You want to turn with me to my
text, you'll find it over in Hebrews chapter 4. The book of
Hebrews chapter 4. I appreciate it so much. Brother
Larry asked me to be here. We have been dear friends for
a long time. I appreciate him, Robin. I do appreciate all you preachers
too. You fellows have been a help to me. Oh my, I can't express
how much. I appreciate this congregation.
I appreciate your faithfulness. Some of you folks are getting
old. aren't you? I don't know if I'm going to
live to be as old as some of you or not. I tell you what, I feel older than
anybody here. I kept seeing, even Bobby come
in and said she just didn't feel like singing and I thought, Bobby
you look so much better than I do. Well, I better quit while I'm
going at it. I better read my text. I'm thankful for you. Thankful
so much. May the Lord bless us tonight
as we think upon this text. Hebrews chapter 4. I just want
to read three verses of scripture. Verses 14, 15, and 16. My subject tonight is prayer. 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. But we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in the time of need. And I take what he is recommending
to us here in verse 16 as prayer. Let us come boldly to the throne
of grace. Let us pray. Let us pray. We have a lot of encouragement
in the scriptures to pray. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
came down from his Father in heaven. and nobody prayed like
he did. When he finished praying, his
disciples would teach us to pray. And the Bible teaches us to pray.
And I want to just maybe relate to us tonight some suggestions,
what these scriptures suggest to our minds concerning prayer. Prayer's a difficult thing. It's
difficult to pray publicly, but that's part of the worship for
men to get in this pulpit and lead us publicly. Paul was writing
to the Corinthian church and he said, pray with the Spirit. I'm not for sure if he's speaking
there praying with the Holy Spirit. If he was meaning that, then
we know the necessity of that. We don't know what to pray for,
but the Spirit makes intercessions for us. If he meant pray with
our spirit, then we can understand that. Pray earnestly. Pray with
your heart. Be sincere and honest with the
Lord when you pray. But we have public prayer. Pray
with the Spirit and pray with the understanding. But I want
us to look at some things that this would suggest to us to not
concern in prayer. And I think it will encourage
us to pray. And the first thing that I see
here in our text that is suggested to us is this. Prayer is for
weak people. You see these here in our text,
these words here that's mentioned are infirmities. He's touched
with the feelings of our infirmities. This word is translated different
in our version. Sometimes it's translated sickness. They that are whole need not
a physician, but they that are sick, they that are infirmed.
Sometimes it's translated weakness. I was with you in weakness and
fear and trembling. Sometimes it's translated disease. He healed those with diseases,
infirm. We know not what to pray for
as we ought, but the Spirit helps our infirmities. We're infirm. We're sick people. We need to remember that as we
pray and when we pray. And another word here he mentions
to us is tempted. He was in all points tempted
like as we are. This word simply means tested, tried. Sometimes it's a good
thing. God tests us. God tries our hearts,
doesn't he? I remember one Glenn, when I
went to welding school, and when we made a well, they put it in
vices. They put it in a vise and they
bend it. They're going to test it. They're going to see if it
will hold. And they'd bend that thing double.
If it wasn't welded good, it would break. We're tested, aren't
we? I tell you, this world tests
you. Flash will test you. Satan tests you. We're tested,
we're tried people. Chapter two said that Christ
suffered being tempted. Boy, there's suffering and temptation
being tried. And there's two words here that
would indicate what kind of people that are to pray. And we find
these two words here. He said that we are to come boldly
to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help. Why do we pray for help? How many times, I bet, have you
started your prayer, help, help? David started a song that way. Help, help. You know, if you're
outside in your yard and you hear somebody holler, help, Hell,
that gets your attention, doesn't it? Somebody's in trouble. Somebody needs help, and you
run to them. That Canaanite woman that came
to the Lord Jesus, and he just kept putting her off, and finally
she said, Help, Lord. Help. Help my unbelief. Help. I think this indicates
to us something that would encourage us. And here we have this other
word here and that's need. To obtain mercy and find grace
to help in the time of need. There's a couple there in the
church that gave me a sign a couple years ago and I hung it right
in front of my desk on the wall and I look at it all the time. I need thee every hour. Well, we're needy, aren't we?
