Checklist for Lasting Joy, Part 2

In America, the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right. In fact, it's inscribed in the Declaration of Independence. But the human longing for happiness isn't unique to Americans.

The pursuit of happiness belongs to our human condition, no matter which country we call home. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll is teaching from Matthew chapter 5 and the eloquent list of blessings that Jesus bestows. By following these time-tested principles, Jesus promised we would find genuine peace and, yes, even happiness.

Chuck titled his message Checklist for Lasting Joy, and he begins with prayer. Immortal, invisible God, only lies. God, in light, inaccessible, hid from our eyes. You, our God, are our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. You lead us like a shepherd. You calm our fears as you flood our minds with truth and then take charge and gently take us through the tough times. How grateful, our Father, we can live our lives free of fear. That we on this earth who are so distant from you because of our sinfulness can have a relationship with you because of your grace. Thank you for bridging this massive gap that exists between our depravity and your purity, between our sinfulness and your holiness. Thank you, Father. Thank you for understanding us without condemning us, for forgiving us without lecturing us, for taking us beyond our faults without shaming us. Thank you for giving us a reason to go on. I pray for those today facing overwhelming odds.

Their hearts beat faster and their minds are flooded with all kinds of uneasiness as the week is yet to run its course, not knowing what to expect. Calm us, prepare us for the week through the things we will learn, and may we be able, through your spirit, to read between the lines and see how all of this relates to where we are today. We would have nothing without you, we would not have our occupation, we would make no living, we would all be homeless, fruitless, lost. But by your grace you've given us a reason to go on, you provided us with our work, you brought us an income, and from that we have the pleasure to give to you and your work. May every dime that's given be used with integrity and for your glory. We commit the offering to you now. In the name of Jesus, we pray.

Everybody said, Amen. You're listening to Insight for Living. To study the book of Matthew with Chuck Swindoll, be sure to download his Searching the Scripture Studies by going to insightworld.org slash studies. And now the message titled Checklist for Lasting Joy. If you travel to Israel, you will certainly go to the Mount of Beatitudes, and there you'll sit, and you'll feel the breezes as they blow and the beautiful spring flowers as they bloom, and you'll remember what it must have been like, or you'll think of what it must have been like, to have sat there where he sat.

And he opens his mouth, verse 2, and begins to teach them, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed. What does that mean? If a word appears two or three times in the scriptures, it's worth searching out, but nine times in a row, verses 3 through 11, each of the verses beginning with that term, what does that mean? The best definition I came across is a brief one, and I offer it. An inward contentment unaffected by outer circumstances. Once again, an inner peace, an inner contentment that is unaffected by anything else. Think of the Beatitudes as inner attitudes that prevail over all external situations. This is a new way of life, based on a new way of thinking that Christ enables.

And may I add this? When these things are modeled in our lives, the world cannot believe it. It will be drawn to us like a magnet. I don't think because the church is like the world, it becomes of interest to the people of the world. I think when the church is different from the world, suddenly the curiosity is aroused. You see, that's why I think the theme of this Sermon on the Mount is chapter 6 verse 8, Do not be like them. Do not be different. God loves difference. And when we live a life that's different, we live a life that Christ lived.

And he was so different, they drove him to the cross. So are these Beatitudes for now or for later? They're for both. Don't relegate them to the kingdom age and leave them there as if all of it will wait for us in the millennial kingdom. They'll be there for us, but they're here for us now.

These can be applied now, and I hope to do that as best I can. These are the things that stunned the world and make them insatiably curious, which is part of the role they're going to fulfill. So the Lord says, I congratulate you for having the courage to live my life, and I'll give you all the enablement you need to do it. So what does that include? All right, let's work through them. Let's give a kind of a brief examination to each one of the eight Beatitudes. Number one, poor in spirit, verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Oh, the lasting joy. Oh, the lasting peace of one who realizes his or her own helplessness. That's poor in spirit. Oh, the lasting joy of the one who understands the absence of spiritual merit and the essential need of dependence on the Lord. That's poor in spirit. Oh, the joy, lasting joy of one who lives her life without pride or arrogance, who comes before the Lord empty handed.

The hope of the poor in spirit, read it for yourself at the end of verse 3. You truly enter into kingdom living. Even though you're on this earth, you experience the blessing of living like a kingdom person. You give up your own kingdom to live in the realm of his kingdom. It is no longer about you, and you're not insulted by that.

You're relieved. You see, the poor in spirit has no place for the narcissist, and we are filled with narcissism. Every situation is all about me, and here he says, no, blessed are the poor in spirit who come with no expectation willing to depend on the Lord. When you are poor in spirit, you live your life dependent on the Lord, and you don't call attention to that. When you're humble, you are not self-effacing. You simply set aside yourself or others, and you do so as a habit of life, and the result, you will know a kingdom living like few people. Second, blessed are those who mourn.

