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May 15, 2020 4:00 am
The side of the world is useless. It works – where godly sorrow works repentance which brings salvation, brings comfort talking about. Is it a promise that God's going to be with you when you're dealing with tragedy that you bless you when you weep with those who are suffering that you give you the strength you need when circumstances turn out far worse than you expected. Those are important questions to consider to help you understand what it is you're supposed to mourn and how God turns your morning into blessing stay here as John MacArthur continues his study titled the Beatitudes. Here's today's lesson. Matthew chapter 5 in verse four says blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. Happy are the sad we never thought that was true, comforted the mourners. That's contrary to everything we know the whole structure of our life. The pleasure madness. The amusement park mentality, the entertainment media. The constant thrillseeking the money in the energy and the time and the enthusiasm expended in living it up are an expression of the world's desire to avoid the morning and to avoid the sorrow and to avoid the pain. But Jesus said happy are the sad, happy are those that mourn that's different. Happy are you that mourn for you shall be comforted. Just the opposite of the world's philosophy a new approach to life and that's exactly what Jesus is doing his knee in the sermon on the Mount is offering a new approach to life. It pronounces blessing it pronounces happiness. It pronounces joy, peace and comfort on those who mourn, you say will John what in the world is this me.
First of all, what is it mean blessed or happy Makati us are those that mourn in what sense is that true, let's talk about.
There are in the Greek language. Nine different verbs used in the New Testament that speak of grief. This is the strongest of the nine this is the most severe, but the very fact that there are nine different verbs in one language to express the concept of grief is a pretty good indication that it is a way of life that it is part and parcel of just living and in fact the whole of man's history is the story of tears and it's the story of sorrow and by the way, we have had a lot of it but we haven't had anything like what is yet to come in the 24th chapter of Matthew the fourth verse Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.
And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
For nation shall rise against nation kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places. Now, if you know anything about Matthew 24 you know that Jesus is talking about a time at the end of the age and he follows it up in the next verse by saying all these are only the beginning of sorrow you haven't seen anything yet. The history of man is a history of sorrow. It's a history of tears the history of pain and grief in man is only seen the beginning but just what kind of morning is Jesus talking about what is he mean when he says blessed are they that mourn, what kind of blessedness is available for what kind of morning.
Well, the Bible talks about all different kinds of morning. By the way, there a lot of different kinds of morning me just share a couple with you first of all there is.
What what you might call general sorrow just the sorrow of life, a kind of a proper sorrow if you will, a kind of a sorrow that is acceptable.
That is very normal, weeping and mourning in this sense is a part of human life. In fact, it's a gift of God, you know that. Did you know that the ability to cry as a gift of God.
The pain and the anxiety that you hold in would poison your entire emotional system if it couldn't be released in tears. It couldn't be released in sorrow. You see, weeping and sorrowing is like the releasing of a pressure valve. The let's all of that out of your system so it doesn't poison your whole emotional care in Psalm 42 verses 1 to 3 we hear the psalmist morning and this is what he says as the deer repetitive after the water brooks solo parent of my soul. After the oh God my soul cursed just for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God, my tears a bit my food day and night while they continually saying to me, where is thy God. In other words, the sorrow and the grief over the absence of God was released in the heart of the psalmist through the tears came coursing down his cheeks, and you see he was suffering from loneliness and loneliness is reason enough to cry its reason enough to have some tears and for even us a child of God, who may at one point in his life feel lonely and estranged from God. Tears are a very normal way to deal with such sorrow. In second Timothy chapter 1 verses three and four Paul said to Timothy, I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience, that without ceasing, Timothy. I have remembered the in my prayers night and day.
Listen to this greatly desiring to see the being mindful of thy tears. Timothy was weeping because of terrible discouragement and defeat. I've shed some tears, sometimes of loneliness, sometimes of discouragement and defeat. That's normal.
The ninth chapter of Jeremiah the prophet who had been called by God to preach to Israel about a coming judgment came and preached with tears. This is what he says in Jeremiah 91. Just listen all that my head were Waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears that I might weep day and night for the slaying of the daughter of my people. Psalmist wept because he was lonely. Timothy wept because he was discouraged. Jeremiah wept because he saw the judgment of God about the fall of the people you love. He was disappointed in acts chapter 20 the apostle Paul met with the Ephesian elders and he talked about his tears. In verse 31 therefore watch and remember that for the space of three years. I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears.
