Dealing with Difficulty Through Mercy (Part 1) by Dr. Rod Mattoon

About this sermon

Life is filled with difficulties. Difficulties are like a pesky mosquito that buzzes your ear and won’t go away. Timothy was given the responsibility to go to Ephesus and deal with difficulties in the church. Paul wrote him the letter known as 1 Timothy to instruct and encourage him. Part one of this message focuses on how we deal with difficulties through God’s mercy. What is mercy? In the Old Testament, this word "mercy" comes from the Hebrew word checed {kheh'-sed} and means "goodness, kindness or lovingkindness, steadfast love, mercy, faithfulness, and loyalty." There is another wonderful Hebrew word for mercy in Psalm 40. * Psalm 40:11—Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. The word "mercies" comes from the Hebrew word racham {rakh' -am} which means "womb." The word refers to God's affection for us, just as a mother loves her baby. David was asking the Lord to surround him with the kind of warmth, comfort, and protection that a child enjoys in its mother's womb. As sinners, we do deserve the punishment for sin. We all deserve to go to a place called Hell because we all are sinners. When we are repentant, however, and seek the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins, in mercy He saves us by His wonderful grace when we trust in Him for our salvation. Mercy withholds punishment from offenders who deserve it. God showed mercy in sparing the Christian from the judgment which his or her sins deserve. In this message, we begin to look at the importance of mercifulness in the life of the Christian. We examine Bible principles about this subject. We are to extend mercy toward others who have offended us just like the Lord did with us. Such mercy was demonstrated by Abraham Lincoln. The compassion and pity of Lincoln at the end of the Civil War set the stage for restoring the United States. After Lee's surrender, Lincoln spoke to a large crowd from the balcony of the White House. He told them about the considerate policy he had in mind for the South. At the end of his speech, Senator Harlan asked, "What shall we do with the rebels?" The vindictive crowd shouted back, "Hang them!" Their bitterness squelched any kind of attitude of compassion and mercy in their hearts. Tad Lincoln, however, turned to his father and said, "No, no, Papa. Not hang them. Hang on to them!" "That's it!" replied Lincoln joyfully. "Tad has it. We must hang on to them!" At the time, Tad was only eleven, but he understood the importance of mercy, especially in restoring a broken nation as well as broken people. May we understand its importance, too. This 30-minute message was preached on Sunday morning, October 9, 2022, at Lincoln Land Baptist Church.

Topics

• Love & Compassion