Pursuit of Purity
Notes
Transcript
Worldwide, the United States is home to more international migrants than any other country, and more than the next four countries—Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Kingdom—combined, according to the most recent UN Population Division data, from mid-2020.
The reason: “The American Dream”
“the American dream of a better, richer, and happier life for all our citizens of every rank.”“richer” materially, but spiritually
each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”
In 1931 a historian named James Truslow Adams set out to make sense of the crisis of the Great Depression,
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. July 4 1776
There are two verbs in Hebrew meaning “to bless.” One is bārak and the other ʾāšar.
bārak is used by God when he “blesses” somebody or when sombody blesses God but never āšar.for this kind of blessing
ʾāšar is reserved for man, is that ʾāšar is a word of envious desire,
bārak is used the initiative comes from God.
God can bless someone even when the person doesn’t deserve it.
On the other hand, to be blessed (ʾašrê), there is something that has to be done.
This is a person that is so well spoken of with a status that everyone else wishes to possess
This is a person who enjoys such happiness and bliss that everyone knows about it and talks about it and wants to have it
This is a person with a kind of happiness that everyone wants to pursue
You probably have someone like that in mind
You look around and see a group of people pr a person that seems to be so happy/ got everything together/ that you wish you experienced the same thing
Our natural inclination is to look at someone by the world’s standard of blessing
Look at someone with our ideal ofthe American dream and consider this person to be blessed/well spken of ot the point we desire to have the same kind of life
Psalm 73:3–5 “3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. 5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.”
The last thing in our pursuit of happines that most of us will consider is what tis Psalm teaches about such a person
This Psalm tells us that this blessedness/ blissful/ desirable/ complete life is only possible by those who are not utterly forsaken by YHWH
I want to help you pursue the right kind of happiness that is lasting and desirable by showing you why your happinesss is directly related to your love/obedience/knowledge of scripture
I want to do this by giving you 3 reason why your ultimate happiness is a result of your knowledge/love and obedience to scripture
Description
Decree
Desire
Description
Blameless Ways(1a)- a person that is constantly behaving/acting in a manner that is ethically sound/ upright/ A person of complete integrity
(1b)this person is able to do that because the path he walks on daily is actively intertwined/immersed/ saturated in the full counsel of God as revealed in Scripture (Torah)
Seek God(2b)- a person who carefully inquires /studies/analyses/searches for divine/spiritual/ supernatural knowledge, advice, insight in order to apply it (whole heartedly) with the totality of their intellect/emotion/will
. (2a)this person is able to do this because of the faithful/ vigilant keeping / complience to what God has revealed in his word about himself. This person from the depth of his soul is known as one who’s always searching for spiritual insight because when he finds it he conforms his life to it
Do no unrighteousness/wrong(3a)- Person who behaves without any moral failures/ actively and persistently avoiding malice & injustice
(3b) this person does no wrong/ because their manner of life / the way they live is within the guardrails of God’s way. They follow the well trotted path that was set by the Lord and revealed in His word
All of us want to be described in this way and receive the blessedness/the happiness we pursue.
The problem is that we try to pursue happiness apart from God’s Law/His Testimonies/ His ways
Therefore our happiness at best is a temporary one and most times illusive because of the:
Decree
(v4)Ordained/Commanded- God Himself (The creator and sustainer of the universe has given an order for the pursuit of true and lasting happiness to be inseparably tied to a watchful diligent conformity to His Precepts
Psalm 33:6–9 “6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” (Shows the authority and the validity of God’s claim)
37 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?
9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
(v5)Established/ maybe steadfast- God has determined that happiness will be marked in a manner of life that is consistent with the authority of scripture
18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
And because this is true, in your pursuit of happiness your:
3. Desire
Not to be ashamed( embarrassment/guilt/regret/remorse- is linked to your perception/ attentive consideration of the full counsel of God
To be full of gratitude that is genuine/honest (which you should)- learning God’s rightous/ learning what’s right or wrong is nessessary
John 17:13–14 “13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
To not be utterly forsaken, keeping God’s statues is necessary
This is seen 1 John 3:23–24 “23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”
This is the completion of your pursuit of happiness
If you want to be described as happy, you need to heed to the decree, and make it your desire to look and find and encounter the fulfillment of/ personification of these words in the Lord Jesus Christ
On Christ the solid Christ I stand, all other ground is sinking sand