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September 16, 2026 | Noah Sidhom teaches from Hebrews 4:16, explaining how believers can boldly approach God's throne to receive mercy and grace. He contrasts the limited access to God's presence in the Old Testament with the full access believers have through Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest, and emphasizes receiving timely help from God in our moments of need.
Worship service on Wednesday nights in the Chapel
Tonight, we'll be in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. As a reminder, this semester, we're walking through verses in the Bible that we can use as guides for our prayer. As we learn to pray the Word of God, I believe that's one of the best ways that we can learn and practice praying the will of God. And Jesus said that when we pray God's will, that we know that we have what we ask for. And so this is a great way for us to align our own hearts with the heart of God and to align our words with His words and our prayers with the Word of God. And so each week, I give you a single verse or two, and I give it to you on a card you can get on the way out. And I encourage you to place that somewhere that you can see it and read it and pray it back to the Lord. And the goal here is not for you to pray every single verse every single day, but for you to find verses that the Lord uses to speak to your heart and then continue to speak those and pray those back to the Lord as He leads you. So tonight we'll be in Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. Have you ever tried to get into a room but you weren't allowed in? I think about even around Christmas time when we lay out all the kids' Christmas presents and we threaten them that they are not allowed to enter into our room. And of course, they never come to our room except for then when suddenly everything in that room is something that they need to get. And when you cannot get into a room, there's no place that you would rather be than inside that very room. But sometimes it's not just that you're not allowed. Sometimes you legitimately cannot get in. You do not have access. Every once in a while, Sam, I'll get to church and I'll walk up to the door, reach for my wallet and my wallet is not in my back pocket. My wallet contains not only my driver's license for me to drive here, but my wallet also contains my key card to open many of the doors at the church. And there's nothing more humiliating and just humbling than having to stand at a door just hoping that somebody is going to walk by and be able to open that door for you. Do you know in the Old Testament, there was a room that people were not allowed to enter? There was a room that they did not have access to. It was in the tabernacle and later in the temple. And the Bible teaches us that these were laid out very specifically and there were very particular ways that each room was to be used. And if you got lost and you took a wrong turn, you could get into big trouble. In fact, sometimes if you get lost, you end up approaching a dead end. In the temple, if you got lost and turned the wrong way, you might end up dead because there were rooms that you were not allowed to enter and that only certain people at certain times of the year were allowed to enter. And depending on who you were, what role you had, changed how far you were able to enter into the tabernacle and later into the temple. So if you really look at the temple from the outside in, there's multiple layers. First, you enter into the court of the Gentiles. And this is a spot that Gentile or Jew, they were all allowed to congregate in this area. This was an open area that anybody could go. But this is where the Gentiles, this is where their journey would end when it come to the temple. They were not allowed to go any further. And then you cross over through the next doorway and you enter into the court of the Israelite women. And this is the room you had to be an Israelite and this is where the women would go in terms of the temple in order to bring something before the Lord and in their worship, this is where they were allowed to go. You go into the next gate and that was the court where the Israelite men would be allowed to enter. You go beyond that into the next door and you'd enter into the court of the priests. I consider this the teacher's lounge. This is where they could kind of hang out, but this is where they would fulfill a lot of their duties. But you had to be one of the Levitical priests if you were to enter into this section of the temple. Now, beyond that, there was the holy place. And this is where a lot of the stuff really happened. The priests would go into the court of the priests and that's where they would prepare themselves and prepare different parts of the offering. And then they would go into the holy place in order to make offerings, in order to make sacrifices on behalf of the people of Israel. But then even then, there was another room inside the holy place. It was called the holy of holies, or sometimes referred to as the most holy place. And this is a room that there was only one man on earth that was allowed to enter, and that was the high priest. And he was only allowed to enter on one single day of the entire year. And if anybody were to enter this place prematurely or out of turn, they would die because they were not able to go into it. Exodus 26, 33 tells us that between the holy place and the holy of holies, there hung a curtain that would protect God's people from entering into the wrong spot. The Bible says, you shall hang the veil from the clasp and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy place. And the Old Testament, as well as Hebrews chapter 9, teaches us what would happen inside, who could cross through that veil and when they could do it. The Bible says in Hebrews 9, 6 and 7, as they're doing the preparations, have their being made, the priests go regularly into the first section, the