This message is one of the Times Square
Church Pulpit Series.
It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times
Square Church in Manhattan, New York City.
Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge,
P.O. Box 260, Lindell, Texas, 75771, or
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This morning, I'm preaching a message I've never
preached in my life, the subject I've never
approached before, the intercession of Christ.
The intercession of Christ, and I tremble at
it because this is something I've never, I've
prayed much about, but never fully understood.
What I've received is something that has been
made personal to me.
You may not have experienced it, maybe you
have, but I trust that out of this
this morning, you'll see more, or at least
be challenged to seek more about the intercession
of Christ.
Would you go to Hebrews, the seventh chapter,
please?
If you're from Times Square Church, you have
your Bible.
No one comes to this church regularly without
their Bible.
Hebrews 7, let's
go to verse 25, if you will, please.
Beginning with verse 24, But this man, that's
Christ, because he continueth forever, or lives forever,
hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able
also to save them to the uttermost that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth to make intercession for them.
For such a high priest became us, who
is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and
made higher than the heavens.
He doesn't need daily, as other priests, to
offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins
and then for the people's.
For this he did once, when he offered
up himself.
This did he once, when he offered up
himself.
Father, I ask you to send the Holy
Spirit in a mighty way to give us
ears to hear.
I pray, Holy Spirit, that you come upon
me.
I don't have to beg that.
I plead with you, Lord, in the spirit
of grace and mercy, that you come.
Lord, quicken my body.
Without the unction, the anointing of the Holy
Spirit, nobody's going to understand a thing I
say.
It has to be opened by you, Holy
Spirit.
And I appeal to you, Holy Spirit, that
you would come and give us an understanding.
Help me, Lord, to make these words simple
and understandable.
Lord, I see it, but sometimes it's hard
to explain it.
Will you explain it through my lips, I
pray.
Lord, don't let anybody leave here without being
deeply touched by your spirit and healed by
your word and encouraged by your word.
And we give you the honor and the
praise.
Sanctify me before your holy throne.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Now, this is a subject so deep and
so majestic and so far beyond human understanding.
I tremble just even trying to present it
to you this morning.
When I prayed for an understanding of the
Lord's intercession, the question I asked first came,
how does this affect me in my walk
with God?
What does it mean to me as a
person?
Not even as a pastor, but what does
it mean to me?
What does it mean to the people that
I preach to?
Why do I need to understand what this
says, that he ever intercedes for us?
What's it all about?
Now, folks, the more I studied it, the
more confused I got, because all of the
scholars that I, most of the scholars that
have tried to interpret this have different views
on the intercession of Christ.
I've had a lot of questions about this.
I have to acknowledge over the years, and
even this morning, many of my questions have
not yet been resolved.
What I'm going to share with you is
something personal in how the Holy Spirit has
revealed to me the intercession of Christ for
me, and I trust that it will line
up clearly with Scripture and you'll see clearer
than you did when you came in.
Now, the English word for intercession is to
plead on another's behalf, to plead for another's
behalf.
Somebody who pleads, who takes your place before
another.
He pleads your cause or your case.
That's an intercessor.
But, folks, that's the English translation, and if
we are limited to that translation alone, we'll
never understand the deeper meaning of Christ's intercession
for us.
It goes far beyond that.
If we picture in our mind, for example,
that Christ appears before the Father every moment
pleading and begging for mercies and grace and
forgiveness, I have a hard time with that.
Because, you see, He's been given the fullness
of the Godhead bodily.
All things that God has, He's already entrusted
to Christ.
And this makes God seem almost as though
He's somebody you have to pry the blessings
from.
You have to beg and plead from somebody
who's more willing to give than we are
to receive.
You see the dilemma.
I've heard it preached that the Lord is
just there pleading and crying and begging on
behalf of the saints of God.
Now, He does that in here, in our
bodies.
And I'll show that in just a minute
in our hearts.
But not before the Father.
We'll show you that in just a moment.
You know, the Bible says He knows what
I need before I ask, and He often
answers before I ask.
Isn't that what the Bible says?
Furthermore, the Scripture says, For in Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
But also, the popular evangelical view of many
is that Christ returned to glory to take
on the work of a high priest.
Now, that's clear in the Word.
That's what He's done.
He has gone to glory as our high
priest to take our cause before Him.
The Scripture said, For Christ did not enter
into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true, but into
heaven itself to appear in the presence of
God for us.
