The Beatitudes; Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Introduction

Recap Series

Week 1 - Poor in Spirit; We are blessed when we are poor in spirit, when we realize that we have nothing to offer God.

Jesus is speaking to his disciples, though there are some that will be hearing that are not followers, the purpose of this message is how to live a godly life

before he gets to the actions of the how to, he addresses the attitude of those that are to live a godly life

If Jesus would have told them to not murder, or even hate in your heart, without first speaking of the attitude of a believer, then all we have is a different law.

This week - Blessed are those who mourn

Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed…

happy or fortunate

all beatitudes seem paradoxical to us, when we view them from a fleshly point of view

This particular beatitude has been quoted at many funerals

I have, you might have, or maybe even written it in a card

While it is true that God will comfort those who are mourning, that really is not the type of mourning that Jesus is speaking to here.

so, are we to be happy or consider ourselves happy at funerals when we lose a loved one, because it is then that God will comfort us?

do you see what a light that puts on God…

as if God will only come near when we are experiencing an emotional pain…

in 1969 Elizabeth Ross, 5 stages of Grief and Loss

these 5 stages are still taught today in different counseling classes and in the medical profession

Denial or isolation

anger

bargainning

depression

acceptance

We grieve over different things, mostly at the loss of something or some one

I am guessing that if I took a poll, most would say they have grieved

and a large majority of that, if I asked, would say that the last time they grieved was due to the loss of somebody

the ending of a relationship

Jesus, being more concerned with our eternal destination rather than our current state of happiness is not speaking of simply mourning at a funeral

instead it is mourning over our broken relationship with God

A Hard Heart

We all start with a hard heart

We love the world, not God

James 4:4 You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.

we do not love God, we love the things of the world, we love ourselves

we live in denial of our sin, isolated from God

we think of ourselves as a pretty good person

we justify ourselves by looking at the shortcomings of those in the world

when we measure ourselves against imperfection we do not look so bad

At some point things break down

in a world overrun by selfishness we do not get what we think we deserve

I have never really done this, but I am assuming that if I asked lost people if they deserved hell I am guessing that a majority of them would say no

but when things break down, we get angry

we get angry with people who do not do what we think they should, treat us how we think they should or simply who hurt us

because they are just as selfish as we are

we get angry with God because our lives have not turned out exactly the way we wanted, or we lost a loved one, or we are dealing with the consequences of sin that we do not think we deserve

we say things like why would God allow that to happen to me

or If God loved me, he would… or wouldn’t…

I read a book by John Piper this week, “Don’t Waste Your Life”

Satan tempted Eve by saying, “God doesn’t want you to be like him...” the ironic thing, is that she was like him already. She was made in his image.

The truth is that we, in our flesh are not looking to be like God, we are looking to be worshipped like God

if we continue to chase the things that will only satisfy ourselves for a short time, instead of things that last for eternity, God will eventually just turn you over to your hardened heart

Romans 1:21-24 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. 24 Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.

Are you still in denial about your sin, are you angry over the outcome of your life

when we blame God our hearts grow colder and harder

we must see our sin for what it is… our unrighteousness

We do this, not by comparing ourselves to others

but comparing ourselves to the standard God said to live by… of which, we all fall short and do not measure up

A Broken Heart

stage 3 of grief is bargaining

We see this in our sinful lives… we know that we have sinned we can feel the brokenness

instead of repentance, turning away from our sin we begin to play the game, Let’s Make a Deal

really what we want is to be able to remain in our sin, because is temporarily satisfies the flesh and not live with the consequences of that sin

it is like a drug… that is why people take drugs, the momentary feeling of euphoria

if drugs made you feel terrible when you took them nobody would

it is the effects of that drug afterwards, what it does to your body, your family and your life

but there are some that love the sensation so much, they cannot let it go

so it is with our sin, we love it, want it without the consequences

But we begin to see the pain that it is causing and we become depressed

we feel heart broken…

it is at this point that we acknowledge sin without repenting of sin

the difference is that with one, we continue

in repentance we turn to God away from our sin

we know that we are hurting ourselves and others, but we have no idea what it does to God

we have talked before that we often separate God out into different people

there is Jesus who loved us and died for us

there is the Holy Spirit, we are not sure what to do with him

there is the God of the OT who is angry and sends the plagues

it is this God that we think of when we sin and that he is simply angry with us and wants to punish it

The truth is that all three of those are the same God; the father, the son and the holy spirit

they are not looking to punish you, instead desire to be in a relationship with you

my grandson is a mama’s boy, you can tell every time he sees his mama he loves her

she told us this week that she has had to smack his hand and tell him no, and when she does it, he laughs at her

she has to teach him what no means… and that it wont be said at Grumpa’s house when he is asking for cookies or candy

In the same way… God will discipline you because he loves you and wants what it best for you

that is not a punishment for sin… punishment for sin is death, eternity separated from God in a real place called Hell

and that punishment was taken by Jesus on the cross for all who believe and turn from their sin

We must learn the difference between eternal punishment for sin and worldly consequences of sin

the consequences are the effects of our sin in the world in which we live

the punishment is living in sin without repentance

God wants you to be disciplined because he loves you, desires you to grow closer to him

God does not desire that anyone spend eternity in Hell

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

He wanted so much for you and I not to spend eternity in Hell that he sacrificed His son for us.

When we understand this, is when our heart truly breaks and we mourn

not because of the consequences of our sin in this world

but because we understand that the real consequence of our sin is that Jesus had to die

we understand that I am the one who spit in his face, I am the one who put the crown of thorns on his head, drove the nails into his wrists and hung him on the cross

it was all because of my sin

A Redeemed Heart

in John 21, we have this scene with Peter and Jesus...

give the background to Peter denying Jesus 3 times, Jesus dying, raising, and appearing to Peter and the disciples multiple times...

But they had never had that conversation to go over what had happened

Three times Jesus asked Peter, do you love me...

I can only imagine seeing Jesus face to face with the weight of this betrayal just hanging there

they both remember the things that Peter said… both leaving the last supper and the cursing saying I have never seen the man

John 21:17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said.

I am sure that Peter was nervous just waiting for to see what was going to do

I am sure that he was expecting something… some sort of punishment, no longer an apostle, not longer a friend, would they have a relationship at all

that is what we feel when we are heartbroken over our sin… when we mourn our sin… will we have a relationship at all

This is where God does the most surprising thing

he does not simply forgive us and leave us in our sinful state… or even allow us into Heaven just simply to scrub toilets as a friend would say...

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.

when mourning, they would put ashes on their head, sackcloth (made of goat or camel hair that they would make into bags for grain)

instead

he gives you a crown instead of ashes...

oil to celebrate instead of mourning

and he gives you splendid clothes…

meaning the filthy rags that we have on have been replaced with a new pure robe

that we are now his children heirs to the throne members of the kingdom

That is why you can be happy while you are mourning your sin… because you know that God will comfort you!