Matthew 5:1-12 NLT [1] One day as He saw the crowds
gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples
gathered around Him, [2] and He began to teach them. [3] "God blesses
those who are poor in spirit and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of
Heaven is theirs. [4] God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
[5] God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth.
[6] God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be
satisfied. [7] God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown
mercy. [8] God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God. [9]
God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of
God. [10] God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom
of Heaven is theirs. [11] "God blesses you when people mock you and
persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you
because you are my followers. [12] Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great
reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted
in the same way."
1.
We can experience happiness in the
presence of God.
1.
Happiness is about knowing and
experiencing the presence, the promises, and the purposes of God!
1.
First of all the disciples got to
experience one of the greatest moments and encounters of all time, a
relationship with Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Psalm 16:9,11 NLT "[9] No wonder my heart is glad, and
I rejoice. My body rests in safety. [11] You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures
of living with you forever."
2.
You know what's exciting is that
every one of us can experience that same connection, that same relationship by
believing in Jesus.
1.
Getting into His presence.
1.
Individually and corporately.
2.
I don't think we understand the
magnitude and the importance of getting into His presence.
2.
The only thing blocking us out is
sin.
3.
Happiness is about understanding that
as a Christ follower we have to eternally connect ourselves to the presence of
God and the pleasures of living with God forever.
1.
If you'll notice in the Kingdom of
God position, authority, and money are not the important factors.
2.
Jesus challenges the proud,
legalistic, religious leaders of His day through His Word.
1.
Calling them back to the passionate
messages of the Old Testament prophets, who, like Jesus taught that heartfelt
obedience is so much more valued than legalistic observance.
2.
If you want to live for God then you
must be willing and ready to do what seems strange to the world.
1.
You must be willing to give when
others take, to love when others hate, to help when others abuse.
2.
By giving up your own rights in order
to serve others, you will one day receive everything God has in store for you.
3.
The presence of God is experienced in
the beatitudes by telling us how to be blessed by God.
1.
Blessing means so much more than
happiness.
2.
It implies the fortunate or enviable
state of those who are in God's Kingdom.
1.
The Beatitudes, meaning supreme
blessedness, don't promise laughter, pleasure, or earthly prosperity.
2.
Being "blessed" by God
means the experience of hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances.
3.
To find hope and joy, the deepest
form of happiness, follow Jesus no matter what the cost.
2.
God truly wants to bless you in your
home, in your career, in your relationships but when we act as if everything is
always a burden how can He?
1.
I have seen people be so angry, so
mean, so impossible, so disgruntled with circumstance, with life in general and
what a way to derail them with the presence, the blessings of God, literally
flowing from our lives.
2.
We should model joy, hope, in and
through our lives in every thing, this is so difficult I totally understand and
comprehend that.
1.
When we set the pace we can truly be
life giving instead of life taking.
2.
When we set the standard people
around us will rise to the occasion.
1.
I have been around people who seem to
continuously take life from you.
2.
Their attitude, their spirit, their
actions, their thought processes just seem to suck the life out of every living
thing.
3.
What if we modeled encouragement,
what if we modeled happiness, what if we modeled truth, life, and the Christ
life with all passion, all character, all joy and all the privilege we could
possibly muster?
1.
This would inherently challenge a
culture, challenge a movement, challenge the way others do things.
2.
Jesus continually modeled patience in
and through all that He did and it made an astounding difference.
2.
We can experience happiness in the
promises of God.
Luke 8:15 NLT "[15] And the seeds that fell on the
good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God's word, cling to
it, and patiently produce a huge harvest."
1.
The good soil represents those
who hear the word and hold fast to it.
2.
They possess an honest, good heart
and they bear fruit with patience.
1.
The mention of patience or
persevering is important, because associating with Jesus will not help us
believers win popularity contests.
2.
If we care more about the world's
respect or are too weak to resist temptation, we will not hold on to the Word
with patience.
3.
Tragically, we'll fall away, or our
potential for producing may be choked out.
3.
Three of the examples end with the
seed failing to produce that for which it was planted.
1.
God sows the Word to produce life
change in our hearts.
2.
God sows the Word to produce life
change in the lives of others.
3.
Only by clinging patiently to what
God offers does the seed reach maturity.
1.
This reliance is called faith.
2.
We need to cling to the Word in patient faith.
3.
If we desire to be productive,
especially in obstacles, then we must hold fast to God and His message of hope.
4.
We are so blessed and favored of God
how can we not see that, how can we choose not to experience that?
1.
And be grateful, finding happiness
and fulfillment in His presence, His power, His promises, His provision, His
purposes and His salvation.
2.
I am so thankful, I am so happy to be
a child of God, connected to Him forever and eternally I'll be grateful.
4.
We focus either on God's promise or
on our circumstances.
1.
Which we choose makes the difference:
one leads to fruitfulness, productivity in the Kingdom, making a supernatural
difference.
