If you turn back to Romans chapter
12, I'm awful excited about the Bible conference coming up this
weekend, and I imagine this goes without saying, but as the Lord
enables you, look for an open door to ask somebody that you
know to come and attend. Every message, the gospel's going
to be preached, and this is a good opportunity for us to bring other
people to hear the gospel. Tonight, I'm going to be speaking
on receiving the kingdom of heaven as a little child. Now, this is the seventh gift
mentioned, and they're all beautiful, but none more beautiful than
this. He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. not in a begrudging, narrow,
difficult, half-hearted with strings attached way, but with
cheerfulness, a prompt and willing joyfulness. He that showeth mercy
with cheerfulness. I think it's interesting that
Two things in the Bible that God tells us to do cheerfully
is to give and to show mercy. And those are such beautiful
things that we're called upon to do, to give and to show mercy. Now I've said before, and I want
to I'm always scared when I say this, because when I say the
most God-like thing we can do, I'm thinking nothing I ever do
is like God. I understand thinking that, and I want to be careful
when I say this. But still it's true, the most
God-like thing you and I can ever do is to forgive somebody. Now, this is just as true, the
most God-like thing you and I can ever do is to show mercy cheerfully. You know, it's said of God that
he delights in mercy. I don't know how much we believe
that, but the Bible says it. God delights in mercy. We don't read where he delights
in sending somebody to hell. You know, I do not like it when
preachers start talking about God sending somebody to hell
almost as if they like it. I mean, there's a sense in which
whatever he does is right, and we believe that, and we bow to
that, but God has never said to delight in sending somebody
to hell, but it does say he delights in mercy. Micah 7, verse 18. Now, for us to have any understanding
of this, we are going to have to have some true understanding
of what the mercy of God is. If we're to ever show mercy cheerfully,
we're going to have to understand just what the mercy of God is. Now, what is God's mercy? You know, it's always associated
with his grace. How many times did Paul say grace,
mercy, and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus
Christ? Now grace, somebody once said, is God giving us what we
do not deserve. And mercy is God not giving us
what we do deserve. Simplistic, maybe, but true,
yes, yes. Now God's reason for grace is
found only in himself. He doesn't give us grace because
we anything. He gives us grace because he's
gracious. And mercy is somewhat different
in this. Mercy is God being moved to pity
because of our misery, because of the trouble that our sin has
brought upon us. Mercy is God being moved by our
misery. Mercy is God not giving us what
we actually deserve. I've said that once, now let
me show you this from the scriptures. Turn to Psalm 103. I'd like you to
look at this with me. Verse 10. Here's as good a mercy
as you'll ever find in all the Word of God. This is as good
a definition of mercy. Verse 10 says, He hath not dealt
with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is His mercy. toward them that fear him." Don't
you love that verse? He hadn't dealt with us after
our sins. He hadn't given us what we deserved. He hadn't rewarded
us according to our iniquities. Now, when God identifies himself
to Moses, How does he identify himself? Let me read to you from
Exodus chapter 34. He's proclaiming his name. And
the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and
proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before
him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God. What's the first
description he gives of himself? Merciful. Merciful. Full of mercy. gracious, and long-suffering,
abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no
means clear the guilty." Mercy. That's the reason God saves.
Listen to this scripture, Ephesians 2.4, but God, he'd been talking
about us, and you hath he quickened who are dead in trespasses and
sins, wherein in times past you walked according to the course
of this world. according to the prince of the
power of the air, the devil, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lusts of the flesh and of
our mind. And we were by nature, children of wrath, just like
everybody else. But God, listen, but God who
is rich in mercy, he's got a lot of it. For the great love wherewith
he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ. By grace are you saved. God's rich in mercy. When the
Lord was rebuking the Pharisees for what they omitted, he said,
you pay tithes of mint and anise and cumin, but you've omitted
the weightier matters of the law. Judgment, mercy, and faith. Let's see if we can see what
the Bible actually teaches about the mercy of God. Now, He's rich in mercy, and
He delights in mercy. What does the Bible tell us about
the mercy of God, about Him not rewarding us according to our
iniquities, and not dealing with us after our sin? I love that.