Prayer is for needy people. We need a Father to love us. We need a Savior
to forgive us. We need a Spirit to seal us and
to reveal Christ to us and aid us and strengthen us. We need
a high priest to make intercessions for us. We need, don't we? Grace to help in the time of
need. I think the very fact that the
scripture says, our God shall supply all your need, indicates
what kind of people we are. We are needy people. And there's two words here that
would indicate also our utter weakness and helplessness. when
we pray and how we feel about praying. And it's these two words. Here's something vital that he
mentions here. Why do we pray? Why do we even
come to the Lord in prayer? Well, he says here that we may
obtain mercy. Mercy. Let us come to the throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy. What is mercy for if it's not
for the needy? Is it not our misery that draws
out mercy from the heart of the Savior? Need qualifies us, if nothing
else, to come for mercy. So often I've gone to the Lord
in prayer and I've thought within myself, I am the most miserable
man in this world. Do you ever feel miserable? I'm
glad that I don't find it in the Bible. It's fun being a Christian
because I surely wouldn't be one. Sometime I am utterly miserable
in myself. Sin has grieved me. My unbelief
has turned my blessings into curses. Family trials. The old man warring against the
new man. Oh, wretched man that I am. Do
you ever get that way? Here is an encouragement for
people like us to come to the throne of grace. It's where we
obtain mercy. When you and I were dead in sins,
we just lived out our life in nature. Just lived in the flesh,
just like everybody else. But regeneration changes everything,
doesn't it? It's a new life. It's a heavenly
life. It's an eternal life. There's
new passions. There's new loves. There's new
desires, new thoughts, new felt needs. We look at things different. We look at God different. We
look at ourselves different. We look at Jesus Christ different.
We look at sin different. We look at time and eternity
different. Regeneration changes everything. Regeneration is life coming to
our souls. But when life comes to our souls,
it manifests a body of death. When light comes to our minds
to illuminate us, why does it also reveal a heart of darkness? When love comes, when the love
of God is shed abroad in the heart, it reveals the hatefulness
of this flesh, doesn't it? And there's a war. And this war
sometimes makes us miserable. Someone quoted it last night.
One of your dear brethren quoted it last night. The flesh blusters. It wars against the Spirit, and
the Spirit wars against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one
to the other, that you cannot do the things that you would. And sometimes we have this sense
of misery. I'm just miserable. I don't think
the Lord's ever gonna ever let us be perfectly satisfied. How
could we be? David said, I'll never be satisfied.
until I behold your face and be like you and be with you.
In this world, the saints are sometimes miserable. But what's
mercy for? It's for the miserable. It's
for the miserable. The greater the felt misery sometimes,
it's been my experience, the greater mercy that's drawn from
the heart of the Savior. Let us come to the throne of
grace that we may obtain mercy. If my misery draws out more mercy,
then so be it. David said, Great is thy mercy
towards me. Thou hast delivered me from the
lowest hell. I don't think you could sink
any lower than that. And yet mercy brought him up. We don't come to the Lord in
prayer because we're strong and because we're independent and
secure. Nobody comes that way. We come
to the Lord because we're weak and helpless and unstable and
wavering and feel, Lord, if you don't uphold me with mercy, I'll
fall. He giveth power to the faint,
and to those that have no might, He increases strength. In the
day that I cry, Thou answereth me, and strengthen me with strength
in my soul. Mercy. Mercy. When you and I are exposed, and
stripped and emptied and have a sense of our utter helplessness
is when we come to the throne of grace and mercy. Mercy. Unearned, undeserved mercy. Brother Scott was telling me
one time he had to go with one of his boys to court And just
before the judge was going to render his verdict, he asked
Scott if he had anything to say. And Scott said, Your Honor, I
would just ask for mercy for my son. And he said, Mr. Richardson, he don't deserve
mercy. And he said, Your Honor, if he deserved it, it wouldn't
be mercy. Mercy. But who's mercy for? The empty. those who feel so
useless and helpless and utter failure. I wonder if Armenians
and proud Calvinists ever prayed a prayer in their life. Prayer
isn't an emptying of yourself. Mercy. That's encouraging, isn't
it? Come for mercy. And he says this
year, that's very encouraging, and helping us to pray and that
we may find grace to help. Grace to help. Someone said mercy
is the Lord not giving us what we deserve. And grace is Him
giving us what we don't deserve. Mercy is withholding what we
do deserve. Grace is giving us what we could
never It's God's unmerited favor bestowing
spiritual blessings and giving help of all kinds to the non-deserving
without any debts to pay or obligations to keep on His part. It's God
acting freely according to His own sovereign will and good pleasure
to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. Grace has supplied every need
we have ever had. You haven't had one need supplied
in your life, except God and his grace supplied. You look
back over your life, and it's grace that brought you safe this
far. It's grace that saved you then,
and it's grace that keeps you, and it's grace that will take
you home. Grace to help. Grace will help
us. We need help, don't we? And grace
will help us. You got up this morning and you've
continued all day today. And you've lived and moved and
have your being. And here you are tonight by God's
grace. And you'll go home and you'll
sleep and tomorrow you'll wake and you'll have another day.
