PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS: A BROKEN HEART
A. Many people believe that HAPPINESS is produced by EXTERNAL CIRCUMSTANCES or
SITUATIONS.
1. The world buys into the “WHEN AND THEN” philosophy: “When I get this...” or “When that
changes...” or “When this happens” “. . . THEN I'll be HAPPY.”
COMMENT:
In the most famous sermon of all times?The Sermon on the Mount?Jesus began by listing eight QUALITIES, ACTIONS, or SITUATIONS that produce HAPPINESS. I’m sure that Jesus PEAKED the INTEREST of those listening. I can picture them getting out their NOTEPADS and saying, “Okay, Jesus, we’re ready. What’s the first thing that will make us HAPPY.”
Then Jesus began, “Number one: Be POOR. . .in Spirit. Number two: Be MOURNFUL.” I’m sure that their PENCILS dropped, their MOUTHS flew open, and they started SCRATCHING their heads as they tried to figure out how Jesus’ LIST could possibly produce HAPPINESS.
2. Jesus wanted the people to understand that HAPPINESS is not a PRODUCT of CIRCUMSTANCE, but a PRODUCT of ATTITUDE.
B. Last week we looked at the first BEATITUDE.
1. We saw that TRUE HAPPINESS begins by becoming “POOR IN SPIRIT.”
COMMENT:
It’s when we HUMBLE ourselves before God?DEPENDING totally upon Him, REALIZING that we ARE NOTHING and can DO NOTHING without Him?will we be on the ROAD to finding LASTING HAPPINESS. It’s the PRIDEFUL?the ARROGANT?that will
never experience HAPPINESS.
2. The first BEATITUDE—“POOR IN SPIRIT” naturally flows into the second.
a. Matthew 5:4- “Blessed are those who MOURN, for they will be COMFORTED.”
b. Luke 6:21b- “Blessed are you who WEEP now, for you will LAUGH.”
COMMENT:
I like that. God will COMFORT the MOURNFUL. He will bring LAUGHTER to those who WEEP.
ILLUSTRATION:
Mother Teresa was known for her COMPASSION and MERCY shown toward the LEPERS of India. She was a person who truly LOVED and CARED for HURTING people. Although I did
not agree with her THEOLOGY, I admired her SERVANT HEART?and we can learn from her.
A few months before she died, an American newspaper interviewer asked her, “Given your ministry to poverty-stricken people, what can you tell us Americans we should do to live out the good life?” She didn’t say as we might expect, “Go, sell all you have and work with the poor,
like me.” Instead, she said simply and directly, “Smile at the people you live with.”
Well, the reporter was a bit surprised by her answer. He then pressed the issue. “That's easy for you to say. You don’t face family pressure and the work place.” “Oh,” said Mother Teresa, “I live with Jesus. And believe me; sometimes He’s a hard person to live with.”
3. When you understand what it means “To MOURN,” then you’ll UNDERSTAND more clearly what Mother Teresa meant when she said, “Some times Jesus is a HARD PERSON to LIVE with.”
MESSAGE:
COMMENT:
Jesus is talking about a BROKEN HEART. He uses a word for “MOURN” that means to mourn as one MOURNS for the DEAD. It is the STRONGEST WORD in the Greek language for MOURNING. The image is a LOUD MOURNING, not quietly SOBBING. It is a MOURNING which cannot be CONCEALED or HIDDEN. This is a GRIEF which brings INDESCRIBABLE HEARTACHE and UNCONTROLLED TEARS. But it is a GRIEF that will bring great HAPPINESS in the END.
I. OUR MOURNING BEGINS WITH A BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART
A. That’s what Jesus is referring to?GODLY SORROW.
1. It’s a HEART-PIERCING SORROW resulting from SIN that we COMMIT against GOD and
each OTHER.
a. It was a HEART-FELT MOURNFULNESS over his SINFUL LIFE that caused the TAX- COLLECTOR in the Lord’s PARABLE to BEAT his chest and CRY OUT, “God have
MERCY on me, a SINNER”- Luke 18:13.
b. It was a DEEP GRIEF over his DENIAL of Jesus that prompted “Peter to go out and WEEP
BITTERLY”- Matthew 26:75.
c. It was GODLY SORROW and AGONIZING REGRET that led the PRODIGAL SON back HOME where he said to his Dad, “Father, I have SINNED against heaven and against you, and I’m no longer worthy to be called your son”- Luke 15:21.
2. It was a “BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART” that prompted King David to write Psalm 51.
a. Psalm 51:1-4 (READ and COMMENT) (EXPLAIN DAVID’S SINS)
b. Psalm 51:9-10 (READ and COMMENT)
c. Psalm 51:16-17 (READ and COMMENT)
COMMENT:
You see, LIVING with Jesus is HARD because when you LIVE with Him, He CONVICTS you of SIN. You can’t LIVE with Jesus and not feel a BROKEN HEART as a result of SIN. When you are CONVICTED of SIN, it HURTS!
ILLUSTRATION:
When he was just 19-years-old, Al Johnson had joined two other men in ROBBING a Kansas bank. The CASE was CLOSED after two other CONVICTS were KILLED in a CAR ACCIDENT and were mistakenly IDENTIFIED by bank officials as the ROBBERS. So, Al
felt rather CONFIDENT that he would never be CAUGHT.
He married a Christian girl, and even PRETENDED to be a Christian. She didn’t KNOW ANYTHING of his past CRIME. Then someone MAILED him a BIBLE PAMPHLET titled, “God's Plan of Salvation.” In the PAMPHLET he read two statements that hit him HARD. FIRST: “No one can HIDE their SINS from God.” SECOND: “God’s SPECIALTY is
FORGIVING SIN!”
For the first time EVER, Al saw himself as a SINNER. The GUILT of his crime ACCUSED him. The COWARDICE of HIDING his crime SHAMED him. He REALIZED his GUILT and HATED it. Al just stood there HOLDING the PAMPHLET in his hand CRYING like a baby.
3. That’s a BROKEN and CONTRITE HEART that God BLESSES.
B. Having a BROKEN HEART is the first step to having a CHANGED HEART.
1. 2 Corinthians 7:10- “Godly SORROW [a HEART BROKEN by GOD because of SIN] brings
REPENTANCE that leads to SALVATION and leaves no REGRET . . .”
a. It took King David almost 9 months for him to ADMIT and CONFESS his SIN.
b. During that time he lived in MISERY. The GUILT of his SINS kept GNAWING at him.
COMMENT:
It wasn’t until God BROKE David’s HEART by using his good friend Nathan, who GENTLY made David AWARE of his SIN, that he finally CONFESSED, “I HAVE SINNED
AGAINST THE LORD”- 2 Samuel 12:13.
2. David did more than just ADMIT that he had a sin problem, he REPENTED?he CHANGED.
COMMENT:
Many people will readily admit that they COMMIT SIN?that they are IMPERFECT within themselves and “FALL SHORT of the GLORY of God.” But their attitude is: “So what! I’m only HUMAN. No one’s PERFECT.” Or you might hear: “I’ve got my PROBLEMS, but I’m just as GOOD as the NEXT GUY.”
JUSTIFICATION. RATIONALIZATION. COMPARISON. These ARE NOT the ATTITUDES of “THOSE WHO MOURN.” They sound GOOD. They sound FAMILIAR. They even sound AMERICAN. But in the Kingdom of God, they sound HOLLOW!
ILLUSTRATION:
Al Johnson became CONVICTED of SIN, was CONTRITE, HUMBLED his HEART, and decided to truly REPENT and FOLLOW Jesus Christ. When he did, his life CHANGED. He stopped a lifelong habit of LYING and CHEATING. And after much PRAYER he stood before his church family and CONFESSED his CRIME, and then TURNED himself in. His CONFESSION made TELEVISION NEWSCASTS and NEWSPAPER HEADLINES.
