The Beatitudes #2

"Blessed are those who mourn…"

"Blessed are the meek…"

Fred R. Coulter—March 1, 2008

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We're here in Matt. 5 and we pointed out last time about how well that the unity of Scripture between the Old and New Testament comes together, and also how that the New Testament opens up the Old Testament and gives understanding. The New Testament is not written in the same way that the Old Testament is.

The Old Testament is written with the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. In there:

• you have history
• you have genealogies
• you have Psalms and Proverbs, which are parables

You also have in the Prophets, and in the Psalms especially, a design of the Scriptures, which is: 'Here a little, there a little; line upon line, precept upon precept.' In the Old Testament, you can read along and it will go from current to future, back to the past and to near future.

In the New Testament we don't have it that way. We have the Gospels, Acts and then we have the General Epistles. Beginning with the General Epistles going all the rest of the way through the Bible to the book of Revelation, you have a unique form of writing—the epistolary form of writing—which is a letter.

The Epistles accomplish what God wants, in a very personal way. We are to have a personal relationship with God. It's very important to understand why He chose the epistolary form of writing. That is so that we have a personal relationship with God, which then comes to us through the writings, which also reflects the personal relationship that the apostle had directly with God. It's so unique that no other religious writing in the world is in the epistolary form. That's something!

You could also say, in a certain way, that the New Testament Epistles are love letters from God to us. You could look at it that way. That also makes it very personal.

With the teachings of Jesus, He came to magnify the Law, to make it Holy, to make it glorious, to make it honorable and He began doing this in Matt. 5:

Matthew 5:3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven."

Let's understand something: you look and see all the problems in the world and you see the difficulties going on. Yes, there are many and they are multiplying and getting more and more complicated with the consequences far more serious than ever before.

Think about it this way. As unworthy as you may consider yourself, all the brethren of God, and this goes clear back to Abel, clear down through all of those that qualified for eternal life in the calling that God gave them in the Old Testament, being the prophets and some of the kings and so forth. God has chosen all of us to rule and reign with Christ and bring the solutions to the world!

Stop and think for a minute, especially look at the elections in America. I shake my head and never in the history of the world have we been confronted with the lack of leadership that we have, evidenced in the ones who are there {Barack Obama administration}. As you look at the politics going on here in America and then you look at the politics in every other country in the world, they are so bad. Why are they so bad? First, they don't follow God's laws, which it would be better if they would!

However, the reason is because governing people really is a prerogative of God, which Adam and Eve chose not to do. They didn't want God saying, 'Here's the way to live.' They said, 'God, that's unfair and You're oppressive. We want to choose how we will live.' Satan came along and said, 'Yes, you go right ahead.' Here we are today and we're going to reach the culmination of it pretty soon.

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

There's an awful lot to this one verse. Let's see something that we understand and we experience. It shows how God is going to save the world through Christ and us. We've gone through this many times but we need to understand this.

Romans 8:14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." That's something we need to pray about every day, brethren, that God will lead us with His Spirit. That He will actively, through His Spirit, help us to think of the things that we need to do and how we need to conduct our lives.

As the opening prayer was, 'God save us from ourselves.' It's like the black preacher was preaching. He was praying, 'Lord, Your chil'un are subject and prone to sin. God, save us from the prone.' Only God can save us from 'the prone.' That's a temptation.

We have to be led by the Spirit of God. These are the 'sons of God' and as we come down toward Passover time I'm going to talk more about our personal relationship that we have with God. We tie that together. When you think about all the things that are going on in the world, you ask yourself the question, 'How am I going to survive?' God will have to lead us and protect us! Always remember Psa. 91.

Let's carry this further, v 15: "Now, you have not received a spirit of bondage again unto fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we call out, 'Abba, Father'"—a close, personal, intimate relationship with God.

Verse 16: "The Spirit itself bears witness conjointly with our own spirit, testifying that we are the children of God. Now if we are children, we are also heirs—truly, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—…[Heb. 1:1-3 and Rev. 20:4-6] …if indeed we suffer together with Him…" (vs 16-17).

There's some suffering we are going to go through and with the suffering there's going to come some mourning. We'll talk about that in just a bit. What I want to do is to get the overall view here.

"…so that we may also be glorified together with Him" (v 17). Remember that whenever there are problems, look at the other side of the coin, because to "…be glorified together with Him" is the whole key as to why we are here and doing what we're doing and continuing in the way that we are.

