Hebrews 4:11-16.
F. B. Hole.
(Extracted from Scripture Truth Vol. 38, 1953-5, page 1.)
As we enter upon another year we are reminded that the pilgrimage of the church is going to end in the rest of God, and we do well to listen to the exhortation, "Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest." And the more so, since the exhortation leads us to the great High Priest, who is on high, and connected with Him we find the word of God on the one hand, and the throne of grace on the other.
The word of God is indeed profitable for doctrine and instruction in righteousness, as we learn in another scripture, but here it is its living, powerful, piercing, discerning character that is emphasized. As we are conscious of these features, we become aware of how much we need the ministry that flows from the great High Priest, who is in the seat of supreme power and yet is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. It is because of what He is that the throne has become to us a throne of grace, whatever it may be to others.
When we read the word we are listening to God speaking to us, but to the throne we are to come with boldness, for here we have the privilege of addressing ourselves to God. We must however in our minds lay as much emphasis on the fact that it is a throne as upon the fact that it is a throne of grace.
If we rightly appreciate the fact that it is a throne we shall at once be impressed by His majesty, and gain a sense of our own littleness. Grace indicates that those who receive the favour are undeserving, and we are therefore awakened to the fact of our sinfulness and His mercy. We do indeed need that all these things become increasingly real to us.
Let us exhort one another to give the word of God a larger and more authoritative place in our thoughts and lives Thus we may more clearly judge our own motives, and give a more simple obedience to God's will and way for our steps.
Let us also have more recourse to the throne of grace, that we may obtain the mercy and seasonable help that we need. Only, let us maintain in our hearts, and express in word and attitude, a due sense of the majesty of the One to whom we come, so that in our prayers, and more especially in public prayer, we avoid all undue familiarity of address, while maintaining a sense of that nearness in which grace has set us.
Let no one think that this brief word of exhortation is unnecessary. Bibles indeed are multiplied, but the consistent and prayerful study of them seems to be less frequent. Consequently the need of prayer and the desire for it seems to be less felt. If God in His mercy granted to us some reviving in both these directions, a benefit to the whole church of God would soon be manifested. And not only so, for we believe there would be an overflow, which would produce an out-gathering from the world. So may it be to the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the blessing of many.