Happy are those who mourn. Today’s text is one of the great contradictions of the Bible. Even if we don’t use happy for the word blessed, there still seems to be little correlation between being blessed and grieving.
When you lose a person you love, do you feel blessed? Does it comfort you when someone well meaning says it’s a blessing that their gone, the suffering is over, they’re in a better place? Hardly. Mourners are wet blankets, we want to be around happy people, and aren’t most Christians great at pretending to be happy.
But a real Christian should never be superficial. Look what Jesus says in Luke 6:25 the woes that come right after Luke’s beatitudes, “Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep”. Are we not meant to be happy until we die?
To make it worse, we can’t even soften the word mourn. It is the Greek word pentheo and is the strongest word they had for mourning, as in mourning the death of a loved one. So this is not just a little sadness, it is the deepest grief we can experience.
It may fit if we think of the glory we will experience in the future for the suffering we experience as Christians today. Great is our reward in heaven when we are persecuted here in this life.
But to think of mourning only in this way is to miss the meaning of this beatitude. If last week being “poor in spirit” was about our attitude toward ourselves, “mourning” is about our attitude toward sin.
There is natural mourning that we experience whenever we lose something important to us. A couple weeks ago Canadian hockey fans were filled with joy until the third period, and after the Russians scored five unanswered goals, they were mourning. There are many things that happen in life that cause us to mourn.
There is also sinful mourning where we feel bad about something we did that was sinful. Usually this is more about getting caught or the other consequences of our sin. Many of the sinners in the bible seemed to feel worldly sorrow after their sin, from Cain to Judas Iscariot. Usually this is more guilt than real grief though.
But there is a third kind of mourning that Jesus is referring to here, spiritual mourning. Paul says in 2 Cor. 7:10, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death”.
Again, this godly sorrow is not a natural characteristic, not something man can produce because we are not God. It is something God works in the hearts of his people through the ministry of the Holy Spirit – and it always leads to positive, life giving results, again repentance.
We may think of it this way. To be poor in spirit is to be convicted of sin, to see our true nature before God. To mourn is to be contrite, sorrowful, broken inside about our sin, not just the consequences of it. The doctrine of sin in the Bible is of supreme importance, and we don’t like it so we’ve watered it down or avoid it.
Lots of people know their sin and nothing changes, they shrug it off, “I’m only human” they say, “God is a forgiving God”. But this knowledge of our sinful nature is meant to bring tears, and only those who have been humbled, wounded, and crushed under the burden of sin can ever really know the depth of God’s saving grace where the true joy lies. The psalmist wrote, “The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Sin is devastating to God, it is the only thing that leads to death.
This mourning is “Grieving about our spiritual state” and the knowledge that we can never make up for it, never change it. In some ways it is a reckoning with the fact that we are helpless in our sin and have to surrender if we want to be saved. The more we grow spiritually the more we will grieve how far short we fall in the eyes of God. This is an ongoing process for the word here literally means those who are “continuing to mourn”.
In Romans, Paul is terribly grieved by his own state and he’s a saint. Any reflection at the end of our day will show us thoughts and actions that we wish we had not experienced. We must ask ourselves, “What is it in me that makes me feel and act that way? Why should I be irritable? What do I have to be depressed about? Why do I have such a temper? Why can’t I control myself? Why do I harbour resentments, and jealousy and envious or impure thoughts?”
We discover this endless, real war in our body and mind and we hate it and mourn over it. This is reality and it’s inevitable, if we risk looking at ourselves honestly. If these things don’t bother us, are we really spiritual? The Lord himself was a “man of sorrows, acquainted with grief”. We didn’t hear of him laughing much.
Why did he weep over the death of Lazarus knowing he would soon bring him back to life? Why did Jerusalem bring him to tears when he saw her rejecting him, knowing one day he would bring a new perfect Jerusalem into being? It was because he saw sin for what it was and the impact it had on God’s creation. He felt the pain that sin brings to the heart of God, and knew he would have to take the brunt of it all on the cross.
The great missionary David Brainerd wrote: “I remember walking one night, and I had opened to me such a view of my sin that I feared the ground would open under my feet, and become my grave, and send my soul quick to hell before I could get home. Though I was forced to go to bed, lest my distress should be discovered by others, which I much feared, yet I scarcely dared sleep at all, for I thought it would be a great wonder if I should be out of hell in the morning”.
I hope you’re beginning to realize that our doctrine of sin has gotten distorted. It’s not just about making mistakes and being disobedient, but about our actual nature, that in fact we are sin to some degree as it lives in our flesh in our hearts. We need heart transplants.
Let’s look again at Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 7:8-13: “For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us.
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!
At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore we are comforted.”
