Count Your Blessings: They Shall Be Comforted

Jason A. Smith

Count Your Blessings • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

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Today, we are going to look at the second blessing given to those who are citizens of the kingdom of God/heaven. In , Jesus says,

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (, ESV).

I would like to begin by talking about what I believe Jesus means and does not mean when He promises that He will comfort His people.

What is Meant By ‘Comfort’

Jesus is not saying that God will make our lives comfortable and easy. If He was, there would be a conflict in this passage in verse 10 where Jesus says that those who suffer are blessed. Suffering brings reward. It is a prerequisite to receiving eternal life from God (). What Jesus is promising here in giving comfort is a comfort that we can have inwardly even if we are in pain physically. Those who are sick and suffering, if they are kingdom citizens, can still have comfort. The blessings that God promises us and gives us in the beatitudes transcend the circumstances that we find ourselves in physically. It will be the case at times that God brings an end to the suffering because of the prayers of His people, but even if He didn’t, you and I can have comfort.

There are times that God does relieve physical suffering or keeps someone from dying. We will look at one example in Paul. But there are times that He doesn’t also. There are times in which scripture shows God brings it or blesses His people with it. We need to keep in mind that suffering is neither good or bad, in and of itself. It all depends on who is using it and to what end. God uses suffering to help us mature and grow and be more like Jesus while Satan may try to get us to fall and not trust God at these times.

The greek word used in this passage (parakalĕō, par-ak-al-eh´-o) and other forms of the word give us the ideas of coming to ones side to help or to exhort or encourage. It is talking about a comfort that is within us. In our spirit.

A form of this greek word is used in reference to the Holy Spirit in .

“16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (, ESV)

And in , a passage we will look at in more detail shortly, Paul talks about how He was comforted by the LORD in spite of the terrible affliction he was suffering for the sake of the Gospel.

Depending on your translation, the Holy Spirit is called our Advocate/Helper/Comforter (). All of these ideas are present in this word. Jesus is our advocate and helper, and He is telling the Apostles that He is going to send another advocate or helper or comforter to aid them and dwell among them.

parakalĕō, par-ak-al-eh´-o

see &

Christians are the only ones in whom it can be said that even suffering and discomfort are a blessing of God and a gift of God. We can have comfort even while suffering.

You see that what is being promised here is that God will come to our side to help or aid us. He will bring us encouragement and relieve our mourning. That may or may not include actually removing the pain and suffering. Praise the Lord when the blessing does include relief from the physical suffering, but also, God be praised that we can have hope and relief even during the pain knowing that we are living for Him and have his aid in our battles to be faithful to Him and to grow.

Other forms of the Greek word is used elsewhere to talk about how we receive help from one another and from the Spirit.

God will ultimately bring us comfort in removing all sadness and pain.

God is Working in the Lives of His People to Give Them Comfort

If we were paying attention at the end of our last point, we may have seen the answer. Ultimately, it is God who comforts His people. He is the comforter. He is the one who comes to their aid and brings encouragement and relief. It may be the case that people are used in this process, but we need to remember that God is the one ultimately who is working through His people to bring comfort to us.

He brings us comfort in many ways:

By helping us trust in Him and the hope He offers () .

Paul was enduring some painful circumstances. He gives some of the details of his suffering in verses 8-9 of .

Paul’s circumstances helped him to learn to really trust the LORD. Instead of looking at his desire to get out of the pain, he assumed he was going to die. He sentenced himself to death and trusted in the God who would raise him from the dead. He received comfort from this even in the midst of suffering that was beyond what He could handle on his own because he knew that He served the God who is above all and was powerful enough to undo what man did to him. The fact that man could kill his body led him to receive comfort in the fact that God would raise his body from the dead. God comforted him in the midst of his afflictions, and at least in the case of his suffering in Asia as he preached the Gospel, he did receive the blessing from the Lord of being delivered from death.

He received comfort from this even in the midst of suffering that was beyond what He could handle on his own. And yes, it is the case that he did not lose his life in those circumstances, but even then, it was not his deliverance that excited Paul and comforted Paul and led him to rejoice. It was the fact that he his brothers and sisters in Christ praying for him (v11) that gave him comfort. He had people who cared for him. And he received comfort from the idea that, if he was delivered, God would be thanked and glorified.

This is an interesting point that we see in this passage: Paul viewed God being thanked and glorified through his life as the great blessing that came out of his deliverance. Many thanked God. It is important for us to keep in mind that the blessings we receive, whether it be physical blessings or spiritual blessings, are not ultimately about us. Sometimes we believe in an “us-centered Gospel” - that it is all about us. When we consider our blessings and count them, if we are not moved to thanksgiving, then we are not responding to our blessings correctly. God blesses us - either in giving or taking things away, so that we will trust in Him and thank Him and remember that He is God. He is not comforting us or blessing us so we can think more highly of ourselves and think we are the center of the universe. Everything that happens in this life needs to drive us to thank and glorify God for what He does.

God will ultimately bring us comfort in removing all sadness and physical pain and suffering. This idea of comfort in the afterlife is given to us in a few passages. One is in . In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, Lazarus is described as being given comfort in paradise while the rich man was in agony.

Also, in Revelation, John says:

“4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (, ESV)

By helping to carry our burdens ().

There will be a time in which God will remove all that leads his people to grieve.

He removes our sin.

This is something that brings us great comfort and encouragement within. Knowing that our sin is no longer on our account and that we are right with the LORD no matter the physical circumstances is a great blessing. All of the burden of sin that is on our account is taken off of our shoulders by the LORD Jesus, and we have His mercies daily. We have peace with God no matter what we are facing. This should put the mind of the kingdom citizen at ease.

He gives us brothers and sisters to help us carry our burdens.

“4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (, ESV)

There will be a time in which God will remove all that leads his people to grieve.

The service and encouragement we can receive from one another can help us through any situation, no matter how difficult it is. The blessing of brethren in hard times is so refreshing. It is always helpful to know that you have brothers and sisters in Christ who love you and are willing to do whatever they can to come to your aid and bring comfort to you spiritually.

Who Does God Comfort?

Jesus says that those who mourn will be comforted ():

Blessed are those who are sorrowful and grieving. Blessed are those who are crying and weeping.

Because of their sin ()

Because of a concern for others who are sinning and suffering ()

But not all those who mourn:

Those who mourn because they don’t get what they want - Amnon, the son of David is a good example of this. He mourned, was sick with grief because he couldn’t have his half-sister Tamar.

Those who mourn because they don’t get what they want - Amnon, the son of David is a good example of this. He mourned, was sick with grief because he couldn’t have his half-sister Tamar. Also, Ahab mourned because Naboth would not sell him the field that was part of his inheritance.

Those who mourn because of a material loss or frustrated ambition because they depend on the things of the world for their well-being.

Those who mourn merely over the consequences of their sin.

etc…

Not all mourning is a type of mourning that brings blessing from God.

It must be a mourning that is a godly kind of mourning. It leads to transformation in our lives and moves us to serve others.

It must be a mourning that is a godly kind of mourning. It leads to transformation in our lives and moves us to serve others. Let’s consider some examples.

Godly mourning:

Those who mourn:

Because of their sin. I do think this may be the main idea Jesus was talking about here, and this point follows naturally from the first beatitude. If you see how helpless and bankrupt you are because of your sin and without God’s grace, what is the natural response going to be form the kingdom citizen? A godly sorrow or mourning over your sin that leads to repentance and to seek God’s mercy. There are a few passages I would like to consider in this point. First, .

“9 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” (, ESV)

The Corinthians here give us a good example of mourning over sin. They were challenged by Paul in an earlier letted he sent them, and they responded to him with sorrow over their sin and were led to repentance. This is what the poor in spirit are led to when they see their sin. They want nothing more than to be cleared of their wrongdoing by the LORD - to be forgiven - and they seek GOd’s mercy in humble sorrow and repentance.

