A Sacred Spot

Well, good morning, folks. We're glad to have you with us on not such a sunny morning, but nonetheless, our welcome to you is very warm indeed. To song number 50, Amazing Grace.

From 2 Samuel, chapter 10. Excuse me, chapter 9. 2 Samuel, chapter 9. David asked, Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake? Now there was a servant of Saul's household named Ziba. They called him to appear before David.

And the king said to him, Are you Ziba? Your servant, he replied. The king asked, Is there no one still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness? Ziba answered the king, There is still a son of Jonathan. He's crippled in both feet.

Where is he? The king asked. Ziba answered, He is at the house of Mechir, son of Amiel in Lodibar. So King David had him brought from Lodibar from the house of Mechir, son of Amiel.

When Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David, he bowed down to pay him honor. David said, Meshibbeth said, I can't say it after all, Mephibosheth. Your servant, he replied, Don't be afraid.

David said to him, For I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father, Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul. You will always eat at my table.

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, What is your servant that you should notice a dead dog like me? And the king summoned Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, I have given your master's grandson everything that belonged to Saul and his family. You and your sons and your servants are to farm the land for him and bring in the crops so that your master's grandson may be provided for. Mephibosheth, grandson of your master, will always eat at my table.

Now Ziba had 15 sons and 20 servants. Then Ziba said to the king, Your servant will do whatever my lord the king commands his servant to do. So Mephibosheth ate at David's table like one of the king's sons.

Mephibosheth had a young son named Micah, and all the members of Ziba's household were servants of Mephibosheth. And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king's table, and he was crippled in both feet. May God bless his word to us this morning.

Please be seated and have your Bibles open at Hebrews chapter 4. And let's share together from the reading that's listed in the bulletin. The verse is tucked away at the end of Hebrews 4. From the 14th verse, if you've got the NIV version of the Bible, then enjoy reading it with me. And let's emphasize especially the 16th verse.

Hebrews 4.14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Father, we ask that you will break open this text and apply it to all our circumstances. We thank you for your holy and inerrant word. Amen.

My mother was called Grace, or is called Grace. And when Dad was alive, he said that one of the hymns in our hymn book back in the North Country where I was brought up was actually dedicated to my mother, because it said, Grace is a charming sound, harmonious to the ear. You know, the word grace is a very difficult one.

I was reading Lloyd-Jones earlier this morning, and he says that grace is notoriously hard to define. You plunder the dictionary to try to find synonyms, other words which will give you little facets of understanding as to what grace really implies. Kindness, love, empathy, generosity, patience, beneficence, understanding.

You see the dilemma of the hymn writer in that hymn that my dad used to misquote. Grace is a charming sound, harmonious to the ear. It's difficult to find just a definition that completely suits the word grace, because it's such a big word.

It's almost beyond being completely comprehended by you and me. There is a statement in Corinthians which talks about our Lord Jesus Christ and His life and ministry on this earth. It describes Him.

It says in the ninth verse of 2 Corinthians in chapter 8, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. I'll hold that verse in your memory just for a moment. The classic theological definition of grace is the unmerited favor of God.

But an easier one is this. God stooping down. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus.

Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor. The stooping of God. How do you understand Calvary? Let me suggest that that little phrase which I've just given you is a very accurate evaluation of what happens at the cross.

God stooping down. He became so poor to make others rich. Grace gives and gives and gives in a way that few of us ever give.

Because there is within human giving an element of the selfish. We give to our children and we love to see the response on their faces. We give to our husbands, to our wives, to our close friends.

And in one sense we get a great deal of satisfaction out of giving. We might even argue that they deserve the gift that was directed towards them. But this is the uniqueness of grace when applied to God and that's what makes it so difficult to define in this context.

The grace of God is directed towards those who don't deserve it and sometimes live as though they're not responding in gratitude for what they have received. So with those remarks as just an attempt to open up my scripture, let me take you again to that final verse of Hebrews 4. When we are enjoined, let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. I want first of all to talk to you about the description that is contained within that verse.

The description is not so much of grace itself, but where grace is centered. There's a lovely indication given that the place where God is, is the headquarters of grace. AWM's headquarters could move to Worthing.

