Eight Ways to Be Happy, According to Jesus, Part 2

Today on Summit like Esther Jeannie Greer talks about the key to contentment. According to Jesus. Happiness is also circumstances is the fruit of a right relationship with God. The reason I say that is because most of us are in a culture where we think that our happiness is directly proportionate to our circumstances. Jesus said your happiness if you're ever to find it is not going to be contingent on your happenings.

Your happiness is to be contingent on your relationship with God and another day there. Jeannie Greer.

I'm your host Molly okay lately you may have noticed that even with all the comfort and luxury of modern light is still hard to come by the self-care and positivity in the world can never truly satisfy ourselves.

So what does that tell us when we missing today on Summit life Esther Jeannie Greer explained how Jesus helped tackle that question in the sermon on the mount titled this message. Eight ways to be happy.

According to Jesus part of our series, the whole story. Let's join Pastor Janie right now in chapter 5 on the mall. The first 12 verses of the sermon on the Mount give us eight ways to be happy to see Matthew chapter 5 opens up with a string of Blessed are Blessed are the poor in spirit works to this list. The Greek word for Blessed is the word Macario's, which comes from the word happy. The Greek word for happy is Makar Jews would use the term to describe a person in a state of salvation. Someone who is experiencing the blessing in the favor of God in their lives. These eight things are descriptions of the same person's heart heart that is blessed by God, a heart that is filled… Happy heart. Chapter 5 verse one scene.

Then the crowds, he went up on the mountain when he was up very when he said that his disciples came to him and he opened up his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Poverty of spirit means that you embrace daily dependence on God for all that you need to see in Greek. There are two different terms for poor.

The first term is what we typically think of is poor monetarily for those who struggle financially as you can barely afford enough to eat that I would be your first term.

The second was one of my favorite records. Total costs mean someone who is so despised that they literally spit on in society. This is the Lord Jesus used for poor here.

You see, God only fills empty hands.

What keeps you from the righteousness of God is not your moral inability what keeps you from the righteousness of God is your moral ability because that keeps you blinded to your need for grace. Blessed are the poor in spirit. They're the ones that the kingdom of God. Verse four Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Morning clearly goes along with me for the spirit right when you feel powerless. We can unrighteous your morning and so God says I comfort you, but also think based on Jesus's future teaching that morning here means a willingness to enter the pain of others voluntarily and mourn with them, even when you don't have to.

So here's how I write this one down morning means being relationally connected to others so. Blessed are those who open their hearts and their homes to take in the pain of others even when they don't need to.

Blessed are those who mourn voluntarily step out of their community and enter into and mourn with the pain of another community.

Not only will you be happier in this life that way you will be eternally comforted. Jesus said verse five Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.

No meekness means taking the second place, instead of the first place whenever you can, means leveraging your power in your position to serve others and not self.

I think here is the thing that Jesus did right before he died in the moment leading up to his death. The last thing he does with his disciples as he gets out of his hands and knees and watches the dirtiest part of their body, their feet. As the Lord and the master of the universe about going to the most heroic activity ever ever done on earth, and how see what the prelude of that washing the disciples feet. See Paul said the apostle. Because of that act of humility, God exalted him and God gave him the name that is above every name, what would your life look like you think if consciously in every area of your life with her with the resources your position your opportunities.

You consciously took the second place, instead of the first know what would happen two things one chart to be insanely happy. Number two, you will find God himself got involved to begin to exalt you because that's what Jesus promises right there. Blessed are those he says who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they are the ones to be satisfied. Hunger and thirst for righteousness visa craze fellowship with God above everything else.

She Jesus understood. Listen to this. Our souls are hungry.

The reason for that King Solomon explain this because God put eternity in our hearts. The way Blaise Pascal.

Other philosophers have said this is God's created the human heart with a gigantic hole in our lives try to figure out what goes in that whole. As we draw money we try the approval of others. We try romantic love.

He said none of it works is that whole was in the shape of God himself, and it's the size of eternity. Go imagine a bucket that was so big that all the water in the Atlantic Ocean.

