Lord Have Mercy!

Today we are starting our second half of our split series on Grace & Mercy. We spent three weeks talking about God’s Amazing Grace, and now we are going shift our focus and look at Mercy in our series, / / Lord Have Mercy!

As a recap we defined Grace as:

/ / Grace is being approved of, supported, loved, liked, looked after, accepted, receiving the most outrageously generous treatment, beyond reason, and has nothing to do with anything I’ve done right or wrong, who my family is, where I come from, my financial status, my race or gender or any other thing.

Because Grace is unmerited, undeserved favor! So as soon as we put a condition on it, we break it and it is no longer grace! Paul actually says that very thing in the book of Romans 11:5-6 / / …because of God’s grace, his undeserved kindness in choosing them [us]. And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is - free and undeserved.

We looked at Ephesians 2:8-9 which says, / / God saved you by his grace when you believed [by grace through faith]. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

That’s grace. We are saved by God without deserving it. There’s nothing we could do that is good enough, and he isn’t taking pity on us because we’re just that bad. He simply loves us and it is in his very nature to save. Jesus Christ is the savior of the world. That’s what He does. To do anything different would be contrary to his very nature. So he freely gives us salvation and as we looked at the reality of a gift, we have to accept that gift. A gift is only good if it is received, opened and used, right?

So, grace is a gift, and when we believe, we receive the abundance of God’s forgiveness and the full sacrifice of Jesus Christ and all that he accomplished on the cross.

And as I’ve been saying grace and mercy are very closely connected. They are such diverse and full words, with no singular definition that it’s not always easy to really boil down what they are in to one simple thing. There is such a depth and wealth of what God’s grace and mercy are, and we encounter new facets of God’s character as we get to know him more. / / The more we spend time learning about God, and getting to know God through the word, and prayer, and spending time inviting Him to be present with us, the more we experience and understand his true nature.

We touched on this a little bit, that just because there’s nothing good enough that we can do to receive salvation, and it is by God’s grace alone, his free gift, that doesn’t mean we then go on doing whatever we want, but that it’s God’s grace that compels us to a life of change. Allowing him to work in us and through us. Romans 12, don’t follow the world’s ways, but be transformed by the complete renovation of your mind, allowing God to transform the way you think.

Titus 2:11 in the ESV says, / / For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives...

That’s beautiful. Grace, because of it’s goodness calls us to a place of higher living! We read over the last few weeks, We are all sinners, all fall short of God’s glorious standard. But because of grace we are able to live allowing God to work in us to produce that standard of living without the pressure of failure, or punishment or feeling like we’ve let God down.

So, if that’s grace, then, what is mercy?

Well, we are going to be mostly in the book of Hebrews this morning, in chapter 4 and it really connects these two amazing things, Grace & Mercy.

Hebrews 4:14-16, says, / / …since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

I want to stop there for a second. The writer of Hebrews, which is actually contested as to who wrote it, but many believe it was the Apostle Paul, and by what we are about to read, it’s got good merit because as I’ve been saying, Paul is the Apostle of Grace! But I want to point something out here, this verse says that Jesus understands all of our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

I actually struggled with that for a lot of years. I mean, Really? He was Jesus, how did he struggle with everything we struggle with? And how, with Jesus as a man, is a woman supposed to relate to that? And as someone who had 2 parents, how is someone with a single parent going to feel, or even that Jesus was betrayed and crucified before he turned 35, so how are the elderly supposed to feel about that?

Surely Jesus didn’t actually endure all the temptations and things we deal with?

But as I’ve learned more, and experienced more of my own journey, the moment that Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane reveals the very heart of this particular verse. And we’ve read it a few times recently, Jesus is in the garden and he’s about to be betrayed, and he knows it, which means he’s about to be unfairly tried, horribly abused and beaten and eventually brought to a hill where he is nailed to a cross and dies in front of a crowd of people who have decided they absolutely hate him, for no other reason than he rightfully said he is the son of God, and he had come to save them, which was something they were actually waiting for.

And in that garden he prays, God, if there’s any way at all this cup of suffering can be taken from me, if there’s any other way....BUT, not my will, but yours be done. Defining for all eternity that Jesus had his own will but willfully chose the way of God. And this is what he called us to when he said, deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me.

You have a will, you have a desire, that’s the very root of temptation, we aren’t tempted by things we don’t want, right? And in every moment of his life, Jesus chose this willful self-denial that we’ve been talking about, just like we get to. So, Jesus DOES in fact understand our weaknesses, which all come from a place of desire, because he faced it just like we do, and he understands how difficult it is to choose the difficult over the easy. In Matthew 26 in the middle of being arrested, He says, Guys, I could call down entire legions of angels to come to my rescue and my Father would immediately send them! Yet he chose to allow himself to be arrested, tried, beaten and crucified because this was ultimately the will of His Father.

He does understand. So when we have those moments where we’re like, “How do I do this? How do I choose life?” God, give me the grace to accept with serenity.... give me what Jesus had in that moment in the garden that he was able to make the choice, calmly, without losing his cool, and willfully denied his own desires for the will of God, even knowing that it was going to be painful... Give me that!

And so vs 16 of Hebrews 4 says this, after defining that Jesus is our great High Priest, who understands all that we have faced, / / So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God [with confidence draw near to the throne of grace]. There we will receive his mercy and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

This is such a great scripture. We can boldly approach the throne of God, where He gives us undeserved, unmerited favor…And there we will receive mercy…

So, what is mercy?

ok, in Hebrews 4:16, the word mercy is the greek word / / eleos which means, compassion (human or divine, especially active), tender mercy.

/ / It goes on to define it this way, kindness or good will towards the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to help them - of men towards men or of God towards men.

Men there being mankind, women of course can receive mercy and give mercy just like a man can.

/ / Compassion is defined as sympathetic [feeling, showing or expressing sympathy] pity [the feeling of sorrow] and concern for the suffering or misfortunes of others.

So, just like we kind of formulated a long version of the definition of Grace, we’re going to do the same for Mercy because there are multiple things involved here. We go from mercy, to compassion, to sympathy and pity… So, for the purpose of this series, let’s look at mercy as the following:

/ / Mercy is the deeply felt desire and moral obligation to show and express sympathy by acting upon the needs, suffering and misfortunes of others through a tender and heartfelt compassion, concern and kindness.

So, think about that in the context of the verse we’ve just read. That when we approach God’s throne of GRACE, we are able to receive His MERCY.... God feels a DEEP DESIRE within his heart, it is his very nature and character to show us his compassion and kindness by ACTING and doing something about the very thing we’ve come to him for. This is the true nature and heart of mercy, that it is not just a feeling of mercy, but it is a feeling that moves us to act. God is so for us and on our side, he has such a love and compassion for us that he is compelled to act on our behalf.

See, when Hebrews 4 says that we can boldly approach the throne of Grace that we may receive mercy in our time of need, it’s BECAUSE of what vs 14 says, / / So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God....so let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God....why? Because there is someone there who has is making this Grace and Mercy available to us. That’s the connection. Jesus, the High Priest has done something that makes the heart of God, the compassion and grace of God connect for us and on our behalf.

Grace means we can approach. We don’t deserve to approach, but we’ve found favor with the king.... not by our own merit or that we deserve it, but simply that we have found favor. Back in August in our Daily Bible Reading we read the book of Esther, which is such an incredible story and really depicts this idea so well of being able to approach the king because you’ve found favor.

If you don’t remember the story, the Jewish people are in exile from their own land, they’ve been taken into captivity by King Xerxes of Persia. So they are not free, and living in a land not their own. And the Queen at hte time, Vashti, does something to really upset the king, he asks her to do something, and she doesn’t do it, and as a result she gets removed as queen and a search is started to find the king a new queen. Well, God works a miracle and Esther, this young Jewish captive girl ends up becoming the new queen. Honestly, you need to read the story if you haven’t, it is incredible.

My point is this. Even as the queen, she is not allow to just simply walk into the throne room and talk to the King, she has to be invited. And she’s the QUEEN!

Esther 5:1-2 says, / / On the third day of the fast, Esther put on her royal robes and entered the inner court of the palace, just across from the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the entrance. When he saw Queen Esther standing there in the inner court, he welcomed her and held out the gold scepter to her. So Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

She had to wait to be noticed, had to wait to be invited, and had to follow protocol when she entered because it was not following these things that got Queen Vashti un-queened!

