In 'Hebrews 7:25, Part 3,' Pastor Albert N. Martin expounds Hebrews 7:25, Romans 8:34, and Hebrews 9:24, arguing that Christ's intercession at the right hand of God is inextricably linked to and founded upon His once-for-all sacrifice on the cross. He demonstrates this through New Testament texts and Old Testament typology (Leviticus 16), emphasizing that both sacrifice and intercession are essential for our complete salvation. Martin applies this truth by urging believers to enrich their devotional lives with gratitude for Christ's ongoing intercession, which secures every grace and blessing for them, and by warning unbelievers of the righteous fury of God for disdaining His Son.
Primary Texts
menu_book
Hebrews 7:25This verse is the foundational text for the entire sermon series, establishing Christ's ability to save to the uttermost due to His perpetual intercession.
menu_book
Romans 8:34This passage is expounded to show the inseparable connection between Christ's death, resurrection, exaltation, and intercession as the basis for the believer's security and vindication.
menu_book
John 17Christ's High Priestly Prayer is used to illustrate the particularity and efficacy of Christ's intercession, which undergirds the doctrine of definite atonement.
Invitation to Sinners: Come to the Mighty Savior53:18
Pastoral Exhortation and Warning56:15
Prayer for Illumination and Conversion59:08
Key Quotes
“To have made a single doctrinal statement of Scripture better understood and more firmly believed, to have made a man in his conscience feel more strongly the obligation of a single biblical or moral duty, is in reality doing more solid good than sending away an audience delighted and astonished with the ingenuity, the fragility of the preacher's speculations, the force of his reasoning, the splendor of his imagery, and the resistless force of his eloquence.”
“For the simple reason that many a congregation has ultimately turned aside from a ministry of the scriptures, not overnight, but when they began to be more fascinated with how the preacher spoke than with what he spoke, more concerned with the manner of his speaking than the matter and the substance of his speaking.”
“What he did once for all upon the cross determines what he does by his constant intercession in heaven. In other words, his sacrifice and his intercession are two inseparable facets of his high priestly work.”
“Without the intercession of Christ, we would not be saved to the uttermost.”
“Outside of his intercession there is no salvation.”
“it's a big wide bridge that goes halfway across the chasm and takes no one to the other side but bless God for a redemption that is a bridge that goes from one side of the chasm of man in his sin to God in his burning holiness and actually carries us there so conformed to Christ that we will be at home in the presence of burning holiness as well as infinite love”
“God does not require of any sinner that he discover himself to be an elect sinner in order to come to Christ he does require that you own yourself a sinner and that Christ is an adequate Savior and that he's a willing Savior that he's an inviting Savior that he's a pleading Savior who does not talk with fork and tongue and when he says come unto me all who take labor and are heavy laden he doesn't say parenthesis if you have somehow discovered in some way or another that you are that you are elect and if you have in some way or another discovered whether or not you are one of those for whom Christ in particular died with a death that would secure the eternal no he simply says come unto me all who take labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest”
Applications
All listeners
Continually evaluate everything that comes to you over this pulpit or in any setting where there is supposedly a ministry of the word. Ask yourself, what doctrinal statement of scripture do I understand more clearly and believe? Believe more firmly because I heard that preacher. What duty, what privilege is more powerfully impressed upon my mind from the word of God?
Surely every true Christian finds himself instinctively saying 'Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your willingness to come by way of Mary's womb... Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your willingness... to humble yourself and become obedient of the death, even the death of the cross.'
How long has it been since you said, 'Thank you, Lord Jesus, for ever living to intercede for me.'
Therefore, our attachment to Christ in intelligent faith and in loving devotion should be enriched by our knowledge that as surely as his sacrifice is essential to our salvation, so is the intercession that is based upon that sacrifice.
If you've come standing in the nakedness of your own felt sinfulness ready to take the posture of a publican, say 'God be merciful to me the sinner.' God does not require of any sinner that he discover himself to be an elect sinner in order to come to Christ; he does require that you own yourself a sinner and that Christ is an adequate Savior and that he's a willing Savior that he's an inviting Savior that he's a pleading Savior who does not talk with fork and tongue and when he says come unto me all who take labor and are heavy laden he doesn't say parenthesis if you have somehow discovered in some way or another that you are that you are elect... no he simply says come unto me all who take labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.
