out of your word and just give the audience here ears to hear and bless the
service and bless the fellowship to proceed and it's all we pray in Jesus
name amen amen okay we're in James chapter 3 look down
to your Bibles verse 14 it says but if you have bitter envying and strife in
your hearts glory not and lie not against the truth this wisdom descendeth
not from above but as earthly sensual devilish for envying and strife is
there's confusion in every evil work but the wisdom that is from above is first
pure then peaceable gentle and easy to be entreated full of mercy and good
fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy and the fruit of the righteous
is sown in peace of them that make peace and tonight we're gonna actually
conclude our series on the spiritual gifts according to Romans chapter number
12 and we're actually going over the spiritual gift of the mercy okay which
is the final one that we see there we are gonna cover the ones in first
Corinthians chapter 12 in the coming weeks but we're this tonight we conclude
the ones in Romans chapter 12 now as we mentioned in times past a spiritual gift
a good way to indicate or a good indication of what is your spiritual
gift is trying to figure out what is it that energizes you what is it that you
don't necessarily have to work on being or work on doing and that's typically
what your spiritual gift is okay what which of these actually places you in
your element I'll go to Romans chapter number 12 if you would Romans chapter 12
but I want you to notice that in James it says that the person with the gift of
mercy can be described as someone who is full of mercy okay and often people get
this mistaken and think well that means they're just merciful to every single
human being and you know they just have a lot of compassion towards people and
that can often be the case but if they're not using it in a spiritual
manner this could actually become detrimental not only in their personal
lives but also in the lives of those around them now look what it says in
verse number four of Romans chapter 12 we'll start in verse number six it says
with simplicity he that ruleth with diligence and lastly he that showeth
mercy with cheerfulness okay now what is a spiritual gift well a spiritual gift
is an ability talent that God gives the members of the body of Christ for the
edifying of the body of Christ to be a blessing to others it's it's a spiritual
gift it's a an ability or a talent that God gives someone that really defines
who they are you know it kind of energizes them whether that is prophecy
or it's being a servant and they can utilize this gift in the local New
Testament Church now the first one that we went over the first week is the gift
of prophecy and the person with the gift of prophecy possesses the ability to
speak in God's stead with accuracy authority and power these are the people
that see things in black and white okay to them there's no middle ground there's
no gray area it's either sin or it's righteousness it's either good it's
either or bad there's nothing in between and they're committed to the
truth regardless if anyone agrees they're very verbally expressive and can
be compulsive about it okay and I often say this is the prophets are typically
impetuous now what does that mean it means that they often put their foot in
their mouths very often actually okay they often speak without thinking become
very offensive and often they're not very aware of their surroundings and the
people they're actually talking to or how they're talking to them okay this
is the Prophet and you know a couple weeks ago or last week I preached a
sermon on discretion the sermon on discretion is for the Prophet okay it's
for everyone but particularly the Prophet but they're very verbally
expressive they have no problem just telling you exactly how they feel
exactly what they think exactly what they believe the judgments that they
make they judge and evaluate everything and everyone for that matter okay every
situation even if even if the situation doesn't directly affect them or has
anything to do with them they judge that situation they judge that person they're
very nosy when it comes to things like that okay they have a compulsion for
honesty integrity and transparency and this is one of the things that's great
about the Prophet is that he has no problems being transparent with the
people he's speaking to okay he's very open about how he feels he's intolerant
of perceived rebellion hypocrisy and denial especially in leadership and has
a large range of emotions he's very intense and has passionate extremes so
sometimes prophets can either have really high highs and really low lows
okay when they have the really high highs is referring to the fact that when
they're excited for the things of God they're very zealous they're passionate
and they can often inspire others to be the same but at the same time they can
actually have really low lows where they're just kind of like Peter and
they're just like why quit I go fishing kind of thing you know and they just
kind of quit very easily and then you know they they can often make sin look
exceeding sinful as well that is the Prophet the gift of ministry or the
servant is the person or the person with the gift of ministry possesses the
ability to see a need and fulfill it they see external needs of comfort and
food and they're quick to meet those needs they're often great team players
okay so they operate well in a local New Testament Church because they're not
necessarily looking to glorify themselves they don't want the limelight
they just play well with others kind of thing okay they're relatively free from
their own desires to kind of do their own thing or have their own agenda
they're very practical and they find it hard to accept excellence in their own
work okay so if you ever work with a servant and you give them a task that
task is never good enough for them when they accomplish it is just like it can
be beautiful it can be tasty if it's food it could be clean it can be you
know the house can be just completely clean or this project can be completely
done but in their minds it's not as excellent and they're very hard on
