Blessed are Those That Mourn

I'm going to speak this afternoon on a topic that, at first, it might sound like this is kind of a downer. This is a negative-type subject, and why would you want to speak about something like that? But it's going to be a scripture that we read in the Bible and one that is actually very positive. I'm going to show that this is, in fact, a very positive scripture. Let's go to Matthew 5 and verse 4 to get started. Matthew 5 and verse 4. As we know, this is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, a very well-known Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5, 6, and 7, those three chapters. Matthew is the only account, the only gospel account, that gives the Sermon on the Mount in its fullness here. The others may mention of it to a limited extent, but Matthew gives a lengthy three chapters, the Sermon on the Mount. And right away, the very beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave what is called the Beatitudes. I'm going to be speaking about one of them that might, at first, sound to be quite negative. Jesus said in verse 3, blessed are the poor in spirit. He said in verse 4, here's the scripture I'd like for us to think about this afternoon. Verse 4, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. That's what I'd like for us to think about. Blessed are those who mourn. That doesn't sound too positive, does it? Who wants to mourn? But Jesus said blessed are they, are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. What did he mean? Did Jesus mean that we're to go around gloomy, depressed, melancholy? Just what did he mean? You know, other scriptures, there's another scripture that Paul wrote that says, rejoice evermore, or always.

Are those scriptures contradictory? Rejoice always, blessed are they who mourn. No, they're not at all contradictory. So the title of the sermon is, blessed are those who mourn. The Greek words, let's quickly look at the three of the Greek words blessed. The Greek word is macarios. It means happy. Happy are those who mourn. Highest good, blessed. Those who mourn, then it will be blessed. The highest good. The word mourn is from penthao. It means lament, grieve, mourn. Mourn is a good translation. So highest good, happy are those who mourn or grieve.

And the word comforted, I'm not going to try to pronounce this Greek word. It's a long one. It means though comforted. It means consoled. It means encouraged.

So we're going to look at this scripture and realize that there is an aspect of our life where we need to mourn and we will be blessed if we do. And we will be comforted if we do.

You know, the scriptures say there is a time to mourn. Let's go to Ecclesiastes 3. There's a time to mourn. Ecclesiastes 3 will read verses 1-4. The book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3. And verse 1, to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven, time to be born, a time to die, time to pluck what is planted, time to kill, time to heal, to break down, and a time to build up. And verse 4, there's a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. So there is a time to mourn. And it's natural. I remember when my mother died in 1989, quite a few years back, first one of my parents that I lost. That was a sad time. I mourned, and it took a while, a long time to get over that mourning. And then two years later, my father died. Both were up in years. My mother was 76, my father was 86. So they fulfilled their days.

You know, when there is a loss of a loved one, when there's a sickness or maybe a setback of one type of tragedy, strikes, it's the time of mourning. And we're comforted. I remember the minister who conducted the funeral service for my parents said, go ahead and cry. Go ahead and shed tears. That's what those tear ducts are for, to mourn in times like this. And it did bring relief and comfort to mourn. Mourning is not a bad thing, then, is it? Mourning is a very positive thing, especially as we develop this afternoon. We're going to see it's very positive. Let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Yes, mourning is very positive, and mourning is not bad. It's a good thing that we need to do. In chapter 7, verse 1, a good name is better than precious ointment. And the day of death is better than one's birth. And one way of looking at it, if you've lived a good life, especially if you're in God's church and you've lived a good life and you just go to sleep at night or hopefully be an easy death and just rest until the resurrection, it's not too bad when you think about it. The day of one's death, then, better than his birth. Verse 2, it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting.

For that is the end of all men, and the living will take it to heart.

Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance, by mourning, then, the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the heart and the house of mirth. So, this is looking at mourning that there is a positive side and things that we, some wisdom we gain by visiting the house of mourning, and our hearts are made better, actually. You know, Jesus Himself mourned, Jesus Himself wept. The shortest verse in the Bible is Jesus wept, and Lazarus had died, and people were there mourning the death of Lazarus. Lazarus was a good close friend of Jesus there, just outside Jerusalem. And so, Jesus wept, it says, shortest verse in the Bible. That's John 11 and verse 35.

