Abraham: Warrior Intercessor
Series: Running With the Giants – What OT Heroes Teach UsPastor Ed Riddick - Sunday, November 20th, 2005
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In 14th Century Scotland, William Wallace leads his people in a rebellion against the tyranny of the English King, who has given English nobility the ‘Prima Nocta’.. a right to take all new brides for the first night. The Scots are none too pleased with the brutal English invaders, but they lack leadership to fight back. Wallace creates a legend of himself, with his courageous defence of his people and attacks on the English.
If they were coming and to kill the men, rape the women and dragged off the children what would we do? This is not peacetime. Every believer must realize we are at war.
We are in a huge battle for the human heart.
2 cities with casios every state and many communities.
And a casino in every bar and every home.
On every TV
Two porn shops in Oshkosh … possibility of an outlet for smut in every home.
Matthew 24:12 “And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” ESV
In less than 24 hours all the men of the community will come to drag away the guests in Lot’s home to sexually assault them. And these sins cry out to God’s justice to do something about it.
I. God’s Friend, 18:16 – 19
“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?”
Psalm 25:14a “The Lord confides in those who fear him” NIV
John 15:15 “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”
Reveals God’s “self-talk”. And he lists 3 reasons he should tell Abraham what he is about to do.
These reasons are the implications of friendship with God.
1. Intimate partnership!
“Shall I hide from Abraham”
“The Lord confides”
“Everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to
you.”
What’s on His heart? Can God speak to you personally?
God makes us part of his business! We are his confidantes.
2. God’s 3 – G’s for each of his children:
Great plans
Great impact
Great blessing (enrichment)
Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” NIV
John 15:7-8 “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”
John 15:16-17 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. “These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” ESV
3. Chosen! Favored position of blessing. Called out of darkness
You have been chosen by God to make a difference in your
world!
But there is a prerequisite: 18:19
“You must keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right!”
Deuteronomy 6:5-6 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” ESV
Joshua 3:5 “Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”” ESV
Matthew 12:29 “Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.” ESV
A battle rages in the heart of every believer
If Satan can not keep us from coming into a personal
relationship with Christ
Satan’s goal is to destroy God’s work in us and
To keep us from being effective in ministry for Christ.
Galatians 5:16-25 “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
Each of us must choose between living for and following Christ and serving sin.
Matthew 6:24 ““No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” NIV
Proverbs 4:23 “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. ” NASB95
Your first battle is to win the battle for your heart! You must take a stand in your own heart before you can stand in the gap for others.
How goes the battle? Are you being pushed around in your heart away from your love for Christ and your loyalty to His cause?
II. The news of coming judgment!, 18:20-22
“I will go down and see” = the language of accommodation.
God does not need to go down and visit any city to see what is going on. He is using Abraham’s own language to express truth that reflects his nature.
Every sin of man is like a voice crying out to God for justice.
Genesis 4:10 “And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.” ESV
Genesis 13:13 “Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.” ESV
Genesis 20:6 “Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.”
Justice means that people are going to get what they deserve based on God’s clear and full understanding of they’ve done. He knows every intimate detail.
He sees and hears and thinks clearly.
Hebrews 12:22-23 “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, … and to God, the judge of all” ESV
Hebrews 4:13 “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” ESV
God presented Christ as a sacrifice to demonstrate His justice.
His life offered on the cross accomplished something nothing else could. It “covered” our sin not in the sense of pretending it didn’t happen but in the sense that our extreme offense against a holy God was replaced by Christ’s sacrifice.
So God is on his way to judge Sodom and Gomorrah.
And if God judged Sodom and Gomorrah how far away do you think his judgment is in our world today.
What can Abraham do?
In such a world as this, what can you and I do? How can we help? What is our part in this war? How can we protect and rescue our families and those around us?
III. Abraham: The Warrior Intercessor, 18:22-33
Incredible account. News of impending judgment and Abraham’s response.
We might say, “Good, they’ve got it coming. I was wondering how long you would put up with this. Personally, I’d done it long ago.
Not Abraham! Not a time to be self-righteous.
“Abraham remained standing fore the Lord” Did not let go!
Abraham stands between them and God’s judgment and pleads for mercy!
