What Are the Mercies of God 10-01-23

Overview: Pastor James Williams reflects on a recent four-day revival meeting and highlights the main messages preached by different speakers. The first message emphasized that living a Christian life is only possible because of God's grace. The second message focused on the Gospel, highlighting how God limited Himself to become human and die on the cross for our salvation. The third message discussed God's calling on our lives and how He can use us no matter how far we try to run from Him. The final message emphasized the presence of God in our lives and how He walks with us through the Holy Spirit. Pastor Williams concludes by urging listeners to live and thrive in the glory of God and use their gifts for His glory. The importance of God's mercy and salvation is also emphasized. ----- We are coming off of a four-day group of meetings that we entitled Revival. If you were able to be here for any or all of those meetings, you saw what a blessing those meetings were. If you were not able to be here or chose to be somewhere else, I want to let you know what a blessing you missed. The way that God orchestrates things is amazing. It often surprises me because of my lack of understanding about the sovereignty of God. You see, I reach out to four different men, and I give them the dates, and I tell them, hey, we're having revival this four days. What day works best for you? And then they will give me the day that works best for them to preach, and then I will give them a theme, and this year's theme is the glory of God. That's it. That is all the leadership, all the instruction, all of the leading that I give them. And yet what God does is orchestrates in the hearts of these men as they pray and prepare. On Sunday, Brother Culbertson challenged us with how we are to live the Christian life. His main point within that section of Scripture was this, that the only way that we can live a Christian life is because of the grace of God. That is it. You can have good morals, you can have a spiritual checklist, you can do everything that you want to try to do, but outside of the grace of God, it's pointless. The grace of God is His glory. Monday, Dr. Scott Thompson comes and he preaches a message about the Gospel. And he makes this point in his message. You have this all-sovereign, all-powerful, all-sufficient God who can do anything that He sets His mind to, and you know what He chose to do for us? Limit Himself. He took on the form of man and was tempted in every way that we are tempted, and yet submitted Himself to death, even death on a cross. He limited Himself for you and for me, so that we could experience the unlimited God for all of eternity. That's the Gospel. The Gospel is His glory. Then on Tuesday, Brother Austin Williams comes and preaches out of the book of Jonah about the calling of God on our life, and how that God can use us no matter how far we run. In fact, he asks this question, how far are you willing to go to experience the presence of God? How far are you willing to go to flee the presence of God? Because you're moving in one direction or the other. How far are you willing to go? The fact that God in the midst of our sin, in the midst of our failing, in the midst of our running, He still has a calling placed on our life. The God of all this universe wants to use someone as faithless and unfit as me and you. And He's called us into that relationship. The calling of God is His glory. And then on Wednesday, Brother Artis Buford preaches about the presence of God in our life. And he challenges us with this thought, that as we understand the grace of God, and we begin to walk under the Gospel of God, and we begin to try to live out the calling of God on our life, how do we do that? Because of who is for us, because of who is with us, and because of who is in us. You see, God didn't spin this thing in orbit and say good luck. No, He walks with us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life. He didn't just come and die on the cross and resurrect on the third day, and then ascend into heaven to sit at the right hand of the throne of God interceding for you and me. He said, alright, my work is done. I'm not doing anything else for you. He said, no, I'm going to give you a Comforter, a Counselor to be with you. The presence of God in your life. How do we have the strength to live out this calling? To walk and live in the Gospel. To experience the grace of God. How do we do all of that? Because of who is with us, for us, and in us. And God orchestrated this grand scheme of the picture of the glory of God, that I could not have planned any better myself. You see, I could not have given these men Scriptures and said, hey, I want you to preach on this one. I want you to preach on this one. I want you to preach on this one. And I want you to preach on this one. And when y'all do that, y'all will put together the full message of what God's people need to hear these four days. No, I simply said, preach on the glory of God. And God stirred in their hearts and said, this is what I want Kingsgrove to hear. This is what I want the people of God at Kingsgrove to hear. And if you chose not to be here, you missed a glorious blessing. In order to see and experience and show the glory of God, we need to walk in the grace of God afforded to us by the Gospel of God, while being obedient to the calling of God in the presence of God. That's what I got out of this week. What is the glory of God? It's the invisible