This morning, we looked at the
intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of a poor, undeserving
sinner. And by God's grace, I'd like
to pick up where we left off and look a little bit deeper
into that intercession. Turn with me, if you would, back
to Romans 8. In Romans chapter 7, the Lord
inspired the Apostle Paul to describe life in this flesh. And it's miserable. It's absolutely
miserable. I was just sitting right there
talking to Brother John just a second ago about how we come
here, poor and miserable and wretched, and we just, with whatever
is in us, gut-wrenchingly beg for God's Holy Spirit. And then
we walk out, and we turn around, and we start all over again. And I thought about the Christ
and the fact that He has the Spirit without measure. I long
for that. I long for that life in this
flesh, how sad it is. But here in chapter eight, he's
describing life in the spirit. Verse two says for the law of
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Life in Christ Jesus. In verse four, the end of it,
he talks about walking after the spirit. In verse 6, he talks
about being spiritually minded. But here's the truth in this.
All of the glory for life in the Spirit of the Lord Jesus
Christ goes to God. All of the glory for it. He gets
all the glory in the giving of His Spirit. And He gets all the
glory in the work of His Spirit. And He gets all the glory in
the result. of His Spirit. Verse 10 says, If Christ be in
you, the body is dead because of sin. There's nothing good
there. But the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we're
debtors. We're just debtors. What do we
have that we have not received? Verse 14 says, For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Not
every person born into this world is a son of God. That's a sad
truth. And we try to make sure that
we clearly set that forth every time we stand up. Salvation is
of the Lord. But every person who is led by
the Spirit of God, he or she is a son of God. Every person
who God sends His Spirit to, he's a son of God. Verse 15 says,
You have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but
you have received the spirit of adoption. It's God's Spirit
who teaches us that. You have been adopted into the
family of God. It's God's Spirit who quickens
us to that. It's God's Spirit who causes
us to cry like the end of verse 15 says. We cry, Abba, Father. Verse 16 says it's God's Spirit
who bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
Verse 17 says he tells us that we're heirs. Joint heirs with
Christ. And I'm skimming through these
verses, and oh, if we could just enter into them. He tells us that we're going
to be glorified together with Christ. That's what God's Spirit
does for us and in us. And our text tonight is going
to continue with something else that God's Holy Spirit does for
each one of His children. And it cannot be described. I'm
about to stand up here for four minutes and 30 more seconds,
14 minutes. And I'm going to tell you something
that cannot be described. All we can do is pray that the
Lord would send his spirit and just cause us to enter into it,
because it cannot be spoken, can't be described. Verse 26. This is our text. Verse 26 says,
Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. And boy, do
we have a lot of them. Infirmities, weaknesses, sicknesses,
frailties, frailties of this body, frailties of this mind. Specifically in this verse, he's
talking about our infirmity to even pray. This is what he's
talking about. Our infirmity specifically to even pray. Verse 26 says, Likewise, the
Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought. What truth that is. We know not what we should pray
for, and we know not as we ought to pray. We don't even know the manner
we should pray in. Now let me tell you how sinful we are. After
a sinner comes to know the truth, we read the truth right here
in God's Word. And our flesh immediately says,
I know what to pray for. The Lord saved me. And I know
what manner I ought to pray into. Oh, wretched man that I am. Oh,
wretched man that I am. God must bring me down. He must
increase, but I must decrease. I must. As soon as I think I've
got it, May God in mercy remind me that
that's the pride that comes before that fall. I am my own infirmity. I'm just
one gigantic infirmity, that's what I am. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes
chapter six. Ecclesiastes chapter 6, verse 12. For who knoweth what is good
for man all this life, all the days of his vain life, which
he spendeth as a shadow? For who can tell a man what shall
be after him under the sun? We pray for things that we think
will be good for us in the long run. We pray for things that we think
will work together for good. That's what we pray for. But
Ecclesiastes 6 verse 12 says, Who knoweth what is good for
man in this life? All the days of his vain life,
which he spendeth as a shadow, For who can tell a man what shall
be after him under the sun?" We have no idea what God's purpose
in tomorrow is. We know that His purpose is going
to be done, but we don't know what it is. So how could we know what we
should pray for? When we do pray, when we do pray,
almost every time I pray, I'm reminded of my infirmities. There are times that we are literally
at a loss for words. Literally at a loss for words.
How could we possibly be at a loss for words after everything the
Lord has done for us? How could we possibly be at a
loss for words? How often is the communication
to our God lifeless? You know, I'm trying to just
be honest at this moment in time. lifeless. I wish it wasn't. You try to get past the flesh. No emotion, no affection, just. Oh, wretched man that I am. Isn't
that sad? How could we be lifeless toward
the God of our salvation? No emotion, no affection. as
we call on our merciful and loving God. How often during that personal
time that we spend in prayer in this closet, in the closet
of our heart, could we not control our thoughts if our life depended
on it? Prone to wonder. Prone to wonder. Well, thankfully for us, very
thankfully for us, God has given us some good news about this.
