The Cruelty of False Mercy

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Short Summary
The discourse explores the concept of “cruelty of false mercy,” emphasizing that mercy without truth can be indulgent and harmful, while truth without mercy becomes cruel. True godly mercy combines both, aiming at restoration and transformation rather than mere comfort or condemnation. Using biblical examples, it highlights the importance of loving correction, personal accountability, and the balance of mercy and truth in relationships, self-discipline, and God’s ultimate plan for humanity’s restoration.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse: “The Cruelty of False Mercy”

Central Scripture:
– Proverbs 12:10 (KJV): “A righteous man regardeth the life of the beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”
– NIV clarifies: “The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.”
– The verse contrasts true mercy with false or cruel mercy.

Understanding “Cruel Mercy”:
– Defined as mercy that comforts but does not cure; it conceals faults but does not cleanse.
– False mercy often arises from a desire to avoid difficult conversations or corrections.
– It appears tender to the flesh but is actually cruel to the soul because it protects people from necessary growth or repentance.
– This mercy is often applied in relationships where power dynamics exist, prematurely bypassing needed correction.
– It is linked to a desire for belonging, love, and acceptance, which can distort the application of scriptural principles.

Balance Between Mercy and Truth:
– The opposite danger is truth without mercy, which becomes cruelty, e.g., correction without love wounds rather than heals.
– Proverbs 3:3-5 instructs: “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck… so shalt thou find favor and good understanding…”
– True mercy requires the union of mercy and truth.
– Summary:
– Mercy without truth = indulgence
– Truth without mercy = cruelty
– Truth with mercy = restoration (the mercy of God)

God’s Mercy Illustrated in Scripture:
– Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:11-13):
– Pharisee boasts of his righteousness, needing no mercy.
– Publican humbly pleads for mercy and is justified.
– God’s mercy begins with honest self-assessment and acknowledgment of sin.
– Mercy leads to regeneration and renewal, not mere excusing of sin:
– 1 Peter 1:3: God’s mercy “hath begotten us again unto a lively hope…”
– Titus 3:5: Salvation “not by works…but according to his mercy…washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
– God’s mercy is transformative, cleansing, and restorative, not permissive of sin.

False Mercy in Families and Ecclesia:
– Example of Eli and his sons (1 Samuel 2:24, 29): Eli rebuked his sons but failed to restrain them, applying “cruel mercy” by preserving comfort over character.
– God judged Eli severely because he honored his sons above God’s law.
– Parental and spiritual mercy must balance love with courageous correction and boundaries.
– Silence or inaction in the face of sin or harmful behavior is not true mercy but fear or false mercy.
– True mercy risks temporary discomfort for lasting good.

Personal Application – False Mercy to Self:
– Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:3-4): The devil tempted Jesus to satisfy physical hunger by disobedience, appealing to “be merciful to yourself.”
– Jesus rejected this, affirming life is sustained by God’s word, not mere comfort.
– We often excuse our sins or weaknesses with false mercy toward ourselves (resentment, impatience, neglect of prayer, etc.).
– Healthy rest (Mark 6:31) is distinct from spiritual retreat that compromises God’s will.

The Role of Faithful Correction:
– Proverbs 27:6: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”
– Faithful wounds heal; kisses (false mercy) deceive and destroy.
– Correction must be given in love, without anger, jealousy, or pride.
– Galatians 6:1: Restore the erring “in the spirit of meekness,” with self-examination to avoid temptation.

Example of Jesus and Peter:
– Peter’s denial and Jesus’ restoration (John 21):
– Jesus did not ignore Peter’s failure nor humiliate him publicly.
– Jesus asked three times, “Do you love me?” and commissioned Peter to “Feed my sheep.”
– This demonstrates mercy that confronts truth, forgives, restores, and entrusts responsibility.
– Similarly, Jesus and the woman taken in adultery (John 8:11):
– “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”
– Mercy paired with truth and call to repentance.

God’s Discipline as Mercy:
– Hebrews 12:6,11: Discipline is an expression of God’s love; though painful, it yields “the peaceable fruit of righteousness.”
– God values eternal welfare over immediate comfort.
– Painful experiences can expose pride, teach dependence, and produce righteousness.

