Our Perfect Priest

Take your Bibles if you would turn to Hebrews

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4 We're gonna pick up where Neil left

off last week and look at the last three verses

of this chapter Neil defined Rest for us last

week as righteousness. I actually wrote in my

notes rest is equal to righteousness. I thought

that was a great Definition I would like to propose

an additional definition This morning we sang

about it in one of our choruses, rest is living

like you're forgiven. Are you living like you're

forgiven? You know, we should. That's rest. That's

the rest that we have in the Lord, to be able

to live knowing that we are forgiven. That's

what it means to be righteous, to be declared

righteous by God, to be justified, forgiven.

That is indeed. This morning we're gonna talk

about Jesus. I hope that doesn't shock anybody.

Our perfect priest. It's always encouraging to

me as I listen to Neil preach and as I have the

opportunity to prepare and present messages myself.

We're learning some things around here, right?

And sometimes we're not even. all that aware

of what we're learning. It's just kinda happening

to us. My dad, in an effort to compliment me

years ago, said this to me one Sunday afternoon.

He looked over my way and he said, you know,

James, he said, every now and then you use a

word in your sermon that reminds me that you're

an educated man. Just every now and then. Well,

every now and then, we are reminded of some great

biblical truth. And last week, even though it

was not the emphasis of his message, Neil reminded

us that God knows everything. And we touched

on it briefly at the end of his message. And

I wanna kind of pick up with that last verse.

That was a part of Neil's sermon before we head

into this next passage of scripture that will

comprise my sermon But but God does indeed know

everything and of course, you know We want to

be a big word church, right and the big word

for that theological truth is omniscience God

is omniscient. He knows Everything and of course

we read that and we say hallelujah. Yeah good.

God knows everything He's God and and that word

doesn't really bother us all that much until

we consider this Not only does God know everything

God knows everything about you. Now that's a

little unsettling. God knows everything about

me. Again, you read that verse, verse 13, no

creature is hidden from his sight, but all are

naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom

we must give an account. So not only does God

know everything about you, but one day you're

gonna stand before him and give an account. And

again, as we were reminded last week, it really

won't matter what kind of appearance you may

have put up during your life. What God knows

is who you really are. Sobering truth. Hebrews,

really the scriptures are full of these sobering

truths about God. These warnings, as we have

called them over the course of this sermon series.

But always it seems following up on one of these

sobering truths, one of these warnings, the writer

of Hebrews then seeks to encourage us in truly

pastoral manner. He cares about these people

to whom he writes and he wants them to be encouraged.

That's why he's writing. And so. following on

the heels of that frightening or somewhat unsettling

verse, no creature is hidden from his sight,

but we are all naked and exposed to the eyes

of him to whom we must give an account. He immediately

seeks to comfort us and to encourage us. And

he does this, as so often we find in scripture,

by reminding us of who this one to whom we will

give an account is, what he's like. I think we

all have an idea, don't we, about what it will

mean to stand before the Lord on the day of judgment,

to give an account for the way that we have lived

our lives. And again, there's a little bit of

an element of terror to that. And I think that's

completely reasonable. When Isaiah saw the Lord

high and lifted up, he didn't begin to dance

a jig. He said, oh, woe is me. I'm undone and

I live amongst a people. who are undone, unclean

lips, he immediately recognized his lack of holiness

in comparison to the holiness of God. But the

writer of Hebrews wants to encourage us here.

And so he shares again about who this, again,

he refers to him here again as our great high

priest, who this perfect priest is. what he has

done for us, what he is doing for us, and ultimately

what he will do for us. So that's what we wanna

talk about today. We wanna talk about this perfect

priest that we have in Jesus. We're not gonna

stand just before any priest. We're gonna stand

before our great high priest, our perfect priest

who loved us and gave himself for us. So let's

pray and then we'll read these three verses together.

look a little deeper. Father, we are so very

thankful today for our great high priest, Jesus

Christ, this perfect priest, Father, not like

the priests that we are familiar with in our

world, even those that we read about in scripture.