If you put in that bucket would not even cover the surface area of the bottom of the bucket that bucket is your soul.

You see money and romantic love in and and whatever it is that you give your heart to will corrupt your spirit. Not only will you be unsatisfied. Your soul will disintegrate is when you hunger and thirst for righteousness, that not only will you be filled, you will overflow with happiness.

Blessed are you when you thirst for God blessed. Verse seven on the merciful. They're the ones you can receive mercy.

The merciful are those who extend forgiveness or generosity to the same measures been extended to them. Jesus said, Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. What if God's mercy to you was directly proportionate to the mercy that you showed to your spouse.

What is God's mercy to you was directly proportionate to the mercy you showed to your ex spouse what is God's mercy toward you was directly proportionate to the mercy you showed to your boss, your parents, you fill in the blank.

What if God's mercy to you as measured by those things because isn't that exactly what Jesus is that now that he's versus recall. He will problems you know I sent to me like Jesus was saying that he didn't forgive my driveway he was in very well. That's what it sounded like and then I read one of Jesus stories and it dawned on me, and it all came together okay is a story told about 1 million who owed another man 10,000 talents not told you Thursday 10,000 talents was what was like saying a bazillion dollars. The kind of of that you could never pay off in a 10,000 lifetimes. So the day comes for this debt to be repaid in the got an havoc is as a bazillion dollars and so he goes into the courtroom where the guy who owns and the money is and he falls on his face and says I don't have money please enter me in prison give you one more week and I'll pay back another two things are ridiculous about this.

Number one people who get in the position where they can loan other people bazillion dollars. The zillions of dollars, do not get there by being a pushover or softy) off even today will call them loan puppies were loan bunnies, loan gerbils, we call them loan sharks right because if you don't pay the money badly since I got a Brutus your doorstep with a baseball bat knee brace her kneecaps right so you did the idea that this guys going to be like a little worry about it. So the second reason it's ridiculous is, even if he has another week he can earn a bazillion dollars in a week we could never pay this back when everybody in the courtroom is feeling kind of awkward because you know this but gravelly man is there when all of a sudden Jesus.

The story takes an unexpected turn and this loan shark fills in emotion, nobody expects him to feel that emotion Jesus calls compassion in his lip start to quiver to get a tear in his eye and he says no, no, you don't have another week to pay me back because you don't owe me any more money. As of right now I resolve your entire debt to run the course. Nobody can believe in leasable. The sky. The sky, very serious, and he says yes I'm serious.

As of right now you only had time this guy stands up and for the first time in his life the way the world is off the shoulders and walks out the courtroom kind of in a daze and there, across the street is another guy in the community who owes him three dollars dollars. Unbelievable as it hey where's my three dollars and has not him, so I hundred three dollars. It was you.

As I met Ben I think you paid this week's I give the next week, three dollars going to jail you know when Jesus says this in the story by, rolls her eyes and says that's absurd because nobody that just got forgiven a bazillion dollars is going to refuse to forgive somebody else for fleet and Jesus is like exactly which means that if you don't forgive the people in your life. It means that you probably never experience the forgiveness of God, the make sense. Blessed are the merciful, because they're the ones you've experienced the mercy of God have become merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart for little ones will see God. The pure in heart of those who keep their hearts free of the things agreed God one agrees God, impurity, sin know there are lots of reasons we might avoid Sam, but the most powerful one is we want to know God and the bottom line is you cannot share his sin and know God.

You cannot have fellowship with God and enjoy and entertain yourself with the things that put his son on the cross so that means you want the people to come in here this weekend and they're here every weekend like I would like for God to be a part of my life, but you got things in your life that you know are displeasing to him and that you just refuse to deal with. You can hang out knowing God because you cannot come to God and say yeah I want to know you but I am going to keep in my life. Things that I know what your son on the cross and I just refuse to deal with that and is universally Jesus said blessed are the pure in heart for the ones you will see God what he means is our ability to see and understand God is directly proportionate to how pure we keep our hearts rightly writes down purity brings clarity, purity brings clarity.

