In the sermon 'Blessed are They that Mourn,' Steve Hopkins discusses the second beatitude, which emphasizes the importance of mourning over one's sins. He explains that being poor in spirit refers to recognizing our spiritual need and emptiness, which leads us to seek salvation through Jesus. Those who mourn over their sins do so not only because they have caused pain to others but primarily because they have grieved God. The scripture highlights that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. Believers who mourn over their sins are promised comfort from God, as He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In our last session, actually a session before last, we looked at the first of the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. And I want to move on to the second of the Beatitudes this morning briefly. I remind the congregation that to be blessed, blessedness refers to the communion with God in the highest state of happiness. It's that state of supreme joy and completeness that all believers will enjoy in the presence of God in glory, as Brother Eric was talking about, when we are one day ushered into His presence.

But you remember I said that that blessed state actually begins here on earth, in the here and now, in the sense that the believers are blessed. We possess now the highest state of happiness and joy of any of God's creatures, because we live in communion with God through Christ in the Spirit. And we talked about how the poor in spirit are those who recognize their spiritual need, their spiritual poverty, their spiritual emptiness, and thus their need for a Savior. And how the poor in spirit are those who recognize their unworthiness before God, and that they have nothing, they see nothing in themselves.

Being poor of spirit is to see nothing in oneself that merits God's favor, that might even possibly warrant His favor, and only that within themselves that merits His eternal displeasure and deserves His eternal wrath. The poor in spirit, I said in our last session on this, cry out to God in repentance and faith for mercy and pardon. You remember the Pharisee trusted in himself, he trusted in himself and his own works. The publican would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven, but beat upon his breast and cried God be merciful to me a sinner. Blessed are the poor in spirit who see their deep spiritual need and come to God humbly in repentance and faith, looking to Jesus alone. For the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven belongs to such.

And then this takes us to the second beatitude Jesus preached in that sermon on the mount. Blessed are they that mourn, blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. In this life on earth, we as Christians mourn in many ways. We mourn many times the loss of loved ones who have passed from us into eternity. We mourn over broken relationships, broken relationships that where after we've done all we can to restore them remain unbroken many times. We mourn for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are under persecution in other lands. We mourn for them. We mourn with those who are themselves mourning, the scripture says. We mourn with those who mourn and we grieve with those who grieve and we weep with those who weep.

But it seems to me no coincidence that this beatitude, blessed are they that mourn, follows blessed are the poor in spirit. The poor in spirit are those who mourn for their sin. They actually mourn over sin. They mourn over their sins many times because they know their sin has been the cause of pain or sorrow to someone they love dearly. But the main reason that the poor in spirit, the true believer mourns is because we know that our sin has grieved God. It's a vertical thing, not just a horizontal thing. In the scripture we read of a woman who was a sinner and fell at the feet of Jesus and wept over her sin. The scripture says she came up behind him and fell at his feet and began to wash Jesus' feet with her tears and to dry them with the hair of her head.

In Psalm 51, beginning with verse 16, we read, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Only God can produce that type of a heart in a person. Those who mourn over their sin, the scripture promises us, shall be comforted. We have the promise of God on that. First John 1.9 tells us if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That woman, by the way, who fell at Jesus' feet mourning over her sins, Jesus told her, her sins, which were many, were forgiven. And there's no greater comfort than that. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.