Gospel House Ministries

Pastor Dr. Herbert Ward, Sr.: Our sermon title today is "The Cross and the Throne." Hallelujah. The cross and the throne. If you want to see Jesus, you must come to the cross and go to the throne. Hallelujah. That is the way to God: the cross and the throne.

In this life, we must get in agreement with God. If we are to live eternally with Him, we must get in agreement with Him. Two is the number of agreements. Amos 3:3 asks the question, "Can two walk together unless they are agreed?" Everyone that enters the earth should agree with God and walk with God. He made you and formed you in His likeness, did He not? That is two ways, is it not? He made you to be like Him. He made you and formed you. Two ways. In His likeness. He made you in heaven. He made Adam and Eve first. He made them in heaven and He formed them on the earth.

He made you to be like Him. How dare we act up? Some parents would say that child went out there and acted up, but even God expects you to act right if He put you in the world. He expects you to live right, talk right, and not act like people of the world. You are different. You have been set apart. Hallelujah. So He made you and formed you in His likeness. That is two ways. And He created them male and female in two forms of Himself. God is in two forms. There are two sides of God: male and female. Amen, church. Even when you put two electrical wires or two sockets together, there is male and female. Without those two, you will not get any power.

That is a blessing. What a blessing. We all should appreciate Him for what He has done. How do we do that? There are two ways. We must first come to the cross for forgiveness because we all have sinned and come short of His glory, and then go to the throne of His grace, thereby developing a relationship with Him. Amen. You come to the cross to get rid of your old life and you go to the throne to continue in the new life. Glory to God.

It is a two-way street. He first loved us, and in return, we love Him for who He is and for what He has done. Grace woke you up this morning and started you on your way. Grace is a person and His name is Jesus, who is the Christ, the anointed one and His anointing, the Messiah who came to save the world. Where in the world would I be if Jesus had not come to save me? I would be somewhere lost, to and fro, not knowing which way to go because without Him, I can do nothing. You can do nothing. Because He exists, I am in existence.

The cross is the place where we come to receive forgiveness of our sins. Without forgiveness, you cannot approach His throne. The throne is the place where you find out He will never leave you alone nor forsake you. He will always be with you in sickness and in good health because you agree with Him. You believe in Him. Some of you who are not really saved and are trying to find Christ, Jesus is with you all the time. It rains on the just as well as the unjust. He blesses us all. He kept you in good health even when you were not calling on His name. Jesus was keeping you alive. Hallelujah.

You believe in Him, and you too love and cherish Him. You have faith in Him because you take spiritual baths in His word. Amen. Faith comes by hearing and by hearing the word of God. Ephesians 5:25-27 says, "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish."

You are unable to approach His throne filthy and dirty, smothered in the world and not in His word. This scripture has been misquoted for many years where they would say Jesus is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle. No, do not say it like that. We cannot get rid of the spots or wrinkles. It says He is coming for a church that He will present to Himself. In other words, He has to do it. The church cannot clean herself up and just expect to come. No, Jesus has to clean us up. He removes the spots and the wrinkles. Under religious teaching, we were taught that we have to be straight or clean ourselves up. No, Jesus cleans us up. He is not coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle unless He does it. To God be the glory.

Remember Joseph, who was in prison and he was summoned to the king's throne to interpret his dream. Listen to what he did. The butler who was in prison with Joseph remembered him and his ability to interpret dreams and told this to the king. So Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. He knew he could not approach the king's throne dusty, musty, and unshaven. He cleaned himself up, making himself fit to see the king.

I ask you: are you fit to see the King? Unless He cleanses you, you are not. That is why some people of the world request you to pray for them, because they are unable to. They are dirty. They are filthy. For one, they have too many spots of uncleanness on them and they do not know Him. It is hard to speak to someone you do not know. When you do speak to someone you do not know, what is the first word you say to them? I say "excuse me," right? If I do not know a person and I want directions, I say, "Excuse me, sir, can you show me how to..." You call on them according to that. But if you know them, you do not have to say "excuse me." You call on them according to their name.

When you approach somebody, you do not know their name, but how many of you know the name of Jesus? When you call on the name of Jesus, you do not say "excuse me, sir." You say "Heavenly Father." You say "Precious Jesus." You say "Most Holy One." You say "My Healer." You say "Precious Lord, take my hand." You say to Him, "the Most High God." And some of us say "Abba Father," "Father God," all because you know Him and you are familiar with coming to His throne on the regular. The only way Jesus can excuse you and use you is if He has forgiven you. That is done through Him justifying you and then sanctifying you.

