Would you turn back to James
Chapter 2? While you're turning there, I would like to ask you
to pray for me. With regard to preaching, I have
more anxiety about it than I've ever had. I don't know if that's
the right word, but I don't want to preach my thoughts on the
Scriptures. I want to preach His Word. So
I covet your prayers that the Lord would enable me to do that. I've entitled this message, Mercy
Rejoicing Against Judgment. Let's read verse 13 again. For
he, God, shall have judgment without mercy to that one that hath showed
no mercy. and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Now what's that mean? Just what
it says. If I refuse to be merciful, I
will have no mercy from God. It's very much like when the
Lord said, If you forgive not men their trespasses, neither
will your heavenly Father forgive you their trespasses. Now those
are scriptures. What does it mean? Exactly what
it says. Now I love this word rejoice.
Mercy rejoices against judgment. It means literally it triumphs
over. It exalts over. rejoices, it glories over. Now if you and I have experienced
God's saving mercy, well that's what I want, don't you? I do
not want to have that judgment without mercy. I want to be saved
by the sheer free mercy of God. Now if you've experienced God's
mercy, But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ." If you've experienced God's mercy,
you will be a merciful person. You will be. In the Beatitudes,
the Lord said, blessed, blessed by God. God's done something
for this person. Blessed be the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Now, if I refuse to show mercy, when
I'm talking about that, I'm even talking about cheerful mercy.
He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness, not in a begrudging way, not
in a way that you're just doing your duty, but enjoying it, being
cheerful in it. If I refuse to be merciful, the
Heavenly Father will not be merciful to me. The Lord said to his people,
be ye merciful, even as your Heavenly Father is merciful. Mercy is God's beauty. Now when he describes himself,
what is the first word he uses to describe himself? The Lord,
the Lord God, merciful and gracious. Long-suffering, abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin. and that will by no means clear
the guilty. When God describes himself, the
first word he uses in describing himself is merciful. Merciful. That's the beauty of
God and it's the beauty of the believer too. I love the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit. They don't have anything to recommending
to God. They're poor. They're bankrupt.
Blessed are they that mourn. They mourn over their sin. It's
a grief to them. Before God they mourn. Blessed
are the meek. Meek before God. Blessed are
they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the
merciful. I want to be a merciful person,
don't you? Now, grace is God giving you
what you don't deserve, and mercy is God not giving you what you
do deserve. I want both of those, don't you?
I want God to give me what I do not deserve, and I want God to
not give me what I, in fact, do deserve. And I feel that way
more strongly than I ever have. I want grace and I want mercy. Now mercy is theoretical until
you've experienced what's said in verses 9 through 11 of James
chapter 2. Look in verse 9. But if you have
respect to persons, you commit sin and are convinced
of the law as transgressors. Transgressors of the law. Now remember, sin is the transgression
of the law. That's what John says in 1 John
chapter 3 verse 4. What is sin? Sin is the transgression
of the law. Thou shalt have no good of gods
before me. The commandment regarding idolatry
and taking his name in vain and the Sabbath. I think it's interesting
how people like to post the Ten Commandments. They always just
totally avoid the Sabbath day. You're to be stoned if you don't
keep it right. But honor your father and mother. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt
not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not bear false witness. Thou shalt not covet. The Ten
Commandments, God's holy law, sin is the transgression of the
law, and if you respect persons, you are convinced of the law
as a transgressor. Now this is what this means,
verse 10. He gives us a theoretical hypothetical situation, not theoretical,
hypothetical. For whosoever shall keep the
whole law, and yet offend in one point, He is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit
adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery,
yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. And
if you break one commandment, you're guilty of breaking all
of them. Now, like I said, this is a hypothetical
situation. Is there anyone here that's kept
nine out of ten? Even one out of ten? No, we've
broken them all and we're convinced as transgressors of the law. Now that person who is a transgressor
of the law, that he is guilty of everything, that he hasn't
kept one commandment one time, this is the transgressor of the
law. Why? He's been guilty of putting anything
before God and he knows it. He's been guilty of false ideas
of God and idolatry. He's been guilty of irreverence.
