The Picture Of His Mercy

GOG - 19 - 268 - 2019: The Picture Of His Mercy

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The

Picture

Of His

Mercy

Pastor Charles Omofomah

A picture is a visible or a visual image; an imitative representation of an object on a surface, a photograph. Mercy is God withdrawing from us what we deserve. For example, we were sinners and we deserved death and all kinds of calamities but in spite of all that, God withdrew all that we deserved and gave us good health, wealth and peace; nothing missing, nothing broken. Therefore, the picture of the mercy of God is the display or the demonstration of the grace of God because grace in itself is God giving to us what we don’t deserve.

In this article, we will be learning some of the things we need to know to receive the mercy of God. 5 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having Jive porches.

3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.

4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in Jirst, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.

5 Now a certain man was there who had an inJirmity thirty-eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me”.

8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”.

9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

The word propitiation simply means mercy seat. Jesus is our mercy seat; He is mercy John 5:1-9 personiJied. When you get acquainted with

Bethesda means a place of outpouring. It also means a house of mercy. Some scholars translate it as a house of grace. When you combine the Jirst meaning of the word “Bethesda” (a place of outpouring) with the second meaning (a house of mercy), you will discover that Bethesda simply means outpouring of God’s mercy. The outpouring of God’s mercy is the outpouring of a practical demonstration of God’s healing.

Jesus, The Embodiment Of God’s Mercy

Jesus, you are guaranteed of a practical demonstration of His healing and His grace because in mercy is the demonstration or outward demonstration of God’s grace.

The Mercy Of God Heals All Diseases The second thing about the mercy of God is that it has the potency to heal all kinds of sickness and disease.

3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.

The Jirst thing I want you to know is that Jesus is the embodiment of God’s mercy. Our text

John 5:3

tells us of a story of a pool called Bethesda.

Bethesda was the place of God’s mercy and people went there speciJically to be healed of their different ailments, but Jesus also went there. John 5:6 says, “…Jesus saw him lying

The great multitude of sick people went there

there…” If Jesus saw him, that means Jesus also went there. He did not go there in order to be healed of anything; He went there to show them that He is the embodiment of what they were there for. Jesus is mercy personiJied.

24 being justiJied freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed Romans 3:24-25

because they knew that the mercy of God has the potency to heal any kind of disease.

Whatever kind of sickness or disease that entered the stirred pool, God healed. Some manuscripts of the Bible did not record the last part of verse 3, which says, “…waiting for the moving of the water”, and certain parts of verse 4. However, if you read further down that portion of Scripture, you will realize that it is inconsequential because when Jesus asked the man who had been lying there for thirty-eight years, “Why haven’t you been healed?” The man replied that whenever there was a stirring of the water, every other person stepped in before him. So, whichever way, there was a stirring of the water. Therefore, the answer to the question in the Jirst part of verse 3 could always be inferred from the response of this

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GOG - 19 - 268 - 2019: The Picture Of His Mercy

man. Certain scholars say it’s mere tradition and that there was nothing like the moving of the water. Whether it was an angel or not, something must have happened to the water for all the sick people who were there to want to take a step into it and that is the mercy of God. Let me show you two things about the mercy of God. The Mercy Of God Is A Supernatural Phenomenon The mercy of God has the ability to take care of every kind of sickness and disease because it is not a natural phenomenon but a supernatural phenomenon. No man can truly demonstrate the mercy of God. You can’t even show true mercy if you’re not born-again.

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insigniJicance. That is how rich God is in mercy.

Your Position Is Key To Your Receiving The third thing you need to know about the mercy of God is that there is a position you need to be to receive the mercy of God. This is one reason why a lot of believers don’t receive the Mercy of God. When Jesus came to the man who had been there for thirty-eight years and said to him, “I am mercy personiJied”, and the man replied, “Before I get into the water, others step in before me”. What this simply mans is that there is a position that you need to be to receive God’s mercy. If you are not

will determine whether you will receive the mercy of God on healing or not. One of my most exciting moments is when I talk about healing because I know that God doesn’t just want to heal you, He wants to use your hands and your mouth to be an expression of His healing power. God’s grace is able to cause you to abound unto every good work, so that when you have sufJiciency in healing, you can also abound unto every good work.

This sick man lying by the pool of Bethesda said, “I have to get to the center of where the mercy is. If I can get there, then I will receive God’s mercy”. Jesus says, “I came to introduce something much better to you. Since you can’t get to the center, I, the center,

You say, “O my mother is sick!”

That is sympathy. The mercy of God is the compassion of God. It has not just the ability to sympathize but to bring the

have come to you. I present to you a better covenant”. God, through Jesus, has given you all things to be rightly positioned but you still need to act! Your

person out of that situation; that is why it is potent.

action or inaction will determine whether you will receive from the mercy of God or not.

God Is Rich In Mercy This is another reason why the

8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”.

9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

John 5:8-9

mercy of God has this ability to take care of every kind of sickness and disease.

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our Jlesh, fulJilling the desires of the Jlesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, Ephesians 2: 1-4

there, though God is plenteous in mercy, it won’t reach you.

You need to be positioned right to receive the mercy of God. You need to be mentally or spiritually positioned right. Some of the things that can affect your positioning are: unforgiveness, unbelief, and even your attitude. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).

If you are not in the right place, you will not hear. God is Jilthy rich in mercy and He pours

The word, “rich” is from the Greek word plousios and it means, Hilthy rich; being able to inHluence others. God, who is plousios (Jilthy rich) in mercy therefore means that He can lavish His mercy. For example, when there is

it out in abundance but if you are not rightly positioned, it will not get to you. It could also be that you are not in right standing with your spouse. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:7 that if you’re not in a right position with your

the presence of a disease, God pours ten drums of His healing on it even when one drum is more than enough to take care of it.

After pouring it, He says, “Every trace is gone but just to be sure, He pours another twenty

spouse, it could hinder your prayers. You may also not be rightly positioned by the kind of confessions you make. These are different positions that could hinder you from receiving from God.

drums”. God does this because He is rich in mercy and the source can never dry up. God brought in the wealth of His mercy and thirtyeight years of sickness and disease paled into

Your Action Matters The last thing you need to know about the mercy of God is that your action or inaction

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk”. Immediately, he was made well and he took up his bed. Notice that verse 9 omitted a word that is very important and that word is “rise”. After Jesus gave the command, the Bible says that immediately the man was made whole, then the next thing was that he took up his bed and walked. Before he was made whole, he rose! He got healed. For you to take up your bed, you have to rise Jirst. The reason why he got every whit whole was because he acted: he rose up!

You can be rightly positioned. Maybe you are sanctiJied, whole, you are confessing the Word, you have forgiven everybody that has wronged you and you’re not making any negative confession. God is waiting for you to rise. It is not an accident that the word “rise” was missing in John 5:9. He was made whole immediately because he obeyed the instruction to the latter. Rise and be made whole because the mercy of God is fully manifested when you act on the Word of God.

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