Living out the Mercy of God
Sermon: Living out the Mercy of God
Date: July 16, 2023, Morning
Text: Luke 6:24–36
Series: Luke
Preacher: Brian Garcia
Audio: https://storage.googleapis.com/pbc-ca-sermons/2023/230716-LivingOutTheMercyOfGod.aac
Transcript
We'll be examining in today's message verses 24 to 36 and when you have that please do stand for the reading of God's Word Luke chapter 6 starting verse 24 here you this morning the word of the
Lord But woe to you who are rich for you have received your consolation
Woe to you who are full now for you shall be hungry Woe to you who laugh now for you shall mourn and weep
Woe to you when all people speak well of you for so their fathers did to the false prophets
But I say to you who hear Love your enemies Do good to those who hate you
Bless those who curse you pray for those who abuse you to the one who strikes you on the cheek all for the other
Also, then who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either Give to everyone who begs from you and you and from you the one who takes away your goods not demand them back and As you wish that others would do to you do so to them
If you love those who love you What benefit is that to you for even sinners love those who love them?
And if you do good to those who do good to you What benefit is that to you for even sinners do the same?
And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive what credit is that to you
Even sinners lent to sinners to get back the same amount But love your enemies and do good and lend
Expecting nothing in return and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the
Most High For he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil be merciful even as Your father is merciful.
These are the words of the Lord. You may be seated Father in heaven we do approach you this morning in the name of Jesus asking
Lord that you revealed to us the intent and heart of your word That you would help us to live out the mercy and tender affection of God in our day -to -day lives
Lord it where we fall short Please help us and empower us by your spirit and the sound instruction that we're about to receive
To live in such a way in which Jesus is ultimately glorified and magnified
Through the mercy that we live out for his glory and his name's sake. Amen Church, we're going through the
Beatitudes here in this section of Scripture Yeah, what's unique in Luke's account of the
Beatitudes on the Sermon of the Mount is that he introduces several woes in the same breath
And what I want to encourage this morning is that in the Beatitudes our Lord is teaching us something
He's teaching us something of great value and of great importance if you're following the notes
I want you to write this in the first part of your notes in the Beatitudes. Our Lord is teaching us that the abundant life
Who here? Wants an abundant life raise your hand. Oh Come on, there's more people than that that wanted an abundant life.
I think we all want an abundant life. Amen We all want a life that is overflown with the blessing of God in our lives
I haven't met a single person who wants to be poor I haven't been a single person who wants to be miserable.
Most people want to be happy Most people want to have abundance in their life not scarcity
It is a good thing actually to desire abundance to a degree Now where this is maybe in your mind if you're a good
Christian and you have good sound theology You hear the word abundant coming from the pulpit and maybe some alarm bells are starting to ring as it should
Because there is an abuse of there's there's an extreme to this where there are those in the pulpits of many churches around this country and in the world that teach that abundance is
Indeed at the heart of the gospel that God wants you healthy wealthy blessed at all times that part of the of the gospel is that God wants you to be overflowing an abundance of material things so that maybe you can bless
Others or so it may be evidence of God's blessing your life But in the Beatitudes we find something a little bit different We find that the abundant life comes not from riches or food but from Obedience, so I want you to write this in the notes if you haven't already that the abundant life comes not from riches or food but from obedience
From obedience now, what do we mean by that? I want to examine again last week's verses in verse 20 of Luke chapter 6
When Jesus starts his sermon on the mountain, he begins to beatitudes. He says this in Luke's account
Blessed are you who are poor? For yours is the kingdom of God blessed.
Are you when you are hungry now for you shall be satisfied Blessed are those who weep now for you shall laugh
Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the
Son of Man Rejoice in that day leap for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven
So for so their fathers did to the prophets you see the abundant life
The blessing of life doesn't always come in the immediate blessings of material things
Here we have a contrast from the Lord Jesus Christ he starts off the beatitudes with the term blessed blessed blessed and Then he goes on to the next verses of Scripture to give us woes woes woes
Let's contrast that for a moment What does the word blessed actually mean you see in Scripture the term blessed or blessed simply means happy It means one that is
Satisfied so you say happy is the one who according to Scripture here are poor
Now most poor people are not happy. I know because I'm one of them.