That's the definition right there from Psalm 103, verses 10 and
11. But what does the Bible teach us about His mercy? Well, first,
turn to Romans chapter 9. I want you to look at these scriptures
with me. His mercy is sovereign mercy. That means He gives it to whomsoever
He will. Now His mercy, according to the
scriptures, is sovereign mercy. That's the only kind of mercy
there is. As a matter of fact, if I don't understand something
about the sovereignty of His mercy, I don't really believe
in mercy at all. I believe it's Him paying somebody
what He owes them. Now look at this scripture with
me. Romans chapter 9. beginning in verse 14. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Is God unfair? Now, why would
he have made that statement? Is God unfair? Asking that question.
Well, jump back to verse 11, for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand, not of works, But
of him that calleth, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve
the younger. As it's written, God said this, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Well, how are we gonna respond
to this? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I'll have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy. And whom he will, he hardens. God has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. Now, If I object to this, all
of a sudden, His mercy becomes something He owes us. He's obliged
to give us mercy. Now, if God is obliged to give
me mercy, if He owes it to me, if He should, if it's wrong for
Him to give mercy to one and pass by another, if that's the
case, I demonstrate something about myself. Number one, I prove
by that I really believe God owes me mercy. If I object to
him having mercy on one and passing by another as an act of his justice,
by that I am saying that I believe that God is obliged to give all
men mercy. It's kind of like when somebody
says, you ought to forgive me. Why? It's your duty to forgive
me. I thought you were a Christian. You ought to forgive me. What an
evil attitude. That's not the way to, I've used
it, you know, with Len's matter, you ought to forgive me. You
know, I mean, that's wrong. You don't, you don't, God, you ought
to have mercy on me. That's wrong. You don't have
that attitude. Matter of fact, you're not really
asking for mercy if you think that. And number two, when I
start saying I can't agree with God being sovereign in the dispensation
and His mercy, all of a sudden I become God's judge. All of
a sudden I'm sitting in judgment. Me, me, a sinful person sitting
on judgment of the thrice holy God saying, I agree with this,
but I don't agree with that. You don't want to go there. You don't want to go there. You
don't want to become God's judge. What hypocrisy for somebody like me
or you to sit in judgment on the God of glory. Whatever he
does is right, whether I understand it or not, and I'm to bow to
that. Now, if I don't preach sovereign
mercy, I'm not preaching mercy at all. God's mercy is sovereign
mercy. He gives it to whomsoever he
will. And secondly, according to the
scripture, His mercy is saving mercy. It's saving mercy. You see, one
thing God has never done, God has never offered anybody mercy. Mercy is not an offer. Mercy saves. not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Mercy always saves beloved. If he is determined, he's going
to have mercy on you. Nothing can stop it. Mercy always saves. I love when Lot was lingering
in Sodom. How horrible. But you know what
mercy did? Mercy grabbed him by the hand
and pulled him out, God being merciful to him. You see, his
mercy is the very reason he saves. His mercy. And remember, he delights
in mercy. Mercy is sovereign. If he's determined
to give it to you, you're going to have it. It always saves and
it's the reason for salvation. David said, make thy face to
shine upon thy servant. Save me for thy mercy's sake. He doesn't say save me because
of anything in me. He says, save me for thy mercy's
sake. David said in Psalm 51.1. Have mercy upon me, O God. according
to thy loving kindness, according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions. God's mercy, according to the
scripture, is eternal. The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting. Did you hear that? That means
it never had a starting point, and it will never have an ending
point. If he gives you his mercy, you've
always had his mercy. You've always been an object
of his mercy, and you always will be an object of his mercy,
because the mercy of the Lord, according to the scriptures,
endureth forever. It never had a starting point,
and it never has an ending point. And beloved, once again, that
is what the scripture teaches regarding God's mercy. Listen
to this. God's mercy is always operative. It's never dormant. It's always behind the scenes
working. David said in Psalm 94, 18, when
I said my footsteps slippeth, thy mercy, O Lord, help me up. Now, when's the last time you
were falling? You were actually knowing it's that instance before
you hit the ground and thud and you know you're falling and there's
not one thing you can do to stop it. And you feel so vulnerable
at that time. You feel so helpless. There's
absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. You're falling and
you know you're gonna hit. Now David said, when I said my
foot slippeth and he was falling, he said, even then thy mercy
held me up. All things work together for
good. to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose, his purpose of
mercy and grace. You see, like I said, mercy is
working behind the scenes. You know, when you're crying
for mercy, you ever do that? Oh, have mercy on me. When you're
crying for mercy, God's mercy has already preceded that. He's
the one causing you to cry. When you say, with David, I've
gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant." Do you know
he's already sought you out? That's why you're praying that
prayer. You see, his mercy precedes everything. Aren't you thankful
it's eternal mercy? That it never had a beginning
and it will never have an ending. You see, our hope of being accepted. Now I realize our hope, talked
about this in Sunday school, the one hope is that Christ died
for me. That's the only hope I have.
