Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us today. If you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'll be preaching from the Book of John, the Gospel
of John, Chapter 17. I started this the last two weeks
concerning the Lord's Prayer. That's what this is in John 17.
And I mentioned in the first message on this chapter that
many people look at Matthew chapter 6 where you have the model prayer. Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. They call that the Lord's prayer,
but that's the model prayer. The Lord teaching his disciples
to pray. The Lord's Prayer is the Lord
Jesus Christ praying Himself on behalf of His people. And
that leads me to the title of today's message, Christ Our Intercessor. Christ our intercessor because
this is a prayer of the Savior for the people that He came to
save and will save. He is their intercessor. He is
their advocate. He is their mediator. He is the
one who stands between God the Father and His people. And it's on the ground of His
obedience unto death as the surety, the substitute, and the redeemer
of His people. And this is a vital part of Christ's
work. His work is so extensive, so
complete, and so successful that he saves his people by the grace
of God, and he keeps them, preserves them by the grace of God, and
he'll bring them to glory by the grace of God. Salvation is
all of grace, all conditioned on Christ. not on the sinner,
but on Christ, who by himself, as the surety, that means the
debt of sin that his people owed to the law of God, was laid upon
him, imputed to him, charged to him. He's a surety and a substitute. He was made of a woman, the word
incarnate, The Word made flesh. He came as the substitute to
take the place of sinners as God manifest in the flesh under
the law, made under the law to redeem them that were under the
law. And he went to the cross in their place and took upon
himself the full measure of the wrath of God against their sins
which had been charged to his account. You see, the ones whom
Christ saves, we're the ones who deserve and have earned God's
wrath. But the wrath of God does not
abide on us because God chose us before the foundation of the
world and gave us to Christ, made him our surety. And then him, and he willingly
took upon himself that task to be the surety of his people He
agreed to do all that was necessary all that was required To save
his people from their sins and that involved him becoming incarnate
That's his that's his incarnation Though as I said the Word made
flesh dwelling among us This is the great is the mystery of
godliness God manifest in the flesh His name shall be called
Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins his name shall
be called Emmanuel which interpreted is God with us. And so as a substitute,
and he walked this earth under the law, keeping the law perfectly. and going to the cross in the
place of his people. He was, our iniquities were laid
upon him. He was bruised for our transgressions. Now, listen now, I know it's
popular today for preachers to tell you that he did that for
every individual in the whole world, but that's not what happened.
He did it for his sheep. He laid down his life for his
sheep, the elect. That's what the Bible teaches.
Somebody said, well, why do you have to preach that? Because
that's what God's word teaches. That's what God's word says.
Who shall lay anything, I'm gonna read this verse to you in a minute.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justifies. Now, Christ died on the cross
in the place of his people. and he was buried and he arose
again the third day because the work of redemption was complete
and successful. You see, if he had not bought
his people with the price of his own blood and established
the justice of God in their stead, bring forth a righteousness that
answers the demands of God's law and justice, he would not
have been risen from the dead, raised from the dead. Because
if sin still abides upon his people, then he didn't do the
work. He didn't redeem them, but he
did redeem his people. And you remember after the resurrection,
he walked the earth for a while and then he ascended unto the
Father and sat down. This is the way the language
of scripture says he sat down at the right hand of God. Why
did he sit down? Because his work was finished.
And so now he ever lives to make intercession for his people.
Now what is that intercession? Well over in Romans chapter 8
and verse 31 it says this It says, what shall we then say
to these things? Now, these things here are the
things that Paul had written by inspiration of the Spirit
from Romans 1 all the way up to this point. This is Romans
8, 31. And he said, if God be for us, who can be against us? And then he says, he that spared
not his own son but delivered him up for us all. Now the us
all there is not every individual without exception. It's believers. Those who are brought by God
in His power and His grace and in His goodness through Christ
under the miraculous, invincible work of the Holy Spirit through
the gospel brought to faith in Christ and repentance of dead
works And he says, but he delivered him up for us all. How shall
he not with him, with Christ, also freely, without a cause,
unconditionally, give us all things? All things given, all
spiritual blessings. And then he says this, look at
verse 33 of Romans 8. He says, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? God's elect are, who are God's
elect? Well, they are sinners saved
by the grace of God. And they are in time, in God's
appointed time, they are brought under the preaching of the gospel,
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace, the gospel that
concerns the glorious person and finished work of Christ,
the righteousness that he brought out, the gospel of the cross,
That's what it is. He died. He was buried. He arose
again. But those historical facts themselves,
that doesn't mean anything unless you understood what he was doing
and why he did it and what he accomplished. He brought forth
everlasting righteousness. And that's brought him under
the gospel and gave them life from the dead. That's the new
birth. regeneration, quickening, conversion, convincing them of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment. We read about that
in John chapter 16. And then he ascended unto heaven
after having died and buried and raised again the third day. He ascended unto heaven. ever
to live to make intercession for his people." So look what
it says, "...who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect."
