As we turn (or return) to the Lord in repentance, we turn away from our wicked ways. It is the sorrow that we experience for our actions that helps us engage in our repentance before the Lord. But there is also a deeper sorrow from God—a sense of mourning—that takes us to a place of greater change before Him. This ability to change only comes from God and through His grace, and it is something we must pursue.

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Show Notes:

In the beatitudes, the Lord says He will comfort those who mourn. There is an experience of mourning that goes beyond mere human emotion. This kind of mourning is brought about when we behold Christ as He reveals Himself at His appearing.

But not everybody who beholds Him has the same experience of mourning. There is the mourning of those whose hearts are prepared for His appearing. And others have a different sense of mourning. When they see Him in His majesty, they will cover their eyes. They will reject Him, crawl into caves and wish for the mountain to fall on them.

We are those who long for the mourning that will spear us to the root of our being, the life-changing sorrow that will let us see the truth of who He is and what we are in comparison to Him. We just do not want to be sorry for a few things that we have done and repent in a way that does not really change who we are and what we are. We want to see the Lord as He is—and we want to be changed to be like Him! We want to be among those He calls up to Himself on that day when He returns and appears in the heavens.

Key Verses:

• Matthew 5:4. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
• Revelation 1:7. “Behold, He is coming with the clouds.”
• Matthew 11:16. “But to what shall I compare this generation?”
• Revelation 6:12–17. “For the great day of their wrath has come.”
• Hosea 10:8. “They will say to the mountains … ‘Fall on us!’”
• Isaiah 2:17–19. “Men will go into caves of the rocks.”
• Luke 23:26–31. “They will … say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’”
• Matthew 24:29–31. “Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn.”
• Zechariah 12:9–12. “The land will mourn.”
• Job 5:11. “Those who mourn are lifted to safety.”
• Nehemiah 10:28–31. “Taking on themselves a curse and an oath.”
• Isaiah 61:1–3. “To comfort all who mourn.”
• Revelation 1:12–17. “I saw one like a son of man.”
• Ezekiel 1:26–28. “A figure with the appearance of a man.”
• Ezekiel 44:4. “The glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.”
• Luke 22:60–61. “And Peter remembered the word of the Lord.”
• 1 John 2:27. “The anointing which you received from Him abides in you.”
• John 17:24. “So that they may see My glory.”

 
Quotes:

• “There are those who reject Christ even in the revelation of Him. They are so steeped in their refusal of God that they do not experience mourning—which brings comfort—instead, they reject totally His lordship, and in return they are rejected.”
• “There is something transformative that takes place under the spirit of mourning. It is not just the mourning, but the grace that He pours out to us as we are in that mourning, that allows us to cry out to Him and not run from Him. It is deep enough to effect change in us.”
• “When we see Him as He is, the Scriptures say we will be like Him. So, the revelation of the Lord to us brings about a mourning that creates a nature change, a mourning that effects in us something deeper than a mere emotional response but shakes us to the core of our being.”

Takeaways:

1. Repentance means to turn (or to return) to the Lord from our sins and our wicked ways.
2. Repentance is brought about by a deep sorrow for departing from the Lord and His will.
3. Only a revelation of Christ can pierce us deeply enough, causing us to mourn with godly sorrow over our human nature of sin.
4. Permanent change and deliverance from the human nature of sin can only be accomplished by the grace God imparts to us through experiencing this mourning.
5. We want to behold the Lord as He is, for we know that He will comfort all those who mourn.