Blessed Are They That Mourn
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 spirt.
The entrance to the narrow gate which leads to the narrow way requires a humble heart of meekness and humility. 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 for they shall be comforted. Mourning is to deeply grieve for the loss of someone or something we hold dear. There are threee 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 men 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 and are crushed over their own sins and their own sinful nature, for they shall be comforted. The comfort is in Romans 8 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 accuses those whom God has made righteous in Christ. He reminds believers what Paul said, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. EW Tozier said, the more a Christian man grows in his faith, the more broken he is, grieving over his sin that remains.
Our righteousness is not in the flesh or the deeds of the flesh 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.
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. Then when we turned our hearts to him, he reached down to save us with the grip of his Son’s nail-pierced hands.
The disposition of sin is pride. Sin says I am the captain of my own ship… i am the master of my own destiny. Sin says, I’m independent, a self made man… 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.
Sin is ruthless, vengeful, bitter, angry, and seeks retribution from a heart of self-righteous indignation. It is boastful, proud, arrogant, ungrateful, without self control. It is conceited and seeks the gratification of the flesh. It is jealous of my outward reputation. Sin is influenced by the wisdom of the world… it is earthy, sensual and devilish.
Sin nature is independent of God. Sin loves the darkness and hides in the shadows… for he that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought of God.
Apart from the grace of God, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Without God, I am set to self destruct. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Holy Spirit is the one who comforts the afflicted. Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. When we come to realize I’m a sinner in need of deliverance, this is the point of repentance. Jesus said, come unto me all ye who are weary and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. When we are crushed and downtrodden by sin and the cares and tribulation of this world, when we reach to God for deliverance this is the point of inflection… a change of direction. Blessed are they that mourn when they realize, I have found the enemy and he is me.
God sent his son Jesus Christ not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Repentance is when in our mourning we come to ourself like the prodigal son. After he had squandered away his father’s inheritance, he sank so low that he lived in a pig pen with the pigs. He was so hungry that he craved pig slop… he “feign did fill his belly with the husks which the swine did eat.” There was a rude awakening when he hit rock bottom. The point of repentance, of turning around is when “he came to himself.” He said, I shall arise and go unto my Father. Repentance is to turn from the darkness of a deprived and depraved world and unto the light of the Father’s only begotten son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we come unto our merciful Father in confession of our sins, he will cast our sins as far as the east is from the west and remember them no more. This is amazing grace, this is unchanging love. When we confess that Jesus is Lord, he who was without sin was made the perfect sacrifice for sin on our behalf that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him!
In surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ, I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Then we can rejoice with the Psalmist according to Psalm 145:
I WILL extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. 2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable…. 8 The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. 9 The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. 10 All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee”… 15 Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.
This is the joy of the Lord. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning… Morning by morning new mercies I see…
… that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ,
Michael
