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Blessing the Lord for His Lovingkindness
27 Plays2 months ago
Psalm 103:1-22
Recommended
Transcript
Qualities of a Thoughtful Friend
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How many of you have a friend who regularly remembers your birthday and sends you a birthday card? Or a friend who remembers your anniversary and sends you a text or sends you a note?
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How about those of you who have a friend who simply remembers to send you a thank you card when you do something nice for them?
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Now a show of hands, how many of you are that friend?
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So that means the rest of you who aren't raising your hands really want to be that kind of friend, don't you? We do. I do. It's difficult.
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We're forgetful. I'm forgetful. And even if I do somehow remember that it's somebody's birthday, I still have to respond. That means I have to take action.
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That means I have to send a note, send a card, buy that gift, and even if I somehow buy it, means I have to get it to them. It's difficult to remember, difficult to respond, and it's difficult to reciprocate when it comes to doing something nice for somebody when they've already done something nice for you.
Divine Friendship vs. Earthly Friendship
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Now, if that's our earthly relationships, what about our heavenly relationship with God our Father? Are we that kind of friend? to God.
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i mean, He's that kind of friend to us. He's there for you every time you need Him.
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He blesses you abundantly even when you don't deserve it. He's faithful even when we're not faithful.
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I don't know about you this morning, but I want to be that kind of friend to God. I want to be faithful to the faithful one.
Introduction to Psalm 103
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So how do we do that?
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That's what we're going to look at Psalm 103 today. If you have your outlines, you'll see we're going to first look at the faithfulness of God, that he's always faithful. Second, we're going to look at the faithlessness of us, that's God's people.
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And then third, we're going to ask ourselves, how do we respond in faithful obedience to God and all the blessings that he provides us?
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I love Psalm 103. This is the concluding psalm that I'll be teaching. We've done the last five or six weeks hand-selected psalms. This will be the last one that I do.
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ah Kim and I will be out of the ah out of town, out of Cameron for a couple of weeks. ah Brother Tim will be in the pulpit for the next two weeks. You'll be blessed by him. But this will be the last psalm that I'll do up here at the pmont pulpit for a little bit.
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Psalm 109. 103, I picked, you'll see from your outline, is is beautifully written, is beautifully crafted. It's structured in such a way where it begins with a an instruction or an exhortation, and it ends with an instruction and
Structure and Themes of Psalm 103
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an exhortation. And right in the middle is this beautifully crafted explanation of why we are to follow what we are to follow.
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It's far-reaching in scope, meaning it addresses a petitioner, it addresses the sinner, it addresses the short-lived, that's you and I who are only here on this earth for a short while.
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It addresses angels and even God's armies. It touches on issues of health and age and oppression and forgiveness and obedience. And the ah author, Rolf Jacobson, he says, given the nearly universal scope of this psalm of praise, one might consider it the most soaring of all the psalms.
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Think about this, friends, as you sing today, our songs here, these psalms were sung. and Rolf Jacobsman says, this one may very well have been sung at the top of your lungs.
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It focuses not just on the commitment and faithfulness of God, but on our response. If it was a duet between Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, Kenny would be God and he would be singing, and you and I folks would be Dolly Parton, and in our response would matters in the duet.
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And we're going to see that today in Psalm 103. If you're taking notes, please don't write down Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.
00:04:42
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Psalm 103. ah I thought, do I just break this up as I'm giving my sermon today? But I just think it loses something, and it's I want to give it to you in its entirety.
God's Attributes in Psalm 103
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Psalm 103 should be on your screen here.
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Let all that I am praise the Lord. With my whole heart I will praise His holy name.
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Let all that I am praise the Lord. May I never forget the good things He does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
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He redeems me from death and He crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly.
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He revealed His character to Moses and His deeds to the people of Israel. The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to to be angry and filled with unfailing love.
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He will not constantly accuse us nor remain angry forever. He does not punish us for all our sins. He does not deal harshly with us as we deserve. For His unfailing love towards those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
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He has removed our sin as far as the east is from the west. The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.
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For He knows how weak we are. He remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass, like wildflowers. We bloom and die. The wind blows and we're gone, as though we had never been here.
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But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear Him. His salvation extends to the children's children, of those who are faithful to His covenant, of those who obey His commandments.
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The Lord has made the heavens His throne. From there He rules over everything. Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out His plans. listening for each of His commands.
