You're listening to A New Beginning with Greg Laurie, a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God.
Visit our website and learn more about Harvest Partners at harvest.org. So it really comes down to this, happiness does not come from what you have, it comes from who you know. And the Bible emphatically says, happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Our country has the strongest economy in the world. Is it the happiest country? No. It didn't even make the top 10.
It didn't make the top 20. Money is not the key to happiness. So what is? Well, Pastor Greg Laurie addresses that pressing question today on A New Beginning. The Bible isn't silent on the subject. In fact, Jesus himself addressed the issue in a memorable way.
If happiness seems to be in short supply these days, you've tuned in for the right study. Well, we're starting a brand new series today on the Sermon on the Mount. And we were trying to think of some clever thing to call it. And we decided to just call it the Sermon on the Mount. Let's grab our Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter five.
Matthew chapter five. And the title of my message is How to Be Happy. When you get down to it, pretty much everyone deep down inside wants to be happy. It's even in our Declaration of Independence where we speak of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
So here's the question. Are we happy? According to a recent study, Americans are less happy than they were 30 years ago. Well, maybe we should start by trying to define happiness. What exactly is happiness?
Over the years, many have opined on the topic. Charles M. Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, summed it up this way. Happiness is a warm puppy.
Okay, that's one definition. Albert Schweitzer said happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory. George Burns, comedian, said, quote, happiness is having a large, loving, caring family in another city. Okay, Oscar Wilde said, quote, some cause happiness wherever they go. Others cause happiness whenever they go. Dave Chappelle, the comedian, said the higher up I go for some reason, the less happy I am. You've heard of Shakira. She's experienced global success and fame of happiness.
She said, quote, it's reserved for a very select number of people and I can't say I'm part of that club at the moment, end quote. So what is happiness exactly? Why can't Shakira find happiness?
Why does Dave Chappelle say the higher up he goes, the less happy he is? Well, let's start by saying where you won't find happiness. You will not find happiness by pursuing it in and of itself. You won't find happiness in any object. You won't find happiness in anything this world or this culture has to offer. It's been said, quote, there are two sources of unhappiness in life.
One is not getting what you want and the other is getting it. You know, you've heard the expression, careful what you wish for. And many have all of their dreams realized and they have all the things that this world promises will bring happiness and they find that is not the case. Money can buy you some things but it cannot buy you the most important things. Money can buy you a bed but it cannot buy you a good night's sleep. Money can buy you books but it can't buy you brains. It can buy you a house but it can't buy you a home. Money can buy medicine but not health. Money can buy amusement but it can't buy happiness.
C.S. Lewis summed it up this way and I quote, God designed the human machine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel for our spirits that they were designed to burn or the food our spirits were designed to feed on.
There is no other way. This is why, says Lewis, it's just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about faith. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself because it's not there.
There is no such thing, end quote. And that's so true. One of the foremost experts on happiness made this candid admission and I quote, I don't have a religious or a spiritual bone in my body yet I have to acknowledge that studies reveal that people with faith in God are the happiest, end quote.
So it really comes down to this. Happiness does not come from what you have. It comes from who you know. And the Bible emphatically says, happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Why is the Christian faith a happy faith? The Christian faith is a happy faith because it's a hopeful faith. Because we have hope in this life and we have hope in a better life to come.
And here's something that might surprise some people. God wants you to be happy. I don't think that's the view many people have of God.
They think that he is just the ultimate party crasher. He's out to rain in your parade. He's out to make your life miserable.
Nothing can be further from the truth. The fact is God wants you to be happy. When the angels announced the birth of Jesus, they brought good news of great happiness. And know this, God himself is happy. Jesus said, I have told you this to make you as completely happy as I am. We don't think of Jesus as happy. We think well he was the suffering servant and he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
Which of course is true. But having said that, that doesn't mean that's the way he always was. When he bore the cross headed to Calvary, certainly he was a man of sorrows. When he saw Jerusalem reject him, yes he wept. So there were those moments of sorrow.
But generally, by and large, how do we sum this up? Jesus was a happy guy. I think he would have a smile on his face.
Why else would children be drawn to him? Paul writes about the glorious good news given to him by the blessed God. Or another way to translate that would be the good news from the happy God.
I like that. Happy God. Now when I say that God wants you to be happy, that doesn't mean that you walk around with a phony smile permanently plastered on your face. So like when you are going to the dentist to get a root canal. You are smiling.
You are waiting in line at the DMV for the third hour. You are smiling. Wherever you go you are smiling.
You are going to look mentally ill. Not happy. As a Christian we will have times of sorrow. The Bible even says there is a time to laugh and there is a time to cry. As Christians we will still face tragedy. But what the Bible is saying, overall you can have happiness.
But we have to come to this. God's definition is probably different than our definition of happiness. And it is laid out before us here in the greatest sermon ever preached. The Sermon on the Mount. This is effectively the world view of Jesus Christ. And it is important to know that everybody has a world view. The question is do you have a biblical world view?
