The Intercession of the Holy Sprit

Sunday October 19, 2008 Phone: 570.829.5216 Pastor David Miklas e-mail [email protected] Message # 5 “Romans Chapter 8” Text: Romans 8:26- 27

"The Intercession of the Holy Sprit"

Introduction: Again in this service we turn to Romans chapter 8 as we focus on verses 26-27. Someone made this simple yet profound statement, "He who has the Holy Spirit in his heart and the Holy Scripture in his head has all he needs." And to a large extent he is absolutely correct. Now the ministry of the Holy Spirit as found in Romans 8 is absolutely imperative if we are going to live the victorious Christian life. We have said in the past that far too many Christians live in the light of Romans 7, which depicts DEFEAT, DISCOURAGEMENT, DESPONDENCE, and even DESPAIR.

There is no joy in their Christian lives. There is no satisfaction about the Christian life. They are saved, but that is the extent of their spiritual life. They have no desire to get truly involved in the things of God. They live in Romans 7 where sin has an ever present grip on their lives. Now Romans 8 is entirely different because here you have reference to the Holy Spirit over and over again. I believe you will find reference to the Holy Spirit some 19x in this 8th chapter. The Holy Spirit is never referred to in Romans chapter 7, and is mentioned only one time from Romans 1 through 7. But as you come to Romans 8 you discover that an entirely different attitude and atmosphere prevails with the person of the Holy Spirit of God.

Please follow as I read for you Romans 8:26-27, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (27) And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Now the first word I want us to look at is that little seemingly insignificant word "also." The use of that word "also" indicates that there are other things here in Romans 8 that the Holy Sprit of God does in the life of the child of God. Please understand that Romans chapter 8 is dealing with the believer after we have become children of God. If you have not taken Jesus as your personal Saviour by faith then the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit is that of CONVICTING you of your need of Jesus Christ as your Saviour and CONVINCING you that there is absolutely nothing you can do about your sin or getting to heaven apart from choosing Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour.

Now from verse 2, we discover when a believer is YIELDED to the Spirit of God, SINS POWER not just SINS PRESENCE but SINS POWER is broken in our lives, and we are able to live a Christ-like life day by day.

Listen carefully to this very pointed statement, "Sin at first is a simple suggestion, and then it is a strong imagination, then it becomes delight, and finally it is assented to. But when we are yielded to the Holy Spirit the process is reversed. Not only is the assent to sin taken away, but also the delight and then the imagination and finally even the suggestion." Now when we YIELD to the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our lives, HE enables us to live victoriously over sins in our Page 1 lives. Would you stop for a moment and give me your undivided attention? I wonder how many of us really think about the uniqueness of worship. I don't mean the kind where we just parade into church, to say we are here, sing a few songs, and hear a message and then parade out. In real worship we become aware of the fact that inside of us there has been something created by God that shall live forever. In real worship:

We become God conscious. We become Christ conscious. We become aware of sin in our lives, and the fact that we cannot continue in it. Whatever it happens to be, we know that it needs to be dealt with. Now maybe we don't always deal with sin as we ought. But I do believe when we are assembled together, we should allow the Word of God to become a mirror to our soul where IT SHOWS US UP FOR WHAT WE REALLY ARE. Thank God the Word of God also CLEANS US UP if we apply its message to our lives.

So when there is YIELDING to the Holy Spirit we find that there is VICTORY in our lives. Not only over the power of sin, but also over those sinful vices that seem to strangle us. Now that is one thing that the Holy Spirit does for us.

When the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon an individual, there comes excitement in that individual. When the power of the Holy Spirit comes into the life of a church and fills and controls that church, all of sudden there comes excitement in the church. When the righteousness of the Word of God begin to manifest itself in the lives of the people in that church, we discover what Christianity is all about.

It's not buildings; it's not programs, but saved people who are yielded to the Holy Spirit of God manifesting the righteousness and the power of God through the Spirit on a daily basis. In summary someone said this, "The GOAL of our lives is God, the LOVE of our lives is Christ,. and the ENERGIZER of our lives is the Holy Spirit." No matter how long we have been saved, no matter how eloquent we may appear to be, the Word of God in verses 26-27 implies there is a clumsiness or awkwardness about our praying. This is not just of a select few but the clumsiness of all of us.

