Who Is God, Part 6

I don't know about you, but I love sandwiches. I just I love him sandwiches are so good. I still remember the day that I figured out you could take potato chips and put them on a sandwich and just how great that made The Simpsons even better just a fundamentally great experience to eat a sandwich that has chips on it, but still probably one of my favorites. If not, my most favorite is the PB&J. You can't get much better than the classic right? You can do so many different things with it. You can add a ton of different things. I just hope you never had the Nana's cuz that's disgusting some people do it. I think it's gross the PB&J think it's great. I want you to think of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich this morning as we begin to talk about an attribute of God. Do you take a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? You have one side and you're going to lather on the peanut butter on one side and you're going to douse the other side with jelly and then going to take the two and you're going to push him together going to slam the sandwich together. At that moment when you put them together that the peanut butter and jelly, they are distinct ingredients. But when you mash them together, it is not so easy to distinguish them because we've now crushed them together. If you were to pull the sandwich apart, you could clearly see the peanut butter and jelly, but when you put it together, although the distinct, it's kind of hard to distinguish the two I say that because we're studying the mercy of God this week, but I told you we're doing that in line with the grace of God that we talked about last week and over and over again in the scriptures. We have grace and mercy together placed in the Bible, especially when it's describing who God is and so at times it can kind of seem like grace and mercy are slammed together and we can't really distinguish between the two although I think the Bible does so it'll be good for us this morning to peel apart the sandwich so to speak so we can be able to distinguish between the two last week. We focused on the grace of God this week. We're going to focus on the mercy of God Saturn through your Bible Psalm 145 and see if we can't find the distinguishing characteristic between the two. Puppies we look at the mercy of God Psalm 145 is we've been in for these past five weeks looking at the attributes of God. I'm going to do what I've done me to read the psalm in its entirety and I'm going to focus on the mercy of God Psalm 145 verses 1 to 21 says this a song of Praise of David I will extol you my God and King and bless your name Forever and Ever every day. I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable one generation shall commend your Works to another shall declare your Mighty acts on the Glorious Splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works. I will meditate they shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth of Fame of your abundant goodness, and she'll sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast. Love of the Lord is good to all in his Mercy is over all that. He has made all your work. She'll give thanks to a Lord and all your Saints bless you they shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power to make known to the Children of Men You're Mighty deeds in the Glorious Splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom your Dominion in Taurus throttle Generations. The Lord is faithful in all his word and kind and all his works the Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all her about down the eyes of all look to you and you give them their food in due season you open up your hand you satisfy. The desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind and all his works. The Lord is near to all who call upon him to all who call upon him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him yell. So here's their cry and save them the Lord preserve's all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy my mouth will speak the praise of the Lord and let all flash bless His. Holy name forever. Andeavor. I hope as we continually dive back into the Somme week in and week out our hearts and our minds are lifted up to the high thoughts that we should be giving to the god of the universe. That's one of our distinctive see if we maintain a high view of God because he is the one as we describe the one deserving of all glory and holy and separate set apart from us. We talked about the Transcendence and the greatness of God. Our song says Lord is great greatly to be praised in his greatness is unsearchable, but that was combined with an Eminence. We saw in verse 18. The Lord is near to all who call upon him who all who call upon him in truth and to have those two categories people together as I hope Ben and encouragement to you and one we're going to see this week is the evidence of God in his Mercy. How do we distinguish Grace from Mercy you saw it in the text and verse 8 the Lord is gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and I told you that that has been from Exodus 34 the scene throughout the Old Testament of understanding who got is it was God's confession of his own character in 11 separate times. I think it is in the Old Testament. This is how God has revealed himself to his people. He is gracious and he's merciful to ask about the grace of God last week. We saw God's grace is given to those who are unworthy and it's his liberating favor towards those who are Unworthy of it and they are liberated from sins penalty power and presence because of that Grace that's come in But here's where the similarity with Mercy is. Okay, here's where the similarity with nursing bassist. They are both offered sovereignty from God to the people with no worthiness in the recipient. That's when you get the sandwiches push together where you're really not kind of distinguishing between the two between grace and mercy because they're both being given to a person who is Unworthy of it. There's nothing eliciting in the worthiness of this person to be able to draw this or demanded from God. It's honored undeserved unmerited. So that's where they come together in that sense. But what we have here when we when we got to pull in the parking lot to