Speaker: Jason Hernberg
01:21
Thank you for the scripture reading. The message is entitled ‘Comfort in Time of Need’. And I just wanted to share that the word of God offers comfort in the trials of life. My hope is that after this message, you would leave this meeting in greater comfort than when you entered because the Word of God comforted you personally. Now, ‘Comfort in Time of Need’. The message is organized in three sections. And so it’s a simple, it’s a simple message. First one is our need. Second, our focus. And third is our comfort. Our need, our focus, our comfort.
02:28
Please turn with me, there will be not a Power Point presentation today. I’m hoping that people will have access to their Bibles. Hebrews 4:16, is where we’re going to begin. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16, message entitled ‘Comfort in Time of Need’. And the word of God says in Hebrews four, verse 16: “Let us therefore come boldly, unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
03:16
If you have attended a zoom prayer meeting, or you heard some of the testimonies of our brothers and sisters, over the last little while at Sabbath School, you may already know that there are brothers and sisters that have spouses, spouses who do not remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. There’s division and trial today for some. You may also know that there are brothers and sisters who have spouses that do not believe that God truly sent His only begotten Son into the world. And there is division and trial for some today. There are brothers and sisters in this movement, who have basically been rejected by their previous church for believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father, in truth and love. And there is loss of friendships and rejection today for some. But that’s not all. There are other needs as well. There are some brethren that are hurting today emotionally, they’re emotionally drained. There are some brethren that may be physically sick today and they may be in pain. There are some brethren that have family members that are sick and that is weighing on their heart. We even heard some of those today. There are some brethren that have strained family relationships that are almost to the point of breaking. But that’s not all. There are other needs as well. There are some brethren that are losing their hold on God. There are some brethren that feel completely alone. And some brethren that are struggling financially just to make ends meet. We’ve also heard there’s some brethren that want to get out to the country, but don’t know how or where to go. But that’s not all. There are other needs as well. There’s some people that are struggling with secret vice. There are some brethren that are indulging in the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. There are some brethren that have bitterness of spirit. There are some brethren that are holding on to sin. But this is not all. There are some Brethren, that don’t even feel their need. There are some brethren that are in a sense, Pharisees in spirit. But this is not all. There are some brethren who have serious unspoken needs. Unspoken. Do you see the picture? There are great needs in this world, even with Brethren, even in this movement, there are great needs.
06:39
Question? Do you think leaders in the cause of God are above need? No, they’re not above need. There are leaders that are in need today. And I testify you today: I am one of those people. If you were to go to 2 Corinthians 11:23 and look at the list of some of the things that Paul went through, in stripes above measure, in prisons, in deaths, deaths, often he was beaten with rods, he was stoned, he suffered shipwreck. This is 2 Corinthians 11:23. I’m just highlighting some. He was in perils of waters. Well, that would be a need, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own country men, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness, and painfulness, in watchings, often in hunger and thirst, in fastings, often in cold and nakedness. Great needs, brothers and sisters, including leaders. We can take hold of the Word of God. And as Hebrews 4:16 says, find grace to help in time of need.
08:21
My question is: what time is it for you? Is it a time of need? My answer? Absolutely. It’s a time of need. My wife and I were reading. We’ve been reading through the testimonies for our evening worship. And we came across a little treasure in Testimonies to the Church Volume 4, page 529. If you wanted to look up, look it up later, the short reference is 4T 529.4. The paragraph reads this: “In the hour of greatest need, when discouragement would overwhelm the soul; it is then that the watchful eye of Jesus sees that we need His help. The hour of man’s necessity is the hour of God’s opportunity. When all human support fails, then Jesus comes to our aid and His presence scatters the darkness and lifts the cloud of gloom.”
09:39
What time is it for you, brothers and sisters? For me, I see us entering in the hour of our greatest need. And I, I’m in need even right now, before even the greatest need comes upon us. We all know that what is soon to come upon the world as an overwhelming surprise. It’s going to surprise us. In other words, discouragement is almost overwhelming our souls and maybe some of you. It looks like everything is about to fall apart. There are so many problems that we may be individually facing, and in our families, and in the movement in general. I hope you take courage with this wonderful thought to find in such a time as this, and that’s in 4T 529.4. “The hour of man’s necessity is the hour of God’s opportunity.” There is encouragement for us in that thought. And in other words, what the spirit of prophecy is saying, Hebrews 4:16: “Let us therefore come boldly, unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Now, I don’t, I really don’t have no idea how your needs, my needs, PHM’s needs, the movement in general and its needs is going to be worked out. I see us all in this boat together amid the storm and darkness. And we’re told it’s gonna get darker. But we can know of a certainty that there is grace, to help in time of need. Now, I want us to go into the Bible, 2 Chronicles 20. There’s a Bible verse that has brought me great comfort when I am in need. And it’s found in 2 Chronicles 20. If we could go there.