Notice, the Apostle Paul didn't say, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth YOUR infirmities; for YOU know not what YOU should pray for as YOU ought..." Rather the Apostle Paul includes himself as well as all of us when he said, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth OUR infirmities; for WE know not what WE should pray for as WE ought..." I believe we all have to confront our helplessness in the matter of prayer. At one time or another all of us could say as we were burdened about a matter, "O Lord, what do I say?..." We stand appalled at times before the deep antipathy of our own hearts to prayer. As a believer we now have one who comes alongside, as our PRAYER PARTNER and goes with us to God the Father.

Notice in verse 26 the Bible says, "Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth..." Interestingly the word "helpeth" only occurs one other time in the New Testament and that is in Luke 10:40. It is found in the story of Mary and Martha, at the time the Lord was a guest in their home. You will recall Mary was found at the Master's feet in deep communion with him. But Martha could be heard banging the pots and pans around in the kitchen. Obviously Martha's irritation was growing. Why should she have to slave while Mary sat at the feet Page 2 of Jesus? Suddenly she burst out, "Lord, doest thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she HELP me." Another way we could translate this from Luke 10:40, "Bid her lend me a helping hand."

That is the very idea behind the use of the word "Helpeth" in Romans 8:26. What we need in prayer is HELP, the practical, down to earth, everyday kind of help that Martha needed in the kitchen that day. The Holy Spirit is the one who comes alongside, not to take our place, or to take our responsibility, but to lend us a helping hand. Oh, my friend, what a blessed truth to know that the Holy Spirit who dwells in us is our "PRAYER PARTNER."

At the outset of a campaign during World War II, on the night of July 10, 1943 General Dwight Eisenhower made this comment, "There comes a time when you have used your BRAINS, your TRAINING, and your SKILL. The die is cast, and the events are in the hands of God, and there you have to leave them."

Now the same is true with our praying. There comes those moments when we have prayed as FERVENTLY, as SINCERELY, as EFFECTIVELY as we know how, and we just have to leave the matter in the hands of God. Now the Bible is telling us, it is at that moment the Spirit of God comes along and ASSISTS us. Have you ever been in prayer and all of a sudden you feel compelled to pray about a matter, or to pray for someone, or to pray for some need, and you stop what you are praying for and pray for that? You know something, that's awesome. That's a very solemn and sacred and holy thing. That's the Spirit of God assisting you and I to pray in the will of God. Let me pause and say The Holy Spirit is our prayer energizer. I don't think there is a one of us in this service that does not stand in need of prayer.

All of us need prayer. All of us need to pray more. All of us need to consistently and constantly pray for others as we need others to pray for us. All of us need to pray individually. All of us need to pray together in our homes as a family. With that need for prayer in mind, may I remind you that Wednesday evening at our church is not just another service!. Wednesday evening prayer and Bible study ought to be a Mid-Week Prayer and Recharge service. It ought to be a time in which the whole church assembles and then goes before the Lord on our knees and begins to call as a church body upon God for the needs of the ministry and the needs of others. It's not a service that you try out, to see if you like it. It's a service you should attend unless you are working, sick, or dying. If you do not attend, I believe you are neglecting one of THE most important services of the WEEK. Someone said,

You can always determine the popularity of a church by its morning service. You can always determine the popularity of the Pastor by the attendance at the Sunday Evening service. But you can determine the popularity of the Lord Jesus Christ by the attendance at the Mid-Week prayer meeting." I know I might not score many points on what I have just said, nevertheless, you know it's true and it's something that needs to be said.

Again notice verse 26, "The Spirit helpeth our infirmities or He helpeth our weaknesses." The weakness spoken of here is the inability of the soul to know for what to pray. Literally,

"We do not know, THE WHAT we should pray for." That is, the particular what.

Why does the Holy Spirit do what He does? Listen to this statement. "What discord we could being into the universe if all our prayers would be answered as we wanted; then we would govern this world and not God." Now a literal rendering of this 26th verse could read, "we know not how to express ourselves so that our prayer corresponds to our need." For example

Perhaps there is a Farmer in Texas who is praying, "O God please send rain for my crops." And in that same area there is another family praying, "Lord we are having our family reunion tomorrow, please make it a nice day."

Perhaps there are some people who come to church and pray that the service would be shorter. While there are others who are praying that the service would be longer.

Perhaps there is some young man who meets a girl and He prays "Lord that is the one I really want to marry, that's the girl I need." But on the other hand the girl is praying "Lord please not that boy, please don't answer his prayer." We think that we are praying for the right thing. But that is not always the case. That's why we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit of God.

