Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, November 19th, 1871, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
"The throne of grace."–Hebrews 4:16
THESE words are found embedded in that gracious verse, "Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need"; they are a gem in a
golden setting. True prayer is an approach of the soul by the Spirit of
God to the throne of God. It is not the utterance of words, it is not
alone the feeling of desires, but it is the advance of the desires to
God, the spiritual approach of our nature towards the Lord our God.
True prayer is not a mere mental exercise, nor a vocal performance, but
it is deeper far than that–it is spiritual commerce with the Creator
of heaven and earth. God is a Spirit unseen of mortal eye, and only to
be perceived by the inner man; our spirit within us, begotten by the
Holy Ghost at our regeneration, discerns the Great Spirit, communes
with him, prefers to him its requests, and receives from him answers of
peace. It is a spiritual business from beginning to end; and its aim
and object end not with man, but reach to God himself.
In order to such prayer, the work of the Holy Ghost himself is needed.
If prayer were of the lips alone, we should only need breath in our
nostrils to pray: if prayer were of the desires alone, many excellent
desires are easily felt, even by natural men: but when it is the
spiritual desire, and the spiritual fellowship of the human spirit with
the Great Spirit, then the Holy Ghost himself must be present all
through it, to help infirmity, and give life and power, or else true
prayer will never be presented, but the thing offered to God will wear
the name and have the form, but the inner life of prayer will be far
from it.
Moreover, it is clear from the connection of our text, that the
interposition of the Lord Jesus Christ is essential to acceptable
prayer. As prayer will not be truly prayer without the Spirit of God,
so it will not be prevailing prayer without the Son of God. he, the
Great High Priest, must go within the veil for us; nay, through his
crucified person the veil must be entirely taken away; for, until then,
we are shut out from the living God. The man who, despite the teaching
of Scripture, tries to pray without a Saviour insults the Deity; and he
who imagines that his own natural desires, coming up before God,
unsprinkled with the precious blood, will be an acceptable sacrifice
before God, makes a mistake; he has not brought an offering that God
can accept, any more than if he had struck off a dog's neck, or offered
an unclean sacrifice. Wrought in us by the Spirit, presented for us by
the Christ of God, prayer becomes power before the Most High, but not
else.
In order, dear friends, that I may stir you up to prayer this morning,
and that your souls may be led to come near to the Throne of Grace, I
purpose to take these few words and handle them as God shall give me
ability. You have begun to pray; God has begun to answer. This week has
been a very memorable one in the history of this church. Larger numbers
than ever before at one time have come forward to confess Christ,–as
plain an answer to the supplications of God's people, as though the
hand of the Most High had been stretched out of heaven handing down to
us the blessings for which we asked. Now, let us continue in prayer,
yea, let us gather strength in intercession, and the more we succeed,
the more earnest let us be to succeed yet more and more. Let us not be
straitened in our own bowels, since we are not straitened in our God.
This is a good day, and a time of glad tidings, and seeing that we have
the King's ear, I am most anxious that we should speak to him for
thousands of others; that they also, in answer to our pleadings, may be
brought nigh unto Christ.
In trying to speak of the text this morning, I shall take it thus:
First, here is a throne; then, secondly, here is grace; then we will
put the two together, and we shall see grace on a throne; and putting
them together in another order, we shall see sovereignty manifesting
itself, and resplendent in grace.
II. Our text speaks of A THRONE:–"The Throne of Grace." God is to be
viewed in prayer as our Father; that is the aspect which is dearest to
us; but still we are not to regard him as though he were such as we
are; for our Saviour has qualified the expression "Our Father," with
the words "who art in heaven"; and close at the heels of that
condescending name, in order to remind us that our Father is still
infinitely greater than ourselves, he has bidden us say, "Hallowed be
thy name; thy kingdom come"; so that our Father is still to be regarded
as a King, and in prayer we come, not only to our Father's feet, but we
come also to the throne of the Great Monarch of the universe. The
mercy-seat is a throne, and we must not forget this.
