Blessed Are They That Mourn
Matthew 5:4, "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."
Introduction:
A. Summary:
1. Happy are they that Mourn, not Moan.
2. For sin, Not The Consequences of Our Sins --- for the Dishonour that sin does to the Lord.
3. For our Persecutors --- not because of the Persecution.
4. For the Carnality of The Church --- not because of low attendance, offerings, etc.
5. For Lost Souls --- not for what they do to us.
B. There is Healing in Natural Weeping.
1. People, who, for one reason or another, Do Not Mourn, Do Not Easily Adjust to new circumstances.
2. The Wound Never Seems To Heal.
3. When the Pain Is Kept Inside, it seems to Poison The Entire Emotional System.
Crying is God's Way of helping us Release The Pressure and Pain inside.
4. However, this is Not the tyupe of mourning we are talking about.
5. If we are not careful, this type of Mourning can turn into Moaning.
C. Happy are they that "Mourn" --- not "Moan" (complain)..
1. Moaning --- is Selfish and Self - Centered.
2. Mourning --- is Christ - Like and God - Centered.
3. Biblical Mourning is an Expression of Love --- for God --- for others.
D. Even though Self-Pity is a sign of Weakness --- Weeping (mourning) Is Not.
1. Jesus was the Strongest Man who ever walked on this earth, and He Wept Openly.
2. But, Jesus Never Wept For Himself.
E. If you want to know a person's Character, find out what makes him Laugh, and what makes him Weep.
1. There is nothing funny about a Drunk or a comedian impersonating a drunk.
2. What we laugh at and what we weep over indicate Our Values of Life.
F. The Philosophy of the World.
1. Forget and ignore your troubles .....
2. Be as happy as you can .....
3. If you feet like it, do it .....
G. The whole organization of life, the Money, Energy, and Enthusiasm that we are expending in Entertaining people, are just an Expression of the great Aim of This World --- To Get Away From This Idea of Mourning.
Neither Is The Church Innocent In This.
H. In years past --- there was a False Puritanism in the church.
1. People Assumed a pious appearance --- that did not come from within.
2. It gave the Impression that to be a Christian was to be Miserable.
3. It turned it's back upon many things that are perfectly natural and legitimate.
I. God Never Intended for us to be:
Miserable --- Sullen --- Cry-Babies --- Sob-Sisters --- Emotionally Upset.
J. Christianity should Be Real Not --- A Put-On.
Matthew 6:16, "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."
K. There has been such a Violent Reaction against this false Puritanism, that the church has gone to the Other Extreme.
1. The current idea is that if we as Christians are going to attract those who are not Christians, we must deliberately Present An Appearance of Brightness And Joy --- whether it is real or not.
2. Many try to Assume a kind of Joy and Happiness that does Not Arise From Within.
a. You Cannot legislate Righteousness --- nor Happiness.
b. It must come from the Heart.
If the Heart is right, the Facial Expression will be right --- the Dress will be right --- the Attitude will be right.
c. With many people their Happiness is something which is "Put-On".
3. This Superficial conception of Joy and Happiness is Very Different indeed from that which we find in the New Testament Church.
a. A very Shallow idea of Joy.
b. A Superficial kind of Person.
c. A very Inadequate kind of Christian Life.
4. There are Two Failures in the Church today:
a. A lack of a Deep Conviction of Sin.
b. A Superficial conception of Joy.
5. True happiness and joy should Arise From The Life Within and should Control and Determine our Appearance and Behavior.
