Series: The Sermon on the Mount
Title: The Blessed Mourner
Text: Matthew 5:4
Introduction: Deep within the pages of the Old Testament is a phrase which has befuddled many bible readers down through the ages because it presents a type of emotional paradox.
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting” (Ecclesiastes 7:2)
This phrase goes against the natural expression of the reality that most of us experience.
Certainly going to a place of mourning, such as a wake or a funeral home, is not a pleasant experience.
And moreover, when compared to the joy of experiencing a feast, most people would say that it is certainly better to go to the feast than to the funeral.
Yet, this text says that the funeral is BETTER than the feast!
Now, some would say that this is because this passage is found in Ecclesiastes, and that book is just filled with difficult passages that are not always immediately understandable at face value.
But the reality is that these words, though admittedly opposed to our natural sensibilities, do show profound agreement with the words of Christ in our text for today.
In our text this morning, Jesus is going to declare the blessedness of mourning.
Through our lesson we will see that while not all mourning is blessed, the mourning to which Christ refers carries a special blessing indeed.
READ: Matthew 5:4
I would imagine that everyone under the sound of my voice, except perhaps the youngest amongst us, has at times experienced tremendous grief.
Having worked for years in the funeral business both as a teenager and an adult, I have had the opportunity to see many people grieve.
In my time in ministry, I have actually accompanied the death of more than a few people, both believers and unbelievers, and experienced the response of family and friends as they spent the final moments with their loved one.
Grief and mourning are terribly difficult realities that we face in life.
QUOTE: A.W. Pink “Mourning is hateful and irksome to poor human nature: from suffering and sadness our spirits instinctively shrink.”
And this is so true - no one enjoys mourning and grief.
Given the opportunity, most of us would assuredly prefer to avoid grief.
A.W. Pink goes on to say, “It is natural for us to seek the society of the cheerful and joyous. The verse now before us presents an anomaly to the unregenerate, yet is it sweet music to the ears of God's elect: if "blessed" why do they "mourn"? If they mourn, how can they be blessed? Only the child of God has the key to this paradox, for "happy are they who sorrow" is at complete variance with the world's logic. Men have, in all places and in all ages, deemed the prosperous and the gay to be the happy ones, but Christ pronounces blessed those who are poor in spirit and who mourn.
Just in case we miss the power of the mourning to which Jesus is referring, consider the use of language in this beatitude.
QUOTE: William Barclay The verb used here for “mourn” (penthountes) “is the strongest word which is used for mourning in the Greek language. It is the word which is used for mourning for the dead, for the passionate lament for one who was loved. In the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, it is the word which is used of Jacob’s grief when he believed that Joseph, his son, was dead (Genesis 37:34).”
This is not a simple sadness, but a true and deeply profound grief - it is true mourning which Jesus calls blessed.
Yet, we need to understand that even though Jesus pronounces a blessing on those who mourn, it is NOT all mourning which is blessed.
QUOTE A.W. Pink “It is obvious that it is not every species of mourning which is here referred to. There are thousands of mourners in the world today who do not come within the scope of our text.”
Note: In the same way Jesus had a specific type of “poorness” in mind when he said “blessed are the poor in spirit”, so too did He have a specific type of mourning in mind when He said, “Blessed are those who mourn.”
There are at least four (4) types of mourning which are not blessed:
1. The Sorrow of Unbelief
2 Corinthians 7:10 “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
Now, what is the “worldly grief” which the apostle Paul is here referring?
Worldly grief is the natural consequence of unbelief.
Those who reject God also reject the true meaning of their own existence.
We were created to magnify, glorify and to worship God.
We were created in His image.
And when we deny that for which we were created, there is a natural grief which accompanies it.
Someone might say, “Well I know some atheists, and they are very happy and satisfied people.”
The Bible says that these people are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness.
That their entire lives are spent having to live in denial of what they know is true - that God is their creator and they are ultimately responsible to him.
This is why atheists act so religious.
They hold signs, wear t-shirts, attend rallies, and even have associations dedicated to their unbelief.
Because they need to have something outwardly which helps suppress the inward knowledge of the truth which God has placed there.
This type of sorrow, the sorrow of unbelief, often leads to such a despair that people choose to end their own lives.
Consider Judas --- he experienced sorrow, but not the blessed mourning to which Jesus refers.
