My text tonight is Hebrews chapter
4 and verse 16. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16. The title of my message is also
my outline. A throne, an adverb, an exhortation,
I'm sorry, an adverb and a blessing. I'll get it right in a minute.
I won't forget my points. A throne, an exhortation, an adverb and
a blessing. I want to talk to you about the
blessed privilege of prayer. And I don't pretend to know much
about that subject, but I do know what God has taught me and
is teaching me. Prayer, without question, is
one of the most important aspects of every believer's life. And
yet prayer is one of those things with which every believer struggles.
It's a subject about which there's enormous confusion even among
God's elect. I can't think of a single text
of scripture that gives us more encouragement, more reason to
pray than our text, Hebrews 4.16. And so I'm going to stick very
close to the text this evening. But before we look at it, let
me make just a couple of observations with regard to prayer. Private
prayer. John Owen once wrote, what a
man is in his closet on his knees alone before God Almighty that
he is and no more. What a man is on his knees alone
in his closet before God Almighty that he is and no more. That is a very sobering statement
and very accurate. Private prayer exposes much about
ourselves. And private prayer is just that,
it's private. You folks talk a great deal about
it, it ceases to be private. You folks talk about the time
they spend in prayer, it ceases to be private. People say, well,
He was such a holy man, he spent an hour every day in prayer.
How'd they know? If you talk about it, it ceases
to be private. Private prayer is your great privilege and mine
as the children of God to go to our Heavenly Father and pour
out our hearts to Him in worship, in intercession, in praise, in
faith, seeking his will, seeking his glory, seeking grace to bow
to him in all things. Family prayer is important. You
men ought to lead your families in prayer, especially at your
table when you gather with your families, lead them in prayer. Don't teach your children to
say prayers. Don't do it. That's just, papists
teach their children to say prayers and they recite prayers and they
recite little poems and call it prayers. Don't ever say to
me, please say a prayer for me. That's what papists do. We have
our prayer wheels turning and burn our candles and say our
prayers. That's horrible. No, believers pray. And pray
with your families. Let your sons and daughters and
your wives be guided by you in prayer. And then you will struggle
greatly. You will struggle greatly. We
do it, but we struggle. I never sat down to a meal at
our house, haven't since Shelby and I first started dating. We
sat down, not pray together. We try to pray. The prayers need forgiveness,
bathed in tears, repented of, and washed in the blood of Christ.
Because for the most part, the family prayer is either show
or repetition. Vainly repeating the same things
over and over again without heart. Not just saying words, but speaking
without heart to God. Public prayer. public prayer
in the house of God. You men who read the scriptures
and lead in prayer, you need some help here. It doesn't matter
who you are. We all tend to sort of mutter
when we stand before folks to read or pray. And you start to
pray and you suddenly, and nobody can hear you. Now,
don't do that. Don't do that. for you to lead
the congregation in scripture reading and prayer and nobody
hear you, you may as well stay in your seat and not do it. That's
kind of like a fellow preaching and you're not being able to
hear him preach. Fellow preachers ought to speak so as to be heard.
And when you're praying in public, your purpose is to lead the congregation
in the worship of God. Pray, and pray with clarity of
speech and loudness of speech sufficiently for the whole congregation
to hear you. Make it a concentrated effort.
You're not in your closets when you're here. You're not in your
closets when you're leading the congregation in prayer. One reason
I have you fellows to come up here and read scripture and pray
rather than doing it where you sit is so folks can hear you
and get behind the microphone. And if you need to, lean over
in this thing, but I want to hear you. The other folks want
to hear you. We can't benefit by what you say if we can't hear
you. But public prayer in other places,
I highly discourage. I was out with some friends recently
and they asked me to pray. I said, you can if you want to.
