# How to be blessed part 2

Key Passage: Matthew 5:4
Date: June 7, 2024

Turn your Bibles, if you would, to Matthew chapter number five. Matthew chapter number five. We’re going through what is called the Beatitudes in the Bible.

Most of us say there are eight. There are actually nine verses that start off with the word “blessed,” and we’re blessed. This is a series we’re calling “How to Be Blessed.” Would you like to be blessed out there? Amen? I tell you what, I like that for sure. God gives us ways to be blessed. We’re just going Sunday by Sunday. Last week, we covered the first of the Beatitudes. Today, we’re on the second one.

Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look. How many of you know the second one? Just raise your hand. I know the second one without looking. I didn’t either. I checked it out. I didn’t know the order, so you’re all right. I asked someone before service, and they said, “I don’t know.” I said, “I didn’t know either.” He said, “Well, good. That makes me feel better.” So we’re in the same boat. Amen. But you’ll know when we read it. You’ll recognize it. We’re in Matthew chapter number five.

For sake of time, let’s just read that one verse, verse number four. If you’re able, would you please stand? Just trying to show the Word of God respect. I’m so thankful for the Word of God. I would be lost—this old society would have us like a yo-yo, trying to figure out what’s right or what’s wrong, where we’re going, all that, if we didn’t have the Bible.

Praise the Lord. Do you have the truth? You better know what I do right there. That’s absolute truth right there. Amen. And praise God for it. Matthew chapter 5, verse number 4 is what we’re going to read this morning. The Bible says, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Let’s read it out loud together. Let’s do it, all of us. Here we go: “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Let’s go to the Lord in the word of prayer to get started this morning. Dear Lord, Father, I’m a little bit—you know me, I don’t know how to put it all together. Lord, this thing seems like it covers so much territory. Father, Lord, in these few minutes, there’s no way I can cover it all. I yield to you. Would you cover what needs to be covered? Help me to cover what needs to be covered. Lord, I ask, would you speak to individuals in areas that I cannot? Lord, would you apply this truth that you gave us in your Word to each individual, every one of them—Lord, old, young, all of us? Let us leave, Father, being more blessed and more pleasing to you. Father, we’ll thank you for what you do, Lord. And it’s in Jesus we pray. Amen.

Thank you so much for staying. You may be seated.

Over the years, I have preached somewhere approximately about 70 funerals. It’s always interesting to watch people as they begin—notice that—as they begin the mourning process. It’s interesting. I never forget one.

It was a funeral for a widow whose husband of many years had just passed. It was out in the country, outside Cooksville. I can’t remember the little town’s name. We were there and preached the funeral. We were leaving the funeral home—you know, they wheel the casket out. I think Brother Mark Hardy, you were with me. That’s just a tough time for anyone, but a widow, and they’re taking the body out. That’s just a traumatic time for anyone.

This lady was having a tough time. I thought maybe she was going to pass out, so I was trying to stay with her the whole time, walking right beside her. She was just weeping—literally not just crying, but she was weeping, you know. And it’s the funniest thing; in all these years, I’ve never seen anything quite like it. She’d just be wailing, you know, and just makeup and mascara, everything going everywhere. And boom, she stopped.

I was trying to be comforting, of course. I said, “Well, I understand you’re hurt, but praise the Lord, he’s in heaven. Praise the Lord, he got saved in the church here. He’s in heaven.” And she just stopped. Boom. Everything just stopped. Tears going everywhere. I mean, she straightened up and looked at me. She said, “I’ll tell you what, I’m going to give him what for when I get up there for leaving me right now.” And she flipped the switch and started wailing and crying all over again. Oh, okay. You just never know.

I was at a funeral—I didn’t preach—but it was at a funeral right across the Tennessee-Alabama line, right inside Alabama, way in the mountains. I’m talking about in the middle of nowhere. They pumped sunlight into that place. I mean, it was the middle of nowhere. It wasn’t even a cemetery; it was like a little hall in a valley between mountains there in North Alabama.

A mom had died; her three sons were grown. One of the sons was going to church; he’s older than I. I haven’t seen him in years. They lowered her body—it was the most old-fashioned funeral burial service I’ve ever seen. A funeral home wasn’t involved. I just watched them lower that casket down to the ground. I watched those three, maybe in their 50s, three grown sons.

