Intercession — G.W. North

The advice is of my brethren. We're going to start now in case we don't have a lot of time later on. If you've been coming along regularly to the meetings, you will know that a series of written questions have been handed to me.

And at times, I've been able to introduce one or two and answer them. That is, beside the afternoon given up yesterday to answering both written and verbal questions. This afternoon, I feel it's right that we should consider another.

And so, I want first of all to read it to you and then proceed into the scripture or into the heart of God that we may have an answer. The question is this. It arises out of the conference at Clift in the summer when I am reminded at the top.

I said that intercession is a life completely yielded to the spirit. Can you enlarge on this? And often, again, as I've said, one question seems to very easily multiply into three. And here's the next bit.

How does intercession differ from prayer? Is a life of intercession for all or is it a special ministry? That's the third question. Here's the fourth. How does one enter a life of intercession? And here's the fifth.

Good measure. Press down. Running over. May God press it into our bosoms. If intercession is so vital to the church today, why is there so little of it? I suppose that the writer, having asked his first question, has already answered it because he says there's little of it.

He really wants to know what it is and then says there's little of it at the end. So, he's really telling me to say to you publicly what he thinks himself. It's a very good way of asking questions. They're what you call leading questions.

And it's not too bad, but I think this great subject of intercession is one that ought to occupy us much, much more. Now, if I may go through the questions fairly categorically, I think I can very well fill up two hours.

I promise you I won't try to do that, but I think there's enough material here for that. Intercession is a life completely yielded to the Spirit. Can I enlarge on this? The enlargement of it, of course, would cover all the rest of the questions.

And that's what I want to do. Unless I re-listen to tapes, I haven't a clue what I've said in certain meetings. Unless, in saying things, the stream of revelation has run so deeply that it's been something new to myself.

And if this may surprise you, I want to say that I think I've taught myself more things through my own mouth than any other way. I don't know whether that does surprise you, but anybody that really moves in the true ministry of the Spirit is not a little bit surprised unless they've not touched the ministry of the Spirit.

The ministry of the Spirit is always spontaneously, directly from God. And it's a wonderful thing. It carries so much enlightenment and understanding and everything else in its current. And as I say, I don't quite know what I said at CLIF, but apparently I did say this thing and it struck someone's heart.

I want, in the process of answering these questions, rather to come on to scripture on the subject of intercession, when I trust all the questions, hints, suggestions and all things else are touched upon as we go through.

Intercession as the Highest Ministry

There came a time in my own life when I began to see that intercession was the greatest ministry of all. I think at some time, some of you in this room will have heard me make this remark. When God was moving on me, and if I do happen to be a little bit more personal in what I say, more personal than usual, it's only because I only know what God has done to me.

And I can remember that at no time in any meeting when any man preached, or woman either, and say at the end, made an appeal, I never ever raised my hand in any meeting except in a meeting when, and it was a woman by the way, had been speaking about work in Africa.

Some of you would know the name. If I mention the name of the person, she's really elderly now. That is, I'm quite young as compared to her. And speaking of God's work, cried out for intercessors for the work of God.

And at the end made an appeal and I put my hand up. It's the only time I've ever done it. I put my hands up for all other reasons in meetings. Praise God. But that, I responded on that level. Never for an evangelical appeal.

Never for whatever kind of appeal that's ever been made except that one. Not that I have a prejudice against that sort of thing. But simply because my heart at that time was moved by God to respond on this line of intercession.

I saw then, and I'd seen beforehand of course, that's why I made my response, and see to this day that the greatest need in the whole wide world in the church is for intercessors. I came to my conclusion in a very simple way.

Nothing complicated about it. I saw that the Son of God, Jesus Christ himself, came down on the earth and lived thirty years in obscurity, three years in public ministry. You know all the marvellous things he did and said then.

And in a very short time disposed of sin, bless his name, on the cross, and made the one great sacrifice for sin. And then returned to heaven and since has been carrying on a ministry of intercession.

And I began to see the importance of intercession. Thirty-three and a half years to accomplish everything to do with salvation. One small act, vitally, to deal with sin and salvation. But on and on and on and on as the age progresses, the law is raised up an intercessor.

Christ's Continuing Intercession in Hebrews

Let's turn to the scripture, shall we? It was because of these things then, beloved, I came to see the importance of intercession in the spiritual life. And if you've never seen it before, I hope that just because of that fact, you immediately begin to see that if Jesus could afford to spend just three years healing the sick, preaching his gospel, telling his story, that's all.

