Well, it's good to be with you
again. I think what David said all the
time, I was glad when they said it to me, let us go into the
house of the Lord. If you'll take your Bible and
turn back to 1 Kings chapter 20, thank you, Brother Larry,
for reading that portion of Scripture. 1 Kings chapter 20, some people
look at the Not the Lord's people, but some people look at the Old
Testament as just a boring history book about this king and that
king and another king, and they don't see the gospel. But you
know that all the Word of God is God-given, God-inspired to
teach us the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And anywhere we
read in Scripture, we always want to look for Christ. the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, in 1 Kings chapter 20, verse
31, 32, 33, and verse 34 will serve as our text. 1 Kings 20, verse 31. And I'm entitling the message
from the story of this wicked pagan king. His name is Ben-Hadad. Seeking mercy at the hand of
the King of Israel, Ahab. And the title of the message
from this portion of scripture that I've chosen, I'm calling
this message, An Encouragement for Sinners. An Encouragement
for Sinners. Sinners like myself, I trust
you are a sinner as well. Saved by God's grace, we need
encouragement. We need encouragement. Encouragement of the Lord. The
Lord Jesus Christ is called a friend of publicans and sinners. I need to be encouraged. And
you can take encouragement in your heart. If you know yourself
to be a sinner, because the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. And I can say with Paul, Paul,
move over. I'm the chief. I'm the chief
offender. I'm the chief sinner. Now we
know that all the word of God is given unto us to teach us
the gospel and reveal the Lord Jesus Christ unto us. We read
in John 20, verse 31, these things are written that you might believe
that Jesus is the Christ and that believing you might have
life through his name. Life is in a person. Salvation
is in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul writes
in Romans 15, whatsoever things are written aforetime are written
for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the scripture
might have hope." Hope. Whatever was written aforetime
was written for our learning. What is the lesson? Christ. I
want to learn of Him. Our Lord said, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. That we through the scriptures
might have hope. Hope. Hope. This book we call
the Bible has one message. And that message is Christ, His
person and His word. Any hope we have of salvation
from our guilt and from our sin apart from the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified, apart from His saving mercy and fetching
mercy, any hope we have of salvation apart from the Lord Jesus Christ
is a false hope. We have a good hope through grace. Any hope we have of pardon, forgiveness
of sin, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ alone is a false hope. You see, Christ is all our hope. He's not some of our hope. He's
all our hope. Christ is all and in all. And
then you remember this scripture from II Thessalonians 2.16. Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and God, even our Father, who has loved us and has given us
an everlasting consolation and a good hope, a good hope through,
the good hope we have is through His grace, isn't it? Paul said,
I am what I am by the grace of God. Peter, recorded in Acts
15, stood up before that council that day and said, we believe
through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we shall be
saved. Paul, in prison, writing to young
Timothy, reminded him not to be ashamed of the gospel of God,
for it's the gospel of God that has saved us, the gospel of God
who has called us and chosen us, and given us a good hope
in the Lord Jesus, not according to our work, but according to
His own purpose and grace that was given us in the Lord Jesus
Christ before the foundation of this world. Now we see the
gospel here in 1 Kings chapter 20. This man, this king of Syria,
was a pagan Gentile king, Ben-Hadad. He was a wicked man, a boastful
man. He was determined to wage war
against Israel, and he was determined to stamp it out. As he says down there, he said,
I'm going to crush them in my hand like a handful of sand,
he says in verse 10. That God do so unto me, and more
also, if the dust of Samaria shall survive, for handfuls for
all the people that follow me." He was determined to crush Ahab
and Israel. He was full of wicked, arrogant,
sinful pride, wasn't he? Full of it. He's full of himself.
He desired everything that Ahab had. He sent messengers unto
Ahab, the king of Israel. saying all that you have, your
gold, your silver, your wives, your children, It's all mine. Did you notice that? In verse
5, the messengers came again and said, Thus speaketh Ben-Hadad,
saying, Although I've sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver
me thy silver, thy gold, thy wives, and thy children, I want
more. I want everything that my heart
desire and everything that my servant, what they desire, I
want everything. It's mine. Give it up. Surrender. Ahab at first was going to raise
a white flag and totally and unconditionally surrender unto
this wicked pagan man. But he told the elders of Israel
what Ben-Hadad had said, and they said in verse 7 and 8, don't
hearken to his request. When Ben-Hadad heard of the resistance
that he would meet with Ahab and the army of Israel, he became
very, very enraged. Look at verse 12. It came to
pass when Ben-Hadad heard this message as he was drinking, he
and the kings in the pavilion, that he said unto his servants,
set yourselves in array. and they set themselves in array
against the city of Samaria. He was mad. He was, what we,
the old timers used to say, he was fighting mad. He was ready
for war. He was going to do Ahab and Israel,
he was going to plunder them and subdue them and conquer them
and whip them and put them in the dust. Well, in great mercy,
to Israel and to the house of Ahab, God sent a prophet, verse
13 and 14. And God said, you're going to
have the victory. You're going to win. Verse 13,
And behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab, king of Israel, saying,
This prophet of God, the man of God, thus saith the Lord,
Hast thou seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver
it into thy hand this day, and thou shalt know that I am the
Lord. And Ahab said, By whom? He said,
thus saith the Lord, even by the young men and the princes
of the province. Then he said, well, who shall
order, who shall lead this fight and this battle? And he said,
well, thou, you're going to lead this battle. You're going to
lead this charge. In great mercy, long suffering,
the Lord was to Israel, even though they had rebelled against
God, even though this man Ahab, king of Israel, was a pagan idolater,
worshiping Baal. They did not deserve mercy. Israel
did not deserve mercy. They had forsaken the right way
of the Lord, but yet the Lord is long-suffering unto them. I like what it says in verse
20 and verse 21, God said it and that settled it. Verse 21,
Verse 20, and they slew every one his man, and the Syrians
fled. God gave them the victory, and
Israel pursued them. And Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria,
escaped on a horse. With the horsemen, the king of
Israel went out and smoked the horses and the chariots and slew
the Syrians with a great slaughter. God did give him the victory,
just as he said that he would. Later on, the Syrian army regrouped
and returned after a time, and God said again that He would
give them the battle. The Syrian army regrouped and
said, well, their God is the God of the hills. We will fight
them in the plains this time, and surely we will win. Notice
in verse 23, and the servants of the king of Syria said unto
him, Their gods are the gods of the hill. Therefore, they
were stronger than we. Let us fight against them in
the plain, and surely we'll be stronger this time. Surely this
time we will prevail." Well, what happened? The Syrian army
was defeated again, weren't they? 100,000 men. Did you notice in
verse 29? 100,000 Syrians died in one day.
27,000 Syrians escaped. But they didn't get very far,
did they? 27,000 of them, it says in verse
30, they fled to Aphek into the city and there a wall fell upon
20,000 and 7,000 of the men that were left and Ben-Hadad fled
and came into the city, into the inner chamber. He was defeated
again. God gave Israel again a great
victory. You see, the Lord our God rules
everywhere. In the hills, in the valleys,
in the plains, in the seas, and all deep places. He's the God
of the hills and of the valleys. You remember what it says in
Psalm 135? Whatsoever the Lord please, that
did He in heaven, earth, sea, and all deep places. You cannot
get away from the dominion and rule and reign and absolute sovereignty
of God. He rules in heaven. He does according
to His will in the army of heaven. And among the habitants of this
earth, that none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, Lord God
Almighty, what doest thou? God is the King of all the earth. Now, Ben-Hadad's in trouble now.