Notice that we get a comparison. Whenever we have trouble and difficulties, I know that we do, we need to put everything in perspective. When there are troubles, God will lead us to the solution. He amplifies it even more.

Verse 19: "For the earnest expectation of the creation itself…" Whenever I think of that, I like to think of a picture I've seen on television or a movie, a shot of the earth from outer space. With that, that's the whole creation of God on the earth.

"…is awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God; because the creation was subjected to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected it in hope" (vs 19-20)—the return of Christ and the hope is us, along with Christ.

Verse 21: "In order that the creation itself might be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." There, it says that we are going to help deliver the world.

That's why, in some of the things like we've been discussing before services, we see all the difficulties going on. That's good. Just remember that it's one thing to know the problems. It's another thing to also know the solution. The solution is not going to be solving spiritual problems by political means by having new leaders.

"…by reason of Him who subjected it in hope, in order that the creation itself might be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that all the creation is groaning together and travailing together until now. And not only that, but even we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, also groan within ourselves, awaiting the sonship—the redemption of our bodies" (vs 20-24).

Let's look at the promise of mourning, where He says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

There are some people in the world today who have no clue as to what's going on. They have money, they have wealth, they have everything they want. Everything is at their fingertips, but here's a promise they don't know of.

Luke 6:24: "But woe to you, the rich, for you are receiving your consolation! Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep! Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you! For their fathers did these same things to the false prophets" (vs 24-26). This gives us a little consolation right here, when we see this in the world.

Just stop and think about this every time you see on the news some rich person that has come upon their judgment, or some rock star, movie star, politician or whatever.

I might mention that in the current economic thing that there was a gathering in Davos, Switzerland, where all the rich of the world were planning all of their strategies for all of us. Look up Davos Conference or Davos, Switzerland and you'd be surprised what they know, what they're doing and how it's all being planned for the whole world.

God is going to let them do that. The economic problems that we're going through now, if we have been wise and have taken care of ourselves, we will be able to make it through. God will see us through, but know this: All of those who are the big moneymakers in the world, their day is coming! If you want to know how it's going to come, read Rev. 18, the judgment of Babylon the Great. Even the gold and silver, which can see you through some economic times, they're going to throw in the streets.

Let's examine this a little bit more. Why do we groan and moan? The first one I have down here is because of sickness. You moan because of:

• sickness
• disaster
• tragedy
• emotional trauma
• sin
• government oppression

especially if you have to go and start dealing with the government.

They had a $200 project to do in San Jose, to do a handicap on-ramp so that they could get into a certain building. It probably would have cost them no more than $8,000 or $10,000 max, but by the time they got done with consultants, over-seers of the consultants; the construction, the over-seers of the construction; and 18 different plans that they had the architects do for $100,000.

They weren't satisfied with that. So, they sent them back and said, 'Do it in 3-D so we can view it on the screen and see how it will be.' Guess what it was to put in a ramp to get the handicapped in the building? $1,200,000! It took well over a year and a half. That is government incompetence and oppression.

There's another one that ties in with what we just read back there in Rom. 8. This is how we feel when we see the world.

On a trip to Las Vegas, I was happy that I wasn't reserved a room in one of the downtown high-rises there. It just really, really got to me seeing all the senior citizens there at the 'one arm bandits':

• pulling them
• drinking their coffee
• drinking their beer
• drinking their drinks
• smoking their cigarettes
• just sitting there mesmerized
• pulling these levers

looking at this little screen to see if they can come up with the three bars and win. It really did; it just really got to me. But in a greater sense, when you look out to the whole world…

There is a mourning and a feeling that we get when we see all the problems and difficulties going on in the world. One that really got me recently was the investigation that was done in Southeast Asia by MSNBC where they were investigating all of the pedophile sex, where the mothers and fathers would sell their 6-10–year-old children into prostitution so they would have money. Of course, it just ruins and destroys lives!

Then I also saw on the news where pedophilia is so bad on the Internet. The Supreme Court ruled that virtual pedophilia, not using humans, is legal. Now they have the virtual pedophilia so real that they can hardly tell the difference between human victims and virtual victims. There's an organization that have people spend their days watching nothing but pedophilia to determine which is real and which is virtual so they can bring charges against those who are bringing the real pedophilia.

