Blessed Are The Merciful - Matthew 5:7 Series

Matthew 5:1-12 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you

Introduction

A weighty matter of the law

Did you know the commands in God’s Word have different weights? Some are more weighty, more important – others lighter and less important? In Matthew 23 Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees and Scribes for following the less important matters of the law and neglecting what Jesus called the weightier matters of the law. And one of the weightiest of all is mercy.

Matthew 23:23 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices … But you have neglected the weightier matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Giving your tithe is less important than justice, mercy, and faithfulness. That is not to say the less important commands are optional; but it is to say there are some things in the law that are supremely important. And mercy is one of them.

The mercy of God

And that is no surprise given the emphasis on God’s mercy. It is hard to overstate the importance God places on His own mercy. When Moses asked God to show him His glory, God said, “OK,” …

Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, The LORD, the merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…”

That is the glory of God. He could have said, “The LORD, The LORD, holy and just, abounding in anger over sin” but instead He placed the focus on His mercy. And that description of God dominates the Old Testament portrait of God’s nature.

Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Nehemiah 9:17 you are a forgiving God, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love.

Joel 2:13 Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love

Nehemiah 9:31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them … for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Psalm 145:8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and rich in love.

2 Chronicles 30:9 the Lord your God is gracious and merciful.

Psalm 111:4 the Lord is gracious and merciful.

Deuteronomy 4:31 the Lord your God is a merciful God

Psalm 116:5 The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of mercy.

Numbers 14:18 'The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.

That is just the tip of the iceberg. We could go all day long with this.

We know God is holy, and we know God is just, and wrathful – so why does He not give Moses a little more balanced view of Himself when Moses asks to see His glory? God’s wrath and anger are subordinated to His mercy and kindness. Does God set His holiness and justice aside in order to show love? Never! His justice must be satisfied. However He made provision for His justice to be satisfied, and therefore delights in setting forth His mercy at the forefront of the revelation of His glory.

And that fact about God – the fact that God was more likely to show mercy than to pour out wrath – that was so predictable that it was a huge irritation to people who were unmerciful. It is what irritated Jonah. When the enemies of Israel repented and God had mercy on them, Jonah said, “I knew it!”

Jonah 4:2 He prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in love