Exodus 34, and let's read what
will be our text, which is verse 6. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant, in goodness and truth. A couple of weeks ago, we did
a study on the word must. We just studied through the scriptures
on the word must. We looked at different scriptures
that declared the musts of our Savior's work and of our salvation. Must must that study was such
a blessing to me. I Wanted to do it again So tonight
we are gonna study the word mercy We're gonna study the word mercy
God's mercies verse 6 says merciful Merciful If the Lord is willing,
Sunday morning we may study grace. The next word is gracious. Be
fine with me if we went on and studied long-suffering, goodness,
truth. But tonight is mercy. Now, before
we get into this, I want to acknowledge this first, all right? Go with
me to Genesis chapter 32. Genesis 32, and I'll go ahead
and tell you that we're going to do some turning. So let's
get ready to do some turning through the scriptures. But Genesis
32. Verse nine, it says, and Jacob. Said. Oh, God of my father, Abraham. And God of my father Isaac, the
Lord which said unto me, return unto thy country and to thy kindred
and I will deal well with thee. This is what he said. Verse 10.
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all
the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant. Let's start
right here. When it comes to God's mercy,
we are not worthy of it. We don't deserve it. We do not deserve it. We're not worthy of it, and we
don't deserve it. I love the true story of that
man who was in the courtroom, And his son was about to be sentenced
to prison. And he asked the judge on his
son's behalf, he said, your honor, is there any room for mercy?
And the judge said, based on what your son has done, he doesn't
deserve mercy. And the man said, that's true,
your honor. But if he deserved it, it wouldn't
be mercy. If he deserved it, it wouldn't
be mercy. Now this is glorious. Mercy is
for the undeserving. Mercy is for the undeserving.
You know what that makes mercy? For us. Mercy is for us. Is that not wonderful news? Mercy
is specifically for the undeserving. All right, now let's take a minute
and look at the mercy. Look at God's mercy. Go with
me to Deuteronomy chapter 4. Deuteronomy 4, verse 31. It says, for the Lord thy God
is a merciful God. He will not forsake thee, neither
destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which
he swear unto them. Mercy is an attribute of God's
character. It's an attribute of who He is. It describes His person. It tells us what He's like. It's one of the attributes that
tell us what he's like. We see him in his word, and one
day soon we're going to see him as he is, face to face as he
is. This is what we can expect to
see. This is what he's like. When you talk to him, when you
have a conversation with him, and you say things to him and
he says things to you, this is what you can expect. Verse 31
says, The Lord thy God is a merciful God. He will not forsake thee,
neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which
he swear unto them. It's an attribute of his character. David said in Psalm 116, Gracious
is the Lord, and righteous Yea, our God is merciful. Our God is merciful. He is. Mercy comes from God. There's only one source of eternal
mercy. There's only one place that eternal
mercy comes from. It comes from Him because He
is mercy. He is mercy. Look with me at
Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63, verse 15. It says, look down from heaven and
behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory. Look down from where you are.
Where is thy zeal and thy strength? The sounding, and that word means
the multitude of thy bowels. That word bowels means heart. The multitude of what's in your
heart. And of thy mercies toward me
are they restrained. Mercy originates in the heart
of God. That's where it originates, in
the heart of our God. When we get a glimpse of mercy,
we are getting a glimpse into the heart of our God. When the
Lord opens our eyes to see something and understand something of mercy,
we're taking a look straight into the heart of our God. Micah 7 verse 18 says, who is a God, like unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage, he retaineth not his anger for
ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He delights in mercy. You've been around somebody.
Somebody. and learned something of them,
and noticed something about them, noticed something of their character,
known what they're into. You can't be around one man long
enough before you find out this man loves fishing. Man, he loves
fishing. Or this man over here loves music. He loves mercy. You won't be
around him very long at all before you realize this man delights
to show mercy. He loves mercy. So that's the
first thing about mercy. It's an attribute of the character
of who our God is and what he desires in his heart. He desires
and he delights in mercy. That's beautiful to me. That
is just gorgeous, precious. Alright, turn with me to Exodus
33. Exodus 33 verse 18, And Moses said, I beseech
thee, show me thy glory. And God said, I will make all
my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name
of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will
be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." God's
mercy is sovereign. It's sovereign. It originates
with Him in His heart. It's His. It belongs to Him. It's His. And He gives it to
whoever He pleases in His heart to give it to. It's sovereign. Now, to a Pharisee who feels
like he deserves it, that's not good news at all to him. He hates
hearing that. He absolutely hates hearing that.