You talk about a schizophrenic judgment and stupidity! The guest speaker was explaining what was happening even to little three-month-old baby girls and grown men. Glenn Beck asked, 'Doesn't this affect you?' Well, she feels a little vindication when they get the real ones! Can you imagine spending eight hours a day watching on-line pedophilia? She said that in one day she can to through 10,000 images. I thought, this is insane! It really got to me in the pit of my stomach just hearing it. She was asked, 'How does this affect you?' I guess she has compartmentalized her mind and numbed her mind enough that she can handle it. There's going to come a breaking point because the human mind was not designed to handle it.

Ezek. 9 really brings out the kind of mourning that we will experience when we find how bad sin really, really is. In a way, being in the Church, we've been very protected. That is good. We need to be protected. As we get closer to the end it's going to be a different story.

Ezekiel 9:1: "And He cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, 'Let the executioners of the city draw near, even each with his destroying weapon in his hand.'" Isn't that interesting? Spirit beings in charge of cities! That's what it's talking about.

Verse 2: "And behold, six men came from the way of the Upper Gate which faces north, and each had his slaughter weapon in his hand. And one man among them was clothed with linen, and a writer's inkhorn by his side. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar…. [this is a direct order from God] …And the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherubim, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen, with the writer's inkhorn by his side. And the LORD said to him, 'Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem…" (vs 2-4). Of course, then, in the end-time, we can apply that to all the children of Israel.

"…and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and are mourning because of all the abominations that are done in her midst'" (vs 2-4). When you moan and groan because of sin:

• in the world, because of victims in the world
• in the Church
• in your family

Whatever it may be, God notes that. Remember that the other half of the promise is comfort. We'll get to the comfort in just a little bit.

Verse 5: "And He said to those in my hearing, 'Go through the city after him, and slaughter. Let not your eye spare, nor have pity. Fully destroy old men, young men and virgins, and little children and women….'" (vs 5-6)—because they're all so corrupt.

When you read this, don't get really 'blown away,' remember the second resurrection. God can't deal with them in this gross sinful condition for salvation at this time, but He can resurrect them to a second physical life and give them an opportunity for salvation without all the evil that they've experienced in their first lives. Keep that in mind. As I mentioned here, you have to look at both sides of the coin.

"…But do not come near any man on whom is the mark. And begin at My sanctuary…" (v 6). What is the 'mark' of God? We've heard of the mark of the beast, a lot of that, but what is the mark of God? The Holy Spirit is one! Another one is the Sabbath and Holy Days! 'It's a sign between you and Me throughout your generations.'

"…And begin at My sanctuary…." (v 6). So, all of us who are elders, ministers and teachers, we'd better pay attention, God's going to begin with us.

"…And they began with the old men who were before the temple. And He said to them, 'Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!' And they went out and slaughtered in the city" (vs 6-7).

This is a depiction of the coming Tribulation. Things are going to be so bad. You need to understand how bad it was at the temple at that time. It was so bad that after the revival by Josiah, which was the last revival, it immediately plunged back into the ways of Manasseh. It was utterly horrible!

Verse 8: "And it came to pass as they were slaying them, and I was left alone, then I fell on my face and cried, and said, 'Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel… [Ezekiel is mourning, groaning and sighing] …in Your pouring out of Your fury on Jerusalem?' And He said to me, 'The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, "The LORD has forsaken the land; and, the LORD does not see." And even I, My eye shall not spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.' And behold, the man clothed with linen, with the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, 'I have done as You have commanded me'" (vs 8-11). That's quite a thing! That is a staggering chapter!

These are the kind of things that are going to come upon us because of what is happening in the world today.

Let's look at some other things concerning moaning, groaning and sighing. This gets down on a personal level with sickness and disease. Psa. 38 is really quite a tremendous Psalm. I know when we go through trauma and difficulty and received correction, either directly or indirectly or whatever it may be, we can identify with this.

Psalm 38:1: "O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your wrath…" Always ask for mercy and kindness in God's judgment.

Jer. 10—here's what we need to always understand. This is why we walk in faith, believe in hope and live in love! Here is a basic thing. This is why we need God. Here is the thing that we come to, let's understand: Never let another human being fill the vacuum in your life that belongs to God!

• only God can comfort you
• only God can help you
• only God in intervene to direct you

This is what has happened in the Churches of God.  That's why they are scattered. Just like God was not pleased with Israel and He sent them into captivity and scattered them; God was not pleased with His Church and He struck Pasadena 'with the sword' and scattered the Church, scattered it abroad and still some of the brethren and the ministers haven't learned a lesson.

