MATTHEW 5:7 - PAGE 1
THE CYCLE OF MERCY
#6 - SERMON ON THE MOUNT
"Byron Deel grew up with an alcoholic and abusive father. Byron had two brothers and three sisters, a large family, but his dad spent the family income on alcohol, and he drank and ranted and raved and cursed and threatened and hit them. And then he left them. When Byron was twelve, his father walked away from the family, and did absolutely nothing to support them. There were no child care payments. No alimony. No cards at birthdays. No gifts at Christmas. Nothing but hardship and abandonment.
"Byron said, 'My attitude toward my dad was everything that it shouldn’t have been for a Christian. He had robbed me of a happy childhood. He had failed me at every point. He had abused me. I hesitate to say that I hated him, but perhaps hatred isn’t too strong a word. There was a bitterness there that was almost a loathing. Whenever anyone asked me about my dad, I’d shut them off pretty fast. As I grew older, I put it all out of my mind, and there was just a blank spot there. I didn’t think about it. I could go for years without once thinking about my father.'
"One day out of the blue his father’s sister called Byron and said, 'Your father is in Bristol, Virginia, very sick and close to death. It would mean something to him if he could see one of his children. He has cirrhosis of the liver.' None of the other children wanted to see him, and Byron lived the closest to Bristol. So he got in his car and drove up there. He said, 'I had a ton of thoughts. Not a lot of strong feelings, just a sense that someone should do this. I didn’t want to, but it seemed like I should.'
"Byron walked into the Intensive Care Unit and there was a seventy-one-year old man, connected to monitors, tubes inserted into his body, surrounded by medical equipment. Byron had not seen him for sixteen years, but he recognized the man. And something strange happened. As Byron saw his father lying there helplessly, dying, strung about with wires and tubes and monitors and machines, all the years of hatred and anger melted away. He walked over and stood by the bedside. The man opened his eyes, saw Byron, and began to cry.
"Byron said, 'I wept, too. It was almost as though I could see going through his mind waves of regret for the wasted years.' Byron spent that day and the next with his dad, and he was surprised to find that he had a lot of feeling for the man. 'The burden that I had been carrying around for years without realizing it, it was gone. We were able to talk, and I was able to share the gospel with him.'
"Byron’s father survived that stay in the hospital, and was able to return home briefly. During that time, Byron had a second visit, taking his wife and daughters with him. And during that visit, he grew convinced that his dad had trusted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Later the call came that he had died, but Byron was no longer bitter or estranged. The compassion of Jesus Christ had taken hold, and instead of seeing himself as an abused victim full of hatred and cold of heart, he saw something else. He saw his dad through the Lord’s eyes, as a needy man who just needed Jesus Christ. Morgan, Robert J., Real Stories for the Soul, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers) c2000. p 51
Byron Deel learned the meaning of the words of our Lord Jesus in Matthew 5:7:
Matthew 5:7 - Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
A merciful person feels compassion for those who are hurting.
A merciful person acts in compassion towards those who are hurting.
Haddon Robinson - "Mercy is a response to misery; mercy understands the hurt, feels the hurt, and moves out to cure the hurt." Robinson, Haddon, The Christian Salt and Light Company, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Discovery House Publishers) © 1988 by the author, p. 65-66
The Sermon on the Mount shows us how to live righteously as Christians. If we are going to live righteously, we need to learn to show mercy.
Showing mercy is not easy, especially when someone is not deserving of the mercy they need.
Showing mercy is not easy, when the people who need mercy are not pretty or likeable.
Showing mercy is not easy, when the person who needs mercy has hurt or offended you.
There is what I would call a cycle of mercy.
This cycle of mercy begins with,
THE ACCEPTANCE OF MERCY
You will not be able to show mercy until you experience mercy.
You must experience mercy in order to be right with God.
The first of the "Beatitudes" or "Blessed Attitudes" that we studied was Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
A person who is poor in spirit has come to the end of himself, realizing that he has nothing good to offer to God. He is actually throwing himself upon the mercy of God.
A person who is poor in spirit recognizes that he is a sinner in need of forgiveness.
Isaiah 64:6 - But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
A person who is poor in spirit realizes that he or she as a miserable lost sinner is in need of mercy.
And mercy is exactly what God has shown on mankind.
Psalm 85:10 - Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
This verse was fulfilled on the cross of Calvary where Jesus died for your sins.
The truth is that someone has to pay for your sins in order to satisfy God's perfect sense of righteousness. Someone had to pay!
Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, suffered and died on the cross in your place. That's God's mercy at work. He took your punishment.
Righteousness and peace "kissed each other" as God's righteousness was satisfied by the payment of His Son and peace with God was secured for all those who want it.
God has already shown you mercy.
He requires only one thing.
You need to accept that mercy by faith.
Romans 5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
You either humble yourself, and accept God's mercy offered to you, or, as a fool, you reject God's mercy.