He thinks he's owed it. A Pharisee thinks he deserves
it. He thinks he's earned it. And
a Pharisee who thinks a man hasn't earned it, he doesn't want him
to have it. Well, you hadn't earned it. You don't deserve
it. That's terrible news. But to
a sinner, I mean to a broken sinner, who knows in his soul
he does not deserve it, and is not worthy of it, does
not deserve it, is not worthy of it. To hear that mercy is
not earned. It is not earned, but it's freely
bestowed. Not based on merit, but based
on the kindness of God's heart. That's the greatest news a sinner
has ever heard in his life. That's the greatest news he's
ever heard because he knows. Even though I'm not worthy of
it, and even though I don't deserve it, it may still come to me. God may choose me. If it was based on my merit,
there's no way I'd receive it. But a true sinner will cry, thank
God for sovereign mercy. Thank God. Hail sovereign love
that first began the scheme to rescue fallen man. Sovereign
mercy. Thank God for it. Go with me
now to Lamentations chapter three. Just after Jeremiah. Lamentations
chapter three. Lamentations 3 verse 21 says, This I recall to my mind, therefore
have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great
is that faithfulness. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we are not consumed. Mercy is what demands our salvation. Mercy is what absolutely demands
our salvation. It demands it. Titus 3 verse
5 says, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, But according
to His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost. His mercy demanded our salvation,
demanded it. That old Ed Hale song, A Ransom
Was Found, Ed Hale was a He was a dear preacher in South Louisiana,
a preacher of the gospel, and he died when I was young. But
my family knew him and loved him, and we, oh how merciful,
he wrote that song. But he wrote some good songs. And in one of his songs, there's
a line, and it says, talking about a sinner being bound to
sin, destined for hell, it says, turn him loose For a ransom's
been found. And a ransom was found. Yes,
a ransom was found. Love paid the price. A ransom
is the price owed. How much is owed? Love paid the
price on Calvary's mound. Judgment was met. The law satisfied. And mercy was born. when a ransom
was found. The mercy that was in the heart
of God, it came forth. It was openly revealed when Christ
paid the ransom price on Calvary. That's where mercy was born.
Judgment was met. You know, that is the glory of
the gospel. Those three things right there,
you know, Sinners do come to know something of their sin. They do get a hold of their sin
and the judgment of God. And all of a sudden they realize,
in Christ, in this great transaction on the cross, judgment was met. Oh, but the Word says this, and
the Word says this, and the Word says this. Well, what about this?
I don't do that. I've broken that. What about
all that? The law was satisfied. No, I didn't do it, but He did.
I didn't keep it, but He did. And what that means is mercy
was born through the substitution of Christ on the cross. With
that price now being paid, mercy demands the salvation of God's
people. It demands the salvation of all
of them. Just listen to this wonderful
verse of scripture. This is Psalm 94 verse 18. When I said my foot slippeth,
thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. Mercy demands it. All right,
now here's where we are so far. Mercy is an attribute of the
character of God. It reveals what's in his heart,
who he is and what's in his heart. Mercy is sovereignly given to
whoever our Lord purposes in his heart to give it to. Mercy
is what demands the salvation of that sinner. Whoever it's
given to, that mercy demands his salvation. All right, now
look with me at this glorious truth. Go to Isaiah 55. Back
a few pages to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55 verse 3 says, incline your ear and come unto me, here and your
soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." God's mercy
is bound by his covenant. It's bound by his own covenant. Once he gives it to a sinner,
he will never take it back. Once he gives it, he'll never
take it back. The gifts and the calling of
God are without repentance. He will never change his mind. Oh, you better not do that. You're
going to lose your salvation. Not if God saved you, you won't.
He will never change His mind. He changes not, therefore His
mercy changes not. That's why we're not consumed.
Solomon said in 1 Kings chapter 8, he was dedicating the temple,
praying to God, he was giving thanks for all of God's goodness
to Him, giving them this house to worship Him in. And he opened
his prayer with these words. These were the first words he
said. He said, Lord, God of Israel,
there is no God like thee in heaven above or in earth beneath
who keepest covenant in mercy. There's no God like you that
keeps covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before
thee with all their heart. Covenant and mercy. He said,
thank God for binding your mercy with a covenant. That's where
our peace comes from. That's where our absolute peace
comes from. Could you imagine the fear that
we would be thrown into if we thought for one second that God's
mercy was not bound by His own covenant? That if somehow we
had to keep ourselves in His mercy. That covenant, that surety,
that's what allows us to just settle down and rest, just rest,
knowing that the mercy that demands our salvation is bound by His
covenant. Ordered and sure cannot be undone,
cannot be undone. All right? Stroll with me through
some Psalms. and then we'll be finished. All
right? We'll stroll through just a few Psalms and then we'll be
finished. Go with me to Psalm 25. Psalm 25, verse 6 says, Remember, O Lord, thy tender
mercies, and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been ever of old. God's mercy is tender. It's tender. Tender means compassionate
and pitiful. Compassionate and pitiful. The
margin right there for tender says bowels, heart, heart. The mercy that comes from God's
heart is compassionate. It's pitiful. It's loving. It's kind. It's tender. It's tender, tender mercy. It's what makes him bow down
his ear. to hear us. It's that tender,
tender mercy. God's sovereign mercy is not
hard at all. It's loving, it's kind, it's
compassionate, it's pitiful, it's tender. Very, very tender. Look with me at Psalm 69. Psalm 69 verse 16 says, Hear
me, O Lord, for thy lovingkindness is good. Turn unto me according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Lord, would you bow
down your ear toward me? And would you hear my cry? Do
you ever find yourself asking him that? Lord, would you please
hear my cry? Please, thy will be done, thy
will be done. But Lord, would you please bend
your ear down to me and hear me? Lord, would you do it for
your compassionate, pitiful mercy's sake? Would you just do it for
mercy's sake? Please, please hear my cry. David
said, Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness. Would you do it because of your
loving kindness? According to the multitude of
thy tender mercies, Lord, blot out my transgressions. Blot out
my sin. Would you do it because your
mercy is tender? Would you do it because your
mercy is compassionate and because you're full of pity, so full
of pity towards your people? You know what he says? I will. Didn't he say ask and you'll
receive? Seek, you'll find. Knock, it'll
be open. Oh, would you please have mercy? Please hear me and have mercy.
