Title: Glorify God
for his Mercy
Text: Rom 15: 7-12
Date: February 27,
2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
Do you profess to be
a believer? Then I have a message for
you.
Believer, has God
received you? How so? If God receives you
and I who are sinners then he did it in mercy.
Mercy is God withholding from us what we deserve. Grace is God giving us, not only what we do
not deserve, but what we have demerited.
In our text, “mercy” means both grace and mercy. It includes forbearance, longsuffering, and
forgiveness.
I’m so great a sinner
that if God my Father and his Son my Lord Jesus Christ have received me then it
is by his mercy and grace. That
being the case, should not I receive my offending brother the same way?
Romans 15: 7: Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ
also received us to the glory of God.
Romans 14: 1: Him
that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations…3…for
God hath received him.
Romans 15: 7: Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ
also received us to the glory of God.
God gives this
admonition to every believer. Do you
profess to be a believer? Paul is
writing to Jewish believers as well as Gentile believers. Both are saved by God’s mercy. Concerning God’s elect among the Jews:
Romans 15: 8: Now I
say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision [the Jews] for the
truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers
Concerning God’s
elect among the Gentiles:
Romans 15: 9: And
that the Gentiles might GLORIFY GOD FOR HIS MERCY; as it is written, For this
cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. 10: And
again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. 11: And again, Praise
the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. 12: And again, Esaias
saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the
Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.
Subject: Glorify God for his
Mercy
Proposition: Believer,
knowing that Christ received us in mercy to glorify God, God commands us to receive
one another in mercy that we might glorify God.
We will see the glory of God’s mercy in the face of: 1) our sin 2) our Redeemer 3) our brethren
MERCY IN THE FACE OF OUR SIN
You who have received mercy, you who need God’s mercy, do
we know how exceedingly sinful we are?
It is only then that we will see the exceeding riches of his mercy and
grace.
In Adam we sinned against God. I know you know that doctrine. But do we know it about ourselves personally? It was God himself that you yourself
trespassed against in the garden. Not
only in Adam but there is not one commandment we ourselves have not broken
every moment of every day. How
can I put this so as to encompass the totality of our sin? In everything we have ever done the only
thing we have ever done is sin against God.
Our fleshly nature was conceived in sin so that we ARE
SIN itself; we ARE enmity itself—“Carnal mind IS enmity against God”; we
ARE abomination to God—"For the froward IS abomination to the LORD:…”
(Pr 3:32)
What is abomination? It is a stinking wound, oozing putrid puss so
nauseating that it would turn a sailor’s stomach. Is that too offensive? Sinner, you and I are far more offensive to
God than that. Do we know what we ARE
before God in our sin-nature?
Isaiah 1: 6: From the
sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but
wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
That is what our sinful flesh is. From that cesspool the only thing we belch out
is sin after sin after sin. In our flesh
we can do nothing to please God. Sinner,
do you believe that about yourself? Do
we really believe we are saved by mercy?
We have offended God so much that God owes me and you nothing,
except eternal condemnation under the justice and wrath of God. Think of someone who has offended and hurt
you deeply! If someone had murdered your
only child or your entire family, they have not offended you like you and I offend
God by our sin. Someone may offend us at
certain occasions. But we offend God
every moment of every day. For one
sinner to offend another sinner may truly be offensive—but for a sinner to offend
holy God! No offense toward you
from another sinner compares to your offenses toward God. Yet, God has mercy on you, believer, for
Christ’s sake!
God shows mercy to whom he will show mercy. We know that scripture and doctrine. But do we know it about ourselves? Can I say (can you say) God chose me purely
by mercy simply because he would? Can we
say I am such a sinner that God saved me by mercy because it is the only way God
could save me?
Believer, when you hear those blessed words, “Christ
hath received you—God hath received you”—do you see the glory of God’s
mercy in the face of your sin? “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”
Oh, I need mercy from God. There is not a moment that goes by that I do
not need God’s mercy because every moment of everyday I am sin and all I do is
sin. Is this so of you? Do you need
mercy from God? If God has shown us
mercy then we will be merciful to other sinners like ourselves!
MERCY IN THE FACE OF OUR REDEEMER
Brethren, God owed us nothing but judgment. God owed us nothing but condemnation. He owed us nothing but an eternity in
hell.
Yet, Mercy sent his only begotten Son to bear the
condemnation and hell we earned. God
has withheld from his people what we deserve because Christ willing became
the offense we were to God and God withheld none of his fury from his
Son our Substitute. He was made a
curse and God poured out what we deserved on him. Christ bore eternal condemnation that every
elect child of God deserved. Do
we realize that it was the great mercy of God toward us for him to do so? Do we?
We hated and were hatred toward Christ. We were nothing but a constant offense to him. Yet our Lord Jesus lowered himself to the
lowest low, bore the most shameful shame.
He bore the shame of my sin and my curse and my death. That was mercy! Do we see that everything Christ did, and
does, for us is mercy? Do we?
Now, God can say to his people, “Awake, awake, stand up,
O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou
hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out” (Is 51:17). But when did we drink the dregs of the
cup of trembling and wring them out? When
Christ drank damnation dry on our behalf!
Then God showered us
in mercy when he called us by his gospel! We were like these Gentile believers
in our text.
Ephesians 2: 1:…who
were dead in trespasses and sins; 2: Wherein in time past ye walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3: Among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of
wrath, even as others…12: That at that time ye were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
Christ said I did not come but for the lost sheep of the
house of Israel. So how did I, a Gentile,
a stranger, a dog become partaker of God’s covenant promise?
Ephesians 2: 4: BUT
GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5: Even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (BY GRACE ye
are saved;) 6: And hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7: That in the ages to come
he might shew the exceeding RICHES OF HIS GRACE in his kindness toward
us THROUGH CHRIST JESUS.
God gave us spiritual
life, faith, all things that pertain to life and godliness. How could he give such
gifts to sinners who deserved nothing? By
Christ meriting it for his people God is just to show mercy. By Christ fulfilling all righteousness for
his people God is just to impute righteousness to the believer. By Christ, God has given us every good and
perfect gift which all came of his rich, rich mercy! Oh, child of God, do you see the glory of God’s
mercy in the face of our Redeemer! God
hath received us for the sake of Christ his Son! Oh, what mercy!
MERCY IN THE FACE OF OUR BRETHREN
Paul was addressing
believers who had been received by God by his mercy. Yet, they were standing in judgment of their
brethren because they were offended by their weaker brethren’s outward acts. They were despising, doubting and ready to
reject them because of what their weaker brethren had done. This self-righteous judgment was worse than their
brothers outward acts. But these stronger brethren looked only at the
outward acts of their weaker brethren and judged unrighteous judgment.
Yet those weaker
brethren were brethren also received by God in mercy, “God hath received
him.” Do you see the injustice? God had received these brethren because they
were perfect in Christ. But their
brethren would not receive them because a few outward acts offended them. They claimed to reject their brethren for the
glory of God! Those are contradictory
things. Reject brethren for the glory of
God?
Brethren, if God does
not subdue our Pharisaical old sin-nature that is what we will do. But that is what Paul is teaching us not to
do in these two chapters. I have
experienced that old Pharisee in me on more occasions than I care to count. He speaks
in the conscience, saying, “I’m just not to show mercy! I am just because that brother greatly offended
me!” But, brethren, we greatly offended
God! My inner Pharisee says, “They hurt me
and they are wrong! But we crucified
Christ! And God our Father and Christ
Jesus his Son received us in mercy. Oh, God
help me to glorify God by giving mercy to my offending brethren.
Imagine my awful state
if God hath received my brother yet I won’t receive him. God, for Christ’s sake, hath shown him mercy. Yet I won’t show him mercy for Christ’s sake. Shall I, a sinner, refuse to receive a brother
in mercy who the righteous and holy God has received in mercy? Not one of us would stand up before our brethren
and say that we do not really thank God for his mercy. But that is what we say if
we will not receive a brother in mercy after Christ has received us in mercy. Brethren, self-righteousness is THE sin that
kept us from Christ and would still separate if not for the mercy of God. So having that Pharisee in me, I need mercy
from my brethren. Do you?
Still, when you behold
a brother overcome in self-righteousness refusing to show mercy to another
brother there is something we must remember.
If I behold a brother judging and condemning another brother who Christ
has received in mercy, remember this about that brother: that is not their new
man created of God in righteousness and true holiness; the new man cannot sin
because he is born of God’s incorruptible seed and Christ abides in him. That is their old man of sin. So do not be harsh with the self-righteous
brother. “Consider thyself lest
thou also be tempted.” Self-righteousness
begets self-righteousness. Do not be
overtaken in the same fault by self-righteously judging the brother who is
overcome by his self-righteous old man of sin.
