Grace, Mercy and Peace
Scripture: Ephesians 4:32; Romans 1:7; First Corinthians 1:2-3; Philippians 1:2
Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.” The words kind, tenderhearted (compassionate) and forgiving all implies “grace and mercy.” We need it and we can’t live without it. We can’t purchase it nor can we earn it. Grace and mercy only comes by means of a gift, and when we receive it, we immediately realize how much we ourselves needed it all along. And New Light, we can only give grace and mercy to someone else when we have first received and acknowledged it in our own lives because we can't give away that which we don't have within. And this is important, grace and mercy, whether we are giving it or receiving it, will always be followed by peace. Where there is no grace or mercy there is no peace.
Let us bow for a word of prayer.
Good morning New Light. I am opening the message this morning a little differently than I usually do. We are going to start with several passages of scripture that identify two blessings that God reminds us, over and over again, that He has given to us. Please take your Bibles and we are going to read a few verses from the first chapters of the books of Romans, First Corinthians and Philippians. Here in Romans we’re going to read verse 7. “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7) Now turn to First Corinthians chapter one. In verses 2 and 3 we read: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. 3Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (First Corinthians 1:2-3) Now turn to Philippians chapter one and look at verse 2: “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:2)
I want you to understand from a historical perspective, Paul ministered primarily to the Greeks and to the Jews. The Greeks greeted one another with a salutation of “Grace,” as in “Grace be unto you…” The Jews, on the other hand, greeted one another with “Shalom” translated “Peace.” While Paul used both greetings in his letters to address everyone, the Greeks and the Jews, he was also delivering a blessing from the Father and the Son. The Apostle Paul opens each of his epistles with a salutation from him and two blessings from the Father and the Son – grace and peace. New Light, the wording of the salutations are always different, but the wording of the blessings are always the same and we see this also in all of the epistles from Romans to Thessalonians. In Paul’s writings he constantly reminds us of God blessing us with His grace and His peace.
Do you remember one the last things that Jesus told to His disciples at the Last Supper? In John chapter 14 verse 27 Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27) Because we are born again, we can have that same peace. Because we are born again, we never have to have a troubled heart and, because we are born again, we never have to live in fear. That is part of the blessings that God reminds us of at the beginning of each of Paul’s epistles. But the peace would not be available to us New Light without God first giving us His grace. That’s why the wording is same in all of the epistles. God’s grace comes first then the peace follows.
The first time “grace” is used in the Old Testament is in Genesis chapter six. The chapter opens with God being heart broken by all of the wickedness He was seeing in man. It was so bad that verse five says “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) Can you image someone waking up every morning and the only thing they wanted to do was cause harm to someone else? The wickedness had gotten so bad that God decides to wipe out the human race with the exception of Noah. Verse eight says “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” In the Hebrew and the context of the chapter, grace means “favor obtained because of being obedient.” Noah found favor with God because he obeyed God. Second Peter chapter two verse five says Noah was “a preacher of righteousness.” Noah preached righteousness in a world that was consumed with wickedness. To receive God’s grace in the Old Testament, a person had to earn it through obedience and that is what we see here in Genesis the first time the word is used.
Now let’s see the first time “grace” is used in the New Testament. Turn to Luke chapter two verse 40. “And the Child grew, and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon Him.” (Luke 2:40) In the New Testament, grace is “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in a person’s life.” We know that Jesus did not have to earn His Father’s grace. It was a gift. Why was it a gift? Jesus was God’s son. He did not have a sin nature. New Light, this also applies to us as we are God’s sons and daughters through Christ. We don’t have to earn something that God is willing to give to us. Now how do we receive this free gift? Ephesians chapter two verses eight and nine say “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. 9Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) We receive grace because of what we believe, not because of what we do. You have heard me say this before: everything that God has for us is only obtained through faith. Nothing else. Now I want to point something out to you about Jesus before He began His public ministry. Luke says that He grew physically and He grew spiritually. That tells me that the Jesus we read about here in Luke is not the same Jesus we read about doing the miracles and the healings. Like all of us New Light, the Jesus in Luke had to grow and mature INTO the Jesus who did the miracles and the healings. And do you know what enabled Him to grow and mature spiritually? God, His Father, had put His grace upon Him. Since we are children of God, we can also give people grace. Grace is something that cannot be earned now that Jesus has been crucified and raised from the dead. Now it is a gift. So, just as God gives grace to us, even when we don’t merit it, we can do the same for the people in our lives. Now I’m not talking about the grace that is needed to be born again. I’m talking about “the divine influence upon our hearts as a result of being born again and how it is seen in our lives.” New Light, grace is a heart issue and only those who are born again can have a heart that contains God’s grace. And that’s why we must decide to make grace free to those who need it, which is what we just read in Ephesians. Do you recall what Jesus told the apostles when He gave them power over unclean spirits and power to heal those who had a sickness or disease? Listen to what He said to them in Matthew chapter 10 verses seven and eight – “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” God has freely given us His grace and now it is our turn to do the same – freely give to others what our Father has so graciously freely given to us. New Light, the true measure of the grace that God has given to us is seen when we give it when everything about the person and the situation says don’t do it, you are wasting your time. I am so glad that God didn’t look at me that way. I am so glad that His grace saw a Rodney that could be more like Him rather than the Rodney He saw at that moment. Now I want you to hold on to this because of what we are about to see in the two books of Timothy and the book of Titus.
