What Does the Lord Require?

The title for my message today is, What Does the Lord Require? And this is part two. Last week was, What Does the Lord Require? With the subtitle of To Do Justly. The subtitle for today is, To Love Mercy. And so by way of overview, I'd kind of like to go back and just review a few things from the last message, sort of set the stage for Caringford again today. You recall that we began in the book of Micah last week. And the book of Micah, basically, chapters one, two, and three begin by outlining Israel and Judah's rebellion, for lack of a better word. Their sinful attitudes, their rebellion against God, against His laws and commandments. We recognize by looking at those books that a common theme running through not only Micah, but the other prophets as well, is that God hates sin. God is opposed to sin. He doesn't just sit back and tolerate sin going on, unrepentant sin in its midst among His people. God does, in fact, take action. He hates dishonesty and violence, as we read. He hates the oppression of the poor and the needy by those that would have dominion over them in some level of responsibility. It says also that God would hate those who would turn His people spiritually, abuse His people, misdirect them. The priests that He had set over the people of God should have been those who served them and directed them and did not merchandise them for dishonest gain. The context was God's rejection of those things. We also looked at God's response to Israel's sacrifices, because He had established a system by which they would offer up sacrifice to Him in repentance for at least the ceremonial cleansing of their sins before God. The point was that God did want those sacrifices, but not alone. Not apart from a heart that was repentant and a heart that desired to serve Him as well. The sacrifices of bulls and goats, the shedding of blood, was never meant to be a means to appease God on one hand while continuing to live in a sinful, rebellious attitude in opposition to God on the other. The point of the sacrifice, the point of the right heart, then, is reconciliation, the right and proper relationship with God. Last week I quoted Proverbs 21, verse 3, which says, So again, He doesn't want that sacrifice just from the heart that's unrepentant. He wants the heart that is submissive to Him seeking to do His will. And where we do fall short and stumble with that right heart, the sacrifice as well is applied, and the forgiveness extended. Israel and Judah's sin issue before Galad was a matter of the heart. It was a matter of a character issue. It wasn't just simply add one more sacrifice or one more bigger and greater sacrifice than the last, and all would be well. The issue was a matter of the heart. And that brings us back to the anchor scripture for this series. I'd like you to please turn to Micah, chapter 6. Micah 6, verse 8 is the core of what this sermon series is based upon, but I want to start in verse 6. Micah, chapter 6, again, just sort of the run-up to that passage. Micah, chapter 6 and verse 6, it says, It says, It says, And then verse 8 steps into what it is that God is really looking for, what he wants coupled with this sacrifice. It says, So coupled with that sacrifice for sin was to be the heart of humility, the heart that did justly, and the heart that had the desire to extend mercy as well. And not only to like mercy, but to love mercy. Last week we covered the topic of doing justly before God and men, and so today I want to cover the topic of what it means to love mercy.

The question for us today, brethren, is do you love mercy?

And we might say, of course I love mercy. I'm under mercy. Grace is God's mercy extended to us. But do we only just love to receive mercy, or do we love to extend mercy as well? Do we love to lay our life out in terms of showing that mercy to others, even maybe if it puts us at what would seem to be a disadvantage? Do you love mercy? According to dictionary.com, here's a definition of mercy in terms of how we would use it in the English, but it does follow closely to how it's referenced in Scripture. Mercy is defined as compassionate or kindly forbearance, shown towards an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power. Maybe you're a king, maybe you're an employer, head of a household, whatever it might be. If you're in a position of authority, it is something that can be extended, kindness, compassion to those whom you would have authority over. It's the disciplinary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment. What we're going to find today as we walk through the Bible is that mercy is very closely tied to forgiveness. In fact, forgiveness is an extension of God's mercy. Forgiveness comes from mercy. Continuing with the definition, mercy is compassion, pity, or benevolence. It's not just forgiveness to somebody who has offended you, but it actually involves just recognizing others, recognizing their circumstance, maybe their position in life, recognizing the situation that they might be in, and extending compassion to them. It's not necessarily just somebody has wronged you and you extend mercy. It's related to how we would interact in this way. It says mercy is an act of kindness and compassion or favor. It's something that gives evidence of divine favor or blessing. So again, the question for us today is, do you and do I love mercy? Not just like it, not just think it's a good thing when it applies to us only, but do we truly love it? And what about God? How does God feel about mercy? Does God love mercy? I want to start with God first, see what His response is and His nature towards mercy, because it is very much the example, brethren, that's been set for you and I, as to what our response should be towards mercy as well. So let's begin with God. We're still in Micah. Let's just flip forward to Micah 7, verse 18. This is the conclusion of the matter at the end of the book. Micah basically started out with the sins of God's people, and he walked through the judgment, and that would be extended. But so oftentimes what we see also is held out is hope, hope of restoration with God when those who in fact have strayed return in repentance. And so Micah ends very much in the same way. Micah 7, verse 18, it says, Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity, passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, but He delights in mercy. It says God's nature is that He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us. He will subdue our iniquities. He will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. He will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which we have sworn to our fathers from days of old. And so here we see the Psalm of the matter, which is God is merciful. But not only that, God delights in mercy. He loves mercy. He loves the opportunity to extend that mercy to those who would be repentant, who would desire to be in a right and proper relationship with Him. He desires support out liberally upon all His people. But again, as we saw in the run-up in Micah, that's not going to happen apart from, if we're talking remission of sins, that's not going to happen apart from the repentant heart and attitude with the desire to change as well.

