The Beatitudes describe what every Christian ought to be.
• Jesus says these are those who are truly blessed.
• We are to manifest ALL these traits.
• And by the grace of God we can, since these aren’t natural traits that can be cultivated through human efforts.
• The Lord wants us to live such a life, distinct from the world.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
• Those who understand that they are spiritual poor before God are blessed.
• They know they have nothing to offer, nothing to boast about, and nothing with which to buy the favour of heaven.
• Those who are poor can do great things for God. We saw that in Isaiah, in Peter, and in Paul.
• Remember, we are at all times, living under His grace. At all times!
• The one who understands this will LEAN ON HIM.
Memorise this. Today we come to the second beatitude:
Matt 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Again this sounds odd at first glance, why would mourning be good.
• The one thing the world shuns away from is sorrow. Everyone wants to be happy.
• It’s even more odd if you rephrase it and say, “Happy are those who mourn.”
If we look at its context, it is clear that Jesus wasn’t referring simply to an emotion.
• The Beatitudes speaks about a spiritual condition – the Christian attitude to life.
• There is a particular approach to life – the way we view ourselves, our life, our world – that makes it “Christian” or godly.
• So here Jesus refers to mourning over sin and evil, over the state of affairs in a fallen world.
The best way to understand this is to look at Jesus – the two times He wept openly.
(1) He wept at the grave of Lazarus (John 11:35).
• Not for Lazarus. He knew that in a moment Lazarus would be raised to life.
• Jesus wept when He saw the mourners. He was moved by their sorrow and grief.
• Jesus has great compassion and is moved by the plight of man.
• On a deeper level, Jesus saw the cause of this. Death enters human experience because of sin. Human pain and sorrow is the result of sin.
• He saw the ugliness of sin and the pain it has caused.
(2) He wept over Jerusalem as He looked at the city just before His end.
Luke 19:41-44 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you."
Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem because they rejected the chance to experience His peace.
• They have chosen to harden their heart, and therefore will remain in their lost condition. And as a result of their rejection, they faced impending judgment.
• When He was carrying the cross on His final journey, He tells those women who were mourning and wailing for Him: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.” (Luke 23:28)
• Weep because judgement is coming. Mourn for your sin.
(1) We mourn over sin, and (2) the effects of sin.
• We mourn because we know what sin means to God – it grieves Him and it must grieve us, those who claim to love Him.
• The world will not mourn for sin. They will live with it.
Look at a true mourner in action - Luke 7:36-38.
• A sinner, well-known in the town for her sinful life, went uninvited to see Jesus.
• She stood behind Jesus, weeping and wiping His feet with her tears.
• Not only did Jesus not bar her attendance, the physical contact between Jesus and the sinner was considered gravely wrong.
Listen to what Jesus said to the host – Luke 7:44-47
• Verse 46: Usually they put oil on the head but she did that only to Jesus’ feet, apparently feeling unworthy to even anoint Jesus’ head.
• She was the only person in the Bible who cried for her sins before Jesus.
• She is one who is poor in spirit, and one who mourns.
• Poor in spirit because she knows how unworthy and unrighteousness she is, and she mourns for her sin.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
• She became the most blessed person in the room that day.
• Not a word was spoken, tears were her only language and it did all the talking.
• And she received assurance (the way Jesus defended her before the group), forgiveness and true comfort from Jesus – the freedom from guilt and the joy of forgiveness.
You cannot be forgiven if you are not sorry for your sins.
• John Stott: “Those who bewail their own sinfulness will be comforted by the only comfort which can relieve their distress, namely the free forgiveness of God.”
• Lenski: “The greatest of all comfort is the absolution pronounced upon every contrite mourning sinner.”
• The saddest thing in life is not a sorrowing heart, but a heart that is incapable of grief over sin, for you will not receive the grace of God.
• Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet. He wept over the persistent sin and the coming destruction of his people and nation because of their sin.
One of our problems today is that we have become too desensitized to sin – in our lives and in this world.
• We aren’t as moved by the things we see around as Jesus was in His days.
• We have become so accustomed to violence on television and in the movies that many could care less for human life.
• We have seen so much evil and injustice around that we’ll take them at status quo – “Well, this is life.”
• In the gaming world, the heroes are those who fight, kill and destroy.
Can we still be grieved by the things that grieve Jesus?
