TITLE: Kingdom Bliss
TEXT: Matthew 5:1-11
THEME: Present hardship assures the faithful believer of happiness in the kingdom.
OPENING
SENTENCE: In the mid-'70s, an unknown editor named Gary Dahl was talking with his friends,
who were complaining about all the work involved in caring for pets—feeding them, walking
them, cleaning up after them.
INTRODUCTION: Dahl kidded that he had a pet that never caused him any trouble—a pet rock.
Surprisingly, the joke started to take off. Dahl recruited two colleagues as investors, visited a
building-supply store and bought a load of smooth Mexican beach stones at about a penny
apiece. The Pet Rock hit the marketplace in time for Christmas 1975. In a matter of months,
some 1.5 million rocks were sold. It was a craze to rival the Hula-Hoop. For a mere three dollars
and 95 cents, a consumer could buy … a rock—a plain, ordinary, egg-shaped rock of the kind
one could dig up in almost any backyard.
For a few frenzied months in 1975, more than a million consumers did, becoming the proud—if
slightly abashed—owners of Pet Rocks, the fad that Newsweek later called "one of the most
ridiculously successful marketing schemes ever." When Dahl died in March 2015, his New York
Times obituary claimed "the concept of a 'pet' that required no actual work and no real
commitment resonated with the self-indulgent '70s, and before long a cultural phenomenon was
born."
Pet Rocks made Dahl a millionaire practically overnight, but despite the boon Pet Rocks brought
him he came to regret his success. The Pet Rock craze went the way of all fads—it died out and
was replaced by the next fad. After his sudden wealth, he went through three marriages, a law
suit, and failed attempts to match his previous success. At one point he said, "Sometimes I look
back and wonder if my life wouldn't have been simpler if I hadn't done it." (Adapted from
Margalit Fox, "Gary Dahl, Inventor of the Pet Rock, Dies at 78," The New York Times (3-31-15)
TRANSITION
SENTENCE: I think Dahl’s life exemplifies the hunger for success that many people have.
TRANSITION: Few will ever find financial success to the degree he did. But, for those like him
who have had found it, they find it is fleeting and does not deliver the happiness and satisfaction
they hoped. The success the world offers can't satisfy our heart. Yet people are on an endless
quest to find happiness that is temporary and illusive.
SAY WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY: This morning I want us to see that Jesus provides the
true source and nature of happiness and it stands in stark contrast to what we might think it
should be. I want us to see that while worldly success pursues instant gratification true
happiness faces the hardships of life but sees beyond them. While worldly success compromises
character in the pursuit true happiness pursues character. While worldly success seeks the favor
and praise of men true happiness is not dependent on and accepts persecution in the right pursuit.
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TEXT: Matthew 5:1-11
THEME: Present hardship assures the faithful believer of happiness in the kingdom.
What is the source and nature of true happiness?
I.
True happiness sees beyond the present hardships of life. (1-5)
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples
came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
A. Happiness does not mean we are always in an upbeat emotional state.
Poor in Spirit: Jesus is saying that you are happy when you discover that you are spiritually
busted. When you get to the point in your life where you know you are spiritually bankrupt you
have your greatest hope for happiness. Why? Because, only in this recognition do we see our
total dependence on the grace and mercy of God. This is Jesus saying: Get rid of the pride and
self-deception. You’ve got to say, “I need God” and only then will He reveal Himself to you.
Ignoring, justifying or redefining the essence of our sin before God distracts from this reality.
In his new book the, “The Road to Character” political commentator Brooks identifies the
problem of modern culture as the "Big Self". In this "age of the selfie," he contends that
humility is needed to solve this aggressive plague. Humility is the "awareness you are the
underdog in the struggle against your own weakness." It provides you the "freedom from the
need to prove you are superior all the time."
B. Happiness does not mean we are always without sorrow.
Blessed are they that mourn. Jesus is laying these principles out in logical progression. In this
setting it is no so much mourning for the loss of a loved one as it that Jesus is saying that when
you when you are poor in spirit and recognize you need God it should break your heart. As
David said: “God, what you really cherish is a broken and contrite heart”. When you get to that
point where it isn't just head knowledge but moves to the heart it and toward true happiness.
It reminds us of Peter where in Matthew 26 after he denies Jesus it says that, “Peter went out and
he wept bitterly.” His sin and betrayal of Jesus hit him and broke his heart. He would be later
comforted by Christ Himself who forgave him and gave him a new commission.
C. Happiness does not mean we are always in control of life’s affairs
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Blessed are the meek. When you hear the word meek we usually think of a weak, wimpy, Barney
Fife type person? That’s not what meek means at all. Meek in the original Greek, meant to bridle
wild horses, to put strength and power under control. Jesus is saying once you discover you’re
poor in spirit and it does something in your heart, then it’s time to come to God and say, "God, I
need you to control my life."
