Ron Dunn Podcast - Gaining the Position

Episode Date: December 11, 2024

There are very few intercessors. There is a difference of praying for others and interceeding.

I'm going to read a number of verses, several, before we get to the one passage that I want us to settle on tonight for our primary text. The first one is in Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 1. Jeremiah chapter 5 and verse 1, and you may not want to turn to these, you may just want to listen as I read, because our primary text is going to be in the New Testament. But Jeremiah chapter 5, verse 1, God is enunciating, establishing a principle. He says, Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth,

and I will pardon it. Now we see immediately that he is speaking here of a man who will intercede. If he can find one man who will fulfill certain conditions and be of a certain character, then God will pardon the city. Run to and fro, look for a man, and then he describes that man, if there be any that execute of judgment and that seek of the truth,

and if you can find one man like that, I will pardon the city. Then in Ezekiel chapter 22 verses 30 and 31. And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it but I found none. Therefore have I poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. Their own way have I recompensed upon their heads,

saith the Lord God. Now verse 30 is the one that I really want your attention called to. He says, I sought for how many? Just one man. That would do what? Make up the hedge

that would stand in the gap before the land, before me, for one man, that would do what? Make up the hedge that would stand in the gap before the land, before me, for the land, that I should not destroy it. In other words, God is saying, if I can find just one man from among those people, not an outsider, but one man from that nation who will stand in the gap between me and the land, Then he says, I will not destroy it. And you have there presented the powerful potential of intercession, that one man can stand between the wrath of a holy God and the sinfulness of a nation and can prevent and postpone God's wrath from coming upon that nation. And then you'll find at the end of that verse some of the saddest words that God ever uttered.

But I found none. But I found none. Therefore have I poured out my indignation. Now in Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 through 11. And this is the main body of Scripture that we're going to settle on tonight and use as the fabric out of which we're going to weave this message. Philippians, the second chapter, verses 5 through 11.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, brought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Now the prophet Isaiah mentions twice that God wondered because there was no intercessor. And I have often wondered why there are so few intercessors. Now there are a great many people who pray for others, but there are few intercessors.

I think it would be important for us to distinguish between simply praying for others, which is an expression of intercession, distinguish between praying for others and between intercession. And there are a great many of us tonight in this place who pray for others. You take up your time in that prayer chapel. Maybe you do not spend it in the prayer chapel, but you have a time during your daily prayer life where you pray for others. And all of us, more than likely, who know how to pray,

who are interested in prayer in this room, have a practice, make a habit of praying for others. But that does not mean that you and I are intercessors. Why are there so few intercessors? And what God dealt with me about for several weeks and crystallized it just a few days ago is this truth, that intercession is not prayer. I think I had always, before I began to study in this area, I had always considered that intercession was prayer, that intercession is petition, making my petition for someone else. But intercession is not prayer. Now, prayer is the ultimate expression of intercession.

It is intercession giving its voice, and it is the practice of intercession. This is how intercession expresses itself. But prayer is not intercession. Intercession is not praying. But intercession is position. Intercession is position. And that position is not on your knees praying in a chapel.

That is one form, one expression of intercession. But intercession is not petition that we make to God. It is a position that we have before God. You see, he says in Ezekiel, he said, I sought for a man from among them who would do what? Pray? Doesn't say that. I sought for a man who would make up the head, who would stand in the gap before me for the land. He was looking for a man who would have a certain position before the Lord on behalf of the land. Now that man might pray, more than likely he would, but that prayer was simply the consequence of his position. Intercession is not something you do, it is something you are. Intercession is not what you do with your life. Intercession

is the life you live. Now, it's easy to pray for others, and we can pray for others with a certain amount of detachment, but real, genuine intercession involves the total man and involves the total being, and it is something you do with all your heart. It is not something you do at one o'clock on Monday. It is something you do every moment of every day of every year. Intercession is position. And what God dealt with me about was the fact that I did not know if I was in that position. And that all of my praying for others had been good and God had heard it, but I had never really learned how to intercede because I had never really seen that intercession is gaining a position.

