Psalm 101, p2 of 3

Q: What does the Bible say about mercy and judgment?

The Bible teaches that mercy and judgment are integral aspects of God's character, where mercy rejoices against judgment. In scripture, mercy is defined as God's compassionate regard toward the guilty, weak, and helpless, while judgment is God's righteous discernment in setting matters right without partiality. In Psalm 101, mercy and judgment are celebrated together, emphasizing that God delights in showing mercy, as seen in texts like Micah 7:18-19 and Exodus 34:6. This duality is beautifully captured in the life of Christ, who embodies both attributes, fulfilling the law and offering mercy to sinners.

Q: Why is mercy important for Christians?

Mercy is essential for Christians because it reflects God's love and grace, which saves sinners from judgment. Mercy is critical for Christians as it signifies God's compassion toward those who cannot save themselves. Romans 5:8 emphasizes that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, embodying God's mercy. This mercy is not merely a byproduct of God's nature; it is foundational for salvation, as seen in Titus 3:5, where it is stated that God saved us not by works but according to His mercy. Thus, understanding and accepting this mercy transforms how believers view themselves and relate to God, encouraging them to extend mercy to others.

Q: How do we know God's judgment is true?

God's judgment is true because it is based on His unchanging character and complete knowledge of all human actions. We understand that God's judgment is true through His inherent nature of justice and truthfulness. Scripture tells us in Hebrews 4:13 that everything is naked and open before Him, highlighting that nothing escapes God's discernment. It also teaches that God does not show partiality; He judges according to His righteousness and truth. In Jeremiah 17:10, it confirms that the Lord searches hearts and examines motives, ensuring judgments are based on truth without bias. This is further evidenced in the teachings of Jesus, who emphasized the principles of divine judgment in parables, illustrating that God's decisions are always just.

All right, Psalm 101. I want to read through this and then we're going to get started right away. He says, I will sing of mercy and judgment. So last time we talked a good bit about those two things, mercy and judgment. We're going to talk more about it tonight. I will sing of mercy and judgment unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.

I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O, when wilt thou come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside. It shall not cleave to me. A froward heart shall depart from me. I will not know a wicked person.

Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off. Him that hath a high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house. He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all the wicked doers from the city of the Lord. All right, so I want to cover four things as we continue in this psalm. I'm not sure that I'll get to them all tonight, but I want to cover them because they're all important.

First of all is the definition God gives of mercy and judgment in scripture. And he gives examples of that. So that definition with examples of mercy and of judgment. I want to look at that tonight. Second, I want to look at David's resolve here in this psalm. And I want to see how that resolve that he held in his heart, which was a true resolve that he had, was not only speaking of Christ, but would be worked out in his experience through this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the second thing, David's resolve and the experience of us as believers in our life as God teaches us the gospel and he works out the experience in our lives of trusting Christ. And then the third thing is this apparent tension between mercy and judgment, and how that tension is actually not a tension at all, but is actually what is being celebrated in this psalm.

And then fourth of all, I want to visit a verse of scripture in James, chapter two, and it's always intrigued me the way it's worded there. It says, mercy rejoiceth against judgment. So those two things are set side by side in the book of James, and I want to look at that as well with you.

But first, before we do that, I want to look in Revelation, the book of Revelation in chapter 22, because in the last verse of Psalm 101, or actually the second to the last verse, he says, He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house. He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land that I may cut off all the wicked doers from the city of the Lord." All right, so let's look at Revelation chapter 22 with regard to this because you can see there how God carries these themes.

I mean, when the Lord speaks in the Old Testament, realize that all of the word of God is right there before him, and he's speaking about these things. in the light of the entire Word of God, and so I want you to see this. He says in Revelation chapter 22 and verse 13, he says, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. So that's speaking of Christ. A to Z in the Greek alphabet, Alpha Omega, beginning and the end, first and the last. In other words, Christ is everything from first to last and everything between.