They were shoveling. They didn’t have tractors out at this grave. I mean, just shovels. The whole time they were covering her up, not just with dirt, but with tears and snot and everything. I’m just talking. I could see a little bit of those men. It was their way of grieving, mourning, if you will. It took a while, just shovels. They covered their mom’s body all the way up, just crying, boo-hoo, and it was a long time. It’s interesting to watch.

I remember I was over here at the one in Woodfin here in Smyrna, at the visitation. It was a widow, and I don’t think she’d been up to the casket where the body was. She wanted to go up there and said, “Pastor, would you go up there with me?” She came up. She had a granddaughter riding the bus, believe it or not; she’d come every once in a while, I’m sure.

We walked up there. She wasn’t crying, but I walked up to the casket, and she looked at the body—I think it was the first time she’d seen her husband in years and years. She looked at me and said, “I did what I said I’d do.” Oh, wow. I didn’t know what she meant by that. She looked at me and said, “I would—I did it.” And probably, by the look on my face, she said, “I can’t remember 20-something years ago, maybe 30 years ago, I said, ‘Till death do us part.’” And she said, “I did it.” She began to tell me many, many issues, just tragic stuff that had happened, and he had died to her, and so on and so on. She said, “But I did what I said I’d do.” She had a lot of different types of grieving and mourning to go through in that situation. It’s just always interesting; you just never know.

Some like it—I think it’s a little bit of the mourning for them. It’s not right or wrong. Some people are going to say, “Whoa, I can’t believe that,” but everybody’s wired a little bit different. I’ve seen many times family members like to do the hair and the makeup of their deceased person. Have you ever heard or seen that? Maybe you did that. There’s nothing wrong with that. Everybody’s a little different there. Some don’t want to touch the body; they have a hard time even looking at it. Some want to do their hair; it’s low comforting to them, or maybe part of the mourning process.

I’ve watched it many a time. They want to go up there right before they close the casket and give the body—by the way, whether saved or lost, that body isn’t where they are. That’s just the thing that housed them. But hopefully, they’re saying they’re in heaven if they are, if they were, you know. But many times they’ll go to the casket and just hug that body. And once they hug, they won’t let it go. Now, I’ve seen it, and sometimes you’ve got to go talk to them a little bit, whatnot. You just watch all the different people, many different ways of mourning, or should I say, beginning the mourning process.

Right now, the Bible says here, “Blessed are they that mourn.” Now, here’s a question that automatically comes up in my mind: What is the Bible speaking of? What are you mourning about? Very interesting. If we like—and I like to use this saying—the first time words are used in the Bible…

If you look up the first time the word “mourn” is used in the Bible, it’s over in the book of Genesis, chapter 23, verse 2. And this is what it says: “And Sarah died in Kirjath-arba”—the reason why I don’t want you to look it up is because you’ll see how horribly I pronounce that word—“the city which is in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah.” That’s the first time that word “mourn” is used in the Bible: Abraham mourning for his wife’s death. First time it’s used in all the Bible.

Now, it’s very interesting. Chapter 2 later, it speaks again about Sarah’s death, but it talks about Isaac. Abraham and Sarah, mom and dad, Isaac’s son. Abraham’s mourning is the first time it’s used in the Bible for his wife dying. But a couple chapters later—actually three years later—the son Isaac, let me read it for you, references him. The first time the word “comfort” is used in the Bible. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

All right. The first time that word is used, “comforted,” is three years later, and Isaac brought her—speaking of his wife at that time, just married Rebecca. Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebecca, and she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. By the way, that’s three years later. So you’ve got kind of fulfilled what the Bible says of Jesus talking: “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” by the way, three years later.

So do you think it has to do with death? Sure, I think that. But it’s not—I don’t think it’s just that alone. It’s amazing how people like to put stipulations and barriers on God’s Word. No, those words are not bound. Some will say it’s all about sin, being mourning over sin. Do I think that’s included? Sure, I do. Second Corinthians talks about godly sorrow worketh repentance. I want to have a godly sorrow, and I mourn a little over my sin, and what a shame in my sin that I committed, and how I mess things up, and I mourn a little bit over that. Now, if I confess that, he’ll forgive, but it’s proper—it’s probably more a little bit about that. There’s comfort in Christ when I sin.

