What Is Your Mental Picture of a Happy Life

Happiness is this common desire, right? We all long for it, we all treasure it, but people look for it in different places. So what is your mental picture of a happy life? Is your mental picture to own a two-story home with a two-car garage, two kids and a dog? Is your mental picture enjoying your job and having enough money to enjoy your leisure? Do you find happiness in the places you visit? Traveling internationally? Maybe it's going on trails, hiking trails in the mountains, cycling. Arkansas is wonderful for that. Perhaps you look for happiness from your relationships or your family life. Or perhaps you're waiting for happiness when you change some circumstance in your life, right? Like restoring your health, your finances, finding the right job, the right romance. Where do you look for happiness? I'd like to start by having you, if you take notes, put it there. If you want to do this in your head, that's fine. Take 10 seconds and think about this question. I would be happier if...

Definitely something we can keep reflecting on. But it's an important, I think, self-evaluation. And none of the things I mentioned were wrong. So don't think that, as we're going to talk about, a different view on happiness, that any of those are not things that God created for us to enjoy. But what you wrote down says a lot about what you believe in your approach to life. And as we talked about the Passover season, this time we're in is one of those where we are trying to reflect on what are priorities, right? Where Christ fits what He taught. And so I want you to compare the statement you wrote down and your belief about happiness with what Jesus described as the happy life. So if you will turn to Matthew 5, verses 1-2. Matthew 5, verses 1-2. See, the world gives us this popular concept of happiness. And, of course, you know how that's framed. Happiness comes when you're rich or you're famous, you're gifted, you're powerful, you're comfortable. And so, therefore, we see it in some ways as elusive, unattainable. Matthew 5, verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountaintop, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. So Jesus' sermon begins with His disciples at His feet. And you can almost picture this as two concentric circles. Around Jesus would have been His disciples, then around them would have been a crowd listening into the dialogue. We now come to what He taught to them. And Jesus is about to give everyone this picture of a happy life that is very different than anything that they had thought of. Oops. Then it says, He opened His mouth and taught them, saying, blessed are. Blessed are. So the sermon begins by pronouncing a certain kind of people fortunate. The word that translated blessed is macarios. And this is a common word. At that time it was a very common word, but Jesus was using it in a very, very uncommon way. Because this word held the meaning to people of the day of divine joy and supremely perfect happiness.

Now, what does that really mean? The way you can associate who thou was related to in the context is people would usually relate this to the wealthy. Because they enjoyed a standard of living that appeared to put them out of reach of the cares of life or the Greek gods. Because they had the power to gratify their every desire. So it would describe this state of contentment that was kind of reserved for a privileged minority. In contrast, Jesus tells us we can find happiness in some very, very unexpected places. Jesus said that divinely happy and fortunate are those who possess inward qualities. And that's what we'll review. And that will be our focus for the rest of this message. There are eight beatitudes that are worded in the same way between verses 3 and verse 10. And we'll get to verse 11 and talk about it, but that is not a ninth beatitude. It says, Blessed are you when men revile you. None of the others say, blessed are you. So that is a clarification on the eighth beatitude, which says, blessed are those who were persecuted for righteousness sake. So there's eight of them, and you're going to see a lot of cadence in it. Almost like poem has certain structure, you're going to see structure in how the beatitudes were set up.

Now, you can see that the eight beatitudes are a unit when you look at the first and the eighth one. Notice that the promise of the first beatitude in verse 3 is, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The promise of the eighth beatitude in verse 10, is the promise of the eighth beatitude in spirit. The promise of the eighth beatitude in spirit, is the promise of the eighth beatitude in spirit. It's as though Jesus was answering two questions, right? People might have been asking, such as, who will be citizens of this kingdom of heaven, and what benefits do they receive? And then he packages a lesson for them between those points. So with that background, let's look at where Jesus said happiness could be found. Because he's going to introduce to us perspectives, ways of looking at things, to help us develop a completely new approach to life. Did the power ball? Did the volume ball? Do you want to speak louder? Yes. Okay. Okay. I thought if there was an echo, I wasn't hearing for a second, and then, do you want me to stop, or? Nope. Continue.

Yep. All good.