If prayer should always be regarded by us as an entrance into the
courts of the royalty of heaven; if we are to behave ourselves as
courtiers should in the presence of an illustrious majesty, then we are
not at a loss to know the right spirit in which to pray. If in prayer
we come to a throne, it is clear that our spirit should, in the first
place, be one of lowly reverence. It is expected that the subject in
approaching to the king should pay him homage and honour. The pride
that will not own the king, the treason which rebels against the
sovereign will should, if it be wise, avoid any near approach to the
throne. Let pride bite the curb at a distance, let treason lurk in
corners, for only lowly reverence may come before the king himself when
he sits clothed in his robes of majesty. In our case, the king before
whom we come is the highest of all monarchs, the King of kings, the
Lord of lords. Emperors are but the shadows of his imperial power. They
call themselves kings by right divine, but what divine right have they?
Common sense laughs their pretensions to scorn. The Lord alone hath
divine right, and to him only doth the kingdom belong. He is the
blessed and only potentate. They are but nominal kings, to be set up
and put down at the will of men, or the decree of providence, but he is
Lord alone, the Prince of the kings of the earth.
"He sits on no precarious throne,
Nor borrows leave to be."
My heart, be sure that thou prostrate thyself in such a presence. If he
be so great, place thy mouth in the dust before him, for he is the most
powerful of all kings; his throne hath sway in all worlds; heaven obeys
him cheerfully, hell trembles at his frown, and earth is constrained to
yield to him homage willingly or unwillingly. His power can make or can
destroy. To create or to crush, either is easy enough to him. My soul
be thou sure that when thou drawest nigh to the Omnipotent, who is as a
consuming fire, thou put thy shoes from off thy feet, and worship him
with lowliest humility.
Besides, he is the most Holy of all kings. His throne is a great white
throne, unspotted, and clear as crystal. "The heavens are not pure in
his sight, and he charged his angels with folly." And thou, a sinful
creature, with what lowliness shouldst thou draw nigh to him.
Familiarity there may be, but let it not be unhallowed. Boldness there
should be, but let it not be impertinent. Still thou art on earth and
he in heaven; still thou art a worm of the dust, a creature crushed
before the moth, and he the Everlasting: before the mountains were
brought forth, he was God, and if all created things should pass away
again, yet still were he the same. My brethren, I am afraid we do not
bow as we should before the Eternal Majesty; but, henceforth, let us
ask the Spirit of God to put us in a right frame, that every one of our
prayers may be a reverential approach to the Infinite Majesty above.
A throne, and therefore, in the second place, to be approached with
devout joyfulness. If I find myself favoured by divine grace to stand
amongst those favoured ones who frequent his courts, shall I not feel
glad? I might have been in his prison, but I am before his throne: I
might have been driven from his presence for ever, but I am permitted
to come near to him, even into his royal palace, into his secret
chamber of gracious audience, shall I not then be thankful? Shall not
my thankfulness ascend into joy, and shall I not feel that I am
honoured, that I am made the recipient of great favours when I am
permitted to pray? Wherefore is thy countenance sad, O suppliant, when
thou standest before the throne of grace? If thou wert before the
throne of justice to be condemned for thine iniquities, thy hands might
well be on thy loins; but now thou art favoured to come before the King
in his silken robes of love, let thy face shine with sacred delight. If
thy sorrows be heavy, tell them unto him, for he can assuage them; if
thy sins be multiplied, confess them, for he can forgive them. O ye
courtiers in the halls of such a monarch, be ye exceeding glad, and
mingle praises with your prayers.
It is a throne, and therefore, in the third place, whenever it is
approached, it should be with complete submission. We do not pray to
God to instruct him as to what he ought to do, neither for a moment
must we presume to dictate the line of the divine procedure. We are
permitted to say unto God, "Thus and thus would we have it," but we
must evermore add, "But, seeing that we are ignorant and may be
mistaken–seeing that we are still in the flesh, and, therefore, may be
actuated by carnal motives–not as we will, but as thou wilt." Who
shall dictate to the throne? No loyal child of God will for a moment
imagine that he is to occupy the place of the King, but he bows before
him who has a right to be Lord of all; and though he utters his desire
earnestly, vehemently, importunately, and pleads and pleads again, yet
it is evermore with this needful reservation: "Thy will be done, my
Lord: and, if I ask anything that is not in accordance therewith, my
inmost will is that thou wouldst be good enough to deny thy servant; I
will take it as a true answer if thou refuse me, if I ask that which
seemeth not good in thy sight." If we constantly remembered this, I
think we should be less inclined to push certain suits before the
throne, for we should feel, "I am here in seeking my own ease, my own
comfort, my own advantage, and peradventure, I may be asking for that
which would dishonour God; therefore will I speak with the deepest
submission to the divine decrees."
