Ron Dunn Podcast - Birthmark Of Mercy

Episode Date: February 17, 2021

From the series "Birthmarks Of A Believer"

Walk it open your Bibles tonight to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5. I want us to continue this evening with what Jesus demands and expects of us as his followers. The essence of being a Christian and of walking after Jesus, the essence and heart of it is my reacting to what he is, my response to what he has done. Therefore, if I want to know what I ought to be as a Christian, then I don't look at Christians.

I do not look at creeds and dogmas and statements of faith, but rather I look at him. And the essence and heart of Christianity is my reacting to what he is and my response to what he has done. For instance, John says we love him because he first loved us. It was not our idea. It was God. We responded to that. We reacted to that. We love him because he first loved us. Peter says, quoting Leviticus,

Be ye holy, for I am holy. I respond and react to who he is. And once I have experienced in my own life who Jesus is and what Jesus has done, then living the Christian life is simply reacting and responding to that experience. And so John says, walk in the light as he is in the light. I react and respond to what he is. That's what Christianity is. And if you are not reacting and responding to who Jesus is,

then you are not following him this is why the terminal amount and in particular the beatitude are so searching because they reveal whether or not I am reacting and responding to Jesus Christ I'm afraid that some of us like to use our Christianity like a water faucet and just turn it on and off at our leisure. And some of us at times try to control our Christianity and to categorize it into neat little compartments. But on the contrary, we are not meant to control our Christianity, but rather our Christianity is supposed to control us. And this living Lord who has taken up residence in my life,

living in my life, reigning in my life, controls me, and he simply acts like Jesus always acted, and my response to Jesus within me makes me like him in my everyday life. And the Beatitudes reveal to me whether or not that is true of me. Jesus said, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. It is impossible for a person to have experienced the mercy of God and come to know what it means to be, as Spurgeon said, a condemned man standing at the foot of the gallows with a rope around his neck and then come and miracle of miracles find that rope to be removed and that pardon to be issued. And when a man comes to have experienced that,

to be like a condemned man at the point of death and then to taste the mercy of God, it's just impossible for that man not to react and respond to that mercy and be merciful. The Beatitudes are simply Jesus Christ in human form living through us and jesus said he that would follow me and be my disciple one of his chief characteristics is this he is merciful blessed are the merciful you've tasted of the mercy of god i realized one day i was a spiritual bankrupt i got concerned about it

and desperate over it. And I began to hunger and thirst after righteousness. And when I did that, God met me and he filled me with himself. And the result was being filled with himself

is that I become merciful. You know, I've said before that these beatitudes are simply chain reactions. One grows out of the previous one. And the one that we looked at last was, blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Now I can tell you tonight whether or not you are filled with the righteousness of God. And the test is that if you are filled with the righteousness of God,

you will be merciful. Blessed are the merciful. That beatitude is a result, a reaction, a response to what God has done in the previous one. He has filled you with himself. He has filled you with righteousness. Therefore, you're merciful. You're merciful. Now what does it mean to be merciful? I want to very simply tonight speak to you about this,

the definition of mercy, characteristics of mercy, and a description of mercy. Number one, a definition of mercy. What does it mean to be merciful? Now I'm afraid some people have the idea that when the Bible says that God is a God of mercy, that this means that he is a God who winks at sin and he's easy going. We have a great deal of this today in our country, what some people have called Hollywood evangelism and Hollywood religion. And it's this type of approach to God that treats God simply as a superstar and treats him simply as a friend, the best friend we've ever had. But it treats him and it meets him on purely humanistic grounds,

a sentimental type of approach to Jesus. And all we see is that Jesus is a merciful person, a loving person, who would never, who would never, who would never send a person to hell. But we need to understand that while the Bible says he is a God of love and is long-suffering to us, yet that same Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God, for our God is a consuming fire.

And when we speak of merciful, we're not speaking of being easygoing and ignoring sin and lowering our standards. That's not at all what it means. You know, true love is very firm. I've been doing a great deal lately of study between the spiritual and the soulish in my own life.

There is a humanistic type of Christianity that passes itself off to be spiritual when it is not. It is simply human. Therefore, it is devilish. And it is that type of approach that just sees God only as a God who, like that song said years ago,

though it makes him sad to see the way we live, he'll always say, I forgive. That's blasphemy. It does make him sad to see the way we live, but unless you repent, he will not forgive. Merciful does not mean that God is easygoing and excuses sin. What does it mean?

