Come To the Throne - Part 2 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder Lacerre Bradley, Jr. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise! Thou the resolve by God and King, thou triumphs of his grace!

This is Lacerre Bradley, Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. A throne of grace, then let us go, and offer up our prayer. A gracious God, will mercy show to all that worship there. A throne of grace, O at that throne, armies have often met. And God has showered his blessings down as often as we went. A throne of grace, rejoice, she states, that throne is open still.

To God a moose, hum your complaints, and then inquire his will. A throne of grace we yet shall meet, long as we draw our breath. A savior too, to winter's sea, till we are changed by death. The throne of glory then shall blow with peace from Jesus' face. And we no longer what shall know, nor need a throne of grace. It's important that we hear from our listeners and have their support in order to continue on all these stations.

So when you write us and send your support, mention the station over which you received the broadcast. Our address is Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. We continue the message today entitled, Come to the Throne, and the text is Hebrews chapter 4 verse 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. What a privilege that we as weak fallen sinners can come to the throne of God. And it's not the bar of justice, it's the throne of grace.

And so we continue exploring the wonderful truths contained in this marvelous promise. Oh, it's sad how many are in the darkness and have no realization of their need of mercy. I talk to people who will say, I'm doing the best I can, or I feel like I'll be all right. I think of a lady who was in a class I was teaching one day and she says, yes, everything's good in my life. I keep sinning, but God just keeps forgiving me.

There wasn't any thought of repentance. No thought that I've done wrong. I've got to acknowledge it. And by the grace of God, I need to change.

She just had a nice setup. Just keep sinning and God keeps forgiving. Well, the fact is, when we sin, we need mercy. And we need mercy in the salvation of our soul and we need mercy in every detail of our life. We know that his mercy is abundant. Psalm 86, verse three, be merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto thee daily. Verse five, for thy Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy upon all them that call upon him.

Isn't that good to know? God is merciful and he's plenteous in mercy. You might say, Lord, I've had so much mercy already. I feel reluctant to come. I'm reluctant to ask for any more mercy.

I need to come. And he says, come boldly to the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy. So you want to say, Lord, I thank you for the mercy I've already received, but I've come back for more.

I need it every day and I know that your supply is plenteous and I'm looking for your mercy. Verse 12 says, I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart and I will glorify thy name forevermore. For great is thy mercy toward me and thou delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

Very few in this day and time have any understanding or recognition of what it would mean to be delivered from the lowest hell. Somebody told me about a sign by an interstate in the state of Florida that says, God is not mad. Well, the fact is, God says he is. That he's angry with the wicked every day.

So if somebody is under the impression God is never angry, God is only a God of love, they are misinformed. So we need mercy. We need mercy to deliver us from the fires of hell itself. Jesus had more to say about hell than he did about heaven. That's a subject that's so carefully avoided many times, it's not a pleasant one to think about. That there will be that day, that great multitude to be cast into the fires of hell to suffer the wrath of God forever.

That's really beyond our ability to comprehend, but what part we can't understand is dreadful to consider. And so, by his mercy the psalmist says, I have been delivered from the lowest hell. Verse 15, But thou, O Lord, art full of compassion and gracious longsuffering and plenteous in mercy and truth. Plenty of mercy. You've used up a lot, but there's still more.

There's plenty, so you can keep coming back to the throne. There are other qualities of his mercy described in scripture. Psalm 106, verse 1, Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Sometimes when we have difficulties in human relationships, somebody might be merciful on one occasion and then their mercy runs out.

And they're not gracious any longer, but God's mercy endures forever. Psalm 57, verse 9 says, I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people. I will sing unto thee among the nations, for thy mercy is great unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds. That engineer is bound to get his whistle on my radio broadcast.

He tries so often to sound it at a certain time, but we'll cut that out when we get ready to go on here. So, he says this mercy goes unto the clouds, so you try to think about the abundance of God's mercy. I'm coming to find mercy, and this mercy is plenteous and is described going from this earth all the way to the clouds.

That's a lot of mercy. And so, God's mercy is abundant. And then, Lamentations, chapter 3, verse 21 says, This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassion fails not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.

Isn't that wonderful to know? His mercies are new every morning. So, every morning when you wake up, it might have been a rough night. It might have been one of those you didn't get the rest that you desired, but you can still say his mercies are new every morning. There's something for which to give thanks as we think about his mercy to us. Then it says we come to find grace to help in time of need. Every day is a time of need.