And I pray that the Lord will let us enter into it for just
a couple of minutes. God's mercy to us is that he
would send his spirit to us. Everything that I lack in my
flesh, God provides for me through his spirit. Every single thing. He helps our infirmities to the
point that Romans 8, if we go back with me to Romans 8, verse
26, the end of it says, The Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. It's not possible. Not by man's
mouth. God's Holy Spirit prays for us
using words and emotions and affections that are so glorious
and so heavenly. It's not possible to be described
by man's mouth. There's no possible way that
we could ever understand what is happening for us, what's being
done for us. Not here in our infirmities.
Now go with me to 2 Corinthians 12. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 2. Paul writes, I knew a man in
Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body I cannot
tell or whether out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, such
in one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man,
whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth,
how that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable
words Which it is not lawful, and that word means possible,
for a man to utter. I heard things that are not actually
possible. If I could, if I could make my
jawbone move in a way that could describe what I heard, I would
tell you, but it is not possible. It's not possible, not for man.
But God has sent His Spirit to His children for the purpose
of speaking this heavenly language to God for them and in them. And it says, the Spirit itself
in our text maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. Amazing, amazing truth. Thanks
be to God for this, because we know not what we should pray
for, as we all. We're so sinful, we're so low,
we could never say it in the right way. Never. We could never
enter into it. I pray the Lord would let me
enter into it. In just a moment, I pray the Lord would let me
enter into it. I really do. Lord, send your Spirit again.
Send your Spirit again. Go with me now to Matthew 6. May the Lord help us to enter
into this. Matthew 6 verse 9. After this manner, therefore,
pray ye. Our father. Don't you wish just once? Just one time. I don't know how
long Paul was in the third heaven. But don't you wish just one time,
just for a few moments, you could truly enter into the fact that
God, the actual God who created all this, is your Father. Just once. In everything that
that means. Don't you wish just once you
could enter into the depths and the fullness of His love for
us? Just one time. Oh, the love as a father pitieth
his children. Don't you wish just once you
could enter into the safety and the provision of the fact that
God is your Father? Just one time. Well, the Spirit of the Lord
Jesus Christ groans for us. Our Father. He groans for us,
the love and the thankfulness and the joy of saying, Our Father. Verse 9 says, which are in heaven. Don't you wish just once you
could enter into God's heaven? We just read where Paul said,
I was caught up into paradise. We just cannot enter into it,
can we? We sit here, our flesh is just dragging us down, it's
just pulling us down. Don't you wish right now we could
just enter into the fact that God has prepared things that
I have not seen nor ear heard? The heart of man can't enter
into. God told that thief on the cross,
today shalt thou be with me in paradise. You know what paradise
is? Being with Christ. Christ is
paradise. Can you? And the answer is no. You cannot imagine what it's
going to be like to be with Jesus Christ. It can't be described. We say the half hasn't been told.
The thousandth hasn't been told. The Spirit came from there. The
Spirit is there. The Spirit knows exactly what
it means, and the Spirit groans for us, our Father, which art
in heaven. Verse 9 says, Hallowed be thy
name. One day, we're going to worship
God's holiness. God is holy. Our God is holy. In one of these days, we're going
to truly worship His holiness. Thanks be to God, His Spirit
right now groans for us. Holy, holy, holy. In all the majesty, in all the
fear, in all the reverence that God deserves. I'm a man of unclean lips. Do
you know that? I'm undone. Verse 10 says, Thy
kingdom come. My flesh wants to stay on this
earth just a little bit longer. God's Spirit groans for me, truly
groans for me. My flesh wants this world. God's
Spirit groans for me. Thy kingdom come. Verse 10 says,
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. My flesh wants
my way. My flesh wants easy street. God's
Spirit groans. Thy will be done. Verse 11 says,
Give us this day our daily bread. My flesh craves money. My flesh craves this world. It
really does. God's Spirit groans for God's
heavenly Word. It craves God's heavenly Word
for me. And when God's Spirit earnestly
ask on behalf of God's child, God's child receives. Verse 12
says, And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Now,
let's beg the Lord to help us here. Lord, would you help this
poor vessel? Can you imagine the groaning
that must be made? on behalf of the forgiveness
of our sins. Oh, thank you, Lord, for taking
that vile, wicked flesh, that disgusting, horrible, rotting
sin, and laying it all over yourself. and shedding that holy blood. Thank you, Lord. I cannot utter that, so God's
Spirit does it for me. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Verse 13 says, And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil. I think I'm good. I'm on the straight and narrow
path. God's Holy Spirit knows my infirmities. He knows my infirmities
and He groans for me. The end of verse 13 says, For
thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen. I could never enter into the
greatness of His kingdom. I could never understand the
mightiness of His power. Never. My sinful, wicked tongue
could never ascribe worthy glory unto Him. Never. So God's Holy
Spirit groans on my behalf. Now, I'm going to close with
this. Here's the amazing part of all this. Go back with me
to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 26 says, Likewise,
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should
pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 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.
Every bit of the work of the Spirit of Christ is applied to
my account. Every bit of it. God searches
the hearts. And He knows what the Spirit
has said. And He applies that to my account. Look at Romans 8, verse 15. He says, you have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the
spirit of adoption whereby we cry. We truly cry. God's Spirit in a sinner causes
that sinner to worthily cry, Abba, Father. Thank God for His Spirit. Intercession
for a sinner again. Alright, Brother Paul.