To be sanctified is to be set apart from the world. You do not act like the world. You do not do like the world. You do not think like the world. I will give you an illustration. Has anybody ever had some money? You got your check and you took out a certain amount from this check. You set that money apart. This was special money. You had an interest to use this money for something specific. All that other money you do with what you want, but this money is set apart and special. Money is value, and God values you. So this other money you do not touch. You have a goal that you want to reach. It is set apart and special. God did the same thing with you. He set you apart because He values you and He has a goal that He wants you to reach for His glory. When He gets ready to spend you on an occasion to use you, He calls your name because He set you apart for a special service. Hallelujah. Glory to God.

God knows exactly what He is doing. He knows how to set us apart. He knows how to use us for His glory. Amen. Glory to God. That is done through Him justifying you and then sanctifying you. To be sanctified is to be set apart from the world. This is how we start with Jesus, by first going to the cross. That is how you start with Jesus. For those of you who do not know Him as your Lord and Savior, you start first by going to the cross, receiving your justification. Then you can say, "just as if I never sinned." Then He allows you to live through sanctification. It is a part of His grace for you.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 says, "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel." That is when you are disciplined. You need God to help you to be disciplined. You need God to help you to set that money apart and not go touch it when you know there is something you have to do with it. To possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. Joseph knew God and resisted Potiphar's wife, who tried to seduce him into sexual intercourse. He knew his way to the throne. Do you know your way to the throne? It will keep you out of a world of trouble. Open your Bibles to Romans 8:26-39.

And it reads: "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." You could be in pain and you are just moaning, but the Holy Spirit knows what those groans are saying. Hallelujah. "Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Aren't you glad that Jesus makes intercession for you? Aren't you glad that you have pastors that make intercession for you? Aren't you glad that you have members in the church that make intercession for you? You are covered in three ways. Look at that.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." Sin caused us to lose His image. What is the image of Christ? The image of Christ is righteousness. Don't ever forget that. The image of Christ is righteousness. When you see things going on in our country, you know these are unrighteous acts. You know it is not God; it is of the devil. Hallelujah.

"Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." He glorified you with a purpose. Amen, church. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Hallelujah. Look at all those things He did for you: justified you, He predestined your life, He called you, and He glorified you. You cannot lose with the stuff you use. "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

Our problem and most people's problem in the world is that we are too impatient to wait on God. So we go to this bitter world to get it and end up disappointed. We go to this bitter world to get those things, but God gives us those things that we need, not what we want. If God wants to, He will give you some of your heart's desires. He will give you some wants. Yes, He will. He has done it. Have I got a witness?

"Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies." If God has justified you, do not worry about what people are saying. Let them talk. You must be doing something good if they are talking about you, because when you are not doing anything, people do not have anything to say about you. "Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us." Amen. Most people do not believe that. They believe they are by themselves fighting, but God fights for us.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 'For Your sake we are killed all day long.'" Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. "We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors." Hallelujah. "Through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So guess what? We win. You cannot lose with that. We win. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "We win."

Now let us look at those words. Go back to that verse 29 and look at "predestined." Predestined. Somebody may be curious and want to know what that means. I am glad you asked. Predestined means to limit in advance. We came into this world limited, but we are not limited by everything. All of us have limited abilities. Amen. It means to pre-determine. God pre-determined your life and what you shall be. Many people find themselves beat up, knocked up, or in distress because they have not lived out what God pre-determined for their lives. Amen. That is why many people are disgruntled and depressed because they do not know who they are, and they do not know who they are because they have not sought Him who made them who they are.

It means to pre-determine, determine before. Before you were born, it was already determined what you should do and what you should be. Ordained. So predestined means God ordained you. Child of God, God has pre-determined your life before you lived it. He has set you up for greatness beforehand. He has ordained your steps, so do not get out of step with Him. Look at your neighbor and tell them you better keep on stepping with God before you end up stepping in some mess, walking around carrying a foul odor.

The next word is "called." When He called you, He bidden you to come to Him. Some people refuse. Some people have rejected their call. Some people that are in the church have rejected the call of God on their life. "No, I do not think God told me that. That is not what I heard." Okay, you will be alright. Remember Lazarus, who was dead physically. What did Jesus say? "Lazarus, come forth!" He called him by name, or else everyone else would have gotten up out of their grave. You who are dead in trespasses and sin, meaning you are dead spiritually, Jesus is calling you right now. Amen. He is calling your name. Will you come?

