If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefields besides, is mere fight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.
Martin Luther
Grace Bible Church
Gbible.org
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday,
December 19, 2021
Three Biblical categories of happiness:
1) Pseudo happiness
2) Establishment happiness
3) God’s perfect happiness
Pseudo happiness is Satan’s attempt to counterfeit the happiness, contentment and blessings which God has provided for every church age believer.
Satan is the god of this world as documented in, 2CO 4:4; EPH 2:2; JOH 12:31; LUK 4:5-7; JOH 14:30; JOH 16:11.
Satan keeps people deceived by providing stimulation, ambition, and self-indulgence which will either counterfeit or cancel out the +H God provides.
We are commanded in 1JO 2:15-17, NOT to love the world, the world’s lifestyle, the world’s thinking, things of the world, etc.
Satan’s propaganda tells us happiness is based on money, or success, pleasure, social life, sexual life, public approbation, fame, material things, travel, health and pleasant circumstances…
True happiness comes through the inculcation of the word of God which strengthens the soul with divine viewpoint.
Anything that is worthwhile is so in both adversity and prosperity.
If you are dependent on any person or set of circumstances for your happiness you are weak to the degree you are dependent.
The presence of arrogance in our soul is a guarantee of unhappiness perpetuated for the rest of your life.
It is your arrogance which allows Satan to administer the pseudo happiness which only exists in one who decides to be involved in the cosmic system.
The arrogant complex of sins is very deceptive because it deludes, distracts, and deceives man into false notions about what constitutes happiness.
Pseudo happiness is temporary while God’s +H is present all the time!
Capacity for happiness must precede the experience or function of happiness and that capacity can only be developed through a consistent relationship with the word of God.
Happiness or unhappiness depends on how we respond to any given situation, not the situation itself.
Happiness is the harmony between one’s thoughts and one’s lifestyle.
God’s +H depends on what the believer thinks in his soul, it does not depend on any given divine institution, set of circumstances, nor one’s environment!
A happy marriage is two +H people who retain their +H in matrimony.
Pseudo happiness is based on illusions, an illusion being an erroneous concept of reality.
If you harbor illusions when it comes to happiness you will end up with an empty, aimless, and meaningless life and it all starts with rejection of truth.
1) Building happiness on the details of life such as money, success, pleasure, social life, friends, relatives, health, sex, or status symbols.
2) Building happiness on a pleasant environment.
3) Building happiness on people, romance, marriage, friendship, children, or social activity.
4) Building happiness by way of changing the devil’s world via reform crusades, social engineering, violence, civil disobedience, or revolution.
5) Building happiness on someone else’s unhappiness, i.e., revenge.
Pseudo happiness depends on involvement in the evil of the cosmic system of Satan and can only be related to momentary pleasure.
Problems are what offer us the opportunity to strengthen our faith and solidify our relationship with God.
The unhappy person seeks to control his environment including the people therein either by use of guilt or self-pity.
Self-pity is the flattery that people who are failures crave so they can preserve their excuses to be losers and then develop a pseudo self-esteem.
Establishment happiness comes from submitting to the laws of divine establishment which are designed to remove arrogance and fear from the life of the unbeliever and to replace it with genuine humility which results in a capacity for life.
The believer who honors divine establishment principles yet rejects the plan of God enters into arrogance and divine discipline.
Establishment happiness is the temporal happiness of the unbeliever who lives by establishment principles.
Under EH the unbeliever moves beyond morality to a place of “limited virtue”, becoming a person of honor and genuine humility.
The unbeliever under establishment happiness and true humility can enjoy such God given temporal blessings as being married to the right one for one’s life, and the blessing of occupation as noted in ECC 9:9 cf PRO 18:22.
The most important category of happiness is God’s perfect happiness also known as divine happiness.
There never was a time when God was unhappy with you!
Relatively few believers possess God’s +H, since it requires consistent perception, metabolization, and application of B.D., as well as the advance to spiritual adulthood, especially spiritual maturity.
This +H is not found in the world, MAR 8:36.
God’s +H requires something no lazy minded person can do…concentrate.
The word “disciple” found in JOH 8:31 is a reference to the existence of a personal attachment which shapes the whole life of the one described or to be dedicated to something, here it points to a dedication to the word of God.
