Let's turn back to the book of
Micah. Sharon Greenleaf's father passed
away yesterday, so everybody remember that family in prayer
there. I was thinking there's six people sitting here tonight
who've lost their parents very recently, and we'll be remembering
them. I've entitled the message for
tonight, He delights in mercy. And when I was thinking about
just that statement, the thought occurred to me, how much do I
really believe this? That he delights in mercy. How much do I really believe
this? He delights. He finds it his pleasure. to show mercy. Micah said, who is like unto
thee? And the answer is no one and
no thing. Regarding a likeness of God. We read regarding the second
commandment, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or
any likeness of anything that's in heaven above, or that's in
the earth beneath, or that's in the water under the earth.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them. For I,
the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Visiting the iniquity of
the father's upon the children under the third and fourth generation
of them that hate me. Now to make a likeness of him
is to hate him, he says. And any supposed likeness of
him would necessarily be derogatory, wouldn't it? Moses said in Exodus
15, 11, who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods. Glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Who's like him? No one. He said of himself, I
am the Lord and there's none else. I formed the light. I create darkness. I make peace. I create evil. I, the Lord do
all these things and there is none else. He said, I am the
Lord and there's none else. I am the God. And there's none
like me declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient
times, the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall
stand and I will do all my pleasure. The Lord is utterly unique. There's no one like him. It's
there. God is spirit. He doesn't have a physical body
like you and I. That means he's simple. He's not made of parts. We're
part this and part that, not God. He's utterly simple. He's utterly infinite. He's omnipotent,
all powerful. He's omnipresent. You can't go
anywhere where he's not. He's omniscient. He's never learned
anything. He knows all things. He's eternal. He never had a beginning. He'll
never end. He's sovereign, utterly independent. Is anyone else like that? No. God is utterly unique. There's none like him being spirit. He is invisible, but that does
not mean he cannot be seen. And in this passage of scripture,
we have a beautiful portrait of him. He is seen. in how he saves his people. The way you and I will know what
God really looks like is by seeing how he saves his people. Notice it speaks in verse 18,
who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passes
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage. It's what Paul
called the election of grace, a remnant according to the election
of grace. And God's people are called his
heritage, his portion, his inheritance. That's an amazing thing to think
that I'm the Lord's heritage. I'm his inheritance, but his
people have, according to this passage of scripture, iniquity,
transgression, and sins. And while these are all horrible
evils, there is much we would not know of God. without these
things. I mean, if we, if we didn't have
these things, there's so much, we just wouldn't even know of
his character, but God manifests his character
in the salvation of his people. And now I want to say this as
carefully as I can, but the Lord's happy. I say that reverently, the Lord's
happy. He's in need of nothing to make
him happy. He didn't create man because he needed him, but because
he was pleased to do so, to make known his glorious person. And
the way he makes himself known is the salvation of his people.
He has a special people, his elect. And these people are no
different than anyone else by nature, if anything, the worst.
filled with iniquity and transgressions and sins, but they are his heritage,
his portion. And he makes the beauty of his
character known through the salvation of his people. Now look at the
first thing that said about this one who cannot be compared with
anyone or anything else, who is a God-like unto thee that
pardoneth iniquity. And this is the first thing that
said of God. He forgives sin. He forgives sin. This God who
is absolutely holy of two pure eyes to behold iniquity, this
God of inflexible justice, this God who said, I will by no means
clear the guilty, says He forgives sin. He pardons iniquity. Now I have heard, and I have
even myself found fault with the Lord for not pardoning everybody's
sin. He could, why didn't he do it?
