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The Beatitudes: The Merciful
Matthew 5:1-12: Seeing
the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples
came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are
the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are
the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile
you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my
account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Introduction: We often so easily forget the mercy that God has
shown to us in Christ. We deserve only God's wrath and justice for
our sins, but he has offered his hand of mercy to us in Christ! What
have you been given by God that you truly deserve? Be honest!
How do we practice mercy
with others, particularly those who treat us indifferently and cruel?
Are we merciful with others who sin against us? Do we reflect our
Father's goodness and mercy when others sin against us? Not
always! In fact, we many times ask for others to treat us and to pay
us back in a way inconsistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God offers to us mercy,
a forgiveness that is unmerited or undeserved! We ought to offer that
same unmerited and undeserved mercy back to other people who upset us-
- yet it is so hard for us to do! It is because we have not truly
understood God's mercy on us! If we did, we would have not trouble
(by His grace) extending hands of mercy to others!
How can we be more
merciful and forgiving as a people? By the power of Christ's Spirit teaching
us the deep and undying love and mercy of God to us! Let this sink
into our unmerciful and unforgiving hearts: "While we were yet
sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for the ungodly!"
That's mercy! May we come to understand Mercy, mercy, mercy to
others. As Jesus says: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall
be shown mercy."
I.
“Mercy, mercy me! What an Unmerciful
World!”
A.
An extremely
unmerciful world!
o
“Don’t
get mad, get even!”
o
One of the
Queens of England once said: “God may forgive you, but I never will!
o
Illustration
of a young lady named “Leslie”, my young friend and student:
“She’s getting what her sins deserve!” How dare we speak
in this way!
o
You see
someone in your life whose sins have caused them pain, do you reach out to
help, or do you just say: “They are getting what they deserve?”
o
Remember:
none of us are mere “victims”.
Because of sin, we are both the victim and the victimizers! We all deserve to be blamed for all that
happens! None of us are without
guilt.
II.
What is does it mean to show mercy?
How different are we really
from the world and culture around us?
A.
Illustration:
Mercy is about forgiveness- - extending
a hand of undeserved grace to another- -and not just one time!
Notice
the context about forgiveness of one another:
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord,
how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as
seven times?" 22 Jesus said to him, "I do not say to
you seven times, but seventy times seven. 23
"Therefore the kingdom
of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his
servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who
owed him ten thousand talents (about 15 years’ wages). 25 And
since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife
and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So
the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I
will pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him, the master
of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
28 But when that same servant
went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred
denarii (a days’ wages), and seizing him, he began to choke him,
saying, 'Pay what you owe.' 29 So his fellow servant fell down
and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30 He
refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31
When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly
distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken
place.
32 Then his master summoned him and said to him,
'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with
me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant,
as I had mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his master delivered him
to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my
heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your
brother from your heart."
Points:
1) The amount of debt is great- -it is not merely overlooked! It costs the king a lot! 2) The servant could never repay his
master! 3) The King was merciful and forgave
him his debt!
We
could never repay God for our sins!
None of us! We all owe God eternal
death, for Romans 6:23 says the wages
of sin is death. Yet God, who is
rich in mercy, extends a hand of forgiveness to us in Christ.
“We
owed a debt we could not pay; Christ paid a debt He did not owe!”
Remember: Believing and
actually doing are two different things!
B.
Remember
that Jesus reminded the Pharisees and his disciples of the “weightier”
or more important matters of the Law from the Prophet Micah:
Micah 6:8 He has told
you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do
justice, and to love kindness (mercy: hesed,
translated “lovingkindness of God), and to walk humbly with your God?
Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the
weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.
These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
o
“Mercy”
or “Lovingkindness” or offering an undeserved hand of grace and
forgiveness to others who sin against us is a very important and “weighty”
matter of the Law!
o
Why? The Law
condemns us all! If God has shown us
mercy and not just wrath and punishment, shouldn’t we show the same
to others who may have broken our own personal and social laws against us?
III.
Receivers of Mercy
A.
We have earned
God’s just wrath and punishment.
B.
Good news of
the gospel is that we are not getting what we deserve because Christ did for us! We have been shown mercy by the Living God.
C.
God shows us
mercy and grace so that we might be saved. Christ and the Mercy Seat in the
Old Covenant is where justice and mercy meet because of God’s love
and mercy to sinners!
D.
Do you show
mercy to others? Do you say things
like: “Well, they deserved it!”? Or, do you say unmerciful harsh things in
more of a subtle manner, such as: “I would forgive them, but
I’m not going to forget it!” Or, “I warned them so many
times, and now they are getting what they deserve!”
E.
But what
about what we deserve before a Holy God?
This reality should seep deep down into our heart and cause us to
overflow with mercy and grace to others.
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