It was November 22, 1873 in
the dead of night a terrible
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disaster unfolded in
the middle of the Atlantic.
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A ship carrying more than
200 people collided with another
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and rapidly sank.
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That night Horatio Spafford
a prominent Chicago lawyer
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lost his four young daughters.
Not long after to commemorate
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his loss, he wrote the famous
hymn know all over the world
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with the words of
the chorus saying:
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How could Horatio Spafford
say that given the enormity
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of his loss? Every one of
us will face loss of some kind
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in our lives, each one of
us will have reason to mourn
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Where will we find
comfort when these times come?
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Well, there is hope, and
today we're going to discover
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where to find it.
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I'm here by the Sea of
Galilee where Jesus gave us
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the Beatitudes, the center
of Jesus teachings about the
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kingdom of God is
the Sermon on the Mount.
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And the very heart of
the Sermon on the Mount are
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the Beatitudes, so if we want
to really know what it means
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to be a follower of
Jesus, and to live as a citizen
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of the Kingdom of God,
then we must understand Christ's
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teaching in the Beatitudes.
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But the Beatitudes aren't
just spiritual principles for
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Christians, they're
arguably the body of principles
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that has been most influential
in shaping western civilization
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as we know it today.
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The word Beatitude is an old-
fashioned religious-sounding
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word that not many
people will recognize today,
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it refers to
being blissfully happy.
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When Jesus calls people
blessed in the Beatitudes
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that's literally what He means.
He means that if you display
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these qualities,
you'll be blissfully happy
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This is a happiness that belongs
only to God and it can come
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only from God. In other words,
when in your life you display
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the qualities Jesus
displays in the Beatitudes
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you will share in the
joy of heaven here on earth.
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It's the only way to
truly live, if you're after hope
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peace, and happiness,
this is where you'll find it.
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So Jesus sat on a hill
here so the crowd could hear Him
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and He taught the people
the most radical and influential
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set of principles for living
that this world has ever heard.
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Among the Beatitudes He said
this in Matthew chapter 5:4:
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Like each of the Beatitudes
there is a great truth hidden
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in this radical contradiction
and this great truth
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can be seen played out in
the life of Horatio Spafford.
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Although you may
have not heard of his name
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Spafford was the
writer of the famous hymn
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It Is Well With My Soul.
Most Christians will have
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heard this
well-known hymn, the words say:
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Those are
impressive words of faith,
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but when you know the
back- story, the real story
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behind these words,
you'll be even more impressed.
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Horatio Spafford was a prominent
lawyer in the prosperous city
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of Chicago in the
mid-19th century, he was the
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senior partner of the law
firm that he had established
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as a young man.
Spafford was a devout Christian
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who supported Christian
ministries, he was for example
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a big supporter of the work
of evangelist Dwight L Moody.
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Spafford had a
Norwegian wife named Anna
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and together they had five
children, four girls, and a boy
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Because of his success in
business, Spafford had become
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very wealthy and he had
invested all of his fortune in
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real estate throughout Chicago.
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As they safe, safe as houses,
what could possibly go wrong?
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Well, it did. And
what went wrong was the
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Great Fire of
Chicago in October, 1871
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This fire was popularly
believed to have been started
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by Mrs. O'Leary's
cow in a barn in the city
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which while being milked
by Irish Immigrant Katherine
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O'Leary supposedly kicked
over a lantern and started the
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conflagration. The fire
leapt across the city from one
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district to another for
three days destroying much of
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Central Chicago,
around 300 lives were lost.
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The Spafford family
didn't lose anyone to the fire
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but the real estate Horatio
Spafford had invested in was
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gone and he was
wiped out financially
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But that wasn't the sum total
of his woes up until that point
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because not long before
that terrible fire Spafford and
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Anna's young son
had died of pneumonia.
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These set-backs would
have defeated a lesser man
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but not Spafford, Spafford's
legal business soon recovered
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and two years later, the
Spafford's were planning a
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family trip to Great Britain
where their friend Dwight Moody
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was to hold an
Evangelistic Crusade.
