M & M’s (Majesty & Mercy)
Introduction
For those of you that looked in the bulletin, you might be wondering what kind of a Sermon is titled an M & M’s Sermon. Actually it is a Sermon that started to develop some months ago when I revisited some of the older books in my library. I noticed the authors used some great words from the Bible on a more frequent basis then we do today. And I started to wonder, why aren’t those words used as often today as they were in past generations? Have they lost their meaning for this generation and time period? Words like Master, Meditate, Majesty and Mercy, kept popping off the pages and into my mind. Therefore it seemed appropriate to introduce several of the abovementioned words to a new generation and reintroduce them to the rest who are listening to this sermon today.
The Sermon will focus on several strategically significant words that begin with the letter “M”.
Because of time restraints I will need to limit our focus to just two words that begin with the letter M.
First we will revisit the word, “Majesty”
We sing songs – Majesty
How Majestic is Your Name
We sing of the Majesty of God, but what does it mean? How is it used in the Bible?
Did you know in the English Standard Version of the Bible the word majestic is used 13 times?
Examples –
Exodus 15:11 "Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
Psalms 8:9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
2nd Peter 1:17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,"
Majesty is used 44 times in the English Standard Version;
1 Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all.
Psalms 145:5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
Jude 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Sometimes the word “majesty” is used when we speak of a person, for example, her “Majesty” the Queen.
Our English word Majesty comes from Latin and it means greatness. When we use the word we do so acknowledging the greatness of the person or of God. When we see the word expressing the greatness of God in the Bible it sounds like this,
Psalms 93:1 [ The LORD Reigns ] The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
Psalms 145:5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
I would like to share with you a quote from a book called Knowing God; it was written by J.I. Packer and published in 1973.
“The Christian’s instincts of trust and worship are stimulated very powerfully by knowledge of the greatness of God.”
“But this is knowledge which Christians today largely lack: and that is one reason why our faith is so feeble and our worship so flabby. We are modern men, and modern men, though they cherish great thoughts of man, have as a rule small thoughts of God. When the man in the Church, let alone the man in the street uses the word ‘God’, the thought in his mind is rarely of divine majesty.”
Please remember these words were written in 1973 or earlier and do you believe we (the next generation of modern thinking people) have gained ground or lost ground in the area of divine majesty the past 35 years. Do we meditate on the glorious splendor of His divine majesty (Psalms 145:5)?
The Bible from start to finish impresses on the reader two twin truths, God is both personal and majestic. The Pendulum of certain Biblical truths swings both ways, today the emphasis appears to showcase the personal side of God. When one Biblical truth is given prominence, it is usually to the detriment of the other.
Phillip I believe gave us a great example of how it’s possible even as an Apostle not focus on the dual truths of God. Do you remember his focus on the personal relationship side of Jesus in John Chapter 14?
Before I read the text we need a little background information. Phillip
has spent the past three years with Jesus, he witnessed the awesome miracles and yet we read this dialog, John 14:8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ’Show us the Father’? (ESV)
How can you say, ’Show us the Father’?
In the 21st Century we are very good at understanding our personal relationship with God, but we must not lose sight of His majesty. There is a great gap between mankind and God because of His majesty (Greatness).
His power is NOT limited!
His presence is NOT limited!
His Knowledge has NO limitations!
God is eternal!
God is almighty!
God is infinite!
Examples – (from Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations)
One Second Of Sun’s Energy - The sun radiates more energy in one second than man has used since the beginning of civilization. In one second, a typical quasar throws out enough energy to supply all the earth’s electrical needs for billions of years.
No Scale Model of the Universe
Anything may be reproduced on scale model except the universe. The impossibility of making such a model accurately is shown by the fact that, if the earth were represented by a ball only one inch in diameter, the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, would have to be placed nearly 51,000 miles away.
God’s Superlatives - Writers are supposed to avoid superlatives. The textbooks tell us that authors who use extreme adjectives like “fabulous,” “magnificent,” and “splendid” are usually overstating the case. These graphic superlatives are to be reserved only for occasions that actually merit their use, and then they are to appear very seldom.
