Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. If any man in the Scripture had
reason to boast of his standing in Christ, it would have been
Paul. He was a man who had a clear and startling conversion experience.
He was a man acquainted with demonstrations of the power of
the Holy Ghost. He was left for dead and yet
lived, was beaten and injured for the cause of Christ, and
yet remained unbowed before his accusers. He was called up to
the third heaven and saw the dead raised by his touch. Yet
he confessed that he was the chief of sinners and declared
that the only reason he was what he was was because of the mercy
of God. It is natural that men in the
flesh should boast of their good fortune, since they in general
attribute it to their own effort in some measure. We are reminded
of this when we hear great leaders and successful businessmen tell
us how they picked themselves up by the bootstraps and made
something of themselves. We are not surprised to see men
operating in the religion of the flesh doing the same thing,
as they recount how they let the Lord in their heart or decided
for Christ. Men desire to be credited with
having done something to secure their salvation, as they might
describe it. Such talk as that reveals that
a man has no understanding at all how it is that a man is brought
to know the way of Christ. The Lord set forth a principle
before his disciples that was quite shocking. In fact, it is
so contrary to the natural thinking of man as to be thought ridiculous. No one in his right mind would
ever embrace it. He said, resist not evil, but
whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him
the other also. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray
for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. In instructing
the Jews on the release of indentured servants from their debt after
seven years, the Lord told them to not only set them free, but
to give them a portion of their own sheep, grain, and wine when
they left. He knew this would be an impossible
thing for them to do cheerfully, so He said, Remember that you
were a slave in Egypt when I set you free. Then he told them that
the reason he would have them forgive the debt of others is
so that they might be reminded that they had been set free from
the bondage of Egypt. How much more is that true for
those who are set free from their sin by the work of Christ on
Calvary? We must forgive others in order
that we might be reminded of his mercy. A certain antidote
to the pride of our religious flesh is to remember the place
we were when the Lord found us. Thus saith the Lord God unto
Jerusalem, Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan.
Thy father was an Amorite, thy mother a Hittite. As for thy
nativity and the day that thou wast born, thy navel was not
cut. Neither was thou washed in water to supple thee. Thou
wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee
to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee.
But thou wast cast out in the open field to the loathing of
thine own person in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed
by, I saw thee polluted in thine own blood. I said unto thee,
when thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee,
when thou wast in thy blood, live. Now when I passed by thee
and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love,
and I spread my skirt over thee and covered thy nakedness. Yea,
I swore unto thee and entered into a covenant with thee, saith
the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. May we ever remember that
it is the Lord who redeemed us while we were yet in a place
of rebellion and fighting against his every command. But God commendeth
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. May we ever remember that it
is the Lord who sought us when we were seeking out our own pleasure
and satisfied with our own way. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good. No, not one. For the Son of Man
has come to save that which was lost. He brought us in a way
that we knew not. May we ever remember that before
we were slaves to sin, Christ became sin for us. For he hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. Like the prodigal, we
had spent all and had nothing but filthy rags to show for it.
He has killed for us the fatted calf and taken us unto his bosom.
May we ever remember that there is no place for boasting except
in the cross of our Lord. Things which are despised hath
God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught the
things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. We
are reminded of his mercy to us each time he enables us to
show mercy to others. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.