When Tears turn into Triumph -- Beatitude # 2

Introduction

Last week, we set out on the journey of looking at the greatest message ever preached by the greatest preacher to have ever lived.

We began looking at what is referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount” delivered by none other than our Lord Jesus Christ.

One writer stated that this great sermon on the mount “teaches us what it means to be a citizen of Christ's kingdom.” — Christ-Centered Exposition

John MacArthur — In light of the preceding truths we can see at least five reasons why the Sermon on the Mount is important.

First, it shows the absolute necessity of the new birth. Its standards are much too high and demanding to be met by human power. Only those who partake of God's own nature through Jesus Christ can fulfill such demands. The standards of the Sermon on the Mount go far beyond those of Moses in the law demanding not only righteous actions but righteous attitudes—not just that men do right but that they be right. No part of Scripture more clearly shows man's desperate situation without God.

Second, the sermon intends to drive the listener to Jesus Christ as man's only hope of meeting God's standards. If man cannot live up to the divine standard, he needs a supernatural power to enable him. The proper response to the sermon leads to Christ.

Third, the sermon gives God's pattern for happiness and for true success. It reveals the standards, the objectives, and the motivations that, with God's help, will fulfill what God has designed man to be. Here we find the way of joy, peace, and contentment.

Fourth, the sermon is perhaps the greatest scriptural resource for witnessing, for reaching others for Christ. A Christian who personifies these principles of Jesus will be a spiritual magnet, attracting others to the Lord who empowers him to live as he does. The life obedient to the principles of the Sermon on the Mount is the church's greatest tool for evangelism.

Fifth, the life obedient to the maxims of this proclamation is the only life that is pleasing to God. That is the believer's highest reason for following Jesus' teaching—it pleases God.

Our Lord began this great sermon with what is referred to as “The Beatitudes.”

Now, it is said that the Beatitudes are attitudes that ought to be found in the born-again believer!

They help us to understand what we are to be in order that we can accomplish what it is that we’ve been called to do.

Last week, we looked at the first Beatitude which is found here in Verse 3 and says… “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

We looked at just exactly what it means to be “poor in spirit” and how that it doesn’t mean the same thing that the world would consider it to mean.

It doesn’t mean that we are to walk around town with our heads hung down being a debbie downer all the time but rather when the Bible says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” it means blessed (happy) is the man who understands he is totally and absolutely spiritually bankrupt in the sight of God!

Blessed is the man who sees and understands his need for a Savior for his is the kingdom of heaven!

We talked about how every person who comes to God must come with the understanding that in themselves they are destitute of all righteousness and in need of one higher than themselves, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And we learned that when a man, woman, boy or girl comes to the realization that in themselves, that is...in their flesh, that there dwelleth no good thing and they come humbly before the throne of grace and seek God’s righteousness through a relationship with His Son, then theirs will be the Kingdom of Heaven!

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

Now, before we go any further, I want to give you something to look at this morning that the more I study, the more it becomes evident.

These aren’t just any set of instructions but rather they are a progressing set of instructions.

They are attitudes that ought to be but as you will see as we work our way through them, our Lord didn’t just throw these out in random but there is a beautiful sequence to them that when understood, makes them all the more wonderful!

Alexander Maclaren — An ordinary superficial view of these so-called Beatitudes is that they are simply a collection of unrelated sayings. But they are a great deal more than that. There is a vital connection and progress in them. The jewels are not flung down in a heap; they are wreathed into a chain, which whosoever wears shall have ‘an ornament of grace about his neck.’

So, today we will be looking at Beatitude # 2 at a message I have entitled…When Tears turn into Triumph!

Matthew Chapter 5 and we will start in Verse 1 for context. If you have it would you say, Amen.

The Contradistinction — (Vs. 4a)

The first thing I want us to see here this morning is the Contradistinction in the verse when looking at it from a normal worldly perspective.

Jesus begins this Beatitude the same way He begins all of them with a pronouncement of blessedness.

Last week if you will remember, we learned that the word blessed in the context used here in the Beatitudes means “to be happy”, right?

So, lets replace the word blessed with happy and see how the verse reads.

“Happy are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

When thinking with a worldly mindset, one would say this verse makes absolutely no sense, right?

Happy are those who mourn, who cry, for they shall be comforted.

One theologian remarked that...One might almost translate this second beatitude ‘Happy are the unhappy’. — John Stott

Another writer said...This is one of the strangest statements in the Bible. It is a paradox and a mystery. “Blessed are those who mourn,” said Jesus. Happy are the sad! — Ray Pritchard

In what frame of mind does this, or can this make sense?

Well, when looking at it through the lens of the worldly way of thinking it doesn’t make sense at all but, when you step back and view it in a spiritual light, it makes all the sense in the world!

