1 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:08,760 I've been doing the single dad life for the majority of this 2 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:11,200 week. My wife is with some friends 3 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:14,720 from the church and they're floating down some river in 4 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:16,280 Oregon, totally out of cell coverage. 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,840 So I'm on my own. No, no even phone a friend. 6 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:25,240 I'm just on my own. And you know, I mentioned that 7 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:29,040 because this is only the second time that she's ever had any 8 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,080 kind of time away from the kids. I think it's good to get 9 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,120 refreshed, come back excited. The first time she ever left, 10 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,120 she was gone for about 45 minutes. 11 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:45,760 And one of my daughter's broke her arm didn't take long. 12 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:49,040 I did not take long. I was literally picking up my 13 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,160 kids from school and she's running out on the patio over 14 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:54,920 here. And I mean, it's we're literally 15 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:58,560 in the first hour of the tour of duty and I got a broken arm. 16 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:04,160 And it it, I have to admit, it took me about 3 hours to really 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,680 understand that it was broken. And I think that's the benefit 18 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:10,200 of moms is they haven't, they have an instinct for these 19 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:12,080 things. And dads were like, yeah, you're 20 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:15,480 probably fine. And it took me a while. 21 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:20,240 And the reason that I finally understood what was happening is 22 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:21,920 appropriate for what we're talking about today. 23 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:25,200 It was about 2 1/2 hours of just constant tears. 24 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,640 You know, you think as again, the dad reflexes like, oh, I'm 25 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:30,400 sure, I'm sure those tears will go away. 26 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:33,200 You know, maybe she's over exaggerating. 27 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,560 But because it lasted so long, those tears actually had a 28 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:43,040 message that there was some real deep pain happening in her life. 29 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,800 And so because she kept crying and looked in the arm was bent. 30 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:49,480 It was just bent. And I was like, I, I'm so sorry. 31 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,880 We took her in and and every and she she's fully healed, full 32 00:01:53,880 --> 00:01:55,200 recovery. In fact, I looked at it again 33 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:56,280 today. I'm like, yeah, straight as an 34 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:02,560 arrow and as as as mom was leaving on this trip, the kids 35 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,520 were like, remember last time when Rosie broke her arm and I 36 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:06,880 was like, don't even don't even go there. 37 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:08,880 We're not going there. We're going to be fine. 38 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:15,800 I mentioned all of that because God has given us this amazing 39 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,960 gift in our tears to help us understand what's really 40 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,960 happening in life and help others understand what's 41 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,400 happening in your life. And as we've been doing in this 42 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:29,120 time that we're, we'll be looking at the Sermon on the 43 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:31,680 Mount in the Gospel of Luke. All summer long we've been 44 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:33,840 finding these surprising blessings. 45 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:35,680 Last week it was like you're blessed when you're hungry. 46 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:37,240 Two weeks ago, blessed when you're poor. 47 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:42,520 Now we find the surprising blessing of tears that God 48 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,880 actually uses tears in our life to do some deep and meaningful 49 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:52,120 work that turn into a blessing. And we're going to look at that. 50 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:54,880 The simple title of the message, it's going to come right out of 51 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,120 one verse of the Bible is blessed tears. 52 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,080 And this is the kind of message that some of you are going to 53 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:05,760 need to hear right now because you might be, you know, on your 54 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,520 second Kleenex box of the day just wiping tears. 55 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,840 All of you will need this message at some point in the 56 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,080 future because it is an inevitability of life that you 57 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:20,800 will go through seasons where something happens that moves you 58 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,960 to the point of tears. And so we find our verse where 59 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:28,640 where we left off just the second-half of the one verse we 60 00:03:28,640 --> 00:03:30,400 looked at last week. I'll read it to you now. 61 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:35,480 It's in Luke chapter 6. In verse 21, it says, blessed 62 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,320 are you who hunger now for you shall be filled and blessed are 63 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,600 you who weep now, for you shall laugh. 64 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:48,320 One of the the first things we can look at in the surprising 65 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,880 blessing of all of this is that we need a reminder sometimes. 66 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:57,000 Sometimes we need the lesson for the first time that we believe 67 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,920 in a God who has given us the gift of the the full survey of 68 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:05,160 emotions. That if you are going through a 69 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:10,520 season of sadness or tears, it does not mean that you are 70 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,560 outside of God's will for your life. 71 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,200 And for those of you who need that reminder or just you're in 72 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,760 that season and you just need to take refuge in His Word, I can 73 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:24,600 confidently say that we believe in a God that comforts those who 74 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:28,000 are in a season of tears because we have an entire book of the 75 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:33,480 Bible that will give you a song to sing in a prayer to pray, no 76 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:35,080 matter what emotion you're experiencing. 