Saturday, September 18, 2021

Holy Happiness - Part 1

A few weeks ago, Pastor Kyle preached a sermon on true happiness and it’s source. He points out that many people look to find meaning and happiness in their lives through fictitious stories that they know to be false rather than the stories in the Bible, which we know to be true. It reminds us just how fleeting the world’s definition of happiness really is based upon temporal experience locked in our memory to look back an reflect on. But, what does it really mean to be truly happy? The very first Webster’s dictionary in 1828 defines the word “happy” as: 1. Being in the enjoyment of agreeable sensations from the possession of good; enjoying pleasure from the gratification of appetites or desires. The pleasurable sensations derived from the gratification of sensual appetites render a person temporarily happy; but he only can be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God. 2. Prosperous; having secure possession of good, as in “Happy is that people whose God is Jehovah. Ps.144:15. 3. Blessed; enjoying the presence and favor of God, now and in future life. 4. Harmonious; living in concord; enjoying the pleasures of friendship; as a happy family. 

The United States of America’s Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But, is “happiness” the highest goal that God wants for our lives? What is most important from God’s perspective, from an earthly perspective and from an eternal perspective? The word “happy” appears 11 to 25 times depending upon which translation is used. The word holy, holiness appears almost 700 times in the Bible. The word “holiness” is defined as: The state of being holy; purity or integrity of moral character; freedom from sin; sanctity. 1. Applied to human beings, holiness is purity of heart or dispositions; sanctified affections; piety; moral goodness, but not perfect. We see piety and holiness ridiculed as morose singularities. 2. Sacredness; the state of anything hallowed, or consecrated to God or to his worship; applied to churches or temples. 3. That which is separated by God, to the service of God

 

The word “sanctify” is defined as: 1. In a general sense, to cleanse, purify or make holy. 2. To separate, set apart or appoint to a holy, sacred or religious use. 3. To purify; to prepare for divine service, and for partaking of holy things. 4. To separate, ordain and appoint to the work of redemption and the government of the church. 5. To cleanse from corruption; to purify from sin; to make holy be detaching the affections from the world and its defilements, and exalting them to a supreme love to God. 6. To make the means of holiness; to render productive of holiness or piety. Those judgments of God are the more welcome, as a means which his mercy hath sanctified so to me, as to make me repent of that unjust act. 7. To make free from guilt. 8. To secure from violation. 

 

The word “sanctification” is defined as: 1. The act of making holy. In an evangelical sense, the act of God's grace by which the affections of men are purified or alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to a supreme love to God. God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. 2. The act of consecrating or of setting apart for a sacred purpose; consecration. Sanctification is commonly referred to as the process of growing into the likeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the concept of holiness. 

 

What if God was more interested in us pursuing holiness over happiness? Could it be that the pursuit of permanent happiness is truly found in the pursuit of personal holiness? The mantra that we live in today is “you do whatever it is that makes you happy as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else”. Yet, biblically speaking happiness and holiness are not either/or, but both/and; not mutually exclusive at all. Blessed happiness is in pursuing and doing the things of God and holiness is setting something aside for God’s purpose, which leads to long-term satisfaction. Secular happiness (the being in the enjoyment of agreeable sensations from the possession of good; enjoying pleasure from the gratification of appetites or desires. The pleasurable sensations derived from the gratification of sensual appetites render a person temporarily happy) is highly subjective. Lou Holts defined the secret to earthly human happiness as: Everyone needing to find something that they love to do, find someone to love, and find something to believe in. But, the more that we chase worldly happiness, if we think of it as self-satisfaction or self-fulfillment, the further away it seems to go. Personal holiness and obedience to the Lord is the thing that produces lasting happiness, fulfillment and satisfaction in life.  


Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on true happiness in the next post.

In Christ, Brian

 

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