Address—Bill Prost
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We are not going to read the whole chapter, but just before we read, we'll point out a couple of things. Hebrews, of course, is largely a Jewish book, very likely written by the apostle Paul, although he does not identify himself.
And it of course has a Jewish flavor to it. It assumes that there were some who had outwardly taken the place of being believers in the Lord Jesus, but without any inward reality.
And there were others who perhaps were true believers, but who were becoming discouraged and who were having trouble adjusting to the fact that they were not going to see an immediate Kingdom.
And this passage was impressed on my heart considering what we had in the readings.
Because there it talks about a Kingdom and how our Father has already in one sense given us the Kingdom, but at the same time it is not going to be an immediate Kingdom that will be displayed in this world.
And I believe what we have here in this chapter has real encouragement for you and me in these last days, because when God allowed the book of Hebrews to be included in the Canon of Scripture, he didn't mean it only for Jewish people to read.
The church is largely Gentile, and it has wonderful instruction and encouragement for us.
We're going to look at things from the wilderness aspect because Hebrews is largely a wilderness book.
And of course, and many of you already know this, the other book in the New Testament that is largely the wilderness or a wilderness book is Philippians. And there are some parallels between Hebrews and Philippians.
But here we have what I believe is very, very instructive for us.
Although it was written to largely a Jewish audience.
And so we'll start reading from verse eight of Hebrews chapter 4.
It says for if Jesus had given them rest, read Joshua there instead of Jesus. They're really the same name. Joshua means Savior, but they put the word Jesus, the name Jesus in here in the translation. It really is a reference back to Joshua of the Old Testament.
For if Joshua had given them rest.
Then would he not afterward have spoken of another day? And that's earlier in the chapter God had spoken of another day. Why? Because that rest that Joshua gave them in the land of Canaan was not intended to be their permanent rest.
He would not afterward have spoken of another day.
There remaineth therefore arrest to the people of God, for he that is entered into his rest, that is God's rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fail after the same example of unbelief.
For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight.
But all things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is past, it says into the heavens, read through the heavens.
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I believe that is the JND translation and it will be helpful to see that in a few minutes. That is passed through the heavens. Jesus the Son of God. Let us hold fast our profession.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
We want to talk, first of all, about REST.
We all want to have rest, don't we? We want life to go smoothly.
And I happen to be one of those people, I don't mind admitting it, that in my life I like, as they say in English, as an idiom. I like all my ducks in line. You've heard that expression. I like things to run nice and smoothly.
I like it when I get up to find things in order. I like it when I go out.
And go to will save for purposes of discussion where I live. Start the snow blower that it'll start up and work. I like it when the chainsaw starts up and works. I like it when I go out to do something with Mike or go to do something with my computer that things work and so on. I don't like a breakdown or something that makes a mess of things.
But it keeps happening.
It keeps happening in every sphere of life, personal life, family life, business life, assembly life, everything. Continual upsets.
Why is that?
Ah, it is because God wants to lead you and me into the precious truth of what He is bringing before these Jewish believers that our rest is not here.
Now don't get me wrong, there are some of our dear brethren in foreign lands that wish heartily that all they had to worry about was something that didn't start right, or the odd power outage, or some little thing like that where they couldn't use their computer for a while or something.
But nevertheless, these little things can be difficult.
And you and I here in these favored lands of Canada and the United States have experienced many upsets in life in the last 2 1/2 years. And I feel, and I can say it openly for those that are younger here, especially you young people who suddenly have had your world as it, as it as it might be said, blown apart by the events of the last 2 1/2 years.
And just as we thought that Covad was winding down and as we hoped everything was going to go back to normal, then what happens? Big war in the Ukraine.
And again, there are many in the Ukraine who heartily wish all they had to worry about are some of the inconveniences that you and I experience as a result of that going on the Internet or going to the store to order something and finding that it's out of stock. And maybe you'll get it in September or October.
They don't know.
They wish that's all they had to worry about. But what I'm saying is that no matter where we are in the world today, the Lord is allowing things to be severely disrupted. And the Lord, through the author of the book of Hebrews and by his Spirit, is reminding them that if Joshua had given them rest.
He wouldn't have had to speak of another day.
And then he says, there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
I'm not a Greek scholar, but anyone can look this up. The word for rest in verse 8 is not the same word as the one for rest in verse 9. The word for rest in verse 8 is a general word.