The Scripture said, But Christ became a high
priest of good things to come, good things
for us.
Now, we know that He is there as
a high priest on our behalf.
There's no question about that.
The Lord Jesus intercedes as high priest.
Now, this is the evangelical view.
The Lord Jesus intercedes as a high priest
to preserve believers, keep them from sin, keep
them in the love of God, and to
withstand all the accusations of the devil, so
that no temporary fall.
In other words, if you have a temporary
fall, you fall into sin, it would not
alienate you from the Father.
And He prays as He did for Peter
that his faith will not.
He prays.
Now, that's the evangelical view, and I have
no problem with that.
There are others that teach that Christ's very
presence in heaven as a man is a
voiceless testimony.
Just the fact that there's a man there
with his nail scars there, that is the
testimony, that is the proof that the intercession
has been made, that the price has been
paid.
But I still have a hard time that
every time I sin, or every time a
Christian sins, that Jesus has to run to
the throne and show the blood.
Because you see, that reminds me of the
Old Testament, where there were daily sacrifices for
sin.
There were daily offerings.
And once a year, the seventh day of
the tenth month, they had Passover.
And every year, year after year, the priest
went into the Holy of Holies with the
blood of an animal and incense in his
hand.
And he bore on his chest the names
of the twelve tribes.
But you see, if you look at Hebrews
9, you're still in Hebrews.
Look at chapter 9, if you will, please.
Verses 25 and 26.
Nor yet that he should offer himself often,
as the high priest entereth into the holy
place every year with blood of others.
For then must he often have suffered since
the foundation of the world.
But now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin
by the sacrifice of himself.
Once.
He comes and settles the question.
Once the blood is brought into the heavenlies,
that is settled once and for all, that
the mouths of men and devils be stopped
forever.
The blood has paid the price.
That is it.
He does not have to offer his blood
over and over again as was in the
Old Testament by the high priest.
No, he said that's something different now.
He has gone in once and he's presented
the blood.
The blood has settled the issue once and
for all.
But now once.
The father does not have to be constantly
reminded of the sacrifice of his own son.
Also, Puritan scholars believe that Christ's intercession also
has to do with presenting our prayers to
the heavenly father.
In other words, he perfumes our prayers.
Since he is touched with the feelings of
our infirmities and he's a man, in other
words, interpreting our cries and our prayers.
I don't like the term, but filtered through
him or perfumed by his prayers.
And here's the scripture that is used to
prove that.
There was given unto him much incense.
This is Revelation 8, 3.
That he should offer it with the prayers
of all saints upon the golden altar, which
was before the throne.
And the smoke of the incense, which came
with the prayers of the saints, ascended up
before God out of the angels' hands.
In other words, there was given incense to
him.
Prayer is incense.
Now, when Jesus went to the throne, he
went both with the blood and both with
incense.
Remember the last prayer?
Prayer is incense.
Do you remember the last prayer he prayed
before he went to glory?
He prayed, Father, keep them that you've given
to me.
I've kept them.
Now you keep them.
That was the prayer of incense.
He went to the throne with that and
he went with his own blood.
That was settled.
Keep that in mind as we go on.
Now, Jesus, they say, intercedes by perfuming our
prayers with his own, making our prayers acceptable
to God.
Now, that's where I have a problem.
That he would have to make my prayers
acceptable to the Father when he has already
made access to you and me through the
Father directly.
He's made access to us.
We are one in Christ.
We can't be separated.
We are bone of his bone and flesh
of his flesh.
When Jesus went to the throne, he opened
up the Holy of Holies that you and
I had a right to go directly to
the mercy seat.
We had a right to go directly to
the Heavenly Father in Jesus' name through the
sacrifice that he made.
Listen very, very closely to this.
You see, I believe that Jesus is a
mediator.
Yes, but he's a mediator between God and
the sinner.
We have, he has already done the work
of mediation in us and he has reconciled
us to God.
You and I are totally reconciled to the
Father.
There is nothing standing between you and I
and the throne.
In fact, we're invited to come boldly to
the throne of grace that we might receive
mercy.
And here's what Jesus himself said, and in
that day you shall ask me nothing.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever you
shall ask the Father in my name, he
will give it to you.
Folks, you and I have access to the
Heavenly Father.
That's why he died, to give us this
access.
That's one of the glorious victories of the
cross.