The reason we all think it's he got to know is will Cassidy would have filled our heart is with sin bloodhounds we complain about how confusing God is all hearted is defined as will all I care about is what sort when the darkness is not really in God or his will. The darkness is in our hearts.

Purity Lisa clarity. The more your heart is free of idolatry loss, the more you'll see what God sees. The more you value what God values the board a level God loves the pure your heart, the greater your grasp of the will of God.

Blessed are the pure in heart.

Jesus said they're the ones you want to know God bad, nothing to keep the heart pure so they can see him and know it and fellowship with him. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are the peacemakers will be called sons of God. Let's look to find a peacemaker somebody prioritizes relationship over personal vindication is the reason I say that is because we have conflict, you will always have two sides in a conflict as a professional conflict or I know that we have conflict you got two sides who both feel that they're in the right and neither one of them to make peace because they thought the Makepeace means they would have to surrender what they know to be right and the lose out and no end up wrong rightly by with me on this money only because of conflict. I that's okay a peacemaker is somebody who says, Santa Monica, but I know I value this relationship more than I value being vindicated is right. So let me try and see your way. I'll explain you my view to try even harder to understand your view that I am going to try to make you understand my and where you can't see mine were. You don't see mine. I'm in a forgive you and I want to be patient with you because I value this relationship more than I value being vindicated is right we see this played out right here in our church with some of the recent racial conflicts between our communities of color, and the police both sides in this discussion is going on in our culture have insights they believe need to be heard and do need to be hurt the both sides seen panic that the other side is not hearing them, but then you have some from both sides in our church to say I'm not saying that the side I'm typically associated with that and have a perspective that needs to be considered, but I also want to hear from and understand where you're coming from and I want to give you the benefit of the doubt and I want to know you and I'm betting on a grave like you grieve and try to understand things from your perspective as much as I can. Those are peacemakers casino like Jesus. Jesus was clearly in the right was not the at the end of his life.

He didn't say you know what I was wrong about the holiness thing you guys are fine.

It is validated at the end of Jesus's life. He still was writing he was right, but he even surrender his position but he valued us so he prioritize the relationship even over personal vindication and want to across and Shane so that he could win us back. Jesus said when you understand that that's what you're become to be a peacemaker because more than you care about being vindicated, you're going to love somebody you can one identify them in your and women want to make peace with them know there's ever been a time in our culture will many peacemakers who understand this principle. It is now we people who say yes, let's talk and let's understand things from one another's perspective or stem.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of nasty things about you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you was allotted for things we could say here, but let me just summarize it with just this one statement. Blessed are those who value being right with God above everything else. Blessed are those who value being right with God above everything else. You see that there comes a time in life when you're to suffer. Maybe because of persecution.

Maybe because you get old and die. That's a form of suffering right Jesus ignored you probably can't underestimate the value in that moment of being right with God and to know that you used your life in the right way for the right things. Here's Jesus. Hebrews 12 to when he goes to the cross.

He goes to his death and suffering persecution. Everything is taken from him. It Hebrews 12 to says he goes to the cross with joy joy in the midst of pain because he knew that even while his body was being torn apart by injustice that his soul was right with God and that he was doing the things of God had put him on earth to do to general thoughts. I want to conclude with number one, according to Jesus, happiness is not a set of circumstances is the fruit of a right relationship with God. The reason I say that is because most of us are in a culture where we think that our happiness is directly proportionate to our circumstances and you want to be happy to circumstances gotta change your single, you got to get married.

Mary poorly got him a better immediate whatever you want to say even in our word happiness.

We contain this word happiness in English comes from the word happening you are happy with what you want to have inhabitants when your happenings are happening correctly then you are happy to make sense.

And when things are not happening correctly you are unhappy.

Jesus said your happiness if you're ever going to find it is not to be contingent on your happenings. Your happiness is to be contingent on your relationship with God and living let me happiness is not a result of a set of circumstances. It is the fruit of being rightly related to God.