I'm not always happy when I don't have enough Maybe you're one of them, too It says also blessed.
Are you or happier you when you're hungry? I Have a hard time with that one. I don't get very happy when
I'm hungry and Most of us aren't very happy when we're hungry It says again
Happy are you who weep? Well people who are weeping people who are crying not usually happy.
It seems to be a Opposite so what is the intent here? What is
Jesus getting at here? How is it that we can be happy when we're hungry when we're poor when we're weeping when people hate us happiness
According to the world is circumstantial You are happy when things are going your way
When everything is going your way, you're happy. You feel good Things are going the way you want to go and you have a level of happiness
Happiness, I like to put it this way according to the way that the world teaches is cheap.
It's fleeting It's here one moment and gone the next I give this analogy all the time
Happiness is you going outside of the store at Walmart and finding $20 on the floor
Pretty happy, aren't you? No one's around you pick it up. I got $20. Great God's really a blessing me with that abundant life today.
Amen But then you get to your car and you see that someone's rear -ended you Not so happy anymore, aren't you?
Because that happiness of the world is fleeting Circumstantial it's external. It's here one moment and gone the next
But the happiness or the blessedness that God offers is an internal joy.
That isn't so easily taken away It's this joy. That's lasting. It's this joy.
That's foundational because it isn't Outside of us rather it's inside of us
Isn't in the world It's in our soul because it's planted there through the peace that God gives to the gospel reconciliation
You can be blessed and happy Ultimately have joy in your life Even when circumstances are not favoring you even when things are not going your way
Even when you are poor you're hungry. You're weeping. You're destitute. You're hated
You can have a joy and a happiness that lasts Because our true joy our true happiness comes from the
Lord. It is enduring It is enduring Christ is the perfect model for this when you examine his life you examine his sufferings
Christ suffered More than anyone has ever suffered More so that all people here in this room put together
Yes The joy of the Lord was his stronghold It kept him to continue to live a life of obedience to his father
He lived out the mercies of his father And so in the
Beatitudes in the Sermon of the Mount Christ is teaching us that the abundant life true happiness true blessedness
Isn't circumstantial rather and it doesn't come from the riches from the world nor does it come from the fullness of food?
but rather in the obedience of following God That's where true and lasting happiness
Blessedness can be found is in obedience to the one and true God he contrasts us in verse 24 when he says but So remember what proceeds blessedness
Even in circumstances that don't favor you, but he says woe to you who are rich For you received your consolation
Woe to you who are full now For you shall be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now for you shall mourn and weep Woe to you then when all people speak well of you
For so their fathers did to the false prophets Let's identify these woes one by one
The first woe Woe to whom? The rich I don't know about you, but I'd rather be rich than poor
Being rich isn't necessarily sinful in itself But why then is
Jesus pointing this out? Why is Jesus? emphasizing this particular life
Woe to you who are rich that is to say those of you who only trust in your earthly riches and possessions if All that you have looked to look forward to is that what you have here and now
You are actually poor You've received your consolation is what Jesus says if riches material blessings material riches is all that you have
And all that you look forward to it is all that you'll get You'll get it.
