Let us come BOLDLY to the Throne of Grace

You've tuned into a mega church. We are people hungry to

encounter God through worship and His Word being witnesses to

the world around us. We pray this teaching blesses

you and trust God will reveal Himself to you in a new way

today. And.

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out more about Omega? Get to our website or Facebook

page through the links below. Or even in the Scriptures, even

as we read it in the Bible, grace must be discovered and

experienced in the proximity of God.

And proximity means actually in the presence of, you know, we're

not. When you're in the proximity of

somebody, you're right next to them, you're in the same place.

And it's to so if we experience that and benefit that, and that

benefits us, and if we really truly desire that to be

everything that God desires us to be, that's the only way that

we're going to be able to reveal him in this hopeless and godless

world. We really need to know what

grace is. And because if we don't know

what grace is, we'll never show grace.

That's the thing. Because that's what the people

in the world are looking for. They're looking for something

that's real. But if we don't know God's

grace, how we can tell them about it from a textbook

perspective. But if we don't know it, how can

we show it? So grace must be accessed by

experience, but how do we do that?

Like I said, you know, it's not something that we read about in

the Bible. It's not just something about,

that's the thing that gives us the information about.

It's not something that just comes over the pulpit.

It must be experienced. OK, I mean grace.

It's it's not necessarily a term that we use too much in the

world, but here's the English definition.

It's undeserved kindness, favour and practical terms, showing

forgiveness when someone doesn't deserve it.

Many Christians don't make it past this point.

So they find out the forgiveness of God, but they don't

understand the benefits of His grace, which go far, much

further than our forgiveness. So what is biblical grace?

In order to understand grace, we need to define the difference

between what mercy and grace actually is.

Mercy is not giving us something that we deserve, in other words,

punishment for our sins, and grace is giving us something

that we do not deserve, namely the life of Christ.

That's the difference. Grace cannot be earned.

It cannot be worked for. And Romans fall for.

It says now to him who works now the works, who works according

to the works of the law in order to find favor with God, The

wages are not counted as grace, but debt.

That means you're expecting God to owe you something when God is

no man's debtor. So he wants to be someone that

demonstrates what grace is. A lot of people don't really

understand that, you know, people get saved and they think

that they somehow have to pay God back.

And that's something that risks deep in humanity because it just

can't get over his grace. His grace is amazing.

Once again, it has to be discovered from His proximity,

what it really looks like, because we can never understand

it from an intellectual perspective, from a human

understanding. We have to actually have God

reveal that to us. He's done it in the person of

Christ, you know, as Christ walked upon the earth, died upon

the cross, and was resurrected. But once again, that must be

believed in. Is it really true?

And we're here because it's really true, but we have to

experience it in a greater way in the demonstration of the

Spirit. Here's some biblical examples of

grace. John 15-6 you did not choose me,

but I chose you. That's that's a wonderful

scripture that that's, that that releases things, you know, in a

big way there when you realize, you know, that he actually chose

us. You know, you look at the amount

of Christians that there are around the world.

I mean, on paper it says that there's a lot.

But if you go into your community workplace and wherever

it may be, there's not many Christians around.

There's not. And God chose you like Joseph

was saying this morning and names are written in heaven.

And that's something to rejoice about.

But once again, if it's not really apprehended in the

proximity of God, where's the rejoicing?

I don't see a lot of rejoicing in the church.

Sometimes it's really got to be stirred up.

We're singing these songs, we're sounding out these great words,

but where's the woe, the overflowing?

Because once again, we're not really experiencing the

proximity of God, which is actually here.

But we're not experiencing it. That's why I'm emphasizing we've

got to learn what it is to enter in.

Let us come boldly to the throne of grace.

I'll break that down a wee bit more soon, but also in Exodus 33

when Moses said to God, show me your glory.

And one of the things that God says, I will be gracious to whom

I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I have

compassion. In other words, it cannot be

earned. You know, look upon these

Israelites. This Moses was speaking this

just after they'd built the golden calf.