It's following a trend of missionary societies to come to Worthing. Either that's because they think Worthing is a fairly good place or they think that Worthing is so desperate that the only way you can reach them is by moving in the big boys of the international mission scene. The throne of grace is the headquarters of grace.

And every word in that little phrase in our text needs to be analyzed because scripture is inspired by God. Sometimes even the qualifying definite article has a meaning. The throne of grace.

We've got a throne in the United Kingdom. They don't have a throne in America. They never had a king.

They rejected the one that we gave them, but we've forgiven them for that. But in Buckingham Palace we have a throne. You can take a flight and go to the land of Burma and they've got a throne there for their monarch.

But it's a throne. Buckingham Palace has a throne. There is only one throne in the estimate of the writer of the Hebrews that really deserves this particular description.

Thy throne, O God, is from everlasting to everlasting. The word throne is a metaphor used by the writer to indicate the place where God reigns. And it's from that place that in an extraordinary fashion you find this most unique quality flowing like a river.

You see, when you go to Buckingham Palace or when an emissary from another country goes to Buckingham Palace, presumably there is a measure of respect shown by the person who is visiting our country to the queen. Sometimes they will bring presents. And in olden days if you were brought before the king or the queen you most certainly gave to them.

But this is not the throne in which you give. This throne is the centre of bestowals. This throne is where gifts are given at an incredible rate to all types and groups of people.

We approach the throne of grace. It used to be a terrible thing to be brought before the monarchs of the United Kingdom, especially when Scotland and England were not getting their act together. To be an Englishman in front of the throne of the monarch of Scotland could indeed be a very precarious situation for you.

To be a Scotsman in front of the throne of the monarch of England was likewise an uncomfortable experience because the throne stood for the throne of judgment. You came in a cringing way. And you might feel that when God is referred to in terms of His reign in the universe, the throne would be described as the throne of judgment.

You say, what's the difference between judgment and grace? Well, it seems to me that they're almost opposite. One can biblically go for an illustration by bringing two mountains, Mount Sinai and Mount Calvary. You remember the story of Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 where Moses is summoned to come up to the mountain and there God is going to disclose Himself in terms of the giving of the law, summarized in the Ten Commandments.

And only Moses is allowed. They fence off the bottom. They will not allow the animals to come nor the children in playing to explore the lower regions of Sinai.

Because the message that comes from the Mount of Sinai, the Mount of Judgment, is stand back. But the years elapse. And God reveals Himself afresh on a different mountain and with a different accent.

And the one on the mountain who speaks for God is none other than His Son. The blood-stained figure on the center cross who bears in His body the consequences of your sin and my sin. He is the one who enunciates the invitation to all fallen humankind, come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The invitation at Calvary is for all to come to the uttermost, says the writer of the Hebrews, the uttermost can approach the place where God reveals Himself at the cross. But at Sinai that was not the case. And when our Hebrew writer describes the place where God is, he calls it the throne of grace, not the throne of judgment.

The place to which you can come and find that God is benevolent. The place that Martin Luther went to when as a young man he was engaged in that quest which he articulated, how can I find a gracious God? The sacred spot, the throne of grace. And here we have the description of it.

But it seems to me that if you read this statement carefully and you put the language through your understanding of grammar and syntax, you will also find that here is a deduction. Now if I emphasize the definite article the, I must now go to the beginning of the text or almost so and emphasize the connective word then. Let us then approach the throne of grace.

That means to say you can't understand that statement without linking it to the previous statement. And the previous verses make reference to our blessed Lord Jesus. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.

Now what is the writer to the Hebrews at the back of his mind? Well, remember he is writing to the Hebrews. He is writing to a religiously orientated people who have an understanding of the cultus of the Old Testament. That means to say the sacrificial system.

The Old Testament Hebrews were fully aware that you did not bounce into the presence of God. You did not trip lightly. Why? Well, because the writer to the Hebrews will tell you our God is a consuming fire.

There is such holiness concentrated in God that to be in His presence is a distinctly uncomfortable experience. I go so far as to say you'd opt for hell rather than to be with God eternally in a state of utter discomfort. Peter sees Jesus on the seashore of Galilee and he illustrates the point.

He falls down as he recognizes the holiness and the majesty of God and he says, depart from me. It's an uncomfortable thing to be in God's presence. To go to the throne.

Unless, unless around the throne within the immediate presence of God there is someone who can take away from you that which is offensive to God. Therefore, don't you see the logic? Since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence. The writer to the Hebrews will tell you in the twelfth verse, the twelfth chapter in the second verse of our Lord Jesus, let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What does that mean? Well, it means this. That we have a high priest? We have the high priest. We have the greatest high priest who in the presence of God intercedes on our behalf who takes all the sins that you have committed and accepts responsibility for them so that when God looks upon your sin he sees your sin through Calvary and he declares you as being righteous through the transference of the righteousness of Jesus Christ on to your account.

There are deductions that you can draw, I say, from my text. Let us come to the throne of grace. Why can we come? Well, because of the Lord Jesus Christ and what he has done.

Who can come? Well, the pronoun is a plural. Let us. Not just the professionally religious.

Perhaps not even the professionally religious. The ordinary Hebrew who reads this letter. The ordinary Christian in Worthing who reads the New Testament.

The unbeliever who comes in who is asking questions and suddenly by God's grace the whole gospel becomes clear. And they appreciate who God is what they are and what they require of the Lord Jesus. Now, once you are in that situation then I say you're involved in this particular injunction.

That is, you can respond. Let us then. You can't go to him without recognizing your need.

But you can come because of our Lord Jesus. Who can come? All of us can come. How can we come? Well, again, I stay with my text.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence. Isn't it remarkable that the writer of this epistle tells us in effect that we don't come before God as the Hebrews came before Pharaoh in Old Testament times. We don't come before God as slaves before a harsh master.

We don't come before God at the back door as beggars just asking that He might in some way be generous. We don't come before God as dogs in a household waiting for the crumbs to fall from the table. This is the remarkable thing.

The writer to the Hebrews presses all the buttons and he says, let us then come to the throne of grace and let us come boldly to that throne. Or if you like, with confidence. I find that utterly incredible that I can come before this God with confidence.

But it's not a confidence based in myself. In who do I put my trust? Well, our Lord Jesus. I can be there because of Him.

If He was not there, then I could not be there. If He was not there, there would be no gospel. Now the problem with yourselves is that I can't turn the clock back 2,000 years and divest you of all the understanding that you've got or many of you have of the Christian faith and the Biblical revelation in the New Testament.

I wish I could because you see this is startling. This is stunning logic. This is the most remarkable statement that any Hebrew congregation could have directed to it.

Because the Hebrews knew that in the presence of God only once a year could go the high priest. They knew that it was impossible to have this personal relationship with God that the writer to the Hebrews is now hinting at. And this is why Christianity and Judaism saw such a yawning gap, you see.

When our Lord died on the cross, what happened? Well, obviously He gave up His life and it was a bloody and a painful and awful death. Yes, but something else happened. Go into Jerusalem itself.

Don't stay on the pavements, on the cobbled roadways. Go into the temple. Don't stay just at the back of the temple.

Go to the front of the temple, the holy place. There it is removed from your view because there is a tapestry, the veil, that distinguishes the most holy place of all from that rectangular shape where many Jews would go and worship the Lord. But when you go on this particular occasion, when just a little distance away the carpenter from Nazareth is dying on the cross, you discover something remarkable.

The veil has been rent. The place through which the high priest went once a year, revealing the Ark of the Covenant, is now exposed to everyone. As though there is a dramatic visual aid being given by Almighty God synchronizing with the death of His Son.

On that cross, Jesus is lifting the veil. On that cross, Jesus is performing all the action once and forever that the high priest did on an annual basis at the mercy seat. The mercy seat is taken from the private place of the temple.

And it's exposed there amongst the hostility of this abusive crowd. And here is our Lord Jesus fulfilling the type in the temple. And the curtain is ripped from top to bottom to indicate what? That all of us, Jew and Gentile, who confess Him, can have a relationship with Him throughout the whole of our earthly pilgrimage and on into eternity.

