Blessed Are They That Mourn

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Good morning. Trying to see who all is smiling this morning. Hopefully the ones that are smiling are the ones that are rejoicing this morning. What do you have to rejoice about today? [00:00:35] Healthy baby boy. Hallelujah. Amen. I had to think. When we were singing this little light of mine, are we letting our light shine? In Matthew 5, verse 13, [00:01:10] You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand And it gives light to all who are in the house Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works [00:01:41] And glorify who? You? No Glorify your Father in heaven Salt makes a difference, don't it Verba? We all know Verba likes salt Salt makes a big difference and I've never had this before, but if you take the salt shaker and shake it on your corn or lettuce or whatever, perfect puts it on everything. If you would dump it out and taste it and it didn't taste, it didn't make a difference, [00:02:16] what would you do with that salt shaker? My question to myself and to us as individuals, to us as a church, Are we making a difference? Are you making a difference? Is there a difference in your life? Are you allowing God to make a difference in your life? Is there a difference in your family, men, as leaders in the home? Can you see a difference in your family? [00:02:47] Can you see a difference in your community? Are we letting our light shine? I'd really like to know what's on your heart this morning. I'm just so close to just letting you all talk for a while, but I think I'll pass on that. I would ask that as I'm up here and your eyes are open and maybe you want to close them, that you would pray for me this morning. [00:03:19] I feel like my notes here, if you want to see them, you can see them, you'd probably laugh. I feel like I'm all mixed up, I don't know what to say first, and I am praying. It feels like the only way, and I know this is true, the only way that God can speak to you is through the Holy Spirit. I pray that the Holy Spirit will take this conglomeration of words and scriptures and put them in order for you. [00:04:00] That you can take it and God can speak to each one of us. Matthew 5 verse 4 Blessed are those who mourn. What does it mean to mourn? To mourn is to express grief or sorrow. [00:04:34] I think it's also to bewail. I think you'll find the word in bewail. When you think of bewail, what do you think of? Crying out? Weeping? But bewail, you'll find the word bewail in the King James Version in 2 Corinthians 12, verse 21. But in the New King James it's used mourn. I like the word bewail. [00:05:07] When you express grief, how do you express grief or sorrow? What do you do? Cry. You weep. I don't think that... Well, first of all, to mourn is to be broken. The broken and contrite spirit who grieves or weeps over failure and wrong, [00:05:40] who weeps and grieves over sin. You know, mourning is expressing grief or sorrow. That expression is crying, is weeping, lamenting. It's one who sees their nothingness and it moves them. I don't think that Jesus here is talking about [00:06:24] grieving and sorrowing over discontentment in life or maybe disappointment. or over a lost one, a loved one, which we can. But this morning that he's talking about here, I think that he's talking about grieving over your sin. If somebody would stand up, or maybe your children come to you, or somebody comes and they confess sin and they don't cry, do you think that they're sorry? [00:06:55] And it makes me really nervous to be talking about this because there was a time in my life when I felt like it was okay for me to walk through life and having only told God my sin and not someone else. The Bible says to confess our sins one to another. [00:07:29] And also in 1 John 1.9 it says, I remember Denny saying a long time ago, or maybe it was somebody saying that Denny said, I don't remember, but he said just to 1 John 1.9 it. We just confess our sins and go on. You know, and in a sense, that's what we need to do. But, oh, I remember a verse just now. I think, well, I'll get to that later. You know, in today's world, everything is about laughing and joking and entertainment and all this stuff [00:08:05] where people don't stop and take the time to mourn the sin, our sin. And to think of its effects on others, how it affects God. What have we done? It's a way to humble ourselves. If we are not broken, if we are not poor in spirit, you know, if we are poor in spirit, we're going to mourn. [00:08:36] So it's like verse 3 and verse 4, they go together. If you're poor in spirit, you're going to mourn. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. I was saying a little bit in Sunday school, [00:09:17] but 1 Corinthians, Paul is like reproving them. They were lighthearted, they were carnal. I think in chapter 3 it says, he just flat out tells them, look, you're still carnal. And I think all of 1 Corinthians, that's what it's about. But then, I believe that they, and obviously in 2 Corinthians, you can tell that they were humbled and they handled his reproof the right way, the correct way. [00:09:50] Let's look at verse 8, chapter 7, verse 8. For even if I made you sorry with my letter, he's talking about 1 Corinthians with his first letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. And in King James it says for a season. [00:10:24] Now, if you think of you confessing your sin or somebody confessing their sin, and first of all, if they don't cry, it's like, can we confess sin without crying? Without weeping and mourning? Is that really confessing sin? I think we can confess sin with the wrong motive, maybe. We'll talk about that in a little while. [00:10:56] But for a season, how long is a season? Two minutes? An hour? How long is a season? And I'm not saying that we need to weep and mourn for four months. But yet, longer than just a couple of minutes. Verse 9, Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. [00:11:34] For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss for us in nothing. for godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation not to be regretted but the sorrow of the world produces death. Godly sorrow, mourning and think next, when you mourn, if you're mourning [00:12:06] And I don't know what to do with... I'm talking about sin. I'm talking about the sin of others. What is your motivation? What is motivating you to grieve? To sorrow? To mourn? I think