The book of Romans chapter 9.
I want to read verses 15 and 16
of Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9 and verse 15.
For he, for God, saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. We have three mercies here in
our text, and that's the title this morning of my message. Three
mercies. I was looking in Webster's. I
like the old Webster's dictionary. I've got 1884 edition of Webster's. And I often like to look in his
dictionary to get a definition of words. And he's one of the
best I've found to give definitions of these words. And he gives
this long definition of mercy. But listen to this. He says mercy
is that kindness, mildness, or tenderness of heart which disposes
a person to overlook injuries or to treat an offender better
than he deserves. The disposition that tempers
justice and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses
and and to forbear punishment, or to inflict less than what
law or justice would require. And he says in this sense there
is perhaps no word in our English language precisely synonymous
with mercy, unless it perhaps be grace. Mercy implies kindness,
tenderness, pity or compassion, especially towards someone in
distress, clemency towards offenders. Mercy is a distinguishing attribute
of the Supreme Being. And then he gives a passage of
scripture in Exodus 34, 6. The Lord passed by him, thy Moses,
and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy
for thousands, and forgiving iniquities and transgression
and sin. And then Webster continues his
definition and says this, to be or to lie at the mercy of,
to have no means of self-defense. but to be dependent for safety
on the mercy or compassion of another, or in the power of that
which is irresistible as to be at the mercy of a foal or the
mercy of waves. It's to be utterly defensive
before an irresistible power and find mercy. And I would say
that all of us this morning are standing before an irresistible
power because that's what God is. And we are utterly defensive,
utterly without any defense before Him. We have no means of self-defense. What would it be? How could we
defend ourselves? We are all at His mercy. Shannon read this passage to
us. I say to you, my friends, be not afraid of them which kill
the body and have no more that they can do, but fear him which
after he has killed have power to cast into hell. I say to you,
fear him. We're utterly defenseless before
God. We have no means of self-defense.
We've sinned. We have injured. We've offended
law and justice. We're guilty. We have reason
to be in the greatest distress because we have no means of self-defense. We need mercy. God be merciful
to me, a sinner. Webster said there is perhaps
no word in our English language precisely synonymous with mercy. I would agree with that. I think
probably in whatever language you would find this word, it
would have to be the most attractive word in that language. It's certainly
the most appealing concept of any language, isn't it? Mercy,
mercy. The very definition of this word
puts it among the cheapest of God's attributes. It's the most
needful attribute of God towards us. And it's the most glorifying
to Him. God is pleased when we're brought
to trust and hope in His mercy. He's pleased when we recognize
that we are indeed defenseless. And He takes special care to
protect and uphold those who hope in His mercy. Behold, the
eyes of the Lord is upon them that fear Him. upon them that
hope in His mercy. He takes great pleasure in them
that hope in His mercy. Listen to this. The Lord takes
pleasure in them that fear Him and those who hope in His mercy. We don't know if there's another
attribute that God so delights in as He delights in this attribute
of mercy. who is a God like unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage, he retaineth not his anger for
ever. Why? Because he delighteth in
mercy. He's a just God and a Savior. He's a holy God. He sits upon
the throne of His holiness. God is love, and He rests in
His love. But of mercy, it said of him
that he's the father of mercies. That's his child in whom he delights. Mercy. Oh, mercy. We have mercy this morning mentioned
in my text three times. The first time it's mentioned
here, we look at it as a revelation in verse 15. I will have mercy. Now that's a revelation, isn't
it? No man can know what's in the heart of God, brothers and
sisters, until God opens up His heart and shows us and tells
us. And what does He say, what does
He reveal about His will? I will have mercy. What does
He tell us about His mercy? I will have mercy. What an encouragement this is
for the guilty. There's mercy. What an encouragement
this is for those who are aware that they have offended law and
justice. I will have mercy. I will have
mercy. How many criminals have stood
before the judges here upon this earth? And the judges have never
mentioned mercy. And yet, as soon as the guilty
plea comes down, As soon as the sentence is made, you are charged
and you are guilty. What does the poor man do? He
begins to cry for mercy. Well, how encouraging this should
be then to those who feel their guilt before God. He seldom tells
us beforehand, I will have mercy. What a plea for the guilty. This
revelation of God's heart will encourage those who have already
obtained mercy to continue to hope in that mercy. Those who
have obtained mercy in the past surely realize their need of
mercy for the present. And I would say when it comes
down to die on our deathbed, don't you expect we'll need mercy
then. Well, here's mercy for those
who have obtained mercy. Still there is mercy. I will
have mercy. How do we know this? God has
showed us what's in His heart. I will have mercy. But these words reveal even more
than this. It reveals to us what God has
been doing all of this time from the beginning of the fall of
man. What's He about? What's he been doing? Especially
in the New Testament, what's he been doing? He's been having
mercy. He has been having mercy. I will
have mercy. All along, throughout the Old
and New Testament, God has been having mercy. There have been
multitude of sinners saved and forgiven of all sins and justified. There has been countless numbers
delivered from the power of Satan's kingdom and translated into the
kingdom of God's dear Son. The road to glory is paved and
plain, trodden with multitudes of those who are already there.