I can't. I can't. I just quit doing that, quit
trying to do it a long time ago. My dear friend, Brother Harry
Graham, first time I got my attention called to this, been down to
Asheboro and I preached for him on a Sunday and we stopped to
have lunch on the way home and I was waiting on him to, you
know, cross himself or bless the food or go through his little
ritual like we do when we're out in public because we say
we want to pray in public and let folks know what good Christians
we are. And I was sitting there waiting
and Harry said, I was waiting, he said, are you thankful? I
said, what? He said, are you thankful? I
said, well, yes. He said, God heard that, eat
your food. Other things are just making a show. They're just making
a show. So I want folks to know that
I'm a Christian. They won't know it by you saying
prayers in front of them. They won't know it by you going through
a little religious ritual in front of them. No, no. All that
is for folks to have attention drawn to you, like the Pharisees
sounding a trumpet in public before they pray. You don't need
to call attention to folks about your religion and about your
religious practices. You simply walk before God in
faith. But we speak to God in prayer. As we do, we come to
the throne of grace. Now let's look at our text. Hebrews
chapter four, 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. Here's the first day. Here is
the throne, the throne of grace. Once it was called the mercy
seat, but now the throne. And drawing near to God in prayer,
we come to God upon a throne. No one approaches God. No one worships God. No one comes
to God except they approach God on his throne. He, who is God Almighty, is the
great, glorious, sovereign monarch of the universe. He sits upon
the throne of total, absolute sovereignty. Now, this throne
of God is threefold. It is his throne of glory, his
glory. How little we know about that.
When the Lord God appeared on the mercy seat, the Shekinah
glory shone in the tabernacle. God in his majesty, holiness,
his glory is beyond our comprehension. It is spoken of in the book as
a throne of judgment or a justice. There at his throne of justice,
the great white throne of judgment, every human being will one day
be gathered to give an account, and all shall receive from the
throne of judgment justly his due. You and I will, at the great
white throne in the last day, receive from God exactly that
which is our due according to our works, every man being judged
according to his works. That's what the book says. So
I don't want to be judged by my works. You're going to be
whether you want to be or not. By your works performed by you
personally, which are nothing but wickedness and sin, or by
your works of perfect righteousness performed by you in Christ obedience
as your representative and substitute. And standing before God, in Jesus
Christ's perfect righteousness, the Lord God Almighty will look
on this sinner and say, well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Isn't that wonderful? His throne
is the throne of justice. And here it's described as the
throne of grace. There the man, God, Christ Jesus,
my forerunner and mediator, sits. To this throne, I boldly come
and there confess my sins. Knowing full well that in him
and by him, I shall obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. Years ago, I read something written
by William Jay concerning this throne. He said, when God enacts
laws, he is on the throne of legislation. When he administers
these laws, he's on the throne of government. When he tries
his creatures by these laws, he's on the throne of judgment.
But when he receives petitions and dispenses favors, he's on
the throne of grace. Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may attain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. The idea of a throne. naturally
repels men. We naturally tend to cringe before
a throne. We look at a throne with awe,
with awe that's almost terrifying. Now, when we think about those
things today, we don't know really anything about the throne of
a king who has absolute power in our day. Folks in some of
those Middle Eastern countries still understand that, and they
come to the throne with terror and with great fear. In our day,
our nearest thing we think of about a throne is the throne
of the Queen of England, and she's just sort of a figurehead,
but even at that, People approach the throne with fear. They approach
the throne cringing, recognizing that this is something that deserves
immense respect. Few of us could approach a throne
without trembling. But here, the throne is the throne
of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, He who holds the scepter
of absolute sovereignty over all things and over all men.