In the first nine epistles, Romans through Thessalonians, Paul repeatedly uses the same language when speaking God’s blessing to us – “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The order of the words are significant. God’s grace contains everything we need in our Christian lives and that’s why Ephesians says we need faith to access it. It is impossible to have the peace that Paul talks about in all of the epistles and the peace that Jesus talks about in John 14, without first receiving God’s grace. It’s grace first and then comes peace. But when Paul opens the books of First and Second Timothy and Titus he adds a word – a very important word to grace and peace. And it’s a word that is all too often missing in our interactions with those who do not know God. And sadly, it’s also often missing in our interactions with each other. Turn to First Timothy chapter one. We are going to read the first two verses. “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope. 2Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.” (First Timothy 1:1-2)
Now turn to Second Timothy chapter one and let’s read the first two verses. “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2to Timothy, my dearly beloved son: grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Second Timothy 1:1-2)
Now let’s read Titus chapter one, verses one through four. “Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. 2In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before the ages began. 3But has in due times manifested His word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Savior. 4To Titus, my own son after the common faith: grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.” (Titus 1:1-4)
What was different in these greetings than the ones we had read previously? Paul adds the word “mercy” to the blessings of grace and peace. Remember how I talked about the order of the blessings was significant? Now, instead of grace and peace, we have “grace, mercy and peace.” New Light, the Lord did this on purpose. Let’s look at the first time the word “mercy” is used in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. The first time mercy is used in the Old Testament it was in connection with the Lord taking Lot and his family out of Sodom and Gomorrah before He destroyed the cities. Let’s read verses 17 through 19 of Genesis 19. “And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth outside, that he said, ‘Escape for your life; look not behind you, neither stay in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.’ 18And Lot said unto them, ‘Oh, not so, my Lord. 19Behold now, your servant has found grace in your sight, and you have magnified your mercy, which you have showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil overtake me, and I die.’” (Genesis 19:17-19) Both the words “grace” and “mercy” are used in this passage. And as with grace and peace, the mercy follows the grace. The word “mercy” simply means “showing someone kindness.” The first time mercy is used in the Bible it is in connection with God saving a person’s life. Think about that New Light. Showing mercy is connected to saving a life. The first time the word is used in the New Testament is Matthew 5:7 – “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” In the Greek, mercy is “compassion that flows from a divine nature.”
I was talking with a dear friend of mine from Florida whose mother died two years ago. Over the course of several conversations she shared with me some of the wonderful lessons her mother had taught her about being a woman and not allowing others to define her. Her mother was a Christian and the idea of grace and mercy was important to her. It was so important to her mother that my friend wanted to learn more about it and understand why it was so important to her mother. She told me that one of her mother’s favorite song was “Your Grace and Mercy” by the Mississippi Mass Choir. Well I love that song too because I know if it had not have been for the grace and mercy God has shown me throughout my life I would not be standing before you right now. It is important for us to understand that what God has shown towards us – we should be willing to share with (show towards) others. That would include, grace, mercy leading to peace.
But what does mercy look like? How can we recognize it? The dictionary defines mercy as “kindness or forgiveness shown especially to somebody a person has power over.” But for children of God, it goes deeper than that. Let’s read the parable that Jesus used to show us how we must demonstrate mercy. Turn to Matthew 18. In verse 21, Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive a brother who sins against him and to give Jesus an idea of what he thought the number should be he says, “Up to seven times?” The very question betrays that he does not understand what forgiveness means; for it is not real, if the “forgiven” person’s sin is stowed away safely in the memory of the person doing the forgiving. Now I want you to see this New Light. Peter was looking for Jesus to give him the maximum number of times that he would have to forgive someone before he could stop forgiving the person. Jesus says in verse 22 “but up to seventy times seven.” In other words, no matter how many times a person offends us, we can never withhold forgiveness. Peter’s question opened the door for Jesus to share the parable about the unforgiving servant.
