Jimmy Ray Bailey died this week,
and I love Jimmy Ray. He started
coming over 30 years ago. We put out some flyers, and he
came in with one of those flyers in his hand. came to church as
a result of that and was here for many years. He moved to Florida
and moved back to Danville and he had dementia for the last
several years and he died and his funeral will be at the Preston
Pruitt Funeral Home in Danville, Kentucky. There will be a visitation
between 12 and one and the funeral will be at one o'clock. I've entitled this message, The
divine equation. Grace, mercy, and peace. There it is. The divine equation. When Paul said to Timothy, grace,
mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We should not look at that merely
as Paul's greeting to Titus, believing what the Bible says
about the Word of God, all scriptures given by inspiration of God and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness. This is as well. grace, mercy, and the result,
peace. And he says that this grace,
mercy, and peace is from God the Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ, our Savior. So this is a word from Him to
every individual believer. Think of him saying this to you. Grace, mercy, and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. This
is addressed to the saints that are here tonight just as much
as it was addressed to Titus some 2,000 years ago. And anything about peace with God. Peace of conscience is by having
some understanding of grace and mercy. The only thing that gives
me peace and the only way God is at peace with me is His grace
and His mercy. Now, when the Lord identified
Himself proclaimed his name to Moses. He said, the Lord, the
Lord God, gracious and merciful. That's his character. That's
who he is. Grace and mercy from God comes
because he is gracious and he is merciful and he delights in mercy. He said, I'll be gracious to
whom I will be gracious. And he said, I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. This is his nature to be merciful
and gracious. And if he is merciful, and gracious
to me, He's at peace with me. He looks at me and is at peace
with me because of His mercy and His grace. Even more, not
only is He at peace with me, everybody He's at peace with,
it goes this far. He's pleased with you. I want you to chew on that for
just a second. He's pleased with you. To Him, you're holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in His sight. Grace, mercy, and peace from
God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." I love what Paul said
in Ephesians 2 14. He is our peace. God is called the God of peace. Jesus Christ, His Son, is called
the Prince of Peace. God the Holy Spirit is the heavenly
dove, the symbol of peace, grace, mercy, and peace from God, our
Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Now, the
first thing Paul mentions is grace. And someone may be thinking,
what is the difference between grace and mercy? Well, there
is a difference. Two words wouldn't be used if
there were not a difference. And where you have one, you always
have the other. But he mentions grace first. Now, somebody once said this,
and I've always liked this statement with regard to grace and mercy.
Grace is God giving you what you do not deserve, and mercy
is God not giving you what you do deserve. I like that, don't
you? It's so true, and I'm thankful
for that, but I need more than that. I need to understand this
more. Now, I want you to turn with
me. This is the first time the word grace is used, but I want
you to turn to a very familiar passage of Scripture. I want
you to look at it. Genesis chapter 6, verse 5. And God saw that the wickedness of man, that's
every man, was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, non-stop. And it repented the Lord that
he'd made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. You know, I love that language.
The Lord looked at man in his wickedness. It grieved him at
his heart. Now we know that God doesn't
repent, but here it says it repented the Lord that he made man. And
I like that language. If the Lord says it that way,
that's a good way for it to be said. He was grieved by what
he saw. And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I've created from the face of the earth, both man and
beast, and the creeping things and the fowls of the air, for
it repenteth me that I've made them. But Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. Question. Was Noah included in
this description of man in verse five? Yes, he was. Yes, he was,
but the butt of grace, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. Now, if Genesis 6, 5 is true
with regard to Noah and me and you, And it is. My heart owns it. I know it's
true with regard to me. And I'm not talking about the
way I used to be. I'm talking about me right now, present tense. If this is true, and it is, the
only hope we have is in the grace of God. grace, mercy, and peace
from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, God's
reason for grace is not found in me and you. He doesn't have to look for a
reason in you to give it to you. He doesn't even look to how much
you need it. He doesn't look to how sinful you are. His reason
for giving grace is found in himself. That's the only reason
that is needed. He is gracious and his grace
necessarily excludes all works. His graciousness is found in
his character. That's who he is. Listen to this
scripture from Romans 11, verses 5 and 6. Even so, then, at this
present time, there's a remnant, a small number, according to
the election of grace." Now, I love that phrase, the election
of grace. This election is nothing like
the election we had yesterday that's based on popular vote. There's only one vote that counts.