And once you've gained that position, then you can intercede. Let me give you a couple of examples. Let's suppose here is a wife who has a lost husband, and she wants to intercede for him. She wants to be able to stand in the gap before God for her husband so that God would not destroy him. Now, she needs to take up a certain position. It is not simply praying for it when you think about it, but it is a life that she must learn to live. Now, once she gains the position of intercession,

everything she does is prayer and interceding. She, according to 1 Peter 3, understanding what God requires in order for him to use her as a channel through which to reach that husband, submits herself unto her own husband. That act and attitude of submission is intercession. When she bakes his favorite apple pie and puts two scoops of ice cream on it, that is intercession. When he abuses her and she submits to it, she is interceding. When he takes advantage of her submission, she is interceding. Every breath she breathes, every beat of her heart is intercession. She is in a position of intercession.

And her life of submissiveness is a life of interceding because she has gained the position. Let's use another illustration. Here is a person whom God has burdened to intercede for another person, and God specifically instructs you to pray and fast in order to gain that position of intercession. This is the way I want you to fast for fast in order to gain that position of intercession this is the way i want you to fast for that person the lord impresses you i want you to fast and so in order to gain the position that god wants you to gain in order to stand in the gap before the lord for that lost person you fast now having gained a position, every hunger pain you feel is a prayer before the throne of God. Every meal you go without

is intercession. Every breath you breathe is intercession. Every time your heart beats, you are interceding. Intercession is position. And once having gained that position, then you can intercede. Now, how do you gain this position? Once you gain it, you say, well, if that is so, then how does that reconcile with going

over here in the prayer chapel and flipping through those Rolodex cards and reading names of people I've never seen. It seems to me that what you're talking about is that I can only really intercede for one person at a time. Not so. Once having gained a position, then you are in a position to pray. You see, our praying for others is praying from a position. Jesus on the cross prayed, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. But he was praying from a position. And Moses gained the position and prayed for an entire nation. Abraham gained the position and prayed for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Jesus gained that position and he interceded for an entire world, past, present, and future. It is first of all gaining that position. Well, then how do you gain that position? I think we are instructed in the life of Jesus. You see, the work of redemption was the work of intercession. And a revealing statement is found in the last verse of Isaiah 53 describing the work of Jesus in redeeming the lost world. It said that he made intercession for the transgressors. It doesn't say he simply prayed for them, but it embraces his entire life of ministry here on this earth. And what Jesus did while he was here on earth

was to gain a position of intercession. And the work of salvation and the work of world redemption was the work of intercession. During his earthly ministry, Jesus was interceding. On one occasion, in the, I believe it's the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Luke and the 13th chapter of the Gospel of John and the 13th chapter of the Gospel of John. He prays, he intercedes for Simon Peter who's going to deny him,

who is going to backslide. And he says, But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. In John chapter 17, you have there recorded the longest prayer in the Bible which is a prayer of intercession. But if you'll read that, you'll see that he's praying from a certain position

because he said, I have finished the work thou gavest me to do. He had gained a position. I have finished the work thou gavest me to do. And he is interceding for his disciples and not only for them, but also for all who will believe on him through their word. When Jesus died on the cross, that death on the cross was an act of intercession. For the Bible says that he took our place and God made him to be sin in our behalf. That's what intercession is. You know what Jesus is doing right now at this very moment? He is interceding.

Hebrews 7.25 says that God, he is able to save all of them that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Romans chapter 8, I believe it's about the 33rd verse, it says, or verse 34, I believe it is, that right now Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God making intercession for us. You see, the whole ministry of Jesus was one of intercession. And when he sent the Holy Spirit, what do you

think the Holy Spirit came to do? He came to intercede. In Romans chapter 8, the Word of God reveals to us that the Holy Spirit who dwells within us is a spirit of intercession, and he is making intercession for the saints according to the will of God. So Jesus is a pattern of intercession. And if I want to be an intercessor as was Jesus, then I must go to the same step that Jesus Christ went through. This is what Paul, I think, means when he says in verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And you have the steps to gaining the position right there in that passage. And there are four that are mentioned, and I want to share these with you very briefly. Number one, the first step in Jesus gaining the position where he could intercede for a world and obtain their redemption,

his first step was in humiliation, in humiliation. Verse 6 reads that jesus christ being in the form of god thought it not robbery to be equal with god but made himself of no reputation he emptied himself and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The first step was Jesus Christ, living in glory,

on equality with the Father, thought it not something to hold on to, this equality with God, and so he emptied himself, not of his divine nature, but he emptied himself of the divine equality of all the rights and the privileges and the prerogatives that belong to God he emptied

himself and condescended to become a man he humbled himself and in his humiliation the Bible says is where he began to make intercession and that was the first step. And you know what? He says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the pattern. And the first step in your gaining the position of an intercessor

is the step of humiliation, making of yourself of no reputation. Now, I think there are two aspects to this. Number one is sacrificial selflessness. Sacrificial selflessness.

