Welcome to the InTouch podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, April 20th. Has a close friend ever let you down? Jesus never will. For believers, he is the one who will never leave or forsake you. just as he promised in the book of Hebrews.
He is the friend who always stays. If I should ask you, why don't you think you spend more time praying and talking to God, I wonder how you would answer that. Or if I should ask Why is not your intimacy, your relationship with Him more intimate and why is it not more meaningful and more rewarding than it is?
Well, I believe if you and I understood who God is and what he's really like. And if we understood what it meant to really come to Him, we would come to Him far more often. We would speak with Him more often. Our relationship with Him would be far more intimate than it is. We would sense a greater intimacy with Him, a greater joy about Him, a sense of fulfillment and contentment and strength and power.
Our faith would be stronger, our confidence would be greater if we understood who is this God to whom we go and what does he mean when he says we can come to him in time of trouble and find grace to help in time of need.
Now I want you to think about something. How would you and I respond to the holiness of God if there were no grace? If you and I had to come before the presence of God each time, only to face a holy God. A God who will judge and condemn all unrighteousness and all unholy things. How would we feel if we came to God in His majesty and power and awe and wonder?
How would we come? We would come with a sense of fear. We would come with a sense of anxiety. We would come with a sense of feeling unworthy and not sure of how we're going to be accepted. Because if you think about the judgment, the condemnation, the holiness, and the awesomeness of His presence.
I don't think any of us can possibly conceive of how we are going to feel and what we are going to sense when we stand in the presence of God.
Now What Jesus did at the cross, he made it possible for us. Sinful beings as we are at times in our disobedience, He made it possible for you and me, symbolically speaking, to walk. into the presence of the throne room of God and talk to Him without any hesitation whatsoever.
Now Is it because we're worthy of it? No, that's what grace is all about. It has nothing to do with it. It has to do with what Jesus did at the cross to make it possible. That's why I keep emphasizing the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, because without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin.
Without the shedding of blood, there is absolutely no access to God. And when Christ died on the cross, what he did, the Bible says the veil was split in the temple from top to bottom. He flung open the doors of access to God so that anyone who wants to come to him, who's willing to come his way, which is by his Son Jesus Christ has access to the Father. I can come to him without fear. And therefore I can come to him with confidence.
Come boldly to the throne of grace. What is my confidence based on? It's based on verse 15. He says, for we do not have a high priest, speaking of Christ, who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses and our sinfulness, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. When you and I come to the throne of grace, to fellowship with God and to talk to Him about our needs and where we are in life and whatever's going on.
He says, we can come boldly. We can come with confidence. Why? Because listen, even though God is holy and righteous, and even though one of these days He is going to condemn and judge, We come to Him as the children of God. We come to Him through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.
We come to Him as those who have been redeemed. cleansed and a being cleansed continually by the blood of Christ. And so therefore, We have the privilege of coming without fear. We have the privilege of coming, as he says, boldly before him. We have the privilege of coming asking for great blessings.
When we make big requests, we honor His omnipotence and His love. And yet oftentimes we ask little things. Because we fear asking big things. We don't feel worthy of asking for great things. Listen, he didn't say come to the throne of worthiness.
He said, come to the throne of grace. And grace is God's goodness and kindness toward us without regard to merit and worth on our part and in spite of what we deserve. That's what grace is all about. That's the kind of throne we are coming to. This is the kind of God you and I are approaching.
Without fear, he says with confidence, asking for big blessings. And listen to this. He says we're to come often. That's the implication of this phrase when he says, therefore, let us draw near with confidence. Present tense continuously.
Let us come again and again and again and again. How often do you think God wants you coming to Him for fellowship and prayer? I believe the heart of God desires that you and I walk. in continuous fellowship with Him, talking to Him continually in the midst of their labors, in the midst of our worship, in the midst of church, in the midst of whatever's going on, God desires continuous fellowship and continuous conversation and continuous sense of oneness and awareness of His presence. We'd have come often and thank God we can come anytime.
Don't have to make an appointment. And you know what? There's never a crab. We don't have to wait in line. Always instantaneous access.
That is one of the riches of the grace of God. that you and I have instantaneous access to His presence. You see, This God of grace so loves us, he says, come on. He says, I want you to come. You have access.
