August 25, 2024 - The Ever-Ready Mercy of God
Notes
Transcript
Your child disappoints you…
They disobey you...
But then come to you and say - I’m sorry for that.
How do you respond?
The next day - they do it again...
They disobey you...
But then they come to you and say - I’m REALLY sorry
How do you respond?
Is there ANYTHING that your kids could do - to DRY UP - your love for them?
If you’ve been paying attention in our trek through 2 Kings - having come out of 1 & 2 Samuel…and 1 Kings...
You would KNOW that the majority of the Kings of Israel - are - - BAD. (in terms of how they lead the people UNDER God)
And so there’s a PATTERN that we keep seeing as we make our way through these books.
We’ll get into the details in a bit...
But to our text...
1 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years.
2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them.
3 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael.
4 Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.
5 (Therefore the Lord gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly.
6 Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.)
7 For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
8 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
9 So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.
So again - we hear of another KING coming into power in Israel...
And AGAIN we hear how they handled their role...
This time - it’s the son of Jehu that is coming into power…and his name is - Jehoahaz.
NOW - today we’re going to HOVER over verses 2-5 - as they give us a picture of our main theme for today...
How is king Jehoahaz described?
2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them.
Sound familiar?
Yes - it seems King after King - does what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
And then in verse 3 - we see the results of that...
3 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael.
And so - we see here - God’s judgment on Israel...
God here - STEPPING IN - and orchestrating wars...
ALLOWING Syria to continually win against Israel...
And so - think about it...
Think about GOD - SEEING these kings - time and time again - leading the people into IDOLATRY...
in REBELLION against God...
OVER - AND - OVER - AGAIN!
NOW - listen to this...
4 Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.
5 (Therefore the Lord gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly.
Here we see - A PEOPLE - constantly in their HEARTS - falling away from the Lord...
CONSTANTLY choosing ANOTHER path!
Constantly WORSHIPING other gods...
AND YET - God HEARS their CRIES - and He responds with?
SLIDE: The Mercy of God: Ever-Ready to Bless Upon Confession
The Mercy of God
The Mercy of God
For DECADES - and DECADES - the people of Israel - kept returning to IDOL worship...
King after king would lead them back into the shadows...
AND ALL THE WHILE - God is in heaven - sending PROPHET after PROPHET - to PROVE to the people that God can be trusted!
And time and time again - the people choose SOMETHING other than God!
It began in the garden...
But more recently in our trek thru 1 & 2 Samuel - and 1 & 2 Kings...
We see it here...
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
The people chose to FORSAKE God - and ask for the KING...
And from that moment on - the pattern is established...
The people rebel...
God’s judgment comes in the form of a bad king
The people suffer
The people cry out for help
God steps in and brings peace by way of a good King.
REPEAT
THINK of God’s WISDOM here...
God KNOWS - the glory that awaits us...
He KNOWS how AMAZING it will be...
And He CALLS us - He DRAWS us to HIMSELF…in LOVE...
SAYING - walk this way - and you’ll be BLESSED!!
NOT that you’ll be without SUFFERING - but that you’ll find STRENGTH in ME to get thru it!!
You’ll BE BLESSED knowing that your eternity is SECURE!!
AND YET - EVEN SO -
Man rebels!
We CHOOSE another way.
WHY??
SIN - Pride of the eyes - LUST of the flesh - that’s WHY.
And we all partake - in various ways
AND YET - God - - listen… WAITS
It’s unbelievable!
Know this...
It’s like....
SLIDE:
As long as we’re breathing, God’s mercy is waiting for us to confess and lay our burdens, our sins, our wrongs, at His feet.
And so - for you…right now… for me...
God is waiting!
And i THINK - probably often - we think that we’ve MESSED UP enough times to fall out of God’s graces...
BUT...
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Jesus here is describing the LIMITLESS SUPPLY of forgiveness RESERVED in the mercy of God.
And so for GOD - confession is the IGNITER of God’s mercy!
SLIDE:
Confession is the SWIPE of the MATCH - to the FLAME of God’s mercy!
His MERCY is EVER-READY!
A LIMITLESS supply - EACH DAY - and EACH MORNING…? REALLY??
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
How many of you NEEDED His mercy this morning???
Cry out to Him...
GIVE it to Him!
He LONGS for it!
Mercy is WAITING!
Which means....
STRENGTH RENEWED - is waiting
ASSURANCE Renewed - is waiting!
