THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

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1 Are you happy? By that, I mean, is your life marked by a general disposition of peace and contentedness? Would you say of yourself that you are generally satisfied not that you are not looking to grow and develop, but that you are you generally satisfied with where God has you and what God is doing in your life? Now for some, their response to that question (Are you happy?) is based on their current circumstances. So, if I ask an Eagles fan, Hey, how about you, are you happy? their response is probably going to be something like Why don t you just go away. The Eagles have begun the season 0-2. For others, happiness is dependent on: How their 401K is doing, or How their kids are doing in school, or Whether circumstances are working themselves out at home. For many I would dare say for most happiness is directly tied to the circumstances that are surrounding them. If things are going well. If things are satisfactory. If they are having no significant difficulties then they are happy. If the converse is occurring then they are not. The plan of God, however, for our lives is not for our general disposition to fluctuate up and down based on the circumstances that are taking place around us. But rather, God s desire for each of us is that we might enjoy peace, contentedness, satisfaction and joy day in and day out regardless of our circumstances. And so, today we are going to begin our look at this idea in a message I have entitled The Pursuit of Happiness. Would you please turn with me in your Bibles to the place we left off last week - Matthew 4:23? We saw in our last study that after a period of about a year of preaching and teaching, Jesus began to call people to come with Him a bit further. There were plenty of people that milled about, listened to His messages, pondered what He had to say, but as we saw in verses 18-22, Jesus began to call folks to go deeper. He said to them, You were intrigued, but I am calling you to be more than intrigued. You listened and considered, but I am calling you to respond and obey. As we closed out our study last week, we saw that four of the men that answered that call were Andrew, Peter, James and John. Together, these four became the first disciples of Jesus men that would leave everything and radically follow Jesus with Him being the teacher and they being the learners. 1 P a g e

2 With these four in tow (and perhaps others), we pick up the account in verse 23 where it says, And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So His fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought Him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and He healed them. And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4:23-25 Now remember, Galilee is the region of Northern Israel it is just south of Syria both of which are mentioned in this passage. As you see in verse 25, Decapolis is also mentioned. Decapolis was comprised of ten (Deca) Gentile cities that aligned themselves in a federation of sorts. Decapolis was the Gentile land on the eastern and southern shores of the Sea of Galilee. Throughout these areas, Jesus is making his way teaching, And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. preaching, Matthew 4:23 And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. and healing, as it says, every disease and every affliction among the people Matthew 4:23 And He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. Matthew 4:23 2 P a g e

3 And, not surprisingly, great crowds began to follow Him And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Matthew 4:23-25 not only from that region, but also as word spread from all the way down in Jerusalem and Judea And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. and even beyond the Jordan River (ie. neighboring nations). Matthew 4:23-25 And great crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan. Notice however, what Jesus does as we move into chapter 5, Matthew 4:23-25 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to Him. Matthew 5:1 Conventional wisdom would say, Great crowds are coming? Keep doing what you are doing so that they will keep coming. Jesus on the other hand withdraws from the crowds and goes up on a mountain. I mentioned this last week, but it bears repeating: The one that is intrigued mills about at the bottom of the hill. It s the disciple that goes up onto the mountain. The casual observer will catch Jesus the next time He is in the area. The follower will lace up their sandals and take the trek up the hill so that they might continue to glean all that He has for them. Now when a rabbi would preach to a crowd, they would stand in the front and proclaim their message. But when a rabbi was preparing to teach his disciples, he would be seated as sign to the people to settle in because the rabbi was about to teach. So Jesus now climbs this 3 P a g e

4 mountain (which is really just a big hill) and as verse 2 says, He opens His mouth to teach - a Greek phrase which means to loudly and clearly articulate. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: The idea is, so that all that have gathered might hear and understand what He has to say. Matthew 5:2 And beginning now in verse 3, Jesus will present what has come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount beginning with what is commonly referred to as the Beatitudes. This is probably not the only time that Jesus ever preached this message. In fact, it has been suggested that this is Jesus standard sermon which He shared, either in whole or in part, each time He encountered a new audience. Now, there are a couple of things that are important to point out before we dive into this familiar portion of scripture. First, the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus manifesto of what it will look like to be a member of the kingdom of heaven. Remember that Matthew has written this gospel to demonstrate to his readers that Jesus is the King of all Kings. As the King, He must have a constitution or a manifesto by which the members of that kingdom will live. The Sermon on the Mount is that manifesto. Secondly, the Sermon on the Mount is presented to disciples. Certainly, anyone can listen to or read these words and attempt to apply these things to their life, but ultimately these are given to disciples. In fact, what Jesus presents in this message is the exact opposite of what the world values. The world says, Stand up for yourself and look out for number one. Jesus says, walk in humility. The world says you need to be strong and cutthroat if you are ever going to get ahead. Jesus says, the meek will inherit the earth. The world promotes self-esteem and the glorification of self. Jesus speaks of our having a brokenness of spirit and desperation for God. I appreciate how AW Tozer described this dichotomy. He said, A fairly accurate description of the human race might be furnished one unacquainted with it by taking the Beatitudes, turning them wrong side out, and saying, Here is your human race. AW Tozer 4 P a g e

5 The beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount as a whole are the exact opposite of what the world promotes is way we are to live our life which is no doubt the cause of the opposition and persecution the follower of Christ will see that is mentioned in verses 11 and 12. So, the Sermon on the Mount is the manifesto of the Kingdom of Heaven. Secondly, it is given to Jesus disciples. Thirdly, and this is very important to note, it does not deal with salvation. Jesus did not present these ideas as the means by which a person can attain salvation. Since they are given to disciples, by default the person has already experienced salvation. These teachings are given to those individuals as the next step in their walk. I bring it up, because since the means of salvation is not mentioned in the context of this teaching, many have erroneously concluded that salvation can therefore be obtained by keeping (or at least attempting to keep) these teachings. Nothing is further from the teaching of scripture. The repeated testimony of the Word of God is that salvation is by faith alone in the work of Christ on the cross. The wages of our sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. The Sermon on the Mount does not deal with the means of salvation, but rather for the disciple how regarding Jesus as king will translate into daily living and ethics. That s the message of the Sermon on the Mount and thus applicable to each one of his disciples regardless of how long we have or have not been walking with Him. Well, that should be a sufficient introduction to this section of scripture. Let s read through verses 3-12 as an overview, and then we will go back and consider each. 3Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 5 P a g e

6 10Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. I ve mentioned in passing that this section of the Sermon on the Mount (verses 3-12) is referred to as the beatitudes. This comes from the Latin translation of the word we have written as blessed. It is the word beatus. We have in our mind what blessed means. In our mind it means things like: Holy, or Glowing; or Without Stain. The reality is the word could actually be translated simply as happy or even Oh how happy. Imagine if it was written that way: Oh how happy are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Oh how happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Oh how happy are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Sure does change the way we approach the passage, doesn t it? I began today by asking the question, Are you happy? and pointed out what I think is pretty clear, that for most happiness is tied directly to the circumstances they are experiencing. In the Kingdom of Christ, however, happiness does not have to be tied to our circumstances. Rather, happiness can become a part of who we are because it is tied into the fabric of our being. Bible commentator William Barclay described the believer s happiness in this way, he said, it is that joy which has its secret within itself, that joy which is serene and untouchable, and self-contained, that joy which is completely independent of all the chances and changes of life. William Barclay That is what Jesus is going to dig into here with His disciples. This is what He is going to unpack as what it means to be as a citizen of His kingdom. Let s dive in and take a look at the secret of the blessed life according to Jesus. First, take notice, that these are not attitudes that we wait until heaven to enjoy (blessed will be), but 6 P a g e

7 these are attitudes that we are to enjoy this side of heaven (blessed are). A helpful way you can consider these beatitudes is to think of them as the attitudes you should be having. Now, I am not of the opinion that we can muster these attitudes up in ourselves. Rather, these are attitudes that God will begin to form in us as we let Him. They are for us certainly targets that we can aim for (and I believe we should), but the reality is they are more like a thermometer for us that simply serves to present us with a reading of what is going on inside us. So that if I notice in my life signs that I am not poor in spirit or mourning for the things that Christ mourns for or hungering after righteousness, then I can know that as a citizen of heaven I have gotten bit off track. If I notice that joy is not present in my life, or is continually tied to life s ups and downs, well then that is an indicator that I have stopped pursuing the blessed life as Jesus defines it an instead gone after the way the world defines it. Let s begin dissecting these attitudes that we should be having. Jesus begins by saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 Jesus begins in the one place any follower of His must begin. He begins by declaring that a citizen of the kingdom of heaven must be poor in spirit. To be poor in spirit is not to see oneself as without value or as insignificant, but rather it is to consider yourself spiritually bankrupt. Poor in spirit is the opposite of spiritual pride. It is to confess that you are one that is sinful or to restate one that is full of sin. It is to acknowledge that in yourself truly no good thing dwells and that you are utterly without moral virtue adequate to commend yourself to God. We are not talking about self-hatred or self-loathing, but rather a response to the Holy Spirit s leading that because of your sin you fall woefully short of God s demand for holy perfection. That is what it means to be poor in spirit. Ever dependent and in need of God s grace and His mercy in your life - This is the place every follower of Christ has to begin and must remain in their walk with Christ. Aren t you glad this is the place to begin, because that s something each one of us can do. Come and say, God. I am a man or a woman in need. I fall short. Will you accept me? 7 P a g e

8 It is not by accident that Jesus begins with this beatitude, because it is the one that puts all of the following commands into perspective. You cannot mourn over your sin until you are first poor in spirit. You cannot be meek toward others until you first have a humble view of yourself. You will never show mercy until you realize just how much mercy you yourself have been shown. So, again, Jesus begins where we all need to begin allowing God to break you and cause you to be poor in spirit. He continues in verse 4, and Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4 As a person is broken of their spiritual pride, Christ begins to enter into their lives and an intimacy of relationship begins to develop. That leads to the second of the beatitudes blessed are those that mourn. The Greek word used for to mourn here is the strongest word for mourning in the Greek language. It is the word reserved for the passionate lament for one who has died (particularly for one that has died unexpectedly). The context is mourning over your sin. It s a sorrow that one experiences because of the fellowship they enjoy with Jesus Christ. What grieves Him begins to grieve you as well. There begins to develop in the person a sense not just that the things they are doing are wrong, but that they are especially grievous. In fact, the one that mourns over their sin is not just mourning over those things they do, but their heart begins to grieve even over those things they do not do. There is a new sense of just how far they are from the holiness of Christ and an even greater desperation and brokenness is formed in this man or this woman. But not a brokenness that is without hope because intricately interwoven with this sense of brokenness is the knowledge that they have been received and accepted and washed and cleansed. It doesn t make sense. How can a person be happy while they are mourning? How can a person feel close to God then ever in conjunction with the prevalence of their sin magnified? It doesn t make sense, but it is what God does. Additionally, it is important to note, that this mourning is not limited to a brokenness over our own sin, but includes even a brokenness over all of those things that grieve the LORD. The person that is mourning in this way begins to develop a heart that breaks for those that are lost. They begin to mourn passionately for the consequences that sin is bringing and will bring into a person s life and eternity. Again, the things that grieve the LORD begin to grieve them. 8 P a g e

9 Let me ask you a question. Do the things that grieve the LORD grieve you? Does it grieve you that people are dying and going to Hell? Does your heart break for the fact that everyday people pass through this life into an eternity outside of a relationship with Christ? Does the fact that nearly 60 million babies have died as a result of legal abortion being allowed in this country grieve you? Are you grieved by the fact that 40% of all babies born in this nation are born to a couples out of wedlock? Does the fact that over half of all marriages in America end in divorce (something the Lord says he hates) bother you in anyway? Is your heart grieved over the epidemic of forced prostitution and sexual trafficking in our world and in our nation with the average age of a victim in this industry being 13 years of age? Does sin and the consequences of sin break your heart? It s supposed to and if it doesn t, then something is askew. As a disciple of Christ, these things are to naturally to grieve our hearts and cause us mourning. We take notice, also, that along with the promise of the blessedness of mourning comes also the promise of being comforted. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. The Book of Revelation promises a day when God will wipe every tear from our eyes Matthew 5:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more,neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. We mourn now for a season, but joy indeed will come in the morning. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Revelation 21:4 Psalm 30:5b Let s keep moving along. The next attitude you should be having is found in verse 5. Verse 5 reads, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 9 P a g e

10 Matthew 5:5 There is a lot of confusion over this beatitude and the meaning of this word meekness. The casual listener would interpret this word meekness as weakness. (Hey they rhyme so why not?) Meekness, however, doesn t refer to weakness, but rather strength under control. The picture that is often suggested is that of a mighty stallion great strength and yet brought under control and submitted. One who is meek can get angry, but even with that anger restrain their wrath in obedience to God s will. One who is meek can suffer wrong, yet remain free from bitterness and revenge. One who is meek is willing to lay aside their rights and privileges and submit themselves to God and His will. There is a necessary humility that is required for meekness, because the strength and ability are there to confront the person or those situation, but those traits are brought into submission to the person s will and ultimately to God s. We talked about humility when we considered poor in spirit and I appreciated what someone said to make the point. They said, It is one thing for me to admit my own spiritual bankruptcy, but what if someone else does? Do I respond then with meekness? The person that is meek is meek before God in that he or she submits to His will and conforms their life to God s Word. They are meek before men in that though they are strong, they interact with others with humility, gentleness, patience and longsuffering. Jesus promises that the meek will inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 The message of the world around us is You have to look out for number 1 because no one else will. If you want something in life you just have to go and take it. Have you heard those messages? I think of those messages in the world of business or politics and even in interpersonal relationships. The message of the world implies if you don t someone else will. But Jesus makes it clear here that if you don t He will. The citizen of the kingdom of God the disciple of Christ will entrust themselves to God and His will knowing that He can be trusted and confident that He will provide. Let s continue. Verse 6, 10 P a g e

