Comfortable Mourning! (Hix)

Matthew 5:4-Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.

People mourn for all kinds of reasons, but are they what Jesus is talking about?

Genesis 4:13-And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!

Cain was sorrowful but not about his sin, but about the punishment he was receiving!

There are a lot of people who mourn about sin in their lives, well, not really about their sin but about getting caught in their sin!!

1 Samuel 16:1-Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”

We can mourn, because things didn’t go the way we think they should!

And the result of that is, we get discouraged because we think things should turn out the way we had planned, or the way we wanted them to turn out!!

1 Kings 21:4-5-So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”

Sometimes people mourn because they didn’t get their way!

People who make themselves sick because they didn’t get what they want.

But that is not what Jesus is talking about

Remember last week we looked at…Blessed are the poor in spirit…We seen that it meant realizing that we are spiritually bankrupt without Christ.

The one we look at today, is tied into that one, we realize we are sinners, and that we are lost without Christ, and that we mourn for sins, because they had separated us from God, and those sins in our life, have hurt God because we are His creation, and not only does sin hurt us but others as well!!

A Sunday School teacher once asked a pupil to define repentance. "The boy answered, 'Repentance means sorrow for sin.'

'That's right!' said the teacher.

But a little girl spoke up: 'Excuse me, but it means being sorry enough to quit!'"

That is a good example of mourning for our sins!!

2 Cor. 7:8-10-For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Examples Of Mourning Turning Into Repentance:

Psalm 32:1-5-Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.

When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long.

For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah

I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Isaiah-6:5-7-So I said: “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 my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.

And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.”

They recognizes their sin. They were mourning their participation in their sins!

For They Shall Be Comforted

It’s a comfort to know that we have been forgiven!

It’s comfort to know that heaven is our reward!

It’s comfort to know that all sorrow will be wiped away!

It’s comfort to know that one day, there will be no more death, no more separation, no more pain!!

God’s word is a comfort to us!!-Romans 15:4-For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

Luke 6:20-26-Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: “Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.