“Giving and Receiving Mercy” (Matthew 5:7)

“Giving and Receiving Mercy” (Matthew 5:7)
Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, August 16, 2015

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matthew 5:7)

1.    Our God Is Merciful and full of Compassion.

⁵ Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD.  ⁶ And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,  ⁷ maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation."  (Exodus 34:5-7, NIV)

 ¹⁶  "But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and they did not obey your commands.  ¹⁷ They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them, (Neh. 9:16-17, NIV)

 ¹⁵ But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86:15, NIV)

⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. (Isa. 55:7, NIV)

For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. (Heb. 2:17, NIV)

⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by grace you have been saved. (Eph. 2:4-5, NIV)

³  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,  ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,  ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  (1 Pet. 1:3-5, NIV)

2.    Christians are to reflect the character of our God by being merciful as he is.

²⁵  "If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest.  ²⁶ If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset,  ²⁷ because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has. What else can they sleep in? When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.  (Exodus 22:25-27, NIV)

For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hos. 6:6, NIV)

⁶ With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?  ⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?  ⁸ He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Mic. 6:6-8, NIV)

⁹ "This is what the LORD Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.  ¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.'  (Zech. 7:9-10, NIV)

³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Lk. 6:36, NIV)

³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph. 4:32, NIV)

¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:13, NIV)

¹⁷ But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.  ¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.  (James 3:17-18, NIV)

3.    Mercy is a primary attribute of Christlikeness; a person who is not merciful cannot expect to receive mercy at the judgment.

The merciful man does himself good, But the cruel man does himself harm. (Prov. 11:17, NASB)

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Matt. 6:12, NIV)

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matt. 6:14-15, NIV)

³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.  ³⁷  "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  (Lk. 6:36-37, NIV)

³ So watch yourselves. "If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.  ⁴ Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them." (Lk. 17:3-4, NIV)

³² "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  ³³ Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'  ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.  ³⁵ "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart."   (Matt. 18:32-35, NIV)

¹² Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,  ¹³ because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:12-13, NIV)

4.    The blessing of mercy and eternal life is promised to Christ’s followers who are merciful to others.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. (Matt. 5:7)

What are the areas in which we might display a lack of mercy?
⦁    Impatient with the faults/mistakes/forgetfulness of others.
⦁    Unwillingness to forgive the sins of others when they ask for forgiveness.
⦁    A pride that looks down on those who in our eyes are not as good as we are.
⦁    Not observant of the needs of others or an unwillingness to help when we see someone with a need.

What are ways that we can show mercy?
⦁    Remembering that all that we have is by grace and that we have been shown mercy.
⦁    A humility that has a right estimation of ourselves and others as all being made in the image of God and all standing in need of God’s mercy.
⦁    A willingness to forgive those who have wronged us and let it go without continuing to bring it up or hold it over them.
⦁    A patience with the mistakes and imperfections of others.
⦁    Being observant to the physical, financial, emotional, and spiritual needs of others.
⦁    A willingness to actually help those in need.
⦁    A non-judgmental spirit toward others, regardless of their social status.

Main Idea: We need to remember how much mercy we have been shown. When we do, we will reflect the character of our merciful God and show mercy to others.