Sure Mercies of David

My message today will be on the
subject, The Sure Mercies of David. I want you to take your
Bibles and open them to Isaiah chapter 55 verse 3. Isaiah 55 verse 3. Now listen to the reading of
God's word. Incline your ear and come unto me. Here and your
soul shall live. and I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Now, two statements
I want you to pay particular attention to are these. I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. Now, the old covenant
which God made with man said, do this and live, be perfect
and live. Now that covenant failed because
man did not keep God's law. That old covenant has nothing
for you and nothing for me except condemnation. For the scripture
says to those who have broken the law of God, the wages of
sin is death. The scripture says to those who
have broken God's law, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely
die. And sin, when it is finished,
bringeth forth death. So we can roll up that old covenant
and cast it aside as a useless thing. No hope can be attached
to that old covenant. But our God comes to us with
this word, I will make with you a new covenant. I will make with
you an everlasting covenant. This is a covenant of grace,
not of This everlasting covenant is to the unworthy, not to the
worthy. This everlasting covenant has
no conditions for me to meet. The conditions have all been
met by my surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is an eternal
covenant. It cannot and it will not be
revoked. And this covenant, David said,
is ordered in all things and sure. There are no ifs, There
are no maybes, there are no buts about it. And this covenant is
filled with good things for the believer. Come and believe, here
and your soul shall live. And I will make with you, not
a covenant of works, but a covenant of grace. Not a temporary covenant,
but an everlasting covenant. Not a covenant with certain conditions,
be perfect and live, this do and live, but a covenant with
conditions which have all been met by the Lord Jesus Christ,
and he says, they are even the sure mercies of David. Now, what are these sure mercies
of David? What's he talking about? I will
make with you an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies
of David. Well, there are many of them,
and we could spend the next two days talking about the sure mercies
of David. But I've selected ten of the
sure mercies of David that I want to give to you in this message.
Now, you listen carefully. First of all, in Jeremiah 31,
verse 34, God says this, this is the covenant that I will make
with Israel They shall teach no more every
man his neighbor, saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all
know me, from the least of them even to the greatest. The first
of these sure mercies of David is a saving knowledge. They shall
know the Lord." Now, my friends, eternal life is to know God. It is not just to know there
is a God. It's not just to know some facts
about God, but eternal life is to know God. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
praying in John 17, verse 3, the high priestly prayer, said,
Father, glorify thy Son, that thy Son may glorify thee. I have
finished the work thou gavest me to do, and I shall give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given me. And this is life eternal. This is it. that they might know
thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent." What is eternal life? It's to know God. That's what
Paul is talking about in Philippians 3, verse 10. "...or that I might
know him, and the power of his resurrection." The first of the
sure mercies of David is to know God. Now, men by nature do not
know God. They know there is a God. The
fool has said in his heart there is no God. They know some facts
about God, because the heavens declare the glory of God, and
the firmament showeth forth his handiwork. And God is understood
by the things that are made. And God has given every man a
conscience, every man that cometh into this world. There is a light
that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. But a
man may know about God, and he may know there is a God, and
still not know God. Christ said to those people in
his day, you neither know me nor my Father. If you had known
me, or you had known the Father, you would know me also. Again
he said, no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whom
the Son will reveal him. Men read the Bible, but they
don't know God. Men hear preachers preach, but
they don't know God. Men attend church and go through
the ceremonies of religion, but they don't know God. Paul knew
God. He said, I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. John knew God. John said, our
fellowship, our communion, is with the Father and with his
Son. In Psalm 103, verse 7, the scripture
says this, God made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the
children of Israel. In other words, the children
of Israel saw God's judgments. They saw God's acts. They saw
God's power. They saw God divide the sea.
They saw God send a plague of hail and turn the river to blood,
and all of these other acts of God. They saw the water come
forth from the smitten rock. They saw the manna fall from
heaven. God showed Israel his ways, his judgments. God revealed himself to Moses. Moses saw God's will, and God's
person, and God's purpose. The children of Israel only saw
his acts. So the first sure mercy of the
everlasting covenant, called the sure mercies of David, the
first one is to know God. Not just to know about him, not
just to know there is a God, but to know him. and be able
to say, our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son.
