Serve the Lord by Trusting in His Mercy in the Selection of Grace: God is Sovereign!

We believers in Christ serve God by trusting in His mercy in the selection of grace, for God is sovereign and merciful.

When we see God’s sovereignty, we will simply worship Him for His sovereign mercy, for He is the One who does everything in us and for us; even in bearing the responsibility, He is the One who bears the responsibility in us, for it is not of him who wills or who runs but of God who shows mercy. Amen!

Thank the Lord for His sovereignty and praise Him for His mercy! We believers in Christ have been chosen, predestinated, and called by God from eternity past, even before the world began. Why?

It is because of God’s sovereignty and in His mercy. We are not better than others, nor are we more intelligent than those around us; it is simply because of His mercy.

It is because of His mercy that we believed into the Lord Jesus when others did not, and it is of His mercy that we are in the church life today in the Lord’s recovery enjoying the Lord with all the saints.

God is on the throne, and for some reason, we have believed into Him, for He appeared to us, He captured us, and now we cannot but believe into Him and love Him.

And we rejoice with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory!

The sovereignty of God is a matter of the throne; He has absolute power, authority, and position, and He is on the throne, above all things, administrating all things in the universe. Hallelujah!

It is crucial for us to see that God is sovereign, for He has unlimited authority, power, and position to do everything He wants.

Today in the age of the increase of man’s knowledge and understanding, some think that they can understand God, or they may think it is “not fair” for this or that to happen in the world.

Why do good people suffer? Why are good people poor, while evil people prosper and do all kinds of evil things? It’s not fair!

In the eyes of people today, they blame God for this calamity, that earthquake, and that particular suffering and disease.

But God is sovereign; He is on the throne, He exercises His supreme authority, and He arranges all things.

Who are we, as vessels of clay made by the Potter, to answer back to Him?

Though we may think we are something, we really are nothing; we are simply vessels, living vessels, to open to Him and be filled with God to express God.

No one consulted us concerning where we want to be born, in what family, in what circumstances, and in what country; God arranged all these matters. God is sovereign.

We need to trust in God and rely on His mercy, not on our ability to do things or even understand things. How we worship God for His sovereign mercy!

We need to see God’s Sovereignty, God’s Mercy, and our Free Will

Our God is sovereign. And this is not just something that we say and then go on with our life; He is sovereign in our life, in every detail, even in our mistakes and failures.

For example, we can look at the story of Moses and Pharaoh in Exodus; it is a very instructive story.

In Rom. 9:15-16 we see that there’s no unrighteousness with God; rather, He has mercy on whomever He has mercy, and He has compassion on whomever He has compassion.

So then it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs but of God who shows mercy.

In vv. 17-21 we see that God raised up Pharaoh for this reason, that He might show in him His power and that His name might be proclaimed on the earth. Wow!

In this universe, there are three things that cannot be denied: God’s sovereignty, God’s mercy, and man’s free will.

On one hand, God is sovereign, and He chooses whom He chooses and shows compassion on whomever He wills.

At the same time, God is merciful, and He shows mercy on whomever He shows mercy.

God’s sovereignty and mercy are both divine and eternal, having no beginning and no ending.

On the other hand, man’s free will is something created by God.

In creating man with free will, God displayed His greatness.

Our God is great, and He will never force Himself or His will on us; rather, He created man with a free will, and now man has the free will to make his choices.

According to Rom. 9:18, God may will either to show mercy or to harden; this is illustrated by the cases of Moses and Pharaoh.

Moses was one to whom God willed to show His mercy, whereas Pharaoh was one whom God willed to harden.

If we know God’s sovereignty, we will thank Him for His mercy, realizing that we are under His sovereign mercy.

This expression “sovereign mercy” means that God’s mercy is absolutely a matter of God’s sovereignty.

The mercy God shows us is altogether according to God’s own will.

As those who are favored by God, we should not only thank Him for His mercy but even more, worship Him for His sovereignty.

Along with Paul, we need to be brought to God’s sovereignty; instead of reasoning with God, we should say,

O, Father God, I worship You for Your sovereignty! Although I am not worthy, in Your sovereignty You have willed to show me Your mercy! Thank You, Father God!

We should never presume to touch the sovereignty of God. God initiated our believing in the Lord Jesus, but He did not execute it by believing for us.

God planned that we should believe, but we ourselves had to believe.

Similarly, God first hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and then Pharaoh carried out this hardening through his own free will.

In Exo. 9:16 we see that God used Pharaoh and made him stand to show His power and have His name proclaimed through the earth.

Twelve times Moses, an elderly man, came to negotiate with Pharaoh on the Lord’s behalf.

Pharaoh was troubled but could not do anything with Moses, the troubling one, for Moses was backed by the sovereign Lord! Moses received mercy from God.

Even though God set Pharaoh aside, He still used him; not only was Moses useful to the Lord but also Pharaoh.

Similarly, in the case of Job, God used Satan as an ugly tool to expose Job, strip him, and consume him, so that God would show Job that his self-made righteousness is nothing, only what God is to man is what counts. Wow!

In Pharaoh’s case, he saw God’s sovereignty through twelve conflicts, including the ten plagues that transpired over a period of time; however, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

In the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh, we see a display of God’s sovereignty on the one hand and of His mercy on the other.

The more we recognize God’s sovereignty, the more grateful we shall be for His mercy.

Hallelujah, God’s mercy has been sovereignty bestowed upon us! How we praise Him for His mercy on us in His sovereignty!

Lord, we worship You and praise You for Your sovereignty. We thank You for having mercy on us. Thank You for not only being sovereign and showing us Your mercy but for giving us free will. Oh Lord, we choose You. We choose to know You, to be open to You, and to obey You. Thank You for arranging all things and all persons and matters in our environment for us to be conformed to the image of Christ so that we may be just like Him! We open to You, Lord Jesus! We exercise our free will to choose You and to enjoy You! We depend not on what we can do or what we are able to do or say but on Your sovereign mercy. Thank You for bringing us this far in Your sovereign mercy. We worship You. We trust in You! We are not worthy, but You are doing so much in us and around us. Thank You for all the things You gave us and also for the things You took from us in Your sovereignty. Oh, Father God, we worship You for Your sovereignty and for Your mercy!

See God’s Sovereignty and Trust in God’s Mercy in the Selection of Grace in Serving God

If we believers in Christ would serve God in His New Testament economy, we need to know that it is wholly a matter of God’s sovereign mercy (Rom. 9:15-16; Heb. 4:16).

The very fact that we are here in the church life is in the Lord’s recovery is not of us but of God’s sovereign mercy.

We are in church life not because we are seeking more than others or because we are more intelligent than them; it is the mercy of God.

If we just consider how we got here, what was the process the Lord took us through, and how many came with us but did not go all the way through, we will worship God for His mercy.

When we see God’s sovereignty, we will fully trust in His mercy, especially in our service to God.

According to God’s selection of grace (Rom. 11:5), we believe that He made us the remnant that He will use to bring Him back today.

However, our trust is not in ourselves but in God’s mercy.

We shouldn’t trust in ourselves, nor should we think that we’re here because of anything we are or that we have done.

We have been brought on the way of the Lord fully because of God’s mercy!

It is of God’s mercy that we have no appetite for the things of this world.

So many of our peers have a taste for the things of this world, the entertainment and sports and other things, but by the Lord’s mercy, we are willing to be separated from today’s evil age.

What a mercy it is for us to be separated from today’s evil age unto the Lord (Gal. 1:3-5)!

Similarly, in our serving the Lord, we must know not only the Spirit, the life in the Spirit, and the righteousness of God, but even more, we must know God’s mercy in the selection of grace.

God selected us in His mercy and in His grace; we should not put our trust in what we are, what we are able to do, or what we are able to say and plan, but trust in God’s mercy.

Our service to the Lord in the gospel should be in our spirit, always depending on the Lord in spirit (Rom. 1:9).

The more we worship God for His mercy, the more we will be uplifted.

We may bear some responsibility in the church life and we may serve in different areas of the church life, but our trust is in the Lord’s mercy.

As we worship God for His mercy, God is the One who bears the responsibility in us.

We should not strive to serve God or bear responsibility; rather, we should simply worship God for His selection.

We should worship God for His mercy in the selection of grace; when we do this, we will have a sweet taste inwardly and we will feel that the Lord is serving in us and He is bearing the burdens and responsibilities in us.

But if we try to be responsible, if we try to serve the Lord and do this and that for Him, we will suffer inwardly and we will have a bitter taste. Oh, Lord!

