Now, I am a semi-organized person – or at least I think so. One of the things that I have tried to do since the beginning of my ministry is to keep track of all the sermons that I have preached – along with most of the lesson series. As I begin each message, I pull up a particular computer file and I enter the scripture, the title and the place where that message was delivered, if it is outside our church. Not only do I add each new message, but I also check to see if I have preached a related message in recent months, because I want to avoid duplication as much as possible.
This exercise the other day brought up an astonishing fact. Out of the thousands of messages that I’ve preached, there have only been two which dealt directly with mercy, and there have been only four others that indirectly relate to our subject. The closest that I’ve come to this theme is a Bible lesson from our series on the “Perfections of God.” In 1991, I preached a sermon from Jude 21 – “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” That message was not about mercy, per se, but about living in expectation of the Lord’s return. Nine years ago I preached a children’s message on mercy, but it was very simple. And then a couple of years ago we looked at one of the Psalms and David’s plea for mercy. The only other sermon that directly dealt with the theology of mercy was preached 14 years ago. The text was Isaiah 1:18 – “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” The emphasis of that message was on the miraculous nature of mercy.
Not only did my lack of teaching on “mercy” surprise me, but there is something even more surprising: In my library, I have thousands of sermons and outlines preached by other men. And in surveying all those books and other sources, I couldn’t find a single outline, which I thought addressed the subject very well. So the meager presentation this morning is, as usual, totally Oldfield.
All of this made me wonder why there have been so few messages on the subject. I suppose that one reason is because, it is hard to speak about salvation without references to mercy. Despite the lack of direct emphasis, the wonderful incense of mercy permeates nearly every other sermon. And then another explanation is that it is so closely related to “grace” that any message on that theme has to bring up “mercy.” As I have said, there is a sense in which grace and mercy are two sides of the same coin. Grace is the positive blessing of God, while mercy is the negative. In grace God’s makes us His children, and mercy is when He doesn’t destroy or punish us as sinners. As said many times, in grace God does for us what we don’t deserve, and in mercy God doesn’t do to us what we deserve. But, those statements, while generally true, are generalities.
As I said, I am calling this message “Essential Mercy.”
Why do I say that mercy is an essential part of the nature of God? Let’s try to answer that through the back door – Is it in the nature of man to be merciful? We are commanded to be merciful, and there are even blessings promised to those who are merciful. But those commands and exhortations point out the fact that we are not by nature merciful creatures. Our sin nature, our unrighteous nature, our “old man” – is basically self-centered – ego-centric. And selfishness is not naturally prone to mercy. Furthermore I suppose that the opportunity for any of us to be merciful is somewhat limited. I can forgive only someone who has harmed me in some way. But it doesn’t make sense for me to be merciful toward someone who has offended you. And if someone murdered one of my loved-ones, there is no way for me to stop the state of Idaho from putting that person on trial for murder. My forgiveness and mercy can’t extend that far. Second, angels are never said to be merciful. The other day I read all 261 of the Bible verses which use the word “mercy.” There are another 36 verses which speak of being “merciful.” Unless my eyes were temporarily glazed over, and momentarily I didn’t recognize what I was reading, I don’t think that there is one verse that says mercy is an act or an attribute of any of the angels of God. Third, while Christians are exhorted to be merciful, we can be merciful only through Christ Jesus. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” But without the power of God through Christ I can do nothing.
But in contrast to these, there are a great many verses which speak about GOD as being, or showing, mercy. “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.” “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” Not only is the Lord merciful, but in contrast to the Christian’s spasmodic mercy, Jehovah’s is eternal. There are more than forty scriptures which speak about the ETERNAL mercy of God. And I am not thinking of Psalm 136 where that theme is repeated over two dozen times. “Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. “O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” There is only one source of eternality, and that is Jehovah. If the soul is eternal, and it is, that is because God has decreed it to be so. If the Bible is eternal, it is because the Word of God is inextricably linked to the eternal God. Only the Lord is beyond corruption, death or destruction. Only God is truly, and by nature, everlasting. “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” If anything besides the Lord is eternal, it because He has decreed it to be eternal. That raises the question then: is mercy eternal because the Lord has decreed it to be so, or because it is a part of God’s eternal nature? Practically speaking, I suppose that it doesn’t really matter
The mercy of the Lord is as much a part of His Being as truth is. Can God tell a lie? Scripture, our only accurate source of information about the Lord, says that He cannot lie – He cannot be untrue to Himself. Titus 1:3 and II Timothy 2:13. Can God sin, or can God cause man to sin? Technically, because God is omnipotent, it might be argued that He could if He wanted to. But the fact is – God cannot do these things, because they are contrary to His holy being. Truth, faithfulness, trustworthiness, fidelity, veracity – whatever words you want to use – are as much a part of the nature of God as omnipotence or omniscience. And in several scriptures mercy and truth are tied together with a double square knot. Sometimes that link is just poetical, but sometimes it is deeply theological. “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth …” “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” “Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.” Think about Psalm 89:14 for example: “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne (God): mercy and truth shall go before thy face.” Just as justice and judgment – just as equity and holiness – are basic to God’s Kingdom, so are mercy and truth.
