The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Friend, put him on the throne. Put Jesus on the throne of your heart, on the throne of your life, on the throne of your home, on the throne of your career, on the throne of your thinking pattern.

Pastor Jack Morris: Welcome once again to the Healing Word. We're glad you're with us today. Have you ever wondered what awaits you when you come before God in prayer? Many picture a throne of judgment, yet the Bible reveals something altogether different, a throne of grace. Today, Pastor Jack Morris invites us beyond the veil to discover the mercy, forgiveness, and strength God freely offers to His children. Here's today's message: The Throne of Grace.

Pastor Jack Morris: Last week's sermon title was How to Approach God. Today, the sermon title, The Throne of Grace. We are coming into the presence of God with heartfelt request and desires and needs, knowing that He is our God to hear us, to answer us, to bless us, to help us.

Pastor Jack Morris: One of the great desires that the disciples had, they took to Jesus requesting, "Lord, teach us how to pray." That's my great desire, to learn how to pray. For all of us to learn how to pray, to come into the presence of God. As a child of God, we have special privileges, and one of those special privileges is prayer.

Pastor Jack Morris: The scripture tells us, "Let us then come to the throne of grace with confidence." God wants to answer our prayers and He invites us to come to the throne of grace. Let us, who are Christians, who are saved, who have been born again, let us come. We're called to come. God has something there to give to us. And when we come to His throne, we will not be disappointed.

Pastor Jack Morris: Last week I talked about the curtain. Remember the large curtain in the temple, that only the priest, one time a year, could go behind that veil. Now, this was the holiest place of all. This was the Holy of Holies. The priest had to go through certain cleansings of his self, of himself, of his body in preparation to go behind that temple, that, in that temple, behind that veil, that curtain.

Pastor Jack Morris: And then only once a year, he was the representative of the people. But when Jesus died, the veil was rent in twain, it opened up that everyone could see behind and view the mercy seat. The mercy seat that only the priests could see, now you and I can see it. We can go there and experience God's very presence. What a privilege that we have to do that.

Pastor Jack Morris: Today, we're going to go behind that veil. We are invited to go behind the veil. We are going to go behind the veil and we're going to see what, what we've never seen before. And we're going to experience what we've never experienced before. Only the priest could see it, only he could experience it. But today, you and I, redeemed with the blood of Jesus, we are called to go behind the veil.

Pastor Jack Morris: When Jesus gave up His spirit, commanded His spirit to go back to the Father, calling out, "It is finished!" The hand of God came down, making the way open. The veil was rent in twain. There is entrance today. You and I can come with our needs and our request and experience the very presence of the Lord Himself, and answered prayer.

Pastor Jack Morris: What a privilege. What a blessed experience. I'm so encouraged with what I'm going to tell you today, and I want you to be encouraged also, because this can be a great change. Today, you can begin to live with confidence, not insecurities, not fears, not doubts, not sorrows. Jesus comes to chase those fears, doubts, sorrows away. By grace. Today, you can come with confidence, with boldness and live in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor Jack Morris: In your outline, look at your outline, in your bulletin, under point A, write down the word, throne. The throne. Now, at first thought, when we hear the word throne or read the word throne, we might hesitate, be a little intimidated by throne. Particularly here in America, we don't talk about thrones, we don't have thrones. We have an Oval Office, but we don't have a throne. We don't have a king.

Pastor Jack Morris: So when we, when we hear the word throne, we become a little hesitant, maybe a little intimidated, because that's a new word and maybe something that we have not experienced. When we think of throne, we think of majesty, power, authority, honor. These are some of the things that we think of. But God sits upon a throne, and the throne He sits upon is called the Throne of Grace. Say those words, Throne of Grace.

Congregation: Throne of Grace.

Pastor Jack Morris: Throne of Grace. Keep that in mind. Throne of Grace. Not only keep it in mind this morning, but every time you pray, you go to a throne, not just a throne, but a throne of grace. When we come to the Throne of Grace, that place where the angels in heaven with veiled faces bow in humility, in praise, and in worship.

