The Perfect Standard For Life
To Be Blessed, Mourn! - Part 2 of 8
Reading: Matthew 5v4
Charles Colson who was put into jail for his part in the Watergate scandal in America so many years ago now, subsequently found Jesus in prison and today he heads up an international ministry to people in prisons all around the world.
He writes in his book Who Speaks for God? …about a man by the name of Yehiel Dinur, an Auschwitz holocaust survivor who was interviewed because of him being a witness at the Nuremburg war-crime trials after World War 2.
During the interview a film clip from Adolf Eichmann’s trial was viewed that showed how Dinur entered the room, and for the first time came face to face with Eichmann.
Stopped cold, Dinur began to sob uncontrollably and then fainted while the presiding judge pounded his gavel for order in the courtroom.
“Was Dinur overcome by hatred? Or Fear? Or horrid memories?”…asks Colson in his book.
This is what he wrote in his book, “NO; it was none of these. Rather, as Dinur explained later,…all at once he realized that Eichmann was not the godlike army officer who had sent so many people to their deaths. This Eichmann was an ordinary man.
“I was afraid about myself”, said Dinur.
“I saw that I am also capable to do this. I am exactly like him”.
In other words, what that true story teaches us, is that Eichmann’s behaviour is in all of us here, because it speaks of a certain truth about our own sinful natures.
God says that sin is to be found in each one of us.
Here’s the question then, “Why is it that in the modern church of today we so very seldom speak of the sin that separates us from God?”
I’ll tell you why, because for each one of us to truly confess our sins before a Holy God is not an easy thing to do.
To be honest with you this morning many people will leave the church never to return again if we should speak of it too often.
…and yet you and I need such an encounter with a Holy God who will expose our sins.
To this then Jesus gives us the second Beatitude, because it shows us how necessary it really is to truly face our sins square on.
He says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”.
Now, what we need to understand here is that it’s a paradox, in other words, there seems to be some contradiction here.
You see, what this verse promises you and what it demands of you don’t seem to make any sense whatsoever.
“What could be more of a contradiction than the idea that the sad are happy, that the path to happiness is sadness, and that the way to rejoicing is in mourning?”
It’s like someone once said, “It’s truth standing on it’s head calling for attention”.
…and so Jesus invites you this morning to come and look, because if you get to understand this morning what this verse really means, it will bring you life.
“Blessed [approved of God] are those who mourn”.
Now, last week I said that each of these Beatitudes builds on the next one.
Last week we saw, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”,…in other words, blessed are those people who understand they are spiritual beggars.
The second Beatitude says, “Blessed are those who mourn”.
What I’m trying to say here is this: It naturally follows that when we see ourselves for what we really are, then our emotions stir us to mourning, - mourning over what?, over our sinfulness!
In other words, the poor in spirit become those who mourn over their sinfulness.
Watch the sequence: Spiritual poverty leads to Godly mourning over my sins, which again leads me to confess my sins, which leads to God forgiving me.
There’s one more thing we need to get under the belt before we move on.
Yes, the Beatitudes are not the Gospel because they do not actually explain Christ’s death and resurrection and how we may receive Him.
But, the Beatitudes tell us how to prepare before we receive Christ.
In other words, as some preacher once said, “The Beatitudes prepare us in the sense, that they slay us so that we may live. They hold us up against the standards for the kingdom, so that we can see our need and fly to Him”.
…and so Jesus cuts right through the shallowness of our Christianity and exposes us as a people who might know all the right answers, yet do not know Him intimately.
What Does “Blessed are those who mourn” Mean?
Again like last week, for us to really understand what it does mean, we first have to look at what it does not mean:
a. Jesus does not mean, “Blessed are depressing, miserable, sad-faced Christians”.
Jesus is not talking about depressed, unhappy, hopeless and desperate people.
b. Jesus does not mean, “Blessed are those who are mourning over the difficulties in
life”.
The Bible does not say that mourning by itself is a blessing.
In fact, some mourning is cursed.
For example, Amnon mourned because his lust was not fulfilled by Tamar
(2 Sam.13v2)
Ahab mourned because he wanted but could not get Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21v4).
c. Jesus is not talking about mourning the loss of a loved one.
d. Jesus is not talking about going into a state of self-pity and false humility.
What Should We Mourn Over?
1. I Should Mourn Over My Own Sinfulness.
We have to come to a point in our lives and see our sinfulness for what it really is, and how it influences our relationship with Jesus Christ.
This is what God has to say about that in Romans 3v10-12, “No one is good—no one in all the world is innocent.” No one has ever really followed God’s paths or even truly wanted to”. Every one has turned away; all have gone wrong. No one anywhere has kept on doing what is right; not one.” (LB)
a. In other words, we have to mourn the state our souls (soul) are in.
b. Then we have to mourn over the sinful words we speak (speech) of each other.
