To share with you from the word.
I'm not going to take a long time
making an introduction tonight.
I'll talk a little bit more about that
tomorrow.
How long do we have on the tape?
Is it 45 minutes?
60 minutes.
60 minutes?
Yeah.
All right.
Well, it's a privilege to share the word
with you.
And those who were with us last year
will remember the accent a little bit.
And I try to speak a little bit
more like an American, but I'm not too
good at it yet.
So I trust that you'll be able to
follow as we go through the word.
Amen.
Please turn with me to the book of
Hebrews and chapter 4.
Hebrews chapter 4.
And I wasn't aware that you were busy
studying the book of Hebrews right now.
And we've in fact just concluded a series
of 34 weeks on the book of Hebrews.
And I just had on my heart to
share with you some aspects of Jesus as
our high priest from the book of Hebrews.
And I'm going to begin in chapter 4.
And we'll see how we go during the
weekend.
I have a few thoughts mapped out, but
we'll allow the Lord to direct us.
So I'm going to read from Hebrews 4
and from verse 14 through chapter 5, verse
11.
Hebrews 4.14 through 5.11. Seeing then
that 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 cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was
in all points tempted as we are, yet
without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need.
For every high priest taken from among men
is appointed for men in things pertaining to
God, that he may offer both gifts and
sacrifices for sins.
He can have compassion on those who are
ignorant and going astray, since he himself is
also subjected to weakness.
Because of this he is required as for
the people, so also for himself, to offer
sacrifices for sins.
And no man takes this honor to himself,
but he who is called by God, just
as Aaron was.
So also Christ did not glorify himself to
become high priest, but it was he who
said to him, You are my son, today
I have begotten you.
As he also says in another place, You
are a priest forever, according to the order
of Melchizedek.
Who in the days of his flesh, when
he had offered up prayers and supplications with
vehement cries and tears, to him who was
able to save him from death and was
heard because of his godly fear.
Though he was a son, yet he learnt
obedience by the things which he suffered.
And having been perfected, he became the author
of eternal salvation to all who obey him.
Called by God as high priest according to
the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have
much to say and hard to explain, since
you have become dull of hearing.
And I want to speak this evening from
verses 15 and 16 of chapter 4.
We do not have a high priest who
cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in
all points tempted as we are yet without
sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in a time of
need.
And the writer to the Hebrews, whoever that
may have been, I happen to like the
idea that it was Paul, but it doesn't
really matter.
But he is writing to Jewish believers who
were struggling with a temptation to return to
Judaism.
And so the theme of the book, as
you know, is the better things.
That we have something better in Christ Jesus
than they had in Judaism.
And the book is obviously applicable to us
today for two reasons.
Firstly, because there are those Christians who want
to go back to Judaism, to Jewish practices,
to Jewish feasts and traditions.
And really what they are saying is that
Jesus is not enough.
And yet Paul is saying, oh sorry, the
writer to the Hebrews is saying, Jesus is
better.
He is a better high priest, he is
a better sacrifice, he is the author of
a better salvation.
In every respect he is better.
He has ushered in for us a better
hope.
And so it's strange then that we would
want to go back to those things which
Paul calls in Galatians the weak and beggary
elements.
Those things which were simply the things that
pointed to Christ.
And so we want a relationship with those
things that simply point to the reality, the
types and the shadows, instead of having a
relationship with the reality.
Who is Jesus?
The fulfillment of all of those things.
But the book is also relevant to us
today because I think that it writes to
Christians who generally want to give up.
And in fact we will be making available
a few of the articles which I write,
and I just wrote this last week, on
let's go on from Hebrews chapter 11, no,
chapter 10, and the temptation to just want
to give up.
And we get so tired sometimes of all
of the problems and all of the issues
and all of the temptation and all of
the struggle of just living life, let alone
being a Christian on top of that.
And sometimes we are tempted to maybe not
go back, but just to take time out,
just to stand still for a while.
And yet what the writer is saying is
we need to go on.
And he is over and over reminding them,
I think at least on two occasions, he
uses those words, let's go on, let's go
on, let's not look back.
And there is that one verse which I
always, that just sticks to the back of
my mind all the time, little short verse
that says, remember Lot's wife.
