Luke 6:21b, 25b
The Gospel of Luke • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction:
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If you would, please turn in your Bibles (Luke 6)
As Divine Providence would have it...
...We’ve come to the:
Second Beatitude...
Second Warning...
…that's given in verses 21 & 25.
-The Blessedness, there, is pronounced upon those who will “weep” in this present age...
The Warning...
(Which has, perhaps, never felt more counter-intuitive than at this moment)
...is for those who are said to “laugh” in this present, evil age.
Perhaps the wording of Matthew’s account...
…will provide us with some much needed solace...
…at the outset this morning.
He records the Beatitude like this:
Matthew 5:4 (ESV)
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Brethren, this is a blessed and timely promise...
One which (when properly understood)...
…will provide great comfort to our weary hearts.
-So, let’s begin by reading the entire list again...
…and asking for the Lord’s blessing to be upon it.
These are the words of the Living God:
Luke 6:20–26 (ESV)
20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
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Pray
(4 minutes)
Introduction:
I’d like to begin by reading to you a quote that I think will:
Effectively introduce our verses...
Frame them well within our own cultural context.
It comes from Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ book:
“Studies in the Sermon on the Mount”
He begins its corresponding chapter like this:
We come now to a consideration of the second Beatitude — “Blessed (or happy) are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”
Note: Following Matthew’s outline
This, like the first, stands out at once, and marks off the Christian as being quite unlike the man who is not a Christian and who belongs to the world.
Indeed the world would, and does, regard a statement like this as utterly ridiculous...
The one thing the world tries to shun is mourning;
Its whole organization is based on the supposition that that is something to avoid...
The whole organization of life, the pleasure mania, the money, energy and enthusiasm that are expended in entertaining people,...
…are all just an expression of the great aim of the world to get away from this idea of mourning and this spirit of mourning.
Keep in mind, this was written sometime prior to 1959
But the gospel says, “Happy are they that mourn.”
Indeed they are the only ones who are happy! - D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
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-You see, in our society...
Where absolute truth has been denied...
Where objective standards of right and wrong have been forsaken...
The only (supposed) virtue that remains...
The only metric for judging the:
“good-ness”
“bad-ness”
“right-ness”
“wrong-ness” . . .
...of a matter...
is how it makes you feel — emotionally!
(And what a mess has that created?)
-Praise God for enshrining for us:
A transcendent standard for ethics and morality
A transcendent and absolute deposit of truth......
…within the pages of holy scripture!
Without it, we too would be groping about in the darkness...
…just like the rest of our society is doing today...
…And we too, would be without hope/purpose:
In this life
In the life to come
(4 minutes, 8 total)
-But...
As we’ve been seeing for the last 3 weeks...
The truth of God often rubs...
(even those of us who are conditioned to it)
…the wrong way!
But, brethren if we are to be truly:
Bless-ed
Blessed...
Then we must heed what it says...
…regardless of how it affects us emotionally!
In other words, we must:
Proverbs 3:5 (ESV)
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
If we do that:
In the end...
In the age to come...
(In a spiritual sense — even now!)...
… we’ll be truly:
Happy
Blessed
-Now, this morning’s Beatitude continues to show us the path to blessedness:
Luke 6:21 (ESV)
21 . . . “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Now, are we to understand this as some kind of esoteric mystery...
…that defies practical explanation?
NO! . . . Not at All!
This is not a mystery that is hidden...
This is a truth that is being revealed!
It too, is an eternal and abiding Kingdom Ethic:
-To understand it...
...we need to begin by establishing the propriety of mourning in general:
-What is the ultimate standard of right and wrong?
God Himself!
His own unchanging nature!
Does God (in his essential nature) mourn?
He does!
In response to unrighteousness...
Because He IS righteous.
For instance:
Genesis 6:5–6 (ESV)
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
Notice, the two-fold grieving in:
Isaiah 63:8–10 (ESV)
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit; therefore he turned to be their enemy, and himself fought against them.
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(5 minutes, 13 total)
Now, what about us?
Is it proper for us to grieve and mourn?
Some may say that:
Mourning = Dissatisfaction
Dissatisfaction = Discontentment
Discontentment = Grumbling against God’s perfect will.
Can that be the case?
Absolutely!
But the proof that it isn’t necessarily so is: JESUS himself
Jesus, as the sinless Son of Man, mourned!
It was prophesied that His ministry would (in a sense) be characterized by it:
Isaiah 53:3 (ESV)
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief...
-We saw Him expressing real, human sorrow...
