Matthew 5:7

DAY 24
Date: 10-27-2024

Sermon on the Mount

Scripture Matt 5:7

Pray

Read scripture: 
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” (NIV 1984)

Beatitude Definition:

Last week some asked what the word Beatitude means, and someone answered. 

I’ll just add that dictionary.com says it is “supreme blessedness; exalted happiness.”

The Beatitudes are simple blessed sayings, or sayings of blessing, and they are almost impossible to define or understand or even think about apart from Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount. 

Blessed Definition:

Divinely favored, divinely happy or divinely fortunate (NOT lucky).

The Beatitudes are not about how to get saved. The Beatitudes are the distinguishing marks of people who are saved; true Christians. 

Jesus says in Matt 7:16 and 20 (two times in one paragraph) “(NIV 1984) 16 By their fruit you will recognize them.” In a sense, the Beatitudes are the fruit of true believers.

All of the Beatitudes are short, introductory statements that are expanded and described more fully in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount and the New Testament. The first three Beatitudes, are of a more passive nature, and more inner and personal, the last 4 beatitudes are more active and external, and reveal what is inside us our hearts.

In the last 4 beatitudes mercy, purity, peacemaking and persecution, we find that their outward  expressions reveal our character. They reveal what kind of people we are. Our outward actions reveal what is in our hearts, and they are evidence that we belong to Jesus. 

Each Beatitude builds on and comes from the ones before it. Our Beatitude today, blessed are the merciful, builds on and comes from hungering and thirsting for righteousness, which builds on and comes from being meek, which rises up from mourning and being poor in spirit. 

In short we could summarize these last four Beatitudes like this:

GIVE Mercy
GET Purity
MAKE Peace and eventually you will 
BE Persecuted

• Do you reflect these characteristics in your life? 
• Are these attitudes and character traits increasing true of you in your life?

Thought for the day about the Beatitudes (and the Sermon on the Mount): 
An Illustration of “Opposite World.” (Credit the YouTube video here)

Below is a chart comparing, generally, the thoughts and attitudes of the world compared to the thoughts and attitudes of Christians, or at least how Christians should think and act. We Christians are all in the process of sanctification – becoming more Christlike every day (hopefully!)

The World Says:	Jesus says:
It’s a dog eat dog world out there	It’s a dog help dog world.
Don’t get mad. Get even.	Don’t get mad, get reconciled.
It’s every man for himself.	It’s every man for his neighbor.
Give credit where credit is due.	Credit where none is due.
Survival of the fittest.	Survival of the feeblest.
Money makes the world go around.	Mercy makes the world go around.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:8, 

(NIV 1984) “Freely you have received, freely give.”

We must freely give it as we have received it. 

Matt 6:11 and 6:14-14 say,

(NIV 1984) 12 “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

And – “(NIV 1984) “… 14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Overview
The Beatitudes are the marks of a Christian. As we grow in Christlikeness, we should, over time, exhibit these marks in our lives. 
And mercy should be a KEY component of a Christian’s character. 

Main Point(s)
Be merciful. 
Practice mercy.
Receive mercy humbly.

Mercy is a MORAL RESPONSIBILITY for the true Christian. 
This does NOT mean legally moral, but, rather, mercifully moral; soft-hearted towards others grief and misfortune, not hard-hearted, like the Pharisees. 

There is a duty and a reward.
The blessing of those who extend mercy to others is the return of more mercy back to those who give it. 
It is like a well that never runs dry! 
The more you give, the more you receive!

Today’s Verses

V 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Q: How would you define mercy? 

A: The Bible Speaks Today Commentary on Matthew says, (Bible Speaks Today) “‘Mercy’ is compassion for people in need.”

Another definition of MERCY from Colin Smith is: A tender heart that cares for the good of others. (Collin Smith, A.H. E Free Church.) 

Augustine said, that the merciful are those who come to aid of the needy. (Christbook, by Frederick Dale Bruner, pg 174)

And I would add to that the components of compassion and actions – So, my definition might be: 
A merciful person would have, and exhibit, a tender and compassionate heart that cares AND ACTS for the good of others.  

Q: What is the plain simple meaning of this verse?

A: We are to extend God’s mercy to those around us. 

Observations:

At first glance, when isolated from the rest of scripture, and taken on its own, this verse looks like we need to GIVE mercy first, before we get it. 

This verse is a great example of why nobody should ever make a doctrine – or a hard and fast rule, from one, isolated verse. We should ALWAYS interpret scripture in light of all the rest of scripture. This is sometimes referred to as the “(ESV) whole counsel of God” or the (NIV 1984) “whole will of God” or the (NASB) whole purpose of God” or the “(CSB Strong’s) whole plan of God.”

