Happy Are The Hurting - Part 2

Are you going tonight Christian. If you've experienced the loss of a loved one monogram encouraged to stay busy and move on God's word offers different counseling surrounds a report of the Jeremiah office proven tools in Scripture for dealing with grief and working through seasons of sorrow. Is there such a thing as great lesson is that this is the conclusion of his message happy.

Thank you for joining us. We begin in week together as we move through the wonderful month of August.

Well you know the Bible teaches us that life is not what we always think it to be the Bible's book of paradoxes.

I mean… Think about it we received by giving we live by dying we find by losing. Similarly, we can find true blessedness by morning. The Bible says you can be happy when you're hurting. How does that work well. Here's part two from Matthew chapter 4 verse five. So how do we resolve this paradox which says happy are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. First of all, I believe happiness is discovered when we sacrifice the present future. We are always presented with two choices in life are we not, we can take the easy road now and sacrifice the joy of the future we can sacrifice and discipline ourselves now and no joy of the future.

Maybe this is a general truth that we all give lip service to, and we agree with. This is a true statement.

Most of the good things in life have them wrapped up in this central principle called postponed pleasure when that's one way you could look at the beatitude, but let me suggest another happiness is discovered.

Secondly, when we sympathize with those around us who suffer happiness belongs to those who sorrow for the sin and suffering of the world. Happiness belongs to the man who feels the sorrow of his fellow man, here's a little story for you. Here's a man who never mourns never ever he lives all by himself in a big house on the edge of town.

He left his childhood home at a very early age. He does not know whether his parents are alive or dead. He has lost touch with his own family and is never married. He has no friends. He visits no one, and no one visits him. That man will never mourn his life is perfectly insulated against sorrow. Would you call them happy. Now our sorrow you see is a product of our love and as our love grows it draws into its circle.

Those who need our love. The very fact that a person mourns is the testimony to the deep love in his life. You cannot mourn someone you do not love the blessing of this beatitude is for those who, for Christ's sake refused to shield their hearts from the Greeks and the pains of others who feel the whip that is laid on the shoulders of another man who might be sheltered, but who choose to face the storm so they can help is like Moses, who refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter so that he could share the lot of his oppressed people. He was a mourner in that sense is in the very heart of the missionary motive mourn is to sympathize. Happiness is discovered when we sympathize with those around us suffer. The third one is a hard one yet. It's a very important one. Happiness is discovered when we sorrow for our own sin.

Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed is the man who is moved to bitter sorrow at the realization of his own sin. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in second Corinthians chapter 7 godly sorrow works repentance to salvation and David in Psalm 3818 said, I will declare my iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin.

Joel says it this way tourney even to me with all your heart, with weeping, and with morning I asked myself why there is so little sorrow among God's people for sin to know when we were first starting out in the church and some of you who have habits greater than mine will remember this in some of the old-time churches and I've seen pictures of it, but in the early churches that you stand out the front. What they call the mourners bench.

Do you remember that and that was there specifically so that people could come in the service and sometimes after the service and there there at that place called the mourners bench they could weep for their sin and what we do today. We deflected we bury it we try to replace it with activity a few years ago a secular psychologist by name, manager who doesn't really have our background in terms of the truth of the word of God wrote a book called whatever happened to sin and the book was all about the terrible things that happened in our culture because man has refused to face things around in his own life. What we do. We have become a nation of victims blame everybody in the world for the problems that are ours nice to think how wonderful it would be if we stand to our feet once in a while and in true honesty sing the old spiritually goes like this, it's me, it's me or Lord, standing in the need of prayer is not my brother, sister, it's me oh Lord I love this one, not the deacon nor the pastor it's me oh Lord. One of the interesting things about the Christian life is that the closer we get to the Lord more sensitive we become the things in our life that are not the way they should be. You show me a person who is arrogant about his walk with God who wants to tell you how great things are with him in the Lord who wants to stand up and tell you you know how close he is a person who gets close to the Lord is never to be like that because you see the closer you get to the standard, the more you realize how far you fall short of that standard. Let me give you an illustration.

If you read the life of Paul.

If you read the letters that he wrote you will discover an amazing thing. Paul wrote a bunch of letters in the New Testament.

13 and all and the first one he wrote was the book of Galatians when Paul sat down with pen in hand to write the book of Galatians, he began the book like this. Paul and apostle seven years later he wrote the book of first Corinthians, and in the 15th chapter of first Corinthians, Paul wrote I am the least of the apostles and not fit to be called an apostle. Eight years later he wrote the book of Ephesians and in that book he wrote unto me, who am less than the least of the Saints's grace given values even taken himself out of the apostolic category is gone down to the sacred categories as he is the least of the sites in the last book that Paul wrote before he died. First Timothy this is what he said.

Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

His growth as a Christian took him from being an apostle to being the chief of sinners. Now that's sort of upside down. Theology is it how many of you would say my goal in life is a Christian is to move from my apostolic realm to be the chief of sinners.

Did Paul get worse as he got older know he got better, but as he got closer to the Lord and as he grew in his faith he became more sensitive to the things that were really true about his life and I think maybe if you put all of the Beatitudes together at the center of this truth is this Blessed are they who are poor in spirit who know they are bankrupt without the Lord blessed are they who mourn who mourn over their bankruptcy, for they shall be comforted forth in this is probably where most of us put this beatitude into our lives. Happiness is discovered. Fourthly, when we suffer the losses and crosses of life. There is no doubt about the fact that sorrow has a value all of its own.

In fact, something is missing in all of our lives until sorrow has been experienced. I was with a bunch of preachers recently and there's a young preacher that we all know who is very flamboyant and eloquent, but he has a little bit about rough edge to him in one of my friends said well after he suffers a little bit he'll be all right. It's true is there's an old Arabian proverb that says all sunshine makes a desert sorrow you see becomes the source often of the greatest discoveries in life is in sorrow that a man discovers the meaning of friendship and the meaning of love can I get a witness you know that don't you. It is in sorrow that a man discovers whether his faith is superficial or solid. It is in sorrow that a man truly discovers his God is in sorrow, but some of the most important lessons in life are learned.

Robert Hamilton had this in mind when he penned these poetic lines. He said I walked a mile with pleasure. She chatted all the way but left me none the wiser for all she had to say. I walked a mile was sorrow and narrow words said she went over things I learned from her when sorrow walked with me.

There is a sense in which sorrow has its own unique blessedness to give in men and women.

The saddest thing in all the world is not a soul that sorrows the saddest thing in all the world is a heart so dull that it is incapable of feeling grief at all our hearts so selfish that nothing touches it. That does not have something to do with that hearts phone ease. You see, to sorrow is to love morning is indeed the deeper side of loving. We mourn those we love. Somehow in the midst of the morning.

The beauty of the love we have known becomes the light that walks into the darkness. Let me ask you a question.

How you deal with your grief. Some of you have had it very recently. Some of you have had it in the past.

All of us face this challenge sometime in our life and how do we deal with it. Have you listen to the advice we give got embarrassed about this part of this message, you listen to what people say to those who are grieving. Let me give you a few of the things that I've heard probably some of that I've said, tell them to remember the happiness that they've had in the past. It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Well, it's all right. We tell them to reflect upon the next world where life's injustices will be set straight. Try that on a little boy who just lost his father.

We tell them to rest upon the sovereignty of God that what is happened is God's will and must be accepted. Sometimes we substitute fatalism for faith because many times life's disorders come from our own folly and sin and then will come from God at all. If I have a health problem because some mysterious viruses got me that's one thing but if I have a health from because I reject all of the truth that we know about how to have good health that I can say well it was God's will. Sometimes we say to these people what you just have to resign yourself to sorrow and suffering because it's the common lot of man. Therefore it's got to be accepted.

All of this has parts of truth in it. Sometimes I think we don't really get to the core of what the Bible wants us to know about. We follow take these last few minutes to tell you some things that put what God says in juxtaposition to what the world says kind of contrasting principles if you might how to deal with grief.

And while you may not need it in your life. Maybe God will use it to help someone else do you first thing I want to say is this. When you face grief don't repress your grief. Express it in an article that appeared in leadership magazine several weeks ago a friend of mine Bill Hibel spoke about the need to express our grief and this is what he said societies approach says barrier feelings God's approach is exactly the opposite.

He says feel your feelings and express them. Don't stuff Barry denied discounter put on a false image of bravery. The Bible does not say that Christians do not grieve. It says that we do not grieve like those who have no hope there is hope will be on grief. If you work through it.

People who feel their feelings and express them freely begin the journey toward hope. Don't repress your grief expressive. Remember John 1135 Jesus wept. We would do well to watch Jesus weep and I only say that because I have heard it and you have to if you're a Christian and you face grief you don't sorrow and then they put up. There.

That is absolutely absurd when you become a Christian unit resign from humanity. You have the same hurts and pains and emotions that you had before sanctified by the grace of God in the most beautiful thing in all the world is to see a loving Christian weep for those over whom they grief number two. Don't replace your lost fascia loss are society's instruction to the grieving is like this get busy, move on.

Don't hang around in any sad places, but the pattern of the word of God is to hang out in sad places long enough so that you can allow the effect of the loss to settle into your soul. The world wants us to hurry up and get through the sad place even Christian counselors often give that kind of advice, but experience teaches us that there are no shortcuts to recovery from grief. One Christian counselor gives this advice to those who come to her with grief. She said of course I told him to feel her feelings, but then I also urge people to reduce radically the pace of their lives. I urge them to review their loss talk about it openly. Think about it thoroughly right about it reflectively, and pray about it regularly. Don't replace your lost fascia loss. Thirdly, don't retreat from others, reach out to them once again. When you face grief in your life so often friends will say well they just need to be alone give them some space will be all right.