Being Examples of Believers:
– First Timothy 4:12: Be an example “in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
– True examples join mercy and truth in speech and conduct and live out repentance and restoration authentically.

God’s Mercy in the Greater Plan:
– The gospel harvest message reveals truths that expose errors about God’s character (e.g., condition of the dead, purpose of Christ’s return).
– These truths divide but prepare people for restoration.
– God’s judgment is corrective, educational, and restorative (Isaiah 26:9).
– The resurrection and kingdom rule will offer all humanity opportunity to learn righteousness and be restored.
– God’s mercy combined with righteousness will remove sin rather than conceal it.

Final Exhortations:
– Guard against confusing love with indulgence, silence with peace, or comfort with healing.
– Reject harshness and impatience disguised as correction.
– Live by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
– When we fail, remember God’s mercy as shown in Peter’s restoration: forgiveness, cleansing, discipline, and renewed service.
– God’s mercy ultimately heals, restores, teaches, and liberates all creation.

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Key Bible Verses Cited:

– Proverbs 12:10
– Proverbs 3:3-5
– Luke 18:11-13 (Pharisee and Publican)
– 1 Peter 1:3
– Titus 3:5
– 1 Samuel 2:24,29 (Eli and sons)
– Matthew 4:3-4 (Jesus’ temptation)
– Mark 6:31 (Jesus invites rest)
– Proverbs 27:6
– Galatians 6:1
– John 21 (Jesus and Peter’s restoration)
– John 8:11 (woman taken in adultery)
– Hebrews 12:6,11
– 1 Timothy 4:12
– Isaiah 26:9

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Summary:
The discourse warns against “cruel mercy,” a false mercy that comforts without correcting and thus harms the soul. True mercy joins love with truth, aiming for restoration rather than mere indulgence or harsh condemnation. God’s mercy is transformative, cleansing, and disciplinary, seeking the ultimate good of the individual and humanity. The examples of biblical figures such as Eli, Peter, and the woman taken in adultery illustrate the balance of mercy and truth. Believers are called to be examples by living out this true mercy in word and deed, reflecting God’s restorative love in their families, communities, and the world.

Transcript

The title of my service is the Cruelty of False Mercy, and our thoughts will be really centered around this single verse, and this is what it says in Proverbs, chapter 12, verse 10. It says this from the King James Version. A righteous man regardeth the life of the beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

Now what does that mean? The NIV gives us a little more insight. It says the righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.

How could mercy or the kindest acts be cruel?

I believe cruel mercy is the dark application of mercy. Cruel mercy comforts but does not cure. It conceals, but it does not cleanse, and this is the real temptation for us to apply mercy when it is not actually wise. Now, we do this in our personal interactions to avoid difficult conversations or necessary corrections.

And we see this problem pop up in families, in friendships, in business, even in ecclesiast. This cruel mercy, this mercy that comforts but does not cure, is often applied when someone has power over another person and either of those two people decides to apply cruel mercy as a means to get past the problem, and when they do that, they get past the problem prematurely instead of taking more important corrective measures. Now, sometimes our desire for belonging affects how we apply scriptural principles. You know, you want to be a part of a group.

We want to be loved. We want to feel belonging. But not everything that feels mercy is godly mercy. Not everything that causes pain, on the other hand, is cruelty.

False mercy may appear tender to the flesh, but it can be cruel to the soul.

Now, on the other hand, we must guard against the opposite danger. Think of this. Truth without mercy can become cruel. Correction without love can wound without healing, and discipline without meekness can crush rather than restore.

A person may speak what is technically true, yet speak it with such pride or severity that that truth becomes a weapon, and I think this is the lesson behind Proverbs 12:10.

It’s these two things. Number one. Mercy without truth becomes indulgence. Truth without mercy becomes cruelty.

But truth administered through love becomes restoration, and that is the mercy of God, and that is the mercy that we must learn to practice. Now we love Proverbs, chapter three, three through five. It says, let not mercy and truth forsake the bind them about thy neck, write them on the tables of thine heart, and so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

So you see, from this Scripture we learn that mercy and truth are both required to practice true mercy. The Mercy of God. So what is this mercy of God? And how do we receive it?

Well, our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the answer in the parable of the Pharisee and the publican. The Pharisee stood in the temple and prayed. We read about this in Luke 18:11. This is what the Pharisee said. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as this publican over here.

Now, this Pharisee, his prayer was a catalog of his own supposed virtues, wasn’t it?

He did not plead for mercy because he did not believe that he needed mercy. But the publican stood afar off and he would not even lift his eyes toward heaven, and he cried in verse 13, God, be merciful to me, a sinner, and Jesus said this about that other man.

That man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

Now, this publican received mercy because truth had broken through his pride. He saw himself honestly, acknowledged his need, and cast himself upon the compassion of God.

Now I think the publican shows us the gateway to the Christian life. We do not approach God offering our own righteousness as though it could purchase his favor. We come to God acknowledging our fallen condition and trusting in the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

But notice what God’s mercy does next.

God’s mercy does not merely excuse and leave us where it found us, and the apostle Peter teaches us this. He says this in First Peter, chapter one, verse three, Foreign.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Did you hear that? According to his abundant mercy, he hath begotten us again. Now, mercy creates something new, doesn’t it, Brother Tim?

A new hope, a new direction, a new relationship, a new life, and the apostle Paul expresses the same thought in Titus, chapter three, verse five, and he says this not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy. He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.

Notice the language. Washing, regeneration, renewing. The mercy of God is a cleansing force. It’s not permission to remain unchanged, and this is the distinction from the cruel mercies of the wicked, which gives us permission to remain unchanged.

Now, I can tell you from my own cleansing, deep cleansing experiences, Sister Marilyn and I have had our fair share.

I can tell you that God does not look upon our pride, our selfishness, our bitterness, impurity, or unbelief, and say, hey, Todd, these things don’t matter.

They matter so much to God that he gave his only begotten Son to release the race from condemnation.

And the Holy Spirit has been given to me and to you to transform us into the footstep followers of Christ.

God does not make peace with sin, and God’s mercy makes the war against everything that is destroying his children.

The purpose of divine mercy is restoration to righteousness.

Therefore, in our own personal experience, any mercy that protects us from truth, that shields our faults from correction or encourages us to remain comfortable in disobedience, it’s not patterned after the mercy of God. It’s counterfeit.

Now Scripture gives us a solemn example of this. In Eli, the high priest of Israel. His two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, occupied sacred positions, but they corrupted the priesthood and injured the people of God.

Now, Eli actually knew what they were doing, and he rebuked him, and he said this in 1st Samuel 2:24 Nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear you make the Lord’s people to transgress. Now, Eli’s words were not wrong, were they? But they were tragically inadequate. He expressed disapproval, yet he did not restrain his sons.

And tragically, we repeat this sin too often in our own families.

Now, God’s judgment of Eli was severe. We read in 1st Samuel 2:29, God says, Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, and honor us thy sons above me. So Eli’s failure was not that he loved his sons. The father should love his sons. His failure was that his love lacked the courage to restrain what was destroying them.

He applied cruel mercy. He preserved their comfort while their characters deteriorated, and Eli sin has profound application to us, not only as paternal parents, but as spiritual parents.

Parental love naturally desires to protect a child from pain. But sometimes a parent may protect a child from the very consequences through which character could be developed.

Now, true parental mercy does not humiliate, humiliate or dis discipline in anger. But neither does it confuse love with the absence of boundaries.

Sometimes love must say, because I care about you, I cannot let this behavior continue.

And this same principle applies within the ecclesia.

Now, we’re not appointed to supervise every detail of another person’s consecration.

In fact, I’ve learned from experience that many matters should be left between the individual and the Lord.

But there are moments when silence is not love.

A brother or sister may be drifting into bitterness, isolation, or conduct that actually injures other people. They may be promoting false doctrine and A gentle question, a private appeal, or prayerful conversation may prevent them from getting a deeper wound.

