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[0:00] We'll go to Hebrews 4 verse 12. The throne, the throne of grace.! Let's go to the throne tonight, amen.

[0:12] ! And we're going to go to Hebrews 4 verse 12 to lead in. Hebrews 4 verse 12, it reads, For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[0:36] Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

[0:48] 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.

[1:01] For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

[1:15] Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

[1:27] The context there, speaking of the word of God, speaking of judgment to come, speaking of the great high priest, of how he was tempted yet without sin.

[1:41] And then, let us then, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace. You have an invitation from the throne.

[1:54] Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace. Number one, get bold. There's a boldness here called for, to get bold.

[2:04] As we come to pray, as we come to him, there's a boldness he calls us to. Let us, therefore, come boldly, it says. We've a throne that we can come to.

[2:15] We have a mercy seat to flee to. We have a gracious king to speak with. And, of course, the mercy seat, speaking of old covenant times, was that holy of holies, where the blood was poured out, speaking of our Saviour's perfect sacrifice to come.

[2:34] Where it says come, come boldly, the word come or approach is in the present tense, indicating we are to approach God in prayer regularly.

[2:45] It's a coming and a keeping on coming. Back in the Old Testament times, the high priest was only allowed in the holy of holies, behind that holy curtain, into the very holiest place, only once per year.

[3:01] But the believer today, you and me, we can approach our Lord at any time. There's no restriction there. So we can get bold to have that access.

[3:13] And Christ, our high priest, he is one that says he can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. It says of our Lord that he feels our pain, he feels the grief we might have, of suffering, of hurting, of wounds that we have.

[3:29] Now, when you might want to go to a doctor, sometimes it can be hard to explain to a doctor the pain that you might have. But this great doctor, our Lord, he knows the pain.

[3:43] He knows, he understands what the pain is like. Because it tells us how he, it's not one who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows what it feels like.

[3:56] He knows all about it. But we don't have to try to explain it to him. He listens, he cares, and he understands deeply. And so, the message for us is to go to the throne and enter by faith.

[4:11] And he extends grace there. We think of like verses that encourage us to be prayerful. We see, for example, Psalm 34, verse 17, it reads, So there's a wonderful admission we can have into his very presence.

[4:32] And we have one who opens the door wide for us. We have access, free access. Friends, it's telling us here, as for example, Ephesians 1, 6 says, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

[4:46] It's a wonderful truth that you that believe, you are accepted. He receives you. Accepted into the arms of his grace. There was a commentator who explained this Greek word.

[4:59] It's only used one other time in the New Testament of this word, accepted. And the other time, the other reference where the same word is used that underlies the translation of accepted is where it says, Hail thou that art highly favoured.

[5:16] The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. As the angel came, angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her that she was favourably blessed.

[5:28] This word highly favoured is the same as accepted. So when we see where it says that he hath made us accepted in the beloved, there's a sense where we're greatly favoured by God.

[5:39] We're especially favoured to have this privilege. We're highly favoured to have that access that he grants to us. And we think of that access, that wherein he hath made us accepted, because of his grace, he's made us accepted in the beloved.

[5:55] In the beloved. It speaks of that wonderful privilege that we have to come before him and to know his gracious love. We think of times where people have prayed and God has intervened.

[6:08] There was one time in Arkansas, a pastor's wife called Cindy had a blessing through prayer. And Cindy was home one time and a pistol-wielding burglar intruded into the home and this unknown man surprised her.

[6:25] And when she came in to answer the phone, he ripped the cord from the wall and ordered her into a closet. And she was fearful for her life but didn't panic. And to the shock of the gunman, Cindy immediately fell to her knees and began to pray for God's help.

[6:41] Even more stunned was he when she boldly asked if she could pray for him. She could pray for the burglar. And so she proceeded to tell him of Christ's love and of her forgiveness for his actions.

[6:54] And apparently this is more than the robber bargained for. And he began to break into tears and he knelt and prayed with her. And to her relief, the man then yelled out the window to a woman waiting in a pickup truck, you know, a ute that they were loading with all the stolen property.

[7:10] He says, we've got to unload all of this stuff. This is a Christian home and we can't do this to them. And then Cindy remained on her knees in prayer while the furniture was brought back in.

[7:21] The man wiped off his fingerprints and left his gun behind and apologised. And so there was an answer to prayer there. We could think there's many examples people would cite of how God has given grace in answer to prayer because he wants us to pray.

[7:38] And God's great heart of love is there at the throne. It's at the throne, brother. At the throne, sister. And we can answer in. It's by prayer that we can answer in with an assurance, with a boldness.

[7:50] Now, of course, we know some might take it to an extreme that it doesn't mean to take it to. There's some that pray as if they're commanding God to do something.

[8:03] We're not talking about that. We're not to confuse boldness with arrogance or presumption, too, as if we can dictate to God what he should do for us, as if he's our delivery boy or such.

[8:15] But, of course, we come as Isaiah came into the very presence of God in Isaiah 6 as he saw the King of glory and he saw the glory fill the place, the temple.

[8:27] And it says, Isaiah said, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

[8:40] So here he was in the very throne room, in the very presence of the King, the Almighty King. And so he acknowledged his need, his heart to be right with God.

[8:53] He acknowledged his sin and he got it dealt with there by virtue of God's grace. And so there's a right kind of boldness in prayer. Not a boldness that's arrogant or presumptuous, but a boldness that still has a heart of humility, as Isaiah showed.

[9:10] So God wants us to pray bold prayers from humble Christians. He wants our humility as we pray. To acknowledge he's the King of glory and we stand in awe of him, in wonderment, and astounded at his grace that we should be invited to come into his very presence.

[9:30] And we see this same word, the same truth, of this confidence, of this boldness, same word. And this is the confidence that we have in him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.

[9:44] We have this confidence, it says. We have this confidence and this confidence is that, that we have in him. It's in Christ. And so that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.

[9:56] There's an assurance there. There's a promise there that if we are in him, we have the confidence that we can ask of him according to his will and that he will hear us.

[10:07] He will hear our prayer. We see that we should get bold. Secondly, we see that we should get mercy. We should get mercy. It says we come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy.

[10:20] Mercy speaks of God's compassion for us. We hear of the record of Job as James recounts in his book, James 5, 11, Behold, we count them happy which endure.

[10:34] Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. We know in Job's account, he had to have a lot of patience, didn't he?

[10:44] As he suffered muchly and his family and there was great loss and tragedy and the perseverance of Job was such that the Lord showed his mercy.

[10:58] He showed his pity. He showed his compassion. So consider the tenderness of Jesus. We see that right through the accounts of the Gospels. We see the tenderness of our Lord, how he reached out and touched people, how he shows mercy to those unworthy.

[11:13] Now there's a saying that goes, God helps those who help themselves. But of course, the Bible doesn't say such a thing. God helps the helpless. God helps the helpless.

[11:24] That's the mercy of our God, isn't it? That he would extend mercy to the unworthy. He extends mercy. And he's affected with our infirmities. This great God is not a distant, far, far away God.

[11:37] He's very real. He's very close. He's affected by our infirmities and he's moved by them. He feels them. He's touched with the feeling of them. He's a very feeling God.

[11:48] He's a very sensitive God. Not a sensitive new age guy, but he's a sensitive God in that he's moved with the feelings of our infirmities.

[12:00] He very much is real and can be touched and we can touch him. And it tells of him, the Lord is good and his mercy, this mercy that he has, this merciful God that we know, his mercy, it says, Psalm 100 verse 5, his mercy is everlasting and his truth endureth to all generations.

[12:21] Think of the mercy of our God, his tender mercies. We see Ephesians 2, 4 tells us of God, he is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us.

[12:32] His mercy is great. It's rich. Notice he is rich in his mercy to the two blind men by the wayside in Matthew 20, verse 31 through 34.

[12:42] It says, And the multitude rebuked them. These two blind men by the wayside coming out of Jericho, they rebuked them because they should hold their peace. But they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou Son of David.

[12:59] And Jesus stood still and called them and said, What will you that I should do unto you? They said unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.

[13:15] So Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight and they followed him. So they cried out for mercy and it says that Jesus had compassion.

[13:29] He touched their eyes. He ministered and they were healed. We see God's mercy here, his pardon. For some, they would discount the blind ones yelling out.

[13:43] They would turn a deaf ear to them. no, the Lord Jesus listens and he is moved with compassion when we call upon him. And so we see God's mercy, his pardon.

[13:53] It's right through the word of God, his forgiveness. There's a story told of the emperor, Napoleon, that how he was moved one time for a plea for pardon.

[14:05] There was a mother who was crying out to the emperor for her son. He had been found guilty and it was his second offence and justice demanded death.

[14:16] He was really sentenced to death. And so the mother came to Napoleon and had the ultimate power as the emperor of the nation and she knew, look, justice declared, demanded death.

[14:33] And so she said to the emperor, to Napoleon, I do not ask for justice, I plead for mercy. But, said the emperor, he does not deserve mercy.

