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Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church podcast,

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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In this podcast series, we're
going to be looking into biblical

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words that have great
significance to our faith.

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The name of this series is
called the Word of the Week, where

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once a week we will dive
deeper into these words that we are

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familiar with in scripture.

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So come along with me.

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Let's study the Word of the week.

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Pastor Josh here with another
word of the week.

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The word of the Week this week
is mercy.

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You hear a lot about the word
mercy in scripture, and many times

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the word mercy is equated with
another word called grace.

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And though mercy and grace are
related, there is a distinction between

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mercy and grace.

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And I'd like to go over just
the definition of mercy, biblical

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mercy, and, and look at some
examples from scripture describing

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that type of mercy that God
extends to us in his love for us.

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So, so yes, mercy and grace
are, are closely related and they,

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they have similar meanings.

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Like I said, though they're
not exactly the same.

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If you look at the idea of
mercy, biblical mercy is, is having

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to do with extending kindness
and compassion to somebody.

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And in many ways, some people
describe it as God withholding punishment

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from us in the sins that we deserve.

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So grace is likened to a gift
of grace or favor that God extends

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to us.

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And so you could see it as
mercy being an element of God's grace.

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But I would say that one of
the ways that we could picture it

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or identify mercy is, is
equating it with God's removing us

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from the judgment that we deserve.

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And so you could liken it to
God's deliverance.

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So, so grace is extending a
blessing to someone who doesn't deserve

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it.

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Mercy is withholding something
that we actually do deserve.

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And so the Bible speaks of
God's love to us.

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And, and so in that love, he
extends mercy.

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We know that the Bible teaches
that all have sinned and come short

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the glory of God.

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We all deserve the payment for sin.

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And the Bible says the wages
of sin is death, but the gift of

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God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.

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So mercy is God withholding
His righteous judgment upon us because

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of his love for us and because
of our faith.

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And so it's, it's one of God's
defining attributes, along with holiness

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and, and many of the other
ones that we'd like to discuss.

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But the Bible speaks over and
over again about God being full of

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mercy.

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I like one of the references
to his mercy in, in Ephesians, chapter

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2, verse 4.

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You might be familiar with the
Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 8, 9.

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For by grace are you saved.

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But, but with that grace is
also his mercy.

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In Ephesians chapter four.

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Excuse me, Ephesians chapter
two, verse four.

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It leading up to verse four,
it's talking about the, the sin of

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the individual, the, the guilt
that we have and, and who we were

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before we came to Christ.

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And then we see two words
there at the beginning of verse four,

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and that is this.

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But God.

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So who we are in our sin is,
is broken.

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Is, is, is, is, is leading a
path of destruction, ultimately the

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destruction of, of sin and death.

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But then the Bible says God
comes on the scene.

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It says, but God who is rich
in mercy.

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I love how that's phrased,
that God is rich in mercy for his

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great love wherewith he loved us.

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And, and so the Bible tells us
there that God is characterized by

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his rich mercy.

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Second Samuel, chapter 24,
verse 14 speaks of, of.

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Of God's great love for us.

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And it says that his mercies
are great.

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And so mercy is, is given to
us in the actions of God or the,

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or the lack of judgment from
God in the moment of our faith.

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And so it demonstrates his
faithfulness to us, it demonstrates

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his love towards us.

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And so it is a very difficult
thing for us to understand because

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God's mercy is so complex.

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And the idea of what this
looks like, it's more than withholding

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something from us.

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There's compassion there,
there's love there, there's, there's

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favor, there's faithfulness.

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And so there's a lot of
different examples of God extending

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mercy to us.

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So the greatest act of mercy
is the mercy that extends to us in

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salvation.

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And that's seen there in
Ephesians chapter two.

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Obviously we're called to have
that type of mercy.

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So, so understanding God's
mercy allows us to have mercy in

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our lives.

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And so mercy in our lives is,
is treating people with compassion,

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specifically those that are
going through difficulties.

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Mercy is, is a, a character
trait that we can try to live out

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in our life in, in regards to
helping those that are in need.

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And so it's understanding the
forgiveness that we find in God and

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understanding his mercy that
he gives us in salvation and be able

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and being able to demonstrate
that type of mercy to those around

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us.

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And so we're reminded over and
over again about God's mercy.

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Ephesians, chapter 2, Matthew
chapter 9.

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All throughout the Gospels we
see Jesus's actions in mercy.

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And so I, I like to think
about it this way, it's, it's God's

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mercy that motivates us to sacrifice.

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It was, it was God's mercy
that motivated Jesus to, to give

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his sacrifice for us.

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So therefore, you know, how
can we put others before ourselves?

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It's understanding the mercies
of God.

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Mercy motivates and, and I
think that that's something to think

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about when it comes to our own
lives is, you know, I think always

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it's about us.

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It's about getting what we
want, getting what we think we need.

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But the Bible says that when
we have mercy for others, that motivates

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us to put others before
ourselves, which we know the Bible

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tells us to do.

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Another passage of Scripture
in the New Testament that points

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to the, the mercy of, of
Christ is one of my favorite passages

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of Scripture.

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Titus, chapter three.

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And if you look at verses four
through seven, it says, but after

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that the kindness of, the
kindness and love of God our Savior

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towards man appeared not by
works of righteousness, which we

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have done, but according to
his mercy, God's mercy, he saved

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us by the washing of
regeneration and renewing of the

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Holy Ghost, which is shed,
which he shed upon us abundantly

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through Jesus Christ our
Savior, that being justified by his

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grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal

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life.

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And so the Bible tells us very
clearly there that it is only by

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the mercies of God that we
have what we have in our salvation.

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And so, as we understand that
beautiful mercy that's extended to

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us in salvation, we then are
called to have mercy to others.

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One of another.

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One of my favorite passages of
Scripture is found in Micah, chapter

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six, verse eight.

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And it says, he has showed
thee, O man, what is good and what

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doth the Lord require of thee?

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So, so what does God expect
from those who believe in Him?

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Well, to do justly and to love
mercy and to walk humbly with our

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God.

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So, so the idea for us as
believers would be to walk in that

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mercy, to love that mercy, to.

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To rest in the mercy of God as
he's been merciful to us.

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And even in the Bible, I think
it's, it's Luke, chapter six.

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Yes.

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It says, be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is

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merciful.

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So right then and there,
that's as clear as day.

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As God is merciful to us, so
we are to be merciful to others.

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So, so we are to show
compassion to others.

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So we're to withhold our anger
to others and extend grace and love

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and compassion.

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And so believers are supposed
to mirror that type of mercy in our

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lives.

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And so if you have a
difficulty resting or understanding

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the mercies of God, I think
one of the passages of Scripture

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that frames it for me so well
is not only, not only do I understand

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the mercies of my past, what
God has done for me, but what he

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continues to do for me.

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And, and I find that In
Lamentations, chapter 3, verse 22

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and 23, it says it is of the
Lord's mercies that we are not consumed

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because his compassions fail not.

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And so we see there that it.

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The Bible is clearly teaching
us that the only reason we have anything

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in our life, the only reason
we have life itself, is because of

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the mercies of God.

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It's only because of his mercy
that we're not completely consumed.

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Why?

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Because his compassions fail not.

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So we see that mercy is linked
to compassion.

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A mercy motivates.

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And then it says this.

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And, and this is what I wanted
us to really think about here in

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this study.

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It says here in verse 23, they
are new every morning.

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So, so we never get.

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We never, we should never get
to a place in our life where we feel

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like God is not extending
mercy to us.

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Why?

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Cause it says they're new
every morning.

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Great is thy faithfulness.

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And so God's mercy is tied to
his compassion.

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And it says there in verse 23
that it's tied to his faithfulness.

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His mercies are new every morning.

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So when we wake up in the
morning, that's mercy.

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When, when we are able to
demonstrate the love of Christ, of

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friends around us and loved
ones around us, that's his mercy.

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The beautiful sunrise, the
beautiful sunset, the.

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The good day that we had, the
challenges that we might face, these

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are all linked to God's mercy.

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And so that mercy motivates us
to extend that compassion and faithfulness.

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So as God is compassionate to
us and faithful to us, we are compassionate

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to others and faithful to
others and ultimately faithful to

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Him.

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And so that's the idea of
mercy on a very judicial level.

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It is God withholding judgment.

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But there's a deeper meaning,
and that is God extending compassion

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to us, patience with us, to,
to the point where it's demonstrated.

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Mercy is something, though
it's withholding.

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It's not inaction.

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It's a demonstration of compassion.

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It's a demonstration of love,
and it's a faithful demonstration

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thereof of that type of love.

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And so tender mercies is
another way that love is described

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in scripture.

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And I like that phrase there,
tender mercies.

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It's having a soft heart to
those in need.

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And even the Bible speaks of
having that gift of mercy to those

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that are struggling.

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And so, you know, I think all
of us to some degree struggle in

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those areas of mercy.

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Now, some are naturally
supernaturally gifted in those ways.

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But I think all of us can grow
in that area of understanding the

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mercy that God extends to us
and then reciprocating that mercy

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to others around us.

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So I like to think about those.

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There's so much more that we
could talk about with the, the term

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mercy.

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But if you could go back and
you could look at it from a very

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basic definition.

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God withholding this judgment
that we deserve because of his compassion,

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because of his love, because
of his, his grace, and because of

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his faithfulness.

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He's.

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He's compassionately faithful
to us.

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And so we are called to have
that same purpose in our life.

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But God, who is rich in mercy.

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I love that phrase.

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You, you, me, all those that
came to Christ, before we came to

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Christ, we were broken.

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We were on the path of destruction.

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We were dead in our sins.

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And the Bible says, but God,
it is God who changes the heart.

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It is God who revives the soul.

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It is God who redeems us.

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And so it is God who is rich
in mercy, who extends that gift of

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salvation to us, who changes us.

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His mercy is great.

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His mercy is new every morning.

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And I hope that we can all
rest in that mercy today.

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So as God has extended you
mercy, so we are to extend mercy

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and grace to others around us.

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So another word of the week, mercy.

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Remember that God is great in
mercy, that he is merciful, he is

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rich in mercy, and that he is
faithful and giving us new mercies

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every day.

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So think about those mercies today.

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Give him thanks for those
mercies today and try to demonstrate

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those mercies to those around you.

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Well, God bless you.

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We'll come back again next
week with another Word of the week.

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I hope that this study has
been a blessing for you.

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And I look forward to
continuing these studies in scripture

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here in the future.

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And I hope that you can share
this with a loved one.

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Share this with someone that
you might think will.

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It would be a blessing for and
I look forward to coming back to

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you here very soon.

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I hope you have a wonderful week.

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God bless you.

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We will talk to you soon.

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Hey, I really appreciate that
you listen to the Word of the Week

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podcast.

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If you have any questions
about the podcast or about our church,

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Middletown Baptist Church, you
can find more information about us

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on Facebook or YouTube or you
can find the podcast on NBCPodcast.org

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you can contact me directly at
Josh Massaro at middletownbaptistchurch.org

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stay tuned for future Word of
the Week episodes where we dive deeper

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into words that impact our
life according to scripture.

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Thank you so much.

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God bless.

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We'll talk to you soon.