Paul had tears of concern.
Tears of care. Tears of anxiety in Mark chapter 9, a father brought his demon possessed Sunday, Jesus and the tears were running down the father's cheeks as he said, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believe it, and straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe, help thou mine believe say what kind of tears were those there were the tears of Ernest love for a son wanted to see his son delivered from a demon something, I suppose, like Psalm 126 verse five they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth in weep with bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again, rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Ernest love, and in Psalm 126 is that Ernest love for the loss that makes you weep. In Luke chapter 7 verse 37 a woman came into the Pharisee's house where Jesus was reclining and resting and she brought an alabaster box of ointment.
You remember the story.
Luke records for us that the woman stood at his feet, weeping, and she wept all over his feet and then she washed his feet with her own hair. What kind of tears were those there were the tears of devotion. There were the tears of worship.
They were the tears of heartfelt gratitude. Sometimes people cry when they're thankful. Sometimes they cry out of Ernest love sometimes they cry out of concern. Sometimes I creek they cry out of disappointment, sometimes out of discouragement, sometimes out of loneliness and sometimes just out of love. Love makes people cry, our Lord wept at the grave of Lazarus because he loved him and he had compassion and is a time for that Ecclesiastes chapter 3 at time to be born. A time to die. Time to laugh. Time to cry. But in addition to that is another kind of human weeping that is different. It is not proper.
It is improper. It is illicit. This is when a man mourns because he can't satisfy his lust busted Ahab mourn.
He wanted Naboth's vineyard. He coveted it so much that it says in first Kings 21 for he laid on his bed turned away his face and would need any bratty one in the morning, but he wanted what was in his that's an illicit wrong kind of morning and then also sometimes there is the morning the foolish extended morning of people who can't let somebody go you see it very often when somebody dies in a person becomes a literal basketcase.
It happens even in the case of Christians. Now there is another kind of illicit sorrow and that's the sorrow that's overdone because of guilt. Now there are some people who just get super sorry and super mournful is a way of atoning for their own sin. A good biblical illustration of this is David Absalom try to dethrone his father.
Absalom was proud he was egotistical. He particularly liked his hair and Absalom plotted against David and he plotted against him to dethrone him and he drove David Wright out of the city, drove his own father out of Jerusalem, he took over the palace. Any planet to that would wipe out David's forces and so the battle came off. Unfortunately for Absalom, his side lost and he was slain. David told his soldiers now in the battle starts. David said in 18 five of five seconds and will deal gently for my sake with the young man even with Absalom be easy on Absalom's Asiana file sinful, evil, rebellious man be easy on and when David was told that he was dead. He said my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom God. I died for the oh Absalom, my son, my nose love is admirable. His ideas stupid who wants Absalom to run Israel, the nation needed David not to sinful proud, egotistical, Absalom. Why was David sorrowing like that because David was full of guilt because he been such a terrible father and the morning over Absalom was kind of an atonement in second Samuel 19. It tells us the soldiers were actually ashamed they won because David was so sad see there's been an improper kind of morning.
Some people say well in general. This beatitude is just true. You know, when you weep you feel a lot better. Sorrow has a way of just sort of building you up and strengthening you know they even write poems about. Remember the old 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 mile was sorrow and narrow words said she but old the things I learned from her when sorrow walked with me. Sorrow does teach us a lot. Nice sentiment, but that's not what this is talking about. It is not talking about the sorrow of the world, whether licit or illicit. It is not at all. It is talking about a godly sorrow that is very different.
I want you look at second Corinthians chapter 7 and see the different in second Corinthians chapter 7 in verse 10, the apostle Paul helps us to understand. He says this for godly sorrow now is not the sorrow of the world godly sorrow work with repentance to salvation not to be repented of but the sorrow of the world works – listen, you can cry your eyes out about your problem and you can weep all you want about loneliness and about discouragement and about disappointment and out of Ernest love, and you can weep all you want about all of those things and you can cry your head off about your unfulfilled lesson when you're all said and done every bit of that worldly sorrow will not bring you life.
There is only one kind of sorrow that brings life and that is godly sorrow which leads you to what repentance.
Therefore, we conclude that it is sorrow over what sin it is the that's the whole idea.
That's the key. Godly sorrow is linked to repentance and repentance is linked to sin. The issue beloved go back to Matthew five verse four. The issue here is not being sorry because you're lonely not being sorry because you discourage or disappointed or because you have such an Ernest love or because somebody died.
It's not being sorry because you don't get what you want. It's not being sorry because you feel so guilty it's being sorry because you're a sinner.
That's the such property of spirit, beloved in verse three will lead to morning, in verse four. True morning overseeing only the beggar can say whoa is me, for I am on the only the beggar can say, depart from me, for I am a sinful man, oh Lord. Look at Dave after his terrible sin with Bathsheba after he had managed to make sure that Uriah, her husband was murdered.
He not only saw how poverty-stricken he was. He not only saw that he was absolutely hopeless that in sin did his mother conceived them in Psalm 51 what he mourns so deeply that it wrenched his soul to it's very look at Job. Joe had everything but the man was never really made a man until he comes. Clear the 42nd chapter after having God flatten him until he realized he was nothing, and he says I have the by the hearing of the year, but now mine eyes see the and his response. I abhor myself, and I repent in dust and ash anybody ever gets a true picture of who he is related to God is that same reaction. That's the only way to the kingdom we got Kroll word morning here in this verse is the strongest of all the Greek words is reserved for mourning for the dead, the passionate lament for one love deeply and lost in the Septuagint is used of Jacobs grief when he believed Joseph his son was dead. Genesis 37 it's used in the Gospels and Mark for example, in chapter 16 verse 10 and she went and this is, of course, after the death of Christ and told those who had been with him as they mourned and wept. It's the same word. It's the strongest word that you use when someone is be wailing the death of one greatly beloved, you find it in Revelation 18 is the evil system B wails the death of its commerce in the great Babylon's destruction in the time of the tribulation.
The word conveys the idea of a deep inner agony, not just an external wailing. There's another Greek word that has to do with just shouting out a wailing.
This is a deep inner pain we see it with David to go back to Psalm 32 verse three when I kept silence my bones became old through my roaring all the day long.
You know when David wouldn't confess his sin to God just touring it just ate him up inside. Day and night by hand was upon me. My moisture or my life juices. The blood in the lymphatic juices and all of those things, to live everything else in the body was turned into the drought of summer is whole person was just wrenched and then he says I acknowledged my sin under the and my iniquity have I not hid.
I said I will confess my transgression to the Lord and down for gavest the iniquity of my sin. In Psalm 51. Reflecting on the same sin of Bathsheba, he said, have mercy on me. Oh God, according to thy lovingkindness. According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, cleanse me from my sin, for I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. I can't get it out of my vision. I can't get out of my mind. Verse 10 create in me a clean heart of God renew a right spirit within me, cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit listen when he mourned his sin and he confessed his sin. He was cleaned out as a whole different attitude and you know what he said in Psalm 32 when he got it all out. He said listen happy happy is the man who mourns because happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy is the man unto him, to whom the Lord is not imputed iniquity. You know why mourners are happy because mourners over sin are the only ones you are what forgiven rest of the world is to live with it endlessly with no relief love to say this happiness doesn't come in the morning. It comes in what God does in response you just tries a Christian to keep sin in your life and bottled up and you just see how ruinous it becomes you confess and see the freedom of the joy terms, and forgiveness and what the world says pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile, and the Bible says more more more. James chapter 4 is not enough of this people in our lives, not enough. James 48 says this I want you to hear it.
Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts, he double minded not listen to verse nine being afflicted and more and we let your laughter return the morning and your joy to happiness yourselves in the side of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
Listen, there's no greater word that I could think of to Christianity of our day than to start crying instead of laughing. It grieves my heart to see the frivolity and the foolishness in the silliness that goes on the name of Christianity. I have a word for those people.