2 Corinthians 1

Also consider . In the context of this passage, James is talking to Christians who were, in pride, fighting among themselves and were in friendship with the world. Look at what James calls them to do:

In the context of this passage, James is talking to Christians who were, in pride, fighting among themselves and were in friendship with the world. Look at what James calls them to do:

“7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (, NKJV)

They needed, in humility, to come before God with mourning if they wanted the forgiveness of God - if they wanted to be lifted up. This, in my judgment, is what Jesus is talking about in our passage in Matthew 5:4.

APPLICATION

But I do think there is more involved with this idea of mourning. There are other things that godly people who are citizens of the kingdom mourn over.

Because they have a concern for others who are sinning and suffering

Who is comforted?

You see this idea all throughout the Bible. For instance, in , the Psalmist says:

“136 My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.” (, ESV)

God’s people are not calloused to the injustices and sin around them.

At the point

At the beginning of 2 Cor 7, Paul talks about how his concern for the brethren in Corinth led him to be downcast and how their response to a previous letter he sent them brought him great comfort.

“5 For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7 and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.” (, ESV)

There were many things afflicting Paul at this point. There was always persecution present, but there was also inner turmoil. He was concerned about his brethren - about their souls - desiring that there would be repentance. Paul often had this deep concern for the churches - one that led him to tears.

Earlier in the book of 1st Corinthians, in 2:12-13, he talks about how, because he was concerned for them, he did not take advantage of an opportunity that the Lord gave him to preach the Gospel. He couldn’t find Titus to find our how the Corinthians were doing, so he decided to go to Macedonia. But fortunately, while he was in Macedonia, he finally found Titus! And he received good news that the Corinthians had responded well and had repented. This brought him comfort and it brought Titus comfort seeing God at work among these brethren.

It is amazing how the LORD can bring comfort to us when we are concerned about others. We hear how God is working in the lives of those we are concerned about. And we also receive comfort about those we are concerned about as we go and do what is in our power to serve and help them.

Another passage that comes to mind is in . Judgment was coming against Jerusalem. In verse one, the LORD calls his executioners to come against the city. Then in verses 3-5, as His glory is exiting the temple, He gives the executioners these instructions:

“4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.” (, ESV)

Mercy and deliverance were only for specific people. God protected those who mourned and grieved over the state of their nation spiritually. They were given this mark on their foreheads so they would be protected from the judgment. This is the type of heart the people of God should have. They should be grieved at what grieves God. Our sin, and the sin that we are surrounded by affects us.

Love of sin

Conclusion & Application

Are you a mourner? Are you one of the people who Jesus says will be comforted? Do you mourn over your sin and the spiritual condition of others?

Why does God help & comfort us? ()

“4 who [God] comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (, ESV)

God does not comfort us so that we can be comfortable, but so that we can be comforters. He blesses us so that we can bless. Sometimes we can be so self-absorbed. Sometimes we can think we have been blessed just so we can do whatever we want with the blessings. But this is not the case. We, as well as our blessings, belong to the LORD. He gives to us so we can use what we have been given as stewards of His grace.

If you are comforted and encouraged in some way, now you know how to do it for others.

If you were comforted by others while you were enduring a terrible illness, now you know how to do the same to others.

If you were comforted while going through some kind of terrible discouraging circumstance, you now know how to do the same for others.

Do you need God’s comfort? Remember that God gives comfort to those who are His people - His kingdom citizens who mourn, those who, with sorrow, humble themselves before the LORD.

, those who, with sorrow, humble themselves before the LORD. .

There will not be true, lasting comfort for those who are outside of Christ. Any relief one may get in this life, if they are outside of Christ, will not last into eternity if they leave this life not right with God and as a recipient of the kingdom. There will be tribulation and anguish Paul says. Suffering God’s judgment.

If we can help you receive comfort from the LORD today, why don’t you make any needs you may have known as together we stand and sing?

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