Do you know that the Church is supposed to model the mercy seat of heaven? In John 8, it’s the story of the woman caught in adultery. But the story starts with that Jesus is in the temple courts teaching, and it’s the religious leaders who in that moment, bring the woman who was caught in the act of adultery. And they bring that woman to Jesus in the temple courts. And of course, they’re wanting to test Jesus and they’re wanting Jesus to condemn the woman and to exercise judgment on her. And of course the famous story, Jesus bends down, He writes on the ground. He said, “He who is without sin throw the first stone.” And the Bible says that they all started to depart from the oldest to the youngest, because of course, the oldest has the biggest laundry list of their own shortcomings of their own sin. So they start to peel off till no one’s left. And Jesus says, “Woman, where are your accusers? Where have they gone? Who judges you?” No one is left. And Jesus says, “Neither do I judge you,” but He ends with this statement, “Go and sin no more,” which is super important, because Jesus, His grace empowers us to step out of sin.

But what I want us to recognize is that the religious leaders brought the woman to Jesus in the temple court, because they wanted judgment, but Jesus has created the mercy seat. That is what is in the Holy of Holies. That is what He comes to represent, the nature of God that he brings. Religion wants judgment, but Jesus wants to display mercy. And in that mercy and in that grace, that woman was empowered to go and sin no more.

And when we learn how to exercise repentance, to extend mercy and extend grace, we’re actually empowering people not to keep sinning, but to step out of sin. Jesus is longing for when His Church can learn how to model His nature and be the mercy seat, not the judgment seat, but the mercy seat of God. And my prayer for you is that you can represent and model that to all the people around you, and that we can grow together as the Bride of Christ and represent the mercy seat.

So Father, I thank you for everyone listening, that they would receive the heart of compassion straight from the Father, and that we all together would display the mercy seat of God to the world, because that is what the world is truly hungry for, and the kindness that will draw them to repentance. So I bless you with that today, in Jesus’ Name.

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