Then in Jeremiah 31, verse 33, God says this, I will write my
law on their hearts. This shall be the covenant that
I will make with Israel in those days. I will write my law on
their hearts. Now, my friends, having the law
of God written on stone, even with the finger of God himself,
meant nothing to Israel. Moses went up on that mountain
and got the tables of stone with the Ten Commandments written
on them, even written by the finger of God. And he brought
those tables of stone, the law, down to the camp where the children
of Israel were worshiping idols and going through all manner
of sins. And Moses cast the law down and
broke it to pieces. So having the law written on
stone Even by the hand of God will do us no good. We can read
the law, and every one of you have read it. We can preach the
law, and you hear us preach it. We can memorize the law, but
the law will do us no good until God writes it on our hearts.
When the law is written on the heart, it becomes more than a
duty. It becomes a personal matter. It becomes a personal principle. Now you can't legislate love. You can't command people, now
you love that person. You love your neighbor. You love
your enemies. You can't legislate love. But
when God sheds abroad his love in the heart, men will love their
neighbors, and they will love their friends, and they will
love their enemies. You cannot legislate morality. You can command
a man to do what he hates, and he may do it out of fear, but
he still hates it. You may command a man to do what
he does not enjoy, and he may do it because he fears you, but
he still won't enjoy it. But when God writes the law on
our hearts, we can say with David, I love thy law. Thy law is a
lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And there's no
joy to me in this world like obeying my Lord. And that's the
second sure mercy of David. The first one is to know God,
not just to know some facts about him. Not just to know that he
exists, but to know him in here, to walk with him and talk with
him and have fellowship with him. And then the second sure
mercy of this everlasting covenant in Christ is to have God's law
written on your heart. And it becomes not a duty, not
a responsibility, not an act of fear, out of fear, but it
becomes a personal principle and a personal conviction. And
you are an honest person because that's what you want to be. You're
a loving person because that's what you want to be. You're a
kind person because that's what you want to be. You're a generous
person because that's what you want to be. Not out of fear of
hell, not in order to merit heaven, but because that's your nature.
God's given you a new nature. Now, the third, Jeremiah 31,
verse 34, and God says, And I will forgive their iniquity, and I'll
remember their sins no more. The third sure mercy of David
is this, God gives us a free pardon. I will forgive their
sins, and I know this is difficult to understand because we know
that God knows all things. God never learns anything because
he knows all things, and God never forgets anything because
God is absolute wisdom. But the scripture says here plainly,
I will make this covenant with them in those days, I will forgive
their sins and remember them no more. The mercy of God. is so difficult for us to understand
in this area. Why? Because we are so unforgiving,
because we are so full of pride, we're so full of self, we're
so full of vengeance, we're so full of grudges, we're so unwilling
to forgive and unable to forget. But God says, I'll not only forgive
their sins, all of their sins from their birth to their death,
all of their sins past, present and future. all of their sins,
from the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden, to the crucifixion of
God's Son, to the last sin committed. I'll forgive their sins and remember
them no more." But, God, this man did this back in 1926 or
1946. I don't remember it, God says.
But, Lord, this man said this. I don't remember it. But, Lord,
this man thought this. I don't remember it. God says,
I'll forgive your sins and remember them no more. Never bring it
up, because I don't remember it. Wouldn't it be wonderful,
instead of digging up past mistakes and past errors and coming up
with one another's faults, that we could really forgive one another
in such a way that a person would say, you remember what so-and-so
did way back down to five years ago? I really don't remember
it. Well, don't you remember what they said, how they were
involved in this controversy? I really don't remember it. I've
forgiven them and I've forgotten them. But we're not that way.