distinguish them we can say that Grace is dealing more with the status of the sinner. So Grace is dealing with the status of the sooner that the sinner when they send they sinned against God and put them self in a category of condonation. They've made themselves a slave to send their dead in their trespasses and sins and that's what Grace comes and deals with it eradicates them from the the penalty of sin in God's Wrath. It it removes. It will remove them from the president that one day and it helps them fight against the power of sin and its expectations of Grace deals with the status of the sinner. But here's what Mercy does mercy deals with the suffering of the center. And that's really where mercy and Grace begin to be distinguished because Grace is given. Yes, but it's given to those who are suffering in their sins and that Affliction that misery that a sinner finds himself in is relieved by the mercy of God. So each and every week that we come together and give you a definition of the attribute we're going to do it again here so we can show the definition of here. This is what the mercy of God is definition of the mercy of God God's compassion and care for the suffering very simple straightforward definition. Got compassion and Care toward the suffering. I'm working to distinguish what that suffering looks like as we worked throughout this. sermon God's compassion and care towards the suffering want to make sure you're both components there because I'm sure like you you've at times felt a feeling of compassion towards somebody or something as you watched it, but you've been able to push that aside and and not act upon it God's Mercy is never like that when God feels this compassion when God is compelled with this this inner city towards someone it is never met without practice its compassion and care God sees it and he acts upon it. He helps The Afflicted but the reason why we start with the idea of compassion is because the Hebrew word in the Greek word that we're going to look at Add Hebrew word Aram you have that idea of a of an inward feeling like that gut punch you feel when you see somebody suffering is just deep inside of you. I think even at times one of the cognitive related words is his room like you you think of a wound that takes care of a child. It's just that that deep sense of of care that you have for somebody is compassion. It's it's pity and sympathy. It's a desire to help somebody suffering and in the New Testament which one of the words is flank mezzo mind. You can impress your friends with that one later cuz splanchnic zamaya can't spell it for you. But at speaking of that also that inward desire when you do you feel it in your gut you feel in your heart. You're just it's rent over what's happening to somebody I think ways we've Illustrated that before when we talked about this Has been to think about things like deep human suffering when you think about the Holocaust right? That is a moment where your gut goes off and you just use sense the suffering that went on there. But as we've Illustrated before if you think even if somebody who was able to help in the release of that Oskar Schindler, I remember one time hearing him say when he walked by and saw the atrocities he felt it but you know that Schindler acted upon it it wasn't just a mere compassion that he felt it was compassion that was met with care as he tried to help as many Jews as he could out of such a horrible situation. And see if it's it's weird that we have to use those type of illustration. But we're going to talk about later on is it's kind of hard for us to come up with illustrations for Mercy because we live in such a culture where suffering at least physically so has been alleviated by a lot. So it's hard for us to comprehend these things. So we have to talk about the the weighty things to make sure we understand what God is doing when he's rescuing us from the misery and suffering from sin. Maybe we could distinguish between grace and mercy in the sense. Let's just picture go back to the Holocaust. Let's picture at the end of it k r at the end of it World War II has done and we're getting ready to have the you know, that the Allies, they've won and let's say you're okay and there's a group of Nazi soldiers that are there any Americans are going to come they wanted they're going to come in they're going to take the Nazi soldiers away and they're going to release all of the Jews. Let's say that the American soldiers get there and they grabbed one of the Nazi soldiers and they put him in handcuffs and they're going to take him away for their war crimes. That Nazi soldiers he's being led Away by an American soldier that Nazi Soldier is under the status of his sin. I'm a criminal and for him to get released would be an act of Grace. That's what that person needs right there that Nazi officer because he broke the the the law and he is suffering and he is in that position. He needs an act of Grace to release him from the prison the punishment that he's doing but let's say as the American Soldier walks the Nazi Soldier to where he's taken in the Nazi soldier kills over and his appendix burst. And he's riding in pain on the ground. See what the Nazi Soldier needs right? There is not Grace. He needs Mercy from the soldier in his Mercy from the soldier to bend over and pick them up. To a medic 10 to get a doctor to provide the perform the surgery to to be able to alleviate the pain with pain medicine to to dab his forehead with a with a cold cloth because he doesn't want to see a human being suffer. When you begin to think of that example, you begin to think more the example of how God shows Mercy to us as sinners. Because that Nazi soldier that was doing horribly horrific things to people received Mercy when they didn't deserve it Unworthy of it and that's what God does for us when he shows that care and compassion. It's against people who done these rebellious things against him and he has no reason in our comprehension logical reason rational reason to do this because he's a god of compassion and mercy he reaches out to us when we're suffering in our sins and he relieves us of that misery. That's what we want to begin to think about as we do. So, let's look at a couple of scriptural examples of this Luke chapter 10