That's all he did. And then has since spent this great length of time. Then it's about time the whole church woke up to the importance of intercession. That's the way I arrived at it. I've simply told you the way I came myself.

In the seventh chapter of the book of Hebrews, in the end of verse 22 of Hebrews chapter 7, Jesus was made a surety of a better covenant. Glory be to God. Isn't this a marvelous thing? And of course you'll have to read the whole of the chapter to understand the things that God wants you to understand that lead up to this statement.

But now, having reached this statement, that Jesus is made the surety of a better covenant, we'll go on to see what else falls in line after this. And speaking of past priests, they truly were many priests because they were not suffered to continue, that is, their ministry that they were carrying on, by reason of death.

They just died. But this man, hallelujah, it's a man, but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood, that is, a priesthood that doesn't pass on from one to another by reason of death.

One priest dies and another one steps into his place. Wherefore, he is able to save them completely, or to the uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing that he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Now, salvation depends upon intercession, unless I don't understand this book right. Amen. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.

Who needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people's, for this he did once. You see, he only died once. That sacrifice was just sort of a moment in time.

Did that once. But look what's been going on forever since. This he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests, which have infirmity. But the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the son who is perfected, or consecrated, forevermore.

Want you to see then, the high class of the ministry of intercession, and the great importance of intercession. We preach the cross, we preach the blood, we preach the marvelous sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and we must, to every creature unto whom we have a responsibility, and that's everybody, praise his name.

But beloved, it would all be useless, unless now, in heaven itself, the blessed Lord Jesus is interceding. That's what the book says. Now I think that we've established the importance of intercession.

Having done so, you may see why then I responded, those years ago, to be an intercessor. And if you are one of those people who bemoan the fact that so few people seem to be getting saved, that's because there are so few people who are giving themselves to intercession.

That's a logical deduction. And here then lies the tragedy. And you may remember, this is how the question, whatever it was, finished up. If intercession is so important, how is it that there are so few who give themselves to intercession?

How is it? Well, it may be that they haven't realized the importance of intercession. Or they don't even know what intercession really is. And this is part of the question. What is intercession? Is it prayer?

Intercession as a Form of Prayer

Actually not. Yes. Of course intercession is prayer. Intercession is, if you like, one exercise or division or whatever you want, in the prayer life, that's what intercession is. All prayer is not intercession.

But intercession is prayer. That's right, isn't it? I mean, all yellow men aren't Chinamen, but all Chinamen are yellow. That's a fact for you to see. Or they should be anyway. Once you see this great truth, you will understand then that prayer and intercession are quite the same in character and in nature and partly in operation.

But, beloved, intercession, amen, what a wonderful thing intercession is. Now, intercession is bound up with two offices in Scripture. If you like, intercession is an office. I don't care which way you look at it.

But it's certainly bound up with two. A, the office of priest, the office of priest. It's Jesus, our great high priest, who is the intercessor. This is what we're told here. Verse 26. He's the high priest.

Glory be to God. And He has an ever-continuing ministry. But, you see, those of us, beloved, and this is the lesson we must learn, who are born again of God's Spirit and come into the glory of this mighty fullness of God, we also become priests.

We become priests according to His priesthood. We become priests according to His life. And everything of Him we've become priests. Now, you know that the priesthood was the most important function of ancient Israel.

We sometimes shout about the prophets, and we ought to. And we shout about the kings, David and Solomon and Hezekiah and people like this. But everything in ancient Israel turned on the priesthood. Everything.

And when the priesthood failed, there was nothing, nothing left. David wrote his chiefest psalms for the priests. They were to be sung in the tabernacle and have been sung ever since in temple. They were written for sons of Asher to sing.

They had to sing around the tabernacle, the house of God. Not that the man couldn't sing the Lord's My Shepherd when he was having his bath. Anywhere. But these things were written for the tabernacle.

Hallelujah. That in praise and glory and worship the whole of the priesthood should go on. The king then directed all his inspiration. And David wrote nothing outside of his psalms. The inspiration with which David was inspired was for the priesthood and the proper function of the ministry.

What a marvelous thing then it is for us to understand this. And David himself said, you keep thinking I'm great David that did this, did that. The other said, I'd rather be a doorkeeper in God's house than sit on this throne.

That's where he'd like to be. He saw the importance of the priesthood that everything turned upon the proper function of the priests. Oh, beloved, I wonder if you realize this. Have you? The great work of the priests.

Priesthood and Mediation in the Old Covenant

These were the people that stood between God and men. The only hope of approaching God in the old covenant was through the priests. Amen. That meant then that if the priesthood ceased to function they were cut off from God.

That is in this great typical sense in which God set up. It isn't to say that individuals as we were thinking last night didn't retain their virginity in spiritual things and kept through to God. Though these were very, very rare.

I'm speaking nationally now. This is how God constituted the nation. These people had, if you like, a mediatorial office and capacity. Moses was the great mediator of the Old Testament. Don't get weary with me, will you?

Don't shut off. Just hold this. You've got to see the whole setting of it. It's the air that's hot, is it? Oh, it's not my hot air. Let somebody else have some air to breathe, will you? And if you open that door there that'll cool it down quickly.

Sorry about that, sister. Wrap your coat round you. We all ate too much lunch, of course. If you're wrestling with those vapors within that's worse than wrestling with the vapors without. It won't be long before somebody will be frozen stiff.

But we'll readjust that. Amen. We'll freeze you awake then according to Brother Moffat's theory. These priests had a great in-between ministry. Now you've got the first part of this intercession. Inter-between.

You've got it. Moses was the great prime mediator of the Old Covenant. And then the priests, they had the book of the law inside the tabernacle. They had to minister these great things. They had to teach the covenant.

It had to be read to the males every year and so on and so on as they came up to worship. The priests were the guardians of the truth and of the faith. Not their armies, not their chariots. Nothing like that.

The central thing was that the priests functioned aright. They had a mediatorial office carried on from the first great giving of the law. What a marvelous thing it was then. Their ministry. Priesthood and mediation.

Intercession. These three great things go together. Wonderful to be an intercessor. I suppose that you've noticed the Old Testament examples of it. It's strange that yesterday afternoon when we were discussing quite different matters.

I suppose most of you are very curious about what went on yesterday afternoon. When we were discussing this great thing about parenthood and children, a question was asked concerning both the incidents that I want to talk to you about.

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

The first one is in Genesis chapter 18. And in the 18th chapter, God, you will know, is coming down to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. God is intending to blot out sin. He's going to send fire from heaven and destroy the wicked sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Dead Sea is the evidence in the earth today of God's great judgments. Then. And here we read it then. Verse 16 of chapter 18. In the opening part of the chapter, you read that the Lord appeared unto Abraham in the plains of Mamre.

And so on. He lifted up His eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by Him. Verse 16. Before they announced doom and destruction, this is just like God, they announced salvation through a coming seed to Sarah.

Ah, it's always like this, isn't it? Before God pulls down the final blankets, He announces hope and salvation. I love God. I love His methods. I love His loving heart that cannot sweep out in fiery judgment before, first of all, He has announced a Saviour and a salvation.

Alright then. In verse 16, the men rise up from thence. They look toward Sodom. They've come with a purpose. Abraham went with them to bring them on their way. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham this thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

Isn't it glorious that God's judgments are going to be local and not universal in this tremendous time. I've got to blot out this particular cancer spot on the earth. I've got to deal with that. But your seed, Abraham, is going to be a blessing to all mankind.

And this is why he says it. Verse 19, I know Abraham, and he will command his children and his household after him. And they shall keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

Amen. Amen. Here's the Lord saying to Abraham, or about Abraham first, I won't hide from Abraham this thing that I'm going to do. And here's the reason. He'll bring up his children, I can tell him. They won't become sodomites.

He'll bring his family up properly. Yes. Glorious, isn't it? What will your children become? What will your children? He's going to bring up his family properly. God help every parent in this room. They won't give themselves over because they'll be brought up properly.

Hallelujah. The restraints of righteousness shown even in an unregenerate heart will hold them. Oh, what a great grip love and righteousness and purity has on people, young people. Hallelujah. Parents take heart.

Amen. It's a marvelous thing. Let's go on. I shall get back on to that subject. The brethren exhorted me to get up in plenty of time. They know me. And the Lord said in verse 20, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me.

And if not, I will know. And God always does that. God came down and exposed Himself to the Sodomites. God did it again in Jesus. He came down and exposed Himself to men. He knew what was in the heart of men because He let men do what was in their hearts toward Him.

God doesn't do anything in an academic manner. He comes down and He gives human beings an opportunity to work out what's in their heart on Him, against Him, in the terrible, the human heart. It's a cesspit.

Human habits are absolutely rotten. And cry out to high heaven for judgment. Oh, the mercy and the restraint of God that we've been preserved on the earth to hear the gospel when the deserts of mankind, beloved, merited judgment upon judgment upon judgment.

Anybody want to disagree with that? Not if you've lived long enough to consider the ways of men, the state of the world, and the condition of your own heart. What it has been anyway, if it isn't now. And off He goes.

And the men, in verse 22, they turn their faces from thence and they go toward Sodom. But, here it is, Abraham stood yet before the Lord. Sodom and Gomorrah are going to the flames. But Abraham, one man, stands before God.

Thousands upon thousands are going to be incinerated. But Abraham stands before God. I want to tell you this whole wide world is going to be incinerated. Do you believe that? That's what this book says.

We've had centuries, millenniums of warning about it. We've been told again and again. Alright. Abraham stands before the Lord. And he draws near in verse 23 and says, Will thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

And away he goes. I hope you know his great prayer. His intercession. Now, intercession, beloved, is bound up with a man or woman coming face to face with the Lord. They are not saying prayers somewhere.

Before God. Didn't that human being, Jesus, go back to heaven to stand before the face of his Father God? And that's where he lives. In intercession. Abraham didn't get down on his knees, as it were, and just pray out prayers.

He wanted to save Lot and his family. If I know anything about it, his heart, he would have prayed for them. He would have spoken to his God about them. But now, it's intercession. He's standing before God.

He draws right near. Oh, God. It's face to face talking with God. That's intercession. That's the first introduction to it in the Scripture. I'm not saying that since we're in a more enlightened age, and in the fulfillment of the covenant, which was given to Abraham in seed form, but we're in fulfillment of it, it hasn't just been mimed as when a boy was put on an altar and taken off, and a lamb was offered in his stead, full of typical meaning, as that is.

Meat for the Bible searcher at understanding. We are now in the age when a man was nailed on a cross, and didn't come off, and went through with it, and rose again. This is the age we're in, in the living fulfillment of the mystery of salvation.

And Jesus goes back to heaven. And He's standing there. And He's interceding. But Abraham, in his intercession, sort of went the wrong way around about it. We all start off ignorant. And if Father Abraham blobbed a bit in the beginning, then there's an excuse for anybody that wants to get into this great ministry of intercession.

Don't be too ready to keep on pouring cold water on yourself. The devil is ready to do that. And if cold water doesn't stop you, pour scalding water on you. Anything to stop you. Anything. He's afraid of an intercessor.

He's more afraid of an intercessor than a man who goes around casting out demons. He's more afraid of an intercessor than he is of a prophet. He's more afraid of an intercessor. He'll do anything to stop a man getting into the place of intercession.

Anything. And it's surprising how easily men are put off intercession. Abraham went wrongly. He ought to have studied and taught plainly to God what He really meant. Now, when you are entering into a life of intercession, my beloved, you've got to be as Paul says.

Plainness of Speech in New Covenant Intercession

Look, let me... I don't think we need keep our finger in there. We've got from it. I may refer back to it. We've got from it the truth we need. Come over with me into your New Testament. Let us get the setting of truth.

This time, in the New Covenant, which you find set out for us somewhat in 2 Corinthians 3, where it says we're in this great age of the New Covenant, verse 6, we're able ministers of the New Covenant.

Amen. And I want to tell you that ability to minister the New Covenant, please listen to this, depends upon how much you know of the life of intercession. It doesn't depend upon your gifts. It depends upon intercession.

The whole of the discharge of the New Covenant depends upon intercession. Jesus, the intercessor. Oh, if churches had only got this fundamentally into their fabric, what would I sooner have? A church of intercessors or a church fully flowing in the charismatic area?

Give me the church of intercessors. Every time. Why? I needn't make the choice. You can have both. But I'm telling you where the preference lies. Every time. And in 2 Corinthians 3, we come to this great truth.

He says this, in verse 13 of the third chapter, we're not like Moses, the great mediator, which put a veil over his face that the children of Israel should not look steadfastly to the end of that which is abolished.

He says in verse 12, we have such hope that we use great plainness of speech. Now that's what you've got to do. If you're going to be an intercessor, you have to use great plainness of speech. Plainness.