In verse 4, Paul, of course, in this passage, is trying to solve a problem of pettiness and strife that was existing in the Philippian church. And so he says, Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

What attitude? Well, the attitude that does not look upon your own things, is not interested in your own things, but also looks with interest and concern upon the things of others. And Jesus Christ, because he refused to be selfish in his outlook, because he refused to let the horizon of his concern be limited to his own life, he lifted up his eyes and looked upon our needs and therefore he humbled himself. And the first step in humiliation is sacrificial

selflessness. Not looking upon your own desires. Not looking upon your own interests. But giving up of yourself. It's just living a life the opposite of selfishness. And you know, as I thought about this, I saw this demonstrated in the life of Abraham. Abraham was one of the great intercessors

of the Word of God. And there's something that happened in Abraham's life that helped him start out in this position. It's found in Genesis chapter 13, when Abraham, along with his family and with Lot and his family, have moved out. They haven't been following God very long until a strife arises between Abraham's workmen and Lot's workmen.

Now, what are you going to do about this? Well, what needs to be done, God decides, is that Lot and Abraham split up and they go their separate ways. Now I want you to notice something. Abraham was the man in authority. Abraham was the head of that whole party. Abraham had the highest rights and the highest privileges. But I want you to notice what he did. In verse 8, And Abraham said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou will take the left hand, then I will go to the right or if thou will depart to the right hand then I will go to the left and right there Abraham did

something a few of us have ever learned to do Abraham was in the position of authority he was in the position of leadership it really belonged to him to say, Lot, I'm going to choose first and you'll get the leftovers. But Abraham humbled himself and did not look upon his own interest only, but he looked upon the interest of Lot and he said, Lot, you choose. And if you choose to go to the right hand, I'll choose the left hand. And if you choose the left hand, I'll take what's left over. And Lot lift up his eyes towards the plains of Jordan, which was a choice piece of property in that section of the country. What was Abraham doing? Abraham was being selfless and humbling himself, gaining a position.

Now you know why Abraham was able to pray for Lot and intercede for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And Abraham was the one who delivered Lot from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. I'll tell you what, you're not going to be able to intercede for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And Abraham was the one who delivered Lot from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. I'll tell you what, you're not going to be able to intercede and deliver people if you have, first of all, not humbled yourself before them. And that's what Abraham did. And this also was true in the life of Moses as he was praying. You know, I've read this intercessory prayer of Moses a lot of times before I ever saw this 10th verse.

God is speaking to Moses and the people have committed a grievous sin. God says, Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them, and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God and went on to inter thee a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God and went on to intercede for the nation. Now, I want you to see something. God says to Moses, Moses, I want you to let me alone.

I don't want you to pray for these people. I don't want you to ask me to forgive them. I don't want you to fool with me. I'm sick and tired of them. He says, Moses, I've got a proposition for you. I had intended to make of this people a great nation, but I'm sick and tired of fooling with them. I don't want you to bother with me about them.

But I tell you what I'm going to do, Moses. If you'll leave me alone about this bunch of people, I will make of thee a great nation. What a bargain. What a proposition. I tell you, if the Lord were to come to you tonight and say, hey, you just don't worry about so-and-so, and you don't worry about praying about him, you just forget about him, and I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll make of you a great people.

I'll make you great. And what would you do? You'd say, boy, that sounds pretty good, Lord. I just think I'll follow your, take you up on your word. I don't think I'll pray for old so-and-so, and I'll let you make of me a great nation. And Moses was not at all interested and concerned about it. God says, I will make of thee a great nation. What did Moses say? Moses said, Lord, don't destroy the people. You promised to bless them and make of them, and that's what I want. That's what I want. And Moses was willing to be selfless in his outlook and gave up what God had said, I will do for you if you'll leave me alone and not pray for this people. That's one of the things that is involved in humbling yourself in order to gain the position. The other thing is sacrificial service. The Bible says that Jesus Christ became a servant and was found in the fashion of a man who humbled himself and became a servant.

Jesus said, I am come not to be ministered to, but to minister unto. Do you know the reason some of us never get around to interceding? It's because we are so wrapped up in our own problems, and we are so wrapped up in our own problems and we are so wrapped up in our own concerns and we're so wrapped up in our own needs and do you know what the position of intercession is it is when you stop wanting to be ministered to and you give yourself to minister to others and i got news for you if you will do that in ministering to others god will minister to you but the truth of the matter is that many of us walk around through our life wanting everyone to minister to us.

