THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT, PREPARING US FOR GLORY:
7) "Interceding for all the saints." Romans 8v27
"And he that searcheth the hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God."
Previously we saw the Holy Spirit praying with us, and individually; here in verse 27 we have the amazing truth that the Holy Spirit is praying for us, and that corporately, since it is for all the saints. He prays for us unseen even when we don't pray. He prays unseen for us when we pray wrongly. Too often do we use God as a kind of heavenly Santa Claus, doling out gifts at our request. This verse is a reminder of just what prayer is and to whom we are praying.
The verse can be divided into four parts:
1. God searches the hearts.
2. God knows the mind of the Spirit.
3. The Spirit intercedes for the saints.
4. He does so according to the will of God, or more correctly "according to God".
We need to investigate what each of these mean:
1. When we pray we are making petition of One who knows everything, and in particular knows everything about us. He knows our needs, He knows our wants, and these two are not always the same in the eyes of a sovereign God. Jesus said to the church at Thyatira, quoting Jeremiah 17v10 "I am He who searches the reins and hearts." Revelation 2v23. This is the prerogative of God alone. No man, however clever he may be, or angel, however exalted he may be, can search a human heart. God alone can do this and He does. The human heart is the very centre of our being. One has said it is the "central laboratory of our personal self conscious life"; and God knows it through and through. A reading of Psalm 139 will reveal just to what extent God knows all about us "Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off Thou compassest my path and my lying down; and art aquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but lo O Lord Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before and laid Thine hand upon me." Psalm 139 v 1-5 So when we pray we are speaking to someone who knows everything about us. We can fool people, we can even fool ourselves, but there is no fooling God. He searches the hearts and in praying to Him we must remember this.
2. The God who knows us through and through knows the mind of the Spirit who indwells us. This portrays the wonderful unity of communication between Divine beings; One living in the perfection of heaven, and the other living in the less than perfect human heart. The indwelling Spirit takes our needs and communicates them to the Father in heaven because only God can understand God and what we are talking about here is supernatural communication between Divine beings on our behalf. What a wonderful thought this is and what a wonderful comfort it ought to be to everyone of us who know the reality of the indwelling Spirit.
3. The Spirit makes intercession for the saints. This is something exclusive to believers, those whom the Holy Spirit has regenerated and sanctified, therefore who are called saints are also those for whom He intercedes. There can be nothing more terrifying to an unbeliever were the Holy Spirit without the work of regeneration to search an unbelieving human heart; but for the saints it is the greatest blessing. Saints in the wider world are seen are people who have done something special and praiseworthy in their lives. The Biblical meaning of saints are those who without any merit whatsoever in the sight of God have received forgiveness of sins and are called saints. He will expand on the meaning of the saints in the next two verses.
4. He makes intercession according to the will of God. This expression just means according to God; according to God's character; we must pray only for that which is in the mind of God. The Holy Spirit translates into heavenly language our feeble and faulty prayers. We must pray in faith, trusting in God's word which the holy Spirit has penned and which He helps us to understand. We must pray in fervency knowing just to whom we are praying. We must view the end purpose of our prayers, which is the glory of God. "He shall take of the things of mine and reveal them to you." The Holy Spirit has only ultimately God's glory at heart and He wants us to get there.
In summary, we must look to the matter of our prayers; we must look to the manner of our prayers; and we must look to the motive of our prayers. The Holy Spirit makes good any default in this matter and hopefully we will learn to progress as day passes day. What does the Holy Spirit pray for us? He prays that God will bring about the decisions and circumstances in our lives that will glorify Christ and God the Father. We have this Divine helper within to help in every way.
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