Chico Alliance Church
Pastor David Welch
Jonah Series #8
“Lord Have Mercy!”
Review
Two themes intertwine through the little journal of the prophet Jonah.
The actions of a merciful sovereign God.
The actions of a miserable broken man.
I. God called Jonah – Jonah ran FROM God
II. God disciplined Jonah
III. God delivered Jonah - Jonah ran TO God in prayer
IV. God recommissioned Jonah and Spared Nineveh – Jonah ran WITH God
V. God rebuked Jonah – Jonah ran AGAINST God
The book highlights a specific aspect of God’s character; mainly His sovereign mercy. The need for God’s mercy comes from the reality of man’s malignancy. If mankind were perfect, there would be no need for mercy.
Because of its prevalence in the book and the magnificence of this aspect of God’s character I felt it appropriate to spend a whole message investigating mercy. When Moses requested to see God’s glory, God told him He would hide him in the protection of a rock and would allow Moses to view the back side of His goodness as it passed over.
Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." Exodus 34:6-7
God included many of the aspects of God’s character we normally associate with His goodness. Compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, faithful, forgiving. We will not fully appreciate God’s mercy until we understand our need. Paul clearly explains the need.
As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. Romans 3:10-19
ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… Romans 3:23
You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:1-3
Many people cry for justice. Justice for unjust people means judgment and punishment. What we need is mercy.
All those without God’s transforming work are and will be subject to God’s wrath. The Old Testament employs some 20 different terms to express God’s anger or wrath occurring some 580 times. The New Testament documents nearly 600 references to God’s anger and wrath. Translators utilize words like wrath, anger, fury, burning indignation, hot displeasure, hate. God’s responds to the evil practiced and perpetuated by His seen and unseen creatures with a measured calculated response.
The LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:24
We marveled at the demonstration of God’s mercy on the wicked Ninevites.
A century later Nahum painted a different picture.
A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; the LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; He dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel wither; the blossoms of Lebanon wither. Mountains quake because of Him, and the hills dissolve; indeed the earth is upheaved by His presence, the world and all the inhabitants in it. Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken up by Him. The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him. But with an overflowing flood He will make a complete end of its site, and will pursue His enemies into darkness. Nahum 1:2-8
He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. John 3:36
All who refuse Jesus will be without excuse.
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. Romans 1:18-19
God does not always fully express His wrath as we deserve because He is also a God of mercy.
Their heart was not steadfast toward Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant. But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger and did not arouse all His wrath. Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and does not return. Psalm 78:37-39
The prophet Zephaniah graphically described a final day of God’s wrath.
Near is the great day of the LORD, near and coming very quickly; listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities and the high corner towers. I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD; and their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the day of the LORD'S wrath; and all the earth will be devoured in the fire of His jealousy, for He will make a complete end, indeed a terrifying one, of all the inhabitants of the earth. Zephaniah 1:14-18
John prophesied the ultimate expression of God’s wrath.
And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?" Rev 6:15-17
Paul predicted a coming expression of God’s wrath.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. Colossians 3:5-6
You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 1 Thess 5:2
Peter also describe the terrifying unleashing of God’s wrath.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 2 Peter 3:10
Who can stand? Just as sure as Scripture pronounces judgment, it announces mercy.
We were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph 2:3-10
Jesus fully understood the fierceness of God’s wrath. Jeremiah describes God’s judgment on Babylonians as a cup of God’s wrath.
For thus the LORD, the God of Israel, says to me,"Take this cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it. They will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them." Jeremiah 25:15-16
Could this be the cup Jesus begged to forgo?
And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” Luke 22:41-42
Jesus bore the full measure of God’s wrath on our behalf.
As a result of the anguish of His soul, God will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11
The words to a song we sing often powerfully express this truth.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh, Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness, Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid, Here in the death of Christ I live
Wrath and justice join to confront sin and evil. Wrath and mercy stand on opposite ends of God’s interaction with His creatures. Habakkuk pled with God…
O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. Habakkuk 3:2
Mercy partners with grace to convey God’s goodness to undeserving creatures. God urges us to draw near to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace.
