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Announcements of Mercy
The Wednesday Word: Announcements of Mercy
Have you ever asked yourself why is it that God’s people believe the truth of the gospel? The answer is simple. We believe because God persuades us that He is to be trusted (Numbers 23:19). Faith, real faith, has a divine foundation.
As believers, God Himself is our teacher and we learn from Him primarily by reading, listening to and meditating on His word. He is the God who does not lie. His word teaches us, for example, what His mercy is (Psalm 119:41). When trying to discover what mercy is we should let God speak for Himself.
Here then are some announcements from heaven that inform us of God’s stunning mercy towards us.
“The Lord is long suffering and of great mercy” (Numbers 14:18).
“His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 118:1).
“Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee” (Psalm 86:5).
“Thou art a God full of compassion and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth” (Psalm 86:15).
“Thy mercy is great unto the heavens” (Psalm 57:10).
“His tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:9).
” He retains not his anger forever, because he delights in mercy” (Micah 7:18).
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6).
“God, — is rich in mercy, for the great love wherewith he hath loved us, even when we were dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:4).
“According to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).
These are but a few announcements concerning mercy from the One who cannot lie and each of these announcements are faithful and true. Each of them is fresh and life giving! Beware of saying, “I know these verses! What use is it to read and meditate on them?” When I hear words like that, I catch the sound of alarm bells! This is the thinking of someone who has become too familiar with the gospel and his familiarity is blocking the life of the Word from reaching his soul. This kind of familiarity with the things of God is a spiritual death sentence!
The announcements listed above are declarations of the riches of God’s mercy! Through the gracious ministry of the Holy Spirit, we read them as if it were the first time we have heard them. The mind of God towards us is wrapped up in these faithful announcements, and it is out of words like these that the Spirit ministers grace and peace to us. These verses are God’s personal messengers to us. If they don’t minister peace to you, read them again. If you still can’t find peace through them, read them again. If you still find nothing, meditate on them again for, “The word of God is quick and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12). “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29).
John Newton, the writer of the classic hymn, ‘Amazing Grace’ was a man who lived in the life of the scriptures. He knew a thing or two about mercy! Right before he died, he said to a friend, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Saviour.”
Newton was a man who had listened to and believed the Divine Announcements. He never forgot that he owed his redemption entirely to the mercy of God. He made this clear in the following epitaph he wrote for himself and had written on his tomb.
‘John Newton
Once an Infidel and Libertine,
A Servant of Slaves in Africa,
Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
Preserved, restored and pardoned,
And appointed to preach the faith
He had long laboured to destroy.’
And that’s the Gospel Truth
Miles McKee,
Minister of the Gospel
RICH IN MERCY
The Wednesday Word: RICH IN MERCY
When we think of God, does the truth that He is wonderfully merciful immediately spring to mind? Probably not!
More than likely, we conjure up a picture of a God who is harsh, critical and judgmental……someone not to run to, but to run from. This kind of faulty thinking about the character of the Almighty can have dire consequences. In fact, unless we get our thoughts about God straight our walk with Him will be crooked.
The scripture declares boldly in Ephesians 2:4 that God is rich in mercy. It is of interest to note that the Greek word translated ‘rich’, is the same word from which we get our English word ‘plush’. Just think of it……our God is plush in mercy. That means, He’s not stingy when it comes to mercy. It means that He doesn’t dispense mercy with eye drops. No!!! On the contrary, He is rich, plush, extravagant, and liberal when it comes to giving out mercy.
In all my years as a believer, I have not yet encountered a single person who didn’t need mercy. Believers and unbelievers alike continually need daily mercy. Every day, as Christians, we sin and fail God. I think you’ll agree, we followers of Christ don’t pray, love God or love each other the way we should do. We need mercy! But God is rich in mercy. He is wealthy in and generous with that mercy. So whatever your situation today, bring it to the One who is plush with mercy.
We may feel like complete failures in our Christian lives … but God is rich in mercy. Because He is rich in mercy, He gave His Son to be slaughtered at the cross for all our sinful fallings and failings. Because He is rich in mercy, He set forth and publicly displayed Christ as a propitiation (a wrath offering) for us. Because He is rich in mercy, Christ has become the very Mercy Seat for the fallen believer. So don’t run from Him ………run to Him! He is rich in mercy!
Regardless of how much we have failed Him, we can come to Him today, right now, for mercy. Perhaps you are saying to yourself, “I don’t deserve mercy.” Well, truer words were never spoken! Think of it, if any of us deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy.
His mercy is great. His grace is free. He is rich in mercy. May we never, ever let shame trick us into staying away from Him. Staying away will only lead to straying away.
Spurgeon tells of how the gospel preacher, Rowland Hill, was given a large sum of money to dispense to a certain minister who was extremely poor. In his wisdom, Mr Hill realised that if he were to give him the entire sum of money all at once, the poor minister would be overwhelmed. So he decided to send the money in instalments every few days and with each instalment he wrote a note to the minister which simply said, “There’s more to Follow.”