It's a great word. Mercy literally means the ability to get inside another person's skin and see with their eyes and hear with their ears, think with their mind, and feel with their heart.

It means the ability to feel along with another person. It is really sympathy in its truest form. To feel with another person. To be able to feel what they feel. When they hurt, we hurt. When they rejoice, we rejoice. That's what mercy is.

The ability to get inside another person and to see as they see and to think as they think and to feel as they feel and this is exactly what God did in Jesus Christ God in the most literal sense got right inside the skin of man he became a man

and the Lord Jesus Christ moved among us the Bible says he was tempted in all points such as says he was tempted in all points such as we. He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He is a sympathizing high priest who understands exactly that we are dust. He got right inside of us. This is why he is merciful. This is why I love to go to him in prayer because there is not one thing that I experience in my life that Jesus Christ has not experienced. There's not one disappointment, one discouragement, one heartache

that I experience that Jesus Christ has not experienced. This is why I love to go to him because he knows exactly my frame and knows that I am dust. He was tempted at all points, such as I am. The only difference is he was tempted without sin. Have you ever wept? Jesus knows what it means to weep. Jesus knows what it means to go through death. And I can point you to one tonight. That knows exactly how you feel. That's why the Bible says when Jesus came.

He said I came not to condemn the world. But that the world might be saved. Merciful means that Jesus knows exactly how I feel. He feels along with me. And so the prophet Isaiah said. That in all their afflictions. Israel's afflictions, the Lord was afflicted. Isn't that amazing? Isn't it amazing tonight that the God who

created this vast, expanding universe is touched by the feeling of my weakness. Isn't that amazing? That when I weep, he cares. When I'm hurt, he cares. When I am happy, he's happy. Because the Bible says we are his body

and his life lives within me. To be merciful means that I feel along with another person. i get inside that person and i see things as they see it and i feel as they feel and i think as they think but it doesn't simply mean that it not only means pity and emotional compassion for another person but it also in the scriptures means pity plus action and as far as the bible is concerned pity that does not do something to relieve the need is

nothing but hypocrisy mercy means more than my standing over here and feeling sorry and sympathizing with a person in his need but it means that I give myself to meet that need I do something about it I am moved all right and I am moved so much that I do something to relieve that need let's read two or three verses first of all in James chapter 2 he says in the 13th verse for he shall have judgment without mercy that has showed no mercy and mercy rejoices against judgment now he goes on to explain what mercy is what does it profit my brethren though a man say he has faith and have not worked can that kind of faith save him if a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food and one of you say unto him depart in peace in peace, be you warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things

which are needful to the body, what does it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. He says that's not God's kind of faith. That's not saving faith. Merely to see somebody who is desperately in need and say, God bless you, brother, and I'll pray for you,

and yet you give not of yourself to meet those needs he says that's not God's faith now again in first John chapter 4 verse 17 and following he says but whoso hath this world's good and seeth his brother have need and shut up up his bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him John uses a negative particle there that demands a no response he says how can the love of God dwell in a person who sees his brother and in need and locks up the doors of his heart and won't give himself to meet that need the answer is the love of God cannot dwell in that person you see Christianity the essence the heart of his heart and won't give himself to meet that need. The answer is the love of God cannot dwell in that person. You see, Christianity,

the essence, the heart of it, is simply my responding to God. And I love him because he first loved me. And here in his love, he says in the verse preceding, not that we love God, but that he loved us

and gave himself for us. He laid down his life. Now, how in the world can I say that that same love dwells in me if I am not willing to lay down my life for a brethren? That simply doesn't mean dying. It means placing my life at the disposal of someone else. How dwelleth the love of God in a person like this? If the love of God dwells in you, if you have experienced the love of God,

then you will place your life at the disposal of somebody else. And a person who can see another in need and shut up his heart and give himself not to meet that need, he has never experienced the love of God. Being merciful means not only that the feeling of compassion reaches out, but also that the hand of compassion reaches out but also that the hand of mercy reaches out to meet that need that's the definition of mercy now characteristics of a merciful person if you're merciful if you're reacting properly to what Jesus has done in your life there'll be three characteristics of you. Number one, it means you will be kind in your criticism and judgment. I love that verse, John 3, 18. I quoted it a moment ago,

