The Merciful (1)
This is the fifth session of the Beatitudes. Matthew 5:7 says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” A dictionary definition of the word ‘mercy’ is “compassionate treatment of those in distress.”
- Mercy is similar to kindness of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit
The mercy that God talks about is similar to kindness of the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit. Kindness, in short, is the heart that will not quarrel or cry out, break a bruised reed, or snuff out a smoldering wick as portrayed in Matthew 12:19-20. “He will not quarrel, nor cry out; Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A battered reed He will not break off, And a smoldering wick He will not put out, Until He leads justice to victory.”
It is the heart of our Lord. If the reed is bruised, then, it is useless. It may affect other reeds in a bad way. So, we should break it off. If we do not snuff out a smoldering wick, it will only give off smoke and smell bad. That is why we snuff it out. But our Lord did not break a bruised reed or snuff out a smoldering wick. That is why our Lord with love advised and tried to give understanding until the end to Judas Iscariot, who would sell Him later.
- Categories in the Mercy
1) The mercy of forgiveness
The first is the mercy of forgiveness. I told you that the kindness is the heart of the Lord that does not quarrel or cry out, break a bruised reed, or snuff out a smoldering wick. More specifically, “a battered reed” here refers to people whose hearts are hurt, broken, and tormented from ups and downs of life in this evil world. Therefore, ‘not to break a battered reed’ means Jesus did not neglected these people but comforted and saved them, unlike the worldly people who would easily neglect and look down upon these people who are like battered reeds.
Similarly, when we read, “A SMOLDERING WICK HE WILL NOT PUT OUT,” it means that no matter how evil a person’s heart may be, if there is even the smallest ember left on that wick – in other words, even if there is a little bit of conscience left for him to accept Jesus as his Savior – Jesus will not put out that wick.
It is the heart of the Lord to bear with and lead even those who still commit sins to grasp the Holy Spirit and change by the truth.
It is mercy to understand, forgive, and lead in the true way with the heart of the Lord even those who act with evil towards you. You do not seek your own benefit in your viewpoint but think from the other’s point of view and seek his benefit, so that you can understand him and have mercy towards him.
The Lord’s Prayer says, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Only when we show mercy to those who have sinned against us, can we ask God to show His mercy to us. If we cannot forgive our brothers or show mercy to them reciting the Lord’s Prayer everyday, it is to mock God because we just pray only with words and lips.
There is an example like this in Matthew chapter 18. Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Peter is asking with a heart as broad as the sea. Jesus said, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” We should not just forgive a couple of times counting how many times we forgive others but forgive and show mercy limitlessly.
Then, Jesus gave us a parable. A servant owed his master 10,000 talents with no way to pay it back, so all his possessions, and even his wife and children were to be sold. But when he asked his master for mercy, the master had compassion on him and forgave him the debt.
But when the servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ He threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed.
With today’s values, he was forgiven his debt of more than 1 billion dollars, but he put the servant in prison who owed him only a couple of thousand dollars. The master found out about it, became angry with this servant and called him in again.
He said, “You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?” He then put him in prison.
Jesus gave this parable, and spoke conclusively in Matthew 18:35, “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.” If we do not forgive our brothers from our heart, He will not forgive us either.
If you do not forgive, God will not forgive you either when you commit a sin. There are many people who put up walls against God by doing this. Why do you not receive answers to your prayer? You do not forgive those who sinned against you, and still you say, “Father, answer my prayers!”
There is a reason why God does not answer you. There is no answer because you have a certain wall between God and you. Everything is fulfilled as the Word of God says, “It will be done as you believed it would.”
If we ask, He will give to us. If we seek and knock, it will be opened. The word of the Father is fulfilled as it is. It is just that you have some kind of wall of sin, so you cannot receive any answers. We were all sinners who had to fall into the fire of hell. But we were justified only by the cross of Jesus Christ. Then, if we cannot forgive but hate, judge, and condemn our brothers for their small mistakes, how embarrassing it is before God!
James 2:13 say, “For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” If we see a speck in the eyes of a brother, it means we have plank in our own eye. Can you see the speck of your brother? Then, it means you have a plank in your eyes. This is God’s Word that is absolutely true.
There are some people who do such great evil that they cannot be forgiven. Sometimes, even a brother in faith does such an evil act that it creates a great hardship. Then, you might become very disappointed because that person who did evil to you was not a worldly person, but a brother in faith. For example, let’s suppose a brother in faith is spreading your faults here and there. He has slandered and hated you for no reason. Let us say a brother in faith did that to you.