This is so like the blessings of God. Every blessing we receive from God has the same note joined to it. It says, “There’s more to follow.”
He chose us, but there’s more to follow.
He called us, but there’s more to follow.
He regenerated us, but there’s more to follow.
He justified us, but there’s more to follow.
He acquitted us, but there’s more to follow.
He declared us righteous, but there’s more to follow.
He set us apart to Himself, but there’s more to follow.
He adopted us, but there’s more to follow.
He gave us eternal life, but there’s more to follow. Why? Because, “God is Rich in Mercy.”
And that’s the Gospel Truth
Miles McKee,
Minister of the Gospel
Gospel Righteousness
A word from my friend, Brother Miles Mckee:
The Wednesday Word,
Gospel Righteousness
The gospel truth of Justification means that every charge against the believer has been dropped. As the scripture declares, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies” (Romans 8:33). There are no accusations that can stand against the Lord’s sheep because they have been declared not guilty in the courtroom of God. But there’s more!
Justification goes far beyond being cleared of guilt. When we are justified, we are not only acquitted, but also declared righteous. This is a necessary truth for not only does the Law forbid sin, it also demands righteousness. But where do we find a righteousness that satisfies the Father? Some people reason that regeneration is the solution for this. However, vital as regeneration is, it can not provide perfect righteousness. The flesh still lusts against the spirit (Galatians 5:17).
In addition, the “not guilty” declaration, although essential, does not, and can not, clothe us with righteousness. It declares us innocent, but there is a significant difference between being innocent and being righteous! The truth is, the man who is declared not guilty is still unworthy in himself. Everything he does is flawed, imperfect and defiled by sin.
But here’s the good news, gospel justification not only declares us not guilty, but also declares us righteous. We are now accepted before God having, not only been washed in the blood of Christ, but also by having Christ’s righteousness reckoned as being ours. Martyn Lloyd Jones says,
“In justifying us, God tells us that He has taken our sins and our guilt and has “imputed” them to, “put them to the account of,” the Lord Jesus Christ and punished them in Him. He announces also that, having done that, He now puts to our account, or “imputes” to us, the perfect righteousness of His own dear Son. The Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the law perfectly; He never broke it in any respect; He gave a full and a perfect satisfaction to all its demands. That full obedience constitutes His righteousness. What God does is to put to our account, to put upon us, the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In declaring us to be justified, God proclaims that He now looks on us, not as we are, but as clothed with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Because of Justification, God looks at us and says that (1) we are not guilty, and (2) we are righteous in Christ. Our past has been legally and justly expunged, and we have been given a totally new identity. It’s like being in a witness protection program that is 100% secure!
“Christ is made unto us righteousness.” 1 Corinthians 1:30. This is the blessing of grace that belongs to every believer. The Fathers looks at us and see us as righteous in Christ. If a man, however, refuses to submit to this righteousness, he, in his folly, is declaring Christ’s righteousness to be superfluous and un-necessary. Furthermore, he is saying that man’s righteousness (his in particular) is sufficient for acceptance before God. Such a person is not in the gospel; he will perish.
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
‘Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed
With joy shall I lift up my head.
Bold shall I stand in that great day,
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully absolved through these I am,
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.
Some years ago an Irish Farmer stood up to testify at a gospel meeting. He said, “Brothers and Sisters look at me. I’m not a pretty sight. In fact, I’m just a big, old, ugly Irish farmer, but in God’s sight I’m altogether lovely for I’m all dressed up in the righteousness of Christ.”
This man understood something of the benefits of the gospel.
And that’s the Gospel Truth
Miles
Miles McKee,
Minister of the Gospel
Sinners cannot endure God’s displeasure
The only question that remains is, whether thou canst endure his displeasure. And this must surely be a forlorn hope! Can thine heart endure, and thine hands be strong, in the day that he shall deal with thee? Think of the wrath to come. If it were founded in caprice or injustice, supported by conscious innocence, you might possibly bear it; but, should you perish, you will be destitute of this resource. Conscience will eternally say Amen to the justice of your sufferings. If you had mere justice done you, unmixed with mercy, your sufferings would be more tolerable than they will be; but if you perish, you must have your portion with Bethsaida and Chorazin. Goodness gives an edge to justice. The displeasure of a kind and merciful being– and such is the wrath of the Lamb–is insupportable.
Rev. Andrew Fuller–The Great Question Answered
Confession statement 6
Published in 1646
The Text used: There has been some updating of Old English words but otherwise no changes have been made to the original texts.
CONFESSION OF FAITH of seven congregations or churches of Christ in London. which are commonly, but unjustly, called Anabaptists; published for the vindication of the truth and information of the ignorant; likewise for the taking off those aspersions which are frequently, both in pulpit and print, unjustly cast upon them. Printed in London, Anno 1646.
VI. ALL the elect being loved of God with an everlasting love, are redeemed, quickened, and saved, not by themselves, nor their own works, lest any any man should boast, but, only and wholly by God, of His own free grace and mercy, through Jesus Christ, who is made unto us by God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, and all in all, that he that rejoiceth, might rejoice in the Lord.