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Spafford wanted to go both to
help his friend Moody with the
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meetings and to give his family
a restful break from their
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recent misfortunes.
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He had planned to go
together with his family
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but at the last moment an
unexpected business matter came
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and he had to stay in
Chicago to resolve it.
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Spafford told his wife he
would join her and the children
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in Europe a few days later.
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And he sent her and
their daughters ahead on the
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French Ocean Liner "Ville
Du Harve", four days later
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in the North Atlantic at about
2 A.M. on November 22, 1873
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their ship was sighted heading
dangerously close to the bows
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of the Scottish
Clipper "Loch Earn."
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The captain of the Loch Earn
ordered a sharp turn but it was
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too late, the Loch Earn
rammed Ville Du Harve amid ships
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nearly breaking it in two.
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The collision obviously
woke the passengers who quickly
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came up on deck to
find out what had happened
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The passengers tried to push
the lifeboats into the water
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but the great majority of them
were stuck fast to the deck.
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Anna gathered her four daughters
around her on the deck,
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there was 11-year-old Anna
named after her known as Annie,
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Maggie age nine, Bessie who was
five, and two-year-old Teneta.
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She knelt there on the
deck with them and prayed that
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God would spare
them if that was His will
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or that He would make
them willing to endure whatever
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awaited them.
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The Ville Du Harve sank
in less than 12 minutes,
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the Loch Earn was able to pick
up 61 passengers and 26 crew
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but 226 souls
perished, including all four
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Spafford children. Days later,
a sailor who was rowing a boat
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over the spot where
the ship had gone down
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spotted a woman floating
on a piece of the wreckage
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it was Anna,
unconscious but still alive.
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He pulled her into the boat and
they were picked up by another
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large vessel which nine
days later landed them in
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Cardiff, Whales. Another of
the ships survivors recalled
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Anna saying:
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From Cardiff, Anna wired her
husband a message which began
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Save alone, what shall I do?
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Mr. Spafford booked passage
on the very next available ship
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and left to join his grieving
wife in England and bring her
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home. When the ship he
was on was about four days out
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the captain called Spafford
to his cabin and told him that
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they were over the place
where his children had drown.
00:10:06.37\00:10:09.90
Spafford had wrote to a relative
on Thursday last we passed
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over the spot where
she went down in mid-ocean
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the waters there
are three miles deep.
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Later to cope with his
sorrow and commemorate with his
00:10:21.42\00:10:25.95
children, Spafford wrote
the words to this famous hymn
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"It Is Well With My
Soul". They go like this.
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Horatio and Anna actually
went on to have three more
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children after this
tragedy, two daughters and a son
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however, the Spaffords
were to endure one more tragedy,
00:11:06.70\00:11:10.93
the youngest son who was
also named Horatio later died
00:11:10.97\00:11:16.54
of scarlet fever.
00:11:16.57\00:11:17.91
The Spaffords were never
defeated by their tragedies
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instead, they responded by com-
mitting to positively changing
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their world and to doing good.
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Eventually, they moved to
Jerusalem where they founded
00:11:30.12\00:11:34.36
The American Colony which
engaged in charitable work
00:11:34.39\00:11:38.49
without regard to
religious preferences.
00:11:38.53\00:11:41.00
They simply wanted to help
everyone in need regardless
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of their color or creed.
They worked with hospitals,
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soup kitchens and
orphanages and won great favor
00:11:50.27\00:11:54.01
with the people in the region.
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Spafford died of Malaria
in 1888 just days before his
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60th birthday and was buried
in the Protestant Cemetery
00:12:03.02\00:12:07.02
in Jerusalem.
00:12:07.06\00:12:09.26
Now after enduring so
much tragedy and sorrow
00:12:15.86\00:12:19.33
Spafford understood the
and experienced the concept,
00:12:19.37\00:12:22.94
the truth
contained in the Beatitude,
00:12:22.97\00:12:26.34
This is perhaps one of the
Beatitudes that seems to be
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most contradictory,
"Blessed are they that mourn?"