Absolutely. Now, old Abraham, he got before the Lord, and he never really said what he wanted. Of course, God knows your heart. Bless you. And bless you too. If He didn't know your heart, He'd just about answer you in the sort of conundrum ways you speak.

But He does want you to come to great plainness which come out of these great involved statements that have come from your mind fishing about in the doctrines you believe. Come to plainness of speech.

I beseech you, and this will never be an intercessor. He said, O Lord, don't destroy the righteous with the wicked, just as though God intended to. And he went down through knocking God down every time.

Well, now, intercession is not instituted for knocking God down. He ought to have said, Now, Lord, please don't destroy Lot and his wife and family. Now, if he'd have said that, he would have been alright.

But he thought, well, if I say 50, I'll get Lot in that lot, you see. That's what his heart meant. Bless him. But don't let's be judges of him. Have you ever tried even that? I always think you have a reason to criticise others if you're doing better than them.

That will mean that you'll never criticise anybody from now on. Won't it? That'll stop your coughing tongue, won't it? But we're not criticising Abraham. We're learning from him. You learn from what you observe to be my mistakes.

I make plenty. The tremendous thing about it was this man's heart was engaged for righteous Lot. As Peter speaks of him. Sorry, Jude speaks of him. Righteous Lot. That just man vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked.

That's right. He was a stupid man to have gone there. And he was saved by intercession. Oh, the folly of prodigality. The son that goes out into the swine's country, ultimately. Thinking they're finding loveliness and fulfilment.

Intercession saved Lot. Praise God. Thank you for Abraham. Thank you for an intercessor. Probably Lot never even really knew what it was all about. Intercession reaches where other things can't reach.

You remember that before this, in Abraham's life, there'd been need for him to go and rescue Lot before. That time he'd been taken captive by those warring kings. You know all about them. Tidal king of nations.

All these people that came up to fight against Sodom itself at that time. And Abraham went after him. Hallelujah. He put them all in their places. And he rescued Lot. But this time he couldn't. It wasn't just that the nations had come against Lot.

It was that God was coming against the situation in which he was living. Lot never to have been there. An intercession alone saved him. Not force of arms. You can't go and take anything by force when God's determined to deal with it.

And there are times, you young people, listen to me, if you've got godly parents, when you've been saved from the very flames that would lick you up by mothers and fathers that have prayed for you. Not only mothers and fathers if you've never had them.

Godly elders and women that have laid hold of you and you've lived in your stubbornness of your sin. And where would you have been but for someone who knew how to get hold of God and you thought you could keep yourself and please yourself and I don't know what you thought.

And hell's own disposition raped your nature. God be thanked for intercessors. God be thanked for men and women that know how to get before God and say, Lord, Lord. This is the power of intercession. It gets where nothing else can.

This is why there are very few intercessors. Though everybody ought to be one if they realise the power of it. Who do you think God gets into the heart of people who have sold themselves out to sin? How did the Holy Ghost come?

Because Jesus is interceding and mediating him. No hope for the world unless there was an intercessor. God gets into the hearts and situations where it's absolutely impossible to come. Because the Blessed One is interceding.

The most astounding things happen. Let me tell you an incident recently. A young lady comes to see me. You'll never know her. At least I don't suppose you will. You won't know it's her if you meet her anyway.

Nowhere in this part of the world. She came to see me. And as I listened to her story in all her need. Oh, she'd been married. Her relationship had broken up. She'd attempted suicide. And at last to get some comfort for her tormented soul, so she thought.

She linked up with another man. He moved in and started to live with her. All that's involved in it. And that didn't satisfy. And don't anybody here think that it can? For he came home this man one day and found that she'd taken an overdose and was on her way out.

He rushed her as quickly as he could to the hospital. When at last she came round. Listen to him. The man that's living with her means sin. He said, what you need is Jesus Christ. Whoever would have thought a man would talk like that.

And I happen to be around in the district. And so he said, you go and see this man. So here she comes and stands in front of me. I said, well, I'm absolutely astounded. He knows what I'm going to tell you.

He's got to lose you. He knows it. And he has. He's lost her. Jesus Christ has got her. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. But how would you expect that to happen? Eh? There's an intercession. Intercession. Carrying Calvary through.

