Pastor Stan Mons
Sermon Transcription:
Amen. I also recommend a giving lifestyle. I think I can speak for my wife and myself when I say that everything the Lord has ever asked us to give seemed to come at the wrong moment for us—at least from our perspective. If it were up to us, those moments would have been the times we expected to receive, not give. It was usually when giving felt impossible—moments when it would literally place us in the hands of the Lord, making the end of the month or the next step in life seem unmanageable. That's often when the Lord asked us to give the most unreasonable amounts, usually to a situation or a person we might never meet or see again. Sometimes, there was seemingly little or no visible reward for this kind of giving. Yet, every time we gave, we found that money itself never blessed us more than in the moments we were led to give it away.
I think it was Leonard Ravenhill who said, "The only way you can truly enjoy a dollar is by giving it away." I've learned that to be true. The Lord has always taken care of us. We are not a church that twists the Word of God to say, "If you give to the church, God will multiply your wallet." Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus promises that it won't always be easy for His followers on Earth. Paul writes about times when he had absolutely nothing and learned to be content in that state. Even when we feel we have nothing, the Lord may still lead us to give—whether it's our time, resources, or support—in whatever way and in whatever situation He calls us. Sometimes, giving means offering your time rather than money. Like Nick shared, it might mean pausing your plans for the day to go and visit someone in need, or stopping on the street to acknowledge and assist someone who feels invisible. It’s about making space in your day to help them and let them know they are seen.
I don’t recommend simply giving money to people on the street. Instead, I recommend giving your time. Ask, "Can I buy you some food?" or "Can I get you a coat?" For instance, we give away coats from the church. If you can, buy them some food. The Scriptures say that when you offer a cup of water or food to the least of these in the kingdom of God, Jesus says, "You have done it unto Me." I can testify to this: the times I experience the manifest presence of the Lord most clearly—aside from a few special, intimate moments of prayer—are when I am on the street, lending a hand to the needy. It’s often inconvenient to my schedule or wallet, but every single time, the manifest presence of God shows up. Almost always, I end up discovering that the person I helped is a believer in Jesus Christ. They love the Lord, trust Him, and live without fear or worry. They are at perfect peace. They are part of the body of Christ, part of my family.
What does Jesus say? Those who don’t take care of their own family are worse than unbelievers. When we care for the family of Christ, in whatever small or great way we are able, we live a giving lifestyle. In doing so, you become the beneficiaries. You will experience the Lord’s presence and His blessing on our day.
Lord, we come before You We thank You, Lord, that Your Spirit moves us to live a giving life. Lord, You've always moved us to be a giving church. You've always moved us, Lord God, not to hold on to the finances that come into this church, but to pray, Lord God, and to send them out to become a blessing wherever You desire to send them. Lord, You've always moved us to be a giving people—in our life, in our time, and in every way of our life. I pray, Lord Jesus, that everything people have decided to give today, whether online or in person, would be blessed. Lord, I pray that You multiply it for Your peace and Your kingdom. In Jesus' mighty name, we pray. Amen.
We're going to get into the Word of God today. The title was changed just right before service—which must be hard sometimes for the media team—but the title for today's Word is this: The Reason Gives Confidence for Kicking. The reason gives confidence for kicking. Now, you've heard me speak a lot about "kicking the devil in the throat," and sometimes I say "kicking the devil in the face." That kind of language, that kind of attitude—whether in your spiritual life or your everyday, practical life—can be uncomfortable for some people. Sometimes people feel, How can you say that? or I could never say that. That almost puts fear in me to say something like that. I don't want to be singled out by the devil. I don't even want to be noticed by the devil!
Many feel they can't say it because they think:I know where I come from. I know the sins I struggle with. I know the things I do wrong. I know the things I go through. I don’t know if you're supposed to say that. I don’t know if I’m supposed to be able to say that. Isn’t that a little too far? The Reason Gives Confidence for Kicking.
