Abundant Grace Fellowship
Blessed Are The Merciful
Blessed Are The Merciful
By Pastor J.D. Link
Abundant
I remember playing a game called “mercy” as a child, in which you would interlock fingers with your friend and then attempt to bend back their fingers until the other cried “Mercy!”. Ah, the things we do for entertainment as kids. Anyway, when you hollered mercy, your friend was supposed to stop bending your fingers back. Why? Because to be merciful means to pity; have compassion on; to extend grace to; to be tender towards; not cruel. So your hope was that when you screamed mercy, your friend would show you mercy.
The Bible says in Mt. 5:7 “Blessed (Greek- happy, fortunate, well off) are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”. Psalm 18:25 and James 2:13 go along the same lines. Many of us know “The Golden Rule”, (Lk 6:31) which is do unto others as you would have them do unto you (not the silver rule, which is do unto others as they have done unto you; or the bronze rule, which is do to others before they do to you). Yet, we find another golden rule in Scripture, which is do unto others as you would have God to unto you (Mt 6:14-15, 18:33-35, Mk 11:25, Lk 6:35, Eph 4:32). Too many times we as people do not show the same mercy to others that we would like to receive from others; or from God, especially. This is not to say we shouldn’t judge righteous judgment (judgment according to God’s standard, His Word), but we should have compassion, and show love in doing it. If we want mercy, we should show ourselves merciful.
Christians should be the most compassionate people on earth (Mt. 18:21-35); but often times they can be the most cruel, judgmental, unmerciful people around. It’s a shame that the church is usually the last place a person would want to go for comfort. You don’t have to compromise the Word of Truth to be compassionate. Jesus always spoke the absolute Truth; yet he was the most merciful and kind person that ever lived. Mercy is an attribute of God: The Bible says God is merciful (Deut 4:31); God has plenty of it (Ps. 103:8); God is rich in it (Eph 2:4); and that mercy is what you will find when you go to His throne (Heb 4:16).
Our Father is merciful, so we want to be merciful as well. Jesus is our example. In the Coast Guard we had a saying: Lead by example, and set the standard. That’s what Jesus did for us; He led by example, and He set the standard we are to follow. Lk. 6:36 tells us to be merciful, as our Father is merciful. Lk. 10:37 says that the Hebrew victim’s neighbor was the one that showed mercy on him (who was the good Samaritan). Then Jesus commanded us to go and do likewise. So we are to go and be merciful.
Showing mercy is no small thing in Jesus’ eyes. He said it is even more important than sacrifice (Mt 9:13), and that it is a “weighty” (important) matter (Mt 23:23). If this is important to Jesus, it should be to us, as well. We should therefore pursue it (Pro 21:21) in our own lives and find life, righteousness, and honor. The Word of God also says a merciful man does good to His own soul (Pro 11:17). It feels good to be merciful, knowing that you’re sowing good seed (see paragraph two).
Titus 3:5 says “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us……”. I don’t know about you, but I praise God for His mercy!! I don’t know about you, but I need His mercy!! Thank God for His mercy! In Luke chapter 18, the sinner that cried out to God for mercy is the one who went to his house justified (just-as-if-I’d never sinned)! Thank you Jesus for your mercy! Boy this stuff gets me excited! Hebrews 8:12 says “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more”. Thank God today for His mercy. Until next time, rejoice in the Lord (Phi 4:4)!