"The Future Rests on God"
Psalm 89:1-8
Attributes of God Series
Sunday, September 23, 2012

Introduction: Do you believe that your life is your own, or do you believe that it is a gift from God? How we answer this question will determine how we receive the attributes of God that I am going to talk about this morning. Many people believe that (and live like) their lives are their own. They might say that they believe in God, but they don’t give ownership of their lives to God. We are told by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “¹⁹Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; ²⁰you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

            It is clear in the Bible that God has given us life, and by Jesus dying on the cross, has bought back our lives. So the challenge for us today will be whether or not we can give up ownership, and accept God as the merciful, gracious, faithful, sovereign God over our lives.

I.                   God is Merciful- (Matthew 5:7)

a.      The hurt is there- Before I talk about the first attribute, God being

merciful, let me set the stage. In life, we have many encounters with others that can cause us to be hurt, or angry, or disillusioned. In essence, it creates a hole in our hearts. For some, the wound of the heart has been there a long time. For others, it might be a new wound. There are many things that can cause this hurt.

            Maybe a friend borrowed money, and hasn’t returned it, but has since purchased new things. And you are angry. Or, maybe you told a friend a secret, and that friend told someone else. And you are angry. Or, maybe there was a gathering of friends, and you weren’t invited. And you are angry. Maybe a child you have raised doesn’t acknowledge you or love you, as they should. And you are hurt.

            In this anger, in this hurt, part of you is broken, and part of you is bitter. Maybe part of you wants to cry, but another part wants to fight. And through these emotions, resentment starts to bubble up to the surface. As this resentment comes, you wonder if you should put out the fire, or heat it up. Do I get over it, or get even?

            Have you ever experienced any of these emotions? We all have at some point in our lives. The problem is, that if we let resentment reside in us too long, it turns from hurt to hate. This resentment and hate begins to take on a life of its own, until it consumes you. But resentment can never have a positive outcome. Resentment will lead you down a dark path.

            Why? Well, let’s say you get even with the person; let’s say somehow you get back at them. Will you be free at this point? Now be careful how quickly you answer. You might want to answer “yes.” But if you talk to people who sought out revenge, the truth is, it doesn’t take away the bitterness.

Bitterness can only be removed in one way, and God gives us an example of how this can happen: it comes through forgiveness and showing mercy. As we are told in Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” The mercy we receive is in direct proportion with the mercy we give. How can this be? Well, before I answer this question, let’s look at how God has responded to us first.

b.      The mercy of God- Think about your life for a moment. What are

the things that you have done for God? If you were to take some time, I’m sure you could come up with a list of good things you have done in the name of God, or because of your faith in God. But what if you had to list all the things you did wrong? What if you had to list all the times you were selfish? What if you had to list all the times you hurt another? The point is, that your list of wrongs would be far greater than the list of things you have done for God.

EX. There is a story of a man who died and found himself at the gates of heaven. He was told that he would be asked some questions, and that he would receive a certain amount of points for each answer. Then he was told that he would need 100 points at to earn his way into heaven. So the questions began: “What have you done with the life God gave you?” The man stammered for a moment, “Well….I…” Then he thought of something, “I was an elder in my church.” “Good,” said the angel, “that is worth 1 point.” The angel continued, “How have you served others?” The man thought, and then smiled as he remembered some of what he had done: “I volunteered at the Rescue Mission once, and I helped to build a home with Habitat for Humanity. Then there was the time when I volunteered in the youth program for a year.” “Very good,” the angel replied. “That will be worth another point.” ……. At this the man was surprised, and responded: “At this rate, I’ll never be able to get into heaven.” ….The angel looked at the man for a moment, and then said: “That is exactly right. I’m afraid to tell you that you will never be able to get into heaven on your own. However, the good news is that all who believe in Jesus Christ, will receive eternal life.” The man’s expression changed as he shouted out: “Oh, I do believe; I do believe.” And the angel smiled and said, “I know you do. Your name is written in the book of life. Come, enter into heaven for all eternity!”

