Let us turn to God's Word once
again and turning to the fifth chapter in the Gospel according
to St. Matthew Matthew chapter 5 I'll read the words that we
have here at verse 4 for our text Matthew 5.4 Blessed are
they that mourn for they shall be comforted Blessed are they that mourn for
they shall be comforted. A couple of weeks ago we began
to consider something of the opening words of this chapter
the beginning of course of the Sermon on the Mount and I said
the Lord willing we would consider at least these opening Beatitudes these words wherein the Lord
is describing those who are the blessed ones, the happy ones
and so we were looking initially of course at that opening portion
from verse 1 through to verse 3 and especially what Christ
says concerning the poor in spirit for theirs he says is the kingdom
of heaven now on that occasion two weeks ago we actually read
for our scripture portion in Luke chapter 6 where we have
the record of a another sermon. This is a sermon that he preaches
in the mount. There we read of him preaching
on the plain. It's not the same event that's
being recorded in Luke 6 as we have here in Matthew 5. It's
a separate occasion, it's a different sermon, and yet there are striking
similarities between the two portions. how the Lord would
in his ministry bring things forth that were new and old there
was of course some repetition in that ministry as we're told
back in Isaiah it must be line upon line and line upon line
and precept upon precept and precept upon precept and here
a little and there a little how we as sinners are such dull scholars
and the Lord has to teach us the same lesson over and over
and so we have these sermons similar in their content and
yet in other ways there are differences and we observed some of the differences
in the wording last time because in Luke's account what does the
Lord say? He doesn't say in chapter 6 of
Luke the same as he says here in Matthew 5 and verse 3, blessed
are the poor in spirit. As we said on that occasion,
it's somewhat more stark there. He says, blessed be you poor,
for yours is the kingdom of heaven. He says nothing of them being
poor in spirit. And likewise here with regards
to the second, of the Beatitudes here we read in verse 4 blessed
are they that mourn for they shall be comforted whereas in
Luke 6 and verse 21 we read blessed are ye that weep now for ye shall
laugh and there is some profit sometimes in noting the similarities and yet
at the same time observing the differences and so this morning
I want to really take up the theme of happy mourners as we
have it set before us here in verse 4 of the chapter in Matthew
5 but also at the same time we are considering those that we
might describe as being laughing weepers thinking of the words
that we have in Luke. Blessed are ye that weep now
for ye shall laugh. But let us come in particular
to the words that we have in the text. in Matthew 5.4 and
I'm going to divide what I say really into two basic parts.
First of all I want to say something about mournful weeping and then
secondly to say something with regards to manifold comforts. First of all then to say something
with regards to mournful weeping. What sort of mourning is being
spoken of here and of course in the context thinking of what
we were saying two weeks ago we have to recognize that in
many ways the Lord is continuing with the same theme when we look at those words in
verse 3 blessed are the poor in spirit and the difference
with the word that we have in Luke 6 Blessed be ye poor. And I remark there now that there
is a sense in which all of course are spiritually poor. We know
that all have fallen short of the glory of God. All of us are
debtors to the Lord of God. and whatsoever things the law
says, it says to them who are under the law that every mouth
may be stopped and all the world become guilty before God and
we have those very solemn words in the third chapter of Romans
there at verse 10 following where the Apostle is referring to the
Scriptures of the Old Testament and referring in particular to
those two Psalms 14 and 53 which are so similar in their contents
and Paul virtually repeats the whole of those Psalms again.