I don’t think there’s anything in this generation, especially outside of a believer’s life, that is more under attack than identity. Who you are. Who you were made to be by God—not only physically, but what God had in mind when He formed you in the womb. The man or woman God created reflects a measure of His glory. He made you because He enjoys you. Even if you are not saved, you are under attack by Satan. Now, if you are saved generally, the first line of attack is often God’s identity. When you are saved—when you believe in Jesus Christ—the enemy first comes to whisper to you about who God is: How does God see you? How will He respond to you? What does He think about you? Generally, for the believer, God's identity is under attack first. But secondly, it’s your own identity that is attacked.
For the unbeliever, this is equally true. The enemy will whisper:You’re not beautiful enough. You’re not in shape enough. You’re not valuable enough. You’re not strong enough. He'll tell you that who God made you to be is not sufficient for the journey ahead. He’ll say that who God made you to be is not enough to make you a victory story in the kingdom of God. He’ll try to convince you that who God has made you to be won’t be victorious in the struggles you face today. The enemy will attack your very identity, making you question:Who I’ve been made to be—Is it good enough?Is it complete? But remember this: You have been born again.
The Bible teaches us that if you repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God will come to do a miracle in your life. It will cause you to become born again or born unto God. The question is: once you've been born again, who are you? Who have you been born again to be? Who have you been made to be? Because if you know who you are, if you know why you were born again, if you know your purpose, then you know what you should be doing.
You know exactly what you should be doing, why you're doing it, and why you're pressing through when it's difficult. You know you're going to make it—you’re going to see that in the Word. You know you're going to make it. You know it's not going to fail. You know you're not going to miss out. You know you're not going to waste your life on trying.
You actually can know that you're going to make it when you are doing what you were made to do—what you were born again, made, shaped, reshaped (if you will, spiritually speaking), reshaped by God in Christ. Why? For what purpose? The reason gives confidence for kicking.
1 Timothy 1:3-16 an incredible story about people who had a real encounter with Jesus, who really got saved. Then Paul begins to put his own life next to theirs and begins to show them what they've lost, but also what he really wants them to have. That’s where the reason gives confidence for kicking. Let’s start in verse 3: "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine."
In other words, they had received Christ. They learned about Jesus. They began to pray. They began to get into the Word—however much of the Word they had. They began to be around people that were filled with the same Spirit. They began to serve and, at the same time, separate themselves from the world. They served the world. They served the people in the world. They loved the people in the world. But they were also separated from the world.
Now they are knitted to people who are filled with the Spirit of Christ. They are becoming followers of Jesus. They are becoming obedient to Jesus. And yet, we read this incredible statement from Paul:“Some that started off that way, make sure they don't teach another doctrine.”
Another doctrine—doctrine means the way you live based on your beliefs. The way you live based on your beliefs. Don't have them teach that other ways to live based on what we believe are okay. “Nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes or arguments rather than godly edification which is in faith. Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.”
Here it comes:“From which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk or useless words. Their words have no power anymore. Their words have no purpose anymore. They're just talking—sounds Christian, sounds biblical, but it's not really doing anything.”
“Desiring to be teachers of the law, they're always concerned with what is right and what is wrong and if everybody's doing it. Desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.” “But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, the way we live because of what we believe, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.”
So what Paul is saying is some people started off with Jesus, and now they're living in a way that does not reflect what they believe. Now they're living in a way that is focused on the law.
And when you're focused on the law, you're going to struggle with sin again. You're going to live like these people again for whom the law was given. Why was the law given? To people that cannot keep it. Because that's what he's saying: the law is not given for the righteous person. You've received the righteousness of Christ. If you believe with all of your heart that God has given you His own righteousness, then you do not need to run to the law anymore to see if you are living good enough or if someone else is living good enough. Because righteousness is available to all through Jesus Christ, you simply bring them to Christ.
But he says when people lose sight of Christ and Him crucified and the righteousness that is freely given away—who you've been made to be as you became born again—when you lose sight of it, you end up again like a person that the law was written for. You're going to be struggling with lawlessness. You're going to struggle with offenses. You're going to struggle with rebellion—that's lawlessness—insubordinate, ungodly sinners. You're going to struggle with sin. Unholy—it’s going to be hard to separate yourself only unto the things of God. It's going to be hard for you. Murderers—what does Jesus say? You hate someone in your heart; you're a murderer. Fornicators—you're going to struggle with various kinds of sexual sin. Sodomites—being attracted to the same gender and acting upon it. Kidnappers. Liars. Perjurers—twisting and changing the truth, speaking what is convenient for you but not telling the full, honest, open truth at all times. He says you're just going to get stuck under that power of the law that has the ability to make it so clear, unto your face, that you are a sinner again.