that a person can... Like I said before, it's not sorrowing. I'm not talking about... I think that worldly sorrow is going to be the sorrow where you mourn over discontent, discontentment, disappointment. [00:12:46] Maybe our pride is wounded. Maybe we are soaking in self-pity. You know, we mourn, oh, nobody likes me. Or maybe it's what a mess I've made. or look at this bad name that I've given myself because of my sin. Maybe we confess our sins because we got found out and it makes us cry because now people know that I'm a sinner and now that gives me a bad name. [00:13:19] That's not the kind of mourning that he's talking about. That kind of mourning is worldly sorrow, I believe. and look what worldly sorrow produces, death. If we have worldly sorrow, what does that lead to? Discouragement. Discouragement leads to what? Depression. Depression leads to what? Suicide. Leads to death. [00:13:50] If we have a godly sorrow, it produces repentance. leading to salvation for observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner what diligence it produced in you what clearing of yourselves what indignation what fear what vehement desire what zeal what vindication in all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter so obviously they humbled themselves they were poor in spirit and they mourned [00:14:24] for their sin. I want to turn to Psalms 32, verse 3 and 4. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my mourning all the day long. [00:14:59] Actually, let's go to verse 2. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. The King James Version says, My moisture was turned into the drought of summer. What is this guy saying? What is David saying here? When he kept silent about what? [00:15:33] When he kept silent about his sin. Is there a sin in your life that you have only told God about? And how important is it for us to confess our sins one to another? I know in my life, it made the world of difference. It was everything. Is there a sin in your life that you're keeping silent [00:16:06] and you feel like your bones are growing old and you're groaning all the day? Or maybe it causes us to just be all happy and just to try and cover everything up. I'm not sure what to do with all of that. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me. Do you feel like because of that sin, Oh, but we've told God, but who else knows about it? Do we have to tell somebody about it? There's a deliverance in confessing our sins one to another. His hand is heavy upon me. [00:16:40] My moisture was turned into the drought of summer. It just takes everything from you. There's no happiness, there's no joy, there's no victory. I want to read three different places, Psalm 6. I was going to read this earlier and I forgot. And again, my prayer is that God will use these Scriptures and speak to our hearts. [00:17:18] O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chasten me in your hot displeasure. Now why would he do that? Because we're in sin. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled, but you, O Lord, how long? Return, O Lord, deliver me. O save me for your mercy's sake [00:17:49] for in death there is no remembrance of you in the grave who will give you thanks I am weary with my groaning all night I make my bed swim I drench my couch with my tears my eyes waste away because of grief it grows old because of all my enemies depart from me all you workers of iniquity for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping The Lord has heard my supplication. The Lord will receive my prayer. And going over to chapter 13. [00:18:33] How long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God. Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death. Lest my enemies say I have prevailed against him. Lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. But I have trusted in your mercy. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. [00:19:07] And then going to Ezekiel chapter 7. Right after Lamentations. Ezekiel chapter 7 verse 16 Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each for his iniquity. Each hand will be feeble and every knee will be as weak as water. [00:19:39] They will also be girded with sackcloth, horror will cover them, shame will be on every face, baldness on all their heads. They will throw their silver into the streets, and their gold will be like trash, refuse. Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They will not satisfy their souls nor fill their stomachs because it became their stumbling block of iniquity. [00:20:13] All of them mourning for each for his own iniquity. The money is not going to get them anything. It's not going to deliver them. It's not going to satisfy their souls. I want to look at how mourning for our sin is so important. And look what it caused them to do. He talks about they will also be girded with sackcloth [00:20:47] and baldness on all their heads. That's what they did when they were mourning. It caused them... Maybe I should go on. It put them to the point of fasting. You know, if we want to be poor in spirit, if we want to mourn, [00:21:18] if we want to humble ourselves before the Lord, one thing that we can do is fast. Fast before the Lord. When the disciples... Maybe we should turn to that. I can't remember where it's found. Matthew 9. Thinking of the disciples. The disciples of John here. I think it was. [00:21:57] One thing I wanted to say before this was maybe the reason that we don't mourn, the reason that we don't weep over our sin is maybe because we don't see our need. You know, if I would have cancer, or if you're sick, But I want to stick with cancer. [00:22:29] If I have cancer, and I know it, my family knows it, you all know it, and I say, I don't need no doctor, I'm not sick, I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to weep and mourn. Because I don't really see that big of a need. You know, I'm okay. But as I, hey, I have cancer, and I acknowledge it, I need a doctor. Somebody needs to help me. You know, I'm going to cry. [00:23:00] You know, you think of that. If somebody in here would get cancer and you know you have two weeks to live and there's a weeping and a mourning, same way. As we see sin in our life, you know, as we see sin in our life and as we see our need, we're going to weep. We're going to mourn. Matthew 9 [00:23:32] Then the disciples of John, verse 14 Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. Notice how mourn, the word mourn and the