1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,760 I am thankful for a lost and found section behind this podium this morning. 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:10,060 If I believed the devil were on attack, he would attack me through my contact lenses this morning. 3 00:00:10,060 --> 00:00:13,660 I had them on. Before I got to church, my left one had to be thrown out. 4 00:00:13,660 --> 00:00:17,240 I was sitting there reading the scripture passage this morning, and I'm like, I am blind. 5 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:22,360 That thing's moving around. So I had to take that one out just a few minutes ago, and I'm like, I can't read my notes. 6 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,280 But thankful, a lot of you all just leave stuff in the pews. 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:30,200 And so there's readers up here. I don't know if they fit me, but I can at least see a little bit. 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,320 They may be women's glasses. I'm not sure. 9 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:38,840 But they're going to help me see this morning. Matthew chapter five, verse seven. 10 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:46,680 We'll look at one verse this morning and then ask the precious spirit of God to help us. 11 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:51,800 Jesus speaking to a crowd there on that mountain. 12 00:00:51,800 --> 00:01:03,920 He looks to the people and he says, blessed, favored by God, are the merciful for they who are so will obtain mercy. 13 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:12,960 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Let's pray. 14 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:24,800 Father, Lord, we cannot understand nor mind the depths of your wisdom or that you revealed in your word, except by the spirit of God. 15 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:28,600 Lord, would you humble man and exalt Christ? 16 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:33,120 Might we sink low behind the cross and may Christ be at the forefront? 17 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:42,360 Or may we preach him, preach him crucified, buried, risen again for sinners or seated at the right hand of your glorious throne? 18 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:48,520 God help us, Lord. May you grow us in our walk in our most holy faith. 19 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:57,760 Lord, allume in the text to us this morning and not only show us Christ, but reveal our sin and the pardon that's found in your son. 20 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,800 And it's in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. 21 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:08,520 You know, I would like to ask this morning, do you think that there are some things that are more important or I guess a better way might say it, 22 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:15,840 of a higher priority to God than other things are? Are there some things just more pressing, more important? 23 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:23,720 I would say, yeah, absolutely, without a doubt. As you look through scripture, one of the criticisms that our Lord had toward the religious leaders, 24 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:32,360 particularly the Pharisees, was their emphasis on their scrupulous adherence to the minutia of the law. 25 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:41,840 They were fastidious in their approach to keeping the law, and yet he said they ignored what he called the weightier or more important matters of the law. 26 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:53,680 You see it there in Matthew 23. Woe to you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tie the mint and anise and cumin, 27 00:02:53,680 --> 00:03:00,280 and you have neglected the weightier, the more heavy matters of the law. What are they? 28 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:07,800 Justice and mercy and faith. I want you to notice what our Lord calls weighty or important here. 29 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:15,560 There's justice, there's mercy and faith. These things seem to take center stage. 30 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:21,240 So it's clear from the outset that mercy is one of those more important things in the mind of God. 31 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:28,200 Micah 6.8, perhaps many of you all know this verse. He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord does require of you. 32 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:38,800 What is it? I want to know what does God require of me. Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord thy God. 33 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:45,680 God commands his people not just to be merciful, but to love it. Love it, he says. 34 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:51,440 And then God describes himself in these terms. He describes himself as merciful. Psalm 145. 35 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:59,120 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. 36 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:06,720 How the Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works. 37 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:14,240 God is merciful. He desires his children to be merciful, like father, like son. 38 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,800 And then we come to the text in Matthew 5.7, we see our Lord pronouncing a benediction, 39 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:23,040 a blessing upon a certain group of people, the merciful. 40 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:30,240 And he says blessed, happy, favored by God are the merciful and the result, they'll get it. 41 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:35,440 They'll get mercy. Now I want you to please keep in mind that in this Sermon on the Mount, 42 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:46,320 the Lord is showing what life in his kingdom looks like. In it, we're going to see that the kingdom of God is at war with the kingdom of man. 43 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:55,200 It is almost exactly opposite the kingdom of man. In man's kingdom, mercy is not a virtue, strength is. 44 00:04:55,200 --> 00:05:04,000 In Matthew 4.17, the Lord preached the arrival of this kingdom. He says, repent. Why? 45 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:11,280 For the kingdom of heaven is at hand, it's near, it had come. The king had come. 46 00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:16,320 King Jesus is on the scene and he was announcing that the kingdom of God came with him. 47 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:24,640 The king arrived bringing the kingdom. At his first advent, at his first coming, the kingdom of God was inaugurated. 