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Jesus Wants to Give Us Heavenly Happiness (Part 1)
Matthew 4:23-5:4
Sermon by Rick Crandall
Grayson Baptist Church - February 20, 2013
*In John 10:10, Jesus said: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
But how many people are really living the abundant life?
*Timothy Smith once said that most people are tied down by "when and then" thinking: "When I get a good job, then I'll be happy.
When I find the right mate, then I'll be happy.
When I have kids, then I'll be happy.
When the kids leave home, then I'll be happy."
That's "when and then" thinking.
But Jesus Christ tells us that the exact opposite is true."
(1)
*As Jesus opened His Sermon on the Mount, He tells us that true happiness doesn't come from what happens to us.
True happiness comes from Heaven.
Our joy is not based on external circumstances.
It's based on an eternal relationship with the God of the universe.
*Jesus emphasized this heavenly happiness 9 times here in Matthew 5.
The word He used in these verses is translated as "blessed," but the original word simply means "happy."
*Maybe the translators used "blessed" because there IS something different about the happiness we see here.
William Barclay said that the original word describes: "That joy which is serene and untouchable. . .
That joy which is completely independent of all the chances and changes of life."
(2)
*Jesus tells us that we can have indestructible happiness from Heaven above.
And He wants us to have it.
In tonight's Scripture we find three proofs that the Lord wants us to have heavenly happiness.
1. First: Jesus gives us the Gospel.
*As Matthew 4:23 says, "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. .
."
[1] Jesus Christ preached the Gospel.
*He preached the good news: That God loves us in spite of our sins; that He loves us so much, He came to seek and save us; that He will forgive us and allow us to live forever as part of His Kingdom, IF we will trust in Him.
Jesus Christ preached the Gospel that can change our lives forever!
*Norman Vincent Peale told the story of a young mother who had been unfaithful to her husband.
She could not get rid of the guilt.
She began to feel that everyone knew her terrible secret, and everyone would be better off without her.
*Without saying a word to anyone she packed a small suitcase and registered with a fake name in the town's tallest hotel.
Her room was on the fifth floor.
This woman felt unfit to be a member of the human race.
She wrote a note to her husband and her children, telling them that she loved them, but that this was the better way.
*She opened the window, sat down on the sill, and let herself fall backward into the empty darkness.
She fell 5 stories, waiting for the impact of the pavement.
But instead, she smashed into the top of a parked convertible.
She went through the canvas roof, into the back seat.
She felt an agonizing pain in her back and legs.
Then she fainted.
*The woman woke-up with a cast from the waist down.
By the grace of God, there was a young man in the room when she woke up.
He said, "I'm your doctor.
How do you feel?"
*A new wave of despair washed over her, because she was still alive.
She felt that she was such a miserable failure she couldn't even do away with herself.
Even death wouldn't have her.
Then the young mother felt hot tears sting her eyes and she cried out: "Oh, God, -- God, forgive me."
*The young doctor put his hand on her forehead and calmly said, "He will."
Those two words were the beginning of the healing process in her heart.
Her life was changed forever.
God put her life back together, and filled her heart with joy that Jesus would take away her sins.
(3)
*That's the power of the Gospel!
-- Jesus preached it.
[2] Even more important, Jesus paid for it.
Only His death on the cross could pay the price for our sins.
And only the Risen Savior can offer eternal life to those who will receive Him as Lord.
*Jesus Christ wants to give us heavenly happiness!
That's why He gave us the Gospel.
2. And that's why Jesus confirms His compassion.
*We see the Lord's compassion starting in Matthew 4:23.
23.
Now Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
24.
Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.
*Why did Jesus heal them?
Was it just to prove who He was? Was it just to prove His power?
-- The answer is no.
Jesus also healed those people because of His great compassion for us.
*Just before the Lord fed the 5,000, Matthew 14:14 tells us that "when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick."
*Then in Matthew 20:30-34, Jesus was on the road from Jericho.
30.
And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!''
31.
Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!''
32.
So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?''
33.
They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened.''
34.
So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes.
And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.
*Jesus Christ confirmed His compassion for us over and over by healing the sick.
Most of all, He confirmed His compassion by dying on the cross for us.
But now Jesus is in Heaven.
And though we have seen God heal in answer to prayer, it's not the same as seeing Jesus walk through the towns and villages healing people.
*Where are people going to see God's compassion today?
They are going to have to see it in His Word.
And they are going to have to see it in us.
*Most everybody has heard the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10.
It's the story of a kind Samaritan who stopped and helped a man on the road.
The man had been robbed and beaten half to death.
And the Good Samaritan stopped when no one else would.
*As Jesus said in Luke 10:33-34:
33. . .
"A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.
And when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34. and went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him."
*Do you remember the last thing the Lord said when He told that story?
-- "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37).
Christians: One of the most important ways Jesus confirms His compassion today is through us.
*And it's not always easy to help other people.
I like the story James Hewett told about two Cub Scouts, whose younger brother had fallen into the lake.
Thank the Lord, he was okay.
*But his two older brothers rushed home to their mom with tears in their eyes.
And one of them complained: "We tried to give him artificial respiration.
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