Hebrews chapter 4. Let's read the last three verses
of the chapter. 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. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the filling of our infirmities,
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help in time of need." Here you have another of the
many examples throughout this epistle showing that Christ,
in comparison, is always better. every time. Whether you're comparing
him to the earthly high priest, whether you're considering who
he is, his person, or his sacrifice, his priesthood, in every case
and in every way, Christ is better. Better by an infinite amount. Aaron the earthly high priest
and his sons, when they made the sacrifices for sin, they
were commanded by God to afterwards come out and say these words
to the people. The Lord bless thee and keep
thee. The Lord make his face shine
upon thee and be gracious to thee. The Lord lift up his countenance
upon thee and give thee peace. They could pronounce those words,
but they couldn't bestow the blessing, could they? They could
say, God be with you, bless you, give you peace, but they couldn't
make it happen. Now compare that to the words
of the Lord Jesus, our great high priest, My peace I leave
with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Is that not better? Is that not
better? He doesn't simply pronounce peace. He gives peace. He grants the
needy sinners the peace of God that surpasses understanding. As John taught this morning concerning
the manna, what is this? What is this? Unspeakable. Also,
the earthly priest, I suppose, could perform his duties without
any feeling or any sympathy for the people that he was representing. He could simply go through the
motions. Go through the motions. Again,
again, how much better our great high priest. We read it just
a moment ago in verse 15. He's not like that. He's not
like that. He's not cold and distant and
unfeeling and uncaring. He can be touched. He can be
touched with the filling of our infirmities. That's why, that
is because rather he identifies with his people. He's one with
them. There's a man in glory. There's one in glory. Christ
took that human nature, that being made flesh, he took back
with him the glory. Therefore, that one who is indeed
God is also man. He was made likened to his brethren. That's why in all points he can
identify with his people. Accepting sin. Made likened to
his brethren, accepting sin. And oh, what a great exception
that is. He had no sin, he did no sin, and in him was no sin. These blessed truths that the
apostle mentions in verses 14 and 15 concerning our high priest
is the basis, the foundation of what he tells us in verse
16. In light of what we just read,
he says, therefore, he exhorts us to come to the throne of grace. I hope we'll be encouraged to
do that very thing. to come to our great high priest
with all of our needs, child of God, all of our infirmities,
all of our temptations, all of our trial, all of our heartache,
all of our doubt, whatever it may be, whatever the need is,
all of our sin, bring them to the great high priest. And we'll
find that he is more than able that His grace is sufficient
to meet every need. Look at verse 16 again. It speaks
of a throne, but it also speaks of grace. Put these two things
together, His throne, His grace, and you have the throne of grace. The very words have a joyous
sound to them, do they not? The throne. The throne. The throne of God's grace. All sufficient mighty grace. It has a nice ring to it, does
it not? In Psalm 89, listen to these
words. Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of Thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice
all the day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For thou
art the glory of their strength, and in thy favor our horns shall
be exalted. For the Lord is our defense,
and the Holy One of Israel is our King. First of all, consider
the throne mentioned here. This throne The throne upon which
our high priest sits is unlike any other. Notice it says THE
throne, not A throne. There's not another one like
this. And this throne, this throne, thankfully, is not a mere figure. It's just not a decoration. It's
not window dressing, so to speak. It's not there simply for show. Oh no, no. And you know why? Because of that one, that one
who sits upon the throne, Jesus the Son of God, verse 14 again. Jesus the Son of God who is passed
into the heavens, oh my, who is passed into the heavens, that
entered into the most holy place to appear in the presence of
God for us, to represent us through his own merit and virtue, to
represent us before the Lord God. He passed into the heavens,
thereby proving the success of all that he came to do. My, so
what an entrance that must have been. After he had by himself
purged our sins and ascended back to his father and our father,
back to his God and our God, what an entrance into glory that
must have been. Open wide the gates and the king
of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? Oh,
the Lord God, the Lord our righteousness. And upon this throne he sits,
the sovereign ruler of all things. The sovereign ruler of all things,
all the time. all the time. He's the monarch
of the universe. His throne is never vacated. Never. He rules everywhere at
all times. He's the king of kings and lord
of lords. Turn, if you will, to Revelation
chapter 4. Revelation chapter 4. Here you
have John the apostle. being caught up to heaven. And
the first thing he sees is this throne, this throne. Revelation
chapter 4 verse 1, And after this I looked, and behold, a
door was opened in heaven. I am the door, Christ said, no
man comes unto the Father but by me. And the first voice which
I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said,
come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. In chapter 6, we're told some of those things
were not turning there, but the vows were opened one by one.
