The Beatitudes

 

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Chapter 1 Introduction


Christian Reader,
I here present you with a subject full of sweet variety. This Sermon of Christ on the Mount is a piece of spiritual needlework, wrought with divers colors. Here is both usefulness and sweetness. In this portion of Holy Scripture, you have a summary of true religion—the Bible epitomized. Here is a garden of delight, where you may pluck those flowers which will deck the hidden man of your heart. Here is the golden key which will open the gate of Paradise! Here is the conduit of the Gospel, running wine to nourish such as are poor in spirit and pure in heart. Here is the rich cabinet wherein the Pearl of Blessedness is locked up. Here is the golden pot in which is that manna which will feed and revive the soul unto everlasting life. Here is a way chalked out to the Holy of Holies.

Reader, how happy were it if, while others take up their time and thoughts about secular things which perish in the using—you could mind eternity and be guided by this Scripture-clue which leads you to the Beatific Vision. If, after God has set life before you—you indulge your sensual appetite and still court your lusts, how inexcusable will be your neglect, and how inexpressible your misery!

May the Lord grant that while you have an opportunity, and the wind serves you, you may not lie idle at anchor, and when it is too late begin to hoist up sails for Heaven. Oh now, Christian, let your loins be girt, and your lamps burning, that when the Lord Jesus, your blessed Bridegroom, shall knock, you may be ready to go in with Him to the marriage-supper, which shall be the prayer of him who is,
Yours in all true affection and devotion,
Thomas Watson


"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them." Matthew 5:1, 2

The blessed evangelist Matthew, the penman of this sacred history, was at first by profession, a tax collector; and Christ, having called him from the custom-house, made him a gatherer of souls. This holy man in the first chapter records Christ's birth and genealogy. In the second chapter, he records Christ's dignity—a star ushers in the wise men to him, and as a king he is presented with gold and frankincense and myrrh (2:9-11). In the third chapter the evangelist records his baptism. In the fourth, his temptations; in the fifth, his preaching, which chapter is like a rich gold mine. Every verse has some gold in it.

There are four things in this chapter which offer themselves to our view:

1. The Preacher

2. The Pulpit

3. The Occasion

4. The Sermon

1. The Preacher. Jesus Christ. The best of preachers. 'He went up.' He in whom there was a combination of all virtues, a constellation of all beauties. He whose lips were not only sweet as the honey-comb, but did drop as the honey-comb. His words—an oracle; his works—a miracle; his life—a pattern; his death—a sacrifice. 'He went up into a mountain and taught.' Jesus Christ was every way ennobled and qualified for the work of the ministry.

[1] Christ was an INTELLIGENT preacher. He had 'the Spirit without measure' (John 3:34) and knew how to speak a word in due season—when to humble, and when to comfort. We cannot know all the faces of our hearers. Christ knew the hearts of his hearers! He understood what doctrine would best suit them, as the farmer can tell what sort of grain is proper for such-and-such a soil.

[2] Christ was a POWERFUL preacher. 'He spoke with authority' (Matthew 7:29). He could set men's sins before them and show them their very hearts! 'Come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did!' (John 4:29). That is the best looking-glass, not which is most richly set with pearl—but which shows the truest face! Christ was a preacher to the conscience. He breathed as much zeal as eloquence. He often touched upon the heart-strings. What is said of Luther is more truly applicable to Christ. He spoke 'as if he had been within a man'. He could drive the wedge of his doctrine in the most knotty piece. He was able with his two-edged sword to pierce a heart of stone! 'Never man spoke like this man!' (John 7:46)

[3] Christ was a SUCCESSFUL preacher. He had the art of converting souls. 'Many believed on him.' (John 10:42), yes, people of rank and quality. 'Among the chief rulers many believed' (John 12:42). He who had 'grace poured into his lips' (Psalm 45:2), could pour grace into his hearers' hearts. He had the key of David in his hand, and when he pleased—he opened the hearts of men, and made way both for himself and his doctrine to enter. If he blew the trumpet, his veryenemies would come under his banner! Upon his summons, none dare but surrender.

[4] Christ was a LAWFUL preacher. As he had his unction from his Father, so also his mission. 'The Father who sent me, bears witness of me' (John 8:18). Christ, in whom were all perfections concentred—yet he would be solemnly sealed and inaugurated into his ministerial office—as well as his mediatory office.

If Jesus Christ would not enter upon the work of the ministry without a commission, how absurdly impudent are those who without any warrant dare invade this holy function! There must be a lawful admission of men into the ministry. 'No man takes this honor to himself—but he who is called of God, as was Aaron' (Hebrews 5:4). Our Lord Christ gave apostles and prophets—who were extraordinary ministers; so he gives pastors and teachers who were initiated and made in an ordinary way (Ephesians 4:11). He will have a gospel ministry perpetuated; 'Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world' (Matthew 28:20). Surely, there is as much need of ordination now, as in Christ's time and in the time of the apostles, there being then extraordinary gifts in the church which have now ceased.

But why should not the gospel ministry be open to all people? 'Has the Lord spoken only by Moses?' (Numbers 12:2). Why should not one preach as well as another? I answer—Because God (who is the God of order) has made the work of the ministry a select, distinct office from any other. As in the body natural the members have a distinct office—the eye is to see, the hand to work. You may as well say, 'why should not the hand see—as well as the eye?' Because God has made the distinction. He has put the seeing faculty into the eye—and not the hand. So here, God has made a distinction between the work of the ministry and other work.

Where is this distinction? We find in Scripture a distinction between pastor and people. 'The elders (or ministers) I exhort … Feed the flock of God which is among you' (1 Peter 5:2). If anyone may preach, by the same rule all may, and then what will become of the apostle's distinction? What would the flock of God be—if all were pastors?

God has cut out the minister's work—which is proper for him and does not belong to any other. 'Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine … give yourself wholly to them', or, as it is in the Greek, 'Be wholly in them' (1 Timothy 4:13-15). This charge is peculiar to the minister and does not concern any other. It is not spoken to the tradesman that he should give himself wholly to doctrine and exhortation. No! let him look to his shop. It is not spoken to the ploughmanthat he should give himself wholly to preaching. No! let him give himself to his plough. It is the minister's charge. The apostle speaks to Timothy and, in him, to the rest who had the hands of the elders laid on them. And 'Study to show yourself approved … , a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth' (2 Timothy 2:15). This is spoken peculiarly to the minister. Everyone who can read the word aright cannot divide the word aright. So that the work of the ministry does not lie open to all people; it is a select, peculiar work. As none might touch the ark but the priests—so none may touch this temple-office but such as are called to it.

But if a man has gifts, is not this sufficient? I answer, No! As grace is not sufficient to make a minister, so neither are gifts. The Scripture puts a difference between gifting and sending. 'How shall they preach unless they are sent?' (Romans 10:15). If gifts were enough to constitute a minister, the apostle would have said, 'How shall they preach unless they be gifted? But he says 'unless they are sent?'

We see this in other callings—gifts do not make a magistrate. The attorney who pleads at the bar may have as good gifts as the judge who sits upon the bench—but he must have a commission before he sit as judge. If it be thus in civil matters, much more in sacred matters, which are, as Bucer says, 'things of the highest importance'. Those therefore, who usurp the ministerial work without any special designation and appointment, reveal more pride than zeal. They act out of their sphere and are guilty of theft. They steal upon a people, and, as they come without a call from God, so they stay without a blessing to the people. 'I sent them not, therefore they shall not profit this people at all' (Jeremiah 23:32). And so much for the first, the preacher.

2. The pulpit where Christ preached. 'He went up on the mountain.'

The law was first given on the mount, and here Christ expounds it on the mount. This mount, as is supposed by the learned—was Mount Tabor. It was a convenient place to speak in, being seated above the people, and in regard of the great confluence of hearers.

3. The occasion of Christ's ascending the mount: 'When Jesus saw the crowds.'

The people thronged to hear Christ, and he would not dismiss the congregation without a sermon—but 'seeing the multitude he went up on the mountain'. Jesus Christ came from heaven—to work for souls. Preaching was his business. The people could not be so desirous to hear—as he was to preach. He who treated faint bodies with compassion (Matthew 15:32), much more pitied dead souls. It was his 'food and drink, to do his Father's will (John 4:34). 'When Jesus saw the crowds', he goes up into the mount and preaches. This he did not only for the consolation of his hearers—but for the imitation of his ministers.

From whence observe—that Christ's MINISTERS according to Christ's pattern must embrace every opportunity of doing good to souls. Praying andpreaching and studying must be our work. 'Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season' (2 Timothy 4:2). Peter, seeing the multitude, lets down the net and, at one draught, catches three thousand souls! (Acts 2:41). How zealously industrious have God's champions been in former ages in fulfilling the work of their ministry—as we read of Chrysostom, Augustine, Basil the Great, Calvin, Bucer and others—who for the work of Christ 'were near unto death'. The reasons why the ministers of Christ (according to his pattern) should be ambitiously desirous of all opportunities for soul-service are:

[1] Their commission: God has entrusted them as ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). An ambassador waits for a day of audience, and as soon as a day is granted, he faithfully and impartially delivers the mind of his prince. Thus Christ's ministers, having a commission delegated to them to negotiate for souls, should be glad when there is a day of audience, that they may impart the mind and will of Christ to his people.

[2] Their titles: Ministers are called God's sowers (1 Corinthians 9:11). Therefore they must upon all occasions be scattering the blessed seed of the Word. The sower must go forth and sow; yes, though the seed falls upon stones, as usually it does—yet we must disseminate and scatter the seed of the Word upon stony hearts, because 'even from these stones, God is able to raise up children' to himself.

Ministers are called stars. Therefore they must shine by word and doctrine in the firmament of the church. Thus our Lord Christ has set them a pattern in the text: 'When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain.' Here was a light set upon a hill, the bright morning star shining to all who were round about. Christ calls his ministers 'the light of the world' (Matthew 5:14). Therefore they must be always giving forth their luster. Their light must not go out until their last breath—or until violent death as an extinguisher puts it out.

[3] Christ's ministers must take all occasions of doing good to others, in regard of the work which they are about—which is saving of souls. What a precious thing is a soul! Christ takes, as it were, a pair of scales in his hands and he puts the world in one scale and the soul in the other—and the soul outweighs! (Matthew 16:26). The soul is of a noble origin. It is a flower of eternity; here, in the bud; in heaven, fully ripe. The soul is one of the richest pieces of embroidery which God ever made—the understanding bespangled with light, the will invested with liberty, the affections like musical instruments tuned with the finger of the Holy Spirit. Now if the souls of men are of so noble an extract and made capable of glory, oh how zealously industrious should Christ's ministers be to save these souls! If Christ spent his blood for souls, well may we spend our sweat! It was Augustine's prayer that Christ might find him at his coming—either praying or preaching. What a sad sight is it to see precious souls, as so many pearls and diamonds—cast into the dead sea of hell!

[4] The ministers of Christ, 'seeing the multitude', must 'ascend the mount'—because there are so many emissaries of Satan who lie in wait to catch and destroy souls! How the old serpent casts out of his mouth floods of water after the woman to drown her! (Revelation 12:15). What floods of heresy have been poured out in city and country, which have overflowed the banks not only of religion—but morality and civility! Ignatius calls error 'the invention of the devil', and Bernard calls it 'a sweet poison'. Men's ears, like sponges, have sucked in this poison! Never were the devil's commodities more vendible in England, than at present. A fine tongue, can sell bad wares. The Jesuit can color over his lies, and dress error in truth's coat! A weak brain is soon intoxicated. When flattery andsubtlety in the speaker, meet with simplicity in the hearer—they easily become an easy prey. The Romish whore entices many to drink down the poison of her idolatry and filthiness, because it is given in 'a golden cup' (Revelation 17:4). If all who have the plague of the head should die, it would much increase the tally of mortality.

Now if there are so many emissaries of Satan abroad, who labor to make proselytes to the church of Rome, how it concerns those whom God has put into the work of the ministry—to bestir themselves and lay hold on all opportunities, that by their spiritual antidotes they may 'convert sinners from the error of their way and save their souls from death!' (James 5:20). Ministers must not only be 'pastors'—but fighters and warriors! In one hand they must hold the bread of life and 'feed the flock of God'; in the other hand, they must hold the sword of the Spirit and fight against those errors which carry damnation in them.

[5] The ministers of Christ should wait for all opportunities of soul-service, because the preaching of the Word meets so many adverse forces which hinder the progress and success of it. Never did a pilot meet with so many crosswinds in a voyage, as the spiritual pilots of God's church do, when they are transporting souls to heaven.

Some hearers have bad memories (James 1:25). Their memories are like leaking vessels. All the precious wine of holy doctrine that is poured in—runs out immediately. Ministers cannot by study find a truth—as fast as others can lose it. If the food does not stay in the stomach, it can never give nourishment. If a truth delivered does not stay in the memory, we can never be, as the apostle says, 'nourished up in the words of faith' (1 Timothy 4:6). How often does the devil, that fowl of the air, pick up the good seed that is sown! If people suffer at the hands of thieves, they tell everyone and make their complaint they have been robbed; but there is a worse thief they are not aware of! How many sermons has the devil stolen from them! How many truths have they been robbed of, which might have been so many cordials! Now if the Word preached slides so fast out of the memory, ministers had need the oftener to go up the preaching mount, that at last some truth may abide and be as 'a nail fastened'.

The ears of many of our hearers are stopped up with earth! I mean the cares of the world, that the Word preached will not enter, according to that in the parable, 'Hearing, they hear not' (Matthew 13:13). We read of Saul, his eyes were open—yet 'he saw no man' (Acts 9:8). A strange paradox! And is it not as strange that men's ears should be open—yet 'in hearing hear not?' They mind not what is said: 'They sit before you as my people—but their heart goes after their covetousness' (Ezekiel 33:31). Many sit and stare the minister in the face—yet scarcely understand a word he says. They are thinking of their wares and are often casting up accounts in the church. If a man is in a grinding-mill, though you speak ever so loud to him—he does not hear you for the noise of the mill. We preach to men about matters of salvation—but the grinding-mill of worldly business makes such a noise that they cannot hear! 'In hearing, they hear not'. It being thus, ministers who are called 'sons of thunder' had need often ascend the mount and 'lift up their voice like a trumpet' (Isaiah 58:1) that the deaf ear may be cleaned and unstopped, and may hear 'what the Spirit says unto the churches' (Revelation 2:7).

As some have earth in their ears—so others have a stone in their hearts! They make 'their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear' (Zechariah 7:12). The ministers of Christ therefore must be frequently brandishing the sword of the Spirit and striking at men's sins, that, if possible, they may at last pierce the heart of stone! When the earth is scorched with the sun, it is so hard and crusted, that one shower of rain will not soften it. There must be shower after shower before it will be either moist or fertile. Such a hardened piece, is the heart of man naturally. It is so stiffened with the scorchings of lust, that there must be 'precept upon precept' (Isaiah 28:10). Our doctrine must 'distill as the dew, as the small rain on the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass' (Deuteronomy 32:2).

[6] Christ's ministers, according to the example of their Lord and Master, should take all occasions of doing good, not only in regard of God's glory—but their own comfort. What triumph is it, and cause for gladness, when a minister can say on his deathbed, 'Lord, I have done the work which you gave me to do'—I have been laboring for souls! When a minister comes to the mount of glory, the heavenly mount, it will be a great comfort to him that he has been so often upon the preaching mount. Certainly if the angels in heaven rejoice at the conversion of a sinner (Luke 15:7,10), how shall that minister rejoice in heaven over every soul that he has been instrumental to convert! As it shall add a member to Christ's body, so a jewel to a minister's crown. 'Those who are wise', or as the original carries it, 'those who are teachers shall shine (not as lamps or candles, but) as stars (Daniel 12:3); not as planets—but as fixed stars in the firmament of glory forever!

And though 'Israel is not gathered'—yet shall God's ministers 'be glorious in the eyes of the Lord' (Isaiah 49:5). God will reward them not according to theirsuccess—but their diligence. When they are a 'savor of death' to men—yet they are a 'sweet savor' to God. In an orchard the laborer who plants a tree is rewarded, as well as he who fells a tree. The doctor's bill is paid, even though the patient dies.

