KNOWING GOD - #3
God’s Compassion, Mercy, and Forgiveness
Matthew 18:21-35
Introduction
We are continuing our series on the attributes or character qualities of God.
Today we are going to talk about God’s compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. It has come to my attention this past week, as Debra and I closed on our house, that we experienced the first two in tremendous quantities.
My original intention for this message was to speak just about God’s mercy, but as I was putting everything together, it became readily apparent that we could not do justice to the topic without also addressing compassion and forgiveness, because they are all linked.
I also want to warn you that we will not get through this outline today. As I was preparing, I realized that although these three are linked, there is a lot to say about each of them.
So we will get through the first point in the outline as we define and expand on the three ideas to be explored.
We will finish this next week, then we are going to look at the grace of God in a couple weeks, okay?
These three attributes of God, aside from love, are probably some of the most visible ones.
Visible, that is, in the hearts and lives of His people.
People identify these as being some of the more identifiable marks of “religious” people.
And that’s fine. That’s the way it should be.
I mentioned a long time ago that it was the Christians who started the soup kitchens, care for lepers and AIDS patients, the orphanages, the hospitals, etc.
Christians have always been at the forefront of showing compassion and mercy.
It is a very tangible expression of passing on that which God has given to us.
Christians are commanded to show compassion, mercy, and forgiveness. To not do so is a sin in the eyes of God.
But first, let’s get a handle on what these three concepts include, shall we? So, first we look at the three…
I. Revealed.
In this section, I want to spend a bit of time defining the terms, and fleshing them out a bit. You may be a bit surprised at what you learn today about these three ideas.
First, lets look at…
A. Compassion.
Here’s how the American Heritage Dictionary defines compassion:
Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.
I’m going to review a little bit of something I have mentioned before. So if you have heard this before, just hang with me here for a bit.
Compassion goes farther than sympathy. It goes beyond empathy – able to feel their pain.
Compassion does something to help them out.
A great example of this is seen in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
You know the story, but let’s think about it for a minute. A Jew is traveling to Jericho and is attacked by thieves who leave him for dead.
A couple religious guys come by, and instead of caring for the man, they care more about not getting dirty or involved.
Then a Samaritan comes along, sees, the guy, has compassion, and treats his wounds, then puts him up at the nearest Super 8 until he gets better.
Of the three people, the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan, who had the least good reason to help?
It was the Samaritan, right? And do you know why? Because Jews and Samaritans didn’t get along. In fact, they hated each other. The Samaritans were looked on as a kind of half-breed Jew.
But this Samaritan overcame his prejudices and acted with compassion.
Here’s another thing about compassion. It does not mean “agreement.”
Let me explain what I mean with a story. Again, this is a bit of review, but it is very appropriate.
Sam Crabtree, former Assistant to the Pastor at the Brookings Wesleyan Church, wrote a letter to the student Senate at SDSU to protest the giving of an ex officio seat on the Student Senate to the student homosexual group.
One of the senators called Sam, gave him a piece of his mind, then asked, “Where is your compassion?”
Sam replied by saying, “Don’t you think it is more compassionate to tell someone they are engaging in a lifestyle that kills the average male by age 36?”
Compassion sees someone heading for disaster and does something about it.
In Matthew 9:35-38 we read about an episode where Jesus showed compassion. Here’s what it says:
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Jesus saw a need and acted. He not only told the disciples to pray for workers to go out with the gospel, the next verses tell us that He sent them out.
We have access to the gospel because of God’s compassion to you and me.
God sees our need for salvation, and He provided for it. Here’s something that absolutely blows my mind:
God knew before the beginning of time that I would need a Savior. So He sent Jesus.
He knew the Apostle Paul would need a Savior so He sent Jesus.
He knew Billy Graham would need a Savior so He sent Jesus.
He knew that Lowell Harms would need a Savior so He sent Jesus.
He knew YOU would need a Savior so He sent Jesus.
God saw we were headed for eternal suffering and He did something to help us avoid that suffering.
What a wonderful God we have, amen?
Now lets look at…
B. Mercy.
I would like you to turn to Matthew 18:21-35, which is on page 695 in the Bibles in the seats there.
This will set the stage for this section and the one on forgiveness.
Please follow along as I read:
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"
22 Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 "The servant fell on his knees before him. `Be patient with me,’ he begged, `and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. `Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, `Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
30 "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
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. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In 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."