scene example this in Luke chapter 10

God's care and compassion for people

Luke chapter 10

You can take a look at verse 25. 237 this is a parable of the Good Samaritan like the parable. I just gave you of that Nazi who needed that that care and compassion. This is what Jesus does to teach people about what real compassion and mercy. Who 1025 system Behold a lawyer stood up and put him to the test same teacher. What shall I do to inherit eternal life? And he said what is written in the law? How do you read it? You said you should love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself, and he said you've answered correctly do this and you will live verse 29, but he Desiring to justify himself said to Jesus and who is my neighbor So we're going to see a contrast to hear he's seeking to justify himself with Jesus. He's seeking to make his acceptance of Jesus based on what he's doing. So I want clear distinction Jesus on who my neighbor so I know that I can go do this. So you will see that I am worthy to receive entrance into eternal life if it works based salvation. So listen to how Jesus was that he said A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell among robbers who stripped him and beat him and departed leaving him half-dead now by chance of priests was going by in the road and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a levite when he came by to the place and saw him pass by on the other side, but as Samaritan as he journeyed came to where he was and when he saw him he had compassion you have mercy he had that Compassionate Care that pity and practice he went to him and bound up his wounds for an oil and wine you set him on his own animal and brought him to the end and took care of him and the next day he took out two denarii. Give it to The Innkeeper to take care of him and whatever more you spend I will repay when I come back. Which of these days you think proved to be the neighbor to the man who fell among robbers and he said to the one who showed him mercy and Jesus said to him go and do likewise. That's what Mercy is. I mean, we don't I think really understand the idea of the Samaritans and Jews me I guess this is the foolish example that I can think of but like in gang territories, it's like Bloods and Crips K. Like if you were on one side and you saw your enemy over there and they were suffering you wouldn't do anything to reach out to that one because you're on opposing sides using Samaritans for like that. They were they were antithetical to one of them in like one another and so Jesus example of this Samaritan coming up and seeing somebody in pain and not considering who they are or where they came from or why this happened reached out and was caring and compassionate towards that person to make sure that they're okay. This is the care and compassion that comes to us from God and our spiritual condition one of their example, go to Mark put back to March 6th. Mark chapter 6

Mark chapter 6

Who said this about a year-and-a-half ago maybe a year ago? We are considering Jesus in The Gospel of Mark and when he feeds the 5000 it says this is Mark 6:33. Now many saw them going and recognize them and they ran their on foot from all the time. I got there ahead of him when he when Jesus went ashore and saw the great crowd. He had a compassion on them because they were like a sheep without a shepherd and begin to teach them. I'm going to relate his disciples came to him and said this is odesza plays the hours now late send them away into the surrounding countries and Villages and buy them something so they can buy something to eat. But he answered them you give them something to eat and they said to him shall we going by 200 denarii worth of bread and give it to them and you said to them how many loads do you have go and see in Jesus then performs the great miracle of feeding that large amount of people with a couple of Fish and Loaves again, Jesus feels as compassion. He sees people who are suffering and in the spiritual sense, he sees that they're wandering in their loss. So he begins to teach them and he helps them and then physically he takes care of them as well and that's often. See it in the scriptures the physical suffering allows you to picture what the spiritual suffering is you and I face when we are in the Affliction of since we see that constantly drawn back and forth to the scripture. So this is what I believe the Bible is talking about when it's talking about God caring compassion to those who are suffering and you and I are suffering spiritually in our sins before God Saves us. So now that we've talked about this you want to break this down and how we would apply this to our Lives who aren't you write this down number one in your outline. If this is what the mercy of God is his care and compassion for us. We should be humbled by the reception of Mercy. We should be humbled by the reception of Mercy. It's been a lot of time. We talked about humility and Grace last week. God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. And I think when you really contemplating consider what Mercy is it should be a humbling thing to you that God would be merciful because you and I are not in a state where God owes us anything. I get Exodus 33:18. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful god is under no obligation to show this care and compassion. But because he is a merciful god that's in his nature. He cares for us. So do you think of this turn the song 130 Psalm 130?