It's God's desire that all would come to repentance, that His mercy would be accepted by all of mankind. 2 Peter 3, verse 9 says that God is long suffering towards us and not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And so it's God's desire, and it is His will through the plan which He's established to make mercy available to all of mankind. He's not willing that any should perish, but we know some will, because man has a choice to make. Will they accept and turn from sin and error of their ways to a reconciled relationship with God, or will they not? There is going to be a lake of fire at the end of the age. There will be a destruction of the wicked. The Bible tells us that. There will be those who perish, but that's not God's desire. That is their choice. God gives each and every one of us the choice to choose life. But again, it says that He's not willing that any should perish, that all should come to repentance. He loves mercy that much. God's mercy is evident in the way He deals with us. It's evident in the fact that He sent His Son Jesus Christ. It's evident from the beginning of creation in His plan for all of mankind. God loves mercy so much that it's an essential element to His character. It's not that He does mercy. He is merciful. That's His nature. That's His character. And as we'll see here, mercy is tied directly to the acknowledgment of His name. Let's go to Exodus chapter 34.

Exodus 34. Here the context is Moses going up in Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God a second time. Recall the first time He came down, Israel was rebellion before the golden calf, and Moses smashed the tablets in His hands that He was carrying down. And God said, all right, come back again. We'll make you another set. Exodus chapter 34 and verse 1.

It says, And the Lord said to Moses, cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and I will write on these tablets the words that were in the first tablets which you broke. So be ready in the morning, He says, come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, present yourself to Me on top of the mountain, and no man shall come up with you. Let no man be seen throughout all the mountain, let neither the flocks nor the herds feed before the mountain. And so He, Moses, cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, then Moses rose up early in the morning, went up on Mount Sinai as the Lord had commanded him, and He took in His hands the two tablets of stone. Verse 5, Now the Lord descended in the cloud, and He stood with him, and there proclaimed the name of the Lord. And so God descends, God Almighty descends, Yahweh declares to Moses His name. And this isn't just a pronunciation of the name of Yahweh. Yahweh is our best estimate of what that name would be pronounced. But again, He pronounces the name of the Lord, but it's not just the pronunciation. This is a declaration of the character that Israel must recognize when they hear the name of God. Continuing on in verse 6, it says, The Lord passed before Him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the children's children, to the third and fourth generation. And so Moses made haste, bowed his head towards the earth, and worshipped. And so here God is declaring that His name is to be associated with justice and mercy. In other words, God is just, and He will exercise His justice, but He will also exercise mercy. And those two elements of His nature are not in conflict with each other. God's justice comes forth in His mercy, and God's mercy also comes forth in His justice. These are not in conflict with one another. Our God is a God of mercy, and it is balanced perfectly as He does with His judgment and justice. In Psalm 130, King David expresses the mercy of God's nature as it pertains to his own sins.

Psalm 130, verse 1.

Here this is a song of ascents. It's a song that would have been sung or recited as they ascended, as they went up to Jerusalem for one of the pilgrimage feasts. Psalm 130, verse 1. It says, Out of the depths I have cried to you, O Lord, Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the words of my supplications. If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? If God actually kept a record of our transgressions, apart from forgiveness, and every time we send a mark goes on the blackboard of his throne, how many marks would be on the blackboard regarding you, regarding me? And if those things were not wiped out by his mercy and the sacrifice of his Son, how could we even stand? Again, it says, If you, Lord, should mark iniquities, who could stand? Verse 4. But there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared. An element to fearing God, having the proper reverence and respect for him, is contained in the fact that he extends forgiveness.