Now, whatever, and the Puritans and all the
fathers that I have read and I have
studied and studied this, they come to the
conclusion we really don't know much about what
he's doing.
I can tell you this though, though I
don't know everything about intercession, I do know
that whatever my high priest is doing, he's
doing it to build up his body here
on earth.
To me, it has to do with peace.
Let me try to explain it.
When Jesus was here, they announced peace on
earth.
He came as a peacemaker to reconcile us
to the Father.
It was told to our Heavenly, it was
told to our fathers that there was coming
a Redeemer.
Luke 1.78 I believe it is.
There will come a Redeemer, and he's going
to pay for sin that we may live
all our days without fear.
Without fear means peace, because peace is the
absence of fear.
And that's why Jesus came as a peacemaker,
to give us peace with God.
Folks, what is it that makes Christianity different
and distinguishes us from all other religions?
It's that we have a God who can
provide peace.
Because there's no peace to the wicked, the
Bible says, and all the other gods including
Mohammed and the thousands and thousands of gods
in India cannot forgive sin.
They can't pardon sin.
The sin question is never settled.
And the Bible said there's no peace to
the wicked.
You show me the whole Muslim world, and
I'll show you a world that has no
peace.
Because there is no peace, the Bible says,
to the sinner.
The sins are still there, so they have
to work and work and strive, hoping and
praying that somehow they will be relieved of
their sins.
But this is what Jesus did.
He came, he said, to multiply peace.
The peace of God may be multiplied to
you.
You see, I believe that Jesus spent his
whole time on earth.
That's what the Bible says very clearly.
Now the God of hope fill you with
all joy and peace in believing that you
may abound in hope through the power of
the Holy Ghost.
Being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have access into this grace, that's peace
with God, wherein we stand and rejoice in
the hope of glory.
Listen to what Jesus did when he went
to glory.
And having made peace through his blood, he
made peace through his blood, to reconcile all
things to himself.
And you that were sometimes alienated, enemies in
your mind by wicked works, you now have
been reconciled in the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable
in his sight.
Hallelujah.
Folks, we have a God who forgives and
pardons, and we have the joy and the
victory of that by having peace with God.
Paul declared he is our peace.
Bible said he preached peace to those who
are far off and unto them that were
nigh.
Hallelujah.
These things I have spoken to you that
you might have peace.
And just before he left he said, peace
I leave with you, my peace I give
unto you, not as the world gives, I
give it unto you.
Let your heart not be troubled, neither let
it be afraid.
Now here's my point, here's my point.
While Jesus lived, he preached peace, he came
to give peace, and before he left he
said, I'm giving you my peace.
I believe that when he went to glory,
he went there to maintain that peace that
he had won so hard at the cross.
To maintain peace so that you and I
do not have to live in fear, that
we'd not be subjected to the lies of
the devil, we would not be under the
condemnation of our conscience, but we would live
in peace all the days of our life.
And multitudes of Christians don't live that way.
They live in terror.
They live their lives in always upset, always
worrying whether or not they're saved, always being
condemned by their conscience.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through
the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ.
He ever liveth, the scripture says, to make
intercession for them.
Now here's what I see, the beginning of
that is, he's alive, he's not dead, he's
a man in glory.
You know that he, in glory right now,
he has hands, he has feet, he has
eyes.
If he would appear on this stage, he
would be man.
He's got the nail scars, he's got the
mark on his side, he's got the mark
on his feet.
He's a man.
He's God, but he's also man.
He never dropped his humanity.
He's still a man in glory.
That's why I can praise him and know
that he's touched with the feelings of my
infirmities because he took on my flesh, he
still has my flesh.
Glory to God.
He is alive, he's my high priest making
sure that I will never be robbed of
that peace, that I may be found in
him, the scripture says, that you may be
found in him in peace.
You may be found.
When he finds you, when he comes, he
wants you to be in peace.
Now, there are two things that threaten my
peace with God.
Two things, my conscience and the accusations of
the devil before the throne of God and
at me directly.
When I sin, conscience troubles me and accuses
me.
That's his job.
I call him the soul sheriff.
Mm-hmm.
See, I believe that there are two areas
in which the intercession of Christ is most
needed.
Now listen closely, it'll sound complicated if you
don't ask the Holy Spirit to open this.
It's not complicated, it's very simple.
And I'll try to make it as simple
as the Holy Spirit has been attempting to
show me.