But the word in verse nine could be translated a Sabbath keeping.
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There remaineth therefore a Sabbath keeping to the people of God. Why does the Lord say that here?
Oh, I believe at least this is the way I've looked at it in my own soul.
God has before him the blessing of the Church in heaven.
And the blessing of Israel on earth. And both are.
Recognized in this verse.
Does it refer to future blessing in heaven for those that know Christ as their Savior? Indeed it does.
But is there going to be a rest for the people of God on earth?
Is God going to forget about all his promises in the Old Testament, all those wonderful promises in the prophets?
Absolutely not. When God makes promises, He keeps them.
And so there's going to be a time in a coming day when Israel will be brought into blessing in the millennial day. And unless we see that.
Will never be able to understand the word of God.
I guess I'm old enough, as I've said before, to remember Harry Hayle, and I learned much from him as a young man.
And he used to say to us, I have never in my life met a man or a woman either who could understand the Bible unless they realize that God had in His purposes the blessing of the Church in heaven and the blessing of Israel on earth.
But back to this rest.
We like to have rest down here.
But it says there in verse 10, for he that is entered into his, that is God's rest.
Hath he also hath ceased from his own works.
As God did from his. What does that mean? That means simply that God wants to bring home to you and me that if you and I are going to have rest in our souls, it is going to have to be referred to a future day.
God does not promise you and me rest down here. Yes, we can have an inward rest.
But when Israel was going through the wilderness, they had to realize that that was not what God intended for them.
Could they anticipate and endure the wilderness because of what was ahead? Yes, they could.
And Joshua was one who did. Caleb was another. They endured 40 years in the wilderness.
Even though they weren't guilty as many others were.
But that was not their rest. Canaan was ahead, and that's where God directed their gaze.
And He would direct your gaze and mine, because God will not rest until His purpose has been accomplished. His counsel has been accomplished. And I loved it the way Bruce brought it out yesterday. Purpose and counselor in the singular.
All God's purpose and counsel are centered in Christ.
And until the Lord Jesus has his rightful place, God does not rest and neither can you and I. And if we try, God is going to keep. And I hesitate to do say this expression because it sounds irreverent, but God is continually going to upset your applecart and mine too.
And believe me, it's not always pleasant.
We've had it pretty good here in North America, haven't we?
We have been on the receiving end of prosperity such as the world has never known previously in its history. I think it's safe to say that.
But mostly through the churches history.
Many dear young people, and I know it was this is not particularly a young people's meeting, but it's meant to include all Christians, so I hope it's OK to speak at your level sometimes. Many young people.
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We're not allowed to think in terms of a career or a home or a marriage or family life.
Why? Because the persecution was so savage that they never knew what a day might bring forth.
I've read a good deal of the history of some of the Scottish Covenanters. Yes, they made mistakes. They stood, though, for truth that they believed in in the latter part of the 17th century, during the reign of Charles the Second of England. They stood for what they believed to be the truth.
And when they would get married, those who stood firm for the truth in Scotland at that time.
Sometimes the man who would give the message at that meeting would say to the wife, love your husband, but you better have a good winding sheet ready for him.
Winding sheet. That's what they buried them with. Wound them up in a sheet. They didn't bother with a wooden coffin because they knew that life might not last this that long.
Tell you another story.
Excuse me?
Perhaps the young people and the children here will be able to relate to this because it concerns a young girl who lived in France back in the 16th century. That's during the 1500s, during the Reformation.
Arlette was her name and this is a true story. Every word is true.
Arlette was ten years old.
And her father was a man by the name of Robert, or we would call him Robert.
And he had laid hold of the truth of the gospel.
And the truth of justification by faith or let's mother had passed away, gone to be with the Lord. And so she was compelled to travel around with her father and some other men who were very earnest in that day, in preaching the gospel. But they knew full well the risks they ran. And one night when it was a cold, rainy night, very, very difficult, they took refuge in a forsaken cabin in the woods.
In the South of France, where it was chilly at night and against their better judgment.
They lit a fire and of course the smoke rose up out of that cabin. People saw it in the neighboring town, alerted the authorities that some Huguenots, as they called them in those days, were probably hiding out there, and they all got caught.
Well, of course it didn't take long for them to be brought to court, and the punishment in those days for doing what those men were doing was to be let out in a public place, tied to a stake, and then wood piled all around them and lit.