It speaks of God's righteous judgment, terrible, terrible
righteous judgment. But before that, before that,
before John sees that, he's reminded of this, God's in control. Verse 2, and immediately, I was
in the Spirit and behold, behold, look at this. John, look at this. Let this prepare your heart for
what's to follow. Behold, a throne was set in heaven,
and one sat upon the throne. Only one. Only he could. Joe, it's his throne. It's his
throne. It doesn't belong to anybody
else. It pictures the absolute power
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God, speaking of his Son, Speaking
rather to his son, said, Behold, he saith to the son, Thy throne,
O God, is for ever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. And again, said on my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord Jesus Christ
has earned the right to sit on this throne. Turn, if you will,
to chapter 5 here in Revelation. He's earned the right to sit
on this throne. Verse 1, and I saw in the right
hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on
the backside sealed with seven seals. God's eternal purposes
of grace. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? Who's worthy? Who dare approach
God on the throne and take this book? Who's worthy to do so? Who has the virtue, the merit,
the value in the sight of God himself to do such a thing? God won't accept just anything.
God won't accept just anything. God said, it's got to be perfect. Before I'll accept it, it's got
to be perfect. Your best won't do. Now, who's
worthy to do such a thing? And no man, verse 3, in heaven
or in earth nor under the earth was able to open the book neither
to look thereon. Verse 5, one of the elders said
unto me, weep not, behold, behold John, oh another glorious vision. Behold John, say the throne was
set in heaven, behold he that sat upon the throne, now behold
the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has what? What's
he done? He's going to take a stab at
it. He's going to do his best. He's going to take the first
step and leave the rest up to man? Oh no, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah does what he always does. He hath prevailed. He hath prevailed to take the
book, and to loose the seals thereof. And I beheld, and low
in the midst of the throne, the four beasts. And in the midst
of the elders stood the Lamb. The Lamb is the center. Everything in God's purpose revolves
around the Lamb. He's in the midst of every decree. In the covenant of grace, He
is in the midst of all the purposes of God. Of Him and through Him
and back to Him are all things to whom be glory forever and
ever. There stood a lamb as it had
been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, perfect wisdom,
perfect power, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth
unto all the earth. And he came, oh, glory to his
name. When the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under
the law, to redeem them that were under the law. And he came. and took the book out of the
right hand of him that sat on the throne. And when he had taken
the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. And
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy, Thou art worthy,
to take the book and to open the seals thereof because thou
was slain and has redeemed us to God, has redeemed us to God
by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. Yes, you're worthy. Wherefore
God hath highly exalted him and given him a name above every
name. That at the name of Jesus, every
knee shall bow. There's no question about that.
There's just no question about that. And every tongue will confess,
even those rebels that refuse to do so now in that day, before
they hear God declare, depart from me, I never knew you, cast
them into outer darkness, they're going to bow before the King
of kings and Lord of lords and say, you're right. You're right. You're worthy. Yes, Jesus Christ
reigns. Why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't
he? He comes to us and says, all
power in heaven and earth is given unto me. All power is given
unto me. All the power of heaven, all
the power of earth, I rule over both. I have all power. Now you tell me, why would not
someone with all power not rule and not reign? Who's going to
stop him? Who's going to stop him from
reigning? Shall earthly kings? Shall earthly
monarchs? Well, let's ask one. Let's ask
one. You remember that one called
Nebuchadnezzar? Ask him if God has his way. Ask him does God reign. Listen
to this. I'm in Daniel chapter 4, verse
34. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes unto heaven after God gave me back his senses, And my understanding returned
unto me, and I blessed the Most High. What did you learn, Nebuchadnezzar? I praised and honored him that
liveth forever, whose dominion, unlike mine, is an everlasting
dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.
