Blessed Are Those Who Mourn – Matthew 5:4

Published May 2, 2010 by Ron Latulippe in Messages

SERMON OUTLINE

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn Matthew 5.4

“Blessed the mourning, for they will be comforted.”

Matthew 5.4 (literal translation)

Introduction

We have God’s Word but sometimes it does not make sense until we understand the spiritual dynamic behind the teaching. Certain teaching does not make sense until you are a Christian. Such is the Beatitudes which teach in verse 4 that “The Sad are Glad”.

Outline of Beatitudes

V3, Foundation. Basic Heart attitude that motivates all

V4-6, Three heart responses. Heart attentiveness

V7-9, Three outward responses. Heart in action

V10-12, The world’s response. Heart antagonism

Blessed Are They That Mourn

-The world seeks happiness which is circumstantial. The Christian is to seek holiness.

-A picture of the happy seeker and the Blessed.

-The strongest of 9 Greek words. Continuous present.

What is to be Mourned?

1) Personal sin before a holy God. 1 Timothy 1.15-16; Luke 6.25; Romans 8.22-25; 2 Corinthians 5.1-5

2) The effects of sin and the pain of sin in others. Jesus a man of sorrows. Ecclesiastes 7.2-4

3) Over his own suffering. 2 Corinthians 1.3-7; 7.10

How Does God Comfort Those who Mourn?

1) By given them His peace.

2) By the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

3) By the hope of eternal life. John 14-1-3

A Profile of the Christian who Mourns

Sober-minded, eternal perspective, humble, sensitive to personal sin, responsive to the suffering of others, see God working in their own suffering, joy, gratitude, peace, compassion, mercy, no tolerance for sin and disobedience but merciful to the victims of sin, fruitful.

Not bitter, miserable, gloomy, complaining, distressed.

How to Learn to Mourn

1) Study God’s Holiness and His reaction to sin.

2) Pray for insight into God’s Holiness and sin.

3) Ask for forgiveness when convicted of sin. Repent quickly from sin.

4) Receive the comfort of God through forgiveness and by His Spirit.

5) Walk in joy by rejoicing in God.

6) Make every day a new pursuit of God.

SERMON NOTES

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn Matthew 5.4

-As God’s people we have the great privilege and blessing of God’s Word. We can read it and learn how to get to heaven. We can learn how God wants us to live and how we can walk in the peace and love of God. We are told how to experience the daily blessing of God.

-Some of the teaching in the Bible may seem unreasonable and may not make sense to us until we understand the spiritual dynamics behind the teaching. So it is with the Beatitudes. Here we are told in a straight forward manner that the “The Sad are Glad”. That does not make sense to the world and to those who do not know God. This teaching only makes sense to those who have a conviction of personal sin and who have experienced the forgiveness of God.

-The Blessed are those who trust in God through their Savior Jesus Christ and know the fellowship and favor of God on their lives. Blessed is the enjoyment of our relationship with God and the experience and hope of His promises to us

Outline of Beatitudes

V3, Foundation. Basic Heart attitude that motivates all. Poor in spirit

V4-6, Three heart responses. Heart attentiveness. Mourn, meek, seek

V7-9, Three outward responses. Heart in action. Mercy, pure, peace

V10-12, The world’s response. Heart antagonism Persecuted for righteousness

–The world seeks happiness. A large part of the world spends their day seeking to survive the day, but their dream is to one day have enough to be happy. In Canada we are drowning in materialism while we seek to be happy. Happy is about our circumstances but the blessed life that Jesus is speaking about here comes from within. Blessed comes from a relationship with God and has little to do with circumstances. Blessed is real, lasting and satisfying

-The world pictures happy as a lottery winner, “imagine the possibilities”. God pictures the blessed as a person bowed down before Him weeping over their sin, and finding forgiveness and the peace of God. …as a person bowed down before God weeping for a loved one, and experiencing the blessed fellowship of God in bringing someone else’s pain before the throne of God. …as a person bowed down before God in their own trial, knowing the blessing of the comfort and love of God.

-Sadly many Christians today desire the happy life of the world and not the holy blessed life of God. We would rather win the lottery than be pleasing to God. We do not seek the blessedness of those who mourn and are comforted by God. As Christians today we want to be pampered, entertained, and happy. We want to laugh, be pain free, and have all our desires met. We do not want to mourn over sin and mourn over the crushing blows of sin upon the world. We do not want to repent as God exposes the sin in our own heart through trial and suffering. Because we do not want to mourn, we do not know the comfort of God, and the joy and gratitude of God’s Grace, and we are not conformed to the image of Christ.

-There are 9 Greek words for mourn. This verse uses the strongest of those 9 words. We learned last time that the word used for poor meant the destitute poor and not just the working poor, the poor who could only survive by the help of others. So this word for mourn is a strong word that is used for those who mourn for the dead. It means to lament, to express open unrestrained grief. This person is strongly moved to grief by what they are facing.