Years ago, I ran sound, and there was no end to unique things. And backwards, and whatever. I still remember what was the ending sound for young ambassadors in college. We went into this hall, this performing hall. We had not plugged anything in, and ran the snake. And when I picked up the snake, which runs all the wires in it, I got a shock. Okay, if I'm getting a shock, and if you go in the orchestra, if there was water, there was a stagnant. And we got into some halls that were like, all right, but just with the currency off the floor, maybe we should get a shock. There's an issue going on. All right. Do we need to go back and start everything all over? Okay. Hopefully you all were able to follow along the way. So, I think we're at by this one. Okay, so we were talking about, it's as though Jesus was setting up these questions. And we're now going to go through the concepts of what he was sharing. I will give credit along the way, because a lot, especially the structure, but even some of the key outline of what I'm going through, I found from two people named Jim Hammond and John Piper, so I always want to give credit when I see somebody structure something in an insightful way. But before we look at each of the points that I'll bring up through the Beatitudes, I want us to appreciate how different the common sense view of happiness is that the world teaches us. And this, you know, that perspective goes back to the Garden of Eden, right? So the world says, happier the rich and famous. In other words, when you have money, then you can buy your own happiness. In contrast, Jesus said happiness is found where there is spiritual poverty. Matthew 5 and verse 3, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So Jesus' choice of words was no accident. The word that he uses for poor wasn't like the working poor who scrape and make enough to survive. The word for poor is the beggarly poor, who couldn't make it without assistance. So how could being poor in spirit be the source of happiness? Why would Christ begin this way? I think one of the key things for us to keep in mind as Christians is all of the gifts of God come only to the degree we recognize we can't achieve them on our own. We don't receive the gifts of God based on our merit, but based on our faith. Right? That's like our Christian journey compartmentalized. This humble need for us to rely on God. One Sabbath on the drive home from church, a little girl turned to her mom, and she said, Mommy, there was something today that the preacher mentioned that I didn't understand. Of course, that was a great parenting moment. And she said, What was it? The little girl said, Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. And he said, God is so big that he could hold the world in his hands. Is that true? Yes, honey, that's true. But, Mommy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus as our Savior. Is that true, too? And again, the mother assured the little girl that what the pastor had said was true. And then with this puzzled look, she said, so if God is bigger than us and he lives inside us, wouldn't he show through?

And that's what the Beatitudes are about. It really is what they're about. God showing through us. And it's always been God's purpose when we get baptized that we will allow his Spirit to so fill us, to so control us, that our actions and our character reflect him visibly. And nobody can be like Jesus like Jesus can. And that's where, you know, I'll frame it this way at the end, but realize the Beatitudes are describing Jesus. You see it in his nature. Turn to Mark 2, verses 16 through 17.

Mark 2, 16 through 17. The level of holiness that Jesus depicts in the Sermon on the Mount isn't achieved, it's received. We can't do it our own. Remember, that's the foundational part of understanding Christianity, right? Only those who recognize that they don't have the personal resources to attain the kingdom will get into the kingdom. Mark 2, verse 16. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, how is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?

When Jesus heard it, he said to them, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And that's true, right? You and I will never go to a physician unless we believe we're sick.

Unless he's our friend or something. So let me give you another analogy that I think will help you frame this, because it's a comical one when you picture it in your head. If you were to go down to one of these beautiful Arkansas country lanes, and you happened to see a turtle sitting on the top of a fence post, right?

Its legs dangling on either side. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes for you to look at that and say, he didn't get there on his own. Now believe it or not, that's the intended picture of the Christian life. If you ever meet a person that's truly living out these values, the values of the kingdom of God, then you know he didn't get there on his own.

This sermon on the Mount, everything that continues, describes the turtle on the fence post. That's what it was describing. So Jesus said the kingdom of God, present tense, is something that the poor in spirit can have now. The kingdom of God is where God reigns and when he rules. And that power gives us new abilities, new desires, new ways of looking at things.

So happiness is found in the very unexpected place of emptying ourselves and of asking God for help. Now for each of these, I'm going to paraphrase the beatitude in more contemporary phrases. We can paraphrase this beatitude to say, blessed are those who humbly recognize their need for God, for they will enter his kingdom. The next strange place of happiness builds on the first, and it expresses how we're to be poor in spirit.

But again, let's first reflect on what we're commonly taught in the world of views of happiness. The world says happiness comes when you constantly feel joy because your dreams are coming true. When there's no personal desire that's left unfulfilled, that we aren't bogged down in other people's problems, we have perfect health, we have beauty, that's happiness. And there's truth to some of those elements. Jesus, in contrast, said happiness is found where there is sadness. Matthew 5 and verse 4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Alright, so how can happiness be found in the place of sadness?

Is this like spiritual mumbo-jumbo, spiritual double-talk? Counselors do teach that people who do not allow themselves to grieve and mourn actually hamper their healing in a grief process. So there's an element, but that's only a fraction of what Jesus was teaching here. Those who mourn speaks of those who express deep sorrow over sin, or those who repent from sin. The freedom found in the forgiveness of sin is the comfort that is being described here for those who repent.

That's the point that's being brought out. So the first beatitude prepares us to understand the truth, right? That Jesus is telling in the second. Turn to 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 10. 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 10. So Jesus is talking about those who mourn over their spiritual poverty, their personal sins, and those are the ones who are blessed by God. 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 10.

For godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. Different ways of looking at sorrow. Happiness doesn't come from the sadness itself, but from the result it causes. Mourners are happy because only mourners are forgiven if you look at it related to sin. Spiritual mourners understand even more palpably why we need Christ as our Savior and how special that is.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 31. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 31. Until we mourn over our sin, we'll never be set free from them. Remember the beginning? We can't do it on our own. That's Christianity at stage 1. Until we see ourselves as part of the problem, we can't become part of the solution. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 31 says, We have to come to God in repentance. So until we mourn over our sins and receive the answer to our own problems, we'll never be able to properly grieve over the sins of the world or anyone else. We need to humbly realize how broken we are.

So this beatitude can be paraphrased, Let's revisit the world's recipe for happiness.

Think of successful people in movies. So they're usually proud and confident there is this self-sufficiency. Not necessarily showing weakness. To the modern mind, meekness is this quality to avoid. Meekness is weakness. But Jesus said, Happiness is found where there is humility. Matthew 5 and verse 5, Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Meekness is not weakness. Meekness is not for the faint at heart or for the timid. Instead, meekness is power under complete control.

And you can easily put that in perspective by looking at some of the examples that Jesus told us to do, right? Can you turn the other cheek when someone slaps you unjustly?

Can you give back good in return for evil? Do you have that much self-control? Can you go the second mile when someone is forcing you to go the first mile?

Our natural nature is not godly. That's where these beatitudes are walking us through. These are all responses that say, I'm going to do what's best for you, even though you don't deserve it.

Meekness is power under control, and that kind of control is best described in this beatitude. It isn't about self-control. It's about yielded control.

Knowing where our strength comes from. The only truly meek people are people that understand the results of the Spirit of God helping and controlling in their lives.

I saw one example, which I thought was a good one. Meekness is almost best exemplified by the raw power of a wild stallion. Just amazingly powerful horses. But one that's been gentled by his master. So the power becomes completely useful to his master because he's gentled. He's submissive.

He's become meek in that way. But don't miss the connection between these beatitudes, because you'll see they build on each other in a very formulaic way. You can't get to verse 5 without going through the process described in verse 3 and 4. Meekness starts when a person discovers that God will forgive us and we can trust him. Then they must fully commit their way to him and let God work in their lives. It's this process. Turn to Numbers 12, verses 1-4. Meek people have this quiet steadiness about their lives in the midst of upheaval. And that calm comes from knowing that God is omnipotent. God is the one who ultimately can deal justice when and where it needs to be dealt. He has affairs under control and we know he will work things out in our best interest. It's one of those verses that we get it in concept, but boy, how much do we not practice that at certain points when our way just seems like the right thing. I don't want to hurt right now. But, you know, that's what we're having to learn. Let's look at this example of Moses. Numbers 12, starting in verse 1. Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman who had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman. So they said, Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also? And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very humble, or meek, more than all men who were on the face of the earth. It's like this parenthetical thought. Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, Miriam, come out you three to the tabernacle of meeting. So the three came out. And as you know, in the next few verses, the Lord rebukes Miriam and Aaron and vindicates Moses. What's the point of calling Moses meek right between the opposition that he was facing and God's vindication?

