THE
BEATITUDES
LESSON
FIVE
The
merciful.
Memorize Mt
5:7 with proper punctuation.
You will need it for both the section test as well as for the Final Test.
Matthew 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
Introduction:
The beatitudes are divided, basically, into 3 sections:
1. The first four beatitudes concerned ourselves.
2. The next three concern our relationships to and with other people.
3. The last one is for all.
Sidenote: A guide to happiness:
1. Remember that happiness is a by-product of righteousness.
2. Aim to be like Christ, with the beatitudes as your guidelines, and happiness will
meet you there.
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Example: When you shoot at a duck you don’t shoot at the duck; you shoot ahead of it, aiming at the spot where the duck will be so that the duck and the shot will both get to the same spot at the same time. If you aim directly at the duck, the duck will no longer be at that spot by the time the shot gets there and its not possible for you to hit him. If you want to get the duck, then aim at the spot where the duck will be. Achieving happiness works the same way. You never aim at happiness, it won’t be there by the time your shot gets there. Instead, you aim at where happiness will be. Christ is what you aim at and when you get there happiness will meet you there. Just as surely as good duck hunting will bag you a duck because you aimed not at where it is but at where it will be; so happiness can be “bagged” if you aim not at the happiness but at the spot where happiness will be. Aim to be like Christ. |
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NOTE: There are three things involved in Mt 5:7. (Read the scripture in your KJV.)
A. Definitions.
1. F&W defines mercy
as:
a. The act of treating an offender with less severity than he deserves; also forbearance
to injure
others when one has the power to do so.
b. The act of relieving suffering, or the disposition to relieve it; compassion.
c. A providential blessing.
2. F&W defines compassion as:
Pity for suffering, with desire to help or to spare;
commiseration;
sympathy with pain or sorrow that prompts one to relieve.
3. In the NT there is one word that is translated “mercy or merciful,” 99% of the time: Gk
eleoV.
That Greek word and its derivatives have only one meaning, compassion or
compassionate.
(Human or divine; espec. active).
4. In the case of the particular derivative used in
Mt 5:7, the meaning carried is specifically
that of
active compassion, i.e., “merciful.”
B.
Involved in Mt 5:7 are the following three things:
1. The first is compassion. (Obviously, from the previous section.)
a. God showed mercy to us (active compassion) when He saved us.
Ti 3:5a “Not by works of righteousness which we have done,
but according to his
mercy he saved us...”
b. We should be the same way with others; both friend and foe alike.
1) Remember that one of the definitions of mercy was,
“forbearance to injure others
when one has power to do so."
2) We have the opportunity to do eternal harm to our enemies by not telling them
about Christ!
3) God had the power to do that to us, but He didn’t.
4) In fact He saved us when we were, “...
at enmity...”
(Ro 8:7; Eph 2:15-16; Jas 4:4)
5)
Also read
Mt 5:43-45.
c. Obviously we are talking about active mercy (compassion).
OK, fine- active mercy. Now, however, the question is, how do we show it?
1) Physically: That’s easy, when we see suffering we do all we can to ease it.
Food, shelter, clothing, visiting the widows, the elderly, those in jail, etc.
(Read Mt 25:35-40)
Mt 25:40 “... as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me.”
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2) Spiritually: That’s also easy. Two words- compassion and fear. a) For the lost. Jude 1:22 “And of some have compassion, making a difference:” Jude 1:23 “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” b) For the saved. Gal 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Jas 5:20 “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” d. If you carry this thought through then you will have compassion, active mercy. 1) Treat each person as if it were your own mother, father, or child that was either going to Hell or was in danger of falling under God’s discipline, maybe even to the point where they are turned over to the devil for the destruction of the flesh. I Cor 5:5 “To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 2) If you carry that thought then you will have the kind of love and sympathy that compels you to help! 2. The second thing involved in Mt 5:7 is sensitivity. |
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a. When Jesus saw the grief and destruction that had been brought into the world by
sin as well as the lack of faith of some of the mourners at Lazarus’ death, then the
Bible tells us in Jn 11:35 that, “Jesus wept.” His compassion was quite obvious,
not only here but in other passages as well.
Mt 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Also see Lk 13:34)
Mt 9:36 “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
1) Jesus was sensitive to the needs of humanity.
2) That sensitivity and compassion moved Him to an active mercy.
Rom 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
b. Then how do we become sensitive to the needs of
others?
1) “Get inside the other guy’s skin.”
Over thirty years ago there was a song out that I used to sing. It was called:
“Walk a Mile In My Shoes.” It means the same thing.
a) Jesus did it. (Read Heb 2:9,10,17-18)
b) When we walk a mile in the other guy’s shoes like Jesus did, then we will
become as sensitive to their needs as He was.
c) That is the best way, but it is not always feasible or possible for us to do so.