We recall the bad things and forget the good. We can remember
vividly every evil thing someone ever did, every evil thing they
ever said, every evil thing that ever has happened to us, but
we can't remember the good. God says, I'll forgive your iniquity
and I'll remember them no more. Now, you'll remember them. David
said, my sins are ever before me. against thee, and thee only
have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." But God says,
I don't remember them. I've forgiven them. That's what
it is to forgive. It's to forgive and to forget. And if we haven't forgotten,
we haven't forgiven. Now, the fourth sure mercy of
David is found in chapter 32, verse 38. Listen to this. God
says, I'll make with them a covenant, and they shall be my people,
and I will be their God. What is this? This is reconciliation. Reconciliation. In the sweet
when enemies are reconciled. And that's what he's talking
about here. We who were enemies of God are now sons of God. Beloved, behold what manner of
love God hath bestowed on us that we should be called the
sons of God. As many as received him, to them
gave he the right, the privilege, to be the sons of God. And we
who were enemies, God says, I'll be their God and they'll be my
people. I'll reconcile the enemy. We
who were strangers are now heirs of God, joint heirs with the
Lord Jesus Christ. What does that mean? That means
everything that God has is mine. Everything that Christ has purchased
by his death is mine. I'm an heir of God. Being a son
of God, I'm an heir of God. I'm an heir of his glory. I'm
an heir of his eternity, I'm an heir of his blessedness, I'm
an heir of his presence. Everything God has is mine, and
a joint heir with Christ. We who were aliens are now a
holy nation. We who were children of wrath
are now accepted in the beloved. How did God reconcile us? God
reconciled us in the death of his Son. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself. And Christ again, in that priestly
prayer, said this. I in them, and thou in me, that
they might be one, even as we are one. That's how near and
dear I am to God. I'm one, I'm one with him in
Christ. That's the fourth mercy of David. The fifth is found in Jeremiah
32, verse 39. Listen to this. God says, I'll
give them one heart and one way, and they shall fear me forever.
Now, my friends, I want to get right down here and talk to you
plainly now. This true mercy, this sure mercy
of David, is true godliness. We need to define true godliness. I think this is one of the areas
where preachers and churches and religious crowds are missing
the mark today. What is true godliness? God says
in this covenant, this everlasting covenant, I'll give them one
heart, one way, and they'll fear me forever. I say this is true
godliness. What is it? Well, true godliness
is more than holding certain creeds. True godliness is more
than believing certain doctrines. True godliness is more than having
certain theological beliefs. True godliness is more than obeying
certain laws. True godliness is more than obeying
certain rules and statutes. What is true godliness? It's
more than practicing certain religious ceremonies. True godliness
is more than going through certain rituals and forms every Lord's
Day. What is true godliness? It's
an inward work. True godliness is a spiritual
work. True godliness has to do with
the heart. God says, I will give them one
heart. What is that one heart? It's
a heart of love. When our Lord summed up all the
commandments, he said they can be summed up in two. Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, soul, and strength,
and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The scripture says
in 1 John 4, 7, Beloved, let us love one another, for love
is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God. And he
that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love." True Godliness
is to love God and to love others. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13,
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, though
I am an orator, and I can speak with the tongues of men and the
most powerful speakers and angels, and have not love, I am like
a sounding gong and a tinkling And though I give my goods to
feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and though
I give all of my possessions to take care of the less fortunate,
and though I have faith to remove mountains and have not love,
it profiteth me nothing. Now by the faith, hope, and love,
but the greatest of these is love. That's true godliness.
For love produces all of the godliness in the fulfillment
of God's law. And then the second statement
here, I'll give them one heart and one way. True godliness is
to have one goal. Every child of God around the
world, in whatever nation, kindred, tribe, or tongue, has one goal,
has one aim, and that is to glorify God. Not self, but to glorify
God. Whatever we do, in word or deed,
do all to glorify God. Now, this is the test of my godliness,
the test of love. and the test of what is my motive,
what is my goal, what is my aim? Is it to project myself? Is it
to promote myself? Is it to please myself? Or is
it to glow with our God Almighty? Now, that's true godliness. And
then the third statement is, they shall fear the Lord forever. They shall fear the Lord. The
fear of God throughout the Old Testament is one with worship. Fear the Lord. This is not a
slavish fear. This is not a fear of hell or
a fear of punishment or a fear of being cut off. This is an
awe in the presence of God. This is a reverence. This is
to recognize that God is powerful and almighty, an awareness of
his person and his purpose and his power and his wisdom. It's to recognize who I am and
who God is. and walk before him for his glory,
for his praise, that others might adore him. The next sure mercy
of David is found in Jeremiah 32, verse 40. He says, I will
not turn away from them, and they shall not depart from me.
This mercy is preservation and perseverance. Listen carefully
In Jeremiah 32.40, God says, And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them, I will not turn away from them, and they
shall not depart from me. Now, my friends, you can't have
one without the other. Preservation, perseverance. What
does that mean? Preservation is God keeps me.