He believes himself to never rest. He's dishonoring to his
parents, to all authority. He believes himself to be a murderer
and an adulterer and a liar and a thief. eaten up with covetousness. Now that is the transgressor
of the law. He's all those things and that's
how he sees himself to be. He is guilty of A-double-L-all. That man needs mercy. That man is a candidate for mercy. Verse 11, For he that said, Do
not commit adultery, also said, Do not kill. Now if thou commit
no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become. And that word
become is in the perfect tense. You know what that means? That's all you are, completely. You've become a transgressor
of God's holy law. Now verse 12, So speak ye and so do as they
that should be judged by the law of liberty. Let your words and actions bear
in mind that you will be judged by the law of liberty. Now everyone
who sees themselves as nothing but a transgressor of the law.
They've broken every commandment every time. That's it. You know what law that person
is going to be judged by? The law of liberty. Everyone, they're going to be
judged by the law of liberty. What a wonderful name for the
gospel, the law of liberty. Look back at James chapter 1,
verse 21 or 22. But be ye doers of the word,
and not hearers only. deceiving your own selves. Now,
if you're a hearer only, that means you don't believe the gospel.
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like
unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass, in a mirror. For he beholds himself, and he
goes his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man
he was. He saw his deformity, his sinfulness
in the mirror, But he didn't stay there. He leaves. And he
forgets what manner of man he was. Now when you forget you're
a sinner, you can't hear the gospel. When you forget you're
a sinner, you can't read the Bible. You don't have any understanding. There's no understanding of the
gospel apart from this thing of seeing what I am. Now look
in verse 25. But whoso looketh into the perfect
law of liberty, And that word, look, bears with it the idea
of stooping down and peering into and keeping your mind on
it, your eyes on it. But who so looketh into the perfect,
complete? The gospel is complete. You believe
the gospel, you don't have any parts missing. You're complete
in Him. You're perfect in Christ Jesus.
It's the perfect law of liberty, law of freedom. Stand fast in
the freedom wherewith Christ hath made you free and don't
you be entangled in that yoke of bondage. Now that's what it
is to look into this law of liberty and be judged by this law of
liberty. I love that scripture in John 8, 36. If the Son make
you free, you're free. Indeed, in reality free. Now looking into that perfect
law of liberty. And the only way you do that
is if you look to Christ only. You don't look within for assurance.
You don't look to your works for assurance. You look completely
out of yourself. The only place you're going to
get liberty, the only place you're going to get freedom is by looking
completely away from yourself and believing that what Christ
did is all that's needed to make you perfect before God. Now that's
looking into the perfect law of liberty. And you're not looking
anywhere else. You're looking to Christ only.
You're not looking to your evidences or the sweet token you all just
sung about. You're not looking to your feelings
or your works. You have all that stuff, but
you don't look to it. You look to Christ only. You find your
rest only in Him. Now that is the only thing that
gives liberty. And the only thing that gives
liberty is looking to Him only. And the only thing that gives
liberty is being like him, being merciful. You're going to be
a miserable person if you're not a merciful person. But oh,
how happy and how loved that merciful person is. Now, you
make sure your words and actions correspond with the law of liberty.
Don't look to yourself. Don't look within. Good or bad,
look to Christ only. And let me tell you something.
I want you to listen to this statement real carefully. The
only time you look to Christ only is when he really is all
you have. all you want and all you need. That's the only time you're looking
to Christ only when He is all you have. And don't put your brother under
the law. Don't hold him to a different standard than you do. Be somebody
that's, remember, you're going to be judged by the law of liberty.
Do the same thing with your brother. Don't be his judge. Don't give
him a higher standard than you give yourself. Don't do that.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Now,
having experienced mercy, be merciful. Merciful. Now, look
at verse 13. For he shall have judgment without
mercy, that hath shewed no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment. Now
that is a... If I refuse to be merciful, what's
that say? It means I won't have any mercy. That's exactly what it says.
If you ever experience the mercy of God, I know this. If I ever
experience the mercy of God, I know this. I will be merciful. You can't look down your nose
at anybody. You can't be too harsh toward
anybody. If you really have experienced the mercy of God, you believe
yourself to be the chief of sinners, and you're so thankful for the
mercy you've experienced, and you will be merciful. It's the
same way with forgiveness. If I don't forgive, I'll not
be forgiven. We're taught to pray. Now think
of this. We're taught to pray. Forgive us. as we forgive those
that are indebted to us. Forgive us our debts in the same
way we forgive those who have sinned against us. Now, the Lord
teaches us to pray that way. You know, the most God-like thing
that me or you could do is to, from our hearts, forgive somebody
completely. And the most hypocritical thing
we can do is fail to forgive or to hold a grudge and hold
somebody's feet under the fire. Now, what does it mean to be
merciful? What is this thing of showing
mercy? He says he shall have judgment without mercy. on that
person who shows no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment.
What does it mean to be a merciful individual? Well, first of all,
merciful to men's souls by preaching the gospel to them. Now, that's
why I'm always asking myself the question, what is the gospel?
I want to preach the gospel. I can't be merciful to anybody's
soul if I'm not preaching the gospel to them. I don't want
to have the word of Todd or my own opinion or simply what I've
been taught. I want God to be my teacher and
I want to preach the gospel. I want to be a fisher of men.
The Lord said, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
I want people to enter into the joy of the liberty that's in
Christ Jesus. Don't you want people to know
the joy of trusting Him as their only righteousness before God?
You think of the joy that gives you? Well, it'll give them joy
too. And we're merciful to men's souls when we preach the gospel. And that's why it's so evil to
not preach the gospel. Nobody will be saved apart from
the gospel of God's grace. I want to preach the gospel.
And the only way I'm going to be merciful to you or anybody
else is if I preach the gospel to you, what you need is the
gospel. What I need is the gospel. And I am failing to be merciful
if I fail to preach the gospel. Paul said, woe unto me, woe unto
me, if I preach not the gospel. Now, the first way we're merciful
to men is by preaching the gospel to them, being merciful to their
souls. But the second way that we're merciful to men is being
merciful to men's characters. Think about what I said, being
merciful to men's characters. Now, what does that mean? How do you want to be treated? How do you want people to view
you? Do you want people speaking evil
of you? Trashing your character? Judging you harshly? And not
giving you the benefit of the doubt? Putting you under the
law and policing you? Is that what you want? No, you
don't want that. Well, do unto others as you would
have them do unto you. And that's what it means to be
merciful to a man's character. How do you want to be treated?
Now, the thing that is... I don't know how to say this. I
guess I'm going to say none of us have much character. Isn't
that true? Isn't that true? But shouldn't
we be gracious toward each other and merciful toward the characters?
Because in a sense, every believer does have character. But in a
sense, they got the Holy Spirit. They got the new nature. They
got greater he that's in you than he that's in the world.
And we should view one another as God sees us. How's that? Perfect in Christ Jesus. And
that's what it is to be merciful toward men's characters. Not
always trashing them and not always looking for the faults
and just, oh, I hate being that way. When I see myself just being
critical and judgmental and harsh, it's not right. It's not right.
Every one of us should be merciful towards men's characters. And
thirdly, here's another way to be merciful to men. Be quick
to forgive. Be quick, no matter what anybody's
done to you. Be quick to forgive. I don't care what somebody's
done. What they've done to you is not anywhere near as bad as
what you've done to the Lord, is it? You believe that? I don't care what anybody says.
I don't care how wrong. I've been abused before. I've
been misused. I realize that. People are going
to, but you know what? Forgive. Forgive. It's the most God-like thing
you can do. And it's so refreshing to be enabled from your heart
to forgive someone for what they've done. Now listen to this scripture.
Be kind. Ephesians 4.32. Be kind. Tenderhearted. Forgiving one
another even as God, for Christ's sake, forgave you. There's only
one reason God needed to forgive you. It wasn't because you asked
for forgiveness. It wasn't because you were sorry.
It wasn't because you promised to never do it again. He did
it for Christ's sake. And that's the same reason I'm
to forgive you, and you're to forgive me, for Christ's sake. Boy, it's a blessed thing to
be unable to forgive. I hope nobody's thinking, well,
I hope so-and-so hears this. They need to forgive me. No,
I don't have that attitude. If you think somebody needs to
forgive you, you've got a rotten attitude. That's not the way
it works. The one who's concerned about
forgiving is I want to be the forgiving one. So how can I be
a merciful person? By being a forgiving person.
And fourthly, How can I be merciful? By loving my enemies. Turn to Luke chapter 6. The Lord
says much more than I could ever say about this statement. Verse 27, But I say unto you,
which here not everybody hears, Love your enemies, Luke 6, 27. Do good to them which hate you.
Bless them that curse you. And pray for them which despitefully
use you. And unto him that smiteth thee
on the one cheek, offer also the other. And unto him that
taketh away thy cloak, forbid him not to take thy coat also.
Give to every man that asketh of thee. And unto him that taketh
away thy goods, ask them not again. And as you would that
men should do unto you, do you also to them likewise. For if
you love them which love you, what thank have you? And that
word is grace. The same word usually translated
grace. If you love them that love you,
what graces are there? For sinners also love those that
love them. And if you do good to them which do good to you,
what grace have you? For sinners also do the same.
And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank
have you? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much
as again. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping
for nothing again. And your reward shall be great,
and you shall be the children of the highest. For he is kind
unto the unthankful, and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful,
as your Father also is merciful." God is merciful. As a matter of fact, think of
this scripture. Scripture says in the book of Micah, he delighteth
in mercy. Doesn't anywhere say delights
in wrath, doesn't say delights in hell, but it says he does
delight in mercy. Saving mercy, the beauty of God. He's called the father of mercies.
And you know what? There has never, ever been a
man who sought mercy that he said no to. If you seek mercy, you will receive
mercy. There's no one in the history
of the universe that's ever sought mercy. And he said, nope, you're
not one of the elect. Nope, nope. Hadn't happened. I think the story of Bartimaeus
is the story of every believer. What did he want? Mercy. Mercy. Have mercy on me. And you know what else he knew?
He knew who Christ was. He's the son of David. Now here's
two things that are very important. I need to know what I need is
mercy. Not payment for my works, but pure, free, sheer mercy. And I need to know who Jesus
Christ is. He's the son of David. He's God's
Christ. Now, Jesus, thou son of David,
have mercy on me. And the crowd tried to hush him
up. Bartimaeus, hold your peace. You're bothering everybody. But
you know what Scripture says? He cried the more, a great deal. Have
mercy on me. And you know, that is a cry the
Lord always hears. He commanded him to be called,
and the scripture says, he arising threw away that garment that
represents his own righteousness. I know this, if you and I ever
come to him for mercy, we're going to throw away our garments
and we're going to come to him in our nakedness. He threw away his
garment and the Lord said unto him, what would you that I should
do unto you? He said, Lord, that I might receive
my sight. Receive thy sight. Go thy way. Thy faith has made thee whole. He set him free. Go your way.
That's liberty. And what did he do? He followed
Jesus in the way. mercy rejoices against judgment. Turn with me to Psalm 103 for
a moment. I want to see if you can hear mercy rejoicing against
judgment, exulting, exulting. I don't know, this is probably
not the way to put it, but you, like an athlete, trash-talking.
