Sermon Tone Analysis

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,

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 ()