. Moses argued with God like a Lawyer for the Defense

                    3. God Repented – v. 14

                                        14 So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to               His people.

INTERCESSORS FOR A SINFUL WORLD, cont. p. 2

D. E. M. Bounds Quote:  

               “Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is

                greater still. He will never talk well and with real success to men for God

                who has not learned well how to talk to God for men.”
                                                                    ― E.M. Bounds, Power Through Prayer

E. Moses turned the head and heart of God

                    1. He did it with Fasting and Prayer

               2. He fasted 40 days before receiving the tablets on Sinai

                    3. Angry, he destroyed the original 10 Commandments

                    4. Moses fasted again 40 days before building an arc to house                         the redone tablets and other artifacts

            F. Intercessors like Moses must adhere to spiritual principles                      7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw

               near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you

               sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  James 4:7,8

           

Moses became an Intercessor for a Sinful World because:

II. AARON'S FAILED

1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."
            A. Aaron failed the Test of Leadership

                    1. Displayed a massive Passive Nature

                    2. He had no backbone to deal with his rebellious people

                    3. He gave the people what they wanted

                    4. Was it mockery? Probably not. . .

                    5. Aaron had a disgusting lack of values: he was a Wimp

            B. Moral, Intellectual, Ethical and Spiritual Weakness

                    1. Lacked the Courage to stand against the majority

                    2. It was a Majority that refused to enter the Promised Land

                    3. The Majority Crucified Jesus

 

Moses became an Intercessor for a Sinful World because:

III. ISRAEL'S INFIDELITY

          A. Israel played the harlot with an Egyptian god

                    1. Egyptians worshipped Apis, the son of Hathor

                    2.  Apis was an intercessor between humans and Egypt's                                   other gods.

                    3. All of Egypt's manufactured gods were Feel Good Deities

                    4. Man manipulates god for his own pleasure

                    5. The "Feel Good God" doesn't require you to repent

                    6. The "Feel Good God" doesn't step on your toes

         

INTERCESSORS FOR A SINFUL WORLD, cont. p. 3

                    7. The "Feel Good God" doesn't expect anything from                                       adherents but the gold required to make it

                    8. Israel probably used the gold that was given by her                                        taskmasters as they left Egypt in a hurry

          B. Israel bought the Egyptian god because it was easy

              And man created god in his own image,

                        in the image of man created he God

                    1. The people ate, drank and rose up to play

                    2. They probably engaged in Immoral and Illicit Sexual Play

          C. Moses acted as a REAL Intercessor, not Avis

                    1. The Ten Plagues of the Exodus were against Egypt's gods

                    2. Egypt's entire pantheon of gods were stone and metal only

                    3. No power to save their souls

                    4. Moses stood before this unworthy, motley lot and laid down                        his life before the God of Heaven and Earth

                    5. God heard, answered and repented

          D. One day 1800 years later, Jesus Interceded for us

                    1. He laid down His Own Life

                    2. He said to the Heavenly Father,

                              "Don't take them, take Me!"

                    3. The result was the Cross

 

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. Does God repent?   2 Chron. 7:14

2. Are our adversaries worthy of our prayers of intercession?

3. Are we worthy of a Moses. . .or Jesus' Prayers in our behalf?

 

 

 

 

INTERCESSORS FOR A SINFUL WORLD

Exodus 32:1-14
1 Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."
2 And Aaron said to them, "Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me."
3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.
4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"
5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD."
6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
7 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go, get down! For your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!' "
9 And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!
10 Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will INTERCESSORS FOR A SINFUL WORLD, cont., Text

make of you a great nation."
11 Then Moses pleaded with the LORD his God, and said: "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?
12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.' "
14 So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

 

 

 

PERSISTENCE

            The story of George Mueller and his praying for his friends’ salvation. Recently I came across this that Mueller wrote concerning his prayer for their salvation-

            “In November 1844, I began to pray for the conversion of five individuals. I prayed every day without a single intermission.”

            For fifty-two years Muller prayed for his friends. Eighteen months passed before the first was saved. Five years passed before the second was converted. Six years passed before the third came to Christ. It took another twenty-five years before the fourth man was saved. But then he died and still the fifth friend had not yet accepted Christ. But shortly after his death, Mueller’s fifth friend came to know the Lord.

            In addition to the salvation of these five friends, Muller wrote that he believed that more than thirty thousand souls came to know Christ in answer to his prayer.

 

16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5:16

 

 

 

 

Romans 8:26-27

26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 9:7-29 (NIV)
7 Remember this and never forget how you provoked the LORD your God to anger in the desert. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the LORD.
8 At Horeb you aroused the LORD's wrath so that he was angry enough to destroy you.
9 When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD had made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water.
10 The LORD gave me two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. On them were all the commandments the LORD proclaimed to you on the mountain out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.
11 At the end of the forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.
12 Then the LORD told me, "Go down from here at once, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned away quickly from what I commanded them and have made a cast idol for themselves."
13 And the LORD said to me, "I have seen this people, and they are a stiff-necked people indeed!
14 Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. And I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they."
15 So I turned and went down from the mountain while it was ablaze with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.
16 When I looked, I saw that you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.
17 So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them to pieces before your eyes.
18 Then once again I fell prostrate before the LORD for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water, because of all the sin you had committed, doing what was evil in the LORD's sight and so provoking him to anger.
19 I feared the anger and wrath of the LORD, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you. But again the LORD listened to me.
20 And the LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.
21 Also I took that sinful thing of yours, the calf you had made, and burned it in the fire. Then I crushed it and ground it to powder as fine as dust and threw the dust into a stream that flowed down the mountain.
22 You also made the LORD angry at Taberah, at Massah and at Kibroth Hattaavah.
23 And when the LORD sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, "Go up and take possession of the land I have given you." But you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. You did not trust him or obey him.
24 You have been rebellious against the LORD ever since I have known you.
25 I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights because the LORD had said he would destroy you.
26 I prayed to the LORD and said, "O Sovereign LORD, do not destroy your people, your own inheritance that you redeemed by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.
27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness of this people, their wickedness and their sin.
28 Otherwise, the country from which you brought us will say, 'Because the LORD was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to put them to death in the desert.'
29 But they are your people, your inheritance that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm."

 

 

 

Ezekiel 22:30-31 (NKJV)
30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord GOD.

 

PASSION

            Down through the centuries, God-fearing mothers have often been some of the greatest prayer warriors and intercessors. This is especially true when they have had wayward children. A perfect example is a woman named Monica who was the mother of a son named Augustine.

Augustine was a rebellious young man and his mother was greatly worried over him. Therefore she began to pray.

            At one point she went to her pastor, Ambrose, and expressed her concerns. Ambrose assured her – “It cannot be that the son of these tears should be lost.”  After his conversion, Augustine wrote about his mother’s prayers – “She wept to [God] for me, shedding more tears for my spiritual death than other mothers shed for the bodily death of a son.”

            The passion I am referring to is not necessarily an open display of emotions, although some people may pray that way. Instead I am talking about a deep seated burden that God has given you and that causes you to pray from your heart.