[14:45] And the mother said, Sire, it would not be mercy if he deserved it and mercy is all I ask for. And the mother's plea prompted Napoleon to respond, well then, I will have mercy.

[15:02] It's like that for you and me, isn't it? When we come to our Lord, we're condemned because of our sin, that our guilty state, our verdict is death, the wages of sin is death.

[15:15] But then the almighty king says that the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We're declared guilty as charged but he takes the wrath, he pays the penalty, he extends mercy by his grace.

[15:35] So grace is that God does give us what we don't deserve, mercy is that God doesn't give us what we do deserve. Shall I say that again? I've got to get that clear on my own head.

[15:48] Grace, God does give us what we don't deserve. That's grace. He gives us salvation, we don't deserve it. Mercy, God doesn't give us what we do deserve.

[16:00] The punishment, he doesn't give it because he gives us mercy rather. So, get bold as you approach the throne. Get mercy as you come to that throne.

[16:12] And then, thirdly, get grace. There's grace there. At the throne of grace. 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.

[16:25] Friends, there's grace to help. There's God's grace to help you. There's a supply of grace for you if you would but tap into it to go to that throne of his grace, to go to his throne.

[16:36] Now, for the lost sinner, God's throne is a throne of judgment but to the believer it's a throne of grace. Think of that. For we that believe, his throne is not a throne that we stand in judgment.

[16:49] His throne is a throne that extends grace. It's the throne of grace for you that believe. And we think of the grace of God that we can come to that throne and we can come for his help with all of our burdens and needs and he'll hear us.

[17:04] He'll extend grace to us. It's called the throne of grace. Grace made the throne. He's made the throne of grace and he's reigning at the throne of grace and he's dispensing, supplying grace to those that will trust him.

[17:19] When we think of a throne, we think of a king seated on a throne. A throne is the center of power, isn't it? Think of the, as it were, as it is, the throne of God is the throne of grace.

[17:31] It's the center of his power. And there is where the king is seated in authority and his provision comes from the throne. Praise God.

[17:42] Think of times where, you know, there's a story told, I don't mean to tell you unduly numbers of stories, but it illustrates the truth where there was a time where it had been the Civil War in America, you know, the Confederates and the Yankees and this Confederate soldier was sitting at the White House steps and they wouldn't let him in.

[18:06] And a young boy approached him and inquired why he was so sad and the soldier related how he tried to reach the President Lincoln to tell him how he'd been unjustly treated and how certain lands had been taken from him from the war and that was unjust.

[18:22] And so he attempted to enter the White House but the soldiers there with their bayonets forbade him from answering. And then the boy motioned to the soldier, this one who was feeling this loss, this unjust treatment, he motioned to the soldier to come and follow him and as they both approached the guarded entrance the soldiers came to attention and opened the door to let the boy in.

[18:47] And he proceeded to the library where the President was resting and introduced the soldier to his father. The boy was Tad Lincoln, so Abraham Lincoln's son.

[18:57] And so the soldier gained an introduction, an audience with the President through the President's son. We think of that for ourselves that we have access because of Christ, don't we?

[19:08] We've got access we're accepted in the Beloved, we've also got access because of the Beloved. We can have access to the grace of the King of Kings as he admits us.

[19:22] Think of this throne of grace today. You will never be denied access that believe. You that are a believer, you will never be denied access to the throne. It is the throne of grace.

[19:32] It's God's source of his unlimited power, the throne from which flows really the love of God, that help from above, that mercy that prevails over judgment, that forgiveness that can wash away and remove all of our sin, that wisdom of God, that understanding of God, his provision of his spirit's power and enabling all that we need comes from the throne, really, isn't it?

[20:03] And so, do we neglect to go to the throne when we ought to go to the throne? To find grace, it says, to help in time of need. Think of that. Sometimes in the time of need, we neglect to go to the throne of grace when really that's the place we ought to be.

[20:20] In time of need, he's here. He's here at the throne for you. And he's that shelter in the time of storm. He's that shade from the heat. Now, Seventh-day Adventists follow the teachings of Ellen G. White.

[20:34] And she wrote this, I quote, Jesus has purchased redemption for us. It is ours, but we are placed here on probation to see if we will prove worthy of eternal life.

[20:46] So the salvation the Seventh-day Adventists teach is such that Jesus has purchased redemption, but we've got to prove worthy of it. In other words, by our works.

[20:57] Now, that's wrong. That's not so. Eternal life depends not on proving our worthiness because we can never be worthy, but it depends upon the worthiness of our Saviour.