Lord, Jesus was a perfect priest, as we will

see and be reminded of today. And so I pray,

Father, that as we anticipate that day when we

will stand before him, fully known, fully exposed,

Lord, that we will also know that the one that

knows everything there is to know about us also

loves us, sympathizes with us, cares beyond what

we can even imagine. And so I just ask you to

comfort our hearts with that thought today. And

Father, as always, we pray that you would strengthen

your children. encourage us to continue this

good fight of faith, Lord, to struggle on, to

accomplish the works that you have prepared for

us, Lord, to face the difficulties that come

with knowing Jesus and following Jesus, Lord,

with absolute confidence and hope that as we

have also sung this morning, one day when you

return, Lord, this earth will be remade, resurrected.

Every hurt will indeed be healed. Every wrong

will indeed be righted. And we look forward to

that. Give us a real boldness in light of that

truth. And we pray all of this in Jesus' name,

amen. Hebrews chapter four, verses 14, 15, and

16, the words will be here on the screen at the

front if you do not have a Bible to follow along

in. And the scripture simply says this. Since

we have a great high priest who has passed through

the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold

fast our confession. For we do not have a high

priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,

but one who in every respect has been tempted

as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with

confidence draw near to the throne of grace that

we may receive mercy and find grace in time.

and find grace to help in time of need. Things

do indeed become difficult in this life. Often

it seems that there are more difficult days than

there are not difficult days. And what we always

need to remember is that there is help available.

We are not left to face this difficult life alone.

We have resources that we simply need to... to

ask for and to receive. And of course, that's

what this passage of scripture is all about,

reminding us who this perfect priest Jesus is

and just what it is that he will do for us or

is doing for us during the difficulties that

we struggle through in this life. And of course,

this whole idea of perseverance recurs again.

We're gonna see it over and over and over again

as we study through the Bible. God's people are

a persevering people. In spite of the difficulties,

we continue on. We press on, as Paul writes in

Philippians. Just the thought of those words

pressing on give us this indication that the

Christian life is not an easy life. Yes, it is

a life of rest, but we press on. We strive, as

Neil shared last week, to enter that rest. We

work towards the things that God has called us

to do. And so we need the help of our perfect

priest, Jesus Christ, every step of the way.

And of course, that's what the writer of Hebrews

says we have. We have a great high priest. And

he describes him in these words, who has passed

through the heavens, Jesus, just in case you're

wondering, the son of God. And he says, therefore,

let us hold fast our confession. So there's the

word of encouragement, the exhortation, all right.

He is exhorting us. to persevere, to continue

along in what we have embraced, the truth that

we have come to know, those things that we have

come to believe about Jesus and the life that

we are now living in light of those things that

we have come to believe about Jesus. Let us hold

fast to our confession. And again, the... The

description of Jesus here is a wonderfully encouraging

thing. He describes him as the one who has passed

through the heavens. And what's being talked

about here, what he's talking about here is that

Jesus has gone before us, all right? He has pioneered

the way for us. Jesus has lived. the life that

God called him to live. And he has taken his

seat at the right hand of the Father on high.

He has been exalted and glorified. And what the

right of Hebrews is reminding us is that as we

do the same thing, we have this great hope, this

confident expectation that what we have seen

in Jesus, we will experience ourselves. We're

gonna get there. Tyler said to sign up. If you

want to volunteer in VBS, he said this, he said,

now you might not get where you want to go. That

only works in VBS, all right? You might not get

where you want to go. But when it comes to the

Christian life, let me tell you, if you've trusted

Christ, if you are a believer, you're gonna get

where you want to go. Because Jesus is gonna

make sure of it. He's already there. He is our

forerunner. There's a word that we're gonna see

this word a little bit later in our study of

Hebrews in chapter six, verses 19 and 20. This

word is used. And so that's what's being talked

about here. Jesus is our forerunner. He has gone

on before us. He was raised from the dead. He

was exalted to the right hand of the Father.

He completed the work that God had sent him to

do and he entered. into the presence of God where

the Bible says he lives forever to be our intercession.

