Matthew chapter 5 and as we continue on
in the Sermon of the Mount this evening
and of course while you're turning to it
but Jesus said or it tells us there
in Matthew 5 that and seeing the multitude
again this is Jesus there seeing the multitudes
he went up onto a mountain and when
he was set his disciples came unto him
and he opened his mouth and he taught
them saying and then he gave us of
course the sermon blessed are the poor in
spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn for they shall
be comforted.
Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit
the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain
mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they
shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be
called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness
sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you and men shall revile you
and persecute you and say all men are
of evil against you falsely for my sake
rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is
your reward in heaven for so persecuted they
the prophets which were before you.
Father we thank you for your word tonight
we thank you Lord for your desire to
take it and to write it literally on
the tablets of our heart.
Lord we ask that we wouldn't just know
it we wouldn't just even understand it but
Lord that it would be a powerful way
that you would draw us closer to you
give us a greater and deeper relationship with
you and father that through these things as
we discover what they mean to us may
they strengthen our life and our walk our
union our communion with you father we ask
it in Jesus name amen.
Well of course so far we've been looking
at these Beatitudes as they're called one by
one so we've just been going to verse
at a time but I promise you we
will speed it up once we get through
these but the Beatitudes are fundamental to all
human behavior Jesus is going to go on
in the Sermon on the Mount he's going
to speak of so many things basically all
other relationships in life I suppose there's hardly
a topic of all of life in human
behavior human relationship and human thought in in
life that isn't addressed somewhere in the Sermon
on the Mount it's most unbelievable message and
it's actually it's only about a 17-minute
sermon and takes the whole Bible to understand
it but it's something there what a stand
-alone powerful message it is the greatest I
suppose in all of history safe to say
that I believe but it's something there that
that the whole foundation of it though is
built upon the Beatitudes the capacity to be
able to enter in and strengthen all those
relationships all those thought all this behavior all
of the external things that he's going to
discuss with us in the Sermon on the
Mount are basically founded or predicated upon a
comprehension in our entering into a personal experience
of these Beatitudes and and the so they're
so important for that reason they're also important
for the very reason that it just says
each stage one of the Beatitudes oh how
happy there the Lord is looking to say
this is the key to the happiness that
every human soul is looking for what drives
a person every day what it is so
often when somebody is going about all of
the pursuits of life that so many times
or if I do this or I get
this or I buy this or I do
you know find this or I go there
or I'm with so and so then maybe
I'll be happy but happiness as far as
God's concerned it isn't it's much deeper than
anything superficial it's an abiding joy it's a
rich joy it's a true joy and it's
a joy I suppose as we said before
the world knows little of it or probably
nothing of it you worldly joys their human
joys their creature joys their soup their superficial
joys their circumstantial joys their joys that can
be taken away and but the joy there
that Jesus here is talking about it it
requires nothing external this this is an internal
joy this is an internal joy that is
built through a deep profound relationship with God
and these are the building blocks of understanding
for that relationship and so this is the
great joy that the Lord has revealed to
us and here as he tells us the
first three as you recall blessed are the
poor in spirit blessed are they who mourn
and blessed are the meek and here we
have essentially there's somebody is so wonderful when
you look at this because the Beatitudes are
such a wonderful thing because of the fact
it's it's it's it's where the absolute truth
about man and the truth about God meet
where man and God are absolutely open and
honest and true with each other and man
there well he's got to do to really
be happy is come to the place to
do one of the hardest tasks I suppose
there is in all of life and that
is to be honest with himself and honest
with God about himself and if a man
will do that he'll have to he'll always
end up poor in spirit he'll always end
up somebody there that something's gone wrong sin
has gotten into my heart in my life
and it is devastated me it is it
is dealt a fatal blow to me it's
absolutely destroyed me so much so is there's