The elect are those to whom God does not charge, impute, account
sin. He accounts them with the righteousness
of God which is the merit of the obedience unto death of Christ.
The righteousness of Christ freely imputed to them. Romans 4 and
verse 6 speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord imputeth
righteousness without works. I have a righteousness before
God, but it's nothing that I did. It's not my, it's not, listen,
it's not found in my works or my decision, it's in Christ. And God freely gave it to me.
And so he says, he says, who shall lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It's God that justifieth. What
does it mean to be justified? It means to be forgiven of all
my sins. Past sins, present sins, original
sin, future sins. All my sins are forgiven. On
what ground? Does God just look over it or
he just forget it or pass over it? No. On the ground of the
blood of Jesus Christ. And I am declared righteous.
That's what it is to be justified, is to be right with God. How
can I, a sinner, be right with God? Not by my works. and not
by my decisions, but by the blood of Christ, the righteousness
of Christ. So he says, it's God that justifies. Now look at verse 34. Here's
where I want to get to about Christ's intercession. Christ
our intercessor. Who is he that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. You see, the reason God's people
cannot be condemned is because Christ died under that condemnation
for them. Yea, rather, that is risen again,
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us." Who's the us there? That's the people of God. Now
if Christ makes intercession, if He intercedes for a sinner,
that sinner cannot be condemned. And the ground of that sinner's
being justified is the death of Christ. the work that He did
to exhaust, drink damnation dry with His obedience unto death,
His suffering unto death on the cross. and that's so vividly
described in the Bible. Well, let me show you another
verse of scripture on that. 1 John, the book of 1 John, chapter
2. John writes here in verse 1,
My little children, these things I write unto you that you sin
not. Now, that should be the goal
of every believer. Every true Christian is that,
I don't want to sin. But now we are going to sin.
We're sinners saved by grace. And we can't help but sin because
we still have the presence of the old human nature of sin. And it keeps me from going the
full swing of the perfection that I want to attain to. I want
to perfectly love God and love my neighbor as myself. I want to perfectly obey God.
I want to honor him. But so many things get in the
way and that's my sinfulness. The Apostle Paul describes that
in Romans chapter seven. But he said, I'm writing these
things not to encourage you to sin, but to encourage you not
to sin. But he says, and if any man sin,
now that would be better translated, since we sin, because we are,
we have an advocate with the Father, an advocate. Well, who
is that advocate? Jesus Christ the righteous. He is my advocate. That means
he's my intercessor. He stands in my place before
the Father, and my sins are not charged to me. And it says in
verse two, and he is the propitiation for our sins. Now what is a propitiation? A propitiation is a satisfaction,
a sin-bearing satisfaction, who by his death brought satisfaction
to God's law and justice. God's law and justice cannot
be against me. If God be for me, who can be
against me? Why? Because I have an advocate
with the Father who is my surety, who is my substitute, who is
my redeemer, and who is my intercessor. And it's Jesus Christ the righteous,
and He's the propitiation for our sins. Now, not for ours only,
but for the whole world, the sins of the whole world. Now,
whole world there, again, does not mean every individual in
the whole world without exception. When you see that in the Bible,
don't automatically interpret it that way. And I'll prove that
to you. Look over at 1 John chapter 5.
1 John chapter 5. In verse 19, John writes here, this is 1 John
5, 19, and we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth
in wickedness. Or literally, the whole world
lieth in the wicked one. Now I think that even the most
reasonable people would agree that the whole world there doesn't
mean everybody without exception. He's talking about the whole
unbelieving world there. But over in 1 John 2, when he
says that he's the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours
only, but for the whole world, here in the context it talks
about the whole believing world. In other words, God has a people
not just among the Jews, but he has a people out of every
tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. Now who does Christ intercede
for? He intercedes for His sheep.
And who are His sheep? They are those who are brought
to believe in Him. Now with all that in mind, go
back to John 17 and listen to what He says here. He's talking
about His disciples, not just 11 men, but all of His people,
all of His followers. all the elect of God, and those,
and he's going to even mention those who are still in a state
of unbelief, but who will be brought to faith in the future. Because they all will be. Because
as 2 Peter 3, 9 says, God's not willing that any of them should
perish, but they should all come to repentance. But listen to
what he says in John 17, now this is verse nine. Well, let
me read verse eight just to get you up to the context. He says,
for I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me. Now,
what does that mean? He gave to his followers, his
disciples, not just the 11 there, but all of his disciples, he
gave them the words which the Father commissioned him and gave
to him to do. And they have received them,
they believe them. And listen, if you receive His
words and believe His words, if you believe in Christ, that's
not natural to you. First Corinthians 2, 14, the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
So if you've received them, that means God has done a work of
grace in you. He's given you life, a new heart,
a new mind, a new spirit, a new will, a new knowledge. And so
they received him and have known surely that I came out from thee,
and they have believed that thou didst send me. Now look at verse
nine, I pray for them. Next line, I pray not for the
world. Now who's he talking about there,
the world? Well, he's talking about the non-elect. He's talking
about those who live in unbelief and die in unbelief. He's not
talking about just some kind of a creation or anything like
that. He says, I'm praying for my people.
