Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
To be merciful as the Father is merciful is the rule of life and standard of perfection for all who claim to be sons and daughters of God. The Father's mercy is kindness to the unthankful and to the evil, freely giving even to the undeserving and sending sun and rain upon good and evil, just and unjust. Its supreme proof is the gift of Christ, offered as sacrifice, substitute and propitiation to secure salvation for sinners who had nothing to offer. Becoming merciful like Him comes from a converted heart where Christ dwells, by beholding Christ until changed into His likeness and receiving the Holy Spirit. That mercy is shown by loving enemies, blessing, doing good, praying for persecutors and lending hoping for nothing again, and in daily life by patience, forgiveness, tender speech, helping the needy and suffering, and giving freely from what is entrusted.
The Father's Mercy
Mercy is God's own character and a divine attribute that human beings may share by laying hold upon divine power and living in communication with Him. It is kind and pitiful divine love, a precious grace that produces kindness and love in those who receive it. In the heart it purifies the soul, beautifies the heart, and cleanses the life from selfishness, ruling out hardness, coldness and selfishness. For God desires mercy and not sacrifice.
The Father's mercy is kindness to the unthankful and to the evil, freely giving even to the undeserving. He makes His sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. In tender mercy He visits those in darkness to bring them light and to guide them into peace.
That same mercy was shown in power and wisdom in creation, in majesty in giving the law, and finally in love and sympathy in the person of the Son. Its supreme proof is the gift of Christ, nailed to the cross of Calvary and offered as sacrifice and substitute and propitiation to secure salvation. Sinners in their sinful condition demanded a sacrifice, and in spiritual destitution had nothing of their own to offer. Those saved are therefore not their own but bought with a price, by a love in giving the beloved Son that is beyond estimate, defying all computation, with no line to measure it and no standard to compare it.
This character of the Father was fully revealed in the life of Christ, who took humanity and shared hunger and weariness and temptation yet without sin. He lived tender, compassionate, sympathetic and considerate, in constant service. Because He laid aside the glory He had with the Father to live as a poor man and reveal to rich and poor alike the principles of the kingdom of heaven, He was enabled to give this command.
God's love for the human race is love born of mercy toward an all-undeserving and imperfect object, brought into active existence because of human imperfection. He hates sin but pities the sinner, because the guilty one bears the Creator's image and can become a son of God not through his own merits but through the imputed merits of Jesus Christ and the great sacrifice made in his behalf. His unceasing mercy draws people toward Him, and beholding His character changes them to become like Him.
Reflecting His Mercy
The command is given to all who claim to be sons and daughters of God, to believers and unbelievers alike, to be merciful as the Father in heaven is merciful. It is a rule of life and the standard of perfection of character, set for ministering servants to exemplify in their own lives and for all who believe. By the Spirit of God they can reveal it in humility, liberality, self-denial and self-sacrifice, practicing the self-sacrifice they preach, for true mercy flows from a converted heart shaped by love rather than from impulsive words or actions.
Becoming merciful like the Father in heaven is the advancement possible for people, the loving pulsation of the converted heart where Christ dwells in heart and life. It comes in renewed, sanctified, self-renouncing hearts that grow more mellow as life advances, made partakers of the divine nature, no longer changeable, working in harmony with Bible principles, sharing God's wisdom and revealing His power in renewed lives. It is received by beholding the character of Christ until changed into His likeness and by receiving the Holy Spirit into the character, so that the life gives healing like holy incense and reflects the image of Jesus. This is safety, because no mere human being can be depended on.
This mercy means loving enemies, blessing those who curse, doing good to those who hate, praying for those who mistreat and persecute, and lending hoping for nothing again. It refuses to love only those who love, to do good only to those who do good, and to lend only to receive as much again, as sinners do. Those who so love as He loved prove sonship to the Highest and to the Father in heaven, shall have great reward, and show that Christ has given them power to become God's children.
In daily relations it is practiced through patience, forgiveness, pity and kindness rather than retaliation, judging, condemning or rejecting when wronged or misjudged. It forgives those who do wrong as people hope God will forgive them, gives with good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over, and gives an inexperienced or erring person another chance rather than judging or rejecting. In the church, where every person is subject to temptation and in need of brotherly interest and sympathy, where all will continually need restoration from the results of sin, and where one superior in some respects is inferior in others, it restores those needing restoration. Cherishing these principles makes complete in Christ, forms Christlike character, makes people laborers together with God, is learned through affliction, brings peace, and is one of the most effective means of attaining perfection of character, which only those who walk with Christ can truly show.
