The Gift Of An Intercessor Part 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice that takes away sin forever. Because of this we can stand before a holy God without fear.

And even now He stands before God as our mediator. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Wind with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, we're learning about the inheritance of the redeemed and about Jesus as our intercessor before God.

What's in store for us today? Dave, I trust that as a result of this message we will understand more clearly what Jesus is doing for us today as He stands before the throne of God interceding for us. It's a blessed truth.

It's a truth that certainly gives us hope and encouragement and always reminds us that we have a Redeemer who redeemed us and stands in on our behalf. Back in 1898, a man by the name of Peter Deinecke took a ship from Russia and then he came here to America. Now he tells a very interesting story. He said that his mother baked him bags of food so that he would have something to eat on those 14 days across the ocean. As he looked into the window and saw the people eat very nice food, he felt so badly. But then he'd go back to his room and eat his dark bread and garlic. Now I have to ask you this, what do you think he discovered when he actually arrived here in America?

Well, I'll be telling you that at the end of this broadcast so you stay tuned. But if somebody says to you, well, you know, this idea of demanding a sacrifice, other gods demanded that too, you can go on the internet and you can see it. The answer that you need to give to people is simply this, that there is no other religion in which God becomes the sacrifice. This is so critical that Jesus not only was the priest, priest offered sacrifices. Jesus, the text tells us here at the end of verse 27, once for all offered himself, he becomes the sacrifice. You know, sheep often lay down their lives for the shepherd. This is the one instance in which the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He is the sacrifice. And that sacrifice is the blood of Christ, which takes away the sin of the world. So we have Jesus sinless. We have him sympathetic. We have him sacrificial. And now it's very critical. He is seated at the right hand of God.

Why is that important? Listen, if you had a dispute with the president of the United States, you know, you could say, well, Mr. President, we have this dispute. I am bringing my own mediator to help us negotiate this.

I think the president would say, no, no, that's not acceptable. If we're going to have a mediator and sometimes it's good, I'm going to supply the mediator. So not any old mediator is going to do.

It is God who is going to supply that mediator. And that mediator has a right to be the mediator because after his work was done, he was taken to heaven and he's seated at the right hand of God the Father. Now it's very interesting that in the Old Testament when a priest was going to offer the final sacrifice or when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies as he did on one day a year, he had to basically go through three entrances. The first entrance got him into the court of the people, the general court, and then there was an entrance into what we call the holy place. And then there was the curtain and he had to go behind the curtain into the Holy of Holies where the mercy seat was. And what the Bible says is that this arc of the covenant and this whole tabernacle is actually a copy of the tabernacle in heaven.

That's what it says in the ninth chapter of the book of Hebrews. So you see, what Jesus did is when he ascended on high, he went through, first of all, the atmospheric heavens, the birds of the heaven, and then he went through the stellar heavens where all the stars are, and then he went into the third heaven, which is really the essence of where God dwells. Now God is everywhere, but there's a sense in which God is localized to one place, and it's that upper heaven that Jesus went to. But furthermore, the scripture says in the ninth chapter of Hebrews that he passed through the heavens, well, I'm reading it here, for Christ has entered not to the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things that are in heaven, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. You see, Jesus went there to appear before God. Some people actually believe that he took his own physical blood to heaven because it goes on in context talking about how things have to be purified by blood. I don't believe that Jesus took physical blood into heaven when it says that he ascended into heaven not by the blood of bulls and goats, but by his own blood.

I think it means on the basis of his own blood. But he goes there, and he is seated at the right hand of God the Father. Now it's very interesting that about 10 times in the New Testament, Jesus is spoken of as seated at the right hand of God where God dwells in the third heaven. And there's only once, however, where it says that he was standing.

And all of you know exactly where it is. It's in the book of Acts where Stephen is being stoned. And the Bible says that the heavens opened and Stephen saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. It was as if Jesus was saying, Stephen, those rocks really hurt. I know that you're going to be in pain.

Dying is no fun. You're going to have a very rough ride, but you're going to have a very safe landing because when you get here, I'm waiting for you, God was saying to Stephen. And while we're talking about Jesus entering into the holy place and into heaven itself in the very holy of holies, which exists in heaven. Let me remind you that it's a beautiful, beautiful metaphor. You know, I'm drawing this now from the last part of the sixth chapter of Hebrews.

You can read it on your own, but don't turn to it now. I'm going to tell you what it says. It says that Jesus has entered into heaven. He passed through the heavens as our forerunner, having entered into heaven for us.

You know what the imagery is. In old and times when a boat was coming into shore and there were so many rocks that were along the shoreline, a forerunner would hop in the water, swim to shore, and then by means of a rope and a very ancient winch would draw that boat into the harbor. He was the forerunner. I'm ahead of you and I'm making sure that you get where I have gone. Jesus never expects us to go to a place where he hasn't gone. He died and he says, I'm the forerunner and I'm preparing a place for you and so forth because he's the one. You see, and meanwhile our boats creak, the wind blows.

We think to ourselves we can't endure this, but the forerunner runs ahead of us and says, I know you can make it because I made it and I'm here for you as your forerunner. Jesus, having accomplished it all in heaven, sits down. My work is done. It's all finished. I still have a responsibility. I still intercede for you, but the work is done. Now, do you remember the four characteristics here of the intercessor? Do you remember them?

I do, I think. Let's review them. First of all, he is sinless. Secondly, he is sympathetic. Third, he is a sacrifice.

And fourth, he is seated. Now, what difference should that make to us? And why is it that God intends that we leave this place differently than we came? That's the issue before us.

Just two very quick applications that I want to make. The first is simply this, that Jesus Christ, we have access. Now, once again, we're in chapter 4.

Sorry that I'm making you go back and forth, but that's the way it is. You'll notice it says, in verse 15 and following, chapter 4, we have this high priest who is able to sympathize in our weakness. Verse 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. We come with confidence to the throne, not of a God who revels in naked power, though he has power, not to a God who is indifferent, but we come to one who, if we could visualize the throne, we'd have to see a flag flying that says mercy and grace. Why mercy?

That's where the mercy seat is, where Jesus has entered into that mercy seat. You say, well, you know, if Jesus is this great high priest, if he intercedes for us and picks up our cause, why doesn't he deliver us from all of our trials? Why doesn't he heal everybody?

Why doesn't he do all this? It's been my experience that almost never, though sometimes, but almost never does God deliver us from trials. The mercy and the grace is to get us through those trials, continuing to trust God, just like we sang through it all, through it all. And God is there for us, not by delivering us from our many trials, but saying, you can be faithful in the midst of those trials because I will grant you grace. And when you sin, you have mercy because we come now to the mercy seat. This isn't just an experience of some high priest in the Old Testament who went in one day a year.

When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was, of course, rent from top to bottom, proving that God did it. And he now says, come, come to the Holy of Holies. And you come and you'll receive mercy and you'll receive grace to help in time of need.

Have you come recently? Or did you just kind of throw up the prayers to God, not knowing whether or not he's going to hear them? The text says we come with confidence. And we have this confidence because we are sure that we are heard because of our intercessor, and we're coming in his name and for the glory of God. Your cry to God is heard. We come with confidence because of Jesus Christ.

It is worth it all. So first of all, we have access. Secondly, we have an advocate. As I say, advocate, intercessor. Now, your Bibles are open to chapter 7.

Have you enjoyed going back and forth, or are you on your phone a little bit confused? You'll notice it says, as we talk about this, in verse 24, but he holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. Jesus isn't, yes, he died, but he was raised again. And he permanently, by the way, is going to be a man in heaven forever.

We'll see the nil prints. 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. That word uttermost can be translated he saves completely or he saves eternally.

Either way, it's completely true. He is really able to be an effective savior because he died and he makes intercession. And I'm speaking to people today that if you were honest about your background and what you've done, you know that you've done some pretty terrible things. God, through Christ, is able to save you completely and eternally. And the depth of your sin is not a barrier to his grace and his ability to save. He can save the vilest of sinners if they believe on him. So let that invitation be to you no matter where you are and accept Christ as your Redeemer.

Now, what does it mean to us to have an intercessor? I'm going to tell you the story of a pastor. Of course, it's a true story. He told it in a meeting and I asked him for a copy of his notes at this point. I'm going to be reading and paraphrasing his experience.

Listen carefully. I'm not giving you his name, but he says, several months ago, I made a trip to Dallas and while I was there, I attended the opening day for a trial of a friend of mine. He'd been a friend for 12 years. His pastor led him to faith in Christ, but there was a side to his life he could not walk away from and it caught up with him. I was sitting in the courtroom when an attorney came over to me and asked whether I would be a character witness for him and I said, yes, I would do whatever I could.

Well, there was a turn in the case and tapes were exposed and they exposed a part of his life that no one knew about. And now they called because they were desperate for me to be a character witness. All of his other friends had stepped away, but I'd given my word.

I was struggling. I got mad, fussed for two days at my wife. I was torn about keeping my word and on the other hand, looking like an idiot, speaking for the guy's character when it was all on tape and he was of questionable character. I was on the phone the night before at 11 in the evening with their lawyers, that is the man and his wife, and they insisted that I come. So I got up and was at the airport by five o'clock in the morning to fly to Dallas. I got to the Dallas airport or the Dallas courthouse and rode up the elevator and went through the censors into the courtroom when the guy behind the counter said, the trial is over, it's been rested, it's finished.

He said, I was fit to be tied. Here I'd come all of this way to keep my word and embarrass myself and now the whole trip was for nothing. You know, I'd lost a day or more. I met with a couple trying to hide how upset I was and left the airport to catch the next flight back home. I was furious. Now I'm going to warn you that this ends with the pastor weeping in an aisle seat on American Airlines. I'm warning you because when I heard him tell the story, I know I couldn't hold back the tears and it's okay, you know, to cry once in a while.

So maybe I will, maybe you will, I don't know, but let's continue the story. I was furious, but sitting in that aisle seat on American Airlines at 34,000 feet, God spoke to me. This is what God said to him. You know, you're pretty mad, aren't you?

Yeah, we're right to be. Just want you to know that God is speaking. One day you are going to be standing in a much bigger courtroom and I am going to be your judge and I've got tapes on you.

As a matter of fact, I've got a pack of DVDs and they are all on HD. Everything you have ever done, everything that you have ever said, public, private, I've got it all. When you stand before me, would you want somebody to speak up on your behalf?

Would you want somebody to plead your case in my presence? The pastor said by now I was in a puddle of goo in that airline seat. I couldn't even respond to God. I was so ashamed of myself. And God continued to say, and look at how good I am to you. I allowed you to go to Dallas to keep your word and then kept you from getting on a stand and embarrassing yourself. And now look at how mad you are. Let me ask you when you're standing before God and the tapes are rolling, would you want Jesus there to defend you?

I sure do. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again and is even now on the right hand of the throne of God who also maketh intercession for us. I'm glad that when I die, I'm going to have a character witness who's going to say it's all true, but because of my death and because of the blood that I shed, he is acquitted.

Don't you want an intercessor like that? Dearly beloved, these things I write unto you that you sin not. But if you sin, you have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Charles Wesley wrote, five bleeding wounds he bears received on Calvary. They pour effectual prayers. They strongly plead for me. Forgive him. Oh, forgive, they cry, nor let that ransom sinner die. The Father hears him pray, his dearest anointed son. He cannot turn away the presence of his son. His spirit answers to the blood and tells me I am born of God. My God is reconciled, his pardoning voice I hear. He owns me for his child I can no longer fear. With confidence I now draw nigh, and Father, Abba, Father, cry.

It's all because of Jesus, our advocate for sinners who receive him. Have you received him? Somebody here in the front said yes. A couple of others have you?

Have you received him? You can clap if you have. I'm glad that when I stand before God, I have an advocate with the Father who's going to plead my case. Father, we pray that you might save those who need to be saved. Show them their sin. Show them, Father, why they need an advocate. Show them why they need a Savior. Show them why Jesus is the only one qualified to be that advocate. Because he is sinless, he is sympathetic, he is sacrificial, and he is seated there on our behalf. We ask, Lord, work in people's hearts. And if you've never received Christ as Savior, you could do that even now if God has talked to you and you say, yes, I want Christ as my Savior, as my advocate, because I know he's got the tapes. We thank you, Father, that Jesus is such a friend. Amen.

Let me speak to your heart today. If you've never received Jesus Christ as your Savior, this marvelous Savior, do that today. Now, at the beginning of this broadcast, I mentioned Peter Deinecke, who came across the ocean back in 1898. He brought bags of food with him so that he would have something to eat on the ship.

And only when he arrived here did he find out that meals were included in the price of his ticket. Now, I mention that because that's the way we are as believers. We receive Christ as Savior, and oftentimes we have no idea of the treasures that are ours already in Christ. That's why I've written the book entitled The Inheritance of the Redeemed, claiming the spiritual treasures that are yours in Christ. For a gift of any amount, this book can be yours. Now, I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy so that you can write down this info. And I want to thank you in advance for helping us as we continue to get the gospel to millions of people.

Here's what you do. Go to rtwoffer.com. That's rtwoffer.com, or call us at 1-888-218-9337.

Let me give you that info again, rtwoffer.com, or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Ask for the book The Inheritance of the Redeemed, claiming the spiritual treasures that are yours in Christ. You'll be encouraged. You'll be blessed. You'll want to pass this along to others.

You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Many Christians debate the issue of eternal security. Can someone who has been saved ever be lost? Next time, a look at Jesus the Good Shepherd and the security he provides. Thanks for listening. This is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.