HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER – OCTOBER 31, 2021

PSALMS 100:5 – For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

PSALMS 118:1-2, 4, 29 – Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say, “His mercy endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord now say, “His mercy endures forever.” Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF MERCY?

• Mercy is the compassionate treatment of those in distress, especially when it is within one’s power to punish or harm them
• The word mercy means the price paid. It has the connotation of forgiveness, forbearance kindness gracious faithfulness goodness tender-hearted charity meekness.
• Mercy relates to forgiveness or withholding punishment. For example, God the Father showed mercy on us when he sacrificed his son, Christ Jesus, on the Cross to pay the price for our sins.

EXODUS 34:6-7 – And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

I. The Mercy of God Remains Forever

• God is eternal.
• It means His mercy is eternal we cannot remove that Character from him
• EXODUS 20:6 – but showing graciousness and steadfast lovingkindness to thousands [of generations] of those who love Me and keep My commandments
• DEUTERONOMY 7:9 – “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
• A thousand generations is 38,000 years
• 1 generation is 25 years.
• 4 generations are 100 years.
• PSALMS 118:29 – Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

II. It Means His Mercy is Unending

• That is Our God Whom We Serve, Full of Mercy.
• His mercy never runs out. It is always available when we come to Him.
• HEBREWS 4:16 – Let us, therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need

III. What is the difference between Grace and mercy?

• Grace is freely given by God
• Mercy is the fruit of compassion.
• Examples
  • LUKE 19:41-44 – Jesus had compassion over Jerusalem
  • LUKE 9:40-45 – Jesus healed the epileptic boy.
  • MARK 10:46-52 – Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus.

IV. His unending mercy gives us the courage to continue to walk with him.

• Gives us Peace, Joy, and Encouragement

V. If we can only understand the mercy of God that it has no end in our lives we will change our view of Him and we will have true respect for Him.

• PSALMS 25:10 – All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.
• GOD HAS ALSO SHOWN HIS MERCY TO SINFUL PEOPLE.
• DANIEL 9:9 – To the Lord, our God belongs mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.
• EXAMPLE:
  • THE BOOK OF JONAH
    • JONAH 1:1-3 – Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
    • 1. Nineveh was an Assyrian empire. Assyrians were known for their wickedness and cruelty. Assyrian soldiers were very brutal.
    • PSALMS 86:15 – But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
    • 2. Jonah obeyed God and he preached the message of The Lord in Chapter
    • 3. Nineveh responded to the message of the Lord. They repented of their sins.
    • Those in Nineveh confessed their sins and they repented
    • 4. The Message Of The Lord Is Reflected In His Mercy To Sinners
    • PSALMS 86:5 – For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
  • BOOK OF JEREMIAH
    • The Jews were exiled to Babylon. They worshiped idols, they rebelled against God and they forgot God.
    • Even though they did so, God still showed his mercy and love for the Jews.
    • JEREMIAH 29:11-14 – For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
    • JEREMIAH 29:11-14 – I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive.
    • That’s why Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3:22-23 – Through the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

• EPHESIANS 2:4 – But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
• PSALMS 103:8 – The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
• 2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

How to obtain mercy?

• Repented heart
  • PROVERBS 28:13 – He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.
  • I JOHN 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• Humility
• Surrendered will
• Example of the prodigal son
  • LUKE 15:11-32
  • But if we are arrogant and proud and won’t repent we cannot obtain mercy but punishment.

Let us also show mercy to our fellow men and fellow women by showing God’s mercy in our lives.

• MATTHEW 5:7 – “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

A loving and merciful person is a blessing to many people

• Be patient
• Be kind
• Be loving
• Be good to them
• Be forgiving

EPHESIANS 4:32 – And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

COLOSSIANS 3:12-13 – Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

These are the things that we must possess and cultivate as believers.

Conclusion:

• PSALMS 103:3-4 – Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,