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Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve Him and do His will. Praise the Lord, everything He has created, everything in all His kingdom. Let all that I am praise the Lord.
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Now, if you were fortunate enough to sit in Bible study today under Psalm 96, you'll notice there were a lot of similarities to 103.
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I wish I could take credit for that. I had no idea you guys were going to be in Psalm 96 whenever I picked Psalm 103. But that's friends, that's the way the Lord works. he's He's accentuating a few things for us today.
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David starts here in verse 1, singing, if you will, this song to himself.
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Praise the Lord, he says, putting my entire heart, everything that I am, into Praising God because he is holy.
Understanding 'Hesed': Steadfast Love
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His name is holy. This means his character, who he is and what he does. Everything about him is different. It's set apart. This reminds me of the hymn we sing here sometimes.
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Bless the Lord, O my soul. Do you know this song? Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul. Worship His holy name.
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Sing like never before. Oh, my soul, I worship His holy name.
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I did that for one reason, so that I'll never do it again.
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And two, somebody told me Brother Tim sometimes spontaneously goes right into singing in the middle of his sermon. So I didn't want to let him get the upper hand on me. I was going to sing through that the best I knew how.
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Friends, David is saying here, certainly this type of worship that the Lord receives is warranted. It's warranted because of all the many benefits or blessings that he pours out upon us.
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What are those benefits? Well, he gives us a few of them here, verse 3 through 5.
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says that we praise Him for His many mercies, which include forgiveness.
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Forgiveness of all sins. If you're somebody who highlights or underlines, you might want to underline all sins there. He heals sickness.
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He delivers from death. He enriches our life with loyal love, or your translation may say loving kindness. We're going to talk a little bit more about this word in just a second.
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says that he shows us loving kindness and compassion. This is our Hebrew word hesed. It's a word unfortunately in the English language we don't do a great job capturing.
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Loving kindness, yours may say. Steadfast love is another translation. Covenantal love, maybe. It's a love that is a core aspect of who God It's it's It's all about this relationship that he has with his people.
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It's a love not purely from God to man, but it is one that he expects us to exhibit to one another. When was the last time you loved somebody who was unlovable?
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When was the last time you loved somebody in a faithful way who was unfaithful to you? Friends, this is the
God's Covenant and Universal Love
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type of love that God has for us. And he demonstrates that here.
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this covenantal relationship with Israel.
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And as we talked about in Bible study today, this is extended out to those who place their faith in Jesus Christ.
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It's important, I think, as I reread this this morning in light of what's happened last night in the Middle East, that God has a covenantal relationship with the Jewish people, with the nation of Israel.
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This is one ongoing. This is why the Bible tells us that those who bless Israel are to be blessed. Those who curse Israel will be cursed.
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It is a covenantal relationship that God has with them, and He has this same oh steadfast love, this hesed for you and me. Verse 7, I like in the New Living Translation because it translates compassion.
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Compassion.
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He's not only a compassionate God, verse 7 says, that He has made known His ways to Moses and to the sons of Israel. No story better describes this type of covenantal love than the story of Exodus. You guys know this story very well. we We've taught this.
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We've taught it in the Bible study class. We've taught it up here from the pulpit. No story surpasses Exodus, and this is what David is alluding to here. It's a record of of human unworthiness and God's grace abounding in that scenario.
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Taking them out of being enslaved, sending them through the Red Sea unharmed into the desert, and he feeds them manna. He takes them out of the grasp of Pharaoh, and the entire time they're praising his name, right?
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No, they're complaining. Manna? Again? Serious, Lord? How many times do I have to eat this stuff?
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How quickly they forget all the benefits that God had bestowed upon them. That he'd taken them out of being enslaved and made them a free people. A special people, his own people.
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He poured out both grace and mercy. Verse 8 and 10 says, The Lord is compassionate and merciful. Slow to get angry and filled with this unfailing love, this hesed.
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He will not constantly accuse us, meaning he will not bring a charge against us, even though we are all deserving of that charge. No, it says that he will not not constantly accuse us, nor will he remain angry forever.
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He does not punish us for all of our sins and He does not deal harshly with any of us as we deserve. He's faithful even though we are unfaithful. He's merciful and gracious even when we don't deserve it.
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How high, ah Brother West talked about this today in Bible study class, how great is the Lord. It is this same degree, this same measure that he talks about here in verse 11.
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says that his loving kindness extends everywhere and endures always. It's as high as the heavens. And his forgiveness is as far as the east is from the west. he's He's given you a description, friends, of the depths of God's loving kindness.
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And he gives us this picture. Think about it in David's time. What he could see at the stars, you know, in the and the moon and the clouds, that was the highest of the heavens, right? that That's what he could see. And he's like, God, is his loving kindness is that big.
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It's as far as from the east is to the west. It's that wide. Now, friends, we have the Hubble telescope, and we can see millions upon millions of galaxies out there.
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And I'm here to tell you today, God's loving kindness is that big. It extends to those heavens.
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His glory is that great.
Personal Reflections on Mercy and Grace
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And His benefits that are poured out upon you and I are great also. And I just put a note to myself, does our praise and our worship Reflect that greatness.
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When we come here on Sunday, are you coming here going, ah, dragging myself to church again on Sunday? Or, which I know none of you ever think, or are you like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to get to church on Sunday and praise God for the abundance of grace and mercy that he's poured out of my life this week?
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So I put your homework assignment today and the first thing I want you to write down. Think to yourself this past week and I want you to recall an example of God's mercy that he poured out in your life.
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And just as a reminder, what does mercy mean? Mercy means not getting something you deserved. That's what mercy means. Not getting something you deserved. For example, if you had an impure thought and God didn't immediately immediately punish you and he was long suffering, you might want to write that down.
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Perhaps you lied or cheated or did something dishonest this past week, and you didn't reap the immediate consequences for those actions. You might want to write that down. How about gossiping behind somebody's back, and in his mercy, God did not reveal in public that which you said in private?
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If that's the case, he showed you mercy.
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As you think of that example, I want you to write it down in your notes. It starts like this. last week and then in parentheses you simply put mercy and then you write down afterwards what that example is.
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Now same exercise. I want you recall a time this past week God's grace was poured out upon you. Grace is something that you got that you didn't deserve.
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See how it's different from mercy? Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Grace is getting something you didn't deserve. Grace is undeserved. It's unmerited. It's a free gift.
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Maybe you received a favorable diagnosis from the doctor this past week. Maybe other people were laid off from the from their jobs, but you got to keep yours.
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That's grace. Grace could also come in the form of God keeping you out of some type of trouble. Perhaps you were on the job site and and some disaster happened on the job site and you weren't there that day.
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I was just listening the other day about this horrific plane crash in India, right? One guy survived that. One guy.
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but there were several other people that were supposed to be on that flight that couldn't make it, that their cars were late and they couldn't get to the airport. And I thought to myself, you know the the one guy they were interviewing, and he just said, it was the best of situations. I was so frustrated what happened, but now look, I was saved.
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And I thought, no, God saved you. Why don't you give that credit to God? He was right on TV, friends. He could have done it. He could have said it. That's grace in your life.
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So think to yourself this week, this past week, and jot that down in your notes too. It starts like this. Last week, in parentheses, you put grace, and then afterwards you write out how he poured out grace.
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All right, that's God's faithfulness to you and I. Now let's look at the faithlessness of us as fickle people. Verse 14, I like verse 14 starts. It says in the New Living Translation, I like this. He says, for he knows how weak we are.
Human Transience vs. Eternal Love
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And he remembers that we are only dust.
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The ESV says God knows your frame. I like that too. Or if you have the King James, he knoweth your frame.
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It gives us the idea that we're here today and gone tomorrow. Just like that.
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The wind blows and we're gone as though we had never been here. Our days on the earth are like grass, like wildflowers, we bloom and we die.
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But unlike our short-lived life, God's eternal loving kindness, His hesed says is for before forever until forever.
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While we're transient, He's eternal. He pours out his mercy and grace on you and I. are We're called short-lived, by the way, here. You short-lived people. This is how David responds to you.
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We're only here for a short bit. And it just takes the death of somebody close to us to remind us of that, that we're only here for a little bit. But it says right here, God expects something from us as he pours out generously these blessings of mercy and grace upon our lives.
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Friends, he tells us here beginning in verse 11, then again in verse 13, then in verse 17. Look with me. Verse 11. For his unfailing love towards those who, everybody say it, fear him.
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Verse 13. The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. Verse 17. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him.
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Maybe if you're taking notes, that might be something worth writing down.
Walking with God: Active Faithfulness
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God's abundant blessing in our lives is realized when we walk with him and we obey him. I just put a note to myself. Oftentimes when I write my notes, I do shorthand.