We want our needs met. And we spend all of our time praying. Somebody said, I don't have time to pray for anybody else. By the time I get through praying for my own needs, I don't have time to pray for anybody else. I want you to know something. Their needs are never going to be met as God wants to meet them. I've shared with you before Job 42.10, one of the greatest statements in all the Word of God, that it says the Lord turned again the captivity of Job when he prayed

for his friends. And that's beautiful. That Job had a need, but when Job forgot about his own need and quit worrying about his own problem and prayed for the needs of others to be met, when he prayed for his friends, and that's just throwing the word around lightly and loosely, they weren't too swift of friends because they'd been critical of him and lied about him and accused him. But when Job prayed for his friends, then the Lord turned again his captivity. God released him, God delivered him, and God threw in something else. He gave him twice as much as he had before. Now, I'm not saying that God's going to give you twice as much money as you have now if you start praying for somebody else to have their financial needs met.

But I'll tell you what, I wouldn't mind shooting down that hole and just seeing if there's anything to it. But you see what he's doing there is enunciating a principle. And there are some people here tonight to stand up and give you testimony how that when they started, they had their own needs, and a couple in our church had their own needs, had three specific needs, and that's going to be in the book when and if it ever comes out. But they had their own three specific needs, and they found, asked God to show them somebody else who had the same needs as they had,

and when they started praying for those other people's needs, their own needs were met. And they did that before I preached on Job 42.10. I wonder who taught them how to do that. They were glad when I finally preached on it, they found out it was scriptural. God taught them to do that. All right, first step is self-humiliation. And I'm not speaking of humiliation in the sense of being embarrassed or mortified. I'm speaking in the sense that Jesus Christ was humble and he humbled himself.

Self-humiliation, making of himself no reputation. All right? The second step, not only humiliation, the second step is identification. Identification. Notice in that passage describing Jesus as he made this descent in verse 7, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. He was made in the likeness of men

and being found in fashion as a man. Did you notice in Ezekiel 22 verse 30, God says, I sought for a man where? From among them. From among them. Jesus Christ totally identified himself with those with whom he was going to intercede. Identification. You remember the parable in Luke chapter 11 of the man who went begging bread? There he identified himself with that other man.

One night around midnight, a friend dropped by. He was on a journey and he was hungry. And the custom said that he must feed this guest. But the host had no bread. And so he went out at midnight begging bread. Now, he wasn't the one that was hungry. I have a feeling if I dropped into some of your houses and I said, boy, I sure am hungry. They said, well, there's a 7-Eleven right down there open all night. Go help yourself. Now, that man could have said, I'm not the one that's hungry. Why should I go begging bread? Why should I risk losing my friends? Why should I make a fool of myself? Why should I lose sleep? I'm not the one that's hungry. But he acted as though he were. He wasn't in need of bread, but he acted as though he were. And he identified

himself with that man who was hungry. And I want to tell you something. You know what the greatest sin of MacArthur Boulevard Baptist Church is? It is our ability to minister to others with absolute detachment. And that's really how we want to minister. We don't want to get down there with them. We don't want to get involved. And this is just nature, human nature, old fallen human nature. This is why we will take up a $21,000 offering every year to stand a foreign mission so that lost people around the world can be saved but will not walk across the street to tell anybody about Jesus.

That's like a woman wanting to have a child without travail. That's like a lifeguard wanting to save people without getting wet. That's like wanting to pull people out of the fire without getting hot yourself. And our sin in our country and among modern Christianity is our ability to minister to other people with cold, absolute detachment. We don't want to get involved. The identification is getting right down there with them and becoming involved and becoming a part of it. Listen, don't you ever ask God to do anything that you're not willing for him to do through you. Identification is that I take a position of

intercession and I'm asking god to do something in this person's life and i am willing for god to do it through me i'm willing to be the answer to my own prayer it's like that fellow we talked about last sunday morning in the book of james chapter 2 when he met this man that was naked and destitute and was hungry and he said god bless you be you warm and feel notwithstanding he did not give him anything that he needed. He should have been the answer to his own prayer. You know, when Jesus was dying on that cross and he looked at that mob that had crucified him,

he offered a prayer. He was interceding, but he was interceding from a position, people. And he said, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Now listen, get this. Jesus was the answer to his own prayer because Jesus could not ask the Father to forgive them unless Jesus was willing to go through with the crucifixion because his death was the basis of their forgiveness.

