WE ALL NEED GRACE AND MERCY
Hebrews 4:16, NIV Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
He ever lives above,
For me to intercede;
His all-redeeming love,
His precious blood to plead;
His blood atoned for all our race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace
Charles Wesley, “Arise, My Soul, Arise!”
Think with me; when is the last time you needed help? You’re likely to think of some occasion in the past when you couldn’t pick up something by yourself, or you needed an extra hand to steady something, or maybe you had a repair job to take care of and you lacked the requisite skills. I want to suggest that, in reality, you have needed help in your lifetime, and it concerned nothing like the suggestions above. You needed help with your sins.
Perhaps one of the most important abilities a person can possess is to be able to recognize one’s own sins. This is followed closely by the stunning ability to realize that you can’t do anything about them yourself. You can’t make them go away, you can’t undo them, and you can’t absolve yourself of your guilt. Remember the story Jesus tells us about the two men who went down the temple to pray? One was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee prayed a prayer that evidenced an amazing ignorance of himself. He tried to brag about himself, and told God that he wasn’t like other men, especially the tax collector. The tax guy, on the other hand, avoided the whole charade by simply owning up to the truth about himself. “Be merciful to me, the sinner,” he pleaded.
I’ve got some great news for you. Christians are served by a great high priest named Jesus. Our crucified and resurrected Lord is also our ascended high priest who serves us before the Father. The writer of Hebrews tells us something that ought to thrill you through and through. Mercy and grace are available to help in time of need.
Mercy and grace are benefits of a loving God that relate specifically to forgiveness, redemption and salvation. As someone said long ago, “
Even more significantly, grace and mercy are offered when needed. Sometimes we get the idea that if we’ll just be good enough, God will extend his grace and mercy to us. Friends, that idea removes the meaning from grace and mercy. The very nature of these blessings is that they only work for people who don’t deserve God’s blessings. They work for people who do deserve God’s condemnation and punishment. As one preacher of old proclaimed, sinners are in the hand of an angry God. But Christians are sinners who are in the hands of a great high priest, who offered himself as a sacrifice for
their sins, and who continues to offer grace and mercy. Now I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a single moment when I don’t need God's grace and mercy. Grace and mercy are your dearest “friends”. Keep them close by and lean on them constantly. You won’t be sorry!!
