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Blessed are Those Who Mourn · CCC West Covina

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Lord, we thank you for today, and we thank you, Lord, for all
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that you do. We are blessed to be able to be
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here this evening and study Your word together.
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We thank You, Lord, for those who have come and they have
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taken time out of their busy schedule to make time to hear
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the word of the Lord and to grow in their walk with you.
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We pray, Lord, that you bless them in a very special way
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because of the effort they have taken to be here, and pray that,
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Lord, our time together this evening withdraws closer to Your
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presence. We're so grateful for your word.
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Our prayer, Lord, is that we would delight in your word more
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so than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
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For your word is true and all that it contains is life and
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godliness. And we are grateful in Jesus
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name, Amen. Take your Bible and turn to the
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greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher, whoever
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lived Matthew, chapter 5-6 and seven, the Sermon on the Mount.
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And notice how the Lord doesn't begin his sermon.
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He doesn't begin with an opening illustration.
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He doesn't begin with an antidote.
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He doesn't even begin with an illustration that would cause
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the audience to laugh. Think about that.
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Our Lord just dives right into it because he's the King and the
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King is presenting the Kingdom and he wants those who hear to
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know how to get into the Kingdom and then how they can grow up in
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the Kingdom. He gets right in or right down
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to business. And, and what he says at the
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very beginning is important because he offers joy, gladness,
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He offers happiness and the very first word he uses, in fact, he
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uses it nine times in the first few verses.
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Blessed and the audience, of course, is Jewish.
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So the Jewish audience would already be drawn to what their
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scriptures say. And when Jesus would talk about
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blessedness, they would think of things like Psalm chapter 33,
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verse #12 which says blessed. Blessed is the nation whose God
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is the Lord and the people whom He has chosen for his own
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inheritance. And they would think, well
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here's the king, and the king is coming to offer a blessing.
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And we know that blessing comes to the nation whose God is Lord.
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And we are that nation. We are the nation of of Israel.
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And blessing comes to the people that God has for his own
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inheritance. And we are those people.
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We automatically have blessing, and they would be drawn to the
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verse we used last week, Psalm 144 verse #15 how blessed are
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the people whose God is the Lord?
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And so they would think, well, we are the people of God and He
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is our Lord. So we are a blessed people.
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Israel, because of their inheritance, because they were
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God's chosen people, already believed that they were the
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blessed people. But when the king comes and the
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king is offering his Kingdom, he takes it in a whole new,
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different direction. The nation would even think of
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verses like Psalm one where it says how blessed is the man who
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does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the
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path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers.
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And they would think, well, we don't do that.
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We don't stand with sinners, we don't walk with scoffers or sit
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with them. We, we stay away from those kind
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of people. We must be the blessed people.
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Then the psalmist would say. But as the light is in the law
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of the Lord, and in this law he meditates, stay and night, and
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he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
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which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not
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wither. And whatever he does, he
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prospers. And they would think, yeah, I
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delight in the law of the Lord, but I'm not so sure I'm
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prospering. I'm not sure so I'm productive.
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I'm not so sure that that what the psalmist says is happening
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in my life. And they might even be drawn to
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a verse like Psalm 119, verse #1 which reads as follows.
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How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the
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law of the Lord. How blessed are those who
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observe his testimonies, who seek him with all their heart.
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And on the one hand, they would think, wow, we are a blessed
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people because we're God's chosen.
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We are God's inheritance. And then he would think, well,
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wait a minute, my delight really isn't in the law of the Lord and
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my way really isn't blameless and, and I am not walking in the
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ways of righteousness. And there was a reason for that.
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And the reason simply was the fact that that Israel had a hard
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time keeping the commands of God.
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God would give them his commands.
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The Bible says that the oracles of God were given to the Jewish
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nation. Israel had the word of God.
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The Gentiles nations didn't have that, but the nation of Israel,
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they had God's word written down because they were given to his
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people and they knew the requirements of the law.
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They knew what God's Word said, but they also knew that the
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standard was perfection and they couldn't keep that.
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And so they got to a point where they just continue to rebel
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against the authority of God's Word.
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And God would send prophets and God would send kings and, and
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God would send judges to draw them back in to repent from
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their ways to understand the truth of the word of God.
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He, he would plead with them through these prophets because
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he wanted them to, to follow him and serve him and honor him.
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Because they were the testimony to a Gentile world who had no
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law. But Israel had the law.
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And they if they don't obey it, they don't follow it.
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How can they present the God of Israel to a lost world?
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But Israel kept rebelling and disobeying the word of the
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living God, so much so that that God sent them into into
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captivity, into Babylonian captivity.
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Things just got progressively worse.
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Jeremiah the prophet Jeremiah's name means the Lord throws right
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and and Jeremiah was thrown into Israel's disaster.
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God took Jeremiah and threw him into the last few years right
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before Israel in the captivity to plead with them to beg them
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to turn from their ways. And so we had a 40 year ministry
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where Israel never listened and never turned and never repented.
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Nobody ever said Jeremiah. Great sermon.
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I'm going to follow what you said.