My high priest is not going to allow
my conscience to keep me captive.
No, he came to give me peace.
He's not going to let the devil's accusation
keep me in bondage either.
So we know that those are the areas
in which the high priest is going to
intercede.
My priest is my keeper.
You understand?
He's our keeper.
He's the one who's been touched with the
feelings of our infirmity.
He interdicts the work of the devil.
And I'll show you what that means in
just a minute.
In just about two or three minutes, we'll
get to the interdiction.
But forget that word for just a moment.
See, the Bible says we have a friend
in the court.
We have an advocate with the Father.
Now get this in mind before we talk
about the courts.
We have a judge who is our Father,
who adopted you.
You understand that?
So he's not adversarial.
He's not against you.
He's not on the plaintiff's side.
He's on your side.
Furthermore, your lawyer is your brother.
Not only that, but he's co-heir of
the whole, all of the blessings of the
Father, everything the Father has.
I inherit and he inherits.
And I am loved as much as he
is loved.
Glory to God.
Isn't it wonderful to know?
Now, this is not a rigged court.
No, no, no.
Because you see, God is not only merciful
and kind.
He's also just and he's holy.
So in this court, there will be justice
made.
I'll show you where God can't.
He could if he wanted, but according to
his justice, he can't just say, Hey, I
love you.
You seem sorry.
I'll just forgive you.
What judge anywhere in any court, when it's
a serious case, for example, murder, and it's
a very serious court and it's hit the
newspaper and everybody wants to know if justice
is going to be done.
Because 82% of the American by the
last poll said that they don't believe you
can get justice unless you're rich.
And you can pay for attorneys.
They don't believe in justice anymore.
But God does.
He's a just and holy God.
Suppose this lawyer calls in the plaintiff and
the attorney, and there's so much evidence against
this man enough to send him to the
electric chair.
But the judge calls the plaintiff and the
attorney into his room.
And he said, Look, I'll tell you what.
I'm stopping this trial.
I'm going to let this guy go.
Because you see, he cries a lot.
And he seems so sorry.
And this is really painful to me.
And I see how his family suffers.
And I see all this.
He said, I just feel sorry for him.
I'm going to let him go.
Well, you see, justice is perverted.
And God will not pervert justice.
Justice has to be satisfied.
Do you have that in your mind?
Fix that in your mind.
He's a just God.
He's a holy God.
Please understand there are two courts in which
I believe that he intercedes.
One here in my heart.
That's where conscience accuses me.
Conscience doesn't accuse me before the father.
He accuses me.
There's another court in heaven where the devil
has access to accuse us before the heavenly
father.
Now, keep that in mind also.
There's a heavenly court and there's a heart
court.
I believe his intercession takes place in both
courts.
While the man in glory deals with Satan,
the spirit of Christ deals in me with
conscience.
I can't be separated from Christ.
Do you know the Holy Spirit is the
spirit of Christ?
It's proven all through the scripture.
He is the spirit of Christ.
Though he's distinct and he has the essence
of God, yet he is the spirit of
Christ.
This is the spirit of Christ.
Now, the human Christ cannot come down and
deal with my conscience.
He can't plead inside of me, but his
spirit can.
And while the man in glory is going
to answer in the court of heaven when
the devil comes to accuse, Jesus is here
right now dealing with all the accusations the
devil puts against me and my conscience.
Hallelujah.
He is working in both courts.
Heaven and earth can't contain him.
He is everywhere.
He abides in us.
God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Ghost.
I am of his body, bone of his
bone, flesh of his flesh.
I can't be separated from Christ.
He is here pleading.
He is here interceding.
Every time you read it, the Holy Ghost
interceding, it is the spirit of Christ.
I believe the intercession includes...
Now, listen to this word, please.
It's not coupling.
Interdiction.
That simply means to prohibit by placing under
legal sanction.
In other words, you get a legal order
halting somebody against you.
Legal.
It's not just some feeling.
It's a legal document.
And this is what God has come to
do.
Folks, you and I are going to see
how you can't deal with the devil except
on legal basis.
You can try to bind him and cast
him out and trample all over everything.
He'll laugh at you.
This is a legal matter.
That's what intercession is all about.
When I sin and I break God's law...
And, folks, God has decreed these laws.
Now, the Ten Commandments are what is called
the moral law.
That is a reflection of God's glory.
The moral law, the Ten Commandments, that's the
beam of God's glory.