6. It is not surprising that the church is failing in her mission if both her conception Sin and of Joy are both wrong.
L. Mourning is hateful and irksome to our Adamic nature.
1. We seek the society of the Cheerful and Joyous.
2. If we are "Happy" --- how can we "Mourn"?
3. If we "Mourn" --- how can we be "Happy"?
M. Notice --- the World's Logic - Vs - Christ's Paradox.
1. Men have always deemed the Prosperous and the Joyful to be the Happy ones.
2. Christ pronounces "Happy" those who are Poor In Spirit and Mourn.
3. Only the child of God has the Key to this Paradox.
N. Everyone of these beatitude is related to the Person And Work of Christ In Our Life.
1. Your happiness depends upon the Working of God Within and not the Pleasantness of Life Without.
2. Poverty of spirit is not something Financial but something essentially Spiritual.
3. All of the beatitudes have reference to a spiritual Condition and to a spiritual Attitude.
O. We attempt to Measure the helpfulness of Books we read, or of Preaching we hear, by the Degree of Peace and Joy they bring to our hearts.
1. Many say, "We have enough Problems in this World, in our Business, in our Homes, to make us Miserable, we go to church for Comfort.
2. However, many of these people are in No Condition of heart To Receive comfort from the message.
3. What they need is a message that will Search, Cut, Convict --- and cause them to get alone with God and weep before Him.
I. What This "Mourning" Is Not!
A. Godly Sorrow Heals, but Natural Sorrow makes the Wounds Deeper and fills the heart with Pain.
1. Natural sorrow Tears Things Apart and keep them that way.
2. Natural sorrow Isolates you from Reality and makes it Difficult for you to Adjust To The Demands of Life.
3. Natural sorrow Blinds us to God's comfort.
4. Natural sorrow Turns Memories Into Punishments that destroy the Peace and Balance that God wants us to have.
5. Natural sorrow is usually caused by:
Selfishness --- Fear --- Guilt .....
B. The Sorrows of Life do Not Create problems, they Reveal them.
C. God did Not say that those who mourn in a Natural Sense are happy.
1. Sorrow of Discontent --- because he cannot satisfy his Lust .....
2. Sorrow for Worldly Losses --- financial reverses --- temporal distress --- Adversity --- Lost of Loved Ones,
Can't Let Somebody Go (death) ----- this is pure selfishness.
3. Sorrow for Wounded Pride,
4. A Melancholy disposition that Murmurs, Whines and Rebels,
5. Sorrow over Disappointed Hopes,
6. A Bad Spirit --- Guilt --- etc.
7. Hypocritical or forced mourning,
D. This is Not a mourning that springs from Afflictions, Disappointments, Bereavements, Destitution, Adversity, etc.
1. Paul --- Never wept over Those Types of Things.
2. Philippians 4:11, "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
3. Hebrews 13:5, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
E. This is Not a mourning merely for the Consequences of Sin.
II. What This "Mourning" Is.
A. Mourn --- for Personal Sin.
1. Our Lord's primary though was that of mouring over one's Own Personal State.
2. A sense of having Offended A Holy God.
3. Sin Dishonors God --- sins of Omission --- sins of Commission.
4. A humbling recollection of Past Offences.
Ephesians 2:11, "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past .....;"
5. An ever deepening discovery of the Depravity of Our Own Nature.
6. Consciousness of the:
a. Surging of Unbelief,
b. Swelling of Pride,
c. Coldness of our Love,
d. Lack of Fruit.
B. Mourn --- for the Sins of Others.
1. Ezekiel 9:4, "And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof."
2. Psalm 119:136, "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, Because They Keep Not Thy Law."
3. Matthew 23:37, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
4. Luke 19:41-42, "And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, 42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes."
a. Jesus did Not Express Disgust --- he wept.
b. He Hated Sin but Loved the Sinner.
5. If We Do Not cry and weep over those in the pits of sin --- We Need someone to Weep Over Us.
6. Charles H. Spurgeon, "Even if I were utterly selfish, and had no care for anything but my own happiness, I would choose if I might, under God, to be a soul-winner; for never did I know perfect overflowing, unutterable happiness of the purest and most ennobling order till I first heard of one who had sought and found the Saviour through my means."