Remember Lot's wife.
Why?
Because she looked back and she was turned
to a pillar of salt.
And so he is writing and he is
giving us all of the reasons why we
should be going on.
He is giving us all of the reasons
why Jesus is better.
And he is now speaking about Jesus as
the high priest, the first few chapters deal
with some of the issues, and here he
is speaking about this high priest and he
is saying in verse 15, We do not
have a high priest who cannot sympathize with
our weaknesses.
The old King James says who is not
touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
He is touched, he sympathizes with our weaknesses.
Notice not just with our temptations but with
our weaknesses.
And he gives the reason and from last
year I trust you remember that you have
to listen, you have to follow because I
am going to get a little bit complicated.
The reason why he can be sympathized, he
can be touched with the feelings of our
infirmities, is because he was in all points
tempted as we are.
Yet without sin.
I am going to spend a little bit
of time on that thought.
He was in all points tempted like we
are.
Yet without sin.
Let me deal with yet without sin.
At no stage did Jesus ever sin.
So anything that I am going to say
to you now, don't get the impression that
I am saying that that resulted in sin.
He never sinned.
Otherwise he could not have made a sacrifice
for us.
How would we know, and the writer to
the Hebrews deals with this, how would we
know that his sacrifice was accepted?
Because God raised him from the dead.
We could not know that his sacrifice was
accepted.
Let's say he sinned in that last minute
on the cross.
Then he would have to die for his
own sins.
How would we know that?
By him not being raised from the dead.
How do we know that God accepted the
atonement that the high priest made once a
year as he would go into the holiest
of all?
By the reappearance of the high priest.
That was a sign that God had accepted
the blood that had been sprinkled on the
mercy seat.
And so he never sinned.
But he was in every point tempted like
we are.
What does that mean?
The problem is that we have so many
scriptures that we can quote, and I am
sure many of us can quote that verse.
And yet we have never really thought about
it.
We have never really understood what it means
and what it means to me.
One of the problems here is that there
are theologians who say, well, Jesus could not
have sinned.
It's a very popular way of thinking.
And in fact most Christians really deep down
feel, well, Jesus couldn't really sin.
And I think that's a question we need
to resolve in our hearts.
And that's something I want to spend a
few minutes on this evening.
And maybe rattle your chain a little bit.
Could Jesus have sinned?
That's the question that we have to resolve
because everything hangs on that.
You see, if Jesus could not have sinned,
then he was not tempted like we are.
Temptation that cannot lead to sin is not
a temptation.
If you come to me and you say,
I want you to go and kill brother
Gary.
Maybe for you that would be a temptation.
But for me it's not a temptation.
It's not a temptation.
Why?
Because there is no potential for me of
doing that.
There is no chance I would do that.
As long as I'm in my right mind.
You see, a temptation is only a valid
temptation if it can result in sin.
There are many things that are a temptation
to me.
Because I'm human.
There may not be a temptation to you.
Why?
Because it's nothing to you.
You just look past it and it doesn't
tempt you.
But it tempts me.
Now, one of the reasons why people say
that Jesus could not have sinned is because
they say, well, he was not born with
a sinful nature as we are.
For those theologians here, he was not born
of the original sin.
He was not born of Adam.
And so we are sinners, we are born
as sinners.
I trust you understand that may be a
little bit difficult concept.
We are not sinners because we sin.
We sin because we are sinners.
We have a sinful nature.
We are born with that nature.
And before anybody is able to teach us
how to sin, we sin automatically.
That's something we do because that's our nature.
Now, people say, well, Jesus was not born
with that kind of nature and therefore Jesus
could not sin.
Now let me ask you two questions.
Was Adam made with a sinful nature?
No.
But did Adam sin?
Yeah.
So did the fact that he was born
without the nature of a sinner prevent him,
protect him from sinning?
No.
The angels who sinned, were they created by
God with a sinful nature?
No.
They were made without a sinful nature and
yet we know they sinned.
And so you can see that not being
born with a sinful nature is no guarantee
that you will not sin.
It doesn't stop you from becoming a sinner.
And so the fact that Jesus was born
without a sinful nature did not prevent him,
is no guarantee that he would not sin.
And so he is born.
