Blessedness of Brokenness

Blessed are the mourn, chapter 5 in the book of Matthew, and verse 4.

Now, I've got news for you this morning.

I'm going to bring a message, and to be honest with you, I have preached through the Beatitudes a couple of times where I did all eight in one message.

So it was just boom, boom, boom, boom.

So today, though, as we've been taking each beatitude, and that was mine and Rick's goal, because I wanted to dissect the importance of what it takes for us to invest in eternity and what we are to be like while we're here on earth.

Because, see, as you and I are investing in eternity, guess what?

We are living out that life of righteousness, which the results is happiness and usefulness.

And the exciting thing is, we are literally literally fulfilling what God's really taught us in the Lord's Prayer, thy kingdom come.

We are living out the principles and the characteristics of a life that should be what?

Like the kingdom of God.

And that is so important.

And we don't see that lived out very often.

So this is such an important series.

But not only that, I had never looked at the word mourn in detail, like I'm going to give you today.

But look at verse 4.

And it says, Blessed are they that mourn.

And it means to grieve.

It means to wail.

The Greek word is pentheo.

Pentheo.

And it literally means a deep grieving.

It means to have a broken heart.

It is the strongest word possible.

Now listen, the strongest word possible for mourning.

It is like the deep mourning and wailing and should I say hurt within the heart when you lose a loved one that is so close to you.

And I would be willing to say most of us in here has lost a close loved one.

And that uh that uh mourning and hurt, and I can remember uh I had never really kind of welled, but I did when my aunt died that helped help raise me.

Uh and and just had been a uh, should I say, a strong foundation for me.

And I'd just gotten in, I'd been in ministry for a while when Ba, I called her Ba, her name was Hazel.

It was my father's sister.

And uh I'll never forget when she died.

And one of the reasons uh I I felt such a a deep grieving and wailing, and Susan Otia, she was there with me.

She had never seen me cry like I cried, but a lot of it was just because, you know, I I wished that I had spent more time with her.

And I wished that I had had a better relationship, even though I loved her deeply and she loved me deeply.

She always called me Danny Boy.

And uh and she always was my number one cheerleader.

And and I just when I lost her, and I had part of the funeral.

And it was just, it was, it was what this word literally means to mourn.

No doubt in my mind, it really does.

So it's a desperate, helpless sorrow.

It is a sorrow, listen, brought from sin.

A broken heart over evil and suffering.

It's a brokenness basically of self.

It really is.

In fact, listen to what James says in James 4:9.

James 4:9

He says, lament and mourn and weep.

Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Now, the word lament there literally means to be afflicted.

It means misery, it means heaviness.

So we see that this mourning is very important to us.

But I really don't think we understand mourning.

I really didn't understand the whole concept of the word mourning, uh, until I really started studying all this week, and I bet I've got 20 plus hours and seven hours just yesterday of looking and researching and looking at the different passages of scripture and the examples.

So, number one, in your outline, here's the question: Who is it that mourns?

Who is it that mourns?

Who is it that so full of grief that he cries and weeps and utters groanings deep from within?

Now think about that.

I in fact, when I was thinking about it, the only time I could really think that I had had that such a deep mourning.

Well, two times was when my uh aunt died, but when Susan and I lost our little baby boy that was born dead at five and a half months.

Oh, the mourning and the she was she was out of it because the medicine they gave her to try to keep the the uh should I say the labor to stop the labor, which had taken her heart way up to 200 something beats.

I w in fact the doctor was very concerned about how high her heartbeat had gotten.

But anyway, she would she is she had really passed out after the baby was born, and and I was there in that room, just me and that holding that little baby boy, and and and the moaning and the crying and the hurt and the deepness within my heart was just like totally broken.

I mean, it was awful, it was hurting, and there was nothing I could do about it.

In fact, I want you to see there are three persons who mourn and utter this kind of groaning.

Three persons with your outline.

First of all, a person who is desperately sorry for his sins and unworthiness before God.

I have had some things happen in my life as a Christian.

I really have, and I know you have too, if you're here and you you remember the excitement, you got saved and you were growing, and man, everything's going pretty good, and then all of a sudden something happens and you blow it.

See, a lot of people think once they get saved, their troubles are gone.

I got news for you.

Uh-uh.

There's a different trouble that starts, and it's called a war against Satan.

And so, you know, he's gonna try to trick you, he's gonna try to uh trap you, he's gonna do everything he can to get you to fall.

