Text: Matthew 5:4

Topic: Why it is blessed to mourn

Introduction

• Illustration: A humorous story about a man who mourns the death of his wife's first husband.
• The Beatitudes as a whole turn conventional wisdom upside down.
• The goal of most Americans is to become happy, yet the second beatitude pronounces a blessing on those who mourn.

Jesus is referring to a specific type of mourning.

• Jesus pronounces a blessing on those that mourn over the reality of their sin, and the knowledge that they have offended God.
• When we become poor in spirit, we realize that we are inadequate without God; the result of this realization is mourning.
• Godly sorrow leads to repentance; worldly sorrow (when we are focused on our own misery) leads to spiritual death.
  • 2 Corinthians 7:10

Mourning over our sin is necessary for salvation.

• Our contemporary culture does not understand the seriousness of our sin.
• God takes sin so seriously that he sent Jesus to die for it.
  • Illustration: Bennett tells a story about the pain of watching his two-year-old daughter suffer in a hospital.
• Becoming emotionally affected by our sin is a sign of spiritual growth.
  • Illustration: Bennett became emotional while watching a recent romantic comedy.

Mourning is not the end.

• Our grief should grow into love and gratitude as we encounter God's forgiveness.
  • Illustration: In Luke 7, a prostitute who weeps over and kisses Jesus' feet is compared to a Pharisee who watches with disdain.
• We will never understand the true joy of salvation until we understand the darkness of our own sin.
  • Psalm 32

Conclusion

• Illustration: Peter denied Jesus three times, was convicted of his sin, wept bitterly, experienced forgiveness, and ended up joyfully serving God.
• All sin, big or small, should be sorrowfully confessed and joyfully released.