1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,080 You are listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 2 00:00:07,080 –> 00:00:16,580 To contact us, call us at 1-877-Open365 or visit our website, openthebible.org. 3 00:00:16,580 –> 00:00:19,139 Let’s get to the message, here is Pastor Colin. 4 00:00:19,139 –> 00:00:24,240 The attitude has really set out for us the distinguishing marks of true Christians. 5 00:00:24,240 –> 00:00:29,000 They are not there to tell us how to become Christians, they are telling us what true 6 00:00:29,200 –> 00:00:30,559 Christians look like. 7 00:00:30,559 –> 00:00:35,700 The Beatitudes therefore are to be used as a kind of a mirror to hold them up and say 8 00:00:35,700 –> 00:00:39,320 now, this is what a true Christian looks like. 9 00:00:39,320 –> 00:00:40,720 Are these things in me? 10 00:00:40,720 –> 00:00:42,880 Are these the things that I’m pursuing? 11 00:00:42,880 –> 00:00:46,540 And then we noted in the first part of our series that the Beatitudes are given to us 12 00:00:46,540 –> 00:00:49,000 in a particular order. 13 00:00:49,000 –> 00:00:54,820 There is a progression in which one leads to the next, and each springs out of those 14 00:00:54,820 –> 00:00:55,959 that have gone before. 15 00:00:56,779 –> 00:01:02,400 We tried to picture this in terms of the image of someone doing the monkey swing in which 16 00:01:02,400 –> 00:01:07,980 you move from one ring to another, and reach each ring through the momentum that you gain 17 00:01:07,980 –> 00:01:10,820 from swinging on the last one. 18 00:01:10,820 –> 00:01:15,279 If you have your Bible opened in Matthew chapter five, you’ll notice that the Beatitudes begin 19 00:01:15,279 –> 00:01:16,959 in verse three. 20 00:01:16,959 –> 00:01:19,220 Blessed are the poor in spirit. 21 00:01:19,220 –> 00:01:24,760 Here’s the place where every person can begin and where every person must begin. 22 00:01:24,820 –> 00:01:26,500 There’s no other place to begin. 23 00:01:26,519 –> 00:01:31,180 A recognition that when it comes to standing before God, we do not have what it takes, 24 00:01:31,180 –> 00:01:32,739 poor in spirit. 25 00:01:32,739 –> 00:01:34,379 And out of that comes what? 26 00:01:34,379 –> 00:01:38,779 Blessed are those who mourn, when I realize that I do not have what God requires of me, 27 00:01:38,779 –> 00:01:41,000 I begin to take ownership of the fact. 28 00:01:41,000 –> 00:01:46,000 I see and begin to loathe the sins that have put me in that position, and to mourn over 29 00:01:46,000 –> 00:01:47,000 them. 30 00:01:47,000 –> 00:01:48,239 What comes out of that? 31 00:01:48,239 –> 00:01:50,000 Blessed are the meek, verse five. 32 00:01:50,000 –> 00:01:54,000 We saw that meekness literally becoming used to the hand. 33 00:01:54,000 –> 00:02:01,019 Like a wild animal with all of its energy and power being diversified and uncoordinated, 34 00:02:01,019 –> 00:02:06,080 and when it becomes used to the hand where its strength is tamed and directed, it’s in 35 00:02:06,080 –> 00:02:09,880 an altogether different and more useful position. 36 00:02:09,880 –> 00:02:13,919 And we saw that this is all about meekness is submitting to the hand of God. 37 00:02:13,919 –> 00:02:19,039 Out of my sense of my own need and awareness of my own sins, I come to God and instead 38 00:02:19,080 –> 00:02:20,759 of saying, look what I’ve got. 39 00:02:20,759 –> 00:02:26,240 I say, oh God, give to me what I do not have and what I need and what only you in Jesus 40 00:02:26,320 –> 00:02:29,500 Christ can give me, I submit myself to you. 41 00:02:29,500 –> 00:02:31,039 And out of that comes what? 42 00:02:31,039 –> 00:02:36,000 A great desire, hunger, thirst, verse six, for righteousness. 43 00:02:36,000 –> 00:02:41,919 Whenever a person submits themselves to Christ, the Holy Spirit will create in that person 44 00:02:41,919 –> 00:02:45,800 a desire to be like Jesus Christ. 45 00:02:45,800 –> 00:02:51,839 A longing for holiness is birthed by the Holy Spirit in every Christian, and here’s what 46 00:02:51,839 –> 00:02:52,839 it looks like. 47 00:02:52,839 –> 00:02:57,339 A true Christian is not a person who feels how righteous he is, in fact it’s precisely 48 00:02:57,339 –> 00:02:58,339 the opposite. 49 00:02:58,339 –> 00:03:04,080 A true Christian is one who has this great hunger and thirst to know more of the righteousness 50 00:03:04,080 –> 00:03:08,440 that he or she sees in the Lord Jesus Christ. 51 00:03:08,440 –> 00:03:13,100 These are distinguishing marks, unavoidable marks, inevitable marks of the work of the 52 00:03:13,240 –> 00:03:16,580 Holy Spirit in the life of any person. 53 00:03:16,580 –> 00:03:19,820 And you can see that there’s order and there’s progress here. 54 00:03:19,820 –> 00:03:25,179 One writer says that the Beatitudes are like jewels, and the Lord Jesus Christ never flings 55 00:03:25,179 –> 00:03:31,539 the jewels down in a heap, like a jeweler stringing together a beautiful priceless necklace, 56 00:03:31,539 –> 00:03:37,679 he takes the jewels and he places them in order, and the Beatitudes string together 57 00:03:38,020 –> 00:03:44,399 what it looks like to progress in the Christian life and for us to move forward together. 58 00:03:44,399 –> 00:03:49,240 Now, like you, I am finding this series to be very challenging, and here’s the health 59 00:03:49,240 –> 00:03:51,740 warning as we come to the second part of it. 60 00:03:51,740 –> 00:03:55,779 The further we go down this series of rings, as it were, the further we progress in the 61 00:03:55,779 –> 00:04:00,759 Beatitudes the more challenging this is going to become. 62 00:04:00,759 –> 00:04:05,580 And often we will find ourselves getting onto a particular ring and then we fall off, and 63 00:04:05,580 –> 00:04:06,600 there we are. 64 00:04:06,660 –> 00:04:10,160 And what happens when you fall off and you fail and you mess up? 65 00:04:10,160 –> 00:04:14,720 Well, what happens if you’re a Christian, is you say, well, Lord, I don’t have what 66 00:04:14,720 –> 00:04:15,779 it takes. 67 00:04:15,779 –> 00:04:17,559 Be merciful to me, and guess what? 68 00:04:17,559 –> 00:04:20,779 The moment you’ve said that you’re on the first ring, aren’t you? 69 00:04:20,779 –> 00:04:26,820 And I really hate this sin that has now overcome me and has pulled me down, and this failure, 70 00:04:26,820 –> 00:04:32,739 and I’m submitting myself to you that you would help me and give me grace that I may 71 00:04:32,739 –> 00:04:34,500 move forward in a different way. 72 00:04:34,679 –> 00:04:39,000 I will not let go as I long, hunger and thirst after righteousness to grow and to be different 73 00:04:39,000 –> 00:04:40,459 and to be more like Christ. 