AMAZING GRACE

      "Let us therefore keep on coming with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find GRACE to help in TIME OF NEED," Heb 4:16.

      We all too quickly forget that our christian life time is a time of severe testing, sometimes less severe and sometimes more severe, Deut 8; Isa 48:9-11; Heb 12:1-11. Our lack of knowledge, lack of serious consideration, and lack of constant awareness of this fact is perhaps the occasion for more failures and disastrous defeats in our christian lives than any other one thing.
      God is constantly training us day and night throughout our lives and that is what Israel's forty years in the wilderness clearly represents, I Cor 10:1-13; Heb 3; 4. Exceeding great and precious promises of unsearchable riches are set before us to aid in motivating us to be overcomer (I Cor 2:9; Eph 3:8; II Pet 1:4), while exceeding great loss and punishment await those who do not overcome, Heb 2:1-3; 3:11; 6:4-6; 10:25-31; 12:15-17,25-29; et al.
      We need constantly to keep on coming with confidence to the throne of GRACE for the help or grace we need (Heb 4:16), and the help or grace we need most is to be constantly munching on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Mt 4:4) in order to become overcomers, Heb 4:16; 7:25; 11:6 -- be sure to discern the Greek tense and the durative, persevering, overcoming, grace through faith emphasis throughout Heb 11.

      "Let us therefore KEEP ON COMING with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need," Heb 4:16.

      The people addressed here are the "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling" (Heb 3:1), the New Covenant people who have Christ as their covenant High Priest (Heb 4:14,15), and who have confidence and rejoicing in the hope of the Gospel of Christ, Heb 3:6,14. They are of the house (the church) over which Christ is the Head, Heb 3:6; 10:21,25.
      These Hebrews christians (holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, Heb 3:1) were covenant people who were accustomed to coming properly as saved church members to the throne of grace, but were showing signs of weakening as Israel did in the wilderness, Heb 3:7-19. Their trials were excruciating, the opposition was overwhelming, and they were about to give up and throw away their confidence, Heb 3:6,12-14; 6:11-20; 10:35-36. They were being urged to continue coming to the throne of grace "to obtain mercy and find grace to help," as they had been doing for many years.

      "Let us therefore keep on coming with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find GRACE TO HELP in time of need," Heb 4:16.

      What kind of help? Read the preceding verse, Heb 4:15. Jesus, as our High Priest and our example in life was tempted in all points as we are. This simply means every kind of help we need, God's GRACE is sufficient for it, and we can go to the throne of GRACE and get that help, and that help is called GRACE. See II Cor 12:7-10; I Cor 15:10.
      But what happens is that when you go to the throne of GRACE and pray for GRACE to help overcome that trial, there are people will call it "human works."
      When you go to the throne of GRACE and ask for GRACE to go to church, sing, pray, give, and preach or listen to the sermon in a God honoring way and God gives you that GRACE, some people will call it "works of the flesh" which God will not accept and will not bless. They will insist that such works are not grace at all.
      When you go to the throne of GRACE and pray for GRACE to love, be patient, and forgive others and God gives you that GRACE, some people will call it the "works" of Rom 11:6 that God will not accept and will not bless. They will argue vehemently that there are no "works" that God will accept and bless. But what about the Holy Spirit's works in and through us? What kind of works are those? Are not the works of the Spirit the works of Christ and the works of Christ the works of the Father? Will not the Father accept His own works? When people are saved and you are going to scripturally baptized them and you pray for GRACE to baptize them "by grace through faith" and God gives you GRACE to baptize them "by grace through faith," some people will insist that scriptural baptism is not by grace.
      When a missionary goes to a foreign land to make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, build churches, and do all the commands of the Great Commission, can he perform all these commands by grace through faith? The answer is, of course, YES, all the commands of the Great Commission can be performed by grace through faith.
      Would anyone dare say he can do all of them except "baptize" by grace through faith? But the New Covenant is a GRACE Covenant (a stewardship [oikonomia] of grace, Eph 3:2; I Pet 4:10), and all its commands are administered by the Holy Spirit. Therefore if the New Covenant is performed Scripturally, all its commands or works are Holy Spirit works, faith works, and grace works, including baptism.