Blessing in Mourning
Beatitudes • Sermon • Submitted
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· 9 viewsIt is only when we truly mourn our sin that God is able to free us from it.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
Introduction:
Scripture text video: Beatitudes - Matthew Five 1:39
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MeH8YyLlDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MeH8YyLlDE
Christ is Sufficient
One night while conducting an evangelistic meeting in the Salvation Army Citadel in Chicago, Booth Tucker preached on the sympathy of Jesus. After his message a man approached him and said, “If your wife had just died, like mine has, and your babies were crying for their mother, who would never come back, you wouldn’t be saying what you’re saying.”
Tragically, a few days later, Tucker’s wife was killed in a train wreck. Her body was brought to Chicago and carried to the same Citadel for the funeral. After the service the bereaved preacher looked down into the silent face of his wife and then turned to those attending. “The other day a man told me I wouldn’t speak of the sympathy of Jesus if my wife had just died. If that man is here, I want to tell him that Christ is sufficient. My heart is broken, but it has a song put there by Jesus. I want that man to know that Jesus Christ speaks comfort to me today.”
To the people of the world who do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, it is unfathomable that we can find peace and contentment in mourning. To the world, and to the Jews Jesus was teaching on that hillside, Jesus was voicing paradoxical platitudes. But the Beatitudes are so much more. They are a way of life that is only found in the spiritual world and that spiritual world can be lived out in our world through us.
Today we will be looking at the second beatitude:
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Pray
The Pharisees and scribes have had the podium for far too long. They were proud and harsh to the people. They felt they had attained righteousness, therefore they had no desire to learn or grow. They were far more concerned with the legalities of God’s laws and their own laws. These things they felt they could control. They could bath and call themselves ceremonially clean with no true righteousness of heart. That would be far too demanding.
It was not difficult for Jesus to get the attention of the people. They were hungry for the truth. The Pharisees and scribes had described a sort of righteousness that was out of their grasp in their poverty.
Then Jesus comes. He is all that the Pharisees are not; humble, gentle, loving, forgiving, and he cares about them. Instead of holding a bar up that they cannot begin to reach, he starts where they are. Blessed are the poor in spirit... blessed are they that mourn... blessed are the meek...
The truth is, Jesus draws His battle line on this day. The beatitudes were a challenge to everything the Pharisees had ever taught. Some say Jesus journey to the cross began on this day.
To unlock the secrets of the Beatitudes, you have to have the key.
The Key:
The Key:
The key to understanding Jesus and His teachings; particularly with the beatitudes is that He is addressing the spiritual world, not the physical. Jesus was always concerned with the spiritual nature of things. We saw that with His I am statements:
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
He was not talking about the bread we eat to sustain physical nourishment. He was talking about the spiritual nourishment we need.
The beatitudes sound like a paradox, but that is because they are spiritual in nature. Before I get too far into that, let us look back at a couple key points from last week.
First, we have to understand what is meant by “blessed”.
First, we have to understand what is meant by “blessed”.
Blessed means “divine joy and perfect happiness.”
The world’s view of blessed in the days of the Bible was that the only ones blessed were “the gods” and “the dead.” It was not believed a living person could experience such joy and happiness.
However, last week we saw that the Bible gives a different view of blessed all tied to God. It has to do with God’s approval and interaction in our life. It has to do with the spiritual connection we have with God. With a spiritual connection to God, we can be blessed even when we are under adverse circumstances.
Last week, Susie sang a beautiful song written by Laura Story. Susie shared a little of Laura’s story, but I wish to show you a short video with her personal testimony of God’s blessing even when we are experiencing the hardships that come in this world.
Laura Story- “Blessings” the story behind the song 2:25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjB2skJi2co
Blessing takes on a much deeper meaning when we look at it through the spiritual side of life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjB2skJi2co
Second, we need to revisit what beatitude means.
Second, we need to revisit what beatitude means.
Beatitude is essentially, “a blessed attitude.” I want to take this a step further this week and look at the definition of “attitude.”
According to the dictionary, an attitude is...
a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior.
Now lets be honest. Some are “settled in away of thinking” that is open while other attitudes are settled in a way that is closed. And that brings us to our first beatitude.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew
Last week I shared that this beatitude opens the door for us to experience all the rest. The reason is, if we are poor in spirit, or in other words, humble in our mindset, we are open to God. However, if we are closed minded, as were the Pharisees, then we are closed off from God.
We can only experience the spiritual nature of God if we are open to Him. Therefore, it requires us being poor in spirit in order for God to teach us and manifest His blessings upon us.
With that introduction, let us look at today’s beatitude...
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
A. Blessed are they that mourn
A. Blessed are they that mourn
We typically associate “mourning” with death or loss. We can lose things that are physical. Someone we love, loss of a job, loss of a prized possession. These are external losses.
