Beloved radio, friends, we greet you in the precious name, which we know is above every name, the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and it is our great joy to exalt him and to come before you with the ministry of his precious word that makes known the glories of his person. We are constantly concerned as we give these messages on the present theme, What think ye of Christ? Oh, beloved, we desire with all earnestness that your heart may be centered in mind, too, upon the person of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest person in the universe. We have undertaken some of the studies concerning him, and now we are on the precious fact of his exaltation in heaven above. We would particularly today begin presenting to our hearts further reasons for his exaltation in heaven, this time on the behalf of the individual believer. There are three special ministries which our Savior in heaven above conducts on the behalf of the believer who is still upon the earth. We may point out this fact. First, he is the believer's great intercessor. Second, he is the believer's great high priest. Third, He is the believer's great advocate. Now may I emphasize the contrast between what the Lord did upon the earth and what he is now doing in heaven. Many of you may well remember when you read your Bible concerning the crucifixion of our beloved Savior, particularly from the Gospel of John and his account, when in John nineteen and verse thirty, We find that the Lord Jesus gave up the ghost. Before he yielded up his life, he cried triumphantly, I believe, not sadly, but triumphantly. It is finished. Now what did he mean? Well, let me just state what he meant by the words he spoke to the Father. Recorded in John seventeen in verse five, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And surely we know That work of the Lord Jesus upon the cross was a complete work to provide redemption for the human race. It was finished. My beloved radio friend, that finished work, you and I can rest upon it by faith and know we're saved. I cannot work my soul to save, for that my Lord has done. and I should work like any slave in love for God's dear Son. For on the life I have not lived, a death I did not lie, did not die, another's life, another's death. I stake my whole eternity. Beloved, the work that saves the soul has been done. That was the finished work of our Savior on the cross. But now in heaven above, he's doing your work. This work has been going on ever since he went back to heaven. And it's on the behalf of his redeemed people below. He conducts for them a session above that is yet unfinished. He is the believer's great intercessor, interceding for them on behalf of their needs below. He is the believer's great high priest, touched with what they go through. He is the believer's great advocate to plead their cause when needed. at the throne of God. Now let's consider them separately. Consider, first of all, the believer's great intercessor. We read the words that are found in Hebrews chapter seven and verse twenty-five, telling us of the Lord Jesus Christ, who's gone into heaven as our high priest, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, singing he ever liveth, to make intercession for them. Now will we not consider first of all from this text his power, his ability, he is able to save the believer to the utmost rights, the beloved apostle, meaning his power to save to completion or to save completely the one who trusts the Savior. Now, may I state the word at the most, does not imply that Christ is able to reach those utterly bad cases of sin. That is true. He is. But the meaning of our text is, He is able to carry the believer. This intercession is not for the sinner. It is for the believer. And it implies He is able to carry the believer through every trial, through all temptations, through every infirmity, unto the completion of life's pilgrimage, and to present the believer faultless in the day of his coming before God. My beloved, please may I state, this is one of the blessed assurances of the security, of the soul that trusts the Savior, eternally safe, in his hands, assuring that he will bring them to the very end of the pilgrimage into heaven itself. Now as we consider his power, let us also consider the reason why he can do it. It is due to his unchangeable priesthood, which is referred to in verse twenty-four, the preceding verse. And even in our verse, note the words. because he ever liveth to make intercession for us, or for them. Yes, he intercedes on the behalf of his saints, but his mighty power is not merely because he intercedes. It is because he ever lives to do it. He ever lives to do so. Beloved, with what joy you and I should say, my Savior is alive. He's caring for me. Now let me bring a text to your heart and to my own heart that comes to my mind. I quote the words of Ephesians chapter five, verse twenty-five, twenty-six and twenty-seven. When Paul wrote to say, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it, by the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Now please note certain facts. The church is the object of his affection. He loves the church. The church is the object of his redemption. He gave himself for it. But in verse twenty-six of Ephesians five, the church is the object of his ministration, his care, that he might set it apart, sanctify it, cleanse it, by the washing of water, by the word. He has a continued ministry, caring for his people upon the earth. Or may I emphasize that, how we need it, beloved friends, to realize the constant, unceasing care of this living Savior in heaven above on the behalf of his own. Remember what Peter wrote in First Peter five in verse seven? As he had said just preceding the verse, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he might exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he careeth for you. Oh, my beloved radio friend, my fellow believer particularly, the Lord Jesus cares for you and me, and in that life in heaven above, he constantly is showing his care by living to intercede for us, and with what joy you and I can recognize, he's alive, caring for his own. No, may I state. Our blessed Lord is interceding for us. We who are His children, but not in the sense of appeasing God. No, all that God's holy being and righteous government demands was once and for all completed on the cross and satisfied God. It's not a question of our sins that He is our intercessor. He's interceding because he cares for what trials and troubles difficult as we are going through. Now let me please consider with you those for whom Christ is praying. Now I'm going to quote the words of the Lord Jesus from John seventeen. I commend the reading, the understanding of that great chapter of John seventeen. It could be properly called the high priestly prayer of the Son of God in the presence of the Father. And now may I quote part of the words in verse nine, when he says, I pray not for the world. Now may I raise the question, do you realize, my friend, my fellow believer, or even unsaved friend, that in heaven above the Lord Jesus is not praying for this world? You say, why not? Well, let me say bluntly. He did everything he could to save the world. He gave himself for the redemption of the whole world. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. What more can he do for this world? But what he is doing in heaven is not for the world. And he goes on to say, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou wast given me out of the world. For they are thine. Ah, my fellow believer, isn't it a joy? Isn't it a comfort? Isn't it a strength? When some dear Christian comes to you and say, Brother or Sister, I'm praying for you. But isn't it more comforting, more blessed and assuring, that the Lord Jesus constantly prays for us in heaven above? And with what joy? From our spiritual infancy unto spiritual maturity, From the beginning of our pilgrim path to the completion of it, the believer has one who ever liveth to intercede for him and for her in heaven above, constantly looking after his own people. Yes, if you would read the complete chapter of John seventeen, which can be called, as we suggested, the intercessory prayer of Christ for the preservation and the ultimate glorification of his own redeemed saints. Oh, what blessed Blessed assurance of the security for the believer, both now and forever, because of the prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ. My friend, who may be unsaved, wouldn't you like to have a Savior praying for you in glory? If you'll trust him as your Savior, the moment you trust him as your Savior, on the ground in the promise of his precious word, he'll begin praying for you. in heaven above. Blessed Father, what do we think of thy Son? Help us to think of what he's doing up there, and we who are thy children appreciate it, and some sinner receive him and know it. Amen.