Ephesians 2:4-7
Notes
Transcript
Mercy, Love
Mercy, Love
We have in the first three verses here in this chapter seen the most descriptive accounts of our natural condition as human beings. A condition of spiritual deadness and bankruptcy that we can’t do anything about on our own. That’s where we were. We were dead in our sins.
And then we come to verse 4. And verse 4 is the light at the end of the tunnel. It is the good news that we have to look forward to in spite of all the bad news.
So we discussed two weeks ago these two words, “But God” and these two words sum up all of the gospel. They summarize all of what God did for us in Christ. But thankfully, Paul goes on to expound on what that means. He doesn’t leave us to wonder how this all works out, he explains it.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
7 so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Let’s think about this word Mercy for a little while. Verse 4 says that God, being rich in mercy… What does this mean that God is rich in Mercy?
Well first of all we need to understand what Mercy is. A good definition of mercy is deserving punishment for a deed, and not actually receiving the punishment you deserve.
Alistair Begg tells the story about an old pastor having his picture taken for the church directory and the photographer was trying to get all of the lighting and the background right and adjusting all those things and the pastor said “now listen - when you take this picture - I want to make sure that this picture does me justice”. And the photographer, seeing the old man’s grumpy scowl, said “sir, what you require is not justice - but mercy”.
I don’t know if some of you can relate? To be honest when I watch some of these recordings of myself teaching, what I want is NOT justice - but mercy! That’s the honest truth! I want mercy.
Mercy is not getting what we deserve. And we know full well what the Bible says that we deserve right? We deserve judgement. We deserve death. We deserve Hell.
So, just this word Mercy in the Bible should make us hit our knees. The fact that God is rich in mercy should draw us to Him in thankfulness and praise.
But why mercy here? Well, it’s obvious because we needed it.
I think one of the main causes for someone to reject God’s offer of salvation is because they don’t see themselves to be as bad as what they really are.
George Whitefield (preacher from 1800’s) responded once to someone who had some very critical things to say about him. Here’s how he responded: “I thank you heartily for your letter. As for what you and my other enemies are saying against me, I know worse things about myself than you will ever say about me. With love in Christ, George Whitefield.”
Until we realize how bad we are, we will never know how good and merciful God is.
Now, let’s look at some aspects of mercy. How does mercy become evident or show itself? The first thing we have to say is that mercy is eager and ready to show compassion.
Don’t you see that? Someone who is merciful is someone who is likely a compassionate person who is looking for opportunities to manifest that compassion towards someone else.
But just to have pity or compassion on someone isn’t necessarily mercy.
I want to show you a couple of examples of this.
14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
What’s the problem here? This person sees the need, but isn’t willing to step in and help. They just see the need, but that’s as far as it goes. And James is saying here if you have that type of faith - the faith you have is dead. Mercy is compassion in action. Compassion in action.
Let’s look at another example.
25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”
27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”
29 But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead.
31 “And by chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 “Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
33 “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion,
34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
35 “On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.’
36 “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”
37 And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
What was the problem here? Well the first two guys that passed by - do you think it’s possible that they had compassion or pity on the guy that was laying in the road bleeding and dying? Sure it’s possible. They may have said to themselves, “oh that poor guy, bless his heart. Hope he makes it”. But what were they willing to do about it? NOTHING! They weren’t willing to do anything about his condition.
So when we think about God’s mercy on us, we have to realize that God was willing to step in and take ACTION on our behalf and provide a way for us to be saved. He didn’t just look down and pity us, He had real mercy on us. Mercy that provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him.
Because of His great love
Because of His great love
What made God have mercy on us? It’s explained to us here in verse 4. The reason He had mercy on us was because of His great love for us. You see how this all builds on itself? He had mercy on us when we didn’t deserve it, because he loved us so much while we were still dead in our sins.
God sent Jesus to this earth to reconcile sinners to himself. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.”
That’s it! God loves us that much. It’s because of His love for us that He chose to be merciful to us. His love was the driving factor for his mercy towards us.
Here’s the funny thing about mercy. When you are the one in need, which would you rather have - mercy or justice? You want mercy right? What about when it’s the other person? What do you want for them? Typically if we are honest - we want justice for them. We want them to get what they deserve, but when it comes to us - we want mercy. A pretty hypocritical system if you ask me. That’s why we need to keep these things in mind when we are dealing with the people around us. People that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones right?
I wonder if there’s application for us here. Are we merciful? Are we a person that looks for opportunities to be merciful? Or are we a people looking for revenge and spite and judgement?
Are you a merciful person? If you are a Christian here tonight and you can honestly admit that you love God and are thankful for HIS mercy - how can you neglect to be merciful to someone else?
Are you like the priest or the levite that just passed by on the other side of the road that probably felt pity for the man dying in the road, but unwilling to stop and be merciful?
Answer that honestly, God knows the answer.
I started this way tonight and I want to conclude this way. It is ONLY when we realize how much we needed mercy when God chose to be merciful to us, that we can rightly think or act towards others. It is only when we realize how merciful God was to us, that we are able to reciprocate that mercy towards others. It is only when we realize how much God loved us while we were unlovable, that we can love those around us that are unlovable as well.
God, may we have mercy on others as you have shown us so much mercy.