When we FALL and stumble… we need not think that we just STUMBLED our way OUT of God’s LOVE!
Discipline may come - And certainly a HEAVY heart will come as we realize that we’ve offended God…our Savior...
BUT - IF our hearts are GRIEVED by our sin...
And we CONFESS to God our waywardness...
We will taste His mercy.
IT’S THERE!
We just need to KNOW it...
God’s EVER-READY mercy was there...
IN the garden - as God prepared Adam and Eve skins to cover their shame
In the Exodus - as God displayed His power to Pharaoh and led His people out
In the crossing of the Red Sea - KNOWING His people would still complain on the other side
In the Wilderness - AS THEY complained about hunger and thirst
On Mt. Sinai - as He gave His people the Law - in how to handle man and God.
In ALL the GOOD KINGS who led the people and brought peace to the land.
WAITING for the CONFESSION of David to Nathan
In John the Baptist - PREPARING the way of the Lord
In the Coming Messiah - His perfect Life - His death for sins - and His resurrection to life
The DAY AFTER - Peter’s 3 DENIALS (END)
And it’s HERE NOW - in an EMPTY TOMB.
THERE IS - an empty tomb - in this WORLD…right now.
And it’s FULL of God’s mercy
SLIDE:
God’s ever-ready mercy waits, not for conformity, but for confession.
We don’t - CLEAN OURSELVES UP - and try to WHITE-WASH our souls… BEFORE we come to God!
We recognize our ERROR of sin - and we fall to our knees (in spirit) - and CONFESS it.
I think many Christians - because we’re human - and because we live in a - EARN IT world...
We fall into feeling like we need to MAINTAIN our relationship with God - LIKE we DO - with our bosses, or coaches.
How do MAINTAIN our relationships with our bosses...
Well - what kind of relationship ARE those?
They are - WORKING relationships
And so we MAINTAIN those relationships by our - PERFORMANCE!
If we FAIL to PERFORM - we get - A RAISE (wait - no - this isn’t the government)
If we FAIL to perform - we get - FIRED!
If we DO WELL - we MOVE UP!
That’s NOT HOW this works with - GOD!
His MERCY waits for our CONFESSION...
And when we CONFESS - His mercy COMES!
SPECIFICALLY...
The MERCY of His forgiveness comes!
His LIMITLESS / UNLIMITED forgiveness...
The MERCY of His faithfulness comes!
He TELLS us He will NEVER forsake us...
And WHEN we mess up - like we ALL do - He reminds us - I STILL HAVE YOU.
I am FAITHFUL!
EVEN WHEN - WE - are NOT!
And so His EVER-READY Mercy waits our confession...
But that’s not all!
Let’s jump back a bit in our text to see something!
Let’s put verse 3 and 4 on the same slide...
2 Kings 13:3–4 (ESV)
3 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. 4 Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them.
Ok - Question: v3 - Who LET Syria continue to oppress and attack Israel?
GOD - WHY?
Because Israel went wayward...
Next Question: v4 - Who Listened to Jehoahaz because of the oppression of Israel by Syria?
GOD
So God ALLOWS Syria to attack Israel - and LET’S them WIN continually...
But then LISTENS to Israel when they cry out for help - being oppressed BY Syria
…And How does God RESPOND?? with - MERCY
What do I take from this?
SLIDE: The Mercy of God: An Ingredient of God’s Judgment Toward His People
The Mercy of God
The Mercy of God
And so - in our text today - We saw God BRING judgment on Israel BY GIVING Israel continually - INTO THE HAND of Syria...
And THAT Judgement - LED Israel to CRY OUT FOR MERCY from God...
GOD - who BROUGHT the judgment - THEN RESPONDS to their CRY for help…because God SAW HOW THEY WERE OPPRESSED!
What does God do next? - - God then SHOWS mercy...
5 (Therefore the Lord gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly.
Now - many commentators believe this SAVIOR was Elisha..
The MAN who consistently made Syria FEAR him...
AND the man for whom a few verses later in this chapter - is referred to as - “The Chariots and Horses of Israel”
Regardless - POINT BEING - God’s Judgment was an ingredient of His mercy to come!
And so I think that for believers - God’s JUDGMENT can be this LOOMING THING - WHICH - we SHOULD operate under God - FEARING Him...
But it has to be a certain kind of fear...
A REVERENCE for Him...
NOT as though He’s a TYRANT over us...
