The mercy of God in Christian preaching highlights His compassionate willingness to forgive and restore sinners despite their guilt, emphasizing grace over strict justice (Ephesians 2:4-5). Illustrations often depict mercy as a balancing force with justice, a welcoming refuge for the repentant, or a transformative power that softens hearts and inspires gratitude (Psalm 103:8). This theme underscores God's tender care and the free, abundant nature of His pardon.
God's justice and mercy are perfectly balanced and govern the universe harmoniously.
Justice and mercy are the two arms of God, which embrace, bear, and govern the whole world: they are the two engines of the great Archimedes, which make heaven descend upon earth, and earth mount to heaven. They are the bass and treble strings of the great lute of heaven, which make all the harmonies and tunable symphonies of this universe. Now, as mercy is infinite, so is justice. The divine essence holdeth these two perfections as the two scales of the balance, — always equally poised.
— N. Caussin
God's mercy triumphs over justice by wiping our debt and crediting His promises.
A merchant that keeps a book of debit and credit writes both what is owing him and what he oweth himself, and then casteth up the whole. But God doth not so: his mercy is triumphant over his justice; and therefore he wipes out what we owe him, and writes down that only which he owes us by promise. Spencer.
Justice and mercy unite perfectly in Christ's redemptive work on the cross.
Like two streams which unite their separate waters to form a common river, justice and mercy are combined in the work of redemption. Like the two cherubim whose wings met above the ark; like the two devout and holy men who drew the nails from Christ's body, and bore it to the grave; like the two angels who received it in charge, and, seated like mourners within the sepulchre (the one at the head, the other at the feet), kept silent watch over the precious treasure, — justice and mercy are associated in the work of Christ. They are the supporters of the shield on which the cross is emblazoned; they sustain the arms of our heavenly Advocate; they form the two solid and eternal pillars of the Mediator's throne. On Calvary, mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each other.
— Dr. Guthrie
God created man as the child of Mercy, who pledges to watch over him.
When God, in his eternal counsel, conceived the thought of man's creation, he called to him the three ministers who wait constantly upon his throne, — Justice, Truth, and Mercy, — and thus addressed them: "Shall we make man?" Then said Justice, "O God! make him not; for he will trample upon thy laws." Truth made answer also, "O God! make him not; for he will pollute thy sanctuaries." But Mercy, dropping upon her knees, and looking up through her tears, exclaimed, "O God! make him: I will watch over him with my care through all the dark paths which he may have to tread." Then God made man, and said to him, "O man! thou art the child of Mercy: go and deal with thy brother."
— Crittenden
Abusing God's mercy leads to judgment without mercy and fierce consequences.
To sin because mercy abounds is the Devil's logic. He that sins because of mercy is like one that wounds his head because he hath a plaster: he that sins because of God's mercy shall have judgment without mercy. Mercy abused turns to fury. Nothing sweeter than mercy when it is improved, nothing fiercer when it is abused; nothing colder than lead when it is taken out of the mine, nothing more scalding than lead when it is heated; nothing blunter than iron, nothing sharper when it is whetted. "The mercy of the Lord is upon them that fear him." Mercy is not for them that sin, and fear not; but for them that fear, and sin not.
— T. Watson
God's mercy is always accessible, never closing the door to returning sinners.
The daughter of a poor widow had left her mother's cottage. Led astray by others, she had forsaken the guide of her youth. Prayer was the mother's only resource; nor was it in vain. Late one night, the daughter returned home. It was near midnight; and she was surprised to find the door unlatched. But she was soon told in the fulness of the mother's heart, "Never, my child, by night or by day, has that door been fastened since you left. I knew that you would come back some day; and I was unwilling to keep you waiting for a single moment."
Mercy offers a chance to surrender and live before judgment comes like a black flag.
When the old Romans attacked a city, it was sometimes their custom to set up a white flag at the city gate. If the garrison surrendered while the white flag was up, their lives were spared: after that, the black flag was run up, and every man was put to the sword. Sinner, to-day the white flag of mercy is out. Surrender to Christ, and live, before the black flag of death and doom takes its place.
Sinners must appeal from justice to God's mercy to receive pardon for their faults.
A woman arraigned before Alexander the Great, and condemned, said, "I appeal from thee, O king!" Alexander said, "Thou art a mad woman! Dost thou not know that every appeal is from a lower judge to a higher? But who is above me?" She answered, "I know thee to be above thy laws, and that thou mayest give pardon; and therefore I appeal from justice to mercy, and for my faults crave pardon." So must sinners do. Cawdray.
God's mercy far outweighs all the wickedness of mankind.
As a spark of fire to all the water in the sea, so no more is all the wickedness of man to the mercies and mercifulness of God. Cawdray.
Mercy breaks the hardest hearts and leads to gratitude and changed conduct.