Pastor Jack Morris: Prayer is a holy and a sacred thing, and you and I are invited into that holy and sacred place to experience the power and presence of Him, who is the monarch, the Almighty Creator. He bids us come, and then when we come, He bids us call Him, Father. We think of a throne, high and lifted up, power, authority, majesty, monarch, almightiness. And then He says, "Call me, Father."

Pastor Jack Morris: It's almost paradoxical. We have the feeling of holiness and awe, and yet He brings us right down to the level of comfortableness, intimacy, and relationship by telling us, "You are my child. You have a right to be here. I'm your Father. Come on in." This is what He is telling us to do.

Pastor Jack Morris: Now, under number one, I don't know whether I numbered them in your outline or not, but the first word there is reverence. We come to the throne with reverence. Reverence simply means coming with Jesus Christ in our hearts, knowing that Jesus is in our hearts. Being very much aware that Jesus is in our hearts. That's, that's the very first thing. That's the entrance into the temple. That, that great curtain was symbolic of His flesh, of His body.

Pastor Jack Morris: But so now I come with reverence, knowing that His body was rent, His body was torn, just as that veil was rent, and the veil was torn, so was His body, but it was for me. That's what I have to keep in mind. It's for me, and for everybody who will belong upon Him, believe upon Him. It's for me. I am now a member of the privileged cast.

Pastor Jack Morris: You and I who know Him as Savior and Lord, we are privileged. We are numbered among the privileged. Now anyone can be numbered among the privileged, but those who know Jesus as Savior and Lord, have accepted Him as Savior and Lord, have had their sins forgiven, you are a very privileged person. You're invited to come in. And we come in with reverence, knowing and thanking Him for the blood that has cleansed us.

Pastor Jack Morris: Now when you come into the presence of the Lord, some way, somehow, it should be certainly in your thoughts, and expressed somehow upon your lips, your salvation experience. I don't know how you will say those words, or, or, or make yourself aware of who you are in Christ, but somehow you, you need to say something like, "Lord, thank you for saving me. Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for me. Thank you, Lord, for the blood that has cleansed me."

Pastor Jack Morris: Somehow you must be aware that you have been changed, wonderfully changed. Now that's the first way to come in. That's the only way to come in. The priest, one time a year, had to come with blood. You and I come remembering the blood of Jesus, that it has been applied. So, when you come in, in the first few moments, the first few sentences expressions, somehow you must give thanks, remembering that you've been washed in the blood. That means now you're coming with blood, the blood of Jesus. You're coming remembering who you are. That's reverence.

Pastor Jack Morris: You understand, that's your first approach to the Throne of Grace. That's how you must come, with Jesus Christ in your heart, upon your lips, with great thanksgiving. That's the second word. You see the second word? You're thankful. You come knowing that here behind the veil, God dispenses great favors. And He's going to dispense a great favor to you, when you pray.

Pastor Jack Morris: It's the Throne of Grace. Say that again, "It's the Throne of Grace."

Congregation: It's the Throne of Grace.

Pastor Jack Morris: It's the Throne of Grace. It's not a throne of judgment. It's not a throne of condemnation. It's not a throne where laws are enforced. You must keep in mind grace. It's the Throne of Grace where favors are dispensed. You're not going to come before the throne and God's going to hand down a condemnation, rebuke you, make you feel sad, embarrass you, condemn you. No!

Pastor Jack Morris: It's the Throne of Grace where great favors are dispensed. So you come before that throne, and God's going to dispense a great favor. But come with thanksgiving. Thanking Him that He saved you. Thanking Him that even now, when you sin, you can confess that sin and He will forgive you of that sin. Not, not just say something to embarrass you, make you feel bad, cause you to come away feeling embarrassed. Not at all.

Pastor Jack Morris: You will come away from His presence forgiven. If you have sorrow, come to Him. If sorrow hangs heavily upon you, come to Him. Thank Him. He will forgive you. He will cleanse you. He will take away your guilt. He'll remove your sorrow. This is what happens at the Throne of Grace. It is a Throne of Grace.

Pastor Jack Morris: Now, I'm going to skip over the next one. What's the next one on your outline?

Congregation: Submission.

Pastor Jack Morris: Submission. Now that's exactly the way I asked my secretary to put it in the outline. She didn't make the mistake. I made the mistake. Submission should be the last one. So let's go right on to the next one. What's the next one?