           We understand God to be a God of mercy. We ask God for mercy on Sunday, but on Monday we cry out for justice against another. When we do not know how to give mercy, then we will not know how to receive mercy. God, through Christ, will give us mercy. But we must humble our hearts to find it. GOD IS MERCIFUL in that He does not count our sins against us when we put our trust in Jesus Christ.

II.                God is Gracious- (John 13:1-8)

A second attribute of God that I want to look at this morning, is God

being GRACIOUS. While mercy is God holding back the punishment we deserve, grace is being generous to us beyond measure. Think for a moment about the disciples; those 12 men who got the opportunity to walk with Jesus. They heard Jesus’ lessons, but the lessons didn’t really sink in. Jesus talked about faith, but when they were in a storm with Jesus, they panicked and accused Jesus of not caring. Jesus talked about caring for others, but then the disciples argued about who was number 1, and who should get to sit at Jesus’ right and left. Jesus talked about feeding the people, but they panicked and told Jesus to tell the people to go and get their own food.

            Jesus was always in a teaching mode, even when He and the disciples were celebrating the Passover meal in the Upper Room. We read from JOHN 13:1-8, “¹It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love. ²The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" ⁷Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." ⁸"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." …The disciples had been selfish, they had lacked faith and compassion, they had failed to see what they needed to see. And yet, Jesus comes to them to wash their feet! This is God’s grace. The disciples had done nothing to deserve this act of service bestowed on them. And they knew this to be true. That is why Peter rejects Jesus at first. He knows that he doesn’t deserve Jesus’ act of kindness. But in the end Peter receives it, and Jesus proceeds to wash his feet, and then all of the disciples’ feet; He leaves no one out!

The wonder of this story is that you and I are at the table. It is us who are being cleansed, not from our dirt, but from our sins. The cleansing is not a gesture, it is a necessity. To place our feet in the basin, is to give to God the filthiest parts of our lives. We might want to resist, but we must not. God is a God of GRACE, who wants to cleanse us and heal us and give us life to the full!

III.             God is Faithful- (Deuteronomy 7:9; Revelation 19:11; Luke 15:4;

    Psalm 89:1-8)

a.      Knowing- On top of these 2 attributes, we see a third one: that

God is faithful. As Deuteronomy 7:9 tells us, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God.” In fact, in Revelation 19:11 we get an image of God: “¹¹I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.” Here we have someone who will never let us down; God the faithful one.

            What does this mean? By definition of who God is, not only will God be faithful, He can’t be unfaithful. Every word, every promise can be counted on.

EX. When I was in college I had a good friend named Cliff. Cliff and I would do many things together. We got along great and enjoyed each others’ company. But there came a time when Cliff got busier. We weren’t able to get together as often as before. So we would have to schedule times to be together. One day I saw Cliff at church, and we decided to schedule a time to have lunch together. The day came and off I went to the restaurant. I waited for a while, but Cliff didn’t show up; Cliff didn’t call. The next time I saw Cliff, he said he was sorry, but I’m not sure if it was sincere. He said he wanted to get together again, so we scheduled another time. But when that time came, Cliff didn’t show up again. The next time I saw Cliff he was very apologetic. So we again scheduled a time to get together. This time, however, I scheduled it at the church, where if Cliff didn’t show up, I had other things I could do. And guess what, Cliff didn’t show up again! After that I stopped scheduling times to try and meet with Cliff.

            We have all known people who have been unfaithful to us. But God is not in that category. God is faithful, and will always be faithful. Because of this we don’t have to doubt God, God’s word, or God’s promises to us.

b.      Declaring- Because God is faithful, we can know that when God

gives us a dream, God will help us to have all that we need to carry out this dream.

Even when we are unfaithful to God, God stays faithful to us. Because of God’s faithfulness to us, when we stray, God calls out to us, reaches out to us, seeks us out, and brings us back home.

