Mercy and Grace
Philippians 4:19–20 (NKJV)19 And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20 Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
According to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus. “He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.” How do we receive these riches? First, we must know what the riches are and are not. Ephesians 2:7 says that He will show us “riches of His grace” in kindness towards us.
- Mercy: Show mercy, compassion on
- Grace: Good will towards, favor towards someone
These are some of His riches, mercy and grace. He is rich in mercy because of His great love for us–thank you, Jesus! His mercy, when we go off the path, he is quick to forgive us, we boldly go to Him and receive help in time of need. More than that, grace–favor–empowers us to do good, mercy and Grace is not an excuse to sin; rather, Jesus paid the price, so we are able to go to the Father. We have a God given right to boldly go to the throne of grace (seated in heavenly places, the secret place).
God Note: Faith gets us to the throne room; prayer gets us to know Him.
- Think knowing Him through scripture.
- Think knowing Him through answered prayers and promises.
Ephesians 2:4–10 (NKJV)4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
God Note: Mercy and Grace should be seen before we fall as well, before we miss the mark. When we see mercy and grace, we should see us going to the father for help, not just “Father forgive us because we have sinned.” Even though He will be fast to forgive, He would rather us overcome through Christ (the anointing) and through Jesus (the word). The truth is, Jesus is the way to the Father–we can ask for help to overcome a lessor way, to overcome all the works of the enemy (this includes being led astray by our own hearts and evil desires, James 1:14). Notice we did not earn our way to Him; rather, we went to Him for help?
God Note: We do not misuse God’s mercy and grace to achieve failure; instead, we have His mercy and grace to achieve victory!
Eternal Life
- The gift is being able to approach Him and learn from Him. Stop running like Adam did, repent and start learning from His Son Jesus (Matthew 11:29).
- Jesus gave the invite. The Gift, to know God and His Son (John 17).
- Notice we did not earn our way to Him; rather, we went to Him for help?
- Proverbs 2:1–11 (NKJV)1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
Boldly go to the thrown of grace… to do what? One of God’s promises and I believe should be the goal of the church, is to have eternal life. John 17:3 defines eternal life as knowing God and His Son (John17:3, Hebrews 11:6). His names, His promises, His works, and His words define who He is–God (aka love, 1 John 4:8). To fully know who we are in Christ, we must have a proper image of who He is–Love (1 John 3:2–3). Satan comes to steal the word (Mark 4:14–15), the word is God (John 1:1). Through Jesus-God’s will incarnate—we have the victory (Satan wont be able to steal God’s true imagine from us)! He is a God who loves and protects us.
John 3:16 (NKJV) 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Perish?
Why do His people perish? Exactly, lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). “He does not want His people to perish, “but have everlasting life (John3:16). Earlier we defined what the biblical definition of “eternal life” is–to know the one and only true God (to have a correct image of who He is). Satan loves blaming a holy and just God with the evils that are within this fallen world (wrong doing, pain, suffering, death, keeping good from us, etc…); this is a very strong way to keep people separated from God i.e. Eve and Adam when they believed the lie over what God had said. However, God sent Jesus to help us with knowing Him and His will and thank God the helper came to point us to these truths (John17:17, John 16:13). How do we overcome this world–know Him!
Hebrews 4:14–16 (NKJV)14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Side note: Not to condemn but to edify those who seek Him—->
Notice how Jesus said this? “I never knew you” which implies these individuals, that made a practice out of lawlessness, never had a relationship with Him?
Matthew 7:21–23 (NKJV)21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
Seek first the kingdom (Matthew 6:33). Jesus made it where we are able to go to the Father and we as Christians should take full advantage of this by spending time with Him and getting to know Him. He is not coming back for a powerless, weak church. He is coming back for a justified church who knows Him! Love never fails! The true–biblical– definition of mercy and grace empowers us to know Him and be like Him! Father like sons and daughters!
Scripture
John 14:6–7 (NKJV)6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”
Matthew 6:28–34 (NKJV)28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Ephesians 3:14–17 (NKJV)14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
1 Corinthians 2:9–12 (NKJV)9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
Proverbs 2:1–11 (NKJV)1 My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the LORD, And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; 8 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. 9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path. 10 When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, 11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you
Luke 8:11–15 (NKJV)11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
Matthew 6:33 (NKJV)33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
John 3:15–17 (NKJV)15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
1 Timothy 6:12–16 (NKJV)12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, 15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.
John 17:2–3 (NKJV)2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
1 John 3:2–3 (NKJV)2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
James 1:14–18 (NKJV)14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
1 John 4:8 (NKJV)8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.