His Mercy Endures Forever (February 18, 2024)

Today we want to speak from Psalm 118, and as we do so, we want to look to next month, knowing that on next month, on the last Sunday of March, we will be celebrating Resurrection Sunday. I'm sure to be the Lord's will, and we shall live, and the Lord delays his return. We will be focusing on Resurrection Sunday, and the good news that comes from the cross and the grave, and as we move closer and closer to celebrating Resurrection Sunday, that blessed first day of the week, we're going to start the week right with the Resurrection Sunday like we're starting this week right, by being on this call, and being in fellowship with each other, because we know that the Lord, the word is true, and that where two or three gather together in his name, then he is certainly in the midst, and he's in the midst of us even right now. So as we move closer and closer to Resurrection Sunday next month, I am so encouraged this morning, as I walk by faith, not by sight, to hear and to reflect upon what the psalmist has provided for us in his words in Psalm 118, and when you get a chance, and I hope that you will get a chance to read all of the verses in Psalm 118, we're going to focus on verse one, but when you read it, this particular psalm points so vividly to Christ, there's so many verses that point to Christ Jesus, in particular there's one that reminds us that he is the stone who the builders rejected, but he has become the chief cornerstone, and we know that for a fact, because he is the chief cornerstone for every spirit-filled believer, the cross family, the cross, the cross is our cornerstone, and the foundation of our faith, because through the cross, and through the resurrection, it represents that the Lord's mercy is certain and endures forever. Now I want to talk about that today, that his mercy endures forever. So I invite you to consider with us today Psalm 118, and in particular verse one, which says, unto those that have an ear to hear, O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, because his mercy endures forever. Let us pray. God, we thank you for this moment and for this time to connect with those who are on this call, and we pray for every person who has joined us this morning, every household that is represented. We pray God that you will open up our ability to hear from you, to be able to comprehend your word. I pray God that you will bless us to brightly divide the word of truth, that we will speak a word that is one indicative of the good news that we have in your son, Christ Jesus. We pray God right now that your spirit will begin to overshadow us even now. Fill us God with your Holy Spirit to change our hearts and our minds, and to move us to a different and higher dimension in who you are, and who you have called us to be as a part of this not now generation we see, a right now God. We thank you God for doing it. Thank you God for doing it in real time. Family, as we consider Psalm 118, you will see that the psalmist has this sweet, as I describe it, this sweet and this melodious and this comforting refrain, and that is His mercy endures forever. His mercy endures forever. When you look at Psalm 118, you go to verse 1, it's there. You go to verse 2, it's there. You go to verse 3, it's there. You go to verse 4, it's there. In fact, the psalmist concludes it in verse 29 with that phrase, His mercy endures forever. This morning we can reflect on what has transpired in our lives and the lives of others just between January 1st of this year to this very moment. We can reflect upon a lot of things that have happened, but also those things that haven't happened. Things that may have caused us some frustration either way. And as we think about things, however, there should be a sense of pause to step back and to take a deep breath and to give thanks, hallelujah, to give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. He is good, and His mercy endures forever. Regardless of what we think we are going through that has our minds preoccupied more with problems than with praise, it is in this hour, hallelujah, that we can proclaim that the hour has come, that those who worship the Father must worship Him in spirit and in truth. This is the hour of worship, and we who are filled with the Holy Spirit, we who confess Christ, hallelujah, we should exemplify an attitude of gratitude because His mercy, hallelujah, His mercy endures forever. Family, it is so often that we can become totally preoccupied with the material things of this world. We can become so ensnared with the cares of this life, so bewitched by what we have and what we want and what we need, that at times we miss the hour of worship, and we fail to manifest that we are His tabernacles of praise, hallelujah. If you look at verse 15 in Psalm 118, the psalmist writes so beautifully that the voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. And today, family, I submit that just in case, hallelujah, just in case we may have overlooked that part, hallelujah, oh yes, yes, yes, we are the tabernacles of the righteous, and from us should flow the voice of rejoicing and salvation, hallelujah. All give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good and His mercy, hallelujah, His mercy endures forever. Family, God inhabits the praises of His people, not their complaints, not their gripes, not their grievances, not their gossip, not their negative commentary. God ain't in none of that. He ain't in the complaints, the gripes, the grievances, the