If you don't believe that is true, all you have to do is read The Journal. It's filled with a bunch of nonsense by men who think they are very important and are a gift to God. It's the other way around:

• God is a gift to us
• Christ is a gift to us

Jeremiah 10:23: "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself…" Man is incomplete. He thinks he knows, he wants to decide, but he doesn't have the ability, tools or the knowledge to do so.

I thought it was very interesting that they now know why young people and teenagers get in trouble and make stupid decisions. Remember, that can affect your whole life. It is because the frontal cortex of the brain is not fully developed to assimilate the knowledge and information you need to make decisions concerning right and wrong, good and evil and to have the thoughts of being cautious and careful, and so forth, until no sooner than twenty. Now you know why God counts adults from twenty and upward. Then, it's ready to be trained. Just because the physical brain in the frontal cortex is mature, and now you have a process of thinking, you've got to train the mind.

"…the way of man… [or woman] …is not in himself. It's not in man that walks to direct his steps. O LORD, correct me…" (vs 23-24). Back here in Psa. 38 it says, "O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath…."

"…but with judgment; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing…. [he's pleading for mercy] …Pour out Your fury on the nations who do not know You, and on the families who do not call on Your name; for they have eaten up Jacob and have devoured him, and have destroyed him, and have made his dwelling desolate (vs 24-25). God will do that.

I know this. Whenever anyone goes through a sickness, it is difficult. A severe sickness is even harder. A severe protracted health problem and sickness is even very, very difficult to bear. Nevertheless, God is still with us.

Psalm 38:2: "For Your arrows stick fast in me, and Your hand presses heavily upon me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger…" (vs 2-3). God punishes for sin. If there's repentance, God lifts it.

"…nor rest in my bones because of my sin, for my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me" (vs 3-4). There are going to come times in our lives that we will feel so burdened down and we'll be mourning, that it's hard to handle.

He was really in bad shape. He was seeing his last. Even though it is a Psalm of David, it reminds me a little bit more of King Hezekiah when God said, 'You're going to die' then, gave him a reprieve.

Verse 5: "My wounds are putrefied and fester because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long" (vs 5-6). When you're really sick and down, about all you can do is kind of sleep and roll in bed. It's hard to take.

Verse 7: "For my loins are filled with a burning; and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and painfully broken; I groan because of the anguish of my heart. My LORD, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You" (vs 7-9). The important lesson to remember here is not only God dealing with us, but that God is still with us even in this condition.

Verse 10: "My heart pants; my strength fails me; as for the light of my eyes, it also is gone from me."

Verse 15: "For in You, O LORD, do I hope; You will answer, O LORD my God, for I said, 'Hear me, lest they rejoice over me; when my foot slips, they magnify themselves against me.' For I am ready to fall… [to come to death] …and my pain is always before me, for I will confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin" (vs 15-18).

Verse 21: "Forsake me not, O LORD; O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O LORD my salvation" (vs 21-22). This carries us all the way through the whole process:

• of mourning
• of sickness
• of near-death experience

We moan and groan because of the oppression of the enemy. Here's what to do when you're feeling depressed. You need to talk to yourself. Don't go around and say, 'I'm depressed.'

By the way, they now have a new market for anti-depressant drugs. Did you hear about it? It's for dogs and cats! They expect it to be a $5-billion a year field. The reason is, people are not having as many children today so they have animals that they treat like human beings. The worse thing to ever do is to treat a dog like a human. A dog is not a human and it doesn't know what to do. It has to have a pack leader. If you don't believe that, watch The Dog Whisperer. He'll tell you.

Our two little dogs, when I feed them, they come up to the door of the garage. I don't let them step over the threshold. When they do, I say, 'No!' Then if they don't obey themselves, I just tell them, 'I'm you pack leader' and they're happy.

Psalm 42: 5: "Why are you cast down, O my soul… [you have to figure out what's going on] …and moan within me? Hope in God… [that's what you need to do, turn to God] …for I shall yet, praise Him for the salvation of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore, I will remember You from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermons from Mount Mizar. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all Your waves and Your billows have gone over me" (vs 5-7).

What he was experiencing was just like kind of being adrift in the ocean and the waves are coming upon you. Yet, in that:

Verse 8: "The LORD will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, even a prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God my Rock, 'Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?'" (vs 8-9). So, you can have the "…oppression of the enemy."

