IN WRATH REMEMBER MERCY

The prayer of the prophet Habakkuk is my prayer in these days. He prayed, “in wrath remember mercy.” Because he had heard the word of the Lord, he knew that judgment and wrath upon the nation was inevitable. Such it is in our day. The wrath of God against a sinful world is just and sure. We do not pray that He would cease from doing all He has purposed to do. Our prayer is that He would “remember mercy” and our confidence is that He will. We know that because He has promised it and has showed it again and again in the Old Testament. We read this in Psalms 98:3: “He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.” This mercy is covenant mercy and “He hath remembered his covenant for ever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations” (Psalms 105:8) His mercy is sovereign mercy therefore none can stop Him from having “mercy upon whom He will have mercy.” He needs no reason outside of Himself and there is no power that can stop Him. His mercy is sure, even the “sure mercies of David.” His mercy is in the Lord Jesus Christ who is “the Mercy.” Mercy is the kind treatment of an enemy. Paul writes in Romans 5:10: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” God was in Christ reconciling a multitude of sinners who were enemies in their minds to Himself. He showed this mercy to them by making the sinless Christ to be sin for them that they might be made the righteousness of God in Him. This is mercy! Mercy unspeakable and immeasurable. Like Paul, all who believe, have “obtained mercy.” He declares to the Colossians in chapter 1:21 “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled.” The “wicked works” he speaks of were works of self-righteous that they did to commend themselves to God. Works done rather than believe on Christ for righteousness and salvation. They thought they were good works but in His sight they were an abomination and wicked works! What a mercy it is that He would save us from such and make us the righteousness of God in Christ. What mercy it is that He would love us, chose us, determine all things for us, send His Son to die for us, send us the gospel news of this mercy in Christ and call us by His Spirit to life and faith in Christ. Let me take my place as a blind beggar and cry out, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on ME.”

Gary Shepard 01

GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY AND ELECTION - H. Bonar

Some people today say that they are perplexed by the doctrine of God's sovereignty and election. I am amazed that anyone who believes in God should stumble at God's sovereignty and election. For if there is a God, a King, eternal, immortal, invisible, and almighty, He has to be sovereign, and He must do all things according to His will, and He must choose according to His purpose! Whom shall He consult? With whom shall He seek counsel and advice? One may DISLIKE THESE DOCTRINES; but you cannot get rid of them without denying altogether the existence of the infinite, wise, glorious God of heaven and earth. God would not be God were He not absolutely sovereign in His eternal pre-arrangments.

A TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS IN HEAVEN

One day, as I was passing into the field, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul: ‘Thy righteousness is in heaven.’ And I thought that I could see Jesus Christ at God’s right hand. Yes, there indeed was my righteousness, so that wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say about me that I did not have righteousness, for it was standing there before Him. I also saw that it was not my good feelings that made my righteousness better, and that my bad feelings did not make my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, ‘the same yesterday, and today, and forever,’ Hebrews 13:8. Now, indeed, the chains fell off my legs, and I was loosened from my afflictions and irons. My temptations also fled away so that from that time forward those dreadful Scriptures terrified me no more. Now I went home rejoicing because of the grace and love of God, and went to my Bible to look up where the verse was found that said, ‘Thy righteousness is in heaven.’ But I could not find it. And so my heart began to sink again, until suddenly, there came to my remembrance I Corinthians 1:30, ‘Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.’ From this, I saw that the other sentence was also true.

John Bunyan

MERCY’S DOOR

At Mercy’s door I found myself,

Not knowing how I came.

Except my heart was drawn to Him

Who knew my sin and shame.

No strength had I and yet I knocked

His hand on mine to lead;

And He who answered was the Same

As He who showed my need.

I asked for mercy, then I found,

Twas His to give or keep;

But He would not have brought me there

Alone to make me weep.

“I am the Mercy” soft He said,

“God’s grace and God the Son”

“If grace and mercy are your need”

“I am the only One.”

He led me through the blood-stained door

To life, to light, to love;

And closed the door to safely keep

My soul for God above.

86.86

Gary Shepard

When the Holy Spirit shows us the necessity, the beauty and the sufficiency of the death of Christ, we repent of our own foolish “dead works,” we forsake every other way of seeking to please God, we look to Christ and His substitutionary death as the only ground of our acceptance with God and our conscience rests in the quiet assurance that Christ has satisfied God on our behalf and saved us in a way that glorifies God in all His holy character. Thus the “blood” purges our consciences of every false hope, of natural self-righteousness, and all fear and doubt!