Happy Are The Sad

“Blessed are those who mourn” can sound like a cruel riddle until you realize Jesus isn’t praising misery, he’s revealing the only path to lasting comfort. We dig into Matthew 5:4 and the upside down logic of the Sermon on the Mount: the world sells happiness as numbness, distraction, and the avoidance of pain, but Jesus points to a deeper happiness that comes when we tell the truth about what’s broken.

We talk about what biblical mourning actually means and why it’s more than “feeling a little down.” Then we make it personal: Jesus calls us to mourn our sin, not by minimizing it with excuses or maximizing it into hopeless self-loathing, but by being honest and letting that grief move us toward repentance. Along the way, we unpack how temptation works, why sin is always “crouching at the door,” and why treating spiritual danger like a harmless pet never ends well.

The best news is the comfort Jesus promises is not vague. It’s anchored in the finished work of Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit as our Comforter, and the gospel promise of no condemnation for those in Christ. We end with a practical challenge you can do this week to help you stop clinging to what Jesus already paid for. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

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Transcript

The Upside Down Kingdom Setup

Josh 0:00

And as we start, I want to remember a couple of things. Because it's easy for us, especially because we tend to go verse by verse, sometimes even word by word, as we are moving through scripture today. And it makes it kind of easy for us to forget that the things we're covering today don't exist in a vacuum by themselves. Right? So, like the stuff we're gonna look at today, verse four doesn't exist without verse three. Jesus is building on top of what he's already said. And so we're gonna hear a little bit about some of the stuff we looked at last week because that is what scripture is doing. And then number two, what we're gonna look at today, just like everything else in the Sermon on the Mount, is going to sound paradoxical to what the world will actually tell us. Remember, it's called the upside down kingdom because what Jesus is doing is he's going, hey, I know the world says this, but here is what I say. Here is how I designed it, and when you're the one who designed it, you're the one who gets to define it. In other words, if JT, when he was small, well, even now, because did y'all know there's a Lego store in uh Longwood? Yeah, we just found that out too. And and JT was beyond himself when you walk into this giant store that is just full of Legos. And I remember like he used to build like the set that it came with, and then after that, he would just take everything apart, so he has this giant like crate of just loose Legos in his room, but then he would just build things that his imagination saw. Well, when he did that, he is the one that gets to define what he's building. They have to operate by his rules, and that is what Jesus is showing us here. So as we look through this, what we're gonna hear this morning is gonna sound kind of opposite to what the world is going to explain to us. Because the world is sitting here going, if you want to be happy, if you want to have that life that you've always dreamed, here's how it needs to look. In fact, think about a marketing agency. This is what they do. They spend billions and billions of dollars trying to get you to believe that if you don't have this thing, then you're missing something in life, right? Like you guys know that one, diamonds aren't rare. Two, that all a diamond is is charcoal under a lot of pressure. In fact, they make diamonds now, synthetic ones, like not cubic zirconia like what I would buy Debbie. But they make diamonds now that even gemologists can't define or uh can't decipher that they aren't real. But yet, De Beers has spent billions of dollars getting us guys in here to go, hey, if you want your wife to think you love her, buy her the shiny rock. See, and that's what the world does is it takes the things of God and it twists it into something that God did not say. And what Jesus is doing here is going, hey, here's how you can actually be happy. So, if we take it seriously, what Jesus says moves us to happiness. And what we need to remember is as we work through is challenge yourself. Challenge yourself. Don't just listen to simply understand the words that we're saying. Push into the uncomfortableness, push into that stuff that you're like, oh, I don't want to deal with, because that's where change comes from. Now, because change comes from the uncomfort of Jesus pruning all of those things in our hearts. So push into that and lean into that. And with that being said, here's our big idea this week. You

Happy Are The Sad

Josh 4:08

ready? Happy are the sad. That is our big idea, and that is what we're going to focus on. So I'm gonna pray and then we're gonna jump into this. Father, I thank you so much for your word, and I ask and I pray, Father, that as we move through this today, that it be your word. That it is not my thought, it is not my opinion. God, it is your word spoken to your people to make us uncomfortable and move us into the sanctification of your son to look more like you. Father, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright, so Matthew 5, 4 says this blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Now there's really pretty straight simple, right? Raise your hand if you walk around mourning, though. Not most of us, right? We don't like that uncomfortableness. We don't like the pain that we feel. Because we really believe that happiness is lack of pain. That if we can avoid the uncomfortable, if we can avoid the nasty stuff, then we can be happier. But just like our big idea said today, what Jesus is actually saying, if we go back to last week, right? Remember that word blessed means happy or fortunate. How many of us look at this and go, you can't be happy and sad at the same time? Those two things are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Like, how are you telling me to mourn if I'm going to be happy? But that's what Jesus is saying. And I'm gonna go ahead and tell you, most of us are pretty comfortable with that word mourn, right? All of us in here know what it means. However, the New Testament uses nine different words that we translate as mourn. This one, however, is this word, it's called pentheos, and it literally means to mourn or grieve deeply. This is the word that Jesus would use later when he's talking about mourning the death of a loved one. This is not just a simple, like, you know, oh, I'm feeling a little blue and I'm feeling a little under. This is like, hey, that person that meant the most to you in the world, you lost them. And that is the grieving that Jesus is talking about here. And if you're anything like me, you should rightfully be asking, how does that disgusting feeling bring me happiness? And I get it. I lost my dad now almost five years ago. And still to this day,

What Biblical Mourning Really Means

Josh 6:55

if I think about him too much, or if I catch like a big enough snook, because that was the one fish, regardless of how many times he fished, he could not catch, I can bring myself to tears. Like if I'm looking through pictures, especially like you guys see it on the loop every morning. Yeah, that 40-inch snook there. Like when I look through that and I go, I couldn't text that to him. I couldn't be like, hey, look what I did and you didn't. Ha, I'm better than you, Dad. Suck it. And if you're giggling, that's because you watch TV shows that you shouldn't be. But again, that's that kind of mourning that Jesus is talking about. And it that kind of seems like the opposite of happy, because the world teaches that happiness is the absence of pain. For those of you in here that work out, and it looks like most of you do. What's it? What see, but now everybody on the recording is gonna know that you don't look like you work out. What's the what's the popular saying in the gym, right? No pain, no gain. Most of us know it, we just don't apply it, huh? See, and that's what Jesus is trying to jump off with here. We avoid pain like it's the plague. In fact, I'll tell you guys right now, one of Kayla's deepest fears in life is to have an uncomfortable conversation. Kayla told me the other day she would rather me beat her with a belt than have an uncomfortable conversation. Because we hate that kind of pain. We hate that kind of mourning, but yet Jesus is not saying, hey, those who do not experience pain in life, they will be comforted. See, it's impossible to have comfort without having pain. Like you wouldn't even know what comfort is if you didn't have pain. And yet Jesus is sitting here going, lean into that. Dive deep into that. And just like I said in my intro, this isn't an idea that just exists in the abstract. Jesus is building off of last week and what we saw in verse three. Happy are the poor in spirit, happy are the humble. Like I wanted to add to my list of things that I'm proud of. Because I went, if you look over here by the amazing grace sign, those are all of the people that remembered to, hey, I'm gonna bring the stuff in. We're gonna hang it on the wall, we're gonna have that reminder of these are the things that I'm most proud of, but yet God gave me. Because it causes my mind to stare onto Christ. Or as Colossians 3 2 would say, set my mind on the things that are above. But last week, when we looked at that, happy is the humble, the the bottom line was this when I see myself as poor in spirit, I see myself as a beggar so lost that without the mercy and grace of Christ, I could have no hope. So the hope I can find is not found in what I can do. That's why we wrote down the things we are most proud of, because it causes us to sit here and go, but did I do those, or was that a gift God has given me? And when I do that, that puts me in a position to be able to now mourn. Because honestly, what is Jesus telling us to mourn in this verse? Like, is Jesus sitting here going, hey, just everyone walk around sad? What is he telling us to mourn? Our sin. Who we are. Because when I'm poor in spirit and I'm humble, and listen to me, because this is the key to everything. When I'm honest with myself. Because none of us like that. I hate with a passion. If you walk in this bathroom, as soon as you walk in, there's a full-size mirror right there on your right, right? And I'm assuming it's in here because I know ladies like to make sure they look appropriate when they're walking out, right? Not appropriate, but like good. I hate it because, like, in my mind's eye, I am still that 18-year-old that is just completely defined with every major muscle group of my body. And then I walk in the bathroom and I go, Whoa, who is that? Because that's not what I look like. Debbie has a habit of taking pictures of me from like the weirdest angles and then posting them like on social media and stuff, and there'll be times like I don't have it, so I'm not scrolling through it, but there'll be times where like it just pops up like when I go to put stuff up for the church, and I'm like, dang, maybe eat a salad every once in a while, Josh. Maybe we start jogging because I'm not honest with who I am.

