And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them (Matthew 5:1-2).
THEME
HAPPINESS
The pursuit of happiness has always been the American dream, but Ashley Montagu, author of THE AMERICAN WAY OF LIFE, sees it differently. "The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us."
Under the thumb of Rome, the Jews were trigger-happy. They wanted the Messiah to seize happiness, to bring back the glory days of David and Solomon. Instead, Jesus spoke in riddles about happiness. He talked about humility, mourning, meekness, righteousness, mercy, purity, peacemaking, and suffering--hardly topics for a national or a personal joyride. They sounded more like sadness than gladness, but Jesus had a different perspective.
Jesus implied that certain qualities, as they become a part of our lives, have their own built-in reward. Yet a person should not become humble to become happy; that is a path to pride rather than to joy. The beatitudes are backhanded blessings; joy surprises people.
James, perhaps remembering some of his half-brother Jesus' words about happiness, proclaimed that trials produce happiness and the endurer will receive a crown of life (1:12). The crown probably pictured a quality of life that enveloped the whole body rather than a wreath to be worn on the head.
Cultivating Christ's life within us has an inherent bonus--a qualitative existence both now and in the future. As Paul put it, godliness has promise in this life and in the one to come (1 Ti 4:8). Happiness seizes us here, now, and hereafter as His life becomes ours.
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SEP 16
LUKE 15:11-24
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3).
An artist searching for a man to model as the prodigal son saw a beggar in the street and asked him to come to his studio and pose for him, promising to pay him. At the appointed time the man appeared, neatly shaven and all dressed up. "Who are you?" asked the artist. "I am the beggar," answered the man. "I thought I'd get cleaned up before I got painted." "I can't use you as you are now," said the artist, and dismissed him.
All who come to Jesus for salvation must come just as they are. Simple trust in Christ--with no claim of their own merits--that's what God is looking for. This attitude is also a key to growth in grace and a life of useful service. After we are saved, we may begin to think that we must clean ourselves up in order to prove ourselves worthy. Although we must "work out" our own salvation, pride and conceit blind us to the truth that it is God who works in us "both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Php 2:12-13). Paul put it like this: "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord" (1 Co 1:31). Our part is to yield to His working in us.
Continued spiritual progress requires that we honestly recognize our continual spiritual poverty. Although we are saved once and for all, we must maintain that basic sense of need that prompted our initial response to Jesus in order for God's Spirit to remain in control. God can use only those who rely on Him and maintain a prodigal posture throughout all of life.
--D.J.D.
To be rich in God is better than to be rich in goods.
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SEP 17
DANIEL 9:1-15
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted"
(Matthew 5:4).
It isn't good to brood about our sins nor to lament constantly over our shortcomings. But neither should we take them too lightly. To disobey the moral law of a holy God is a serious thing. Although as Christians we bask in the warm glow of divine forgiveness, we must never minimize the awful reality of sin.
A young pastor visited Dundee, Scotland, shortly after Robert Murray McCheyne died at age thirty. Many people had come to Christ because of McCheyne's ministry, and the visitor wanted to know the secret of his great influence. The old sexton of McCheyne's church led the preacher into the rectory and showed him some of McCheyne's books lying on a table. Then he motioned to the chair the evangelist had used, and said, "Sit down and put your elbows on the table." The visitor obeyed. "Now put your head in your hands." He complied. "Now let the tears flow; that's what McCheyne did." Next he led him into the church and said, "Put your elbows on the pulpit." The visitor did. "Now put your face in your hands." He obeyed. "Now let the tears flow; that's what McCheyne used to do."
Robert Murray McCheyne cried freely over his sins and over those of his people. By contrast, our emotions are often hardened toward sin. We need to be more sensitive to the convicting voice of God's Spirit and more determined to live a separated life. We may rejoice in God's forgiveness, but we should never be afraid to mourn for our sins.
--D.C.E.
Calvary proves that sin troubles God--does it trouble you?
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SEP 18
MATTHEW 5:1-12
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth"
(Matthew 5:5).
According to Bill Farmer's newspaper column, J. Upton Dickson was a fun-loving fellow who said he was writing a book entitled COWER POWER. He also founded a group for submissive people and called it DOORMATS (Dependent Organization Of Really Meek And Timid Souls--if there are no objections). Their motto was: "The meek shall inherit the earth--if that's okay with everybody." Their symbol was the yellow traffic light.
Mr. Dickson sounds like he'd be a lot of fun. What disturbs me about all of this, though, is that many people assume that such humorous ideas represent the true quality of meekness set forth in Matthew 5:5. Many, even in the church, think that to be meek is to be weak. But the opposite is true. What the Bible is talking about is a powerful virtue. The slogan "strong enough to be gentle" comes close to defining it. True meekness is best seen in Christ. He was submissive, never resisting or disputing the will of God. His absolute trust in the Father enabled Him to show compassion, courage, and self-sacrifice even in the most hostile situations.