And one of the essences of our faith
is that when he was born he became
a man just like us.
And yet that is one of the concepts
that we struggle to comprehend and to make
real in our lives.
He became just like us.
The theologians or the creed says that he
was very man.
Yet he was God.
Let's just struggle with that concept for a
minute.
You see, we get the impression that Jesus
was not really like us.
Because he was God in the flesh.
So he had power that you and I
do not have.
He had abilities that we don't have.
He had a nature that we don't have.
And so he was not really like us.
And this is important to the passage that
we are dealing with because he says, We
have a high priest who understands our weaknesses
because he was just like us.
And yet in reality we don't believe he
was just like us.
But the fact is he was just like
us.
And let me just deal with this, let
me just explain this for one moment.
Jesus never, don't let them fool you, don't
let the Roman Catholics fool you into believing
that Jesus was born with supernatural powers.
Jesus did not perform a single miracle until
when the Holy Spirit came upon him.
He did not as they say when he
was a little baby make, a little kid
make pigeons or doves out of clay and
blow on them and they flew away.
That's rubbish.
When he was growing up he grew up
exactly like every young person grows up.
He went through puberty.
You ever thought about that?
Are young girls here?
All the awkwardness, all the mood swings, all
the up and downs, all the hormones rushing
around and all of the...
He went through all of that.
There was nothing that absolved him from any
aspect of the human experience.
He was just like us.
You see because one of the things that
he did when he came is he willingly
set aside his divine prerogative, privilege, power, authority,
whatever you want to call it.
He never stopped being God but he set
it aside.
And the way I like to explain it
is this.
If you go into some remote part of
the world, some third world country where people
live in substandard conditions.
Well let's say a rich man does that.
Flies in with his helicopter, lands there, looks
at the people and says, you know, you
should be living better lives than you're living.
Why do you drink this water?
Why don't you live in a proper house?
You think they'd have anything, they'd listen to
what he has to say?
Not for one moment.
And then maybe he'll say, what I'll do
is I'll come and live here with you
and I'll show you that you can live
a different kind of life.
So he sends off the helicopter and the
helicopter comes back with pumps and generators and
all the stuff that he needs to build
himself a nice big house.
And he builds this house and he has
all of the food brought in by the
helicopter every night.
Do you think the people are going to
be able to relate to him and say,
well yeah, you know, we can relate to
that?
No.
But if this man says, I have all
my riches.
I have my credit cards, I have my
checks, check account and my bank account.
But I'm going to leave it all behind.
He can even have the credit card in
his back pocket.
But he says, I'm not going to touch
it.
I'm going to come in here with the
clothes on my back and I'm going to
live just like you live.
But I'm going to show you that you
can live better.
And if he does that, he is qualified
as a role model, as an example to
those people.
He never stopped being a rich man.
The time may come that he says, okay,
I've done my job.
I'm going back to my mansion and to
my helicopter and my jet plane and all
my stuff.
But while I'm here, I'm going to not
touch the things that I have.
I'm not going to touch my power or
my money or my authority.
I'm just going to leave it alone.
Now, I'm going to speak about, I think
tomorrow night, Lord willing, about Gethsemane and about
the cross.
Because it's a continuation of what we're saying
here.
And I trust that in that we will
see the temptation that comes to Jesus to
pull his ATM card out of his back
pocket.
To use the power that was his.
But he never did that.
He did not do a single thing.
He did not speak a word.
He did not discern the thoughts of men.
He did not perform a miracle.
That he did not do by the same
power that is available to you and to
me.
Jesus, during his 33 years, the 33 years
before his ministry, the three and a half
years of his ministry, during none of that
time did he for one moment have anything
that you and I do not have.
Because if he did, he is not a
faithful high priest.
He is disqualified to tell me that I
need to live a different lifestyle.
And who is he?
How can he understand my pain?
How can he understand my temptation?
How can he understand my loneliness?
How can he understand my frustrations?
How can he understand the things that I
suffer as I live this life of the
flesh?
He doesn't have a clue.
Because he had resources that I don't have.
No.
He became just like us.
With the same limitations.
With the same weaknesses.
Now remember, without sin.
Weaknesses are not sin.
Temptations are not sin.
But when that temptation is allowed to take
root in our hearts and in our minds,
it produces the sin.