48 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:33,280 It's already present. It's not yet consummated. That will not take place until his second advent when he returns again. 49 00:05:33,280 --> 00:05:38,240 But in the meantime, there are a group of people called out from the world who live in this kingdom. 50 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:43,760 And Jesus is pronouncing his blessing upon those who are already in the kingdom. 51 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:51,760 They are favored by God. And that's what it means to be blessed. They're favored by God and they live by a certain ethic. 52 00:05:51,760 --> 00:06:00,640 Now I want to make this very clear at the outset. Living by this ethic does not get you into the kingdom. 53 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:06,480 This is the ethic or way of life for people who are already in. 54 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:12,880 Phil Newton, he's a pastor, he says, the Beatitudes were not given as commands but as realities. 55 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,080 Because if you notice, it's not an imperative. This is indicative mood. 56 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,920 Jesus doesn't say, be merciful. He just says, blessed are the merciful. 57 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:24,080 These are not commands. These are realities for those who are part of Christ's kingdom. 58 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,720 We might call them kingdom characteristics or kingdom evidences. 59 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,000 They describe the believer. They describe the believer. 60 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:41,360 And by the very same token, they are effective instruments to root out unbelief in the heart and then also to expose an unregenerate condition. 61 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:47,600 What is he saying there? That these virtues, when they are lacking in those who profess faith in Christ, 62 00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:53,600 it may be and probably is a sign of an unregenerate condition. 63 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:59,200 The Beatitudes really are an expression of the life of God in the believer. 64 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:05,200 This divine life that we have been made partakers of is shown in the way that we live our lives. 65 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,800 So now we come to this. We see that God is merciful. 66 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,800 The word Jesus is pronouncing a blessing on the merciful. 67 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:20,400 So then the question that we must answer this morning is what does it mean to be merciful? 68 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:26,160 Now, to be merciful as it's given here does not mean simply to have pity. 69 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:31,600 It's not just an emotion here, but rather it's being actively compassionate. 70 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:39,200 The thought is that those who are merciful, they give attention to those who are in misery. 71 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,320 I think a great synonym for this is compassion. 72 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:50,320 Mercy is not simply feeling compassion, but rather it is doing something that would alleviate someone in distress. 73 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:55,520 You're actively meeting a need. So mercy is not a word. Mercy is not a feeling. 74 00:07:55,520 --> 00:08:02,000 Mercy is an action. And James in chapter two, he talked about this very beautifully. 75 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:08,720 He said, if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 76 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:16,480 depart in peace, be warm, be full, but you don't give them the things that are needed for the body, what does it profit? 77 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:22,800 Now notice what James is saying. So a brother comes to you and he's hungry and he's poorly clothed. 78 00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:30,400 And here's what you say. You know what? Go home and you be warm now and you be full. 79 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:34,720 Those are very merciful words. He's hungry and you say, okay, yeah, be full. 80 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:40,480 And he's cold and poorly clothed. You say, well, be warm. Have you shown mercy? 81 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:48,000 No. You've only given lip service to mercy. Mercy will move you to alleviate the need. 82 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:54,560 You clothe him. You feed him. Spurgeon, who writes eloquently on everything, he says, 83 00:08:54,560 --> 00:09:02,800 they the merciful forgive and they're forgiven. They judge charitably and they will not be condemned. 