He Ever Liveth to Make Intercession
by
T. Austin-Sparks
Transcribed from a message given
by T. Austin-Sparks in February 1955. The spoken form has
been retained verbatim.
Fragments of scripture in the gospel by Luke, chapter
2, at verse 34:
And Simeon blessed them and said unto Mary his
mother, Behold this child is set for the falling and
rising of many in Israel and for a sign which is spoken
against, yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own
soul that thoughts out of many hearts shall be revealed.
And in the 22nd chapter of the same gospel, at verse 31:
Simon, Simon, behold satan asked to have you
that he might sift you as wheat. But I made supplication
for thee that thy faith fail not.
The gospel by Matthew, chapter 26, verse 31:
Then said Jesus unto them, All ye shall be
offended in me this night, for it is written, I will
smite the Shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be
scattered abroad.
And the gospel by John, chapter 17, verse 9:
I pray for them, for those who thou hast given
me, for they are thineVerse 14:
I have given them thy word and the world hateth
them because they are not of the world even as I am not
of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them
from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from
the evil one.
There are a number of other passages that I would like to
lay alongside of those, but just one more, in the letter
to the Hebrews, chapter 7, verse 25:
Wherefore also he is able to save to the
uttermost them that draw near unto God through him,
seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
I do want this word this morning to be an establishing
word, a word by which we shall be strengthened in our
life in the Lord and there are two sides to this word,
one which may seem to be the dark side, the other the
bright side.
These passages which we have read which, as I have said,
are but a selection from a number of others of like kind,
bring before us the tremendous ordeal of the Cross. What
a lot was going on in the unseen during those hours from
the arrest of the Lord to His death; I mean in the hearts
of people, with all the movement and the activity and the
excitement and everything else on the outside, there was
a corresponding activity going on within lives. That
prophecy of Simeon to Mary was verily being fulfilled.
The hour when the sword pierced her heart, the thoughts
out of many hearts were being revealed. The heart of
Judas was revealed, the heart of Simon Peter in the
judgment hall was being revealed. One by one they were
passing into this terrible ordeal until they were all
included, All ye shall be offended because
of Me this night. The sheep will be scattered
abroad when the Shepherd is smitten. And I have not
read these other passages about Judas and about their all
forsaking Him and fleeing or following afar off. It was
all a revelation of the heart in the hour of the Cross.
It does seem, dear friends, that that was not only true
on that occasion, but whenever the Lord is moving toward
something new some spiritual enlargement,
something fuller of Himself, in resurrection life, in
service very often theres an ordeal that has
to be gone through in preparation. An ordeal of the Cross
that is, those concerned pass through a time when
all sorts of unsuspected things in their own hearts are
dragged out into the light; ugly things. Things they
would never have believed to be there any more than Peter
would have believed if hed been told and as he was
told what he would do and what he would say in that hour.
Not one of them would have believed for a moment that
they would have been offended or shaken and flee, or do
whatever it was that they respectively did; they wouldnt
have believed it! Peter himself very, very strongly
reacted to the suggestion that he would do anything of
the kind.
And so it is from time to time on the move with God
towards something more, experiences, something like
this, take place we have a bad time. It seems the
worst time than ever weve had before when things
come to light about ourselves and to ourselves that we
would never either have suspected or believed had they
been told us.
I dont know about Judas, whether he really did
know his motive, the thoughts of his heart, whether if he
had been told that he would perpetrate such a crime as to
deny and betray the Lord Jesus because, because hed
altogether failed to set a right and sufficient estimate
upon Jesus. I think that was really behind it all, thirty
pieces of silver seemed to be of greater value than the
Lord; an altogether inadequate evaluation of the Lord.
Surely there was something wrong with that
heart. He might not have believed it if hed been
told.
Peter? Well he was told what he would do but he wouldnt
have it. He wouldnt have it, because he never
suspected the secret cowardice of his own heart. A man
who can face storms upon the sea with a good deal of
physical courage very often breaks down when its a
matter of spiritual courage or moral courage, and he
perhaps was mistaking his physical courage for moral
courage and never suspected that cowardice in his own
heart and never would have believed that a situation
could arise where with all his might he would seek to
preserve himself. Self-preservation... deep in his
heart... he wouldnt believe it. It was all being
brought out into the light.
And then as for the rest, the other ten, they all
forsook, fled... they would never have believed. The
infinite perils of unbelief! The Lord had told them, told
them again and again what was going to happen and what
would eventuate from His suffering: death. No, no, deeply
rooted was this unbelief; this could never happen, this
would never happen! They neither believed in His death
nor His resurrection. But they wouldnt have said
they didnt believe in it. It was something there,
unsuspected. Was it the strength of unsanctified
ambition? A kingdom in this world and a place in it? Was
that covering up so much more, that they could not
believe in His death? Their kingdom went if that happened.
