The Mercy of God

 Death is a reality that haunts all of us. If you believe that death is the final end, the day the lights go out for ever, you may live in fear, or you many persuade yourself that you have a limited time to enjoy yourself or achieve great things, and that is all.

But then you find that life is not all happiness. You find pain, disappointments, traumas. There must be something more!

The closer we come to then end of our lives, the more the certainty of death creeps into our thoughts.

If you have a Christian background, you hope you might go to heaven, but God is far away, up there somewhere. How do you know how God will judge you when you meet your maker face to face?
You might think you have been a good person, but if you are honest, you will know you have not been a real saint.

Then you read the Bible and you come to the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus explains what God is looking for in your character.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Mt 5:8 NIV

You know you look at bad stuff on TV and the internet. You don't qualify.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Mt 5:7 NIV

You have been bullied by your family, at school or in your workplace, but if you are honest, you know you have also treated other people badly. You have often not been merciful.

I talked to an elderly lady who was a devout Catholic, but she had suffered much in her family life and her marriage had been terrible. She was chronically traumatised and very bitter, in spite of her efforts to be a good Catholic.

At the mention of death, she responded with dread. I spoke to her about forgiveness, about mercy. About hope, about heaven, about a better life to come.

Her heart began to soften. Her rage faded away little by little.

I visited her and we talked on the phone. I kept talking to her about our heavenly hope. There is only one way to heaven, and that is through faith in Jesus.

If you cry out to Jesus for mercy, he will hear you.

Anyone can reach God. If you are not sure about God or Jesus, you can simply cry out from your heart.

“Jesus, if you are real, if you are really the Son of God, show me who you are, help me out of my desperate situation.

Jesus, if you are real, come into my life and change me. Have mercy on me.”

Grace before Truth. Ministry must be kind.

 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jn 8:12 NIV

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his disciples, that if we live in his light, we too will be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, not because of our own goodness, but if we allow Jesus to live in us and work through us.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? …
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Mt 5:13–14 NIV

Jesus appoints and empowers his followers to minister his goodness, but we must do this in the right spirit.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Jn 1:14 NIV

Grace comes before truth. If we judge, accuse and attack people with truth, we are not ministering grace. We are not living in the love of God. Our ministry is worse than useless.

Warm salt water is an effective antiseptic and medicine, but if a doctor rubs salt into your wounds, it is harmful and cruel.

If you approach a drug addicted prostitute aggressively by preaching judgement, you only add to the torments of a suffering human being.

As a young man in my twenties, I saw a psychiatrist to help with my depression and anxiety. Then I became a converted Christian believer. I joined a church where nearly every sermon was an aggressive lecture pressuring me to repent, obey and submit, over and over again.

I experienced the love of God when I prayed and worshipped but the preaching progressively increased my suffering and anxiety, until I spoke out angrily and I was excommunicated, leading to a severe mental illness.

If a doctor performs major surgery on his patients over and over again, he will kill them. Surgery is sometimes necessary, but if it is a routine medical treatment, it is life destroying

In the same way, an evangelist who confronts people with their sinfulness can save lives but a pastor who preaches this way every week is dangerous monster.

Jesus confronted self righteous religious leaders with the judgement of God for their sins, but He did not minister to other people like this. Jesus was known as the friend of sinners.

Jesus is still calling us to come to Him to receive mercy.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NASB95