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Did you know that there are weightier matters of the law, things that are prerequisite to pleasing God? By prerequisite, we mean that if they are not done, all other religious efforts are of no avail. We could put it like this for purposes of illustration. Having a driver’s license is prerequisite to pleasing the enforcers of our traffic laws. It makes no difference how well a person can drive, how careful he/she might be, how knowledgeable the person is; without a license, the policeman still has a “beef” that just cannot be satisfied. A license is prerequisite…  ( Click for more )

“O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, And like the early dew it goes away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; And your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But like men they transgressed the covenant; There they dealt treacherously with Me.” (Hosea 6.4-7; emphasis mine, jb)

We are looking at this passage because: 1) It is a text that deals with…  ( Click for more )

"Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard that, He said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.’” (Matthew 9.10-13). …  ( Click for more )

Jesus was the epitome of mercy. As we discussed in yesterday’s message, He spoke of the necessity of mercy in the Beatitudes, His introductory comments to the Sermon on the Mount. Even before this public appearance, in fact, even before He was born, it was a foregone conclusion that mercy would be a trait closely associated with Him and His work. Our focus today will involve this conclusion and the manner in which it was expressed by Mary, the mother of Jesus.

What follows is a statement made by Mary to her cousin Elizabeth: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit…  ( Click for more )

“But now He [Jesus Christ] has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.” (Hebrews 8.6-7).

The passage just cited makes a clear distinction between the first covenant, the one which involved the literal mercy seat, and the better covenant that involved Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the second. The first covenant was one which God authored and put forth for Israel to accept and follow.…  ( Click for more )

The mercy seat was a place, but it was also a symbol. The symbology of the mercy seat is declared in the name by which it was called. Mercy was available at the mercy seat; mercy was an attribute of the One whose presence was manifested there. Mercy was and is an attribute of God. He was and is a merciful God and it is this trait of mercy from which all inclinations to relieve or avert suffering derive. In other words, mercy is the deep-seated and compassionate attribute of God that prompts Him to act in order to relieve or avoid suffering in other living creatures.

The suffering…  ( Click for more )

The mercy seat was a literal part of the furniture of the tabernacle in the wilderness and subsequently of the Temple in Jerusalem. Someone authorized the mercy seat, specified how it was to be constructed, what functionality it was to have, and guarded its sacred purposes. In addition to that, an entire nation of people was willing to stake their eternal future on the legitimacy of that piece of furniture and the rites associated with it. Our focus today will be on the real connection that existed between the mercy seat and mercy!

If the Old Testament is to be believed at all…  ( Click for more )

Today's message introduces a word that is rather common in the English language and which has a direct but perhaps somewhat enigmatic connection to the mercy seat and the tabernacle. The word is scapegoat. We will explore the origins of this phrase and the connection which it has to mercy and to the mercy seat.

“And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall…  ( Click for more )

The common connection between mercy and all its shades of meaning is favor or blessing. When the blind asked for mercy, they asked for a favor/blessing. When the guilt person pleads for mercy, they plead for a favor. In either case, the favor sought is sought based upon the goodness of the one being besought and not the goodness of the would-be recipient. In other words, mercy appeals to the heart of the one having the power to grant the favor and not upon the standing of the supplicant.

Yesterday, we noted that the term mercy is sometimes used in a formal and legal manner. We…  ( Click for more )

The word mercy is an interesting and somewhat diverse word. It is used in a variety of ways, but all of them have a common thread. Inasmuch as we have undertaken to examine the implications of the fact that God is the Father of mercies (2 Corinthians 1.3), it is certainly a worthwhile endeavor to try to understand the word at the heart of our studies.

Sometimes the word was used to seek physical blessings such as healing or the restoration of normal functions such as eyesight or hearing. For instance, a blind man repeatedly called out to Jesus and asked Him saying, “Have…  ( Click for more )

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1.3-4; this and all subsequent points of emphasis mine, jb).

With the text just cited, we begin a fifteen part miniseries treating the general subject of mercy with special emphasis on the fact that God is portrayed as the Father of mercies. The reader is invited to study along with…  ( Click for more )

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12.1).

Eleven intense chapters after setting forth the fact that God’s power to salvation was manifested through and only through the gospel, Paul made an emotional and a rational appeal for his brethren to offer themselves sacrificially in service to God. In as much as sin had infected each and every aspect of humanity, the sole means by which anyone could be saved from eternal destruction…  ( Click for more )

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 'For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?' 'Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?' For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11.33-36).

Who has known the mind of he Lord? What human has had perfect understanding of God's ways, thoughts, and wisdom? What limited man can fathom the limitless depths of the Lord's capacities? To…  ( Click for more )

If we want the peace of God to guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4.7), it is our responsibility to enroll His services. We could always take our chances with a lesser service, but why would we; why not go to the very best?

Continuing from yesterday, there are four conditions to accepting God’s mental sentinel. Condition 1 is "…Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4.4). Condition 2 is to "…Let your gentleness be know to all men." (Philippians 4.5). Conditions 3,4 are as noted below. …  ( Click for more )

The signs come in all sizes and shapes. They are intended to deter would be intruders from entering the property of others to steal or destroy. "Warning! This property protected by (fill in the blank) Security Company." By paying the dues, anyone can procure such protection. What would it be worth to have God's sentinel guarding your most prized possessions? Paul gives four conditions under which He will do this. Read on to find out how to secure His services.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord…  ( Click for more )

We started this journey in Romans 11 where Paul affirmed that God was able to graft the Jews back in to the spiritual tree from which they had been broken off due to unbelief (See Romans 11.23). However, God's ability to bring them back to Himself was contingent upon their belief and continuance in the faith. From this thought springboard we proceeded to explore some things that God can do as well as some things that He cannot do. We close this miniseries with an extremely positive note as we examine one other affirmation about what God can do.

Paul wrote: “But this…  ( Click for more )

This miniseries about what God is able to do is relevant to every human being alive on our planet! However, the fact that I in particular am writing this series is also relevant. What enables me to write about or to know what God is able to do? Why should you believe anything I say about God, His character, or His actions? What special insight do I possess that would prompt anyone to even consider my thoughts on the matter?

First off, I disavow the possession of any privileged information, or any special insight into the heavenly realm that is not commonly available to anyone…  ( Click for more )

Have you ever heard someone way, “God can do anything”? Perhaps this type of comment comes from the fact that the Scriptures teach that God is all powerful. However, being all powerful does not imply that He can literally do anything. God has limitations! The difference between God's limitations and man's limitations is this: God's limitations are self imposed whereas man's limitations are imposed from without. This short miniseries will consider what God is able to do as well as what He is not able to do.

We begin our study by looking at one of the five biblical texts…  ( Click for more )

The core question is this: Does the requiring of action(s) on the part of a believer invalidate the principle of grace? Or to put it another way, can there be legitimate conditions to salvation without doing violence to the concept of grace? Or to ask it yet another way, if I must do something to obtain salvation, have I “worked for my salvation” and thereby made void the offer of grace? Today's devotional will look at selected phrases from Romans 11 and thereby provide a biblical response to the vital questions we have just posed.

Please note that the chapter under…  ( Click for more )

“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 'LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant…  ( Click for more )

“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Ephesians 3.14).

The point of this devotional message is not to look at the things for which Paul prayed on this occasion. Rather, it is to look at the phrase “I bow my knees…” and some of the implications of this phrase. The point of the phrase is not to depict a sanctified position of prayer, but rather to indicate the sanctified attitude of prayer displayed by Paul. This does not deny that Paul literally bowed his knees in prayer, for that seems to be the case –…  ( Click for more )

Paul’s burden in Romans ten is to point out the problem which continued to block Israel from God’s many blessings, up to and even including salvation itself. They continued to seek to establish their own righteousness and allowed their knowledge of God’s righteousness to go unheeded. This problem lay at the root of the rest of their problems concerning God and salvation. Paul expands that point in the middle and latter verses of the chapter.

Perhaps some thought (as many today), that it was some spectacular personal accomplishment that would bring them into God’s…  ( Click for more )

Verb tenses say more than we frequently notice. In fact, sometimes the entire point of what God says can be missed by failing to notice such seemingly insignificant matters. Today's message extends that principle and demonstrates just how important it is in understanding and applying the Holy Scriptures to our lives. We begin by quoting Romans 10.5 from the King James Version: “For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, 'That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.'” (emphasis mine; jb). The American Standard Version substitutes the word…  ( Click for more )

Paul was not calloused in his message; rather, his heart was tremendously and perpetually affected by how Israel was reacting to the truth of the gospel. Read the following words and feel the pathos in them: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” (Romans 10.1-3).

If Paul's desire…  ( Click for more )