Psalm 130 will be humbled by when we realized the miserable condition of our sin.

Movie like the miserable condition of our sin.

Psalm 130 verses 1 through 4 says this

The song of a sense out of the depths. I Cry To You O Lord O Lord hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for Mercy. If you are Lord should Mark iniquities. Oh Lord who could stand but with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I think you and I we think way too lightly about Mercy again, as I said because we live in a culture that by God's grace. We have a lot of comfort surround us. Find me interesting fact a couple hundred years when hospitals weren't so prevalent, like a people who are sick in the home or if you are having a big you probably had it in the home. You saw a physical suffering firsthand or she grew up on a farm and you saw an animal suffering you saw suffering firsthand and things that were that were miserable, but we don't really talk about that much because there are hospitals that people can go to and they can receive care there and it's kind of protected us from seeing that type of misery with we talk about mercy so common, right? Like I played on some Badger softball teams for softball teams. I'm not saying I'm the cause maybe I am but maybe if I look at my track record Church Softball now that I'm thinking about it, I'm the common denominator and all the bad teams. I don't know if that might say something about yourself again. We'll talk about it later. But what happens if somebody gets up by like 10 runs you call it a mercy. That really merciful that you're stopping a softball game from people scoring runs on you. I thought you and I talked about Mercy. I don't know if you watch the show growing up one of my heroes growing up Uncle Jesse Full House Have Mercy, right? Anybody it Envy in the dumbest point in the show. Why why do you say something like that? Cuz we don't really think about Mercy. We think it's trite. But Mercy goes to people who are suffering. Have you seen somebody who suffers they need Mercy. They need this they needed some relief from the pain that they're in that so that's why Jesus in the gospels that we studied. Remember when you have the blind Bartimaeus, what does he call out have mercy on me? Son of man. You think of a blind beggar in the Bible there somebody who could suffer you would look at that and you would feel that sense of compassion and that's why Jesus often allies the to the physical so we can associate the physical with our spiritual suffering and what happens if we're apart from God and that's what the psalmist is doing here in Psalm 130. Out of the depths I cry to you. Do you realize that that's the condition of of sin you are in the depths of misery and I'm trying to you Lord. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for Mercy. That's what you're crying out to God for your in this suffering State because of the sin that you've chosen that you've loved that separated you from God you are ensconced in that. It is surrounding you you're in haste in it and you need someone to eradicate you from it and God because he's merciful because he sees you he'll reach out and I'll be compassionate to you. It's often your combined with forgiveness. Did you see that right here? What is combined with forgiveness? Maybe it's good for us to make the point cuz this is what it what I mostly trying to drive it you and I spiritually speaking apart from God or in the state of misery and it's good to think about the physical to help us understand the spiritual but maybe I can just give you an example of the of the spiritual what it what I mean by that business spiritually suffering. Can you just picture like celebrities nowadays? Have you seen like celebrity meltdowns or breakdowns? You look at that you go. How does that happen? How does a celebrity who has everything was all the money all the same? How did they get to a point where they are just so destitute that they have a have a breakdown. I was actually reading a book by Randy Alcorn Randy Alcorn called giving us a good life and he was detailing, you know by good to be a very gracious giving person. He was detailing the account of a lot of people who've won the lottery you ever done any study on the people who won the lottery. It's not a good picture. So think about that somebody who has everything physically but still feels a sense of suffering and misery actually wrote down one of the accounts of manhood won. The lottery said this My life before was brilliant, but the lottery ruined it. What's the point in having money when it sends you to bed crying? I thought winning the lottery was going to be the answer to my dreams. Now those dreams have turned to dust. Scripture speaking at somebody who's suffering and misery they have everything physically you could possibly want around you and their life is a Beautiful Mess. I want you and I'm thinking maybe you were here this morning though. Maybe you don't know Jesus Christ and you have everything together outwardly, but you know that sense of you suffering with your sins, you know what it means to feel the guilt the way the pain to hurt and that's because you are in a miserable state, but when you cry out to God be merciful to me, he's not going to treat you according to your iniquities although he could but because he is gracious and merciful. He'll release you from that because of the work that Jesus did on the cross. We should be humbled by this reception of Mercy when we realized how horrible the RCN state was beforehand. Don't you put that into the category of letter a forgiving Mercy? We should be humbled by the mercy of God, when we think about the forgiving mercy of God the fact that we are in this state because of the sins we've committed wear this misery there in this pain really sore because of the things we've done and yet God release us from that because of his Mercy that should be humbling to us. What you write down a couple of scripture verses. Psalm 25 verse 5 & 6 Psalm 25 verse 5 and 6 under the forgiving mercy of God. This is what David says there's some 25 verse 5 & 6 says remember your mercy O Lord and your steadfast love for the event from of old remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions according to your steadfast. Love remember me for the sake of your goodness. Oh Lord. I said forgiving mercy of God that you can go to God and you can ask him not to remember your former sins. Not remember your transgressions when he looks at you but ask him to remember his Mercy to act upon the fact that he cares for people who are suffering and will reach out in an in compassion relieve them of that suffering. That's what you're asking. You're asking God and you were in a very very precarious sinful miserable State about Psalm 51. You guys know something 51, right? Psalm 51 David dealing with a lot of sin was David say there in Psalms 51 verse 1 have mercy on me o God according to your steadfast love according to your abundant Mercy blot out my transgressions. David you know the sins you read the adultery you've read of the murder you've read of the line and you realize that that was having an effect on David that was pain and suffering that he was putting himself through and he asked God to be merciful to relieve me from this because God is merciful. He does I should be humbling to us. We put ourselves in the painful State and God relieves us from that in his Mercy one more just to write down Daniel 9:9 the Lord Our God to the Lord Our God belong mercy and forgiveness for we have rebelled against him Daniel 9:9 to the Lord Our God belong mercy and forgiveness for we have rebelled against him. What's probably the classic example of all this is found in the Gospel of Luke when she turns me to Luke 18. Luke 18 we should be humbled by the mercy of God. As we look to what God has done to relieve us of that.