And they gave up their lives for Christ in that way.
They accepted that as a matter of course. They accepted that as being the price they paid for being faithful to Christ.
There they were, on that day, let out.
Tied to the state, Wood piled up, fire lit.
And there was Arlette, at 10 years old, looking on.
As her father, and several other men with him who were faithful unto death.
And I don't know.
Whether I can tell you the rest of the story without choking up, but it's true.
Or let was mature for her age. She knew what this meant. She'd heard her father and those men with her talk about something like this, as if it could very well happen to them.
And are letting you the Lord.
And she knew what was going on.
And suddenly the thought evidently rushed through her mind.
This is the martyrdom that they always talked about.
There were kind people there who had a hold of Arlette, and the authorities, of course, excused her. They figured, well, she's just a little girl. She followed her father and those that she loved, and So what was going to happen to her after her father was dead? I'm not sure.
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But all of a sudden, Arlette realized what was really going on, that this was really happening.
And she broke loose from those that were holding on to her, raced into the flames.
Took a hold of her father's hand and stood there and gave up her life to.
Can you imagine?
Living with that is your future.
What kept her going? What kept her father going?
There remaineth therefore arrest to the people of God.
There remaineth therefore arrest.
Bringing it down to our day.
And I've said this before, so forgive me if you've heard me say it.
But back about 100 and some years ago, more than that, it would be probably closer to 150 years ago.
There are problems and difficulties in England and I believe this had to do with difficulties among some of the assemblies there. Excuse me.
And a younger brother appealed to an older brother, very distressed at what was going on and not knowing what was going to happen.
And he said whatever is going to become of us.
Maybe you wonder about that too sometimes. Maybe some of you along with me that are gathered to the Lord's name. You see weakness coming in and it does come in, and I'm part of it.
And maybe you see things not the ways they used to be, and you wonder whether they could improve somehow. And so on.
This younger brother said whatever is going to become of us.
The older brother wisely replied. Priceless answer, he said. Scripture knows no future for the believer but glory.
We're not promised a future down here. We're not promised to rest down here.
What does the Lord want you and me to do? I have to cease from my works, cease from trying to make life too comfortable down here.
Now, I don't want to be misunderstood and we said this in the reading meetings.
I must confess that I very much enjoyed the good beef that Tony and Becky served up to us at noon.
Was it wrong to enjoy that? Should we have pushed our plates away and said no? No, Tony, just give us some bread and water and that'll do. Or a few vegetables? I don't think so. It says in First Timothy, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy.
Let me reminisce again for a minute. I was privileged to know and sit under the ministry of our late brother Clifford Brown and I wonder I I remember once his being in our home at at a meal and my mother was a good cook.
And she asked him during the meal, she said, what did the Lord mean through the apostle Paul when he said he giveth us all things richly to enjoy? Clifford Brown just pointed at his plate and said this is one of the things he meant, and that was right.
The good gifts that God has given, it's OK to enjoy them, but.
They're a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
Do I use them for the glory of God? That's the point. But if it's to try and create a rest down here where everything will go smoothly.
It's not going to work. The Lord is going to turn everything upside down every time you look around.
In order to make us realize that the rest is future, well, we better get on with this year.
Verse 11, though, says, Let us labor therefore, to enter into that rest.
Lest any man fail through the same example of unbelief, What does that mean? Labor to enter into rest? Why not just relax? That's the way you get rest.
Oh, the Lord knew that Satan would continually be at us to try and get us to make a comfortable existence down here.
He knows that it would be a continual difficulty with Satan whispering in our ear. Make yourself comfortable. What does the world tell you when it advises you to go and get into some luxury item or something that's really desirable? You're worth it, isn't that right? You deserve it. You've worked hard. Now you've got some money in your pocket. You deserve it. Go after it.
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And the Bible is the only book in the world.
That will tell you and me to lay up our treasure in heaven. And so we have to labor.
That doesn't mean in the sense of working for it, but it means constantly, constantly being on guard lest we be pulled down to the level of the world. And that is what Satan has been all too successful in doing, is pulling Christianity down to the level of a worldly religion, saying, yes, you can have Christ if you want. He knows he can't take that away from us in the sense of.
Taking away our salvation. You can have heaven before you, but enjoy life down here. Life's too short not to have some fun and to enjoy it.
Remember, a nurse at the hospital where I used to work summed up her philosophy in this way. She said we're not here for a long time, but just to have a good time. That was the way she looked at it. She had a lot going for her. Very attractive girl, good education. She was having the good life.
But it only lasted as long as the horizons of this world were before her.
And she didn't want to hear about eternity.
We need to be on guard. And then we come to what is the meat of what I'd like to talk about this afternoon.
There are three things which are necessary and an encouragement to you and me if we are going to have our hearts directed to arrest. That is future to God's rest, God's rest.
And the first one.
At first glance sounds rather severe.
The word of God is quick. That doesn't mean it moves fast. The word quick there has the sense of being a living word, alive, alive and powerful.
Sharper than any two edged sword. Now this verse is often used in the gospel, and rightfully so. Very, very good, but it was written primarily to believers.
Why is that? Do we need the Word of God sharper than any two edged sword?
Piercing to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, you know the soul is the.
Seat of our appetites and our desires. Naturally the Spirit is the God conscious parts of our being. And sometimes if we're not careful.
The desires of the two can be at odds with one another.
My spirit ought to be under the control of the Spirit of God.
And to seek the things of Christ. But sometimes my soul says, oh, my soul lusts after this and that and the other thing.
And we all have different things that we like.
I've met people that really love motorcycles.
More power to them. I never had any desire to own one.
But I don't mind telling you that I was a car buff from the time I was four years old.
Loved cars, still do. Now I can't drive them anymore.
Well, that's just as well. Maybe then I don't get occupied them within the same way.
And many people have different things that they like. One brother that I sat on or sat under his ministry, he said, Billy said I don't have any care for what kind of a car I drive. He couldn't even change the tires. I found out one day when I was riding with him. But he said I don't. I like to spend money on my home. That's the that's the snare that I have.
So it can be different things.
But the Word of God comes in and divides asunder between soul and spirit.
And of the joints and marrow. Oof, serious.
The marrow is inside the bone.
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But that Word of God is able to Pierce right to where that marrow is. Is that marrow necessary in your body? Indeed it is. That's where your blood cells are formed. Absolutely necessary. Your bone marrow goes bad and you're not going to make it unless you get a bone marrow transplant.
And is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Why doesn't it say the discerner of the?
Actions. Oh, it's because what starts out in the heart is what translates into action.
And as you and I think so, ultimately we end up acting. And if God can get control of my thoughts through His Word, our actions will follow.
The point I want to make with the Word of God is if you want to enjoy God's rest.
In your soul.
The Word of God is absolutely necessary. Don't be afraid of letting it cut. And it does cut. And sometimes it hurts.
I admit that and I have had it cut me pretty deeply.
I can still remember that verse. Make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Oh, did that hurt a few times in my life.
And other verses 2 The Lord's word cuts, but don't be afraid to let it cut. And what you and I, I suggest, need to do in these last days is be more and more familiar with the Word of God. And I say to each one here, and if I can be allowed once again to speak perhaps directly to those that are younger.
Saturate yourself with the Word of God.
Because the wisdom of this world is going like a tangent like that.
Away from the Word of God When I was growing up, the Word of God was read in schools. It was the backbone of society.
Everyone respected the word of God and if we referred to the word of God.
People knew what you were talking about.
I remember even reading a secular book when I was a boy and one boy in school was who was a real Rascal suddenly started to act.
Very good and doing the right thing and behaving himself and everything. And his teacher was so surprised, it said right in the book. The teacher in front of other people said to that boy, well, the teacher said, this is indeed finding Saul among the prophets.
Everyone in my day knew exactly what that meant. If you said that to people today, they'd shrug their shoulders and said, I don't know what that means. Finding Saul among the prophets. I know pretty well everyone here knows what I'm referring to. And so the point is, the world has changed, and it's getting so bad now that the world is calling good evil and evil good.
And the only place that you and I will find that which directs us.
To the rest that is going to come.
Will be this precious book, and so that's why these lines are so striking.
And so serious here.
And that's why it says in verse 13.
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
At first glance, even as believers, you and I may find that frightening.
Because even as believers, we can try to deceive people, or we can be guilty of what is called duplicity. Duplicity.
What does that mean? It means that I'm I say something that can be taken in two different ways, so that depending on whom I'm talking to, I can say, well, I really meant this. But when I talk to someone else, I can say, well, actually, I really meant this.