Later societies approach to grief is to grieve alone.

God's approach to grief is exactly the opposite. It's to grieve and community. Those who are grieving for Jesus when they thought he had died and was not coming back to life were grieving together in a room when the resurrected Lord interrupted them when Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane. He personally asked for Peter James and John to go with him so they could grieve with them when Paul wrote to the Romans he said. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those that weep. Let me just stop for a moment and give a testimony to the wonderful joy of belonging to a Christian community like this and knows how to weep with those that weep. We see it many times during the year that the strength that people gain from grieving and community can only be known among God's people. The worst thing we can say to a person who walks through the valley of grief is stay away retreat be alone. God created the church for such a time as this grief together and the Bible says blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are they who mourn for their sin. Because through the morning for their sin. They find forgiveness and then happiness is there's Blessed are they who mourn for their losses because in the morning for their losses.

They are put in touch with the comforter.

Listen to this.

The word for comfort in this beatitude is the word para-Colleen in the Greek language. It means para alongside Collette whole call to call alongside and para-collateral is the word that is used in the New Testament for the Holy Spirit is called the comforter, the one who comes alongside one of the things that people say to us when we go through grief is that we should depend on the calendar that the calendar is in our favor.

Time heals all things, but listen to me if you're Christian. Don't depend on the calendar depend on the comforter, you can have all the time in the world of the Holy Spirit is working in your heart and you haven't dealt with grief you just buried it like toxic waste underneath the surface it may seem to be gone but it will come back to haunt you sometime in the future. So, don't deal with your grief the way the world does with the calendar, deal with it the way God says blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted. And I want to say by the comforter, the Holy Spirit himself, and I love that word particle at all is a word that so motivated me.

I wrote a whole book about it on encouragement because it's the word from which we get the word encouragement.

Blessed are they who mourn for they should be encouraged.

Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be made strong.

Blessed are they who mourn for someone to whom God speaks will pour their courage into their life. What an incredible truth. Francis Schaeffer's wife, Edith experienced a great deal of sorrow and suffering in her life.

One day she wrote these words, we grow in our understanding through difficulties as God opens to us that which we could not have understood with any other background or in any other set of circumstances are assurance she said his children of the living God is that he is able to bring beauty from ashes and to give the oil of joy for the spirit of morning and in addition he refines and purifies and proves and causes to grow in us, something very precious something very lasting in our attitudes toward him and in our actions toward other human beings.

He does not allow our afflictions to be wasted. He is able to give us the grace to come through them. However, there is much more than just coming through. She said just coming through. Still hanging onto our trust hanging onto our love of God, like it was the only thing we had. There is a coming through she said with a shinier more gleaming machine on our surface. We have the possibility during a hard time to have skimmed off more of the specs and the scum which are hindering the more beautiful reality of love and joy and peace and long-suffering and meekness in our life. Suffering purifies us and helps us to see the really important things in life and have you noticed what beautiful people it creates the people I know that have the love of God shining through them almost so you can reach out and grab a piece of it you talk to them for very long. And they've been through the process and through the process God has made them beautiful people. The world says wrap up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile, concepts aren't you glad for reality. God says blessed are those they shall be comforted. For some it may be listening and you are hurting today I'm not telling you can be all happy and giddy when some very hard things have happened in your life. When I am telling you is if you know Jesus Christ as your personal savior, the one thing that you know more than anything else in a time like this is that he never changes. He will never leave you or forsake you. He will go with you no matter what you're going through and he will stay with you all the way through it and he'll be there at the end and he will comfort and strengthen you and you will find him sticking closer to you than a brother. All of us have the same story. I certainly had it when I went to cancer.

I never felt the presence of the Lord like I did during those days was a closer may then be for no because it's impossible for the Lord ever to be closer to us at one time thing is in another, but I was sensitive to his presence, and in that respect his manifest presence was with me tomorrow. Talk about happy are the hardest to wait until then to find out what that's about. Jeremiah message you just came from Shadow Mountain Community Church and Dr. David Jeremiah Singh advised is God touching your life is about Turning Point PO Box 38, San Diego, CA 92163 visit our website@jeremiah.org/Clio copy of David's Bible study John the divinity of Christ as part of the Jeremiah Bible study series and was a gift of any amount you can also sound like the 3.5 all happy is not final tablet was searching your app store for the keywords point ministries, taxes, and programs and resources just visit David Jeremiah.org/radio on Gary join us tomorrow as we continue to be happy. According to Jesus, that's here in Turning Point for taking time to listen to the Friendly's and Christian