One of the things that the Lord does in Scripture to a people or to a person is
That he will ultimately hand us over to our desires So if you want riches
He'll hand it over to you. You make that deal the devil you make that deal of the world. He'll give it to you
But it's all you'll get It's all you'll get Brothers and sisters what sets
Christianity apart from the world is that we believe that you have an immortal soul that your soul does not perish at the grave, but rather it continues and So what will you do with that precious soul of that precious life if we're blessed if we're lucky
We'll live 70 80 90 100 years But even that in comparison to history in comparison to eternity is but a blink
It's but a but a blink of an eye We're here one moment scripture says that like the blades of grass and then we quickly wither away
We're here one moment and gone life is short if material blessings is
All that you have it's all that you put your trust in is all that you look forward to it's all that you'll get
And eternity is a long time Therefore woe to the rich Jesus says for you have received your
Consolation it's as good as it's gonna get it's as good as it's gonna get I forget this who says this quote
It might be CS Lewis or another but there's a quote that goes similar to this Earth is all the hell the believer will ever taste
Earth is all the heaven the unbeliever will ever taste This place here and now is as bad as it gets for us
It's it only goes up from here brothers and sisters so if you're
Having difficulties if you're struggling in life, you're struggling your finances You're struggling your relationship know that this is as bad as it gets is down here and all that We have to look forward to it only gets better but for the unbeliever
This here now is as good as it gets It doesn't get better.
It only gets worse if you die Apart from knowing true joy true peace true blessedness in the personal work of Jesus Christ This is all the hell you'll ever taste there believer, but this is all the heaven the unbeliever will ever see
This is what Jesus is contrasting here For us who know him for those of us who are found in Jesus this morning
All the pain all the suffering all the poorness the poverty the pain the suffering that we endure here and now in this world is as bad as it gets for us because we have an eternal way of glory to look forward to Jesus is teaching us in the
Beatitudes that we have to delay personal Gratification in the immediate for true peace and gratification in the future
There's an experiment that was done with little kids. Maybe you've heard of this. Maybe you've seen This there's a video you can watch on YouTube where little kids are put in a room toddlers
You know, maybe three to seven years old and they're given a little piece of candy and they say wait right here
And if you wait a couple minutes, I'll give you another one. And so kids
Various backgrounds are looking at the piece of candy. No one's in the room with them More often than not, you know what they do
They take that little piece of candy and they eat it because they just can't help themselves It's so good.
Look at that skittle the color the taste and they just can't help themselves And that's a perfect image of sinners in this world.
We look at the at the treat and we say well, this is as good as it gets But for those who delayed immediate satisfaction and gratification
If they wait at five minutes, the person would come they give another piece of candy and that's the Christian The Christian has to persevere we have often to delay personal gratification
Here now so that later There's more blessing. There's more abundance in the world to come
Jesus also points this out to us when he says woe to the fool write this in the notes
Says first woe to the rich now. He says woe to the fool. He says woe to you who are full now
For you shall be hungry again The personal riches personal gain health and wealth and and blessing now, that's all you're looking forward to.
It's all you'll get but Jesus says You'll eventually Go hungry
They'll eventually be a time When you will not be able to satisfy the hunger that you have and I believe that Jesus is pointing to the reality of hell
Hell is a doctrine that is seldom taught and preached from pulpits in America today because it is so fearsome
It is so powerful and it's so scary that preachers shy away from it
Because I even here now I see there's some visitors and I don't know where you stand with Jesus Christ And and I might scare you away by telling you the truth about what
God's Word teaches about hell But the reality is this hell is real And the
Bible teaches us that Those of us who do not trust in Jesus those who not put their faith in Jesus Shall go to the place of eternal separation from Christ.
It's the place Well, you'll have perpetual hunger, but nothing will ever satisfy perpetual thirst but no amount of water will be able to satisfy
Your thirst it is the place of total separation from the goodness of God But it is not total separation from God as some erroneously teach
The book of Revelation says in chapter 14 that it is the place The lake of fire is the place of torment where you are in the presence of the
Lamb But the presence of the Lamb is not of his mercy or grace, but rather of his wrath
You receive God for all that he is the splendor of his greatness the splendor of his majesty the splendor of his glory the splendor of his holiness and You'll be consumed by it
Just as if I were to put you on a rocket ship and send you to the Sun the closer you
You got to the proximity to that glorious body The quicker you deteriorate and that is the analogy of hell
It is not the place the void of God's glory is the place where you receive the full brunt of God's glory without any covering
Without any protection and those of us who are in Jesus, we will one day see
God face to face We shall also see all his glory yet.