Luther said even in his day, “Mourning for sin is a rare herb”, well today it is an endangered species. Who wants to mourn, who wants to look at their wretchedness? We have to ask, what on earth is blessed about this? What does Jesus say? “For they will be comforted”.
I remember it well, sobbing on the couch after confessing to the Lord that I could not go on on my own anymore, that I needed a new mind, everything I had tried to overcome my depression even though I had a great life, had failed. I then felt as if he gently cupped me in his hand and began carrying me through life. This went on for months.
I realized what this comfort meant, the comfort of being completely in his hands, completely surrendered, emptied of myself, and completely aware of my own inability to make my life work. The comfort of knowing he would always be there for eternity, that I never needed to worry about anything ever again.
Think of it this way, sin is high treason against the majesty of our maker. Should that not make us extremely sad? But it should not lead us into despair or depression, it is not hopeless guilt, it is not self-centered, it is God centered. In essence we grieve for what he has had to go through, not what we have. We don’t wallow in despair, we reach for deliverance and it is given if we truly mourn.
We take refuge in our salvation and it brings great joy to know the depth of God’s grace, which would not be known as deeply otherwise. It makes us think of God’s promise in Joel 2:13, “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love”.
Our prayer should be as David’s in Psalm 51, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me… Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
Not only do we mourn over our personal spiritual state, we come to mourn for the state of God’s church. A sure mark of a growing Christian is to grieve over the church at large. Do you know that some preachers are using texts like Adam the Racoon for their sermon material? Biblical truth and authority is being questioned in many churches and seminaries.
Public worship is far more geared toward the worshippers than the One being worshipped. We worship (which means to ascribe worth) to what we consume or desire. Our culture disciples us to desire things. We need to be discipling people to desire and consume Jesus Christ? And I think it’s obvious the world is doing a better job.
Ethics and holiness have become optional, and churches are full of unsaved souls falsely believing they are going to heaven because they accepted Christ via a recited, short, one time prayer to avoid hell.
I have seen my fellow pastors here in Killarney in tears on more than one occasion over the goings on in their churches, and any pastor worth his salt looks out on a Sunday morning with great fear that he is speaking to some that are unsaved. The church is full of sin. Do you see how all of this is the same as taking the whip to Christ’s body, spitting on him, spray painting obscenities on him, if we do not take sin as seriously as he does.
Remember the Pharisee who said “thank God I am not like other men.” Well Jesus response to that would be, you’re right, you’re worse because you’re supposed to know me, the others are just ignorant, you should know better and I judge you more harshly.
Again Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 says to those in the church, “I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and sensuality that they have practiced.”
To the same church he says in 1 Cor 5:2 of an unrepentant sinner in their congregation, “Shouldn’t you rather have been filled with grief (rather than being tolerant), and have put out of fellowship the man who did this?”
Paul and the prophets of the Old Testament were greatly distressed by the state of God’s people, and they withstood any kind of persecution to share God’s truth with them about their spiritual state. This kind of mourning leads us to action and exhortation, even if people don’t want to hear it. Paul clearly didn’t want to write that first letter to the Corinthian church.
But there is even one more thing we should be mourning about everyday. The state of humanity in this world. John says in 1 Jn 5:19, “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one”. (Turkish church)
Satan is on the loose and we have had 2000 more years to see evidence of this fact. Everything in the world outside of Christ is corrupt and polluted.
Jesus wept over Jerusalem and if you’re old enough you remember that TV commercial where the Indian man was shedding a tear looking at all the pollution in the world. Have we become so anaesthetized to all the injustice, violence, debauchery, greed, selfishness and human indignity, where we shrug our shoulders instead of getting on our knees?
We now know through the book of Revelation that not only are these things bad, but God’s justice cannot be avoided and billions are going to be caught in it, even some in the church.
Two main things about sin should cause us great grief. One is that it brings great dishonour to God who we say we love more than anything, and the other is the perdition it brings on the unrepentant sinner whom we are also to love.
All right, now that we’re all depressed, let’s look more at the blessing.
Last week we saw that the absolute requirement for salvation, for having the kingdom of heaven is to be poor in spirit, aware of our pathetic spiritual state and completely dependent on God. This week the blessing is comfort from God. So what does that mean?
We have already seen that part of this comfort is the assurance of salvation in spite of who we are. This kind of mourning has to lead us to a Saviour. As Paul said, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
But there’s more to it. The word used here is parakaleo which means to call to one’s side, and it relates to the word used for the Holy Spirit as comforter, paraklete. Do you get where I ‘m going?