77 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:38,960 That book, of course, is the book of Psalms and it's full of 78 00:04:39,160 --> 00:04:43,080 worship songs and prayers that God moved through the Holy 79 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,560 Spirit to have put into the Bible that that will meet you 80 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,120 wherever you're at. And for the purpose of today, 81 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:52,600 I'll just share some of you that will meet you in your tears. 82 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:57,280 In Psalm chapter 6, it says I am weary with my groaning all 83 00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:59,640 night. I make a bed to swimming. 84 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:05,640 I drench my couch with my tears. My eyes waste away because of 85 00:05:05,640 --> 00:05:08,720 grief. Psalm 42 says my, my tears have 86 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,600 become my food day and night. And you're so moved with this 87 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:14,560 emotion that it's, you can't even think about eating. 88 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,560 Psalm 56 says, you have collected my tears in your 89 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:24,520 bottle, This beautiful picture of, of God seeing this moment 90 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:28,400 of, of your, of your weeping and, and making a memorial with 91 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,560 you. He remembers that he sees it and 92 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,120 it's special to him. And then Psalm chapter 126 says 93 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:37,880 those who sow in tears will reap in joy. 94 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:42,800 The the Bible in its worship and prayer book is full of the 95 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,320 emotion that moves people to tears. 96 00:05:46,840 --> 00:05:50,320 And so today we're going to look at some of those moments in life 97 00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:54,640 that you will be blessed when you are moved to tears or, or 98 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,400 moved to that heart condition that would be considered 99 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,320 weeping. And, and very simply to start 100 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:05,000 this out, I'll meet some of you where you're at right now. 101 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:10,720 And that is the blessed tears of sorrow that that's sadness and 102 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:15,240 sorrow and heaviness of heart is something that you do not have 103 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:19,400 to feel is outside of God's plan for your life. 104 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:23,200 It is something that God can actually bless, which gives us 105 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:25,320 our first gospel good news of the morning. 106 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:30,480 The God of the Bible, the the the Lord revealed in Christ does 107 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:34,280 not require his people to grit their teeth through every up and 108 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:39,120 down of life and pretend to be happy or joyful no matter what. 109 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,160 And that is good news. It's good news to know that you 110 00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:47,080 have the gift of sorrow. And it does not mean that that 111 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:51,600 God is not with you. We, we do not have to pretend to 112 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,600 always be excited and joyful and happy no matter what. 113 00:06:55,600 --> 00:07:00,080 There are times when you will be moved to tears and that is OK. 114 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,040 In fact, when we get this similar passage in Matthew 115 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:08,000 chapter 5, it says blessed are those not who weep, but who 116 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,160 mourn, for they shall be comforted. 117 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:16,440 Mourning means a deep expression of sadness, sorrow, and grief. 118 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:21,000 And it's most often tied, of course, with the sadness and 119 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,680 grief caused by the loss of a loved one. 120 00:07:24,160 --> 00:07:28,200 And it's a pain that is real and it's not to be denied. 121 00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:31,800 And God says when you go through that pain, you're actually going 122 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:35,360 to experience that through that you will be comforted. 123 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:39,400 And I can say as someone who probably attends more funerals 124 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:43,760 than the average person just by by way of my role in our church, 125 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:49,440 there is a special kind of Holy Spirit movement in the sanctuary 126 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:53,440 when people who know God, who trust in God, give him the 127 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:56,440 sadness of that moment. And I'm always surprised and 128 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:01,080 always moved with how so many people can turn that sadness 129 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:03,080 into a moment of worship and trust in God. 130 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,600 And so like I said, this is maybe a message for some of you. 131 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:11,040 Now, all of you will someday sit on this side of a funeral and 132 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,880 you'll be moved with a, a, a moment that will challenge your 133 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,320 theology. Is God good even when you're 134 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:21,320 sad? And again, I'll just say that 135 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:26,800 you are not out of place if you come to church with a heavy 136 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:30,080 heart. We are not a a group of people 137 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,640 who have to wear our best clothes and wear our best smile 138 00:08:32,799 --> 00:08:35,600 and always answer, how are you with I'm always fine. 139 00:08:36,039 --> 00:08:39,360 This is a time where you can come into the sanctuary to 140 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:41,320 worship and to sit under the word of God. 141 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,880 And some of you just need to be comforted by the power of the 142 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:49,760 Holy Spirit that God is near those who are broken hearted. 