no hope left utterly spiritually bankrupt poverty-stricken
Jesus said that man's gonna be a happy
man if he can be honest with step
one with the fundamental truth it's not a
hard thing to do and to to get
there only based upon the difficulty of being
honest with yourself coming to that place that
we fight all of our life saying I'm
better than this I'm really good I've got
a potential I've got all sorts of things
in my life yet undiscovered and give me
another shot and I'll make it but finally
when somebody finally tires and says no I'm
a sinner and I failed and to the
degree that they even mourn about it that
something happens within them where they grieve over
it God what happened what is it that
has occurred and there's a deep sorrow is
the sorrow of a death that's what the
word means there to mourn to mourn at
the death but the death that we're mourning
is our own and that will produce some
meekness not somebody coming before God shaking his
fits God you owe me I got this
coming you know you look at the world
and all the cheap little shots it makes
it God that is if they're never going
to be answered you know where the world
wants to turn to how could a God
of love how could if God's really how
come all of these things look at the
wars and look at the trials and look
at these things where in the world is
a godly had the arrogance to shake their
fist and the man of God and put
him down and to take shots at him
there's a man that he knows nothing about
himself but when a man sits there and
he's honest about himself instead of being before
God and shaking his fist you'll find himself
there a meek before God humble before God
worthy of nothing like the publican in the
synagogue who came in and he couldn't even
so much as look up on to heaven
but he smote himself on his breast and
says God be merciful unto me a sinner
Jesus that I tell you that man had
his prayer heard and here Jesus says that
your person is going to be happy when
they're poor in spirit there's a they mourn
over and it produces a meekness and those
things absolutely drain a human being they take
us down to nothing but then that's what
opens up this tremendous hunger this tremendous thirst
and it's a thirst to be right it's
a thirst for the first time in my
life not just some other pursuit that I've
run after before and before and before but
now God I am hungry and thirsty to
be right with God to be right with
my created identity right with the Spirit of
God right with all that you want to
be all right with the Lordship of Christ
that's what I'm hungry and thirsty for and
Jesus said that man is going to be
filled and he's going to know a joy
that few can only dream of he's gonna
enter into a joy that's not only you
know and one that's now and in real
it's eternal it's one that's a going on
to coming into a greater fullness one day
and in a full satisfaction one day when
as David says I'll be satisfied when I
awaken my likeness that person's realized that one
day God is going to awaken him in
heaven and he's going to be in the
very likeness the very image of God he's
going to be conformed back into that man
that he once was and fey and fell
out of in sin but God through his
love and his mercy is going to give
it all back to him and now here
Jesus goes on and he says now what
when the first attribute that he mentions about
a person who has been filled there as
he says the blessed are they who hunger
and thirst after righteousness for they shall be
filled and then he turns and he says
now blessed are the merciful for they shall
obtain mercy and here's one of these amazing
things is a you know in a sense
that when you look at it you know
of another wonderful key to happiness truly happy
person you know when you stop to think
for a moment how infinitely merciful God has
been to us you may wonder why has
God been merciful to us and that's a
good question I suppose we got the rest
of eternity to try to figure that one
out and but it's one there that all
we know is that somehow another God has
loved us he's given himself for us and
he has given us his grace unmerited favor
is what the word grace of course means
God has just chosen to favor us we
didn't merit it we had no right to
it but God has favored us with forgiveness
of sins he is for he is favored
us with the promise to come and to
fill our hearts and our lives he is
favored us that to ever live to make
intercession for us he is favored us by
presenting us faultless before God day and night
constantly without wavering and he has favored us
to care for our every need knowing our
thoughts and our needs even before we do
but caring for us and there is his
amazing favor one day to come back for
us his favor to take us to heaven
conform us to his image and share his
home with us forever and ever but somebody
may ask well why would God favor me
this way being a sinner being somebody there
that walked out on God that rebelled against
God there that sinned against God there that
you may think you've never murdered you know
a lot of people go around saying I've
never murdered anybody I'm not a bad person
well you killed yourself that's one you know
and the and as far as God's concerned
I mean the wage of sin is death
and we sin and we murdered God's child
conformed created in his image we murdered ourselves
may say I never committed adultery well in
the Old Testament the Lord spoke to Hosea
and he says go take thee wife of
harlotry and children of harlotry for the land
hath committed great harlotry departing from the Lord
God looked at the children of Israel whose
hearts were created to love him we were
created to love the Lord our God with
all of our heart mind soul and strength
and then we went off and we loved
others we love the world we love ourselves
we love praise pleasures anything else but him
and God looks at that as spiritual adultery
our affections are given to another in there
we may say I've never you know stolen
anything we stole our own life from heaven
we murdered our own life we adulterized our
own heart we are all guilty of the
grossest of sins that we would ever look
at any human being that's maybe done it
down here on the you know the this
side of heaven running around on the planet
we see other people that have done those
things to other people but how much more
should the child of God not look there
and be honest say wait a minute everything
even though one person may have done it
to another person I've done it against God
I'm guilty of all of these things and
there when they realize that God came to
them and he and he forgave me and
then he extended his grace to me he
offered himself to me you may send me
and then we have to ask why why
did he do it which I suppose brings
up the one of the deepest if not
the deepest attribute is perhaps of God and
that is because God himself is merciful is
merciful Psalm 37 26 says he is ever
merciful and his seed is blessed Psalm 78
38 says but he being full of compassion
or maybe in your version it says merciful
means the same thing he forgave their iniquity
destroyed them not yea many a time turned
he his anger away and did not stir
up his wrath here it tells us that
God would stop there you mean with to
forgive iniquity I'm so grateful that God doesn't
just forgive sins sins I'm sure you know
it's just to miss the mark it's a
it's sins is a word for a good
guy that tried hard and still missed the
mark he was trying to do well he
just the poor fellow just because he's spiritually
dead he can't do anything but just do
dead stuff anyway and so he misses he
can't hit it and so we're all sinners
and we all miss the mark even if
we try but then there's something worse than
sin that's trespass which did it trespasses are
just like you would think the word you
know you're walking down the road you want
to go someplace you see a shortcut there's
a sign there's no trespassing but you look
said but it's a shortcut and I'm gonna
make it quicker I'm gonna go that way
and so we trespass there's not somebody who
is trying to do good and missed it
now there's somebody who just deliberately came across
an option and an opportunity to do some
a different way that would expedite his journey
and so he trespassed it was a conscious
deliberate thing to actually go wrong but then
there's even worse than trespass and that's iniquity
that's a pre-planned that's a thoroughly motivated
you know outline it's not just somebody's walking
down the road and sees a shortcut and
has the pressure saying I gotta do it
I maybe it's not right but I'm doing
it anyway but iniquity is somebody that just
gets up and says hey I want to
do it I'd maybe don't even have to
but I want to sin I want to
sin big time I wanted I got plans
and I wanted to do all sorts of
corrupt things and they plan on it they
work at it they train for it and
they and they fulfill it that's iniquity and
here the Bible says there God in his
unbelievable mercy he there you know he he's
full of mercy of compassion he forgives iniquity
destroys them not many a time he he
turns his own anger away and and does
not stir up his wrath but what does
that is mercy what does that is God
has this mercy within him Psalm 86 15
says but thou Lord art a God full
of mercy full of compassion and gracious long
-suffering and plenteous in mercy and truth here
the psalmist again he tells us God has
this this kindness this long-suffering that graciousness
but it is rooted in this thing called
mercy Psalm 103 8 says the Lord is
merciful and gracious slow to anger plenteous in
mercy here he starts with mercy and he
ends with mercy Psalm 116 5 gracious of
the Lord and righteous yea our God is
merciful you see the word though that so
we see here that one of the deepest
attributes about God is he is merciful he
has a sense of mercy about him and
the word there again is sometimes translated compassion
same word oftentimes and sometimes it's used in
the New Testament of bowels of mercy which
also describes it because mercy is is it's
a very emotional word it's not just a
mental behavior it is a mental behavior that
is rooted in emotional feeling of bowels of
mercy bowels of compassion in the sense there
what it's what it suggests there and I'm
sure we've all had times where sometimes if
