Farmerville Church of Christ

Sermon Outlines

By Bill Denton

INTRODUCTION

• A. Tonight we continue our study in the Sermon on the Mount
• 1. Our examination of the beatitudes has focused on their relationship to faith
• 2. They tell us what it takes for faith to begin and how it grows
• a. poor in spirit - mourn - meek
• b. those who hunger and thirst after righteousness
• 3. These are all indispensable qualities to the man or woman of faith
• B. Faith that grows must, at some point, come to maturity
• 1. It is at that point, the person of faith begins to reflect the image of God in his or her own life
• 2. A mature faith, does not only provide for the spiritual health of the one who is faithful, but it radiates outward
• C. Matt 5:7
  Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. (NKJ)
• 1. This is a quality that cannot be kept inside for oneself
• 2. To possess this quality, we must give it away to others
• 3. The immature in faith cannot express this quality, for they, like an immature baby, are focused on themselves
• D. Our task tonight is to discover something about the role of mercy in being faithful to the Lord

I. MERCY DEFINED

• A. Some have trouble separating mercy from grace
• 1. They are often found together, such as in the greeting of Paul's letters
• 2. Grace carries the idea of undeserved and unmerited favor
• a. grace is God's provision when a person does not deserve it
• b. grace is God's blessing to those who cannot earn it
• c. grace is giving something positive when there is no reason to expect it
• 3. Mercy, however, carries a somewhat different idea
• a. it does result in the positive blessing of God
• b. however, it is the negative view of God's actions toward us
• c. mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve
• d. mercy is God withholding from us what we have earned
• B. When the infidel Robert G. Ingersoll was delivering his lectures against Christ and the Bible, his oratorical ability usually assured him of a large crowd. One night after an inflammatory speech in which he severely attacked man's faith in the Savior, he dramatically took out his watch and said, "I'll give God a chance to prove that He exists and is almighty. I challenge Him to strike me dead within 5 minutes!" First there was silence, then people became uneasy. Some left the hall, unable to take the nervous strain of the occasion, and one woman fainted. At the end of the allocated time, the atheist exclaimed derisively, "See! There is no God. I am still very much alive!"
  After the lecture a young fellow said to a Christian lady, "Well, Ingersoll certainly proved something tonight!" Her reply was memorable. "Yes, he did," she said. "He demonstrated that even the most defiant sinner cannot exhaust the patience of the Lord in just 5 minutes!" Another man added, " As I was coming downtown today, a belligerent little fellow came running out of an alley, daring me to hit him. Do you suppose I actually struck him, just because he challenged me to do so? In the same way, our Lord will not strike everyone dead who defies Him. We should be thankful that in this age He is still operating in grace and desires to show His love rather than His wrath." (Source -- Bible Illustrator)
• C. Mercy is the necessary balance to righteousness
• 1. God is righteous, but if he were only righteousness, he would be hard, demanding, and impossible for man to approach
• 2. People who are nothing but "righteous" are hard, cold, and so judgmental that there is no room for anything except perfection
• 3. Mercy softens righteousness with compassion and understanding
• 4. But righteousness is based in truth, and mercy never contradicts the truth -- it relieves the demands of justice
• 5. Mercy is the "thou shalt not," tempered by the voice of Calvary saying "Father, forgive them." (E. Stanley Jones)

II. A BRIEF SUMMARY OF BIBLICAL TEACHING ON MERCY

• A. Mercy is part of the character and nature of God
• 1. Deut 7:9
  "Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; (NKJ)
• 2. 1 Chr 16:34
  Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. (NKJ)
• 3. Joel 2:13
  So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. (NKJ)
• B. Mercy enables God to be sensitive to man's distress
• 1. Ps 4:1
  Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer (NKJ)
• 2. Ps 6:2
  Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled. (NKJ)
• 3. Ps 9:13
  Have mercy on me, O LORD! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, you who lift me up from the gates of death, (NKJ)
• C. Mercy deters punishment for sin
• 1. Ps 25:7
  Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness' sake, O LORD. (NKJ)
• 2. Ps 41:4
  I said, ""LORD, be merciful to me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.'' (NKJ)
• 3. Ps 51:1
  Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. (NKJ)
• 4. Luke 18:13
  "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me a sinner!' (NKJ)
• 5. Titus 3:4-6
  But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, (NKJ)
• D. Mercy is the answer to man's hopelessness
• 1. Ps 56:1
  Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; fighting all day he oppresses me. (NKJ)
• 2. Ps 86:3
  Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I cry to You all day long. (NKJ)
• 3. Heb 4:16
  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (NKJ)

III. EXAMPLES OF MERCY

• A. Gen 19:16
  And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. (NKJ)
• B. Gen 39:21
  But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and He gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (NKJ)
• C. Matt 9:27
  When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ""Son of David, have mercy on us!'' (NKJ)
• D. Matt 15:22
  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ""Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.'' (NKJ)
• E. Matt 17:15
  "Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. (NKJ)
• F. Luke 10:36-37
  "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?'' And he said, ""He who showed mercy on him.'' Then Jesus said to him, ""Go and do likewise.'' (NKJ)

IV. POINT: JESUS WANTS US TO PRACTICE MERCY

• A. Mercy may affect all or some of the following
• 1. The level of compassion and pity you feel for others
• 2. Your ability to respond to the needs or cries for help of others
• 3. The harshness with which you judge the actions and motives of others
• 4. Your ability to show acts of kindness, gentleness to others
• 5. Your ability to not seek revenge for the sins of others
• 6. Your ability to stand for the truth and promote righteousness without destroying people in the process
• B. Mercy truly demands a level of faith that not everyone is able to practice

CONCLUSION

• A. Has God been merciful to you?
• 1. Do you realize the great sacrifice given for you?
• 2. Do you realize the awful wrath of God that you have avoided because of his mercy?
• 3. Can't you see that without mercy, there would be no way for us to stand before God?
• B. Remember the story of the unforgiving servant in Mt 18?
• 1. His master was merciful in forgiving the debt he owed
• 2. The servant, however, was unwilling to grant the same mercy to one who owed him a much smaller amount
• 3. Because he was not merciful, the servant finally suffered a worse fate than he had created for the one who owed him
• 4. Matt 18:33
  Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' (NKJ)
• C. Invitation

Copyright © 1995, Bill Denton. Permission granted to use sermon outlines for personal study and preparation of sermons, Bible classes or other teaching format. Sermons may not be reprinted in any form without written permission of the author.

Additional Resources

Sermon on the Mount Index
CrossTies Home Page

You can reach me at: BillDenton@crossties.org