Why We Avoid Pain And Growth

Josh 12:11

Like when I wrestle around with JT, there are times where, yeah, I beat him because I have to. But then he leaves the room and I'm like popping ibuprofen because I'm like, man, he's getting a little too strong for me to be doing this. See, stuff like that happens because we're not honest with who we are. But when I'm honest about who I am and I can see my shortcomings, and I can see my sin, that is the good thing. The problem is, is we justify our sin to ourself. And we go, it's not that bad. Like we let we like to sit here and we like to look at other people's sin, but we how many times do we take the time to look at our own? How many times do we look at ourselves and go, man, I'm I'm I'm just a mess? Listen to me, you would have so much more growth in your life if you actually did this. Instead of going, no, I'm still that 18-year-old. Like the entire reason we're given the Ten Commandments. Does anybody know? It's a mirror. So I can look into that mirror and I can see the real me. It's that mirror in the bathroom when you get to walk in and you get to go, man, I'm old now. Hair's kind of not as thick as some of y'all's. And I'm using rosemary every night, right, Deb? And yet it doesn't do anything. See, when I when I really am honest, I can understand what the Bible has to say about this. In Romans 7, 15, Paul gives this paradox. Now, this is Paul. This is the guy who wrote half of the New Testament. This is the guy that is like raising the dead. This is the guy that can go argue against the greatest minds of the ancient world. And here's what he says. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate. What is he arguing with here? He's sitting here going, I know better. I know this is wrong. I don't understand why I'm doing this. If you keep reading down a couple of verses, he'll say this, Oh, wretched man that I am, who will save me? You think he's honest with who he is? Do you think he sees himself for who he is? He's literally sitting here going, I should be doing different. And this drives him to this one question. I realize I'm a wretched man. Who will save me? In Psalm 51, verses 2 and 3, David, now mind you, here's who David is, okay? Let's not forget this. God describes David as a man after my own heart. When Jesus looks at you and goes, Janelle, a woman after my own heart, that is a compliment bigger than anything we can imagine. But yet, that same person writes this wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Now he uses two different words there, right? Iniquity and sin. Does anybody know the difference between those two words? Change your mind on that? All right, so sin is this word hamarita, and it means to miss the mark. These are things that we do like without really thinking about them. Like, for example, I have taken um, you know, guys, with Mission Sin Outdoors,

Mourning Sin Starts With Honesty

Josh 16:10

we take people out fishing, right? And it's really fun to take like some of your students who you were just teaching the Bible to out on the boat and then miss a fish and let something accidentally slip out. That is a, let's just say a four-letter word that you wouldn't normally use in front of your students. And then you get to explain to them, hey, Mr. Lively ain't perfect either. That's a sin. That wasn't on purpose. An iniquity, on the other hand, an iniquity is something you sat down, you thought about doing, you went, I know this is wrong, you had all of these different opportunities in front of you to go, hey, I shouldn't do this, and yet still did. So when David is sitting here going, hey, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, David's sitting here going, hey, you know that woman that I saw bathing on the other roof? And I went, wow, she's purty. And then I went, hey, let me go tell my servant to go tell her to come over here. You know how many times, like as David's working through this, he's sitting here going, Um, I really shouldn't be doing this. That's an iniquity. And what David is doing is he's sitting here going, my wretchedness, my sin, listen to me very carefully. You guys don't need me to stand up here and go, hey, you're wrong. Because your wretchedness and your sin, you know what it is. You already know all of those things that that the good Lord right now, and understand it does mean he's a good Lord, is bringing up in your heart all those things that you're running through in your mind, going, Yep, that's what he's talking about. And it could be a lot of different things because most of us don't struggle with the same things, most of us aren't attracted to the same things. But my wretchedness and my sin, David says, it's always right there in front of me. I see it all the time. And some of us, we're defined by it. Some of us, your life is defined by this sin. You don't say it in here because when you came in this morning, you were blessed and highly favored. But you know as soon as you leave here, oh gosh, there's that sin welling up again. In fact, we've seen that in scripture too. And Genesis 4.7, we see the culmination of Cain and Abel bringing their offerings to the Lord. And Abel's offering, the Lord looks at and goes, Good job. That's exactly what I wanted. But Cain's, God went, mm, try again. Now, when God rejected Cain's offering, did he harp him? Did he beat him down? No, he didn't. He literally, not literally, but to paraphrase, went, try again. And in Genesis 4, 7, we see as Cain in his heart is sitting here going, what do you mean mine's not good enough? We see how God is working through this. He tells Cain, if you do well, will you not be accepted? That is God going, try again. You got this. If you do well, it'll be accepted. And then he gives him a warning on the backside of that, and he goes, but if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. In other words, it's always right there. Always right there. All you have to do is drive down I-4, and you will see sin crouching at the door. Walking to Walmart. Where'd we go yesterday? Oh, publics. I'm never going grocery shopping on a Saturday again. There was so many people in there, and sin was crouching at every aisle because it seemed like everyone needed the one item that was right in front of me. And what God's telling Cain is that is sin is crouching. Because sin's desire is for you. Those of you that don't know, I fish quite a bit. Okay? I haven't used live bait unless I'm taking out like new people to fish because live bait's easier to catch fish on. So if it's just like me and JT or as Kayla found out this week, her, we're throwing lures. We're throwing artificial things that are meant to look like real live things that fish would eat. So as this fish, and your goal as the fisherman is to make it look like a bait fish or a shrimp or whatever it is you're trying to throw out. So as this fish is just sitting under a mangrove line, waiting to ambush its predator or its prey, you throw your little shrimp lure out, and you're like popping it because that's how shrimps swim, and that shrimp go or that fish looks at it and goes, ooh, look, food. And it eats. And once I feel it eat, what you do then is you activate all of your back muscles, your shoulders and your arms, as you wrench back on that line, and it takes a hook and drives it through the corner of their mouth. And guess what? That fish now is coming in my boat. That is what sin does to each and every one of us. Is it dangles right there in front of you because its desires for you. And you're just sitting there

