Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Ways people deal with sin: ignoring it excusing it managing it Feel the weight of it STOP PRETENDING Psalm 51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Psalm 38:4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. FEEL IT2 Corinthians 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. James 4:7-10 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. TURN FROM ITJoel 2:12-13 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. Acknowledge it Stop explaining it away. Feel it (Godly sorrow) Let it actually hit your heart. Confess it Get honest with God (and people). Turn from it Change patterns/behavior Turn toward God Replace the behavior with pursuit of Him. Luke 15:11-24“There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 2For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” 4. RECEIVE COMFORT God doesn’t condemn what you confess, He comforts it. Romans 8:1 There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Psalm 103:10-12 He does not punish us for all our sins, he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. WHAT YOU DON’T TRANSFORM, YOU TRANSFER The Process of Real Repentance:
