Beatitudes
23
for His indwelling. Our Lord Himself has given the command, “Be
filled with the Spirit” (
Ephesians 5:18
), and this command is also a
promise of its fulfillment. It was the good pleasure of the Father that in
Christ should “all the fullness dwell,” and “in Him ye are made full.”
Colossians 1:19
, R.V.; 2:10, R.V.
God has poured out His love unstintedly, as the showers that refresh
the earth. He says, “Let the skies pour down righteousness: let the
earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness
spring up together.” “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is
none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the
God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a
pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.”
Isaiah 45:8
;
41:17,
18
.
“Of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.”
John
1:16
.
“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain
mercy.”—Matthew 5:7.
The heart of man is by nature cold and dark and unloving; whenever
one manifests a spirit of mercy and forgiveness, he does it not of
himself, but through the influence of the divine Spirit moving upon his
[22]
heart. “We love, because He first loved us.”
1 John 4:19
, R.V.
God is Himself the source of all mercy. His name is “merciful
and gracious.”
Exodus 34:6
. He does not treat us according to our
desert. He does not ask if we are worthy of His love, but He pours
upon us the riches of His love, to make us worthy. He is not vindictive.
He seeks not to punish, but to redeem. Even the severity which He
manifests through His providences is manifested for the salvation of
the wayward. He yearns with intense desire to relieve the woes of men
and to apply His balsam to their wounds. It is true that God “will by
no means clear the guilty” (
Exodus 34:7
), but He would take away
the guilt.
The merciful are “partakers of the divine nature,” and in them the
compassionate love of God finds expression. All whose hearts are in
sympathy with the heart of Infinite Love will seek to reclaim and not