Humanly, this is where we would expect Moses to tell him what for. Right? That would be our natural human response. But instead the Bible says Moses was quiet, because meekness means committing our cause to God and not needing to defend ourselves at times, knowing that God will bring justice on some of these points. Moses didn't say a word, but instead waited patiently for the Lord. And that wasn't out of weakness. That was out of humility, realizing his own sinfulness, his own weakness, not lifting himself up, even though in this situation he was not to be accused on that one. We can paraphrase this beatitude as saying, Blessed are those who humbly submit to God as Lord, for they will be heirs to everything God possesses. All right. Let's return back to the common view of happiness along the way. The world describes happy people as those who are full, who are satisfied. They have plenty to eat, plenty to drink. So again, Jesus turns this upside down, and he says, Happiness is found where there is hunger.

Matthew 5 and verse 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. So obviously, the hunger being referred to isn't this little rumble in our tummy from a missed meal. It's not the hunger for physical food, but hunger and thirst for righteousness. Turn to Isaiah 55, 2-3. God has put inside all of us this inconsolable longing for eternity. It is in the human heart, and most people have no idea that it's there. So they try to satisfy it in other ways, whether that's scenic vacations, whether it's accomplishments, whether it's sensual things, whether sexual drugs, wherever you fill in any commercial or wherever you want to go, whether it's you fill in the dots, business success, whatever. You're filling a gap. There's a hole inside people. But the longing remains. And Jesus says, if you strive to be self-satisfied, you're never going to be happy.

Isaiah 55, 2-3.

Listen carefully to me.

Your ear and come to me, says God. Here in your soul shall live. That's the way you fill the hole.

Some of you might feel an insatiable longing for something. Almost everywhere you turn, it could be that the grass... Oops, am I off on? You could feel like the grass is greener. Or you're trying to experience something. You're, you know, just longing for something to happen. You're, at the end of that, it doesn't, it'll satisfy your points in time, right? But sometimes it's followed by guilt, or it's followed by the longing for the next thing, that next it. Once I get to it, I can be able to... You know, those are where we naturally tend to go. To fully understand, though, what this beatitude is teaching, I think we need again to look at the structure of the beatitude as a whole. Because they're fascinating. Looking into this, there's just so much nuance that's into this. So again, if you'll turn back to Matthew 5, the eight beatitudes are made up into two groups of four. So when you look at them, now you'll start seeing it in that structure. With the fourth and the eighth beatitude ending with a reference to righteousness. The first group of four ends with verse 6. This is, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. The second group in verse 10 ends with the phrase, Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

And then if you've noticed it or not, the entire sermon on the Mount is this lesson on God's righteousness. And what it looks like compared to worldly righteousness. You know, you have heard that it was said, I teach you this. It's these contrasts about righteousness. It all starts from here. So how hungry are you for righteousness?

Most of us want kind of fast food goodness, easy goodness. God will offer some healthy spiritual vegetables, and we're like, I want the dessert, God. Give me this really momentary gratification. And that's not where our most learning can come from. I think spiritually most of us would settle for good enough if we could be in the kingdom of God, saying, I want to perfect you to be in my image. And that's what we're growing and learning in. So you and I are in a spiritual growth process. And you'll notice that happiness described in the Beatitudes is something that's found en route. We like to get to the destination and go, When x happens, then I can be there for you, then I can do whatever.

All of these are describing happiness en route, not upon arrival.

Hungering for righteousness is the precondition that brings about happiness. And so feeding our hunger actually can increase our hunger in our thirst. So when in some good areas, hungering for righteousness actually trains our appetite to crave more righteousness. And the same happens in reverse. If we're being filled with bad stuff, then we're being dulled, dulling our appetite for the good things that God says we should want to satisfy us.

So Jesus said, happiness is found in the strange place of hungering and thirsting for righteousness. You can paraphrase this one by saying, All right. Let's look again at the structure of the Beatitudes. We discussed how there are two groups of four, and each group ends with a reference to righteousness. Now, the three Beatitudes that lead up to the hungering for righteousness describe a kind of emptiness. If you think about those, they're describing a kind of emptiness.

