Blessed are Those Who Mourn
Matthew 5:4-5
Harry Stoliker
January 27, 2008 EBC
Listen
We are back in Matthew this morning, on the hillside with Jesus Christ, listening
to perhaps the greatest sermon ever preached. Our Master is telling us what
Kingdom Christians should look like in their attitudes and actions. He is
giving us a course on Kingdom Life in a Fallen World. He started
out telling us that we are in a blessed state of mind and heart if we realize
our innate spiritual bankruptcy. This sermon crushes human pride and self-sufficiency.
There is never any blessing in pride and self-sufficiency! This sermon reshapes our
thinking about what it means to be a follower and lover of Jesus
Christ. I defined what it means to be "blessed" the last time we were
here in Chapter 5: The short definition is being under the good favor of God,
receiving and rejoicing in the benefits that flow from having the status of
being a son of God. It is the destiny of God's sons and daughters
to be the constant recipients of their Father's endless goodness.
God delights to pour out his blessings upon His people. Let's get back
to listening to Jesus' sermon.
I. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted V.4
A. Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
5 Q's: What are they mourning about? Why are they getting
a blessing for mourning? Doesn't Scripture tell us to rejoice
in the Lord always and again I say rejoice? Isn't mourning negative, pessimistic,
depressing? What is the comfort that they receive for mourning?
B. One thing we can conclude quickly is: The context certainly isn't
mourning over selfish, petty, little things. Or hurtful human insults that wound
my pride. We mourn too often about the wrong things. We
mourn when we lose our jobs or lose our property or lose our
respect or lose our health, or lose our idols. We set our hearts
on earthly things and when they get ripped away from us we mourn
and cry. When our dreams, hopes, expectations, fascinations and desires don't
materialize the way we wanted them to, we get sour and angry. There is no
blessing from God when we do this.
C. The world certainly doesn't think that it is a blessed thing to
mourn. They think just the opposite. They try to avoid mourning
in every possible way. They think mourning is undesirable and ignoble. Their
philosophy is to eat, drink, and be merry. Forget your troubles; drown
them in pleasure and mirth. Bury them with money and distraction
and toys of every sort. Mourning is seen as a weakness not a strength.
D. Jesus is not talking about natural mourning or worldly mourning
but spiritual mourning. Just as earlier he was talking about spiritual poverty
and not just physical poverty.
E. What is in view here is a beautiful and deep experience that the people
of God both in history and at present have. We can begin with the words of
the psalmist in Psalms 119:136 "My eyes shed streams of tears, because
people do not keep your law." Is he crying over spilled milk
or personal misfortune? No. He is shedding streams of tears because
the Glory of God is being defamed and the law of God is being disobeyed
and ignored. It is God-ward mourning. He loves God so much
that his heart is broken when men dishonor God through their rebellion.
Anything that defaces the glory of God, anything that mars the majesty
of our loving and glorious Father should make us mourn. Anything that blasphemes
the Name of Jesus Christ should open the storehouse of our tears. When we do
not keep God's laws or when our family, church or nation
doesn't keep God's laws, then we should do this spiritual mourning.
F. Spiritual mourners shed tears not only over their own sins but
over the sins of all the people of God who bring discredit to the
Name of Jesus. They feel deeply about their own spiritual poverty
and they feel deeply about the wreckage that sin has made of mankind.
They are not shallow people who have no concern for the glory of God
in their own lives, their families, their church, and their world.
Listen to Nehemiah praying: 1:4-7 "As soon as I heard
these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and
praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, "O LORD God
of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with
those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be
attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray
before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the
sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's
house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you
and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded
your servant Moses."
G. Why do you think Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus in John 11?
It couldn't have been because Lazarus was dead because He was about
to raise him from the dead. Many commentators agree with this quote from John MacArthur:
"His tears were generated out of grief for a fallen world entangled
in sin-caused sorrow and death. He was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with
grief."
The saints of old wept because God's people did not reflect God's glory
in the world, either because of their own sin or because of their oppression
by other men's sins.
Jeremiah 9:1-3 "Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes
a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter
of my people! 2 Oh that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging
place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers,
a company of treacherous men. 3 They bend their tongue like a
bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from
evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord"
Lamentations 3:48 "…my eyes flow with rivers of tears because
of the destruction of the daughter of my people."
H. Why is there a blessing in this deep mourning? It is because God sees that
you love His holiness, His righteousness, His glory enough to be grieved
that the God we love is being so dishonored by the actions of men. It reveals
a deep love for God himself. It is grief to the glory of God and
for the glory of God. It is a powerful surge of emotion that stems from a
godly jealousy for the honor of the God we love. God sees that heart and brings
comfort to it.
I. The comfort that God gives us when we mourn over our own sin is
the assurance of forgiveness in Christ. Ephesians 1:7 "In him
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according
to the riches of his grace." The comfort that God gives us
when we mourn over the sins of those we love is that He hears our prayers
on their behalf and saves them. James 5:16 "The prayer of a righteous
man is powerful and effective." He is an expert at giving us whatever
precise kind of comfort we need to keep us persevering in the faith!
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4
who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those
who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted
by God."
J. Application Question: Are there times when you mourn over your own sinful
tendencies? Do you mourn because you bring dishonor to God at times
and grieve His heart? Do you mourn deeply over the sin of your loved
ones when they bring disgrace to the name of Christ? Then also, do you experience
a sweet comfort from Father as he assures you of your complete forgiveness
and acceptance through the blood of our Savior?
Listen to this wonderful quote by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: "The Christian
is not superficial in any sense, but is fundamentally serious and
fundamentally happy. You see, the joy of the Christian is holy joy,
the happiness of the Christian is a serous happiness. A deep doctrine of sin,
a high doctrine of joy, and the two together produce this blessed,
happy man who mourns, and who at the same time is comforted."
II. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth V.5
A. What is meekness? It is not weakness, but supreme self-control through
the Spirit. A meek man doesn't throw his weight or authority around.
A meek man isn't arrogant, overly aggressive and oppressive toward
others. He knows he's spiritually bankrupt in himself, he has mourned
deeply at his own failures and weaknesses, so he isn't puffed up
with his own importance. He doesn't pridefully compare himself to others.
A meek man has died to all self-righteousness and this is seen in his dealings
and relationships with other men.
B. Proverbs 21:24 "Scoffer" is the name of the arrogant, haughty
man who acts with arrogant pride."
C. Jesus may have been thinking about Psalms 37:11-15 "But
the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. 12
The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth
at him, 13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees
that his day is coming. 14 The wicked draw the sword and
bend their bows to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose way
is upright; 15 their sword shall enter their own heart, and their
bows shall be broken."
D. Meek people are willing to suffer rather than inflict injury and get revenge
upon the offender. They have learned to trust God for protection. "Instead
of reacting with anger and resentment towards their oppressors, they
put their trust in the living God and wait for him to rescue them."
(John Legg) This takes profound humility of soul. To be meek is a wonderful
work of the Holy Spirit in your life!
E. Application Question: Would your friends and family say that you are a
meek person? Would they testify that you aren't the kind
of person who demands his rights, demands to be respected and honored,
the kind of person who can be expected to retaliate if something goes wrong?
Again, Lloyd-Jones is excellent: "To be truly meek means we no longer
protect ourselves, because we see there is nothing worth defending.
So we are not on the defensive; all that is gone. The man who is truly meek
never pities himself, he is never sorry for himself. He never talks
to himself and says, "You are having a hard time, how unkind these people
are to not understand you." He never thinks: "How wonderful I
really am, if only other people gave me a chance." Self-pity! What
hours and years we waste in this!"
How do the meek inherit the earth? In this age we inherit it by being content
with what we have. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:10 "…as sorrowful,
yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing
everything." Then we inherit the new heavens and the new earth
when our Lord comes back to reign!
I had wanted to push further into the Sermon on the Mount, but decided to
finish here. The best way to finish is not to leave here feeling beaten down
in any way. Yes we mourn but we are comforted and yes we are meek but we will
reign.
Even better, we see these Kingdom Characteristics so beautifully lived out
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to me, all
who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take
my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls." He was gentle and meek. He
had all of heaven's power at his fingertips, yet he did not defend himself,
but submitted to the crucifixion.
1 Peter 2:21-24 "For to this you have been called, because
Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow
in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found
in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return;
when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to
him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in
his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed."
Look at the Cross and see Jesus Christ… he mourned for our sin,
not His own, for He had none. He died for our sin. He didn't strike
back at his killers, but asked Father to forgive them. He kept trusting God to
vindicate his life. He was the PERFECT MEEK ONE. He was a man of sorrows,
acquainted with mourning over sin that defamed the glory of His beloved Father.
We need to live every day of our lives with these Kingdom Characteristics
because of the Cross, because of the Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension
of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a joy to know and understand how to live for
Him in this eternal Kingdom that has already begun! Amen?!
Let's pray,
H.