I'd like for you to turn back
with me now to Hebrews chapter 4. I read the entire chapter to
you this morning, but I'd like for you to focus on 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. There is much said in the Word
of God about His throne. About His throne. There is a
heap more said about His throne than there is said about man's
will. But I don't hear much preached about God's throne. I do not expect to find a literal
throne in heaven with God sitting upon it. God is spirit, he tells us. He is everywhere present and
he needs no furniture to display his omnipotence. But he uses
something that men are familiar with. I believe these words to
be figurative. In Isaiah chapter 66 and verse
1, he said, the heaven is my throne. That's my throne. And the earth
is my footstool. Where is the house that you will
build me, and where is the place of my rest? The heaven is my
throne. What is a throne? What is a throne? It is a universally
recognized emblem of dignity and power. It's the seat of the
king. Only sovereigns sit on the throne. It's ridiculous to talk about
one who sits upon the throne and then talk about letting him
do something. Only a sovereign sits on the
throne. And he's either on the throne
or he's not. He's either sovereign or he's
not God. Now, I'm telling you, this book
says that he sits on the throne. And he who sits on the throne
rules over all. He has the power and right to
command. He has the wisdom and honor to
be heard. He has the glory to demand reverence. And he has the right to judge
and the right to show mercy. He sits on the throne. Be it literal or figurative,
God sits upon his throne, absolutely sovereign over all. There's not
even the death of a sparrow left to chance. Is that not what our
Lord said? Not even a sparrow can fall to
the ground without your Father. Even the number of your hairs
on your head is numbered. Numbered with Him. And you may
not like that. You may not bow to it. You may
deny it altogether, but it doesn't change the truth. Rebellion against
truth does not change it. It doesn't change it at all. The whole world will be called
to stand before God and be judged and sentenced according to their
works. How can that possibly be? Because
God is sovereign. God is sovereign, and His judgments
will be righteous and true. Paul tells us here in this chapter
that God is a discerner. His Word is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart. There's no creature that's not
manifest in His sight. But all things are naked and
open under the eyes with Him with whom we have to do. Have you ever thought about that?
If you haven't, you need to. With whom you have to do. You
may not stand before Him today, but you're going to stand before
Him. How can you doubt His power who
made you from the dust? Huh? Who art thou that replies
against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? He's the potter. You're the clay. You're the dust. How can you doubt His power who
made you from the dust? How can you doubt His dominion
who created all things by the word of His mouth, by the word
of His power? Creation bears witness to the
throne of God. Look at its immensity. Consider
its order. Think about its preservation.
This bears witness of God sitting upon the throne. God sits upon
His throne, and in the ease of omnipotence worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will. And God's throne is called
a throne of justice. Throne of justice. Justice and
judgment is the habitation of His throne. That's what the Scripture
said. God's throne can be a throne
of wrath. He is a throne of wrath. Romans
chapter 9 describing our sovereign says, hath not the powder power
over the clay to make one vessel unto honor and another to dishonor? Of the same lump, my friend,
God will by no means clear the guilty. The soul that sinneth
shall surely die, and every transgression shall receive its due recompense
of reward. God's throne can be a throne
of wrath. And then God's throne is a throne
of glory. God will not compromise His name. He who sits on the throne will
not compromise a single attribute to save any man. He's not going
to do it. He's not going to do it. The
Scripture said there is no fear of God before the sinner's eyes. Why? Because he's ignorant. about
the living God. He's ignorant of His glory. He's
ignorant of His attributes. He's ignorant of who God is.
