THE MERCY OF GOD

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ANG HABAG NG DIOS
The Mercy of God

Nandito tayo ngayong araw na ito dahil sa habag ng Dios. Habag or mercy is an attribute of God.

Psalms 5:7 (NIV)7 But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.

Dahil sa habag ng Dios tayo ay templo ng Dios. Di ba tayo ay living stones, mga batong buhay na pinagiisa bilang templo ng Dios.

Dahil din sa habag Niya tayo ay naging kasakop sa pamilya ng ating Dios.

Malaki ang utang natin sa kahabagan ng Dios bagamat madalas hindi natin ito binibigyan ng pansin.

Ngayong araw na ito dapat alamin natin kung ano iyong habag ng Dios. At para malaman natin ito may sasagutin tayong 4 na tanong tungkol sa kahabagan Niya.

1. Ano ba ang habag ng Dios?
2. Ano ba ang kaibahan ng habag at biyaya?
3. Ano ba ang makikita natin tungkol sa habag Niya?
4. Paano ba ipinapahayag ng Dios ang kahabagan Niya?


1. What is mercy? Ano ba ang habag ng Dios?
Ang habag ay higit pa sa pagbigay sa tao ng higit pa sa karapatdapat sa kanya. Ito ay ang pagbigay sa kabila ng matibay na dahilan upang ang pagbibigyan ay di dapat bigyan.
Mercy is more than giving someone something that is much more than he or she deserves, it is giving it to him or her even though one could argue against it being reasonable to give it.

2. Ano ba ang kaibahan ng habag sa biyaya? How is that different from grace?

Ang habag ay nagsasabi na tayo ay karapatdapat parusahan ngunit hindi tayo makakatanggap ng parusa na iyan.
Samantala, ang biyaya ay ang pagkakaloob ng isang bagay na di natin maaring kamtin.

Mercy says you deserve some type of punishment but you will not get what you deserve.
Grace is a gift of something you have not earned. Do you see the difference?
If you came this morning without shoes and I just gave you a pair out of the goodness of my heart you would be a recipient of grace. If you threw that pair into a dumpster, but then realized you needed them and I gave you another pair, then you have received mercy.
Listen to the application in Psalms 41:4 (NIV). 4 I said, "O LORD, have mercy on me; heal me, for I have sinned against you." I have sinned, and I deserve this affliction, but I ask for something that is contrary to what I deserve. That is asking for mercy. Both attributes, grace and mercy, spring from the goodness of God and are unearned by anything we do.


3. What can we see about His mercy? Ano ang makikita natin tungkol sa kanyang kahabagan?

• Binibigay Niya ang kahabagan Niya doon sa mga lumapit at sumunod sa Kanya sa kaligtasan. He gives his mercy on those who have a saving relationship with Him.
(Psa.32:10) "He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass Him about ".

• Binubuhos Niya ang kahabagan Niya doon sa mga sumusunod sa Kanya. Obedience opens a window for God to pour in His mercy. Sa pagkakaroon natin ng relationship sa Panginoon maguumpisa ang pabuhos ng habag Niya ngunit hinihingi din ng Paginoon ang patuloy nating pagsunod sa kanya ng maibuhos Niyang patuloy ang biyaya Niya.

You see mercy is only applied in righteousness. Let me give you an illustration from Israel’s history. Noong sinakop ng Israel ang Lupang Pangako may mga siyudad na kailangan nilang lupigin. Ang mga kayamanan ng mga siyudad na ito ay dapat ialay nila bilang haing sinunog o' kaya'y burnt offering. Kung merong lalabag ito aksyon na ito ay maghahadlaang sa habag ng Dios. To reward rebellion is not right or just or even genuine love. Deut 13:17,18 “None of those condemned things shall be found in your hands, so that the LORD will turn from his fierce anger; he will show you mercy, have compassion on you, and increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your forefathers,18 because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.”

• Hindi ang ating kabutihan ang daan ng Kanyang habag, ngunit ang hahadlang ng habag ay ang ating katiwalian. It is not that our being good deserves mercy or earns it, but that sin, outright rebellion, blocks it. Even though we can never earn mercy, we can close the door to mercy by rebellion.

Dan 9:18 (NIV)18 Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.

• Ang pagsisisi ay siya ring daan ng Kanyang kahabagan. Repentance also opens a way for His mercy to be received. Prov 28:13 (NIV)13 He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
So we see God chooses to have mercy on those who are repentant and those not in rebellion against Him, those not disobedient to His commands. Obedience and repentance open a channel for the mercy of God to flow. They do not earn mercy but allow it to flow righteously. Numerous times through the psalms we see this expression of repentance and a request for mercy to be displayed toward the psalmist or the nation.

Man cannot find repentance and obedience in himself without the mercy and grace of God moving upon his heart. This mercy that moves upon the heart of every man is the light that lights every man that comes into the world.(John 1:9)

When that mercy clearly reveals God calling us to Himself, we become accountable to respond. Before we have really received that calling of God we are undeserving sinners by nature. We need a clear picture of what the fallen human condition is to truly appreciate mercy. God would be perfectly justified in wiping our sin loving lives off the planet for all the pain and havoc our rebellious hearts cause. Lam 3:22 (KJV)22 It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

The mercy of God is sometimes an excuse for an unrepentant life. I’ve heard people say, “What kind of merciful God would send a soul to hell.” That ideology is merely a justification for not yielding to the mercy of God drawing them to repentance. What a sad excuse for remaining in rebellion. God pleads with each one of us not to go on destroying our lives with rebellion, and some would insist on going down that path by twisting the very nature of God. To say God is merciful without being just is to distort His integrity and make God into man’s image, and to insistently continue down our path of self-destruction.

4. Paano ba ipinahayag ng Dios ang Kanyang habag?

Ipinahayag ng Dios ang Kanyang habag sa pamamagitan ng kanyang poot sa masasama. God’s wrath on the wicked is an expression of His mercy. It is an exercise of His justice to turn them from self-destruction. Hell for the unrepentant rebels who will ignore His love of God in giving His own Son for them is just and in keeping with the rebels’ demand to live separated from God. He announces His wrath that others may take heed. For those who reject the love of God and the gift of His Son, the judgement they receive will be equity for their choices. What they have sown they will reap. They have sown the wind and they will reap the whirlwind. Ps 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. Since they reject what the Son has done for them, they will be paid in full for their sin – death (separation from Life). Anything else would be inequitable and God cannot be unfair. It’s just not in His perfect character.

Ang kahirapan, mga pasakit at mga pighati sa buhay ay kasama din sa pagpapahayag ng habag ng Panginoon sa ating buhay. Trials in our lives, illness, trouble, and trials can be an expression of mercy. Alam ni David ito, alam ni Job ito at alam rin ni Pablo ito, na ang buhay man ay may mga pighati, pinahintulutan lang ng Panginoon ito hindi dahil malupit siya, kundi'y sa pamamagitan nito'y lumakas tayo. Jonah was mercifully thrown into the sea, swallowed by a great fish and spit up on the shores of the very place he had been running from. He probably wouldn’t have described it as mercy at the time, but later when Ninevah repented he could see it was. In weakness we are made strong. In difficulty we turn from self and look to the One who is our Strength. This, too, is the mercy of God. Mercy doesn’t always come in the form we expect.

As with all His attributes, the ultimate expression of mercy is the cross. One problem with the Jews of that day is they did not expect mercy to appear in a form so humble and so gruesome. God cannot bless us with saving mercy while the justice for our rebellion against Him is unmet. In the cross, the justice of God was met, so that we could justly be recipients of the mercy of God. It is by the mercy of God we were saved. We deserved justice of eternal punishment for our rebellion against our Creator who gave us life. But the mercy of God sent Jesus, who took what we rightly deserved so that mercy could be poured out on us – justly. “… saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” Titus 3:5a It wasn’t because we repented, or because we responded to his grace that drew us, although that unbolted the door – It is because His Son died in your place.