No longer is he boasting. No longer is he bragging about
everything he's going to take and everything he's going to
do. He hides himself in verse 30, the last part, then Ben-Hadad
fled and came into the city, into the inner chamber. Now,
you read some of the commentators and they say that he came into
the chamber pot. He came into the place where
you Do your business when you want to get rid of something
from your body. He came to the place where he thought nobody
would go in there looking for him. In the inner chamber, this
man is beaten and stripped and down. He flees, seeking to save
his life. His army devastated. His boastful
pride shattered. Now he sits by the chamber pot
thinking, oh, no. I'm next to die. You see his
trouble that he is in? He's in trouble, isn't he? He's
in great trouble. He shrieks and trembles in the
corner, hiding from Ahab, the king of Israel, hiding from the
army, knowing he's been defeated. What's he going to do? He's in
trouble, isn't he? Now, that gets me down to my
text. Verse 31. down through verse 34. The first
point of the message is this, mercy's report. Mercy's report. There is a report of mercy. Did
you see that in verse 31? And his servants came to him,
that is, this man hiding in the inner chamber. Ben-Hadad. And they said, Behold, now we've
heard that the kings of the house of Israel, we've heard that they're
merciful kings. Merciful kings. Let us, I pray
thee, put on sackcloth on our loins Let's just cover ourselves
with black soot and ashes, and let's put ropes upon our heads. Now, I take this to mean it was
a hangman's noose. Let's just put a rope around
our neck and go before the king, demonstrating that we are guilty.
Let's go out to the king of Israel and peradventure, maybe, could
be, it might come to pass, maybe, that he will save. Now, this is a way that guilty
sinners come before God with a rope upon their neck, not justifying
themselves, but declaring before God, we're guilty. You ever been
there? I hope you're still there. Guilty,
guilty as charged. There sit, proud, been hated,
broken, humble, beaten, subdued. He's at the end of his rope,
isn't he? His servants now approach him and declare unto him what
they've heard about the kings of Israel. The kings of Israel
are merciful. No doubt he heard about the mercies
of David. No doubt he heard about the mercies
of Solomon. The kings of Israel, they're
merciful kings. Let us approach the king of Israel
as mercy beggars and peradventure. That's an interesting word. peradventure,
maybe, could be, it might come to pass that he'll show mercy
upon us. Now Ahab didn't have to, but
he was a king. As the king, he could show mercy
or not show mercy. In that sense, he was sovereign
to show mercy upon whom he will. And here's the gospel message
that the servants of God are sent to declare, our God delights
to show mercy. Our God delights to show mercy.
The Lord Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, is
He not? He's King in mercy. He's King
in salvation. He said, I will have mercy upon
whom I will have mercy. We have heard that the King of
kings is merciful to sinners. We've heard that message. That's
what this book teaches us. God said, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. A wise sinner taught of the Lord
will seek mercy where it's found. I don't want to seek mercy at
the Lodge. Go to Sinai's Mountain. You won't see no mercy there.
Quaking, thundering, lightning, darkness, blackness, threatening. Oh, go to Mount Calvary. There's
where mercy's at in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to Micah
5.18. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity?
that passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage,
he retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy."
You know that to be so, don't you? You who believe the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know that our God delights
to show mercy to sinners for Christ's sake. Now, what do we
know about the mercy of the Lord? With the Lord, There is mercy. With the Lord Jesus Christ, there
is mercy. Listen to this Psalm, Psalm 130.
Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord, with the Lord,
there is mercy. With the Lord. And with him is
plenty as redemption. With the Lord, there is mercy. It is one of God's essential
attributes, one part of his divine nature. He can never cease to
show mercy, no more than he can cease to be God. He must show
mercy because he is merciful. With the Lord, there is mercy. I'm going to take my place before
God Almighty upon His sovereign throne. I'm going to take my
place before Him as a mercy beggar. And I'm going to seek mercy where
it's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I need mercy. How about
you? I need mercy. Something else we know about
these mercies of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, His
mercies are called tender mercies. Did you know that? They're tender
mercies. Psalm 51, remember David prayed,
have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Lord, would you blot
out my iniquities, for it's great. The Lord is so gracious as he
deals with us. in tender mercies, and He does
so in such a way that honors His holy justice. He doesn't
dismiss His holy justice. He honors His holy justice, and
yet He shows mercy to the undeserving. How can He do that? Only in Christ. Only in Christ can the law of
God be honored. Only in Christ can God be just
and the justifier. You remember Psalm 85? Mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Where at? At the cross. Psalm 85 verse 10. With the Lord there is mercy. The Lord is so gracious as he
deals with us in his tender mercy and he does so in such a way
to magnify his justice and magnify his mercy. Mercy and truth are
met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other in Christ Jesus. The third thing we know about
the mercies of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. You remember
that lamentation? Lamentation, chapter 3. You see,
it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy. He saved us by His mercy. Mercy. Mercy alone. There is nothing little in our
great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. His mercy is like
Himself, infinite. Can you measure God? How do you
measure something that's infinite and eternal? Measure eternity
for me, will you? It's beyond human measurement. His mercy is like Himself, infinite
and eternal. Like His love, He's loved us
with an everlasting love. You cannot measure His love.
You cannot measure His grace. It's beyond us because it's eternal,
isn't it? Oh, John Bunyan said, it must
be great mercy or no mercy, for little mercy will never save
me. I need great mercy. You know
why I need great mercy? Because I'm a great sinner. That's
right. Thank God He's able to save to
the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth
to make intercession for us. I need great mercy because I'm
a great sinner. Thank God we have a great Savior
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I like this about the Lord's
mercy. The Lord is rich in mercy. You remember that? Verse in Ephesians
chapter 2, but God, one of my favorite verses, especially in
the book of Ephesians, but God who is rich in mercy for His
great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in
sin, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace are you
saved. The Lord is rich in mercy. His mercy is abounding mercy.
His mercy is manifold mercy. Someone said on the word manifold
that it means manifold mercies, manifold mercies, superabounding
mercies. His giving us daily mercy and
daily grace does not impoverish him or diminish his mercy at
all, diminish his love at all. He still has an abundant storehouse
full. I think of this illustration.
You go to the ocean. and take a cup or a bucket or
a gallon, whatever you want, and take a million buckets of
water out of the ocean, what do you have? The ocean's still
full. You can't diminish its capacity, can you? It just replenishes
and replenishes again. You can't exhaust the mercies
of our great God. They are manifold mercies. Mercies of redemption. We have
redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. We are redeemed with the precious
blood. of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, these mercies are mercies
of redemption, aren't they? These mercies are mercies of
pardon. You know, our God says that He is a God that is ready
to pardon. Ready to pardon upon what basis?
Upon His grace. Upon the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. David said, pardon my iniquity,
O Lord, for it is great. Manifold mercies. Mercies of
redemption. mercies of pardon from all sin,
mercies of reconciliation unto God through the Lord Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. He made peace for us with His
own blood, having reconciled us unto God by the Lord Jesus
Christ. God was in Christ reconciling
us unto Himself. Think of the mercies we have
in Christ. We're reconciled unto God, no
longer separated, but reconciled unto God. Mercies of redemption,
mercies of pardon from all sin, mercies of reconciliation, mercies
of righteousness imputed, righteousness given. Blessed is the man whom
the Lord imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven. Blessed is the man
whom the Lord will not impute sin. Oh, that's a mercy of God,
is it not? Manifold mercies. Manifold mercies. Redemption, pardon, reconciliation,
righteousness in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
has shown mercy to millions of sinners, but yet his storehouse
is full. I know you sing this song often.
Depths of mercy can there be? Mercy there reserved for me?
Can my God his wrath forbear? And me, the chief of sinners,
spare? Oh, there's a depth in God's
mercy. Yes, he is rich in mercy. Yes, he's abundant in mercy.
Yes, it's manifold mercy. Yes, it's everlasting mercy.
