The Intercessory Role and Missional Task

By P. Douglas Small
President, PRAYER AT THE HEART

What We Need Today

What we need and what this Roman church needed – was only found in a relationship with God, only “in Christ,” and that we know, is a metaphor for unceasing prayer. It is the desire of God to produce in us, and through us, something so extraordinary, that our friends and family, even our enemies, recognize as God’s divine life on our human life, “Christ in us, the hope of glory!” (Col. 1:27).

Notice the prepositions and the conditional phrases in the prayer that Paul prayed.

Now, may God … [The Outcome is Dependent on His Action]
Therefore … [And yet, your action, counts, it completes What God initiates]

For this reason… [We understand our call to action – to confess, sing…]

So God does a work – “therefore,” and “for this or that reason.” It is God’s purpose that is in view.

Someone said, whenever you see a “therefore” in Scripture, you should stop to see what it is “there for.” In this case, it is an, ‘if God does that; therefore, you should do this.’ It is propositional. It is a call to agency.

Therefore receive one another [Our action], just as Christ also received us [His action], to the glory of God [The end goal – the glory of God].

The Intercessory Role – The Middle. Christ has received us – and what he does for us, should have its end, not only in us but through us. We have an intercessory role, a missionary task, a stunning vision, and a global assignment – to call the whole earth to sing. This begins in the classical middle, in the position of intercessor. Intercession is the first step in the process of reconciling the world to Christ. This call to the middle, to stand between. This is also a prayer for the missional impact of the church in Rome, one that lived at the center of global power. In the face of such power, they were to emulate Jesus, who “became a servant…” (Phil. 2:7).

The Missionary Task – To the Nations. While his mission was “to the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers,” that is, he came to the Jew first, the ultimate goal, and now the mission of the Roman church was “that the Gentiles [the nations] might glorify God for His mercy…” First, the Jew; then the Gentiles! To Israel, and then to the nations. Jerusalem to Judea, and then Samaria. Now, Rome to the rest of the world. The transition is underway, and the Roman Church, at the center of global power, is being called to serve the mission for the glory of God in the full view of the nations.

Next, Paul urges them to “confess [Christ] among the Gentiles [the nations]…” And to “sing to Your name.” He envisions a global community in praise, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!” Paul awaits, by faith, the moment when the nations, Gentiles with Jews, will rejoice and praise God together. There are two plans for global unity. One is around Christ. The other, around the Anti-Christ. One embraces Godly character as its ethos, the other, carnality, and self-interest. One is heavenly, the other earthly and worldly. One acknowledges God, as God, and the other, man as a god. One is divine, the other is from hell. Two spiritual dynamics, only two, they define every government, every throne, every parliament, and council. There is no neutral zone. God’s design, revealed through Paul, is clear, “Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples!” This is not praise from some small chapel; it is global praise, involving nations, in the streets, giving God glory.

The Vision – The Whole Earth Praising God. Paul’s vision is stunning. That all the nations – all the various people groups and linguistically defined tribes, will “praise the Lord.” He recognizes that Rome influences the world. And he sees their influence; the influence of a healthy, missional church, impacting the city, and their influence spreading outward until it circled the earth. Rome, Paul knows, as a metropolitan and global hub of influence, can impact the empire. All of this happens around Jesus, “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him, the Gentiles shall hope” (Romans 15:12). Indeed, he is our only hope.

This is a wonderful prayer. A pastoral prayer. A benediction. A prayer of purpose and mission.

A Final Note

When Bill Clinton, the President of the United States, was impeached for inappropriate sexual activity with a White House intern, his approval rating improved – improved? The nation officially disapproved but tacitly winked with approval at the behavior. Shocking – or it should be!

The duplicitous nation had a President who epitomized a double standard. He had taken a visible place in the choir of a Little Rock church whose Sunday service was televised. He spoke of his ‘faith’ and of hearing and being moved by Billy Graham’s ministry. He spoke at the memorial service of the great evangelist. And yet – his practices, his life, was not consistent with the faith he claimed.

Hypocrisy was then enshrined in the highest office of the nation. Paul described our situation, “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things but also approve of those who practice them” (Rom. 1:32). The problem escalates when leaders themselves are compromised and duplicitous. “You have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point… you are condemning yourself because you who pass judgment do the same things” (2:1). Wherever truth is suppressed by the wicked, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven…” and it will be manifest “against all the godlessness and wickedness of people…” (1:18). After a time, a nation goes so far, they cannot find their way back. God has called, and they have resisted. And the final judgment is the abandonment of God of a nation.

We should see it! Clearly see it. And the recognition of where we are as a nation should motivate us to offer hope to friends and family about to face eternity without God, and a world in the cross-hairs of a growing anti-Christ spirit. In Romans 2:5, the Gentiles, the nations, Paul says, are “treasuring up for yourself, wrath.” There is a record. Wrath is accumulating and intensifying. This is due to the hardness of hearts and the lack of repentance.

These hard hearts and a result of our entrenched resistance to repentance. They manifest even in the face of the goodness of God! This goodness comes to us when we should be experiencing judgment. That fact, such grace, should lead us to repent. God’s mercy, creating space, prolonging judgment, revealing His tenderness – should move us to change. When it does not, the stubbornness and the continuing action of sin intensify, and the flood waters of wrath accumulate upstream.

There is a day of wrath coming! And it will be targeted to the unrepentant and those with hard hearts.

No group turns automatically. All need a catalyst, a leader. Someone must steward a move of God – Ezra, Nehemiah, Elijah, John the Baptist. National revivals are traced to some prophetic voice, some leader who carries the burden of the Lord.

That’s what makes our message so poignant, so powerful – it is a message of hope!