84 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:10,640 They help the needy and they shall be helped in their need. What we are to others, God will be to us. 85 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:17,040 Followers of Jesus must be men of mercy, for they have found mercy and mercy has found them. 86 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:23,120 As we look for mercy of the Lord in that day, we must show mercy in this day. 87 00:09:24,240 --> 00:09:30,480 One more, the Holman New Testament commentary said this, kingdom servants must reflect in 88 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:36,880 their own hearts the heart of the king. That they are part of the kingdom implies 89 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:43,440 that they are objects of mercy. That means they are others oriented. What you and I have 90 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:50,800 received in such abundance, we must now dispense abundantly. Now, I've noted in weeks past, we're 91 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,960 studying the Beatitudes and we're just taking one at a time, but these Beatitudes really do, they 92 00:09:54,960 --> 00:10:02,080 build upon each other. There's a progression. The very first one was blessed are those who are poor 93 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:07,040 in spirit. These are the people by God's grace who have come to understand their own spiritual 94 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:13,200 bankruptcy. They have no righteousness. They have nothing to commend them to God. They simply cast 95 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:18,240 themselves upon the mercy of God. They flee to him. Now, the correlations between those who are 96 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:24,640 poor in spirit and those who are merciful, because those who are poor in spirit have come to see their 97 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:31,760 own sin, our own weakness, our own misery, we have gone to God with this miserable condition. 98 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:36,720 We've received divine mercy. We've received divine pardon. We have been given eternal life 99 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:43,360 and that mercy that we've received from God changes us. Now listen church, we now start to see the sin 100 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:50,960 and weakness of others in a different light. The poor in spirit have become meek before God. 101 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:56,800 Blessed are the meek for they shun hair at the earth. They become humble and as a result of that, 102 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:02,720 they are now more patient with others in their sin and weakness. You meet sometimes religious 103 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:09,520 people who are so quick to judge. They have just a judgmental spirit, a condemning spirit, 104 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:15,840 but those who've been humbled by their sin and have come to Christ, there's a tenderness there. 105 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:21,840 There's a patience, an empathy. There really is a compassion for others who are in sin. 106 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:31,040 Why? Because you and I have been helped in our sin and our misery. We know what it's like. We 107 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:36,640 know what it's like. We know what it's like to be there and so we now have a desire to help others 108 00:11:36,640 --> 00:11:42,480 who are in the same situation we were once in. So when a man receives the mercy of God, the one 109 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:47,680 that evidences that he has received it is that he's going to be merciful to others because of what 110 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:52,080 he's received. So instead of looking at someone and thinking, well how could they possibly do that, 111 00:11:53,680 --> 00:11:59,040 the disposition is now, how can I help them? That's Galatians 6. If you see a brother 112 00:11:59,040 --> 00:12:04,080 caught in sin, you who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness considering 113 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:09,200 your own self. So what we see is this progression. The poor in spirit have been humbled and because 114 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,680 of their humility they become meek before God and meek before people and they now have mercy 115 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:22,000 toward others who are still in their sin. And they are hungry and they're thirsty for righteousness. 116 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:27,360 But what does righteousness look like in their lives? They show mercy. It's part of what it 117 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:32,240 means to be righteous. Now Jesus when he's preaching the sermon there's a historical context 118 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:38,400 that we can't avoid. Much of this sermon is really a rebuke to the leading religious officials of his 119 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:42,800 day. They're there within their earshot and you can turn over to Matthew 7 and see that toward the 120 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,920 end. So they're listening in on what Jesus is saying. So you have the scribes, the Pharisees, 121 00:12:47,920 --> 00:12:54,720 the Sadducees. These people are very self-righteous. They could never see themselves in their true 122 00:12:54,720 --> 00:13:01,680 spiritual condition. They're not poor in spirit. They don't think they need great mercy. They don't 123 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:07,440 think they're really that bad. But now listen and this is true of religious people who are lost. 124 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:12,720 They do pay lip service to mercy. I mean because they read the Psalms God is merciful 125 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:21,040 but it's not shown in their lives. They hold a high demand for a strict fastidious 126 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:27,760 observance of the law. Let me give you an example of this. Remember back in John 8 there is a woman 127 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:34,320 who is caught in the very act of adultery we're told. It's what John tells us and it says these 128 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:41,280 religious leaders they took her in the act. Now first of all we see the hypocrisy because what's 129 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:47,280 missing? The man. It wasn't just a woman was to be condemned so was the man. They didn't take the man 130 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:50,960 and what did they do? They bring her to Jesus and they're like Lord we caught her in the very act 131 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:57,840 now the law says she should be stoned to death. What do you say? Now they're trying