We come to him veiled in Jesus Christ Under his protection under his blessing then we shall see him face to face and we shall be as he is
That's the hope of glory brothers and sisters is to be found veiled in Jesus So we may see and approach the face of God Jesus again says woe to you who are full now for you shall be hungry
Pointing to the eternal reality of hellfire Woe to you who laugh now, don't you write this in the notes woe to who laugh
Now laughter is a beautiful thing. It's a gift that God has given humanity. It is a good thing to laugh
It's a good thing to have a sense of humor. I think God has a sense of humor and yet It says woe to you who laugh now for you shall mourn and weep again pointing to the true
Eternal realities of hellfire where Jesus says elsewhere. It is the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth
Woe to you who have only this world to look forward to is the point that Jesus is making
He goes on to say also woe to you when all people speak well of you Next part is woe to to you when people speak well of you can write that in there as well
What Jesus is saying is that being? satisfied in these things alone are their own
Consolation that is to say again if all that you have look forward to in this world
If all that you have in this is is what's in front of you now is this place with no?
regard for eternity That's as good as it gets But it only goes downhill from there
So he contrasts the blessing and the woes
I'm packed a little more again. We said blessing means happiness or true happiness true joy
Woe means the complete opposite We don't really use the word woe in our
English vernacular today Maybe you've heard There's a Yiddish phrase.
That's probably more popular than the English word. Woe, but it is always a
The Yiddish always a is a rendition of the Hebrew for woe and So it's often used in connotations of something.
That's negative something bad's happening. We say always a The word woe
Literally means the undoing Which is why in Scripture for instance in Isaiah chapter 6
Isaiah the prophet sees God in Isaiah chapter 6 and he says woe am
I I Am undone He says for my eyes have seen the
Lord of hosts Woe means the unraveling of oneself the undoing of oneself
Blessedness is the completeness is the joy the happiness of oneself
Jesus is comparing contrasting of that which will make you ultimately happy and satisfied and that which will leave you destitute and undone
Blessed are you When you obey the master Woe to you
When all you have to look forward to is today's riches and blessings You are actually becoming undone is what
Jesus is saying. Woe to you If you think you'll find true Consolation of your riches woe to you if you think that fullness now is what truly matters woe to you
If laughter now is all that matters woe to you when people when people speak well of you So so for so their fathers did to the false prophets undoing unbecoming
Unraveling You see these are things that we believe actually make us whole Many people in the world they seek after riches they seek after pleasures.
They seek after fullness They seek for laughter now, they seek for comfort now They seek for people's approvals and yet what
Jesus is saying is these are actually your undoing Your pursuit of these things your love for these things your passion for these things will actually become your undoing
It's the unbecoming the unraveling of man True blessedness is not found in one's possessions.
It's not found in one's riches It's not found in being hungry or satisfied. Now. It doesn't come in laughter now
It doesn't happen when people speak well of you, but instead is when you obey the
Father It's when you live out the true mercy of God Notice how then
Jesus points his attention to in in verse 27. He says but I say to you who hear
Love your enemies Do good to those who hate you? Okay, this was a radical then it's a radical now
We live in this polarized time and so with social media political divisions social divisions economic divisions
Our world is polarized and very powerful fashion Where we are now taught not only is that person look or actor?
Differently to me, but I actually hate them. I don't like them So whether you're a
Republican or Democrat conservative or or or anywhere in the spectrum We're now being taught not only can't like, okay
We we have differences, but no we can't have these differences because now you're an existential threat to me And I have to undo you before you undo me.