Perseverance is I walk with God in continual faith, in continual
repentance. You can't have one without the
other. It's like repentance and faith. You can't have faith without
repentance. Repentance and faith are like a sheet of paper. You've
got to have two sides. You can't have a one-sided sheet
of paper. You've got to have two sides. And if a man's truly
sorry for his sins and truly repentant, he truly believes
on God. If a man truly turns from his
idols, he turns to the living God. If he turns to the living
God, he turns from his idols. And you can't have preservation
or God keeping you. apart from perseverance, you
continuing to believe in him. Listen to the scriptures. In
Philippians it says this, it says we are kept by the power
of God through faith. God keeps us, but not apart from
faith. And here are the two locks on
the door of grace. God says, I will not turn away
from them. I give my sheep eternal life,
they shall never No man shall pluck them out of my hand. My
Father which gave them is greater than all, and no man can pluck
them out of my Father's hand. Paul said in Romans 8, Nothing
can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
God says, I will not turn away from them. I will not turn away
from them. But the second is true also.
They shall not turn away from me. They shall not depart from
me. Our Lord said to his disciples
one day, Will you also go away? And Peter said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life." So we talk about once saved, always saved, once in
grace, always in grace, and somebody else comes along and says, a
man can believe today and be lost tomorrow. The whole thing
is summed up right here. God says, I'll make with them
an everlasting covenant, and I will not turn away from them,
and they will not depart from me. pure mercy of David, and
for this one we turn to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 36. And God says, I will sprinkle
clean water on them, and they shall be clean. Ezekiel 36, 25. This is perfect cleansing. Now,
there's not one of you listening to my voice who can honestly
say, I feel clean, I feel pure, I feel in the presence of God
without guilt. No, you can't say that. because
our secret thoughts make us ashamed, and our hasty words make us feel
guilty, and our bad attitudes make us feel corrupt, and our
deeds humiliate us. But God says, I'm going to make
you clean. And in the book of Ephesians
and the book of Colossians, he says, make you holy, make you
unblameable, make you unreprovable, and make you perfect. How? It's
the blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sins. When a man
comes by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ, when he looks to Him
by faith, when he receives Him as his Prophet, Priest, and King,
as his Lord and Redeemer, when he bows at the feet of Christ
and receives Him as his Redeemer, as his Substitute, God says the
blood purifies, the blood atones, the blood cleanses, the blood
redeems, the blood makes us spotless in the sight of God. Through
Christ's blood we are purified. absolutely clean. And then in
the next place, in Ezekiel 36, verse 26, he says, I'll make
a new covenant with you, I'll give you a new heart. A new heart. Now, my friends, when we get
to this area, we realize more than ever before that salvation
is of the Lord. I might convince you that you've
done wrong. I might convince you there's
a heaven and there's a hell. I might convince you that you
ought to do something about this matter of heaven and hell, and
this matter of religion, this matter of God, but I can't give
you a new heart. Only God can do that. I can't
give myself a new heart. Only God can do that. God says,
I'll take away that stony heart, that stony heart of pride, that
stony heart of hatred, that stony heart of malice and unbelief.
I'll take away from you that stony heart, and I'll give you
a new heart. A heart of love, a heart of faith,
a heart of patience, a heart of grace, a heart of kindness,
a heart of tenderness. I'll give you a new heart." And
you want to know what's wrong with the average church member?
He's never been born again, he's never been given a new heart.
He's never received, in the work of the Holy Spirit, through the
blood of Christ, a new nature. He's the same creature, just
professing religion. And therefore he's got the same
stony heart. We've got to have a miracle of
grace performed for us. We've got to receive from the
hand of God a new heart. And then in the ninth place,
he says in Ezekiel 36, and you shall loathe yourselves. He said,
I don't understand that. You mean I'll hate myself? That's
what God says. Now, that may not seem like a
mercy to you, but it is a mercy of God for us to be able to see
ourselves as we really are. Isaiah saw it. He said, when
I saw the Lord, I cried, O woe is me. Paul saw it. He said,
O wretched man that I am. Job saw it, he said, when I saw
the Lord, I repented and sat clothed in ashes. I said, I abhor
myself. Yes, when we really see God's
holiness and see our sin, we cry, I hate myself. Oh, wretched
man that I am. We'll never be satisfied here,
we'll be satisfied when we awake with his likeness. If you'd like
to have these messages on tape, cassette tapes, write to me,
I'll send them to you. Until next Sunday, I bid you
a very pleasant Good day.

Sure Mercies of David

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Sure Mercies of David

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