Sermon: Sunday, 28th September, 2025
Speaker: John Johnstone
Scripture: Matthew 5:7-8
When we become Christians, it is important to realise that this is just the beginning of a life-long journey following Jesus as his disciples. When Jesus becomes our Saviour and King, he expects us to live in a certain way – his way. And what Jesus focuses on in our discipleship is our hearts. For Jesus, our hearts are the heart of the matter.
T Johnson: ‘Here in the beatitudes we are treated to Jesus’ most complete description of his disciples. Jesus works from the inside out, zeroing in on the heart and describing the behaviour that flows from it. What emerges is an individual, and then a community that is radically different.’
Today we consider ‘Blessed are the merciful and pure in heart;’ and we need to know that Jesus expects these virtues to be in your lives. He expects to see all 8 characteristics. Christians are to be different. In what way? We are to be poor in spirit, mourn our sin, show meekness, hunger for righteousness, be merciful, pure in heart, act as peacemakers and we will be persecuted. We must display all of these qualities, albeit imperfectly. Is this realistic?
The world high jump record has been held for 30 years by a Cuban called Javier Sotomayor. He cleared 2.45 metres. Imagine God expected us to all jump 2.5 metres. We would think that is unrealistic and discouraging and impossible. Perhaps that’s how we feel reading this list of eight virtues. It might seem just as impossible and unattainable. But there is one thing we are forgetting – we can grow in all of these areas through our own efforts and through the help of the Holy Spirit!
If we want to be merciful and pure in heart, it begins on our knees in prayer and then we must make every effort to follow Jesus, the one who is always merciful and pure in heart. Are you a strong Christian? Mature? How can you tell? You must consider your heart and whether or not it is growing in these eight areas. And again, if this series does not result in you going home and praying and asking God to enlarge your heart in these ways, it will be a waste of time. Think of David’s words: ‘Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.’ (Psalm 51:10)
1. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Jesus’ followers must be merciful. Why? Because we are the ones who have received enormous mercy from God, and so surely then we must, in turn, display that mercy. If we don’t, it’s possibly a sign that we are not true Christians. That’s what the parable of the unmerciful servant is all about. Surely a man forgiven an enormous debt must, in turn, forgive a smaller debt owed to him.
What is mercy? How can we define it? Mercy is pity for the needy which leads to active help. Mercy is not seeing someone in need and feeling sorry for them but doing nothing about it. That is just sentimentalism. One of the best examples of mercy in the Bible is the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan saw a man helpless, and suffering and his mercy was costly, as it involved his time, money and even some personal risk. Imagine the Good Samaritan looked at the injured man with warm and fuzzy feelings in his heart but failed to act. He would have been known as the sentimental Samaritan! The religious leaders of the parable were unmerciful: they saw the need, but they did not want to get involved.
Friends, this is a searching beatitude. Blessed are the merciful. If I am honest, there are times when I see a need, and I don’t want to get involved. What should I do? I need to keep coming back to the foot of the cross and meditating on the fact that in Christ, God has shown enormous mercy on me. The more I appreciate the extent of God’s mercy on me, the more likely I will be to show mercy for others. The more I remember that God helped me when I was helpless to save myself, the more I will look on those around me in need with mercy.
John Stott defines mercy as: ‘Compassion for those in need.’ We see far beyond our own needs and wants and we see the needs of others and want to help. Are you like that? Actually helping?
You might see someone who is lonely, or in pain, or in distress. You might see someone who lacks the basics. You might not know them personally. They might even be on the other side of the world but through a missionary agency you help them and show mercy. You help to give them clean water or clothes for winter. You might give to Steadfast Global or Blythswood, and through that people are given help, such as micro-loans which change their lives and enable people to support themselves.
Terry Johnson: ‘We live in a fallen world and are often surrounded by the consequences of the fall. Because there is sin in the world we encounter poverty. The merciful will try to secure material provision for the poor. We will encounter children who are orphaned. The merciful will find families for them. We will encounter ignorance. The merciful will provide schools… We will encounter sickness. The merciful will seek to heal. We will encounter war. The merciful will soothe the wounds. We will encounter crime. The merciful will provide protection. And of course, we will encounter the spiritually lost. The merciful will bring to them the gospel. The world may turn away in contempt or disgust from the weak and the needy. The disciples of Christ respond with compassion and sympathetic help.’
Showing others mercy must be our default position, even those who we feel have let us down. Did we not let God down? We still do. Listen to how important mercy is to God. ‘For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.’ (Hosea 6:6) Jesus repeats this verse in Matthew chapters and 12. God wants to see mercy in your heart resulting in acts of mercy upon others. How can we do this more together as a church? How can we do this in our families and as individuals? The shoebox appeal is a start but it has to be much more than once a year. It must be a way of life for us. Think back over the last month. When have you shown mercy to others?
Why do often fail to show mercy, even as Christians? Sometimes we are just too self-centred. We are too caught up in our own needs and wants and feelings. We live in our own little bubbles. Perhaps we’ve never experienced poverty so we just don’t think about those who are poor. It’s not on our radar. Perhaps we’ve never been seriously ill. For some, we might be full of self-pity, caught up in our own suffering. We think: ‘I’ve got enough going on in my own family without getting involved in someone else’s mess.’ Our prayer ought to be: ‘Lord, help me to get past myself and see the needs of others and to help them, by your grace.’
Another barrier to showing mercy is our own selfishness. Like we saw in the Good Samaritan, it’s costly to show others mercy. It involves our time and money and energy and personal inconvenience and getting out of our comfort zones. Some people just want to keep their time and money and energy all to themselves. Our prayer: ‘Lord, keep me from selfishness’.
Friends, we need to keep coming back to this question: where would we be today were it not for the mercy of God? We would be lost and without hope. Surely, then, we ought to be the first to show mercy to others. Sadly, sometimes those who aren’t believers can outdo us showing mercy.
What does God promise the merciful? They will be shown mercy. Of course, this does not mean that we earn God’s mercy by showing mercy to others. It is not saying God shows us mercy because we show mercy to others. The only basis for God’s mercy to us is the death of Jesus on the cross.
What Jesus means is this: those who have been shown mercy by God will in turn extend mercy to others. And if we do not show mercy, it is a sign that we have never really known God’s mercy. Our hearts are devoid of mercy and are instead filled with pride, selfishness, bitterness and a judgmental spirit. This is a serious state to be in. Our prayer: ‘Lord, give me a heart filled with mercy’.
2. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Of all the beatitudes, this one seems the most out of reach. Of course, it is not. It is not meaning that we can reach a state of perfection. What does it mean, then, to be pure in heart? In our culture, the heart often refers to our emotions. We are broken-hearted, for example. But in Jesus’ day, the heart meant the core of your being – the real you. So, it includes your desires and motives and thinking and personality. It is your essential core.
Being pure in heart means being morally pure inwardly. Again, this is not about being perfect, but about striving with God’s help to put sins in our lives to death and to nurture what is good and true. This word was used for washing clothes in order to rid them of impurities. Is this what you are doing in your life? Purging the bad and clinging to what is good? Or, are we beginning to tolerate things in our lives which should not be there, like gossip, pornography, pride and greed? As soon as we begin to accept such things, we cannot be pure in heart. We need to wage war on such things, taking them seriously. If you eye causes you to sin, says Jesus, then gouge it out. The pure in heart have a no-nonsense approach to sin.
We can fool other people by coming to church regularly and looking the part. But we never fool God. He wants purity on the inside. ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.’ (Matthew 23:27-28)
But there is another element to being pure in heart. The pure in heart have an undivided loyalty to God. It is a heart unmixed. This word for pure was used for wine which had not been mixed with water. It was pure wine. God wants our motives to be pure and not mixed. When we give to the church we do it to please God and not to show off. When we do good we do it to serve God and not because we are self-righteous.
This is not easy. Does God have all our hearts? Or do we love money more or sport or our families? If so, our hearts are not pure but divided. Of course, we never reach perfection this side of eternity. But we pray asking God that when we do things, it would be less about doing things for selfish reasons and more about doing them for his glory – to please him. ‘Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.’ (Psalm 86:11)
The promise God gives. The whole point of Christianity is to bring us into God’s presence. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.’ (Matthew 5:8) We can see God now by faith.
‘By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.’ (Hebrews 11:27)
We see God in Christ. ‘The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’ (John 1:14)
And in Heaven, John says we shall see him as he is. ‘They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.’ (Revelation 22:4) There is great mystery here. ‘Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.’ (1 John 3:2-3) I love these verses. They’re saying one day we will be totally pure, so get on with being as pure as we can be right now! Our present efforts for purity are consistent with our future hope.
Think of the money people will spend to go on holiday and see beautiful things, from the Great Barrier Reef to Machu Picchu to hiking in the Alps. But the pure in heart will see God. It is mind-blowing to think what that will be like. To see God is to experience the greatest, loveliest, most awesome One in the universe. ‘You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.’ (Psalm 16:11) Seeing God, and full of joy.
M L Jones: ‘The only way to have a pure heart is to realise you have an impure heart, and to do that which alone can lead to cleansing and purity.’
We cannot change ourselves and so we need to pray for a pure heart. God will give this to us if we ask! And the other thing we need to do is soak ourselves in scripture.
‘You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.’ (John 15:3)
‘Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.’ (John 17:17)