We might think about, well, there's special difficulties along the way, times that I have a special need, but I always think about it, Lord, this is a new day, and so there's need out in front of me, and I come to you for this help. Jesus taught us to pray, give us this day, our daily bread. Psalm 5 verse 3 says, my voice shall thou hear in the morning. O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up.

Certainly the best way to start the morning is looking up, looking up to our God, looking up to him for the help that we need. A new day brings new need for grace, grace to help. Grace to help us to think right, get our minds on the right track, have our minds renewed by the teachings of God's word. Grace not only to think right but to act right, to conduct ourselves in a godly way, to do those things that are pleasing to our Heavenly Father. Grace to serve right. We are servants of the Lord and we ought to be concerned to serve every day and seek opportunities to minister to others, and we need help to pray right.

And thankfully that's already something promised to us. In Romans chapter 8 it says, we often do not have the words to use, we know not what to ask for, but the Holy Spirit enables us and makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And so we need grace to help in time of need and the time, you may say, I just don't know if I even know how to pray.

I just stumble and stammer and I don't know that God would hear me. Well help is already promised. The Holy Spirit of God will help us in our prayers. There's all kinds of needs. Large needs, some things that are gigantic, problems that look so entangled we can't see how they can possibly be resolved. But we're reminded that all things are possible, that nothing is too hard for the Lord.

And then need of even small things. I was counseling with a lady one time and she was telling me about some things that troubled her and I said, well have you really taken that to the Lord, have you prayed about it? Oh no, I wouldn't want to trouble the Lord with that, these things seem so trivial I wouldn't want to bother Him. Well, God is our Heavenly Father and your Father here on earth is interested in every detail of your life. God says that He knows the numbers of the hair on your head.

So He's involved in details. So no matter how trivial it might be, if it's a burden to you, if it's a need, you come to the throne of grace that you might find need. You sang the hymn a while ago, I need thee every hour.

And you're familiar with it, it could be that sometimes you just go through the words and you don't think about the depth of the meaning. But that ought to be a prayer of our heart every day. I need thee every hour most gracious Lord, no tender voice like fine can peace afford. I need thee every hour, stay thou nearby, temptations lose their power when thou art nigh. I need thee every hour in joy or pain, come quickly and abide or life is vain. I need thee, oh I need thee every hour I need thee, oh bless me now my Savior I come to thee. Yes, we need Him and He's already invited us to come to the throne that we might have help. So when you feel your need, do not hesitate to come to the throne because you've already been invited. The Holy Spirit who inspired these words is speaking with authority that you're invited to come to the throne. Think about some of those special times of need, times when trouble comes. Psalm 46 one says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Trouble takes many forms and when trouble comes you need help and you need it quickly. You know when Peter would step into the waters and ask to walk to Jesus on the waters and he started to sink. He said, Lord save me or I perish. There wasn't time for a fancy prayer.

He didn't have time for any introductory remarks. He needed help immediately or he was going to drown. And sometimes we have to pray that way, Lord I need help and you're the very present help. You're at hand, you're not at a distance and I'm thankful that I come to you as my refuge. Time when you're afraid, there are fears that can grip us. Particularly in this day and time when the world in which we live is changing so dramatically and some very negative things occurring in our own country so we can be gripped with fear as we look toward the future. Isaiah 35 four says, say unto them that are of a fearful heart, be strong and fear not. You say, well that really doesn't help me. I know I shouldn't fear and just tell me fear not. I don't know if that can change.

Ah, but listen to the rest of it. Behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense, he will come and save you. So fear not because help is on the way and it's help that can do something about the situation. God says I will come and save you. Isaiah 41 verse 10, fear thou not for I am with thee, be not dismayed for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee. What are we talking about here? Come holy to the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help.

And that's what this text says. I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. So as this New Testament text comes before us with a broad sweeping invitation, many of the specifics that concern our life are already outlined in detail in the Old Testament as we have observed. And then times of weariness and weakness. Do you ever have times when you just feel like I'm struggling to keep going? So many things have gone wrong, I'm just weary of all of the difficulties I'm encountering.