And he also puts, you know, his tent out of the the camp of

Israel. So if anyone wanted to see God,

they had to actually come outside the camp to Moses tent

in which when Moses went to his tent, the glory of God came

down. But Moses knew God's glory

because he knew God face to face.

And that's the way that God spoke to him.

And God says I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious to

even these sinful people. I've chosen to be gracious.

You know, they're not doing anything good, but I've chosen

to be gracious. Grace comes out of the character

of God. It cannot be earned by us in any

way whatsoever. That's one of my favorite

scriptures. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 to

Ephesians 2:8–10

10. For by grace you have been saved

through faith, and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not of works, least anyone should

boast. For we are his workmanship

created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared

beforehand, that we should walk in them.

It's one of these scriptures that every Christian should

memorize, that's for sure. You know, it's one of the first

ones I memorized, but still I am learning the depth of it.

You know, 30 years down the track as a Christian, not of

works least. Anyone boast I'll just read this

out from my Bible. I want to take it just a wee bit

deeper. Starting at chapter 2, verse

one. And you He made alive, who were

dead in trespassers and sins, in which you once walked according

to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the

power of the ear, the Spirit who now works in the sons of

disobedience, Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in

the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the

flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature children of

wrath, just as the others. But God, who was rich in mercy,

because of His great love with which He loved us even when we

were dead in trespasses and sins, made us alive together

with Christ. By grace you have been saved and

raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly

places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show

the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness towards

us in Christ Jesus. For grace you put, by grace you

have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not of works, least anyone should

boast, for we are his workmanship created in Christ

Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we

should walk in them now. Does anyone believe that we've

actually been raised up with Christ and made to sit with Him

in heavenly places? 1-2 You know, you say, OK,

that's the right response, you know, but we need to experience

this position. This is the thing, you know, we

come, you know, I was praying before.

You know, we've come to more than just a Smoky Mountain.

We've come to more than just a church building.

We've come to heaven. We really have.

And just because we're veiled, we're veiled by our flesh, and

our flesh really gets in the way.

It gets in the way of our feelings.

It's dictated by everything that you know, we've experienced in

the past, the familiarity of what we've been.

And that's what the, the power of the word of God, you know, it

changes our mind. This, this, this thing.

Here is a map that brings us to heaven.

Believe it or not, this is the written word of God.

And that will only take you as far as the written word of God.

But we need to be brought to a Savior who has been resurrected

from the dead, who pulls out a spirit that we might be brought

near, that we might understand this word by spirit in his

proximity. And that comes by faith.

By faith we were raised up even dead in trespassers and sins.

Now this is the amazing thing. God didn't wait for us to be

good enough before he raised us up.

Now one thing you know anyone know where their Christian life

began? Where it begins?

No, no, where, not when. I know where it begins.

I have given you a hint. I sorry, no, I'll probably get a

bit more. It begins at the right hand of

God, believe it or not. So, you know, quite often we

think, what do I have to attain to to come to this lofty

position? Nothing.

I've just got to believe that in Christ, I've been raised up and

made to sit with him in heavenly places.

I've just got to catch up with the reality of what God's

performed in Christ. And that's what it is when we

draw near that we have the exuberance of grace within us.

That's when the veil has taken off our heart.

See the letter can only bring you to death.

That's the purpose of the letter.

The Spirit is the is what makes us alive.

It's like in Second Corinthians I says when Moses is read, a

veil lies upon their heart. But when one turns to the Lord,

the veil is taken away. This is now the Lord is the

spirit and we're the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.

And it says, but we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a

mirror the glory of the Lord, and are being transformed into

the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of

the Lord. So we're transformed by seeing

Him, not having information about Him.

We need that. But that's only a starting point

to propel us into a place and recognizing what God has

performed for us in Christ, that He has made us to sit with Him

in heavenly places. Now that should be something to

rejoice about. But then once again, when we

start heading into that place, the flesh gets in the way.