Jesus, it says, was a man of sorrows. He was a man acquainted with pain and grief.

He grieved in one instance at the hardness of the hearts of people.

He mourned for His nation and for His people, and He was moved with compassion when He saw them without a shepherd. In facing the crucifixion, Jesus had, well, like drops of blood. He sweated. It was so hard. It was so difficult. Hebrews chapter 5 and verse 7 says He had vehement cries and tears. Jesus mourned then, not all the time, but He mourned in His human life.

So, what about us? You know, as I've already mentioned, there are times of loss.

There are times of tragedy when we should mourn, where it's natural to mourn. And there's, in fact, a relief that we experience when we do mourn.

Some specific areas where I think of that I mourn, and don't you as well, I think you do. I mourn today for our nation. What a great nation we have been, had the privilege of being born into.

There's no other nation, and I've been to quite a number of other nations, that I would want to live in other than the United States. After going to India and seeing how people there live, going to Africa, several countries in Africa, and even to Great Britain and Italy, Austria, Mexico, there's no nation that I would want to live in. I feel like kissing the soil of the United States when I've returned. We have the birthright abundance, we have freedom and liberty here, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. We take these things for granted, but these are things that church members of former years have not always had. But I grieve, and I mourn, at the way our country is going right now. Bitter division, the left versus the right, the conservatives and the liberals. There's nothing our president can do that will make them happy, will change things.

Impeachment is now over, but investigations continue. Mass killings occur. Just this past week in Milwaukee, six people, while five were shot down and the one the perpetrator was also shot down. Six people in a mass killing. Blood, touching blood. Loved ones who have died in Afghanistan and in the Middle East, returning home in boxes. I mourn, don't you? I've seen boxes with soldiers, the bodies of our soldiers who have been killed in warfare. Murders and crimes that happen right here in our area. I don't know, maybe Columbus is different than Macon, but we have killings that go on. I think we've had about one a week so far in Macon, so far this year. How about Columbus? I just have an idea there's been some murder going on here as well. Don't we mourn about that? I think we do. Do you know, I mourn that there are 17,000 suicides in the United States every year. 17,000 people put an end to their own life and 1.6 million people attempted. Most of them are not successful then, but 17,000 are. I mourn when you hear about sexual crimes, rapes that occurred in times of old that are now coming to light. Women are coming forward who were raped. There are new rapes going on. Sex trafficking as well. Abortions.

So, we have reason to grieve for our nation. You know what Jeremiah did? Let's turn to Jeremiah.

Chapter 8. Jeremiah grieved for his nation. I think we have reason to grieve, to mourn for our nation. Jeremiah chapter 8 and verse 18. Jeremiah 8 and verse 18. I would comfort myself in sorrow. You know what Jeremiah was living in a time like we are living in today? The death of his nation. Judah was about to go in the captivity, and our nation is going down, and we know that a captivity is coming for us as well. Jeremiah, as he saw his nation going down, he said, I would comfort myself in sorrow. My heart is faint within me or in me. In verse 21. For the hurt of the daughter of my people, I am hurt. I am mourning. It was mourning for his nation. Astonishment has taken hold of me. Is there no bomb in Gilead? No medicine? No physician there? Why then is there no recovery for the health of the daughter of my people? Today we say that. Why can't we get ourselves together in Washington and in our government, in our nation? Why can't we all work together in this great country? Isn't there some medicine that will heal all of this? In chapter 9 going on, verse 1, all that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night that we all feel that way too. I mourn for our nation. How about you? I think we do. I think you do. You know, the Apostle Paul also, Romans chapter 9, mourned for his people. He looked out and he saw the Jews and Israelites, what their condition, and he mourned. He grieved. Let's read about it in Romans chapter 9 and verse 1. Romans 9 and verse 1. I tell the truth in Christ I am not lying. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. He was mourning. For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites.

I think we all feel that same way. I grieve, then, for our nation. Amos chapter 6, we read about grieving for those who were not grieving for the affliction of Joseph. Today we see the affliction of Joseph all around us. Do we grieve? We should. A time of Jacob's trouble draws near.

