Take your Bibles if you would turn to Hebrews
chapter 4 We're gonna pick up where Neil left
off last week and look at the last three verses
of this chapter Neil defined Rest for us last
week as righteousness. I actually wrote in my
notes rest is equal to righteousness. I thought
that was a great Definition I would like to propose
an additional definition This morning we sang
about it in one of our choruses, rest is living
like you're forgiven. Are you living like you're
forgiven? You know, we should. That's rest. That's
the rest that we have in the Lord, to be able
to live knowing that we are forgiven. That's
what it means to be righteous, to be declared
righteous by God, to be justified, forgiven.
That is indeed. This morning we're gonna talk
about Jesus. I hope that doesn't shock anybody.
Our perfect priest. It's always encouraging to
me as I listen to Neil preach and as I have the
opportunity to prepare and present messages myself.
We're learning some things around here, right?
And sometimes we're not even. all that aware
of what we're learning. It's just kinda happening
to us. My dad, in an effort to compliment me
years ago, said this to me one Sunday afternoon.
He looked over my way and he said, you know,
James, he said, every now and then you use a
word in your sermon that reminds me that you're
an educated man. Just every now and then. Well,
every now and then, we are reminded of some great
biblical truth. And last week, even though it
was not the emphasis of his message, Neil reminded
us that God knows everything. And we touched
on it briefly at the end of his message. And
I wanna kind of pick up with that last verse.
That was a part of Neil's sermon before we head
into this next passage of scripture that will
comprise my sermon But but God does indeed know
everything and of course, you know We want to
be a big word church, right and the big word
for that theological truth is omniscience God
is omniscient. He knows Everything and of course
we read that and we say hallelujah. Yeah good.
God knows everything He's God and and that word
doesn't really bother us all that much until
we consider this Not only does God know everything
God knows everything about you. Now that's a
little unsettling. God knows everything about
me. Again, you read that verse, verse 13, no
creature is hidden from his sight, but all are
naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom
we must give an account. So not only does God
know everything about you, but one day you're
gonna stand before him and give an account. And
again, as we were reminded last week, it really
won't matter what kind of appearance you may
have put up during your life. What God knows
is who you really are. Sobering truth. Hebrews,
really the scriptures are full of these sobering
truths about God. These warnings, as we have
called them over the course of this sermon series.
But always it seems following up on one of these
sobering truths, one of these warnings, the writer
of Hebrews then seeks to encourage us in truly
pastoral manner. He cares about these people
to whom he writes and he wants them to be encouraged.
That's why he's writing. And so. following on
the heels of that frightening or somewhat unsettling
verse, no creature is hidden from his sight,
but we are all naked and exposed to the eyes
of him to whom we must give an account. He immediately
seeks to comfort us and to encourage us. And
he does this, as so often we find in scripture,
by reminding us of who this one to whom we will
give an account is, what he's like. I think we
all have an idea, don't we, about what it will
mean to stand before the Lord on the day of judgment,
to give an account for the way that we have lived
our lives. And again, there's a little bit of
an element of terror to that. And I think that's
completely reasonable. When Isaiah saw the Lord
high and lifted up, he didn't begin to dance
a jig. He said, oh, woe is me. I'm undone and
I live amongst a people. who are undone, unclean
lips, he immediately recognized his lack of holiness
in comparison to the holiness of God. But the
writer of Hebrews wants to encourage us here.
And so he shares again about who this, again,
he refers to him here again as our great high
priest, who this perfect priest is. what he has
done for us, what he is doing for us, and ultimately
what he will do for us. So that's what we wanna
talk about today. We wanna talk about this perfect
priest that we have in Jesus. We're not gonna
stand just before any priest. We're gonna stand
before our great high priest, our perfect priest
who loved us and gave himself for us. So let's
pray and then we'll read these three verses together.
look a little deeper. Father, we are so very
thankful today for our great high priest, Jesus
Christ, this perfect priest, Father, not like
the priests that we are familiar with in our
world, even those that we read about in scripture.
