Many entertain incorrect ideas of mercy. This mistake lies in viewing mercy as a separate attribute, when it should be coupled with truth and justice. "Mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other." Ps. lxxxv, 10. A fact might be stated to several persons and they immediately decide that the course of another was not only unjust, but unmerciful, when if all the circumstances in the case were made known they would judge very differently.
Many affirm that God is not a God of mercy because he has destroyed individuals and nations in the past. If we were perfectly acquainted with the condition of the nation or individual, if we understood all the circumstances of the case, then we could form some opinion of the reasonableness or unreasonableness of God's dealings, with them, but when we do not fully understand the nature of any case, it is unreasonable for us to give our decision. At the great day of accounts all will be made plain, and the justice and mercy of God made manifest. It is our duty to believe what the Lord has said. "The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works." Ps. cxlv, 9.
Some may say that it was unjust for the Lord to strike Uzzah dead for merely touching the ark when he did it with a good intention. But is it right for us to judge in the matter when we do not understand it? David quite forgot himself on this occasion, and was14displeased with the Lord for doing this thing. 2 Sam. vi. The Lord knows the secrets of all hearts, and although he may not always give the reason why he does this or that, we may know that he is just.
We will suppose a man has arrived at years of understanding. The Spirit of the Lord strives with him from time to time, but he refuses to yield. Friends exhort and admonish him to turn to the Lord, but he heeds not their counsel. Reason and conscience plead with him, but all in vain. He is rebellious and stiff-necked, and willfully persists in his wicked course. He becomes hardened in sin, his conscience is seared, he hates God and righteousness; in short, his case is hopeless and he is sealed for destruction. Still he is an accountable being, and knows that he will be punished for all his sins. The question now arises, Would it be merciful in God to put an end to his existence? Many would answer in the negative. But why not? Because, say they, it would deprive him of many years of happiness. But those who call the shadowy pleasures of earth happiness are strangers to the substantial happiness which arises from doing others good, spiritually as well as temporally—from a well-grounded hope—and from the communion of the Spirit. The empty pleasures of earth are so spoiled by a thousand accompanying evils that they amount to nothing at all.
Finally, if a person did enjoy years of happiness and die without hope, his life would be a perfect blank, for his name is put out forever.
Now let us examine the other scale. He keeps on committing one sin after another, for which he has got to suffer the pains of the second death. How quick earthly happiness vanishes when a person is attacked with bodily pain. A small amount of suffering is sufficient to overbalance any amount of pleasure or sensual gratification a person can enjoy. How then will it be when the whole being is tormented in the wrathful flames of gehenna? What will the happiness they have enjoyed amount to then? It will be as a dream forgotten. Again, a wicked man exerts a positive influence for evil.
Having weighed the subject candidly we see that it would be merciful in God to deprive a person of life who had passed the bounds of hope. Some think the destruction of the antediluvians an unmerciful act. But they had become exceedingly wicked and corrupt [Gen. vi, 5], and experience has proved that when a nation or a world turn from the Lord and give themselves up to sin, reform is hopeless—they will grow worse and worse. If the old world had continued a thousand years longer, what would have been its condition? We should naturally suppose that righteousness, virtue and peace would have been exterminated, and wickedness and vice swept like a deluge over the earth. Why should whole generations of men and women be permitted to live on the earth for no purpose only to suffer the second death? Only one righteous family existed in Noah's day, and surely the prospect was that holiness would soon become extinct, and sin and suffering reign universally, and thus the purpose for which the earth was created be entirely frustrated.
For reasons before stated it would be a mercy to that generation and to generations following for the race to be destroyed. Thus the Lord destroyed the wicked and preserved the righteous, giving to the world as it were a new start, again placing things in a favorable situation to carry out the plan of salvation. Since that time cities and nations have been destroyed, which was a mercy, not only to them, but to the human family as a whole.
We have now reached a point of time when wickedness and crime have become so great that the Lord is going to destroy mankind from off the earth. But most people think it is too bad for the Lord to destroy the world now. The arts and sciences are in a rapid state of advancement, and it is just getting so that men can live easy and comfortable. Labor-saving machines have been invented, and by the aid of steam men can travel with great speed over every part of the earth. The most fertile parts of the earth are just beginning to be settled. In short, men are just getting ready to have a good time. It cannot be, say they, that the Lord is going to destroy all these things.
But let us look at the subject candidly. What effect has the intellectual and physical improvements of the age had on its morals? Have they caused them to be more holy, to seek after God more? They have not. The mighty achievements of science have caused men to be proud and haughty, to forget and despise God, and trust in themselves. The Lord did not place men on the earth to do great things, but to develop holy characters, and prepare for a better state of existence. Their heaping together the treasures of earth has nothing to do with the purpose of God. The building of cities, ships, and railroads, does not produce moral happiness. Moral happiness does not result from riches and can be enjoyed by the poor as well as the rich.
Although there are many that profess godliness at the present time, there are few that really possess it. No doubt there were many in Noah's day who professed religion and considered themselves full as good as the despised ark-builder. No doubt the six hundred thousand that came out of Egypt supposed themselves the true church, and expected of course to go into the promised land. The formal Pharisees supposed themselves even better than others, and whom should God favor if not the children of Abraham? But all these were destroyed in their pride and self-righteousness, and should serve as lively examples to us in the latter day.
Judging from the past we might expect the time had about come for the Lord to overthrow the earth. There are many that profess to be good, but there are few that really do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God. Sin, suffering and disease prevail to such an extent, and holiness, happiness and peace are so nearly eradicated, that it would even be a mercy in God to close the scene.