Monday, January 31, 2011

The Beatitudes, Part 21 of 50

TEXT: "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5:4).

IDEA: Mourning should be seen as the emotional counterpart of poverty of spirit.

PURPOSE: If we really understand the first beatitude, then we should be better able to enter into the reality of the second beatitude.

When you think of having a good time what do you think of?

People love to laugh and we love to be around people who make us laugh.

I. Do you think the second beatitude is designed to counteract our desire to laugh and to enjoy ourselves?

How do you respond to Jesus’ assertion, “Blessed are those who mourn”?

Is there any benefit to mourning?

How about the counsel of Ecclesiastes 7:1-4: “A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. For that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.”

For Jesus to say that those who mourn are “happy” is nonsense.

What is the danger of taking the first part of a beatitude without the last half?

II. What do we “mourn” about?

Do we ever mourn that we are bankrupt sinners and face the evil in our own lives? How does that mourning show up?

The writer of Ecclesiastes says we mourn about death.

What do you mourn about when someone you love very deeply dies?

Have you ever laughed at a funeral?

Have you ever received comfort when someone you love has died?

Do you ever mourn about evil and the injustice in the world? How? Have you ever received some comfort?

III. What is the comfort that we receive as subjects of the King and of His kingdom?