This sermon is on the throne of grace.
Thankfully, the throne of grace is not like other thrones of God with which we are familiar. The white throne, for instance, includes a judgment of sinners who are cast into the lake of fire. The judgment seat of Christ includes a fire that burns up wood, hay, and stubble. About this judgment Paul warns us, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord…”.
Unlike these thrones, the throne of grace is just that. It is a throne where God dispenses his grace and mercy. And it is a throne because there grace reigns, Rom 5:20-21. “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound”. Our King has a limitless supply of grace. If he were to expend all of the grace we all need, it would not be evident that he had expended any at all.
And this throne of grace is there for us because Christ knows our need. He was tempted in all points like as we are, he has been touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He knows that we cannot survive in this world without his mercy and grace. This is why Paul wrote, “Let us therefore…”. God knows, firsthand, what we need.
We are told to do three things:
Come boldly. We can come boldly to his throne because Christ has offered himself as the perfect sacrifice. We enter on his merits, not ours. He’s the one who came full of grace and truth, Jn 1:14. Also, Jesus intercedes for us, and even for those who are not saved, Rom 8:34, Heb 7:25. We come to this throne in his name, and the one to whom we come is “our Father”.
Obtain mercy. Mercy is what we need when we sin. We come to this throne as sinners and God makes sure that we don’t get what we deserve. Sinners need a priest who will forgive, 1 Jn 1:9. He “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. If it weren’t for God’s mercy, none of us would be here for this service tonight. We would all, rightfully, be dead.
Find grace. Grace is what we must have for our weaknesses, our insufficiency, our infirmities, our necessities, our poverty, etc. God gives us grace for our every need. Grace is always available. Just come to the throne of grace to obtain it. When you think you’re strong enough that you don’t need grace, you are going to mess up. We, like David wrote in the Psalms, are always poor and needy.
Conclusion: the throne of grace is there for us so that we don’t get “down” on ourselves, but rather we get “up” on God.