            If you think of a staff, it might remind you of a shepherd. A shepherd is faithful to his sheep, because without the sheep, the sheep will get lost. And if a sheep gets lost, the shepherd will seek him out. As the Bible tells us in Luke 15:4, “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?”

Because of God’s faithfulness to us, we should be led to share of this faithfulness to others. All people need someone in whom they can trust; all people need someone who won’t let them down. God is that someone. But so many people don’t know about God’s faithfulness. It is up to you and me to tell them! As we were told in Psalm 89:1-8, “¹ I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. ² I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself…⁵ The heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones. ⁶ For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD, Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?…⁸ O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you.”

            In and through God’s faithfulness, we can stand confident, at peace, and secure. We don’t have to wonder about whether God will ever stop loving us, because He won’t. We don’t have to wonder if God will leave us, because He won’t. God is faithful, and will be faithful for all eternity.

IV.             God is Sovereign- (Colossians 1:15-18; Romans 8:28)

a.      God over all- And lastly, I want to talk about God being

Sovereign. God is the One who has designed this world. God is the One who reigns over it. God is the One who is in control. As we are told in Colossians 1:15-18, “¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”

            But what do we really mean about the expression that God is sovereign? To say that God is sovereign is to declare that God is God. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the Most High, carrying out all things in accordance to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.  To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the Almighty, the Possessor of all power in heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, stop His purpose, or resist His will (Ps. 115:3). To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is "The Governor among the nations" (Ps. 22:28), setting up kingdoms, overthrowing empires, and determining the course of dynasties. To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is the "Only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.” This is the God of the Bible.

            We see that God is sovereign over creation, salvation, the operation of the world, prayer, and on and on it goes. God has created all things to function in a certain way, and has designed for it to run affectively when functioning in this way. Unfortunately, we seek to affect that by our choices. And yet, because God is sovereign, God’s will, will still be done in the end.

b.      Your way or His?- However, God doesn’t rule over our every

thought or control our every movement. So we have to decide, will we follow our way or God’s?            Illus. “The Parable of the Sandwich Sign,” Max Lucado, A Gentle Thunder, p. 149 There is a story of a town where it was raining very hard. The news came to the mayor, the rains had washed the bridge out. Many cars had already driven over the edge into the river. The crowds were around the mayor as they sought a solution. “What can we do?” The mayor thought for a moment, then, came up with a solution. He said: “I need three people to wear these sandwich signs. The first will say, ‘Bridge out.’ The second will say, ‘Reduce speed.’ The third will say, ‘Take right road,’ with a finger pointing toward the safe route.” And so the people responded, taking their places with the signs to warn the travelers of the washed out bridge. Because these three did their job, many people were led to safety.

            The difference before, and after, was that after there were signs warning the people of the danger. Because of these signs, the people not only knew of the danger, but, knew of the way to safety. God is sovereign over all things, and in His sovereignty, His will, will be done. As Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” But in the meantime, we have many people who are ignoring the signs, and choosing to follow their own path, which leads them to destruction.

            We have to let God be sovereign in our lives. We have to choose to follow God’s path. We have to acknowledge that our lives are a gift from God, given to us to believe in God, follow God, and live for God. As I said before, in His sovereignty He has worked it out for all things to work together. As we do what we are called to do, we will make a difference with our lives just as God planned it to be. If you want to be a part of God’s plan, you have to act on God’s leading you.

            Be faithful to others………Refuse to cheat……….Be neighborly….Love others….Be a giving person……Forgive others….Enjoy the life God has given you.

           

Conclusion: What kind of world would it be, if we experienced mercy, and grace on a daily basis? What kind of world would it be, if we were faithful to each other? What kind of world would it be, if we made decisions according to God’s will? I’m sure it would be a world on the verge of being heaven on earth.

            God is the God who is merciful (who, by our faith, doesn’t count our sins against us). God is the God who is gracious (who gives us blessings beyond what we deserve). God is the God who is faithful, never leaving us. God is the God who is sovereign, having ultimate control over all things. May we choose to give ourselves fully to this God, who knows us, loves us, and searches us out. Amen.