Being weak is not a sin.
But when I allow that weakness to dissuade
me, to keep me from doing what I
should be doing, it leads to sin.
Jesus knew what it was to be tired.
He knew what it was to be frustrated.
And I wrote this last week and someone
challenged me on that.
It's a tremendous exercise to write, Brother Gary.
Because people challenge you on everything that you
write.
And I said, you know, Jesus knew what
was a disappointment.
Jesus knew what it was to be disappointed.
And I said, how could Jesus be disappointed?
But were you there at the grave of
Lazarus?
And Jesus looks at the unbelief, not of
the Pharisees, He knew they didn't believe, but
of Mary and Martha and those who had
been following Him.
And as they sorrowed as those who had
no hope.
And what does it say?
Jesus wept.
He didn't weep for Lazarus.
He knew He was going to raise Lazarus.
He knew that before He got there.
But He wept out of sheer disappointment and
frustration.
At the unbelief of the people that He
had been ministering to for such a long
time.
And who just didn't get it.
Just did not understand that He was indeed
the resurrection and the life.
And that the resurrection was not necessarily something
which was way in the future.
But that He could raise Lazarus there and
then.
Jesus comes over the brow of Jerusalem and
He looks over Jerusalem and He says, Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, who killed the prophets.
How often would I have gathered you as
a hen gathers against her chickens.
And yet you would not.
Was Jesus not disappointed?
See He was in every place, in every
sense, in every way.
He was put in the same positions as
you and I are.
And yes, He could have sinned.
He could have sinned.
Because else how would He understand?
When we are pushed to the very limit.
When we are pushed to the very edge.
How would He understand if there was no
edge?
If He had a safety net?
It's not an issue.
You know if you're going to walk a
tightrope and there's a safety net and a
safety harness and cables.
I suppose it still takes a little bit
of nerve to walk on the thing.
But really it's not an issue.
But if you're going to walk from one
skyscraper to another in New York City like
Blondin did.
With no safety net, with no harness.
If you fall, that's it.
That's a different thing.
And folks, in our minds we think Jesus
had a safety net.
No, He did not have a safety net.
He had nothing that you and I don't
have.
And so we're able to look to Him
and we're able to be encouraged by Him.
And we're able to say, Lord, You really
know what I feel like.
You know my frustration.
You know my weakness.
You know my temptation.
Because You've been there.
Now let me just clear up that I
don't believe, and I know that there are
people who say that, well, Jesus must have
been tempted with drugs and with alcohol and
with sex and with money and with all
the things that tempt people.
For that temptation to be valid.
Now I think that's rubbish.
You see, it doesn't matter what the area
of temptation is.
One man's problem may be drugs.
Another man's temptation or problem may be gambling.
But the struggle is exactly the same.
There is no difference in the intensity.
There is no difference in how hard the
one has to struggle against his drugs and
the other one has to struggle against the
gambling thing.
It's the same thing.
And the one should be able to have
absolute sympathy for the other one, even though
it's a different area.
So you really just need to be tempted
in one area, to the extreme, to the
limits, to understand what it's all about.
So Jesus didn't have to be tempted in
the precise area that you are struggling with,
in order for him to understand what temptation
is like.
Because as I trust we'll see tomorrow night,
he was pushed to the very edge, to
the very, very limit.
So he understands.
And not only does he understand, he has
sympathy, he has touched.
You see, one of the things about Jesus
is that he now perfectly remembers, because he
is back in his godly position as God.
And one of the things that comes with
that package is the fact that he knows
everything.
And we as humans have the ability to
forget easily.
And we have the amazing ability to forget
pain very quickly.
That's a protection I think that God has
built into who we are.
That's why gambling is a problem.
Because the gambler never remembers all the times
he lost money.
He only remembers the times he won.
So we forget the pain.
Just ask the mothers, how long do they
remember the pain of childbirth?
Only until the baby was in their arms.
But he perfectly remembers.
And, you know, we can...
I received an email last night from a
brother.
He is 69 and his wife is 67.
He's just discovered that his wife is unfaithful
to him.
Can you imagine?
They've been married, what, 47 years.
I can just imagine what he's going through.
But you know what, I cannot feel what
he's feeling.