Perfect happiness is divine happiness resident in the soul of the church age believer who utilizes his portfolio of invisible assets and divine power to attain spiritual maturity.
We never have a right to be unhappy or bitter with anyone due to the availability of problem solving device #7, impersonal love which is worth much more than money since it allows you to rise above letting people get to you.
The opposition from Satan and the persecution from other believers in the cosmic system should only serve to intensify your +H!
+H is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with anything the devil’s world can bring toward you, PHI 4:13.
His perfect happiness, Problem Solving Device #9!
God in His perfect justice -- is waiting to be gracious to us, ISA 30:18.
PSD #9. Having the Happiness (+H) of God.
The possession of pseudo-happiness which is fake happiness amd the difference between God’s happiness (+H).
- 1. Happiness (+H) is not having what you want, it is wanting what you have.
- 2. Happiness (+H) is enhanced by others but does not depend upon others.
Enhanced = experientially there are certain believers who contribute to your happiness because of their faithfulness as a friend.
JAM 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness," and he was called the friend of God.
JOH 15:13-14, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. "You are My friends, if you do what I command you.
JOH 15:15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
They had unity because they had the same mind.
- 3. The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness (+H) but you have to catch it yourself.
PSA 23:6. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
2TI 3:16-17, All Scripture is God-breathe and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be mature rightly dividing the Word of God.
If goodness and lovingkindness will follow you all the days of your life then slow down and let them catch you and reach forward to those things that are ahead; PHI 3:13-14.
- 4. Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy.
- 5. Some cause happiness (+H) wherever they go; while others cause happiness whenever they go.
- 6. Happiness (+H) is not a destination, it is a lifestyle or the M.O., the modus operandi or manner of operating or method of life.
- 7. It is necessary to the happiness (+H) of man that he or she be mentally faithful to themselves.
- 8. Life's biggest question is whether or not you're happy - not with others, but with yourself.
1CO 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.
TIT 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
TIT 2:12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,
- 9. There is no end to craving on the part of the individual, hence contentment alone is the best way to happiness (+H).
1TI 6:6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment.
- 10. You travel throughout the world in search of happiness (+H), when it is within the reach of every one when he or she understands that a contented mind reveals it all.
” When you get to where you’re going, where are you going to be?”
” The thrill of the catch is the chase.”
- 11. Success is not the key to happiness (+H). Happiness (+H) is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be happy and therefore, successful.
ECC 9:9 Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life, and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.
Solomon said to “Enjoy life” with the woman whom you love all the days of your life that God has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in this life.
Solomon also said “Enjoy life on your job which job God has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in this life.
- 12. The greatest happiness (+H) of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.
"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it."
If you're content with the basic things and you develop perfect happiness (+H), then God can trust you with the most magnificent things in life, as packaged in your escrow blessings for time.
You cannot build your happiness (+H) on someone else's unhappiness.
You're jealous, bitter, vindictive, implacable, angry, full of hatred, self-pity, filled with guilt reactions that motivate you.
You like to hear bad news about people you do not like.
The legalistic religious crowd during the time that our Lord walked this earth thought this very same thing.
”were glad” is the aor-pass-ind of chairo which means to be happy.
- 13. The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, you should guard the type of thoughts that you allow into your soul.
Happiness (+H) and virtue rest upon each other; the best are not only the happiest, but the happiest are usually the best.
- 14. The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness (+H) possible in this life whenever we use our capacities to their greatest extent.
- 15. There is only one way to happiness (+H) and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
- 16. You'll never realize how happy you are until you go through certain problems and find out that your perfect happiness (+H) has not been taken away.
- 17. Happiness (+H) is not a reward for doing something, it is a consequence.
PRO 3:13 "Happiness (+H) belongs to the person who finds wisdom, even to the person who gains understanding."
- 18. We tend to forget that true happiness (+H) doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.
- 19. It is not the place, nor the condition, but the mind alone that can make anyone happy or miserable.
PRO 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
PRO 17:22 A happy heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.
- 20. Happiness (+H) is learning to understand rather than to immediately judge.
If you could only take some time to understand all the facts rather than immediately judge someone, you will experience a tranquil life, a life of peace and happiness (+H).