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How can you be
supremely happy or blessed
00:12:39.15\00:12:42.72
if you are mourning?
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In the Greek language, the
word that is used for mourning
00:12:44.43\00:12:48.56
here doesn't mean to
be just a little bit sad
00:12:48.60\00:12:51.87
it's one of the strongest words
for mourning in that language
00:12:51.90\00:12:55.57
it means to mourn for the
dead with the greatest possible
00:12:55.60\00:13:00.18
sorrow and tears. Like
most of what Jesus taught
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they're layers of meaning
to His teaching and there are
00:13:04.61\00:13:08.38
several ways to
look at this Beatitude.
00:13:08.42\00:13:11.15
It's true for example that many
greatest discoveries of life
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are found through
the depths of sorrow
00:13:16.69\00:13:19.66
it is through sorrow for
example that we can often see
00:13:19.69\00:13:24.53
the meaning of true
friendship or true love
00:13:24.57\00:13:28.80
William Butler tells the
story of the great composer
00:13:28.84\00:13:32.24
Elwood Elgar who once
listened to a young lady sing,
00:13:32.27\00:13:35.94
her voice was beautiful
and her technique was flawless
00:13:35.98\00:13:40.08
yet there was something
missing. The composer said
00:13:40.12\00:13:49.42
Many can testify, that is
true, that is when you come to
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bottom that you find God.
The Beatitude is also true
00:13:54.76\00:13:59.63
in a sense that in the kingdom
of God, those whom mourn today
00:13:59.67\00:14:04.11
will rejoice tomorrow,
often we have to go through
00:14:04.14\00:14:08.91
suffering in order
to win the victory.
00:14:08.94\00:14:11.91
Too many people want
to reach the destination
00:14:11.95\00:14:16.08
without going on the journey.
But as the life of Jesus
00:14:16.12\00:14:20.56
illustrates, the
cross comes before the crown
00:14:20.59\00:14:24.23
and that reality remains true
for every follower of Jesus.
00:14:24.26\00:14:28.96
You have to accept the cross
if you wish to be victorious
00:14:29.00\00:14:33.27
in the end.
Barclay again says that
00:14:33.30\00:14:37.51
At the most
spiritual level when Jesus said
00:15:09.34\00:15:13.44
Blessed are those who mourn
for they shall be comforted
00:15:13.48\00:15:17.41
He is also referring to
the deep sorrow that everyone
00:15:17.45\00:15:21.55
who wishes to follow God
will feel for their own sin.
00:15:21.58\00:15:25.45
The beginning of
eternal life has to be an utter
00:15:25.49\00:15:29.59
dissatisfaction with this
life otherwise, why would anyone
00:15:29.62\00:15:34.10
seek God. It is only when
fully realize our own flaws
00:15:34.13\00:15:39.10
and our own sin that we
will sorrow for our own sin and
00:15:39.13\00:15:43.41
this mourning will
cause us to repent which means
00:15:43.44\00:15:46.84
to turn away from sin.
00:15:46.88\00:15:49.61
You see, those who mourn
in this way will receive the
00:15:49.64\00:15:54.42
blessing which is to be
comforted, they will find the
00:15:54.45\00:15:58.09
comfort and peace and joy that
is only found in the salvation
00:15:58.12\00:16:02.56
that God provides.
00:16:02.59\00:16:04.13
The apostle Paul tells us this
in Romans chapter 5, verse one.
00:16:04.16\00:16:09.76
We usually think of all mourning
as being bad but that isn't
00:16:20.44\00:16:24.71
the case at all, you
see, there is a mourning
00:16:24.75\00:16:28.02
and a sorrow that
brings happiness as the
00:16:28.05\00:16:31.29
Apostle Paul also says
00:16:31.32\00:16:32.99
But this doesn't mean that
the follower of Jesus lives in
00:16:43.67\00:16:47.74
perpetual sorrow, not
at all, but the Beatitude
00:16:47.77\00:16:51.74
does not end there, it continues
00:16:51.77\00:16:54.81
What Jesus is saying is
that it is those who sorrow
00:16:58.78\00:17:02.78
for sin, they are the
ones who are supremely happy
00:17:02.82\00:17:06.82
comfort soothes sorrow,
comfort allows joy to come.
00:17:06.86\00:17:11.99
There is never a time or
a situation in which we are
00:17:12.03\00:17:15.96
not able to comfort in God.
00:17:16.00\00:17:18.20
As the Apostle Paul
writes in 2 Corinthian 1:3-4.
00:17:18.23\00:17:24.27
You see, what Jesus is really
saying is that when a person
00:17:36.42\00:17:40.86
goes to God in Godly sorrow
for their sin, they will receive
00:17:40.89\00:17:44.99
the full welcome and comfort
of God but it gets even better
00:17:45.03\00:17:49.16
than this, the Greek word that
Jesus used for being comforted
00:17:49.20\00:17:53.97
is also used in the context of
inviting someone to a banquet.
00:17:54.00\00:17:59.04
God treats those who
sorrow as His honored guests
00:17:59.07\00:18:03.21
and there is no room for
sorrow at a banquet is there?
00:18:03.24\00:18:06.85
This is an image of how
God's comfort turns our sorrow
00:18:06.88\00:18:12.69
into happiness, He will
fill our lives with good
00:18:12.72\00:18:16.62
while we will also be able
to look forward to the great
00:18:16.66\00:18:20.80
banquet that He is
preparing in heaven.
00:18:20.83\00:18:24.37
Let's go back to the real-life
story on the Spafford's
00:18:24.40\00:18:29.67
and their loss. It's tempting
to think of the Spafford's
00:18:29.70\00:18:33.11
as people whose lives
were marked by tragedy
00:18:33.14\00:18:36.48
but that wouldn't have been
how they wanted to be remembered
00:18:36.51\00:18:40.18
it wouldn't be an accurate
reflection of their experience.
00:18:40.22\00:18:44.22
Horatio Spafford certainly
was a man who knew what it was
00:18:44.25\00:18:48.62
to go through loss and mourning
but he was a man who through it
00:18:48.66\00:18:53.33
was able to find
comfort and overcome.
00:18:53.36\00:18:56.40
He went on to lead a
positive and productive life
00:18:56.46\00:18:59.83
of great achievement and
that's how Horatio Spafford
00:18:59.87\00:19:03.84
should be remembered.
00:19:03.87\00:19:05.34
The words of the hymn which
he wrote It Is Well With My Soul
00:19:05.37\00:19:09.74
aren't a denial of pain,
the words recognize that we all
00:19:09.78\00:19:14.85
go through
mourning and loss. They say
00:19:14.88\00:19:17.39
The peace that God
can give in any situation
00:19:31.77\00:19:35.17
is a supernatural one, that's
why the Apostle Paul says this
00:19:35.20\00:19:38.97
in Philippians 4:7
00:19:39.01\00:19:42.71
I know that there are
many who are experiencing the
00:19:53.32\00:19:56.83
pain and loss of mourning
right now and if you want
00:19:56.86\00:20:00.70
you can be sure that you
will. Many of us in our lives
00:20:00.73\00:20:04.83
have experienced
what He meant when He said
00:20:04.87\00:20:12.91
You see, in Jesus there's life
fulfilled and here right now
00:20:12.94\00:20:18.61
and more importantly the
assurance of eternal life.
00:20:18.65\00:20:23.32
Notice what it
says in John 3:16.
00:20:23.35\00:20:27.99
Eternal life is a gift from
God the grave is not the end
00:20:39.50\00:20:45.27
isn't it
comforting to know that?
00:20:45.31\00:20:47.68
Here's what the Bible says
in 1Thessolonians chapter 4.
00:20:47.71\00:20:52.51
Isn't that comforting? to know
that we will be reunited with
00:21:23.41\00:21:27.78
our loved ones again?