But, brethren, in the fourth place, if it be a throne, it ought to be
approached with enlarged expectations. Well doth our hymn put it:
"Thou art coming to a king:
Large petitions with thee bring."
We do not come, as it were, in prayer, only to God's almonry where he
dispenses his favours to the poor, nor do we come to the back-door of
the house of mercy to receive the broken scraps, though that were more
than we deserve; to eat the crumbs that fall from the Master's table is
more than we could claim; but, when we pray, we are standing in the
palace, on the glittering floor of the great King's own reception room,
and thus we are placed upon a vantage ground. In prayer we stand where
angels bow with veiled faces; there, even there, the cherubim and
seraphim adore, before that selfsame throne to which our prayers
ascend. And shall we come there with stunted requests, and narrow and
contracted faith? Nay, it becomes not a King to be giving away pence
and groats, he distributes pieces of broad gold; he scatters not as
poor men must, scraps of bread and broken meat, but he makes a feast of
fat things, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well
refined. When Alexander's soldier was told to ask what he would, he did
not ask stintedly after the nature of his own merits, but he made such
a heavy demand, that the royal treasurer refused to pay it, and put the
case to Alexander, and Alexander in right kingly sort replied: "He
knows how great Alexander is, and he has asked as from a king; let him
have what he requests." Take heed of imagining that God's thoughts are
as thy thoughts, and his ways as thy ways. Do not bring before God
stinted petitions and narrow desires, and say, "Lord, do according to
these," but, remember, as high as the heavens are above the earth, so
high are his ways above your ways, and his thoughts above your
thoughts, and ask, therefore, after a God-like sort, ask for great
things, for you are before the throne of grace, for then he would do
for us exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even think.
And, beloved, I may add, in the fifth place, that the right spirit in
which to approach the throne of grace, is that of unstaggering
confidence. Who shall doubt the King? Who dares impugn the Imperial
word? It was well said that if integrity were banished from the hearts
of all mankind besides, it ought still to dwell in the hearts of kings.
Shame on a king if he can lie. The veriest beggar in the streets is
dishonoured by a broken promise, but what shall we say of a king if his
word cannot be depended upon? Oh, shame upon us, if we are unbelieving
before the throne of the King of heaven and earth. With our God before
us in all his glory, sitting on the throne of grace, will our hearts
dare to say we mistrust him? Shall we imagine either that he cannot, or
will not, keep his promise? Banished be such blasphemous thoughts, and
if they must come, let them come upon us when we are somewhere in the
outskirts of his dominions, if such a place there be, but not in
prayer, when we are in his immediate presence, and behold him in all
the glory of his throne of grace. There, surely, is the place for the
child to trust its Father, for the loyal subject to trust his monarch;
and, therefore, far from it be all wavering or suspicion. Unstaggering
faith should be predominant before the mercy-seat.
Only one other remark upon this point, and that is, that if prayer be a
coming before the throne of God, it ought always to be conducted with
the deepest sincerity, and in the spirit which makes everything real.
If you are disloyal enough to despise the King, at least, for your own
sake, do not mock him to his face, and when he is upon his throne. If
anywhere you dare repeat holy words without heart, let it not be in
Jehovah's palace. If a person should ask for audience with royalty, and
then should say, "I scarce know why I have come, I do not know that I
have anything very particular to ask; I have no very urgent suit to
press;" would he not be guilty both of folly and baseness? As for our
great King, when we venture into his presence, let us have an errand
there. As I said the other Sabbath, let us beware of playing at
praying. It is insolence toward God. If I am called upon to pray in
public, I must not dare to use words that are intended to please the
ears of my fellow-worshippers, but I must realize that I am speaking to
God himself, and that I have business to transact with the great Lord.