A soldier in our army heard of the severe sickness of his wife. He applied for leave of absence, but was refused. He left the army; but, before he got away, was retaken, and brought in as a deserter. He was tried, found guilty, and summoned before the commanding officer to receive his sentence. He entered the tent, saluted, and stood perfectly unmoved while the officer read his fearful doom, — "To be shot to death with musketry on the next Friday." Not a muscle of his face twitched, not a limb quivered. "I deserve it, sir," he replied respectfully: "I deserted from my flag. Is that all, sir?" — "No," replied the officer: "I have something else for you;" and, taking another paper, he read aloud the doomed man's pardon. The undaunted spirit which severity had failed to move was completely broken down by clemency. He dropped to the ground, shaking, sobbing, and overcome; and, being restored to his regiment, proved himself grateful for the mercy shown him, and was soon promoted for good conduct.
Showing mercy can inspire trust and reward even those who deserved punishment.
Augustus Caesar, having promised by proclamation a great sum of money to any one that should bring him the head of a famous pirate, yet when the pirate, who had heard of this, brought it himself to him, he not only pardoned him for his former offences, but rewarded him for the great confidence that he had in his mercy. Spencer.
God's mercy is freely given to all without price or preparation.
Let me tell thee that the mercy of God flows freely. It wants no money and no price from thee, no fitness of frames and feelings, no preparation of good works or penitence. Free as the brook which leaps from the mountain-side, at which every weary traveller may drink, so free is the mercy of God. Free as the sun that shineth, and gilds the mountain's brow, and makes glad the valleys, without fee or reward, so free is the mercy of God to every needy sinner. Free as the air which belts the earth, and penetrates the peasant's cottage as well as the royal palace, without purchase or premium, so free is the mercy of God in Christ. It tarrieth not for thee: it cometh to thee as thou art. It waylayeth thee in love: it meeteth thee in tenderness. Spurgeon.
God's mercy forgives great sins and grants great blessings to great sinners.
God's mercy is so great, that it forgives great sins to great sinners, after great lengths of time, and then gives great favors and great privileges, and raises us up to great enjoyments in the great heaven of the great God. As John Bunyan well says, "It must be great mercy, or no mercy; for little mercy will never serve my turn."
Mercy means deeply caring for another's misery and is greater than our deepest misery.
Mercy hath but its name from misery, and is no other thing than to lay another's misery to heart. — Binney. — The depths of our misery can never fall below the depths of mercy. — Sibbes. — The plaster is as wide as the wound. — Henry. — The mercies of God will be loadstones to draw us to heaven, or millstones to sink us to perdition. When Thomas Hooker was dying, one said to him, "You are going to receive the reward of your labors." He replied, "I am going to receive mercy."
Mercy is essential for salvation, spiritual provision, and eternal comfort for believers.
Mercy is in the air which we breathe, the daily light which shines upon us, the gracious rain of God's inheritance. It is the public spring for all the thirsty, the common hospital for all the needy. All the streets of the church are paved with these stones. What would become of the children if there were not these breasts of consolation? It is mercy that takes us out of the womb, feeds us in the days of our pilgrimage, furnishes us with spiritual provision, closes our eyes in peace, and translates us to a secure resting-place. It is the first petitioner's suit, and the first believer's article, the contemplation of Enoch, the confidence of Abraham, the burden of the prophetic songs, and the glory of all the apostles, the plea of the penitent, the ecstasies of the reconciled, the believer's hosanna, the angel's hallelujah. Ordinances, oracles, altars, pulpits, the gates of the grave, and the gates of heaven, do all depend upon mercy. It is the load-star of the wandering, the ransom of the captive, the antidote of the tempted, the prophet of the living, and the effectual comfort of the dying: there would not be one regenerate saint upon earth, nor one glorified saint in heaven, if it were not for mercy.
A queen's mercy illustrates God’s eagerness to pardon despite repeated failures.
It is related, that during the first few days of the reign of Queen Victoria, then between nineteen and twenty years of age, some sentences of a court-martial were presented for her signature. One was death for desertion. A soldier was condemned to be shot; and his death-warrant was presented to the queen for her signature. She read it, paused, and looked up to the officer who had laid it before her, and said, "Have you nothing to say in behalf of this man?"—"Nothing: he has deserted three times," said the officer. "Think again, my lord," was her reply. "And," said the gallant veteran as he related the circumstance to his friends (for it was none other than the Duke of Wellington). "seeing her Majesty so earnest about it, I said, 'He is certainly a bad soldier; but there was somebody who spoke to his good character; and he may be a good man for aught I know to the contrary.'"—"Oh, thank you a thousand times!" exclaimed the youthful queen; and, hastily writing "Pardoned" in large letters on the fatal page, she sent it across the table with a hand trembling with eagerness and emotion.