Sin And Iniquity In Plain Words

Josh 21:51

and it's just sitting right here in front of you. And the moment you decide, hey, I'm gonna eat, the moment you decide, hey, I'm gonna go ahead and grab. Hold. The devil now takes that hook and rips it into you, and now you're going. You've already passed it because its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. In other words, fight your flesh. In other words, when you know it's wrong, stop. In other words, lean on someone around you. In other words, if you have no one else to lean on, reach out to me. And listen, I don't say reach out to me because I'm perfect. I say reach out to me because I'll at least be like, hey, you know better than that. Why are we even like trying to get close to that? You know what's going to happen. You know what's going to happen because you've been down that road how many times? And you think what? This time it's going to be different? See, sin's desire is for you. You have to rule over it. And here's why we don't. In 1 Peter 5 8, Peter is talking about our enemy, the devil, and he says this be sober-minded, be watchful. What does that mean? What does it mean to be sober-minded? Who's texting me? What's that mean to be sober-minded? What's it mean to be sober, guys? Huh? Clear. Be watchful. Why? Because sin's desire is for you. So Peter gives us this warning: be sober-minded and be watchful because it's happening. And then he goes, your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Understand this. The devil is not passive in sin. Seeking is not a passive word. Seeking is sitting here going, hey, he's on a mission. He is looking for someone to devour. The problem is, raise your hand if, like during the, what was it, whatever time during 2020. Raise your hand if you um binge watched Tiger King, I think was the name of it. So one of y'all are honest. Yeah, when you look at a baby like Tiger or baby lion in this case, they're cute, right? Like I know Kayla has seen them on YouTube and she has this weird infatuation with animals, but she's like, oh, I would lay and play with that. And most of us would with a little cub, right? Like y'all watched The Lion King. You were like, man, me and Simba would be best friends. The problem is, is what happens to that little cub? It grows up. How many of you are sitting here looking at an 800-pound lion going, I'm gonna pet it? I just want to climb on it, like grab its mane. Like, yes, we saw like Aslan in the Chronicles of Narnia, and we were like, oh, he's so cool. And he's just like majestic. However, the reality is, like, if you get in the Colosseum with hungry lions, what are they going to do? Eat you. And an 800-pound lion is way stronger than all of us in this room. But see, we don't look at the devil like that. We tend to look at the devil as that little lion cub that we can sit and play with. I can just have a couple, it's not that bad. What's a couple of drinks gonna lead to? A couple more. And some of you, you may just have a couple. And I'm not talking to you if that's who you are. But when you're passed out on the ground, that's not just a couple of drinks. That's wrestling with an 800-pound lion. Oh, it's just a little flirting with my coworker. I mean, we spend so much time together. What's wrong with that? I'll never act on it until you do. Do you know how hard it was for us to find insurance as a church? And some of y'all are like, why? Oh, that's because there's local pastors that started with it's just a little flirting, and then there was a two million dollar payout by their insurance company because one day they acted on it. And they went, so we don't trust y'all either. See, we we tend to play with it. We tend to look at it and go, it's just a little, it's not that big of a deal. And sin is ever present in our lives, whether you're a believer or not. It is always right there in front of us. It is always in the back of our mind. Now, let me ask you, as far as all of that goes, what do you think about your sin? Do you think about your sin? Or is it just this passing like whatever? I messed up again, whatever. See, that's what Jesus is driving at to mourn. That's what he's telling his believers and followers to mourn. Because when I'm poor

