[As Spiritual Beggars (Poor in Spirit, Spiritually Bankrupt) we come to Christ for our salvation.] 

[As Broken Sinners (They that mourn) we come to Christ for our transformation.] 

[ Blessed - happy - in Greek culture was always associated with outward prosperity.  Here Jesus expressly associates happiness with a pure character.  Character is the source of happiness, but not just any character, it must be Godly character.] 

[ John 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. ] 

[John 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.]  

[Jesus renders happiness as the result of specific moral acts.] 

[ Worldly view] 

[·  Sorrow and pain is bad.]

[·  God focuses on character not condition.]

 There Is : 

A.     The Guilt That Convicts Us [- Blessed are they that mourn . . . – The idea of mourning in our day carries with the idea of brokenness and in may minds helplessness and weakness.  We do not like to mourn because mourning always carries with is a deep sense of loss.  We usually mourn when we have lost someone whom we cherish dearly.] 

[Our Lord, in saying, Blessed are they that mourn . . . is indeed appealing to this sense of great loss and its hopelessness, but He is applying to a deep spiritual need in our lives.]

[To be a Spiritual Beggar and realize that in and of yourself you have no eternal hope, and to come to the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation will save you from eternal damnation and hell, but it will leave you empty and undone in this continuing mortal life.  God not only desires to save you, but He desires to give you an abounding life as well.  This deeper desire and move of God in the lives of His children demands the transforming power of mourning in the hearts of God’s people.] 

[Your Heavenly Father will bring you, His child to a deep sense of spiritual mourning so that He can work an incredible joy out of its despair.] 

1.  The Root of sin (Matt 15.18-20; Rom 5.12,18-19) [- The heart.] 

a.       [Sin finds its home in the heart with a powerful deception.] 

[Matthew 15:18-20 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. ] 

b.      [People are born sinners.  We don’t need for anyone or any circumstance to teach is to be sinful, corrupt, selfish, and evil.  We inherited our sinfulness from our parents, who received it from their parents, who received it from their parents, all the way back to Adam and Eve.  This is what is meant when the Bible says,] 

[Romans 5:12 ¹² Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:]

[Romans 5:18-19 ¹⁸ Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.]

[We inherited Adam’s blood, and our blood brought Adam’s sinfulness into our lives.  We are sinners by heritage.  We have a natural nature that is mortally affected by corruption and sin.] 

2.      The Result of sin (vs 30; Rom 6.23; Isa 53.5) [- Eternal damnation or condemnation is the result of sin.] 

[Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ] 

a.       [What is it that causes a person to go to hell?  God does not cast anyone into hell.  Through our sin we earn out way into hell.  The truth is that we throw ourselves into hell.] 

b.      [Calvary’s Cross - Jesus suffered for your sin and continues to suffer for your sin.] 

[Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ] 

3.      The Rebellion of sin (Heb 10.29-31) [- There must come a point when a person realizes the incredible cost of their sin and sinfulness.  Each of us must deal with the fact that when we sin we trample under foot the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.  The Bible states,]  

[Hebrews 10:29-31 ²⁹ Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. ³¹ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. ]

[Hence, when Jesus says, “Blessed are they that mourn . . .”  He is specifically referring to our reckoning with the fact that our Savior took our place upon Calvary’s Cross and suffered the penalty that you and I deserved to suffer.  This is our recognition of the incredible price that had to be paid for our sins.]

[Why do we need to recognize the immensity of the cost of our sin, because he who is forgiven much loves much, and he who loves much sacrifices much. (cf. Luke 7.47)]

B.     The Grief That Consumes Us (2 Cor 7.10) [- When Jesus said, Blessed are they that mourn . . ., He was pointing us to our brokenness over our sin.  Our Lord is leading us to a godly sorrow.  The Apostle Paul,] 

[2 Cor. 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. ] 

1.      What is Godly Sorrow? 

a.       Not Regret [- Which is a matter of the mind. This is what you think about a given situation.] 

b.      Not Remorse [- Which is a matter of the heart.  This is what you feel about a given situation.] 

c.       But Repentance (2 Chron 7.14; Ezek 18.20-24; Rom 12.1-2) [- Which is a matter of God's heart.  This deals with what your Heavenly Father says about a given situation.  Regret and remorse will not likely cause change in ones life, until they are combined with a greater accountability.] 

[Illustration - A child may know what they have done is wrong (regret) and may or may not feel bad (remorse) about what they have done, but they will rarely do anything substantial toward correcting what they have done until they know someone is holding them accountable (Repentance)] 

[2 Chron. 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. ] 

[Ezekiel 18:20-24 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 21But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 23Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?24But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. ] 

[Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. ] 

C.     The God That Comforts Us [ - Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. - Someone might think, “Well how cruel.  Why would anyone want to bring someone into such a deep pain that they would refer to it as mourning?  What kind of love is that?”  Actually, this is the greatest kind of love.  Because it is from this sorrow of heart that an incredible strength and fortitude is resourced.]  Our Lord’s Provision is, 

1.      Your Comfort (Rom 8.15-17; 2 Cor 5.20) [- This is not sympathy. It is a strengthening.]  

a.       [Comfort - παρακληθήσονται (gk) root parakaleo – from a compound Greek word whose parts mean para meaning by the side of and kaleo meaning to call.  Hence this is to call along side of in the future, passive, indicative sense of the word.] 

[A Supernatural Fortress - It has been said of this Greek word that it expresses the idea of a strengthening as if one were to be called into a fortress.  Hence, our heavenly father will comfort those who recognize the gravity and penalty paid for their sins by calling them into the fortress of His omnipotent and supernatural strength.] 

[This is manifested in the born again Christian’s life through,] 

·        [The Adoption of Sons. – As a child of God you have all of the protection and strength that can be provided by your Heavenly Father.] 

[Romans 8:15-17 ¹⁵ For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. ¹⁶ The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: ¹⁷ And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. ]

·        [The Ambassador’s of God – Ambassadors were typically the children of a king. Hence our Heavenly Father sends us out as His emissaries to a lost and hostile world.  But as His ambassadors we care with us all the authority and power of our Father’s kingdom.] 

[2 Corinthians 5:20 ²⁰ Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. ]

[When God’s people, born again Christians, realize the incredible payment that has been paid in full by their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, then they will reckon just how great their Heavenly Father’s love for them is and they will be led to fully trust God with every issue in their life.  From this trust there will flow the kind of comfort that only the mightiest fortress might provide.]

[Fortress? – I suppose the idea of the comfort provided by a mighty fortress is a bit abject in our day.  But in biblical times there was an incredible confidence and comfort that came from living in a fortress.  The fortress provided security and safety in an uncertain world.  God offers you, as His child the greatest kind of security and safety.]

2.      Your Companion (Psalm 138.3; John 14.15-16) [- God gives you strength.  The comfort implied by our Lord in this passage is further strengthened and understood by the spiritual presence that God brings into our lives at the moment of our salvation.  This presence is the indwelling Holy Spirit of God, or the presence of God within us.  The Psalmist wrote,] 

[Psalm 138:3 In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. ] 

a.       [We receive strength through the Holy Spirit’s pressence.] 

[John 14:15-16 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;]  

b.      [We gain strength when we weep for our sin and its payment.  We also gain strength through the one dwelling within us.] 

3.      Your Confession (1John 1.9-2.1) [- Someone might ask, “What if we sin after mourning?”  Then our loving Heavenly Father provides continuing forgiveness through our living advocate, our Lord Jesus Christ.] 

[1 John 1:9-2:1 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 2:1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: ] 

["When you come to an honest brokenness the

Holy Spirit comes along side of you to give you strength."] 

["God turns every tear into a telescope toward God."][Adrian Rogers] 

CrossRoads Baptist Church, Nov 2, 2008