12:06
2 Chronicles 20. Here’s the story of two enemy nations. They’ve come out to battle Judah. We have the children of Moab, and the children of Amman, the Moabites, and the Ammonites. And there was a great multitude that came out against God’s people. And so here’s the story. Verse one, it says: “It came to pass after this also that the children of Moab and the children of Amman and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Je-hosh-a-phat, to battle. Then there came some that told Je-hosh-a-phat, saying, there commeth a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, on this side Syria; and behold, they be in Haz-a-zon-ta-mar, which is En-ge-di. And Je-hosh-a-phat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of the Lord. Even out of all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord. And Je-hosh-a-phat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem,” we’re in verse five, 2 Chronicles 20, “in the house of the Lord before the new court, and said, O, Lord God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein in for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession which thou hast given us to inherit.”
14:56
Now, here’s the verse that I take great comfort in: “O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company, that cometh out against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.” Many times in my life I say that prayer. Neither know I what to do. And whatever needs that you have, you can pray this prayer as well. Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.
15:51
And we know the story, or most people may, in verse 15: “And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem and thou King Je-hosh-a-phat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” I take great comfort in this story. And I hope you do, too. We can find grace to help in time of need. Now, I just wanted to point this out: one thought. Look at this story, and note the prayer of the king of Judah. It’s verse 12. He says: “neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee.” Basically, leadership was looking to divine power, and freely admitted, neither know we what to do. They were not afraid to basically say: “help me, I don’t know how to solve this situation. I’m in need.” Je-hosh-a-phat prayed to God. Recognizing our need is a first step in receiving comfort in time of need.
17:19
My heart goes out to the people that I know in need. And I’m praying that even one scripture can help change something as hopeless to hopeful. We now move to the second point of the message. First one: our need. And the second one now: Our focus. To all the brethren in need today, I share the Word of God with you, Hebrews 4:16. Going back there it says: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” God’s word says that we may find grace to help in time of need. Finding grace is our focus. Finding grace. This is encouraging to me. Because it’s finding grace to help. This is where our focus turns to when we are in need. Finding grace to help in time of need.
18:36
Now, this grace that is talked about in Hebrews 4:16, there’s something interesting. It’s not ordinary grace. Acts 4:32-33 says something interesting. Acts chapter four, in your Bibles, verses 32-33, the Word of God says: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul, neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.”
19:34
I was encouraged when I, when I saw that. What kind of grace? Great grace. Great grace. As believers in the one true God and His only begotten Son, we should know more than anyone that Jesus is truly the divine Son of God. We have a divine Savior, and he offers us divine Grace. The sacrifice of Christ for our sins was a divine sacrifice. We have a divine mediator with divine promises. Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God can help us. And what kind of helper is Jesus? Jesus is a divine helper that offers you and I divine grace, or great grace, for all our needs. We need not forget Christ’s divine arm around the human race. Great needs require great grace. Great needs require great grace. The divine grace for the divine Son of God is truly great and worthy of our praise. There’s something here, brothers and sisters that we can take hold of. Our religion is a practical one. These words can touch our hearts, and soften us. And we truly can find grace to help in time of need. The Bible and Hebrews 4:16 says we can find this grace to help us in our time of need. Are you seeing what we have available to us for all our needs? I’m happy about this. How about you?
21:33
Now as we focus on finding this divine grace, we end up in our third and final point of the message. First one was our need. second one was our focus. And the third is our comfort. Going back to Hebrews 4:16 we read again: “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Where are we to come boldly unto? The throne of grace. We find grace at the throne of grace. This is the place where we present our petitions to our Father in heaven. Our prayers go up to the throne of grace. And the reason we can come to this throne boldly, is found in verse 14, same chapter, Hebrews 4:14. It says: “Seeing then, that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” Amen, a great high priest, the Son of God.
23:08
Now, I’m going to quote something from Christ Triumphant. I’m going to post it in the chat for everyone to read. And it says: As our intercessor Christ’s office work is to introduce us to God as His sons and daughters. He intercedes in behalf of those who receive Him. With His own blood, He has paid their ransom. By virtue of His own merits, He gives them power to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. And the Father demonstrates His infinite love for Christ by receiving and welcoming Christ’s friends, as His friends. He is satisfied with the atonement made. He is glorified by the incarnation, the life, death, and mediation of who? Of His Son. Of His Son. Why can we come boldly? Because our Father in Heaven is satisfied with the Atonement of His only begotten Son. For you and I, that is the reason we can come boldly to this throne. We have a great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. This is our comfort brothers and sisters. This is our joy. This is our song. And as brother Juan prayed in Sabbath School: This is our life, for He is our life. This is our hope. This is everything to us. The Father is satisfied with His Son. His righteousness is perfect and our High Priest was without sin. I praise the Lord.
25:08
Knowing this does something to me. And I tell you today, brothers and sisters, I am in great need. There are a lot of things going on in the world, in the movement, in our families. We need this grace. And I praise the Lord, I have hope. Because of these words, I praise the Lord, I can find grace for my great needs. Our Father in Heaven is satisfied with the atonement made. You can find grace for your great needs. We focus on finding this grace and comfort comes to our soul. As we see Jesus. Jesus is our comfort. Jesus is our High Priest. Jesus is our great Shepherd. Jesus is our great Savior, where we find great grace, to help in time of need.
