Good morning and welcome to a beautiful Panhandle day. Well it's about that time so pull up a chair, open your Bible and sit awhile.
Steve Shepherd, in his sermon "In His Mercy" tells this story. One night in 1935, Fiorello H. La Guardia, mayor of New York, showed up at a night court in the poorest ward of the city. He dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench. One case involved an elderly woman who was caught stealing bread to feed her grandchildren. La Guardia said, "I’ve got to punish you. Ten dollars or ten days in jail."
As he spoke, he threw $10 into his hat. He then fined everyone in the courtroom 50 cents for living in a city "where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat." The hat was passed around, and the woman left the courtroom with her fine paid and an additional $47.50.
I don’t know if this story is true but if it is, then praise the Lord for that mayor who had the good hearted sense to demonstrate mercy on that poor lady.
It is said that Christians are the only genuinely happy people on earth. They are happy because they realized their spiritual helplessness, and that God could and did heal their helplessness. So far in the Beatitudes, Christ Jesus has dealt only with humankind’s relationship to God, a vertical relationship if you will. Now we come to the first beatitude, which deals with a person’s relationship to others or a horizontal relationship.
A disciple is a follower of Christ Jesus because they have been called and accepted by God. Having received mercy, they become in turn a channel to convey mercy to others. One who truly understands the freedom of being forgiven will share the same with others.
Matthew 5:7
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
What would the world be without mercy? Just look around you.
1. A World Without Mercy.
In Christ Jesus’ day there was a lack of respect for human life. Christ Jesus taught that there is joy in heaven when a sinner repents; the Jewish leaders taught that there is joy in heaven when God’s enemies were exterminated.
Roman slaves were considered tools of their masters. They could be beaten, killed, or sold. It was said of many Roman masters that they delighted more in the sound of a cruel flogging than the sound of birds singing.
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher said, “Let there be a law that no deformed child shall be reared.” It was a common practice for the unwanted child simply to be thrown in the garbage heap. The professional beggar often retrieved the child from the garbage, maimed them, and used them to awaken sympathy from those who gave alms.
In our day, babies don't even make it out of the womb. We hear all about human rights as long as you agree with the person or persons hollering about human rights. Respect for human life, it seems to be a thing of the past.
During the industrial revolution children where forced to work long hours chained to looms to keep them from running about the mills and factories. So laws were enacted to forbid child labor. When human lives were threatened by automobiles, traffic laws were passed to protect innocent people from drunken and careless drivers.
These days our society and many of the nations around the world seem to have moved from placing a high value on life. Abortions by the thousands, on demand euthanasia, ethnic violence, and the list goes on. What was once valued is quickly loosing it's value.
Every human being has a right to hear the Word of God and to become a Christian. But only a small percentage of Christians ever even attempt to witness to their unsaved friends. Every human being has a right to fair treatment, because each is created in the image of God. But when Christ Jesus can not be found, and when the Holy Spirit no longer guides a people this will not happen. Instead there is a lack of respect for each other which ultimately lead to a lack of respect for human life. Just as in ancient Israel, Greece, ancient Rome, Nazi Germany and other societies; when this happens mercy all but disappears. But praise be to God! His mercy will never be withheld if you will only ask.
Mercy: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. That is how the dictionary defines mercy. A merciful Christian is a person who is others-oriented.
2. The Meaning of Mercy.
Mercy is usually used in the Bible to describe God and His relationship to people.
The earth is full of God’s mercy ~ The earth is full of Your (kheh'-sed) lovingkindness , O LORD; Teach me Your statutes. (Psalms 119:64).
God’s mercy reaches to the heavens ~ Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Psalms 36:5).
God’s mercy endures forever ~ For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations. (Psalms 100:5).
God is rich in mercy ~ But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (Ephesians 2:4-5).
God’s mercy is the ground for a person’s appeal to God in times of trouble ~ But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold And a refuge in the day of my distress. (Psalms 59:16).
You have hope because of God’s mercy ~ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3).
God hears your prayers because of His mercy ~ Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer Nor His lovingkindness from me. (Psalms 66:20).
Salvation in Christ Jesus is available to you because of God’s mercy ~ He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, (Titus 3:5).
To be merciful is to have the same attitude toward others that God has towards you. It means to think of others as God thinks of them, to feel for others as God feels for them, to act toward others as God acts toward them. Above everything else, God demands mercy of you. In God’s sight, mercy is greater than religious activities ~ For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, And in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6).
The prophet Micah said that God requires us to “do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8). Mercy is love in action. It is not a vague, general benevolence but a love that shows compassion in deed as well as word.
The neighbors crowded about their friend whose horse had just been killed in an accident.
One well-meaning friend kept saying, “I’m sorry; I’m sorry!”
“I am sorry fourteen dollars’ worth,” said another friend. “How much are you sorry?”
They passed the hat, and enough money was taken to buy the man another horse. This is love in action. This is mercy.
To be merciful toward our fellow human beings means to have compassion on those who are at our mercy. What you have received in abundance, you should dispense in abundance. God is giving you a never ending supply of mercy so why not share it with others?
3. The Promise for Mercy: “They shall obtain mercy.”
A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.
"But I don't ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy."
"But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied.
"Sir," the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for."
"Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman's son. - Luis Palau, Experiencing God's Forgiveness, Multnomah Press, 1984.
Christ Jesus is speaking here of the mercy that God bestows on His children in the day of judgment. Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:16 – 18: The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus (on-ay-sif'-or-os) for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains; but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me -- the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day -- and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.
This promise does not mean that God will be merciful to you just because you are merciful to other people. No, He looks at your heart and knows when you are merciful for His sake. This beatitude teaches that if you are truly saved, you will be merciful. Our Lord is saying that this merciful person is the kind of person who will receive the mercy of God in the day of judgment.
The supreme example of mercy is not found only in the words of our Lord, but also in His actions. See Christ Jesus hanging on the cross — one who never sinned, one who did no harm to anyone, one who came preaching the truth, one who came to seek and to save that which was lost.
He could have complained about the nails in His feet or the crown of thorns on His head, but He chose to say, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). The circle of God’s love became large enough to include the thief who hung on a nearby cross. That circle reaches now even to you. To refuse to step inside that circle is to know hate, revenge, and bitterness. But to step inside is to know love, mercy, and salvation.
Thanks for dropping in. I just want to let you know I won't be posting next week so I'll catch you in two weeks. Take care and may our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus bless you and yours.
Biblesurfer
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