word fast [00:24:04] are used for the same thing. And why did this early church fast? And if we could do a study on that and just look at why did the disciples fast after Jesus had gone up? They'd been together for what, three, three and a half years I think it was. And as soon as Jesus went up, He went away from them. They fasted. [00:24:35] Why was that? It was to draw nigh to God. To draw nigh to Him. To draw closer to Him. So as we see our need, as we see our sin, as we humble ourselves, as we get rid of our pride, That's the only way that we're going to be poor in spirit, is get rid of our pride, humble ourselves, and mourn and weep. 1 Samuel 6, 7 I mean. [00:25:15] Verse 5. And Samuel said, Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you. So they gathered together at Mizpah, drew water, and poured it out before the Lord. I thought, what's so great about pouring out water? But if you live in a desert where there is not much water, water is pretty important. Drew water and poured it out before the Lord, and they fasted that day and said there, We have sinned against the Lord. [00:25:46] So they knew their sin. They saw their sin. They fasted. You know, if you feel like, look, I'm still not broken. What is it? Why can't I humble myself? What is holding me back? I would encourage you to take three days and fast. No food. Now, Glendon, that would be pretty hard for you, sorry. But fast. empty yourself [00:26:18] as soon as I start talking about being empty I'll start talking about hungry and thirsting but humble yourself be hungry seek God through fasting and prayer and then in Nehemiah chapter 9 Verse 1 [00:26:49] Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners. And they stood up, they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. and they stood up in their place and read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for one fourth of the day and for another fourth they confessed and worshipped the Lord their God. [00:27:27] Another example of the importance of mourning. And then, blessed are they that mourn over the sins of others. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians 12, verse 21. [00:28:02] Lest when I come, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and laudness which they have practiced. And also in Psalms 126, verse 6, verse 5, Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, [00:28:35] shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Do I have a burden for lost souls? Do I have a love for those people who are lost? And, you know, yes, I do a little bit. But I don't think that I do to the point that God expects me to. You know, do I sow in tears? [00:29:07] Do I continually go forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing? Do I see the need of others and I have a love for them and a concern for them? What about brothers in the church? It's really hard to point out sin to brothers in the church. We feel like we're judging. But if, you know, we're in 1 Corinthians 13, you know, in Sunday school we're talking about love [00:29:38] and edifying the church. Do we mourn sin? Do I mourn sin? Am I hiding sin? Is there a hidden sin in me where I need to pray for godly sorrow? Is there a sin in your life that you haven't told anybody about that, and you wonder, why doesn't this thing make me cry? And then do you make an excuse to say, well, I've told God, so that's why I'm not crying, I just, because I've been forgiven. [00:30:16] and I pray that you will make things right and that you will mourn of a godly sorrow and mourn your sin. Okay, I want to go to four Scriptures in closing looking at the last part of Blessed are those who mourn, the next phrase, for they shall be comforted. [00:30:51] You know, I don't want to sit in this mourning where we just sit and... You know, it's good to go into our closet and mourn and to pray and fast and seek God and be sorry for our sin. But then also we need to remember that God comforts us. John 16, verse 20 Most assuredly I say to you [00:31:23] that you will weep and lament but the world will rejoice and you will be sorrowful but your sorrow will be turned into joy. Matthew 11, verse 28 Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, [00:31:54] and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. God will give us rest. He'll give us joy. And Isaiah 61 The first three verses 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, [00:32:27] 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 In the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those 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. [00:32:59] And then back to Psalms 32 again. I'd like to read the whole chapter. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity [00:33:29] And in whose spirit there is no deceit When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long For day and night your hand was heavy upon me My moisture was turned into the drought of summer I acknowledge my sin to you And my iniquity I have not hidden I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin, Selah. For this cause, everyone who is godly shall pray to you [00:34:01] in a time when you may be found surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near you. You are my hiding place. You shall preserve me from trouble. You shall surround me with the songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will guide you with my eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you. [00:34:35] Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. So it's my prayer that the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts, that we will seek after God with all of our heart, that God will open up our eyes to see our sin, to see the sin of others, [00:35:13] and to weep and mourn over our sin but not that we stay there but we can be glad in the Lord and rejoice and shout for joy. May we draw an eye to God. Let's pray. Dear Lord, I thank you for today again and I thank you for your Holy Spirit. [00:35:44] I thank you for your word. Lord, I pray that you would speak to each one of our hearts, Lord, as we heard your word. And I pray, Lord, that you would help us to see how you want us to apply it to our lives. and how we're supposed to fit it into our lives. Lord, help us to be honest with ourselves. Help us to see our sin. [00:36:16] Lord, I pray that you will go with us from here. Help us to be salt. Help us to be light. Help us to be an encouragement to each other. In Jesus' name, Amen.