Jentezen Franklin - Living In The Throne Zone
In Exodus 25:21. «You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, in the ark you shall have the testimony that I will give you and there I will meet with you,» everybody say, «I’ll meet with you there. And I’ll speak with you from above the mercy seat,» from where? «I’ll speak with you and I’ll meet with you above, above, above the mercy seat». Here’s the mercy seat. There was an angel made of gold, an angel made of gold in the mercy seat, and God says, «Right there. Right there». Put my verse back up. God said, «Right there is where I’ll meet you. I’ll meet with mankind. My presence will be there. I’ll meet with you, I’ll speak to you from above the mercy seat between,» everybody say, «Between the two cherubim».
It’s not gonna be I’m on your side or her side. It’s not gonna be, «I’m standing with the husband against the wife». Only when you touch wings, the wings had to touch in the ark of the covenant. And God said, «That’s where I show up. Wherever there is unity». I want 'em to put the picture up of the ark of the convent for just a moment, and I want you to notice that in the original writing that God gave Moses instructions, the head of the angels were not looking at each other. Their faces were not facing each other, but they were looking down. Both of their heads were looking down, this side and that side. And they were seeing each other through the gaze of mercy.
This is the mercy seat, this is where the blood was sprinkled seven times a day, and they saw each other through the blood. They saw each other through mercy and forgiveness, and their wings had to touch in unity. And in creating unity and creating a touch and seeing each other through forgiveness. Seeing it, you don’t have to see eye to eye on everything, but you do have to see each other through a spirit of mercy and a spirit of, «We may not ever agree on everything, but we see each other through mercy, and through forgiveness, and through love». And God says, «Wherever people unify, and they touch, their wing tips had to touch,» speaking of unity, «the two become one». God said, «I am attracted. That is my throne zone, and that’s where I will be».
And any time a couple makes up their mind, «The devil is not going to destroy the unity in our marriage,» then God’s presence is guaranteed in that home. And if you get God, you get victory. Say, «Amen,» somebody. Even when God made His covenant with Abraham, He said, «I’m looking for middle ground. I’m looking, I’m not siding on this side or that side, and who’s right and who’s wrong. I look for people who see each other, and forgive each other, and love each other, and they touch back in unity when they’ve been upset at one another. And that creates a place for my presence. I’m attracted to forgiveness, and mercy, and unity». I don’t care how bad it’s gone. If you ever can reach back up and touch and reunite in faith, God says, «I can come and heal anything».
And so, what they would do to make a covenant is God gave Abraham this strange instruction. He said, «Take a bull, and take a heifer, and take a ram, and take a lamb, and split them down the middle, and take a turtle dove, but do not split the turtle dove. Just let it sit there». Because the turtle dove speaks of the Holy Spirit. But He said, «I want half the animal on the left side, half the animal on the right side». And God said, «I will come to you, Abraham, and make a covenant, and you just provide, you provide the middle ground for my presence».
And the Bible said he split those animals and laid half of the animals on one side, and God came, the scripture said in Genesis 15, like a burning torch and sloshed through the blood of those animals, and then a voice began to speak and tell Abraham all that he would do in his life through the covenant that he was cutting. This is a powerful picture of marriage because when they would make a covenant agreement in the Old Testament, they would cut an animal, and calves, and they would lay them aside. And the men who were making a covenant, or the people who were making a covenant would walk in the middle of the sacrifice sloshing through the blood, sacrifice on this side, standing in the middle of sacrifice and repeating the vows of the covenant, «I promise before God that I will do this and I will do that according to our agreement».
That’s a picture of marriage. It’s a picture of us standing in the middle of sacrifice because marriage is about sacrifice. Marriage is not about me, marriage is about we. Marriage is not about my, it’s not about I, it’s about we, we, we. And you have to stand in the middle of sacrifice and sacrifice. And I salute all of you who are sacrificing, the men, the women. It would be easier just to do your thing, but you stand. And it’s not fair sometimes, and it’s not equal, and it’s not 50/50. No, it is not. You stand in the middle, and you create a throne zone by saying, «Hey, we got upset, we didn’t see eye to eye, but I’m reaching out». And you reach out, and you touch, «And let’s touch wings».
And the moment you do, God says, «They’re growing, they’re growing in grace. They’re learning how to do this. They’re learning that I don’t», there’s no magic stuff in marriage. It’s just, kinda, brutal sometimes. And you gotta stand in the middle of sacrifice and remember the vows that you made. You said, «For better or for worse. In richer or poorer. In health or in sickness. Till death do we part, so help me God». And God says, «If you keep coming back, and I don’t care what happens in your marriage, keep coming back and touching, I’ll show up and help you through any and everything you face». You create a throne zone. Listen to this amazing verse, stuff you read right over in the Bible.