I never forget a lady came to me years ago to my office. I heard her husband at the time, and she had had an abortion years earlier. She had gotten saved, and I think she got baptized in her church. I remember I think she was already saved; we baptized her in her church. She began to grow in the Lord and kind of deal with some of her sinful past. She was going to a stage of mourning that she murdered her child years ago.

And she was mourning that, and we dealt with that. Of course, we went to 1 John 1:9, if I remember right, all these different things, and God will forgive you. And Jesus was being murdered on the cross, and he said, “Father, forgive them,” and all those things; there was forgiveness in Christ. Can I say it was a good thing for her to go through that mourning stage for the child that she had murdered? But there was comfort there. She got comfort in the end.

Look up. Everybody look up. Help me out; get them looking up too, if you would, please. But here’s the thing: it was proper for her to do that. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” By then, I won’t say which, because some of you start figuring out, maybe, but one of the ministries we have in our church was started because she mourned that time in her life, and God kind of dealt with her. One of the ministries we have in our church started basically through that experience in her life.

It speaks to many things. “Blessed are they that mourn.” It’s the truth Jesus is giving. It doesn’t say just about sin; you won’t find that in the Bible. It’s not just about death; we can link that together for sure, but it can be about many things. It can be about a major trauma in your life. It can be over a divorce. Man, a divorce is where you take a body—those two should be one—and you rip that body in half. Man, if you go through a divorce, you’re going to have to have some mourning to deal with that thing properly.

It can be many things. It can be you have cancer, or you’ve been told you have a terminal disease or disease that maybe you’re going to have the rest of your life. It can be many, many things. Can I say this on this subject? “Blessed are they that mourn.” Are you all still with me out there?

Often, if I had a major trauma in my life as a child—I’m talking about a major trauma in your life as a child, whether you were abused or whatever—can I just say this, friend? You need to deal with it the best you can then, but a nine-year-old doesn’t have the facilities to deal with that thing properly. And you can get some help, but there’s a good chance if you’re going to deal with it properly years later, when you’ve matured a little bit and you understand a little bit better and you understand the magnitude of it all, you have to deal with it again properly. Y’all with me out there? “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” And it’s not just about sin. It is, but it’s talking about many things. It could be a job loss. But you learn to deal with issues in your life. Well, that’s all over. It’s done with God. I’ve got to mourn this thing a little bit here. You’ve got to deal with this thing properly. There’s comfort in the end.

By the way, “for they shall be”—last week, last week, what did we say? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” That is present. This is, “for they shall be.” It’s a process often. Three years here between Sarah dying and then the son being comforted, and God brought a wife into his life and all that. God’s the one that can bring healing in the end of this thing here, but it’s a process, right?

Now, can I say this about this subject Jesus is bringing up here? Number one, just what is the subject? Well, that can be many, many things that you’re mourning about—a different situation, different time, different people, all those things. Second of all, can I say this, just very frankly with you: Mourning is not sinful. Sometimes we think, “Well, super Christians always have a smile on their face; we’re happy.”

I understand. I got a little problem with that. I always liked John 11:35 when it came to Bible memorization because it’s just two words. Easy to memorize, amen. You know it now, yeah: “Jesus wept.” Ephesians 4:30: What does the Bible say? “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.” The Holy Spirit of God grieves? Yeah. Yeah.

Well, I’m never supposed to—at a funeral, you ought not ever cry? No, the Bible doesn’t say that. We do not sorrow as others that the world that has no hope, the Bible says, but we sorrow. It’s not a wrong thing. Jesus is talking. It’s God in flesh. Jesus said, “Blessed are they that mourn.” Did he mean that or not? Surely he meant it. It’s not wrong.

Now, here’s the thing I hear somebody say: “Well, what about Philippians 4:4? ‘Rejoice in the Lord always.’” I understand that. So you’re always supposed to smile? No. Don’t forget it says, “Rejoice.” So you’re always working at that thing. You’re not trying to stay in the mully-grubs, but the mully-grubs are going to get you. You just lost your spouse of 30, 40 years. You know what I mean? And “Blessed are they that mourn.” Blessed.

Now let’s just briefly talk about this word “blessed.” We’re going to rewind if you were here last Sunday and you weren’t sleeping—all right, that’s a key part. You remember what we said about the word “blessed”? Many would say, “What’s happy?” I think it maybe has to do with that, yes, but not just that. That Greek word is sometimes translated happy, but it wasn’t in this case, see?

