8月20日
标 题：哀恸的人
经 节：哀恸的人有福了！因为他们必得安慰。（马太福音五章4节）
神要我们去经历祂的喜乐（约翰福音十五：11）。然而，除非先为自己的罪哀恸，我们无法体验祂的喜乐。如果不为自己的罪悲痛，我们搞不清楚罪惊人的毁灭能力。如果小看罪，就显示出我们并不了解，冒犯全能神是滔天大罪。我们的罪造成神爱子的死亡。罪也使我们亏缺了神的荣耀（罗马书三：23）。罪不但对他人，也对我们自己造成伤害与痛苦。
圣经上说，那些为罪哀恸的人得以亲近神（雅各书四：8～10）。那些为自己的罪忧伤哭泣的人，是真心地悔改（路加福音四：18～19）。人不可能悔改，却不了解罪的严重性。为罪的后果懊悔，与为得罪圣洁的神而忧伤，是不相同的。认罪不见得等于悔改。只有当我们承认自己的心已经远离神，并且为自己得罪神而忧伤痛悔，悔改才会到来。
耶稣说，那些为自己的罪哀恸的人，必可得到安慰。他们会更深刻地体验到神的爱与饶恕。祂无穷的恩典足以赦免最可怕的罪。不要想跳过悔改的过程，去享受喜乐。神不会任你为罪哀恸而不管你，祂会饶恕你、安慰你，并以祂的喜乐充满你。
Those Who Mourn
“Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.”
(Matthew 5:4)
God wants us to experience His joy (John 15:11). Yet we cannot
experience His joy until we have mourned over our sin. If we do not grieve over
the weight of our sin, we have no concept of sin’s devastating power. If we
treat our sin lightly, we demonstrate that we have no sense of the enormity of
our offense against almighty God. Our sin caused the death of God’s Son. It
causes us to fall short of what God intends (Rom. 3:23). It brings pain and
sorrow to others, as well as to ourselves.
The Bible says that those who grieve over their sin will draw near to
God (James 4:8–10). Those who mourn and weep over their sin are in a position
to repent (Luke 4:18–19). There cannot be repentance without the realization of
the gravity of sin. Regret for sin’s consequences is not the same as sorrow for
sinning against holy God. Confession of sin is not necessarily an indication of
repentance. Repentance comes only when we acknowledge that our transgression
has come from a heart that is far from God, and we are brokenhearted over our
grievous offenses against holy God.
Jesus said that those who are heartbroken over their sin will find
comfort. They will experience new dimensions of God’s love and forgiveness. His
infinite grace is sufficient for the most terrible sin. Do not try and skip the
grieving process of repentance in order to move on to experience joy. God will
not leave you to weep over your sin but will forgive you, comfort you, and fill
you with His joy.