So that life that he now enjoys at the right

hand of the Father is never going to end. He'll

never face death again. And so he is there as

the one who is our way, our access to the Father,

assuring us that if we will persevere, we will

find our place one day. in the presence of God

forever and ever. Of course I said the idea is

expanded in Hebrews chapter six verses 19 and

20. We read these words. He says, we have this

as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. We've

already talked about the nautical language that's

used in Hebrews. Perhaps the writer of Hebrews

was a sailor. He uses a lot of nautical language.

So we have this as a sure and steadfast anchor

of the soul. a hope that enters into the inner

place behind the curtain. Again, speaking of

Jesus, passing through the heavens, entering

into the presence of God, and then it clarifies,

where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf,

having become a high priest forever. That word

forerunner is an interesting word. Again, another

nautical term. A forerunner was a small, lightweight,

fast, easily maneuverable boat that guided larger

ships into shallow or dangerous harbors and then

helped them set their anchor. So kind of get

that picture in your mind. This forerunner is

a small ship, a small boat that guides a larger

ship. making sure he doesn't run aground, making

sure he doesn't hit any rocks, making sure he

doesn't bottom out, guides him into this dangerous

harbor, this destination, and then helps him

set his anchor there so that he is secure and

safe. That's what Jesus is for us. He's our forerunner.

He's gone before us. He's passed through the

heavens into the presence of God. And again,

as Hebrews 6 says, having become an anchor for

the soul. If you're a believer today, if you're

a Christian, your life is anchored in Christ

at the right hand of the Father. You're gonna

get where you're going. It's an assurance. That's

what this is talking about. We are sure to get

there. So that's the first thing that's pictured

for us here, is this certainty that even though

life may present difficulties, suffering, sacrifice,

ultimately, we're gonna wind up right where Jesus

is. in the presence of God forever and ever.

Also pictured in these words is the annual sacrifice

on the day of atonement that was made year after

year by the high priest of Israel. Again, that

was the one day that a human being could enter

into the Holy of Holies. And only one human being

could do that. He was the high priest in that

year. And of course we know that he would enter

the temple. or the tabernacle, he would pass

through the door of the outer court, then through

another door into the holy place, then through

a curtain or a veil into the holy of holies.

Of course, this human high priest would only

stay there in the holy of holies as long as it

took him to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice

on the mercy seed, and then he would get out

of there. And again, then the whole process would

be repeated the next year, and the year after

that, and the year after that. Now Jesus, our

great high priest, who is the son of God, not

just any human being, but the son of God, he

of course offered his sacrifice on the cross,

right? Where he laid down his life for the sins

of his people. Three days later, as we know,

he rose from the dead, later ascended. through

the heavens. That's what that word is talking

about there. Neil shared with us last week what

that word, new heavens and earth means. It's

speaking of the earth's atmosphere and space.

It's all gonna be resurrected. Jesus has passed

through those heavens to the place where God

dwells. He will never have to make that sacrifice

again. He did it once and for all. And he will

forever enjoy the glory of God's presence. And

again, If we are in him, this is what we have

to look forward to. His eternal presence there

at the right hand of the Father ensures our eternal

presence there with him. So that's what we're

learning here about this perfect high priest.

He is our forerunner. He's going on before us

to ensure that just as he is there in the presence

of God, one day we too will be there. in the

presence of God. And then of course, he talks

about this confession, holding fast our confession.

Again, that's a word we've seen before. It speaks

of our faith, the things that we have come to

believe. Throughout history, Christians have

written confessions of faith, basically an outline

or a summary or perhaps an extended version of

the things that we believe. It is called a confession.

This is our confession. So our confession that

we are being exhorted to hold fast to speaks

of the truths that we have believed. And now

we verbally affirm these truths and we live by

them. And again, those two things go hand in

hand. We verbally affirm the truths of scripture

and we live by them. That's what true biblical

belief is. Not just accepting that certain things

are true, but living in light of those things

because they are true, all right? And again,

throughout history, Christians have done this.

They have written their creeds and their confessions.

As a matter of fact, that word creed comes from

the Latin word credo, and it means I believe.