So sometimes our silence is not mercy at all, but actually our fear of being misunderstood, of stepping on their toes or being considered unloving. So Eli’s failure was not that he lacked anger. It was that he lacked courageous, effective love and true mercy. Godly mercy is willing to risk temporary discomfort to seek another person’s lasting good.

But perhaps the most searching form of false mercy is the mercy that we extend to ourselves. Consider Jesus experiences in the wilderness after Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The tempter said this in Matthew, chapter 4, verse 3.

If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. Now, at first glance, the suggestion appears reasonable. Jesus was hungry. Bread was not sinful, and he possessed the power to make it.

But the temptation contained an appeal to self preservation that sounded like this. Be merciful to yourself. You have suffered enough. Use your power to escape this painful experience.

But Jesus recognized that physical relief purchased through disobedience would not be godly mercy, and Jesus answered this In Matthew, chapter 4, verse 4, he said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. So here is where the lesson becomes deeply personal. We may recognize false mercy when Eli applies it to his sons. Hey, that guy over there, he’s applying false mercy.

But can we recognize it when we apply it to ourselves? We excuse our resentment because we were wronged. We excuse impatience because we are tired.

We excuse our neglect of prayer because our schedule is full of.

We excuse our unkind words because another person provoked us.

We excuse our spiritual lethargy because we’ve already endured many trials.

Now, Jesus did teach us to take care of ourselves, our legitimate human needs, and we have an example in Mark 6:31.

In a moment of chaos, Jesus actually invited his disciples to come apart and rest a while.

But Jesus’s wilderness shows us the difference between healthy rest and spiritual retreat.

He did not turn stones into bread because doing so would justify disobedience. It would not be spiritual retreat where it would be a spiritual retreat. So in that case, the adversary’s appeal was not merely, hey, Jesus, eat some bread. It was, place your immediate relief above your Father’s will, and each of us faces that same temptation.

Todd escaped that trial. Todd. Avoid that sacrifice. Todd. Protect your pride.

Todd. Todd. Preserve your comfort. Todd. Do not carry your cr.

Okay, how’s that?

Man does not live by comfort alone.

Man does not live by approval. Alone, the new creature lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

And sometimes the first person to whom we must administer truthful mercy is ourselves.

Proverbs 27:6 says this. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

So there are wounds that heal and there are kisses that destroy.

The kiss of the enemy says, todd, you’re fine. Nothing needs to change. The wound of a friend says, I love you too much to pretend that this path is safe.

But we must use the Scripture very carefully, because not every wound that we give is faithful. Some wounds come from anger. Boom. That one hurts, doesn’t it? We’re coming up on my hot button in a minute.

Hang tight. Some come from ignorance. Some wounds come from impatience, and some come from jealousy. Boom.

That hurts.

Some come from a desire to prove that we are right. Some wounds come from speaking before we’ve prayed. Some come from correcting another person before possessing weaknesses that are simply just different than our own. So a faithful wound is not merely a true statement. It’s governed by love.

It does not humiliate. It does not exaggerate. It does not rejoice in exposing fault. It does not crush the bruised reed. It seeks healing.

And the Apostle Paul gives us the governing spirit. In Galatians, chapter 6, verse 1, he says, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. So the object is restoration, the spirit is meekness, and the safeguard for doing both properly is self examination.

So practically before speaking, we might ask ourselves, you know, Todd, is this a matter of divine principle or merely your preference?

Or we might ask ourselves, todd, have you prayed for this brother or sister? Or, hey, am I motivated by love or just simply irritation?

And the kicker is, am I willing to help in the healing after I have spoken.

So? True mercy does not stand at a safe distance. It does not stand at a safe distance. It does not deliver rebuke, and it does not walk away.

True mercy helps carry the burden.

Now, perhaps no example illustrates the wound that heals more beautifully than the experience of the apostle Peter with Jesus. I love this story. Peter sincerely loved the Lord Jesus, didn’t he? He believed himself ready to follow Jesus into prison and even unto death. Now, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I most identify with the apostle Peter.

Peter sincerely loved the Lord. He believed himself ready to follow Jesus into prison and even unto death, and Jesus warned Peter that before cock Crowed he would deny him three times, and Peter could not imagine that failure. But in the courtyard, surrounded by danger, Peter became afraid.

Three times he denied knowing the Lord. Then the cock crowed, and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.

So what was contained in this look from Jesus? Now, surely there was truth in Jesus’s eyes, right?

Jesus didn’t pretend that Peter’s denial didn’t matter.

But there must have also been love in Jesus’s eyes.

After all, this was the same Lord who had said, I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Wow. You know what? We can have that same interactivity with Jesus. Can do it. Let’s do it together, Tim.

Let’s do it together. Okay?

The fact is, Jesus saw Peter’s failure before Peter saw himself.

But Jesus also saw beyond the failure to Peter’s restoration, and that look from Jesus pierced Peter’s heart, and Peter went out and he wept bitterly.

Now, those tears were painful, but they were not destructive, were they, sister? Those. Those tears from Peter, they were not destructive. They were in fact the beginning of his repentance.

And isn’t it beautiful? Because after Jesus resurrection, he did not ignore the situation, did he? And he didn’t humiliate Peter before the other disciples. Remember, beside the Sea of Galilee, Jesus simply asked him three questions. Do you love me?

And Peter realized, I’m sure, that those his three denials were met by three searching questions from Jesus, and after each affirmation by Peter, Jesus gave Peter a responsibility. Feed my sheep. Feed my baby sheep. Feed my mature sheep.

So in this experience, we see that Jesus neither ignored Peter’s failure nor defined Peter by his failure. You like that mark? I love that Peter could have been defined forever by that failure, and this is true mercy. Now, false mercy would have said something like this, Peter, that denial was insignificant.

Don’t even think another minute about it. Condemnation would sound like this, hey, Peter, you failed. You can never be useful again. But what Jesus did say in effect was, hey, Peter, face the truth. Receive forgiveness.

Learn from the wound. Now get back to work. Get your fingernails dirty, and I think this is how our Heavenly Father deals with us. He does not excuse our failures, but then he does not abandon us because of them.

He reveals, he corrects, he forgives, he strengthens and restores. Then the wound becomes the place through which wisdom enters.

Now, Peter overestimated his own strength, didn’t he?

But that was in the past, and because he once overestimated his own strength, he became able to strengthen his Brethren, because he’d learned both the weakness of the flesh and the true mercy of Christ. You love that.

And we see the same balance in our Lord’s potential words to the woman taken in adultery. Now I love this story, even though it might not be in the original manuscripts. Remember that story, sister? After her accusers departed, Jesus said in John 8:11, he says, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.

Neither do I condemn thee. Sounds like mercy.

Go and sin no more. That sounds like truth.

So Jesus at in the same breath protected her from the self righteous accusers, but without protecting her from her sin.

Isn’t that beautiful? He did not reduce her worst act to his lifelong memory.

Neither did he redefine that act as harmless.

This interaction is not condemnation, it’s not indulgence, it’s restoration.

Mercy and truth must remain joined, and I think this is why the Scriptures tell us that divine discipline is an expression of love. Remember what the Apostle Paul says, Hebrews 12:6? He says, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth.

You know, the world may see mercy and discipline as opposites, but Scripture presents godly discipline as an expression of mercy.

How about Hebrews 12:11? It says, no chastening, for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless. Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Isn’t that beautiful? See, God and Jesus are not angry executioners, are they?

But they are willing to perform the necessary surgery because they both see what we are becoming. It’s never too late to be what you might have become.

God and Jesus value our eternal welfare over our immediate comfort. So the question is not merely, hey, does this experience hurt Todd? The deeper question is, hey, what fruit is God trying to produce in me through this experience?

Now, some of the most merciful experiences of our lives did not feel like mercy when they began, did they?

A disappointment exposed our pride. A failure taught us dependence. A brother’s careful words awakened us to something we could not see. The wound was painful, but afterward we can see it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness.

And I think this concept blends naturally with our convention theme text. Permit me this indulgence, Brother Richard. First Timothy, chapter 4, verse 12. It says, Be thou an example of the believers in word and conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

So I think to be an example to the believers requires more than just saying correct things. It requires living a life where mercy and truth are joined in word.

