Exercising Mercy (Part 2)
Yesterday, I posted part one to this thought about having mercy on those who messed up. Today, I will continue the thought with more Bible to encourage us to have mercy and to forgive.
Luke 5:30 “But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?”
Do you remember what Jesus said about the guy who looks on a woman in lust? God says he has committed adultery already in his heart. The standard of excellence God asks of us for is far beyond anything we live. We all ought to strive for Christlikeness, but as we do, we must understand how far we fall short. Because of that, we ought to have mercy on others.
John wrote that if you hate your brother, you are a murderer. He then asks how you can say you love God? (1 John 3:15)
Those first-century critics accused John the Baptist as well as Jesus.
Luke 7:33 “For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.”
vs. 34 “The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!”
Twice, this crowd of shameless judges accused Jesus of being friends with sinners. (We better all be glad Jesus will be a friend of sinners, otherwise we would have no hope.)
Luke 15:1 “Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.”
vs. 2 “And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.”
Luke 19:5 “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.”
vs. 6 “And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.”
vs. 7 “And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.”
Mark this down and thank God for it!! Every time you lift your voice in prayer, Christ bows His ear to a sinner.
God bestows every blessing in your life, knowing he is doing so to a person filled with greed, selfishness, arrogance, pride, fear, doubt, and a judgmental spirit. God blesses sinners!
Every time we knock on a door and invite someone to church, we invite a sinner, a fallen, condemned, Hell-bound sinner to enter our church
Every time we shake hands with a guest in our church, we do so with a hand that is selfish, and loves the things of this world more than the things of God. What gives us the arrogance to act as though others are bad and we are good?
As Jesus stood by the woman supposedly taken in adultery (John 8), He asked that the one without sin cast the first stone. In the presence of the almighty God, they all walked out – from the greatest to the least. Jesus was the only One without sin, and He cast no stones, but instead He had mercy.
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
Matthew 6:15 “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Do you know there are people sitting out of church across America today that would like to be in church, but they know the spirit of God's people – therefore they will not go back to church. Not because of their desire to be out of church or because of their sin, but because of the attitude of God's people, these castaways are out of church and may never return again.
If someone broke the law, allow the law to do its duty; you go on loving people. If someone cannot teach or lead in a ministry, that is fine. (For logical reasons, most churches have rules on who can teach and serve in leadership and who cannot.)
…But mercy and love are commands of God.
1 Corinthians 6:11 “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."
God says that when a person is saved, they are washed, sanctified, and justified. How much like God are we?
Pastor