The Laws of the The Laws of the Kingdom – Part 6Kingdom – Part 6

Blessed are the merciful for Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercythey shall obtain mercy

Mathew 5:7Mathew 5:7

Most of the Notes are lifted from John MacArthur’s Bible Study Guide “The Beatitudes”Most of the Notes are lifted from John MacArthur’s Bible Study Guide “The Beatitudes”

I – INTRODUCTION

The gospel of Matthew presents Jesus Christ as King. The Sermon on the Mount is the manifesto of His kingdom. There Christ proclaimed a twofold message: how to enter His kingdom and how to live while in it. Only those who are broken in spirit, mournful, meek, and hungering after righteousness can enter (vv. 3-6). Once they have entered they continue to have those attitudes.

A. The Rebuke

The religious practices Jesus encountered in His day were superficial andexternal. Judaism was very ritualistic. .While they may have appearedrighteous, there was no true righteousness in them. The Lord said to them,"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like whitedsepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of deadmen's bones, and of all uncleanness" (Matt. 23:27).

B. The Requirements

Christ emphasized that it's what's inside a person that counts. Jesus's emphasis was that those things inside us are what produce our behavior: righteousness on the inside is what produces right behavior.

C. The Results

The first four Beatitudes deal with inner attitudes--how a person sees himself before God. The fifth Beatitude begins Christ's teaching about the manifestations of the first four. If we are broken in spirit, mournful, meek, and hungry for righteousness, we will be merciful towards others.

II. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MERCY

When Jesus said, "Blessed [happy] are the merciful," His Jewish audience would probably have been surprised. Both the Jews and the Romans were merciless peoples. They were egotistical, self-righteous, and condemning.

A. It Is Often Misunderstood

Many try to define Matthew 5:7 in a humanistic way. They speak of mercy as a human virtue, saying that if you are good to everyone, they will be good to you.

B. It Was Modeled by Christ

Jesus Christ was the most merciful human being who ever lived. He never did anything to harm anyone. He reached out to the sick and healed them. Yet he received no mercy from those He gave mercy to.

C. It Has a Specific Meaning

1. Seen in the action it produces

• The Greek noun translated "merciful" in Matthew 5:7 (eleemon) (Where we get our word for eleemosynar) is used only twice in the New Testament: here and in Hebrews 2:17

• The verb form of "merciful" is used many times in the Bible. It means "to have mercy on," "succor the afflicted," "give help to the wretched," or "rescue the miserable.“

• We tend to think of mercy as the forgiveness of God in salvation, but it has a much broader application. It speaks of compassion in action. Mercy goes beyond merely feeling compassion or sympathy. It is doing something good to anyone who has a need.

2. Seen in comparison to other qualities

a.) Mercy and forgiveness - Mercy goes with forgiveness (Titus 3:5)

c.) Mercy and grace - Mercy offers relief from punishment; grace offers pardon for the crime. (Luke 10:30 to 35)

b.) Mercy and love - Forgiveness flows out of mercy and mercy flows out of love. God's mercy is based on love. (Ephesians 2:4)

d.) Mercy and justice - God's mercy is completely just. God says to the sinner, "I know you have done terrible things, but I love you and by My mercy I forgive you."

2. Seen in comparison to other qualities

a.) Mercy and forgiveness - Mercy goes with forgiveness (Titus 3:5)

c.) Mercy and grace - Mercy offers relief from punishment; grace offers pardon for the crime. (Luke 10:30 to 35)

b.) Mercy and love - Forgiveness flows out of mercy and mercy flows out of love. God's mercy is based on love. (Ephesians 2:4)

d.) Mercy and justice - God's mercy is completely just. God says to the sinner, "I know you have done terrible things, but I love you and by My mercy I forgive you."

D. The Commended and the Condemned

1. The merciful are commended

The merciful don't tolerate sin--they recognize that sin will be punished. But they do bear the insults of evil men and women with hearts full of compassion. Those who are merciful are sympathetic, forgiving, gracious, and loving. Psalm 37:21 says, "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again; but the righteous showeth mercy, and giveth."

2. The merciless are condemned

Psalm 109:14-16 says, "Let the iniquity of [the merciless person's] fathers be remembered with the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth, because he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.“

- Mathew 25:41 to 43

a.) "Depart from me, ye cursed ... for I was hungry, and ye gave me no food; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not" (Matt. 25:41-43). They will respond, "Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?" (v. 44). Jesus will reply that when they did not give food, water, or clothing to those who represented Him, they were also refusing Him (v. 45).

b.) Proverbs 11:17--"The merciful man doeth good to his own soul, but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh." If you want to be miserable, then be merciless. If you are merciful, you will be happy.

c.) Proverbs 12:10--"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." Righteous people are merciful even to animals.

d.) Romans 1:29-31--The ungodly are characterized by being "filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, insolent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents; without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, [and] UNMERCIFUL"

III. THE SOURCE OF MERCY

A. As a Gift from God

Mercy is a gift from God. He gives it only to those who are poor in spirit, mournful over their sins, meek, and hungry and thirsty for righteousness (Matt. 5:3- 6). When they receive God's mercy they can then be merciful to others. Mercy is not a human attribute-- people can't initiate mercy on their own. The platitude, "Be merciful to others, and they will be merciful to you" is rarely true. The only way to be a merciful person is to have within you the mercy of God.

B. At the Cross of Christ

The supreme act of God's mercy was what He did for us on the cross. Because of what Christ did there He became our merciful High Priest (Heb. 2:17).

IV. THE MANIFESTATIONS OF MERCY

There are many Scriptures calling believers to be merciful: (Galatians 6:10, Ephesians 4:32) Here are some practical things wherein you can manifest mercy

A. Meeting Physical Needs (Deuteronomy 15:8 and 9, 1 John 3:17)

B. Meeting Spiritual Needs – We show mercy by meeting spiritual needs. This is manifested by our pity of the lost (Acts 7:60, Luke 23:34) and by preaching the Gospel to them.

V. THE RESULT OF MERCY

Christ said, "Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy" (Matt. 5:7). The sequel to mercy is that once God gives us mercy and we become merciful, God gives us more mercy.

A. Affirmed in Scripture

1. James 2:13--"[God] shall have judgment without mercy [on them] that hath shown no mercy."

2. Matthew 6:12--"Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."

3. Matthew 6:14--"If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you."

CONCLUSION

If you are a merciful person God will continually pour out His mercy on you. He will forgive your sins and meet your needs. If you are not merciful there's a good possibility that you aren't a Christian. (Mathew 18:23 to 35) Those who show mercy are merciful because they have received that characteristic from God.

Most of the Notes in this slide are lifted from John MacArthur’s Most of the Notes in this slide are lifted from John MacArthur’s Bible Study Guide “The Beatitudes.” For complete Bible study Bible Study Guide “The Beatitudes.” For complete Bible study

Guide notes, sermon notes and the audio message of this series Guide notes, sermon notes and the audio message of this series go to go to www.gty.orgwww.gty.org. .

Other inputs and revision of outlines and notes by Zigfred DiazOther inputs and revision of outlines and notes by Zigfred Diaz

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