That's what the word means, I believe. And so

we are to hold fast. In light of our perfect

priest Jesus who has passed through the heavens

and now forever in the right, at the right hand

of God, in the presence of God forever, hold

fast to those things that you believe. Cling

to the truth that you have professed and are

now living by. And of course we have good reason.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Neil talked about

the fact that it's really a reasonable thing

to do. in light of who God is and who Christ

Jesus is and what they have done for us. And

he says this in verse 15. He says, for we do

not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize

with us in our weaknesses. Isn't it good to know

that Jesus, our perfect priest, sympathizes with

us in our weaknesses? You know, we need to remember

that. This is a great verse for you to memorize

because every day you're gonna be faced with...

Well, your own faults and failures, right? And

it's easy for us to believe that, oh gosh, I've

disappointed my Lord. I've angered my Lord. He's

seen what I've done and he's not happy with me.

But this verse reminds us, he's able to sympathize

with our weaknesses. And why? Because he is one

who in every respect has been tempted as we are,

yet without sin. So there's our motivation. Why

is it that we should persevere in the truth that

we have embraced and the work that God has given

us to do? Well, it's because again, Jesus has

done that. We've seen that in him. He is our

great forerunner who has gone before us. And

because he has, he is a priest who is able, not

unable, but able to sympathize with us in our

weaknesses. It ought to be a great motivation

in our day -to -day life. In every situation

that you face as a Christian, no matter how difficult

it may be, Jesus, according to Paul in Ephesians

3 .20, is able to do far more abundantly than

all we ask or think. So Jesus is able to help

us to provide for us during the difficulties

and he does it in a way that far exceeds anything

we might even ask of him or even think. in every

situation. Verse 15, really, that we just read

is a restatement of what we read earlier in Hebrews

chapter two, verses 17 and 18. Let me just read

those verses to you. The writer says, therefore

he, referring to Jesus, therefore he had to be

made like his brothers in every respect so that

he might become a merciful and faithful high

priest in the service of God to make propitiation

for the sins of his people for because he himself

has suffered when tempted. He is able to help

those who are being tempted. So that's the motivation

right there. We have a high priest who has suffered

like we are suffering. Therefore, he can sympathize

with us in our sufferings and help us through

our sufferings. So let's talk a little bit about

this sympathy of Jesus, all right? We're being

encouraged as these early Christians were to

persevere through the difficulties of life knowing

that even when we stumble and fall, even when

we fail, even when we do our best and it's not

enough, Jesus sympathizes with us. He sympathizes

with our weaknesses. That word sympathize means

to share in the experience of another, to feel

with another. And again, the idea here is that

God enters into the experience of his people.

what you are going through that we often are

tempted to think, nobody knows what I'm going

through, nobody knows how I feel, nobody's ever

gone through what I'm having to go through, suffered

the way I'm suffering, nobody understands any

of this. Well, you may be right if you're talking

about the human population, although you're probably

not right even there. But certainly when it comes

to God, he understands, that's what we're being

told here. He sympathizes with us in our weakness.

He enters into that experience with us. He feels

our pain. And let me tell you, the thought of

a God who enters into the experience of humankind

and suffers along with them, that thought in

this day and time was revolutionary. Matter of

fact, it's revolutionary today. Most people think

of God as being, if they even believe there is

a God, as being somehow high and removed and,

you know... Just not all that involved in the

day -to -day living of mankind, but not our God.

Our God moves into our experience, suffers with

us, even in our weaknesses. Jesus, of course,

we're reminded here, wasn't just the Son of God.

He wasn't just God. He was man, fully God, and

yet fully man. And therefore he was fully acquainted.

with the struggles of man. Again, one who in

every respect has been tempted as we are. One

who had to be made like his brothers in every

respect so that he might become a merciful and

faithful high priest. Now, both Mark in his gospel

and Luke, tell us that Jesus was tempted by the

devil for 40 days. We all talk about that. What

does it mean that Jesus has been tempted like

we are? In every respect, he says, just like

we are. Well, during those days especially, but

throughout the entirety of his life, Jesus experienced

every kind of testing and temptation. Again,

he was a man. He was fully human. And as such,

he experienced what we experience as we face

life. living that life in obedience to God and

the difficulties that come with that. So Jesus,

as much as we might like to think to the contrary,

Jesus experienced disappointment. He experienced

grief. He experienced frustration. He experienced

loneliness. He was hated. He was rejected. He

was unjustly condemned to death and crucified.