You’re not going to have the power to walk in righteousness the moment your vision shifts from that simple, understandable-for-children gospel. The way you can know you have shifted is that you’re going to end up like this again—you’re going to get stuck, if you will, under that law.
What happens when you lose sight of Christ and who you have been made to be as you’ve been born again by the blood? You never became born again by keeping the law. Even on the days you feel you did a decent job at keeping most of the law most of the standard of goodness, righteousness, and effort in our flesh—even those days—it was never a finished work. The next day, the work was already waiting for you again, ready for you to show up, ready for you to perform again. It was never a finished work.
But when Christ came, all of the work was ended. Righteousness was given away, and those who received righteousness no longer depended on the law to make them feel good before God. They no longer depended on that. What Christ had done made them feel, experience, and live complete and put together before Jesus. Paul says to make sure nobody goes back to talking about somehow upholding a standard in order for you to be approved, loved, favored, and blessed by God. We uphold a standard because we have a message. We uphold a standard because we have a call. It has nothing to do with our identity. In verse 12, Paul says:“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.” Here, Paul begins to contrast. He says, “Listen, I know who I am. I know why I was born again. I know for what purpose. I know what God did.”
He continues:“I’m not arrogant, but I’m confident. And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason, I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.” The reason gives confidence for kicking.
You see, Paul says, “For this reason, I received mercy. This is why God gave me mercy, and this is what it is supposed to accomplish all around me. This is the fruit it is going to bear.” He says, “That in me first, Jesus Christ may show all longsuffering.”
In other words, Jesus shows through me His incredible patience with a religious person, as a pattern, so that people understand God’s character for those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Paul is saying, “I know people are going to get saved. I received mercy so that God may show something through me to the people that are about to get saved.”
That’s what he says. He knows who he is. He knows why he lives. He knows what he’s doing. He knows why he is doing it. But he is speaking to a people who got saved just like Paul, who had redemption just like Paul, but something shifted in their life. They got so distracted that they became obsessed with the law that could never justify them. They began to take offense with other people because the law wasn’t kept in their life. They became insecure about their standing with God because they saw themselves not keeping the law all the time.
Here is what we learn from this portion of Scripture: If you don’t have the reason clear—the reason you received mercy—why did God give you mercy? Not us as Christians in general, because God does a different work through each of us. Not all of us can say, like Paul, “This is why God gave me mercy—to show His patience.” It may be a very different thing in your life. But if you don’t have the reason clear, just like the people Paul began to address in the beginning of chapter 1, if you don’t have the reason for the mercy of God clear, you are always at risk of your relationship with God turning into religion again. If you do not have the reason clear, you’re always at risk of your relationship turning into religion again.
So my question to you online, and my question here in person, is this: Can you finish this sentence for yourself and your own life with divine clarity? Can you say, “For this reason, I obtained mercy,” and finish it? Do you know why you obtained mercy? Like Paul said: “I got it so that Jesus Christ may show His incredible patience in me to all the people that are about to get saved. That’s why I got mercy.” Can you say? Do you know? Do you have it clear—why you received mercy? Why did God do in your life what He did? Why did He give you for free what He gave you for free? Why did He put up with some of the things in you that He put up with?
What’s the reason? Because the reason gives the confidence for the kicking. If you want to be a person that is able to kick the devil in the face in this generation, you’re going to need to have the reason very clear. If the reason in your heart and in your understanding is not clear to you, you’re going to end up struggling in relationship and being drawn back to religion.
It is the trial that you will be facing throughout your journey.
Today, I believe with all my heart that either the Spirit of God seeks to awaken the clarity as to for what reason God gave you mercy. What’s the purpose? What’s He trying to do through you? What’s He trying to demonstrate through you? I believe with all my heart that the Spirit is trying to make it clear to you again, or for the very first time in your life, because you are called in your weakness, in your brokenness, in your sin, to become a vessel that belongs to God. This vessel irritates and frustrates the enemy continually and brings hope to people. That is the simplicity of it. So, can you finish that sentence with divine clarity for yourself: For this reason, I obtained mercy. The question becomes: do you know why you are alive in this generation? Do you know why God has you alive in this generation? What's the purpose? What are you supposed to be doing? What are you supposed to spend yourself on?
I was talking to one of you just yesterday, and I was mentioning that sentence—kicking the devil in the throat—and it brought up a story of an enemy attack. This person began sharing something they've been going through, and I instantly recognized, "Oh, you've been under attack. This is an enemy attack. There is nothing wrong with you. It's not something that you're causing; it's not something that you're doing wrong. But you are under attack. At the core of it, who you are is under attack. Your identity is under attack." Remember, this is what the enemy does. Yes, he lies about God, but for everyone alive, he seeks to attack your identity—who you are. He tries to tell you, "You're going to be a failure. You're going to be a person that ends up cheating on your spouse. You're going to be a person that ends up lying to the people you love. You're going to end up being a person that is just going to give in to sin again. You're going to be that backslider."
The enemy always tries to find sneaky, sensitive, and soft, acceptable ways—things we can swallow. He seeks to find subtle ways to make us accept his message about who we are so that we begin to accept his suggestion for our identity. "You'll be no good. You won't be used by God. You may as well spend your life on the world. You may as well spend your life on making money. You will never bring somebody into the kingdom." It may be so subtle, but that's the goal. He tries to tell you who you are. If you don't have the reason clear as to why you obtained mercy, you won't be kicking him in the throat. You kick somebody in the throat—they stop talking church. I hope you're getting the picture there. That's the point. If you don't have the reason that you received mercy clear, then how are you going to make him stop talking? Then how do you shut it down? Then how do you say, "No, I know exactly why I was born again. I know exactly to what purpose I received mercy. I know exactly what God is going to do through my life. That's why I'm doing this. That's why I'm going to keep going. That's why I'm not slowing down. I'm shutting you down, enemy. You are not going to speak to who I am."
Here’s what 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: Therefore, if— and this is not highlighted in your Bible, I strongly suggest you do it. Everyone that is against writing in your Bible—you’re wrong. You can always buy a new one. Highlight this: Verse 17 of chapter 5: "Therefore, if anyone..." Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold— in other words, again, he's asking, "Just take a good look at this." Behold, all things have become new. If anyone is in Christ, if you have said at any point in your life, "Jesus, I give you my life. Jesus, I give you my sins, I give you my mistakes, I give you my future, I give you my tears, my hurts. Jesus, I give you my life," you're now in Christ. The Bible says your life is now hidden in Christ with God.
If anyone is in Christ, this is the message. If you've believed on Jesus, if you've called on His name—we heard from the Word—if anyone calls on the name of the Lord, whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. You call on Jesus and say, "Jesus, I don't want to be in control of this life. I make a mess out of it. I hurt myself. I hurt others. Jesus, you can have my life," the Bible says you are now in Christ. Here, 2 Corinthians tells us: if anyone is in Christ, every person that has ever surrendered their sin unto the Lord and given Him themselves, their heart—if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Don’t believe the devil—they have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. That's what the Bible teaches you and I. Anyone. You. No one is excluded. You are not excluded. You may say, "Well, I've come to Jesus for my forgiveness, but that whole new creation thing? I'm not really feeling it." You're not excluded. This is what the Word says: anyone that is in Christ has become a new creation.
In other words, they've been born again. God has reshaped everything of who they are. They've become a new creation. They've now been made for a divine purpose. They've received mercy for a divine purpose. They've been shaped and prepared for a life that God has in mind. They've been prepared and equipped for the purpose that God has in mind. You have been made for what God has in mind. You're not going to miss it. You're not going to fall short. You're not going to be unable, because God made you for what He put ahead of you. We're going to see that in the Word. If anyone is in Christ, you are a new creation. You're made for a new goal. Do you understand that God made you with a goal in mind? God, when you became born again, made you while He had a thing in mind for you to do. He made you in such a way that you would be ready, prepared, and have everything you'd ever need to do that one thing—the goal that He had in mind, the reason as to why He gave you mercy.
Paul knew why God had given him mercy. He knew what he was born again for, what he was recreated for. He knew. He said, "This is the reason that I received mercy." He had it clear.
You were made for a new goal. Let me show it to you. In Ephesians 2:10, it says this: "For we are His workmanship..." In other words, we are the ones He works on. "We are His workmanship, created..."—there we have that word again—"...created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Here we have this very simple explanation where the Word tells us we are the people that God works on. We are created in Christ. We are reshaped, rebuilt, torn down, and rebuilt right back up in Christ Jesus. And God had a purpose in mind. Because He wanted us—instead of doing sin—He had good works for us. He prepared them beforehand.
In other words, He made us to do something, and He prepared everything so that it would be easy for us to just do it. It's not hard. You're not going to miss it. You're not going to be unable. You were made for this. You were made for a goal that God has in mind. But if you don't know the reason that you received mercy, if you don't know the goal, if you don't know what God is doing, if you don't know who He made you to be, if you don't know why He made you born again on this Earth, why He created you as a new creation in Christ—not like the old you—if you don't know why, you don't know how to spend yourself. You don't know what decisions to make.
It becomes hard to have confidence like Paul. It becomes hard to kick the devil in the throat and make him quiet, because we don't know. We can't answer. When the enemy says, "Well, you should probably do this," we may not even notice it's the enemy. We just think it's a great idea. "It's a good idea to spend my life on this.""It's a great idea to do this for my family."
The enemy comes up—he's been around a long time. Church, let me tell you this, and somebody write this down: The enemy comes up with great ideas.
He comes up with incredible ideas. If you feel an idea is a good idea, that doesn't mean it's a God idea. There are a lot of great ideas that bombard your mind but originate in hell and not in heaven. How do you know the difference? How do you know if this is an idea for you, one you can at the very least pray about? The way you know is if you have the reason for mercy clear. If you know why you received mercy, if you know to what purpose you were born again, if you know to what purpose you were created in Christ, then it becomes very clear whether an idea is divine inspiration or demonic inspiration. It becomes easy to filter when you know what you were born for, when you know what you were called to, and when you know what you're supposed to spend your life on.
Good ideas can become pretty clearly demonic ideas when you know the reason you obtained mercy. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Church, if you have been born again in Christ Jesus, forgiven for your sins, you are a new creation. God prepared things for you and me to do individually, with you in mind—your personality, every detail about you. God prepared these things so that you should walk in them. Jesus wants you to arrive in your purpose. He’s not making it hard. He’s not giving you His Holy Spirit and a bunch of new commands and saying, “Well, you put your best effort into it—it may just turn out to be something.” He doesn’t give you a road map and say, “I’m with you here at the starting point. I’m giving you a treasure hunt—it’s not easy, but if you can make it through, you may just arrive at your purpose.” No!
He says, “I’ve prepared everything because this is My heart for you—that you should just walk in it.” I want you to feel and experience what it’s like when you walk in what I prepared for you, when you walk out what I made you for, what you were created for. Do you know who you are? Because you’ve been made by God for something. Now, the enemy has a lot of ideas about what he wants to spend your life on—some of them are very good ideas. But do you know who you are? Do you know for what reason God made you? Because you’re a new creation in Christ, God has a good work for you so that the devil cannot mess with your identity. When you are walking out the work God prepared for you, you don’t have to walk out my good work, Church. You don’t have to walk out the good work your neighbor is doing. When you walk out the good work that God has prepared for you, the enemy cannot mess with your identity.
You know exactly what you’re doing while you’re doing it. You know that you don’t need to do anything more. You know that you don’t need to fulfill someone else’s call. Nobody’s call can make you feel inferior. Nobody’s call can make you feel intimidated or not good enough. When you are doing what God made you to do, nothing and no one can mess with your identity because you’re walking in it. You’re living in it. You’re not seeking it. You’re not looking for confirmation. You’re not trying to find it. You’re in it. You’re living it.
God has a good work for you so that the devil cannot mess with your identity. Look with me again at the clarity Paul has in 1 Timothy 1:16. He says: “However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.” He makes it so clear. He says, “I know exactly why I was born again. I know exactly why I received mercy.” To receive mercy means to not get what you deserve, to be exempt from receiving the consequences of your actions. You’ve received mercy. Paul says, “This is the reason I got that incredible gift: God is showing through me how patient He is.” And Paul knows who the audience is. He knows the good work before him. He knows the purpose. “He’s showing it to the people who are going to believe in Him.”
Paul says, “I know who I am. I know my identity. That’s why I don’t mess with another gospel. That’s why I don’t get confused about doctrine. That’s why my journey is clear. That’s why I know what I’m doing. That’s why I can kick the devil in the face. That’s why I don’t say yes to good ideas from hell camouflaged as wisdom. I can say no to them because I know my purpose. I know what I’m supposed to spend my life on.” For what reason did you receive mercy? I want you to have it so clear. I believe the Spirit of God wants you to have it so clear. Because if you know why you received mercy, not only do you know what to do—you know what to shut down in your life. I know it in my life, Church, and it’s very simple: “For this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ may show the forgiving power of His blood as a pattern to all those who are going to believe on His name for eternal life.”
That is the reason I received mercy in my life. God seeks to show the unlimited, unrestrained, unmeasurable, unbreakable power to forgive. For that reason, I received mercy. That’s what God wants to show through my life—that no matter how bad things get, no matter how many bad things you’ve done, no matter how hard it is to get away from sin, no matter how many times you run back, no matter how many times you mess things up—in my life, He is showing to those that are going to believe that there’s always forgiveness because the blood has more power. For that reason, I received mercy. And in you, Church—what is God’s reason in you? What is the pattern of His character that He is showing or demonstrating through you? In my life, it’s unheard-of forgiveness. That’s what He’s seeking as a pattern—a pattern of His character to demonstrate it to those who are about to believe. What is God showing in you? What mercy did you obtain? What did He take away from you? What did He give to you that you did not deserve? What did He do in your life as a pattern of His character to show it to all those who are going to believe?
What is the reason that He gave you mercy? What’s His reason for giving you mercy? What is your ministry to this world? What is God seeking to show through you? What mercy did you personally obtain in Christ? What mercy did you get? I know which one Paul got. I know which one Pastor got. What mercy did you get as a pattern to show to other people? Remember, mercy is what you got even though you didn’t deserve it. You did not deserve it. What you did deserve, God just took it away. He pardoned you. He said, “This stuff can never be a negative in your life again.” This is what God does, Church. He takes you as you are—the weakest and the worst—and He takes the strongest sinner, and He says mercy to those things.
He says, “These things can never, from here on out, be negatives in your life anymore.” And these things become the message through you to this world. This is what God displays in you. Mercy triumphs in this area of life. Mercy triumphs in this area of sin. Mercy triumphs in this area of character or personality. What mercy did you obtain in Christ? Because if you have it clear, if you can say, “For this reason I received mercy,” this is where you can begin to understand and live the confidence that says, “I got this from God to show off. I got this from God to walk in a good work, and I know which work it is. I got this thing to give the devil a headache and to give people hope.”
I received mercy for this reason: to show forgiveness—the power of forgiveness in Christ Jesus—to give the devil a headache and people hope. That is the simplicity. You don't have to have a complicated thing, Church. You don't have to have a degree. You don't have to have anything impressive. What God gives you forms the very identity that God has given you to walk in. You can't experience it if you only have one of the two. You're born again, but that doesn't mean you're experiencing all of your identity. Because you were born again, and good works were prepared beforehand. And when you, who are born again, begin to walk out what God has prepared for you—when you say, "I know why I received mercy, and I'm going to do it. I'm going to be spent on the very thing I was created for. I'm going to be spent on the very thing I was born again for"—now you get to walk in the fullness of your identity that you should walk in.
Jesus said that when you walk in your identity, Church, there will be so much confidence. The confidence will be the reason you can kick the enemy in the throat. You will not hear his voice anymore. His voice will not affect you. It won't tear you down, it won't affect your choices, and it won't get you into commitments that cost a lot of time.