And Jesus Christ identified himself and he was the answer to his own prayer. And if he had come off of that cross and had not died, then God the Father could not have answered that prayer for forgiveness because his shed blood and his death was the basis of that forgiveness. Jesus stood before the tomb of Lazarus and spoke to that one who was dead and said, Lazarus, come forth. But I want you to know something. Jesus was the answer to his own prayer. Because the basis of Lazarus' resurrection was the Lord's own resurrection that was to come. And when he spoke to Mary and Martha, he said,

Just believe, I am the resurrection and the life. And it was because Jesus had set his face like a flint to be crucified and was going to be raised, that he was able to speak a word and Lazarus come forth. You see what he was doing? Jesus was laying it on the line and laying down his life so that he could be the answer to his own prayer.

And that brings me to the next point. First of all, humiliation. Secondly, identification. And third, crucifixion. They go hand in hand. And this is really where it's all leading. Jesus laid down His life that the Father might answer His prayer.

In John 17, Jesus says, Father, I pray not only for these, but all of those who will believe on Me through their words, that they may be one as You and I are one, that they may share the glory that you and I share. What a prayer.

You know what Jesus was praying for there? Jesus was asking the Father that someday you and I might be in glory and share the same glory that Jesus and the Father share. Isn't that something? Jesus said, Father, I want these people to get in on what you and I have.

I want them to know the love. I want them to know the glory that you and I share. But I want you to know something. Jesus, in order for that prayer to be answered, had to lay down his own life. And the third and most vital step in getting to position is crucifixion.

He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And I can just say a word about this, that you're going to have to live the cross life. You're going to have to apply the cross to your sleep and be willing to give up some sleep in order to pray. You're going to have to apply the cross to your own life and be willing to give up your own convenience and your own advantages and your own life and your own conveniences in order to

gain a position. I do not believe a wife who has a lost husband can really ever gain that position of submissiveness until she dies to self. Did you know that's the reason that Paul says in Ephesians 5.18, you need to be filled with the Spirit before you can submit? Because you can't be filled with the Spirit until you get off the throne, put Jesus on it, and you get on the cross and stay there and reckon yourself daily indeed dead unto sin. And then you can submit yourself to your husband. Then a husband can love his wife sacrificially, selflessly,

as Christ loved the church, but he can never do it as he is alive, when he is alive, to his own desires and his own wants. It's only as he gets on the cross and is willing to die to self and take up the cross

and put his own wants and his own desires and his own ambitions to death, only then is he able to love as Christ loved. Only then is she able to submit as God tells her to. Now, let me just move on to the last one. Humiliation, identification, crucifixion, and number four, exaltation. Verse 9 says, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him

and given him a name which is above every name. Now what's that wherefore or therefore? The wherefore... Really, when you're reading the Bible and you come to a wherefore, you ought to ask, what's it there for? Because any time that Paul or any of the writers use a wherefore, you ought to ask, what's it there for? Because any time that Paul or any of the writers use a wherefore or a therefore, they're always saying, okay, folks, I'm getting

ready to make it practical. Now, up to this point, he's been intensely theological, and he still is, but it's an index finger pointing to what has just preceded. What does that wherefore refer to? Because he humbled himself, because he identified himself, because he was crucified, because of this God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. Now he is able to intercede for us and we can be saved of the uttermost. Now he is able to give us all things freely because why? He has humbled himself. He has identified himself and he has been crucified and God has highly exalted him. And I want to tell you something. Once you as a believer are willing to gain that position and you're willing to humble yourself and identify yourself and take death to yourself, God will highly exalt you and you will be in a position of authority in prayer.

You know, when Moses got through praying, you know, God said, I want you to let me alone. And I think maybe I'd been afraid to go ahead and pray, you know. I mean, God said, Moses, let me alone. I think I ought to let him alone. But Moses had a sense of authority, didn't he? He had a sense of authority. And he prayed to the Lord.

And you know what? Moses said two things. First of all, he said, Lord, you can't do this. Well, I always say to Moses, you better back off a little bit. You're liable to get wiped out. But he says, Lord, you can't do this because if you do this, the Egyptians are going to mock. The world's going to make fun of you. They're going to say,

uh-huh, that's what happens when you follow God. He got you out there in the desert and then he killed you. You know the second thing he said? He said, Lord, you can't do this because you promised Abraham and Isaac and Israel they'd be a great nation.