Now, we are not under the law.
That means that you can't be saved by
keeping the law.
Impossible.
But the law puts the boundaries of our
behavior.
We are bound.
These are the boundaries.
And you cross those boundaries and you sin.
It's still sin.
You cannot get saved if you kept them
all.
That will not save you.
You're not saved by the law.
Not at all.
The law saves nobody but convicts everybody.
You see, the conscience has been put here.
He's the sheriff and he's been trained by
the father in the law of God.
He knows the law.
You can't fool your conscience.
You can try...
Now, folks, if you're an unrighteous person, you'll
try to bribe your conscience.
The Bible calls that searing.
That simply means making insensitive to the law.
In other words, he'll overlook you.
He'll forgive you.
He'll just let you go.
And many people have a seared conscience and
they just let themselves go.
But you see, a righteous person's conscience can't
be bought off.
And when you sin, the sheriff will come
and handcuff you.
And he'll put you in his prison.
He'll say, you have broken the law of
God.
You have sinned.
No false...
He cannot convict you on false charges.
He cannot accuse you falsely.
That is the law of God.
He cannot accuse you falsely.
But I'm going to tell you something.
Once the price has been paid and once
your lawyer wins the case, he can't come
against you anymore.
He can't touch you on that anymore.
You still with me?
Have you never been in the jail of
the sheriff?
Have you never felt the agony and the
pain of breaking the law of God?
You have sinned against Almighty God.
And the shame and the sorrow of being
bound by that conscience, saying you have sinned
and the penalty for this is the wrath
of God.
Folks, if you don't have a troubled conscience
when you sin, you better get a hold
of God and say, Lord, make sure that
I am seared my conscience.
That's a wonderful work of God to bring
the law and then the law shows you
the exceeding sinfulness of your sin.
The conscience, he can't take sides.
The conscience can't be...
He really can't take sides.
He's just put there by God to show
you where you've done wrong and when you
do, handcuff you so that you are brought
to the court of justice.
Now, follow me, please.
This part now, I've got to pray God
gives me wisdom and simplicity.
Because I don't know the full work.
I don't understand the ministry of the conscience
completely at all.
But one thing I do know, that soul
sheriff comes when you sin with accusations.
Your conscience will accuse you to your own
mind.
He'll not let you go.
He'll hound you.
God put that there for a reason.
And I thank God when I'm sinless.
I thank God when I'm so miserable.
I thank God that sheriff comes and handcuffs
me.
Otherwise, I'm going to get a hard heart.
But you see, while the conscience is here
on earth in this court in my heart,
accusing me in the heavenly court, the devil
is there accusing me.
You say, well, why would God allow?
Because the Bible said Satan came and appeared
before the father to accuse Job.
He says he accuses the brethren night and
day.
Why would God allow him to come and
accuse his own people?
Now, see, I'm a father.
And if anybody comes to me and want
to talk to me about my kids and
accuse any one of my children of anything,
I say, I don't have to listen to
you.
Get out of here.
I don't want to listen to your gossip.
But if somebody knocks at my door and
makes an accusation against my child and a
policeman is with him, I'm inclined to listen
because now it's a legal matter.
You understand?
It's not gossip.
There's a reason that cop is there, that
policeman is there.
The light's going to go on pretty soon
here.
For the accuser of the brethren is cast
down, which accused them before God, day and
night.
Now, Satan cannot accuse you
falsely.
Now, he tried to do that with Jesus,
but there was no sin in Jesus, so
he had to falsely accuse him.
You see, we have sin in us.
He doesn't have to falsely accuse us.
He cannot go to the heavenly father with
spurious or no count accusations.
What judge on earth would allow a lawyer
to come back to his court time and
time and time again with just foolishness, with
just unproven gossip and throw it out?
And God, in the last 2,000 years
since the cross, do you think for a
moment he allowed the devil to come in
his presence time after time with just foolishness
and with just spurious charges?
No.
When the devil comes to the father to
accuse you, it's because he caught you in
a sin.
He caught you breaking the law of God.
You're guilty.
And he has a dossier.
He comes loaded with facts.
The time, the place, the witnesses, everything you
did, your attitude.
He has it all.
He cannot come to the throne of God
to accuse you unless you're guilty.
We talk about false accusations, I'll tell you
where the false accusations of the devil come.
They come at you, they come at me,
but they can't go to the throne.
This is the end of side 1.
You may now turn the tape over to
side 2.
...would laugh him out of the court.
But when the devil has a legal claim,
he has a right to bring it to
the father.
He has a right.
Now God, in his mercy, God can do
anything.
He's boss.
He could just say, I don't want to
hear it.
But you see, he's a just God.
He abides by the law.
He won't break his own law.
So here I am.
I'm brought, my charges are brought before me
by the devil.
He's got all the goods.
And I call for my attorney.
I'll tell you what, folks, when you get
down in sin, you better call for your
attorney.
You call for Jesus.
Let me talk to you about the intercession
of Jesus in this court.
I am held prisoner by my conscience.
My conscience accuses me, and it's accusing me
rightly because I have sinned, I have failed.
The sheriff has every right because he knows
the law.
I broke the law, so he has to
act.
And here I am in this prison, and
I'm crying, and I'm weeping, I'm in shame.
And I call for my lawyer.
He doesn't come there and pat me on
the back.
Oh, David, that's all right.
That's okay.
Everything's fine.
Don't worry about it.
I'll take care of everything.
No, he looks at me and says, are
you guilty?
Do you acknowledge your guilt?
I know you're guilty.
The judge knows you're guilty.
Do you know it?
Folks, Jesus, your attorney, cannot go back and
have a case against the devil until you
have repented and acknowledged your sin.
You say, I'll let him show the blood.
The blood is there that you may repent
of your sins and acknowledge the power of
the blood to cleanse you only after you've
repented and acknowledged your sin.
So he comes to the prison.
He comes to us.
And he comes here pleading, and he begins
to groan in us.
Those are the groanings that we don't understand,
and I've been there.
I've known it at times when I have
sinned, especially when I was a younger man.
And there would be a sin in my
life, and God was dealing with it.
And I would feel the shame in my
conscience convicting me.
But somewhere, I was driving a car one
day, and I began to weep uncontrollably, and
I pulled the car off the road, and
there were groanings and crying.
And I'm thinking, where is this coming from?
This does not matter what's happening to me.
There was a groaning, a crying.
And even after his dying, I didn't understand
it.
I do now.
That was Jesus, my intercessor.
He was groaning to the Father.
I'm not letting David go.
I'm not letting him go.
God, I'm going to bring him to repentance.
Have you never been there?
Where it was too much for you to
handle?
It was over your head.
You thought you were going to go down.
And Jesus came in, His Spirit.
And He said, I have to answer the
devil's charges.
Father, keep him.
Humble him.
Break this power.
Oh God, help us to see that.
He intercedes here.
My high priest is in His temple.
This is the temple.
I don't know if you understand it, but
I have to understand it.
I want to know I've got a priest
right here.
Blessed Jesus.
You see, God allows the devil to come
there only for one reason.
He's going to answer and shut the mouth
of every demon, every devil, and every man.
So that they can't accuse God of injustice.
To procure His holiness, His justice before the
world.
But you see, the devil comes now in
heavenly court.
But now, see Jesus, He's got His case
now.
And He's got a case that's locked.
Eternal.
There's no way the devil is going to
answer now.
Because you see, when the advocate, when Jesus
comes, He doesn't turn to the Father now.
He turns to the devil.
This is a legal matter now.
The devil only understands legal language.
You see, the language that's legal says, it
is written.
That's legal language.
It is written.
See, this is the legal language right here.
And when the devil tried to deceive Him
in the wilderness, He just used the legal
language and the devil fled.
So the devil's there on a legal basis.
You've sinned.
But now Jesus has your repentance in hand.
Godly sorrow.
And an indwelling of the Holy Spirit to
keep you from going back to it.
Now the devil comes and he places the
charges.
And the devil says, here's the law.
Here's what it says.
For adultery, for example.
And he'll go right into the law, where
it's written.
And he'll say, the law says that both
the adulterer and the adulteress have to be
killed.
Death.
The soul that sinneth, it shall die.
That's your law, God.
David has sinned.
I have the proof.
Time, place.
And you know it because you're all seeing.
You're omniscient.
You knew it.
You went there.
You understood.
And you know that my case is sure.
You can't deny it.
I've got the goods on Him.
The father looks to his son as if
to say, tell him.
My judge is not my adversary.
He's my father.
But see, he's saying to his son now,
show him justices.
Jesus faces the devil himself.
First thing he does, he agrees with him.
