The
American
Wisdom Series
Presents
Pamphlet
#1075
I
will have mercy, and not sacrifice
Have
you noticed how Jesus and His disciples got along well
with
real "down to earth" people who were not "phony baloney" religionists.
And
you know what?
It
is much easier to converse with sinners and plant seeds of truth
than
it is with religious people,
such
as Christians who are "set in their ways"
with
the traditions of men
and
think they are "good"
while
others who do not meet their standards they consider to be beneath them
and
unworthy of their association.
I'm
sure you know the "religious" type.
In
fact, Luke's account of Christ's words gives us a real good description
of
how the self-righteous Pharisees looked upon publicans and sinners.
Luke
18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray;
the
one
a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
[11]
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself,
God,
I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,
extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Wow!
The Pharisee is actually thanking God that he is not as other men are,
but
better than everyone else.
"My,
my! Aren't we something special on a stick?"
The
fact is that he is all of those things mentioned,
an
extortioner, unjust (being displayed right now),
and
an adulterer in the spiritual sense, i.e. an idolater!
[12]
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
And
just look at all my good works, God!
[13]
And the publican, standing afar off,
would not
lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon
his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
The
Pharisee didn't have the time of day for the publican
who
was honest and humble before God.
Good
thing our Father did!
[14]
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other:
for
every one that exalteth himself shall be abased;
and
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
And
so we have a good picture of Matthew 9:12 coming up... i.e.
of
the self-righteous (those who think they are whole)
and
the sinner (those who are sick in need of a physician).
Matthew
9:11
And
when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples,
Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
Obviously,
these self-important, self-righteous hypocrites
wouldn't
be caught dead associating with such "low-lifes"!
This
statement also documents that these Pharisees had no love or compassion
(as
in mercy) for the spiritual welfare of publicans and sinners.
Would
seem that these great self-exalted "spiritual leaders"
have
determined that the salvation of the souls of such publicans and sinners
isn't important to God.
Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (see Matthew 23:13)
By
the way, instead of questioning His disciples
(perhaps
in hopes of seeing what else they might find to accuse Him of)
you
would think these Pharisees would have asked Christ directly! Nevertheless,
He
heard what they asked and gave them a fitting answer.
[12]
But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them,
They
that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
Wow,
that's a strong indictment of their hypocrisy, isn't it?
Like
so many "religious" people today,
they
think because of their sacrifices,
the
religious things they do, i.e. their offerings and
their
faithful church attendance and all the charities and missionaries they
support, etc.,
that
they are doing God's will and they are "whole",
not
like those sinners and publicans! In other words,
they
believe that they are in good standing with God
and
that He looks favorably upon them for their "wonderful works".
Remember
what Christ said about all that in Mat. 7:21-23?
The
point is, one cannot "repent" unless one knows
he
or she is a sinner and has need of repentance!
To
that end, Jesus now instructs the Pharisees to go study
and
learn the meaning of the great analogy He just gave them.
He
refers them to the book of "salvation",
which
is the Book of Hosea in the Minor Prophets
(Hosea
means "salvation" in Hebrew),
and
in fact He even makes their homework easy for them
by
telling right where to go... no not there... but rather
to
where it is written "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" which is found
in Hos. 6:6.
[13]
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have
mercy, and not sacrifice:
for
I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Our
Father in not interested in a bunch of "religious" people
doing
"religious things" like giving sacrifices and burnt offerings.
What
He wants is for His children to be loving and merciful,
not
as the self-righteous Pharisees,
and
to come to Him in true repentance and love Him.
Christ
came to call sinners to repentance
so
if you are too good to follow Him and help call sinners too,
then
perhaps you are just too good for Jesus Christ.
Here
is the passage of Hosea to which Christ referred:
Hosea
6:6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice;
and
the
knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
So
if you are "playing church" then stop and "get real"
and
be honest with your Father and begin to study His Word,
else
how can you know how to follow Him?
That's
what the apostle Peter said as he closed his second epistle,
"Grow
in grace (loving kindness, mercy),
and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!
To
him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Peter 3:18)
[7]
But they like men have transgressed the covenant:
there
have they
dealt treacherously against me.
To
"deal treacherously" means to be "unfaithful"
as
in to break one's vows, i.e. to transgress the (marriage) covenant God
made with you.
Even
this very day, though our people have the Written Words of the Living Word
right
on their coffee tables or book shelves,
they
ignore His warnings and the instructions
He
gave them through the prophets and the apostles
and
they have allowed themselves to be lulled to sleep
and
spiritually seduced by that old serpent, the false messiah, even Satan.
And
their "many" preachers of whom Christ warned them
to
be wary in Mat. 24 and Mk. 13, lead them right down the path to spiritual
death
by
substituting a "form of worship" for the love and knowledge of His Word.
In
other words,
they
do not teach and communicate His Word
chapter
by chapter and verse by verse
but
rather substitute the religious traditions of men
to
which people become accustomed and firmly set in their ways.
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