Yet, throughout his life, In all of those various

situations, he resisted the temptation to let

those adversities stop him from completing the

work that his father had given him to do. And

let me just say this, when we talk about Jesus

resisting temptation, we think to ourselves,

see we go, oh yeah, but he's God. So couldn't

have been as bad for him as it is for me. He

was God. Well, let me just put it to you this

way. Jesus resisted temptation to a much farther

extent than you and I have ever resisted temptation.

I mean, I don't know about you. Often we resist

temptation for a little while and then we give

in, right? And we pat ourselves on the back.

Well, at least I held out a few hours. Jesus

resisted temptation completely. Again, he was

without sin. He never gave in to temptation.

So Jesus has resisted temptation far more than

you or I can ever imagine. As a matter of fact,

again, the writer of Hebrews in chapter 12 says

something about that. He says, in your struggle

against sin, you have not resisted to the point

of shedding your blood, but Jesus did. So Jesus

has experienced temptation, just as we have experienced

temptation. So here's what. The writer is simply

saying, do you need someone who understands your

struggles and sympathizes with your human limitations

and inabilities? You need Jesus, because he's

the one who does. He's the one who understands.

He's the one who sympathizes. You need Jesus.

No matter what the difficulty is you're facing,

you need... Jesus, and why is it Jesus that can

do something for you? Well, it's because of those

next few words. Yeah, he was tempted in every

respect as we, yet without sin. So yes, he's

a high priest who sympathizes with our weaknesses,

but he's also a high priest who is sinless. This

is another doctrine that we need to cling to,

that we need to hold fast to, the sinlessness

of Jesus. The theological big word for this doctrine

is the sinlessness of Jesus. Jesus never committed

sin. And therefore, he is able to do exceedingly

and abundantly above all we ask or even imagine.

So notice, Jesus faced every type of temptation

and test that you and I will face yet without

sin. So very important that we get that. because

his sinlessness is essential to our salvation.

Because he was sinless, he was able to sacrifice

himself on the cross, to die in our place, to

pay the price for our sin. Again, human high

priests could enter the Holy of Holies and make

that annual sacrifice for the sins of the people

every year. But before they did that, Before

they passed through those doors and then through

the veil of the curtain into the Holy of Holies,

you know what they had to do? They had to offer

a sacrifice for their own sins. Because they

were just human beings, sinful, like those they

were offering atonement for on the day of atonement.

And then even after all of that, a human high

priest couldn't really atone for anyone's sin,

not even his own. That's why it had to be repeated

year after year after year. But Jesus. different.

He was the sinless one, the perfect sacrifice.

That lamb without spot or blemish, all of those

lambs that were sacrificed on the altar were

just a picture of this one who would truly be

spotless, without blemish, sinless. They all

pointed to the reality of Jesus Christ. I mean

what John the Baptist said that day, And that

is still true today. Jesus is the Lamb of God

who takes away the sins of the world. And really

what John meant is that that's the one. That's

the one and only, Jesus. He's the Lamb of God,

the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the

world. There is no other that can do what he

can do. Again, that's why he's able to save us

to the uttermost completely, forever. our perfect,

sinless, high priest, Jesus. I love the way John

says this or expresses this same truth in 1 John

1 .5. He says, this is the message that we have

heard from him, from God, and proclaim to you

that God is light and in him is no darkness at

all. Again, this doctrine of the sinlessness

of Christ, the sinlessness. of God. God is light.

Again, we could say, well, there's another description

of his omniscience. He knows everything. And

in him is no darkness at all. In English, if

you were to write this sentence in English, in

an English class in school, your teacher would

turn it back to you with big red letters on it

saying that you used a double negative. God is

light and in him, is no darkness at all. There

is no none darkness in God. But again, in the

Bible, it's just an emphasis on the sinlessness

of God. The purity of God in him is no darkness

at all. And aren't we glad only a sinless savior

could provide the salvation that you and I enjoy

today. And so now, in light of that, this last

verse, let us then, There's the invitation. Let

us then with confidence draw near the throne

of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace

to help in time of need. Our human tendency is

that when we have messed up, when we failed,

we don't run to God. We run away from God, right?

