Sermon Central
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I Am Undone Series
Contributed by Troy Borst on Jul 9, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: When we are wrecked because of our sinfulness, He gives us more grace and the blood of Jesus Christ to comfort us. When we are lost because someone nearest and dearest to us has died, He gives us the assurance of Heaven for the believer and His peaceful presence for us.
BEATITUDES SERIES:
I AM UNDONE
#Beatitudes
INTRODUCTION… Crowder Lyrics (Come As You Are)
Come out of sadness; From wherever you've been; Come broken hearted; Let rescue begin
Come find your mercy; Oh sinner come kneel; Earth has no sorrow That heaven can't heal
Earth has no sorrow; That heaven can't heal; So lay down your burdens; Lay down your shame
All who are broken; Lift up your face
Oh wanderer come home; You're not too far; So lay down your hurt; Lay down your heart
Come as you are
There's hope for the hopeless; And all those who've strayed; Come sit at the table; Come taste the grace
There's rest for the weary; Rest that endures; Earth has no sorrow; That heaven can't cure
READ Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
MOURNING
What does the word mourn mean?
Ache. Bemoan. Brokenhearted. Cry. Grieve. Hurt. Lament. Lost. Moan. Regret. Undone. Weep.
Those are the types of words I think of when I think of the word “mourn.” One of those words, however, caught my eye more than any others. Probably because I find it descriptive of mourning and a bit more formal than other words and visual more than anything else.
Undone.
Undone means to be devastated by a setback. Undone means a disaster happened that reversed good
fortune or the direction of our life we thought was good. When I personally think of the word I think of a ball that is nice and neatly wound together and is perfect. That ball would be good living, happy because of circumstances, relationships going well… whatever it might be. Then something happens or someone dies or there is a disaster and life grabs the end of the string and pulls and pulls and what I thought my life was unravels.
Undone. Unraveled.
Perhaps the best example of using this word is from one verse from a passage we looked at last week. Isaiah 6:5 (KJV), “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” The NIV says (Isaiah 6:5), “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined!” The ESV says (Isaiah 6:5), “And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost.”
Undone. Unraveled. Ruined. Lost.
READ Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
The topic of the second beatitude is being undone and the promise of God in the midst of this feeling of being ruined or lost or unraveled. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like feeling lost or like my life is in ruins. Most of the time we want our lives to be smooth sailing. Only good. Only calm. Only fullness and blessings. Only health. Only wealth.
Life is not that way. In fact, life is often harder than it needs to be. We have trials. We have loss. These circumstances many times bring us to a state of feeling undone. We are undone. I think most of you know what that feels like. I’d like to talk about two ways we feel undone that I believe this passage is focusing on. One is a way we don’t normally think of in this passage and one is the normal way we interpret this passage. I happen to think both are true.
UNDONE BY SINFULNESS
READ Matthew 5:4, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
The first way that we can interpret this verse is in context and the beatitudes that Jesus teaches not as individual sayings, but as a progression. This leads us to the thought that we mourn over our sin. We are undone by our sinfulness because the first beatitude is about coming face-to-face with our sinfulness.
ILLUSTRATION… https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-order-of-beatitudes-could-change-your-life/
Picture a series of seven rings, each suspended on a rope from a high ceiling. At either end of these rings, there’s a high platform. Your goal is to get from one platform to the other by swinging from ring to ring.
The first ring is within your reach. If you pull it back and swing, your momentum will bring you within reach of the second, and swinging on it will bring you within reach of the third, and so forth.
Think of the beatitudes like these seven rings. The only way to get to the fifth ring of forgiveness, the sixth ring of purity, and the seventh ring of peace is by the previous rings.
We talked last week about being “poor in spirit” and how being “poor in spirit” means we understand our sinfulness before God and we accept our place in His order and Jesus as our Lord and Savior. This requires an acknowledgement of our utter sinfulness. This requires repentance. This might also mean that we see how we have not only wrecked our lives, but the lives of people that we claim we love. This means we mourn our sin.
