Happiness In An Unsettling World
Steele Creek Church, Eastfield Campus
Dr. Tom Bartlett – October 18, 2020
Matthew 5:7
Mercy
OUTLINE
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Vs. 7)
Mercy: “Love in Action”
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. Psalm 145:8 (ESV)
Why would we show mercy?
• God has shown mercy to you
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV)
• Other people need it from you
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” Matthew 23:23 (ESV)
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 (ESV)
• In the future you’ll need it again
For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13 (ESV)
"The man who makes no allowances for others will find none made for him." James 2:13 (Phillips translation)
What does biblical mercy look like?
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:31-40 (ESV)
Mercy’s general principle: you get what you give
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:41-46 (ESV)
Mercy’s general result:
Christians serving others as if they’re serving God
MANUSCRIPT
Good morning and welcome to Steele Creek Church, Eastfield. Whether here in person or watching online, we are so glad you’re with us today.
As a kid, I can think back to so many dumb decisions I made in my life. As I rethink these things, I wonder if I even had a brain at the time.
• One time while swimming in a canal in Lake Tarpon, FL me and some friends decided to do some bridge jumping. The bridge that went over the canal was a 4-lane bridge so looking back to see if someone is coming was nearly impossible. After waiting to jump for what felt like a very long time, I decided to go for it. I jumped and as I was in the air, a boat came speeding through the canal. I’m in the air, nothing I can do. I hit the water just inches from the back of the boat. A few choice words were sent out toward me by the boater attesting to my diminished intellectual ability and other comments connecting my brain with my backside.
• At times I’ve been selfish, dishonest and I’ve hurt other people.
I often wonder how I could be that way.
How about you, ever have those moments in life? You did something or said something that looking back you wished you could redo? You do it realize that you’ve just caused pain to someone else.
Here’s the point, every one of us will need every one of us to forego or forgive or overlook so much. When we wrong people, we need relief from that. Not justice, that would be punishment or repaying. We need mercy.
In the New Testament there are two great hallmarks of believers; giving and forgiving. They are established in two words that represent what God does for us, grace and mercy.
Grace: a gift, giving people what they do not deserve
Mercy: another gift, withholding from people what they do deserve.
We’re in a series on the beatitudes and we come to verse 7 in Matthew 5 where Jesus says, (first three meeting our need, now character quality).
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Vs. 7)
Now, to make this practical, here’s how I suggest we define mercy.
Mercy: “Love in Action”
In Psalm 145, we see that the Lord is both gracious, He gives, and merciful, he withholds.
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. Psalm 145:8 (ESV)
Why would we show mercy?
So, why should we practice this virtue of mercy? Well, as I’ve stated, it represents a hall-mark of Christians. Also,
• God has shown mercy to you
It’s often been said, “you can’t give what you don’t have.” God has extended His mercy to you. Why would you do anything less for those around you?
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV)
Part of what it means when we say, “saved” is all wrapped up in God’s love in action; grace and mercy.
GOD GIVING YOU THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE AND WITHOLDING WHAT WE DESERVE ETERNAL DAMNATION.
Further, we need to offer mercy because
• Other people need it from you
There’s a world of people who need to experience the gift of mercy and compassion. For some that opens a freedom they’ve never known. As believers in Jesus, what we do in these walls is 10% of what we do. The overwhelming majority of what we do happens outside these walls as we demonstrate the wonderful virtues of grace and mercy toward others.
Jesus dealt with this with the religious types of His time. They followed the words of their religion but not the spirit of it. They did all the right tasks but they failed to show mercy toward others. At the heart of knowing God is expressing what He’s like to everyone else. Otherwise it becomes all about you.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” Matthew 23:23 (ESV)
God is clear about His desire for the way we live and mercy is part of it. The word kindness in Micah 6:8 is often translated mercy.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 (ESV)
Any other reason?
• In the future you’ll need it again
Not one of us will ever be at a point in this life where we don’t need mercy. We make dumb mistakes and selfish judgements. No one’s perfect.
For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13 (ESV)
I love how John Phillips renders that verse.
"The man who makes no allowances for others will find none made for him." James 2:13 (Phillips translation)
So, God gives us mercy, others need it, and we will need it again too. What does biblical mercy look like?
What does biblical mercy look like?
First let me say that the changes Christ makes in us with affect every part of who you are.
Now, we are all on a journey in this life toward being more and more like Jesus in character and actions. We’re all at a different places in that journey. BUT, generally speaking, the growing Christ-follow will have a concern for others and will extend mercy on those in need of it.
Just before the events start would lead to His crucifixion he teaches a parable with these words,
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
Jesus Christ, before He left this world told people He would return in a much different role and with His angels. He will divide people in this world among two groups. The word “nations”, is the Greek word ethne. It refers to all people of the world. Every ethnic group. All people.
34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:31-40 (ESV)
Jesus is saying that there is a payday someday. The picture He paints of mercy is “love in action”. The general principal is that you get what you give.
Mercy’s general principle: you get what you give
The finer point of Jesus’ words is that the Christian who truly lives the Christian life will have a concern and a care for those in need. It’s exactly what God did for us.
Now, Jesus is not teaching a works salvation, He’s teaching a parable and He calls these people on His right, “righteous”. Not because of our actions, but because of His actions on our behalf. He died to impart to us His righteousness, something we could not attain on our own. But He also died to impart to us a mandate to put love in action!
BUT, His words do not conclude with those on His right, but also those on His left. He says. . .
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Now, before we go any further, He calls these people “cursed”. Are some cursed to hell? THE ANSWER MAY SURPRISE YOU. It’s yes. As a matter of fact, all people are cursed to hell. There’s no human way around it.
Now, those who are cursed are cursed because of sin, originally our first parents, then inline our own. No one can say they are without it. The evidence is seen in a selfish life.
42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:41-46 (ESV)
Mercy’s general result:
Christians serving others as if they’re serving God
Story of an African Christian church who donated all their funds to rebuild a mosque
