Restoring the Art of Pleading Your Case
Notes
Transcript
How could you presume to argue with God? God is pleased when we come to His throne pleading for the speedy fulfillment of His promises. When we recite the countless ways He:
Has Delivered in the past
Is Redeeming in the present,
And will Overcome in the days to come.
Presumption presumes to act on authority that it does not have or has not been given
Obedience only acts on the authority of another or upon the authority that it has been given by a higher authority.
We have been given incredible “royal court” privileges and authority by our Lord.
He has personally made each of us priests and kings with the right of entry to the very throne of God.
4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man,
5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ ”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge said.
7 And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?
8 I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”
Isaiah, the prophet, battled with an unrepentant and even defiant nation of Israelites who refused to acknowledge sin or abandon it’s idols, even in the face of defeat, bondage, and literal slavery to other nations.
God issued a challenge, that reveals His heart toward us - even when we are in sin and trying to justify our rebellion:
26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
26 Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
He has broad shoulders....
Legal Setting
Legal Setting
Plead: 1. Argue a case in a court of law; 2. to make an allegation in an action or other legal proceeding
Plea: an earnest entreaty
Shaphat: to judge, to pronounce sentence, to vindicate to punish, or to litigate.
The Hebrew word translated as “declare” or “state your cause” is caphar.
Caphar: to score with a mark as a tally or record, to inscribe, and also to enumerate; to recount, to number.
These definitions taken together paint a picture of a judicial setting, described in purely judicial terminology.
We need a revelation of God Almighty as the Judge of all flesh.
We are privileged to practice before the bar” under the authority and invitation of our Judge Advocate, Jesus.
Man’s Approach Before the Cross and After the Cross
Man’s Approach Before the Cross and After the Cross
18 For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest,
19 and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
20 (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.”
21 And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)
Compare the Old Covenant picture of fear and dread with our place of entry under the New Covenant of the blood of the Lamb:
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
The book of Hebrews describes the dwelling place of God and those who dwell there with Him.
We are reassured as we realize that when we step before the bench of this Judge, we will be in the company of the worshipping angels and familiar people like:
Moses; Aaron; Isaiah; Deborah; Peter, James and Paul.
Chuck Gray, Nona Freeman, Billy Cole....
Best of all, as we come before the Judge of all to plead our intercessory case, we come to the Advocate, the Merciful One, Jesus Christ the mediator, whose sprinkled blood continually cries out, “Mercy,”...
The blood of Abel could only cry, “Vengeance!”.
When you persistently bring your pleas before the Judge of all in the courtroom of Heaven, the Lord looks upon it as faith.
The process of presenting your case and arguments pleases God and it helps us understand the need more completely.
It moves you in compassion
Strengthens your determination
Arms you with a greater depth of holy hunger.
Job could only long for this place:
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat!
4 I would present my case before Him, And fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words which He would answer me, And understand what He would say to me.
The holy argumentation of God is not done in a negative complaining spirit.
It is a passionate presentation to God of the many reasons why it will be in harmony with His:
nature, His righteous government, and the history of His Holy intervention on behalf of His people.
We are not a legal adversary....
It’s more like a well prepared brief, by a legal advocate on behalf of a need and for the welfare of the kingdom.
Doing Your Homework!
Doing Your Homework!
Effective intercession begins with knowledge and understanding.
Know God’s promises.
Understand why the promises have not been fulfilled yet (if possible)
Understand every condition God requires before His various promises are fulfilled.
Then commune with God and get his heart on the matter.
Many have gone before you:
Jeremiah
7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, Do it for Your name’s sake; For our backslidings are many, We have sinned against You.
21 Do not abhor us, for Your name’s sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory. Remember, do not break Your covenant with us.
Joshua
9 For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear it, and surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. Then what will You do for Your great name?”
In The Footsteps of Abraham
In The Footsteps of Abraham
One of the first great intercessors in the Bible was Abraham.
His most famous intercessory prayer was for on the the most sinful places on earth.
He interceded passionately
17 And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,
24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?
45
40
30
20
32 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”
What if Abraham hadn’t stopped at 10?
This illustrates one of the fundamental laws governing the relationship between God and man: God quits when man quits.
Biblical Definitions
Biblical Definitions
Four Biblical definitions of an intercessor.
An intercessor is one who:
1. Reminds the Lord of Promises and appointments not yet met and fulfilled.
6 I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent,
7 And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
2. Takes up the case of justice before God on behalf of another.
15 So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
3. Makes up the hedge, and builds up the wall of protection in time of battle.
4 O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts.
5 You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord.
4. Stands in the gap between God’s righteous judgement, which is due, and the need for mercy on the people’s behalf.
30 So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
31 Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord God.
Responding to His Promises
Responding to His Promises
We deal with two kinds of promises:
Promises recorded in the word of God that are yet to be fulfilled.
Or are ongoing promises to every believer by faith.
Promises given to us in or day that are true, but are yet to be fulfilled.
18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,
19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,
God is watching over His word to perform it:
12 Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.”
We should make our case for those things that:
Are in accordance with God’s will
Extend His Kingdom
Glorify His Name
We are called to ask Him to do what He wants to do!
We are called to ask Him to do what He wants to do!
Plead the Honor and Glory of God’s Name
Plead God’s relationship to us
Creator
Helper
Redeemer
Father
Plead God’s Attributes
Righteousness
Faithfulness
Mercy and love
Plead the Sorrows and Needs of God’s People
Plead the past answers to prayer
Plead the Word and Promises of God
Plead the Blood of Jesus
Closing:
Closing:
26 Put Me in remembrance; Let us contend together; State your case, that you may be acquitted.
His court is always in convened.
Gather your case, check your heart, and fall to your knees!
What case are you ready to bring?