attributes, character, and qualities of God displayed in a visible and knowable way. Beloved, my prayer for you and for myself this morning is this, that we will live and thrive in the glory of God, so that others can see and experience the glory of God through us. And this is exactly what Paul is speaking to in Romans chapter 12. I want to read the first eight verses, but I'm going to preach on verse one only. Romans 12.1 says, I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith. Or ministry, let us use it in our ministering. He who teaches in teaching, he who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, and he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. And I have preached the last two weeks on the foundation of a Spirit-led life about the grace and the mercy of God, about the gift that God has given us to use for His glory. But I skipped over this one phrase in verse 1 on purpose. Because this phrase found in verse 1, I think is the hinge to what follows. How do we use our gifts for His glory? How do we walk in grace and mercy? How do we live out all of these things? Let's look at verse 1 with me again. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God. So how do we live in grace? How do we walk by faith? How are we led by the Spirit? How do we use our gifts for His glory? How do we allow God to use someone like us? By the mercies of God. That doesn't say by the mercy of God. But God gives us mercy. Mercy is not giving us what we deserve. What do we deserve? Well, before salvation, what we deserve is a sinner's hell. Eternity of torment. Eternity of separation from a holy God. Why? Because even on our best days before salvation, even on our best days, all we have to offer is filthy rags. Now, I know for some of us, that's a little bit of a blow to our ego, isn't it? Preacher, you don't know how good of a guy I've been. You're right, I don't. I just know what Scripture says. Scripture says on our best day we're filthy rats. Now, I don't know about you. Let me put it this way. We've been having a prayer group at our house on Monday nights. And part of our group is a meal. We've had some pretty good meals, I think, served. But what would happen if those came over to our house, they looked at our stack of paper plates, and they looked down and they saw last night's leftovers still on that plate? Now, Preacher, what do you want me to do with this? Oh, I'm sorry, just get the next one. The next one has got last week's supper on it. Now, wait a minute, Preacher. This one's dirty too. Well, get the next one. How comfortable do you think... Now, Preacher, what do you want me to do? You used a serving spoon. Oh, there's a little grit and grime on that serving spoon. Well, Preacher, this spoon's dirty. I don't want to use this. Maybe you've experienced that in a restaurant, huh? You look at your silverware and it's dirty. What do you say? Hey, my silverware's dirty. I need something new. And yet, so many of us come to God and try to offer Him our filthy rags. We offer Him our leftovers. Hey, God, I hope you like this. So, what do we deserve? A sinner's hell. But what do we get? Mercy. That's not what this Scripture is talking about. Not only about that. Now, I'm not an English major. Maybe some of you are very well versed in English language and all the ins and outs of all of that. But what does that word say? Mercies. I'm smart enough to know that that's plural. That's not talking about a singular mercy. Mercies. Now, here's the glorious thing about studying Scripture. When I see stuff like that, it starts with a question. What are the mercies of God? Not what is the mercy of God. What are the mercies of God? And so I want to offer to you this morning my understanding based on Scripture. What are the mercies of God? If we're going to walk out all these things that's found in the rest of Romans chapter 12 verses 1 through 8. What are the mercies of God? I think there are three areas that these mercies fall into. The first area is spiritual mercies. I think there are spiritual mercies that God gives us. First of all, first and foremost, salvation. That is a mercy from God. That is a mercy that God gives us. Did He have to save us? Absolutely not. The wages of sin is what? Death. Spiritual death. Separation of God. You know what that means that we earn with our life? Separation from God. That's what we earned. I don't earn a loving God to look down on me and say, Man, you know what, I'm just going to pour out my grace and mercy on you because you are one wonderful person. And I know you messed up and you failed and you sinned against me. But you know what? You've got a good heart. No. My heart and your heart is deceitfully wicked above all else. Who can know it? The salvation that God gives us is one of His mercies. This is the springboard for all the other mercies that God gives us. And I do not want to assume that everyone here has been saved. Everyone here has put their faith and trust in Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. I don't want to assume that everyone understands what that means. Beloved, I want you to understand this. Ephesians 2.8 For by grace you are saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Simply meaning this. If you believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and that He was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, and died a substitutionary death for you and for me because of the sin that we have in our life, He died for us so that we might be made the