Establishing Your Throne of Grace

Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. Would you read that with me if you have an RSVP? Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Now hold there. Flip over to Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one. And referring and beginning in verse 26, where the angel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary, beginning in verse 31. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name, Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there will be no end. We are all aware of many of the things that Jesus purposed to do in his coming. All of us know that he came to set men free from their sin. We know that he came to deliver and to heal. But most of us are not aware that one of the purposes in Jesus coming was to establish a throne for eternity. We read it in Isaiah chapter 9, as it was prophesied 650 years before his birth. We read it as prophesied by the angel Gabriel to Mary. And in the midst of all the things that Jesus came to do, we may lose sight of the fact that one of the things that he came to do was to establish a throne. Now, I have to tell you that I had a pretty tough week. And I say that just to let you know that maybe some of you identify with me that Christmas isn't always everything moving quickly together and smoothly together. Right? I don't know if anyone else had that kind of time. I'm not sure what some of your experiences were when you were shopping. One thing that happened to me, it was a little while back, but maybe you can identify with this kind of a thing. I was in one of our venerated department stores and had purchased an item and was told that I asked for a box, I wanted a box. And they said, well, you have to go down to the gift wrap section. Well, I was in between things and had another appointment. I had to get down there and I said, well, do I have to? That's the only place you can go. So I went down to the gift wrap section and there was three or four people at the counter and three or four people in line. And there was one lady back there, well, do you ever have a feeling that God sent you in there to straighten out something? I had that feeling. So I went in and I waited for a while. And I'm a man of growing patience. And it wasn't long before I realized that I couldn't handle this. And I thought it was ridiculous that I would buy a quality item in a quality department store and not be given a box. And so I went back to find the manager. Well, I told you I was on a mission and went back in. And the manager, of course, as any good manager, was not to be found. His secretary said, the manager's not in, but can I help you? And I said, well, I just. And I told her my complaint, and that was it. And I really didn't have time to do anything more about it. And she said, what would you like to fill out? No, I don't want to fill anything out. I just wanted you to know that it's not going unnoticed. And now that it's straightened out, I'm leaving. Well, on my way out, I had to go right past the gift wrap section again. And lo and behold, when I looked in there, there was only two people at the counter, and they appeared to be together. I said, well, what's the difference now? I might as well wait and just get my box. That's all I wanted, just to hand me a box. Well, I'm standing there waiting for the box, and next thing you know, a woman comes down and. And that typical sales clerky kind of accent says, you got problems down here. And the lady behind the counter said, no, I don't think so. She said, well, the big shot got on the phone and said, get down to gift wrap, because all kinds of people were complaining about the service down there. Well, one of the guys who was standing there waiting said, well, I'll tell you, some people just don't know how to wait. And then the lady behind the counter says, well, I saw a guy that slipped in the back, and he looked impatient. I guess he got out and he probably was all upset. The guy was over there. He's saying, yeah, some people just don't have any patience. I mean, I felt just as nailed as you can be nailed, you know. And it went on for a little while longer, and I'm squeezing, just waiting for the revelation to dawn on this lady behind the counter that I was the one. And so they went on back and forth about how impatient people are and how thankless they are and how there can't be any goodwill and all this. And I got my box and said thank you very much and shot the door. But so are the wages of shopping and a busy period. That's a true story and it was worse than I made it sound. But in the midst of that, the practicals and the how to's, the desire that we have to relate our faith to the nitty gritties of our Christian lives, I have to confess to you that I struggled with this teaching this week because I said, lord, it seems to me this isn't something that people can grab onto. It's not something that they can really. It's not easy to understand. And you know, I believe that all teaching and preaching should relate practically that we're not here to establish doctrine that doesn't mean anything. Right? The Lord spoke to my heart, though, and he said that one reason why you don't want to teach that is because you're like a lot of people and you don't believe that the unseen spiritual things control the practical, visible things. How many of you believe that? That's a real practice principle of Scripture. It is. It's right in there. And the Lord spoke to my heart when he said that. Not only is that true, he said, but it's also true that when you can give people a clear spiritual vision of Jesus, then the practical things will fall into place. Somehow when you see him clearly, you see everything else better. Right? So I share this message today with a renewed confidence that though it requires a little bit of stretching of your understanding, that will really deeply cut into a practical area of your life. I want you to see this matter of establishing a throne in your life and in the life of this community. You know, the church, by and large has left Jesus Christ in the manger. If there's one thing that the Christian church today has left, has enjoyed doing, it's leaving Jesus in a position where he's helpless and unable to affect a mature life. And I mean to tell you that I believe that one reason why there's a lot of dead churches that fly the banner of Christian is because people have not been willing to confront the truth of what Isaiah chapter 9, verse 7 says, and that is this. Of the increase of his government and of his peace. There will be no end. And as long as Jesus is lying in the manger, he will not increase his government and his peace in your life. It's a very, very important thing for us to see this morning. The word government there In Isaiah, chapter 9, verse 7 is Misra m I s R A, if you're taking notes, in the Hebrew, and it means rule or dominion, of the increase of his rule or dominion, there will be no end. The other word, peace, is the word that we heard the other night at the banquet, Shalom, which means to make whole or complete or the absence of strife. And the prophet said, of the increase of his rule and dominion, of the increase of his peace, there will be no end. Brothers and sisters, how many of you believe that we have seen as a community an increase in his government and his peace and our fellowship in this year? Right. We have. And for how many of you has that been a reality this year? Person after person could give testimony of a faith that's come alive in the last nine months. But I want us to see today that we are simply at a beginning point, not at an end, that Jesus has birthed many things in us, but that of the increase of his government and of his peace. There must be an ongoing, there must be more. And one of the keys to seeing that is the establishment of this matter of a throne. Now think for a minute about the background of thrones. If you're in Isaiah again, look there. Look how he links the prophet links the increase of the government and of peace. There will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it, and so on. So in the same breath, he says, there's going to be this increase of rule, there's the establishment of this throne. And I want you to see today how important the establishment of the throne and the increase of the rule is. That's the whole direction we're headed today. Now, why would he talk about a throne? Why would the angel underscore this matter of a throne? Of all the things that he spoke to Mary, he decided to say his name would be called Jesus, the son of the Most High God, and he would establish the throne of David. Obviously a very important thing. The background of thrones in most of our mind is not a very poignant kind of illustration, because we are not a monarchy. When we think of power, we don't think of thrones, do we? What do we think of? We think of council meetings and we think of oval offices, democracy. But for most of the world, through most of history, we, Rulership was indicated and represented by a throne. And a throne was the place whereby decrees were made and stability was established and rulership went forth. It was that way all through the Old Testament. It doesn't take a lot of careful study to see that God had a real investment in the establishment of his throne. All through the Old Testament, you read about David and Solomon and. And all the battling that went on to establish that throne whereby rulership was enforced. I find it interesting in the New Testament, Thronos, which is the Greek word, appears in the dictionary in the same section as two other words, Exousia and Dunamis. Authority and power. So that the throne and the authority and the power for the Christian life are linked together. I want to say to you today that some of us are struggling with this whole matter of authority in our life, this whole matter of having power in our life, because we have not established the throne of God in our hearts. So we see the background of the throne is that God has used it to always speak of stability, to always speak productivity. It's interesting to me. For example, In Jeremiah chapter 36 and verse 30, a curse is put on the people of Israel when God says that there will be no one on your throne. Speaking of when they were going into Babylonian captivity. You see, when God wanted to allow the people to fall into the consequences of their disobedience, he just removed the person from their throne. And there was no stability, there was no productivity. And life was chaotic and unfulfilling at best. Now God goes on in the New Testament, he talks about the throne. And it's very interesting. Have you been learning, as I have, that every physical truth has a parallel spiritual truth? It's interesting to me that the Bible talks about Jesus being Created in Colossians 1:16. Above all rule and power and authority and thrones. You can look it up later if you like. It's one reason why we sang that chorus this morning. It's where Jesus is seated above all thrones. Satan has a throne. Revelation 13:2 talks about the throne of the beast. It's a place where he exercises rulership and dominion over his realm. But God Almighty has a throne. Revelation 4 talks about the Creator's throne. We won't take the time to look it up, but it's the throne whereby God issues forth his decree over all the universe. Isaiah saw the throne in Isaiah 6:1 and said, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. It's a throne. When you think of a throne and you think of God in the throne, what's the next word that comes to your mind? The great white throne. Judgment. You think of God sitting in that ivory, raised up on six or seven golden steps, right? And you think of him issuing forth from his mouth. Judgment. Revelation, chapter 21. Because it's the seat, literally in the Hebrew, that's the word seat, seat of authority. That's the throne of God. And God underscores the importance of the throne by 41 times, referring to it in Revelation 41 times. And beloved, the Bible says that Jesus came to establish the throne of his father David. Jesus and the throne. There's a purpose in his coming. There was a purpose in his establishing his rule. It was the purpose of ruling in our lives. A number of years ago, a person came up to me with a little booklet and it had some drawings in it that looked something like that. This is the. The basic drawing of the booklet. The four spiritual laws that every person on every college campus has at least two of. If the Campus Crusade people have been doing their job right. A tremendous anointed tool, really. I believe God's used it to win a lot of hearts to Christ. And this was a picture of what was happening in my life. The throne represented the ruler, dominion of my life. And on that throne was my ego, my pride. And all the little circles represent parts, relationships, decisions, directions, purposes, goals, and all those things. And Jesus Christ was outside of that life, represented by the cross. Then through a decision of my will, Christ entered my life and took his place inside the circle of my being and began to order some of the things of my life. But it wasn't till later that as this person was sharing, Christ took the throne of my life and ego was dethroned. And Christ ordered the different decisions and different directions of my life. This was the symbol of the Christ control. The Christ ruled life. You see, this was their way of saying what the angel Gabriel said, that he would establish the throne of his father David. You see, beloved, there really must be a throne in our lives. There must be a place where we come for authority's sake. There must be a place where we can come and not doubt at all the word that we're going to get. And Jesus came to establish a throne in our hearts. One of the reasons why so many people vacillate in their Christian life. They go up and down. They're hot one week and cold another week. They're on fire, they're running away, they're fruitful, they're falling into sin. One reason is they've not established throne of authority in their lives. A place where decisions can be made, relationships can be based, responsibilities can be given. Now, Jesus came and established this throne, and he did it. How? With his own blood. He established a throne that had not been beloved. It was not the Creator throne. It was not a throne of judgment. It was not a throne of creation. It was not a throne of condemnation. Jesus established a very special throne. Turn in your Bibles to Hebrews, chapter four. Jesus came. Let me read it with you just so we can underscore. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the, let's all say it together, throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Do you know that is the only time in the entire Bible where that expression is found? Jesus Christ established the throne of grace in our lives. Isn't it wonderful that when he came, he didn't set up another place where we could come and get condemned? He didn't put a place in our hearts where we could feel guilt, but he came and established in us an authority whereby we could find help in time of need and grace and mercy. That's why he came. And so what about you on this throne on this morning after Christmas, this last Sunday before the New Year? You know, so much has happened to us here in the fellowship. So many things have started. There are so many pockets of life. A prayer meeting here and there, a relationship here and there, a ministry going out, a mission. So many things that it would be easy for us, it would be comfortable for us to kind of thank the Lord for what he's done in 1981 and kind of just say, you know, this is really terrific, Lord, and we praise you for it and we thank you for it, and that's kind of where it would stay. But God has birthed these things in us, just as he birthed that baby in a manger so that he could establish. Establish in us. Listen to it. A throne of grace in your heart and in this place. That's what the Lord wants to do. He wants to establish a throne of grace right here. A place where we can come for authority, for a word of confidence and stability. So that whatever we face, first as a people and then as individuals, whatever we face, we can say, lord Jesus, help me. I don't know about you, but when I consider all the things that are happening here, when I look at my own life and see my children, my family, the decisions, and I know you do too, I often say, lord, help me. Amen. I know that there are men here Today who are facing serious job changes and women as well. I know there are people here today whose marriages are strained at best. I know there are young people here who are deciding about going to college or career choices. I know there are people here who are facing responsibilities, all of which you can sort out and wrestle and come up with some sort of an idea about what you should do. Or you can see that God says, come to the throne of grace and find help in time of need. It was such a blessing to my heart to realize that God purposes for us to come to grace. You see, if on that throne, when I came to that throne, if I felt like God was going to say, you're right, you've blown it at home. Consequently, I'm going to make your little kid sick, you'll pay the price for that. If there was a throne of judgment that I came to, if there was a throne there where God, and he has every right to issue forth decrees against my life, doesn't he? I would be afraid to come. But beloved by his own blood, he's established a throne of grace whereby we come, the Bible says boldly and with confidence, knowing that he's going to speak to us. And I have to confess to you that sometimes I hesitate to come to that throne. I can't believe that God wants to receive me again in my failure. I can't believe that God really means it when he says that he's going to give me mercy. It says all through the Old Testament, Proverbs, chapter 20. It says that God established that throne in righteousness and mercy. Mercy, not what we deserve. That's what grace is, isn't it? It's getting what we don't deserve. And mercy is not getting what we do deserve. Grace is God's power to do his will. If you want a definition. Not too long ago, a friend of mine returned after having been away from the area for a number of years. We