Come on. He is the God of grace and he says his throne is the throne of grace. This is where he's dispensing love and goodness and mercy and kindness and forgiveness to his children. And while he's a holy God, And while we are to come to Him in the Spirit and a sense of reverence and awe, we also come as sons. To a father.
Daughters to a father.
Now, let's look at it this way. This is the way we had to approach Him.
Now, what can you and I expect when we come to the throne of grace? When we come to God speaking to Him and talking to Him, what can we expect?
Well, let's look at these two words, mercy and grace. They're not synonymous.
Sometimes we think they are, but we're not. And somebody has put it this way, that mercy is the heart of God, and grace is the hand of God. In mercy, God does not give us what we deserve in mercy. In grace, he gives us what we don't deserve. And so, when you think in terms of mercy and grace, mercy deals with my past failures, grace deals with my present work.
and the future, that is what I need now. This is the kind of heavenly father he is. And he's encouraging us to come to this throne of grace. He says that you may receive two things: mercy. And listen, and may find grace to help in time of need.
How do you know how to come to the Father? We'd to come to him as sons. We'd come to him as servants. But anyway I come. This much is for sure.
I'm going to come to him. in a humble fashion. He's God. He's holy, righteous, just. The awe and the glory and the majesty of Almighty God the Father.
How could I come to Him within the pride or egotism or arrogance? And you know, once in a while when I hear people who say, well, man, you just got to make your claim on God. You've got to just take your stand upon the scriptures. Just command God. I'm here to tell you, I don't have the courage to command God to do anything.
Anybody who's commanding God doesn't know Him. To have God, you can't have him. You can't have him just one side. He's not just all love, goodness, and sweetness. He is a God of holiness.
and a God of love. And with him, those two fit absolutely perfectly because listen. The fact that He's a holy God makes my coming to Him as my Heavenly Father so much richer and I have so much more confidence. Why? Because I come to God my Father as my Heavenly Father knowing He is so holy and He is so righteous and He is so good and He is so perfect.
He's only going to do what is good for me and what is right for me and what is best for me. Why? Because he's a holy God. And my friend listened to me. You may be as good as you know how to be, and you may do all the right things you know to do in life, and you may be a very religious person, but I want to tell you.
until Jesus Christ becomes your Savior. By faith in what he did at the cross, you have no access to God to come to him asking for help in time of need. First of all, you have to be a son. You see, that's why he calls himself God the Father. And those of us who are his children, We are his children.
created in Christ Jesus, he says, are We are His children because we've been adopted into the kingdom. We've been born again. This new birth made us children of God. And he says, before you become a child of God, he says you're alienated from God, separated from God, afar off from God, in blindness and in darkness and in death and have no relationship to God. But you see, that's why Jesus came.
He came in order to take care of our sins so that you and I could look Almighty God our Father in the eye with confidence and boldness and assurance. Coming to him again and again and again as sons and daughters of a father who is the king of kings, lord of lords, the God. of the heavens and the earth. He says, we come to him. And that's where we found mercy.
That's how he got saved. God was merciful to every single one of us. But listen to what else? He says that you may find mercy. But he says there's something else you may find.
and grace to help in time of need.
Now listen, that phrase, in time of need, Literally means If we can put it in our terminology, it literally means in the nick of time. That we may find grace to help in the nick of time.
Well, he said, wait a minute, you mean to tell me that God is just going to wait till the last minute? No. But here's what he does, and this is a wonderful thing about God. What it means is Listen to this. When I have a need.
God will supply that need when the need arises. When the need arises, I have a right. to instantaneously Ask of him. Because you see, as children of God, All we have to do is think. Father.
Our access is instantaneous. For example, Suddenly you're tempted. What happens? instantaneously. You and I have help.
Listen to this, divine, supernatural. adequate, sufficient, all-sufficient help at that very moment to deal with that very issue we are facing. He says, come to the throne of grace. and find mercy and help in time of need. When our hearts are sorrowful, what happens?
We have a Heavenly Father who loves us and who understands our sorrow, and He's there. When we think of burdens we have to face in life, he's there. You see, It doesn't make any difference what we face in what an awesome. What a tremendous. Promise from God.
Listen to this. No matter what you and I face. Here's the promise. When that need arises, God says, I'll be there. I'll be there.
