Oh to live in touch with Christ! Dost thou think that the King of heaven is delighted to hear thee pronounce words with a frivolous tongue, and a thoughtless mind? But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. Philemon 1:8 Therefore, though I have enough confidence in Christ to order you to do what is proper. And it is an impression on the minds of men by nature that such kind of help is from God. [Note: See Joe L. Wall, Going for the Gold, p84.] (Acts 20:32), As we read the Bible which is the Word of His grace, the Spirit of grace (He 10:29-note) reveals to us how rich we are in Christ for as John says…. For βοήθεια cf. BibliographyBenson, Joseph. O happy souls that can believe this, and believing it can come at once and glorify grace by becoming instances of its power. (Spurgeon - Treasury of David), Psalm 35:2 "Take hold (imperative or command) of buckler and shield, and rise up (imperative or command) for my help (Heb = 'ezra)", Note how David boldly approaches Jehovah's throne of grace using two verbs in the imperative mood (commands) to cry out for help in his time of need! In the New Covenant, because of the finished work of our better High Priest, all the Jewish saints, were encouraged to come before the Lord at any time, especially the time of need. (Tyndale Bible Dictionary), John writes that “of (Jesus Christ’s) fullness we have all received and grace upon grace.” (Jn 1:16). Illustration of Grace received in the nick of time - The story of the John Hus who was condemned to burn at the stake. True, we are encouraged to "come boldly to the throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16). Hebrews 4:3) because it illustrates the fact that rest follows work. This God of grace and love is also a God of justice and righteousness. There are two causes, therefore, why many Christians are living such impoverished lives: they have never realized their own infinite need; and they have never availed themselves of those infinite resources which hang within their reach, like fruit from the stooping boughs of an orchard in autumn. 1. In every age the same temptations assail us, though they assume different forms; and in every age the maintenance of the truth as it is in Jesus, and habitual (mark the present tense, ‘continue coming’) intercourse with God as the God of Peace and blessing under the influence of this truth, these are the true sources of our stedfastness. Accordingly we as spiritual Israel may approach by faith unto this throne where Jesus is acting as our High Priest. For, until then, we are shut out from the living God. Crossing the Jordan marked the beginning of God"s testing of the new Israelite generation. It comes from those lips into which grace was poured. No circumstance is too trifling; no petitioner too insignificant; no case too hard; no difficulty too great; no seeker too importunate; no beggar too ragged; no bankrupt too penniless; no debtor too insolvent; for Him not to notice and not to relieve. We shall have Thy fellowship forever, Brethren, as one man, cry mightily to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, beseeching him to put his hand to the work, and magnify his Son in the eyes of all the people. Donald Grey Barnhouse observed "Love that gives upward is worship, love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace. Nor yet do we see the angels with their vengeful swords come forth to smite the foes of God; not yet are the great doors of the pit opened to swallow up the enemies who would not have the Son of God to reign over them. Without the first we would face judgment and constant shame and self-reproach, without the second we would crumble in times of need. Hebrews 8:1. Suppose I come to the throne of grace with the burden of my sins; there is one on the throne who felt the burden of sin in ages long gone by, and has not forgotten its weight. The next two chapters close with the words on which we are dwelling now, concerning the Great High-Priest (He 4:14). Come thus to the mercy-seat, and you will not be sent empty away. A throne that was not gracious would not trouble itself to make out our petitions; but God, the infinitely gracious One, will dive into the soul of our desires, and he will read there what we cannot speak with the tongue. Occurs twenty-eight times, twenty-three times associated with God. (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. Compare James 1:5. 7. Hebrews 7:19 : εἰσέρχεσθαι, ch. For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. Find grace - corresponding to "throne of grace." God, in the giving of the law and the institution of the ordinances of worship, wherein he taught the people how he would be reverenced by them, had so encompassed himself with fire and terror, that it ingenerated a great and awful horror in their minds. Fully absolved through these I am, — But my text says the throne of grace is the throne of God. What comfort is this. They are not conferred because of any merit or worthiness of ours, but are the free, generous gift of divine grace. You cannot pour out your heart in the fullest confidence to a person you do not respect, but if you get with some one you entirely trust, how swiftly the words flow. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/hebrews-4.html. And no religion is destined to meet the deepest yearnings of the race, which does not have glowing at the heart the provision of a priest to stand before the throne of grace; as, of old, the priest stood before the mercy seat, which was its literal prefigurement under the dispensation of the Levitical law. Grace always precedes and leads to peace. Hebrews 1:14; Hebrews 3:11; Hebrews 3:18; Hebrews 4:3-5; Hebrews 4:10-11; Hebrews 6:12; Hebrews 6:17). Hebrews 4begins with an application to the present readers. Ah, and it will come before Peter has gone below the water, though not until Peter has felt the cold waves rise to his knees, and has cried out, ‘Lord, save me, I perish.’ ‘Master, he whom Thou lovest is sick,’ and He abode still two days in the same place where He was, and when He came, ‘Lord, if Thou hadst been here my brother had not died.’ ‘Said I not unto thee, that if thou didst believe thou shouldest see the glory of God.’ ‘God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved, the Lord shall help her, and that right early.’ You remember the narrative of that great final battle on the plains of Waterloo. out of His (Christ's) fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift. He is as much superior to the high priests as any one of them was to the priests of his time. Hiebert defines mercy as "the self-moved, spontaneous loving kindness of God which causes Him to deal in compassion and tender affection with the miserable and distressed. Let us come boldly, for we hear the promise in our hearts. He walked around the bed to Scott’s side. That time, assuredly, is the time of severest need, when no need is felt, and no desire is cherished for a yet larger increase of grace and strength. Who do you cry out to for help? There is a grace to be had of various kinds, or rather the same grace acting different ways, and God delights to make his grace glorious. Instead he warned them about failing to enter into their rest. 12/8/19 Tom Lowe Lesson #15 [ID1]: Our Compassionate High Priest (HEBREWS 4:14-16) Scripture: Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV) 14.Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. It is practiced between friends who are not afraid to blame each other as well as toward superiors, even tyrants, with whom one must guard one’s freedom of speech: “Boldness (eutolmia) and freedom of speech (parrhesia) are admirable virtues when they are addressed opportunely to superiors” (Philo… ). A throne, rule, and government, are ascribed unto the Lord Christ with respect unto his kingly and not his priestly office, of which the apostle here discourseth. If it be a throne of grace, then all the wants of those who come to it will be supplied. He does not give me the parcel that was meant for you; there is no error in the delivery. David pleads, "Make haste, make haste" (Ps 70:1). When we approach the Lord in prayer, Bibliography InformationConstable, Thomas. The pride that will not own the king, the treason which rebels against the sovereign will should, if it be wise, avoid any near approach to the throne. So Paul also, Romans 5:2, προσαγωγή.— τῷ θρόνῳ, to the throne) ch. Is it a time of prosperity? © Copyright - Enduring Word | . in this epistle as high a Christology as is conceivable is combined with an emphasis on the real humanity of Jesus. Oh that you, seeing grace is thus enthroned, would come and receive it. This is the dispensation of grace, the year of grace: grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life. Out of the deep I call, This kind of help it becometh the greatness and wisdom of God to give. 1986. 6. But my text says the throne of grace is the throne of God. As an illustration of the thoroughness of Jesus" temptations, imagine a large bolder on the seacoast. We sometimes hear persons commended for preaching well, but if any shall be enabled to pray well, there will be an equal gift and a higher grace in it.