Blessed Are the Merciful

Brethren, would you like God to show you a favor? As a child, don't you, for instance, like your parents to answer your requests and to show you a favor when you ask for things? And what makes you as a parent want to answer your children's requests? Isn't it when they try to please you and make you proud? Now, there's no partiality with God. So, God does not show favoritism to one person or to another. But the principle is God does have favorites. Now, let's look at 1 John 3, verse 22. 1 John 3, verse 22. It says, well, we'll start reading in verse 21. Beloved, if your heart does not condemn us, we have confidence towards God. So, we have confidence. Why? Because we are His favorites. Why are we His favorites? 1 John 3, verse 22. And whatever we ask, we receive from Him. Because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. God shows no favoritism. By that I mean, He'll do that to everybody, provided I meet these conditions. And we show no favoritism to our children, but it really is so nice when they are doing the things that are pleasing to us. And it does make a difference.

Now, what are some of the things that are pleasing to God? There may be many. There might be many. But today, I want to look at one. I want to look at one which is important to God that we have. And that is the one about mercy. Because if we are merciful to others, then God will be merciful to us. And that is something that is pleasing to God when we are merciful to other people. So, what does that mean to you and I? Well, it means very plainly that you and I can be judged less harshly than somebody else. Wouldn't you and I, wouldn't we like to be judged less harshly with more mercy in the day of judgment?

And there is a favor that God will have towards us if we do things that are pleasing in His sight. And we're talking specifically today about mercy, if we shall mercy towards others. Let's look at some examples here of cases in the Old Testament. And we'll start the first one of Genesis chapter 38. Genesis chapter 38. Genesis chapter 38. And I appreciate the sermonette, as it was a good leading to the sermon, because God is patient. And patience, in a sense, is part of the characteristic of the merciful. You have to be patient and give a time. But in Genesis 38, reading in verse 24, and it came to pass about three months after that Judah was told, saying, Tamar, your daughter-in-law has played a holot.

Furthermore, she's with child from holotry.

Wow, imagine that you are told that your daughter-in-law has been playing holotry, has been a holotry, and playing holotry, and she's pregnant.

So Judah said, bring her out and let her be burned.

Let's examine this carefully.

To the lower side, that if you committed a sin like that, you should be punished accordingly. Yes. So in a sense, was that a fair judgment? You could say yes.

But on the other side, there's a way to to tangle, right? I mean, you know, you were too to tangle. But the point here is a situation where the person was saying, how can he or she do that that's the punishment.

Taking a quote unquote self-righteous attitude and saying, wow, look at what's happening there.

And then she said, verse 25, she said to her father-in-law, by the man to whom these belong, I am of child. And she said, please determine whose these are, the signet and cord and stuff. It's like a like a spear through your heart, you know. Wow.

So Judah, you know, it broke all that self-righteousness. And he said, she has been more righteous than I.

Because I did not give her to Shelah, my son.

Let's look at another example, brethren. In 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel, verse 12. 2 Samuel, verse 12.

Start reading in verse 1. 2 Samuel 12. Then the Lord sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said to David, listen, David, I've got a little story after you. There were two men in one city, one rich and one poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing except one little eulam which he had bought and nourished. And he grew up together with them and with his children. It was his pet little lamb at home. He ate of his own food and drank from his own cup. You know, around his table eating and laying his bosom. And it was like a daughter to him.

And a traveler came to the rich man who refused to take from his own flock and from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him. But he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him. Wow! David was furious! He blew up and he says, David's anger was greatly aroused. Can you imagine? He just blew. He blew like a... he just blew the thought. You know, he says, wow! He was furious! And he said to Nathan, as the Lord lives, the man who's done this shall surely die! Let's examine this again. As a judge, somebody would have done that, would have been right to punish the person? Yes! Would have been right to do so.

Here we have a man in his self-righteous throne, quote-unquote, trying to apply something and the question remains in the end, even though it was right to do so, was it just? Was it just?