And that's where we have a devil that's really rooted and fused

in our fleshly nature. But God's made all provision in

Christ that as we believe in Him, He's like that arrow that

takes us into the heavenly realm.

He's the anchor that holds us in place, as it says in Hebrews

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6, that we have a sure hope that enters into the

heavenly realm beyond the veil as an anchor, a sure anchor of

the soul. But once again, this place has

to be accessed and just doesn't. God's performed it in Christ

positionally, but we have to find it experientially.

And that's where the work of the Spirit comes in.

So once again, it's not by good works that we do and God

eliminates that. You know, in this particular

passage he says that the reason why is that he might show the

riches of his grace and his kindness towards us in Christ

Jesus. Even in the ages to come, we are

going to be getting an unfolding revelation of God's grace, of

his goodness, of his giftedness. You know, it's, it's by grace,

it's by his kindness that we find repentance, not by what we

do, not by how good we are, but by his kindness.

It's not by the judgement of God that transforms us.

That won't change you. That might bring you into a

church building, that might help you join a religion.

But it's this kindness that leads you to a repentance never

to be regretted. So what are these good works?

These are the good works that God's prepared beforehand,

revealing his kindness toward us in Christ Jesus, that we should

walk in these good works. So once we start working for our

salvation, we fall from grace. And a lot of people don't know

grace is because they're still trying to work.

They're still trying to pay God back.

And it eliminates, it doesn't say that you lose your

salvation. You do not experience the life

of grace. You understand that.

It's like it blocks you off immediately.

I mean, God doesn't compromise with us.

He doesn't sort of allow us to have so much works.

And then he uses the grace to make up the other 70% that

you're lacking. It's grace all the way.

And God doesn't give us a changed life.

He gives us an exchange life. That means He replaces us with

His Son and these good works. So we're, we're called into the

purpose of Jesus. So we're we're called not just

to be a, a great business person, a great doctor, a great

dentist or anything like that. That's just maybe a part where

it finds expression. We are called to be conformed to

the image of God's son. That's the good works that we're

called to. We're called into His purpose

and that's where we've got to lose our life into what God's

actually doing, and that's conforming us to the image of

His Son. See, one of the things with God,

He delights to give grace. That's the thing He wants to

show off more than anything. This is grace.

It's His very character. He wants to reveal His glory in

US, His generosity. In James 4/6 it says, but he

gives more grace. Therefore, he resists the proud

but gives grace to the humble. So if you want to know what

grace is, humility is the key, is a real key.

So once again, if you're working, it comes out of a

haughty spirit, it comes out of a proud spirit.

If you're looking to find salvation, you might, your

intentions might be very good, but before God, it's not.

So when you begin to recognize it's not on the basis of works,

but it's on the base of grace, you know, that's where we find

more grace. We can never maintain our

position with God through how much we pray, how much we read

the word of God, the good works that we do, how we help our

neighbor, even though these are very, very good things and these

are all a demonstration of God's goodness and kindness.

And whenever we have a sense of guilt, we can never respond by

doing more. Like I've only prayed more if I

only read more. The proper response is seeing

our perfection summed up in Jesus Christ.

That's the only way. OK, so it says then let us then

approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may

receive mercy and find grace even there.

It's showing grace is something that has to be discovered, that

has to be found. I looked up the word find in the

phase in the Strong's Concordance.

Sorry, what a phase definition is?

It means to come upon, hit upon, to meet with after searching to

find a thing sought to find by inquiry, thought, examination,

scrutiny, observation, to find out by practice and experience,

to see, to learn, to discover, understand, to be found, to be

present in proximity, to find out for oneself, to to require,

to get, obtain and procure. So when it says to come to

throne, God's throne of grace, it's it's not just to a concept

with actually God's calling us into his very presence in a far

greater way. So how do we do that?

We have to understand that God has made provision for for grace

for us in Christ. God is the means by which we

find grace, by which we find his generosity.

He, he is the gift of God. He is the embodiment of grace.

But once again, we must access it.

We've got to know what it is to come into the heavenly realm.

So how do we truly discover grace?

Because a lot of us think, you know, that we have it, that

we're experiencing it. But God has a way by which we

find grace and by which he demonstrates grace, which allows

the abundance of grace to be seen in a greater way because

otherwise we don't appreciate it.

See, until we realize that we're actually bankrupt before God, we

don't value his grace. We don't is to practice it with

others. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, that's right.

That's that's exercising it. Yeah.

And we certainly do. Yeah.

Yeah. OK.

John 16 to 17 and of his fullness we have all received

and grace for grace for the law was given through Moses, but

grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ.

See these, I mean, Jesus said some very confronting things

that, you know, can really challenge our thinking.

Challenge is my thinking. In John 539 to 40, Jesus said

you search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal

life, but these are they which testify of me.

But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life.

I find that very, very challenging because a lot of

people can come to church. A lot of people can read the

Bible and think that they actually have life.

You know, we've got many religions.

We've got many denominations, but there's a lot of people that

are not willing to actually come into this place, come to him in

proximity because that's where life truly is.

It comes out from the heavenly realm.

So we have an unveiled existence.

It's like, you know, there's three types of people here.

I believe people that search the scriptures because he's actually

talking to the Jews. You have the scriptures and just

by having this, you know it's searching them.

You think that you have eternal life, yet these are they which

testify of me or speak of me. And this can be much the the

church that has the information of Jesus but are not willing to

actually come to him that we might have life.

I mean, the confronting thing is that Jesus has called us to a

cross. So how do we actually get in the

spirit realm, you know, into into that realm?

We have to learn what it is to lay aside our fleshly nature.

We have to learn what it is to actually die to ourselves, a

death that we can never actually accomplish on our behalf.

And this is where the grace comes in.

God has actually given us a death in Christ that he

communicates to us by the power of a spirit.

When we try and die to ourselves, we can't do it

immediately. We come under works again, but

when we begin to believe and understand that He has provided

a death for us, not just in concept, but in practice by

experiencing His Holy Spirit within us.

Because it says if you by the Spirit put to death the deeds of

the body, you will live. It's by the power of the Spirit

that we do that. How else we find out about grace

in a greater way and Romans chapter 520 to 21 and says that

moreover, the law entered that the offence might abound, but

we're sin abounded. Grace abounded much more.

So the reason that God gave the law ultimately is to for us to

recognize that we're sinners worthy of death and to even

bring about that death because it says the law brings about

wrath for where there is no law, there is no transgression.

So they had to be transgression. There's no grace in the law that

actually kills the letter kills, but the spirit gives life.

But we're sin abounded. You know, as Christians, the

more that we begin to understand how unworthy we are, how

bankrupt we are. And I don't mean it in the

morbid sense, just a Sinner or anything like that.

Because the more that you see that you're a Sinner saved by

grace and only by grace, and where God has positioned us in

the person of Christ, raised us up, made us to sit with him in

heavenly places. That's our identity, that's our

stature. That's the thing that we

actually rejoice in. The only thing that qualifies us

for grace. I'll say this in a bit of a

derogatory sense, but it's sin is what qualifies us for grace.

The only thing see, the more that we see that we're sinners.

This is the grace of God, the reason he gave us the law that

we might recognize that we're sinners to the point that we

abundantly practice it, that we cannot save ourselves.

The more that you try and keep the law, the more that you'll

find yourself in sin. And until you recognize that

grace won't be valued, I'll say that boldly.

Grace won't be won't be valued, but when you begin to see that

who God's created you to be in Christ Jesus, all of a sudden

the works of the law start falling away.

You just stop trying because all of a sudden you see yourself

seated with him in heavenly places and you begin to launch

out from that perspective. Now this is grace.

This is liberty and this is the thing that we need to say see so

much more. It's the simplicity of the

gospel. The letter kills, but the Spirit

gives life and the Spirit is given so freely.

And that's why I'm saying, you know, let us draw near to the

throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find and

discover experiential grace in time of need, that we might

accomplish everything for which God has set us forth to Every

temptation that comes our way, every requirement that God wants

from us comes out from the throne of grace.

But once again, it has to be lived out from proximity.

Is this making sense? Is this, you know, because we

have what we have to do is reposition our thinking.

See, God's called us to a powerful walk.

He's called us to be something completely different than every

religion in the world. We have the life, we have the

Spirit. You know, we actually, we live

in an invisible realm. And when we begin to see grace,

we will begin to demonstrate grace, you know, if if our heart

is unveiled, our lives will be unveiled before the world.

And the Spirit will speak and give testimony to who you are,

what you believe, because you're made to sit with him in heavenly

places. When, when, when we get hold of

this, we will be bold in the face of our enemies, which is,

it says in Philippians is to them testimony of destruction,

but to us of salvation. And that's what the world's

looking for are people that are full of hope, that just throw

aside the things of the world, not being conformed to this

world. There's too many churches being

conformed to this world. We need to look completely

different. And This is why we draw neither

the throne of grace that we might behold him, that we might

be transformed by him just by seeing him.

Sometimes it's a painful thing to discover grace.

Discovering grace itself is not painful, but the process can be

quite a little bit gnarly because we can be stubborn

because didn't God say to Moses after Moses says, you know, show

me your glory? And just before that he says,

you know, in a sense he was going to cast the, the people of

Israel. He's actually cast them on

Moses. He's the people that you brought

out. You know, you can go off to the

land that I'm I'm giving you, but I'm not going with you.

And Moses, you know, that's where he pleaded with him.

Lord, you've got to go with us. Don't let us go out from this

place unless you go with us. I forgot what I was actually

going to be saying. Lost of a trick of thought

there. Oh yeah, It's that the whole

discovery thing once again, discovering, discovering grace.

Like even Paul, Paul the apostle had to discover grace in Second

2 Corinthians 12:9

Corinthians chapter 12, verse 9. If you're familiar with that,

you know he said, I will come to revelations of the Lord.

You know that will happen, but that I might not be puffed up

with pride. A thorn in the flesh was given

to me, and I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might

depart from me. And after he'd done that, the

Lord said to him, my grace is sufficient for you.

In other words, now that thorn was given to him, you know, to,

to, to, to beat him up in a, in a way where he is not proud of

himself because of all the revelations, because it all

comes from grace. You know, we, we have revelation

of the Lord by grace, not by anything good that we do.

We're not rewarded with his revelation by the things that we

do. We're rewarded by grace.

So even he had to discover grace, you know, because he was

a very proud Jew. He had a, a pedigree of being an

Israelite, A Benjamite. He kept the law in such a way,

you know, the ceremonial law that he could say that he was

actually blameless. But that had to be spin out of

him that, you know, God had to, he just didn't reveal it.

One day it was revealed through the experience of being beaten

up by a messenger of Satan, which was given by who?

Given by God, believe it or not. And the only thing that overcame

that was grace. That was the sufficiency that

overcame it. It's by Paul that we get Romans

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Chapter 7. Anyone familiar with Romans

Romans 7 · chapter mention

Chapter 7? No, eh?

Oh, OK. The good that I will to do, I do

not do. The evil that I will not to do

that I practice, you know, because that's a man trying to

be pleasing to God and that soon as that happens, you come under

the law and the law starts working and the enemy has such

room. The accusation of the law ISM is

in full, full blossom right there.

That's why Satan's called the accuser of the brethren.

That's where he gets his power is from the law of God and a

fallen Adam. I believe that this is this what

I believe. Anyway, it's just a thought.

You know, that Satan has actually lost his power as a

cherubim. Soon as he'd sinned, boom, like

lightning, he fell from heaven. And the only way that he draws

any existence for a certain amount of time that he has is

drawing it from the law of God in order to accuse humanity.

That's where he gets his power from.

That's where he gets his power over us.