74 00:04:40,459 –> 00:04:41,899 And you see what’s happening? 75 00:04:41,899 –> 00:04:43,619 Straightaway you’re getting back on the rings. 76 00:04:43,619 –> 00:04:48,700 You always begin from number one, and you’re back at this whole business of making progress, 77 00:04:48,700 –> 00:04:51,899 and so that’s what the Christian life will look like for all of us this year. 78 00:04:51,899 –> 00:04:56,119 There’ll be many times where we find ourselves, as it were, falling off, and we’re cast back 79 00:04:56,119 –> 00:05:02,320 on the mercy of God, and on which we always rely, and on which we always depend. 80 00:05:02,980 –> 00:05:08,299 Now, as we’ve looked at this series in the big picture, we have seen that to use our 81 00:05:08,299 –> 00:05:15,100 orchard language, there’s a kind of roots-life-fruit pattern in these Beatitudes. 82 00:05:15,100 –> 00:05:20,980 The first three are really the roots of the godly life, to be poor in spirit, to mourn 83 00:05:20,980 –> 00:05:24,260 our sins, and to submit ourselves to Jesus Christ. 84 00:05:24,260 –> 00:05:30,260 These are the roots of the blessed life, the godly life from which everything else springs. 85 00:05:30,279 –> 00:05:34,119 And what is the life that springs from that threefold root? 86 00:05:34,119 –> 00:05:35,799 Answer-it’s the fourth Beatitude. 87 00:05:35,799 –> 00:05:41,399 It is this great longing and pursuit of and going after righteousness. 88 00:05:41,399 –> 00:05:47,359 That is the distinguishing mark, the soul of the godly life of a Christian believer. 89 00:05:47,359 –> 00:05:52,040 And the roots of knowing your own need, and of mourning your own sins, and of submitting 90 00:05:52,040 –> 00:05:57,019 yourself to Christ will always produce the shoots of this wonderful life. 91 00:05:57,019 –> 00:05:59,720 These roots always nourish this wonderful life. 92 00:05:59,720 –> 00:06:07,140 They sustain this wonderful life and keep it growing, this wonderful life of going after 93 00:06:07,140 –> 00:06:08,140 righteousness. 94 00:06:08,140 –> 00:06:10,980 The flesh can never produce this. 95 00:06:10,980 –> 00:06:16,959 Only the roots of God’s redeeming work planted in the human soul produce this life of the 96 00:06:16,959 –> 00:06:18,559 fourth Beatitude. 97 00:06:18,559 –> 00:06:23,600 But then as that life begins to grow, the roots produce the shoots and the life, and 98 00:06:23,739 –> 00:06:33,640 of that now comes in the last Beatitudes an abundance of beautiful, beautiful fruit. 99 00:06:33,640 –> 00:06:38,200 And do you see what the fruit is in verse 7, 8, and 9? 100 00:06:38,200 –> 00:06:40,940 Mercy, verse 7. 101 00:06:40,940 –> 00:06:44,019 Purity, verse 8. 102 00:06:44,019 –> 00:06:47,260 And peace, verse 9. 103 00:06:47,260 –> 00:06:50,600 This is the fruit that’s coming out of everything that we’ve been learning in the first part 104 00:06:50,600 –> 00:06:51,600 of our series. 105 00:06:51,600 –> 00:06:54,679 And it’s where we take up the story from today. 106 00:06:54,679 –> 00:07:00,600 And I want you to think, since this is the first Sunday of a new year, how blessed would 107 00:07:00,600 –> 00:07:09,779 you be, if there was to be a bumper crop of that beautiful three-fold fruit in your life. 108 00:07:09,779 –> 00:07:17,500 How blessed would you be if this year the heart that is perhaps too often angry were 109 00:07:17,559 –> 00:07:25,299 to be melted with compassion and being filled in a new way with this beautiful fruit of 110 00:07:25,299 –> 00:07:33,380 mercy, you were able to forgive and to release something that has been clinging to you or 111 00:07:33,380 –> 00:07:39,380 perhaps many things that have been clinging to you for way, way, way too long. 112 00:07:39,380 –> 00:07:45,459 And how blessed would you be if this year the heart that so often has been divided and 113 00:07:45,579 –> 00:07:48,059 at odds with itself. 114 00:07:48,059 –> 00:07:53,739 Bible says the double minded man is unstable in all his ways, and here’s been your problem. 115 00:07:53,739 –> 00:07:59,200 Because your hearts divided, you’ve been falling into the same sin again, and again, and again, 116 00:07:59,200 –> 00:08:04,700 and again and what if that heart was to become one instead of being divided? 117 00:08:04,700 –> 00:08:11,000 That is what is meant by purity of heart, the heart to be one thing, one focus, to go 118 00:08:11,000 –> 00:08:13,899 after one thing. 119 00:08:13,899 –> 00:08:20,279 How blessed would you be if that were to happen, if your life were to become aligned as a disciple 120 00:08:20,279 –> 00:08:28,059 of Jesus Christ and there were to be a bumper crop of purity that was to grow out of these 121 00:08:28,059 –> 00:08:34,700 roots and out of this wonderful life that pursues righteousness in your soul? 122 00:08:34,700 –> 00:08:38,700 And what if this year there was to be a bumper crop of peace? 123 00:08:38,719 –> 00:08:45,979 What if this fractiousness, this tension, this turmoil that so often can be carried 124 00:08:45,979 –> 00:08:50,799 within the human soul and you bring it into your family and you bring it into your workplace 125 00:08:50,799 –> 00:08:55,739 and there is turmoil around you because there is turmoil within you, what if there were 126 00:08:55,739 –> 00:09:01,460 to be a harvest of peace and because there is a harvest of peace within you, you become 127 00:09:01,460 –> 00:09:03,739 what Jesus describes here, a peacemaker. 128 00:09:03,780 –> 00:09:11,119 You bring that peace with you into a turbulent workplace and a turbulent, perhaps family 129 00:09:11,140 –> 00:09:15,260 and neighborhood and into a turbulent world. 130 00:09:15,260 –> 00:09:18,780 Well, simply to describe these things is to desire them, isn’t it? 131 00:09:18,780 –> 00:09:22,340 I mean anyone who loves Christ, you say, oh, Lord, that’s what I want. 132 00:09:22,340 –> 00:09:23,340 That’s the fruit. 133 00:09:23,340 –> 00:09:24,760 That’s what I need more of. 134 00:09:24,760 –> 00:09:30,020 Oh, give me a bumper crop of these things in my soul. 135 00:09:30,039 –> 00:09:36,580 Well, we come then to the fifth beatitude and begin on the great fruits of the work 136 00:09:36,580 –> 00:09:40,900 of Christ, the redeeming work of Christ in a believer’s life. 137 00:09:40,900 –> 00:09:49,460 And it says here verse 7, blessed are the merciful, the merciful, for they shall receive 138 00:09:49,460 –> 00:09:50,460 mercy. 139 00:09:50,460 –> 00:09:53,900 And again, we’re following our pattern in the series. 140 00:09:53,900 –> 00:09:57,940 We’re spending two weekends on each of these beatitudes so we can really think about them 141 00:09:58,460 –> 00:10:00,140 and work on them intentionally. 