Luke chapter 18 I know your Parable that Jesus tells. But hits on at the point that we're trying to develop here. The forgiving mercy of God should humble us. Luke 18 verses 9 to 13 Parables about Mercy or dealing with self-righteousness as well. Luke 18 verse 9 through 13 says this He told them a parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt two men went into the temple to pray one a Pharisee in the other tax collector Pharisee standing by himself prayed this God. I thank you that I'm not like other men extortioners unjust adulterous or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give ties of all that again, but the tax collector standing far-off would not even lift his eyes of the heaven but beat his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you this man went down to his house Justified rather than the other man for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. That's what you and I need to do. You really look back on your former life and go that was a pitiful existence. Or do you look at it and go? Yeah, you know, I did some bad things of course, but really how bad was it because people who have been struck by the Holiness of God and the glory of God in the Perfection of God and realize that this judge could have just sent us to held the moment that we send when they get to the point where they receive compassion and pity and mercy living in a big bow. I'm simply here by his his Mercy the one who went away justify the winter when away forgiving the one who's not standing in condemnation anymore in front of God went there because he humbled himself and realize well God, I can do nothing to alleviate myself from this misery only you can do that. That's the forgiving mercy of God. We should be humbled by that but I was just think of the forgiving mercy of God that humbles you don't you think of the fatherly mercy of God, that's let her be what else should humble us. I'm just a forgiving mercy of God the letter B the fatherly mercy of God, very helpful for us to think about that that starts in our Salvation. Just is this a cure for giving Mercy kind of from a judge be merciful to us you get that fatherly compassion just look back a few chapters at Luke 15. Luke 15