Lord, I don't know if I can make it. It may be physical weakness, it may be spiritual difficulties that you're struggling with, but here's the promise, Isaiah 40 verse 29, he giveth power to the faint. So when you feel like I can't go any farther, I'm fading out, he gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might, he increases strength.

What a promise. Just reading that once a day can give you great courage and hope. So when you feel faint, you say I can't go on, you're worn down, struggling with the problems of life. It says in the 30th verse of this, even the youth shall faint and be weary. So even those young people that you might say, well they can make it, some of us older people maybe get tired and weary, but even the youth shall be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, and they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Now waiting on the Lord doesn't mean that you become idle. You say well I've prayed, I'm just going to sit here and fold my hands and see what God does. Now there may be a time for that, but the praying to God doesn't give you an entitlement to become lazy. Waiting on the Lord means that you're trusting him.

You're doing the things that he has bid you do. Now waiting, the heart is strengthened and given the strength necessary to bear the trials, bear the trials without complaining, without murmuring. It will engage in duty without fainting to pursue the challenging journey of life without exhaustion, and to rise above the world in hope and peace on the bed of death. Then in the time of sickness.

There's been a lot of sickness in many ways over the past few years. Now we're not sure what the thorn in the flesh was for the Apostle Paul. It could well have been sickness, but even if that wasn't his thorn it could be yours and this text will apply. 2 Corinthians 12 9, and he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. So when the pains of sickness may afflict us and we're cast down, my grace is sufficient for thee.

Say I don't feel like I can make it. Well you can't in your own strength, but you can find the strength you need in him. And then we think about the need in the time of temptation. Temptation can beset us in many forms. Hebrews 2 16 says, For verily, speaking of Christ, took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham, wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful high priest in all things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, for that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. So because he was tempted, because he was a man and knows what it's like to be on this earth and the conflicts that come, he is able to succor, which simply means he is able to help.

That's what we're talking about. We've come that we may find help in the time of need. Well here's help in the hour of temptation. So he is one that doesn't just understand our struggles, but helps, helps us.

What a wonderful help we have. And then let's always remember he is able to do beyond what we ask. Ephesians 3.20 says, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Oh, to come to him and know that he's able to do things beyond our expectation.

Yet we're to come looking for great things to the glory of his name. Come to the throne of grace. No doubt there are some in this audience today who have never come to the throne of grace. You've been singing songs in church, you've been hearing the preaching of the gospel, but somehow you've never come to that throne. Maybe it's because you've never really been deeply convicted of your sin.

You haven't seen the need of it. You haven't seen why I need to come that I may obtain mercy. Oh, I pray that you might come today.

That you might see that the invitation is there. Come boldly to the throne of grace. That you might obtain mercy and find grace in the hour of need. And then there are those of you here today who have come to the throne many times for the help that you needed. And you could testify, yes, God's grace has been sufficient for me. His mercy has sustained me.

And you rejoice in it, but I can tell you, you can come again. We need help. All of us need help individually in our personal lives, in our family life. We need help in our church. We want to see the church grow. We want to see it strengthened. We want to see it given a testimony that will redound to the glory of God. We need help.

Well, where do we find it? To come boldly to the throne of grace. To obtain mercy and forgiveness for failures, but to find grace to help in time of need.

Do you see it to be a time of need for you? If you have never come to the throne of grace, may you come today, because the Spirit of God says come. Jesus, I come to thee. Out of my sickness into thy health, out of my want and into thy wealth. Out of my sin and into thyself, Jesus, I come to thee. Well, in conclusion, I would say once more we can indeed be thankful that we're invited and encouraged to come to the throne of grace. And that the reason we can come is what's stated in the preceding verse that we have a high priest that can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. And it's because of his shed blood and his righteousness that we can come and we can come often, come boldly to the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I encourage you to write us till next week at this same time. May the Lord richly bless you all. Out of distress to jubilant song, Jesus, I come to thee. Out of unrest and arrogant pride, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come. Into thy blessed will to abide, Jesus, I come to thee. Out of myself to dwell in thy love, out of despair into raptures above. Upward foray on wings like a dove, Jesus, I come to thee. Out of the fear and dread of the tomb, Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come. Into the joy and light of thy home, Jesus, I come to thee.

Out of the depths of ruin untold, into the reefs of thy sheltering fold. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder Lesair Bradley Jr. Address all mail to The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. That's The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Ever thy glorious face to behold, Jesus, I come to thee. I come to thee.