We are we are at a we're at each other's throats in this country but what Jesus is saying here is
Love your enemies How do we love our enemies? He answers it by saying do good to those who hate you as We read earlier in the
Old Testament The intent of God's law is ultimately for good is to do good to our neighbor
It's to preserve society. It's to preserve the good kindness of God in all places
And yet so often the inclination of our heart is to hate
Those who mistreat us to hate those who hate us To give an eye for an eye a tooth for tooth
That's how we've been ingrained and there is a natural Inclination to this there's a natural law behind us and natural law is invoked in God's Old Testament law
Which is why it says if you were to steal something you have to pray restitution There is an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth in the
Old Testament, but Jesus is introducing something of radical change
He's getting to the heart and intention of God's law when he says love your enemies
Do good to those who hate you verse 28 bless those who curse you and pray for those who abuse you in this culture today
We are especially taught to hate those who harm us who abuse us this is not a political message, but we do have a we have harnessed over the last couple of decades a victimized culture a culture of victimization
Where something bad happened to us that is now excused for us to act out in outlandish ways
Well, you don't understand my story I was abused I was hurt someone did this to me someone did that to me
Therefore I'm the way that I am brothers and sisters That's not excuse.
It's not excuse. That's not to minimize The pain the hurt that was done to you by no means but rather recognize this we still have
Personal responsibility and we are called in a radical way to love our enemy
To do good to those who hate us and also to pray for those who abuse us
There's a call to a radical life of mercy That is the call to which you have been called to this morning is to live out the mercy of God If you're following along the teaching we are called to love our enemies
To do good to those who hate us while blessing those who curse us
Genuinely praying for them. Do we genuinely pray for our enemies? Do we genuinely pray for those who hurt us who abuse us who's mistreated us?
We've all been mistreated We've all been abused in one way or another. We're all victims of a sort.
We've also been victimizers We've also with the same tongue with the same emotions have been hurt with we've hurt others
And so truly the Word of God stands that we're all guilty We're all guilty brothers and sisters, which is why it is so important that we live out mercy
Because if we expect mercy from from our father if we expect mercy when we do wrong
We must also be a must be willing and able to extend mercy even to those who hate us and curse us
That's the radical call It was on the same verse 29 the one who strikes in the cheek offer the other also
And the who takes you away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either Give to everyone who begs from you from the one who takes away your goods do not demand them back now again
We read earlier in the Old Testament if someone steals from you you have a right to restitution
What Jesus is saying? Sometimes it is more noble To withhold your right
In order to amplify God's mercy and blessing We're so quick to go to the law when we're offended
We're so quick to do so yet Christ is calling us to a way of life of radical mercy
To be merciful to others to be merciful to those who have hurt us at the heart of the beatitudes
The attitudes of the beatitudes they center around two
Primary factors once you write this in the notes. You're following along number one humility
Humility Notice again those who are blessed blessed are the poor those who are humble.
We have nothing Blessed are those who weep blessed are those who mourn those who are hurting those who are lowly
Those are the ones who are blessed Those who are humble who have humility and it also centers around mercy
The two attitudes of the beatitudes that almost all these things center around is humility and mercy
Mercy is being able to Extend a hand to extend grace to those who have harmed you to those who have wronged you that's mercy is extending forgiveness and Understanding to those who may even be undeserving of it
Because the truth of the matter is brother and sister we are all undeserving of mercy
This is the radical doctrine of grace You want grace actually means the word grace means undeserved kindness
Unmerited favor, which means there is no scenario in which you deserve forgiveness
None zero, there is no way that by any natural means you can come to to the father
Come to God and demand and receive forgiveness It is totally a work of grace undeserved
Unmerited you are not deserving of it yet God as it says in Ephesians chapter 2 being rich in mercy with the love of which he loved us
Made us alive And seated us with Christ in heaven places for by grace you have been saved
That's the power of grace and we are called to live this grace out Practically not solely theologically because as a reformed church, we all affirm the teachings of grace
Yet, we're not called merely to acknowledge these truths, but to live them out Live out the grace and mercy of God And you know what will happen?
your enemies May become your friends Those who curse you may in turn bless you.
That is the hope of what Jesus is getting at here So that someone takes your cloak you
Put hot coals over their head not by literally harming them but by doing good to them
Doing good as the Apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 12 He says we do not overcome evil with evil, but rather we overcome evil with what?
