So You Want To Be Happy

[00:00:00] She's back from SMBI and also the extended choir tour that she was on, so good to have you home again, Rosalyn. I'd like to have you take your Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 5. You notice the title that I put in the bulletin that says, So You Want to Be Happy? I didn't know whether to put a question mark after that or not, whether it's a statement or a question. [00:00:36] But happiness is something that I think almost everyone desires. And if someone walked up to you right now and said, are you happy? What would you say? If I went up and down the row here, and we started with me, and then we started going up each person this morning, and asked you, or you could share that if there is anything in your life that is a disappointment, or a struggle, [00:01:14] So, or some trial that you're going through, I would venture to say that every one of you would have something. Every one of you would say, yes, there is something in my life that, something is going on. There's something in my life that I wished was different, and it's difficult. And so on that basis, would we have to say this morning that we are one unhappy bunch? [00:01:54] I guess it depends a little bit on your definition of happiness, doesn't it? Happiness is one of those things that is somewhat elusive. I know our Declaration of Independence even talks about having the pursuit of happiness. and it doesn't guarantee happiness just to be able to pursue it I guess. But happiness is something that it seems like we, do we ever come to a place and say I'm completely happy? Usually we say I'm happy about something, I'm happy about this or happy about that. [00:02:31] But it's a little bit like humility, you know, when we think we have it, we don't. And that's a little bit like happiness is sometimes. It's a little bit hard just to put your finger on it and say, right now I'm just completely happy. But, you know, maybe you can experience that, but it's one of those things that's a little bit elusive. Now, is my idea of happiness, and we all have our ideas of happiness, but is my idea of happiness and God's idea the same? [00:03:08] What I would like to see in my life in order to be happy is that the same as what God would like to see. Now, I didn't really think about this when I was planning this message this morning, but it does go along somewhat with the Sunday school lesson and pleasing God and so on. But I'd like to turn to Matthew chapter 5. And here we have what are known, very familiar to us, are known as the Beatitudes. [00:03:41] And this term, Beatitudes, doesn't come from the English Bible. I understand it comes more from the Latin Bible that was taken from that term. And it's a list of, depending on how you number them, some people say they're eight and some say they're nine. Those last two oftentimes are kind of lumped together. But each one of those verses start with blessed. And this stands out to us, this term blessed. [00:04:14] Blessed. The best definition I could find about this term blessed is, it's a spiritual well-being, it's a prosperity and a deep joy of the soul. I'm not sure who wrote that, but I thought that was the definition of this term blessed. You know, happiness is something that has more to do with my emotions. It's something that I'm feeling. [00:04:48] But blessed is more of the idea that this is something that comes from God. It's a favor that God gives to us as a result of letting Him develop in me what He wants to do. He blesses us. Oftentimes, I've just always kind of taken this word blessed and happy as being kind of interchangeable. And maybe they are to a certain degree. [00:05:19] Sometimes we read it, happy are the poor, and so on. But I decided, well, I wonder how other translations translate this. And so I went and I checked a number of different translations. And all the translations continue to use the word blessed here, or blessing. I think the Living Bible used the word happy in a couple of instances in it, which is a paraphrase. But I was just kind of surprised that the different translations all use this term blessed or blessing. [00:05:58] And so it is a good word. I think it's a beautiful word that is used here. God knows what we need. And I'm going to use this term a little bit with the whole idea of happiness because I believe these things lead to real happiness in our life. When God blesses us, when we experience the blessings of God, it does lead to a true happiness. God knows what we need for true happiness. [00:06:29] After all, He made us. He knows the innermost workings of our minds and our spirits and our soul and so on. And He knows what we need for true happiness. Now we think we know too. Sometimes we're like the little children, you know, that they could be completely happy if they had all the pop and the candy that they could possibly eat. But we as parents say, and sometimes grandparents say, We know, no, that's not good for you because we know in the long run you're going to be miserable. [00:07:03] It's not going to be good for you. And we have a better idea of what makes them happy even though they think they know. Well, that isn't limited to children. Adults sometimes think we know better than what God does of what would make us happy. Well, let's look at these eight Beatitudes. And I'm not going to, this morning, give an exhaustive, detailed look into each one of them. I guess my goal this morning is more to give an overview of them and touch on each one of them. [00:07:38] But just to help us to really see what God wants to produce in our lives so that He can bless us. And we notice that each one has its own reward. There is a reward because if we let God develop this in our lives, then we will be rewarded for that. And he gives that reward each one afterwards. [00:08:08] I might also say, before I start, that these can seem quite contrary to what the world or to what natural man envisions for happiness and blessedness. They can be quite different than what oftentimes is thought of. It starts in verse 3, and the first one is, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [00:08:43] I think this poor in spirit has somewhat the idea of a humble mind, of humility. Over in Psalm 51, we're going to look at a few verses, we're not going to look at verses on every one of them. And by the way, one thing that's interesting about the Beatitudes, some of these actually quote Old Testament verses. And really all the concepts, I believe, in each one of them are found in the Old Testament, contrary to what we might think sometimes. [00:09:16] But Psalm 51, verse 17. It says the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. So this poor in spirit, I think, is kind of this idea of broken in spirit. It's a spirit that recognizes my unworthiness before God. [00:09:48] It recognizes the fact that I am unworthy and that I have nothing to really be proud of. I have nothing to be proud of. Everything I have comes from God. And it's the kind of spirit that is very careful about letting pride creep into us. Because pride has a way of just getting into our lives. [00:10:19] And even spiritual pride. I think spiritual pride is a real danger sometimes for us as believers. Because we can kind of look down on other people around us. And we can think of ourselves, I'm better, I'm a little bit better than others. But this says that, blessed are the poor in spirit. The poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And that's the kind of spirit that God wants us to have in our lives. [00:10:51] And then the second one is, blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. And let's go again back to Psalm 37. No, I'm sorry. I don't have one, but I looked down on the wrong one. But, blessed are they that mourn. What does He want us to mourn for? What should we be mourning? I believe the mourning here comes from seeing our own sin in our lives. [00:11:24] The mourning comes from being sorry for that sin and realizing that too often sin has a way of getting the upper hand. And I believe that there needs to be a sorrow for that. I'm afraid too often also that when we do sin, when something does happen, that we do something that is wrong, our first tendency is to excuse it in some way. [00:11:58] Well, I just didn't mean that, or I just couldn't help myself, or we want to blame someone. You know, if they wouldn't have done that, I wouldn't have done this, and that type of thing. But that's not what Jesus is talking about. He says when we sin, when we do something wrong, mourn for it. Have a sorrowful spirit for the things in my life that need to be changed. I think about that example that Jesus told about the Pharisee and the publican that went up to pray. [00:12:34] And the Pharisee stood there and was bragging about how good he is. But the publican said he wouldn't even lift his eyes to heaven. He said, God be merciful to me, a sinner. And it says he went away justified. And here it says that those that mourn will be comforted. And I believe that that's the kind of attitude that God wants to have in our lives when we experience the things in our lives that are wrong and difficult. The third one is, blessed are the meek. [00:13:09] Blessed are the meek. What are meek people? I think a meek person is one that has a gentle and a quiet spirit. It doesn't mean weak. There's a lot of difference between meek and weak. And sometimes we mix up those two. But I believe a meek person is a strong person, and yet they're gentle. And they're a quiet type of person. Go over to Psalm 37. And here's an instance where this is quoting from the Psalms. [00:13:43] Psalm 37, verse 11. It says, But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. So, he's saying that it's going to be the meek that inherit things, that inherit the earth. Real strength comes through meekness. Matthew 11, 29. We see that Jesus himself places himself as meek. [00:14:24] You know, I said that meekness and weakness are not the same. And none of us would say that Jesus is weak. And yet Jesus says, Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. So we see one here that is over all the earth. We see one here that all, we see it in our verses this morning, that all the earth belongs to him. [00:14:56] And yet he calls himself meek and lowly. And I believe that it helps us to see that, why he says it's going to be the meek that shall inherit the earth. Now here again, this is so contrary of what is often thought. The way of man, the way of the world says that those that are going to own the earth are those that are going to be the strongest. Those that have the biggest army, those that have the most political power, those that have the most money, those are the ones that are going to rule the earth. [00:15:33] And you know, man has tried that over the centuries and they've come and gone and they've ruled for a while and pretty soon they're gone. and so on. And it never stays, never lasts. But only the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ is going to last forever. And I believe that's why it says that the meek are going to inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek. Number four, and we find this over in verse six, it says, [00:16:04] Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. We know that physical hunger and thirst are two very powerful forces in our lives, aren't they? They are great motivators. We get hungry and we get thirsty, and we're ready to look for some food and something to drink. And it motivates us to take care of these physical bodies. Well, I believe that when we develop a real hunger and thirst after righteousness, that is also a real motivator for