Our speech should be truthful and Gracious in conversation. Our conduct should demonstrate obedience rather than compromise in charity. Our correction must arise from love in spirit, our manner must reflect meekness in faith. We must trust God’s methods in purity. We must first allow the Word to search our own hearts.

We become examples not by pretending that we never fail, but by showing how a consecrated believer responds to failure.

I remember the first time I cried in front of my son and daughter. Remember that, Sister Marilyn on Eagle’s Nest Road? It was a really rich experience. We confess, we repent, we accept correction, we extend forgiveness, we seek restoration. We arise and we continue walking.

Now, as we look beyond our personal lives and beyond the ecclesia, we see that God already uses this principle in major ways throughout his divine plan of the ages.

Consider how the harvest message of the gospel age has revealed truths that have exposed errors about the character of God. For instance, the condition of the dead, the permission of evil, the purpose of our Lord’s return, the calling of the church, John.

And the coming blessing of all the families of the earth.

Now this light is painful because it overturns cherished traditions. Wow. It divides families. But the purpose of the harvest truth was never to prove that other people are mistaken. Its purpose is to reveal God’s character and repair up, prepare a people for his merciful design restoration.

And in that same manner, the shaking of the experiences of the world that we see happening right before us are preparing mankind to recognize its need for the Kingdom of Christ. Humanity longs for peace, but lasting peace cannot be built upon selfishness. Humanity longs for freedom, but mankind must be liberated not only from oppressive systems, but also from ignorance, weakness and death.

God’s answer to the world is not cruel abandonment, but neither is it is indulgence.

God will not tell mankind. Hey guys, continue as you are. He will raise the dead. We’re going to go three minutes over. He will remove the Adamic condemnation through the merit of Christ, and he will establish righteous judgment in the earth.

He will deliver his word from Jerusalem and place mankind under the instruction of Christ and the glorified church. Isn’t that what we’re here celebrating now? Isaiah 26:9 says something interesting. It says, when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants will learn righteousness. This tells us that the judgments of God’s kingdom will be corrective.

They will reveal truth. They will restrain evil. They will educate the conscience, and they will teach obedience, and they will offer every willing member of Adam’s race the opportunity to walk up the beautiful highway of holiness.

Now this is mercy joined with righteousness.

The raising of the dead will be an act of immeasurable mercy, but it will not complete the work. Mankind will awaken with characters that will need to be restored. They will need to be reformed.

The selfishness will need to learn generosity. The violent will need to learn peace. The proud will need to learn humility. The wounded will need to be healed, and the ignorant will need instruction.

And under the wise administration of Christ, every necessary lesson will be given. Nothing will be concealed that must be healed. Nothing will be inflicted upon mankind merely to satisfy vengeance, and every judgment will serve the purpose of restoration, so long as that restoration remains possible.

Brethren, let us guard our hearts. Let us not confuse love with indulgence. Let us not confuse silence with peace, and let us not confuse immediate comfort with lasting healing.

But let us also refuse the spirit of harshness. Let us never use faithful wounds to excuse our impatience, our jealousy or self righteousness.

Within our hearts. Mary, reject the adversary’s invitation to excuse the flesh and instead live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, and when we fail, and believe me, I failed, may we remember the apostle Peter. The Lord who looks upon us in truth also prays for our faith. The Lord who asks the searching question also gives us sheep to feed.

And the Lord who reveals the wound also calls us back into service. This is the mercy of God. He does not excuse us and abandoned us. He forgives us. He cleanses us, he disciplines us, he restores us.

And when divine mercy has finished its work, sin will not merely be concealed, it will be removed.

The wound will not merely be comforted, it will be healed. The ignorant will not be excused. They will be taught the dead will not remain in their graves. They will hear the voice of the Son of Man and come forth, and then the whole groaning creation will rejoice in the glorious liberty of the children of God.

Brethren, may we learn that mercy now. May we reflect that mercy toward one another, and may we become faithful examples of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity, until the healing mercy of God flows to every family of the earth. May God be with you.

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