Your privilege and your duty is to come. God nowhere says it is your duty to discover your election. It is your duty of God's word against you as a sinner. It is your duty to behold the Lamb of God who is the only Savior this world. He is the Lamb of God who bears the burden who bears the burden who bears the burden who bears the way the sin of the world. You are invited to come and to put the whole case of your need as a sinner in the hands of a mighty Savior who in the virtue of his death and in the power of his ever living intercession can save even you to the uttermost.
Oh dear child of God should we not grieve that we love so feebly a Savior who saves so graciously in power.
My unconverted friend, do you see why God must deal so strongly with you in the day of judgment if you are found in that day indifferent to his Son and his salvation? Do you see why God must destroy in flaming fire those who obey not the gospel?
I beg you men women boys and girls go to so gracious a Savior who not only does not just for the unjust to bring us to God but who now ever lives to intercede on behalf of all who come unto God by Him and in interceding for them He is committed in the whole of His exalted glorified being and activity to save to the uttermost every single one who comes unto God by Him.
Commit yourself to Me and by the virtue of my death and the efficacy of my intercession I will save even you to the uttermost.
In our prayers to remember that He does intercede for us and in our stumbling and falling to remember that He does intercede for us and in our stumbling He continues to intercede for us and when we receive blessing from Your hands may we trace it back to the fruit of His intercession and to the tap roots of that intercession in His sacrifice upon the cross.
A full transcript is available on the
tab. 110 paragraphs, roughly 62 minutes.
Machine transcription
The Pastor's Grand Duty: Speaking the Word of God
The following message was delivered on Sunday evening, November 13, 1994, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Many of you, I'm sure, are familiar with those words in Hebrews 13, 7, which the writer to the Hebrews says to the Hebrew Christians, Remember them that had the rule over you, men that spoke unto you the word of God. And in commenting on this particular verse, particularly the phrase, men who spoke unto you the word of God,
John Brown, a godly and eminently useful servant of Christ from another generation, wrote, But in truth, It is only in the degree in which we speak the word of God, in which we clearly exhibit its meaning and evidence, in which we bring man's mind into contact with God's mind, that we discharge our duty to our Master, or promote the real spiritual improvement of our hearers. To have made...
To have made a single doctrinal statement of Scripture better understood and more firmly believed, to have made a man in his conscience feel more strongly the obligation of a single biblical or moral duty, is in reality doing more solid good than sending away an audience delighted and astonished with the ingenuity, the fragility of the preacher's speculations, the force of his reasoning, the splendor of his imagery, and the resistless force of his eloquence.
To speak the word of God is the grand duty of the Christian teacher. Such are the persons in reference to whom the Apostle enjoins a variety of duties, the deceased pastors of the Hebrew church, men who had ruled them and had spoken the word of God to them. And it is crucial from time to time to remind you as a congregation of the truth so perceptively stated by John Brown to make a single doctrinal statement better understood or more firmly believed
to have made a man in his conscience feel more strongly the obligation of a single religious or moral duty is doing more solid good than sending away an audience delighted and astonished with the ingenuity of the preacher's speculations, the force of his reasoning, the splendor of his imagery, and the resistless force of his eloquence. To speak the word of God is the grand duty of the Christian teacher. And I urge you as a people to continually evaluate
everything that comes to you over this pulpit or in any setting where there is supposedly a ministry of the word. Ask yourself, what doctrinal statement of scripture do I understand more clearly and believe? Believe more firmly because I heard that preacher. What duty, what privilege is more powerfully impressed upon my mind from the word of God?
And why do I emphasize that and periodically bring it to the floor? For the simple reason that many a congregation has ultimately turned aside from a ministry of the scriptures, not overnight, but when they began to be more fascinated with how the preacher spoke than with what he spoke, more concerned with the manner of his speaking than the matter and the substance of his speaking. It was only a matter of time before they tolerated and even encouraged
Review: Christ's Intercession at the Right Hand of God
the speaking of things that were contrary to the word of God. And what I have been attempting to do this Lord's Day is to take one fundamental, central, biblical truth and to help you as a congregation to understand it more clearly, to believe it more firmly, to feel the impress of it upon your internal consciousness as those who are on that narrow road that leads unto the kingdom of God. And the subject that has engaged our mind is that of the intercessory work
of our Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father. For the few of you that I see here tonight who, to my knowledge, were not with us this morning, just a word of explanation and review is in order, I am presently bringing a brief series of encouragement to the Lord Jesus Christ. To tried and tested saints of God, having come through a period of intense self-examination in which we examined a number of scriptures which are calculated to expose shallow, sham, and false professions of the Christian faith,
and to identify the distinctives of genuine saving faith, it was my judgment that in the interest of, pastoral balance, a few sermons on pivotal texts which could be in the blessing of God, handles it, as it were, that the saints of God could lay hold upon in prayer and in their Christian experience would be used of the Lord for our stability and our ongoing nerve in seeking to live the Christian life. And in the course of laying down the foundation of our Christian faith,
Of course, of laying out such text, we came to Hebrews 7 and verse 25, a text which affirms that our Lord Jesus Christ is able to save those who come unto God by him to the uttermost. That is, to the very consummation of redemptive design and purpose because he ever lives to make intercession for them.
