Oh Mercy - #233

Consider what you deserve from a holy, righteous, and just God for just one of your rebellious, sinful choices! It has been said that grace is God giving you what you don’t deserve. Mercy is God NOT giving you what you do deserve.

Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at  http://www.thepuritycoach.com

Transcript

In Romans 12:1 the Apostle Paul says, “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” I want to challenge you to join with me over the next few moments to really think about, to seriously contemplate God’s amazingly wonderful and unconditional mercy.

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast. A powerful weekly study filled to the brim with the all the tools from Scripture you will ever need to build a lasting life of Biblical purity and godliness. I’m your host Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry and this is Episode #233 entitled “Oh Mercy!” 

Although we are going to focus the majority of our attention this episode upon God’s Mercy I want to begin for just a moment to talk with you about God’s amazing Grace. The Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 that “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 reminds us that only “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” And in 2 Corinthians 12:9 God said to Paul, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

I start this episode with these verses on God’s grace so we can better understand His mercy. It has been said that grace is God giving you what you don’t deserve. Mercy is God NOT giving you what you do deserve. Let me repeat that. God’s grace is the sovereign, all-powerful, most holy, creator of the universe giving to you and me what we don’t deserve. We don’t deserve forgiveness, we don’t deserve salvation, we don’t deserve an eternity in Heaven with Him, we don’t deserve His blessing – but in His amazingly glorious unfathomable grace He has chosen to give us what we don’t deserve. That’s God’s grace. Whereas His mercy is God NOT giving us what we do deserve. 

Think about that as you consider the sinful choices you made last week, and the ones you made yesterday, and even the sinful choices you have made already today. Mull over for a moment how many times you have chosen to put King Me on the throne of your heart in any given day. Got that firmly fixed in your mind? Now, reflect on what you deserve from a holy, righteous, and just God for just one of those sinful choices – let alone all of them!

Titus 3:5 tells us that “(God) saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Peter cried out, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again.” (1 Peter 1:3) 

Let me repeat an earlier point: God’s mercy is God (the sovereign, holy, just and righteous judge of the Universe) NOT giving us what we do deserve. The fact is: we deserve death, not life. Romans 3:23 clearly states that “everyone has sinned; we all (have fallen) short of God’s glorious standard.” Yet God, in His mercy, has declared that anyone who believes on His Son will not receive the death they deserve, but will have eternal life (1 Timothy 1:16)!

God’s mercy is great! In 2 Samuel 24:14 King David says, “I’m in a desperate situation! (Do not let me fall into human hands) Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great.” Scripture tells us that God shows us His great mercy primarily because of His great and unconditional love. The prophet Nehemiah cried out to God, “Remember me ... and show mercy to me according to your great love.” (Nehemiah 13:22) Truly  “God is rich in mercy, and he loves us so much!” (Ephesians 2:4)  Think about this …

·      It is because of God’s mercy that He does not abandon us. Nehemiah 9:31 says, “In your great mercy you did not put an end to us or abandon us, for you are a gracious and merciful God.” 

·      It is strictly because of God’s mercy that we are able to come boldly into His presence without fear (Psalm 5:7) “But I, through the abundance of your (mercy) will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.” 

·      God has promised His mercy to those who reject sinful thinking (putting self on the throne), turn to Him, and confess and renounce their sin. Proverbs 28:13 tells us that “people who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.” 

·      And Isaiah 55:7 we read, “Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.” 

·      In fact, God absolutely delights in showing us His mercy. Micah 7:18 exclaims, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.”

So, “in view of God’s mercy” (Romans 12:1)—because of the fact that God has not given to us what we deserve—Paul urges us to willingly choose to offer our body to God. His call here is for you and I to dedicate every aspect of ourselves, without reservation, to the Lord. Not just today, not just while in a Sunday worship service, but every moment of every day.

Notice also in Romans 12:1 the word “offer.” In view of God’s mercy, we are to offer our body to Him daily. Here’s why I point that out: It’s a technical term used to describe the way a priest places an offering on the altar with the intention of surrendering or yielding it completely up to God. Anytime something was placed on an altar, it was for the purpose of sacrifice—willingly putting it to death, giving up ownership.