Congregation: Great Expectations.

Pastor Jack Morris: Great expectations. So now you have recognized yourself as a, as a newborn person, as a one redeemed by the blood of Jesus, that's reverence. You have come giving thanks to the Lord for what He has done for you. You're expressing thanks with your heart and with your lips. And you also come with great expectations that one of these favors are going to be dispensed from the Throne of Grace to you. That God's going to give you something beautiful and wonderful in answer to your prayers. Great expectations.

Pastor Jack Morris: Say that, great expectations.

Congregation: Great expectations.

Pastor Jack Morris: Great expectations. Don't come before the Lord and say, "Now, Lord, I know you're busy. I know you've got a lot to do. I know a lot of people are making a lot of requests. I know your, the treasure chest of heaven is just about emptied out, but if you've got just a tiny little blessing there for me." No, don't come that way. No, come with a, with a, with a large request. Come with a God-sized request.

Pastor Jack Morris: You know, when we come with our puny little request, you know what we're doing? We're really embarrassing God. God says, "I'm bigger than that. I'm your Father." He has all things. And when He grants you a blessing, an answer to your prayer, He's not the poorer for it. It's like when Jesus broke the loaves and the fishes. He broke the loaves and the fishes, and the more He gave, the more He had.

Pastor Jack Morris: And so that's how God wants to do it in heaven. He just wants to give to everybody in this church and everybody in every other church. He just wants to keep giving blessings and giving blessings and giving blessings, and heaven is no poorer for the giving of blessings. Ask largely. Come with great expectations. Come before God with a God-sized request.

Pastor Jack Morris: Isn't that right? Amen. Let me tell you what happened. We had 43 acres there that we were going to look to, hope to get. Well, in the beginning, I had no idea that we'd ever get the 43 acres. You notice now the parking lot is going in, the road's going in, the entrance is going in. In the fullness of time, all good things happen, don't they? We waited a long time for this to happen. It's happening now.

Pastor Jack Morris: But I remember getting on the phone, calling people, and and asking them, "Do you think we could get two acres, maybe even five acres? I know our church is growing, our parking lot is expanding. We need some more room." And they said, "Pastor Morris, I think, I think that can be arranged. I think we're going to be able to, to break off maybe two to five acres to give you some more parking." I thought, "What a blessing. What a blessing!" All the while God was saying, "Ask for the whole thing!"

Pastor Jack Morris: Ask for all of it! And I thought, "Well, Lord, you know, our church is small, and we're not that big. And there are churches in the area that have a whole lot more money and..." God says, "I've got all the money in the world!" Yeah. I have all the resources that are needed. Ask largely.

Pastor Jack Morris: And so then I thought, well, why not? You know, here I go. And I said, "Lord, we want the whole farm! The whole thing!" And look, we've got the whole thing! I mean, we come acting like, like God is just on the borderline of bankruptcy. That he... God's not broke, God's not cheap. God has it all.

Pastor Jack Morris: Then people say, "Well, Pastor, you need to give some more consideration to this. Do you want to put the church in debt?" And I'll tell you, that good, intelligent, logical wisdom will put a stopper on the movement of God every time. It sounds good. It's logical, but it's not spiritual. Let me tell you again, it's logical, it's good reasoning. Say it, "But it's not spiritual."

Congregation: But it's not spiritual.

Pastor Jack Morris: It's not spiritual. We serve the God of the Mercy Seat. We serve the God of the New Testament, the God of Almighty Power. Why, listen, why in the world would He say, "If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and it shall move," if He didn't expect somebody to do it? And we keep talking Him out of it. We keep talking ourself out of it.

Pastor Jack Morris: I'll tell you, you can put God in this little pocket up here. We make Him so small and so insignificant. But friends, listen to me today, you have needs, you have problems. You have sins that need to be confessed. So do I. All of us do. We can go to God today and ask Him, and asking Him in faith, and ask largely with great expectations. Say it again, great expectations.

Congregation: Great expectations.

Pastor Jack Morris: Great expectations. God won't turn you down. Don't embarrass Him, He won't embarrass you. God is a God of, of greatness and almightiness. Number four, what's number four? The, the next to the last one.

Congregation: Unstaggering Confidence.

Pastor Jack Morris: Unstaggering confidence. Look at, open your Bible to Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16. Let's hold it up and read it. Let's hold it up and read it. Come on, all together. This is our scripture for this month. Come on. Together, "Let us then approach the Throne of Grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Confidence, great expectations, unstaggering confidence. This is how we're to come before the Lord.

Pastor Jack Morris: Our Father God has everything that you need today. Whatever your need is, He has the ability, the power, and the grace, and He wants to begin to dispense it today. He wants to dispense blessings to you today. Now, the last one now I've moved it and making it last is the word submission.

Pastor Jack Morris: When I come before the Lord in prayer, I am to submit to Him. Every request that I have, I'm to lay it on the mercy seat. When I'm to go behind the veil, I'm to lay it there and leave it there on the mercy seat, submission. Now here's something that Christians have a, have, have a difficult time doing. We, we have a difficult time submitting. We really do. We want to be our own man and our own woman.

Pastor Jack Morris: We want to be in charge. And God is saying that He wants us to put Him in charge, and when we put Him in charge, that's when the mountain moves and the miracles begin to happen. The greatest prayer that I can pray or you can pray, after we have presented it all to the Lord, after we have put everything before Him, we've come reverently, we've come thankfully, we've come with great expectations, we've come with confidence. Now, lastly, say to the Lord, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." Say that phrase with me.

Congregation: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.

Pastor Jack Morris: Now, that is the last part of the prayer. Now, that's exactly how Jesus prayed in the garden. He said, "Father, if it's possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be done." God always has a greater vision than any of us, a greater plan, and He has the power to back it up. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done."

Pastor Jack Morris: That, that simply means that when I come to the Lord and I present my request to the Lord, I, I should be humble enough and submissive enough to say, "Lord, if I have requested anything that is contrary to your will, please, please be kind enough to deny me." With me? Okay. If I have prayed anything contrary to your will, if I've asked anything that is not your perfect will for me, if I have done that, "Please, Father, be kind enough to deny me."

Pastor Jack Morris: I'll tell you, He will straighten out the crooked ways, the bends and the valleys. He'll lift the valleys and make the bends straight. Your prayers will be prayers of power. You will get answers that are great blessings and great favor. God won't give you anything that will hurt you. You pray a submissive prayer like that, blessings will come, blessings will flow. You will get heaven's very best. Can you say praise the Lord?

Congregation: Praise the Lord.

Pastor Jack Morris: Now, this is how you and I should pray. Now, under point B, write down Throne of Grace. Write down the word grace.

Pastor Jack Morris: When the word throne is before us, "Let us there, let us then approach the throne." It doesn't stop there, but it says, "the Throne of Grace." Throne somehow, almost brings a coldness. You know, to the, the, official law that is handed down authoritatively. But then comes the word grace which softens it all up. You, you come to a, a place of comfortableness.

Pastor Jack Morris: Now, the word of grace, the word grace may be a soft word, but it's not a, a weak word. It is the Throne of Grace that you come to. Now, look under Throne of Grace, the very first thing that we see is incorrectly worded prayers. Do you see that? Incorrectly worded prayers. That simply means, it's a Throne of Grace. That you don't have to come with your prayers all worked out so correctly.

Pastor Jack Morris: You know, every word spelled right, grammatically correct, every comma in place. You know, it doesn't have to be like that, because it's, it's a Throne of Grace. Remember grace. It's a Throne of comfortableness. God is there not to hear the words that we speak necessarily, but to see the meaning that we have in our hearts. God is there to interpret our groans.

Pastor Jack Morris: We may get it all mixed up. And our grammar might not be correct, and our words may not be pronounced correctly. But that's not what the Lord is looking at. Listen, friend, listen to me. God is never going to take it, take your prayer and say, "Here, proof those words." Now, I do that when the bulletin comes out. I'll say, "You know, I want that proofed." My congregation's going to read that Sunday morning, and I want them to know that I'm good at grammar. You make me look good, even though I make mistakes, you put it through the spell check.

