Matthew 5: The Sermon on the Mount (4)
Pray Psalm 15.1.
LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
Sing contemplatively Psalm 15.1.
(Arlington: This Is the Day the Lord Has Made)
LORD, who may dwell within Your tent, or on Your holy hill?
All those who keep Your covenant and walk within Your will.
Read Matthew 5.1-8; meditate on verses 7, 8.
What does “pure in heart” mean?
Prepare.
1. Who are they who know the Lord’s blessings in His Kingdom?
2. Of what do those blessings consist, as we see them in these verses?
Meditate.
The first two beatitudes show us that entry is possible to the Kingdom Jesus proclaims, but only for those who recognize their impoverishment, mourn over their sinfulness, repent, and believe the Good News that the Kingdom is at hand. The next set of beatitudes shows us the broad sweep of the Kingdom, and the purpose of Christ’s bringing it near, and us into it. He intends to fill the earth with His righteousness!
The remaining verses in the beatitudes outline some goals and expectations for life within the Kingdom. Once we have entered it and have set our hearts to achieve its broad objectives, we can get busy about the daily work of seeking and advancing the Kingdom.
We can summarize verse 7 as follows: Show mercy, get mercy (cf. Ps. 18.25). Mercy includes a variety of affections and disciplines, including compassion, kindness, forgiveness, generosity, and perseverance. In the Kingdom, God intends to channel His mercy through us, to one another and to the world. We must show mercy to others to make room in our soul for God to give us more mercy. In the Kingdom, this is what we do: We flood our Personal Mission Fields with mercy—just like Jesus did His—and we experience the Lord showing us more mercy, and giving us more mercy, that we might have more mercy to share.
The second attribute characterizing those who live in the Kingdom (v. 8) can be summarized with equal conciseness: Be pure, see Purity (cf. again Ps. 18.25, where for blameless read pure; cf. v. 26). We need to see God daily if we’re going to sustain the demands of Kingdom living. We need to see Him, seeing us, watching over us, speaking to us from His Word, filling and overflowing in us by His Spirit, granting us an ever-clearer vision of Himself in glory (Col. 3.1-3). But we will only be able to see Him Who is altogether pure and lovely by being pure ourselves (cf. Ps. 66.18). Thus, life in the Kingdom involves not only receiving mercy from God and showing mercy to others, but keeping our eye on Jesus, and our souls cleansed of everything that keeps us from growing in Him. The more we see of His purity, by keeping ourselves pure and looking on Him, the more we will grow to be like Him, and thus the more we will show mercy to the world.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Mercy loses its mercifulness when it condones sin.
By condoning we are merely joining the sin.
True mercy sees the sin and loves through it; else where is the mercy?
Jesus never condoned sin; but He certainly loved through it.
God very clearly draws a line of demarcation:
“He has shown you, O man, what is good [the Law]
and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly [follow the Law],
to love mercy [love being able to love through the sin],
and to walk humbly with your God?” [humbly because we have been loved in His mercy].
Imagine for a moment,
if during these days of a dearth of mercy,
Christian people were merciful.
Do you think that mercy would stand out?
Do you think folks would notice?
Do you think it would be a refreshment to our culture
if we were bearers of God’s glorious mercy?
And I don’t just mean being merciful to the world,
I mean showing it to one another, as well.
“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all,
especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6.10).
Jesus was spelling out how we are to please God, and in the process, help others.
“He who loves purity of heart and has grace on his lips, the king will be his friend” (Prov. 22.11).
And the ultimate finish? To be like Him.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us,
that we should be called children of God!
…now we are children of God; and
it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,
but we know that when He is revealed,
we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 Jn. 3.1-3).
“With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
with a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
with the pure You will show Yourself pure;
and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks” (Ps. 18.25-27).
We look to Jesus to follow Him—to be like Him—to please the Father, by being pure and merciful.
Truly, “the more we see of His purity,
by keeping ourselves pure and looking on Him,
the more we will grow to be like Him, and
thus the more we will show mercy to the world.”
Reflect.
1. How would you explain mercy to a new Christian?
2. Why do we need to seek the mercy of the Lord every day?
3. What does it mean for us to be agents of God’s mercy to our world, our Personal Mission Field?
The pure of heart are those who have gotten rid of sin’s filth, have cleansed themselves of all the pollution of the flesh and have pleased God through works of faith and justice. As David testifies in a psalm, “Who will climb up the Lord’s mountain, or who will stand in his holy place? The one with innocent hands and a pure heart, who has not received his soul in vain.” And David, rightly knowing that God can be seen only with a pure heart, prays as follows in the psalm [51], “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” So the Lord shows that it is pure-hearted people like this who are blessed. Chromatius (fl. ca. 400),Tractate on Matthew 17.6.3-4
Pray Psalm 15.2-5.
This psalm deals with the kind of character they have who dwell in the Kingdom of the Lord. Use it to let the Lord search your soul, and to help you set some practical goals for growing in His mercy and grace.
Sing Psalm 15.2-5.
(Arlington: This Is the Day the Lord Has Made)
All they who with integrity work peace and righteousness,
forever in God’s house shall be forgiven, kept, and blessed.
Let truth from every heart proceed, and slander disappear:
Thus shall we know God’s grace indeed and feel His Presence near.
No evil to your neighbor speak, nor turn against your friend:
Thus shall you know the end you seek—God’s Presence without end.
Let every sinner be despised; but those who fear the LORD
shall honor have before our eyes, according to God’s Word.
All they who keep their word in faith, though suffering may ensue,
shall know the favor of God’s grace, His Presence ever true.
No greed and no injustice shall they do who seek the LORD;
but on His mercy ever call and stand upon His Word.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Haven’t been to The Ailbe Bookstore lately? There’s a surprise waiting for you.
Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast begins a series of readings from our book, The Kingdom Turn. Our Crosfigell teaching letter has begun a new series on the state of the Church in Europe at the time of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column is studying the Church and why we need it. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
And please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe with your prayers and gifts. You can contribute online, via PayPal or Anedot, or by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