We can be happy in the Lord only when we learn to trust in the Lord’s mercy and worship Him for it! God said that He will have mercy on whomever He will have mercy, and He will have compassion on whomever He will have compassion.

Our going on with the Lord in the church life and our service to the Lord is a matter not of our running, our striving, our ability, or our knowledge but of God’s mercy.

Our willing is of no avail, our running is in vain, and our knowledge rather kills if we do not trust in God’s mercy and praise Him for His selection of grace.

We are changeable, always fluctuating, and our spiritual condition is like the weather: always changing, unstable, and not clear.

But God’s selection of grace depends not on us but on His mercy in His sovereignty.

God’s mercy to us is in His sovereignty; the only thing we can say to explain God’s mercy to us is that in His sovereignty, He has chosen to be merciful to us.

In His sovereign mercy, God has inclined our heart toward Him. Because of God’s mercy toward us, we seek Him day by day (Jer. 29:13; Deut. 4:29; Isa. 55:6).

The more we see that everything related to us is a matter of the mercy of God in His sovereign, the more we will bear our responsibility before the Lord, and even the willingness to bear the responsibility is of God’s mercy.

May we learn to turn our eyes away from ourselves and from our circumstances and gaze steadfastly upon the Lord Jesus! May we fully trust in Him, open to Him, and rely on His mercy in His selection of grace.

Lord Jesus, thank You for displaying Your sovereign mercy on us. Thank You for showing us God’s mercy in the selection of grace. Oh Lord, how we worship You for selecting us in Your mercy and grace! We put our trust not in what we are able to do but in Your mercy. We bow down to You and worship You for Your mercy. We give up any striving and struggle and we simply allow You to do everything in us and for us. Oh Lord, we trust not in ourselves and what we can do but in Your mercy. What a mercy that God has selected us, predestinated us, called us, and placed us in the church life in the Lord’s recovery! Amen, Lord, we worship You for Your selection and we trust in Your mercy as we learn to serve You in the church life. We let You do everything in us and for us. We acknowledge that our running and our striving are of no avail – only Your mercy prevails! We are one with You, Lord, and we fully trust in You for everything! We depend on You and we trust in Your mercy in Your sovereignty!

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, Life-study of Romans, pp. 593-594, by Witness Lee, 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:
  – Let us Follow the Lamb Wherever He Goes, via, New Jerusalem blog.
  – Christlessness, apostasy, and novelty: modern views on justification, article via, Affirmation and Critique.
  – Lord’s Move in Eastern Mediterranean, via, Living to Him.
  – God’s mercy, a portion from, Gospel of God, The (2 volume set), Chapter 2, by Watchman Nee.
  – My historical sense and heritage as a Christian, via, Lamb Follower.
  – Raising up a unique gift to the age – the Lord’s move to China, a portion from, Watchman Nee—A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, Chapter 1.
  – The Hardening of Pharaoh’s Heart, article via, Victoria University Christian Club.
  – Sovereignty, authority, a portion from, Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 11, by Witness Lee
  – What is God’s Economy in the Bible? More via, Holding to Truth in love.
  – Recognizing the sovereignty of God, a portion from, Our Urgent Need – Spirit and Life, Chapter 2, by Witness Lee.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Father, we enjoy Thy mercy, / Ever fresh and ever new; / Every morning shed upon us, / It refreshes as the dew. / How we taste it! how we taste it! / Giving Thee the praises due. / We can never cease to praise Thee, / As Thy mercy e’er endures; / All Thy grace and all Thy favor, / Ever for us it secures. / Trusting in it, trusting in it, / Thy sure mercy us assures. (Hymns #26 stanzas 5-6)
  – Jesus, I must trust Thee, / Pondering Thy ways; / Full of love and mercy / All Thine earthly days: / Sinners gathered round Thee, / Lepers sought Thy face: / None too vile or loathsome / For a Savior’s grace. / Jesus, I will trust Thee, / Trust Thee with my soul / Guilty, lost and helpless, / Thou canst make me whole. (Hymns #1063 stanza 2 and chorus)
  – Thy wisdom shuts up all in sin, / That mercy may be shown, / That none may boast in anything / But in Thyself alone…When in the new Jerusalem / In mercy we will boast, / Thy wisdom will be known for aye / Unto the uttermost. (Hymns #23 stanzas 3 and 6)