First, let me crave liberty to speak a word to the Elishas—my honored brethren in the ministry. You are engaged in a glorious service. God has put great renown upon you. He has entrusted you with two most precious jewels—his truths and the souls of his people. Never was this honor conferred upon any angel—to convert souls! What princely dignity can parallel this? The pulpit is higher than the throne, for a true minister represents no less than God himself. 'As though God did beseech you by us, we beg you in Christ's stead—be reconciled to God' (2 Corinthians 5:20). Give me permission to say as the apostle, 'I magnify my office' (Romans 11:13). Whatever our persons are—the office is sacred. The Christian ministry is the most honorable employment in the world. Jesus Christ has graced this calling by his entering into it. Other men work in their trade; but ministers work with God. 'We are laborers together with God' (1 Corinthians 3:9). O high honor! God and his ministers have one and the same work. They both negotiate about souls. Let the sons of the prophets wear this as their crown and diadem!

But while I tell you of your dignity—do not forget your duty. Imitate this blessed pattern in the text, 'When Jesus saw the crowds—He opened His mouth and began to teach them'. He took all occasions of preaching. Sometimes he taught in the temple (Mark 14:49); sometimes in a ship (Mark 4:1), and here, upon themount. His lips were a tree of life which fed many. How often did he neglect his food—that he might feast others with his doctrine! Let all the ministers of Christ tread in his steps! Make Christ not only your Savior—but your example. Allow no opportunities to slip away, wherein you may be helpful to the souls of others. Be not content to go to heaven yourselves—but be such shining lamps, that you may light others to heaven with you. I will conclude with that of the apostle: 'Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord' (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Secondly, let me turn myself to the FLOCK of God. If ministers must take all opportunities to preach—you must take all opportunities to hear. If there were twice or thrice a week a certain sum of money to be distributed to all comers, then people would resort there. Now think thus with yourselves— when the Word of God is preached, the bread of life is distributed, which is more precious than 'thousands of gold and silver' (Psalm 119:72). In the Word preached, heaven and salvation is offered to you. In this field, the pearl of great price is hidden. How should you 'flock like doves' to the windows of the sanctuary (Isaiah 60:8)! We read the gate of the temple was called 'beautiful' (Acts 3:2). The gate of God's house is the beautiful gate. Lie at 'these posts of wisdom's doors' (Proverbs 8 34).

Not only hear the Word preached—but ENCOURAGE those ministers who do preach, by liberal maintaining of them. Though I hope all who have God's Urim and Thummim written upon them, can say, as the apostle, 'I seek not what is yours—but you' (2 Corinthians 12:14)—yet that scripture is still canonical, 'So has the Lord ordained, that those who preach the gospel, should live of the gospel' (1 Corinthians 9:14). Are not laborers in a vineyard, maintained by their labors? The apostle puts the question, 'Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? (1 Corinthians 9:7). Hypocrites love a cheap religion. They like a gospel which will cost them nothing. They are content—so long as they may have golden bags, to have wooden priests. How many by saving their purses—have lost their souls! Is it not pity, that the fire on God's altar should go out for lack of pouring in a little golden oil? David would not offer that to God, which cost him nothing (2 Samuel 24:24).

Encourage God's ministers by your fruitfulness under their labors. When ministers are upon the 'mount', let them not sow upon the rocks. What cost has God laid out upon this city! Never, I believe, since the apostles' times, was there a more learned, orthodox, powerful ministry than now. God's ministers are called stars (Revelation 1:20). In this city every morning a star appears, besides the bright constellation on the Lord's Day. Oh you that feed in the green pastures of ordinances—be fat and fertile. You who are planted in the courts of God, flourish in the courts of God (Psalm 92:13). How sad will it be with a people, who shall go laden to hell with Gospel blessings! The best way to encourage your ministers is to let them see the travail of their souls in your new birth. It is a great comfort when a minister not only woos souls—but wins souls! 'He who wins souls is wise' (Proverbs 11:30). This is a minister's glory. 'For what is our joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not you our crown?' (1 Thessalonians 2:19). A successful preacher wears two crowns, a crown of righteousness in heaven, and a crown of rejoicing here upon earth. 'Are not you our crown?'

Encourage your ministers by praying for them. Their work is great. It is a work which will take up their head and heart. It is a work fitter for angels—than men.'Who is sufficient for these things?' (2 Corinthians 2:16). Oh pray for them! Christ indeed, when he ascended the mount and was to preach, needed none of the people's prayers for him. He had a sufficient stock—the divine nature to supply him. But all his under-officers in the ministry need prayer. If Paul, who abounded in the graces of the Spirit and supernatural revelations, begged prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:25), then surely those ministers need prayer, who do not have such revelations.

And pray for your ministers that God will direct them what to preach, that he will cut out their work for them. 'Go preach … the preaching that I bid you' (Jonah 3:2). It is a great matter to preach suitable truths; there are 'acceptable words' (Ecclesiastes 12:10).

Pray that God will go forth with their labors—or else 'they toil and catch nothing'. God's Spirit must fill the sails of our ministry. It is not the hand which scatters the seed, which makes it spring up—but the dews and influences of heaven. So it is not our preaching—but the divine influence of the Spirit, which makes grace grow in men's hearts. We are but pipes and organs. It is God's Spirit blowing through us, which makes the preaching of the Word by a divine enchantment—allure souls to Christ. Ministers are but candles—to light you to Christ. The Spirit is the loadstone—to draw you. All the good done by our ministry is 'due to the Lord's excellent and effectual working' (Bucer).

Oh then pray for us, that God will make his work prosper in our hands. This may be one reason why the Word preached does not profit more—because people do not pray more. Perhaps you complain the tool is dull—the minister is dead and cold. You should have whetted and sharpened him by your prayer! If you would have the door of a blessing opened to you through our ministry, you must unlock it by the key of prayer!

4. The Sermon

Having done with the occasion of the sermon—I come now to the sermon itself. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit'. Christ does not begin his Sermon on the Mount, as the Law was delivered on the mount—with commands and threatenings, the trumpet sounding, the fire flaming, the earth quaking, and the hearts of the Israelites shaking for fear! But our Savior (whose lips 'dropped as the honeycomb') begins with promises and blessings. So sweet and ravishing was the doctrine of this heavenly Orator, that, like music, it was able to charm the most savage natures, yes, to draw hearts of stone to him!

To begin then with this first word, 'Blessed'—or 'Happy'. If there be any blessedness in knowledge, it must needs be in the knowledge of blessedness. For the illustration of this, I shall lay down two principles:

The fullness of blessedness, lies in the future.

That the godly are in some sense already blessed.

A. The fullness of blessedness, lies in the future! The people of God meet with many knotty difficulties and sinking discouragements in the way of religion. Their march is not only tedious, but dangerous, and their hearts are ready to despond. It will not be amiss therefore to set the crown of blessedness before them—to animate their courage and to inflame their zeal. How many scriptures bring this olive-branch in their mouth—the tidings of eternal blessedness to believers! 'Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he comes, shall find so doing' (Matthew 24:46). 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father' (Matthew 25:34).Blessedness is the perfection of a rational creature. It is the whetstone of a Christian's industry, the height of his ambition, the flower of his joy. Blessedness is the desire of all men. Aquinas calls it the 'ultimate end'. This is the 'bulls-eye' which every man aims to hit; to this center all the lines are drawn.

In what does blessedness (happiness) consist? Millions of men mistake both the nature of blessedness, and the way there. Some of the learned have set down two hundred and eighty eight different opinions about blessedness, and all have shot wide of the mark. I shall show wherein it does not consist, and then wherein it does consist.

(1) Wherein blessedness does NOT consist.

 

 

It does not lie in the acquisition of worldly things. Happiness cannot by any art or chemistry, be extracted from the world. Christ does not say, 'Blessed are the rich', or 'Blessed are the noble.' Yet too many idolize these things. Man, by the fall, has not only lost his crown—but his wisdom. How ready is he to terminate his happiness in external worldly things! Which makes me call to mind that definition which some of the heathen philosophers give of blessedness, that it was to have a sufficiency of subsistence and to thrive well in the world. And are there not many who pass for Christians, who seem to be of this philosophical opinion? If they have but worldly accommodations, they are ready to sing a requiem to their souls and say with that brutish fool in the gospel, 'Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years, take your ease … ' (Luke 12:19).

'What is more shameful', says Seneca, 'than to equate the rational soul's good with that which is irrational.' Alas, the tree of blessedness does not grow in an earthly paradise. Has not God 'cursed the ground' because of sin? (Genesis 3:17). Yet many are digging for happiness here—as if they would fetch a blessing out of a curse! A man may as well think to extract oil out of a flint, or fire out of water—as blessedness out of earthly things.

King Solomon had more worldly things, than any man. He was the most magnificent prince who ever held the scepter. For his parentage: he sprang from the royal line, not only that line from which many kings came—but of which Christ himself came. Jesus Christ descended from Solomon's line and race, so that for heraldry and nobility none could show a fairer coat of arms. For the situation of his palace: it was in Jerusalem, the princess and paragon of the earth. Jerusalem, for its renown, was called 'the city of God'. It was the most famous metropolis in the world. For wealth: his crown was hung full of jewels. He had treasures of gold and of pearl and 'made silver to be as common as stones' (1 Kings 10:27). For worldly joy: he had the flower and quintessence of all delights—sumptuous fare, stately edifices, vineyards, farms, all sorts of music to enchant and ravish the senses with joy. If there were any rarity—it was present in king Solomon's court. Thus did he bathe himself in the perfumed waters of pleasure.

For wisdom: he was the oracle of his time. When the queen of Sheba came to pose him with hard questions, he gave a solution to all her queries (1 Kings 10:3). He had a key of knowledge to unlock nature's dark cabinet, so that if wisdom had been lost, it might have been found here, and the whole world might have lighted their understanding at Solomon's lamp! He was an earthly angel, so that a carnal eye surveying his glory would have been ready to imagine that Solomon had entered into that paradise out of which Adam was once driven, or that he had found another as good. Never did the world cast a more smiling aspect upon any man. Yet when he comes to give his impartial verdict, he tells us that the world has 'vanity' written upon its frontispiece, and all those golden delights he enjoyed, were but a painted felicity—a glorious misery! 'Behold! All was vanity!' (Ecclesiastes 2:8). Happiness is too noble and delicate a plant, to grow in this world's soil.

That blessedness does not lie in external worldly things—I shall prove by these five demonstrations:

[1] Those things which are not commensurate to the desires of the soul, can never make a man blessed. Transitory worldly things, are not commensurate to the desires of the soul—therefore they cannot render him blessed. Nothing on earth can satisfy the soul's desires!

'He who loves silver, shall not be satisfied with silver' (Ecclesiastes 5:10). Riches are unsatisfying:

Because they are not real. The world is called a 'fashion' (1 Corinthians 7:31). The word in the Greek signifies an apparition. Riches are but painted over. They are like paint, which glitters a little in our eyes—but at death all this paint will be worn off. Riches are but sugared lies, pleasant deceits, like a gilded cover which has not one leaf of true happiness bound up in it.

Because they are not suitable. The soul is a spiritual thing; riches are of an earthly extract—how can these fill a spiritual substance? A man may as well fill his treasure chest with sunshine, as his heart with gold. If a man were crowned with all the delights of the world, nay, if God should build a house for him among the stars—yet the restless eye of his unsatisfied mind would be looking still higher. He would be prying beyond the heavens for some hidden rarities which he thinks he has not yet attained to! So unquenchable is the thirst of the soul—until it comes to bathes in the river of life and to center upon true blessedness.

[2] That which cannot quiet the heart in a storm—cannot entitle a man to blessedness. A great accumulation of earthly things, cannot rock the troubled heart quiet. Therefore they cannot make one blessed or truly happy. If the heart is wounded—can we pour wine and oil into this wound? If God sets conscience to work, and it flies in a man's face, can worldly comforts take off this angry fury? Is there any harp to drive away the 'evil spirit'? Outward things can no more cure the agony of conscience than a silken stocking can cure a gouty foot. When Saul was 'greatly distressed' (1 Samuel 28:15), could all the jewels of his crown comfort him? If God is angry, whose 'fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him' (Nahum 1:6), can a wedge of gold be a screen to keep off this fire? 'They shall cast their silver in the streets; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord' (Ezekiel 7:19). King Belshazzar was carousing and partying. 'He drank wine in the golden vessels of the temple' (Daniel 5:3)—but when the fingers of a man's hand appeared, 'his countenance was changed' (verse 6), his wine grew sour, his feast was spoiled with that dish, which was served in upon the wall. The things of the world will no more keep out trouble of spirit—than a paper shirt will keep out a bullet!

[3] That which is but 'temporary' cannot make one blessed. All things under the sun are but 'temporary', therefore they cannot enrich with blessedness.Worldly delights are like those foods which are fresh at first—and then presently grow stale or rot. 'The world passes away' (1 John 2:17). Worldly delights are winged. They may be compared to a flock of birds in the garden—which stay a little while—but when you come near to them—they take their flight and are gone! So 'riches make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven' (Proverbs 23:5). They are like a meteor which blazes—but soons burns out. They are like a castle made of snow, lying under the fiery beams of the sun. Augustine says of himself, that when any preferment smiled upon him, he was afraid to accept of it lest it should on a sudden give him the slip. Outward comforts are like tennis balls which are bandied up and down from one to another. Had we the longest lease of worldly comforts, it would soon be run out. Riches and honor are constantly in flight; they pass away like a swift stream, or like a ship that is going full sail. While they are with us—they are going away from us. They are like a bouquet of flowers—which withers while you are smelling it. They are like ice—which melts away while it is in your hand. The world takes its salute and farewell together.

[4] Those things which do more vex than comfort—cannot make a man blessed. Such are all things under the sun, therefore they cannot have blessedness affixed to them. As riches are compared to wind—to show their vanity (Hosea 12:1); so they are compared to thorns—to show their vexation (Matthew 13:17). Thorns are not more apt to tear our garments, than riches to tear our hearts. They are thorns in the gathering—and they prick with anxious care. They pierce the head with care of getting, so they wound the heart with fear of losing. God will have our sweetest wine run into dregs; yes, and taste of a musty cask too—that we may not think that earthly things are the wine of paradise.

[5] Those things which (if we have nothing else) will make us cursed, cannot make us blessed. The sole enjoyment of worldly things will make us cursed, therefore it is far from making us blessed. 'Riches are kept for the hurt of the owner' (Ecclesiastes 5:13). Riches to the wicked are fuel for pride: 'Your heart is lifted up because of your riches' (Ezekiel 28:5). Riches to the wicked are fuel for lust: 'when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery' (Jeremiah 5:7). Riches are a snare: 'But those who will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in perdition' (1 Timothy 6:9). How many have pulled down their souls—to build up an estate! A ship may be so laden with gold that it sinks. Just so, many a man's gold has sunk him to hell. The rich sinner seals up money in his bag—and God seals up a curse with it! 'Woe to him who ladens himself with thick clay' (Habakkuk 2:6). Augustine says that Judas for money sold his salvation—and with that same money, the Pharisees bought their damnation. So we see that happiness is not to be fetched out of the earth. Those who go to the creature for blessedness go to the wrong box.

If blessedness does not consist in externals—then let us not place our blessedness here. This is to seek the living among the dead. As the angel told Mary concerning Christ, 'He is not here, he is risen' (Matthew 28:6), so I may say of blessedness, 'It is not here, it is risen; it is in a higher region!' How do men thirst after the world, as if the pearl of blessedness hung upon an earthly crown! 'O,' says one, 'if I had but such an estate—then I would be happy! Had I but such a comfort, then I would sit down satisfied!' Well, God gives him that comfort and lets him suck out the very juice of it—but, alas, it falls short of his expectation. It cannot fill the emptiness and longing of his soul which still cries 'Give, give' (Proverbs 30:15).

This is like a sick man, who says, 'If I had but such a food, I could eat it.' But when he has it, his stomach is nauseated, and he can hardly endure to smell it. God has put not only an emptiness—but bitterness into the creature, and it is good for us that there is no perfection here, that we may raise our thoughts higher to more noble and generous delights. Could we distill and draw out the quintessence of the creature, we would say as once the emperor Severus said, who grew from a low estate to be head of the greatest empire in the world: 'I have run through all conditions—yet could never find full contentment.'

To such as are cut short in their allowance, whose cup does not overflow, remember that these outward comforts cannot make you blessed. You might live rich and die cursed. You might treasure up an estate, and God might treasure up wrath. Do not be perplexed about those things the lack of which cannot make you miserable, nor the enjoyment make you blessed.

(2) Having shown wherein blessedness does not consist, I shall next show wherein it DOES consist. Blessedness consists in the fruition of the chief good.

True blessedness consists in fruition; there must not be only possession—but fruition. A man may possess an estate—yet not enjoy it. He may have the dominion of it—but not the comfort, as when he is in a sickness, or under the predominance of melancholy. But in true blessedness there must be a sensible enjoyment of that which the soul possesses.