And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing,
and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven. He sets upon the throne. He doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth, and none... Oh, I like that. And none can stay his hand, or
say unto him, What doest thou? Verse 37, Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works
are truth, and His ways are judgment, and those that walk in pride
He's able to abase. Yes, our God is able. The sovereignty
of our glorious high priest, our Redeemer, is not a problem
for the child of God. Of course not. Of course not.
Poor folks who don't have any better sense, when they perceive
that you believe in the sovereignty of God. You believe that God
is absolute over all. Sometimes look at you and feel
sorry for you. Oh no, oh no. The sovereignty
of God is not a problem for the child of God. We rejoice in it. This is the source of our greatest
comfort. We would not have any comfort
otherwise. How could we sing, for example?
It's so sweet to trust in Jesus just to take Him at His word.
If He doesn't reign, what comfort is in that? How could we say
that we just rest upon His promise if what He's promised He's not
able to perform? Why trust him if he doesn't have
his way all the time, everywhere? Turn, if you will, back to Revelation
chapter 19. Revelation chapter 19, verse 1. And after these things
I heard a great voice of much people in heaven. Much people,
a multitude, a glorious church. saying, hallelujah, hallelujah,
salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God.
For true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged
the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication
and have avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And
again they said, hallelujah. And her smoke rose up forever
and ever. And the four and twenty elders
and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on
the throne. That's where you worship God.
You worship God that sits upon the throne. You bow before a
sovereign God. God that sat on the throne saying,
Amen, Hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne
saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants. And ye that fear
him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice
of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and
as the voice of mighty thundering, saying, hallelujah, for the Lord
God, omnipotent, reigneth. He reigneth. Now turn back, if
you will, to chapter 1 here in Revelation. Behold, a throne
was set in heaven. Now look at the one who sets
upon that throne. our glorious Redeemer, the God-man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look how he's described in verse
12 of chapter 1, and I turned to see the voice that spake with
me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the
midst of the seven candlesticks, one likened to the Son of Man,
clothed with the garment down to the foot, and girded about
the paps with the golden girdle. His head and his hairs were like
wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were as a flame
of fire. And his feet like unto fine brass,
as if they burned in a furnace. And his voice is the sound of
many waters. And he had in his right hand
seven stars. And out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the
sun that shined within his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead. as dead. He took his proper place
before the King of Glory. When we read these verses, let
me ask you, does it sound like he needs help? Does it sound
like the King of Glory needs our help? Listen to what he says. Again, verse 17, he said to me,
fear not, fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that lives. and was dead. Behold, I'm alive forevermore,
amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. Oh yes, behold,
he that sits upon the throne, even his enemies said, even his
enemies that despised him confessed, never a man spake like this man. Never a man spoke like him. He
speaks with power. He says before Abraham was, I
am. He stands on the deck of a ship
one night, during a fierce storm at sea that had the disciples
scared to death, and he says to the waves and to the wind,
peace be still and lo and behold, the waves laid down at his feet,
obeying the voice of their creator. And the disciples looked at one
another and said, I've never seen anything like this in my
life. Did you see what he just did?
And then shortly after that, he calms another storm, an even
more fierce storm. the fierce storm raging within
the heart of a poor lost sinner. He says to a man that was possessed
with 2,000 demons, come out of that man unclean spirit. And you know what happened? Just
like those waves on the sea, they laid down at his feet saying,
we know who you are. You're the Holy One of God, and
afterwards you see that same man sitting at the feet of Jesus,
clothed and in his right mind. What a glorious Savior. On another occasion, on more
than one occasion, he even breaks up a funeral procession. Never a man spake like this man.