Sin Crouching At The Door

Josh 27:05

in spirit, do I need a reminder that I'm a sinner? No, I don't. And that building on top of what Jesus said in verse 3, he's sitting here going, Since you don't need the reminder that you're a sinner, start mourning your sin. Take that next step. Now we're gonna look at what mourning our sin looks like because I'm gonna tell you in the church, there are two big errors I see when it comes to mourning our sin. The first one is this. We do not see sin as an attack on Jesus. In other words, we make light of our sin. We say words like this. Well, nobody's perfect. None of us in here do that, right, though? Like, none of us like make that excuse. Well, I mean, no one's perfect. We we say things like, Well, I'm not Jesus. I hear that one a lot. No, you're not. But who does the Bible say you're supposed to look like? Jesus. So all of those little areas where you go, well, I'm not Jesus, those are areas that you need to be mourning. We say things like, Yeah, I struggle, but everyone struggles. And what we do is we we make light of our sin. We don't see our sin as what it actually is. The reason why Jesus had to go to the cross, we tend to minimize it. We tend to look at it and go, it's not that bad. And here's why we do this. This is how the world teaches us. Because does anybody in here know what the punishment is for a second degree felon or a misdemeanor here in the state of Florida? No one? $500 fine and punishable by up to one year in prison or a jail. Not prison, because prison's where you go when it's more than one year. Does anybody in here know what the punishment is for capital murder here in Florida or capital homicide here in Florida?

unknown 29:11

Prison.

Josh 29:12

Life without parole or the possibility of death. So, in our eyes, is there a difference then between petty theft and killing someone premeditated? There is. Huge difference, right? And we categorize all of these things that can go wrong. These are what Florida State statutes are. We do the same thing with our sin, though. We look at our sin and we go, well, this one's not as bad as this one. And we minimize it. Does God no? Because what's God's standard? Perfection. So again, if you took a class that you had to score a hundred in and you got one test that had a 99, are you now perfect? Nope. Again, most of us will still go, C is get degrees. But we're not hitting perfection. And so we tend to minimize it. However, without ever stopping and going, but that's what sent Jesus to the cross. That's what killed Jesus. Even those little things that we don't think are that big of a deal. So that's error one. Error two is really the exact opposite of that. We maximize our sin and we become so distraught about it that we become hopeless. We say things like this I'll never get this right. I'll never overcome. And then we just what? Give up. Think about it, you as a parent, one of the hardest things you're ever gonna have to do with your kids is this withhold enough praise that they're going to work, but on the same hand, not make it so burdensome that they're despaired and just give up. They have to have hope. And see, and what the church is doing is we're hitting these two opposites. And we're sitting here going, my sin, I either feel so racked with guilt that I go, there's no way I'm gonna overcome this, so I just give up and I stop trying to fight it because what's the point of fighting it? I'm just gonna fall again, or we minimize it and we go, it's not that bad. Both of those, I want you to understand, are just as bad. Both of those are not mourning your sin. Mourning your sin isn't going home today and going, I am such a terrible human being. I'm just a black-hearted, wretched sinner and I will never get it right. Is that true?

unknown 32:04

Yes.

Josh 32:05

It is. But I'm not gonna sit in that. Just like I shouldn't go home and go, well, I'm not that bad. I mean, honestly, I could point to people in here that could make you feel like pretty good about yourself. Starting with me. Because as Paul would say, I don't sit here and go, I'm perfect, I go, I'm chief among sinners. And if you don't believe me, talk to my mom after service. And go, hey, how was he growing up? Like I love when like I tell my mom something, and this is kind of a rabbit trail, and I really don't care, but like I'll tell my mom something like the kids are doing, and like I'm like, I'm upset about it, right? And then she'll like let me go on for a second, then she'll stop and look at me and go, sweetie, do you think you hung on every word I told you growing up? And I'm like, Yes. What are you talking about? Like your wisdom that you were just imparting to me, like all my life? Like, yeah, that's why I am the