And I can remember more than once, but a couple of times when man, and you know what's so uh I so weird about it, or really it's not weird at all if you study the scriptures.

Hey, it's right after you've had a mountaintop experience with God.

Man, you're there and you're saying, whoa, look at me.

Elijah just defeated 450 prophets of Baal.

Whoa, look at me, look at me.

And then Jezebel decides, she says, before the sun says, I'm gonna have your head, and he just, ah, he just, oh, I'm gonna die.

And he runs and hides in a cave.

Isn't it amazing?

A lot of times that that hurt and comes from realizing, and by the way, Elijah realized it.

He was so hurt because he had let God down.

What about Peter?

Remember Peter?

He said, Lord, I'll never, I'll never, I'll never deny you.

And the Lord said, Oh, Peter, you don't get it.

There's an enemy out here trying to defeat you and to stop you.

He says, Before the rooster crows three times, you're gonna deny me.

And then when he did, what happened?

He ran out and he wept and he mourned over his sinfulness.

So we see the person who desperately is sorry for his sin, and because he knows he's hurt God, listen to what Luke 18, 13 says, and the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Ladies and gentlemen, listen to me.

If you're a Christian and you mess up, and you will, we all do, if it doesn't grieve your spirit and hurt you, something's wrong because you know you've disappointed God.

Amen.

But aren't you glad, hey, he still loves you regardless.

Amen.

What a beautiful picture.

But it's you, it's you because you know you let him down.

Look at the second type of person.

The person who really feels the desperate plight and terrible suffering of others.

When we hear the tragedies and the problems and the sinful behavior of others and the state, and boys, this is not true.

I know this is breaking my heart when I look at the state, the condition, and the lostness of our world and what's going on in our country right now, my heart breaks.

It mourns.

Oh, I meant we've got a divided nation, people cussing and killing, and and it's such division going on in America today.

Oh, that ought to break our hearts.

In fact, 2 Chronicles 7 says, if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sins and heal their land.

Oh, is there a mourning in our spirits this morning for our country, for our community, for our people that we know that are having problems and tragedies and I meant desperate situations.

There needs to be a morning, a deep mourning.

In fact, I lucked what Psalms says in Psalms 103, verse 13.

Psalms 103:13

Like as a father piti his children, so the Lord pities that fear him.

Wow.

And then the third type of person, the person who experiences personal tragedy and intense trauma.

We've all been there.

We've all been there.

Oh, that's the kind of mourning we're talking about here.

Three types, and that's so important.

Those that are sorry and deeply sorry for their sins, and those that are deeply sorrowful over uh the suffering of others and the tragedies and the lostness of the swirl, and then those who have personal trauma and tragedies.

Those are the ones that mourn.

So look at the second thing in this passage in reference to the word mourn.

Men are to mourn over their sins, as we just talked about.

In fact, it leads to confession and humility before God.

I want you to see that.

Let me tell you what happens.

Now, let me not just leave you there, but I want you to look at James chapter 4, because that confession of sin, what do we do when we have that deep grieving and mourning over the sin that we've committed?

James 4 · chapter mention

What do we do?

In James 4, verse 8, he says, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

James 4:8

Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, purify your hearts, ye double-minded people.

And then look at verse 9: be afflicted and mourn, same Greek word.

And weep, let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heavenness.

Here's what he's saying.

When we come to that point, because we know that godly sorrow works repentance to salvation.

So we are to have that mourning and that godly sorrowfulness, and we repent and we turn and look at what he says.

It's right there in verse 8.

He says, draw nigh to God.

So we are to what?

Revert back to where we were saved.

Start thinking back to where we were saved, and the joy and the contentment and the excitement of following Jesus' path and doing what God's asked us to do for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8.10.

And we you go back, you change your thinking again.

And that's what repentance is to turn around, to change your thinking, to turn completely around and go back to where you know you got off the path, off the course.

And you know, let me tell you, you know.

The Holy Spirit tells you, can I get an amen?

You know it.

I know you know it.

I know it.

When I it's happened to me.

And then he says, hey, cleanse your hands, actions, change your actions.

That's what he means.

Change your actions.

Go back to being obedient instead of disobedient.

And then look at what he says.

And purify your hearts.

That's the affections.

In other words, your first love.

Uh Revelations 2 says, go back to your first love.

Oh, Jesus ought to be your first love.