• Once a pastor entitled his sermon: "A DRY EYED CHURCH IN A HELL BOUND WORLD."
• We no longer cry over what we see today. Are we in such a condition?
If the Lord taught us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, then we need to mourn for the state of affairs in our world today.
• We need to pray and mourn for our sin, and the sufferings sin brought on in the lives of those around us.
• Look at the psalms – a major portion of the psalms are laments (psalms of sorrow). The laments over sin, over injustice, over sicknesses… See PSALM 38.
There is nothing wrong with such mourning.
• Some felt that as Christians, we should be happy at the time. This is not biblical.
• Rom 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” There is a time to mourn, King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes.
• F.B. Meyer: “There are some who chide tears as unmanly, unsubmissive, unchristian. They comfort us with a chill, bidding us to put on a rigid and tearless countenance. We may well ask whether a man who cannot weep can really love? Sorrow is just love bereaved; its most natural expression is tears. Jesus wept. The Ephesian elders wept on the neck of the Apostle whose face they were never to see again. Tears are valuable. Pouring out your heart to God is a vital step to becoming whole.’
The Arabs have a nice proverb: "All sunshine makes a desert."
• The land on which the sun always shines will soon become an arid place in which no fruit will grow. There are certain things which only the rains will produce; and certain experiences which only sorrow can produce.
• It’s good that it is not always sunny. We need the rain.
We live in a fallen world, and will continue to see and experience the pains and sufferings that sin brings on.
• We are not called to bear these burdens but bring them to the Lord in prayer.
• The Bible doesn’t condemn the grieving process; it warns us not to get stuck in it.
Evagrius, the 4th Century desert father who believed that tears are God’s gift to believers to assist them in the prayer life, said: “The man who is seated in his cell and who recites psalm is like one who stands outside and seeks the king. But he who prays with tears is like one who holds the king’s feet and asks his mercy.”
In the OT times, we see the prophets mourning for the nation.
• They express it in various ways - by weeping (Gen 37:34); by loud lamentation (Ruth 1:9); by the disfigurements - Tearing the clothes and wearing sackcloth (Gen 37:34-5); Sprinkling dust or ashes on the person (2 Sam 13:19); Shaving the head (Job 1:20); Neglect of the person or the removal of ornaments (Exo 33:4); Fasting (2 Sam 1:12); Sitting in silence (Judges 20:26).
“Blessed are those who mourn…” And Jesus adds, “…for they will be comforted.”
• The man who mourns acknowledges his need of God. The man who mourns for his sin is a man who repents.
• We saw that in the sinful woman, we saw that in Peter.
• 2 Cor 7:10 “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
• And they are blessed. Comfort comes, peace returns and joy is restored.
The Lord says, “…they will be comforted” but who comforts them?
• The Lord comforts them. He is the Source of comfort.
Ps 51:17 - “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Isa 57:15 - “For this is what the high and lofty One says - He who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
Isa 66:2 - “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, & trembles at my word.”
Last week in the SS class, I shared the verses about God’s comfort in 2 Cor 1:3-4
“… the God of ALL comfort, who comforts us in ALL our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
• Our God is the God of ALL comfort and who comforts us in ALL our troubles.
• To comfort is part of God’s being. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter. It is God’s concern to relieve sorrow or distress, to cheer and encourage.
• It is not God’s will for us to bear the burden of sin, nor any burden for that matter.
• Matt 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
This is God’s will – that man be comforted.
• When Isaiah prophesied about Jesus, God revealed it to him this way - Isa 61:1-3
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness 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 splendour.
Today we can be guaranteed of comfort. It is His promise to us. Blessed are those who mourn because they will find His comfort and His peace.
CULTIVATING GODLY SORROW (2 Cor 7:10)
1. Pray the psalms of laments (6, 38, 51…)
2. Examine your attitudes and deeds often. Be mournful over the inconsistencies in our lives.
3. Pray like Jeremiah, for the sad things that happen around us. Be mournful over the state of affairs around us. Don’t say, ‘It’s none of my business.” It is. We are told to pray for God’s will to be done! “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” If God gives us the eyes to see, then we have the responsibility to pray. It is not for us to eradicate evil, but to PRAY!
4. Pray for sinners; for those who have left Christ; pray for enemies of the Church.