And after opening up that text last Lord's Day morning, we then return to the subject of the intercession of Christ in our study of the scriptures this morning, at which time we address but one question. And the question was, what is the place or the posture from which our Lord Jesus carries on this ministry of priestly intercession? And we saw from the scriptures, four texts in the book of Hebrews and Romans 8 and verse 34, that he carries it on at the right hand of God.
At the right hand. At the right hand of the majesty on high. And from Hebrews 9 and verse 24, he carries on that work of intercession before the face of God. And we saw that the significance of these descriptions of the place of his intercession point on the one hand to his position of exaltation and power.
And on the other, to his position of glory. And on the other, to his position of glory. And on the other, to his position of glory. And on the other, to his position of glory.
And on the other, to his position of favor and acceptance. And in that position, he ever lives to make intercession for us. Now tonight we take up a second concern with respect to this ongoing intercessory work of the Lord Jesus. And it is this.
The Ground of Christ's Intercession: His Once-for-All Sacrifice
Having considered the place of his intercession, now we address the matter of the ground or the foundation. The foundation of his intercession. On what basis does the glorified, exalted Lord, before the face of God, carry on this work of intercession? And I answer, the intercession of Christ is based upon the once for all sacrifice of Christ.
In other words, his overflowing. The oblation upon the cross outside the city walls of Jerusalem lies at the foundation of his intercession at the right hand of the Father in the face of God. What he did once for all upon the cross determines what he does by his constant intercession in heaven. In other words, his sacrifice and his intercession are two inseparable facets of his high priestly work.
Now his high priestly work is not to be understood as limited to intercession. But it is his intercessory work at the right hand of the Father that is the focus of our concern. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
What is the ground or the foundation of that present work of intercession? The answer of scripture is that his intercession is based upon his once for all sacrifice. What's the biblical proof of this? Well, I want to lay before you four lines of biblical evidence and then consider the question, what is the significance?
Biblical Proof: New Testament Witness
Significance of this fact, why even bother to exercise our minds with respect to it? First of all, then, the biblical proof of this assertion that the intercession is based upon the once for all sacrifice. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter seven. Hebrews chapter seven, read the text with which this study began, verse twenty five.
Wherefore also he is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. For, you see, there is a connection with the next direction of thought, for such a high priest became us. Holy. Guileless.
Undefiled. Separated from sinners and made higher than the heavens, who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For this he did once when he offered up himself. Now, we have asserted that our Lord Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those that
draw near unto God through him because he ever lives to make intercession for them. The writer to the Hebrews says he did this in his function as a high priest, a high priest who became us, was perfectly suited to us in our need. Holy. Guileless.
Undefiled. Holy. Guileless. Undefiled.
One who did not need to make repeated sacrifices, but made a once-for-all sacrifice when he offered up himself. And you see that in the context, the intercession, which is subsequent in time to the once-for-all sacrifice, is inextricable. It is inextricable. It is inextricably bound up with that sacrifice.
It is on the basis of what he accomplished in offering up himself once for all that he carries on his continuous work of intercession. As our high priest, his intercession and his offering up of himself are inseparably joined in that action of the high priest. Then to Romans chapter 8 and verse 34.
Having thrown out question, who is he that condemns? The apostle answers, it is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God. Of God who also makes intercession for us. So with respect to the question leading in to this statement of the four aspects of redemptive work of Christ, who shall condemn?
And with respect to the question that follows it, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? In between is the assertion of these four acts of Jesus Christ, he died, he was raised, he is at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us. And we see that within the framework of these actions of the Lord Jesus, that there is an intimate connection between the intercession.
For us and the death that he died in our room and in our stead. And likewise in the Hebrews 9 passage, where the terminology intercession is not used, but where we consulted this text this morning in answering the question with respect to the place of his intercession. You will see the intimate connection again in Christ's preaching. He said, And you see the intimate connection to Christ making His caretaker.