No, Judas had a worldly grief - the grief of unbelief and guilt - which led ultimately to his own death.
So, there is no blessing in the sorrow of unbelief... there is also no blessing in...
2. Hypocritical Sorrow of the One Caught and Rebuked
When a person gets caught in the act of sin, and he cries crocodile tears over his situation, these tears are often a result of having been caught rather than the reality of what he has done.
Consider Cain, the first murderer.
When caught by God, was he mourning for his brother? NO!
He mourned for himself!
Genesis 4:13 “Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”
This same thing is seen today when politicians (and sadly preachers) are caught in acts of impropriety.
They cry before their constituents and congregations.
Yet their mourning is over their sin having been exposed, not over the sin itself.
And such mourning is not blessed.
3. Pretend Sorrow as a Show to Others
Matthew 6:16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
In Jesus’s day, there were men who made themselves look like they were distraught from fasting and sadness before God, when in reality it was all a show.
It reminds me of the modern preachers who work themselves up to tears and emotional outbursts simply to garner a response from their people.
This again, is not the sorrow which is blessed by Christ because it is a pretending of sorrow, but not true grief.
4. Common Mourning
All people, believers and unbelievers alike, mourn.
We all face illness, death, economic distress, pain and suffering.
It is one of the few things that all people, rich or poor, young or old, regardless of race or gender, have in common.
We all experience times of mourning.
But these types of “common mourning”, as difficult as they can be, are not the types of mourning which Jesus is referring to in this beatitude.
WE KNOW THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF MOURNING, AS WE HAVE SEEN...
SO WHAT IS THE BLESSED MOURNING?
Much like the “poorness” in the first beatitude was in regard to the spirit, so too is the mourning in this beatitude focused on spiritual sorrow. Consider three types of mourning which are blessed...
I. Mourning over our own sinful condition
This is the mourning which actually begins the Christian life, and accompanies it until death.
This is the mourning which we should be faced with when we come to realization that we have offended our Creator.
This is the broken and contrite heart of the one who’s spirit is broken over having been condemned as guilty before the judge of the universe.
Consider the woman who came to Jesus in the home of the Pharisee.
Luke 7:36-38 “One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment.”
Here is a picture of a blessed mourner.
She knows that her life has been marred by sin.
And those at the table knew it too, which is why they would eventually rebuke Jesus for allowing her to even touch him.
So what did she do?
She threw herself on the mercy of the court.
She cried at the feet of the only one who could save her.
She demonstrated a level of spiritual sorrow which is rarely seen today because people are too busy being proud of thei accomplishments than to be broken over their sins.
QUOTE: Brian Schwertely “This is a very elemental doctrine of the faith, yet it is largely ignored in modern evangelical churches. People are either told to accept Christ with absolutely no preaching of the law or consciousness of sin; or, they are told to acknowledge the fact that they are sinners without anything deep or specific and then to “accept Jesus.” Such preaching produces superficial, carnal “Christians” who have never mourned over their sins.”
He goes on to say... “Mourning over one’s sin and depravity is viewed as outmoded or even unbiblical. The blessedness of mourning has been replaced by the gospel of self-esteem. Sorrowing over sin has been rejected for “having your best life now.” Bewailing our iniquities has been jettisoned for the “laughing revival,” the coffee house service, the rock and roll jam fest. Our culture’s obsession with entertainment, serving our perceived needs and wants, trying to be happy and having fun all the time has permeated much of modern evangelicalism.”
I feel very confident in saying that if you have never mourned over your sins that you really do not know Christ.
Some might get offended and say, “Who are you to question my conversion?!?”
I am not questioning your conversion, I am announcing the reality that the truly converted must come through the realization of a need for a savior.
And if you do not believe that your sin is worthy of Hell, you will not reach out for a Savior.
Likewise, if you do believe your sin is worthy of Hell, that should bring a state of spiritual mourning which is unlike any other kind of worthy mourning which you can experience.
In essence, if you cannot mourn over your own sinful condition, you cannot appreciate the depth of love which Christ demonstrated for you on the cross.
So, we understand that blessed mourning is first a sorrow over our own sinful condition before God... but there is also the...
II. Mourning over the sins of others
When we find that a fellow believer has been found engaging in a specific sin, what is our response?
Often the response is condemnation of that person, which is unfortunate.
Instead of condemnation, our heart should break for that person.