He's been told since He was that big that His God pities men,
and His God feels sorry for men, and His God excuses their sin
and forgets their sin. Let me tell you something. God's not going to compromise
His nature to save anybody. He didn't compromise His nature
to save His Son on the cross. He crucified His Son on the cross
to maintain His glory. And He won't think twice about
doing that to you. He will by no means clear the
guilty. What that means is He's not going
to just look at it and say, well, this time we're going to forget
about it. No, He's not going to do that. He's not going to
do that. But here's what I want you to
see here in Hebrews 4, verse 16. Let us, therefore, come boldly
unto the throne of grace. The throne of grace. And at that
throne, we might obtain mercy. That's what sinners are looking
for. They're not trying to justify
themselves. They're not trying to go to God
to make deals and bargain with God and make empty promises that
they know they can't keep. They come to God guilty sinners. And a guilty sinner looks for
mercy. He looks for mercy. And to find
what? Grace. To find grace to help
in time of need. Now here in our text, the throne
of God is called the throne of grace. And rather than crying
for the rocks and the mountains to hide us from the face of Him
that sitteth upon the throne, we are encouraged to come boldly
to this throne of grace. Now, what makes this throne a
throne of grace? God's throne is a throne of justice. God's throne is a throne of holiness. It's a throne of righteousness,
perfect Righteousness. God calls no man righteous whose
righteousness is not equal to His. I'm talking about perfect
righteousness. And His throne is a throne of
wrath. He dispenses wrath as the payment
for sin. His justice demands it. But now
here I'm reading in here about a throne of grace. What makes
this throne a throne of grace? What makes the very seat of God,
which threatens men, approachable? What makes this throne a throne
of grace? I'm going to tell you something.
Here's the first thing. He who sits on it. Who is seated
on that throne? The Savior. The Savior sits upon
that throne. Having done all that God demanded
of Him, having done all that the redemptive will of God would
send Him into this world, having accomplished all those things,
He was ushered into glory by the angels themselves and seated
on that throne. Seated at the right hand of God. Turn with me to Romans chapter
8. Paul encourages us to come unto
the throne of grace. And he who sits there, he is
sovereign. He is a Savior, but he is a sovereign Savior. And
he rules over all. He rules over all. And he rules
apart from compromise. He rules apart from compromising
the character of God. What makes this throne a throne
of grace? And it's a throne of grace because
who that sits upon it? Look here in Romans 8, verse
33. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Now listen. Yea, rather, that is risen again
who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us." That great high priest, that prophet that God sent into
this world, that Savior, is seated at His right hand. And on the
throne of glory, the highest seat there is, is one who makes
intercession for you and me. Now you think about that. You know, I'm honored sometimes
when somebody comes to me and says, I want you to come and
say this or say that to somebody or to pray for somebody. You
know, I'm honored by that. I'm really honored by that. But
my soul, think about who intercedes for you in glory. Boy, his word counts, don't it? He gets what he asks for. I don't even know what to ask
for. I ask for what I want, but in my heart, I don't know if
that's the right thing or the wrong thing. We don't know how
to pray. But He does. He does, and He
gets what He asks for. And then let me read this one
to you over here in Ephesians 2, verse 4. We're all dead in
trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit who now worketh in the children of disobedience, children
of wrath even as others, but God. But God, who is rich in
mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace,
ye are saved. and hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Seated
with Him as our representative. When He sat down on that throne,
we sat down with Him. Sat down with this One. We go to this throne of grace
because this One who is seated upon that throne, we are seated
with Him. We are partakers of that grace
and we see that. raised up together with Him,
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. And
then one other passage over here in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
11. Every high priest standeth daily,
ministering and offering oft times the same sacrifices which
can never take away sin. But this man, after he offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. I love what old Herman Moore
preached at the conference that year. There's a man in glory. There is a man in glory, and
he is seated upon the throne of grace. A representative man. A holy union of God and man in
one glorious person. And this man sits upon God's
throne manifesting the glory of God's sovereign grace to all
those who will come to that throne. And this man sits upon the highest
seat to give eternal life to as many as the Father hath given
him. And if you notice the wording
of our text, it begins with a therefore. Therefore. Old Barnard used to
say, when you see a therefore, look and see what it's there
for. There's a reason. There's a reason. Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of God. We come to this throne because
we heard the gospel and it was mixed in faith in those who heard
it. Isn't that what I read to you
earlier in this chapter? We come to this throne of grace
because we enter into His rest. We see Him resting upon this
throne, ruling in the ease of omnipotence, and we enter into
that rest. You remember what I told you
back in that Genesis study? How could God rest on that seventh
day? Did He not know Satan was going
to come into that garden? Was He ignorant about that? Satan
surprised him and snuck in there and he did all these things.
