HAS GOD SEEN YOUR TEARS?
Introduction:
1. Has God seen your tears?
2. Why would I ask such a question?
3. Have your mourned, grieved, shed tears when such was called
for?
4. If you did, surely God observed it; He misses nothing.
5. But, He cannot see what is not there.
I. GOD SEES OUR TEARS:
1. 2 Kings 20:5-6.
2. Hezekiah was sick unto death, vs 1.
3. Isaiah was sent to Hezekiah to tell him to "set his house in
order; for thou shalt die" (vs 1).
4. Hezekiah prayed and wept sore.
5. The prophet was sent back to Hezekiah to inform him that God
had heard his prayer and seen his tears.
II. TEARS CAN BE CAUSED BY A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS:
1. Tears can be deceptive. There are those who can cry on cue,
they cry for effect. Actresses, preachers and religious
personalities on TV, to make some impression.
2. Tears can be genuine.
3. Tears can be real or for show.
4. Tears can be restrained ("men don't cry") or unstrained ("she
cries all the time").
5. Tears can be appropriate or out of place.
6. Tears can produce compassion and result in help or they can
be tears in vain.
7. Tears can be brought on by sorrow and pain, or by joy and
happiness.
8. Has God seen your tears? Have there been tears when there
should not have been? Have there been no tears when there
should have been?
III. LET US LOOK AT WHY TEARS WERE SHED ON VARIOUS OCCASIONS IN THE
BIBLE:
1. Look at Hezekiah again. He was sick unto death and was told
to set his house in order. He prayed and wept sore. He was
then told that God had heard his prayer and granted him 15
more years to live. Here we see tears over the prospect of
dying.
2. Tears were shed by Hannah because she had no child. 1 Sam.
1:9-10. God saw her tears and answered her prayer (vs 11).
Here we see tears over being childless.
3. Tears were shed by David because he lost a son. Absalom had
attempted to take the throne by leading a rebellion against
his own father. 2 Sam. 18. David had said, "Deal gently with
the Absalom, for my sake. (vs 5). Absalom is killed and the
news is brought to David. David wept. (vs 32-33). Here we see
tears over the death of a vain and rebellious son.
4. The widow of Nain wept for her dead son. (Lk 7:11-15). Jesus
was moved with compassion and brought him back to life. Jesus
wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35). Mary Magdalene
wept at the tomb of Jesus. (Jn. 20:11). Here we see tears
over the death of a loved one, or a friend.
5. Jeremiah wept over the sins of God's people and the
calamities brought on because of their sins. He had warned
them over and over, yet they had despised him. (Jer. 9:1-5).
We often refer to Jeremiah as the "weeping prophet," and
rightly so. Jesus wept for the sins of Jerusalem (Lk. 19:4).
Here we see tears of grief over the sins of others.
6. Peter, after denying the Lord three times, went out and wept
bitterly. (Mt. 26:75). His were tears of godly sorrow and
repentance.
7. The sinful woman, at the house of Simon the Pharisee, shed
many tears. (Lk 7:36-48). She even washed the feet of Jesus
with her tears. Here are tears of penitence.
8. Jesus shed tears when He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane.
(Heb. 5:7). Here were tears of concern for our sins.
9. Paul shed tears at Ephesus. (Acts 20:31). Tears of
admonition. The elders wept sore over Paul's departure. (Acts
20:37-38).
10. Paul, in writing to the saints at Corinth (2 Cor. 2:4), shed
tears for their sins and for the words he had to use because
of his love for them.
11. Timothy's tears are referred to by Paul (2 Tim. 1:4). Tears
over parting from his father in the faith.
IV. GOD WANTS MEN AND WOMEN TO MOURN AND WEEP OVER THEIR OWN SINS:
1. Matt. 5:4. "Blessed are they that mourn." Mourning over sins
must precede repentance. What a comfort it should be to know
that Jehovah will forgive us of our sins and remember them no
more.
2. Lk. 6:21. "Blessed are ye that weep; for ye shall laugh."
3. Jas. 4:8-10. Mourning is a part of forgiveness.
4. Sin will harden our hearts, inflate our arrogance, bring
fleeting and deceptive pleasures, and cause us to laugh when
we should be ashamed. But, when out tears are genuine and
brought on by godly sorrow, we will repent. God is ready and
willing to forgive.
V. GOD WANTS US TO WEEP OVER THE SINS OF OTHERS:
1. We are not to be calloused and indifferent toward others.
2. If we are concerned enough about others to weep for them, we
will then attempt to lead them to the Lord.
3. We need to weep and pray for those in sin. Not that the Lord
would save them in their sins, but that they might be led out
of sin.
4. We need to weep over the sins of our brethren, our neighbors,
our nation and those in far places.
VI. GOD WANTS US TO WEEP WITH THOSE WHO WEEP:
1. "Rejoice with then that rejoice, weep with them that weep."
(Rom. 12:15).
2. Job. 30:25. "Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? Was
not my soul grieved for the needy."
3. Heb. 13:3. "Remember them in bonds....."
4. 1 Cor 12:26. "when one member suffereth, all suffer...."
5. We need to be compassionate, loving, toward those who are
dealt harsh and difficult situations in life.
6. Feel, especially for our brethren.
Conclusion:
1. Has God seen your tears?
2. Ecc. 3:4. "a time to weep....a time to mourn"
3. We need to weep when weeping is called for, and God will
certainly see our tears.
4. In hell there will be unending weeping. (Mt. 13:42,50; 22:13;
25:30).
5. In heaven, God shall wipe away all tears. (Rev. 21:4).
6. Let us prepare for that place where there will be mourning, no
tears, no heartache, no separations.
(Taken from an article by Bill Crews)
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