There are also internal losses or what I would call spiritual losses. Loss of one’s virginity…Loss of innocence…Loss of trust, etc…
The truth is, we all suffer a spiritual loss. When sin entered this world it also entered us separating us from God.
It is interesting that Jesus taught these concepts at different times in different ways. In Luke we find some similarities to the beatitudes, however where the beatitudes are more internal, spiritual, the Luke passage reflects similar concepts in the physical way.
Luke 6:
20 And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Now compare this with
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
In , Jesus is directly talking about the poor while in Jesus is talking about the poor in spirit. is directing us to a physical condition; poverty; While in Matthew Jesus addresses the poor in spirit; in other words humble in spirit. It is an internal attitude not an external state.
In Matthew theirs is the kingdom of heaven, God’s domain while in it is the kingdom of God which is everywhere God’s will is being carried out.
We see a similar comparison with today’s beatitude;
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Luke 6:
21 “Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
In Matthew, those who mourn find comfort which conveys more of an internal peace and comfort compared to Luke’s “laughter” which is an external response.
Though similar, these are two different circumstances and groups of people Jesus is addressing and should not be confused with each other though they are somewhat tied to each other.
Here again, I need to point to the spiritual nature of the beatitudes. What is the spiritual we are mourning? Our separation from God. What has separated us?
Our sin. So the first thing we see about is that it is...
a. Spiritual mourning
a. Spiritual mourning
i. We mourn our own personal sin.
i. We mourn our own personal sin.
King David gives us insight into this type of mourning in Psalm 32.
3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.
13 Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Proverbs
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Blessed are they that mourn their sin. Why?! So they can release it. If we do not acknowledge we are wrong, we will never let it go. Do you see where the poor in spirit ties in here? It takes humility to confess we are wrong and need help. If we truly believe we have done wrong, we should mourn what we have done wrong, if we have a desire for God.
When we mourn over our sin and turn to God, there is an incredible thing that happens in the process. We change. In that change, our mourning grows beyond our own sin and we now enter a second level of mourning.
ii. We mourn the sin of others
ii. We mourn the sin of others
Earlier I had Susie read about Ezra. Ezra mourned the sins of his people.
Psalm
136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.
1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
We love God and out of our love we wish to please Him, so it bothers us when others disobey Him. I literally flinch when I am watching a television show and someone swears using “Jesus Christ” or “God” as an expletive. It has a physical reaction in me.
But there is something more. I hurt for the perpetrators. They do not understand what they are doing and what they are losing by rejecting God. I mourn out of my love for God as well as out of my love for them. Sometimes I regret that it comes out sounding judgmental or cynical, but the truth is that I really care and want others to be freed from the emptiness of their lives and the life they will face in eternity.
Now this may seem depressing to think we have to live our life in mourning. Well it isn’t that bad as we will see in a moment, but there is one more thing we have to look at first.
iii. Now is the time to mourn.
iii. Now is the time to mourn.
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Eccl 3:1-
Earlier this year, I preached about a man named Lazarus who was poor and lame. He lived outside the home of a rich man and the rich man took no notice of him. In time, both Lazarus and the rich man died. The poor man was comforted by Abraham’s own hand while some distance away where Lazarus could not seem him, the rich man languished in need with no one to help him. Lazarus suffered during his time on earth, but was promised all he needed for eternity. The rich man lived lavishly on earth for the span of his life, but in eternity he lived in wretchedness.
There is a time for mourning and a time to dance. Now is our time to mourn. It may seem long to us, but in the light of eternity it is nothing. We have all eternity to dance.
1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.
3 Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
Eccl 7:
All of this has been about spiritual mourning, but there is another aspect of spiritual mourning and that is that...
b. There is purpose found in our mourning
b. There is purpose found in our mourning
When our attitudes are controlled by the spiritual aspect of God, the tough things we experience in life take on purpose.
I have said before, people always claim their is a purpose in their hardship. I say there is if God is found through it, but if God is not found in it, it is often just what it is. Misery! However, God makes use of the things the world throws at us.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
As Laura Story shared, God uses those times to draw us closer to Him. To help us learn to be more dependent on Him. It helps us to grow strong in our spiritual walk, but it also equips us to help others. God teaches us to love and...
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
2 Cor
i. Where there is love there is compassion.
i. Where there is love there is compassion.
Sin builds walls around our hearts and often times it is the tough times we go through that help to knock those walls down allowing us to serve others.
As most of you know, I became pregnant when I was 20 years of age. I was at a time in my life when I was trying to figure out how to understand what God wanted me to do. I became disillusioned with the church and left it as well as all that I had ever believed I wanted for my life. However, it did not take me long to learn that the difficult times of life with God were far better than the party times of life with mankind. I recommitted my life to God and a week later found I was pregnant. (The pregnancy was a consequence of my sin, however, God gave me peace and direction as I navigated life as a young, unwed mother.)