Lord, Jesus was a perfect priest, as we will
see and be reminded of today. And so I pray,
Father, that as we anticipate that day when we
will stand before him, fully known, fully exposed,
Lord, that we will also know that the one that
knows everything there is to know about us also
loves us, sympathizes with us, cares beyond what
we can even imagine. And so I just ask you to
comfort our hearts with that thought today. And
Father, as always, we pray that you would strengthen
your children. encourage us to continue this
good fight of faith, Lord, to struggle on, to
accomplish the works that you have prepared for
us, Lord, to face the difficulties that come
with knowing Jesus and following Jesus, Lord,
with absolute confidence and hope that as we
have also sung this morning, one day when you
return, Lord, this earth will be remade, resurrected.
Every hurt will indeed be healed. Every wrong
will indeed be righted. And we look forward to
that. Give us a real boldness in light of that
truth. And we pray all of this in Jesus' name,
amen. Hebrews chapter four, verses 14, 15, and
16, the words will be here on the screen at the
front if you do not have a Bible to follow along
in. And the scripture simply says this. Since
we have a great high priest who has passed through
the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold
fast our confession. For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who in every respect has been tempted
as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with
confidence draw near to the throne of grace that
we may receive mercy and find grace in time.
and find grace to help in time of need. Things
do indeed become difficult in this life. Often
it seems that there are more difficult days than
there are not difficult days. And what we always
need to remember is that there is help available.
We are not left to face this difficult life alone.
We have resources that we simply need to... to
ask for and to receive. And of course, that's
what this passage of scripture is all about,
reminding us who this perfect priest Jesus is
and just what it is that he will do for us or
is doing for us during the difficulties that
we struggle through in this life. And of course,
this whole idea of perseverance recurs again.
We're gonna see it over and over and over again
as we study through the Bible. God's people are
a persevering people. In spite of the difficulties,
we continue on. We press on, as Paul writes in
Philippians. Just the thought of those words
pressing on give us this indication that the
Christian life is not an easy life. Yes, it is
a life of rest, but we press on. We strive, as
Neil shared last week, to enter that rest. We
work towards the things that God has called us
to do. And so we need the help of our perfect
priest, Jesus Christ, every step of the way.
And of course, that's what the writer of Hebrews
says we have. We have a great high priest. And
he describes him in these words, who has passed
through the heavens, Jesus, just in case you're
wondering, the son of God. And he says, therefore,
let us hold fast our confession. So there's the
word of encouragement, the exhortation, all right.
He is exhorting us. to persevere, to continue
along in what we have embraced, the truth that
we have come to know, those things that we have
come to believe about Jesus and the life that
we are now living in light of those things that
we have come to believe about Jesus. Let us hold
fast to our confession. And again, the... The
description of Jesus here is a wonderfully encouraging
thing. He describes him as the one who has passed
through the heavens. And what's being talked
about here, what he's talking about here is that
Jesus has gone before us, all right? He has pioneered
the way for us. Jesus has lived. the life that
God called him to live. And he has taken his
seat at the right hand of the Father on high.
He has been exalted and glorified. And what the
right of Hebrews is reminding us is that as we
do the same thing, we have this great hope, this
confident expectation that what we have seen
in Jesus, we will experience ourselves. We're
gonna get there. Tyler said to sign up. If you
want to volunteer in VBS, he said this, he said,
now you might not get where you want to go. That
only works in VBS, all right? You might not get
where you want to go. But when it comes to the
Christian life, let me tell you, if you've trusted
Christ, if you are a believer, you're gonna get
where you want to go. Because Jesus is gonna
make sure of it. He's already there. He is our
forerunner. There's a word that we're gonna see
this word a little bit later in our study of
Hebrews in chapter six, verses 19 and 20. This
word is used. And so that's what's being talked
about here. Jesus is our forerunner. He has gone
on before us. He was raised from the dead. He
was exalted to the right hand of the Father.
He completed the work that God had sent him to
do and he entered. into the presence of God where
the Bible says he lives forever to be our intercession.
So that life that he now enjoys at the right
hand of the Father is never going to end. He'll
never face death again. And so he is there as
the one who is our way, our access to the Father,
assuring us that if we will persevere, we will
find our place one day. in the presence of God
forever and ever. Of course I said the idea is
expanded in Hebrews chapter six verses 19 and
20. We read these words. He says, we have this
as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. We've
already talked about the nautical language that's
used in Hebrews. Perhaps the writer of Hebrews
was a sailor. He uses a lot of nautical language.
So we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor
of the soul. a hope that enters into the inner
place behind the curtain. Again, speaking of
Jesus, passing through the heavens, entering
into the presence of God, and then it clarifies,
where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf,
having become a high priest forever. That word
forerunner is an interesting word. Again, another
nautical term. A forerunner was a small, lightweight,
fast, easily maneuverable boat that guided larger
ships into shallow or dangerous harbors and then
helped them set their anchor. So kind of get
that picture in your mind. This forerunner is
a small ship, a small boat that guides a larger
ship. making sure he doesn't run aground, making
sure he doesn't hit any rocks, making sure he
doesn't bottom out, guides him into this dangerous
harbor, this destination, and then helps him
set his anchor there so that he is secure and
safe. That's what Jesus is for us. He's our forerunner.
He's gone before us. He's passed through the
heavens into the presence of God. And again,
as Hebrews 6 says, having become an anchor for
the soul. If you're a believer today, if you're
a Christian, your life is anchored in Christ
at the right hand of the Father. You're gonna
get where you're going. It's an assurance. That's
what this is talking about. We are sure to get
there. So that's the first thing that's pictured
for us here, is this certainty that even though
life may present difficulties, suffering, sacrifice,
ultimately, we're gonna wind up right where Jesus
is. in the presence of God forever and ever.
Also pictured in these words is the annual sacrifice
on the day of atonement that was made year after
year by the high priest of Israel. Again, that
was the one day that a human being could enter
into the Holy of Holies. And only one human being
could do that. He was the high priest in that
year. And of course we know that he would enter
the temple. or the tabernacle, he would pass
through the door of the outer court, then through
another door into the holy place, then through
a curtain or a veil into the holy of holies.
Of course, this human high priest would only
stay there in the holy of holies as long as it
took him to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice
on the mercy seed, and then he would get out
of there. And again, then the whole process would
be repeated the next year, and the year after
that, and the year after that. Now Jesus, our
great high priest, who is the son of God, not
just any human being, but the son of God, he
of course offered his sacrifice on the cross,
right? Where he laid down his life for the sins
of his people. Three days later, as we know,
he rose from the dead, later ascended. through
the heavens. That's what that word is talking
about there. Neil shared with us last week what
that word, new heavens and earth means. It's
speaking of the earth's atmosphere and space.
It's all gonna be resurrected. Jesus has passed
through those heavens to the place where God
dwells. He will never have to make that sacrifice
again. He did it once and for all. And he will
forever enjoy the glory of God's presence. And
again, If we are in him, this is what we have
to look forward to. His eternal presence there
at the right hand of the Father ensures our eternal
presence there with him. So that's what we're
learning here about this perfect high priest.
He is our forerunner. He's going on before us
to ensure that just as he is there in the presence
of God, one day we too will be there. in the
presence of God. And then of course, he talks
about this confession, holding fast our confession.
Again, that's a word we've seen before. It speaks
of our faith, the things that we have come to
believe. Throughout history, Christians have
written confessions of faith, basically an outline
or a summary or perhaps an extended version of
the things that we believe. It is called a confession.
This is our confession. So our confession that
we are being exhorted to hold fast to speaks
of the truths that we have believed. And now
we verbally affirm these truths and we live by
them. And again, those two things go hand in
hand. We verbally affirm the truths of scripture
and we live by them. That's what true biblical
belief is. Not just accepting that certain things
are true, but living in light of those things
because they are true, all right? And again,
throughout history, Christians have done this.
They have written their creeds and their confessions.
As a matter of fact, that word creed comes from
the Latin word credo, and it means I believe.