He and his disciples are walking into the city of Nain and at
that same time, by chance, oh no, oh no, here comes a funeral
procession. This poor mother is walking behind
this spear, this stretcher that's carrying her only son to the
cemetery. He's died and she's a widow.
And the Lord stops. And He stops the funeral procession,
and He looks at that poor broken-hearted mother, never emancipated like
this man, and you know what He said to her? Don't weep. Don't
weep. Can you imagine what those people
thought around her? How dare He say such a thing?
Doesn't He have a clue how broken-hearted she is? And he came to where
that young man lay, touched that beard, that stretcher, and said,
young man, I say unto thee, arise. Arise. And the very next verse tells
us, he that was dead sat up, sat up and began to speak and
the Lord took his hand and delivered him back to his mother and said,
don't weep. Don't weep. My soul, what a Savior. The other evening, I have on
my computer the pictures that were taken at the conference
in Danville. last August when I baptized my
rebel son. I thought about that when I was
preparing this message and I thought, man, what a burden that boy is
to his daddy. He's caused me a lot of sleepless
nights, a lot of heartache. My mother said, he's just like
you. He's just like you were. But he that sits upon the throne,
Joe, said that that rebel, young man, live, live. And then that rebel came to me
with tears rolling down his cheeks and saying, What must I do to
be saved? I'm lost. Best words ever heard
out of his mouth. I'm lost. I'm lost. Oh, bless God for that one who
sits upon the throne, who is able to subdue all things, even
unto himself. Look one more, if you will. Look
at one more picture here in Revelation. Revelation chapter 21. Revelation chapter 21. Verse 1. And I saw a great white
throne, and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and
the heaven fled away, and there was found no more place for them,
And I saw the dead small... Oh, I'm sorry, that's in Revelation
chapter 20 I'm reading. But this great white throne,
oh, that's not the one I want to stand before. Go, God, bring
me before a throne of grace, not a throne of absolute pure
justice. But now verse 1 of chapter 21,
and I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. What
a sight! And I heard a great voice out
of heaven, that great voice again, saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall
be his people. And God himself shall be with
them and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes. And there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away." But that will only be
so. That will only be realized. That will only come to pass because
of this, verse 5, and he that sat upon the throne, He brings
that to pass. Behold, I do this. I make all things new. John,
write it down. Write it down. For these words
are true and faithful. Now, brothers and sisters in
Christ, bring your best thoughts. Bring your highest concepts, best comprehension of Him who
is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of
lords, and behold this, His throne for you is a throne of grace."
All the time. All the time. He himself gives the throne its
luster and its beauty, not the reverse. This throne is set up
for the express purpose of dispensing his grace. There's never a voice
of condemnation issued from this throne, only mercy and grace. The scepter that he who sets
upon this throne holds is the scepter of grace. And the arm,
the arm that reaches out with that scepter to pronounce the
needy sinner's forgiveness and full, free salvation, that arm
is a very long arm. That arm, John, is not shortened
that it cannot save. Mom, Dad, with that rebel son
or daughter or grandson or granddaughter, mom, his arm is not shortened
that it cannot save. His omnipotent grace reaches
deeper than the stain has gone. Never a man speaks like that,
man. He can say that your son, your daughter, your companion,
your grandchildren, that's far enough. You're going no further. This day has salvation come to
this house. Come down, rebel. Glory to his
name. He sits upon the throne. Every
decree proclaimed from this throne is God's purpose of grace. All
the gifts scattered on all the steps leading up to this throne
are gifts of his grace. Every one of them. Look up. Look up. That one who sets up
on this throne is himself the very embodiment of grace. When you see him by faith, you're
looking at the very personification of grace. He's full. He's full of grace and truth. Always. It was His grace that
wrote my name in God's eternal book. It was His grace that gave
me to the Lamb who all my sorrows took. His grace taught this sinner
to pray and made my eyes overflow. His grace has kept me to this
day and will not, will not let me go. Grace, yes, it's an attribute
of God. It's an attribute of our Redeemer. But it's also his doing, isn't
it? It's not just something he is,
it's something he does. Grace is not simply a desire
on God's part, but it's Him actually bestowing His grace. By grace
are you saved through faith. That doesn't sound like something
that God just desires. It sounds like it's something
that God actually does. His grace brings salvation. Nothing less than that will do
me any good. Because I'm a great sinner. I'm a great sinner. I need a
great Savior. And He that sets upon the throne
of grace is exactly that. He's exactly that. Brother Lloyd,
He's everything. He's everything I need. Everything
I need. I'm complete in Him. Louie, in
Him, I don't lack anything before the Holy Lord God. I'm accepted. As accepted as He Himself is,
His grace is always effectual. He doesn't offer eternal life.