were sitting down and talking and I said, have you had a chance to see so and so this fellow, let's say his name was John. And he said, yeah, I did. First thing out of his mouth was the last thing out of his mouth when I left. Life hasn't changed for John. Still mumbling and murmuring about his boss, still complaining about his church, still dissatisfied with where he's going. Have you ever wondered why some Christians never seem to move ahead? Have you ever wondered why you haven't moved ahead? I've asked myself that, Lord, why is it so slow? There's a book entitled why Is it taking me so long to become what I'm supposed to be or something like that? One of the reasons, beloved, is we have not learned the truth, that God has established a throne of grace within us to which we come. And so we find all these different things, all these different ways of getting out of it. And we never move because we don't come and find mercy and help in time of need. I'll tell you, Saturday morning I had a chance to test my own truth out because things weren't together for today in my own heart. And I said, lord, your word says here, in time of need, I can come and help. And you'll find. Come and ask for help and find grace. And I like to take the time. But I want to share with you how God just put pieces together and showed me the thread all through the scriptures that he was going to establish a throne and that I could come to it. And that on that throne was a loving, smiling Jesus who by his own blood had set it up there. And from it issued authority and from it issued security and confidence. And I can stand here this morning and share this teaching because I know, I've experienced it in my life. And I think of John. Why is the John that this friend of mine referred to, why is he not growing? He doesn't have enough discipline, not enough law in his life. I believe it's because he didn't have enough grace in his life. Because when grace is let loose in a life, the only response to grace that is received, the only response is that of a humble acceptance which issues forth in growth. I love what John the apostle writes in John 1 when he says about Jesus, he was full of grace and truth. And it says from him we have received. What's the phrase? Grace upon grace literally means all the grace that we used is replaced. That throne doesn't have any empty sign on. It just keeps coming forth, keeps issuing forth. Now I want to say to you, beloved, that God wants to increase that grace among us. Next week, Lord willing, I'm going to teach a on directions and areas where our fellowship needs to go. A lot of it will be very personal to you. Responsibilities that this fellowship needs to rise up and take. There's going to be some surgery spoken to next week that's going to have to happen here. I want to show you something that God revealed to my heart this morning. Are you in Hebrews 4? Look at this. Speaking about the rest of Hebrews 4 then verse 11. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. I want to tell you that there are some words of cutting into your hearts that need to come. There needs to be some dividing of the soul and the spirit, of the joints and the marrow. There needs to be some leaving behind and some embracing. But beloved, that word will absolutely kill you unless you see what follows it. You see that the Holy Spirit knew that when those words came that you needed to come to the throne of grace. And that's why this teaching today is foundational to what we're going to do next week. Because if you hear the word of God cut into your heart and you don't know to go to the throne of grace, what's it going to do to you when that sword cuts inside of you and reveals the intentions of your heart? What's that going to do to you? Oh God, I'm such a worm. I can't live this life. I can't be like those people. I've got to go back to my old church and just sit there. But if you can come to the throne of grace, when that sword cuts in and says, you're being hypocritical here, you haven't surrendered this part of your life, then what can you do? You see, you come to the throne of grace and you say, lord Jesus, I need you to make this alive in me. Hallelujah. We don't need more condemnation here. We need more grace. And I just pray that as you come alive next week and the weeks after, as the Lord reveals to us where we need to grow, and beloved, we need to grow. When you see that happening, that your response will be, I want to go to the throne of grace. The increase of his government and of his peace. There will be no end. I pray that we see together that that throne of grace is approachable. How do we do it? I'll close with these three things. How do we enter the throne of grace or draw near? Well, you can study Hebrews 4, 14, 16 yourself, but there's three things that I definitely see. The first one is this. You've got to step off your own throne, right? Notice this. You can have Christ in your heart, but you can still be on the throne, beloved, calling the shots, ordering your life, making your decisions. The first thing you've got to do to come to the throne of Grace is to get off it yourself, get off that throne. Put your ego down. Let the Lord Jesus come to it. First thing you do is come contritely, brokenly. And I want to say a word to some of you who have known the Lord a little longer than others. That means your natural virtues too. God's not impressed with the things that you can bring him just because you're a talented person. Those need to be offered to him contritely too. Next thing that we come, next way that we come to the throne. Look with me. Verse 16 is confidently. Let us then with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace. Hallelujah. I honestly believe, I really do, that most of us do not understand what God has said we can do. I love Romans 8:32. He who gave us his only son spared not his only son. The Word says, will he not give us all things along with Him? I mean, that's as simple as that. The throne has been given if you want it. The third thing that we need to do contritely, confidently, and the third way is