He tries to embarrass you in front of many people by picking on your words and actions. Or one might have borrowed a big amount of money and not paid you back, so that you might face a hardship. You might also face damage because somebody did not do what he was supposed to do. If you have mercy in these cases, you would not hate him or have ill-feelings against him. Of course, you will pray for him so that his wrongdoings in God’s sight will be changed into truth.
Looking back on the past since the opening of this church, there have been so many different kinds of members. Some provoked me for no reason and deceived the members. Some were not honest in finance and caused difficulties to other members. There were lazy workers who did not do their duty and leaders who caused the church difficulties.
From the pulpit, I have never rebuked or talked about anybody who did such things that harmed the church. Even some deacons, although they are all workers of God, talk badly about other deacons and so on. Eventually it becomes problems that cause splits among people. Even when I see such people, I just have to wait and endure since if they are unable or unwillining to receive my advice or accept rebuke, they may leave the church.
If they will listen, I will tell them. But if they cannot take the rebuke and stumble, I will have to wait and bear with them until they change. I have to wait so that that soul will not be forsaken by God.
In our church history, there have been many ministers and Levites, and some people even left the church. They did not even do their duty but left the church. Some leave the church due to some disappointment or because they don’t like their job. Some ministers leave the church only because their positions were changed. Some leave without a reason or others leave because they don’t want to do their duty. Some people suddenly appear again after disappearing.
Some appear again after a year or two, or after some months. They repent and come back. Whenever those people come back, I feel like I have found my lost children. I feel like my dead children have come back to life. I am so glad, and they are so lovely. I don’t think, ‘You betrayed me and now you appear again!’ They are just so lovely. I never said anything and just let them get back to their job. This is the heart of mercy and the heart of the Lord.
Of course, I am not saying you should ignore people’s wrongdoings. You should be able to discern with the Word of God and teach them with truth to get them to understand.
Sometimes, you might talk about somebody else’s fault or give advice because that person’s doing evil does not suit your own mind-set and righteousness, but you pretend it to be advice of love.
Even if you quote from the word of truth, if you do it not with love but with evil heart against the other person, it is not right in God’s sight, and the Holy Spirit will not work in this case. So, the heart of the other person will not change.
Also, it is not right to teach someone and try to control him as you want with a lofty mind. You should be able to pray for and advise that person with love and understanding for his position. It is a love with which you can even die for him. When you have this kind of heart, you can lead that soul to the truth even with reproof.
2) The mercy of discipline
The second aspect of mercy is the mercy of discipline. You should listen carefully here because you should be able to discern. In mercy, there is also mercy of discipline. This may sound the opposite of forgiveness but actually it is not.
It is because the mercy of discipline is not done with hatred or condemnation but with love. Hebrews 12:6 says, “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” And verse 8 says, “But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.”
Because you are a lovely child in God’s sight, God disciplines you, so that you will be able to act in truth and receive salvation. If God turns His face away from you because you have nothing to do with God and keep on committing such grave sins, then, no discipline will be followed and none will be given.
So, you will just commit sins as much as you want and finally you will fall into hell. Suppose you have a son and your son has stolen something from you. But he comes to you and says, “I will never do it again, please forgive me.” If he repents with tears, what will you do? Parents will naturally embrace him warmly and say, “I forgive you. Don’t do it ever again.” They will show the mercy of forgiveness.
But if your children repent with their lips but keep on sinning, what will you do as his parents? You should scold and rebuke him, and if he still does not listen, you will have to use the rod of discipline to punish him. If you do not love him, you will just let him continue what he is doing, but if you love him you will try to discipline him. He will be a thief the rest of his life if you ignore his stealing, so you should make him turn back with discipline.
But what should you do if it is not your own son but a neighbor’s son that has stolen something? Those who are good will forgive him and have mercy on him, but most worldly people don’t do that. They remember the wrongdoing for a long time, talk badly about him, and look at him with condemnation.
Even when they discipline him, they do it not with love but with anger and evil feelings. They will not forgive even a single offense long ago still saying, “He is a thief.” They do not try to lead the child and correct the path being taken, but they want to vent their ill-feelings by reprimanding the child, and they even turn him into the police.
It is mercy to give discipline of love, not discipline of hatred. In the same way, you should be able to show discipline of love to your brothers. When you see one of the brothers commit sins, and if you spread it and talk about it here and there, you have the heart like parents of the neighboring house, who have no love.
The Bible explains to us in detail the process of admonishing and disciplining a brother who commits sins. Matthew 18:15-17 says, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”