The Present Ministry of Christ

I didn't time this study very well. This is the time of year when we think about Jesus leaving heaven to come down to earth and in our study we're talking about him leaving earth to go back to heaven. So we kind of got it backwards time-wise. But really when you think about it what we're studying with the ascension and the present ministry of Christ really is the ultimate fulfillment of why he came isn't it? He came to this earth to be our Savior and the capstone of that work on the cross is his resurrection body, his glorification, his exaltation to the right hand of the Father and the ministry that he carries on now for us. So tonight we will finish Lord willing if we're able to get through the material. Tonight we will finish our study on the doctrine of Christ, what the Bible teaches about Christ and then we will after we miss a couple of Wednesday nights for the next couple of weeks we'll come back first of the year and begin looking at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit with the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit. Let me just remind you of the ground we've covered very briefly. We've looked at most of the major doctrinal truths that focus up on our Lord and his person and work. We began by looking at his pre-existence, his existence and eternity past. Then we took a long time, I think about 11 studies to look at the deity of Christ, one of the key cardinal doctrines of our faith and then we began to move from there to his incarnation, the fact that he became man and how that happened through the virgin birth. Then we looked at the humanity of Christ, the sinlessness of Christ, the person of Christ, the union of the two natures, of deity and humanity in Christ. Then we looked for some weeks at the death of Christ, then the resurrection of Christ, then we finished last week talking about the ascension of Christ and one final doctrinal truth that is key to understanding what the Bible teaches about Christ is what he is doing now. Now that he is ascended back into heaven, what is his present ministry? What's he doing now? That's what we're going to look at tonight. And there's a lot we could touch on, a lot more than what we could cover tonight. We could talk about his present authority as Lord and sovereign ruler of the universe. We could talk about his ministry as shepherd of his sheep, as the vine through whom life giving energy and power is given to us as the branches. We'll touch on that one a little bit tonight. We could talk about his ministry as the chief cornerstone of the building, the temple that is spoken of as his people. We could talk about him as the bridegroom of the bride. There are lots of different ways of looking at his present ministry. We're going to focus on three of them tonight and really most of our time will be spent on the first one. His ministry is head of the body and I'm going to move right through what I want to cover tonight, but I will pause to see if you have questions and don't want to squelch any discussion, but I don't want to leave us hanging for a couple of weeks either. So let's move on. Christ ministry of the head of the body. What we saw last week in his ascension is what makes possible his present ministry. It is the ascension of Christ that leads him to that exalted position at the right hand of the father where he becomes the head of the body. Remember Ephesians chapter 1 that we saw last week, verse 20, talking about the power of the mighty strength of God. He exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, every name that is invoked, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. So Christ when he was exalted to the right hand of the father after his ascension to heaven, remember that that was the coronation that that culminated the the ascension of Christ. We saw last week he was received into heaven, Acts 111 indicating the culmination of the ascension was the coronation and his seating at the right hand. But part of that coronation was he was appointed, Paul says, to be the head of the church. The church is his body. He is the head that controls the body and superintendents all that the body does. So there are several things involved in that and let's break it down a little bit. See what all is involved is in his ministry is the head of the body. First of all, I believe the Bible teaches that he formed the body. Christ actually formed the body. Now there are five passages we want to look at to kind of tie this together. It has to do with what is often called the baptism of the spirit. Technically it is more correct to say the baptism in the spirit and we'll see why in a moment. But and we'll really look at this in more detail and more depth when we talk about the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. What is often called the baptism of the spirit is really a misnomer and that it creates a lot of confusion about what the baptism of the spirit is. So let's just make our way quickly through these five passages and I think you'll see what I'm talking about. The first one is 1 Corinthians 12 13. 