CENTRAL THOUGHT
Experiencing God’s mercy not only produces profound gratitude but also the stimulus to be merciful to others.
HYMN: WHEN ALL THY MERCIES, O MY GOD
Text: Luke 6:36, Matt 5:7, 18:23-35
Introduction:
People display a variety of dispositions and virtues dependent on their upbringing, perceptions, experiences, and relationships. One of such virtues is mercy which derives from a genuine encounter with the Lord. It is very easy to give misleading impressions to others that one is merciful by showing outward acts of charity, voluntary services and so forth when they are driven by self-centered agendas. It is this deception that every believer should avoid, hence a study like this that puts us in the right perceptive of being merciful.
The grace of God is demonstrated by mercy and favor that no human deserves. Those who have a relationship with the Lord through Christ are endowed with this virtue of mercy. The most obvious response by the believer is a continual sense of gratitude and appreciation gratitude for being saved and free from the power and dominion of sin and the devil; gratitude for the hope of eternal life; gratitude for the Lord’s continued provisions, protection, and sustenance. This gratitude stems from the fact that all these favors are underserved. The other obvious response is in kind of show of mercy to others (believers and unbelievers). For the believer, it is simply natural to show mercy. Scriptures indicate that “from everyone who has been given much (of mercy), so much (of mercy) will be demanded (Luke 12:48). Believers are being encourage to enlarge their hearts to show mercy in view of the overwhelming and abundant mercy we have received from the Lord.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are:
- To have an understanding of God’s mercy.
- To have the right perspective to show mercy.
- To show mercy as the Lord expects of his children.
- To know the rewards of being merciful.
Q1. WHAT DO YOU UNDERSTAND BY GOD’S MERCIES?
The display of mercy by the Lord reveals His character. Deut. 4:31 put this point across, “For the Lord God is a merciful God”. Being his character, the Lord has responded to the falling tendencies of man since the fall of Adam with continual acts of mercies. Hence the human race continues in existence. For the believer, this holds special significance “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassion’s fail not.” (Lamentations 3:22).
Closely linked to this is the fact that the mercies of God reveal his love. God’s love is displayed by his many acts of mercies. The coming of Christ in human form, his endurance of suffering and shame at the hands of wicked and sinful men, his death on the cross, and his resurrection were demonstrations of his mercies of ensuring that man does not receive the just retribution of eternal condemnation for his sins. The love of God and his mercy are simply inseparable. Love is demonstrated in his many acts of mercies redemption being the ultimate; His mercies reveal His love. We observed this twinning of love and mercy in Isaiah 63:9 “In His love and mercy he redeemed them and carried them all the days of old.” It is regrettable that till this date many do not still appreciate both the love and mercy of God with the outcome that they abuse them.
We see the demonstration of the mercies of God in his son who ministered out of love and compassion. “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (Matt 14:14) This was simply an extension of the mercies of God made manifest in his son. We should take cue from this to minister from the bowels of God’s mercies rather than from personal gratification, promotion, or conceit. In so doing, we make a strong statement to our world that we are different and heaven- focused.
Q2. HOW SHOULD THE MERCY OF GOD IMPACT THE BELIEVER?
Luke 6:36 enjoin us, “Be merciful, just as your father is merciful.” Having experienced the abundance of the mercies of the Lord, the believer is supernaturally endowed to show mercy to others. The Lord Jesus Christ left us with an example by his earthly ministry; we should follow his example. Freely we have received of the Lord’s mercies, freely we should give the same.
We have noted that mercy is the Lord’s character. It should be that of every believer. The believer should instinctively show mercy in all circumstances, without condoning sin and acts of wickedness. Being merciful to unbelievers simply means having the divine picture that they are in a fallen state and Christ is their only hope of redemption. We have also linked God’s mercy with his love, which means that the show of mercy by the believer must stem from love. Mercy will naturally flow from a heart filled with the love of God. When love is absent, acts of mercy reflect the fallen nature with attending traits like drawing attention to oneself and priding oneself.
Q3. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE LORD SHOWING US MERCY?
Every descendent of Adam (the entire human race) is in a fallen state. The scriptures have various descriptions of fallen men. These include being lost, “if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Cor. 4:3) hopelessness, “remember that at the time you were separated from Christ without hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12); being blind, “in whom the god of this world have blinded the minds of them which believe not.” (2 Cor. 4:4) what underlies all of this is that falling man is not capable of saying himself. Hence, God made a plan of Salvation through Christ Jesus. This is because he is merciful swards all sold that all my experience his saving grace (Rom 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9, 15). The mercy of God works out his patience, desiring that no one should face his wrath and judgment but be saved. Eph. 2:4- 5 states that “But because of his great love for us, God, is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.” God’s justice declares every man guilty because all have fallen short of his divine mark, but his mercy, through the sacrifice of his son at Calvary, brings Salvation and hope to everyone who willingly accepts this atoning work of redemption.