The next word is "justified." It means to show or regard as just or innocent, as though you never sinned. So God sees you, when God looks at you, my brother and my sister, He does not see sin on you. You know what He sees? He sees His son, Jesus. You have Jesus, so God has justified you. Amen. Just as if you never sinned. Just or innocent, free. So you are free from sin. Jesus is your justifier. He causes you to be righteous. You do not make yourself righteous; it is impossible. You have a sin nature, and when Jesus comes into your life, He changes that nature. He turned that nature into a nature of righteousness. That is right. He causes you to be righteous, making you in His image.

The next word is "glorified." It means to render or esteem glorious. This is a part of Jesus making you into His likeness. "Glorified" means He makes you full of Him. Do you see that? When the glory of the Lord is on you, that is you being full of Christ. Hello somebody. When you see someone singing gloriously, that is them full of Christ singing. Hallelujah. You cannot do this stuff by yourself. You are not on your own. My anointing is God's anointing on me. Amen. We can claim it as our own, but it is really God's anointing. Hallelujah. I say to all who believe, you have His glory. You have His honor magnified in you. Look at your neighbor and tell them that.

This is more of the reason why you need to come to the throne. But you cannot do that unless you first come to the cross and ask for forgiveness and repentance. God values you, and because He values you, He gives you His value. Without Him, you can do nothing. One of the reasons God hates pride is because your pride can never ever predestine you. Hallelujah. It can never predestine you, call you to the throne, justify you, nor glorify you. It can only stupefy you from the truth. Your pride is wrapped up in you and not in Jesus.

But you must first come to the cross where the blood of Christ was spilled for your redemption. You come to the cross to lay it all down. Lay down your life so you can receive new life. Lay down your wants so that He can give you what you need. Lay down your past so He can give you a bright new future. Lay down your struggles so He can fight for you. The battle is not yours; it is the Lord's. Hallelujah. Lay down your mind and you will find Him. Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, so that you no longer think like the world but think like God. Lay down your personality so that you take on the person of Christ. The person of Christ is love. What the world needs right now is love, sweet love. It is the only thing that there is just too little of. I say to you all strongly: lay down your burdens right at the foot of the cross.

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." If you have not laid these down, you cannot approach His throne. Hello somebody.

Remember when Israel was led from Egypt by Moses to the Promised Land. They came to Sinai where the presence of the Lord was. They were able to come near the mountain, but they were unable to touch it because they did not know God well enough to touch the mountain. They were consecrated to come near to God, but because they were still filled with their past touching that mountain, they were unable to last not even a millisecond. My Lord. So Moses spoke to God for them and God spoke through Moses to them because Moses knew God. Knowing God allows you to approach God. Amen. If you do not know Him, you cannot go to Him. They were still unclean in their minds, defiled by their past in Egypt, a world of sin. So it is with many of you today. You are unable to go to the throne of God because you are in a world of sin. You have not come to the cross and laid it all down. You are defiled by your past. Hallelujah.

Turn to Exodus 19:3-25. Amen. And Moses went up to God. See, coming to God, you are going up higher. I do not care if you are just in your living room; when you come to God, you are going up higher than where you are spiritually. Amen. Don't ever forget that. You are not going down to God; you are coming up to God because He sits high and He looks low. Amen. That is what you are doing spiritually: you are going up to God. And the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob."

It is a blessing to be called by God, church. You should not fear that call. Amen. If He just taps you on the shoulder and gets your attention, and He does whisper in your ear, I am so happy to hear your testimonies that God is talking to you. Amen. That is a blessing that you can come, that you can approach the throne of grace. There are people who cannot do what you can do. You are privileged. You are blessed to be able to come to the throne of grace. Amen. That is right, clap.

"Say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel: 'You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.'" He bore you on eagles' wings. I brought you out to soar. Amen. God wants you to soar. Look at your neighbor and tell them God wants you to soar. If you were down in sin, He lifted you on eagles' wings so that you can soar. Hallelujah. See, when you soar, you want more. Ain't that right, Sister Stephanie? You want to go to school. You want more. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Amen.

"Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant..." Now I want you to know, in the Old Testament, it was predicated on what you did, but in the New Testament, it is predicated on what Jesus did and what He is doing. So they had to do some things. Amen. "If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My commandments, then you shall be a special treasure." God treasures you. You are a treasure in God's sight. And ladies, I know some men have come in your life and called you a treasure, but there is nothing like being a treasure of God. That is right. Hallelujah.

"Then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people." That is a blessing, church. These little things we take for granted, but look how God has placed you above all people. "For all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." That is why you cannot be acting ugly and cussing out people. You are a special treasure. You have to watch your attitude, ain't that right, Sister Kiana? Watch that anger. Hallelujah. You are a priest, a holy nation. "And these are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."

So Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. See, there is an order. When God gives the man-servant something, he goes to the leader first, just like we are going to do tomorrow night. He goes to the leader first and then it goes to the church. Then all the people answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." This was their error, y'all. This is why they received the law. Y'all need to mark that. This is why they received the law. See, they said all we will do. No, you cannot do anything without Jesus. Amen. You cannot do anything without Jesus. Their error was "we will do." How many of you know it is hard to do things without God? Nothing. Hallelujah. Amen.

Israel was in bondage over 400 years. How can they do all when they do not know Him? Do you get it? They do not even know Him yet. You know how they say you do not know me like that? They did not know God like that. "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord, and trust me, this bothered God. He did not like their response. And the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you and believe you forever." So Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes." So that is two days, right? Wash their clothes. Amen. See, He gives us a robe of righteousness, a garment of praise, right? So our clothes are cleansed spiritually. How does our clothes get cleansed spiritually? Amen. This is not talking about physical clothes; this is physical clothes. Our clothes get—we read it earlier—by the cleansing of God's word. That is why you need to read the word of God, people out there in TV and on YouTube and who are on the radio. Hallelujah. God cleanses you through His word. So if you are not reading the word, you have never read the word in your life, you are dirty. Amen. You are not just dirty; you are dirty.

"And let them be ready for the third day." How many of you know He works in threes? So they had two days to get themselves right so they could be ready for the third day. "For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, 'Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base.'" because they did not know God like that. You do not know me like that. Would you want a stranger coming touching you, ladies? No. All right then.

"Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain." So you just cannot come to the throne if you have not been to the cross. This proves it right there. You have to get cleaned up first. You have to come to Jesus and He cleanses you with His blood that was laid down on Calvary's cross. Once you are clean by Jesus, now you can approach Mount Sinai. Now you can approach the throne. So Mount Sinai was their throne back then, physically. Do you get it? Amen.

So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not come near your wife." Do not even want you to have sex. I do not want your mind to be carried away. I want your mind to be stayed on Jesus, stayed on the Lord. And then it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunderings. That is a movement of God. See, I have said this to you before: lightning comes first, not thunder. Lightning moves. That is the God, God's power moving. He is a fire, a consuming fire. Lightning has fire in it. So that is God moving by His power. Amen. And then come thunderings. So here it is, there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. I know I would have.

Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God because they did not know Him. You do not know Him like that if you have never been to the cross. Amen. This is their first time meeting their God. You know He is an awesome God and it does put fear in you to see Him move, to see that thunder and lightning up on that mountain. Amen. Pastor and I went to Spain a couple of years ago and we went to this synagogue. It was high up and I kid you not, the mountain was right here. This was the synagogue here and the mountain was here, and that cloud, that cloud was right—it was like we could reach over and touch the cloud. I said, "Ooh, this must be the presence of God." It just hovers over. It strikes—it really touches you to see that, to be that close to a situation and it is hanging over a mountain. So imagine what they were witnessing. Amen.

Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked greatly. When the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him by voice. Then the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain. And so when you see the mountain, and when you see on the mountain the smoke, that is the presence of God. Amen. When you see the fire, that is the presence of God. When you see a cloud, that is the presence of God. Smoke, fire, and cloud. Hallelujah, three ways. Amen.

The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai on the top of the mountain and the Lord called Moses to the top and Moses went up. The Lord said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to gaze at the Lord and many of them perish. Also let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them." See, they only could come near, but they could not touch that mountain. Yes. But Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us saying, 'Set bounds around the mountain and consecrate it.'" And then the Lord said to him, "Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you." because they knew God. They could touch the mountain. Aren't you glad you can touch that throne? Amen.

"But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest He break out against them." So Moses went down to the people and spoke to them. So you may say, "Pastor, I mean He told Moses to consecrate them. Why could they not touch the mountain?" because God is a pure God and they were not pure altogether. They just came out of bondage, so they were not totally delivered. If they were delivered, they would have made it through the wilderness with ease. But because they were not delivered, they still had a sin conscience. See, now that you are delivered, you do not have a sin conscience no more. You should not feel guilty when you sin. That is right, I said it. Think now, I am going to let you think about that. You should not feel guilty when you sin.