143 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:53,640 Psalm chapter 5 verse 2 says, hearken unto the voice of my 144 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:57,200 cry, my king, and my God, for unto thee I will pray. 145 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:02,240 There are so many of the Psalm prayers that compare praying to 146 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:06,880 crying to crying out. I love this specific verse 147 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:10,720 because Charles Spurgeon has a great way to compare the cry of 148 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,680 a prayer to God to the cry of a child to a parent. 149 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:17,520 He says, my brothers and sisters, sometimes we can't put 150 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:21,960 our prayers into words. They're nothing but a cry, but 151 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:26,840 the Lord can comprehend the meaning for he hears a voice in 152 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:32,120 our cry to a loving father. His children's cry is music and 153 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,400 they have magic influence with his heart which he cannot 154 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:37,600 resist. Parents, you know that one of 155 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,120 the most special moments. Now this isn't always true and 156 00:09:40,120 --> 00:09:43,400 we can get worn out by by the redundancy of tears and just the 157 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,760 exhaustion of parenting. But when you have one of those 158 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:50,240 real moments when your child is going through sadness or hurt 159 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,720 and pain, to bring them close and to wipe away their tear is 160 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,360 one of the beautiful moments of being a parent, to hold them in 161 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:58,840 your arms. And all of those moments, this 162 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,480 one especially, is designed to point you to what God wants to 163 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:06,880 do in your life when you are going through sadness. 164 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:12,680 And we've called this series officially the way of Jesus, the 165 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:14,760 way of the world. Sometimes to deny your emotion, 166 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:19,000 to pretend everything's fine, to run from the the sad moments of 167 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,040 life. But the way of Jesus is not to 168 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,960 deny suffering. He gives us a philosophy with 169 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:27,720 how to offer it to God in worship so that we can be 170 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:29,320 blessed. And we see this in the life of 171 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:32,960 Jesus himself. Jesus did not come to show us a 172 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:36,720 life well lived, that was always happy, joyful no matter what, 173 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:41,160 smiling at every circumstance. In fact, you come to church and 174 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,120 you want to go home with one Bible memory verse. 175 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,600 Today you'll give you the shortest verse in the Bible, and 176 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,000 maybe it's the easiest to remember because it's the one we 177 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,840 need to be reminded of the most. John Chapter 11, verse 35. 178 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:59,400 Jesus wept, and the context of that is very interesting for our 179 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,600 study. Jesus wept as he joined in the 180 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:07,120 morning of two friends who were mourning the loss of their 181 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,720 brother. Mary and Martha lost their 182 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,800 brother Lazarus. And they were so sad that Jesus, 183 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,400 even knowing that he was going to use that moment, the death of 184 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:21,400 his friend Lazarus, as a way to preview the power of God to 185 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:27,280 bring life from the dead, He still joins them in their 186 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:28,520 morning. In their sadness. 187 00:11:28,560 --> 00:11:34,040 He weeps with them before he encourages them that God has the 188 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:38,920 power of resurrection. So there is a blessed moment in 189 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:43,400 your life when you are going through heaviness of heart, when 190 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:48,200 you are going through those seasons of loss or grief or life 191 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,760 didn't work out how you thought it would, or there's a major 192 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,680 transition or some news that's just really heavy to handle. 193 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,160 And I know I'm speaking to some of you right now. 194 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,400 There is a special moment of worship set aside for you that 195 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,440 is blessed because of what you go through. 196 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:08,000 And I think as I, as I went ahead of you and thought through 197 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:10,000 some of those blessings, I'll share with you a couple. 198 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,400 One of them is that our God acknowledges your pain. 199 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:18,120 You are not called to bury your pain and pretend you believe in 200 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,840 a God that only gives you awesome things all day long when 201 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,400 we come today. And some of us need to express 202 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:30,280 our worship by giving God the honest pain and sadness of your 203 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,920 heart that you believe in a God who wants you to express your 204 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,240 pain so that he can comfort you. The other encouraging the 205 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,240 blessing in this is that when you express your pain, when you 206 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,520 go through seasons of sadness with a full view of who God is 207 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,320 in your life, the encouragement I have for you if you're in that 208 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:53,720 season is that you are weeping for now, that the full view is 209 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:57,560 that there will be something God does to bring healing to your 210 00:12:57,560 --> 00:13:00,080 sadness. There's another side of the 211 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,400 funeral that those who mourn at night find joy in the morning. 