Mercy Triumphs Over Judgment

Jas 2:13  For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Mat 12:7  But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 

Jas 3:17  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 

James says mercy triumphs over judgment.  The mercy we see in God’s eyes triumphs over the judgments that come from the world, and the weakness and infirmities that so easily beset us.  Mercy purges your conscience from sin.  

Define mercy here or somewhere else???? The Mercy of God isn’t only talking about something God feels.  Yes God feels compassion for you when you’re caught in a fault.  But Gods mercy isnt just something He feels, its the tenderness in Gods heart being poured out; it’s the pouring out of the very essence of Gods being … It’s God emptying Himself to lift you out of the miry clay.  

Heb 4:14  Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

There’s a lot you can say about the high priest, and the ministry of the high priest.  The high priest is all about ministering help to you in your time of need.  The highpriest is ordained of the Father to bring you aid.  The Father ordained the high priest to comfort you when you are afflicted; He wants to help you when you are beset by the weaknesses and infirmities that come from being clothed in perishable flesh. 

One of the primary aspects of the high priests ministry is to lead you to God.  When we talk about being led to God, its in the sense of being immersed in God’s presence.  The high priest immerses you in the presence of God.  The presence of God isn’t talking about proximity or location.  God’s everywhere.  He’s like Visa everywhere you want to be.  The presence of God is characterized by His mercy.  Gods presence is full of mercy.  The highpriest immerses you in the presence of God by showing you God’s eyes are full of mercy.  The highpriest opens your eyes to the truth that God doesn’t despise you in your weaknesses, but is full of compassion when we’re beset with the weaknesses and infirmities of this flesh, that so easily entraps us.  

Verse 15 says we do not have a highpriest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities ….. The high priest isn’t far from us.  He’s uniquely qualified to minister to the depth of our pain.  Himself having been beset with the same weaknesses and infirmities we have.  In order to qualify as highpriest you would need to be intimately acquainted with the weaknesses and infirmities of the people you are representing.  That’s why Hebrews says Jesus was made perfect through the things he suffered.  He was made perfect as highpriest through his sufferings because we were all suffering at the hands of sin and death.  

There’s no ability to immerse people in the mercy and presence of God, unless they can see their affliction in the face of the highpriest.  There has to be some form of identification for the thing to work.  The people need to see the highpriest identifies with them in their weaknesses and infirmities; and they need to be able to see themselves and their weaknesses and afflictions in the face of the highpriest.  You can’t follow someone you don’t believe is intimately acquainted with what hurts you.  You can’t be led by someone unless you think they’ve been where you’ve been, and they’ve found strong consolation in the midst of that darkness. There’s a closeness, an intimacy, a drawing closer that occurs when you identify with someone else in your hurt.  

Jesus is the captain of our salvation.  He himself came to the throne of grace in the days of his flesh; in his time of need on the cross.  It’s through that Jesus is able to lead us into the presence of God.  Through Jesus knowing the nature of the Father; that the Father is full of mercy, and the Fathers mercy will keep him from the judgments of the world; he is able to immerse us in the mercy of God; and thus immerse us in the presence of God.  

So who’s the highpriest?  Hebrews 4 says Jesus is the highpriest.  Who’s Jesus? Hebrews 1 & 4 says Jesus is the Son of God; the heir of all things; the one by whom the worlds were made.  He’s the brightness of the Father’s glory.  He’s the express image of His person, He upholds all things by the word of his power.  Jesus is God.  He’s the eternally begotten Son, the 2nd person of the trinity.  

Hebrews 2 says Jesus is not ashamed to call us brethren.  He is not ashamed to identify with us in our weaknesses.  Why?  Hebrews 2 says forasmuch as the children partook of flesh and blood(corrupted flesh) Jesus also took part in the same; so through him sharing with us in the weakness and infirmity of perishable flesh, he could immerse us in the mercy of God.   

If you want to be the God of a people.  You already are God, and you want to be God to a people that don’t really know you.  They can’t see you.  They can’t comprehend you.  They don’t know your love; your mercy; your grace …. If you want them to look to you; if you want them to be your people.  You need to demonstrate to them that you sympathize with the feeling of their infirmities.  And you also need to demonstrate you possess the ability to help them in their weaknesses.  You can’t be God to a people if the people aren’t looking to you for help in their time of their need.  

Side note from looking to God  ….. You know God is much more concerned about you continuing to come to him; than if we are trapped in some sinful action … God doesnt expect you to be able to resist sin.  He’s knows His mercy is the power for you to be set free.   Psalm 103 says God knows the frailty of our frame.  He remembers that we are dust.  God knows His mercy is the power for your life to endure from everlasting to everlasting.  When He sees you trapped in sin, what He’s after is you being continuously caught up in His mercy.  He doesn’t judge you because you are caught in a fault.  What he judges is He wants you to continuously come into His presence, through His mercy.   

The highpriest opens your eyes so you can see God doesn’t despise you for your sin.  He doesn’t despise you for the weakness and infirmity manifesting out of your flesh, but is full of compassion, Himself having been touched with the same feeling of infirmity, that so easily entraps us.  You see the world tries to conform us to its image.  It’s come to us through tribulation, and corruption.  It pierces our hands; it pierces our feet.  It nails us to a pole.  It uses those things to take us from rest.  Well God doesn’t despise you for what you’ve done in the midst of being afflicted by sin.  Gods not ashamed to identify with you in your weakness and struggles.  He’s partaken with us in flesh and blood.  He’s been fully touched with the feeling of infirmity that causes us to sin.  He himself had his hands and feet pierced.  He himself was nailed to a cross.  We worship a crucified God, Thats how we are immersed in the presence of God; thats how you are immersed in His mercy.  

Exodus 25:22, There I will meet with you.  Talking about the mercy seat in the holy of Holies of the earthly tabernacle.  Not really a place but talking about the power to …

If you look at the mercy seat depicted in the earthly tabernacle.  The mercy seat is the place where the presence of God manifested.  It’s the place you were immersed in the presence of God.  The mercy seat was the gold lid placed on the Ark of the Covenant.  The mercy seat was made of pure gold, while the ark was made of wood, and then overlaid in gold.  Connect to picture of wood(mortal man)being inlaid with gold(divine nature -deification) Connect to picture of wood(human nature) being intertwined with gold(divine nature … There were two cherubim’s, winged angels, at both ends as a covering.  The ark of the covenant and its mercy seat lid represented the throne of God.  The mercy seat depicted the throne of grace the letter to the Hebrews talks about.  It’s the place where you receive help in your time of need.  

The mercy seat was intimately involved with the Day of Atonement.  The term mercy seat and Day of atonement come from the same Hebrew root, which means to cover.  The mercy seat was the place of atonement, or the place where atonement was made.  It’s the place where mankind was reconciled to the divine nature.  It’s the place where communion with the divine nature took place.  It’s the place where our mortality is covered in the divine nature.  The day of atonement talks about the restoration of all things.  Atonement always signified restoration not punishment.  The mercy in Gods eyes restores us from the weakness we are so easily beset with.  The mercy in Gods eyes draws us to him, to restore us from the sting of death that’s in the world.  

The ark of the covenant is the place mercy triumphs over judgment.  It’s the place where your conscience is purged from the weakness and infirmity of dying flesh; it’s the place where your conscience is purged from the sin that so easily besets us; because it’s the place where your conscience is purged from the judgment that rises up against you because of the weakness and infirmity in your flesh.  It’s the place where God condemns the power of sin in the flesh.  

The thing we want is to be restored from the weaknesses and infirmities that so easily beset our mortal bodies.  Remember the Mercy Seat is the throne of grace.  We come to the throne of grace.  We see Jesus.  We see his pierced hands; we see his pierced feet; we can put our hands in his side that was pierced; we see his humanity; we see he is intimately acquainted with our nature; we see He’s been fully touched with the weaknesses and infirmities that come from mortal flesh; himself having been pierced and nailed to a pole.  But that’s not all we see.  Just as the wood of the ark of the covenant is overlaid with gold; we see Jesus, and his human nature braided together with his divine nature.  We see his mortal body which is the wood; overlaid with the gold, which is the deification of his flesh.  We see Jesus, and we see mortality swallowed in life and that restores us from our weaknesses.  It gives us intimacy with the divine nature; we commune with the divine nature.  It covers upon the weakness of our mortal flesh with the grace of our Lord.  What we want is for mortality to be completely swallowed up.  We want our human nature to be grafted together with the divine nature, so our humanity can be preserved from everlasting to everlasting.  We see Jesus, we see mortality completely swallowed of life; we see the deification of his flesh; our joy is made full in him …. Thats why Jesus says in John 17 glorify me; so my joy; the joy that is set before me; that comforted me in my affliction, can be made full in us.  

Mercy seat is the place of covering.  It’s the place we see our human nature overlaid in the divine nature.  There are two cherubs covering/over the mercy seat.   Ezekiel speaking of Satan before his fall says thou anointed cherub that covers.  The reason the cherubs are there is because the mercy seat is the place we are covered.  It’s the place the weakness that so easily besets us is clothed by the grace in Gods hand.  If we look at Adam after the fall, the weakness of his mortal body was covered upon by Gods mercy.  God was not ashamed to call Adam Son ….

Pray