I just want to be Happy Matt 5:2-12 Beatitudes
Many say, “Well so long as they’re happy”, “I’m glad they are happy”, “God wants us to be happy”. For many happiness is to have a sufficiency of subsistence (stuff) and to thrive well in the world (satisfaction) (Eccl 5:10). But most don’t understand that the tree of happiness doesn’t grow in an earthly paradise because God has “cursed the ground” as a result of man’s fall (Gen 3:17). Yet many are digging for felicity here, as if they would fetch a blessing out of a curse. A man may as well think to extract oil out of a flint, or fire out of water, as blessedness out of these terrestrial things. (Watson). If by happiness we mean serenity, confidence, contentment, peace, joy and soul satisfaction then Jesus was supremely happy. His happiness did not depend on outward circumstances. He did not have to have an outward stimulus to make Him happy. He had learned a secret that allowed Him to live above the circumstances of life and fear of the future. He moved in calmness, certainty, and serenity through the most trying circumstances even death! Certainly, if anyone had genuine happiness and blessedness, it was Jesus. (Billy Graham). So, when Jesus tells us how we could be deeply, spiritually and profoundly happy and how we can maintain this happiness even in the midst of life’s disappointments and hard times we should listen attentively (Boice). Jesus teaches that contrary to the world, happiness is found through contrition, brokenness and humility. He explains that happiness is not attained by something we seek, but who we surrender to. It is supernatural and sustainable, regardless of the external circumstances. The things of this world will no more keep out trouble of spirit than a piece of paper will stop a bullet. Worldly delights are winged, they have wings and they are here for a time and for a moment, and they fly away" . . . "To look for blessing (happiness) in things external is to seek the living among the dead. As the angel told Mary concerning Christ, 'He is not here, He is risen', so may I say blessedness is not here, it is risen - it is in a higher region. . . . blessedness does not lie in externals (Thomas Watson) You have here not only teaching about how to be happy but teaching about how to enter the kingdom because they’re the same thing. Entering the kingdom is where happiness is found. And outside the kingdom, there is no lasting happiness. (Mac Arthur).
Definition of Blessing
Understanding of the term Blessed are . . . This is the term that starts all the beatitudes. Understanding the meaning of the term will help identify what Jesus was addressing in his sermon. The Gk is Makarios, it means fortunate, happy, blissful. It is a state of joy that does not depend on the physical, temporal circumstances. Blessedness is not a superficial feeling of well-being based on circumstances, but a deep supernatural experience of contentedness based on the fact that one’s life is right with God (MacArthur) (James 1:2-4). The happiness spoken of here doesn’t depend upon circumstances and fills the soul with joy even in the midst of the most depressing events (Boice)
Usage of the term ‘blessed’ refers to the blessing and joy of a man who is self-contained, independent of external circumstances. Happiness’ comes from the root ‘hap’ which means chance. Human happiness is by chance, when ‘everything’s going our way.’ Divine blessedness is the inner joy, serenity, and composure which comes from knowing that we are right with God, that our contentment and well being are not the product of chance but of infinite grace. (Wm Barclay) Heb 12:1-2 This term is an exclamation of the inner joy and peace that comes with being right with God. Happiness may indeed be a part of it; but it is a happiness that transcends what happens in the world around us, a happiness that comes to the soul from being favored by God. That is why it can call for rejoicing under intense persecution. (Allen Ross)
Deceptiveness of Blessing (happiness)
It is elusive and unattainable in this life. Eccl 2:10-11, Matt 19:23-26, Is 55:2 You must come to Jesus on his terms set forth in the beatitudes: brokenness, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirsting after righteousness. If you are truly a Christian not only will your entrance into the kingdom be on this condition, but your present testimony will be consistent with these virtues. We must recognize that we shall never get anywhere in our search for happiness until we give up trying to find it by our own efforts and receive if instead as God’s free gift. This means that God is the source of all spiritual blessings, and in this as in all things we must look to Him. (Boice)