What does that mean? That means as I become familiar with the Bible, as I read the Bible, as I memorize the Bible, as I internalize the truths of Scripture my thinking begins to change. And I start thinking biblically. And I see things through a biblical lens. Hence I have a biblical world view. So if you want to know what the world view of Jesus is read the Sermon on the Mount.
We cover so many topics in it. Jesus talks about what happiness is. Jesus talks about the purpose of marriage. Jesus talks about prayer. Jesus talks about worry. Jesus talks about what foundation your life is built on.
And so much more. You want to know what Jesus thinks? Read this sermon. And by the way you can read the entire Sermon on the Mount in one sitting.
You want to know how his heart really beats? Study this sermon. You want to know how he feels about living and life in general? Read the Sermon on the Mount. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We appreciate hearing from listeners whose lives have been impacted by Pastor Greg's studies, even through difficult times. Pastor Greg, I'm so thankful for your ministry. God has used you mightily in my life since the home going of my husband. About a week after he passed, I was so distraught.
I searched you on YouTube. What is my loved one doing in heaven? Your message about your own son who died and what God showed you in his word gave me peace. Thank you. We are touched by these comments. If you've been impacted by something Pastor Greg has said, would you contact us and let us know? Just call 1-866-871-1144.
That's 866-871-1144. Well, glad you're along today as Pastor Greg begins our study of the Lord's Sermon on the Mount. We're in the fifth chapter of Matthew today. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest recorded message that Jesus ever gave. It's also one of the most beautiful and best known portions of scripture. There's a lot of phrases that have entered our vernacular that are popular in culture today that all come from the Sermon on the Mount. Like, turn the other cheek. That's from the Sermon.
Go the extra mile. That's also from the Sermon on the Mount. The golden rule. All from this sermon. By the way, this is not what the people were expecting. Maybe it's not even what they were wanting to hear from Jesus on this particular day, but it's exactly what they needed.
It begins with Matthew 5, verse 1, when it says, Seeing the multitudes, he went up to a mountain, and when he seated his disciples, he opened his mouth and taught them saying. So, back in this culture, when the rabbi would speak, he would sit and the people would stand. So, I think we should observe this tradition. Why do I have to stand here for 45 minutes? You stand, and I'm going to sit. What do you say? Okay. Well, we don't have to do it.
Someone might like it. But, normally the rabbi would sit down, and it's interesting because this phrase, he opened his mouth as a colloquialism in Greek, used to describe someone delivering a message that was solemn, dignified, and weighty. I want you to also notice that Jesus did not give this to the multitudes. I think the traditional view of the Sermon on the Mount is the crowds gathered, and he addressed them with these words. But that's not what the Bible says, is it?
It says that the multitudes were gathered, but he gathered his disciples around him and taught them saying. I bring this up because only the Christian can live by the Sermon on the Mount, and even that is very challenging. When someone says, I live by the Sermon on the Mount, my question is, have you ever read the Sermon on the Mount?
I'll be honest with you. There are some hard things in this sermon. These are not easy things to do. I'd say the Sermon on the Mount is for believers only. Only the child of God can live out these truths. Now, the Sermon on the Mount begins with what we often call the Beatitudes. They've been described as the beautiful attitudes, or attitudes that should be. Another way you could sum them up is the be happy attitudes. Now, the first four Beatitudes deal with our relationship with God. The second four deal with our relationships with others.
We're going to focus on the first four in this message. I want you to remember that the word blessed, each Beatitude, begins with the word blessed. The word blessed is interchangeable with the word happy. Basically, Jesus is saying, if you want to be happy, be these things and do these things.
Let's read them together. We're going to read Matthew 5, verse 2, down to verse 9. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, that would be the disciples, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. So there are the first Beatitudes. And it's interesting that the word blessing is used again and again. You know, people use these words, even people who are not believers, they'll talk about blessings. Well, only the believer can genuinely experience blessing. I think sometimes we use the word bless to get rid of someone. Someone's talking too long, we say, great seeing you, God bless you. And it says, go away now, right?
But here's point number one. God wants you to be blessed and happy. God wants you to be blessed and happy. Jesus both began and concluded His earthly ministry, blessing people. When He met those two downhearted disciples on the Emmaus road after He was crucified, we read that He blessed them. When children came to Him, He took them into His arms and He blessed them. After His resurrection, we read that He lifted His hands and He blessed them. So God wants to bless you.
We see this from Genesis to Revelation. There was a blessing that the priests were to pronounce over the people of Israel. And they would say, the Lord bless you. The Lord keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. God wants to bless you.
Let me take it a step further. God loves to bless you. Sometimes we think God is stingy.
He's holding back His blessings. Do you know a stingy person? No, you can't have that. Do you know a generous person?
Yes, you can have that. And even more, God is generous, not stingy. He loves to bless. It's like me giving something to my grandchildren. I don't do that because I have to.
I do that because I want to. Right? And I feel it is the responsibility of the grandparent to bless the grandchildren. Or another word we could use is spoil them. Right? It's not my job to parent them.
