Good afternoon and welcome back to the Panhandle on this cold, cold day. We have had some of the lowest temperatures we have had in the 15 years that we have lived here. It's warm in here though so come on in sit down and open your Bible and sit a spell.
The Beatitudes cover the glorious hope and rewards that Christians can expect now as well as in eternity. The Second Beatitude is, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5: 4)
“Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone.” This expression was coined by American poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox in her poem "Solitude" (1883). This is still a prevalent notion today, and in this age of self indulgence; the last thing anyone wants to do is to cry or mourn.
Christ Jesus drops a bombshell on us in the second beatitude! Our Lord tells us that there is happiness in sorrow, comfort in crying, gladness in grief, and bliss in being brokenhearted.
Blessed are those who mourn—those who care deeply—for they shall be divinely comforted. The Greek word used for “mourn” is the strongest word in that language for mourning; it is the word used to designate mourning for the dead. To mourn is to care deeply, to know Godly sorrow for sin, and to be deeply concerned about the evil in the world. It is to know the meaning of suffering because of the sin, injustice, and perversion in society. Christ Jesus assures us that in the midst of this mourning there is found the comfort of God. For this is a promise, when one draws near to God, God in turn draws near to them.
There is a direct relationship between the word for “comfort” and the word describing the Holy Spirit as the Comforter for the believer (John 14:16). As we live with a repentant spirit we open ourselves to the presence of God. The psalmist wrote, The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalms 51:17).
Matthew 5:4
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
1. The Wrong Kind of Mourning.
Does Jesus Christ place a premium on crybabies, sad sacks, lemon faces, and sob sisters? Certainly not! The best way to arrive at the meaning of this beatitude is to eliminate the ideas it does not teach. It does not teach depression because of the world situations. It is easy to get depressed when we watch, or listen to, or read the news. There has never been a day when people have been so well informed about each others sorrows.
It does not teach disappointment because of material failure. The apostle Paul said: “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10). Disappointment because of material failure has driven many to mourn. But this is not blessedness.
It does not teach bitterness because of injured pride. Many Christians are wearing spiritual chips on their shoulders that has robbed them of spiritual power and made them more and more bitter each day.
It does not teach guilt because of discovered sin. This the “hand in the cookie jar” type guilt. One does not feel guilt for the sin, but rather because they got caught in it. There is no blessedness in this sort of guilt.
It does not teach self-pity. The person who pities themselves bores other people with the repeated story of their troubles until they are left more and more to themselves. You will not find blessedness here.
If we face our problems and respond to them positively, and refuse to give in to panic, refuse bitterness, or refuse self-pity...THEN GOD CAN TURN THINGS AROUND. THE ADVERSITIES THAT COME ALONG TO BURY US USUALLY HAVE WITHIN THEM THE POTENTIAL TO BENEFIT AND BLESS US - Wade M. Hughes, Sr (Assembly of God pastor)
I know what I'm about to say will sound cliché, when you turn your life over to God He will help you get through it. But you have to take the first step and invite Christ Jesus in to your life. Wont you do that today?
The Second Beatitude is speaking of something deeper and more meaningful than depression, bitterness, disappointment, grief, and self-pity.
To mourn means to have a broken heart. It means to have a deep inner pain which occurs when something tragic happens, such as a death of a loved one. It also means to have a desperate sorrow over evil and suffering. In this Scripture it is mourning over sin against God, and the results of it which leads to spiritual death and eternal separation from Him. It is a brokenness of heart that comes from understanding the suffering Christ Jesus went through upon the cross and realizing that our sin put Him there.
2. The Right Kind of Mourning.
Happy is the person who is truly sorry for their sins. This kind of sorrow precedes repentance, because “godly sorrow brings repentance” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The psalmist wrote that “the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalms 34:18).
When Peter was preaching the gospel on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was doing His work. The people who were “pricked in their heart” cried, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). Peter replied, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).
Sorrow for sin is a continual trait in the Christian’s life. The you not only expresses sorrow for sin at the time of your conversion but also throughout your life. One of the outstanding marks of being a Christian is that the Christian should not sin and enjoy it. However your battle with sin and Satan does not end on the day of your salvation or on this side of eternity: For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. (Romans 7:18 – 20).
As a Christian you do not mourn for just yourself. Happy is the person who is sorry for the sins of others. Our Lord, Christ Jesus is the prime example of sorrow for the sins of others. Because He cared for your sins, “he [was] despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).
The shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). But don’t let the length of that verse hide its meaning. As Christ Jesus stood at the grave of Lazarus, His tears more than likely were not for Mary and Martha. He probably was not crying because His good friend Lazarus was dead, after all He was planning to raise him from the dead. Christ Jesus cried because of that ugly, foul thing called sin had introduced death to man. He knew that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Jesus Christ also wept over the city of Jerusalem because of the inhabitants’ spiritual blindness caused by sin: When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:41 and 42).
Revival would break out all over the world if this kind of mourning could be recovered in our churches.
“As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children” (Isaiah 66:8).
John Knox travailed, and the Church of Scotland was revived.
John Wesley travailed, and the Methodist movement was born.
Martin Luther travailed, and the Reformation broke out like a wildfire.
Billy Graham travailed, and according to his staff, more than 3.2 million people have responded to the invitation at Billy Graham Crusades to "accept Christ Jesus as their personal savior".
Do you still weep over your sins and the sins of others?
A
young girl became a Christian in an exciting revival at her church
and was baptized the closing Sunday morning. That afternoon, she ran
through the house singing and dancing. Her sour grandfather rebuked
her with these words, "You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You
just joined the church and you're singing and dancing on the Lord’s
Day!"
Crushed by her grandfather's attitude, the little
girl went out to the barn, climbed up on the corral fence, and
observed an old mule standing there with a sad, droopy face and
bleary eyes. As she reached over and patted the mule sympathetically,
she said, "Don't cry, ole mule. I guess you've got the same kind
of religion that Grandpa has!" (Source:
Bart Leger)
3. The True Mourner’s Reward.
The promise of this beatitude is “they shall be comforted.” The comfort of God the Holy Spirit, just as Christ Jesus promised here and in John 14:16, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (par-ak'-lay-tos – comforter) that He may be with you forever;”
The comfort of knowing that your sins have been forgiven. Sorrow for sin leads to repentance, which removes the heavy load of sin from the back of a sinner. "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:29 and 30).
The comfort of knowing that you have been saved by God’s grace, not by your own works. Years ago a communist orator in Hyde Park pointed to a bum across the street and cried, “Communism can put new clothes on that man.” A Christian shouted from the crowd, “But Christ can put a new man in those clothes.” When you turn your sins over to God instead of trying to atone for them yourself (which is an impossible task by the way), you will receive comfort and live at peace with yourself.
The comfort of anticipating the second coming of Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus' second coming is the Christian’s “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). Those who are found faithful when He comes and who have been watching for His coming are called “blessed” (Matt. 24:46; Luke 12:37 – 38, 43; Revelation 16:15).
The comfort of heaven forever. Only when you mourn for your sins and repent of them can you expect to go to heaven when you die.
There are several comforting things about heaven.
Heaven is a place for the saved of all ages (John 14:2).
Heaven is a place of rest (Heb. 4:9 – 11; Revelation 14:13).
Heaven is a safe place (Matt. 6:19 - 20).
Heaven is a place where sorrow cannot enter (Revelation 21:4).
In heaven we see Jesus Christ face to face (1 John 3:2).
An unfortunate explorer caught in the bitter cold in the far North had many things to tell about his grueling experience. He said that as long as his feet pained him, he was happy. When the pain was gone, his feet were doomed. That’s how it is with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When a person is sensitive to the Holy Spirit and mourns for their sins, they can truly be happy. But when they have lost their sensitivity to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, they are doomed to a spiritual freeze-out.
Brothers and Sisters have you lost your sensitivity to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Do you no longer mourn over lostness; yours and others? Then it is time for you to repent and come back to the Lord.
Well that's all for today. Thanks for dropping by and studying God's Word with me. I pray that the Lord will watch over and bless you and yours.
Biblesurfer
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