You think the first one was tough. How about this one? Blessed are those who mourn. Oh, the lasting joy of those who mourn. This is the strongest word in the Greek language for a passionate lament. It's the sorrow of a broken heart, the ache of a soul, the mental anguish, mourning over the wrongs of our world, grieved, grieved over one's own carnality. Certainly would include mourning over those we have lost, but it's deeper than that. It's caring very deeply about our continuation in the same sins.

Our loved ones who are ruining their lives because of that. Paul had it right, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of flesh? Romans 7. The world doesn't say this. You know what the world says? Hey, pack up your troubles in the old kid bag and smile, smile, smile. World, this life's a big joke. Laugh it off. Really?

Is that really what you want to do? To become a deep person? No, this is, oh, the lasting joy of those who care intensely for the sorrows and the failures of oneself and others.

Life isn't a joke. Read Psalm 51. After the adultery, after the deceptive murder of Uriah, David comes before the Lord and pleads for mercy. Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me.

That's mourning. I come before you, Lord. I have done that which is heinous in your eyes. I've ruined the woman's reputation.

I have taken the life of her husband. I have lived in sin, though I claim to be your king. And I mourn that. Oh, the deep, deep lasting joy of one who can honestly say, I need the forgiveness of God for my many, many failures. Psalm 32 verse 5 refers to binding up the brokenhearted. There's great heartache here, but followed by great renewal.

See it? You will be comforted. You will be given comfort. You will sense forgiveness.

As David ultimately did, you'll be able to go on. Blessed are the mourning. Now the gentle, verse 5, blessed are the gentle. The old King James, I think, renders this meek, blessed are the meek, which to the world sounds like weak. The world has words for this. Wimp, doormat, cast from milk toast, spineless, weak. The biblical term represents none of the above.

Get this. In the first century, this term was translated gentle, represented several things, not one of which is weak. It represented a horse that had been broken and was now under control and could be ridden by the rider. That horse isn't weak. It's strength under control. It's a word used for soothing strong emotions with gentleness. It was used for an ointment that took the sting out of a wound. It brought a gentle relief.

A child asked a physician to be tender with him using the word gentle. Those who are polite and courteous and tactful and treat others with dignity are called in the scriptures gentle people. Numbers 12, verse 3 says Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth. But I don't know if anyone I've met who would call Moses weak.

A man of enormous strength that could lead the people through the wilderness still meek. In fact, if you would, look at Proverbs 16 32. Let me correlate this with a good verse of scripture. 16 32, I think it's the end of the verse.

Yes. 32 says he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty. Look at the next part. And he who rules his spirit than he who captures a city. That's gentle. Ruling a city with grace. And what are we promised shall inherit the earth. God will enlarge your influence. God will use you in ways you never would expect.

Gentle people are still in great demand. And in the future we'll be judging angels and judging this earth under the Lord's headship and we will do so with gentleness. That'll be our reward. Great peace within.

Great joy. Here's the fourth. By the way, the first four are God word. The last four are for this earth.

Look at the last of the four to start with. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. All the lasting joy awaiting those souls who long for righteousness, who have an insatiable appetite for spiritual truth. This has reference to a passionate desire to know and walk intimately with the Lord Jesus Christ. This is truth for the Christian. If you're without Christ, this doesn't make any sense at all.

I understand that. Jesus is speaking now to his followers. And I speak now to you who know the Lord Jesus. You can't get enough of his word. You can't dream deeply enough at the fountain of truth. You can't stay away from that which feeds your soul.

Prayer to you is a relief, not an obligation. You find great joy in reading the scriptures and applying the scriptures. In fact, the result is you will be satisfied.

Look at this. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. A.G. Robertson, the great Baptist scholar, says that that term comes commonly used for feeding and fattening cattle, since it's derived from the term for fodder. Satisfied would be like hefty, well-fed livestock. Hey, I'm looking at some satisfied people right now.

And you're hearing from one. This calls for a personal testimony from David. Evening, morning, and noon will I pray and cry aloud, and he will hear my voice. That's hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Not, I've got to pray because it's morning, or I'm obligated to pray at noon every day.

No, it's evening, morning, and noon. I pray and cry aloud. It is my delight to call on him, and he hears my voice. You have that kind of hunger.

You're that thirsty. I want to give you a personal testimony, then I want to tell you something about yourselves. When I went to seminary, I went starved. I was starved for truth. I'd gotten a taste of it at a church, and I'd learned some things of it from parents who love the Lord, and I'd begun to dig into the Scriptures as best I could with the help of an organization called The Navigators. But when I got to Dallas Seminary, I heard truth like I'd never, ever heard it plumbed before, and the depths of it were magnificent. I couldn't get there early enough to get right on the front row, right in front of the prof, and I often longed for the class to go on and on.

Why? I hungered. I was thirsty. And to this day, I'll tell you, it still goes on. Nineteen steps in my home lead from the first floor to the second floor, and my studies in the second floor.

