Are you Merciful?

If you have a bible open it up to Matthew 5. I have titled the message this morning are you Merciful? Pray with me.

As we continue our study in the beatitudes we get to Matthew 5:7 today which says…

Matthew 5:7 ESV

7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

I can’t help but think about what I told you a few weeks ago when our study of this section of scripture took off and that was as we progress through these verses they will be harder for us to follow, dont get me wrong in our flesh we can’t follow any of them, but even as born again believers these verses are challenging to us even though they should mark our very character. This verse when we get to the heart of it is a struggle for many people who are even believers. Which should not be the case in fact what I am going to argue to you today as our main idea is this.

If you have been forgiven then you will forgive.

Seems simple enough right. Most of us in this room would like to say we are believers but if we are honest we fail to offer mercy even though we have been given it.

How do we define what it means to be merciful... I did alot of digging this week to find you what I believe is the best definition and example of what mercy is and one man said this… 'Grace is especially associated with men in their sins; mercy is especially associated with men in their misery?

In other words, while grace looks down upon sin as a whole, mercy looks especially upon the miserable consequences of sin. So that mercy really means a sense of pity plus a desire to relieve the suffering. That is the essential meaning of being merciful; it is pity plus the action. So the Christian has a feeling of pity. His concern about the misery of men and women leads to an anxiety to relieve it. There are many ways in which one could illustrate that.

For example, to have a merciful spirit means the spirit that is displayed when you suddenly find yourself in the position of having in your power someone who has transgressed against you. Now the way to know whether you are merciful or not is to consider how you feel towards that person. Are you going to say, Well now, I am going to exert my rights at this point; I am going to be legal. This person has transgressed against me; very well, here comes my opportunity?

That is the very antithesis of being merciful. This person is in your power; is there a vindictive spirit, or is there a spirit, or is there a spirit of pity and sorrow, a spirit, if you like, of kindness to your enemies in distress? Or again, we can describe it as inward sympathy and outward acts in relation to the sorrows and sufferings of others.

In other words to be merciful is to give help to the wretched to relieve the miserable.

What does it take to be a merciful person? I believe it comes from a place knowing we have recieved mercy. Forgiven people, forgive easier.

As we think about all the bible especially a verse like this it all starts with the idea that Jesus Christ is the most merciful one, because he died for those who believe in him. He offer mercy when we don’t forget it.

we get our supreme example of what mercy looks like from our Lord Jesus Christ.

couple points for you today the first is this.

Jesus shows us what its like to be merciful.

Who are we without Jesus Christ according to the Word? We are those miserable people right? we suffer the consequences of sin. God in his great mercy looked upon the people he created who sinned against him who had no hope no salvation and what did he do? He sent his son Jesus Christ.

And by sending his Son he showed the ultimate act of mercy. Listen to what Ephesians 2:1-10 says.

Ephesians 2:1–10 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Look who we were before Christ? Dead. Disobedient. Flesh followers. But God.. love that… being rich in what?... Mercy because of what... his love for us while we were dead what did he do? He may us alive by the power of his grace, raised us up to the heavenly places offering this amount of immeasurable riches and kindness.

And then we see the gospel. 8-9. For you have been saved by grace. God is so merciful to us as believers because he saved us. Its a gift not our works. Being merciful to someone is a gift, and Jesus Christ shows that more than anyone else by saving the most pitied which is us, so we can’t boast in it.

and as a result we should live from that very Grace in when it comes to looking at this verse we should be merciful. Titus 3:4-7 which we just studied a few months ago together says this..

Titus 3:4–7 ESV

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

One man said God’s mercy not only forgives and saves but also withholds the punishment we deserve. We serve a God who showed us the ultimate act of mercy by dying on the cross.

And on that very cross Jesus said what? Luke 23:34

Luke 23:34 (ESV)

34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Even after going through all the shame and suffering one of Jesus final recorded statements in the bible says. Forgive them for they know not what they do. Jesus is merciful.

And what should we do with that. Second thing to note of is this.

Christians should respond properly to God’s mercy.

It’s one thing to know God is merciful, that God is kind. That he died on the cross for sinners. That he showed us what it is like to be merciful.

What do you do with that information? How do you respond even more so what do you do with the second part of this verse.

Because in the second part of this verse it says.. for they shall receive mercy. Does that mean that this verse means if you are going to be one who is forgiven than you yourself must forgive?

Does this verse rest on your own forgiveness of others in order to have forgiveness yourself. No I don’t believe the scripture teaches us that. Because we would have to be perfect in every-way in order to be forgiven none of us can carry that kind of load. We ourselves are saved by grace not saved based on the fact of whether or not we forgive everyone all the time.

I was moved by Martyn Lloyd Jones when he said this about this verse.

Our Lord is really saying that I am only truly forgiven when I am truly repentant To be truly repentant means that I realize I deserve nothing but punishment, and that if I am forgiven it is to be attributed entirely to the love of God and to His mercy and grace, and to nothing else at all. But I go further; it means this. If I am truly repentant and realize my position before God, and realize that I am only forgiven in that way, then of necessity I shall forgive those who trespass against me.

That is why I said our main idea is If you have been forgiven than you will forgive. And the proper way to respond to God’s mercy is coming from a place knowing we have been forgiven, and extending that to others.

We should be people who seek to offer mercy to others.

Let me give you an example of a right way and a wrong way to respond to this verse from the scriptures.

Lets turn our bibles to Luke 10. You most likely have heard this story before.

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

There is much that can be said about this text but I want you to Notice a few things from the text that we can apply to verse 7 of Matthew chapter 5.

You see three different kinds of people in this text. First you see Jesus reference the Priest, and what does the priest do he crosses the road to avoid the problem. There is lots of reasoning from people saying he could have done this because of so and so reason, but the reality is you would expect a person who was a priest to stop and help someone even if it caused him to violate his own duties, but he doesn’t the levite who helped the priest did not he also went to the other side. One man said. Priests and Levites” thus personifies the distinctive relationship of Israel with God, particularly as it was expressed in the temple cult of Jerusalem. It could thus be hoped that the Levite who assisted in the temple would assist a wounded man beside the road. Like the priest before him, however, the Levite, also for undisclosed reasons, passes by the wounded man. With their receding footsteps, hope from Israel fades for the wounded man.

As Jesus is telling them this they are thinking in the back of their mind this man is not going to find mercy if these people of God are not going to help him this samaritan wont either. Because this is man who is one who often finds himself in danger an outsider as well. He is an outsider. Jews hate these people. Is he going to help this man?

Well the text says he did. He is most likely helping a jewish man. He took pity on him unlike the other two parties did . He showed mercy. Now what is powerful about this story comparing it with what we see in verse 7 of Matthew 5 is this.

Jesus is Matthew 23:23

Matthew 23:23 ESV

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.

One scholar said about this story. ...Love should not be limited by its object; its extent and quality are in the control of its subject. Furthermore, love is demonstrated in action, in this case in an act of mercy. It may be costly: cloth, wine, oil, transportation, money, and sacrifice of time. There is a striking reversal of roles here. The Jewish “expert” would have thought of the Jewish victim as a good person and the Samaritan as an evil one. To a Jew there was no such person as a “good” Samaritan. Jesus could have told the story with a Samaritan victim and a Jewish helper, but the role reversal drives the story home by shaking the hearer loose from his preconceptions.

For us mercy should not depend on who its for or what are the circumstances, but the fact that people need mercy just like we did. And the fact that we have been shown it ourselves.

This example comes from the wrong perspective ill cover this as a sermon later, but now let it be an illustration for us.

Matthew 18:21–35 ESV

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-seven times. 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. 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, 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.”

Ill spend more time on this in who knows how many months but let me say this… Never forget you have been shown mercy yourself and fail to extend mercy to others. This man failed to see he had been forgiven of such a great debt that in turn he wanted to use that freedom to gain from others, not extend the same kind of mercy.

see this as well.

Forgive others because you have been forgiven, and God will use it for the good of others.

You know how many times I have been told about all kinds of things that have been done to one another since I have been a pastor or even before I have been a pastor. Stuff I have heard from my own congregation about wrongs that have happened to them, and the weight I feel of all those people who share their stories with me and I just think if you would just forgive them as Christ has forgiven you would have a weight come off of you so powerful for not only you but others that it would change the world.

This is hard to do even for me at times, but when I let go and let God take it like he took my sin it changes everything.

Many of us come here today with feelings of hurt and feelings where we don’t want to show others mercy and I am not telling you to show others mercy and go back to the same relationships because that can be dangerous for you mentally, and physically, I don’t want you to put yourself in those situations if you think its harmful, but give it God give it to God. forgive others as Christ forgave you it can change your life and someone else’s life.

Let me read a story to you.. The late Corrie ten Boom recalled in her book The Hiding Place a postwar meeting with a guard from the Ravensbruck concentration camp, where her sister had died and she herself had been subjected to horrible indignities.

It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, the former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there-the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, Betsie's pain-blanched face.

He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing.

"How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein," he said. "To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!"

His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people in Bloemendaal the need to forgive, kept my hand at my side.

Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more?

Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.

I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass almost overwhelmed me.' from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.

Forgiveness is possible for the most grievous of wounds.

You today might have someone in your life that you might need to go to and ask forgiveness, you might be like the guard involved in something horrible, I am telling you that one of the most freeing things you can do is go to someone and say forgive me, but also you might need to be like this lady who was so wronged and say I forgive you for whatever that is. and as I said earlier do so with the right judgement to not cause yourself mental and physical harm going to the Lord most important thing but forgiving yourself and others is life-changing.

Now how do you develop a merciful spirit. Real quick make note of this.

Final point this morning is this.

Those who are merciful confess their sins, read scripture, and help others who need mercy.

I think this point is needed based on all the study I have done this week, because alot of us don’t know where to start when it comes to being merciful and compassionate about others. And one man I read alot from this week helped give me give you this point to you today.

He said this… Confession: Admit your need to God. Pray to this effect: "Father, I know your mercy. I have been merciful at times. But, God, I need more compassion, and I need to forgive. I know this is your will for me. Help me.

"Scripture: Read the Scriptures that have to do with mercy and compassion. Begin with Hosea 6:6, and then read Jesus' application of it in Matthew 9:9-13 and 23:23. Also examine Micah 6:8 and Amos 5:21-24. And especially meditate on Luke 10:30-37. Regarding forgiveness, read Matthew 6:14, 15 and 18:21-35. I can give you those verses later if you need me to repeat them.

Mercy: Then get out and do mercy. forgive those who have wronged you. Purposely become involved with those who are hurting. I would say there are so many people who are hurting. Our new prayer campaign which I am having cards made simply says how can I pray for you. Just the other night at the hospital I was walking around asking people how they were and few laddies responses made me feel like they were not doing so well, and the Spirit prompted me to pray for them. Showing mercy to others can be as simple at stoping from all your business and praying for someone in need.

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."

Now as we close I want you to ask yourself two things? One have you recieved mercy yourself? Have you experienced the realities of what it means to be forgiven by the one who died on the cross? Who rose again? Have you responded to that act of mercy. Have you come to the Lord and said I have turned away from my sin I have believed in you by faith to forgive me of all my sins.

Two are you merciful? Do you have pity on those who have sinned again God and you.

Think about those things as we leave here today. Respond properly.. Let us pray.