Happiness according to Jesus
The pursuit of Happiness • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. - Albert Schweitzer
Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. - George Burns
A man does not know what true happiness is until he gets married. Then it is to late. - Milton Burel
World Happiness Report 2023: Finland, Denmark, and Iceland are the top three happiest countries in the world. For the sixth year in a row, Finland is the world’s happiest country.
Makarios:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Happy are the nobodies.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
To be poor in spirit means to be humble, to have a correct estimate of oneself.
Poor in spirit — those who know their need for divine forgiveness.
We are God’s people only if we come to the end of ourselves and turn to Him alone for salvation.
24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Why is that? They don’t need God for anything. Self made millionaire. Self made? Who gave you that great business brain?
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought
“Poor in spirit” is the opposite of the world’s attitudes of self-praise and self-assertion.
2. Happy people should be unhappy people for a time.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Mourn: over what? Mourning over sin means having the godly sorrow that produces repentance leading to salvation. The “comfort” is the comfort of forgiveness and salvation.
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
We mourn over sin and despise it. We see sin the way God sees it and seek to treat it the way God does.
3. Happy are the humble.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Meekness is not weakness. This word translated “meek” was used by the Greeks to describe a horse that had been broken. It refers to power under control. It implies a humble acceptance of one’s lowly position before God.
I am not all that. I am not as important as I think or others think I am.
4. Happy are the spiritually hungry.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Far too many of God’s children are spiritually malnourished—not because they don’t eat, but because they eat the wrong things. Donuts taste good, but they have no nutritional value. You can’t have a donut-level spiritual diet and then wonder why you don’t experience God’s blessings. To hunger for righteousness is to apply the righteous standard of God to your life. You need to be hungry for that which pleases God. If you train your appetite in this way you will be filled—you’ll be satisfied with divine contentment.
5. Happy people are merciful people.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Compassionate:
By saying I feel your pain is not mercy. Mercy is meeting the need not just feeling it.
Pity vs. Mercy.
Pity awe that is so sad, then do nothing about it.
Mercy: that is so sad and then do something about it that is mercy.
Showing mercy might be forgiving people.
Forgiven people are forgiving people. If you are not a forgiven person you may not understand the mercy and forgiveness Jesus has shown and given you.
But I have been hurt. To not forgive a person is like drinking rat poison and wait for the rat to die. If you want the rat to die you have to give it to them. If you don’t forgive guess who suffers?
'He who demands mercy and shows none burns the bridge which he himself must later cross. ' Thomas Adams
6. A happy person will be a holy person.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
To be pure in heart is to seek to live a holy life, and that is the secret to happiness.
Don’t chase after happiness, chase after holiness.
Seek for happiness and you will never find it. Seek righteousness and you will discover you are happy. It will be there without your knowing it, without your seeking it. — Martyn Lloyd-Jones
7. A happy person will be a peacemaker.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
This is the only place where the word peacemaker is found.
Sandra Bullock:Miss Congeniality / beauty pageant contestant. What is the one most important thing that our society needs? All the contestants answered, World peace. This verse is not talking about world peace even thought that is a good thing.
Christ followers are to: if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Notice it is not peacekeeping but peacemaker.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
What is this peace? We are reconciled or back in right relationship with God.
18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
Ministry of reconciliation / Peacemaker.
But know this. Sometimes peacemakers are seen as troublemakers.
Who are you to tell me that the way I am living my life is sinning and that I need to accept Jesus into my life to forgive me of them.
8. A happy person will be persecuted.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Righteousness by it’s very nature is confrontational. You don’t even need to be preaching or telling someone about Jesus. Just the fact that you are a Christ follower bugs some ppl. Why is that?
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
In regards to being persecuted for living a God honoring life Jesus uses blessed twice.
Happy/ happy - So. Cal / In & Out Burger / Double, Double.
Double happiness.
He did not say blessed are you when you are being persecuted for being:
Self-righteous / obnoxious / Or tactless / or moronic or idiotic
To be honest there are some really lame Christians out there.
We don’t need to be unnecessarily offensive when we are being a “peacemaker” and sharing our faith.
Our goal is not to burn the bridge but to build it.
Our goal is not to win the argument it is to win the soul.
There are sometime ppl are unnecessarily aggressive and be a little bit mean and misrepresent Christ as his “ambassador”.
Then they are persecuted and say oh praise God I am being persecuted for righteousness. No actually you are being persecuted because you are being a jerk.
What does persecution look like:
In some countries it could be violence, prison, or death.
In the States it could be jokes made on your behalf. Being pasted up for a job promotion. Or even losing some friends.
What should we do when we are being persecuted?
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.