Jer.31:2; Eph.1:3,7, 2:8,9; 1 Thess.5:9; Acts 13:38; 2 Cor.5:21; Jer.9:23.24; 1 Cor.1:30.31; Jer.23:6.
The First London Baptist Confession 1644/46
Can Christians fall and be lost?
But our first parents also fell from their original state of holiness. If so, may not christians under similar influences, fall and be lost?
This proposition demands our serious investigation. I observe, that between their primitive condition, and that of truly regenerated men of subsequent ages, no such similarity exists, as will admit of conclusive reasoning from the one to the other. Let several facts, evincive of the truth of this statement, be considered. You will, in the first place, remember that the covenant of God with them was wholly different from that upon which you now stand. To Adam Jehovah said―”Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not ear of it; for in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.”
The obligation of this covenant was a simple negative, upon a single point. How easy would have been compliance. The conditions were explicit―obey, and live; disobey, and die. The result need not be repeated.
With this, contrast the Gospel Covenant―”I will put my laws into their mind, (saith Jehovah) and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people; and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest; for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins, and their iniquities will I remember no more.”
Well may this be distinguished as “the covenant of grace!” How utterly unlike the Adamic. With our first parents all was unbending justice; with you all is favor, mercy, boundless forbearance. In the covenant with them, no provision was made for the pardon of sin; in the Gospel covenant, this is one of the strongest features. Besides all this, they were, until they sinned, utter strangers to pain, and sorrow, and wasting wretchedness. They had not experience of evil. You have known all its bitterness. And further, They disposed of their own life, and alas! incurred its dreadful forfeiture! “Ye are lead (to sin) and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also, appear with his in glory.”
Their condition was wholly different from yours. Almost its antipodes. The reasoning from analogy therefore―is here clearly out of place―it is not legitimate. Neither, as you now see, from the fall of angels nor of our first parents, from their original state of holiness, can any valid arguments be adduced, proving that regenerated men, once depraved and sinful, but now redeemed and sanctified, are liable to “loose their faith, and regeneration, or to continue in apostasy, and so eternally perish.” The objection is without relevancy, or force.
R. B. C. Howell—Perseverance of the Saints
Two ways of blessing
There are two ways by which man might have been for ever blessed. The one was by works:- “This do and thou shalt live; be obedient and receive the reward; keep the commandment and the blessing shall be thine, well earned and surely paid.” The only other plan was- “Receive grace and blessedness as the free gift of God; stand as a guilty sinner having no merit, and as a rebellious sinner deserving the very reverse of goodness, but stand there and receive all thy good things, simply, wholly, and alone of the free love and sovereign mercy of God.” Now, the Lord has not chosen the system of works.
Charles H. Spurgeon—Grace Exalted-Boasting Excluded—A Sermon Delivered on Sunday Morning, January 19th, 1862
Confession statement 1
Published in 1646
The Text used: There has been some updating of Old English words but otherwise no changes have been made to the original texts.
CONFESSION OF FAITH of seven congregations or churches of Christ in London. which are commonly, but unjustly, called Anabaptists; published for the vindication of the truth and information of the ignorant; likewise for the taking off those aspersions which are frequently, both in pulpit and print, unjustly cast upon them. Printed in London, Anno 1646.
I. THE Lord our God is but one God, whose subsistence is in Himself; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but Himself, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light, which no man can approach unto; who is in Himself most holy, every way infinite, in greatness, wisdom, power,love: merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; who giveth being, moving and preservation to all creatures.
1 Cor.8:6; lsa.44:6. 46:9; Exod.3:14; 1 Tim.6:16; Isa. 43:15; Ps.147:5; Deut.32:3; Job 36:5; Jer.10:12; Exod.34:6.7; Acts17:28; Rom.11:36.
The First London Baptist Confession of 1644/1646
Pride is most obnoxious to God
PRIDE is most obnoxious to God. As a sin, his holiness hates it; as a treason, his sovereignty detests it; as a rebellion, the whole of his attributes stand leagued to put it down. God has touched other sins with his finger, but against this vice he has made bare his arm. There have been, I know, terrible judgments against lust, but there have been ten times as many against that swelling lust of the deceitful heart. Remember, the first transgression had in its essence pride. The ambitious heart of Eve desired to be as God, knowing good and evil, and Adam imagined that he should be lifted up to divine rank if he dared to pluck and eat. The blasting of Paradise, the sterility of the world, the travail of human birth, the sweat of the brow, and the certainty of death, may all be traced to this fruitful mother of mischief, pride.
Charles H. Spurgeon—Grace Exalted-Boasting Excluded—A Sermon Delivered on Sunday Morning, January 19th, 1862
Geneva Bible
1677/89 London Baptist Confession
A Study of Dispensationalism by Arthur W. Pink
We must rightly distinguish between works and grace
Charles H. Spurgeon—Grace Exalted-Boasting Excluded—A Sermon Delivered on Sunday Morning, January 19th, 1862