This is the Scripture-Driven Church broadcast brought to you by Teaching the Word Ministries. The Church of Jesus Christ must be the Scripture-Driven Church, relying on God's inspired and inerrant Word as our sole authority and our infallible critic in every area of life and ministry. And now, here's author, Bible teacher, and Teaching the Word president, Dr. Paul Elliott, to introduce today's program. During the month of October, we are remembering the Protestant Reformation on the Scripture Driven Church broadcast. This is the month when we remember the event that began the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. That act lit the flames of the Reformation that would sweep across all of Europe and later into America as well. A key truth that was recovered at the Reformation is the fact that the Bible tells us that we do not need the intercession of an earthly priest with God. There's one mediator between God and man the Bible tells us, the man Christ Jesus. Today we're presenting the second half of a message on this great truth from Hebrews chapter 4. The message is titled, Resting in the Intercession of Christ. If you would like to download a free printed transcript of the entire message from last week and this week, please visit our website teachingtheword.org and click the broadcast link. If you would like to receive a free CD recording of the entire message by mail, just go to our website and make your request using the contact link. And once again, our website address is teachingtheword.org. Heavenly Father, I pray that as we continue this message from Hebrews chapter 4, that your Holy Spirit will speak to each listener according to each individual's need. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. It is a vital, practical, everyday part of entering into that rest from works. A vital part of that is to enter into rest in the intercessory work of the Lord Jesus Christ on your behalf. If you're truly resting in Christ for your salvation, then one of the outworkings, one of the evidences of your faith in Christ should be that you are resting day by day in the intercession of Christ before the Father on your behalf. You should be coming before Him every day, entering into that rest, coming away from the struggles of life and coming before the throne of grace and entering into that rest. That's the picture. And that brings us to verse 16. Verse 16 tells us, how you should come before God, what your expectation should be as you come, and what God has promised to do as you come. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The writer says, let us therefore come. And in the original, this speaks of approaching or drawing near It's a term that was used in many ancient writings. It's reminiscent of many ancient writings, the way he puts it here, to describe what took place when someone came into the court of a monarch or a ruler. You didn't come unless you were invited. You didn't just come on your own. You didn't come unless someone acted as an intermediary for you, to bring you into that place. And that's the picture we have here. We need to remember that we're drawing near and approaching the holy God and sovereign of the universe, and the one who is bringing us before the Father is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And verse 16 says, let us therefore come, let us therefore come. In other words, because these things are so, because of the things that the writer has been speaking of in the preceding verses, he's saying let us therefore come because there remains rest for the people of God in Christ. Verse 9, let us come because we need to cease from reliance on works. Verse 10, let us come because you need to be diligent to enter into your rest in Christ. Let us come because God's word reveals who you are and what you are, verse 12. Let us come because God knows you intimately and you can hide nothing from him, verse 13. Let us come because Jesus is a high priest who can sympathize with your weaknesses, verse 14. and let us come, because Jesus was tempted in all points as you are, yet without sin." Verse 15. Because of all these things, let us come, let us come, he says. And not only that, he says let us come boldly. Boldly. Now the word that's used here does not mean let us come brashly or presumptuously. Without proper respect, without proper reverence, that's not the term here at all. It's not that sort of thing. But this word does tell us two aspects of our coming. It tells us, first of all, how we may speak to the Lord. And second, it tells us the attitude with which we may come before the Lord. The word boldly, in the original language that we have here, It encompasses several things. It says that you may have freedom in speaking, freedom in speaking as you approach the Lord. This word boldness says that within the bounds of reverence you may be unreserved in your speech before God. And you may and indeed you should speak to your God openly and frankly without concealment about what's on your heart. And the word boldly also speaks of our attitude in coming to the throne of grace. It tells us that you may come with free and fearless confidence. With cheerful courage, that's part of the meaning of the word, cheerful courage. With assurance that as a believer in Christ you have the right to come through Him and that God wants you to come. And also, we're reminded here that we come before a throne. Now, in the original language and in the cultural context in which Hebrews was written, this denoted something very specific. This throne was not simply a chair. It was a chair of state, a seat of government. That's the picture. And it was a chair with a footstool, that was embodied in the word, in the term. This chair was the seat of authority and the footstool was the figure of that fact that territories and peoples were under the authority of the one who sat on the throne. Jesus is the one who now sits at the Father's right hand, at the right hand of the throne of God. He's been given all power and authority, Matthew 28, 18, in all heaven and earth. And when we approach the throne of God, when we approach the throne of grace, we have the confidence that the One who is seated there and the