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Nope, nobody did that. In fact, Israel never turned and
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Jeremiah would, would, would lead them to the truth of God's
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word, but they never followed. They turned their back on the
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Lord and they went into captivity just as it was
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prophesied by Isaiah and by Jeremiah as they went into
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captivity and they were there for for 70 years, God gave them
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another prophet, a man by the name of Ezekiel.
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And Ezekiel would prophecy during their captivity, trying
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them help them, help them to understand the promises of God
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that that one day God would deliver his people.
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And in the book of Ezekiel the the 36th chapter, Ezekiel
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promises what God's going to do. And God's going to do something
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for his own name sake. He's not going to do it for
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Israel's sake. He's going to do it for his own
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name's sake. In fact, he says that in verse
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22 of Ezekiel chapter 36 and verse #23 and verse #32 three
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times. He says, I'm doing this not for
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your sake, but for My sake. I'm doing this because of My
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word and My commitment and for My glory.
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I'm doing this because I have made a promise.
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And he tells them that in verse 25 he will sprinkle clean water
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on them. And verse 26 they will have a
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new heart and a new spirit. And in verse 27 says I will put
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my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and
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you will be careful to observe my ordinances.
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He said, I'm going to, I'm going to give you my spirit because
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you are unable to walk in my ordinances.
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But once my spirit is within you, it will cause you to obey
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me and follow me without exception because you're going
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to love me and you're going to serve me.
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And the nation of Israel would hear the words of Ezekiel the
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prophet. And supposedly they would they
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would long for that opportunity. But way before Ezekiel there was
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there was Isaiah and I Isaiah said those very familiar words
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that Isaiah 61 words that we read.
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I believe it was last week about what the Lord would say in in
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the synagogue in Nazareth and Luke 4 when he said the spirit
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of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has an ordered
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me to bring good news to the afflicted.
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He he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim
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liberty to captives and freedom of to prisoners, to proclaim the
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favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God
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and to comfort all those who mourn.
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So when Messiah comes, he's going to restore sight to the
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blind. He's going to preach the gospel
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to those who are poor and afflicted.
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He's going to release the captives, and they're thinking
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physical captivity. They're thinking physical
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poorness. They're thinking physical
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comfort, joy. That's what they're thinking.
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And notice what it says in verse #3 to grant those who mourn in
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Zion, giving them a Garland instead of ashes, the old of
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gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of
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a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of
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righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be
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glorified. Messiah is going to come, the
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Redeemer, the Savior, and the Spirit of the Lord will be upon
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him, and he's going to preach the gospel.
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And those who are blind will be able to see, and those who are
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poor, they'll be released from there their affliction.
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Those who are captive will be set free.
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And comfort will come, and a crown of gladness will come to
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you, and a mantle of praise. And you will be like thick,
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strong oaks. You'll be immovable.
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The problem with that is that Israel misread that.
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They thought that, that their, their mourning would turn to
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comfort their, their captivity, mourning their Babylonian
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captivity where they, where they mourned.
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And they wept and they, they cried because they had lost
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their, their, their city and they had lost their, their,
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their land. And they were taken into
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captivity. And they thought that if they
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mourn, they, they would be, they would be comforted.
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We see Israel, they mourned because of their captivity, but
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they did not mourn because of their iniquity, that they
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mourned because of the consequences of sin, but they
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did not mourn because of their sin.
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That was their problem and that was always their problem.
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So you jump to the New Testament and the king has already
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presented his credentials, saw that in Matthew chapter 4 where
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he had already healed everybody. So the messianic credentials
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have already been presented. So there's there should be no
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doubt in people's mind that this is more than a prophet.
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This is more than just another individual with some kind of
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supernatural abilities, but this actually is the Messiah.
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The Messiah has come, and then he begins to preach and present
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the Kingdom, because he went throughout all Judea preaching
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the gospel of the Kingdom, because he so desperately wants
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people to be a part of his Kingdom.
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That's why he came, came to seek and to say that which was lost.
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As the King, He presents the Kingdom, wanting people to enter
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into that Kingdom, to be children of the Kingdom,
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children of the king. So he's going to give them the
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opportunity to understand entrance into the Kingdom and
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then how they grow up in that Kingdom.
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And so he begins with blessed Macarioi, inner contentment,
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joy, blissfulness. You want true joy, you want true
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happiness, you want true contentment.
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Not something that's affected in any way by that, which is
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external because it's all internal.
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We are so easily affected by our surroundings, right?
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We, we, we are happy or sad dependent upon what's happening
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around us, right? If my team wins, I'm happy.
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If my team loses, I'm sad, right?
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If I get a raise, I'm happy. If they take my job away, I'm
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sad. Every everything around us is
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built around the external. In crisis, I I want to give you
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deep, true inner joy that's unaffected by any circumstance
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because I want you to experience my joy.
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Because the Kingdom of heaven is not eating and drinking.
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It's not defined by your physicality.
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It's defined by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy
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Spirit. That's the Kingdom of heaven,
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and those in the Kingdom, those who are children of the king,
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have experienced his righteousness, because he who
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knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the
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righteousness of God in him. So those in the Kingdom
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experienced his righteousness, and only those who are righteous
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before him are truly at peace with Him, and only those at
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peace with him experience the joy that he gives to them
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because they've been forgiven of all their sins.
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So Jesus comes and he begins to preach, Blessed are the poor in
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spirit. Verse 3, for theirs, literally
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the text says theirs and theirs only is the Kingdom of heaven.
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And then he says, blessed are those who mourn, for they
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emphatically they and they only will be comforted.
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And a Jewish audience would be drawn right back to Isaiah 61,
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knowing that when the Messiah came, he would comfort those who
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mourn. But the question is, what kind
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of mourning is Christ talking about?
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And what kind of comfort comes to what kind of mourning grief
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is, is really natural to us, is it not?
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We, we are, we are grieving people and, and in the midst of
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our grief, we want comfort. Now I'm a parent and, and I,
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I've got 8 kids and, and I've raised those kids along with my,
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my wife, Lori. And there, there were times
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where my kids would cry, right? They would mourn and they would
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come to me for comfort. That was always a bad idea,
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always a bad idea, because I would always say this, Is there
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blood? No tears?
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If there's no blood, is it broken?
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No tears. Rub dirt on it.
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Off you go. But my wife, on the other hand,
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was the comforter. They would go to her and she
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would wrap her arms around them. She would kiss their Boo boos
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and they would be all better because she would.
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She was the one of true comfort. But whenever we grieve, for
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whatever reason, we are grieving, we would love to be
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comforted. And so the question comes, what
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kind of mourning receives the kind of comfort that the King is
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offering? So we have before you an
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outline, and hopefully you've received an outline and the four
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main points of the same main points as were last week.
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And they will be the four same main points every week.
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Because we want to #1 define, define the condition of what it
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means to mourn. And then we want to describe the
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consequences to those who mourn. And then we'll detail the
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characteristics and then we will simply determine our course of
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action from there. So first of all, let's define
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the condition mourning. Blessed are those who mourn.
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That there are 9 different Greek verbs to describe grief and
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mourning in the New Testament. The one that's used here is the
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strongest of the 9:00. So that should tell us a little
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bit about the kind of mourning that brings comfort.
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If you recall the the book of Ecclesiastes, it was Solomon who
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said these words in chapter 3 verse #1 There is an appointed
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time for everything, and there is a time for every event under
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heaven. He goes on to say that there is
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a time to give birth and a time to die, a time to plant and a
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time to uproot what is planted, a time to kill and a time to
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heal, a time to tear down and a time to build up.
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A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a
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time to dance. Solomon knows that mourning and
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grieving are. Are naturally appointed times
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all throughout our lives, like dying and giving birth, like
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planting and uprooting that which is planted?
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There is an appointed time for every event under the sun.
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And there is a time to mourn. There is a time to grieve.
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There also is a time to laugh. Oh, interesting fact.
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The Bible records no incident in which Jesus ever laughed.
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Did you know that? Not one record of Jesus ever
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laughing. We know he rejoiced, but never
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did he laugh. Did he become angry?
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You bet. Did he cry?
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Absolutely. That's all recorded.
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But there is no record of Jesus ever laughing.
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It doesn't mean he never did. He might have, I don't know.
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I wasn't there and it's not recorded in the scriptures.
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And yet he did grieve. He grieved quite regularly.
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Quite often he became angry. Angry at sin and those who
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rebelled against him and those who would turned your back on
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his Father. But never is there a record of
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his laughing. I find that quite interesting
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because we love to laugh, don't we?
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We love comedies, we love sitcoms, we love to laugh
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because it gives us some kind of freedom emotionally.
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It's not a sin to laugh. It's not.
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It's just quite interesting that there's no record of Jesus ever
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laughing. Maybe he laughed when he created
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you. I don't know.
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Some of you are pretty funny looking, so I don't know.
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Maybe he did. But the Bible doesn't tell us
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that either. But the point being is that that
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grief is, is natural to life. And we grieve for all kinds of
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reasons. We, we grieve him.
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It's tragedy, rightly so. Abraham grieved when Sarah, his
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wife died. Well, you understand that,
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right? You have a loved one who dies.
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You grieve you. You realize that Jesus at the
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tomb of Lazarus, he wept. Jesus wept.
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John 11, shortest verse in the Bible and he wept.
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He wept over the consequences of sin.
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I mean, after all, He knows he's going to raise Lazarus from the
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dead. Why is he weeping?
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He should be joyous because he's going to perform a resurrection,
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then proclaim that He is the resurrection and the life, but
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yet He weeps because of the consequences of sin and the
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devastating effects upon mankind.
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Even anticipating his death on Calvary for the sins of man, who
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for the most part would reject his his sacrifice on Calvary,
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but he wept. He wept of its tragedy.
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We we weep against or amidst calamities, and rightly so.
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If there is a disaster causes great grief in people's lives.
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Some people even grieve amidst their anxieties.
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They get so overwhelmed, so anxious in their thoughts, so
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anxious in what is going to happen next.
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They can't help but just burst out in tears and grieve.
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Some people weep because of their loneliness.
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They're all alone. Some people, Some people weep
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for all the wrong reasons. Remember, Ahab in First Kings 21
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wept because he was unable to obtain Nabos vineyard.
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Even Ammon, he wept over his lustful desires for Tamar, A
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very unhealthful, unhealthy weeping.
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But the Bible records all kinds of incidences of people, people
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weeping mothers who who lost their sons.
