By Ken Fletcher “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
Part 2 HE WHO SITS ON THE THRONE
Many grew up with distorted ideas of what God is like. Some people were told as children that God is mean and that they better be good or, “God will get you!” Other children were raised on the assumption that God is indifferent about the affairs of mankind. They were told that He really does not care what happens one way or another to people. Then there are those that feel God let them down because things did not turn out as they had wanted after they prayed. Many of these people are holding deep bitterness toward God and, as a result, are suffering inwardly and outwardly.
There are so many viewpoints and opinions about the character of God. Much of what this generation perceives as truth about God is from traditions that have been passed down from previous generations. Obviously, if your mother, father, grandparents or other respected adults told you something about God, and you knew that they loved you, it was most natural for you to believe them. Why would they to lie to you? So, you accepted what they said as the truth and grew up having those teachings (whether they were good, bad, or some of both) developed in your heart.
I am sure in most cases parents and other influential adults do not intentionally give their children wrong information about God. They are simply passing on what they have been taught or perceived themselves. Though they may be sincere in their beliefs, they may be sincerely wrong in some areas.
It is vitally important how you perceive the character of God. How do you believe God really feels about you? What is He really like? One person I know grew up thinking that God sat on His Throne with a long robe, wearing a long white beard, watching and waiting for a chance to judge and strike down a wrong doer. This is only one example of wrong believing and wrong thinking about what God is really like.
Last time, in Part 1 of this lesson, we saw that God wants us to boldly approach His Throne. We saw that it is extremely important to know that you have right standing with God, and that through Jesus Christ you have the glorious right and privilege to approach Him. In this article, I want to stress the importance of you having a true understanding of the character and nature of the One who sits on the Throne. You see, dear friend, you have to know the truth about God, His character, and His plans and purposes for you. You have to know His heart so you won’t be afraid to approach Him. We find the true picture of the nature and character of God in His Word, the Bible.
Our main text says: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” In this verse we can see some of the wonderful traits of our Father God. First of all, notice that here He calls His throne, “…the throne of grace…” God is a God of grace. It is part of His nature. He is gracious and kind. Don’t ever doubt it! He is abundant in grace.
In many places the word “grace” refers to God’s willingness to use His ability in our behalf. Your heavenly Father wants to use His ability in your behalf. You must believe that! Many do not. For various reasons, people have gotten the idea that God is too busy to do anything for them. Many believe that God is not interested enough in their problems to use His power in their behalf. These beliefs are wrong! Nothing could be further from the truth. Your heavenly Father is intensely interested in you and everything that touches your life. He has the ability to do anything! Nothing, absolutely nothing, is impossible to Him! God’s abundant grace is at His Throne for YOU to obtain!
Please look at the phrase, “…that we may obtain…” Friend, the only way that you can possibly obtain anything from God is if He GIVES it to you. That brings us to another wonderful characteristic of God: HE IS A GIVER! “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Matthew 7:11. God is the giver of good things!
Your heavenly Father does not have any bad things. He only has good things to give you. Praise God! He is a GOOD God. Since there is no darkness or evil in Him at all, how could He give you anything bad? It is not possible. He only does good things for people. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Our heavenly Father ONLY gives good and perfect gifts!
It seems that some (because of their attitude toward God) think that God and the devil have switched places. It will help you tremendously to say and believe what I heard a man from Africa say: “God is good – all the time! The devil is bad – all the time!” It’s a simple saying, but true. Always remember that! It will help keep your thinking straight!
Notice the next word in the verse: “…that we may obtain mercy…” You can see that in order to obtain mercy at God’s Throne, He must be a God of mercy. Yes dear friend, God is merciful. That is why, at the Throne of God, there is mercy for you! “…thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness…” Nehemiah 9:31. ” The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” Psalm 103:8. “For His merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord. Psalm 117:2.
Next we see the phrase, “…and find grace to help in time of need.” God is a helper! He wants to help you! Not only that, but, He wants to help IN YOUR TIME OF NEED! Webster’s dictionary defines the word “help” as: “to give assistance or support to: to make more pleasant or bearable: relieve: rescue, save, to get out of a difficulty: to change for the better: to be of use or benefit.” That is the kind of help God wants to give you! Hallelujah!
It is so good to know that when we need our heavenly Father’s help, He wants to give us grace TO HELP! Praise God! One of the names associated with the Holy Spirit is HELPER. HE IS OUR HELPER. It sure makes a tremendous difference in a tough spot when you know God has given you His grace to HELP!
Another quality of God we can observe in this phrase is that He is sensitive and caring about our need. God has told us to approach Him “…in time of need.” He wants you to come to His Throne IN YOUR TIME OF NEED! What comfort there is in knowing that, at any time of need, we can come to Him and there, find His arms open wide to us. He cares, understands, and wants to help. Yes my friend, this is what God is like! Praise His Name!
Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” My dear friend, it is my prayer that you will boldly approach your heavenly Father, the God of all grace who is rich in mercy. Your heavenly Father has your answer, what ever the circumstance.
You will find His arms open wide and the smile of love on His face. You are welcome at the Throne!
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