“The Blessing Of Mourning”
Matthew 5:4
Sermon Series: “The Blessing”
Introduction: The first two Beatitudes really go together. We must intellectually recognize our utter spiritual bankruptcy and humble ourselves. Then, we emotionally mourn over our sin. Isaiah 61:1-2, speaking of the Messiah, says, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
* Main Idea: We are blessed with divine comfort when we genuinely and deeply mourn over sin. *
I) Mourning
1. Definitions:
A. Mourn-It is a very strong word for grief and is speaking of grieving over sin in this context. It is impossible to truly be a Christian without genuine sorrow over our sin. We are to primarily grieve over our own sin, but there are also occasions where it is proper to mourn over the sin of God’s people (see Nehemiah 1 and 1 Corinthians 5).
B. Sin-Sin is the nature that is within us and sins are the actions that we commit. It is our root problem (see Romans 7).
2. What Mourning Is Not-In speaking of mourning in this case, we are not talking about mourning over the difficulties of life, being joyless, always being serious, some type of false religious piety, or being sad about the consequences of sins.
3. How We Avoid Mourning-We will often go to great lengths to avoid dealing with our wrongdoing. We do such things as denial, rationalization/excuses, entertainment/hobbies, relationships, mind- altering substances, belief systems, etc. in order to attempt to avoid feelings of guilt.
4. Why We Should Mourn Over Sin:
A. God’s holiness (sin grieves the heart of God)
B. God’s goodness
C. Who we are listening to (Satan)
D. The effects of sin (1 Chronicles 4:10, Romans 14:7) E. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross
5. How This Works Practically (see Psalm 51): Conviction (John 16:7-11)> Humility> Mourning> Confession (1 John 1:9)> Looking to the cross and trusting Jesus (1 John 2:1-2)> Repentance (2 Corinthians 7:8-11, sometimes repentance includes restitution or making things right with others)=Comfort (forgiveness, salvation, peace, guilt-free)
II) Comfort
1. We are given comfort, consolation, and encouragement right now when we receive the forgiveness of sin. God comforts us in different ways during the trials of life, but this is primarily how He comforts us when we sin. It is also crucial for us to remember that repentance is how we deal with trials that come from sin.
2. We are given the eternal comfort and rest of God through faith in Jesus Christ (see Revelation 21:1-7). On the other hand, for those who reject the Lord Jesus, there will be mourning (Zechariah 12:10), wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:41- 42), and torment (Luke 16:24). Basically we can live however we want to now and mourn eternally or repent of sin now and be comforted eternally.
3. We are given comfort through the work of Jesus on the cross (Luke 22:39-46, Isaiah 53:1-6).