themselves because of that so they had they find they find it hard to affirm
themselves or to receive affirmation from others so if it's like no you're
doing a good job it's great they're just like I don't know you know they
don't really think too much of themselves and they're very hard on
themselves they're very critical of themselves and they often find something
to apologize for when serving others and one of the ways you can spot a servant
is if they start the sentence off with I'm sorry I'm sorry or if they you know
come to you you ask you for something they finish the sentence with I'm sorry
I'm sorry it's like why are you saying sorry there's no reason for you to be
sorry but they're very apologetic and and you know they're kind of
self-conscious about those things the gift of teaching the person with the
gift of teaching possesses the desire to prove all things and hold fast that
which is good they want first-hand details and everything okay so everything
that I'm sharing right now they actually hate it because of the fact that I'm not
you know backing it up with scripture and stuff they're like this is garbage
show me where this is in the Bible okay that's kind of how they operate and
luckily the Prophet could care less you know so I'm just kidding they want
first-hand details they value precision and sharing details and they're usually
very articulate and good at writing okay now the teacher doesn't speak all the
time but when the teacher does speak he's very accurate and he's able to
communicate he or she is able to communicate very well a specific point
but they're very good at writing okay so what they lack in a multitude of words
in an actual conversation they actually make up for in writing okay and you say
well how do I know if I have teachers around me well if you're talking to an
individual and they say like two or three words but when they text you it's
like a paragraph okay you know when they message you it's just like and it's very
detailed emotional just has it's just like who is this person I'll just go I'm
just gonna go ahead and say it okay he's not here right now but Michael
Kasimov is a teacher okay and the reason I know that if Michael Kasimov
you're watching this you know it's true you know Michael Kasimov is a man of few
words okay and most of you know that okay he'll say hello and that's about it
okay and but but on the group feed the guy has like these paragraphs and books
that he just writes and typically I open that feed I look at it and I close it
I'm like I'm not doing that I'm not gonna read that okay sorry Mike but
that's how a teacher typically operates but here's the thing teachers when they
write are very precise very good writers and you know they make great authors and
and writers of doctrinal statements because of the fact they're very
articulate when they when they pen these things down they often process and make
decisions very slowly can slow down impulsive people who jump to conclusions
okay so if someone's having a conversation and they're just making
these adamant statements the teacher typically jumps in and says well where
does it say that what was that from where were you getting that from and the
purpose the person who jumps to conclusions slows their role when
they're around the teacher for that reason okay is a very safe person
emotionally they're not very expressive with their facial expressions okay and
and this is one thing that I was actually mentioning last week but it was
already after the service is the teachers people can often get offended
with teachers because the teacher will ask you a question for example and you'll
begin to answer them and they just kind of give you this blank stare like they're
not engaged with their expressions at all okay they just kind of look at you
and and typically most normal people want some sort of interaction like do
you agree with me are you mad do you not agree but here's the thing is the teacher
the reason they don't give any facial expression is they're too busy
processing everything that you're saying so let me give you an example of this
okay Cody is a great example of this all right calling out names tonight and
Jacob these guys are notorious for that okay you talk to them and they just
look at you and so what I typically do and this is what this is what I tell
people who deal with teachers and they get kind of frustrated with that I tell
them this look when you answer a teacher just look somewhere else and you know
what the teacher will not be bothered by that you can literally look like you
know if Cody asked me a question I will literally look at someone else answer
someone else while answering him because he doesn't care if I'm looking at him or
not he's too busy processing everything that I'm saying but if I pay attention
to what he's saying and I look at his facial expressions I'm gonna get
offended cuz I'm like are you even listening to me like what do you did but
they're just there's like a computer they're just kind of computing
everything in their mind okay so don't get offended with the teacher if he
doesn't smile or you know just have any type of facial expression when you're
talking to them that's just how they are okay that's why it's good to learn these
things so that you're not offended when you deal with these people okay let's
see here the difference is the so that the teacher could often become confused
with the mercy because the mercy is very emotionally driven we're gonna go over
that tonight but the teacher is often led by their head so they're just kind
of like why are you acting like this if this is what the Bible says this is what
we need to do kind of thing okay and they hone in on doctrine and so they
tend to be the last one to speak in a group setting now the gift of the
Exhorter exhortation the person with this gift possesses the ability to
persuade inspire and provoke others to love and good works they have the
ability to cross every kind of barrier and relate to people wherever they are
they're very horizontal in their focus and are intensely people oriented okay
these are the people people okay they enjoy being around groups of people
talking to people they're very extroverted they're kind of like the the