1 Corinthians 12 13. Paul is using the example of the human body to describe in a picture form what the church is like and how the church functions. Physical body, human body has many parts but all work together to accomplish the purpose for which the body is made and that's the same way the church operates. So he says in verse 12 just as a body though one has many parts but all its many parts form one body so it is with Christ. Now look at verse 13. For we were all baptized by one spirit so as to form one body whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free and we were all given the one spirit to drink. Now if your Bible is like mine you have a little footnote beside the word bi which says or can be translated with or in. It actually is the Greek preposition N, E, N in English with a particular case after it which probably is best translated in. So we're all baptized in one spirit so as to form one body. So who is doing the baptism? If the element in which we are placed is the realm of the spirit where baptized in one spirit then who's actually doing the baptizing? Is it not the Holy Spirit that baptizes us? No it is not. That's not what the Bible says. So let's look at the next passage. The next passage goes back to Matthew 3 where Jesus actually prophesized this very thing we're reading about in 1 Corinthians. And notice how Jesus says it. Matthew 3 11. Actually this is John speaking. Jesus will speak in the next passage. We're going to see in Acts 1 but John Baptist is speaking in Matthew 3 11. He says, I baptize you with water. Literally again you may see the footnote in water. Water is the element into which John baptized people. That picture is very clear. The water is not doing the baptizing. John's doing the baptizing and he baptizes people in water. So he says, I baptize you with or in water for repentance but after me comes one who is more powerful than I, who sandals I'm not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with or in the Holy Spirit and fire. So who is the baptizer? It's Jesus, not the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the one that baptizes us into or in the realm of the Holy Spirit into that new realm of the ministry and person and work of the Holy Spirit. That also places us into his body but it is Christ who does the baptizing. Jesus himself made it even more clear in Acts 1 and verse 5. Acts 1, in verse 4 on one occasion while he was eating with him he gave them this command. Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my father promised which you have heard me speak about for John baptized with water or again in water but in a few days you will be baptized with or in the Holy Spirit. So John the Baptist said Jesus will baptize you the one who comes after me will baptize you with Holy Spirit and then Jesus says that's what's going to happen in a few days. You'll be baptized in the Holy Spirit. So it is really Christ who baptizes us in the Spirit or into the realm of the Spirit this new realm that we are now in which places us into the body of Christ makes us a part of Christ's body. Now when did this happen? Acts 1, 5 Jesus says it will be in a few days so that begins to narrow it down. It hasn't happened yet but it's in a few days after Jesus spoke these words. Now look at Acts 2, 33 on the day of Pentecost as Peter is preaching. He explains what has happened with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his power upon the disciples. He says exalted to the right hand of God. He referring back to Jesus in verse 32. Exalted to the right hand of God. He has received from the father of the Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see in here. Interestingly enough the term baptism with or in the Spirit is not mentioned in chapter 2 but the pouring out of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit is mentioned, the evidence of what Jesus was going to do as mentioned here in chapter 2 and also the fact that the Spirit is given. But is this the same thing as the baptism in the Spirit? Yes. Well how do you know? Well the next passage, Acts 11. Peter kind of nails it down for us as to exactly when it happened on the day of Pentecost. Remember Peter goes to Cornelius's house and produces Cornelius Christ. First example of a Gentile being saved and he's kind of called on the carpet by the leadership in Jerusalem in chapter 11 and they're saying to him, no wait a second, what are you doing going to these Gentiles? And Peter is going to explain to them what happened when he went, what he saw, what he experienced, what the Lord actually did. In verse 15 he says this, as I began to speak the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. Now that's obvious he's talking about Acts chapter 2. The Holy Spirit came on them, the description of it is the same as what happened in Acts 1, the Holy Spirit came on them in the beginning in Acts chapter 2 and Peter is saying same thing happened to these Gentiles that happened to us Jews. So this is obviously the same work of God. Now notice how Peter interprets that in verse 16. Then I remembered what the Lord had said John baptized with or in water but you will be baptized with or in the Holy Spirit. So John really nails it down for us. He says what happened to these Gentiles is the same thing that happened to us back on the day of Pentecost at the beginning, the beginning of the church and he identifies it as the baptism in the Spirit very clearly. We know exactly when it happened so that tells us exactly when the body of Christ started. It started on the day of Pentecost that's when the church and the church age started. So the baptism in the Spirit places us into a new realm, the realm of the Holy Spirit and into the body of Christ. It's what starts, started in Acts 2, the church, the body of Christ. Jesus is the one who does the baptizing, introduces us into his body and into the realm of the Spirit and by looking at the three passages in Acts we can nail down exactly when it started in Acts chapter 2 and the day of Pentecost. So Jesus formed the body and the body started on the day of Pentecost. Okay? Comments, questions about that part of his ministry as the head of the body. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes. The Pentecostal view of the baptism of the Spirit is the Holy Spirit coming on you in special power and the evidences of it are speaking in tongues and so forth and that's really much different from what we see in the book of Acts. The baptism in the Spirit is Christ placing us into the realm of the Holy Spirit which is a new realm in the church age including being in his body. It's not an experience at all. Now what happened on the day of Pentecost was and again baptism is not even mentioned in that passage what happens on the day of Pentecost is the power of the Spirit comes on them and fills them with a miraculous ability to speak in languages they'd never studied and that's what the speaking in tongues was in the book of Acts. The Pentecostals kind of merge those things together and confuse the whole thing. The Pentecostals say, well, baptism the Spirit, the Holy Spirit coming on us, that was two separate things. The baptism in the Spirit was Christ starting the body of Christ starting the church. That had to do with the baptism in the spirit. That's not even really mentioned in Acts 2 although we know that's when it started. What's mentioned in Acts 2 is the Spirit coming on them and filling them with a miraculous power to speak in languages they've never studied. So the Pentecostals really confuse that whole thing. Good observation. Okay, anything else? All right, let's press on then. Jesus not only formed the body on the day of Pentecost, that's when it started he is exalted. He's now placed in position as the head so the body can't start till you got the head in position and so now that he's the head he starts the body. He forms the body beginning on the day of Pentecost but he also cares for the body. This is very tender and precious. In Acts or excuse me Ephesians chapter 5 there's some terminology used of tender care for his body. It's part of what his present ministry is. He's caring for the body. Ephesians 5 verse 26. This is in the passage where husbands are commanded to love their wives just like Christ loved the church gave himself up for her verse 25 and here's the reason here's the end result of him giving himself up to the church verse 26 to make her holy cleansing her by the washing with water through the word. So one of the ways Jesus cares for his body is by making her holy, setting her apart, making her more like himself and the way that happens is through the cleansing that occurs as we are washed with the water through the word. The cleansing of the word of God as we are washed in his word is one of the ways he cares for us but notice this terminology in verses 27-28 and to present her to himself as a radiant church without staying or wrinkled or any other blemish but holy and blameless that's the end result of all this cleansing process that goes on now through the word we will someday be presented to him perfect in heaven. Okay now verse 28 in this same way husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies, he who loves his wife loves himself after all no one ever hated their own body but they feed and care for their body just as Christ does the church for we are members of his body. So there's there's an interplay between the example and the reality the example is husband and wife relationship the reality that the husband wife relationship is supposed to picture is the reality of Christ's tender care for his body and he uses two words here feed and care and he says Christ does the same thing for the church part of his present ministry of caring for us is feeding and caring for us. The word feed here is much more than just give food it literally means to nourish, to give spiritual nourishment it's only used one other time this Greek words only used one other time the New Testament and it's right a few verses down in Acts chapter or excuse me Ephesians 6 and verse 4 fathers do not exasperate your children instead bring them up in the training King James uses the word nurture and he also uses the word nourish back in chapter 5 I think the connection really is maintained better in the King James translation because the idea of nourishes his wife and nurturing of children both have the same idea and that is literally to give them spiritual nourishment in order to bring them to maturity that's what the word nourish means that's what Christ does for us he nourishes us he feeds us by spiritually giving us the food of the word and we as fathers have the same kind of responsibility to nurture to give spiritual nourishment to our children so you see how the two are tied together but he also verse 28 or 29 says cares for the church and I still kind of like the King James word here too cherish nourishes and cherishes because the word care literally is the word a Greek word which means to keep warm or to comfort to hold close it's only used one other time in the New Testament 2 and that's in 1 Thessalonians 2 7 where Paul talks about a mother tenderly caring for her children as she nurses them that that tender close embrace that compassionate tender relationship between a mother and a child Paul said we were when we minister the word of God to you we were like that with you as our own children and so that's the word here it's very tender it's it's a term of of care and protection and warmth and closeness all of that is in this expression he cares for us you know we look at the word care and we kind of it can almost can almost come across cold you know he cares about it and we use the word I don't care so much that it's kind of even the opposite of caring is a little deluded really care about something what does that mean well in this case it