00:21:27.82\00:21:29.22
When Paul wanted to comfort
loved ones of those who had
00:21:29.25\00:21:33.15
died in Christ, when he wanted
to comfort those who mourn
00:21:33.19\00:21:36.83
he pointed them to the
eternal life we have in Jesus
00:21:36.86\00:21:40.80
that will become a reality
at the resurrection when He
00:21:40.83\00:21:45.50
returns. This is the
Bible hope, the blessed hope,
00:21:45.53\00:21:49.77
God's comfort
to those who mourn.
00:21:49.80\00:21:52.87
We will be reunited
with our loved ones again.
00:21:52.91\00:21:57.45
and we, together with
many other followers of Jesus
00:21:57.48\00:22:01.42
are looking forward to
the day when Jesus will return
00:22:01.45\00:22:05.02
just as He promised.
00:22:05.05\00:22:07.02
And then in the words of
Revelation, the last book
00:22:07.06\00:22:10.29
of the Bible,
there is this promise.
00:22:10.33\00:22:12.66
Do you have this hope?
Have you experienced the
00:22:26.47\00:22:30.15
comfort and peace
that only God can bring?
00:22:30.18\00:22:33.85
If you want to find out more,
and experience this comfort,
00:22:33.88\00:22:37.25
and hope. Then, I'd like to
recommend a free gift we have
00:22:37.29\00:22:40.62
for all our Incredible
Journey viewer's today,
00:22:40.66\00:22:44.56
It's an easy to read booklet
Finding Strengthen the Midst
00:22:44.59\00:22:49.56
of Pain. This small booklet
will only take you a few minutes
00:22:49.60\00:22:53.50
to read but it could help
bring you hope, comfort and
00:22:53.54\00:22:57.24
encouragement. This booklet
is our gift to you and it's
00:22:57.27\00:23:02.18
absolutely free, I guarantee
there are costs or obligations
00:23:02.21\00:23:06.41
whatsoever, So make sure you
take this wonderful opportunity
00:23:06.45\00:23:10.62
to see the free gift
we have for you today.
00:23:10.65\00:23:15.26
Phone or text us at 0436.333.555
in Australia or 020.422.2042
00:23:15.29\00:23:26.00
in New Zealand, or visit
our website at TiJ.tv to request
00:23:26.03\00:23:31.54
today's free offer and
we'll send it to you totally
00:23:31.57\00:23:34.64
free of charge and
with no obligation.
00:23:34.68\00:23:37.28
Write to us at GPO Box
274, Sydney NSW 2001, Australia
00:23:37.31\00:23:44.02
or P.O. Box 76673, Manukau.
Auckland 2241, New Zealand,
00:23:44.05\00:23:51.06
don't delay,
call or text us now.
00:23:51.09\00:23:54.03
If you've enjoyed our journey
to Galilee in Israel and our
00:23:54.06\00:24:00.57
reflections on the Beatitudes
and on the promises of Jesus,
00:24:00.60\00:24:04.31
for those who mourn and are
going through difficult times
00:24:04.34\00:24:07.91
then be sure to join us
again next week when we will
00:24:07.94\00:24:11.55
another of life's
journey's together.
00:24:11.58\00:24:14.25
Until then, may you find
an experience that comfort and
00:24:14.28\00:24:18.95
peace that only God
can provide. Let's pray.
00:24:18.99\00:24:23.26
Dear Heavenly Father, We
thank you for the teachings
00:24:23.29\00:24:27.76
of Jesus and the promise
that when we mourn, you will
00:24:27.83\00:24:32.27
comfort us. We believe and
trust that when Jesus comes
00:24:32.30\00:24:36.50
again, He will
reunite us with our loved ones
00:24:36.54\00:24:39.84
and will restore joy and banish
sorrow and mourning forever.
00:24:39.87\00:24:44.98
Until that day, lead us
to find comfort and happiness
00:24:45.01\00:24:49.35
in you and teach us to be able
to say in every circumstance
00:24:49.38\00:24:54.99
It Is Well With My Soul.
00:24:55.02\00:24:57.36
In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.
00:24:57.39\00:25:01.83