The Devil Is Not A Cub

Josh 33:05

way I am. And she's like, mm-hmm. And see, we don't hit those two. Here's what proper mourning of our sin looks like. In Luke 7, 44 through 47, Jesus is talking about a dinner that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and his followers are at. And in that dinner, he he looks at um Simon and he goes, in verse 44, he says, Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave you gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, like I love that Jesus stops right there and clarifies, her sins, like there's a lot of them, are what? Forgiven. For she loved much, but he who is forgiven little loves little. Now, for those of you in here, you might not know this, but the Hollies are probably like, look at all the time he just said feet in that verse. They're a beautiful thing. But understand, like we have looked at many times, first century feet are way different than ours. Most of the time they didn't have shoes on as they're walking around. So when you would come into a house, that is what would happen. You would wash someone's feet so that when you're reclining at the table to eat, dirty feet aren't next to food going into the body. And what Jesus is sitting here saying here is this is what proper mourning looks like. She knows who she is. She knows the sins she has. And so when I came, she went right to my feet. You think this lady is looking at her sin, going, it's not that bad? Or do you think she's sitting here going, Oh, wretched woman that I am, who will save me? Who has the power to save me? That is what proper mourning does, is it drives me to the feet of Jesus. It causes me to sit here and go, oh wretched man that I am, proper mourning leads us to the cross. Because that's where the debt of sin was paid in full. Proper mourning of sin leads us to, you know what? Freedom. He who the Son has set free is free indeed. I don't need to be defined by my sin. When I properly mourn it, I understand I'm defined by the blood of Jesus because that is what's paid my debt. I didn't do it. I didn't wake up one day and go, you know what? I'm tired of living this way. I'm gonna pull myself up by my bootstraps. Jesus went to the cross before I even knew I needed a savior, before there was even the twinkling in my great, great, great, great, great, great, however many grandfathers I. Jesus went, as Ephesians 1 would show us, I'm gonna go die for you because you are predestined for adoption in me. See, proper mourning of my sin moves me from focusing on my sin to focusing on my savior. That's the that's where we miss it. That's why we fall into those two other areas because we start to idolize the sin in our life and just look past the cross. See, when I pause when I properly mourn my sin, it breaks the power of sin in my life. When I properly look at it and go, hey, this is what's keeping me from, it causes me to stare at my savior and go, but he, but Jesus, when he stood up on his nail-pierced feet and said, It is finished, he meant it for me. And it breaks the weight of the chains with mercy and grace. And you know how beautiful that is to sit here and go, it's not just like when I walk up, Jesus is just gonna have my highlight reel of everything I've done wrong in life. Because some of us, that's what you were taught growing up, right? There's this record in 2 Corinthians 5.10 does say that we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that everyone will be judged. But you know what Jesus ain't doing? Looking at you and going, hey, and then you did this, and then you did this, and then you did this, and then you did this, and then you did this, because he's gonna sit here and go, but Father, here's what I did. And they trusted in that. So therefore, they can be comforted with that. Because proper mourning of our sin tells the devil, shut up and sit down. Because as Jesus would say in John 10, 29, that I am in my Father's hand and nothing can snatch me out. Nothing means nothing. No thing. So all of those things that were popping off when we were talking about our sin,

Two Bad Extremes With Guilt

Josh 38:40

those are the things that mean nothing. There's nothing that's gonna separate. If you have children in here, what could separate you from your child? Regardless of how wayward they go, regardless of all of the things that they're gonna do, that listen, are going to take you off. And if you're a parent and you look at me and go, oh, my kids never. You're a liar. And start working on that first. But when I look at my child, I go, there's nothing. Gabby is never, ever, ever, ever gonna do something that is going to separate her from being my daughter. That's why when when we're done disciplining, when we're done with everything, there's three questions they get asked. Do I love you any less? Do I like you any less? And are you any less my child? Because as they get older, I want them to be able to look at their heavenly father and go, he doesn't like me any less, he doesn't love me any less, and I'm no less his child. Because some of us, that's what we were taught. That love was very conditional. And yet, when you want to see what proper mourning of your sin can do, look no further than in the agape love we are seeing. In fact, when Jesus, when the woman is caught in adultery, a couple things we need to understand. What is she caught in? Literally in adultery. And I'm not gonna get too graphic because there's kids in here, but you know what it means. And if you don't, come see me after service. They drag her out of the house. Do you think that the Pharisees and the Sadducees were like, hey, you know what? Take a moment, get yourself presentable, and then let's go. Nope. They literally grabbed her in the act and drug her out of the house. So here she is in all her shame and in all of her stuff. In the middle of the street. And the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they look at her and they go, Our law says to stone her. And Jesus stops and he takes a moment and he bends down and he writes something in the sand. We're not sure what he wrote. But I'm sure it was like a mic drop thing. And he looks up and he goes, He without sin casts the first stone. And then, face to face with this woman, knelt down on the ground. As everyone left, Jesus looks at her and goes, Where are they who condemn you? If they don't, neither do I. Your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more. I don't care what your life looked like up until this point. But when you stand and mourn your sin, and Jesus gets face to face with you, how does the weight of all of that not just come off? So the problem is, is we don't mourn our sin. It's not that there's not comfort. It's we look at it and we go, eh, it's not that bad. I got this under control. I can quit anytime. We don't want to be transformed. We don't want to be new. We want to keep doing the same dumb things we've always been doing because this is where comfort is, right? Think about it. All of us in here, there are things you do throughout your day for no other reason than this is what I do during my day. Because I'm comfortable. Listen, you will never change when you are comfortable. Want proof of it? How many times were you late to work when it was cold outside? Because underneath the blanket was just too what? Comfortable. I'm not getting up. Like I know as soon as this blanket comes off, that cold's gonna come in. Especially if you live in our house, right? Because we do not use the heater ever. So

