THE SECRET OF HAPPINESS PART TWO

Matt 5:6

Before we open God’s word let me say this! We plan to abide by the recommendations of Heath Canada officials. Let me encourage you with the words of Pastor Francis Grimke said after the Spanish Flu epidemic in Washington D.C. in 1918, “There has been considerable grumbling, I know, on the part of some, particularly in regard to the closing of the churches. It seems to me, however, in a matter like this it is always wise to submit to such restrictions for the time being. If, as a matter of fact, it was dangerous to meet in theatres and in the schools, it certainly was no less dangerous to meet in churches. The fact that the churches were places of religious gathering, and the others not, would not affect in the least the health question involved. If avoiding crowds lessens the danger of being infected, it was wise to take the precaution and not needlessly run in danger, and expect God to protect us.”

Sinclair Ferguson said “Some people will say, “My life is changed forever because of this, and the danger is we stay the same because of this.”

May we learn something about our time in history? A small organism has made the world submit to its demands. This reminds me when God spoke in the whirlwind. May we with Job say, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:1-6

What is the Lord revealing to you in your heart as we see a world crippled by this temporary virus that has plagued the earth?

Is it to have more compassion for those who are more susceptible in contracting this virus?

It is to extend your prayer life for our nation to seek Christ while He may be found in the gospel.

Is it to strengthen your walk of complacency to seek Christ for forgiveness for your lack of love towards the Godhead and His church?

Is it to reveal to my heart, “How important my church is to me and that I truly love and will miss being here with my brothers and sisters”?

So let’s do our best out of a horrible situation for His glory and our good? And may we say in some way this has changed my life for the better as I grow in grace. 

Because the danger is 

we stay the same because of this.

   

Open your bible to Matthew chapter 5:1-6

  

What is Jesus Saying?

1. Approved are the poor in spirit for the Kingdom of Heaven has been given to them through the gospel. (v3) To be poor in spirit is to know one’s spiritual neediness and dependence on God. 

2. Approved is the mourner for they have been forgiven of their sins through the gospel and they will be comforted. (v4) They mourn their own sin first, and then mourn all sin. This is a blessed mourning, since God will comfort those who mourn over sin.

  

3. Approved are the meek for they will inherit the earth through the finished work on the cross of Jesus Christ. (v5) To be meek is the opposite of arrogance, jealousy, and selfish ambition.

4. Approved, “Blessed” are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. (v6)

When you slow down and read this carefully you begin to see the importance of what Jesus is saying. Which leaves me to ask the question in times like this! How can I be the church when we are restrained in coming to church? How do I understand the importance of being the church when we can’t attend our church? What Jesus says here answers that question! This is a person who is completely conformed to the mind of God. Their passion and greatest treasure is to be holy. Whether in these four walls or outside in the world.

This was David’s prayer “Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him! Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword, from men by your hand, O LORD, from men of the world whose portion is in this life. You fill their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children, and they leave their abundance to their infants. As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.” Psalm 17:13-15

As for David and all of God’s children through the gospel, to be with Him is to be completely satisfied.

Think about what Jesus is saying here!

  

The righteousness that Jesus is speaking about is not “imputed righteousness” That His cloths us with at the point of the new birth through the gospel. That is foundational; in the moment of conversion at the new birth. R C Sproul said “Jesus not only had to die for our sins, but He had to live for our righteousness.” When we say that God “imputes Christ’s righteousness to us” it means that God thinks of Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, or regards it as belonging to us. He reckons it to our account “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." Rom 4:3.That’s the imputed righteousness that God reckons to us in the new birth.

The righteousness that Jesus is speaking of here 

is an “inner righteousness”

It’s works itself out in one’s living in conformity to God’s will. We would call this “righteous living” it’s a longing to live righteously, in a world that is consumed with sin, and death. It’s a passionate desire that starts at the new birth in one’s redeemed life. It’s an increase in sensing the need for God and a desire to be like Him. Jesus uses some interesting words here “Hungering and thirsting” This is a person who is desperate and is hungering after food. Its hard thing to grasp or express as a person living in 2020, especially when we have everything at our finger tips. Because if you hungering and thirsty there is little effort in getting those things; except if you’re extremely lazy. You go to the kitchen, or you’re the bedroom’s hidden stash, which is hidden away from your children. So you eat and drink and are satisfied, by this quick and easy need that took little effort on your part. A necessity that is easily is fixed and comes natural without thinking about it.

But what Jesus is saying is a 

“desperate hunger and thirsting”

One Theologian wrote “Hunger and thirst” is a metaphor that doesn’t resonate today as it did in Jesus’ day, when food and water were scarce and people were often hungry and thirsty. In our culture, food and water are plentiful, so we miss the urgency Jesus intended. Hungry, thirsty people work hard, urgently, to gain food. To hunger and thirst for righteousness, then, means we should urgently pursue righteousness.”

