Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
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September 08, 2013 |
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 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
Jesus teaches us about eight blessings, that is, the 'Beatitudes' in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.
The first blessing is to become poor in spirit and possess the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit refer to persons who are good without evil and know how to 'empty oneself'. If someone becomes the poor in spirit, they easily accept the gospel and will be able to enjoy eternal life, blessings, and joy in beautiful Heaven.
Then, what is the second blessing? It is to become a person who mourns and enjoys the comfort of God. "To mourn" means to feel or express grief or sorrow. There are two kinds of mourning: the fleshly mourning for things sorrowful that happen in lives and the spiritual mourning for the kingdom of God.
Let's look into the 'mourning' that Jesus mentioned and how we can become blessed men who are comforted by God.
1. Fleshly Mourning and Spiritual Mourning
There are some people who are saddened and mourn and despair over their lives. Mourning from one's sadness is fleshly mourning and it has nothing to do with God and it is not worthy of receiving comfort from God. Others lament their poverty, diseases, weakness, or lack of ability. They grumble when things do not go as they want, when their children cause troubles, or when their spouses are not good enough to satisfy them. Still others mourn and shed tears because others do not recognize and love them. This kind of mourning that comes from personal emotions is not the mourning that God wants.
However, God is pleased when we mourn for His kingdom and dying souls and when we mourn for sanctification. Then, in return He comforts us and gives us great rewards. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reads, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
Here, 'Rejoice always' means that we have to rejoice even when we are faced with painful and sorrowful situations and we should be joyful in persecutions or afflictions. God wants us to rejoice in any kind of situation. It is because, though we are in trials, we are God's children. We have been saved and are promised the kingdom of heaven. Are you still going to say, "I have nothing to rejoice about. I have many things to worry about. How can I rejoice?" God takes delight in us, however, only when we spiritually mourn for the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
2. Blessed Are those Who Mourn
1) There is the mourning of repentance.
When people first accept the Lord and receive the Holy Spirit, they mourn and repent with tears because they realize that Jesus was crucified for their sins. This is the 'mourning of repentance'. However, there may be times after repenting that we might again find ourselves unable to obey the Word of God.
For instance, although you have made up your mind not to get upset and to be joyful in any circumstance, you may sometimes burst into sudden anger when others hurt your feelings. When you fail to live by the Word and discover your sin and evil, you will mourn and repent. If you repent of your sins, pray fervently, fast, and try hard to cast away every form of evil, God will comfort you.
2) We mourn when we were not able to do our God-given duty.
We mourn for not being able to fulfill our God-given duties. In Matthew 25, a slave hid a talent that his master had given him without having done any business or trading. He ended up being severely rebuked by the master. The master said, "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Thus, we need to check how much we cherish our duties, how hard we have tried to fulfill them, and if we have been lazy to do the works. If some shortcomings are detected in fulfilling our duties, then we must repent.
However, we must not think, 'If I am put in charge of some duties in church I will have responsibility for them. If I don't do well, then I will have things I will have to repent. So, I won't receive any duties and I will just go to church diligently.' However, if we love God and want to repay His grace we must work faithfully and volunteer for His kingdom. If we have not worked faithfully to fulfill our duties, we have to repent with heartfelt apologies to God. And then we can gain true comfort from God.
3) We mourn with love for our brothers in Christ when they go the way of death.
While Jesus was taking the cross to redeem mankind from sins, some women followed Him with weeping. Then, He said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children" (Luke 23:28). That is, He tells us to mourn for the people who run towards destruction without knowing the love of the Lord.
If we see people who committed sins and are walking the way of death, we should repent on behalf of them for compassion and mercy so that they can come to act in the truth. Also, we have to give advice to and encourage souls who lose strength in afflictions and mourn and pray as if their situations were ours.
4) We mourn for souls' salvation.
If our family, relatives, and neighbors go the way of Hell, we need to grieve, mourn, and pray for their salvation. In addition, we need to mourn for countless souls who are going the way of death. Mourning for our country and its people, Christian churches, and things that interrupt God's works are all included in spiritual mourning before God.
God will comfort and exalt in Heaven those who mourn in an attempt to repay the price of the Lord's blood and gain the souls for whom He shed His blood. Thus, if we love God above anything and everything we will naturally pray earnestly with tears and mourn for God's kingdom and souls' salvation, not for our own fame, authority, or health.
3. Blessings Given to Those Who Mourn
God gives comfort and answers to those who spiritually mourn.
Most of all, we will receive forgiveness for our sins when we rend our hearts in mourning. When we, who were destined to die, repent of our sin from the bottom of our hearts, there is great grace in moving from Hell to Heaven that comes upon us.
Next, God gives all we need when we mourn for fulfilling our God-given duties. For instance, if we are a pastor and we need to preach boldly with authority of the Word, He will fulfill what we need and help us lead many people to be converted to Christianity and receive salvation.
Besides, God gives us comfort and answers accordingly when we mourn for brothers who are on the way to destruction, for souls' salvation, for the church, for our countries, and for the world mission. He causes sinners to be born again as new persons. He causes the church to be revived and the world mission to be accomplished by sending good workers. Spiritual mourning is the source of heavenly rewards and the great benefits of the kingdom of God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope you will mourn not in a fleshly way because of personal distress, but spiritually for the kingdom of God and souls. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will glorify God as His children and receive precious rewards in the eternal kingdom of heaven.
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