Pastor, explain that to me. Well, you have Jesus Christ. He covers your sin. Amen. See, when you feel guilty, you are acting like you are not justified. When you feel guilty, you are acting like you are convicted. God has not convicted you because He sees the blood of Jesus Christ on you. So you should not be sin conscious anymore. Yes, we sin and fall short of the glory of God, but we have a Saviour now. See, you are sin conscious when you do not have a Saviour. But you have a Saviour so you should not be sin conscious. You should not be beating yourself up side the wall. You should not be getting so upset because you messed up. You have a sin nature, but Jesus has covered you and put Himself in you and that is what justifies you. Amen. Because you have a Saviour. He saved you from sin, didn't He? Yes. So why do you have a sin conscience? Think about it.

If He saved you from it, why do you have a sin conscience? Now, this does not give you a license to sin. "Well, He saved me from it, so it is alright that I sin." Stop lying to yourself, because you sure are not lying to God. Amen, church. You sure are not fooling anybody but yourself. I know that's right. I say to all of you who are listening on YouTube and WMCA: lay it all down. Come to the cross where Jesus hung, bled, and died for your sins, that you might have the right to the tree of life. Without this, you have no right coming to the throne room without first coming to the cross. Yes, yes.

The song says, "At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burdens of my heart rolled away. It was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day." Now if you are happy all the day, you should not be sin conscious. That's right. If you are happy all the day, you should not be sin conscious. That's right. Hallelujah. Because if you are sin conscious, you are not happy. All right. Hello somebody. I like how God backs that up. Yeah. You were blind and could not see. Thank God for His mercy, His grace, and His mercy. Turn to Matthew 10. I like to stay in the Word because the Word explains it better than I can explain it. Hallelujah. Amen. It is His Word, not my word, right? Amen.

Matthew 10:32-39. Amen. It reads: "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven." That is why you should not be sin conscious. You are covered. Jesus confesses you before the Father. You have got it going on. Thank You, Jesus. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "You got it going on." You got it going on. "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. Amen. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." Amen. You take off that 'S' and what you got? The Word. Amen. So the Word is your sword. Amen. You use that to fight. You use the Word of God to chop up people that try to mess with you. Hallelujah. Little Neema had sense enough to do that to her so somebody else would bother her in school. That's right. Amen.

"For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s enemies will be those of his own household." All right. Now you all, most of us in this room can say we do not have that problem, but some of us do. Amen. Most of us in here can say there is peace in our house. Amen. Hallelujah. But there was a time that you did not have that peace in the house. Wow. Look where God has brought you from. A mighty long way. Amen. Thank You, Lord. Hallelujah.

"Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation." He said, "Now what you do is you look to the Lord." And see, when you look to the God of your salvation, that is when you come to the throne. That is good. That is when you can talk to God when trouble is ceasing all around you and your own people, the nation around you, is all corrupt. Things are just terrible. That is when you can go to the throne. That is when you should go to the throne. Thank You, Lord. Amen. I'm going to read that again: "Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. Amen. My God will hear me." That is the only place you could go to, to go to the throne so He can hear you. Amen.

"Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise." That is what you have got to say. "Yeah, I may be down now, but I am going to get up because God is with me." Amen. Sometimes you do not fall because you did something; you fall because somebody laid a trap and you did not see it. That's why you have got to keep your eyes on the Lord. He will show you the trap so you do not fall in the traps. Yes, amen.

"When I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me." Yes. At the cross is where I first saw the light, right? Yes, yes. "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light." Amen. That is at the cross. "I will see His righteousness. And then she who is my enemy..." talking about Israel, talking about Israel. "Then she who is my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, 'Where is the Lord your God?'" See, he is trying to get fruit, but they are saying, "Where is the Lord your God?" He is trying to talk to his people Israel, and they are saying to him, "Where is the Lord your God?" My eyes will see her; now she will be trampled down like mud in the streets. Israel was trampled down like mud in the streets. He is prophesying, y'all. Yes. He sees what is going to happen, and we see what is going to happen with this nation if it does not turn to God. Amen. When the blind lead the blind, they all fall what? In the ditch. And we know in the ditch there is what? Mud.

In the day when your walls are to be built, in that day the decree shall go far and wide. In that day they shall come to you. Amen. From Assyria and the fortified cities. These are they who are not free, who are captives of sin. Amen, these are they. That is what he is talking about. They are going to come to you, and we said people are going to come running here, did we not? Yes. Amen. From fortress to river, from sea to sea, from mountain to mountain. That is about to happen in these next ten years or so. We are going to see that happen so much. Yet the land shall be desolate—desolate of what? Righteousness. You get it? Because of those who dwell in it and for the fruit of their deeds. Is that not right now?

