This Week's Sunday School Lesson "How To Be Happy" 10/30/2011

Matt 5:1-12

CHARACTERISTICS OF BLESSED FOLK

V:1. “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his

disciples came unto him.”

A. Jesus never missed an opportunity to teach.

1. It is the duty of believers to teach the Word in season and out of season.

2. We should never mist an opportunity to glorify God with our mouths.

B. Jesus positioned Himself to be heard. He went to the mountain.

1. From a distance if they look up, the crowd could see Him.

2. The life of a believer ought set himself apart from the crowd.

3. From a distance, folk ought to see you as different from the world.

4. That is what Jesus came to do; set His church apart from the world.

a. The Gospel is different from the world.

b. The Gospel message is eternal life.

c. The message of the world is death.

V:2. “And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,”

A. Those who love the Lord are eager to share the Word of God..

B. You have to siege the opportunity the moment God give it to you.

1. Silence is not always golden.

2. Someone in your mist may needs to hear a good word.

3. Someone in your mist may need encouragement.

4. Someone in your mist may need to hear the truth.

5. Someone in your mist may need new directions.

V:3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

A. Blessed = happy= an inner quality

1. He is blessed because he does not have anything to prove.

2. He is blessed because he credits God for every thing.

B. When a man considers himself to the infinite God, he is poor.

1. When a man considers his knowledge to the infinite knowledge of God, he is poor.

2. When a man considers to his spirit to the infinite spirit of God, he is poor.

3. When a man considers the spiritual graces he has to all the spiritual graces, he is

poor.

C. Being poor in the SPIRIT is a BLESSED condition because the KINGDOM OF

HEAVEN IS YOURS.

1. It is the poor of this world that are rich in faith.
2. God hates the proud but He loves the humble.
3. A humble spirit is a happy spirit.
4. God lifts up the HUMBLE all the way to HEAVEN.

V:4. “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

A. Those who have a relationship with Lord, morn;

1. They know the full effect of their sins.

2. The wages of sin is death.

3. Sin separates them from fellowship with God.

4. Sin causes a lost of blessings.

5. They know that they sin occasionally because occasionally, they lose sight

Of their faith.

B. But they are comforted.

1. They know by GRACE through FAITH (faith given them by Christ) they are

saved.

2. They know that where the Lord Jesus is, they are.

3. They know that salvation belongs to them and they are sealed by the Holy Spirit.

4. They know that their sin are cast as far as the east is from the west.

5. They know that the blood of Jesus covers their sins.

6. They know that Jesus is faithful and just to forgive them.

V:5. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”

A. Meek = a gentle quite spirit.

1. He feels superior to none.

2. He knows that all he has he received from God.

3. Because he is meek, he is open to an abundance of spiritual good.

4. He is compassionate enough to listen to the needs of others.

5. He is compassionate enough to help those in need.

6. He is wise enough to speak only wisdom and comfort of the Lord.

B. He is blessed because he SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.

1. His inheritance is sure in Jesus Christ.

2. He shall reign with Jesus after the resurrection in heaven.

3. They study to be like Jesus,

a. "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matt 11:29);

C. They make it their business to consider others before themselves.

1. Toward men this disposition is the opposite of high-mindedness, and a quarrelsome and revengeful spirit;

2. It "rather takes wrong, and suffers itself to be defrauded" (1 Cor 6:7); it "avenges not itself, but rather gives place unto wrath" (Rom 12:19);

3. Like the meek One, "when reviled, it reviles not again; when it suffers, it threatens not; but commits itself to Him that judgeth righteously" (1 Peter 2:19-22). (JFB)

4. Happiness is found in considering and treating others in a godly manner.

V:6. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be

filled.”

A. The blessed have a spiritual appetite.

1. They make it their business to follow the commands of God.

2. They make it their business to treat everybody right.

B. They have a deep desire to be in the mind of Jesus. They are led by the examples of the prophets.

1. "Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord" (Isa 2:1);

2. "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord," exclaimed dying Jacob (Gen 49:18);

3. "My soul," says the sweet Psalmist, "breaketh for the longing, that it hath unto thy judgments at all times" (Ps 119:20).

C. They are filled with THE JOY OF THE LORD.

1. Like the psalmist they say; “As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness" (Ps 17:13-15).

V:7. “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”

A. Mercy= eleemon= compassionate

1. What goes around comes around.

2. Do unto others what you would have them do to you.

B. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, He took time to be compassionate and meet the needs of those who came to Him.

1. One of the characteristics of a Christian is to share what he has with others.

2. When we share what we have with others, others in time will share what they

Have with others.

3. The price of mercy is mercy. Jesus echoed this in Matt 10:42

"Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold

water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you he shall in no

wise lose his reward.”

4. It is our duty to show mercy to others.

V:8. “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”

A. Man by himself does not have a pure heart.

1. It is by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus Christ that the heart of

Man is considered pure before God. (John 3:3).

B. Man was blessed when God elected him to the body of Christ.

1. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” 1 Peter 1:2

2. It is the duty of the Christian to imitate the heart of Jesus. Phil 2:5

V:9. “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

A. Peacemakers= eireenopoioi= peace loving.

1. Peacemakers are those who not only study peace, but they diffuse it .”

2. Jesus is the master peacemaker because He reconciled the world to God.

a. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with

God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom 5:1

b. 2 Cor 5:18 states, “ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself

through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:”

d. Peacemaking is the duty of the believer.

C. A person should be in the most pleasant state when he is a peace with those around

him.

1. Peace starts with you.

2. To be at peace with others you have to be tolerant.

3. We must be careful not to argue for the sake of argument.

4. God is pleased with those who exercise there right to be peaceful.

V.10. “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the

kingdom of heaven.”

A. The world hated Christ our Savior. The world will hate you because you love Christ.

1. It would be better to suffer for righteousness than to suffer for our own sins.

2. “ But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.” 1 Peter 3:14

3. Satan job is to destroy the faith of believers by causing trouble in their lives.

a. He came to steal, kill and destroy.

4. This is evidence that we are children of God.

a. God will defend His children against the attack of Satan.

B. To be happy under persecution the believer has to put his trust in the living God.

V:11. “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all

manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”

A. The Lord’s love allows us to suffer.

1. Suffering is a way the Lord uses to test our faith.

2. Suffering is a way the Lord uses to draw us closer to him.

3. Suffering is a way the Lord uses to perfect our faith.

B. James tells us to be joyful under persecution, James 1:2-4

1. God promises a reward for those who preserve under trial. James 1:12

2. Our happy state is secure when we rely on the promises of God.

V:12. “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so

persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

A. There is a history of suffering of the prophets who served the Lord.

1. The prophets of old receive their reward in heaven for serving the Lord.

2. We have a Biblical record of those who served and their presence with the

Lord at their death. Elijah, Moses, Abraham.

B. What ever suffering God allows, His grace is sufficient to see us through it.

C. The joy we have in the Lord is not based on our physical condition, but our sure

reward in heaven.

1, Rejoicing under trial is our testimony to the world that we are children of God.

2. God has so designed our trials to teach us to over power our outward

Circumstances with our minds.

a. The Lord said He would not put more on us than we could bare.