Intro
Our text today is Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.”i Do you need mercy from God? Do you need a lot of mercy from the Lord? Do you need contined mercy from the Lord? Our answer to those questions alerts us to the importance of this text. Jesus is giving us a key that unlocks the flow of God’s mercy in our lives. I need mercy from God. When I open my heart in mercy toward others, I am open to receive God’s flow of mercy in my own life. “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” The NIV says, “They will be shown mercy.”
To understand this promise we must keep two things in mind.
First, the Beatitudes are not telling us how to get saved. God reached out to us in mercy when we are not merciful at all. When the Holy Spirit convicted us of sin, that was an expression of God’s mercy and grace. When the Holy Spirit drew us to the Lord and brought us into his kingdom, that is an act of mercy. It was not anything we earned. It was not anything we deserved. In the introduction to his first epistle, Peter wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Your salvation did not come because you earned it through merciful behavior.ii You were born again because God reached out to you out of his heart of mercy. It was his mercy that motivated him to send his only begotten Son into this sin-cursed world to lay down his life for your salvation. It was his mercy that awakened you to the need for this great salvation. “According to His abundant mercy” he saved us. You did not earn it by your good works of mercy. You received it as a gift of grace from God.
Paul teaches the same thing in Ephesians 2. There he reminds Christians of their hopeless, helpless condition prior to salvation. We were “dead in trespasses and sins.” We were not earning mercy by being merciful. We were self-absorbed, uncaring, and under Satan’s influence. So, in verses 4-5 Paul credits our salvation, not to our acts of mercy, but to God’s outpouring of mercy to us. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” The New Testament as a whole makes it abundantly clear that our salvation is initiated by God, not because we were merciful, but because he is merciful. So what Jesus is teaching in the Beatitudes is not how to get saved. He is teaching his followers how to operate in his kingdom. We are to be merciful even as our Heavenly Father is merciful. Our mercy toward other people is evidence that we have received mercy from God and are operating according to his ways. As Christians, we learn from this beatitude that our exercise of mercy toward others positions us to receive the flow of God’s mercy in our own lives.
Secondly, the mercy we receive in this verse is primarily and reliably from God.
He may give it through people. But even if we are merciful, people will not always be merciful to us. Our confidence in receiving the promise in this text must be that God will be merciful to us. It is a mistake to think that if I will be merciful to someone, that person will be merciful to me. The person might respond in like kind. He should do so. But people don’t always show mercy to those who have been merciful to them.iii In 1 Samuel 25 David graciously protected Nabal’s property. But when David was in need, Nabal showed no mercy toward him. Look at Israel’s response to Jesus. His incarnation was an act of mercy. His offer of salvation was an act of mercy. He healed their sick and delivered the oppressed out of a heart of mercy. Did they treat him with mercy at his trial. No, they cried out for his crucifixion. They showed him no mercy at all. If you think you can get other people to show you mercy by being merciful to them, you will be disappointed. Some may do so. But you won’t be able to count on that. What you can count on is this: If you will extend mercy to other people, God will be merciful to you. You will not lose your reward. God will see to that.
The reward in the latter part of our text is something we all need. It is something God will do. “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.
Today we will address three questions concerning this beatitude.
1. What is biblical mercy?
2. How do we express this mercy toward others?
3. How do we cultivate mercy in our hearts?
I. WHAT IS BIBLICAL MERCY?
Almost everyone, saint and sinner alike, think people should be merciful. If you surveyed the general population and asked them if people should be merciful to others, the vast majority would say “yes.” Very few would answer “no.”iv
The problem with the answer is that people have different ideas about what mercy is and how it is to operate. An undiscerning tolerance of any and every behavior imaginable is often at the core of people’s concept of mercy. Any condemnation of evil behavior is considered to be judgmental and unmerciful. When these people talk about being merciful, they have something in mind that does not line up with the overall revelation of Scripture. So, in our study of this beatitude, we must begin with a biblical concept of what it means to be merciful.
The Greek word for mercy, eleos, means “kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.”v For the ancient Greeks, it was viewed as an emotion. But the Hebrew concept of mercy required action.vi Since we want a biblical understanding of mercy, we understand it as initiated with a sense of pity and compassion to those in need; but it does not end with a feeling. That sympathy motivates action to relieve the need.
This is masterfully illustrated by Jesus’s story of the good Samaritan. Turn to Luke 10 and let’s look at that story. The passage begins in verse 25 with the lawyer asking Jesus what he needed to do “to inherit eternal life.” Jesus asked him with a question. He asked the lawyer what he thought the answer was. The lawyer answered by quoting the two great commandments to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. In Luke 10:28 Jesus replied, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” Then verse 29 sets the stage for Jesus’s story: “But he [the lawyer], wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"vii
Follow with me as we read Luke 10:30-33.
“Then Jesus answered and said: ‘A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.”
So, here is the first stage of mercy: empathy; “he had compassion.” That is the motivation behind the action. We are often told in the Gospels that Jesus’s ministry was inspired by compassion toward those in need. Matthew 9:36 and 14:14 explicitly tell us Jesus was “moved with compassion” when he saw the multitudes. The statement is always followed by action to address the need.In Luke 7 Jesus encountered a funeral procession. The deceased was the only son of a widow. When Jesus saw the mother weeping, verse 13 says “He had compassion on her.” But that story did not end with a feeling of sympathy.viii The compassion compelled Jesus to relieve her pain. He raised the boy from the dead and presented him alive to his mother. It’s not biblical mercy until the sympathy produces the appropriate action.
We see that in the rest of this story of the good Samaritan. Notice the concrete action the Samaritan takes.
Verse 34: “So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?’ 37 And he said, ‘He who showed mercy on him.’ Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise.”
Notice the connection between loving one’s neighbor and the showing of mercy. The lawyer’s question to Jesus had been: "And who is my neighbor?" At the end of this story Jesus askes him, “So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” (vs 36). Which one was fulfilling the second great commandment to love one’s neighbor? The lawyer correctly answers: “He who showed mercy on him.”
Mercy is one dynamic of love. Love is broader than mercy, but mercy flows out of love. “God so loved the world that” he showed mercy by sending his Son into the world for man’s salvation.ix “God is love.”x And because he is love, he is merciful. Mercy is an essential part of loving one’s neighbor. Mercy is an essential expression of God’s love.
Mercy is closely related to the concept of grace. Grace and mercy are so similar, it is not easy to distinguish them. In Ephesians 2:4 Paul attributes our salvation to God’s mercy; but in the next verse he attributes it to grace: “by grace you have been save.” Grace and mercy go hand-in-hand. Grace is unmerited favor, and mercy is unearned help and forgiveness.xi Bengel makes the distinction by writing: “Grace takes away the fault, mercy the misery.”xii Another person said it this way: “Grace is especially associated with men in their sins; mercy is usually associated with men in their misery.xiii Grace emphasizes favor and empowerment. Mercy focuses on relief from the affliction or need. Both are undeserved. An act of mercy would not be undeserved if it were simply payback for what is owed. Grace and mercy are similar because they flow from the same source: the love of God. “God is love.” Therefore, he is gracious and merciful. Mercy is undeserved or unearned kindness.
There was a young soldier in Napoleon’s army who committed an offense worthy of death. The day before he was scheduled for the firing squad, the young man’s mother went to Napoleon and asked him to show mercy for her son. Napoleon harshly replied, “Woman, your son does not deserve mercy.” “I know,” the mother answered. “If he deserved it, then it would not be mercy.”xiv
Biblical mercy is motivated by divine compassion in the heart. It rightly discerns and relieves the need. It does not always do what the other person demands because that person may be confused about the real need. Biblical mercy is discriminate.xv If a cocaine addict tells me he needs more cocaine, I will not give him more cocaine because that is not what he really needs. What he really needs is deliverance from the destructive habit. The world’s concept of mercy often includes facilitating sinful behavior. Parents provide room and board where their grown son lives in sexual sin with his girlfriend. They provide a little temporal comfort that sets him up for eternal damnation.
In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul showed mercy to a man by administering strong correction. The man was flagrantly living in sexual sin. Paul delivered the man “to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”xvi Was he being unmerciful to that man? No, he did the most merciful thing possible for him. He administered correction that led to repentance. And that repentance preserved the man’s eternal soul. After the man repented, he had a different need. He needed love and acceptance from his congregation. So, in 2 Corinthians Paul told the congregation to forgive him and comfort him. Biblical mercy discerns the true need and meets that need. It is kind; it is caring. But it does not help someone self-destruct in sinful behavior.
In Acts 3 Peter and John were on the way to the temple for prayer. On their way they encountered a lame man who was asking for alms. Peter did not give him alms. Instead, he gave him what he really needed. In the name of Jesus, he gave him healing. Biblical mercy is motivated by love the seeks the individual’s highest good.xvii
II. HOW DO WE EXPRESS THIS MERCY TOWARD OTHERS?
We do not have time for an exhaustive list. But the expression of mercy is determined by the need of the other person. Since there are many ways that a person can be in need, there are many ways mercy is expressed.
Most obviously, mercy is expressed by meeting someone’s material need. The Apostle John states the importance this in his first epistle. “But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:17). God’s love compels us to give toward the financial needs of others. It may begin with a feeling of empathy for the hardship that person is experiencing. But mercy requires action. So, in the next verse, John says, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”xviii Proverbs 19:17 makes this promise: “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.” As in Matthew 5:7, the reward comes from the Lord. The NLT says, “If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD-- and he will repay you!” In America we have such abundance, there is no excuse for not helping the poor. Instead of building bigger barns to store the things we’re not using, perhaps we should give that stuff to people who need it.
Another way we express mercy is by healing the sick, delivering the oppressed, and exercising our spiritual gifts in their behalf.xix Often in the gospels, we see Jesus doing this when someone asks for mercy. In Matthew 15:22 a Canaanite woman asked Jesus to show her mercy by delivering her daughter from a demon. In that same chapter, Jesus showed mercy to 4,000 people by multiplying the fishes and loaves and feeding them. Mercy feeds the hungry, delivers the oppressed, and heals the sick. The expression of mercy depends on the need. In Mark 10:47, blind Bartimaeus asked for mercy, and Jesus healed his sight.xx
A merciful person is a person willing to be inconvenienced by the needs of others. It will cost you something to be merciful. It will cost you time and money. You will serve at times when it would feel better to just rest. You will go the second mile because the other person needs you to go the second mile. It’s costly to be merciful, but God will see to it that your investments are richly rewarded. “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.” Proverbs 11:17 says, “The merciful man does good for his own soul. . . .” It is ultimately to your own advantage to be a merciful person.
Sometimes mercy is expressed by simply accepting and respecting the downcast. What some people need more than anything else is love and acceptance. Rather than respecting the common people, the scribes and Pharisees rejected and criticized them.xxi Rather than affirming and encouraging them, the Pharisees looked down their noses at them.
Mark Eklund was a student in Sister Helen’s nineth grade math class at St. Mary’s School in Morris, Minnesota. He was much less talkative than he had been years earlier in her third-grade class. One Friday Sister Helen sensed the class’s frustration with trying to learn “ne math.” So, she asked them to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving space between each name. Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down. As the class ended, the students handed in their papers.
That weekend, Sister Helen wrote down the name of each student on a separate paper and listed what everyone else said about that person. On Monday, she gave each student his or her list.
Several years later, Sister Helen was told by her parents that Mark Eklund was killed in Vietnam. His funeral was held a few days later. It was a rainy day, but the church was packed. Mark’s sister sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” At the graveside everyone walked by the coffin. As Sister Helen stood near the coffin, one of the soldiers who served as pallbearer came up to her. “Were you Mark’s math teacher? he asked. Sister Helen nodded, “yes.” “Mark talked about you a lot,” he said.
After the funeral, Sister Helen joined family and friends for lunch. Mark’s mother and father began talking with her. “We want to show you something,” his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. “They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.” Opening his billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. It was the papers that listed all the good things Mark’s classmates had said about him.”xxii
Sometimes mercy is expressed by a word of affirmation, a word of encouragement, an expression of esteem and encouragement. Mercy is sensitive to the need and considerate of the struggles others may be going through. It doesn’t cost money to do that. If you have love in your, you can show mercy in that way.
As we have seen, mercy is sometimes expressed by correction that seeks the highest good for the other person.xxiii Harsh, judgmental, condemning criticism and correction are the opposite of mercy. That kind of interaction flows out of an arrogant, self-righteous heart that does more harm than good. Mercy is always redemptive, not condemning. Mercy reaches down to help the person up. It does not kick the person when he is down. It does not look down on other people.xxiv It is not quick to judge and condemn. It hopes for the best in them because it is motivated by love.xxv
Mercy is often expressed through forgiveness of offenses. Joseph had every right to be angry at his brothers for what they had done to him. They had thrown him into a pit and then sold him into slavery. They had caused all kinds of hardship in Joseph’s life. God ordered circumstances so that these brothers were later at Joseph’s mercy. With one word, Joseph could have had them all killed. But Joseph did not take vengeance on them. He showed them mercy by forgiving the offense and beyond that, providing for their material needs.
In the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). Then at the conclusion of that prayer he made an alarming statement. Matthew 6:14: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Can you imagine how much trouble we are in if we cannot get forgiveness from God? This is a warning to Christians. If we so harden our hearts toward our offenders, that same hardness of heart blocks the flow of God’s forgiveness in our own lives. Our text in Matthew 5:7 operates in the same way. “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.”