And, in my private prayer, if, when I rise from my bed in the morning,
I bow my knee and repeat certain words, or when I retire to rest at
night go through the same regular form, I rather sin than do anything
that is good, unless my very soul doth speak unto the Most High. Dost
thou think that the King of heaven is delighted to hear thee pronounce
words with a frivolous tongue, and a thoughtless mind? Thou knowest him
not. He is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in
spirit and in truth. If thou hast any empty forms to prate, go and pour
them out into the ears of fools like thyself, but not before the Lord
of Hosts. If thou hast certain words to utter, to which thou dost
attach a superstitious reverence, go and say them in the bedizened
courts of the harlot Rome, but not before the glorious Lord of Zion.
The spiritual God seeks spiritual worshipers, and such he will accept,
and only such; but the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto
the Lord, and only a sincere prayer is his delight.
Beloved, the gathering up of all our remarks is just this,–prayer is
no trifle. It is an eminent and elevated act. It is a high and wondrous
privilege. Under the old Persian Empire a few of the nobility were
permitted at any time to come in unto the king, and this was thought to
be the highest privilege possessed by mortals. You and I, the people of
God, have a permit, a passport to come before the throne of heaven at
any time we will, and we are encouraged to come there with great
boldness; but still let us not forget that it is no mean thing to be a
courtier in the courts of heaven and earth, to worship him who made us
and sustains us in being. Truly, when we attempt to pray, we may hear
the voice saying out of the excellent glory: "Bow the knee." From all
the spirits that behold the face of our Father who is in heaven, even
now, I hear a voice which saith, "Oh, come let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God, and we are
the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. O worship the Lord
in the beauty of holiness; fear before him all the earth."
II. Lest the glow and brilliance of the word "throne" should be too
much for mortal vision, our text now presents us with the soft, gentle
radiance of that delightful word–"GRACE." We are called to the throne
of grace, not to the throne of law. Rocky Sinai once was the throne of
law, when God came to Paran with ten thousand of his holy ones. Who
desired to draw near to that throne? Even Israel might not. Bounds were
set about the mount, and if but a beast touched the mount, it was
stoned or thrust through with a dart. O ye self-righteous ones who hope
that you can obey the law, and think that you can be saved by it, look
to the flames that Moses saw, and shrink, and tremble, and despair. To
that throne we do not come now, for through Jesus the case is changed.
To a conscience purged by the precious blood there is no anger upon the
divine throne, though to our troubled minds–
"Once twas a seat of burning wrath,
And shot devouring flame;
Our God appeared consuming fire,
And jealous was his name."
And, blessed be God, we are not this morning to speak of the throne of
ultimate justice. Before that we shall all come, and as many uf us as
have believed will find it to be a throne of grace as well as of
justice; for, he who sits upon that throne shall pronounce no sentence
of condemnation against the man who is justified by faith. But I have
not to call you this morning to the place from whence the
resurrection-trumpet shall ring out so shrill and clear. Nor yet do we
see the angels with their vengeful swords come forth to smite the foes
of God; not yet are the great doors of the pit opened to swallow up the
enemies who would not have the Son of God to reign over them. We are
still on praying ground and pleading terms with God, and the throne to
which we are bidden to come, and of which we speak at this time, is the
throne of grace. It is a throne set up on purpose for the dispensation
of grace; a throne from which every utterance is an utterance of grace;
the scepter that is stretched out from it is the silver sceptre of
grace; the decrees proclaimed from it are purposes of grace; the gifts
that are scattered down its golden steps are gifts of grace; and he
that sits upon the throne is grace itself. It is the throne of grace to
which we approach when we pray; and let us for a moment or two think
this over, by way of consolatory encouragement to those who are
beginning to pray; indeed, to all of us who are praying men and women.