Had they been punished, you could say, well, they deserved the punishment. They deserved punishment. They deserved the full effect of the law. Delphard and Judah, in their initial thinking, were not unfair. They were not breaking the law in the application of that punishment. Obviously, we're breaking the law in other areas, but in application of punishment. But the point here is, they were not being merciful. They were not being merciful. Turn with me, please, to Matthew chapter 5 verse 7. Matthew chapter 5 verse 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. They will obtain the special favor from God at the time of judgment, if they are merciful.

You see, mercy is applied when there's an act of judging, or at least an act of discerning as a direction. And if you look at the Beatitudes, basically, when we look at Christian attitudes, it starts with humility. Then, as humble people, we look at ourselves, we see our problems, and we mourn for what we are, and it leads us to true, godly repentance. Then, when we see that repentance, we want to become teachable, malleable, in the words, meek and gentle. And therefore, we learn as we are teachable. As we are that, we realize that we need true God's righteousness. And so, we are hunger, we have hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. Now, it is important to note, it does not say strive for righteousness. It says hunger and thirst for righteousness. If strive was used, it would mean something that you would do an effort for it. Hunger and thirst is something that you receive for God's righteousness. Therefore, it's not something that you and I have striven for, before it's not self-righteous. It's not something that we're trying to be righteous, but something that we are hungry and thirsty for. And so, when we are starved, famished, thirsty for God's righteousness, we are not self-righteous. And that helps us in situations with other people in a Christian living point of view, to actually discern situations in a merciful way. Because in the end, you and I cannot see the heart of the other people. And so, we strive to apply that justice. The weightier matter of the law, we're through mercy, because we're striving for God's righteousness. And God's righteousness leads us to obedience to the law. And the law is really measured in the weightier matters, which is justice, the right application of it, with mercy and with faith. Believing that, in the end, maybe that righteousness, that mercy applied will lead people to repentance, like Christ looks at us and He says, it leads us. God's mercy towards us leads us to repentance. And secondly, faith that God will deal with us in the same way, in mercy. So, let's now look at some of Jesus' teachings about mercy. The first one we'll start with is in Matthew 9, just a few pages ahead. Matthew 9, verse 10 through 13. Matthew 9, 10 through 13.

Now it happened, because Jesus sat at the table in the house, that the old many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? When Jesus heard that, He said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I do not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Let's look at this in a little bit more detail. There we are, these people. We are in a situation and to take the label out, let's take the label out of Pharisees, because nowadays, if you say a person is a Pharisee, it's got a label, it's name calling. So let's take that out and just say, these were people that were in the congregation of Israel. Yeah, they were in the congregation of Israel, which basically is the Church of Old Testament. So they were in the congregation of Israel, and these were people who were very zealous for the Lord. Putting in today's terms, these were people, think about it in today's church, people there are in God's church, in the congregation of the true Israel, very zealous for the Lord.

And these people turned around and said, how can your master do that, sit with that scum of people? How can your master sit with that type of people and eat with them? Doesn't he know that they are sinners? They're really the scum of the earth.

And so they really discerned the situation and judged the situation, and they started accusing. The master says, how can he do that? And the master, which is Christ here, he said, those that are well have no need of physician, but those that are sick. He's saying, you guys, in a sense, he's saying, you guys are sick, not the others, but, you know, he's saying, look, the others are not well, so they need a physician. They need help. But, in a sense, he's saying the opposite. He says, there's something wrong with you guys, and he's teaching them a lesson, because then he goes on to say, but go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice.

Learn what this means. Now, this is a direct quote from Isaiah 6, chapter 6. So keep your finger there, because we're going to come back here. So keep your finger there, and let's go to Isaiah 6, chapter 6. Daniel, Isaiah, Isaiah 6, chapter 6. And if you read in a little bit before, it's basically a call for repentance. And if you read, for instance, at the beginning of verse 4, it says, Isaiah 6, verse 4, or Ephraim, what shall I do to you? Oh, Judah, what shall I do to you?

And then he says, what shall I do to you? I've done this, and you've killed the prophets, you've done this. And he said in verse 6, for I desire mercy and not sacrifice. And the knowledge of God more than burnt off it. I desire mercy and not sacrifice. And so Christ called upon that scripture, yeah, in Matthew. So if we're going to go back to Matthew, Matthew, chapter 9, he's calling upon that scripture.

And he's saying, I want you to show mercy.

