God's Guide to Happiness pt.2

Intro:

Some of the people who seemed the happiest, funniest, wealthiest in pop culture have proven that after everything the world can offer none of it.

Marilyn Monroe - voted as most beautiful woman in human history - one of the most famous actresses EVER, friends with the President of the U.S. had everything she could ask for but her life didn’t end in grand way but by her taking a handful of sleeping pills and never waking up

Robin Williams - I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy. Because they know what it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anybody else to feel like that - later as you know died from suicide

Many comedians ended their laugh filled lives the same way

We live in a world where the most beautiful women in history, the most comedic voices and people who laugh the most cannot find happiness, it leaves us to question if we ever can. But God’s Word shines through the darknesss to bring clarity and hope as it states

The worlds route to happiness always fails, God’s route to happiness is will always succeed and his route is different than the world.

Need:

- The beatitudes are not something that we do but something that we are. It is Jesus’ portrait of what a Christian is - so primarily we need to examine ourselves to see if these qualities are true in us.

Now, a TRUE Christian has NO PROBLEM with testing of their salvation because Christians before anything else are POOR IN SPIRIT - they are always willing to be humbled

BUT if you are impatient with your faith being tested, you dislike it, you’d rather something else be talked about - well that’s evidence you are contrary to the NT

We need to be examined, searched, okay with it hurting us, because it is ESSENTIAL and GOOD

HS students NEED this bc they want to BE Christian, they want to live as a Christian in this area and that are - but the Beatitudes teach us that a Christian is SOMETHING before they DO ANYTHING - be a Christian before you can act like one

the world is doing EVERYTHING within its power to distract and deceive you by promising happiness and fulfillment LIKE NEON SIGNS everywhere you go. Ultimately the beatitudes give the TRUE and ONLY route to happiness and that is MUCH different from the world

Word: This passage provides the ONLY answer/ solution

Prop: To be happy you must be different

Transition: 8 qualities that make you happy and different (final 4)

1. Merciful

Explain

What its not:

It is not to be easy going (ILLUS: Like when little sibling hits you and it doesn’t hurt so you don’t do anything)

Its not to pretend we didn’t see anything (Illus: Someone cheats off your paper at school and you act like nothing happened - thats fear of confrontation not mercy)

Mercy is not someone who sees law breaking or is sinned against and simply says “Ah who cares, doesn’t matter”

Thats not mercy because 1st “easy going” - can be a natural temperament - which makes these beatitudes unfair, the gospel not for certain people but for everyone because all have fallen short of the glory of God and 2nd because all of these beatitudes are supernatural and are true of God, God never sees lawbreaking and sin and says “ah who cares”

What it is:

Mercy is focused primarily on the misery of others - especially on the miserable consequence of sin.

“Mercy involves… ‘forgiving others of their sins as an expression of gratitude to God for His gracious forgiveness”

Eph 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

QUICK Illus: Remember to Good samaritan - a man was robbed, beat up and left for dead and as others walked by I am sure they looked and said aw man, poor guy, our world is cruel, the government should do something, they frown and feel pity and compassion BUT the good samaritan sees the man FEELS COMPASSION AND PITY but then ACTS upon it by going across the road, picking him up, putting him on his donkey and paying for everything he needed.

THATS MERCY

But here is where people get confused, “blessed are the merciful WHY for they shall receive mercy”

If taken out of context sounds like the way to get mercy form God is by showing it to others, or to be forgiven by God forgive others

OBVIOUSLY thats not the case what jesus IS saying is that THOSE who are truly forgiven will forgive others.

Matthew 18:21–35 NASB95

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. “When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. “But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. “So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. “But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ “So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ “But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. “So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. “Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ “And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. “My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

See did the wicked slave seem like he was truly thankful for being shown mercy? No, he begged for forgivness to avoid temporary consequences and then went and was ruthless to others.

So, we are the wicked slave when we proclaim that we love God and have been fogiven by Him and yet are unwilling to fogive someone else over smaller things.

