What is mercy? And that's what I would like
to attempt to preach on tonight, and I hope you'll pray for me
as I try to deal with this subject. What is mercy? I know this. I want mercy. Somebody once said, God's grace
in giving that to you has absolutely nothing to do with anything in
you. He does it simply because he
wills to do it. It's his nature. He's gracious.
But God's mercy is somehow his response to our misery. And so if I want God's mercy,
I'm not going to come saying, everything's great, give me mercy.
No, I'm not going to come that way at all. Oh, that God would
be our teacher as we consider this so important subject from
the word of God, what is mercy? In Romans chapter 11, Paul makes
this remarkable statement and he ends up with this response
to what he said. He said, oh the depth of the
riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable
are his judgments and his ways past finding out for who had
known the mind of the Lord or who had been his counselor. Who
is first given to him and it'll be reconvened, paid back to him
again for of him and through him and to him are all things.
I love it when Paul is dealing with something and all of a sudden
he just breaks out into praise like this. And there's not a
higher strain of praise anywhere in the Bible than here at this
first 11th chapter of Romans. And it was in response to what
he said about God's mercy. Now look back with me again in
verse 30. He says, for as you, he's talking
to the Gentiles, in times past, have not believed God. Now there was a time when you
did not believe. There was a time when you did,
there was a time when you didn't. Turn back to Romans chapter 10
for a moment. Brethren, verse one, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. Now, two things, very important. These folks he's talking
about were not saved. And number two, he wanted them
to be saved. He said, my heart's desire and
my prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For
I bear them record that they have a zeal of God. They're religious,
but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's
righteousness. They're ignorant of the character
of God. They're ignorant of the righteousness of God. They're
ignorant of the righteousness provided in the gospel. They're
ignorant of Christ's righteousness. And what proves it? They go about
to establish their own righteousness. And they've not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. And you know
when you believe? when you believe Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness. You actually believe he is your
personal righteousness before God. And before that, you do
not believe. What do believers believe? They
believe Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. Now, there was a time, Paul says,
when you didn't believe, back to our text in Romans 11, For as you in times past have
not believed God, I can't help but thinking about a time in
my life when I knew I didn't believe because I didn't even
know what it meant. And I remember thinking, what
in the world does it mean to believe? I would if I knew what
it meant. What does it mean to believe?
There was a time when you did not believe, yet have now obtained
mercy. Now, if you believe, here's one
reason. Here's the only reason. You've obtained mercy. God gave
you mercy, and he gave you the grace to believe. But now you've
obtained mercy through their unbelief. Now, what in the world
does that mean? Well, there was a time when God's mercy was only
for the Jews, and that's scriptural. Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter
seven. God says through Moses to his
people, Deuteronomy chapter seven. When the Lord thy God shall bring
thee into the land where thou goest to possess it, and has
cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites,
and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites,
and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou,
he cast them out. And when the Lord thy God shall
deliver them before thee, Thou shalt smite them, and utterly
destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with
them, nor show mercy unto them. Neither shalt thou make marriages
with them. Thy daughter thou shalt not give
unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
And here's how it come, for they will turn away thy son from following
me. that they may serve other gods.
That's what'll happen if that mixture takes place. So will
the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy thee
suddenly, but thus shall you deal with them, you shall destroy
their altars, break down their images, cut down their groves,
and burn their graven images with fire, for thou art an holy
people unto the Lord thy God. Just the Jews. The Lord thy God
hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all
people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not
set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in
number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people.
But here's why he did it, because the Lord loved you. And because
he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers,
that the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed
you out of the house of bondmen, from the house of Pharaoh and
the king of Egypt." Now, God's mercy was only for the Jews. You can see that from the scriptures.
You can argue with it if you want, but that's who God is.
And his mercy was only toward the Jews. Now, what did the Jews
do when they heard the gospel? They rejected the gospel. They
rejected Christ. They rejected their Messiah.