It is shown in character and speech by tender, sympathetic, courteous words full of gentleness, with the law of kindness on the lips and the oil of grace in the heart, being kind, pitiful and tenderhearted while firm as a rock to principle and without hasty words of censure or a passionate spirit. It cures unprofitable conversation, backbiting, false accusation, evil thinking, treating imagined evil as real, making another an offender for a misconstrued word, and burdening associates with evil thoughts that spread as evil seed, along with harsh, overbearing, condemnatory, coarse, sharp, critical, blunt and severe words that bruise and wound souls. Instead it speaks kind and encouraging words, takes pains to be pleasant and agreeable in love as brethren, sees others truly and discerns talents and abilities precious in God's sight rather than seeing in a perverted light, uplifts fellow men and restores their God-given nobility. Harsh, overbearing, condemnatory words break the command by wounding the hearts of brethren and hinder others from being merciful, while changed speech that is not cheap or common marks Christlikeness and purity of character.
As those identified with God, the merciful reflect the light of heaven upon the pathway of others, laying hold on the divine arm and living in communication with divine power. They take a kindly interest in the wounded and those harmed by sin, help the needy, oppressed and perishing, relieve suffering and labor for salvation with unselfish benevolence, self-denial and sacrifice. Such mercy is kind and pitiful, a precious grace producing kindness and love and a manifestation of divine love that purifies the soul, beautifies the heart, cleanses life from selfishness, and rules out hardness, coldness and selfishness. It reproduces Christ's love, makes God's love, goodness and forgiveness visible, and is evidence of connection with God, who gives blessing to be passed to others, keeps those who yield as channels of His love supplied, and watches whether those who ask daily bread and mercy as sinners will share with the more needy and show compassion to associates, even when inconvenient and contrary to feeling. True mercy manifests sympathy toward the erring and reaches a helping hand to the needy who do not seem deserving, not to a few only but to all who are needy, by sanctified affections conformed to Christ's will, which cannot be done suddenly nor by professed keeping of God's commandments without practicing them from the heart.
The same mercy requires giving freely and wisely from entrusted abilities, means and bounties out of gratitude for being bought by Christ and for the supreme proof of mercy in God's gift of His Son on the cross to secure salvation for those who had nothing to offer, rather than living for self. This is Christian stewardship laying up treasure in heaven, reproducing Christ's love, grace and unselfish benevolence through self-denial and sacrifice to relieve suffering and labor for the salvation of others. It includes dealing with brethren in difficulty as Christ deals with us, taking interest in and lifting the burdens of God's struggling institutions in Europe established to illustrate and spread reform and Christian living so they do not pass out of the hands of those who can use them in God's work into the hands of the world, caring for orphans, and doing Christ's work of restoring God's moral image by helping and favoring brethren whenever able.
To be merciful as the Father is merciful is the rule of life and standard of perfection for all who claim to be sons and daughters of God. The Father's mercy is kindness to the unthankful and to the evil, freely giving even to the undeserving and sending sun and rain upon good and evil, just and unjust. Its supreme proof is the gift of Christ, offered as sacrifice, substitute and propitiation to secure salvation for sinners who had nothing to offer. Becoming merciful like Him comes from a converted heart where Christ dwells, by beholding Christ until changed into His likeness and receiving the Holy Spirit. That mercy is shown by loving enemies, blessing, doing good, praying for persecutors and lending hoping for nothing again, and in daily life by patience, forgiveness, tender speech, helping the needy and suffering, and giving freely from what is entrusted.
The Father's Mercy
Mercy is God's own character and a divine attribute that human beings may share by laying hold upon divine power and living in communication with Him. It is kind and pitiful divine love, a precious grace that produces kindness and love in those who receive it. In the heart it purifies the soul, beautifies the heart, and cleanses the life from selfishness, ruling out hardness, coldness and selfishness. For God desires mercy and not sacrifice.
The Father's mercy is kindness to the unthankful and to the evil, freely giving even to the undeserving. He makes His sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. In tender mercy He visits those in darkness to bring them light and to guide them into peace.
That same mercy was shown in power and wisdom in creation, in majesty in giving the law, and finally in love and sympathy in the person of the Son. Its supreme proof is the gift of Christ, nailed to the cross of Calvary and offered as sacrifice and substitute and propitiation to secure salvation. Sinners in their sinful condition demanded a sacrifice, and in spiritual destitution had nothing of their own to offer. Those saved are therefore not their own but bought with a price, by a love in giving the beloved Son that is beyond estimate, defying all computation, with no line to measure it and no standard to compare it.
This character of the Father was fully revealed in the life of Christ, who took humanity and shared hunger and weariness and temptation yet without sin. He lived tender, compassionate, sympathetic and considerate, in constant service. Because He laid aside the glory He had with the Father to live as a poor man and reveal to rich and poor alike the principles of the kingdom of heaven, He was enabled to give this command.
God's love for the human race is love born of mercy toward an all-undeserving and imperfect object, brought into active existence because of human imperfection. He hates sin but pities the sinner, because the guilty one bears the Creator's image and can become a son of God not through his own merits but through the imputed merits of Jesus Christ and the great sacrifice made in his behalf. His unceasing mercy draws people toward Him, and beholding His character changes them to become like Him.