to trip him up 132 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:05,920 but they're really demanding justice. No desire for mercy. So what does our Lord do? He stoops 133 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:11,920 down he writes on the ground with his finger. We don't know what he wrote but we do know this 134 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:18,400 whatever he did he said those without sin do exactly as the law said. You pick up that hard 135 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,960 stone and you be the first to hurl it at her head. If you don't have sin you pick it up and you be 136 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:28,480 the first to throw that stone at her. He's writing on the ground and John tells us they were all 137 00:14:28,480 --> 00:14:34,080 convicted from the first into the last. My suspicion is that Jesus is writing down their sins that 138 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:39,360 no one knew about. I don't know but whatever that he was writing they suddenly they dropped their 139 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:45,520 stones and they left. But what did this reveal? It showed their hypocrisy. It's clear they're 140 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:51,840 unmerciful and really it's clear that they're far from God. So that's a historical context where 141 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:55,840 Jesus is preaching. It's a rebuke to them but there's also a political context that we can't 142 00:14:55,840 --> 00:15:02,560 ignore either. So do you remember Israel at this time is an occupied territory. Rome is the leading 143 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:10,640 nation that's over them and so you have the Roman Empire there with their guards and their own 144 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:16,400 leaders and the Roman Empire they did not esteem mercy at all. They thought if you showed mercy 145 00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:23,760 then you don't have what it takes to be a real man especially not a real Roman. To them mercy was 146 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:30,320 a sign of weakness because they think a man is someone who must be seen as strong always strong 147 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:37,200 among peers. But I would suggest to you that mercy is derived from a strength that most people know 148 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:43,600 nothing about. It takes incredible strength to be merciful. Now what about our culture in which we 149 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:52,320 live today? We're not a merciful culture. We hear it all the time. It's a dog eat dog world. Darwin, 150 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:55,600 survival of the fittest, our culture is bought into that hook line and sinker. 151 00:15:56,320 --> 00:16:02,560 Only the strong survive and so what happens is we find out everyone is looking out for themselves. 152 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:10,160 There is an epidemic of self-absorption and what happens when a person is so focused on themselves, 153 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:17,440 so myopic, so self-absorbed they never take the time to see others in need. They just don't do it. 154 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:23,680 But that wasn't the case with the Lord Jesus. He read through the sacred text. 155 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:31,600 He befriended prostitutes. He befriended tax collectors, other notorious sinners. People 156 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:38,000 who were such of low repute that no one wanted to be with them. Our Lord would. I love how you look 157 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:43,520 at how he was with children. He's gentle. He would take them up in his arms. He would put his hands 158 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:50,560 on them and he would bless them. To those who were sick, he would often heal. There's a mercy. 159 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:56,000 You remember when the widow lost her only son and Jesus is there and the funeral is passing by? 160 00:16:56,000 --> 00:17:00,800 The Lord had mercy on that dear lady and he raised her son back to life. 161 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:09,840 You look at Christ and you see him and he was mercy and love in the flesh. Love incarnate. 162 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:13,600 But that caused the religious leaders to be jealous because he gained quite a crowd. 163 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:19,920 People flock into them and really it was their envy and jealousy that would ultimately lead to his death. 164 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:25,040 We think about this word merciful here. It's only used two times in the New Testament. Just two. 165 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:33,200 Here, Matthew 5-7 and over in Hebrews 2-17 when it speaks of Christ that we have a merciful high 166 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:38,960 priest. Some mercy here. This is not something that's just a side thing. This takes center stage. 167 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:45,600 It's a weightier matter before God. What is it? It's compassion but in action. That means it 168 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:50,400 meets needs. It goes beyond feeling sorry for others and it tries to actually get involved and 169 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:56,320 alleviate their suffering. And I think about that the opportunity we have in September 10th. It could 170 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:01,280 be feeding the hungry in your community. It could be comforting those who are grieving and you know 171 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:05,600 they're going through a tough time. It could be someone who's lonely and befriending the lonely. 172 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,560 Loving the rejected, forgiving those who have done you wrong. 173 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:16,080 This past Friday after my class I had a boy. I don't know if you shared this or not. 174 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,720 I had a kid come after me class and he said Mr. McKee can I talk to you? 175 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:26,160 See I'd be happy to talk to you and he said can you help me with my depression? 