Tidings for Tuesday
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
A dear old preacher named David Pethrick used to pass on bits of wisdom to those of us who were young in the faith, and his bits of wisdom were well worth noting. One that I remember well and that comes to mind with today’s text is the following: ‘whenever you see the word ‘therefore’ in the Bible, make sure you stop and see what it is there for’. Our text contains the word ‘therefore’. What is it there for? It links our text with the previous several verses in this chapter. Our verse is about coming to the throne of grace, which is a lovely euphemism for prayer. The previous verses are about our Great High Priest, the One Who is waiting at our side as we approach our Father in Heaven. He pleads our case as we bring our prayers. Because we have no worth or merit of our own, He confers on us His own worth and merit, and His Father gladly hears our prayers. That is why undeserving sinners are able to come boldly to the throne of grace. All that we find at the throne is based on how delighted the Father is in His Son.
One of the greatest fallacies of the so-called prosperity gospel is its teaching that we deserve wealth and blessings from God. They certainly don’t find that in the Bible. What we do find is the mercy of God toward poor and guilty sinners who deserve nothing but judgment. That mercy has cleared away the curse and guilt of our sin. When we read in Proverbs 13:15 that the way of the transgressor is hard, we read of our unconverted days. We understand that the mercy we received at Salvation’s day rescued us from the flames of hell, and the mercy we receive daily at the throne of grace rescues us from the hardness of sinfulness that robs the poor lost souls around us of joy and hope. No wonder that Ethan the Ezrahite delightfully declares ‘I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever; with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations’ (Psalm 89:1).
If the throne of grace provides us with the mercy of deliverance from the sorrows and hopelessness of sin, how much more does it provide us with grace to help in time of need? Grace, as we know, is receiving good that we do not deserve. And although we don’t deserve it, God delights to provide us with good. Because the Lord Jesus bore our griefs and sorrows (Isaiah 53:4), the throne of grace gives us access to joy and comfort. If mercy delivers us from all that is bad, grace opens up to us all that is good. The throne of grace offers us the comfort of the loving presence of our Lord. It also offers us the strength and encouragement to bear the bumps and curves of the road that we travel through time. It also gives to us the joyful assurance of the mansions that await us beyond this vale of tears. At the throne of grace, we find all the help we can use for all the needs that can ever come along.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, because our Saviour awaits us there. – Jim MacIntosh