really means this tender nurturing protecting instinct to really do what is best for your young and Jesus cares in that way for his body it's really an amazing picture so his present ministry to us as the head of the body is he formed the body but he also has this nurturing caring tender protecting relationship with his body it's a very personal and warm side of his relationship with us now so he formed the body cares for the body thirdly he gives gifts to the body and it's another way he expresses his ministries the head of the body he gives gifts back in chapter four of Ephesians Ephesians is one of those books that really focuses on the body of Christ Ephesians and Colossians which by the way were written at the same time sent to sister churches in Asia Minor so there's a lot of similarity between the two but Ephesians four of us seven but to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it this is why it says when he ascended on high we looked at that passage last week he took many captives gave gifts to his people now skipped down to verse 11 so Christ himself gave the apostles the prophets the evangelists the pastors and teachers to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ might be built up so one of the ways that Christ exercises his headship over the body is he gives gifts to the body now this is not the time of the place we're not the time to really go into an in-link discussion of the spiritual gifts let me just make this distinction here the bible says Jesus gives the gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul makes it clear that the Holy Spirit sovereignly distributes the gifts just as he will so who gives the gifts is it Christ or is it the Holy Spirit can he thoughts both okay anything else I think I think you're right Ty I think both you know in so many ministries of the spirit there's an overlap with what Jesus says so much so that the bible sometimes speaks of Jesus as doing it sometimes as the Holy Spirit doing it even Jesus when he said I will give you the comfort the comforter in John 14 says I will not leave you as orphans I mean it's as though I'm there so there's a real real overlap here if there is any distinction to be made you could if you really want to cut the theological hair very fine you could make this distinction and that is that Jesus gives gifted people to the church that's what Ephesians 4 is talking about apostles prophets those who laid the foundation of the church evangelists those who took the message and spread it to new areas and then pastor teachers who settle in one area and and continue to teach the flock in one location he's given those gifted people to the church whereas the Holy Spirit gives abilities for service to individual people within the body there's a bit of a distinction there that I think may be being made Christ gives gifted people to the body to lead the body the Holy Spirit gives individual gifts to individual members of the body that's what first Corinthians 12 is talking about so in this case he's emphasizing Jesus role in the giving of gifts okay and then one other thing about his being head of the body he empowers the body John 15 I mentioned earlier that we would at least touch on this and that is the vine the branches that beautiful picture that Jesus used in the upper room before his death of the relationship he would have with his followers after the cross he says I am the true vine and my father is the gardener he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful you are already clean because of the word I've spoken to you remain in me as I also remain in you no branch can bear fruit by itself this is what I want to emphasize no branch can bear fruit by itself it must remain in the vine neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me unless you maintain an abiding fellowship with me verse five I am the vine you are the branches if you remain in me and I knew you will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing now I don't want to get into all the details of this passage I'm preaching through John on Sunday mornings we're getting close to John 15 we'll deal with this a little bit more when we get there so I'm not going to deal with this point with what does it mean to cut off branches and prune branches and who what does it mean to remain in him and him remain in us what is all that talking about we'll get to all that later my point tonight basically is that we cannot live fruit bearing kind of lives in our own strength it requires the power of Christ flowing through us to bear fruit I do think the bearing of fruit here is not the winning of souls it may include that but the bearing of fruit is producing characters like fruit of the spirit because you know the vine is the branches are literally producing the fruit that comes from the life of the vine flowing through it the branches are just producing that fruit they're not producing other branches they're producing fruit on their branches so the ideas of character and so forth but the point is we can do nothing without him we cannot bear fruit without Christ and so we are totally dependent on his enablement his power his life giving enablement flowing through us he's the vine where the branches and it's the life of the vine that flows in and through the branches that's the point that he's making there all of this indicates much that Jesus is doing in regard to being the head of the body he formed the body he cares for us in a very tender way he gives gifts to the body so that the body can be built up and grow and then he empowers the body to do whatever he wants us to do to bear fruit in our lives so there's a lot involved