SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/1/2020
11:28 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Happy Are
The Merciful”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:7
Message
of the verse: “Happy are the merciful, for they will have mercy shown to
them!” (Philips)
As we
begin this SD we move to Matthew 5:7 and it is my desire today to not only look
at the introduction to this verse, but then to move on to look at “The Meaning
of Mercy.” That section is very long,
but we will do our best to get a good part of it looked at today, Lord willing.
Review: We have learned that the first four
beatitudes that we have been looking at for some time now dealt entirely with
inner principles, that are principles of the heart and of the mind. What they are concerned of is with the way we
see ourselves before God. Now as we move
onto the first of the last four beatitudes we will see that they are outward
manifestations of those attitudes. MacArthur writes that “Those who in poverty
of spirit recognize their need of mercy and led to show mercy to others
(v.7). Those who mourn over their sin
are led to purity of heart (v. 8). Those
who are meek always seek to make peace (v. 9).
And those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are never unwilling to
pay the price of being persecuted for righteousness’ sake (v.10).”
We can
look from Genesis to Revelation and see the concept of mercy as mercy is a
desperately needed gift of God’s providential and redemptive work on behalf of
sinners. The Lord requires His people to
follow His example by extending mercy to others.
John
MacArthur writes “To discover its essence we will look at three basic aspects
of mercy: its meaning, its source, and
its practice.”
Now as we
begin to look at the “Meaning of Mercy” we will discover that we first will
look at an introduction to this and then will look at several sub-sections
towards the end of this first main point:
Mercy and Forgiveness; Mercy and Love; Mercy and Grace; and Mercy and
Justice.
PT-1 “The Meaning of Mercy”
The culture when our Lord was on
earth did not really characterized mercy.
We have talked many times about the Pharisees and the fact that they
thought that they were a given to get into heaven and so they actually looked
down at everyone else including Jesus Christ.
So their character did not include mercy, because of their proud
hearts. As Jesus was preaching to the
Jewish crowds it can pretty much be assured that once He began to talk about
mercy that they considered it one of the least of virtues, and perhaps it was
not even thought of as a virtue. Love
was in the same category as mercy for they thought that you only love those who
love you so that would mean that you only showed mercy to those who showed
mercy to you. John MacArthur writes “That
attitude was condemned by Jesus later in the Sermon on the Mount. ‘You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall
love your neighbor, and hate your enemy’’(Matt. 5:43). But such a shallow, selfish kind of love that
even the outcast tax-gathers practiced (v. 46) was not acceptable to the
Savior. He said, ‘Love your enemies, and
pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father
who is in heaven…For if you love those who love you, what reward have
you?...And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than
others? Do not even the Gentiles do the
same?’ (vv. 44-47).”
There are many people that have
interpreted this beatitude in another way which is just as selfish and
humanistic as they maintain that our being merciful causes those around us, and
especially those we show mercy to, to be merciful to us. They think that mercy given will mean mercy
received. For such people, mercy is
shown to others purely in an effort toward self-seeking.
In his commentary John MacArthur
quotes Gamaliel from the Talmud as he said “Whenever thou hast mercy, God will
have mercy upon thee, and if thou hast not mercy, neither will God have mercy
on thee.” MacArthur goes on to write “Gamaliel’s
idea is right. When God is involved there
will be mercy for mercy. ‘If you forgive
men for their transgressions,’ Jesus said, ‘your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if you do not forgive
men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions’ (Matt. 6:14-15).
“But as a platitude applied among
men, the principle does not work. One writer
sentimentally says, ‘This is the great truth of life: if people see us care, they will care.’ Yet neither Scripture nor experience bears out that idea. God works that way, but the world does
not. With God there is always proper
reciprocation, and with interest. If we
honor God, He will honor us; if we show mercy to others, especially to His
children, He will show even more abundant mercy to us. But that is not the world’s way.”
Now the next part of “the meaning of
mercy” has some things in it that are unfortunately true, as we will be getting
into how the world viewed mercy when Jesus was on earth and because of that
they eventually killed him. We will look
more into the Jewish view of mercy, and then the Roman view of mercy which was
very cruel, in a similar way that goes on in our world today.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: Learning
that if I show mercy to others that then God will show mercy to me is something
that I can’t remember learning before.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to
continue to have joy as I study God’s Word, and to continue to have God teach
me contentment, and humility.
5/1/2020 12:22
PM
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