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So I simply put this. Walk plus obey equals blessing. Walk Plus obey equals blessing. If you are to experience God's blessing in your lives, friends, it takes walking with Him and obeying Him.
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When we walk with Him, we remember and we remain faithful in obedience to His commands, then we can experience this abundant blessing. But it's not simply enough to remember, just like it's not enough to remember somebody's birthday.
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I have a ton of birthdays, by the way, logged in my cell phone. I even have an event to remind me two days ahead of time. Hey, wake up, get a card, send a gift.
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How often do I do that? I see that alert and then I cancel it. And I think I'll get to that and then I got two days to send that card. It's not simply knowing it. You have to do it.
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That's the obedience part here. He's saying it's not simply enough to know God's word, and don't get me wrong, that is the first step. If you don't know God's word, you've got to get plugged into a Bible study class.
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It's not simply knowing it says you have to put it into practice. It's not simply knowing the Bible which gets you to heaven.
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My good friend Andrew Wallace reminded me of this yesterday. He said it's not about religion, it's about a relationship.
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It's about giving your life to Christ. It's about placing yourself under the authority of his word. And as the spirit convicts and you're obedient to that conviction, it's only then do we get to experience heart change.
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And in heart change, we have life change. How do you experience the abundance of God's blessing in your life? Well, it starts by knowing his word and and obeying it. And when it says, do this, do it.
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And when it says, don't do this, friends, don't do it.
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And who doesn't want to experience the abundance of God's mercy and grace in our lives? i want to, and I just put here, reciprocate. I want to be that type of friend with God that when he tells me, oh this is what I require of you, that I reciprocate with obedience.
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I don't want to be disobedient. I don't want to be ah disobedient child. And I just put, I saw some of this disobedience. at VBS this year.
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And some of it was from the kids.
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And I'll confess to you, church, I thought to myself, somebody needs to take these kids out back and not spare the rod.
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If you catch my drift. Then I thought to myself later that night, boy, am I glad God isn't like that with me.
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That he's quick to deliver that rod.
God's Forgiveness vs. Human Impatience
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But instead, we're told here that he's long-suffering, that he's compassionate, and that he's loving so that none should perish.
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He's the God of second chances. No, he's the God of how many chances? You can't put in a number.
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He just keeps forgiving, wanting us to return back. He's faithful even when we are not faithful.
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Lord, Forgive us where we've fallen short of the mark this week. Show mercy upon us sinners. Help us to respond in obedience to the grace and mercy that you've showered with us in our lives.
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So how do we do that, friends? That's where I want to land today in the next minute or two.
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In other words, how do we respond in obedience to God's abundant grace in our lives? Because He is pouring that out in your life. Both mercy and grace you have experienced this past week.
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Pastor, I don't know if that's the case in my life. Well, you're here and you're breathing by the grace of God.
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You're here today sitting without too much pain by the grace of God. You're sitting with a Bible in your hand, able to hear, God's Word preached and proclaimed freely without threat by the grace of God.
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How do we live this out? This is where I just want to end today. I only have one point, by the way.
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And all the guys are like, thank you, Jesus.
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Faithful obedience, like my brother Andrew so eloquently told me, is not about following a set of rules. It's not about religion, folks. It's about a relationship.
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It's about a lifestyle that flows from the heart that's transformed by God's grace. It's a continual process of learning and growing and striving to align with God's will.
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It's not a matter of earning favor. It's a response to that grace which He's already given in in your life.
Living in Response to God's Grace
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And we can only step out and experience that Not through our own effort, but through the power of the Holy Spirit.
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What does that look like for you and me today? i just put one word, and you want to write this down, conversation. It's a conversation that starts with God that says this, Lord, I need you.
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I need you in my life. I need you in everything that I do this week. I need you in this sermon. I need you for my job. I need you for my kids. I need you for my family.
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I need you to show up in a powerful way this week to show me that you're still there. I cannot do it alone.
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Lord, give me these things by your grace. I place my trust in you. I don't deserve it.
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By the way, friends, that is the very first step in your long journey with Christ, is that you don't deserve it.
00:27:00
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When you realize how much you are undeserving of His grace and mercy, boy, he just he he'll just change it all for you. I don't deserve it. I give you all the glory because you deserve all the glory because you are sovereign and in control and you sustain it all.
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And when I give you the glory, everybody else sees that and they too will give you the glory. Friends, when it comes to our heavenly relationship with God our Father, may we be a people that are that kind of friend to him because he's that kind of friend to us. Amen?