True blessedness lies in the fruition of the chief good. It is not every good which makes a man blessed—but it must be the supreme good—and that is God. 'Happy is that people whose God is the Lord' (Psalm 144:15). God is the soul's rest (Psalm 116:7). Now, that only in which the soul acquiesces and rests—can make it blessed. The circle, as is observed in mathematics, is of all others the most perfect figure, because the last point of the figure ends in that first point where it began. So, when the soul meets in God, whence it sprang as its first original, then it is completely blessed. That which makes a man blessed must have fixed qualifications or ingredients in it—and these are found nowhere but in God—the chief good.

In true blessedness there must be something better. That which fills with blessedness, must be such a good as is better than a man's self. If you would ennoble a piece of gold, it must be by putting something to it which is better than silver, as by adding a diamond to it. So that which ennobles the soul and enriches it with blessedness, must be by adding something to it which is more excellent than the soul, and that alone is God. The world is below the soul; it is but the soul's footstool; therefore it cannot crown it with happiness.

Another ingredient of true blessedness, is delectability. That which brings blessedness must have a delicious taste in it, such as the soul is instantly ravished with. Delight and quintessence of joy must be in it. And where can the soul suck those pure comforts which amaze it with wonder, and crown it with delight—but in God? 'In God', says Augustine, 'the soul is delighted with such sweetness as enraptures it!' The love of God is a honeycomb which drops such infinite sweetness and satisfaction into the soul as is 'unspeakable and full of glory.' (1 Peter 1:8). A kiss from God's mouth puts the soul into a divine ecstasy, so that now it cries out, 'It is good to be here!'

Another ingredient in blessedness is plenty. That which makes a man blessed—must not be scanty. It is a full draught which quenches the soul's thirst; and where shall we find plenty but in Deity? 'You shall make them drink of the river of your pleasures' (Psalm 36:8); not drops but rivers! The soul bathes itself and is laid, as it were, steeping in the water of life! The river of paradise overflows and empties its silver streams into the souls of the blessed!

In true blessedness there must be variety. Plenty without variety—is apt to nauseate. In God there is 'all fullness'. (Colossians 1:19). What can the soul desire—but it may be had in the chief good? God is 'the good in all good things'. He is a sun, a shield, a portion, a fountain, a rock of strength, a horn of salvation. In God there is a convergence of all excellencies. There are every moment—fresh beauties and delights springing from God.

To make up blessedness there must be perfection; the joy must be perfect, the glory perfect. 'Spirits of just men made perfect' (Hebrews 12:23). Blessedness must run through the whole. If there is the least defect, it destroys the nature of blessedness; as the least symptom of a disease takes away the well-being and right temperature of the body.

True blessedness must have eternity stamped on it. Blessedness is a fixed thing; it admits of no change or alteration. God says of every child of his, 'I have blessed him—and he shall be blessed!' As the sunshine of blessedness is 'without clouds', so it never sets. 'I give unto them eternal life' (John 10:28). 'And so shall weever be with the Lord' (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Eternity is the highest link of blessedness! Thus we have seen that this diamond of blessedness is only to be found in the Rock of Ages. 'Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.' 'There remains a rest for the people of God' (Hebrews 4:9).

Revolve this truth often in your mind. There are many truths which swim in the brain, which do not sink into the heart—and those do us no good. Chew the cud!Let a Christian think seriously with himself, 'there is a blessedness feasible and I am capable of enjoying it—if I do not lay bars in the way and block up my own happiness. Though within I see nothing but guilt, and without nothing but curses—yet there is a blessedness to be had, and to be had for me too in the use of means.'

The serious meditation on this, will be a forcible argument to make the sinner break off his sins by repentance, and sweat hard until he finds the golden mine of blessedness. I say—it would be the break-neck of sin! How would a man offer violence to himself by mortification, and to heaven by supplication, that at last he may arrive at this state of blessedness! What! is there a crown of blessedness to be set upon my head! A crown hung with the jewels of honor, delight, magnificence! A crown reached out by God himself! And shall I hazard all this—by sin! Can the pleasure of sin countervail the loss of all this blessedness! What more powerful motive to repentance than this—Sin will rob me of the blessing!

If a man knew certainly that a king would settle all his crown revenues on him after a term of years, would he offend that regal Majesty and cause him to reverse or alter his will? There is a blessedness promised to all who live godly. 'This is the promise he has promised us—even eternal life' (1 John 2:25). We are not excluded—but may come in for a child's part. Now shall we, by living in sin—provoke God and forfeit this blessedness? O what madness is this! Well may the apostle call them 'foolish and hurtful lusts' (1 Timothy 6:9), because every lust does what it can—to cut off the mercy and block up the way to happiness. Every sin may be compared to the 'flaming sword', which shuts the heavenly paradise—so that the sinner cannot enter.

Let us so conduct ourselves—that we may express to others that we do believe a blessedness to come—and that is by seeking an interest in God. For the beams of blessedness shine only from his face. It is our union with God, the chief good—which makes us blessed. Oh, let us never rest until we can say, 'This God is ourGod forever and ever' (Psalm 48:14). Most men think because God has blessed them with an estate, therefore they are blessed. Alas, God often gives these worldly things in anger. 'God grants a thing when he is angry—which he does not will to give when he is tranquil.' God often loads his enemies with gold and silver—the weight whereof sinks them into hell. Oh, let us pant after heavenly things! Let us get our eyes fixed, and our hearts united to God, the supreme good.

Let us proclaim to the world that we do believe a blessedness to come—by living blessed lives; walk as befits the heirs of blessedness. A blessed crown, and acursed life—will never agree. Many tell us they are bound for heaven—but they steer their course a quite contrary way. The Devil is their pilot, and they sail hell-ward, as if a man should say he were going a voyage to the east—but sails quite westward. The drunkard will tell you he hopes for blessedness—but he sails another way. You must go weeping to heaven, not reeling. The unclean person talks of blessedness—but he is fallen into that 'deep ditch' (Proverbs 23:27), where he is like sooner to find hell than heaven. A beast may as well be made an angel—as an unclean person in his leprosy, can enter into the paradise of God. The covetous person (of whom it may be said, 'he is a worm and no man', for he is ever creeping in the earth) yet would lay a claim to blessedness; but can earthascend? Shall a lump of clay be made a bright star in the firmament of glory? Be assured they shall never be blessed—who bless themselves in their sins. 'If,' says God, 'the sinner blesses himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst' —the Lord will not spare him—but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and the Lord shall blot out his name under heaven' (Deuteronomy 29:19). A man can no more extract blessedness out of sin—than he can suck health out of poison! O let us lead blessed lives, and so 'declare plainly that we seek a heavenly country' (Hebrews 11:14).

To you who have any good hope through grace, that you have a title to blessedness, let me say as the Levites did to the people, 'Stand up and bless the Lord your God forever and ever' (Nehemiah 9:5). What infinite cause have you to be thankful that the lot of free grace has fallen upon you! Though you had forfeited all—yet God has provided a haven of happiness, and he is carrying you there upon the sea of Christ's blood, with the gale of his Spirit blowing your sails! You are in a better condition through Christ, than when you had the robes of innocence upon you. God has raised you a step higher—by your fall. How many has God passed by—and looked upon you! There are millions who shall lie under the bitter vials of God's curses; whereas he will bring you into his banqueting-house, and pour out the flagons of wine, and feast you eternally with the delicacies of heaven! O adore free grace! Rejoice in this love of God towards you. Spend and be spent for the Lord. Dedicate yourselves to him in a way of resignation, and lay out yourselves for him in a way of thanksgiving. Never think you can do enough—for that God who will shortly set you ashore in the land of heavenly promise!


B. The godly are in some sense already blessed

 

 

I proceed now to the second premise—that the godly are in some sense already blessed. The saints are blessed not only when they arrive in heaven—but also while they are travelers to glory. They are blessed before they are crowned. This seems a paradox to flesh and blood. What, reproached and maligned—yet blessed! A man who looks upon the children of God with a carnal eye and sees how they are afflicted, and like the ship in the gospel which was 'covered with waves' (Matthew 8:24), would think they were far from blessedness. Paul brings a catalogue of his sufferings: 'Thrice was I beaten with rods; once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck … ' (2 Corinthians 11:24-26). And those Christians of the first magnitude, of whom the world was not worthy, 'had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings; they were sawn asunder; they were slain with the sword' (Hebrews 11:36, 37). What! Were all these during the time of their sufferings, blessed? A carnal man would think, 'If this is to be blessed—God deliver me from it!'

But, however sense and reason give their vote, our Savior Christ pronounces the godly man to be blessed. Though he is a mourner, though he is a martyr—yet he is blessed. Job on the dunghill—was blessed Job. The saints are blessed when they are cursed. Shimei cursed David. 'He came forth and cursed him' (2 Samuel 16:5). Yet when he was cursed David, he was blessed David. The saints, though they are bruised—yet they are blessed. Not only shall they be blessed, they arenow blessed. 'Blessed are the undefiled' (Psalm 19:1). 'Your blessing is upon your people' (Psalm 3:8).

How are the saints already blessed?

 

 

(1) In that they are enriched with heavenly blessings (Ephesians 1:3). They are 'partakers of the divine nature' (2 Peter 1:4), not by an incorporation into the divine essence—but by transformation into the divine likeness. This is blessedness begun. The new-born babe is said to have life in it—as well as he who is fully grown. Just so, the saints, who are partakers of the divine nature, have an incipient blessedness, though they have not arrived yet at perfection. Believers have the seed of God abiding in them (1 John 3:9). And this is a seed of blessedness. The flower of glory grows out of the seed of grace! Grace and glory differ not inkind—but degree. Grace is the root—glory is the fruit. Grace is glory in the dawning; glory is grace in the full meridian. Grace is the first link in the chain of blessedness. Now he who has the first link of the chain in his hand, has the whole chain. The saints have the Spirit of God in them, 'The Holy Spirit, who dwells in us' (2 Timothy 1:14). How can the blessed Spirit be in a man—and he not blessed? A godly man's heart is a paradise, planted with the choicest fruit—and God himself walks in the midst of this paradise—so the man must be blessed!

(2) The saints are already blessed—because their sins are not imputed to them. 'Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity' (Psalm 32:2). God's not imputing iniquity, signifies God's making of sin not to be. It is as if the man had never sinned. The debt book is crossed out in Christ's blood, and if the debtor owes ever so much—yet if the creditor crosses out the book, it is as if he had never owed anything. God's not imputing sin signifies that God will never call for the debt; or, if it should be called for, it shall be hidden out of sight. 'In those days the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found' (Jeremiah 50:20). Now such a man who has not sin imputed to him, is blessed, and the reason is, because if sin is not imputed to a man, then the curse is taken away; and if the curse be taken away, then he must needs be blessed!

(3) The saints are already blessed—because they are in covenant with God. This is clear by comparing two scriptures: 'I will be their God', (Jeremiah 31:33), and 'Happy is that people whose God is the Lord' (Psalm 144:15). This is the crowning blessing, to have the Lord for our God. Impossible it is to imagine that God should be our God—and we not be blessed.

This sweet word, 'I will be your God', implies propriety—that all that is in God, shall be ours! His love is ours, his Spirit ours, his mercy ours. It implies allrelations. It implies the relation of a father, 'I will be a father unto you' (2 Corinthians 6:18). The sons of a prince are happy. How blessed are the saints who are of true royal blood? It implies the relation of a husband, 'Your Maker is your husband' (Isaiah 54:5). The spouse, being contracted to her husband, is happy by having an interest in all that he has. The saints being contracted by faith are blessed, though the marriage supper is kept for heaven. It implies terms of friendship. Those who are in covenant with God are favorites of heaven. 'Abraham my friend' (Isaiah 41:8). It is counted a subject's happiness to be in favor with his prince, though he may live a ways from court. How happy must he needs be—who is God's favorite!

(4) The saints are already blessed because they have a guarantee of heaven; as, on the contrary, the unbeliever has a guarantee of hell, and is said to be already condemned. 'He who believes not, is condemned already' (John 3:18). He is as sure to be condemned, as if he were condemned already. So he who has heaven laid up for him, may be said to be already blessed. A man that has the guarantee of a house, after a short lease is run out—he looks upon that house—as his already. 'This house,' says he, 'is mine.' So a believer has a guarantee of heaven after the lease of life has run out, and he can say at present, 'Christ is mine and glory is mine!' He has a title to heaven, and he is a blessed man who has a title to show; more—faith turns the promise, into a possession!

(5) The saints are already blessed because they have the first-fruits of blessedness here. We read of the pledge of the Spirit, and the seal of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:22), and the first-fruits of the Spirit (Romans 8:23). Heaven is already begun in a believer. 'The kingdom of God is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit' (Romans 14:17). This kingdom is in a believer's heart (Luke 17:21). The people of God have a foretaste of blessedness here. As Israel tasted of the grapes before they actually possessed Canaan, so the children of God have those secret incomes of the Spirit, those smiles of Christ's face, those kisses of his lips, those love-tokens—and they think themselves sometimes in heaven. Oftentimes the Comforter is let down to the soul in an ordinance, and now the soul is in the suburbs of Jerusalem above. A Christian sees heaven by faith, end tastes it by joy; end what is this, but blessedness?

(6) The saints may be said in this life to be blessed, because all things tend to make them blessed. 'All things work together for good to them that love God' (Romans 8:28). We say to him that has everything falling out for the best, You are a happy man. The saints are very happy, for all things have a tendency to their good. Prosperity does them good; adversity does them good. Nay, sin turns to their good. Every trip makes them more watchful. Their maladies are their medicines. Are not they happy people that have every wind blowing them to the right port?

(7) A saint may be said to be blessed, because part of him is already blessed. He is blessed in his head; Christ, his head, is in glory; Christ and believers make one mystical body; their head is gotten into heaven.

See the difference between a wicked man and a godly. Let a wicked man have ever so many comforts—still he is cursed. Let a godly man have ever so many crosses—still he is blessed. Let a wicked man have the 'candle of God shining' on him (Job 29:3), let his way be so smooth that he meets with no rubs; let him have success—yet still there is a curse upon him. You may read the sinner's inventory (Deuteronomy 28:16, 17, 18). He is not more full of sin—than he is of acurse. Though perhaps he blesses himself in his wickedness—yet he is heir to God's curse. All the curses of the Bible are his portion, and at the day of death this portion is sure to be paid. But a godly man in the midst of all his miseries is blessed. He may be under the cross—but not under a curse!

It shows the privilege of a believer. He not only shall be blessed—but he is blessed! Blessedness has begun in him. 'You are blessed of the Lord' (Psalm 115:15). Let the condition of the righteous be ever so sad—yet it is blessed. He is blessed in affliction, 'Blessed is he whom you chasten' (Psalm 94:12). He is blessed in poverty, 'poor in the world, rich in faith' (James 2:5). He is blessed in disgrace, 'The spirit of glory and of God rests upon you' (1 Peter 4:14). This may be a cordial to the fainting Christian; he is blessed both in life and death! Satan cannot supplant him of the blessing.

How may this take away murmuring and melancholy from a child of God! Will you repine and be sad—when you are blessed? Esau wept because he lost the blessing. 'Bless me, even me also, O my father, and Esau lifted up his voice and wept' (Genesis 27:38). But shall a child of God be immoderately cast down when he has the blessing? How evil it is to be blessed, and yet murmur!

What an encouragement is this to godliness! We are all ambitious of a blessing, then let us espouse true religion. 'Blessed is the man who fears the Lord' (Psalm 112:1). But you will say, "This way is everywhere spoken against." It does not matter, seeing this is the way to get a blessing. Suppose a rich man should adopt another for his heir, and others should reproach him—he does not care as long as he is heir to the grand estate. So, what though others may reproach you for your piety—as long as it entails a blessing on you; the same day you become godly, you become blessed.


Having spoken of the general notion of blessedness, I come next to consider the subjects of this blessedness, and these our Savior has described to be the poor in spirit, the mourners, etc. But before I touch upon these, I shall attempt a little preface upon this sermon of the beatitudes.

1. Observe the divinity in this sermon, which goes beyond all philosophy. The philosophers say that one contrary expels another; but here one contrary begets another. Poverty is accustomed to expel riches—but here poverty begets riches, for how rich are those who have a kingdom! Mourning is accustomed to expel joy—but here mourning begets joy—'they shall be comforted'. Water is accustomed to quench the flame—but the water of tears kindles the flame of joy. Persecution is accustomed to expel happiness—but here it makes happy—'Blessed are those who are persecuted'. These are the sacred paradoxes in our Savior's sermon.