And then if those two people start to talk to one another, I'm in trouble. But the point is, we can be guilty of that. We can be hypocrites where we say one thing and do another, as the Pharisees did.
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It's frightening.
But isn't it wonderful in one sense and comforting to know that you and I deal with a God that we can't fool?
Isn't it comforting in one sense?
I will remember reading the story of a woman and this was a secular story.
About a woman who ended up actually being.
I believe a professor at Harvard. She was bipolar and had a severe case of it too.
And when she wanted a psychiatrist to look after her.
She picked a man on the recommendation of others, and she said so herself. She said I in my bipolar state.
Could be very guilty because she was very smart, very smart. And she could be very guilty of fooling people who were trying to help her by pretending this and pretending that. And she said I wanted a psychiatrist who was much smarter than I was and no matter what trick I tried to play on him.
I wanted someone who would see right through it.
Well, of course he did, and no matter what she said to him, he would know exactly where she was going and where the truth lay. And she appreciated that. You and I appreciate the Lord that way. Isn't it a comfort to deal with the one?
Sees right through us and if we try to do something that is not according to his mind.
He's not going to Passover it, He's going to pull us up on it and deal with this in utmost love, but in utmost wisdom and knowledge. Wonderful.
But then there's more than that.
That's number one, the Word of God, and we want to impress that on each one because we will never, never seek God's rest until we are willing to submit ourselves to the cutting edge of the Word of God in our lives.
But God doesn't leaveth with that.
God, as it were, doesn't give us a good cut with his word and say, now let that settle you down for a while, if I could be.
Plane without being irreverent.
There's more.
Verse 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest.
Oh, isn't that beautiful?
That is passed through the heavens. Why is that a better translation? Let me put it this way.
Well, let's finish the verse. Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Or confession.
For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
We have a high priest.
And who is who was a priest in the Old Testament? You had to be part of the family of Aaron to be a priest in those days. But the priest went between men and God, and now all that has been done away with. And in that sense, every believer is a priest today.
But we have a great high priest who intercedes for us.
But the position he is in is important. He has passed through the heavens.
Let me try and explain that without being too complicated. It's well known that scripture recognizes 3 heavens and it tells us and we won't turn to it. But you know the scripture in the book of Acts where the apostle Paul rehearsing what had happened to him, he told about being caught up to the 3rd heaven. Sorry, not an accident in Second Corinthians. Beg your pardon, it happened.
During his experience in Acts, but it's recorded in Second Corinthians Chapter 11 anyway. Or 12 rather. The point is that he was caught up to the 3rd heaven that is clearly the dwelling place of God.
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What are the 1St and 2nd heavens?
It seems from scripture that the first heavens or the 1St heaven.
Is what we might call the atmosphere around this earth, where the birds fly, where the universe is, and so on. That which you and I can at least appreciate to some extent with our naked eye. And so it says in Genesis chapter one. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
But I I would call the 2nd heavens and.
This. This is the best definition I can come up with. The 2nd heaven.
Is really the sphere of spiritual activity?
And it is where the conflict takes place between Satan.
And the good angels, the elect angels. It's where Satan appears before God, as he did in Rome.
Or in job Rome, not Rome in job and accused.
You might say Job to the Lord and where the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? And so on. And there was a dialogue there. It's where I believe the activity occurred when.
There was a dialogue between the Lord and Satan's hosts, who shall go out to Ramoth Gilead and persuade Ahab to fall there. And one said after this manner, and another after that, and so on, and eventually one.
Of Satan's demons said, I'll persuade him, The Lord said, How we'll all go and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.
And the Lord said, go ahead, you'll succeed. That's where that kind of thing goes on. That's where spiritual warfare that you and I face goes on.
But where's the Lord Jesus? He's passed through all that.
He's no longer subject to anything in this world or in the universe. He's no longer subject, if we could say it reverently, to all the spiritual activity of Satan and his hosts. He's above all that.
But can you sympathize with you and me? Yes, he can. Why? Because he's been here as a man, and he remains a man.
I say this reverently. Is he still God? Indeed he is in every aspect. Colossians 2IN him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
But is he still a man? Yes. Does he have all the thoughts and feelings of a man? Yes. Does he have a human soul? Yes. Does he have a human spirit? Yes. He can identify when it says dividing asunder of soul and spirit. We want to be very reverent in this, the Lord Jesus as a man.