Then, then brothers, let us approach the throne of grace. Why can we come? Because of Him. Who can come? Everyone can come.

How can we come? We can come with confidence. Let me move on. Here is determination.

So that we might receive mercy and find grace to help. Forgive me, but my previous profession was that of an English teacher. Here is a clause of purpose.

Why approach the throne of grace? Why approach that throne of grace with confidence? Well, here it is. Here is the reason spelt out. So that.

It's a purposive statement. It's a purpose clause. So that.

Why is Naaman to dip himself even though at first he was reluctant in the waters of the Jordan? So that his leprosy might be healed. Why does Bartimaeus stop our Lord Jesus as he's moving towards Jerusalem and he passes through his city of, of, of, scan for me, it'll come back in a moment. Jericho.

So that the Lord Jesus will stop and heal him of his blindness. He was determination on the part of these two characters from the Old and from the New Testament. They stand as an illustration for you and for me as we move into this text experientially for we want to make it our own.

Approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace. And perchance there's nothing more that you need this day than more mercy and more grace from this God. The story is told of Alexander the Great.

One of his soldiers who has been involved in his military escapades comes back to base. An outstanding soldier. And he makes a request to Alexander.

And it goes through the civil service of that day. And they want to tidy the request up. They want to narrow it down because he's asking for so much.

But Alexander the Great gets to know of the request. And he's prepared to grant it with these memorable words. Speaking of the soldier, he knows how great Alexander is and has asked as from a king.

He knows he's approaching not an ordinary man. He's approaching Alexander. Not a man with a limited amount of wealth, but a man who seems to control the known world at that time.

He's asking as from a king. Now here we are my friend. This is this great text.

It's dangled in front of you. Here is one on the throne. He's a gracious individual.

Now how are you going to behave in his presence? Ask as from a king. And what do you need as you stumble your way into his presence? Look. I see a man who is a cripple.

He's got an uncommon name. Mephibosheth. He's the only surviving member of the family of Saul.

He's related to Saul through Jonathan. Jonathan was Saul's son. Mephibosheth is in the party of Saul's family.

David is now king. He does not owe Saul one thing. Apart at the human level, he owes him judgment for Saul endeavored to rob David of his life when he was in his prime.

But David is a kindly king. And you read that when he's in the full flush of God's blessing upon him, he thinks of directing favor to someone who is utterly undeserving. So he puts out this request.

Is there not one of the family of Saul? Is there not someone who will remind me of Jonathan who had been my friend? Is there not a remnant of that household? And the word comes back, yes, there's a man. But he's a cripple. He's not the sort of man to have in your company, David.

Is there not someone, says David, sharpening his objective, to whom I can show the kindliness of God? And a figure is brought in, hobbling on crutches, and David sees Mephibosheth. He embraces him. And over against the negative advice of his courtiers, David four or five times in that second book of Samuel and the ninth chapter says that Mephibosheth will always sit at his table.

He will always have of his bounty. And don't you see, what happened to Mephibosheth in the Old Testament is, my friend, but an illustration of what happens to you and to me in the presence of God. We are the Mephibosheth.

We have no right. We are the crippled. We are the deformed.

We are the ones with sin within our breasts. For us to come into the presence of this God, to stand before the throne of His judgment, would be for us an absurd situation. We would not even contemplate it.

But sent out into the highways and the byways are the ambassadors of God's own Son. And they cry for the Mephibosheth to come and to make their way into the place where God is. And He deals with them out of His grace as they ask for mercy and kindness.

This is what God dispenses in unmeasured fashion to those who come. He knows how great Alexander is and asks as from a king. Lord, we need mercy.

Lord, we need grace. So if there is a description and a deduction and a determination, there is within my text also as I close it down a designation so that we might find what we need. In our time of need.

Appropriate and well-timed help says the amplified version of the Bible. Coming just when we require it. Turn to Psalm 104 just for a moment.

And here you'll get further illustration of the sweet timing of our God was prepared to meet the requirements of ordinary people like you and I. Not in a haphazard fashion but in a predetermined way. The 25th verse. Psalm 104.