Good Good That's at the heart of God's law is his goodness
It's good for neighbor and good for man and that which is good for God for when he made all things
He says it is in fact good and at the end of human History it will once again be good
But we are in the process even now of making all things good again through the gospel of peace all things will be made good again and you
Dear brother and sister have a vital role to play in that goodness as we bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the world
And we share in the goodness grace and mercy of God to an unbelieving and dying world
That's our call that's the call of the Beatitudes what we also find here in verse 31
Which is often called the golden rule Jesus says as you wish that others would do to you
Do so to them Or do likewise on to them the golden rule here is doing on to others as you'd want on to you
Meaning if you're following the notes, I want you to write this in there. We must imitate Christ and wanting the best for yourself and others
You see God has a best for you in mind God has a best for you in mind.
His best isn't that you hold on to Trauma, it isn't that you hold on to the past It isn't you hold on to the burdens of yesterday, but rather that you give them over to him today
That's God's best for you God's best for you is that you forgive and you forgive readily and you forgive quickly
And so that when we're having arguments, even if it's between the husband wife Friends church members we are called to forgive to forgive often and to forgive quickly because it's in forgiveness
That we see the power and mercy of God So we forgive there's a power there because of the practical side of this
Is that the opposite of forgiveness is? Harboring ill intent. It's harboring hatred and hatred is like a poison
Yeah, it'll hurt the other person but ultimately in the long run. It's gonna hurt you more And so God's call is to let go of hatred even to those who truly harm us
Pray for those who harm us pray for those who persecute us and let love
Rule, let mercy Have its time We're called to treat others the way that we would want to be treated even if the other side
Doesn't get it Even if the other side doesn't compute even the other side doesn't relent
We still treat others the way we would want to be treated with dignity respect humility
Showing the worth of the individual as the image bearer of God That's at the heart of the golden rule
Now Jesus begins to set up a series of questions and scenarios here that I think is of much interest
He says in verse three two if you love those who love you What benefit is that to you?
Think about that question for a moment think about that scenario if you love those who love you
That's easy We all got friends. We all have family. We know what it's like to be loved We know what it's like to have a group of people that that we're close with it's easy to love those who love you
The Christian life my dear friend is not a life of ease God's not calling you to an easy life
He's calling us to a difficult one and what's very difficult because I can preach to you by this idealistic
Love this idealistic mercy. It's another thing to truly live it out
It's only when you are faced with actual scenarios in life where you have to extend mercy that you see how difficult this truly is
This is no trivial matter It is hard work to love those
Who hate you to love and pray for those who have hurt you? It's not easy
But Jesus says if you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? What benefit he says for even the sinners love those who love them?
Are we not different than the world? That's what Jesus is getting at.
He wants us to look different behave different speak differently He wants Christians to remarkably different than the world
Because again he goes on to say if you do good to those who do good to you what benefit is that to you?
he says For even sinners do the same
What benefit is there to treat others who only to treat well only those who treat you well
Does that magnify the gospel of mercy? Does it magnify the gospel of grace if we only focus on those who have treated as well?
It does not For sinners do the same He's then gives another scenario and if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive what credit is that to you?
What credit is that to you what Jesus is again pointing to is a radical life of mercy mercy
Because how many of us in times past have lended out money and didn't get it back
It kind of begins when when money gets involved and Jesus points to this often because Jesus preached a lot about money
It's one of the top three things that he speaks on through the Gospels When money is involved our true character comes out
You know why? because money tends to be our greatest idol and When the idols of life are messed with when the gods of our heart are messed with That's where our true colors come out.
So Jesus saying if you've lent it to someone With all the expectation of receiving back.