This blessing of comfort is much more than a comforting pat on the shoulder, it relates to being given a powerful and compassionate helper that gives encouragement and endurance. If getting the kingdom of heaven is salvation in the first blessing, receiving comfort in the second blessing is none other than receiving the comforter, the Holy Spirit. Remember Peter was broken when he denied Christ, then at Pentecost he was comforted and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
First, I finally surrender and become completely aware of my true state in God’s eyes, I repent and become completely dependent on God, this is being poor in spirit - and I’m then saved by grace. If I don’t know my state, I can’t understand and truly accept Christ’s salvation.
Then I not only acknowledge my state, I am devastated by it, I mourn over what I have done to God and what sin is doing to the world and the church, I repent, and I’m given the comforter, the Holy Spirit comes to live in me.
But see how these really are not separate? If I truly see my state and become poor in spirit, something that God does in me, it is impossible for me not to mourn over that awareness. Therefore these steps are not really progressive steps but something that happens simultaneously. In the same moment, I confess, mourn, repent, and receive the Holy Spirit and I am comforted. To me that is the beginning of spiritual conversion.
Now I want to point out seven features of this comfort, thanks to John Blanchard, a great New Testament commentator. These are all variations of the word parakaleo.
A. God the Father
In Romans 15 Paul speaks of the God who gives endurance and encouragement (paraklesis). Remember the trinity is one. If we have Jesus, we have the Father, and all the great characteristics of a Christian come directly from Him who made us and can give these to us. He and he alone has these supernatural qualities to give.
B. God the Son
The Bible urges us to remember that “we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence (parakletos) – Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He continually reminds the Father of the merit of his sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind for all time.
C. God the Holy Spirit
Jesus promised before he left that, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counsellor (parakletos) to be with you forever – the spirit of truth”. Part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to come alongside us in times of distress.
Preacher C. R Vaughan expresses it like this, “He is there to impart holiness, to give grace according to the day, to bestow wisdom, patience and courage, to sanctify and comfort in affliction, to erase the image of Satan, to impress the image of God, to conquer the unholy passions, and to fill the soul with all the fruits of the spirit”.
Most importantly, he is the spirit of truth. If we will listen, he will tell us the truth about ourselves, and about God and his word, so that we can always be assured of our standing as saved Christians. Satan’s lies that lead to fear and confusion can instantly be erased by calling on the spirit of God dwelling in us.
D. The Word of God
In Romans 15 the Word of God is called the (paraclesis). The Bible is an endless source of comfort, strength, promises, spiritual insight, encouragement, restoration and hope. It is the very voice of God the Father when he cannot physically be in our presence. We should always be able to pick up our bibles and very quickly be comforted by truth.
E. Faithful Preaching
Preaching of the Word of God is also called (paraklesis) in the Bible. Someone once said that the reason the counselling load in the church is so heavy is because the preaching is so light. There is much preaching in churches today that is superficial, empty and profitless. Preaching should not pander to people’s desires, to church consumers, but should pierce the heart so that God can come in and heal it.
That’s why I take this ministry so seriously. It scares the heck out of me to think that a single Sunday is wasted because I have failed to bring the Word of God to you people. I pray that I never speak on my own authority up here, because I know that would be powerless.
F. Fellowship of Other Christians
Paul said to Philemon, “Your love has given me great joy and encouragement (paraklesis), because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints (Phil 7).
Genuine Christian fellowship based on real godly love is unsurpassed in bringing comfort. I can’t think of anything that comforts me more than people praying over me. We are to carry each others burdens and be mutually encouraged even when we screw up. We should never be afraid to confide in a brother or sister. Yet sadly we often are, and that needs to change.
G. The Certainty of Christ’s Return
In 1 Thes 4:18 Paul instructs the church to (parakaleo) each other with these words about Christ’s return.
As we learned through Revelation, no matter what happens in this world, the certainty of Christ’s victory and return should bring us incredible comfort. With regards to our own sin, we have God’s promise that one day when he appears, we will be like him (1Jn 3:2).
With regards to our grieving over the church, he promises in Ephesians 5 that when he returns the church will be radiant, without stain or wrinkle, or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
And as for the world, we are promised that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge and glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab 2:14), and there will be a new heaven and earth, the home of the righteous” (2 Peter 3:13).
One day believers will be his people, and God himself will dwell with us and be our God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old has passed away” (Rev 21:3-4).
Here on earth for a short blip in eternity, the Christian’s life may be characterized by mourning. But if we do mourn and are poor in spirit, eternity in heaven will be characterized by its absence, for every cause of mourning will finally be removed. Ultimately we will experience comfort like we can’t even imagine now.
There is great comfort for the mourning Christian. But again we need to stop looking to the world and its vices for comfort, and look to the only one who can give us real comfort.
