[Peter Eddington] Thank you very much, Melody. A beautiful, beautiful piece of special music here this afternoon. We certainly appreciate that. And good afternoon, everyone.

[Congregation] Good afternoon.

[Peter Eddington] Welcome to Sabbath Services. Welcome to those watching remotely as well, on the webcast. I hope you're having a wonderful Sabbath as well. Let's begin by turning straight to Matthew 5, Matthew 5, and I want to read verse 7.

Matthew 5:7 "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy."

 Mercy means to show compassion to someone who has done you wrong, and who deserves punishment or retribution. It means you give up your emotional need to see the other person punished or to suffer.

Do you ever feel empathy when you see a suffering child or a homeless person? You can be motivated to show a fellow human being compassion, especially a helpless child or an abused pet, but compassion is not necessarily mercy. You may also give food or money, or participate in a service project sponsored by a congregation to ease the suffering of someone, but often these are people you only know from afar, those who have never wronged or hurt you, who don't need your mercy from retribution. So compassion and mercy aren't necessarily the same thing. It's a whole lot harder to show mercy to someone who has mistreated you.

Jesus tells a parable about mercy. It's in Matthew 18, and I'm going to read it to you in a moment. A man owed a king an enormous sum of money. The king demanded payment, but the man was bankrupt, and could not pay his debt. He begged for forgiveness, and the king showed him mercy. How? By erasing the debt. The chapter in Matthew 18 begins with the disciple Peter asking, How many times must I forgive someone? Once? Twice? Maybe seven times max. But of course, Jesus says, no, you forgive someone 70 times 7. So that's how this story begins. It's in Matthew 18:23 through 35. Let me read it to you from the New Living Translation. It kind of just flows as a story, right?

Matthew 18:23-24 "The kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in, who owed him millions of dollars."

Now in this parable, of course, the king could be Jesus Christ, the debt could be his sin, much sin, millions of dollars here, a huge debt to the king, to Jesus, shall we say, in the parable. Verse 25, he couldn't pay. Who can pay for an enormous debt of sin?

Matthew 18:25-29 "So his master ordered that he be sold, along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master, and begged him, 'Please be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him, and forgave his debt." Verse 28, "But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars." Not quite so much, not such a sinful person, shall we say. But he grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him, and begged for a little more time, "'Be patient with me, and I'll pay it,'" he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested, and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

In verse 31, when some of the other servants saw this, obviously they were upset.

Matthew 18:31-35 "They went to the king, and told him everything that had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven, and said, 'You evil servant. I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you?' Then, the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt." And then, Jesus Himself makes this remarkable statement. Here's a direct quote from Jesus in verse 35, "'So my Heavenly Father will do to you if each of you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses.'"

That's kind of serious, isn't it? Is it mercy for me, but not for you? Is it mercy for the rich man, but not for his fellow servant? How do we look at mercy when it comes to us versus other people? To accept God's mercy upon us, and refuse to give mercy to others means God will withdraw his mercy from you. That's the point here of Jesus' strong words.

So in the sermon today, we're going to look at the topic of mercy, and think, how does it apply to me? How does it apply to you? How do you apply it to others? Is it mercy for me, but not for you? I've simply titled today's message, Mercy for Me, but Not for You. Okay? And you'll see as we go along, you know, how this relates.

So in the world today, we hear of people who use their religion as an excuse for torturing, terrorizing, and killing others in the name of religion. One religion in particular favors men over women, and puts harsh burdens on women, not even allowing them to be educated. We hear of harsh and cruel punishment for infractions of religious rules, especially against females, and the coverings they're forced to wear. Little mercy is shown. Other people seem to have a compulsion to correct sins in others, sins that they themselves commit. They cannot see or don't want to overcome the weakness in themselves, so they psychologically project their weaknesses onto others, making themselves feel more righteous by condemning the failings in others.

But God's religion, as outlined in scripture, and by Jesus Christ, exalts mercy. God exalts mercy. Over and over throughout the Bible, we see mercy as one of God's paramount teachings, a character trait He emphasizes as essential in His followers. But it's not just non-Christians who are unmerciful. Often Christians themselves are unmerciful. No one is perfect in mercy, not even the people sincerely seeking to live by the Bible. So we must all examine ourselves, and see how we stand or fall short in this regard, study God's word, and better understand mercy. We must continually seek the transforming power of God to be merciful as He is merciful.

