“Intercessory Prayer” - ‘The Case for Jesus Christ’

When Paul prayed for his fellow believers, he was praying on their behalf ‘for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake.’

He desired the very best in spiritual understanding and knowledge for them so that their lives would exemplify the salvation of God Whose power came through Christ.

He knew, at that time, that Christ ‘...was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection...’ which 
he wrote in Rom 1:4.

And, he knew that he - as well as his fellow brethren - were called to the obedience that comes from faith in Him ‘...for His name’s sake’ - he told his readers in vs 5-6 of that same chapter.

For the sake of Jesus Christ, for the sake of His name that was being reported all over the world, because of their faith in Christ, he prayed and he asked them to pray for him, also.

It was in the Rom 15:30 verse where the underlying reason for prayer was given: ‘for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake’, for the sake of His Name as the Name above every name that was to be echoed throughout all time and eternity.

He came to the point, in 1 Cor 2:2, where he made his announcement of knowing ‘Jesus Christ and Him crucified’ and nothing else.

And in Col 1:15-22, he made the amazing confession of Christ as the image of the invisible God, creator of all, Head of the Church, and in Him ‘all fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.’ (Col 2:9)

This all came from Paul after he was born from above - after he became a Christian. 

But, why - why could Paul not see God’s intention in Christ in his earlier life when he was still a Pharisee?

After all, he was living a righteous life under the law.

He admitted, at one time, in Phil 3:6, ‘As to my zeal, I was a persecutor of the Church, and by the Law’s standard of righteousness, I was proven to be blameless and no fault was found in me.’

That sounded like an admirable, virtuous record, did it not?

He felt like he knew all about God - so why did he not see why God sent Christ - why could he not see God’s glory in Him at that time?

And why is it that he now asked that prayer be ‘for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake’?

I would like to spend some time tonight - and, Lord willing - in the weeks to come to look at this together, to see the supreme reason for intercession: that of praying ‘for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake.’ 

You see, Paul - the pre-Christian Paul - represents to us the same attitude of mind and spirit of today concerning Christ.

We have heard, and perhaps are going to hear more and more, about those who declare: ‘I do not need Jesus Christ.’

‘I can get along without Him just fine.

Why should I care about Christ dying on the Cross so that I can reach God?

I can accept the fact of God, I can accept the fact of the need of religion.

But - I cannot accept the fact of needing a Savior, needing to be ‘redeemed by Christ’ - that is absurd’.

And, we have met those who call themselves Christians who have voiced a similar attitude: ‘Why should I be concerned with the glory of God - with Jesus’ sake?’
 
Have you heard, read, or had conversations to this effect these past number of years?

I am sure we all have. 

Does it look to you, from some of the recent indications, even in the political field, that we are generally becoming a more ‘God-conscious’ people?

I think, for we who are Christians, it would be wise to remember that Paul was very ‘God-conscious’ in his Pharisaic days.

And, yet, he, too, could not see the need of Christ, although  he was concerned about God.

We know he had been given the opportunity to ‘know God’.

He was a student of the great Rabbi, Gamaliel.

He was a ‘Pharisee of the Pharisees’, a group who believed God was ordering events in the course of history for the Messiah to come.

How absurd it seemed to him and to his Jewish contemporaries to see and hear of the first Christians proclaiming a crucified and risen Messiah - that Messiah being the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why was that so outrageous to them?

The Cross? - why - that was offensive - it was an evil symbol - only base, low, vicious, shameful men met death there - nothing heroic or inspiring about that kind of an end. 

What a vile, contemptible thought that was - to link a death on a cross with salvation by a crucifed Saviour! 

God would never let His Chosen One die like that! 

Besides - Jesus deserved to die as He did - had he not set Himself up above the law and even claimed to fulfil it? - He was a blasphemer, too!

The authorities were right, when they derided Him as He hung there for all to see, ‘...saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He be the Christ, the chosen of God.’ (Lu 23:35)

‘He could not come down for Himself’ - that was proof enough that He was not the Son of God!’  

‘God was verifying that: He was exercising His judicial act against this imposter, this heretic’, they rationalized.