1 Peter 2:5 tells us that as a Christian, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” You see, God considers you and me to be “priests,” and, as such, we are to offer—to daily surrender and yield—our body to Him. This is what God calls our priestly act of worship.

So, the next time you are tempted to give in to your sinful habits, remember God’s mercy and then choose – right then and right there – choose (Luke 9:23) to deny those sinful passions, die to yourself and choose instead to sacrifice your fleshly desires, making your body available for God to use for His glory.

I firmly believe that over the last 10 years, something has drastically shifted in Christianity. Collectively, as a body of born again believers, we have lost a respect for God’s law. I don’t mean that we are blatantly throwing our Bibles out the window, doing whatever we want and then acting like we don’t care what God thinks. I’m referring to having what I call a “smorgasbord mentality” when it comes to reading Scripture.  

Let me explain. I submit that way too often we tend to treat the Bible like it was a buffet table. We will read God’s Word, and then we’ll pick and choose which of God’s laws and standards, principles and promises we like. We then study those and decide to obey and follow them, while we leave the rest of Scripture to the “irrelevancy of Bible times.” 

Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul …” Notice that King David is saying that God’s law—all of God’s law (not just some of it, not just the parts you like … ALL of God’s law—is perfect. Think about that. It was perfect when David penned those words, and all of Scripture is still perfect today.

I wonder, is that how you view the Bible? Can you say as David did in Psalm 119:72, “The law of (God’s) mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces”? Another way to put that verse is like this: God’s Word is better to me than anything else I could ever think, imagine, or dream! God’s Word is more precious to me than anything King Me could ever provide!

Can you honestly cry out, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day”? (Psalm 119:97) Do you “love (God’s) commandments above gold, above fine gold”, and do you “consider all (God’s) precepts to be right”? (Psalm 119:127) In other words, do you firmly believe, are you solidly convinced, are you steadfastly confident that God really does know what’s best for you? Do you fully and completely, totally and unreservedly trust Him?

If you want genuine and lasting victory over your sinful habits, study your Bible daily! As Deuteronomy 17:19 says, “Read in it all the days of (your) life … learn to fear the Lord (your) God by keeping all the words of (God’s) law and these statutes, and (do) them”! Joshua 1:8 commands: Don’t ever let “this Book of the Law … depart from your mouth, but … meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous”—and then you will know victory over those nagging temptations and sinful desires of King Me!

Think again about Psalm 19:7. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul …”.  God’s Word is perfect my friend. Perfect! It is complete, whole, and entire, lacking in nothing. In other words, it has the answer for every problem you will ever face. It gives the weapons you need for every battle, and it will help you defeat King Me. David writes in Psalm 18:30 that “(Our) God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.”

Listen as I read to you the words of Psalm 119:25-32. “My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!  When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes! Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!” (Psalm 119:25-32)   

OK. Let’s hit the pause button until next week’s episode. In the meantime, if you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about The Pure Man Ministry (what we do to help men across the globe find freedom and victory over sexual sin), be sure to visit our website to see the multitude of resources we’ve made available to you – you can find our website at ThePurityCoach.com.

Here at the Pure Man Ministry, we are frequently looking at our financial needs in order to evaluate where we are at so as to continue The Pure Man Ministry well into the future. For those of you listening who may not be familiar with The Pure Man Ministry, let me take just a quick moment to share with you that we are a faith-based, donor-supported, not-for-profit ministry, and as such all we do globally is made possible by our team of ministry partners who give financially to this ministry.

Without compromise our purpose is to take you into the Word of God to show you how to have a continuous, progressive relationship with Jesus that is real and personal. To that end we need ongoing financial assistance from partners like you who are committed to providing help, hope, and healing for men and women across the globe win their personal battle against the beast of sexual impurity. 

I am personally inviting you to partner with us in this ministry as we continue to impact our world by equipping and training men and women how-to live-in purity, godliness, and integrity. Every gift given to The Pure Man Ministry – no matter the size – is tax deductible.

To give your tax deductible gift to this ministry today, simply go to ThePurityCoach.com and click on the Donate button in the upper right corner. And thank you for choosing to partner with us! 

And if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes! So, until next time this is Steve Etner – author, National Speaker, Certified Professional Mentor TM and Purity Coach for The Pure Man Ministry – reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.