holy place, and they would perform their ritual duties. But into the second, only the high priest goes, and he goes but once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. This is where the ark of the covenant would be, but this is where the true altar of the people would be. And this is where they would go and make a offering, a sacrifice that would cover over the sins of the people. And every single year, they had to go in and make this offering over and over again. You know, being the high priest in these days was a really big deal. Obviously, one at a time, and that would be a high priest, and they didn't turn over very often. But even the high priest, as special and set apart as he was, could only go in there once a year when they were allowed. So why was the holy of holies so off limits? Why was it so protected? It contained the ark you saw there, the ark of the covenant, which represented there the mercy seat on top of it, the very presence of God. And the reality is, is that God's people were restricted access, not because God wanted to keep his people away from him, but because his people were too sinful, and God's people could not enter in that room because the very manifest presence of God dwelt in that room. The Bible tells us that when they first set up the tabernacle, and later when they established and dedicated the temple, that the presence of God fell into that place and focused in that one room, into that holy of holies. And that would be what the Bible would...what we would refer to as the Shekinah glory of God, the manifest presence of God. You see, God is everywhere. We call that him being omnipresent. He is all places at all times. But there was a special presence of God that was within that space, and God restricted access to the holy of holies for the safety and for the protection of his people. But you and I live in a very different day than they lived in the Old Testament. We no longer have a temple to which we go to in worship. They had the tabernacle, which later became the temple, and it was destroyed when God's people were taken into captivity into Babylon in the Old Testament. Later they would come back and they would rebuild the temple, but that second temple would be destroyed in 70 AD, and a temple would no longer be built. I believe a temple, a third temple is coming at some point. We don't know when that's going to happen, but up until this point, the temple has not been rebuilt. And the Jews, as a result, because their sacrificial system has been destroyed, the Jews no longer have a high priest. There is no high priest that they all report to. There is no high priest that is making a sacrifice on behalf of the Jews today. The last high priest was a guy named Phineas Ben Samuel, and he served until the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. But the reality is that even as he served in those last few years, he was just a figurehead. The whole system was starting to fall apart and be destroyed even while the temple remained. And the priestly system had already been gutted by Rome and by those who had taken over Israel And he, even as high priest, had lost any real influence or power that he had. But this is interesting. While the Jews do not have a high priest any longer, do you know that Christians do? That the high priesthood did not end in that moment. The high priesthood did not end with the destruction of the temple. In fact, I would say that from a scriptural and
and reality and heaven perspective, Thanias ben Samuel was not a real high priest because there was a divergence in the timeline of the high priest while they would pass it from one generation to the next. One day, Jesus, when he would die, he would take on that high priesthood and he would be our forever high priest. And he still represents us today. The Bible says that the role of the high priest was to represent God to the people and represent the people before the presence of God. And the Bible says in 1 Timothy 2, five and six, that there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man and he is the man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. And while there were many high priests, the first high priest being Aaron, the brother of Moses, there would be a continual line of high priests who would serve at the temple and at the tabernacle and would serve God's people. But now, there's never a need for a new high priest. The Bible says in Hebrews 7, 23 and 24, the former priests were many in number. There were so many high priests because they were prevented by death from continuing in office. But Jesus holds his priesthood permanently because he continues forever. You see, Aaron had a priesthood and he served for many years and he served faithfully to the Lord. But one day he met the end of his life and he died and his priesthood ended in that moment. And he would pass it on to the next generation and they would pass it on to the next. But when Jesus took on the mantle of the priesthood, it never ceases. And this is something that we should rejoice over because Jesus is one who continues forever and will never cease being our representative before Almighty God, before the Father. And while I'm sure some of these other high priests were good guys, I would much rather have Jesus representing me than any of them. And the Bible says in Hebrews 4, verses 14 and 15, that since now we have a great high priest being Jesus who passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. You see, Jesus knows what it's like to fill in the blank. He knows what it's like to hurt. He knows what it's like to dread the future. We saw that with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he looked towards the cross and he was asking the Lord to remove the burden of Calvary from him, but ultimately submitted to the will of the Father. We know Jesus knows what it's like to feel sadness and to cry. Jesus knows what it's like to be tempted by sin. But through all of