God was faithful and I found good paying jobs that supported me and my son. We were not rich, but we were independent of wealth-fare (and parents). Despite God’s guidance, you could say my theme song became, “She works hard for the money so you better treat her right.” I did not realize that I had become hardened by the things that had happened to me. I had toughed it out, so why couldn’t others.
Then one day I woke to a song on the radio. It was one I liked and had even bought the sound track with the intention of singing it in church someday. I hummed along with it as I got up. When I got in my car to go to work, that song was just beginning to play again. It caught me off guard, but I did not give it much thought. However, when I got in my car at lunch and found it beginning again, I thought it was funny. When I came home that night, once again it was just beginning to play and it began to nag at me. When I went to bed, I turned on the radio as I always did to fall asleep to only to find it just starting again and I knew that God was trying to get my attention. So I got up and found the tape I had and played it listening intently. Then I heard these words, “There’s nothin’ worse than nothin’. To live yet not to feel. I have been numb to all the suffering, a heart as cold as steel.” In that moment, I knew that God was showing me that I needed to let down the walls I had built up around my heart. I had to be willing to feel my pain so I could also feel the pain of others. Then and only then could God do the work He needed to do in my heart.
Blessed are they that mourn.
So what does God want to do for those who mourn? What is the blessing?
B. They shall be comforted
B. They shall be comforted
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
2 Cor
There are three things I want us to see about comfort. The first is...
There are three things I want us to see about comfort. The first is...
a. Our spiritual inner comfort
a. Our spiritual inner comfort
We are comforted by the fact that we have...
i. Freedom from our sin
i. Freedom from our sin
45 I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
We have an inner peace that the price for our sin as been paid and best of all they are to be remembered no more.
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
When Jesus was talking to the crowd, they had no idea what Jesus was going to do. They had no inkling that He would be their passover lamb for eternity. We have the vantage point of knowing it is done. It is accomplished and we understand the full benefit of His death and resurrection. i.e. That being...
ii. Our relationship with God is restored
ii. Our relationship with God is restored
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
Psalm 119:
7 Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.
This gives us an inner peace and satisfaction. It is that contentment I spoke of last week.
iii. Our future hope is secure
iii. Our future hope is secure
We know that the mourning is temporary and one day we will know something better.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
Rev
1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Rev
b. Jesus is our consoler and our model for consoling others
b. Jesus is our consoler and our model for consoling others
Another Hebrew name for the Messiah was “consoler.” Jesus is our consoler. He has the power to console as He understand our suffering since He has experienced it also.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
Likewise, we are to console others.
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
is prophecy about Jesus, but it is also a directive Isaiah received of his calling. It is the calling for all of us who follow Jesus Christ.
c. We are the physical hands and feet of Jesus to bring comfort to others
c. We are the physical hands and feet of Jesus to bring comfort to others
I am not going to spend time on this. We have already talked about it some. It is evidenced in both and . As we reach out in compassion to others, we become the hands and feet of God, administering the physical comfort of God to those around us.
Conclusion:
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
When we mourn our sin and repent, we do more than turn away in shame. We turn from our shame to turn toward the cross of Jesus Christ. From there we are freed from our shame. However, now we take up our cross and follow Jesus wherever it leads. It sometimes places us in places of physical mourning, but we remember it is only for a short while.
It is difficult and we sometimes feel torn. We join Paul in being eager to be with God yet we know that God needs us here for a time for the sake of others.
19 for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith,
26 so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.
We desire for God to set things right and bring us home, yet our heart aches for those we know and love that would not join us. So we patiently remain doing the best we can to follow Jesus.
What is your mourning status this morning?
Have you truly felt mournful for your sin and repented? If not, do not wait. Do so now. There is comfort and peace waiting for you even today.
Maybe your mourning status is on the physical level today. If so, take courage. This too shall pass. In the meantime, be open with your church family so that they can be Christ’s arms of comfort for you today.
Maybe you are like I was. You have struggled and come through some tough things. But the fight has left you walled up behind walls of steel. Those walls are fear. I would encourage you to release your fear and put your trust in God. He will help you bring down those walls and make your heart tender once again. A heart that is walled up keeps not only people out, but they also keep God out. He cannot give you comfort if you do not let the walls down.
In closing today, I am going to sing the song that helped me recognize the walls that were up in my life. It has always had special meaning for me, and I hope it does for you too. As I sing, the altar is open. If you wish to come and pray, you are always welcome to do so.
Sing: Break this Heart
There is an Arab proverb that says, “All sunshine makes a desert.” It means if it never rains, nothing can grow. I pray that you will go forth and grow a bountiful garden all over Elgin!
Pray & dismiss