176 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:31,600 Yeah well I said well and I started asking questions. Physical, not a doctor, have you 177 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:34,400 been to a doctor? And that's all the all the stuff that you would ask. 178 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:39,680 And I said can you describe it to me? And he said I have no one. He said I have no friends and I'm 179 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:46,640 picked on all the time. And he said I don't know. He said but my mother four years ago she hung 180 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:54,640 herself. I said do you ever think about that? He said I do. And he said because I feel so alone 181 00:18:54,640 --> 00:19:00,800 in this world. That was Friday. Here's what I said. I said I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. 182 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:08,240 I feel so alone in this world. That was Friday. Here's a 16 year old kid goes to a Christian school 183 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:13,440 and he said I've talked to some people and a couple of friends or a couple of kids in my 184 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:15,520 class said well you should go ahead and do it. Go ahead and kill yourself. 185 00:19:17,360 --> 00:19:23,040 This is the culture in which so many people live. I mean this we don't take time or and do I think 186 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,880 those kids really meant it? No they're they're foolish and immature and ridiculous. 187 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:35,200 People are hurting and most of us just have blinders on all the time. But this attitude of 188 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:41,520 being merciful and it's a high value here. But it doesn't you're saying well how do you get that? 189 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:48,400 Let me just say this mercy does not originate with us. It doesn't come from us. You and I we 190 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:53,120 come to Christ for salvation. You and I have experienced his mercy toward us and his spirit 191 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:58,400 takes up residence and he begins to work in us making us more merciful toward other people. 192 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:03,040 We often think of mercy and grace as synonyms and they're not. They're linked but they're not 193 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:11,040 the same. Mercy will deal with symptoms. Grace amen will deal with the cause. Mercy will offer 194 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:17,760 you relief from punishment that grace will give you pardon for the crime. Mercy will keep you 195 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:23,920 from hell and grace will take you into heaven. Mercy says hey that punishment that you and I 196 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:28,800 deserve for breaking the law of God we deserve the wrath and curse of God. You don't get it. 197 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:36,240 That's mercy. But grace oh God's glorious grace gives us all the other blessings you and I don't 198 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:44,400 deserve. Union with Christ and inheritance with Christ to share in the glorious vision of our God 199 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:50,560 for all eternity. In Luke chapter 10 you see a good example of how grace and mercy work together. 200 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:54,560 You don't need to turn there. You all know the story. It's a parable of the good Samaritan. 201 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:59,280 See I've here a man is beaten. We don't know if he's Jew or Samaritan. I went back and looked and 202 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:04,560 it doesn't say. He's stripped by robbers and he's left for dead. So he's beaten, he's wounded, 203 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:09,200 he's just left on the side of the road assuming he was dying. And the first this is a parable and 204 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:14,160 Jesus said you have a priest and a Levite. Now Levite was a temple worker. So these would be 205 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:21,120 the religious leaders people who were helping people get to God. They saw that man. They cross 206 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:27,200 the road and they go to the other side. Just walk by completely ignoring him. But then Jesus said 207 00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:31,200 but there was a Samaritan. Now if you know anything about the Jews and Samaritans they hated each 208 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:37,200 other. Samaritans were seen as half breeds literally. And it says this man's stuff was 209 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:43,920 broken. And it says this man stopped by and he saw the man and he took care of him even though he had 210 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:50,080 nothing with which to repay him. He took care. That's mercy right? But the Samaritan didn't 211 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:56,160 stop there. He then put this bleeding man, he put him on his own donkey, he takes him to a local 212 00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:01,360 inn and he says hey stay there until you completely recover. And then he looks and he tells the inn 213 00:22:01,360 --> 00:22:08,720 keeper whatever he owes you when I come back I will take care of that price. That's grace. Mercy 214 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:16,640 helped in his need. Grace saw to his complete restoration. Mercy and grace are linked. Mercy 215 00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:24,080 and forgiveness are linked. Because mercy is the substance from which forgiveness flows. 216 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:33,360 Those who have been forgiven much will forgive much. Friends as a church those who said they've 217 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:39,040 experienced the grace of God that means you and I have drunk deeply at the well of mercy. 