Continuing our study of the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:3-12. The beatitude comes from the idea of blessedness. From the word there, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." and "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." These are the first two of the beautitudes.
The word beautitude means happiness. But, it's more than just happiness it is a blessedness, a spiritually happy, well-balanced, spiritual person.
There are two divisions in The Beatitudes. The first four beautitudes deal with how to be right with God and how to remove sin. They build one another.
We looked last week at the poor in spirit. The poor in spirit have a humble opinion of themselves, spiritually. They're willing to follow the Lord. They remove pride and arrogance. People who are poor in spirit will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. They're the ones, you might say, who are on the doorstep of the Kingdom.
And to build upon that, you recognize that you can do nothing to save yourself and recognize the price paid for sin, the wages of sin, you come to understand, that because of your own sin, you are lost. And this brings about the idea of mournfulness. We're going to look tonight at what it means to mourn, in a spiritual sense, and how we are comforted.
"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." — Matthew 5:4
What Does it Mean to Mourn?
"Blessed are they that mourn...," This is a paradoxical statement. It seems to contradict itself, yet it is true.
- Jesus’ use of paradox.
- Matthew 10:39; 23:11
- James 1:2
Again, there is an implied paradox that we're to find joy even when we're going through hard times. And so, He says, "Blessed are they that mourn." Or, Happy are those who mourn.
Now, does Jesus, does it mean that Jesus wants us to be sad? He wants us to go around moping and sad all the time? Jesus wants us to be filled with joy.
- He wants us to be joyful.
- John 16:33
- Philippians 4:4
- Proverbs 17:22
It is the case that Jesus does not want us to be sad. But he says, instead, blessed are they that mourn. How can people who mourn, and how can people who are sad, also be happy?
You know, men have always felt that prosperous and cheerful people are the ones who are blessed. Christ, though, pronounces a blessing on those who are in mourning. Someone has referred to this beatitude in the past as a happy sorrow. You know, the world tries to avoid mourning, tries to avoid sorrow and pain. The philosophy of most people in the world is to get all the pleasure you can out of life, to seek fun and entertainment. This is what they think brings real happiness.
To mourn does not mean though, that you are a pessimist. Or that you are one who is a chronic complainer. To mourn doesn't mean to mourn because a man has ruled God out of his life.
It doesn't mean to mourn because of the consequences of sin. You know, the jail has mourners. But, this is not what Jesus is talking about. There is that sorrow of the world, the sorrow of I got caught. This is not what Jesus is talking about.
To mourn does not mean to mourn because of persecution.
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and shall persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven." — Matthew 5:10-12
This mourning, that Jesus is talking about is not for unpleasant earthly circumstances. Mourn here has a spiritual meaning. Just as poor in spirit, Matthew 5:3, poor has a spiritual meaning because it's poor in spirits, it does not mean that one is poor financially or fiscally, but one who is poor in heart or one who is humble. You know the Greek word translated mourn, pentheo, here means: to mourn, to mourn passionately for, to lament, to grieve, to weep audibly, to shed tears, to cry as a child.
To mourn doesn't mean to mourn because of persecution. Matthew 5:10-11. This word mourning, is not for unpleasant, earthly circumstances. is an intense sorrow. The person who will be blessed for mourning is the one who.
You know this is perhaps the strongest word for mourning in the Greek New Testament. It was used for the mourning of the dead. Sometimes the word is translated as wailing.
- To mourn because of sin.
- 2 Corinthians 12:21
You know, Paul is talking about when he comes back to Corinth if they don't handle the sin that's in the congregation that he spoke of. He says he's going to be, he's going to be humble and he's going to be, well, he's going to mourn because they have not repented, the fact that they have continued to go down the path they were on.
And so that's the idea of mourning is a very intense sorrow. You know, the person who's going to be blessed for his mourning is one who mourns for his sin and has sorrow for his sin. Again, this is a mourning of a spiritual nature.