Has both soul and spirit.
He doesn't need the Word of God to divide asunder between his soul and spirit, but he's a man.
He has the same makeup without sin as you and I have.
And he looks down and he sympathizes with what? Your sin and mine. Oh, they're having such a hard time. I guess I'll let them off the hook for this. Oh no. That's why the Word of God is brought in. God never excuses or sympathizes with sin, but He does sympathize with our infirmities.
And he intercedes for us on that ground.
Why? Because he has been here.
Now you and I might say, well, how could he in one sense sympathize with you and me?
If he never was subject from within to all the effects of sin.
He felt them from without. But to be blunt and plain about it, I don't believe the Lord Jesus ever had a migraine headache. I don't believe he ever got the flu. I don't believe he ever got up in the morning and.
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Just didn't feel right.
Because of some inward problem. If he didn't feel right, it was usually I suppose, and I say reverently.
Because he didn't get much sleep that night, because he had to go out, if we could say it to the Mount of Olives and sleep. And then he'd be there early in the temple and he could be tired and he could be hungry and thirsty and all the rest of it as a man. But he never suffered from the effects of sin inwardly, because he was perfect.
But who suffered more from the outward effects of sin?
The Lord Jesus, because here he saw his creation spoiled.
Have you ever made something beautiful only to have someone else spoil it, make a mess of it?
Yeah, we've seen that happen, haven't we? Maybe you're good at something and you do the your very best and someone else comes along who thinks they can improve on it and spoils it.
When I did surgery, I always gave strict instructions that I didn't want the dressing changed on that particular surgery, and sometimes well meaning people in the hospital would change that dressing even though it was put on in a certain way for a reason. And sometimes they spoil what I did.
Another occasion I remember doing surgery on a man and a.
I gave him a sheet of instructions. Very, very clear.
You are to use crutches for at least 10 days and don't put weight on that foot.
He came in to have his dressing changed in four days.
Unbelievable. That dressing was filthy and dirt all over it and everything like that. I looked at him. I said, what have you been doing?
Well, doc, you know, I, this was Canada, so he talked in Canadian terms. We're a metric up there. He said, you know, I always go for a 5 kilometer walk every day. That's a little over 3 miles. So you know, well, I had to do it. I have to have my walk every day.
Who do you think suffered more from looking at that? Him or I? I can tell you I did what a mess he made of my work. A mess. Of course it cost him to it cost him nine days in the hospital and IV antibiotics and so on. And I think he learned his lesson. But the point is to spoil something that you've done. The Lord Jesus suffered.
But he sympathizes with your infirmities and mine.
He wants us to come to him and we all have infirmities of different kinds. Sometimes they're of the body, sometimes they're of the mind, whatever they may be, He wants us to go to him. We'll never be rid of those infirmities till we get home in the glory. But the Lord Jesus says, I, I sympathize you come to me because he has been the word tempted here.
In verse 15 is rather unfortunate. The thought there is tested, tested. God can't be tempted with evil. No, we get that in James. But the Lord Jesus was tested. It only proved who he was and what he was. You and I failed that testing. He never did, but he can sympathize with everything that you and I.
Are going through.
And then we don't have much time left. But look at the last one.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.
That is not the same as the high priesthood of Christ, although it is related to it. The throne of grace is ultimately, at this time, God's throne. The Lord Jesus isn't on his throne yet. He's on the Father's throne, waiting for the time when he is given his rightful place and sits on his own throne.
And isn't it wonderful when he sits on his own throne? You and I are with him. He won't take up his own throne.
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Until he has you and me with him.
But now when you and I approach the throne of God, what kind of a throne is it? You know, we don't think of all that, especially in North America. Here Canada still recognizes.
And I is a good subject of her still referred to Queen Elizabeth as Her Majesty the Queen. That is her proper title. And in Canada we recognize her as the head of state, although not the head of government, but she's the head of state. But in years gone by, kings and Queens had absolute authority. Whatever they said went.
If they said take that man out and execute them, bang it happened.
If they said throw that man in prison, it happened and there was number appeal against that. We don't have that anymore. And in countries like the United States that have a Republic form of government, we're not used to that. But the point is.
A throne brings before US1 who would normally be not only very highly respected but also feared.
And we should fear God in a proper way, but it's a throne of grace.