But when the writers of the Bible spoke of the blessings of God upon His children, they used the strongest of terms. So marvelous are the riches of Christ enjoyed by His own that the Holy Spirit, the author of God’s Word, used the most extravagant language to describe them. Here are a few examples:
—God’s pardon is “abundant” —Isaiah 55:7
—His love “passeth knowledge” —Ephesians 3:19
—His gift of salvation is “unspeakable” —II Corinthians 9:15
—His life is “more abundant” —John 10:10 —David C. Egner
Our God truly is Majestic and worthy of our obedience, adoration, praise, love, prayers, worship and worthy of our time, all the time. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
How can we comprehend the Majesty of God?
I. Remove thoughts that limit the greatness, the Majesty of God.
Psalm 139 (ESV) helps us to understand the unlimited nature of God. (I suggest you read this Psalm often to help our mind grasp the unlimited nature of God)
1 O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
I highly recommend that you take time to read Job chapters 38-41, in so doing you will read where God Himself presents to Job a display of His wisdom and power in nature, and asks Job if he can match such Majesty as this …
Job 40:9 Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
10 Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. (NIV)
When Job realized the majesty of God he concludes;
Job 42:5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
Did you catch that?
When Job finally saw himself in the true light of God, he said, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
The second step to get the proper comprehension of the greatness of God is to make comparisons with powers and forces which we regard as great.
II. In reality when we compare God to anything or anyone other then Himself it would be a most feeble exercise.
Isaiah brings home this point in Chapter 40;
Isaiah 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD,
or instructed him as his counselor?
14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
or showed him the path of understanding?
15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.
18 To whom, then, will you compare God?
What image will you compare him to?
19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
20 A man too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not topple.
21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.
25 "To whom will you compare Me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
In one of his letters to Erasmus (Dutch Renaissance scholar and Roman Catholic theologian) Luther said, "Your thoughts of God are too human".
Today brother’s and sister’s in the Lord are your thoughts of God too human?
I will conclude this portion of the sermon with a quote from J. I. Packer.
“This is where most of us go astray. Our thoughts of God are not great enough; we fail to reckon with the reality of His limitless wisdom and power. Because we ourselves are limited and weak, we imagine that at some points God is too, and find it hard to believe that He is not. We think of God as too much like we are. Put this mistake right says God; learn to acknowledge the full majesty of your incomparable God and Savior.”
Now that you have been encouraged to understand and have a more Majestic understanding and relationship with the Lord, I now would like to shift gears a little and revisit the second featured word for the sermon and that word is “Mercy”.
Mercy
Dictionary – Merriam-Webster
mer•cy
1 a : compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power; also : lenient or compassionate treatment
2 a : a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion b : a fortunate circumstance
3 : compassionate treatment of those in distress
Mercy has a broad spectrum of meanings (explain),
Examples –
1. Many hospitals in the United States are named “Mercy Hospital”. This suggests that inside you will find compassion and treatment for the sick, injured and those in physical pain.
2. We as a congregation are responding to those in distress by taking a Mission trip to the Slidell, La. area August 26th through September 1st. That area is still suffering the aftereffects from the hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast States several years ago. We will rebuild housing for those still in need.
Because we can easily identify a world constantly filled with misery, we will never lack the opportunity to show mercy.
Addiction, the poor, those hungry and worse yet folks starving, the oppressed and individuals with diseases can easily be located as you travel around the world.
Spiritual miseries are even more abundant and probably less focus is placed upon them. Imaging the staggering numbers when you think of those afraid of dying, people that are ridden with guilt and lacking a good conscience. Can we even begin to imaging the multitudes who are plagued with feelings of loneliness, bitterness, emptiness, hopelessness (no eternal hope), and meaninglessness?
Because we can easily identify a world constantly filled with spiritual miseries, we will never lack the opportunity to show mercy.
Right now I would like to bring your attention to the primary definition of mercy; compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one’s power.
I would like to share just two examples of the mercy of God in your Bible. The first comes from the book of Job, in chapter 42:7 “After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job’s prayer”.
God was angry with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar because they didn’t speak of Him what is right, but even in that anger he extended them mercy.
The second Biblical example of Mercy I would like to share with you is found in 1st Chronicles chapter 21.
Background Information
David ordered Joab and the army commanders to go throughout the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and enroll the fighting men, so that he could know how many there were.
Whatever the exact motivation David had for a census to be taken could not be ascertained by me. I just know through further study that God didn’t want a census taken. Joab even says to him, “But why does my Lord the king do such a thing?”
King David overruled Joab and the count which took 9 months and 21 days was completed. Joab reported the count as 1,100,000 men that could handle a sword. Joab didn’t include Levi and Benjamin in the count because the command was repulsive to him.
1 Chronicles 21:7 This command was also evil in the sight of God; so he punished Israel.
8 Then David said to God, "I have sinned greatly by doing this. Now, I beg you; take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing."
9 The LORD said to Gad, David’s seer, 10 "Go and tell David, ’This is what the LORD says: I am giving you three options. Choose one of them for me to carry out against you.’” (Very interesting verse, God giving David the right to choose the punishment)
11. So Gad went to David and said to him, "This is what the LORD says: ’Take your choice: 12. three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies, with their swords overtaking you, or three days of the sword of the LORD -days of plague in the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should answer the one who sent me."
13. David said to Gad, "I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men."
14. So the LORD sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead. 15 And God sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. But as the angel was doing so, the LORD saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was destroying the people, "Enough! Withdraw your hand."
What conclusion can be drawn by what we have just read?
David had his army counted and this was clearly against Gods will.
The judgment’s David has to choose from;
Three years of famine
Three months of pursuit by the enemy
Three days of the sword of the LORD -days of plague in the land
Millions of people would be affected by David’s decision and he chose to put himself and the nation of Israel into the hands of God because of His great mercy. And David made the right decision…
Closing Comments
Majesty - Our God is Majestic and worthy of our obedience, adoration, praise, love, prayers, worship and worthy of our time, all the time.
I am going to challenge all who hear my voice this morning. Because of the “Majesty” of God we should reorganize our schedule to study and worship Him as often as possible. We worship God together each Lords day, but come Wednesday night the attendance drops by seventy five percent. The Bible tells us, Faith increases by hearing the word of God and on Sunday morning the sermon lasts about twenty five minutes, Wednesday night we study the word of God for fifty minutes. If you would just rework your Wednesday schedule to Study your Majestic God for one hour, you are increasing the time we study together by two hundred percent.
Parents I fully realize Wednesday is a week night and part of the year a school night and you desire the best education possible for your children. But ask yourself this, if your children get straight A’s and yet they leave home and face the world without a great knowledge of God did we really do are part?
Is a little knowledge of God worth more than a great deal of knowledge of Him?
To all who are present today, please realize the re-introduction of the words Majesty, Mercy and the mention of King David was not by accident.
If any man had a great understanding of God and His “Majesty” David was one of them. Luke, tells us…
Acts 13:22 After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ’I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
Because David worshiped His Majesty, he also knew the best option in times of trouble was to put himself in the hands of God because His mercy was great.
Some of you need to apply what was shared today. Do like David and understand the greatness of God (His Majesty)? Do you desire His grace, mercy, and peace? Will you like David do everything God wants you to do? Does this include His plan for your salvation? When you yield to the greatness of God you do things His way not your way!
If we recognize the majesty of God, we will have to recognize His authority.
If He has authority over us, then we must submit to Him. When we live our lives, do our actions reflect God on the throne?
When we make decisions, do we do so in light of God on the throne, or do we place ourselves there.
Many people say, "I know what the Bible says, but ..."
This thinking reflects a person who has pushed God off His throne and placed himself on it.
Prayer
Invitation Song
