“Just the Facts, Ma’am”

Do you remember “Dragnet?”  I mean—the black and white TV show from way back in the 1900’s?  
In order to start the process of truly solving police cases, the police partners requested, “Just the facts.”  
Now turn to Acts 11 and see how well this can work in the church.  
Almost immediately after hearing that Gentiles had “received the word of God (11:1), some of the mature and knowledgeable brethren in Judea began to “contend” with Peter about it.  The word for contend in verse 2 is rather strong, for it means “to separate thoroughly.”  Their “facts” were accurate enough—they just did not have enough facts yet!  

Immediately Peter did two things (11:4):
1.  He “rehearsed”:  This means “to set out, expose.”
2.  He “expounded”:  This means “to start at the beginning.”
Peter presented ALL of the information they needed—and THEY LISTENED!  

Once he did that, they gave up their contention and made new decisions based on having the whole story.  Hmmm..are there any lessons to be learned from this??   Well, if apostles, brethren, they of the circumcision, could learn from it—then we can, too!  
1.  Do not violate the “golden rule” when you start wondering about things that others do or do not do.
2.  Do not think that you are going to get all the facts at the first hearing of something.
3.  Do change your mind, position, and actions when you are wrong.
4.  Do not take forever to make such corrections.
5.  Do rejoice when the facts are proof that the story is good.
6.  Do not look for a bad side to the story.
7.  And so on...
This very point is the source of MANY MANY church problems—and the refusal to learn to do better creates even more problems.
We are able to do better, my beloved brethren.  And we have this story in Acts 11 so that we can do just that.
          — Skip Andrews
 
 

       Ps 41:13    Mercy: Giving and Receiving It—Now and Always   
 "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen."
(NKJ)

Mercy is a major theme of this poem.  “Merciful” is found in verses 4 and 10. It is from a Hebrew word, which has these ideas in it:
 

• “To bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor; have pity upon.”
• “To be inclined to; to have kindness.”

The word that is used in this psalm is not the main word for mercy in the Old Testament, but it is very important, as the above definitions show.  The New Testament also affirms that this quality is very important and needed today.  In the beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).

This chapter has four beautiful and inspiring sections. Let us learn about mercy from these four points:

I. Mercy: I must show it to get it (41:1-3).
II. Mercy: I will need it (41:4-9).
III. Mercy: Jehovah can give it (41:10-12).
IV. Mercy: Blessed be the Lord (41:13).

These first three verses present the condition that I must meet if I am to receive the mercy that I will need from God and others all through my life.  The condition is very simple—to receive mercy, I must show it.  The Bible is full of stories and lessons to demonstrate this point.  The parable of the good Samaritan is one such example (Luke 10: 27-37).  In James 2:1-13, a lesson on showing mercy is closed with this comment in verse 13: “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”  We should not show mercy just because we might need it some time, but we must learn how to be merciful from the heart in order to please God, help others, and be in a condition to receive it from God and others when we are needy in some way.  David proceeds in verses 2,3 to show how mercy will truly bless us when we do receive it.  

The second part of the psalm describes three times in life when I will need mercy.   I will need it when I have sinned (v. 4); I will need it when I have enemies (vv. 5-8); and I will need it when a friend turns against me (v. 9).  Note that verse 9 is applied to Judas in John 13:18.  All of these circumstances are extremely serious.  They are all filled with their own peculiar difficulties, stresses, and dangers.  Mercy (v. 4) is one of the essential ingredients to the solution in each case.  But one of the very interesting things about mercy is that it can never be applied or appreciated by those who will not humble themselves appropriately and seek it!  Thus, the world, the church, the home, and the individual are often hurt too much and too long by sin, enemy, and friend for no other reason than the lack of enough humility to just ask for the needed mercy that is always available from God (and it is only available on His terms).

In the next section of Psalm 41, David reminds me that God can give mercy.  He teaches me here that it is available for the asking (v. 10); I will be helped by it (v. 11); and I will be vindicated by Him through His mercy (v. 12).  ASK—Jesus taught this in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 7:7,8):

When I learn to turn to Him in His own appointed way, His mercy is very available, and it will produce all of the happy results that the Bible says it will produce.

Finally, our inspired author blesses the Lord who had so blessed him when He saw that David was willing to be merciful for all of the right reasons. Jehovah deserves to be blessed—

• for all of His characteristics
• for His mercy
• from forever to forever
• with a double “Amen.”

    — Skip Andrews