Verse 10 in Romans 3, as it is written, There is none righteous,
no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They have all gone out of
the way. they are together become unprofitable
there is none that doeth good no not one and so he goes on
quoting those solemn passages from the Psalms that threefold
cord in a sense twice in the Old Testament once in the New
Testament the threefold cord that cannot be easily broken
or quickly broken says the preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes all
then in that sense are spiritually poor but the amazing thing is that
there are those who by the grace of God are also poor in spirit
or they know their condition they feel their spiritual poverty
they have such a sense of their sinful unworthiness and this
is what the Lord has to bring all his people to if they are
going to be those who are truly the blessed of God all wretched man that I am is
the cry of the Apostle Paul so different to when he was Saul
the Pharisee when he was so full of himself and really knew nothing
of the spirituality of the Lord of God but then awakened in his
soul quickened by the Spirit of God how he continually would
cry out that he was ever a wretched man before God and all those
things that he once accounted to be so important, so significant,
they were, he says, but as dung to him now. There are those then
who are not just spiritually poor, but they are truly poor
in spirit, have been touched in the very depths of their soul. and we remarked last time on
the significance of the word that we have here in the third
verse poor poor in spirit and I said it literally has the idea
of a beggar it's a verb really that has the
idea of crouching, cowering coming lowly begging a beggar poor at
mercy's door like such a wretch as I thou knowest my need is
great indeed Lord hear me when I cry says Samuel Medley in the
hymn well likewise the characters
that the Lord is describing in our text this morning are basically
the same people of course they are He's not describing different
characters. He's bringing out certain truths
concerning the same character throughout all the Beatitudes.
He's describing, really, those who have the marks of Christ,
those who are truly the people of God, those who are real believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And these spiritual mourners,
what is it that they mourn over? What is it that grieves them
so much? Well, it is the wickedness that
they know is in their hearts. It's the wickedness of the things
that they do, even in their lives. And again, we see it, don't we,
in Paul, how he comes to a real and a proper understanding of
the significance of the Lord of God. He says the law is holy
and the commandment holy and just and good. There's nothing but a revelation
of God and the attributes of God in the law. There's nothing
wrong with the law. It's God's law. What does Paul say though? We
know that the law is spiritual but I am carnal, sold on the
sin. The problem isn't with the Lord
of God. We're not to despise the Lord of God. It's a good
law. But He chose us what we are. He says, I know that in
me, that is in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. And it is this that caused the
man to be a mourner. He mourns over himself. and he
mourns over the wretchedness of his life, but he's not self-centered
in that mourning. He sees that he's a transgressor
of that law of God, that holy law, that righteous law, that
good law of God. But of course, it's when we come to the Gospel,
not so much the law, it's the Gospel that reveals to us the
real character of sin. We see it, the awfulness of sin. in the sufferings of the Lord
Jesus Christ. All awe and terrors do but harden
all the while they work alone, but a sense of blood-bought pardon
soon dissolves the heart of stone. There's good theology in so many
of the hymns that we sing. We come to the Word of God, of course,
that's where we root our doctrine, but those poets, those Christian
poets, they have expressed something of the wonders of the Word of
God how true are those words that we just quoted from the
Hymn 746 the sense of blood-bought pardon or we see the awful nature
of sin, we mourn over our sins if we're Christians in the light
of the terrible sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ We have
that word back in the prophecy of Zechariah, I will pour upon
the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace
and of supplications and they will look upon him whom they
have pierced mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son
and be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn. It's interesting there's a A
little book, I don't think it's in print, but it's quite readily
available at times, I think, on the second-hand market. I
know they sometimes have copies on the surplus shelves at the
Gospel Standard Library at Hove. A little book of sermons on that
text there in Zechariah 12.10, the Spirit of Grace. and of supplications. They were sermons that were preached
back in the latter months of 1839 by Jonathan Rankin-Anderson
who was a Church of Scotland minister at that time at Gawballs
in Glasgow and preaching on that portion of scripture, a number
of sermons on that one text. It was a remarkable outpouring
of the Spirit of God and there was a gracious revival There
were revivals in other parts at that time. In Robert Murray
MacChain's congregation at Dundee, the same period there seemed
to also be a remarkable outpouring of the Spirit. But I think in
particular of what happened there in Glasgow, as Jonathan Rankin
Anderson was preaching on those words, upon the house of David
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and the supplications
and how the people were directed to consider something of the
sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Always when we come to
have a right view of Christ in his sufferings that we mourn
over what we are and how far we fall short. Later in the day,
the Lord willing, we'll sit again, the church will come together
around that table of the Lord's, we'll seek to remember Him. Though
we've been not there in 1 Corinthians 11 to examine ourselves, let
a man examine himself, says Paul, so let him eat of that bread
and drink of that cup. Are we those who would come mourning
when we think that since last we partook of those holy elements,
the broken bread, the poured out wine, the cup of blessing,
how many times we've sinned in the course of this past month,
how we've fallen short of the glory of God? Are we those who
are mournful weepers, weeping over our sins and crying unto
God our sins against heaven and before thee, says the prodigal
as he comes back to his father. I'm no more worthy to be called
thy son. Is that how we feel sometimes?