In addition, we mustn't forget that our Creator is a God of justice as well as mercy. God's laws are eternal, and very much in effect. So God does command obedience, yes, so blatant disregard for God's way results in judgment, not mercy, which is where the heart comes into play. In the King James version of the Bible, the word "mercy" occurs 261 times, while the word "justice" occurs only 28 times. Mercy is 10 times more than justice, so you see the emphasis there. The word "judgment," which includes justice and mercy, occurs 285 times. So God's word motivates us to repent and obey Him, but then He promises abundant blessings and mercy for obedience.

Look at Ephesians 2 with me if you would. As we work into this message about mercy, let's first look at a few examples of how God is filled with compassion and mercy, how scripture exalts mercy. Ephesians 2:4 and 5.

Ephesians 2:4 "But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loves us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ, for by grace you have been saved. God is rich in mercy, and loves us even when we trespass," and of course, then He wants us to change and be saved.

James 5:11 is another good one to note.

James 5:11 Let me read it to you, "Indeed we count them blessed to endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and seen the end intended by the Lord, that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful." So here we see compassion and mercy in the same sentence, "The Lord is very compassionate and merciful."

And then a third one, Psalm 145:8.

Psalm 145:8 "The Lord is Gracious, full of compassion," once again, "slow to anger, and great in mercy." "Slow to anger, and great in mercy," Psalm 145:8.

You know that the Bible repeatedly says His mercy endures forever. It's in so many of our hymns, even, His mercy endures forever. So let's look at some stories of mercy here in the scriptures, and see what we can learn from them because we must avoid mercy for me, but not for you. And number one is a given, the first story of mercy, Christ who died for us. Christ who died for us, a good first point to have. Because by far the greatest example of mercy is God the Father, and Jesus Christ being willing for Jesus to be incarnated as a physical human being, divest himself of glory, suffer terribly for our sins, not for anything he did, suffer for our sins, and then die. And this is all so that we, as sinful humans, could be forgiven, offered mercy, and saved. Notice Romans 5:8 and 9, let's turn there for a moment, Romans 5:8 and 9.

Romans 5:8-9 "God demonstrates His own love towards us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."

Saved from wrath, saved from condemnation, offered forgiveness and mercy for our sins. God's grace here includes an undeserved pardon for repentant sinners, that is for you and me. Let's go back to Psalm 103, and read a couple of verses there. Psalm 103:10 through 12.

Psalm 103:10-12 "He has not dealt with us according to our sins," because of course, the death penalty would be upon us otherwise. "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities, for as the heavens are as high above the Earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him."

Of course, the stars we've seen the heavens are so far above the Earth, aren't they? Billions of light years away. And that's how great His mercy is toward those, note, who fear Him. If you have a blatant disregard for God's way, don't expect mercy then. But His mercy is so great toward those who fear him. There's the caveat, right?

Psalm 103:12 "As far as the east is from the west," you cannot get any further apart than east from west, "So far it is that He removed our transgressions from us."

So Christ, who died for us, showed us incredible mercy. Jesus set a perfect example of humility, mercy, and love to the very end. And while on Earth, He continually set a wonderful example of mercy. And this was quite a contrast to the prevailing religious attitudes of the day, attitudes of arrogancy...arrogance, I should say, hypocrisy, self-righteousness, condemnation, and even a cold-hearted lack of mercy by the religious leaders of Jesus' day. So Christ's sacrifice is definitely an example of mercy for you, often and usually when we don't even deserve it.

So let's look at another example of mercy, number two, The Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan. Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritans in Luke 10:29 through 37, and it illustrates how the religiosity of His day did not equate mercy and love. Instead, religious leaders were arrogant, they were hypocritical and lacked mercy. And here, in this case, Jesus answered a confrontational lawyer. Let me read it to you once again from the New Living Translation.

Luke 10:30-32 "Jesus replied" That is to the lawyer, this expert in religious law, "with a story. And Jesus says, 'A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. By chance, a priest came along, but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.'"

Luke 10:33-35 "'Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, where he took care of him. And the next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.''"

Luke 10:36-37 "And then Jesus says to the lawyer. 'Now, which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?'" And verse 37, "The man, that is the lawyer replied, 'The one who showed him mercy.'"

Which is the right answer, isn't it? Judaism had degenerated to the point that it influenced its followers to be less merciful to the non-religious people, especially to despise groups of people, say, like the Samaritans. It's still common even today to see examples of non-religious people being more merciful than many religious people. So here, for them, it's mercy for them, but not for you. Both the priest and the Levite showed no compassion on the injured man, but a Samaritan, who was, in this case, self-sacrificing, aided the man, and showed him mercy. What were Jesus' final words to you and me, here at the end of verse 37? "Then Jesus said to him, to the lawyer, 'Go and do likewise.'" Go and do likewise, which is a message to us as well.

