THE BEATITUDES - PART VI “MERCY AND JUSTICE” MAY 23-24, 2009

							                                                         II. MERCY KEEPS ME ALIVE
           THE BEATITUDES - PART VI                        • Psalm 136:1-5, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He
            “MERCY AND JUSTICE”                              is good! For His mercy endures forever…”
                MAY 23-24, 2009
                                                           • Mercy typically is offered to the needy…poor,
INTRODUCTION                                                 widow, the orphan.
                                                           • Jesus said offer it to everyone…they are all needy
  • Beatitudes are about being not doing.
                                                           • Religion without mercy = mean people
  • This is who you are in Jesus.
                                                           • That culture saw mercy as a weakness.
  • Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they
    shall receive mercy.”
                                                           • Proverbs 11:17 , "Your own soul is nourished when
  • To be merciful is to overflow with mercy.
                                                             you are kind; it is destroyed when you are cruel."
                                                           • Doing acts of mercy gets the focus off of me and
I. MERCY AND JUSTICE
                                                             on to other people and produces happiness.
  • Justice is giving a person what he deserves.
                                                           • Only by God’s mercy we are alive!
  • Mercy is not giving a person what he deserves.
                                                           • Lamentations 3:22-23, “Because of the Lord’s
  • Grace is giving a person what he does not deserve.
                                                             mercy we are alive…”
  • Mercy is a verb an action, not a feeling.
                                                           • I need mercy everyday to give it away.
  • It is forgiveness.
                                                           • Hebrews 2:17-18, “…He had to be made like His
  • Colossians 3:13, "…Remember the Lord forgave             brethren…so that He might become a merciful and
    you, so you must forgive others."                        faithful high priest…”
  • Deuteronomy 10:18, “He executes justice…shows
    His love …”                                          CLOSE
  • God is the full embodiment of justice and mercy.       • He knows how you feel, when you have deep pain.
                                                           • Make being merciful getting and giving it a part of
  • Justice is literally to govern. To render right
                                                             who you are and what you do.
    decisions.
  • God gave Jesus what you deserved and thus
    fulfilled justice.