You think about folks who face death. And know it's coming. And they're wondering, and sometimes you see, when there's that kind of thing approaching and there's anger at first and sorrow and regret and guilt and all these things, and finally, when all that gets sifted out, The child of God. When the moment comes, God has promised to provide the grace to die when the moment comes. He's promised to provide the grace for you and me to go through anything and everything in life that's necessary.
What does he say? He says, we're to come. and we're to find grace to help in time of need. No matter what we need, What's there? We have Almighty God who knows our need perfectly ready to provide exactly what we need.
Do I need comfort and sorrow? He'll provide it. Do I need forgiveness when I've sinned? He'll provide it. Do I need encouragement when I'm discouraged?
He'll provide it. Do I need The burden lifted when I think, oh God, I cannot handle anymore. You remember what the Apostle Paul said when he asked God to take away that thorn in his side. He didn't say yes, no and wait. He said Paul When you hurt real bad, I'm there.
When you think you can't go on one step further, I'm there. My grace is sufficient. Listen, he didn't say it's going to be. He didn't say it might be. He didn't say it has been.
He said, my grace is sufficient. You know what? When God spoke to Moses and He told Him how to identify Him, when He went back to the Hebrews to tell Him who the real God was He'd been talking to, He didn't say, you tell Him I was, didn't you? He didn't say, you tell them, I shall be sent you. He said, you tell them, I am.
The eternal I am. is the eternal loving Heavenly Father. who is eternally ready. with everything that you and I will ever need to meet every single solitary need. And that's why the Apostle Paul could say, my God shall supply all of our needs according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus by the grace of God.
That's the throne of God. the throne of grace, every single solitary need that you and I will ever have.
So let me ask you, what is your need? Is it material? It's to be found at the throne of grace. Is it emotional? Is it something spiritual going on in your life?
Is it forgiveness? Is it comfort? Is it encouragement? Is it that the Father would lift the burden? Whatever it is.
He says in this passage, I want to encourage you. to make it your daily habit. And many times a day, They come to the throne of grace.
Well, you'll find mercy. and help. Grace. goodness, undeserving love of the Father. to help you in time of need.
Now When I think about my Heavenly Father being that kind of God, and when I think about coming to that kind of throne, I think, hallelujah, praise the Lord, amen. Let's go. Why? Because there's no place in all this earth like that. I said this before and I want to say it again.
No matter what you experience in life, no matter where you go, no matter who you go with, no matter how much money you have, what you buy. No matter what your capacities are, no matter what your gifts are, no matter what your privileged position may be. There is no experience in all of life. equal to That intimate relationship and oneness that goes on between a man or a woman and God. when they're fellowshipping unhindered And there's nothing between that person and their Heavenly Father.
There is a love. and an intimacy and a fellowship and a oneness that goes on in that relationship that cannot be described in human terms. And when he says The throne of grace. where you'll find help. and grace in time of need.
But listen. Part of what we find there Is that intimate? Oneness with Him. That is the most satisfying, contenting. Most helpful, most powerful thing that can happen in a person's life.
You know what he's asking for? He said, he's asking for my obedience. No, he's not. He's asking for my resources to be committed to him. No.
He's asking for my surrender. No. You know what he's asking for? Just one thing. That's all he's asking for.
He just wants you. He wants to fellowship with you. He wants to love you. He wants you to experience Him loving you. He said, Well How do I experience loving God?
You get alone with Him. And just try stretching out on your face. before God. And telling him, Father, I just want you. That's all I want.
I don't want the things. I just want you. I know you want me. I want you. I want to fellowship with you.
I want to love you and I want to sense you're loving me. I want a sense of oneness between us, nothing between us. But perfect love I challenge you to try it. For me personally, It's very difficult for me to really be intimately aware of the holiness of God and how great, mighty, and awesome He is. If I come to him asking for this, that, and the other.
Oh, if I'm coming. Just to read the word, though the reading of the word is extremely important to get my spirit ready to listen to Him. But there is a time when I shouldn't be doing anything. Just listening and absorbing the awareness of his presence. You know what happens?
All of a sudden, this God, whose way I challenge, is going to get real close. And you're going to sense something in your relationship to Him. It's brand new. And refreshing, and you know what? Then you can't keep it to yourself.
You can't keep it to yourself. You've got to tell it. Why? Because you've discovered. that He's a God of wonderful, indescribable love.
who's just ready to pour it out on you. If you'll give him time. Just to love you. Thank you for listening to part two of The Throne of Grace. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station.
And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