His, the election of grace. The only way someone can be saved
is if God elects them before time began to be saved. How we love the election of grace. And Paul goes on to say, and
if by grace it's no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.
If salvation is by grace, it has nothing to do with your works
or my works. It has nothing to do with your
works or my works. God's reason for grace is found
only in himself. And if it's of works, It's no
more grace, otherwise work is no more work. Now if there's
one thing I must do before God can save me, one thing, that
makes salvation of works. And there is no grace. Now the word grace is quite often
translated favor. Favor. Mercy, I mean Mary, found favor
with God. favor. Just like Noah, you and
me, Mary was part of Genesis chapter 6 verse 5. The imagination
of her, the thoughts of her heart was only wicked, non-stop. Mary,
I know people, particularly the Catholic Church, make an idol
of her. She was just as bad as you, she was just as bad as me,
but God had favor toward her. And it was not God's response
to something in her. It was not God's response to
some work she performed. It was in God's character. That him that worketh is the
reward, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. If there's anything
you do in your salvation, that means God is paying you what
he owes you. But to him that worketh not.
Are you convinced that you can't be saved by your works? Is that
something God has made known to you? And you know that if
salvation is according to your works, you will not be saved.
You're sure of that. To him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. God's favor is God being for
you. God for me. And if God be for
us, who can be against us? Everyone that has God's favor
has God for them. Now listen to this. It was said
of the Lord Jesus Christ as a youth. And the child grew, and waxed
strong in spirit, and the grace of God was upon him." The favor
of God was upon him. Now, when we call grace unmerited
favor, I understand us using that term with regard to ourselves,
because if there's something I have to do to merit it, I won't
have it. It's utterly unmerited favor, but when the Scripture
is talking about the grace of God being upon the Lord Jesus
Christ, it wasn't unmerited favor. It was merited favor. Oh, how the father delights in
the son. How he looks at approval on his
son. He says, this is my beloved son
in whom I am well pleased. Oh, the favor the father has
toward the son. Now the favor that he has toward
his son is the same favor he has toward every believer. If you're a believer, that's
the favor he has toward you. You believe that? You know, when
Eric was reading that scripture there in the 23rd verse, We wouldn't
dare believe this, did not Christ say it? In John chapter 17, verse
23, it says, for thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. The same love that God the Father
has to his altogether glorious beloved Son, that merited favor. Oh, how Jesus Christ merits the
favor of his Father. That love that the father has
to his son, that's the love that he has to every believer without
exception. You know, in human terms, we
favor our children. And we don't look at them and
say, well, it's unmerited favor. No, we favor them because they're
our children. We love them. Not one time have I ever thought,
well, Aubrey doesn't merit my favor. No, she's my darling,
the apple of my eye. And that is the way every believer
is viewed by God the Father, with the same favor that he has
for his son. 2 Timothy 1.9 says, he saved
us. and called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
and favor, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began." Ephesians 1, 6 says, He hath made us accepted. in the Beloved." That's literally,
he hath highly favored us. That's what the same word that
the angel said to Mary when he said, hail thou art highly favored. Every believer is highly favored,
much graced in the Beloved. Because the believer is in the
Lord Jesus Christ, he has the favor that God has toward his
son. Now, I hope by the grace of God,
he'll enable me to believe that. The same favor that God has toward
his son, he has to every believer. Now here's our experience. Paul
said it, First Corinthians 15, 10, I am what I am by the grace,
the favor of God. You know, the only reason I know
I'm a sinner is because of the grace of God. There are many
people who have no idea really that they're sinners in the scriptural
sense. Oh, they'll admit to committing sins and doing bad things, but
they don't understand they're a sinner. It's only by the grace
of God that you see you're a sinner. and your need of the Savior. I'm a sinner, and that's by the
grace of God that's taught me that. I'm an elect sinner, and
that election is by the grace of God. I'm a redeemed sinner,
and that redemption is by the grace of God, God giving His
Son. I'm a justified sinner. That's
by the grace of God. I'm a regenerated sinner. I've
been given life. That's by the grace of God. I'm
a preserved in Christ. That's by the grace of God. I
am what I am by the grace of God. All that is, the believer
is, is by the grace of God. Now let me give you our statement
of faith. It doesn't come from a man-made document. This is
Peter speaking in Acts chapter 15. He said, we believe. But there's our statement of
faith. We believe that by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved even as they. Those Gentile dogs, they are
not gonna be saved like us. We're gonna be saved like them.
And this word, shall be saved, the original, it's grammatically
stated in such a way as it can be translated, we believe that
by the grace of God we've been saved, we're being saved, and
we shall be saved. By grace are you saved. Grace from God our Father and
from the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. I love 2 Corinthians
8 and 9. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That though he was rich, yet
for your sakes, he became poor. Who knows the
depths of what all that means? That you, through his poverty,
might be Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound,
but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as
sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. That
means something, doesn't it? Grace to you from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ. He also says mercy, grace, mercy,
and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ
our Savior. Now, not only grace, but mercy
from God. And while grace is not God's
response to us, He doesn't give us his grace because we ask for
it. He doesn't give us his grace because we're real sorry. He
doesn't give us his grace because he sees our need of it. He gives us his grace because
he's gracious. That's who he is. Oh, what a
glorious character he has. Mercy is different. Mercy has
something to do with God being moved by the misery of others. I think of the Lord having that
leper come to him saying, Lord, if you will, You can make me
clean. And the scripture says Jesus
moved with compassion. That's who he is. He's moved
with compassion by the miserable and the sinful. And he said,
I will be thou clean. This is who he is. Not only does
he have grace and that grace is found only the reason for
it's only found in himself, his mercy is moved by the misery
and the sinfulness and the need of others. Now I couldn't help
but thinking about The scripture says he set his face as a flint
toward Jerusalem. He knew his hour was come and
he was on his way out of Jericho to Jerusalem to be crucified.
He's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. His
hour has come. He knows that's what he's going
to do. Here he goes. All kinds of people yelling his
name at this time, I'm sure. But all of a sudden there was
a cry from the crowd. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. and Jesus stood still. You know what's gonna cause him
to stand still for you and respond to your cry? When it's a cry
for mercy. He always responds to the cry
for mercy. There's never been anyone who
actually asked for mercy that he turned away. Now, I realize
people have used the word mercy, have mercy on me, but that's
not what they meant. That's not what they meant. You see, if
you mean it, that means you believe your sin is all your fault. God would be just to pass you
by. You're no victim. It's all your
fault. You're guilty. You're sinful. The only hope
you have is for him to have mercy on you. Anyone who has asked
for mercy, he's heard. Never been anybody that asked
for mercy that he turned away. You see, mercy is for the sinful. Sinful, like Peter. Depart from
me, I'm a sinful man. Sinful, full of sin. When you
see who he is, you'll see that that's the truth with regard
to yourself. Now, this is who he came to save. He said, I came
not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. First Timothy 1.15, this is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. Of whom Paul said, I am the chief. And I'm so thankful he said,
of whom I am the chief. What if he would have said, whom
I used to be the chief? But no longer. Boy, that would
have discouraged me. But thank God, Paul tells it
as it is, of whom I am the chief. You see, wherever you have a
lost sinner, you have a seeking, saving Savior. He delights in
mercy. The scripture actually says that.