Pastor Jack Morris: God will never do that. You don't need to hesitate, be backward, be timid. You come with confidence to the Throne of Grace. God is there to help you. Come with your faults. You don't have to be feeling that you're perfect, that everything has to be okay. You have to have every thought and action and behavior corrected. You come, even if you're feeling guilty, you come to the Throne of Grace.

Pastor Jack Morris: Listen, if we all had to be perfect before we came to the Throne of Grace, then all of us would be shut out. We'd never get there. But when it says Throne of Grace, the word grace means, "Come on! Let us come with all of our faults. Let us come to the Throne of Grace. And let us come bringing nothing." This is not a throne that I have to take a gift to the throne, not at all. All I need to do is come reverently with the blood of Jesus, knowing that my heart has been cleansed in His blood.

Pastor Jack Morris: That I am now a new person. Old things have passed away and all things have been made new. I only need to come knowing what He has done, coming reverently to the Throne of Grace. I don't need to bring anything to the Throne of Grace. The Throne of Grace, the Throne of Grace, the Throne of Grace is not a place where things are given to it, it's a place where it gives things to the person who comes.

Pastor Jack Morris: We come to the Throne of Grace. The scripture says in Isaiah chapter 55 verse 1, "Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." You don't have to come with something in your hand. All you need to come reverently with Jesus in your heart. That's how you come into the presence of God, with Jesus in your heart. Wine and milk means an abundant supply. Milk means great nourishment. Wine means happiness, exhilaration.

Pastor Jack Morris: Everything that you and I need is at the Throne of Grace. Are you depressed? Are you sad? Do you have fears? Are there insecurities? Come, there's milk to nourish you, to strengthen you, to make you feel strong. There's wine to make you happy, exhilarate you, to lift you up. Everything you need is at the Throne of Grace. But come reverently with Jesus. Somehow you need to know you're saved, you're a child of God, and God wants you to call Him Father. That's what He wants you to do. Call Him Father.

Pastor Jack Morris: Now, under point C in your outline, look at point C. Write down grace upon the throne. Not only is it the Throne of Grace, the one who sits upon the throne is the personification of grace. Jesus Christ is grace incarnated. Grace sits upon the throne. The Savior of grace came. Jesus came filled with truth and grace. He came into the world of sin, a world of lossness, a world of brokenness. This was the world He came to.

Pastor Jack Morris: In this world, every person He looked upon was a sinner, for we've all sinned. He came to look upon sin, to confront sin, to deliver us from the sin that's in our, our hearts. Not to condemn us, not to say, "You sinner, you're going to hell." No, He's never going to do that. Came not to condemn the world, but to save the world. "Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more." These are the words of grace. Grace sits upon the throne.

Pastor Jack Morris: But when He came to do battle with sin, you see, you and I cannot do battle with sin. Do you hear me? We can't do battle with sin. Sin will win every time and you and I will succumb every time, because you and I do not have the strength to resist sin or the temptation. That's why we were talking about the men's fellowship, so that the men would come and the women, you have your own fellowship meetings too.

Pastor Jack Morris: We're going to talk about things that perhaps we can't even talk about here in the church, in the sanctuary with, with children and with television. We're going to talk about things that destroy your happiness, destroy your home, destroy your marriage, and are making you feel almost destroyed spiritually. These are the things we're going to talk about. If there's ever been a church that deals with truth and reality, and there are many of them, I know, but I know there's one, I know of one, the Larger Community Church.

Pastor Jack Morris: Can you say praise the Lord for that? That's an answer to prayer, that's the blessing of the Lord. But Jesus came to deal with that sin that you and I could not deal with. We had a human race that had lived thousands of years unable to deal with that sin. Jesus came. For a while, it appeared as though Jesus was going to lose the battle. That grace, I'm using Jesus and grace synonymously now, because He is grace incarnated.

Pastor Jack Morris: He is grace enthroned. It, it looked as though sin was going to trample grace. Jesus wept, Jesus cried in Gethsemane. He bled great drops of blood in Gethsemane. It looked as though that, that he was going to lose. Sin, it was a fierce battle. A fierce battle, this battle to bring us what we're going to enjoy here in just a few moments. It was a sharp battle.

