Abraham - The Intercessor

It's a marvelous thing to be an intercessor. We come to the throne of grace, claiming the promises of His word. And we cry out and ask for God's blessing upon others. Are you an intercessor for the Lord?

Let's talk to our Father now. Gracious Father in heaven, we're grateful that You are on the throne, that Jesus Christ is King of kings, Lord of lords, and that You have our times in Your hands, and You do make all things beautiful in Your time. Give us patience to wait for that beauty to come, even when we're going through times of difficulty. Help us now as we study Your word, remind us of what we have learned, teach us something new, convict us, and most of all make us more like the Lord Jesus Christ. I ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Abraham is teaching us how to live in the school of faith. In Genesis 18:1-8, Abraham is a blessing to the Lord. That may be a whole new concept to you, but it's true. He's a blessing to the Lord. And then in 9-15, he's a blessing to his wife, to his home. If a man is not a blessing to his own home, he's not going to be much of a blessing to the rest of the world. And then in the rest of this chapter, in 16-33, he is a blessing even to the lost and to the backslidden, as he intercedes for Lot and for the people in Sodom. God is searching for intercessors. The great need in the church today is for intercessory prayer. In fact, not to be an intercessor is to sin against the Lord and against His people. 1 Samuel 12:23. Samuel said, "But God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you."

One of the great encouragements in my own ministry is knowing that people are praying. And in my own prayer life, I have lists upon lists of things that I pray about, people I pray for, ministries that I pray with, that God will bless and help them. Many of these people don't even know I pray for them. That's all right, the Lord knows. I want to be a part of their ministry. I want to be an intercessor.

When you read the Bible, you'll notice that these intercessors are a noble group of people. Moses up on the mountain, interceding for Israel when Israel had sinned. David crying out to God for his people. Elijah there on Mount Carmel. The Apostle Paul praying for Israel and for the new Christians. And our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is a great intercessor. In fact, right now He ever lives to make intercession for us. The closest thing that we have to a heavenly ministry today is the ministry of intercession.

Verse 22 of Genesis 18. "Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom." Now these are the two angels. The Lord Jesus did not go down to Sodom, because He did not feel at home with Lot. Lot was a worldly, backslidden man who was compromising his testimony, and the Lord Jesus just didn't feel at home there. So He sent the two angels down to inquire. There had been a great outcry from Sodom, and a great outcry against Sodom. The sins of Sodom had testified to the Lord. And I'm sure there were some others who were testifying about the sins of Sodom. I wonder if the angels hadn't been telling Almighty God what's been going on down there in Sodom.

Nobody in Sodom and Gomorrah who was destroyed could ever say they did not have a chance. That's important. God had witnessed to them. To begin with, Abraham had been a great witness by his separation. The people in Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain could look out and see Abraham's camp. He had a big camp. He had a lot of cattle and a lot of people. And they could see Abraham. They knew that Abraham worshipped the true God. Abraham pitched his tent and he built his altar. By his separation, Abraham was a witness to the people of Sodom.

Secondly, by his intervention, he was a witness to them. You'll recall in chapter 14 that the four kings came in and captured the five kings and captured the people and took all of their wealth. But Abraham intervened, and God gave him victory and set them free.

Thirdly, by his testimony before the king of Sodom, Abraham was a witness to them. The king of Sodom said, "Take all of the goods, just give me the people." That's the always been the attitude of the world. The world wants your body. The world will give you anything if you'll just turn your body over to the world. The devil wants your body. And Abraham said, "I won't even take a shoelace from you." Abraham was a witness to the people of Sodom by the fact that he risked his life to rescue them, and then having rescued them, took nothing from them. What a witness he was. Now he's going to intercede for them, pray for them. Did the people in Sodom know that he was praying for them? No. But he was praying for them just the same. Don't ever think that the people in Sodom did not have an opportunity. They had a golden opportunity to repent and believe and to quit their sin.

Well, Abraham stood still before the Lord, verse 22. It's rather interesting that some of the Hebrew texts read, "and the Lord stood still before Abraham." Now I think both are true. I think as they were walking along, the Lord Jesus stopped, and Abraham stopped. Spurgeon used to say that the stops of a good man are ordered of the Lord as much as the steps of a good man, and that's true. The Lord stopped. He wanted to say something to Abraham. And Abraham stopped to commune with the Lord.

Verse 23, "And Abraham came near and said." Now, I like that little phrase, "Abraham came near." Here we have the friend of God, communing with his friend, drawing near to intercede for others. Hebrews 10:19, "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is his flesh, and having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near."

Now, with God, nearness is likeness. He's not talking about geographical nearness. God is everywhere. I can be in my bed at night, God is with me. I can be driving down the highway, God is with me. Rather, He's talking about a definite step of faith where we come close to God spiritually. We draw near to Him through the word. We draw near to Him by the Holy Spirit, with a true heart in full assurance of faith. Let us draw near. Now, the Hebrew word here means to present a case in court. It's the picture of the attorney stepping up before the judge. In fact, that's what Abraham calls the Lord in verse 25, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" And so here we have a courtroom scene where Abraham is presenting the case for rescuing Sodom.

Now, this bothers some people. They can't figure out why Abraham would ever want such a place as Sodom to be rescued from justice and judgment. But this is what Abraham's praying for. You know why? He had a heart like God's. What are the essentials for an effective intercessory ministry? How can you and I truly intercede? Oh, what a joy it is to get into the quietness of your own room, to close the door on the world, and open the window to heaven, and intercede. What a joy it is to pray for others, to wrestle with the needs of others.

But what are the essentials if we're going to be effective? Number one, I notice that Abraham had a balanced life. He didn't spend all of his time praying. He also walked with the Lord. He also went out and fought some battles for the Lord. He was also a servant of the Lord. In 1-15, you have the servant of God. In 16-21, you have the friend of God. And then you have the intercessor who is pleading with God. A balanced life. He was serving the Lord. He was giving his very best to the Lord. He was running around, hastening here. 99 years old in the heat of the day. He had 318 servants who could have done it. No, Abraham is serving the Lord. Abraham is a friend of the Lord. He stands still and waits for the Lord to speak. He hears the word. It's rather interesting that in 22-33, it's just Abraham and God. No servants, not his wife, just Abraham and God. The most important part of our lives is the part that only God sees. Not the part that people see. Not even the part that our closest, nearest, and dearest see. The part that is the most important is the part that only God sees. Here's Abraham as he ministers to the Lord. He ministers to his home, and now he is ministering on behalf of a lost city and on behalf of a backslidden relative.

I suppose all of us could make a list of people we're praying for because they're backslidden and careless and indifferent. And this is what Abraham is now doing. He was a balanced person. He was the friend of God and he was the servant of God. Secondly, he was not only a man with a balanced life, he was a man with a broken heart, a burdened heart. I've noticed that in the word of God, intercessors are burdened people.

I've noticed that in the word of God, intercessors are burdened people. I was reading recently in my devotional time about Moses. He comes down from the mountain. He sees Israel naked before their enemies, shamefully dancing around an idol. Can you imagine that? They were delivered from Egypt by Almighty God. Now they've made an idol. Aaron has led them into idolatry and immorality and shame, and Moses breaks the tables of the law that God gave them. And his heart is broken. He judges the sin. And then he goes back up on the mountain, and he pleads with God. And he says, "God, if you can't forgive them, then blot my name out of the book of life."

A man with a with a burdened heart. David was this way when he cried out to God when you read the Psalms. Paul, "My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. I would that I myself were accursed for my kinsmen's sake." Paul said, "I I would rather go to hell on their behalf." Well, the Lord Jesus already experienced our punishment for us on the cross. We don't have to do that. Paul was a burdened man, and so was the Lord Jesus. He wept, "Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have gathered you, and you would not."

You can't intercede for people glibly. You can't intercede for people just quietly conversing with God. We have to be people with burdened hearts who know God's secrets. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him," Psalm 25:14. Now, for whom was Abraham burdened? He was burdened for the lost people in Sodom. There he is very much like our Lord. You see, sometimes you and I look at sin and sinners and we hate the sinner as much as we hate the sin.

Now, I know in my own thinking, I have a hard time separating sin from the sinner. God can do this. I can't. God sees the heart. God sees the mind. God knows all things. But sometimes we look at what is being done in this world, the wickedness of people, and we wonder how can God stop from judging. In fact, someone said recently that if God does not judge the great cities of our world today, he's going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, God never has to apologize. God knows what he is doing.

Abraham came near and said, "Would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Nice talking about Lot. 2 Peter 2:8, "Lot was a righteous man." Lot was a saved man. He wasn't living like a saved man. He wasn't living where a saved man ought to live. He wasn't leading his family as a saved man ought to lead his family. But Lot was a saved man. And when you're saved, God takes care of his own children. God doesn't appreciate their sin. God doesn't approve of their sin. God does judge their sin.

Lot lost everything. He lost his character. He lost his family. He lost his future. He lost his possessions. He lost everything. Because he was a a wicked man in terms of turning against the will of God. He could have been living in the holy camp of Abraham. Instead, he was living in the filthy city of Sodom, exposing his family to all of that rot.