This king is he before whom all kings on the earth are less than
nothing and less than worms. He's the greatest monarch there
is, for he is the only monarch over all things. Before him,
all the nations are but dust in the balance. Blessed be his
name. We come to him upon his throne
because he sits upon a throne of grace. God sets on a throne from which
James, he rules the universe. Absolutely. Controlling the thoughts
and actions of all creatures and the deeds of all men and
angels and the events of all providence and the throne from
which he rules is called the throne of grace. Therefore, we're
allowed to come even commanded to come and to do so boldly. If we come to God, we must come
to him as a king on his throne. With reverence, yes. With confidence,
he's king on his throne and with submission. Faith in its essence
and in all its exercises is but surrender to Christ the king,
our God on his throne. In prayer, we come to this great
king. as one who gives like a king. I said that, and I hardly have
to believe that. We come to God, our Savior, the
King of glory, who gives like a king. He gives grace like a
king. He gives mercy like a king. We
ask great things of the great king. We ask great things and
should do so with expectation because he is as magnanimously
good as he is great. We ask great things of him because
he has infinite treasures with which to meet our needs. You
remember how Paul spoke to the Philippians? They had sent him
out of their deep poverty, gifts to take care of his needs while
he was in prison. And he's just overwhelmed by
their generosity. But he says to them, you continue
to do just like you're doing. And my God shall supply all your
need, listen to this, according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. God supplies our needs not out
of his riches in glory, but according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. A very wealthy man may reach
in his pocket and give another man a dollar and he's given him
something and perhaps something that will help the man along
the way a little bit, but it is just out of his riches, not
according to his riches. But if that very wealthy man
takes the poor beggar and sets him in a palace and provides
for him Sumptuously all the days of his life now. He's provided
for him According to his riches hear me children of God our God
and Savior Supplies all our needs according to his infinite riches
in glory by Christ Jesus He who is our God sits upon a throne
of grace. The king sits on his throne on
purpose specifically to dispense grace. It's his design, his object
in displaying himself as a king to dispense grace. It is in hearing
the prayers of the needy and dispensing grace to them that
God our king is honored and glorified. He glorifies himself and he is
glorified by us when we go to him on his throne and seek his
grace and obtain grace from him and mercy in time of need. This
is the picture that Isaiah saw when he saw the Lord high and
lifted up sitting on a throne. His train filling the temple,
the seraphim before him, crying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of Sabbath. And the angel comes with a live
coal from off the altar and touches Isaiah's lips and says, your
iniquity is taken away. Your sin is purged. Isaiah saw
the Lord on his throne. This is the picture that we have
given many times throughout the scriptures of men who saw the
Lord in his glory. They saw him on his throne. Revelation
chapter 4 John saw a door open in heaven and the first thing
he saw was a throne The first thing is always a throne and
if ever you come to know God The first thing you'll find out
about him is his own his throne First thing you'll find out about
him. God sits on his throne. I hear people talk as they well,
I I I knew the Lord for many years and then I realized he's
God on the throne. No, no. When you found out he's
on the throne, that's when you came to know it. God sees, we
see John saw God sitting on the throne and around the throne
was a bow, a rainbow, covenant mercy. And God does all things
with all creation below according to that covenant. And then he
saw a book. the book of God's decrees. And
he saw the lamb as it had been slain, as it were rising up out
of the throne, and he takes the book and opens the seals and
fulfills every purpose of God. That's the picture we had before
us. God, our savior, the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world, on his throne, a throne of absolute grace. You can read
about it in Revelation chapter nine, if you want to turn there
for a moment. Revelation chapter chapter 5. I'm sorry beginning
of verse 9 revelation 5 verse 9 And they sung a new song saying
Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof
for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood
out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation and and
has made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign
on the earth. And I beheld and heard the voice
of many angels round about the throne and the beast and the
elders. And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands
of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the land that
was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature which is in
heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in
the sea and all that are in them, heard I saying blessing and honor
and glory and power be to him that said it upon the throne
and under the lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts said,
Amen. And the four and 20 elders fell
down and worshiped him that never forever and ever. With that in
mind, turn back to Exodus. Chapter 25, Exodus 25. It is here in Christ, the crucified
lamb of God, sitting on the throne, that we behold God's majesty
and his mercy, his justice and his grace, his truth and his
goodness. Exodus 25. Remember I said before
our Lord Jesus is sitting on the throne which is portrayed
as the mercy seat He entered in once into the holy place with
his own blood Having obtained eternal redemption for us and
he sat down where on the right hand of the majesty on high Where's
that on the mercy seat where atonement is made where sin is
put away by the sacrifice of himself Here's the picture of
the mercy seat next to this 25. Verse 17. Thou shalt make a mercy
seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be
the length thereof and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold a beaten work. Thou shalt
make them in the two ends of the mercy seat. Verse 22. And
there will I meet with thee And I will commune with thee from
above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims, which are
upon the ark of testimony of all things which I give thee
in commandment unto the children of Israel. God says, I will meet
you only on the throne, which is the mercy seat. I'll commune
with you only on the throne, which is the mercy seat. I will
instruct you only on the throne, which is the mercy seat only
by Christ crucified, our Redeemer. Let's see if that's accurate.