He doesn't just get it because he is a powerful Angel, it's

because he tempts us according to the law of God, and that's

where he finds place. That's where he finds existence

as inhumanity. That's why he got Adam to eat

from the tree, from the knowledge of good and evil,

because that's where he would draw his power from.

So we need to understand that when we're coming into

temptation, you know, even God allows, he gives the enemy

because the devil is God's devil to accomplish his purpose

because he has the power of death.

That's the thing that when we begin to see that this is where

we can, you know, we need to see that where the law entered with

sin abounds with sin abounds, grace abounds so much more.

That word actually means to super abound in the person of

Jesus Christ. It says so that just as sin

reigned or where the enemy had rule, where he ruled as king,

Even so grace might reign through righteousness, through

imputed righteousness in the person of Jesus Christ to

eternal life through Jesus Christ.

So that's the powerful thing. When we begin to see that we've

actually been raised up with him in heavenly places, that's where

we overcome the enemy because it's the throne of grace.

It's it's, it's a rule of Jesus Christ and we've been placed

into him and all we've got to do is come into agreement with

that. Repent.

On the basis of that. Repent means to think after the

manner of to think after the manner that God has raised us up

and made us to sit in heavenly places.

See behaviour follows repentance because repentance means to

think after the order of and when we see that God's raised us

up in Christ, we're able to change our behaviour.

But you can't under law because you're imprisoned to sin.

This is where Jesus is our Saviour, our Redeemer.

This is where He is our power and strength.

This is where He imparts His very life, that we might

overcome sin. And we have to be alive in the

Spirit in order to overcome sin, because it's the Spirit that

lusts against the flesh and the flesh against the Spirit.

So if we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfil the lusts in the

flesh and we have to receive the Spirit from proximity in the

presence of God. If we receive the Spirit, we're

in the presence of God. We are before the throne as as

Fiona was reading out this morning, it's where we've been

brought to. It's just not information.

When we begin to see that by the Spirit full wonderful stuff, we

need to be in that place as a church.

We need to be seeking this place, giving preference to this

place, that there's so much more that God wants to do in and

through us. But it has to be sought, you

know, you have to have a passion, you know.

I mean, don't you want more? Isn't there more that you want

as a Christian? Or is this it?

You're quite happy with this? I'm sure nobody is, you know.

And The thing is, when we begin to advance in this, there will

be war, there will be warfare, there will be.

But this is knowing, you know, the weapons of our warfare in

Christ, that we are fully clothed in His armour, Man, we

just need to meditate on that, that we are in Him, we are

perfect in him, not in practice, but God sees us completely

perfect in him. And it comes out from God's

persuasion where faith grows, not our intellectual

apprehension. And the only way that we begin

to see it in a greater way is by coming into proximity.

I find that when I'm praying, it's after, sometimes after

about an hour when I've gotten past myself, that I begin to

experience some of God's grace. And then I want to go further

and further. But I'm, you know, I'm

confronted with myself. But I find the more that I'm

there, the more access that I have, the more power that he

places on my life. And I want to go further.

I want to break the ceiling and I want to get right past the

veil. And it's through faith.

It's through the fight, the good fight of faith.

I think we're starting to run out of time now, but I hope

that's something good for people to meditate on.

You know, we've got so much more that's available to us.

It's in the invisible realm. There's a realm around us.

You know, God's not way off Yonder.

You know, He is all around. He's in our midst.

In fact, He lives inside of you. There's so much more I'd want to

say. We are like we are the Ark of

the covenant. And just as the Ark was clothed

on the outside with gold and on the inside with gold, that's who

we are. That's what God's bringing us

into. But that's how He sees us in

Christ. And that's the work that He's

going to perform and perfect in us that we are complete in

Christ. We're just going through the

journey of it. The more that we believe, the

more it will be revealed and made manifest.

So Amen. Thanks for joining us at Omega.

If you need prayer for healing or breakthrough, or simply to

find out more, please head to our website or Facebook page in

the links below.