SUNDAY 21ST JUNE, 2020

MEMORY VERSE: - “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” (Titus 3:5).

INTRODUCTION: - The foundation stone of all we receive from God our Saviour is His ineffable love. This is the fountain head from which all our blessing has come and it is well for us to be reminded that our salvation, our cleansing, our justification, our sanctification, our inheritance and our hope are all based upon the mercy of God, and not our works of righteousness, which we have done.

1) Mercy Stoops Down: - It seems that the mercy of God singles each one of us out as individuals, marking specially our particular needs as sinners. We are all saved by grace but it is the mercy of God that stoops down, comes to the very place where the devil, the great thief, has left us wounded, bruised and broken. It is our Lord’s mercy that finds each one of our wounds and binds them up, pouring in oil and wine. It is our Lords’ mercy that gathers us up in His own beast of burden gives us the power of the Holy Spirit that we might journey with Him to the place of shelter, under the shadow of His own loving kindness and care until He comes again and receives us to Himself that where He is we may also be. That’s the mercy of the Lord (Lk.10:30-37).

Most of us readily admit that our salvation is by grace, but now few of us realize that it is “according to His mercy” that He saved us.

It was the mercy of God looked into our hearts; saw our every weakness and our every need. It was His mercy that scanned our records from the day we were born onward through the years, every page of which was stained by the crimson dye of our own particular sin. Maybe we were not blasphemers, prosecutors and insolent men like Paul, but each one of us was guilty in his/her own way. Nevertheless, God’s mercy took note and forgave us.

2) Mercy Meets Our Needs

Mercy is perhaps one of the most endearing attributes of our Saviour God. It is something even more intimated than grace. It seems to take account of the depths of misery and need in which a sinner was found when the Lord Jesus Christ sought him. Mercy has more to do with a particular detailed need of the sinner than grace. Grace is the sunshine of the love of God toward all men, but mercy takes account of the individual and his specific need. We have this borne out of the scripture on more than one occasion.

It is interesting to note what Paul writes about unconverted days: “I was formally a blasphemer, a prosecutor, and an indolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus” (1Tim.1:13-14). It was the magnanimous grace of God that saved Saul of Tarsus, but it was the mercy of God that met him in the dark night of his rebellion, and took account of him as one lone individual, a rebel against the kindness of his God and forgave him the iniquity of his sin.

3) Mercy Sustains

The mercy of God did not end the moment we were converted. It is God’s mercy that has sustained us down through the years, has provided for us in “the inn”, sheltered by His everlasting love, has guaranteed our sustenance all the way through until the Lord Jesus returns to take us to be with Him. That is the truth that comes home to heart from this often overtook expression, “according to His mercy He saved us” (Tit.3:5).

When we think, then, of the beauty and glory of the mercy of our God stooping down in loving kindness to bind up our wounds, to pour in the oil of the power of the Holy Spirit and the wine of the joy of Heaven into our hearts, what a misconception to think that our own works of righteousness could improve the handwork of our Lord in grace and mercy. Yet there are many today who think that while they are saved by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, they must work to keep their salvation. This seems an insult to the excellence of the grace and mercy of our God.

Our salvation is not attained by our works. It never can be! Paul writes and tells us that it is brought to us in the kindness and love of God our Saviour “according to His Mercy” and “by His Grace” (Tit.3:6,7). Are you appreciating God’s mercy as well as His grace?

1. Mention the attributes of mercy?

2. Relate the story of the good Samaritan to mercy