Pastor Jack Morris: But finally, at long last, grace reached out and seized sin. How many people have told me, "Pastor, I've tried to break that habit. Pastor, I've tried to give that up, alcohol. I've tried to give up smoking. I've tried to give up ill-willing, ill feelings toward somebody. I've tried to have my thought life pattern changed." Pastor, I think I have it. I have it for a few hours, I have it for maybe even a few days, but sooner or later, I'm right back to alcohol, I'm right back to smoking. I'm right back to thinking evil thoughts, lustful thoughts. I'm right back to the same thing that I thought I was delivered from. I'm right back at it again.

Pastor Jack Morris: Friend, you cannot win. You will never win over sin. Here is our victory. Jesus. Jesus reached out and took hold of what you and I could not take hold of. And He seized it. And He grabbed it on His shoulder, that thing that you and I could no longer carry, but we fell beneath and crushed because of. He took that sin, and He took it up to Golgotha, and there He nailed that sin to the cross.

Pastor Jack Morris: He said, "You diabolical sin from hell, from Satan." And He nailed that sin, so that that sin will never come off that cross unless you and I allow it to come off the cross. Unless we turn to Jesus, that sin lives. Your habits live. You continue to succumb to your habits. People say, "I wish I could love everybody. I wish I could get the victory over this feeling that I have toward that person." Friend, it's because you are still on the throne of your own heart.

Pastor Jack Morris: Come on, you know that's to be true. You are still trying to be king. You're still trying to be a good Christian man. And you still have evil in your heart. Sin in your heart. You can't win. You can't win. Why do you think Jesus did this? Why? Because you're a failure, and I'm a failure, but He didn't fail. It looked like He was going to fail, but in the end, He triumphed. He slew the dragon and down came the power of hell. And Jesus triumphed, and today, He sits upon the throne.

Pastor Jack Morris: Friend, put Him on the throne. Put Jesus on the throne of your heart, on the throne of your life, on the throne of your home, on the throne of your career, on the throne of your thinking pattern. You know, there what we talked about today, what these men did was so true. We grin, we smile, we hug. And all the while there's evil and ill will in our hearts. Now there's something wrong. Jesus calls such persons hypocrites.

Pastor Jack Morris: And He will soon say, "Depart from me." You see, He knows your heart. I don't know your heart. All I can see is your smile, your handshake, your hug. That's all we can see. But Jesus looks at the heart, and there lurks something in the shadows that's wrong, wrong, diabolically wrong. And He comes today to deliver. Friend, stop being that person you have always been. You can become a brand new person in Jesus today.

Pastor Jack Morris: You can go behind the veil and find the very presence of God, the power that you need to overcome and live victorious in Him. Do you have sin? Have you been yielding to sin? You don't have to do that anymore. You have bad thoughts? Wrong thoughts? Lustful thoughts? You don't have to have that anymore. Do you love everybody? "Well, there's a few that I'll tell you, they just get under my skin." How long you've been under His skin?

Pastor Jack Morris: You have come and touched the holy, but you have not allowed the holy to touch you. Anybody not hear what I said? Everybody listening? You have touched the holy, but you have not allowed the holy to touch your heart. Your heart is the same old heart you were born with, and you've carried all these years. Only Jesus can do this. And friends, it's time that you and I come before the mercy seat today.

Pastor Jack Morris: Stop acting like a Christian, grinning like a Christian, hugging like a Christian, and start being a Christian, a true follower of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Pastor Jack Morris: What a comfort it is to know that when we come to God through Jesus Christ, we are welcomed, not with condemnation, but with mercy and grace. Whatever burden you carry today, the Lord invites you to come boldly into His presence. To continue growing in your relationship with Christ, visit thehealingword.com. You'll find biblical teaching, free resources, and a caring prayer team, ready to stand with you before the Lord.

Pastor Jack Morris: If God has used this ministry to strengthen your faith, would you prayerfully consider becoming a ministry partner? Your gifts enable us to continue proclaiming God's word to people who need His hope more than ever. Your gifts enable us to continue proclaiming God's word to people who need His hope more than ever. Next time on The Healing Word, Pastor Morris concludes this series with an understanding of God, helping us discover the compassionate heart of our Heavenly Father.