So, let that be a frame of reference for you when you read Hebrews 4 and hear, / / So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.

He is a king like no other. And he’s granted each of us this undeserved, unmerited favor to come to him, be close to him, and receive his mercy, BECAUSE of this great High Priest who is Jesus Christ.

To understand how that’s possible we need to understand the role of the High Priest. The high priest had a very specific role in the Old Testament temple. And saying that Jesus is our high priest is really important to our understanding of both grace and mercy.

There are four things that Jesus does as the High Priest that make all of this possible:

/ / The High Priest is our Mediator

The primary role of the high priest was to serve as a representative and mediator between the people and God. A mediator is someone who acts as a go-between, it’s the person who attempts to make people involved in a conflict come to an agreement. The people didn’t have direct access to God, and even their sacrifices were brought to the temple and the priests would make the sacrifice on their behalf. You didn’t even do your own sacrifice. Only those who were set apart as priests could do this.

In the temple there was a place called the Holy of Holies, and the High Priest was the ONLY person allowed to enter this most holy place. Literally you would die if you went in there and weren’t the high priest. And even as the high priest, Hebrews 9:7 says, / / …only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

The High Priest had to ensure that he was clean and free from sin before entering, or he would die. And that one day per year was called the Day of Atonement, and he would go in to this place to sprinkle the blood of a sacrifice, and offer incense upon the Ark of the Covenant and what was called the MERCY SEAT, which sat on top of the ark...

Do you see this, the High Priest, who was the only one allowed to enter this holy place, did so once a year on the day of atonement, which means to make payment for, ok, the High Priest brought this sacrifice and incense as a representative to make payment for the sins of the people SO THAT God would have mercy.

This is what it means for Jesus to become the High Priest as mediator. He is now the one who BECAME the sacrifice himself, so that we don’t have to. Jesus, for all eternity stands in that gap between us and God, no longer requiring a sacrifice but eternally being that sacrifice. He doesn’t make atonement once a year… he has made atonement that can never be undone.

The bible says that we are the redeemed of God. That’s a very final statement. Redeemed means that someone has compensated, or paid for, the wrongs we have done. And it means to gain, or regain possession of. So, our redemption in Jesus Christ is both that He paid a price we could never pay, so that we could have a position we could never have, the sons and daughters of God.

/ / The High Priest Enforces the Covenant

This is really cool. In the same way that the High Priest was the connection between the people and God. He was also the connection between God and the people, and part of that role was to ensure that the people fulfilled the duties and law of Moses and to make sure people were following the covenant. It was their responsibility to help the people see the value and commitment they had made to God. Remember, when God offered the law to the people of Israel, he didn’t demand it, he offered this covenant to them, and said, IF you keep these commands, I will bless you. And they willfully accepted that offer.

So the High Priest was there to help the people see the value and the importance of keeping those commands.

In the same way Jesus said in John 14:15 / / If you love me, obey my commandments.

This is an invitation to follow the way of Christ. His role as High Priest, inviting us to see and value his teaching and the way and instructions of God

He continues to say in John 14:16, / / And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit

Look at the language here, Jesus, the High Priest, the mediator between God and Man, advocating for us to His Father so that we would receive the Holy Spirit. Acting as that go between, ensuring this covenant is upheld!

But we also know that Jesus didn’t come to enforce the law of the Old Covenant, he said he came to complete the law, or fulfill it. And he says to his disciples on multiple occasions, A NEW command I give you, you are to love one another.

In Matthew 22, Jesus defines that the greatest law that all others rest on is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. And in John 13:34 he says, / / “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.”

Jesus, fulfilling his role as High Priest, giving the law to us in a new and simplified way. Love!

/ / Jesus Removes the Barriers

A few things happen differently when it is Jesus who becomes the High Priest

/ / He removes the need for the primary role of the High Priest

Remember, that primary role of the High Priest was to atone for the sins of the people by entering the holy of holies once a year, and he was the only one who was allowed in the presence of God.

