Maranatha Baptist Church
Blessed are those who mourn
  • All Creatures Of Our God And King

      • Psalms 12:1-3ESV

      • Psalms 12:4-6ESV

      • Psalms 12:7-8ESV

  • How Deep The Father's Love For Us
  • He Will Hold Me Fast

      • Matthew 5:1-5ESV

      • Matthew 5:6-9ESV

      • Matthew 5:10-12ESV

  • Matthew 5:4 ESV
    4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
    When I was in college, I went on a short term mission trip to Rwanda. We worship services at different churches while we were there. One of the services, was about 3 hours long. The sermon was an hour and half. (And some of you think that I preach too long.)
    I don’t remember a whole lot from that sermon to be honest, but it was 18 years ago. However, I remember the pastor making the point, in reference to Revelation 7:17, and 21:4 that God will wipe away every tear.
    And this pastor made the comment the Lord cannot wipe away your tears if you never cry.
    Given that men are taught from a young age to not show emotion, and specifically not to cry, this was a phrase that was somewhat impactful. And it’s a mindset that transcends cultures.
    To some degree, it is rooted in a healthy definition of masculinity. Men shouldn’t be driven by their emotions. That being said, the overreaction to say that men should be completely stoic and never EVER have any emotions is a dangerous trap the other way. In fact, the Bible shows us pictures of men crying. David and Jesus.
    Men sang songs about how many people David killed in battle, but David also wept bitter tears over his sinfulness.
    The Lord Jesus himself is the perfect picture of masculinity and yet we see him weep when Lazarus, and mourn over the sins of Jerusalem.
    This text is not an encouragement to cry more, but rather an instruction that those who mourn will be comforted.
    Mourning and crying are not the same thing. Though mourning may include crying - it does not have to.
    Since the Lord promises to wipe every tear away, crying is not useless.
    And since the Lord promised to comfort the mourners. It is right to mourn.
    However, Much like poverty of spirit, it is important to have a good definition of mourning to a of what Jesus is actually saying here.
    Much like blessed are the poor in spirit - did not mean blessed are those who have no money. Neither is this beatitude - blessed are those who cry a lot.
    It is also not just “blessed are you when you are sad.” It’s not describing a temporary feeling.
    This isn’t blessed are the depressed. Especially, if we remember that part of the meaning of blessed is happy. Happy are the Depressed. That doesn’t sit right. And that’s also not really a fair meaning.
    However, happy are the sad - does capture the meaning of the blessing here. But we need qualification on what sad is and what mourning is.
    First, it’s okay to be sad. It’s also okay to be sad at church. It’s okay to come to church just as you are… if there is any place where you should not have to pretend to be better than you are it is church.
    But even so, this text in referring to mourning is not merely addressing feeling sad.
    This beatitude is not merely a blanket blessing upon those who are sad. It’s not merely a verse to take out of context when bad things happen to cheer you up. But it is a commendation that those who mourn over their sin will be comforted.
    Mourning is not just being sad, or just weeping. Mourning is not just crying.
    John MacArthur helpfully defines mourning as Godly Sorrow.
    Not everyone who is sad, or weeps will be comforted.
    Hell is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Those who weep in hell will not be comforted. They will weep, but they will not mourn - or express a godly sorrow toward sin.
    Not all who mourn are comforted. A few weeks ago I mentioned that the opposite of the blessings that Jesus speaks in this text, are the woes that he speaks later. In Luke 6:25, we read of Jesus speaking to a group
    Luke 6:25 ESV
    25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
    Luke records Jesus speaking that Woe along with two others following Luke’s recording of the Beatitudes.
    This woe is not a condemnation on all who laugh, laughter is a good thing, but it is upon the wicked. Those who do not repent of their sins, and they laugh and mock the righteous - they will not laugh on the day of judgment but they will mourn.
    And much like that woe has an end times aspect to it, so does our beatitude for today. However, like poor in spirit so does it have a fulfillment for today.
    Matthew 5:4 ESV
    4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
    If we remember that the previous beatitude was a blessing on the spiritually poor, and that our spiritual poverty is a result of our sinful state and desperate need for God to save us from our sins. Then we are drawn close the reason for the mourning that is prescribed in this text. Almost all commentators that I read stated that the type of mourning that Jesus speaks of here is mourning over one’s sin.
    And the goal of this mourning, this godly sorrow, is repentance. The reason these mourners are blessed is because proper mourning over sin leads to repentance
    Mourning over sin is not merely a feeling of guilt or self-resentment following the committing of sin. We’ve all had that experience where we sinned in someway or another and we are filled with regret. To truly mourn sin, we need to understand what sin is. Confess that. And turn to the only one who can forgive us of sin.
    We ought to mourn over our own sin, first and foremost, however, it is also appropriate to mourn over the sins of others. And I think we can assert that the righteous will be comforted following both.
    Mourn over:
    Your Own Sin
    The Sin of those around you.
    Mourn the sin that ruins the lives of those around you.
    Be careful not to ignore the plank in your own eye, while mourning the speck in your brothers eye.
    The sin that abounds in your nation.
    However, one will not appropriately mourn the sins of others, or their own nation, unless they have first mourned and repented of their own sins.
    However, I want to give examples of how each of those categories exist in Scripture.

