SOM #3: GOOD MOURNING! (Matthew 5:4)

(This message may be used as an individual sermon or as part of the series.)

MATTHEW 5:4

GOOD MOURNING

#3 – SERMON ON THE MOUNT

I have seen some good mourning. My father in-law Erroll Adams lost his wife of over 50 years. Tears were shed, but Dad realized that he would see Mom again. For a few weeks Dad just wasn’t himself. He missed Mom. He was down. Then he moved in with us.

He never stopped missing Mom, but even at 80 years old he got on with his life. He decorated his room and the attached porch with favorite mementos. He washed dishes for Dottie, attended our boy’s soccer and basketball games in all sorts of weather, and attended church services regularly. He also took us out to eat at least once a week.

Dad practiced good mourning.

Often people have a “wake up” call caused by some tragedy in their lives. During this time they recognize their sin, grieve over it, and turn to Christ for forgiveness. They mourn. But it’s good mourning!

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

The Lord Jesus is telling us that there is a type of mourning that is good.

This is a mourning caused by sorrow over sin.

This is a mourning that brings comfort.

Most people do not like to even admit to sin, let alone sorrow over it. However the person who admits to sin and sorrows over it Biblically is the one who is going to experience the comfort of God’s forgiveness.

In this message I want us to consider mourning in three ways.

MOURNING OVER SELF

Mourning is often involved in the salvation experience.

When a person is under the conviction of the Holy Spirit for salvation, it is a natural response to mourn before God because of your sinfulness.

The comfort for that kind of mourning comes when a person discovers that Christ has died for their sin, and that by claiming Him as Savior, there is forgiveness.

Christian, you and I are the ones who should know something about mourning over sin. Because Jesus had to suffer a horrific death so that we can have forgiveness and salvation, we should be grieved when we are convicted of anything that causes Him pain.

The classic case of sin and mourning over it is the story of “David and Bathsheba”.

When David was convicted over the sin, he mourned. Psalm 51:1-4

David was totally honest with God about his sin.

He gave no excuse.

He blamed nobody else.

He took full responsibility.

When we mourn over sin, we will do the same.

We will be totally honest.

We will name the specific sin or sins.

We will blame nobody else.

We will take full responsibility.

We will be sorry for the sin, not just for being caught.

We will strive to forsake that sin.

With confession comes the comfort of forgiveness. 1 John 1:9, Psalm 32:1-2, 5

How should we handle mourning over sin as Christians?

First we should confess any known sin to God that we have not dealt with before.
Second, we should have a set time each day to examine our lives for sin, perhaps, first thing in the morning, or the last thing at night.
Thirdly, if we need help knowing what God considers sin, we can refer to the Scripture. Two excellent lists are found in Colossians 3:5-10 and Proverbs 6:16-19
Finally, we need to beware of delaying the mourning process. Sometimes we are just too comfortable in our sins and enjoying sins too much to actually mourn over them.

As Christians, let’s look to the cross and remind ourselves how Jesus has suffered for us. That should be motivation for us to quit what we are doing for His sake. Isaiah 53:3-6

MOURNING OVER SAINTS

There is a difference between being critical of the saints, and mourning over the sins of the saints.

When a person is critical, he or she, is not concerned about the spiritual well-being of the person involved.

When a person is critical, he is not sorrowed over the sin.

When a person is critical, he is making himself feel good by pointing out what’s wrong in another person.

When a person is critical, he thinks of himself as better than the other person.

How is mourning over the sins of the saints different from criticism of the saints?

Your are seriously concerned about the holiness of God, and don’t want to see anyone, especially yourself, sin against Him.
You are concerned about the spiritual well being of the person.
You want to see the person restored to God.
You talk to God in concerned prayer about the person.
You ask God to deliver the person from their sin.
You talk to the person involved about their sin instead of talking to others.

There was once gross sin in the church at Corinth.

The Corinthians instead of grieving over sin and seeking to restore the brother to righteousness, instead congratulated themselves on their open-mindedness. They were “tolerating” the man’s sin. 1 Corinthians 5:1-2

There is another sense in which we can mourn over the sins of the saints. It is when we acknowledge for ourselves and for other Christians that we have all sinned against God.

Nehemiah prayed such a prayer when he was lamenting that Jerusalem’s walls had been devastated. Nehemiah 1:6-7

We should mourn over the laxness and outright sin we see in the church and in ourselves. I believe America is in moral trouble today because Christians have failed to live righteously and to take a stand for what is right. But there is hope. 2 Chronicles 7:1-14

MOURNING OVER SINNERS

Now let me reiterate that we are all sinners.

The sinners I refer to now are the sinners without the Savior.

I am referring to those who have not trusted Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sin and everlasting life.

We should mourn for those we know without Christ.

The Apostle Paul did. Romans 10:1, 9:1-3

that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:

The great passage that reminds us to mourn over those who do not know Christ as Savior is found in the Old Testament.

Psalm 126:5-6 – They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. [6] He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

When we sorrow before God over the people we know without Christ and pray for them in mourning. When we then go to that person, bringing the precious message of salvation.

We can expect there will be times when we will see those we pray for and witness to coming to Christ as Savior.

And if we need motivation to mourn for those without Christ consider just one more verse of Scripture. Revelation 20:15

(This message may be used as an individual sermon or as part of the series.)

MATTHEW 9:23-27 – STORMY WEATHER

LIFE OF CHRIST #24

We all face trials and troubles often. It is what Cole Porter called “Stormy Weather” in a song that he wrote.

There were a couple of times when the disciples faced storms on the Sea of Galilee.

As we look at this story about literal storm, we also learn lessons about the figurative storms that cause trials and troubles in our lives. Let’s see what lessons we can learn this morning about stormy weather.

STORMY WEATHER IS BEST FACED WHEN JESUS IS IN THE BOAT

Vs. 23 – Think of the boat as our lives.

Although God is present everywhere, there is a special sense in which God is present in our lives. When He indwells us, He has taken up special residence inside of us. John 14:16-17

God the Holy Spirit dwells inside of the Christian.

He is there to guide us, protect us, keep us, teach us, and comfort us.

And God has promised the Christian that this presence is unending! Hebrews 13:5-6

You have heard people say, and might have said yourself, “I wouldn’t want to face this problem without the Lord!”

How true! If God is willing to take up residence in our lives through his Holy Spirit it would be dumb not to avail ourselves of His presence.

When you trust Christ as your payment for sins, you are what the Bible calls, born again, by the Spirit of God. And God the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your life. Romans 8:9

If you have truly trusted Christ as your Savior, you have God’s presence in your life no matter what the storm may be. Make sure that you have Christ in the boat that is your life!

STORMY WEATHER RESULTS FROM OBEDIENCE

Vs. 23 – The Lord Jesus entered the boat. The disciples followed Him into the boat. It was the Lord Jesus who decided where they were going. Luke 8:22

The disciples ended up in a storm on the Sea of Galilee because they were following Jesus in obedience.

Of course, being obedient to God as a Christian and following Jesus’ leadership in our lives is the right thing to do. Luke 9:23-24

Following Jesus after trusting Him for forgiveness does not mean that it will be an easy life. In fact, we will have storms. 2 Timothy 3:12, James 1:2-4

The storms that Jesus leads through will make us strong and mature. And I’d rather follow Jesus in the middle of a storm than to not follow Jesus. Being in the center of the Lord’s will is always the safest place to be.

But you’ll also face storms if you’re not obedient to God.

Would you rather face storms being in the center of God’s will, or out of God’s will? Which makes the most sense?

STORMY WEATHER IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS

Vs. 24 – I don’t have to tell you how dangerous storms can be. Just consider last year’s tsunami and hurricanes Ivan and Rita.

