Those Who Mourn

Intro

Sermon on mount and Beatitudes context

turned social concepts upside down

Poor in Spirit

Spiritually humble

not arrogant but recognizing that you need a savior

Those who mourn

Sanctity of human life Sunday

Mourning

Death

death does cause us to mourn

loss of friend or family

death is not the meaning here.

At least not death of a friend or family

Mourning our sin

cost of sin

Death of Christ (give some detail)

Have you wept over your sin?

Matthew 5:4 NASB95

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

It is not enough to acknowledge personal spiritual bankruptcy (Mt 5:3) with a cold heart. Weeping for sins can be deeply poignant (Ezra 10:6; Ps 51:4; Dan 9:19–20) and can cover a global as well as personal view of sin and our participation in it.1

1 D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 133.

Matthew 5:4 NASB95

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

The godly remnant of Jesus’ day weeps because of the humiliation of Israel, but they understand that it comes from personal and corporate sins1

1 D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 133.

Not just the sins we have personally committed but together as a nation

Is 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

Context

Matthew 5:4 NASB95

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

The context of Is 61 portrays mourning as expressive of Israel’s sorrow over the exile that their sins had caused. In this light, Mt 5:4 expresses the grief of those suffering the consequences of sin. Theirs is an attitude of repentance.1

1 Robert H. Stein, “Differences in the Gospels,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1505.

Nations sinned against God and was under judgment

But God is their comfort

Comfort is yours!

Comfort is yours

Matthew 5:4 NASB95

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

There can be no comfort where there is no grief” (Bruce). Sorrow should make us look for the heart and hand of God and so find the comfort latent in the grief.1

1 A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Mt 5:4.

Mourning only lasts a while, not forever

Jesus our comforter

His death on the cross resolves the payment that is owed

For that we mourn, our sin put Him there

Bu he rose!!

Israelite people knew that even while under judgement, they have comfort

Read Micah 7

Our Sin

I do believe our nation is under judgement

Abortion, Murder

making sin lawful and condemning righteousness

As a people we must repent

personally and nationally

This week as we approach an inauguration

calls for violence around the country

but as Christians we must go to our knees

calls of prayer, not violence

We must mourn our sin

that has us in this place

Then the great comforter will come

Would you get on your knees today?

Would you join us and pray for our personal sins and our sins as a nation?

Let us remember those innocent lives lost before they had opportunity, let us remember our national leaders

For direction, leadership, salvation