He says in verse 14, blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life. and may enter in through the gates into the city." Okay, so this city is also mentioned back in Psalm 101. I may cut off all the wicked doers from the city of the Lord. He goes on in Revelation 22 verse 15, he says, for without, that means outside the city, without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. And then he says, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root, that means he's the one from whom David springs, and the offspring, the one who came from David, both David's Lord and David's son, the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star, and the spirit of the bride say come, and let him that heareth say come, and let him that is a thirst come, And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

All right, so this is the end, the end of scripture. And he's talking about the city of God. And if you were to read in this text here in the last couple of chapters of Revelation, you see that the temple is Christ himself. The city is the church. Christ dwells amongst his people.

And he says outside this city are those who are called dogs, sorcerers, whoremongers, murderers, idolaters, and whoever loves and makes a lie. In, I'm sorry, Psalm 101, verses 7 and 8, he talks about not allowing any workers of deceit to dwell within his house, and he would not allow any wicked doers in the city of the Lord.

So this is a prophecy in Psalm 101, and this is the fulfillment in Revelation 22. And and if you were to read also in Zephaniah, I just want to remind you of these texts of scripture as you consider these things, because I I can find myself by the description given by God in Revelation 22. I could find myself outside the city if I consider my own character and my own behavior.

Isn't it true that God says in his word, let God be true, but every man a liar? And yet he says outside the city are the liars, those that love and make a lie. But in Zephaniah chapter three and verse 13, he says, the remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity nor speak lies. Neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth for they shall feed and lie down and none shall make them afraid. So the reason that there's no lies in the Lord's people is that they believe the truth. and they speak the truth.

Jesus said, a man speaks with his mouth whatever is in his heart. And he also says that by your words you shall be justified, by your words you'll be condemned. What we speak is the truth God has given to us, and that truth is the Lord Jesus Christ. We speak the truth that Christ is all in salvation. That is our only standing before God. That is our all-sufficient standing before God. And we come to God without... any other hope, and so in that sense, there's no deceit in our mouth, but it's really God considering us in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the truth, and also giving us his spirit to know the truth and believe it. So when you read Psalm 101, see the fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ for his people.

So I wanted to say that before we get into these other four points. The first one is, what is mercy and what is judgment? The second point is David's resolve fulfilled in Christ and that in his experience. And then there's no tension between mercy and truth because they're both characteristics of God and how mercy rejoices against judgment.

We won't be able to get to all these tonight, but that's okay because these themes are prominent throughout scripture. Now, in Matthew 23 and verse 23, Jesus said this to the Pharisees. I want to show you how important these two matters are. He says in Matthew 23 and verse 23, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. All right, so here Jesus himself is telling us what the weightier matters of the law are, judgment, mercy, and faith. All right, so that shows you that Christ himself emphasizes the importance of mercy and judgment.

And as we looked last time at this, we saw that the Lord Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of this prophecy from Psalm 101, is the one who actually sings of mercy and judgment. We know that God delights in mercy. We read last week in Micah chapter seven and verse 18 and 19, God delights in mercy. Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth, that passes by the transgression of his people, pardons his people, for he delights in mercy. I'm not quoting it exactly, but you remember the verse just from those fragments. He delights in mercy. Christ sings of mercy. There's another verse I want you to look at, too, about this. It's in Exodus chapter 34. And in Exodus 34 and verse 6, after Moses asked God to Show him his glory.

This is God now answering Moses's request show me your glory God the Lord says the Lord passed by Before Moses and proclaimed listen to these words the Lord or Jehovah Jehovah God and the first thing he lists when he declares his glory is merciful Merciful, okay, so what is God's glory? Well, God's glory is what is his, the features, if you could say it, the characteristics of God, those things that are his honor, things that are prominent in God that we find beautiful. okay, that is beautiful by God's own measure, beautiful. And we also find them to be all glorious. So what does God list first? Mercy, mercy. Now that is significant, isn't it? That's very, very significant that God himself would say, this is my beauty, mercy, and gracious. Does that give you comfort? It gives me great comfort.

There's another verse of scripture in Psalm 33 and verse 18. We could just keep going on this theme, but in Psalm 33 and verse 18, he says this. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. Hoping in God's mercy means God's eye is upon you. And that means his favor is upon you. And then also in Psalm 147 and verse 11, I'll read this one to you as well, it's the same kind of thing.