Kaligayahan ng puso ng Dios na maipahayag ang habag Niya. It delights the heart of God to express mercy toward you. Micah 7:18 (NIV)18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. God would love to show mercy to every soul. It is His delight. But some refuse to come to Him for His redeeming mercy and grace.

Nais din Niya na ipahayag at isabuhay din natin ang habag Niya. God desires that we exhibit this beautiful quality as the life of Christ is expressed in us. Micah 6:8 (NIV)8 He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

We are to love mercy. God doesn’t just like to show mercy. He loves to. More than any ritual we can perform or routine we can go through God wants us to express this attribute of His. Hosea 6:6 (NIV)6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. It was one of the three important things Jesus told the Pharisees they were lacking. Mt 23:23 But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. (The important matters of the Law are the attributes of God that we are to reflect.)
Zech 7:9 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.’ If you want mercy from God and others, Jesus said to be merciful. If you show mercy you will receive mercy. Mt 5:7 Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy.

How does this mercy express itself in our lives?

Una, ipakita natin na tayo ay mga taong naakit kay Kristo at napagbigyan ng habag Niya.

Pangalawa, ihain natin ang ating mga katawan sa Dios bilang haing buhay. Ang paglalagay natin sa ating buhay bilang haing buhay nangangahulugan na tayo ay hindi na nagmamay-ari sa ating buhay. Dahil hind na tayo ang nagmamay-ari nito ang buong buhay natin ay isang gawain ng Dios. (Ro 12:1,2) We no longer own our lives, our lives are by His mercy God's ministries. Through this same mercy we are given a ministry. 2 Cor 4:1 (NIV) 1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.

Pangatlo, maipapahayag natin ang habag ng Dios sa ating buhay sa pamamagitan ng paggamit ng mga saganang opportunidad na maging mahabagin araw-araw.

Choosing to keep loving the offensive is to express mercy. They offend and offend and offend, but God’s love conquers all and it is an expression of His mercy.

To forgive those who wrong you again and again is mercy. And remember the promise, ‘the merciful will be shown mercy.’ The same measuring cup you use toward others, God will use toward you. Let us be known to be merciful beings in the world.

Let us show mercy as one motivated by true love. His mercy is the right kind, mixed with love, yet just and holy, not self motivated, but love motivated. His kind of mercy is always the right kind.

Is there someone in your life you are having difficulty showing God’s mercy to? You think you’ve scraped the bottom of your mercy barrel. Remember the widow of Zerapheth, reach into that empty jar and - WOE it’s not empty – I was just sure I’d used up all the mercy last time, but there is more of the mercy of God there to meet the need. The life of Jesus in you will never run empty. It will be in you like an artesian spring, flowing up into eternal life! Let Him express His mercy through you and you will be shown even more mercy than the ocean of mercy you have already received.

If we were a little more in touch with reality of the Kingdom of God we could see we are all swimming in an ocean of mercy. It reminds me of the man who was forgiven a debt of a great amount but refused to give mercy to the one who owed him so little. Be merciful – even as your Father in heaven is merciful. Considering all the mercy He has invested in you, it is only right for you to pass it on to everyone you come in contact with – and may I say especially those who are close to you.

Right now the Spirit of God has probably brought someone to mind that you need to be merciful toward. Would you like the same measure of mercy applied to you that you are showing them? Well? Come on now? Is that how you want God to deal with you? Then you better get ready to show more mercy by the grace of God. You need to act on the conviction you are receiving right now if you believe the word of God. I don’t mean just forgiving it, but do what the LORD does for you, in the way He does it for you. Use the biggest measure you can find. Determine right now before God how you need to respond to show God’s great mercy, and follow through with that plan with God’s help.
Deut 4:31a (NIV) For the LORD your God is a merciful God;
Psalm 89:1 KJV I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.