Now let me look again in a second at John 10, when we go to John in John and John got me to that verse. And John says, In the midst of all this, I have theips on you, I am a verse and I hope you enter me to whom from heaven others are made of wood, not clad in disproportionate Title, such that I came to the coming of Christ in the privilege of apple-ذهvis thing, the grace to whom of God for us, nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place year by year with blood not his own, else must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world.
But now once at the end of the ages has he been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment, so Christ also having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time apart from sin to them that wait for him unto salvation. You see again, the writer to the Hebrews brings into the closest conjunction Christ appearing
before the face of God for us, and Christ having been manifested to offer a once for all sacrifice on our behalf. And unless there is some commandment. compelling reason to bring these two realities into totally insulated categories, the oblation upon earth, the once for all sacrifice, and the ongoing perpetual intercession for heaven being brought together as they are in these contexts in conjunction with Christ's function
Biblical Proof: Old Testament Typology (Day of Atonement)
as a high priest, we should expect that indeed the whole perception of Christ as a high priest is the same as the whole perspective and the direction and the basis and the virtue of his intercession derives from his sacrifice, his oblation, his once for all offering of himself unto God. Then we add to these texts, Hebrews 7, Romans 8, Hebrews 9, the fourth line of biblical argument, the Old Testament typology. As you have often been reminded, the Old Testament typology is the same as the Old Testament typography. On the other hand, the Old Testament typology is the same as the Old Testament typology.
In fact, it is the same as the Old Testament typology. The types and shadows of the Old Testament were just that. God, who saw before his face the realities of redemption in the person and work of Christ, cast, as it were, the light of his own countenance over those realities, and the shadows that were cast shaped and formed the Old Testament rituals that were types and foreshadowing of the Old Testament. of those realities the realities were not the Aaronic priesthood the Levitical priesthood
the realities were not the blood of bulls and goats the realities were not the veil and the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat in the chair of him no those were shadows of the substantial realities of Christ and his redemption and when we see in Old Testament rituals that which points to Christ it is often helpful in validating illustrating and confirming what we have discovered in the clear witness of the New Testament and if we turn to a passage such as
Leviticus chapter 16 and see the account of the directive of the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord that God gave for that most solemn of all days in the ritual worship of Israel the annual day of atonement we see this inseparable relationship between priestly offering and priestly intercession particularly verses 11 through 14 Leviticus 16 and verse 11 and Aaron shall present the book of the sin offering which is for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house
and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself and he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small and bring it within the veil and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony that he die not and he shall take of the blood of the bullock and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat on the east and before the mercy seat shall
he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times now we have read in Hebrews that Christ did not need any offerings for himself he did not need any offerings for himself he did not need any offerings for himself he did not need any offerings for himself and in that sense we find Aaron's ritual has no direct application to our Lord Jesus but in terms of the principle that the oblation the sacrifice formed the basis and the preview for the intercession it was it was what transpired at the altar that shaped the activity behind the veil in that
more immediate presence of God before the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat the intercession was based upon the oblation and the sacrifice had no blood been shed that could have been taken within the veil no intercession could have been made with that blood and with the incense that was brought up into the presence of our God and so when we assert that the intercession of Christ is based upon the once for all sacrifice
Significance 1: Essential for Completed Salvation
of Christ we not only have these texts which show them in the closest relationship but we also have the confirmation of the old testament typology now then the question is raised so what what is the significance of the intercession of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ what's the significance of this fact? The significance of the fact that the once for all death of Christ is the foundation of the ongoing perpetual intercession of Christ well let me answer that it has at least a three-fold significance
first, with respect to our Lord's work and office as a high priest it demonstrates that the sacrifice and the sacrifice of Christ first, with respect to our Lord's work and office as a high priest it demonstrates that the sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of Christ Sacrifice and the intercession are essential for our completed salvation.
With respect to our Lord's work and office as a high priest, it demonstrates that the sacrifice and the intercession are essential for our salvation. Again, as you have been told on at least a number of occasions in this place, there are no extras in God's salvation. Everything which our state and condition as sinners demanded, if we were to be righteously saved and thoroughly saved,
God in the design of His salvation has fully provided in the person, in work of the Redeemer, and in the granting of the Holy Spirit. And in Hebrews 7 and verse 25, we are told in no uncertain terms that Christ's ability to save us to the uttermost, to the completion of God's saving design, the ability to save us with a salvation that brings us all the way to heaven, made, made into His own likeness,
is as much dependent upon His intercession as it is upon His sacrifice. Able to save to the uttermost, not seeing He died a death which fully satisfied all the demands of justice. That is true, but that's not what the writer to Hebrews tells us. It tells us He is able to save to the uttermost, to make intercession.
