A God of Grace - Part 2

Welcome to this weekend's In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley. Sin fractures the relationship with holy God, but through his death on the cross, Jesus extends the offer to repair the breach. of the Bible. Well, when you come to the New Testament, for example, here's what you find. You find that the word grace is all through the New Testament. God's goodness and kindness and love toward us in spite of what we deserve, not because we deserve it or because we have an emeritus on our part, but just because he's a God of love. And what you discover is this, all through the New Testament, the theme is grace, God's goodness and love and mercy toward his children. Do we sin against him?

Yes. What's grace all about? Forgiveness, kindness and understanding. Does that mean we can live any old way you want to live and get by with it? No, because God disciplines his children. And sometimes discipline is very painful. You say, well, if he loves me and if it's a God of grace, what's this discipline business?

If he did not discipline us and we sin against him, that wouldn't be a God of grace. That's not kindness. That's not goodness. That's not love. Allowing us to get by with something that he knows will cause us to ultimately destroy our life could not possibly be an act of grace.

It is an act of careless indifference. That's not who he is. He's a God of grace, goodness, love and mercy and kindness toward us. Now, one of the interesting things about this whole idea about the grace of God, I want you to turn to Hebrews chapter four for a moment. Not only does the Bible say that he's a God of all grace, but I want you to look at, for example, the throne of God. Now, the throne of God is a place of majesty and power and great beauty and awesome indescribable radiance because the throne of God is where our Heavenly Father sits, rules and reigns over all the universe.

The Lord Jesus Christ sitting in his right hand. Listen to what the Scripture says in Hebrews chapter four, verse fourteen, a very, very encouraging passage of Scripture. Therefore, since we have a great high priest, Jesus, who has passed through the heavens, been resurrected back in the presence of God, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

That is, listen, be strong about your confession. Do not waver in your faith and trust in Him. For we do not have a high priest who can't sympathize with us, with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. This is a kind of high priest. This is the kind of person who sits at the Father's right hand and intercedes in our behalf.

He's one who's been tempted in all points such as as we. So, listen, at the throne of God, there is someone there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who knows exactly how you feel. He knows exactly about your temptations, exactly about your fears, exactly about all the things that you and I deal with. This God is a God of grace. He says, Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Now, this throne He's talking about here is the very throne of God.

And listen to what He says. He says, Let us draw near to the throne of judgment. No. Throne of condemnation. No. Throne of rules and regulations.

No. Throne of grace. What's grace?

Goodness, kindness, love, given to us in spite of the fact that we do not deserve it, because that's the nature of God. That's what He wants to do. Now, notice what He says happens.

Here's what you can look for when you get there. He says, Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may do what? Have to fall on their face and be judged and condemned and ridiculed.

No. We may receive mercy. You know what mercy is? It's what we don't deserve. It's His goodness and love that we don't deserve. We may receive mercy.

And find what? Grace to help in time of need. In time of need means just in the nick of time. Is God ahead of time? No. Is He late?

No. Now, most all of us have thought He was. We've all figured, Well, God, I thought you were going to do thus and so. And when you and I come to God and we start out like this, Well, God, I thought, what we're simply saying is, Lord, we're implying you messed up.

In other words, you didn't follow my plan on my schedule. That's what we really say. Do you think that makes God angry?

No. What do you think He does? He just hears that and moves on. For the simple reason He knows that you and I are human.

We're going to make mistakes. And He knows that we all have our plans and we have our schedule. And then He has His. The only difference is He rules. He reigns. He's omnipotent.

We are finite human beings. He's ultimately going to get His way, so that's why He doesn't get upset. If you and I could understand Him the way He is, awesome, wonderful, loving God. The only thing that grieves the heart of God is when you and I disobey Him. Why does He grieve? You can't grieve somebody who doesn't love you. The fact that you and I grieve the Spirit of God, we sin against Him, is because He loves us. He loves us with an infinite love we could never begin to describe no matter how long we lived. He says, listen to this, Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we will receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Listen to that. Draw near to the throne of grace. Think about this. So many people see that God is up yonder, out yonder somewhere. He's far off. We never think about the fact that He's near. Let us draw near to the throne of grace.

Come close. Why? So that He says I can pour out my what? My kindness and goodness. Give you what you don't deserve.

Help you whatever your need is, and I'll always do it just on time. That's the kind of God He is. And so He says draw near to the throne. When I was working on this message, I was sitting there and I started thinking about how many times have I ever been to the throne of grace in all these years? Well, I couldn't begin to count them, but I can tell you this. I broke out just weeping and weeping and weeping.

I could not stop. I began to think about how many times I've been to the throne. I've been to the throne when I hurt and always found comfort. I've been to the throne when I was lonely and always found fellowship. I've been to the throne when I had material needs and they were always met. I've been to the throne when I was very discouraged and I found confidence. I've been to the throne when I needed guidance and He always made it plain. I've been to the throne when I was weak and I needed strength and I found it. I've been to the throne when I doubted Him and I found faith. I've been to the throne when I was afraid and I found confidence and courage. I've been to the throne when I had sinned and always found forgiveness. That's who He is. When I began to think about that, I wept and wept and wept out of pure gratitude to think not one single time did He ever turn me away, never rejected me, has never condemned me, never shouted measure up, but always goodness, love, mercy, discipline many, many times.

You know what that was? Each time it was an activist's grace. He says draw near to the throne of God.

No, draw near to the throne of what? Grace, His love, His goodness and mercy. And why does He use that term? Because that's the way God wants us to see Him. Is He this supreme sovereign of the universe?

Yes. And how many times you've heard me say it? The supreme sovereign of the universe sits upon His throne. In relationship to the world, He rules and reigns. In relationship to you as an individual, what does He do?

He loves and loves and loves and loves. And I will simply ask you this. How close do you come to the throne? How close do you want to get?

What kind of relationship do you really want? Are you satisfied with the world's fluff? That is, you have enough material needs. You have some material security. You have recognition. You've got relationships.

But let me ask you this. How deep is your relationship to Almighty God? Do you have a hunger and a thirst and a yearning deep inside of you to want to know Him on a level that you have never known before? Do you want to experience Him to the very fullness of your capacity as a person? Are you sort of satisfied where you are, going to church, worshiping, giving a little here and there, trying to be as good as you can, trying to please God, keep Him off your back, read the Bible, do a few things?

Or is there something within you that desires more than all of that? You see, I've lived long enough to know this, that there are times in your life when if you're willing, He's willing to manifest Himself, reveal Himself, show Himself to you in such a way that you will be absolutely, totally overwhelmed with the awareness of His presence. So real, so indescribable, so beyond any human imagination, I could not describe it. There will be those times here and there, not very often more than likely, but enough times for God to remind you that He not only is in heaven ruling and reigning, He wants you to know His presence. He makes it so unquestionably real. You sit, you lie in the presence of the living God, knowing that you're surrounded by Him, covered by Him, overwhelmed by Him.

You won't want to say anything because there's nothing you can say, nothing you need to say in the presence of the living God. Are you satisfied just sort of moving through life? Or do you want what He wants? He wants to demonstrate to you, listen to this, not what He can give you. You know that. He knows that. It isn't what He can give you that He's most interested in. He's most interested in giving you Himself, drawing you into this relationship.

And you know what happens? Once you begin to taste of that relationship, things don't matter. They don't matter. Relationships are important, but that's not the most important thing. What people think is not the important thing.

You know what happens? Uppermost in your thinking is not how can I please Him. Uppermost in your thinking is how can I get nearer, nearer, nearer precious Lord? How can I understand Him better? How can I feel His heart?

How can I know what He's thinking? How can I sense the fullness of all that He wants to be in me and through me and for Him? Not what else can I get from Him, but just how can I experience Him? You see, if you love someone, you're not always wanting something they have to give. You want to get on the inside of them.

You want to feel what they feel and sense what they sense. And you see, if God were not that kind of God, here's what He wouldn't have said. He wouldn't have said, draw near to the throne of grace, where goodness and love flows and mercy flows, where help is available, and where no matter what the need is, it'll always be there, just in the nick of time, without fail. What I'm asking you is this, how satisfied are you with what you know about Him?

How satisfied are you of your relationship with Him? Isn't there something deep down inside? You see, here's how Satan tricks the believer. Satan tricks the believer with a sense of dissatisfaction. The dissatisfaction Satan interprets within a person's heart as you need more of this, a better relationship here and more of that and travel here and do all these things. Let me tell you something. I've lived long enough to go all the places I want to go, have all the things I want to have, do all the things I want to do, have wonderful relationships in life, and I want to tell you something.

You can put all them in one basket. There is nothing on the face of this earth, no relationship, no material thing, no experience, no nothing that compare with the intimate, personal, genuine, quiet, indescribable, deep, abiding, penetrating relationship with Jesus Christ and the Father. When you and I submit ourselves to Him and say, Lord, whatever you want is what I want. Whatever you will is what I will.

However you want it's what I want. You know what will happen? When you say that to Him, when you draw near to Him, He may remove some things in your life that you think are very important in the ascension that you can't live without. He may add some things in your life that maybe you don't want. He will adjust your life, but here's what you'll discover. Every adjustment gives you a deeper insight into who He is. And you see, oftentimes we see adversity as a barrier in our life.

You know what happens? The closer you get to the throne of grace, the more you understand that every single, listen, this adversity in your life becomes a bridge to a deeper relationship, a more intimate relationship because He teaches us things in adversity we don't learn any other way. Draw near to the throne of grace and you'll find all the, listen, you'll find all the forgiveness you'll ever need. Draw near to the throne of grace, you'll find, listen, all the help, always on time, no matter what.

But He didn't say He was coming after you. He said draw near to the throne of grace, which means I have to take the initiative. I have to want to. I have to desire to. God isn't going to make you want Him. He's going to create within you a desire for Him.

And if you allow Satan to misguide that, misdirect that, and misinterpret it, here's what you'll do. You'll go after things and relationships to get you satisfied only to find out none of that will satisfy you. There is only one experience in life that brings absolute and complete satisfaction.

Now think about this. Every other thing in life, you've got to have more of it. You can't think of anything in life that you can't have, you got to have a little bit more.

If it's money you spend, you've got to have some more of it. When it comes to Jesus, He's like this well, this spring springing up on the inside of us. And it flows incessantly, continuously, unendingly. And as long as we're willing to drink from that well, from that spring, you know what?

There's a complete satisfaction contentment indescribable in human words. I don't know what kind of God you have, but I've just told you about the God of the Bible, the Word of the living God. And He says at the throne, there'll be grace. At the throne right now there's grace. And if you're willing to surrender your life to Jesus Christ and trust Him as your personal Savior, forgive your sins, make you a child of God, and open the throne of grace where you and I can come anytime, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 60 seconds in every single minute. He's available if we desire to come. You just have to make up your mind, do you want the very best life has to offer in a personal intimate relationship with God?

Are you willing to substitute and take the counterfeit and end up disappointed? Father, how grateful we are for your love for us. We're overwhelmed when we think about how good and kind and gracious, yet undeserving and inadequate we are.

You're so willing to give it so freely. I pray the Holy Spirit sink this message so deep it can never be escaped. That haunting every single heart will be that question. Don't you want more? Don't you want to know Him more intimately? Are you going to be satisfied with the fluff and puff of the world? Or do you want to find life as the Father intended to give it in all of its fullness? And this is my prayer today, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.