212 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:06,680 And there is a comfort to know that God can work out the 213 00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:09,760 sadness of your life so that someday you can look back and 214 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:12,680 see the healing and the provision of your life. 215 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:16,280 And the third blessing, if you're in this season right now, 216 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:20,200 is you're being invited to let God comfort you in your sadness, 217 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,760 is that these are the moments where you really get to 218 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,560 experience the value of being part, not just of Christian 219 00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:30,680 theology, where you understand your beliefs of heaven and all 220 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:33,040 your doctrinal positions. And you can go out into the 221 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:34,800 woods and enjoy creation on your own. 222 00:13:34,960 --> 00:13:39,080 But you're here Sunday morning as part of a community, and you 223 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,160 listen to announcements with ways to go deeper in the 224 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:42,760 community. And every week you should be 225 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,080 invited to. If you're not part of a smaller 226 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,280 community where you can know, know people and be known by 227 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,600 people and eat together and pray together and talk about the Word 228 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:54,120 together. This is the time of life where 229 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:59,480 those moments are so important. One of the great blessings of 230 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,600 going through seasons of sadness is that you get to see the 231 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,160 community of God's people come around you. 232 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,480 The funeral setting is the joy of theology on display, but also 233 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:13,600 the joy of tears shared. The Bible calls us to rejoice 234 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:17,040 with those who rejoice, but to weep with those who weep. 235 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:20,840 And if you're not part of some sort of Christian community that 236 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,120 goes deeper than just Sunday morning high and by, you should 237 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,160 probably join one before you need one. 238 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,320 Many of you are already part of 1, and you've experienced the 239 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,360 times where you've had to comfort, you've had to bring the 240 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:32,800 meal, you've had to help people move. 241 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:35,320 And of course, your time will come. 242 00:14:35,800 --> 00:14:37,800 None of us are going to get out of this thing alive. 243 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:41,640 We're all going to need seasons in our life where people need to 244 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,360 come around us for our hurt and pain. 245 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:49,360 So as way of just wisdom, join the community before you need 246 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,920 the community. Psalm chapter 34 says the Lord 247 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:58,400 is near to those who have a broken heart. 248 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,480 He's near with the power of His spirit and he's near with the 249 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:06,400 collection of his people. It goes on to say he saves such 250 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:10,520 as have a contrite spirit. So the Lord is near to those who 251 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,520 have a broken heart and he saves those with the contrite spirit. 252 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:17,560 And that Psalm gives us kind of a picture of the the blessed 253 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:21,080 tears of sorrow, but also the next category which the blessed 254 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,000 tears of repentance. That's what contrite spirit is 255 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:29,800 getting after this brokenness to someone's life that allows God 256 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,160 to come near. There's tears of sorrow and 257 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:37,440 there are tears of repentance. We'll look at psalms for each 258 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:40,200 one of these because again, the psalms are full of moments where 259 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:43,760 God's people cry out. Psalm chapter 51 says the 260 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:49,120 sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite 261 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:52,200 heart. A broken heart, the psalmist 262 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,240 says, is the sacrifice of God. And he says, Oh God, you will 263 00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:59,800 not despise my broken heart, that one of the ways that we 264 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,800 come to God to make an offering of our life is coming and 265 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:08,920 saying, my heart is broken to the great Savior and Healer of 266 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:11,520 hearts. Some of you, when you heard that 267 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,160 Psalm reference, you knew exactly where the story came 268 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,720 from. Psalm chapter 51 is a Psalm 269 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:22,440 written by David in response to his sin with Bathsheba. 270 00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:27,880 And one of the ways that tears are going to be blessed is when 271 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:32,160 they become so real in the act of repentance that your life is 272 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:36,040 now given to God once again. And this is the Psalm of 273 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,120 repentance. This is when David became so 274 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:42,400 aware that his sin was more than just a fleeting moment of 275 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:45,360 pleasure or one lie. This is when David was 276 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:49,560 confronted that the consequences of his sin was the life of 277 00:16:49,560 --> 00:16:52,480 someone. It it, it robs someone of a life 278 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:56,360 and of a family. It robbed David of his actual 279 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,800 worship of God. And when you actually realize 280 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,760 the consequence of sin, not just from some preacher on a Sunday 281 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,480 morning, not just from the Bible telling you the do's and don'ts, 282 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:10,720 but when you see your life apart from God and you say apart from 283 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:14,560 God, I was on a path of destruction for my life and 284 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:21,720 everyone else, you will mourn. Psalm 38 says, for I am ready to 285 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,960 fall and my sorrow is continually before me. 286 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:31,080 I will declare my iniquity. I will be in anguish over my 287 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:35,760 sin. I want all of you who came as 288 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:39,840 people who wanted not just to listen to the Bible and, and, 289 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,720 and think about whether or not you wanted to agree with it or, 290 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:45,520 or, or you're investigating Jesus, but most of you came to 291 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:48,040 worship. Most of you came today and said, 292 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,720 you know, above all else, we praise you above everything. 293 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:58,040 If you are part of the family of God, you have gone through the 294 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:02,120 act of repenting from a life outside of God to submitting to 295 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:05,680 the will of God in your life. And for many of you, that 296 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:10,440 included a serious mirror to the life that you were living. 297 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:13,440 And, and I know some of you can relate to real tears that were 298 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,120 shed when you had to confess to the person you hurt, when you 299 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:20,000 had to ask for forgiveness from people and before God, Not all 300 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:24,560 of you and certainly tears can be manipulated, but a, a really 301 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:27,760 strong sign that someone is really desiring to give their 302 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,440 life to God and follow him in a real way is that repentance is 303 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:36,000 full of sorrow. And, and the opposite is true. 304 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,880 The, the when, when someone says sorry and they just, you can 305 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,640 sense they're, they don't, they don't actually have any kind of 306 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:44,800 weight to what they're going through. 307 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:48,400 It's pretty clear that they're not actually aware of what 308 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,520 they're saying sorry about. Again, I can, I can use 309 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,520 parenting for this example. We've all seen false repentance, 310 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,040 have we not? You know, I, I'm going through 311 00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:59,280 the transition. They say when your, your kids 312 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:01,880 are young, it's mostly a physical battle and then a 313 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:03,480 transition to be a mental battle. 314 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:05,720 So I'm in that transition now. Like when they're young, you're 315 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,920 just carrying car seats and, you know, carrying them and you 316 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:11,600 know, everything's physical. And then, and then it turns into 317 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,080 a mind game and you're like, Oh my God, this is, this is harder. 318 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:18,280 And I think of that in the act of repentance when, when my kids 319 00:19:18,280 --> 00:19:19,400 were young, I say, don't do that. 320 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,440 They look at me like, wow, I'm so sorry and I'm ashamed. 321 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,280 I'm crying because I'm so sad and this hurts and then get 322 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,120 older and I'm like, did you lie? And they're like, maybe I'm 323 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:31,160 like, Oh my goodness, this is now like now we have to do like 324 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:33,960 actual investigation on whether or not they even believe that 325 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,440 this is wrong. And I'm like, I don't think 326 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:38,120 you're a psychopath, but I'm going to watch you. 327 00:19:38,200 --> 00:19:41,520 You know, we've got to have a motion to the sorrow of 328 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:45,960 repentance. And this is what this blessings 329 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,600 getting at, because there's, there's a great blessing in your 330 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:53,240 life when you actually go from living apart from God to living 331 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,400 for God. That's repentance. 332 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,560 And the Bible's full of what that should look like. 333 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,600 It is not just, well, it was a 5050 split. 334 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:03,080 I was thinking about doing things my way. 335 00:20:03,080 --> 00:20:04,440 Now I'm going to do things God's way. 336 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:06,800 And you know, I'll, I'll report back the results. 337 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,720 It, it, it's full of the Bible saying you were dead in sin. 338 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:13,680 You are. You were destroying your life 339 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:15,880 and others. And now you're going to be 340 00:20:15,880 --> 00:20:18,360 greeted with the love and the kindness of God and you're going 341 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:21,600 to see those two paths. One was full of life, one was 342 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,920 full of death. And real repentance sees the 343 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,720 sorrow of the life lived apart from God. 344 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:31,080 James puts it this way, James chapter 4 verse 8, Draw near to 345 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:32,800 God and he will draw near to you. 346 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,520 Repentance is a blessing. It's the gospel good news. 347 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:38,480 That way your sin abounds, grace abounds more. 348 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:42,400 He says, cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts. 349 00:20:42,560 --> 00:20:45,720 You double minded and here's what that cleansing looks like. 350 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:50,360 Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to 351 00:20:50,360 --> 00:20:55,880 mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight 352 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,200 of the Lord and he will lift you up. 353 00:20:58,360 --> 00:21:02,680 The, the, the, the song of salvation is that you can weep 354 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:08,080 for sin and you can be ecstatic for salvation all in one moment. 355 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:13,480 And that is the gospel. So genuine tears of repentance. 356 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:15,840 Here's a couple of things again in our musing. 357 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,560 How is this blessed? You are blessed when you 358 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,720 generally when you genuinely start living for God. 359 00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:23,200 And here's a couple of signs of that. 360 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:28,520 There's no more excuses. You know that when the tears are 361 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,040 actually flowing and you want to, you wonder, are these real 362 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:33,400 tears or these just tears? You think you need to cry to 363 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:38,640 get, you know, my forgiveness. Tears that are genuine are free 364 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,440 from excuse. It's not if it wasn't for this 365 00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:46,080 person and if you hadn't done this and it's man, I see it. 366 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:51,040 I am so sorry. Free of excuses, genuine tears 367 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:55,120 rely on God's grace and not your goodness. 368 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,920 Because when there's no more excuses, there's no more pride. 369 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:02,840 And now you can go from saying, well, I am sorry, but I'm also 370 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,400 pretty good and I didn't do that bad. 371 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,760 Now you can say in this genuine act of repenting and coming to 372 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:11,760 God, you can say I'm nothing but the grace of God. 373 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,120 I just come for nothing but grace. 374 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:20,640 And the final genuine sign, real tears, is that you're actually 375 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:26,040 wanting to change that. Your tears are weeping a life 376 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:29,120 once lived and now you're excited for the will of God in 377 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:32,440 your life. So there are blessed tears of 378 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:37,120 sorrow, blessed tears of repentance, and they should lead 379 00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:43,480 to, as you grow in the Lord and follow him, tears of compassion. 380 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:50,120 Psalm chapter 119 says rivers of water run down from my eyes 381 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:52,760 because men do not keep your law. 382 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,320 When we're outside of the will of God, most of everything we 383 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,000 think about has to do with us. And there's something very 384 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,880 powerful that will happen to the life of someone who's born again 385 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:04,840 in Jesus. They begin to get the heart of 386 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,920 Jesus and they now have the ability to feel not just for 387 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,720 their own life, but for the life of others. 388 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,400 They can actually look out and see a life that is not going 389 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:21,120 well, that needs help, that is walking towards a path of 390 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:23,320 destruction. And they can start to be moved 391 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:28,120 to the point of compassion, even tears for someone who needs the 392 00:23:28,120 --> 00:23:32,320 power of God in their life. We see this in the example of 393 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,320 one of the prophets of the Old Testament, Jeremiah. 394 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,160 He's actually called the weeping prophet. 395 00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:38,120 He cried for the people of Israel. 396 00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:42,640 And his, his whole movement of compassion was because God gave 397 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:47,320 him a message to give to the people of Israel to say, if you 398 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:51,480 don't turn from these idols and, and from your hardness of heart 399 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:53,360 to God and pretending everything's fine when you're 400 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:56,640 actually not living for God, then you're going to be 401 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:02,800 destroyed. And he wept not because he was 402 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,080 worried that they didn't like the sermon. 403 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,440 He was weeping because they weren't listening and they were 404 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:10,920 walking towards destruction, captivity, a life apart from 405 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:13,680 God. It says in Jeremiah 90 that my 406 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:17,320 head were waters and my eyes fountain of tears, that I might 407 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,800 weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. 408 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,720 They're going to die apart from God. 409 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:28,720 His weeping was compassion for others. 410 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,680 And of course, as we consider the way of Jesus all summer 411 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:36,920 long, this is the way of Jesus. We see Jesus weep in mourning 412 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,120 for the mourning of others. And we see Jesus as he 413 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:43,880 approaches the cross to lay down his life for the salvation of 414 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:46,520 others. He approaches with tears. 415 00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:50,760 Luke chapter 19. Now as he drew near, this is the 416 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:53,440 final week of his life. The mission, the hour is at 417 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:57,360 hand. He saw a city and he wept over 418 00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:01,320 it, saying, if you had known even you, especially in this 419 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:05,560 day, the things that make for your peace, but now they are 420 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:08,560 hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you 421 00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,400 when your enemies will build up embankment around you, surround 422 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,680 you and close you in on every side, and level you and your 423 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:16,640 children within you to the ground. 424 00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:20,240 And they will not leave in you one stone upon another because 425 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,280 you did not know the time of your visitation. 426 00:25:24,160 --> 00:25:27,840 Jesus has come to be Messiah, Savior from their sin. 427 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,520 They reject him. And it's only a matter of time 428 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,880 before the Roman forces are going to ransack Jerusalem and 429 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:40,520 he weeps for them. And I have to say this is this 430 00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:45,000 is what genuine and true outreach must look like. 431 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:49,680 What you call it evangelism or apologetics or or or soul 432 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:54,080 winning or missions, it has to be moved with compassion. 