You know, I'm better than you. I've got the win over you. And
I want to be very reverent when I say that because, of course,
one attribute of God doesn't speak bad to the other, but still
this word is a word of glorying and exalting. I'm just happy. Look at Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that's within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth
all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth
thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness
and tender mercies. who satisfies thy mouth with
good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The
Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses,
his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither
will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Aren't you
thankful? For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great
is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east
is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgression
from us, like as a father pitieth his children. So the Lord pitieth
them that fear him, for he knoweth our frame. He remembereth it
were dust. As for man, his days are as grass,
as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind
passes over it, and it's gone, and the place thereof shall know
it no more, but the mercy of the Lord." Now get this, I don't
think I've ever seen this in this light. The mercy of the
Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. It never had a beginning. You've
always had it. And it will never have an ending. What precious mercy. But the
mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that
fear him and his righteousness unto the children's children.
Titus 3, 5 says, not by works of righteousness, which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us. Psalm 86, 5, for
thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy
unto all that call upon thee. Lamentations 3, 22, it's at the
Lord's mercies that we're not consumed, because thy compassions
fail not. Deuteronomy 4, 31, For the LORD
thy God is a merciful God. He will not forsake thee, nor
destroy thee, nor forget the covenant he made with the fathers.
And you know, the person I thought about was Lot. What an example.
Lot, he stays in Sodom, and I don't know if he would have left. God
said, I'm going to destroy this place, and there he lingers. And what does the Scripture say?
Those angels took him by the hand and pulled him out, the
Lord being merciful to him. Now that's the kind of mercy
I need. When God saw the fall of our
race and Christ stood as our surety,
Mercy rejoiced over judgment. When Adam fell and goes off and
hides in the garden, and the Lord comes after him.
He didn't come after the Lord. He didn't seek mercy. He didn't
ask for forgiveness. He didn't confess his sins. All
he does is hide. And the Lord comes after him.
Adam, where art thou? But oh, how mercy rejoiced over
judgment when we were given the first gospel promise. And then
the Lord slew that lamb and clothed Adam, got rid of his fig leaves
and gave him a real covering. Mercy rejoiced against judgment. When God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, but, but,
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Mercy rejoiced over
judgment. When God called Abraham out of
idolatry, mercy rejoiced over judgment. When Joseph said, you
meant it for evil to his brothers, but God meant it for good. Mercy
rejoiced, exulted over judgment. When God said, when I see the
blood, I will pass over you. Mercy rejoiced over judgment. When the word was made flesh,
And he came to this earth. And I love that scripture in
John 3, he says, he came not to condemn the world, but the
world through him might be saved. He didn't come to condemn anybody.
Everybody already was condemned. He came to save. When he said,
lo, I come in the volume of the book, it's written of me. I delight
to do thy will. That was mercy, rejoicing against
judgment. And the most awful judgment to
ever take place that glorified God's justice so gloriously when
Christ was made sin and bore the sins of his people. At that
time, mercy was rejoicing against judgment. Now, He'll judge without mercy. that one who has showed no mercy.
I don't want to be in that crowd, do you? But mercy rejoiceth against
judgment. Oh, may you and I be merciful,
even as our Father which is in heaven is merciful. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
freeness of your mercy. How we thank you that salvation
is not by our works, but by your mercy. Lord, we stand amazed
that you would have mercy upon us. We didn't seek it. We didn't ask for it. We were
happy without it. And in your mercy, you came to
us. By your rich mercy, even when
we were dead in sins, you quickened us together with thy son. And
Lord, we cry, by grace we are saved. Lord, we thank you for
sovereign mercy. We thank you for saving mercy.
Lord, we don't want anything else but your pure, free, sheer
mercy. And Lord, that's so beautiful
in your character, your mercy. And Lord, we ask that you would
make us merciful men and women. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
We got Matt?