As God Deals with us and we Cooperate with Him, Everything Depends on God’s Mercy

As believers in Christ, we need to see that everything depends on God’s mercy, for only God can lead us to where we should be, only He can work in us and around us what He wants to do, and no matter what we do or not do, it all depends on God’s mercy. Amen!

We are vessels of mercy unto honor and glory, and it is all of God, not of us.

We are here in the church life not because we are better or more intelligent than others but because of God’s mercy.

We have the family we have and the situation that we are in not because of ourselves but because of God and His sovereign mercy.

Even our seeking after God, our heart being inclined toward Him, is not of us, but because of the Lord’s mercy.

It is God’s sovereign mercy that we seek the Lord, that our heart is turning to Him, and that we are willing to repent.

So many around us rather justify themselves and accuse the environment and other things for their failures and mistakes, but we believers in Christ humble ourselves before the Lord and repent before Him.

What a mercy it is from God that we seek Him, we turn our heart to Him, and we read His word! It is of His mercy that we are vessels of mercy.

God is the Potter and we are the clay; because of His great mercy, He made us vessels of mercy unto honor and glory.

It is not because of us or because of what we are or can do, nor is it because we are better in any way.

In the Old Testament, we see this person called Job, who was a righteous man.

He did everything right, and he even helped his children to be righteous, doing all things in a righteous way.

But God knew that his righteousness was a self-righteousness, a righteousness made and built up by the self.

So God allowed Satan and used him as an ugly tool to deal with Job.

Even though God does not want man to suffer, He allows Satan to deal with people to consume them, strip them off, and cause them to seek God.

Satan thinks that he damages people by doing what he does, but he does God’s bidding: he does only as much as God wants him to do and he goes as far as God allows him to go.

As a result of Satan working in the environment, the family, and even in the body of Job, he was stripped and consumed, and he was emptied of all other things until he came to God with all his problems.

When God appeared to him, he realized that everything depends on God’s mercy, and he was just a sinner who could only repent before Him. Oh, Lord.

May the Lord have mercy on us and may we realize that everything depends on God’s mercy in our life!

There must be at least One Time when we see that Everything Depends on God’s Mercy

Romans chapter 9 reveals the principle that everything depends on God’s mercy (see Rom. 9:15-23).

The apostle Paul applied this principle to the Israelites, showing us that everything that happened to them was of God’s mercy (vv. 16, 23).

There must be at least one time that we see God’s mercy and definitely touch His mercy (Eph. 2:4; Matt. 9:13).

God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sins and offenses, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together with Him and seated us together with Him in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.

This is so that He might display in the ages to come the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (vv. 5-7).

What a mercy this is! We may think it is because we were more zealous or seeking the Lord that we have come to believe into Him; however, it is of God’s mercy.

We need to see that everything depends on God’s mercy.

There must be at least one time in our Christian life when we see God’s mercy and touch God’s mercy in a definite way.

When we do this, our life will be changed, for we will realize that it is not of him who runs or of him who wills but of God who shows mercy.

Concerning this matter, our eyes need to be opened at least once; there must be at least one time when we see that everything depends on God’s mercy.

This will touch us and will break our confidence in ourselves, for we will realize that, no matter how zealous we are for the Lord or how much we seek Him now, it all depends on God’s mercy.

When a person sees God’s mercy, whether at one time or as a result of a process, he is inwardly changed, and his attitude toward others, toward God, and toward the church will be different.

Whether we see this all at once or we realize it through a process, the minute we touch this matter, we will touch not a feeling but a fact.

It is not a feeling that we have but a fact that exists in the universe without our need to uphold it or acknowledge it, but we see it and stand on this.

Everything depends on God’s mercy.

For example, regeneration is a fact; whether the repenting sinners feel it or not, when they repent and call on the name of the Lord, they are regenerated by God with His life and become children of God (John 1:12-13).

Our feelings mean very little in this matter; we stand on the fact that the Bible tells us, Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21).

This is why we tell those who repent and believe into the Lord that they are saved: the Bible tells us so.

This is a fact. It is the same in regard to our understanding of God’s mercy.

There must be at least one time when we as believers in Christ definitely touch God’s mercy.

Mercy involves someone who is in sheer poverty and in a pitiful situation; we are such ones, and we still are such ones, for we are recipients of God’s mercy.

The Lord came not to call the high-minded ones, the self-righteous Pharisees, but the pitiful ones, those who are sick, lame, lepers, sinners, and tax collectors.

If we see God’s mercy, we will humble ourselves before the Lord and we will thank and praise Him for His sovereign mercy.

But if we as believers in Christ do not think we need God’s mercy, we are like the church in Laodicea, who thinks she is rich and in need of nothing, but actually, she is pitiful, poor, naked, and blind (Rev. 3:14-22).

We may be self-righteous, having a high-minded view of ourselves, even being proud of our spiritual knowledge.

But even though we may know so many things, we don’t realize that we are blind, wretched, poor, and naked, and we are in desperate need of God’s mercy.

The Lord comes to the church in Laodicea and warns them, asking them to buy of Him gold refined by fire and white garments and eyesalve for them to see.

May we allow the Lord to shine on us and deliver us from any spiritual pride so that we may be delivered from our pitiful situation by seeing that everything depends on God’s mercy.

May we be like the blind beggar who cried out to the Lord, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me (Luke 18:38-40)!

I believe that many of us as believers in Christ had such experiences in which we simply cried out to the Lord to have mercy on us and bring us through.

This is how we taste God’s mercy and how we realize that everything depends on God’s mercy.

Lord Jesus, cause us to see at least once in our experience that everything depends on God’s mercy. Oh Lord, we cry out to You: have mercy on us! Bring us through! Cause us to go on with You! We don’t know where we are and what we need, but You know. We open to You. Deliver us from any self-justification and self-righteousness; we simply come to You in desperate need of Your mercy! Amen, Lord, have mercy on us today! Cause us to be one with You to live in the reality of the kingdom of God! We are not rich nor do we have a lot of things; we are poor and naked and blind, and we need Your mercy desperately! Lord Jesus, we depend on Your sovereign mercy! If You have mercy on us, we can go on with You. Show us Your mercy. We want to feed on Your mercy and partake of what You are in Your mercy. Oh Lord, rescue us from any form of spiritual pride and cause us to go on with You in Your sovereign mercy! Cause the church to go on with You in Your mercy and according to Your mercy!

As God Deals with us and We Cooperate with Him, we Realize that It is All of God’s Mercy

Many times we as believers in Christ realize that we need to be dealt with, for our mind runs wild and is far away from God, our emotions are sticky and love many things other than God, and our will is so strong in opposing God and choosing things that the self loves.

We need to have God’s dealings in our mind, emotion, and will.

We may be a person who is strong in our mind but weak in our emotion and will, or we may be a person who is strong in our will or emotion but weak in the other parts of our soul (Rom. 12:3).

We all must experience God’s dealings and be broken by the Lord in our natural man, for anything that is natural cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Our strong points such as our untamed emotions, our unrenewed mind and our unsubmissive will need to be dealt with by the Lord, for these strong points hinder us from going on with the Lord.

We may think we are so strong in our zeal for the Lord, but we may be strong in our natural man more than being zealous for God.

Unless we are dealt with by God in our mind, emotion, and will, we cannot know God’s mercy.

The Lord is faithful to shine on us and expose us. He is faithful to temper us in our spiritual life so that we may be balanced in our mind, emotion, and will.

Some people wait for too long while others do not wait long enough. Some people are strong in their natural man but not strong in their inner man.

We may be so strong in our mind, being full of concepts and opinions, and always being ready to say something about anything.

Or we may be very much in our emotions, being full of feelings and sensations, but we do not love the Lord that much.

How much we need to be tempered by the Lord!

For our spiritual life to be well-tempered and balanced, we need to attune our condition to a proper balance.

This is all of God’s mercy, for everything depends on God’s mercy.

It is God’s mercy that we can see that we have so many inner problems and even that our entire fallen being is a problem to the Lord.

It is of God’s mercy that He deals with us and we cooperate with Him.

It is not of us; we are not more open or better than anyone else – everything depends on God’s mercy.

Our going on with the Lord, our opening to Him to be dealt with by Him in many aspects of our disposition and our natural being, and our advancing in the Christian life are all a matter of God’s mercy.

We may want to go somewhere, but the Lord may limit our travels so that we can remain somewhere and learn more life lessons before Him.

Then, we may be able to go where we wanted to go, and the Lord may deal with us even more.

We depend on God’s mercy, and what He does in us is just in the right proportion.

We are too much in this aspect and in that aspect, but the Lord’s mercy is shown to us and we are limited, balanced, and tempered.

We may speak too much or we may not speak enough.

We may think we need to meet all the needs of those around us or we may not care for them at all.

We simply depend on the Lord and look to Him for His mercy.

The way of the church during the past two thousand years is a way of looking to the mercy of God, for only God’s mercy can temper us.

We may want some results right now, quickly, but the Lord may delay things, and we may have to wait for a long time before He does something in us.

This is all of God’s mercy.

May we learn to open to the Lord and allow Him to show us His mercy so that we may touch the mercy of God and realize that everything depends on God’s mercy.

Lord Jesus, we open to You. We are nothing, Lord, but You are everything to us. We open our whole being to You. You know what is in us and what dealings we need to go through. Have a way in our being. Deal with our natural man. Grant us to cooperate with You in all things. Oh Lord, we depend on Your mercy. Have mercy on us. You know our mind with its unrenewed and unrestrained thoughts and concepts. You see our wild emotion with fluctuating feelings. You know our will with its stubbornness toward You while choosing other things. Lord, we give ourselves to You. We look to the mercy of God today. Only Your mercy can temper us. Only Your mercy can balance us and deal with all the problems in our being. Have a way in our being. Grant us to have a positive response to Your speaking, Your shining, and Your dealing. Amen, Lord, we praise You for Your sovereign mercy. Take us on with You today!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ray Mulligan in the message for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 57, “The Resumption of Watchman Nee’s Ministry,” ch. 1, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Living in the Reality of the Kingdom of God (2024 October ITERO), week 5, Living under the Sovereignty of God and according to the Mercy of God.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – God’s mercy, a portion from, Gospel of God, The (2 volume set), Chapter 2, by Watchman Nee.
  – Mercy Now and unto Eternal Life, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – The selection of grace, a portion from, Life-Study of Romans, Chapter 58.
  – God’s Mercy, via, Lamb Follower.
  – The glory of God and the glorification of the believers, article in, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Romans (Program #23) – God’s Selection, Our Destiny (1), via, Bible Study Radio.
  – God’s mercy, article via, Living to Him.
  – Seeing God’s Greatness in 4 Stages in a Hymn of Worship, via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Message 2: The World Situation in Relation to God’s Move on Earth (2), via, LSM Youtube channel.
  – Remembering in the Christian life, via, Conversant faith.
  – Praise God for Mercy unto New Jerusalem, via, New Jerusalem blog.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – God’s compassion is my story, / Is my boasting all the day; / Mercy free and never failing / Moves my will, directs my way. / God so loved us, God so loved us, / That His only Son He gave, / That His only Son He gave. (Hymns #33 stanza 3)
  – How we marvel at this mercy / So far-reaching and so vast! / It has reached us, e’en the sinners, / And will ever hold us fast. / From this mercy, from this mercy, / What can cause us to be cast? / For Thy mercy we are grateful, / ’Tis so rich, so plenteous! / Thru Thy mercy in redemption, / Thou hast richly favored us. / If without this, if without this, / How could we be favored thus? (Hymns #26 stanzas 2-3)
  – Father, Thy mercy with Thy love and grace / Did we obtain; / And in Thy mercy, with Thee face to face, / We’ll e’er remain; / And for Thy mercy we would worship Thee / Through all our days and through eternity. (Hymns #25 stanza 3)