And its implications are clear. Without the intercession of Christ, we would not be saved to the uttermost.
And to come to that conviction, that as soon as I would be lost,
and did Christ not die, conviction must be joined by a biblically based intelligent conviction of faith, and death, if Christ, by His intercession, did not secure for me everything He died to procure for me by His death upon the cross. You find at least a veiled reference to this in the language of Romans chapter 5.
Romans chapter 5 and verse 10. 1 and 10. Much more than being, now justified by his blood a reference to the fruit of his willingness to die the just for the unjust while we were yet sinners Christ dying for us verse 8 much more than being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him for if while we were enemies we
were reconciled to God through the death of his son much more being reconciled we shall be saved according to Hebrews 7 25 he ever lives to make in procession for us and as surely as his bloodletting there side the city walls of Jerusalem was absolutely essential for the
fulfillment of his priestly function as God's appointed and final priest both offerer and offering who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot unto God Hebrews 9 14 so it is by his life his everlasting life to make intercession for us that are full and complete salvation is secure while I am not saying that we will not be fully and completely saved if we do not understand nor have heard of the place
of his intercession in our salvation I am not saying that a knowledge and an understanding of his work as an intercessor is essential to our participation in the salvation he died to procure what I am saying is that from God's perspective of his own revealed saving work the sacrifice and the intercession are essential for our salvation the works of the Lord are great sought out of all those that have pleasure therein and the more we understand the extent to which God has been willing to go
righteously to secure our salvation to save us with a certain and indefectible salvation then surely the more we have an enlightened faith we will have an inflamed love to the Savior and we will have a well grounded confidence yea I to the end shall endure as sure as the earnest is given more happy but not more secure the glorified spirits in heaven with respect to our Lord's work and office as a high priest it demonstrates
that the sacrifice and the intercession are essential for our salvation you see the implications of this for your devotional life surely every true Christian finds himself instinctively saying Morej and you believe died thank you for your willingness to come by way of Mary's womb than take yourself to true human soul and thank you Lord Jesus for being willing in the
language of Philippians 2 not to think it robbery to remain equal to be equal with God but ending yourself fulfill his love for our salvation. 🐶🐷� ce moment is the moment, and so it is ongoing. emptying yourself, taking the form of a servant. Thank you for being willing to be found in fashion as a man and to humble yourself and become obedient of the death, even the death of the cross.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your willingness, you who knew no sin, to become sin for me, that I might be made the righteousness of God in you. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your willingness to go through the agony of Gethsemane, to embrace the will of the Father, and to pray, not thy will be done upon me, but thy will be done by me, even though that will meant treading the winepress alone.
How long has it been since you said, Thank you, Lord Jesus, for ever living to intercede for me.
That while you could legitimately bask in the luxury of being the adoring one, the wonder of all the beings in heaven, with a concentration of energy, of soul, for the task of interceding for the likes of me. You ever live to make intercession for us. You appear before the face of your Father, well-beloved and accepted, but there you appear for us. That's what Wesley was trying to express when he says, there for me, the Savior,
the Savior stands, shows his wounds and spreads his hand. He was trying to capture that thought. He ever lives to make intercession. Therefore, our attachment to Christ in intelligent faith and in loving devotion should be enriched by our knowledge that as surely as his sacrifice is essential to our salvation, so is the intercession that is based upon that sacrifice.
Significance 2: Secures All Procured Blessings in Experience
The second aspect of the significance of all of this is this. With respect to our participation in the saving work of Christ, it demonstrates that the intercession secures for us in our experience all that was procured in the sacrifice. Not only are they joined as essential for our salvation, but in our actual participation in the saving work of Christ, it is the intercession of Christ that secures for us
in all that was procured by his sacrifice. In a masterful treatment of the high priestly activity of Christ originally delivered in London a number of years ago as the Campbell Morgan Lecture, it appeared in print, as it was in the Bible. It appeared in print, as it was in the Bible. It appeared in print, as it was in the Bible.
and now is found in the collected writings of Professor Murray, Volume 1, an essay entitled, The Heavenly Priestly Activity of Christ. Listen to these perceptive words of the late Professor Murray. In Hebrews 7, 24 and 25, the thought is clearly to the effect that Christ is able to save to the uttermost because he has an unchangeable priesthood and ever lives to make intercession. But because he abides forever, he has the priesthood unchangeable, wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost, then draw nigh to God through him,
seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. The intercession is mentioned more specifically as that which ensures salvation to the uttermost. The saving to the uttermost is very inclusive and implies salvation to the full extent, salvation complete and perfect. The inference is inescapable that the intercession of Christ brings within its scope all that is necessary to salvation in the fullest extent of its consummated perfection.