142 00:10:00,140 –> 00:10:04,700 Today, we’re going to ask the question, what is Christ calling me to? 143 00:10:04,700 –> 00:10:08,619 And then next week, we’re going to ask the question, how can I have more of this mercy 144 00:10:08,619 –> 00:10:10,260 in my life? 145 00:10:10,260 –> 00:10:14,960 Well today then, what is Christ calling us to? 146 00:10:14,960 –> 00:10:18,979 The place to begin, of course, is the story of the Good Samaritan which was read for us 147 00:10:18,979 –> 00:10:20,940 a few moments ago. 148 00:10:20,940 –> 00:10:24,119 And most of you are very familiar with this story. 149 00:10:24,119 –> 00:10:26,419 Here’s this man on a journey in a dangerous place. 150 00:10:26,659 –> 00:10:30,880 He’s attacked, he’s robbed, he’s beaten, he’s left for dead. 151 00:10:30,880 –> 00:10:35,960 Another traveler comes along, passes by, a second traveler comes along, same spot, sees 152 00:10:35,960 –> 00:10:38,479 the need, walks on. 153 00:10:38,479 –> 00:10:42,780 Then Jesus says, but a Samaritan came to where this man was. 154 00:10:42,780 –> 00:10:50,799 In verse 33 of Luke 10, when he saw him, he had compassion. 155 00:10:50,799 –> 00:10:53,200 Compassion. 156 00:10:53,219 –> 00:11:00,320 And it doesn’t end there, because he had compassion, Jesus says, verse 34, he went to him, he bound 157 00:11:00,320 –> 00:11:06,979 up his wounds, and he poured on oil and wine. 158 00:11:06,979 –> 00:11:11,940 At the end of the story, notice this is very important, Jesus asks the question of the 159 00:11:11,940 –> 00:11:16,700 person with whom he’s speaking, which of these three travelers who came down the road was 160 00:11:16,700 –> 00:11:22,760 really a neighbor to this man who was beaten up and bruised and left for dead in the road? 161 00:11:22,780 –> 00:11:28,479 The one with whom Jesus is speaking rightly answers, verse 37, it was the one who showed 162 00:11:28,479 –> 00:11:31,159 him mercy. 163 00:11:31,159 –> 00:11:32,460 Mercy. 164 00:11:32,460 –> 00:11:39,919 So, this most famous of Jesus’ parables is a story about mercy, and Jesus is teaching 165 00:11:39,919 –> 00:11:45,640 us here that mercy has two parts that are always joined together. 166 00:11:45,640 –> 00:11:50,099 The first is that there is a tenderness of heart. 167 00:11:50,099 –> 00:11:52,840 When the man saw him, he had compassion. 168 00:11:52,840 –> 00:11:55,700 That’s the feeling of the heart. 169 00:11:55,700 –> 00:11:58,020 He’s not one of these people who say, well, look at him. 170 00:11:58,020 –> 00:12:00,960 You know, it’s his own fault. 171 00:12:00,960 –> 00:12:03,539 No, there was compassion. 172 00:12:03,539 –> 00:12:09,200 The heart was moved, the heart of the good Samaritan, by the sight of this man’s need 173 00:12:09,200 –> 00:12:11,919 and of his plight. 174 00:12:11,919 –> 00:12:16,059 But not only was there tenderness of heart, there was action that came from the tenderness 175 00:12:16,059 –> 00:12:17,059 of heart. 176 00:12:17,059 –> 00:12:18,059 He went to him. 177 00:12:18,059 –> 00:12:21,000 He bound up his wounds, pouring in the oil and the wine. 178 00:12:21,000 –> 00:12:27,520 So, mercy is always comprised of these two component parts, feeling and action. 179 00:12:27,520 –> 00:12:33,900 So, we can define it this way, that mercy involves a tender heart that cares, a tender 180 00:12:33,900 –> 00:12:41,599 heart that cares and acts, cares and acts for the good of others. 181 00:12:42,000 –> 00:12:42,919 That’s what mercy is. 182 00:12:42,919 –> 00:12:46,460 And Jesus says, blessed are the merciful. 183 00:12:46,460 –> 00:12:52,179 That’s where you’ll be blessed, for they shall receive mercy. 184 00:12:52,179 –> 00:12:55,479 I want to simply attempt three things today. 185 00:12:55,479 –> 00:12:59,419 The first is to remind you that mercy is at the very heart of God. 186 00:12:59,419 –> 00:13:05,320 The second is to remind us that it is at the heart of our calling as Christians, and the 187 00:13:05,359 –> 00:13:10,659 The third is to give some practical examples of where all of us may be able to practice 188 00:13:10,659 –> 00:13:13,320 mercy this week. 189 00:13:13,320 –> 00:13:15,739 So, let’s begin here. 190 00:13:15,739 –> 00:13:25,440 Mercy is the very character of God, and it is so important for us to grasp this that 191 00:13:25,440 –> 00:13:34,719 when God revealed Himself to Moses at Mount Sinai, God gave a beautiful fourfold description 192 00:13:34,719 –> 00:13:39,059 of what every redeemed person needs to know about Him. 193 00:13:39,059 –> 00:13:43,520 If you’re a believer today, there are four things that you need to know about God more 194 00:13:43,520 –> 00:13:49,700 than any other, and it’s so important that this fourfold description of God is repeated 195 00:13:49,700 –> 00:13:53,260 no less than seven times in the Old Testament. 196 00:13:53,260 –> 00:13:55,780 That’s how important it is. 197 00:13:55,780 –> 00:14:00,500 And you will recognize these words they were regularly repeated by the Israelites as part 198 00:14:00,539 –> 00:14:05,260 of their worship, and that is why they’re reflected in the Psalms so often. 199 00:14:05,260 –> 00:14:08,820 Here is the fourfold glory and beauty of God. 200 00:14:08,820 –> 00:14:14,900 Everything that you most need to know about Him, the Lord is gracious, merciful, slow 201 00:14:14,900 –> 00:14:18,020 to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. 202 00:14:18,020 –> 00:14:20,780 That’s everything you most need to know about God as a believer. 203 00:14:20,780 –> 00:14:27,500 He’s gracious, He’s merciful, He is slow to anger, and He is abounding in love. 204 00:14:27,500 –> 00:14:32,000 Ten times we’re told that in the Old Testament, constantly repeated in the Jewish worship 205 00:14:32,000 –> 00:14:42,059 of the Old Testament, this is your God, behold Him in the beauty of His fourfold love and 206 00:14:42,059 –> 00:14:43,179 glory. 207 00:14:43,179 –> 00:14:46,820 And of course, as you know, the rest of the Bible takes up this theme, so that when we 208 00:14:46,820 –> 00:14:52,760 get to the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 4 tells us this, that God is rich 209 00:14:52,760 –> 00:14:53,760 in mercy. 210 00:14:53,760 –> 00:14:56,280 There is a lavishness about this. 211 00:14:56,900 –> 00:15:01,020 There’s an unlimited mercy that is in the heart of God. 212 00:15:01,020 –> 00:15:05,940 It is inexhaustible, and it is forever. 