By the Mercy

6 · Chapell provides a cascade of biblical-theological examples showing the pattern: Iran, China, the early church, Paul himself, Adam and Abraham

Where is the fastest growing church in the world today?

Anybody know? Fastest growing church in the world? Iran is right, in Iran. Do you recognize that in the last 15 years, more Muslims have turned to Jesus Christ than in the last 1,500 years? Please do not fail to marvel at what secular journalists do not or cannot see.

Out of darkness and pain and shame, Jesus comes. And mercy flows. It is always the nature of the gospel. Some of you in the room were old enough to remember in 1948 when the communists threw the missionaries out of China, and we would all have assumed the gospel is done.

God had just begun. Listen to me. Today, this Sunday, there will be more people who worship Jesus Christ in China than in the United States. Much smaller proportion of the population, but such a large population that I will say it again, there will be more people worshiping Jesus Christ in China today than in the United States. Out of darkness and pain and shame, Jesus comes and mercy flows.

That's the way the gospel works. I mean, just think, if you had been one of the disciples who watched the Roman soldiers crucify Jesus on the day that the darkness came upon the earth, and you thought of the pain of the moment and the shame of having given yourself for what seemed like a lost cause, and then even after the resurrection, you began to worship with a few believers in Jerusalem And even the Jewish priests began to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. And at that moment, the Jewish authorities wanted to crush the church, and so they sent all who would name themselves as Christians out of Jerusalem or killed them.

And what happened instead was the believers became like seeds on the wind, taking the faith of Jesus Christ across the world. You would have thought hopeless, done, finished. But out of that darkness and pain and shame, mercy flowed. And we just don't have to think at the grand level of nations and historic events. How does the gospel work in the lives of individuals?

I mean, you just have to think about the person who is writing this letter, the apostle Paul. What was his first name before Paul? Saul. Under Saul, what was he doing? He was, as Saul, persecuting Christians.

Held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen. By his own testimony, had men and women taken to prison, tortured, and murdered to carry out a mission against Jesus Christ until God called him through a voice from heaven to come to the mercy that was in Jesus Christ. So that this Paul now writes to all people the book of Romans, and he goes back to the darkness of the beginning of the world. There was a man named Adam who brought sin and corruption into a world so that things turned dark and pain and shame came upon all, because what happens as a result of Adam's sin? There is none righteous.

No, not one. But out of that darkness, there was this message that through the family of Abraham—miserable family, awful legacy—that the nations of the earth would be blessed.

7 · Chapell traces Paul's own testimony in Romans 7-8: personal wretchedness, deliverance through Christ, and the unbreakable love of God

So much so that Paul himself, who's actually a descendant of that Abraham, would say about himself, it is true that there is none righteous, no, not one. 'For even what I want to do, I do not do. O wretched man that I am!

Who shall deliver me from this body of death?' What's his answer? 'Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities, things present, things to come, height or depth or anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And he tells us again, out of darkness and pain and personal shame, what happens?

Jesus comes and mercy flows.

8 · Chapell pivots from exposition of the pattern of mercy to the question of how mercy functions in the Christian life

And he wants you to know that when he begins this wondrous chapter Before he tells you how you live out your moral and civil and corporate responsibilities, what's to motivate you? I mean, what do we do with this mercy that's so wonderful? We kind of put it up on a shelf and admire it. Isn't it great that God is merciful?

Or do we not recognize that it's that mercy itself that is to be the motivation of the Christian life?

9 · Chapell identifies the first major move in the text: mercy is the ground of appeal, not guilt

I mean, that's really the first thing he's saying. Make mercy your motivation. What are the opening words of Romans 12:1? "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable." Do your translations say holy and blameable?

What do they say, acceptable or unblameable? What do your translations say? I was listening to Ricky in the first service, and he was saying unblameable, and that is in some translations. You had the NIV before. Before you had the ESV, didn't you?

It's the same idea. You are holy and acceptable.

10 · Chapell exposes the contrast between the text's actual motivation (mercy) and the false motivations our hearts often substitute (guilt, rejection)

You will not hear the impact of these words until you consider what could have been in their place.

What the apostle says is, "I appeal to you by the mercies of God to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable." What do our hearts tell you is the motivation of the Christian life? I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the guilt you will feel if you don't.

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the rejection that you will face if you fail. But he says none of that. I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God.

11 · Chapell shares a personal story from his childhood Bible memorization experience in which performance was rewarded with prizes

Now, you read the words, but it may not be actually what your heart hears. I think about it from my own experience.

Now, I can say these words fairly readily in the King James Version, and the reason was when I was growing up as a child in an evangelical church, like a lot of other kids growing up in evangelical churches, I was a member of the BMA. The Bible Memory Association. And if you were a member of the Bible Memory Association, you got a new illustrated book every month. I mean, it was beautiful. And if you memorized enough verses, you got a prize.

I mean, I can remember with pride when I got my glow-in-the-dark cross of Jesus, you know, But you know, it just kind of does something to you when doing something spiritual gets you a reward, that performance results in approval.

12 · Chapell exposes the interpretive distortion that occurs when the heart mishears the text

It means you can say a verse like Romans 12:1, but your heart may hear something very different. Now, I can say the words still in the King James because it's kind of deep down in the DNA there somewhere now, having memorized as a child. I beseech you therefore, brethren, We did a lot of beseeching in the King James days. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." Now, everything I said was right, but it's not what my heart heard.

Here's what my heart heard. "I beseech you therefore, brethren." By the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as living sacrifices, and then you'll be holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. Is that what it says? But isn't it what our childlike hearts hear? You be a good living sacrifice, and then you'll be holy.

And acceptable to God.

13 · Chapell corrects the misreading by insisting that 'holy and acceptable' are declarations of present reality, not future conditions

You must hear me. Holy and acceptable are not a statement of what you will become. They are a declaration of what you are. You are holy and acceptable to God.

And most of us want to start debating the apostle. How can I possibly be holy and acceptable to God? I know my weaknesses. I know my failures. I remember the argument that I had with my spouse on the way to church today.

I remember all the difficult— how could I possibly be holy and acceptable to God? How did the verse begin? I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God. The apostle has just spent 11 chapters saying this is what God has done in Christ. He sent one who was sinless to die a sacrificial death for you and for me so that our sin was put upon him and his righteousness would clothe us and we would be made right with him, not by any merit of our own, but by faith in what he has done for us.

Now, says the apostle, I appeal to you, By these mercies so on display in Jesus Christ that you present your bodies to God sacrificially. Yes. Why? Why would he receive them? Because you're holy and because you're acceptable to him.

14 · Chapell makes the functional claim: the declaration of holiness and acceptance is not just a theological truth to be admired but a motivational truth that empowers Christian service

It's a beautiful truth, and it's meant actually to be the motivation of our lives that gives us strength and ability to serve God. In all the ways that he calls us.

15 · Chapell shares a personal story of his family staying with him during a power outage

Now, how does it function just in ordinary life? I had to think of this recently when in our part of the country a storm came across the country and it stopped the power in a lot of neighborhoods, a lot of areas. And my son, who lost power in his home for several days, called and said, "Can my family come and stay with you and mom for a few days?" Of course.

So, I mean, just to describe clearly what happened, he has no power. We have the power. They're coming to live with us. My son, his wife, his daughter, his son, and the dog.

And they're gonna stay with us. And you know, that, that goes really nice for a few hours.

And then I just so admire my wife because, you know, while my tank of patience and compassion is kind of moving toward empty, she's still got a full tank. I mean, I'm just amazed at her tenderness and care for our family. I mean, I look at sometimes the antics and the mistakes of our grandchildren, and I look at my son and I say, "Served you right, bud." This is what you put us through.

But my wife is so different.

She will see in the antics and the misbehaviors of our grandchildren the mistakes we made with our children. Why didn't we do better? Why didn't we teach better? Why haven't we done more? And in a sense, my wife's tenderness becomes her very vulnerability.