-This is also a present continuous tense which points to an ongoing condition and not just one specific incident.

–What is to be mourned? Let me mention three things.

1) Above all else these Beatitudes are about the spiritual life. Blessed are the poor in spirit. The first thing to be mourned is personal sin before a Holy God. This is a response to our spiritual poverty before a Holy God. A person must first be convicted of sin before God, and mourn over their sin, before they can be converted and discover the comfort of joy and peace with God in Christ. A continued conviction of personal sin in the life of the Christian is essential for a strong, vibrant Christian life that is filled with dependence on God, gratitude for Grace, joy, and abandonment to God. A continued conviction of personal sin and the forgiveness of God promotes humble worship and dedicated service. As Paul matured in Christ so did his understanding of the enslaving power of sin, and how much sin had corrupted his life and all of mankind. At the end of his life Paul could write, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1.15-16)

-If you are not mourning over your sin on a regular basis then you do not know God, or you are not seeking God and spending time in His Holy presence. Your conscience has become dull and you are in great danger of becoming a religious and unfruitful Christian.

-Luke put this Beatitude in a different way. Luke writes, “Woe to those who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.” (Luke 6.25) The Christian is one who regularly mourns over sin before a Holy God and who maintains a clear conscience before a Holy God. Paul writes that the Christian “groans inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Our bodies still have a strong affinity to sin. Our bodies are willing to follow after sin and are tempted by sin and still need to be redeemed. We groan over that pull toward sin and long for that full and complete redemption from sin. Paul writes in another place, “we groan longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.” (Romans 8.22-25; 2 Corinthians 5.1-5) The final time of comfort promised in this verse is coming to all who are presently mourning over personal sin.

2) We are also to mourn the effect of sin and the pain of sin in others. Jesus is described as a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”. We are told that when Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus “He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled and He wept.” Jesus did not weep because Lazarus died. He was about to raise him from the dead. Jesus wept because of the devastation of sin in the world. When Jesus was approaching Jerusalem and knew that the people were going to miss God’s coming to them, and that soon the city of Jerusalem was going to be destroyed because of their sin, He wept over the city. When we mourn over our own sin and understand how sin has permeated humanity and desecrated the Glory of God in man, and see the pain and suffering of sin in the lives of those around us, we will mourn because of the effect of sin in others. We will pray and cry out for God’s mercy and grace to reverse the effect of sin and the pain of sin in others. We will align our heart with the heart of God who grieves over sin and its effects in His creation. The Christian mourns because of the effect of sin and the pain of sin in others and is comforted and rejoices as God works in the lives of others.

-Solomon gives us some wise advice in the book of Ecclesiastes 7.2-4. “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.” We need to soberly face the reality of sin in our lives and in the world and the death and judgment that awaits all of us, for they are eternal issues.

3) Finally the Christian mourns over his own suffering. The Christian mourns his suffering while realizing that God’s comfort will soon follow and God’s purposes are accomplished through suffering. 2 Corinthians 1.3-7 makes this point very well. [Read].

-The Christian suffers troubles and trials and temptations and mourns in them but also knows that God’s comfort will soon follow and God’s purposes will be accomplished through the suffering. God builds character, compassion, holiness (sin and faults exposed through trouble), deeper fellowship with God and deeper fellowship with those who know God.

-Watch carefully for bitterness, hardness of heart, and resentment toward God and the church. This results because we have not given ourselves fully to God and we are not trusting in the Goodness and Love of God. Trials and suffering is given to reveal this to us and to lead us to mourn over our sin and to repent and to know in a fuller way the blessed life of trust in God. 2 Corinthians 7.10 says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”

–How does God comfort those who mourn?

1) God comforts those who mourn by given them His peace. Through the forgiveness of sins we enter into God’s peace. As long as we live in fellowship with God and confess our sins we remain in the peace of God.

2) God also comforts His people by the Holy Spirit Who is called the Comforter in the NT. The Holy Spirit comforts the Christian in their daily walk with God. If we are not walking in the peace and comfort of God we need to examine our lives and see if sin and disobedience has been allowed to take root in our hearts. 3) Finally God comforts us with the hope of eternity. John 14.1-3 says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be with me where I am.”

-It is not mourning that brings comfort to the Christian but God and His promises that comfort the mourning Christian.

-What is the profile of a Christian who mourns and who is comforted?

The NT often exhorts the Christian to be sober-minded. The one who mourns sees life from an eternal perspective. He is humble. She is sensitive to personal sin, to the sin of others and how sin affects others. They are responsive to their own suffering knowing that God is working good through it. They are not bitter, miserable, complaining, distressed, gloomy. Rather they are filled with joy and gratitude, compassion and mercy. They have no tolerance for sin and disobedience to God but have mercy on the victims of sin. The Christian who mourns and looks for the comfort of God is marked by a deep and serious relationship with God, and knows the heart of God, and has the heart of God for others. They are fruitful in the work of God.

-How can we learn to mourn as this verse teaches?