We learned of this emptying by being told that happiness is found in being poor in spirit, mourning over our needy conditions, meekly turning our strength and trust over to God. So it's natural that these three descriptions of emptiness should be followed by a description of hunger. You're empty, you're hungry. It's a poetry, in a sense. If you don't have something, you hunger for it. Whole sermon on the Mount about righteousness, hungering for righteousness. The next three Beatitudes provide a description not of emptiness, but of fullness.

The way God shows our hunger can be satisfied is through us showing mercy, having a pure heart, and making peace. And it is the irony of how the Bible sets things up. It finishes by seeing the results of this action as we'll be persecuted for living righteousness.

Welcome to perspective.

But it's opposite than the world's path of what it teaches for righteousness. Let's reflect with that as perspective. I'm going to coordinate a dance with this. Sorry about being no tide, but when you're having to work things along that way, I have to make sure. If I'm ever far off, just point it. I'll know that I've lost track. Let's go back to looking at what the world teaches about happiness. There is this feeling that humans deserve to be treated fairly. Fairly. It's always this big thing. We should have the freedom to think, we should have freedom to believe, to do what we want, and when we do, we should be given the benefit of the doubt. If someone doesn't like it, well, tough. So the focus is on us being treated fairly. Jesus contrasts this and he says, and he says, Matthew 5 and verse 7.

So most people agree that mercy is a blessing when we receive it. We get that side of it, right? But here Jesus is saying, those who give mercy. We want to receive mercy, but when injustice strikes us, that's probably not our first emotion that comes out, right? Again, each of the beatitudes is achieved by working through the earlier ones. There is a building process that takes place, and that's why they build on each other. Mercy comes from a heart that's first felt it was spiritually bankrupt. It's come to grief over its sin, is asked God for forgiveness, we're more apt at that point to show mercy if we first waited meekly before God and received his mercy and his forgiveness for our sins in our lives. We've cried out in hunger for his mercy, and he satisfied us with the righteousness we need. We then are in the right spiritual frame of mind, selflessly, to show mercy to others. The key to becoming a merciful person is to become a person. A merciful person is to become a broken person.

We must know with all our hearts that every good thing that is in our life is from the free and undeserving mercy of God. That frames everything very differently. We're far less arrogant when we see the world through that lens. When we develop that feeling toward God, then it's far easier, isn't it, for us to show mercy to others, even if they kind of rub us wrong. One of the things that I've heard when I was in the islands, it touches me because I think it's so true. Mr. Armstrong always would say that the first four commandments are loving God, and the last six are loving neighbor. He says, yeah, he kind of got it right. He says, the first three commandments are about loving God. The last six are about loving your neighbor. The Sabbath is, can you love God while you love your neighbor? And there is so much to that. If we think we can keep Sabbath by not being around other people, you haven't learned how to love your neighbor. It's this learning curve that we have to work through. There's this example that was shared in a book called On This Day by Carl D. Winzor, which I just love. He wrote, even the most devoted couple will experience a stormy bout once in a while. And for those of you who have been married, you understand that. So there was this grandmother who was celebrating her golden wedding anniversary, and she told the secret of her long and happy marriage. She said, On my wedding day, I decided to make a list of ten of my husband's faults, which, for the sake of our marriage, I would overlook.

And a guest asked her, and said, What were some of those faults that you chose to overlook? And the grandmother replied, To tell you the truth, my dear, I never did get around to listing them. But whatever my husband did, something that made me hop and mad, I would say to him, Lucky for him, that's one of the ten.

I just love that. It's a great mindset of how to work through life.

Happiness is found in strange places, and it's found in the tears of forgiveness and release. Since Christ could forgive you for what you did to Him, you and I must forgive others. It's the way we pass it forward. As we've been extended mercy, we're empowered to extend mercies to someone else. So we could paraphrase this beatitude as, Blessed are those who show their affections toward God by extending mercy toward others, for they shall receive forgiveness and life eternal. Alright, let's move on to the next beatitude. When you go and you see the most popular movies and theaters, are they usually G-rated? No. And why is that? People constantly try to stimulate the part of their brain that craves fleshly desires. That's why all the commercials are designed to crave physical satisfaction in whatever way, regardless of if those things are pure or not. Well, in contrast, Jesus said, Happiness is found where there is purity of heart. Matthew 5 and verse 8, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

