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Blessed Are Series, Part 5: The Merciful
November 19, 2006
This sermon was presented before the Load, Kentucky, church of Christ, on November 19, 2006. The merciful are those who forgive others their offenses, and who go out of their way to assist those who are hurting. The merciful obtain mercy. Bernie Parsons
Blessed Are…The Merciful, for They Shall Obtain Mercy
by Bernie Parsons
Presented to the Load church of Christ 11/19/2006
Matthew 5:1: “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4: Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5: Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6: Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7: Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9: Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10: Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
In the previous studies, we looked at the blessed poor in spirit, the blessed mournful, the blessed meek, and the blessed who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Today, we look at the fifth blessing, that upon the merciful.
As with the others, these teachings come straight out of Old Testament scriptures.
Psalms 18:24: “Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25: With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
26: With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.”
Psalms 37:18: “The LORD knoweth the days of the upright: and their inheritance shall be for ever.
19: They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20: But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
21: The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the righteous sheweth mercy, and giveth.
22: For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
23: The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
24: Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
25: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
26: He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
27: Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
28: For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
29: The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever.
30: The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
31: The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.”
The merciful walk in the ways of the Lord, and their footsteps are directed—ordered—by the Lord. The merciful lends to the needy, and takes care of the poor. God shows mercy to the merciful.
Luke 6:36: “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
37: Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
38: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
As you are merciful to others, so God shall be merciful to you. Deal justly and fairly with others, and give them more than they expect.
Matthew 9:13: “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Mercy means a lot to the Lord. It is easy to be critical of others, and to find fault, but the Lord said to “Judge not, that ye be not judged”. Sacrifice was important under the Law of Moses, but not if mercy was overlooked. In fact, Jesus took the Pharisee leaders to task over this very thing.
Matthew 23:23: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”
Although the observances of the Law were important, the intentions behind those laws were more important. It is not enough to keep strict observance of ritual, one must have their heart turned toward the Lord, and their ear inclined to what He expects.
Matthew 12:1: “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.
2: But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
3: But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him;
4: How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?
5: Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
6: But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
7: But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8: For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.”
Sometimes, we are too ready to find fault with others, and to pass judgment on them. The Pharisees found fault with Jesus, whom the scriptures tell us was faultless. In His case, the fault lay in the eye of the beholder, and not in the one under scrutiny. Either way, our efforts are better served when directed towards mercy, and not criticism and condemnation.
Luke 10:29: “But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30: And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31: And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32: And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, 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 on him,
34: And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35: And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36: Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37: And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”
Our lives present us with boundless opportunities to show mercy to others. We must keep our eyes open and our hearts receptive to the teachings of Jesus, and the will of God. If we will do this, we will see many instances in which we can show mercy.
James 2:13: “For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
14: What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15: If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16: And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18: Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”
It may be in helping someone in need—and need goes beyond helping the poor. We are to assist the poor, but there are others in need, as well. When someone dies, the family is generally in need of comfort and consolation. If someone has a loved one in the hospital, they may need help cleaning the house, preparing a meal, or watching the children. It may be someone who has lost a job, and they need a few dollars to see them through some tough times. I could go on, but you see the direction I am taking. There are countless opportunities to show mercy.
James 3:17: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18: And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”
You cannot have mercy without good fruits. That is, if you are merciful, you will do good to others. This fits with the passages that we studied from the Old Testament, as well. We might say, on the other hand, if one does not produce good fruits, can it be said that such a person is merciful?
The Lord will show mercy to us, if we will show mercy to others. As I have already stated, this includes being slow to judge, and quick to forgive.
Luke 6:36: “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
37: Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
38: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”
If we don’t want to be judged, we should not judge. If we don’t want to be condemned, then we should not condemn. If we want forgiveness, then we must show forgiveness. If we want to receive mercy, we must show mercy.
Matthew 6:14: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”
Eternal salvation requires that we be forgiving, kind, tender, and merciful. These are attributes of God, and we are to be holy as He is holy.
1 Peter 1:13: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14: As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16: Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
We see that it is critical that we show mercy, not just to obtain mercy from our fellow man, but even more so, to obtain mercy from Almighty God. Without His great mercy, we would all suffer the fate that we have earned, and that we deserve. With His mercy, our salvation is possible.