You will never be happy in your life until you realize you need self-restraint and to give control
of your life over to God. Being meek brings our natural and sinful impulses under the authority
of Jesus. It sees beyond our present circumstances to focus on a future state of being. Present
realities do not have to determine future happiness when we give Jesus control.
ILLUSTRATE: Harvard psychologist and researcher Daniel Gilbert opens his best-selling book
Stumbling on Happiness with what he calls "The Sentence." "The Sentence" is the defining
feature of our humanity? Gilbert is a secular psychologist, but his answer is insightful. He said,
[Human beings] think about the future in a way that no other animal can, does, or ever has, and
this simple … ordinary act is the defining feature of our humanity. We can imagine events years
into the future …. If more than several minutes are involved, no animal can keep up with us.
(Adapted from Frank Partnoy, Wait: The Art and Science of Delay (PublicAffairs, 2012), pp.
120-12)
APPLY: It is this ability that God has created in us that allows us to look past our present
hardships so we can see a future hope and joy. Being human is living in light of the future.
THEME: Present hardship assures the faithful believer of happiness in the kingdom.
What is the source and nature of true happiness?
II.
True happiness flows from godly character. (6-8)
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
A. It craves for righteousness to define his/her life.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness." When you have given control over
to Jesus your spiritual desires start to change. You’re no longer hungry over stuff like popularity,
prestige or power or materialism. You’re not hungry for achievement and worldly success.
You’re hungry for the things of God now. And as you hunger for the things of God you’re going
to get filled because you’ve discovered that those other things leave you unsatisfied, but the
things of God don’t. They fill you up. And that’s the only way your life is ever going to change.
John Piper summed up our problem well with his statement, ‘The weakness of our hunger for
God is not because he is unsavoury, but because we “keep ourselves stuffed with other things”’
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B. It shows mercy to others.
What’s the first thing that comes out of hungering for righteousness? What’s it say in these
verses? We are merciful. One f the first things that comes out of your life after all this inside
stuff’s been going on is the very thing that you just received from Christ?
C. It has pure and proper motives.
Blessed are the pure in heart." We are moving toward maturity here with this promise. Being
pure in heart does not mean you never ever have an impure thought again in your life? If that
were true you the Bible wouldn’t say that we’re to take every thought captive. The word purity
here is about sincerity, being honest with God. You’re not covering up anything. You’re always
honest with God. You’re honest with other people. You’re authentic.
Jesus is saying: Blessed are you when you’re real because you can’t see God when you’re
wearing a mask. Blessed are you when you take the mask off. You say, "God what you see is
what you get. I’m trying my best to walk with you. You know everything about me, God. I’m not
going to cover up anything." What God desires, as David said, is truth in the innermost part
It realizes we will never fully attain these on earth but rests on Christ’s righteousness and mercy.
ILLUSTRATE: It is our hunger for instant gratification that hinders this kind of happiness. An
article in The Boston Globe claims that our "demand for instant results is seeping into every
corner of our lives." The need for instant gratification is not new, but our expectation of "instant"
has become faster. The article states:
Retailers are jumping into same-day delivery services. Smartphone apps eliminate the wait for a
cab, a date, or a table at a hot restaurant. Movies and TV shows begin streaming in seconds. But
experts caution that instant gratification comes at a price: It's making us less patient … We've
come to expect things so quickly that researchers found people can't wait more than a few
seconds for a video to load. One researcher examined the viewing habits of 6.7 million internet
users. How long were subjects willing to be patient? Two seconds. After that they started
abandoning the site. After five seconds, the abandonment rate is 25 percent. When you get to 10
seconds, half are gone." The results offer a glimpse into the future. As Internet speeds increase,
people will be even less willing to wait for that cute puppy video. The researcher, who spent
years developing the study, worries someday people will be too impatient to conduct studies on
patience. (Christopher Muther, "Instant gratification is making us perpetually impatient," The
Boston Globe (2-2-13)
APPLY: We cannot develop character in an “instant gratification” world unless we slow down.
THEME: Present hardship assures the faithful believer of happiness in the kingdom.
What is the source and nature of true happiness?
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III. True happiness pursues peace with others but is not dependent on it. (9-12)
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil
against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in
the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
A. Happiness is not the absence of conflict but it seeks to respond appropriately in conflict.
Blessed are the peacemakers. Jesus is talking about the person that is slow to speak and quick to
listen, with a gentle spirit. They exemplify the fruit of the Spirit in their life and identified in
Galatians 5. They have great maturity, wisdom and discernment.
