Blessed are those that Mourn

The verse which we are about to study this morning is one of the most misunderstood verses which are familiar to us. It seems like a simple enough verse but it has a deep spiritual meaning which is normally glossed over in our reading of the scripture.

In the star bizz world of the glossy TV fakery we seldom hear about this aspect of Life. The world tries to stay away from sadness and mourning and is quite unprepared to face this part of life. The world tries to keep a h happy face km mask to cover up the confusion and turmoil. Instead of expressing their real hurt they control their emotions with drugs. - an upper when you want to look happy and a downer when you want to put yourself out of miserly for a few hours of sleep. But there is not one moment when it is proper to allow those emotions to express themselves to come to know the peace of God when a person mo mourns over their sin.

If a person has not experienced this Beatitude it affects four areas of spiritual life. They will never be saved, they will lack purpose in life, they will lack seriousness, and they will have an ineffective prayer life. I trust that after we are through this morning that your lives will be transformed as mine was through a study of this verse. Blessed are they that mourn for- they shall be comforted.

Many have used this verse to comfort those who are experiencing sorrow due to death or bereavement of some kind. That may be a secondary application of this verse but it certainly has a much more significant and spiritual application. Just as the poor in spirit does not mean the financially poor, today's beatitude must be understood in a spiritual sense.

There are two heresies floating about in the evangelical community. The first is that we are to always be euforic and happy with a smile on our face as Christians. If you are not continuously happy with a light attitude and jovial then you are not trusting the Lord. If you have problems and are struggling with difficulties in our life then something is wrong in your Christian life. This is a very dangerous heresy which denies our beatitude, "Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted." You cannot be comforted unless you are mourning.

Why is this a heresy? 1. It encourages Christians to be hypocrites. Christians are human and they have times of difficulty. Some Christians think that if an unsaved friend would see them down then they would be a poor testimony. On the contrary. If you are always bubbly and putting on a front then how can they identify with this superhuman? They think you must be a phony.

2. It is a heresy because it promotes a superficial concept of joy and happiness which is unbiblical. We defined the word Blessed as being a state of contentment in which we have as Christians knowing that we have place our trust in God. A Christian can be content without always being in a state of humour or laughing. Many Christians swing to the opposite pole and feel that Christians have to have a long face which is equally as wrong.

The second heresy which is floating about the evangelical community is that all you have to do to become a Christian is to repeat a little prayer and then you will go to heaven. This is confessing our sin but there is more to salvation than just repeating a prayer where we admit we are wrong. Salvation includes repentance, restitution and conversion a turning to God by changing our way of Life. It is like trying to make cement. If we just add water to gravel we do not have cement but we need to add limestone cement, gravel and water in the right proportions before the cement will be fit to use.

To mourn is to allow God too break our heart with the things that break His heart and thereby gain His goals for our lives.

Conviction must precede conversion. If a person never has wept over their sinful lost condition there has been a lack of realization of the sinfulness of these condition. James 4: 8 - 10 says" Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. "

We read in the first beatitude that we were to become poor in spirit - to humble yourselves before the Lord. Thus the second beatitude follows We are to weep over our spiritual condition.

In my own Life I thought I was OK and I went to church but it was not until I realized my sinful condition that I wept and asked God to cleanse my heart, elaborate When we come to that point in our life when we have confessed our sin and truly felt sorry for our iniquities we will be comforted by the holy Spirit - God's Comforter.

Not only are we to weep over our own sin but over the sin of others. We are to mourn for those who have come into the church but have continued in sin and gone astray. We read in I Corinthians 5: 2, "And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have been filled with grief and have put out of your fellowship the man who did this? Paul writes to the Corinthians in his second letter chapter 12:20, 21 "For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.' Paul grieved over the spiritual condition of those who called themselves Christians. We should as well.

In the middle of Jesus triumphant ride into Jerusalem we read that when he saw the city he wept. He knew the destruction that would come upon the city and its inhabitants.

We as Christians are to mourn for the world in their lost condition. Are you stirred by the thought that there are some in this room this morning who have never wept and repented of their sins! I have difficulty containing my emotions at times when I think that

God's condemnation rests upon those who have not given their Life to Christ. John 3: l8nreads Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he ahs not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. Verse 36 says Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him. Doesn't that stir your heart to action. How can we sit here and not be moved with com= passion for the lost and then do something about it. God forgive us for our complacency!

Once we begin to mourn over our spiritual condition and that of others we will gain a new sense of purpose in life. We will gain a fresh understanding of why God has placed us where he has. Start to see the lost condition of hers about us. The Lack of seriousness in our lives will be overcome as we begin to pray and fast for these who still do not know Jesus as their Saviour. They we will study the word with a new vigor as we seek to find God's answer for those who are lost about us.

If you have been suffering from an ineffective prayer life you can be assure that as you weep over the lost your prayer life will grow. Truly as you mourn over sin and those who are bound by their sinful habits and wretchedness your prayer life will be converted! You will see a change in your own life as you reach out and help others.

In closing just a word about the promise that we have in our beatitude. They shall be comforted. We will be co comforted in several ways. Ist we receive the comforter in our life when wemourn over our own lost condition and turn our life over to God. Then the Holy Spirit will also comfort us as we mourn for others. He will give us joy as we see those who we have laboured for in prayer come to know Jesus Christ.

Some of you this morning have not responded to God's love through Jesus sacrificial death on the cross. Will you make this morning the day that you give your life over to Jesus. If tlat is your desire we want to give you the opportunity to come forward and receive Jesus as your personal savoir and Lord. We want to usher you into the Kingdom of God.