Yes, it's abiding mercy. He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. This is probably one of my favorite
points on this first heading about the mercies of God. Our
God delights to show mercy. His mercies are free. Free. You can't buy it. You can't earn
it. You don't merit mercy. His mercies
are free. We're justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? I like that word freely, don't
you? You know who likes that word the most? Those who are
bankrupt. Those who are beggars, they love
that word, freely. Everything He gives to us, He
gives to us freely. His mercy flows freely. Wants no price, no money, no
works, no merit. Free as the sunshine. How much have you paid for the
sunshine today? Did you shell out any dollars
for the sunshine today? Why, no. Why? It's free. It's free for those who enjoy
the sunshine. Free as the rain that falls.
How much have you paid for the rain? Are you writing checks
this month for the rainfall? Absolutely not. I paid my water
bill, but I didn't pay for the rain. It freely falls, doesn't
it? Free as the wind that blows. Those gentle breezes that blow. They're free, aren't they? How
about this one? Free as the air you breathe. His mercies are free. Breathe,
my friend. enjoy the free mercies of God.
And yet we know this. We can say with Jacob, we're
not worthy of the least of thy mercies and of thy truth. Are
we? We've not merited mercy. And
these mercies in the Lord Jesus Christ, they're called sure mercies. They're called covenant mercies.
David expressed it this way on his deathbed. Although it be
not so with my house, God had made with me an everlasting covenant.
ordered in all things and is sure this is all my hope and
all my desire and it's all of my salvation. The sure mercies
of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's King in mercy. He's a God
of all the earth. This is mercy's report. Pretty
good report, isn't it? Oh, that I could tell it better.
Our God delights to show mercy. May God open our ears and our
heart to hear it and believe it. We've heard, look back to
the text again. Behold now, we've heard. Have
you heard? I just told you. The King of
Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's merciful. He delights to
show mercy to sinners. We've experienced that, haven't
we, as believers? Some of you younger ones, you
ask some of these older ones about the Lord's mercies, and
they'll tell you His mercies are certain and sure, everlasting,
and they never fail. They fail not. They can't. Now, here's a second point. Misery
is resolved. Misery is resolved. Look at verse
30. The last part of verse 31 and
verse 32. Let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth
on our loins, let's put a rope about our neck, and let's go
out to the King of Israel, and peradventure, peradventure, He'll
spare you, save your life." So they girded sackcloth on their
loins, and they did put ropes around their neck, and they came
to the King of Israel and said, Now watch this, thy servant,
thy servant, Ben-Hadad, now he's your servant. He's no longer
your enemy. He's your servant. Thy servant
Ben-Hadad says, I pray thee, let me live. He knew he deserved
what? Death. Let me live. And he said, that is Ahab said,
look, last part of verse 32. And Ahab said, is he yet alive? His army's gone, 125,000 men
have died. Is he yet alive? Now this is,
look at this next statement. He's my brother. What? Did we
read that right? He's my brother. Mercy's resolved. The servants have been aided.
They put sackcloth of shame upon their body. They put a rope around
their neck, ready to come before the king and have him hang them,
ready to die guilty. They approached the king as guilty
sinners, approached the king as mercy beggars. I pray thee,
I beg thee, will you let me live? You don't have to. But would
you let me live? Ben-Hadad is stripped in the
dust. He's broken. He's guilty. And he knows it. And he cries
out. He has one plea. Oh, would you
let me live? Isn't that our crying to the
Lord? Lord, would you let me live?
Would you give me salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ? This is the way to approach our
God, our merciful God, confessing our sin, owning our guilt with
sackcloth of repentance upon our heart, a rope of acknowledgement
about our neck. If the Lord executes me and send
me to eternal condemnation, that's exactly what I deserve, not what
I want, but what I deserve. I don't deserve mercy. The wages
of sin is death. The gift of God is eternal life.