And how did they get there? If I was to ask you this morning,
how did they get there? You would tell me your text,
wouldn't you? God has had mercy. God has had mercy. I will have mercy. I have had, I'm having mercy
right now, and I will have mercy in the future. God is mercy. Isn't that wonderful? That's
a revelation of God's heart. How do we know that? Because
He opened His heart and said, I will have mercy. Let me show you a parallel passage
to this. Look in Matthew chapter 9. Here's a parallel passage, at
least to my thoughts and opinions. In Matthew chapter 9, and look
here in verse 9. Look what he says in verse 9. Matthew
9, 9. And Jesus passed forth from thence,
and he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the seat of custom.
And he said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed
him. And it came to pass, as Jesus said it meet in the house,
behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and
his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it,
they said unto his disciples, Why, eateth your Master with
publicans and sinners." And here the Lord Jesus is going to give
us a definition of mercy. And when Jesus heard that, He
said unto them, They that behold need not a physician, but they
that are sick. What is mercy? It's the healing
of the sick. It's pity for the distressed.
It's mercy for the miserable. It's pardon for the guilty. It's
help for the helpless. Mercy. And look what he says
in verse 13. Go and learn what that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. I've not come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Where have we read this statement
before? I will have mercy. I will have
mercy. We just read it in Romans 9,
didn't we? And who said it there? God said it. And Moses wrote it down. Back
in Exodus chapter 34. When Moses asked God to show
me your glory. And God said, I will have mercy. I will have mercy. Who told Moses
that? God did. I will have mercy. Then who is this you're saying,
I will have mercy? It's God, isn't it? The same
God who told Moses now tells us, I will have mercy. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God. He's God. He was God when He
told Moses, I'll have mercy. And here He stands in our humanity
and He proclaims, I will have mercy. The very same God. You know Jesus Christ is not
only God, but He's the one in whom the glory of God is revealed. And what is the glory of God?
When Moses asked the Lord to show him His glory, what did
he say? I will have mercy. Is that the
glory of God? That's the glory of God. And
here we see the glory of God, and who do we see it in? Jesus
Christ, who said, I come to have mercy. I come to show mercy. And we see that mercy revealed
in the Son of God, don't we? We see the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. Why does mercy come through Christ,
the Son of God? Because mercy cannot come to
us at the expense of justice. If you've been taught this morning
your need of mercy, you don't want mercy that violates justice. That's not the kind of mercy
you want. It's justice that opens the door for mercy to come and
relieve our miseries. Justice would never come to us.
Justice would never suffer mercy to come to us. Except justice
was first satisfied. Justice looks at mercy and mercy
looks at justice. And justice sees the blood of
Immanuel. And then he opens the door and
he nods to mercy. Go and relieve the miserable.
Go and raise the dead. Go and cleanse the leper. Go
and give sight to the blind. Mercy comes through Jesus Christ.
because it's only in Christ that justice is satisfied. If I told you this morning that
you could be forgiven irrespective of justice, you wouldn't want
a forgiveness like that, would you? And you wouldn't want to
obtain mercy at the expense of justice. Christ said, I have
come to show mercy because in Him all the attributes of God
are satisfied. and they're pleased. I will have
mercy. I think we have a double proof
of God's will to have mercy. He opens up His heart here in
our text and He says, I will have mercy. That's a proof. But
on the cross of Calvary, the Son of God extends His hands,
His pierced hands and says, mercy, mercy. We have a double proof
of it. He's opened His heart and He showed us by what He's
done that He will have mercy. Here in our text we have something
else about mercy. We not only have a revelation
of it, but we have a declaration of it. For He saith to Moses,
I will have mercy. A declaration of mercy. God could
not deny His willingness to have mercy. even if he wanted to. I can say that, I think. He could
not if he wanted to. Why? Because his lips have already
uttered it to somebody else. I will have mercy. And who did
he tell this to? He didn't tell this to a man
that was untrustworthy. He didn't tell this to a man
who would lie to you and deceive you. God told this to one of
the most famous, one of the most truthful, trustworthy men that
ever lived upon this earth, and that was Moses. This was one
of the most famous men. He was trained in all the wisdom
of Egypt. He was feared by kings. He was
loved and reverenced of all those who truly know him. This was
a great and honorable man. You can take his word when he
tells you so. And what does he say? He said,
God whispered something to me in a private conversation. And
here's what he told me. Moses, I will have mercy. Are you going to doubt Moses?
