Beatitude #5 - Blessed are the merciful

Intro

Welcome

Pray

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Background

Jesus popular

Large crowds following Him

Jesus goes up on the side of the mountain to teach

What follows is the Sermon on the Mount

Jesus starts with a lesson in the Beatitudes

Be-Attitude

Be-Attitude = Supreme Blessing

Characteristics, attitude, spiritual attribute of the Jesus Follower

Not a lesson in Salvation

Beatitudes describe how we should live (Daily Living)

8 x Blessings, with attributes and reversal rewards

Grouping

Few things to notice with Beatitudes:

Like a Ladder

Beatitudes are like a ladder

Ladder has to have all rungs, not only some

2-piece ladder

Start at 1st rung and then up, then the 2nd, the 3rd, and last Sunday the 4th

The 4th rung is actually part of the 2nd section: its actual 1st step

So last week we have been on both parts of the ladder

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RUNGS 1-3

Poor in spirit — I bring nothing to God; I depend entirely on Him.

Those who mourn — I grieve my sin and the brokenness of the world.

The meek — I surrender my strength to God’s control.

Our position before God

[These are receptive — they describe what we lack and what we receive.]

Receiving: what I lack, I receive

God empties us

God creates a hunger

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RUNG 4

4. Hunger and thirst for righteousness — I long for God Himself to fill me.

Our position before God

Receiving: what I lack, I receive

THE TURNING POINT

God FILLS US

Theme: These 1st four Beatitudes empty us of self‑reliance and awaken deep desire for God’s righteousness.

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Matthew 5:7 NIV

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

As we moving up on the ladder, we may experience a sense of Fear of Height

RUNGS 5-8

Merciful — Because God showed me mercy, I show mercy to others.

Pure in heart — Because God cleansed me, I walk with integrity and single devotion.

Peacemakers — Because God reconciled me, I become an agent of reconciliation.

Persecuted for righteousness — Because I now live out God’s righteousness, the world resists it.

Our position before Others

[These are active — they describe what we give because of what we’ve received]

Giving Reaction: I give, because of what I received

flows from being filled

then sends us out as His disciples

Theme: These last four Beatitudes express the outward fruit of the inward transformation.

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The link/relation with 4 -> 3 -> 2

B#4

Matthew 5:6 NIV

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

What happens when we are craving/addicted to what is right?

When we need everything and everyone to act right - right before God?

What hapeens when these people fail - they do the wrong thing?

The need to be punished!

BUT, the very next B#5, JESUS asks you to have MERCY,

Be the HEALER - forgive them, have compassion, have pity on them

Leave the judgement and retaliation to God

Which is which B?

B#3: Meekness - don’t worry, you will inherit the earth

Matthew 5:5 NIV

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Jesus says that when you have mercy, stay meek, while you witness people doing the wrong thing

Jude 22–23 NLT

22 And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. 23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.

It will make you sad, it will make you mourn their sin, and our sinful nature.

B#2: Mourning - don’t worry, you will be comforted

Matthew 5:4 NIV

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

But these are not the MAIN LINK.

We have to investigate the word “MERCY” 1st

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MERCY

Matthew 5:7 NIV

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

Grace: I receive what I don’t deserve - forgiveness

Mercy: Is when we don’t receive what I do deserve - punishment

Root Greek word here is: Eleos - ἔλεος​eleos · mercy; pity; compassion; kindness

Galatians 5:22 “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,” gentleness and self-control.

It is a tipe of kindness (Fruit of the Spirit)

eleos is used to express “mercy” or “compassion” for those in need. An attribute of God and describes his relationship to humankind. 

In its original use eleos refers to the feeling of pity, pity at the sight of another’s ill-fortune

Where did we have that feeling in the previous 4 Beatitudes?

Where did we need God’s compassion and mercy?

At which one did we realise our need for God?

B#1, when we realised we were POOR in SPIRIT

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RUNG 1 & 5

1 - 5 : Knowing my spiritual poverty makes me compassionate toward others’ poverty.

2 - 6 : Grieving sin leads to a desire for purity and integrity.

3 - 7 : A meek person does not fight for self, so they can work for peace.

4 - 8 : Those who crave righteousness will live it — and suffer for it.

This pairing shows that the Beatitudes are not random; they are intentional spiritual formation.

Jesus says: Now since you understand your need for God,

you will see you need God to have pity on you,

you realise you need forgiveness (Grace)

and you need God to not give you the punishment you deserve (Mercy)

You wants God’s Mercy

Jesus is saying: Well, there is MERCY for you, if you show MERCY

Now that you know, your spiritual poverty should make you compassionate towards others’ poverty or shortcomings.

You see the link to B#1 - Continious Circle

Because we have been poor in spirit and been shown mercy, we should also show mercy

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The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

Matthew 18:21–35 NIV

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. 23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. 35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

1 Bag of gold = 1 talent = 20 years for a day labourer’s

1 Silver Coin = 1 Denarii = 1 day’s wages

10,000 x 20 years = 200,000 years = 73,000,000 days

100 x 1 day = 100 days

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Salvation Value

Is there Salvation Value to showing Mercy

Yes and No

No (Only no): if you have not clicked in on the turn (having and showing mercy - no salvation value)

But if You have to be clicked in on your turn - TRUE BELIEVE - TRUE ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST

THEN If you don’t show mercy

No mercy, means judgement without mercy

James 2:13 NIV

13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

The emotion, the heart will be taken out of the judgement

Matthew 6:15 NIV

15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

MERCY: I am not punished for something I deserve to be punished for => I am forgive

Mercy implies forgiving

If I can’t forgive, I am not mercifull

=> no forgiveness of your sins

=> no justification => no salvation

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Jesus & God loves Mercy

When Jesus calls Matthew to be His disciple, Jesus goes to his home to eat with him and many other tax collectors, but the Pharisees questions this.

Matthew 9:13 NIV

13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Quotes Hosea

Hosea 6:6 NIV

6 For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.

And again explained in Micah

Micah 6:6–8 NIV

6 With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, 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.

Jesus is saying to the teachers, I had mercy on the tax collector Matthew, because Matthew was willing to follow me.

Luke 6:36 NIV

36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

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SUMMARY

Last four Beatitudes Express the outward fruit of the inward transformation. Linked to Beatitudes 4, 3 & 2 Righteousness, Meekness, Mourning Paired with 1st Beatitude Knowing my spiritual poverty makes me compassionate toward others’ poverty.

Eleos Mercy; pity; compassion; kindness To be Merciful Implies Forgiveness God desires mercy ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ (Hos 6:6; Mat 9:13)

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