you've seen something you've seen some tragic thing
you've seen something so painful or so hurtful
or you hear a story that it literally
hurts you right in the gut right in
the stomach right in the pit of your
stomach you just ache something there happens within
you you hear this great tragedy and in
and in the bowels of mercies and something
pushes there with it the mental attitude has
happened but some but you're gripped by mercy
and it's a word of pity it is
a word there of deep embedded sorrow you
so deeply hurt inside and and this is
in a sense what God when he looked
at man and did we sin yes did
we trespass yes did we blame shake our
fist at him tell him what we thought
of him go right out and do everything
we possibly could against him yes did we
steal our lives yes did we run our
own lives and were we our own master
and our own king and chart our own
course and the captain of our own vessel
yes and we loved it and we wanted
it and yet in the midst of all
of this somehow another God looks at us
and he hurts he hurts justice calls for
death but yet the inside inside God's heart
as he looks at us said something calls
for mercy something calls for compassion it's a
very deep in a wonderful thing perhaps you
we've all seen I'm sure stories and follow
them of some terrible rapist or murderer who
has done it and done it so wicked
so evil so perverted so sick so totally
wicked that virtually the entire planet rises up
and says you're out of here we reject
you the you are the reason capital punishment
exists you we we no longer accept you
on this planet you're going to die and
the whole planet says if ever there's one
that ought to go it's him you're off
the planet and yet still somehow another so
often when all of that is true so
often there is still some mother somewhere somebody
that sits alone and with and it hurts
and hurts and hurts and she weeps and
weeps and she weeps and something there in
her bowels there in the depths of her
soul she cries out because it's her son
yes he did it yes he is guilty
yes he is wicked yes he is terrible
but he is my son that's mercy that's
that's something there that cries out and this
is what God has had for you and
what he's had for me it isn't based
on reason it isn't based upon justice it
isn't based on truth or nim and invalid
information it's based on something much deeper than
that it's something there that God looks at
you and I and there the wonderful thing
that's happened is that this is what the
cross is all about this is the place
essentially where God in his justice and in
his mercy can meet with a human being
and perfectly there and not violate either one
when a human being now comes to the
cross and says it is true it is
true I am wicked I am fallen I
have sinned I have committed trespasses I have
an iniquitous heart forgive me may I have
mercy and God looks and he says you
know it just seems to be a part
of me and the wonderful thing is is
that this is something there to where now
Jesus as he turns in the Sermon on
the Mount he now looks at the person
there who's been poor in spirit himself that's
met him at the cross he's mourned over
his own sin there is a meekness that's
happened within his own heart he's cried out
to be filled and God has filled him
with one of the most wonderful of all
attributes of all heaven and earth mercy in
the process there of God now meeting him
there if he is truly met there if
he's understood what his trend the transaction that
happened there what God what got God up
off of his throne sent his son down
to die take all the sins of all
the world of all time upon himself and
he who knew no sin became sin for
us how could it could God ever do
a thing like that mercy he hurt he
hurt like no one can dream of hurting
and there he came and he loved us
and when somebody meets him there meets him
at the cross to where those two and
natures meet the fallen sad terrible wicked truth
about man clashes and meets with with a
glorious wonderful truth about God and then he
cries out fill me God then loves to
turn to him says fill you I will
I'll fill you with me and you can
walk away with the greatest of attributes the
most wonderful things for here Jesus turns to
man he says I'm gonna give you a
happiness I'll give you a joy the world
I know anything about happiness there of having
the life of God resident within you and
not only the life of God but the
deepest things of the nature of God beginning
to take over yours and here it is
something to where sadly though many people they
don't understand this and that's they're not happy
we walk away from the cross having had
our sins may be dealt with but we
have yet to meet the heart and the
nature and the character of God that gives
great joy and where his nature is being
poured upon us and and we walk away
forgiven but we don't walk away with the
intent of forgiving we walk away having received
mercy but not necessarily being filled with it
but here Jesus he says I want to
give it to you and oh how happy
are the merciful the person there that discovers
there that that God can literally put his