I have the wrong verse there. But within that Psalm you will discover the timing of God in terms of Him granting to you at the occasion when it is required the help that you need. Let's go to Psalm 145 and see if my computer was giving out the right register then which turns the blame on it and not me, the operator.

Psalm 145 and verse 15. There you've got a parallel verse to the one that you will discover, I assure you, in 104. The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food at the proper time.

You see the point. The writer to the Hebrews says we will find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. The psalmist on another occasion says this poor man cried and the Lord helped him and delivered him out of all his affliction.

Elijah has a time of need and at the right moment the still small voice is heard. Jonah is in the belly of the fish. He's turned his back on God.

He's dulled his ears to the voice of God and now he's languishing, suffering the consequences of his own disobedience and in the time of need God speaks to him again. Here is Peter who's dealt so treacherously as far as his relationship with the Lord is concerned and he rushes out into the darkness of the night filled with guilt and when our blessed Lord returns from the grave He sends a message generally to the disciples and specifically to Peter. Tell my disciples and Peter grace, mercy at the time of need.

I speak with feeling. Some of you here have difficult marriages. Some of you have divided homes.

Do you know the pain and the anguish of trying to cope? He sends grace and mercy at the time of need Some of you have to look into the jaws of cancer but we've prayed many a time for you. The answer that we want has not come but He sends His grace and His mercy at the time of need. Some of you are coping with unemployment and again the answer to your prayer is slowing coming.

You want your situation remedying but here is a verse which will tell you that He'll send mercy and grace to help you in your time of need. It doesn't always come the way that you prescribe the way that you have worked it through when you get down on your knees but I tell you that this God who is on the throne not just the throne of judgment but the throne of grace this God who tells you to come not presumptuously but boldly this God who invites the Mephibosheths of this world into His presence this God will always give to you what you need at the time of need. He has pledged His word His promise is here He does not break His oath.

There is not one thing that can befall my older friends who are coping with advancing years that He does not know of that He will not respond to not what one day dawns on the diary of your life that He does not inspect before He allows it to break upon your pathway. This is what my text says this is why I warm to it. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us when in our time of need.

Take the text it's your own plunder it work your way into it get into its very vitals, into its very heart and discover all that you need in terms of coping with life's situations and then bring to Him who is on the throne of grace your praise and your love and always your worship. Let's bow our heads in prayer for a few moments of contemplation and we listen to a song which firms up what I've been trying to share. He giveth more grace when the burden grows greater He sendeth more strength when the labors increase To added affliction He addeth His mercy To multiplied trials His multiplied peace His love has no limit His grace has no measure His power has no boundary No none to measure Out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth and giveth and giveth again When we have exhausted our store of endurance When our strength has failed in the day it hath done When we reach the end of our hard-earned resources Our Father's forgiving is only begun His love has no limit His grace has no measure His power has no boundary None unto men For out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth and giveth and giveth again His love has no limit His grace has no measure His power has no boundary None unto men For out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth and giveth and giveth again Sovereign grace through sin abounding Ransomed souls the tiding swells Tis a deep that knows no sounding Who its breadth or length can tell On its glories let my soul forever dwell It's comforting to know they had problems 200 years ago and they found the solution that we find is still available to us today 5-1 Sovereign grace through sin abounding Ransomed souls the tiding swells Tis a deep that knows no sounding Who its breadth or length can tell On its glories let my soul forever dwell The Lord of Christ was told and said O come, all ye that love him as he was Once he lived, he lived forever God's eternal love processed God shall love thee, God shall love thee From the strength of his death's hand There's no boundary there to Jesus For here's where his grace began Till he's made eternal praises See what wonders love has done One with Jesus, one with Jesus Our eternal union one O such love my soul shall find That works to grace shall raise to free That verse which escaped me was the twenty-seventh point of tapping up my notes in the early hours of the morning.

My cat took a leap at my computer and nearly deleted everything. I'm going to skin him when I get home. When all look to you to give them their food, at the proper time, when you give it to them, they gather it up.

When you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.