Well, it was a tremendous night, a terrific ordeal and
really its a wonder that anybody survived. Only one
man did not survive: Judas. Judas did not survive and the
Lord Jesus said, them have I kept, them that thou
gavest Me, none of them, none of them is lost except the
son of perdition. Now, Im not going into the
story of Judas but let it be said here, lest anybody ever
should, and sometimes Christians do get into a state
where they do take hold of Judas and arrange themselves
alongside of him as absolutely hopeless and having
committed the unpardonable sin, there is no forgiveness.
Remember that Judass was a lifelong, calculated, coldly
calculated course. The word in Hebrews which so many
people do take up in their dark time, about it is
impossible to restore such a one again to repentance, has
connected with it this: remember this, seeing that they
willfully, they willfully! It is a matter of willfulness
and it was willfulness with Judas. It was willfulness.
Well you can decide whether you are a willful,
deliberate, calculating betrayer of the Lord Jesus with
no estimate upon His worth and value above thirty pieces
of silver. If thats your state, well, it is pretty
hopeless isnt it? But leave Judas aside, leave him
aside.
Take these others. We are surprised, we are amazed, are
we not, that any of them survived and came out! And the
wonderful story is written about them afterwards. What a
story! Why? Why did they survive? Why did they
have such a glorious afterward? Why, with all
this terrible self-disclosure, enough to shatter anyone
and anyones hope about himself or herself, why?
I have prayed, said the Lord Jesus,
I pray for them, I pray for them. So He said
in that matchless prayer of John 17: I pray
for them. To Simon, But I prayed for
thee that thy faith fail not and then for us all
seeing He ever liveth to make intercession.
Well thats the bright side, you see, there may be
the day of the dark ordeal when the Lord is having to
make us, in the first place, realize more than ever what
a need of His salvation and His grace there is in our own
lives. Oh, how much we need the grace of God, for
everything depends upon how much we realize the need of
the grace of God. To Him thats a tremendously
important thing, that you and I are just wrecked upon the
grace of God. So that really, really out of the depth we
say, but for the grace of God where should I be?
You know, we dont realize that all at once
when we first come to the Lord, some do come out of the
depths and are able to say at once Oh the grace of
God is unspeakably wonderful! but there are a large
number who do not have that deep consciousness to begin
with. But weve got to have it sooner or later, that
our whole position, our whole future,
our whole hope rests upon the grace of
God. That has to be not words, not doctrine, but
something that is wrung out of a deep experience and
consciousness. And to bring that about, these times of
self-disclosure seem to be necessary, that we might learn
more the meaning of His Grace. But oh, when we are going
through... well, Peter, how shattering it all was for
him, to realize what was there all the time, what had
been there all along. How shattering. And no doubt that
was true of the others who would never have believed or
suspected... now its all so true, they are just
like that after all, just like that. No one would have
believed it about themselves.
Yes, a shattering thing is this self-discovery. How shall
we get through? Well dear friends, the establishing word
is that He who prayed for them, the eleven, and He who
prayed for Simon Peter, the one, and got them through
by prayer, ever liveth to make intercession for us
and will get us through! Solid ground under our
feet is the intercession of our Lord which is going on
now! What is our hope? Where is our hope? What is our
confidence? Just that. When we cannot pray ourselves,
sometimes thats for ourselves, and when we seem to
be at the end of being able to pray for someone else, He
ever liveth to make intercession. Thank God for the
prayer life of the Lord Jesus! It does not relieve us of
responsibility or exonerate us from carelessness in this
matter, but friends, we have reached the end and can do
no more He ever lives TO... TO make
intercession. He lives TO make intercession. Why
does He live? Why is He alive? To make intercession until
He has got us.
You read that prayer in John 17 and look at that. He says
All ye shall be offended because of Me this night
for it is written I will smite the Shepherd and the sheep
of the flock shall be scattered I pray that they
all may be one... Yes, scattered hither and
thither like a broken vessel, its pieces and fragments
all over the place and then after His resurrection He
collects the pieces from every place and brings them
together and the prayer is answered, that they may be
one. And Peter, standing up with them, the day of
Pentecost, the prayer is answered they are one.
They are one.
Well, theres virtue and efficacy in the prayer of
the Lord Jesus. The Cross reveals much which disheartens
and disconcerts and would bring us to despair but for His
faithfulness in prayer for us. He that keepeth
Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps, He ever
liveth... Let us draw more upon what He is doing now
for us, rely more upon it, and if you feel, any
one of you feel you can do no more, that youve
prayed yourself to a standstill about yourself or someone
else or something, dont give up, dont pass
away your confidence. Remember: He is going on, He ever
liveth to make intercession.
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