That's what the word means, I believe. And so
we are to hold fast. In light of our perfect
priest Jesus who has passed through the heavens
and now forever in the right, at the right hand
of God, in the presence of God forever, hold
fast to those things that you believe. Cling
to the truth that you have professed and are
now living by. And of course we have good reason.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Neil talked about
the fact that it's really a reasonable thing
to do. in light of who God is and who Christ
Jesus is and what they have done for us. And
he says this in verse 15. He says, for we do
not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with us in our weaknesses. Isn't it good to know
that Jesus, our perfect priest, sympathizes with
us in our weaknesses? You know, we need to remember
that. This is a great verse for you to memorize
because every day you're gonna be faced with...
Well, your own faults and failures, right? And
it's easy for us to believe that, oh gosh, I've
disappointed my Lord. I've angered my Lord. He's
seen what I've done and he's not happy with me.
But this verse reminds us, he's able to sympathize
with our weaknesses. And why? Because he is one
who in every respect has been tempted as we are,
yet without sin. So there's our motivation. Why
is it that we should persevere in the truth that
we have embraced and the work that God has given
us to do? Well, it's because again, Jesus has
done that. We've seen that in him. He is our
great forerunner who has gone before us. And
because he has, he is a priest who is able, not
unable, but able to sympathize with us in our
weaknesses. It ought to be a great motivation
in our day -to -day life. In every situation
that you face as a Christian, no matter how difficult
it may be, Jesus, according to Paul in Ephesians
3 .20, is able to do far more abundantly than
all we ask or think. So Jesus is able to help
us to provide for us during the difficulties
and he does it in a way that far exceeds anything
we might even ask of him or even think. in every
situation. Verse 15, really, that we just read
is a restatement of what we read earlier in Hebrews
chapter two, verses 17 and 18. Let me just read
those verses to you. The writer says, therefore
he, referring to Jesus, therefore he had to be
made like his brothers in every respect so that
he might become a merciful and faithful high
priest in the service of God to make propitiation
for the sins of his people for because he himself
has suffered when tempted. He is able to help
those who are being tempted. So that's the motivation
right there. We have a high priest who has suffered
like we are suffering. Therefore, he can sympathize
with us in our sufferings and help us through
our sufferings. So let's talk a little bit about
this sympathy of Jesus, all right? We're being
encouraged as these early Christians were to
persevere through the difficulties of life knowing
that even when we stumble and fall, even when
we fail, even when we do our best and it's not
enough, Jesus sympathizes with us. He sympathizes
with our weaknesses. That word sympathize means
to share in the experience of another, to feel
with another. And again, the idea here is that
God enters into the experience of his people.
what you are going through that we often are
tempted to think, nobody knows what I'm going
through, nobody knows how I feel, nobody's ever
gone through what I'm having to go through, suffered
the way I'm suffering, nobody understands any
of this. Well, you may be right if you're talking
about the human population, although you're probably
not right even there. But certainly when it comes
to God, he understands, that's what we're being
told here. He sympathizes with us in our weakness.
He enters into that experience with us. He feels
our pain. And let me tell you, the thought of
a God who enters into the experience of humankind
and suffers along with them, that thought in
this day and time was revolutionary. Matter of
fact, it's revolutionary today. Most people think
of God as being, if they even believe there is
a God, as being somehow high and removed and,
you know... Just not all that involved in the
day -to -day living of mankind, but not our God.
Our God moves into our experience, suffers with
us, even in our weaknesses. Jesus, of course,
we're reminded here, wasn't just the Son of God.
He wasn't just God. He was man, fully God, and
yet fully man. And therefore he was fully acquainted.
with the struggles of man. Again, one who in
every respect has been tempted as we are. One
who had to be made like his brothers in every
respect so that he might become a merciful and
faithful high priest. Now, both Mark in his gospel
and Luke, tell us that Jesus was tempted by the
devil for 40 days. We all talk about that. What
does it mean that Jesus has been tempted like
we are? In every respect, he says, just like
we are. Well, during those days especially, but
throughout the entirety of his life, Jesus experienced
every kind of testing and temptation. Again,
he was a man. He was fully human. And as such,
he experienced what we experience as we face
life. living that life in obedience to God and
the difficulties that come with that. So Jesus,
as much as we might like to think to the contrary,
Jesus experienced disappointment. He experienced
grief. He experienced frustration. He experienced
loneliness. He was hated. He was rejected. He
was unjustly condemned to death and crucified.
