Print

MATTHEW 5: 7

"BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL"

I. MEANING OF MERCIFUL "DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GRACE AND MERCY."
        A. Greek word "eleemon."
                1. Goes back to Hebrew "chesedh" untranslatable.
                        a. Get right inside another person so as to see
                           with his eyes, hear, feel, think.
                        b. Much more than just pity.
                                1. Good Samaritan.
                        c. Greek word sympathy "sun" together with
                           "paschein" to experience, to suffer.
                        d. We often feel sorry for.
                2. This is what incarnation is all about.
                        a. God is merciful.
                3. This helps so much in forgiveness. 
                        a. "To know all is to forgive all."

II. DOES NOT TEACH SALVATION BY WORKS.
        A. "For He shall have judgment without mercy who showed no mercy."
        B. For if you will not forgive men their trespasses.
        C. If we were judged on these terms, none of us would ever be
           forgiven.
                1. We must cancel whole gospel of grace from Bible.
        D. This is a strong characteristic of the child of God, he is
           merciful. 
        E. I am only forgiven as I am truly repentant.
                1. If I am truly repentant, I will be forgiving.

III. PLACE IN BEATITUDES.
        A. First three seeing myself in the light of God and my reaction
           to same.
        B. 4th - my response to the revelation.
        C. My reaction to the response.

IV. HOW SEARCHING THIS IS.
        A. Rather talk on evils of communism.
                1. This kind of examination hurts.
                        a. It's good for me to be humbled before the Lord.
        B. The gospel places emphasis on being not doing.
                1. Attitude more than actions.
                2. A Christian is something before he does anything. 
                        a. Paul's epistle to the Ephesians.
                3. We must be a Christian before we can act like
                   Christian.
                        a. How much frustration this has brought to those
                           in church.
                        b. How wrong to exhort to actions.
                        c. We are not told in scriptures to act like
                           Christians.
                        d. We are not to try to practice Christianity "I
                           live yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
                4. His Spirit must control my life.
                5. Our lives are declaring what we are.
                        a. Am I merciful?
                        b. Jesus supreme example on cross.