Proper Mourning Runs To Jesus

Josh 42:45

there were mornings in our house where it was literally like in the upper 40s, lower 50s. In the house. I absolutely loved it. I was like opening the windows. Everyone else in the house was like, I need another blanket. And what Jesus is saying is stop being comfortable with your sin. Stop being comfortable with your life. Start mourning it. Start seeing it for what it is because if you really want comfort, if you really want happiness, blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the ones who go, I don't want the comfort in my life. I don't want the lack of pain. It's gonna be uncomfortable for a moment. This is why every week I go, if you need to talk, if you need to pray, I'm right over here. Come talk to me. Come pray with me. You know what's uncomfortable? Leaving the comfort of your seat because oh my God, people in this room may see me walk all the way over there. And then in the back of their mind, they're gonna be like, ooh, I don't know what Joe's up to. And yet, while you're over there, guess what's happening? Your chains are falling. Sin's losing its grip. Because you're sitting here going, I'm going to mourn this. This word comfort that Jesus is using. It's this Greek word that is parakeleo. It is the same root word that Jesus uses in John 14, 16 when he's describing the Holy Spirit and parakletos, which means helper or comforter. See, when Jesus is using this word, he knows his under his hearers are going to be able to connect these two things together. Because it is only through the power of the Spirit that the chains can be broken. It's only through the power of the Spirit that we can be made new. Like, do you understand the power that comes in that? Because some of you, you got some things going on in your life and you really shouldn't love them. You really shouldn't be looking at your own life going, okay, I got this. I'm not that bad. Because if you are, compare yourself to Jesus. Compare yourself to perfection, and then look me in the face and go, you know what? But I'm still not that bad. But Jesus goes, this comforter. This is what proper mourning leads us to. In Matthew 11, 29, Jesus would say this, take my yoke, for it is easy. You're tired? You want rest? Take my yoke. What's Jesus' yoke? It's Jesus sitting here going, trust in me, I've already done it. I've already paid for it. We went out to eat after service today, which we're not going to because I'm gonna be here for a couple of hours. We can go out to dinner if you want. Actually, no, we're having pork chops tonight, and I like that. But let's say we were out to eat. And I went, I got this. What's your first inclination? He's gonna pay for it, which is the correct one. What was yours? No, what was yours? Because that's the one I wanted. I got it, I got it. Or we say things like, Well, well, that's cool, but I'll leave the tip because I want to add to it. You know what that is? Pride. Pride. All day. Listen, if you invite me out to eat, and I've told you all this before. You called me and went, hey, do you want to go eat? Understand, I might not even bring my wallet. Because that means you've already entered into a verbal contract with me to go, I'm paying for this. And guess what? I'm not gonna feel bad doing? Ordering the food I want to order. Because I'm not just like, oh well, you know, Joe's paying, so I'm gonna look at the dollar menu. I'm gonna look at the meal Joe orders, and then I know this is my cap for what I can order. So if he orders an expensive meal, it's gonna be a big ticket. He orders a burger, okay, we're going with burgers

