Intercession of Christ Newsletter 343 May 2007 You have been taught to make intercessory prayer for others;

however, today we are going to take a look at how Jesus Christ intercedes for us. The Hebrew word for intercession can also mean "to stand in between". In other words, Jesus will stand between you and any trouble that might come along. When times get tough, always go back to the basics. Always remember, He stands between you and trouble, when you are working for Father. Let's begin our study in Isaiah. Isaiah 53:1 Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? The arm, or power, of the Lord is revealed to His elect who do believe the report of God's Word. Now, a child is going to be promised. The child is Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. Jesus was perfect. Why? If you have seen the Son, you have seen the Father (John 14:9). Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. They made fun of Jesus and rejected Him. It isn't much different today. People make light of Jesus, and those who follow Him. People turn their back on Him. Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. V5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. In other words, Jesus Christ is your intercessor. He stands in your place. He takes the punishment on Himself that you, and indeed we all, deserve. When you sin, all you must do is repent and ask for forgiveness. The most beautiful thing about Christianity happens at that moment. You are forgiven. But don't ever forget Who took the stripes to make that possible. Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He takes your sins upon Himself, if you do things His way. Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. This Scripture was written in approximately 600 BC. It came to pass exactly as it was prophesied. Just prior to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Pontius Pilate tried to talk Jesus into defending Himself. He opened not His mouth. Why? Because He loves you. Jesus knew a price was to be paid for the forgiveness of sin. Isaiah 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? For He was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of My people was He stricken.

Jesus didn't wimper. He stands before you and trouble. He stands between you and Satan. He stands between you and sin. He is your intercessor. Isaiah 53:9 And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. The wicked malefactors were crucified on either side of Christ. One of them would believe on Christ and be saved even as he hung on the cross. Christ was placed in the tomb of a rich man, Joseph of Arimathaea. All of these prophecies came to pass. This report is true. Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. And so it is today as we rejoice in Him. We love Him and follow Him. Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. Christ stands between you and all that is evil. He bears our iniquities so that we may be justified. You should be able to take comfort in knowing these facts. Isaiah 53:12 Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death; and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. We all fall short. When you fall short, repent and ask for forgiveness. Your sins are blotted out of the book, and you have a fresh start. Don't ever forget, Jesus made this possible through His sacrifice. He is your intercessor. Let's continue our study in the Book of Romans. Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Do you think things are bad? Do you ever think it just isn't worth the effort? You can't imagine how beautiful things are going to be for God's elect. It is worth it! Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Not only should God's elect look forward to the millennium, God's creation, nature itself, awaits that day. Romans 8:20-21 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope, v21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. We can look forward to a day when there will be no evil or pollution in the world. All that offends God's righteous children, or His creation, will be done away with. Doesn't that make your efforts today worth it? Romans 8:22-23 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. V23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

The firstfruits are God's elect. At the beginning of the millennium, there will be no more flesh. We have a spiritual body that never gets sick, and it doesn't grow old. For God's elect, it will be a body which the second death, the death of the soul, has no power over (Rev. 20:6). Romans 8:24-25 For we are saved by hope; but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? V25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Do you know how much God loves someone that hasn't seen but yet believes? He loves them a lot. Those who came out of Egypt with Moses saw the miracles of God with their own eyes, but they believed not. Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Infirmities are weaknesses. Do you have any weaknesses? The Spirit of God will help you overcome your weaknesses. Your Father will strengthen you. He will stand between you and trouble, especially, if you are one of His election. Romans 8:27 And He That searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Many of you have a destiny and a purpose. God will intercede in your lives according to His Own will. His Spirit will even do the talking for you, when you are delivered up (Mark 13). Is it any wonder then that Father will intercede in your daily lives today? Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. You are called according to His purpose, not anyone else's purpose. His purpose is the only one that matters. Romans 8:29 For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. "Foreknow" means to "know from before". God's election fought against Satan in the first earth age, and that is why they are called to fight in this earth age. God knows He can count on you. Romans 8:30 Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified. This Scripture concerns God's election. Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Are you afraid of the world? Are you afraid of Satan? You shouldn't be. If God is for you, there is no one, including Satan, who can stand against you. We are a very blessed people. We have an intercessor. Romans 8:32 He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

If you need something to accomplish God's work, he will give it to you. You do the work, and He will supply the bricks. Shepherd's Chapel is a good example of this. Romans 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God That justifieth. God is the judge. He knows your heart and mind. It doesn't matter what others might charge you with. Romans 8:34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ That died, yea, rather, That is risen again, Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us. Christ stands between us and trouble. He is always there for you. When you need help, call on Him. Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? I hope your answer is, "None of the above". Romans 8:36-37 As it is written, "For Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." V37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him That loved us. Let that sink in real good. Do you think we are going to lose the war? No! We have the victory in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:38-39 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, v39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That, my friends, is exactly the way it is. Christ is our intercessor. No one, nor anything, can separate you from the love of Him. In His Service, Arnold Murray