Failure to act, failure to accept Christ is saying "no" to Christ and God's mercy.
John 3:36 - He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
If you have accepted God's mercy, you now know what mercy is, because you've experienced it.
Christian, never forget, that if it weren't for His mercy, you would be eternally lost, going to hell.
And if you have accepted Christ as Savior, you still need God's mercy.
When we sin as Christians or fellowship with God is lost.
Isaiah 59:2 - But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
When we come to God, confessing our sins, He forgives and restores the fellowship that we have lost.
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Every time we accept God's forgiveness for our sins, we are shown mercy afresh.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
If you have accepted God's mercy should show God's mercy.
THE ACCEPTANCE OF MERCY
THE ATTITUDE OF MERCY
A bad attitude is what keeps us from showing mercy.
There are some mindsets that will hinder us from being merciful.
· Pride will keep us from being merciful.
We think that we are better than certain others. Why should
we bother to help someone who doesn't deserve our help?
If God had that attitude towards us, we'd be in big trouble.
· A critical spirit will keep us from being merciful.
This is closely related to pride. We compare ourselves with other others and critique them, finding fault with their mistakes. Many times we are judgmental without even realizing it.
Matthew 7:1-2 - Judge not, that ye be not judged. [2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
· Selfishness will keep us from being merciful.
To show mercy often requires us to suffer inconvenience or loss, and we are too selfish to want to do that.
If Jesus had been selfish, no one would have forgiveness.
· Unforgiveness will keep us from being merciful.
Here is the biggest hindrance to mercy of all.
When people have hurt us we the last thing we want to do is be merciful toward them.
We feel that it serves them right that they are in misery.
Why should we care? Why should we show compassion?
Ephesians 4:32 - And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Because God has forgiven me, I need, with God's help, to forgive others.
In order to have an attitude of mercy, we need, as Christians to practice one of the earlier beatitudes.
Matthew 5:4 - Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
To mourn is to be sorry enough over sin to want to quit.
As we confess to God our pride, our critical spirits, our selfishness and our unforgiveness, and forsake these sins with His help, we will begin to develop a merciful attitude.
A merciful attitude is an attitude of compassion, because we have experienced God's compassion.
It is compassion for the person who does not have enough to eat.
It is compassion for the person who is suffering illness.
It is compassion for the person down on his luck.
It is compassion for the person who is hurting.
It is compassion for the person who is going to hell, because he or she has not trusted Jesus as Savior.
It is compassion for the person who has hurt you.
Matthew 5:44 - But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
If God didn't have a heart of compassion, of mercy, towards you, where would you be?
Ask Him for a heart of compassion, of mercy.
THE ACCEPTANCE OF MERCY
THE ATTITUDE OF MERCY
THE ACTION OF MERCY
An attitude of mercy is not enough.
Attitude must be translated into action!
James 2:15-16 - 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?
1 John 3:16-18 - Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. [17] But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? [18] My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
When we start to feel an attitude of mercy, or compassion towards someone or towards a situation, the first thing we should do is pray. As you pray, ask God what to do.
· Do you feel compassion towards an unsaved friend? Ask God
for the person's salvation, and ask God what you should do
about it.
· Do you have compassion on someone hurting because of the loss of a loved one, a marital problem, or some other sort of problem? Ask God what to do about it.
· Do you have compassion on someone who has physical needs? Ask God what to do about it.
· Do you have compassion on a situation in another country? Again ask God what you can do, if anything. If you can't help, you can still pray.
· Are you now feeling compassion for someone who has chosen to be your enemy? Ask God what to do about it.
James 1:5 - If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
After you have asked God for guidance, take action.
Do what you can to show mercy, to relieve the suffering of someone else.
Why do we have the Red Cross?
Because someone had mercy or compassion!
Why do we have the Salvation Army?
Because someone had mercy or compassion!
Why do we have the Gideons?
Because someone had mercy or compassion!
Why did someone tell you how to get to Heaven?
Because someone had mercy or compassion!
When we show mercy, who are we showing mercy to?
Matthew 25:31-40 - When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: [32] And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: [33] And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. [34] Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: [35] For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: [36] Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. [37] Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? [38] When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? [39] Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? [40] And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
THE ACCEPTANCE OF MERCY
THE ATTITUDE OF MERCY
THE ACTION OF MERCY
THE ACCELERATION OF MERCY
Matthew 5:7 - Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Does this mean that people will be merciful to you, because you are merciful to them? Not necessarily.
Jesus was the most merciful man who ever lived.
They hung Him on a cross.
However, it is not man's mercy that I am in constant need of.
It is GOD'S MERCY that I need!
And the more mercy I am willing to show, the more mercy God is willing to give to me.
It is the merciful Christian who receives an increase of God's mercy as he shows mercy.
THE ACCEPTANCE OF MERCY
THE ATTITUDE OF MERCY
THE ACTION OF MERCY
THE ACCELERATION OF MERCY
How merciful are you?