Show Me Yours And I’ll Show You Mine Series

Beatitudes Summer Sermon Series (6 of 9)

Show Me Yours and I’ll Show You Mine (Merciful)

Matt. 5.7 July 26, 2015 CFBC, Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker

A Matthew 5:3-6 (NASB) 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

1 The Beatitudes begins with describing the right attitude about ourselves, I’m poor in spirit (broken, poor, wretch),

a a right attitude towards our sin (I mourn),

aa a right attitude towards God’s Word (We’ll defend God, not ourselves: gentle, meek, humble)

bb These three attitudes create in us a deep hunger/thirst to be right with God (righteousness.)

b Thus far, the Beatitudes are all about us & our Heavnly Father,

aa We are Children of the Father and thus we begin to look Him, mimic Him, Ephesians 5:1 (NASB)

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;

bb Being one of His kids mean we begin to manifest His divine attributes to the world around us - - - mercy is one of His attributes.

cc “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” (Matt. 5.7)

2 Mercy doesn’t make sense, does not add up, paradoxical (just like the rest of the Beatitudes).

a If you tried to develop a “mercy” app it wouldn’t work because mercy goes beyond reason, beyond justice, beyond right.

aa (I’m not going to press this idea past the point of rational comparison, but . . .grace is a positive, mercy is a negative.)

bb Grace means we get something we don’t deserve. (Heaven, access to His Presence, Adoption as a Child of God, Entrance into His Kingdom, Inheritance on the New Earth) POSITIVE

cc Mercy means we do not get what we do deserve (Hell, death, punishment, full measure of all the power, penalty of sin, enemy of God) NEGATIVE

b God has have every right to put me in the deepest, darkest hole in hell, throw away the keys and never give me another thought and He’d be justified, right, reasonable to do just that.

aa If we’re going to heaven it IS NOT because God loves us.

bb (He loves everybody and if it’s God’s love that determines whether we go to heaven or hell or not they might as well just turn off the lights in hell and the last person out shut off the lights.)

cc You get your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life because of His Mercy & Grace. . . because He DOESN’T GIVE US WHAT WE DESERVE!

dd Grace & Mercy is His Love in action.

B Mercy does not ignore truth, justice, debt . . . when God shows mercy it is/was/always be at His expense.

1 “The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6.23

a IL. If you owe me $100 and I forgive your debt, I must use another $100 of mine to pay my bills. I can’t really make you $100 richer without making myself $100 poorer. I’ve still gotta pay VISA. . . I must pay to forgive your debt.

b This is the reason why Christ had to die, why God couldn’t simply say, “Forget the sin.” The bill is still due. (Mercy doesn’t ignore truth.)

aa Instead of saying “forget it” He said, “Forgive it” and that meant that if we did not pay it, He had to Himself . . . thus mercy is expensive to the one giving it (picture of the Cross).

bb When we show mercy, it isn’t just an attitude/idea/or us forgetting someone/something has hurt us. . .we costs us something. Mercy is a minus.

cc Knowing that mercy is negative (per se), it’s surprising that Jesus would tell us that mercy is a plus, that the merciful are blessed. (In light of the paradoxes found in the entirety of Beatitudes it is not surprising.)

C Mercy is a complicate thing, especially if someone has unjustly hurt/offended you).

1 Imagine mercy is a chain of six links, this explanation will help us understand “Mercy” as it relates to us being merciful.

a Link 1: Pain

aa You cannot show mercy if there isn’t an offender/offense/injustice.

bb If everyone was good, fair, kind to you then no mercy required.

b Link 2: Power

aa Sometimes we have no power/resources to retaliate, done anonymously . . .can’t show mercy.

bb If you have the power (striking back to their face or on Facebook) to retaliate you have a choice to make.

c Link 3: Truth

aa Suppose a person “deserves” to be hurt, taught a lesson . . . should we?