“How do we so often speak with our tongues?”
God gives us a clue in Romans 3v14-15, “Their talk is foul and filthy like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are loaded with lies. Everything they say has in it the sting and poison of deadly snakes. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” (LB)
c. Then we have to mourn over the sinful deeds we commit.
What are some of those deeds?
Well, God gives us a clue in Romans 3v15-17, “They are quick to kill, hating anyone who disagrees with them. Wherever they go they leave misery and trouble behind them, and they have never known what it is to feel secure or enjoy God’s blessing.” (LB).
In other words, God says so we will be, if we are left to ourselves.
There is always room for us to fall into further sinfulness if we refuse the grace of God upon our lives.
2. I Should Mourn Over The Power and Effects Of Sin In Our World.
David mourned for the sins of others in Psalm 119v136, “I weep because your laws are disobeyed.”
Jeremiah wept for his people because of they rejected God.
In Jerusalem even Jesus Himself wept for the people because of their great sinfulness.
Yet the opposite is often true about us Christians.
We don’t often enough mourn over the sins of the world, if at all.
A certain well-known preacher said it this way, “When we laugh at the world’s crude and immoral jokes, even though we do not retell them, when we are entertained by a sin, even though we do not indulge in it, when we smile at ungodly talk, even though we do not repeat the words to make light of brutality, to be intrigued by sexual immorality is to rejoice when we should be mourning, to be laughing when we should be crying”.
Therefore, to be approved by God is not in ignoring sin, but by mourning over it.
So if we have to write this verse in words we can fully understand, it will go something like this, “Blessed [approved of God] are those who mourn [over their own sinfulness and over the sinfulness that poisons the world], for they will be comforted”.
…and we will do well if we apply this verse to our lives from now on.
Yet we live in a society today which does not agree that mourning over our sins is necessary for our spiritual health.
I’m not talking about that we always walk around with a sour face….No!
Laughter and good humour is good for the soul as well.
Solomon says in Proverbs 17v22, “A cheerful heart does good like medicine,…” (LB)
That great Christian man Oswald Sanders said these great words, “Should we not see that lines of laughter about the eyes are just as much marks of faith, as are the lines of care and seriousness? Is laughter pagan? We have already allowed too much that is good to be lost to the church and cast many pearls before swine. A church is in a bad way when it banishes laughter from the sanctuary and leaves it to the cabaret, the nightclub, and the toastmasters”.
So laugher is essential to a Christian, but the world hates mourning so much that it tries to avoid it completely.
It has even gone so far, that some people laugh when they ought to cry over their sinfulness and the effects it has on our world.
We live in a world today that has overdosed on amusement, and it’s effecting our youth in a bad way today.
People think you are off your rocker if you mourn over your own sinfulness and what effect it has on your relationship with Christ!
…and sadly this same thing has crept into the church as well.
Some people actually think that if we are good Christians, filled with the Spirit of God, we will not experience sorrow and ought to go around never mourning.
Some preachers actually never speak about sin, because they are scared it will make people unhappy and leave the church.
The result is that we sit with a Christianity that is pathetic and not real.
Yet true Christianity is marked by what we cry over and what laugh over.
So I want to say this morning, to mourn over my sinfulness is not an optional thing for real Christians.
No-one is truly a Christian who has not mourned over his or her sins.
Listen to what God has to say about that in 2 Cor.7v10-11, “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces repentance without regret, leading to salvation…” (KJV)
In other words, you cannot be forgiven your sins if you are not sorry for your sins.
There is only one thing worse than sin, that is the denial of sin which makes forgiveness possible.
Let me tell you, the saddest thing in life is a heart that is incapable of grief over sin, because such a state of heart cannot know the forgiveness and grace of God’s heart.
Just as it is true, that without poverty of spirit, no-one enters the kingdom of God,
in the same way no-one receives God’s forgiveness and salvation who do not truly mourn over their sinfulness.
There is something I want you to seriously consider this morning.
If you have never mourned over your sinfulness, not just the consequences of your sins,…-…then I want you to examine your own heart to see if you’re a Christian at all, because
those people who are truly born again by the Spirit of God, mourn over their sins.
If you’re a Christian then this is essential to your ongoing spiritual health as well.
The word used here as “mourn” in it’s original language is a verb used in the continues tense.
In other words, what that means for you and me, is that believers in Jesus Christ continuously mourn and continuously repent over their sins.
Let me give you an example what I’m talking about.
Paul was one of the greatest Christians, and even during his Christian life, yet he says this during the height of his ministry in 1 Timothy 1v15, “I am the chief of sinners”.
I think Paul knew that in this life, it is never a permanent victory.
What Is The Result For Mourning Over Our Sins?
Well, last week we saw that those who are poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of God.
In this second Beatitude our reward is, “…for they will be comforted”.
There is something I want you to notice here, because it’s something we might miss.
The reward of comfort is immediate and into eternity.
In other words, this is what it says, “Blessed are the mourners over their sin, for they will be immediately comforted, and they will continue to be so”.
But again there is something we have to notice here.
The basis of me being comforted comes as a result of God’s forgiveness of my sins, and
only true believers in Christ Jesus can be free from the guilt of their sins.
So here’s the point: A mourning over your sinfulness alone will not save you.
A mourning over your sinfulness and a repentance will save you!
It means you must turn from disobedience against God, toward deliverance by God.
Being approved by God does not come in the mourning itself.
Being approved by God comes with what God does in response to my mourning over my sinfulness.
…and so saying you’re sorry isn’t enough.
You need to say, “I’m sorry enough God to….”
…and by the way, the word “they” in this verse is very definite of whom it speaks of here.
In other words, this comfort and forgiveness is exclusively only for those people who truly mourn over their sins, and them alone.
…and what is the result of being comforted and being forgiven for our sins?, - changed lives, changed behaviour,…Why?,…because our mourning is met by God’s supply of comfort and grace, because to grow in God’s grace,…is also to grow in my awareness of sin.
…and by the way this verse settles the issue whether you receive the Holy Spirit some time after you come to Christ, or whether you receive the Holy Spirit immediately when you come to Christ at that moment.
The Greek word used here for “they will be comforted”, has the root from which we get the word “paraclete”, the same word which is used for the Holy Spirit, the One Jesus promised who will come alongside you and comfort you.
In other words, God’s comfort is relational!
Jesus says in John 14v16-17, “…I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter, and he will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who leads into all truth…. “ (LB)
So you receive the Holy Spirit the very moment you come to Christ in repentance over your sins, because how otherwise would you be comforted immediately?
So our comfort is immediate and it comes to us alone, and it comes personally in the Person of The Holy Spirit, and it is based on the forgiveness of our sins.
That is why we are called “blessed” or “approved by God”.
Listen to what God says about that in Psalm 32v1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgressions [rebellion] are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit [complete honesty]”.” (NIV).
In other words,…Jesus says to each one here this morning, “Do you want to be comforted?, then mourn, mourn, mourn over your sinfulness.
“Do you want to be happy?”, then weep over your sinfulness.
James uses some strong language to bring us to the point of mourning over our sinfulness.
He says in James 4v8-10, “And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and let your hearts be filled with God alone to make them pure and true to him. Let there be tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and sincere grief [mourning]. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Then when you realize your worthlessness before the Lord, he will lift you up, encourage and help you.” (LB).
Now, if you’re not a Christian as yet, this is meant to lead you to salvation in Jesus alone.
In other words, if a spirit of mourning over your sinfulness is welling up within you, then let your mourning lift you up to Him.
If you believe you are a Christian already, the question is, “Did you come into the Kingdom this way?”, because if you haven’t, then you’re not in the Kingdom.
We have a fantastic story in the Bible that illustrates this to us, - the story of the Prodigal Son.
He came to a point in his life when he went away from his father, but one day he realized his poor condition and mourned over it.
This is what he said in Luke 15v18-20, “I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.” “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming, and was filled with loving pity and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” (LB)
That is exactly what David did after he sinned with Bathsheba.
He came to a point in his life where he knew he had sinned against God, then he went into a time of mourning, confessed his sins and then God forgave him.
Listen to what David said in Psalm 51v3-4, “For I admit my shameful deed—it haunts me day and night. It is against you and you alone I sinned and did this terrible thing. You saw it all, and your sentence against me is just.” (LB)
That’s what we have to mourn over.
Conclusion.
Here’s the challenge to each one of us here this morning:
“Do you acknowledge that there is nothing within you to commend you to God?”
“If yes,…are you mourning over your sinfulness?”
In other words, “Do you ache with the guilt of your sin before God and man?”
If you’ve never believed in Christ Jesus, then come to Him now and He will give you the kingdom now.
You will be comforted by His Holy Spirit now!
1 John 1v8-9 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.” (LB)
Jesus is saying to you, “Bring me the sorrow and the sins of your past now, and I will give you hope for the future now.”
He’s saying, “Come to me if you’re weary and burdened by your sins, and I will give you the promise of comfort and rest in your spirit”.
“Will you do that today?”