If in prayer I come before a throne of grace, then the faults of my
prayer will be overlooked. In beginning to pray, dear friends, you feel
as if you did not pray. The groanings of your spirit, when you rise
from your knees are such that you think there is nothing in them. What
a blotted, blurred, smeared prayer it is. Never mind; you are not come
to the throne of justice, else when God perceived the fault in the
prayer he would spurn it,–your broken words, your gaspings, and
stammerings are before a throne of grace. When any one of us has
presented his best prayer before God, if he saw it as God sees it,
there is no doubt he would make great lamentation over it; for there is
enough sin in the best prayer that was ever prayed to secure its being
cast away from God. But it is not a throne of justice I say again, and
here is the hope for our lame, limping supplications. Our condescending
King does not maintain a stately etiquette in his court like that which
has been observed by princes among men, where a little mistake or a
flaw would secure the petitioner's being dismissed with disgrace. Oh,
no; the faulty cries of his children are not severely criticized by
him. The Lord High Chamberlain of the palace above, our Lord Jesus
Christ, takes care to alter and amend every prayer before he presents
it, and he makes the prayer perfect with his perfection, and prevalent
with His own merits. God looks upon the prayer, as presented through
Christ, and forgives all its own inherent faultiness. How this ought to
encourage any of us who feel ourselves to be feeble, wandering, and
unskillful in prayer. If you cannot plead with God as sometimes you did
in years gone by, if you feel as if somehow or other you had grown
rusty in the work of supplication, never give over, but come still, yea
and come oftener, for it is not a throne of severe criticism, it is a
throne of grace to which you come.
Then, further, inasmuch as it is a throne of grace, the faults of the
petitioner himself shall not prevent the success of his prayer. Oh,
what faults there are in us! To come before a throne how unfit we
are–we, that are all defiled with sin within and without! Dare any of
you think of praying were it not that God's throne is a throne of
grace? If you could, I confess that I could not. An absolute God,
infinitely holy and just, could not in consistency with his divine
nature answer any prayer from such a sinner as I am, were it not that
he has arranged a plan by which my prayer comes up no longer to a
throne of absolute justice, but to a throne which is also the
mercy-seat, the propitiation, the place where God meets sinners,
through Jesus Christ. Ah, I could not say to you, "Pray," not even to
you saints, unless it were a throne of grace, much less could I talk of
prayer to you sinners; but now I will say this to every sinner here,
though he should think himself to be the worst sinner that ever lived,
cry unto the Lord and seek him while he may be found. A throne of grace
is a place fitted for you: go to your knees; by simple faith go to your
Saviour, for he, he it is who is the throne of grace. It is in him that
God is able to dispense grace unto the most guilty of mankind. Blessed
be God, neither the faults of the prayer nor yet of the suppliant shall
shut out our petitions from the God who delights in broken and contrite
hearts.
If it be a throne of grace, then the desires of the pleader will be
interpreted. If I cannot find words in which to utter my desires, God
in his grace will read my desires without the words. He takes the
meaning of his saints, the meaning of their groans. A throne that was
not gracious would not trouble itself to make out our petitions; but
God, the infinitely gracious One, will dive into the soul of our
desires, and he will read there what we cannot speak with the tongue.
Have you never seen the parent, when his child is trying to say
something to him, and he knows very well what it is the little one has
got to say, help him over the words and utter the syllables for him,
and if the little one has half-forgotten what he would say, you have
seen the father suggest the word: and so the ever-blessed Spirit, from
the throne of grace, will help us and teach us words, nay, write in our
hearts the desires themselves. We have in Scripture instances where God
puts words into sinners' mouths. "Take with you words," saith he, "and
say unto him, Receive us graciously and love us freely." He will put
the desires, and put the expression of those desires into your spirit
by his grace; he will direct your desires to the things which you ought
to seek for; he will teach you your wants, though as yet you know them
not; he will suggest to you his promises that you may be able to plead
them; he will, in fact, be Alpha and Omega to your prayer, just as he
is to your salvation; for as salvation is from first to last of grace,
so the sinner's approach to the throne of grace is of grace from first
to last. What comfort is this. Will we not, my dear friends, with the
greater boldness draw near to this throne, as we suck out the sweet
meaning of this precious word, "the throne of grace"?
If it be a throne of grace, then all the wants of those who come to it
will be supplied. The King from off such a throne will not say, "Thou
must bring to Me gifts, thou must offer to Me sacrifices." It is not a
throne for receiving tribute; it is a throne for dispensing gifts.
Come, then, ye who are poor as poverty itself; come ye that have no
merits and are destitute of virtues, come ye that are reduced to a
beggarly bankruptcy by Adam's fall and by your own transgressions; this
is not the throne of majesty which supports itself by the taxation of
its subjects, but a throne which glorifies itself by streaming forth
like a fountain with floods of good things. Come ye, now, and receive
the wine and milk which are freely given, yea, come buy wine and milk
without money and without price. All the petitioner's wants shall be
supplied, because it is a throne of grace.
