SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/11/2020
10:51 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
“The Result of Mercy”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 5:7
Message of the
verse: “"Happy
are the merciful, for they will have mercy shown to them!”
As we begin this section we want to
think back and reflect on the fact that when we are merciful we will receive
mercy, we see God’s cycle of mercy. How
is God merciful to us? Well God is
merciful to us by saving us through Christ; in obedience we are merciful to
others; and God in faithfulness gives us even more mercy as He pours out
blessing for other needs and then withholds severe chastening for our sin.
We have looked at this truth before
but I want to quote the following paragraph from John MacArthur because of its
importance: “As in the other beatitudes,
the emphatic pronoun autos (they)
indicates that only those who are merciful qualify to receive mercy. David sang of the Lord ‘With the Lord Thou
dost show Thyself kind’ (2 Sam. 22:26).
Speaking of the opposite side of the same truth, James says ‘For
judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy’ (James 2:13). At the end of the disciples’ prayer Jesus
explained, ‘For if you forgive men for their transgressions, 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). Again the emphatic
truth is that God will respond with chastening for an unforgiving disciple.”
As we look at these different
passages in the beatitudes or other passages that Jesus is using speaks of our
mercy gaining us salvation as we do not or cannot earn salvation by being
merciful. There is only one way to be
saved and that is by God’s mercy and once we have received God’s mercy then we
can truly show mercy to others. No one
should think that they can work their way to heaven even my doing a lifetime of
merciful deeds, and more than by good works of any sort. MacArthur adds “God does not give mercy for
merit; He gives mercy in grace, because it is needed, not because it is earned.”
Jesus tells a story to illustrate
the working of God’s mercy which is found in Matthew 18:21-35. Before giving this parable Peter asked Jesus
how often should he receive a person as Peter thought that seven times was good
enough, and so Jesus gives this parable to answer Peter’s question. You can read this story beginning with verse
21 or Matthew chapter eighteen to better understand how much God has forgiven
us and then what we are to do to others who have wronged us.
MacArthur adds this concerning this
parable: “In that parable Jesus gives a
picture of God’s saving mercy in relation to forgiving others (vv. 21-22). The first man pleaded with God for mercy and
received it. The fact that he, in turn,
was unmerciful was so inconsistent with his own salvation that he was chastened
until he repented. The Lord will
chasten, if need be, to produce repentance in a stubborn child. Mercy to others is a mark of salvation. When we do not show it, we may be disciplined
until we do. When we hold back mercy,
God restricts His flow of mercy to us, and we forfeit blessing. The presence of chastening and the absence of
blessing attend an unmerciful believer.”
I think that I understand this parable better than I have ever
understood it before and that is one of the reasons that I use aid of John
MacArthur’s commentaries and sermons as it is my desire to look deeply at the
Word of God.
One more paragraph to tie all of
this together: “If we have received from
a holy God unlimited mercy that cancels our unpayable debt of sin—we who have
no righteousness but were poor in spirit, mourning over our load of sin in
beggarly, helpless condition, wretched and doomed, meek before almighty God,
hungry and thirsty for a righteousness we did not have and could not attain—it surely
follows that we should be merciful to others.”
I hope that this last paragraph helps all of us to understand how all of
these beatitudes tie into each other and are in the order that they are in.
Lord willing we will look at the
introduction to “Happy Are the Holy” in our next SD which is found in Matthew
5:8 “"Happy are the utterly sincere, for they will see God!
(Philips).
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: I am
truly thankful for God’s mercy for without that I would still be lost in my
sin. I want to be led by the Spirit of
God to show mercy to those that I need to show mercy to.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to
be taught by the Spirit of God to be content, to learn humility, and to
continue to receive joy in the study of God’s Word.
5/11/2020 11:48
AM
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