This storm was a very violent storm, and even seasoned fishermen like Peter, Andrew, James, and John were having trouble with it.

The storms of life which we face are also dangerous.

Sometimes we will be in physical danger because of persecution, accidents or illness.

Other times we are in emotional danger with our “storms” threatening to overwhelm us with fear and/or depression.

Other times we are in Spiritual danger, with Satan’s attacks challenging us to give up or to sin.

And this verse alludes to another danger. We might be concerned because in the midst of the storm God appears to be asleep. He does not seem to be responding to our problems during the storm. He seems to be silent.

Our Lord Jesus was able to sleep because He had a human body that got tired. He was also able to sleep because, being sinless, He had a clean conscience. He was also able to sleep, because He quietly allowed Himself to rest in the hands of His loving Heavenly Father.

If you are doing what is right before the Lord, confessing your sins as a Christian, and striving to live for Him, don’t panic when God appears to be asleep. He’ll show Himself to be very much alive at just the right time.

STORMY WEATHER INVOKES FEAR AND PANIC

Vs. 25 – When storms come we tend to fear. And sometimes when storms come we will go into a panic. The situation seems to be absolutely hopeless!

Humans tend to be fearful. If we didn’t tend to be fearful, God would not have put so many verses in the Bible telling us not to be afraid. I’ll just give you two samples, but there are many more “do not fear” verses in the Bible. Psalm 27:1, Isaiah 41:10

We tend to fear and worry about what might happen but hasn’t happened.

We tend to fear and worry about the future.

We tend to fear and worry about the opinions of others.

We tend to fear and worry about our children, our parents, our spouses.

Then comes the times our problems are so real to us that they tend to overwhelm us. We hit the panic mode.

Yes, many fears are justified. But there is a proper way to handle fear.

These seasoned fishermen were literally in over their heads and they knew it, coming to Jesus in panic.

STORMY WEATHER REQUIRES PRAYER AND FAITH

Vs. 25 – The disciples awoke the Lord Jesus.

Their anxious prayer was an indication that they had come to the end of themselves, and that they had at least a little faith that Jesus could help.

I personally think that they waited too long to ask Jesus for help. The moment things got a little stormy, I think they should have come to Him.

We are like that. If things seem to be just a little stormy or troublesome, we’ll just worry over it and try to solve it ourselves, instead of bringing it to God right away.

But when problems get full blown, we come in a panic with a little, but not much faith that God can help. Philippians 4:6, James 1:5-8

Vs. 26 – Note that Jesus did not rebuke the disciples for waking Him up. Like I said, I feel that He would have welcomed being woken up sooner.

Notice our Lord’s calm rebuke in the midst of the storm.

He was not in a panic. He’s totally under control. He can even take the time to rebuke the disciples before He did anything. He is master of the situation.

Let’s remember when we give our stormy problems to God He is not in a panic. He can solve the problem leisurely if He chooses to. There is no reason to get in a dither or bent out of shape.

STORMY WEATHER REVEALS THE GLORY AND POWER OF GOD

Vs. 26 – Jesus said the word and there was perfect calm. It was like there had been no storm. There was no rocking of the waves that normally follow a storm. There was perfect peace.

When Jesus speaks the Word there is perfect peace.

Sometimes the problem totally disappears, but more often than not the place where the greatest miracle has occurred is inside of us.

We are at peace.

God has calmed the ragging in our souls.

Vs. 27 – The disciples were absolutely amazed! The Lord Jesus had done what they had never seen before. A human being told the storm to cease and it did. The winds obeyed Him! The waves obey Him.

They had a new appreciation for the power of Jesus!

They had a new appreciation for the glory of Jesus!

And when Jesus calms our storms, we too, should have a new appreciation for the power and glory of the Lord Jesus.

We should be amazed!

We should be filled with praise and worship.

We should be ready to trust Him when an even bigger storm comes.