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The the the widow's son at Nain that widow, she, she wept for
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the loss of her son. And Christ says to her, stop
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weeping, stop crying. Now.
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If you go to a funeral and your your son's dead, you're crying.
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If I go up to you and say stop weeping, you're not going to
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come back to church next week because you're going to think I
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don't care about your life. I'm not going to say that to
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you. But that's what Jesus said to
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the widows, to the widow who lost her son at Nain.
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But there are all kinds of reasons for us to grieve, and
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yet none of that grieving brings the comfort that Christ is
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speaking about in Matthew chapter 5 verse #4 It's a whole
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different kind that those are. Those are natural kinds of
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things which cause us to weep, natural things that cause us to
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grieve. But what kind of sorrow is
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Christ speaking about? Well, the answer is found very
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simply in Second Corinthians Chapter 7 verse #10 which says
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for the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces A
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repentance without regret, leading to salvation.
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But the sorrow of the world produces death.
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There's there's a sorrow that produces life.
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It's a godly sorrow. It's a godly sorrow that leads
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you to repentance. Well, what kind of repentance?
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Well, he tells you, for behold, what, what earnest is this very
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thing, this godly sorrow? There, there is a sincerity
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behind it. There there was an earnestness
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for that which is righteous and true.
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And that he says, what vindication this godly sorrow
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brings a desire to be vindicated from all the things that you
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have done in the past. What, what indignation, this
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godly sorrow? Well, what does that mean?
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That there's a hatred for the sin that you committed that you
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have to repent of? And then he says, what fear?
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Godly sorrow produces fear. What kind of fear?
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Fear of God. What longing?
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What kind of longing? The kind of longing that
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relationships would be restored, that were destroyed because of
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your sin? What zeal, zeal for holiness,
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what avenging of wrong in everything.
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You demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.
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Ezekiel would speak about this way back in in Ezekiel chapter
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20 when he talks about Israel's restoration before he ever gives
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anything concerning the the new covenant promise.
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He says this verse 43 of Ezekiel 20.
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There you will remember your ways and all your deeds with
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which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe
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yourself in your own sight for all the evil things that you
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have done. You will loathe yourself.
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This is a godly sorrow that leads you to repentance.
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The problem is we love ourselves.
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We don't loathe ourselves. And Ezekiel is giving a prophecy
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about Israel's restoration that they will come to a point that
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they will learn to to weep and mourn because of the the
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severity of their sin. In fact, he says these words in
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the book of Zechariah. He talks about in Zechariah 12
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and Zechariah 13. Zechariah 14 he talks about in
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that day 17 times. In chapter 1314, 1213 and 14, he
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used the phrase in that day. In that day is the day of the
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Lord, in that day is the day of tribulation.
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It's that day where Israel will be restored and Israel's enemies
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will be destroyed. And in that day he says, verse
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10, I will pour out in the House of David and on the habits of
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Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of suffocation, so that they
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will look on me whom they have pierced.
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And they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son.
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And they will weep bitterly over him, like the bitter weeping
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over a first born in that day. There will be great mourning in
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Jerusalem, like mourning of Haddadraman in the plain of
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Megiddo, like Israel mourned over the death of King Josiah.
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There will be weeping, there will be mourning, there will be
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bitter grieving over what? That they killed their Messiah.
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They they will look on the one whom they pierced and they were
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realized. What have we done?
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He was already here. We missed him.
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Now he's coming back. He's he's been pierced.
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And now they begin to realize that they killed their Messiah,
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and they begin to grieve. And it says this verse 12 The
30:26
land will mourn every family by itself, the family of the House
30:30
of David by itself and their wives by themselves.
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The family of the House of Nathan by itself, and the wives
30:36
of themselves by themselves. The family of the House of Levi
30:40
by itself and their wives by themselves.
30:43
The family of the Shemites by itself and their wives by
30:47
themselves, and all the families that remain, every family by
30:51
itself and their wives by themselves.
30:54
And then that day he says, I will pour out a fountain of
30:58
blessing. In that day, Israel will be
31:01
restored. In that day, Israel will be
31:03
saved. Why?
31:04
Because there will be a godly sorrow that leads them to
31:08
repentance, that leads them to have sorrow for the sin.
31:12
They will have loathed themselves to such a degree that
31:16
they can help but weep over their spiritual condition and
31:20
how they could ever crucify their Messiah.
31:26
That's the sorrow that Christ is talking about.
31:30
That's the morning that Jesus is speaking about.
31:34
It's the morning that comes because there's been poverty of
31:38
spirit. Verse three, that happens
31:42
intellectually, which leads you to mourning, which effects you
31:50
emotionally. Now each of the the beatitudes
31:57
intertwine one with another. We are taking them one verse at
32:01
a time. We are tackling them one
32:04
beatitude at a time. But in reality, they all flow
32:08
together. They're all intertwined together
32:10
because they all speak about entrance into the Kingdom and
32:13
how to grow up in that Kingdom. It's almost as if Jesus is
32:19
mapping out everything line by line for the people that are
32:22
listening. I want you to be a part of my
32:25
Kingdom, but it begins because you are utterly destitute.
32:29
You are poverty of spirit. You are so poor.
32:32
You are so bankrupt. You have nothing to offer me.
