Address—C.I. Buchanan
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First Timothy chapter 2, verse 3. This is good.
And acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
Or there is one God and one mediator between God and men.
The man graced Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Here is our mediator, one who is God and one who is man, as we have had so.
Clearly talked to us here today.
And he never fails in that mediation.
He is also our high priest and our advocate. I'd like to turn to that verse about the advocate that's in First John chapter 2 for this is an office.
That the Lord Jesus has.
Thorn, who is our mediator, is also our advocate.
One John chapter 2 verse one my little children, my dear children, these things right I unto you that ye sin not never is there an excuse for us to sin. And if any man's sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. How wonderful to think of our Lord Jesus Christ as our mediator.
And as our advocate who takes up our cause.
With the Father in contrast to that, let's turn to Revelation chapter 12.
And we get the.
Dark contrast.
To heaven, having an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Revelation chapter 12.
This is prophecy that relates to a time that's coming. As we know that happens in the middle of the seven years.
Of Jacob's trouble.
On Satan.
Is cast out.
And it says in verse 10.
And I heard a loud voice saying, In heaven now has come salvation and strength, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brethren, there's the opposite of an advocate with the Father.
The accuser of a brethren.
Where is he?
Up there, up there too, he's cast down which accused them before our God.
Day and night.
I guess we should go to a verse in First Samuel chapter 12.
To pick up a.
Related principle at least.
In seeking to plead for.
To find the instruction about what was given to Samuel in First Samuel.
Chapter 12.
When the people.
Had sinned so grievously, First Samuel chapter 12, verse 20. Samuel said unto the people, Fear not, ye have done all this wickedness, yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Turn ye not aside, for then should ye not go after vain things which cannot profit nor deliver.
For they are vain, for the Lord will not forsake his people.
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For his great name's sake.
Because it hath pleased the Lord.
To make you his people now the unchangeable.
God who is there for his people and not forsake them. But look at what Samuel says in the 23rd verse. Moreover.
As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord.
In ceasing to pray for you, but I will teach you the good in the right way.
Once in.
Bolivia some 15 or more years ago.
There's a brother named Fortunato.
Lived in a town called ****** Studios rather than there.
He was an affable, likable young man, but he was a weakling. He was gathered. He fell into sin.
He repented, was restored. He did the same thing again.
And maybe the third time when my brother got up.
In the meeting down there and says I don't think we should pray for Fortunato anymore. Oh no, I I pointed out this verse to him. We must never cease to pray. Indeed, for all men we're told that so the principle of the advocate or the principal of the accuser.
Whose side do you take in connection with the Saints of God?
Do you seek to be an advocate for them and to pray for them?
To supplicate for these dear Saints no matter what or.
Do you get taken up even as Satan is taken up?
As the accuser of the Brethren, her brother Eric Smith.
Told me one time that Satan.
Up there is an accuser of the Brethren, and down here he is an excuser of the brethren. He excuses us to ourselves.
So that we Passover sin lightly, we have to take care of our sins and come and confess them as we've had so nicely. Now if Jesus is that mediator, that he's perfect in it and he is an advocate and never fails in that, I'd like to turn to three men in the Old Testament who entered into that in spirit at least. We'll go to Abraham first in.
Genesis chapter 18.
We won't read the whole of these chapters, but we will sketch them.
And try to get the point. I think the setting here in Genesis 18 is exceedingly beautiful. You notice here was Abraham, and the Lord appeared to him as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and three men stood by him, and when he saw them, he ran to meet them.
From the tent door, bowed himself toward the ground and said, My Lord.
We'll stop and talk about that just a little bit.
Because we see discernment here.
In Abraham.
That he only speaks to one of those men.
We can clearly see if we read the passage well.
That the other two.
We're angels, but one of them was the Lord. Do you recognize the Lord when it comes to your house? Is your household in order like Abrams was?
He was there in the tent door, in the heat of the day.
And he in short, says, my Lord. And then he goes on and talks about preparing a feast for him. And he gets Sarah to make the cakes, and the young men to get the calf and dress it and prepare for them. Now look what it says in the end of verse 8.
And.
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He stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
It is here for God and man can meet in the shadow of the cross. That's the tree, the shadow of the cross. It's there that communion between God and man takes place.
So here was a household in order.
But the world wasn't in order.
