These notes are best when used in conjunction with the audio or video. Click here to listen to this dynamic message on mercy or click here to watch the video.
The Prayer Prayed in Public Schools Until June 25, 1962.
“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.”
This prayer is a cry for the mercy of God.
Mercy - : compassion or forbearance shown especially to an offender or to one subject to one's power; mercy also means lenient or compassionate treatment.
Luke 6:32-38
32"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Nice but Normal
1. To love someone who loves you is human.
2. To do good to someone who does good to you is human.
3. Loaning money to someone who can pay you back is human.
Divine Behavior
4. Loving, doing good and giving money to your enemy is divine.
5. When we love the unlovable, do good to the evil and give money to those that can’t pay us back we have a great reward and demonstrate that we are truly Sons of God.
6. When we are in a life receiving relationship with Jesus Christ we will act like him more and more as we draw more and more life from him.
7. With the measure of mercy we extend to others who don’t “deserve” it, we ourselves will receive mercy from God.
- 3 Types of Relationships
- Take
- Give and Take
- Give
When a Child acts like a child it’s difficult but there’s an understanding that the child is developing and growing, it’s understood and accepted.
However when an adult behaves like a child it’s generally frowned upon. Sometimes this happens simply because this adult as a child missed something.
Give and take – I feel like the best illustration for the give and take relationships that Jesus is talking about in Luke 6 would be represented by the business world. “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.”
1. To love someone who loves you is human, easily accomplished by sinful people every day.
Luke 6:32
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them.
Many lustful relationships are built upon this paradigm of thinking and living.
However just stop adding energy or life into the relationship and you’ll see it unravel.
2. To do good to someone who does good to you is human.
Luke 6:33
And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that.
Again the illustration here would be a business relationship.
3. Loaning money to someone who can pay you back is human.
Luke 6:34
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.
4. Loving, doing good and giving money to your enemy is divine.
Luke 6:35,36
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
The relationships that are truly divinely motivated and sustained are the relationships where you are on the giving end and there is no receiving in sight for your sacrifice. These relationships prove and demonstrate that you are truly a son or daughter of God.
Loving and caring for a spouse who’s been bed ridden for years while remaining faithful in mind, heart and action. DIVINE!
Staying in a marriage where you are not in “love”. Working it out together. DIVINE
Giving resources or help to someone who doesn’t appreciate it or won’t be able to pay you back. DIVINE
5. When we love the unlovable, do good to the evil and give money to those that can’t pay us back we have a great reward and demonstrate that we are truly Sons of God.
This is a very un-natural reaction or behavior however it is very natural if we’re plugged into a supernatural God.
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
6. When we are in a life receiving relationship with Jesus Christ we will act like him more and more as we draw more and more life from him.
John 15:4,5
4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
7. With the measure of mercy we extend to others who don’t “deserve” it, we ourselves will receive mercy from God.
Mercy comes originally from God, we extend it to others which causes more mercy to come from God. When we extend that to others it continues the process over and over again causing us to be agents of change.
In a world of hostility, we can open a spiritual floodgate by loving. In a world that keeps score and settles resentment with vindictiveness, we can open a spiritual floodgate by forgiving. In a world where ‘what is mine is mine’ we can open a spiritual floodgate by giving to others freely. We can always wait for someone else to pick up the ball and get things started. But we know that the world is not going to become a loving place, a forgiving place, a giving place, except that we actually do it.
Does anyone want God’s Wrath?
Then we must cry out for mercy and extend mercy!
Matthew 18:32-35
32"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Consider today the position of your heart toward people who have hurt you or are against you. Receive mercy from God and extend mercy to them. It will change the world one person at a time.
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Batesville, AR 72501
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