Jesus' experience, not one time did he ever yield to sin. Not one time did he give into that temptation. And that's why he gets to hold that priesthood forever. And he is the only one truly worthy of the priesthood, truly worthy to represent man to God and God to man. The Bible goes on to say our verse for tonight in Hebrews 4, 16. Because of our great high priest, Jesus, who has gone before us in the heavens, because he knows what it's like to sympathize with our weaknesses, because he has gone before us and he never sinned, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I want us to look at three aspects of this verse that we can apply to our lives. And they're not real creative. They're pretty much the verse just restated. So don't get your hopes too high up about my creative outline tonight. But there's a lot of truth that we can learn from this verse about how we now, as New Testament believers, as people on this side of Calvary, the opportunity, the privilege, the invitation that we have to come into the very presence of God, into the very presence that once was forbidden for God's people. But we are invited. The first thing we see in tonight's text is this. You can boldly approach God's throne. You can boldly approach God's throne. Because Jesus is our high priest, we are no longer prevented from entering into the presence of God. Just like those in the Old Testament where once a year one man would have to go, now every single one of us as believers have the ability to go into that presence any moment of any day. And while the temple and the tabernacle in the Old Testament would have the Gentiles had to stop here, the Israelite women had to stop here, the Israelite men had to stop here, only the priest could go this far, only the high priest could go here. There is no distinction. God makes no distinction between pastor or layperson, between somebody who's been a follower of Jesus Christ for one minute or one who's been a follower of Jesus Christ for 50 years. We all have the same access to the Father. Hebrews 4, 16, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. I love that idea of confidence or boldness. That it's not just that we can come before the throne. We don't come like many in the Old Testament when you see people come before the throne and they would come with fear knowing that if the favor of the king was not on them that they would die from entering into the presence of the king. We don't have to worry about what the consequence of us coming into the presence of the king is. We can go with confidence, with full boldness. And what exactly changed? Yes, this is a New Testament reality for us. But what exactly made the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament? All believers are invited into the throne of God. And we can do it with confidence. And what changed was Calvary. The Bible says that on the cross when Jesus hung there in John 19, verse 30, that Jesus received the sour wine and he yelled out with a loud voice, it is finished. And he bowed his head and he gave up his spirit. What was finished in that moment? The payment for your sin and the payment for my sin. The payment that you owe, the Bible says in Romans 3.23 that the wages of your sin is death. That is the wage, the payment that was made on the cross. When Jesus cried out, it is finished, that's what he was referring to, the debt that you owe with God. And how did he pay that sin payment? The Bible says that when Jesus hung on the cross, he did so in your place. And Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5.21 that for our sake, God made him to be sin who knew no sin. So that in him, in Jesus, we might become the righteousness of God. You see, it's not just that in that moment on the cross that Jesus was carrying your sin or that he represented your sin. In that moment, Bible says that God made him as if he were our sin. And when Jesus was hanging on the cross and God the Father looked down on him, right there on Calvary, he looked down, he did not see the righteousness of his son, Jesus Christ. He saw your sin and my sin hanging on that cross. There's a story, R.G. Lee, who's a former pastor here at Bellevue. His very first time to ever go to Israel, he was on the tour and he was standing on where they believe the crucifixion occurred and the tour guide was giving an explanation and said, has anybody ever been here to Calvary before? And Dr. Lee, his first time to Israel, raised his hand. They said, when were you here? He said, 2,000 years ago. And it's true, there is a spiritual sense in which we were all there at Calvary on that day because all of our sin, every sin that you've ever committed, every sin that you will ever commit was carried by Jesus in that moment. And I believe that when Jesus was in the cross and he was in the garden of Gethsemane and he was crying out to the Father, Lord, if there's any way, let it come, let this cup pass from me. I don't believe that Jesus was all that concerned about the physical agony and the physical death of Calvary. I'm sure he wasn't looking forward to it, but I don't think that's what he was crying to the Father to remove. He was crying out to the Father to remove the cup from him. And what is that cup? Revelation tells us about the cup of wrath and judgment from God that is poured out on sin. You see, when God looked down and saw Jesus hanging on that cross, he poured out all of his wrath for every single sin ever committed onto Jesus Christ. And in that moment, Jesus bore a debt that you and I owed but could never pay. And God made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This is an exchange unlike any that we could ever fathom because when God looked at Jesus on that cross, he saw your sin. And now if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, when God the Father looks down here at 2000 Appling Road in the chapel and he looks at you, do you know what he sees? The righteousness of Jesus Christ. That is an exchange.