Comfort Through The Spirit And Gospel

Josh 47:05

today. See, but we do the same thing with Jesus. Jesus goes, hey, I went to the cross for you. I paid for this for you. And you're sitting here going, but let me leave the tip. Let me add to this. That's pride well enough. And that is the opposite of going, take my yoke. When Jesus says, take my yoke, here's what he's saying. Put your trust in me that I've already done this, that I've already paid this. Believe in Jesus when in John 19, 30 he says, it is finished. Yes, our sin is more wicked than we could ever possibly imagine. But listen to me real quick, because here's the comfort the Bible gives us. In Romans 8:1, it says this there is now, therefore, no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. How much condemnation is there? None. Zero. Zip. It's done. Jesus doesn't look at you and go, oh, but you owe me. Jesus goes, no, take my yoke, walk with me, follow me. I've already paid for it. You can leave the restaurant going, hey, my meal is good. In Psalm 103, 12, the psalmist writes this: as far as the east is from the West, so it so far does he remove our transgressions from us. Anybody in here know how far the east is from the west? It's infinite. In other words, it's God, what sin? What offense? And then lastly, in Lamentations 3 23, Jeremiah, as he is watching Jerusalem burn, as he is lamenting, hence the name Lamentations, as he is lamenting their sin, he says this the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. Even in the calamity, even as the city is burning down, even as everything is going wrong, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. There are times I've looked at JT and I've been so mad on the inside that I'm like, dude, I can kill you and not even feel bad. But then I look at him and go, but that's my son. And that love never ceases. That love never stops. That love kept him alive through trial and trial, the same way I'm sure my parents looked at me and went, that love kept you alive. Because the love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. It's not conditional. Jesus doesn't just love you when you're doing the right thing. Jesus isn't just sitting here going, okay, you got it together. Now I'm gonna love you. It never ceases, it never stops. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. That's why we need to sing more hymns. I'm just gonna say it from up here. Because those songs at least sung that. Great is your faithfulness. Some of us remember that, right? Some of us are like, no, that's not CCM music. I can't do that. I don't know if Hillsong has a cover of that. But listen, I can do this all day. And I can go verse after verse after verse after verse. Because listen to this. Blessed, happy are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. It's not a maybe. Jesus isn't sitting here going, maybe, if you mourn enough, I'll love you. Jesus is sitting here going, be poor in spirit, see yourself for who you are, be honest with who you are, and then mourn that. And I will comfort you. And understand this. Paul would word this comforting like this: a peace that surpasses understanding. Do you understand how much that is? Someone would someone nod your head, yes. You're a liar because it surpasses understanding. It's more than we can ever possibly know. Set you up. That's why, like we don't laugh enough. It's okay to be laughing. It's okay to be joyful. Because we're being comforted. So as we close

Write It Down Then Burn It

Josh 51:40

today, our challenge, just like last week, is gonna be multi-parted. I like it. And since I'm the one with the mic, I get to decide it. But this week we need to mourn our sin. And here's what we're gonna do we're gonna write down our sin. And for those of you that are already like nervous, like, mm, not putting that up on the wall. First of all, why? Why wouldn't we share that with each other? Why are we like sitting here going, no, no, no, no, that's my private stuff, and I'm gonna keep that at home. However, I'm not telling you to bring it in. Okay? Although the book of James, the Bible does tell us, confess your sins, okay? So there's power in that. We'll get to that later, though. But this week, mourn your sin, write down your sin, repent of your sin, and then be comforted in knowing that if you are in Christ, your sin has been forgiven. Understand, this doesn't make our sin less. It costs Jesus everything. But when we put our trust in Jesus and his work of death, burial, and resurrection, it is finished and you are no longer a slave to sin. Remember, proper sinning pushes us towards the cross. It leads us towards the cross. So after you write this down, here's what I want you to do with this paper. If you are, I don't use this word lightly, but if you are a redneck in here, light it on fire. So if you're doing this with like your phone, light it on fire. Like stand up against technology. Okay? But if you're a redneck in here, write it down. Write it on a piece of paper and then light it on fire. If you're not a redneck in here, just crumble it up, throw it in the trash can. Because that's where your sin is in comparison to the love of Christ, as far as the East is from the West. Because here's the deal you have no idea where your trash is going once it goes to the road. Like no one in here is like, oh yeah, they take it to, you know, Tomoka. And what do they do with it once it gets there? It disintegrates, it's gone in a hundred thousand years if it's plastic. So take that paper, crumple it up, and throw it in the fire. But listen, mourning your sin means fighting your flesh. Here's what that means. Here's what that means. Don't keep being like a dog going back into your own vomit. You can't sit here and mourn your sin and then go, but I'm gonna go do it again. That's not mourning. So write it down, mourn it, crumple it up, burn it, or throw it away and be comforted. Because if you're in Christ, you're a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come. You're not defined by your past. Nowhere in Scripture do we see someone who is defined by who they used to be. So why are you defining yourself like that? All of us in here have a past, have things that we wish we wouldn't have done. We can mourn that and we can move past it. We can let the weight of all of

Final Prayer And Sending Challenge

Josh 55:10

that just fall off of us. You can be different starting today. Stop doing it like how you do your diets, where it's like, oh, Monday I'm gonna start. Monday, someday, we'll never get here. Do it today. So, Father, I ask and I pray that as we move through this week, Father, God, as painful as it may be, I ask that you put our sin before us. That you bring it to the forefront of our mind. That we see it clear as day so that, Father, we can mourn it. Father, I ask and I pray that as we mourn through it, that God you comfort in that. That God, you hold each and every one of us and sit here and remind us over and over and over again that you don't like us any less, that you don't love us any less, and that we are no less your child. And Father, I ask and I pray that once we separate from it, that God, you remove it as far as the East is from the West. That you give us the strength and the courage and the boldness we need to fight it, to mourn it so that we can understand that happy are the sad. As we are comforted in your love, by your power, and your spirit. Father, I pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.