[21:09] Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for us. He is the one who's worthy. His worthiness is the full payment, the measure of payment. God gives eternal life and it's by His grace that He gives it.

[21:22] He grants it. And He's able to give us grace in the time of need. It tells of our Lord that our God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

[21:35] We can go to the throne of God, the throne of grace, to find grace to help in time of need. And it says that He is very present in the time of trouble. Think of it, He is very present and He's ever present.

[21:48] There's not a time He will not be there for you. When we think how we can go to the throne, the throne of grace is always there and we can always go there. We can always come there to that throne.

[22:00] And there's not a time that He will not be there for you. You know, believe it today. You're going through some testing times. I know there's troubles and heartaches, there's affliction, there's hardship.

[22:14] He is there for you. He's always there for you and you can always go there to that throne of grace all the time, at any time. It's not like as some would have kind of an admission time as it might be.

[22:27] The ruler might have only certain times you can go to have an audience with him or her. But this great King, our God, His great throne of grace is available 24 by 7.

[22:41] There's no time constraint. There's no time limit on the access that you can have. It tells us that in Psalm 62 verse 8. It says, Trust in Him at all times, you people.

[22:53] Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. He is one. We can trust Him at all times. He doesn't switch off. His help is always there.

[23:03] He's extended to you. So, brother, sister, I urge you tonight in this context of going to the throne, of going to that throne of grace, to think how prayerfully you can have that heart to pray.

[23:17] It says we can draw near in prayer. And prayer is our supply line. You can pour out your heart before Him. It tells us here, pour out your heart before Him. Let Him know your heart.

[23:28] Just let it all come out before Him. Talk to Him one to one. And this throne that we can flee to is the throne of our Father. So, not only is He our King, our Master, our Lord, our Saviour, our God is our Father, our Heavenly Father.

[23:47] So, there's a relationship. There's a closeness. There's such that we can, like the President's Son, could go into the Father at any time. So, too, you and me.

[23:57] We are sons and daughters of our living God and we can go straight into His presence. There's that kind of relationship boldness, isn't it? That boldness that is our relationship. That privilege that we have that we don't have to make a time, we don't have to make an appointment, we don't have to stand in a queue.

[24:16] We can go straight in, straight into the Father's room, straight into the Father's presence to jump on His lap, as it were, as a little boy would jump into their Father's lap.

[24:27] We can have that closeness with our Father. And so, the throne is such that we can flee to that throne, which is the throne of our Father. That's how we can have confidence today.

[24:38] That's how we can have that privilege, that assurance, as we enter the very throne room of heaven. It's astonishing, really, isn't it? It's mind-boggling to think that the very throne room of heaven is open to you that believe.

[24:51] So, come to Him by faith and enter in. Don't stand back with fear or doubt, but enter in. Not presumptuously or arrogantly, but with that assurance of faith you can enter in, with that confidence that comes from faith, that relationship you have with Him.

[25:09] Amen. So, we see in Ephesians, it tells us of the grace that we can know. It tells us how we that were dead in sins, have He quickened? He's quickened us together with Christ, as in the resurrection, as in the life of Christ.

[25:25] We're made alive, it says. By grace are you saved. And it says, and He has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.

[25:45] For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Notice there, it tells us in verse 7, the grace that we're talking about is an overflowing, isn't it?

[26:01] It talks about the riches of His grace. When you think of riches, this is the most precious treasure, isn't it? The very riches of His grace that we can know that, know that personally.

[26:14] The riches of His grace. A writer said this, sin conquered man, grace conquered sin, therefore the power of grace is greatest. Now what, no matter the sin, no matter how foul the sin, and sin conquered man, it says grace conquered sin.

[26:32] If you can know grace, your sin can be given forgiveness, your sin can be taken. If you know grace, then your sin can be pardoned, you can know salvation, because the power of grace is greater than sin.

[26:46] As the song goes, isn't it? Grace that is greater than all our sin. Think of that, that God's grace would be so great that it can extend and it can include everything of man's sin if we'd but trust His work on our part, if we'd but receive His grace extended.

[27:04] We think of our Lord as it reads of Him, He is the God of all grace. It's, grace is Him, it's His character, it's His overflow of His person.

[27:15] He's the God of all grace and also the God of all comfort. So we can come and know that, riches of His grace today. Let me quote another writer, it says, possibly the most difficult task for us to perform is to rely on God's grace and God's grace alone for our salvation.

[27:33] It's difficult for our pride to rest on grace. Grace is for other people, for beggars. We don't want to live by a heavenly welfare system. We want to earn our own way and atone for our own sins.