Grace addresses the failures of the creature with unconditional favor.
He blesses us with blessing we did not and do not deserve.
Mercy addresses the transgression and misery of the creature with compassion.
He withholds the punishment that we did deserve.
Grace promises blessing we didn’t deserve.
Mercy withholds punishment we did deserve.
Mercy is an attribute of God, an infinite and inexhaustible energy within the divine nature that disposes God to actively show compassion towards undeserving creatures. It is that aspect of His goodness that confronts human misery and guilt.
TWO ASPECTS TO MERCY
1 – Mercy restrains the judgment justly due the guilty.
2 – Mercy relieves the misery of the guilty and rebellious.
His Mercy is great. 1 Kings 3:6
His Mercy is plenteous. Psalm 86:5
His Mercy is tender. Luke 1:78
His Mercy is abundant 1 Peter 1:3
His Mercy is from everlasting to everlasting. Psalm 103:17
He is rich in mercy Eph 2:3-7
The terms are variously translated, “pity’, “mercy”, “compassion.” We all deserve to be left in the misery of our own rebellious ways. Whatever misery we experience is often due to our own foolish choices. We all deserve punishment for our rebellious thoughts, deeds, and attitudes. Mercy restrains deserved judgment and offers to relieve the misery associated with our sin. Beware of demanding justice. Rather, plead for mercy. There is no mercy in law. There is only mercy in the judge. Because God is a merciful judge, He continually restrains the deserved judgment and seeks to relieve the deserved misery desirous to establish a significant relationship with the offender.
Mercy restrains judgment and relieves misery.
? God shows mercy over all His works
The Lord is gracious and merciful; slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works. Psalm 145:8-9
? God’s mercy motivates Him to rescue the blatant sinner.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) Ephesians 2:4
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, Titus 3:5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3
God demonstrates mercy whenever He acts to relieve misery rather than execute judgment.
That relief comes in the form of physical relief – healing.
That relief comes in the form of emotional relief – forgiveness
That relief comes in the form of spiritual relief – deliverance from demonic oppression.
That relief comes in the form of eternal salvation – rescue from sin.
Out of His goodness, God seeks relationship and when goodness encounters the barriers of sin and rebellion, He lovingly withholds judgment in order to rescue from misery. Paul prayed for God’s mercy on believers along with grace and peace and love.
Only the saving work of Jesus on our behalf frees God to grant mercy to the sinner and remain true to His nature.
There is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:22-26
? God’s mercy saves us from God’s coming wrath.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Romans 5:8-9
Since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing. 1 Thess 5:8-11
? God’s mercy is sovereign.
For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. Romans 9:15-16
? Practice Mercy
Showing mercy was the whole point of the Good Samaritan parable.
Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:36-37
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion (mercy), and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
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. Luke 6:35-36
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Matthew 5:7
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion (mercy), kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Col 3:12-13
This is such a vital element of community that God distributes an extra measure of grace, gifting to certain members of the body. Romans 12 lists “mercy” among the spiritual gifts. Paul recognized that the opportunity to serve Jesus was due to God’s mercy.
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 Corinthians 4:1
I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:12-16
The New Testament uses the term as synonymous with giving to needs of others.
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms (mercy) generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. Acts 10:1-2
Instead of being so quick to pass judgment and execute judgment, we should remember how God deals with us. Too often we write people off, ignore their pain, blame their choices, multiply their misery. The true follower of Jesus focuses on relieving misery rather than increasing misery. Are we irritated by people’s misery or inspired to act with compassion?
For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Jude 1:20-23
We were dead in our sin BUT God according to His mercy saved us.
We continually do things deserving of wrath, BUT God grants mercy.
We were foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another, BUT God saved us according to His mercy not our works. Titus 3:3
We regularly struggle with the consequences of our bad choices, BUT God urges us to come to His throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