That is to say, the intercession covers the whole range of what is necessary to and what is realized in a completed salvation. The intercession of Christ is interposed to meet every need of the believer. Now listen to the concluding words of the paragraph. No grace bestowed, no blessing enjoyed, no benefit received can be removed from the scope of salvation.
And the intercession is the guarantee that every critical need will be met by its efficacy. The security of salvation is bound up with his intercession. And outside of his intercession we must say that there is no salvation.
Outside of his intercession there is no salvation. There is no salvation. There is no salvation. I go back to the Romans 8.34 passage with you.
Notice on the one hand there is the irreversible vindication of the people of God questioned at the beginning of verse 34. Who is he that condemns? This is a question of the vindication of the people of God. Verse 35, the question has to do with who shall separate us from the love of Christ.
That's the security of the people of God and between the certain vindication and the absolute security stands the death, the resurrection, the session, and the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is by that intercession that he brings into the realm of the experience of every day, the true child of God, that which is essential to his salvation. Not a grace received, not a blessing experienced
is the language Professor Murray has used. No benefit received, no blessing enjoyed that can be removed from the scope of the intercession. And when we come, God willing to deal more particularly with what Scripture reveals of the specifics of his intercession, I trust to demonstrate from the word of God using the few clear examples that are given to us the great principle that in the outworking of an indefectible and sure salvation, God does not operate like some pre-programmed celestial condition
that has programmed into it the names of all of his elect and the certain indefectible salvation of all of his own. And somehow God just as it were pushes buttons in his own computerized purposes and they fall out to the keeping of his own. In the totality of our salvation there is a personal engagement of the entire triune God. Godhead.
And no little part of that personal engagement is Christ ever living to intercede for us to as it were by his intercession to secure according to our need every dimension of grace and blessing which we need to make it to the uttermost. To be brought home at last into the presence of God. To the presence of our Father totally conformed to the image of his Son in the language again of Romans 8 glorified. Conformed to the likeness
of the Lord Jesus. And where that means along the way we must confess our sin there the intercession of Christ is likened in 1 John 2 to an advocacy of any man's sin. We have an advocate. But the Father the sin of a believer is not overlooked by God.
It is no less heinous in the sight of God than the sin of an unbeliever. All sin cries for judgment. The difference is we have an intercessor who as an advocate there embodies in the presence of God all the virtue of the death that he died upon this earth once for all. And by his representative place there at the right hand of the Father he secures our ongoing forgiveness that those sins do not bring down upon us the wrath of God.
Who is he that condemneth? Christ is at the right hand of God who makes intercession for us. When there is weakness and when there is vulnerability to temptation Satan has desired you to sit you as wheat but I have prayed for you. I have prayed for you.
When you turn strengthen your brethren. That was clearly from the lips of Christ an indication that Peter's restoration was the fruit of his intercession. And by arguing from analogy surely when we find ourselves at times spiritually dull and listless and prayerless and insensitive what is it? We find our hearts turned afresh to God.
The Lord brings a brother or sister into our path who by his or her example or by his or her words by his or her recommendation of a book, a tract by this influence or that we find ourselves sharply or gently reproved or rebuked rebuked and drawn back into the way of spiritual vigor and vitality. What is this? You say, well that's God used the means. The means of my brother's influence my sister's influence.
Ah, but what lay behind that? The intercession of the Lord Jesus.
There at the Father's right hand securing for the experience of all of his people that which he purchased for them in his once for all sacrifice upon the cross. And if indeed the foundation of his intercession is his once for all sacrifice is his once for all sacrifice we not only learn that the sacrifice and the intercession are essential for our salvation that the intercession secures in our experience all that was procured in his sacrifice but with respect to the extent
and the efficacy of the atonement it demonstrates the fact that Christ's death was what some people call the death of Christ. A limited atonement. Some of us don't like that terminology because immediately the concept of limited carries with it the connotation of some deficiency. The man's limited in his knowledge.
He's limited in his strength or his ability. He's limited in this or that. And we would rather use the term Christ's death was an efficacious atonement atonement. It was an atonement that actually secured the salvation of those for whom it was made.