Number two, according to Jesus, happiness is a response to the gospel according to Jesus. Happiness is only a response to the gospel. If you are the most important but overlooked details is where Jesus taught these things from you went up to the mountain we got to the mountain. I got Mount he started to talk like he was given a wall is is the way you word things sounded eerily familiar. As he started to say things like me, you have heard Moses say, but I say to you, he is re-creating the giving of the law. Another great religious teacher and Moses. I got up in the Mount Sinai and there given all Jesus is re-creating that giving a new version of the law, which leads me to the most common way people misconstrue these things people look at these things like a list that you're supposed to work there to earn God's favor salvation latter. You gotta climb to get to God and if you do these eight things good enough to gotta be happy with you and will bless you, which is the most common way people also misunderstand the original 10 Commandments here 10 things do these things will not eventually will get a passing grade to get past Ray.

Gotta let you into heaven for people overlook. Listen, is that when Moses gable wall to Israel. He gave it to them. Listen to this after God had saved them.

Not before after they had been let out of slavery in Egypt. After they had been led to the Red Sea. He gave them these 10 Commandments and the preface of the 10 Commandments is because I'm the God who saves you, therefore you should don't kill don't still have no other gods before me in the same way Jesus is giving us these eight things has a way not to earn salvation or blessing, but as a response to the God who is given us.

Blessing and salvation to. Here's how you can read them because Jesus has saved us. We can be poor in spirit because we know he promises to be our sufficiency in all things, because Jesus has saved us. We can enter into somebody else's pain. The way he entered into ours because Jesus saved us. We can be meek and then not try to take the first place because that's what Jesus did for us in God promised to exalt us the way to Jesus because Jesus saved us. We hunger and thirst for the God of righteousness because the God of righteousness has become our salvation. Because Jesus saved us. We can't help but be merciful to others the way he was merciful because Jesus saved us. We want to be pure in heart because we want to know this God who saved us and we want to be righteous and pure like he is because he saved us, we can prioritize peace instead of vindication because that's what he did for us because he saved us, we can endure persecution because his resurrection shows us it's worth it. Our lawgiver was not a taskmaster who simply gable wall and then threaten punishment that we disobeyed our lawgiver was a Savior not only issue the law, but then offered himself as a substitute sacrifice for those ways in which we have broken it even just to send them out like Moses and give the law he ascended across the diner place for breaking retreat.

If you look at these eight things like rungs of a ladder that you gotta climb to get to heaven, dumping the sprayer.

You can never be these things enough in order to earn the blessing of God. These eight things are not rungs of the ladder that you climb to get the God they are a grateful response to God and climbed down the ladder to come and save you. Michael CS Lewis went on the kite. The sermon on the Mount systems that I hated to. I hated like you had a sledgehammer that destroys my house, but unless that sledgehammer had destroyed the house of my own righteousness I would've never learned to really trust in Jesus, and if I never learn to trust in Jesus I would've never had this grateful response. They gave me the desire to be merciful, and pure in heart and hunger and thirst for righteousness that leads us to two very important questions. Number one.

Have you ever received Jesus personally, as your Savior. That's where everything starts. This is a gift.

The core word of the gospel is substitution, Jesus live the life that you were supposed to live.

He did these eight things perfectly, and he died the death that you were condemned to die for not doing the same things and he offered it to you as a gift. If you would receive it. Have you ever received Jesus personally. Salvation is a gift that you have to receive Nelly through the second question had you embark from there in the life of discipleship is essentially the life of discipleship is characterized by these eight things are you ready for these eight things to form the shape of your life and if so, have you shown that your first act of obedience.

Your first act of discipleship, baptism is you when we baptize you. We ask you two questions questionable what we say in their and the MM it's ugly, but someone do you believe that Jesus has done everything necessary to save. In other words, are you poor in spirit. You coming to this place thinking that your righteous enough to earn God's favor, so you can be baptized but if you understand that you have no righteousness of your own. But Jesus has given you righteousness as a gift when you can be baptized into his death and resurrection, because he is become your salvation. You answer that question, yes, I believe, is in everything necessary to save you and we ask question number two.

Are you willing to go wherever he tells you do it every tells you to do anything you ready to put sent away Jesus and the God of the sender and the focus of your life and you doing your listening to Pastor Jeannie Greer on Sunday night.

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