you know not the center of attention but they're kind of like the the what's that
word I'm looking for them the something of the party life of the party thank you
they're like the life of the party okay they often communicate very well and
they're visionaries okay the gift of giving is the next one the giver
possesses the ability to discern the financial needs of God's work and God's
people and meet them they minister unto the Lord of their substance they're very
independent they stand alone they resist being con manipulated or guilt tripped
into any action they're able to relate to a wide range of people these are
natural networkers okay they know how to network very well they often become very
successful businessmen or women they give well and wisely they give well and
wisely but not impulsively and they find great bargains good deals discounts
before making any type of purchases and last week we went over the ruler the
ruler possesses the God-given ability to set in order the things that are
wanting the rulers thrive in an orderly environment and under pressure they
route they execute well so they able to take a project put steps to them and get
it done now that's great right but the only downfall to that is they often do
it at the expense of someone else's convenience okay they often put people
under pressure and kind of make people feel a little low and just kind of you
know put it in an inconvenient situation where they don't want really
feel like doing it or they don't want to do it and the ruler typically just kind
of bulldozes over them just to get the job done but they can draw out the best
in people as well they know how to capitalize on other people's strengths
they're great implementers but not necessarily visionaries and they can
often improve the quality of an organization they're very task oriented
now today I want to go over the gift of the mercy this is the last one okay the
mercy possesses the God-given ability to empathize and condescend to men of
low estate now the mercy is very important just like every other spiritual
gift is important but one of the reasons why the mercy is as important as it is
is because of the fact that every single one of us needs to learn the quality of
mercy okay we need to be able to empathize with other people and in fact
one of the greatest qualities that we appreciate of the Lord is his mercy
towards us is the fact that in spite of our weaknesses in spite of our failures
in spite of our shortcomings God is lovingly kind towards us and he's very
merciful okay and this is a quality that the mercy has a tendency to naturally
express towards others they are full of mercy good fruits without partiality
and without hypocrisy now let me go over some characteristics of the mercy number
one mercies are excellent as I mentioned at empathizing with those that
are hurting okay now look at Romans chapter 12 and verse 15 it says rejoice
with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep be of the same mind one
toward another mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate be not
wise in your own conceit so the mercy has this ability to weep with those that
weep now you may think to yourself well you know what's the big deal with that
well you know that means a lot to a person who's actually hurting okay and I
don't buy you but I have to work at weeping with those that weep okay if
someone is going through a hard time and they're heartbroken you know I have to
work at being heartbroken with that individual it doesn't come naturally to
me but look there are mercies in this church when you start when you begin a
story about something that happened very traumatic in your life they will weep at
the drop of a hat okay now some of you are like why like why are they cool
because they're merciful that's why they have that empathy to the point where
their heart their bowels yearn they're full of compassion and and and they
empathize with that person and look this is very much needed because every
single individual in our church is gonna go through a difficult time and we need
a mercy at our side when we do okay we need someone to be merciful towards us
the the last person that needs to talk to a person going through a tough time
is the Prophet because if someone's going through a tough time the Prophet
will say well that's what you get aren't you like are you involved in sin or
something well suck it up dude God's still on the throne souls need to be
one to the Lord that's what they do like well did you read your Bible are
you right with God what do you got sin in your life yeah oh you're hurting well
too bad you know those people who's burning in hell today you know so you
need to just put your you know emotions aside they're very like kind of like
okay you're the last person I need to talk to you okay whereas the mercy is
just like they're just very empathetic okay so you know here here's a good
here's a good tip when you're going through a tough time don't go talk to
the Prophet okay you can come talk to me though I I've I've worked at this okay
I've had 14 years to work at this I won't condemn you I'll want to say it I
want to I want to be like but I won't okay I've learned from the mercies the
mercy just naturally has empathy towards people sometimes okay and they're
excellent at that and we need to have empathy towards people okay we need to
rejoice with them to rejoice and weep with them that weep now what does it
mean to condescend well to condescend means to put aside one's dignity and
superiority voluntarily and assume equality with with one regarded as
inferior okay so if you have a person who's just feeling low they're feeling
depressed or feeling you know sad they're very depressed and they're low
the Bible tells us that we need to condescend to that estate so wherever
you are if you're happy and everything is great the Bible tells us that we need
to condescend to that man who is of low estate in order for us to weep with them
you see the Prophet doesn't condescend to men of low estate we look down on
them and say why are you crying for what's the problem whereas if you were
to lower yourself to that level of you know sadness and that lowest state you