And that same Psalm, Psalm 51, David said, Lord, you'd be just
if you condemn me and sent me to eternal condemnation, you'd
be just to do so. Now, some might think, well,
I'll never come before God that way. I'll never confess my sin
before God. I'll never acknowledge I deserve
to be damned. I'm just not that kind of sinner. I'm just not that bad. Really? You're much worse. You're much worse. You see, if
you are still so proud not to be humble before God in
the dust as a guilty, wretched sinner, You're too proud for
mercy. You're just too proud for mercy.
You're just too proud for salvation. Salvation is for sinners. He
didn't come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners. If
you're still so proud, you're too proud for mercy, too proud
for grace, too proud for salvation. If you never confess your sin,
the Lord will never show you mercy. Think about that. It says
in 1 John, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just
to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. My dear friend, the point I'm
making is salvation is for sinners, for sinners, sinners. Our Lord said, come unto me all
you that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest. Come unto me. Look unto me, and
be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. I am God, and there
is no other. Many of you know my dear pastor,
Brother Henry Mahan. He's preached here many times,
but he always used to tell us this. It's not your sinfulness
that keeps you from Christ. It's your righteousness. It's
your supposed goodness. Be done with self-righteousness
and self-glory. Come to the Lord Jesus Christ
just as you are in your filth, in your guilt, in your filthy
rags. Don't dress up. Don't clean up.
Come as you are. Come to Christ right now in your
heart. Had Brother Scott Richardson
used to say, and don't move a muscle. Come to Christ in your heart
right now as a leper. The leper came to the Lord, this
recorded Matthew 8, said, Lord, if you will, you can make me
clean. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. He said, I will. Be thou clean. That leper didn't go around and
disguise himself, did he? And try to hide his leprosy,
try to hide his disease. No, he came to the Lord Jesus
Christ just as he was in his filth, in his guilt, and his
disease, and he cried out for mercy. And the Lord showed him
mercy, didn't He? Over there in 1 Samuel chapter
2, don't turn, let me just read it to you. You remember that
prayer of Hannah in 1 Samuel chapter 2? where it says here,
the Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave
and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and he maketh
rich. He bringeth low and he lifteth
up. He raises up the poor out of the dust. He lifts up the
beggar from the dunghill to set them among princes, to make them
inherit the throne of glory for the pillars of the earth are
the Lord and he has set the world upon them. He raises the beggar
from the dumb hill. He lifts the needy from the dumb
hill. You remember the publican prayed
in the temple, Lord, have mercy on me, thee, sinner. Remember
what the Lord said? That man went down to his house,
justified rather than the other. That Pharisee bragged on himself. justified himself and was condemned. The old publican condemned himself
and was justified. That's the way of grace, is it
not? Is not this our cry? Lord, let me live. Lord, have
mercy upon me, the sinner. Lord, quicken me and give me
life for Christ's sake. And pardon my sin, O Lord, for
it is great. Now, look back at the text there
just a minute. In the last part of verse 31, where they use this word, let
us go out to the king and peradventure he will save us. The gospel promises
in the Lord Jesus Christ are much better than this word peradventure. Peradventure, oh no. The gospel promises in the Lord
Jesus Christ for all the promises of God in him are yes, and in
him, amen, and to the glory of God by the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel promises in Christ
are sure and certain. His mercies are sure. Listen
to these promises of the word. Thou shalt, though your sin be
as scarlet, they shall be whiter than the snow." That's better
than a puradventure, is it not? They shall be whiter than the
snow. His blood, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sin. That's better than
a puradventure, isn't it? You see, all the promises of
God in the Lord Jesus Christ are certain and sure and everlasting
and amen. He said in Isaiah 55, oh everyone
that's thirsty, come unto me and drink, come by, eat, wine,
milk, without money and without price. And then that scripture
I quoted a moment ago, Isaiah 45, he said, look unto me. He said, I am God, beside me
there is no other. Look unto me and be saved all
the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none
else, the only just God and Savior. Look to Christ. Come to the Lord
Jesus Christ and rest. Now here's the last thing in
closing. Mercy's reception. What's going to happen? What's
going to happen? Mercy's reception in verse 33
and verse 34. The last part of verse 32, and
Ahab said, is he yet alive? He's my brother. Now look at
verse 33. And the men did diligently observe
whether anything could come from him, and did hastily catch it. Oh, they were waiting for a word,
weren't they? They hastily, readily, they caught
that word. Brother! He's my brother! And they said, oh yeah, thy brother. You see that? Thy brother, Ben-Hadad,
yes, he's your brother. He's not your enemy. He's your
servant. Then what did Ahab do? Go ye, bring him. Then, bring
him. Then Ben-Hadad came forth to
him, and he caused him. You see, that's the language
of grace. He caused him. He drew him. He brought him. Bring him. Go get him! Fetch
him! Bring him! And he caused him
to come up into the chariot. Word of grace. Word of grace. Oh, Ahab, the king of Israel,
he did show mercy to old wicked Ben-Hadad, didn't he? Be sure
we understand this. The Lord of glory never turned
a mercy beggar away. Those who came to the Lord Jesus
Christ in Scripture were received and made whole. Those who ask
for mercy, they receive mercy. Remember the story of blind Bartimaeus
sitting by the wayside begging? And he heard about the Lord Jesus
Christ coming by. And old blind Bartimaeus wanted
to see. He had never seen anything. And he heard about the mercies
of the Lord Jesus Christ, how He had raised the dead and shown
mercy to others. And when the Lord Jesus Christ
came by, he said, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. And the Lord stood still. and
show mercy to old, ragged, dirty, blind Bartimaeus. Ahab says in the last part of
verse 32, is he yet alive? He's my brother. What words of
hope are given here? Is Ben-Hadad yet alive? He should
be dead with the rest of his army. This is what he deserves.
Sinner! So are you yet alive? By His grace, those who have
shunned the gospel of Christ and ridiculed the grace of God,
are you yet alive? You don't deserve to be. You
don't deserve mercy. Unbelieving rebels, unrepentant
rebels, you don't deserve to be alive. Are you yet alive?
Oh, yeah. By His grace. And then secondly,
he's my brother. Here is something that I can't
explain except by the grace of God given unto us that we might
preach the gospel. Ben-Hadad was the vowed enemy
to destroy Ahab and his family and his wealth. He was a sworn
enemy to Israel, waged war against it. But now Ahab says, he's my
brother. That's the gospel right there,
my friend, my brother. Isn't this the gospel message
of Christ? While we were yet sinners, enemies,
the Lord Jesus Christ died for us. When we were yet without
strength and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. God committed
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons
of God. This is nothing but amazing grace,
is it not? How sweet to sound! One time
without God, without hope, and without Christ, now made nigh
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been made heirs
of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. He's made
us sons of God by His adopted love, by His electing grace,
and by His saving mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember in
Hebrews chapter 2, Or it says, he's not ashamed
to call them brethren. Think of it. He's not ashamed
to own us. Identify with our humanity, identify
with our sin, and he's not ashamed of his family. He calls them
brother. You're my brother. Adopted into
his family, accepted into beloved. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. And because you are sons, God
sent forth the Spirit of His Son in your hearts, making you
to cry out, Abba, Father. Sons of God. I like what the servants of Ben-Hadad
say. They were waiting for word of
mercy and they did hastily catch it. And they said, oh, thy brother,
he's your brother. We own you as our brother, as
our Lord. They have said, go bring him.
Go bring him. You see that? Then he said, go
bring him. What's going to happen? What if this wasn't an invitation,
was it? Go invite Ben Haydad to come
down and see me. No, it wasn't an invitation.
Go get him. Bring him. I want to see him. He said go bring him. Then Ben Haydad came forth and he caused him to come up. into the chariot. Now he's riding
with the king. He's my brother. He's my king. And I'm riding in his chariot.
