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- The Throne of
Mercy
Bobby Cohoon
The courtroom was crowded as the judge took his
seat. A deathly silence came over the crowd as the prosecuting
attorney, Lou Sypher, stood preparing to read the charges against
the accused. "Your honor," he said, "This list
is quite extensive, and it could last for days. Anyone one of
these charges could send the accused man to death." He unfolded
a long list, which seemed it could have lasted a lifetime and
began to read. After several hours he asked the judge, "Do
you wish that I continue? I mean, you must understand he has pleaded
guilty." The judge looked towards the accused man and said
he would return with a verdict shortly. After a few minutes of
anticipation, one in which the courtroom was guessing and playing
"arm chair" judge, the judge reentered the courtroom.
As he looked towards the condemned man he asked, "Is there
anything you would like to say?" The accused man could hold
it in no longer as he stood and shouted, "It's me Dad; it's
me!"
The judge smiled as he looked at the man and said,
"Yes, It is you." Turning towards the prosecuting attorney,
the judge again spoke, "Mr. Lou Sypher, I dismiss all charges
against this man. Yes, he was guilty of each one. But, I sent
my son Jesus to die as a sacrifice for every sin this man as committed.
My son, who was without sin, took on each and every sin of this
man. This man came to me through my son, he asked forgiveness.
His sins were forgiven. You see sir; my son's death was a propitiation
for this mans sins." Turning back to the accused man he said,
"Go and sin no more."
Mercy Seat
In Exodus 25:17, God instructed Aaron to build
a "mercy seat." It was to be made of pure gold, and
placed on top of the ark. Exodus 37:6 tells us, "He also
made the mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits was its
length and a cubit and a half its width." The purpose of
this mercy seat was once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the
priest would enter in order to sprinkle the blood of a sacrificed
animal on the seat for the atonement of sins. Every year sacrifices
were made and the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat. But, this
system had one flaw: the law led to death. In writing to the Romans,
the apostle Paul wrote, "For when we were in the flesh, the
sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in
our members to bear fruit to death" (Romans 7:5).
The law had no life in it; it only led to death.
Paul wrote, "I was alive once without the law, but when the
commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment,
which was to bring life, I found to bring death." (Romans
7:9-10). Without the law the mercy seat would have remained spotless.
However, with the law it stayed blood stained.
We no longer live under that Old Covenant of sacrifices.
With the death and resurrection Jesus Christ, the mercy seat changed.
No longer was there a need to sacrifice animals on the mercy seat.
The mercy seat was changed to a throne of mercy. Jesus Christ
was the perfect sacrifice that allows us to approach the throne
of mercy.
Revelation 20:11, talks about the "White
Throne": "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away."
In The following verses we learn that this is the throne of God,
the throne of His judgment. "And I saw the dead, small and
great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another
book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were
judged according to their works, by the things which were written
in the books" (Revelation 20:11b-12). We will all approach
that throne on the last day. But, for the believers we approach
that throne when we are saved.
Ephesians 2:8 reads, "by grace you have been
saved through faith." With that grace we also obtain mercy.
Hebrews 4:16, "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time
of need." The same throne that we obtained that saving grace
from, is where obtain mercy. Mercy comes from faith, for we are
saved by grace through faith. We no longer stand in the coldness
of a dead law full of animal sacrifices. Through the death and
resurrection of the perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ, we stand
in the warmth and love of the mercy and grace of God the Father.
Jesus Christ's death and resurrection provides
us a path to the throne of mercy. Jesus was sent "to be the
propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). Through faith we
obtain the grace of God, and that faith comes through hearing
the word of God. Paul wrote to the Romans, "So then faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans
10:17). We then believe: "But without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him"
(Hebrews 11:6). The next step is to repent of our sins. Speaking
to the group gathered at Mars Hill, Paul said, "Truly, these
times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere
to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge
the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained"
(Acts 17:30-31). To approach the throne of mercy one has to also
confess Jesus as Lord. Paul wrote to the Romans "that if
you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your
heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved"
(Romans 10:9-10). We must also be baptized to approach the throne
of mercy. "Or do you not know that as many of us as were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (Romans
6:3). Paul continues this by writing, "Therefore we were
buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ
was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we
also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). Being
buried with him through baptism, when we are raised to walk in
the newness of life we have been granted grace and mercy from
the throne of God. Grace and mercy go hand in hand. The throne
of mercy is the throne of grace. And, seated on the throne is
God.
- Bobby Cohoon
- North Carolina, USA
- little_sorrel@yahoo.com