I just can't, because I'm not there.
I have an idea of what it must
feel like after 47 years.
At the very end of your life.
But you know what, Jesus knows exactly how
he feels.
Exactly.
And whatever it is that you are struggling
with tonight, Jesus feels with you.
The same intensity.
The same whatever it is.
And so we have a high priest who
can sympathize with our weaknesses.
Because he was tempted in every point as
we are.
As we are.
Now, because of this, let us therefore...
That little word therefore in the book of
Hebrews is full of these things.
Remember the book of Hebrews is very difficult
to preach on.
Because every verse is connected to the verse
before it and the verse after it.
There is not a single verse on the
whole of the book of Hebrews that stands
on its own.
They're all interconnected.
And so we have this faithful high priest.
And so what we need to do is
let us.
And maybe on Sunday I'm going to speak
a little bit more about let us.
And here he's saying, because we have this
high priest, because he knows, because he's been
exactly where you are and where I am
today.
Remember the prophet I think was it Ezekiel
who went down to the captives and he
says, I sat where they sat.
I was in their place.
What we now need to do is we
need to come boldly to the throne of
grace.
It's amazing how that when we get into
trouble, when we have temptations, when we have
struggles, when we have issues, that it seems
that the first place we should be running
to is the throne of grace.
And yet somehow that's often the last place
we run to.
We'll first run to the counselor, to the
psychologist, to the doctor, to the pharmacy, to
the bank manager, to whoever else we think
can help us.
And when all of those have failed, then
maybe I'll go to the throne of grace.
When in fact that should be my first
reaction.
Isn't it amazing that whenever we have a
problem, the first thing that comes into our
mind is, who can I call?
Who can help me with this thing?
When in fact my first reaction is let
me go to the throne of grace.
And so let's come to the throne of
grace.
The fact that he writes for us to
do that obviously is because we need to
be reminded and because we often don't do
that.
Let's come to the throne of grace.
And let's come boldly.
Now boldly doesn't mean arrogantly, there's a difference.
Many Christians today are arrogant in their relationship
with God.
They stand before God, but we come boldly.
Why?
Because we have a high priest.
I think sometimes we don't come boldly because
we feel, well, you know, God's not really
interested in my petty little problem.
You know, he's got this world to run
and he's got all the angels and he's
got the demons to contend with and God's
busy with really important stuff.
God's not interested in my petty little issues.
No, he is interested.
Because he knows how important those little issues
are.
And because he knows, he is open.
His door's wide open and he says come.
Come boldly.
And so it doesn't matter whether the issues
are big or whether they're small.
Whether it's big temptations, small temptations, big problems,
small problems.
It doesn't matter.
Let me come to the throne of grace.
You know, one of the frustrations I have
as a pastor when I was hearing of
Brother Gary, I'm not really a good pastor.
And one of the frustrations I have is
when I see people struggling with issues.
Marriage problems or whatever it is.
And they won't come to me.
And month after month I watch them struggling
with the issues.
I don't have all the answers, but I
have some answers.
And sometimes I know what the problem is
and I know what the solution is.
And I said to my wife, you know,
there's one particular situation, for months now.
And eventually I went to the brother, I
said, Brother, please, will you and your wife
come and see me?
I need to talk to you.
That was a few months ago.
They still haven't come.
We finally now come to a point where
I said, you know, I've got to get
the two of them together, separate from other
people, and I've got to say, I want
to see you in my office.
Because I need to help them.
But they don't want to come.
I don't understand why.
Maybe they're scared of me.
They have reason.
Maybe they're scared of what they're going to
find out about themselves.
I don't know.
But it's incredibly frustrating for me.
To know I can help them.
I can't help everybody, but in this case,
I know I can help them.
But they don't want to come.
Can you imagine the Lord sitting up there
in heaven, and I'm just speaking in that
way.
And we struggle away at our issues, and
he's saying, come!
Come to me!
All you labor are my heavy laden.
And we don't come.
We say, Lord, I just have to do
it.
I have to sort this out.
I have to handle it myself.
Whatever excuse we have.
And he's saying, come.
Come boldly.
To that throne of grace.
It's a throne of grace, folk.
It's not a throne of condemnation.