Turn to Hebrews chapter nine, Hebrews chapter nine, beginning of verse one. The book of Hebrews, I remind
you, is intended by the Spirit of God to give us an understanding
of the book of Leviticus, to give us understanding in Levitical
law and the priesthood showing the excellence and the glory
of Christ. Hebrews 9 verse 1. Then verily,
the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly
sanctuary. That is, God used to meet with
men in the tabernacle in the temple, they did divine service
in the holy place in a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle
made. The first wherein was the candlestick
and the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary.
And after that, after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is
called the holiest of all. which had the golden censer and
the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein
was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded,
and the tables of the covenant. and over it the cherubims of
glory shadowing the mercy seat of which we cannot now speak
particularly. Now when these things were thus
ordained, the priest went always into the first tabernacle accomplishing
the service of God. They went in to the outer sanctuary
every day. Verse 7, but into the second,
into the holiest of all, Went the high priest alone once every
year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for
the errors of the people. The Holy Ghost, this signified
that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest
while the first tabernacle was yet standing. As long as men
came to God in that Old Testament way, in that legal dispensation,
through that physical tabernacle and temple, by that physical
priest, the way to God was not open. Men could not enter in.
But then the day came when he of whom the tabernacle, the mercy
seat, and the priesthood all spoke. And when he cried, it
is finished, and bowed his head and said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit, and gave up the ghost, something remarkable
happened. That thick veil separating the
holy place from the most holy place was rent from top to bottom. God opened the way and he said
sinners now come. Sinners come freely to the very
throne of God, the mercy seat. Read on, read on. Verse nine.
All of that was a figure for the time then present in which
were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that
did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. Could not
make him perfect as pertaining to the conscience. He'd bring
you sacrifices. He'd bring you sacrifices day
and night. He'd bring you sacrifices on
all the holy days. He'd bring you sacrifices every
year with the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. And he'd make
the sacrifice doing precisely what God and his law required.
And his conscience said, not enough. Not enough, not enough,
not enough. The most magnanimous, most costly
sacrifice. These sacrifices of these animals,
they were ordained by God, cannot satisfy justice. And his conscience said, something
else has got to be done. Something else has got to be
done. Now watch verse 10. which stood only in meats and
drinks and divers washings and carnal ordinances, physical ordinances,
imposed on them until the time of reformation, that is, until
God made a change. But Christ, being come and high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood,
by the merit, the power and the efficacy of his own blood, he
entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. Now, what's the consequence?
Look down in chapter 10, verse 19. Having therefore, brethren,
boldness. Boldness. Can you imagine any man in Israel
going freely with no fear, with no sense of apprehension into
the holy of holies and making sacrifice? Ask Uzziah about that. Oh no, if a man dared to do it,
he did so with trembling. But we're bidden to come boldly
into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. by a new and living
way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that
is to say through his flesh, through his sacrifice of himself.
Having a high priest over the house of God, let us draw near,
draw near to what? The throne of grace, draw near
to the mercy seat, draw near to God on his throne with a true
heart Now listen to these words, in full assurance of faith. In full assurance of faith. How can you do that? How can
you do that? Bringing what God requires. Abraham
never had reason to cringe going behind the second veil into the
holiest of all. Never had reason to cringe. Why?
Because he went in carrying the censer with the smoke that God
required and the sweet savor God required, carrying the blood
and the Passover lamb as God required with the hyssop as God
required to sprinkle the mercy seat as God required. God said,
you come and bring the blood, sprinkle the mercy seat, and
I will there meet you on the mercy seat. And there I will
instruct you. He had no reason to fear coming.