And if you destroy them, you'll be breaking your word. You ever talk like that to God? You know what Genesis said? be a great nation. And if you destroy them, you'll be breaking your word. You ever talk like that to God? You know what Genesis said? Abraham said in Genesis? You know, there's one little thing I love about that story in Sodom and Gomorrah.

When God's anger is kindled and He's going to destroy the cities of the plain, He says, I can't do this without telling Abraham. Isn't that something? You know, when you gain the position,

God will tell you things that He won't tell anybody else. And to me, that is one of the most beautiful statements in all the Word. He says, I can't do this without telling Abraham. And so God told...

Why do you suppose God told Abraham because He wanted Abraham to intercede? And He said, Abraham, I'm going to destroy the cities of the plain. I'm going to just burn them out. You know what Abraham said? He said, Lord, will you destroy the righteous with the unrighteous? Remember Lot's over there. Lord, have you thought this through?

Are you going to destroy the righteous with the unrighteous? Then he said the second thing. He said, be that far from thee. That's boldness, authority. Then he said, and this tapped it all off, he said, shall not the judge of all the earth do that which is right? Abraham had humbled himself way back yonder in Genesis 13.

He had a right to ask for Sodom and Gomorrah. You know why he had a right to ask for it? Because he had given it up. I want to tell you something. Everything you give up is yours, and it's not yours until you give it up. He had a right because he gave it up. Well, meanwhile, back with Moses.

Moses interceded, told God that if he destroyed Israel, that people were going to mock and that he'd be breaking his word. And the Bible says that when Moses got through praying, the Lord repented himself of the evil he had thought to do unto the people. Now that's authority.

That's exaltation. Have you ever made the Lord repent? You say, man, I don't understand that. What do you mean? God changing his mind. God knows all things. I don't understand it either. I don't really know.

I think God is using there the language of accommodation. He's speaking in human terms so you and I can understand a little bit of what's going on. And I really don't care to know all the mysteries behind that. All I know is that intercession causes God to do some things He would not otherwise do, and intercession causes God not to do some things He would do if we didn't intercede. And all I know is that the Bible says,

and Moses ought to know because he wrote that, and it's recorded that when Moses got through pray the Lord repented himself of the evil he had thought to do unto the people and I do know this that because Jesus humbled himself because he identified himself and because he was willing

and laid down his life for you and me to be crucified gave up his rights gave up everything for you and me that God highly, gave up his rights, gave up everything for you and me, that God highly exalted him. And this night he stands at the right hand of the Father on high and is interceding for me and is going to save me to the uttermost because he has gained the position.

And when you gain the position, my friend, you will pray with authority. But it's the life that prays. In Jeremiah, God says, I'm looking for a man that executes righteousness and truth. You see, he was looking for a certain type of character. Not looking for a person that just would pray all night. He said, I want you to run to and fro in the street.

I want you to find a man that executes judgment and walks in truth. He said, if I can find a man like that, I'll spare the city. In other words, if there's a man that has that position before me, I'll spare the city.

Now I want to just close and ask you this question. Are you an intercessor? Or do you just pray for others? Are you an intercessor? Or do you just pray for others? Can you say tonight, Lord, I live such a life? I have so humbled myself.

I have so identified myself with people who are in need. I have so taken death to myself and died to what I want, died to my ambitions. I have so abandoned myself to minister to others. Father, I believe tonight that I have gained the position of intercession. You cannot really intercede with cold detachment. You can only intercede with involvement, getting all wrapped up in it, laying your life down, putting it on the line for others. In 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14, one of the great promises of revival found in the Word of God, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, turn from their wicked ways, seek my face and pray.

And that word pray is the Hebrew word for intercede. If they will intercede, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land. Would you like for God to hear from heaven tonight? Would you like for God to forgive the sin of America? Would you like for God to forgive the sin of America? Would you like for God to heal this land? He says he'll do it if you'll gain the position and you'll intercede, if you'll humble yourself, if you'll turn from your wicked ways, if you'll seek my face. Then I'll hear your intercession.

I'll heal the land. What is it that needs healing? What is your land tonight? Your own personal life? Your home? Your business? What is your land? Do you want God to heal it? He promises to do it if you fulfill the conditions

and gain the position.