[27:46] We like to think that we will go to heaven because we deserve to be there. But of course, it's not so. No one deserves heaven and we all should come as beggars to come to that throne to receive, to be recipients, glad recipients of His pardon, of His mercy and of His grace.

[28:04] And friends, that is the truth we can know today, that that throne is available for you and the power of that throne. As again, I talked earlier of a throne, it represents a king, a kingdom.

[28:15] And when we think of the throne of grace, it's all that God is. He's the God of all grace and grace flows from His throne. The throne represents our King's authority and His dominion.

[28:27] And you can come knowing that He has the authority of grace. He is the supply of grace. He is the provider of grace.

[28:39] We see Hebrews 10 reads along similar lines it says and I was noting that song that we read before, Bold I approach the eternal throne.

[28:50] Bold I approach the eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own. You can actually bold approach that eternal throne. Again, it's not because of any virtue or any deserving of your own that you can boldly approach but because He invites you to.

[29:08] He extends His invitation to you to boldly approach. And so, Hebrews 10, 19 is along the same line it says having therefore brethren boldness. There's an assurance, there's a confidence, there's a very great open welcome and access it says having therefore brethren boldness to enter into the holiest so the very holy of holies by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which He hath consecrated for us through the veil that is to say His flesh and having a high priest over the house of God let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

[29:50] So again, there's a plea there, there's an invitation extended there. Brethren, we've got boldness to enter. We've got boldness to enter in, into the very holiest.

[30:02] So, think of it, believer, tonight. Do we enter in or do we hold back? I think sometimes we might hesitate to enter in. We might hold back rather than enter in.

[30:15] God wants us to enter in. We hesitate, we feel unworthy, we doubt Him. When He calls us, let us draw near. Let us draw near with a true heart.

[30:27] The invitation is extended. Let us therefore come boldly. Come boldly. In time of need, there is hell.

[30:39] Notice it's at the throne, the throne of grace. And He extends His gracious invitation. Notice it says, come, come that you may obtain.

[30:51] Come that you may obtain. Friends, sometimes we don't obtain, we don't receive because we're not coming. As James talks, how you have not because you ask not.

[31:03] He wants you to ask, He wants you to pray, He wants you to come to the throne. And of course, we know sometimes we've got to come and keep on coming. And the answers can be taking a time to get through.

[31:14] We know sometimes we're knocking at that door and we've got to keep on knocking. It's like the old chorus goes, you know, ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking, which is of course based on the Bible verse.

[31:33] And in fact, that is the tense of it. It's actually the actual, the intent of it is that you're to ask and keep on asking. That's the intent in the, I'm not sure of the reference there, but how we should ask and keep on asking.

[31:48] We should seek and keep on seeking. We should knock and keep on knocking. As our Lord talks about the widow woman knocking, wasn't it? She was pestering this man, this judge, to get her need met.

[32:02] And we should come, so come to our Lord that we should have that, that persistence to pray, to persist to pray. So when it's talking about let us come, it's come and keep on coming.

[32:16] Come boldly. So brother, sister, be encouraged to pray. Your need will be such that you'll find grace to help in that time of need.

[32:26] Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for the great riches of your grace, that Lord, you extend such grace to we that trust you. Lord, we know that we can get bold in the sense of have that assurance, that confidence to pray as your invitation is such that we should pray.

[32:45] Lord, we thank you that we can get mercy such that our sin can be pardoned, that we can know you're holding back the judgment that we are due.

[32:58] And Lord, that grace has paid it all for we that trust you. We know it's that wonderment of the cross and Lord, we acknowledge that wonder today as we come to the throne of grace.

[33:10] Help us, Lord, to come boldly. Help us to enter in, to draw near, to enter into the holiest because of the blood of Jesus shed for us.

[33:20] That each one can know by assurance of your word, by the promises of your word, Lord, that we can be saved for one. And Lord, as saved people, we can keep entering in to receive your provision of grace as we live in this time before heaven.

[33:39] Lord, that we'll be a people prepared and living to your pleasure. Lord, we pray as you keep extending that grace, which is our lifeline, we thank you, Lord, for it. Pray that each one might know the saving grace of God today that you have paid all our sin and we've simply trusted that payment and received it on our part as you've given it to us.

[34:03] In simple faith, Lord, we receive that great trust and thank you for every person here gathered and our future, Lord. Let us keep on coming boldly unto that throne of grace and we thank you for it in Jesus' name.

[34:19]  Amen. Amen.