32:36
When you get to that point, the Kingdom of heaven is yours.
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But when you get there, you will mourn profusely because of your
32:44
sin. You have nothing to offer
32:47
because all you have is sinful desires, sinful attitudes,
32:54
sinful actions, because all your righteousness, as Isaiah says,
32:58
is like filthy rags. All your righteousness is not
33:04
worthy. And everything you want to offer
33:08
does nothing. And you'll begin to weep.
33:12
You'll begin to cry and grieve A godly sorrow that's demonstrated
33:17
by its zeal for holiness, It's indignation against sin.
33:22
It'll be it'll be characterized by your your wanting to avenge
33:27
all the wrongs that you've committed.
33:29
There's this great desire to heal broken relationships.
33:32
Why? Because you have you have
33:34
brought grief to the heart of God and you sinned against the
33:40
Holy One of Israel and he's the King.
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And because he's the king, you want to be a child of the king
33:50
and therefore you recognize the severity of your sin.
33:55
Those are the ones who receive comfort.
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I love what Warren Weirsby says in his commentary.
34:05
He says we must distinguish between repentance, remorse and
34:12
regret. When my consciousness of sin
34:18
rest only in my mind, then it is regret.
34:24
When it affects my mind and my heart, it is remorse.
34:29
And remorse is a dangerous thing.
34:33
But when my concern over my sin brings me to the place where I'm
34:37
willing to turn from it and obey God, when my concern effects my
34:42
will as well as my mind and heart, then I've experienced
34:48
true repentance. Think about Judas.
34:55
Judas had regret. Judas had remorse, but Judas had
35:02
no repentance, did not turn from his sin.
35:08
He went out and hung himself amidst all of his sin.
35:12
Weirdsby goes down to say this. You may remember the story about
35:17
the Sunday school teacher who asked the pupil to define
35:19
repentance, and the boy replied repentance means sorrow for sin.
35:25
That's right, said the teacher. But then a little girl spoke up.
35:30
She says excuse me, but it means being sorry enough to quit my
35:35
sin. She knew that repentance
35:39
involves not only a change in my feelings and thinking, but also
35:43
a change of the will. If a person truly changes his
35:47
mind about sin, then he will act completely different from here
35:57
on. Now, isn't that interesting?
36:01
Have you ever got to a point where you repented of your sin
36:04
or you at the point where you just kind of regret what you did
36:10
and it might cause a little bit remorse because somebody's
36:13
feelings got hurt, but there's no turning away from your sin.
36:20
With the Church of Thessalonica. They turned to God from idols,
36:24
right? They turned their back on their
36:27
idolatry. They turned to God from their
36:29
sin. They waited expectantly for the
36:34
Lord's return. They understood true biblical
36:39
repentance. David in Psalm 51 after a sin
36:47
with Bathsheba wailed because of a sin, and he said against thee,
36:56
and the only have I sinned. He understood that his sin was
37:02
against God. Over in Psalm Psalm 32, the
37:10
psalmist says this in verse #1 Psalm 32 verse #1 psalmist says
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blessed is the man. How blessed is he whose
37:25
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, How blessed is
37:31
the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in his
37:34
spirit there is no deceit. David says.
37:37
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my
37:42
groaning all day long for day and night your hand was heavy
37:45
upon me. My vitality was drained away as
37:48
with the fever heat of summer. I acknowledge my sin to you and
37:52
my iniquity. I did not hide.
37:54
I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and
37:59
you forgave the guilt of my sin. David understood repentance, and
38:08
David was a major Sinner, but yet he was a man after God's own
38:16
heart. Why?
38:20
Because David, although he was a major Sinner, he was a major
38:26
repenter of a sin and knew what it meant to confess and turn
38:32
from his sin. And that's why he was
38:35
characterized as a man after God's own heart, because he
38:39
truly wanted to rectify all that was done wrong, knowing that he
38:43
had sinned against his God and grieved his God and so God would
38:49
forgive him. That's why he says how blessed
38:52
is a man whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are
38:57
covered. Because when I wouldn't, I
39:00
wouldn't confess my sin. God's hand was heavy upon me.
39:06
My own vitality was drained from my body.
39:12
I would soak my bed with tears. Because you see, when you're a
39:17
child of the Lord, He does never allows His children to sin
39:23
successfully. He allows you to sin, and He
39:30
never allows you to sin successfully and continually.
39:35
His hand will be heavy upon you, and you'll begin to weep and to
39:40
mourn because of your iniquity. And as Ezekiel says, you will
39:46
loathe yourself. That's not a message people want
39:51
to preach today in church. Hey, come to church and learn to
39:54
loathe yourself. No, we want to go to church and
39:57
learn to love ourselves, the loath.
40:00
Who wants to do that? But you see, those are the only
40:05
ones who receive comfort, and that's the consequences.
40:11
So let's describe the consequences to you.
40:14
How? How is the Lord going to comfort
40:16
you? How?
40:18
How does God bring comfort into your life?
40:21
This is just so important. First of all, God himself is a
40:26
comforter. Second is 1.
40:29
Verse 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
40:33
right? Blessed be the God who's the
40:36
Father of mercies, the God of all comfort, the God of all
40:44
comfort. Listen to what Isaiah says.
40:49
Isaiah chapter 55, verse #6 Seek the Lord while he may be found,
40:56
call upon him while he is near, Let the wicked forsake his way,
40:59
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to
41:02
the Lord, and he God will have compassion on him and to our
41:08
God, and he will abundantly pardon.
41:14
Why are mourners comforted? Because they are the only ones
41:25
who are truly forgiven of their sins.
41:28
They are the only ones who experience the joy of of
41:31
salvation. That's why they are blessed.
41:36
The blessing doesn't come in the morning.
41:39
The blessing comes in what God does in response to your
41:42
morning. He brings you comfort, and with
41:45
that comfort, He brings forgiveness.
41:51
He brings the cleansing from your sin.
41:55
He cleanses away the guilt of your sin.
42:00
For once there is freedom, there is joy.
42:05
There's the opportunity now to to live a holy and in righteous
42:11
life before my holy and righteous God.
42:16
So first of all, God is a comforter #2 the Spirit of God
42:21
is a comforter. Remember John chapter 14?
42:24
It says in verse 16, I will ask the Father, and He will give you
42:28
another comforter, another helper.
42:31
The Spirit of God is a comforter.
42:34
And the word for another is, alas, another of the same kind,
42:37
not heteros, another of a different kind.
42:41
In other words, Christ, I'm going to give you another just
42:43
like me, identical to me. The Spirit of God is God, Jesus
42:48
is God, and I'm going to give you another identical just like
42:53
me. That will be your helper, that
42:55
will be your comforter, that will be the one called alongside
42:59
of you, the, as the Bible says, the paracletos, the one called
43:03
alongside to bring comfort and joy.
43:07
That's the Spirit of God that he may be with you forever.
43:12
He goes on to say, verse 25, These things I have spoken to
43:15
you while abiding with you. But the Comforter, the Holy
43:19
Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach
43:22
you all things and bring to you remembrance all that I said to
43:25
you. Verse 26 to chapter 15, when the
43:28
Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father,
43:31
that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He
43:36
will testify about me. Verse #7 of chapter 16.
43:41
But I will tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I
43:45
go away, for if I do not go away, the comforter will not
43:51
come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you.
44:00
The Spirit of God is a comforter, and the Spirit of God
44:04
produces joy. Galatians 5.
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The fruit of the Spirit is love for the Spirit is peace for the
44:13
Spirit is joy, self-control, gentleness, meekness.
44:17
God's Spirit produces those things because he comes
44:20
alongside of you. He dwells on the inside of you
44:23
and produces nothing but the characteristics of Christ
44:27
himself in you because he's identical to the Christ.
44:32
And so you have God who is the the shepherd, the Savior.
44:38
And by the way, he says, David says in Psalm 2023, Thy rod and
44:46
thy staff shall comfort me. The shepherd, the God of Israel,
44:54
carries a rod, which is that which is given to, to, to guard
45:00
you. And the staff is given to guide
45:03
you because the staff would be used by the shepherd to move his
45:07
sheep along and guide them in the right direction to make sure
45:10
they didn't go off track. And so the Lord says, I'm your
45:15
shepherd and, and I carry a, a rod and a staff because I'm into
45:19
protecting you and watching over you so much.
45:22
So I go way beyond that and give you another helper, a comforter
45:26
of the Spirit of God, who will actually dwell in you and bring
45:31
you the joy and peace that you so desperately need because
45:34
you've repented of your sin. Oh, by the way, then it's the
45:38
Scriptures on top of that that bring comfort, because without
45:43
the Lord giving us His Spirit to teach us the Scriptures, we
45:47
would be absent when it comes to comfort.
45:50
So listen to what the psalmist says in Psalm 119, verse #50
45:55
this is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has
45:59
revived me. Verse 28 Psalm 119 My soul weeps
46:05
because of grief. Strengthen me according to your
46:08
word. Psalmist knew that when he
46:11
grieved, the only strength that would come would come from the
46:16
word of the living God. Because God's Spirit always
46:21
works in conjunction with the Scriptures and the Savior gives
46:25
us the Spirit, and the Spirit uses the scriptures to bring
46:29
comfort into our lives. Look what it says over in verse
46:33
#76 it says, Oh, may your loving kindness comfort me according to
46:42
Your word to Your servant. May Your mercies comfort me
46:49
according to as you've already spoken in Your word.
46:54
In other words, Your word is true.
46:57
I'm claiming the promise of Your word about the mercies that come
47:01
and comfort me because of what Your word says.
47:05
And then over in verse #92 If Your law had not been my
47:08
delight, then I would have perished in my affliction.
47:10
Verse 93. I will never forget Your
47:12
precepts, for by them You have revived me.
47:15
Verse 107. I am exceedingly afflicted.
47:19
Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
47:25
So the psalmist new that amidst my affliction, amidst my grief,
47:30
amidst the need to be strengthened, it comes one way,
47:34
through the truth of God's Word. Remember, we've quoted it over
47:38
and over again. 2nd Thessalians 213 that God's Word effectively
47:43
works in those who believe. It doesn't work in those who
47:47
don't believe, except when it comes to convicting them of the
47:50
sin and bringing into a point of salvation.
47:54
But for those who believe, God's Word is always at work in your
47:58
heart. So when you read it, you study
48:00
it, you memorize it, what happens amidst your grief,
48:03
amidst your affliction, amidst your sorrow, amidst all the
48:07
things that trouble you, God says, I will comfort you.
48:11
I will let you understand the strength of my word.
48:13
That's why Romans 15, four says these things in the earlier
48:17
times were written for your instruction, that through the
48:20
encouragement and the perseverance of Scripture, you
48:26
might have hope. God says I've written all this
48:30
stuff down for you so that you can have hope, so you can read
48:35
about the people who went through times of affliction and
48:39
grief and know what it means to have my word to comfort you.
48:46
And then of course, outside of the Savior himself and outside
48:49
of the Spirit himself and outside of the Scriptures
48:52
itself, you have other Saints. And over in 2nd Corinthians
49:00
chapter 1 it says these words in verse #3 Blessed be the God and
49:08
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Father of mercy is the God
49:11
of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction.
49:14
So we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction
49:19
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
49:25
For just as a suffering through Christ our ours in abundance, so
49:29
also our comfort is abundant through Christ.
49:34
Paul says the reason you go through your affliction so the
49:38
God of a comfort will comfort you, but it isn't in there.
49:43
He comforts you so that you will be able to comfort those who go
49:48
through similar afflictions. And so when someone mourns
49:53
because of the sin, and they grieve over the fact that they
49:55
have turned their back against God, and they repent of their
49:58
sins, other Saints come alongside of them and they
50:01
comfort them by explaining to them what God did in their life.
50:05
And God comforted them and it's their sin.
50:07
When they turn from their sin and they're able to be
50:11
encouraged because they see what God did in fellow believers,
50:15
life can happen in their life as well.
50:20
It's the God of all comfort who comforts those who mourn over
50:24
their sin, which really is a true godly sorrow, a repentance
50:32
from their sin #3 detail on the characteristics.
50:39
Real quick. Are you confessing your sin?
50:42
Are you confessing your sin? That's a characteristic of those
50:51
who've mourned over the sin that they that there's this continual
50:55
confession, not you just don't mourn at the point of salvation
51:00
when you turn from your sin, there's always this
51:02
consciousness of reoccurring sin and how it grieves my God that
51:08
I've sinned against him. And if we are the ones
51:11
confessing our sins, verse John 19 says, then God is the one who
51:15
is continually forgiving us our sins.
51:18
We are completely aware of the fact that we sin against God.
51:23
And so we ask ourselves, are we confessing our sins?
51:27
It was Paul who said, O wretched man that I am because he knew
51:34
that he was a Sinner. In fact the first ever 1 He says
51:37
he was a chief of all sinners. He understood that confession
51:44
was good for the soul. Ask yourself, are you confessing
51:48
your sin number #2 are you certain of God's forgiveness of
51:52
your sin? You should be.
51:56
Why? Because God is a God of truth,
52:01
and God pardons iniquity. God Forgives sin.
52:07
Do you have the peace and joy that comes from forgiveness?
52:12
You sense God's comfort when you go to Him and confess your sins.
52:18
Remember Jesus said in Matthew 1128, Come unto me, all ye that
52:21
labor and heavy laden, I will give you a rest.
52:25
Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me.
52:29
But all those of you who are weighed down because of your
52:32
sin, you're carrying this burden around that you cannot do
52:36
anything with. Come to me.
52:39
My yoke is easy. It's light, it's kind, it's
52:46
merciful. Come to me.
52:49
I will forgive you. Our God is a forgiving God.
52:55
God holds no grudges. God gives no paybacks.
53:01
God's a forgiver. He is an avenger of the evil.
53:05
Yes. And by the way, there is no
53:06
peace for the wicked. We understand that.
53:09
Isaiah is pretty clear about that.
53:12
But for those who come to Christ in repent of sins, there is
53:18
comfort. Are you confessing your sins?
53:21
Are you certain of God's forgiveness?
53:23
Or are you concerned about sin and even in your own life?
53:26
That's number three. Are you concerned about sin even
53:31
in your own life? That that is just so, so
53:35
important. Why so many times we just
53:40
Passover sin as if it doesn't matter.
53:42
It's not that big a deal, but it is because it offends the true
53:50
and living God and that should always grieve us.
53:58
Psalm 97 verse #10 it says hate evil.
54:01
You who love the Lord, do you hate evil enough to turn away
54:07
from evil? And then lastly, are you, are
54:11
you crying over the sins of the world?
54:16
That's that's a, that's a characteristic of those who have
54:20
truly mourned. They cry over the sins of the
54:24
world. Isaiah 53 three says that our
54:28
Lord was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.
54:35
Not only did he weep at the tomb of Lazarus, he wept over the
54:38
city of Jerusalem. Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
54:43
If only, only if you'd known on this day what had come to you, I
54:52
would have gathered you together as a mother hidden gathers your
54:54
chicks. But you were unwilling to come
54:58
to me. It caused him to weep because
55:02
they chose their sin over a Savior.
55:08
They chose their rebellion over a Redeemer.
55:14
That's how they live their lives.
55:16
And it caused our Lord to weep over the city.
55:21
This is Psalm one 19136 River, a river of waters ran down my eyes
55:31
because they keep not by law and that's just amazing.