This is why church discipline is so hard for folks to carry out.
Many are so focused on removing the person from the church, that they forget that the purpose of church discipline is first and foremost to RESTORE the fallen brother or sister.
This is not always possible.
But it is always the goal.
But what would cause us to want to restore a person?
First, we must be sorrowful on their behalf.
We must mourn for them.
We must care enough for them to understand the weight of what they have done, and the danger of the situation wherein they have found themselves.
Consider Paul’s fear in 2 Corinthians 12...
2 Corinthians 12:21 “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.”
Paul mourned over those who refused to repent of their sins.
As Jesus wept over the wickedness of Jerusalem, we too must weep over the sins of our brethren, and pray not for their judgment, but for their restoration.
And this is not limited to only believers... we also weep for the unbelievers, knowing their ultimate end apart from repentance is Hell.
I, personally, weep for our country.
And not just because we have forsaken our founding documents, the constitution and the ideals of our forefathers.
I weep for our nation because we have have placed a big sign that says, “God is no longer welcome” on the front lawn of our land, and yet we have the audacity to say, “God bless America”!
So, we weep for sin... for our own, and for the sin of others, knowing it is all an affront to God’s holy nature... But there is one additional type of blessed mourning...
III. Mourning for the persecuted
Persecution is a dominant theme in the beatitudes, particularly in the ending portion.
And we are called to mourn for those who are suffering for the sake of the Gospel.
The early church suffered great amounts of persecution both from Jews and gentiles.
And that persecution continues to this day.
NOTE: Some Atheists say Christian persecution is a myth, and that it is just much ado about nothing.
But the reality is that there are people being killed today, around the globe, because they dare to name the name of Jesus Christ.
There are churches burnt to the ground in Egypt because of the world’s hatred for those who follow Jesus.
And even in our own land, laws are being passed which will eventually make it utterly impossible to preach the Bible in its entirely, because many portions of it are considered “hate speech”.
Our hearts should mourn for those who are suffering for Christ; knowing that our own faith brings the same hatred as theirs.
As I have often said, many of the things which I say from this pulpit would cause me to be stones to death if I were to say them in certain places around the world.
And I mourn for those pastors, those faithful shepherds, who do face such suffering.
Removed from their families.
Beaten and afflicted, hated and despised.
All for the cause of Christ.
We mourn, and yet at the same time admire the nobility of these blessed saints of God.
So, we have seen that mourning alone is not what is blessed by God, but it is mourning over our sins, over other’s sins, and over those who suffer for Christ which is blessed...
BUT WHAT IS THE PROMISE TO THE BLESSED MOURNER?
They shall be comforted...But with what comfort?
The comfort of Christ = the one who is called the Consolation of Israel brings consolation to His people’s mournings.
You see, through Christ we have:
1. The comfort of justification (Romans 5:1)
While our hearts break over our sin, we realize that our sin has been payed for in full by our Savior.
Now, we who have understood our guilt have been declared righteous!
Romans 5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
QUOTE John Brown “Mourning over their sins, they shall be comforted, by the plain declarations of a free and full forgiveness, which, by the influence of the good Spirit, they shall be enabled to believe, and, ‘believing which, they shall rejoice with joy unspeakable.”
2. The comfort of advocacy
1 John 2:1 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”
We are not perfect, even though we have been forgiven.
And our imperfections can cause us to feel sorrow.
But they mustn’t lead us to despair.
For we have an advocate with the Father who is forever making intercession on our behalf.
This is a beautiful comfort for the believer.
3. The comfort of deliverance
This life brings the pains of persecution, especially for the believer.
Yet we have the promise of deliverance from Christ.
Either we will be delivered in this life, or we may suffer to death for Him.
But if we suffer unto death, we know that we still have not lost.
Our deliverance is certain!
Philippians 1:21 “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Why is death gain for Paul?
Because death is deliverance from the presence of sin, and entrance into the presence of Christ.
And for the believer, there is no better gain!
CONCLUSION: Beloved, a question we must ask ourselves - if we are to truly examine our own hearts - is have we ever mourned the way that Christ is expressing here.
Certainly we have all mourned for many things... but have we ever mourned for our sins? For our offenses to God? For the reality of the penalty it deserves?
If not, can we really say that we have experienced the true comfort which comes from Christ?
This is a question worth asking ourselves, for it is really the question of do we truly know Christ?