But Ezekiel 9 and verse 4 says that God will take note of those who sigh and cry, those who mourn. God will take note of those who mourn at this time where our country is going in such a wrong direction. Young people that we have, young adults, you too mourn for what you see happening. You read the news. You hear about mass murders. You see all these things. You see the division in our country. This is your country. Mourn for the evils that you see. Pray for a better time. Y'all think we all mourn for our nation? We should. Number two thing we can mourn for. I'm going to give us five things here. We mourn for our nation. We can mourn for other nations, too. National Geographic magazine, I believe that was the August issue last year, 2019. One out of seven people on the earth have had to leave their homes. Many of them have even crossed international borders to go into other countries. And why did they do that? Due to warfare, due to religious persecution, due to famines and hunger. One out of seven people on the earth. A lot of those over in Syria and the Middle East, but other countries as well. Do you know one out of seven means a billion, a billion, three times the total population of the United States have had to flee from their homes. Have you seen? I'm sorry about, I think about that, leaving your home. Many of them have had to pack up very quickly, throw things into a truck or a wagon of some type, or just what they could put on their back and go marching away from their home. Some of them end up in tent, little tent cities. I saw one that was a Syrian refugee camp. I believe it was across the border into Turkey from Syria. And here they were, just tent after tent after tent. Thousands of families in this one tent city. Guess what? Each tent had a television set. They had their own dish. I thought that was rather amusing. Maybe that's all they have to, all that they can do is watch some TV programs. What else can they do? There they are. They've had to leave their homes. They're living in a tent. Many, they've had the weather, well, they're not warm during the cold weather. Many of them are freezing right now because it's cold in that area. So your heart goes out when you look at displaced peoples living across the border in squalor, poverty. Syrians, the Rohingya over in Bangladesh, they've had to flee from Myanmar, Burma. They've had to flee. And in just conditions of squalor, crime abounds, rape and crime, and even murder, bloodshed. Your heart goes out.

You know, now we mourn for people like in China. They have so many people affected by this coronavirus. Will it become pandemic? Your heart goes out to fellow citizens on this earth. The scriptures indicate that an even more horrible time lies ahead when all of mankind would be about ready to be destroyed before Jesus Christ returns. So there's a lot of pain and suffering. How should we feel about that? We should feel the same way Jesus did. Let's go to Matthew 9. We should mourn. Yes, we should. And we should pray more fervently, God's kingdom. We should sigh and cry for all that is going on. Matthew 9, verse 35, Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. That's what we want to keep doing, too. Preaching the gospel and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. We want to keep doing all we can do. Verse 36, when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd.

Jesus had compassion. And I hope that we do as well. I believe we do. And we do pray for God's kingdom. We mourn for fellow humans on this earth. Number three, we can mourn for our planet earth, even our very planet. What a beautiful planet this is. Every favorable thing for human life that you can think of. Think of all the beautiful trees, and even each kind of tree, pine tree, oak tree, each one has wide variety. God means there to be such a wide variety. All the beautiful flowers, plants, and things of that type. What beauty! We're beginning to see some of the added color to come on of springtime, early spring blossoms beginning to show up. Beautiful. Even during the winter, though, the dead of winter, God has color out there. There are certain flowers that grow in the wintertime that do just fine, do better in the winter than they do in the summer. And holly trees. There's one holly tree in the area where I go walking that has the most red berries I've ever seen on the holly tree. Holly tree is probably about as tall as this to the ceiling of this room. And it's just full of these beautiful red berries. All winter, these red berries. And so on my walk, I enjoy that beautiful color. So God has made this earth so very, very beautiful. As I go walking, I think, boy, this is wonderful. God has really made a beautiful place for mankind. But then I think, what if I didn't have any eyes to see it? I could go walking along here and not even know it was here. So I thank God for eyesight, the miracle of eyesight. And then I try to open my ears to the birds. And I think, well, what if I didn't have any ears to hear the birds? That wouldn't do any good. But God has given hearing. And so we have so much to be thankful for. He's made the earth a wonderful habitat for humanity, trees and flowers and animals. But the man's lust and greed is destroying our planet. Water pollution, air pollution, land pollution, trash on the ocean floor. You've seen some of these ads where there's a group that is cleaning up the ocean floor. They've got a lot of trash to get up off the ocean floor, but at least you have to commend them for trying. But as far as air pollution, according to the internet search, nine out of ten people on the earth breathe polluted air. Nine, 90 percent.