I don't know of anybody with common sense and good scriptural
sense that would doubt the integrity of this man. And here's what
he tells us. God told me that he would have
Moses. What a declaration that is! What
an encouragement that is! What a plea that is! To come
to God through Christ and plead what? Mercy! Mercy! How many times do we read in
the Gospels of those who in great distress full of leprosy, and
blindness, and oppression of demons, and the guilt of sin. And they came to the Savior,
and what was their plea? Lord, have mercy on me. They turned in that plea to Him. He accepted the plea, was satisfied
with it, and sent relief to their poorest, distressed souls and
bodies. have mercy. That's the first
mercy. The first mercy of revelation
and declaration. Here we have the second mercy
and it provides us with ample motive of being careful how we
treat the message of this first mercy. The second mercy is given
to keep us from presuming upon the first mercy. Because the
second mercy is discriminated mercy. Did you notice that? I
will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy. Discriminated mercy. On whom I will. Mercy cannot
be merited. It's not earned. It's not deserved. Mercy comes to us freely in the
way of undeservedness, and it comes to us only at God's free
and sovereign will. Nothing else determines who will
obtain mercy but the will of God. I will have mercy upon whom
I will have mercy. Discriminated mercy. God is a
discriminating God. Let me take just a minute to
remind you and to prove this. I don't know of a doctrine that
the church loves more than God's discriminating mercy. But I don't
know of a doctrine the world hates more than God's discriminating
mercy. But let me remind you of how
God discriminates in so many areas of our lives. We see it
in the birth of children without any credit or fault to the parents. There are some infants born perfectly
whole and others born blind or deaf or crippled or some other
handicap. What does the Bible say about
who decides these cases? Who determines these things?
Listen to Exodus chapter 4 and verse 11. And the Lord said unto
Moses, Who has made man's mouth? Who makes the dumb? Who makes
the deaf? Who makes the seeing? And who
makes the blind? Have not I the Lord? Does He not discriminate even
in the birth of children? Secondly, we see this discriminating
in the different abilities among human beings. We see this every
day in our life. There are some men and women
who are so athletic, their abilities amaze us to watch them. And yet
I know people who are so awkward they can't learn how to ride
a bicycle. What's the difference? Who distinguishes? There are some people that we
call geniuses. They can speed read. They have
photographic memories. There are some who are great
musicians. Ray Charles was blind and yet
let that man hear a song played only one time and he could mimic
the song on his piano. Geniuses. There are minds so
brilliant, I noticed this one day while I was watching a documentary
telling about men that had brilliant minds and they had this one man
and they were asking him to multiply tremendous numbers by themselves. Like 5,365,465 multiply that
by itself and tell me what the answer is. In two seconds he
could tell them what the answer was. There was another man, they
asked him, for example, what day of the week will October
the 29th, 2025 fall on? In just a moment, he could tell
them what day of the week. Can you do that? How many of
us have to read and re-read and we can't comprehend anything?
And when we've read it, we can't remember anything. Who distinguishes
in these abilities? Who makes one man to differ in
these natural abilities from another? Is it not God? Some
will acknowledge that. Some glory in themselves. We
see it in nature, don't we? Why does a storm hit one place
and avoid another? Why does a hurricane take just
a turn and misses one island and devastates another? Scripture
tells us that. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind
and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. He
makes the clouds His chariot, and He walks upon the wings of
the wind. He plants His footsteps in the
sea, and He rides upon the storm. How many times have we heard
these meteorologists say the storm took a sudden turn, and
we know not why. We know why, don't we? We know
where the storms have their origin, we know why they take the path
they take, and we know where they blow out when God says,
He is indeed a distinguishing God. We even see it in the starry
heavens. Look at the multitude of stars,
and they differ one from another. There are some so bright that
you can see them with the naked eye, and others are so dim you
can't see them with the most powerful telescope. Who is it
that set those stars there and determined their brightness?
Some are held steadfast and others fall and burn out. Is this not
God doing, discriminating? We see this in the angels, don't
we? We go back to the beginning of creation and we look at the
heavenly host of those mighty creatures and all of them are
holy. But you have a third that rebelled
against their Creator, and they were cast out of heaven and confined
in darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Why didn't
the other two-thirds fall? You know what the Bible says
about those who were preserved? They're God's elect angels. God
preserved them. God made a distinction between
them and those who fell. He distinguishes in these things. And the principle is the same
when it comes to eternal salvation. From election to redemption to
glorification, salvation is by the sovereign, distinguishing
will of God. And that's what determines it. Look here in verse 11 of our
text. We have this right here in our text. We have an example
of God's distinguishing mercy. Look what He said in verse 11.
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 is written, Jacob
have I loved, and Esau have I hated. Jacob have I loved. What does
that mean? That means I've chosen Jacob.
