WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 So this evening we're going to continue our series looking at the life of Abraham from the book of Genesis. 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:15.000 So if you have a Bible, you'll find it helpful to have it open at the passage that was read for us from Genesis chapter 18. 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:26.000 I think for many of us prayer can be something that is our greatest comfort at the same time as being one of our greatest challenges in the Christian life. 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:34.000 Because sometimes it can be hard to pray. Sometimes we don't really know how to pray or what to pray for. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:41.000 This evening we come to a passage in the Bible which records the first extended prayer in the whole Bible. 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:49.000 And it has a lot to teach us about the nature of prayer, particularly about praying for other people. 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:59.000 In the second half of this chapter Abraham is told by God that the city of Sodom is going to be destroyed because of its extreme evil. 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:06.000 And so what follows is this amazing prayer where Abraham steps up, he draws near to God and he intercedes. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:11.000 He prays boldly and persistently for these people. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:20.000 From the very beginning of the Bible God's people are marked out as those who intercede, who pray for other people. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:25.000 Because there are different kinds of prayer in the Bible. There are prayers of worship and adoration. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:33.000 Prayers where we praise God for who he is in all his glory, everything he's done in creation and salvation. 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:42.000 Secondly there are prayers of confession where we come to God in our brokenness and in our need and in our guilt and in our shame. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:49.000 And we lay our sin before him and we are renewed and restored by his inexhaustible grace. 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:55.000 Thirdly we pray prayers of petition. In other words we come to God and we ask him for things we need. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:59.000 Give us today our daily bread. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:05.000 But the fourth kind of prayer and in many ways the most challenging kind of prayer is what we call intercession. 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:11.000 An intercession is a little bit different because it always involves at least three parties. 00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:14.000 The other kinds of prayer can be directly between us and God. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:21.000 But intercession always involves a third party. It's the bringing of another's need before God. 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:25.000 And that's what we have going on here in the second half of Genesis 18. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:33.000 Abraham is engaging in intercession. He is praying to God on behalf of the city of Sodom. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:42.000 And so this evening as we think about prayer together I want to highlight five brief principles from this passage as we think about praying for others. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:48.000 The first thing we see as we look at Genesis 18 is that Abraham talked with God. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:57.000 Look at verse 22. So the men turned from there and they went towards Sodom but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:05.000 Then Abraham drew near and said, will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:14.000 You see as we've studied the life of Abraham so far we've seen how God has come to him and has made all these incredible promises to him. 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:22.000 He's established this amazing covenant relationship with him. He's shown how committed he is to Abraham. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:29.000 And here in Genesis chapter 18 we're given this incredible insight into the intimacy of that relationship. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:36.000 At the start of the chapter we didn't read it, the Lord physically appears to Abraham and they share a meal. 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:42.000 In the New Testament James describes Abraham as a friend of God. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:46.000 And so God reassures Abraham of the promises he's made to him. 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:53.000 Time and time again God demonstrates his commitment to this man and his family. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:04:01.000 But now in the second half of the chapter Abraham actually stands before God and is making a case for the people of Sodom. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:10.000 But I think it's significant that the first step in that process is Abraham drawing near to God and speaking with him. 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:18.000 And at one level that might seem really obvious to us but it really is a foundational aspect of prayer. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:26.000 Many people have the tendency to overcomplicate prayer and make it seem like a really difficult arduous activity. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:35.000 But on one level prayer is remarkably simple. It's when we meet with God we draw near to him and speak to him from our hearts. 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:41.000 And the amazing thing is that God in his grace seeks that kind of interaction with us. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:45.000 God wants his people to draw near. 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:51.000 Because we see here not only does Abraham speak with God but God invites Abraham to speak with him. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.000 Look at verse 16. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:57.000 Then the men set out from there and they look down towards Sodom. 00:04:57.000 --> 00:04:59.000 Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:07.000 And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:11.000 And all nations on earth shall be blessed in him. 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:13.000 And so on and so forth. 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.000 Maybe when you read these words you wonder why God speaks this way. 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:21.000 Surely he doesn't have to physically go down into the city to find out what's going on. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:25.000 Surely he doesn't have to think through his thoughts aloud like this. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:29.000 God is omniscient. He knows all things. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:33.000 But the point here is that what God is doing is for Abraham's benefit. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:39.000 He is essentially inviting Abraham to step up and intercede for these people. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:43.000 If God wanted to he could act with no reference to Abraham whatsoever. 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:49.000 But in his grace he accommodates us in all of our limits and all of our weaknesses. 00:05:49.000 --> 00:05:53.000 So God shows us here his willingness to be approached. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:06:05.000 The creator and ruler and judge of this incredible and vast universe wants to engage with and relate to individual human beings. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:14.000 Many religions give you the picture of a cowering servant before a hard taskmaster unsure of their standing before him. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:17.000 But that's not the God of the Bible. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:19.000 The God of the Bible is intimate. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:23.000 The God of the Bible invites people to draw near. 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:28.000 He is a God who delights in his children coming before him. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:39.000 Maybe sometimes as a Christian you feel like nobody really values you or that you don't have much to offer or that nobody really listens to you. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:43.000 But the amazing truth here is that God wants to speak with you. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:51.000 James chapter four and verse eight promises us he says draw near to God and God will draw near to you. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:59.000 The Psalms often describe God as the one who hears us when we cry, the one who is close to those who are in need. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:05.000 To be a prayerful person you don't have to have a robust theological education. 00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:11.000 A prayerful person is a person who draws near and talks with God. 00:07:11.000 --> 00:07:18.000 Jesus own life on earth was saturated with prayer with time spent talking with his father. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:22.000 Abraham was a man who talked with God. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:28.000 Secondly, Abraham knew God and we see that in his prayer for the city of Sodom. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.000 It's based on what he knows to be true about God. 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:49.000 Look at verse 23 he says far be it from you to do such a thing to put the righteous to death with the wicked so that the righteous fair as the wicked far be that from you shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:58.000 In other words, Abraham is basing his prayer, his intercession for these people in who God is in God's own character. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:03.000 He's not doubting, he's not asking a question about whether or not God is going to do the right thing. 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:07.000 He's declaring his faith in who he believes God to be. 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:10.000 He knows that God cannot do the wrong thing. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:15.000 Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just, what is right? 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:21.000 And the point here is that what we know to be true about God will shape our prayers. 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:24.000 And this is why theology is really important. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:29.000 That's what Thomas was saying in our midweek meeting, theology matters. 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:38.000 I think sometimes people hear the word theology and shudder because it makes us think of abstract or academic stuff. 00:08:38.000 --> 00:08:45.000 But theology is vital for every believer because really theology is asking what do we believe about God? 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:52.000 What he has said, what he's like, what he's done and what do we believe about ourselves in light of that? 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:55.000 All of that will impact our prayers. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:09:00.000 And what this means really is that if we have a small view of God and who God is, 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:09.000 we will have a small view of the importance and effectiveness of prayers and whether praying for people matters. 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:15.000 So Abraham's basis for prayer is grounded not in himself or even in the people of Sodom. 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:18.000 It's primarily grounded in God. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:21.000 Far be it from you, he says. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:25.000 Here goes on to demonstrate his understanding of who God is. 00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:31.000 And sometimes in our own prayer life, all we can do is fix our minds on who God is. 00:09:31.000 --> 00:09:34.000 Sometimes we have no words. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:38.000 All we can do is fix our minds on who God is. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:46.000 So Abraham knows God, but not only does Abraham know God, he knows who he is before God. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:55.000 In verse 27 he says, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I, who am but dust and ashes. 00:09:55.000 --> 00:10:03.000 And this great recognition of humility of who he is as he stands before this awesome and this holy God. 00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:06.000 Sometimes we can lose sight of that a bit. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:10.000 We can be very casual in how we think about prayer. 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:16.000 We have to remember that we do come before a God who is amazing and big. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:18.000 And there's a freedom in that. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:21.000 There's a freedom, a liberating humility. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:28.000 Because sometimes when we think about the people around us, we feel the need to pretend to be something we're not. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:30.000 We put a brave face on things. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:36.000 We don't display our weaknesses or our anxieties or our fragility. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:42.000 But when we come to God in prayer, there's a liberating humility in knowing that he is big. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:45.000 He is amazing and we are small. 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:47.000 Psalm 139 reminds us of this. 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:51.000 It tells us that God is a God who searches our hearts. 