2.
The other to leads to barrenness,
frustration, continued works only of the flesh and inability.
3.
Finally, we can experience happiness
in the purposes of God.
1.
A heart free from sinful pollutions
is purposed in God.
2.
A heart, firmly fixed for God and
purpose, an upright heart, a tender heart, and a heart that trembles at the
word, is an honest and good heart, which, having heard the word, understands
it, receives it, and keeps it.
3.
Where the word is well kept there is
production brought forth with patience; patience to suffer the tribulation and
persecution which may arise because of the Word; patience to continue to the
end in well-doing.
1.
Allowing the Word to work it's
patient work in you.
1.
Someone might tip you more.
2.
Someone might see you up the next
step in your career ladder.
3.
Someone might find a way to bless
you.
4.
Someone might speak good of you, or
do something amazingly kind for you.
5.
Someone may accelerate your future
all because you do good, as you build trust, and serve all people.
6.
You may encounter your very special
someone as you allow the Word to work in you.
7.
Someone may even protect you in the
face of great tribulation.
Matthew 5:16,38-42 NLT "[16] In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see,
so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
4.
Here in the mountains you can see a
light shining for many, many miles away.
1.
As we live for Christ, we will glow
like lights, showing others what Christ is like.
1.
We hide our light by being quiet when
we should speak, going along with the crowd, denying the light, letting sin dim
our light, not explaining our light to others, or ignoring the needs of others.
1.
In darkness we possess the ability to
shine the brightest.
Matthew 5:38-42 [38] "You have heard the law that says
the punishment must match the injury: 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a
tooth.' [39] But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on
the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. [40] If you are sued in court and
your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. [41] If a soldier demands
that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. [42] Give to those who
ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow."
5.
God's purpose behind this law was an
expression of mercy.
1.
People still try to excuse their acts
of revenge by saying, "I was just doing to him what he did to me."
2.
When we are wronged, often our first
reaction is to get even instead Jesus said we should do good to those who wrong
us.
1.
Don't keep score, but love and
forgive this is not natural, it is supernatural.
6.
Why is it that we choose to see the
weaknesses in others instead of their greatness?
1.
Why is it we choose to see everyones
failures, their mistakes, their shortcomings and not their achievements, their
accolades, and their positive qualities?
2.
Man we can draw out the wrong in
every one and every thing around us and never see the real way I believe God
envisioned us seeing one another through the eyes of the cross, through the
eyes of mercy, and through the eyes of an amazing, astounding, life altering
grace.
Matthew 5:43-48 NLT [43] "You have heard the law that
says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. [44] But I say, love your
enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! [45] In that way, you will be acting
as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both
the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. [46]
If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even
corrupt tax collectors do that much. [47] If you are kind only to your friends,
how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. [48] But you are
to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect."
7.
God sends rain on all of us, we don't
deserve it but He sends it anyway.
1.
God sends sunshine on all of us, we
don't deserve it but He sends it anyway.
1.
According to Jesus, it is more
important to give justice and mercy than to receive it.
2.
By teaching us not to retaliate,
Jesus keeps us from taking the law into our own hands.
3.
By loving and praying for our
enemies, we can overcome evil with good.
1.
I don't want to teach people how to
cope I want to teach them how to overcome.
4.
If you love your enemies and treat
them well, you will truly show that Jesus is the Lord of your life.
2.
It's truly His desire to bless us,
strengthen us, empower us, and guide us.
3.
We make it so much more difficult
when our attitudes don't line up with our blessings.
1.
We are to strive to live out a
perfect faith in Christ, we are to strive to live out a thankfulness in all
things blessing so, so many around us.
8.
happy-feeling
or showing pleasure or contentment.
1.
Happiness is about perspective.
1.
Perspective is everything.
2.
Life is about perspective!
1.
I could have missed an opportunity.
2.
I could have missed an opportunity to
miss the presence, the promises, and the purposes of God for fear.
3.
For frustration.
4.
For death.
5.
For healing.
6.
What do you do when your every
existence hinges on a moment?
1.
We had to make the most difficult
decisions of our life, our ministry, and our future.
2.
All the energies though were funneled
into my wreck where I didn't have time to think about what we were going to do
or how to do it but we entered survival mode.
3.
I entered faith mode.
4.
I entered trust mode.
1.
I believe that's exactly where Jesus
wants us to live, dwell and operate.
9.
Perspective could cause you and I to
miss opportunities to do, to experience, and to accomplish great things for
God.
1.
Missing the presence of God staying
miserable, and staying depressed.
2.
Missing the promises of God by
staying hopeless, staying uncommitted, and staying bitter.
3.
Or missing the purposes of God by
staying confused, frustrated, and angry.
1.
Or we can choose to get up and get
moving into the happiness of knowing and experiencing the presence, the
promises, and the purposes of God!
1.
I can truly find happiness in that
and so can you.