And so, all the petitioner's miseries shall be compassionated. Suppose
I come to the throne of grace with the burden of my sins; there is one
on the throne who felt the burden of sin in ages long gone by, and has
not forgotten its weight. Suppose I come loaded with sorrow; there is
One there who knows all the sorrows to which humanity can be subjected.
Am I depressed and distressed? Do I fear that God himself has forsaken
me? There is One upon the throne who said, "My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me?" It is a throne from which grace delights to look
upon the miseries of mankind with tender eye, to consider them and to
relieve them. Come, then; come, then; come, then, ye that are not only
poor, but wretched, whose miseries make you long for death, and yet
dread it. Ye captive ones, come in your chains; ye slaves, come with
the irons upon your souls; ye who sit in darkness, come forth all
blindfold as you are. The throne of grace will look on you if you
cannot look on it, and will give to you, though you have nothing to
give in return, and will deliver you, though you cannot raise a finger
to deliver yourself.
"The throne of grace." The word grows as I turn it over in my mind, and
to me it is a most delightful reflection that if I come to the throne
of God in prayer, I may feel a thousand defects, but yet there is hope.
I usually feel more dissatisfied with my prayers than with anything
else I do. I do not believe that it is an easy thing to pray in public
so as to conduct the devotions of a large congregation aright. We
sometimes hear persons commended for preaching well, but if any shall
be enabled to pray well, there will be an equal gift and a higher grace
in it. But, brethren, suppose in our prayers there should be defects of
knowledge: it is a throne of grace, and our Father knoweth that we have
need of these things. Suppose there should be defects of faith: he sees
our little faith and still doth not reject it, small as it is. He doth
not in every case measure out his gifts by the degree of our faith, but
by the sincerity and trueness of faith. And if there should be grave
defects in our spirit even, and failures in the fervency or in the
humility of the prayer, still, though these should not be there and are
much to be deplored; grace overlooks all this, forgives all this, and
still its merciful hand is stretched out to enrich us according to our
needs. Surely this ought to induce many to pray who have not prayed,
and should make us who have been long accustomed to use the consecrated
art of prayer, to draw near with greater boldness than ever to the
throne of grace.
III. But, now regarding our text as a whole, it conveys to us the idea
of GRACE ENTHRONED. It is a throne, and who sits on it? It is grace
personified that is here installed in dignity. And, truly, to-day grace
is on a throne. In the gospel of Jesus Christ grace is the most
predominant attribute of God. How comes it to be so exalted? We reply,
well, grace has a throne by conquest. Grace came down to earth in the
form of the Well-beloved, and it met with sin. Long and sharp was the
struggle, and grace appeared to be trampled under foot of sin; but
grace at last seized sin, threw it on its own shoulders, and, though
all but crushed beneath the burden, grace carried sin up to the cross
and nailed it there, slew it there, put it to death for ever, and
triumphed gloriously. For this cause at this hour grace sits on a
throne, because it has conquered human sin, has borne the penalty of
human guilt, and overthrown all its enemies.
Grace, moreover, sits on the throne because it has established itself
there by right. There is no injustice in the grace of God. God is as
just when he forgives a believer as when he casts a sinner into hell. I
believe in my own soul that there is as much and as pure a justice in
the acceptance of a soul that believes in Christ as there will be in
the rejection of those souls who die impenitent, and are banished from
Jehovah's presence. The sacrifice of Christ has enabled God to be just,
and yet the justifier of him that believeth. He who knows the word
"substitution," and can spell its meaning aright, will see that there
is nothing due to punitive justice from any believer, seeing that Jesus
Christ has paid all the believer's debts, and now God would be unjust
if he did not save those for whom Christ vicariously suffered, for whom
his righteousness was provided, and to whom it is imputed. Grace is on
the throne by conquest, and sits there by right.
Grace is enthroned this day, brethren, because Christ has finished his
work and gone into the heavens. It is enthroned in power. When we speak
of its throne, we mean that it has unlimited might. Grace sits not on
the footstool of God; grace stands not in the courts of God, but it
sits on the throne; it is the regnant attribute; it is the king to-day.
This is the dispensation of grace, the year of grace: grace reigns
through righteousness unto eternal life. We live in the era of reigning
grace, for seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for the sons of
men, Jesus is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by him. Sinner, if you were to meet grace in the by-way, like a
traveller on his journey, I would bid you make its acquaintance and ask
its influence; if you should meet grace as a merchant on the exchange,
with treasure in his hand, I would bid you court its friendship, it
will enrich you in the hour of poverty; if you should see grace as one
of the peers of heaven, highly exalted, I would bid you seek to get its
ear; but, oh, when grace sits on the throne, I beseech you close in
with it at once. It can be no higher, it can be no greater, for it is
written "God is love," which is an alias for grace. Oh, come and bow
before it; come and adore the infinite mercy and grace of God. Doubt
not, halt not, hesitate not. Grace is reigning; grace is God; God is
love. Oh that you, seeing grace is thus enthroned, would come and
receive it. I say, then, that grace is enthroned by conquest, by right,
and by power, and, I will add, it is enthroned in glory, for God
glorifies his grace. It is one of his objects now to make his grace
illustrious. He delights to pardon penitents, and so to show his
pardoning grace; he delights to look upon wanderers and restore them,
to show his reclaiming grace; he delights to look upon the
broken-hearted and comfort them, that he may show his consoling grace.
There is a grace to be had of various kinds, or rather the same grace
acting different ways, and God delights to make his grace glorious.
There is a rainbow round about the throne like unto an emerald, the
emerald of his compassion and his love. O happy souls that can believe
this, and believing it can come at once and glorify grace by becoming
instances of its power.
IV. Lastly, our text, if rightly read, has in it SOVEREIGNTY
RESPLENDENT IN GLORY,–THE GLORY OF GRACE. The mercy seat is a throne;
though grace is there, it is still a throne. Grace does not displace
sovereignty. Now, the attribute of sovereignty is very high and
terrible; its light is like unto a jasper stone, most precious, and
like unto a sapphire stone, or, as Ezekiel calls it, "the terrible
crystal." Thus saith the King, the Lord of hosts: "I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion." "Who art thou, O man, that repliest against God? Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?"
"Hath not the potter power over the clay to make of the same lump one
vessel unto honour and another unto dishonour?" These are great and
terrible words, and are not to be answered. He is a King, and he will
do as he wills. None shall stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest
thou? But, ah! lest any of you should be downcast by the thought of his
sovereignty, I invite you to the text. It is a throne,–there is
sovereignty; but to every soul that knows how to pray, to every soul
that by faith comes to Jesus, the true mercy seat, divine sovereignty
wears no dark and terrible aspect, but is full of love. It is a throne
of grace; from which I gather that the sovereignty of God to a
believer, to a pleader, to one who comes to God in Christ, is always
exercised in pure grace. To you, to you who come to God in prayer, the
sovereignty always runs thus: "I will have mercy on that sinner; though
he deserves it not, though in him there is no merit, yet because I can
do as I will with my own, I will bless him, I will make him my child, I
will accept him; he shall be mine in the day when I make up my jewels."
On the mercy seat God never executed sovereignty otherwise than in a
way of grace. He reigns, but in this case grace reigns through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
There are these two or three things to be thought of, and I have done.
On the throne of grace sovereignty has placed itself under bonds of
love. I must speak with words choice and picked here, and I must
hesitate and pause to get the right sentences, lest I err while
endeavouring to speak the truth in plainness. God will do as he wills;
but, on the mercy seat, he is under bonds–bonds of his own making, for
he has entered into covenant with Christ, and so into covenant with his
chosen. Though God is and ever must be a sovereign, he never will break
his covenant, not alter the word that is gone out of his mouth. He
cannot be false to a covenant of his own making. When I come to God in
Christ, to God on the mercy seat, I need not imagine that by any act of
sovereignty God will set aside his covenant. That cannot be: it is
impossible.
