Second Title of Christ: The Mercy

“To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant.” Luxe 1:72.

Tus scripture is part of Zachariah’s prophecy at the rising of that bright star John, the harbinger and forerunner of Christ. These are some of the first words he spoke after God had loosed his tongue, which for a time was struck dumb for his unbelief. His tongue is now at liberty to proclaim to all the world the unspeakable riches of mercy through Jesus Christ in a song of praise: in which observe the mercy celebrated, redemption by Christ, verse 68; the description of Christ, verse 69; the faithfulness of God in our redemption, verse 70; the benefit of being so redeemed by Christ, verse 71; and the exact accomplishment of all the promises made to the fathers in sending Christ, the mercy promised, into the world: “to perform the mercy promised to our fathers.” In these words,

1. You have a mercy freely promised by God the Father from the beginning of the world, and often repeated in succeeding ages to the fathers, in his covenant transactions. This mercy is Jesus Christ, of whom he speaks in this prophecy; the same which he styles, ‘fA horn of salvation in the house of David,” verse 69.

The mercy of God in Scripture is put, first, for the free and undeserved favor of God to man, and this favor may respect him either as undeserving or as ill-deserving. i respected innocent man as undeserving, for Adam could put no obligation upon his benefactor. It respects fallen man as ill-deserving. Innocent man could not merit favor, and fallen man merited wrath: the favor or mercy of God to both is every way free. But second, the word mercy is also taken for the effects of God’s favor, which are either principal and primary, or subordinate and secondary. Of secondary and subordinate mercies there are multitudes, both temporal respecting the body, and spiritual respecting the soul. But the principal and primary mercy is but one, and that is Christ, the first-born of mercy, from whom are all other mercies; and who is therefore called by a singular emphasis in our text, The Mercy; that is, the mercy of all mercies, without whom no drop of saving mercy can flow to any of the sons of men, and in whom are all the tender bowels of divine mercy yearning over poor sinners. The mercy, and the mercy promised. The first promise of Christ was made to Adam, Gen. 3:15, and it was frequently renewed afterwards to Abraham, to David, and as the text speaks, ‘‘unto the fathers,” in their respective generations,

2. We find here also the promised mercy faithfully performed: ‘To perform the mercy promised.” What mercy soever the love of God engaged him to promise, the faithfulness of God stands engaged for its performance. Christ the promised mercy is not only performed truly, but he is also performed according to the promise in all its circumstances exactly. So he was promised to the fathers, and just so performed to us their children. We are thus taught that

Jesus Christ, the Mercy of mercies, was graciously promised and fathfully performed by G’od to his people.

. Three things are here to be considered: why Christ is styled The Mercy; what kind of mercy Christ is to his people; and how this mercy was performed.

I. Christ is THe mercy, emphatically so called: the peerless and matchless mercy.

1. Because he is the first-fruit of the mercy of God to sinners. The mercies of God are infinite: mercy gave to the world and us our being; all our protection, provision, and comforts in this world are the fruits of mercy, the free gifts of divine favor: but Christ is the first and chief; all other mercies, compared with him, are but fruits from that root, and streams from that fountain of mercy; the very bowels of divine mercy are in Christ, as in verse 78, “through the tender mercy,” or as in the Greek, the yearning bowels of the mercy of God.

2. Christ is the mercy, because all the mercy of God to sinners is dispensed and conveyed through Christ to them. John 1:16; Col. 2:3; Eph. 4:17. Christ is the medium of all divine communications, the channel of grace: through him are both the flow of mercy from God to us, and the returns of praise from us to God. Vain therefore are all expectations of mercy out of Christ. No drop of saving mercy runs except in this channel.

3. Christ is the mercy, because all inferior mercies derive their nature, value, sweetness, and duration from Christ, the fountain-mercy of all other mercies.

They derive their nature from Christ; for apart from him those things which men call mercies, are rather traps and snares than mercies to them. Prov. 1:32. The time will come when the rich that are christless will wish, O that we had been poor! and nobles not ennobled by the new birth, O that we had been among the lower rank of men! All these things that pass for valuable mercies, like cyphers, signify much when such an important figure as Christ stands before them, else they signify nothing to any man’s benefit.

They derive their value as well as nature from Christ. For how little does it signify to any man to be rich, honorable, and successful in all his designs in this world, if after all he must lie down in hell!;

All other mercies derive their sweetness from Christ, and are but insipid without him. There is a twofold sweetness in things; one natural, another spiritual: those that are out of Christ can relish the first, believers only relish both. They have the natural sweetness there is in mercy itself, and a sweetness supernatural from Christ and the covenant, the way in which they receive them. Hence it is that some men taste more spiritual sweetness in their daily bread, than others do in the Lord’s supper; and the same mercy, by this means, becomes a feast to soul and body at once.

All mercies have their dwration from Christ. All christless persons hold their mercies upon the greatest contingencies and uncertainty; if they are continued during this life, that is all: there is not one drop of mercy after death. But the mercies of the saints are continued to eternity; the end of their mercies on earth is the beginning of their better mercies in heaven. There is a twofold end of mercies, one perfective, another destructive: the death of the saints perfects and completes their mercies; the death of the wicked destroys and cuts off their mercies. For these reasons Christ is called the mercy.

II. Let us inquire wat KIND OF MERCY ‘CHRIST Is; and we shall find many transcendent properties to commend him to our souls.

1. He is free and undeserved mercy, called, upon that account, “The gift of God.” John 4:10. And to show how free this gift was,God gave him to us when we were enemies. Rom. 5:8. That mercy must be free which is given not only to the undeserving, but to the ill-deserving; the benevolence of God was the sole cause of this gift. John 3: 16.

2. Christ is a full mercy, replenished with all that answers to the wishes or wants of sinners, in him alone is found whatever the justice of God requires for satisfaction, or the. necessities of souls require for their supply. Christ is full of mercy; in him are all kinds of mercies; and in him are the highest and most perfect degrees of mercy; “for it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.” Col. 1:19.

3. Christ is the seasonable mercy, given by the Father to us in due time, Rom. 5:6; in the fulness of time, Gal. 4: 4; a seasonable mercy in his exhibition to the world in general, and in his application to the soul in particular; the wisdom of God fixed upon the best time for his incarnation, and takes the best for its application. When a poor soul is distressed and ready to perish, then comes Christ. All God’s works are done in season, but none more seasonable than this great work of salvation by Christ.

4. Christ is the needful mercy, there is an absolute necessity for Jesus Christ; hence in Scripture he is called the “bread of life,” John 6:35; he is bread to the hungry. He is the “water of life,” Rev. 22:17, as cold water to the thirsty soul. He is a ransom for captives, Matt. 20:28; a garment to the naked, Rom. 13:14. Bread is not so necessary to the hungry, nor water to the thirsty, nor a ransom to the captive, nor a garment to the naked, as Christ is to the soul of a sinner. The life of our souls is in Jesus Christ.

5. Christ is a fowntain-mercy, and all other mercies flow from him, A believer may say of Christ, “All my springs are in thee;” from his merit and his Spirit flow our redemption, justification, sanctification, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost, and blessedness in the world to come: “Tn that day there shall be a fountain opened.” Zech, 13:1

6. Christ is a satesfying mercy: he that is full of Christ can feel the want of nothing. ‘I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Cor. 2:2. Christ bounds and terminates the vast desires of the soul: he is the very sabbath of the soul. How hungry, empty, and straitened on every side is the soul of man in the abundance and fulness of all outward things till it come to Christ: the weary motions of a restless soul, like those of a river, cannot be at rest till they pour themselves into Christ the ocean of

blessedness.
Method, 1 1

7. Christ is a peculiar mercy applied to a remnant among men: some would extend redemption as large as the world, but the gospel limits it to those only that. believe; and believers are upon that account called “a peculiar people.” 1 Pet. 2:9. The offers of Christ indeed are large and general, but the application of Christ is to few. Isa.53:1. The greater cause have they to whom Christ comes, to lie with their mouths in the dust, astonished and overwhelmed with the sense of so peculiar and distinguished a mercy.

