SERMON ON THE MOUNT
MATTHEW 5:4
GOOD MOURNING
#3 - SERMON ON THE
MOUNT
I have seen some
good mourning. My father in-law Erroll Adams lost his wife of over 50 years. Tears were shed, but Dad realized that he
would see Mom again. For a few weeks Dad
just wasn't himself. He missed Mom. He
was down. Then he moved in with us.
He never stopped
missing Mom, but even at 80 years old he got on with his life. He decorated his room and the attached porch
with favorite mementos. He washed dishes for Dottie, attended our boy's soccer
and basketball games in all sorts of weather, and attended church services
regularly. He also took us out to eat at
least once a week.
Dad practiced good
mourning.
Often people have
a "wake up" call caused by some tragedy in their lives. During this time they recognize their sin,
grieve over it, and turn to Christ for forgiveness. They mourn.
But it's good mourning!
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be
comforted.
The Lord Jesus is
telling us that there is a type of mourning that is good.
This is a mourning
caused by sorrow over sin.
This is a mourning
that brings comfort.
Most people do not
like to even admit to sin, let alone sorrow over it. However the person who admits to sin and
sorrows over it Biblically is the one who is going to experience the comfort of
God's forgiveness.
In this message I
want us to consider mourning in three ways.
MOURNING OVER
SELF
Mourning is often
involved in the salvation experience.
When a person is
under the conviction of the Holy Spirit for salvation, it is a natural response
to mourn before God because of your sinfulness.
The comfort for
that kind of mourning comes when a person discovers that Christ has died for
their sin, and that by claiming Him as Savior, there is forgiveness.
Christian, you and
I are the ones who should know something about mourning over sin. Because Jesus had to suffer a horrific death
so that we can have forgiveness and salvation, we should be grieved when we are
convicted of anything that causes Him pain.
The classic case
of sin and mourning over it is the story of "David and
Bathsheba".
When David was
convicted over the sin, he mourned. Psalm 51:1-4
David was totally
honest with God about his sin.
He gave no excuse.
He blamed nobody
else.
He took full
responsibility.
When we mourn over
sin, we will do the same.
We will be totally
honest.
We will name the
specific sin or sins.
We will blame nobody
else.
We will take full
responsibility.
We will be sorry
for the sin, not just for being caught.
We will strive to
forsake that sin.
With confession
comes the comfort of forgiveness. 1 John 1:9, Psalm 32:1-2, 5
How should we
handle mourning over sin as Christians?
·
First we should confess any known sin to God
that we have not dealt with before.
·
Second, we should have a set time each day to
examine our lives for sin, perhaps, first thing in the morning,
or the last thing at night.
·
Thirdly, if we need help knowing what God
considers sin, we can refer to the Scripture. Two excellent lists are found in
Colossians 3:5-10 and Proverbs 6:16-19
·
Finally, we need to beware of delaying the
mourning process. Sometimes we are just
too comfortable in our sins and enjoying sins too much to actually mourn over
them.
As Christians,
let's look to the cross and remind ourselves how Jesus has suffered for
us. That should be motivation for us to
quit what we are doing for His sake. Isaiah 53:3-6
MOURNING OVER
SAINTS
There is a
difference between being critical of the saints, and mourning over the sins of
the saints.
When a person is
critical, he or she, is not concerned about the
spiritual well-being of the person involved.
When a person is
critical, he is not sorrowed over the sin.
When a person is
critical, he is making himself feel good by pointing out what's wrong in
another person.
When a person is
critical, he thinks of himself as better than the other person.
How is mourning
over the sins of the saints different from criticism of the saints?
·
Your are seriously
concerned about the holiness of God, and don't want to see anyone, especially
yourself, sin against Him.
·
You are concerned about the
spiritual well being of the person.
·
You want to see the person restored to God.
·
You talk to God in concerned prayer about the
person.
·
You ask God to deliver the person from their
sin.
·
You talk to the person involved about their
sin instead of talking to others.
There was once
gross sin in the church at
The Corinthians
instead of grieving over sin and seeking to restore the brother to righteousness, instead congratulated themselves on their
open-mindedness. They were
"tolerating" the man's sin. 1 Corinthians 5:1-2
There is another sense
in which we can mourn over the sins of the saints. It is when we acknowledge for ourselves and
for other Christians that we have all sinned against God.
Nehemiah prayed
such a prayer when he was lamenting that
We should mourn
over the laxness and outright sin we see in the church and in ourselves. I believe
MOURNING OVER
SINNERS
Now let me
reiterate that we are all sinners.
The sinners I
refer to now are the sinners without the Savior.
I am referring to
those who have not trusted Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin and everlasting life.
We should mourn
for those we know without Christ.
The Apostle Paul did. Romans
10:1, 9:1-3
that myself were accursed from
Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
The great passage
that reminds us to mourn over those who do not know Christ as Savior is found
in the Old Testament.
Psalm 126:5-6 - They that sow in tears shall
reap in joy. [6] He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
When we sorrow
before God over the people we know without Christ and pray for them in
mourning. When we then go to that person, bringing the
precious message of salvation.
We can expect
there will be times when we will see those we pray for
and witness to coming to Christ as Savior.
And if we need
motivation to mourn for those without Christ consider just one more verse of
Scripture. Revelation 20:15