Taking those 19 steps, I find myself more motivated and excited as the years pass. Now, here's the reason. Because in every ministry I've ever served, there have been people who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And some of you are here right now, right now, listening to what I have to say. You have no idea how you fuel my fire. You have no awareness, I'm sure, of how you motivate me to take that flight of stairs every day of my life. To dig into the Scriptures because I know you want to know what is this saying and how can I use this in my life.

You are hungering and thirsting for righteousness. And I want to say two words. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

That's more than two, but they're the same words. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for hungering. Thank you for staying thirsty. My sister gave me a book years ago.

I was in the Marine Corps. She sent it to me overseas, and I got it. And right in the front, she had written the poem. Whom have we, Lord, but the soul thirst to satisfy? Exhaustless spring, the water's free.

All other streams are dry. The Lord said to the disciples when they began to hear the exacting requirements of discipleship and began to leave, he said, Do you also want to go away? And Peter said, No, Lord, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

That's hungering and thirsting for righteousness. I want to know more and more of what God says. I want to know more and more of what this means. I want to live it out more and more in my life as I get older. I want it to blend into the way I respond to people. I want it to sharpen my thinking. I want it to soften the blows of my words of correction. I want it to give me compassion and understanding, starving for that.

And I know that his word will do that. If you're in that category, I want to tell you it is a great place to be. You will have a depth of joy that will just go on and on and on. You just you have to say to yourself, I cannot get enough. What a wonderful way to live your life. Jesus looked for followers like that. Oh, the blessedness many times over of the one who hungers and thirst you and is thirsty for righteous. You will be satisfied.

Now we go to the last four, which have to do with one another. Blessed are the merciful. Oh, the lasting joy to you who are merciful. This means those whose hearts are moved over others in need. You have the ability as a merciful person to get inside the skin of someone who is hurting. You identify with them. You have a desire to step in and assist them. And if possible, to relieve their pain. That's called merciful. It's not just feeling pity or sympathy for someone. It's getting inside their lives. And as you rub your hand along the rough edges of their trial, you hurt too.

You identify with that. The good news is that as a result, look at the end of it. You will receive mercy. The mercy you give will be mercy shown back to you.

What goes around comes around. We have a lady in our church who has a wonderful ministry. It's without announcement.

You've never seen her name written up in the worship folder. She would be embarrassed if I called her name right now, but I want to tell you when someone in our family, and I know others who have told me the same in their family, hurt or we're going through a tough time or in my case when I hurt my leg recently in that accident, she's there with a meal. She doesn't call and say, you know, I've been thinking you might get hungry every once in a while. She says, I've got a meal prepared. I'd like to leave it at your door. Is it a meal? We've invited our family members to come. It's such a spread.

Invariably, we can eat three or four meals off of it. Why does she do that, merciful? She's moved over someone in need. Never wants attention. Never even wants a thank you. We always tell her thank you, but she always, no, no, no. I just want you to know I care and I want the meal to do what it can do, which means it makes us fat.

So we go ahead and we eat it and we enjoy it and we give thanks for her. What a wonderful person. Here's the pure in heart. That's number six. Look at it. Blessed are the pure in heart.

You know what I think it means? Just simply utterly sincere. No deception, no phony baloney, no lying to themselves or others. One whose motive is right, never deceitful, whose life never is marked by hypocrisy. You find a person like that, hook up with them.

They're rare. We're moving our way through all of the blessings from Jesus, commonly known as the Beatitudes. Chuck Swindoll calls these statements the checklist for lasting joy. This is Insight for Living, and in the event you'd like to learn more about any of the programs in this brand new study of Matthew, remember you can go directly to our website and explore. You'll find all the details at insightworld.org. With much of our world in turmoil over the global pandemic, a fragile economy, and political unrest, nothing seems more timely than a study about Jesus, the King of Kings. This comprehensive series, which is a celebration of Israel's long-awaited King, will take us through the entire book of Matthew. And in the coming weeks and months, Chuck will guide our audience through Matthew's account of Jesus' entire ministry on earth, right through his parting words, commonly known as the Great Commission.

Along with the daily program, Insight for Living Ministries has prepared a number of additional resources for you, and each one is designed to help you fall more in love with Jesus. For example, Chuck's written a very popular devotional book called Perfect Trust. No matter what fears are standing in your way right now, Chuck's insightful book will help you overcome those barriers to knowing God's best for you. To purchase a copy of Perfect Trust, go to insight.org slash offer. And then finally, along with the release of this brand new series on the daily program, Chuck has completed a verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Matthew as well.

It comes in two hardbound volumes. Alongside the verses in Matthew, you'll also gain access to charts, maps, photos, and of course, Chuck's practical observations. So to purchase Swindoll's Living Insights commentary on Matthew, call us. If you're listening in the U.S., dial 1-800-772-8888. Once again, that's 1-800-772-8888.

Or go online to insight.org slash offer. Tomorrow, Chuck Swindoll continues to describe the checklist for lasting joy, right here on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Checklist for Lasting Joy, was copyrighted in 2015 and 2021, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2021 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.