for God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. A merciful person is one who is kind in his criticism and judgment. We're going to save that for a later point. Number two, a merciful person is one who is always ready to forgive, always ready to forgive. I wonder tonight if there's anyone here in this place that is harboring a spirit of unforgiveness in your heart for something someone did, something someone said. How dwelleth the love of God in you? You remember one day Jesus told a parable of a servant

who owed his master $10 million. Now, I have never understood how a fellow got that good a credit. And he was just a slave. He must have been the original con man. He owed his master ten million dollars. His master came to him and grabbed him by the throat and said, Pay me, I'm going to throw you in prison. He said, Master, I can't.

I don't have, I just can't do it. You know what happened? His master forgave his debt, just wiped it out clean. This slave, this servant went out and he saw a fellow that owed him 10 cents. He grabbed him by the neck and he said, pay me what you owe me. And he begged for mercy and he said, I can't, I don't have it, I can't pay you.

And this servant took the man who owed him 10 cents and cast him in prison. When his master heard about it, he came and brought judgment upon him. You know, the application is obvious, isn't it? I stand back tonight and I look at that ungrateful, that marble-hearted servant who has experienced such forgiveness and such mercy and such compassion of such an infinite debt, and then here is a man who owes him a thin dime,

and he cannot find it in his heart to show even a speck of mercy that he has experienced himself. I look at him and I condemn him until the Lord holds it up and he says, you don't understand. This is not sermon material. This is a mirror. And I want you to look at him and see yourself.

And it really doesn't make any difference what you've done to me and how you've mistreated me. Your debt against me is just a dime compared to my debt against my Lord. How dwelleth the love of God in that person? A person who has tasted the mercy of God will be ready and eager to forgive. But not only that, he will give himself to meet that need. That's the third characteristic. He will give himself to meet that need.

Now, I want us to come to the last point because this is really the main part of this message tonight. I want us to see this type of person in action. Remember, every beatitude, Jesus takes us over in the bulk of the sermon, and he says, now, I'll show you what I really mean by being merciful. And he illustrates a merciful person in action. Now, open to the seventh chapter of Matthew. The seventh chapter of Matthew.

The seventh chapter of Matthew. And we're going to read some very familiar verses. And Jesus, remember, here is describing to us now what it really means to be merciful. Judge not that you be not judged. with what judgment you judge you shall be judged and with what measure you meet it shall be measured to you again why beholdest thou the that is in thy brother's eye but consider us not the beam that is in thine own eye or how will thou say to thy brother let me pull out the moat out of thine eye behold

beam is in thine own eye thou hypocrite first cast out the beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother's eye what a passage in verse 1 he states the command. Verses 2 through 5, he gives us the reason for this command. Verse 1 is the command. Judge not that you be not judged. Judge not that you be not judged. That's a command of God. What does it mean to judge someone? Now, it does not mean that if I see a fellow over here at the 7-Eleven after church tonight stick a gun in that clerk's face and say, give me your money,

it doesn't mean that I'm not to say, hey, you're a crook. Not what it means. That's not judgment. It doesn't take any judging to see that that man is a thief if i see a man stumbling down the street and he can't tell his right hand from his left he can't talk coherently he can't walk in a straight line and the smell of alcohol is all over him and I say, hey, you're drunk. I'm not judging. That is not what Jesus is speaking about. The word judge means personal condemnation. And it has to do with judging and trying to discern a person's motives

for what he does. And it carries with it the idea of personal condemnation. Judge not that you be not judged. I have no right, God says, to look at another person and try to figure out what is in their heart and judge their motives and personally condemn them. That is not my province.

Judge not that you be not judged. It speaks against a critical spirit and a harshly critical attitude it speaks against perpetual fault finding in others judge not that you be not judged and a person who has tasted and experienced that mercy and reacts to that will find himself unable to honestly, conscientiously judge other people. Now, in the following verses, Jesus gives us three reasons why we must not judge others. Number one, when I judge others, I expose myself to the same judgment. I expose myself to the same judgment. Look at that first verse. He says, judge not that you be not judged. The moment I start standing in judgment of others, God himself says that I expose myself to judgment and I will be judged for everything I say about that person.

You know, there is a terrible passage of Scripture over in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 12. Let me read just two or three verses. He says in verse 35, A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things now look at verse 36 but i say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment did you know that was in the bible every idle word that men shall speak they shall shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

For by thy word thou shalt be justified, and by thy word thou shalt be condemned. Jesus says, judge not, because when you judge others, you expose yourself to judgment, and I am going to hold you accountable for everything you've ever said about anybody else. I just somehow believe we don't think that's in the Bible. This is why over and over again the Bible says to keep a watch, a guard on your mouth. This is why in Proverbs when God lists seven things

that he hates, two of them have to do with the tongue. This is why James has more to say about the tongue, the speech, the word,

than he has to say about anything else in his letter. This is why he says that if a man is able to bridle his tongue, he is a perfect man. But if a man seems to be religious, appears to be religious, and yet he does not bridle his tongue, that

man has no religion. It's all circus. Every idle word that I have spoken, I shall give an account of in the day of judgment. Jesus says, judge not, because you're going to be judged when you start judging. You see, the reason is that when I demand perfection from others, I have to demand it from myself. And when I'm judging someone and condemning someone, what I am doing in reality is demanding from them perfection. All right, second reason.

We're not to judge others because when we judge others, we raise the standard of our own judgment. Not only will God judge us for what we've said, but he will demand a more holy life from us if we judge others. And God says that when we judge others, we are raising the level of our own judgment.

Judge not, for with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again. Listen, some of us are merciless in our criticisms of people, aren't we? We don't allow for circumstances. We don't allow for personal weaknesses't we don't allow for circumstances we don't allow for personal weaknesses we don't allow for anything we'll tolerate we'll tolerate no excuse and many

times we have been merciless in our criticism of other people God says that's the same way I'm going to deal with you I don't know about you but I want my mistakes covered up with love and so he says all right if you want me to judge you that way then you judge other people that way and if you're going to be harsh and merciless in your criticism of other people you'll get exactly what you dish out that's exactly what he's saying so with the same judgment you judge, you shall be judged, and the same measure you use to dish out to others,

God will take that same measuring cup and use it to dish out to you. That's why I'm so glad that the Lord is my judge and not man. Because God always has a big cup of mercy when he judges. When I judge other people, I raise the level of my own judgment.

Listen to what James says in chapter 3, verse 1. My brethren, be not many masters. Now, here the word master refers to a teacher, a leader. He says, be not many masters knowing that we shall receive the greater and the word condemnation is a bad translation it means judgment we shall receive the greater judgment i suppose there were some people in that church to whom james was writing they got their feelings hurt because the nominating committee passed them over

in selecting teachers for the new year. Some of them maybe had their feelings hurt or a little bit missed about it and some of them wanted to teach. They said, I want to be in a place of leadership. Let me instruct people. Let me be the teacher. James says, wait just a minute.

Don't be in such a big hurry to be teachers because when you become a teacher, you will receive a greater a more strict judgment from God when you set yourself up to teach others and tell others how they're supposed to live God is going to demand much more from you I have to remind myself of this occasionally I'm afraid there are times when I take my ministry, my position, too lightly. It's so easy, you know, for me to stand up here and tell you folks what to do. And yet every time I do it, God says, you're raising your own level of judgment.

You're raising your own standard of judgment and so when i take the position of judge and teacher and instructor and i criticize you and i evaluate your motives and i judge you god says all you're doing is raising the level of your own judgment and my judgment upon you will be more harsh and more severe and i will demand a more holy life of you. Every time you criticize someone for their unholiness, I demand more holiness from you. That's what he's saying. Third reason.

We ought not to judge others, not only because we expose ourselves to the same judgment, not only because we raise the level of our own judgment, but the final and the most conclusive reason we ought not to judge others is we are incapable of judging others. We are incapable of judging others. Jesus says,

And why beholdest thou the moat? That's just a little splinter little speck that is in thy brother's eye but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye or how wilt thou say to thy brother let me pull out the mote out of thine eye

and behold a beam is in thine own eye thou hypocrite first cast out the beam out of thine own eye. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the most out of thy brother's eye.

He says, don't judge because you're incapable of judging. You're incapable of seeing another's fault. You know why? I judge you in the light of me.

I interpret you according to me. And I'm just not a good standard of perfection. God says, I'll let you set the standard of your judgment. I'll let you determine how I treat you. And you treat others, I'll treat you the same way. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

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