Blessed Are They Who Mourn
Categories: Sermon Outlines, Textual Sermon OutlinesINTRODUCTION: Matthew 5:4: Blessed are they who mourn …
A. We are studying the Sermon on the Mount
1. The greatest single collection of the thoughts and teachings of Jesus
2. Our Lord begins with what we know as the beatitudes, which shows us some important things about faith:
a. The beginning of faith
b. The growth or development of faith
c. The maturing of faith
d. The proving or testing of faith
3. Last week we discussed “blessed are the poor in spirit”
a. Basically, it is the idea is humility
b. The attitude that causes a person to see himself in relation to God, responding by simply falling at God’s feet
c. It is the attitude of the man who knows he is nothing without God
B. Keep in mind throughout the study of the beatitudes that we’re talking about faith
1. If you want to be a person of faith, the beatitudes are a primer, a basic, fundamental guide to the life of faith
2. Remember Habakkuk 2:4
C. The second beatitude is another part of that which must be present for faith to begin, to take root in a person’s heart
1. Matthew 5:4
2. It is another statement of Jesus that sounds unappealing, at first
3. Yet it is essential to faith
4. Let us now begin to define and explain what this means and how to use it in our own lives
DISCUSSION:
A. WHAT DOES IT MEANS TO MOURN?
1. It is fair to say that there are different kinds of mourning
a. Natural mourning or sorrow
1) Experienced by everyone at one point or another in life
2) Genesis 23:2
3) Natural sorrow is part of the healing process when we suffer devastating loss or pain
b. There is an unnatural sorrow or mourning
1) It is unnatural because it has the opposite effect from what God designed mourning to accomplish
2) Unnatural sorrow is destructive rather than healing, and prevents a person from learning how to cope with the loss or pain of life
3) 2 Samuel 18:33
4) This is unnatural because it does not reflect either the rebellion of Absalom or the risk of David’s comrades in fighting for him
c. Then there is the kind of mourning Jesus had in mind in Matthew 5:4
1) May we at least say that it is not a mourning associated with the normal losses and pains of life
2) If that were what He meant, Jesus would have no need to bring it up because all suffer from that kind of mourning
3) It is obvious that here he has a spiritual mourning in mind
4) Whatever it is, it is something that goes beyond the normal experience of emotion
2. It is also fair to say that the one who mourns does so in connection to also being poor in spirit
a. Poor in spirit has to do with the realization of God and having that awareness to simply lay at His feet
b. Without the attitude of poor in spirit, there is not reason to mourn
c. Mourning has something to do with what one discovers about himself in contrast to God
3. When a person finally gets a clear look at himself in contrast to God, there is one thing that stands out above all else:
a. That God is a high and holy God, set apart in righteousness, majesty, power and wonder
b. Man is feeble, lowly, and most of all, marred by sin
4. Consider some notable responses once man realizes this truth…
a. Isaiah 6:1-3
b. Job 42:5-6
c. Daniel 9:4-8
5. What is it, specifically, that is the cause of such mourning? Two things:
a. One’s own personal sin – for that is what separates him from this wonderful God
1) Luke 16:15
2) Isaiah 59:1-2
3) Romans 6:23
b. It is also a mourning because of the state of the whole world because of sin
1) What applies to each of us individually in regard to sin is multiplied by the thousands and millions of us all who share in the guilt of that sin before God
2) Anyone who sees the true condition of the himself and the world is forced to experience the tremendous burden of loss and pain – suffering a terrible state of mourning
B. YOU SEE THIS CHARACTERISTIC IN THE LIFE OF JESUS
1. There is no verse that tells us that Jesus laughed
a. It does tell us that Jesus was a man who understood the serious nature of His mission and the state of the world
1) Isaiah 53:3-4
2) John 11:33-35
3) Luke 19:41-44
b. If Jesus was a man of sorrows because of grief over the sins of the world, then how much more should we sorrow who bear the guilt of the sins
2. Remember, it was to provide forgiveness from sin that Jesus died on the cross
a. Acts 5:31
b. Ephesians 1:7
C. MOURNING IS NOT AN END IN ITSELF
1. This ability to mourn is part of the beginning of faith
a. It causes us to face honestly our condition and stand with God
b. It is a response to our inability to do anything on our own about sin
c. It is the proper response of shame and revulsion because of sin
d. It creates in us desire for God’s help
2. This sorrow or mourning is designed to produce a faith response
a. First, it causes us to acknowledge the reality of sin – confession
1) James 5:16
2) 1 John 1:9-10
b. Second, it causes us to repent of our sins
1) 2 Corinthians 7:9-10
2) Sorrow is not repentance, but it produces repentance
c. Thus, mourning over sin is a sorrow that enables us to acknowledge our sin by confessing it, and to repent of our sin by turning away from it
CONCLUSION:
A. When is the last time you sorrowed over the situation of the world?
B. When is the last time you sorrowed over your own sins?
C. Only those who mourn are in touch with the reality of sin and its destructive force in their lives
D. Mourners are ready for a solution to sin – open to God – open to Jesus