Constantly bearing what Calvary revealed. For didn't he hang on the cross to save men and women? And isn't intercession the carrying through of that? Though it should remind him of ten thousand hells and agonies.

Carries it through. You'd think he'd want to forget about it, wouldn't you? Jesus, doesn't your mind get screwed up about it? Can't you feel again the thorns? Don't you feel again the nails? Don't you feel the rejection and the coldness?

Don't ask me that. I love men and women. Intercession. Intercession. The second great illustration I want to turn you to was again referred to yesterday afternoon. And this time, as you will already have anticipated, it's in the book of Exodus.

Moses Intercedes After the Golden Calf

Chapter 32. You'll know the story. It's the time in the history when to their shame the children of Israel made a golden calf. When the mediator was even up there receiving the covenant reduced now to commandments.

The implications of the first promise of being outworked. What God had in mind seethed thought, conveyed in simple promise. It's being put down upon stone now. It's going to become fundamental in the lives of Israel.

And Moses is up there receiving it from God. Glory be to God. Feed up their 40 days and 40 nights with God. Neither drank nor eaten for the sake of Israel. Amen. Whilst he's up there, God says this. Verse 7.

Go, get thee down for thy people which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They've turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They've made them a molten calf.

They've worshipped it. And have sacrificed thereunto. And said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. The Lord said unto Moses, I've seen this people. Behold, it's a stiff-necked people.

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 rose to the heights of Abraham the man to whom God first made the promise that He would bring the nation.

He arose to equal stature with him. Glory be to God! And he besought the Lord, his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, for mischief did He bring them out to slay them in the mountains and to consume them on the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy people.

Fancy a man telling God to repent! Talk about plainness of speech! Not that it was sinning God. It's usually its simplest form. Repent. Change your mind, Lord. Fancy a man telling God that! Blasphemous!

It would be if he hadn't been interceding. That's the place of the intercessor. He can talk to God in his own language. Nice little platitudinous prayers and sayings. He's a man wrought out of agony somewhere.

He's a man that's got understanding in him. He's a man that knows. He's a man that can get a hold of God. He's a man that can do business with God. He's a man that can do business for men. He's a man that can turn God.

Perhaps that shocked you to hear me say that. But you need to read your New Testament. And when you read your New Testament in Matthew chapter 9, you'll find that a simple woman turned Jesus. Did you ever discover it?

If not, do you read it till you do? Don't you see the loving heart of God? Don't you see the familiarity upon which He wants to live with you? Don't you see that He wants to make you stand in this sonship?

Don't you see what it's all about? Don't you see He wants you to share His authority, His power, His love? Only intercessors do this. Don't you see the result of this humbling of Himself? Don't you see the result of raising men from the dead, as we were saying this morning?

Don't you see it is a new creation? Don't you see it is a new world, a new life, a new ministry? Or are we peddling around in the little things? Oh, for intercessors. Hallelujah. And when I read things like this, God says, He knew it.

He knew it. He knew Moses. If I may put it this way, please excuse me, but let the Lord sort me out if I'm wrong. He thought, I've got to get rid of Moses if I want to do this. He says, Moses, now let me alone.

How about that? He knew he couldn't do it while Moses was there. How about that? Just if I may say, not that there's any, there's no sort of dichotomy in God. There's no division. But God can't destroy this world yet whilst Jesus is interceding for it all.

And the end of the world isn't tomorrow, and it isn't now, because Jesus is interceding for it all. And although the world deserves it, this city is alive with sodomy, witchcraft, all forms of deviltry, drunkenness, perversion, blasphemy.

Humanism will be preached for the gospel tonight in its pulpits. You'll know that. And how about your own heart? Jesus is interceding. Let me alone, Moses. I'll do it for you. No. An intercessor has to be a selfless man.

God will test you to the hilt, hip and thigh, to find out whether you've got self in you. Didn't he do it with Abraham? He did it with Moses. He did it with Jesus. He'll do it with you. Intercession is the highest grade of all.

He won't let you be an intercessor. He'll let you be a worker. Even in the Liverpool Fellowship. Better than most, perhaps. Fellowship or the work, I don't care which of the choices. But he won't let you be an intercessor.

Here, stop that. Preacher! Yes? That is, a man who speaks words, shouts his head off, like me, for instance. He's got the church and he's got the world. Why should God want us to be intercessors? If there wasn't one intercessor now, the supreme high priest of all, beloved, we'd all have been sunk.