I want to see this couple in my
study, not so that I can come down
on them and tell them how they failed,
but that I can extend grace to them
and help them with their situation.
And it's a throne of grace that we
come to as we come to the Lord,
because he's not going to condemn us because
we are tempted, or because we have even
sinned, or because we're not getting victory, or
because of whatever struggles we're going through.
It's a throne of grace.
He wants to help us.
So he says, come.
Now we get to a little bit more
difficult part.
Come boldly to the throne of grace that
we may do what?
Two things.
Obtain mercy and find grace to help in
a time of need.
Two different things.
Subtle difference, but important difference.
You see, in most people's minds, grace and
mercy is the same thing.
And it's not.
One of the problems, and the Amplified Bible,
by the way, is very helpful, but it
also creates many problems.
One of the problems is that when you
read the Amplified Bible, wherever you find the
word grace, it says, God's unmerited favor, or
something to that effect.
Free unmerited favor.
But when grace is used in the scripture,
it is not always unmerited favor.
And I've not found a good definition for
the other use for the word grace, but
the other definition is something like this.
God's enabling power.
So you remember, Paul says, I had to
scorn the flesh.
I prayed three times.
God said, my grace is sufficient for you.
In other words, I will enable you to
deal with it.
And my grace is sufficient.
When God said that to Paul, he wasn't
saying to Paul, my mercy is enough for
you.
No, he says, my grace is sufficient.
I will empower you and I will help
you and strengthen you to deal with what
it is that you need to deal with.
So, grace and mercy are different in this
respect.
Particularly in this verse.
So, there's mercy.
What is mercy?
Well, it's exactly that.
Clemency.
Not giving the guilty one what he deserves.
And so he says, let's come to the
throne of grace.
And there are two things.
It's a two-step process.
The first step is to obtain mercy.
Obtain mercy.
Let me illustrate it this way.
You remember Queen Esther in the Old Testament.
She wants to plead for her people and
so she goes before the king.
But there was a rule that if you
came into the king's chamber without permission, you
would be dragged out and killed.
And so she comes into the king's chamber
and what does the king do?
He extends his scepter.
And what does that mean?
He's giving her mercy.
But was that all she wanted?
No, she had a request.
She wanted more than that.
But in order to get her request, she
first needed the mercy.
And once she received the mercy, then she
could begin to say, this is what I
want.
And that's exactly what he is speaking about
here.
Let's come to the throne of grace and
let's just receive that mercy that he extends
to us.
Why do I need that mercy?
Because sometimes I don't have mercy on myself.
Sometimes I feel that God is judging me
or people are judging me.
I judge myself and I just need God's
mercy in my life.
I just need to be aware that his
mercy is so great.
And because of what he has done at
the cross of Calvary, he is able to
cleanse me of all unrighteousness.
So I need to receive that mercy.
Now I want you to see that he
is using two other words that are also
very, very different.
That we may obtain mercy and find grace.
Obtain and find.
These are two different things.
Obtaining means getting.
You just get it.
It's there.
Just take it.
So the mercy is there.
When I come to the throne of grace,
he receives me.
Why?
Because of Jesus.
Because of the cross.
Because I'm covered by the blood.
And so every time I come into his
presence, I'm able to say thank you Lord
for the mercy that you extend to allow
me to come into your presence.
Sometimes we forget the awesome privilege that is
ours to come into the presence of the
King.
To come boldly and not to be struck
down and to be killed.
But he gives us mercy.
And so I obtain mercy.
That's the easy part.
But the little word find.
What does that mean?
Find.
Seek.
And you will find.
There's no other way to find but to
seek.
There's a difference between obtaining and finding.
Obtaining means it's there and you just take
it.
Finding means you have to look for it.
You have to seek it.
Ask and it will be given.
Seek.
Knock.
It's a little bit harder.
You remember Queen Esther?
She had to go through this process with
the King and so she says, you know,
my request is that you come to dinner
at my house.
And when he came to dinner there was
this whole song and dance and she feeds
him and wines and dines him and then
eventually gets around to the real issue.
Folks, sometimes grace needs to be sought.
Not because God is not willing to give
it to us.
Not because he doesn't want to extend his
grace to us.
