Charles Capps - Jesus, our intercessor

Contents

Introduction

We have all been taught about Jesus and His healing ministry, working of miracles and casting out demons. But the Church (the Body of Christ) as a whole knows very little about Jesus as our Intercessor. This part of His ministry is so vital to us; it is not only something He did when He lived on earth, but it is a continuing ministry today.

This book will take you on a scriptural journey that will shed light on many truths you already know. Be sensitive to what God says to you as you read this book and study God's Word.

There Was No Intercessor

There have been many questions and much confusion over some things that happened to God's people under the Old Covenant. Many today try to link things that were suffered then to what we can expect to experience. But God has provided better things for us. (Heb. 11:40.)

First, let's look at some of the reasons why the people of the Old Covenant suffered things that we should not have to suffer today.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon gives us his view of the situation under the Old Covenant:

So I returned, and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter.

Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.

Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

In that day the oppressed had no comforter, but there was power on the side of the oppressor. Solomon praised the dead rather than the living. In other words, it was his opinion that they would be better off dead than to live under their condition.

Isaiah states:

And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

Yea, truth faileth ; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.

And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor, therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

Isaiah 59:14-16

Here we find the key to why many things happened under the Old Covenant that should never happen to us today: they had no intercessor.

God speaks through Ezekiel:

The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.

And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.

Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord God.

Ezekiel 22:29-31

Another Key

Under the Old Covenant, God sought for a man to stand in the gap and make up the hedge, but He found none. Under the New Covenant, however, we have such a man: His name is Jesus. And we have a Comforterthe Holy Spirit. There is power on the side of the believer today. Jesus gave us His Name to use. We now have an Intercessor, Who is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He makes intercession for us.

God speaks through Isaiah:

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Isaiah 53:12

Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would make intercession for the transgressors. We know that He wept over Jerusalem; He prayed for those that rejected Him. When He was on the cross He cried, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). John gives us insight on this in the light of the New Covenant:

My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

1 John 2:1-3

If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.

The word advocate in the Greek is paraclete . It means advocate, consoler, comforter or intercessor.

The Old Testament word intercessor means mediator; one who intercedes; one who pleads in behalf of another. In the New Testament the word translated intercession means to meet with, come between; intercede. Every time the word is used referring to intercession that is done under the New Covenant, it is referring to Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is our Intercessor. He is our Counselor, our Consoler, our Comforter; in other words, our Lawyer. In making reference to the Holy Spirit as the Comforter, Jesus said, I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you (John 14:18).

Jesus Christ, being our Advocate and Intercessor, pleads our case for us.

John gives us some good news: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

The book of John was not written to sinners, but to the Church. All those who are born again have Jesus as their Advocate, their Comforter and their Intercessor. But if they don't understand His present-day ministry, they may never receive the full benefits of that ministry. Only when they get a revelation of Jesus as their Intercessor will they be able to flow with His anointing and receive all the benefits of His ministry.

Adam Lost Direction

When Adam sinned, he shorted out the power charge of his human spirit, which I believe was the Holy Spirit. In Proverbs, Solomon tells us, The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly (Prov. 20:27). Then the apostle Paul gives us more insight:

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

1 Corinthians 2:11 ,12

God uses the human spirit to enlighten us. Adam received from God by the Spirit of God through his spirit. When the power charge was disconnected, his spiritual battery went dead, and God had to deal with him on a physical rather than spiritual level.

But God has provided better things for us under the New Covenant. Paul put it this way:

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Romans 8:6-11

Today the Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit) quickens the human spirit, brings life to the spirit man, and establishes a communication with God. God communicates with us through our spirit. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Rom. 8:14). It is God's Spirit that bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God.