change that we are completely unworthy of. And that is why we can now boldly come before the throne of grace. Because when we enter into the throne of grace, we are not represented by our sin. We are represented by the blood of Jesus Christ. And the Bible teaches that when Jesus died on the cross and he ascended to heaven, that he entered into the true temple in heaven. And the Bible says that the temple that was made on earth was just a shadow, a replica of the true temple that is in heaven. And the Bible says that Jesus entered into the true holy of holies. And he did not come in with the blood of a calf or come in with the blood of a goat. He came in with his very own blood. And he applied his blood to the true altar, to the true mercy seat. Once and for all, never having to be replenished, never running out, that blood is sufficient for all time and for all people. And that Jesus came and he laid down his blood in that moment. And that's why you and I can boldly come before the Lord. And while that's a great spiritual truth, there was physical evidence that this was happening, that this was God's plan all along. Because when Jesus died on the cross, the Bible says that he cried out again. And with a loud voice, he yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple. What curtain is that? That's the one that protected the holy of holies. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And the earth shook and the rocks were split. Dr. Rogers always said that God ripped that curtain from top to bottom in order to make sure everyone knew God is the one who ripped it, not man. And as that curtain was torn in two, that was an invitation for all of us, you are welcome to come into the presence of God. And I believe it was also telling us that that spot on earth no longer held its significance and that we could now come before the Lord boldly anytime and anywhere. The Bible says in Hebrews 10, 19, and 20, therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain that is through his flesh. It's really interesting when you think about that curtain and Jesus ripping the curtain and making us a pathway. There's a lot of imagery here that even points to the Old Testament, to the exodus as God made his way through the Red Sea and would open and part the Red Sea in order to allow his people into their salvation. In the same way here in the New Testament, the Lord splits the curtain in the tabernacle, in the temple, in order to invite us into his presence. And that's why the Bible says, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. But not only are we allowed to and able to boldly approach God's throne, the Bible says that we can boldly approach God's throne to receive mercy and grace. You know, you never come into the presence of God and leave empty handed. He is a gift giver. He is a God who loves to provide things for you, for his children. And he, no matter the occasion, when you come into God's presence, you always get something and you leave with more than you came from. The Bible says, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and that we may find grace to help in time of need. God is a good father who likes to give good gifts to his children. I think one of the greatest gifts I've experienced, one of the greatest pictures and experiences I've had as a father, is just the times where I've thought and it's really hit me that as much as I love my children, God loves me infinitely more. And Jesus said these words. He said, if you then, talking about us as parents on Earth, if you then who are evil, what does that mean? If you're sinful, your hearts are deceitful, you've fallen into sin, if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him? You see, my children have never come to me and needed something that I had that I could give them, that I knew would be good for them, that I knew this was the time for them to have. They've never come to me and I've hidden it from them and said, no, I'm not gonna give it to you. In the same way, though, so often we are seeking God's will and we're seeking what the Lord has for us and we feel like God is hiding things from us or he's playing hard to get or he's trying to confuse us sometimes is how it feels, but the reality is is that God is a good father. He's a much better father than I am or any of us are. And he knows how to give good gifts to his children and he desires to give good gifts to his children. In fact, James 1.17 says that every good gift, every perfect gift that you have is from above, coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or change, shadow due to change. Every good thing in your life is a gift from God. And the Bible says that when we come into the presence of the Lord, we are given two really, really good gifts. Today is my second son, Augie's birthday. We gave him a gift this afternoon. We'll give him another one this evening. And with every gift, he squeals and runs around and he's excited. But the gifts that we give on earth are nothing compared to the gifts that the Lord gives. And the Bible says there that there are two specific gifts we receive from the Lord, mercy and grace. Now, these gifts are very different from one another, but they're both very needed in our lives. Let's look at mercy. What is mercy? Mercy is simple. When you do not receive what you deserve. See, mercy is given to us when we deserve punishment, when we deserve a consequence and we no longer receive it. This is what we talked about when Jesus took our sin to Calvary, that was the ultimate mercy of God. We are the ones that deserve to hang on that cross. We are the ones who deserve the punishment, but God's mercy covered over it on our behalf. I love the song that says, our sins, they were many. His mercy is more. And as great as our sins are, the Bible says that God's