asked God for courage and

victory. Impossible odds? Not

when the Lord is on your side for
the cause of righteousness. The
V oortrekkers circled their wagons
and commenced firing on the
Zulu warriors. When the dust
settled, only two V oortrekkers
had been wounded and over
6,000 Zulus had died. God was
with His people. Every year on
the date of this battle, called "The
Day of the Covenant" the
decendents of this godly group of
settlers celebrate and give thanks
to God for their courage and
faith. It was a moving experience
to stand and walk in the very
:place this battle occurred and
Imagine the terror that must have
been in the hearts of this small
band of Christians faced with
such a fierce foe.
God, give your people all over
the world the courage to face the
foe knowing that if God is on
your side, victory is assured, no
matter how strong the opposition.
After a picture-taking session of
the bronze replicas of the wagons
that were there and of the battle
site from different angles, we
paused to give thanks for these
great examples of godly courage
and ate a wonderful lunch
prepared by the "mothers" at
K wasizabantu for us. There were
dainty little sandwiches on
wonderful home-made bread with
honey produced by their own
bees, (it's flavored with
hazelnuts), delicious German
sausages and cheese, home-
grown plums and grapes and
especially for Joe , tied in a
bundle with a pink ribbon, was
his dessert - "kooksisters", a
sweet delicate pastry similar to a
crueller that he dearly loves!
(This personal diary from
Becky Moorecraft will
conclude next month.)
EDITOR'S CORRECI'ION -
In last month's Diary we
omitted part of a sentence
in the first paragraph. It
Emmett Kelly was one of the
most famous clowns in history.
My sister painted a picture of him
in his famous clown make-up
and I have it with me here today.
The striking thing about this
picture is the sadness in Mr.
Kelly's face. We are captivated
by the contrast. Clowns are
supposed to be funny. They
dress up in ludicrous clothing
and make-up and we are able to
laugh. But Emmett Kelly's
trademark is this woebegone
look, this exquisite sadness in a
funny costime. And so we
laugh, and yet he strikes a chord
in our souls, a chord of
mournfulness. You can be
laughing on the outside and
crying on the inside.
Emmett Kelly died some years
ago. His son took over his
clown personality. I don't know
if the son is still living or not, but
the picture of Emmett the Clown
will never die. It registers
something so true to life. Clowns
can put on a happy face, like
Bozo the Clown, but you and I
Personal Diary ..
should have read: The deep
blue sea crashing in on white
sand beaches or craggy shoreline,
and jung up out of nowhere is
Table-Mountain. It rises like a
towering monarch proudly
keeping watch over his bride, the
city of Capetown nestled below at
his feet.
Page 6 June 1990 The Counsel of Chalcedon
know that even Bozo the Clown
must have times when he doesn't
feel like laughing.
The Beatitudes mark off the
Christian from the non-Christian
precisely because they contradict
the philosophy of the world. The
one thing the world tries to avoid
is mourning. Like "Blessed are
the poor in spirit," "Blessed are
those who mourn," seems
absolutely ridiculous to the
unregenerate mail. The world
advises us to" .. forget your
troubles! Be happy! Put on a
happy face! Pack up your
troubles in your old kit bag and
smile, smile, smile!" How can I
be happy if I am mourning? The
world would say, "Happy are the
rich and full; Happy are those
who delight themselves in
laughter." It seems to be a
contradiction in terms to say,
"Blessed (Happy) are those that
mourn."
I. THE CHRISTIAN
KNOWS HIMSELF
1. The Lord does not mean by
this statement that a person is
blessed who has lost a loved one
and is now mourning their loss.
This is not a sorrow brought
about by the death of someone,
this is a sorrow that is brought
about by the convicting work of
the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught that
the ministry of the Holy Spirit
was to convict the world
concerning sin, and
righteousness, and judgment (Jn.
I
i
j
I
l
!
I
j
16:8). Just as poverty of sp:irit is
not something fmancial but
spiritual, even so this mourning
is not something natural but
entirely spiritual.