433 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,880 If you don't look out and see a lost and dying generation 434 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:02,360 walking towards the destruction of their life and are moved with 435 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:06,800 compassion, then then you're really not going to be blessed 436 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:09,280 in seeing the revival that all of us wait for. 437 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,160 And I, and I just think of this in my own life, I'm like, as a 438 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,200 preacher and pastor, I can, I can harden my heart. 439 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:21,640 I mean, it's not unclear that our country and culture and city 440 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:27,760 are all in need of a radical revival for a heart after God. 441 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:31,240 We live in a country that's hardened its heart that is 442 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,600 calling evil good and good evil. And the the temptation and the 443 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:39,080 folly is to look at them and say, what a bunch of fools. 444 00:26:40,120 --> 00:26:43,200 What a bunch of stupid idiots that are shaking their fist at 445 00:26:43,200 --> 00:26:45,880 God, denying his existence and sinning like this. 446 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:52,280 And in our hardness of heart, the temptation is to say, let it 447 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,400 not be for us. Let us, you know, guard the 448 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:56,960 walls of our church and make sure that none of their sin 449 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:59,640 creeps into our theology. And we just need to look at them 450 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:01,440 and, and just get our kids out of there. 451 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,240 And and I'm and there's wisdom in in all of that. 452 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:08,520 But what we can't do is look at sinners that are so in need of a 453 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,480 savior and judge them with a hard heart. 454 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,880 What we actually have to do is say this city, this country, 455 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:19,480 this world is broken. It's lost. 456 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:24,600 Lord, help our heart to break for what breaks yours. 457 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:29,200 Every lost Sinner stuck in their pride and stuck in their 458 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:33,760 political divides and stuck in their cultural sin soaked 459 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:39,720 addiction is an image bearer that God wants to redeem and He 460 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,400 wants His church to not sit back in judgment, but be moved with 461 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:45,720 compassion. Could you imagine if the church 462 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:49,400 wept for the culture, the church wept for the city? 463 00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:53,720 I tend to think that we would probably have a brighter light 464 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:57,040 to shine in the darkness than if we just told everyone how 465 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:01,760 horrible and evil their sin is. So we speak the truth and love. 466 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:06,160 But once again, I just appeal to the the appearance among us, not 467 00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:10,040 it's it's easy for me to to say this, that not all of our 468 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,560 children are radical followers of Jesus. 469 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:16,040 Some of them might be lost in the very culture that I just 470 00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:20,200 gave a picture of. And and what parent among us 471 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,960 right now with a child that is wayward and prodigal and lost in 472 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:26,680 their sin and and shaking their fists at God and denying 473 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,240 existence? What what parent would sit back 474 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,480 and just judge them as idiots and fools? 475 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,360 Not a good one. The good parents weep. 476 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:38,360 The good parents cry. The good parents are, are, are 477 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,320 their heart is broken because their heart is in tune with God 478 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,680 for that one person. And again, that just gives us a 479 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,520 picture because we're not just called to be good parents. 480 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,160 We're called to be lights in the world. 481 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:54,280 We're we're actually called to weep for enemies. 482 00:28:55,320 --> 00:28:58,200 We're called to have compassion for people that we don't even 483 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:02,800 know, but we see them and we say, Lord, break our heart for 484 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,480 what breaks yours. And if you have tears of 485 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,320 compassion, I assure you, you will be blessed. 486 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:16,280 The promise is that you are in tune and in line with the very 487 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:19,600 heart of God. He desires that none would 488 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:25,280 perish, not one, but that all would come to know the saving 489 00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:31,080 grace of God in their lives. So here are your blessed tears 490 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:36,280 that you go forth and cry. Blessed tears, tears of sorrow, 491 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,320 you're here. Express your sorrow to God. 492 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,720 May you be comforted by His Holy Spirit and His people. 493 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:46,480 Tears of repentance. You come and you think I'm just 494 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:50,320 going to hold this and I don't know if I could go through the 495 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:52,480 pain of actually mourning my sin. 496 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:57,320 You will be blessed as you truly repent and weep over your sin 497 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,280 and present them to God that he can lift you up and tears of 498 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:05,000 compassion that your heart would break for what breaks God, what 499 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:06,800 break what what breaks God's heart. 