And seven million people die every year from air pollution. Lung problems develop, heart problems. In the US, our country alone, we pour 76 million tons of pollutants up into the atmosphere every year.

76 million tons. That's a lot of pollution that we pour. But I don't think we are as big a polluter as China and India. Those are two of the biggest polluting countries on the earth.

So man has polluted this beautiful planet and is also ready to destroy it with nuclear weapons in the future. God is going to put an end to that. He's not going to let man come quite to that point to destroy this beautiful planet and to destroy human life. But I mourn for our planet. I love trees and plants and animals, and yet man is destroying it and polluting. The fourth thing that we can mourn for, we can mourn number one for our nation, we can mourn number two for other countries, we can mourn number three for our planet, we can mourn number four for our church. Oh boy, that's close to home. Yes, you know, throughout history God's church, God's people have had to struggle, and that struggle continues today, and it's not an easy struggle at all. When we read Hebrews chapter 11, it's the faith chapter. You could also say it's a chapter showing the struggle of God's people in a hostile environment.

Let's go to Daniel chapter 11. So God's people down through the ages have had to live in this hostile environment, and it continues in our time right now. It's not an easy atmosphere, it's not an easy world to live God's way. Daniel chapter 11 and verse 32, we're breaking in about the middle of this verse. The people who know their God, this is Daniel 11 32, the people who know their God, well that would be God's people, wouldn't it? Shall be strong and carry out great exploits, do a great work down through the ages God's people have. And those of the people who understand shall instruct many. Certainly we have done that and continue to do that. Yet for many days they shall fall by the sword and flame by captivity and plundering. Now when they fall they shall be aided with a little help, but many shall join with them by intrigue or flattery. Not everybody has been sincere a sincere member of the church. In verse 35, some of those of understanding shall fall, shall refine them, purge them, and make them wait until the time of the end because it is still for the appointed time. So God's people have had a struggle down through the ages and we see that continuing today.

You know many of us, we've seen a lot of things to happen. I've been a member of the church baptized in 1959. It goes way back. I've seen a lot of things to happen and I've seen division, I've seen people to leave. We know that today we are very small compared to even the way it was several decades ago. So we can mourn. We mourn when we think about even today there are families that are divided and go in different directions. We can mourn. But we know that God is in control and He's allowing it to be this way and He will bring it all together in His own time and way.

But many things have happened and are happening and we can have a continual sorrow, I think, for ourselves, for the church. But let's go to number five. We can mourn for ourselves. We can look at our own selves and realize we have reason to to mourn because we fall short. If we're honest with ourselves, we know that as human beings we do fall short and we do sin. And like dumb sheep, we do go astray. And we fight and we struggle to stay on track, but it's not easy. Jeremiah said the way is not in man to direct his steps. Jeremiah 10.23. Jeremiah also said the human heart is evil above all things and desperately wicked.