Why didn't he just save everybody? You ever thought that? Why did
he only elect some? Why didn't he go ahead and elect
everybody? He could have. But you know, when we think things
like that, and we do, or at least I know I've been guilty of thinking
things like that, sitting in judgment on God. What we say
is we're more merciful than God. That's what we say when we make
a statement like that. And the fact of the matter is, is if salvation
was up to me or salvation was up to you, no one would be saved. Not even one. You say we would
have a limit to our forgiveness. You can sit against me one time,
seven times, 10 times, or maybe up to the 467 millionth time,
I might say enough is enough. All of us would, all of us would,
that's the way we are, but not the Lord God. He doesn't have
the limitations we have. He forgives sin. Truly His forgiveness is divine. Forgiveness is God-like, it's
of God. He first thing said about this
glorious God is he forgives sin. I'm so eternally thankful for
that, to think that my sin is forgiven. And here's how he forgives
sin. Look what it says next. He passeth
by in verse 18. He passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage. Here's how he does it. He passes
their sin by. Now, do you remember what God
said in the Passover? He said, after that, the blood of that
Paschal lamb was slain, the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
lamb without spot, without blemish, perfect lamb, slain, blood put
over the door. And God said, I'm going to pass
through the land of Egypt. And he said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. He passes by. the remnant of
his head, the iniquity of the remnant of his heritage. Now,
what was God looking for? He said, when I see the blood, he didn't say, when I see your
faith, he didn't say, when I see your sorrow, he didn't say, when
I see your repentance, he didn't say, when I see your love, he
didn't say, when I see your intentions to do better, he said, when I
see the blood, I will pass over you." What was
he looking for? Blood. Who had to see the blood? Very simple question. He didn't
say, when you see the blood. He said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. Not when
you see it, but when I see it. Were there any exceptions? When
I see the blood, I will pass over you with the exception of
this case or that case. No. When I see the blood, this
is God's word. When I see the blood, that's
all he was looking for. That's all that was needed. I
will pass over you. The reason sin can be forgiven
is because it is passed over. Look what he says next. It says
he passes by the remnant. the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage, he retaineth not his anger forever." He retains not his anger forever. You see, the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ made it to where his anger can't be retained.
You know, I love this verse of Scripture. It gets bigger the
more I think about it. It says, if we confess our sins,
He is faithful and he's just to forgive us of our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now here's what I really love
about this. His forgiveness is not a response to our confession. His forgiveness is a response
to his own faithfulness and justice. Now that's what the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ did. He's faithful to forgive our
sins because he's the one who put our sins on the lamb in the
first place. And he's the one that passed
them by. He's just, he does it in a way to honor his justice.
He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins. And that's why sin's
forgiven. And then it says next, he retaineth
not his anger forever. Now, You reckon the Lord's ever been
mad at me or you? I guarantee you he has. I guarantee he's
been. The thing David did displeased
the Lord. Don't in any way think that our
sin is a matter of indifference with him. It's not. The thing
that that scripture, the thing David did displeased the Lord.
And you look at the sorrow David brought on his heart because
of his disobedience and rebellion. Look at the problems that brought
in his life. Plenty of them. The Lord told
him, the sword's never going to depart from your house because
of this. But he retaineth not his anger
forever, because there's nothing for him to be angry about. All you can do is believe that.
You can't understand it. But it's called justification. Yes,
my sin is real. Yes, my sin is grievous. Yes,
the Lord is displeased with my sin. He's displeased with any
act of disobedience I have. You can't sin without consequence
in this life. I mean, there's no way you can
get around it. I mean, sin is such an evil thing. But that
being said, every believer is justified. The Lord doesn't have
reason to stay mad because there's nothing for him to be mad at.
I stand before God without guilt. Just that concept, it's hard
to get a hold of because I'm aware of my sin. To some extent,
I'm aware of my sin right now, and yet I'm aware of the fact
that I am without sin before God justified. He retaineth not
his anger forever because just because of justification. And
here's why here's the statement that he retained is not his anger
forever because he delighteth in mercy. Now that's our God. He delighteth
in mercy. This is his nature. He delights
in mercy. He takes pleasure in mercy. He takes pleasure in not giving
men what they deserve. It's part of his goodness. He
said, I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. It's his
nature. God delights in mercy. And if
we're like him, we'll delight in mercy too, won't we? Now turn
back to Micah chapter six, verse eight. Let me say, I looked over my
notes the first time I preached from this passage of scripture,
and it's been almost 30 years ago when I first preached this
passage of scripture. And, uh, I didn't much know what
it meant. I looked at my notes and I shuddered
at it. Um, he has showed the old man what is good and what
does the Lord require thee, but to do justly. And, uh, I said,
the Lord always requires us to do what's right. And I wouldn't,
I wouldn't deny that he does require us to do what's right,
but it doesn't say to, to know we ought to do what's right,
but it says to do justly. To do not to know you ought to
do justly, but to do justly. And how do I do justly? If I'm
justified, if I'm justified, I do justly. I kept the law perfectly. It wasn't just chart. I did it.
If the Lord did it, I did it. So in this requirement, I meet
this requirement, but look what he says next. He says to do justly
and to love mercy. As God is my witness, I love
mercy. I love being saved by the mercy
of God, the sheer, free, sovereign mercy of God. I love mercy. I
really do. And I love being merciful. You know, the Lord said, blessed
be the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. That's a part of
the character of someone who knows the mercy of God. To love
mercy, to do justly. And if I'm in Christ, I've done
justly. I've never sinned. That's what
it means. I've never sinned. I've done justice. I've always
done what's right. And I've never done that which
was wrong, which is exactly what the Lord did. And if he did it,
I did it. And bless God for his mercy. I love mercy. And next he says to walk humbly
with thy God. How can you walk proud with him?
You can't do it, can you? It's impossible. That's what
he requires of you. This delight in mercy, he delights
in mercy. I hope we believe this. It's
true whether we believe it or not. I've said this before, I'll
say it again. God's more willing to give you
mercy than you are to receive it. You believe that? He delights. He finds pleasure
in bestowing mercy to the miserable. He delights in it. giving grace
to the guilty. Now he gives five things that
he will do because he delights in mercy. Notice all these things.
He says he will, 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 has sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old. All these things that he will
do because he delights in mercy. At first it says he'll turn again.
He will turn again. Have you ever felt like the Lord
turned away from you? Sure you have. I've certainly felt the
way of it. Felt like I had it coming, but
I felt he's not turned his back on me and forsaken me, but turned
to anger. Turned away in anger. Feel like,
you know, David said, I'm ready to halt. My sorrow is continually
before me. feeling like a castaway and cast
off every believer, but it says he will turn. He'll turn to us
and he'll turn us to him. This is a promise. He will turn. Listen to this scripture. David said, turn thou unto me
and have mercy on me for I am desolate and afflicted. He will. Oh, turn thyself to us again. He will. Turn unto me according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies. Hide not thy face from
thy servant, for I am in trouble. And he will. He will turn to
me. And he'll turn, not only will
he turn to us, he will turn us to himself. Jeremiah said, turn
thou me. And I shall be turned. Have you
ever prayed that prayer? Lord, turn me, turn me. If you
turn me, I'll be turned. Turn us again, O Lord God of
hosts, cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved. He will
turn us to God and he will turn us to him because he delights
in mercy. Who's like him? And next it says
in verse 19, he will have compassion upon us. Now that word doesn't simply
mean, you know when you see somebody in a desperate state and you
feel sorry for them? You know, you see somebody in trouble and
you feel sorry for them, your pity goes out to them. Or maybe somebody
you don't even know that you see in a desperate state. You
feel a measure of compassion, you want to help. Maybe you find
out something that's happened to them and maybe you'll send
money to help their cause or something. And you feel compassion,
you feel sorry for them. That's not what this is really
talking about. It's not talking about the Lord feeling sorry
for somebody. Although he is of great compassion in that sense,
but it has something to do with his love. You see, when the Lord
looked at that leper, when that leper came up to him and said,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. The scripture says
Christ was moved, moved with compassion, love for that filthy
leper. And he reached forth his hand
and touched him and said, I will be cleansed. thou clean. It's because he loved
him. I love to think of that leper
all of a sudden his leprosy is cleansed. I mean can you imagine
what he looked like and all of a sudden he's healed. He's healed.
What must that have been like? He will have compassion on us. And once again, this is part
of his goodness. He'll, he says, I'll show compassion on whom
I will show compassion because he delights. In mercy. Now here's the next thing is
what, what initially drew me to this passage of scripture,
this promise, because he delights in mercy, because he delights
in mercy, he will subdue our iniquities. And that's his promise. When I was reading this passage
of scripture, I don't know how else to say this, I was feeling
powerless before my sin. Powerless. And this promise thrilled me. He will subdue our iniquities. He'll subdue them. He'll defeat
them. He'll conquer our sin. Now listen
to this promise. Romans 6, 14 says, sin shall
not have dominion over you. How come? Because you're not under law,
but you're under grace. Isn't that a wonderful place
to be? And we have this promise because he delights in mercy.
He will subdue our iniquity. And Lord, you said that you made
that promise. Be good to your word. You said
sin shall not have dominion over you. All right. Be good to your
word. You said it. That's your word.
He will, because he delights in mercy. He will subdue our
iniquities. And then it says the last phrase
in verse 19. And thou wilt cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea, because he delights in mercy.
He will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Now, I
saw a commercial this week. It was, there's going to be some
kind of special on the Mariana Trench, deepest place. In the ocean in
the Pacific Ocean and it's over six miles deep and whenever we
think of some the most remote Place we can think of on earth.
What do we think that we think of the depths of the ocean the
bottom? I mean that He will cast our sins now for him to cast
our sins anywhere They have to be removed from us. I Want you to think of that If
he casts them anywhere, they're removed from us The songwriter
said, my sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin,
not in part, but the whole has been nailed to the cross and
I bear them no more. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Oh, my soul. He removed my sins. cast them into the depths of
the sea. And don't miss this word, all. Thou will cast all, all their
sins into the depths of the sea. Every single one of them. You
can't think of something like this without thinking about the
promise where God said, I'll be merciful to their unrighteousness. I'll be, the word is propitious.
I'll be appeased through the blood of my son. I'll be merciful
to their unrighteousness and their sin and their iniquities.
I'll remember no more. Now, when God looks at me in
heaven, when he looks at me right now, there's no sin. The reason he doesn't remember
is because there's nothing there to remember. He sees me as having
never sinned. No reason to be suspicious of
me. No reason to wonder whether I'm going to do it again. No,
I never sinned. Their sins and their iniquities
I will remember no more. They're removed, separated as
far from us as the east is from the west. because he delights
in mercy. Now look in verse 20, because
he delights in mercy, thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and
the mercy to Abraham. Now that word perform, um, I
can see why they translated perform because anything we do, he performs
for us and in us. But the word in the, is the word
is generally translated, give, give. He will give the truth
to Jacob. He will give the mercy to Abraham,
which thou has sworn unto our fathers from old. And in doing
so, he does the performing of it, doesn't he? This word truth,
stability, faithfulness. Now, if I'm faithful, it'll be
because he gave me that faithfulness. If I'm stable, it'll because
he gave me that stability. And if I am faithful or stable,
it's because he performed it in me. Paul said, I live yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live
in the flesh. I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. Christ in you, the hope of glory. He performs it at me. He performs
the truth. And he gives the mercy. Why? Because he is merciful. But look what it says, thou will
perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which thou
has sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. And that doesn't mean way back
many years ago. That word days of old is the
same word quite often translated eternal and everlasting. Now, anything you have from God,
he gave you before the foundation of the world. Anything you have,
listen to the scripture, second Timothy one nine, he saved us
and he called us with a holy calling. Not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And I love the
order here. He saved us. And then he called
us. When did he save us? When all
that we have was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. Revelation chapter 13 verse 8.
This is so amazing. Christ is called before the foundation
of the world. Christ is called the lamb slain,
the lamb crucified, the lamb nailed to a cross from the very
foundation of the world. Before there was ever a sinner,
there was a savior and I was chosen in him. God didn't just
arbitrarily choose me. I was in him. I was viewed in
the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's when I was
saved. Really? Really. Are you saying
you don't have to believe? Not for a second. Are you saying
you don't have to hear the gospel? Not for a second. Are you saying
you don't have to repent? Not for a second. You will do
all those things. And if you don't, you weren't
in the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. All who are in
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world look to the Lamb
slain only as everything in their salvation in the world. They
all are called by the gospel. But he delights in mercy. It gives him pleasure. He delights.
This is his nature. He delights in mercy. Would to God, there's someone
who described me and you. This is the way they describe
us. They delight in mercy. Let's pray together.