And he's shown mercy to me. Go bring him. Ahab caused him
to come up in the chariot and let this one time enemy now ride
with him. You see the picture? What a good
picture this is. It reminds me the same thing
that King David did to a crippled boy. Remember the son of Jonathan? His name is Mephibosheth, crippled,
ruined by a fall. When David came to the throne
honoring that covenant he made with Jonathan, he said, Ziba,
go down and get him and fetch him and bring him. And Mephibosheth
came. And David showed mercy to Mephibosheth,
one of my favorite stories. But it tells us much about the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There again in Hebrews chapter
10, the Lord, or rather Hebrews chapter 2 verse 10, we read about
the Lord Jesus Christ who's called the captain of our salvation
that's bringing many sons unto glory. Remember that scripture
about substitution, 1 Peter 3, 18. For Christ once suffered
for our sins. Christ also once suffered for
our sins, the just for the unjust being put to death in the flesh
that he might, what's that next word? Bring us unto God. It's the only way we're going
to come. The Lord said, I'm the way, the truth, the life. No
man comes to the Father but by and through me. The Lord of glory
receives us to Himself in His royal chariot of mercy and love
and grace and showers abundant blessings upon us for Christ's
sake. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings of the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. blessed
in all things. Christ has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, redemption. According as it is
written, he that would glory, let him glory only in the Lord. Lastly, in verse 34. Now you notice in verse 34 that
word benhedad there is not in the original. You see that as
talisized. And most of the commentators,
Gill and others that I read after Matthew Henry, actually say this
is Ahab speaking here in this verse. And Ahab said to Ben-Hadad,
the city which my father took from thy father I will restore,
and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father
made in Samaria. Ben said, Ahab, I will send thee
away. I'm going to set you free. I'm
going to set you at liberty. I'll send thee away with this
covenant. And we know the mercies of our
God. You remember that old book by Warburton, Mercies of a Covenant
God? One of the first grace books
I read. It's a good book. Get it and read it sometime. I'll send thee away with this
covenant. You see, the mercies we enjoy are covenant mercies
in Christ. So he made a covenant with him
and sent him away. And anytime you read that word
covenant in scripture, what should you immediately think of? We
think of that everlasting covenant of grace, the God of peace that
brought again from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ, through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. And that's a covenant
of mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. You see the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ in this story, don't we? Stands fast, therefore, in
the liberty with which Christ has set us free. He sent thee
away. Ben-Hadad went away a free man,
set at liberty. And that's what we have in the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's come to set the prisoner
free. The Lord Jesus is the surety
of the covenant, the sacrifice of the covenant, Here is love,
not that we love God, but that He loved us. And He sent His
Son to be the sacrifice for our sin, the propitiation for our
sin. May every sinner here be encouraged
tonight. That was the title of my message,
Encouragement for Sinners. Whenever I think about the everlasting
mercies in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, grace is for the guilty.
Mercy is for the miserable. Salvation is for sinners. Are
you miserable? Are you a sinner? Salvation is
for you. May every sinner here be encouraged
tonight. With the Lord there is mercy.
I, by His grace, take my place before Him. I love this term,
mercy beggar. I'm a mercy beggar. And I'm never
going to graduate above being a mercy beggar. a mercy beggar,
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ for all of salvation. Let us
never graduate from being a sinner saved by His grace. You remember the promise in Hebrews
4, 16, the Lord said, come, come boldly. We come bold, come boldly
unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find
grace to help. in time of need. I've just about
lost my voice. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may attain mercy, find grace
to help in time of need. Must be all this fresh air down
this way. You see, when we read the book
of God, look for Christ in the gospel. That's a gospel story
right there. And the whole reason that, you
know, Ahab was a wicked man and wicked king. But in the office
as a king, as the king of Israel, he pictures Christ in his office,
how Christ shows mercy to sinners such as we are. That's what this
book's all about. Get in it. Read it. It's a blessing. Be a blessing to you. All right,
God bless you. Thank you.