And it is yet far more evident; for that those that approach this throne of grace, they must do it through believing; for, saith the apostle, 'How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed,' of whom they have not heard, and in whom they have not believed? For that purpose runs the text (Rom 10:14). 'How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed,' antecedent to their calling on him, 'and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard' first? So then, hearing goes before believing, and believing before calling upon God, as he sits on the throne of grace. Now, believing is to be according to the sound of the beginning of the gospel, which presenteth us, not first with Christ as ascended, but as Christ dying, buried, and risen. 'For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received; how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures' (1 Cor 15:3,4).
I conclude then, as to this, that the order of heaven is, that men wash in the laver of regeneration, to wit, in the blood of Christ, as held forth in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is the ordinance of God; for there sinners, as sinners, or men as unclean, may wash, to their approach to God as he sits upon the throne of grace.
And besides, Is it possible that a man that passeth by the doctrine of Christ as dead, should be admitted with acceptance to a just and holy God for life; or that he that slighteth and trampleth under foot the blood of Christ, as shed upon the cross, should be admitted to an interest in Christ, as he is the throne of grace? It cannot be. He must then wash there first, or die—let his profession, pretended faith, or holiness, be what it will. For God sees iniquity in all men; nor can all the nitre or soap in the world cause that our iniquity should not be marked before God (Jer 2:22). 'For without shedding of blood is NO remission' (Heb 9:22). Nothing that polluteth, that defileth, or that is unclean, must enter into God's sanctuary; much less into the most holy part thereof, but by their sacrifice, by which they are purged, and for the sake of the perfection thereof, they believing are accepted. We have 'therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,' and no way else (Heb 10:19).
[HOW WE ARE TO APPROACH THE THRONE OF GRACE.]
FOURTH. But this will yet be further manifested by what we have yet to say about the manner of our approach to the throne of grace.
FIRST, we must approach the throne of grace by the second veil; for the throne of grace is after the second veil. So, then, though a man cometh into the tabernacle or temple, which was a figure of the church, yet if he entered but within the first veil, he only came where there was no mercy-seat or throne of grace (Heb 9:3). And what is this second veil, in, at, or through which, as the phrase is, we must, by blood, enter into the holiest? why, as to the law, the second veil did hang up between the divine and the most sacred place, and it did hide what was within the holiest from the eyes or sight of those that went no further than into the first tabernacle. Now this second veil in the tabernacle or temple was a figure of the second veil that all those must go through that will approach the throne of grace; that veil is Christ's flesh.
This is that which the holy apostle testifies in his exhortation, where he saith, We have 'boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh' (Heb 10:19,20). The second veil, then, is the flesh of Christ, through which, until a man can enter or go through by his faith, it is impossible that he should come to the holiest where the throne of grace is, that is, to the heart and soul of Jesus, which is the throne. The body of Christ is the tabernacle of God, and so that in which God dwells; for the fullness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily (Col 2:9). Therefore, as also has been hinted before, Christ Jesus is the throne of grace. Now, since his flesh is called the veil, it is evident that the glory that dwells within him, to wit, God resting in him, cannot be understood but by them that by faith can look through, or enter through, his flesh to that glory. For the glory is within the veil; there is the mercy-seat, or throne of grace; there sitteth God as delighted, at rest, in and with sinners, that come to him by and through that flesh, and the offering of it for sin without the gate. 'I am the way,' saith Christ, but to what? And how? (John 14:6). Why, to the Father, through my flesh. 'And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things to himself; by him, I say, whether they be things on earth or in heaven. And you that were sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled [but how?] in the body of his flesh, [that then must be first: to what?] to present you holy and unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight' (Col 1:20-22). That is, when you enter into his presence, or approach by this flesh, the mercy-seat, or the throne of grace.