    Mourn Your Own Sin

    There are a several clear examples of mourning ones own sin.
    Job in Job 42, mourns and repents of his sin and presumptions after he has the encounter with God that he requests in the whole book. Only for him to realize that he has spoken to soon, he puts his hand over his mouth and he states that he will not speak again. He is silent before God, because he realizes how small he is - and understands how BIG God is.
    One of the most well know examples is David in Psalm 51. Following his sin with Bathsheba, David pours out this Psalm mourning his sin, and repenting of his wickedness. David openly exposes how vile his actions were.
    Psalm 51:3–6 ESV
    3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
    And in verse 17, David teaches us about what is the heart proper morning.
    Psalm 51:17 ESV
    17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
    The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a broken and a contrite heart. And this perfect describes the kind of mourning that the Lord desires of his people.
    Isaiah 6:5 ESV
    5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for 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!”
    Paul in Romans 7:24.
    Romans 7:24 ESV
    24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
    ALso in 2 Cor 7:9-10
    2 Corinthians 7:9–10 ESV
    9 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. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
    Paul writes of the godly grief that produces repentance.
    And it is in this verse that really helps us to explain our beatitude for this morning. We shall be comforted when we mourn if our mourning/godly grief yields repentance that leads to salvation.
    This is the sort of mourning that is the vocabulary of the Christian. If you are in Christ then this is how you ought to feel about your sin.
    When is the last time that you mourned over your own sin?
    D.A. Carson makes the assertion “Spiritual mourning is necessary for salvation. No one is truly a Christian who has nor mourned over his or her sins. You cannot be forgiven if you are not sorry for your sins.”

    How to Mourn the Sins of the Nation

    Mourning the sins of the nation is a common theme found in the Old Testament. the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezra and Nehemiah (among others) all have this.
    Jesus
    Mourns over the sins of Jerusalem. In Matthew 23:37–38 ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate.”
    The Bible teaches us that we should mourn over the sin of our nation. Our nation has turned a blind eye to sexual immorality, child sacrifice, hatred of elders, or rampant injustice. We rightly should mourn the godlessness and unrighteousness.
    Headlines this week have demonstrated the significant need to mourn the sins of our nation. As women attempt to make a victim, or a hero, out of a woman who killed her children. Even though everyone who is part of the trial agrees she did it. But our nation’s cognitive dissonance leads people not only ignores godlessness, but to approve of it.
    In your godly sorrow for what our nation celebrates… abortion, sexual perversion, murder, disobedience to parents, idolatry, adultery drunkeness… our nation has taken 1 Cor 6:9 as a checklist, rather than a warning. And that passage ends with those who do these things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
    And those are all issues that we mourn as Christians, and we mourn that our country celebrates them. But that mourning should lead us to prayer. We should pray that those who practice these things might hear the good news that Jesus Christ died to save sinners…
    And that having heard that message pray that they might repent, and turn to Christ. And for those who come to him in faith he will give you the kingdom of God.
    The free gift of the gospel is offered to all - and those who being poor in spirit and desperate for God’s help, turn to him in repentance, and hatred of sin - confess that Jesus is Lord - they will be saved.
    (invitation?)
    And the last part of this beatitude is that they shall be comforted.

    They Shall Be Comforted

    Those who mourn over their sinfulness will be comforted by the forgiveness that flows from calvary. forgiveness brings comfort. Jesus promises that those who mourn shall be comforted. Those who show Godly sorrow over their sins will be forgiven. It should be of no surprise to us that the Holy Spirit is called the comforter. The one who works salvation in us, and brings us comfort in our mourning, is who Jesus promised he would went after he departed.
    Paul shows this well in Romans 8. Just two verses after Paul writes “who shall deliver me from this body of death.” He follows up with there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Paul has mourned his sin, and then rejoiced in the comfort of forgiveness that only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring. Now you may even be perplexed because mourning and godly sorrow are not fruits of the Spirit. But rather joy is a fruit of the spirit - and these seems to be the opposite. Those who mourn their sins, and are forgiven should be filled with joy.
    “Holy mourning is the seed out of which the flower of eternal joy grows.” Basil of Caesarea. we can see this supported by Psalm 126:5-6
    Psalm 126:5–6 ESV
    Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
    Mourning over your sin is not exclusive to one’s conversion. On this side of eternity each Christian, though given a new heart and new desires, will continue to sin. And continue to need to repent. For this reason, we should continue to hate our sin and mourn over it. One day there will be no sin left to mourn. Jesus, when he returns will put death to death, sin will be eternally defeated, the mourner will be comforted.
    Revelation 21:4 ESV
    4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
    You may hear this week and last week’s beatitudes and think - this sounds a Lot like the gospel. The beatitudes are not the gospel, as they do not explain the death and resurrection of Jesus, but they are a description of what is happening in the heart of a sinner when they converted.
    Christian, when is the last time you mourned over your sins?
    Do you mourn over when you blow up at your wife? Or your kids? do you mourn over your gossip?
    Do you mourn over the sins of our nation? Do you pray for their repentance?
    As I conclude, I want to read a quote that I came across this week. I wasn’t certain how to fit it in my sermon, but it’s a good summary of this sermon.
    “The man who truly mourns because of his sinful state and condition is a man who is going to repent; he is indeed, actually repenting already. And the man who truly repents as the result of the work of the Holy Spirit upon him, is a man who is certain to be led to the Lord Jesus Christ. Having seen his utter sinfulness and hopelessness, he looks for a saviour, and his finds him in Christ. No one can truly know Him as his personal Savior and Redeemer unless he has first of all known what it is to mourn. It is only the man who cries out, ‘O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me?’ who can go on to say, ‘I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.’” - MLJ

      • Matthew 5:4ESV

      • Luke 6:25ESV

      • Matthew 5:4ESV

      • Psalm 51:3–6ESV

      • Psalm 51:17ESV

      • Isaiah 6:5ESV

      • Romans 7:24ESV

      • 2 Corinthians 7:9–10ESV

      • Psalm 126:5–6ESV

      • Revelation 21:4ESV

  • Christ Is Mine Forevermore
Maranatha Baptist Church
info@mbcglobe.org
http://www.mbcglobe.org
4 members • 2 followers