if God will give you grace. You may fall tomorrow, but grace
will help you up. You may sin tomorrow, but grace
will forgive you. Grace to help us. And I'll tell you something,
brothers and sisters, pretty soon, you and I are gonna be
crossing the river of death, and there'll be no boat there.
There'll be no life jackets handed out. Only one thing will help
us across that river, and that's grace. One dying preacher lay, and some
friend went to him and said, Dear brother, how are you today?
And the old dying preacher said, I'm taking everything that's
on the ship. I'm gathering it all together
and throwing it over. all my merit, all my preaching,
all my good works. I'm gathering everything on the
ship. My ship is sinking and I'm throwing
it overboard. And I'm going to float to shore
on the plank of free grace. Grace will help you in the time
of your need. My grace is sufficient Isn't that encouraging to pray? Our text suggests something else
here also, and I think it at least hints at this concerning
prayer, and that's the necessity of faith, the necessity of believing. Let us come, in verse 16, Let
us come. What is that coming? But at least
it implies believing, doesn't it? He that comes to God must
believe. Believing is coming and coming
is believing. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. There's so many passages of scripture,
the Lord Jesus himself taught us that when we come to Him in
prayer to believe Him, believe His Word, believe His promises,
use them to plead with Him. Verily I say unto you, if you
have faith, you shall say to this mountain, Be removed and
cast into the sea, and it shall be done. And all things whatsoever
you shall ask in prayer believing, you shall receive. He taught
us to believe in Him in prayer. We have all these mountains and
all these weaknesses and duties and enemies and fears and doubts
and needs, but listen, they can all be removed. At least removed
that we can go on and finish our race. And they're removed
by mercy and grace. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that there's enough grace in the heart of the Son of God to
save you and keep you and bring you to heaven's coast? Do you
believe that? I saw, I had somebody, somebody
was telling me a while back, they saw this, it was in a foreign
country, someone, they saw these people and they had these whips
and white shirts on. They were whipping themselves.
They'd take a step and whip themselves The blood was gushing out and
everywhere. And he said they were believing that if they walked
down this street and whipped themselves, and the blood was
gushing out, that they would obtain favor with God. There's
people that if you could preach to tonight, and you would tell
them that if they would start down on the gulf shore somewhere
and crawl up north to Minnesota, on their hands and knees that
they would obtain favor with God and they'd believe it and
do it. Surely that means something.
Surely that counts for something, they would say. Brothers and sisters, do you
believe tonight that grace will save you? I mean grace. Something that
you can't earn or merit. Something God don't owe you.
Do you believe that grace will save you? Well, we talk about it, don't
we? We talk about it. Grace and mercy. Not the works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy,
He saved us. Mercy saves us. Sometimes I get
down so bad and it's because I do not believe that mercy will
save me. Don't we do that? I remember
years and years and years ago I was moping around and I was
so sad and almost to the point I was despondent. And I remember
right where I sat down in my living room and I looked up over
the door and my wife had hung a plaque up over the door and
had five words written on that plaque. And when I read those
five words, my soul was just taken up in this heavenly place.
The darkness was gone. And oh, I felt like, yes, yes,
the Lord has saved me. He has saved forever. Five words. Five little words brought me
out of that hole. Do you know what they were? Do you want to hear them? By grace
are ye saved. I had forgot that. I wasn't believing
that. Oh, believe it. Believe Him. He's honored when we believe
Him. Go to prayer and take his promises with you and say, Lord,
you said, I believe you. That poor Canaanite lady came
to him and her daughter was grievously vexed with the devil. And she
said, Lord, help us. Help me. Have mercy on me. And
you know what the Bible said? The Lord didn't answer her word.
Buddy, that's tough. That's tough. When you're in
trouble, and you're desperate, and you go to the Lord in prayer,
and He don't answer you a word, that's tough. But I tell you,
the only thing that was tougher than not answering her, when
He said, I'm not even sent to you. I'm sent to the lost sheep,
and you're a Gentile woman. That's tough. To think you're
not one of His, that's tough. And she went to Him and said,
Lord, you've got to help me. You've got to help me. As a matter
of fact, I'm not going to let you go until you do help me.
If you don't bless me, I'm not going to turn you loose. Your
disciples ain't going to run me off. Help me, Lord, help me. He said, woman, it's not me to
take this bread and give it to dogs. Truth, Lord, I am a dog. I wonder if she thought within
herself, I'm your dog. I'm your dog. And you know what
he said to her? Great is your faith, woman. You
just won't let me go. Believe him. Believe him. Something else our text suggests
here about prayer is this. Prayer is not something you and
I do lightly, flippantly. It's not something we do irreverently.
There's sometimes a reason why some of us pause before we say
Our Father. We realize whose presence we're
coming into. And he at least hints at it here
when he said, let us come boldly to the throne. Let us come to
the throne. Not a throne, the throne. One throne that rules all of
heaven and earth, the throne. We don't know anything about
kings sitting on their thrones. We got this democracy and a bunch
of nuts up there that rules around, and we can't hardly endure to
watch them very long. The basis of men that God sent
over the country, I don't even want to go up there. Who wouldn't
want to go to Washington, D.C.? Somebody said, oh, the oil may
be in Texas, but the dipsticks are in D.C. I probably shouldn't have said
that. But the Bible calls them the basis sort of fellows. But you know when we approach
the Lord, we're approaching the majesty. Listen to these passages
of Scripture. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,
O Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. In thy majesty
ride prosperously the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness. The Lord reigneth, he is clothed
with majesty, he is clothed with strength. I will speak of the
glorious honor of his majesty and of his wondrous works. Let us enter into the rocks and
hide thyself in the dust for fear of the Lord and for the
glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall
be humble, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low,
and the Lord alone shall be exalted." He's the majesty, isn't He? This word is used four times
in the New Testament. Just four times, the word majesty
in the New Testament. When Peter and James and John
was upon the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter said, we were eyewitnesses
of His majesty. Your majesty. When He had by
Himself purged our sins, He sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high. We have such a high priest who
has sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty. To the only wise God, our Savior,
be glory and majesty and dominion both now and forever. Majesty. Isn't it amazing that
you and I, poor, needy sinners, When we pray, we're approaching
the majesty. His majesty. Oh, sometimes it's enough to
take your breath away, isn't it? I heard a preacher come to the
pulpit, and he said, I was talking to J.C. this morning. Oh, I thought
that's beyond, that's blasphemy. You refer to His Majesty JC? You write His name on your t-shirt? On the toilet walls? How dare
you put your mother's name there, but not the Majesty? We approach
a throne and He calls for utter humility. come boldly to the throne. Oh, God help any man or woman
that approaches in a flippant manner without recognizing whose
presence they're coming into. One or two more things quickly
and I'll close. Fourthly is this. These verses suggest to us that absolute reconciliation has been
made on our behalf. Reconciliation has been accomplished. It's been finished. He says here
in verse 14 of my text, that we have a great high priest
that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. Let us
therefore come boldly. See how he puts those two verses
together? See, and we have a great high priest that is passed into
the heavens, therefore let us come boldly. The apostles continually
in this book emphasizing this point that Jesus the Son of God
has entered heaven. He is indeed on the right hand
of God, on the majesty. And what's significant about
that? Because He was at one time on this earth, in our humanity. He was made of a woman. He was
made under the law. He that was appointed heir of
all things, He that made the world, He was the brightness
of God's glory and the exact image of His person was once
in our humanity and was tempted and suffered and died upon Calvary's
tree. And now He's in heaven. And what's
so snippet about that? He tells us here in chapter 2
and verse 17, look at this. Wherefore in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God."
Look at this. To make reconciliation for the
sins of his people. Reconciliation. I love that word.