213 00:15:05,940 –> 00:15:10,900 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me, a believer says, all the days of my life. 214 00:15:10,900 –> 00:15:15,559 There’ll never be a day when God’s mercy is not new towards me. 215 00:15:15,559 –> 00:15:20,119 It is out of God’s mercy that we are saved, Titus chapter 3 and verse 5. 216 00:15:20,119 –> 00:15:25,419 And when Paul gives his own testimony, he says when it comes to sinners, I was at the 217 00:15:25,419 –> 00:15:27,479 very front of the line. 218 00:15:27,479 –> 00:15:32,340 I was the foremost of sinners, the first of them all, but here’s what happened, and he 219 00:15:32,340 –> 00:15:36,780 boils it down to this one phrase, I received mercy, mercy. 220 00:15:36,780 –> 00:15:42,460 It’s at the heart of your salvation, in Jesus Christ. 221 00:15:42,460 –> 00:15:47,239 When you come to the book of Hebrews, you find the Scriptures zooming in, as it were, 222 00:15:47,239 –> 00:15:49,719 on the mercy of our Lord Jesus. 223 00:15:49,719 –> 00:15:53,260 We’re told this, he had to be made like his brothers. 224 00:15:54,039 –> 00:15:57,140 That’s Christmas, that’s the incarnation that’s in taking flesh. 225 00:15:57,140 –> 00:15:58,260 So, why was that? 226 00:15:58,260 –> 00:15:59,580 What was Christmas all about? 227 00:15:59,580 –> 00:16:02,780 He had to be made like his brothers in every respect, why? 228 00:16:02,780 –> 00:16:06,299 So that he might become a merciful high priest. 229 00:16:06,299 –> 00:16:07,900 You see? 230 00:16:07,900 –> 00:16:14,179 Because he has been in our skin, he’s experienced, and felt, and seen human life from the inside. 231 00:16:14,179 –> 00:16:21,700 He knows what it’s like, he’s been there, and therefore he’s merciful, merciful high 232 00:16:21,700 –> 00:16:22,700 priest. 233 00:16:22,739 –> 00:16:26,940 Be merciful high priest, let’s try and put flesh on that. 234 00:16:26,940 –> 00:16:30,359 Think of the mercy of Jesus to Simon Peter. 235 00:16:30,359 –> 00:16:42,700 Remember, Jesus says to him, Simon, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. 236 00:16:42,700 –> 00:16:50,539 Peter, you are going to fail in spectacular fashion. 237 00:16:50,700 –> 00:16:55,219 You are just going to be the mother of all mess ups. 238 00:16:55,219 –> 00:16:59,640 And there may be someone here and you say, boy, that’s speaking to me. 239 00:16:59,640 –> 00:17:00,640 It’s just what I’ve done. 240 00:17:00,640 –> 00:17:04,500 I’m in the middle of the mother of all mess ups. 241 00:17:04,500 –> 00:17:09,160 And perhaps like Peter, you’re left in that place saying, how in the world did I end up 242 00:17:09,160 –> 00:17:11,199 doing that? 243 00:17:11,199 –> 00:17:16,819 How in the world could I have got myself into the situation, into this mess? 244 00:17:16,819 –> 00:17:20,319 Whatever made me do it? 245 00:17:20,319 –> 00:17:28,420 But Jesus says to Peter, and this is for you today, Satan wants to sift you like wheat. 246 00:17:28,420 –> 00:17:35,719 But Jesus says, I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. 247 00:17:35,719 –> 00:17:37,540 And Peter’s faith did not fail. 248 00:17:37,540 –> 00:17:40,140 You say, well, didn’t he deny Jesus? 249 00:17:40,140 –> 00:17:41,180 Yes, he did. 250 00:17:41,180 –> 00:17:47,859 His testimony failed as your testimony may have failed. 251 00:17:47,859 –> 00:17:51,099 But Peter’s faith could not live with his denial. 252 00:17:51,099 –> 00:17:53,939 His faith produced repentance. 253 00:17:53,939 –> 00:18:01,979 And so after the resurrection you find Peter next to the Lord Jesus Christ, and he’s saying, 254 00:18:01,979 –> 00:18:05,000 Jesus, you know that I love you. 255 00:18:05,000 –> 00:18:12,219 And Jesus says to him, Peter, go feed my sheep. 256 00:18:12,219 –> 00:18:17,140 And he says that to the man who’s been in the mother of all mess ups. 257 00:18:17,619 –> 00:18:20,619 a merciful high priest. 258 00:18:20,619 –> 00:18:29,979 He’s so glad that that’s your Jesus, that because of mercy, your failure need to never 259 00:18:29,979 –> 00:18:32,180 have the last word. 260 00:18:32,180 –> 00:18:34,420 That’s mercy. 261 00:18:34,420 –> 00:18:38,819 And in Jesus Christ, God says to His people, I will be merciful towards their iniquities. 262 00:18:38,819 –> 00:18:41,880 I will remember their sins, no more. 263 00:18:41,880 –> 00:18:47,040 What a great promise that is for the New Year. 264 00:18:47,040 –> 00:18:51,560 And when you know that Christ is a merciful high priest, you’ll want to come to Him. 265 00:18:51,560 –> 00:18:55,439 You see, as long as there’s a lurking suspicion in our minds that God is really out to get 266 00:18:55,439 –> 00:18:59,939 us and condemn us, and to just prove what a wretched failure we actually are. 267 00:18:59,939 –> 00:19:04,260 As long as we have that kind of feeling that God is primarily condemning towards us, we’ll 268 00:19:04,260 –> 00:19:10,719 try and keep at a distance from Him – a safe distance – even when we’re in church. 269 00:19:10,719 –> 00:19:15,400 But when you know that Jesus is a merciful high priest, and you see the beauty of what 270 00:19:15,439 –> 00:19:22,160 mercy is, and His care and His compassion and His readiness to act for you, well then 271 00:19:22,160 –> 00:19:24,540 you begin to feel you want to get nearer to Him. 272 00:19:24,540 –> 00:19:25,599 That’s what I need. 273 00:19:25,599 –> 00:19:27,599 That’s what I’m looking for. 274 00:19:27,599 –> 00:19:29,579 And that’s why the book of Hebrews says, 275 00:19:29,579 –> 00:19:33,359 Let us then, with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace 276 00:19:33,359 –> 00:19:40,880 that we may receive mercy and find our grace to help in time of need. 277 00:19:40,880 –> 00:19:44,020 Think of the mercy of Jesus to Thomas. 278 00:19:44,040 –> 00:19:47,079 Think about Thomas’ position. 279 00:19:47,099 –> 00:19:57,680 Here’s a man in spiritual leadership, and this man who is trusted with spiritual leadership, 280 00:19:57,680 –> 00:20:04,000 he’s got responsibility in the service of Christ, and he knows that his own faith is 281 00:20:04,000 –> 00:20:06,359 not in a good state of repair. 282 00:20:06,359 –> 00:20:10,339 That’s not a comfortable place to be. 283 00:20:10,339 –> 00:20:16,400 Unanswered questions have been piling up in his own life, and in his heart he must have 284 00:20:16,400 –> 00:20:22,079 felt that he was slipping away, and even when the other disciples had gathered there were 285 00:20:22,079 –> 00:20:27,699 occasions when he was not there and the man who was once at the center of things is somehow 286 00:20:27,699 –> 00:20:35,699 sliding to the side, and it’s not good what’s happening in his soul. 287 00:20:35,699 –> 00:20:38,300 Here’s the good news. 288 00:20:38,300 –> 00:20:48,300 Christ never lets one of His struggling children go, because He’s a merciful high priest. 289 00:20:48,300 –> 00:20:56,020 He’s merciful, and you remember how Christ, after the resurrected, comes to this man in 290 00:20:56,020 –> 00:21:01,420 spiritual leadership who is struggling with his own questions and doubts and in his own 291 00:21:01,739 –> 00:21:03,739 faith? 292 00:21:03,739 –> 00:21:09,219 And Jesus says to him, Now, Thomas, you just put your finger in the nail prints in my hand. 293 00:21:09,219 –> 00:21:14,780 If you wanted, Thomas, you can put your whole fist into this wound in my side, but listen 294 00:21:14,780 –> 00:21:20,719 Thomas, you stop doubting and believe. 295 00:21:20,719 –> 00:21:27,839 And, you know, the risen Lord Jesus Christ is able to come near to a struggling believer 296 00:21:27,979 –> 00:21:34,560 at the beginning of this New Year in this sanctuary today, in that same way. 297 00:21:34,560 –> 00:21:38,359 And to bring you to a place, and I pray that this will happen for some, and perhaps many 298 00:21:38,359 –> 00:21:44,040 today, a place where you may not have been for years where with Thomas you would come 299 00:21:44,040 –> 00:21:49,160 to your knees, and you would look up to this merciful Christ, and you would say, My Lord 300 00:21:49,160 –> 00:21:51,880 and my God. 301 00:21:51,880 –> 00:21:53,680 Mercy. 302 00:21:54,439 –> 00:22:03,939 Now, not only is mercy at the very core of what we need to know about our wonderful God, 303 00:22:03,939 –> 00:22:08,439 but it follows of course that because it is the heart of God, it therefore is at the heart 304 00:22:08,439 –> 00:22:13,079 of our calling and that mercy is God’s calling to us. 305 00:22:13,079 –> 00:22:16,099 What is the point of the Christian life? 306 00:22:16,099 –> 00:22:18,920 What does the church exist for? 307 00:22:18,920 –> 00:22:20,560 What does the world exist for? 308 00:22:20,560 –> 00:22:21,939 Why did God create the world? 309 00:22:22,280 –> 00:22:25,219 What’s the biggest possible question? 310 00:22:25,219 –> 00:22:26,219 What’s life? 311 00:22:26,219 –> 00:22:27,219 What’s anything for? 312 00:22:27,219 –> 00:22:39,760 And the answer is this – the ultimate answer – that God is in the business of multiplying 313 00:22:39,760 –> 00:22:43,420 the image that He loves. 314 00:22:43,619 –> 00:22:50,780 He has one Son, an only begotten Son, the image of the Father. 315 00:22:50,780 –> 00:22:58,500 And loving that image the Almighty seeks to multiply it that Christ might be the first 316 00:22:58,500 –> 00:23:03,280 born of many brothers and sisters. 317 00:23:03,280 –> 00:23:08,619 That there would be those who share the likeness of Christ and therefore bring joy and glory 318 00:23:08,619 –> 00:23:10,380 to the heart of God for all eternity. 319 00:23:10,859 –> 00:23:15,260 That’s the very purpose for which the world was made. 320 00:23:15,260 –> 00:23:19,699 And that is the ultimate good for which God is always working in the life of every Christian 321 00:23:19,699 –> 00:23:21,500 believer. 322 00:23:21,500 –> 00:23:25,780 And because mercy is at the heart of God, mercy is at the very heart of what God is 323 00:23:25,780 –> 00:23:31,579 seeking to reproduce in the lives of us who are His people, united in the bonds of faith 324 00:23:31,579 –> 00:23:32,579 to Jesus Christ. 325 00:23:32,579 –> 00:23:36,359 And so, this again, is written all over the Scripture, and I don’t need to spend time 326 00:23:36,359 –> 00:23:39,719 on it but just to remind you of some of its clearest statements. 327 00:23:39,719 –> 00:23:45,260 Micah 6 and verse 8, what does the Lord require of you? 328 00:23:45,260 –> 00:23:48,780 That’s as plain a question as you can get and as straight an answer. 329 00:23:48,780 –> 00:23:53,119 Here’s the answer, to do justly and to love mercy. 330 00:23:53,119 –> 00:24:00,599 Not just to do mercy, but to love it, to long for more of it to get as much of it as you 331 00:24:00,599 –> 00:24:07,140 can possibly can of, pour it out and in this way to be one who walks humbly with your God. 332 00:24:07,140 –> 00:24:12,660 Remember Jesus speaking to some very pious and religious people who were responsible 333 00:24:12,660 –> 00:24:20,000 in different ways for the structures of religious life, and Jesus said to them, go learn what 334 00:24:20,000 –> 00:24:21,560 this means. 335 00:24:21,560 –> 00:24:26,979 That God says, I desire mercy, not sacrifice. 336 00:24:27,979 –> 00:24:36,459 So Christ calls us to mercy and think of the difference that it makes in a school if there 337 00:24:36,459 –> 00:24:44,060 is one teacher who really cares about kids and seeks to do them good and really cares 338 00:24:44,060 –> 00:24:50,979 about other staff and seeks to do them good and really cares about those in management 339 00:24:50,979 –> 00:24:53,839 and seeks to do them good. 340 00:24:53,839 –> 00:24:57,699 You may be that teacher, and you’ll be a light. 341 00:24:57,699 –> 00:25:02,500 One person who brings mercy into a family, into a business. 342 00:25:02,500 –> 00:25:05,579 Oh, how much good comes from this. 343 00:25:05,579 –> 00:25:12,540 Now, I want us to be very practical here in the last part of the message and for us to 344 00:25:12,540 –> 00:25:20,140 be looking, every one of us including myself, for us to be looking for multiple opportunities 345 00:25:20,140 –> 00:25:25,400 to practice mercy in the next seven days. 346 00:25:25,400 –> 00:25:32,140 And I want to give to you seven opportunities for manifesting mercy. 347 00:25:32,140 –> 00:25:35,540 I want to keep this really practical, and we’ll move through these quite quickly. 348 00:25:35,540 –> 00:25:42,540 Don’t worry about a list at this stage, the end is now, and it will come. 349 00:25:42,540 –> 00:25:50,000 But I want you to be looking with me for opportunities, multiple opportunities, in the next seven 350 00:25:50,199 –> 00:25:51,780 days to practice mercy. 351 00:25:51,780 –> 00:25:52,839 So here are seven. 352 00:25:52,839 –> 00:25:54,119 Number one. 353 00:25:54,119 –> 00:25:55,119 Material needs. 354 00:25:55,119 –> 00:25:56,119 I’ll give you a scripture for each. 355 00:25:56,119 –> 00:25:57,599 1 John 317. 356 00:25:57,599 –> 00:26:02,459 If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need yet closes his heart against 357 00:26:02,459 –> 00:26:05,439 him, how does God’s love abide in him? 358 00:26:05,439 –> 00:26:09,439 So we’re back to this being a distinguishing mark of a true believer. 359 00:26:09,439 –> 00:26:14,119 The good Samaritan opened his heart— opened his heart. 360 00:26:14,119 –> 00:26:17,859 And out of opening his heart, did something to help. 361 00:26:17,859 –> 00:26:21,199 Sinclair Ferguson has a marvelous little comment on this. 362 00:26:21,199 –> 00:26:26,760 He says, mercy is getting down on your hands and knees and doing something to restore dignity 363 00:26:26,760 –> 00:26:29,760 to someone whose life has been broken by sin. 364 00:26:29,760 –> 00:26:38,099 And then he says the good Samaritan did not deal with the cause of the man’s need by 365 00:26:38,099 –> 00:26:39,900 chasing the robbers. 366 00:26:39,900 –> 00:26:42,800 By the way, I hope someone did chase the robbers. 367 00:26:42,800 –> 00:26:44,920 Now, I hope he caught them. 368 00:26:45,000 –> 00:26:51,780 I’m glad for those whose job it is to chase the robbers, but that’s not mercy, not dealing 369 00:26:51,780 –> 00:26:54,420 with the source of the problem. 370 00:26:54,420 –> 00:27:00,760 Then Sinclair Ferguson says this, nor did he complain about the failure of society to 371 00:27:00,760 –> 00:27:01,900 meet the man’s need. 372 00:27:01,900 –> 00:27:06,060 Well, there are issues, aren’t there, about the community and how we can be more effectively 373 00:27:06,060 –> 00:27:07,660 a community and all of that stuff. 374 00:27:07,660 –> 00:27:11,880 And I’m grateful for people who will address that, but that’s not mercy. 375 00:27:12,160 –> 00:27:17,699 No, he says the Samaritan addressed the immediate need that was set before him and he did what 376 00:27:17,699 –> 00:27:19,040 he could to bring relief. 377 00:27:19,040 –> 00:27:23,839 Now, I’m saying that there will be multiple opportunities for you and for me to do that 378 00:27:23,839 –> 00:27:29,719 this week, some material need, and you can do something to help if you have a heart of 379 00:27:29,719 –> 00:27:30,719 compassion. 380 00:27:30,719 –> 00:27:32,180 So, watch for it, and let’s do it. 381 00:27:32,180 –> 00:27:36,619 Let’s practice mercy, number two, spiritual struggles. 382 00:27:37,060 –> 00:27:39,119 Jude, verse 22 says this, 383 00:27:39,119 –> 00:27:44,140 “…have mercy on those who doubt.” 384 00:27:44,140 –> 00:27:47,699 Now, notice doubting is not a material need. 385 00:27:47,699 –> 00:27:51,300 Mercy is not limited to material needs. 386 00:27:51,300 –> 00:27:52,780 Doubting is a spiritual need. 387 00:27:52,780 –> 00:27:59,160 It is a condition of heart in which a person is struggling in their faith. 388 00:27:59,160 –> 00:28:05,680 The scripture is saying to us that in this situation we must practice mercy, so I want 389 00:28:05,760 –> 00:28:09,939 you to look out for a brother or a sister in Christ, know to you, who’s struggling in 390 00:28:09,939 –> 00:28:15,020 their faith, and for you like Christ to be able to come alongside and in some way, a 391 00:28:15,020 –> 00:28:19,680 word, a card, I don’t know what that’s going to be visit to strengthen them and to encourage 392 00:28:19,680 –> 00:28:20,680 them. 393 00:28:20,680 –> 00:28:24,640 It says of Jesus that when a wreath is bruised, He doesn’t break it. 394 00:28:24,640 –> 00:28:28,400 When a wick is beginning to go out, it’s smoldering, He doesn’t snuff it out. 395 00:28:28,400 –> 00:28:29,859 He blows on the flame. 396 00:28:29,959 –> 00:28:37,760 And David says, in a wonderful phrase, it’s in Psalm 18, he says, to God, �It is your 397 00:28:37,760 –> 00:28:41,939 gentleness that has made me great.’ 398 00:28:41,939 –> 00:28:47,500 Oh God, if you had dealt with me in any other way, but with this mercy, this gentleness, 399 00:28:47,500 –> 00:28:52,939 I just would have been blown away, but you’ve been so gentle with me over the years, that 400 00:28:52,939 –> 00:28:56,680 David says, is what has brought me to the position that I am in today. 401 00:28:56,680 –> 00:28:59,719 Your gentleness has made me great. 402 00:28:59,880 –> 00:29:05,560 And we need that towards one another in the body of Christ as one and another struggles 403 00:29:05,560 –> 00:29:10,920 as all of us do at many times. 404 00:29:10,920 –> 00:29:15,000 And I remember years ago, some things just stick with you and stay with you for a lifetime. 405 00:29:15,000 –> 00:29:16,780 Here’s one of mine. 406 00:29:16,780 –> 00:29:23,719 I heard Dr. Warren Weirsby back in England and after his long years of marvelous ministry 407 00:29:23,719 –> 00:29:24,719 leadership. 408 00:29:24,719 –> 00:29:29,979 He said in a question and answer session, Dr. Weirsby, if you could have your whole 409 00:29:29,979 –> 00:29:34,260 life of ministry over again, what would you do different? 410 00:29:34,260 –> 00:29:39,000 And Weirsby said I would do more to encourage God’s people. 411 00:29:39,000 –> 00:29:42,239 That’s what I’d do different. 412 00:29:42,239 –> 00:29:46,359 I’d do more to encourage God’s people. 413 00:29:46,359 –> 00:29:48,099 And that’s reflecting this. 414 00:29:48,099 –> 00:29:52,219 Have mercy towards those who doubt. 415 00:29:52,219 –> 00:29:56,160 Number three, embarrassing failures, embarrassing failures. 416 00:29:56,160 –> 00:30:03,640 Now here I am thinking of 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 8 where we’re told love covers a multitude 417 00:30:03,640 –> 00:30:04,640 of sins. 418 00:30:04,640 –> 00:30:06,640 Don’t you love that Scripture? 419 00:30:06,640 –> 00:30:12,339 Love covers a multitude of sins. 420 00:30:12,339 –> 00:30:14,260 Now let me just say this to be clear. 421 00:30:14,260 –> 00:30:20,640 That Peter speaks about sins and not crimes and there is an important difference. 422 00:30:20,640 –> 00:30:26,400 There are some things that should not be covered up and that must not be covered up, but what 423 00:30:26,400 –> 00:30:30,959 he is saying, what the Scripture is saying, is that there are a multitude of failings 424 00:30:30,959 –> 00:30:42,560 and sins and mess-ups, that love can freely choose to cover over so that the embarrassment 425 00:30:42,560 –> 00:30:50,359 of a person who knows they have failed is spared, and the gace of the Lord Jesus Christ 426 00:30:50,359 –> 00:30:52,439 is expressed. 427 00:30:52,439 –> 00:30:54,500 Spurgeon has a lovely way of putting this. 428 00:30:54,500 –> 00:30:58,280 He used this phrase very often, and I find it very helpful. 429 00:30:58,280 –> 00:31:06,800 He says I quote, “‘I recommend, brothers and sisters, that you always should have one 430 00:31:06,800 –> 00:31:11,040 blind eye and one deaf ear.’ 431 00:31:11,040 –> 00:31:14,459 Now, you see what he is saying. 432 00:31:14,459 –> 00:31:20,040 You’ll hear things and there are some things, you say, let’s just move on from them, and 433 00:31:20,040 –> 00:31:23,500 just see some things, and love can cover over a multitude of things.” 434 00:31:23,500 –> 00:31:29,040 And, by the way, he does say one blind eye and one deaf ear, because in this fallen world 435 00:31:29,040 –> 00:31:33,540 you need one good eye and you need one good ear as well, but it’s very interesting. 436 00:31:33,540 –> 00:31:40,760 I’m quoting him here, he says this, “‘My blind eye is the best eye that I have and my deaf 437 00:31:40,760 –> 00:31:45,900 ear is the best ear that I have.’” 438 00:31:45,959 –> 00:31:49,000 And he often spoke to students who were training to be pastors 439 00:31:49,000 –> 00:31:54,359 about the importance of the blind eye and the deaf ear, and it was because of that principle. 440 00:31:54,359 –> 00:31:59,979 You see, some people go through life and everything that happens, they live with all this tension, 441 00:31:59,979 –> 00:32:04,619 everything that happens has to be a big issue, oh there’s a problem you see. 442 00:32:04,619 –> 00:32:09,660 And what happens if you’re like that is you become impossible to live with, there’s no 443 00:32:09,660 –> 00:32:15,219 grace in you, can’t let anything go, always picking on every little failure, this wasn’t 444 00:32:15,780 –> 00:32:23,380 right, that wasn’t right, and it’s crushing to everybody who’s around you. 445 00:32:23,380 –> 00:32:28,400 And if the fruit of mercy were to grow within you, there would be many things that you would 446 00:32:28,400 –> 00:32:31,359 say, you know, I can let that go. 447 00:32:31,359 –> 00:32:39,640 A merciful person often looks through his blind eye and listens through his deaf ear. 448 00:32:39,760 –> 00:32:41,199 And there is great wisdom in that. 449 00:32:41,199 –> 00:32:47,800 God does not treat us as our sins deserve, nor repay us according to our iniquities. 450 00:32:47,800 –> 00:32:51,239 He is merciful and love covers a multitude of sins. 451 00:32:51,239 –> 00:32:54,020 This is why Christ went to the cross. 452 00:32:54,020 –> 00:32:57,319 Now as you have received this we’re going to look at this more next week, He has treated 453 00:32:57,319 –> 00:33:00,939 you with such mercy, now how can you show this mercy to others? 454 00:33:00,939 –> 00:33:05,040 There’s going to be someone this week, perhaps in your workplace, who messes up in one way 455 00:33:05,040 –> 00:33:09,160 or another, and he or she knows it, and they are embarrassed about it, and you could show 456 00:33:09,319 –> 00:33:17,099 mercy, and you could help to bless them, and they will be so grateful to you, and so thankful 457 00:33:17,099 –> 00:33:25,780 that a reflection of Jesus Christ was shown to them in a harsh and an unforgiving world. 458 00:33:25,780 –> 00:33:30,660 Number four, slanderous gossip. 459 00:33:30,660 –> 00:33:32,199 Slanderous gossip. 460 00:33:32,199 –> 00:33:37,099 Now here’s a fourth area where we need to practice mercy. 461 00:33:37,099 –> 00:33:40,699 I’m thinking here of Philippians chapter four and verse eight, whatever is true, whatever 462 00:33:40,699 –> 00:33:47,500 is honorable, whatever is just, pure, lovely, whatever is commendable, think about these 463 00:33:47,500 –> 00:33:48,500 things. 464 00:33:48,500 –> 00:33:51,000 Now this is not an option, this is a command in the Scriptures. 465 00:33:51,000 –> 00:33:56,920 It’s an instruction to every believer, not only am I to set my mind on things that are 466 00:33:56,920 –> 00:34:03,219 above, I am to set my mind on things that are good. 467 00:34:03,219 –> 00:34:11,379 And the merciful person forms the habit of thinking about good things. 468 00:34:11,379 –> 00:34:17,520 Now Satan is the father of lies, he always manufactures because he’s subtle, he is the 469 00:34:17,520 –> 00:34:23,379 master of the half-truth, and the twisted truth, and the distorted truth. 470 00:34:23,379 –> 00:34:27,320 And there are certainly some Christians who seem to be adept at helping him in all of 471 00:34:27,320 –> 00:34:28,320 this. 472 00:34:29,040 –> 00:34:33,080 And as we think about mercy, I want you to remember this. 473 00:34:33,080 –> 00:34:39,760 It is as bad to believe a lie as it is to tell one. 474 00:34:39,760 –> 00:34:46,780 And it is as bad to repeat a lie as it is to invent one. 475 00:34:46,780 –> 00:34:54,919 Folks, there is a harshness in our culture that makes it more and more and more and more 476 00:34:54,959 –> 00:34:59,580 and more difficult for anyone in any sphere, whether it be business or politics or any 477 00:34:59,580 –> 00:35:02,639 area of life, ever to lead. 478 00:35:02,639 –> 00:35:13,560 And too often what is characteristic of our destructive world can creep into the church 479 00:35:13,560 –> 00:35:21,399 in which Christ’s people – think of it – form the habit of being quick to assume 480 00:35:21,459 –> 00:35:27,719 the worst and slow to think the best. 481 00:35:27,719 –> 00:35:35,479 And mercy would change that if there was an abundance of that fruit that was to flood 482 00:35:35,479 –> 00:35:38,760 the church in America. 483 00:35:38,760 –> 00:35:41,840 It would be a wonderful thing. 484 00:35:41,840 –> 00:35:43,719 It is so easy – do you see this in your own soul? 485 00:35:43,719 –> 00:35:49,959 I see it in mine – it is so easy to slide into making much of other people’s failings 486 00:35:50,080 –> 00:35:54,560 and little of their strengths. 487 00:35:54,560 –> 00:35:57,280 A merciful person always goes the other way. 488 00:35:57,280 –> 00:36:05,280 He or she will make more of a person’s virtues than he or she does of their failings. 489 00:36:05,280 –> 00:36:10,060 And a merciful person will always close his or her ears to slander, unless compelled to 490 00:36:10,060 –> 00:36:12,419 otherwise. 491 00:36:12,419 –> 00:36:19,500 Thomas Watson says this – A man’s name is of more value to him than his goods are. 492 00:36:19,500 –> 00:36:25,080 But he who takes away the good name of another sins more against him than if he had taken 493 00:36:25,080 –> 00:36:30,959 all the corn out of his field or all the goods out of his shop. 494 00:36:30,959 –> 00:36:34,439 And you see, so many of us would say, well, I would never break into a person’s shop 495 00:36:34,439 –> 00:36:35,540 and rob them of their goods. 496 00:36:35,540 –> 00:36:39,000 My goodness, I would never do that. 497 00:36:39,000 –> 00:36:43,399 But if you take away a person’s good name by passing on a slander, you’ve done something 498 00:36:43,399 –> 00:36:45,399 worse. 499 00:36:45,399 –> 00:36:46,560 You really have. 500 00:36:47,159 –> 00:36:51,520 That’s why Watson says, we must not only not raise a false report, we must not take it 501 00:36:51,520 –> 00:36:53,760 up. 502 00:36:53,760 –> 00:37:00,120 And then he says this, one more quote, he says, you who take away the good name of another 503 00:37:00,120 –> 00:37:08,479 wound him in that which is most dear to him better take away a man’s life than take away 504 00:37:08,479 –> 00:37:10,959 his name. 505 00:37:10,959 –> 00:37:18,699 It is an irreparable injury for something of it will always remain. 