55:39
When was the last time you cried because someone in your family
55:44
didn't keep the law of God? When was the last time someone
55:50
in your you cried because someone in your church decided
55:54
to not follow the law of God? When was the last time you wept
56:03
because you live in a country that doesn't follow the law of
56:05
God? There's a reason Jeremiah was
56:09
called the weeping prophet, because he wept profusely over
56:16
the sins of Israel. They would not turn and follow
56:23
their God. So point #4 determining my
56:28
course, what's my course of action?
56:30
Number one, realize your condition.
56:36
Realize your condition, poverty of spirit and sorrow because of
56:46
my sin and my condition. Have you realized that?
56:51
Have you realized that your sins have separated you from your
56:54
God? God hasn't been separated from
56:58
you. Your sins have separated you
57:00
from God, and therefore your sins are a barrier between you
57:06
and your God. Have you recognized that?
57:09
Do you realize that? Have you come to a place where
57:12
you you, you've mourned over your sin that that your
57:15
condition is is ugly, destitute. I, I have nothing to offer my
57:21
God, because I'm such a, a wretched Sinner and I cry out
57:25
for mercy. Lord, have mercy upon me.
57:28
Forgive me of my sin. And, and and that happens as as
57:33
you enter into heaven, but it's something that is habitual with
57:37
those who are Kingdom citizens that they, they still, they
57:41
still don't think they're anything.
57:43
They realize that they're nothing and and that that they
57:46
are still sinners and they need to continually turn from their
57:50
sin to follow the Lord. Have you realized your condition
57:56
#2 research sin in the Scriptures.
58:03
That's always a good way to to determine your course of action.
58:08
Sometimes we don't recognize the severity of sin, but if you read
58:12
about it in the Scriptures, read about David and Bathsheba, just
58:16
understand what took place and everything that he lost because
58:20
of his sin and how it affected his family so devastatingly that
58:25
the sword never left his home. You see you, you.
58:31
You don't mourn because of the consequences of your sin, you
58:34
mourn because of the sin itself. Those who regret what they did,
58:40
those who have remorse, do so because of the consequences, but
58:45
those who repent, repent because of the sin itself.
58:50
It offends the true and living God.
58:55
Research sin in the scriptures from the guy this past week came
59:02
to Christ 3 weeks ago and he came to Christ 3 weeks ago
59:07
reading the book of Ezekiel the 36th chapter verses 2425 and 26
59:17
about the New covenant. He read that he realized I need
59:23
God's Spirit in me to follow the Lord.
59:28
I need a cleansed heart. My heart's filthy.
59:33
They got down on his knees in his bedroom and he cried out to
59:36
God and God saved him. He didn't do anything but read
59:46
what the Bible says, because the law of the Lord is perfect,
59:49
converting the soul, right? Faith cometh by hearing hearing
59:54
by about a word concerning the Christ.
59:57
Romans 10/17. He read the scriptures and
1:00:01
realized that he needed cleansing and that without that
1:00:04
cleansing he would not have the Spirit, and without the Spirit
1:00:07
he could not follow God. So he cried out to the Lord.
1:00:14
Research sin in the scriptures. Read about Paul's life and the
1:00:22
struggle that he had in Romans 7 because he struggled.
1:00:26
Things I'm supposed to be doing. I'm not the things I shouldn't
1:00:30
be doing. I am, O wretched man that I am,
1:00:33
who will free me from this life of sin.
1:00:37
He recognized his sin, and he was a great prophet of God,
1:00:43
great apostle for the Lord, great preacher of the gospel,
1:00:48
wrote 13 books of the New Testament.
1:00:51
But he recognized how sinful he was and cried out to God.
1:00:57
And lastly, request a contrite heart, Psalm 51.
1:01:05
A broken and contrite heart God will not despise.
1:01:09
Have you ever requested God to break your heart?
1:01:16
The shatter the hardness that's there to break up all the the
1:01:24
rocky soil that's there and shatter your inner man?
1:01:32
Request a contrite heart because God promises blessing to those
1:01:41
who mourn, joy to those who mourn because they and they only
1:01:50
will be the ones who are truly comforted.
1:01:55
Let's pray to God. Father, we thank you, Lord, for
1:02:01
for tonight and for your word and but it means so much to to
1:02:07
cover so little time to do it. But I pray for everyone in the
1:02:12
room. I pray that Lord, you'd work in
1:02:16
their hearts. Those who are here have never,
1:02:21
never turned from their sin, never, never mourned over the
1:02:25
sin of their lives because they are separated from you.
1:02:29
Cause them, Lord, to see how their sin, it's only going to
1:02:35
lead them to hell, not to heaven.
1:02:38
They need a Savior, someone who will forgive them of their sin.
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That's what you do. You're a Savior, You're a
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Redeemer. You will deliver them from their
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sin. Cause them to cry out to you,
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Lord. And may all of us realize, Lord,
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that that turning from our sin, as Martin Luther said when he
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nailed those 95 theses on the Wittenberg door in Germany, that
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when God calls his people to repent, he means that it's a
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lifelong action of repentance. It's a constant turning from our
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sin. Maybe be that way Lord, that we
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might understand the true comfort that comes from the God
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of mercies, the God of all comfort.
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Pray in Jesus name, Amen.