C. Mourn --- for the Afflictions of Others.
1. Psalm 137:1, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion."
2. Zephaniah 3:18, "I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden."
3. Romans 12:15, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."
4. Abraham Lincoln, "I am sorry for the man who can't feel the whip when it is laid on the other man's back."
5. Are we Calloused and Indifferent? - "No Concern of Ours"
6. You Cannot Be Called A Godly Person if you Rejoice in any way over the sufferings of others.
Even You Enemies --- Proverbs 24:17, "Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:"
7. Our Tears for others can have a Greater Influence on their hearts than Our Condemnation of them.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather
To Comfort than to be comforted,
To Understand than to be understood,
To Love than to be loved,
For it is by Giving that one receives
It is by Self-Forgetting that one finds,
It is by Forgiving that one is forgiven,
It is by Dying that one awakens to eternal life.
8. The Disciples Wept Because of Their Persecutors --- Not Because of Their Persecution.
Acts 5:41, "And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name."
D. Mourn --- for the Imperfect And Afflicted State of The Church.
1. Inconsistency,
2. Little Progress in Christianity and Christian Living,
3. Dishonor which is done to the Lord,
E. Mourn --- for Sin rather than the Consequences of Sin.
1. Sin is an act of Hostility and Enmity Against God.
a. Sin Affronts and Resists the Holy Spirit.
b. Sin is Ingratitude, in its Unkindness against God.
c. Sin Deprives Us of good things and Hinders our communion with God.
2. Look at God's utter Abhorrence and Hatred of sin.
3. Sin in the light of Christ's Countenance.
Zechariah 12:10, "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."
4. The Closer The Christian Lives To God, The More He Will Mourn Over All That Dishonors Him.
a. The Holier we see God to be, the more Sinful we consider ourselves.
Isaiah 6:1, "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple."
b. The more Christ Is Esteemed, the more Self Is Abhorred.
5. Things that before were not sinful, become so when they are placed In View of The Holiness of God.
6. We mourn over things that, Before, we would not even have blinked an eye at.
7. Our Joy is in Forgiveness and Deliverance from sin.
a. The person who Enjoys Sin will Not Weep Over It.
b. He will Indulge In It As Freely as he can so long as he can make it trouble free.
F. Mourn --- for Lost Sinners To Be Saved.
1. Isaiah 66:8, "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children."
a. John Knox, "Give me Scotland or I die."
b. Ezekiel 18:32, "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."
2. Tears must come as water out of a spring, not as fire from flint.
a. Men Mourn Because They Love.
b. Spiritual mourning is:
1. Spontaneous and Free,
2. Voluntary and Sincere, not forced or artificial,
3. Deep, not superficial,
4. Evangelical,
5. Characterized by a Hatred for and an Abandonment of Sin.
c. Our tears must Make Us More Holy.
d. The waters of Sincere Tears are like the river Jordan, wherein Naaman washed, and was cleansed of his leprosy.
III. How Can They That "Mourn" Be Happy?
A. Notice the Inseparable Connection between Godly Sorrow and Godly Joy.
1. Psalm 30:5, "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
2. Psalm 126:5, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."
3. Isaiah 61:3, "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified."
4. 2 Corinthians 6:10, "As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
5. 1 Thessalonians 1:6, "And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:"
B. Mourning Goes Before Comfort, As The Lancing of A Wound Precedes The Healing.
1. The Bee gathers the Best Honey from the Most Bitter Herbs.
2. The Darkest Hour is just before Dawn.
3. The Happy and Carefree child runs farther from home --- the Wounded and Concerned child turns to go home.
C. As Luxury Effeminates A Soldier and unfits him for duty, so it is in the spiritual warfare --- Pleasure Effeminates A Soldier of Christ.
2 Timothy 2:3, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
D. Suffering and Success go together.
1. If you are Succeeding Without Suffering, it is because of Others Before You Suffering.
2. If you are Suffering Without Succeeding, it is so that Others After You May Succeed.
E. The true Christian is not a man who has to Put On An Appearance of either sadness or joy.
1. He looks at life Seriously,
2. He contemplates it Spiritually,
3. He sees in it Sin and its effects,
4. The Christian is Not Superficial in any sense.
F. "Happy are they that Mourn" cannot be separated from the statement, "For My Sake."
1. There is no value nor comfort in Mere "Mourning".
2. But, there is Comfort In Christ.
3. Happiness is not found in the mourning nor the sorrow but in the Comfort of the Comforter.
G. The one who Sorrows over his Departures From Christ is comforted by the assurance of:
1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
H. The one who Mourns under the Chastening Hand of God is comforted by the promise of:
Hebrews 12:11, "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."
