Series: The Sermon on the Mount
Title: Amazing Mercy
Text: Matthew 5:7
In 1779, John Newton published what would go on to become the most recognizable hymn in the Christian language: Amazing Grace.
It is the song most likely sung in worship services and funerals, and it has been updated, changed and remade countless times over the years.
It is so popular because it proclaims the fountainhead of all mankind’s blessings, which of course is God’s Amazing Grace.
This morning, we are going to be discussing a similar topic to that of grace... the subject of MERCY.
While it is easy to confuse the two, I want to begin my introduction this morning by giving the explanation of how these two concepts - grace and mercy - are inextricably linked, but yet are different.
GRACE is the giving of a gift that is not deserved.
Grace is salvation, its heaven, its Christ, its the Holy Spirit, grace is our gifts from above.
MERCY is the removal of a punishment which is deserved.
Mercy is God not killing us the very moment we commit a sin, it is not being sent to hell, it is holding back of our punishment.
As I said, you cannot separate these two things - they are forever linked - but it is important that we understand both.
Beloved, we know about God’s Amazing Grace... but we must never forget also about His AMAZING MERCY.
Because understanding His mercy toward us helps us to be able to fulfill the command of our text today.
We are continuing in our study of the Beatitudes, and today we will see the role of mercy in the life of the believer.
READ: Matthew 5:7
Over the past few weeks, we have been going through the progression of the Beatitudes and we have seen a pattern emerge.
The beatitudes are not simply a list of independent character traits meant to describe different people.
It is not saying, “Some are poor in spirit” and “others are mourning” and then “others are meek” and others “hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
No, this is a description of “THE BLESSED MAN”.
The blessed man understands his spiritual poverty before God - that he has nothing in and of himself which God should look upon with favor.
The blessed man naturally mourns over this sinful state.
The blessed man is then humbled before God.
And he yearns inwardly for the righteousness that only God can provide.
This is one individual person... the blessed man.
It is a picture of what every believer should experience in his/her conversion to Christ.
A recognition of the need of salvation.
And a recognition that God is the one who fulfill that need.
Now, we have looked at the first four beatitudes and they all deal with our attitude in relation to God.
He is poor in spirit before God.
He mourns before God.
He is meek before God.
He hungers and thirsts for what only God can provide.
In the fifth beatitude, however, there is a change in perspective.
While the first four have dealt with ATTITUDE, today’s beatitude and the ones that follow deal more with BEHAVIOR.
What does the blessed man’s life look like?
Who is he in the world?
How can he be identified?
The first characteristic of the blessed man’s behavior is that his life is marked by MERCY.
Today we are going to study two things about this beatitude:
What Biblical Mercy is NOT
What Biblical Mercy IS
We know this passage calls the Blessed Man a man of Mercy... but what does this mean?
WHAT BIBLICAL MERCY IS NOT
I have chosen to begin with the negative because I know that most of us have at least some idea what mercy is, ... but I am also keenly aware that the world has miscommunicated and twisted the word, and thus we need to strip away any and all misunderstandings about this concept.
Biblical Mercy is NOT just a natural affection for others.
There are some people who are born with more kindness to others.
This is obvious when children are observed on a playground.
Some have bullying behaviors, while others are more apt to share and help others.
And many of us know people who may be unbelievers, but are generally nice people... some of them very philanthropic in their behavior.
They serve in soup kitchens, they give to the poor, they support charitable works.
And some of us may refer to them as “merciful” individuals, because of their willingness to help others.
But, beloved, these people are not in view when Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful”.
Because their “mercy” toward other people is not inspired by a faith in Christ.
Mercy that is devoid of Christ is mere HUMANISM.
It is not done to glorify God, but rather to glorify self and others.
It is focused on the creature, and not the Creator.
It is done devoid of faith.
And the Bible is clear that “that which is not of faith is sin.”
Pastor, are you saying that a person can do something good, and it still be sin?
I am saying that the Bible is clear that when we do anything outside of faith, it is sinful. (This is hard for some people to believe, but the unbeliever’s life is one of perpetual sin because it is a life lived in unbelief!)
The mercy which is being described by Christ is not a natural affection for other people, but is a SUPERNATURAL affection which comes from a heart that has been converted to Christ.
Biblical Mercy is the work of the Holy Spirit within the heart of a believer; not just a naturally pleasant disposition.
Biblical Mercy is Not Permissiveness
This is the definition that the world often improperly ascribes to mercy, but in doing so it distorts its meaning.
