Our God is indeed a merciful God (PS. 136), showing compassion and goodness to the righteous and wicked alike. The fact that we woke up this morning, that we have a roof over our heads and food and drink is a testament to God’s daily mercy. More importantly, we have His grace and truth, that is profoundly a testament of His mercy. When we pray, we come before the mercy seat of God, asking for His forgiveness with daily petitions for ourselves and for our loved ones and even our enemies. We cannot live without mercy, therefore, let us further understand what it is.

1. PUT ON BOWELS OF MERCY
FORGIVE, FORGET & HEAL

2. INTRODUCTION
Our God is indeed a merciful God (PS. 136),
showing compassion and goodness to the
righteous and wicked alike.
The fact that we woke up this morning, that
we have a roof over our heads and food and
drink is a testament to God’s daily mercy.
More importantly, we have His grace and
truth, that is profoundly a testament of His
mercy.
When we pray, we come before the mercy
seat of God, asking for His forgiveness with
daily petitions for ourselves and for our loved
ones and even our enemies.
We cannot live without mercy, therefore, let us
further understand what it is.

3. MERCY IS….
A part of the law and it is a promise. “Blessed are the
merciful: for they shall obtain mercy,” (Matthew 5: 7).
We must show forth mercy in order to receive it from
God.
Showing benevolence, pity, kindness, compassion
and forbearance towards someone.
Compassionate treatment of those in distress.
At its core, forgiveness.
Manifested through the gift of grace.
Is misinterpreted as a sign of weakness but is actually
sign of strength.
Not just feelings and emotions , but must be
expressed in tangible ways, through your actions and
deeds.

4. A PARABLE ON MERCY &
FORGIVENESS
As the law so plainly states, we have to
show mercy in order to receive it. I can’t
emphasis this enough. Now lets consider
this parable in Matthew 18: 23-35
“Therefore is the kingdom of heaven
likened unto a certain king, which would
take account of his servants. And when
he had begun to reckon, one was
brought unto him, which owed him ten
thousand talents. But forasmuch as he
had not to pay, his lord commanded him
to be sold, and his wife, and children,
and all that he had, and payment to be
made. The servant therefore fell down,
and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have
patience with me, and I will pay thee all.”

5. A PARABLE ON MERCY &
FORGIVENESS
“Then the lord of that servant was
moved with compassion, and loosed
him, and forgave him the debt. But the
same servant went out, and found one
of his fellowservants, which owed him an
hundred pence: and he laid hands on
him, and took him by the throat, saying,
Pay me that thou owes. And his
fellowservant fell down at his feet, and
besought him, saying, Have patience
with me, and I will pay thee all. And he
would not: but went and cast him into
prison, till he should pay the debt.”

6. A PARABLE ON MERCY &
FORGIVENESS
“So when his fellowservants saw what
was done, they were very sorry, and
came and told unto their lord all that was
done. Then his lord, after that he had
called him, said unto him, O thou wicked
servant, I forgave thee all that debt,
because thou desiredst me: Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on
thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on
thee? And his lord was wroth, and
delivered him to the tormentors, till he
should pay all that was due unto him.
So likewise shall my heavenly Father do
also unto you, if ye from your hearts
forgive not every one his brother their
trespasses.”

7. BREAKING IT DOWN
Now lets breakdown the meaning of this
parable.
The King - represents God
Servants - represent us
Account- to consider, judge, deem and place
value on someone’s actions or works
Reckon- to compute, count or settle a debt
Talents- your works of righteousness
Debt means sin
Remember in the Lord’s prayer, “Forgive us
our debts”

8. BREAKING IT DOWN
When the king took account of his servants
and began to reckon, that represents God
judging the works that we have performed
on this earth, whether they be righteous or
wicked.
The servant failed to pay 10,000 talents to
the king. Spiritually, this is an individual who
fails to obey God and is lacking in works of
righteousness.
For punishment, the king commanded for
the servant and all that he owed to be sold.
However, the servant was distraught, falling
down and worshipping the king. He begged
for mercy and stated that he would pay him
all. Subsequently, the King forgave him his
debt. So lets further discuss the meaning of
debt.

9. SIN IS A DEBT
We learn that sin is a debt. We all are in
debt to God. The more we sin, the more
the debt accrues and the more we have to
answer for at the time of judgement.
When Christ was sent to die for us, our sins
were placed upon His head, He, himself,
being guiltless, (I Peter 2: 21-24).
His death and resurrection, led to grace,
(Romans 5: 14-15 & 21).
Grace is a not a free ride as the churches of
this world would like you to think.
True grace, is an opportunity and a period of
time allotted to us to repent for our sins and
obey His laws. A grace period.

10. SIN IS A DEBT
When we sincerely repent, the Lord will forgive us
and send us His Spirit to teach us how to obey His
laws, (St. John 14: 26)
But even after the Lord has forgiven you, even after
you repent and obey, you still can’t pay God back.
After all, He does everything for us. So even with
obedience, the debt is still there. How can that be?
Because all of our sins are on our record books,
(Revelations 20: 12).
The only way for the sins to go away is for Christ’s
blood to blot them out of our record books,
(Psalms 51, Isaiah 43: 25 & Hebrews 10: 16 -17)
This is during the Atonement. Only then will our
debt, or sin, be erased. This is the ultimate act of
mercy.

11. MERCY EVEN
PUNISHMENT
But until that time, we are at risk of sin and therefore at
risk of punishment from God.
The Lord will render judgement in measure against
humankind, righteous and wicked alike.
For his saints, He often warns us, giving us chance
after chance and will chastise us to steer us in the right
path (Revelations 3; 19).
When we fall into the judgment of God, no one can
save you, (Hebrews 10: 30-31). All we can do is pray.
We have to fall on our knees, humble ourselves and
ask for mercy and forgiveness.
Often times, the Lord will show mercy to us even after
we sin and have been chastised. He will give us some
reprieve so that we may gain strength to overcome.
What do I mean by this?

12. CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
Take the children of Israel for example. God
described them as a stiff-necked and
disobedient people.
Despite countless warnings and chances, Israel
continued to sin against the Lord, desiring to be
like the nations of this world.
As such, the Lord punished them greatly. They
served under many captivities, were kicked out
of their land and many were slaughtered. They
lost their identify, wealth, language and beauty.
In Deuteronomy 28, it reveals a small remnant
was brought into ships as slaves to a land
unknown to them.

13. SLAVERY ABOLISHED
We know that slavery was extremely cruel and
harsh, especially in the US. However, there
were children of God amongst the slaves and
the Lord heard their cries and remained with
them even still.
Ultimately, slavery was abolished in 1865. This
was God’s mercy. But where there is
goodness, Satan always follows.

14. JIM CROW LAWS
Shortly after slavery was abolished, Jim Crow laws
emerged, to mandate racial segregation and to
marginalize blacks.
Not to mention the ongoing lynchings and killings, yet
God never forgot the remnant of Israel.
He brought up leaders and activists during the Civil
Rights Movement.
God moved people in society, people in positions of
authority, to change laws in our favor and so the Civil
Rights Act was enacted in 1965.
This is also God’s mercy. For though we are still subject
to the curses that were brought upon us as a nation, the
Lord lifted us up so that we could have room to grow and
to become seasoned in His word.

15. THE UNFORGIVING
SERVANT
Now let us move on with the parable.
The servant’s debt was forgiven.
However, when he saw his fellow-
servant that owed him some money, he
was cruel and harsh, demanding
payment.
His brother (fellow-servant) begged for
forgiveness and mercy, yet the servant
refused. Instead, he had him thrown in
jail until the debt was paid in its entirety.

16. BREAKING IT DOWN
In this case, the debt represents offenses made by
others, whether a family member, friend, church
member, co worker or stranger.
When the servant had his brother thrown in jail this
can be liken to a person unable to forgive or show
mercy to someone who caused offense or pain.
Offenses can be small or great. They can be
seldom or happen often. The person who hurts
you may apologize or they may not.
Regardless, we have to show everyone mercy and
forgiveness as our Savior would have us to do.

17. IT’S NOT EASY
It is not always easy to do this. It sometimes goes
against our flesh to forgive. Why? We all have different
personalities.
Some individuals can move past conflicts quickly,
whereas others tend to hold onto the hurt, letting it
fester.
Satan will replay the offense over and over in your mind,
and then anger grows. He will mock you for NOT
getting the last word or the upper hand.
“I should have said this” or “The next time, I’m
going to tell them this.”
Anger leads to malice and malice leads to hate. We
know to show ill will (malice) or to hate anyone is a sin
against God. It is breaking the 6th commandment,
(Matthew 5: 21-22 & I John 4: 20)
That is why the Lord says, let not the sun go down on
your wrath, (Ephesians 4: 26)

18. GRUDGES BE GONE!
When you are unable to forgive you are
holding a grudge(s) towards someone.
We hear that word often so lets define it.
A grudge means persistent ill will or
resentment towards someone due to past
injury or offense.
GRUDGES ARE NOT JUST MERE
THOUGHTS OR FEELINGS. It will affect
how you treat people.

19. GRUDGES BE GONE!
But did you know the primary person you
are hurting is YOU!
YOU carry the hurt and pain. YOU carry
the anger. Like a cancer, it will continue to
grow and spread, consuming you. It is like
heavy baggage, weighing you down and
preventing you from walking towards
Christ. It will stunt your spiritual growth.
We have to let go. We have to forgive, to
show mercy and to love one another, for
the sake of our OWN spiritual well being.

20. IT IS POSSIBLE
How can we do this? Through fervent prayer
and the Holy Spirit.
Have a earnest conservation with the Lord
and ask Him to help you in the matter. And
rest assure, He will help you if you are
sincere.
Auntie Marjorie said in her testimony, one day,
that she will do good things for people that
have hurt her, because it strengthens her.
That amazed me and her words stuck with
me. So try it.
What you do varies, depending on the nature
of the relationship.

21. IT IS POSSIBLE
Start simple. Just be courteous. Be nice. Say hello
and smile. Ask them how their day was. Use
kindness and the testimonies as a weapon to fight
against Satan.
Keep in mind, this individual may not reciprocate the
kindness. That’s ok. That is where longsuffeing and
patience comes in!
We cannot control the actions of others but we can
control our own actions.
Most importantly, pray for them everyday and pray for
yourself.
It is possible that your good example can ultimately
influence them in a positive way. And we know that
God has the power to change people’s hearts and
can move someone to show you favor.

22. IN CONCLUSION
In conclusion, we can do all things through
Christ, who strengthens us. We can turn the
other cheek, we can forgive, we can show
mercy and we can love our brothers, our
sisters and our enemies.
God has not left us empty handed. We have
the tools, resources and support from the word
of God, from our church family and from our
heavenly family above.
I encourage all of you to put on bowels of
mercy and to follow in the footsteps of our
Lord, Jesus Christ. By doing so, you will excel
in the faith and nothing will hold you back.
May God be with you all. Amen.

23. CLOSING SCRIPTURES
Psalms 86: 5
“For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all
them that call upon thee.”
Colossians 3: 13-14
“Put on therefore, as the elect of God,
holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness,
longsuffering; Forbearing one another,
and forgiving one another, if any man
have a quarrel against any: even as Christ
forgave you, so also do ye.”