So the first thing we see in this beatitude is that Jesus is concerned with our hearts. Turn to Matthew 23, 25 through 26. There's a lot of verses we could go to that speak to the heart. This one is a little one-off because you may not immediately associate it with the heart. That's the reason I always like to contrast things in that way, because you'll definitely, when you think about it in the heart, realize that is very much related. Matthew 23 and verse 25, Whoa! To you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisees first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, then the outside of them may be clean also. See, Jesus wasn't focused on the ultimate sinful action that are displayed in the world. What he was pointing out is if a person thinks evil, then they're ultimately going to act it out. Right? Sermon on the Mount was all about that. You say, that's the sin. Let me take you back five steps. This is where it starts, right? This is where the journey begins. And so that's why Jesus said it wasn't about not committing adultery, but it's not even lusting in our heart.

The heart is where our secret thoughts, our feelings occur, and the things that only God knows.

But that is what God cares about the most, and that's why the heart is mentioned so often in the Bible. Jesus didn't come to the world simply because we have bad habits that need to be broken. What he came to the world for was because we have dirty hearts that need to be totally cleansed and purified. That's the renewal. That's the starting over that he is trying to do in each of us, and we're in a process of through our whole life. Christians ultimately understand that there is a wonderful thing here, that if we focus on having a heart in an attitude like Christ, our actions will follow suit. If we're trying to do the right things while our hearts sing, argh! Well, you know that's going to fail. You can pull it off a little bit, but ultimately what's inside you is going to come out. The pure in heart are those who've been cleansed from within, and that isn't talking about outward righteousness. It will reveal itself often that way. But it's inward holiness that only God sees, and when we have that, we treat people in ways that shine. It's not us shining, it's God coming through us. So the question for you is, are we holding anything back from God in our hearts? This beatitude tells us that the greatest benefit of being pure in heart is it will allow us to see God. And that's this beautiful concept, this beautiful imagery. We'll be admitted into His presence. We're not sitting in the waiting room. If we treasure God's truth in everything we do, then we're allowed to see Him face to face. When He returns in how we interact, because we're on the same wavelength with Him. So this beatitude can be paraphrased, Blessed are those who have been purified from the inside out, for they will see God. Alright, let's move on to the seventh beatitude. Everyone enjoys peace in their lives. Some try to initiate and attain peace through power, through fear. Others are peace lovers who avoid confrontation, because conflict is uncomfortable. Well, considering this topic of peace, Jesus said, happiness is found where there is conflict. Matthew 5 and verse 9, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Alright, so what's this beatitude about? God is a peacemaking God, and we appreciate that very much about Him. Otherwise, we wouldn't be here. God's entire plan is to bring about lasting peace. First of all, between Him and us, and then between us and each other. That's part of God's whole plan. And we can know God's children by whether they're willing to make sacrifices for peace the way God did. That's a sign also of being led by His Spirit, because one of the fruit of the Spirit is peace. Now, you should notice that Jesus didn't say, blessed are the peace lovers. Alright? Jesus, just because you enjoy peace, doesn't mean you're willing to go through the painful process of making peace. That's different. Making peace often means stepping into situations involving conflict. Reconciliation often requires experiencing initial confrontation. Jesus was a peacemaker. It cost Him His life. But He was resurrected and initiated the possibilities of reconciliation for all of us. Are we peace-making or are we personal protecting? You know, which angle do we take on these things?

Happiness is found in the strangest places, like where there is conflict. And this verse can be paraphrased, blessed are those who extend reconciliation to others just as they received it from God. They will be called His sons. If you'll turn next to Romans 12 verses 17 through 18. See, a peacemaker longs for peace. They work for peace. They sacrifice for peace. But the attainment of peace may not come. That's an important realization.

Romans 12 and verse 17. Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for the good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. That is the goal of the peacemaker. You must love peace. You must work for peace. You must pray for your enemies. Do good for them. Living that ethical standard may bring animosity on us.

And why that happens is because Satan has put a different mind and spirit in nature. And it surrounds us. And when this happens, it's never appropriate to abandon our allegiance to God along the way. So that transitions us to the warning that Jesus shared in the last beatitude. Matthew 5 and verse 10. We're starting in verse 10. We'll read through verse 12. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So this is one beatitude that needed here in more verses to build out the thought. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Remember, this is where happiness is found. For great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So in other words, righteousness must not be compromised in order to make peace with others.