So sinners. coming to God, bringing Jesus
Christ. Sinners coming to God with consciousness
of their filth, consciousness of our horrible iniquity, consciousness
of how evil our hearts are, consciousness of our filthy ways, consciousness
of our failures, consciousness of our weakness, consciousness
of all that sin has wrought on us. We come to God on the throne,
on the mercy seat, with the sacrifice God gave and God required and
God accepted, Jesus Christ the Lord. in full assurance of faith. Now you start to mix some strange
fire with that. You can't come with full assurance.
You start to mix the strange fire of your good works, of your
righteousness, of your experience, of your knowledge. You can't
come with full assurance of faith. But if all you bring to God is
his darling son, you can come with full assurance of faith
and indeed do come in full assurance of faith. Having our hearts sprinkled,
you remember what the blood of those Passover sacrifices could
not do? They couldn't make a man perfect
as pertaining to conscience. Now, when Christ, by his spirit,
sprinkles our hearts with his blood, when he applies the blood
to you, your conscience is sprinkled. Bill Rodden, do you know how
we come to God? You ever come to God? Perfect. Perfect. My conscience says so. My conscience
says that God cannot require more than God has given and God
has accepted in his son. Our conscience is made perfect
before God. having a heart sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed, that is, our lives sanctified
with pure water by the washing of regeneration and the renewing
of the Holy Ghost by the word of God. The Lord God to whom
we come, before whom we bow in prayer, even in hearing prayer,
acts as a sovereign, yes, but his sovereignty is the sovereignty
of grace. All right, here's the second
thing. of gracious exhortation. Let us, therefore, come. Let us come to God on his throne. Us. Sinners. Us. People in need. Us. God's elect. Us. Those for whom Christ shed
his blood, redeemed by his blood. Us. Believing God. Let us come. Therefore, let us come. And be
sure you don't miss the reasons given. We come to the throne
of grace because of the danger we face of missing that rest
like those people who perished in the wilderness. We come to
the throne of grace because there is indeed a rest to be had. We
come to the throne of grace because the God with whom we had to do
knows all things. No point in trying to hide from
Him. We come to the throne of grace because we have a great
high priest passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. But this
coming is a spiritual thing. We get the idea that prayer somehow
has something to do with things physical. This, like all other
acts and works of faith, is a heart matter. And in such matters of
faith and worship, no rules are given to follow. No rules are
given to follow. I repeat, no rules are given
to follow. I've read a good many books in
the last 40, 45 years, 44 years about prayer, instruction in
prayer. Do you know how many good ones
I've read? This one. Every other book I've ever read
about prayer leaves you looking at yourself and doing self-examination
and introspection and leaves you full of doubt and fear. I've
never yet read a single good book on prayer. Haven't found
one yet. If you find one, bring it. I'll
read it. No rules are given to follow. No order is given. But the rule of reverent love,
gratitude and faith. Posture is meaningless. People
think you got to pray laying on the ground, or facing toward
Mecca, or facing toward Jerusalem, or facing this way or that, or
you got to pray on your knees. Fellow came in to have an interview
with Spurgeon one day concerning the gospel of God's grace. Spurgeon
preached. He said, he said, I've read my
Bible through on my knees and I've never seen an election in
there. Spurgeon said, maybe you should have read it in a more
comfortable position. The fact is posture has got nothing to
do with spiritual things. I recall on occasion seeing fellows
start to pray and they kneel down in front of folks and lift
their hands and roll their eyes back and pray. No, they just
made a show and talked a lot. Posture's got nothing to do with
it. Affectation, pretense is horrible. It's horrible. Whether in private or in public,
I mean, You don't hear it around here,
but you hear fellows praying, suddenly their voices change.