He gives it. God's grace doesn't suggest that
sinners be born again. He raises them to life. There's a multitude right now.
Think of this, child of God. As we gather here, this little
flock, at this very moment, There's a multitude right now standing
before the throne of God Almighty without a trace of sin. Right now, before the throne
of the Lamb, there's a multitude standing, beholding the King
and His beauty. Right now. And we're going to
be there soon, children of God. We're going to join them pretty
soon. We're going to join them in singing, worthy is the Lamb. Someone asked me, Larry, you
really believe that? Absolutely. Absolutely, I believe
it. Looking forward to it. One day,
this sinner, it is hard to believe. It can only be grasped in the
hand of faith, but this sinner is going to behold Jesus Christ
with his own eyes. I believe it. I believe it. I
believe him. Someone asked Donnie Bell, you
really believe that story about the whale swallowing Jonah? Donnie
said, man, if the Bible says Jonah swallowed the whale, I
believe it. I believe God's word. I believe
every word of it. because of the grace that came
from him on the throne. There's a multitude still on
earth making their way to that heavenly city. Pick out any one
of them yourself. Oh, the battles. The battles,
Mr. Spurgeon called it the greatest
fight in all the world, against the world and the flesh and the
devil. And they know, they know. that what the old hymn says is
true, that there is in them a proneness to wonder, to leave the God they
love, and they'll confess, in this flesh dwelleth no good thing. They're learning that old Adam
is just too strong for young Larry, and old Adam is too strong
for old Larry. Multiply that struggle of yourself
10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands and yet, he who
sits on his throne of grace says, they shall never perish. None shall pluck them out of
my hand. What a savior. What a God. What power, what grace for him
that sets up on the throne of grace. Now last of all, looking
again at verse 16 of Hebrews 4, it says, let us therefore
come. Let us come. Multitudes of needy
sinners have come to the great physician and he has cured them
all. Everyone. Everyone. Never one
that he could not cure. His grace and mercy is like the
widow's cruise. It never quit giving oil, did
it? Until no more vessels could be
found that needed filling. When there was no more vessels
that could be brought to be filled, then it quit. The grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ never runs out. It never runs low. It's always full. It's always
full. And always will be. The flow
of His grace will never cease until all the ransomed church
of God be saved to sin no more. No more. until they're ushered
into his presence without fault before the throne of God. Is there at this very moment
of time a need in your life? Let me address it to any that
don't know our Lord Jesus Christ. The lost, your greatest need
is not that bigger house, that better paying job, that second
car, your greatest need is his grace and mercy. And the only
place you can obtain it is at the throne of grace, coming and
bowing before him and saying, if you will, you don't have to,
but if you will, you can make me clean. You can't earn his
grace. You don't deserve it. Oh, but
listen to this. Listen to this sweet promise
from the throne of grace. Ho, anybody thirsty, anybody
thirst, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Come and find sweet, reigning,
matchless grace. The spirit and the bride say
come and let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. Freely. It flows from the throne
of grace. Perhaps, perhaps he will, that
is our Lord and King. Perhaps he will omit my plea.
Perhaps he will hear my prayer. But if I perish, I will pray
and perish only there. That's not possible. I can but
perish if I go, I am resolved to try. For if I stay away, I
know I must forever die. But if I die with mercy sought,
when I, the king, have tried this were to die, delightful
thought, a sinner never died." Thank God for the throne of grace. of our gracious God and Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you.