We're ashamed, we're embarrassed. We failed,

we knew better. We knew we shouldn't have done

that. We did it anyway. Or we knew we should

have done it and we didn't do it. But the scriptures

are saying, look, you're gonna suffer because

of your weaknesses, but you've got a high priest,

a perfect high priest who understands, he sympathizes

with your weaknesses. He knows what it's like

to be a human, he is one. So he's full of sympathy.

And we can go to him, don't run from him, draw

near to him in these moments of struggle and

failure. Let us then, with confidence, draw near

the throne of grace that we may receive mercy

and find grace in time of help. Since Jesus is

our great high priest who has passed through

the heavens, he has taken his seat at the right

hand of the father, where the Bible says he lives

forever to make intercession for us. Since he

is not only a great high priest, but he's one

who is able to sympathize with us in our weaknesses,

although he himself is without sin, draw near

to him. In light of that truth, draw near to

Him. So it's talking about drawing near to God

in prayer. Where should we go when we are struggling?

We should go to God in prayer. And by the way,

what this is talking about here, drawing near

to God's throne, His throne of grace, drawing

near to Him in prayer. First of all, we should

continually come to God in prayer. And I'm just

gonna ask this question because it's a question

that I've struggled with in my life, and every

time I talk about prayer or hear a message about

prayer, I struggle with it again. How's your

prayer life? Are you drawing near the throne

of grace continually? I mean, that's what the

Bible tells us to do, right? 1 Thessalonians

5 .17, pray without ceasing. There's a verse

you can memorize. Pray without ceasing. We have

this wonderful privilege of prayer we should

continually be drawing near, consistently drawing

near to God in prayer. We have this resource,

we should avail ourselves of it. And then not

only continually coming to God in prayer, but

when we come to God in prayer, he says we can

come confidently. Let us with confidence draw

near the throne of grace. We don't have to come

hesitantly. We don't have to come wondering what

kind of reception we're going to get God has

said come to me Cast your cares upon me. I care

for you. He has offered this wonderful invitation

and that that word confidence speaks of Boldness

in speech we can not only come to God confidently

that we're going to be welcomed received But

we can come to him and say what we need to say

to him listen God can take it Tell him what's

on your heart. Tell him what's going on in your

life. And by the way, you know we never really

make God aware of anything, right? Scripture

teaches us God knows what we need before we ever

open our mouths to pray. But isn't it wonderful

that there's someone that we can come to and

say, I got something I need to tell you. I need

to get this off my chest. And it's someone that's

gonna sympathize with us, not. condemn us, not

look down his nose at us. That's the God that

we are invited to come to with confidence. Boldness

in speech, we can anticipate that God is approachable

and not just approachable, he approves of our

coming. He doesn't just tolerate our coming to

him, these poor miserable humans. He wants us

to come, he delights. Just like as a parent or

a grandparent, you delight in your children coming

to you, right? He delights in our coming and

he wants us to come to ask him for the help that

we need. He knows we need help. Scripture says,

he knows we're just dust, right? So we come to

him for help and we find... a welcome place,

he welcomes us, and he welcomes us to speak to

him with bold frankness as we pour out our hearts

to him. And notice that this throne that we come

to, I love this, and we all know, it's a throne

of grace. God's throne is called a throne of

grace. I mean, if you were asked to describe

God's throne, well, you might say, well, it's

a throne of justice. And you'd be right, it is.

But here it's described as a. We find grace when

we come to the throne of God for help. So we

can come to him in full expectation that we will

be met with favor, that our request will be met

with favor, that God's going to answer us in

a way that is best for us. That's what we can

count on when we come to him in prayer. God doesn't

always give us what we ask for, right? But he

gives us what we need. Again, what have we said

over the years? He gives us what we would ask

for if we knew better. So God welcomes us to

come before him and to boldly, with frank honesty,

share our struggles and our needs. And then what

does he do for us when we do that? Let us draw

near with confidence to the throne of grace,

and then look what it says. that we may receive

mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

God provides, God meets us at our need. What

can you and I expect from God when we draw near

to him in confidence and prayer? Well, first

and foremost, we can expect him to hear and to

respond, right? God hears your prayers. And he

responds to your prayers. I love, and I've quoted

this verse so many times, Psalms 116, verses

one and two. Psalmist writes, I love the Lord

because he has heard my voice and my pleas for

mercy. He's heard me. I love the Lord because

he has heard me. Listen, God hears when you pray.