Now a person will react in one of
two ways when the Holy Spirit
convicts of sin and righteousness
and judgment. He will either
acknowledge the truth and seek
the mercy of God in Christ or he
will deny it. He may deny it like
Adam did when he put the blame
on Eve. It is easy to pass the
buck, blame someone else, blame
society, blame circumstances and
then find some way to counteract
this down feeling. Get away from
this idea of mourning. Fight
against it. Harden your heart
against it Be strong and resist it.
But the Christian acknowledges
his sin and seeks the divine
remedy for sin. He repents of his
sin and turns to the Lord for
mercy in Christ. This is what the
Lord means when he says,
"Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted." The
comfort comes after the mourning
has done its work, producing
repentance and faith in the Lord
Jesus who died to make
atonement for my sins.
2. The world wants joy without
the mourning. The stress we put
on joy in the Christian life never
comes until there has first been
this spiritual experience of being
poor in spirit and mourning for
one's sins. It doesn't come
without it. And this is not just a
one time experience. Because I
am saved from my sins does not
mean my old sinful nature has
been totally destroyed. I still live
in a body of sinful flesh which
wars against the Spirit. The
Apostle Paul really helps us to
understand what is going on. In
Romans, he explains that the
Christian is a man with a sinful
nature that serves sin but who has
a spiritual nature that serves God.
This sets up a tension; a
dichotomy; a warfare. The new
nature under the influence of the
Holy Spirit convicts me of those
sinful practices and habits and
lusts and passions which are
contrary to God. This produces a
godly sorrow, a repentance and a
desire to put away those thoughts
and attitudes that offend God.
And as there is a realization that
Christ Jesus has set you free
from this body of sin and death
there is a comfort that comes.
God delivers us from that misery
of soul, that sorrow of the spirit
This is not an artificial or
contrived comfort. It is very real.
This is a comfort and a peace that
the world knows nothing about
I read about a town in Idaho -
Pocatello, Idaho - that has a law
that makes it illegal to frown or
look gloomy. But you cannot
legislate joy in Idaho or anywhere
else. True joy must spring up
from within. Jesus promises that
this joy and comfort will come
about after there has been first a
mourning for sin. "Blessed are
they that mourn, for they shall be
comforted." Paul testified that he
saw this law of sin operating in
his body and waging war against
the law of his mind, and making
him a prisoner of the law of sin
that was in the members of his
body. He cried out, "Wretched
man that I am! Who will set
me free from the body of
this death? Thanks be to
God through Jesus Christ
our Lord." He attributes all of
this to the Spirit of God that
dwelt in him and in all believers
in Christ. We have not received a
spirit of slavery leading to fear
again, but we have received a
spirit of adoption as sons by
which we cry out, "Abba!
Father!" (Roms. 8:15).
Maybe it will help to visualize
this spiritual experience using a
combustion engine. The piston
reaches the top of its stroke and
as the fuel mixture is sparked it
causes an explosion forcing the
piston down. The Holy Spirit
applies His fire and the Christian
is convicted of his sin, forcing
him to look at his sin, be sorry
for it, and mourning for it. Then
as he looks upward to Christ for
forgiveness and pardon, he is
again restored and comforted.
This downward stroke will occur
often because sin is still present
in this sinful flesh. Repentance is
a way of life for the believer, yet
mingled with joy as the
knowledge of the full satisfaction
Christ made for our sins is the
way back to peace and rest. Like
Paul, I mourn for my sin, but
then rejoice in Christ who has
fully paid for my sins and is my
daily support and stay. More and
more I die to self and live to Him.
II. THE CHRISTIAN
MOURNS FOR OTHERS
TOO.
1. The Christian is not only
concerned for himself. He sees
the terrible fruits of sin in others,
in the society at large. As he
reads his newspaper, he is aware
of the tragedy of sin in this
world. He does not merely
express disgust and lament the
state of society, he mourns about
it. It grieves his heart. We read in
the Word of God that Lot in
Sodom was grieved in his spirit
day after day with the lawless
deeds of the wicked. We see
members of our family hurt by
sin. We see many we know
suffering because of sin. Sin
takes its toll on the people around
us. We recognize that the world
has misery and unhappiness and
we are sorry. We are saddened.