Are we worthy to be called the people of God? Have we sinned
so lightly? Or David. David was a great sinner.
But David was favoured with such a spirit of repentance. I acknowledge
my transgressions, he says. I acknowledge my transgressions
I will be sorry for my sin against thee the only have I sinned he
says and done this evil in my sight we sin not only against
the Lord of God how we sin against the grace of God we sometimes
sin don't we that paraphrase of Isaac what his paraphrasal
A part of his paraphrase of Psalm 51, number 761 in the hymn book,
my lips with shame, my sins confess against thy Lord, against thy
grace. It's a terrible thing to sin
against the grace of God. And yet we do that. We sin against
the grace of God. We think sometimes so perversely
that God's grace maybe gives us a license to sin. Oh, we think you see there's
forgiveness with God. But there's forgiveness with
God that He may be feared. We're to fear God. We're to fear
what our sins are in the sight of God. And we see it, I say,
in the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. Mournful weeping. What do we know of these things?
Mournful weeping over our sins. Sorrowing. over a suffering Saviour. But the verse does speak of comfort. This is the Gospel of the grace
of God. Blessed are they that mourn, it says, for they shall
be comforted. So if we are those who have any
sense of our sinnership, we can expect the blessings of
God and the comforts of God. It says that they shall be comforted. What is the gospel is full of
the shalls and wills, all the promises of God in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Are they not yea and amen to
the glory of God by us, says the apostle. Well, let us turn
to consider something of these comforts manifold. And I want
to speak are four areas in which we are to discern the comforts
of God. First of all there is the comfort
of grace. The comfort of grace and I think
here of the covenant of grace over against the covenant of
works. Remember what John tells us the law was given by Moses
or that law which is holy, those commandments which are holy and
just and good. That good law, it was given by
Moses. But, says the Apostle, grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. There's a covenant. There's a
covenant of grace. And I think particularly of the
covenant offices of the Holy Ghost in relation to that covenant. Of course, it is Christ himself
who comes to seal the covenant with his precious blood. It is
God the Son who was manifest in the flesh, the great mystery
of godliness. It wasn't the Father, it wasn't
the Holy Spirit, it was the Son of God, the second person in
the Godhead who became a real man. The thinking of the comforts
of the covenant of grace and we see it when we think especially
of those covenant offices of the Holy Spirit. What is the
ministry of the Holy Spirit? Well, He comes, doesn't He? To
work conviction. He comes to convince the sinner.
The Lord Jesus speaks of His coming when He has come. speaking
of the one that he names as the Comforter when he has come he
will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment
that's part and parcel of his ministry to work conviction in
the soul of sin because they believe not on me how he convinces
of that accursed unbelief that sin which doth so easily beset
us that root of every sin unbelief Of righteousness, says Christ,
because I go to the Father and you see me no more. Of judgment,
because the Prince of this world is judged. Oh, he convinces not
just of sin, he convinces of Christ, the Lord, our righteousness,
that righteousness that the believing sinner has. There's a righteousness
in heaven. Centering in the person of our
Lord Jesus Christ and that great work that he has accomplished
And he is that one who here upon the earth has vanquished Satan
Of judgment because the prince of this world is judged Well,
this is the work of the Spirit. You see he doesn't just come
to reprove of sin, to convince of sin. He also comes as the
comforter by leading the sinner to the Lord Jesus Christ. Conduct, bless, guide thy sinner
train to Calvary where the Lamb was slain and with us there abide. Let us our loved Redeemer meet. We bore His pierced hands and
feet and view His wounded side. That's the ministry of the Spirit.
That's the outworking of the covenant, the covenant of grace. Over there must be a blessed
application of what Christ has done. He shall not speak of himself
as Christ. He shall glorify me. He shall
take of mine and show it unto you. All the comfort then of
that covenant of grace. made between the persons in the
garden, the great purpose of the Father, all the blessed accomplishments
of God the Son here upon the earth, how He has purchased the
people by the shedding of His precious blood, but then that
blessed ministry of the Spirit as He comes to make that covenant
known. And what is it? What is it to
make that covenant known? Well, it's the comfort of the
Gospel. The covenant is an eternal covenant
made between the persons in the Godhead. But it is a very subject
matter, of course, of that Gospel that is to be proclaimed. The poor have the Gospel preached
unto them, says the Lord Jesus. Remember when John was in prison
and doubtless it seems that the Baptist was there doubting really,
was Jesus of Nazareth really that one that he had come to
prepare the way for? He sends his disciples to the
Lord here in in chapter 11 opening verses of that chapter we read
of John sending his disciples to inquire of Christ if he really
is that one or is there another? And what does the Lord How does
he answer those disciples? Ultimately he says this, go and
tell John the poor have the gospel preached unto them. The poor
have the gospel preached unto them. All blessed are the poor
in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Again, when the Lord begins his own
ministry after his baptizing, after his being anointed by the
Spirit as the Father declares, this is my beloved son in whom
I am well pleased and the Spirit descending upon him in the form
of a dove and Christ under that great unction of the Spirit led
into the wilderness tempted returning in the power of the Spirit going
into the synagogue there in Nazareth and the minister giving him the
book And the Lord's reading there in Isaiah 61, the Spirit of the
Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel
to the poor. Oh, the comforts of the gospel,
the comforts of the gospel. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be Comfort it. And how precious are those words
that we were reading just now there in Isaiah 14. Comfort ye. Comfort ye, my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. Oh, the blessed comforts then
of the gospel of the grace of God. It's there in the Old Testament,
as well as in the New Testament. There's much gospel, you know,
throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. There's Christ, isn't
there, everywhere, in the Word of God. And the Apostle reminds
us, Romans 15, 4, whatever things were written for time, he says,
were written for our learning, that we, through patience, or
endurance, he says, and comfort of the Scriptures. The comfort
of the Scriptures. What is the comfort of the Scriptures?
That is the Gospel. And what is the Gospel? The Gospel
is the promise of God. That Gospel that was given to
Abraham 400 years before the giving of the law, the priority
of the Gospel, And when God gave promise to Abraham, because he
could square by no greater, he swore by himself. What we read
there in Hebrews 6 at verse 13 following. How God has confirmed
his promise. The promise he gave to Abraham
confirmed as God has sworn by himself. He has taken an oath. And remember what the apostle
goes on to say in that chapter. there in verse 18 of Hebrews
6, that we might have strong consolation who have fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. That we might
have strong consolation. It's the same word, really, as
we have here in the text this morning. They shall be comforted. What is consolation? It's comfort. It's the comforts of the gospel.
And what is the comfort of the Gospel to us? It's the Word of
God. It's the promise of God. It's the oath of God. And all
of that's sealed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why? The testator has died. And we
have the Testament. We have His Testament. His last
will and Testament. All the fullness of grace. All
that covenant of graciousness. that eternal covenant revealed
to us in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what comforts there are,
what manifold comforts there are here in the Word of God for
those, you know what it is, to mourn over themselves as sinners,
not centering that grief in themselves but feeling for the Lord Jesus
Christ, mourning over Him. as one mourner for an only son
bitterness of soul as one would be in bitterness at the loss
of a firstborn child but to say something more with regards to
that blessed comfort of God the Holy Spirit remember how the
Lord Jesus speaks of his coming as I said in those chapters in
John 14 15 and 16 he repeatedly speaks of the comforter the paraclete
you know the word it's one of those combined words it's two
words welded together the one who comes alongside that's what
it literally means he comes alongside he's there at hand to help continually I will pray the Father says Christ
and he will give you another comforter that he may abide with
you forever That's the spiritus. He abides
with the believer forever, forever. Christ says, it is expedient
for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come. But if I depart, I will send
him unto you. And so Christ sends him on the
day of Pentecost. When the day of Pentecost is
fully Oh, what an outpouring, what a gift, what a donation,
as the Lord Jesus Christ bestowed upon His people. Is it not in
that gracious ministry of the Spirit that we see all the comforts
of the Gospel, all the comforts of the Gospel? I think I've mentioned previously that blessed woman, the wife
of Bernard Gilpin, Henrietta Gilpin another book, I think you're
probably aware of it is it called The King's Daughters
put together, edited by the late Mr Ramsbottom and it's the account
of some of those gracious women from previous days, The King's
Daughters, some of you may have read some of the accounts there
but she appears in that book as Henrietta Gilpin. I think
she was the most blessed woman and I was very struck once by
a sentence in the little account of her that appears in the book
that is principally taken up of course with the ministry of
her husband Bernard Gilpin of the Portval Chapel up in Hertfordshire
and this is what she says such is the hardness and deadness
of soul that all Christ's great work is vain, except the Spirit
reveal the gospel." That's a remarkable statement.
Because of the hardness and deadness of our souls, all the great work
of the Lord Jesus Christ, what would it mean? It means nothing
to us. Except the Spirit comes to reveal
Christ. The vital need of that ministry
of the Holy Spirit. He is the Comforter. He is the
Comforter because of that ministry that He undertakes, it's His
covenant office. He is God and yet He comes and
He never draws attention to Himself. That's what the Lord says, He
shall not speak of Himself. He is to be worshipped. He is
God. He is equal to the Father. He is equal to the Son. He is
a real person. We say the third person in the
blessed Godhead. Father, Son and Holy Ghost. He is to be worshipped and yet
he doesn't draw any attention to himself. It's such a self-effacing
ministry. He shall glorify me, says Christ. He shall take of mine and shall
show it unto you. Lord, do we look to Him? Do we
pray for Him? The Lord encourages us to pray
for Him. Those words that we have in the
Gospel, if ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your
children. I'm sure we all know how to give
good gifts to our children. It's a delightful thing. More
blessed to give than to receive. How much more shall your Heavenly
Father give? the Holy Spirit to them that
ask. Ask, ask, says Christ, it shall be given. And you can know
nothing of the Gospel without God, the Holy Spirit. All the manifold comforts that
God has laid up here, the comfort of the covenant of grace, the
comfort of the Gospel, the comfort of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and finally this morning a comfort
that brings gladness and happiness into the soul look at what it
says blessed or remember what we said last time concerning
these words that we have repeated time after time in the opening
part of this chapter blessed blessed blessed literally the
word means happy it's a plural though we could best render it
happinesses, happinesses, happinesses. How happy are those that mourn,
they shall be comforted. And then when we compare the
words that the Lord speaks on that other occasion in Luke 6,
21, Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh. It is that remarkable paradox
of the Christians experience these that the Lord is describing
it's those who are his true disciples and what is the mark of the disciple
of Christ why they are a people of faith they are a believing
people by grace are you saved through faith and that not of
yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man
should boast we're men and women of faith but you know in scripture
saving faith is always joined isn't it with real evangelical
repentance you can't separate these two if we know anything
of faith we also know what repentance is that's the paradox because repentance
is such a strange thing again in the language of dear Joseph
Hart he says of repentance nor is it such a dismal thing as
tis by some men named a sinner may repent and sing rejoice and
be ashy oh we we feel repentance a bitter thing really and yet
to know what it is to have that real evangelical repentance,
grieving over the sufferings of Christ. Not centred in ourselves,
it's centred in Him, the One whom we have offended. Oh, to
the hungry soul, that bitter thing is so sweet, so sweet. The Lord says, Woe unto you that
laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep. Those who have taken
up with the imagined blessings and comforts of this life have
no thought of God, live their lives as if there were no God
and no eternity or the Lord says to such woe unto you or you're
laughing now but you shall mourn and weep for one of those who
know what it is to weep over their Saviour, to mourn over
their grievous sin Those who know anything of that spirit
of grace and of supplications, know anything of real repentance,
what does the Lord say? Blessed are they. All blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Then hail, ye happy mourners,
who pass through tribulation, Sin's filth and guilt, perceived
and felt, makes known God's great salvation. Oh, might that, friends,
be true of us, that we might be those who are indeed the happy
mourners today. The Lord bless His word to us.
Amen.