God is to be feared. He is to be reverented in that way. Forgiveness comes from him. It should be a motivator for us to get in line for right and proper relationship with God. Verse 5. It says, Again, God's blessing, his mercy, is evident to us. The Bible repeatedly says, His mercy endures forever.

Scripture after Scripture after Scripture. Blessed be the name of the Lord, His mercy endures forever. It's not just a sliver or a moment in time. The mercy of God is ongoing and continuous. The Bible shows that it's out of the abundance of God's love and compassion that His mercy is extended. It's out of love and compassion His mercy is extended. John 3, 16, we know it so well. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. It was out of God's love and His compassion for mankind that He offered His Son as the sacrifice. God loved the world that He sent His Son. Jesus Christ has the same nature, same character as His Father, loving, merciful, and it was out of His love and compassion that He willingly laid His life down as the sacrifice. Brethren, it's incredible when we consider the level of love and mercy that God has extended to us. It literally has taken us from being sold under sin to death, the death penalty on our head, and has taken us from death to life. Let's notice the Apostle Paul's words regarding this point. Ephesians 2, Ephesians 2, you and I have become under the sacrifice of Christ, have gone from death to life. Ephesians 2 and verse 1, Paul says, And you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the lust of the flesh, in the dires of the flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. So the carnal nature apart from God is this, sold under sin and death, but when Christ's sacrifice is applied, through repentance, through forgiveness, then the nature of God, through His Spirit, begins to be developed in us. Continuing on, verse 4, But God, who is rich in mercy, He is rich in mercy, He's abounding in it, because of His great love with which He has loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace, and His kindness towards us in Christ. So again, we who were dead at one point are now alive, through that sacrifice and the mercy of God, but not because we did anything to deserve it. There were no works that we did that earned salvation in that way, apart from our repentant heart before God and our desire to change, and coming under that sacrifice which has been offered up on our behalf. Brethren, the richness of God's mercy and love are displayed in the fact that He sent His Son and offers His mercy for the sins of the world. Do you love the mercy that God has extended to you?

Have we become accustomed to it? Is it something that we just, alright, we received it one time at baptism, now we just live our life. God's mercy is ongoing, but what He has done, again, brought us from death to life. Do we love that mercy? Do we appreciate truly what God has done? This week was kind of a special week. Walked through a circumstance that was new and unique to me.

This week, Greg Chek and I baptized Clifford Myers, who's an inmate at an airway heights. It's Clifford's baptism. Some from the congregation who were there. Kitty was there. The mains were there. Greg and Nancy and I. Clifford has been in prison for a number of years, and he'll be in prison for a number of more years, but he found the church literature, and he began to study it, began to see what God's word said, and he wrote the home office.

He reached out and said, Can I please have a visit? And so Mark was the first to go visit Clifford in Walla Walla, and after that visit, initially, then, John Gould began to make visits from Kennewick. Over the course of time, John visited Clifford, answered questions. They studied the Bible together. Eventually, Clifford was moved from Walla Walla up here to Spokane, and then Greg Chek took over the responsibility, and for, I believe, it was about four years now, Greg has made regular visits out to Clifford as well. And so this has been a process over years. And so on Thursday this week, Clifford was baptized. And it was a unique experience for me, and him, but to go into the prison, you drive up to the front, and the baptism doesn't take place in the visitor center, you know, where they bring the prisoner out, and you meet there behind the glass where everybody can see.

Now, you actually have to go into the prison itself, to the prison chapel, and there they have the tank that's set up, and the baptism takes place. So you come up to the front, now you're emptying your pockets, you're going through the metal detectors. Weeks before, we went through a background check. Everything has to be clean before you're even able to walk in there.

But as I said, the group from the congregation here went. Clifford's mother was there, his sister was there, and about a half-and-dozen inmates were there as well. These were friends of Clifford's, people who he knew on the inside, who had become friends of his, whom he had been sharing his knowledge and understanding of the Scripture with them, and he wanted them to be there present at his baptism as well.

So Greg and I were talking in advance of going to the baptism, and Greg said, I think it would be nice if we had some things to say in overview about what this process symbolizes, because his mother, his sister will be there, and his other inmates will be there as well. And so we did that. Greg talked about how the sacrifice of Jesus Christ covers our sins, and how repentance and acknowledging who we are before God and the need to have that sacrifice, that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.

And so we walked through those things with them, and a number of the people and the inmates as well, were taking their head listening. And I would have to say, in the morning, I woke up trying to decide what I wanted to say, because I wanted to settle on something that I thought might be helpful for the unique circumstance in the prison. And so as I thought about it, when after Greg had said some things, I said, you know, I was reminded this morning of the words in Isaiah that Jesus Christ read in the synagogue. He got up down to Sabbath day, opened the scroll to Isaiah, and he read in part the prophecy that says, He had been anointed to come and proclaim liberty to the captives.

And I said, today, Clifford's going to be set free. Yet, here he is in prison, behind the concrete walls, behind the rolls of razor wire. He's not walking out the door on that day. He's still incarcerated, serving out a sentence, and yet today, Clifford is going to be set free. And talked about the fact, again, that the wages of sin is death, but the freedom that comes through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, that we live in a world that is in bondage to sin, and true freedom doesn't come apart from God.

So here's a man who is in the position and the place that he's at, and now he's able to experience an opportunity for freedom that goes beyond people that are here on the outside, walking about. Because this is a world held captive. It's a world that's under the influence of Satan the Devil, by and large, and it's a world that is subject to the penalty of death. Clifford has been set free. So that was an incredible day. We went through with the baptism process. We had the laying on of hands. After that, he actually asked to be anointed, because he has a physical condition. And we actually had to send out for oil.

He came and bring your oil vial in. So we had to send out for oil. The chaplain went around and found us some oil and brought it in, so that we could anoint Clifford, and we did that. Greg and I did that in front of everybody else. We told them what the process was. After that took place, Clifford wanted to address everybody else himself. He began talking about how he came to the truth, how he came to understand the words of Scripture and the blessing of the visits that he had received over time. He went around and looked at each person in the room and addressed each of them personally as to the part that they had played in either the support of him or helping to bring him to the understanding of the truth.

And there were tears in his eyes as he's talking to each person, and frankly, he made each person cry as he talked to them as well. I mean, this was a very emotional experience when you consider somebody who is behind bars still serving for the penalty of sin in this life, yet has been set free and had that wipe clean by the mercy of God.

Do you think a man like that loves mercy? I think he does. In fact, I know he does. You could hear it in his voice, the blessing of the mercy of God. And again, that's not just in receiving of it. That is in the extending of it. He had all these cards he had saved up from the inserts to the magazine to subscribe to the Beyond Today magazine, and he was giving that to each and every one of his friends.

And he said, please, get this magazine, get your Bible, read for yourself. Come to know the truth of God. And he says, and I want to help you. I can help to answer your questions as well. But he says, this is the path that I've committed myself to. And he said, thank you for supporting me along the way. It was a very, very special, very important day.

I believe that Clifford loves mercy. And I would have to say, hopefully, brethren, we do as well, and hopefully we don't have to be in the position of being behind captivity in the flesh to appreciate what it means to be set free spiritually and by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. What a blessing it is. God is a God of mercy. What we have to understand in this process of mercy is that God loves mercy, and as a result, he is merciful. And he pours that mercy out on us. Jesus Christ, his Son, loves mercy, and he is merciful.

And he has given his life in an act of mercy and compassion. And you and I, as the people of God who are to be taking on that nature and that character, must be people who love mercy and love to extend it to others as well. Mercy comes from God, but it should come out through us and our actions among one another. Jesus Christ, as he was dying, cried out to his Father to forgive them, for they know not what they do. Mercy is at the heart of this Christian life. If we love God's mercy towards us, then we need to be those who extend the same mercy towards others.

Again, Micah 6, verse 8 says, He has shown you, O man, what is good. God has showed us what is good. He's shown us through his word, but he's shown it in how he's extended to us as well. He has shown us mercy, and it is good. He says, Go and do the same. Do unto others as has been done now unto you.

Jesus Christ reinforced the concept in Luke 6, verse 36, when he said, Therefore be merciful just as your Father is also merciful. The challenge sometimes is we want mercy for ourselves. We love that, but we want justice for somebody else. O God, be merciful to me a sinner, but they wronged me, they crossed me. God, give them what they deserve. Do we love mercy only when it's incoming, or do we love to extend it as well? In the model prayer, Matthew 6, Jesus Christ said we should pray that God would forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

So it's a vital principle to remember what God extends to us in terms of forgiveness and mercy is largely dependent on what it is we're willing to extend to others. Loving mercy includes the love we must have, again overextending it. Psalm 18 verse 25, speaking of God, it says, Again, God extends His mercy to those who are of themselves merciful as well. Now the mercy we extend to others can encompass a number of related elements. It's not just forgiveness. Someone's wronged you and you've forgiven them and let them go from that.

That's not all mercy is. Mercy is extended through showing kindness to someone, perhaps someone in need. If you're going down the road and there's someone on the side of the road with a flat tire and it's pouring rain, mercy, stopping to help them is an act of mercy. Giving somebody a lift if they're broken down, taking them home, taking them wherever they might need to go as the tow truck comes, that's an act of mercy. Seeing those who are sick, those who are shut in, those who are not able to fellowship, going and visiting them, spending time with them, encouraging them, that's an act of mercy.

It's mercy that's extended on our behalf. Now mercy is an interesting thing because as we're given opportunity to practice it, we have to understand that there needs to be judgment and discernment as well in how we extend it. With mercy, it's not one size fits all. Not every person, not every situation calls for the same level or the same type or the same aspect of mercy.

And it takes discernment to know when and how to apply those things. God doesn't go around and just extend mercy in the form of pardon from sin to anybody and everybody in all situations. Again, it takes that repentant heart before God, the acknowledgement of sin, the repentance, in order then that forgiveness comes from God.

Remember, God is the God of justice and He's the God of mercy. And He exercises both of those attributes in His character in perfect balance. There is the lake of fire. Again, I said at the end of the age, there is judgment and justice for those who will not yield to God. For the wicked, the sinners who will not bend the knee, who will not repent. The lake of fire is an act of judgment and justice, but it's also an act of mercy. To put the wicked out of their misery, in that sense, is an act of mercy. To remove the wicked from the presence of the righteousness of God and God's people is an act of mercy to those who would remain.

It's justice and mercy bound up into one. And God has the perfect balance. You and I need to understand as much as we're able what that balance is. Not every extension of mercy would necessarily be helpful or beneficial to a person. If you're going to roll up to the street corner and hand a $100 bill to the person on the corner, is that necessarily the best aspect or the best way to treat that situation? You may know or you may not know why they are there.

If somebody is there with a substance abuse problem, your act of kindness and generosity might have been just what it was they needed to help them back over the edge. And so we have to exercise wisdom in these things.

I'm not saying you don't help. You help where you can and how you can. We have the collection going on last week, this week, for the donations that are coming in. Food, clothing that are going to be donated to the Union Gospel Mission. They actually have a program and staff in place where they can assess the needs of people and try to help in a way that is helpful. And as I came in the door today, I saw the pile out by the door, and I thank you for your generosity.

But again, the point is we need to express mercy in a way that helps to bring the person back onto the right path again. Because that's the point of mercy. That's the purpose. It's not just to allow someone to continue on in the same behavior. It's to give them an opportunity in a way that will help to bring them onto the right path again.

Mercy is to be used for good. Let's notice an example in Christ's ministry. John 8, verse 1.

John 8, verse 1. It says here, Jesus went up to the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning he came again to the temple. And all the people came to him, and he sat down, and he taught them. When the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery, when they had set her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act. I want to say right from the beginning we have justice being not handled properly. It was the last time I checked. They said, Here's this woman in the very act. And the last time I checked it took two people for adultery. But they brought the woman. They're looking to trip up Jesus Christ. Verse 5.

And this they said, So when they continued asking him, he raised himself up.

And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Now, the Bible doesn't say what it was that Jesus Christ wrote. Some have speculated that perhaps it could have been the sins of each of those individuals, as Christ who knew the heart knew their sins. But the point was, he's saying, Look, let those who are without sin make the judgment on this thing.

What was the response? Verse 9.

And she said, The Pharisees were looking for judgment and justice. They had caught this woman in her sin, and they brought her to Christ and said, What should the penalty be? They wanted judgment and justice for her, but mercy for themselves. And when Jesus Christ said, Let you who are without sin cast the first stone. They did not have a leg to stand on.

God is a God of justice and mercy. Jesus Christ here extended mercy. What we need to understand about mercy is that it's the extension of compassion. It is not the dissolving of God's law.

Mercy is the extension of compassion. It is not the dissolving of God's law. Christ extended compassion to this woman. But what else did he do? He said, Go and sin no more. Keep the law. Walk justly and right before God. The point of mercy is to take somebody who is under a penalty and try to stand them on their feet again to do right. To walk in the right direction. It's not a free pass on sin. It is trying to help with an opportunity to set somebody right again.

Many times, extending mercy in the right kind of mercy will motivate someone to work hard to actually remedy their wrongs.

About 15 years ago, I had an employee in my landscape business who damaged a customer's vehicle. We had these whole row of houses that we did. We mowed the lawns, trimmed the bushes, and maintained this section of housing. One day, one of my employees came around the corner with the mower and the car was sitting close to the house. He tried to squeeze through there. He put a scratch from the front of the passenger door all the way down the side of the car. Both doors, back panel.

He came and found me, which I was grateful he told me. He said, I scratched this car. I said, Let's go take a look. There it was, all the way down the side of the car. This car was new. This woman had just bought the car about three months before. It was an older lady. I'm just standing there looking at that and I get this sick feeling in my stomach. I'm going, Alright, we're going to have to go fess up to this. I go ring the doorbell and the lady comes in, looks at our car and says, Here's what we've done. I'm so sorry. I said, I will pay for this. Go get a couple of bids at body shops. Let me know how much. I will pay for the damage. We'll fix your car. She looked at it and she said, Don't worry about it. I said, Really? She says, You know what? It's just a car. If you didn't do it, somebody else would. Be at the grocery store. Be a shopping cart. Whatever it is. She says, It's just the car. Don't do it again. But don't worry about it. I thought, That's incredible. I actually felt very guilty sending her her bill for years after that. But the point was, the experience taught my employee a lesson. Now, I wish he could have learned a lesson without the experience. But the point was, he never scratched another car. He was always very careful when he was around somebody else's equipment. In fact, if you went between, say, a building and a vehicle, he'd put his arm down the side of the handle so that if something got mangled, it was his arm, not whatever it was he was going by. Each and every time we came back to that lady's place, you remembered the mercy that she had extended. And you wanted to do just the best possible job ever. Her lines were probably the straightest lines on the street. But again, the lesson that comes through the extension of mercy, oftentimes, brethren, will set people on the right, if they do, in fact, have a heart that is repentant and a desire to change. We should love mercy so much that it is a part of our nature to look for opportunities to extend mercy to others. Not just when it hits us in the face and we have no other option and we can't ignore it any longer. No, we should look for opportunities to extend mercy to others. 1 John 3, verse 16 speaks to that point.

1 John 3 and verse 16 says, By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? Again, mercy, as it comes from God, extends from his love and his compassion. And if the love of God is in us, then mercy should be the extension of our character as well. Verse 18, My little children, let us not love in word or tongue, but in deed and in truth. Indeed is the action of our hands, the things that we do. Let it be an expression of that love of God in us. Mercy seeks to relieve the plight and distress of others when we become aware of it. If you know someone in need, the point is you ought to do something to help, and it's within your power to do so. It is an expression of true love. That should be a part of our character, as we're growing in the nature of God and Christ, as we have God's Spirit in us to extend that mercy whenever given opportunity. And ultimately, expressing love and mercy towards others is for our good. I hate to sound selfish, but it's for our good as well. When we extend mercy to others. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, verse 7, Jesus Christ said, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Do you desire mercy? Want it for yourself? Extend it to others as well. Maybe that seems self-serving, but it's true. Be merciful, and you shall receive mercy. Every one of us here is dependent on the mercy of God. Apart from it, the only option is death. Proverbs 11, verse 17 says, The merciful man does good for his own soul. It does good to extend mercy. It does good for your own soul, for yourself. It does good for the other individual, obviously, as well. The question for today, once again, is, do you love mercy? Do I love mercy? Do we love receiving it only, or do we love extending it as well? Indeed, our response should be on both ends. I want to conclude in Psalm 103. Psalm 103, again, it brings us back to the level of mercy that God has extended upon us. It reminds us of the nature and the attitude that we should be developing as we live before him. Psalm 103, beginning in verse 8, we'll read through verse 18. Psalm 103, verse 8 says, The Lord is merciful and gracious. He is slow to anger and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy towards those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. It says that the Father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over, and it is gone, and its place is remembered no more. Verse 17 says, But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. It has always been, it always will be, from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children. To such as keep his covenant, and to those who remember his commandments to do them. Brother, our God is a God of mercy. Our elder brother, Jesus Christ, as well, the same nature, the same character, is one of mercy. And you and I, as God's people, with his spirit growing according to his love, must be people who love mercy as well.