GOD'S INCREDIBLE MERCY
"It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed..." -
Lamentations 3:22
Mankind
is guilty of taking God's mercy for granted.
Since His mercy has been extended to us daily, we act as if we deserved
or earned it. Many people feel entitled to the blessings of God. In reality, every good thing that we enjoy
is a gift from God. We don't deserve
these blessings.
The
word, "mercy," refers to God's loving kindness demonstrated by
keeping us from the wrath we deserve.
Talk show hosts never speak about the wrath of God. Most preachers rarely talk about the
judgment of God. As a result, most
individuals fail to understand the nature of God's mercy.
In
our text, Jeremiah wrote, "It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not
consumed." Americans tend to think
that our advanced education, ever-expanding liberal standards, capitalism, and
democracy have produced the blessings we enjoy. What foolish thinking! It
is wrong to think that somehow we deserve our blessings. America exists --- and continues to exist
--- because of God's mercy. You woke up
this morning because of God's mercy. If
it weren't for God's mercy, all of us --- and I do mean ALL of us --- would be
in hell. Because of sin, we deserve
hell. Evangelist Bill Stafford once
said, "Anything short of hell is grace."
The
fact is that we deserve to be consumed by the wrath of God. We are not as "good" as we think
we are. We measure our lives by our
intensions while God judges us by the truth.
We tend to compare ourselves to others & end up with a distorted
view of ourselves. Compared to a
murdering rapist, most Americans would seem to be good. However, compared to God's standard of perfection,
all of us fall woefully short.
Think
about how incredible God's mercy really is.
He permitted many of His enemies to awake this morning, knowing that
they would continue their rebellion against Him, use His Name in vain and fight
against everything He attempts to do.
They deserve His wrath. Jeremiah
was right, "It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not
consumed."
God
deserves our praise and devotion. We
tend to overlook Him. We enjoy gifts,
blessings and mercy while deliberately avoiding the One they came from. When we think about God's mercies, we should
be in awe of Him. One who is so great
extends such great mercy to the worst of sinners.
When
confronted with the truth about God's mercy, many tend to take God and His
mercy for granted. Sadly, many think
that mercy will always be extended to them.
God's mercy points sinners to the Savior, where the greatest act of
mercy can be enjoyed. Salvation is the
ultimate act of God's mercy. There's
not a man or woman who deserves heaven.
Instead, all of us deserve hell.
When a man repents of his sins and trusts Jesus alone to save him, God's
glorious mercy and grace is extended to him, bringing salvation.
God's
mercy is extended to mankind through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus
Christ. On the cross, Jesus took our
place & suffered the penalty that we should have received. Jesus experienced the wrath that we
deserved. There on the cross, the
justice of God was satisfied and the mercy of God was extended.
The
only way a man or woman can avoid the penalty of sin is through the mercy of
God, extended through the blood of Jesus.
The born again believer will not be consumed by God's wrath because the
wrath we deserved was poured out on Jesus.
Because of God's mercies, we are not consumed ... and never will be.
What
about you? Can you honestly state that
you have been born again? Apart from
God's mercy and grace, you will ultimately face eternal wrath because of your
sin. Don't take God's mercy for
granted. His mercy is available to you
at this moment so that you may turn from your sin and meet Jesus Christ. God is incredible to offer you
salvation. His mercy is
incredible. While mercy and grace are
available, turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith.
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