A person who is living a life of starvation and thirst are always, constantly, urgently, living to pursue righteousness. It’s a desperate hunger and thirst of righteousness to be conformed to God’s will for my life.

As Isaiah wrote "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” Isaiah 55:1-2

Jesus said “…"Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:32-35

To hunger for righteousness is to yearn for God’s rule in our lives And I will never stop as long as I have breath in my lungs, a will still be starving and thirsting after God. It is to have a thirst for God’s Word and for the company of the godly. As I press on to know and be conformed by Him in the new birth. 

R C Sproul said “We are to seek and pursue personal righteousness. Anyone who has truly been saved from sin will hate sin and will seek righteousness. Jesus not only told us to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness, but He also told us that unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees, we would not see the kingdom of God. It is obvious that we are to seek to become righteous people as we obey God’s law and walk in His ways.

Examples of this are……

King David penned these words “A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63:1-8

In Psalm 17:15 David says “As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.”

The Apostle Paul desperate desire to be conformed to Christ, in living righteously for His glory. “  But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:7-14

We can never have enough of the righteousness of God, so we hunger and thirst for these things continually, daily. To a lot of people this would have made sense, and for others this was have been too demanding. What do I mean? Go back to your conversion, the new birth when you were joyful, and desired to know Him more. Through! Daily reading, attending, giving, sharing and loving others despite who they are, because you are loved with an everlasting love of God through the gospel. You welcomed opportunities to serving and sacrificing time for Him. Because you hungered after Him. Because you know it will and it will take an eternity upon eternity to satisfy that desire.

But where is it now?

Where is that hunger and thirst for righteousness?

Has the world distracted you and consumed you

with the wisdom and shiny things?

Has the world planted a seed of bitterness and complacency in your heart to not serve, to not read your bible, to not care about what is going on around us?

Where does your heart lean too? For many their lives are ok with just the status-quo, the bare minimum. It’s a limited devotion so long as it doesn’t get in the way of your life and your plans. See! This hunger and thirsting will either repulse you or it will draw closer and closer until you reach Heaven. What Jesus is saying is that we must never become “spiritually satisfied.” here, it’s only found in Him. We must, seek Him, with a thirst and hunger for righteousness, because that is only thing that will satisfy a hungry and thirsty man or woman of God. Hungry people know what they need! Just as hungry people who know Christ and can’t get enough, because the spiritually famished are blessed, approved, by God. This is a good test or indicator for you and me

What do you hunger for most?

1. To Hunger And Thirst Is To Know Whom I Believe.

Paul said this to Timothy, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim 1:8-13

To Hunger And Thirst Also Expresses A Profound Longing To Know Him More And More. Remember what Jesus said “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” Matt 16:26. What is Jesus saying “You put all your life goals and achievements on one side of the scale and you put Christ alone on the other side, there is no comparison to the beauty that is found in Christ.” A W Tozer said “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” I want to know Him more and if that means I give up this or that, or sacrifice this or that so I can know Him more, than it’s all worth it.

What does that look like? Paul said it best, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Col 3:1-17

Knowing that you are a sinner and God is transcendently Holy and Eternal. Knowing that you hate your sin and the sins that world enjoys with reservation. Knowing that I’m forgiven and will find comfort in His grace. Knowing that have been promised an inheritance that I do not deserve but God gives it freely to me though the Gospel of His love. Knowing that a have a new passion and desire that consumes every cell in my body to know Him more for His glory and my good. Knowing that only God can satisfy a sinner like me. By my life submitting to Him.

   

James Boice said “You cannot fool God 

with human righteousness”

Let me ask you, “Do you hunger for righteousness?

Would it embarrass you to be known as a “righteous person”?

Do you pursue holiness?

Personally, for you know your soul is desperate for it?

Or are you satisfied with a nibble of righteousness, just a few moments of knowing Him and His love?

Think about this as it pertains to what we know already from this “Sermon On The Mount”.

Do you have a passionless routine, a dull, devoted life, where you fit in and drift along, with the years passing like a lazy summer day?

Because! A true disciple yearns for God’s righteousness and pursues it as if they are starving and thirsty every second of every day. I hope you do, even despite our present situation in a time that God is calling out to the World.

So my prayer for you and myself is, we reach for the righteousness of our Lord and always be pursuing the foothills of His Mountain to know Him more through righteous living, whether here together or separate for a season.

May we never be satisfied with the status-quo, but pursue Him. The world only offers an “Empty cup” In Christ our cups “overflow”, or better yet our cups are “full” with grace, and it completely satisfied the child of God. But you cannot know the truest meaning of longing for Christ until your cup has been filled with the new birth. In John’s gospel we read “Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14

The Christian life is a life that hungers 

and thirsts for Kingdom Living!

Why? Those who are “approved hunger and thirst for righteousness, 

for they shall be satisfied.” (v6)