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:53.000 He knows us through and through. 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:57.000 Before we speak a word, he knows it completely. 00:10:57.000 --> 00:11:01.000 So Abraham talked with God, Abraham knew God. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:04.000 Thirdly, Abraham was bold before God. 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:08.000 And we see that in the passage, not just in terms of the scope of his prayer, 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:12.000 the fact that he prayed not just for his friends and his family in the city, 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.000 but prayed for the whole city to be saved, but also in his persistence. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:22.000 First, he asks God to spare Sodom if there are 50 righteous, 50 believers in the city. 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:27.000 And then he goes down to 45 and 40 and all the way down to 10. 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:31.000 Abraham is bold and persistent in his prayer. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:37.000 But many Christians, many of us, maybe we don't feel like we have that kind of boldness in our prayer. 00:11:37.000 --> 00:11:41.000 Maybe we feel timid or weak. 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:45.000 But as Christians, in light of the gospel and what God has done in the New Testament, 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.000 we actually have even more reasons to be confident. 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:54.000 The writer to the Hebrews wrote his letter to encourage and equip Christian believers 00:11:54.000 --> 00:11:58.000 who were struggling and battling with all kinds of troubles. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.000 And in chapter four and verse 16, he said, 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:06.000 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:11.000 that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 00:12:11.000 --> 00:12:15.000 And it's really interesting that the Greek word there that's translated as confidence, 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:18.000 it really is a sense of frankness. 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:24.000 It's often used to convey a sense of speaking freely, of speaking openly. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:31.000 Because you see in the presence of royalty, for example, you don't go up to them and just chat as if you were old friends. 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:37.000 So if a king or a queen tells you to speak freely, to speak openly, to speak your mind, 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:41.000 it's an incredible privilege. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:46.000 The amazing thing is that through the gospel, this is the kind of freedom we have with God. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:51.000 We can come before his throne and we can speak freely. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:54.000 Of course, we come with reverence and with humility, 00:12:54.000 --> 00:13:01.000 but at the same time, we come with boldness and confidence that he will hear us and he will answer us. 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:06.000 And the really amazing thing here is that however timid we might feel in front of other people, 00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:12.000 however much we might feel sometimes like nobody values us or nobody cares about what we have to say, 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:17.000 the amazing truth of the gospel is that God wants you to come to him. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:23.000 He wants you to come to him with confidence and in prayer. 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:28.000 Do you ever think about why we end our prayers in Jesus' name? 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:34.000 I think for many people it feels like a bit formulaic or it's just a tradition that we follow. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:39.000 But we pray in Jesus' name because it's in Jesus' name that we have confidence. 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:44.000 He is the only basis on which our prayers have any merit whatsoever. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:49.000 We come in the name of Jesus because we know God will hear us. 00:13:49.000 --> 00:13:55.000 Sometimes when we think about prayer, we face the temptation to turn it into a kind of transaction. 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.000 You know, if we read our Bibles enough or if we go to church enough, 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:03.000 if we use the right language in prayer, then surely God will hear us. 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.000 Surely God then will answer my prayers. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:10.000 And we can become so caught up with our own weakness and our own sin 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.000 that we think somehow we can affect whether or not God will listen. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:21.000 But the amazing thing about the gospel is that we don't come to God on the basis of anything within us, 00:14:21.000 --> 00:14:24.000 anything we've done, anything we could do. 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:27.000 The reason we come with confidence is because of Jesus. 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:29.000 Jesus is our intercessor. 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:34.000 He's the one who bridges the gap between us and God. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:39.000 So as Abraham boldly prays, persistently prays for these people, 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:44.000 because we too have amazing reasons to be bold in prayer. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:49.000 When we pray, we're not convincing God to do something he doesn't want to do. 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:53.000 John Blanchard, an English preacher and author, said, 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:57.000 prayer is not wrestling with God's reluctance to bless us. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:03.000 It is laying hold of his willingness to do so. 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:08.000 The Westminster Confession of Faith is a document that summarizes what we believe as a church. 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:13.000 It says, speaking about adoption, it says that believers are taken into the number 00:15:13.000 --> 00:15:17.000 and enjoy the liberties and the privileges of children of God, 00:15:17.000 --> 00:15:21.000 have his name put upon them, receive the spirit of adoption, 00:15:21.000 --> 00:15:26.000 and have access to his throne with boldness. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:32.000 So we can be free and bold as we come to God in prayer. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:38.000 That's not to say that God will always answer our prayers exactly the way we expect, 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:44.000 but he will hear us. He will listen, like a parent listens to their children. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:48.000 It can be easy sometimes to think, especially in our theological tradition, 00:15:48.000 --> 00:15:52.000 well, God is sovereign and he will save who he will save. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:56.000 But the incredible thing is that he chooses to use means. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:59.000 He uses his people. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.000 Not just in sharing and communicating the gospel, 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.000 and not just in telling other people about Jesus, 00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:10.000 but in praying for their hearts, in praying that they would be changed. 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.000 Abraham was bold in his prayers for Sodom. 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:18.000 Fourthly, Abraham brought others before God. 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:23.000 And this really is getting to the heart of intercessory prayer. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:25.000 Think about who Abraham was praying for. 00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:30.000 He was praying at one level for his family, for Lot and his family. 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:35.000 He prayed for any potential believers in the city, the righteous, the 50, the 45, 00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:37.000 all the way down to the 10. 00:16:37.000 --> 00:16:39.000 But he also prayed for unbelievers. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:41.000 He prayed for the whole city to be saved, 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:46.000 not just for the righteous to be snatched out. 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:53.000 We've seen earlier in Genesis how God has promised through Abraham to bless all nations. 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:59.000 He promises to bring salvation to the world. 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:03.000 We don't have time to go into Genesis 19 and explore it fully, 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:07.000 but a few things to note about the city of Sodom and these people that Abraham is praying for. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.000 First of all, is the extent of their evil. 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:18.000 This is a city full of abuse, of sexual violence, of twisted relationships. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:24.000 It's a city that Ezekiel later on in the Bible tells us ignored the cries of the poor and needy. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:29.000 And Sodom does highlight to us that sin gets to a point where God says, 00:17:29.000 --> 00:17:31.000 enough is enough. 00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:36.000 But Sodom was also a unique moment in redemptive history. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:39.000 It's a time that really highlights God's grace to us, 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:44.000 because this is not the normal way God deals with sin, at least in the present. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:49.000 Sodom points us forward to the reality of judgment. 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:55.000 But it also raises the question for us, what primarily motivates us to pray? 00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.000 When we're thinking about praying for others, what motivates us to pray? 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:04.000 For Abraham here, it's knowledge of the truth of what's about to happen. 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:07.000 It's knowledge of the future. 00:18:07.000 --> 00:18:13.000 Abraham knows that these people are going to be under God's judgment for their sin. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:17.000 And so he is driven urgently to pray. 00:18:17.000 --> 00:18:21.000 And that makes us ask the question of ourselves, do we see the people around us, 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:27.000 the world in which we inhabit, as people in darkness, in need of rescue? 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:37.000 Do we see our neighbors, our family, our friends who don't believe as people who are in dire need of Jesus? 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:43.000 Jesus himself in his earthly ministry spoke of the reality of judgment and of hell. 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:47.000 And it can be maybe a subject that's uncomfortable for some of us to think about, 00:18:47.000 --> 00:18:50.000 but it's a truly biblical reality. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:56.000 It's a reality that should drive us to our knees in prayer. 00:18:56.000 --> 00:19:01.000 As a church, we are called to be intercessors to our world. 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:06.000 As a Christian, as members of God's people, as descendants of Abraham, 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:09.000 we too are intercessors. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:17.000 The reformation of the 16th century recovered the amazing biblical truth that they've called the priesthood of all believers. 00:19:17.000 --> 00:19:24.000 In other words, it's not just the hierarchy, it's not just the leaders of the church that can come before God in this way. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:26.000 It's every single believer. 00:19:26.000 --> 00:19:29.000 Every believer has access to God. 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:36.000 Alistair Begg, a Scottish minister over in the US, he said that in some mysterious way beyond our understanding, 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:41.000 God requires intercessory prayer as a necessary wheel. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:46.000 He commits to us, his people, the responsibility of moving that wheel. 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:52.000 We move the machinery of his providence when we come before him with the needs of others. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:57.000 In a similar way, Charles Spurgeon said that prayer is the powerhouse of the church. 00:19:57.000 --> 00:20:02.000 If the engine room is out of action, then the whole mill grinds to a halt. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:06.000 And what this means for us today is that our prayers matter. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.000 Our prayers matter. 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:13.000 You might not always feel that that's true, but it is. 00:20:13.000 --> 00:20:16.000 Our prayers for the hearts of other people matter. 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:17.000 God uses them. 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:24.000 He's ordained it as part of his process of salvation, that the prayers of his people are powerful. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:27.000 Abraham brought others before God. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:30.000 Finally, Abraham was not God. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:35.000 In other words, Abraham could not save the people of Sodom himself. 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.000 As an intercessor, Abraham was limited. 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:44.000 He himself stands before God as a flawed and sinful human being. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:47.000 He himself is a man in need of grace. 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:51.000 But the gospel tells us that there is a better intercessor. 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:56.000 There is an intercessor who can actually take the place of people, 00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:02.000 who can go down and face the judgment in place of his people. 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:08.000 If our faith is in Jesus, we have an intercessor who not only makes a case for us before God, 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:13.000 but who has already secured our forgiveness, our new life. 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:19.000 And so Jesus' plea in our defense, he stands before the Father and he says, 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:21.000 He is innocent. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:24.000 She is free from guilt and shame. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:28.000 The penalty for that person's sin has been paid for. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:33.000 The glorious truth of the gospel is that for the sake of one, 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:36.000 for the sake of one truly righteous person, 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:39.000 God would spare the unrighteous many. 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:44.000 For the sake of his son, Jesus Christ. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:48.000 Maybe you're listening to the service today and you're not a Christian, 00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:53.000 and the reality is that a passage like Genesis 19 can be a really frightening one 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:56.000 for someone who doesn't trust in Jesus. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:59.000 But the truth is that, and Sodom reminds us of this, 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:05.000 a decision about Jesus cannot be postponed indefinitely. 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:08.000 People are given a time window, 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:13.000 and one day we stand before the God who is so holy and so perfect and so just, 00:22:13.000 --> 00:22:16.000 and who cannot tolerate sin, 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:19.000 and it requires us to give an account of our life. 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:22.000 Who will speak in our defense? 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:30.000 The sobering story of Sodom and Gomorrah underlines the extravagance of God's grace. 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:33.000 Because what happens to those in Sodom who do not repent 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:36.000 is ultimately what should happen to every one of us. 00:22:36.000 --> 00:22:41.000 All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:43.000 In 1 Timothy 2 and verse 4, 00:22:43.000 --> 00:22:48.000 he says, God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 00:22:48.000 --> 00:22:57.000 2 Peter 3 and verse 9, God does not want anyone to perish, but to come to repentance. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:01.000 In this time of lockdown, I think many people are getting through their to-do lists, 00:23:01.000 --> 00:23:05.000 and maybe things you just haven't gotten around to doing for a long time. 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:11.000 Maybe you've been putting off a decision about Jesus for much of your life. 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:16.000 I would urge you to consider today where you stand before God. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:21.000 And if you're a Christian this evening and praying for others is something you find hard, 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:24.000 something you feel you're inconsistent at, 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:29.000 the amazing thing to remember is that our prayers really matter. 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:31.000 Our prayers really matter. 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:34.000 Many of us here in St. Columbus who are Christians, 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:42.000 we know in our own experience the power of someone who's consistently and faithfully prayed for us. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:46.000 But prayer can be hard to persevere with. 00:23:46.000 --> 00:23:49.000 Sometimes we can't find the right words, 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:54.000 but God has promised us in his word in Romans chapter 8 that he will help us. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:57.000 He says, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, 00:23:57.000 --> 00:24:00.000 for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:07.000 but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:12.000 So Abraham talked with God. Abraham knew God. 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:15.000 Abraham was bold before God. 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:21.000 Abraham brought others before God, but Abraham was not God. 00:24:21.000 --> 00:24:25.000 For many of us this time of lockdown has brought so many challenges, 00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.000 so many ways we might feel limited in terms of what we can do, 00:24:29.000 --> 00:24:34.000 but one thing we can do as Christians as a church is pray. 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:38.000 We can be a people this week who are prayerful. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:44.000 May God enable us to do so. Let's pray. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:49.000 Lord God and Father, we thank you and praise you for your Son, Jesus Christ. 00:24:49.000 --> 00:24:52.000 We thank you that He is our basis for prayer. 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.000 He is the reason we can have confidence in coming before you. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:00.000 Father, we pray that in this week we would trust and rest in Him. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.000 Lord, help us in our weakness, in our flaws. 00:25:04.000 --> 00:25:07.000 Help us to be a people who are prayerful. 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:11.000 Help us to be a people who long to spend time with you. 00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:14.000 Father, we pray that you would renew us and encourage us 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:18.000 and equip us to do all we do this week to your glory. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:28.000 In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.