Out of Diapers: Grow Up and Draw Near to the Throne of Grace

Sermon outline

Mature believers draw near to God's throne with reverent confidence for mercy and grace in every need, and then show that grace in gratitude, mercy, service and standing strong through adversity.

1. Grow up: leaders have babied the church

   From Ephesians 4 he says the goal is maturity, the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. He admits leaders share the blame for keeping the church in infancy by doing everything for people, when their job is to train believers to do the work of the ministry, to win souls and encourage others. The devil's trap is to keep us busy but going nowhere, running from conference to conference for an emotional high instead of committing to a steady inflow of the Word and measuring our growth year by year.

   Illustration: A professor on television speaking to university students about 'the decolonisation of the mind', which he says echoed what he had preached the week before about thinking differently.

   “Maturity gives you direction, maturity gives you purpose.”

   • Ephesians 4:12-16

2. Step 4: Let us draw near with confidence

   To 'draw' means to visit or worship, and a throne is a stately place of power. The sequence matters: we come having walked in the first three steps, with reverence and an awareness that we never stop needing grace. We must not be lazy or presumptuous, which means overstepping due bounds, taking liberties and taking our access for granted; in the body of Christ, presumption is immaturity.

   “We will never stop needing God's grace.”

   • Hebrews 4:16

3. Grace shows up as gratitude and honour

   Reading the Amplified, he rejoices that we receive mercy for our failures and appropriate, well-timed help, because God is never late. Grace is God's free, unmerited love and favour and His divine influence on the heart, and it is reflected in gratitude and honour. Older believers who grew up with nothing were grateful for a slice of bread, a pair of shoes, democracy and a single Gideon's Bible, while many today take everything as their right.

   Illustration: Today you can pick up a television remote and hear the Word preached; when he was a young Christian, owning even one Gideon's Bible made you fortunate.

   “Gratitude, honour. Those are words we've lost.”

   • Hebrews 4:16

4. Receive mercy, then be merciful

   Mercy is kindness toward the miserable and afflicted joined with a desire to help them, and those who receive it should show it. Yet church people can be the least merciful, pointing fingers to cover their own insecurities and putting people in boxes by colour or by what they drive. That is the world's system, not God's, because God created all people, and the church must confront such things honestly in order to change them.

   Illustration: People who show more affection to their animals than to other human beings, and who ask of a neighbour, 'Where did they steal the money from?'

   “If I can tag you, then I can bag you.”

   • Genesis 1:27

5. Mercy and grace for adversity

   God's invitations are backed by Him: meet the conditions and you can count on mercy and grace. Life is not all 'happy clappy'; even Paul was burdened beyond his strength and despaired of life, yet God gave him capacity to face it. We will never know God's strength until we pass through weakness and cry out for His mercy, and then He shows up.

   Illustration: The day before, he and Pastor Zubeda were suddenly called out to a church family facing a sudden death, a reminder that pastors walk with people through loss as well as prosperity. He also recalls times when he was weak and almost giving up and felt the Spirit of God come on him with supernatural strength.

   “You'll never know God's strength until you go through a period of weakness.”

   • 2 Corinthians 1:8
   • 2 Corinthians 12:9

6. I became a servant so I could become a king

   Long before he had a pulpit, while working in his profession, he was doing the work of the ministry: helping in a home where a young man was caught up in drugs, and serving his pastor by driving, carrying his bag and selling his books. He never sulked before his pastor but served with a glad heart. Maturity means letting the church know when you will be away, encouraging and praying for leaders who carry a heavy load, and asking 'What can I do, pastor?'

   Illustration: At a conference in Newcastle his tired pastor called him up to pray for the people, and to his amazement they fell under the power of God; he had not known he carried that anointing until then.

   “I became a servant so that I could become a king.”

7. Grace is God's riches at Christ's expense

   Grace is God's unmerited favour to the undeserving, it is supernatural and never runs out, and it is there for your time of need. So learn to pray for yourself and encourage yourself, and put away childish behaviour. God can give you the very thing you were robbed of so you can give it to others.

   Illustration: He grew up without a father and always longed for a dad's love, yet God called him to be a father, and people now assume he must have grown up with a loving dad.

   “Grace is God's riches at Christ's expense.”

   • Hebrews 4:16