But it was God's mercy, grace, and love that sent the Son to
die. So we can just as easily say our hope is in His mercy. Listen to these scriptures. Let
thy mercy be upon me, O Lord, or let thy mercy be upon us,
O Lord, according as we hope in thee. Behold, the eye of the
Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. The Lord taketh pleasure in them
that fear him, in them that hope in his mercy. Now, anybody who
fears God, that has a true fear and reverential awe of God, the
fear of God that's the beginning of wisdom, hears their only hope,
his mercy. His mercy, him not giving me,
what I deserve. God's mercy in Christ is the
grounds of the believer's assurance, certainly in Psalm 138. David makes this claim in Psalm
138, verse 8. And I want to be able to speak
with the same assurance David says in verse 8, the Lord will
perfect that which concerneth me. Now he's talking about something
that's going to happen in the future. And he speaks with such
confidence. He says the Lord will perfect
that which concerns me. He's going to bring me to perfection.
This is going to happen. I'm going to be just like Christ.
The Lord is going to do it. He doesn't say He might do it.
He doesn't say I hope He'll do it. He says the Lord will perfect
that which concerneth me. How can you make such a claim,
David? Let's go on reading. That's why I know it's going
to happen. because His mercy is forever. It never began. It'll never end. And look at this next thing he
says, forsake not the works of thine own hands. He knew that
his salvation was the work of God's hand, not his own. He understood
that. He said, I'm the work of your
hands. Forsake not the work of your hands. Now that was his
reason for assurance. He could say with such confidence,
the Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. How do you know
David? Because his mercy endures forever
and my salvation is the work of his hands. Let me ask you
a question. Is your salvation the work of your hands or his?
Every believer knows the answer to that question. And we believe
that he's going to continue whatever it is that he has done. Now,
regarding mercy, being sinners needing mercy, Mercy is all we
find any satisfaction in. Let me repeat that. I want you to think about the
statement. Being sinners needing mercy? Mercy is all we find any
true satisfaction in. Moses put it this way, Oh, satisfy
us early with thy mercy. You see, if you put human merit
anywhere in the equation of salvation, Anything dependent upon me doing
something, I don't have any satisfaction. I don't have any peace. I don't
have any joy. I don't have any rest. And I
say with Moses, oh, satisfy me early with thy mercy. Jeremiah
put it this way. It's of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed. Because his compassions. Fail
not, great is thy faithfulness. You know, I can tell if God's
had mercy on a man. I can tell if he's had mercy
on you. Now somebody says, how can you
make that judgment? You can't look into my heart. I realize
that I can't see into your heart. I'm glad I can't. And I'm glad
you can't see into mine. I'm thankful that's something
that only the Lord can do. But that being said, turn with
me to Galatians chapter six. Galatians six. verse 16, and as many as walk according
to this rule, peace on them and mercy upon the Israel of God. Now, everybody who is walking
according to this rule They have the peace of God and they have
God's mercy showered upon them. What rule? Well, it begins in
verse 12 or verse 14. Paul says, but God forbid that
I should glory, that I should boast in, that I should have
confidence in God forbid that I should glory save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is one of the most important
verses in the Bible. Can you believe that? Glorying only in the cross. Now Paul, he was the man that
God brought into the third heavens and taught him the gospel directly. And he says, God forbid that
I glory in that. He's the man whom God made the chief apostle. And he said, God forbid that
I should glory in that. He's the man who wrote more scripture
than any other man. And he said, God forbid that
I should glory in that. What do you glory in, Paul? Only
one thing I glory in. Only one thing I have confidence
in. It's who Christ is and what he did. God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I glory only
in what Christ accomplished on the cross. That's all I have
confidence in. I don't have confidence anywhere else. Paul put it this
way in Philippians chapter 3 verse 3. We are the circumcision. worship
God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence
in the flesh. Now, somebody who glories only
in the cross. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world
is crucified unto me and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision avails anything, nor in circumcision, but a new
creation. and as many as walk according to this rule. Peace on them and mercy upon
the Israel of God. You know, there is not one instance
in all of Holy Scripture where somebody asked God for mercy
and was turned away. Now do you hear that? If you
ask God for mercy, you're going to have mercy. because there's
not one instance in all of God's holy word where someone asked
God for mercy and he said no. Now somebody may be thinking,
what about Esau? It says Esau sought repentance,
carefully, with tears, and he was rejected. Well, he wasn't
seeking mercy. He was seeking for his dad to
change his mind and give him the blessing. He never asked
for mercy. What about Judas? Judas was so
sorry over what he did, he went out and hanged himself. And which
one of us have not felt sorry for Judas in some respects, seeing
his grief over what had taken place? He never asked for mercy.
If he would have asked for mercy, he would have had mercy. You
see, anyone who asks for mercy is given mercy. That's the glory
of God's mercy. Now, if you come with the rope
around your neck, agreeing with God, taking sides with God against
yourself, not trying to vindicate and justify yourself, but asking
for mercy. Not expecting it the way some
people, like I said a few moments ago, expect forgiveness. You
need to forgive me. I mean, you're a Christian. You're supposed
to forgive me. No, you don't have that attitude about mercy.
You don't think it's an entitlement. You're like Bartimaeus. Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. If you come like Bartimaeus
did, you'll be received the way he was. If you come like the
leopard, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. You're going
to hear him say, I will. Be thou clean. And Jesus moved with compassion.
And that word compassion is the same word translated mercy. And
Jesus moved with mercy, reached forth his hand and touched him
saying, I will be thou clean. Now I have spent the majority
of this message talking about God's mercy. Because there's
no way we can understand anything about showing mercy cheerfully.
unless we understand something about what God's mercy actually
is. Now, I can tell you precisely
when a man or a woman will show mercy to somebody else cheerfully,
not in a begrudging, judgmental, self-righteous way, but cheerfully. It's when they have been shown
mercy. If you are ever shown mercy,
you will show mercy cheerfully. If a man ever sees that all of
his transgressions and sins and offenses and iniquities have
been forgiven, blotted out, canceled, put away so that they are no
more. If you ever see, and if I ever
see, God's mercy in Christ toward us, what Christ actually accomplished,
you will show mercy cheerfully. Now, in light of God's mercy
to you, we're gonna talk about me right now, I'm just gonna
talk about you. I'm included, but listen. In light of God's
mercy to you, How sinful you are. Not how you used to be,
but how you are right now. In light of God's mercy to you,
how full, how free, how bottomless, how boundless, How absolute has
God's mercy been toward you. His mercy is free. That means
you don't have to do anything to earn it. You don't have to
do anything to keep it. That's how free it is. It's full. It's never partial. He forgives
all your sins and all your iniquities. And it's everlasting. Therefore,
irreversible. You see, the mercy of God depends
on the eternal value of the Lord's atoning work on the cross of
Calvary. And that work is eternal. It never loses its power. It never loses its efficacy.
We sing that song, dear dying lamb, thy precious blood shall
never lose its power till all the ransomed church of God be
saved to sin no more. Listen to me. It won't lose its
power after that. You see, we'll be kept in heaven
because of the blood of Christ and God's eternal immutable faithfulness. That's why his mercy is forever. It's irreversible. Now, in light
of that, somebody does you wrong, it's gonna happen. And let me say this, you will
do others wrong. You will. But in light of God's
eternal mercy to you, hold a grudge? That's so ugly. refused to forgive,
unable to show mercy cheerfully in light of God's mercy to you? You know, when our Lord gave the
Beatitudes, one of the Beatitudes was, and this is the way every
believer is, blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy. Now, if I've obtained mercy,
you know what it's going to make me? Merciful. cheerfully so. And if I refuse to be merciful,
it's because I've never experienced or obtained mercy. You know that principle our Lord
teaches with regard to forgiveness. If you forgive not men their
trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you your
trespasses. The Lord said that. Now somebody
says, that sounds like works. Well, I don't know what it sounds
like, but it's so. It's so. You can wrangle with that if
you want, but the Lord said that. Now I realize the only reason
I'm forgiven is because he forgave me. It's not because I, he doesn't
forgive me because I forgive somebody. He forgives me for
Christ's sake. And if He forgives me, I will forgive. And if I
refuse to forgive somebody, all I prove by that is I've never
been forgiven. It's the same way with mercy.
If I'm ever shown mercy, I'll be merciful. And if I refuse
to show mercy, I prove by that I've never experienced
mercy. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
18. He that showeth mercy. What a
blessed gift in the church. He that showeth mercy. Let him
do it with cheerfulness. Actually enjoying doing it. It's
where we get the word hilarious from. He's laughing. He's so
happy to do it. Oh, I get a chance to show mercy. I get a chance
to forgive. What a blessing. What a blessing. Isn't this a beautiful gift?
And it is a gift. You know that the only way you
can do this is God gives you this gift to do it. It's his
gift. But what a beautiful gift it
is. It lines up so much with the gospel. But here in Matthew
chapter 18, beginning in verse 21, Then came Peter to him and said,
Lord, how shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him
or have mercy on him, same difference. Till seven times Jesus saith
unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until
70 times seven. That means all the time. Therefore
is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would
take account of his servants. And when he'd begun to reckon,
One was brought unto him which owed him 10,000 talents. Now, that is millions and millions
of dollars. It was a debt that he could not
possibly pay back. So what happened? Verse 25, but
for as much as he had nothing to pay, he couldn't pay back
half of it. He couldn't make installment
payments. He had nothing to pay. His Lord commanded him to be
sold and his wife and children and all that he had in payment
to be made. The servant therefore fell down
and worshiped him saying, Lord, have patience with me and I will
pay thee all. Now I put myself in the master's
place. This guy doesn't have anything. No way of getting anything. He
owes me millions of dollars, and yet he says, have patience.
I will pay thee all. Now, when I heard that, I would
have a tendency to say, throw the guy in jail. I mean, there's
nothing to it. But look at the master's words. Verse 27, then the Lord of that
servant was moved with compassion and loosed him, set him free
and he forgave him the debt. Now that's our Lord moved with
compassion. The reason is found in himself.
That word is actually mercy. The Lord was moved by mercy. and he set him free and he forgave
him the debt, but the same servant went out and found one of his
fellow servants which owed him 100 pence, $15. That's what it
would be in our day, $15. I got more than that in my wallet.
I got a lot more than you know about. I like what Jim Saliah used to
say, I got money I haven't even spent yet. And he laid hands on him, after
having experienced this, and took him by the throat, saying,
pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down
at his feet beside him, saying, have patience with me, and I
will pay thee all. And he could do it too. He could
come up with 15 bucks. I don't know anybody in this
room who couldn't come up with 15 bucks somehow. Somebody give it to
you. I'd give it to you, ask me. I'd give it to you. Maybe
not much more than that, but I'd give you 15. And when he would not, and he
would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should
pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw
what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto
their Lord all that was done. Then his Lord, after that he
had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave
thee all that debt, because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou
also, shouldest thou, is it not necessary, is it not absolutely
necessary that you also had compassion? That word compassion is the word
translated mercy. Should you have not also had
mercy on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And
his word was wrath. and delivered him to be the tormentors
until he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise
shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if you from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother
their trespasses. Matthew chapter 9. Verse 10, And it came to pass,
as Jesus said it, Meet in the house, Matthew's house. Behold,
many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his
disciples. And when the Pharisees saw, they said unto his disciples,
Why eateth your master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard, he said unto them, they that
be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But you
go and learn what that meaneth. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Now he tells these Pharisees,
you go and learn what this means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. Now is he demeaning the sacrifice
of Christ? No, he's not even talking about
the sacrifice of Christ. Men think that in order to come
into God's presence, they have to come up with some sacrifice
of their own. He said no. I'll have mercy, not sacrifice. Now, mercy is the Christian message,
isn't it? And mercy is the Christian manner. Be ye therefore merciful, merciful,
even as your heavenly Father is merciful. Isn't that beautiful? He that showeth mercy with cheerfulness. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
mercy. And Lord,