I gave her notice on this fatherly Mercy eradicate Pride from us Luke 15. You know The Parables told in Luke 15 the parable of the lost sheep the parable of lost coin in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Think about the prodigal son. That's like the perfect analogy for us to understand her spiritual misery. The prodigal son that's what he goes to the father and says father I want I want my inheritance now. I want you to give me the money that I'm going to get when your dad would send a message to Dad. I'd rather act as if you're dead right now and go live my life apart from you. I'd rather go make myself happy with everything that I can in this world gather for my enjoyment. That's what the father acquiesces and gives it to that and the Sun goes and lives it up and it goes okay for the first little bit always haunted by this phrase. It's in the book of Hebrews Moses wisely chose to stay away from Egypt rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. Those moments of sin that you feel that bit of pleasure. It's fleeting and it's going to go and you'll be left in misery. So how did that happen in Luke 15 And when he had spent everything after his Reckless living Force 14 a severe famine a rose and he began to be in need and you went and hired himself to one of the citizens of the country who sent to the field to feed pigs. And he was so longing to be fed with the Pods at the pigs ate and no one gave him anything. He is desperate right now. He is miserable and he needs something. So what did you say 4:17, but when he came to himself, he said how many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I will perish here with Hunger I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him father I've sinned against you in heaven. And before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son treat me as one of your hired servants and Gyros and came to his father look at 4:20. But while he was still a long way off his father saw him. And felt compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him and said to him and the sunset hymn father. I sinned against heaven. And before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son, but the father said bring quickly the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and bring the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate for my son was dead and he is alive again. He was lost and is found in the began to celebrate. That's what you and I when we come to God and salvation. We're coming that way. Listen, I'm coming and I'm not worthy to be called your son. And now you're understanding where grace and mercy come together. We don't deserve it. There is no worthiness. There's no deserve in this on our parts. We come to God with nothing and then mercy just mired in the muck of sin. God blessed us and clean this up and brings us out and celebrates and grant us all of these different things to care for us. This is the fatherly compassion of God. What's that in contrast to in the rest of the story though the older brother? Cool by Pride went to the father and said father. Why don't you throw a party for me? Essentially? Why because I'm worthy father of you to celebrate me because of the things I've done for you and he misunderstands it we should be humbled by the fatherly compassion of God because we so Dishonored our father and yet he welcomed us back in one more example. This turned out Psalm 103 the fatherly compassion of God. Psalm 103 a beloved song to most Psalm 103 take a look at versus 8 to 14.

fatherly mercy of God

Psalm 103 verses 8 through 14 says this no Seas familiar words in first aid running to the theme of the Old Testament. The Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide us normally keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins. No repay us according to our iniquities for as high as the heavens are above the Earth. So great is his steadfast love to those who fear Him as far as the East is from the West so far. Does he removed our transgressions from us as a father shows compassion to his children? So the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him for he knows our frame you remember that we are but dust once you've had brought into the family of God by his father Lee Mercy, it's not like it leaves you then but you're talking about with Grace last week. It's not like God comes in and have that accomplished Grace and then doesn't Supply you with the grace. You need to live the Christian Life for him. He showers you he lavishes you with Grace in the same thing with Mercy he brings you into the family of God through Fatherly Mercy, but he sustained you through his fatherly mercy here as well. And he sees just as a father shows compassion to his children. So the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him I just any parents think for a moment, but it's like to take your kid to the emergency room. You know what that's like, I'm over my dad telling me I spent it believe me or not. I spent a lot of time and my dad would say when I was in there, you know, if you take that I'll just hurt and it said I would do anything I could to alleviate that pain you as a parent. You know that right you would do anything but why did my dad never stop you? Don't think of the pic of if I'm getting stitches and they're having to address the wound and they're having to stick needles into it to to alleviate some things I can get to work right there and I'm shining. You know, Dad. Please help. Why does he not stop is it because he's not merciful will know it's it's the most merciful thing he can do to let the doctors work so they can help take care of me and to get to the point where I'm ultimately alleviated from pain that might look like is uninvolvement means he's not really that merciful that he knows. That's the most merciful thing I could do. Those people who are there care for him. I think about that when we go through trials and we think you know, just in your mercy, please pull me from this, but if the father knows that it's the best thing for us to make us more like Jesus Christ his Mercy will sustain us and have compassion upon us so that as we make it through it when we get to the end of it will go farther. You were the most merciful god to allow that to happen to allow that pain because you knew ultimately would be best for me as a father shows compassion Mercy for his child. So the Lord has compassion to those who fear Him we should be humbled that fatherly Mercy. Our father is so merciful to us. So what do we do with that though if we reflected and we've been humbled by that Mercy from God. What should we do with the wall number two on your outline? You should do this way. We should reflect the mercy of God to the world. We should reflect the mercy of God to the world.