And in John chapter 17 that our Lord Jesus was conscious that he had a particular people in his heart for whom he was about to lay down his life. This comes out very clearly in what has commonly been called our Lord's high priestly prayer. A prayer that at least gives us in broad strokes some of the things that may well constitute the substance of our Lord's intercession at the right hand of the Father. But having described those for whom he prays in this particular prayer seven times he uses the designation
he prays for those who were given to him. Let's take a pencil sometime and go through as I did in preparation for a conference recently when I was assigned to go through this prayer and to preach on who for whom Christ is praying in this prayer. I found no fewer than seven times he refers to the objects of his prayer as those who were given to him by the Father. Four times they are described as those who are not of the world.
They have been given to him out of the world. They are a people distinct from the mass of humanity in general and with respect to those his own, his elect those given to him by the Father. Notice what he says in verse 19 in this prayer John 17 and for their sakes for their sakes for the sake of those whom you have given to me for the sake of those who are not of the world but have been given to me out of the world for their sakes I sanctify myself I set myself apart
unto you my Father for the remaining acts of redemptive work that are mine to accomplish there is the crucifixion before me there is the resurrection and the session and the ever living work of intercession and for the sake of these whom you have given to me I deliberately consciously joyfully set myself apart I sanctify myself for their sakes why? that they themselves also may be sanctified in the truth neither for these
only do I pray but for them also that believe on me through their word he had before his mind all of his people that would come to faith through the apostolic testimony and proclamation of the message of salvation and he says it is for their sakes that I now consciously and deliberately set myself apart for these remaining redemptive activities that they might actually know the blessing of the salvation that I will procure
for them I sanctify myself that they themselves also may be set apart unto you in their case from sin in my case set apart unto you for this redemptive task that they may be sanctified in truth in other words I'm dying not to make salvation possible for everyone in general but no one in particular and without any certainty that it will be effective in anyone but I'm setting myself apart for this redemptive activity
that those whom you have given me and those who will come to me through the proclamation of the word of the gospel may actually know in their existence the salvation that I am about to procure by setting myself apart for these redemptive acts and because the intercession is based upon the oblation and it has the same objects in view it has the same sorry subjects in view it has the same end in view if we are to be if we see that the intercession of Christ
at the right hand of the Father is a particularized intercession an intercession that actually secures a completed salvation for all of those on whose behalf he intercedes and it does he is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them then surely the sacrifice and the oblation that undergirds the intercession is not wider in its purpose than is the intercession founded upon it it was his death for his own I lay down my life
for the sheep other sheep I have not I hope to have if they will only believe I may have if only men are persuasive enough in their evangelism other sheep I have I already have them that are not of this old them also I hope to bring if they will only decide for me no them also I must bring and there shall be one fold one shepherd you see those who think out of compassion for men they must have an atonement that was made for all men indiscriminately
without any specific intention as to those for whom it is made in reality it is a most uncompassionate redemption or sacrifice for it secures nothing for anyone for certain as someone has said it's a big wide bridge that goes halfway across the chasm and takes no one to the other side but bless God for a redemption that is a bridge that goes from one side of the chasm of man in his sin to God
in his burning holiness and actually carries us there so conformed to Christ that we will be at home in the presence of burning holiness as well as infinite love and if the intercession is a limited a specific intercession for his own people then not only do we rest our doctrine of a specific atonement a definite atonement an efficacious atonement upon the other passages that I've quoted but again
from the whole analogy of scripture that it is on behalf of God on behalf of those for whom he died that he intercedes and his intercession secures on behalf of all those for whom the sacrifice was made everything that the sacrifice procured we see the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit not only conspiring to conceive so great a salvation but committed to bringing that salvation to fruition on the behalf of all those for whom it was graciously and sovereignly so at the end of the day
Invitation to Sinners: Come to the Mighty Savior
my friend if you've come standing in the nakedness of your own felt sinfulness ready to take the posture of a public say God be merciful to me the sinner God does not require of any sinner that he discover himself to be an elect sinner in order to come to Christ he does require that you own yourself a sinner and that Christ is an adequate Savior and that he's a willing Savior that he's an inviting Savior that he's a pleading Savior who does not talk with fork and tongue and when he says come unto me
all who take labor and are heavy laden he doesn't say parenthesis if you have somehow discovered in some way or another that you are that you are elect and if you have in some way or another discovered whether or not you are one of those for whom Christ in particular died with a death that would secure the eternal no he simply says come unto me all who take labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest all that the Father gives me shall come to me well how do I know I've been given and shall come to me and shall come and him that comes to me
