"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matt 5:7).
There is a great word in the Bible—it is the word eleos meaning mercy. Mercy has been defined as the outward manifestation of pity; it assumes the need on the part of the person who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of the one who shares it. According to Ephesians God is rich in mercy. The Bible says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ…by grace are ye saved" (Eph 2:4–8).
The Bible teaches that people are born dead in trespasses and sin. There is physical life but no spiritual life. Because there is no spiritual life there is only a state of corruption, suffering, and misery under the avenging justice and terrible wrath of God. This state of spiritual death is a corruption of the heart so that all the powers of man's soul work in opposition to God.
Because he is spiritually dead man's understanding is darkened to the point that he does not know the good but loves a lie. He is utterly void of true wisdom though he has much knowledge. The will of the natural man is perverted so that man does not, and cannot desire and choose for righteousness and holiness in the love of God. All of the inclinations of the natural man are impure and defiled so that he longs for acts of iniquity.
In the hour of final death, the heart of the natural man, instead of being filled with the love of God, is moved by hostility against Him. Following the counsel of Job's wife they curse God and die. This is the terrible state of the natural man, the sinner apart from Christ. He is carnal. His nature is fleshly. The Bible says, "they that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh...for to be carnally minded is death... because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."
Since man is helpless, hopeless, and defiled by nature and by choice God must show divine pity upon him. In marvelous matchless grace, the Bible reveals that God does indeed set a special love upon the elect. "He loved us," says Paul. "Even when we were dead in sins Christ loved us and He made us alive together with Christ." No one who is the object of Divine mercy can ever earn or deserve it.
The mercy of God reaches out to all mankind—Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, young and old, male and female all know the mercy of God. His mercy is expressed most often in the gifts of life. To be clothed and fed, to be housed and provided for day after day year after year is part of the great mercy of God.
Having been shown mercy, it is a distinguishing mark of a Christian to want to show mercy to others. Mercy can be shown in many ways. Mercy can be expressed by the lips. One poet wrote:
"If any little word of ours,
Can make one life the brighter;
If any little song of ours,
Can make one heart the lighter;
God help us speak that little word,
And take our bit of singing,
And drop it in some lonely vale,
To set the echoes ringing."
From time to time we need to be reminded that:
A careless word may kindle strife,
A cruel word may wreck a life;
A bitter word may hate instill,
A brutal word may smite and kill;
A gracious word may smooth the way,
A joyous word may light the day;
A timely word may lessen stress,
A loving word may heal and bless.
It is a gracious person who can speak words of mercy to those who are hurting. It is a gospel duty to seek to show mercy to others.
There is a third way mercy can be shown: by disposition. The story is told of an old couple who quarreled so frequently that the whole community knew about it. Suddenly, they stopped their bickering. A neighbor wanted to know why and so approached to ask what had happened. "Two bears did it," said the wife with a twinkle in her eyes. "These two bears are found in the Bible," offered the husband: "Bear ye one another's burdens, and forbearing one another in love."
In order for peace to come into a life, in order for kindness to be expressed, in order for mercy to be genuine, there must be a change in the disposition. The inner person must change. By life, by lip, by disposition the merciful are blessed and become the recipient of divine mercy. This is only proper since mankind receives so much of divine mercy.
Let the people of God show tender compassion and pity towards others. The greatest mercy we can demonstrate is to give out the gospel. What a wonderful gospel we have to share. We can tell others about the gift of eternal life. We can go out and proclaim that the Lord is still rescuing precious souls from the penalty and pollution of sin.
There is one another way we as Christians can demonstrate mercy and that is to minister within the family of God. One day there shall be a final accounting. What a wonderful thing it will be to hear from the Great White Throne the King say, "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungered, and thirsty, and a stranger, and naked, and sick, and in prison, and ye ministered unto me."
Perhaps the Lord has set before you someone to whom you can show mercy. There are people all around who need extra grace like Don Barlette. Barlette was born with major physical handicaps— a nose improperly placed, no upper lip, a gaping hole in the roof of his mouth. His father rejected him. The children in town called him names, laughed, kicked, and spit at him. His first and only friends were the rats in the dump outside of town. But then one day a prominent white woman in the town saw potential in this young Indian boy. She invited him into her home. She taught him to eat in new ways, how to speak for the first time, and how to read. She arranged for corrective plastic surgeries. She told him about a loving heavenly Father. But how could he understand when his own father didn't love him? For years Don rejected the idea of anyone—even God— loving him. And then he discovered the love of Christ. "Jesus Christ helped me," he now says, "to accept myself, my reconstructed nose, my speech impediment and my Indian heritage as I learned how to relate to all people. I learned that there is a time to be born, a time to die, a time to cry, a time to laugh, a time to hate, a time to love and a time to forgive. I began forgiving and I began loving the very people that rejected me." Don Bartlette is able to do this because someone had mercy on him.