They rejected God. They rejected his mercy. They
didn't like it that way. And so you know what the Lord
did? He turned to me and you. Now it was his purpose to do
this all the time, I know that. But after the rejection of the
Jews, all of a sudden the gospel is wide open to the Gentiles. Verse 30, but as you have in
times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy
through their unbelief, even so, have these also now not believed,
they don't believe the gospel now, that through your mercy,
they're gonna see what I'm doing for you, and that through your
mercy, they may also obtain mercy. That's what I'm interested in,
obtaining mercy. Verse 32, for God hath concluded
them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. Now, you obtained mercy. Turn with me for a moment to
1 Timothy 1. Verse 12. And I thank Christ
Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me, for that he called me faithful,
putting me into the ministry, who before was a blasphemer and
a persecutor. He killed Christians and injurious,
but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
Now, is he saying the reason I obtained mercy was because
I really didn't know what I was doing and I didn't know any better
and therefore God had mercy on me because there wasn't a willfulness
to what I was doing? I was just acting in ignorance?
Of course not. Paul is saying, I was so ignorant,
I was so evil, I was so given over to unbelief that the only
way I could be saved is for God to have mercy on me. Verse 14,
In the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was exceeding abundant
with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. Everybody in this room ought
to rejoice in this. Now here's the best thing I've
ever heard. that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save. Who? Sinners. Aren't you thankful? Of whom,
Paul says, I am. Not I was. Of whom I am the chief. How be it For this cause, I obtain
mercy, the chief of sinners. Here's why God saved me, that
in me first, Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting. I'm a pattern. If God saves me,
the chief of sinners, He'll save the chief of sinners and he's
going to save people the same way he saved me by sovereign
grace. I'm a pattern. And you know,
I love to think about this because I really believe this. I can
say this with full conviction of my heart. I really believe
that when I get into heaven, I'm going to be the biggest example
there of how much salvation is by grace. And I dare say every
believer feels that way about themselves. I'm sure somebody's
thinking, you think you are? No, I am. But every believer
feels that way. Have no doubt about it. Oh, to
obtain mercy. Now back to our text in Romans
chapter 11. Well, go back to Romans chapter
nine. I want us to see about this thing
of being a vessel of mercy. Look in verse 18. Therefore,
hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will,
he hardens. And thou wilt say unto me, why
does he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but, O man, who are you to reply against God? Are you
in a position where you can say, I agree with what God does, or
I think of it as unfair? He said, You can't say that.
You can't sit in judgment on God. Who are you to reply against
God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump? to make one vessel
unto honor and another unto dishonor. What is God willing to show his
wrath and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction, that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he hath aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. He made us out
of the same lump. No difference between men. They
all come out of the same lump, Adam, and they're all entirely
in the potter's hand. That's the sovereignty of his
grace. Entirely in the potter's hand. What that means is the
only way I'm going to get mercy is if he gives it to me. Lord, give it to me. Have mercy
on me. And notice it's a vessel of mercy. You know what vessels are? They're
receivers. That's all they are. You pour
stuff into them. I want to be a receiver of his
mercy. And the fact that he was a vessel
of mercy says he was sinful and he needs the mercy of God. Now,
you don't do anything to get it. This is spoken of in the
passive voice. Now, what is the mercy of God?
I'm asking again, what is the mercy of God? Well, mercy. is
sympathy, it's pity. But more than that, it's sympathy
and pity with the power to do something about it. How many people do you feel sorry
for? And you have true sympathy and
empathy and your heart goes out to them and you see the state
they're in, but there's not a thing in the world you can do for them.
You're utterly powerless to do anything for them. You can watch
them, and that's it. You have not the power to do
anything for them. Well, God does. Turn with me to the book of Micah.
You know, God has said to delight in mercy. Nowhere does it say
He delights in wrath. It doesn't say He delights in
sending men to hell. Nothing like that in the Bible,
but it does say He delights in mercy. The book of Micah, right
after the book of Obadiah, there's Amos, Obadiah, and Micah. I want you to see this passage
of scripture. In verse 18 of Micah chapter 17, Micah says, Who is a God like unto thee? Verse 18, Micah chapter 7, verse
18. Who is a God like unto thee that
pardons iniquity? You know, God really does that. He pardons iniquity. Your iniquity
can be pardoned. He pardons iniquity. What a glorious
God. and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage, he retains not his anger forever,
because he delighteth in mercy. Do you hear that? God delights
in mercy. He will turn again. He will have
compassion on us. He will subdue our iniquities. Thou wilt cast all their sins
into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt perform the truth to
Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which Thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old. He delights in mercy, and He
has the power to bestow mercy and do something for that person
who needs mercy. That's who he is. Now, let me
say two things about God's mercy. I'm going to give an example.
As a matter of fact, it's the first time the word mercy or
merciful is used in the scriptures, and we can learn something about
what God's mercy is by that. But let me say two things about
God's mercy, or I'm failing to tell what mercy is. First, God's
mercy is sovereign mercy. That means it's utterly and entirely
up to him as to whether or not you'll have it. If I object to that, all I say
is that I don't believe God is fair and all of a sudden I have
become God's judge. Now that's a place where you
don't want to go. to all of a sudden become God's judge, and you make
statements, I don't think that's fair, I don't agree with that.
He's God, you're a sinner. He's holy, you're a sinner. You
and I have no right at all to make a judgment like that, but
thank God his mercy is sovereign mercy. You know what that means?
He has mercy. That's his character, that's his nature. And secondly,
not only is God's mercy sovereign, God's mercy is saving mercy. Every time he has mercy on someone,
you know what he does? He saves them. But God, Paul
said in Ephesians 2, 4, but God. Somebody once said that's the
definition of grace. I like that too, don't you? 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 by grace are you
saved. You see, his mercy is always
saving. Now, go back to Romans 11. Verse 31, even so have these
also now not believed that through your mercy, they're going to
see what God has done for you, that they may also obtain mercy.
For, verse 32, God hath concluded them all. A-double-a-l. And that word concluded is shut
up, put in jail. God hath concluded them all in
unbelief. How come? That he might have
mercy on all. Now you know that all is not
all without exception, because not all without exception will
be saved. But it's the same all as in 1
Corinthians 15, 22, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive. That all that's in Christ, and
it's a vast number, Every one of them have been concluded,
shut up, in unbelief and inability. There's nothing I can do to save
myself, not a thing I can do. I'm in jail, locked up, and I
can't get out. And you know what that has done?
That opens the door wide for mercy. You know, the only hope
somebody like that has is what? Mercy. You can't be saved by
your works. You can't be saved by what you
do. The only hope you have is mercy. And what a, what a glorious thing. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. We never thought of anything
like that, but he does. God delights in mercy. Now, I
think the most powerful example of mercy is found in the life
of Lot. Genesis chapter 19, as a matter
of fact, the first time the word mercy and the first time the
word merciful is used in the Bible is with reference to Lot
in Genesis chapter 19. If you want to know what God's
mercy is, You listen real carefully, and let's consider what God's
word has to say about this. Now Lot was the nephew of Abraham,
and if we didn't have the New Testament account of Lot, most
people conclude he wasn't saved, he didn't know God, or he wouldn't
act the way he did. You read his history beginning
in Genesis chapter 12, and he was a selfish, self-centered
man. He showed no deference to Abraham.
He took the well-watered plain instead of saying, Abraham, you
take what you want. You're the leader. He didn't
have any problem with strife. When there was strife between
Abraham and Lot's herdsmen, he didn't care. Abraham did. He
said, let there no be strife between us. But Lot didn't care
about it at all. He pitched his tent toward Sodom.
The decision that would bring a lot of grief into his life.
And by the time we get to chapter 19, he's living in Sodom. And
sitting at the gates means he had some kind of civic leadership
in Sodom. He was a politician. He'd won
office. He was somebody in Sodom. Now
would you turn with me to Genesis chapter 19? Here's Lot in Sodom. Verse 1. And there came two angels to
Sodom, and even, you remember that God had already determined
to destroy Sodom. He had said to Abraham, if there's
ten righteous men there, I won't destroy it. You remember Abraham
started out, what if there's 50? I won't destroy it for 50.
What about 40? What about 30? What about 20? What about 10?
And so on. He said, I won't destroy it for 10. And then Abraham He
said, okay. And so here comes these angels. And there came two angels to
Sodom and Eve, and Lot sat at the gate of Sodom. And Lot, seeing
them, rose up to meet them. And he bowed himself with his
face toward the ground. He knew these were angels of
the Lord. And he said, behold, now my lords turn in, I pray
you, into your servant's house and tarry all night and wash
your feet, and you shall rise up early and go on your way. And they said, nay, but we will
abide in the street all night. And he pressed upon them greatly.
Oh, please stay in my house. And they turned into him, and
he entered into the house, and he made them a feast, and he
baked unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay
down, the men of that city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the
house round about. both old and young, all the people
from every quarter. And they called unto Lot and
said unto him, Where are the men which came unto thee this
night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them. Now, you
know he wasn't talking about being introduced to them. These
this city was famous for homosexuality. That's where we get the word
sodomy and sodomites and so on. And let me say this, homosexuality
is sexual sin. I don't think it's a sin. It's
any worse than adultery or fornication or any other sexual sin. But
I do know this, life can't be produced from homosexuality. And I think that that is indicative
of what man's religion is. You have the act. but it can't
produce life. And these men were perverted
men. And they said, bring them out
that we may know them. Verse six, and Lot went out at
the door unto them, and shut the door after him. And he said,
I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold, now I have
two daughters, which have not known man. Let me, I pray you,
bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your
eyes. Only unto these men do nothing. For therefore came they
under the shadow of my roof. I don't even know what to say
about that. I mean, I just don't know what to say. Was he doing
the right thing? No. No, I don't think so. I've heard people justify him
in this. Can you imagine doing something like that? But you
see what a mess Lot had made of his life, that he would do
things like this. He had made a mess of his life.
Verse nine, and they said, stand back. And they said, again, this
one fellow, this is the men of Sodom, this one fellow came in
to sojourn and he will need to be a judge. Now we will deal
worse with thee than with them. And they pressed sore upon the
man, even locked, and came near to break the door. But the men
put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and
shut in the door. And they smote the men that were
at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great,
so that they wearied themselves to find the door. And the men
said unto the Lord, Hast thou here any beside, sons and laws,
and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the
city? Bring them out of this place, for we will destroy this
place. Because the cry of them is waxing
great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us
to destroy them. Remember, it said everybody was
there. All the people, both old and young, were participating
in this. And the angel says, We're going to destroy him. Verse
14, and Lot went out and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married
his daughters, and said, I'll get you out of this place, for
the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked
unto his sons-in-law. You see, he really, through his
conduct, lost all credibility with his family. He just seemed
as one that mocked. We can't pay attention to anything
you say. We're not concerned about what
you say. Verse 15. And when the morning
arose, then the angels hasten Lord saying, arise, take thy
wife and thy two daughters, which are here, lest thou be consumed
in the iniquity of the city. Verse 16. And while he lingered. He didn't want to leave. And he lingered, trying to stay
on, trying to hope somehow this wouldn't happen. While he lingered,
the men, the angels, laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand
of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord
being merciful. If you want to know
what mercy is, here Lord is lingering. He doesn't want to leave. And
I don't even know that he would have left if he would have been
left to himself. But what did the Lord do? He
had those angels grab him by the hand and yank him out. The Lord being merciful to him. Lord grabbed me by the hand and
yanked me out. Now that's mercy. He wasn't asking
for mercy. He was doing everything wrong
that could have been done. But the Lord was merciful unto
him. We're going to see why as we
go on reading. Now let's go on reading. While he lingered, the men laid
hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon
the hand of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful unto
him. And they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
And it came to pass, when they brought them forth, that he said,
Escape for thy life, look not behind thee, neither stay thou
in all the plain, escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
And Lot said, Oh, not so, my Lord. He's still trying to change
it. Not so, my Lord. Behold now thy
servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified
thy mercy, which thou showed unto me in saving my life. But
he goes back to himself. I cannot escape to the mountain,
lest some evil take me and I die. You have the angels with you.
Behold, now this city is near to flee into, and is it not a
little one? Oh, let me escape thither. Is
it not a little one, and my soul shall live? And he said unto
him, See, I've accepted thee, I've graced thee concerning this
thing also, that I'll not overthrow this city for which thou hast
spoken. Haste thee, escape thither, for I cannot do anything till
thou come thither. You know what the angel says? I can't destroy this city till
you're out. You see, God is determined to have mercy on you. I can't
destroy it. I've got to get you out of here
so I can destroy the city. Isn't that amazing? What grace? Go on reading. Therefore the
name of the city was called Zohar. The sun was risen upon the earth
when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom
and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
And he overthrew those cities and all the plain and all the
inhabitants of the city and that which grew upon the ground. But
his wife looked back from behind him and she became a pillar of
salt. There's been so much said about
that. And if I think of just the physical
temptation to look to see what was going on, if you knew that
fire and brimstone was going to come out of heaven and destroy
that city, wouldn't you be tempted to look back? Well, sure you
would. I'd want to see the fire come down from heaven, and I'd
want to see the destruction and so on. But the point is not so
much looking back. When you look back, faith is
always looking ahead to Christ. Not looking back at your works.
Not looking back at your life. No, faith is never looking back.
Faith is looking ahead to the Lord Jesus Christ. And what she
failed to do was to look to Christ. She looked back. Her heart was
still in Sodom. And she looked back. And she
was turned to a pillar of salt. Verse 27, and Abraham get up
early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord.
And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land
of the plain. And behold, lo, the smoke of
the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. What do you think
was going through his mind when he looked at that? He saw the
smoke coming up. And I know that this thought
must have first come to his mind. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? That's what he said in his argument. If there's any
righteous people, spare the city. He said, shall not the judge
of the earth do right? He felt fear. Scares me. I'd
be scared too. He felt humility. Why me? He
felt gratitude. And verse 29. And it came to
pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered
Abraham. and sent Lot out of the midst
of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. There was one reason why God
delivered Lot because of his connection with Abraham. And
beloved, there is one reason God will deliver me or you and
give us mercy because of our connection with our Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Be kind, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you. Verse 30, and Lot went up out
of Zohar and dwelt in the mountain and his two daughters with him,
for he feared to dwell in Zohar. He was such a fearful man. God
said, everything will be okay, but he still was afraid. And
he dwelt in the cave, he and his two daughters, and the firstborn
said unto the younger, our father is old and there's not a man
in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the
earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we'll
lie with him that we may preserve seed of our father. You know
the Bible is not family friendly, is it? I mean, some of these
stories are so seedy, but it's life. Verse 33, and they made their
father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and
lay with her father, and he perceived not when she lay down nor when
she rose up. And it came to pass on the morning that the firstborn
said unto the younger, behold, I lay yesterday night with my
father, let us make him drink wine this night also, and go
thou in and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
And they made their father drink wine that night also, and the
younger rose and lay with him, and he perceived not when she
lay down nor when she rose. Thus were both the daughters
of Lot with child by their father, and the firstborn bare a son,
and called his name Moab, and the same as the father of the
Moabites unto this day, and the younger she also bare a son,
and called his name Benamai, the same as the father of the
children of Ammon unto this day, and they were always problems."
So here we have the story of Lot. Lot, he was a self-centered
man. He was a worldly man. He was
an incestuous man. He was a drunken man. He was
a weak man. He was a greatly conflicted,
contradictory man, wasn't he? You read this chapter. What about
Lot? Now, turn to 2 Peter chapter
2. Verse six, and turning the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah, what we've just been reading about, into ashes,
condemn them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those
that afterwards should live ungodly. Now look at this description
of Lot. And delivered just Lot. vexed with the filthy conversation
of the wicked for that righteous man dwelling among them and seeing
and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their
own lawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust under the
day of judgment to be punished. Now, here's my question. Is this
talking about the same man? He's called just lot. He's called
that righteous man. He speaks of his righteous soul. And God, through the Holy Spirit,
through the pen of Peter, calls him a godly man. The Lord knoweth
how to deliver the godly out of temptations. Now, is this the same man that we
read about in Genesis? Yes, it is. The Old Testament
account is true, isn't it? You know what? The New Testament
account is true as well. Because Lot had obtained mercy. That's why. And how God sees
Lot is how Lot really is. He's just. He's justified. He's righteous. He has a righteous
soul. He's a godly man. Now, the Old
Testament account is true, no doubt. And the New Testament
account is true. But let me tell you something
about the Old Testament account. It's been blotted out. It's been blotted out. And this
is all God has to say about this man, Lot. Righteous. Godly, just Lot, that righteous
man. I want to close with this thought. Now, you see what God's mercy
does. You see what it did for Lot. Now, let me say this, and
I want you to listen to this very, very carefully. Do you
know what gets God's attention? The cry for mercy. It always gets God's attention.
He always hears this cry. Turn to Mark chapter 10. Beginning in verse 46. And they came to Jericho, and
as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number
of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side, begging. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth I don't have any doubt that this man had heard
that Jesus of Nazareth gave sight to the blind. And I don't have
any doubt that he believed he was the Messiah. Somewhere along
the line, when he was brought into the temple, he heard that
the Messiah would give sight to the blind. And in his mind,
in his heart, he said that, when he'd heard about Jesus giving
sight to the blind, he said, he's the Messiah. And he said
to himself, if he ever comes by this way, I'm gonna cry out
for mercy. Verse 47, and when he heard that
it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he
should hold his peace. You know, when you start crying
for mercy, you're going to have all kinds of reasons given to
you by your own conscience, by the devil, that there's no point
in it. There's no point in it. You're not gonna have mercy.
He's not gonna do anything for you. You're wasting your time. Well,
did that stop him? No, it says, but he cried the
more, a great deal. Thou son of David, have mercy
on me. And Jesus stood still. He was on the way to the cross
at this time. And there'd been all kinds of people calling His
name and saying all kinds of things to Him. And He'd set His
face like a flint. He was headed to the cross. But
something stopped Him in His tracks. The cry for mercy. Have pity. Have sympathy on me. Do something for me. Yank me
up. Have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still and commanded
him to be called. And they called the blind man,
saying unto him, Be of good cheer, arise, he calleth thee. And he,
casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. Now this is
one thing that you'll do when you ever come to Christ. You'll
cast away that filthy garment. That garment of righteousness
you're going to see is no good. You'll cast it away. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, what wilt thou that I should do unto
thee? Oh my, he didn't say, what will I do for you? He didn't
say, what will I do in you? He said, what will I do unto
you? The blind man said unto him,
Lord, I want to receive my sight. What if the Lord said, what shall
I do unto you? What would you say? And Jesus saith unto him, Go
thy way, you set free. Thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his
sight and followed Jesus in the way. Our merciful heavenly Father,
we come into thy presence in Christ's name. And Lord, our
cry is, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Oh, Lord, grant
us your mercy. May we be obtainers of thy mercy. Lord, we find such a likeness
in ourselves to Lot. But Lord, how we thank, how thankful
we are that there's mercy for Lot. and everybody like him,
for Christ's sake. Lord, have mercy on us, and give
each person in this room the grace to truly call upon thee
for mercy. Lord, we know that anybody who
calls for mercy, you hear, because you delight in mercy. How we
thank you for who you are, in Christ's name we pray, amen.
Wayne, what do you got? Ask me not. Ask me not.