Moreover, on the throne of grace, God is again bound to us by his
promises. The covenant contains in it many gracious promises, exceeding
great and precious. "Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall
find; knock and it shall be opened unto you." Until God had said that
word or a word to that effect, it was at his own option to hear prayer
or not, but it is not so now; for now, if it be true prayer offered
through Jesus Christ, his truth binds him to hear it. A man may be
perfectly free, but the moment he makes a promise, he is not free to
break it; and the everlasting God wants not to break his promise. He
delights to fulfil it. He hath declared that all his promises are yea
and amen in Christ Jesus; but, for our consolation when we survey God
under the high and terrible aspect of a sovereign, we have this to
reflect on, that he is under covenant bonds of promise to be faithful
to the souls that seek him. His throne must be a throne of grace to his
people.
And, once more, and sweetest thought of all, every covenant promise has
been endorsed and sealed with blood, and far be it from the everlasting
God to pour scorn upon the blood of his dear Son. When a king has given
a charter to a city, he may before have been absolute, and there may
have been nothing to check his prerogatives, but when the city has its
charter, then it pleads its rights before the king. Even thus God has
given to his people a charter of untold blessings, bestowing upon them
the sure mercies of David. Very much of the validity of a charter
depends upon the signature and the seal, and, my brethren, how sure is
the charter of covenant grace. The signature is the hand-writing of God
himself, and the seal is the blood of the Only-begotten. The covenant
is ratified with blood, the blood of his own dear Son. It is not
possible that we can plead in vain with God when we plead the
blood-sealed covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but the power of the blood of Jesus with God can never
fail. It speaks when we are silent, and it prevails when we are
defeated. Better things than that of Abel doth it ask for, and its cry
is heard. Let us come boldly, for we hear the promise in our hearts.
When we feel alarmed because of the sovereignty of God, let us
cheerfully sing–
"The gospel bears my spirit up,
A faithful and unchanging God
Lays the foundation for my hope
In oaths, and promises, and blood."
May God the Holy Spirit help us to use aright from this time forward
"the throne of grace." Amen.
Rome, Dec. 7, 1871.
TO MY BELOVED CHURCH AND FRIENDS IN GENERAL,
Beloved in the Lord, having felt it to be my duty to leave England for
a short time to prevent a return of my former complaint, I am bound
gratefully to acknowledge the good hand of the Lord upon me during my
sojourn abroad. I hope to return in a brief season, so strengthened as
to continue to labour on for a considerable period without another
pause. I take this opportunity of thanking my affectionate church and
kind friends, for their innumerable acts of generous sympathy, in
aiding our College and Orphanage, and especially for those many prayers
which were turned to my comfort and healing in my late illness, and are
the means of my upholding in my ever-growing service for the Lord. The
Lord return into their bosoms a thousandfold the good which faithful
friends have implored for me, and make me more than ever the means of
blessing to them by ministry.
Just now I implore a renewal of those prayers with increased
earnestness, for a revival of religion is greatly needed; and it would
be a sure evidence of its speedy coming, if believers united in prayer
for it. Already the flame is kindled at the Tabernacle, but it needs to
be fanned into a mighty conflagration. Our country requires a divine
visitation, and the promise of it only needs to be pleaded to be
fulfilled. Brethren, as one man, cry mightily to the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, beseeching him to put his hand to
the work, and magnify his Son in the eyes of all the people. Standing
where Satan's seat is, in the midst of ten thousand idols, I beseech
those who worship God in the spirit to wrestle in prayer for times of
refreshing, that all lands may know that Jesus Christ is Lord. How long
shall the name of Jesus be blasphemed by the idolatries of Antichrist?
It may be that the times of darkness will last till the children of
light cry out bitterly, day and night, by reason of soul anguish. Then
will God avenge his own elect, and that speedily.
As I have trodden the Appian way I have rejoiced that Jesus, whom Paul
preached, is yet alive, and is certain in due season to put down his
enemies. Already he has desolated the Colosseum where his faithful
martyrs poured forth their blood; the pagan power has fallen, and so
also shall the papal, and all other which opposes his kingdom. Let us
proclaim a spiritual crusade, and set up our banners by redoubled
prayer. It is certain that supplication produces marvellous results in
heaven and earth; its power is proven in our own personal experience,
and throughout the history of the church. Brethren, LET US PRAY.
Yours, for Jesus' sake,
C.H. SPURGEON.