Jeremiah 34, God says, «I am ready to judge. I’m angry». And this is what He’s angry about. He says, «I will judge those who have transgressed my covenant and not performed the words of the covenant that they made before me when they cut the calf in two and passed between the parts». And I want you to listen to this. When you got married, you made promises. And in its purest form, we’ve drifted so far from purity. Do you know that it’s still an absolute sin that can send you to hell if you are having sex outside of the confines of marriage? God is not okay with it. It is not His will.
God intends for you to keep yourself. And if you’re not married, and certainly, I know I’m preaching, any time I preach to our congregation, I’m constantly preaching to people who are living together and they have families together, and we’re not here to beat up on you, but we’re here to tell you that you cannot expect the fullness of God’s favor and blessing until you do things like God said do them. God brought Adam his wife, and God said, «Marriage is my idea. You don’t do it by playing house and see how it works out, and living together». You have to obey the truth of God’s word if you want God’s presence, you have to. So, what are you saying? We have a family. Let’s get married, let’s do it quick. Let’s go. I’m available right now, hallelujah. But go on and do it because something happens.
This is what the Bible teaches in the book of Ecclesiastes, I think it’s the fourth chapter. It says, «A three-fold cord is not easily broken». You see, marriage is not a two-fold cord, a man and a woman. Marriage is a three-fold cord. It’s man, you know, one cord is strong, but two cords twined together is even stronger. But God says, «Don’t ever think that marriage is just a man and a woman making agreements». But marriage is a three-fold, I’m touching, «you’re touching, and God, you come and tie a knot around this and dwell here, and keep us in love, keep us in mercy, keep us in forgiveness, keep us in holiness in our marriage, keep us pure, and don’t let us split the dove». The splitting of the dove means the Holy Spirit or the right spirit.
You know, if you don’t watch it, you’ll get bitter, and stuff will accumulate, and your spirit gets ugly, and your spirit is wrong, and I get the wrong spirit. I’ve had Cherise, we’ve had situations that we get the spirit and you gotta, that’s why the Bible said, «Guard your heart with all diligence that you don’t let outside offenses and hurts get so in you that you get fixed in your position, and your pride won’t let you reach out and try to touch again that person that you love». Stay in the middle of sacrifice and keep the words of the covenant that you spoke before God, and He holds you to. Keep the spirit of unity. I thought about this amazing story in 1 Samuel 20. David and Jonathan are making a covenant, and he makes this statement. He says, «The Lord be between you and me».
This is what covenant is. The Lord. This is a husband, this is a wife, and the Lord be between you and me. I’m not on her side, I’m not on his side, I just wanna know that if you two will forgive one another and see each other through mercy, and love, and forgiveness, I just want you to know that you will create a throne zone for your children and your children’s children, and your family. And that’s what Satan wants to do. He wants to come and break the wings of unity so that God doesn’t have a place, and he takes over the middle ground. And when he comes, he comes to kill. He’s not coming to give you fun, he’s not coming to give you more pleasure in your marriage, so let’s do this, and let’s try that, and let’s do this. He comes to kill, steal, and destroy. Don’t let him in.
And how do you not let him in? Unity, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and refusing to kill the dove, the Holy Spirit in your marriage. What I’m trying to get you to understand is Ezekiel 28:14, Lucifer was in Heaven and there were millions of angels before the throne of God. And notice how he was positioned. «You were the anointed cherub,» singer, «I established you,» God speaking. «You are in the holy mountain of God,» that’s the holy of holies. «You walk back and forth in the midst,» the word midst means middle. «In the midst of fiery stones». Satan sees the middle ground of worship. He got between the throne of God and the angels that were worshiping. And God said, «I’ll ne…» and God cast him out of Heaven for it. God said, «I’ll never let the enemy seize the middle ground».
And so, in Revelation 4, the scripture says in this, in verse 4, roundabout the throne are the cherubims and the Seraphims, and the elders. And they’re casting their crowns, and they’re singing according to Revelation 5, «Worthy is the lamb that was slain». What are you saying? They’re roundabout. God said, «I’ll never let they enemy have that place of worship. I want you roundabout my throne. I want you giving me the center». In other words, the lamb is central. If they’re surrounded, and He’s the center of it all. He’s the center of the family, the church. And the way that we worship Him is when we keep Him in the center of our marriage and our family. It’s not about you, and it’s not about me. It’s about Him. And and here’s how someone explained it to me one time. They said, «Marriage is like a triangle».