500 00:30:07,520 --> 00:30:11,600 Those categories you find yourself moved in your heart in 501 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,200 that way and you will live a blessed life. 502 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,840 That is the decision of faith that you have to make today is 503 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,800 Jesus telling you a way that will actually work. 504 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:26,000 Blessed are those who cry or weep now, for you will be 505 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:27,440 blessed. And those are the three 506 00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,960 categories for the here and now. But of course, we'll end with 507 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:35,320 the 4th category of tears. It is uniquely human that we 508 00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:39,960 even get to preach this because there is this strange thing that 509 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:44,760 happens in real time where God can take a tear that is for for 510 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:49,720 most part all associated with the heaviness of life, with the 511 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:52,320 sorrow and the repentance and the movement of compassion for 512 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,160 the brokenness of the world. And most of all, the tears you 513 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:57,720 will cry will be for these heavy moments. 514 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:00,400 But there is this preview of the miracle. 515 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:04,200 Some of you, I hope all of you have experienced that there is a 516 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:09,800 category called tears of joy. And it is the great preview that 517 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,080 God gives us this reversal of the salty discharge as it comes 518 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,240 out of our face. And we think normally this is 519 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:17,560 for heaviness, but I'm holding this child in my arm. 520 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:21,080 And now the joy is causing the tears. 521 00:31:22,200 --> 00:31:25,360 And that is the promise of this blessing. 522 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:31,160 Blessed are those of you who weep now and see the heaviness 523 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:34,840 is temporary, he says, because there's coming a day where you 524 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:38,840 will laugh. You will experience the joy of 525 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:43,040 eternity. We're about to take communion 526 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,080 in. This actually gives us a great 527 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:48,360 reason to think about the tears of joy and where Jesus is taking 528 00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,320 all of his blessings. All of the temporary now is 529 00:31:52,320 --> 00:31:54,520 getting turned into the eternal promises. 530 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:58,080 And it is pointing us to a reminder that we see every time 531 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,960 we consider the cross. As Jesus is giving his disciples 532 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,120 a preview of the cross, he says most assuredly, no doubt it's 533 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,360 going to happen. John 16 And most assuredly I say 534 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:10,360 to you that you will weep and lament. 535 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:16,240 You're going to experience great sorrow, great sadness, but your 536 00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:21,800 sorrow will be turned into joy. That is the way of Jesus. 537 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:24,800 When you look at the cross, the disciples see that and they 538 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:30,800 think what just happened? The Savior, the Messiah, he's 539 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:35,800 been put to death, and there's much weeping and lamenting and 540 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:37,920 sorrow for the death of the Lord. 541 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:43,520 Is there any greater injustice then the Son of God who lived a 542 00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,360 perfect life, dying on the cross on behalf of sinners? 543 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,400 May we weep and lament at the thought of the Savior of the 544 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:55,280 world paying the price for our sin. 545 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:03,960 And yet three days later there was joy inexpressible when the 546 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,000 story that we celebrate every year and we actually consider 547 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:13,640 every time we gather, where sin and sadness and sorrow and 548 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:20,120 lament were left in the grave and conquered by the power of 549 00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:23,080 the resurrection. And that is your Christian 550 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:25,200 story. Your repentance, your sorrowful 551 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:27,480 tears will turn into the joy of salvation. 552 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,280 Your your sadness and sorrow and the heaviness of your life will 553 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:35,520 turn into the joy of God's good plans to work all things 554 00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:38,440 together for good. The the movement of compassion. 555 00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:42,840 Someday you will hear well done, good and faithful servant, you 556 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,400 cared for the lost and now enter into my joy. 557 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:52,960 Everything will get turned upside down and every time we 558 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:55,680 talk about sadness now, we have to remember the end of the 559 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:57,360 story. And I probably don't preach it 560 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,280 enough, but may we all be reminded that no matter what 561 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:04,480 causes your tears today, tomorrow, or for the rest of 562 00:34:04,480 --> 00:34:06,760 your days, this is how it all ends. 563 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:10,400 Revelation chapter 21. And God will wipe away every 564 00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,639 tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, 565 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:17,840 nor sorrow, nor crying. Like a good father to a child. 566 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,120 Once and for all it will be finished, and you will live in 567 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:26,880 eternal joy. So in the meantime, blessed are 568 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:31,960 you who weep just for now, because there's coming a day 569 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:34,360 when you will laugh for eternity. 570 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,679 Thanks for joining us today. If you would like to watch the 571 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:41,199 full service, check out the link in the description. 572 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:45,480 For next steps and to learn more, visit calvaryboise com.