11 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6 Two words are used for hunger and thirst that go beyond this idea of being a little hungry or a little thirsty. The words are describing a profound hunger that cannot be satisfied with a snack or a profound thirst that is going to need more than a few sips to satiate. In saying, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Jesus is describing a longing for God and the things of God in their life and in the world around them. We (even as believers) hunger and thirst for all sorts of things. We long for power. We long for wealth. We long for comfort. We long for position. Ultimately, we long for happiness and believe that all of those things are going to bring it only to find after spending a lifetime pursuing those things that happiness is not to be found in them. Jesus makes clear that the blessed one (O how happy) is the one whose heart is starving for righteousness. A person that hungers for righteousness desires (with all that is in them) to be right with God. Not positionally (that is taken care of salvation), but practically. This person desires that nothing would come between them and Christ. If they discover sin in their lives they immediately put it away because such sin will hinder them from that close relationship they are desperate for. If they see sin in the world around them, they will take steps to minimize its effect or more importantly replace it in this world by promoting righteousness. A person that hungers and thirsts for righteousness longs to have a righteous nature. A person that hungers and thirsts for righteousness pangs to be sanctified and holy. This person, Jesus says, will be filled or satisfied. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6 What is interesting about that is it is a filling that longs to be filled even more. We are satisfied, but yet we keep longing for even more in our lives. Next up, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 11 P a g e

12 Matthew 5:7 Now remember, the context of things is speaking to people that have already received mercy - believers. These are people that by God s mercy they have been forgiven of their sins. By God s mercy have had their spirit broken. By God s mercy have begun to find themselves hungering and thirsting for righteousness. And by God s mercy they have begun to show mercy not because they have to, but rather because God has begun internally to compel them to. Self-righteousness is gone. Any sort of judgmental, critical spirit has departed. They find in themselves no place for arrogance or spiritual pride. God has caused them to become a merciful person and promises them that they will indeed receive mercy themselves. We have a few more. Verse 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8 Aren t you glad these beatitudes didn t begin with this one? When we begin our relationship with Christ our hearts are anything but pure. In fact, even as we walk with Christ for some length of time, the impurities of our heart are regularly exposed. But here is the good news for each of us here this morning. As we begin walking according to this Manifesto of the Christian life, God begins to change us from the inside out. Of course sin is still present, and we continue to do things (as Paul said) that we do not want to do, but something begins to change in us. Our hearts begin to long for purity (not the image of purity, but inner, moral purity). The intimacy of our relationship with Christ begins to drive us toward purity not the fear of the consequences of sin or the fear of getting caught. Our heart begins to want what God wants. It becomes undivided and utterly sincere in its devotion and commitment to Him. Not wanting to do anything that would hinder the fellowship that it enjoys with Him. And notice, the promise for the one that is pure in heart is that they will see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8 12 P a g e

13 I m reminded of the verse in Jeremiah that says, You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD. The pure of heart shall see the Lord. Verse 9, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Jeremiah 29:13-14a Matthew 5:9 This is not a general blessing upon those that live in peace, but rather on those that make for peace. Ultimately, a peacemaker speaks of the one that brings the ministry of reconciliation between God and man to those that are around them by introducing them to the forgiveness of sin found in Jesus Christ. Additionally though, being a peacemaker is speaking of those that overcome evil with good. (Rom 12:21). It speaks of those that take up the cause of the exploited or the wronged and actively intervene on their behalf. How much easier it is to say, Not my problem, but the peacemaker in purity of heart gets involved and takes positive action toward creating peace. It speaks of those that don t go looking for drama and take no steps to create drama in their relationships or in the relationships of others. It s what the disciple of Christ is called to be and thus notice, those who are shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9 These are the attitudes (humility, mourning over your sin, meekness, hungering for righteousness, being merciful,) that every disciple of Christ should be having and according to Jesus, this is the means by which a person will live the blessed (happy) life. Are you seeing these things being built up in your life? Remember, these aren t life traits to drum up in your life, but rather indicators of God s work in your life. Noticing a lack of humility 13 P a g e

14 bring that to the Lord and ask Him to search out why that is. Ask Him to expose what it is that is keeping that from forming in you and then of course give it over to Him when He does show you. Noticing a harsh, critical, judgmental spirit give it to the Lord and petition Him to expose what it is that is keeping you one who has experienced mercy from showing mercy. I would hate to see any of us here leave this morning saying, I m going to try harder to be a better Christian. I have read the Manifesto and now I am going to live it out. That s a mistake, because the reality is the harder you try the more prevalent will be your failure. Give it over instead to the Lord and petition Him to do a changing work within you. Certainly you have a part to play in the process He will reveal and you must respond, but it has to be His work and not your own. This morning, let these beatitudes serve as a mirror to your heart. Let them expose what is going on in there and if they reveal anything that is askew, bring those things to the Lord and ask Him to change you. Let s pray that God would build these traits into each of our life. 14 P a g e