Monday, February 4, 2013

Obtaining Mercy and Finding Grace

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver
"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 unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:15-16)

There is a Difference. Something that seems to have eluded the minds of many church goers today is the truth that grace and mercy are two different things. Many use the terms interchangeably. They define mercy as having sins forgiven and they define grace as having sins forgiven. As a result of this little or nothing is being said about the true grace of God. The grace by which we are saved!

God is "the Father of mercies" (2 Cor 1:3) as well as "the God of all grace" (1 Pet 5:10). When He manifested His glory to Moses, He said, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful AND gracious..." (Exod 34:6). His mercy and His grace work together in our salvation. He is patient, forgiving, compassionate (merciful) as well as giving, helping, strengthening, and supplying (gracious). It is very necessary that believers understand these things so that they might come boldly unto the throne of grace to "obtain mercy" AND "find grace to help in time of need".

Obtaining Mercy. Jesus, having been touched with the feeling of our infirmities, is able to have compassion on those that are tempted. He knows what it is like to have a frail body and to dwell in an evil world. He knows the temptations that come with living in such a place; "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 Jn 2:16). He has been touched with the feeling of infirmity. He was "made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest...for in that He hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted" (Heb 2:17-18). Jesus does not condemn us because of our weakness. Instead He gives us access to come boldly to the throne of grace that we might obtain mercy from the One that was tempted in all points like as we are. It is as though the Lord says, "I know the suffering you are enduring by being tempted. I know what you are facing. I will not condemn you for this. Instead, I will give you what is necessary to overcome."

Salvation is "by grace" (Eph 2:8) and God gives us grace because He is merciful. He does not condemn us because we are in a "time of need." He shows us mercy then supplies our every need "according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Php 4:19).

Finding Grace to Help. Finding grace is finding Divine help. It is God's supply of all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3). When a believer is tempted, or "in time of need", he is exhorted to come to the throne of grace. It is here that he can find grace to help him escape his temptation while remaining unspotted by the world. Jesus is able to "succor" him (Heb 2:18), giving him exactly what he needs in the hour of temptation.

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (2 Cor 9:8). Grace is a worker, it is an enabler. Grace enables you to do what God requires you to do. Grace does not just forgive your sin, grace causes you to overcome your sin. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world" (Tit 2:11-12). Grace is sufficient for such a work.

A Ministration of Jesus Christ, Our Great High Priest. Temptation is a test, to be sure. It is an examination of faith. If your faith is strong, you will pass the test by not succumbing to the temptation. If your faith is weak, you will fall victim to the temptation and will sin. This is a manifestation for you that your faith is not as strong as it needs to be. At this point confession and repentance are required.

Jesus, as our high priest, ministers in our behalf to deliver us in our time of need. His work is not just to deal with the sin after it is committed but to aide us in never committing the sin in the first place. He "will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Cor 10:13). At the throne of grace we obtain mercy from the Lord: He is patient with our infirmity and weakness, and we find grace to help: He strengthens us to overcome. While weak in the flesh we grow "strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim 2:1). We are empowered by our great High Priest and wage a good warfare against the wiles of the devil.

Illustrated. Believers are much like the woman caught in adultery. We have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and we stand before Jesus. We, like that woman, were fit to be stone. But Jesus intervened. He said to the Pharisees that accused her, "he that is without sin among you, let him be the first to cast a stone" (Jn 8:7). When no one was left to condemn her, Jesus spoke to the woman, saying, "neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more" (Jn 8:11). She needed to obtain mercy and find grace to help in her time of need...and she received both.

The woman had committed adultery but Jesus did not condemn her or stone her. He had mercy upon her. Then, being the source of all grace, Jesus gave her a command that only He could enable her to keep. The words "neither do I condemn thee" were a declaration of mercy. The power given by God through Jesus to "go and sin no more" is grace. Mercy forgives the sin, while grace enables you to overcome it; mercy sympathizes with weakness, while grace strengthens.

While the law was given by Moses, "grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (Jn 1:17). The grace of God is "in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim 2:1) and anyone who is accepted by Him will have full access to this that they may stand in it (Rom 5:2; 1 Pet 5:12). Therefore, brethren, let us "come boldly to the throne of grace" fully confident in the sustenance found there, "that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."