8. Jesus Christ is a switable mercy, suited in every respect to all our needs and wants, 1 Cor. 1:30, in whom the admirable wisdom of God is illustriously displayed. “Ye are complete in him” Col. 2:10. Are we enemies? He is reconciliation. Are we sold to sin and Satan? He is redemption. Are we condemned by the law? He is the Lord our righteousness. Hath sin polluted us? He is a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness. Are we lost by departing from God? He is the way to the Father. Rest is not so suitable to the weary, nor bread to the hungry, as Christ is to the wants of the sinner.

9. Christ is a wonderful mercy; his name is called Wonderful, Isa. 9:63; and as his name is, so is he — a wonderful Saviour. His person is a wonder, “Great is the mystery of godliness; God was manifest in the flesh.” 1 Tim. 3: 16. His abasement is wonderful. Phil. 2:6, 7, 8. His love is a wonderful love; his redemption full of wonders; angels desire to look into it. He is and will be admired by angels and saints to all eternity.

10. Jesus Christ is an incomparable and matchless mercy. Draw the comparison how you will between Christ and all other enjoyments, you will find none in heaven or earth to equal him. He is more than all externals, as the light of the sun is more than that of a candle. Nay, even the worst of Christ is better than the best of the world; his reproaches are better than the world’s pleasures. Heb. 11:25. He is more than all Spirituals, as the fountain is more than the stream. He is more than justification, as the cause is more than the effect; more than sanctification, as the person himself is more than the image or picture. He is more than all peace, all comfort, all joy, as the tree is more than the fruit. Nay, draw the comparison between Christ and things eternal, and you will find him better than they; for what is heaven without Christ? ‘Whom have I in heaven but thee?” Psalm 73:25. If Christ should say to the saints, take heaven among you, but I will withdraw myself from you, the saints would weep, even in heaven itself, and say, Lord, heaven will be no more heaven to us except thou be there, who art thyself the joy of heaven.

11. Christ is an wnsearchable mercy; who can fully express his wonderful name? Prov. 30:4. Who can count his unsearchable riches? Eph. 3:8. Hence it is that saints never tire in the study or love of Christ, because new wonders are eternally rising out of him. He is a deep which no line of any understanding, angelic or human, can fathom.

12. Christ is an everlasteng mercy; “the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.” Heb. 13:8. All other enjoyments are perishable; time, like a moth, will fret them out; but the riches of Christ are durable riches, Prov. 8:18. The graces of Christ are durable graces. John 4:14. All creatures are flowers that appear and fade in their month; but this Rose of Sharon, this Lily of the Valley never withers. Thus you see the mercy performed with its desirable properties.

UI. The last thing to be opened is THE MANNER OF Gop’s PERFORMING HIS MERCY to his people. This he did,

1. Really and truly. As he had promised, so he made good the promise: ‘‘ Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified, both Lord. and Christ.” Acts 2:36. The manifestation of Christ in the flesh was no delusion, but a most evident and palpable truth: that ‘which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled.” 1 John 1:1. A truth so certain that the assertors of it appealed to the very enemies of Christ for certainty. Acts 2:22. Yea, not only the sacred, but profane writers witness to it; not only the evangelists and apostles, but even the heathen writers of those times, both Roman and Jewish, as Suetonius, Tacitus, Pliny the younger, and Josephus the Jewish antiquary, all acknowledge it.

2. As God really and truly performed Christ the promised mercy, so he performed this promised mercy exactly agreeable to the promises, types, and predictions made of him to the fathers, even in the most minute circumstances. This is a great truth for our faith to be established in: let us therefore cast our eyes both upon the promises and performances of God with respect to Christ, the mercy of mercies. See how he was represented to the fathers long before his manifestation in the flesh; and what he appeared to be when he was really exhibited in the flesh.