grace, his mercy for us is even greater. David knew this. David made a lot of big mistakes in the Old Testament. He made some big mistakes, but he repented just as big and he experienced God's mercy. And he said these words in Psalm 103, he, God, does not deal with us according to our sins. He does not repay us according to our iniquities. If we truly understood that, if we truly believe that, we would never stop smiling when we realize that our sins and our iniquities will not be repaid in kind and that we will not receive the just penalty for our sins. The Bible says in Titus 3, verse five, that the mercy that we receive has nothing to do with ourselves, has nothing to do with our goodness. The Bible says that God saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we like to deceive ourselves and think that maybe we've earned certain things with the Lord, or maybe we think that God is lucky that we're on his side, or he's lucky to have us working with him. The reality is, the Bible says that your righteousness, the best moment of your life is a filthy, dirty rag before the Lord. He does not desire your righteousness. God does not need your righteousness. God does not look at your righteousness and think it looks anything like righteousness. But in his mercy, not by any works of our own, but according to his own mercy, he washes us, he cleanses us, and renews us by the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah, who prophesied to the people of Judah before captivity and destruction, and then later would sit in the ruins of Jerusalem as God's people were taken into captivity, and they were, the city was destroyed and burnt by fire. That's what the book of Lamentations is all about. It's Jeremiah sitting in the midst of the destruction of Jerusalem, and he's lamenting what has become of God's people. And in that moment, he said these words, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Oh God, great is your faithfulness. Mercies that are new every single morning. That's great news because you and I need new mercies every single morning. Every morning that we wake up, if it weren't for the mercy of God, we would not be able to even make it through the day. We need the mercy of Jesus Christ. But we receive mercy, but we also receive grace. What is grace? Mercy is receiving what we, not receiving what we do deserve. Grace is quite the opposite. It's receiving something that we do not deserve. It's receiving a good thing.
from God that we have not earned. And the greatest grace that we have received is the experience of walking with Jesus. Bible says in John 1, 16 and 17, for from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace, for the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth come through Jesus Christ. See, every day that we walk with Jesus, as the song says, is greater than better than the day before. The longer you walk with Jesus, it gets better and better, and it never gets old. Just like Lisa was singing a little bit ago about Jesus walking in the garden with the Lord and how sweet it is, and he talks to us, and walks with us, and he talks with us. And it's something that nobody else has ever experienced. It's that special relationship with the Lord. That is the grace of the Lord. And it's not just that we don't get punishment, but that we get eternal life. Mercy is the fact that we did not receive the punishment that we deserved. Grace is the fact that God has then given us eternal life on top of the fact that he has forgiven our sins. The Bible says in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, by grace you have been saved through faith. This has nothing to do with yourself. This is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. It's not a result of works so that no one may boast. You see, the grace of God is nothing we deserve. It's nothing that we earn. There's nothing that we can do to receive God's grace any more, any differently than he has already poured it out on our lives. And the Bible says that every time we enter into God's presence, every time we boldly become before the throne, we can receive mercy and we can receive grace to help. Bible says in Ephesians 2, 4 through 7, it talks of both his mercy and his grace when it says, but God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us. Even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved. And he raised us up with him and he seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. I don't understand how this works, but the truth of scripture is somehow that while I'm here on earth in Memphis, Tennessee right now, I am also seated with Christ right now in the heavenlies already. And that I get to have that communion with the Lord and I am seated with him in heaven already. And I believe one day when I get to be there fully that everything is gonna come together, it's gonna be so much more of a rich and incredible experience. But God's grace is not just something that we get to experience one day when we get to eternal life. It is a grace that is poured out on us every single day and every single time we enter into his presence. Because of the sacrifice and the love of Jesus Christ, you can enter boldly into the presence of God. And when you do, you receive mercy and grace. And the last thing we'll look at tonight is that we receive mercy and grace right when you need it, right when you need it. Now, this is something that I'm grateful for, but it's also something that is difficult at times because the Lord doesn't usually give us what we need until we need it. Now, if we're honest, we wish that he was giving a little more ahead of schedule, but he gives us exactly when we need it. The Bible says that we can come with confidence and draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and that we can find grace