But the Bible makes a clear and unmistakable comment about God’s mercy – it is under sovereign management. Verse 15 – “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Unlike some of the other attributes of God, mercy has directional capabilities. And this thought lies at the heart of this chapter. Abraham had two sons, but God was merciful toward Isaac and not Ishmael. Isaac had two sons, but the Lord in grace and mercy chose to love only Jacob, hating Esau – verse 13. There were probably hundreds of residents in Jericho, but God was merciful towards only one. It might be argued that only Rahab repented and threw herself on the mercy of Jehovah. While that is true, it must be asked – why didn’t other Jerichoites follow her example? The answer is that they hardened their hearts against the Lord. And why did they harden their hearts? For the same reason that Pharaoh did forty years earlier. Verse 17 – “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will (like Pharaoh) he hardeneth.”
I realize that this is not a doctrine which people like to hear. Generally speaking it is something that not even Christians want to hear – but they must. It is what the Bible says. Jehovah is sovereign in the management of His mercy, His love and His grace. Sovereignty is a part of the nature of God; it is the essence of authority; it is a key to God’s deity. The grace and mercy of God are not things to be demanded by men, and the Lord is not obligated to bestow these things upon anyone.
In the pages of the Bible the word “mercy” is linked to other important words. For example, there are dozens of scriptures which tie together great need and the Lord’s mercy. Psalm 6:2 – “Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed.” Psalm 9:13 – “Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death.” Deuteronomy 7:2 – shows that mercy is related to being spared from problems and judgment.
And that takes us to the point that mercy is at the root of forgiveness. Moses, the great teacher of Israel, had a lot to learn before he could teach. In Exodus 34 the Lord met with Moses for a One-on-one tutoring session. “And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin…” This passage teaches several things about God and His mercy. For example it reminds us that it is a part of the Lord’s nature as much as goodness and truth. And it points out that the Lord’s mercy extends only to thousands when the population of the world may reach the millions. And third, mercy facilitates the forgiveness of iniquity, transgression and sin. There are dozens and dozens of verses which teach that forgiveness of sin is a result of God’s mercy. Numbers 14:18-19 – “The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression… Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.” Psalm 25:7 – “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O LORD.” Ephesians 2:4-6 – “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” How about Titus 3:5 – “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” And what about I Peter 1:3 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
There are people who like to argue that Romans 9 doesn’t deal with individual salvation, but rather to God’s choice of the nation of Israel over the people of Esau or the people of Pharaoh. They say that this is all about nations rather than personal salvation. I’m sorry, but I think that Esau, Ishmael and Pharaoh would have a hard time with that interpretation. Sure, this chapter has national application, but Jacob was saved by the mercy and grace of God, and Esau was not. Moses was saved by the mercy of God, but God permitted Pharaoh to harden his heart and that man is now in Hell. Although mercy relates to more than the salvation of the soul, salvation from sin is its most important function.
Let me read a brief article by Lewis Sperry Chafer: “Three words need especially to be distinguished, namely, “love,” “mercy” and “grace.” Love is that in God which existed before He would care to exercise mercy or grace. Mercy on the other hand, is that in God which … provided for the need of sinful man, while grace is that in Him which acts freely to save because all the demands of God have been satisfied. Sinners are not actually saved by mercy but by grace. Mercy only produces a Saviour and draws the sinner to Him.”
The primary function of mercy is making way for the salvation of the sinful soul. Since we are all sinners and there is no other means of deliverance from this sin except through God’s salvation, then it means that mercy is one of the essential needs of man. Mercy is more necessary than our meal this afternoon. Mercy is more necessary that your next breath of air. Without that breath you are going to pass into eternity, and you must have God’s salvation before that moment or you will immediately enter Hell.
To most people’s minds, even to our own, verses 15 and 18 may sound harsh. “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” But let me soften the blow with something highly encouraging. About one of every six or eight verses which use the word “mercy,” use that word in humble prayer. For example there is David – “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” The New Testament has as many examples of this kind of prayer as the Old Testament. “And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” “And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.”
I believe in the election of grace; I believe that the Bible teaches God’s sovereignty over mercy. But I also see, with the authority of scripture, people pleading for grace and mercy. Pharaoh didn’t seek it, and neither did Esau or Ishmael, but millions of others have. That yearning for salvation was placed in those hearts by God, but it doesn’t matter if those people realized it or not. What Rahab and millions of others understood, was that they needed the mercy of God, so they humbly begged God for it. “Mercy, God. I need your mercy and grace. Save this wicked, hell-deserving soul of mine. I turn to no other supply; there IS no other source. God, be merciful to me a sinner.” I guarantee that if your heart is filled with this kind of desire, then the Lord WILL be merciful toward you.
Repent of your sin and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.