Happiness is Purity and Peacemaking (Matthew 5:7-9)

Happiness gets marketed as a result: better breaks, better bank account, better circumstances. Jesus flips that logic on its head. We walk through Matthew 5 as the Sermon on the Mount reframes joy as something rooted in the heart, not in what happens to you, and we slow down on three Beatitudes that feel simple until you try to live them. 

First, “Blessed are the merciful” forces a hard question: do we treat mercy like a deal, or like a response to grace we’ve already received? We talk about mercy as forgiveness, as refusing revenge, and as attention given to people in real misery. A story from India puts this into sharp focus, contrasting a worldview that blames sufferers with the mercy of Christ that moves toward them with compassion and dignity. 

Then we unpack “Blessed are the pure in heart” with a practical lens: positional purity (God’s work in salvation) versus practical purity (our ongoing integrity). The goal isn’t performative perfection but a clean heart that sees God more clearly at work. From there we move to “Blessed are the peacemakers,” where the emphasis is on action. We connect peacemaking to the cross, to our calling as ambassadors of reconciliation, and to a powerful story of Robert Chapman, whose steady kindness melts a hardened opponent. 

If you want a clearer, steadier kind of Christian happiness built on mercy, integrity, and reconciliation, this one is for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who needs peace, and leave a review with the Beatitude you want to live more boldly.

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Transcript

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Jesus has just now begun preaching his famous sermon. We call it the Sermon on the Mount. He's turning upside down the conventional path to true happiness. The world says, well, happiness is based on what happens to you. Jesus is going to say, no, no, happiness is based on what's inside of you. The world says, well, happiness is based on wealth. Jesus is going to say, no, happiness is based on wisdom. And so he continues delivering some more rather surprising principles

Happiness Turned Upside Down

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of true happiness here in Matthew chapter 5. Now at verse 7, Jesus says this, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Now don't misunderstand this. Jesus isn't saying if you show mercy to others, you're going to receive mercy in return. You may have found out already that doesn't happen all the time, does it? In fact, if that were true, the most merciful man to ever walk the planet, Jesus, would never have been crucified on that old rugged cross. No, Jesus is not saying if you show mercy to others, you will earn mercy back from God.

Mercy That Mirrors Christ

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No, if you're an unbeliever, showing mercy to somebody is not going to get you into heaven. What Jesus is saying here is this Since you have received the mercy of God, now demonstrate that merciful spirit to other people. Do you want happiness? Show people mercy. There's mercy in forgiveness. There's mercy when we withhold that which someone deserves and we refuse to take revenge. Mercy is the imitation of Jesus Christ, who in his mercy saved us. I like the way one author put it. Mercy is giving attention to those in misery. Whenever I traveled to India, I was always moved by the masses of poor people. They were considered, they were called untouchables. They were the lowest caste in this Hindu culture. Little filthy children would chase after us begging for pennies. I remember seeing women begging on street corners with babies on their hips, their lives filled with suffering and incredible difficulty. Their religion taught that they had reincarnated as untouchables because of a prior life of wickedness or sin, so they deserved to suffer in their new lives. There was no mercy for them. I remember on one visit to India I met a Christian woman who would go among these poor people inviting their young daughters to her little school, giving them little clean uniforms. She used a public bathroom as a classroom. She'd go in ahead of time, scrub the floors clean, and then she'd bring the girls in and sit them in tidy rows each day as she taught them with wonderful love. Let me tell you, she was genuinely happy as she demonstrated the mercy of Christ. Now with that, Jesus delivers another step of true happiness here in verse eight. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Maybe you read that and you think to yourself, well, that means I'll never be happy nor seek God one day because my heart certainly isn't pure. When you study the scriptures, beloved, you discover there is there is positional purity and there is practical purity. Positional purity is the work of God. That's what God does for Christians. Practical purity is the work of Christians. That's what we do