Reflecting His Mercy
The command is given to all who claim to be sons and daughters of God, to believers and unbelievers alike, to be merciful as the Father in heaven is merciful. It is a rule of life and the standard of perfection of character, set for ministering servants to exemplify in their own lives and for all who believe. By the Spirit of God they can reveal it in humility, liberality, self-denial and self-sacrifice, practicing the self-sacrifice they preach, for true mercy flows from a converted heart shaped by love rather than from impulsive words or actions.
Becoming merciful like the Father in heaven is the advancement possible for people, the loving pulsation of the converted heart where Christ dwells in heart and life. It comes in renewed, sanctified, self-renouncing hearts that grow more mellow as life advances, made partakers of the divine nature, no longer changeable, working in harmony with Bible principles, sharing God's wisdom and revealing His power in renewed lives. It is received by beholding the character of Christ until changed into His likeness and by receiving the Holy Spirit into the character, so that the life gives healing like holy incense and reflects the image of Jesus. This is safety, because no mere human being can be depended on.
This mercy means loving enemies, blessing those who curse, doing good to those who hate, praying for those who mistreat and persecute, and lending hoping for nothing again. It refuses to love only those who love, to do good only to those who do good, and to lend only to receive as much again, as sinners do. Those who so love as He loved prove sonship to the Highest and to the Father in heaven, shall have great reward, and show that Christ has given them power to become God's children.
In daily relations it is practiced through patience, forgiveness, pity and kindness rather than retaliation, judging, condemning or rejecting when wronged or misjudged. It forgives those who do wrong as people hope God will forgive them, gives with good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over, and gives an inexperienced or erring person another chance rather than judging or rejecting. In the church, where every person is subject to temptation and in need of brotherly interest and sympathy, where all will continually need restoration from the results of sin, and where one superior in some respects is inferior in others, it restores those needing restoration. Cherishing these principles makes complete in Christ, forms Christlike character, makes people laborers together with God, is learned through affliction, brings peace, and is one of the most effective means of attaining perfection of character, which only those who walk with Christ can truly show.
It is shown in character and speech by tender, sympathetic, courteous words full of gentleness, with the law of kindness on the lips and the oil of grace in the heart, being kind, pitiful and tenderhearted while firm as a rock to principle and without hasty words of censure or a passionate spirit. It cures unprofitable conversation, backbiting, false accusation, evil thinking, treating imagined evil as real, making another an offender for a misconstrued word, and burdening associates with evil thoughts that spread as evil seed, along with harsh, overbearing, condemnatory, coarse, sharp, critical, blunt and severe words that bruise and wound souls. Instead it speaks kind and encouraging words, takes pains to be pleasant and agreeable in love as brethren, sees others truly and discerns talents and abilities precious in God's sight rather than seeing in a perverted light, uplifts fellow men and restores their God-given nobility. Harsh, overbearing, condemnatory words break the command by wounding the hearts of brethren and hinder others from being merciful, while changed speech that is not cheap or common marks Christlikeness and purity of character.
As those identified with God, the merciful reflect the light of heaven upon the pathway of others, laying hold on the divine arm and living in communication with divine power. They take a kindly interest in the wounded and those harmed by sin, help the needy, oppressed and perishing, relieve suffering and labor for salvation with unselfish benevolence, self-denial and sacrifice. Such mercy is kind and pitiful, a precious grace producing kindness and love and a manifestation of divine love that purifies the soul, beautifies the heart, cleanses life from selfishness, and rules out hardness, coldness and selfishness. It reproduces Christ's love, makes God's love, goodness and forgiveness visible, and is evidence of connection with God, who gives blessing to be passed to others, keeps those who yield as channels of His love supplied, and watches whether those who ask daily bread and mercy as sinners will share with the more needy and show compassion to associates, even when inconvenient and contrary to feeling. True mercy manifests sympathy toward the erring and reaches a helping hand to the needy who do not seem deserving, not to a few only but to all who are needy, by sanctified affections conformed to Christ's will, which cannot be done suddenly nor by professed keeping of God's commandments without practicing them from the heart.
The same mercy requires giving freely and wisely from entrusted abilities, means and bounties out of gratitude for being bought by Christ and for the supreme proof of mercy in God's gift of His Son on the cross to secure salvation for those who had nothing to offer, rather than living for self. This is Christian stewardship laying up treasure in heaven, reproducing Christ's love, grace and unselfish benevolence through self-denial and sacrifice to relieve suffering and labor for the salvation of others. It includes dealing with brethren in difficulty as Christ deals with us, taking interest in and lifting the burdens of God's struggling institutions in Europe established to illustrate and spread reform and Christian living so they do not pass out of the hands of those who can use them in God's work into the hands of the world, caring for orphans, and doing Christ's work of restoring God's moral image by helping and favoring brethren whenever able.