But a LOVING Father - If we belong to HIM...
AND so - regarding the connection between God’s judgment and God’s MERCY -
For those - who DON’T know the Lord - Disobedience leads to eternal death!
It leads to calamity here and now - and eternal death!!
BUT - For those of us who BELONG to God -
those of us who have SURRENDERED their lives to Christ...
God’s judgment is STILL tied to disobedience…it ALWAYS is...
BUT - that judgment is now - DISCIPLINE!
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
God is ALWAYS watching...
ALWAYS judging us… JUST BY HIS NATURE...
And it’s for our GOOD that He does so!
Without discipline - He wouldn’t love us!
IN OUR text today - FOR THOSE of FAITH - within the people of Israel - God’s HANDING Israel OVER to Syria...
Was a “GOOD” of God - as it was able to lead, at king Jehoahaz to CRY OUT to the Lord...
And it goes back to - ANYTHING that makes me more like Christ = is ULTIMATELY - a good thing.
SLIDE:
Sometimes good things hurt.
To demonstrate this - and maybe a POOR example...
BUT...
The foods - TYPICALLY, that are the HEALTHIEST FOR US - TASTE the - - w.o.r.s.t.
**Protein bars - Atlas
But even in other areas...
Muscles GROW - not merely from lifting weights, but actually INJURING the muscle (tearing the muscle fibers) - and then amino acids and proteins - in HEALING those TEARS - builds muscle.
Athletes PERFECT their craft - only after ENDLESS repetition.
Countless hours of - over and over again.
Countless hours of FAILURE…!
Sometimes GOOD things - hurt...
Sometimes HEALING hurts...
Sometimes - Waiting - hurts...
AND SOOO - in regards to our text today...
SLIDE:
Sometimes God’s mercy hurts
NOW - that sentence might not SEEM to make sense...
Think about the apostle Paul...
QUESTION - would you agree that - God PREVENTING you from becoming prideful - would be a MERCY of God?
If PRIDE is something that God HATES...
16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
God HATES pride...
And so If God PREVENTED you from becoming PRIDEFUL - would you consider that a MERCY of God?
YES...
NOW - How did God PREVENT Paul from becoming prideful...
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
So - this wasn’t an ACTUAL thorn of course - but yet - still PAINFUL?
18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
Not DOING what you WANT - but doing what you HATE...
Paul then says...
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
You can HEAR the pain that Paul felt… in his LIFE…!
And YET...
Putting all this together - we can say...
SLIDE:
God mercifully prevented Paul from becoming prideful by giving him a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass him in order to keep him from doing good. Paul’s “Romans 7” battle with sin helped keep him from becoming conceited.
NOW - when we read this - we have to understand it - theologically.
This is NOT saying that God MADE Paul sin.
This is saying that God - ALLOWED the messenger of satan to do WHAT IT desired…harass Paul..
And in IT HARASSING Paul - Paul was kept humble
AND - we know from reading it - that PAUL GRIEVED over this...
This is a case where - MERCY- HURT Paul.
Paul HATED SIN! - Yet he felt like a prisoner in this life...
DOING what he hated!
THAT’s PAINFUL!
YET THAT Pain - prevented him from becoming prideful...
It made him aware of his own faults - as he went out to preach to the world about the power of SIN
Sometimes - Mercy - hurts.
SUMMARY
The Mercy of God
Ever-Ready to Bless Upon Confession
An Ingredient of God’s Judgment Toward His People
The LORD’S TABLE
This brings us to the Lord’s Table…a time for each of us to reflect on our lives, to examine ourselves spiritually, and to remember the cost of our faith. We were bought with a price, and these elements remind us of this.
1. Have you experienced the Saving Power of Christ at the cross? I ask because IF you haven't...you should not partake.
The Bible says not to take this lightly. Scripture says – “ whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
2. If you are a child of God - Saved from your sins by the Blood of Christ...then I ask - Are you seeking to become a Worker Approved by God...
Not MAINLY by working for God
Not MAINLY by DOING things FOR Him...
BUT...
by seeking to know Him more IN HIS WORD...
by seeking to know Him more through prayer...
by seeking to know Him more through life in the Body...
Take time now and examine yourself before the Lord.
22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
“do this…in remembrance of me.”
SONG:
Come hell or high water
Peace be still - peace like no other
You’re the God of the mountain and valley the same
You prove by the fire and You bring the rain
Come hell or high water
I’m no further from Your love