Text: 1 Timothy 1:12-16
There are many things for which we can be thankful. In this lesson, we are going to talk about being thankful for God’s mercy.
To Be Thankful, There Must Be…
- A giver – the giver of all good things is God (James 1:17)
- A recipient – one who is to receive the gift
- A gift that is accepted – not rejected, neglected, or discarded
- An appreciation of the gift – recognize its value; the greater the value attributed to it, the more grateful we will be for it
- A demonstration of gratitude – spoken or active; done with sincerity
The Gift of God’s Mercy
- Mercy means “to have compassion, pity on” (Strong’s) – this is related to grace; grace is giving us what we do not deserve; mercy is NOT giving us what we DO deserve
- When punishment is deserved, mercy causes God to withhold/delay it (Deuteronomy 13:12-18)
- This is necessarily tied to salvation (Titus 3:5; 1 Peter 1:3) – Paul’s life was an example of God’s mercy to give hope to all who believe (1 Timothy 1:15-16)
- Without God’s mercy, we would have no hope (Ephesians 2:4-5, 12)
We Must Accept God’s Mercy
- God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4) – we have all sinned (Romans 3:23), but we need to turn from our sin (Romans 6:12-14; 12:1); as we do this, we are to pray to God to be merciful and forgive us (Luke 18:13)
- However, not everyone will accept God’s mercy (Romans 2:5)
- In order to receive God’s mercy, we must show mercy to others (Matthew 5:7) – forgive others when they sin against us (Matthew 6:14-15; Luke 17:3-4); do not hold a grudge against others (James 5:9)
We Must Appreciate God’s Mercy
- First we need to acknowledge our own sin (1 John 1:10; Romans 3:23) – our sin makes us deserving of death (Romans 6:23); we haven’t suffered that yet because God is merciful
- This is about more than just mercy that has been extended to us individually – if God was not a merciful God, we would not have even had a chance to live, let alone be saved
- What would have happened if God was not merciful, or if He stopped being merciful? – Adam and Eve would have been killed immediately after sinning in the Garden (Genesis 2:17; 3:19); all mankind would have been destroyed in the flood (Genesis 6:5-9); the nation of Israel would have been destroyed (Ezekiel 6:1-8) and with it the promise of Christ (Genesis 22:18); Jesus would not have gone to the cross (Matthew 26:51-54) as an angelic army would have protected Him; the world would have been destroyed long ago (2 Peter 3:9), yet God is patient
We Must Demonstrate Gratitude
- Thank God for the mercy that He has shown to us and to all mankind (1 Timothy 1:12-13)
- Give up sin and obey the Lord (Romans 2:4-8)
- Show mercy to others (Luke 6:36; cf. Matthew 18:23-35) – obedience without mercy is not pleasing to God (Matthew 23:23)
Conclusion
- We are worthy of punishment for our sins, yet God is merciful
- He has delayed punishment so that we have time to repent
- Let us take advantage of His kindness and patience and be obedient to Him now so we can be saved