Praying Before The Throne Iii

PRAYING BEFORE THE THRONE III

HEBREWS 4:16

This past week I had an opportunity to substitute for XXXXX who is a 4th grade teacher at Milford. One thing you learn real quick when you substitute teach is that the kids will test you. Then will find out just how far you will go. They like to test you to see how gullible you are. “Mr. XXXXX always lets us have an extra hour recess when it’s the forth Wednesday of the month.” “Mr. XXXXX always let’s us compare answers on the spelling test to make corrections before turning in our papers.” It never ceases to amaze me some of the things these kids will tell that there teacher allows. I think when you wear that name tag that they make you wear that says substitute many children misread it to read “stupid”. But there is always that little girl, (in my experience it has never been a boy), who is always on your side. She will raise her hand and “Mr. XXXX doesn’t let us to that, or whatever.” Much to the great annoyance to the rest of the class. (That little girl by the way was my wife when she was in school).

The reason I bring that up is that I began to realize that these children have come to realize that from a substitute they will get grace, from the regular teacher then are going to get justice. When they go to the regular teacher they go to the desk of law. They know what the requirements are to receive what it is they are asking for. However when they go to the substitute they go to the desk of grace. Because they know that they well receive things they really do not deserve.

Know while the desk of grace in the Milford 4th grade class is grace based on ignorance, the throne of grace that we are called before, the throne of God, is grace based on undeserved love, undeserved love that the Father has for us.

Please turn with me to our passage today, which is Heb 4:16, that is on page 1037 in your pew Bibles. This will be the last of the three messages that we have heard on this verse. Heb. 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

As I have stated before this is one of my favorite passages in Scripture. It is one of my favorites because of the fact it commands me to come to the throne of God. It commands me to come boldly to the throne of Grace and mercy that I might obtain mercy and find grace in my time of need.

Let me ask you this, is there ever time when we are not in need of God’s mercy and grace? I know for me I am in need of my Savior’s grace and mercy every second of every day of my life. I praise God that I have been the call to go to my Lord and King’s throne constantly to obtain such a wonderful gift of grace and mercy.

In our past sermons we talked of how we are called to a throne. We are called to the throne in which the hosts of heaven stand before praising God night and day. It is a throne because on that throne sits royalty, on that throne sits the King of kings and Lord of lords.

We are told in God’s Word to approach that throne boldly yet with humility, we are to approach it respectfully, we are to approach it with a sense of overwhelming joy and confidence. We are to approach it with sincerity.

Last week we focused on the fact that it was a throne of grace. Not a throne of law or works but a throne of grace. Because it is a throne of grace, a throne by which our petitions are sprinkled with the blood of the lamb of God, we need not worry that our prayers may be faulty prayers. We need to worry that we cannot pray with eloquent words, or that sin may enter in to our prayers. Our prayers our washed in the blood at that the throne of Grace.

Because it is a throne of grace we need to worry about our own faults. Because when we approach the throne of Grace and mercy through the blood of Christ we too are washed, we to our looked at as being holy and righteous. Not because we are in and of ourselves holy and righteous, but because we have imputed upon the holiness and righteousness of Jesus Christ. You see it is by our Lord Jesus and by Him alone that we can even approach this wonderful throne on whom sits the King of heaven and earth.