It never says he delights in wrath. But it says he delighteth
in mercy. He's more willing to give you
mercy than you are to receive it. And if you receive it, it's
his mercy that caused you to receive it. He delights in saving hell deserving
sinners because that is who he is. Now, if you don't look upon
yourself in that way, If you don't see yourself as described
in Genesis 6, 5, God saw the wickedness of man was great in
the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. If you don't see yourself that
way, you cut your own throat. If I don't see myself that way,
I shut the door of mercy on myself. You see the whole need not a
physician, but they that are sick. If you claim a higher position
than that of a sinner, that's not going to move him to compassion.
He is not going to be moved by that. God be merciful to me because
I'm really not all that bad. At least I'm not like so and
so. I'm better than they are. That's the prayer of the Pharisee.
God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are. Look at my
changed life. Look at how I merit your mercy
because of what I've done. And then we have that other man
crying, God be propitious to me, the sinner. Now, what we said about grace. Actually, I forgot to say it,
so let me say it. Here's what I wanted to say about grace.
It's all implied in everything I said, but God's grace is sovereign. He gives it to whom he will.
God's grace is free. There's nothing you do to earn
it. God's grace is saving. It's no offer. God's grace saves. But the same is true of God's
mercy. God's mercy is sovereign mercy. He said, I'll be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. Anybody has an objection to that,
you're cutting your own throat. You're saying you deserve it
in some way. God's mercy is sovereign mercy. God's mercy is free mercy. God's mercy is saving mercy. Now, grace, mercy, and here's
the final thought. The divine equation, grace, mercy. Here's the result of that. Peace. Peace from God our Father. and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the reason for God's peace
with me is because of His grace that's in His Son and His mercy
that's in His Son. He made my peace by His grace
and His mercy. Colossians chapter 1 verse 20
says, having made peace. Christ made my peace. He made
it. He did it all. I didn't have
anything to do with this. He did it. Having made peace
by the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things to
Himself. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth, things in heaven, and you that were before times
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath He reconciled. He has no reason to be mad in
the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. Now, peace from
two aspects. God is at peace with me. And I have peace because of Him
having peace with me. God's at peace with me. He's
not mad at me. You see, Jesus Christ was delivered
from my offenses, and He was raised again for my justification,
and I now stand before God as one who's never sinned, one who's
justified in His sight. He has nothing to be mad at,
nothing but peace. He's pleased with every believer
as He is with His Son. Now, the peace that God has toward
me, That gives me peace. He's not looking for anything
else. I've got it all in Christ. I'm complete in Him. I'm accepted
in the beloved. God is at peace with me. He's
not looking for anything else. I'm not missing anything. There's
nothing I need to do to help this out. He's a complete peace
with me, and that is what gives me peace. He is our peace. Now, I think of the words of
the Lord right before that 17th chapter of John that the Lord
prayed for his people. Right before that, you know,
the disciples said, now we know that We're not speaking in Proverbs. By this we know thou art come
of God. Lord said, do you now know? Do
you? Every one of you are going to
forsake me. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me you might have peace. In the world, you'll have
tribulation. be a good cheer. I have overcome
the world. These things have I spoken unto
you that in me." That's where the peace we have is. It's in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't this a beautiful equation? Grace. Mercy. The result of that is peace.
And this isn't just some man saying this. This grace and mercy
and peace is from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our
Savior. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
grace, your favor, your mercy toward us in the gospel
of your son. Lord, to think that you're at
peace with us through him. And Lord, truly, he is our peace. Having been justified by what
your son did, by faith, we have peace with you through our Lord
Jesus Christ. Lord, bless this message for
your glory and our good. We pray for your grace upon us,
your mercy upon us the rest of this week. the rest of our lives. And Lord,
enable us to be heralds of your grace and your mercy that is
in your son for Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen.