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VIETNAMESE ARTICLES
25 January 2008
Trust
in God’s Mercy (Part 3)
We need the Lord to renew and open our hearts in order to be
able to see, understand and trust in His mercy. The Holy Scripture says,
“For the LORD thy God is a merciful God” (Deut
4:31),
and He is “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort” (2
Cor 1:3). Thanks and praise to the Lord for His mercy is great,
plenteous, abundant and endures for ever (2 Sam 24:14; Ps 103:8, 17;
106:45; 136:1-26; Eph 2:4). Then, what does God’s mercy mean?
“Nhân từ,” according to Vietnamese meaning, is a kind-hearted
and forgiving attitude, love for mankind. However, according to the
Scripture, “mercy” means more than that. It means actively compassionate
and sympathetic in mind, in thought and in action. It means to withhold
punishment from offenders who deserve it and to give help to the
helpless who do not deserve it. Truly, “It is of the LORD’S mercies
that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not” (Lam
3:22), and “Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not
utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and
merciful God” (Neh 9:31). God’s mercy is unconditional and up to His
attributes and sovereign will, and not up to man’s good works, efforts
or merits, “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of
God that sheweth mercy” (Rom 9:15-16), and “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 Ghost”
(Titus 3:5).
Understanding God’s mercy and realising that we are only
sinners deserving condemnation to Hell of fire, we shall humble
ourselves, cry for God’s mercy and trust in His mercy with a thankful
heart, praising the Lord. Have you trusted in God’s mercy? Please read
our next article.
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