And then he continues in verse two. because he

has inclined his ear to me, therefore I will

call upon him as long as I live." Those words,

inclined his ear, speak of God moving in response

to the cries. He hears us and then he moves in

response to our pleas for help. Let me tell you,

church, I need help every day to do what God

has called me to do. You need help every day.

to do what God has called you to do. And that

help is available at the throne of grace where

God hears and responds to his people. And how

does he respond? Well, you go there to that throne

of grace that you might receive mercy. Now, typically

we think of needing mercy when we've done something

wrong, right? We've failed. There are times when

we go before the throne of grace because... I

blew it, Lord, I blew it, I blew it again. I

told you I'd never be back here and here I am.

And what do we find when we go to God with a

prayer like that? Mercy. Mercy, that word mercy

speaks of God tempering his justice. Is his throne

a throne of justice? Absolutely, God is just.

But he's also merciful. He tempers his justice.

He withholds from us in mercy what we truly deserve.

Aren't you glad for the mercy of God? You and

I aren't gonna get what we deserve. Oh no, he

withholds from us what we deserve in his mercy.

So when we go to the Lord to confess our sins,

to ask him for strength with our failures and

addictions, we find. Mercy, we find tender compassion.

That's what that word speaks of. God withholds

from us what we deserve for those failures. And

in its place, we find grace to help in time of

need. God gives us, in mercy, he withholds what

we deserve. And in grace, God gives us what we

don't deserve. I mean, when you go to the Lord,

in prayer to the throne of grace, you're gonna

find help, you're gonna find compassion, you're

gonna find love, you're gonna be met with favor.

So this idea of finding grace is that God will

give you the strength and the wisdom that you

need, again, that you don't deserve, but that

you need for your present and future difficulties.

I tell you, if there's one prayer that I have

repeated over the years of my ministry, it's

the prayer for wisdom. Wisdom. Help me to be

wise in the things that I do and the way that

I minister to people in the sermons that I preach.

Help me to be wise, Father. We need the wisdom

of God. And of course, the scripture tells us

here we will find that grace that will help us.

Grace, we often refer to grace as the unmerited

favor of God, the undeserved favor of God, and

indeed it is. But this favor of God is a strength

to us. Grace is a strength. God's grace gives

us the strength to do what God has called us

to do, to resist temptation and to do the work

that God has prepared for us to do. So we go,

we receive mercy, we find grace. to help in time

of need. When we go to the Lord in prayer, you

can expect to get the help that you need. And

in time of need, that expression means at just

the right time. At just the moment that you need

some resource, God's gonna provide it for you.

It's gonna be there. It's not gonna be late.

God's gonna give you that help in a time of need.

Again, God will graciously provide the resources

that we lack at just the right moment that we

need them. Again, James 1 .5 talking about wisdom.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God

who gives generously to all without reproach

and it will be given to him. And it's not just

wisdom that this works with. Whatever it is you

need. You need to be more kind. You need to be

more understanding. You need to be more patient.

You need to be more loving. Go to the Lord and

ask. You'll find mercy and grace to help you

in your time of need. So the question I'll leave

you with this morning is this. What is it that

you're struggling with this morning? What difficulty

do you face? Whatever it is. Let me assure you,

God knows. And not only does He know, He cares.

And He will provide you with the resources you

need to persevere through this difficulty if

you will go to Him in prayer, confidently, sharing

your heart with Him and expecting mercy, grace,

and help. God sympathizes with you. That's what

this says. Our perfect priest sympathizes with

us and then in turn supplies us with every resource

that we need to faithfully follow him, regardless

of how difficult that road may be. I think Neil

quoted this verse last week. I'm gonna say it

again today. Jesus said, come to me. Come to

me. Draw near to me. All who labor and are heavy

laden. and I will give you rest. You want rest

this morning? You'll find it in Christ.