Verse 10: "As with a crushing in my bones, my enemies taunt me while they say to me all day long, 'Where is your God?'" Sometimes God wants to deal with you one-to-one, all alone. When you ever get to the point that you feel like God is way, way off, that's when to call on Him and He will be near.

Verse 11: "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why do you moan within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet, praise Him, the salvation of my countenance, and my God." God will restore you!

Psalm 43:1: "Vindicate me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man." He's asking for God's help, protection and deliverance, continually.

Verse 2: "For You are the God of my strength…" Let's understand that human beings are so weak, inadequate and incomplete. I think the older you get the more you understand that. We need to be delivered from deceitful and unjust men.

They're finding today that there are so many senior citizens that are finding themselves in bad trouble because the followed bad advice of people saying, 'You can make a lot of money on this.' Then they lose everything they have and end up out on the street.

"…why do You cast me off? Why do I go mourning under the oppression of the enemy? Oh, send out Your light and Your Truth… [this is what's going to deliver us] …let them lead me; let them bring me to Your Holy mountain and to Your tabernacles" (vs 2-3). Let's amplify this with the New Testament. Where do we come in our prayers to God?

• to Zion in heaven above
• to the Holy of Holies in heaven above
• right to the very throne room of God

There we have it! That's why the promise is, "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted." There's part of the comfort.

Verse 4: "Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; yea, upon the lyre I will praise You, O God, my God. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why do you moan within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet, praise Him, the salvation of my countenance, and my God" (vs 4-5). God will deliver you out of it!

Let's see some more of the solutions. We've dwelt enough on mourning. Let's quit mourning and look to the solution.

(go to the next track)

Let's see how we need to come to God and how He will help us.

I always remember what William Tyndale wrote. When you read about his life and analyze what he went through. He really went through thick and thin to provide us with the English Bible. He was, you could say, the father of all English Bibles. He always used to say, 'If God bid you to go on a trip over the seas, He will send a tempest upon you to see if you trust Him or believe Him or no.'

Whenever we have any of these trials and we're groaning in our sickness, or whatever the oppression may be, look at these from this point of view: These are to strengthen us in faith because these are to lead us closer to God!

This helps put it all together. This brings us through the tunnel of darkness or the valley of death unto light.

Psalm 54:1: Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your might. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth, for strangers have risen up against me, and violent men seek after my soul; they have not set God before them. Selah" (vs 1-3)—stop and think and meditate on this.

Verse 4: "Behold, God is my helper… [tie that in with Heb. 13] …the LORD is with those who uphold my soul." There are other people that God is blessing to help you.

Verse 5: "He shall reward evil to my enemies. Destroy them in Your faithfulness. I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O LORD, for it is good, for He has delivered me out of all trouble, and my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies" (vs 5-7).

That's why you pray for your enemies. Jesus said, 'Love your enemies. Pray for them.' God will handle them. God will take care of them. If they won't be converted, then He'll handle them in a different way. This is what we need to realize. When we are mourning because of what we're going through, God is always there. He hasn't gone far off. He's right there.

Psalm 61:1: "Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth I cry to You when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the Rock higher than me" (vs 1-2), What all of these things do is:

• they build trust
• they build faith
• they build hope
• they build the love of God

Verse 3:" For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower against the enemy. I will dwell in Your tabernacle forever; I will take refuge in the hiding place of Your wings. Selah…. [meditate on that] … For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. May You add to the days of the king's life; may his years be as many generations. May he abide before God forever; prepare mercy and truth to preserve him. So I will sing praise to Your name forever, so that I may daily perform my vows" (vs 3-8). This shows how we are delivered.

Let's see the comfort that God gives us. Psa. 23 is a Psalm that everyone knows when you have troubles, trials and difficulties. Let's look at it again and let's see how this clearly reflects:

• how God intervened for Christ
• how He will intervene for us
• how important it is to always keep our minds on the goal

Psalm 23:1: "The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death… [all troubles and difficulties on every side] …I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me…. [God brings you comfort] …You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies…." (vs 1-5). That's what God is doing for the Church today, before the return of Christ.

"…You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever" (vs 5-6). Those things inspire us and strengthen us and lead us in the way that we need to go.

Let's look at some other things concerning comfort. This is something that is going to happen to Jerusalem one day. That's going to be when Christ returns. God knows everything that is going on. He promises that:

• in our difficulties
• out of our troubles
• out of our moaning and groaning

He will comfort us!