It is elicited by conversion and continues by the Spirit. Gal 5:22-25, Jn 15:11 Nobody, no time, could ever be saved by his own resources. Only with God is it possible. We cannot do it. That is why we must be ready to cast ourselves on the mercy of God. The rich man wanted to climb on the religious bandwagon and bring his luggage of materialism with him, but he could not get on with such luggage. Instead of being a help, it was a curse. (Luke18:18-30). The only way anyone enters the kingdom is when he realizes he can’t, strips himself naked and arrives back at broken in spirit, mourning over sin and hungering and thirsting for righteousness he can never attain on his own. Most people do not want to meet these conditions. They want to go to heaven their own way. They want to climb aboard with all their junk. They are going on a trip with four bags: Satan, worldliness, sin and self. The trouble is they can’t go in the narrow gate carrying all those bags. (Matt 7:13-14). You cannot prove that you are a Christian by waltzing down the same old path, having made a decision, walking an aisle, saying a prayer, having read through a little booklet, or being baptized was never the criteria for salvation. The Biblical criteria is not what you have done or what has been done to you, but whose you are and what your life is like right now. It is not some past profession of your faith, but the daily evidence of your present perpetual faith. (Matt 7:21)
Description of the Beatitudes
Five Aspects (adapted from Sermon on the Mount by D Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
They are a Standard for all Christians Matt 5:20, Titus 1:6 Kingdom Citizens are pure in heart, merciful, peacemakers who are persecuted and reviled. We are all to exemplify everything that is contained here (Jones).
They are all to be Shown in the lifestyle of every Christian Matt 7:15-27 These are to be taken as a whole not individually. They can’t be divided. They are all to be present in the life of the believer, even though the relative portions my vary in each believer. (Jones)
They are Supernatural because they can’t be attained by natural tendencies –it necessities a new birth. John 3:16-18, Matt 5:17 These characteristics are not natural traits, tendencies or temperaments. Although there might be those who appear to possess these from a natural prospective, they are spiritual qualities that are supernaturally bestowed by the Holy Spirit. (Jones)
They are Segregating as they express the essential difference between the Non-Christian and the Christian. The glory of the gospel is that when the church is absolutely different from the world, she invariably attracts it. Our ambition should be to be like Christ, the more like him the better, the more like him we become, the more we shall be unlike everyone who is not a Christian. (Lloyd-Jones), If lived out these truths are an effective evangelism tool. James 4:4
They are Successive because each one is built on the preceding one.
The progression of thought in the beatitudes: A person who is poor in spirit has the right attitude about sin, which leads to mourning v.4. When someone recognizes his sinfulness and mourns over it, he develops meekness v. 5. That leads him to hunger and thirst for righteousness v. 6. Such hunger manifests itself in mercy v. 7, purity of heart v. 8, and a peaceable spirit v. 9. A person who displays those attitudes can expect to be reviled, persecuted, and falsely accused vv.10-11. That's because that kind of lifestyle is an irritant to worldly people. In the end, believers will be able to rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is (their) reward in heaven. He who lives in accordance with the Beatitudes will be the salt of the earth and the light of the world vv.13-14. (McArthur)
Happiness is the great question confronting mankind The whole world is longing for happiness. . . The vast majority are looking for happiness in way that is bound to produce misery. Anything which, by evading the difficulties, merely makes people happy for the time being, is ultimately going to add to their misery and problems. The utter deceitfulness of sin is it is always offering happiness but ultimately leads to unhappiness and misery (Jones) In Christ we find true happiness, and, in the kingdom, we can live out the truest expression of this happiness. There is therefore, no reason for believer to fail to live a joyous life, even in the midst of devastating and difficult situations and seasons of Life (“Yet I will praise him” Job 13:14; “Yet I will rejoice” Hab 3:17-19) (Boice)
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