1. As to his person and qualifications, as it was foretold, so it was fulfilled. His original was said to be unsearchable and eternal, Micah 5: 2, and so he’ affirmed himself to be: ‘Iam Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.” Rev.1:11. “Before Abraham was, I am.” John 8: 58. His two natures united into one person were plainly foretold, Zech. 13:1, “The man that is my Fellow,” and such a one God performed. Rom. 9:5. His immaculate purity and holiness were foretold: ‘To anoint the most Holy.” Dan. 9:24. “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” John 8:46. His offices were foretold: the prophetical office predicted, Deut. 18:15, and fulfilled in him, John 1:18; his priestly office foretold, Psalm 110: 4, fulfilled, Heb. 9:14; his kingly office foretold, Micah 5: 2, and in him fulfilled, bis very enemies being judges. Matt. 21 ol.

2. As to his berth, the time, place, and manner were foretold to the fathers, and exactly performed to a tittle.

The tzme predicted more generally in Jacob’s prophecy, Gen. 49: 10, when the sceptre should depart from Judah, as indeed it did in Herod the Idumean: more particularly in Daniel’s seventy weeks, from the decree of Darius, Daniel 9: 24, answering exactly to the time of his birth; a prophecy so cogent and full-of proof, that Porphyry, the great enemy of Christians, had no other evasion but that it was devised after the event; which yet the Jews, though as bitter enemies to Christ as himself, will by no means allow to be true. And lastly, the time of his birth was exactly pointed at in Haggai’s prophecy, Hag. 2: 7, 9, compared with Malachi 3:1. He must come while the second temple stood; at that time there was a general expectation of him, John 1:19, and at that very time he came. Luke 2: 88.

The place of as birth was foretold to be Bethlehem Ephratah, Micah 5: 2, and so it was, Matt.2: 5,6. He was to be brought up in Nazareth, Zech. 6: 12: “Behold the man whose name is the Branch.” The word is WVetzer, whence is the word Nazarite. And there indeed was our Lord brought up. Matt. 2:23.

His parent was to be a vergin, Isa. T: 14; punctually fulfilled, Matt. 1; 20-238.

His tribe was foretold to be Judah. Gen. 49:10. “It is evident,” saith the apostle, “that our Lord sprang out of Judah.” Heb. 7: 14.

His harbinger or forerunner was foretold, Mal. 4: 5, 6; fulfilled in John the Baptist, Luke 1: 16, 17.

The obscurity ‘and meanness of his birth were predicted, Isa. 53:2; Zech. 9:9; to which the event answered,

Luke 2: 12. 3. His doctrine and miracles were foretold, Isa. 35. 4,

5, 6, the accomplishment of which in Christ is evident in the history of all the evangelists.

4, His death for us was foretold by the prophets: “Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself.” Daniel 9:26. “He was wounded for our transgressions.” Isaiah 53:5. And so he was. John 11:50. The very kind and manner of his death was prefigured in the brazen serpent his type, and answered in his death upon the cross. John 8: 14.

5. His burial in the tomb of a rich man was foretold, Isaiah 53:9, and accomplished most exactly. Matthew 27: 59, 60.

6. His resurrection from the dead was typified in Jonah, and fulfilled in Christ’s abode three days and nights in the grave. Matt. 12: 40.

7. The wonderful spread of the gospel in the world, even to the isles of the Gentiles, was prophesied, Isaiah 49:6, to the truth whereof we are not only witnesses, but happy instances and examples of it. Thus the promised mercy was performed.

Inrerence 1. If Christ be the mercy of mercies, the mediwm of conveying all other merces from God to men, then in vain do men hope for mercy out of Jesus Christ.

I know many poor sinners comfort themselves with this when they come upon a bed of sickness: “I am sinful, but God is merciful.” It is very true, God is merciful; plenteous in mercy; his mercy is great above the heavens; mercy pleaseth him; and all this they that are in Christ shall find experimentally, to their comfort and salvation. But what is all this to thee, if thou art Christless? There is not one drop of saving mercy that comes in any other channel than Christ to the soul of any man, You may enjoy the riches, honors, and pleasures of this world for a season; but there are two bars between you and all spiritual mercies, namely, the guilt of sin and the pollution of sin; and nothing but your own union with

Christ can remove these, and so open the passage for spiritual mercies to your soul.

“But I will repent of sin, strive to obey the commands of God, make restitution for the wrongs I have done, ery to God for mercy, bind my soul with vows and strong resolutions against sin for time to come: will not all this Jay a groundwork for hope of mercy to my soul?” No, this will not, this cannot do it

All your sorrows and tears for sin cannot obtain mercy. Could you shed as many tears for any sin you have committed, as all the children of Adam have shed since the creation of the world, they would not purchase the pardon of that one sin; for the law requires full satisfaction, and will not discharge any soul without it. The repentance of a soul finds, through Christ, acceptance with God, but out of him it is nothing.

All your strivings to obey the commands of God and live more strictly for time to come will not obtain mercy. “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5: 20.

Your restetution and reparation of wrongs you have done cannot obtain mercy. Judas restored, and yet was damned. Man is satisfied, but God is not. Remission is the act of God. He must loose your conscience from the bond of guilt, or it can never be loosed.

All your cries to God for mercy will not avail if you are out of Christ. Matt. 7:21; Job 27:9. A righteous judge will not reverse the just sentence of the law, though the prisoner at the bar fall upon his knees and ery for

-mercy.

Your rows and engagements to God for time to come cannot obtain mercy. Being made in your own strength, it is impossible you should keep them; and if you could, it is impossible they should obtain remission and mercy. Should you never sin more for time to come, yet how shall God be satisfied for past sins? Justice must have satisfaction, or you can never have remission, Rom. 3: 25, 26; and no work wrought by man can satisfy divine justice; nor is the satisfaction of Christ made over to any for their discharge, but to such only as are in him: therefore never expect. mercy out of Christ.

2. Is Christ greater and more necessary than all other mercies? then let no inferior mercy satisfy you for your portion.

God has mercies of all kinds to give, but Christ is the chief, the mercy of all mercies; Oh, be not satisfied without that mercy! When Luther had a rich present sent him he protested that God should not put him off so; and David was of the same mind. Psalm 17:14, 15. If the Lord should give you the desires of your heart in the good things of this life, let not that satisfy you while you are Christless; for what is there in these earthly enjoyments whereof the vilest men have not a greater fulness than you? Job 21: 7-11; Psalm 17:10, and 73:8, 12. What comfort can all these things give to a soul already condemned as thou art? John 3:18. What sweetness can be in them while they are all unsanctified things to you? enjoyment and sanctification are two distinct things, Psalm 87:16; Prov. 10:22. Thousands of unsanctified enjoyments will not yield your soul one drop of solid spiritual comfort. And what pleasure can you take in these things of which death must shortly strip you naked? You must die, and whose then shall all those things be for which you have labored? Be not so foolish as to think of leaving a great name behind you: it is but a poor felicity, as Chrysostom well observes, to be tormented where thou art, and praised where thou art not. The sweeter your portion has been on earth, the more intolerable will your condition be in hell; yea, these earthly delights not only increase the torments of the damned, but also, as they are instruments of sin, prepare the souls of men for damnation: “Surely the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.” Prov. 1:32. Rest not till Christ, the mercy of mercies, be the root and fountain, yielding and sanctifying all other mercies to you.

3. Is Christ, the mercy of mercies, infinitely better than all other mercies? then let all that are in Christ be content and well satrsfied, whatever other merces the wisdom of God sees fit to deny them. You have a Benjamin’s portion, a plentiful inheritance in Christ; will you yet complain? Others have splendid houses upon earth, but you have “a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 2 Cor. 5:1. Others are clothed with rich and costly apparel; your souls are clothed with the white, pure robes of Christ’s righteousness. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garment of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.” Isa. 61:10. Let those that have full tables, heavy purses, rich lands, but no Christ, be rather objects of your pity than envy. God has not a better mercy to give than Christ, thy portion; in him all necessary mercies are secured to thee, and thy wants and straits sanctified to thy good. Oh, therefore never open thy mouth to complain against the bountiful God!