God didn't know anything about it. What he knew about it, how
could he rest? Did he not know the potential
of what was going to happen when man fell? Did he not know that
judgment? Was God ignorant of those things?
How could he rest on the seventh day? He tells you over there in Ephesians
chapter 1. He first trusted in Christ. And
then we, when we heard, then we trusted. God first trusted
in Christ. He rested from all His labors
because He committed all things to Christ. And He could rest. And we enter into that rest.
We enter into that rest. We come to this throne because
we heard the Gospel and it was mixed with faith. We come to
this throne because we've entered into His rest. We rest in the
person and work of our Redeemer. He's our sin offering. He's our
sin atoning substitute. He's the end of the law for righteousness. He's the one mediator between
God and men. He's the effectual high priest
having obtained eternal redemption for us. He's the way. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. We come to the throne because
of who's seated upon it. all spiritual blessings purposed
in Him, dispensed in Him, accomplished by Him. And if we would obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need, we must come
to where this grace can be found. And it's found at the throne
of grace. So first of all, it's called
the throne of grace because of who sits upon it. And then secondly,
it's called the throne of grace because This was its purpose. This is the purpose of the throne.
Our Lord prayed to the Father in John chapter 17. You can read
it over there in the first three verses. And He said that, You've
given Me power over all flesh. Why did You give it to Him? Isn't
that talking about that throne? Isn't that what they're talking
about? You've given me power over all flesh that I should
give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given me. That's
the purpose of the throne. And then secondly, this is called
the throne of grace because this is its purpose. And my friends,
every great act of God is attributed to Jesus Christ. Now you go into
Scriptures and see if I'm not telling you the truth. Now, I
know you can attribute creation to the Holy Spirit. You can attribute
creation to the Father. All alike had a place in this,
but Christ had the preeminence in it. You can read that in Colossians
chapter 1. I can't explain that. I know
it's so. Without Him was not anything made that was made. This is God's purpose. God has
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Paul tells us in
Colossians chapter 1, By Him were all things created that
are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, and I
love this right here, whether they be thrones, All these thrones
in this world. I was reading about, when I was
studying this, I got sidetracked and went chasing rabbits. And
I went over there and started reading about Solomon's throne.
What a throne it was. Eight steps of solid gold. Eight
steps high. On each step, a golden line on
either side. Eight steps up to that throne. Solid gold throne. Oh, my soul. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him. Now listen, and for Him. For Him. He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist. And in all things natural and
all things spiritual, Jesus Christ has the preeminence. For it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. His throne
is a throne of grace because it pleased the Father to make
it so. That's the purpose of the throne. Read over there in Psalms where
He talks about setting His Son upon My holy hill. Read about
that. He's talking about His King. God could have looked on man
after the fall and just erased him from the universe. But if
He did, then mercy and grace would have been ignored. It would
have been ignored. And grace denied its rightful
place. To manifest the glory of God,
there must be a throne of grace, and grace incarnate must sit
upon it. His throne is a throne of grace
because of who sits upon it. And it's a throne of grace because
this is God's purpose. And then thirdly, this throne
is a throne of grace because there is no other way for a holy
God to save sinful men. It has to be a throne of grace. This rule of God, this holy rule
of God, it must be imparted into the hearts of men. I'm telling you this, religion
worships a God foreign to the God of Scripture. You read about
the God of Scripture and try to apply this God they're talking
about, and it don't fit. He has, He does, and He will
yet punish sin. And you can walk all the aisles
you want to, and you can be buried and sprinkled and anointed and
catechized and everything else. None of these things can take
away your sins. None of them. And God must and
shall punish all sin. There's no hope of salvation
based on God feeling sorry for the sinner. And there's no hope
of salvation based on man's willingness to serve or upon his doing the
best he can. He's a sinner. And his sins have
separated between him and his God. And no man, no woman can
do anything to atone for their sins. There's only one atonement
for sin, and that's in Christ. That's in Christ. He is the propitiation
for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the
whole world. All my soul. You saying He died
for everybody? No. I'm saying there's just one
propitiation. One propitiation is Christ. And
I don't care if you're a Catholic or a Protestant. I don't care
if you're black or white. I don't care if you're male or
female. I don't care if you're Greek or Jew. There's just one
atonement. Just one propitiation for sin. And that's Christ. And you'll
come to Him or you'll die in your sins. You might want to write this
down, because I know you're going to disagree with it. There is no clemency for sin. Sin must be paid for. It must
be paid for. And see, that's the difference
in what I'm preaching to you this morning and what you're
going to hear at any church you go to. I don't care what the
name is on the door. Go on out there and see if you
can't prove me wrong. They all talk about a forgiveness
of sins based on something the sinner does. And I'm telling
you, it's not based on anything that you can do. You can't atone
for your own sin. There's just one atonement, and
that's in Christ. There's no clemency for sin.