I can think of no greater example of one who mourned over sin, maybe than King David after his terrible sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah, her husband.
- Psalm 51:1-4
You know, David, I can almost picture him weeping as he's writing this. He is mourning over the sin that he's committed, the guilt, the weight of the sin he has now felt. He didn't think too much of the sin until it was brought home to him by Nathan the prophet. He told the parable of the rich man who stole the poor man's lamb and ate it. And, David was angry, said that man needs to be punished. And Nathan says, Thou art the man. And it all comes crashing down to David.
Think about, Peter, after denying the Lord. You know, he said, I will never deny you, I will never, forsake you, and Jesus said, you will deny me thrice this night.
And he's weighted down with his sin and his guilt.
- Luke 22:54-62
You imagine the agony that Jesus felt at that moment. And the guilt that must have come crashing down upon Peter at that moment. He mourned for his sin. He wept bitterly.
- Isaiah 6:5
Again, there are two types of sorrow here; worldly sorrow, that I'm sorry I got caught and I'm now facing the consequences, and godly sorrow. Godly sorrow is when I recognize what I've done is wrong, and I feel the guilt of it. I feel the burden of that sin. And it leads one to repent, real repentance, a genuine change of heart. A genuine change of life.
Your repentance, it's not just sorrow or change, it is a change of mind because God's word causes us to turn away from sin. We cannot repent without sorrow. Repentance is a change of heart, bringing about a change of life. It's an inside change that shows on the outside of our life. This morning comes from a tender conscience, from a broken heart. This kind of weeping is what can pierce the heart.
Notice also, he says, Blessed are they that mourn, now this is in the present tense. This indicates continual mourning and sorrow. It does not say blessed are those who have mourned, but it uses the word mourn which means a continual sorrow, it's a present active verb there. Blessed are they that continue in sorrow.
You know, it's a good thing really to be able to feel pain. We may not think it when we're feeling it, but, you know, when something happens and we feel pain, we know something's wrong. You know, dead limbs don't feel any pain. You know, that's one of the problems I understand with lepers. Is that they'll lose sensitivity in their hand, or their foot, and they'll get injured and not even know it. And then that injury will become infected. It basically will rot. And so, the idea that we can feel pain is a good thing.
If there is a pain sensitivity, then there is hope. Especially spiritually speaking. A conscience, though that is seared, past feeling, belongs to a lost person who has absolutely no hope.
"Speaking lies and hypocrisies, having their conscience seared with a hot iron." — 1 Timothy 4:2
You know, when you burn yourself and you repeatedly burn yourself eventually you're going to build up a callus or you're going to kill those nerves and it's not going to hurt so much anymore. I know some old-school electricians that used to, you know, lick their fingers and stick it on an outlet. to save his life. A silly thing to do, yet they would do it all the time. They'd feel that shock, but their fingers were tough. And those fingers were deadened. And so, I'm not sure how long you can continue to do that. But, I know of some for whom that was a common practice in the old days.
And so, having their conscience seared, at their past feelings is Ephesians 4:19. You know, our conscience becomes seared when we sin. We might feel bad the first time, but we go back to that same sin, and we do it again and again with no repentance. Eventually, we don't even feel sorry for it. We don't feel that sense of sorrow, we don't feel that sense of guilt and, and pretty soon it leads to more and more depravity. And so as long as we can feel, as long as we can mourn, as long as we feel that godly sorrow then we will be able to find real comforts.
- 2 Corinthians 7:9-10
- Psalm 51:16-17
How Are We Comforted?
And so blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. You know, how are we comforted? What does it mean to be comforted? You know, what does the word comforted mean, for instance? It means it implies a strengthening as well as a consolation. It means the call to be consoled.
- Comfort
- 2 Corinthians 1:4
And so God calls us near in order to console us. When we mourn for sin, we're going to be comforted. You know, mourning for sin turns to joy, it can turn to joy. It's fulfilled in three ways. First of all, when we obey the gospel, we have forgiveness. You know, the gospel plan of salvation is simple, hear the Word of God and believe it, repent of our sins, confess our belief, be baptized to wash away our sins.