nature and let me make it clear mercy
is not something you do grace is what
you do grace is as great as we
sing of God's grace and say you know
and it's greater than all of our sin
but as wonderful as grace is it is
it good mercy is deeper you see mercy
motivated grace mercy was something there because God
so hurt he's looking around and what are
we gonna do not as if he didn't
know but I mean look there in grace
he says I'll do we're gonna we're gonna
favor them we're gonna favor them and without
merit on their own we're gonna bless them
we're gonna restore we're gonna bring them home
we're gonna fill their lives and we're gonna
just give them ourselves again and again and
again time and eternally but why does he
do that because he hurts without us because
he has this amazing compassion he has this
deep profound love and so grace is something
you can do or you can at least
try to act graceful mercy is what you
are a merciful person is somebody there that
that you can't do it it's what happens
deep within the soul there when when now
God has done such a work within them
that they begin to see others in the
very state in which God found them and
the very pain that was in God's heart
you know towards us now we have it
towards others now his nature is literally being
bequeathed to us in a and it's a
wonderful thing it's a wonderful thing but it
only happens in Luke 7 you know the
story I'm sure Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus
over to his house trying to find some
occasion to accuse him bring him down you
know catch him in a trap and something
and there is he is invites Jesus over
this woman adulterous or a wicked woman comes
in and there this woman comes in and
she begins to weep and she or tears
you know she washes Jesus feet and then
with her hair she's caring for him ministering
to him and and Simon is thinking to
himself it says there that if this man
were a prophet he would know what manner
of woman this is I love this verse
in there because then it says and Jesus
answered him Simon was just thinking to himself
that's a scary thing you're just sitting there
carrying on if this guy knew you while
you're going hi how are you nice nice
to have you over I thought we'd just
have a little chat while he's sitting there
inside with this guy I don't have to
get him he's got himself if he knew
what kind of woman this was that was
there taking care of him right now he'd
have nothing to do with her if she
was if he was a prophet he'd know
therefore he's not a prophet Jesus answered him
he says I'm gonna have someone to ask
you and he says say on master and
he says there's a fella you know King
who he had a couple you had a
guy that you know a couple people when
I moaned him a lot one owned him
a little neither one had a way but
so he forgave him both he says which
one do you suppose loved in the most
he says well I suppose the one that
he's forgiven most Jesus said bingo it's in
the Greek but he says bingo you know
he says you got it the and he
said yes you struck gold you do you
can think but then he looks at him
and he and he said you know I
came in here you've done nothing for me
you didn't offer me a water you didn't
refresh me you didn't you know do a
thing and whatsoever this woman came in here
and her sins are many I'm quite aware
who she is I know all sorts of
things about her but he that is forgiven
much loves much and here as he looks
there I mean the person so often that
has the greater realization of the cross and
by the way every one of us have
are given the exact same amount I'm convinced
it's just that more people most of the
many people or some or a few or
so I don't know numbers but anyway the
the thing is is that some people are
aware I mean they all if we're all
sinners and we're all dead how dead is
dead I mean we're all dead now some
people are nicely dressed dead you know or
something some people had a beautiful funeral dead
but they're dead now some people did a
real job of it I mean they just
smashed themselves up a wall and there's a
bloody dead but they're dead some people just
died a pretty death but dead is dead
we're all dead it's just that some people
are aware in a greater sense of what
it was that the mercy and the grace
and the love and the power of the
cross in their life and it had such
a profound effect that they begin to love
others greatly and again this you know grace
is something there that it comes because of
the heart and it is sky and it
and it knows this but mercy engages the
heart mercy is something that motivates behavior this
is a grace is an activity it can
superficial we can be very nice to each
other without having any mercy we can carry
on and many people if people are graceful
to them they're graceful to them if you
be graceful to me I'll be graceful to
you if you're not so nice to me
well might have might find another side of
me you didn't want to meet and be
because that's where mercy comes in you know
but it's conditional and sometimes in the sense
of people's grace you know it's like Romeo
and Juliet they can look beautiful and be
