A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday evening, January 26th, 2022, by
Evangelist PAUL ACQUAH, Live on MZ Radio London, UK
Mercy! Few people truly understand it, yet it is key to receiving God’s best in your life. One of the ways
that God’s goodness is revealed is by His mercy. God is merciful, good, and just! And the mercy of God
towards each of us is something that we can always be thankful for. If you’re feeling like you’re beyond
God’s mercy, know that He stands ready and willing to forgive and embrace you, no matter what, because He loves you. The Bible describes how the mercy seat was at the very centre of the Holy of Holies, and it is still at the centre of God’s heart today. The purpose of this message is to show you how, as a recipient of God’s love and mercy, to always recall and be thankful for God’s endless mercy towards you.
Notice the good things in your life. Look back and think about what God has done. God gives us mercy.
We need to appreciate that. David said in Psalm 103:1-13 “Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is
within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, 4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, 5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6 The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. 7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. 9 He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. 14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
God’s nature is to offer mercy. We are not perfect. We have our imperfections, and the truth is, God sees
all our imperfections and still loves us, and calls us righteous if we have received Jesus Christ as our Lord
and saviour. God has got good things for us even with our imperfections. If you look at things in the light
of eternity, you will continue to show gratitude to God. You will continue to be thankful and show your
appreciation. Since we know that God has secured our eternal good, we can be thankful for everything at
any time to reflect on God’s goodness. Of course, for Christians, every day should be a day of thanks
because of the profound blessings we have in Jesus Christ and because of His mercies that He has poured on us. Start to notice and identify the things you are grateful for. I will start with an Old Testament account about what God said about David and apply it to the New Testament believer, so you can notice the good things you might sometimes take for granted. It’s amazing what you notice when you focus on expressing your gratitude to God and being grateful for His goodness, His mercy, and His kindness.
You need to know that no matter what happens in this life, we are all going to stand before God, and He is going to separate the sheep from the goat. He is going to judge every single thing, and for those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ, we don’t have to fear the Lord in the sense of dread. Because all our sins were placed on Jesus, and He is going to look at us and say well done you good and faithful servant even though we haven’t done everything perfect. This is something we should show our gratitude or appreciation for.
Our God is so merciful. I was reading a text of scripture about David, and it marvelled me. “And if you
walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a
long life” (1 Kings 3:14 NIV). The Lord was talking to Solomon, and He said, I will bless you if you
continue to follow me as your father David did. And I just thought like his father David did? His father
David committed adultery and murdered the husband to cover up his sins. But the difference is, he repented.
And God looked at him and said I want you to serve me as your father David did. God’s mercy endures
forever. When you are forgiven, God sees you not through your own personal actions. He sees you through Jesus, and you become accepted with God through what Jesus did and not through what you do. So, for those of us who are born again, praise God, there is not going to be any retribution. But for those who don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord, He is going to set open every single thing that has been done wrong. Every single one of them will be brought in the open. The entire human race will be standing there watching God judge people for their actions.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor.
5:17 NIV). When I read this verse, I can’t help but think about what this verse meant to the New Testament believer and especially to Apostle Paul who wrote these words by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Prior to his encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, he was one of the worst people any follower of Jesus could come into contact with. He persecuted and murdered followers of Jesus all in the name of honouring God. Paul’s life was completely transformed by the power of our loving saviour and he understood what it meant to be a new creation in Jesus Christ. He no longer had to be defined by his past, but he was redefined by his true identity, and the same is true for you and I. We all live in a fallen world and it is easy to look at the parts of us that are flaws and imperfect. But don’t feel shame and guilt for your past. Embrace your true identity in Christ. When we accept Christ, like Paul, we are a new creation. Things of our past identity don’t define us; we no longer embrace them as belonging to us. I want to encourage you to see yourself as a new creation. The new creation is what takes the lead in your life and this is something to always be thankful for.
My new identity alone makes me express my gratitude to God, because of His mercies. If you have received Christ as your personal saviour, then you are the righteousness of God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). Whose righteousness? He gave you His righteousness because of His mercies towards us. Because of God’s mercy toward us, we can forgive ourselves and others. We can share what God has done in our lives with others.
We need to always thank God and praise Him for His goodness and His mercy. Say this with me, God, in
You I have found new life. My old self has gone! Thank You for giving me this amazing gift because of
Your Son Jesus. Help me to never lose the wonder of Your gift. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
We need to accept God’s mercy. But sadly, there are many people who reject this offer. In fact, people who reject God are described in Romans 1:21 as those who did not honour Him as God or give thanks. One of the characteristics of the unbeliever is that they fail to be thankful to God. They fail to show gratitude to God. People must know that by their arrogance for rejecting Christ, and turning their back on God, everything they have done will come to light. God is not going to let everybody go. God is a just and holy God, and for those who accept Jesus, He is not going to hold any sin against you. You have been forgiven of all sins – past, present, and future. What a merciful God we serve. There is coming a day that the just, holy God is going to hold people accountable for every single thing that they have done. If they are outside the kingdom of God, every single thought and action will be brought to judgement. And all these people that are arrogant and have defiled God will be on their face before God. If you don’t know the Lord, then you need to be fearful of the coming day of judgement. If you know the Lord, then be thankful for taking your sins. All of us deserve judgment. You may say I’m pretty good. Compared to who? Compared to me, you may be good, but the Bible says, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God which is Jesus.
Christ is the only saviour of the world. Have you received Him? If you will, please pray this prayer after
me, saying every word from your heart…
Dear Lord, I recognise that I am a sinner and need to be saved.
I understand that Jesus died in my place and suffered the judgment of all of my sins.
I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and He is at the right hand of the father.
Lord Jesus, I surrender my Life to you.
Come and Live in my heart and be my Lord and saviour.
Thank You for saving me. Amen!