But Jonah didn't go down to Nineveh
because he didn't want God to show mercy to the Ninevites. Because that's what he said to
the Lord. He said, Lord, I knew. He says, I knew as sure as I
went down there. He said that you was going to
show mercy to those people and you was going to deliver them. He said, I didn't want to go
down there and preach because I knew you was going to show
mercy. And he didn't want God to show mercy. He wanted God
to show wrath. He wanted God to destroy those
people. He wanted to give them a comeuppance, buddy. He wanted
them to have it. And that's how men show the work
of the law written in their heart. Scripture says that. Now, a lot
of people think that means that when the work of the law is written
in their heart, that that somehow means that men love the law of
God. No, men hate the law of God. But they show the work of
the law written in their heart by the hand of God because their
own conscience accuses while they would excuse themselves,
because the very thing that they find in error in other people
they excuse in themselves. Now how do we know that that's
true? Because you see, men can justify in their own mind taking
something that belongs to somebody else in some way. Now you might
not break into their house and go and get it, But you can scheme
and figure ways in your mind to get something that belongs
to somebody else, can you not? I mean, have you not done that?
Sure you have. You know, you've thought about
that. And you've thought, well, it is okay. I mean, you know,
it's just laying there. I mean, you know, nobody really
needs it. I mean, you know, after all,
I mean, there it is. I'll just take it. I mean, why
not? But oh, when the tables are turned
and you left your cell phone, you know, on the bench somewhere,
and you think about it and you run back and it's gone, and what's
the first thing? That's some sorry son of a gun
came and got my cell phone. I mean, you know, it's just so,
oh, I hate people like that. That's the way people are. That's the way men are by nature.
We claim to love justice and we ought to love mercy, but we
really hate both of them. You know, we want justice on
other people, but you see, justice is that which applies to everybody.
Mercy, on the other hand, is that which is reserved for a
few. And that's in reality why men hate the mercy of God. Because
the Lord said this to Moses in the beginning, or when he revealed
himself to Moses. And Moses said, Well, Lord, show
me thy glory. And he says, No man can see my
glory and live. But he said, This I will declare
my name before you. And listen to what he said. He
said, And I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. Now, men get mad if God is not
showing mercy to everybody. Men hate the sovereign grace
of God. I am going to tell you, there is no other message you
will ever preach anywhere than the sovereign electing grace
of God to save some and to pass by others. There is nothing. that will make men madder than
that. Because men want to say, well, I've got just as much right
as they do. Well, the fact of the matter
is no man has any right before God except that which God is
pleased to give to him. And mercy is the sovereign prerogative
of God. And He said, I will show mercy
to whom I will show mercy. And he did not show mercy to
Pharaoh, as Brother Al, I am not trying to contradict what
Brother Al said, because there was mercy displayed, but ultimately,
Pharaoh was not the object of God's mercy. All men receive
mercy from the hand of God. Every animal, plant, and object
in the earth has been the object of God's mercy. We have all eaten
every day. I mean, the wicked, the rain,
the Lord said the rain falls on the just and the unjust. So
there is no man that is going to be able to stand before God
and say, Lord, you did not treat me right. Pharaoh is not going to be able
to stand and say, well, Lord, you hardened my heart. Because
the Scripture said Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Yes, God hardened
Pharaoh's heart. Pharaoh hardened his heart too.
Pharaoh was glad to do those things. Nay, but O man, who art
thou that replies against God? And so we come to the 4th chapter
of 2 Corinthians. And I want to read
that to you. I'm going to read 17 and 18 of
the prior chapter as we begin going into this chapter. It says,
Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face, beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same
image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore, seeing we have this
ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not, but have
renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness,
nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation
of the truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost, or perishing, or being destroyed,
in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them
which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your
servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and
not of us. We are troubled on every side,
yet not distressed. We are perplexed but not in despair,
persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed,
always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus'
sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our
mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us,
but life in you. We having the same spirit of
faith, according as it is written, I believed and therefore have
I spoken, we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that
he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus,
and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes,
that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many,
redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not.