God's mercy is manifold, abundant, and continually reveals new blessings to believers.
As John Bunyan says, all the flowers in God's garden are double; there is no single mercy: nay, they are not only double flowers, but they are manifold flowers. There are many flowers upon one stalk, and many flowers in one flower. You shall think you have but one mercy; but you shall find it to be a whole flock of mercies. Our beloved is unto us a bundle of myrrh, a cluster of camphor. When you lay hold upon one golden link of the chain of grace, you pull, pull, pull; but, lo! as long as your hand can draw there are fresh "linked sweetnesses" of love still to come. Manifold mercies! Like the drops of a lustre, which reflect a rainbow of colors when the sun is glittering upon them, and each one, when turned in different ways, from its prismatic form shows all the varieties of color: so the mercy of God is one and yet many; the same, yet ever changing; a combination of all the beauties of love blended harmoniously together.
God continually offers mercy and invites sinners to receive life before judgment.
When Alexander encamped before a city, he used to set up a light, to give notice to those within, that, if they came forth to him while that light lasted, they should have quarter: if otherwise, no mercy was to be expected. God sets up light after light, and waits year after year, and even invites men to come unto him, that they may have life.
We must come to Christ in our sinfulness, not in self-righteousness, to receive mercy.
A man called at my house, some time ago, for charity. Thinking that the man's rags and poverty were real, I gave him a little money, some of my clothes, and a pair of shoes. After he had put them on, and gone out, I thought, "Well, after all,
I have done you a bad turn very likely; for you will not get so much money now as before, because you will not look so wretched an object." Happening to go out a quarter of an hour afterwards, I saw my friend; but he was not wearing the clothes I had given him, — not he! Why, I should have ruined his business if I could have compelled him to look respectable. He had been wise enough to slip down an archway, take all the good clothes off, and put his rags on again. He only wore his proper livery; for rags are the livery of a beggar. The more ragged he looked, the more he would get. Just so is it with you. If you are to go to Christ, do not put on your good doings and feelings, or you will get nothing; go in your sins, they are your livery. Your ruin is your argument for mercy; your poverty is your plea for heavenly alms; and your need is the motive for heavenly good.
— Spurgeon
God’s mercy is vast enough to completely forgive and erase even the greatest sins.
It is his free compassion to cast all our sins, into the depth of the sea (Micah vii. 19). Now, the sea, by reason of its vastness, can drown as well mountains as mole-bills: the boundless ocean of God's mercy can swallow up our mightiest sins much more. It is his merciful power to blot out our sins as a cloud. Now, the strength of the summer's sun is able to scatter the thickest fog as well as the thinnest mist; nay, to drive away the darkest midnight: the irresistible beatof God's free love, shining through the Sun of Righteousness upon a penitent soul, to dissolve to nothing the most desperate work of darkness, and most horrible sin, far more easily.
— Bolton
Music softened a cruel ruler's heart, leading to mercy for prisoners.
Sultan Amurath laid siege to Bagdad, and, on taking it, gave orders for putting thirty thousand Persians to death, notwithstanding they had submitted, and laid down their arms. Among the victims was a musician, who entreated the executioner to spare him for a moment, that he might speak to the author of the decree. He was brought before Amurath, who permitted him to exhibit a specimen of his art. Like the musician in Homer, he took up a kind of psaltery, and accompanied it with his voice. He sang the capture of Bagdad and the triumph of Amurath. The tones which he drew from the instrument, joined to his strains, rendered the prince unable to restrain the softer emotions of his soul. He suffered him to proceed, until, overpowered with harmony, he melted into tears of pity, and repented of his cruelty. He directed his people to spare the prisoners who yet remained alive, and to give them instant liberty.
Profane blasphemy led a soldier to fear eternal damnation and seek mercy.
One evening, as the Rev. William Wilson of Perth was passing along the streets of that town, three soldiers, then quartered in it, happened to walk behind him, who were indulging in the utterance of the most profane and blasphemous language. One of them, on some frivolous account, declared it to be his wish, that God Almighty might damn his soul in hell to all eternity. Mr. Wilson immediately turned round, and, with a look of dignity and compassion, said, "Poor man, and what if God should say amen, and answer that prayer!" Mr. Wilson passed on. The man seemed to stand petrified, and, on going home to his quarters, was in such distraction of mind and feeling, that he knew not whither to turn for relief. He was soon afterwards seized with fever, under which he continued to suffer the most awful forebodings of eternal misery. His case was so singular, that many Christians went to visit him, to whom he invariably said he was sure of being beyond the reach of mercy, and that God had sent his angel to tell him so. One of them asked him to describe the appearance of the person who had pronounced this doom on him. He did so, and the visitant at once perceiving that it must have been Mr. Wilson, inquired if he would wish again to see him. "Oh," said he, "I would wish above every thing to see him, but he will not come near a wretch like me." Mr. Wilson was soon brought, and told him of the way of salvation through Christ crucified, and encouraged him to flee for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before him. His words being accompanied by Divine power, the poor soldier was enabled to believe in Christ, and thus found peace and comfort to his troubled soul. He soon afterwards recovered, and became a very exemplary Christian; and, as he felt the army unfavorable to a religious life, Mr. W. at his request used influence, and procured
### 134. DIFFICULTIE
God's mercy is continual, encouraging believers with ongoing provision and hope.