26:14
Now, this brings us to the scripture reading, given to us by our sister, John 17:17-20. If you have your Bibles, let’s go there: John 17:17-20. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” Here is comfort for everyone. Jesus loves us with a great love. And Jesus pleaded for all His followers to the close of time. He says, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also, which shall believe on Me through their word. Yes, that prayer of Christ embraces all 56 people on zoom. Everyone, in this meeting today, by God’s grace, Jesus, the Son of God is praying for you. Jesus is interceding on your behalf. Jesus loves you with a divine love.
27:52
And so I’m going to repeat 4T 529.4. In fact I’ll post it in the chat, if people want to read it. It says: “In the hour of greatest need, when discouragement would overwhelm the soul, it is then that the watchful eye of Jesus sees that we need his help. The hour of man’s necessity is the hour of God’s opportunity. When all human support fails, then Jesus comes to our aid; and his presence scatters the darkness and lifts the cloud of gloom.” You heard that? Whose help? Jesus. Whose presence? His presence, the presence of Jesus Christ comes to our aid. Is it the presence of another being? No. Jesus comes to our aid and His presence scatters the darkness and lifts the cloud of gloom. It even goes on.
29:00
I’m going to share the next quote in the chat. And here it is. “We fail many times, because we do not realize that Christ is with us by His Spirit. As truly, as when, in the days of His humiliation, He moved visibly upon the earth. The lapse of time has wrought no change in His parting promise to His apostles, as He was taken up from them into heaven: Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” I take comfort in that.
29:41
I’m in need brothers and sisters. I need Jesus. I need Him to be with me. I’m not going to make it unto the end if we do not have the Son of God. There’s power here. There’s power here and I’m hope that this can be communicated. And I’m hoping that the Spirit can touch your heart so that you can find this grace to help you in time of need.
30:13
I asked some questions. Is there sin in your life? Confess your sins today. Bring them to the throne of grace. You can find grace to help in time of need. Jesus is your Advocate, Jesus Christ, the Righteous. Brothers and sisters you can believe today. What about those that are trials? Trials that are like, almost overwhelming, almost to the point where you want to give up? Are their burdens on your pathway? Take the grace to help in time of need. Believe it brothers, it is present. It is available to us. And are you feeling alone? Take comfort. Jesus is praying for you. What did the quote say? As truly Christ is with us by His Spirit, as truly as when, in the days of his humiliation, he moved visibly upon the earth. As truly, brothers and sisters, take comfort. Jesus is praying for you. We serve a living Savior. He’s not in the tomb, He is risen. He is without sin. The sacrifice, the atonement made, the Father in Heaven is satisfied, satisfied. We can come boldly to the throne of grace.
31:57
We’ve talked about three things. We talked about three things: Our need. Great needs. I have great needs. Our focus. Grace, great grace, focus on great grace. And our comfort, a great Savior, to give us this great grace, our need, our focus, our comfort. This message may encourage you, I pray it will. But this message is not only for today. Because there are 55 people here that are worshiping God with you all virtually around the world. And we can be encouraged, because we’re conversing and fellowshipping. This message is not only for today; it’s for the third day, the third day when you’re not with everyone, but you’re alone. And this grace is for when the encouragement and the emotion goes away. And you are right in the midst of your temptation, whatever that may be, or whatever trial or whatever great needs you are in; this promise is especially for those times, as well. Hebrews 4:16. Let’s follow this. “Let us therefore, come boldly, unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” This is one scripture. And it’s talking about grace. And it’s not just intellectual, but it can touch our hearts. And it can have an effect. And we can go on. We can go on and press on the way, until we’re taken home by the grace of God.
34:15
I’m thinking also about 2 Corinthians 12:9. Is grace sufficient? It was for Paul. “My grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” It’s our promise. What a blessing. Take it, and take it on day three, when those temptations come and you’re not surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ believing, all believing the truth about the Son of God,. Take it even in those moments and let’s go forward together, finding grace, to help in time of need. We will close now with a word of prayer.
35:19
Heavenly Father, I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. And you know, that I’m not just saying that I have great needs.
35:34
And my brothers and sisters, who are today, here today, listening, I am certain that there are great needs out there as well. And Father, we, we do lift that prayer. As leaders, Father, PHM is is trying to lead. We can truly say, neither knowing what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. Father, I pray for miracles to take place, that great grace may be upon each one, that the problem that we are each facing, that we may receive help from our comfort, from our great high priest, from your only begotten Son. And, Father, if there are sins that our people are in; please, I pray, I pray for those people. Thank you for your promise that if we confess our sins, You are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And for those people that are in great need with trials coming upon them, I pray for Your great grace to be with them and give them the strength that they need. Father, we want to worship You aright. We thank you for what you have given us. And I just pray that this movement may not be one of only intellectual theory, but a practical application as we take Jesus truly as Your Son and trust in Him with everything. And we pray this in the name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.