Billy messaged me this week and said, “I”m guessing since the verse we read last week didn’t mean what we thought it meant when looking at it in a literal sense, that this week’s not going to mean what you would think it means at first sight either!”

I said, you are absolutely right my friend!

You see, Jesus isn’t saying here, blessed are the sad Susie's who go about all the time sulking over spilled milk.

He’s not even saying blessed are those who mourn over the loss of a job, finances, friends, family or any other form of material loss we may have in this world.

When looking at these beatitudes we must look at them through the spiritual lens of faith if we are ever to understand exactly what they are trying to tell us.

Last week’s Beatitude was “blessed are the broken in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, right?

And when looking at it through the spiritual lens of faith we understood that it meant that the first step in salvation is understanding that there is nothing in and of ourselves that can save us from our sins, right?

We must become broken in our sins in order to see our need for a Savior.

But you see friend, when you get to that point of understanding that there is nothing good in you, that is, in your flesh; when you get to that point, that you understand without Christ you are destined for a place of torment for all of eternity; when you get to that point, where you understand that your sins and shortcomings have broken the heart of God, and not yours only but the sins of the whole world and that the only way for God to remedy the fall of man was to send His one and only Son to die for our sins; when you understand that the very Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, perfection personified, gave His life so that you might inherit eternal life…dear friend do you know what happens next…you mourn over your sinful state!

You become sorrowful for your sins!

You not only come and confess your sins before an almighty God but you come to God in a deep state of contrition and conviction and that contrition and conviction bring sorrow upon the heart of the convicted and brings about mourning!

Which brings us to the second point I want you to see this morning…The Crying of the Comforted.

The Crying of the Comforted — (Vs. 4b)

You see, the word for mourn here is the Greek word (pentheō) and it means to mourn, to lament or grieve over loss or sin.

It denotes loud mourning such as the lament for the dead or for a severe, painful loss. It is to experience sadness or grief as the result of depressing circumstances or the condition of persons and so to be sad, to grieve, to bewail or to lament.

It refers to "manifested grief" severe enough to take possession of a person and overcome them and overwhelm insomuch it cannot be hid.

It describes not only a grief which brings an ache to the heart, but also a grief which brings tears to the eyes.

It is one of the strongest words in the Greek language for “sorrowing” and Jesus here, in a spiritual sense, in context, is calling for mourning over one's sins (and the sins of the world), for they have brought and continue to bring death!

J I Packer said… A sense of defilement before God is not morbid, neurotic or unhealthy in any way. It is natural, realistic, healthy, and a true perception of our condition.

Spurgeon said..."let a man once feel sin for half an hour, really feel its tortures, and I warrant you he would prefer to dwell in a pit of snakes than to live with his sins... If you can look on sin without sorrow then you have never looked on Christ.”

George Barlow said..."There is no progress possible to the man who does not see and mourn over his defects."

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

This morning friend, we must come broken in spirit and in heart to the throne of grace. We must see our sad, sinful state in light of a holy righteous God and we must be sorrowful for our sins!

The Bible says in...

2 Corinthians 7:10 KJV 1900

10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation!

Worldly sorrow worketh death!

There is a difference!

Are you sorry for your sins this morning? Are you sorry that because of your sins the Son of God had to die? Does it pang you to know that your sins hurt the very heart of God?

Or are you only sorry when you’ve been caught in your sins?

There’s repentance and then there’s remorse and we can see this difference played out in the new testament in the lives of two men.

First we have Peter. Peter was what you might call the leader of the disciples. He was the most outspoken for sure.

It’s been said that the only time he opened his mouth was to exchange feet but nevertheless, he was one of, if not the most bold of all the disciples.

And Peter was super loyal to our Lord so much so that he told Jesus that he would even lay down his life for him!

Jesus told Peter in Luke 22 that Satan had desired to have Peter that he might sift him as wheat but Jesus then said, “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not and when thou are converted, strengthen thy brethren.”

To which Peter replies, “Lord I am ready to go with the both into prison and to death.”

Jesus then tells Peter, “I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.”

Fast forward a few hours and they come to take our Lord from the Garden of Gethsemane and the Bible says that Peter followed afar off.

Can I just take a moment to say here that many Christians today are following the Lord from afar for fear that it may cause some discord to their normal way of life.

Don’t be a Peter this morning.

But here‘s Peter, and he follows Jesus from afar and he follows him to Pilot’s hall and takes a seat and watches as they begin to question our Lord.

He’s blending in until a little maid recognizes him and says, “this is one of his followers” at which time Peter denies his acquaintance and says he doesn’t know Jesus.

A little time goes by and someone else points Peter out again and he once again denies that he knows Jesus.

Then, a third person says confidently that Peter is a follower of Christ at which point Peter loses it and begins to curse and say, “I have no idea who this man is!”

In the very instant he finishes denying Jesus for the third time, the cock crows and in that moment, time stood still and Peter and Jesus lock eyes in the middle of that hall and the words of our Lord reverberate through the mind of Peter that he would deny him three times before the cock crowed.