would recognize why they're going through that tough time and therefore
you can weep with them that we okay and this is one of the greatest strengths of
the mercy the reason they're able to empathize with others so well is because
they willingly put their dignity aside they don't mind weeping in front of
others okay they don't mind shedding a tear whereas some people would deem that
as weakness they don't see it as a weakness they see it as just empathy
they see it as love okay now go to Isaiah 53 lest you think well that's
only for softies or something you know only soft people are like that no not
necessarily because Jesus Christ was the epitome of empathy the Bible even tells
us that we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities but was at all points tempted like we are yet without sin and
look what Isaiah 53 verse 1 says it says who hath believed our report and to whom
is the arm of the Lord revealed for he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant and as a root out of a dry ground he has no form nor comeliness and when
we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him he is despised and
rejected of men a man of sorrows and look what it says an acquainted with
grief and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised we esteemed him
not so the Bible says that Jesus was acquainted with grief okay so that shows
us that even when we grieve when we go through a tough time Jesus knows how
exactly how we feel he empathizes with our lowest state he empathizes with our
you know our weaknesses our frailties he empathizes with that he's acquainted
with grief and you know what can be said of mercies is they're acquainted with
the grief okay it's a great attribute for them to have now you know this
intense sensitivity towards others so this is great obviously right because we
want people to have be sensitive towards others we want people to weep with
others and feel for them here's where it becomes really bad okay this is what
we want to talk about this whole time I'm just kidding I'm kidding I'm kidding
it's great when they weep with others it's great what they when they empathize
with others but here's when I when it becomes dangerous is when they begin to
pick up offenses for others okay so what do you mean by that well someone says
something offensive towards another brother in Christ and that brother in
Christ could just care less about what that person said the mercy because
they're so empathetic and sensitive towards people can become offended for
that individual believe it or not they pick up the offense for other people
they get offended for the people now they get offended themselves sometimes
too but more often than not they actually get offended for others for
others in the church okay and this happens a lot folks okay in my 14 years
of ministry I've seen this multiple times with different people where
literally there's a lot of problems that arise because of an individual who
picked up an offense for someone else and they can be because of that they can
often hold a grudge towards that individual for a very long time okay so
it's good that they have a tender heart it's good that they have empathy it's
good that they have a lot of mercy and they're full of compassion where it goes
into the boundary where it surpasses the boundary of being spirit filled is when
they just get offended for everyone so what happens what happens is this
everyone who knows that this person or these people get offended for others now
they feel like they have to walk on eggshells when they're around them okay
and look obviously we need discretion right we need discretion we need to shut
our mouths right as a sermon from last week but not at the expense of well I
just got to walk on eggshells every time I'm around this individual okay no one
should ever feel like they have to walk on eggshells around anyone okay we have
to we should have the liberty and the freedom to be ourselves to do the best
we can and to serve God according to the dictates of our conscience and to love
others freely and to try to live peaceably with all men okay but the
mercy who is not spirit filled who is not checking their emotions who
empathizes to the point of picking up offenses for others will often hold
grudges towards people in the church okay they're easily offended and can
hold grudges for a very long time and when I say a very long time I mean years
now our church has only been around we're going on four years so I'm
speaking of experiences of times past where literally people have held
grudges towards others because they've offended others for years they don't get
it right with God okay this is very dangerous and it's because they feel a
lot of empathy towards that individual and the person whom the offense is the
offense was directed towards probably forgot about it they probably don't even
care they probably already moved on and even if they did get offended they
forgave they moved on they're walking with the Lord but the mercy cannot
forget the mercy holds a grudge the mercy holds it in the mercy holds the
grudge and has difficulty forgetting you say well what can I do if I'm a mercy
and you know I'm susceptible to that well you got to realize this offenses
will come okay so don't expect people to walk on eggshells when they're around
you don't expect people to just you know constantly watch what they say
when they're around you you need to realize that we live in a real world
where people will offend you people will offend me people will offend all of us
she's part of life and you know what sometimes offenses can be good in our
lives because it teaches us how to forgive someone you know it's good that
offense has come toward our lives it's good that we get offended sometimes so
that we can learn how to forgive another person okay we can learn and exercise
our freedom and the commandment to forgive another brother for their
offense towards us all right go to Matthew chapter 18 if you would Matthew
chapter 18 so mercies are acquainted with grief they're excellent and
empathizing with those who are hurting but the downfall to that is this is that
they empathize sometimes with the wrong people or they empathize with people
because of other individuals offenses towards that individual okay and and
that's not right either look at Matthew 18 verse number 7 it says woe unto the
world because of offenses for as much it must needs be that offenses come but woe
to that man by whom the offense cometh go to verse 21 I like what Peter says
here I empathize with Peter here then came Peter to him and said Lord how off
shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times he's like
can you give me a cap here you know okay let's just cut it off at seven okay
seven times and then after seven then I really let him have it that's basically
what he's asking right Jesus say it done to him I say not unto thee until seven
times but until seventy times seven now I don't believe he's actually referring
to seventy times seven I think what he's saying is this you just need to
constantly forgive your brothers okay and look folks when we talk about
forgiving one another we're also we also mean in the Bible I believe also means
is that we have to have the right attitude towards that brother too you
know it's easy for us to say well I forgive you yeah I guess yeah I forgive
you because the Bible commands me to I forgive you as Christ forgave me God
forgave me for Christ say yeah sure but it's different when you actually have
the right attitude towards that person and I'm not saying you have to be best
friends because as our church grows there's gonna be more conflict and you
can't be friends with everyone and at that point you exercise the principle
that you live peaceably with all men as much as lies within you but you have to
recognize this you should have a good attitude towards your brother though
right and that should come attached with your forgiveness of their offense
towards you or towards another person that you picked up an offense for so if
someone gets offended or if someone offends a brother that you love a sister
that you love or they offended you you need to be able to not only forgive them
but have the right attitude towards them as well don't give them the evil eye
when you come to church you know is it well you know I forgive this person but
I want nothing to do with that's not the right attitude especially if you go to
the same local church right the right attitude is this you know what I forgive
this person and I'm gonna try to do my best to forget that and and restore this
relationship as best as we possibly can and look sometimes our relationship is
irreparable right but that doesn't mean we can't try that doesn't mean we can't
endeavor to keep the spirit of unity between us okay and so the mercy needs
to learn how to forgive all right they need to learn how to forgive but we need
to learn from mercy how to empathize with other people and and look folks you
know the the longer we're a church the more we grow the more heartaches people
are gonna experience in our church okay and you never want to have this cold
attitude towards people when they go through a hard time and just kind of you
know just write it off as they're alright it's fine they're saved they're
going to heaven they got the King James Bible yeah those things are all true
but you know there's there's something called compassion towards people though
there's something called empathy there's something called you know weeping with
those that weep there's something called you know being kind to other people when
they're going through a difficult time and and you know often people do that
just because they're overcompensating for some other weakness that they have
in their lives they have to make themselves feel like they're extra you
know spiritual extra crazy extra hard or something you know and we don't need
none of that what we need to do is be hard when we need to be hard be angry
when we need to be angry be just when we need to be just and be merciful when we
need to be merciful and look I think you know some of us have known each other
here long enough that we don't have to fake the funk right kind of know each
other already kind of know our weaknesses and our strengths we're
brothers and sisters in Christ and so you know we've known each other for long
enough that you don't have to try to fake it before your brother okay so
mercies are excellent at empathizing with others not only that but mercies
can often operate on subjective intuitive feelings what does that mean
they often follow their heart okay they often make decisions based upon how they
feel not necessarily off of reason okay mercies can often be obstinate for this
reason obstinate towards counsel and advice because they rely on their
feelings rather than on the facts and this my friend is a fact okay so what
what do you mean by that well sometimes you know in my experience counseling
mercies or talking to mercies you'll try to talk some sense into them and say hey
you know X Y & Z this is what it really is but they're so driven by their own
emotions that they will actually be stubborn towards that counsel and
towards that wisdom okay because they trust their feelings they're very
emotional people and when I say emotional people I don't mean it in a
bad way okay because the Bible tells us to be emotional in our walk with God
does it not to love the Lord our God with all our heart soul mind and
strength okay so we're emotional beings but they're very driven by their
emotions and if they're not spirit-filled that can often lead to
them following their feelings in something that's not biblical not found
in Scripture to their demise the Bible says that the heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked who can know it okay go to Proverbs chapter
18 if you would Proverbs chapter 18 so why do we need mercies in the church
can't we just do well with all the other ones can't we just survive with all the
other ones well you know why we need mercies in the church it's because of
the fact that we need people to give other people the benefit of the doubt
all right we need people to be able to give people the benefit of the doubt we
need people to condescend to men of lowest state and the reality is someone
gave you the benefit of the doubt at one time they were kind towards you they
were gracious towards you they were more merciful towards you they gave you a
chance okay and we need to return that favor as well okay now here's a great
thing about a mercy is that they get along with everyone and rarely have any
enemies okay they really bump heads with people because they get along with a lot
of people okay they live peacefully with all men and for this reason they crave
relationships like they you know a mercy is will be one of your most loyal
friends okay because they're they have like an emotional tie towards people
people that they really love okay and they crave that relationship look at
Proverbs 18 verse 24 and man that hath friends must show himself friendly and
there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother you know I think about in
the Bible when it comes to a mercy I think of John okay John resting on the
bosom of the Lord okay he was always very close to the Lord almost as you
know he had a very intimate relationship with his Savior and you can see that
that characteristic there that he craved that close relationship and that's
typically how mercies are okay so if you have a mercy in your life you know or if
your wife's a mercy don't think oh she's just clingy
maybe she's just a mercy you know she just has that desire for a close
relationship you know and and don't don't buck that okay that's part of
being a mercy that and that's great okay or if you have a mercy in the church who
is a who is your friend you know don't think he's like a weirdo or something
like that he might be just a really you know merciful person okay you know
there's certain people in our church we're getting personal right now all
right you know they have no problem if they
really love you I mean this is towards the males okay they will literally grab
your head and kiss you on the forehead towards the men okay some of you might
be like what in the world I'd knock that dude out but I promise you the person
who does it Moses you know he's not he's not he's not doing it in an awkward way
he's often overwhelmed with so much emotion and I would say like but you
know he has a little bit of mercy in him because he has that craving for close
relationships to the point where he just he's so overwhelmed by his friendship
with you that he will literally grab you by the head and kiss you on the forehead
okay he didn't grow up in America okay grew up somewhere else like Siberia or
something like that but you know what he's a friend that stick is closer than
a brother and that's typically how mercies are you know mercies are are
very relationship oriented okay now look if you're married if you're a
mercy and you're married to like a teacher you're married to like a prophet
be merciful to their teacherness and their prophetess okay because you know
you have two extremes you have the mercy who is just very like emotional they
have the desire for the close relationship and all that lovey-dovey
stuff and then the prophets just cold the teachers just ice-cold he's like I
do love you I pay the bills I buy food I give you money to buy food to cook meals
that's that's love that's that's how they operate and in the mercy and look
if you're if you're immersing you're married to a prophet or a teacher you
probably get offended like every day cuz that that's typically how prophets
and teachers are so you have to learn to be merciful towards their profitness and
their teacherness but in like manner the prophet and the teacher need need to
recognize that your emergency spouse needs that closeness needs that
relationship needs that intimacy okay needs that friendship all right the
Bible says in Proverbs 17 verse 17 a friend love it that all times and a
brother is born for adversity and so mercies they crave relationships and
that's that's why one of the reasons that like friendships matter a lot I
mean friendships matter a lot to me but to the mercy matters like it's like the
whole world to them okay knowing that they have a friend who loves them cares
for them is there for them means the world to them okay so keep that in mind
when you're dealing with the mercy all right you know when you're dealing with
mercies just know this is that your words it the closer you are to a mercy
the more weight your words have towards that person so what you can say to
another person who you're not as close to and you say that same thing to that
mercy you can just literally destroy their world because they're very
sensitive because you know especially if they esteem you as a brother or as a
sister okay so it's good and it's bad all right you got to make sure you
walking in the spirit in order to not behave in that manner right number three
mercies may attract abuse and exploitation because of their kindness
and will often allow injustice to happen they could be major compromises yeah
I'll just be honest with you mercies can be made major compromises if they're not
careful because they give the benefit of the doubt but sometimes too much the
guys like a freaking reprobate and it's just like you know maybe he's a good guy
or something you know and look a lot of these liberal churches are filled with
mercies filled with mercies a lot of these liberal fund centers and liberal
churches are filled with a bunch of mercies who give the reprobate the
psychopath the benefit of the doubt they give the pedophiles the benefit of the
doubt and it's through their own destruction okay and here's the thing
they can often become people pleasers and enablers yeah and let me just talk
about this for a minute okay because this is extremely important if you get
nothing from the mercy just understand this if you get nothing from the sermon
at least get this mercies if they're not careful because they're so merciful
compassionate they give the benefit of the doubt they can often be enablers now
what do I mean by enablers go to 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and this is
something that I have I as a pastor have to constantly be working on having a
pulse on when it comes to the individuals in our church okay mercies
if they're not careful have a tendency to have a knee-jerk reaction when church
discipline is being administered do we really have to kick them out are they
