[Rainbow at Waimea Bay, North Shore - Oahu, Hawaii]
Rainbows are very special to me. They remind me of God and His promises. But not only that, if there are difficulties to face with uncertain consequences, viewing a rainbow cheers me and makes me feel that God is near. Of course, when you are a true believer in the Savior Jesus Christ, you realize that the good Lord is always with you! But we need to sometimes be reminded of that, and a rainbow does that for me.
"Thou art near, O LORD, and all Thy commandments are truth." - Psalm 119:151
"But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the LORD God, that I may declare all Thy works." - Psalm 73:28
So, what exactly is meant by spiritual mourning? First, here is what Jesus had to say when He gave the Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes):
"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." - Matthew 5:4
As stated above, it is a spiritual mourning, and not that of a melancholy disposition, nor sorrow over temporary distress, nor for destroyed hopes, and not even for the sorrow when we find ourselves in adversity of any type. The main cause of this of this mourning Jesus spoke of is because of sin. And for sin itself rather than for the consequences of sin. Even sorrow for secret sins; for sin as seen in the sight of our precious Lord Jesus. Because as King David of old said:
"Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest." - Psalm 51:4
"Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." - Psalm 51:9-10
King David sinned really big time during his life. Psalm 51 deals with his repentance over his adultery with Bathsheba and of causing the murder of her husband. How bad is that! Yet David had true godly sorrow over his sins, and true repentance. And God still felt about and called David "a man after His own heart"!
" ..... He raised up unto them David to be their king to whom also He gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all My will." - Acts 13:23
Also, remember how the apostle Peter denied Christ three times in one night, and when the Lord looked intently at him after his cruel denial, Peter wept bitterly. Godly sorrow! Repentance!
[ North Shore - Oahu, Hawaii]
Christians also mourn - and deeply - the sins of others. This is especially true of family member's sins, but also of others - even to mourn the sins of one's nation and its leaders! Jeremiah the prophet felt that way about his nation of Israel as seen in the following verses:
"Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! On that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men." - Jeremiah 9:1,2
One Bible commentator has said: "The mourning which will entitle a man to blessedness has these qualifications: It is spontaneous and free: it must come as water out of a spring and not as fire from a flint. The mourning is spiritual: when we mourn for sin more than suffering. We must mourn for sin as it is. It is (1) an act of hostility and enmity that affronts and resists the Holy Spirit. (2) sin is an ingratitude in its unkindness against God; (3) A privation that keeps good things from us, and hinders our communion with God.
The same commentator tells us: "that - with hope - believing that though our tears drop to the earth, our FAITH must reach heaven. Our mourning must be joined with hatred of sin. We must not only abstain from sin, but abhor it. The dove hates the least feather of the hawk; A true mourner hates the least motion to sin. ....... Our mourning for sin must be constant. ... A daily weeping, a daily mourning."
And concerning the mourner's being comforted: "Spiritual comforts are pure: they are not mudded with guilt, nor mixed with fear; they are the pure wine of the Spirit. What the mourner feels is joy. The comforts God gives His mourners are sweet, for the love of God shed into the heart is said to be better than wine. (Song of Solomon 1:2) {The comforts from God} are Holy. Divine comforts give the soul more acquaintance with God. {These comforts} are satisfying as they fill the heart and make it run over; they are powerful; they strengthen for duty, and they support us under affliction. ... The comforts of the Spirit are immortal and eternal. Oh, how superlative are these comforts!" (Comments from "The Biblical Illustrator")
Following is a 44 minute sermon on this subject and Matthew 5:4 by Pastor Chuck Smith, who was the founder of the Calvary Chapel Churches. Pastor Smith passed away a few years ago.
Following is a quote from A.W. Tozer, who was an American preacher and author and he passed away in 1963.
"What a strange paradox! The atheistic free thinker rants and raves about the Bible being a "dangerous" book at the very same time that the Word Of God is speaking to my soul! Strange indeed that some humans have the idea that the Word Of God can only be approached with shivering fears. But that is true only of those who love their sin and hate their Savior. The blessed truth is that if I hate my sin and love my Savior, the Word of God is a wonderful revelation, indeed, and a trustworthy guide. We need to be aware always that if we do not keep the Word of God on our side, we will be miserable in our souls continually. It is up to us. What do we sincerely will to do with God and His revealed Word? Years ago, the saintly George Mueller said he had read the Bible hundreds of times, and then he added, "with meditation." Let us see to it that we read the Word. More than that, we should actually explore it!"
Has it dawned on you that we are now living in the last moments of the end of this dispensation- the Age of Grace: The Church Age? Look around you and you see all the signs of the beginning of the New World Order! The signs that "the season" of Jesus' return is now upon us! No one knows the day or the hour (but only our heavenly Father knows) when our blessed Savior will return for His true believers. (Matthew 24:36). But the Bible and Jesus clearly gives us "signs" that His return is near. Read Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21. Much written there pertains to the tribulation period which follows the Rapture, true, but we see some of those signs happening NOW which means we must be in the "season" of our Lord's imminent return to take us heaven before the 7 year Tribulation begins.
If Jesus returns today, or next week, or soon.....
Are you Rapture Ready?
The main requirement is to believe that Jesus is the Savior and the only way to heaven and eternal life! Jesus took our place on the Cross and paid our sin debt in full by shedding His precious blood (as the sacrificial Lamb of God) that we might be ransomed from our sins and forgiven by Him and God if we only have faith and believe! We are washed clean in Jesus' blood and when we are born again, and God sees us as saved from His wrath because God sees us through Jesus - we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus!
Following are Scriptures that explain what Salvation entails. If you are not a believer now in the Savior, it is urgent that you do so soon! Eternity is a long time to spend in the wrong place : Hell !
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." - John 3:36
"But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received the atonement." - Romans 5:8-11
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." - John 14:6
"Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" - John 11:25-26
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
One thing to be sure to do, is to repent of your sins and to sincerely pray for forgiveness in order to receive the Lord's forgiveness and blessing.
Matthew 4:17 tells us: "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
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