A benevolent person gave Mr. Rowland Hill a hundred pounds to dispense to a poor minister, and thinking it was too much to send him all at once, Mr. Hill forwarded five pounds in a letter, with simply these words within the envelope, "More to follow." In a few days' time, the good man received another letter by the post—and letters by the post were rarities in those days; this second messenger contained another five pounds, with the same motto, "And more to follow." A day or two after came a third and a fourth, and still the same promise, "And more to follow." Till the whole sum had been received the astonished minister was made familiar with the cheering words, "And more to follow."
God's mercy transforms the soul, inspiring gratitude and compassion for others.
A man convicted of high treason and condemned to die is not only pardoned, but taken into the favour of his sovereign. He is riding in the royal carriage, and on the road he sees some of his fellow traitors pinioned and manacled, led forth in the midst of officers to die for the offence in which he had as deep a hand as they. What think you, will he not entreat the gracious monarch to extend his clemency to his fellow rebels? Will not the tears stand in his eyes as he admires the difference which his sovereign's free mercy has made? Will he not be moved with emotions impossible to describe, of mingled joy and grief, pity and gratitude, wonder and compassion? Christian, see your likeness here drawn to the life, you must surely feel ready to fall down on your knees, and cry, "Lord, why dost thou reveal thy mercy to me and not to these? Save them also, O Lord, for thy name's sake."
God's mercy is infinite and never exhausted, like an ocean that cannot be drained by a small fish.
When a child of God thinks he has exhausted the patience and mercy of God, he is something like a little fish in the sea, which said, "Oh I am so thirsty, I am afraid I shall drink up the Atlantic!" O little fish, thou hast no idea how mighty the ocean is; countless myriads such as thou art may swim in it, and the ocean will be none the less! O beloved believer, you need never think you will exhaust infinity!
Those who never seek mercy have never truly found it, like a courtier who never showed his ring.
The old story tells of a monarch who gave to a favorite courtier a ring, which he might send to her in case he should be under her displeasure, promising that at the sight thereof he should be restored to favor. That ring was never shown, though long waited for; and it was little wonder that, concluding the offender to be stubbornly rebellious, the sentence of execution was carried out. He who never seeks for mercy, has certainly never found it.
God's mercy is available only while one turns to Him in time, like the candle burning.
Says the old hymn:
While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return.
An old Saxon king had some serious trouble with his subjects: they murmured against him and at last rose up in rebellion. The king set out to subdue them, and soon the well-disciplined troops won a decided victory over the tatterdemalion horde opposing them. Having conquered, the king determined to show mercy. He adopted the novel expedient of placing a candle in the window of his castle and proclaiming that all should be pardoned who returned “while the candle burns.” (Text.)
How Christ’s death on the cross satisfies God’s justice and mercy.
1. Jesus’ death on the Cross provides the ultimate demonstration of God’s mercy.
Ultimately, the prayer, “show me your glory” brings us to the Lord Jesus. For in Jesus we see the very same qualities that God proclaimed to Moses in dynamic human form. In Jesus we also see wonderfully fulfilled the sovereign mercy of God, grace to the totally undeserving.
2. The Cost of God’s Mercy.
Not only does the Lord Jesus Christ perfectly fulfill and reveal the mercy of God in His character and life, but He perfectly vindicates it in His death. This dilemma is at the heart of our understanding of Jesus’ death on the Cross, for that is where the justice and mercy of God meet. Jesus’ death is to be understood as a “sacrifice of atonement”. Jesus’ death shows that God’s mercy is not opposition to His justice, but is in harmony with it through Jesus’ death. Since God’s mercy is so costly, let us value it, let us believe and embrace it.
Sins scattered like feathers cannot be fully gathered, but God's mercy is greater.
A lady presented herself to Neri one day, accusing herself of being a slanderer. “Child,” he said, “your fault is great, but the mercy of God is greater. Go to market, purchase a chicken just killed, but still covered with the feathers; you will then walk to a certain distance, plucking as you go.” This was done as directed, and on her return to Neri, telling how faithfully she had carried out his instructions, he said: “Retrace your steps and gather up one by one all the feathers you have scattered.” “But, father,” exclaimed the poor woman, “I cast them carelessly on every side; the wind carried them in every direction!”