The way they talk changes. Suddenly they take on a holy
tone. Oh God. Somebody said, I can't
remember who it was, talking about Whitfield, he said, I'd
give so much money if I could just say, oh, like Whitfield
does when he prays. What foolishness. What foolishness.
is an act of worship that makes it spiritual. It's more an attitude
than an act, more an attitude than words. It's inspired by
the promise of God. This act of faith is seeking
the will of God, motivated by the glory of God. And wherever
there is true prayer, those things are so. We come to God because
he promises he will hear us. And he will extend mercy and
grace in time of need. We come to God seeking God's
will. We tend to pray and always say,
if it be your will. And that's all right. I'm not
scolding you for that. Please understand me. We tend to say,
when we finish our prayer, we ask this in Jesus name. That's
all right. I'm not scolding you for that.
But saying the words is not seeking God's will. Saying in Jesus name
is not praying in Jesus name We seek God's will before him
and when God teaches us his will then we can pray for it David
said thy servant found it in his heart to pray this prayer
unto thee Prayer is found in the heart David Yeah, we make
so put me on your prayer list I've never had one in my life
Don't have one. If that's where prayer is found,
it's not prayer. Does that make sense to you? If you've got to read it on a
list, it's not prayer. It's not prayer. Prayer is found in the
heart. When God puts in your heart a
burden so that you can pray, then you can pray. Everything
else is just saying words. Prayer is motivated by God's
glory. This is what it is to pray in
Christ's name. It is to pray, trusting the Savior, seeking
his glory. Where two or three are gathered
in my name, there am I in the midst of it. We've come here
tonight, gathered by God's Spirit, I hope. Gathered, trusting Christ,
seeking his glory. And Merle, if that's how we came,
God meets with us. That's the promise. Who is it
that's here urged to prayer? I am inclined to think Paul wrote
this epistle, but whoever the man was, like ourselves, the
one encouraging us to prayer is a sinner saved by God's grace,
an experienced believer who often proved the value of prayer to
his own soul. This call comes from the whole
church of God. Let us pray. It comes from God's
saints needing one another's prayers, urging one another to
prayer, to help one another along the way in prayer. Pray for us,
Paul said again and again. I urge you, pray for one another.
Pray for me. This call comes from God, the Holy Spirit, who
inspired the writer to write these words. The spirit making
intercession in us says, let us come. Let us come. I recall one day playing golf
with a preacher. And I don't know why on earth
he took a notion to do it, but we were playing and suddenly
he said, well, I got a good notion why. He said, well, let's play.
And man, you know what the nut did? He knelt right down on the
golf course and started this stuff and started praying. And
I'm looking around to see if anybody's watching. I didn't
want to be seen with it. Well, why not? You're ashamed
to pray? No, I'm ashamed of that nonsense. I'm ashamed to be identified
with it in any way. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Prayer
is that which is inspired in the heart by God the Spirit so
that we come to the throne of grace. We come to the throne
of grace by the direction of God. So there's your going through
the day. God moves you to pray. And nobody
knows anything about it, but you and God. Nobody knows anything
about it, but you and God. God moves you to pray. The Spirit
of God bids you let us come boldly to the throne of grace. Now,
look at this adverb. That's the third thing. Let us
come boldly. Boldly. Did I read that right? Does God the Holy Spirit call
for us to come to the throne of grace boldly? He does indeed. Not proudly, not presumptuously,
not demandingly, but boldly. We may and should come to the
throne of grace boldly because it's a throne of grace. I once read that Martin Luther
prayed And he did so with such reverence as if he were praying
to the infinite God and with as much familiarity as if he
were talking to his most familiar friend. That's a pretty good
picture of it. To come boldly to the throne
of grace is to come to God reverently. And to come to him like, hello
there, how are you tonight? Just like that. As if you were
talking to your most intimate friend. This word boldly implies
liberty without restraint. The apostles spoke the word of
God boldly, with liberty, without restraint. We have liberty to
speak our minds freely. to pour out our hearts and wills,
our needs, our fears, even our complaints to God. Go back again
and read the Psalms. And see how David spoke to God.
Is your mercy cling gone forever? Have you forgotten to be gracious?