to help in time of need. The Bible doesn't say that he gives it to us before we need it, but in our time of need. This is why we see over and over again in the scriptures, especially in the Psalms and other places where God's people are crying out to him, Lord, would you please rescue me? I need you in this moment. God loves when we're in positions where we are reliant on him. And when we come to the end of ourselves and realize that we are not enough. God is never early and he's never late, though it sometimes feels like it. You know, from this side, as we're walking day by day, sometimes it feels like he's dragging his feet and like he really should have worked by now if he understood things as clearly as we did, then he surely would have consulted us and surely he would have done what we told him to do. But the reality is that God never leaves us, he never forsakes us. And he delivers right on time, every single time. I think one of the best pictures of this in scripture comes in the Old Testament through the daily giving of manna for God's people. See, as they were walking in the wilderness for 40 years, they needed food and the Bible says, the Lord speaks through Moses and says to Moses, behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. God says, it's simple, every single day, I'm gonna drop some bread from heaven. Every single day, I want you to go and pick up just what you need for that day. And then the next day, I want you to show up and pick up enough for that day. The New Testament version of this is, hey, every day, I want you to come boldly before the throne and I want you to find the mercy and the grace that you need. Don't come for tomorrow's mercy, don't come for tomorrow's grace. In fact, that's what when Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray, what did he teach them to pray? Give us today our daily bread. How often do we pray, Lord, give us today our monthly bread, our yearly bread, but that's not how God works. He gives us today what we need today. We see this played out in the life of Stephen, one of the first deacons. He was arrested and he was tried for being a follower and a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he ended up making the religious leaders really angry to the point where they would kill him. And they would stone him in that moment. And as they were stoning him, do you remember what his last words were? Bible says, they were cast him out of the city and they stoned him and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul, who's Paul, and as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, Lord, Jesus, receive my spirit. And falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he said this, he fell asleep. Who did he sound like in that moment? Jesus, those are some of the exact words of Jesus on the cross. I'll never forget, Brother Steve was preaching on this passage one time. And he said, it's so easy to look at that passage and think, man, I would never be able to have that kind of faith. I would never be able to, in those moments, be that composed and that ready. And he said, you know, Stephen wasn't either until he needed to. You see, so often we spend our time today worrying about tomorrow. What if this happens to one of my kids? What if I get sick? When I go to the doctor, what if this happens? What if this happens? We don't need to worry about it. The Bible says that there's enough troubles of today. But the reality is that whatever comes tomorrow, when we come boldly before the throne of God, we'll receive mercy, we'll receive the grace that we need for tomorrow, tomorrow. We're not gonna receive it today. Now, the Lord prepares us and he builds us up, but that's why it's so important for us to come before the throne. And 24 hours before Stephen's death, I don't think he was ready to say those words in that moment, but in this moment, the Lord gave him the mercy and the grace that he needed just in time. I don't know about you, but like I said, I really wish the Lord would give me a week's supply, just to know that no matter what happens, we're going to make it through the end of the week. Did any of you guys in the year 2000 stock up all the water and all the food to last you for the next 20 years or whatever it was? You know, that's how we wish God would work, that he would give us all these supplies for the next amount of time, but that's not what he does. In fact, he loves it when we come to him in the morning, we say, Lord, I'm out of bread, I'm out of mercy, I'm out of grace, I need more. And the Bible says that Paul, in the New Testament, he was suffering, he had an affliction that the Lord allowed into his life, we don't know what it was, and he was begging God, would you please remove this, please remove it, and God would say, no, I like you better with that, because you come to me more often because you have that. And God said to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness. Paul says, therefore, I'm going to boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weakness, insult, hardship, persecution, calamities, for when I am weak, then I am strong. So often we spend all our time trying to hide our weaknesses, try to hide our insecurities, that's not what Paul did, Paul said, I'm gonna brag about them, I'm gonna lead with them, I'm gonna put them out front, because when I bring my need before the Lord, he meets it with his power just in time. And I'm so grateful that we can boldly come before the throne of God, and we never leave empty-handed, every time we come into his throne.
Every time we come into his presence, he gives us mercy and he gives us grace. He gives it to us just when we need it. That's why we got to come to him every single day and ask for it. Bring our need, bring our emptiness, and allow him to fill us up.