TEXT: Romans 8:28

SUBJECT: Divine Cordial #4

Tonight, with the Lord’s help, we’ll continue the Puritan study we began a few weeks ago. The author is Thomas Watson. The title is A Divine Cordial. The topic is Encouragement. The book was published in 1663 and has stood the test of time. What cheered the Puritan heart long ago, will hearten us too. What a promise we have!

Watson says two things do us good—"the best things and the worst things". That pretty well covers it, doesn’t it? In the long-run, nothing can hurt the believer, but—somehow or other—will be good for him in the end.

How can this be? How can terrible things be good for me? Here’s how: Because God controls everything and He loves me. Put those two together and you have

Thus far, we’ve seen two of the best things working for our good. They are The Attributes of God and The Promises of God. Now, we’ll go on to a third—

The mercies of God are His favors. Not one of them is earned, but every one of them is given simply because the Lord is so generous. The whole world is in sin, yet, the Bible says,

The mercies of God are material (like food and clothing) or spiritual (like the forgiveness of sin and the hope of heaven) or both. I’ve long wondered if friendship is a material blessing or a spiritual one. On one hand, friends are material beings. Hearing their voices and seeing their faces make me happy. Yet they’re more than that! Their voices and faces not only make me happy, but bring me closer to heaven.

And so, the mercies of God are His favors. They’re the good things He does for us because He wants to--because He’s so kind and giving.

Watson answers the question in less than two full pages. But what pages they are! They’re packed with wisdom and encouragement. Here’s some of what he says.

Firstly, the mercies of God work for our good by humbling us. On receiving some favor so freely, Watson says,

No one here is rich. Some are not very well off at all. Yet, everyone here has food to eat, a place to sleep, clothes to wear, and a few luxuries besides. Do you think these are yours by right? They’re not. People all over the world lack these things. Millions go to bed every night hungry. Some have no bed. Some have a lot of good things, but don’t have the health to enjoy them.

Many of these people are better than we are! Hebrews 11 says some heroes of faith,

When we notice the blessings of God and remember how unworthy we are of them, we are deeply humbled. This is one way that the mercies of God work together for our good.

Here’s a second way: The mercies of God work for our good by increasing our love for God.

The Puritan says,

If I had written this book, I wouldn’t have chosen Saul as a example. But the Puritan got it right! If even Saul—an unsaved and brutal man—was touched by undeserved mercies, how much more melted is the believer when he things of what he deserves—immediate damnation—and what he gets instead,

Because the mercies of God increase our love for Him, they must work together for our good.

A third way His mercies work for our good is by making us thankful.

Nothing is better for you than thankfulness. Nobody is happier than the grateful person; no one more miserable than the man who feels shortchanged by God. What makes you thankful? The Lord’s mercies, of course. And, by stimulating gratitude in your soul, the mercies of God work together for your good. Here’s the quote,

Thanking God does Him good, of course. But not only Him. It also does you good. That’s what Watson is getting at here. The mercies of God create gratitude, which, in turn, flushes out the bitterness and murmuring we’re so prone to, and replaces them with happiness and holiness.

In the fourth place, the mercies of God work for our good by promoting obedience.

If someone does you a favor, most people today would say "thank you". But a few years ago, people didn’t usually say that. More often they’d say "I’m much obliged". In other words, if you did them a favor, they felt obliged to do you one in return.

And that is quite proper! If a man lends me money when I need it, I should lend him money when he needs it. Now, apply that to the mercies of God. If you think of how much God has done for you, you’ll want to do something for Him.

You can’t possibly pay the Lord back for all His mercies, but at least you can give Him what you’ve got—Romans 12:1,

Here’s the quote from Watson,

Finally, the mercies of God work for our good by permitting us to help others.

Helping others is good for you—Proverbs 11:24. How do we come to help others? Only by the mercies of God which give us what we need to help others. Money, time, advice, sympathy, all are needed to help others. And all are given to us by God’s mercies.

In short, God gives to us so that we can give to others. And this giving helps—not only others—but ourselves too—Proverbs 11:25,

These are some ways the mercies of God work for our good. They make us more humble, loving, thankful, obedient, and generous.

At the end of his chapter, Watson gives three mercies that are especially suited to do us good. They are: Preaching, Prayer, and the Lord’s Supper.

Preaching, he says,

Prayer, he adds,

As for the Lord’s Supper?

As for these mercies, notice how available they are to you. You don’t have to go to China to hear the Word of God preached! You don’t have to pay a fee for the Lord’s Supper. You don’t have to get a college degree to pray. They’re yours for the taking.

When received in faith, they are great mercies of the Lord.

If the mercies of God work together for our good, how good we must have it! Because they’re all around us all the time. So, let’s follow David’s example, and "Sing of the mercies of the Lord forever".