The 1st three beatitudes speak of man’s spiritual need, and how the realization of those spiritual needs drives a man to God.
The 4th beatitude speaks of man crying out to God b/c of his spiritual need, and that God fills that man, first with Himself, and then with all that is included in the Christian life.
Beatitudes 5-9 speak of characteristics of what that regenerated man or woman looks like.
This sermon speaks of the characteristics of the King of God.
Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven…
I. Blessed Are The Merciful V. 7
A. What Is Mercy, And Who Needs It?
1. Mercy is not getting the punishment that one deserves.
2. Romans 3:23 All have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God…
3. Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death.
4. Everyone needs God’s mercy, because everyone is guilty of sin
B. God Is Merciful In A Temporal Sense
1. Romans 9:22, 23 22What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
2. Turn to Matthew 5:43-45
3. God is merciful in that He does not immediately judge people when they sin.
The Lord’s delay in returning allows more people to come to Him in faith.
4. 2 Peter 3:9 9The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
5. That God is merciful doesn’t mean He will never bring judgment, temporal or eternal
6. God being merciful means that He is slow to anger, slow to judge. (See Psalm 103:8)
C. God Offers Mercy Regarding Eternity- Titus 3:1-7
D. The Blessedness Of Being Merciful
1. Being merciful requires being able to see fault in someone, but not rushing to judgment. (How many times did God withhold judgment on us?)
2. Chuck Smith- The Greek word for “mercy” has its root in the Hebrew word meaning “to get inside someone else’s skin.” This means that you can totally identify with what he’s seeing, thinking, and feeling
3. The Christian, more than anyone else, show extend mercy, having received God’s mercy.
4. Being merciful brings true happiness (blessedness)
5. Being merciful to others doesn’t overlook another person’s faults, but chooses not to condemn them for those faults.
6. Being merciful means that we will more often and more likely be recipients of mercy from people.
II. Blessed Are The Pure In Heart V. 8
A. What Is Purity?
1. Purity- to be clean
2. in a similitude, like a vine cleansed by pruning and so fitted to bear fruit
3. free from corrupt desire
4. from sin and guilt, free from every admixture of what is false, sincere, genuine
5. blameless, innocent, unstained with the guilt of anything
B. How Can One Be Pure Before God?
1. If all have sinned (Rom. 3:23), how can one be made pure?
2. Some try to purify themselves from the outside, hoping that purity will work it’s way in
3. Religion, self-help techniques, some psychology, physical cleansing of body from toxins, behavior modification, etc., try to change the person, and seek to change the internal man.
4. We become clean before God by asking His forgiveness, receiving cleansing by putting our faith in Jesus; payment for our sins.
5. Turn to 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
6. The purity comes from God, not man.
7. God begins to change the desires and motives of the born-again man or woman.
C. Walking In That Purity
1. Jesus’ death paid for our sins
2. We accept that payment as God’s provision for our forgiveness & cleansing
3. We are to then walk in that cleansing.
4. Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling, with which you were called…
5. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
6. Great care is needed to maintain that purity of heart that Jesus bestows upon us.
7. The Christian has a renewed heart in an unrenewed body.
8. Galatians 5:16, 17 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
9. We need to be careful with one another to promote purity.
10. Thank God that what He commands us to do, He enables us to do.
11. After being purified by faith in Jesus, we can grow in purity of heart.
D. The Blessings Of Purity
1. The pure in heart “see God”.
2. True happiness comes from being pure in heart.
3. In this life- a deeper and clearer revelation of Jesus.
a. To put aside impurities, gives us more time, more focus to seek & discover God.
b. In the next life- literally we shall see Him face to face.
4. Purity brings a clearer revelation of Jesus
John 14:21 He who has My commandments & keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, & I will love him & manifest Myself to him.”
5. Purity of heart prepares us to minister to the multitudes.
6. Impurity hinders our ability to minister to the multitudes.