Religion can have unintended effects. When people learn God's commandments or other rules for living, their standards are raised, but we can easily start feeling superior and self-righteous, and become more critical and unmerciful to others, like we see here in this parable. Instead, we must focus on how we are being saved by God's grace and mercy, not by any merit of our own. We're reminded in Micah 6:8 to love mercy. Let me read to you.

Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you."

And the requirements are do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. But those three important criteria, of them, mercy is listed. It's a very, very important trait, mercy. The Good Samaritan showed mercy, and set an example for the Jewish leaders, who should have known better.

Number three, Stephen and his final sermon. Stephen and his final sermon. Jesus set a perfect example of humility, mercy, and love to the very end of His life. Even when he was dying on the stake, Jesus prayed for His executioners, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Forgiveness and mercy often go hand in hand.

So then, this leads us to another example of mercy, the account of the courageous deacon Stephen in Acts 7, "And he prayed for those stoning him to death." It's actually a heart-wrenching emotional story. Stephen preached a powerful sermon that cut into the heart of the Jewish council and the high priest. Acts 7, we can just start at verse 54, towards the end of the story here. Acts 7:54, this is at the very end of this sermon that went on for chapters.

Acts 7:54-58 "When they," that's the council and the high priest, "heard these things, they were cut to the heart, they gnashed at him with their teeth." In Acts 7:55, "But he," Stephen, "being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw a vision of the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And Stephen said to the priests there, 'Look, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." Which would be, like, blasphemous, right? "Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord. They cast him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul." That's, of course, another whole story right there, right?

Acts 7:59 "And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God, and saying," Stephen was saying, "'Lord Jesus receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord do not charge them with this sin.' And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

"He fell asleep" is a nice way of putting it. No, he was brutally stoned to death, to the point that the injuries from those rocks killed him. It's an ugly way to die. But through all this, Stephen's words were ones of mercy, forgive them. Mercy encompasses several related things, forgiveness, kindness, compassion, gentleness, and relief or alleviation from suffering. And Jesus exemplified all aspects of mercy, and Stephen here did a pretty good job of it as well, wouldn't you say? He wanted mercy for his enemies, not just for himself. See, it's mercy for me, and mercy for you. Point four, the model prayer. It's a pretty short point, this one, the model prayer.

Matthew 6:9-12 "The disciples said to Jesus, teach us how to pray." Matthew 6:9, we read, "Jesus says in this manner, therefore, pray, our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." So here's a prayer outline of the most important things to pray about as you get on your knees each day, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."

It's having mercy upon those who you could have retribution against. Remember Matthew 5:7, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy?" And here we have in verse 12, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." It's the same principle. If you want mercy, show mercy. If you want your debts forgiven, show mercy to others who owe you. And so the model prayer reminds us that it's mercy for me, and mercy for you. And I'm just amazed that it's in just these four verses, forgiveness is right there in this very short list as the most important things to pray for.

Number five, the woman caught in adultery. The woman caught in adultery. The way Jesus dealt with the woman in this story is an excellent example of mercy. Mercy for those, note, who strive to change their lives for the better. We're not talking about blatant disregard for sin, but mercy for those who strive to change their lives for the better. So we're in John 8:3 through 11. John 8:3 through 11. Once again, let me read you this story from the New Living Translation.

John 8:3-5 "As Jesus was speaking, the teachers of religious law," those who are often called lawyers in the story, "and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, and they put her in front of the crowd. 'Teacher,' they said to Jesus, 'this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?'"

You know, kind of testing Him to see if He wouldn't uphold the law or something, right?

John 8:6-8 "They were trying to trap Him into saying something they could use against Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with His finger. They kept demanding an answer, so He stood up again, and said, 'All right. But let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone.' Then He stooped down again, and wrote in the dust."

Of course, it's a big quandary as to what He was writing here, right? We don't know what He wrote.

John 8:9-11 "But when the accusers heard this," verse 9, "they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest." I don't know why it was the eldest that left first. Left the young guys there to squirm, I guess. "Only until Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. And Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, 'Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?' 'No Lord,' she said, and Jesus said, 'Neither do I. Go, and sin no more.'"

So if you want mercy, of course, you have to put away sin. This is a great principle to understand in our daily lives when working with people. Showing mercy to someone makes it much easier to work with him or her, and they're much more likely to change, to repent of the way they've been treating you, and to change their lives for the better if you show mercy. Being merciful rather than critical usually gets better results. Someone once wrote, "Show a man you have faith in him, and he'll do everything he can to show himself worthy." Yes, even for sinners who wish to change, it's mercy for me, and mercy for you. Mercy for me, and mercy for them.

Number six, the woman who washed Jesus' feet. So this is another interesting story here, with the Pharisees of course, again. The woman who washed Jesus' feet. The Pharisees had the Scriptures, they knew the law, but it seemed they knew little about mercy. And whatever they did know about mercy, they practiced it even less. And Jesus continually brought up their hypocrisy, didn't he?

So it's Luke 7:36 through 50, is the story here about the woman who washed Jesus' feet, Luke 7, beginning in verse 36. And it's a story of a Pharisee, once again, who asked Jesus to come to his house and have a meal, and while Jesus was eating, a woman begins to wash his feet with her tears and to anoint them with fragrant oil. Now, this was a woman with a reputation, a reputation as a sinner, not someone most people of that time period would have over for dinner, or allowed to touch them, even.

Luke 7:36-38 "Then one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and so Jesus went to the Pharisees' house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisees' house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet, behind him, weeping." So what we're seeing here is that she's in a repentant mind, in a repentant attitude right now, "And she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and she kissed His feet, and anointed them with the fragrant oil.

Luke 7:39 "When the Pharisee who invited Jesus to dinner saw this, he spoke to himself, saying..." Okay, so he didn't say that aloud, right, he kind of mumbled, he said, "This man, if He were really a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who's touching him, for she is a sinner."

So of course, Jesus understood what was in this man's heart and mind. As he spoke to himself, Jesus heard it all and tells the Pharisee, who's apparently named Simon, we find out he's named Simon, tells Simon a story of a man who owed a lot of debt. So here's another one of these stories of someone with great sin, or who owes a lot of debt, versus someone who owed a small debt. And He relates it to someone who has a lot of sin, this woman who needs mercy and forgiveness, and who is in a repentant attitude right here.

Luke 7:44-50 "Then Jesus looked at the woman, but said to Simon," letting him know, I just heard what you muttered, by the way, "'Do you see this woman, Simon? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she's washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head.'" In verse 45, "'You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil." Verse 47, "Therefore I say to you her sins, which are many, yes, are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven the same loves little.' Then He said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.'"

And of course, many of the religious leaders of the day would say, who is this who thinks He can forgive sin, anyway? That's another story, right? Who is this who can forgive sin? Well, obviously it was God, right? What was Jesus' surprising conclusion here? He knew her heart, just like He knew what Simon was thinking, and knew she was repentant and worshipful. She loved Christ and would love Him even more because of His mercy and forgiveness. But the self-righteous Pharisee was in denial about having any sin, and therefore was unrepentant, unloving, and he was unmerciful. It was mercy for him, but not for her. So Simon, this Pharisee, he wanted mercy for himself, of course. In fact, he almost didn't think like he needed it, he was so perfect, but not for her. Not for you. If you were in the story, he would tell you the same thing.

So that's number six, the woman who washed Jesus' feet. Number seven, Jonah. This is a classic, isn't it, of not showing mercy? Jonah. As we think about Jonah, let's be reminded of this very sobering statement that Jesus made, "If we don't forgive others, we will not be forgiven," from the model prayer. And we're reading Jesus' recommended outline of prayer. Well, that was the other, the first statement, "blessed," but in the outline of prayer, "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." So if you don't forgive, you won't be forgiven. God is eager to be merciful and forgiving, but He will only treat us this way if we are merciful and forgiving to others. It cannot be mercy for me, but not for you.

And so that leads us to Jonah 4 because God forgives even the worst of sins when there is repentance. So we consider the story of Jonah here and the atrocious evil city of Nineveh. This city was a vicious enemy of Israel, of Jonah's people, and Jonah got angry with God because God spared the city of Nineveh when they repented. And so Jonah complained.

Jonah 4:1-3 "It displeased Jonah exceedingly that God forgave Nineveh, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord, and said, 'Oh Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled to Tarshish, for I know You are a gracious and merciful God. I knew you would let them off. You're slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, one who relents from doing harm.'" You're one who doesn't even really want to hurt people that sin. "'Therefore, Lord, please take my life from me for it's better for me to die than to live.'"

Yeah, I'm done. Of course, then you read the rest of the story, of how Jonah had to come to his senses. But this is a good lesson for all of us here, because sometimes we tend to be like Jonah, yeah, God gave it to them. They wronged me, let them have it. And so we're just fine with retribution on others, but sure don't like it on us. But because of the incredible mercy that has been extended to us, we have a spiritual responsibility to extend that mercy to others, to show love to them, even if they aren't behaving in a way that is particularly deserving of what we think. Let's turn to Luke 6 because Christ instructed us to love our enemies. That's just one verse here. It goes a whole lot further than that. Look at Luke 6:27, where we're told to love our enemies, then let's read on a few more verses.