If you've had a falling out with your wife, there has to be reconciliation. Usually, if you're like me, you
begin on your knees. I'm so sorry. But you know, that'll
work with us. Just a good old-fashioned apology
will work fine with us. But you know, that's not enough
with God. You don't go and say, I'm sorry,
and you're reconciled. In this reconciliation, there
has to be an atonement. You know, the Bible tells us
in Romans 5 that when Adam sinned, he offended God. He offended
God. How could he not offend God?
As by the offense of one man, judgment came upon all men to
condemnation. It hit God's face. Your sins
have hid His face. And you know something? A little
apology won't do. If I come here tonight and I
told you, God knows that you've sinned, but don't worry about
it. He's very, very merciful and He'll just pass over it.
Don't worry about it. What would you think of me? You'd
think, well, where's the justice of God? Brethren, sin has to be punished,
doesn't it? Every sin, every thought of foolishness,
everything that we did in a way of disobedience to God must be
punished. And in the days of the flesh
of our Lord Jesus, upon the cross of Calvary, He took the sins
of all His people and He said, they're mine. Ain't that what
He said? They're mine. The guilt is mine.
All the consequences is mine. And he suffered the penalty of
it all, even to death. And the fact that he was in the
sepulcher tells us that he died. And the fact that he rose from
the dead and ascended at the right hand of God tells us that
perfect reconciliation has been made. God has accepted him, and
God would never have accepted him if reconciliation had not
been perfectly accomplished. That's wonderful, is it not?
Sometimes we start thinking of prayer, we think of it this way.
We got this food, we got this sinful notions that somehow the
door into God's favor and His presence is cracked. And we need
to get our foot in there and hold it open. And God's waiting
for us to say the right thing or do the right thing. He's waiting
for us to make some kind of a contribution. No, no, Paul said. That's not
it at all. the way into God's presence is
wide open. The door stands wide open because
He is the door. We have free and continued access
because Jesus Christ, who is seated at His Father's right
hand, is our access. We're as free to come as He is. We're as welcome there as He
is. Is that sin that's too strong?
No, that's not too strong, is it? I sinned to my Father and
your Father, to my God and He's your God. That's what He's telling
us here. See Him then that we have a high
priest that has accomplished everything that God required
and He's made this perfect reconciliation. Therefore, let us come. I don't know of any other truth
in the Word of God that's been so encouraging to me for the
last several decades now than this truth right here. That no
matter what I've done, no matter how I feel, it doesn't matter. I've got access unto my Father's
presence. Access that never changes. Access
that you will never be denied. The door is wide open. Let us
therefore come. And lastly is this. I think he
suggests this in the text. The heart of our Lord Jesus has
not to this very hour changed towards his people. that he come
to represent. He's still touched. I love how
the apostle uses these words in chapter 5 in verse 1. Every
high priest taken from among men is ordained a man. Thanks
pertaining to God. He may offer both gifts and sacrifices
for sin, who can have compassion on the ignorant. Is that not
our Savior? You couldn't be a priest under
the ceremonial law, the biblical law, if you didn't have compassion
on the ignorant. That was required because he
was a figure of our Lord Jesus. Compassion. And he said in another
verse I read to you in chapter 2 and verse 17, it behooved him
to me, may it liken to his brethren, that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest. Merciful and You go all the way
back to the Old Testament, and they said that and they believed
that about him then, because that's the way it was. Way back
there. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not concerned. He was in a bad condition when
he made that statement. His compassions fell not. They
are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. And
you come to the Gospels and he's the same one. I didn't come to solicit a sacrifice
from you. I come to show you mercy. Ain't
that what he said? And he reached out his hand and
touched that leopard. And he was moved with compassion. And you know he's still that
way today, brothers and sisters. He is still that way today. He hasn't changed at all, hasn't
he? He's still that way. He can be touched. All the thousands
of years and all the infirmities from the innumerable company
of poor, afflicted saints, and He hasn't grown hard or calloused. His mercies are still sure. His
compassions still never fail, and His faithfulness is established
in the burial. Oh, come to this throne of mercy. On eagles' wings we soar. That's
where we come to. We're sinning since molest no
more. And here's where heaven comes
down, isn't it? Here's where the Father comes down and opens
up His heart to us. And here's where the Son of God
says to us, Child of weakness, watch and pray. Thine in me,
thine all in all. we obtain mercy and find grace
to Him. God bless you. Thank you, Pastor.