218 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:46,320 So then be merciful. The forgiven man will forgive and the merciful man has received mercy. 219 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:53,920 And the merciful man has received mercy. This is the evidence of God's life within him. Do you know 220 00:22:53,920 --> 00:23:00,880 from 1st Peter chapter 2 the apostle Peter he said that you and I are partakers of the divine nature. 221 00:23:03,120 --> 00:23:08,720 That's glorious. You and I as believers are partakers of the divine nature. We don't become 222 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:15,280 gods. He's not saying that but we have partaken of the life of God by his Holy Spirit who's in us. 223 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:21,760 The believer begins to express this life in our actions. This is why if God's Spirit is at work 224 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:28,400 within you he is causing you to grow in godliness. And part of that is mercy and forgiveness. 225 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:34,960 But what if you don't? What if you don't forgive? What if you don't show mercy? 226 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:42,800 What does that suggest? It suggests that you are not a partaker of the divine nature and you have 227 00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:49,440 not been indwelt by the Spirit of God. In Matthew 18 there's another parable and 228 00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:55,040 I've got the verses behind me. You have in this parable a man who owes the king 229 00:23:55,040 --> 00:24:01,440 just an instrumentable sum. It said 10,000 talents. One talent is between 60 and 80 pounds of gold. 230 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:08,480 Okay. One talent. He owes 10,000 talents. One talent, one was said to be worth 20 years of the 231 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:13,280 average day labor's wages. 20 years wages. That's one talent. He owes 10,000 talents. 232 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:20,080 Today, I looked it up just last night, so one talent of gold, so about 60 pounds of gold today 233 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:25,760 in yesterday's market was about 1.7 million dollars. So if you have 10,000 talent debt you 234 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:32,000 have a 17 billion dollar debt. Okay. So that just gets, puts this in perspective. I mean we're 235 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:37,280 talking about a ridiculous amount and Jesus is using this in this parable to show the impossible 236 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:42,480 amount to be paid back, which is really an evidence of our sin debt to God. You can't do it. 237 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:48,960 That's the point. This man owed an insurmountable debt to the king. It's obscene amount. 238 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,960 So what happens? This indebted man begins to beg and plead with the king to forgive him 239 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:03,360 and the king did. He forgave him all his debt. He showed mercy. Now that man who had just been 240 00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:07,600 forgiven of this insurmountable debt, he goes out and there's another man who's indebted to him 241 00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:14,880 and we're told that he has a debt of a hundred denarii. One denarius is one day's wages. So this 242 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:20,240 is a hundred days wages. Now that's significant, but it's minuscule compared to 10,000 talents. 243 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:25,920 So you have this one man who's been forgiven say 17 billion and another man owes say 10,000. 244 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:32,880 So you have this man who now owes a hundred denarii. He also, if you look, does the very 245 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:38,640 same thing in verse 26, same words. He begs and pleads with this man, be patient, he says, 246 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:45,600 I'll repay you everything. And yet that man who had been forgiven of so much said, no way. 247 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:52,160 And he put him into prison. It's a debtor's prison. Verse 29, so his fellow servant fell 248 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:56,000 down on his feet and begged him saying, have patience with me and I'll pay you all. Look back 249 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:02,160 at verse 26, the same thing that man had said earlier. And he would not, but he went and threw 250 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:07,040 him into prison that he should pay the till he should pay the whole debt. Verse 31, his fellow 251 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:12,240 servant saw this and they're upset. Rightly so. So they were grieved and they came and told their 252 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:16,240 master all they've been done. They went to the king. Then his master, after he called him, said 253 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:24,560 to him, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also 254 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:32,160 have had compassion on your fellow servant just as I had pity on you? Here's what Jesus is asking. 255 00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:39,440 Should not forgiven people forgive? Should not those who have been received great mercy show 256 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:46,560 mercy? Verse 34, and his master was angry, that next slide guys, and delivered him to the tortures 257 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:52,960 until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly father also will do to you if each of 258 00:26:52,960 --> 00:27:00,320 you from his heart does not forgive his brother his trespasses. We prayed the words prayer earlier, 259 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:05,360 didn't we? The Lord forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. 260 00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:10,880 That's Matthew 6. What we're seeing here is a lack of mercy, a lack of tenderness, a lack of 261 00:27:10,880 --> 00:27:17,600 forgiveness reveals a heart that has never been transformed by God. God's people, those in the 262 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:25,680 kingdom, they're merciful. Why? They've received it. This is God's life within us. Here is the 263 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:35,520 message. It's clear. Mercy known results in mercy shown. The point of that tear that 10,000 talent 264 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:45,840 debtor before God is that if you and I refuse to forgive others, then listen carefully. Jesus, our 265 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:52,480 Lord speaking, it's because you have never been changed by the spirit of God. 266 00:27:52,480 --> 00:28:00,800 Because when you do, when the spirit of God works within you, he changes you. Think of Joseph. Mercy 267 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:06,560 led Joseph not only to forgive his brothers, but provide food for them during the famine. David, 268 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:11,600 when he's being hunted down by Saul, he not only does not attack Saul back, he actually then tries 269 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:16,720 to even protect Saul at times. Mercy led Christ to cry out forgiveness when there were people 270 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:25,280 nailing his hands and his feet to a wooden cross. J. Dwight Pentecost said this, to show mercy, 271 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:31,040 because we have received mercy, demonstrate the life of Christ, the work of the cross in a man's 272 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:37,600 life, and it permits God to open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon us. A man 273 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:44,560 whose life is lived by the love of God manifested at the cross will find his life flooded with 274 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:51,120 the love of God. Amen. So you have mercy and grace, you have mercy and forgiveness, 275 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:57,440 mercy and justice. Now that seemed odd. We normally think of mercy and justice as opposites, 276 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:06,000 but a mercy that ignores or excuses sin is not true mercy. God doesn't just overlook it or wink 277 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:12,000 at it. John MacArthur, to expect to enter the sphere of God's mercy without repenting from 278 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,960 our sins is just wishful thinking. For the church to offer hope of God's mercy apart from 279 00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:24,400 repentance from sin, well, that's to offer a false hope through a false gospel. God offers nothing 280 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:29,680 but merciless judgment to those who will not turn from their sin and turn toward the Savior. 281 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:36,400 So many people today in our culture assume that God being merciful means he's never angry. 282 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:42,160 God's not angry at sinners. God would surely never allow someone to die and go to hell. 283 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:49,280 It's not the God of scriptures, guys. The most merciful thing you and I can do 284 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:55,840 is to warn others to flee from the wrath to come. There's a Savior he's offered to the world. 285 00:29:56,720 --> 00:30:04,960 Flee to the Savior, cling to him. Christ paid the payment so that God could turn from his sin. 286 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:11,520 He paid the payment so that God might be merciful to the sinner. Who's the candidate for it? 287 00:30:13,120 --> 00:30:19,440 Anyone who will pen their sins and turn to Christ in faith. Anyone who will turn from sin, 288 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:26,640 turn to the Savior. But where does that mercy come from? It's the same fountain from which all 289 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:35,760 virtues flow from God himself. You and I could never be the way that God intends for us to be 290 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:42,000 without his divine enablement. What are the varying ways that mercy is shown quickly? 291 00:30:42,000 --> 00:30:49,040 Physically, you feed the hungry. You visit the sick and imprisoned. This is Matthew 25, by the way. 292 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:54,800 You take care of the elderly and the orphans. That's James. You clothe the naked. You lend a 293 00:30:54,800 --> 00:31:01,600 listening ear or shoulder to lean on. You just care. Emotionally, we do it in our attitudes. 294 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:06,240 Mercy does not hold a grudge. It will not harbor resentment. It will not refuse forgiveness, 295 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:12,240 and it will not make someone else's sins be known. You don't want to do that. But spiritually, 296 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,600 we will grieve over those who are lost and don't know the Lord, how foolish they are. 297 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:23,440 Mercy will be willing to confront others with their sin so that they might be led to repentance. 298 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:28,480 We pray, right? We pray that the eyes of the unsaved might be open to their plight. 299 00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:32,800 You pray for that unsaved loved one living under your roof that God would work in them. 300 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:39,200 And then lastly, we also show compassion and mercy by preaching. We proclaim this good news. 301 00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:44,880 That's the most merciful thing we can do. Now, as we wind it down, 302 00:31:44,880 --> 00:31:52,080 now as we wind it down, what's the result? Matthew 5, 7, they shall obtain mercy. 