We may come to God and plead for God to give us this or to give us that, and in so doing, we MAY BLOW IT. We may be asking God for something that will not be good for us. We may be asking God for something that will destroy our ministry. Maybe we will ask God for a new car and just when that extra bill arrives, we lose our job or we have some other financial reversal. That's why we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit of God. Over in Ecclesiastes 6:12 we read, "For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow..." I may think I know what's good for me. And you may think you know what's good for you. But there are times we just don't know what is good for us and we have to say, "Holy Spirit of God, we ask you to come to our aid, as we are asking what is the will of God." Holding your place here, turn with me to Ephesians 2:18 and we shall read that passage together, “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” Notice that phrase, "we both"

How many is both? "Two," the passage is referring to about two. Who are the two? The one is me and the other is the Holy Spirit. Do you see that little preposition "by?" In the Greek language this word could be translated as by, into, at, or with." Reading verse 18 using the word "with" we have, "...we both have access with one Spirit..." Let me give you a very simple outline on prayer.

We pray TO God the Father. We pray THROUGH God the Son. We pray WITH God the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that goes with us to God the Father. Now there are times that we have no idea how we ought to pray. And there are times when we have prayed and are amazed at how God answered our prayers, in a way we never dreamed possible. Someone said this, "I prayed for strength to do greater things." I have done that and I am sure you have done that. But then he also said, "I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy, but I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men, but I was given weakness that I Page 4 might feel the need of God. I received nothing I had asked for, yet all I had hoped for." That is a very true and profound statement. Now not only does this passage tell us WHAT the Spirit of God does and WHY He does it, but it also tells us HOW He does it as far as our prayers are concerned.

Notice the second half of verse 26, where it says, "the Spirit itself maketh intercession..." Now that is troublesome to me because the Holy Spirit is a real person, not an it. The better way of looking at this would be "the Spirit HIMSELF maketh intercession..." The Spirit of God is not a force, the Holy Spirit is a real person. Now in this verse, please notice that the Holy Spirit doesn't pray FOR us. Rather he makes INTERSESSION FOR us. Look at verse 26 in this way, "The Spirit greatly aids or supports us in those deep emotions, those intense feelings, those inward sieges which cannot be expressed in language. But by which he enables us to bear, and which are understood by Him that searcheth the hearts." I don't know about you, but there have been times in my life when I was praying about a matter and I reached an impasse.

I could not go on. I did not know what to say. I could not even speak. I just knelt there and all I could do was cry out to the Holy Spirit of God, "Help me, I don't know what to say, my words in prayer fail me."

And then a peace came into my soul. That, my friend, was the Holy Spirit of God.

Saying, I'll go with you. Saying, I know the thought and the intent of your heart. I know what to say on your behalf. Roman 8, verse 27. You know there are times we ought to bow in prayer and just THANK GOD for the ministry of the Holy Spirit. There ought to be times when we recognize the importance and necessity of His ministry in our lives. But it could be that maybe you are not familiar with the ministry of the Holy Spirit and you are here for only one purpose. And that is to be brought face to face with your need to receive Jesus as your personal Saviour, to be born again. If this is so, may I encourage you, at the singing of the invitational hymn, to make your way to the front of the church to make your desire known!

************************************************ If God has spoken to your heart after reading the sermon on ""The Intercession of the Holy Sprit," then right now talk to God about what He has spoken to you.

Do you have the assurance that one day you will go to heaven? If you have no assurance that you know Jesus Christ, then I trust you will decide to accept Him as your personal Savior. The Bible tells us in

Acts 16:31, “...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This prayer is here for those who need to ask Jesus to be their personal Savior: “I do want to go to Heaven. I know I am a sinner, and I do believe Jesus Christ died for me. I realize I cannot buy this great salvation, nor can I earn it. Knowing Jesus died on the cross and arose from the grave to pay my sin debt and to purchase my salvation, I do now trust Him as my Savior, and from this moment on I am completely depending on Him for my salvation.”

If you made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, would you please let me know? Page 5 Please send me an e-mail to [email protected]. And in return I will send you some literature that will help you in your Christian life. The “Weekly SERMON” was sent as a ministry of Bible Baptist Ministry, 48 Alexie Rd., Hanover Township, PA 18706. Privacy policy: your e-mail address will not be sold, or shared with any third party.

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