So he is saying, "Look, shepherd Your people with Your staff." Yes. And that is what we do with you. "The flock of Your heritage, who dwell solitarily in the woodlands." And see, that is what Satan wants us. See, shepherd your flock. There are some who are listening, but the others are not listening. Amen. And so the church is in solitary now. Amen. Because the world does not trust the church. The church has fumbled the ball too many times and cannot make a field goal this time. Cannot make a touchdown, let alone a field goal. Praise the Lord.

"In the midst of Carmel, let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old. As in the days when you came up out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders." No matter what it looks like, if you are on the Lord's side, He will show you wonders. And He is going to show them wonders too. They are going to witness it, but when He does show it to them, they better hope they are on the Lord's side. Amen.

The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might. The strength that they think they have, they are going to be ashamed. "We thought we were doing something." You are not doing anything. Your might is not stronger than God's might. And they shall put their hand over their mouth. People are silent when they need to speak out. And their ears shall be deaf. Cannot hear the truth to save their life. They shall lick the dust like a serpent because that is how low they have become. Do you get it? Yes. They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. These who are doing these unrighteous deeds, I do not care if they are in the White House, I do not care if they are in the judge's house, thus saith the Lord.

"They shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of You." talking about God. "Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgressions of the remnant of His heritage?" Passing over. See that? He passes over your sin. Thank You, Lord. Amen, church. Hallelujah, go right there. Hallelujah. He does not see your sins. He sees His Son. Thank You, Lord. Hallelujah. He does not retain His anger forever. Thank God, thank God, thank God. How many of you know trouble does not last always? Right.

But because He delights in mercy, He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Aren't you glad? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham. Amen. So that's the Israel, Jacob, and Abraham is all those descendants that were not of Israel, the Gentiles. And which You have sworn to our fathers from days of old. See, there's nothing new under the sun, church. God is an awesome God. He is a mighty God. Amen.

Micah's name means "who is like the Lord." The same thing we face now was the same thing they faced then. Those who led the people were against the people and they did evil against the people. So Micah turns to God and prophesied. He said, "Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me" why? Because I have access to the throne. Hallelujah. I say to all of you: wait on the Lord. Just like Micah had faith in God, you too must have faith in God. He said God will be a light to me. He will bring me forth to the light. I will see His righteousness.

All of you who are really listening and you know you are not right with God, if there ever was a time to get right with God, now is the time to go to the cross so you can come before His throne and cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you. Amen. The world is not going to get better, but God can make your world better if you trust Him. Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. In other words, it is available to you right now. Right now.

When you do repent, just like Micah, you can prophesy. Amen, Brother Darion. And speak against those things that are against you. The power of life and death are in the tongue. Hallelujah. Remember you were created in the image and likeness of God. Remember that. Don't ever forget that. Yes. That should empower you to trust God. Amen. What's the old saying? Leaf doesn't fall too far from the tree. That's right.

Like God said, "Let there be light" when there was darkness, you too can speak against the darkness that surrounds you and say, "Let there be light" because you have access to the throne. It is a great power to have, church. Exercise your faith and light up your space. Thank You, Lord.

Colossians 1:19-20 says, "For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell." Amen. In Christ you have God and the Holy Spirit. You have all three. "And by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of the cross." So you have been to the cross. You have been washed in the blood. You are alright whether you know it or not. Stop letting Satan lie to you. Yes, that's right. Amen. Stop letting him lie to you, making you feel all funny and wheezy and all that.

"And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight." That is a blessing. "If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast..." You have got to be steadfast and unmovable. Yes, amen. "Grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister."

My brother and my sister, if you have been reconciled to Christ through the cross, and if indeed you continue in faith, you can come boldly to the throne of grace, no ifs, ands, or buts. Amen. Through this, you develop a relationship with Christ that can't be shattered or changed because you now lift up His name. You now have humbled yourself before God and are set free from the sin and shame. There is no more blame and you are no longer playing games. Anybody playing games in here? No. It is on, it is real, and now you have the zeal to do His will. Thank God.

Jesus, our wonderful Savior, has made a way for you and I to live by. We come to the cross where we first saw the light, where He gave His life, hung, bled, and died that we might attain eternal life. He was our propitiation; He was our substitute. He who knew no sin became sin that we might attain eternal life. This should give you—this should give you strength. This should give you peace. This should give you joy to know these things. You have this great access to the throne of God. You're a wonder now. People look at you and say, "You really changed, girl. You really changed, man." Yeah, you changed because who changed you? You did not change yourself. Jesus changed you. Right. and you always give Him the glory, give Him the credit. He will not share His glory with another.