But if you go back and you reference the first time the word “blessed” is used in the Bible, over in the book of Genesis, it’s in creation. On the fifth day, the birds and the sea animals were created, and he said, “Hey, I’m going to bless you; be fruitful and multiply.” First time it’s used in all the Bible. The second time it’s used in all the Bibles is on the sixth day when God created mankind and the land animals. He says, “And bless them and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply.’”

So here’s what I believe “blessed” has to do with: You being fruitful, multiplying, if you will. You’re growing in the Lord. Can I say this? A whole lot of people get stuck at a certain point in their life because they won’t mourn. Whether they’ve been told something crazy by philosophers or whatnot, or they just somehow think they’re super Christians. Friend, if you get stuck, even psychologists will say, “If I have a major wound as a child, if I don’t deal with that often in that area, I’ll never grow beyond that level because I was where I had a major trauma and I stopped growing in that area.”

And so Jesus has kind of given us a way to live in a world where you’re going to have hurts and pains and sorrows and tears. And he said, “Look, blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Jesus is teaching you how to live, and what you’re blessed [means is] I can grow.

Can I say this? This is probably the best illustration I can come up with, but maybe a little crude. If you get a sore that’s super infected—like super duper infected, some of you have had surgeries like this—they have to go in there and they have to take a knife. And I’ve got to cut it open. Now, hopefully, they numbed you up before they cut it open, you know? Or they gave you a knife to bite on while they were cutting it open, you know? And then you get all the infection out, right?

This is what I was going to say. This is the crude part here. You could compare it to—now, I’m 50, and I still battle these things—they’re called pimples. Aren’t there any out there who know what I’m talking about? Come on now. You have them too, friend. Hey, you got to be careful. If you mess with it too soon, man, it’s going to hurt worse, you know. But sometimes you got to deal with it, get it out of there, you know. Thank that one person for being honest with me.

You got to get the infection out, right? Surgery or whatever. Hopefully, we don’t have to have surgery on a pimple. Come on now, that’s pretty bad right there, you know. But here’s the thing: you get the infection out, right? And even in surgery, you know, those surgeons, they get the infection out, and then they can stitch you back up. But, you know, they can’t heal you. They get the infection out; they’ve got to do it. And then they say, “All right,” and they close it back up, and they’ll put some stitches in there. They don’t heal you. They’re very important; they’re needed. But over time, God—God heals you.

And when I have major trauma and major issues in my life, whether it be a divorce or someone you know very much has wounded you, or whatever it may be—the situation or sin in your past, whatever it may be—look, you’ve got to get that infection out. It’s part of this mourning process. Now, the end result: “for they shall be comforted.” That’s in God’s time, and God’s the only one that can do that, see?

So, okay, that leads us to another thing, all right? Help me out. What was it? Say, “Blessed are they that…” All right. So that kind of leads to the thing: Well, how do you mourn? And here’s the tough thing: it is such a unique process. We’re all different. I mean, it’s amazing. They have face recognition on phones nowadays. I mean, you hold that phone up to your face. They say, “Boy, I’ll never forget that ugly mug right there; that’s you,” you know. Nobody looks like you in all the world.

We’re all unique. Your fingerprint is different. I love it if every once in a while I go somewhere and they say, “We need your thumbprint.” I say, “I ain’t got no thumb.” And they say, “Oh, come on now,” you know. And I have my hand in my pocket, and they’ll say, “Yeah, you do.” You know, I’ll say, “Ha, no, I don’t.” You know, some perks to it, you know.

Can we just get a little airflow and maybe just a fan? That’d be great. But we’re all unique, and your mourning or grieving process is going to be different. Now, there’s going to be some similarities, but no two people mourn exactly the same way. Okay?

Some—some will give you, and it’s often quoted, the five stages of grieving: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. I don’t know if I agree totally with those. It is not always the same. I personally do believe there are stages often to it. Let me just throw in a couple of them. There’s often the numb stage. I mean, you lost a loved one, and for the first little bit, you’re just like, “Man, I’m waiting to wake up from this nightmare. This can’t be real. How are you feeling?” “I don’t know. I just feel numb all over.” That’s very common—just the numb stage. It’s just, “I can’t believe we’re going through a divorce. I just can’t believe it after all. I never thought it happened.” And just often is part of the grieving, mourning—just numbness.

