Introduction:

Notice in verse 3, Paul said “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness.” There are two righteousness” mentioned in this text. Let's talk about two things that Christian must have in order to be a happy Christian.

There are two kinds of people on this congregation:

1. Christians who are happy

2, Christians who are not happy and miserable

Illustration: The doctor told the patient not to eat food but just a few, however the patient is not happy for that doctor's advice, so the patient eats again and again. It is like a Christian who eat at spiritual table who are hunger and seeking the word of God always (coming back for second). They are Christians who go to church only Wednesday night or Sunday, and there are some Christians who half of Sunday, either only Sunday morning or only Sunday night.

I – LIFE MORE ABUNDANTLY

Jesus said in John 10:10a “I am come that they might have life.”

How do you have that life? To have that life that Jesus is talking about, you must believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior because if you have the Son of God Jesus Christ you have eternal life. The Bible tells us in John 3:15-16; I John 5:12

John 3:15-16 “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

I John 5:12 “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

But notice again, after you find that life, there is more that Jesus said in John 10:10b “…and that they might have it more abundantly.” You must not only have spiritual life, being saved, as a Christian, a believer of the gospel of Christ, but you must have also the abundant spiritual life as a Christian. God wants you to live an abundant Christian life. Not only being saved as a Christian but living as a happy Christian. So, Christians are not happy when they just have eternal life but do not have it more abundantly.

But how could we have the abundant Christian life? Well, open your Bible to I Corinthians 15:58

I Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." Because we are saved by the gospel of Christ (death, burial, and resurrection from the dead) we need to be always abounding in the work of God.

Having eternal life does not automatically make you happy Christian. Therefore, after we got saved, we must live and serve God all the best we can, that we might live our Christian life abundantly and be a happy Christian God intended us to be.

II – REST WITH GOD

When I came to Christ, I have the rest. That rest is the assurance that when I die, I will be in heaven (Matthew 11:28)

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

But we must have the second rest after we got the assurance of salvation, and that second rest is the rest of fellowshipping with God and walking with God (Matthew 11:29)

Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

There is a place that God wants you to be there, and there is a work that God wants you to do. If you are not there and do not work with God you are not happy.

Illustration: In plowing the field, the carabao should obey the farmer to finish and rest.

You Christian you cannot know more of God when you read some poetry, watch horror films, watch the clouds of heaven and its stars, moon and sun, etc. You can know God, when you take God’s yoke upon you (God’s yoke is not make you tired but it makes you rest).

Quitting your ministry at the church does not make you rest. Quitting of going to church when there is a little illness does not make you rest. Quitting to face the trials that God intended you to be is not rest.

Example: The song “The strength of the Lord”

Chorus:
It's not in trying But in trusting
It's not in running But in resting
Not in wondering But in praying
That we find the strength of the Lord

Not only we find rest of salvation in Matthew 11:28 but also, we find rest of submission in Matthew 11:29.

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Ephesians 5:21-22 “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.”

Romans 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”

Luke 22:42 “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”

Ephesians 5:24 “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.”

I Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”

I Peter 2:13 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

John 7:17 “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

John 13:17 “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”

Christians are not happy when they have only the rest of salvation (assurance of salvation) and have no rest of submission or having consistent fellowship with God.

III – PEACE OF GOD

I have “peace with God” when I got saved (Romans 5:1).

Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

But Jesus do not just leave us but come back and said, “I’ll give you more” and that is the “peace of God” (Colossians 3:15; Philippians 4:6-7).

Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”

Philippians 4:6-7 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. ⁷And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Many saved people go to church, but when they heard the Pastor preaching, and when they were hurt, they want to get their attention away from the message that rebuke and correct them.

Christians cannot have the peace of God if they have two masters in their lives. They have Sunday for God then Saturday for devil, they live for the world then live for God. They serve two masters, they have two masters in their lives.

Christ gave us peace not like the peace of the world (John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

If you want the peace of God, cancelled your trip to psychologist, psychiatrist, to sleeping tablet, drugs because Jesus is the “prince of peace” (Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”), and come to Jesus, He is the tranquilizer.

Whatever illness, loneliness, painfulness brought by chastisement of God can’t be relieved of money and material things but could be resolve only by repentance of sin then returned to the will of God and be revived. Happy Christians are happy not because they have peace with God by being reconciled to God through the blood of Christ for our forgiveness but Christians are happy because after they have peace with God (justified - saved), they have peace of God (by being thankful, trusting, and truthful to God).

IV – RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD

First, we should know about God’s righteousness by faith on Jesus Christ as your Savior. God's righteousness, in Christ, means that you are justified, declared righteous because you have had your sins cleansed by Jesus. This is both all of your past sins, and all of your present and future sins (that you’ve repented for and/or are covered in God’s grace for). We are RIGHTEOUS/ JUSTIFIED by FAITH not by our works but by the BLOOD of JESUS. The REASON JESUS DIED on the CROSS was because nobody can be righteous by the law. This is why the only way to be Righteous is by FAITH in JESUS.

Romans 3:21-25 “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; ²²Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: ²³For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; ²⁴Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: ²⁵Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”). Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:”)

Second, we should know that we must live righteously in the sight of God after we got saved.

Titus 2:12 “we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;"

I John 2:29 “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.”.

There are two kinds of righteousness.

1. Imputed righteousness

When I got saved God imputed His righteousness to me (II Corinthians 5:19-21 “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. ²¹For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”)

My record in Heaven is not my record, but by Jesus’ record. There is no single sin charged to my record in heaven because Jesus paid my sins (Romans 4:5-9 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. ⁶Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, ⁷Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. ⁸Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. ⁹Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.”).

2. Separated Life and Holy living.

There is the second righteousness for Christians, that is a separated life and a holy living.

I John 3:7 “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.”

Titus 2:11-12 “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, ¹²Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;”

Illustration: 1986 when I preached at Laloma Baptist Church, Quezon City, after the preaching, I gave the invitation, as the deaf interpreter continues with the interpretation of the invitation using the sign language to all the deaf that were present, here are two deaf church members come forward and confessed that they are living in sexual immorality. Happy Christians live a separated life and holy living. Happy Christians confessed and forsook sins and unrighteousness.

Illustration: There is no happiness of a Christian who try to go to counsellors, to join the camp, then compromise with beer and worldly friends, until he forsook his sins and live honestly, holy before God.

V – FULNESS OF THE SPIRIT

When I got saved the Holy Spirit came to live in my body (Ephesians 1:13; I Corinthians 6:19-20)

Ephesians 1:13 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”

I Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? ²⁰For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

Not only the Holy Spirit dwelled in me the moment I become a Christian, but there is more we need to give importance to and that is the fulness of the Holy Spirit, because there is power in being filled by the Spirit. The Bible talks about being filled by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:19; Ephesians 5:18)

Ephesians 3:19 “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

Ephesians 5:18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

Illustration: Parable of the Dead Church. An Apathetic Christian want to join a church, but the Pastor leads him to an old church ready for demolition, a church without the fulness of the Holy Spirit is a dead. No love for God, no labor for the work of God, no longing for God's word of nourishment and power of the Spirit.

A Happy Christian is filled by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18-19 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; ¹⁹Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;” Notice in these verses teaches us how a Happy Christian speaks and sings who was filled with the Spirit power.

VI – SANCTIFIED BY FAITH ON THE WORD OF GOD

I look at Calvary by faith last April 1984 and I got justified through Jesus finished work of redemption for my sins (Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”)

But the same faith that justified my soul will sanctify my life (John 17:17,19; Ephesians 5:26-27).

John 17:17, 19 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. ¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”

Ephesians 5:26-27 “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

A happy Christians is not only justified by faith in Christ (salvation), but also, they were sanctified by faith on God’s Word (spiritual growth).