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Intercession 201
(PowerPoint Slides from this Sermon)
THE POINT
Though God is sovereign and all-powerful, Scripture clearly tells us that He limited Himself, concerning the affairs of earth, to working through human beings. Are you allowing Him to use you?
TO PRAY OR NOT TO PRAY
· Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Genesis 1:26-28
· God didn’t give away ownership of the earth, but He did assign the responsibility of governing it to humanity.
· When Adam sinned, Satan took over manager position
· And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." Luke 4:6-7
· Adam was the first manager, the first go between here on earth. But when he fell, God had to send a second Adam, Jesus to fulfill that role.
· Man was originally designed to re-present God on earth.
GOT PRAYER?
· Christ came to re-present God on earth (2nd Adam) and re-present us back to God.
· Jesus is mediator on both sides now!
· Humans were forever to be God’s link to authority and activity on the earth
· Elijah – prayed for rain after 3 year drought
· Daniel- prayed for Israelites freedom
· Only by intercession can that power be bought down from heaven which will enable the Church to conquer the world
THE DEFINITION, PLEASE
· Intercede- go between, to act between parties with a view to reconcile those who differ, mediate
· Lawyers intercede for clients
· Intercession involves delegation, authority, boils down to representation
· For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time. I Timothy 2:5-6
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INTERCESSION
· Hebrew word for intercession – paga
o To meet
o Intercession creates a meeting
o Associates representing the boss
o Real estate agents represent buyers & sellers
· We meet with God asking Him to meet with someone else… a reconciliation
· Breaking away from Satan’s trap- a separation
· Our responsibility is to enforce the victory won by Jesus
· Our prayers of intercession are always
· and only an extension of His work of intercession.
Production vs. Distribution
· God is still sovereign.
· Jesus is the victor, we are the enforcers.
· Jesus is the redeemer, we are the releasers.
· Jesus is the head, we are the body.
· We are co-laborers with Christ, we are just in different departments
· We are not re-doing what Christ did, we are re-presenting Christ to the world
We don’t produce anything! Pressure is off!
Not so fast because of our next point…
ASK AND KEEP ON ASKING
· God’s giving is inseparately connected with our asking
· We re-present God to the world
· The Enforcers
· Joshua 10:22-25 Joshua defeating 5 Kings that came against Gibeon
BEAR ONE ANOTHER’s BURDEN
· Bear one another’s burden and thus fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2
· Anechomai- to sustain, bear or hold up, against a thing
· Staking yourself with others
· Bastazo- carry away the weakness & burden
· Scapegoat not just “bore the sin” but sent out into wilderness
· Not simply carry… but carry away
ENDURANCE
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9
A lack of endurance is one of the greatest causes of defeat, especially in prayer.
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