Blessed Are They That Mourn – Part 1

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

 

This week, Michael; write: The prophet Jeremiah said, morning by morning new mercies I see. The Word of God is beyond our worldly understanding. There is always more that God can teach us when we are meek and teachable to receive new insights and revelation from his word and from his Spirit. The entrance to the narrow gate, the very gate to Heaven which Jesus tells us about in Matthew 7:13-14, leads to the narrow way requires a humble heart of meekness and humility and few find it. The narrow way and the narrow gate is Jesus Christ himself. The first of the beatitudes says blessed are the poor in spirit; those who have relinquished their own spirit for the Spirit of life in Christ.

The second beatitude says, blessed are they that mourn ( meaning to express grief or sorrow; to grieve; to be truly sorrowful; an inward silent grief) for they shall be comforted by the Lord. Mourning is to deeply grieve for the loss of someone or something we hold dear. There are three ways we can understand mourning. One is sorrow and affliction for the tough things of this life such as the death of a loved one. Another is mourning for having sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The third type of mourning is when we’re afflicted by others and the cares and pressures of this world they heap upon us. We mourn when people and society persecutes us, slanders, libels and impugns our character.... When our good is evil spoken of.

God’s Holy Spirit is given to us to afflict the comfortable and to comfort the afflicted. When Jesus said, blessed are they that mourn, the context was primarily for those who mourn because they are crushed over their own sins and their own sinful nature, for they shall be comforted. The comfort is described in Romans 8:1-2 which says, “there is therefore no condemnation for those which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit for the law of the spirit of life in Christ has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

The devil is the deceiver and the accuser. He deceived the world and accuses those whom God has made righteous in Christ. He reminds believers what Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Author A.W. Tozer said, the more a Christian grows in their faith, the more broken they are, grieving over their sin that remains because sin, in the final analysis, is ultimately rejecting the authority, reign and rule of our Just and Holy Creator God.

Our righteousness is not in the fallen flesh or the inadequate deeds of the flesh for salvation, but in the righteousness of the Spirit of Christ. For He who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we may be made the righteousness of God in Him – 2 Corinthians 5:21. Mourning is the prerequisite for repentance. Before we can turn our hearts to God for deliverance from sin, our hearts must be broken because we were depraved ... we were dead in trespasses and sins without God and without hope in a world of darkness. In reality, we must know and understand the true evil sinfulness of our sin. Then when we turned our hearts to God, He reached down to save us with the grip of His Son’s nail-pierced hands.

The disposition of sin is self-centered pride. Sin says , Forget God; I am the captain of my own ship ... I am the master of my own destiny. Sin says, I’m independent, a self-made person ... I need no one but me, I’m confident in myself ... I’m my own Sovereign lord and in my own power I can overcome anything. This is the devil’s lie and deception … and blasphemy against God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Sin is ruthless, vengeful, bitter, angry, and seeks retribution from a heart of self-righteous indignation - ruled by the natural fallen flesh desires (conceited and seeks the gratification of our fallen flesh, the influences of the God-rejecting world system (influenced by the earthy, sensual and devilish wisdom of the world, and the devil’s distractions and deceitful lies

Let's continue Michael's message on "mourning" of sin in our next post.

In Christ, Brain