just in his ministry to the body of Christ a lot that he's doing you know I think sometimes we we get the impression Jesus in heaven he's just kind of sitting there listening to us pray well that's very important and we'll we'll see that in just a moment but there's a lot more that Jesus is doing in regard to being very actively involved in the life of us as the body the body of Christ all right a lot a lot of material there but any comment or question you would have isn't it it certainly is a wonderful thing to be a child of God to be a part of his body that he cares for so tenderly and provides for in such an amazing way it is great yes John it is yes yeah yeah there when Jesus said another comfort will I give you you know there are two different words in the Greek language he could have used the English language is much more general than Greek Greek was much more specific he could have used the word heteros which means another of a different kind okay or he could have used the word alos which means another of the same kind I have a pen here and I like this pen I stole it from feedmont actually they gave him out the board members so I got it legitimately but anyway I love this pen it writes just right for me and I would love to get another pen like this I'd love to get another pen now what I mean by that is I'd love to get one just like this back next time I go for a board meeting in January I'm going to find one although I like this pen but let's say I didn't like this pen hate this pen gobs out then right half the time I want to get me another pen I'm talking about another of a different kind okay so we use the word another English word in two different ways but the same word the Greeks were much more precise they would use a totally different word and when Jesus says I will send you another comforter uses the word alos another of the same kind you're exactly right John that really kind of covers that overlap between the ministry of the spirit of the ministry of Christ he is a comforter of the same kind Jesus was all right let's let's move on to this next ministry of Christ which is also amazing and we are totally dependent on and that is his ministry as a priest he is our high priest remember the book of Hebrews makes that very clear that Jesus is our high priest well what does that mean well in the past it means he offered sacrifices like a priest did now what sacrifice did Jesus offer his own body that's not a trick question it's a very simple question really he offered himself didn't he and that's really what the book Hebrews is all about talks about you know preaching the Old Testament offering all these animal sacrifices over and over and over again didn't really take away sin just covered it and Jesus offered himself his body one time and that took care of sin forever so that in the past his work as a priest was to offer the sacrifices and that fulfilled the whole Old Testament sacrificial system but Jesus continues to serve as a priest and the book of Hebrews talks about that as well he is a faithful and merciful high priest he answers our prayers he intercedes for us so the ministry that he is currently doing as a priest is representing us before God and by the way the Old Testament priests did that too didn't they remember the high priest had an effort on which was a garment more and over his his upper garment it had it had the 12 tribes of Israel on it a stone for each tribe and he literally on his heart was bearing the nation of Israel when he went into ministry God he was standing between God and the people he represented God to the people and he represented the people to God and that's exactly what Jesus is doing as our high priest two passages on intercession one of them is Romans 8 34 these two passages both talk about Christ's intercessory work but from a little different perspective Romans 8 34 says who then is the one who condemns us no one Christ Jesus who died more than that who was raised alive is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us the intercede means to speak on behalf of another so Jesus is speaking to God on behalf of us that's what intercede means he is speaking to God praying for us he's speaking to God on our behalf now in in this passage the intercession of Christ is related to our security because the whole passage is talking about eternal security verse 31 if God is for us who can be against us if God has already stated himself for us and not just in our corner as a cheerleader this for us as we've seen before literally means he has stated himself to be on our side in the sense that he has justified us he has forgiven us if he is for us who can be against us who can bring any charge against us and then he talks about verse 33 who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen God who justifies I mean if God has already stated on the record you are righteous can anybody bring a charge that will know that and void that no so then we come to the question of verse 34 who then is the one who condemns I mean can anyone walk up the God and condemn us and say take that righteousness off a John King's account it doesn't belong there can anybody do that can it can even Satan himself do that no one the answer is Christ Jesus who died more than that who has raised the life remember which is God's sign of approval on his sacrifice indicating his the justification is finished and complete who was raised on his at the right hand of the father it's also interceding for us so as an extension of Christ's ministry of dying for our sins he's also pleading our case he's interceding for us which is related to security another reason I remember many years