Yet, throughout his life, In all of those various
situations, he resisted the temptation to let
those adversities stop him from completing the
work that his father had given him to do. And
let me just say this, when we talk about Jesus
resisting temptation, we think to ourselves,
see we go, oh yeah, but he's God. So couldn't
have been as bad for him as it is for me. He
was God. Well, let me just put it to you this
way. Jesus resisted temptation to a much farther
extent than you and I have ever resisted temptation.
I mean, I don't know about you. Often we resist
temptation for a little while and then we give
in, right? And we pat ourselves on the back.
Well, at least I held out a few hours. Jesus
resisted temptation completely. Again, he was
without sin. He never gave in to temptation.
So Jesus has resisted temptation far more than
you or I can ever imagine. As a matter of fact,
again, the writer of Hebrews in chapter 12 says
something about that. He says, in your struggle
against sin, you have not resisted to the point
of shedding your blood, but Jesus did. So Jesus
has experienced temptation, just as we have experienced
temptation. So here's what. The writer is simply
saying, do you need someone who understands your
struggles and sympathizes with your human limitations
and inabilities? You need Jesus, because he's
the one who does. He's the one who understands.
He's the one who sympathizes. You need Jesus.
No matter what the difficulty is you're facing,
you need... Jesus, and why is it Jesus that can
do something for you? Well, it's because of those
next few words. Yeah, he was tempted in every
respect as we, yet without sin. So yes, he's
a high priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses,
but he's also a high priest who is sinless. This
is another doctrine that we need to cling to,
that we need to hold fast to, the sinlessness
of Jesus. The theological big word for this doctrine
is the sinlessness of Jesus. Jesus never committed
sin. And therefore, he is able to do exceedingly
and abundantly above all we ask or even imagine.
So notice, Jesus faced every type of temptation
and test that you and I will face yet without
sin. So very important that we get that. because
his sinlessness is essential to our salvation.
Because he was sinless, he was able to sacrifice
himself on the cross, to die in our place, to
pay the price for our sin. Again, human high
priests could enter the Holy of Holies and make
that annual sacrifice for the sins of the people
every year. But before they did that, Before
they passed through those doors and then through
the veil of the curtain into the Holy of Holies,
you know what they had to do? They had to offer
a sacrifice for their own sins. Because they
were just human beings, sinful, like those they
were offering atonement for on the day of atonement.
And then even after all of that, a human high
priest couldn't really atone for anyone's sin,
not even his own. That's why it had to be repeated
year after year after year. But Jesus. different.
He was the sinless one, the perfect sacrifice.
That lamb without spot or blemish, all of those
lambs that were sacrificed on the altar were
just a picture of this one who would truly be
spotless, without blemish, sinless. They all
pointed to the reality of Jesus Christ. I mean
what John the Baptist said that day, And that
is still true today. Jesus is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world. And really
what John meant is that that's the one. That's
the one and only, Jesus. He's the Lamb of God,
the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the
world. There is no other that can do what he
can do. Again, that's why he's able to save us
to the uttermost completely, forever. our perfect,
sinless, high priest, Jesus. I love the way John
says this or expresses this same truth in 1 John
1 .5. He says, this is the message that we have
heard from him, from God, and proclaim to you
that God is light and in him is no darkness at
all. Again, this doctrine of the sinlessness
of Christ, the sinlessness. of God. God is light.
Again, we could say, well, there's another description
of his omniscience. He knows everything. And
in him is no darkness at all. In English, if
you were to write this sentence in English, in
an English class in school, your teacher would
turn it back to you with big red letters on it
saying that you used a double negative. God is
light and in him, is no darkness at all. There
is no none darkness in God. But again, in the
Bible, it's just an emphasis on the sinlessness
of God. The purity of God in him is no darkness
at all. And aren't we glad only a sinless savior
could provide the salvation that you and I enjoy
today. And so now, in light of that, this last
verse, let us then, There's the invitation. Let
us then with confidence draw near the throne
of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. Our human tendency is
that when we have messed up, when we failed,
we don't run to God. We run away from God, right?