A father who holds back discipline from his child is often seen by the world as merciful - but this is not biblical mercy, and it is dangerous to the child.
A judge who chooses to not pronounce the death penalty on a murderer is often seen as merciful - but this is not biblical mercy, and it is dangerous to society.
A church who looks the other way when one of its members is living in sin is often seen as merciful - but this is not biblical mercy, and it is dangerous to the sanctity of the church.
A government which takes money from some taxpayers to support others in an attempt to redistribute wealth is often seen as merciful - but this type of ‘forced charity’ is not biblical mercy, and it sets a dangerous president for the deliberately lazy.
Note: Forced Charity is an oxymoron by the way. You cannot force people to give money and then call it charity.
QUOTE: Brian Schwertely “A concept of mercy that is not held in conjunction with God’s moral law and biblical concepts of justice, punishment and discipline is nothing more than subjective feeling and sentimentality.”
Always remember that Christian mercy does not compromise with Biblical justice.
The call to mercy is not a call to permissiveness.
Even when Jesus had the woman thrown at His feet, and He told the men “whoever is without sin, let him cast the first stone” He was not condoning or permitting her sin.
He was demonstrating that the men who condemned her had even greater sins!
And in the end, He did not say, “Go and continue sinning” but instead He said, “GO AND SIN NO MORE.”
While there is a call to forgiveness for the repentant in our call of mercy (which we will see in a moment), there is no call for permitting sin in our mercy.
Biblical mercy is not just a natural affection, and is not permissiveness...
Biblical Mercy is NOT a Meritorious Work
I think this is the most important misunderstanding of this beatitude.
People read “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” and they believe that what Jesus is saying is that our mercy towards others somehow “EARNS” our mercy from God.
In fact, many who believe that salvation is FAITH + WORKS use this passage as their “proof text”.
It is a favorite of Roman Catholics and Jehovah’s Witnesses and any group who wants to make salvation something that we somehow earn by meritorious works.
But this is not true.
Our mercy toward others does not EARN our mercy from God.
We cannot purchase God’s mercy, nor can we earn it; it is a gift from God.
Because our mercy from God is bound up in the work of Christ, our salvation, which is a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8-9 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.
Romans 3:20-24 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
Galatians 2:16 Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law,because by works of the law no one will be justified.
Philippians 3:8-9 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth ofknowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith
NOTE: Someone may say, “That’s all the apostle Paul!”
QUOTE: R.C. Sproul, Jr. “If you don’t have a Pauline theology, you have an appalling theology!”
But to satisfy the naysayers, what does Jesus say?
John 3:16 For God so loved that world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life
Beloved, salvation (mercy) is not a wage to be earned, it is a gift which is received!
As a result, MERCY is something a saved person DOES, not something a person does to GET SAVED.
The difference is subtle, but very important.
When Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful” He is essentially saying “Blessed are believers” because believers are by nature of their conversion MERCIFUL!
You might say, “Well I know some believers who aren’t merciful”
And I might say back to you that either (1) You may not understand biblical mercy or (2) They have failed in a particular instance and need to repent, or (3) they may not be saved at all.
That being said, let’s look at ...
WHAT BIBLICAL MERCY IS
We know biblical mercy is not just a natural affection for others, it is not permissiveness, and it is not a meritorious work.
So then, what is it?
The concept of biblical mercy actually can be ascribed to many different actions, all of which we could classify as acts of mercy. These include:
The Giving of Aid to other Christians in Need
When we see our fellow brothers and sisters in need, our heart should resound with a desire to reach out to them and fulfill those needs.
QUOTE: Charles Spurgeon “Mercy has given to him, therefore he gives in mercy... so far as the good man can do it, he lends an ear to the requests of need.”
He also says elsewhere...
“No merciful man could forget the poor. He who passed by the ills without sympathy, and saw their suffering without relieving them, might chatter as he would about inward grace, but there could not be grace in his heart.”
This, of course goes along with the words of Scripture which say...
1 John 3:17-18 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
The demonstration of Love to Our Enemies
This is the hardest call of Christ to the believer... that we are to do good to those who hate us.
But that is the very essence of our faith, that we respond to hatred differently than the world.
While the world hates its enemies...
Christians are called to be merciful to them.
This is seen in the story of the Good Samaritan - the consummation of Jesus’s teaching on mercy.
The Jews hated the samaritans, and yet Jesus makes one of them an example of love.