ago I think it was in the first church I've passed it I preached a message on 12 reasons why I believe in eternal security four of them had to do with God the father four of them had to do with the son four of them had to do with the Holy Spirit and there are lots of ministries that the Trinity is doing for us that secure us eternally this is one of Jesus ministries he's praying for us and as long as Jesus is praying for us in heaven you're not going to lose your salvation that's what this verse is saying no one can condemn you because Jesus is up there interceding for you speaking to the father on your behalf the only way I can lose my salvation is if Jesus stops if somehow he leaves heaven and stops praying for me that's not going to happen because of the next verse in chapter or he brews at seven and verse 25 that's he's never going to stop he brews seven 25 says therefore he speaking of Christ Jesus mentioned in verse 24 therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him because he always lives to intercede for them now here the point of intercession is not our relationship to security necessarily it's our relationship it's it's the fact that Christ intercession is contrasted with the Old Testament priests the Old Testament priests only had a limited time that they could intercede for the people of Israel and then they died and their intercession was done that's all they could do and the contrast is that Jesus died has been resurrected ascended to heaven he's going to live forever what's he doing forever up there he ever lives to intercede for us so his intercession unlike the Old Testament priests continues forever and that also ties back again to eternal security if Jesus will never quit praying for me then there's no chance that I can lose my voice before God the one who pleads my case the one who speaks to the father on my behalf that's shouting ground that's just that's just that's blessed you know that Jesus is interceding for us and it will never stop will never stop so those two passages on their session now the focus of his intercession is two things there are two different things he focuses on in interceding interceding simply means he speaks to God on our behalf but he does that in two ways one way is that he prays for us now this is an astounding thought but Jesus actually prays for us in heaven that's an amazing thing and the Holy Spirit does also we'll get to that when we get to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in Romans 8 the Holy Spirit intercedes for us too but Jesus is praying for us I've listed two passages on your outline there the focus of his intercession is number one praying for us and and I've listed a couple of examples John 17 the whole chapter is an intercessory prayer we're not going to take the time to look at it again we'll get to it before too long as we move through the gospel John on Sunday mornings it is often called and rightly so the high priestly prayer of Christ because it's a prayer that Jesus prays on the night before he dies and he makes it very clear he says to the Father I am praying for those you've given me so what is he doing he's speaking to the Father on the behalf of those of his disciples so he's interceding this is a high priestly work but the amazing thing for me and for you is that he goes on to say I'm also praying for those who will believe on me through their word and you know what that's you and that's me and that's every Christian who's trusted Christ since the day of the apostles everyone who's believed on Christ through the word of the apostles that they recorded in scripture is is prayed for in Jesus prayer in John 17 so amazing thought Jesus actually prayed for you the night before he died on the cross it is a beautiful example of his intercessory prayer and when we get to it in John's gospel we'll see the different things he prays for which I think serve as a model for what he is praying for for us today in heaven the other example is Luke 22 32 remember it's a story where Peter has just you know boldly declared in the upper room Lord though everybody else leaves you I will I will go to death for you and Jesus says Simon Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat in other words in a very short time within a matter of hours you will deny me and Satan is going to shake you just like sifting wheat he's going to shake you to your core but then Jesus goes on to say in verse 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith failed not Satan is going to shake you really good but I want you to know Peter I'm praying for you and I'm praying that through that devastating experience of the denial and the crushing blow that would be on him emotionally when Jesus looked at him I'm praying for you that your faith failed not and I think that's an example also of how Jesus prays for us isn't it amazing to think when you're weak when your faith is is very low and dwindling and you're about to chuck it all in and forget trying to live for God that Jesus is praying for you he's praying that your faith fail not I think that's at least an example of what he does so he prays for us but the second way that he speaks to God on our behalf intercedes for us is he defends us not only prays for us he defends us first John 2 1 and 2 a lot of mystery in this passage but some things are very clear first John 2 1 and 2 my dear children I write this to you so that you will not sin but if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the Father what does advocate mean on behalf of like a lawyer it really is a defense attorney we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous one he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world this idea of Jesus being an advocate is tied to when we sin you see it there in verse 1 if anybody does sin I'm writing this this whole letter to you so that you won't sin I'm I'm showing you how to live a godly life but if anyone does sin the possibility is certainly there for all of us when that happens we have an advocate we have a defense attorney we have one who speaks to the Father on our behalf and we know that that Satan is called the accuser of the brethren to use the King James terminology the accuser of the brethren in Revelation 12 that scene is of him being cast out of heaven where he cannot come into the presence of God at all in the middle of the tribulation so I think Satan still has access into the presence of God to accuse us maybe much like he did Job which he accused Job didn't he accused Job of serving God for for impure motives just because God protected him took care of him remember he said if you take everything away from him he'll turn against you I think the devil does the same thing today I don't know exactly how it all works you know I don't think maybe he targets each of us as much as we think he does some of us think the devil doesn't work on anybody but us you know he's all time after us well he's got a lot of demons that help him but but anyway I think he does I think he still does accuse and whenever that happens if I sin and the devil walks in to the throne room of God and says you have no right to to accept him into heaven he is sinned you you God don't take any sinners you do not look upon sin and if he accuses me then Jesus rises to my defense and pleads my case again I don't know exactly what he says but it it must be something about the the presentation publicly in the face of accusation that my sins have been covered by his blood and my name is in the lambs book of life and God's record book in heaven has Jesus righteousness on my record I think that's probably how he pleads my case again I don't know exactly what it looks like but he is our defense attorney he comes to our our aid amazing what Jesus is doing for us in heaven his present ministry is is so comforting one other thing and then we've got to close and we'll just mention this one one of the thing he's doing among other things that we could talk about is his ministry as builder Jesus is building in heaven John 14 you know the passage that not your heart to be troubled you believe in God believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions but we're not so I would have told you I go to prepare place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again receive you into myself that if where I am there you may be also he has gone to prepare place for us he's building a place for us and I know how we typically talk about that he's building a mansion for me in heaven right now and that may be what is talking about but most scholars believe that what's being referred to in John 14 is the building of the New Jerusalem which will one day be finished and come down out of heaven like a bride adorned for her husband and will be the dwelling place of saints for eternity on the new earth that may be what is being referred to there but we know that he is preparing a place the father's house refers to heaven there are many mansions literally dwelling places or abiding places in that that father's house and he is preparing that for us now so he's building it's a wonderful thought preparing that place for us well it's it's amazing to rejoice in all that Jesus is doing for us and just a tremendous encouragement and blessing comfort source of peace that concludes our our study on the doctrine of Christ what the Bible teaches about Christ there are lots of other things we could get into what about all of his future work second coming rain on the earth well we'll consider that some year when we get into prophecy and talk about prophetic themes there's more to the work of Christ but we're going to stop our study here with his present ministry in heaven quick comment or question before we go yes Max I've never thought about that I would I would think there is no need for that at that point my yeah I think that would end because there is no need for that the need for the intercession is because of our weakness and failure and sin and temptation the struggles we face here all of which will be gone there so I would think it would end based on that I was trying to think of a passage that stated that I can't think of one but I would I would think it would end for that reason yeah now I was also thinking another thought as I was saying that whether or not it will continue in the millennium and I think it will continue in the millennium for those who are still in their natural bodies on the earth not us not not church saints because we're already being our glorified body but for those who are in the millennial kingdom I think Jesus ministry of interceding will continue then but once the new heaven and new earth is created everything's perfect I would would think there'd be no more need for that okay just just to see the glories of Christ and what he offers us as his children certainly to know what he does for us is compelling isn't it and you would trust and that the Holy Spirit would use it to to draw hearts to the Savior yeah okay time is up we need to go let's pray Father thank you for the glory of your son and our Savior the Lord Jesus who is still active for us his ministry did not end with his life and death and resurrection even his ascension he's still ministering for us and we are eternally grateful for what he's doing for us right now thank you in Jesus name amen