I'll in no wise cast out your privilege and your duty is to come God nowhere says it is your duty to discover your election it is your duty of God's word against you as a sinner it is your duty to behold the Lamb of God who is the only Savior this world he is the Lamb of God who bears the burden who bears the burden who bears the burden who bears the way the sin of the world you are invited to come and to put the whole case of your need as a sinner in the hands of a mighty Savior
who in the virtue of his death and in the power of his ever living intercession can save even you to the uttermost who would not want to commit himself to so glorious so mighty so powerful and so efficacious a Savior there is no question but that you put yourself in his hands he'll receive you he'll keep you and he'll accomplish in you all of his saving purposes and one day he will say here I am Father I and the children and you have given me and the Father
Pastoral Exhortation and Warning
will look and smile and see the perfect image of his Son the family likeness mirrored in all of those for whom the Son shed his blood and for whom his intercession secured their perfected redemption oh dear child of God should we not grieve that we love so feebly a Savior who saves so graciously in power and my unconverted friend do you see why God must deal so strongly with you in the day of judgment if you are found in that day indifferent to his Son
and his salvation do you see why God must destroy in flaming fire those who obey not the gospel how could God love his Son how could his face be toward his Son with favor and God just wink at the way you if you go on treating him that way a man who comes up and spits in my wife's face and calls her a slut and treats her like dirt if I stand idly by say nothing and do nothing where is my professed love for my beloved wife
by your unbelief and love of the world and love of sin and love of your face and love of your friends and love of fun and love of everything but God revealed in Christ you spit in the face of an immolated crucified son you inwardly disdain an exalted interceding Savior you say whatever life has for me I can have it and I can enjoy it without a crucifix and an interceding Christ you treat God's Son with disdain and God will treat you
with righteous fury in the day of judgment I beg you men women boys and girls go to so gracious a Savior who not only does not just for the unjust to bring us to God but who now ever lives to intercede on behalf of all who come unto God by Him and in interceding for them He is committed in the whole of His exalted glorified being and activity to save to the uttermost every single one who comes unto God by Him
Prayer for Illumination and Conversion
you say Pastor you don't know my struggles with remaining sin you don't know the ghost of the past that haunts me no I don't but He does and He dares to say commit yourself to Me and by the virtue of my death and the efficacy of my intercession I will save even you to the uttermost our Father we say before the Lord for the sight of Your glory
mirrored in the face of Jesus Christ we pray that You will help us by the Spirit's illumination to grasp the wonder of this dimension of the work of our Savior on our behalf and in our prayers to remember that He does intercede for us and in our stumbling and falling to remember that He does intercede for us and in our stumbling He continues to intercede for us and when we receive blessing from Your hands may we trace it back to the fruit of His intercession
and to the tap roots of that intercession in His sacrifice upon the cross we pray for those who have been indifferent to the Lord Jesus we ask that the pleadings and the warnings and the entreaties and the exultations would be made effectual by the Spirit cause them to see the emptiness and the barrenness as well as the danger of their present state being outside the orbit of His loving tender ever-living intercession oh that they may come to Jesus mediator of the new covenant and to the blood that speaks better things
than that of Abel and find rest in the presence of God and the Savior who invites them to Himself seal then Your word to our hearts and may Your blessing rest upon us in the days of this week that we who name Your name may be living monuments of the efficacy of the intercession of our Lord Jesus as the fruit of His saving mercy is wrought out in us we ask in His name Amen
This transcript was generated by automated speech recognition and may contain errors.
It is provided for study and reference only; the audio recording is the authoritative source.
Passages Expounded
Hebrews 7:25
This verse is the foundational text for the entire sermon series, establishing Christ's ability to save to the uttermost due to His perpetual intercession.
Romans 8:34
This passage is expounded to show the inseparable connection between Christ's death, resurrection, exaltation, and intercession as the basis for the believer's security and vindication.
John 17
Christ's High Priestly Prayer is used to illustrate the particularity and efficacy of Christ's intercession, which undergirds the doctrine of definite atonement.
Texts Expounded
auto_stories
This is the central text for the sermon series, affirming Christ's ability to save to the uttermost because He ever lives to make intercession.
auto_stories
This passage is used to show the intimate connection between Christ's death, resurrection, session, and intercession as the basis for the believer's vindication and security.
auto_stories
This passage on the Day of Atonement is used as Old Testament typology to illustrate the inseparable relationship between priestly offering and priestly intercession.
auto_stories
Christ's High Priestly Prayer is used to demonstrate the particularity of Christ's intercession and, by extension, the definite nature of His atonement.