506 00:37:18,699 –> 00:37:27,179 So, if you hear at some point in your work or whatever it’s going to be some juicy piece 507 00:37:27,179 –> 00:37:38,000 of gossip, you remember to honor Christ by practicing mercy. 508 00:37:38,280 –> 00:37:45,040 Number five, unreasonable expectations, unreasonable expectations. 509 00:37:45,040 –> 00:37:47,379 Here’s Psalm 103 and verse 14. 510 00:37:47,379 –> 00:37:49,560 One of my favorite verses in the Old Testament. 511 00:37:49,560 –> 00:37:53,340 God knows our frame and He remembers that we are dust. 512 00:37:53,340 –> 00:37:55,139 I love that verse. 513 00:37:55,139 –> 00:37:56,139 Do you love that verse? 514 00:37:56,139 –> 00:37:57,139 I’m so glad. 515 00:37:57,139 –> 00:38:01,260 Thank you, Lord, that you remember that I’m dust. 516 00:38:01,260 –> 00:38:05,179 And what that means is, because I’m so grateful for this, I must remember this in relation 517 00:38:05,179 –> 00:38:07,600 to others what God remembers about me. 518 00:38:07,800 –> 00:38:16,080 I must not therefore make unreasonable expectations of my spouse or of my children or of others 519 00:38:16,080 –> 00:38:18,719 who work with me. 520 00:38:18,719 –> 00:38:25,179 I must learn not to be so surprised or so easily discouraged by disappointments. 521 00:38:25,179 –> 00:38:30,300 I must get beyond the kind of infantile thinking that assumes that because a person is a Christian 522 00:38:30,300 –> 00:38:33,500 that this means they’re gonna be a paragon of virtue at all times. 523 00:38:33,520 –> 00:38:38,300 I must think more about the weights and the burdens that other people bear that may be 524 00:38:38,300 –> 00:38:42,659 beyond anything that I bear, the strength of temptations that they may face that may 525 00:38:42,659 –> 00:38:45,060 be beyond anything that I have ever known. 526 00:38:45,060 –> 00:38:52,600 I must remember that they are dust, because God remembers that about me. 527 00:38:52,600 –> 00:38:56,820 And that’s part of what it means to practice mercy. 528 00:38:57,679 –> 00:39:00,100 Number six, personal injuries. 529 00:39:00,100 –> 00:39:06,820 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, there’s the mercy word, forgiving one another as God 530 00:39:06,820 –> 00:39:08,120 in Christ forgave you. 531 00:39:08,120 –> 00:39:10,699 We’ll come back to that, God willing, next week. 532 00:39:10,699 –> 00:39:15,020 Very simply remember this and watch out for it. 533 00:39:15,020 –> 00:39:22,780 If someone has hurt you, wounded you, injured you, at some point in your life God may very 534 00:39:22,800 –> 00:39:28,760 well put you in a position where you have the opportunity to get your own back. 535 00:39:28,760 –> 00:39:33,699 God may at some point put them under your power. 536 00:39:33,699 –> 00:39:40,500 And when that happens what you do will be the most revealing thing about you. 537 00:39:40,500 –> 00:39:43,139 It happened to Joseph, you remember? 538 00:39:43,139 –> 00:39:49,260 His brothers beat him up so terribly and left him, and then God raised him up. 539 00:39:49,260 –> 00:39:52,139 He becomes the prime minister of Egypt right next to the pharaoh. 540 00:39:52,260 –> 00:39:57,060 The brothers end up coming in need, they end up coming to Joseph, and God gives these men 541 00:39:57,060 –> 00:40:00,199 into Joseph’s hand. 542 00:40:00,199 –> 00:40:02,899 And what does Joseph do? 543 00:40:02,899 –> 00:40:04,780 He forgives them. 544 00:40:05,239 –> 00:40:06,919 Mercy. 545 00:40:07,739 –> 00:40:11,739 Number seven, lost souls. 546 00:40:11,760 –> 00:40:21,699 Save others, Jude says, by snatching them from the fire, showing mercy mixed with fear. 547 00:40:21,739 –> 00:40:26,860 If you have mercy within your heart you’re going to talk to Christ a great deal about 548 00:40:26,860 –> 00:40:33,899 lost people, and you’re gonna talk to lost people a great deal about Jesus Christ, because 549 00:40:33,899 –> 00:40:37,500 according to the Scriptures that is how they will be won to Christ, and how people will 550 00:40:37,500 –> 00:40:40,699 come to Christ, and how the work of Christ will advance. 551 00:40:40,699 –> 00:40:46,560 It’s going to be through warm hearted Christians who actually care that people are going to 552 00:40:46,560 –> 00:40:53,060 hell, and want them to embrace and to see and experience the mercy, the love, and the 553 00:40:53,060 –> 00:40:55,520 life that is in Jesus Christ. 554 00:40:55,520 –> 00:41:05,520 And this Jesus Christ is reaching out to you in mercy today, and this is a Christ of whom 555 00:41:05,520 –> 00:41:08,080 you have no need to be afraid. 556 00:41:08,080 –> 00:41:11,840 You may be like Peter with the mess up, you may be like the prodigal son, you’ve been 557 00:41:12,399 –> 00:41:16,159 you are still rebelling, and you are a long way away from God even though you are in church 558 00:41:16,159 –> 00:41:20,360 and I’m saying to you this is a Christ to whom you can come. 559 00:41:20,360 –> 00:41:25,080 It may be that someone here is so beaten, you are like that person on the road. 560 00:41:25,080 –> 00:41:29,860 Things have come against you, and against you, and you find it difficult to trust now, 561 00:41:29,860 –> 00:41:34,280 and there you are lying in the road like that man on the Jericho road, and if someone even 562 00:41:34,280 –> 00:41:38,320 comes towards you to try and help you, you’re not sure because you think maybe he’s going 563 00:41:38,719 –> 00:41:40,719 me up again. 564 00:41:40,719 –> 00:41:46,000 And I’m telling you this is a Christ you can trust. 565 00:41:46,000 –> 00:41:49,280 He’s merciful, and He is always merciful. 566 00:41:49,280 –> 00:41:55,679 His mercy is not for a moment, it is for a lifetime, and if you will come to Him, and 567 00:41:55,679 –> 00:42:00,919 if you will yield yourself to Him, and if you will ask Him to embrace you, He will embrace 568 00:42:01,179 –> 00:42:08,840 in mercy and in His grace you will be able to say along with every other person who has 569 00:42:08,840 –> 00:42:19,360 come to Him, surely goodness and mercy will follow me how long all the days of my life 570 00:42:19,360 –> 00:42:28,040 – the best and the worst – and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. 571 00:42:28,260 –> 00:42:34,260 For this mercy, we give you our thanks and our praise as we lift our hearts in worship. 572 00:42:34,260 –> 00:42:37,699 In Jesus name. Amen.