What benefit is that to you? Now again, Jesus not Jesus is not okay with fraud
Jesus is not okay with not paying back your Obligations that's not what he's saying but rather he's looking at the heart of the one who is his follower and saying if Even if you find yourself in this scenario
You extend mercy you extend grace He's calling us again to a radical life of mercy
To even forgive those who have taken from us who have stolen from us for not paying back a debt is indeed theft
But he goes on to say even sinners lend to sinners to beg to get back the same amount as Christians if we practice lending
We have to have this radical notion of forgiveness of mercy
In the Old Testament law is very strict. We just read in Exodus what that law looks like in regard to restitution of loss or damaged property
There's another there's a there's a verse there that may have alarmed you if you're new to the scriptures
It was a part that says that if a person doesn't pay back their obligation. They can be sold into slavery and that may
Hard hurt your Western sensibilities for a moment But there was something that was interesting about slavery in the
Old Testament That slavery was not institution similar to what we see in the American South of the last several centuries
But it's very remarkably different and what was also different about is that this wasn't an institution that was meant to last an entire lifetime
Rather there was a cycle of time six seven years for nine years in which that Slaves were to be let go to be freed and this is called a
Shemitah there's a Jubilee in which that which was taken is returned and that Those who were in slavery are set free.
The captives are set free. See we're all captives to sin We're all in slavery to sin and the gospel of Jesus Christ opens a way for us to receive mercy
Now which is why the New Testament says now is the favorable time now is the acceptable season
Now is the year of Jubilee the captives those who owe those who are in debt those who are in slavery
Can go free through Jesus Christ through the mercy of God in the gospel
This is what Christ is pointing to if you're following the notes loving those who love us is easy
It's easy to love those who love us it's easy to to only bless those who bless us, but what reward is that and Say this we must look forward to the hope of being sons of God While expecting nothing and return from the world
If you lend lending graciously if you give give graciously if you are cursed be merciful
Remember who we are to imitate. We are imitating Christ He goes on to put this beautiful thing together
He says in verse 35, but love your enemies and do good and lend expecting nothing in return
For your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High For he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil
This is the idea of common grace that God is good to people of all backgrounds of all people of all times and seasons
Whether they're believers or unbelievers. God is merciful. God is good He goes on to say in verse 36 be merciful even as your father is merciful so believers
We look forward to a future and it's because of the future hope that we have in the resurrection from the dead
That we can delay gratification Here and now so we can be merciful to those who harm us because our reward isn't what we get in the immediate
But rather that's what that which we will get on the final day The day in which we see him face to face eschatologically
There are two days that have true meaning and significance in Scripture Without debating all the different types of eschatologies out there meeting all the different scenarios and theologies surrounding the end times
But there are two days that I want you to focus on today The scripture says while you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as in the days of rebellion
Today and every day has a is a significant Eschatologically because we never know when our last day will be
So today is significant because God is calling you to a life of repentance. He's calling you to a life of mercy
He's calling you to live up this gospel The other day that matters is that day when we see him face to face
And we shall give an account for the things that we've done in the body whether good or evil God is calling you today to repent of your sins to trust in Jesus To have happiness true blessedness true joy that lasts
Because we look forward to the future Resurrection from the dead in which we shall be called sons of the most high write this in the final part of the notes
May we be merciful to all? Just as our
Father in heaven is merciful unto us Scripture says this in Ephesians chapter 5 verse 32
Be merciful to one another Just as God in Christ was merciful to you
Be merciful and live out the mercy of God. Let me pray gracious benevolent
Father We do give thanks to you for the mercy With what you have called us to and the mercy in which you have loved us
Namely the mercies of your son Jesus Christ who lived a holy and perfect life sinless in every way and yet Those sinless died a death that we deserved
Being a substitutionary atonement for the sins of humanity Lord, you've also demonstrated your mercy and that you did not leave your son to the grave but instead on the third day you raised him up and Seated him at the right hand of majesty where he lives and reigns even now as king of kings and lord of lords and intercedes for us with his mercy
For he is indeed that high and lofty mercy seat before the throne and upon his merit upon his shed blood upon his goodness
We can have forgiveness of sins and the mercy of God Father we pray that you'd help us to not only receive this message
Intellectually, but Lord that we would internalize these truths and live them out in such a way that we display the grandeur of your mercy of your gospel good news to this world that so desperately needs it and Power your
Saints Oh Lord to do this work and more through your spirit and for your glory in Jesus name