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” NIV
1 Timothy 2:1 “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions (intercessions) and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, ” NASB95
ἔντευξις a falling in with, a conversation with, also in 1 Tim 4:5
Moses interceded for Israel – Deut 9:26-27 ““I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people, even Your inheritance, whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. “‘Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look at the stubbornness of this people or at their wickedness or their sin. ”
Several interesting things:
1. What if? Lots of things shrouded in mystery.
Oh dear ones in Christ, there are lots of mystery!
What if this or what if that! Hard to live with mystery!
God knows the whole picture. He knows the beginning and the end.
And we must trust Him.
Revelation 1:8 ““I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”” ESV
Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”” ESV
2. Abraham pleads their case based on the character of God.
Abraham bases his plea on the justice of God.
18:25: His justice – will not the God of all the earth do right?
Exodus 15:11-13 ““Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? ““You stretched out Your right hand, The earth swallowed them. ““In Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy dwelling place. ” NASB95
Justice involves an uncompromising and unwavering allegiance to a standard. Justice is not a standard God follows; he is the standard.
Justice means that people are going to get what they desire and the only way out of this is to take shelter under the protective care of the one who died for us.
Abraham recognizes the merciful nature of God.
Abraham bases his appeal on his knowledge of what God is like as a person. Pleads for mercy for the cities based on God’s mercy.
His mercy – renegotiates 6 times! Knows of God’s mercy.
The inexhaustible energy of God to be actively compassionate. This is not a temporary mood of God. He does not have mood swings.
1 Timothy 1:15-16 “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. ” NASB95
There were 10 plagues over a period of time.
It took Noah a 120 years to build the ark.
It was God who sent Jonah to Nineveh
People will let us down. Politicians will let us down.
Friends and even family will let us down at times.
But you and I can depend on the unwavering, faithful character of God. He will never let you down!
3. Abraham came with confident humility!
Abraham is aware of his own status before God. 18:27
“I am but dust and ashes” Who am I to speak to you?
I haven’t any right to ask this of you.
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” ESV
Hebrews 10:19-22 “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, “by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, “and since we have a great priest over the house of God, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” ESV
4. Persistent Intercession
If not Abraham, then who would stand in the gap?
God has a job only you can do.
Intercession: to plead on another’s behalf
How committed are you to getting through?
In April 2001, in the midst of Israeli/Arab conflict, a motorcade carrying the Security Service Chief of Gaza came under bullet fire from Israeli troops. The frightened security official called Yasir Arafat from his car for help. Arafat, in turn called the U.S. Ambassador, who then called the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell. Colin Powell then phoned Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, who ordered the shooting to stop immediately. And it did. The Security Chief’s connections eventually saved his life.
In a similar way, Christians have a divine connection to the ultimate power of the universe that can make a world of difference in any situation.
The church father Augustine writes of the important role played by his mother’s faithful intercession for him during his years of waywardness:
My mother asked [a bishop] in his kindness to have some discussion with me, to refute my errors, to unteach me what was evil and teach me what was good…
He refused…. He told her that I was as yet not ripe for teaching….
“But,” said he, “let him alone. Only pray to the Lord for him: he will himself discover by reading what his error is….”
My mother would not be satisfied but urged him with repeated entreaties and floods of tears to see me and discuss with me.
He, losing patience, said: “Go your way; as sure as you live, it is impossible that the son of these tears should perish.”
Principles of Prayer:
1. Prayer makes possible the joy of partnership.
Joy of little boy helping dad!
John 16:24 “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” ESV
2. Prayer pushes back on to the character of God.
Philippians 4:6-7 “the peace that surpasses human understanding”
1 Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxieties on Him because He cares about you.”
3. Prayer focuses the power of God on individual places and people.
DAWS! In the hills. With a map. Pages 50-68
Moody – All night prayer meetings!
Prayer walks!
Neighborhood Houses of Prayer!
4. Prayer affects the timing of God
Acts 1:7 “It is not for you to know times or seasons with the Father has fixed by his own authority.”
True, but…
Jonah – you have 40 days to repent!
That repentance lasted 100 years.
Isaiah 38:1 Hezekiah is gravely ill.
Get your house in order.
Hezekiah turned his face to the wall. “Oh God, spare my life”
“God has heard your prayer and added fifteen years to your life.”
Prayer doesn’t change God’s purposes but it can affect God’s timing.