While God’s mercy is expressed in his patience towards mankind, the only wise and instructive response to his mercy is to accept his redemptive plan. To abuse God’s mercy and patience, through willful disobedience to his word, ostentatious and in immoral lifestyle, greed karma abuse of position and power, will surely and certainly bring about the judgment of God. No one should be deceived to think that because fire has not fallen from heaven to consume the wicked (Num. 21:6), nor persons fallen dead suddenly (Acts 5:1-11), one should continue in the excesses of a life laden with sin. God has not changed; his standard remains the same. It should be seen as a display of the mercy of God beckoning him or her to repentance.
It should be at the heart of every human to be at the place where he or she benefits from this Divine Mercy from the Lord. This year earning can be expressed in a prayer like, ‘Lord help me to always be at the place of your mercy.’ Paul, quoting the Lord’s words to Moses in Exodus 33:19, stated in Rom. 19:15, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” Who does not desire being shown God’s mercy? While ‘God is sovereign over his mercy, he has laid down his terms of mercy and compassion and will not dispense with either until men meet his terms.’ Any man who yearns to be at the place of the continual flow of God’s mercy and sets his heart to honoring the Lord through His word will always receive his divine favor. It is in this light that the believer takes cognizance of the priestly office of the Lord Jesus Christ and comes to the throne of God in prayer to receive mercy and the drive to be a blessing to others in need. (Heb. 4:16)
Q4. HOW CAN WE SHOW MERCY?
We can’t show mercy by having a forgiving heart. This is vividly illustrated in the parable of our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 18:23-35 in which a servant who owed 10,000 talents was forgiven by his master but could not forgive another servant
who owed him a negligible fraction of that. “Then the master called the servant in. You wicked servant, he said, I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” (Matt. 18:32- 33) The debt each one of us owed the Lord because of our sins far outweighs any evil acts from another human being. When forgiveness is sought, we should willingly give it.
The Lord Jesus gives another illustration in Matthew 25:31-46 of the judge of the earth separating the righteous from the ungodly. He will say to the righteous, “Come you who are blessed by my father, take your inheritance, … for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, … I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matt 25:34-40) what is significant here is that we should see Christ in every believer, and when the opportunity arises to assist or offer support we should do so gladly, knowing that we are doing it for the Lord. In this way, we do not expect to have our reward here but in eternity. It also frees us from the deception of giving and impression that we are showing mercy when in actual fact we are doing it to get some kind of returns. This is the case when people, in the guise of charity karma do so to get political patronage and mileage. That should not be contemplated by a believer.
Q5. WHAT ARE THE REWARDS OF BEING MERCIFUL?
Being merciful puts us in the place of being a recipient of mercy (Matt. 5:7). No matter how secure we are financially, materially, and socially, we need God’s favor upon our lives. At once desperate moments, the mercy of God (in whatever form supernaturally or through another human) will make all the difference. We are encouraged bountifully to show mercy and to do so tirelessly.
It is most fulfilling to see the impact of the mercy shown for the sake of Christ on a fellow human. That act of mercy could have brought about the person’s encounter with Christ or it could have set him on a solid career path or could have saved him from deprivation or could have made his education pass. There is nothing more fulfilling then to be an instrument of God’s mercy to another human. It is a reward to be cherished. As the words of Jesus Christ in Matthew 25:31-46 indicated, the merciful will receive a heavenly reward. The words will echo forth from none other but the Lord, “Come, you are blessed by my father; Take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” (Matt.25:34) it will be most heartwarming to the hearts of the merciful to receive these words.
Daily Living Application:
Many varied situations can front us to either show mercy or retaliate, to forgive, or pay back in the manner we have been treated, and to turn the other cheek or have “an eye for an eye.” These situations could come from “a brother in Christ” undercutting you in a business transaction. We could be at the receiving end of an insecure brother who proposes marriage to two or more ladies at the same time. We could be deeply hurt to the extent that weed out the veracity of the Christian faith. The devil is quick to encourage such one to pay back in kind and react with the same kind of spirit (a devilish one) That he has been treated. Yet the Lord would have us take his word, “be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Eph. 3:32). Let us accept His word and His Godly disposition of mercy respond to these situations.
Memory Verse:
Micah 6:8
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what the Lord requires of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Daily Devotional Guide:
Monday: Amazing mercy of God.
Lam. 3:22-26
Tuesday: God’s mercy and love.
Isaiah 63:7-9
Wednesday: Mercy at the Cross.
Matt. 27:27-50
Thursday: Be merciful as your heavenly Father.
Luke 6:27-36
Friday: The unmerciful servant.
Matt. 18:23-35
Saturday: Urged to be merciful.
Eph. 4:29-32