He says in Psalm 147, 11, the Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. So you can also see here, not only does God take pleasure in those who hope in His mercy, but you can see how the fear of the Lord and hoping in His mercy are intimately and inseparably connected. You could define hoping in His mercy as an expression of true fear of the Lord, couldn't you? By this verse, he takes pleasure in them that fear him and those that hope in his mercy.

It's almost like he's saying, this is what I mean by fearing the Lord, those that hope in his mercy. So we know that those who fear, truly fear the Lord, they would not trust any except Christ. To trust another is what Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 5 says, is a fool. The fool trusts in man, but those who hope in the Lord, they shall be safe. So again, I'm just emphasizing God's mercy here. Now let's ask this question right out.

What is mercy in scripture? And I would use several passages, but this one, this is the definition that summarizes them. Mercy, God's mercy is God's compassionate regard toward the miserable, the guilty, the weak, the helpless, and the needy, those who cannot help themselves, those who are under guilt and condemnation and can't do anything about it, and their only hope is that God would have pity and compassion and show them mercy. That's a great summary of the things that are said in scripture. Let me give you just one illustration that God himself gives.

Remember the children of Israel when they were complaining to Moses about the manna in Numbers 21? And Jesus took that historical event where God sent fiery serpents among the children of Israel, and those serpents were biting them. And there were many who died, and many were dying, and there was no remedy. They had sinned, they had spoken ill against God, against the manna, and against Moses.

And God sent this judgment of the fiery serpents, and they were dying, and there was no hope, unless God did something. And so the Lord instructed Moses to hammer out a serpent of brass, to hang it on a pole, and whoever looked would live. And Jesus said, that signifies the gospel, that Christ would be lifted up and that all who believe him, corresponding to the serpent being lifted up on the pole, and those looking to the serpent, as many as believe on Christ, would have eternal life.

That's what we are. We're helpless. We're under the bite of the serpent, under the curse. We can do nothing about it. And unless God shows mercy, we will receive the judgment of his condemnation. And there's nothing we can do about it. We will deserve it.

And yet, God has pity and mercy. He holds up Christ to us and he says, look and live. So this is what we see throughout scripture, is God saving sinners by his mercy. Now, in scripture, two things are closely connected, mercy and grace. And God saves sinners by mercy and grace. These two are closely related, but they're not the same. They're similar. Mercy is God in pity, in compassion, and by judgment taking vengeance on Christ as our substitute and letting us go free from guilt and condemnation and the burden of sin against him. So that's mercy.

God laying our sins on Christ, punishing Christ in judgment for our sins, and then letting us go from the condemnation we were under, the wrath we deserve. The burden of our sin is placed on Christ. The punishment is brought upon Christ, and we are let go. We are forgiven of our sins.

That's mercy. It says in Titus 3, 5, according Let me read it to you so I don't get it wrong. Titus chapter 3 and verse 5, not by works of righteousness, so there's nothing from us, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Not according to our works, but according to his mercy, he saved us. The reason for salvation doesn't come from us. God doesn't look for a reason. He couldn't find one in us. God moves in his mercy out of his own free will, not according to ours.

And that's mercy. In salvation, grace and mercy go together. And when God saves us, he not only delivers us from the condemnation our sins deserve by judgment executed on Christ, that's mercy. Christ is the propitiation for our sins. But he also, in grace, gives us what Christ himself deserves.

We deserve judgment. We deserve the condemnation of God's wrath and the curse of His law. Christ bore that. He bore our sins and bore the curse for it. He didn't deserve our sins, but He took them willingly. He offered Himself to God for our sins as a sacrifice. But so he took what we deserve. He took the sins that we had committed against God and owned it, the guilt of it, the shame of it, and the punishment of it. But he deserves everything because of his glorious worthiness and his glorious work.

And so grace means that God gives us what Christ deserves. That's That's mind boggling. We can't comprehend what Christ deserves. The Lord says in 2 Corinthians 8, 9, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be made rich. So the grace of Christ is that he made himself poor, that we might be rich out of his poverty. So there you can see that grace is giving us because Christ was made poor, what he richly deserves. And mercy is removing from us the punishment by bringing that judgment upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, so mercy saves us from our sins for the sake of Christ's offering. And grace gives us what Christ earned by making himself poor for sinners.

His poverty was a willing obedience that was an obedience even unto the death of the cross. It was an obedience of everlasting righteousness. And that earned him the highest possible honor at the right hand of God. and there we are seated with him by God's grace. In Ephesians chapter two, he says this about God's grace to us in Christ. He says that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches, in verse seven, in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace. in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. Okay, so the exceeding riches of God's grace. There's no ruler that can measure that. There's no measuring device that can estimate that. It's beyond comprehension.

The riches of God's grace in Christ is given to us and eternal ages will be spent God unfolding to us what he's given us in Christ. That's grace, giving us what Christ deserves. Mercy is withholding the judgment due to us and placing or bringing that judgment on Christ for our sins to take our sins from us. All right, so God mercy is God not giving you what you deserve because Christ bore it before God and grace is giving you what Christ deserve because he gave himself for you and love. That's amazing. I love mercy and grace now throughout scripture. God shows mercy towards these kinds of people. And this helps us.

This helps you if you're a sinner. If you're in need of mercy, Scripture helps in this regard. He says in 1 Timothy 1, verses 13 through 15, that this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. So Jesus Christ shows mercy to sinners. Sinners, being a sinner qualifies you for God's mercy. That's what that verse is teaching. Sin, being a sinner, being guilty and condemned and without remedy, having no works that can bring this mercy, that makes you a candidate for God's mercy.

Okay? So, as I mentioned before, Titus 3, 5, according to His mercy, He saved us. Or Ephesians 2, God who is rich in mercy for His great love, wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together with Christ. That's the grace part. By grace you are saved. So these are wonderful things.

The next kind of person that God has mercy on are debtors, those who owe a debt. The wages of sin is death, and that death is eternal. So our sin against God puts us in debt, and God will pay us back. And the debt we owe is a debt we cannot pay. In Luke chapter 4, I'm sorry, chapter 7, Jesus told a parable about two debtors. One owed 50, another 500. And when neither of them had anything to pay, nothing to pay, the one they owed it to, frankly, forgave them both. That is mercy. So God's mercy is a mercy to debtors, those who owe and have nothing to pay.

I was just reading somewhere the other day, in Pakistan, in our day, there are people who are in slave labor to pay off debts they can never pay. And so there's an organization, I guess, in the U.S. who pays their debts for them to get them out of that life. Not only them, but their children out of a lifelong slavery. We don't have that kind of prison anymore. There used to be these prisons called debtors prison. And if you ever got in one, you couldn't get out unless someone paid your debt for you.

That's what God has done in mercy. He forgave us, we owed Him, He paid it, Christ Himself paid that debt. He's the ransom price paid for our liberty, our redemption. So debtors and those who are poor. A poor person is someone who has no money, someone who has nothing to use to buy from God. Isaiah 55 tells those who have no money, come buy milk and wine without price and without money. That's the freedom of God's mercy. It has to be free or it's not mercy.

You have to be without hope except in Christ. Your only hope is Christ. You have to hope in his mercy. You know who hopes in God's mercy? You know who hopes in Christ and looks to Christ? Those who have nowhere else to look. Those who see that Christ is all sufficient. Those who know they have nothing. They're poor. And so they stand in need of his mercy and they come to him for his mercy. Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Take away the plague of my heart, this leprous heart. And then also afflicted, the afflicted need mercy and they are the recipients of mercy.

In John chapter eight, There was a woman, the Pharisees somehow caught her in the act of adultery and dragged her, didn't drag her, brought her into the place where Jesus was in public view and accused her before Christ, before all those in the temple where Jesus was. And Jesus was teaching in the temple there in John 8. And so it was him who orchestrated the entire event to bring this accused guilty woman into his presence before the entire onlooking temple crowd.