The servant had gotten himself into some serious debt with his master, so his master was going to put him, his wife and his children into prison until he paid the debt. Let’s pick up the record in verses 26 and 27. “The servant therefore fell down, and worshiped him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion (the same Greek word as mercy), and released him, and forgave him the debt.” (Matthew 18:26-27) The servant’s master had mercy on him and forgave him all his debt. Do you see the message that Jesus is trying to teach Peter? Jesus is telling Peter, “When I go to the cross, I will be the payment for all the wrongs that people will do to you. And because of this, you will be able to freely show people mercy when they do something wrong to you.” If we were to continuing reading the parable, we would see that the “forgiven servant” was faced with a similar situation when one of his fellow servants couldn’t pay the debt. You would think that because he had been shown mercy and forgiven his debt that he would be willing to do the same for the one who owed him money. But oh no, he was like us. While he was the “forgiven servant” when he couldn’t pay, he quickly became the “unforgiving servant” when someone could not repay him. Instead of giving his fellow servant the same compassion (mercy) that his master gave to him, the “unforgiving servant” put his fellow servant into prison. Now when some of his fellow servants, who knew he had been forgiven, saw how he had treated the man and his family reported him to his master. Let’s pick the parable up with verses 32 through 34. “Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, ‘O you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt, because you desired me. 33Should not you also have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you?’ 34And his lord was angry, and delivered him to the jailers, till he should pay all that was due unto him.” (Matthew 18:32-34) The master was angry with the “unforgiving servant” because the servant withheld compassion (withheld mercy.) He did not follow his master’s example of kindness and forgiveness. I want you to understand what many Christians missed New Light. The master in this parable is Jesus and we are the “forgiven servant.” Jesus has forgiven us a debt that we had no ability to repay. That’s why Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew chapter six verse 12 “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” When we forgive others, when we show others compassion and mercy, Jesus says that our Father will show us compassion and mercy when we need it.
Now let’s tie all of this up. Paul opens up the first nine epistles with “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” But in the last three epistles he adds the word “mercy.” “Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.” As I thought about this, I remembered that Timothy and Titus were the last books that Paul wrote before his death. These men of God were dealing with some difficult situations in their ministries where they needed to exercise grace and mercy in order to obtain peace to finish their work. They had been troubled but Paul was giving them a reminder of what God had already given them – grace, mercy and peace. I also realized something else in these epistles, Paul was sharing the one characteristic that took him years to truly understand. He understood that to truly serve God the way God needed him to, his life would have to be one of forgiving freely and forgiving quickly. He learned that over his years of ministry and understood that we, like him, would need to live a life of forgiveness if we are going to see God’s grace working in our lives to produce the peace that Jesus died on the cross to leave us. Mercy is that one characteristic that we received when we were born again that makes it possible for us to have the faith that brings together the two blessings that God wants to give to us every single day of our lives – grace and peace. And New Light, the only way we can demonstrate mercy is when we forgive the people who have wronged us. Yes, faith accesses God’s grace. And when we touch God’s grace, the peace that Jesus describes becomes ours. But the one thing that can stop our faith in its tracks is a heart that is filled with unforgiveness – a heart that does not extend mercy.
As I close this morning I want you to see the connection between each word as it relates to giver and receiver. The biblical definition of grace means “to grant as a favor, pardon, rescue and/or forgive” and to do it “unconditionally.” If you recall Jesus’ answer to Peter, if you are keeping count of someone’s sins against you, then you have not forgiven them unconditionally. Your forgiveness is predicated on them not reaching your “required” number which could be one time, two times or possibly three. The saying, “Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me” speaks wisdom in one sense, but at the same time unforgiveness. It says after you fool me the first time I will not forget and therefore forgive! Grace indicates “favor” on the part of the giver, and “thanks” on the part of the receiver. Whether we are giving or receiving, grace should be a part of our lives as Christians.
This also applies to mercy. The biblical definition of mercy means “pitiful, compassionate for the ills of others.” In other words, you feel someone else’s pain (sympathy) and choose to do something about it. It means showing compassion from the heart – not just the action, but the heart. Let me explain. If someone does something to you, you can show compassion to them because you want to (from the heart) or because you “have to” because you’re being made to do it or someone else is watching your reaction. Do you think the unforgiving servant in Jesus’ parable would have done what he did if he knew those watching him would report him? No, he probably would have noticed them looking and deciding a different course of action. In his action he would have shown compassion, but in his heart the lack of mercy would still be prevalent. Just so you are aware, God’s looks at the heart and He knows the truth behind each and every action regardless of how many times we are faking it.
New Light, there is no possible way we can obtain the peace of God if we are not walking in His grace and His mercy. And what I mean by “walking in it” is not that we have not received it, but we are giving it. God has been so gracious toward me that I cannot withhold grace from others. He has been so merciful to me that I cannot withhold mercy from others and believe when I tell you there have been many times when I wanted to. I will leave you this morning with a few of the lyrics from the song “Your Grace and Mercy” by the Mississippi Mass Choir. These words sum of my life and this message on grace and mercy which leads to the peace that Jesus spoke of in John chapter fourteen.
“Your Grace and Mercy”
“Your grace and mercy, brought me through, I'm living this moment because of You. I want to thank You, and praise You too, Your grace and mercy, brought me through. Thank You for saving, a sinner like me, to tell the world, salvation is free. There were times when I just didn’t do right, but You watched over me, both day and night. Justice demanded that I should die, but grace and mercy said oh no, we've already paid the price. But see, I once was blind, but thank God I can see, it was all because, grace and mercy, came along, and rescued me. Your grace and mercy brought me through, I'm living this moment because of You, I want to thank You and praise You too, Your grace and mercy, brought me through.” God bless you New Light!
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
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