As Jesus was hanging on the cross, giving his life for us, making a way for us, Luke 23:44-46 says, / / By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.

The barrier between us and God’s presence was torn away. Stephen says in Acts 7:48, / / …the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands.

And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19, / / Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?

This was the promise Jesus gave in John 14, obey my commands, as High Priest he calls us to a place of commitment to God’s way, and I will ask my Father, again, as High Priest he advocates for us, mediates between us and God, and He will give you the Holy Spirit, no longer requiring the Holy of Holies, the place where God’s presence resides because you are now the temple!

/ / Jesus invites us into the priesthood itself

Listen to what 1 Peter 2 says, / / And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God… for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.

Not only do we have a great high priest in Jesus Christ who did advocate for us, who did bring the ultimate sacrifice for us, who did make a way in God’s grace, undeserved, unmerited favor, for us to come and receive his compassion, but he invites us to take part in all of this as well.

This is why we can boldly approach the throne. God has made a way for you through Jesus Christ that is beyond special. We don’t cower and beg before God wondering if we’re allowed to be there. We don’t have to stand in the outer courts like Esther waiting for the King to take notice.

We have been made a royal priesthood BY the High Priest himself, to be permanent carriers of His Presence through the Holy Spirit!

/ / Jesus continues to advocate for us

See, even though Jesus made a way for us, he actually continues to embody and take very seriously his role for us as High Priest.

This is probably why Hebrews says we have a GREAT High Priest. The word is megas, which is where we get our word mega.... so, we have a mega high priest. He doesn’t stop being the High Priest, he takes his role very seriously and invites us INTO that role WITH HIM.

Romans 8:31-34 says, / / What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son bug gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us every thing else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one - for God himself has given us right standing with himself [mercy - compassion - the mediator made a way] Who then will condemn us? No one - for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

That word / / pleading, also translated interceding, means to deal with someone on behalf of someone else in order to make a deal, to give favor.

Jesus is sitting at God’s right hand acting as that High Priest telling God the Father that they should just keep blessing us. This is the most beautiful picture of the Trinity of God being for you. Jesus constantly telling the Father, “Hey dad, let’s bless them.” The Father sending the Holy Spirit, his very presence, power and glory, and the Holy Spirit taking up residence inside of us because we are now in place of a temple that used to be made of stone, but is now what we are.

This is the mercy of God, that there was no way we could do this for ourselves, and so because of his compassion towards us, his mercy, he took pity on us unable to save ourselves, he extends his grace toward us, undeserved favor, and makes us priests alongside Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, who continues to advocate for us.

Hebrews 7:23 says, / / There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.... his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.

This is the mercy of God, Hebrews 9:13-15, / / Under the old system [old covenant], the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

And Hebrews 10 continues to show us the purpose of God’s mercy. See, mercy, just like grace, is not permission to continue on in our old ways. Remember what Paul says about Grace, just because we’ve received the favor of God and there’s nothing we can do, good or bad, to deserve it, doesn’t mean we should just keep doing our own thing. No, of course not, God’s grace calls us to a place of reverence! God’s grace gives us the permission to dedicate our live to His purpose WITHOUT the burden of feeling like a failure if we get it wrong, and without the pressure of getting it perfect. Grace says, keep trying, try and try and try and try again, and I’m here every time, whether you get it right or now.

Mercy, in the same way, Hebrews 10:19-22 says, / / And so we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

God shows us mercy, compassion, for the purpose of us taking our place alongside Jesus Christ as that royal priesthood. It’s a calling up, not just a setting free. He doesn’t just advocate for us, he invites us into His process.

God doesn’t show us mercy JUST to cleanse us, but to give us access and invitation to his very presence.

So, Hebrews 4, / / Let us boldly approach the throne of Grace...

Hebrews 10, / / ...let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him.

Grace may be the permission, but mercy is understanding the extent of God’s heart and compassion for us. Grace is why he did it, Mercy is him doing it, for all eternity, he advocates for us, and is inviting us into the Most Holy Place with Him.

Over these next few weeks we’re going to see that mercy does a changing work in our lives to bring us to a place of action, not just receiving. God’s mercy and kindness compels us to be merciful and kind.