And the Apostle Paul said in Romans 7 that he saw the law of sin in his members. And this law of sin was pulling him down. He said, oh wretched man that I am. You know, that sounds like Paul was kind of mourning about his own human state, his own human condition. And so we can mourn for our human state, and we should, because that's going to lead us to draw close to God and to repent. Let's go to James chapter 4. And this is a good kind of godly mourning that we can all have and need to have in James chapter 4 and verse 8. The kind of mourning that is very positive is the godly kind of mourning. You know, mourning for our nation, I believe that's a godly kind of mourning. We mourn for our nation. Jeremiah did. Paul did. When we mourn for our nation, that's a godly kind of mourning. When we mourn for other nations and other people, all that's going on in the world, that's a godly kind of mourning. It leads us to pray, thy kingdom come. And we mourn for our planet. We mourn for things that happen in the church that make us unhappy like a unity and the lack of being able to work together. So, and we mourn for our own human state. In James chapter 4 and verse 8, draw near to God and they will draw near to you. Clench your hands, you sinners, for we all do sin and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord. And here's the positive thing. When we do that, he will lift you up. So we do want to mourn in a godly way. Let's go to 2 Corinthians now and chapter 7. We read more about this godly kind of mourning for that leads us to repentance. We want to be sure that we do have a repentant attitude. And there's a certain mourning because we see that we fall short. 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 6. God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus and not only by his coming but also by the consolation with which he was comforted in you when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning. Paul had written 1 Corinthians and the people had mourned, your zeal for me so that I rejoiced even more. For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I perceived that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoiced not that you were made sorry. It's like parents who correct their children. You know, the parents don't like having to do it and they don't rejoice having to do it, but it needs to be done. Paul had corrected the Corinthians. I rejoiced not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation. You know, the right kind of mourning, the right kind of godly sorrow, then produces repentance that leads to salvation, not to be regretted. The sorrow of the world produces death. And what does the godly sorrow do? Verse 11, observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication, and all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this manner. Paul was so happy they had mourned in a godly way. And we want to mourn then in a godly way concerning our own shortcomings. We have them. We say things we later regret. We have attitudes we fall into that we later see or sorry we had. Yes, we see that we have shortcomings. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, just a couple of chapters back.

2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16. And this human condition that we are in right now, which we are to overcome, we are to repent and draw close to God, is not an easy one. And there is some godly sorrow along the way. There's some mourning. And we'll be blessed if we do. In 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 16. Therefore we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, this human life is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, there's a light affliction that we're going through. Our human state is that light affliction. It's just for a moment, though, it's working in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, our goal is something we don't see. It's not physical. For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Continuing on chapter 5 verse 1. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, this physical life, is destroyed, if it comes to an end, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens, that eternal life to be brought by Jesus Christ at His return. In verse 2, for in this we groan. You know, we do we do more than in this human life as we struggle and fight this condition we find ourselves in. In this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven. If indeed having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. In verse 4, for we who are in this tent groan, being burdened.

So we groan, we do, we kind of mourn in our human condition. Not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed that mortality may be swallowed up by life. This is a wonderful passage showing that this morning, this condition of mourning, the mourning that the apostle Paul had in Romans 7, old wretched man that I am, he concluded, well that's leading us toward God's kingdom, an eternal life.

You know, this is a good topic for us to have before the Passover because we do want to make sure that we do look at ourselves and examine ourselves, see where we come up short, and we're going to groan. I think as we look at ourselves, we're not going to say, oh look how righteous I am, we're going to be like the public, and instead God be merciful to me, the sinner. Do you know that fasting is a good way to have a period of self-inflicted mourning?

Because fasting is not pleasant. You kind of mourn, your flesh is mourning, but fasting is a way of drawing close to God and confessing our sins. Daniel did, and we will be blessed if we follow his example. Look at Daniel chapter 10. Let's just read a few verses. Fasting is an excellent idea, and I want to fast myself a day before the Passover. It would not be a bad idea to think about doing that if you've not fasted recently.

Have a day where you examine yourselves, where you confess your sins, and you mourn, actually, asking God's forgiveness for your shortcomings. Daniel chapter 10 and verse 1, the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, and Daniel, let's see, in verse 2. Let's skip on down to verse 2. In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three, four weeks. So Daniel, mourning, three, four weeks, I ate no pleasant bread, no meat, or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

So Daniel fasted. It was very weak, it brings out in verse 8, I was left alone when I saw this great vision, and no strength remained in me. I would imagine so after three weeks of limited food and drink. For my vigor was turned to frailty in me, and I retained no strength. So fasting is a way of mourning and drawing close to God. In Joel chapter 1, over just a few pages, right after Hosea, this little book of Joel, and in chapter 1 and verse 13, Joel chapter 1 and verse 13, gird yourselves and lament, you priests.

Wail, you who minister before my altar. Come lie all night in sackcloth, you who minister to my God. In verse 14, consecrate a fast, call a solemn assembly. And skipping on forward to chapter 2 and verse 13, verse 12. Joel chapter 2 and verse 12, now therefore says the Lord, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.