playing the grass it's a wonderful play or
not I've never seen it I just know
Romeo Romeo wherefore art thou you know and
he's that's all I know I don't know
where he was I don't know what he
said back but I just use great love
story or something we're in reality they may
hate each other the people that are playing
the parts they may have a big contract
dispute with their boss and you know and
they don't want to play this thing and
I want another Juliet in here I'm not
being Romeo no more or whatever and you
can do the same in life you can
act very graceful you can go play a
part you can say the words you can
get through the night's play so to speak
but in reality not care a straw about
the person mercy on the other hand is
something that goes deep and when mercy is
happening there the heart and the life is
engaged something has transformed it and that's the
thing that that that God wants within us
is to take our sinful heart and forgive
it to take our trespass heart and forgive
it to take our iniquitous heart and to
wash it and cleanse it and when he
takes that out he puts in a merciful
heart that's why David once said he says
if I regard iniquity in my heart the
Lord will not hear me if I if
I haven't been to the cross or to
speak if I still have this gunk in
this trash and I don't understand the power
of the cross in my own life it'll
shut down my spiritual life and he says
I can't live that way but you see
the person is poor in spirit he mourns
over it and he's meek and he hungers
and thirst that'll result in a merciful heart
again so often in our marriages or our
homes you know again if you're nice I'm
nice you're good I'm good you know we
just kind of go back and forth and
until somebody slips up till somebody forgets to
be nice oh no I was supposed to
be nice I forgot you know or whatever
else in the or else there else that's
just sin or else then we after we
forget and then they tell us we forgot
then we decide well I'm gonna trespass and
I'm gonna tell you not only did I
forget I want to forget because you forgot
last week you know or whatever else and
then the next thing you know we go
to bed determined to wake up not just
a sinner and not just trespass I'm gonna
commit iniquity I'm gonna tell her tomorrow what
I really think of her you know or
whatever and back and forth we go because
mercy has yet to have its power within
our life but mercy produces this wonderful thing
of forgiveness and until we know it until
we come there and realize God give me
a merciful heart we'll never be happy we'll
never be happy we it'd be because the
true joy that God wants to give to
us of sharing his life with us is
being denied until I look there and say
God give to me take me to the
cross just show me myself show me who
I am and then give me this merciful
heart is if you don't you go right
back and we'll be the same and be
like the story the fella you know maybe
heard it you know he's walking down the
beach you know the old proverbial bottle comes
up and he picks up the bottle he
pulls the cork on a genie comes out
and the genie says I've been in there
hundreds of years thanks for getting me out
of there and you get three wishes anything
you want three wishes however there's just one
little catch whatever you get whatever you want
your mother-in-law gets twice as much
this guy hated his mother-in-law and
he's thinking oh no I don't but he's
saying well I still get three wishes and
so he's the first he thinks well he
says all right I want a billion dollars
in gold and all of a sudden poof
you know and smoke there and the smoke
clears and there's a billion dollars in gold
right there and then he looks over and
there's two billion for his mother-in-law
he's he's a little bummed by that but
he still think I got my billion he
got my billion then he goes on and
he thinks well this is I better think
this material next thing you know he says
okay my second wish I want I want
a hundred thousand acre estate hundred thousand acres
and I want jets I want a landing
strip I want golf courses and tennis and
recreation and horses and you know all in
every game and toy you can ever think
of built into this thing and I want
a hundred thousand square foot house with every
invention there's ever been the greatest of things
all the entertainment all the place I want
pools and now everything all of it and
don't miss anything and then I want 500
employees to take care of the place forever
as long as I'm alive if they're all
taken care of and I'm just gonna enjoy
my hundred thousand acre estate hundred thousand acre
you know a hundred thousand square foot house
who smokey looks all of a sudden he's
looking over this unbelievable hundred thousand acres he's
just looking out in the seniors sees his
airstrip sees his pools and shards and his
courses and his gardens in his mansion and
but then he looks over and there's two
hundred thousand acre estate for his mother a
two hundred thousand square a thousand employees to
take care of her joint and these guys
so bitter he's so angry he's thinks on
the third one he says my mother-in
-law he can't think what he says okay
God heard the genie my third request I
want you to beat me half to death
well that's a sad commentary on a lot
of people's lives I think sometimes because on
one sense I mean how it is that
here's somebody instead of being able to enjoy
the compassion in the love and the gifts
and the blessings and the grace that God
has poured out on them the next thing
you know because of that then be if
they don't have mercy on others if they
don't love and have compassion for others it'll
ruin whatever they got whatever blessings if there's
somebody that has a root of bitterness in
their own heart and lacks forgiveness and mercy
and compassion for others you could give them
half the planet but whoever had the other
half they'd wish they were dead and it's
something there that so often when this happens
you know not only that if we're not
merciful to others the next thing you know
is we find ourselves so often you know
getting angry bitter and upset you know it
other people's lives it's interesting Jesus in Matthew
chapter 18 when she Peter came up to
him and he told me says Lord how
many times we forgive three times seven times
you know what in Jesus said hey 70
times seven Peter without number here though you
know he Jesus then goes on and he
gives a you know a parable there of
a man there the king that had a
couple fellas that owed him a lot one
owed him a you know a great amount
actually and and there in this parable pardon
me there was one fellow owed him a
lot of is a great amount and he
came there and he said all right you
owe me and he said I can't pay
and he says well you can throw in
prison I'm taking everything you got and the
guy fell before the king he says please
have mercy upon me humbled himself and he
weeps he says I'm sorry please well the
king was so moved with compassion so moved
with mercy he looked at him he hurt
and he says forget it just forget it
but then that fella after it's all forgiven
all forgotten he goes out and somebody owes
him a few bucks he tells that guy
pay me you owe me you guys said
no I mean he pays I don't care
and he had him thrown in prison well
the other servants heard about this and then
they go back and they tell the king
about the guy that wouldn't forgive who he
had forgiven so much and then he came
in and it's interesting there it says there
that that his Lord was wroth and he
delivered him under the tormentors till he should
pay all that was due to him here
Jesus said you know and I said that
man who cannot forgive be forgiven they cannot
have mercy cannot love it has these things
towards other people and goes home with them
and brings them into their home and their
marriage and their children or their relationships they
will be tormented and they will be delivered
to their tormentors that you deliver yourself to
your tormentors if you're not merciful and what
a devastating thing you know we live in
a world today something happens you know and
we look at you know at a world
he said I don't get mad I get
even that's bitterness there's somebody comes up to
us you know and then and we look
he go ahead make my day I've just
been looking for I've got so much hostility
in me I'm just looking for somebody to
kill and if you'd like to apply for
the job make my day you know or
something that's that's the way the worldly man
thinks I'll be back you know sort of
a thing and all of this sort of
stuff rather than having something there to where
we find in our own heart but Jesus
said you know they are actually Paul taught
in Romans 7 12 17 he says recompense
to no man evil for evil provide things
honest in the sight of all men and
if it be possible as much as lieth
in you live peaceably with all men dearly
dearly beloved avenge not yourselves but rather give
but rather give place unto wrath for it
is written vengeance is mine I will repay
sayeth the Lord therefore if thine enemy hunger
feed him if he thirst give him drink
for in so doing thou shall heap coals
of fire on his head now I know
to us think hey let's do it burn
him up but I'm sure you know what
that means I mean back in the times
there in the Bible and when you would
have somebody over your home and you'd have
an evening together and you had your fire
going and you had a nice evening but
they were going home and late at night
to a cold house and they you know
couldn't they had to go trying to start
a start a fire and get the whole
thing going to try to warm up their
house you would always send them home with
coals of fire and they carried water and
all these different containers upon their head so
that now do you see you take to
do you coals out of your fire you
know you'd put them in a container for
them and say here go home and start
your fire warm your house you know with
the warmth that we've enjoyed here so you
don't have to go through all this to
start warming your house up take it and
Jesus said when somebody does something to you
that it hurts and it's wrong or it's
evil and they are nicer gracious instead of
having to come back and say you you
you me you know or whatever else we're
gonna do Jesus said there he says you
be kind Paul there he teaches in a
sense there he says feed him give him
drink care for him when that guy goes
home and obviously anybody that lives that'll they
go home to a cold life in a
cold home in an empty house so often
they push everybody else out of their life
and now they're just pushing you out because
that's all they know to do he says
but when your enemy does something to you
send him home with some coals on his
head and he gets home and all of
a sudden he's got a fire and his
house is warm and he's sitting there and
realizing that person he was nasty to that
he sinned against trespassed against did iniquity to
treated terribly had something happened within their stomach
that looked there and said you must be
hurting you must be hurting you must be
cold you must be so hard inside I
know how it is to be that way
that's where God met me that's where his
spirit met me and he filled me and
now he has put that within me here
go be warm and then when he sends
him home and the guy sits there and
he begins to look around and his life
is warming up and he knows that the
very person that he hurt loved him had
mercy upon him gave grace to him Jesus
said that's the person that's going to have
the friends that's the person that's going to
build the relationships and when we find ourselves
you know so often instead of just getting
even telling them what that we think they
need to hear being angry or hostile or
rude and then it just you know we
return in kind you know whatever they gave
will give it back but instead we say
God give to me a merciful heart Jesus
said there's a man that's going to be
happy there is a person that when they
have this heart within them that you don't
have to go home and get even with
anybody vengeance is mine saith the Lord I'll
repay God says I'll take care of all
this stuff yours is to go be merciful
mine is to take care take care of
the books you just go be merciful maybe
some of you you know you need to
in your own homes be merciful who knows
maybe some of you husbands might come home
tomorrow night and there'll be this unbelievable dinner
and this unbelievable meal and you realize oh
she must be really mad she's trying to
get even in me for something here and
by being merciful but you want to melt
the heart and you want to have a
great joy when you are merciful and you
in your heart when somebody steals your food
and you prepare food for him when they
hurt you and you love them when they
attack you and you have something so wonderful
within you that turns and says I want
to love maybe some of you your mother
-in-law you need to go take her
out and have dinner with her and take
her over to your estate and whatever that's
what we need to do with whatever God's
blessed us with to say he's given me
everything I've got and cheers to father we
thank you for your love Lord I thank
you that you want us to be truly
happy not even not just but happy you
look at us and say you know if
you had my heart within you and you
would let yourself see people see me you
meet me at the cross you realize how
much I've forgiven you of no one will
ever sin against you like you sinned against
me but I forgave you no one will
ever hurt you like you hurt me no
one will ever reject you and mock you
no one will ever do these things that
you have done that I've forgiven them all
and blotted them out remove them as far
as the east or the west I buried
them in the depths of the sea I've
hidden them behind my back and I've said
behold I'll remember them no more my love
empowers me to do that my love does
that Lord may you give to us a
merciful heart may you give to us a
graceful heart a heart that really reaches out
and wonderfully loves father do this we ask
it that we may know great joy we
ask it in Jesus name amen one other
thing is I remember one time I was
kind of the rebel in our home and
when the Lord had done a work in
my heart one time I came home and
I realized kind of what I had put
my parents through and I came and I
asked them you know I said I will
you forgive me and so often we're growing
up and parents are you know their parents
and you're just supposed to be in trouble
with them because that's their job you know
or whatever else and or something and I
was constantly on the always on the fringes
in you know and beyond them and I
constantly the one that needed a lot of
correction and I put him through a lot
and after I came to the Lord I
realized what I had done I'll never forget
one night I came home and it hit
me and I just asked him I said
will you forgive me I am so sorry
for what I put you through and my
mom that she sat there and I'm sure
she's but she says she's sitting here but
she says you know something all I remember
is the good times I looked over my
dad and I said oh dad she's lost
it the poor woman she can't doesn't remember
much you know or him but that's what
mercy does that's what it ought to be
and we ought to be ones that we
can look there and when somebody fails to
say all I want to do is remember
the wonderful things that God's doing God bless
you