For though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed
day by day. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal." wound up the third chapter when
he was speaking of the contrast between the giving of the law
of Moses and the ministration of grace that is given to the
people of God through the gospel. And he said those two things,
one is a ministration of death, and it had a certain glory, and
if it had glory after a certain measure, the giving of the Law
of Moses, if that had a glory, how much more glory is there
attached to the ministration of life which is given to us
in Christ Jesus as He came to fulfill the Law and to set the
captives free, to make those who are bowed down in the darkness
of sin to see light and to have understanding of the things of
God. And of course, he's going to
go on to say that very thing in verse 6 of this chapter. It says, For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Now, here is the revelation of
God to men. This is the mercy of God shown
to men. It is found in verse 6, when
God has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. a profession of faith. A lot
of people claim to be the followers of Christ. A lot of people claim
to believe in Christ. I would venture to say that the
vast majority of people in our communities, now there is some
that wouldn't, of course, but the vast majority of people,
if you ask them, do they believe in Jesus Christ, they would tell
you yes. They wouldn't even hesitate.
They would tell you yes, they believe that. But you see, that
is not what Paul is talking about. The Lord said, the devils believe. And, Tremble, do you think the
devils believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Of course
they do. I mean, when the Lord came to
those devils, they said, Lord, why have you come? I mean, here
we are. You know, you are going to torment us before our time.
They knew who He was. They did not have any doubt about
it. But you see, that's not what Paul is talking about. I mean,
a man can know something about the gospel and not have what
Paul is speaking about here, the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. That's
a gift of God. That's something which only the
Lord can bring. That's an understanding which
only the Lord can implant upon the mind. And the truth of the
matter is, when that is implanted in the mind, and when that truth
has come to rest in the heart of God's people, then there is
something that they have been transformed. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. He is a new creation. Old things
are passed away. Behold, all things will become
new. He has a different perspective on life. He sees Christ as the
center, the sum, and the substance of all of creation, of all of
those things which pertain to life and liberty, light, His
hekkiness, A true child of God can't be truly happy in any other
place or state than worshiping and praising the name of Jesus
Christ. I mean, we don't have any interest
in being void of that. See, a religious man, he says,
well, it's Sunday, I'm going to go down there to the church
and, buddy, I'm going to get all fired up and I'm going to
worship God. And he's going to worship God
and have some of them lay out on the floor and roll around
and shout and carry on and do all kinds of stuff. And they
worship God. Well then, when that's over,
then they go home and they're good to go until next week. And
they do the same thing. But you see, that's not what
Paul's talking about. He said, we've been given something
that is here with us, not on certain days of the week, But
it's been implanted in our mind, in our heart, in our soul, in
our being. And we love the name of Christ. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals
his wounds, and drives away his fear. And such is that which Paul speaks
of. And Paul said, We are changed from glory to glory even as by
the Spirit of the Lord, not by the law. Now you see, a man who
is a religious man and a man who is walking in the law, he
has to be constantly told what he needs to do and think and
say. And he can go and think and do
and say those things. But you see, the children of
God are taught in the inner man. And the Lord enlightens His people. And He causes His people to delight
in that which is of Him. And we are with open face beholding
in a glass the glory of the Lord. We see ourselves in that glass
in the likeness of Christ, and we delight in that. Now, that
doesn't mean that we see ourselves as being without any fault, but
we see that all of our righteousnesses are found in Christ. Everything
that we would bring unto the Lord is found in Christ. We don't
desire to bring in some thing that we've done, Because why? We know nothing we've done is
of any use whatsoever, but what Christ has done is perfect and
is well-pleasing in the Lord. And by the work of the Spirit
of God, we are made to understand that and to delight in that which
Christ has done. And therefore seeing in a glass,
in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, We are changed from glory
to glory. We are caused to see, hey, any
righteousness that I have is the righteousness of Christ.
And how we are seen in the sight of God is not as we are personally,
but as we are in Christ. We are made in the image of Him. Therefore, seeing we have this
ministry, what is this ministry? The ministry of preaching the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Not trying to reform men. See, most of the preaching and
stuff you hear on television and whatnot, they're trying to
reform men. And there's nothing wrong with
trying to reform men, because men need reforming. Believe me,
there's enough ill and trouble and heartache in the world that
we need some people that's telling people how to get themselves
straightened out. But don't mistake that for the
gospel, because that's not the gospel. The gospel is not a message
to reform men. The gospel is a message about
what Christ has done in the behalf of men. There's a big difference. You see, we're not interested
in how happy you are, or how fulfilled you think your life
needs to be. You know, I'm not interested
in that. Paul said, we've not been given that ministry. Some
people have maybe. I don't know. I know Paul did
not go forth with that ministry, and I do not believe that the
Lord has given me that ministry. I am not interested in changing
the world. What I am interested in doing
is preaching the glory of Jesus Christ. Knowing this, that those
whom God has shined in their hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,
they will say, Praise God! Bless the Lord for a Savior such
as this. And so it is, Paul said, therefore
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
faint not. Why do we preach, Paul said?