Please. Yes, I will. Yes, I will. His mercy is tender. It's tender. Turn over to Psalm 86. Psalm
86 verse 5 says, For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive,
and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. There is plenty of it. There
is plenty of it. God's mercy is tender and there's
plenty of it. There is plenty of it. I've said
before and I say it again, I would love to find another sinner. Last time I said it, I said I'd
love to find a sinner. I believe I found some. I believe
I found one right here. This time I want to say another.
I'd love to find another sinner. I'd love to find another soul
who fears standing before God and knows what he is and knows
what he's done and is crying, God be merciful to me. I would
love to tell that sinner, there's plenty of it. There's plenty
of it. There's so much mercy. There
is so much mercy. There's so much mercy. The ocean
doesn't compare to the mercy that comes from God. Verse 13
right here says, For great is thy mercy toward me. Great amounts of mercy. Ephesians
2 says, but God who is rich in mercy. So much mercy. Indescribable amounts of mercy. Verse 15 right here says, but
thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering
and plenteous in mercy and truth. Plenty. We just read a second
ago in Lamentations 3, His mercies are new every morning. They start
over brand new every morning. That compassion, that pity starts
over every single morning. Good news about God's mercy.
There's plenty. There's plenty of it. It's tender.
It's plenteous. And turn with me to Psalm 100. Psalm 100 verse 5 says, for the
Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting. It's tender, there's plenty of
it, and once you receive it, it is everlasting. everlasting. There's no end to God's mercy. No end. Psalm 103 verse 17 says,
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear Him and His righteousness unto children's
children. Lord let that be so. Let that
be so. Oh, what kind of thanks would
we give to our God if His mercy was not only to us, but to our
children and to our children's children. Oh, I beg, Lord, God
be merciful. God be merciful. Psalm 106, verse
1 says, Praise ye the Lord. This is the resolve a believer
comes to. Praise ye the Lord. Oh, give
thanks unto the Lord for he's good, for his mercy endureth
forever. Mercy is an attribute of God's
character. It's sovereign. It's what demands
our salvation. It's bound by covenant. It's
tender. It's plentiful. And it's everlasting. Now if God has shown mercy to
you and me, if God has shown mercy to you and me, here's how
we will know it. Here's how we'll know it. Now
don't turn over there, but Ezekiel 36, the Lord declared all of
the glorious things that he was going to do for Israel. All of
the wonderful things that he was going to do for his people.
He declared the mercy. He was going to show to His people
the salvation He was going to bring to them. But He said in
verse 37 of that chapter, He said, They are going to ask Me
for it. He said, I will yet for this
be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them. They're going to ask Me for it.
If God has shown mercy to us, This is how we'll know it. And
this is real. This is real. You will know what
takes place in your own heart. Every person will know what takes
place in their own heart, in their own time, in their own
prayer before God. Every person will know this is,
this is it. This is how we'll know it. If
God has had mercy on us and given mercy to us, we will spend the
rest of our life on this earth, sincerely in the heart, begging
God for mercy. That's how you'll know. We'll
spend our every waking minute. We'll ask for it, and we'll ask
for it, and we'll ask for it. If God has shown mercy, then
we will be beggars of mercy. Those who have not received mercy
are not beggars of mercy. I thank thee, Father, that I'm
not like that sinner who needs your mercy. I don't need it,
I'm good. If he's shown it to us, we will be beggars of mercy. We'll never stop crying out for
mercy, never, never. If in your heart, You never get
past crying out for mercy. If that's where you are, that's
where you've been, and if that's where you see yourself being
for the rest of your days on this earth, then rest in his
mercy. Take a break. Rest in his mercy. Everyone who asks for it and
begs for it has already received it. That cry is faith, and that's
not of ourselves, it's the gift of God. Every sinner who asks
for it has already received it. It's the evidence. Asking is
the evidence. Begging is the evidence that
we have already received something directly from the heart of our
God. That's the evidence. It's the evidence that we've
already received something sovereign. We've already received something
that demands our salvation. We've already received something
that's bound by covenant. We've already received something
tender. We've already received something
plenteous. And we've already received something
everlasting. His mercy. His mercy. Thank God for mercy. All right,
let's all stand together.