Lord, how long? How long? How long? Until you'll hear my cry. I pour
out my heart in the daytime and in the night and I saw it, but
you will not hear me. My God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me? That's not pretense, Bobby. That's
earnest, confident, open, honest prayer. God teach me so to pray. I read a while back of a man
who came to Augustus Caesar with a request to the great emperor. But he came with such fear and
trembling that the emperor spoke sternly to him and said, What
man do you think you're giving sock to an elephant? The man's
cringing offended the ruler. Can you imagine how God, our
father, must be offended? when we cringe before him like
slaves, begging for something that he's not willing to give. Don't come to God like you're
coming to a tyrant. Don't approach God like you're
approaching someone that's anxious to do you harm. Don't approach
God that way. Come boldly. with confidence
of a child, hope, joy. That's the attitude of the believer's
heart coming to him. Remember, when we come to the
throne of grace, it's not to Sinai's mount, but to Zion's
hill through the merits of Christ before our father in heaven.
And we may come and should come boldly. It's a throne of grace. Therefore, our faults will be
forgiven. It's a throne of grace. Therefore,
the faults of our prayers will be overlooked. It's a throne
of grace. Therefore, our petitions will be rightly understood. I go to God in prayer, and I pray for my daughter, my
son-in-law, my grandchildren, and for your children, your sons
and daughters, and for you. And I have to beg God to forgive
me for my selfish interest in my prayers. But that doesn't
keep me from praying for you or for them. Because I know that he hears
rightly what I can't speak rightly. Turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8, verse 26. I've
told you this before, but it'll bear repetition. Back some years
ago when she was able to do so, had time to do so, Shelby used
to go every Monday up to the rest home and read scripture
to some of the ladies there and some of the men as well. Brother
Bob Potts did the same thing for a good long while. And about
everybody at rest homes was religious, you know. Mean as hell, but religious. Just old folks who can't do what
they used to do. But she came out one day, I went to pick her
up, and she was about half laughing and about half crying. And I
said, honey, what's wrong? She said, I think I finally met somebody
in there who knows God. And she always looked forward
to going and seeing this lady. And she came out one day, and
she had read through this passage in Romans chapter 8. Coconut
was the name, wasn't it? Is that correct? And she stopped
when she got to reading verse 26. Now let's read it together. Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth
our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as
we ought. Can you identify with that? God,
I just don't know what to pray for as ought. But the Spirit
itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered, with sighs that baffle language, with groanings that
cannot be uttered." She said to Shelby when she read that
verse, said, you know what I think that means? And Shelby said,
well, no, what? She said, I think that means
that when we pray, the Spirit of God takes out what ought not
be there and puts in what ought to be there. And she told me
that. I've never forgotten it yet.
I believe it's the best commentary I've ever read in Romans 8.26.
The Spirit of God cleans up our petitions so that while we pray,
Mark, it's impossible for you to pray except according to the
lust of your flesh. Is that right? Don't you struggle with that?
We pray that we may have what we want. And the Spirit of God
cleans that up so that we're praying for what we really want,
the will of God and the glory of God. This is a throne of grace. Therefore, our miseries will
be pitted and our needs will be supplied. What does this word
boldly suggest? It means come constantly, come
freely, come with confident hope, come with opportunity so that
you You may get tired of praying. How quickly I do. But God never gets tired of hearing. So come with opportunity. Come
with opportunity. One last thing. Here's a blessing
supplied. Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace. Not that we may utter good words,
but that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. We come when we need great mercy
because of our sins. We come when we have little grace. We come because we have need
of more grace. You often wonder why God has
left us in this world as he has to live in this body of flesh
of these corrupt, depraved natures, warring the flesh against the
spirit, spirit against the flesh, a world of sorrow and trouble
and woe, a world of heartache and pain. Let me give you just one reason. He keeps us in need. He keeps us in need. Oh, God,
I thank you for the need of coming to the throne of grace. He keeps
us in need of mercy and grace. And you come to the throne of
grace with your need. and you spread out your need and you obtain mercy and find
grace to help exactly according to your need. We obtain mercy and find grace
to help exactly according to our need. Let us therefore come
boldly to the throne of grace that we may take mercy and find
grace to help in time of need. Amen.