Happy are the Sad

INTRO:

1. Psa 55:6-8 Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away, and be at rest, Lo then would I wonder far off, and remain in the wilderness. I would hasten by escape from the windy storm and tempest"

2. Each of us experience disappointments and sorrows in life. If only I could escape from my problems and rest. The deeper the pain the more elusive comfort is.

3. Matt. 5:4 "Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted".

4. This is contrary to human experience. Society is pleasure mad. Most of life is spend avoiding sorrow and pain.

5. Luke 6:25,Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep"

6. Jesus condemned the superficial laughter of the world and offered blessings comfort those who mourn.

I. How can those who mourn be happy?

A. There are nine Greek words in the NT to speak of grief. The word here is the is the strongest and most intense.

B. What kind of blessedness and mourning is Christ talking about?

1. General Sorrow: Weeping and mourning are apart of human life. Did you know the ability to cry and shed tears is a gift of God? Crying cleans on emotionally. People weep when they lose love ones. It is normal and helps us deal with the grief.

a. Psa 42:1-3,"As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirtieth for God, for the living God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

b. 2 Tim 1:3-4. Timothy was weeping because of terrible discouragement's and defeat in his ministry.

c. Jer 9:1, God called the prophet to preach judgement.

He preached in tears.

d. Act 20:31, Paul met with the Ephesian church. Paul loved the church and cried over it.

e. Mark 9:23-24, Father of a demon possessed child cried for his son.

f. Psa 125:5-6.

g. Luke 7:37-38, A woman whom the Bible says was a sinner wept in thanksgiving of redemption and forgiveness of sin.

h. Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus because he loved him.

g. Tears are a God given way to cope with sorrow, loneliness and hurt.

Eccl. 3 says, . There is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh.

2. There is weeping that is wrong and harmful.

a. King Ahab, 1 Kings 21:4, lay down in his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food. He lusted for Naboth's vineyard.

b. Unwillingness to let go. Grief can be excessive. One can lose a loved one or husband or wife and grieve themselves to death or ill health.

It is not right to be so possessive. In some cases it is selfish. I heard the testimony of a mother who lost her son. She had three other children. She grieved so, they we not taken care of. Relatives had to come and take them and care for them. For 18 months she grieved. Finally she truly, in trust turned to the Lord. It was in His hands, and she had to simply trust in that. She could do nothing. She then realised she had responsibility to her husband and family. She saw that her excessive grief was not a good testimony of her faith and dependence on God.

c. Guilt can cause excessive sorrow. Some people overdo sorrow because of guilt. David grieved excessively when his rebellious son Absalom was killed. He grieved because he had been a terrible father.

3. William Barclays' poem.

I walked a mile with Pleasure,

She chatted all the way,

But left me none the wiser,

For all she had to say.

I walked a while with Sorrow,

And ne'er a word said she,

But, oh, the things I learned from her

When Sorrow walked with me.

Proper sorrow, mourning and tears builds strength in a person.

But Jesus was not necessarily talking about feeling better because of crying.

He is talking of Godly sorrow.

B. The Definition of Godly Sorrow.

1. It is sorrow over sin. 2 Cor 7:10."For golly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worked death. Godly sorrow over sin brings repentance and life. Jesus was not saying Blessed are those that are lonely or discouraged. He was saying Blessed are those who are sorry about their sinfulness.

2. It begins with poverty of spirit. The first principle is in V3, Blessed are the poor in spirit, their is the kingdom of heaven. A Person first must become poor in spirit, seeing themselves are they are...without pride totally in need of help. Happy is the man who realises he is spiritually destitute. Some of my class mates in college, three of them formed a church of intellectuals. For professors doctors and lawyers. They said they would never be saved and come to Christ, in most churches because they upper case people. Yet, the Bible teaches that all men who are truly saved, start on ground zero!!! All on the same plain. All who come to Jesus come one way...confessing themselves as the sinners they are....

3. It involves internal agony. The word "mourn" is the strongest in the Gk. It refers to the deepest of sorrow. This is more than a shedding tears and external sorrow. David was a gross sinner. Guilty of adultery of murder, lieing. Yet, what redempted him was that he was his sorrow for sin. Psa 51:10-12. Create in me a clean heart oh God, and renew in me a right spirit. Psa 32:1 blessed is he whose sins are forgiven whose sin is covered."

4. True sorrow results in forgiveness.

Folks try to bottle up your sins and it will ruin you. You may be successful enough to not let it bother you to much. What happens is your harden your heart. When you become broken hearted over your sin,,, then only then will God comfort you. Christians today do not mourn over sin. The Bible says, A merry heart doeth good like a medicine."

But today we are out of balance. The emphasis is on being happy ....the little yellow smile faces you see everywhere. Yes, it is good to be happy, but true happiness cannot be found if one's sin is denied, hidden and not confessed. Sorrow of over opens the way to peace and happiness.. You can't be happy till you are forgiven!

READ 1 John 1:9

II. Conclusion: How can one become a true mourner?

A. Recognise hindrances.

1. Love of sin.

2. Despair... giving up on God.

3. Conceit... I not that bad,

4. Procrastination. Putting it off.

5. Excessive merriment... Living in a false world of parties and good times...joking etc

B. Remove the hindrances.

1. Look at the cross..! It was a place of suffering. It was the begin of salvation.

Christina Rosetitti wrote:

Am I a stone, and not a sheep

That I can stand, O Christ, beneath thy Cross

To number drop by drop thy blood's show loss

And yet not weep?

Not so those women loved.

Who with exceeding grief lamented thee,

Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly,

Not so the thief that was moved.

Not so the Sun and Moon,

Which hid their faces in a sterilises sky,

A horror of great darkness at broad noon- I, only I.

Yet give not oer

But seek thy sheep, true shepherd of the flock.

Greater than Moses, turn and look once more

A smite a rock.

What does the last sentence mean? Smite a rock mean me give to me that everlasting water that quenches the soul that thirsts after God, and is comforted and filled at the fountain of Gods forgiveness.

2. Pray for a contrite heart and live a contrite life. Confess your sin and ask God to forgive you.