Matthew 5.7 [Blessed are the Merciful...]

R&R Devotional Bible Study
Matthew 5.7
'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.'

In order to be merciful:
First – Yahweh must be at work in us

Second – In light of Yahweh working in us, we must:

-Understand and accept our condition [be broken of self]

-This leads to lamenting and mourning over transgression against the holiness of Yahweh

-This leads to walking in newness of life/repentance [which includes looking outside ourselves and and understanding that the whole of mankind is in the same boat; the fact that the whole of mankind is fallen]

-This then leads to the hungering and thirsting for righteousness, which is outside of ourselves, and solely found in Yahweh alone and nowhere else

-It is only then, and only then where we can be truly merciful

What is Mercy?

First of all, this mercy of Yahweh is not necessarily physical on our end

On Yahweh's end, it does show up in the physical in that the whole of creation is upheld by the word of the power of The Lord Christ Jesus
[Hebrews 1.3]

This is known as the 'common grace' of Yahweh
-Everything is upheld by the word of the power of Christ
-It rains on the just and the unjust alike

Isaiah 45.5-7 tells us:
'5-I am Yahweh, and there is no other; beside Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
6-That they may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one beside Me.
I am Yahweh, and there is no other,
7-The One forming light and creating darkness, producing peace and creating calamity; I am Yahweh who does all these.'

Mercy:
The unmerited compassion/ forgiveness toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish them or harm; a willingness to extend kindness toward another
[kindness is not natural to natural man, it has to be worked in us, and is actually a manifesting work of The Holy Spirit within a person]

Kindness and Forgiveness

The Problem:

We are all sinners, we are all fallen.

Whilst we do sin against one another, and there are factions and divisions, which show a much graver problem...the problem that each and ever one of us is guilty in the sight of Yahweh.

Thus, whilst we might sin against one another, ultimately we sin against Yahweh and Yahweh alone.
Two dynamics of mercy:

Mercy to the outside world:
The proclamation of the Gospel to make disciples...

Mercy amongst the brethren:

James 2.14-17
'14-What use is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?
15-If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food,
16-and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,' and yet do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
17-Even so faith, if it has no works is dead by itself.'

John 13.34-35 tells us:
'34-A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35-By this all will know you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.'

...For they shall obtain/receive mercy

Why shall they receive mercy?

First of all, Yahweh is at work in them. Seeing as Yahweh is at work in them, they will be merciful.

Those whom Yahweh is at work in are already being shown mercy, and seeing as mercy is worked in them, if flows out of them in how they, in turn, show mercy to others.

Only those who are spiritually well off [or fortunate] are the ones who will be shown the forgiving mercy of Yahweh through Christ.

While the whole of the world has the common grace of God [as previously discussed] here on earth, only those who are truly of Yahweh actually have the special grace and mercy from Yahweh through The Lord Christ Jesus.

From the Reformation Study Bible:
'God's mercy is not a reward earned by showing mercy. Rather, those who recognize the magnitude of the mercy He has shown them will treat others as The Father has treated them.'

Those who do not show mercy, really show that they may not actually be indwelt with The Holy Spirit, which means that they may not be of Yahweh at all

As C.H. Spurgeon said: 'If you do not desire to see people saved, you yourself are not saved. Of this you can be sure.'

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