Why is it a throne of grace? Because God has come out to this world in grace. He has come out to you and me in grace. And sometimes when we fail in our Christian lives, and we had this up at the camp at Morningstar, Satan whispers in our year in our ear, you really messed up. You really blew it.
Or, as the handout said, I think.
My wife's comment you've struck out. You've struck out.
You've messed up so badly that you can never live for the Lord again. You've made such a mess of things that you better just give up on it. Go out into the world. Live like a worldly person.
Know when we come to the Lord, it's a throne of grace and maybe we come in our weakness, our infirmity and our weakness is real sometimes and we say, Lord, I just don't have the strength to do this or that or the other thing.
And yet we feel the Lord leading us to do it.
What do we do? Come to that throne of grace?
And what do we find there that we may obtain mercy?
Now there's a difference between mercy and grace. Grace is the goodness of God that I do not deserve.
Mercy is not receiving the judgment of God, but I do deserve.
You can see the difference.
When we come to Christ as Savior, we first of all receive mercy.
And then we appreciate the grace of God. But from God's side, the grace was there first, a throne of grace that we may receive mercy. Do we deserve the Lord's mercy for our infirmities? No. The Lord has a right to say, look, those are your infirmities and they're part of sin in this world. And man brought sin into the world, not God. So if you have to live with a few infirmities, well, you're going to have a rough time, but you can.
You can muddle through somehow. No, the Lord doesn't do that. That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need or.
Someone else has put it timely help or seasonable help. What does that mean? It means that we get exactly what we need, when we need it.
Exactly what we need when we need it. Let me give you an example. Pardon me, I'm going overtime a minute or two. Hope that's OK.
Back in the 1800s, when Charles Spurgeon, who was a very well known gospel preacher and probably almost everyone here knows his name, was walking toward the place in London, England, where he frequently preached the gospel. And he was to have a gospel meeting that evening. And a believer who knew him very well was also walking toward the gospel. He was going to attend the meeting.
And he caught up with Spurgeon, fell into step with him.
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And they got into a bit of conversation.
And this brother in Christ said to Spurgeon, his name was Charles, he said Charles.
If the Lord called upon you to be burnt at the stake for Christ along the lines of those brothers and that dear young girl that I talked to you about earlier, he didn't refer to them, of course. He just referred in general, he said.
The Lord called you to be burned at the stake for Christ.
Would you have the grace to go through with it?
How would you answer that question?
I thought Spurgeon gave a good answer. Spurgeon said, well, brother, he said at the moment, he said, I don't know that I would have the grace for that. But he said it's not the kind of grace I need right now. Right now I need grace to preach the gospel in about 20 minutes. That's the grace I'm asking for. That was a good answer, a good answer.
God will give you the grace you need. Seasonable help.
When you need it.
A throne of grace. And we never need to be afraid to approach that throne, no matter what we have done. Now, there are times in our lives when maybe we have failed very seriously. And I, I don't want to refer to it and kind of end on this austere note, but there are times in our lives, perhaps when we fail so seriously.
That it becomes public knowledge.
And our brethren in faithfulness to the Lord have to deal with us, and that becomes very, very difficult.
And we may feel very deeply about it. And if the Lord works in our hearts, we can be restored fully in our souls.
But sometimes, in order to be restored, we hesitate to approach that throne of grace. All I can say is.
We ought to feel our failure deeply. But remember when the Lord saved you, When He saved me, He knew very well how I was going to turn out. He knew every failure of which I would be guilty.
He knew how your life would turn out, and he saved you anyway.
All that you have done, that I have done.
Was under the shelter of the blood of Christ long before we were born.
And that's why it's a throne of grace. Let's pray our loving God and our Father.
We thank thee for what we have in this chapter.
Arrest in the future for the people of God.
Arrest Lord Jesus, into which thou hast entered.
But that thou wilt not fully experience.
Until we are with the.
We thank Thee for thy precious Word, our God, even though it has to cut deeply at times. We thank Thee for thy high priesthood. Blessed Lord Jesus, that intercedes for us that is there.
To keep us from failure and to sympathize with our infirmities.
And we thank Thee, our God, for that throne of grace to which we can come to obtain mercy.
And find seasonable help we commit to Thy word to thee, and pray that Thou wilt bless it to our souls.
And ask all, Lord Jesus, in thy precious and worthy name, Amen.