Sermon Series: Leveling the Field of Faith

Matthew 5:4

PSBC 8/8/99AM

In a nutshell: Godly mourning involves two things: sorrow that produces personal repentance and sorrow that produces concern for the condition of society’s individuals. Those who demonstrate this kind of godly sorrow will be comforted by the joy of personal cleanliness before God and the joy of introducing others to that same salvation.

Author Edgar Jackson poignantly describes grief:

Grief is a young widow trying to raise her three children, alone. Grief is the man so filled with shocked uncertainty and confusion that he strikes out at the nearest person. Grief is a mother walking daily to a nearby cemetery to stand quietly and alone a few minutes before going about the tasks of the day. She knows that a part of her is in the cemetery, just as part of her is in her daily work. Grief is silent, knife-like terror and sadness that comes a hundred times a day, when you start to speak to someone who is no longer there. Grief is the emptiness that comes when you eat alone after eating with another for many years. Grief is teaching yourself to go to bed without saying good night to the one who has died. Grief is the helpless wishing that things were different when you know they are not and never will be again. Grief is a whole cluster of adjustments, apprehensions, and uncertainties that strike life in its forward progress and make it difficult to redirect the energies of life.

Some of you, like I did this week when I first read this, are having some strong feelings of grief or mourning re-kindled in you right now, as you reflect on what I just read, and the personal losses or heartaches you’ve faced in your life. That’s not bad. In fact, that’s good. Because God wants to use those feelings to help you and me understand and apply the second Beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount.

If you have your Bibles, please turn in them to Matthew 5:4...

While you’re doing that, let me tell you that this morning, I want to do three things.

First, I want to define the kind of mourning Jesus is talking about.

Second, I want to show you the results of this kind of mourning–being comforted.

Third, I want to give you some practical advice about mourning.

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

First of all let’s define mourning. And as I do, I’m going to show you some examples from the Bible, and in doing that, I’m going to use three terms. Improper mourning, Proper mourning, and Godly mourning. I do that because godly mourning–the kind of mourning that Jesus is referring to in this beatitude, is different from improper mourning, and even proper mourning. Let me explain.

Improper mourning is the sorrow a person has when he or she is frustrated because they know they can’t have something that they really want. Here’s an example:

1. In the Old Testament, we read about one of King David’s sons, Amnon. Amnon had a serious case of lust toward his half sister, Tamar. But because she was his sister, he became full of grief because he couldn’t fulfill his lust.

Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

2. Another example of improper mourning is when a person’s grief or sorrow is so deep and lasts so long over the loss of a loved one, that the person can’t function normally. That’s when the grief starts to become destructive. King David himself was guilty of this.

When his rebellious son Absalom was killed, David went into a severe state of depression and inconsolable mourning. His general Joab finally had to rebuke him by saying...

David’s mourning over Absalom’s death was abnormal. He refused to see that Absalom’s death was necessary to preserve the lineage of the Messiah and that it was part of God’s judgment because of his adulterous affair with Bathsheba.

But there is proper mourning. This is common to everyone of us at some times in our lives. Expressing sorrow and grief is good, because it opens a "kind-of-relief valve" that keeps our feelings from festering and poisoning our emotions.

Proper mourning is a good teacher. Through it we learn more, and mature more, in times of sorrow and grief than from times when everything is going great. I love the poem by Robert Browning Hamilton that expresses this truth (front of bulletin)

2 She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

He didn’t weep because of lack of faith. He wept because he missed his wife, whom he had spent his life with.

2. The writer of Psalm 42 felt a proper grief over his loneliness for God. It’s what caused him to write the words we sang earlier this morning: "As the deer panteth for the waters so my soul longeth after thee."

3. Because of their great love for the founding pastor of their church, the Ephesian elders mourned for Paul as he prayed with them on the beach near Miletus...

What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

But as good as this kind of grief is, in cleansing a painful wound of separation, that is still not the kind of mourning that Jesus is talking about in this second Beatitude.

The kind of mourning Jesus is talking about is what I’m going to call, Godly Mourning. And this mourning is always spoken about, regarding only two venues...

1. The first venue for godly mourning is shown to us in one of Paul’s letters...

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

The first part of godly mourning is... sorrow for personal sin that leads to repentance. It is personal grief over personal sin. But not just grief like you feel when your child spilled a glass of milk on your new carpet, but the kind of grief that Edgar Jackson’s words conjured up in you, that I read at the beginning of the message this morning.

In the Greek language, in which the New Testament was written, there are nine different terms that are used for the human emotion of sorrow or mourning. Each word or term represents a different degree or intensity of sorrow that a person might feel. And, the word that Jesus uses in the second Beatitude for mourning, and the word that Paul uses in this passage for sorrow about personal sin, is the same word, and the highest intensity word that could be used.

In other words, one of the keys to living and enjoying the Kingdom of God that Jesus introduced in the first Beatitude is a genuine and powerful sorrow for your own personal sin.

King David demonstrated this when his sin with Bathsheba was revealed, and he wrote Psalm 51, he said,

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.

-If you’re playing games with God about your life, and not owning up to sin;

-or if you are making excuses like Hillary made for Bill this week in an article in "Talk" magazine, shifting the blame for Bill’s actions with Monica from the vast Right Wing Conspiracy to Bill’s mother and grandmother, who emotionally abused him...

...then don’t even read the rest of this Beatitude, because it isn’t for you.

But there is one other aspect to mourning that is part of this beatitude. And I’m afraid this one is one that most evangelical Christians are falling short of today.

My experience in the church of nearly 48 years, tells me that most evangelicals really like Matthew 23:1-36. Now, I’m not going to read that passage now, because of time. But you can read it later. It is what Bible teachers call "The Seven Woes" that were pronounced on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day. They are justifiable condemnations for unrighteous acts in which they were involved. You read that chapter in the Bible, and you feel like standing tall in your self righteousness and saying, "Yeah, Jesus, give it to ‘em! They deserve it. Nail ‘em! Zing ‘em! Tell them off!"

Now be honest with me. Isn’t that what we evangelicals traditionally we like to do with sinners? Woe to You liberals! Woe to You homosexuals! Woe to You abortionists! Woe to You druggie! Woe to You adulterers! Woe to You unwed mothers! Woe to You sexual perverts! Woe to..., Woe to.., Woe to..., Woe to.... We love the woes in verses 1-36, but we don’t see the weeping of verses 37-38... The weeping of verses 37-38 is a concrete example of the use of this highest degree of mourning...

37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.

Come on, admit it. We like to condemn. We like being right. But do we weep? You see, friends, Jesus condemned sin, but He also wept–mourned–over the condition of the sinner. That’s a crucial part of this second Beatitude.

D. A. Carson in his excellent commentary on the Sermon on the Mount said,

Jesus wept over sin because sinful people matter to God. And if Jesus is going to be the Lord of our lives–the leader of our lives–then we need to follow His example without variance. The things that matter to God had better matter to us. And lost people matter to God. So we had better mourn over the condition of the lost people we know.

The second half of this second beatitude tells us that when we mourn–mourn over our own sin, so we don’t play games with God, and it causes us to repent: and when we care enough about the individuals we know, and are genuinely concerned over their lost condition, WE WILL BE COMFORTED.

When our sorrow over sin causes us to repent, the comfort we receive comes from the fact that those sins are forgiven.

David, who knew what sin was about, wrote this in...

In another place, (Psalms 30:11), David almost shouts...

11 You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

When we realize how spiritually bankrupt we are, express sorrow and take ownership for what we’ve done, confess it to God, and receive forgiveness–there is nothing more joyful, nothing to cause more happiness, nothing that brings more comfort than the knowledge that we are forgiven. We are so Lucky!

But there is also comfort in seeing the results of godly concern for the eternal lives of the people we know.

Illustration: Last weekend I performed Tim’s wedding. Tim was a young high school student whom I befriended, when I came to Upland. He was kind of a misfit. He was shy and laid back. But one night after church, I introduced him to Jesus Christ as the forgiver of his sins. I had the privilege of baptizing him when he was a junior in high school. He went on to graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University and is now a youth pastor in Kansas City. He and his new wife, Janelle are making an impact for the Kingdom of God. What a comfort.

Illustration: Diane led Teri to Christ in Missouri just before we left. We were concerned for her and Eric and their children’s salvation. They were more interested in having a good time for the moment than in anything eternal. They embodied the self-centered and anti-religious sentiment that has permeated American society over the past 30 years. Now Teri is calling Diane up for advice to answer questions about God and creation and church that her children never have asked before. You should see Diane’s face when she talks about her conversation with Teri. You can’t wipe away the joy.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

As we close, let me give you some very practical advice on how to become godly mourners...

The first thing you need to do is eliminate the hindrances. I’ve identified 5 of them...

1. Get rid of the love of sin. Holding on to sins of lust, or gossip, or stealing, or pride do nothing but harden your heart, and freeze the comfort of God out from being able to give you true joy.

2. Get rid of despair. You are not going to rid the world of sin, or single-handedly bring America back to the way it was when you were a child, or change the homosexual community by passing or opposing laws. You make a difference by changing one life at a time. Realize that it is no accident that God has placed you in the house or apartment or double or single wide or community or condo where He has. It is no accident that you have the extended family that you do. And it’s no accident that you have the friends and neighbors that you do. God ordained those things so that you could mourn over the lost condition of those people you know and do something about it. You change the world one life at a time.

3. Get rid of conceit. Conceit tries to hide sin by believing that your transgressions against God really aren’t so bad, when you compare them to what you read in the paper. It’s the spiritual counterpart of a doctor treating cancer as if it were a cold. Your sin made it necessary for Jesus Christ to shed His blood on Calvary’s cross in order to save you from the consequences of that sin. No matter what your sin is, it is great!

4. Get rid of spiritual laziness. Spiritual laziness is a form of pride. It wants cheap grace. It wants fire insurance from Hell, but it refuses the Leadership of Jesus in its life. It is accepting Christ’s salvation, then telling Him how you intend to live out your gratitude. It is a total disregard for His leadership in your life. It ignores God’s command to "Be holy as I am holy", because it’s just too hard!

5. Get rid of procrastination. When I owned a company that cleaned office buildings at night, I told the property manager of each building to keep short accounts with me. By that I meant, if there was a problem with how our crews were cleaning, they needed to let me know as soon as the problem was discovered. We need to do the same with God. Don’t let sin get big in your life. When you become aware of it, immediately confess it to God and be cleansed of it, and enjoy God’s comfort. Don’t let it fester and grow before you deal with it.

After you get rid of the Hindrances, get into God’s Word and study it. Learn from God what an evil and repulsive thing sin is to Him. Learn what a damaging, destructive and damning thing sin is for us and our world.

I like what John MacArthur said in one of his messages...

Finally, pray. Pray for two things. First, pray for humility, so you don’t belittle the seriousness of any sin in your life. And second, pray for sensitive spirit to anything you might be doing that could be keeping the comfort of God from resting on you.

If you honestly undertake these three thing... Get rid of the hindrances; Study God’s Word; and Pray, then Jesus’ words will come to a blessed truth in you life...

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Amen.