Beatitudes Series

We all want to be happy, Right?

We want to go through life with a feeling of accomplishment that brings happiness. Sometimes happiness can be a short lived experience in life. Kinda like a kid buying a happy meal at McDonalds. Kids love happy meals don’t they? It doesn’t matter where we are my kids all know when we’re close to a McDonalds. And the request was always the same, Dad I want a Happy Meal. The kids would be so overjoyed they would want to skip over the food in the meal and go right to the toy.

They loved those cheap little toys, and they always had a toy box full of them. But their happiness would last about as long as their fascination with the toy. And that wasn’t very long. They would go off and play never wanting to eat all of the food in that Happy Meal.

When it was time to go home their happiness was over. Well we are kind of like that, we make ourselves happy by buying things cars, houses, toys new tools new cookware new clothes new shoes but our happiness doesn’t last. We have all heard the expression money and possessions don’t buy happiness. All of our lives we try to do things so that we will be happy. However, to our dismay we find out that these things don’t bring happiness, instead we find ourselves surrounded by things that have no real meaning in our lives. People think that happiness can only be achieved when material and momentary conditions are met. People grow up thinking that all they need is a good job the perfect house, the perfect spouse, the perfect kids, the perfect church, the perfect car, the perfect education, when really all we need is Jesus. Amen.

Yes those material things are nice but they are not absolutes. Is there something in your life that makes you happy? Or better yet, is there something missing in your life, that keeps you from being happy?

True happiness starts with the mind. Our Lord and Savior told us everything we need to make ourselves happy. All we need, to be really happy is found in the Beattitudes

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What does it mean to be poor in spirit?

Does that mean to walk around with your head down feeling miserable or making yourself miserable? No!

Does it mean that you have to be poor? No!

It does mean that we recognize that we are spiritual paupers before a holy and righteous God. It means that we see the truth about who we really are. And what our life is in Christ? And that means we recognize how much we need God. Right?

Lk 18:10-14

That is what poor in spirit means.

• It is much more than being humble

• much more than being polite

• much more than being patient

• much more than being kind

It is recognizing that you are a sinner in the hands of a loving Father. Being poor means emptying yourself of all those self righteous feelings you have. Empty yourself of your proud righteousness, realizing that we cannot make ourselves happy. It means to empty your heart and mind of all the junk the world puts value on.

Philippians 3:7-8

1 Timothy 6:6

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. How do we develop this attitude in our lives?

James 4:7-10 says “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinner, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

So being poor in spirit is placing value on God not on earthly possessions.

Shallow Hall Illustration

Let’s go home now! We could stop right here.

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

What do you think our attitude needs to be about our sin? It should cause us to mourn. We need to respond like Paul in Romans 7:14-20

We should be like the Tax Collector that stood before God and declared “Forgive me the sinner that I am.” And not like the Pharisee that was so full of himself.

Mourning is a sign of compassion Matthew 9:36-38

When was the last time you thought of someone who was lost and your heart was broken for them?

Mourning is not a sign of weakness it is rather the opposite, it is a statement of our inner strength and courage. It takes real strength and courage to stand before a Holy God and make the declaration “forgive me for my sin Lord.”