I love Susan more than God knows, more than my own life.

But she's my second love.

My first love is Jesus.

It's Jesus.

But because my first love is Jesus, it makes me love her even more.

Amen.

Hey, husbands and wives, let me tell you something.

You want a great relationship with each other, you just have a great relationship with Jesus, and you'll have a great relationship with each other.

Because you know why?

If you've got the right relationship with Jesus, you'll be putting your mate first.

And when your mate's put first, everything goes right.

Can I get an amen, ladies?

And you know that.

So, hey, you change your actions, you change, hey, your affections, your affection goes back to totally sold out to God, and then look at what he says.

And then, hey, you're no longer double-minded.

You know what happens to Christians when we're out of the will of God?

We struggle because we know what we're doing's wrong, and we know what we ought to do to do right, but we seem to not want to.

And why is that?

Because our affections are bent toward the world and what we want instead of what God wants for us.

It's happened to me every time.

So we see, he says, now you've got to change your affections.

He says, and then that affliction and that mourning, watch.

Hey, it's a heaviness.

Look at what he says in verse 9.

But turn to mourning and your joy to heaviness.

There's a heaviness.

But once you do, watch this.

You humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, verse 10, and he shall lift you up.

Wow.

He puts you back on the right path.

The joy of the Lord comes back.

Your conscience is clear again.

There's no grieving and quenching of the Holy Spirit.

I mean, it's exciting.

It's so exciting.

So we see how important that is.

So, look at the results when we do that.

Look at the third thing.

The person who mourns, when you turn to the Lord, you humble yourself, he lifts you up.

Guess who comforts you?

Not your husband or your wife, not your pastors.

Look who comforts you.

Christ Himself.

How would you like to be able to just go and sit down right there in the lap of Jesus?

And say, Father, I've got a problem.

I'm hurting.

I'm mourning.

I need you.

Well, that's what you can do.

That's what he asks you to do.

Now let me show you this.

Turn over just a few pages back to Hebrews chapter 4 and look what happens.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

Right.

Hey, when the hey, when you turn to Christ, you cleanse your heart, your affections are set back right, your actions are starting to be right.

In fact, Christ was called the man of what?

Sorrows.

Hey, and was acquainted with what?

Grief.

Isaiah 50, 33.

Watch this.

Now, that's a very important statement.

Hey, he's acquainted with grief.

He's the man of sorrows.

By the way, remember the word mourning?

The strongest word was a deep sorrow.

I mean, a deep sorrow.

He knew that sorrow.

Let me tell you how he knew it.

He came unto his own.

Now listen.

And his own received him not.

He was totally rejected by the people he came to die for.

Oh my goodness.

It doesn't get any worse than that.

It was a deep sorrow.

And now that he experienced that, on Monday they were praising him, and on Friday they crucified him.

But now watch.

Because he went through that.

Look what you and I have the privilege of having.

This is awesome.

Look at Hebrews 4, verse 14.

Hebrews 4:14

Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

In other words, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched, verse 15, with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

And then verse 16, let us therefore come bowling to the throne of grace that we might watch, obtain mercy and grace.

In time of need, look at what he's saying.

The person himself, Jesus, who's our mediator.

There's one God, one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.

He tells us that in 1 Timothy 2, 5.

And then he says, let us hold fast.

Jesus being our mediator tells us, hold fast to your faith.

Hold fast to your trust in me.

Trust me.

Just stay with me.

And then look at what else he says.

And here's, he's saying, hold fast, stay with me, for we have not a high priest.

He says, hey, look, look, look what he says.

I know what you're going through.

And here's what I mean, I about had a Pentecostal spell.

I'm subject to have those quite often.

But he's saying, I've been touched with your feelings, the feelings of infirmity.

In other words, the feelings of all those afflictions and those difficulties, those tragedies, those problems, those sins, I've seen it all.

I've been touched by.

I can tell you exactly what you're feeling.

So when you say nobody cares, don't you dare say that.

Oh my friends.

Hallelujah.

There's nothing that you're going through right now.

Many of you watching and here, are you going to go through or that you've already gone through that he didn't know about it?

He felt every minute of it, and he's there for you every step of the way.

Oh, that gets me excited.

Now watch.

Oh, it gets better.

Then he says, now you can come boldly into the throne of grace.

I'm going to give you mercy and I'm going to give you grace.

Now let me tell you something.

When God gives you mercy and grace, there's nothing you can endure.