And there he stooped and wrote on the ground. And the first stoop, those who saw him had nothing to say. He rises up and says, whoever is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone. And they all left one by one, beginning at the oldest and to the last. But then he stooped again and wrote again. And he stood up and when he rose up that second time, no one was there except the woman. And he told the woman, woman, Where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you? And she said, No man, Lord.

So there was no one left to condemn him because Christ in that second stoop had fulfilled the law he used in the first stoop to condemn her accusers. Having risen from that second stoop, having fulfilled the law in his in that message of that first and second stoop, just as God gave the law to Moses and then it was broken and then God gave it to him again and put it in the ark, the Lord Jesus Christ is the one in whom that law was fulfilled. And so he told the woman, Neither do I condemn thee.

She was afflicted, she was guilty, she was accused. By all rights, there was nothing that could be done. God's law said she should be stoned, but Christ said, I don't condemn you. Why? Because he bore her sin. And he goes on to tell her, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. And there's so much to talk about there, but I won't take time to do it right now.

So this is who God has mercy on. Mercy is God taking away in compassion, in pity, in mercy toward the miserable, the guilty, the condemned, the helpless, the needy, those without remedy in any other. It's impossible for them to escape the certainty of all that their sin brings and the misery of that. God has mercy on them out of his own glorious beauty, this quality in God that is his mercy. He delights in it. He sings about it. And it is his beauty. So you can see that this is something that we can rest upon. We can hope in this mercy, can't we?

All right, so sinners, debtors, the poor, the afflicted, and Jesus said to the Pharisees that you bind heavy burdens and grieve us to be born and lay them on men's shoulders, but you yourselves will not move them with one of your fingers. That's the opposite of mercy. In complete contrast, Christ wasn't, he didn't lay the burden on men, he lifted the burden. He didn't put it there. They were under it because his law required their death, and yet he lifted it up, fulfilled the law, both in its obedience and its condemnation. So he pronounces judgment upon them. He says in other places, other types of people he has mercy on, the fatherless, the widow. In Matthew 15, the woman whose daughter was grievously vexed with the devil, she came to the Lord Jesus and asked him for mercy for her daughter.

She was not an Israelite. She was an alien. She was an outcast. She had no business receiving the children's bread, the bread that Christ would give to the people of the Jews. And yet she said, Lord, It isn't right to give the bread belonging to the children to dogs like I am, but the master allows the dogs to eat the crumbs the children drop under the table.

And so that was mercy. She was describing his characteristic. He's merciful, his delight to be merciful and that he rejoices in this mercy. So he, and the Lord told her, oh woman, great is your faith. So this is someone who hoped in his mercy. And so we can see that throughout this thing. Now, I want to go on. In scripture, there's something else about mercy that we need to understand too. You see, in Psalm 101, it says, he sings of mercy and judgment.

Now, we would think, you know, coming from the background of sinners, that God would be entirely just to condemn us for our sins without mercy. But if there was no mercy, if God wasn't merciful, then this scripture answers a question, what would it be like if there was no mercy? Well, the answer is we couldn't, we would not fear God, we wouldn't respect him, we wouldn't revere him, we wouldn't stand in awe, respectful awe of him, we wouldn't love him, we wouldn't have any desire for him because he had no mercy. But it says in Psalm 130, if thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. So that's another thing. Without mercy, we would only hate God. We would add to our wickedness unless God was merciful to us. And it's wrong, it would be wrong for us to be so hostile against God for being holy and just, but it turns out that we couldn't love God unless he first loved us in mercy. All right, so this is the message of scripture.

The woman in Luke 7 who was forgiven much loved much because she was forgiven much. Remember blind Bartimaeus, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. He couldn't see. He couldn't see. And the Lord Jesus came to open the eyes, to shine the light of his mercy on those who couldn't see how God could be merciful to them.

That's the wonderful thing about God's glory, about God's beauty. We don't expect it. But when God shows us his glory, his mercy, then we can see that with such delight, it becomes the most glorious attribute of God. And God does list it first. So we can see that ultimately, mercy is something that is part of God.

It flows from His character. His mercy is not a one-time event. It's everlasting in Scripture. He says, His mercy endureth forever. It's not temporary. It's eternal. And because God acts for His glory and mercy, then he's unchanging. His glory doesn't change.

His mercy is according to his own character, his own glory, his own heart, his own mind, his own will to be gracious. His throne, according to scripture, is established in mercy. And when you consider the fact that God says this first in the list of his glorious attributes, you can see that this is what God considers his splendor and his majesty. It's his mercy. and his mercy not apart from judgment, but it's his mercy consistent with his judgment. We can safely say that mercy is the most God-like thing that God is. I know that that's probably incorrect, but it might, strictly speaking, be incorrect, but it is first in those attributes God gives of himself in Exodus 34. This is his glory, mercy. In fact, all of God's attributes must be in perfect union, in harmony together, and not one is below another. But they're all perfectly, in an uncompromised way, kept in harmony because God is holy.

And so, since God mentions His mercy first, and He sits before us as sinners, Mercy, first of all, in the Lamb of God, that that's the way His mercy is given, in the Lamb of God. Then in the Lamb of God, by the Lamb of God, God is merciful to sinners. And this is what Isaiah 53 and the Gospel is all about. The Lamb, according to Hebrews 1, is the outshining, the glory, the brightness of God's glory, the most God-like thing. In other words, the way we know God is the Lamb of God, and what we see in the Lamb of God is God's mercy and His judgment, but His mercy expressed in the Lamb. And so we know and perceive God savingly in no other way than in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the Lamb of God, through whom God is merciful.

That's why he's called the propitiation, the mercy seat. This is what the cherubim look down upon. the mercy seat, the lid of the ark in which God's law is satisfied, God is propitiated. And so in two ways then, God sets his mercy prominently forth to us as sinners. Christ, the propitiation for our sins, that's mercy. and the mercy of God by the blood of Christ in answer to his own judgment and his glorious attributes of mercy. Therefore, it's safe to say that the greatest thing, at least to a sinner and to the onlooking universe, is God's glorious mercy to sinners.

Isn't it? Remember in Luke chapter 15, Jesus three times in three different parables, the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. And in each of those three times, he said that when a sinner is brought back as a sheep that's lost to the fold, as a coin found in the widow's house, or as the son brought back to the father, in all those cases, heaven rejoices. Why? Because of this mercy of God. God delights and sings of his own mercy.

Now, I wanna touch on this verse in James just a little bit with you before we end tonight. Look at James chapter two. This is something that is always, it's one of those phrases, you read it, you hear it, and it rattles around in your head for years, and you wonder, what does it mean? And after we talk about it, we'll still be asking, what does it mean? Because we can never really exhaust the wonder of it. But in the book of James, James is right after the book of Hebrews, Chapter two, James chapter two, listen to this.

He says, for he shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy. James two, verse 13. He shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy. That's a principle in scripture. If you show no mercy, then no mercy for you. Now it doesn't mean that God's mercy is earned by showing mercy to people.

It just means that if someone has been shown the mercy of God, if God has shown their mercy, then that makes them a merciful person. All right, the rest of the verse though, he says, and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Rejoiceth against means it glories over, it boasts over judgment. And so what does this mean? Well, It's not the case that mercy somehow is more important than judgment in all of God's attributes. That would be to make some parts of God more important than others.

I emphasize that mercy is God's glorious attribute in what we talked about before because to a sinner, without mercy there's no hope, but with mercy there's great love that comes. And so this is such a delightful thing. And that we are so surprised that God actually delights in mercy, that God is more inclined to show mercy to sinners than sinners are to believe that God is merciful. And that's an amazing thing.

So in many ways, mercy exalts or exalts triumphs over, boasts over judgment. But how this is so is that in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the mercy of God, remember, he is the propitiation for our sins. In the mercy of God, mercy that God delights in, through which we are saved, not according to our works, but according to His mercy He saved us. Mercy triumphs or rejoices over judgment because mercy is the way in which God satisfies judgment. So mercy brings to judgment delight in the satisfaction of the blood of Christ, and therefore mercy not only brings from God this pity and compassion to sinners to remove their sins and the judgment, and the wrath against them due to their sins, but also brings delight to God's judgment. And that, I think, is what this scripture is talking about here. We were, according to Ephesians 2, dead in our sins when God had mercy on us.

We lived as the world lives. We were under Satan's dominion, just as the world is under Satan's dominion. Our life, both in our mind and by our works, was according to the lust of our own corrupt, sinful nature. And even as others are children of wrath, we also were children of wrath by what we were in ourselves.

And God says, but God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, there's no reason in us. We were without remedy, without hope, not only dying, but dead in sins under the judgment of God, facing eternal judgment.

When we were that way, God had mercy, He had grace on us because of His rich mercy. For His great love, even when we were dead in sins, He made us alive together with Christ. It's by grace that He did that. We're saved by His mercy, by His grace. And that grace of God was because God is rich in mercy.

Alright? All right, so then, what is judgment? Okay, we talked about mercy, what is judgment? I'm gonna give you some illustrations of this too, and maybe I'll give you the definition first, and then I'll talk about the illustration. He says, or I'm gleaning this from scripture, judgment, now, if you consider this, judgment, God's judgment, is God watching every matter and setting things right in everything according to truth, without partiality, without compromise, with no compromise to his character, with no compromise to his very nature.

God watching every matter and setting things right according to truth without partiality, making no difference between people because of anything found in them, but according strictly to his own character. In Hebrews chapter 4 it says this, the word of God is quick, that means it's alive, powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." So that's God watching every matter in everything. It says in Jeremiah 17, the heart is deceitful. The heart of man is deceitful, above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the hearts.

I, the Lord, try the reins, the inward parts, and even to give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings. That is judgment. God in every matter, knowing and setting things right according to truth without partiality. This is God.

He discerns every motive. He discerns every intent of our heart in every person. He knows the truth in every matter, in every thought, in every word, in every action. He is the judge. He will do right. He can't do wrong. God is called the truth. The truth is the judge. There's no way God can compromise that. He can't compromise himself. God cannot lie. He can't do wrong. Psalm 145, verse 17, the Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works. So God's not going to compromise. And so nothing will escape him. Everything is open. His throne will be the place where accounting is taking place in everything. Everything will be according to his judgment that he sees, the standard of his mind and his character to set things right. But I want you to know this too, that judgment is more than simply punishment. Judgment is more than punishment.

It's God, in His righteous discernment, ordering all things according to His truth. So, for example, God condemns the wicked, but God also justifies the righteous, and that's judgment. God condemning the wicked and justifying the righteous are both judgment. In Proverbs 17, 15, he says that. It's an abomination to the Lord to justify the wicked or to condemn the just. God can't do that. And so justifying the righteous and condemning the wicked are included in judgment. Judgment also includes defending the righteous.

He says in Psalm 5, verse 11, let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy because thou defendest them. Let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. So God, he not only condemns the wicked, he justifies the righteous, and he also defends those who are righteous, those who put their trust in thee. He defends the oppressed. Look at.

Let me just read these verses to you, then we'll look at Luke chapter 18. He says in Exodus 20, yeah, 22, Exodus 22, verse 22. You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child if you afflict them in any wise. and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath shall wax wax hot and I will kill you with the sword and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless. You see, if you treat the widow and the fatherless by afflicting them or and they cry to the Lord, then the Lord is going to make your wife a widow. you're gonna die, and your children will be fatherless.

You see that? That's setting things right, isn't it? He says in Exodus 23, verse six, thou shalt not rest, twist, distort the judgment of thy poor in his cause. God doesn't do that. So we can see that God, he exposes wrong, he sets things right, he condemns the wicked, he justifies the righteous, and all of it is called judgment in scripture.

And I want you to look at this illustration that God gives, the Lord gives, Jesus gives in Luke chapter 18. There's actually three illustrations given in Luke chapter 18 of this judgment. We go there, Luke 18. The first one begins at verse one, and it's about a widow.