When looking at the whole counsel of God, scripture is clear. As with everything good in the Christian life, it all starts with God. God is the grand initiator. First, we receive grace and mercy from Him. Then, as we receive Grace and Mercy from God, we are changed from being enemies of God to being children of God, and we grow in Christlikeness, and are increasingly able and motivated to share His mercy with others. Then as we are merciful to others, God continues to bless us with even more mercy. 

1 Peter 1:3- says, (NIV 1984) 3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice,”

And Eph 2:4-5 says, (NIV 1984) 4 “… because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved.”

For examples of God’s mercy in the Old Testment, see Exodus 34:6

(ESV) 6 “The LORD passed before him (Moses) and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,”

 And there are many more. See also Ps 86:15, Ps 103:8, Ps 145:8, Joel 2:13 and Jonah 4:2

And many greetings in New Testament Epistles also speak of the mercies from God. 

I like to think of mercy like an on-going circle (see drawing below.  that flows both in and out of us. It all starts with God. As God shows mercy to us, particularly in our salvation, we have a very high degree of motivation to show mercy to others based on our response to the mercy we have received. Then, as this Beatitude shows, as we show mercy to others, God continues the circular, on-going flow of mercy back into us. We extend it, and we receive it. It becomes part of our nature of compassionate and forgiving children of God. Grace and mercy and compassion and forgiveness are all closely related in concept in the Greek. 

Grace and mercy are very closely related, but a bit different.

An easy way to distinguish between grace and mercy is…

Grace is God giving us what we DON’T deserve. 
And mercy is NOT giving us what we do deserve.

Q: WHO can you show mercy (I.e., kindness, forgiveness, compassion.) to today?

For an illustration, let’s look at The Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Q: The Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10: 25-37 is about what? 
A: Mercy (see vs 37)

Q: In what WAYS can you show mercy to people?

1. By praying for their salvation. Praying that God will not give them what they do deserve – hell. But that He would give them what they don’t deserve – heaven. 
2. By overlooking offense’s.
3. By giving someone the benefit of the doubt.
4. By considering others more highly than yourself.
5. By going to repair a broken relationship even if you are pretty sure it wasn’t your fault. 
6. By not pressing charges, when you could. 
7. By not condemning them.
8. By being on the lookout, intentionally, for those who are weaker or frail, for those who weeping and mourning, so he can show them God’s mercy.
9. By being other-centered.
10. By meeting the needs of those who obviously doesn’t deserve it.
11. By being lenient and forgiving of others trespasses. The willingness to forgive an adversary 
12. Showing compassion or forgiveness to someone who you have the power or the right or the ability to hurt or punish. 
13. To have pity or compassion or show undeserved kindness to someone in need, especially if they can’t pay you back.
14. Being merciful is usually expressed in action, in acts of kindness or love, in response to the needs of others.
15. In Matthew 9:27, Jesus healed to blind men who called out to Him, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”
16. Jesus said in Matthew 12:7, (NIV 1984) 7 “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.“
17. In Matthew 18:21-35 is the parable of the “Unmerciful Servant.”

Related vs: 

James 2:13
(NIV 1984) 13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

Hebrews 2:17
(NIV 1984) 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

Notice what Jesus says about mercy in this verse in Matthew 23:23:
(NIV 1984) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.’

He is equating mercy with the law!
But Paul is also saying in Rom 9:15-16 that there is nothing you can to earn mercy!
(NIV 1984) 15 “For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
16 It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.”

Romans 12:1-2 says, (NIV 1984) 1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Matt 9:13
(NIV 1984) 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’

Pro 21:3
(NIV 1984) 3 To do what is right and just
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

The above two verses, taken together, give us a picture of the difference in the teaching of Jesus, and the teachings of the Pharisee. 

“For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment”. James 2:13

And

(NIV 1984) 8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

Conclusion:
When mercy is flowing into your life, you will be inclined to be merciful to others. 
If you are not merciful to others, in other words, if you do not have mercy flowing out of your life, that is evidence that you may not have mercy flowing into your life. And if you do not have mercy flowing into your life, it is mostly because it is NOT flowing out from you. 

Application:
Actively and intentionally look for opportunities to graciously show God’s love and mercy to a lost, hurting and confused world.

Quote:
“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.”

Good Video:  https://youtu.be/tPdEXb2d4cg?si=QYVj35ARZnLRKx0i

Next Week:
Our next class will be on November 3.
We will be covering MATTHEW 5:8