- Mourning for sin turns into joy.
- Mark 16:16
- Acts 8:39
- 1 John 1:7,9
- Luke 16:25
- Hebrews 6:19
It crosses into the very presence of God. We're anchored there. What a great comfort it is for a ship that's tossed at sea to come into that port and to cast its anchor into that safe harbor and to know that they cannot move, they cannot be moved. What a blessing, what a comfort that is.
- Matthew 5:4 & 11:28
We see that heavy-laden is like mourning, those who are heavy-laden with a burden of sin. They mourn over sin.
The comfort is found in that resting in the Lord is how are we comforted.
The value of pain could bring healing. Medicine may taste bad, but it can cure our ills. Those who have had surgery also know that the pain of that surgery has brought relief. It may save your life. The same is true spiritually.
Repentance or mourning for sins may be painful, but it brings comfort and forgiveness. And this really, is that peace of God which passeth all understanding, which comes only to God's children, Philippians 4:7.
- Pain can bring healing.
- Philippians 4:7
- Benefits of mourning.
- 1 Timothy 4:2
- Ephesians 4:19
You know, mourning for our sin prepares the heart to receive the balm of Gilead.
- Jeremain 8:22
Gilead was known for its medicine. It was known as a place where there was a balm that was made from that place that was well known. He says, you know, is there not a balm in Gilead? Is there not somewhere that you can receive this healing? And of course, he's talking about the sinfulness of the people. They have not, they do not mourn over sin in the days of Jeremiah. They would not look for the medicine, though it was available, but they wouldn't take it because they didn't feel the pain. They were past feeling.
The mourner is blessed because he sees his need for salvation. Every sinner needs salvation. But most don't recognize their own need, he is the kind of person, though, that God can save. When he is penitent of all his sins. All others resist and are rejected by God because of their rebellious and unrepentant hearts. Blessed are ye that mourn.
So blessed are the poor in spirit, s we saw before, it means to be without, spiritually it means, without pride, arrogance, and haughtiness. A recognition of one's dependence upon God. The result is the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit will receive God's greatest blessing.
Blessed are they that mourn, this is the person who mourns for his sin, and who is filled with sorrow. That godly sorrow that Paul spoke about in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10, that led them to repent. The result is that the people who can mourn for their sins will be comforted by forgiveness. This consolation is available. There is a balm in Gilead that is available for us.
A person who believes in God realizes that sin is against God and hurts Him. Like David said, against thee and thee only have I sinned. He recognized who he had sinned against. You think about the Jews on Pentecost.
"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" — Acts 2:36-37
They felt the burden of that sin come upon them. They were convicted for what they had done. And I believe there was a godly sorrow because we know they were told to repent and be baptized for the remission of their sins, Acts 2:38.
And we know on that day 3,000 did so. 3,000 out of maybe a million people, is not a very large percentage, but those that gladly received the word were baptized, vs. 41.
Repentance is more than reform or change, it's a change of life brought about because of a change of mind. [It's] brought about by godly sorrow. It's not that sorrow of the world that doesn't lead to forgiveness. It's that godly sorrow.
Someone might say, well God can't forgive me. I've been too bad too many times. You don't know what I've done. God can't possibly forgive that. God can't. You know, this kind of attitude is not real godly sorrow or mourning for sin. It is a lack of faith in God and His grace. So never allow guilt to cause you to refuse the comfort of God's forgiveness.
Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11, 28-30.
Blessed is the one who is sorry for his sin and his own unworthiness. Only then can God begin the healing process.
So let me ask you, do you mourn for your sin? Do you feel the burden and the guilt of sin? Then, you need to make it right to become a child of God by hearing, believing, confessing, repenting of your sins, and being baptized for the remission of your sins.
As a child of God, if you're not faithful, return to that faithfulness that you once had.
If we can help you today to respond to the Lord's invitation, would you contact us?