This is what the enemy tries to do: waste your time. If the enemy can waste your time, then there is less time to walk in the good works which God has prepared for you to walk in. See, the enemy tries to get you into commitments that take up years of your life, tries to get you started in works, and then abuses scripture to say, "Well, you finish what you start," even though God was never at the starting line of that journey. The enemy wants you to spend a lot of time on other things because you won’t be walking in your identity. He’ll have an easy job trying to get to you, speak into your identity, confuse you, shake you, and leave you off balance, insecure, depressed, and struggling with all kinds of mind games. And there’s less time for you to walk in all that the Father prepared for you so that you would experience all of what He made you to be, all of who He made you to be, and all that He has called you to be to a fallen world that is about to get saved.
A demonstration of what God has done in your life—He has called you to know why you received mercy. I love that sentence: I got this thing to give the devil a headache and others hope. That’s the heart of why I get up every day. I know I have very little to offer. All I have is the story of what Jesus did in my life with my sin—the forgiveness that He showed off. But I know that He did that to show off. I know that He did that in me to show off to the people who are about to get saved and to give the devil a headache. And I want to ask you to stand with me for a moment because there are two people in this auditorium today, this morning, and there are two types of people online as well. There are people who say, "I’m remembering, and I’m understanding more clearly now why I received mercy." And then there are people who say, "Honestly, I don’t have this clear at all. I’ve called on Jesus. I’ve given Him my life. I want Him to have all of my sin. But this? I don’t have it clear. I can’t say, ‘For this reason, I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus may do this, that, and the other thing.’ I can’t say it. I don’t know it. I don’t know what it is."
To the first—those of you who are remembering or seeing clearly today what the reason is for mercy in your life, what God is seeking to set you on, the journey God is seeking to set you on so that you may arrive in the fullness of your identity, living it—this is the altar call to you: Lord, I’m going to declare Your plan, and I’m going to stand on it. That’s what Paul did. He declared it. He said, "I know exactly why I received mercy. I haven’t walked all of it out yet—not everybody has become a believer yet. But I know who I am. I know why I was born again. I know what God has done in me. I know why He has done it. I know what I’m supposed to be spent on. I know who I am. I know what He made me to be. I know what He’s going to spend me on. I was a sinner, but now that I’ve obtained mercy, this is what Jesus is doing through me."
To those of you who have it clear today, this is the call to you: Lord, I’m going to declare Your plan. I’m going to stand on it. There’s such an important part of declaration. We do it in worship all the time. Do it in your personal prayer life. Do it while you’re driving in the car, when the thoughts come, when the attacks of the enemy come, when dreams come that try to tell you who to be, when people come into your life that try to tell you who to be.
Declare: For what reason did Heaven open up over my life? I know the reason that God gave me a gift from Heaven. I know the reason that God passed over me and forgave me for all of my sins in my life. God is trying to do this. If it doesn’t contribute to that, if it gets in the way of that, I can’t commit to it. I know what I’m called to become to this world. I know what my Lord is going to do, and I’m going to declare it throughout my life, and I’m going to stand on it. I know who I am in Christ Jesus, born again. And then, for those of you who say, "I’m not there. I can’t say that. I wouldn’t know what to fill in," here’s the prayer the Holy Spirit put on my heart for you to respond to: Lord I need mercy that I may find who I am in You. Church, ask and you will receive. If you don't have it clear and you say, "I don't really know. I can't really say it. I received mercy for this reason," you just need more mercy. You need a story of mercy. You need a purpose that was found in mercy. Mercy.
Don't be afraid to ask God for more mercy if you just don't have it clear yet. But you better get it clear because we are called to stand. We are called to not be overcome. We are called to good works. The Holy Spirit knows what they are. We are called to good works that we should walk in them. There's no way to come to your purpose, there's no way to walk in the fullness of your identity, there's no way to do what you're supposed to be doing unless you're doing what God prepared just for you. Nothing can make you feel like it. You'll never be nearer to the Lord on this side of eternity than when you are doing what the Father prepared just for you. The enemy will do whatever it takes to camouflage himself, to make you feel like he's not even working on you, but just so he can get you to spend your time on doing something else. Not only will you not feel close to the Father, not only will you not fulfill the good works, but you don't get to see those that are about to believe through the mercy that you received. If you say, "Lord, I want to walk this. I want to walk in this confidence. I want to walk out the reason for the mercy of Heaven," if that is your heart, I want to invite you to come to the front and pray together with me.
-Pastor Stan Mons