The ones whom the Father gave to me before the foundation of
the world. Remember what he said in John 6, 37? All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. He said, this is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. That's
who he's praying for. And he says, I don't pray for
the world. He doesn't intercede for those who live and die and
unbelieve. If he intercedes for them, they're
saved. You understand? If he intercedes
for them, that means he died for them. That means God chose
them and he died for them. If he intercedes for them, the
only evidence that he intercedes for anybody is when God brings
us to faith in Christ and true repentance. But he says, I pray
for them I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me, for they are thine." They belong to God. They belong
to the Father. They belong to the Son. They
belong to the Holy Spirit. I pray for the ones you gave
me. And again, all that you gave me shall come to me, he said,
and I will never cast them out. And John 10, they're his sheep.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, they're all who come to him under the
gospel. And he says in verse 10, And
all mine are thine, all that you gave me, they belong to you,
the Father and the Son. And all thine are mine, you see,
they belong both to the Father, and I am glorified in them. Now how is Christ glorified in
them? when they are brought to see
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and they know
Him and understand Him, and they see Him as their only hope of
salvation, that He's all they need, all their desire, it's
all in Christ. He has the preeminence. Look
at verse 11. He says, and now I am no more
in the world. Now He's standing right there
before them, but He's speaking in anticipation of going to the
cross, dying, being buried, raised again, and ascending to the Father.
And that's the actual time that he would not be in the world
as far as his person, God in human flesh. Now he told his
disciples, he said, where two or three are gathered in my name,
there I am. He said, I'll always be with
you, I'll never leave you. So what does he mean here, I
am no more in the world? Well, in his person, as God manifests
in the flesh, God-man, He's now with the Father, seated at the
right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession.
But He's always in the hearts of His people, by His Spirit
and by His Word. He's always with His people.
And that's attributed to His deity, which is omnipresent. But at the same time, as God
manifests in the flesh, He's with the Father. But he's with
his people by his spirit and by his word. And he says, and
now I'm no more in the world, but these are in the world, his
disciples, and I come to thee. What he's saying is he comes
to the father on their behalf as their intercessor. Holy father,
he says. And incidentally, God the father
is the only holy father. The pope in Rome is a false prophet. An idol. He's not the Holy Father. Only God is the Holy Father.
So he says, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those
whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we, or as
we are. This is the issue, see. Christ
is united, joined with his people. He represents them. And as I
said, He's the surety, the substitute, the redeemer, the intercessor.
One with Christ. United to Christ. Clothed with
Christ. Over in the book of Galatians,
the apostle, by the power of, by the revelation of the Spirit,
he describes this oneness in the issues of spiritual life. In Galatians chapter three, he
says in verse 26 of Galatians three, for you are all the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. What he's saying there is that
our faith in Christ reveals me to be a child of God. And he
says, for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have
put on Christ. Now the word baptized there doesn't
refer to the ordinance of water baptism, believers baptism. That's taught in the scripture
and other passages. But the word baptized here means
united or placed into. In other words, he says, for
as many of you as have been placed into or united or joined into
Christ have put on Christ. And what that means is when the
Holy Spirit brings you to faith in Christ, you put Him on, and
that's a metaphorical way of saying believe in Him, rest in
Him, trust Him, love Him, follow Him, plead His righteousness
imputed. Sometimes that imputed righteousness
is described in the Bible under the metaphor of clothing, a cloak. of righteousness. That's not
literal now. You know, preachers sometimes
they cast off on that because they say, well, you're just saying
that righteousness is outside of you. Listen, that righteousness
is in Christ and my account is wiped clean. No sin charged against
me. And as a result of that, the
Holy Spirit does an inward work. And so he says, you put on Christ. That's that oneness. And that's
the issue. Well, back over in John 17, he
says, they are, he says, keep them through thine own name,
verse 11, those whom thou hast given me that they may be one.
as we are united to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In verse
12 he says, while I was with them in the world, I kept them
in thy name. He literally kept them, preserved
them. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept. I have preserved. And none of
them is lost. Now Judas was not among them
that the Lord gave him. Judas was a false apostle. So Christ didn't keep him, see. Judas was never saved, but these
whom the Father gave him, he kept, and none of them is lost. Now if you include Judas in on
this, you'd have to say he's telling a lie right here, because
if Judas was one whom the Father gave him, and one for whom he
died, you see, then he's not speaking the truth here. But
we know that's not so. Judas was a child of perdition
from the beginning. But he says, the ones you gave
me, he says, none of them is lost but the son of perdition.
That's Judas. And so he says that the scripture
might be fulfilled. This was the predestination of
God. So Christ is the intercessor
of his people. and those for whom he intercedes
shall never perish, they cannot be lost, they'll be saved to
the uttermost, because he will keep them as he pleads for them
before the Father, pleading the merits of his blood, the merits
of his righteousness alone, period. Hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
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today and may the Lord be with you.