Peter realized in that moment, when time stood still, that he’d done what he vowed he’d never do. He left the one he swore he’d never leave!

The Bible then tells us that Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Peter was sorrowful for his sin. He was panged by his lack of commitment to his Lord. It cut him to the core!

After our Lord’s resurrection, Peter is out fishing and the Lord shows up on the shore and Peter comes to Him and Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him three different times and each time, Peter says, “yes Lord you know I love you!”

I believe Jesus asked three times because Peter denied Him three times but the third time Peter says, “Lord you know all things and you know that I love you!”

Jesus replies by telling Peter to go feed His sheep.

Jesus restored Peter to his position as leader because he was sorrowful for what he had done.

There was a godly sorrow in the heart of Peter and lead to his repentance and restoration.

Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation but sorrow of the world worketh death.

Now to the second kind of sorrow.

This kind of sorrow leads to regret and remorse but not repentance.

The perfect instance we see of this is Judas.

Judas was a devil from the beginning. He walked with Jesus. He talked with Jesus. He held the Lord Jesus.

But when he perceived that Jesus hadn’t come to overthrow the Roman army like he had hoped, when he realized that Jesus’ agenda didn’t fit his agenda he betrayed Him to the high priest for 30 pieces of silver.

He even led them to Jesus in the garden and kissed the very cheek of our Lord to let the guards know who it was they sought after.

Judas kissed the door of heaven before plummeting headlong into hell!

After they took Jesus, and began to beat Him and brutalize Him, after Judas realizes that his betrayal would lead to Jesus crucifixion, the Bible tells us that he went cast down the 30 pieces of silver in the temple and repented himself and went and hanged himself.

The word “repented” used here when it says that Judas repented himself it means he regretted his decision. He was sorry for what he had done; there was remorse, there was regret but there was no mourning for his actions. There was no genuine repentance!

And the Bible tells us he went out and hanged himself and then later on in the book of Acts it tells us that he fell headlong and burst asunder in the midst and his bowels gushed out!

One man had a godly sorrow that led him to genuine repentance.

The other had a worldly sorrow that led unto death.

James 4:8–10 KJV 1900

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Blessed are those that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Happy are those who sorrow over their sins for godly sorrow worketh repentance and leads to being comforted which leads us to the last point of the day.

The Comforting — (Vs. 4c)

“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

The word for comforted used here is the Greek word (parakaleō) and it means to call near, to call to one’s side.

It also means to address or to speak to; for instance, to console and encourage.

You see friend, when you come broken in spirit, destitute of all that you are, and you mourn, you sorrow over your sin with the kind of godly sorrow that leads to repentance, your spirit becomes knit and twain with the Holy Spirit and He comes alongside you and takes up residence within you and encourages you and consoles you and you shall be comforted!

And for those of us who are born again, when we find ourselves in a sinful state, no matter what situation it may be, we are to come, broken over our sin and we are to mourn over our it.

We are to sorrow over whatever temptation it is that we have fell victim to that has broken the heart of God, and grieved the Holy Spirit of God living within us and we are to ask God for forgiveness.

If it has hurt the heart of God and grieved the Holy Spirit of God then it ought hurt our heart too and bring us to a point of repentance and mourning!

In Psalm 51:17 the Psalmist wrote...“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

When we sin against God it ought to hurt. There ought to be a feeling of shame for our sin. So much so that it drives us to our knees seeking for forgiveness!

But praise God when we come, convicted of our sin and with a broken and contrite spirit, we find peace and comfort from the Holy Spirit of God.

You see friend, God knows our frame and He knows how frail and fragile we are. He also knows that we are stubborn and that all we like sheep go astray everyone to his own wicked way and so He sent His Son the Shepherd to protect us and give His life for us and then He sent His Spirit (the comforter) to comfort us and guide us along our journey.

As we come to a close this morning and they get us a song ready, I love what the English Puritan preacher of the 1600’s Thomas Watson said about this wonderful little verse...

Thomas Watson — 'Blessed are those who mourn.' We must go through the valley of tears in order to get to paradise! Mourning would be a sad and unpleasant subject to address—were it not that it has blessedness going before, and comfort coming after.

It has been said that when George Whitefield preached for the first time in the open air it was to the Kingswood miners in Bristol, England.

On a later occasion he wrote that he could see they were moved by “the white gutters made by their tears, which plentifully fell down their black cheeks … hundreds and hundreds of them were soon brought under deep conviction, which happily ended in a sound and thorough conversion.”

F B Meyer the great pastor and evangelist of yesteryear said this…This verse has reference to God's two Homes — the macrocosm of the great universe and the microcosm of the human heart. Our God is so great that the Heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, but He is so lowly and humble that He will stoop to fill the heart of a child. He bids us learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart.