Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

I. Psalm 25:10, “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant

and his testimonies.”

A. His covenants are covenants of mercy and his testimonies are truth.

B. All the principles in the Bible are true.

II. Mercy has to do with my treatment of people.

A. How I handle people

B. Withholds what they deserve.

C. Difference between mercy and grace.

1.Mercy withholds the judgement I do deserve.

2.Grace gives me the salvation I don’t deserve.

D. Mercy means to withhold what a person deserves in judgment.

E. God not only wants me to not give someone what they deserve physically, but verbally.

III. Truth has to do with my doctrine or principles.

A. What I believe in my doctrine and my principles

IV. Truth is to benefit people, but for it to do so, it must be administered with some mercy.

A. God called us to speak the truth in love.

B. I can’t compromise truth, but I can speak it lovingly with an intent to help them.

C. I could have enough mercy to not be as hard and harsh as they might deserve.

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

D. Love is merciful, kind, gentle, doesn’t think evil of someone, and doesn’t try to second-

guess their motives like Hanun did.

V. Mercy creates a buffer that allows me to communicate truth.

A. It keeps truth from hitting so hard that I would not be able to receive it.

B. I can run you off with truth or I can draw you in with truth.

C. I can draw you in with truth even if the truth is hard to swallow if there is mercy in the

presentation of truth.

D. If I just wallow you with truth, I will just push you out.

VI. Truth will change lives and set people free.

A. The devil is in the business of intimidating people.

B. If I am in the business of intimidation, I am in the devil’s business, not God’s business.

C. God is not only concerned about having truth, but representing Him well when we use

the truth.

D. Wrangling the scriptures is dishonest and unethical.

VII. All I must do is use the truth of God and let God change people from the inside out instead of

me trying to change them from the outside in.

VIII. Micah 6:8, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of

thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

A. I am not only to have merciful, but to love mercy.

B. If I love mercy, I will do the just thing.

C. Justice is not perfection, justice is an equal balance.

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

1.The person who is just may fall, but has one get-up for every fall.

2.Their get-up equals the fall and balances the scale.

3.They have a confession for every sin.

4.They have an apology for every offense.

5.It doesn’t mean they never do anything wrong but it means that they not only

did wrong, but they balanced it with right.

D. If I do not love mercy, I will not do justly.

1.If I don’t do justly, it means I did not make just application of the truth.

2.Pharisees operated more by tradition than they did by truth.

a. Even when they used the Bible, they did not make a just application.

b. They had no mercy

c. The Lord Jesus rebuked them because they were just as much wrong as

anyone else was.

IX. Mercy and Truth do several things for us.

A. Gives us favor with God and man.

1.Proverbs 3:3-4, “Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy

neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and

good understanding in the sight of God and man.”

2.People will respect you for taking a stand on the truth if you have mercy.

3.They will despise you for taking a stand on the truth if you have no mercy.

4.People will favor me even if they do not agree with me.

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

5.Sometimes people don’t want to understand us.

a. Our treatment of them promotes rebellion.

b. We are not just and merciful, and because of that their response is just

like our treatment.

6.If you are going to be a leader, you must earn the followship of the people.

a. You must win them.

b. You earn it by serving the people.

c. Our colleges today are putting out too many kings and queens instead

of servants of God.

d. If you are going to serve God, you must be willing to serve people.

e. If you won’t serve people, you’ll never be a servant of God.

f. You are not serving God, you are serving yourself.

B. Purges iniquity

1.Proverbs 16:6, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the

LORD men depart from evil.”

2.Mercy is what makes truth powerful and truth will change their life.

3.Truth will set them free.

4.Mercy makes truth receivable.

C. Keeps on God’s paths

1.Psalm 25:10, “All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as

keep his covenant and his testimonies.”

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

2.I must operate by mercy and truth.

3.There is no conflict between mercy and truth.

a. They are married.

b. They are joined.

c. They cannot be divorced without it being a dangerous situation.

4.I must operate by mercy and truth or I will get on the wrong path.

D. Preserves

1.Psalm 61:7, “He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth,

which may preserve him.”

2.It is a preservent.

3.Together they do something to keep people in line in the will of God.

E. Produces righteousness and peace.

1.Psalm 85:10, “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have

kissed each other.”

2.Truth produces righteousness and mercy produces peace.

3.Mercy won’t produce peace if it is not joined to truth.

4.Truth won’t produce righteousness if it is not joined to mercy.

5.Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up

anger.”

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

a. When I use grievous words instead of kind and helpful words, I am not

going to help that person to get submission, I am going to make them

mad.

X. The chemistry of mercy and truth together gives favor, purges from iniquity, keeps people on

the right path, has a preserving effect, and it produces righteousness and peace.

A. Truth without mercy will not bring those results.

B. Mercy without truth will not bring those results.

C. It takes mercy and truth.

XI. Luke 14:34, “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?”

A. Salt is made out of two poisons

1.Sodium

2.Chloride.

B. When you unite the two poisons, it becomes good.

C. Truth without mercy is poison.

D. Mercy without truth is poison.

E. When you unite the two, mercy and truth is good.

XII. Most people are extremists.

A. They have one or the other.

B. One crowd has mercy without truth

1.A liberal

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

2.You will make all of your decisions based on feeling sorry for people because

you are merciful.

3.Psalm 109:21, “But do thou for me, O GOD the Lord, for thy name's sake:

because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.”

4.If God’s mercy is good, there is a mercy that is bad.

5.Mercy at the expense of truth is not good.

6.I cannot be more concerned about someone’s feelings as I am about truth.

7.All of your decisions will be made upon how other people feel about it rather

than how God feels about it.

8.You must be strong and firm.

a. Gentleness is strength under control.

b. I use what strength is necessary, but I don’t overuse it.

9.You never compromise truth and principle for anyone’s sake.

10. You never steal God’s glory in an attempt to bring God glory.

11. Best thing you can do is mind your own business.

a. Let someone who is in that area of responsibility handle that

responsibility.

12. It is unethical if I have one realm of authority and you have another for me

to reach over into your realm of authority and try to dictate into your realm.

13. You should be influenceable, but not dictatable.

a. Even though you are the leader, you are not God.

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

b. I need to be sensible and be influenceable.

c. I must not allow someone else who God did not bring to lead it run it

either.

14. If you are right with God, you won’t enjoy correction, but it has to be done

for their sake.

a. You do it for their benefit.

b. If don’t get any glee or excitement out of it.

15. If we would operate by principle and operate by truth, we would eliminate

a lot of things that people get away with.

16. Too much mercy and not enough truth is a poison to society.

C. Truth and no mercy

1.Conviction without compassion.

2.It will make you a harsh, self-righteous Pharisee.

3.Truth without mercy repels rather than draws.

4.Truth without mercy offends rather than convicting.

5.Truth without mercy promotes rebellion, rather than submission.

6.Truth without mercy is a gross misrepresentation of truth.

7.God is truth.

a. Who are you lifting up?

b. Who are you representing.

8.It is easy to be harsh, but it is not right to be harsh.

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

9.Nothing is more fundamental than love.

10. Nothing is more Christ-like than kindness.

11. I must work at it.

a. By nature I am a very corrupt person.

12. The Pharisee in the New Testament had lots of truth and went beyond truth.

a. They did things that weren’t Bible.

b. Don’t preach standards you can’t find in the Bible.

13. The letter killeth, but the spirit bringeth life.

a. The Holy Spirit of God is a merciful spirit.

b. The letter of truth without the spirit of mercy will kill rather than make

alive.

c. It will rebel rather than draw.

14. We are to preach the whole Bible that will give them victory over the things

that are wrong and give them strength for the victory.

a. Harping on one or two things will not change people in those one or two

things, you must preach the whole Bible.

b. Give them principle that will help them get victory.

D. Some folks don’t have mercy or truth.

1.Reprobates

2.They are neither kind nor righteous.

3.They are not kind or compassionate, nor are they convicted by anything.

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

4. Hosea 4:1-3, “Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the

LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no

truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying,

and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood

toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth

therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of

heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.”

a. If you do not have any truth or mercy of God, you have no knowledge

of God.

b. America is getting to this place.

c. You can get arrogant when you don’t have to answer to anyone.

d. It is a scary position where you don’t have anyone to tell you not to do

something.

e. You could be not ethical in your position and start doing things that are

not merciful and not right.

E. Some people have mercy and truth.

1.Christ-like.

2.They are not poisoning people with mercy and no truth – liberalism.

3.They are not poisoning people with a harsh pharisaical attitude of truth

without mercy.

4.Jesus never compromised truth.

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 Revival Fires Baptist College

Christian Ethics

Professor: Dr. Dennis Corle

Mercy and Truth

a. He was always merciful.

5.There are a lot of people in situations that someone else is responsible for.

a. Be careful that I don’t get mad at them because of the other person.

b. I need mercy toward them.

XIII. Mercy must be harnessed with truth or it will become liberalism.

XIV. Truth must be seasoned with mercy or it creates phariseeism and it doesn’t attract.

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