consistently, We need to see that that throne is not just there in a pinch, right? It's not just there when we find, gee, Lord, I have to decide what to do right now about this thing at work. It's there for that, but it's also there day after day, moment after moment, hour after hour. And beloved, there will come a time in your life when you come to that throne. Not just to get answers, but to see Jesus. Because that's where communion takes place, at that throne of grace. And I really pray that for many in 1982, there's a delight in coming to that throne of grace. Just to be there, just to bask in his presence, just to hear his word, just to know Him. That's what he intends for us. Two thousand years ago, an angel appeared and said, his name will be called Jesus, the Son of the Most High God. And he will establish the throne of His Father David, forever. That throne has been established forever. It's the throne of grace. If we're to move ahead in 1982 as people, individuals, as a fellowship, we need to see that throne established. We need to see it come alive, too. Why don't you just bow your heads with me for a moment? Would you please. Just consider your own life for just a moment and let the Lord minister this word to you? Has there been in your life the establishment of a throne where authority and direction and power flow toward you and through you to others? Do you need to ask Jesus to show you that throne today. Hallelujah. Lord, wouldn't you go ahead and do that? Go ahead and tell him you want him to be on the throne. You want to come to that throne. You want to find grace. Lord jesus, Father, It may be, beloved, that you're here as a visitor or you've been coming for a while. And as you've heard the word today, you know that you've never really even asked Jesus to come in the circle of your life. You've never made a decision of your will and said, lord, I need you in my heart. God's spoken to us as a community and said that every time that we gather, we're to make room for others to come in, make a decision of their will. Beloved, I'll tell you something. When Jesus knocks on the door of your heart, don't assume that he's going to do it again some other time down the road. The Bible talks about Herod, who slayed John the Baptist and was perplexed about the Lord Jesus. And later on, as Jesus stood before him, he asked him all kinds of questions, the Bible says, and Jesus answered him, not a word. God may be speaking to you this morning. And you know when I say speaking, what I mean by that is you know inside that you don't really have a relationship with him, that you've not really ever received him as the savior of your sin, of your life, the redeemer from sin. It's my privilege and my joy to be able to say to you in the name of Jesus Christ, you can find salvation through. And it's the desire of the hearts of the people, most of the people in this room who've made that decision that you do that. And I want to urge you not to walk out of here today if you haven't. Because, beloved, you don't know what awaits you on the other side of these doors. There's no better way to face a new year of life than to face it with the Lord Jesus. Amen. Going to ask you today, as everyone's praying, would you please bow your heads for just one more moment? Everyone, if you've heard today this message and you've heard people around you giving testimony and singing to the Lord Jesus Christ in your life, you've never really taken a step of faith and said, lord, I need to be forgiven for my sins. I want to ask you today, do you want to do that? Do you know you need to do it? And if you do, would you right now raise your head and let our Eyes meet and that will be your sign of saying, yes, I need the Lord Jesus today. That will be your way of saying, and I'll look around if I should miss you. I'm just going to let your eyes meet so that we can agree that that's what you want to do. You slip your hand up just so that our eyes can meet for a moment. Anyone in the room that says, I know that I need Jesus today, let our eyes meet and then put your hand back down. Anyone on this side that says, I know I need the Lord Jesus today, over here, Let our eyes meet quickly and put your hand down. Anyone on this side that today says, I want that grace of God at work in my life. Thank you, Lord. Praise the Lord. Lord, I thank you for the sense that I had this message today was for the ones that you've called to yourself but have been walking in the outer court. Lord, I thank you now, Lord, that you've done your work today. And I pray that you seal it in the name of Jesus and all God's people. Said, I want you to conclude this morning in your prayer circles. Now, today, very specifically, you've been given a direction to share and to pray. Where as you pray together, where do you need to see the throne of grace established in your life? What is God calling you to do that you need grace to complete agree with one another in prayer. Take just a few minutes to do that. Now, if you're visiting with us, all that we ask you to do is to turn your chairs in a small circle of four or five. We ask you then to share briefly your needs and to pray together. We believe that the Lord's called each of us to be a minister to one another. That's exactly what the word of God says. And we believe the word of God. So that's what we're doing in this. Now, everyone needs to be in a circle. So if you turn your chair around and somebody's facing the wall and you think they should be facing you, help them get their chair around. Alright? Yeah, Ray. Okay. I want you to do something. I sense that, as always, it's hard for some of this to break through. I want to take a deep breath and on your exhale, I want you to just say the word grace. Ready? Grace. All right, let's do it again. Grace. Now you're beginning to. All right. Praise the Lord. It's a reality. Beloved. I know this was a serious message, but it's a rejoicing message. Some of you haven't gotten the message up to your cheeks yet it's grace. Amen. Turn your circles, Spend about five or six minutes in prayer and we'll conclude with a song. It.