A person can save himself from many hard falls by refraining from jumping to conclusions or presumption. PSA 19:12.
PSA 19:13 Also keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins; Let them not rule over me; Then I shall be blameless, And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
- a. Happiness (+H) is not following the crowd and accepting their approach toward life.
- b. A happy person is one who makes up his own mind, has his own convictions and doesn't allow himself to be manipulated.
- c. Happiness (+H) is not allowing yourself to indulge in the usual manipulation that goes on in life.
- d. Happiness (+H) is coming to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized or just considered.
- e. A person is happy because they are growing daily and not knowing where the limit lies.
- f. Every day there can be a new revelation or a new discovery about life and about God that can give the believers the power to be content and happy.
- g. Happiness (+H) is also being able to treasure the memory of the past misfortunes.
- h. Happiness (+H) isn't something you just experience; it's something you remember.
- i. It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness (+H).
- j. The key to true happiness (+H) is a change in our mental attitude.
This is the importance of the “E” in ICE or the grammatical and syntactical analysis of the passage from the original languages.
- 1. The English noun "joy" refers to a state of happiness (+H) or bliss or something which causes happiness (+H) or great pleasure or satisfaction.
- 2. The verb "rejoice" is also another word which describes happiness (+H) and it is defined as an expression of a state of happiness (+H) or to be delighted.
- 3. The English noun "happiness (+H)" is defined as a state of well-being characterized by a relative, permanent contentment, marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy.
- 4. Eshor is translated blessed, blessedness, happiness (+H). It is usually found in the construct form ashere, generally translated happiness (+H), blessing, blessed.
Eshor and ashere on the basic words used for happiness (+H) in the Old Testament.
- 5. The Greek noun chara is translated "joy" but the Romans and Greeks were very cynical about happiness (+H), and didn't seek it in things and people as we do.
- 6. The noun makarios (usually in the plural makaroi) is translated "blessed" or "happiness (+H)."
The noun makarios (usually in the plural makaroi is translated "blessed" or "happiness (+H)."
- 7. The noun autarkeia comes a little closer, because it means contentment, to be content, to be self‑sufficient, it means a perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed.
Notice how it is translated in 2CO 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency [there's autarkeia or another definition for happiness (+H)] in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;
Its verb arkeo, in the active voice, means to be sufficient; therefore to be self‑sufficient.
2CO 12:9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."
In the passive voice, the verb sufficient means to be be satisfied and content.
1TI 6:8 Now having nourishing food and a change of clothes. with these we shall be content.
- 8. Therefore, to understand what happiness (+H) is becomes a grammatical, exegetical, contextual examination of certain passages of the Word of God.
- 9. Most people carry the entrenched notion that some set of circumstances, things, or people can "make" us happy.
Happiness (+H) is not something that is made or manufactured by you.
- 10. We must never confuse happiness (+H), as taught in the Word of God, with the various stimuli of life which are enjoyable for the moment, but have no ability to sustain us in day‑by‑day living.
Whatever happiness (+H) is, it is something we have with us all the time.
- 11. It's only in the body to the extent that the soul is in the body, for happiness (+H) is related to the soul and spirit, to the immaterial parts of man, and is not related to the body at all.
No rapport with God, you will never have rapport with people and you also will never experience true happiness (+H).
- 12. Satan does not personally administer pseudo happiness to any person, but he provides the system called in this passage the world or the cosmos which we call the cosmic system.
- 13. The cosmic system provided by Satan is filled with illusions, delusion, fallacies and misconceptions of happiness (+H).
Satan's myth of arrogance is that both people and pleasant circumstances in life can make you happy.
- 14. Satan's propaganda is that money, success, pleasure, social life, sexual life, public approbation, fame, material things, travel, health, and pleasant circumstances in life can make you happy.
Often these things are pleasurable, stimulating, fun, and enjoyable, but they don't carry you......especially in time of suffering.
By way of contrast, what God has provided for us in perfect happiness (+H) is a permanent factor and a problem-solving device.
Anything that is worthwhile is worthwhile in adversity as well as in prosperity.
- 15. If you are dependent on any person or set of circumstances for happiness, then you are weak and you do not have happiness in any realm.
- 16. To the extent that you are dependent on people, circumstances, prosperity, success, or any accouterments of life for happiness (+H), you are weak.
- 17. You are not only a strong person, but you have that great inner happiness (+H).
- 18. God's happiness (+H) isn't dependent on environment, associations, or circumstances of prosperity or adversity; it depends on none of these things.
- 19. Remember that Satan is the ruler of this world, LUK 4:5-7; JOH 12:31, 14:30, 16:11 [ruler]; 2CO 4:4 [god]; EPH 2:2 [prince].
In EPH 2:2, he is called the prince of the power of the air or the one who controls the atmosphere in this world.
- 20. Satan rules and controls through a policy called arrogance, in contrast to God's policy of grace.
- a. Satan's administration of pseudo happiness can only exist when that person is involved in the cosmic system; primarily in cosmic one, where through arrogance, any capacity for happiness (+H) is destroyed.
The presence of arrogance in your soul is a guarantee of unhappiness perpetuated for the rest of your life.
Arrogance includes jealousy; and you cannot be jealous and be happy
- b. You will move to functional arrogance, which only intensifies your unhappiness, causing you to begin a frantic search for happiness as the person is trying to become.
- c. Unhappiness destroys the potential for contentment and appreciation and causes people to go on that frantic search for happiness.
No amount of material possession produces wealth, but enjoying what we have, no matter how much or how little is all the wealth that one needs.
For those in the world, it is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness because poverty and wealth have both failed the individual.
- d. Satan not only has this policy as the god of this world buy, he is known for making accusations against the brethren.
- e. The arrogance complex is very deceptive because it deludes, distracts, and deceives mankind into false notions about what constitutes happiness (+H).
- f. Pseudo happiness can be stimulation, fun, entertainment, or something that is enjoyable, but it isn't permanent; it is momentary.
- g. This is called pseudo happiness because, beyond that moment of good time, there are bad times, routine times, or dull times.
- h. Perfect happiness is a magnificent problem-solving device because you have it all the time, and you merely tune into it during problem solving.
- i. Perfect happiness (+H) is not only a problem-solving device, but it is a basis for capacity for life.
- j. (10) Arrogant preoccupation with self through involvement in the cosmic system guarantees unhappiness and that every moment of stimulation, success, or enjoyment will not be perpetuated, and will not sustain you in the day‑by-day living of life.
- k. (11) Pseudo‑happiness is associated with any form of stimulation, enjoyment, or excitement which provides temporary pleasure.
- L. (12) It does not sustain, motivate, or encourage the believer in time of adversity, pressure, suffering, or testing, during which time he needs to use the resources of doctrine to solve the problems that beset him.
- m. (13) Instead of true happiness (+H), our involvement in the cosmic system guarantees our self-induced misery and divine discipline.
- n. (14) You must have capacity for happiness (+H) to really be happy, and then you can be happy in whatever life has to offer you in a given moment.
Capacity for happiness (+H) must precede the experience or function of happiness (+H).
- o. (15) The unbeliever who functions under morality without arrogance will have establishment happiness from the laws of divine establishment.
- p. (16) The believer who functions under consistent PMA of Bible doctrine will receive perfect happiness (+H), which is a day-by-day, moment-by-moment happiness (+H) that carries you in the darkest of nights and the most difficult of times.
Life is divided into two parts: living and dying.
- q. (17) If you have perfect happiness (+H) in living, you will have perfect happiness (+H) in dying whether it is prolonged and painful or short and sweet.
What is happiness (+H) except the simple harmony between a man and the life he leads.
However, in dying, our volition is no longer an issue because God's sovereignty selects the time, place, and manner of our death.
- r. (18) If you have perfect happiness (+H), you will have a magnificent life and a magnificent time while dying.
Now, another area in which you can have either pseudo happiness (+H) or God's perfect is in your single or marital status (relax now).
The four divine institutions are for believers and unbelievers alike.
- s. (19) They are the structure of society, the basis for the perpetuation of human life and freedom, and the basis for order in society by which each person can fulfill his own destiny while others fulfill theirs.
- t. (20) Neither divine institution number one, volition, nor divine institution number two, marriage sustained and carried Adam and the woman in perfect environment.
Throughout the Scripture, there are no mandates to be happy in marriage, because marriage is not a state of happiness (+H).