Beatitudes 5 Blessed Are the Merciful

8/10/2019 Beatitudes 5 Blessed Are the Merciful

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Hebrew and Greek word for mercy

Chesedh - Hebrew

This word occurs morethan 150 times in the OldTestament and nine-

tenths of the time, itrefers to God and Hisaction.

Eleos- Greek

This word occurs more 27times in the NewTestament


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How mercy is generally understood

Mercy is always extended

to someone who has donewrong and is in no positionto demand anything.

Mercy is the remission of a

penalty or the relaxing of ademand which might havebeen enforced.

Mercy is to agree not to

treat a person with thesternness and the rigorousjustice which he deserves.


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God and Mercy

Isaiah 62:12- Mercy belongs to God.

Micah 7:18- God delights in mercy. Psalms 36:5- Gods mercy is so infinite that it reaches

the heavens. Psalms 89:1,2- Gods mercy is so enduring that it lasts

forever.

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The mercy of God

Mercy is the outgoing love of God and is the basis of hisrelationship with man.

It is no capricious thing, changing with the moods but it issomething on which men can absolutely depend on because itis founded on the steadfastness of God.


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God expects us to be merciful Since God is merciful in his

relationship with us, Godwishes this to be thecharacteristic of mensrelationships with one another.

Micah 6:8- This is the wholeduty of mendoing justice andloving mercy and to walkhumbly before God.

Jesus quotes Hosea twice thatGod wants mercy and notsacrifice (Hosea 6:6, Matthew9:13, 12:27).


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Jesus condemnation of the Pharisees

Matthew 23:23 Jesus condemns the

Pharisees for being someticulous in observing

all the details of theceremonial law buthave forgotten thegreat essentials of

justice,mercyandfaith.


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A Christ-less world is a merciless world Against the background of the known world then, Jesus

teaching on mercy becomes extremely significant for peoplethen were cruel and exacting in their punishment.

A Christ-less world even today is a callous world for mercyis never a characteristic of pagan life.

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A world without Christ is a world withoutmercy

Mary Slessors heart-breaking story of Calabar where the

Africans dreaded twins as being of evil omen. They werenever allowed to live, they were first killed, crushed into apot and flung to leopards to devour.

Sir Henry Holland, the famous medical missionary from

Quetta related how people broke out into laughter when hetold his patient that his eyes were beyond treatment.

Nazi atrocities and the Killing Fields of Cambodia (KhmerRouge).


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To be merciful is.

To have the same attitude to men as God has To think of men as God thinks of them

To feel for men as God feels for them

To act towards men as God himself acts


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Mercy is the reverse of self-centeredness

It is something whichthe man whoconcentrates on himselfcan never possess in hisheart and can nevershow in his life.

The one practisingmercy sees the needs

of others as moreclaimant than his ownand the sorrows ofothers more poignant

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It means the ability toget into the shoes ofothers.


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Mercy is more than a sentiment oremotion

Mercy is not simply asentiment nor an emotion- it is love in action.

The Bible does not say,God loved the world andstops there but God soloves the worldthat He

gave His only begottenSon (John 3:16).


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Mercy is to forget about self

Mercy is the willingness toforget self and theconscious effort toidentify ourselves withothers.

This makes tolerance ofothers much easier.

No man has any real rightto condemn another manuntil he has stood in thesame position and facedthe same temptation andcome through the same

battle.


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The promise of the Beatitude

The Beatitude ends

with the promise thatthe merciful shallobtain mercy.

Matthew 7:2- With

what judgment youjudge, so shall you bejudged, and with whatmeasure you meted

out, it shall bemeasured to you again.


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Matthew 6:14,15- If you forgive men their trespasses,your heavenly Father will also forgive you but if you

forgive not, neither will the Father forgive you.


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The unmerciful is unaware of his ownstate

The one who isunmerciful isunaware of his ownstate.

Because he cannotpicture himself asmiserable and

wretched; he feelsno need for Godsmercy.


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The spiritual bankrupt sinner sees hisneed of mercy

The person who realizesthat he is spirituallybankrupt and who mourns

over it and who hungers andthirsts after righteousnesswill be merciful to others.

This is because he realizes

that he is in need of thesame mercy of God too andthat he is no different fromothers.


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Become more like God by practisingmercy

He who has practised mercy in his life will become moreand more like God and he who has made no attempt topractise it will become even more distant from God.

The practice of mercy is that which unites us with God,

the failure of it causes us to be separated from Him.

The ending of this Beatitude is both apromiseand awarningat the same time.

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Beatitudes 5 Blessed Are the Merciful

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