We're ashamed, we're embarrassed. We failed,
we knew better. We knew we shouldn't have done
that. We did it anyway. Or we knew we should
have done it and we didn't do it. But the scriptures
are saying, look, you're gonna suffer because
of your weaknesses, but you've got a high priest,
a perfect high priest who understands, he sympathizes
with your weaknesses. He knows what it's like
to be a human, he is one. So he's full of sympathy.
And we can go to him, don't run from him, draw
near to him in these moments of struggle and
failure. Let us then, with confidence, draw near
the throne of grace that we may receive mercy
and find grace in time of help. Since Jesus is
our great high priest who has passed through
the heavens, he has taken his seat at the right
hand of the father, where the Bible says he lives
forever to make intercession for us. Since he
is not only a great high priest, but he's one
who is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses,
although he himself is without sin, draw near
to him. In light of that truth, draw near to
Him. So it's talking about drawing near to God
in prayer. Where should we go when we are struggling?
We should go to God in prayer. And by the way,
what this is talking about here, drawing near
to God's throne, His throne of grace, drawing
near to Him in prayer. First of all, we should
continually come to God in prayer. And I'm just
gonna ask this question because it's a question
that I've struggled with in my life, and every
time I talk about prayer or hear a message about
prayer, I struggle with it again. How's your
prayer life? Are you drawing near the throne
of grace continually? I mean, that's what the
Bible tells us to do, right? 1 Thessalonians
5 .17, pray without ceasing. There's a verse
you can memorize. Pray without ceasing. We have
this wonderful privilege of prayer we should
continually be drawing near, consistently drawing
near to God in prayer. We have this resource,
we should avail ourselves of it. And then not
only continually coming to God in prayer, but
when we come to God in prayer, he says we can
come confidently. Let us with confidence draw
near the throne of grace. We don't have to come
hesitantly. We don't have to come wondering what
kind of reception we're going to get God has
said come to me Cast your cares upon me. I care
for you. He has offered this wonderful invitation
and that that word confidence speaks of Boldness
in speech we can not only come to God confidently
that we're going to be welcomed received But
we can come to him and say what we need to say
to him listen God can take it Tell him what's
on your heart. Tell him what's going on in your
life. And by the way, you know we never really
make God aware of anything, right? Scripture
teaches us God knows what we need before we ever
open our mouths to pray. But isn't it wonderful
that there's someone that we can come to and
say, I got something I need to tell you. I need
to get this off my chest. And it's someone that's
gonna sympathize with us, not. condemn us, not
look down his nose at us. That's the God that
we are invited to come to with confidence. Boldness
in speech, we can anticipate that God is approachable
and not just approachable, he approves of our
coming. He doesn't just tolerate our coming to
him, these poor miserable humans. He wants us
to come, he delights. Just like as a parent or
a grandparent, you delight in your children coming
to you, right? He delights in our coming and
he wants us to come to ask him for the help that
we need. He knows we need help. Scripture says,
he knows we're just dust, right? So we come to
him for help and we find... a welcome place,
he welcomes us, and he welcomes us to speak to
him with bold frankness as we pour out our hearts
to him. And notice that this throne that we come
to, I love this, and we all know, it's a throne
of grace. God's throne is called a throne of
grace. I mean, if you were asked to describe
God's throne, well, you might say, well, it's
a throne of justice. And you'd be right, it is.
But here it's described as a. We find grace when
we come to the throne of God for help. So we
can come to him in full expectation that we will
be met with favor, that our request will be met
with favor, that God's going to answer us in
a way that is best for us. That's what we can
count on when we come to him in prayer. God doesn't
always give us what we ask for, right? But he
gives us what we need. Again, what have we said
over the years? He gives us what we would ask
for if we knew better. So God welcomes us to
come before him and to boldly, with frank honesty,
share our struggles and our needs. And then what
does he do for us when we do that? Let us draw
near with confidence to the throne of grace,
and then look what it says. that we may receive
mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
God provides, God meets us at our need. What
can you and I expect from God when we draw near
to him in confidence and prayer? Well, first
and foremost, we can expect him to hear and to
respond, right? God hears your prayers. And he
responds to your prayers. I love, and I've quoted
this verse so many times, Psalms 116, verses
one and two. Psalmist writes, I love the Lord
because he has heard my voice and my pleas for
mercy. He's heard me. I love the Lord because
he has heard me. Listen, God hears when you pray.
