We will be starting a series for this month, the month of September, and the series will be on Rediscovering God's Mercy. And we will be starting with an overview of God's Mercy which will be our focus, but throughout the month of September, by the help and the teaching of the Holy Spirit, we will be rediscovering God's Mercy. We are going to be looking at an overview of what the Mercy of God means, and what it is all about. So, we're going to start our observation from Exodus chapter 34:6-7, It says;
“And the Lord passed before him, and proclaimed, the LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping Mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and the children's children, to the third and fourth generation”.
We see that this Scripture started with the Lord introducing Himself, this was not Moses introducing God, this is God introducing Himself to Moses. And there's something called the law of first mention, the first thing God introduced Himself as is the LORD, the LORD God merciful: that was the first thing He introduced Himself as. The LORD, the LORD, merciful; what does this mean? What is the importance of this to us? Why is God called the LORD, the LORD merciful?
Those are the things we'll be looking and observing in this series, because the Lord wants us to understand the importance of His Mercy. Without understanding the Mercy of God, we cannot understand the dimension through which God operate with mankind. The way God operates with mankind is based on so many parameters, but a very important parameter in the dealings of God with mankind is on the platform of Mercy. And we're going to also see a scripture in Psalm. All of this is to have an overview of what God's Mercy is about, so we're trying to look at the leaves and the stems of it; then we start looking at the root of the matter as the Lord gives us grace. Psalm chapter 8:3-6 says;
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him, for you have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honour, and You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands, You have put all things under his feet”.
Now, this is a conversation that exposes us to a platform of God's dealing in Mercy. You know, there was a loud pondering and meditation that was outspoken in this chapter. The first thing is starting from who God is, to who we are. He said, when I consider Your heavens, when we talk about heaven, it is not just heaven; heaven have layers. According to Apostle Paul, he said he was caught into the third heaven; so heaven has layers unlike the earth that is just a single space. He said, when I consider Your heavens, because the Bible says the heavens, the highest heavens, belongs to God, and the earth He has given to the sons of men, because the earth is also His; the Bible says the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. He says, when I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the things that You have made, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man? There is now a basis of comparison. I've considered the heavens, I've considered the works of Your hands, I've considered the moon and the stars. Do you know how big and large the sun is? Do you know how big and large the moon is? People have been trying to establish presence in the moon, and they are still exploring and doing research upon research.
People have attempted to go to the sun, and they know it is a no go area. And God made the sun, He made the moon; so king David was pondering: what is man? And that's part of the consideration on the basis on which we want to understand God's Mercy. What is man that You are mindful of him and the Son of man that You visit him? You didn't just do that, You also made him a little lower than the angels and You have crowned him with glory and honor, meaning that: we are seeing this man you have created, there's no big deal about him. We have looked at man, what is man? And I want you to understand; because sometimes we think that we are such a big deal, if you go to the book of Revelations, and see the beings in heaven, God should have no business striving with men; because, the Bible says, there are thousands upon thousands upon thousands that minister to Him. And God is still seeking your own worship, He is still seeking your own praise. So, what is man? There is a mystery behind the relationship between God and man.
If we go through the book of Revelations, the Bible records that there are twenty-four (24) elders, there are four living creatures that are close to the throne, then they have thousands upon thousands upon thousands of angels. Then remember, also in heaven, you have the saints that have gone up to be with the Lord, and you will see that this whole people are dead, and God is still looking down to the earth. So, what is the mystery of this relationship? What is man that You are mindful of him and the son of man that You visit him, that you have even made him lower than the angels; in the true sense of it, that angel, you have made him lower than Yourself God: Elohim. Many translations are not bold to put it that way but that is a true translation; You have made him lower than God Himself, You have crowned him with glory and honour and You have made him have dominion over the works of Your hands. So what is the mystery of this relationship? That's also something that we're going to consider.
2 Corinthians chapter 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort”. The Bible calls Him the Father of mercies. If you look at that father in your Bible, it is in capital letter F. Meaning that Mercy does not stem from any one, He is the originator of Mercy. The concept of Mercy is from God, He is the Father of mercies, not Mercy but mercies, and I want us to hold on to that concept: He is the Father of mercies. And we're going to see that there are several dimension of God's Mercy; that's why He is called the Father of mercies. Let's see Titus chapter 3:4-5, “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior towards man appeared: (Now we're introducing another concept here, which I want us to take note of) meaning that before this time, there was no kindness of God and love of God towards man. But the Bible says, when the kindness and the love of God our Savior towards man appeared, not by works of righteousness, meaning that man did not work it out, it is not about what man did or did not do. But the Bible says, not by the works of righteousness which we have done, both according to His Mercy.”
The love and kindness of God towards mankind appeared not by the works of righteousness we have done: trying to crame the torah, trying to be pious, trying to observe all the holy days, he said, the kindness and love of God appeared to mankind but according to His Mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit. ‘So, we want to tie the pieces together’. We must understand that the basis of God's Mercy is His love. You cannot talk about God's Mercy and not talk about His love. The platform upon which the Mercy of God appears is love. Without God's love, there can't be God's Mercy. So, the Mercy of God rides on the love of God, if God does not have love for mankind, the Mercy of God will not appear.
I want us to see Ephesians chapter 2:4-5, “But God who is rich in Mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)”.
Remember in Exodus 34, we read, when God was going to reintroduce Himself, and the Lord proclaim concerning Himself said the LORD, the LORD, God merciful. The basis upon which the Mercy of God rides is His love. If the Lord shut the bowel of His love towards a generation; His Mercy ceases. So it's the same tap that runs the love of God that flows the Mercy of God. If the love of God is not flowing towards a direction, His Mercy will not speak. So in Ephesians chapter 2 that we read, he said, He is rich in Mercy; but that richness of Mercy is premised on His great love.
That's why when we read Psalm, he said, what is man that You are mindful of him? The basis of relationship, the mystery of the relationship between God and mankind is this great love. What makes us custodians of His Mercy? What makes us benefactors of His Mercy is His great love. If He does not love us, He will not be merciful to us; if He does not care about us, He will not be merciful to us. So, because of His great love, He is rich in Mercy. I want us to also see a Scripture in Psalm chapter 51:1-2. It says; “Have Mercy upon me O God, according to Your lovingkindness.” God cannot have Mercy according to your faith, He has Mercy according to His love. You cannot forcefully receive Mercy from God, you cannot put God in compulsion to show you Mercy; God shows Mercy according to His love. And that's what David was communicating here, he is communicating a level of understanding; have Mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness, according to your love, according to the multitude of your tendermercies, (we're seeing the concept of mercies again) blot out my transgression, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin, according to your loving kindness. So, the Mercy of God appears on the basis of love. Without love, there's no Mercy. And that's why when you see people going through situations, and it looks as if God has shut the bowel of His Mercy. It is because God has also shut the bowel of His love.
When the love of God for a people ceases, His mercies cease. When God no longer loves a people, He is no longer merciful. If you take time to study the life of the children of Israel, and you see the dealings of God with them, the times when they enjoyed the Mercy of God were times when God was loving towards them. When God turns His back and doesn't love them anymore, they don't experience Mercy; God shut the bowl of Mercy because they work in tandem: no love, no Mercy. Where the love of God is present, His Mercy is also present.
I want us to also see Psalm 25:6–7, “Remember me O LORD, Your tendermercies and Your lovingkindness for they are of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth nor my transgression; according to Your Mercy, remember me, for Your goodness sake, O, LORD”. When he was going to say remember me, LORD, according to Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindness they are always together. Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindness: they are from old. So, when you look at our relationship with God, our relationship with God thrives on the basis of His love and His Mercy. That's why Psalm chapter eight says, what is man that You are mindful of him, nor the son of man that You visit him? These beings are looking at the unholy men on the earth; they said, we serve you, we worship you and in fact heaven does not even permit that there should be any wrinkle or stain: so, there is non here, but see these people full of wrinkles and stains and You are still mindful of them. It's not because of what you have done, it is because of who He is.
The Bible says God is love; it's about who He is, He can't deny Himself. So, in relating with you and I, He cannot deny Himself: He is love. So, in relating with you, He relates with you according to His person, according to His character, according to His nature. And that nature also brings a long and added advantage, that when God loves you, He is merciful towards you. Because you will ask; what will qualify David, for what the Bible called the sure mercies of David? If not that God loves this man. If you look at the relationship between David and God, it gives us a serious understanding: and we're going to do that study as we continue in the series; a serious understanding of what Mercy is about. The Mercy of God is what makes sure that your relationship with God is smooth in spite of you. How does a holy God relate with an unholy man? How does a faithful God relate with an unfaithful man? Mercy!
I want us to see Hebrews chapter 4:16. It is important we understand the Mercy of God so that we do not take it for granted. That's one of the things that Apostle Paul was saying that, should we continue in sin and ask that the grace of God should abound? Hebrew chapter 4:16 says “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain Mercy.” Why is it important for us to obtain Mercy? We cannot relate with God except He extends His Mercy towards us. Let’s refer to the story of Esther and King Ahasuerus; the Bible makes us to understand that it was a culture in that kingdom because the book of Esther is also full of Kingdom mysteries. The Bible makes us to understand that if King Ahasuerus does not invite you into his presence, and you come in: you will die.
Once he does not extend the staff, the staff is a symbol of Mercy. Once he does not extend the staff towards you, in fact, the guards already know what to do: take this person out and kill him. Same applies to the wife of the king; Esther knew that if she does not have a