What does an offender need from you? He needs your forgiveness. Extending that forgiveness is an expression of mercy. We are short on time, so I will only mention one other expression of mercy.xxvi
Proclaiming the Gospel to others is an expression of mercy. We often think of mercy in conjunction with material needs. But the greatest need everyone has is reconciliation with God.xxvii And that is only possible through the cross of Jesus Christ. Paul asks the rhetorical questions in Romans 10:14: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” Compassion for the lost moves us to tell them the way of salvation.xxviii Without this, revival cannot be sustained. We have entitled this series Attitudes for Revival. Mercy looks beyond one’s own needs to the needs of others. That is a hallmark of true revival.
III. HOW DO WE CULTIVATE MERCY IN OUR HEARTS?
First, we remember the mercy God has shown us.
Paul uses God’s mercy toward us as an example and reason for us to be kind and merciful to one another. In Ephesians 4:32 he writes, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” He does about the same thing in Philippians 2. There he begins his appeal, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” Has God been merciful to you? Then you be merciful to others. Has God forgiven you much? Then forgive others for the wrongs they have done to you.
In Matthew 18:23-35 Jesus gave a story illustrating the importance of showing mercy to others. Having received mercy from God, we must be givers of mercy to others. In this story, a servant owed his master a great sum of money, more than he could ever repay. Instead of throwing the man in debtors’ prison, the master showed him mercy and forgave the financial obligation.
But another servant owed that servant money. It was far less money. Instead of following the example of the mercy he had received from the master, the servant showed no mercy to his debtor. He had that fellow servant thrown into debtors’ prison. The story concludes in Matthew 18:31-34. “So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.” Then Jesus adds this warning at the end. Verse 35: "So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses." The implications of that are hard to overestimate.
Secondly, we understand the call to mercy is a command from God.
Luke does not deal with mercy as a beatitude, but he deals with it as a commandment from God. In Luke 6:36 Jesus says, “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” God has set the example. We are to follow it. There is a lot of instruction about mercy that immediately precedes that statement. We cannot take time to explore those verses. But in Luke 6:37 (the verse that follows) Jesus enhances our understanding of mercy by telling us what not to do: “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”xxix The Pharisees were very religious. Out of a self-righteous heart, they were quick to condemn others.
In John 8 Jesus was teaching at the temple. Suddenly, the scribes and Pharisees appear with a woman who they had caught in the act of adultery. These Pharisees were trying to trip Jesus up so they would have something to accuse him of. But I want you to see their attitude toward the woman. There is no concern whatsoever about her wellbeing. They begin with reminding Jesus that the Law commanded her to be stoned to death. Jesus just wrote on the ground with his finger as if they were not even there. In their frustration, they kept asking Jesus what he would do with this sinner. Finally, Jesus answers: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" (John 8:37 KJV). If you don’t need any mercy yourself, then start stoning her. Then Jesus went back to writing in the dirt. As the conviction of the Holy Spirit struck their hearts, the accusers left one by one. Then Jesus asked the woman, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She answered, "No one, Lord."
Jesus’s final word to her is a powerful commentary on biblical mercy. John 8:11: “And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’” Biblical mercy offers forgiveness instead of condemnation. But it does no grant liberty to continue in the sin.xxx It concludes with the instruction: “go and sin no more.”
Jesus confronted the Pharisees for their lack of mercy. Quoting Hosea 6:6 Jesus said to them, “But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matt. 9:13). God delights in mercy. It is an expression of his love. In his mercy, he calls sinners to repentance. Instead of pushing them away, he steps out of heaven, lays down his life for their salvation, and calls them to himself. The Pharisees were extremely religious. They were very meticulous about their religious duties. But they had overlooked the most important duties. God is not impressed with religious activities. He is looking for a merciful heart in you and me.
We must not allow our hearts to become hard toward other people. We must cultivate a compassion toward their struggles and reach out to them in mercy. In Matthew 23:23-24 Jesus pronounces this woe on the scribes and Pharisees: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” We want to major on the things God majors on, and minor on the things he considers minor. Mercy is one of those major attributes that God is looking for in our lives.
Micha 6:8: “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” May the Lord help us to live according to that code. “Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.”
ENDNOTES:
i All Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version unless indicated otherwise.
ii Cf. Rom. 3:28; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 2:16; Titus 3:3-7.
iii Cf. 1 Sam. 25; Ps. 35:11-16; 109:4-5.
iv In Classical Greece, Stoics considered mercy to be a sign of weakness. After explaining the Greek concept of eleos as an emotion, Bultmann writes, “This helps us see whey Stoicism regarded eleos as a sickness of the soul; as pathos, and even as lupe, it is unworthy of a sage.” Rudolf Bultmann, “Eleyos, Eleen, Eleemon, Eleemosune, Aveleos, Aveleemuons”, in Kittel, TDNT, vol. 2, 478.
v Thayer Lexicon.
vi Rudolf Bultmann, “Eleyos, Eleen, Eleemon, Eleemosune, Aveleos, Aveleemuons”, in Kittel, TDNT, vol. 2, 477-487.
vii Luke 10:25 tells us the lawyer was trying to entrap Jesus. This helps explain the way Jesus responds to him.
viii The Hebrew concept of mercy (checed) “is not primarily a disposition but a helpful act.” Bultmann, Kittel, TDNT, vol. 2, p. 479. Cf. Colin Brown, ed., The New International Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, ) s. v. “Eleos,” by H. H. Esser, 595.
ix John 3:16.
x 1 John 4:8. For further explanation, see Richard W. Tow, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John (Bloomington, IN: WestBow Press, 2019), 248-262.
xi The popular distinction between grace and mercy is stated as follows: “Grace is receiving what we don’t deserve. Mercy is not receiving what we do deserve.” Certainly, God is merciful to us in not judging us as we deserve, and in his grace he gives us righteousness that we don’t deserve. But the saying is inadequate for making a biblical distinction between the two. Luke 10:37 attributes the Good Samaritan’s actions as “mercy.” He is not simply withholding something the wounded man deserves. His is giving him something he needs to relieve his affliction.
xii Bengel as quoted by Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament, Luke 1:50. Accessed in Biblesoft electronic data base (1997).
xiii Author Unknown, “Top 10 Most Famous Quotes on Mercy (Best), Gracious Quotes. Accessed at https://graciousquotes.com/mercy/#:~:text=Top%2010%20Most%20Famous%20Quotes%20on%20Mercy%20%28BEST%29,to%20others%3B%20that%20mercy%20also%20show%20to%20me.
xiv Alice Gray, “Understanding Mercy” in Stories for the Heart, Alice Gray, compiler (Sisters, OR: Mulnomah Publishers, 1996), 34.
xv An in-depth study of God’s expression of mercy will reveal the discriminate nature of his administration of mercy. That is beyond the scope of this teaching. Because of his nature, God is not willing that any would perish (2 Pet. 3:9). Therefore, he shows mercy giving people an opportunity to repent. But when the offer of God’s grace is soundly declined, then God administers judgment (2 Pet. 3:10). Cf. Ex. 20:5-6; 34:6-7; Deut. 7:2; Isa. 27:11; Hos. 2:4; Luke 16:24-25; Heb. 10:28-31. If God’s mercy is not discriminate, the universalism is the logical conclusion. Biblical revelation soundly refutes that false doctrine.
xvi Caution: No one should do this without a full understanding of the context in which it was done. This is an extreme action that must be administered with wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit. However, it illustrates the importance of meeting the real need in contrast to the indiscriminate administration of mercy often expressed by the uninformed. In fact, the Corinthians were administering mercy inappropriately, and Paul was correcting that.
xvii This understanding of love is extremely useful when processing daily decisions. For a full discussion of the concept see Charles G. Finney, Love Is Not a Special Feeling.
xviii For an exposition of this see Richard W. Tow, Authentic Christianity: Studies in 1 John, 211-215. Cf. James 1:21-27.
xix Cf. Matt. 10:8; Rom. 12:3-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11.
xx Cf. Luke 17:12.
xxi Cf. John 7:49.
xxii Adapted from Sister Helen P. Mrosla, “All the Good Things,” in Stories for the Heart, Alice Gray, compiler (Sisters, OR: Mulnomah Publishers, 1996), 48-51.
xxiii See example in 1 Cor. 5 previously discussed in this message.
xxiv Cf. Phil. 2:3.
xxv 1 Cor. 13:7 says love, “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
xxvi In the last section of this sermon we consider Jesus’s teaching on forgiveness in Matthew 18:23-35.
xxvii Cf. 2 Cor. 5:18-19.
xxviii Cf. 2 Cor. 5:20.
xxix Here Jesus is not forbidding moral discernment. That would contradict many other scriptures. He is teaching a redemptive attitude of heart in contrast to the self-righteous condemnation of others exemplified in the Pharisees of his day.
xxx Cf. Rom. 6:1-2.