…at the tomb of Lazarus:
John tells us that upon seeing him:
John 11:35 (ESV)
35 Jesus wept.
And that the other mourners said:
John 11:36 (ESV)
36 . . . “See how he loved him!”
It’s possible that he was mourning over their unbelief...
It is most likely meant to convey real, human, sorrow.
Whatever the case was there...
We know from Luke 19:41 that his righteous soul did mourn over sin:
Luke 19:41–44 (ESV)
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,
42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side
44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
He wept over this!
-Oh brethren, there are times and circumstances...
…over which the righteous OUGHT to WEEP!
This commentary lists out several:
It says about our verse:
Here Jesus refers to all the sorrows that we suffer in a fallen world.
We weep for our sins, repenting of all the wrong that we have done. We weep for the sins of others, lamenting the dishonor they do to God. We weep for the sins of our society, knowing that we ourselves are implicated in their iniquity.
We weep for the lost, praying that God will rescue them.
We weep for those who suffer, grieving over all the natural disasters, armed conflicts, and social injustices that happen every day.
And we weep for the loved ones that we have lost...
There are times when life is so full of sorrow that we wonder if we will ever laugh again. But as we weep, we hold on to this promise, that godly sorrow will turn to joy - Reformed Expository Commentary
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And indeed, brethren, we’ll see that confirmed in a few minutes.
(5 minutes, 18 total)
But first, we need to focus on the root cause of all mourning:
Sin!
Mourning, is (as we saw in the nature of God)...
… the inevitable offspring...
…of the unavoidable collision...
…of righteousness — and unrighteousness!
This is what happens to a soul upon whom the Spirit of God has imparted life!
And it all starts with the awareness of our own inherent unrighteousness.
How do we come to see that?
By the grace of God...
As we look into the face of God!
Isaiah is the classic O.T. example.
Upon beholding a vision of the Thrice Holy God...
Isaiah responds like this:
Isaiah 6:5 (ESV)
5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
This type of mourning leads to joy
Peter had a similar response...
...to seeing a manifestation of the glory of Christ!
Luke 5:8 (ESV)
8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
Paul had this response to his own personal collision with the Law of God (elaborate - Moral Law, etc.)
Romans 7:22–24 (ESV)
22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
This kind of mourning will end in bless-ed comfort!
This kind of mourning will end in Joy!
Why?
Again, because of:
Who God is:
What He’s done in Christ as a result of who He is
Remember Isaiah 61?
Isaiah 61:1–3 (ESV)
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
That’s why!
Because that’s what Jesus had come to do.
Because this is whom He came to save!
That’s what He had told the folks in Nazareth, remember?
Luke told us that He read that text and:
Luke 4:20–21 (ESV)
21...began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
He came to bind up the broken hearted...
Not to flatter the proud.
He came to do away with sin...
Not to reward those who delight in it.
He came to restore those who:
Recognize their fallen condition...
...And mourn, as a result of it.
But to those who “laugh now,” he says:
Luke 6:25 (ESV)
25 . . . “Woe to you . . . for you shall mourn and weep.
(8 minutes, 26 total)
You see, if sin delights your soul...
Then when Jesus returns to put it to a final end...
You are going to mourn its loss
You are going to weep over your own consequent destruction.
But, if NOW, at the present:
You mourn over your own unrighteousness
You lament over the effects of sin in the world
You grieve over the distortion of the glory of God that it produces...
…then when Christ completes his work of “making all things new” . . .
Your heart will resound with “joy unspeakable!”
You will cry out with holy (reverent) laughter
You will enjoy every, eternal comfort!
Thomas Watson summarized the relationship this way:
“Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” — Thomas Watson
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This is the way, brethren
It is the only way!
And it leads us to:
Comfort
Joy
Hope!
Here’s what the promise of Future Consolation looks like:
Revelation 21:3–5 (ESV)
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
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.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
And this promise of Future Consolation...
…provides us with great comfort in our present sorrows...
…as we cling to it in faith.
Paul shows us how in:
1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (ESV)
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Oh, brethren...
We have a/an:
transcendent, other-worldly hope
hope beyond the laws of physics
hope that isn’t limited by time and space
eternal, abiding hope......
…In Christ!
…In Him Alone!
Brethren,
Romans 8:10–11 (ESV)
10...if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Again, we’ll finish by reading our Beatitude:
Matthew 5:4 (ESV)
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Luke 6:21 (ESV)
21 . . . “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Let’s Pray.
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23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.