Isaiah 40:1: "'Comfort ye, comfort ye, My people,' says your God." I think it's significant that in the Messiah by Handel, this is the very first song that is sung. It leads off everything with the Messiah.

Verse 2: "Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished…" You think all that's going on over thee in the 'unholy land'—I don't like to call it the 'Holy Land,' it's anything but Holy—it makes you wonder. Has more blood been shed in that area of the world than any area on earth? I'm inclined to believe so!

"…that her iniquity is pardoned… [it's the day God begins dealing with Judah] …for she has received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins" (v 2). They're going to be comforted.

All the promise of comfort, Isaiah 49:13: "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break out into singing, O mountains; for the LORD has comforted His people…"

This is the 'bringing back' after the Tribulation is all over. We're going to be part of this, as the saints, going out to wherever the people of Israel are and start bringing them back to the inheritance that God has given them.

"…and will have compassion upon His afflicted. But Zion said, 'The LORD has forsaken me, and my LORD has forgotten me'" (vs 13-14). God says, 'No! I haven't done that!'

The Comforter—the Holy Spirit

There has been a question about: Is Zion the same thing as Jerusalem?

• Zion refers to the City of David
• it refers also to the temple
• it can refer to Jerusalem
• it can refer to all Israel
• spiritually, it refers to Sion in heaven above

In the Old Testament, when you go back there, you can have all these applications to Zion.

Now let's come to the New Testament. How is it in the midst of all your troubles, you get comfort and you feel relief and you feel comfort. What is doing that? It is the Spirit of God! The Spirit of God will give you comfort and will give you peace of mind. All of those things that come 'unglued' when you go through a trial or sickness and you become upset, oppressed and all of those things.

This is part of what we go through for the Passover ceremony in the New Covenant; John 14:14: "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." We need to always keep that in mind with what God has said, 'According to His will.'

Verse 15: "If you love Me, keep the commandments—namely, My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter…" (vs 15-16). Everything that we go through, we need the special gift of the Holy Spirit of God, which makes us complete. No human being is complete. Even with the Holy Spirit, that is only the earnest of the final project after the resurrection.

"'…that it may be with you throughout the age: Even the Spirit of the Truth, which the world cannot receive because it perceives it not, nor knows it; but you know it because it dwells with you, and shall be within you'" (vs 16-17). That is really a tremendous thing to understand.

Verse 26: "But when the Comforter comes, even the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in My name, that One shall teach you all things…" This is also important, not just reading and learning out of the Bible:

• What happens when we go through our trials and difficulties?
• When we come through the other side, what does it do? It teaches us something!

We learn a lesson; we learn it because of the Holy Spirit that teaches us this.

"…and shall bring to your remembrance everything that I have told you" (v 26). That's special to the apostles so they could write the New Testament.

Verse 27: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it fear." That's how we are comforted.

Let's see how it operated in Paul's life, and see some of the things that he went through that he even got despaired. This is really quite something. Paul ties this all together.

2-Corinthians 1:3: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforts us in all our tribulation…" (vs 3-4).

Here's the reason. It's not just for you alone, because you're able to help those who later go through the same thing and you can encourage them. That's what Paul said, here.

"…in order that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trial, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (v 4). Isn't that something? God is going to give us that comfort:

• we may go through trials
• we may be afflicted
• we may be sick
• we may be mourning

But the promise is we will be comforted! Claim that promise. Do just like David did. He said, 'O Lord, hear my voice.' Sometimes when we're sick, down and out, we're feeling terrible, rotten and blah, and sometimes you don't even feel like praying because you're so miserable. Pray anyway! Ask God to intervene and help you!

2-Thessalonioans 2:15: "So then, brethren, stand firm, and hold fast the ordinances that you were taught, whether by word or by our epistle. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God—even our Father, Who loved us and gave us eternal encouragement and good hope through grace" (vs 15-16).

Through all the things that we go through, this is important for us to understand with the days that are coming ahead of us because they're going to be really awesome things to take place.

Verse 17: "Encourage your hearts and establish you in every good word and work." That's the comfort of the Holy Spirit!

2-Thessolonians 3:1: "As for the rest, brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may spread rapidly and may be glorified, in the same way that it has been with you; and that we may be delivered from perverse and wicked men, for all are not of the faith" (vs 1-2).

There is another part of it, too. Ask God to deliver you from them before you get in their clutches. That saves a lot of trouble.

Verse 3: "But the Lord is faithful… [remember that God will not fail you, cannot fail you] …Who will establish you and keep you from the evil one." Isn't that part of the daily prayer: 'Deliver us from the evil one'? That's Satan the devil!

Verse 4: "Now concerning you, we trust in the Lord that you both practice and will be practicing the things that we command you. And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the endurance of Christ" (vs 4-5).

That's really quite encouraging. When troubles and difficulties come, always look to the other side of it. Look to the way out:

• claim the hope
• claim the comfort
• claim the blessings that God gives

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5)

• Who was called the 'meekest man' on earth? Moses!
• Was he weak? No!
• Was he milk toast? No!
• Was he 'blown with every wind of doctrine?' No!

Meekness is the opposite of self-exaltation. That's entirely different. Meekness and humility are brothers, they go hand-in-hand. Meekness means that you don't exalt yourself. You're not vain; you're not 'puffed up.'

Let's see Jesus' example. Who was more meek than Moses? Jesus! Here again is some encouragement and tremendous hope that God gives to us. What we need to do is understand our relationship with God directly and with Jesus Christ. What's so important is that since God has chosen to use men to teach His Word, everyone who teaches needs to point them always to Christ and God the Father. Always!

If they don't, if they point them to themselves, what happens is that the minister, elder, or teacher—whoever it may be—is taking to himself the attributes of God and putting himself between the people and God. Also, this helps solve a lot of problems, because every individual is going to have faith and confidence in God to go to God and pray for help and solution.

You don't have to come and counsel every 'itty bitty' thing with the minister. That's the corporate way of doing things. Look to men and come and counsel to the minister for every little thing that you do because you don't have brains enough to make your own decision. No! God expects you to grow and mature and make your own decisions.

Let's understand how important our relationship with Christ is.

Matthew 11:25: "At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to babes.'" The mystery and Truth of the Plan of God, He has given to those who love Him, not to the wise of the world, not to the intelligent of the world.

Verse 26: "Yes, Father, for it was well pleasing in Your sight to do this. All things were delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; neither does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son personally chooses to reveal Him" (vs 26-27).

That is a key to our calling! Also a key in our relationship with God! God is dealing with us personally, on an individual basis. When we come together as the brethren of God in assembling on the Sabbath and on the Holy Days, then with this in mind, we learn more of God, love and appreciate each other more, because we know that God is dealing with each one of us as individuals. Then when we come together, we can work together and do the things that we need to do in a better way than on any other basis. Here's what Jesus said:

Verse 28: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are overly burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart…" (vs 28-29).
Jesus could be the meekest of any on the earth, greater than Moses (Heb. 3). He understood what meekness was because as a human being, when He remembered what He was as God, He couldn't get 'puffed up' in the flesh.

"…and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (vs 29-30). Because He's there:

• to help us
• to forgive us
• to encourage us
• to lift us out of it

When He does and we give all glory and honor to God, what does that do? That humbles us and gives us meekness, too!

Here is where Jesus quoted that beatitude, Psalm 37:11: "But the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Let's see how this brings us out of all the difficulties. This brings us the comfort. That's why when you pray and study when you're in a difficult situation and you study certain Scriptures, you'll find it brings a peace of mind to you that you couldn't get any other way. Remember that you can never worry yourself into peace of mind! They are two opposites and they don't meet.

Notice how the focus is unto God. Psalm 25:1: "To You, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; do not let me be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none who wait on You be ashamed; let them be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Show me Your ways, O LORD…" (vs 1-4). That's how we grow in grace and knowledge. It comes out of the Word of God.

"…teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your Truth…" (vs 4-5). This is really a profound Psalm. You can add all the things that are Truth:

• we're to walk in Truth
• the Truth will set us free
• the commandments of God are Truth
• the Law is Truth
• all the ways of God are true from the beginning

"…and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You do I wait all the day long" (v 5). Sometimes there's nothing to do but wait on God. Other times there are things to do after you know what you need to do.

Verse 6: "Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindness, for they have been of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; according to Your loving kindness remember me for Your goodness sake, O LORD" (vs 6-7). All of this is leading up to a meek attitude. All of this is:

• God do this for me
• God help me with this
• I look to You
• I trust in You

Verse 8: "Good and upright is the LORD; therefore, He will teach sinners in the way. The meek He will guide in judgment; and the meek He will teach His way" (vs 8-9). Why? Because they're not 'know-it-alls! 'They aren't bought into themselves!

Verse 10: "All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth to those who keep His covenant and His testimonies." This is a tremendous Psalm. Take it the opposite: All of those who do not take His covenant and His testimonies, who transgress against God, the way of God is:

• tough
• hard
• miserable
• painful
• corrective

Yes, indeed!

Verse 11: "For Your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. What man is he who fears the LORD? He shall teach him in the way that He shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease, and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him… [because they're meek] …and He will show them His covenant" (vs 11-14). This is quite a thing!

What do you think when you say, 'His name's sake.' That means: For the sake of God's name, which is:

• Holy
• righteous
• good
• true
• merciful
• kind
• gracious

And do it because God delights to do it, not because we necessarily ask, though we're asking. In Ezek. 20 there is a connection between the Sabbath, the Holy Days and God's namesake, because His name is on it and His presence is in it. Every time someone thinks of this, he thinks of the Sabbath and Holy Days, it's true; for God's name sake.

When you're meek, you want it because of the sake of God's name, His promises and everything He stands for. When you're filled with vanity and exalted, you want it because of who you are and you deserve it. That points right back to the first commandment. When you get back to the first commandment, you have to go through the other three that follow. The truth is, you can't separate any of the Ten Commandments:

• you cannot have the right God, and then reject the Sabbath
• you cannot have the right God, and then have idols and statues
• you cannot have the right God, especially those who are supposed to speak for God, then speak for themselves—meaning that they're anything but meek

That's why Jesus was meek and lowly, because He didn't do anything from Himself. He did what the Father commanded Him to do. He spoke the Words that the Father wanted Him to speak. He did nothing of Himself!

Let's finish in John 5 on meekness, to amplify the meekness of Christ. Remember, this has got to be a tremendous thing to understand and the meekness of Jesus has got to be greater than any human being, because He gave up being God to become human. He never took the prerogatives of God to Himself, out of human vanity, to exalt Himself in any way. This is really something to understand. This will amplify the kind of meekness that we need to have, also, ourselves.

John 5:19: "Therefore, Jesus answered and said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, the Son has no power to do anything of Himself, but only what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, these things the Son also does in the same manner.'" How much less can any of us other human beings, do anything of ourselves?

• we have nothing we didn't receive
• we didn't come here on our own
• we didn't grow out of the ground separate from our mothers and fathers

It goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. That is the witness of, what you might say, the 'belly button.' As I've mentioned before, with that you know that you're nothing unto yourself except what comes from your father and mother physically, and you of your children and they of their parents. All the way back.

Here, Jesus didn't do anything of Himself. Of any human being on earth, was He more capable of doing something on His own than any other human being? Of course! Yes, but He didn't do it!

Verse 20: "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing. And He will show Him greater works than these, so that you may be filled with wonder." This is something! This is really something!

Verse 21: "For even as the Father raises the dead and gives life, in the same way also, the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son so that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father Who sent Him. Truly, truly I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has everlasting life and does not come into judgment; for he has passed from death into life" (vs 21-24).

Here's what defines the meekness of Christ. You tie that in with what we covered earlier in Jer. 10, He says:

Verse 30: "I have no power to do anything of Myself; but as I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father, Who sent Me."

That's a perfect example for us!

All Scripture from The Holy Bible In Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 5:3-4
• Romans 8:14-17, 19-24
• Luke 6:24-26
• Ezekiel 9:1-11
• Psalm 38:1
• Jeremiah 10:23-25
• Psalm 38:2-10, 15-18, 21-22
• Psalms 42:5-11
• Psalms 43:1-5
• Psalms 54:1-7
• Psalm 61:1-8
• Psalm 23:1-6
• Isaiah 40:1-2
• Isaiah 49:13-14
• John 14:14-17, 26-27
• 2-Corinthians 1:3-4
• 2-Thessolians 2:15-17
• 2-Thessolians 3:1-5
• Matthew 5:5
• Matthew 11:25-30
• Psalm 37:11
• Psalm 25:1-14
• John 5:19-24, 30

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Psalm 91
• Hebrews 1:1-3
• Revelation 20:4-6; 18
• Hebrews 13
• Hebrews 3
• Ezekiel 20

FRC:nfs
Transcribed: 02-19-17
Proofed: 3/26/17