Luke 6:27-31 "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." So you show mercy even to those who don't like you. Verse 28, "Bless those who curse you, pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away your goods, do not ask for them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."

Luke 6:3-36 "But love your enemies. Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return, and your reward will be great. You'll be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the unthankful and evil." Yes, God allows the rain to grow in the crops of those who are evil. He provides for them. Verse 36, "Therefore," here's the end of the story, "be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful."

There's a huge thread throughout the whole Bible of mercy. This godly love should be a hallmark of a Christian, of you and me, "even for those who spitefully use us," yes. "Jesus then told the disciples, 'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. Do you also love one another?'" That's in John 13. We often read it right before Passover. In John 13, "Love one another as I have loved you." Have mercy on those as I have mercy on you. Forgive those as I forgave you.

Point number eight, let's conclude with a final point that is not an example of mercy in itself. Point number eight, how can I forgive and have mercy on a fellow church member who has treated me poorly? How can I forgive and have mercy on a fellow church member who has treated me poorly? Well, we have to remember this. We have to first acknowledge how God has extended mercy to us because we have wronged Him many times. And how He's extended forgiveness to us for our sins against Him, and yet He still has mercy and forgiveness upon us. And then, we have to remember this and extend the same mercy to others, even a fellow church member who we think should know better.

Of course, this first requires us to recognize the magnitude of the mercy that has been shown to us for the forgiveness of our own debts. Jesus Christ died in our place, for the sins we have and will commit. I want to turn 1 Peter 2 and read verses 24 and 25. So it's 1 Peter 2:24, here's a reminder of the debt that Jesus Christ paid for you and me.

1 Peter 2:24-25 "Who himself bore our sins." Yes, our sins. That's why He died, He bore our sins in His own body, on the tree, that we, having died to sins... See, we have the death penalty hanging overhead otherwise. "Having died for sins might live, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed." It's by Jesus' stripes that we were healed. "For you are like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls."

So notice you have to return to the shepherd to receive this mercy, to receive this forgiveness. And as a result of His atoning sacrifice, our sins are then forgiven, as we repent. And God puts our sin as far away as the east is from the west like we read earlier in Psalm 103:12, and this sacrifice was offered for all of humanity, while each of us were still sinners, and for anyone to be born that would be a sinner. We read Romans 5:8 a moment ago, but it applies here, "God demonstrates His own love toward us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us," was in Romans 5:8, we read a moment ago. Why we were still treating God poorly, transgressing His law, he gave His only son and had mercy upon us.

We must all recognize that we're all learning and growing together as a congregation, as a church. Our patience and love is essential as we grow together as a church. We must endeavor to be patient with one another, bearing each other's faults in love, and forgiving as we were forgiven. And we know it isn't necessarily easy to do this. Sometimes people can do terrible, hurtful things to us. But we cannot let their actions control us, and control our attitude and our opportunity for eternal life. It can't get to you, you have to forgive. Holding a grudge, and not forgiving someone often has a greater negative impact on you, and your spiritual condition, than it does on the person who wronged you, on them. And when we read the parables of the prodigal son in Luke 15, we have to ask, is our attitude like that of the father, merciful, or like that of the elder brother, unmerciful?

Let's conclude with one final example of mercy. I guess we could call this our ninth point, the lost sheep. Final point, number nine, the lost sheep. The account of the lost sheep shows how deeply concerned God and Jesus Christ are for extending mercy to every single person. Luke 15 is the best place to turn for this one, Luke 15:4 through 7.

Luke 15:4-7 "What man of you having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.'" And here's the key, verse 7, "I say to you that likewise, there will be more joy in Heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."

So God is going after and trying to reclaim the sinner, the lost sheep. God forgives even the worst of sins when there's true repentance when you want to change. The prophet Hosea writes in 6:6.

Hosea 6:6 "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings."

 God says I desire mercy most of all, not sacrifice. Remember our opening scripture, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy?" Remember that. If you want mercy extended to you, you must first show mercy. And who doesn't want mercy on them? But it's got to start with you. It cannot be mercy for me, but not for you, like we saw in so many of these stories today, of the judgmental Jewish religious leaders. It must be mercy for me, and mercy for you.

I want to wrap up with one quick final scripture in Colossians 3. And these two verses speak for themselves, speak very clearly here the mind of God. So we're going to read Colossians 3:12 and 13. So here we go, this is written to the church.

Colossians 3:12 "Therefore, as the elect of God," that's to you and me, "holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do."