This story is about mercy and forgiveness. Let’s focus on mercy for a bit.
Here’s what Unger’s Bible Dictionary says about mercy:
“(It is) the outward manifestation of pity; it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of him who shows it.”
Here’s how the parable we just read relates to this definition:
The servant needed mercy, and the King had the resources and the and the power to grant it.
The idea hear is that we cannot show mercy to someone unless we have the resources to do it.
In this case, mercy could only be granted by one to whom the debt was owed.
In law, a defendant hopes for mercy from the jury and the judge.
One definition of mercy that I think really sums it up is this: not getting what you deserve.
You see, according to the Laws of Moses, the king in this parable had every right to send this servant to prison and his family sold to pay the debt.
Yet the king had mercy.
Let me use one of my favorite passages of Scripture to illustrate how God shows His mercy.
Please turn to Romans 6:23. This is on page 799 of the Bibles in the seats. It says:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Let me read part of it again: For the wages of sin is death, but…
You see, we deserve death, but God had mercy. He made it possible for us to avoid the penalty we deserve.
The king in the parable could have punished the servant, but instead He showed mercy.
God wants to shower His mercy on you. It says in 2 Peter 3:19 that He wants everyone to come to repentance, not wanting anyone to perish.
You can take hold of that mercy by confessing Jesus as Lord, taking Him as your Savior.
Then you can experience the third attribute of God,…
C. Forgiveness.
In our parable, we saw that the king showed not only mercy, but also forgiveness. He basically declared the debt to be off the account.
The footnotes in my Bible tell me that this servant owed literally millions of dollars. Yet the king decided to forgive the debt.
One of the synonyms of forgiveness is “pardon,” which basically means “to refrain from imposing punishment.”
In our parable, the king chose forgiveness over punishment.
The parable is a picture of two things: how we should forgive others, which we will look at next week, and the forgiveness of the King of Kings.
God has the power to forgive our debts against Him. Our sins are debts against His holiness. And they prevent our entrance to heaven.
Yet He offers pardon and forgiveness to any who will take it.
Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. To offer forgiveness.
And we would be not only foolish to reject it, we will be destroying our own souls.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, probably many times, that God isn’t looking for a way to put us in hell, He’s provided a way out.
Take hold of God’s forgiveness. It’s there waiting for you.
You can’t earn God’s forgiveness. The servant in the parable could not earn his master’s forgiveness, and neither can we.
The book of Ephesians tells us that there is no way we can ever earn our way to heaven.
You can’t donate enough to charity, you can’t take in enough orphans, you can’t help enough old ladies across the street, and you can’t offer enough free medical care to skateboarders.
You can’t pray enough for other people to earn your way to heaven.
Understand what I am saying here? You simply cannot earn your way to heaven with your good deeds or your religion
No one is good enough for heaven. Even Billy Graham and Mother Theresa aren’t good enough.
They need the forgiveness of God offered by His compassion and mercy.
Throw yourself on His mercy. The landing will be soft. And it will result in eternal life in heaven.
Conclusion
I want to end this time this morning with a story.
About a year and a half ago, I was washing dishes in the house I rented from an old man named Orville Duff.
I looked out the window to see his caretaker coming over to my house across the alley from where he lived.
When she came in, she said, “Brian, could you grab your Bible and come over to Duff’s house?”
I said I would, and walked with her back to his house.
I was thinking, “Oh no. He’s dead or dying, and I’m supposed to do my Christian thing – whatever that was.”
Well, it turns out that God had spoken to Orville that day. God said, “Orville, you have lived all these years without Me. It’s time you gave yourself to Me.”
Tears were running down Orville’s cheeks as he told this.
He was ready to take Christ as his Lord and Savior.
I talked with Orville about what it means to receive Christ, trusting in His sacrifice for the forgiveness of his sins, and led him in a prayer to take Christ as His Savior.
He was 96 years old.
Orville died last week at 98.
Here’s my point. God had mercy on Orville, keeping him alive long enough to finally understand that He needed God. And He lived his last months in love with the Savior.
God is having mercy on you. If you already have Christ as your Savior, you have experienced a good bit of it.
If you have not taken Him as Savior yet, God is extending His mercy so that you will not have to leave here today without the forgiveness and pardon He offers.
Let’s pray.