Because we're the recipients of mercy. We're just beggars
who found a place where we could get fed, and we have received
mercy, and we don't want people to starve to death. And he said,
if it were possible, he said, I could wish myself a curse. If it would do some good to cause
my people to believe, he said, I could wish myself a curse for
their behalf. Now he knew that that wouldn't
make any difference. So he wasn't saying he was planning
on that taking place. But that's the compassion that
he had. And that's what he's setting forth here. He said,
as we have received mercy, so we faint not. Because we've been
shown the gospel of the glory of God's grace, and it's been
burned into our very being so that when we behold in a glass
the glory of the Lord, we see ourselves not because we see
ourselves as having done something, but we see ourselves as we are
in Christ. And we say, praise God! We've
been made free in Jesus Christ. We are. those who are the recipients
of mercy, and seeing we have received this ministry." Now,
everybody hasn't received the same ministry, but Paul said
this is the ministry that he received. And he said, having
received this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint
not. That's the motivation. Now, it's not personal motivation,
it's the motivation of the Spirit of God that works in us, both
the will and the do of His good pleasure. And so that's what
he says, as we have received mercy, we faint not. This is
the thing, we can't be silent. Remember when Jeremiah, the Lord
sent him with the Word of God to the people of Israel, and
they wouldn't listen to him. And he said, I just gave up.
He said, I'm not going to say another word. I'm sick and tired
of it. I've had it. They don't listen
to me. Nobody cares. So I'm just going
to go home and sit in a rocking chair on the front porch, and
I'm not going to do anything." And he said, "...but the Word
of God was in me like a fire in my bones, and I could not
be silent." Because you see, it is the work of God. It is
that ministry which He has set forth. As we have received mercy,
we faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully."
Now, I would venture to say that most preaching today is done
for the purpose of trying to get people to do something. Isn't that right? If it's nothing
more than reach in your pocket and send us some money. I mean,
that's usually what they're trying to get you to do, is send them
some money. Now, when I hear people talking about sending
me some money, I know for one thing that they're not sent by
God. God never sent anybody to ask
other people for money. People say, well, Lord, what
are we going to do? They're requiring of us some
tax here and we don't have any money. The Lord said, Peter,
what you all need to do is go have a bait sale. Or go out and seek donations.
No, he said, Peter, go down there to the seashore and there is
a fish down there. He said, he has got the money
in his mouth. See, the Lord provides those things that His people
need. Now I'm not so foolish as to
think that sometimes He does not use the instrumentality of
men to do it, but He's never sent His people, His ministers
into the world to be beggars. Brethren, the God we serve owns
the cattle on a thousand hills. He doesn't need your money. He
doesn't need my money. He doesn't need the things men
can bring Him. Haven't you heard folks say,
oh, you know, if we don't give our money, the Lord's going to
go out of business. Next week this minister will
go off the air and what's going to happen then? The world will
just go to hell in a handbasket. Well, I'm telling you what, if
ever a preacher on earth died tomorrow, the Lord would raise
up some others. under the glory of His grace,
and they would declare the glory of God because the fire would
be in their bones like that, which as Jeremiah spoke, and
they could not be silent. The city which is set on a hill
cannot be hid. That is what the Lord said, did
He not? And so we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness. Craftiness is manipulation. You know, it's trying to get
inside your head and cause you to do something. Well, you know,
that's not what we've been sent to do. May the Lord give us grace
that we might be as Paul to do one thing, and that is to declare
the unsearchable riches of Christ, not trying to persuade men to
do anything, hoping that the people of God will fall down
and worship Him. and that he will take the word
of God and apply it to men's hearts and call men out of darkness
and into the light. Because we receive mercy and
we faint not according to his sovereign grace and his mercy.