This is a transcript of a message delivered at Westville Assembly of God on April 19, 2020. Have your Bible handy to look up the scripture references.
These are dangerous times. Fear, frustration and confusion are governing the actions and talk of many today. In times when our emotions run high and common sense seems to be disappearing, we sometimes react to life the wrong way. We say or do something we normally would not say or do.
We are all capable of straying away from God’s love. We are all capable of wanting to satisfy our own needs and desires. We are all capable of treating other people in a manner that does not go along with what we call “The Golden Rule” of treating others like we want to be treated. When we do violate that rule, we think, say or do the wrong thing. We commit sins.
Allow me to invest a few minutes on the topic of “Praying When We Mess Up.” (1 John 2:1-2)
When we commit sin, when we mess up, Jesus is able to be our advocate, our spokesman, before God because He is the propitiation for our sins. That word propitiation means an appeasement. Jesus has appeased the wrath of God by offering Himself as the eternal sacrifice for sin. That is why He is referred to as the Lamb of God. Lambs were sacrificed in order to establish a covenant. Jesus’ death established a new covenant, which replaced the old one created when God gave Israel the Ten Commandments and the Law. Jesus died on the cross in my place and in your place so God would be willing to remove sin from our life’s record.
The whole book of Hebrews explains to us that His death and resurrection put Him in the position to speak for us as our new, eternal High Priest to God. Jesus intercedes for us to the Father and pleads our case before Him. You might ask why we need an intercessor.
(Romans 7:21-25) When we accept Jesus as Savior, we are forgiven of our sins. Our enemy satan tries to get us to return to our old way of living by using the sin nature that exists in this mortal, flawed body to get us to continue to rebel against God’s plan for us. That sin nature constantly wars against our spirits, which have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus. It constantly tries to use the pride of life, the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh to draw us away from the love of God.
As our eternal High Priest, Jesus stands between us and the wrath of God to remind the Father that we are part of His family now and have been reborn spiritually. He speaks up for us when we mess up and do what we really do not want to do.
One of the most important reasons I encourage people to seek the baptism in the Holy Spirit after they are forgiven is connected to our prayer life as people who are constantly fighting this internal war between choosing good over evil. (Romans 8:26-27)
The Holy Spirit, which is part of the trinity of the Godhead, intercedes for us when we don’t know how to pray about what is happening in our life. He speaks to the Father on our behalf in ways we don’t understand. And when He does that, He intercedes directly according to the will of God. The Holy Spirit is also our advocate, our spokesman, our intercessor.
Here’s something we need to remember–God wants us to stay close to Him and follow the example Jesus gave us of how to live and how to relate to God and to other people. Nothing that comes into our life can change the amount of love that God has for us. That love and commitment God has for us will always exist. Nothing that comes into our life, not event, disaster, sickness, problem or anything else will ever separate us from God’s love. (Romans 8:35, 38 & 39)
Does that mean we will never fail in our relationship to God? No, it means God will never fail to have love for us. Does it mean we will never choose evil, instead of good, again? No, it means God’s love will always be available to us, but we have to choose to live in that love. We are capable of choosing to live outside the will of God, and that means we are capable of choosing to live outside the presence and the benefits of the love He has for all mankind.
Because we do have the free will to choose good or evil, we need Jesus to be our advocate. Because we are capable of messing up in our relationship with God, we need the Holy Spirit as our advocate, too. Jesus is our High Priest who speaks on our behalf to the Father, and the Holy Spirit, who is directly connected to Jesus as part of the Trinity, speaks in groanings we can’t understand to the Father.
When we do what we don’t want to do, or when we don’t do what we want to do, we need to ask God to forgive us. The way we do that is through Jesus. (1 Timothy 2:5)
Jesus is the only one who can plead our case before the Father. He is the only go-between for mankind to God. We can ask God to forgive us, but that asking goes through Jesus first. We can intercede for the needs of others, but that interceding goes through Jesus first. He is the only one the Father will acknowledge as speaking for mankind in the new covenant He established when Jesus died and conquered death in order to be the sacrifice needed to put the new covenant into place.
As I prepare to close, I need to ask you a few quick questions. Have you thought, said or done anything that could affect your relationship with God? Have you asked for forgiveness yet? If you haven’t, will you do that right now? Here’s a simple prayer you might pray right there where you are as you read this:
“Jesus, I need your help. I have failed to live in God’s will. I seek forgiveness. Help me to be forgiven for any wrong thought, statement or action I have done. Help me yield to you, and help me overcome my sin nature that tries to draw me away from your love. I ask this because I believe in you as my personal Savior and Lord. Amen.”
If you would like us to pray with you and for you, please leave a comment. By checking the boxes below the space for the comment, you’ll be contacted when other comments are made or when new posts are placed. When you submit your comment, please know that your email will not be shared with anyone.
Allow me to invite you to visit our FB page: Westville AG@2513 CypressStreet. Also, we post videos of our Bible Studies and Worship Services on my YouTube channel: Buddy Pennington. Those usually appear by titles, such as “Ten Minute with James,” which is a Bible Study in ten-minute segments covering the New Testament book of James. If you enjoy those, please subscribe to my channel.
God bless & hope to see you online again soon.