Sin demands the death of the sinner. And justice demands a
satisfaction that even eternal punishment cannot satisfy. The only hope for sinners is
that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, died in His room instead.
That's it. There ain't any other hope. When
John the Baptist said, Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world, he was pointing us to the sin-bearing
substitute for sinners. By His own blood, He entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. were justly and freely by His
grace were justified. Isn't that what Paul said over
in Romans 3? Justified. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. And then Christ is our righteousness.
All our righteousnesses are filthy rags. Boy, I don't like to think
about that, do you? I know what my sins are, my open
sins. I know what they are. I knew
when I did them I was wrong. But oh, how it breaks my heart
when I think that all my righteousnesses are as filthy rags. The chief
of my sins are religious sins. They're religious sins. I have
no righteousness but His. None but His. We cannot approach
the throne of righteousness based upon our works. We are accepted
in the Beloved. And we come by faith trusting
in His righteousness. Paul told the Galatians, he said,
I do not frustrate. Now listen to this. I do not
frustrate the grace of God. Oh, wait a minute, preacher. I thought you were talking about
righteousness. And I'm talking about coming
under this throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help
in time of need. And he said to these Galatians,
I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ died in vain. Untold thousands will perish
in hell because they're ignorant of God's righteousness, and are
going about to establish their own righteousness and will not
submit themselves unto the righteousness of God. Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. And there
is no other way than through the blood and righteousness of
Christ for a sinner to obtain mercy and find grace to help
in time of need. None other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. No salvation in any
other. And then in closing, let me point
out something else in our text. He said, let us come boldly. Boldly. I listened to some Pentecostals
one time talking about this boldness. giving these expressions and
all this kind of stuff. Let me tell you what Paul's talking
about. He's talking about understanding that you're a maggot, and He's
the King of Glory. If you ever get that in your
head, if God ever gets it past your head into your heart, and
you can see yourself for what you are, just a wiggling maggot
approaching this throne that bears all the glory of God. The only way you can get to that
throne is boldly. Boldly. And the only way you're
going to come boldly is for Him to open His eyes and open His
heart to the gospel of His sovereign grace. Then you'll come. Why
will you go there? Because there's nowhere else
to go. If you're going to find mercy,
you're going to find it there. If you're going to find grace,
you're going to find it at the throne of grace. That's the only
place it is. That's where it's dispensed. And I tell you, I
have a lot of trouble with men when they're talking about all
this free will stuff and talking about experiences and talking
about these visions in the night. It's contrary to the Word of
God. On the contrary, faith understands and acknowledges who God is and
who man is and sees Christ alone upon God's throne of grace. And
it goes to Him there in hope to obtain mercy. What are you
looking for this morning? Are you looking for a payday? Are you looking for a reward?
What are you looking for? If you're looking for mercy and
grace, It's just one place to find it on the throne. May God
enable us all to go to Him and rest in Him and find grace to
help in time of need. Father, bless the message this
morning. Oh, our God, tear down these refuges of lies that we
hide in, that we take shelter in. Tear them down. Destroy them. Lay Him in the
dust and bring us to see Him who sits upon the throne in all
of His saving glory. Let us see Him. And then lead
us there. Lead us there in repentance and
faith. And lead us to that throne that
we might obtain mercy and find that grace to help in times of
need. We ask it for Christ's sake.
Amen.