BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.  He that goeth fourth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

                                                               Psalm 126:5-6 KJV

Oswald Chambers says that in proclaiming the word to people we get pretty much the response we aim for.  If you have the right technique and you aim at getting people to cry you can make them cry.  They will cry, but their lives haven’t changed.  If you want some emotion, if you want to get them running down to the altar rail, you can aim for this and get it ... you’ve got the emotional response but their lives haven’t changed.

On the other hand, if we aim at getting a genuine re­pentance, a genuine

change of heart, we may not reach as many, but those who are tender to

the Spirit of  God will repent and change their lives.

This principle applies not only to preaching to a con­gregation

or to a large evangelistic gathering, it
applies to our day-in-and-day-out dealing with people
in the name of the Lord---one-to-one. When we play
with people's emotions we get emotions but no real
change takes place in their lives ... it's no different
than crying at the movies.

So, we have to speak not only to people's emotions,
but to the mind, the heart, and the will, Otherwise we

 could work our­selves up into a good-cry every Sunday

and still never change.

But while it may be true that weeping in church is
often no more significant than weeping at the movies,
there is a kind of weeping that not only changes us,
it moves God.

-  There is a kind of weeping that breaks our
    pride and prepares the way for the coming
   of the Spirit of God into our lives afresh.

-  There is a kind of weeping that causes us to
forget all about ourselves and drives us to
cry out to God to visit Zion and heal it.

This weeping is desperately needed in the Body of Christ
at this hour.  It's a gift straight from the Lamb of God
(who did his share of weeping and still does).  And we
need to be careful not to stifle or hinder this kind of
weeping when it comes to us.

How many times we've heard people say,

"I can't come to fellowship right now because
I'm afraid that if I did all I'd do is sit

there and weep."

...So come and weep.

Or someone says,

"I'm afraid to really open my heart to God
because every time I open my heart to God

I start to cry. "

      Then open your heart and cry.

"I can't even pray these days," says another.
"Every time I start to pray the tears come,"

... Is that a sin? Let them come.

Don't stifle this precious gift.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall
be comforted."                     Matthew 5:4

....Blessed are those who mourn.

Soon afterward he went to a city called Nain,
and his disciples-and a great crowd went with 
him. As he drew near to the gate of the city,
behold, a man who had died was being carried
out, the only son of his mother, and she was
a widow; and a large crowd from the city was
with her.  And when the Lord saw her, he had
compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."
And he came and touched the bier, and the

bearers stood still.  And he said, "Young man,
I say to you, arise." And the dead man sat up,
and began to speak.  And he gave him to his
mother.  Fear seized them all; and they glorified
God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among
us!" and "God has visited his people!"

Luke 7:11-16

On the human side, the key to this resurrection sign of
the kingdom is the weeping woman.

...And when the Lord saw her he had compassion
on her and said to her, "Do not weep."

...And he said, "Young man, I say to you arise."
And the dead man sat up and began to speak,

- Life comes to the dead man.
- Revival comes to Israel.

- New life comes to the church......

through the tears of this weeping woman.  She was a

sign of the Lord himself. She was weeping over her

dead son ... like Jesus was weeping over his dead nation.

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing

precious seed, shall doubtless come again

with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

Most of us, however, at the present moment do not have
this gift of weeping, or if we have it we've been
stifling it. But if Jesus says,

"Blessed are those who mourn,"

this kind of mourning must be something worth pursuing.

1. It's worth pursuing the weeping of true repentance.

How shall we ever know the peace of God until we allow
our hearts to really break open to God in true re­pentance?

And when the repentance comes, how can we not weep?

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him,

and he went into the Pharisee's house, and took

his place at table. And behold, a woman of the

city, who was a sinner, when she learned that

he was at table in the Pharisee's house, brought
an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing
behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to
wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them

with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet,

and anointed them with the ointment.

Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it,

he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet,
he would have known who and what sort of woman
this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner."

And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have

something to say to you." And he answered, "What

is it, Teacher?" "A certain creditor had two debtors;

one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

When they could not pay, he forgave them both. 

Now which of them will love him more?" 

Simon answered,

"The one, I suppose to whom he forgave more."
And he said to him, "You have judged rightly."
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 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,