Daily Devotional For Saturday, August 17, 2024

Today is “Sit Ur Day Saturday” – a nickname that after a whole week of work you finally get to sit down and rest and relax. We are looking at the Beatitudes, especially Matthew 5:4, where Jesus said this, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (ESV). For the last few days I have been giving you the context and background to this Beatitude. We have seen that the mourning Jesus is talking about is mourning over one’s sin. When we are heart-broken over our sin, then the result is – we will be comforted. 

The Greek New Testament word for “comforted” is [παρακαλέω, parakaleo]. This is the same word rendered in John 14:16 in a noun form by Jesus as Comforter, a reference to the Holy Spirit. In John 14:16, Jesus said this, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever” (AMP). Since Jesus was the first Comforter, the Holy Spirit is the second Comforter.

The Book of Isaiah speaks of God comforting His people in Isaiah 61:2b-3a, “To comfort all who mourn, (3) To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning” (NASB). 2 Corinthians 1:3 speaks of this as well: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (NASB). In Matthew 5:4, the blessing Jesus says comes only after our obedience. Once we are heart-broken over our sin and repent, then the comfort comes. So, this has a future emphasis because Jesus said “shall be” or “will be” depending on your translation. 

Happiness comes to sad people when they have a godly remorse or sadness that leads them to repent and then to God’s comfort. As we confess our sin to Jesus, He gladly lifts the burden of that sin from us in exchange for comfort. So, the million dollar question is: how should we mourn so that we are comforted? Well, pastor and author John MacArthur offers us some suggestions on attitudes or actions we first need to eliminate some things:

• First, you have to eliminate hindrances. A hard-heart does not move quickly to sorrow and repentance. What hindrances? 
• Love of our sin – we are great at making excuses for our sin, rationalizing our sin, justifying our sin, and minimizing our sin. We are great at not calling what God calls a sin – a sin. We rename it so that we do not have to reclaim it. (b) Despair hinders us from confessing our sin. If we believe we are trapped and doomed to keep sinning that same sin, we can resort to despair. Despair is the lie that says God can’t help me overcome this. The prophet Jeremiah said this was the attitude God’s people in his day had. Look at Jeremiah 18:12, “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart’” (NASB). A person who has despair believes God has given up on him and is now destined to sin that specific sin. It is to doubt that God can help you.

• Second, another hindrance is conceit. Conceit attempts to hide the sin feeling there is nothing one needs to mourn nor feel remorse and repent from before God. 

• Third, another hindrance is presumption. It is really a form of pride. It recognizes the need for grace, but not much grace. It is satisfied with cheap grace, expecting God to forgive little because it sees little to be forgiven. Sins are bad, but not bad enough to be confessed, repented of, and forsaken. God said this through His prophet Isaiah to His people in Isaiah 55:7, “Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon” (NASB). No pardon is offered to the unrepentant, presumptuous person who refuses to forsake his sin. 

• Fourth, another hindrance is procrastination. This is the attitude and action that says, “Well, one of these days, I am going to get my life right with Jesus Christ by taking a hard and serious look at my sins, confessing them, asking God for forgiveness and cleansing. Putting off until tomorrow what we know we should do today is foolish because we do not know if we will even be here. Look at James 4:14, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (NASB).The sooner the disease of sin is dealt with, the sooner the comfort comes. The later we deal with the disease of sin, the more likely we are to repeat it and we delay the comfort we need” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” pp. 162-163).

The most important step we can take in getting rid of hindrances to mourning, whatever they are, is to look at the holiness of God and the great sacrifice of sin-bearing at the cross. If seeing Christ die for our sins does not thaw a cold heart or break up a hardened heart, it is beyond melting or breaking. So, how can we encourage and enhance our mourning?:

• Second, you must study God’s Word. It is through the study of God’s Word that we learn and are convicted about what is sinful, wrong and evil to God. Sin hurts our relationship to Jesus Christ.
• Third, you must become a person of prayer. You pray for contriteness of heart, which only God can give and which He never refuses to give those who ask. It must always be recognized that humility depends on the working of the Lord. The way to godly mourning lies not in pre-salvation human works, but in God’s saving grace. A sincere disciple of Jesus Christ is genuinely heart-broken over their sin. 

New Testament scholar Bruce Barton in his commentary has taken each the Beatitudes by Jesus and has written from their opposite meaning hoping this helps us better understand them. For Matthew 5:4, here is his opposite “Un-beatitude”: “Wretched are those who deny the tragedy of their sinfulness, for they will be troubled”  (Source: Bruce B. Baron, Life Application Bible Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 76).

Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this: 

“Believers in a right relationship with God will mourn over the wrongs of our world and be grieved over the destructiveness of their sin (see Rom. 7:24). This doesn’t mean that God calls us to permanent depression or to hum a constant dirge. As Ecclesiastes wisely affirms, “There is an appointed time for everything.… A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Eccl. 3:1, 4). What Jesus is saying is that when we mourn for the woes and wrongs of this world we cause in our own sin, we can take comfort in the here and now that one day the wrongs will be righted, death will be dealt a death blow itself, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Rev. 21:4)” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Matthew 1-15,” Vol. 1A, p. 88).

Questions To Consider

1. Look over the list of hindrances above. Which of these cause you to not be broken-hearted over your sin and thus experience God’s comfort? What are you going to do about it and when?
2. How intentional are you to be in God’s Word each day so that it teaches and convicts you about your own sin? If you are not, why? When will you start?
3. How intentional are you to be a prayer warrior before God? If you do pray, are your prayers about the same thing every time or do you feel the moving of the Holy Spirit leaving you to pour out your heart to God? Why or why not?
4. What do you think about Jesus’ use of the verb “comfort” is also the noun version of the Holy Spirit – “Comforter?”
5. When you sin, are you heart-broken? Why or why not? What does this tell you about how serious your relationship to Jesus Christ is? When you intentionally choose to sin in front of others, what does this say to you about your gratitude to Jesus and the grace you have received from Jesus?

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, You only comfort those who are truly remorseful and heart-broken, confess and repent from their sin. Please forgive me for not taking my sin seriously. Please forgive me when I act as if my sin does not matter. You hate sin so much You came and took my place on that cross. Please forgive me when I take that for granted. I am so sorry Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly