Extending mercy

[phkrause]

Heard a great sermon by our conference president yesterday on the subject of mercy.

He gave us four ways that we as Christians are to extend mercy:

4) Do good to your enemies

The Bible gives believers no other option- see Lk.6:35,36

This is an interesting one. Jesus tells us to do good to those that hurt us.

[M. T. Cross]

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1) Be patient with those who are different from you.

Whether they are disabled, from another culture or just hold differing beliefs, we can take into consideration where they are coming from

This I stand behind pretty much 100%. Other than cultures that abuse women, selll children etc. I do understand that it a part of their culture, but I think some of that is horribly wrong.

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2) Forgive!!!!

Let it go! Don't allow a root of bitterness to spring up. Get over it.

Yes and no. As I said above. Forgiveness is earned. Does not mean I will hold things against people forever, just certain things cause me to be wary if not rectified

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3) Help the hurting

Remember, extending mercy will always cost you something.

Absolutely! That I can really get behind

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4) Do good to your enemies

Thats the one that I am bothered by.

[BibleOnly]

This I stand behind pretty much 100%. Other than cultures that abuse women, selll children etc. I do understand that it a part of their culture, but I think some of that is horribly wrong.

[joeb]

Sometimes mercy comes in terms some people would not recognize as mercy, and would call un-Christian, or even un-Christlike. Sometimes it takes great courage to be merciful.

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Abraham, dwelling in peace in the oak groves at Mamre, learned from one of the

fugitives the story of the battle and the calamity that had befallen his nephew. He

had cherished no unkind memory of Lot’s ingratitude. All his affection for him was

awakened, and he determined that he should be rescued. Seeking, first of all, divine

counsel, Abraham prepared for war. From his own encampment he summoned three

hundred and eighteen trained servants, men trained in the fear of God, in the service of their master, and in the practice of arms. His confederates, Mamre, Eschol, and Aner, joined him with their bands, and together they started in pursuit of the invaders. The Elamites and their allies had encamped at Dan, on the northern border of Canaan. Flushed with victory, and having no fear of an assault from their vanquished foes, they had given themselves up to reveling. The patriarch divided his force so as to approach from different directions, and came upon the encampment by night. His attack, so vigorous and unexpected, resulted in speedy victory. The king of Elam was slain and his panic-stricken forces were utterly routed. Lot and his family, with all the prisoners and their goods, were recovered, and a rich booty fell into the hands of the victors. To Abraham, under God, the triumph was due. The worshiper of Jehovah had not only rendered a great service to the country, but had proved himself a man of valor. It was seen that righteousness is not cowardice, and that Abraham’s religion made him courageous in maintaining the right and defending the oppressed. His heroic act gave him a widespread influence among the surrounding tribes. On his return, the king of Sodom came out with his retinue to honor the conqueror. He bade him take the goods, begging only that the prisoners should be restored. By the usage of war, the spoils belonged to the conquerors; but Abraham had undertaken this expedition with no purpose of gain, and he refused to take advantage of the unfortunate, only stipulating that his confederates should receive the portion to which they were entitled. Few, if subjected to such a test, would have shown themselves as noble as did Abraham. Few would have resisted the temptationto secure so rich a booty. His example is a rebuke to self-seeking, mercenary spirits.

Abraham regarded the claims of justice and humanity. His conduct illustrates the

inspired maxim, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Leviticus 19:18. “I have lifted up my hand,” he said, “unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich.” he would give them no occasion to think that he had engaged in warfare for the sake of gain, or to attribute his prosperity to their gifts or favor. God had promised to bless Abraham, and to him the glory should be ascribed. Patriarchs and Prophets pp 135, 136

Without courage there can be no justice, and without justice there can be no mercy.

[Tom Wetmore]

The quality of mercy is not strained,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,

Upon the place beneath.

It is twice blessed.

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

It is mightiest in the mightiest,

It becomes the throned monarch better than his crown.

Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

That in the course of justice we all must see salvation,

We all do pray for mercy.

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.

-- Portia to Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, by William Shakespeare

"I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice."

-- Abraham Lincoln

"What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." -- Micah 6:8

[Jeannieb43]

Thanks, Tom. Portia's Speech from The Merchant of Venice is a classic. I loved rereading it here. I memorized it for English class when I was a junior at Forest Lake Academy many years ago. Mrs. Kirstein was our teacher, and she was more cosmopolitan in her outlook than many English teachers of that day. I can still repeat the first half from memory -- but I'm glad you printed the whole thing!

[12tribes]

The wages of sin is death and because we have all sinned we should all die but, because God delights in mercy we can have salvation. The Bible says this:-

Matthew 5:16

(16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Note that it is more what we do that will convince people. They may not deserve mercy but that is what mercy is

[Dr. Rich]

EC, I tend to agree with you about loving your enemies. Since I hate evil, and my enemies are evil, how does one seperate the evil in them and the human doing the evil?

Rwv. 12:17 show that this small group will be hated by thier enemy-those who are practicing lies and following after others other than Jesus Christ. Personally, I abhore evil. Why can't we call a spade a spade as Jesus did with those who are the children of Satan?

[BibleOnly]

Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus came to people who were unable to bridge the gap between man and God. This is why we love our enemies, while abhorring their actions, because the greatest love we can show to someone is to tell them the Gospel, which can then drive the evil out of their lives. In any case, most people don't have enemies because people are 'evil', but because of a cross purpose that causes their behaviour to pursue a different goal to our own, or simply because their outlook on life is incompatible with ours, or even because your first experience with someone was bad, for no good reason, and it defined your relationship. That is why your enemies have friends, because no-one is 'pure good' except Jesus and no human is 'pure evil', even Hitler was apparently great with kids and so on. Life is not a spaghetti western, people are not always good, or always evil, they are just human.

[Dr. Rich]

How can you tell them the true gospel if you don't even know it yourself? Why not just point them to the words of Jesus instead?

What I see, is that the worst enemies of the 5 wise virgins will be the 5 foolish virgins. Does God love the 5 foolish virgins enough to offer grace so they are allowed to go into the wedding feast?

[BibleOnly]

"How can you tell them the true gospel if you don't even know it yourself? Why not just point them to the words of Jesus instead?"

It is true that the 'true Gospel' is in some dispute here, but I was ignoring that, and saying that, assuming you know the true Gospel, that is how you show mercy, by telling others.

The words of Jesus are not contradictory to the Gospel I preach, in fact they can be used, without reference to anything written after His death, to preach it. Just like Paul used the Old Testament to preach Christ.

"What I see, is that the worst enemies of the 5 wise virgins will be the 5 foolish virgins. Does God love the 5 foolish virgins enough to offer grace so they are allowed to go into the wedding feast?"

I agree, there are many who have the Spirit as well as the Word, and they fall trying to accommodate the people who seem Godly, and are sincere, but have no oil in their lamps. In fact, I have been surprised by SDA people who on the one hand tell me anyone who goes to church on Sunday has the mark of the beast, and when I tell them they need the Holy Spirit, they say 'can't you let God judge, and just assume everyone is saved if they love God' ? I think this is caused by the dichotomy between traditional Adventism and modern ecumenicalism, and the desire to be politically correct and accept everyone 'just as they are'.

[Dr. Rich]

I see that you have not yet discovered how Paul twisted the actual words written in the OT to serve his own argument--just as Satan did with Jesus. Paul said that Abraham was righteous because of his faith. Ya, Abraham had so much faith that he refused to listen to God and took his wife's maid instead. And Abraham had so much faith that he lied to the King.

Read Rom.4 and Gal. 3 and then read the REAL words and what really happened in Gen. 15:6-15. Notice verse 8? So how come Paul refused to write anything about this? And how both Abraham and Sarah laughed at God--not having any faith or trust that they could have a child as found in Gen. 17 and 18.

It would take more room than this blog has in order to show all of the twisting that Paul did with the OT to make his gospel appear to fit it.

[BibleOnly]

*yawn* this is not a blog. It's a forum. Last time you posted examples, they were stupid, like Jesus saying we need to love God and our neighbour and Paul referring only to the second part ( but always telling us to love God, he simply was making a pertinent example ). I have no reason to believe your other examples are any less ludicrous, and I don't want to engage you on them.

[Dr. Rich]

That's fine with me, I hold no hard feelings! Just saying it may be a wise thing to do as did/does our last pastor when she read what I researched, to call the words of Jesus "the words of Jesus" and Paul's words "the words of Paul".

[John317]

I see that you have not yet discovered how Paul twisted the actual words written in the OT to serve his own argument--just as Satan did with Jesus.

Trash and the spirit of Satan.

[joeb]

Do we recognize God's mercy when He shows it to us? I wonder if we really do. Here's an example of how God's people have failed to recognize His mercy in His leading when an obstacle first appeared.

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The Hebrews were encamped beside the sea, whose waters presented a seemingly impassable barrier before them, while on the south a rugged mountain obstructed their further progress. Suddenly they beheld in the distance the flashing armor and moving chariots betokening the advance guard of a great army. As the force drew nearer, the hosts of Egypt were seen in full pursuit. Terror filled the hearts of Israel. Some cried unto the Lord, but far the greater part hastened to Moses with their complaints: “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth

out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone,

that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”

Moses was greatly troubled that his people should manifest so little faith in God,

notwithstanding they had repeatedly witnessed the manifestation of his power in their behalf. How could they charge upon him the dangers and difficulties of their situation, when he had followed the express command of God? True, there was no possibility of deliverance unless God himself should interpose for their release; but having been brought into this position in obedience to the divine direction, Moses felt no fear of the consequences. His calm and assuring reply to the people was, “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”

<snip> ....

God in his providence brought the hebrews into the mountain fastnesses before the sea, that he might manifest his power in their deliverance and signally humble the pride of their oppressors. He might have saved them in any other way, but he chose this method in order to test their faith and strengthen their trust in him. The people were weary and terrified, yet if they had held back when Moses bade them advance, God would never have opened the path for them. It was “by faith” that “they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land.” Hebrews 11:29. In marching down to the very

water, they showed that they believed the word of God as spoken by Moses. They did all that was in their power to do, and then the Mighty One of Israel divided the sea to make a path for their feet.

The great lesson here taught is for all time. Often the Christian life is beset by dangers, and duty seems hard to perform. The imagination pictures impending ruin before and bondage or death behind. Yet the voice of God speaks clearly, “Go forward.” We should obey this command, even though our eyes cannot penetrate the darkness, and we feel the cold waves about our feet. The obstacles that hinder our progress will never disappear before a halting, doubting spirit. Those who defer obedience till every shadow of uncertainty disappears and there remains no risk of

failure or defeat, will never obey at all. Unbelief whispers, “Let us wait till the

obstructions are removed, and we can see our way clearly;” but faith courageously urges an advance, hoping all things, believing all things. Patriarchs and Prophets pp, 284, 290

[Naomi]

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Trash and the spirit of Satan.

Right-on John317