Turn there. David was having much trouble
here with sin in society. He was troubled himself. He tells
us that in verse 19, the thoughts that was within him. And then
he mentions verse 20. And that's my subject this afternoon. Shall the throne of iniquity
have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? I just want us to think about
thrones, the throne. I want to look in different places
in the scripture where this whole concept of throne, of course
thrones denotes authority, doesn't it? It denotes reign, a rule,
a law. The throne of iniquity. Boy,
that's a chilling thought, isn't it? The throne of iniquity. But since the Lord has brought
us to understand the truth about sin, I tell you, we can't deny
it, can we? We cannot deny that there is
a definite sense in which sin reigns. From the time that a
baby, an infant, A fetus is conceived in its mother's womb until the
time that it leaves this world, sin reigns. David said, I was
shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. And
then when he got old, he could say this with the Apostle Paul,
sin has reigned unto death. Sin is upon a throne. He calls
it here the throne of iniquity. I never dreamed in all of my
days, I never could have imagined what it was like to be saved.
I never could have imagined the joy of salvation, the peace with
God that it brought to me, the comfort of conscience to know
that God had received me, Christ was mine and I was His. There
is great joy in being saved, but I never had the first ideal
of the burden of sin that I would feel. I felt the guilt of sin
when I first come to the Lord, and the power of it reigning
over me. But I tell you, since the Lord
has saved me, and the further I go along this way, I have felt
the power of sin's corruption. Brother Wayne read the passage
this morning in Romans 7. when I would do good, evil is
present with me. Evil has lost its dominion. And
thank God for that. It doesn't reign in the hearts
of His children anymore like it used to. But I tell you, it's
still on the throne in this sense that its presence is still there. And you and I, as long as we
live in this world, will never take the throne off of sin. Its presence will ever be with
us. And we look around us in our day, and boy, what a tremendous
burden we're facing. And Paul said, In the last days,
because iniquity shall abound. And we cannot deny on every hand
that there is a throne of iniquity. And it's permeated all our society. Somebody was talking this morning
about their family and what a mess their family was in. And the
bitterness and the anger that had crept in was just destroying
the family. What is that but the throne of
iniquity? Where iniquity reigns, a person
will not obey the law and they will not obey the gospel. And
the only reason, brothers and sisters, it's not worse is because
there's a throne above the throne of iniquity. But you look in
the White House, in the seat of power, our political power
in our country, and look how the throne of iniquity is reigning
there. You look in our school system, our educational system,
and look at the trouble they're having. And you come right down to the
White House, the State House, the School House, and to our
house, and all of us will have to admit, There's a throne of
iniquity. And boy, it seems like it's raining
in our day. Does it not? David felt this. Boy, he felt this, the throne
of iniquity. That's why he was talking there
in verse 18 about his feet was ready to slip, but God's mercy
had held him up in the multitude of my thoughts, my anxious thoughts. And it had to do with this throne
of iniquity. Thank God there is another throne.
And I want you to look at it over in the 93rd chapter. Just right over the page from
it. Look at this in verse 1 and 2. Look at this. The Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength,
wherewith He hath girded Himself. The world also is established
that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of
old, thou art from everlasting." There's a throne above the throne
of iniquity. And that's why, brothers and
sisters, the world of humanity has not been destroyed. Sin would
destroy us, would it not? Man would destroy himself if
it wasn't for God who reigns upon this throne. Sin has been
reigning for 6,000 years in its little sphere. That's when it
had its beginning. 6,000 years ago it began to reign.
But God has no beginning. And His throne is from everlasting
to everlasting. And here in verse 3, David was
concerned about this throne of iniquity. It's noise that it
was making. It's flood. And look what he
said in verse 3. The floods have lifted up. Oh Lord, the floods have lifted
up their voice. The floods lift up their waves. And David was looking at this
throne of iniquity like it was a flood. And he said it's threatening
just to wash everything away with it. It's noisy. Boy, it's that way, isn't it? It's that way in our day. Sin's
a noisy thing, isn't it? And it rises like a flood and
it seems like it's ready just to destroy and wash away our
society. But look what he says in verse
4. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters.
Yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. He reigns, doesn't He? Sin may reign in its littlest
sphere, but I tell you, God reigns over sin. He reigns over sin
in your heart. He reigns over sin in your life.
He reigns over sin in society. He reigns over sin as far as
hell is concerned. He reigns. He's on His throne. Listen to these verses of Scripture.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let
men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth. Isn't that comforting? That's comforting in our day.
Listen to this passage. God reigneth over the heathen. He sitteth upon the throne of
His holiness. Aren't you glad He reigns over
this nation? There's a good article back there by Joe Terrell, Pastor
Joe Terrell, about politics and God. And if you want to read
a good article, a confidential article, read that article. We're
so tore up in our day about politics, and rightfully so, I guess. But
don't ever forget this, brethren. God reigneth over the heathen. And listen to this verse. Say
among the heathen that the Lord reigneth. The earth shall be
established, that it shall not be moved. He shall judge the
people in righteousness. The Lord reigneth, let the people
tremble. He setteth between the cherubims,
let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion, and
He is high above all the people. And listen to this, Thy kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom. Thou rulest over all. He reigns. He's on His throne.
That's comforting to me, isn't it you? Look at another passage
concerning His being on the throne. Look in Revelation chapter 4.
The book of Revelation chapter 4. I don't know what's going to
happen here or any place else, but I tell you what, It's so
comforting to me to know that whatever happens, our God is
reigning. He's on His throne. That's comforting,
ain't it? Look at what He says in Revelation
chapter 4 and verses 1 and 2. There's a little term here that
John used, and he only used it one time. A throne. A throne. And then when he saw
a throne, and he saw who sat on that throne, every time then
he said, ìItís the throne, the throne.î Look what he said in
verse 1 of Revelation 7, ìAfter these things I saw the four angels
standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four
winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth.î
Now Iím sorry, Iím in the seventh chapter, the fourth chapter,
fourth chapter in verse 1. ìAfter this I looked, and behold,
a door was opened in heaven, And the first voice which I heard
was as of a great trumpet, talking with me, which said, Come up
here, and I will show thee things that must be hereafter. And immediately
I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and
one set upon the throne." He uses that term, the throne, every
other time in this passage. But here in verse 11, it shows
you the kind of throne that He said in a poem. It's the throne
of creation. That's where He begins in chapter
4. Look in verse 11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things
and for thy pleasure they are and were created. John saw him
setting upon this throne and then he realized he was on the
throne of creation. He's the creator. I love creation,
don't you? And one of the reasons I love
it, I don't even think I even consider it until the Lord saved
me. And I really begin to consider who created this vast universe?
the starry heaven and the earth and myself. And you know who
created that? God did that. And though we reference
it, we stand in awe of its power, we don't tempt God by abusing
it, but you know something? I am not fearful about creation
because it's the Lord's. He created it. And there's nothing
in creation that can harm God's children. There's not. I'm not saying walk out in a
flood or out in a tornado. I'm not saying tempt God. But
I'm saying this. There is nothing in creation
that you and I have to live in torment and fear of. Because
God created it for His pleasure. They are and were created. Who's
upon the throne? The Sovereign Lord and Creator
of all things. And in chapter 5, verses 1 through
verse 13, he deals with providence, providence, especially as it
concerns the redemption of God's people. You know God has a redemptive
purpose. He has a redemptive purpose in
this world. And in chapter 5, you can read
this. There was in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne a book. And that was the book of God's
redeeming purpose. Who was going to open it up and
bring it to pass and fulfill it? Nobody was found worthy until
they found the Lamb. And look what he says here in
verse 5. John says in verse 4, I wept much. Because no man was
found worthy to read the book, neither to look thereon. And
one of the elders said unto me, Weep not. Behold, the Lion of
the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open
the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And behold, and
lo in the midst of the throne, And of the four beasts, and in
the midst of the elders stood a lamb, as it had been slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits
of God, sent forth from all the earth. 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 vows full of odors which are the prayers of saints.
And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, tongue,
and people, and nation, and hast made us into our God, kings,
and priests, and we shall reign on the earth." And look in verse
12, all of this crowd, was singing with a loud voice, Worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature
which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and
such as are in the sea and all that in them is, heard I saying,
Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him, where is
He sitting? On the throne and unto the Lamb
forever. You know what this chapter is
telling us? That God has this book, and in that book His full
purpose of redemption is sealed up. And the Lamb of God, Jesus
Christ, opened that book. He's revealing today and bringing
to pass this redemptive purpose of God. He is upon His throne,
Jesus of Nazareth, and the Scripture says He must reign. God has turned it all over to
him, hasn't He? Who's on the throne while we're here this
afternoon? Jesus. Jesus. God has turned it over
to him and says, Son, this is my purpose. Fulfill it. Bring
it to pass. So He set it on His throne this
afternoon and that's what He's doing. Do you ever wonder why you were
preserved before you were ever called. Isn't that amazing? I've escaped death three times
in my lifetime before I was ever called. Some kind of providence
was protecting me, I'm just certain of it. Satan and ourselves would destroy
ourselves, wouldn't we? Before the Lord ever called us.
So God has put it into the hands, the Father has put it into the
hands of His Son, and says, My Son, preserve your people until
the Holy Spirit calls them. And He does that. You ever wonder why you heard
the Gospel when you did, where you did, why you did? Ain't that
amazing? The Lord moved me from Clark
Ranch, Tennessee, where there was no gospel as far as I know,
and brought me to Muncie, Indiana to hear the gospel. We don't thank much of that,
do we? But the providence of God is involved in saving His
people. Why was there a tree at all for
Zacchaeus to get up in? Somebody said, let's just plant
this little sapling here, never thanking. That was the providence
of God for a little short man to get up in and see Christ as
He passed by. A tree was cut down, they sawed
up the wood, and made a cross out of it. And nobody knew that
Jesus had his hand in the making of that cross, because one of
his elect children was going to hang on that cross, and his
nine hours was going to be saved. Who's ruling all of this? Who's
keeping you since he saved you? Who's preserving you now? Somebody
is on the throne, and in spite of the devil, and in spite of
the throne of iniquity, you are being preserved. Who is doing
that? Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And I tell you, when they found this out up there in heaven,
and as we hear it here upon this earth, we just fall down and
worship Him, don't we? The Lamb that was slain. And
He is in the throne. And He must reign. until He's
put all of His enemies under His fist up. Look here at another
place. Look in chapter 7. In verse 7 through 10. Look in Revelation chapter 7.
Here's another throne. Have the throne of creation.
He created all things and for His pleasure they are and were
created. And then He's on the throne of
His providence unfolding God's eternal purpose. And look here
at this throne in chapter 7 and verse 9. After this I beheld, and lo,
a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in
their hand. And they cried with a loud voice,
Salvation to our God, which setteth upon the throne! Salvation to
God, which setteth upon the throne! Boy, if He didn't sit on the
throne, there'd be no salvation, wouldn't there? You and I saw
it this morning when we've seen everything that opposed our salvation.
Satanic powers opposing our salvation. A hard heart opposing our salvation. The world opposing our salvation. And if God is not for us, it
don't matter if everybody else is for us. It ain't going to
help us. It ain't going to save us. If
Jesus bore my sins away on the cross 2,000 years ago, my sins
must be forgiven in time. They must be. If coming to Jesus
is necessary, and it is, the Holy Ghost must effectually call
me. If it's essential for us to repent
and believe in Jesus Christ, these things will be granted
to us. But how can we be assured of
that? He's on the throne. He's on the throne. When it comes
time, Randy, for you to be called, whatever was needed to bring
you, He says, I've got it. I'm on the throne. Wisdom? I'm on the throne. Power? I'm on the throne. Grace? I'm
on the throne. Whatever it takes to bring Him,
all that the Father gives to me shall come. to me. Are you sure? Yes, because He's
on the throne. That's so confident, ain't it?
That's so confident. Look here at another throne right
quickly, back in the Old Testament, Zechariah chapter 6. Zechariah chapter 6. This is along the same line,
but it talks about another throne. Zechariah chapter 6. Look in verse 11 through verse
13. This is very unique. All through
the history of Israel, they never had a priest and a king in the
same person. Never had a priest and king.
There was only one priest and one king. He was anointed priest
and anointed king, and that was Jesus, the Son of God. He was
a prophet, he was the priest, and he was the king. And look
here what it says about him in verse 11. Zechariah chapter 6
and verse 11. And speaking to him, saying,
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man who is
the branch, whose name is the branch, and he shall grow up
out of his place there in Nazareth. And he shall build the temple
of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory, and he shall sit and
rule upon his throne, and he shall be a priest upon his throne,
and the counsel of peace shall be between them. Now, we can
understand when you say He's a King upon His throne. That
means He's reigning over everything. But a priest? Why would we need
a priest on a throne? That's something else, ain't
it? I'll tell you why we need a priest
on the throne. As a King, He reigns in His providence
over all things for the church. But as the priest, he reigns
over his church in grace. In grace. As sin hath reigned unto death,
even so might grace reign through righteousness. A man asked a
question one time, why do you guys talk about sovereign grace?
And the answer simply is because it's raining. Let us come boldly
to the throne of grace. Sin has rained unto death. Grace reigns through righteousness. The Bible says we beheld His
glory full of grace and truth. How big is the heart of Jesus?
You can't measure, can you? You could put this whole universe
in His heart. His heart's so big it's outside
this universe. But you know something? His heart
is full of grace. That's why He told Paul, My grace
is sufficient for you because my heart's full of it. You can
just keep coming and coming and coming and drawing it out of
my heart and I'll never be diminished. And it's powerful grace because
it's on the throne. What's it going to take to save
you? Is it going to take an offer? Is it going to take a chance? Or is it going to take sovereign,
irresistible grace? That's what it's going to take,
isn't it? Grace. It would make no difference how
much grace was in Christ. Now listen to this. This is so
profound, and I come up with this myself. It would make no
difference how much grace was in the heart of Christ if it wasn't raining grace. If it was just grace that offered
and gave a chance in the space of time, what good would that
do us? But since it's raining grace,
Since it is upon the throne, it is not only plentiful, it
is not only sufficient, but it is reigning. It is sovereign
grace. And because of this, there are
no dark valleys, but grace can get us through it. There are
no hills of difficulty with a sharp rock sticking out. But grace
can help us to climb it. There is no rivers that we cannot
wade or swim because His grace is sufficient. Sovereign grace. It was grace that brought me
safe this far and grace will lead me home. The priest, brothers
and sisters, is seated upon a throne. Grace is reigning. I don't care
how powerful sin is. Let there be a throne of iniquity.
Let it do all it can. As long as there is a throne
of grace, we shall prevail. There is no doubt one of the
reasons why the saints are filled with trials and heartaches and
sorrows is to teach them that they are utterly dependent upon
this sovereign Savior whose heart is full of grace and love. Do you ever wonder why we're
stripped sometimes and just brought to the end of ourselves and think,
I can't make one more step? Have you ever felt that? Do you
know why He brings us to that place to let us know you can't
make one more step? Your strength is not sufficient
on this road to heaven, but my grace is. And it's sufficient
because it's on a throne. Reign in grace. A couple of more
quickly. Look over in Revelation chapter
20. Here's another throne. And it's because of this last
throne that we can face this throne. Revelation chapter 20
and look in verse 11. Revelation chapter 20 and verse
11. And I saw a great white throne,
a great white throne. And him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, there was
found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. And the books were opened. And
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them, and they were judged every man according
to the works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire, a throne of judgment. And I imagine the
reason it's called the throne is because it's irresistible. Man, how many, how few people
would come to this throne if they had an option. They'd rather
for the rocks and mountains to fall on them and hide them from
the face of Him that sits on that throne. But hear all the wicked. They
are going to come creeping out of hell. Their bodies are going
to come up from the sea where they were buried. The ashes are
going to come up. And they are all going to come
creeping up to the judgment. Why would they do that? They
have no choice. The hour is coming in which those
who are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God.
And they'll come forth. The righteous will be here. And I tell you, they'll stand
there in that day without any condemnation. They'll stand there washed in
Jesus' blood from all their sins. They'll stand there robed in
the very righteousness of God, their Savior. They'll stand there
perfectly and completely accepted in His sight without any spot
or without any wrinkle or any such thing. But not the unbelievers. Not the unbelievers. Every one
of them will give account of every hateful thought that he's
ever had in his life. Every mean word, every unlawful
deed, God who knows the hearts of all men will expose it all. Something that comforts my heart
now and helps me to be patient and suffer when people do things
to me is this, nobody is getting by with anything. If a man dies
unforgiven, if a man dies outside Jesus Christ, this is a white
throne judgment And that means judgment will be laid to the
plummet. It will be just. God has appointed
a day in which He'll judge the world in righteousness. We know nothing about that here,
do we? We know nothing about perfect righteousness. We don't
know nothing about judgment that's just and right. We live in a
world that's full of prejudice. What prejudice towards our children.
A boy on that day had to be a white throne. And what's said in secret
here will be exposed there. The crooked dealings, the connivance
of men here will be revealed there. Every word that was spoken
in secret in the closet will be shouted there as upon the
housetop. The white throne judgment. It's a throne, isn't it? It's
a throne. Look in one more place, and I'll
read this and we'll close. Look in the 22nd chapter of Revelation. This is the last place the throne
is mentioned, and that in itself is so confident. One more throne. And the last throne we'll read
about is found here in the 22nd chapter in verse 1. And He showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and on the Lamb. A water of life, clear as crystal,
coming from the throne. raining. And in the midst of
the street of it, and on the side of the river, was there
the tree of life, which bore twelve manner of fruits, and
yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of the trees,"
look at this, were for the healing of the nation. Now I know, I
realize that all of this is just a picture to show us things. There is no river like we see
it here, but He gives us this beautiful picture so we can use
our imagination. Here is the throne, and what
is coming out of that throne? Life! A pure river of grace and
life. And then you have got these trees
for the healing of the nation. There will be no sickness there,
brothers and sisters. There'll be no sorrow. There'll
be no pain. There'll be no death. Absolute healing. There'll be
no hips that need to be replaced. Nothing like that there. And
look in verse 3. And there shall be no more curse,
but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and
His servants shall serve Him. And they shall see His face,
and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be
no more night there, and they need no candle near the light
of the sun. For the Lord God giveth them
light, and they shall reign forever and ever." Everlasting throne. Bless His name for it. Florence,
would you dismiss this?