Sometimes it’s amazing. I’ve watched so many people grieving, mourning, when they lost a loved one to death, and they were the caretakers or even not the caretakers, but almost always they’ll go through this stage of blaming themselves. “Well, what if I did this? What if I did this? What if I’d have been there? What if I did this different? What if I told the doctor this? I should have said more.” And that’s just part of it. Very common. It’s not that you’re the worst person in the world; it’s just very, very common.

Usually, you’re going to go through a little bit of a bitterness stage. You’re a little bit angry over this thing, and you’re a little bit mad, and “Why? I’m a good person. Why do I have to be the one with cancer?” So-and-so is over there drinking all the time and doing drugs and cursing and smoking and everything, and why do I have to be that? I never did any of that, and I got cancer. Whatever it may be, it’s very typical. And it’s going to be part of it, more often than not, a little bit just of bitterness.

And often, depression. You just lose hope. “I’m never going to get out of here. I’ll never love anybody again like that because I don’t want to be hurt like that again.” I just kind of lose hope in everything. My forever is ruined in my life. You’re just total depression. You don’t want to eat; you want to sleep all the time; you might not want to go anywhere—whatever may be depression. Very common.

And somewhere, if you will—and I use this term lightly—but there’s a little bit of acceptance, if you will, about what happened in your life. And then the Lord, in the Lord’s time… And I don’t know about you, but I have to mourn something a little bit. You know what I want to do? “All right, we’re going to mourn. Man, let’s mourn. Let’s get it on, get it done with.” Anybody like that? That’s me. But I can’t make the process happen, per se. Doctors can go in there and cut it out, get the infection out, and all that’s tied you up, but God brings a healing in his time. And they’re saying mourning there is very much like that.

Can I just say this? If you’re going through some mourning, you will be on a roller coaster, right? Emotionally, you’re going to think, “Man, I’m getting somewhere,” and then there’s going to be a relapse, often. Often we had a man in our church, a good man, who lost his wife and started missing church. He wasn’t here. I said, “What’s going on?” Went visiting, and I should have known it. But actually, you know, the biggest thing was it was about a year since his wife had passed, and I’m—man, I was way over here, but boom, all of a sudden, I’m way back over here. And that’s going to be part of the process, an emotional roller coaster. It’s not that you’re weak; it’s not that you’re not a good Christian; it’s—that’s part of the process in Jesus. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” That’s part of the process, and that’s natural.

First of all, we just talked very briefly about people are different; people mourn differently. Situations are different. I spoke with a lady this week whose husband had died, and her 19-year-old son—they said her 19-year-old son committed suicide. She only goes—she thinks it was… That’s a pretty different situation. We’re all unique, and there are different times. It may not be to someone else that big of a deal, but to you, it is. Situations are different.

You hear that “C” word. The doctor says the “C” word: “You have cancer.” Some people, boy, the initial—man, it just hits them, boom. Some people take a little while, but you’ll probably have some mourning to go through there, see? So many different situations about saying “good morning.” Kids whose parents divorced. I used to say the biggest thing about it when the divorce happens is the initial—what that kid goes through initially. And they do often. But now they say the greatest effect on that child is when that child gets married. And then so many things start coming up, and they usually have to deal with it all over again as a married person in different situations about it all.

And I’ve said this all right, but if you suffered a major trauma as a child, you’re probably going to have to deal with it as an adult. And that’s right to do. I think about a lady. She heard her husband was going to bed, going to sleep. And he did like most of us husbands; he went to sleep like five minutes and started snoring. Any of you ladies have an issue with that? It’s not fair. He goes to sleep right away, you know? I’m not going to let my wife talk right now on this situation here. That’s what happened. And three hours later, he woke up to his wife, who had been praying for three—excuse me, not praying, but crying—for three hours. She needed to deal with something that happened way back. And praise the Lord, she did. On the flip side of the end of that, there’s some comfort there.

