Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
1SA 8:7....."for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them."
Miriam received from Moses the discipline of a person whose father had spit in her face...and that was grace all the way.
K.J.'s translation = Jud 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
DAN 7:25 'And he will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One,
The grace of God becomes more real to us as we finally see the eternal purpose behind each situation we face.
GAL 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.
This is such an important principle that God has literally given some believer's certain spiritual gifts such as gift of exhortation and the gift of mercy.
ROM 12:8 he who has the gift of exhortation, exercise in your exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, exercise it with cheerfulness.
LAM 3:22-23, "The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness."
PSA 23:6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness [the compassions from the Lord] will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
MIC 7:18 Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.
JAM 2:13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy or compassion triumphs over judgment.
The word for "triumphs" is the pres-act-ind, katakauchaomai which means that mercy holds a more excellent position than judgment.
Mercy reigned in our Lord's heart in Luk 19:41-42, when He looked down at Jerusalem and wept.
He knew rejection would be His portion, but still He wanted so much to reveal His compassion and mercy.
God delights in forgiving, edifying and reconciling and so should we, as Phi 2:5 says.
They thought that their little system of self-righteousness made God in debt to them.
The tax‑collector was a Roman aristocrat, but considered by the Jews to be the lowest of all social rank at the time of writing.
In passages like Mat 9:10 it is related that our Lord associated with publicans or tax-collectors and "sinners" or prostitutes.
One of the fantastic manifestations of compassion is the principle of acceptance.
The tax-collectors and prostitutes kept coming to listen to our Lord because of their positive volition to the gospel, Luk 15:1.
Luk 18:11 - the arrogant Pharisee followed the Roman tax-collector into the temple in order to criticize him.
"The sinner" has a definite article in front of it which means that this man, the tax collector really understood his need for mercy and compassion from the Lord.
He merely asked God for forgiveness because he recognized that he was a true sinner in need of mercy and compassion.
Many today think they are able to discern Satan's policy of evil and God's policy of grace.
The majority of believers cannot distinguish between divine good and good and evil.
The Pharisee was a Jew and a religious leader who believed in salvation by works and spirituality by works.
This tax-collector understood by the observation of the various Levitical sacrifices exactly who and what Christ was.
The aor-pass-part of histemi which is statheis means to take a stand, and in the passive voice it means that something caused the Pharisee to take a stand, and as we will see......he believed it was his good works.
In this passage it means taking up his position ostentatiously in a static and upright position of perfect security and self-satisfaction.
This time we have the per-act-part of histemi which is hestos and in the perfect tense it means that this was always his attitude to stand in a position of humility before God.
The Pharisee used 29 words in his prayer to the publican's six.
This was a prayer of self-congratulation, and full of "self-righteousness."
1. That he was not created a Gentile. 2. That he was not a plebeian, an ordinary Roman citizen. 3. That he was not born a woman.
In his arrogance, he created a role model out of himself.
The law required only one fast in a year, that on the great day of atonement, (Lev 16:29; Num 29:7).
This supposedly devout Jew fasted every Monday and Thursday during the weeks between the Passover and Pentecost, and again between the feast of Tabernacles and that of the dedication of the temple.
The Law only required the Israelite to tithe on his gains, his annual increase, not on all his possessions (Deu 14:22; Lev 27:30).
One of the terrible realities suggested by the Pharisee's attitude and prayer is that a man's religion, legalism, and self-righteous arrogance will be his ruin.
In ancient Rome the beating of the breast was a sign that one recognized his guilt and failure and that he was a sinner.
In this passage, "to be humble" means not approaching God with any form of human works for salvation or restoration to fellowship.
The publican went home divinely justified. And being self-condemned, he received a righteousness apart from works and went home with the joy of sins forgiven (Rom 3:24,25; 4:5-6; 5:9).
Blind arrogance concludes that the plan of God succeeds or fails on the basis of how you function, rather than on the basis of grace.
Self‑righteous arrogance is the motivation, while legalism is the function which comes from that motivation.
Ultimately the Lord desires restoration not destruction.