Mercy & MEET Truth “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.” (Psalm 85:10) Our text indicates a balance that is needed in properly understanding how we are redeemed by God Sinners need God’s mercy, or we will forever be lost in our sins.  God’s mercy is offered to us all through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ: (Ephesians 2:4-5), “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)” Salvation is the gift of God’s grace that is obtained through man’s faith (Ephesians 2:8), “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Saving faith entails obeying God’s truth by confessing faith in Christ, by repenting of sins and by being baptized into Christ (Rom. 10:17; Mk. 16:16; Acts 2:38). Thus, the salvation of the lost couples God’s merciful grace with man’s faithful obedience to truth. The sinner is saved because mercy and truth meet. (Proverbs 16:6), “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.” So, both God’s mercy and God’s truth are to be exalted and praised for the salvation of sinners (Psalm 108:3-4), “I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to You among the nations. 4 For Your mercy is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the clouds.” Yet, many have a skewed view of redemption, exalting one to the neglect of the other. Whatever the extreme, if either mercy or truth is not given place, the result is a distortion that has a prominent place in religious error today. Consider the following truths about Mercy and Truth

Mercy & Truth Meet Mercy without Truth is arbitrary (Exodus 34:6-7; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; James 2:12-13 ) Mercy without truth is arbitrary.  Mercy that is not dispensed in harmony with divine truth is subjective and meaningless. God distributes His mercy impartially and in harmony with His truth (Exodus 34:6-7), “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.” First half of Verse 7 indicates His mercy on those who are seeking Him (even if they do so imperfectly). Last half of verse 7 indicates that obedience to truth necessary to receive such forgiveness (1 Timothy 2:3-4), “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” God, in His MERCY, has made provision for salvation Salvation comes as individuals come to a knowledge of TRUTH We must do the same! We must distribute mercy to others as we seek mercy with God. (Judge with the same standard of judgment we wish to be judged with! (the law of liberty) (James 2:12-13), “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Mercy & Truth Meet Mercy without Truth is arbitrary (Exodus 34:6-7; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; James 2:12-13 ) Truth without Mercy is arrogant (Matthew 23:1-4; 1 Corinthians 8:1) Truth without mercy is arrogant.  The Pharisees forgot mercy when they taught the people from Moses’ seat (Matthew 23:1-4), “Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” Consequently, they bound the heavy burden of tradition upon people, demanding compliance to their traditions as if they were the will of God Truth joined with mercy prevents self-righteousness and upholds divine truth, not human traditions: (1 Corinthians 8:1), “Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” One cannot expect to obtain divine mercy when he refuses to have the faith to obey divine truth.  Mercy is not received despite what God’s word says, mercy is received in harmony with what God’s word says.

Mercy & Truth Meet Mercy without Truth is arbitrary (Exodus 34:6-7; 1 Timothy 2:3-4; James 2:12-13 ) Truth without Mercy is arrogant (Matthew 23:1-4; 1 Corinthians 8:1) God’s Mercy and Truth meet to preserve the Faithful (Psalm 40:11; Hebrews 5:8-9) God’s mercy and truth meet to preserve the faithful: (Psalm 40:11), “Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O Lord; let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.” To be saved by God’s grace the sinner must put his faith into action and obey the truth of the gospel (Hebrews 5:8-9), “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.” When faith obeys truth, mercy and truth meet, saving the sinner in the Son

Conclusion We are thankful for God’s Mercy. He loves us, and desires us to be saved! We are thankful for God’s truth. It directs us in the paths of righteousness, so that we may please Him, and obtain that salvation. We are thankful for God’s Mercy. He loves us, and desires us to be saved! We are thankful for God’s truth. It directs us in the paths of righteousness, so that we may please Him, and obtain that salvation.