Know Mercy Series

KNOW MERCY

A STUDY OVER THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT: PART I

BIBLE VERSE: Matthew 5:

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

EXAMPLE: STUDENT. I was talking with a student who was very negative about her older brother. The brother had done something, and I can tell you that it was a biggie. And then she said those “magical rotten” words. “I will never forgive him.” My response was not expected: I said “then I hope you don’t do anything wrong.” She said, what do you mean, that’s not possible. And I respond…”it’s true.” If you keep mercy away from other people, then it will be kept from you. And if we fail to understand that, the results will be very, very scary.

“Living without Mercy is the Prelude to Dying without Mercy.”

-Pastor Steward Beveridge

TRANSITION: So that nobody dies here, let’s define Mercy and break it down. Who’s in?

What is Mercy?

By Definition: compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.

--But that doesn’t answer it specifically.

A. Mercy is NOT emotionalism.

Just to Make a Point how misleading Emotions Can Be:

Oliver Cromwell: He was a Christian leader who lead a rebellion over a pretty rotten King named Charles I. When he came to power and accepted the kingdship, throngs of fans and servants were cheering as loud as imaginable. But he looked over at his friend and said, “do not trust the cheering, for those persons would shout as much if you and I were going to be hanged.”

Another Example of Misleading Emotions:

Former Football Player: My 2nd year at Holt HS, I had an outreach in which one of my lineman gave his life to Christ (maybe, you know, he said the prayer but then never really showed up, etc). Later on, I asked him how his faith was doing, and he explained to me that he was going to some type of New Age healer, and getting his negativity wiped off of him. I said…what? And his answers still sticks to me, he said “But it makes me feel good.”

Jesus Christ: He wept when Lazurus was dead. When you care for someone, you get sad. The shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus Wept.” But he did more than weep, he died for us. He died for us. A person might cry when they are showing mercy, but tears itself is no mercy.

B. Mercy is NOT humanitarianism.

Jon Bon Jovi is one of the all time greatest Rock N’ Rollers in USA history. He has songs that are historic (if you know any songs here, rather than actually just saying the list, actually sing some parts of some).

Wanted Dead or Alive: (I’m a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride, I’m wanted, dead or alive…)

Living on a Prayer: (Oh, we’re half way there, oh oh we’re living on a prayer, take my hand and we’ll make it I swear, oh oh we’re living on a prayer). Ranked the #1 song of the 80s.

What you didn’t know is Jon Bon Jovi is a big time humanitarian. What do I mean?

He has volunteered his time for the Special Olympics, Red Cross, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, Project Home, Project Home, and he even volunteers his time building homes alongside Habitat for Humanity.

But, Jon Bon Jovi is not necessarily a Christian. He is a humanitarian, and that does not make him a Christian. And an example of humanitarianism does not necessarily mean that someone is a Christian.

BIBLE VERSE: 1 Corinthians 13:3

If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Mercy goes way beyond giving money, providing food to hungry, providing a hotel room to a homeless person, or anything like that. Giving is different from mercy.

(by the way, Bon Jovi’s first band in HS was called Raze, and it was a Christian band that he wanted to use as an outreach for his classmates, this was during 9th grade, there is no mention of faith since then that I could find)

C. Mercy IS an attitude.

“Mercy, as demonstrated by Christ, involves the way a person truly feels. It is an underlying attitude to life. Mercy is to see others as Christ sees them and feels toward others as he feels toward them.”

BIBLE VERSE: John 4:4-19

4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.6Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.