Hey, great Christians in the Bible, they mourn. Job lost his 10 kids; you read the book of Job; much of that is the mourning process. You look at Naomi over there in the book of Ruth, and she lost her husband and her two sons. “Don’t call me blessed; call me bitter,” and she was going through the mourning stage. Now, God had a reason—or, excuse me, I shouldn’t say a reason, a plan for her daughter-in-law, Ruth, to be in the lineage of Jesus Christ and her grandson that she got to raise for the most part. Come on, grandparents, I’m getting there with you, you know. Can you believe a son and a daughter-in-law that won’t tell grandpa if it’s a boy or girl? Can you believe that? They don’t know for sure yet either, so we’ll give them a pass for the time being, you know. Yeah, but she was going through this grieving process. You read that in the book of Ruth.

Let me just try to give you some thoughts on this thing here. And some of you have been through much more trauma than I have, and I’m not trying to act like an expert, but kind of just try to help a little bit and just say a few words. You’re going to be done today, all right? Because somebody somewhere has some fried chicken we’re going to get when it’s all over. And then there’s going to be some cherry pie in there also. Amen. There’s a… Cherry pie, I’d be all right there too, you know. But let me just—a couple words about: Number one, talk, talk, talk. Talk.

How many remember Mr. Jackson? Yeah, a lot of you do, and his little dog. How many remember Peanut, his little dog? Yeah. Mr. Jackson was in the war too, but he had seen a lot of action. He had some incredible stories. He had seen a lot of things. The interesting thing is, they didn’t change. I heard their stories many times, and they didn’t change. I believed them a whole lot more; they didn’t grow bigger, you know; they’re always the same. And… I wish, I wish so much I had recorded his stories.

Here’s the thing: He’s seen so much combat, somebody’s things, some of his buddies died, and so on and so on, and just amazing stories. He told me this, he said—and he’s probably told me this, but he said, “When we got out, they told us, the doctors told us, ‘Talk. Don’t keep it inside. You better talk about what you saw. You better talk about what happened to you. Don’t keep it all in; it’ll rot you. You better talk about this thing.’” And praise the Lord, Mr. Jackson did. For what he went through, honestly, he probably saw more combat than any man I’ve ever talked to, just to share with me. He did pretty good with it. And talk. Now, be wise about who you talk to. You talk to…

It doesn’t mean you have to talk to every person in the world about your situation. I think about a man; he really hadn’t shared, I don’t think, with many people at all for years and years about a trauma in his life, a very horrible situation in him. And he came to my office. God was dealing with him, and he came to my office, and just a good, big, big, strong man, and he started crying and began to share this trauma that happened with him. And praise the Lord, I believe it brought healing there. Some of his relatives said, “Boy, it was affecting everything.” I didn’t say that much, but just good; he came and talked. Got it out. And so I would say talk. You need to get that infection out.

Number two, don’t be afraid to deal with it. I think about a lady, a good lady, Elena Love in her church, a good lady. She had some past trauma way, way back. And she said, “I just don’t want to deal with it. It hurts too much to talk about it or deal with it.” Man, it’s affecting you. “Blessed are they that mourn,” and deal with it.

I think about a man that had been messed with as a child—a very sad story. And I said, “Look, have you ever dealt with this thing?” And he said, “No, I don’t think so.” He didn’t really ever deal with it. And in tears, he’s not ever dealt with it. And here’s the sad thing: we were in jail, and he had messed with another child. We’re old men now. Look, for in deal with these things, and “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted,” and deal with that situation.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Don’t get the victim mentality. Look, if you will, over in Proverbs 15. When I say “deal with it,” I’m not talking about for the rest of your life letting that thing identify you, or for the rest of your life you’ve got it worse than everybody, and you’re always talking to everybody, and every—you talk to them more than 30 seconds, and you start telling about all the bad things. I’m not talking about that. But deal with it.

I believe the Lord showed me this verse years ago in dealing with this type of situation. Don’t develop the victim mentality. Look at Proverbs 15, verse number 15. Proverbs 15:15: “All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart has a continual feast.” Now, here’s what I want to point out: their situation—the Bible doesn’t say anything about their situation changing. It doesn’t say anything about the situation changing. One was the afflicted. If I identify myself with the rest of my life with the victim, I’m afflicted. I’m in the rest of my life; I’m going to walk around with a pouty lip and sad, “I got it so bad.” And I get anybody longer than 30 seconds, they’re going to start hearing all my troubles and my trials. And I’m not talking about that. The thing that changed there was the heart.