And I think they’ve got a thing they can throw up. And there’s the husband on one side of the triangle. Everybody, draw a triangle, just draw one. And the husband’s on one side of the triangle, and the wife is on the other side. Now, watch this. I’m way over here. She’s way over here. How do we ever get it together? The more that she moves closer to God, who’s at the top, the more he moves closer to God. It’s amazing, the more that we move closer to God, the closer we get to one another.
I heard the Lord say, «I want to get in the middle of the marriages. I want 'em to give me the throne zone in their marriage again. I wanna get in the middle of families». Everybody, say, «Lord. I give you the middle place. The very central place of our relationships in my family. I put you in that middle ground through mercy, through forgiveness». Say this, «Don’t let the devil divide us». I want every husband to say it, every wife to say it, «Don’t let the devil divide us». So much at stake. I’mma tell you what the Lord told me yesterday, just so beautifully. I was reading Ephesians about marriages. I believe it was Ephesians 2, somewhere in there about marriage. It’s so powerful.
And here’s the bottom line. Those of you who are single, listen very, very, very intently right here. The reason that God gives marriage to a couple, you say, «Well, what’s the reason? So that they can have sex without guilt». No. «So they can populate and have children». Well, that’s part of it, and all of that. It’s true. But the real reason for marriage is to fulfill God’s purpose in the family. And I was thinking about this. I was thinking about this yesterday that in my life, a single person should ask this question if they’re dating someone and considering marrying them. «If I marry and add that person to my life, will that person aid me in fulfilling the purposes of God? If they will not help me fulfill God’s purpose for my life, they do not belong in that place».
So, I thought about I have this purpose. God called me alone when I was single to preach. I was not dating anybody. I was single and God called me to preach. He called me singly to preach. I knew, without a doubt, I was called to preach. And then I met Cherise several years later and I fell in love with her. And now, looking back over my life, not only did I fall in love with her, and we did it like God said do it, but listen to this, she has helped me fulfill my purpose, which I have no… this ministry would not, on any level, be where it is today for the glory of God had she not been taking care of things in the purpose of God that I’m totally blinded to, that I’m totally ignorant in, that I’m totally zero gifting in beauty, in architect, in all the carpet, every detail of buildings, and things that she just knows instinctively, and I just know how to preach instinctively.
But think about this, she couldn’t have fulfilled her purpose if she hadn’t married me. And we’ve done it and touched the world together. Together. That’s a powerful, powerful thing. We got too much. And don’t you think just because you’ve walked with the Lord for many, many years, the enemy will not come and try to break those wings loose from one another. He’s done it many times through the years. I remember one time in particular when the kids were very small. I think Courteney, and Carissa, I don’t think Caroline was born. Pat, you’ll remember this. And we had just built our first house. Cherise had built it, she’s a builder.
And I remember Jean Jones and Margaret. And we were going through a rough spot, me and Cherise, with the pressure of the church we were building and just a lot of stuff, just a lot of attacks. The church was in a lot of just, it was so demanding. I was working all the time. I was preaching three new sermons a week. And I was just about… And then, I had no time for nothing, and just trying, trying, trying so hard. And we just hit a wall. We just hit a wall. And I got up that Sunday morning and I said, «I cannot do this».
We had had a terrible week, and I said, «I cannot do this. I’m not going to church this morning». And I called the associate pastor, Jean did for me. His name was Jerry Bracket. He got up and preached. I didn’t tell anybody anything. We were walking through some of the darkest times where everything in us screamed, «Give up. Quit. You’re incompatible. What’s the use»? And I’m saying to you today, every one of you will face dark nights like that and dark days like that. But we kept holding on, we kept doing what we could do. And God always came through.
When the little wings finally got over their pride and ego and reached out and touched in mercy, in forgiveness, in grace. My children have not seen a perfect dad, but they’ve seen a dad that loves his wife. I do love my wife, and I love my children unconditionally. Say, «Amen,» somebody. Unconditionally. And that’s all God asks of us. That’s the good news. He says, «If you’ll do that, if you’ll forgive one another, if you’ll reach out». All of y’all fighting in your families, siblings won’t speak to each other. All the junk that comes, all the heavy, heavy, heavy stuff that hits a family. It’s gon' all come back to somebody getting on their knees, at least two, and the wings reaching out calling again, «Let’s go to eat again, let’s start communicating again. Let’s create a throne zone». If we do what we can do, God will do what we can’t do.