2) A good alternative is:
a) Spiritually:
Remember how hopelessly lost we were without God, then we will have active
compassion on the lost. And we’ll go out and do something about it! Also we
will have that same compassion for the saved who have fallen, because they
also are trying to go it on their own, without God’s help. They are as hopeless
and helpless to help themselves out of their backslidden condition as we were to
help ourselves out of our lost one without God. Again, we will do something
about it and help them find their way back to God.
b) Physically:
First: Think how we felt the last time we were hungry or thirsty or behind on
the rent.
Second: Multiply that many-fold and think what it would be like to not have a
place to live at all or not just have a slight hunger but have no food at
all and maybe nothing but the clothes on our back!
c) Warning: I’m not talking about the one who will not work; God says,
“... neither should he eat...” (II Thess 3:10) I’m talking about the truly
poor or destitute who can not work.
d) “Get inside the other guy’s skin,” i.e., put yourself in the other guy’s place
and you will develop a sensitivity for his needs. Then that new sensitivity
will move you to an active compassion.
3. The third thing involved in Mt 5:7 is sowing and reaping.
Job 4:8 “Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness,
reap the same.”
Gal 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap.”
a. If you want wheat, sow wheat.
b. If you want corn, sow corn.
c. If you want food, sow food.
d. If you want clothes, sow clothes.
e. If you want money, sow money.
f. If you want God to help you, then you help others.
g. If you want mercy, then sow mercy.
h. There have been two preachers that have hurt me immensely in the ministry.
1) One of them so bad that it almost put me out of the ministry. I thought I had lost
my faith in God; but God let me know that I had not lost my faith in Him, I had
simply lost my faith in a man and the devil was just confusing the issue. That
settled the problem with this second one who hurt me.
2) The first one, however, took much longer. To keep from hating him, I prayed
for him for at least one year and possibly two. I still pray for him when I think
about him. One day not too long ago the subject came up and I couldn’t even think
of his name. I asked my wife what it was and I have prayed for him several times
during the last few days. You just can’t hate someone when you are praying for
God’s will to be done in their lives as you want it done in yours.
3) The point is, I want God’s mercy when I mess up; therefore, I have to show
mercy when others mess up.
4) And you will need His mercy also when you mess up.
5) I take God at His word that I will reap what I sow and so should you!
6) We all mess up from time to time just as sure as mommy and daddy rabbits have
little baby rabbits. Also just as surely, we will receive mercy from God only if
we have shown mercy to those who didn’t deserve it any more than we did.
C. Summary.
1. The three things involved in Mt 5:7 are compassion, sensitivity, and the law of
reaping and sowing.
2. The way to develop these traits is to strive to be like our example, Christ.
3. To help us develop the habit of showing them actively to our fellow man we should “walk a mile
in his shoes,” or, if that’s not possible, then remember our own down-and-out times.
4. If we have allowed the earlier beatitudes to prepare and fertilize our character through learning, meditation and prayer, then it will be easier for us to let Christ build this character trait in us also. Which is what He wants to do in us and for us so that the world can see Him in us by the true Christian Character that we show to them in our speech and actions. And these outward manifestations of our character are the only things they can possibly judge by because it is impossible for them to perceive the true character of our hearts.
Mt 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
Make sure you have memorized Mt 5:7 with proper punctuation.
You will be
required to quote it from memory for the Scripture
Memorization practice Test and for the Lesson One Test.
You will not include the quotation marks nor the scripture
reference, Matthew 5:7, in your answer.
You will also be asked if you meditated on the precept taught in this Beatitude.
| 1. You are required to click HERE to go to the practice index page to practice your scripture memorization before proceeding to the Lesson test. On the practice index page, scroll down to the practice test for this Lesson and click on it. No practice test scores are added to your file. If you do not pass the practice quiz, then to take it again just close the test and you will return to the practice index page and you can choose the test to take it again. When you are finished with your practice, close the practice page to return to this page. |
| 2. You can not proceed to the Lesson Test without first having a 100% score on the Scripture Memorization test. Take it as many times for practice as is necessary to achieve the required score of 100%. Each practice test will automatically come to the college. If you wish to take the practice test more times to make sure you have the scripture memorized, please feel free to do so. The first practice test with a score of 100% will be placed in your test file only for verification purposes and it is a prerequisite before you can take the Lesson Test and have the Lesson score credited to your file. |
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3. Did you
meditate on this beatitude as you were instructed to do? |
LESSON FIVE TEST
Lesson test is
"open book" except for the verse memorization question
which must be answered from memory alone as a closed book question.
You cannot proceed to the next Lesson until the day after you have
passed this Lesson Test and found all of the correct answers
in the textbook to all questions missed on this test
even though you received a passing score.