I. The one who Grieves over the awful Dishonour Done To His Lord in the religious world is comforted by the facts:
1. Satan's time is short --- Rev. 12:12, "... the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."
2. Romans 16:20, "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen."
J. The Final Comfort is when we leave this world.
Luke 16:25, "But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented."
K. The Comfort of Heaven will more than compensate for all the "Mourning" on earth.
Romans 8:18, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
IV. The "Mourning" of the Lost.
A. There must be a Real Sense of Sin before the remedy for it will ever be Desired --- and then the true joy of salvation.
B. Many people Spend All Their Lives trying to find this Christian Joy and Happiness.
1. They say that they Would Give The Whole World if they could have this joy --- They Lie.
2. They fail to see that they Must Be Convicted of Sin before they can experience the joy of forgiveness.
3. They do Not Like Preaching Against Sin and for Repentance.
4. They want Joy Apart From The Conviction of Sin --- this is impossible.
5. Also, there are thousands who Acknowledge that they are sinners, but who have Never Mourned over that fact.
C. You should Mourn Over Your Sin Like:
1. Luke 7:37-38, "And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, 38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment."
2. Luke 15:18-19, "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, 19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants."
3. Luke 18:13-14, "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
D. Repentance for sin, is the Results of the Supernatural Working of God in our life.
2 Corinthians 7:10, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death."
E. when a person sees his Spiritual Bankruptcy (Poor In Spirit), he can Respond in one of four ways:
1. He can Deny his need and live like thye Pharisees --- a life of Deception.
2. He can Admit his need and Try to change things himself --- a life of Failure.
3. He can Admit his need but Give Up completely --- a life of Despair.
4. He can Admit his need and Turn To God --- this is Salvation.
F. There is a Difference between Repentance, and Remorse, and Regret.
1. When my consciousness of sin rests only in my Mind, that is Regret.
2. When it affects my mind and my Heart, that is Remorse.
3. When my concern affects my Will, then it is Repentance.
G. The Prodigal Son.
1. Had he sat there in the pigpen Thinking How Foolish he had been, ti would have been Regret.
2. Had he thought about his sins and Hated Himself for committing them, ti would have been Remorse.
3. When he said, "I Will Arise And Go!" --- and he arose and went --- that was Repentance.
4. His sorrow was a Godly Sorrow that Motivated him to Action.
H. Sorrow For Sin Brings You To That "Man of Sorrows" who came forth from God to bear your sorrow and carry your grief.
1. This "Mourning" springs from:
a. A sense of sin,
b. A tender conscience,
c. A broken heart.
2. It is Godly Sorrow over:
a. Rebellion against God,
b. Hostility to His will.
3. In some cases it is even grief over:
a. The very Morality in which your heart has trusted.
b. The Self-Righteousness which has caused such complacency.
I. This "Mourning" is the Agonizing realization that it was Your sins and My sins that nailed to the Cross, the Lord of Glory.
When you turn from sin to the Lamb of God --- you are Comforted.
J. This comfort is:
1. A sense of a Free And Full Forgiveness through the merits of the atoning blood of Christ.
2. The Peace of God which passeth all understanding.
3. The Assurance of being "Accepted In The Beloved."
Summary:
1. Happy are they that Mourn, not Moan.
2. For sin, Not The Consequences of Our Sins --- for the Dishonour that sin does to the Lord.
3. For our Persecutors --- not because of the Persecution.
4. For the Carnality of The Church --- not because of low attendance, offerings, etc.
5. For Lost Souls --- not for what they do to us.
If You Are Not Saved, Nothing Else Matters