And then he continues in verse two. because he
has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will
call upon him as long as I live." Those words,
inclined his ear, speak of God moving in response
to the cries. He hears us and then he moves in
response to our pleas for help. Let me tell you,
church, I need help every day to do what God
has called me to do. You need help every day.
to do what God has called you to do. And that
help is available at the throne of grace where
God hears and responds to his people. And how
does he respond? Well, you go there to that throne
of grace that you might receive mercy. Now, typically
we think of needing mercy when we've done something
wrong, right? We've failed. There are times when
we go before the throne of grace because... I
blew it, Lord, I blew it, I blew it again. I
told you I'd never be back here and here I am.
And what do we find when we go to God with a
prayer like that? Mercy. Mercy, that word mercy
speaks of God tempering his justice. Is his throne
a throne of justice? Absolutely, God is just.
But he's also merciful. He tempers his justice.
He withholds from us in mercy what we truly deserve.
Aren't you glad for the mercy of God? You and
I aren't gonna get what we deserve. Oh no, he
withholds from us what we deserve in his mercy.
So when we go to the Lord to confess our sins,
to ask him for strength with our failures and
addictions, we find. Mercy, we find tender compassion.
That's what that word speaks of. God withholds
from us what we deserve for those failures. And
in its place, we find grace to help in time of
need. God gives us, in mercy, he withholds what
we deserve. And in grace, God gives us what we
don't deserve. I mean, when you go to the Lord,
in prayer to the throne of grace, you're gonna
find help, you're gonna find compassion, you're
gonna find love, you're gonna be met with favor.
So this idea of finding grace is that God will
give you the strength and the wisdom that you
need, again, that you don't deserve, but that
you need for your present and future difficulties.
I tell you, if there's one prayer that I have
repeated over the years of my ministry, it's
the prayer for wisdom. Wisdom. Help me to be
wise in the things that I do and the way that
I minister to people in the sermons that I preach.
Help me to be wise, Father. We need the wisdom
of God. And of course, the scripture tells us
here we will find that grace that will help us.
Grace, we often refer to grace as the unmerited
favor of God, the undeserved favor of God, and
indeed it is. But this favor of God is a strength
to us. Grace is a strength. God's grace gives
us the strength to do what God has called us
to do, to resist temptation and to do the work
that God has prepared for us to do. So we go,
we receive mercy, we find grace. to help in time
of need. When we go to the Lord in prayer, you
can expect to get the help that you need. And
in time of need, that expression means at just
the right time. At just the moment that you need
some resource, God's gonna provide it for you.
It's gonna be there. It's not gonna be late.
God's gonna give you that help in a time of need.
Again, God will graciously provide the resources
that we lack at just the right moment that we
need them. Again, James 1 .5 talking about wisdom.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God
who gives generously to all without reproach
and it will be given to him. And it's not just
wisdom that this works with. Whatever it is you
need. You need to be more kind. You need to be
more understanding. You need to be more patient.
You need to be more loving. Go to the Lord and
ask. You'll find mercy and grace to help you
in your time of need. So the question I'll leave
you with this morning is this. What is it that
you're struggling with this morning? What difficulty
do you face? Whatever it is. Let me assure you,
God knows. And not only does He know, He cares.
And He will provide you with the resources you
need to persevere through this difficulty if
you will go to Him in prayer, confidently, sharing
your heart with Him and expecting mercy, grace,
and help. God sympathizes with you. That's what
this says. Our perfect priest sympathizes with
us and then in turn supplies us with every resource
that we need to faithfully follow him, regardless
of how difficult that road may be. I think Neil
quoted this verse last week. I'm gonna say it
again today. Jesus said, come to me. Come to
me. Draw near to me. All who labor and are heavy
laden. and I will give you rest. You want rest
this morning? You'll find it in Christ.