Mar 19, 2009

Defining Mercy — Series on the Mount #6

LinkWelcome,

Let’s Pray…

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

Why does Jesus teach that people who are the merciful are blessed?

They are blessed because they will be shown mercy.
The first thing we must do when looking at this passage, is to figure out what merciful means.

Merciful is literally “full of Mercy” (Greek el-eh-ay'-mon active form of el-eh-eh-oo) A personal characteristic of care for the needs of others. The biblical concept of mercy always involves help to those who are in need or distress. (Holman Bible Dictionary)

In Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology text, mercy is defined as “God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress.” (Page 200 — Chapter 12, 8C)

We are called to be merciful, or full of mercy, and we are promised that we will find happiness by being merciful because we will be shown mercy.

So, who are we going to get this mercy from, in return for our mercy and what does our mercy look like? I’ll answer those two questions in order.

I’ve often heard the platitude, or empty saying, that you should “have mercy on others so they will have mercy on you.”

You may have heard that one too, if you are like me, you have also seen that concept proved false.
— There are times when I have seen someone show tremendous kindness and compassion for someone else, only to be betrayed or let down by the person who was helped.
— I can’t play innocent, there were many times in my past when others saw that I was in a state of helplessness or powerlessness, and they reached out to help me, and then I let them down. I either continued to go on in my old ways, I turned my back on them, or worse, I took advantage of their mercy and exploited it.

To those of us who are believers, this promise of mercy in response to our mercifulness is not from another person, but from GOD alone.

God’s mercy is not proved false, like it is when it comes from you or me or anyone else.

God’s mercy is one of the great hopes that our faith rests upon.
His mercy is one of the great wonders of His love!

Let’s go back to Grudem’s definition that mercy is God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress.

Distress?

Scriptures tell us plainly that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), and that what God’s justice demands for that sin, what we have earned is death! (Romans 6:23) That’s beyond us being in distress.

This is basic Gospel preaching. Those are the first two steps on the “Roman Road.”

Many times in an effort to keep from scaring new people away, or to be “Seeker Sensitive” we quickly move from here — we quickly move away from our state apart from Christ — and we move quickly to the fact of God’s mercy and grace to all who put their faith and allegiance in Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

But, this week I feel compelled to stay in the darkness of the truth of God’s wrath for a bit longer.

Even if it makes us squirm, even if it makes us want to retreat to happier pastures.

It is not unless we dwell — at times — in the truth of life apart from God’s mercy that we begin to appreciate the beauty and wonder of that mercy.

And if we as believers don’t remind ourselves of the future — not ours, but the future that is in store for our unbelieving family, our unbelieving friends and our unbelieving neighbors — they will be in danger because of our complacency.

Truly, I pray that this next passage will give you a tug of war on your heart; both gratitude, if you are in Christ and a sense of urgency for those who are not.

Please turn with me to Isaiah 63:1-9 (New International Version)

I think of this as one of the most frightening passages in the Scriptures. If you have always and only thought of Jesus as your buddy and not as our all-powerful ruler then hold on.

This passage is a glimpse of our future including a many times overlooked or ignored role of Jesus, not only as our redeemer, but also the Judge of those who never had the faith.
Isaiah 63:1-9 (New International Version)

1 Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in splendor,
striding forward in the greatness of his strength?
"It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save."
2 Why are your garments red,
like those of one treading the winepress?

3 "I have trodden the winepress alone;
from the nations no one was with me.
I trampled them in my anger
and trod them down in my wrath;
their blood spattered my garments,
and I stained all my clothing.

4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and the year of my redemption has come.

5 I looked, but there was no one to help,
I was appalled that no one gave support;
so my own arm worked salvation for me,
and my own wrath sustained me.

6 I trampled the nations in my anger;
in my wrath I made them drunk
and poured their blood on the ground."


Now, let me stop for a moment. If that passage does not put a sense of urgency in you for your lost loved ones, what will?
Now we will see Isaiah switch into the right response for us who are spared. To those of us who will hear the Lord speak of His actions and not be under His trampling feet:


A preacher named Stuart Briscoe used an illustration of when he went to a jeweler to buy his wife’s engagement ring. The jeweler put the rings on a black cloth. The blackness, the darkness of the cloth made the brilliance of the diamonds shine all the clearer.