us. [00:16:47] It's a real motivator to seek after the righteousness of Christ, His holiness, the righteousness of God. You know, we become like who we have fellowship with. That's just a rule that there is. We know that sometimes when people get into the wrong crowd, we say, they become like that crowd. It's because they're keeping company with certain people. [00:17:18] And they become like that. Well, I think that same thing happens when we have fellowship with Christ. When we really have a true fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ, then our desire is to become like Him. And when we see Jesus, and we see His holiness and His righteousness, I think that we should just be able to hunger and thirst after that. That's what I want to become. And, you know, let's just all pray for that desire. [00:17:55] Lord, give me that kind of hunger and thirst after the righteousness of Christ. And if we have that desire, it says we will be filled. We will be satisfied. And He'll bring that about into our lives. That will happen. If we have that hunger and thirst after that. And so, just a real reward that he gives to us of that kind of satisfaction. Number five is, blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. [00:18:33] Now this idea of merciful here has two parts to it. Normally we think of merciful as being merciful to someone that has hurt us. You know, someone has done something to us, and, you know, in some way they've hurt us in some way. And yet we extend mercy to them, and we forgive them. And that's being a merciful person. And I believe that, you know, every one of us have wronged someone else. [00:19:08] And I think he's saying that, you know, when we're merciful to people, then most likely people are going to be merciful to us, too, as we have wronged other people and that we have hurt other people. But there's a second part to this idea of merciful, and the second part of that is to give to the poor, to have mercy upon those that are less fortunate than we are. Those that are suffering in some way. Perhaps they're hurting physically or spiritually or some way. [00:19:44] And our heart just goes out to them. That's one of the spiritual gifts, isn't it? The gift of mercy. And, you know, where we just see the needs in people's lives. And some of you have that gift. Glad for that. And you just pick out people that you know are hurting in some way. And you extend that mercy. Now we can all do that. You don't have to just have the gift to do that. [00:20:15] We can all do that. But he's saying, you know, blessed are those that are merciful. That you're willing to help. You're willing to get involved with other people. And help them through the difficulties that they're facing. And the reward for that, again, is you shall obtain mercy. And I'm sure if we would go through this morning and just have you share, that many of you would say, yes, I know what that means. That mercy has been extended to me. [00:20:49] And so, there again, that's what God wants us to have in our lives, an attitude that he wants. The next one is number six. And that is, verse 8, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. You know, true purity starts from within, doesn't it? We talk about having a pure life, and that starts from within us. [00:21:22] Because, and it can only start from a pure heart, a heart that has been converted. A heart that has been changed through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way we can be pure in heart. And if we have a pure heart, it's going to come out. We won't be able to hide it. We won't be able to cover it up. It seems like the opposite. We try to cover up. [00:21:52] We try to, on the outside, do things that are right and good. And we try to cover up what's really inside our hearts. But Jesus is saying, blessed are the pure in heart. Really concentrate on having a pure heart. You know, we don't have to worry about watching pornography if we have a pure heart. We don't have to worry about reading the wrong kind of books if we have a pure heart. We don't have to worry about going into the wrong places and places we shouldn't be if we have a pure heart. [00:22:30] Because we won't desire those things. We won't want to do them. Those things will be something we want to shove off because of the condition of our hearts. And that's where it needs to start. Is develop a pure heart. He says they're going to see God. Those are the ones that are going to see God. And, you know, the presence of God cannot stand, wickedness cannot be in the presence of God. [00:23:08] And God cannot stand wickedness in His presence. And He only wants those with a pure heart. I had to think about Psalm 24. I think I was in the Sunday school lesson this morning. You know, who shall stand on this holy hill? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, it says, are the ones that are going to stand with the Lord. What a reward that is going to be. And in number 7, you see in verse 9, it says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. [00:23:47] Blessed are the peacemakers. You know, the gospel itself is called the gospel of peace. And the gospel brings a peace between God and man. When the gospel is really followed, you have this enmity between God and man that started back in the Garden of Eden. But you have that restored, and you have a peace comes between God and man. But another thing happens there too. And that is, when we really follow the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, then there becomes a peace between people. [00:24:25] It brings a peaceful relationship when people really follow the gospel. And God has given us the responsibility as believers to be peacemakers. You know, we can do one of two things when there's conflict. And we all face conflict at times. We can either take and start fanning the flames and making the conflict grow, [00:24:58] or we can take the cool water of peacemaking and pour it on the flames and out in them. And I believe God has given us the tools to be peacemakers. To bring peace between people and God, but also between people and people. And I think that's a big responsibility that we have. Go to James chapter 3. [00:25:28] As a matter of fact, these verses I read here in James chapter 3, I had to think really how many of these are included in these Beatitudes. But James chapter 3, verse 14 through 18, it says, But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. [00:26:03] That's conflict, isn't it? That's just the kind of things that bring all this. Verse 16, For where envying and strife is, there is confusion, and every evil work. That's a tragic scene. That's something that is horrible. But then here's where the peacemaking comes in. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure and impeacable, it's gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. [00:26:47] And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. You know, if you take those verses 17 and 18 and really put those into practice, that brings about peacemaking. Real peacemaking comes in through those when you put those into practice. So blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. That's our responsibility as children of God, is to be peacemakers. [00:27:23] And then we come to the last one. We could say last one or last two. Blessed is used in the next two verses, and sometimes these two verses are combined, sometimes they're separated. And here again, in this one especially, this is so contrary to what we would normally think. But he says, Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. [00:27:59] Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Now, he starts out there and says, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake. You know, we can be persecuted, or we can think we're being persecuted for something that we're actually doing wrong. And sometimes children feel like they're persecuted by their parents, you know. Well, that persecution is there for a reason. [00:28:31] We don't use that term usually for it. We use discipline. But, you know, we think, you know, they're really hard on me. Well, it's because of doing wrong. And he says, but when we're persecuted for righteousness sake, go over to 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 2, verse 20. He says, for what glory is it, if, when ye are buffeted for your faults, ye take it patiently? [00:29:10] Now he says, what's so special about that? You've got some faults, and you're getting corrected for it, and he uses the term buffeted there. But he says, you take that patiently, you know, that's really nothing special. But if, when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. And, you know, it seems like that's sometimes the hardest it is for us to take. When we've had good intentions of doing something, we felt like we've done it right, and that we've, you know, we've done the best we can, and we had good intentions and everything, and then we get criticized for it, or we get persecuted for it in some way. [00:29:57] And, you know, then it's easy for us to get hurt, and, well, if that's the way they're going to be, I'm not going to, you know, if that's the way that church is, I'm not going to go there. And, you know, all that kind of attitude that we can develop so easy. But, you know, he's saying here, if we are persecuted for righteousness' sake, he says, for theirs, blessed, you find that a blessing. For he says great for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [00:30:28] And so just again so contrary from what we think And then he says when you are reviled and persecuted He said and people say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake He says rejoice and be exceeding glad Now, that word exceeding there always kind of stands out to me. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. [00:31:02] You know, I had to think of the apostles there when they were persecuted. They went back, and it talks about them rejoicing. They actually followed what Jesus said. And I'm afraid sometimes we can just kind of stand around and mope and feel discouraged and so on. But it says here to rejoice and be glad. For great is your reward in heaven, and for you said, so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Here again, so opposite of what we oftentimes think and experience. [00:31:35] Well, I believe that God wants us to be truly happy. But I believe we're only going to be truly happy if we're only truly blessed of God. And I believe we're only going to be really blessed of God when we follow what Jesus has taught us here. If we really develop these kind of attitudes in our lives, I believe we will experience the blessings of God. And we will experience the most happiness that we will ever experience. [00:32:10] But it's going to have to be God's way, not man's way. Lord bless you. Let's stand for our closing prayer. Loving Father, we thank you. We thank you so much just for the privilege of being able to read your word again this morning. And Lord Jesus, you've taught us so much from your word. [00:32:41] And Lord, I just pray that we can develop these attitudes that you've instructed us in here today. Lord, it's something that doesn't come natural for us. It's only something that can be developed through the power of your spirit working in our lives. But Lord, give us that hunger and that thirst for these things. You promised we'll be filled. We thank you for that. Lord, I just pray that you would just work in all of us. [00:33:15] Just help us, Father. We need your help. We need your wisdom. We need your grace. And I just ask that you would dismiss us now with your blessing. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.