I've had some of my best friends, some of my mentors all been there.

I've watched them go through some major tragedies, even die.

Been there myself.

My mother, buried my mother, buried my daddy, buried my granddad.

I've been through it.

My aunt.

I've been there.

And I'm telling you, even though the pain was so deeply hurting, I knew that I wasn't by myself.

His grace is sufficient.

His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

That's why I can glory and say, God, I know you're gonna help me through.

And Jesus said, They will endure till the end.

Amen.

Oh, now that's insurance that you don't have to pay for.

Amen.

Is that not good, church?

Is that not good?

So let's go to number four.

Oh, now I'm fixing to get to the.

This is, I'm telling you, I've been in ministry 40 plus years.

What God showed me this week about mourning and how it relates to suicide is unbelievable.

There's three types of sorrow.

Number one, there's worldly sorrow.

Look at, I think I have the verse.

If it does, you can put it up.

2 Corinthians 7.10 says, godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, but the sorrow of the world works death.

So here in this verse, we see godly sorrow and we see worldly sorrow.

And then we see in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 6 and 7, we see what we call self-centered sorrow.

2 Corinthians 1:6

But I want to deal first of all with worldly sorrow.

This sorrow can be a sorrow over doing wrong or of coming up short from what one expects.

It is a violation of one's values.

You know you have done something that you know you didn't want to do, you said you're not gonna do.

You ever been there?

Have you ever done something you said, I'll never do that?

Four of us?

Well, the rest of you I don't think are telling all the truth.

But but it can also be a sorrow caused by being found out.

Uh-oh.

Getting caught, yes.

Getting caught, suffering consequences, or being punished.

In either case, the sorrow of the world works death.

And it works death in two ways.

First of all, it eats a man up with guilt and remorse.

Depression.

Depression, despair, defeat, and inactivity.

You know what happens when we get to this state?

We just want to quit everything.

We don't want to go to church.

We don't want to read our Bible.

We don't want to be around anybody that's spiritual.

We don't even want to be around our loved ones.

I mean, we have hit rock bottom.

Amen?

I'm telling you, I've been here, I've can't, I it's been a whole 40 plus years of ministry.

And I wonder why.

I see why.

And let me tell you the greatest example.

Are you ready for this?

It's Judas Isariot in Matthew.

Turn with Matthew chapter 27, verses 3 through 5.

Matthew 27:3–5

Judas Iscariot gained 30 pieces of silver for betraying the Lord, but he also gained a tortured conscience.

And I never thought of it or seen it in this way.

Now, first of all, verse 3, look at what it says.

The cause of the remorse.

Judas, when he saw that he Christ was condemned, repented himself.

Judas became very remorseful after his evil deed of betrayal.

Now, when he saw that Christ was condemned to die, there was a remorse.

See, I believe Judas had been, you know, he was a disciple.

He had been with Christ all this time.

Three years, three and a half years, ministering with him, intimate, intimacy with him, all this.

So you know what?

He had seen Jesus get out of a lot of situations, bad situations.

And I really think, possibly, possibly, that he thought Jesus was going to get out of this one.

It's just another one of those circumstances.

But once he realized that they were fixing to kill his friend Jesus.

I didn't say his Savior, but his friend Jesus, oh, there was a guilt, there was a depression, there was a defeat, there was this remorse, this guilty conscience that he couldn't get over.

Even though he tried.

Oh, he repented.

He repented, though, of the deed that he had done instead of repenting to Jesus.

And there's a difference.

Watch this.

That's the cause.

Now, look at the confession, verse 4.

I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.

In other words, he knew what he did was wrong because Jesus was innocent.

We know that because Pilate's court, Herod's court, had said, hey, he's innocent.

The Jews declared it in their sins.

They knew he was innocent.

And listen to what the Jews said.

Let his blood be on us.

Wow, that's pretty bad, guys.

And then we see right here that Judas declares it.

And his confession of Christ innocent is very weighty.

Very weighty.

And then look at verse 5: the casting in the remorse.

He cast down the 30 pieces of silver in the temple.

Now let me tell you what God showed me there.

Sin never pays.

Amen?

Come on.

Sin never, there's no good to sin.

Here the guy was supposedly just been made rich.

But it meant nothing.

See, and I wrote this to myself because this is so good for me personally.

That which he, hey, that which had been his reward for betrayal, betrayal, now watch this, was now his reproach.

Wow.

That that you're trying to gain once you gain it can then be in your destruction.

Can somebody say that's good, preacher?

No, that's hard, isn't it?

But isn't it the truth?

Think about it, folks.

This is so good.

That which he coveted, he now didn't want.

Now watch what I wrote.

You might want to write this down.

All the gains and rewards of sin.

Here's a good statement, Adam.

All the gains and rewards of sin eventually turn sour for the sinner or for the person.

Wow.

Let me say that again.

Oh, let me always keep that in my mind.

All the gains and rewards of sin eventually turn sour for the person that sins.

Wow.

That's good, folks.

That's good.

You ought to write it down.

Oh.

And then watch what it says.

Verse 3 said he repented himself.

A lot of discussion goes on about did Judas get saved?

Did he not?

What?

No.

All right, let me just share with you what I see scripturally.

This repentance did not constitute true repentance that brings salvation.

And here's why.

True repentance causes one to turn to their Savior.

But Judas turned to suicide.

True repentance improves one's conduct.

But Judas' repentance increased his sin in that he committed suicide.

True repentance seeks forgiveness from God, but Judas did not ask for forgiveness.

Judas' repentance was nothing but a dislike of the consequences of sin.

He was sorry things turned out so badly.

Wow.

One of the main reasons I went back, I was a police officer for four and a half years and a juvenile officer for three of those four in Albany, Georgia.

Darty County Police Department.

And I dealt with a lot of teenage suicide.

And most of the time when I had a chance to talk to them, witness to them, try to deal with them as a juvenile officer before they committed suicide.

Here's what they said.

I don't want to live anymore because it's not worth living.

The guilt, nobody cares.

My life's worthless, useless.

And all that is is coming from Satan.

He's come to kill, steal, and destroy.

That's nothing but an attack of Satan.

And they would be so depressed and doing things they ought not to be doing because they were looking for solutions that would heal their hurt.

Or fill the void.

That's where the drugs came in.

That's where the booze came in.

That's where the sex came in.

All the lust of the flesh comes in because they're looking for a cure.

But the only cure is in Jesus.

Can I get an amen, church?

And you watch and listen to me.

God loves you.

He sent his son for you.

And Jesus knows what you're going through.

He knows.

He feels it.

He knows.

And he has the answer.

You can come to him and receive mercy and grace.

You don't have to succumb to Satan's trickeries.

The second sorrow, godly sorrow.

This sorrow that is wrought in the heart of the believer by the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

When the believer does wrong or falls short, the Holy Spirit is grieved.

Alright, let me ask something.

Let's get real honest with each other.

And I'm first.

When you really sin, and you know you sin, and you know why you know you sin?

Because there's something in you that says, hmm, you ought not to have done that.

Can I get an amen?

Come on, church.

Can I get an amen?

What is that?

You have just grieved the Holy Spirit.

See, the Holy Spirit's purpose.

Now watch this.

This is good.

The Holy Spirit's purpose is, and his ministry to you, once he takes up residency in you, once you get saved for by one spirit or you baptize into one body, 1 Corinthians 12, 13, he takes up residence.

Watch this, this is good.

His ministry now is to make you like Jesus.

So when you are not obedient to him, guess what?

You grieve the Holy Spirit.

And then watch this.

Oh, this is so good.

Watch this.

And then 1 Thessalonians 5.19 says, quench not the Spirit.

So see, when you grieve the Spirit, that means you get out of the will of God.

That means you get off the path that the Holy Spirit is guiding and directing you in, leading in you in.

He says, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go.

Psalms 32, 8.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path.

Okay?

So once you stop walking in that path of the word, well, watch what happens.

Boom.

You step off, start going your way.

Oom, the Holy Spirit says, No, no, no, no, don't go that way.

Don't go that way.

Because down that road's nothing good.

Actually, it's it can lead to your total destruction.

Don't do it.

And then when he says, quench not the Spirit, here's what it means in 1 Thessalonians 5.19.

You've stopped.

You have, in fact, the word there, I looked it up, it means to extinguish.

When you quench the Holy Spirit, the word quench there means to extinguish, to stifle, to go out, to suppress.

What it means is you have now, because you've gotten off the path, you have now quenched the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Because the Holy Spirit is to guide you in the right direction.

Is that not good?

So that's what it means to grieve and quench the Holy Spirit.

So powerful, so good.

And that's why he says, are you ready for this?

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

And then I love this one.

Acts 3.19.

Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.

Now watch this.

And when the time of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord, let me tell you what's so exciting.

Some of you say it right now, I'm on that wrong path.

I'm going down, and I can't get off.

That's not true.

That's what Satan wants you to think.

You can get off through the power of the Holy Spirit of God and the presence of Jesus Christ, our mediator.

You can get off, you can turn, you can change your thinking, change your actions, change your affections.

And then there's a refreshing, there's a renewing, there's a joy that comes back immediately.

Can I get on that?

Can we give Jesus a clap offer?

Wow.

How good.

How sweet.

And then the last one: self-centered sorrow.

God uses, I love this one, suffering to stir up other believers.

A person who suffers, though often becomes self-centered.

And begins to feel sorry for himself.

Ever been there?

Come on.

You ever been there?

Have you ever been like, I do all this?

And then you say, and nobody cares.

In the ministry, that's easy to do.

You give, you give, you give, and and and people fuss at you, they they talk about you, they discuss you, they cuss you, they leave after all you've done for them and loved them and ministered to them and everything.

And they just say, I'm gone.

Now, you know, that could be very discouraging.

But if you realize it's not about, hey, hey, the feelings, it's about the fact, and the fact is Jesus said, you just stay true to what God's word says, and I'll handle everything else.

And that's how you can love them and not be bitter toward them and stay with them and minister to them.

But that's what he said.

He sometimes begins to feel self-pity and apathy and want special attention.

A lot of it's just they want attention.

They don't get attention, they don't care about me.

Can I say something here as sweet as I can?

I'm thinking how to say it.

As a pastor for 40 plus years, I have given and given and given and given and given.

And on one hand, maybe two, let me give you the benefit of the doubt.

I can count how many people have ministered back and given to us.

Big time.

But see, I'm not doing it for your approval.

I'm doing it for his approval.

Amen.

And I'm doing it because God called me.

And one day I'm gonna stand before him and give an account.

And that's what really matters.

And if I didn't keep that my focus, I'd have quit 40 years ago.

Mark Lowry.

Don't quit.

Vignelle's here.

Remember Mark?

Oh, do we remember Mark?

Vignelle's dad.

Hey, hey, the twins, the Vignelle twins, and Mark Lowry and I were all at Liberty University together.

Can you imagine having all of us in one class?

Oh, God, help them.

Mark would say, don't quit.

Think about it.

Just don't do it.

All right, let me wrap this up.

God uses suffering.

Get ready.

This is good.

You're in 2 Corinthians.

Watch this.

2 Corinthians 6 and 7.

And whether we be afflicted, it is for your comfort and your salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same suffering which we also suffered, or whether we be comforted, it is for your comfort and salvation.

And watch.

And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the suffering, so shall ye also be, hey, of the comfort.

Now watch.

God uses suffering to stir comfort in others who suffer.

It does.

See, you can't believe in God and trust him no matter the circumstances.

You have to believe in God and trust him no matter the circumstances.

Hey, through the good times as well as the bad, can again an amen.

Through suffering as well as health, through rejection as well as acceptance, through persecution as well as honor.

But ye shall endure to the end.

The same shall be saved.

Second thing, God uses suffering to stir salvation.

Woo! Is that not good?

Hey, thirdly, God uses suffering to stir endurance.

Verse 6.

He says that you endure.

And then lastly, God uses suffering to stir sharing among other believers.

Look at verse, hey.

Boy, this is it.

Watch.

Blessed be God, verse 3 in that same chapter.

The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, that we may be able to comfort them which are in, hey, them which are in any trouble, but the comfort wherein we ourselves are comforted of God.

Here's this.

Here it is.

The reason God allows us to go through trials and tribulations.

He teaches us how to mourn.

And that's good for us.

Because when people see us mourn, now don't miss this, and see all that you're going through, but you're going through it with the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 810.

It is such a comfort, it is such an example, it is such a witness to them that they say, if God can take them through it, God can take us through it.

I know Deedra Dobson's online right now watching it.

All that, all you cancer, I call it victors.

All of you.

Amen.

Those that have gone through tragedies.

Death, you've lost your loved ones.

Some we've been dealing with that.

All the stuff of life.

I got good news this morning.

Blessed are they that mourn.

For they shall be comforted.

Amen.

Amen.

Yes, give him a hand.

Amen.

Every head bowed.