But sometimes he chooses and in fact most
of the time he chooses to give us
the grace in a form and a shape
that is not user friendly.
What do I mean by that?
I simply mean that when I have a
problem with patience, I come to
the throne of grace.
I find grace.
I obtain mercy.
I say, Lord, I need grace.
I need you to give me patience.
This is the grace I need for my
life now at this time.
I need patience.
So what does he do?
He gives me a tablet and I take
it and I know I have patience.
Or he gives me a patience shot.
How does he give me patience?
By putting me through a process.
Putting me through a process.
And as I go through that process I'm
finding the answer.
I'm finding the patience.
I'm finding the grace.
And that's the part we don't like.
Because we think that when I come to
God and I bring him my problems, I
say, Lord, here's my problems.
Here are my temptations.
Here are my sins.
Here are my issues.
Just take care of them.
Give me, give me, give me, give me.
Give me grace.
Give me love.
Make me this way.
Do this.
Do that.
Do the other thing.
And he says, I'm going to give you
what you need.
I'm going to give you the grace.
But I'm not going to package it in
the way you want it.
And so I need to find that grace.
I need to find it.
Sometimes he chooses to give it to me
through somebody else.
I need encouragement.
And he sends that person that really irritates
me.
And I'm just about to reject the grace
that I asked for.
But I need to find it.
Many of the times he sends it to
me through his word.
And if I just go to the word,
I'll find the encouragement I need.
I will find the advice that I need.
I will find the direction that I need.
I will find the strengthening that I need.
But you know, that means I have to
read a few pages.
It may mean I have to spend a
few days in reading the scriptures to find
the grace that he has for me.
And that's too much like hard work.
And so this is the problem.
Many people come to the throne of grace
and they don't find that grace.
Because they're not prepared to look for it.
Remember Jesus said, seek and you will find.
When my daughters were growing up, I always
used this as an illustration, always irritated them.
I have an extensive workshop.
I like to work with my hands.
Because wood and steel is not like people.
You shape it one way, it's going to
stay that way.
It does exactly what you tell it to
do.
Anyway, I send them to my shop and
I say, find me this thing.
Get me that thing, the tool, whatever.
They come back and they say, what?
I can't find it.
Did you look for it?
Yeah, I looked for it.
But you see, they didn't look for it
because I...
Now my wife does the same thing with
me, you see.
It's on the top shelf.
There's a difference between looking and looking.
There's a difference between looking and seeking.
And if we seek, we will find.
The problem is that we're just looking.
We're just browsing through all the options.
Just browsing through the scriptures.
Happy days in Hebrews.
Instead of saying, Lord, I want to seek
and find your will.
I want to seek your grace.
I want to find what it is that
you're trying to do in my life at
this point.
Sorry, I've gone way over time.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne
of grace that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in a time of
need.
You see, when we don't have need, we
don't need the grace.
And unfortunately, too many times we live our
lives merrily going along and everything is smooth
and everything is nice and we never come
to the throne of grace.
And then unfortunately, we have to come to
that time when the wheels come off.
And I go to the throne of grace.
And I find grace to help, to help
in a time of need.
And you know, that's the wonderful thing is
that he does want to help us.
But notice that it doesn't say that we
will find the high priest who will help
in the time of need.
No, we will find the grace in a
time of need.
But we will only find it at the
throne of grace.
And we will only come as we come
boldly to that throne and as we spend
time before him.
And we say, Lord, as Jacob said, I'm
not going to let you go until you
bless me.
I want this answer.
I want the solution.
I want you to help me.
I want you to give me the grace
that I need to deal with this thing,
to cope with this thing, to overcome this
thing, to get the victory in this area
or that area.
And Lord, if it takes weeks, if it
takes months, I'm not going to let you
go.
Because you have the answers.
You have the solutions.
And so we have a high priest, he
understands.
Not only does he understand, he has the
solutions, he has the power, he has what
it takes to help us.
Let's just come to that throne of grace.
But let's not come looking for a quick
fix.
Because this is not speaking about a quick
fix.
It's speaking about something which runs far deeper
than that.
But you know, to those who wait upon
the Lord, he will renew their strength.
They will mount up with wings as eagles.
They will run and not be weary.
Thanks Brother Gary.