One who intercedes with Him on our behalf has all authority and all power in heaven and in earth. All things are under the control of God. You come to one who lacks no ability to move anything or anyone in all of his creation. Men, angels, mountains to help you in your time of need. All things are subject to His will. You're coming, if you will, before the very control center of the universe. And we're also reminded that this is the throne of grace. And in the original, the phrase in the Greek is literally, the throne of the grace. The throne of the grace. It's something very specific. The sense here is that the throne of grace is the throne from which grace emanates or proceeds. It's the source. It reminds us that the grace that we so desperately need, first for salvation and then for day-to-day living, that that grace originates in and proceeds from the authority and the sovereignty of God. And there are two aspects of this term grace that we find here, both from the original language and also from the context of these verses. First, it's speaking of saving grace, of course. Grace in that sense of God's merciful kindness in exerting His influence on a soul to turn to Christ. and then to persevere in the faith because of the indwelling Holy Spirit. If you're trusting in Christ for your salvation today, you can approach God because you are the beneficiary, first of all, of saving grace. And secondly, the grace that's spoken of here is grace that is due to or on account of saving grace. In the original language, this speaks of the spiritual condition of a person who is governed by the power of divine grace. And it speaks about the tokens or the proofs of that grace. In other words, the benefits that we receive as the objects of God's grace. In other words, when you approach God's throne as a believer, you can be confident of his benefits toward you because of grace. And the writer reminds us that we come before the throne of grace in order that we may obtain. In order that we may obtain, you can expect something at the throne of grace. Oh, how often I believe, and I know it to be true myself, we come unexpectedly. We come unexpectedly. We should come expectantly. We should come expecting God to do something. The sense of this phrase in the original, that we may obtain, the sense is that we come in order to receive a benefit where, first of all, the initiative To provide that benefit rests with the giver. But the focus of attention in this word is the transfer to the receiver. And it's a phrase that shows both our inability to help ourselves and the extent of God's care for His people. It's a phrase that indicates God's personal care. It's a word that speaks of personal care for individuals. as well as care for the body of believers as a whole. And Peter tells us, you truly may cast all your care upon Him, because He does care for you. And what is it that we may expect? What does the writer say here that we may expect to obtain when we come? First of all, mercy. Mercy. Now there are several Greek words for mercy in the New Testament, but this particular one that is used several times is used to describe God's attitude toward His people when they are in distress. Mercy in distress. And it's a very interesting word because it speaks not simply of feeling pity for someone. There are words for mercy in the Greek language that speak of feeling pity for someone, but not doing anything about it. But that's not God's attitude toward us. It is one thing to have pity on someone without being willing or able to do anything about it. I'm sure that we all hear about situations, we read about situations in the newspaper or see them on television perhaps, things in which we're perhaps not directly involved, where someone's in great difficulty, and we may feel pity, a great deal of pity for that person's plight. especially if we've been in a similar difficulty ourselves. But we may not couple that with any real desire to do anything to help that person. We may not have the means or the opportunity or the resources to do so. But that's not the kind of pity, the kind of mercy that this passage speaks of. The word that's used here first of all, assumes need on the part of the one who receives mercy. And second, it assumes, it's a word that assumes that the one who takes pity has the resources that are adequate and abundant to meet the need of the one in distress. And that the person who has those resources at his disposal takes the initiative to help. That is our God. Our God does not only show us pity, he does not only have a fellow feeling for us in our need, but he has all the resources necessary to meet our needs and he reaches out to us in our need. And he does something about your need, he takes the initiative and he does so from a position of all wisdom and power and endless resources, the full might of the universe. And the writer also reminds us lastly, when we shall receive mercy and grace to help us, and when we should expect to receive it. And this is important, and it's not easy. He says it will be in time of need. And literally, the word that's used there means well-timed or timely or just-in-time grace. Somebody put it this way, I think it was G. Campbell Morgan, he preached on this passage and he talked about, in the nick of time, grace. We must remember that Christ's intercessory work on our behalf is on his timetable. Oh, that's hard. That's hard sometimes. We tend to grow impatient waiting for answers, and when answers don't come, We may tend to fear that God has not heard our plea. You may tend to think that the answer isn't coming because something is wrong with you. Satan may even put it in your heart and mind to say, I'm not receiving the answer because I'm not really saved. That's a lie. We certainly need to examine ourselves to make sure that there is no unconfessed sin standing between us and our God. But the writer reminds us that when we come to the throne of grace, we come through the merits of Christ. We come to the throne of grace, not works. And he reminds us that Christ, your intercessor, not only knows exactly what you need, but exactly when you need it. for His grace, for His glory, for your good, for your grace in Him. What I'd like to do is just sum things up this morning by giving you a more literal translation of Hebrews 4, verse 16, and it would be like this. Approach, therefore, in freedom of speech and fearless confidence, the throne of the grace of God. in order that you, receiving pity, mercy, compassion, and grace, may find help that is perfectly timed and perfectly suited to your specific need. This is truly rest for our souls. This is the promise of God. We can rest, you can rest in the intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's bow to Him together in prayer. And as we bow our heads this morning, let me ask you these questions. If you're a believer in Christ, I believe that these are questions that we should continually ask ourselves as Christians. First of all, are you taking full advantage of your position in Christ by truly resting in him and resting in his intercession? Are you truly resting and relying upon his intercessory work on your behalf? Do you struggle in your own sinful flesh to try to make and manufacture inadequate and ill-timed substitutes for his gracious and perfectly timed provision? Or do you look to Christ with patience as the one perfect source of all grace and all help. Are you honest with the Lord about yourself, about your needs, about your temptations? Do you really desire his help? Do you seek his help and his deliverance in time of need, even at the very moment of need, remembering to call upon him in the moment of temptation and of need, instead of trusting to the inadequate resources of the flesh? Perhaps as we bow in prayer at the close of this service, perhaps you need to do business with the Lord about these things. Perhaps you need to confess failings in these areas. I know I certainly do. And as we allow the word of God to search our hearts, no doubt we all need to confess failings in these areas. We all need to resolve by God's grace to rest more fully in the intercession of Christ. Let me also say a word to you this morning if you're here, and you know that you are not the beneficiary of the intercession of Christ. You know that you've never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin and death and hell. Jesus is, first of all, the intercessor for sinners. First Timothy chapter 2 tells us that God our Savior will have all men to be saved and to come into the knowledge of truth for there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And if you'll come to the Lord Jesus Christ today confessing that you're a sinner, confessing that you need to turn from your sins and receive the gift of eternal life that he has purchased with his own blood on the cross. If you will come before Him on that basis today, He has promised that you will find grace to help in time of need. And He will, first of all, provide for you. You will find His grace to meet your first and greatest need, which is eternal salvation, forgiveness of sins. If it's your desire this morning to come to Christ on that basis, I would encourage you to come forward during the closing hymn this morning. And it will be the privilege of the folks here to have someone sit down with you and show you from the Word of God what it means to have eternal life, to have eternal rest in Christ. And Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit would do the work that is necessary according to your plan and purpose in each heart today, whether it would be, Father, that we might get a greater grasp of what it means to rest in the intercession of Christ as believers, or whether, Father, there might be any here who need to come to Christ as the intercessor for the forgiveness of their sins, for redemption, for eternal life. Do your work, Father, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Here once again is Dr. Paul Elliott with some closing comments. Friends, let me remind you once again that if you'd like to download a free printable transcript of this message, just go to our website teachingtheword.org and click the broadcast link. And if you'd like to receive a free audio CD of the message by mail, just click the contact link at our website to make your request. Once again, our website is teachingtheword.org. And I also want to remind you about our latest free book offer. The title of the book is Spiritual Depression, Its Causes and Cure. And the author is one of the greatest pastors and preachers of the 20th century, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. Perhaps you or someone you know is having difficulty with one or more of these issues. Lack of a foundation in Christ. Lack of clarity in our thinking. Placing too much confidence in emotions. Inability to receive forgiveness for all of our sins. Inability to move beyond past failures. Fear of the future. Bondage to legalism. Failure to recognize false teachings. Weariness. Bitterness. Lack of discipline. Lack of contentment. failure to face trials in God's power, failure to respond correctly to God's chastening. Well this book is a wonderful resource to guide you in your study of God's Word on these and many other challenges in the Christian life. Once again the title of the book is Spiritual Depression, Its Causes and Cure by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. The normal price of this 300 page book is $24.95 including shipping. But right now we're offering it free and postage paid, while supplies last, to anyone who requests it. Here's how to receive your copy. You can call us toll-free 24 hours a day in the United States at 888-804-9655. Once again, that's 888-804-9655. Or you can go to our website, teachingtheword.org, and click the Contact link. Once again, that's the contact link at teachingtheword.org. Or you can write to us at Box 2533, Westminster, Maryland, 21158USA. Once again, our mailing address is Box 2533, Westminster, Maryland, 21158USA. And don't forget to ask for the book, Spiritual Depression, Its Causes and Cure, by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones. And next week we're going to continue our Reformation Month programs, and until then, may God richly bless your personal study of His inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word. 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