I've redeemed Jacob. I've called Jacob. I've given
Jacob a new heart and a new spirit. And I'll have him in heaven at
last. I love Jacob. And I've passed by Esau. I've
left him to his self, to his own devices, to his own sin. And I'll judge him for it. And
he'll be condemned for it. Is that not distinguishing mercy? What made the difference in these
two men? It wasn't what, it was who. Before
they were born, God said, I'm distinguishing between these
two men. Why did God do that? He's a distinguishing
God. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy. This is a true story. A pastor
told me this. He said there was a large church
out in Texas and this pastor and another lady in the congregation
was attracted to each other. And they got together one day
in private and said, let's go ahead and have this affair and
then we'll confess it and ask the Lord to forgive us. You can only think that way when
you believe that God is in your control. You can only think that
way when you think your will is the determining factor for
obtaining mercy. But it's not. It's not. What's the determining factor
where one man will be saved and another man remain in his What's
the determining factor where one man will obtain mercy and
one will not? It's not man's will. It's God's
will. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy. Men get it in their silly heads
that God owes them mercy and that they'll wait until they're
old. And when they're old, they'll
begin to call and God will answer. You're not in control of God. Nobody controls Him. He's out
of control of all men. The Lord spoke to Isaiah and
He said, This is a people of no understanding. Therefore,
he that made them will not have mercy upon them, and he that
formed them will show them no favor. We have only one plea,
brothers and sisters. God be merciful to me. For God's
sake, for Christ's sake, for God's glory be merciful unto
me. That's the only plea any man
can bring before God. There is no other. And here we come to the third
mercy. And I'll call this a conclusion stressed. A conclusion reached
here in verse 16. So then, You can take your concordance
out sometime and look at the places where that word is used
and most of the time it's used to reach a conclusion. It's used
to stress a conclusion. So then, he's going to conclude
what verse 16 taught us. So then, you get this? Now read this with
me. So then, it is not of him that
will it. It is not him that runneth, but
of God. Get that? It is not of him. It is not of the sinner, but
it's of God. Election is not of the sinner.
Regeneration is not of the sinner. Going to heaven is not of the
sinner. It's of God. Not of man, but of God. Hasn't
this generation turned that right backward? But the Scripture has it right.
Not of man, but of God. If it's of man, then there's
no salvation. The only hope of any man being saved, but it's
of God. It's of God. Not of him that willeth or of
him that runneth. We have a perfect example of
that also here in our text. It's not of him that willeth.
Look in verse 7 of this chapter. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham have they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called." You remember before Isaac was born and Abraham
was praying and he said, Oh, that Ishmael might live before
them. What was he saying? Oh, that
you might bless Ishmael. that my seed may come through
him. What was Abraham saying? Oh, it's my will that the blessing
come to Ishmael. What did God tell him? No. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. My covenant shall stand fast,
not with Ishmael, but with Isaac. And then Isaac, when it came
time to bless, who was it his will to bless? He saw. Go hunt some venison and bring
it here that my soul may bless thee. Not so, God said. This
is not according to you that will. And who did He bless? He blessed
the younger. The youngest shall serve. The
older shall serve the younger. Jacob. We'll get the blessing. That wasn't according to Esau,
Isaac's will. Then here goes Esau, and he's
running to get the venison. But when he comes back, the blessing
has already been given. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but God who shows mercy. It's of God's will. One might say, Bruce, I'm so
anxious. It's good to be anxious. if you
want the Lord's mercy. But there's no merit in distress. One might say, I'm going to call
upon the Lord. It's good to call upon the Lord,
but there's no merit in prayer. One might say, I'll weep and
I'll strive. This won't get you any salvation. There's no claims that you can
take to God and say, do this for me because of the way I feel
or what I'm doing. Whether a lost, ruined, helpless
sinner is saved or left to perish is dependent upon one thing.
One thing. The sovereign will of God to
show mercy. That's it. If I had one thing to shut all
of us up to this morning, it would be the mercy of God. To
strip us of nothing, leave us no plea, but the mercy of God. There was a leopard who came
to the Lord Jesus, and he was full of leprosy. The man was
pathetic. He was stinking. He was vile.
What did he plea? He did not plea, Lord, it's my
will. that you cleanse me. What did He plead? If you will. When our willing and our running
is subject to God's sovereign will. That's the only time our
will is fit for anything. It's not according to our will.
And if you come to God this morning through Christ, and you can bring
this one plea, Whether I'm lost or whether I'm saved depends
upon you, depends upon your will. I bet you'd leave His presence
this morning with assurance that you're saved. It's not of Him that willeth,
nor of Him that runneth, but God that shows mercy. This is
where we start, this is the way we continue, and this is the
way we'll finish. And I'm telling you this morning,
if you're saved according to God's will, you're a happy person. You're a happy person. Let's
pray.