righteousness of God. And if you believe He was buried and three days later He ascended, He arose from the grave according to the Scriptures and is now ascended into heaven at the right hand of the Father. If you believe that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, you can be saved. Well, preacher, you don't know. It doesn't matter. Well, preacher, just yesterday, it doesn't matter. What matters is what you do with Jesus right now. You have a choice to accept Him or reject Him. And every individual must make that choice for themselves. Which is a challenge to parents of young kids, isn't it? Mama, daddy, grandma, grandpa, you can't save that young one. They can't ride on the coattails of your faith. My grandpa was a Christian. He went to heaven, so I know I'll see him there one day. That does not matter for that young one. So what does that mean? That means as grandparents of young children, we should be living our life in such a way that they see Jesus. Because their eternity matters. And if we live one way in here on Sunday morning, and a completely different way out there Monday through Saturday, what message is that sending them? One guy, he put it this way. It's actually a lady. She said this one. If church attendance is optional for you, don't be surprised when God is optional for your children. If we put so much stuff on a higher priority list than God, then we can't expect our children to have the priority either. Salvation is a spiritual mercy of God. Freedom is a spiritual mercy of God. Freedom from the penalty of sin. Romans 6.23 For the wages of sin is death, but, probably one of the most glorious buts that you'll ever see. Wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. I don't think y'all heard me. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Some of you understand what that means. We've been set free from the penalty of our sin. That no longer am I in danger of being eternally separated from the God who loves me and died for me. No longer am I in danger of Him looking at me and saying, depart from me you workers of iniquity for I never knew you. No, instead I will stand before Him face to face and He will look at me and He'll say, welcome home my child. Welcome home. Not because of anything I've done. Not because I preach. Not because I teach. Not because I'm doing a great job of raising my family. Not because I have done X, Y, Z. None of that matters when it comes to salvation. What matters is what Christ has done for me. One time in my life, I fell on my knees and cried, woe is me for I'm a man of unclean lips. Save me from my sin. And He has completely washed me. Completely cleansed me. So that when I stand before Him face to face, He doesn't see my unrighteousness. He sees the righteousness of God in me. Freedom from the penalty of sin, but also freedom from the bondage of sin. Romans 6, 20-22 says, for when you were slaves of sin, let's understand that. Slaves of sin. We couldn't help it. We had no control over it on our own. Sin dictated who we were. Sin dictated where we went. Sin dictated what we said and the type of person we were going to be. When we were slaves to sin, you were free in regards to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? The end of those things is death. But, now having been set free from sin, from the bondage of sin, now I have a choice. Having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end everlasting life. If I'm a child of God, because God has given me free will, I have a choice to make. Every moment, every decision, every option, I choose to step into the presence of God and holiness and righteousness or I step into selfishness and sin and rottenness. You say every decision? Every decision. You say, well, what about Fruity Pebbles vs. Fruit Loops? I mean, if you don't go with Fruit Loops, then you stepped into unrighteousness. No, I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. I'm just joking. Just lightening the mood a little bit for you. But having that second bowl or that third bowl or that Jethro Bodine bowl, what is that? Gluttony. And I have stepped into unrighteousness. Free from the penalty of sin. Free from the bondage of sin. The third spiritual mercy that we have is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in our life. God Himself living in us. What does the Holy Spirit do for us? He's a Comforter. John 14, 16, And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. How do we have peace that passes all understanding? Through the power of the Holy Spirit in us. How in the midst of our trials and tribulations do we have strength? Do we have comfort? Because of the Spirit of God in us. His presence in our life. That's a mercy of God that He has given us. A Comforter, a Counselor. John 16, 13, However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. How do we know how to live? How do we know what decision to make? How do we know what steps to take? Because we have a Counselor in us and with us. We have a Comforter, a Counselor, an Interceder. Romans 8, 26, Likewise, the Spirit also helps our weaknesses. For we don't know what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Love, I don't know about you, but it brings me great comfort and peace sometimes when I know people are praying for me. I've received phone calls and text messages. Matter of fact, I received a text message this morning from a dear preacher friend of mine. He said, I'm remembering you in prayer this morning, preacher. Proud of you. It's a great service. It's an encouragement, a comfort to me knowing that I have brothers and sisters in Christ praying for me as I do what I do. The great task that I have set before me this morning. And I want you to know, I count this as a great task and a great privilege. Opening the Word of God for you every Sunday morning. So it brings me great comfort knowing that I have people praying for me. But oh, how many times I forget and neglect the fact that I have the Spirit of God Himself praying for me. And understanding the power that's behind that. Understanding the comfort that that should bring me. Yes, there's man's feeble words and feeble attempts to lift me up before the throne of grace of God and that brings me great comfort. But how much more comfort should it bring me that the Spirit of God is crying out from within me? Help this meek and wimpy man do the great task that you have called him to do. Fill him with your words and your power and your strength and give him boldness and freedom to preach your Word. From within me. Those utterings are being cried out for me. And beloved, the same is true for you if you have put your faith and trust in God. A comforter, a counselor, an interceder, but there's a fourth spiritual mercy that we get. I don't even know if this is a real word as I read it, but confirmation. Confirmation. What I mean by that is the act of being conformed into the image of Christ. That's a mercy of God that we have. And you hear me say this often, we should look more like Jesus today than we did yesterday. We should be further along in our spiritual journey than we were yesterday, last week, last month, last year. Being conformed into the image of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. In the original language, this is what it says. All things are becoming new. And I say that and I want to push in on that just a little bit because I want you to know this. We don't have to be perfect. We're not going to be perfect. We are being made new. All things are becoming new. And so we might still struggle with some thoughts and some doubts that we did last year. But in the midst of that doubt, we might hear that still small voice say, I got you. We may still hear that still small voice like he did Job and say, Hey James, I know you're worried about this, but where were you when I put the stars in the heavens? I know you're struggling and you're questioning how this... Reminding me of his sovereignty and of his power. And then he brings together verses like Matthew chapter 6. Consider the lilies of the field. How beautifully they are arrayed. But they never spun close. And if God clothed them so beautifully, will he not clothe you all the more as his child? Consider the birds of the air. They never planted. They never cultivated. And yet they're fed. And yet they're fed. If God takes care of the birds, how much more will he take care of you as his child? He reminds me of things like that. Through the power of the Spirit of God, he brings me comfort. Knowing that he's in control so that by the mercies of God, I may be able to walk according to his calling in the grace of God, through the gospel of God. And in seeing all of that, I see how glorious he is. And when I see how glorious he is, I can't help but walk with him. I can't help but surrender to him. It's not easy. It's a struggle some days. Satan attacks like he did this morning. He attacks my house and your house. He attacks relationships. He attacks jobs. He tries to get in the midst of those and distract you and disturb you and draw you away from him. Well, we really have to press in. In prayer, press in. In Bible study, press in in our godly relationships and call our brothers and sisters in Christ and say, man, I need you right now. And allow God's glory to be manifested all around us. And in that, we'll experience comfort, peace, counseling, guidance. Now, I've only got through one of my three parts of the mercies of God. And I'm going to dive into the next part next Sunday where we'll spend a little time here about the mercies of God because I think sometimes we forget exactly what God's given us. Sometimes we forget how good He's been to us. Sometimes we forget that salvation was not just a one-time thing. He is working in our lives. We are saved. We are being saved and we will be saved. So somebody's here this morning that needs to step into that salvation for the first time. And they need to experience the mercy of God through the forgiveness of their sins. In just a moment, I'll be down here in front and I'd love to pray with you, share a little bit more about that with you. Acknowledging Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior so that you can be a part of the family of God and be free from the penalty and the bondage to sin and live in that freedom with Christ. Some of you in here, you have allowed the cares of this world to drown out the mercies of God in your life. Your priorities have gotten misplaced. Your focus has gotten misplaced and you simply need to come and say, God, thank you for your mercy. Draw me back to you. Some of you here have a struggle, have a doubt, have a relationship that's on the fritz. You just need to come and lay that on the mercy of God and say, God, I need you to heal this relationship. Strengthen this bond so that they can see the glory of God in me and through me. As this song plays, you come. This altar is open. I'll be down front. As always, I'd love to pray with you, pray for you. You come as the Lord leads.