‘We do not need Jesus Christ: we have the fact of ‘God’ and we are certainly ‘God-conscious’ - that was their general attitude.

And - besides - how could the message of Christ and His death on the Cross be reconciled with the intelligentsia of the day?

Christ’s lowly birth in a stable, His growth in knowledge and experience, hobnobbing with the common folk, His horrible, ignominious death - why that could never coincide with the understanding of God, now could it?

He would have done better than that to prove Him to be His Son.

So - as far as Paul and his Jewish colleagues were concerned, Christ was not to be figured in God’s course of salvation history. 

To clinch their arguments against Him, Paul was resolute, fixed about keeping God’s course right - he was determined to help God keep it straight!

He was going to steer the course of historical human events so that they would always coincide with the course of God’s salvation history.

So - he sought to extinguish the beginning embers of the light of Christ - get rid of every trace of it - so that His Name would die out forever!

Will you believe me, when I say - when it comes to Christ, the course of human events continues to go the same route that Paul so zealously rejected and then tried to reverse?

Tell me - how much different is the argument of accepting Christ and His work of redemption today?

When we consider the arguments of that day, is it not the same pattern being repeated now concerning Him - of Who He was - of what He did - of what He is now doing?  

Do men really see God’s intention in Christ any clearer now?

Today, when He is spoken of, people look upon His death and resurrection with apathy, with unconcern, with a yawning indifference, for the most part. 

You have noticed that, I am sure.

You know how men try to circumvent Him - try to ‘frustrate the grace of God in Him’ by offering bewitching, enchanting options, alternatives.

Why do men not see the need for Christ today?

Why do they not regard Him as the Redeemer of humanity - the One Who has stepped into the course of human events to complete the course set of God’s salvation history.

Let me start answering that question by saying, first, it is an affront to our pride to be told that we have nothing to contribute to our salvation except repentance.

It is so hard to accept what God offers as it is - that takes true humility!

It is far easier to think of Christ as Someone Who needs constant modernizing, constant correction, constant reconstruction to ‘catch up to us’: He needs to be brought up to date - is that not the way men today reason?

We could not be further from the truth, if we think that.

In Paul’s time, the relationship with God depended on observing religiously what the sacrifical system symbolized.

God’s covenant with them required that the law be kept and the rhythm of the festivals hallowed.

Life was essentially centered around ‘religion’ - in fact, it was considered impoverished if it did not center around God.

So, early Christians drew upon these concepts and the different practices - looking back at them made the meaning of the Cross easily recognizable to them.

Christ died on the Cross as a Sacrifice for sin - it was not difficult for them to appreciate that - and now, all things were centered in Him.

And, it also was not hard for them to understand Rom 12:1 that admonished them to present themselves as a living sacrifice to God.

For them, sacrifice - the sacrifice of their lives - was the best they could give God - they gave gladly and cheerfully in thanksgiving for what Christ was and did for them.

Today we are not so-minded.

In our secular lives, when we think of making a ‘sacrifice’, we think of some heroic deed that was costly - and it makes the four o’clock news for the day!

Even the sacrifices made by our men and women on the battlefields have been depreciated in recent years.

Yes - most people believe in a moral code based on the concepts of right and wrong.

And, some go so far as to make it personal - what may be wrong or right for you is not necessarily so for me.

So - morality is based on the values one’s culture gives it.

The problem at the heart of our contemporary morality is what is missing - that sense of obligation to God’s authority He has given in and through Christ - and the committment to a working relationship with Him in dealing with the sin problem.

Sin is what helps to describe what the relationship is between God and humanity.

Our contemporaries like to chide Christians for even using the term ‘sin’ - it is so negative, so ‘down’.

But - without the stabilizing fact of God and this personal tie to Him through Christ, morality becomes just a hand-maiden, serving men as it seems right and fit at the moment.

And, when that is the case, of course the need of Christ is overruled!

Christ - what has He got that I cannot do without? 

Talk to just about anyone about the subject - and somehow, there is always something that falls short of the ideals we feel are possible to attain.

We cannot even resist the smallest of temptations to sin.  

Why is it that we make so many mistakes, even make shipwreck of our lives, because of some sin we were not able to conquer?

And then, we spend the rest of our lives living regrets for that failure.

What does this reveal to man?

It simply shows humanity its inability to live life aright.  

Yes, sin is a ‘downer’ - it is a judgment to condemnation - and that is really as ‘down’ as one can get! (Rom 5:16)

But Christ took the ‘down’ part of life upon Himself - He sacrificed Himself so that humanity can be saved by His life.
(Rom 5:10)

He represents God and humankind in His sacrifice - as the early Christians saw, His substitute as Perfect Man bridged Man to God forever.

It is in the letter to the Hebrews where the Lord Jesus is shown as both high priest and ‘sacrificial offering.’

The writer brought together these two great concepts in a remarkable way - a way that the early Christians were able to grasp.

As high priest, He is not only perfect human being but perfectly God - ‘...in the order of Melchizedek’ (7:17).

Yet, as victim, He is not only God but perfectly human - 
‘...He was tempted in every way - just as we are - yet...without sin’ (4:15).

What an extraordinary Sacrifice that was - for the Son of God to give Himself as the victim for sacrifice!

No wonder the early Christians rejoiced with such exuberance - no wonder it was so clear to them!

The fact of Jesus Christ as man’s sacrifice is challenging to modern thinking - there is no question about that.

The simple message of ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ convicts instantaneously. 

As I said earlier, it is hard to accept God’s offer as it is - of Christ’s Sacrifice for a salvation that calls only for repentance on our part.  

That concept pricks our pride and demands we bow humbly before Him.

It shakes us - it provokes us. 

It makes us respond at once. 

It is either a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ when the plain message of Jesus is faced.

It rules out alternatives - it says that He is the only One worthy of worship.

Others can be emulated - but only Jesus Christ is to be worshipped.

That, of course, sets up ‘high voltage’ collision course with other faiths.

Right now, in the Christian world, we are looking at inter-faith issues - a problem the Church must carefully face today under the direction and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

There are so many things happening in the religious world - 
things that are all hints of a quest for a working relationship of humanity with God - even now - we can see it all around us.

Just the fact that this search is universal shows us of men’s desire to try to bridge the gap it feels and senses between God and man.

There would not be such an obvious thrust in this direction if this were not so.

It could well be that, since our culture is breaking down so rapidly, that Christ’s Name and work is being exposed more openly.

And - because of that - we can see God’s principle of ‘where sin abounds, grace much more abounds’ working within its gracious restraints.

The challenge to the Church is the greatest it has ever been. 

In the days to come it will be challenged even more forcefully with a mushrooming of options to Christ’s way.

But - take courage - the Good News is still contemporary - it needs no change - it has moved down the era of time with us, has met our need of reconciliation to God - has brought us home to Him.

It is a finished work - the Church, we Christians, can safely proclaim and can pray with conviction and with power - ‘for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake’.

We well know that the claims Paul made of Christ, the claims we make of Christ, are not self-evident to people who do not share faith with us - let us not expect anything otherwise!

But - this is where we can be diligent in prayer ministry - to let prayer become a perpetual attitude working within us for the power of Christ to be realized in the world’s 
‘God-consciousness’ mode.

And - to let prayer be the agent through which the attractiveness of Jesus Christ breaks forth from us. 

It can change the apathy and the yawning indifference to Him to an accepting embrace of Him.

Again, I say, as Paul asked for prayer ‘for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake’, pray for God’s history of salvation to go on under this Standard that He is - ‘declared with power to be  the Son of God by His Resurrection’ - pray ‘for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ’.

Lord willing, we will continue next week in this thought.

I pray that we will ponder these things this week - let the Lord minister to our hearts as we do.

In closing, let us sing together, ‘All Hail the power of Jesus Name!’ and also ‘All Hail King Jesus!’ 

Let us stand in honor to ‘the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords’ as we do!

[Songs]

[Prayer]

‘The Lord bless you this week with exceeding joy in His Name!                   

                               Amen!