Bible Lesson 234
Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain Mercy. Matthew 5:7
“Mercy, is that which we all desperately need. Many in the church today do not understand that mercy is something that we obtain, as we obey God to have compassion, that reveals itself as we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and love enough to show mercy in forgiveness of those who have done things that hurt our feelings”. Brobob
This month we will glean our Bibles in search of what God would have us become; and further what we will become if we are truly saved. The Sermon on the Mount describes the marks of the Child of God, not when they get to heaven; but while they live here on the earth. Every child of God will manifest the marks of life that we find in chapter 5 of the book of Matthew.
The true child of God, that one who has been born from above, and is that new creature. “In Christ” is poor in spirit, rather than arrogant, they have mourned over their sin against our Holy God, instead of self-righteousness.
They are meek, instead of a loose cannon, they control their actions. They are hungry and thirsty for the knowledge of God, instead of being some secret agent church member.
And they will be merciful just as God has shown them mercy. That makes the question that we must deal with in this lesson, “Can I truly say that my day to day life reflects all of the holy conditions that are listed in Matthew chapter 5:3-12”.
Now, we can huff and puff, cough and gag, deny and reject, but to some extend these are the marks of the Christian life.
Mercy is the act of compassion, that looks past conditions to serve another creature that is in need. We can look to the “Good Samaritan” to find a perfect example of mercy. In that parable we see mercy avoided, mercy denied, and mercy applied.
You probably remember the parable of the Good Samaritan, where we find a certain man who fell among thieves who stripped him and took his clothes and wounded him and left him for dead. We can look at that parable as ourselves, who were born dead in trespass and sin, but God, who is Gracious and merciful, found us and rescued us in regeneration.
God is sovereign over mercy; but He shows some degree of mercy to every sinner, and He teaches His Children to do that same thing. Even those who are God’s enemies are treated with mercy by Him in many ways. As a rule, those who do not know God avoid showing mercy just as the Priest who saw him and passed on the opposite side of the road, and the Levite who took a look at him and passed on by on the other side of the road. (See Luke 10:29-37). The Priest and the Levite were both of the religious parties of the Jews at that time, and they showed this man, who was in desperate need, no mercy.
It took a man that was rejected by their groups, a ‘Samaritan’ to show this man badly beaten and possibly dying, mercy. This ‘Samaritan’ did not simply bandage him up, or speak kind words to him, or tell others to help him. This Samaritan, showed him Gods kind of mercy. He applied aid; (Oil, wine, bandages), put him on his animal and took him to an inn, where he left him, paid for his keep and promised to give more if need be.
That my friends is all pure mercy. It shows a love for a neighbor in need. Would you have done the same, if you had been that Samaritan’ That is what God requires of His Children, and its high time that we who sit in our pews every Sunday, knew that.
If you are a church member you may never have thought about that; but, the Word of God (was written for God’s Creatures), now, we are all God’s Creatures; but only those who have been born from above and are obedient to the Commands of God, are God’s Children (Christians).
True Christians will extend mercy to the needs of others, not just to fellow Christians but to those who are infidels. We must remember, that our neighbors do not all live next door, but they are anyone in need. I’m afraid that many in our day have come to the place where we sometime talk about doing good works, but we always seem to leave that to someone else to do.
Listen carefully now’. There is no such thing as ‘jaw-bone’ obedience, and neither is there no such thing as speaking our way into heaven. God’s good works all require a doing; and saying and never doing is a fairytale. James, the brother of Jesus wrote, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works’ Can faith save him’
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit’ In other words, your best wishes are worthless, what God requires is that we show mercy that warms and fills that body which is naked and hungry. (James 2:14-26).
God showed His Mercy toward sinners, in sending His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to take our place on that cross to suffer bleed and die to make for us the only way out of sin and hell for eternity. Jesus Christ was, and is, God in the flesh. And so, God requires us to expend ourselves in mercy towards others as we live and teach others to obey all that God has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). Ask yourself if you have not turned a blind eye, and refused to see a neighbor in need’ There are opportunities all around us to, show our concern for others, so let’s get to it, and do it. Think on these things’..
Until next time,
may God bless and keep you
This is Bro. Bob