And then he added, but go and learn what this means. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repent. I did not come to call those who think they are righteous. If you read that in the New Living Translation, I'm going to read that Matthew 9, verse 13. In the New Living Translation, Matthew 9, 13.

Just a modern translation, sometimes it brings meanings in a very interesting way, and it says, yeah. Then he added, now go and learn the meaning of the scripture. I want you to show mercy and not offer sacrifice. For I've come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.

You see, these very zealous people in the congregation of Israel, they thought they were righteous.

Think about the situation of Judah and the situation of Daniel. They thought themselves to be righteous. And because of that, they misunderstood the meaning of this scripture. They must read it, and they started pointing fingers.

You see, when we please God, it's not by sacrifice.

But when we please God, we're pleasing Him in relationships with people.

It's a matter of the heart. It's an attitude. Now, obviously, we can't see the heart. We can't see attitudes. But it is an important point for us to understand, because you and I want to receive mercy on the judgment day. Don't we? And mercy has to do with judging. Mercy has to do with judging. And when we confront with the situation, we have to discern, not condemn, not judge and condemn from that point of view, but judge from a point of discern. And how often it's a matter of the heart, and you and I cannot see the heart. And so, are we discerning from a premise of self-righteousness? How can they do that? Or from a premise of mercy? It's a very important subject. And it's particularly important for us in God's Church, because we are zealous for God's law. And so, we've got to be careful that you and I don't fall into this trap, which is easy to fall into. I want to read from you Romans chapter 2, starting in verse 17. But I'm also going to read it to you from the New Living Translation that you welcome to. Obviously, look at in your Bible and follow it through. But I'm going to read it through the New Living Translation, Romans chapter 2, verse 17 through 20. You will call yourselves Jews or rely on God's law. Think about, we call ourselves spiritual Jews. So try and apply it to ourselves. And you're boast about your special relationship with Him, with God. You know what He wants. You know what is right because you've been taught His law. You're convinced that you're a guide for the blind and a light for the people are lost in darkness. You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach the children and teach children the ways of God, for you are certain that God's law, God's understanding, God's teaching, what we understand gives you complete knowledge and truth.

It is quite significant when we read it from the slightly different version. It kind of brings that meaning and we're trying to apply it to ourselves. We've got to be careful. And then look in verse 20, I can 29. It says, for you are not a true Jew. You're not a true person of God, put it this way, just because you were born of parents or Jewish parents or because you've gone through the ceremony of circumcision or because you've been baptized. Yes, it is important, but let's look at it. A true Jew is the one whose heart is right with God. Is your heart, is my heart, is our hearts or our hearts right with God?

And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the Lord, rather it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God and not from people. Look at it. It's a change of heart produced by God's Holy Spirit.

It's Christ living in us. That's the difference. That's God's righteousness. That's what you and I need to hunger and thirst for.

And that righteousness leads to true justice, an application of that righteousness with right judgment. So he has a lesson from this Matthew 9 section.

Do we think that we are more righteous than us? Because we all have sinned. You can read that in Romans. We all have sinned. No man is righteous. We all in the same bucket, in a sense. So there's a lesson here that Christ was giving to these people that were zealous for God's law in the congregation of Israel. Let's look at another example of Christ's teaching on mercy. And that's in John chapter 8. In John chapter 8 verses 1 through 11. John chapter 8 verses 1 through 11. But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Now early in the morning, he came again into the temple, and all the people came to him, and he sat down, and he taught them. Then his crimes and afferices brought to him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they said to the teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act. Was a flagrantly caught. Now where's the guy? He was caught in the act, and there was somebody else there, too. Who wasn't just there? But anyway, now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. What do you say? Can I think of what do you say? This they said, testing him, that they might have something of which to accuse him. But Jesus stood down, and he wrote on the ground of his finger, as though he did not hear. So when they continued asking him, hey, come on, what are you, what are you, can I ask that question? He raised himself up and said to them, he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at first. And again, he stood down and wrote on the ground. But those who heard it being confected by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest. All this guy said, whoops, yeah, he's got a point, yeah, I better go, until he got to the youngest once. Then Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. Now, when Jesus stood up, he raised himself up, and he saw no one but the woman. He said to a woman, where else accuses of yours? Has no one condemned you? And he said, no one, Lord. And Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn you, go and sin. No. Christ showed mercy, and he didn't condemn her, even though that was the penalty written in the law. Now, let me ask you, did she repent?

Had she acknowledged and said, I repent, and I'm sorry, we don't know, it's not written there, so it's possible that she had not repented.

In other words, she was not getting what she deserved.

Let's look at a little bit more detail, this. You see, the definition of mercy that you may read in the dictionary says, it's the capacity to feel and express unusual compassion and sympathy for those in difficult or crisis situations and provide them with the necessary help and support to see them through tough times. So that's what the dictionary or somebody may define, mercy us.

So, when a person is a tough situation, just give them the help to get through it. Well, I think in this example, God goes well beyond that example, God well beyond that definition. He has a time where Christ refrained from harming or punishing others, which was rightfully just to do so. In other words, he gave more than was expected, because we don't even know if she had repented. In other words, she was not getting what she deserved. Again, God's goodness leads us to repentance. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. We read that in Romans. In fact, Christ died for you and I before we said, yeah, before we were born.

Look what is meant, please, in John chapter 2. John chapter 2 verse 13.

John chapter 2 verse 13. He says, for judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy, triumphs of the judgment.

You and I will get no mercy if you and I say you deserve it.

Brethren, I don't want what I deserve.

And I hope you don't want it.

So, he has the answer. He has the key to not getting what we don't deserve. And if you end up receiving that mercy, you will rejoice because you're not getting what you deserve.

God's approach is very simple.

That's not favoritism, but it does show you favor if you do the same, if we do the same. And so, he has a lesson from this example he had we saw in Christ's example, this woman that had sinned.

To show mercy, to not condemn, even though it may appear justified to condemn, but to show mercy from the heart.

Let us look at another one, another example of Christ's teaching on mercy.

And that is in Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. And that, as you may immediately remember, that's the parable of the talents.

Luke chapter 19.

I'm not going to go through the parable, which starts in verse 11, but I'm just going to briefly mention the idea as a man that he gave, called ten servants, and gave each servant a mina or a talent. And I looked at it, it could be a golden mina, and a golden mina was about five thousand dollars. Say about that. So he gave each one five thousand dollars in investment. He says, okay, go out and work with it. And so one came back and he says, from five thousand, we've got fifty thousand. The other one got twenty-five thousand, or whatever. And then we come to one. Yeah, we have him in verse 20. Look 19 verse 20. Then another came, saying, master, you are your mina. You are five thousand bucks, which I've kept put away in the agriculture. For I feared you, because you are a most dear man. You collect what you do not deposit, and reap what you do not sell. He condemned God as a most dear man. And verse 22, and then he said to him, you know, the master said to him, out of your own mouth, I'll judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was a most dear man, collecting what I did not deposit, and reaping what I did not sell. So, why then did you not put your money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it?

And then he says, take your mina, and you'll be judged according to what you specifically said, according to the way you've acted, what comes out of your heart, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. That's what you said, and that's how you was judged.

You and I will be judged by what we say, and by what we've said in the past. If, if we don't show mercy, if we don't forgive other people, and show mercy to them, and it's hard when you see things, you just keep your mouth shut, and analyze your heart, and because maybe our heart is not right, and we need to change. It's hard. It's part of a learning lesson that we are all to learn. I'm here to learn. We all to learn. We all in the same boat. I'm not any better than you. You probably, some of you are far better than me.

This applies to you as it applies to me. I have to analyze myself and say, how am I doing in showing mercy to others? It's very important for us. And it's very important that we understand and grasp Jesus' teaching on mercy. Because look at Matthew 23, 23. Matthew 23, 23. He kind of puts it into a nutshell here in verse 23, 23. Whoa, and you, scribes, and people that are very zealous in the congregation of Israel, you bunch of hypocrites, for you pay your tithe of mint and anise and common, and have neglected the weightier matters of the Lord. Justice and mercy and fight. These you ought to have done, yes, without leaving the others and I. Sure, we've got to do the other things. We've got to be zealous in the Lord, but we must not become self-righteous. We must have Christ living in us and become, apply true justice, true mercy, and faith.

It's not easy for Israel. Now, one of the things that Christ kept knocking on down on the people of his day, kept knocking the heads on, was interesting enough, if you think about it, was on the day-to-day application of, say it yourself in the brain, if you can think, about an application of the same. Look with me, please, in John chapter 7. John chapter 7.

Verse 21 through 24. Then Jesus answered and said to them, I did one work. I did one job. I didn't want to work on the Sabbath. As you can see, a little later on, he's referring to what he did on the Sabbath. And you all marvel. You all are judging the silly incorrectly and surprised that I've done this.

But look at it. Moses therefore gave you circumcision. Not that it is from Moses, because it was before from the time of Abraham. And you, the circumcision man, understand that. And that's work. I mean, think about it. If you've got a circumcision somebody, number one, you've got to go somewhere, or somebody's going to come to your house. It's going to be a pretty hygienic situation. You've got to have things very clean, and you've got to make sure. It does infect everything very nicely. There's no infections or anything like that. There is a certain amount of work around it. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? I did a job. I did something. And he says, do not judge according to appearance. In other words, don't judge according to what appears and what you see, but judge according to the heart. According to the heart. Judge with righteous judgment. In other words, that justice, mercy, and fight that way came after the law being applauded. You see, what they had was a list of dudes and dons. You can do this on the Sabbath, and you can't do that on the Sabbath. They had a list of dudes and dons. And that became a very rigorous thing. Let's look at one example of that list of dudes and dons in Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. Verse 1 and 2.

Matthew 12, verse 1 and 2. At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain to eat. And when these people that were very zealous for the law of sowing, they said to me, look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath, according to the list of dudes and dons. You can't do this on the Sabbath, or you can not do this on the Sabbath. They were working.

You may or may not know. There are some people that are not with us, because they said, we are promoting work on the Sabbath, because we hire a whole on the Sabbath to assemble ourselves together. And therefore, we're promoting for people to work on the Sabbath. And therefore, we can't come to church with you. We've got to stay around. I mean, that's an extreme of dudes and dons. They're zealous for the law, but not according to knowledge. You know, remember Romans 10, verses 2 and 3. Zealous for the law, but not according to knowledge. They're sick, they're being ignorant of God's righteousness. They're sick to establish their unrighteousness.

Now, imagine if this was a situation today. Let's put this into those terms. There it is. Christ came out there and doing work which other people would perceive in the list of dudes and dons, that you should not do something on the Sabbath, for instance, as far as eating.

And what would people say today? Well, you know, you've got the preparation day. That's what today is for. You should have prepared.

After all, Jesus Christ is God. You could have foreseen that he would have been in that situation on the Sabbath, and then for on the day of preparation, you should have prepared the picnic basket and taken with him a picnic basket.

And therefore, it's easy for if we are zealous for the Lord to start saying, well, they break in the Sabbath by working on the Sabbath. Now, I'm not saying that we must work on the Sabbath. It's not an innocent exchange. That's not what I'm saying. But I'm saying about a principle together. Christ is bringing out to these people. And then he says in verse 3, Matthew 12, verse 3, we said to them, if you not read what David did when he was hungry, and he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God and ate the shell bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, he went into this place and he had a meal there. And but not lawful for him, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests. Oh, have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profound the Sabbath and are blinders? Yet I say to you that in this place there is one greater plain thing to do. With Christ's livingness, he hears there is one greater. But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. He uses the same principle that he used before. Can you remember? He used the same principle. You would have not blamed the guiltless. You would have not blamed by innocent disciples. That's what he's saying. If you understood the meaning.

You see, he brings the same principle that he referred when he was having a meal with so-called sinners.

I desire mercy and not sacrifice. Now, Christ was not, and the disciples were not in such a difficult or crisis situation, that they were ready to starve to death.

No. They were hungry. They could have just sacrificed a bit and wait until sunset or a little later and had something if they hadn't prepared. They could have gone hungry for a few hours. But he brings the principle, yeah, I desire you to show mercy and not to offer sacrifice.

