Sermon Tone Analysis
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(G) Ground
A statement and the argument or reason for that statement (supporting proposition follows).
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.“
Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful,
Who blesses the merciful?
Who are the ‘merciful’?
Where else does Jesus talk about the ‘merciful’?
for they shall receive mercy.
Does those who show mercy receive mercy?
Does everyone receive mercy?
How do those receive?
Who gives the mercy?
1.Title
Good morning everyone, wonderful to see you today.
GREETING FROM THE WAY CHURCH
If you are taking notes or would just like a title for this mornings message I’ve called it,
“Be Merciful, for God is Merciful”
Before we jump in to this mornings text let me pray.
2. Pray
3. Introduction, part 1
This morning we are going to be looking at the teaching of Jesus in what is know as ‘The Beatitudes’.
These are eight blessings which Jesus gives when teaching his famous Sermon on the Mount.
If you have a bible, please turn to Matthew chapter 5, I’ll read from verse 1 to verse 12.
4. Scripture
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.
His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.
He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“
Matthew 5:1–12 (NIV)
This is the word of The Lord.
5. Introduction, part 2
For this morning we’re going to focus our time on verse 7,
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Matthew 5:7 (NIV)
However, before we jump into that section let us spend a few minutes thinking about the Beatitudes as a whole.
Darrell Johnson, who serves on the leadership team at The Way pointed out in a sermon a few months ago that the world “blessing” can be paraphrase as “bless you”.
So,
“Bless you who are poor in spirit."
or,
“Bless you who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
or in our case,
“Bless you who are merciful.”
The ‘blessing’ could be through of as being ‘in sync’ with the what Jesus is doing.
And what Jesus is bringing the Kingdom of Heaven near.
In Matthew 3: 2 Jesus has already said,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 3:2 (ESV)
Some translations say,
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Matthew 3:2 (NIV)
Darrell when on to say that we are blessed because God’s kingdom has come near.
Because God’s kingdom has come near, we are blessed.
And all these eight blessings flow together to define God’s new kingdom,
Those who are poor in spirit run to God, the King.
Then as they begin to think the same way as the King they mourn for the condition of the world
They become meek and gentle, no longer putting themselves first but looking out for other, loving their neighbour.
They hunger and thirst of God and that their lives would become more like His.
And because they begin to understand all that God has done for them they show mercy to other.
As they continue to become more and more like the King they become more and more pure in heart.
And from that flows out a desire to be a peacemaker with though around them.
And just like the King they are sometimes revile and persecuted.
Remember, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, but it has not fully come.
For that we are still waiting.
But while we are waiting let us look for closely at our main text for this morning, verse 7.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Matthew 5:7 (NIV)
5. Understanding Mercy in Light of God’s Grace
So, what comes to mind when you think of the word Mercy?
I have three kids, and when I asked them what they thought about the word “mercy” they immediately said the children’s game.
You may know the one…
The idea is that you lock fingers together with another person and twisting your wrists attempt to make them shout “mercy”.
However Websters defines the word quite differently.
It says ‘mercy’ is
Mildness or tenderness of heart which causes a person to overlook injuries,
or to treat an offender better than he deserves;
and to forbear punishment,
and inflict less than justice warrants.
So what else do you think of when you hear these words?
For me I immediately think about Gods grace.
In fact you could say Grace and Mercy are two sides of the same coin.
“Grace” is getting what you don’t deserve
i.e. forgiveness
friendship with God
and eternal life.
Whereas “Mercy” is not getting what you do deserve
i.e. condemnation
enmity with God
and eternal punishment.
So I want to ask us, are our lives defined by mercy?
Are we merciful to others?
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