SOUNDING OUT:
Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace

  Did you receive your invitation?

  “Boldly” in the Greek is the prepositional phrase meta parrhesia, generally meaning with boldness or with confidence. Bullinger defines it as “speaking all one thinks, freedom or frankness of speaking, or fearless candor.” You do not have to be concerned about what you say when you go to God. He knows how you feel before you tell Him, so just be honest. Don’t ever let yourself be afraid of God in a negative sense.

  When you go to God with things on your heart you don’t have to say the right words. You don’t have to make sure your vocabulary is “kosher.” Just say what’s on your heart. Thayer adds that parrhesia means “speaking with unreservedness without concealment without ambiguity or circumlocution (i.e. beating around the bush.).”

  I want you to notice that Hebrews 4:16 is an exhortation and invitation at the same time. The invitation is to come and the exhortation is to do it boldly. It is not described here as a throne of judgment or condemnation or evaluation or aggravation ? it is a throne of grace. This grace is always available, but it doesn’t just come to you automatically. As sons we have the right to come to the throne of grace. You have to go for the grace the moment requires! It is like the new birth, it was always available, but we have to go get it… to confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts. If we want God’s grace on a moment by moment basis, then we have to go get it.

  People read Ephesians 1:7 where it says, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” and think that the riches of His grace applies only to the new-birth. Then they read Ephesians 2:7 where it says, “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.” and they think that there is more grace in the future.

  But, we often neglect to go into the throne room of His grace to get what they need NOW. It is nice to be saved by grace and to expect great grace in the ages to come, but what about all this time in between? This is where we live day by day. God loves to give, and He gives liberally.

  God has made us rich and we live in unnecessary poverty. We need to accept this incredible invitation many times a day? and pray aggressively, not passively; boldly, not timidly; specifically, not generally. It’s all available to us because of Jesus Christ. We come boldly to the throne because we have a personal invitation.

  “Throne” connotes dominion, rule, authority, sovereignty. This is one power-packed invitation from the One who rules the universe from His “throne of grace.” We can come into His throne room boldly and honestly, reaching out to put in our hands the exact resources we need for this moment, this challenge, this situation, this need. John 1:14 says Jesus Christ was full of grace and truth. If you really want to get one of those you are going to have to take the other. You are never going to get the truth of God’s Word until you take the grace of God with it. Neither will we understand the grace of God unless we accept God’s truth. Sometimes people get haughty about how much of the truth they know. Unless they enjoy equal amounts of the grace of God it won’t make much of a difference in their lives. When we get to the bema, God is not going to ask, “How much do you know?” It’s what we did with what we know that matters. Do we go boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need?

  We come boldly to this throne of grace for two reasons. The first is to obtain mercy. “Obtain” is the Greek word lambano. In the context of manifestations it is used of demonstrating or operating the manifestations, bring holy spirit into the open where it can be seen and actively bless God’s people. We come boldly to obtain mercy. Many of the consequences of our actions in life can be eliminated if we will go to obtain mercy. Where’s the mercy if we still have to pay the price for our sin? “Mercy” means what we deserve, we don’t get. We have a God Who is merciful, rich in mercy. Many times we end up suffering consequences unnecessarily. God will not only erase the sin, but the consequences also if we honestly and humbly go to obtain mercy. Don’t limit God. He can do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.

  The second reason we come boldly to the throne of grace is to find grace to help in time of need. “Find” is the Greek word eurisko. It can be used meaning to “come upon” or to “discover.” There’s almost an element of surprise in it, “Wow! Look what I just found!” There is also an element of elation in it, like when the gold miners shouted, “Eureka!” They hit the jackpot, and so do we whenever we come boldly to this throne of grace. We get the mother lode.
Eureka! Grace upon Grace! We can find grace to help in time of need. We can see it with wonder. We can discover it with great elation. When we go boldly to the throne of grace we obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We hit the mother lode of God’s goodness and grace and mercy. It is all there waiting for us to come get it. Go for it with expectancy. Go for it with zeal.

  “In time of need” is another prepositional phrase in the Greek eis eukairos (only used twice in the New Testament). It means “at just the right time, right now, not before you really need it, not after you really need it, but right on time.” We could use our idiom “in the nick of time.”

  “To help” is the Greek word boetheia. The only other place it is used is in Acts 27:17 where ropes are passed under a ship to “hold it together.” In Acts 27 it is used literally about keeping the ship from coming apart in the storm. Here in Hebrews 4:16 it is used in the same way of keeping our lives together in time of need. When we have need we can keep it together. Whether physically or mentally God can hold us together. It may feel like everything is falling apart, but the hands of God have it all covered.

  God says that is what His grace is able to do for you ? to help hold you together when the storm is intense and things seem to be breaking apart. So there is never any reason you need to go to pieces. The under-rigging of the grace of God can hold you together, no matter what hits you! Remember Romans 5: 17 we handled earlier, “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Has Adam’s sin affected you? Well Christ’s obedience should effect you much more! We receive abundance of grace. God is not a miser; He gives liberally. He will give us all that we need and more. More to pass along to our brothers. It also says “to reign in life.” That’s why we go to the throne of grace because that’s where and how we reign. Now you have your invitation ? join the party!