I’m sorry if that passage made you uncomfortable, it makes me uncomfortable too. And we must see the darkness of wrath before the perfect splendor of his gift of mercy can be seen correctly.

In studying for this sermon, I read a wonderful commentary by Thomas Watson on Matthew 5:7 where he shined a light on the various areas that we as Christians can and should show mercy to our neighbors.

He wrote that we should show mercy:
— To people’s reputations by holding back our pride and envy (We show mercy by biting our tongue when we have gossip in our hearts — when we don’t tear someone down in their moment of praise, when we speak up for one who is being falsely our unjustly slandered);
— To offenses or offenders when we forgive (Don’t forget Stephen who, as he was martyred in a torrent of rocks, still prayed that God would forgive his killers);
— To needs when we give or lend to those who are without the necessities of life
o How many times have you heard it said, “I’m not helping him or her or them, they got themselves into that mess, they deserve what they are getting.” Mercy says, “It doesn’t matter whether they are getting what they deserve or if they happened to be born into unfortunate circumstances, I have been given a better lot in life by God, so I will do what I can for them.

And all of those areas are important. We must reflect God’s light into the world in those areas.

But it is Watson’s admonition for us to show mercy to the souls that held my heart captive this week.

We show them the ultimate form of mercy that any human is capable of by proclaiming the Gospel! By leading them to God! By fulfilling our duty as Christ’s ambassadors in this dark and fallen world!

How many times do I, do you, do we turn our eyes away when we see a neighbor stumbling or left for dead on the side of the road by their sin and do nothing?

There is something to do! There is something we should want to do!

Like the Samaritan in Luke 10, that helped the man who was beaten and left for dead, we must go to those who are dead in their sins and dress their mortal wound with the Word of God.

God heals. Ultimately, it is God’s deal between God and the individual. But we are His means to the end.

Paul puts it this way in

Brothers and sisters when we look at Matthew 5:7 we are told:


Yes we should show mercy to a neighbor’s distressed living situation, to their distressed emotional state, to their distressed financial hardship, to their distressed relationships, to their distressed upbringing, to their distressed educational and employment opportunities

— We are to show mercy in all of those areas.

But more than anything else, our paramount calling is to show mercy to their distressed spirit; their DEAD spirit that has been killed by sin and can only be reborn, can only be made new — by Christ Jesus!

If we Show Mercy in every other area and neglect their souls, we have failed!

May the Holy Spirit prompt each of our hearts this week and show us
—Who to share the Gospel with,
—When to share it, and
—How to do so effectively

And may He embolden us. May He give each one of us, me and you, the courage to do what we’ve been called by Jesus to do, and show mercy to those who are in darkness.

If you don’t know how to share the gospel, let me tell you it is not as hard or complicated as we Christians sometimes make it.

The neighbor does not need a survey of the entire Bible; they do not need to know all about the meanings and vocabulary of theologians.

Don’t get me wrong, we as Christians should continue in our understanding of doctrine and theology, I’m not bashing it. But lets keep the issue as simple as it needs to be when we encounter an unbeliever, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior and that He has saved you from your sins?”

Paul didn’t even get that wordy and made it even clearer to the jailer in

…That’s Paul showing mercy that’s Paul not wanting the man to die in his sin…


And if for some reason, you cannot come to a place where you can walk them through that simple message, if they have more questions than you can answer, tell them what Philip told Nathaniel in John 1: 43-46.

Nathaniel had questions that Philip couldn’t answer, so he just told him “come and see.”

You don’t need all of the answers. You just need to be merciful enough to want to lead them toward Christ.

Just be a witness, tell what God has done in your life and say, “come and see, come to church with me.”

It may be the most merciful thing you can do.
Let’s pray…
Posted by