The Door Open — A Free Invitation to Enter
By Uriah Smith
“LET US therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. 4:16. The passage here quoted is a gracious invitation. What are we invited to do?—Not to go, nor to run, but to “come.” In what manner?—Boldly! To what place?—To the throne. What to do there?—To sit upon the throne. This is what Christ said: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” Rev. 3:21. What imagination but can compass or language give a least shadow of expression of the majesty and exaltation to which the way is here opened, and to which we are invited? Who is on this throne now?—The Ruler of the universe. But this fact does not, of itself, necessarily imply great liberality or beneficence. The passage, however, does; for the throne is called a “throne of grace;” and all graces and blessings flow from a throne of grace. What is the import of the word “therefore” with which the apostle introduces his exhortation? In other words, for what purpose are we now invited to come to this throne of grace? Paul answers: “That we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Our wants and necessities are here all included. We are sinners, and thus so stand in need of mercy; condemned to death, and so need grace for pardon of our sins; undone, and in need of “help.” All these blessings and favors we find at “the throne of grace.” Therefore let us come. What is the force of the reason assigned as an encouragement and inducement to us to come? The word “therefore” includes the great and wonderful facts stated in the two preceding verses; namely, the fact that we have a “great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,” who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. For this reason we may approach this throne, not thoughtlessly, nor presumptuously, but “boldly,” that we may obtain mercy. We may come with supreme confidence and trust. In the act of hearing prayer, God acts as a Sovereign; but his sovereignty is all of grace. His throne is “a throne of grace.” The hymn expresses it:— “Thou art coming to a King;
Large petitions with thee bring;
For his grace and power are such
None can ever ask too much.” No language, human or divine, can ever state in too strong terms the sympathy of our loving Saviour; and no words can set before us in stronger light the courage we ought to feel in coming to Christ than the ones by which he has set forth his gracious designs in our behalf, to lead us to “hold fast our profession.” On the words “grace to help,” Bunyan has the following thoughts: It is “grace that chooses; it is grace that calleth. It is grace that preserveth, and it is grace that brings to glory, even the grace that, like a river of water of life, proceeds from this ‘throne of grace.’ O, when a God of grace is upon a throne of grace, and a poor trembling sinner stands by and begs for grace, and that in the name of Christ, in and by the help of the ‘Spirit of grace,’ can it be otherwise but such a sinner must ‘obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need’?” And the one who is thus seated upon the throne of grace is the one who, John says, has “loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” Rev. 1:5. He has purchased our possession, and taken possession of it for us. He has passed into the heavens as our surety and head. So the saints may consider themselves as possessed of their rights, since he is there. Augustine said, “Where he reigns, there I believe myself to reign.” And let us consider that all our straits and troubles are not hidden from him; he knows and feels them, as our compassionate High Priest. He has a gracious sense of all our frailties, griefs, trials, temptations, and fears. He presents our cases continually to his Father. If we cleave unto him, his resurrection5power and glory are secured unto us. His life and ours are not two, but one. “The life which I now live in the flesh,” says Paul, “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2:20. And if Christ could not be overcome by the world,—he says, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world,”—and if he could not be overcome of death,—he says, “Behold, I am alive for evermore,”—neither can we overcome by anything that he has passed through and conquered for us. His words are, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” John 14:19. And as the words are as plain as language can make them, so the providence and works of God back up the invitation in terms equally plain; for “the Spirit and the bride say, Come.” Rev. 22:17.