She will remember an angry word, a mistake in judgment, and an error made decades ago, and it will begin to send her into despondency and despair. And I've heard her speak to young moms at times about what helps her, and she says, "You know, what I've learned to do when Satan comes to me and tries to tempt me with the memories of the mistakes of years ago, is to remember never to go into the file cabinet of painful memories unless I first open the drawer with the key that is called mercy. I'm not going to look at them without the key that's called mercy, because if I don't remember the mercy, those memories will destroy me. They will destroy my joy. They will destroy my strength.

They will destroy my ability to love these young ones now. But with the joy of the Lord, that is our— what? That is our strength. And our joy comes by remembering the mercies.

16 · Chapell applies the truth of mercy-grounded motivation broadly to all audiences—mothers, ministers, teachers, and the whole congregation

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to him, because that's what you are.

And that's not just a message for the moms of little kids. That's, that's the message for the ministers of the gospel to all ages and all generations and all families and all teachers in every place.

17 · Chapell recounts the story of Alexander Whyte and the older minister who had lost the comfort of the gospel

I mean, I think of the example of a man named Alexander Whyte. Some of the preachers in the room will know. He's a famous Scottish preacher of a century ago.

And he talks about another community in crisis. And the ministers of the community got together in Dr. Whyte's home to figure out what to do. And they figured out what they would do, and then they all left except for one older man who just lingered at the house. Ever have somebody who just lingers at the house? It became uncomfortable.

Why doesn't he go? And finally, when there could be no explanation anymore, the older man said to Dr. White, "And now, Dr. White, what word of comfort do you have?" 'For an old sinner like me.' And Alexander White, even though it was said in jest, later wrote, 'It took my breath away.' He was an old saint, but he had lost the comfort of the gospel. Dr. White said he didn't quite know what to do, so he just got up from his chair and he walked across the room to where the older man was seated. He extended his hand. Took the hand of the older man and said, "We have to deal with the one who delights in mercy," the words from the prophet Micah.

Not much more was said, but the next day, a message came from the older man to Dr. White's office. "Dear Dr. White, those words that you spoke to me were strength to my soul." I had lost hope, but you reminded me of the heart of my Lord. I will never doubt him again. And the next time Satan throws my sin in my face, I will say, yes, it's true, and you know not the half of it.

But I have to deal with the one who delights in mercy.

And so do I.

And so do you.

18 · Chapell articulates the theological heart of the sermon: God is not an 'ogre in the sky' but the one who delights in mercy

It's the beauty of the gospel. We have to deal with the one who delights in mercy. Who is the God that you perceive who is sitting bystander to your life, frowning on every misbehavior, every fault, the ogre in the sky who's going to get you for the things that go wrong? Do you not recognize that we have to deal with the one who delights in mercy?

And that's why the Apostle Paul, before he would give any obligation, any responsibility, any duty, says don't even begin to try to serve God until you remember who you're serving. It will destroy your walk, it will destroy your joy, it will destroy your strength unless you first remember that you are dealing with the one who delights in mercy. Why did he send Jesus? Because he delights in mercy. And Jesus himself, because of the joy set before him, went to the cross for you and me.

He delights in showing mercy. And that ultimately is not just motivation, it becomes the power of the Christian life.

19 · Chapell transitions from mercy as motivation to mercy as the agent of transformation

Look how the apostle uses it. Yes, in that first verse he says, I urge you by the mercies of God. But then what's the effect?

Verse 2: Be not conformed to this world, but what? Transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what the will of God is, what is good and acceptable. Yeah, you're supposed to test and approve and do the will of God, but what, what accomplishes that? What enables that? What empowers that?

20 · Chapell states the thesis of the second major section: mercy is not only motivation but also the power that transforms the mind and enables obedience

Ultimately, the apostle is saying mercy is not just motivation, it is the power of transformation. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

21 · Chapell corrects a common misreading: Romans 12:2 is not about intellectual improvement through worldview education

Now, I must tell you, in our kind of general evangelical circles, we often take these words, "Don't be conformed to this world, be transformed by the renewal of your mind," and it gets put in some conference or seminar on Christian worldview. You know, you're supposed to be improving your mind. That's going to change everything.