We mourn about it. We even
shed tears about it. The world is
in a moral morrass. We read of
wars and rumors of wars. We see
the suffering children, the
refugees who are victims of
war, the victims of crime, and
people living without hope.
That is why our Lord Himself
mourned; that is why He was a
man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief; that is why he wept at
The Counsel of Chalcedon June 1990 Page 7
the grave of Lazarus. Here was
this horrid, ugly, foul thing called
sin which had come into life and
introduced death and brought
misery upon His creation. As
Paul wrote in Romans, " For
we know that the whole
creation groans and suffers
the pains of childbirth
together until now. And not
only this, but also we
ourselves, having the first
fruits of the spirit, even we
ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting eagerly
for our adoption as sons,
the redemption of our
body." (Roms. 8:22,23).
When Jesus came to Jerusalem he
wept for it because he saw the
people of Jerusalem rejecting him
and bringing upon themselves
their own damnation. Not once in
the scripture do we read that
Jesus laughed He saw this world
as it really is - a godless, sinful,
can oDly find a solution to their
problem in the same way he did -
-through Jesus Christ as sin-
bearer and Lord. The astounding
thing about the Christian life is
that great sorrow leads to joy,
and without the sorrow, there is
nojoy.
2. The Christian sees his need
only when he first becomes
aware of his siri and guilt before
God, which casts him down and
makes him mourn. But, that in
turn drives him back to Christ;
.and the moment he goes back to
Christ his peace and happiness
. return and he is comforted. So
here is something that is fulfilled
at once. The man who truly
mourns is comforted and is
happy; thus, the Christian life is
spentin this way, mourning and
joy, sorrow and happiness and
the one should lead to the other
immediately.
adulterous, pleasure-seeking, Not only is this immediate
mann on-seeking, proud and comfort offered to the Christian,
rebellious world. He saw the but there is another comfort, that
people crippled by sin, blinded which we may call 'the blessed
by sin, made insane by sin, and hope', elaborated by the Apostle
he mourned. He wept. The heart Paul in Romans 8. As I have
of God goes out to this sin- said, he groans in his spirit as he
plagued planet and identifies with knows something of the burden
it in becoming a man, a man who of sin inthis world; but then he is
would give himself to pay the comf<?rted by the that
ultimate penalty for sin, taking there 1s a future glory commg,
upon himself the guilt and shame both for himself and for this
of sin, in order that sin might be world When Christ returns there
forgiven and healed. This is a will be a new heaven and a new
serious business. It is the very earth wherein dwelleth
anthithesis of the spirit and mind righteousness. Glory to God!
and outlook of the world. The There is a blessed. hope! A sure
world tries to make a joke outof and certain hope. God will one
sin. It avoids looking at the real . day ring down the curtain on all
cause ofman's predicament The of this sm and misery and will
world says let us eat, drink and usher in a new world and a
be merry. It tells the Christian he glorious futUre that will go on
is much too serious about sin. endlessly. So even in mourning
The world does not know how to there is constant hope that
mourn for sin, but the Christian again and again as faith
does. The Christian sees this as lays hold on-the future glory yet
the problem underlying all to be revealed. Christ has
problems, and he knows that the . conquered! Christ is Lordi He
world does not see,. so he mourns will cause it to turn out right at
and weeps about the sinners like the last. Evil may hold sway for a
himself because he knows. they time, and there is suffering and
Page 8 June 1990 The Counsel of Ctlalcedon
tribulation and sorrow and pain in
this life, but in the midst ofit all
there is sorrow mingled with joy.
There is everlasting joy awaiting
the saints of God. Are you one Of
those who mourns and yet you
are comforted? Come to Christ
today and know that comfort.
I am an experienced high school
teacher in MATHISCIENCFJBffiLE
and want a position in a Refonned
Christian School this fall.
Thomas W. Prior
Rt. 20 Box 479
Gray, TN 37615
(615) 477-7069
I AM INTERESTED IN BUYING
USEP CHRISTIAN BOOKS
AND SCHOLARLY
PUBUCA TIONS
John R. Hunt
10545 W 62nd Ave
Arvada, CO 80004
(303) 423-4620