The end result of what Jesus is talking about—he didn’t say, “Blessed are they to become mournful,” walking around everywhere with the bottom lip hanging down, “I got it so bad.” It doesn’t say that. The end result is, “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” That’s what you’re looking for. Not so you can spend the rest of your life excusing and justifying. The end result, I want some comfort; I want to be comforted; I want to grow; I want to be blessed. That’s what you’re after. But there is this part of mourning in God’s Word. It’s there, friend.

So I must do that. Can I say this? Going through the process, don’t get self-centered. You suffered some major trauma; you’re going to be a little bit tempted to just live life centered around you because you’re in survival mode, and life because it’s centered around you. And, friend, it’s not a good life if the life is centered around you. You ought to be centered around Christ and get you centered on others. So I must be careful with that going through mourning.

Let me just hurry along. A couple more things. Don’t lose your hope. Don’t lose your hope. I heard a story of a man that had a disease. I don’t know what it was, and forgive me if I don’t get all the details exactly right. But he went to the doctor, and he was just positive and upbeat. And the doctor said, “Sir, you don’t have much longer.” And he said, “No, no, no, no. I’m going to live,” and so on and so on. And the doctor finally just really just all out said, “Hey, I think it was maybe like a month, maybe three months, but sir, you have three months. I’m telling you, you’re not going to live longer than three months.” And the guy said, “No, no, no.”

And the doctor just—“You have three months; that’s it. No more. I’m telling you, I’m trying to be honest. We’re trying to help you with it. You have three months.” And the guy left, man, he was discouraged. He left and went out to get in his car outside the doctor’s office and just—man, on—and he said, “Wait a second.” And he turned around, went back in that doctor’s office, went past the reception desk, went back to where they found the doctor, and said, “How dare you! How dare you take from me the one thing I had left?”

And he said, “What are you talking about?” He said, “I know I don’t have much of anything else, but I had some hope left. And you’re trying to take my hope.” Now look, don’t lose your hope. At the end of this saying, “for they shall be comforted.” There’s comfort there. “Well, you don’t know my childhood. You don’t know this.” No, I don’t know all that, but I know God’s Word, and God’s Word says at the end, “for they shall be comforted.” Don’t lose your hope. Don’t lose your hope. Don’t lose your hope.

I’m sure Joseph, when he was in prison because his brothers had sold him, and he was in Egypt, but then part of his wife lied about him, I’m sure he was tempted to lose his hope. I’m sure he went through that stage, I imagine. But praise the Lord, he kept walking with God, and God had a plan. I’m sure it took him a long time to get to Genesis 50, “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” I think it took years and years for him to get there. But praise the Lord, he got there. Don’t lose your hope. It’s in God’s timing.

Can I say just a little—we’ve got to hurry along here—a couple of things, we’re done. But don’t get so consumed with your mourning, your grieving, that you’re not what others need. Let me explain. If a dad or a mom is going through mourning, maybe for an older child that went out into deep sin—that we call deep sin, by the way, that’s a heartbreak; that’s a heartbreak. Moms—it’s amazing to me, the Bible talks about the sorrow of a mom that a child went astray; Trey mentions it many times in Proverbs. But if you have a seven-year-old, don’t forget about that seven-year-old, that three-year-old, or whatever it may be. They don’t understand, Mom, Dad, that you’re grieving. They’re four years old, and they still have needs.

Husband, I understand that you’re grieving over whatever, and I get that, and that’s biblical, but are they the mourners? I understand that, but you still have a wife that has some needs, and vice versa. And so be careful of that; there are others there.

And then the last thing: Don’t turn away from God during that time; turn to God. Philippians 3:10 talks about there’s a special time we have fellowship with Christ: the fellowship of his sufferings. It’s interesting; the song they sang—we did not plan it—but they sang, “He Touched Me.”

It just felt like the Lord wanted me to read a poem. Now, it’s a poem, so I’m not the most poetic guy in the world. I just felt like the Lord wanted to read it. It’s often sung; it’s a good song. They’ll sing, and I’m going to read the poem. It’s first a poem, then someone put it in song form. But it’s a little poem about an old violin. Let me just read it for you. Try to think with me as I’m reading it.

"Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer thought it hardly worth his while to waste his time on the old violin. But he held it up with a smile. ‘One bid, good people,’ he cried. ‘Who starts the bidding for me? One dollar, one dollar. Do I hear two? Two dollars. Who makes it three? $3 once, $3 twice, going for three.’ But no.

From the room far back a gray-bearded man came forward and picked up the bow, wiping the dust from the old violin and tightening up the strings. He played a melody, pure and sweet, as sweet as the angels sing. The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low, said, ‘And how am I bid for this old violin?’ as he held it up aloft with its bow. ‘One thousand? One thousand. Do I hear two? Two thousand. Who makes it three thousand? $3,000 twice, going and gone,’ said he.

The audience cheered, but some of them cried, ‘We just don’t understand. What changed its worth?’ Swiftly came the reply, ‘The touch of the master’s hands.’

And many a life out of tune and all battered and bruised with hardship, it’s auctioned cheap to a faultless crowd, much like that old violin. A mess of potatoes, a glass of wine, a game, and he travels on. He is going once, he is going twice, he is going and almost gone. But the master comes. The foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul and the change that is wrought by the touch of the master’s hands.'"

Could you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? You hear this morning, you say, “Preacher, the Lord just kind of spoke to my heart. I need to put this Beatitude in my life.” Maybe there’s something specific the Lord spoke to you, maybe just in general, but God spoke to my heart about this saying of, “Blessed are they that mourn.” And I need to learn this process. I need to deal with some things, maybe. But God spoke to my heart about this Beatitude. That’s you this morning? Just lift your hand up. “Preacher, that’s me. That’s me.” Just lift it up. God bless you. God bless you. Let’s just lift it up. God bless you. Many, many, many hands.

Would there be someone else? God spoke to my heart about this Beatitude. God spoke to my heart. Anybody else? God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. Here’s a great thing: “for they shall be comforted.” God bless you. Thank you so much. You can put your hands down.

Maybe you hear this morning, you say, “Preacher, I’ve been stuck in this thing. I hide it, but I’ve been stuck. Now, I’m going to ask God, ‘God, show me how to go to the next level.’ I’m looking for the end result. I want the comfort. I’m not wanting to live my life here in the middle of it. I’m going to the Lord this morning. ‘Lord, show me the next step. Lord, bring healing. Father, get me to the other side, the comfort.’ I’m looking for that. I don’t want to stay here for the rest of my life. I’m going to get on the other side, in your time. I understand, Lord. But would you take me another step? I’m asking the Lord that and get me closer to the comfort on the other side.” And that’s you? There’s more. I feel like it’s stuck. I’m asking God, “Take me a little bit more down the road.” Just slip it up. God bless you. Oh, it’s key. It’s key. It is amazing how he can give you just what you need for the next step just at that moment—the right person, the right time. It’s amazing how God does that. Anybody else on that point? Anybody else? Just look it up. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God is wonderful. Thank you so very much. You put your hands down.

Maybe you hear today and you say, “Preacher, I just need to put myself in the Master’s hands. I’m trying to handle it all on my own way, my own things. I just need to put myself in the Master’s hands.” They sing about this morning. I like the touch of the Master. “I’m going to put myself, the best I can, in the Master’s hands.” God spoke to my heart about that this morning. About you this morning? By you just slip it up. “I’m going to put myself in the Master’s hands.” God bless you. God bless you. It’s amazing the music he can play, if you will, through us. Incredible. God bless you. God bless you. Thank you so very, very much.

One last question, we’re done. You say, “Preacher, as far as salvation, as far as being saved, I’ve never put myself in his hands. I’ve never been saved. I’ve never dealt with this saying of my eternal life, my salvation, heaven or hell. Preacher, I don’t know that I’m a child of God; I don’t know that I’m saved. I haven’t dealt with that, my salvation.” Preacher, “I’m not sure I’m going to heaven.” If that’s you this morning, just lift your hand up. Just lift it up. “Preacher, I don’t know that I’m saved. I don’t know that I’m a child of God. I’ve never dealt with that directly.” Slip it up. Slip it up. Oh, friend, he loves you. He loves you. He’d love to save you, pay for your sins, give you a home in heaven. He’d love to do that. He’s waiting for you.

Original File: How to be Blessed- Part 2 - Pasture Paul Chisgar 2220