Sermon on the Mount - Blessings 7-8

Matthew 5: ⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. ⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Mercy (def) - compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. If it is within our power, we must show mercy because we have received mercy? If you agree, possibly you have realized the great mercy shown to you by our loving God, and His love builds a merciful heart. Without the Holy Spirit in control, we cannot and will not show mercy. This is a concrete truth because true mercy is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. Our hearts without God are evil at every turn and showing mercy is not even possible if tried by our human nature. But.....Our nature is no longer generated by a human view of Godly things. We no longer view people in the same way as the flesh would have us view them. Since we have Christ, we now view everything differently, and showing mercy is a God quality that is part of this new creation that God has made when we were born again. Paul taught the Christians in Corinth the way to think about the new me. 2 Corinthians 5;¹⁴ For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; ¹⁵ and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. ¹⁶ Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. God's mercy is perfect, and it is a blessing to be able to see the value of the inner person and show mercy as only God can do. But without Jesus, it is not possible. With Jesus, it is a natural effect of the Holy Spirit. John said it this way in 1 John 4:⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. The trade-off is unique in that if we show mercy, we receive mercy that is already a part of our new nature, and in my faith walk, it shows evidence of God working in my life, and I deal with God alone in this area, and in the deep recesses of my heart, the Spirit shows me how to give mercy. Praise God, Jesus did it!

Mine is a heart that has been totally changed because of God's mercy, and the blessing is mine.

The Prophet said the following words given to Him by our God, and they are received about the same today as they were then, because there were some people not willing to surrender to a different heart condition God was providing. Jeremiah 17: ⁹ “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? ¹⁰ “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind. God changes our hearts "completely," and in that change, we still go through growing pains, and part of those growing pains are surrendering to God's heart, which is love. Our hearts are not capable of purity without the Holy Spirit empowering us to seek that purity. Our "want tos" are different when we are born again, and part of those changes is a transformation that takes place. The transformation is incredible, and a heart that is pure is given to us at the point of salvation, and that heart is controlled by the Holy Spirit. It is shown to us in the Word of God, so it is vital to study the Word to be made complete in our faith walk.

What do you want? If you are born again, you want what God wants, and therein our life is found. Look at the example of the hummingbird and the vulture. Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over our nation's deserts. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead, they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vultures live on what was. They live in the past. They fill themselves with what is dead and gone. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. They fill themselves with freshness and life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do. What are you looking for? Are you truly seeking God? Then you will find Him and find true life and purity of heart. He will change you, but you must not block any part of that change. Romans 12: ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. When Paul wrote this, he was being persecuted and treated very poorly by religious leaders, but he never quit on what his life was all about. Paul was pure in heart, and God changed him radically to go from murdering followers of The Way to giving his life to give them the message of hope. All only possible by Jesus when he met Paul on the road to Damascus, as he was traveling there to kill more Christians. You will never convince me that there is not a super radical change when we are born-again!! SO DON'T TRY!! Therein lies the possibility of the blessing of having a pure heart, and you will see God.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren