The Mercy Of God

THE MERCY OF GOD

Today we’re going to look at the mercy of God. Have you ever done something wrong and needed someone to be merciful? I remember being asked by a friend to take care of her car while she was on vacation. What I didn’t know is that her license plates were expired. A police officer pulled me over, asked me for my drivers license and registration and informed me of the infraction. He asked me if I knew the plates were expired, which I didn’t. He then asked me to get out of the car, had it towed and made me walk home. It was a long walk home. I was devastated. I needed a little mercy that day.

Mercy is defined as compassionate treatment of an offender, enemy etc; clemency. A disposition to be kind and forgiving. God’s gratuitous compassion.

Compassion – A deep feeling of sharing in the suffering of another; mercy.

We see in the scripture that the mercy of God is linked to acts of compassion. They go to together. To be merciful is to show compassion. We’re not truly being merciful if it’s not followed by an act of compassion.

(Exo 33:19 NIV) And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

(Deu 13:17 NIV) None of those condemned things shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers,

(Zec 7:9 NIV) "This is what the LORD Almighty says: ’Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

The mercy of God is powerful especially when mercy comes face to face with someone in trouble. Pt 1:

HIS MERCY IS GREAT

(Mat 18:33 NIV) Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’

Mat 18:23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.

Mat 18:24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him.

Mat 18:25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

Mat 18:26 "The servant fell on his knees before him. ’Be patient with me,’ he begged, ’and I will pay back everything.’

Mat 18:27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

Mat 18:28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ’Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

Mat 18:29 "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ’Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

Mat 18:30 "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.

Mat 18:31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

Mat 18:32 "Then the master called the servant in. ’You wicked servant,’ he said, ’I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.

Mat 18:33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’

Mat 18:34 In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

We see the heart of God and how great his mercy is as a man who owes the master millions of dollars can’t pay the debt. The man pleads, begs as he is faced with losing all he has. His wife, his children and everything else he owns. And then the most wonderful thing happens! God cancels the debt and let’s the man go. He not only has no more debt but he’s free to go. Freedom! Yahooo! In an instant he’s free from the burden, free from the stress, the pressure and the work to pay it all back.

How would you like it if all your school debt was cancelled. In an instant your life is changed. Wow what joy!

But then we see the heart of this man and what we can be like. This man goes out and finds a fellow servant who owed him a few dollars, grabs him, chokes him and demands payment.

The man begs for an opportunity to pay it back but the other man refuses. Instead he has the man thrown into prison for a few dollars.