2003-05-16
Good Morning Treasured Readers,
I am led to continue examining the Sermon on the Mount in our quest to see who Christ has told us will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. MT 5: 7, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” While this verse doesn’t mention the words “Kingdom of Heaven,” we can assume quite confidently that the trait of being merciful is essential to those who do inherit the Kingdom. Repeatedly, we have been told that not one single word, concept, number, or punctuation mark found in the Scriptures is waste. God simply wouldn’t tolerate waste in His word. Christ is not outlining a lifestyle that is impossible or only for the time after “His feet touch on the Mt. of Olives” [ZECH 14: 4] in the Sermon on the Mount. Instead, He is giving us directions for a lifestyle that when lived will lead us to eternal life, a lifestyle that can be lived right now.
It’s useful for us to see what the word, “mercy,” means. The American Collage Dictionary defines it as, “compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence.” That is exactly what God and His Son have shown us. RO 5: 9-11, “ By His [Christ’s] death we are not put right with God; how much more then, will we be saved by Him from God’s wrath! We were God’s enemies, but He made us His friends through the death of His Son. Now that we are God’s friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ’s life! But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has now made us God’s friends.” I can speak from personal first-hand experience how mercy shown me has changed my life. In the past, I found myself forgiven, where previously I had only been given guilt for my actions. The problem is that humility and forgiveness were not emphasized in my traditionally Jewish upbringing. My family was very practiced at holding grudges and making it difficult to obtain forgiveness. Two of my relatives from the previous generation didn’t speak to each other for thirty years! When I finally asked them what the beef was, neither of them could remember the details. However, Christ gave His very life on the cross after suffering emotional humiliation and physical abuse, just so we could obtain forgiveness for our sins. That’s one of the most compelling truths that faith in Him reveals to us. I’m not trying to say that traditional Jewish families aren’t often good to each other, but mine didn’t deal with emotional issues at all well.
In recent experience, the Lord had a huge lesson to teach me. This was the difference between the Jewish concept of doing “mitzvahs” [good deeds] to earn your way into heaven and the doing of good deeds as an outgrowth of faith in Jesus Christ [Yeshua]. Traditional Jews believe that works can get one into heaven. Messianic Jews and Christians believe in FAITH + NOTHING = SALVATION. During and after my recent illness, friends from church began stopping at my home with food, offering me rides (since I have a broken leg and can’t drive yet), and pouring their love on me. I had no idea so many people cared this much. And yet, they weren’t doing these things to get to heaven. Instead, they were showing their mercy in response to Christ’s directive in the new commandment. JN 13: 34-35, “And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are My disciples.” They were teaching me how to be a better person in the process. God’s mercy extended to them was also extended to me through them. The truth of EPH 2: 8-10 was being made known to me in a very real and persuasive way. “For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it. God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus He has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already prepared for us to do.”
I often ask how a person who began her life with no interest in matters spiritual, with a desire to avoid Sunday school taken to the point of cutting class and lying about it, to the place where I am now. The same question could be asked about Saul of Tarsus whose job it was on the Sanhedrin [Jewish Ruling Counsel] to go out and persecute Jewish Christians to the point of imprisonment or even death. And yet, Christ’s mercy led to his conversion to Paul, one of the greatest of the NT writers we have, a true “bondservant of Christ set apart for the Gospel” [RO 1: 1]. The list of people to whom Christ has shown mercy is extraordinarily long and fascinating. The greatest mercy of all was God’s decision to send His Son to be incarnate, die on the cross, and enable all who believe in Him to be saved [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25; COL 1: 19-20].
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your throne as sinners in utter need of Your guidance, compassion, patience, and mercy. How blessed we are that we can confess our sins in humility before You with the hope of being forgiven. We recognize our own spiritual poverty, since You have allowed us to understand the sinful nature of our natural selves. Our flesh battles daily with the sweet and godly spiritual inner selves that You have given us. We can take comfort that our faith in Jesus Christ which endures will eventually defeat the flesh in the process of sanctification. RO 7: 15-17, 24-25, “I do not understand what I do; for I don’t do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate. Since what I do is what I don’t want to do, this shows that I agree that the Law is right. So I’m not really the one who does this thing; rather it is the sin that lives in me…What an unhappy man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death? Thanks be to God, Who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ! This, then, is my condition: on my own I can serve God’s law only with my mind, while my human nature serves the law of sin.” Your mercy, Dearest Abba, is so wonderful. It brings Your goodness and Your perspective into our lives. It was not enough that we are saved through our faith in Your Son, but You also give us Your Spirit to dwell within us and cause us to seek righteousness. We acknowledge that You allow some evil to operate in our lives, but You limit the amount of that to just what we need to work through the challenges it provides to our faith. By doing that, You allow us to become perfected and strengthened in preparation for that glorious day when we will be called to a meeting with Christ in the air [1 THESS 4: 13-17] and will be given our resurrection [immortal] bodies [1 COR 15: 42-50]. In that way, we will inherit the Kingdom and be brought back to close fellowship and bliss with You for eternity. We love You for inspiring Your Son to present the Sermon on the Mount and to set an example for how we should live to insure we will be with You in the Kingdom. What He and Paul taught are things we can do right now to strengthen our faith and endure through the challenges to it. We offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience, glory, honor, thanks, and utmost praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
In next week’s message, we will look at MT 5: 8 and more, if time permits. Our Deity is without parallel. He initiated the invitation for us to become righteous like Him and to join Him in His work. He sacrificed His only Son on the cross, so that salvation through faith in Him would be open to us. He sent us His Spirit to dwell within us, to explain the Scriptures, to encourage us to pray, listen for God’s commands, and to obey them. He offers us encouragement when we feel discouraged during times of pain, loss, and suffering. He guides us when we can’t find our way through difficult problems alone. He gives us His perspective, which is so far greater and more hopeful than the world’s fleshly one. Most of all, He is our loving Covenant Partner, Who always keeps His promises and who stays with us to offer His broad shoulders for our burdens if we will only turn to Him. Our God is eager to bless those who love Him every day of their lives. That is why I’m happy to be a “completed Jew” and to be surrounded by many wonderful believing friends who show the love that Christ modeled for us and demonstrate to me how to be a better person. Yes, that’s the goodness our God showers on us all our believing lives. Peter and I send each of you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn