Mercy Shouts Louder!

"There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us."
Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed

I love these words.  There are days when sin seems overwhelming, as if we have reached our limit and God simply has no more patience or mercy to give.  This quote is a great reminder of the depth and breadth of the mercy of Christ.  It reminds me of Paul's words, "The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more" (Romans 5:20).

God gave us the law so we could know that we are sinners.  Where the law abounds, sin will abound.  Where people live by the law, they will always have more sin to point out in themselves, but more likely in others.  The law can be a dismal place to live.  God also gave us the law so we would throw up our hands in surrender and run to Jesus Christ in broken faith. Where there is an increasing awareness of sin there can be an increasing awareness of grace.  Or to paraphrase Paul's Greek words, sin migh 'super abound' but grace 'hyper abounds'!

I was reminded this morning of Dr. Layman, a beloved professor from my beloved alma mater.  He once pointed out Paul's words "all the more" and illustrated them with the story of blind Bartimaeus from Mark 10 and Luke 18. Bartimaeus used to sit by the road and beg.  One day he heard that Jesus was coming and he began to shout "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"  He was rebuked and told to be quiet.  But he shouted "all the more" for Christ to have mercy on him.  And He did.

If your sin shouts condemnation at you today, let the mercy of Jesus shout all the more!  If Satan shouts accusations at you today, listen to Jesus shout grace even louder!