Yes, you're right.
He sinned.
I know all about it.
I know more than you do about it.
Yes, the law says that he must die.
But the law also says that there is
substitutional atonement.
The word, the promise, everything the devil is
talking about of the law, the complete law
of God.
The Lord says, look at it.
If you want the law, I'll give you
the law.
The law states that it is possible for
the sins to be atoned by laying hands
on the head of a scapegoat.
And that goat is taken into the wilderness
and it's gone.
And their sins are gone forever.
The price was paid by the other goat
that went to the altar was consumed.
And the life was taken and blood was
shed.
Devil, that's the law.
The law says that this man has a
right to a substitute who can go in
his place and pay for his crime.
There has been a substitute.
A substitute has come forth.
A substitute has paid David's price.
This man is free.
Then, then the devil in amazement, the substitute,
he knows who it is, but the Lord
himself reminds him time and time again.
I don't understand why the devil doesn't get
it.
Jesus shows his nail scar.
That's it.
Here's his substitute right here.
His attorney.
Look at his feet.
Look at my side.
No more said finished.
The blood of Jesus has brought it out.
My transgress.
I'm a free man.
The devil has nothing on me.
I'm going to close in just a few
moments, but let me tell you what happens
when the devil loses his case.
He gets angry.
He's a mad devil.
Now he comes at you with false accusations.
He comes roaring at you.
So I'm going to get you yet.
I'll tell you, I'll hold on till I
get a better case and I'll bring it
for you.
Can't be tried for the same case twice.
It's all settled.
Devil come to you and start lying to
you and say, you're holy.
You're unholy.
You're unclean.
I don't care what anybody says.
And he'll hound you.
He'll make you feel unworthy.
Put fear of man in you.
He'll put fear of falling and he'll come
at you and lie and lie and lie.
And the only answer to that.
The only hope is to do exactly what
Jesus did.
When, when G, when Jesus won your case,
he gave you a document.
And this is the document right here.
And folks, you better look at the fine
print.
You better look at the fine print because
the fine print doesn't even talk.
Doesn't talk just about the blood.
It talks about bread and water.
You have to have more than blood.
You have to have the bread of life
and the water of the Holy ghost.
Some people only have the blood.
All they have is the report of the
blood.
No, no.
I've got more than that.
I've got the bread in my hands and
I've got the water in my heart.
Hallelujah.
That's the, that's the only way you can
stand against the devil legally.
Oh, we got people on everyone.
I'm buying the devil.
How are you binding him on your emotions?
Are you going to tie him to the
word of God and say, this is my
freedom.
Here's where it's told all about right here
in this book.
I'm going to close with an illustration that
may help you.
A friend of mine, acquaintance of mine was
sued.
And just broke the heart.
They're Christians and they were sued.
And they won their case.
They won it handily.
It was thrown out.
Lack of evidence.
But I'll tell you something.
That was only the beginning of their problems.
Now, when they were released, they were given
a document.
They were given a document.
It says that they had won their case
and it was all outlined.
The whole case and why the judge made
and how he made his decision.
It was all written out.
They had a copy of it.
You know, they were free.
They were released.
The document was in their hands.
But they started getting telephone calls of harassment.
They got letters.
Somehow, the plaintiff got some legal papers and
signed threatening all kinds of law cases.
Said, we're going to take everything you have.
And the problem is, those friends of mine,
it's just overwhelming them.
You know, the point of a nervous breakdown.
But I told an intermediary, I said, why
don't you tell them?
They can't be touched.
They have it in their hands.
They can't go back to court.
They're free.
Let them enjoy it.
Don't let them worry.
The devil will send you letters out of
hell.
He'll harass you.
He'll do everything.
But, folks, you've got a document.
Stand on it.
Don't believe those lies.
Oh, hallelujah.
I am free.
Let's sing that.
Let's stand, if you will, please.
Hallelujah.
Just praise him.
Lord, we love you.
We praise you.
We give you glory.
We give you honor.
When you trust the Lord, you stand on
the word.
That's why you need to know this book.
God, Jesus himself, will intercede with your conscience.
He's the one who quiets your conscience.
Hallelujah.
By having back up the word that he's
given to you.
If our heart condemns us, God is greater.
In other words, if conscience condemns you in
the court of your heart, God said, I'm
greater than that.
Hallelujah.