This is one thing we've discussed whenever we talk about these eminent attributes. He's actually said expect Express the goodness of God to his creation. Like we were charged to with aspects of Holiness and charged you with goodness and all these other actually is going to look at when we have these things that show up in has characteristics that you and I have as well. We should mimic or imitate The God Who created us in His image to reflect these attributes to the world. So they might see this God and when we preach the gospel understand what we're talking about, we need to reflect the mercy of God to the world that reminds me of hearing the story of a pastor who came home after a long day of study and his son was at the table Giants is not autobiographical. This did not happen to my home, but he came home and his son was trying to take seriously working and that goes a son. What are you driving over there? And the Sun goes without lifting up his head just keep screwing us. He hit somebody drawing the Sun goes. I'm trying to picture of God. The dad like whoa, what's going on here? Right it would break him of The Commandments. You know, she had no vein images and he says to the sun being a resident the alotian son. No one knows what God looks like towards the sun said they will when I'm done,

I appreciate the confidence in the child. Right? It's foolishness that he thinks he can accomplish the people you appreciate the confidence that the child has but in a certain way, I think the way that God has designed us as his children to live people should be able to say oh I know what guys like based on the lifestyle that you live the characteristics and attributes that you have. So if God is gracious we should be gracious. God is merciful. We should be merciful god is good. We should do good to others. If God is Holy we should be holy and the way that we act we image gone to the world. That's what being created in His image means were to take the attributes and he's invested into us and start to live this out and we're only able to do so because of what he's done for us. So to see this turn the song 111 just a few songs over Psalm 111. think about this song 111 a great song facts about the characteristics of God and you can see some of the characteristics listed here but Psalm 111 and Psalm 112 being right next to one another have some common things that show us our need to reflect the mercy of God to the world. Psalm 111 is going to talk about The Great Character of God fall along with me and verse 1 Psalm 111 verse 1 says this praise the Lord I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart in the company of the upright in the congregation. Great are the works of the Lord study by all who Delight in them full of Splendor. And Majesty is his work and his righteousness indoors forever. He has caused his wondrous Works to be remembered the Lord is gracious and merciful. So we see those two characteristics again Jam together. And so that's why sometimes it's hard to distinguish them. But the Lord is gracious and merciful that the characteristic of the god of the Bible Psalm 111. But if you look down the page to summon turn 12 we go from the character of who God is to the character of the man of God in Psalm 112. Listen to this Summoner and 12 verse 1 says this praise the Lord blessed is the man who fears the Lord who greatly Delights in his Commandments his offspring will be Mighty in the land the generation of the upright. Be blessed wealth and riches are in his house in his righteousness indoors forever light Don's and darkness for the upright. He is gracious merciful and righteous. Those are the same characteristics that were just spoken of as God in Psalm 111. So the man of God should take his marks from the God who has created him and saved him and sustains him and asking him to live for his glory. We see that we had those same attributes and we should live them out when other one to point this out turn to Luke 6:36. Luke 6:36

is Jesus's words to us? Luke chapter 6 verse 36 in context he's talking about loving your enemies enemies who abused you strike. You need to love them give to them care for them. Cuz if we only let people who love us, we're not reflecting what God does God loves people not based on their worthiness not based on what they've done have attracted themselves to him. God loves him simply because he's merciful and good take a look at Luke 6:36 be merciful. Even as your father is merciful. That's what you and I should be doing. We should be very merciful to people we should be living this out. You think of what did Jesus say blessed are the merciful for they shall receive Mercy that idea of being in that blessed State because you're living out the mercy that God has shown you and we want to do that and match with the father has So here's three ways that I want you to set up four ways. That's cuz you for four ways that you can make sure you are reflecting the mercy of God to the world. Let her a practice biblical repentance in your life practice biblical repentance and you will I believe reflect the mercy of God to the world you and I as Christians we have been saved by the grace of God. We do not think for a moment that we are ever going to live a perfect life and never sins that we fight against and we struggle against it when we commit them we go to God and we we ask for repentance whiting-turner Proverbs 28:13 really want you to see this one proverbs 28:13.