This man from the hated race of the samaritans becomes the hero of the story, giving to this man all that he needed, even though the two would have certainly been known as enemies in other circumstances.
The priest and the levite - the religious people - passed him by... but the enemy gave him what he needed.
And the admonition of Jesus is for His followers to do likewise... to do good to all, even those that hate us.
Its a difficult call... but its definitional to our call to be merciful.
Evangelism
How is evangelism an act of mercy?
It is the highest act of mercy which we could give to our fallow man, in that it is the most precious gift which we could give.
Telling someone who is under God’s wrath of their condition is sometimes seen as unloving and offensive.
And certainly the Gospel is offensive to those who are perishing.
But to those who receive the message, the one’s God opens their hearts to believe, are the recipients of the greatest of all acts of mercy we can give.
Consider how unmerciful it is to know a person does not know the Gospel, and yet we hold it back from them for fear of offending them!
That would be like seeing a starving man, dying of hunger, and refusing to tell him where there is free bread because you don’t want to offend him!
We proclaim the Gospel, as an act of mercy because that is what we are proclaiming in the Gospel: God’s Amazing Mercy!
Reproving our Christian Brothers and Sisters
This is often not seen as merciful.
In fact, some churches flat out teach against it.
They refuse to enact discipline, and the rebuke of sin within their walls.
But to see a person who calls himself a Christian living a life of sin, and refusing to repent, and leaving him without rebuke is not merciful... it is helping to perpetuate his sinful condition.
It is not about being judgmental.
It is not about being a fault finder.
It is about telling the truth to that person in love.
And it is an act of mercy.
QUOTE: Thomas Watson “The surgeon cuts and lances the flesh, but it is in order to a cure. They are healing wounds. So by cutting reproof when we lance men’s consciences and let out the blood of sin, we exercise spiritual surgery. This is showing mercy.”
Prayer
Certainly prayer is an act of mercy, one that is called to be given for our friends and our enemies.
We are to pray for the sick, for those who are hurting emotionally, for those facing trials, those who have lost their way, and even for those who have hurt us.
Matthew 5:44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
How do we pray for those who hurt us?
How do we pray for governmental leaders who consistently lead our nation away from righteousness and justice?
How do we pray for those who’s desire it is to hurt us through harsh words and gossip?
How do we pray for whose who intend our misfortune and even our demise?
Well, we don’t pray for their prosperity! We don’t pray for their success! We don’t pray for their health!
We pray for their conversion! We pray God would break their hearts over their sins, and that the mercy God has shown to us will be given to them!
Forgiveness
Probably the most precious act of mercy which we can provide anyone is forgiveness.
QUOTE: John Stott “Our God is a merciful God and shows mercy continuously; the citizens of his kingdom must show mercy too.”
We have been the recipients of COSMIC FORGIVENESS.
We were traitors against God.
We were criminals guilty of breaking His laws.
We were rebels against His kingdom’s commands!
And yet, He forgave us.
Now, he calls us to the same type of forgiveness.
Matthew 18:21-22 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.
Peter thought he was giving a favor to his brother by saying seven.
Yet Jesus challenged his seven, but saying times it by seven!
And this does not mean count to 490 times, but rather to not keep count!
When our Christian brother repents, we extend to him the same forgiveness as we did the time before.
QUESTION: Someone may say, “If a person keeps committing the same sin, he is not truly repentant, and unworthy of forgiveness.”
The answer to that is simple: Do you not also fight a battle with the same sins, which you have to continually pray to God in repentance of?
It is by understanding our lack of perfection that we can begin to forgive the imperfections in others.
And when they ask for forgiveness, we have no right to hold it back from them.
Our call to mercy demands it!
CONCLUSION: I want to end with a parable from Christ. In regard to our call to mercy, it has to be the clearest in Scripture.
In it, Jesus demonstrates the heart which lacks mercy... and shows that such a heart is not demonstrative of a saved heart...
Matthew 18:23-35 “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.”
Beloved, how could we... who claim to have received the greatest single act of mercy in history, ever make an attempt to hold mercy back from another?
The opposite of mercy is cruelty.
And the believer in Christ is to be marked by mercy... not cruelty.
If our lives are not marked by mercy, it could be rightly said that we are not in Christ, and thus we too will not receive mercy. NOT because mercy is a meritorious work, but because a merciful heart is one of the marks of a person who has himself been the recipient of the amazing mercy of God.