When we are meek, we will bear insults without lashing out in resentment or retaliation. We'll thank God in every circumstance, while using every circumstance, good or bad, as an occasion to submit to Him. Meekness would be weakness if it meant yielding to sin. But because it stems from goodness and godliness, it is a great strength.
--M.R.D.II
Meekness is strength harnessed for service.
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SEP 19
MATTHEW 5:1-12
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6).
If we make holiness our goal, we'll attain happiness; if we make happiness our goal, we'll search a lifetime and never find it. Jesus implies this in the Sermon on the Mount. He said that the way to blessedness is through poverty of spirit, purity of heart, and a longing for righteousness. But He also stated that this path may bring persecution (vv. 10-12).
Some people think they can achieve happiness by getting rid of restrictions. Eliminating rules and regulations, they reason, would remove the frustration of having to decide between right and wrong, thereby avoiding separation in human relationships. One man who follows this philosophy said, "It is more important to me to enjoy my life and to be happy than it is to be right. Being right and suffering is no fun. This has been forcefully and clearly revealed to me in my relationship with my seven-year-old. Time and time again I see that [saying he's wrong] . . . only creates suffering and separation between us."
When we apply this line of reasoning to absolute standards of morality, we are in deep trouble. It denies the reality of sin in our hearts as the source of all our woes and forgets that all lasting joy is rooted in separation--separation FROM evil and UNTO God.
--D.J.D.
Nothing but sin can take away the Christian's joy.
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SEP 20
MATTHEW 5:1-12
"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy"
(Matthew 5:7).
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus teaches us to combine idealism with realism. He shows us how to keep from getting so wrapped up in life as it is that we don't see life as it should be. On the other hand, He teaches us to avoid making the equally destructive mistake of becoming so attached to our ideals that we make impossible demands on those around us.
Columnist Sidney J. Harris wrote about the negative effects of impractical idealism. He described an author who had so much to give in his books, but so little to offer in real life. When Harris first read this writer's works, he thought they were "like a breath of fresh air in a fetid chamber. . . . He was big on Humanity, with a capital H, on family ties and folkways and children and animals and flowers. . . ." But, as Harris laments, it was not an idealism borne out in the author's own life. At home the man was a tyrant to his wife and a terror to his children. He had an unrealistic ideal of what others should be, and he could not tolerate their imperfections.
Christ instructs us to maintain a balance. His own example shows us how to respond in truth and love to those who are imperfect. He teaches us to be right but never to exclude mercy. If we follow Christ's example, we will hold to the highest ideals, but we'll always be in touch with the real world because our hearts are filled with love.
--M.R.D.II
A righteous heart makes room for mercy.
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SEP 21
1 PETER 1:13-22
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"
(Matthew 5:8).
A boy who had just listened to a long sermon walked out of church with a big frown on his face. His father had pulled his ear during the service to keep him from fidgeting. "What's the matter, Johnny?" asked one of the deacons. "You look so sad." The frustrated young fellow responded quickly, "I am. It's hard to be happy and holy at the same time."
This boy was probably expressing the feelings of many young Christians, and perhaps many adults as well. They have the idea that if they are to be good, they can't possibly be happy. The nineteenth-century South African minister Andrew Murray corrected that misconception. He said, "Holiness is essential to true happiness; happiness is essential to true holiness. If you would have joy, the fullness of joy, an abiding joy which nothing can take away, be holy as God is holy. Holiness is blessedness. . . . If we would live lives of joy, assuring God and man and ourselves that our Lord is everything, is more than all to us, oh, let us be holy! . . . If you would be a holy Christian, you must be a happy Christian. Jesus was anointed by God with 'the oil of gladness,' that He might give us the 'oil of joy.' In all our efforts after holiness, the wheels will move heavily if there be not the oil of joy."
The joy of Christ should ring through our souls in our most holy moments. We're on the road to spiritual maturity when we've learned that happiness and holiness are not enemies, but friends.
--D.C.E.
The holiest man is the happiest man.
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SEP 22
PSALM 37:1-11
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9).
As citizens of the heavenly kingdom ruled by the Prince of Peace, believers should do everything within their power to maintain a life of peace--especially in the family. This is not always easy, however. The fragile thread of trust and serenity within the home breaks easily, resulting in strife and conflict. To prevent this from happening, we must respect confidences, build loving relationships, and seek the good of others. We must be peacemakers.
In THE HEAVENLY OCTAVE, his classic work on the Beatitudes, F. W. Boreham wrote, "The ideal peacemaker is the man who prevents the peace from being broken. To prevent a battle is the best way of winning a battle. I once said to a Jewish rabbi, 'I have heard that at a Jewish wedding a glass is broken as part of the symbolism of the ceremony. Is that a fact?' 'Of course it is,' he replied. 'We hold aloft a glass, let it fall and be shattered to atoms, and then, pointing to its fragments, we exhort the young people to guard jealously the sacred relationship into which they have entered, since once it is fractured, it can never be restored.'"
Christ said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." This applies to us if we love peace and quickly try to resolve problems before permanent damage is done. We must also examine our own behavior honestly to make certain that we are not the cause of hostility. A peacemaker knows how to achieve peace through prevention.