Let's go on down to verse 16. The men who rose up from this and looked toward Sodom, that's the other two that came.
Angels in the form of men.
And Abraham.
Went with them to bring them on the way, the Lord said.
The Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?
Seeing that Abraham shall greatly shall surely become a great and mighty nation.
And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in the Emperor. I know him that he will command his children.
How about your house? Are your children under your command? And his household after him? Perhaps that comes on down to grandparents, his household after him. And they shall keep the way of the Lord. Well, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and Joseph, and so on. They shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him. And the Lord said.
Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down and see whether they have done according altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto me. And if not, I will know. And the men turned their faces from that, and went towards Sodom. And Abraham stood yet before the Lord. What a meeting this was of Abraham.
And the Lord, you remember when Jesus was talking to those.
Pharisees. Chief priests.
And the 8th of John.
That the Lord said your father Abraham.
Rejoice to see my day. And he saw it and was glad. I think that's right here.
And they said, oh, you're not yet 50 years old. Have you seen Abraham? Have you seen?
Abraham, your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day at Abraham's seed in Jehovah Jesus.
He certainly did more than once. He appeared to him, for Jesus is Jehovah.
So here stands Abraham before the Lord, and what is he going to do?
With a world like it was them and.
People of God living in it.
I tell you, he supplicates 6 times. I think we should read it. It's just tremendous.
The spirit of grace and supplication that came out in Abraham concerning those few who belong to the Lord that were down in that wicked city of Sodom.
And Abraham drew near, he went right up to the Lord said, wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be 50 righteous within the city. Wilt thou also destroy and not spare the city this place for the 50 righteous that are therein? OK, here's the here's the proposition. Perhaps there's fifty. And Abraham goes on that be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the righteous with the wicked.
And the right that the righteous should be, as the wicked thus be far from thee, shall not the judge of all the earth do right tremendous. Think of a man talking to the Lord that way. What courage, what peace in the presence of the Lord? Well, he gets the he gets the Lord's ear. He says, the Lord said, If I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
Well, that's once he please, Abraham answered and said, Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord.
Which in but destination he takes his place down there, where man came from her adventure. There shall lack five of the 50 righteous. Wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? He said. If I find there 40 and five, I will not destroy it. Well, Abraham comes down five. He's got 45 now. What's the Lord's answer?
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SN.
And he said, if I find there 40 and five, I will not destroy it. He spake unto him again and said, peradventure there shall be found 40 there. Verse 29. He said I will not do it for 40's sake. That's the third time he's fled.
And he said to him, O let not the Lord be angry, I will speak very much. There shall be 30 found there. He said, I will not do it if I find 30 there. He pulls down 10 instead of five now.
Verse 31 He said, Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord.
Peradventure there shall be 20 found there, he said.
I will not destroy it for 20's sake. Oh, he goes ahead and pleads what a man Abraham was.
He said, O let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet, but this once for adventure 10 shall be found there. He said, I will not destroy it for Tim's sake.
Well, that's six times he pled with the Lord for the Saints of God that were down in Sodom, and then he stopped. We wonder what would have happened if he had gone one more step.
Well, we know there weren't even five that came out, but this is a Saint of God down here.
Interceding for his brethren, other Saints in the world, the Lord went his way as soon as he had left, communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned unto his place. Now the principle of this is certainly easy to see, that it was a blessed position.
That Abraham took concerning.
His brethren.
Oh, he had worked with his nephew. Locke helped him, gave him the first choice.
He'd taken the well watered plains, gone down that way, pitched his tent toward it, and then he went right into it and he lost all of his family except his wife. She turned to fill her salt. And his two daughters, three of them you might say, were left there that were righteous in there, and the Lord took them out. Now if we take the world bad and the judgment's coming, and maybe it is like the days of Sodom seemed to us like it is, we can be.
Assured.
That the judgment by fire will not come upon this place until all the Saints are taken out.
Well, let's go then to Moses in chapter 32 of Exodus, the next book, and see what that servant of the Lord does, perhaps in slightly similar condition.
It was God's people, Israel, who had been redeemed out of Egypt.
And Moses had gone up on high to get the Law.
Exodus 32 verse one. When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves under air and said unto him.
Up make us gods, which shall go be.
That make us God, which shall go before us. For As for Moses.
The man that brought us up out of Egypt we want not what is become of him.
Here, little less than six weeks took place.
With their deliverer who had brought them out of Egypt, going up to commune with God to get a perfect law to give to them, which they said that they would keep.
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And in less than six weeks, they turn to idolatry. Such was the failure of man in this case. Well, let's go on down and catch what Moses has to say further down.
And in verse 15.
Moses turned and went down from the mouth.
He had gone up to get the law. Now he turns to go down.
To bring it down to the people, Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand. The tables were written on both their sides, on the one side, and on the other. Were they written? The tables were the work of God. The writing was the writing of God graven upon the tables.
When Joshua heard the noise, the people as they shouted, he said to Moses there is noise of war in the camp.
And he said it is not the voice of them that shout for mastery.
Neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
And I can't. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh into the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing, and Moses Anger waxed hot.
And he cast the tables out of his hands and break them beneath.
The amount?
Well, he took the calf and he grounded the powder and.
Caused these things to pass upon the people.
And the people have been made naked, and there is a judgment upon them.
Through the through the children of Levi, they were consecrated upon their brethren, and a great number of them fell. But on the Morrow, verse 30, it came to pass on the Morrow that Moses said unto the people, he has sinned a great sin. Now here's here's God's nation, send the great sin turn to idolatry.
When they said all that the Lord our God has said, will we do? They gave up God within 40 days and made a golden calf and fell down and worshiped it. Idolatry set up there.
So ye have sinned, a great sin, and now I will go up under the Lord. Now here is mediation made. I believe we can say by Moses that perhaps the highest point in the history of this communicator. Moses was the great communicator between God and the people. Joshua was the man of conflict.
So here he says, peradventure I will make an atonement for your sin.
So he goes up. Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people.
Have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, block me, I pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written.
And the Lord said unto Moses.
Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
Therefore now.
Go, lead the people under the place which I have spoken unto thee. Behold, mine Angel shall go before thee. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them, and the Lord plague the people.
Let's go to Deuteronomy chapter nine, I think, to get some more about this scene.
Or the mediation that he makes is very wonderful when we get a hold of it.
Deuteronomy Chapter 9, he recounts it when they're at the end of the journey.
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He talks about them provoking the Lord at Horeb, verse 8.
He goes on down and says, verse 11 It came to pass at the end of 40 days and 40 nights that the Lord gave me two tables of stone, even the tables of the covenant. And the Lord said in me, arise, get thee down quickly from hence for thy people. The Lord says, these people are yours.
Thy people.
Thy people which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They are quickly turned aside. Out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them molten images. Furthermore, the Lord spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff necked people. Let me alone this is.
God pleading with the mediator Moses, he says let me alone.
That I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven.
And I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they. What a tremendous thing this is to think that God says to Moses, Let me alone I'll I'll destroy them, and I'll I'll make another nation out of you.
Moses, his action, his thoughts, his words are tremendous.
Verse 15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount burned with fire, and the two tables of the covenant were in my hand.
And I looked, and behold, ye had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made you a molten calf. He had turned aside quickly out of the way which the Lord commanded you. I took the two tables and cast them out of my hand.
And break them before your eyes. This is certainly mediation.
Moses having the mind of God not to bring that law in on tables of stone.
Into the camp.
But breaking them before their eyes.
Let's let's go on down to verse 24. Ye have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.
Thus I fell down before the Lord 40 days and 40 nights again. He's there pleading with the Lord, as I fell down at the first, because the Lord said, had said, he would destroy you. And I prayed unto the Lord and said, Oh Lord God, here's supplication, here's praying for God's people. Destroy not thy people. The Lord have said, Moses, they belong to you, they're your people.
Moses turned around, says, No, Lord, they belong to you. These are, these are your people which thou hast redeemed through thy greatness, which thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, and with a mighty hand. This pleading is wonderful. He says, remember, this is a man telling the Lord to remember. Go back and think.
Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Look not unto the stubbornness of this people.
Nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin, lest the land.
Which thou broughtest us out save because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land which he promised them, because he hated them, He hath brought them out to slay them in the wilderness. Yet they are thy people and thine inheritance, which thou brought us out by thy mighty power, and by thy stretch down arm.
So here we have an intercession that is most wonderful by one of the heroes. I call them Abraham and Moses in the Old Testament, supplicating God for his own people.