4. Is Christ the mercy, in whom are all the tender mercies of God towards poor sinners? then let none be discouraged in going to Christ by reason of their sin and wnworthiness. His very name is mercy. Poor drooping sinner, encourage thyself in the way of faith; the Saviour to whom thou art going is mercy itself to broken-hearted sinners moving towards him. Jesus Christ is so merciful to poor souls that come to him, that he has received and pardoned the chiefest of sinners — men that stood as remote from mercy as any in the world. 1 Tim. 1:15; 1 Cor. 6:11. Those that shed the blood of Christ have yet been washed in that blood from their sin. Acts 2:36, 37. Mercy

He receives sinners without exception of great and heinous ones. “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” John 7:37. Gospel invitations run in general terms to all sinners that are heavy-laden. Matt. 11: 28. When Mr. Bilney the martyr heard a minister preaching in this manner: ‘‘O thou old sinner, who hast been serying the devil these fifty or sixty years, dost thou think that Christ will receive thee now?” ‘“Oh,” said he, “what a preaching of Christ is here! Had Christ been thus preached to me in the day of my trouble for sin, what glad tidings had it been!” Blessed be God, there is a sufficiency both of merit and mercy in Jesus Christ for all sinners, for the vilest among sinners whose hearts shall be made willing to come unto him. So merciful is the Lord Jesus Christ that he moves first, Isa. 61:1, 2; so merciful that he upbraids none, Ezek. 18; 22; so merciful that he will not despise the weakest desires of souls if sincere, Isa. 42:3; so merciful that nothing more grieves him than our unwillingness to come unto him for mercy, John 5:40; so -merciful that he waiteth to the last upon sinners to show them mercy, Rom. 10:21; Matt. 23:37; in a word, so merciful that it is his greatest joy when sinners come unto him, that he may show them mercy. Luke 15: 5, 22.

Oxsection. But it cannot enter into my thoughts that I should obtain mercy.

Answer. You measure God by yourself: “If a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?” 1 Sam. 24:19. Man will not, but the merciful God will, upon the submission of his enemies to him. Besides, you are discouraged because you have not tried. Go to Jesus Christ, poor distressed sinner; try him, and then report what a Saviour thou hast found him to be.

Oxsection. But I have neglected the time of mercy, and now it is too late.

Answer. How know you that? Have you seen the book of life, or turned over the records of eternity? Or are you unwarrantably intruding into the secrets of God which belong not to you? Besides, if the treaty were at an end, how is it that thy heart is now distressed for sin and solicitous after deliverance from it?

Oxsection. But I have waited long, and yet see no mercy for me.

Answer. May not mercy be coming and you not see it? or have you not waited at the wrong door? If you wait for the mercy of God through Christ in the way of humiliation and faith, assuredly mercy shall come to you.

5. Has God performed the mercy promised to the fathers, the great mercy, the capital mercy, Jesus Christ? then let no man distrust God for the performance of lesser mercres contained in any promse of Scripture. The performance of this mercy secures the performance of all other mercies to us; for Christ is a greater mercy than any other which yet remains to be given. Rom. 8:32. This mercy virtually comprehends all other mercies, 1 Cor. 3: 21-23; and the promises that contain all other mercies are ratified and confirmed to believers in Christ. 2 Cor.1:20. It was much more improbable that God should bestow his own Son upon the world, than that he should bestow any other mercy upon it. Has he given thee Christ? He will give thee bread to eat, raiment to put on, support in troubles, and whatsoever else thy soul or body shall need. The great mercy, Christ, makes way for all other mercies to the souls of believers

6. How mad are they that part with Christ, the best of mercies, to secure and preserve any temporal mercies to themselves ‘Thus Demas and Judas gave up Christ to gain a little of the world. O soul-undoing bargain! How dear do they pay for the world, that purchase it with the loss of Christ and their own peace for ever!

Blessed be God for Jesus Christ, the mercy of mercies.