When a brother
refuses mercy he needs mercy most of all!
Brethren, do you see
the irony in self-righteousness? Self-righteousness says, “You are too great a
sinner for me to show you mercy.” Yet, God continues to say, “You are not to
great a sinner for me to show you mercy.”
In fact, the greater the sinner the greater the mercy. Oh, thank God that he delighteth in mercy!
Self-righteousness begets self-righteousness. Imagine if Paul
listened to those believers who doubted their weaker brother? Think what would have happened if Paul looked
at the faults of those weak brethren and said to the stronger brethren, “You are right, these weaker brethren are legalists. They may not even be believers.” Paul would have judged one who God had
received in Christ. He would have exalted
and established the self-righteous brother in his pride. Worst of all, he would have divided the whole
church. But that is what Paul was trying
to prevent by admonishing them all to receive one another as Christ received
us.
James 2: 12: So speak
ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13: For he
shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy
rejoiceth against judgment.
Paul said that
instead of showing a brother judgment and condemnation, “Receive ye one
another, as Christ also received us [you] to the glory of God.” Do you see how Paul is being merciful by
showing them Christ? He is not condemning
or exalting one over another. Paul is showing
mercy by pointing them all to Christ and encouraging them all to receive one another
as Christ received them.
Brethren be merciful
and receive offending brethren as Christ does us, especially that brother
overtaken in self-righteousness. It is
so hard to do because it runs so contrary to our sinful flesh. Truth is, we cannot show mercy unless God
shows us mercy and gives us the grace to do it.
So restore the weak brother in mercy.
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of
Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself.” (Ga 6:1-3) When you “consider
thyself” remember not only that you are you a great sinner, but also remember how
God received you by mercy. Receive and
restore that brother as Christ does us through his gospel.
“But preacher that
weak brother is wrong; that weak brother has judged me, condemned me and they don’t
deserve me showing them mercy!” THAT’S
WHAT MERCY IS! Did you and I deserve
mercy from God? No! Yet, he had mercy on
us. That is how we are to receive one
another—as Christ received us. When
an offending brother in no way deserves to be received then that brother qualifies
for mercy!
This is true. When
God gives us grace to receive a brother in mercy, God will make our bond with
each other stronger than ever before. When
you saw your sin then God showered you with mercy, did it not soften your heart
and make you want to please God? Let us
be merciful so that God uses us to make peace.
When we are overcome by our flesh we often poke out our chest and think,
“I really put him in his place!” But God
says, “If you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie
not against the truth. This wisdom
descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, delish. For where envying and strife is, there
is confusion and every evil work.”
Such a spirit is not of God but of the devil. It will only create strife and confusion and
every evil work. “But the wisdom that is
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, FULL
OF MERCY and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” And
through that mercy God will bless it to create peace between you and your
brother because “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make
peace” (Jas 3:16-18). Do you want to
create more division and evil? That is
all that will come from a haughty, self-righteous, condemning devilish spirit. Or do you want to be used of God to make
peace? Then show mercy!
The devil feeds self-righteousness. He will whisper in your ear, “You have put up
with too much from that brother; you’ve forgiven too many times.” But what is the love of Christ that
constrains us? It is Christ’s unceasing
mercy no matter what we have done to him.
Believer, have you ever done something so offensive to God that he stopped
showing you mercy for Christ’s sake?
Never! Have you ever come to God begging
mercy and he refuse you mercy for Christ’s sake? Never!
That is the love of Christ that constrains us! It is the goodness of God that leadeth thee
to repentance!
When a brother shows
us mercy despite our condemning spirit that is when we see the glory of God in
the face of our brethren. It is God’s
mercy and grace that makes a brother show his offending brother mercy and
grace! It brings glory to God for his
mercy. Thank God he delights to show
mercy! God’s mercy makes his people
delight to show mercy.
Only a few times in
our lives does God give us really, really hard trials. Among the most difficult is an offending
brother that disappoints us. We know they
are guilty. They have even confessed to you
they are guilty. They ask for mercy. But
they have offended us so badly and hurt us so much! Despite all of that, if we want to manifest
that we believe what God has taught us in the gospel then receive that one who
does not deserve it. Restore him to
Christ. Doing so you will glorify God
because that is how Christ received us to the glory of God. God help us to do so!
Amen!