Blessed be God, neither the faults of the prayer nor yet of the suppliant shall shut out our petitions from the God who delights in broken and contrite hearts. 1986), Maclaren - The word (parrhesia) literally means speaking everything. In prayer we stand where angels bow with veiled faces; there, even there, the cherubim and seraphim adore, before that selfsame throne to which our prayers ascend. 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Grace sits not on the footstool of God; grace stands not in the courts of God, but it sits on the throne; it is the regnant attribute; it is the king to-day. Zondervan), One needs to distinguish between grace and mercy. “Under the sun” thinking puts primary stress on our sin without considering the redemptive power of our heavenly high priest. So, even at the throne of grace… no help can be expected where there is no cry, and where there is no cry there is no felt necessity; for he that feels he is perishing will cry aloud for help, and to such a cry the compassionate High Priest will run (cp He 2:18-note); and the time of need is the time in which God will show mercy; nor will he ever delay it when it is necessary. That we’re beyond His love and grace. TO MY BELOVED CHURCH AND FRIENDS IN GENERAL - Beloved in the Lord, having felt it to be my duty to leave England for a short time to prevent a return of my former complaint, I am bound gratefully to acknowledge the good hand of the Lord upon me during my sojourn abroad. But it is not a throne of justice I say again, and here is the hope for our lame, limping supplications. But, brethren, in the fourth place, if it be a throne, it ought to be approached with enlarged expectations. Oh to live in touch with Christ! And Micah said to a Levite, who happened to pass by: "Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest." It is a throne, because God is a Sovereign. IV. But blessed be God, there is, for such a "time of need," a gracious promise--"And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. Hebrews 4:16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (NASB: Lockman). I have learned to be very frank with Him. Thank God for an errand to Him. Reprinted by permission. Let me tell you for your encouragement, God has His secret audience-chamber, where He will meet you alone, and where no eye shall see you, and no ear shall hear you, but His; where you may open all your heart, and disclose your real case, and pour all your secrets into His ear. I must speak with words choice and picked here, and I must hesitate and pause to get the right sentences, lest I err while endeavouring to speak the truth in plainness. To that throne we do not come now, for through Jesus the case is changed. Hebrews 11:6 (note) - And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Grace can transform any and every trial into triumph and every sorrow into joy. The King from off such a throne will not say, “Thou must bring to Me gifts, thou must offer to Me sacrifices.” It is not a throne for receiving tribute; it is a throne for dispensing gifts. Hebrews 4-6 New King James Version (NKJV) The Promise of Rest. We have a high priest who can relate to our weaknesses and has overcome all our temptations. Rather, we are encouraged to come to Him and to keep on coming to His throne, without fear or doubt. As prayer will not be truly prayer without the Spirit of God, so it will not be prevailing prayer without the Son of God. The promise calls us near, then he has need to pray, "Lord, allow me not to forget You." Only God can fill the emptiness of an aching heart. This exhortation serves to undergird the fact that the New Covenant is far superior to the Old Covenant. How different is the speech of believers, who are bondservants of Christ, servants of the Most High God, and yet with all the privileges of a son or daughter of God, so that they can openly speak endearments such as "Abba"! The River of Thy Grace See how sorrow quickens the importunity of prayer! How comes it to be so exalted? There is no creature in heaven above or the earth beneath that is hidden from His penetrating gaze. You and I, the people of God, have a permit, a passport to come before the throne of heaven at any time we will, and we are encouraged to come there with great boldness; but still let us not forget that it is no mean thing to be a courtier in the courts of heaven and earth, to worship him who made us and sustains us in being. ‘That we may obtain mercy,’ says the writer, ‘and find grace to help in time of need.’ It is noteworthy, I think, to consider that the writer here is evidently thinking, not about a communion with God which is not prayer, but a communion with God which, on our side, is the lifting up of an empty hand, and on His side the bestowing a large, full gift. Shall not my thankfulness ascend into joy, and shall I not feel that I am honoured, that I am made the recipient of great favours when I am permitted to pray? And if there should be grave defects in our spirit even, and failures in the fervency or in the humility of the prayer, still, though these should not be there and are much to be deplored; grace overlooks all this, forgives all this, and still its merciful hand is stretched out to enrich us according to our needs. Let’s take a close look at this precious verse. It secures, in every time of need, the help of Him who is all-mighty--the guidance of Him who cannot err--the protection of Him who rules in heaven and on earth--the love and sympathy of Him, who "spared not His own Son but gave Him up unto death for us all," and who, with Him, will also "freely give us all things.". If he had been a friend, his entrance would’ve been just plain obnoxious. I hope to return in a brief season, so strengthened as to continue to labour on for a considerable period without another pause. Only Christianity provides such boldness by sinful men before a holy God, and that boldness is only possible because of our great High Priest, Jesus Christ. When we least deserve grace is when God gives it to the maximum. 1986. Seek Him and wait on Him and love Him. Why stand afar off? By grace through faith in His death, burial, and Resurrection… Christ, the Lamb of God and great, High Priest of heaven, has flung wide the golden door into the Holiest of all - to all who believe on His name. The second exhortation helps us to answer, ‘Let us hold fast our profession,’ which being translated into other words, is this: our true way of labour is to cling in faith to Him whom we acknowledge; but knowing the weakness of our own hearts, and how they waywardly fluctuate and pass away from the one confidence and happiest trust, it is with profound wisdom that the ultimate injunction is held out for the foundation of all — ‘Let us come to the throne of grace.’ There we get the strength that will enable our slack and benumbed fingers to grasp again the thing we hold. 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. Even the servant, if he knows that he has committed no offense, retains this freedom of speech toward his master (Heir 6); “Famous people grant the humble free speech” (Spec. When we speak of its throne, we mean that it has unlimited might. (Spurgeon - Treasury of David), Psalm 60:11 O give us help (Heb = 'ezra) against the adversary, for deliverance by man is in vain. What peace of mind. Moreover, it is clear from the connection of our text, that the interposition of the Lord Jesus Christ is essential to acceptable prayer. Its dominant idea is boldness, confidence, as opposed to fear, ambiguity, or reserve. If the poor, the penniless, the disconsolate, the guilty are welcome here- if this throne is crowded by such, why make yourself an exception? If you could, I confess that I could not. Oh, then, whatever be your need, come "with boldness" to the Throne of grace--not the boldness which would attempt to dictate to God--not the boldness which would prescribe to Him who "knows what things we have need of before we ask Him"--but the boldness of a loving, trustful child who confides in a Father's tenderness--who is conscious of a Father's love, and who is ready to unburden itself of all its cares, and griefs, and anxieties, assured that He will "withhold no good thing." To Thee, O Lord, to Thee, Select Page. Familiarity there may be, but let it not be unhallowed. "My God! The Latin misericordia (miser “wretched,” cor “the heart”) carries the same idea. He is God, the One who is high and lifted up. –Anon. Help to suffer, to be still, to wait, to overcome, to make green one tiny spot of garden ground in God's great tillage. They call themselves kings by right divine, but what divine right have they? 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