All of us live between two realms. The one is the realm of ideals. This is our view of how we
think the world should be. But our ideal of what “should be” is seldom “what is.” The realm of
“what is” includes the daily conflicts and realities that we face in life. Wisdom knows how the
sides of these two realms and finding what will work to bring peace.
B. The happy man faces persecution in light of eternity in heaven.
Blessed are the persecuted. Sometimes when people look at the Christian faith or see Christ in
you, they don’t know how to deal with it or how to handle you. They didn’t know what to do
with Jesus. It was for envy that they nailed him to a cross.
Last year people all over the world were persecuted for the sake of Jesus Christ in unprecedented
numbers. Probably none of us could claim to be really persecuted in the last year, but there are
thousands of people all over the planet every day get tortured, beaten for Christ. We see it in
virtually all Muslim countries, in India, in China and it is increasing in Africa. We saw the
beheadings of Christians by ISIS in recent months and the Christians thrown overboard in a
board of people fleeing Libya. I believe we can expect to see it in Canada as secularism become
more dominant. To read the vitriol against Christians on social media sites should alert us to the
fact that there is growing hostility toward believers. I would hope that if persecution comes into
my life that I’m going to rejoice and be glad in it and that you will join me.
C. Happiness is not dependent on what others think of you. If you are sensitive to what
others think of you regarding your faith then you are vulnerable to compromise and
depression. Jesus makes it clear we do not look to others for our sense of who we are.
It recognizes true peace and contentment find its source in Jesus. For many centuries
Christianity has been protected and thrived in Western Civilization. Even if that should change
our source of joy remains the same.
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ILLUSTRATE: The record of believers regarding being peacemakers should give us pause. We
too often do not live up to the ideal of being peacemakers Maybe you've heard the old joke about
a man who was stranded on a desert island. He lived alone there for several months until, finally,
a search party found him. When the rescue boat arrived, the captain noticed that there were three
huts on the island. "What are those huts?" the captain asked. The castaway pointed and said,
"That's my house and that's my church." "What's that third one over there?" the captain asked.
"Oh, that's where I used to go to church.".
APPLY: While Jesus' words may have implications for the world stage, the primary context for
peacemaking is the realm of personal relationships. Our arena is not the United Nations but the
local church. The apostle Paul echoes Jesus' command when he says, "Be completely humble
and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of
the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:2–3). (John Koessler)
THEME: Present hardship assures the faithful believer of happiness in the kingdom.
SAY WHAT YOU HAVE SAID: This morning I want us to see that Jesus provides for the true
source and nature of happiness and it stands in stark contrast to what we might think it should be.
I want us to see that while worldly success pursues instant gratification true happiness faces the
hardships of life but sees beyond them. While worldly success compromises character in the
pursuit true happiness pursues character. While worldly success seeks the favor and praise of
men true happiness is not dependent on and accepts persecution in the right pursuit.
TIE INTO OPENING SENTENCE: Gary Dahl, the inventor of the pet rock, died disillusioned
with the empty pursuit of worldly success. Having seen the temporary wealth his product
provided he realized it was fleeting. What better picture of worldly success- even if we find it.
APPLY TO SPECIFIC AUDIENECE:
1. Happiness is a state of mind that comes through seeing ourselves as we really are before
God and humbly submitting to His control in our lives. Things like wealth, popularity,
beauty, prestige and fame will never fill the soul the way depending on God will.
2. Substitutes like alcohol, drugs and sex are often ways we use to dull the pain and
loneliness we feel. The law of diminishing returns says the more we pursue these things
the more we crave and the less we enjoy. Only pursing righteousness provides joy.
3. Don’t worry so much about what people think about regarding your faith. It is far more
important to get God’s approval than mans.
HAYMAKER: Years ago a group called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes printed a prayer
that they challenge its plays to live out. This prayer should be at the heart of every believer.
“I am part of a fellowship of the unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I
have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of Jesus, and I won’t look
back, let up, slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed. My present makes sense.
My future is secure. I’m finished and done with low-living, side-walking, small-playing, smooth
knees, colorless dreams, tame divisions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no
longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotion, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to
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be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on his
presence, walk by patience, live by prayer and labor by power. My faith is set. My gait is fast.
My goal is heaven. My road is narrow. My way is rough. My companions are few. But my God
is reliable and my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned
back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the
adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the
maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, shut up or let up till I’ve stayed up, stored up, prayed up,
paid up and preached up for the cause of Christ. I’m a disciple of Jesus. I must go till he comes,
give till I drop, preach till all know and work till he stops me. And when he comes for his own,
he will have no problem recognizing me, because my banner will be clear.
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