gossip, the negative commentary. God ain't in none of that, and we need to watch our minds, family, watch our minds, and be reminded that our God and our Father, He inhabits the praises of His people, hallelujah, hallelujah, and right now we can take a moment and experience a paradigm shift to declare as the psalmist did in verse 1, all give thanks, hallelujah, we've been made indoors for a night, but y'all come in the morning, all give thanks unto Yahweh, for He is good, because His mercy endures forever. The word Lord in verse 1, that comes from the Hebrew word Yahweh, and sometimes we can get so indoctrinated in the King James Version that we can miss out on the essence of things, but that word Lord there is from the word Yahweh, and Yahweh is the name of God. As revealed unto Moses, when he told Moses on the backside of a mountain, when he asked me who, what for my name is, and how am I to be described, he said, tell them I am that I am. That's Yahweh, that's Jehovah, I am that I am. Yahweh reflects the Lord God who brought the old church out of a not now generation and led them into a new promised land, and that new promised land was filled with milk and honey, which means that it was filled with a divine and a practical righteous economy. There's an economy that comes along with God, and it's righteous. The economy that they had, the land flowing with milk and honey, it was an economy built on faith and not fraud. It was an economy built on transparency and not deception. It was an economy built on two pillars, but still on the same foundation, and the first pillar was to love God, loving with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your spirit. And the second was to love your neighbor, hallelujah, as you love yourself. And it brings us to this reality that when heaven came down to earth, the word that was made flesh and dwelt among us, Jesus Christ himself, he became, hallelujah, both pillars at the same time on the cross. He was the same pillar talked about under the old covenant, on the same cross. The Lord Jesus came down through the womb of a virgin and became the eternal, once and for all, living sacrifice that would appease God and at the same time reconcile us all back to him. Back unto God himself. And on the cross, we're still getting to Resurrection Sunday, we're going there, we're going there, hallelujah, but on the cross, the Lord Jesus became the curse, hallelujah, he became a curse for us, that we might be blessed to have life, and life more abundantly. On the cross, family, he showed us that he loved the Father, and he also showed us that no greater love is this than we lay down our lives for our friends, that's what he did for us, what a friend, hallelujah, the hymn says, we have in Jesus all our sins and our griefs to bear, hallelujah, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross, on the cross mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace kissed each other, hallelujah, and so when we look at him on the cross on that Good Friday, hallelujah, we can declare his mercy endures forever, but thank God for the first day of the week, hallelujah, mmm, Super Bowl Sunday if you will, hallelujah, Resurrection Sunday, hallelujah, it is in that Sunday as we're getting closer and closer there, that we can boast about Yahweh, the I am that I am, and we can say in a real time like the psalmist right now, oh give thanks, oh give thanks unto Yahweh the I am that I am, for he is good, because his mercy endures forever, and Yahweh was so good, that he said his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on him, shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life, and his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus himself, showed us through and beyond the cross, beyond, hallelujah, mmm, the tomb, that the Father's mercy endures forever, and you may ask, well, what is his mercy? How do we describe that? His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is faithful love. His mercy is loving devotion, and loving kindness, and his mercy, whether or not we consider that and know it as steadfast love, or faithful love, or loving devotion, or loving kindness, his mercy endures forever. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is faithful love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. His mercy is steadfast love. So there might be a second question, and it might be, well, how long is forever? Family, I'm here to tell you today that forever is always. Always. Forever transcends time and moves in the realm of eternity. Before there was even time, we had eternity. Hallelujah. And so it still resides in eternity. His mercy endures forever. God gave us a panoramic view of Yahweh's mercy. When he wrote in 1 Corinthians, in chapter 13, verses 7 and 8, he says that he says, love bears. Hallelujah. Love, love. Love bears all things. Believes all things. Hopes all things. Endures. Endures all things. Love never fails. That's what we grasp here when we see beyond the cross and beyond the resurrection and we see him sitting on the right hand of the Father. We see that love never fails. And it comes back to us again. And Paul says that love never fails. He says, but whether there be prophecy, they shall fail. Whether there be tongues, they shall cease. Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. The family, hallelujah. This morning, hallelujah. I'm here to remind us because we can miss it at times. Because we can take for granted where we are, where we are right now. Hallelujah. We may be caught up into our circumstances of life and what's not going well, but this morning I want to remind you that his love never fails. And that his mercy endures forever. And as I look to the good news that flows from that old rugged cross, I'm thankful this morning for Yahweh and I'm thankful for God who was in Christ reconciling us back unto himself. And I'm thankful for the Lord Jesus who laid down his life and he picked it back up again by the power of God. And I'm thankful for the indwelling and life-changing and mind-altering Holy Spirit. Because I know that God's mercy endures forever. The Lord Jesus. The stone that the builders rejected. But who sits now at the right hand of the Father. He gave us a sure promise. A promise in perpetuity. Because it endures forever. And you can find it in Matthew chapter 28 and it's verse 20. And the Lord Jesus says this, he says, and should. Hallelujah. This ain't no fake news and this is no financial or spiritual fraud. He says, and should. Hallelujah. And he goes on, he says, and surely I am. And there we go again, there we go again. Forget, don't forget, don't forget, don't forget that I am that I am. Was in Christ reconciling us back to himself. And surely I am, he says, with you always. Always. To the very end of the age. So family, just in case the enemy has crept in our heads this morning. The word of comfort comes to remind us that we are not alone. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Christ Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. He is with us. And he will never leave us. He told us, I have not left you comfortless. That's why he sent the Holy Spirit, the parakletos, the helper. Hallelujah. To provide us a lift. When we are in a moment of crisis and distress, we've got, hallelujah, a lift with the Holy Ghost. We are not alone and Christ has not forgotten us. Regardless of what we have or what we don't have. And a lot of it, whether we have it or not, is not even what we need. But regardless, I believe he's saying, like Elder Bobby already shared in the prayer. No fear. No fear. I'm with you always to the very end of the age. So don't fear. Don't fret. Don't worry about it. I'm with you. The Lord is our shepherd. And we shall not want. So between the days, between the hour of our arrival and the hour of our departure, the Lord be with us. Between the days, between that arrival and the departure in this life, the Lord Jesus has promised us that I am with you. I'm with you. And even beyond the days, when these earthly tabernacles of the righteous have been fully dissolved, we who believe on him as the Scriptures say, hallelujah, we shall be forever with him. Hallelujah. He's coming back to get us, y'all. He's coming back to get the children of God by our saving. And we are headed to a time as we serve a now God in a not now generation. We're headed to a vision, a new heaven and a new earth because his mercy endures forever, forever, forever. As I close, family, I just want to implore upon us that we need to keep on giving thanks unto the Lord. Keep on giving thanks to Yahweh. Keep on giving thanks to our Father and our God because he can do anything and everything but fail. Love never fails. If it ain't God, if it ain't love, it ain't God. Because God is love and love never fails. And I can tell you, God, like I believe you can thank Him too with me this morning, that when others think it is what it is, and they are thrown in the towel in the agony of defeat, that by faith, not by sight, but by faith, hallelujah, we who have been filled with the Holy Spirit, we can declare a different report. Between God can heal and God has healed, we can declare a different report. Yeah, yeah, we can do our part, we can take our medication, we can change our diet, and we can continue to exercise. And between God can heal and God has healed, we can have a different report. And we can proclaim like the psalmist did, that I shall not die, but live and declare the works of Yahweh. I know it says Lord in the King James Version, but the writer, he took the script here and he just says, Yah, I can do my part by declaring the works of Yah, God Himself. And by faith I can declare a different report, that victory is mine, and I believe you can do it with me. Victory is ours, because we know the I am that I am. And one thing that we know about the I am that I am, is that He can be, it is what it is, every single time. So when they come at you saying, it is what it is, you tell them, hallelujah, you got a different report, because you know the I am that I am. Hallelujah. And as you proclaim it, you are reminding, hallelujah, as you give Him thanks, you are reminding, hallelujah, when you praise Him, you are reminding yourself, you are reminding me, you are reminding us all, that His mercy endures forever. Family, don't miss this part, love never fails, hallelujah, love never fails, hallelujah. Wherever you go, just be reminded of that, hallelujah, when the children, the grandchildren come home, love never fails. When they talk about you, hallelujah, behind your back and in front of your face, love never fails, hallelujah. Wouldn't they have rejected you, hallelujah, but they're set up because He's turning you into the chief cornerstone, hallelujah. Love never fails, love never fails. So let the voice of rejoicing, let the voice, hallelujah, salvation, let it resound within our minds and within our hearts, and let it flow from our lips, that He is good, and His mercy endures forever. Praise Him.