Those who mourn... ~ Ganeida.

The promise of the Kingdom is not for those who merely indulge in wishful thinking or religious talk. It demands *forcefulness* ~ an attitude of fixed determination that presses ahead regardless of every kind of difficulty or  discouragement. Derek Prince.

Each time we study some aspect of the Christian life it usually means we need to remind ourselves of something else we have already learned.  So it is with the beatitudes. So this morning I want to start by reminding you that you are a three~fold being: you are a spirit that lives in a body & has a soul [mind, will, emotion].  We have talked about Christians being the Temple of God with our body as the outer court, our soul [mind & emotions] as the inner court & the Spirit of God within us as our Holy of Holies.  We have discussed numerous times how true belief, true worship, is more than just intellectual agreement with the  proposition of salvation.  This is also true of the Kingdom of God & Jesus recognises this in the way He presents the beatitudes to us.

He begins by pointing out that the poor in Spirit are blessed but this acknowledgement of our lack is only our beginning point.  It is, in essence, an intellectual agreement with God's assessment of our  spiritual state.  We lack.  We pointed out that there are 2 responses to recognising our lack: either we agree & do nothing about it or we agree & respond.  The 3rd position is that of the Laodicean church which says: I am rich; I lack nothing. We always want to come into agreement with what God says because that is when we free up the Holy Spirit to make deep changes in our lives rather than resisting His work.

Now many churches teach that our feelings are irrelevant scriptually but this is not true.  Scripture always teaches balance.  We are to believe the Word, but our response to that word should involve both our intellect & our emotions.  Being poor in Spirit is how we think about our condition.  Mourning is how we feel about it.  At some point our intellect has to move to a heart position.

The Holy Spirit is our comforter ~ which, in essence, suggests that we are in need of comfort.  Now I suggest to you we misunderstand the sort of comfort the Holy Spirit ministers because we view scripture around ourselves rather than from a kingdom perspective.  It is very nice to think that the Holy Spirit comforts us when we are sad ~ & I thank God that He does!  However that is not the Holy Spirit's primary role as comforter.  He is the Spirit of Truth.  He is the Helper, the Paraclete.  His first & primary responsibility is to convict the world of sin & once convicted, lead us into all Truth. This is where  & how He comforts us.  He is the Great Encourager.  As we seek to live out our Christian walk it is the Holy Spirit who comes along side to encourage & comfort us in our walk because it is not always an easy walk.  Our flesh usually wants to do something else entirely.
As Jesus pointed out in the garden: "Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." [Matthew 26:41] Our flesh was made for this world but we are to rule over our flesh.  It is not to dominate our spirit~man who is listening to the Holy Spirit.  

As we have seen so often when studying Paul's writings, he uses many military terms.  Paraclete is another military term.  We all know how the Romans used the *turtle* formation when fighting, locking their shields together & forming an impenetrable wall.  However when they fought one on one they always fought back to back so that their *blind* side was always protected.  The *protector* was called the Paraclete.  The Holy Spirit *has our back* & that is also His comfort to us.

Satan may accuse us before the throne of heaven both day & night but we have another advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ ,who ensures we are never left alone to fight these battles.  Whatever we are facing, wherever we are in our spiritual walk, the Holy Spirit is right there, down in the trenches with us, back to back, encouraging us to believe God's Truth, stand on God' Word & continue to work out our salvation rather than resting on our laurels.

We have spoken of the tensions implicit in scripture.  We find another when we discuss spiritual mourning because it is not designed to lead us into despair.  It is not meant to lead us into spiritual extremes such as the Medeivalists did of crawling to Canterbury on their knees, sitting atop poles in the desert or wearing horsehair shirts next to the skin.  Rather we are to ...work out [y]our salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. [Philippians 2:12~13] We are to put our trust in God who will bring forth the result He desires but we are to co~operate by working with the Holy Spirit!  Please note: it is God who gives us the will & the work.  He is our source but Christians who are not plugged in to their source do no have the ability to run their race.

Paul calls this * godly sorrow*. I will give it to you in the NLT which is easier to understand than some of the other translations: For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. [2 Corinthians 7:10]

Paul goes on to discuss the results of godly sorrow. Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish wrong. You showed that you have done everything necessary to make things right. [2 Corinthians 7:11]

This is why I have been at such pains to continually point out that intellectual agreement does not lead to salvation. When the heart is genuinely changed there will be a changed lifestyle as well.  That is not to say that we will never sin or be plagued with a habit we find difficult to break.  It does mean that our conscience will be bothered & we will do our very best to aligned ourselves with the will of God.  It will produce spiritual mourning & spiritual mourning produces fruit!

Paul is not speaking to unbelievers here so he is not referring to initial salvation.  He is speaking to a spirit filled, charismatic, tongues, signs & wonders church that needs to *work out its salvation with fear & trembling.* Godly sorrow is a motivator. It seeks to make us hungry for the things of God. Pride, something the Corinthian church knew about also, says we don't need anything.  We're rich.  We understand spiritual things but Paul says: For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. [1Corinthians 13:12]  When it comes to spiritual matters we are never going to reach a summit of perfection when there is no more to aspire to, no more to work toward, no more to know!  Spiritual mourning helps us find wholeheartedness ~ that place where we actually desire to love God first, love God only, love God with everything that is in us.  This godly sorrow stirs up spiritual discontent.  We can be satisfied with nothing less than all God has for us & we will radically change our lifestyle &  our priorities to see God bring that about in our lives.

I will just mention another aspect of mourning here that grows out of intimacy with God & seeking after Him with all your heart & that is the prayer of intercession.  There are certain things that are very close to Jesus heart: Justice, Mercy, the orphaned & dispossessed.  When we pray in these areas we are touching the very heart of God. 

Micah 6:8 says: He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

These are areas where the Holy Spirit may bring us into deep travail as we pray out the will of God & Kingdom principles for a fallen world for God will share His heart  for all the lost sheep & that can bring us into a place of deep mourning where we desire to see Kingdom principles established but it is a blessed place for it is the place where God shares His heart.

Now many people pray for these things without experiencing true mourning & the reason for that is quite simple.  Often we pray for things because we know we ought.  We know abortion is wrong.  We know injustice is wrong.  We know homosexuality is wrong.  So we pray about these things but praying about is not the same as letting the Holy Spirit lead you in prayer on these issues. 

When the Holy Spirit leads He prays out the heart of God:
My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.  Our eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:14~15

This is true for every single human being. As Jesus blood was shed for each of us individually, so each human, is formed in the image of God by His will & His loving hand.  We begin to see our world as God sees it & the Holy Spirit sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts.

Thus we see a progression.  We begin by seeing our spiritual lack.  Lots of other things in our lives are more important than God & this creates a great gulf between all that is available to us in Christ & what we actually experience.  We then have a choice.  We can say, I have all of God I need & continue on our merry way.  We can say, I lack all of God that is available to me but do nothing.  OR, we can acknowledge our lack & cry out to God to help us in our weakness.  And God is so  good He does exactly that.  The Holy Spirit begins to work in us to produce mourning, that godly sorrow that motivates us to go harder after God, seek Him more intimately, press in harder.  This is not an exercise for wooses or sissies, or for the faint of heart.  As Derek Prince says it requires an attitude of fixed determination.  

The good news is we are not left to our own devices to achieve any of this. James tells us we don't have because we don't ask ~ & that is true no matter whether we are asking for healing, finances or spiritual mourning. All we need to do is ask.  And God is pleased to grant this request above all others because we were created for relationship with Him from the foundation of the world.