Each of Jesus' statements was surprising. I would say this one is surprising because everyone viewed suffering as this indication of something is wrong. Right? Jesus is telling us happiness is found where there is mistreatment. Jesus says, don't look around and wonder what you're doing wrong when you're mistreated. You might be doing it right. You know, we make math connections sometimes where doing the right thing doesn't mean we're always going to get the responses that God would show us when we're doing that. Well, he will show it, but in the moment we're having humans interacting with us, right? Some of these hardships will be caused directly because of the stand we take in living a Christian life. But you see the meekness and humility getting here, right? Before we throw off and say suffering is because somebody's evil. Are we, each of the beatitudes leading up to this point? Because they're challenging. I think they're a life process to get to. Christians are to be citizens of another kingdom, and yet we live in a hostile kingdom. And the fact is the clashes and mistreatments will come along the way. Turn to 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12. People want to be liked, right? Human nature. It's our nature, but it's not possible to please everyone, especially if you're a Christian. And not all persecuted people are blessed.

Jesus clarified in the beatitudes that only those who are persecuted for what? For righteousness' sake will be blessed. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12. Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Those absolutes. I don't like the absolutes in the Bible. There's a whole lot of absolutes that make me uncomfortable. How could he make such a sweeping statement?

Paul understood that there is this tension between the way of a Christian and the way of the world that conflict is inevitable.

Sooner or later, a God-centered Christian will be mistreated for things they believe, or that, yeah, that we believe that others will disagree with or will not value and appreciate. So why is that? Turn next to Matthew 10 verses 34 through 35, or through 36, actually. Matthew 10, 34 through 36. Why are humble, peacemaking Christians who endeavor to live meekly perceived as troublemakers?

Jesus answered that question when he said something that sounds almost contradictory to the Beatitudes. Matthew 10 and verse 34. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's enemy will be those of his own household. Okay, so how could this come from the same man who gave us the Beatitudes?

Jesus understood that those who become followers of Christ would become enemies to people who value different things. And that's the scenario that he was speaking to there. Remember how I started this message. What is your picture of a happy life? And what are you prioritizing most? Is it the happy life, or is it living the Christian life, the example that was set? People hated Jesus, and he knew they would also hate his followers. So to one degree or another, all of us who earnestly put God first in our work, in our homes, in our life, in our leisure, will bump into some form of opposition along the way. And none of us know when we may be called on to stand up for our beliefs. Right? But Beatitudes, these beautiful verses, really frame a mindset that is uplifting. We can paraphrase this last one to say, Well, that's the picture of the happy life. How do you like it?

It's different than what we're taught in the world. And like I said at the beginning, when I mention those few points, it's not wrong to look for and enjoy some of those other things as well. But if our goal is only going in those other directions, we're missing the perspective that Christ came to share with us. I'm convinced this isn't a description of the Christian person. This is a description of Christ. And if you think of the measures of what was described, you'll find He modeled all of them. And it's a beautiful uplifting thing. We can become like Jesus was on earth if we yield our lives to Him, if we submit to His Holy Spirit. And when you next find yourself asking, is there something more I can do in life to have happiness? Remember what Jesus told you of where to look to find happiness. We must admit that we are poor in spirit. We're spiritually bankrupt, right? Apart from God. We must mourn over our sins. We have made a lot of messes, right? We have hurt God and others. We must realize we have every reason to remain humble. We must ask God to help us respond with the strength of meekness and not depend... I'm sorry... and depend on Him and not ourselves. We must want more of God in our lives. That's that hunger, right? We need to hunger. We need to thirst for righteousness. We must want to be merciful. We must choose to forgive those who have hurt us.

We must ask God to cleanse our hearts so that we might be pure of heart. God can show us where we're holding back. That's always that scary thing. Don't be that merciful to God. Where are we holding back? We must offer ourselves to God as instruments of peace. We need to have the courage to be part of the solution. And finally, we need to ask God for the courage to stand for the things that He stands for, even when it means mistreatment or misunderstanding. Are you happy? Too many people spend their lives saying, I could be happy if they're looking for happiness in the wrong places. They're associating it with the wrong things. And the beatitudes describe the evidence of a yielded life. They picture a person who is mastered by God. How truly happy are you?

Thank you.