Weighter Matters (Mercy) Part 2 : By James Lantz
Jesus taught that our Father in heaven places a high priority on making right judgements, how we receive and give mercy, and if we believe Him! Mt. 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. In fact, Jesus compared these three things as out weighing the meticulous act of bringing ten percent of your garden herbs as much as a camel out weighs a gnat. There is a lot of revelation right here for anyone who has been faithfully bringing their tithe into the storehouse and yet is still coming up short. Now if you have been stealing God’s tithe and offerings (spending it on yourself) you have not even started yet.
( Lev. 27:30 Mal. 3:8 Mt. 23:23 Heb. 7:8 )
According to the definition stated in Strong’s concordance the word judgement in Matthew 23:23 also means decision. When we make a decision we make a choice, we resolve to do something, or we come to a conclusion for or against something. We make decisions everyday. Are we going to do what Jesus said and put the kingdom of God first or are we going to put ourselves and our things first today? Mt. 6:33 NKJV But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Putting God and His things first is not the same as putting ourselves and our things first. The apostle, by the Spirit of God, exhorts us to put our prayers for all men first, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty! 1 Tim. 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications,
When We Put God’s Agenda First He Gives Us What We Need!
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; We put the kingdom of God first by helping our brothers and sisters in Christ who are naked and destitute of food. Jas. 1:27 NKJV Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. The word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai, Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? We put God first by separating ten percent of our wages so that we can bring the tithe into the storehouse and worship God with it! Each week we set money aside for special offerings so that we have funds available to give where God shows us! 1 Cor. 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. It has helped us greatly to have a God account in which we separate our tithes and offerings into ahead of time. Many of God’s people pay everybody else first and then when the opportunity arises to give into kingdom work they have very little or nothing to give. God’s number one law of prosperity is to put Him and His kingdom first! We put God first by installing new carpet in the church before we get the new carpet for our house. If the missionary needs a new car we buy them a new car before we buy ourself a new car. Our choices reveal the priorities of our heart! The scribes and Pharisees made a choice to tithe and carried that out to exact detail but they, like their fathers, missed what was most important. The most important thing to the Father is that we love Him and we show our love for the Father by doing what He said to do. Their fathers stoned the prophets, and now they are refusing to believe Jesus, the greatest prophet, who is standing right in front of them. They judged that what they were doing was right and that what Jesus was telling them was wrong. People often judge things from their opinion of what is right. We tend to believe ourself before anyone else, but the wise will believe the gospel above anything else. Jesus came preaching that we must change what we think for what the Heavenly Father says! Mark 1:14&15 . . . Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. We who acknowledge that Jesus, the word of God, is the truth, have been made free! We are free by faith the moment we enter the kingdom of God’s dear Son but we experience that freedom as we continue to follow Jesus! John 8:31&32 . . . If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The word says a lot about judgement and we are commanded not to judge others so that we will not be judged.
Don’t Judge Others So That You Are Not Condemned!
Rom. 2:1 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. We do have the privilege of judging ourselves and making the corrections our Heavenly Father requires. When we get the beam out of our eye we are positioned to help others. Every time we receive communion we are to examine ourselves to see that we are treating Christ body properly. If we don’t discern Christ’s body properly we will be turned over to the destroyer for the destruction of our flesh. 1 Cor. 11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. It is the goodness of God which allows us to judge ourselves and conform to His Holy Word so that we can be healthy and do the work of God!
The second virtue mentioned that is highly valued by the Father is mercy. The Lord is gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy! God in His great mercy has placed all of our sins and iniquities on the Lord Jesus and granted us His righteousness! Isaiah writes of that small moment when Jesus suffered the Father’s wrath for the sins of the whole world. Isaiah 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. Justice required that sin be punished so God in His great mercy placed our punishment on His Son Jesus. Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. God’s mercy did not stop with the forgiveness of sins and healing for our bodies but it goes much further in raising us from the dead and seating us with Christ in the heavenlies! God’s amnesty program requires that we turn away from our sin and embrace the life of Christ in order to enter His kingdom. God’s mercy to save, heal, baptize you with His Spirit, deliver, protect, preserve, to prosper, and to make whole is available to everyone who will believe and receive! The psalmist declares that the Lord’s mercy is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him and his righteousness is unto our children’s children but he qualifies that our children must be doers of the word! Ps. 103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. We are not saved because we keep God’s word, we are saved because we believe that Jesus has made us righteous. We keep God’s word because we believe in Jesus. God does not like it when people try to earn His favor because we can’t. God rejects those who, like Esau, don’t value His blessing. We do not deserve nor can we earn God’s mercy but thankfully we can receive mercy through faith. Psalms 147:11 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. Riches, honor, and life come to us through humility and the fear of the Lord. The proud get resisted but the humble receive grace! Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? God is showering mercy on thousands who love Him and are keeping His commandments! It is a huge act of humility to die to self and fully embrace God’s calling to be a suppling joint in the body of Christ! TO BE CONTINUED
