When we enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus and by the new and living way, we come to the throne of grace within the veil to receive mercy and find grace from the ascended Christ in the heavens (Heb. 4:14, 16; 6:19-20). Hebrews 4:16 speaks of coming “forward with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for timely help.” The throne of grace is undoubtedly the throne of God which is in heaven (Rev. 4:2). The throne of God is the throne of authority to all the universe (Dan. 7:9; Rev. 5:1) on which God sits to control and rule over the universe. It is the throne of God’s administration. But to us, the believers, it is the throne of grace, signified by the propitiation-cover (the mercy seat) over the ark of testimony (Exo. 25:17, 21; Rom. 3:25) in the Holy of Holies (Heb. 9:3, 5) sprinkled with the blood of Christ (Lev. 16:15; Heb. 9:12). Here God meets with His people and communes with them (Exo. 25:21-22). When we come to the throne of grace through the blood of Christ, we meet with God and commune with Him.
Coming forward to the throne of grace is absolutely a matter in our spirit. Because our spirit is the place of God’s habitation today (Eph. 2:22), it is the gate of heaven where Christ is the ladder that joins us, the people on earth, to heaven, and brings heaven to us. Whenever we turn to our spirit, we enter into the gate of heaven and touch the throne of grace in heaven through Christ as the heavenly ladder. As long as we are in our spirit, we have the gate of heaven, and within the gate is the throne of grace. It takes no time whatever to enter into the Holy of Holies, because there is no distance between it and our spirit. Whenever we say from the depths of our being, “O Lord Jesus,” we are immediately in the Holy of Holies, touching the throne of grace, which is Christ as the propitiation-cover, which covers the demands of the Ten Commandments and fulfills the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. In a very real sense, our spirit is the Holy of Holies, where God meets with us through Christ as the propitiation-cover, which, to the believers, is the throne of God and of the Lamb (Rev. 22:1).
When we come forward to the throne of grace, we receive mercy and find grace for timely help. Both God’s mercy and His grace are the expression of His love. When we are in a pitiful condition, His mercy reaches us and brings us into a state where God is able to favor us with His grace. Luke 15:20-24 tells us that when the father saw the prodigal son returning, he had compassion on him. This is mercy, expressing the father’s love. Then the father clothed him with the best robe and fed him with the fatted calf. This is grace, which also manifests the father’s love. God’s mercy reaches farther than His grace, bridging the gap between us and His grace. Often, because of our pitiful condition, we need to receive mercy before we can find grace.
God’s mercy and grace are always available to us. However, we need to receive and find them by exercising our spirit to come forward to the throne of grace and touch our High Priest, who sympathizes with us in all our weaknesses. Therefore, we simply need to come forward, open our being, and receive mercy and find grace for timely help. The help which comes from this grace is always timely and exactly fits our situation and need. According to the book of Hebrews, the real Christian life is a life of coming forward to the throne of grace and of continually receiving mercy and finding grace for timely help.
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