Mercy

Hal Warren

(SHARP): The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself;

Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

Point of View: Without disciplining ourselves to become “merciers” we will automatically become judgers.

Action Step: Pray the “Mercying Prayer” for others especially when we are tempted to judge and condemn them.

Benefit: We will have a pure heart that sees God as He really is – MERCIFUL!

Key Point 1: Mercy is the Glory of God

Subpoint 1.1: NKJ Exodus 33:18 And he said, "Please, show me Your glory."

After spending eighty days on top of the mountain, speaking face to face with God and seeing His form, Moses asked to see His glory (i.e., His most powerful quality).

Subpoint 1.2: NKJ Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,

God appears to Moses and declares that His glory, His most powerful quality, is Mercy!

Subpoint 1.3: Mercy is God’s supply system for every need everywhere. Mercy is that kindness, compassion, and tenderness that is a passion to suffer with, or participate in, another’s ills or evils in order to relieve, heal, and restore. It accepts another freely and gladly as they are and supplies the needed good of life to build them up and to bring to peace and keep in peace. It is to take another into one’s heart JUST AS HE IS and cherish and nourish them there. Mercy takes another’s sins, evils, and faults as its own, and frees the other by bearing them to God This is the Glow-of-love. This is the anointing.

Key Point 2: We are commanded to be perfect and we accomplish this by being merciful

Subpoint 2.1: NAU Matthew 5:48 "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

We are commanded to be perfect even as God is perfect. Since God is fair and just this must be attainable.

Subpoint 2.2: NAU Luke 6:36 "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

This verse correlates the command to “be perfect” to mean, “be merciful.”

Subpoint 2.3: Consequently, we are perfect in God’s eyes when we are merciful

Key Point 3: We must give mercy to maintain a pure heart

Subpoint 3.1: NAU Luke 11:9 But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness.  40 "You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?  41 "But give that which is within as charity, and then all things are clean for you.

Giving of what we have “within” is what will cleanse our heart.

Subpoint 3.2: The only thing we have within to give is what has been given to us by God – MERCY.

Subpoint 3.3: Whenever, we are tempted to judge a situation we must change that to mercy. This can be done be praying a simple prayer – Heavenly Father please flood this one with mercy to meet all of their needs.

Repeat POV, Action Step, and Benefit