In a general sense, mourning in the Bible represents a state of grief over the lack of desires for good and true ideas about life. This often happens when a church or an aspect of a church has fallen away from the Lord and has been devastated. It can also be when a new church or state of a church is soon to begin, and there is nothing yet in place. In particular, especially when paired with "weeping," "mourning" has do with the loss of all desire for good and the presence of evil; "weeping" in those cases has to do with the devastation of thought and knowledge.

24. This Church, like the rest, is to be treated of in the following order:

I. Its Rise, or Morning, which is its first state.

II. Its Progression into light, or Day, which is its second state.

III. Its Decline, or Evening, which is its third state, and is called Vastation.

IV. Its End, or Night, which is its fourth state, and is called Consummation.

V. The Separation of the Evil from the Good, which is the Last Judgment upon all who were from that Church.

VI. The Elevation to God of the Good, of whom a new Heaven is formed; and the removal from God of the Evil, of whom is formed a new Hell.

That the four Churches of this earth-spoken of above-have undergone these changes of state, will be shown in what follows; and lastly, that the Church truly Christian, which succeeds those four at the present day, will never undergo consummation.