3. Honest ACKNOWLEDGMENT of SIN and REPENTANCE (TURNING AWAY from SIN) are ESSENTIAL to having a HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP with God.
II. AFTER GOD BREAKS OUR HEART, HE THEN GIVES US COMFORT
A. That is what David discovered.
1. Psalm 51:8- “Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.”
In v. 12a- “Restore to me the joy of your salvation . . .”
COMMENT:
David’s SINS had DEVASTATED him. He’d been LIVING in MISERY for nine months. He wanted to REJOICE again?to LAUGH again. David’s BROKEN HEART led to CONFESSION, his CONFESSION led to REPENTANCE/CHANGE, his REPENTANCE led to God’s FORGIVENESS, and God’s FORGIVENESS led to JOY and COMFORT.
2. Listen to David- Psalm 32:1-2 (READ and COMMENT) (Expound on the word “BLESSED”)
ILLUSTRATION:
Al Johnson, CONVICTED of SIN, CONVERTED to Christ, went and tried to make things right with the STATE by CONFESSING his CRIME. As it turned out, under a Kansas statute of limitations, he was SET FREE. There was no PENALTY that could LEGALLY HOLD him for his CRIME.
3. But David experienced something even BETTER than that- Psalm 32:5 (READ & COMMENT).
COMMENT:
David found JOY and COMFORT because God completely FORGAVE him. He was
SET FREE from the PENALTY of SIN. He was a CHANGED MAN.
ILLUSTRATION:
In a sense, the STATUTE of LIMITATIONS had CLEANSED Al Johnson of PUNISHMENT. Yet, although he was beyond the scope of law to PUNISH him, Al still chose to REPAY his SHARE of the STOLEN FUNDS to the BANK with INTEREST. In time he became the MANAGER of a SERVICE STATION, the FATHER of three ADMIRING children, and a DEDICATED CHRISTIAN. Al finally found PEACE, JOY, and COMFORT.
COMMENT:
But he didn’t do that ALONE. Max Lucado, in his book: No Wander They Call Him The Savior, said, “Man cannot cope with guilt alone. I don’t care how many worship services you attend or good deeds you do, your goodness is insufficient. You can’t be good enough to deserve forgiveness. . . . No one. Not you, not me, not anyone. Quit trying to quench your own guilt. You can't do it. There's no way. . . . I don’t care how bad you are. You can’t be bad enough to forget it. And I don’t care how good you are. You can’t be good enough to overcome it. You need a Savior.”
B. God GIVES us COMFORT, because He has GIVEN us a SAVIOR?His Son Jesus Christ.
1. 1 Peter 2:24- “Jesus Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might DIE to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.”
2. We aren’t PARDONED—FORGIVEN because the STATUE OF LIMITATIONS ran out for us.
COMMENT:
We are FORGIVEN because Christ PAID the PENALTY for us?He DIED in our PLACE. Aren’t you GLAD that God did that for you?
CONCLUSION:
A. God takes SIN SERIOUSLY.
1. SIN is not a LAUGHING matter to God- James 4:7-10 (READ and COMMENT)
ILLUSTRATION:
God takes sin so SERIOUSLY that He sent Jesus, His only Son, to the CROSS to PAY the PENALTY for SIN. In God’s sight, SIN is so EGREGIOUS that nothing else short of the DEATH
of JESUS CHRIST could DEAL with it.
When those NAILS were driven through His HANDS and FEET, it was because of your SIN and MINE. Because of our SIN He suffered HOUR after HOUR upon the CROSS, His LIFE slowly EBBING AWAY. God the Father watched His Son SUFFER this horrible AGONIZING DEATH
because it was the ONLY WAY to deal with our SIN. GOD HATES SIN!!
2. But, GOD LOVES THE SINNER!
COMMENT:
As difficult as it was for Him to do it, God sent His SON to the CROSS to take our PLACE. He wants us to go to HEAVEN. And when we MOURN over our SIN and TURN it over to God,
He will give us COMFORT, PEACE, and JOY.
HAVE YOU EVER MOURNED OVER YOUR SINS?
