LEARNING DAILY

 

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

 

This thought is quite different from what the philosophy of the world promotes.  The world tells us to forget our troubles and be as happy as you can be.  However, this beatitude has nothing to do with the natural life; it deals with the spiritual.  To “mourn” is to grieve over our own weaknesses in relation to God’s standard of righteousness and kingdom. 

 

Let me get right to it this morning.  The Church has a flawed sense of sin today.  There is too much preaching to make the people feel good about themselves and to be politically correct.  Any teaching on sin is shallow because people do not want to be brought face to face with their need to be forgiven.  The result is a superficial kind of person and a Christian walk that is not what it could be.

 

Just as a person needs to be poor in spirit to be filled with the Holy Spirit, a real sense of one’s sin must come before there is true joy in one’s salvation.  A person must understand that the reason for not being able to find true Christian joy is because of a real failure to be convicted of sin.  This has to come before one can experience joy.  The need for a Savior has to come from the knowledge that even our best behavior is as “filthy rags” when compared to God’s standard of righteousness.  The doctrine of sin is not a popular sermon series. 

 

Facing or examining your life and mourning over your sins must follow being poor in spirit.  It is seeing yourself as completely unable, hopeless to do anything about what you have done.  There is absolutely no way you can meet the standards God has set to enter His kingdom because of your sin.  If you are like me you have done, have said, have felt things which make you unable, unworthy of the kingdom of God.  That should cause you, as it does me, to grieve over these things.  I am so thankful for the grace of God, that He understands these things, and He forgives when we ask for His forgiveness.  I am so thankful His answer to how many times does He forgive is “seventy times seven”!  I have a great feeling of grief and sorrow for my sin that causes me to mourn. 

 

The idea of mourning is to also grieve over the things that grieve God.  Christians should be grieved over what is going on in this nation and the world.   What do you say is the condition of this nation? The world?   Today, there is no hidden agenda in this country.  What one group of people is promoting is an abomination to God.  It does not take a genius to see that this country is headed toward terrible consequences without repentance.  Jesus wept over what He saw in Jerusalem.  He wept over the people’s rejection and mourned deeply because He understood what sin meant to His Father, His hatred for it.  So too, Christians must be grieved over the sinfulness in this country and in the world; they too must mourn over it.

 

Jesus said that the person who mourns is really blessed, happy!  Just what does that mean?  You and I must see ourselves as totally hopeless because when we do the Holy Spirit reveals to him the Lord Jesus Christ as our perfect satisfaction; we see that Christ died for our sins, washing us as clean as snow.  We see the Son standing before the Father as our Advocate, our Defense Attorney.  Those who mourn are comforted by receiving from the Father righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

 

Martyn Lloyd-Jones describes the person who mourns as; One who is sorrowful, not miserable; serious not sad; never has to put on the appearance of sadness or cheerfulness; and groans with himself but is happy regarding his experience with Christ.  Lloyd-Jones wrote, “The joy of a Christian is a holy joy, a serious happiness.  His outlook is always serious, but he has a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.”

 

I do mourn for what I see in this country, in the world.  At the same time, I am comforted by the One who hold it in the palm of His hand, knowing that He has all things in His control.  Join with me in praying for revival in this country.  The decisions made in the coming week are so important to this country going forward!

 

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