So read good books. Go to good churches. Listen to good sermons. Think big thoughts. You know, improve your mind.

Now listen, there are certainly verses in the Bible on a Christian worldview. This is not one of them. What's the issue here? Don't be conformed to this world. Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

22 · Chapell traces the theme of mind-renewal back to Romans 10, where Paul grieves over the Jews' zeal without knowledge

Do you recognize the subject of mercy is not just beginning in Romans chapter 12? The apostle actually opened the door to this discussion as he is grieving for his own Jewish family. Romans 10, in the opening verses, he's talking about his own Jewish family and what their current grief is. Listen to what he says. Romans 10, verse 2.

I can bear them witness— that is, my Jewish family— I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Do you hear that? There is something wrong with their minds. What is wrong? Verse 3 of Romans 10: For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, They did not submit to God's righteousness.

What, what was their zeal? I have a zeal to do things for God. I'm going to be righteous before God. I'm going to do the right thing so that God will— and what will let me do that? I have a zeal for my righteousness.

I'm going to make things right with God. And the consequence is they felt the blood of Jesus was not necessary for them at all.

And therefore they could not submit to God and His provision and His righteousness.

23 · Chapell exposes the logic of merit-based religion: if righteousness depends on performance, then competition, comparison, and pride become the inevitable operating system of the heart

What could they do? If you think that what makes God good to you is how good you are to God, then the only choices you have in life to have God care for you, love for you, take care of you, is you have to compete with other people. You have to compare with other people. Pride begins to drive you.

Oh, listen, you know, I'm not perfect. Yeah, I really, I know that I'm not perfect. I'm just better than those people over there.

That church over there.

Those people who hurt my family. Those people who don't deserve the love of God.

24 · Chapell contrasts mercy-based Christianity with merit-based religion

No, the mercy of God is our power to live the Christian life because ultimately when you recognize it's not your merits but God's mercy that humbles you. It changes the way you look at other people because you're not living for competition, comparison, and control. You're actually trying to offer your body as a living sacrifice to the God who has shown you mercy, and his mercy becomes the filter by which you are looking at every word and action in your own.

Does this fit with the mercy of God? Is this conforming to the world, or is this transformed living that's transformed by living according to one who has been made right with God by mercy alone and not by merit.

25 · Chapell transitions to the ethical implications in Romans 12

How will it change you? Actually, we see in the very passage itself. People say it's so strange that Paul talks about mercy and then he begins to move to our obligations, but it makes perfect sense.

What is reasonable service for those made right with God by mercy rather than by merit.

26 · Chapell exposes the difficulty of Romans 12:10 when viewed through a merit lens

If you look in your Bibles, verse 10, Paul says, love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Outdo one another in showing honor. But Lord, they don't deserve honor.

They divided this church during COVID They left us. They didn't support us. Outdo one another, but they're wrong. They don't deserve honor.

Yes, says the Lord, but I delight in mercy.

27 · Chapell continues the pattern with Romans 12:17, surfacing the heart's resistance to the command not to repay evil for evil

Verse 17: Repay no one evil for evil. And we think, but Lord, don't you know what he did to my family?

Don't you know how badly he hurt me?

Yes, but I delight in mercy.

28 · Chapell continues with Romans 12:18, exposing the human resistance to living peaceably when we are not the ones at fault

It almost gets harder to offer your body as this living sacrifice. Verse 18: So far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

And we think, but Lord, they started this fight. Wasn't me, they started it.

Yes, it's true, but I delight in mercy.

29 · Chapell acknowledges that Romans 12:19's command to never avenge ourselves is not reasonable by worldly standards

Verse 19, never avenge yourselves. God, that is not reasonable.

No, it's not.

But it is reasonable service for those who have received the mercy of God.

As you have been forgiven, so we forgive.

30 · Chapell concludes the exposition of mercy-driven ethics with Romans 15:1

The summary of it all is in chapter 15, verse 1. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak. "But Lord, they're so weak. They're such a burden to this church.