He got on that cross for all who were lost. We go to the cross to receive salvation; we go to the throne to maintain our salvation. We go to the cross because we need a Savior; we go to the throne to get help from the Savior. We go to the cross to repent; we go to the throne to be content through our Savior. We go to the cross to be in Christ; we go to the throne because we know who we are in Jesus the Christ. Satan never wants you to know who you are in Christ. Right.

We go to the cross to obtain access to heaven; we go to the throne because we have access to heaven. We who are saved have the right to the tree of life, to bow before His throne and inquire of Him. We come boldly to the throne of grace. We shall not be judged for our sins, but for our what? Works. Psalm 9:7 says, "But the Lord shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment." We go to the throne of God. Turn to Psalms. Psalms 89. I mean, why do we go to the throne of God? Why do we go? So we are going to find out right now. Good news, good news. Look at your neighbor and say, "Good news." Good news, good news. Amen.

89:14. Amen, amen. Amen. Amen. And it reads: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne." Cracks me up when I hear on the news the Justice Department. No, it is not the Justice Department; it is the Unjustice Department. That's right. No such thing as a Justice Department with what you all put down. That's what it is. No way it is justice there. They need to stop calling themselves justice. Only God is justice. Amen.

"Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face. Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound." So why do we go to the throne? Because we're blessed and we know the way. Amen. "They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance." That's why we go to the throne. We are not walking in darkness. "In Your name they rejoice all day long..." That means your joy should never be lost. You should keep your joy. Amen. "And in Your righteousness they are exalted. For You are the glory of their strength. Hallelujah. And in Your favor our horn is exalted. For our shield belongs to the Lord, and our king to the Holy One of Israel. Amen.

Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one and said: "I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. Amen. I have found My servant David." I went too far; yes, I did. Amen. We go to the throne of grace seeking His face, to receive counsel, to witness the wonders of God for our lives, things that only God can do for us, and of course to receive His power. He is God Almighty. Amen. And to be given His peace which surpasses all understanding. Turn to Isaiah 9. Won't be long now. Isaiah 9, beginning at the sixth verse.

Amen. It reads: "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given." There's two aspects. A child is born; the child is of Mary. Amen. And unto us a Son is given; the Son is of God. He is fully—not part—He is fully God and He is fully man. Amen. "And the government will be upon His shoulders." We stand on His shoulders. You are in the government of God. "And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace..." Do you see that? Yes. You have access to this Prince, to the King of Kings. Thank You, Lord.

God's throne is established in truth, judging us to find justice and righteousness in us. The unrighteous shall not see God until they come to the cross for forgiveness. And when Jesus returns, He will sit on His throne, and those who belong to Him will be separated from those who do not belong to Him. Turn to Matthew. Matthew 25. Matthew 25, beginning at the thirty-first verse. Amen.

And it reads: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'"

Amen. Why? Because you had the oil in your lamp. Thank You, Lord. Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick or in prison, and come to You?" And the King will answer and say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me." Amen. We need to make room for God. You need to make room for God, for Me, He's saying.

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand..." and the left hand is the wrong side. "Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food..." Selfish. "I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink..." Selfish. "I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me." Then they all will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?" And then He will answer them, saying, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me." And that's why this country is in hellfire, in trouble. Amen. Amen. "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Hallelujah. Aren't you glad you're on the winning side? Hallelujah. Amen. You're on the winning side. Thank You, Lord. When you don't take up your cross and bear it, it's because you refuse to come to the cross of Jesus for repentance. You are lost and tossed to and fro, not knowing which way to go, with every wind and doctrine full of confusion, living in an illusion. But if you've taken up your cross and bear it, you won't be lost. You've accepted Jesus who has paid the cost for your salvation. You saw the hungry and you fed them. You saw the naked and you clothed them. You visited the sick and those in prison. In other words, you have proven yourself to have compassion like Christ. Yes, yes.

We come to the throne of grace with full access. And right now, it can't be seen with the naked eye. But when we cry out to Him for mercy and grace, we see it by faith. Amen, have I got a witness? Amen. His presence is ever with us wherever we go. That is a blessing and an assurance that Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! We get a foretaste of it before He returns. We know in hell we will not burn. The cross is where we come to the crossroads of our life and our life is forever changed. And the throne is where we find that we are never alone. Jesus leads us on until we find our way home. Thank You, Lord. All right. Amen.

I do not know about you, glory, but this is not my home. I am just a sojourner traveling through here. Jesus promised never to leave me, no, never to leave me alone. He said, "In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know." Anybody know the way? Hallelujah. God said to tell you you know because you have come to My throne over and over again.