I've already done that. That's the job of the parents to parent. The job of the grandparent is to be grand. Right? And to enjoy them and indulge them. Not in a bad way, but maybe a little bad. I don't know. Maybe give them too much sugar or whatever it is.
But this is the idea. God loves to bless us. I love how Jesus says, Fear not, little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. It's His pleasure. God wants to bless you. God loves to bless you. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Coming back to what Chappelle said, The higher up I go, the less happy I am.
Does that describe you? There are certain things you thought, If I had this thing. If I had this experience. If this happened to me, I know I would be happy. If I reach this goal. If I reach this position. If I get this many followers on my social media.
If X, Y, or Z happen, I'll be happy. And all those things happen for you. And you're not happy and you're wondering why.
The reason is, is you can't find it by chasing it. It comes from a relationship with God. Again, the only way you can be a happy person, is to be a person who knows God. Pastor Greg just talked about, you can do that today.
You can have a relationship with God and find the happiness that the Beatitudes are talking about. Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person who wants to make that kind of change today? What I would say is, he's only a prayer way. Which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord, right now through prayer, he will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want him to forgive you of your sin, if you want to know that you go to heaven when you die, just pray this prayer right now after me. Just pray, Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and Lord, as my God and my friend. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed along with Pastor Greg and meant those words sincerely, we want to welcome you into God's family and we want to help you get started in your new faith. Pastor Greg wants to send you his New Believer's Bible, free of charge, along with some other helpful resources. Just let us know you prayed with Pastor Greg and that you want the New Believer's Bible when you call 1-800-821-3300.
We can take your call anytime at 1-800-821-3300 or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. You know, Pastor Greg, I think our listeners would agree with me when I say you not only know God's word inside and out, you're not only a gifted communicator, you not only make your teaching relatable and practical, but your sense of humor is just so enjoyable that it keeps us riveted. And for those of us who know your sense of humor, we can see it throughout your new animated cartoon series, The Adventures of Ben Born Again and Yellow Dog. You know, if laughter is the best medicine, then this cartoon series is full of that medicine.
Wouldn't you say so? Yes, and thank you for those kind words. Yes, my humor, you know, it's just always been there. You know, the funny thing is, you'll find it when you see a comedian interview that often they had a painful childhood.
And the reality is, is they developed humor as a coping mechanism, and that's very true for me because of my crazy, topsy-turvy childhood with my mom married and divorced and living in an alcoholic home where there was screaming and yelling and all those things. I retreated into a world of cartoons, and I learned how to almost make a joke in any given situation. Well, that stayed with me, and it is woven into my sermons, and it's also now woven into these animated episodes.
So you're gonna hear stories that I've told in my sermons, like the time the snake got loose in my car and I ended up getting the car from my mom. That's in one of the cartoons, the time my grandson kissed a jellyfish goodbye and it stung him on the face, not very badly, thankfully, but he did get kind of a red face from it. That's in one of our cartoons.
You'll see other little things I refer to, like cats in strollers, that's there too. Pretty much, I put a lot of my own life and my own gags into these cartoons, and I'm working with a very talented team. One of the gentlemen that works with me to write these cartoons has worked in animation for years, and he knows how to bring these things into the world of animation. Then we have the art team that bring these characters to life, it's so interesting and fascinating, and I have to tell you, it's a lot of fun. I really enjoyed doing this, and I hope that you see the joy in it when you show them to your kids or your grandkids or even when you watch them yourself. You know, there's something about a cartoon that's disarming, and I think it's a great way to, well, how shall I put it, sneak up on someone because you're entertaining them, they're laughing, they're having a good time, but all of a sudden there's some full biblical truth embedded in that episode, and everything I do, I'm always gonna get to biblical truth, it's just the way I'm wired, but I'm also wired to use humor to do it. So we're taking all of these elements and using them together to hopefully have a tool that can touch a whole new generation.
But I can't do this on my own, I need your help. If you believe in this vision, if you wanna reach younger people with the message of the gospel and the truth of the word of God, then I ask you to support this financially, and as my way of saying thanks to you, I wanna send you a brand new resource called The Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. Now I have to tell you that thousands of these have been in print for many years and have touched so many people, but we've gone back and we've revisited the whole thing.
We've rebuilt it from ground level up, new artwork, more content, I think it's even better than the first edition. And I wanna send you one that, well how shall I say it, it's hot off the press. And so let me get you a copy of The Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book for your gift of any size as you support our endeavors to reach this young generation.
Yeah, yeah, that's right. We have it waiting for you, so get in touch with your investment in the work we're doing here at A New Beginning and Harvest Ministries. And we'll thank you with this brand new Ben Born Again New Believers Growth Book. And we won't be mentioning this much longer, so contact us soon. You can call us, it's a 24 hour phone number, 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514.
Or just go online to harvest.org. Well next time, more insights on the pathway of real happiness. The happiness prescribed for us in God's word. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Lord. This is the day, the day when life begins. Hey everybody, thanks for listening to A New Beginning. This is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners. So for more content that can help you know God and equip you to make Him known to others or to learn more about how you can become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org.