Pure In Heart And Seeing God

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for God. Positional purity is another term for salvation or justification. Through faith in Christ alone you are justified. You are declared pure by his cleansing work. Frankly, positional purity is the easy side of the equation. Well, that's because God does all the work, Ephesians two, eight and nine. Practical purity is our part. That's our responsibility. The Greek word used by the Lord here in this text for pure is the word catharas, and that refers to integrity. David prayed for that over in Psalm chapter 51 and verse 10, where he said, Create in me a clean heart, O God. Let me tell you, when you depend on the Spirit of God as you pursue a life of integrity, you're going to see God at work in your life. You're going to see God more clearly at work even in the world around you. I remember reading about a special telescope that was going to be launched into space. It was equipped to see images some seven billion light years away. And as it orbited the planet, it would be sending messages, images, photographs back to Earth. But there were delays. And the lens in that telescope needed to be kept safe while the project was completed. The delays would extend over some seven years. All that time these lenses were kept in a in a perfectly sterile, clean facility over there in Sunnyvale, California, and it cost eight million dollars a month. You thought you paid a lot for rent. Well imagine that. Well, these scientists clearly understood that the best way to see the heavens was through a clean lens. Well, that's kind of what Jesus is saying here. Do you want to see the hand of God at work, which will bring you true happiness? Then keep your heart clean by confessing every sin every single day. Well, Jesus now goes on here in verse 9 to say this, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Now, don't miss this. He's not saying happy are the peaceful. He's saying happy are the peacemakers. The Lord uses a compound word here for peacemaker. He's referring to people who actively negotiate peace. And when we do that, the world recognizes that we're sons of God. They realize we've got to be related to God in some way because we're living out the heart of God in bringing

Peacemakers And The Cost Of Peace

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peace to our world. When you think about it, the cross of Jesus Christ is the greatest example of peacemaking you could ever think of. Why? Because it cost the life of the peacemaker. Paul writes in Colossians 1 20 that Jesus Christ made peace by the blood of his cross. Beloved, every time you share the gospel of Jesus Christ with someone, you're engaged in peacemaking, delivering to them the gospel of the great peacemaker. The world happens to be in deep trouble at this very moment, whether they realize it or not. The world is virtually at war with the God of heaven, and we've been assigned as ambassadors of Christ to offer to our world peace with God. It's exactly what the Apostle Paul emphasized in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 20. This is what he wrote. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. Every year that I teach at Shepherd's Theological Seminary, I require that my pastoral theology students read the biography of Robert Chapman. Robert Chapman was a single man all his life, and he pastored the same little church for decades back in the nineteenth century over there in England. He was a man deeply respected for his love for Christ and for others. In fact, Charles Spurgeon, the famous pastor in the same region in England, once said that Robert Chapman was the godliest man he knew. Now, that didn't mean that everybody liked Pastor Chapman. In fact, a grocer who lived in the same area hated Christ, didn't want to have anything to do with the gospel that Chapman often preached outdoors. It infuriated this unbelieving man. In fact, on one occasion, he walked over to where Chapman was preaching outdoors and spit on him. For years this grocery store owner would verbally attack him whenever he had the chance, and Robert Chapman never once retaliated. Well one day, some of Robert's wealthy family members came to spend several days with him. Since Robert was a single man, they decided they'd do all the cooking for him when they were there. They asked him, however, where they ought to buy groceries from, and Chapman insisted that they go to this one particular grocery store. Well, there they went, and after purchasing a large amount of food, they asked that it be delivered to the home of Robert Chapman. Well this grocer was stunned. Surely he told them they they must have come to his store by accident. No, they replied, Mr. Chapman insisted that we come to your store. Well, when the grocer arrived with his delivery at Chapman's house, when Chapman answered the door, this grocer broke down in tears. His hardened heart had been finally softened by the peacemaking efforts of Robert Chapman. And that afternoon he gave his life to Jesus Christ. And for Robert Chapman, well, he at that moment experienced a little peace on earth, at least with this man, at last. See, that's what it means to be a peacemaker. It isn't always easy, but it will always be right. It'll be right to demonstrate your family connection to the great peacemaker, the Prince of Peace, our Lord. Well, until next time, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.