Let us come boldly
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
[In the Old Testament, believers looked to the Tabernacle….toward the mercy seat upon the Ark in the Holy of Holies…for there was where the blood of the sacrifice for atonement was poured forth.
They could not go any further than the outer court….but could look toward it from there….to receive mercy (God’s kindness to sinners, Exodus 25:22).
After Christ’s death and resurrection, believers are bidden to come boldly to the Throne of grace….right before our Father God’s throne in prayer….
….to obtain that mercy from God we need….(we all need mercy…for we are all sinners: saved sinners and lost sinners.)
…. and to find that grace (power in our lives to do God’s Will) to help us in the time of need.]
Christianity is an ideology……an ideology is a body of ideas reflecting the needs and aspirations of an individual, or group….
…..and to many, it is nothing more than that….for they have never been Born again.
It takes the element of faith to make these things real.
The Way of the fullness of the Spirit and His gifts, is….to have His Kingdom come within us….
Matthew 6:10 “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”
God cannot be honored by us….until we voluntarily submit to His rule over us.
We cannot be an expression of His kingdom, while rejecting His reign over us,….practically.
(I once asked the difference between subjection and submission….and for most, it seemed, there was none. And it is true, they both end in the same way….us bowing before God…..and doing His Will.
But subjection is the where God has had the victory over me. When it happened to me….I had come to the place where God could do what He wanted with me….I was no longer going to do what I wanted.
Submission, on the other hand, is my will yielding to Christ….going along in the Spirit…more like hand in hand.)
Hebrews 4:1 “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.”
Every promise in the Word, and every promise given to us personally is nothing until entered into by faith.
God may have given you this, and this, and that….but until you have the reality of these things…..they are only promises, still.
“Let us therefore fear”…..or be alarmed. We need to hear the alarm sounding from God and His Word….about HIs promises to us. Wake up, get up, and get these.
Who does not remember the heroes of the Bible who claimed God’s Word….and got what they needed.
Jacob….God’s promise of staying with him and bringing him back to the land Genesis 28:15
Elijah….who prayed for no rain according to scripture…got what he prayed for. James 5:17, Duet. 11:16-17
Daniel….who knew of the promise to return the Israelites after seventy years…praying for it. Daniel 9:2-3
Peter, who by the Lord’s word walked on water…though he feared when he got his eyes off of Jesus. Matthew14:29
Paul who heard from the Lord that there was much people in this city….and this was about Corinth….a very wicked city…Acts 18:9-11
And what of us….how many promises have been given to us…..are we entered into “rest” concerning them.
First, when we receive a promise, the Spirit gives us hope (that confident expectation that God will do what He says)…and we believe.
(But if we stop there, we come short of real rest.)
Then there is the rest is of possession….like the Israelites getting their land….they went in and by God’s enabling….took it.
So must we, reach forth to grasp it…otherwise we seem to “come short of it”.
We must find out how we can get it…..some by prayer, some by obedience….some by both…we get what God promises.
Hebrews 4:9, 11 “There remaineth, therefore a rest to the people of God.
Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.”
Let us labor….”labor” here means to give earnest diligence to move forward.
We are not to look back….but when God gives us a promise we are to move forward toward it.
We are to cross what lies between….whether, as the Israelites…the Red Sea, or the wilderness,….we are to keep moving forward with God toward the promise…..till we get it.
And so the writer points to Christ, before the Throne of God for us…
Hebrews 4:14-15 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
And then he tells us….not to stay afar off….but “come boldly to the throne of grace”….telling all to Christ….
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
In our Christian life, there are many “times of need”….yet the throne of grace is open to us….to come…..to come boldly…to get what we need.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 