Whose side do you take? Whose side do I take? That of the advocate or of the accuser?
I think I've heard too much of accusation in the last years against brethren. God doesn't like it. We shouldn't do it. We should plead their 'cause we'll go to David now in the last chapter of Second Samuel. It's a.
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Similar but more brief saying that we will get a hold of.
Second Samuel 24 Can we be like Abraham and plead for people who are caught out there in this Sodom and Gomorrah, who belong to the Lord?
Can we plead for his own people which have turned aside and gone after other gods? Can we?
Well here it says in Second Samuel 24 in the first verse we want to get this point.
And again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
It happens again this people.
The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he moved David. The origin of what happens here is the Lord. Even though the other case you read of in Chronicle says Satan stood up against Israel to cause David to number the people. Well, it doesn't seem like a very bad thing to number the people.
But it was pride on Davidde part. Go out and number them. Joy even knew better. They counted them. There was 1,300,000 valiant men able to draw a sword. Oh, David said. Look here, I've got 1,300,000 men.
But God was behind it to Polish things up a bit.
And to get David to get his attention.
So in short, David's heart smote him that he had numbered the people. Verse 10.
And David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in that I have done his pride coming out.
And now I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very foolishly. Nevertheless, because of the sin of that people, and because the anger of the Lord was against that people, he gives David a choice of one of three things to come upon.
Them in the judgment of God, because you don't escape the government of God.
We always get it. David got it. The people got it. Nevertheless, he's merciful.
And the first two choices were something that would come from men.
Verse 12 Go and say unto David.
Thus saith the Lord, Ioffer thee three things, choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. And God came to David, and said unto him.
Shall seven years of famine come upon thee in thy land?
Oh that was dreadful, that was going to last seven years. Or wilt thou flee 3 months before thine enemies while they pursue thee? Oh that would be terrible. It's a whole 3 months for the armies to be against God's people, or that there be three days pestilence in thy land. Now advise and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
David said in the gap, I am in a great Strait. He was one. He'd gotten into a great Strait. This is David. But what does he say? He has the wisdom of God to make the right choice. Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his mercies are great, and let me not fall into the hand of man.
So he chose the right thing we're going to read a little bit. The Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed there died of the people from Dan even to be your Shiva 70,000 men on the Angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it. The Lord repented him of the evil said to the Angel that destroyed the people. It is enough.
These three words remind us of other judgments of God.
Like on the cross when the Lord said it is finished and twice over in Revelation you get those words, It is done. Judgment is God's strange work and it's always measured. It comes and it stops. Well, it's enough. Where did it stop? Stay now. Thine hand on the Angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of a run of the Jebusite.
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Now here's the pleading we wanted to get from David verse 17. Notice this.
David speak unto the Lord when he saw the Angel that smote the people and said, lo.
I have sinned and I have done wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? Let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me and against my father's house. And then they arrive at the threshing floor of Arana the Jebusite, and it ends up in worship.
And David wouldn't offer that which cost him nothing.
So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver. Verse 24. David built there an altar under the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. Just these three things, brethren. Examples in Abraham.
Moses and David in making intercession for God's people, and God always hears, and he's pleased. I would like to read to you a part of a verse in.
Zechariah. And then we'll close without singing. It takes us on.
Zechariah 12 to the future. Perhaps it's the great Day of Atonement.
That takes place.
When they recognize the Messiah.
But the simple thing that I want to get is in the 10th verse of the 12Th of Zechariah, I will pour upon the House of David.
And upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication. And they look upon the one they pierced. What a wonderful time is coming for the earth.
And those same people that are there in the Millennium, they will have poured upon them the spirit of grace and of supplication. Had we not ought to have that same spirit of grace and supplication poured out from us to our brethren? Let's pray our God our Father, we have tremendous.
Privileges as Saints of God to intercede with thee.
When we think of Joshua.
Says the Lord, hearken to the voice of a man.
It seems so with Abraham.
With Moses and with David.
May we be like that.
For our love, brethren, so we pray for one another, and ask for Thy blessing upon the company gathered here. If we're left for the gospel, may it go forth clearly to gather in any who are not yet saved by grace.
Through faith, we honestly pray for dear Mario to comfort and help him. Our Father. We give thanks and ask in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.