THE GOSPEL OF GRACE

"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” (Revelation 7:9-10 NIV)

Because salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands (Revelation 7:9), I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son.  I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love; the sexually-abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last "trick" whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school; the deathbed convert who for decades had his cake and ate it, broke every law of God and man, wallowed in lust and raped the earth.

"But how?" we ask.  Then the voice says, "They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

There they are.  There we are -- the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life's tribulations, but through it all clung to the faith.

My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace. 

-- Brennan Manning in “The Ragamuffin Gospel” 

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THY KINGDOM COME

We’re often content to ask for less. We enter the throne room of God with a satchel full of requests – promotions desired, pay raises wanted, transmission repairs needed, and tuition due. We’d typically say our prayers as casually as we’d order a burger at the drive-through: “I’ll have one solved problem and two blessings, cut the hassles, please.”

But such complacency seems inappropriate in the chapel of worship. Here we are before the King of kings. The pay raise is still needed and the promotion is still desired, but is that where we start?

Jesus tells how to begin. “When you pray, pray like this. ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come.’”  (Matthew 6:9-10)

When you say, “Thy kingdom come,” you are inviting the Messiah Himself to walk into your world. “Come, my King! Make Your throne in our land. Be present in my heart. Be present in my office. Come into my marriage. Be Lord of my family, my fears, and my doubts.” This is no feeble request; it’s a bold appeal for God to occupy every corner of your life.

Who are you to ask for such a thing? Who are you to ask God to take control of your world? You are His child for heaven’s sake! And so you ask boldly. “So let us come boldly to the very throne of God and stay there to receive His mercy and to find grace to help us in our times of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) 

-- Max Lucado in “Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God”

#5841

CONFIDENCE IN CHRIST

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV)

God gave the most precious gift of His Son to take our sin upon Himself on the cross so that we might be reconciled to our Father.  When we accept Him, He clothes us in His righteousness so that we can draw near with confidence to the throne of grace.  In Christ, we are secure and free in our standing before God.  We can step out from whatever trees of fear may surround us.  We are no longer bound by the belief that if we tell God how we really feel or what we think, God will judge us or cause some disaster to come upon us.

This is true intimacy: confidence that what we reveal about ourselves will be understood and that the One to whom we disclose ourselves will accept us, seek our good, and communicate support and love. 

-- Cynthia Heald in “Intimacy with God”

#5516

HE LEFT HIS THRONE

“He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race:
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.”  (Charles Wesley)

Long ago, Persia was ruled by a kind shah who concealed his identity and visited the public baths as a beggar.  Seeking the lowest place and worker, the shah went to the cellar where a man stoked the furnace.  The shah befriended him, and the man shared his simple food and conversation.  Over time the worker grew attached to this stranger who visited him.  When the ruler finally revealed his true identity, he expected the worker to ask for a gift.  Instead, the furnace tender said, "You left your palace and your glory to sit with me in this dark place, to eat my coarse food, and to care about what happens to me.  On others you may bestow rich gifts, but to me you have given yourself."

What an illustration of what Jesus did for us.  He left His throne of glory and came to our place of labor and loneliness to befriend us.  That's amazing enough, but it gets even better.  Jesus has invited us to sit together with Him in "the heavenly places."  As you sit by His side, you will discover He is the God who gives. 

-- Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce Rose in “Pathway to God's Treasure: Ephesians”

#5056

THE THRONE OF GRACE

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are -- yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  (Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV)

When you blow it, God still celebrates His Son in you. The litmus test of whether or not you understand the gospel is what you do when you fail. Do you run from Him and go clean yourself up a little bit before you come back into the throne room? Or do you approach the throne of grace with confidence? If you don't approach the throne of grace with confidence, you don't understand the gospel.

-- Matt Chandler


#4265

BEFORE GOD ON OUR KNEES

“Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God's throne where there is grace.  There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it.”  (Hebrews 4:16)

In our "bootstraps" society, where you rough it up and do it on your own and take pride in being a rugged individualist, the one thing that seems to escape us is being before God on our knees, being before God aware that we are helpless, and allowing Him to assist us.

-- Max Lucado

#4028