Church, this is a key to life. Have I got a witness? Hallelujah. Have I got a witness? Hallelujah. Remember, you are not in agreement with God until you do these two things: come to the cross. Amen. Come to the cross and go to the throne of His grace. Once you do that, you can walk with Him all the way to heaven. Amen, amen, and amen. Your cross and the throne. Hallelujah. To God be the glory. Amen.

Everyone is standing. Amen. Wonderful words of life. I just want to pray with you all briefly. We are going to have our communion and then we shall be dismissed. Yes, Lord. Thank You, Lord. Amen. Thank God for all coming here faithfully. Amen. Thank You, Lord.

Father God, precious Jesus, You are just, You are holy, You are right. You are our justice. You are our right hand. Thank You, Lord. You are the God of our help. You are our healer. You make a way out of no way. We trust in You. Yes, Lord. So right now, Father, I trust in You concerning this ministry. I trust in You that You would touch anyone who came here with a dilemma, anyone who came here with a body ache, anyone who came here with a financial problem. Whatever problem they came in here with, I touch and agree with heaven right now that You would touch them.

Touch them in these places, Father God. Heal them from anything that may be broken, that may be tattered, that may be torn. Bless them, bless their homes, bless their families, those who are listening to us on YouTube and those who are listening by WMCA. Touch their lives, Father God. Lift their burden, Father God. Help them to see You. Those who have never come to the cross, I pray through this word that people will begin to come to the cross and call on that great name that is above every name. Hallelujah.

Hallelujah. So that they may have access to Your throne. Continue to bless us, O Lord, as we seek Your face and help us to never leave Your presence, but help us to stay in Your presence. Teach us the way, O Lord. Some things we may not know, some things we may not understand, but Father God, we know You will help us to understand it by and by. We will just be steadfast and unmovable and always abounding in Your word. Your word is all that we need, Father God. We need nothing else. We just need Your word, and Your word provides.

Your word does not hide anything. Your word is full of revelation. Your word has taken us this far and we know You will take us further. So I pray for each and every individual listening to me right now, whether on YouTube or on WMCA or standing before me now, that You touch them, that You heal them, that You give them that peace that surpasses all understanding and that they would be lifted up in Your glory. You predestined us. Hallelujah, because You foreknew us, You predestined us, and You justified us. Amen.

Because You called us, You called us into this marvelous light and we can see clearly now that the rain is gone. We have no reason to go back, Father God. We are pushing ahead. We just want to go forward. So we praise You, I praise You and thank You for this word. I pray that this word has been a blessing to Your people, that it will empower them further and it will give them a greater confidence that You love them, that they are not to be sin conscious. Yes.

But they need to have the consciousness that You live and that You have saved them, and You have washed all of their sins away. You have cast them in a sea of forgetfulness. So I praise You, Father. Thank You for using me and thank You for touching the hearts of these Your people. Hallelujah. This word I do pray in the precious mighty name of Jesus. Amen, amen, and amen. Hallelujah. Amen.

Come on, let us praise God for the word. Hallelujah. Thank You, God. Thank You, Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank You, my God. Hallelujah. Thank You. Thank You for Your Word, Lord. Hallelujah. Thank You. The cross and the throne. Amen. How many of you know that you cannot get to the throne if you don't first go to the cross? That's right. Look at somebody and tell them, "Thank God I have been to the cross." Hallelujah. Now I'm bold to come to the throne. Amen. The man of God really brought that forth. He gave us something to think about.

That the cross is where we get rid of the old life and the throne is where we get to continue the new life. And God tells us to come boldly to the throne of grace whereby we might obtain mercy and help in time of trouble. Amen. I praise God for the word. He talked about how the cross is where you get to lay down your life. It is where you get to lay down the past, the struggles, your wants, your mind, your personality, your burdens. And when you are able to do that, then you are able to approach His throne. Amen.

To God be the glory. If you have been reconciled to Christ through the cross and you continue in the faith, then you can boldly come to the throne of grace. Amen. He said when we come to the crossroads of life and our lives—this is where at the cross is where our lives are changed forever. Has anybody's life been changed forever? Amen. And it is at the throne where we find that we are never alone. We are never alone. Isn't that beautiful?

And He said to us that we are not in agreement with God until we come to the cross and to the throne. You have got to come to both of those. Look at somebody and tell them again, "You got to come to the cross and you got to come to the throne." Amen. Let us thank God again for the word of God. Hallelujah. Thank You, Jesus. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord God. Hallelujah. To God be the glory. Amen.