My word for those people. Is this the afflicted and mourn and weep, but your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Listen, nobody ever came into the kingdom of God, who didn't mourn over his own sinfulness and you can verify to me that you're a true Christian or to anyone else unless throughout your life.
There is the same sense of grief over the sin in your own life out of my being happy because unforgiven but I can't enjoy that happiness until I've dealt with child of God is one constantly broken over sinfulness. It was hard for me to be happy much anymore really is. I used to be a lot happier than I am now I know too much to be happy.
Ezekiel said this, Ezekiel 21, a sword, assorted sharpened and also furnished, should we then make so was about to be laughing and joking, assorted sharpened and its furthest God's right to strike in eternal judgment will be laughing about this new joke. You laugh when you see evil laugh when evil is portrayed on your televisions. You laugh when you hear something about somebody doing evil thing you laugh at jokes to talk about ungodliness are those things laughable things. Proverbs 214 says that some delight in the perverseness of evil do you do that, you know, I really believe people that the church today has a defective sense of sin, it has a defective doctrine of sin.
We think so many people think the Christian life is a joke against them from you. I think the Old Testament is pretty clearance is very hard with good like a medicine you were so out of balance. We've lost all of this since have conviction of sin must proceed conversion must follow the path the blessings listening to John MacArthur, Pastor, author and Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary in Southern California is the featured Bible teacher here on grace to you in the title of his current series is simply the Beatitudes of John in the last moments of the lesson you talked about the church being dangerously out of balance for portraying Christianity as something that's basically fun and frivolous and even though you preached this lesson decades ago.
There are still plenty of churches that avoid hard truths like the ones were seeing in the study of the Beatitudes. Sadly, those churches are influencing people to think they are saved when in fact there probably not one that is absolutely true and if you don't think biblically then you don't think correctly about salvation. If you don't think correctly about salvation. You may not be saved. How in the world.
We can have so many pastors stand up with such a cheap imitation of the gospel because they want to be popular and never written that there's never enough content in that gospel to really save people, how how can people who are in pastoral leadership communicating from a pulpit or without a public communicating on a platform short circuit the gospel.
How can the how can you do that and go to sleep at night.
If anything you you want to give the fullest possible expression of the gospel that covers every detail because it's God who saves. So if you if you short change the gospel and you think you're going to win somebody to the Lord. You think you're the reason that people are being converted rather than reaching the full message of the gospel, knowing that only God can give life and only God can save. I want to remind you about a little booklet called is it real like I remember the words of the New Testament judgment begins at the house of God. I think evangelism has to begin in churches I think we've got churches just full of unconverted people and some of them know they're unconverted and they're playing a game of many of them don't know their unconverted they may think they are. I think we probably have people in leadership in those churches who think they're Christians and they're not. There are so many false forms of Christianity. In this pragmatic kind of style that churches have embraced so it's important that you know you're really save it again till this goes back to the first Sunday of Zimmer Grace Church February 9, 1969. At present how to play church because I knew in that church, Grace Community Church, my first Sunday there. There were people there who thought they were saved and they won't say right. We started out that way in and were still preaching that same truth even 51 years later. This is a booklet than is it real 11 test questions for you to answer that will set your mind clearly on the reality of your spiritual condition you want to know that I'm sure again is free to anyone who requests a copy.
Is it real. Phil will tell you how to receive one. Yes, all you have to do is call us or go to our website and request John's booklet. Is it real will send you one for free.
Contact us today our number here is 855 grace and our website TTY.org. Really, nothing is more important than knowing if you truly say, so make sure you take advantage of this offer, is it real will help you answer my question.
Like do I reject the world do I truly love other Christians and do I experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit you can get this booklet for yourself or as a gift for someone you know to be struggling with the short again the title is it real and it's our gift to you. All you have to do is request a copy. Call 855 grace or go to TTY.org and remember@ourwebsitetty.org you can download all of John's sermons from 51 years of ministry, including every lesson in John's current study title the Beatitudes.
Although sermons are free@tty.org now for John MacArthur on Phil Johnson reminding you to watch grace to you television this Sunday on DirecTV channel 378 or check your local listings for channeling times then be here next week when John continues his look at the 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one person at a time on grace to you