He's such a burden to my family. The addictions, the anger, the repeated sin, the failures, the lack of resolve. Why do we have to care for people like them?" Because we are people like them, and our God delights in mercy. Amen.

31 · Chapell summarizes the argument: mercy-filled hearts produce mercy-filled lives

So we live for him, even for the people who do not deserve it.

Why should we be so kind and forgiving and merciful? Because mercy has claimed us and motivates us and empowers us. If you don't know mercy, you can't do this. It's only out of a heart filled with mercy, undeserved, fully knowing the grace of God, that you have any desire at all to show mercy. It's unreasonable for any other reason.

But if it fills you, it changes you, and then you're not conformed to the ways of the world or the thinking of the world or the reactions of the world. You are transformed by the gospel working itself out in your life.

32 · Chapell recounts the story of Speedy Edie, a remedial reader who broke out of the academic whirlpool not because of a different curriculum or method, but because her teacher showed up and cheered for her

How does mercy become power? I mean, just think of the example of one of my friends, the mission leader Paul Koestra. And he tells the account of young in his career, he was working in a disadvantaged school district in a poor part of the United States, And it was just awful, so many disadvantages for young children, and the consequence was so many did not read as they should.

And, you know, whenever there was a child who did not read well, they were put into remedial reading program, and the problem with that was once you got labeled as a problem reader, the label stuck. No one who went into the remedial reading program ever came out. It was like an academic whirlpool.

Except for one young woman. Her name was Edie, and because she ran track, they called her Speedy Edie.

Edie got out. She got back up on grade level. Of course, now all the administrators begin to speak to her teacher. "Did you give Edie a different book?" "No." "Different curriculum?" "Well, no." "Different method of teaching?" "No." "Well, you must have done something different." Said the teacher, "Well, do you know that Edie runs track?" "Yeah, we know all about Speedy Edie." Said the teacher, "Sometimes I went to her track meets and I cheered for her." And that was the difference. There was someone for her.

33 · Chapell applies the Speedy Edie illustration to the gospel: God is the one who is 'for us,' who delights in mercy, who sent his Son so that he could declare us holy and acceptable

Is there anyone for you? There is someone who delights in mercy. There is someone who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all so that he could be for us now and eternally. And he is declaring over you and me the reality of who we are— holy and acceptable to God. That is who you are.

We know our failures, our sins, our weaknesses. They burden us. They weigh us down. We actually know they are true. But what God has done is he has already declared our relationship with him and our status before him.

34 · Chapell concludes with a doxological climax, comparing the cheers of a Super Bowl crowd to the rejoicing of angels over believers declared holy and acceptable

Just think of it. I mean, the football season just begins again, and we're on the long road to the Super Bowl. And just imagine if you were in whatever stadium it is, that final play, the winning touchdown, and the crescendo of the cheer that goes up from the stadium. And I want to assure you that that cheer is small. Compared to 10,000 times 10,000 angels joined by the voice of the one who sits upon the throne and who says to you, "Holy and acceptable are you before the God of heaven." And the angels rejoice, and they are rejoicing this very day over you.

He knows the worst about you. He knows what is hidden from all others. And for those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ, he says, by the mercies of God, holy and acceptable are you to God. By mercy he saved us. By mercy he motivates us.

By mercy he empowers us. By mercy, by mercy, by mercy. It is the echo of grace that makes our service sweet and our hearts strong. May God so give you the joy of the Lord that is your strength by the mercy of God that is found in the grace of Jesus Christ. And may Jesus Christ be praised in the life that you live as one holy and acceptable to him by the mercies of God.

35 · Closing prayer asking God to work the gospel into the congregation's hearts so that they measure God's love by his mercy, not their own merit, and are strengthened to serve out of the joy of the Lord

Father, so work the gospel into our hearts that we who have been loved by you would measure it not by our merits but by your mercy. Make Jesus so present in heart and mind that we are strengthened to get up again and go again and serve him. Out of the joy that is our strength. This we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.