He says in Luke 18 one, He spake a parable to them, to this end, that men ought always to pray and not to faint, saying, there was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. So this judge was, he was a godless judge. And there was a widow in that city, and she came to the judge, saying, avenge me of my adversaries. So the judge could do that, but he wouldn't. It says, he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, though I fear not God, nor regard man. I don't respect God, I don't respect man. Yet because this widow troubles me, self-interest, I will avenge her, lest by her coming, continual coming, she weary me. Now here's the message.

Jesus said, hear what the unjust judge says. All right, in complete contrast to that, God is just, so he argues from the unjust to the just infinitely more. He says in verse 7, shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night to him though he bear long with them? So the Lord bears long with them. He bears long with them because he's going to be merciful. He's gonna save all of his people, all of his elect. And even though it doesn't seem judgment, it seemed that judgment is coming and they're avenged, he will bring that judgment. God will judge on behalf of his elect because he is just and they cry unto him. And Jesus says, don't faint, cry day and night.

And then also in Luke chapter 18, he talks about the Republican and the Pharisee. And here in this account, you're very familiar with, beginning at verse nine, he said there was a certain man who trusted in themselves, they were righteous, he spake this parable to them. And so he talks about the Pharisee. He says in verse 11, the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee, I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

So he justified himself. He was trying to pass God's judgment on himself by what he did. The other man The publican stood afar off. He wouldn't even lift up his eyes to heaven because he knew he was a sinner. And so he said, he smote on his breast. He said, God, be propitious, be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus said, that man, this man, the sinner, went down to his house, justified. God passed judgment on the sinner, considering the propitiation. and he justified that man. So you can see God's judgment in this. And then, immediately following this parable, it says in verse 15, They brought to him also infants that he would touch them. When his disciples saw it, they rebuked them, but Jesus called them to himself. He said, Suffer little children to come to me. Forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven. And whoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter there." So here's another judgment. He doesn't He doesn't prevent those who are infants who have no ability to contribute to His kingdom. Nothing. They're needy only. That's all they have is their need. He doesn't prevent them from coming to Him. He receives them.

This is Christ receiving us to the glory of God. This is judgment. And then later, in the same chapter, it says that a rich young ruler came to him. In verse 18, a certain ruler came to him. Good master, what shall I do? This man tried to come on the basis of his own obedience to the law. And Jesus said, well, since you're trusted in the law, then go sell everything you have and give it to the poor. And follow me.

And he couldn't do it because he was covetous. He didn't realize he had broken the entire law because he served himself. He was self-serving and full of lust, self-serving, self-idolatrous lust. And it seemed as if there was no hope. And Jesus said, for men, it's impossible for that man to be saved.

But with God, nothing is impossible. Another judgment. God's mercy reaches even the proud sinner. And aren't you glad that he does? If he didn't, we would have no hope. Now, again, the Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him and those who hope in his mercy. And that's what he's doing here. He's setting these things in scripture alongside each other, mercy and judgment. And he's illustrating it in so many ways to us.

I love how throughout scripture, those who had nothing come to the Lord Jesus in either their oppression or their helplessness or their guilt. or their condemnation, or their being under the dominion of Satan. There was nothing that Christ would not do. There was nothing that would keep Christ from doing for them. of what they needed when they came to him for mercy. And he did it according to judgment. This is what Luke 18 is showing us. God justifies the ungodly. He's just in doing so because of the righteousness of Christ.

Let's pray. Lord, we pray that you would have mercy upon us for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ alone, that you would not consider any contribution from us, that in considering our sin, you would have put it upon the Lord Jesus and receive from him full payment, full honor to your justice in judgment, and that according to your mercy in Christ, you would have mercy on us and save us according to your mercy, not according to our works, by your grace giving to us not what we deserve, but giving to us what the Lord Jesus Christ earned by his self-emptying grace in his poverty. Help us, dear Lord, to trust him only and to honor and worship you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Psalm 101, p2 of 3

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about mercy and judgment?

Why is mercy important for Christians?

How do we know God's judgment is true?

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Psalm 101, p2 of 3

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about mercy and judgment?

Why is mercy important for Christians?

How do we know God's judgment is true?

Sermon Transcript

About Rick Warta

Comments

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