Well, Abraham is praying, "Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?" He's not pleading the grace of God or the mercy of God. He's pleading the justice of God. The justice of God. "If you find 50 righteous people, will you spare the city?" Now, God is not willing that any should perish. 2 Peter 3:9. "God who will have all men to be saved." 1 Timothy 2:4. "I have no pleasure," says the Lord, "in the death of the wicked." Ezekiel 33:11. We have no problem here. God does not enjoy judging sinners. God has no pleasure when people die and go to hell. Now, sometimes you and I would have pleasure in seeing wicked things all burned up. We'd love for lightning from heaven to strike the wicked and wipe them out. God doesn't feel that way about it. God so loved the world.

Now here is a man who has a balanced life and a broken heart, a burdened heart. He's burdened for the lost. He doesn't want to see all these people go to hell. And he's burdened for his relatives, his backslidden relatives. When you put the record together, you discover that Lot had a wife, two single daughters, two married daughters, and two sons-in-law. There were eight people in the family. And Abraham was greatly concerned about their future. Now, this is only proper. I suppose all of us have loved ones who may not be living as they ought to live, and and we're burdened for them, and we cry out to God that God would do something for them.

Now, the important thing to notice is that Abraham is pleading not the grace of God, not the mercy of God, but the justice of God. How can you destroy a whole city if there are righteous people there? He starts off with 50, and God says, "All right, if I find 50, I'll spare the city." Notice the argument in verse 25. "Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked." Now if they're living like the wicked, you have a problem there, don't you? "Far be it from you, shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" He's pleading the justice and the glory of God. The glory of God was involved in this judgment. And God says, "All right, if I find 50 people, I'll spare the city."

Now Abraham continues in humility and says, "If you find 40 people," or "45 people," and then 40, and then he goes down to 30, and then he goes down to 20, and then he goes down to 10. You see, not only was he a man with a balanced life and a burdened heart, but he was a man with a bold faith. He is really dealing with God here. Now he's doing it with humility. He approaches God with humility. He draws near to God, and we don't find him boasting, we don't find him arguing, gently and yet fervently, he says, "Look, I'm just dust and ashes. Please don't be angry with me now. Oh, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Oh, let not the Lord be angry. I'll speak once more." Here we have the boldness tempered with humility. Boldness tempered with faith. Boldness as he pleads the glory and the justice of God.

By the way, we have a better approach, don't we? When we pray, we come to a throne of grace. We don't come to the Judge of the universe. He is that, but we come praying to a throne of grace. We come not on the basis of friendship but sonship. We come because we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. We can come with boldness to the throne of grace, and we can find grace to help in the time of need. By the way, God answered the prayer, and Lot was spared. Lot's wife was judged. We take it that his married daughters and his sons-in-law stayed in the city and were destroyed. His single daughters came with him and they ended up leading Lot into a drunken orgy of incest. But Lot was spared. God answered prayer on behalf of Lot because of Abraham.

In chapter 19 and in verse 16, he lingered, but it says, "The Lord being merciful to him," verse 19, "He found favor and mercy with the Lord." When we come to pray for others, we're not pleading the justice of God. We're not arguing a case in court. We're coming to a throne of grace, and we're asking God to apply his grace and his mercy. What a merciful thing prayer is. Abraham gets down to 10 people. He figured that if there were two more who had gotten saved, that these 10 would have saved the whole city. Lot and his wife, surely a man would win his wife to the salvation of the Lord. And then he had his two married daughters, his two sons-in-law, and his two single daughters. That's eight. If Lot had won the paperboy and the milkman, 10 people would have been saved. If he'd won his own family. But Lot was not a blessing to his own family. Abraham was.

I can't think of anything more wonderful than to be a blessing to other people. When God called Abraham, He said, "I'm going to bless you," and that's good. We like that. "And I'm going to make you a blessing." We sing in one of our popular songs, "Make me a blessing, make me a blessing. Out of my life may Jesus shine." Lot was not a blessing to Sodom. Someone says, "Well, it's so good that Lot's there in Sodom. He can be a witness." He wasn't a witness in Sodom. Abraham was a witness outside of Sodom. Abraham, the separated man, had a greater witness than did Lot who was sitting in the city gate. Abraham returned to his place. He had prayed and he had done all that he could.

It's a marvelous thing to be an intercessor. We come to the throne of grace, claiming the promises of His word. And we cry out and ask for God's blessing upon others. Are you an intercessor for the Lord? Today, as you are a servant of God and as you are a friend of God, and as you pray and intercede for others, the blessing of God will come to your life and the blessing of God will flow through your life as you draw near and walk with the Lord.