I'll tell you, it's a wonderful thing when
you can live free from the guilt of
conscience, have a clear conscience before God and
man by standing on the authority of God's
word and know that there's no accusation of
the devil that's going to hold up, that
you're absolutely free.
It's true.
There's nothing to fear but fear itself.
Isn't that true?
Roosevelt said that.
And it's true.
Lord, be to God.
If you're here this morning and you're not
a free person, you have guilt.
Guilt comes only where there's sin.
Bring it to the cross.
Call on your attorney with me now.
Up in the balcony, main floor, I'd like
to pray with you tonight, this morning.
And in the annex and in the overflow
rooms, if you just go forward between the
screens, I'll pray for you while you're standing
there and we'll believe the Lord to do
something in your heart.
Just get out of your seat.
Say, Pastor David, God sent me here this
morning.
I know I've heard something that I needed
to hear.
God's dealing with me.
The Holy Spirit's faithful.
If he's dealing with you this morning, I'm
just going to leave it at that.
The Holy Ghost is dealing with you.
We don't count numbers or anything here.
But the Holy Spirit has opened these altars.
We see thousands throughout the year coming to
healing and to salvation and returning to their
first love.
And if up in the balcony, just go
to the stairs on either side and come
down any aisle and meet me here.
And we're going to pray right now.
And in the annex, just move forward between
the screens.
Don't block the screen.
Go between them, if you will, please.
And those in the main auditorium, we'll sing,
I am free, later.
In just a moment after, we pray with
these that are coming.
Oh, how I love Jesus.
Let's sing that first.
Oh, how I love Jesus.
I love him because he's my high priest
and he's come to deliver.
Don't walk out with that burden.
Bring it.
Bring it to the Lord right now.
Walk out of this church with freedom.
In the annex, wherever you are, he said,
I'm more willing to give than you are
to receive.
If you just open up your heart.
That's all.
It's just the opening of the heart and
say, Lord, I open up my heart, open
up myself to you.
Look at me now, please.
You don't have to live with guilt.
You don't have to live with fear.
But there has to be a commitment you
make at this altar or in this church
today before you walk out of here.
I'm coming to the blood.
But also, I'm coming, if I come to
the blood, he says, you're going to go
to the bread.
You're going to have to have bread or
you'll die.
You're going to have to have water or
you can't exist.
You have to have the Holy Spirit.
So I'm going to ask you to pray.
He said, I'll give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask.
The Holy Spirit's the one who gives you
power to live over the dominion of sin,
to break the dominion of sin.
So right now, if you come by simple
childlike faith, say, Jesus, I'm coming to the
blood.
I've been accused rightfully, but also been accused
falsely by the devil.
I've just been hounded in my head by
lies and tries to put lust in my
heart and tries to tell me I'm never
going to make it.
I'm no good.
I'm filthy.
Those are all lies.
The blood alone makes you clean anyhow.
It's only the blood that can make you
clean, not your efforts.
Pray this prayer with me from your heart.
And in the annex, will you pray this
with me now?
Dear Jesus, I come to the blood sacrifice.
You paid for my sins.
I admit I'm a sinner.
I admit I've sinned against you.
But I come for forgiveness.
Holy Spirit, come into my life.
Fill my heart.
Give me power over sin.
Give me godly sorrow for my sin.
But then, Jesus, be my lawyer.
From now on, I'm going to call on
you.
Every time the devil comes to accuse me
falsely, I'm going to turn to you.
Say, Jesus, you handle it.
And keep me in peace.
All right, now let me pray for you.
Father, you heard that simple prayer.
Nothing complicated, nothing theologically deep, but simple childlike
faith.
But you said, come to me as a
child.
You said, you can't enter the kingdom of
God unless you come as a child.
We come childishly right into your kingdom, into
your presence.
Say, Lord, we trust your word.
Forgive us.
Cleanse us.
Take our case so that we don't have
to worry about it anymore.
And let us know that right now, because
of our confession, you're going to the Father
and say, he's confessed, she's confessed.
The blood is cleansed.
And now we're going to stand against the
devil and the whole world and say, I
am free.
I am free in Jesus' name.
I am free.
Hallelujah.
I am free.
Everybody stand.
I hope you're standing.
And in the annex, everybody stand.
Well, bring the babies out for dedication.
Let's sing that.
Folks, turn around first of all and shake
hands and say that I am, and mean
it, I am free.
This is the conclusion of the message.