303 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:56,240 I love what Spurgeon said here. I quote him probably too much. 304 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:03,280 Note that even the merciful need mercy. No amount of generosity to the poor or forgiving 305 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:09,200 one's enemies can set us beyond the need of mercy. Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. 306 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:14,720 That's why he said, those who are merciful will receive mercy. That shows you that showing mercy 307 00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:21,680 is not earning merit before God. That's not the ground of our justification. We show mercy 308 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:28,400 because we have already been accepted by God. So it's very cyclical, right? We see our spiritual 309 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:34,640 condition. We flee to Christ for salvation, that we receive his mercy and pardon to other people, 310 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:41,760 and God pours out his mercy upon us even more. We thirst for it. We hunger for it. 311 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:47,440 And then we receive it even more. So that blessed one of Matthew 5, 312 00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:55,120 he's a meek man, and he acknowledges he is a sinner. And to acknowledge he's a sinner, 313 00:32:55,120 --> 00:32:59,760 he becomes merciful and has compassion on others for their sinners too. 314 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:07,120 So we're down to the two minute drill here. So what? I mean, what do you do now? 315 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:15,440 If the merciful are blessed by the Lord, what about those who don't show mercy? 316 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:23,920 They are cursed by the Lord. James issues a very sobering warning. For judgment, 317 00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:31,440 and this is frightening to me, is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs 318 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:39,760 over judgment. Mercy, you stand before God and you receive his judgment with no mercy. 319 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:47,360 What an awful plight. As eternal damnation, as condemnation, the fires of hell for all eternity. 320 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:55,440 Why? You show no mercy because you have a cold, dark heart, and you will be shown no mercy on that 321 00:33:55,440 --> 00:34:02,640 great day of judgment. It's what the word says. Psalm 18, the psalmist writes, with the merciful 322 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:07,040 God, you will show yourself merciful. With the blameless man, you will show yourself blameless. 323 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:11,520 With the pure, you will show yourself pure. And with the devious, you will show yourself shrewd. 324 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:18,320 For you will save the humble people, but you will bring down haughty looks. It's the word of God. 325 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:23,120 And last, I've quoted him too many times and I said that, but I love Spurgeon. This is so good. 326 00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:28,880 Listen carefully. He says, every man shall have his meat weighed in his own scales. 327 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:35,440 His corn, meated or weighed in his own bushel. His land measured with his own rod. 328 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:42,240 No rule can be more fair. To ungodly men, more terrible, but to the generous man, more honorable. 329 00:34:43,120 --> 00:34:49,680 How would men throw away their lightweights and break their short yards if they could 330 00:34:49,680 --> 00:34:54,880 believe that they themselves are sure to be in the end, the losers, by their naivish tricks? 331 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:01,920 Dear friend, I want to talk to you today. Never forget, you and I, today, 332 00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:08,080 we are citizens of this kingdom only because there was a great king who humbled himself. 333 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:15,840 He emptied himself of any royal privilege and in tremendous, wonderful mercy. 334 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:25,360 He came to meet our deepest need through his life, death, and victorious resurrection. 335 00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:28,720 And this is the wonderful privilege of a preacher. 336 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:34,320 The mercy of God today is open. The floodgates of salvation are flowing. 337 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:41,760 If you will come humbling yourself and trusting in Christ, He'll receive you. 338 00:35:42,640 --> 00:35:48,720 Will you come? Are you going to humble yourself? Cast yourself upon the oceans of God's mercy 339 00:35:48,720 --> 00:36:00,240 today. Whatever our sin is, His mercy is more. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. 340 00:36:00,240 --> 00:36:06,400 Lord God, how merciful you are. Slow to anger, bounding in kindness, Lord. You have a chesed, 341 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:12,640 a covenantal steadfast love toward your people. Lord, it just blows our mind about how kind you 342 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:19,440 are to us. How tender. Lord, not that we were worthy, Lord, just the opposite. How could we 343 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:25,760 sin against such love and greatness, Lord, but we have? Oh, the mercy of God, it is so great. 344 00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:34,320 It is more than any of our sins. It's all in Christ. And Lord God, we rejoice today that this 345 00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:39,600 day of resurrection, this day of victory, this is hallowed Lord's Day, we celebrate the day of 346 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:46,320 victory, this is hallowed Lord's Day, we celebrate Christ. Make us, Lord, more like Him. Blessed are 347 00:36:46,320 --> 00:36:52,240 the merciful, for they are like Christ. Lord, make us to be merciful, Lord, grow us in this grace, 348 00:36:52,240 --> 00:37:10,160 we pray for the glory and honor of Jesus, and it's in His name we pray, amen.