The Only Way to Happiness: The Beatitudes
Overview
It’s been more than twenty years since I first preached through the Beatitudes. That series marked a major turning point in my ministry and the life of our church. The poignant message of these verses seemed to jolt our congregation with a new sense of urgency and seriousness about the discipleship to which our Lord calls us. It also awakened my heart as never before to the profound privilege Christians have as citizens of a heavenly kingdom. And at the same time, the spirit of our fellowship seemed to be infused with a vibrant, unprecedented joy that, thankfully, has never diminished.
Top Highlights
“Joy, after all, is a central theme of the Beatitudes. The word blessed actually speaks of a deep, abiding happiness, which Christ says belongs to all who are characterized by the qualities He described in the Beatitudes.” (source)
“Look at the sequence of these pronouncements in the Beatitudes. We see first the poor in spirit, which is the right attitude toward sin and which leads to mourning in verse 4. After you’ve seen your sinfulness and mourned, you’re meek with a sense of humility. Then you seek and hunger and thirst for righteousness. Do you see the progression? That manifests itself in mercy (v. 7), in purity of heart (v. 8), and in a peacemaking spirit (v. 9). The result of being merciful and pure in heart and peacemaking is that you are reviled and persecuted and falsely accused. Why? Because by the time you have been poor in spirit and mourned over it, have become humble, sought righteousness, and lived a merciful, pure, and peacemaking life, you have sufficiently irritated the world.” (source)
“The term mercy and all its derivatives always presuppose problems. It deals with the pain and the misery and distress. But grace deals with the sin itself. Mercy deals with the symptoms; grace deals with the problems. Mercy offers relief from punishment; grace offers pardon for the crime. First comes grace. Grace removes the sin. Then mercy eliminates the punishment.” (source)
“The stress is on being. It’s not on ruling or possessing. He’s not after what men do; He’s after what men are, because what they are will determine what they do.” (source)
Product Details
- Title: The Only Way to Happiness: The Beatitudes
- Author: John MacArthur
- Publisher: Moody
- Publication Date: 1998
John MacArthur (b. 1939) is a Calvinist theologian, author, editor, and teacher. He is a popular conference speaker and the president of both The Master's College and The Master's Seminary. He has also served as pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969. Best known for his expository exegesis of the Bible, Logos has collected more than 3,000 of his sermons in the John MacArthur Sermon Archive and offers the complete MacArthur New Testament Commentary.
MacArthur’s pulpit ministry extends around the globe through his media ministry, Grace to You. In addition to producing daily radio programs for nearly 2,000 English and Spanish radio outlets worldwide, Grace to You distributes books, software, and CDs by John MacArthur. He has written hundreds of books and study guides, including the bestselling John MacArthur Essential Bible Study Library and the MacArthur Study Bible. He is also the author of notable titles like Different by Design and Twelve Ordinary Men.