really that bad can't we just give them another chance I know they deny the
Trinity but can't we just can't we do something and the prophet is like hell
no the mercy is like I think they're still good in him you know it's like
yeah like yeah exactly Luke Skywalker was a mercy dude thinking that they're
still good in his dad who killed a bunch of kids and stuff that's how they are
he said why do you call them enablers well look at first Corinthians chapter
five verse number one it says it is reported commonly that there is
fornication among you such fornication as is as is not so much as named among
the Gentiles that one of you should have his father's wife and you're puffed up
and have not rather mourn but there Glenn can you turn that off please thank
you that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from you for I
verily is absent in the body but present in spirit have judged already as though
I were present concerning him that hath so done this deed in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ when you're gathered together my spear with the power of our
Lord Jesus Christ to deliver one to deliver such an one unto Satan for the
destruction of the flesh that the spear may be saved in the day of the Lord
Jesus your glory is not good know you not that a little leaven leaven at the
whole lump so what do we see here we see an issue with the church at Corinth
where there are fornicators in the church and such fornication as is not so
much as named among the Gentiles that someone should have his father's wife I
mean there's just wickedness going on in this church and what do you have no one
doing anything about it no one is doing anything about it and in fact it's not
that they didn't know about it because it was commonly reported among them so
this is commonly reported among them and to add insult to injury they're
glorying in the fact that they're not doing anything about it they're boasting
and the fact that this person's not being thrown out that they're keeping
them in the congregation letting them be a part of the church now the Bible
tells us the people who commit fornication extortion railing drunkards
idolaters you know people who are covetous these people if they're
unrepentant are not welcome in the congregation they need to take a hike
okay they need to leave the congregation and and be given over to Satan as it
says here for the destruction of the flesh you said what does that have to do
with the mercy well mercies if they're not capable careful can become enablers
in other words even though a person is kicked out of the local congregation
they will still fellowship with that person they will still fellowship with
that person they will still keep in contact with that person even though the
Bible says with such and one know not to eat that's cultish how is that even
cultish there's people that you would not share a meal with outside of these
walls because of whatever reason the Bible specifically saying here that if
these people are guilty of these sins that there should be no fellowship
between you and that person and look and if you don't agree with that there's
plenty of other Baptist churches you can go to where they compromise on
this and they'll allow you to eat with whoever you want you can go to you
understand but the enabler will completely disregard the judgment of the
pastor will completely undermine the authority of the pastor and will
continue to fellowship and enable the individual that has been excommunicated
from a local church why because they're so merciful oh we just need to give them
a chance oh we just need to work with this person oh you're just too hard to
let me work with that person no that's wicked folks and I remember a couple
years ago we had a mercy in our church who when I would call out specific false
prophets you'd always get offended about it always I'd say Adam Fannin's a
reprobate and all of God's people said and they come and they say why do you
think it's a reprobate why is that that's not right it's just like what do
you mean did you even look at the evidence because he's because he's
wicked have you seen what he's done no have you looked at the videos that they
put up no then how do you what why are we having this conversation why are you
even talking to me about this go do the research but these are the same people
that even when you excommunicate someone from a local congregation they're still
fellowshipping with them and let me just make myself very clear I know this is
Easter okay but Easter service was this morning and it's time for a change let
me make myself very clear like I have to keep a pulse on this as a pastor because
I have zero tolerance for that and so like let me just remind everyone that
when someone gets excommunicated from from our church for whatever reason
they're involved in fornication they're railing they're involved in extortion
you know they're drunkards or whatever it may be you know if you continue to
fellowship with that person you're actually you know you're actually
interrupting God's discipline on that person's life and because you're
interrupting God's discipline on that person's life they will not be properly
disciplined and they won't they will be unrepentant because they're thinking
themselves well who cares what pastor me it says I got so-and-so still
fellowshipping with me I got so-and-so still going out to eat with me you know
and you know what so-and-so is probably doing yeah he believes that but you know
we don't we don't we're not in lockstep with everything it's okay to have a meal
it's okay to do this it's okay to hang out no it's not okay and if you are an
enabler then you need to enable your body to leave our church because then
you're disrupting the order of our church but see a spirit-filled mercy
will be merciful not towards the person who got excommunicated who shouldn't be
merciful to the pastor like I'm gonna give the pastor actually the benefit of
the doubt I'm gonna actually side with the authority on this issue here I'm
gonna give him the benefit of the doubt I'm gonna show him the mercy I'm gonna
show him the the the compassion I'm gonna you know agree with his judgment
rather than siding with the person who's being judged that's the proper way to do
it see at that point that's a great mercy it's not bad being a mercy it's
bad when the mercy is merciful towards people who have been churched they've
been kicked out for a justified reason that's when it becomes wicked when they
begin to enable someone who they know should not be a part of our congregation
is doing really bad and yet they persist to do that and look I'm not a Baptist
police I'm not investigating every single person I don't need to because
you know what at the end of the day in my experience God just somehow reveals
it to us something for some reason I'm not talking about like in a vision or
something you know like I had too many onions on my burger and then I have this
vision or something I'm talking about he just allows me to find that information
without even me looking for it I'm just kind of doing my job as a pastor and
then information comes across and I'm like all right well I guess I got to
deal with this now and don't think don't don't take my kindness don't mistake my
kindness for weakness folks to think well oh pastor me he's kind and you know
he he's loving we can just kind of just hang out with people like this and he
doesn't have a problem with it wrong and look I we will dwindle this congregation
down to a very small group if I have to I have no problem with that because the
integrity of this pulpit the integrity of the Bible the integrity of me as a
pastor will be called into question if I don't fulfill my responsibilities by
excommunicating people and not allowing the people in our church to fellowship
with them well that that right there sounds cultish no because you have a
choice you could either fellowship with them and not be a part of our church and
go to some other church am I forbidding you to go to any other church you could
go wherever you want I'm just saying that our policy here is that you can't be
here if you are an enabler okay you see the purpose of church discipline is to
allow them to be disciplined by God but they can't be disciplined by God if
you're constantly helping them out oh man pastor talked about you tonight
yeah you know hey we're gonna go get some coffee or what let's go hang out
but just don't tell anybody you know I don't agree with everything I know
you've done wrong but you're working on it right you're involved in fornication
I get that but you guys are gonna eventually get married right oh you're
involved in a door tree but you know that's eventually gonna break up right I
know you got a good heart wrong folks it does not work that way and so the mercy
needs to be aware that they don't enable the wrong people enable me folks
the mercy should enable the right people right enable the pastor enable the
authority and able you know the righteous people in the church not
enabled the wrong people okay so I'm not just getting on mercies here mercies are
very much important in the church and I'm glad we have mercies and let me just
say this my wife is a secondary mercy okay so you know I don't hate mercies
all right I think I think mercies are wonderful and some some of the best
relationships and friendships that I've had in my Christian life have been with
mercies now we bump heads a lot but that's just normal okay and so you know
mercies are necessary because they teach us how to empathize with others they
teach us to be discreet you understand how to how to have discretion with what
we say they teach us how to weep with others okay they teach us how to rejoice
with others how to be happy with others but we need to recognize that we can't
mercies cannot just you know give the benefit of the doubt to every Tom Dick
and Harry that walks through the door there's there's certain boundaries that
need to be kept okay so a mature mercy will have true empathy but not at the
expense of keeping rules regulations and commands they will observe and respect
appropriate boundaries a carnal mercy on the other hand embraces dangerous
people they're man pleasers they have inappropriate relationships and can
often overreact because of insecurities okay so what's the sermon for today
obviously you know this is a different type of a sermon if you're visiting with
us today you're gonna have to listen to the other sermons in order for this to
make sense but this is more so for like our church so we know how to kind of
interact with each other knowing our spiritual gifts but you know at the end
of the day this is this is the message okay know the spiritual gift of every
single person that's around you so you know how to interact with them and
you're not offended by how they're wired a lot of times a lot of conflict in
relationships whether in marriage or just in church you know with your
brothers and sisters in Christ stems from you not recognizing or you know
realizing how people are just wired why is this person such a jerk why is this
person so mean why are they like well it's probably just because they're not
jerks they're just like a prophet but prophets are sometimes jerks you know
why is this person like this well it's probably because they're just a mercy so
they're very kind merciful they're very sensitive you just need to take those
those things into consideration and I promise you it'll help you in your
relationships in church and in marriage with your children if you just
understand this principle here okay that's pretty much it let's buy our
heads and I were to pray father we thank you so much for your word thank you for
the spiritual gifts Lord and thank you for those in our church who have the
gift of mercy and Lord I enjoy their company I enjoy having them around but
not only that I appreciate when they show empathy towards me if I'm going
through a tough time and I'm thankful that they have a tender heart they're
tender-hearted Lord and we can learn a lot from that we need to be
tender-hearted towards others and condescend to men of lowest state I pray
God that you bless us and help us Lord as a church to live peaceably amongst
ourselves Lord because conflicts will arise offenses will come there's no
avoiding those things and I pray God that you bless us guide and direct our
steps and all that we do in Jesus name we pray amen