So when we fast, we should be mourning and repenting of our sins and asking God to be merciful to us. Verse 13, so rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and he relents from doing harm. Today, when we fast and we turn to God like that, we will be blessed. And look at Joel the same chapter, verse 18. When we fast and turn to God with mourning, in verse 18, the Lord will be zealous for his land and pity his people.

The Lord will answer and say to his people, Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil. And God then will bless us richly when we turn to him with fasting and mourning. So, you know, I mentioned to you at the very beginning that mourning is not a bad thing, a godly kind of mourning that Jesus was talking about.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. That's not a negative thing at all. When we mourn and turn to God, we feel our spiritual need, and we lament a niquity that has separated us from God.

And we see our sinfulness, as Paul did in Romans 7, and we turn from all worldly consolations that really cannot make happy anyway. Guess what? A true joy begins to result.

Oddly enough, true joy is the fruit of godly mourning and sorrow. Godly mourning and sorrow leads to repentance. Repentance leads to joy and peace. And so mourning is a very, very, very positive thing. So the last part of that beatitude, blessed are they who mourn. The last part is so positive, isn't it? For they shall be comforted. It's going to happen. Those who mourn in a godly way. And that doesn't include mourning for our country, mourning for other countries, mourning for our planet, mourning for our church and things that happen from within. It includes that, but all so mourning for our own human state and condition. When we mourn in a godly way, we shall be comforted.

And we are comforted as far as our nation is concerned. The Romans chapter 15 and verse 4 mentions the comfort of the scriptures. And you know, as far as we mourn for our country, and how are we comforted? The realization that God is going to bring us out of all this mess. The day is coming that our people will go through a time of mourning, yes, go through a captivity, and then be delivered. And they're going to come back with weeping and turn into God. And it's going to be a wonderful time. Our nation will be a converted nation. Other nations, same thing. They're going to go through also a time of trouble and correction. And then they will also draw close to God, and they will be blessed. And our planet will be healed. And we won't have division in things like we have among God's people today. We won't have that. So, you know, we are comforted by the knowledge of the scriptures. It's wonderful to think about.

At the coming of Jesus Christ, there's going to be comfort brought to this earth. Let's go to Isaiah, just a few verses real quickly. Isaiah chapter 40. We just have a few more verses I want us to read. This subject is a very important one, and it's very positive. I hope I've presented this in a way that doesn't discourage anyone. Blessed are those who mourn, the sermon is not meant to discourage. Jesus said those words. After all, we need to understand them and think about them, maybe understand them more deeply. So, blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Well, it's a big comfort to know that God is going to step in, and He's going to bring comfort. In Isaiah 40 in verse 1, comfort, yes, comfort my people, says your God. Speak comfort to Jerusalem. Cry out to her that her warfare is ended, her iniquity is pardoned. She is received from the Lord's hand double. So, the day of mourning will come to its end. It's going to be a wonderful time. Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61 and verses 1-4. Isaiah 61 verses 1-4, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings, good news, which is the gospel, to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the present to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning. God's going to turn it all around this world where there's so much going on, so many bad things, so much pain and suffering and mourning. God's going to turn it all around. The Spirit of praise for the Spirit of heaviness. They shall be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall rebuild the old ruins. They shall raise up the former desolations. They shall repair the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations. So it's going to be a wonderful time.

And I like you can read further in verse 11, the earth brings forth its, as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth. So the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. And going right on to chapter 62, for Zion's sake, I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns, the Gentiles shall see your righteousness and all kings your glory. It's going to be a wonderful time. And today's mourning will be turned into a thousand years of joy. But I've been thinking about this topic of mourning, blessed are they that mourn. I asked myself, will there be any mourning in the millennium? And you know, humans will still be human, and they'll have to repent of their shortcomings and sins. So they'll have that type of mourning. They'll have to turn to God and repent and be forgiven by the sacrifice of Christ, and then be baptized and receive God's Holy Spirit. So during the thousand years there will be a type of mourning, the mourning of godly sorrow of repentance. But what about the second resurrection, when all the people of this age, billions and billions of people will be brought back to life again as human beings? And they'll remember all the things they did. And if they had Alzheimer's or something, that'd be healed. So they will remember what they did during this time. And in the second resurrection, I think there will be a lot of mourning there at first. As people realize the truth, they are given the gift of repentance, and they will begin, they will experience the sorrow, godly sorrow of repentance, and go on to be baptized and receive God's Holy Spirit.

So during the second resurrection there will be that godly kind of mourning, godly sorrow.

Let's real quickly have three scriptures, three sets of scriptures to conclude. Luke chapter 6.

Luke chapter 6. So I hope that I've made this very positive toward us. Because mourning, godly sorrow, or godly mourning is a very positive thing.

Luke chapter 6 and verse 20. It's another version of what we read at the beginning about of the Beatitudes. In Luke chapter 6 and verse 20, he lifted up his eyes. He said, blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Verse 21, blessed are you who hunger, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

And skipping on down to verse 24, woe to you who are rich, for you received your consolation. Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger. And woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Just a different way of stating what we're talking about. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. So Jesus is saying here in verse 25, woe to you who laugh now, you know there are people that are just in life to laugh and joke. They have a party spirit. We have a lot of that party spirit in our country. You read about even some of these mass shootings or other crimes that take place, and it's sometimes real late bars and places where people go late at night, 12 o'clock, 2 o'clock in the morning, party places, a lot of partying. And what Jesus is saying here, you know, woe to those who laugh and party and joke and, you know, life is just a big party because they will eventually mourn and weep.

So we don't want to get into a partying spirit and leave out godly mourning, godly sorrow. Let's go to Lamentations, second set of scriptures. Lamentations, let's go to that book that is named mourning. That's the meaning of this book. There's a whole book in the Bible that bears the title of what we're talking about this afternoon. And Jeremiah is the one that is reputed to have written this book. I think that is correct. We read earlier how he mentioned mourning for his nation. And he wrote a whole book then called Lamentations, Lamentations of Jeremiah. And I want just to read a few verses, but it's actually a book. It's an encouraging book in a time of mourning. It's an encouraging book, and we'll just read a few of those encouraging verses. Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 31. For the Lord will not cast off forever. And God's going to bring it around as we read in Isaiah 61. Though he causes grief, yet he will show compassion. That's just God's nature. He's going to turn it around. According to the multitude of his mercies, for he does not afflict willingly. And the margin says from the heart. God does not afflict from the heart. It's like a parent would really like to not have to correct his own child. God doesn't afflict willingly or from his heart, nor grieve the children of men. That's not really what he wants. And verse 40, let us search out and examine our ways. We should do that. And turn back to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven. And going back to verse 22 in this chapter, chapter 3, verse 22. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed.

These are beautiful verses here in Lamentations. Read this book sometime. There's a lot in it about we are visiting the house of mourning, and we learn from it. We learn wisdom. We learn a lot. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed. Because his compassion fails not. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul.

Therefore, I hope in him. So when we have the godly kind of sorrow, there's all kinds of hope. Because we have God in the picture. Verse 25, the Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good, very good, that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. That's a good thing to do. A lot of wisdom here in this book of mourning, the book of lamentations. Let's go for the final scriptures, Revelation 21.

Will the day come when there will never ever be any more weeping in mourning? Yes.

Let's end the sermon with that thought. The day will come when blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Won't apply in the same way as now. We'll look back upon it only in the past. Revelation 21 talks about the new city coming down out of heaven. In verse 3, a loud voice said, the tabernacle of God is with men. That is, men who have overcome and are now sons of God. There will be His people, and God will be with them and be their God. Verse 4, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor mourning. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

So it's going to be a wonderful time. I long for that time, don't you? No more death, no more pain, no more sorrow. And those who mourn today are going to have the ultimate comfort, which is described in verse 7. This has to be the ultimate comfort from all this, which we are going through at this time. Certainly does include mourning. He who overcomes, he who goes on through the program, and there's some mourning involved in it, he who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. To be a son of God and to inherit all things has to be the ultimate comfort.