Verse, continue, in verse 8, for the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. And if you look at this example in Mark 2, verse 27 and 28, it first says, the Sabbath was made for man, not the other way around, and then says, Christ, the Son of Man, is the Lord of the Sabbath. You see, the Sabbath is made to serve us, not as to serve the Sabbath. That's really what we're saying. And it's kind of a lesson that we have to understand. And in a part of mercy, in the teaching of mercy, this seemed to have been a thing that kept cropping up as well, because I desire mercy, not sacrifice. But, rather, when we don't have mercy, it's easy to point fingers and say, you see, they are wrong.

And continuing here, in chapter 12, a little bit later, if you turn down to verse 24, this thing came to such a head in verse 24 that it says, and now when the Pharisees heard it, they said, this fellow does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebub, the rule of the demons. He actually started pointing fingers to Christ and to accusing all because of this issue on the Sabbath.

And then, a little bit lighter, in verse 36 and 37, it gives another parable, and then he ends up by saying, But I say to you that for every idle word which men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

Same lesson as before, remember? Watch what you say. Which comes out of your mouth because out of the balance of the heart the mouth speaks. And so, what is the moral of the lesson here? To me, it is score up as much mercy in your bank account as you can. Now, as you can read in Micah 6, verse 8, what does God require of you?

Micah 6, verse 8, Old Testament Scripture, so it's nothing new. For the diet of John and Michael. Micah 6, verse 8, He has shown to you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you? But to do justly. God's righteousness. To love mercy. To love mercy. And to walk humbly with your God. How do you and I acquire or develop mercy and compassion? Because we need it. It's important.

We need it. First, analyze yourself. First, analyze yourself. Think about the Beatitudes. It starts with humility. Analyze, look at yourself, and be teachable. And admit your error. Admit our errors, admit our lack of mercy in our day-to-day situations in our lives. So first, analyze yourself.

Secondly, repent. Repent to the Eternal about any lack of mercy or compassion the Newer I may have. Looking from the point of Beatitudes, mourn. Mourn. So that you may lead to true Godly repentance. So analyze yourself and repent. Thirdly, ask God to help you develop mercy. In other words, ask God to give you that true hunger and thirst for righteousness and the righteousness really look for the real weighty and matters of the law which is justice, mercy, and faith.

Ask God for that. You know, a couple of weeks back we went through some of the gifts of the Spirit. And we went through Romans 12. As you may recall, mercy is one of the spiritual gifts of God's Holy Spirit, which means you can ask for it and receive it as a gift so that you may not put it to practice and show that mercy to others. So first analyze yourself, repent, ask for it. So when you see yourself in a situation and you see, well, you're not being very merciful and the wrong thing could be coming out of your mouth, say, God, help me to show mercy.

Give me the spiritual gift of the Spirit of mercy. And then realize that it takes effort. It will require action on your part. 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. It requires effort on your part.

Yes, it is a gift. Yes, it is not just a gift, it's a command to have mercy. You know the paddable of the Good Samaritan? Don't have to turn there, but in Luke chapter 10, the paddable of the Good Samaritan, there's this teacher of the law came to Christ and said, you know, who's my neighbor? And then Christ gave him a paddable, you know, there was this man, he was reserved in the street and then this person came, didn't help him, this other person who came, and the Samaritan came and Samaritan to them was like the low-cross people, you know.

So this Samaritan came and he helped him. And then he asked him, who was the neighbor? And then he says, him that showed mercy. And what does Christ tell the teacher of the Lord? Go and do likewise. It's a commandment from God. Go and do practice mercy. It's a command to have mercy. Mercy is not weakness or softness. Mercy is an attitude to help others. Mercy is an attitude of upgrade, concern for others. It is a beautiful Christian attitude to have.

Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. It is a change of heart produced by God's Holy Spirit. It's Christ living in us. It's God's righteousness in us that we received from Him that we hung in in 13th floor. That produces true justice applied with mercy. And it is a matter of faith because we have faith that it will lead to a change of heart. And we have faith that God will in turn shall mercy and favor towards us.

It is indeed a weightier matter of the Lord. God does not show favoritism, but you and I can receive favor from Him. You and I can be judged less harshly than others if you and I are merciful to others.