And there is a immediate and ultimate fulfilmment

Happy are the merciful BECAUSE name one happy unmerciful person. No one who holds on to bitterness and grudges is EVER happy.

But also the ultimate fulfillment is that on the last day when we see God face to face he will not cast us out but show us mercy and bring us into His presence forever

Applicate - So what does this mean for us? 2 things

If you are not merciful there is only one explanation: you have never understood the mercy and grace of God - which means you are outside of Christ and unforgiven

We need to grow in mercy by remembering the merciful saviour - who exemplified MERCY best when nailed to the cross, looked at those who wronged him and felt compassion and pity - so he said “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do” - thats us! we were enslaved to sin and under the rule of Satan but because of the forgiveness we found through the substitutionary death of Jesus and the resurrection from the dead WE now look at those enslaved to sin the same way Jesus looked at us, with compassion, pity and showing mercy

Not holding grudges

Not making people pay

Not taking revenge

BUT Being poor in Spirit, truly repentant and forgiving others as Christ forgave us OF so much more

Blessed are the merciful, for THEY shall receive mercy

2. Pure in Heart

Explain

Heart = the center of your being and personality, it is the mind, the will, the emotions, the heart - the totality of who you are. Blessed are the pure in the center of their being at the source of all the say, do, think.

God cares about YOUR heart - not your mind - you can’t please God by merely intellectually understanding doctrine or by academically studying the Bible - IMPORTANT TO DO but not the end

Your heart - not your actions either - sometimes we swing too far and say “Yes its not about BEING smart but being OBEDIENT - BUT God isn’t concerned simply with outward actions either

He cares about your HEART - the GREATEST COMMANDMENT Matt 22:37 “And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’”

SO it is there, at the deepest part of our being that we are to be PURE

Pure = single, undivided, containing 1 substance (Illus: like PURE gold - if there is just a fraction of another metal that Gold is not pure BUT mixed, impure)

Undivided, unmixed in heart - thats always our issue isn’t it? We have what seems like one part of us that wants to worship God and another part that wants something else.

Like Paul says in Rom 7:22-25 “For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

It was for this reason the Psalmist prayed Psalm 86:11 “Unite my heart to fear Your name.” - make my heart ONE, undivided, unmixed, having 1 affection which is to worship you.

To be PURE in HEART is ultimately to be LIKE Jesus who 1 Pet 2:22 “who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;”. He was PERECT, SPOTLESS and PURE. Blessed are those people for they shall get what EVERY single religion is after - to SEE GOD

Now you and I would hopefully confess we are not 100% pure and we will never be in this life but for those who have cried out to the Lord to Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God” who have placed the faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we and we alone are promised in 1 John 3:2-3 “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

You are going to see God - live like that is true and prepare NOW - get rid of any and every distraction and set your affections on the things above- meditate on heaven and you will be intensely focused on having a pure heart

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God & those with a pure heart will be PEACEMAKERS

3. Peacemaker

Explain

Peacemaking is obviously the work of taking 2 people or groups that are at odds and reconciling them.

Here it refers to people who make peace between them and others

Between 2 other people against each-other

and peace between men and God

Peacemakers must be MEEK - see how they all build?

To make peace you need to get over and forget yourself - you cannot enter the scene with any self interest or envy or defensiveness - (Illus: You simply dropped the baby, stepped on the dog) - you don’t see yourself as having rights or privilege

Illus: Me trying to make peace in my family - SELF INTEREST - hot headed - didn’t work

Peacemakers are primarily concerned with God’s glory and see conflict on small and big scales as distracting from that

Applicate

a. Stop Talking -

when someone insults you DON’T REPLY

Don’t say edgy attention craving and pot stirring things on social media

Don’t say things behind peoples back

Don’t tell your friend about that mean thing somebody said about them (thats not being a good friend thats making drama & being a fake friend)

Don’t say negative things about someone EVEN if they are true - gossip

Don’t say “Im not supposed to tell anyone but...”

b. Start Thinking - gospel oriented

Think about situations in light of the gospel you claim to live for

When situations come up that can lead to drama, conflict, tension IF you are a peacemaker you must STOP talking and start thinking.

How can this effect the friend group? The small group? The youth group? The church?

You are not the only person involved - conflicts have major consequences - especially in HS you need to be at peace and making peace with everyone as far as its possible.

See you those around you as eternal souls - give them no reason to think “Christianity is filled with hypocrisy” don’t let them say “I can’t attend that church, too much drama”

c. Start moving

You can’t just be silent and think but you have to act.

It may mean taking initiative and talking to the person first, apologizing first, humble yourself, seek council and go for it.

d. Be ready

This isn’t just a momentary thing, it’s not a one time deal BUT be on the alert and always ready

The more that you make peace, stay out of drama and even end it, the more people will look to you in times of conflict

And its then that your truly blessed, when you are a peacemaker - which is counter cultural - we live in a conflict driven world. We currently are watching this on a global level w/ Ukraine and Russia, on a cultural level with celebrity drama and on a personal level with tension in friend groups - the world makes it seem exciting & fun. It mainstreams it with reality TV BUT it always ends in devastation the answer is not be more peaceable the answer is SUBMIT to the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ who brought the worst of enemies Us and God together again through his atoning work on the cross.

Peacemakers often will suffer for the cause of bringing God Glory and that leads to the final quality...

4. Persecuted

Explain

We reach the final beatitude as is clarified through the bookends of “theirs is the K.O.H”

This is probably the beatitude that cuts the deepest and exposes who we are more than any other.

MLJ “This may be the most important verse in your life and mine”

Let’s read it once more carefully Matt 5:10 ““Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Persecuted of righteousness sake NOT:

for being difficult - if you lack wisdom, act foolish and “witness” in a self righteous way this promise doesn’t apply to you - you’re bringing it upon yourself

Illus: For example if you’re in a bank that has been taken over by robbers with guns who have instructed you to lay down, don’t talk or else you die - and then you get up and say “Hey can I tell you about Jesus?” you will probably get killed - now I admire the effort but its not really suffering for righteousness sake.

for a cause - we may confuse a certain cause with righteousness - sometimes the 2 become 1 but often we get caught up with a cause and think we are suffering for being righteous but were actually suffering over our preference

Illus:

for politics - If you mix your religion with politics you will be persecuted but it wont be for rightousness sake

its okay to stand on Political beliefs but its not what jesus is referring to here.

Illus: When you hit the streets with Flags and Signs thats say PROTECT the 1st AMENDMENT - you will be persecuted for politics sake

for being good - Being a good person is different from being righteous and usually doesn't bring persecution anyways BECUSE when the world sees a good person they see something that they COULD be if the worked at it.

Simply, what being righteous means is being like Jesus - Blessed are those who are persecuted for being like Christ

John 15:18-20 ““If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.”

So why then are the righteous persecuted? Because the righteous are different - the world hates them because they CANNOT be them. The pharisees hated jesus not because he was good but because he was righteous and when they saw him the felt condemned.

Jesus is not a person that the world would see and applaud - no unbeliever says they like Jesus and if they do, its because they don’t know him - In fact the same people who were celebrating Jesus coming to Jerusalem were asking for his death a few days later

Now if you are a Christian, you are like christ and you will be persecuted - you don’t have to hunt for it but simply living righteously will bring it to you.

are you suffering persecution? the christians are

Let me ask you does a life of persecution sound like a blessed life to you?

Thats what Jesus promises - this is an undeniable characteristic of a Christian.

Jesus actually says himself if you want to be a Christian pick up your cross, be prepared for your own crucifixion

But blessed are the persecuted for rightounsesss for theirs is the K.O.H. their and theirs alone.

Close: Believe in Christ now, repent of your sin, endure persecution in this life and enjoy heaven with Jesus in the next

OR

You pursue the worlds route for happiness, never attain it, waste your life and suffering the penalty of your sin in Hell forever.

Come to Jesus tonight.