The Merciful and Pure

Please open your Bibles to Matthew 5.

Easter is coming.

Read Matthew 5:1–8- “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’”

Pray.

How do we live as a result of all that has come before?

Was going to send something out, but wanted to address it this morning instead.

The beatitudes give an upside down picture to how we engage with the world that surrounds us.

Began with meekness before God and man, but continues. Merciful, Pure, Peacemakers.

Consider our social media posting, or better yet, our private conversations with our closest of friends. How would those conversations be described by others?

Who is a Christian? The answer to this question leads to what a Christian does.

What is the first quality mentioned here? Perhaps one that we would rather bring up the rear of such a list.

1. Blessed are the merciful.

What mercy is.

First, mercy is a reflection of the character of God.

Exodus 34:6- “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,’”

Luke 6:36- “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

But in Jesus, we also find the heart of compassion that is moved to mercy.

Matthew 14:14- “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

Jesus was constantly moved to compassion and responded with mercy. If such words are true of Him, should they not be true of us as well?

A.W. Pink- “Was He moved with compassion? Did He weep with the mourner? Was He patient with the dull-witted? Then if He indwells me, that same disposition, however imperfectly manifested, must be reproduced.”

If mercy is a reflection of the character of God, then what is to be reflected?

A.W. Pink- “…a holy compassion of soul, whereby one is moved to pity and go to the relief of another in misery. It causes its possessor to make the case of another his own, so that he is grieved by it, for when our heart is really touched by the state of another, we are stirred within. It is a spirit of kindness and benevolence which sympathizes with the sufferings of the afflicted, so that we weep with those that weep.”

John Calvin- “We must assume their identity, as it were, so as to be deeply touched by their suffering and moved by love to mourn with them.”

Thomas Watson- “It is a melting disposition whereby we lay to heart the miseries of others and are ready on all occasions to be instrumental for their good.”

Sinclair Ferguson- “Mercy is getting down on your hands and knees and doing something to restore dignity to someone whose life has been broken by sin.”

Willingness to see the trouble in which others find themselves, and instead of wondering how they God themselves into such a mess, asking how we might benefit them in their predicament because their predicament has become our predicament.

Let’s take it one step further. This is meant to be our attitude toward all people, even those who have wronged us.

Martyn Lloyd Jones- “I no longer see men as I used to see them. I see them now with a Christian eye. I see them as the dupes and the victims and the slaves of sin and Satan and of the way of the world. I have come to see them not simply as men whom I dislike but as men to be pitied…as being still where once I was, and would be yet but for the grace of God.”

The clearest expression of such mercy- Jesus’ incarnation- Seeing the plight of man, condescending to do what is necessary to lift man from death to life.

How mercy is expressed.

Many answers here:

Attitude more often of pity than of frustration or anger.

Seek out the needs of others.

Praying for the true well-being of others.

One key expression of mercy, then, is forgiveness. Endless, bottomless forgiveness.

Luke 23:33–34- “And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lots to divide his garments.”

Consider all that has happened leading up to this verse. The text never specifies exactly who Jesus is seeking forgiveness for, but seems likely that he is speaking on behalf of all of them.

2. For they shall receive mercy.

One major question- Is this promoting a theology of works?

If I only receive mercy as a result of my willingness to extend mercy, doesn’t that mean that I am saved by my good works?

A few problems.

First, it sets a standard that is unreachable.

None of us are merciful.

Even those who are most merciful find that they can pretty easily be driven to ignore a merciful reaction, given the situation and people involved.

When Jesus uses the definitive word ‘merciful’ it leaves no room for error.

Such a view ignores the rest of the New Testament.

Ephesians 2:1-10.

Such a view limits a proper understanding of mercy.

Tend to think of it merely in a salvific, or saving, sense. Saved by God’s mercy.

Is it possible that receiving mercy can mean even more?

First, we find an inward benefit.

Proverbs 14:21- “Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.”

Blessed or happy is the one who cares for the poor- why? Living the way that they were created to live.

Beyond this understanding of receiving mercy, is it not also true that generally speaking, the merciful tend to receive mercy from others?

Finally, such a view greatly misunderstands a biblical truth that is present throughout much of the NT.

Those who have received and will continue to receive saving mercy are those who live all of what the beatitudes have laid before us up to this point.

Mournful and repentant sinners who understand their situation, living in light of it and seek after the life that only God can give.

These are the ones who have and continue to receive God’s mercy.

One small side note- in considering the saving mercy of Christ, we do notice that God’s mercy and our mercy are constantly tied together.

Might we begin to consider extending mercy truly as mercy has been extended to us?

3. Blessed are the pure in heart.

Purity- a couple of ways to understand the word.

katharos- Clean or pure.

Free from corrupt desire, from sin a guilt.

Free from every mixture of what is false.

Sincere or genuine.

The same throughout. Think through the sermon on the mount.

Murder and anger; Adultery and lust; Don’t give, pray or fast with false motivations. Trees bear good or bad fruit based on whether they are good or bad trees.

Understanding the heart correctly.

The seat of wisdom, emotion, intellect, the true person.

To be pure in heart means to be genuine in all that we are. Merciful not only on the interior or exterior, but throughout.

Head vs. heart vs. hands.

To be pure in heart, to rightly be merciful, or any other attribute to which we are called by God, requires the understanding that the heart is the seat of it all.

We are called to be merciful in our head, in our knowledge and understanding of people, or how we think about people.

We are also called to be merciful in our hearts, moved to compassion. Jesus saw people and understood their circumstances, but it moved him to pity.

But we are also called to be merciful in our hands, in our actions, using the resources available to us to extend mercy to those in need.

4. For they shall see God.

What is the benefit that is given by Jesus concerning purity of heart?

A few meanings here are likely:

We are brought near to God.

At the most basic level- How do we see something? By being brought near to it.

Been reading in Ephesians about all that stands between us and God. When it is removed, and we are brought near we see God.

Not only do we see God, but as we are brought closer to God, we begin to see Him more clearly- We see God as He truly is.

Not only do we see God as He truly is, but we see the goodness of who God is.

Consider the texts that speak of the goodness of God.

Psalm 34:8- “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

When we first come into faith, we may see the attributes of God as good, largely because we have benefited from them.

But it is sometimes difficult to continue to believe that God is truly good, perhaps primarily because of our lack of understanding the word, ‘good”.

As we see God, move closer to God, we see Him as He is, and we begin to make sense of the beauty of His character and attributes.

As we are brought closer to God, and see Him as He truly is, we begin to enjoy being in His presence.

John 3:36- “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Notice the language of vision- shall not see life. What is meant?

Possession, experience of something, enjoyment of something.

We never know the level at which we could enjoy something until we actually attend. Until we show up.