2. Observe how Christ's doctrine and the opinion of carnal men differ. They think, 'Blessed are the rich.' The world would count him blessed who could have Midas' wish—that all that he touched might be turned into gold. But Christ says, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit'. The world thinks, 'Blessed are they on the pinnacle!' But Christ pronounces them blessed, who are in the valley. Christ's reckonings and the world's reckonings—do not agree.

3. Observe the nature of true religion. Poverty leads the van, and persecution brings up the rear. Every true saint is heir to the cross! Some there are, who would be thought religious, displaying Christ's colors by a glorious profession—but to be 'poor in spirit' and 'persecuted'—they cannot take down this bitter pill. They would wear Christ's jewels—but waive his cross! These are strangers to true religion.

4. Observe the certain connection between grace and its reward. Those who are 'poor in spirit' shall have the 'kingdom of God'. They are as sure to go to heaven, as if they were in heaven already. Our Savior would encourage men to piety—by sweetening commands with promises. He ties duty and rewardtogether. As Apelles painted Helena richly drawn in costly and glorious apparel, hung all over with orient pearl, and precious stones; so our Lord Christ, having set down several qualifications of a Christian, 'poor in spirit', 'pure in heart', etc.' draws these heavenly virtues in their fair colors of blessedness, and sets the magnificent crown of reward upon them—that by this brilliance, he might the more set forth their unparalleled beauty, and entice holy love.

5. Observe hence the chain of the graces: poor in spirit, meek, merciful, etc. Where there is one grace—there is all. We may say of the graces of the spirit—they are linked and chained together. He that has poverty of spirit—is a mourner. He who is a mourner—is meek. He who is meek—is merciful, etc. The Spirit of God plants in the heart a habit of all the graces. The graces of the Spirit are like a row of pearls which hang together upon the string of piety, and serve to adorn Christ's bride. This I note, to show you a difference between a hypocrite and a true child of God. The hypocrite flatters himself with a pretense of grace—but in the meantime he does not have a habit of all the graces. He does not have poverty of spirit, nor purity of heart; whereas a child of God has the habit of all the graces in his heart. These things being premised, I come in particular to those heavenly dispositions of soul to which Christ has affixed blessedness. And the first is Poverty of Spirit: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit'.

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Chapter 2 Poverty of Spirit

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

Some are of opinion, that this was the first sermon which ever Christ gave, therefore it may challenge our best attention. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit'. Our Lord Christ, beginning to raise a high and stately fabric of blessedness, lays the foundation of it low—in poverty of spirit. But all poverty is not blessed. I shall use a fourfold distinction.

1. I distinguish between 'poor in estate', and 'poor in spirit'. There are the Devil's poor. They are both poor and wicked—whose clothes are not more torn than their conscience. There are some whose poverty is their sin, who through improvidence or excess have brought themselves to poverty. These may be poor in estate—but not poor in spirit.

2. I distinguish between 'spiritually poor' and 'poor in spirit'. He who is without grace is spiritually poor—but he is not poor in spirit; he does not know his own beggary. 'You know not, that you are poor' (Revelation 3:17). He is in the worst sense poor—who has no sense of his poverty.

3. I distinguish between 'poor-spirited' and 'poor in spirit'. They are said to be poor-spirited who have mean, base spirits, who act below themselves. Such are those misers, who having great estates—yet can hardly afford themselves bread; who live sneakingly, and are ready to wish their own throats cut, because they are forced to spend something in satisfying nature's demands. This Solomon calls an evil under the sun. 'There is an evil which I have seen under the sun—a man to whom God has given riches, so that he lacks nothing that he desires—yet God gives him not power to eat thereof' (Ecclesiastes 6:2). True religion makes no man a niggard. Though it teaches prudence—yet not sordidness.

Then there are those who act below themselves as they are Christians, while they sinfully comply and prostitute themselves to the desires of others; a base kind of metal that will take any stamp. They will for a piece of silver—part with the jewel of a good conscience. They will be of the popular religion. They will dance to the devil's pipe, if their superior commands them. These are poor-spirited but not poor in spirit.

4. I distinguish between poor in an evangelical sense—and poor in a popish sense. The papists give a wrong gloss upon the text. By 'poor in spirit', they understand those who, renouncing their estates, vow a voluntary poverty, living retiredly in their monasteries. But Christ never meant these. He does not pronounce them blessed—who make themselves poor, leaving their estates and callings—but such as are evangelically poor.

Well then, what are we to understand by 'poor in spirit'? The Greek word for 'poor' is not only taken in a strict sense for those who live upon charity—but in a more large sense, for those who are destitute as well of inward as outward comfort. Poor in spirit, then, signifies those who are brought to the sense of their sins, and seeing no goodness in themselves, despair in themselves and sue wholly to the mercy of God in Christ. Poverty of spirit is a kind of self-annihilation. 'The poor in spirit' (says Calvin) 'are those who see nothing in themselves—but fly to mercy for sanctuary.' Such an one was the publican: 'God be merciful to me a sinner' (Luke 18:13). Of this temper was Paul: 'That I may be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness' (Philippians 3:9). These are the poor, who are invited as guests to wisdom's banquet (Proverbs 7:3, 4).

Here several questions may be propounded.

[1] Why does Christ here begin with poverty of spirit? Why is this put in the forefront? I answer, Christ does it to show that poverty of spirit is the very basis and foundation of all the other graces which follow. You may as well expect fruit to grow without a root, as the other graces without poverty of spirit. Until a man is poor in spirit, he cannot mourn. Poverty of spirit is like the fire under the still, which makes the water drop from the eyes. When a man sees his own defects and deformities, and looks upon himself as undone—then he mourns after Christ. 'The springs run in the valleys' (Psalm 104:10). When the heart becomes a valley and lies low by poverty of spirit, now the springs of holy mourning run there. Until a man is poor in spirit, he cannot 'hunger and thirst after righteousness'. He must first be sensible of need, before he can hunger. Therefore Christ begins with poverty of spirit—because this ushers in all the rest.

[2] What is the difference between poverty of spirit, and humilityThese are so alike that they have been taken one for the other. Chrysostom, by 'poverty of spirit', understands humility. Yet I think there is some difference. They differ as the cause and the effect. I think that poverty of spirit is the cause of humility, for when a man sees his need of Christ, and how he lives on the alms of free grace—this makes him humble. He who is sensible of his own vacuity and indigence, hangs his head in humility with the violet. Humility is the sweet spice which grows from poverty of spirit.

[3] What is the difference between poverty of spirit, and self-denial? I answer, in some things they agree, in some things they differ. In some things theyagree; for the one who is poor in spirit is an absolute self-denier. He renounces all good opinion of himself. He acknowledges his dependence upon Christ and free grace.

But in some things they differ. The self-denier parts with the world for Christ; the poor in spirit parts with himself for Christ, that is—his own righteousness. The poor in spirit sees himself nothing without Christ; the self-denier will leave himself nothing for Christ. And thus I have shown what poverty of spirit is.

The words thus opened present us with this truth—that Christians must be poor in spirit. Or thus—poverty of spirit is the jewel which Christians must wear. As the best creature was made out of nothing; so when a man sees himself to be nothing, out of this nothing God makes a most beautiful creature. It is God's usual method to make a man poor in spirit—and then fill him with the graces of the Spirit. As we deal with a watch, we take it first to pieces, and then set all the wheels and pins in order—so the Lord first takes a man all to pieces, shows him his undone condition—and then sets him in frame.

The reasons are:

1 Until we are poor in spirit—we are not capable of receiving grace. He who is swollen with self-excellency and self-sufficiency—is not fit for Christ. He is full already. If the hand is full of pebbles—it cannot receive gold. The glass is first emptied, before you pour in wine. God first empties a man of himself, before he pours in the precious wine of his grace. None but the poor in spirit are within Christ's commission. 'The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted' (Isaiah 61:1), that is, such as are broken in the sense of their unworthiness.

2. Until we are poor in spirit—Christ is never precious. Until we see our own wants, we never see Christ's worth. Poverty of spirit is salt and seasoning, which makes Christ relish sweet to the soul. Mercy is most welcome to the poor in spirit. He who sees himself clad in filthy rags (Zechariah 3:4,5), what will he give for change of raiment, the righteousness of Christ! What will he give to have the fair mitre of salvation set upon his head! When a man sees himself almost wounded to death—how precious will the balm of Christ's blood be to him! When he sees himself deep in arrears with God, and is so far from paying the debt that he cannot sum up the debt—how glad would he be for a surety! 'The pearl of great price' is only precious to the one who is poor in spirit. He who needs bread and is ready to starve, will have it whatever it cost. He will lay his garment to pledge; bread he must have—or he is undone! So to him who is poor in spirit, who sees his need of Christ—how precious is a Savior! Christ is Christ and grace is grace to him! He will do anything for the bread of life! Therefore will God have the soul thus qualified—to enhance the value and estimate of the Lord Jesus.

3. Until we are poor in spirit—we cannot go to heaven. 'Theirs is the kingdom of heaven'. Poverty of spirit tunes and prepares us for heaven. By nature a man is puffed up with self-esteem, and the gate of heaven is so narrow that he cannot enter. Now poverty of spirit lessens the soul; it pares off its superfluity, and now he is fit to enter in at the 'narrow gate'. The great rope cannot go through the eye of the needle—but let it be untwisted and made into small threads, and then it may. Poverty of spirit untwists the great rope. It makes a man little in his own eyes, and now an entrance shall be made unto him, 'richly into the everlasting Kingdom' (2 Peter 1:11). Through this temple of poverty, we must go into the temple of glory.

It shows wherein a Christian's riches consist, namely in poverty of spirit. Some think if they can fill their bags with gold—and then they are rich. But those who are poor in spirit, are the rich men. They are rich in poverty. This poverty entitles them to a kingdom! How poor are those who think themselves rich! How rich are those who see themselves poor! I call it the 'jewel of poverty'. There are some paradoxes in piety which the world cannot understand; for a man to become a fool that he may be wise (1 Corinthians 3:18); to save his life by losing it (Matthew 16:25); and by being poor to be rich. Carnal reason laughs at it—but 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom'. Then this poverty is to be striven for more than all riches. Under these rags, is hidden cloth of gold. Out of this carcass comes honey.

If blessed are the poor in spirit, then by the rule of contraries, cursed are the proud in spirit (Proverbs 16:5). There is a generation of men who commit idolatry with themselves; no such idol as self! They admire their own parts, moralities, self-righteousness; and upon this stock graft the hope of their salvation. There are many too good to go to heaven. They have commodities enough of their own growth, and they scorn to live upon the borrow, or to be indebted to Christ. These bladders the Devil has blown up with pride, and they are swelled in their own conceit; but it is like the swelling of a dropsy man whose bigness is his disease. Thus it was with that proud justiciary: 'The Pharisee stood and prayed, God, I thank you that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican; I fast twice in the week, I give tithes … ' (Luke 18:11). Here was a man setting up the topsail of pride; but the publican, who was poor in spirit, stood afar off and would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven—but smote upon his breast saying, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' This man carried away the garland. 'I tell you' (says Christ) 'this man went down to his house justified rather than the other'. Paul, before his conversion, thought himself in a very good condition, 'touching the law, blameless' (Philippians 3:6). He thought to have built a tower of his own righteousness, the top whereof should have reached to heaven; but, at last, God showed him there was a crack in the foundation, and then he gets into the 'rock of ages'. 'That I may be found in him' (Philippians 3:9). There is not a more dangerous precipice than self-righteousness. This was Laodicea's temper: 'Because you say I am rich and I have need of nothing … ' (Revelation 3:17). She thought she wanted nothing when indeed she had nothing. How many does this damn! We see some ships that have escaped the rocks—yet are cast away upon the sands; so some who have escaped the rocks of gross sins—yet are cast away upon the sands of self-righteousness; and how hard is it to convince such men of their danger! They will not believe but that they may be helped out of their dungeon with these rotten rags. They cannot be persuaded their case is so bad as others would make it. Christ tells them they are blind—but they are like Seneca's maid, who was born blind—but she would not believe it. The house, says she, is dark—but I am not blind. Christ tells them they are naked, and offers his white robe to cover them—but they are of a different persuasion; and because they are blind, they cannot see themselves naked. How many have perished by being their own saviors! O that this might drive the proud sinner out of himself! A man never comes to himself until he comes out of himself. And no man can come out, until first Christ comes in.

If poverty of spirit be so necessary—how shall I know that I am poor in spirit? By the blessed effects of this poverty, which are:

1. He who is poor in spirit—is weaned from himself. 'My soul is even as a weaned child' (Psalm 131:2). It is hard for a man to be weaned from himself. The vine catches hold of everything that is near, to prop itself upon. Just so, there is some bough or other a man would be catching hold of to rest upon. How hard is it to be brought quite off himself! The poor in spirit are divorced from themselves; they see they must go to hell without Christ. 'My soul is even as a weaned child'.

2. He who is poor in spirit—is a Christ-admirer. He has high thoughts of Christ. He sees himself naked—and flies to Christ, to be clothed in the garments of His righteousness. He sees himself wounded—and as the wounded deer runs to the water, so he thirsts for Christ's blood, the water of life. "Lord!" says he, "give me Christ or I die!" Conscience is turned into a fiery serpent and has stung him; now he will give all the world—for a brazen serpent! He sees himself in a state ofdeath; and how precious is one leaf of the tree of life, which is both for food and medicine! The poor in spirit sees all his riches lie in Christ, 'wisdom, righteousness, sanctification . . '. In every need, he flies to this storehouse! He adores the all-fullness in Christ.

They say of the oil in Rheims, though they are continually almost using it—yet it is never used up. And such is Christ's blood—it can never be emptied. He who is poor in spirit has recourse still to this fountain. He sets a high value and appreciation upon Christ. He hides himself in Christ's wounds. He bathes himself in his blood. He wraps himself in Christ's robe. He sees a spiritual dearth and famine at home—but he flees to Christ. 'Show me the Lord (says he) and it suffices!'

3. He who is poor in spirit—is ever complaining of his spiritual estate. He is much like a poor man who is ever telling you of his needs. He has nothing to help himself with—he is ready to starve! So it is with him that is poor in spirit. He is ever complaining of his needs, saying, "I want a broken heart—and a thankful heart." He makes himself the most indigent creature. Though he dares not deny the work of grace (which would be a bearing false witness again the Spirit)—yet he mourns he has no more grace. This is the difference between a hypocrite and a child of God. The hypocrite is ever telling what good he has. A child of God complains of what good he lacks. The one is glad he is so good; the other grieves he is so bad. The poor in spirit goes from ordinance to ordinance for a supply of his needs; he would gladly have his stock increased. Try by this if you are poor in spirit. While others complain they want children, or they want estates—do you complain you wany grace? This is a good sign. 'There is one who makes himself poor—yet has great riches' (Proverbs 13:7). Some beggars have died rich. The poor in spirit, who have lain all their lives at the gate of mercy and have lived upon the alms of free grace—have died rich in faith, heirs to an eternal kingdom!

4. He who is poor in spirit—is lowly in heart. Rich men are commonly proud and scornful—but the poor are submissive. The poor in spirit roll themselves in the dust in the sense of their unworthiness. 'I abhor myself in dust' (Job 42:6). He who is poor in spirit looks at another's excellencies—and his own infirmities. He denies not only his sins—but his duties. The more grace he has, the more humble he is—because he now sees himself a greater debtor to God. If he can do any duty, he acknowledges it is Christ's strength more than his own (Philippians 4:13). As the ship gets to the haven more by the benefit of the wind than the sail—so when a Christian makes any swift progress, it is more by the wind of God's Spirit than the sail of his own endeavor. The poor in spirit, when he acts most like a saint, confesses himself 'the chief of sinners'. He blushes more at the defect of his graces—than others do at the excess of their sins. He dares not say he has prayed or wept. He lives—yet not he—but Christ lives in him (Galatians 2:20). He labors—yet not he—but the grace of God (1 Corinthians 15:10).

5. He who is poor in spirit—is much in prayer. He sees how short he is of the standard of holiness, therefore begs for more grace; Lord, more faith, more conformity to Christ. A poor man is ever begging. You may know by this—one who is poor in spirit. He is ever begging for a spiritual alms. He knocks at heaven-gate; he sends up sighs; he pours out tears; he will not leave the gate—until he has his alms. God loves a modest boldness in prayer; such shall not be turned away.

6. He who is poor in spirit—is content to take Christ upon his own terms. The proud sinner will argue and bargain with Christ. He will have Christ—and his pleasures; Christ—and his covetousness. But he who is poor in spirit sees himself lost without Christ, and he is willing to have him upon his own terms, a Princeto rule him—as well as a Saviour to save him: 'Jesus my Lord' (Philippians 3:8). A castle which has long been besieged and is ready to be captured, will surrender on any terms to save their lives. He whose heart has been a garrison for the devil, and has held out long in opposition against Christ, when once God has brought him to poverty of spirit, and he sees himself damned without Christ, let God propound whatever articles he will—he will readily subscribe to them. 'Lord, what will you have me to do?' (Acts 9:6). He who is poor in spirit will do anything—that he may have Christ. He will behead his beloved sin! He will, with Peter, cast himself upon the water to come to Christ.

7. He who is poor in spirit—is an exalter of free grace. None so magnify God's mercy—as the poor in spirit. The poor are very thankful. When Paul had tasted mercy, how thankfully does he adore free grace! 'The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant' (1 Timothy 1:14). It was super-exuberant grace! He sets the crown of his salvation—upon the head of free grace! As a man who is condemned and has a pardon sent him—how greatly he proclaims the goodness and mercifulness of his prince! So Paul displays free grace in its magnificent colors. He interlines all his epistles with free grace. As a vessel which has been perfumedmakes the water taste of it—so Paul, who was a vessel perfumed with mercy, makes all his epistles to taste of this perfume of free grace! Those who are poor in spirit, bless God for the least crumb which falls from the table of free grace! Labor for poverty of spirit. Christ begins with this, and we must begin here if ever we are saved. Poverty of spirit is the foundation stone, on which God lays the superstructure of eternal glory!

There are four things which may persuade Christians to be poor in spirit.

1. This poverty is your riches. You may have the world's riches, and yet be poor. You cannot have this poverty without being made rich. Poverty of spirit entitles you to all Christ's riches.

2. This poverty is your nobility. God looks upon you as people of honor. He who is vile in his own eyes—is precious in God's eyes. The way to rise—is to fall. God esteems the valley highest.

3. Poverty of spirit sweetly quiets the soul. When a man is brought off from himself to rest on Christ, what a blessed calm is in the heart! I am poor—but 'my God shall supply all my needs!' (Philippians 4:19). I am unworthy—but Christ is worthy! I am indigent—but Christ is infinite! 'Lead me to the rock that is higher than I' (Psalm 61:2). A man is safe upon a rock. When the soul goes out of itself and centers upon the rock, Christ—now it is firmly settled upon its basis. This is the way to comfort. You will be wounded in spirit—until you come to be poor in spirit.

4. Poverty of spirit paves the pathway for blessedness. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit.' Are you poor in spirit? You are blessed people! Happy for you that ever you were born! If you ask, "Wherein does this blessedness appear?" read the next words, 'Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven'.

5. The poor in spirit are enriched with a heavenly kingdom!


"Theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
 Matthew 5:3

Here is high advancement for the saints. They shall be advanced to a heavenly kingdom! There are some who, aspiring after earthly greatness, talk of a temporal reign here—but then God's church on earth would not be militant, but triumphant. But sure it is—that the saints shall reign in a glorious manner: 'Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.' A kingdom is the pinnacle and top of all worldly felicity, and 'this honor have all the saints!' So says our Savior, 'Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' All Christ's subjects are kings! By the kingdom of heaven, is meant that state of glory which the saints shall enjoy when they shall reign with God and the angels forever; sin, hell and death being fully subdued.

A. For the illustration of this, I shall show first—wherein the saints in heaven are like kings. Kings have their insignia or regalia, their ensigns of royalty and majesty.

1. Kings have their CROWNS. So the saints after death have their royal crown. 'Be faithful unto death—and I will give you a crown of life' (Revelation 2:10). Believers are not only pardoned—but crowned! The crown is an ensign of honor. A crown is not for everyone. It will not fit every head. It is only for kings and people of renown to wear (Psalm 21:3). The crown which the poor in spirit shall wear in heaven, is an honorable crown. God himself installs them into their honor and sets the royal crown upon their head. And this crown that the saints shall wear, which is divinely glorious and illustrious, exceeds all other.

[1] It is more pure. Other crowns, though they are made of pure gold—yet they are mixed metal; they have their troubles. A crown of gold, cannot be made without thorns. It has so many vexations belonging to it, that it is apt to make the head ache. Which made Cyrus say, did men but know what cares he sustained under the imperial crown, he thought they would not stoop to take it up. But the saints' crown is made without crosses. It is not mingled with care of keeping—orfear of losing. What Solomon speaks in another sense, I may say of the crown of glory, 'It adds no sorrow with it' (Proverbs 10:22). This crown, like David's harp, drives away the evil spirit of sorrow and disquiet. As there can be joy in hell—so there can be no grief in heaven!

[2] This crown of glory does not draw envy to it. David's own son envied him and sought to take his crown from his head. A princely crown is oftentimes the mark for envy and ambition to shoot at! But the crown the saints shall wear is free from envy. One saint shall not envy another—because all are crowned! And though one crown may be larger than another—yet every one shall have as big a crown as he is able to carry!

[3] This is a never-fading crown. Other crowns quickly wear away and tumble into the dust: 'Does the crown endure to all generations?' (Proverbs 27:24). Henry VI was honored with the crowns of two kingdoms, France and England. The first was lost through the faction of his nobles; the other was twice plucked from his head. The crown has many heirs and successors. The crown is a withering thing. Death is a worm which feeds in it; but the crown of glory is imperishable, 'it fades not away' (1 Peter 5:4). It is not like the rose which loses its color and vernancy. This crown cannot be made to wither—but it keeps always fresh and resplendent. Eternity is a jewel of the saints' crown!

2. Kings have their ROBES. The robe is a garment with which Kings are arrayed. 'The King of Israel and the King of Judah sat clothed in their robes' (2 Chronicles 18:9). The robe was of scarlet or velvet lined with ermine, sometimes of a purple color; sometimes of an azure brightness. Thus the saints shall have their robes. 'I beheld a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds, clothed in white robes' (Revelation 7:9). The saints' robes signify their glory and splendor; white robes denote their sanctity. They have no sin to taint or defile their robes. In these robes they shall shine as the angels!

3. Kings have their SCEPTERS in token of rule and greatness. King Ahasuerus held out to Esther the golden scepter (Esther 5:2); and the saints in glory have their scepter, and 'palms in their hands' (Revelation 7). It was a custom of great conquerors to have palm branches in their hand, in token of victory. So the saints, those kings have 'palms', an emblem of victory and triumph. They are victors over sin and hell. 'They overcame by the blood of the Lamb' (Revelation 12:11).

4. Kings have their THRONES. When Caesar returned from conquering his enemies, there were granted to him four triumphs in token of honor, and there was set for him a chair of ivory in the senate, and a throne in the theater. Just so—the saints in heaven returning from their victories over sin, shall have a throne more rich than ivory or pearl—a throne of glory! (Revelation 3:21).

[1] This shall be a HIGH throne. It is seated high above all the kings and princes of the earth. Nay, it is far above all heavens (Ephesians 4). There is the airyheaven—which is that space from the earth to the sphere of the moon. There is the starry heaven—the place where the stars are. There is the empyrean heaven, which is called the 'third heaven' (2 Corinthians 12:2). In this glorious sublime place, shall the throne of the saints be erected.

[2] It is a SAFE throne. Other thrones are unsafe; they stand tottering. 'You have set them in slippery places' (Psalm 73:18); but the saints' throne is sure. 'He who overcomes shall sit with me upon my throne' (Revelation 3:21). The saints shall sit with Christ. He keeps them safe, that no hand of violence can pull them from their throne. O people of God, think of this—you shall shortly sit upon the heavenly throne with Jesus!

B. Having shown wherein the saints in glory are like kings—let us see wherein the kingdom of heaven excels other kingdoms.

1. It excels in the FOUNDER and MAKER. Other kingdoms have men for their builders—but this kingdom has God for its builder! (Hebrews 11:10). Heaven is said to be 'made without hands' (2 Corinthians 5:1), to show the excellency of it. Neither man nor angel could ever lay stone in this building. God erects this kingdom. Its 'builder and maker is God'.

2. This kingdom excels in the RICHES of it. Gold does not so much surpass iron—as this kingdom surpasses all other riches. 'The gates are of pearl' (Revelation 21:21). 'And the foundations of the wall of it are garnished with all precious stones' (verse 19). It is enough for cabinets to have pearl; but were 'gatesof pearl' ever heard of before? It is said that 'Kings shall throw down their crowns and scepters before it (Revelation 4:10), as counting all their glory and riches but dust—in comparison of it. This kingdom has deity itself to enrich it, and these riches are such as cannot be weighed in the balance; neither the heart of man can conceive, nor the tongue of angel express the magnificence of the heavenly kingdom!

3. This kingdom excels in the PERFECTION of it. Other kingdoms are defective. They have not all provisions within themselves, nor have they all commodities of their own growth—but are forced to trade abroad to supply their needs at home. King Solomon sent for gold to Ophir (2 Chronicles 8:18). But there is no defect in the kingdom of heaven! Here are all delights and rarities to be had! 'He who overcomes shall inherit all things!' (Revelation 21:7). Here is beauty, wisdom, glory and magnificence. Here is the Tree of Life in the midst of this paradise. All things are to be found here—but sin and sorrow—the absence whereof adds to the blessedness of this kingdom!

4. This kingdom excels in SECURITY. Other kingdoms fear either foreign invasions or internal divisions. Solomon's kingdom was peaceable a while—but at last he had an alarum given him by the enemy (1 Kings 11:11,14). But the kingdom of heaven is so impregnable, that it fears no hostile assaults or inroads. The devils are said to be locked up in chains (Jude 6). The saints in heaven shall no more need fear them than a man fears a thief who is hanged up in chains. The gates of this celestial kingdom 'are not shut' (Revelation 21:25). We shut the gates of the city in a time of danger—but the gates of that kingdom always stand open—to show that there is no fear of the approach of an enemy. The kingdom has gates for the magnificence of it—but the gates are not shut because of the security of it.

5. This kingdom excels in its STABILITY. Other kingdoms have vanity written upon them. They cease and are changed; though they may have a head of gold—yet feet of clay. 'I will cause the kingdom to cease' (Hosea 1:4). Where is the glory of Athens? the pomp of Troy? What is become of the Assyrian, Grecian, Persian monarchy? Those kingdoms are demolished and laid in the dust! But the kingdom of heaven has eternity written upon it! It is an 'everlasting kingdom' (2 Peter 1:11). Other kingdoms may be lasting—but not everlasting. The apostle calls it 'a kingdom which cannot be shaken' (Hebrews 12:28). It is fastened upon a strong foundation—the omnipotence of God. It runs parallel with eternity. 'They shall reign forever and ever!' (Revelation 22:5).

C. I shall next show the truth of this proposition—that this kingdom is infallibly entailed on the saints.

In regard of God's free grace. 'It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom' (Luke 12:32). It is not for any desert in us—but the free grace in God. The papists say we merit the kingdom—but we disclaim the title of merit. Heaven is a gift of God's grace.

There is a price paid. Jesus Christ has shed his blood for it. All saints come to the kingdom, through blood. Christ's hanging upon the cross was to bring us to the crown. As the kingdom of heaven is a gift in regard of the Father—so it is a purchase in regard of the Son.

1. This shows us that true religion is no unreasonable thing. God does not cut us out work—and give no reward. Godliness enthrones us in a kingdom! When we hear of the doctrine of repentance, steeping our souls in brinish tears for sin; the doctrine of mortification, pulling out the right eye, beheading the king-sin; and we are ready to think it is hard to swallow down this bitter pill. But here is something in the text which may sweeten it. There is a glorious kingdom reserved for us—and that will make amends for all. This glorious recompense as far exceeds our thoughts—as it surpasses our defects. No one can say without wrong to God, that he is a hard master. God gives double pay. He bestows a kingdom upon those who fear him. Satan may disparage the ways of God, like those spies who raised a bad report of the good land (Numbers 13:32). But will Satan mend your wages if you serve him? He gives damnable pay! Instead of a kingdom—he gives 'chains of darkness' (Jude 6).

2. See here the mercy and bounty of God, who has prepared a kingdom for his people. It is a favor that we poor 'worms and no men' (Psalm 22:6) should be allowed to live. But that worms should be made kings—this is divine bounty! It is mercy to pardon us—but it is rich mercy to crown us! 'Behold, what manner of love' is this! Earthly princes may bestow great gifts on their subjects—but they keep the kingdom to themselves. Though Pharaoh advanced Joseph to honor and gave him a ring from his finger—yet he kept the kingdom to himself. 'Only in the throne will I be greater than you' (Genesis 41:40). But God gives a kingdom to his people, he sets them upon the throne! How David admires the goodness of God in bestowing upon him a temporal kingdom! 'Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord and said, Who am I, O Lord God! and what is my house, that you have brought me hitherto?' (2 Samuel 7:18). He wondered that God should take him from the sheepfold and set him on the throne! that God should turn his shepherd's staff into a king's scepter! O then how may the saints admire the riches of grace, that God should give them a glorious kingdom above all the princes of the earth, nay, far above all heavens! God thinks nothing too good for his children. We many times think much of a tear, a prayer, or to sacrifice a sin for him—but He does not think a kingdom is too much to bestow upon us! How will the saints read over the lectures of free grace in heaven, and trumpet forth the praises of that God, who has crowned them with such astonishing loving-kindness! "Don't be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom." Luke 12:32

3. This shows us that Christianity is no disgraceful thing. Wise men measure things by the final end. What is the end of godliness? It brings a glorious kingdom! A man's sin brings him to shame (Proverbs 13:5). What fruit had you in those things, whereof you are now ashamed? (Romans 6:21). But religion brings to honor (Proverbs 4:8). It brings a man to a throne, a crown, it ends in eternal glory! It is the sinner's folly to reproach a saint. It is just as if Shimei had reproached David when he was going to be made king. It is a saint's wisdom to despise a reproach. Say as David when he danced before the ark, 'I will yet be more vile' (2 Samuel 6:22). If to pray and hear and serve my God, is be to be vile—'I will yet be more vile'. This is my excellency, my glory. I am doing now, that which will bring me to a kingdom. O think it no disgrace to be a Christian! I speak it chiefly to you who are entering upon the ways of God. Perhaps you may meet with such as will reproach and censure you. Bind their reproaches as a crown about your head. Despise their censure as much as their praise. Remember there is a kingdom entailed upon godliness. Sin draws hell after it; grace draws a crown after it!

4. See here that which may make the people of God long for death. Then they shall enter upon their glorious kingdom! Indeed the wicked may fear death. It will not lead them to a kingdom—but a horrid dungeon. Hell is the jail where they must lie rotting forever

with the devil and his demons! To every Christless person—death is the king of terror; but the godly may long for death. It will raise them to a kingdom. When Scipio's father had told him of that glory the soul should be invested with in a state of immortality, "why then," says Scipio, "do I tarry thus long upon the earth? Why do I not hasten to die?" Believers are not perfectly happy until death. When Croesus asked Solon whom he thought happy, he told him one Tellus, a man who was dead. A Christian at death shall be completely installed into his honor. The anointing oil shall be poured on him, and the royal crown set upon his head. The Thracians, in their funerals, used festive music. The heathens (as Theocritus' observes) had their funeral banquet, because of that felicity which they supposed the deceased were entered into. The saints are now 'heirs of the kingdom' (James 2:5). Does not the heir desire to be crowned?

Truly there is enough to wean us and make us willing to be gone from hence. The saints 'eat ashes like bread'. They are here in a suffering condition. 'Our bones are scattered at the grave's mouth, as when one cuts wood' (Psalm 141:7). When a man hews and cuts a tree the chips fly up and down; here and there a chip. So here a saint wounded, there a saint massacred; our bones fly like chips up and down. 'For your sake we are killed all the day long' (Romans 8:36). But there is a kingdom a-coming; when the body is buried the soul is crowned. Who would not be willing to sail in a storm—if he were sure to be crowned as soon as he came at the shore? Why is it that the godly look so ghastly at thoughts of death, as if they were rather going to their execution, than their coronation? Though we should be willing to stay here awhile to do service—yet we should with Paul, 'desire to depart—and be with Christ'. The day of a believer's dissolution—is the day of hisinauguration.

But how shall we know that this glorious kingdom shall be settled upon us at death?

1. God has set up his kingdom of grace within each of his children. 'The kingdom of God is within you' (Luke 17:21). By the kingdom of God here—is meant the kingdom of grace in the heart. Grace may be compared to a kingdom. It sways the scepter; it gives out laws. There is the law of love. Grace beats down the devil's garrisons. It brings the heart into a sweet subjection to Christ. Is this kingdom of grace set up in your heart? Do you rule over your sins? Can you bind those kings in chains? (Psalm 149:8). Are you a king over your pride, passion and unbelief? Is the kingdom of God within you? While others aspire after earthly greatness—do you labor for a kingdom within you? Certainly if the kingdom of grace is in your heart, you shall have the kingdom of glory. If God's kingdom of grace enters into you, you shall enter into his kingdom of glory. But let not that man ever think to reign in glory—who now lives a slave to his lusts!

2. If you are a believer—you will go to this blessed kingdom. 'Rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom' (James 2:5). Faith is a heroic act of the soul. It makes a holy adventure on God, by a promise. Faith is the crowning grace. Faith puts us into Christ, and our title to the crown comes in by Christ. By faith we are born of God, and so we become children of the royal blood. By faith our hearts are purified (Acts 15:9, 10), and we are made fit for a kingdom; 'rich in faith, heirs of the kingdom'. Faith paves a highway to heaven. Believers die heirs to the crown.

3. He who has a noble, kingly spirit—shall go to the heavenly kingdom. 'Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.' (Colossians 3:2). He who has a heavenly spirit—shall go to the heavenly kingdom. Do you live above the world? The eagle does not catch flies—she soars aloft in the air. Do you pant after glory and immortality? Do you abhor that which is sordid and carnal? Can you trample upon all sublunary things? Is heaven in your eye—and Christ in your heart—and the world under your feet? He who has such a kingly spirit, who looks no lower than a crown—'he shall dwell on high', and have his throne mounted far above all heavens!

The exhortation has a double aspect.

1. The exhortation looks toward the WICKED. Is there a kingdom to be had, a kingdom so enameled and bespangled with glory? Oh then, do not by your folly make yourselves incapable of this glorious blessing! Do not for the satisfying of a base lust, forfeit a kingdom. Do not drink away a kingdom. Do not for thelap of pleasure—lose the crown of life! If men, before they committed a sin, would but sit down and rationally consider whether the present gain and sweetness in sin, would countervail the loss of the heavenly kingdom—it would put them into a cold sweat, and give some check to their unbridled lusts. Jacob took Esau by the heel. Look not upon the smiling face of sin—but 'take it by the heel'. Look at the end of it. It will deprive you of a kingdom, and can anything make amends for that loss? O, is it not madness, for the unfruitful works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11), to lose a kingdom? How will the devil at the last day reproach and laugh at men, that they should be so stupidly sottish for a rattle—to forgo a crown! They are like those Indians who for glass beads, will part with their gold. Surely it will much contribute to the vexation of the damned—to think how foolishly they missed of a kingdom.

2. The exhortation looks toward the GODLY, and it exhorts to two things.

[1] Is there a kingdom in reserved for us? Then let this be a motive to duty. Do all the service you can for God while you live. 'Spend and be spent.' The reward is honorable. The thoughts of a kingdom, should add wings to prayer, and fire to zeal. Inquire what you have done for God. What love have you shown to his name? What zeal for his glory? Where is the head of that Goliath lust which you have slain for his sake? Methinks we should sometimes go aside into our closets and weep, to consider how little work we have done for God. What a vast disproportion is there between our service—and our reward! What is all our weeping and fasting—compared to a kingdom! Oh improve all your talents for God. Make seasons of grace, opportunities for service.

And that you may act more vigorously for God, know and be assured—that the more work you do, the more glory you shall have. Every saint shall have a kingdom—but the more service any man does for God, the greater will be his kingdom. There are degrees of glory which I will prove thus:

First, because there are degrees of torment in hell. 'They shall receive greater damnation' (Luke 20:47). Those who make religion a cloak for their sin, shall have a hotter place in hell. Now if there are degrees of torment in hell, then by the rule of contraries, there are degrees of glory in the kingdom of heaven.

Again, seeing God in his free grace rewards men according to their works, therefore, the more service they do the greater shall their reward be. 'Behold I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be' (Revelation 22:12). He who has done more—shall receive more. He who gained ten times what was entrusted to him, was made ruler over ten cities (Luke 19:16, 17). This may very much excite to eminency in religion. The more the lamp of your grace shines, the more you shall shine in the heavenly orb. Would you have your crown brighter, your kingdom larger, your palm-branches more flourishing? Be eminent Christians. Do much work, in a little time. While you are laying out, God is laying up. The more glory you bring to God, the more glory you shall have from God.

[2] Walk worthy of this kingdom. 'You should walk worthy of God, who has called you to his kingdom' (1 Thessalonians 2:12). Live as kings! Let the majesty of holiness appear in your faces. Those who looked on Stephen, 'saw his face, as it had been the face of an angel (Acts 6:15). A kind of angelic brightness was seen in his visage. When we shine in zeal, humility, and holinesss—this beautifies and honors us in the eyes of others, and makes us look as those who are heirs to a heavenly crown.

Here is comfort to the people of God in case of poverty. God has provided them a kingdom: 'Theirs is the kingdom of heaven'. A child of God is often so low in the world, that he has not a foot of land to inherit. He is poor in purse—as well as in spirit. But here is a fountain of consolation opened. The poorest saint who has lost all his golden fleece, is heir to a kingdom—a kingdom which excels all the kingdoms and principalities of the world, more than diamond excels dirt! This kingdom is peerless and endless. "The hope of a kingdom," says Basil, "should carry a Christian with courage and cheerfulness through all his afflictions!" And it is a saying of Luther, "The sea of God's mercy, overflowing in spiritual blessings, should drown all the sufferings of this life!" What though you go now in rags? You shall have your white robes! What though you have only bread and water? You shall feast when you come into the kingdom! Here you drink the brinish water of tears—but shortly you shall drink the wine of paradise. Be comforted with the thoughts of your glorious kingdom!

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Chapter 3 Gospel Mourning

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matthew 5:4

Here are eight steps leading to true blessedness. They may be compared to Jacob's Ladder, the top whereof reached to heaven. We have already gone over one step—and now let us proceed to the second. 'Blessed are those who mourn.' We must go through the valley of tears—to paradise! Mourning would be a sad and unpleasant subject to address—were it not that it has blessedness going before, and comfort coming after. Mourning is put here, for repentance. It implies bothsorrow, which is the cloud, and tears which are the rain distilling in this golden shower!

The words fall into two parts, first, an assertion—that mourners are blessed people; second, a reason—because they shall be comforted.

The ASSERTION—mourners are blessed people. 'Blessed are you who weep now' (Luke 6:21). Though the saints' tears are bitter tears—yet they are blessedtears. But will all mourning entitle a man to blessedness? No! there is a twofold mourning which is far from making one blessed. There is a carnal mourning, and a diabolical mourning.

1. There is a CARNAL mourning when we lament outward losses. 'A cry of anguish is heard in Ramah—weeping and mourning unrestrained. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted—for they are dead!' (Matthew 2:18). There are abundance of these carnal tears shed. We have many who can mourn over a dead child—who cannot mourn over a crucified Savior! Worldly sorrow hastens our funerals. 'The sorrow of the world works death' (2 Corinthians 7:10).

2. There is a DIABOLICAL mourning and that is twofold:

When a man mourns that he cannot satisfy his impure lust. This is like the devil, whose greatest torture is that he can be no more wicked. Thus Ammon mourned and was sick, until he defiled his sister Tamar (2 Samuel 13:2). Thus Ahab mourned for Naboth's vineyard, "So Ahab went home angry and sullen. The king went to bed with his face to the wall and refused to eat!' (1 Kings 21:4). This was a devilish mourning.

Again, when men are sorry for the good which they have done. Pharaoh was grieved that 'he had let the children of Israel go' (Exodus 14:5). Many are so devilish that they are troubled they have prayed so much and have heard so many sermons. They repent of their repentance. But if we repent of the good which is past—God will not repent of the evil which is to come.

The OBJECTS of spiritual mourning. To illustrate this point of holy mourning, I shall show you what is the adequate object of it. There are two objects of spiritual mourning—sin and misery.

The first object of spiritual mourning is SIN; and that twofold, our own sin; and the sin of others.

1. Our OWN sin. Sin must have tears. While we carry the fire of sin about with us—we must carry the water of tears to quench it! (Ezekiel 7:16). 'They are not blessed' (says Chrysostom) 'who mourn for the dead—but rather those who mourn for sin.' And indeed it is with good reason we mourn for sin, if we consider the GUILT of sin, which binds over to wrath. Will not a guilty person weep, who is to be bound over to the penalty? Every sinner is to be tried for his life and is sure to be cast away—if sovereign mercy does not become an advocate for him.

The POLLUTION of sin. Sin is a plague spot, and will you not labor to wash away this spot with your tears? Sin makes a man worse than a toad or serpent. The serpent has nothing but what God has put into —but the sinner has that which the devil has put into him. 'Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?' (Acts 5:3). What a strange metamorphosis has sin made! The soul, which was once of an azure brightness, sin has made of a sable color! We have in our hearts the seed of the unpardonable sin. We have the seed of all those sins for which the damned are now tormented! And shall we not mourn? He who does not mourn, has surely lost the use of his reason. But every mourning for sin is not sufficient to entitle a man to blessedness. I shall show what is not the right gospel-mourning for sin, and then what is the right gospel-mourning for sin.

What is NOT the right gospel-mourning for sin? There is a fivefold mourning which is false and spurious.

despairing kind of mourning. Such was Judas' mourning. He saw his sin, he was sorry, he made confession, he justifies Christ, he makes restitution (Matthew 27). Judas, who is in hell, did more than many nowadays! He confessed his sin. He did not plead necessity or good intentions—but he makes an open acknowledgment of his sin. 'I have sinned!' Judas made restitution. His conscience told him he came wickedly by the money. It was 'the price of blood', and he 'brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests' (Matthew 27:3). But how many are there who invade the rights and possessions of others—but not a word of restitution! Judas was more honest than they are. Well, wherein was Judas' sorrow blameworthy? It was a mourning joined with despair. He thought his wound broader than the plaster. He drowned himself in tears. His was not repentance unto life (Acts 11:18)—but rather unto death.

An hypocritical mourning. The heart is very deceitful. It can betray as well by a tear—as by a kiss. Saul looks like a mourner, and as he was sometimes 'among the prophets' (1 Samuel 10:12) So he seemed to be among the penitents—'And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord' (1 Samuel 15:24). Saul played the hypocrite in his mourning, for he did not take shame to himself—but he did rather take honor to himself: 'honor me before the elders of my people' (verse 30). He pared and minced his sin that it might appear lesser, he laid his sin upon the people, 'because I feared the people' (verse 24). They would have me fly upon the spoil, and I dare do no other. A true mourner labors to draw out sin in its bloody colors, and accent it with all its killing aggravations, that he may be deeply humbled before the Lord. 'Our iniquities are increased over our head, and our sin has grown up unto the heavens' (Ezra 9:6). The true penitent labors to make the worst of his sin. Saul labors to make the best of sin; like a patient that makes the best of his disease, lest the physician should prescribe him too sharp remedy. How easy is it for a man to put a cheat upon his own soul—and by hypocrisy to sweep himself into hell!

forced mourning. When tears are pumped out by God's judgements, these are like the tears of a man who has the stone, or that lies upon the rack. Such was Cain's mourning. 'My punishment is greater than I can bear!' (Genesis 4:13). His punishment troubled him more than his sin! To mourn only for fear of hell is like a thief that weeps for the penalty, rather than the offence. The tears of the wicked are forced by the fire of affliction!

An external mourning; when sorrow lies only on the outside. 'They disfigure their faces' (Matthew 6:16). The eye is tender—but the heart is hard. Such was Ahab's mourning. 'He tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh, and went softly' (1 Kings 21:27). His clothes were torn—but his heart was not torn. He hadsackcloth but no sorrow. He hung down his head like a bulrush—but his heart was like granite. There are many who may be compared to weeping marbles, they are both watery and flinty.

A vain fruitless mourning. Some will shed a few tears—but are as bad as ever. They will deceive and be unclean. Such a kind of mourning there is in hell. The damned weep—but the continue to blaspheme God.

What is the RIGHT gospel-mourning? That mourning which will entitle a man to blessedness has these qualifications:

It is spontaneous and free. It must come as water out of a spring, not as fire out of a flint. Tears for sin must be like the myrrh which drops from the tree freely without cutting or forcing. Mary Magdalene's repentance was voluntary. 'She stood weeping' (Luke 7). She came to Christ with ointment in her hand, with love in her heart, with tears in her eyes. God is for a freewill offering. He does not love to be put to distrain.

Gospel-mourning is spiritual; that is, when we mourn for sin more than suffering. Pharaoh says, "Take away the plague!" He never thought of the plague of his heart. A sinner mourns because judgment follows at the heels of sin—but David cries out, 'My sin is ever before me' (Psalm 51:3). God had threatened that the sword should ride in circuit in his family—but David does not say, 'The sword is ever before me'—but 'My sin is ever before me'. The offence against God troubled him. He grieved more for his treason against God—than the bloody axe. Thus the penitent prodigal, 'I have sinned against heaven, and before you' (Luke 15:18,21). He does not say, 'I am almost starved among the husks'—but 'I have offended my father'. In particular, our mourning for sin, if it is spiritual, must be under this threefold notion:

1. We must mourn for sin, as it is an act of hostility and enmity against God. Sin not only makes us unlike God—but contrary to God: 'They have walked contrary unto me' (Leviticus 26:40). Sin affronts and resists the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). Sin is contrary to God's nature; God is holy; sin is an impure thing. Sin is contrary to his will. If God be of one mind—sin is of another. Sin does all it can to spite God. The Hebrew word for 'sin' signifies 'rebellion'. A sinner fights against God (Acts 5:39). Now when we mourn for sin as it is a walking contrary to heaven, this is a gospel-mourning.

2. We must mourn for sin, as it is the highest ingratitude against God. It is a kicking against the breasts of mercy. God sends his Son to redeem us, his Spirit to comfort us. We sin against the blood of Christ, the grace of the Spirit—and shall we not mourn? We complain of the unkindness of others, and shall we not lay to heart our own unkindness against God? Caesar took it unkindly that his son, Brutus, should stab him—'and you, my son!' May not the Lord say to us, 'These wounds I have received in the house of my friend!' (Zechariah 13:6). Israel took their jewels and earrings and made a golden calf of them. The sinner takes the jewels of God's mercies and makes use of them to sin. Ingratitude is a 'crimson sin' (Isaiah 1:18). Sins against gospel-love are worse in some sense, than the sins of the devils, for they never had an offer of grace offered to them. Now when we mourn for sin as it has its accent of ingratitude upon it, this is an evangelical mourning.

3. We must mourn for sin as it is a privation; it keeps good things from us; it hinders our communion with God. Mary wept for Christ's absence. 'They have taken away my Lord!' (John 20:13). So our sins have taken away our Lord. They have deprived us of his sweet presence. Will not he grieve, who has lost a rich jewel? When we mourn for sin under this notion, as it makes the Sun of Righteousness withdraw from our horizon; when we mourn not so much that peace is gone, and trading is gone—but God is gone, 'My beloved had withdrawn himself' (Canticles 5:6); this is a holy mourning. The mourning for the loss of God's favor—is the best way to regain his favor. If you have lost a friend, all your weeping will not fetch him again—but if you have lost God's presence, your mourning will bring your God again.

Gospel-mourning sends the soul to God. When the prodigal son repented, he went to his father. 'I will arise and go to my father' (Luke 15:18). Jacob wept andprayed (Hosea 12:4). The people of Israel wept and offered sacrifice (Judges 2:4,5). Gospel-mourning puts a man upon duty. The reason is, that in true sorrow there is a mixture of hope, and hope puts the soul upon the use of means. That mourning which like the 'flaming sword' keeps the soul from approaching to God, and beats it off from duty—is a sinful mourning. It is a sorrow hatched in hell. Such was Saul's grief—which drove him to the witch of Endor (1 Samuel 28:7). Evangelical mourning is a spur to prayer. The child who weeps for offending his father goes to his presence and will not leave until his father is reconciled to him. Absalom could not be quiet 'until he had seen the king's face' (2 Samuel 14:32, 33).

Gospel-mourning is for sin in particular. The deceitful man is occupied with generalities. It is with a true penitent as it is with a wounded man. He comes to the surgeon and shows him all his wounds. Here I was cut with the sword; here I was shot with a bullet. So a true penitent bewails all his particular sins. 'We have served Baal' (Judges 10:10). They mourned for their idolatry. And David lays his fingers upon the sore—and points to that very sin which troubled him (Psalm 51:4). 'I have done this evil!' He means his blood-guiltiness. A wicked man will say he is a sinner—but a child of God says, 'I have done this evil!' Peter wept for that particular sin of denying Christ. It is reported that Peter never heard a rooster crow—but he fell a-weeping. There must be a particular repentance, before we have a general pardon.

Gospel tears must drop from the eye of faith. 'The father of the child cried out with tears, 'Lord, I believe' (Mark 9:24). Our disease must make us mourn—but when we look up to our Physician, who has made a remedy of his own blood, we must not mourn without hope. Believing tears are precious. When the clouds of sorrow have overcast the soul, some sunshine of faith must break forth. The soul will be swallowed up of sorrow, it will be drowned in tears—if faith does not keep it up from sinking. Though our tears drop to the earth—yet our faith must reach heaven. After the greatest rain, faith must appear as the rainbow in the cloud. The tears of faith are bottled as precious wine. 'You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book' (Psalm 56:8).

Gospel-mourning is joined with self-loathing. The sinner admires himself. The penitent loathes himself. 'You shall loath yourselves in your own sight for all your evils' (Ezekiel 20:43). A true penitent is troubled not only for the shameful consequence of sin—but for the loathsome nature of sin; not only the sting of sin—but the deformed face of sin. How did the leper loathe himself! (Leviticus 13:45). The true mourner cries out, O these impure eyes! this heart which is a conclave of wickedness! He not only leaves sin—but loathes sin. He who has fallen in the dirt loathes himself (Hosea 14:1).

Gospel-mourning must be purifying. Our tears must make us more holy. We must so weep for sin, as to weep out sin. Our tears must drown our sins. We must not only mourn—but turn. 'Turn to me with weeping' (Joel 2:12). What good is it, to have a watery eye and a whorish heart? It is foolish to say it is day, when the air is full of darkness; so to say you repent, when you draw dark shadows in your life. It is an excellent saying of Augustine, 'He truly bewails the sins he has committed, who never commits the sins he has bewailed'. True mourning is like the 'water of jealousy' (Numbers 5:12-22). It makes the thigh of sin to rot. 'You broke the heads of the monster in the waters.' (Psalm 74:13). The heads of our sins, these monsters, are broken in the waters of true repentance. True tears are cleansing. They are like a flood that carries away all the rubbish of our sins away with it. The waters of holy mourning are like the river Jordan wherein Naaman washed and was cleansed of his leprosy. It is reported that there is a river in Sicily where, if the blackest sheep are bathed, they become white; so, though our sins be as scarlet—yet by washing in this river of repentance, they become white as snow. Naturalists say of the serpent, before it goes to drink it vomits out its poison. In this 'be wise as serpents'. Before you think to drink down the sweet cordials of the promises, cast up the poison that lies at your heart. Do not only mourn for sin—but break from sin.

Gospel-mourning must be joined with hatred of sin. 'What indignation!' (2 Corinthians 7:11). We must not only abstain from sin—but abhor sin. The dove hates the least feather of the hawk. A true mourner hates the least motion to sin. A true mourner is a sin-hater. Amnon hated Tamar more than ever he loved her (2 Samuel 13:15). To be a sin-hater implies two things: first, to look upon sin as the most deadly evil—as the essence of all evil. It looks more ghastly than death or hell. Second, to be implacably incensed against it. A sin-hater will never admit of any terms of peace. The war between him and sin is like the war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. 'There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days' (1 Kings 14:30). Anger may be reconciled—hatred cannot. True mourning begins in the love of God—and ends in the hatred of sin.

Gospel-mourning in some cases is joined with restitution. It is as well a sin to violate the name of another—as the chastity of another. If we have eclipsed the good name of others, we are bound to ask them for forgiveness. If we have wronged them in their estate by unjust, fraudulent dealing, we must make them some compensation. Thus Zacchaeus, 'If I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold' (Luke 19:8), according to the law of Exodus 22:1. James bids us not only look to the heart but the hand: 'Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts' (James 4:8). If you have wronged another, cleanse your hands by restitution. Be assured, without restitution—no remission.

Gospel-mourning must be a speedy mourning. We must take heed of adjourning our repentance, and putting it off until death. As David said, 'I will pay my vows now' (Psalm 116:18), so should a Christian say, 'I will mourn for sin now.' 'Blessed are you that weep now' (Luke 6:21). God has encircled us in the compass of a little time, and charges us immediately to bewail our sins. 'Now God calls all men everywhere to repent' (Acts 17:30). We know not whether we may have another day granted us. Oh let us not put off our mourning for sin until the making of our will. Do not think holy mourning is only a deathbed duty. You may seek the blessing with tears, as Esau when it is too late. How long shall I say that I will repent tomorrow? Why not at this instant? 'Delay brings danger'. Caesar's deferring to read his letter before he went to the Senate-house, cost him his life. The true mourner makes haste to meet an angry God, as Jacob did his brother; and the present he sends before, is the sacrifice of tears.

Gospel-mourning for sin is perpetual. There are some who at a sermon will shed a few tears—but they are soon dried up. The hypocrite's sorrow is like a vein opened and presently stopped. The Hebrew word for 'eye' signifies also 'a fountain', to show that the eye must run like a fountain for sin and not cease; but it must not be like the Libyan fountain which the ancients speak of—in the morning the water is hot, at midday cold. The waters of repentance must not overflow with more heat in the morning, at the first hearing of the gospel; and at midday, in the midst of health and prosperity, grow cold and be ready to freeze. No! it must be a daily weeping. As Paul said, 'I die daily' (1 Corinthians 15:31), so a Christian should say, 'I mourn daily'. Therefore keep open an outflow of godly sorrow, and be sure it is not stopped until death. 'Let your tears flow like a river. Give yourselves no rest from weeping day or night' (Lamentations 2:18). It is reported of holy John Bradford that scarcely a day passed him wherein he did not shed some tears for sin. Daily mourning is a good antidote against backsliding. I have read of one that had an epilepsy, and being dipped in seawater, was cured. The washing of our souls daily in the brinish waters of repentance is the best way both to prevent and cure the falling into relapses.

Even God's own children must mourn after pardon; for God, in pardoning, does not pardon at one instant sins past and future; but as repentance is renewed, so pardon is renewed. Should God by one act pardon sins future as well as past, this would make void part of Christ's office. What need were there of his intercession, if sin should be pardoned before it be committed? There are sins in the godly of daily incursion, which must be mourned for. Though sin is pardoned, still it rebels; though it be covered, it is not cured (Romans 7:23). There is that in the best Christian, which is contrary to God. There is that in him, which deserves hell—and shall he not mourn? A ship that is always leaking must have the water continually pumped out. While the soul leaks by sin, we must be still pumping at the leak by repentance. Think not, O Christian, that your sins are washed away only by Christ's blood—but by water and blood. The brazen laver (Exodus 30:18) that the people of Israel were to wash in might be a fit emblem of this spiritual laver, tears and blood; and when holy mourning is thus qualified, this is that 'sorrowing after a godly sort' (2 Corinthians 7:11), which makes a Christian eternally blessed.

2. As we must mourn for our own sins—so we must lay to heart the sins of OTHERS. Thus we should wish with Jeremiah, that our eyes were a fountain of tears, that we might weep day and night for the iniquity of the times. Our blessed Savior mourned for the sins of the Jews: 'Being grieved for the hardness of their hearts' (Mark 3:5). And holy David, looking upon the sins of the wicked, his heart was turned into a spring, and his eyes into rivers. 'Rivers of tears run down my eyes, because they do not keep your law' (Psalm 119:136). Lot's righteous soul 'was vexed with the filthy lives of the wicked' (2 Peter 2:7). Lot took the sins of Sodom and made spears of them to pierce his own soul. Cyprian says that in the primitive times, when a virgin who vowed herself to religion had defiled her chastity, shame and grief filled the whole congregation.

Have not we cause to mourn for the sins of others? The whole axle of the nation is ready to break under the weight of sin. What an inundation of wickedness is there among us? Mourn for the hypocrisy of the times. Jehu says 'Come, see my zeal for the Lord'—but it was zeal for the throne (2 Kings 10:16). This is the hypocrisy of some. They entitle God to whatever they do. They make bold with God to use his name to their wickedness; as if a thief should pretend the king's warrant for his robbery. 'They build up Zion with blood; yet will they lean upon the Lord and say, Is not the Lord among us?' (Micah 3:10, 11). Many with a religious kiss smite the gospel under the fifth rib. Could not Ahab be content to kill and take possession—but must he usher it in with religion, and make fasting a preface to his murder? (1 Kings 21:12). The white devil is worst! To hear the name of God in the mouths of scandalous hypocrites, is enough to affright others from the profession of religion.

Mourn for the errors and blasphemies of the nation. There is now a free trade of error. Toleration gives men a patent to sin. Whatever cursed opinion which has been long ago buried in the church—but is now dug out of the grave, and by some worshiped! England is grown as needon in her religion, as she is antic in her fashions. Did men's faces alter as fast as their religious opinions, we would not know them.

Mourn for covenant violation. This sin is a flying scroll against England. Breach of covenant is spiritual harlotry, and for this God may name us 'Not my people', and give us a bill of divorce (Hosea 1:9).

Mourn for the pride of the nation. Our condition is low—but our hearts are high. Mourn for the profaneness of the land. England is like that man in the gospel who had 'an unclean demonic spirit' (Luke 4:33). Mourn for the removing of landmarks (Deuteronomy 27:17). Mourn for the contempt offered to magistracy, the spitting in the face of authority. Mourn that there are so few mourners. Surely if we mourn not for the sins of others, it is to be feared that we are not sensible of our own sins. God looks upon us as guilty of those sins in others—which we do not lament. Our tears may help to quench God's wrath!

The saints must be sensible of the injuries of God's church. 'We wept when we remembered Zion' (Psalm 137:1). The people of Israel, being debarred from the place of public worship, sat by the rivers weeping. They laid aside all their musical instruments. 'We hung our harps upon the willows' (verse 2). We were as far from joy as those willows were from fruit. 'How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?' (verse 4). We were fitter to weep than to sing. The sound of song is not agreeable to mourning.

When we consider the miseries of many Christians in foreign parts, who have been driven from their habitations because they would not espouse the Popish religion; when instead of a Bible, a crucifix; instead of prayers, mass; instead of going to church, they should go on pilgrimage to some saint or relic. When we consider these things, our eyes should run down. Mourn to see God's church a bleeding vine. Mourn to see Christ's spouse with 'garments rolled in blood'.

Methinks I hear England's death bell ring. Let us shed some tears over dying England. Let us bewail our internal divisions. England's divisions have been fatal. How can we stand, but by a miracle of free grace? Truth has fallen in the streets—and peace has fled. England's fine coat of peace, is torn and, like Joseph's coat, dipped in blood. Peace is the glory of a nation. Some observe, if the top of the beech tree be taken off—that the whole tree withers. Peace is the apex and top of all earthly blessings. This top being cut off, we may truly say the body of the whole nation begins to wither apace.

Mourn for the oppressions of England. The people of this land have laid out their money only to buy mourning.

Though we must always keep open the flow of godly sorrow—yet there are some seasons wherein our tears should overflow, as the water sometimes rises higher. There are three special SEASONS of extraordinary mourning, when it should be as it were high-water in the soul:

1. When there are tokens of God's wrath breaking forth in the nation. England has been under God's black rod these many years. The Lord has drawn his sword. O that our tears may blunt the edge of this sword! When it is a time of treading down, now is a time of breaking up the fallow ground of our hearts. 'Therefore said I, look away from me, I will weep bitterly for it is a time of treading down' (Isaiah 22:4, 5). 'A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds … therefore turn to me with weeping and with mourning' (Joel 2:2, 12). Rain follows thunder. When God thunders in a nation by his judgements, now the showers of tearsmust distill. When God smites upon our back, we must 'smite upon our thigh' (Jeremiah 31:19). When God seems to stand upon the 'threshold of the temple' (Ezekiel 10:4), as if he were ready to take his wings and fly, then is it a time to lie weeping between 'the porch and the altar'. If the Lord seems to be packing up and carrying away his gospel—it is now high time to mourn, that by our tears possibly his 'repentings may be kindled' (Hosea 11:8).

2. Before the performing solemn duties of God's worship, as fasting or receiving the Lord's Supper. Christian, are you about to seek God in an extraordinary manner? 'Seek him sorrowing' (Luke 2:48). Would you have the smiles of God's face, the kisses of his lips? Set open all the springs of mourning, and then God will draw near to you in an ordinance and say, 'Here I am!' (Isaiah 58:9). When Jacob wept, then he 'found God in Bethel' (Hosea 12:4). 'He called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face' (Genesis 32:30). Give Christ the wine of your tears to drink—and in the sacrament he will give you the wine of his blood to drink.

3. After scandalous relapses. Though I will not say that there is no mercy for sins of relapse—yet I say there is no mercy without bitter mourning. Scandalous sins reflect dishonor upon religion (2 Samuel 12:14). Therefore now our cheeks should be covered with blushing, and our eyes bedewed with tears. Peter, after his denying Christ, wept bitterly. Christian, has God given you over to any enormous sin as a just reward of your pride and carnal security? Go into the 'weeping bath'. Sins of infirmity injure the soul—but scandalous sins wound the gospel. Lesser sins grieve the Spirit—but greater sins vex the Spirit (Isaiah 63:10). And if that blessed Dove weeps, shall not we weep? When the air is dark then the dew falls. When we have by scandalous sin darkened the luster of the gospel, now is the time for the dew of holy tears to fall from our eyes.

Next to the seasons of mourning, let us consider the DEGREE of mourning. The mourning for sin must be a very great mourning. The Greek word imports a great sorrow, such as is seen at the funeral of a dear friend. 'They shall look on me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one that mourns for his only son' (Zechariah 12:10). The sorrow for an only child is very great. Such must be the sorrow for sin. 'In that day there shall be great mourning, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon' (verse 11). In that valley Josiah, that famous and pious prince, was cut off by an untimely death, at whose funeral there was bitter lamentation. Thus bitterly must we bewail, not the death—but the life of our sins. Now then, to set forth the degree of sorrow.

Our mourning for sin must be so great as to exceed all other grief. Eli's mourning for the ark was such that it swallowed up the loss of his two children. Spiritual grief must preponderate over all other grief. We should mourn more for sin than for the loss of friends or estate.

We should endeavor to have our sorrow rise up to the same height and proportion as our sin does. Manasseh was a great sinner—and a great mourner. 'He humbled himself greatly' (2 Chronicles 33:12). Manasseh made the streets run with blood—and he made the prison in Babylon run with tears. Peter wept bitterly. A true mourner labors that his repentance may be as eminent as his sin.

Having shown the nature of mourning, I shall next show what is the OPPOSITE to holy mourning. The opposite to mourning is 'hardness of heart', which in Scripture is called 'a heart of stone' (Ezekiel 36:26). a heart of stone is far from mourning and repenting. This heart of stone is known by two symptoms:

One symptom is insensibility. A stone is not sensible of anything. Lay weight upon it; or grind it to powder—it does not feel. So it is with a hard heart. It is insensible to both its own sin and God's wrath. The stone in the kidneys is felt—but not the stone in the heart. 'Having lost all sensitivity.' (Ephesians 4:19).

A heart of stone is known by its inflexibility. A stone will not bend. That is hard, which does not yield to the touch. So it is with a hard heart. It will not comply with God's command. It will not stoop to Christ's scepter. A heart of stone will sooner break, than bend by repentance. It is so far from yielding to God, that like the anvil—it beats back the hammer. It 'always resists the Holy Spirit' (Acts 7:51).

Oh Christians, if you would be spiritual mourners, take heed of this stone of the heart. 'Harden not your hearts' (Hebrews 3:7,8). A stony heart is the worst heart. If it were bronze, it might be melted in the furnace; or it might be bent with the hammer. But a stony heart is such, that only the arm of God can break it—and only the blood of Christ can soften it! Oh the misery of a hard heart! A hard heart is void of all grace. While the wax is hard, it will not take the impression of the seal. The heart, while it is hard, will not take the stamp of grace. It must first be made tender and melting. The plough of the Word will not penetrate a hard heart. A hard heart is good for nothing—but to make fuel for hellfire. 'Because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath' (Romans 2:5). Hell is full of hard hearts—there is not one soft heart there. There is weeping there—but no softness. We read of 'vessels of his wrath—prepared for destruction' (Romans 9:22). Hardness of heart, fits these vessels for hell, and makes them like withered wood, which is fit only to burn.

Hardness of heart makes a man's condition worse than all his other sins besides. If one is guilty of great sins—yet if he can mourn, there is hope. Repentance unravels sin, and makes sin not to be. But hardness of heart binds guilt fast upon the soul. It seals a man under wrath. It is not heinousness of sin—but hardness of heart which damns. This makes the sin against the Holy Spirit incapable of mercy, because the sinner who has committed it, is incapable of repentance.

Sundry sharp reproofs

This doctrine draws up a charge against several sorts of people:

1. Those who think themselves good Christians—yet have not learned this art of holy mourning. Luther calls mourning 'a rare herb'. Men have tears to shed for other things—but have none to spare for their sins. There are many murmurers—but few mourners. Most are like the stony ground which 'lacked moisture' (Luke 8:6).

We have many cry out of hard times—but they are not sensible of hard hearts. Hot and dry is the worst temper of the body. To be hot in sin, and to be so dry as to have no tears—is the worst temper of the soul. How many are like Gideon's dry fleece, and like the mountains of Gilboa! There is no dew upon them. Did Christ bleed for sin—and can you not weep! If God's bottle is not filled with tears—his vial will be filled with wrath! We have many sinners in Zion—but few mourners in Zion. It is with most people as with a man on the top of a mast; the winds blow and the waves beat, and the ship is in danger of ship wreck—and he is fast asleep! So when the waves of sin have even covered men and the stormy wind of God's wrath blows, and is ready to blow them into hell—yet they are asleep in carnal security.

2. This doctrine reproves them who instead of weeping for sin, spend their days in mirth and jollity. Instead of mourners we have jesters. 'They sing with tambourine and harp. They make merry to the sound of the flute' (Job 21:12, 13). 'They do not give themselves to mourning—but follow after their pleasures'. They live epicures, and die atheists. James bids us 'turn our laughter to mourning' (James 4:9). But they turn their mourning to laughter. Samson was brought forth to amuse the Philistines (Judges 16:25). The jovial sinner amuses the devil. It is a saying of Theophylact, 'It is one of the worst sights to see a sinner go laughing to hell.' How unseasonable is it to take the harp and violin—when God is taking the sword! 'A sword is being sharpened and polished. It is being prepared for terrible slaughter; it will flash like lightning! Now will you laugh?' (Ezekiel 21:9, 10). This is a sin which enrages God.

'The Lord, the Lord Almighty, called you to weep and mourn. He told you to shave your heads in sorrow for your sins and to wear clothes of sackcloth to show your remorse. But instead, you dance and play; you feast on meat, and drink wine. The Lord Almighty has revealed to me that this sin will never be forgiven you until the day you die. That is the judgment of the Lord, the Lord Almighty' (Isaiah 22:12-14). That is, this your sin shall not be done away by any expiatory sacrifice—but vengeance shall pursue you forever!

3. This doctrine reproves those who, instead of mourning for sin, rejoice in sin (Proverbs 2:14); 'Who take pleasure in iniquity' (2 Thessalonians 2:12). Wicked men in this sense are worse than the damned in hell, for they take little pleasure in their sins. There are some so impudently profane, that they will make themselves and others merry with their sins. Sin is a soul sickness (Luke 5:31). Will a man make merry with his disease? Ah wretch! did Christ bleed for sin—and do you laugh at sin! Is it a time for a man to be jesting when he is upon the scaffold, and his head is to be stricken off? You who laugh at sin now, 'So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—when calamity overcomes you like a storm, when you are engulfed by trouble, and whenanguish and distress overwhelm you!' Proverbs 1:24-27

4. This doctrine reproves those that cry down mourning for sin. They are like the Philistines who stopped-up the wells (Genesis 26:15). These would stop-up the wells of godly sorrow. Antinomians say this is a legal doctrine—but Christ here preaches it: 'Blessed are those who mourn.' And the apostles preached it, 'And they went out and preached that men should repent' (Mark 6:12). Holy sincerity will put us upon mourning for sin. He who has the heart of a child cannot but weep for his unkindness against God. Mourning for sin is the very fruit and product of the Spirit of grace (Zechariah 12:10). Such as cry down repentance, cry down the Spirit of grace. Mourning for sin is the only way to keep off wrath from us. Such as with Samson would break this pillar, go about to pull down the vengeance of God upon the land. To all such I say, as Peter to Simon Magus, 'Repent therefore of this your wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you', O sinner (Acts 8:22). Repent that you have cried down repentance.

MOTIVES to holy mourning

Let me exhort Christians to holy mourning. I now persuade to such a mourning as will prepare the soul for blessedness. Oh that our hearts were spiritual stills, distilling the water of holy tears! Christ's doves weep. 'They that escape shall be like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, everyone for his iniquity' (Ezekiel 7:16).

There are several divine motives to holy mourning:

1. Tears cannot be put to a better use. If you weep for outward losses, you lose your tears. It is like a shower upon a rock, which does no good; but tears for sin are blessed tears. 'Blessed are those who mourn.' These poison our corruptions; salt-water kills the worms. The brinish water of repenting tears will help to kill that worm of sin which would gnaw the conscience.

2. Gospel-mourning is an evidence of grace. 'I will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace, and they shall mourn … ' (Zechariah 12:10). The Holy Spirit descended on Christ like a dove (Luke 3:22). The dove is a weeping creature. Where there is a dove-like weeping, it is a good sign the Spirit of God has descended there. Weeping for sin is a sign of the new birth. As soon as the child is born, it weeps: 'And behold the babe wept' (Exodus 2:6). To weep kindly for sin is a good sign we are born of God. Mourning shows a 'heart of flesh' (Ezekiel 36:26). A stone will not melt. When the heart is in a melting frame, it is a sign the heart of stone is taken away.

3. The preciousness of tears. Tears dropping from a mournful, penitent eye, are like water dropping from the roses—very sweet and precious to God. A fountain in the garden makes it pleasant. That heart is most delightful to God—which has a fountain of sorrow running in it. 'Mary stood at Christ's feet weeping' (Luke 7:38). Her tears were more fragrant than her ointment. The incense, when it is broken, smells sweetest. When the heart is broken for sin, then our services give forth their sweetest perfume. 'There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents' (Luke 15:7). Whereupon Bernard calls tears 'the wine of angels'. And surely, God delights much in tears, else he would not keep a bottle for them (Psalm 56:8). One calls tears 'a fat sacrifice', which under the law was most acceptable (Leviticus 3:3). Jerome calls mourning a plank after shipwreck. Chrysostom calls tears a sponge to wipe off sin. Tears are powerful orators for mercy. Eusebius says there was an altar at Athens, on which they poured no other sacrifice but tears, as if the heathens thought there was no better way to pacify their angry gods, than by weeping. Jacob wept and 'had power over the angel' (Hosea 12:4). Tears melt the heart of God. When a malefactor comes weeping to the bar, this melts the judge's heart towards him. When a man comes weeping in prayer and smites on his breast, saying, 'God be merciful to me a sinner' (Luke 18:13), this melts God's heart towards him. Prayer (says Jerome) inclines God to show mercy; tears compel him. God seals his pardons upon melting hearts. Tears, though they are silent—yet have a voice, 'The Lord has heard the voice of my weeping!' (Psalm 6:8). Tears wash away sin. Rain melts and washes away a ball of snow. Repenting tears wash away sin. That sin, says Ambrose, which cannot be defended by argument, may be washed away by tears.

4. The sweetness of tears. Mourning is the way to solid joy. 'The sweetest wine is that which comes out of the winepress of the eyes', says Chrysostom. The soul is never more enlarged than when it can weep. Closet tears are better than court music. When the heart is sad, weeping eases it by giving vent. The soul of a Christian is most eased when it can vent itself by holy mourning. Chrysostom observes that David who was the great mourner in Israel—was the sweet singer in Israel. 'My tears were my food' (Psalm 42:3). Ambrose says, 'No food so sweet as tears.' 'The tears of the penitent,' says Bernard, 'are sweeter than all worldly joy.' A Christian thinks himself sometimes in the suburbs of heaven, when he can weep. When Hannah had wept, she went away and was no more sad. Sugar when it melts is sweetest. When a Christian melts in tears, now he has the sweetest joy. When the daughter of Pharaoh descended into the river, she found a babe there among the reeds; so when we descend into the river of repenting tears, we find the babe Jesus there who shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. Well therefore might Chrysostom solemnly bless God for giving us this laver of tears to wash in.

5. A mourner for sin not only does good to himself but to others. He helps to keep off wrath from a land. As when Abraham was going to strike the blow, the angel stayed his hand (Genesis 22:12), so when God is going to destroy a nation, the mourner stays his hand. Tears in the child's eye sometimes move the angry father to spare the child. Penitential tears melt God's heart and bind his hand. Jeremiah, who was a weeping prophet, was a great intercessor. God says to him, 'Pray not for this people' (Jeremiah 7:16), as if the Lord had said, 'Jeremiah, so powerful are your prayers and tears, that if you pray I cannot deny you.' Tears have a mighty influence upon God. Surely God has some mourners in the land, or he would have destroyed us before now.

6. Holy mourning is preventing remedy. Our mourning for sin here—will prevent mourning in hell. Hell is a place of weeping (Matthew 8:12). The damned mingle their drink with weeping. God is said to hold his bottle for our tears (Psalm 56:8). Those who will not shed a bottle-full of tears shall hereafter shed rivers of tears. 'Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep' (Luke 6:25). You have sometimes seen sugar lying in a damp place dissolve to water. All the sugared joys of the wicked dissolve at last to the water of tears. Now, tears will do us good. Now, it is seasonable weeping. It is like a shower in the spring. If we do not weep now, it will be too late in hell. Could we hear the language of the damned, they are now cursing themselves that they did not weep soon enough. Oh is it not better to have our hell here, than hereafter? Is it not better to shed repenting tears, than despairing tears? He who weeps here is a blessed mourner. He who weeps in hell is a cursed mourner. The physician by bleeding the patient prevents death. By the opening a vein of godly sorrow, we prevent the death of our souls.

7. There is no other way the Gospel prescribes to blessedness, but mourning. 'Blessed are those who mourn'. This is the road that leads to the new Jerusalem. There may be several ways leading to a city; some go one way, some another; but there is but one way to heaven, and that is by the house of weeping (Acts 26:20). Perhaps a man may think thus, 'If I cannot mourn for sin, I will get to heaven some other way. I will go to church; I will give alms; I will lead a civil life.' Nay—but I tell you there is but one way to blessedness, and that is, through the valley of tears. If you do not go this way, you will miss of Paradise. 'I tell you, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish' (Luke 13:3). There are many lines leading to the center—but the heavenly center has but one line leading to it, and that is a tear dropping from the eye of faith. A man may have a disease in his body that twenty medicines will heal. Sin is a disease of the soul which makes it sick unto death. Now there is but one medicine will heal, and that is the medicine of repentance.

8. Consider what need every Christian has to be conversant in holy mourning. A man may take physic when he has no need of it. Many go to London when they have no need. It is rather out of curiosity than necessity. But O what need is there for everyone to go into the weeping bath! Think what a sinner you have been. You have filled God's book with your debts, and what need you have to fill his bottle with your tears! You have lived in secret sin. God enjoins you this penance, 'Mourn for sin'. But perhaps some may say, I have no need of mourning, for I have lived a very civil life. Go home and mourn because you are onlycivil. Many a man's civility, being rested upon—has damned him! It is sad for men to be without repentance—but it is worse to have no need for repentance (Luke 15:7).

9. Tears are but finite. It is but a while that we shall weep. After a few showers that fall from our eyes, we shall have a perpetual sunshine. In heaven the bottle of tears is stopped. 'God shall wipe away all tears … ' (Revelation 7:17). When sin shall cease, tears shall cease. 'Weeping may endure for a night—but joy comes in the morning' (Psalm 30:5). In the morning of the ascension, then shall all tears be wiped away.

10. The benefit of holy mourning. The best of our commodities come by water. Mourning makes the soul fruitful in grace. When a shower falls, the herbs and plants grow. 'I will water you with my tears, O Heshbon!' (Isaiah 16:9). I may allude to it; tears water our graces and make them flourish. 'He sends his springs into the valleys' (Psalm 104:10). That is the reason the valleys flourish with corn, because the springs run there. Where the springs of sorrow run, there the heart bears a fruitful crop. Leah was tender-eyed; she had a watery eye—and was fruitful. The tender-eyed Christian usually brings forth more of the fruits of the Spirit.A weeping eye is the water-pot to water our graces!

Again, mourning fences us against the devil's temptations. Temptations are called 'fiery darts' (Ephesians 6:16), because indeed they set the soul on fire. Temptations enrage anger, inflame lust. Now the waters of holy mourning quench these fiery darts. Wet gunpowder will not easily take fire. When the heart is wetted and moistened with sorrow, it will not so easily take the fire of temptation. Tears are the best engines and waterworks to quench the devil's fire; and if there is so much profit and benefit in gospel-sorrow, then let every Christian wash his face every morning in the laver of tears.

11. And lastly, to have a melting frame of spirit is a great sign of God's presence with us in an ordinance. It is a sign that the Sun of Righteousness has risen upon us, when our frozen hearts thaw and melt for sin. It is a saying of Bernard, 'By this you may know whether you have met with God in a duty—when you find yourselves in a melting and mourning frame'. We are apt to measure everything, by comfort. We think we never have God's presence in an ordinance, unless we have joy. Herein we are like Thomas. 'Unless (says he) I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, I will not believe' (John 20:25). So are we apt to say that, unless we have incomes of comfort, we will not believe that we have found God in a duty; but if our hearts can melt kindly in tears of love, this is a real sign that God has been with us. As Jacob said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not' (Genesis 28:16). So, Christian, when your heart breaks for sin and dissolves into holy tears, God is in this duty, though you do not know it.

Methinks all that has been said should make us spiritual mourners. Perhaps we have tried to mourn and cannot. But as a man who has dug so many fathoms deep for water and can find none, at last digs until he finds a spring; so though we have been digging for the water of tears and can find none—yet let us weigh all that has been said and set our hearts again to work, and perhaps at last we may say, as Isaac's servants said, 'We have found water!' (Genesis 26:32). When the herbs are pressed, the watery juice comes out. These eleven serious motives may press out tears from the eye!

But some may say, My constitution is such that I cannot weep. I may as well go to squeeze a rock as think to get a tear.

I answer—but if you cannot weep for sin—can you not grieve? Heart mourning is best. There may be godly sorrow—where there are no tears. The vessel may be full though it lacks vent. It is not so much the weeping eye which God respects—as the broken heart. Yet I would be reluctant to stop their tears of those who can weep. God stood looking on Hezekiah's tears: 'I have seen your tears' (Isaiah 38:5). David's tears made music in God's ears. 'The Lord has heard the voice of my weeping' (Psalm 6:8). It is a sight fit for angels to behold—tears as pearls dropping from a penitent eye!

What shall we do to get our heart into this mourning frame? Do two things. Take heed of those things which will stop these channels of mourning; put yourselves upon the use of all means that will help forward holy mourning. Take heed of those things which will stop the current of tears.

Nine HINDRANCES of mourning.

1. The love of sin. The love of sin is like a stone in the pipe, which stops up the current of water. The love of sin makes sin taste sweet, and this sweetness in sinbewitches the heart. It is worse to love sin than to commit it. A man may be overtaken with sin (Galatians 6:1). He who has stumbled upon sin unawares will weep—but the love of sin hardens the heart and keeps the devil in possession. In true mourning there must be a grieving for sin. But how can a man grieve for that sin which his heart is in love with? Oh, take heed of this sweet poison! The love of sin freezes the soul in impenitence.

2. Despair. Despair affronts God, undervalues Christ's blood and damns the soul! 'But they will say—It's hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart' (Jeremiah 18:12). This is the language of despair. I had as good follow my sins still—and be damned for something. Despair presents God to the soul as a judge clad in the garments of vengeance (Isaiah 59:17). The despair of Judas was in some sense worse than his treason. Despair destroys repentance, for the proper ground of repentance is mercy. 'The goodness of God leads you to repentance' (Romans 2:4)—but despair hides mercy out of sight—as the cloud covered the Ark. Oh, take heed of this. Despair is an irrational sin; there is no ground for it. The Lord shows mercy to thousands. Why may you not be one of a thousand? The wings of God's mercy, like the wings of the Cherubim, are stretched out to every humble penitent. Though you have been a great sinner—yet if you are a weeping sinner—there is a golden scepter of mercy held forth (Psalm 103:11). Despair locks up the soul in impenitence!

3. A conceit that this mourning will make us melancholy. 'We shall drown all our joy in our tears!' But this is a mistake. Lose our joy? Tell me, what joy can there be in a condemned condition? What joy does sin afford? Is not sin compared to a wound and bruise? (Isaiah 1:6). David had his broken bones (Psalm 51:8). Is there any comfort in having the bones out of joint? Does not sin breed a palpitation and trembling of heart? (Deuteronomy 28:65, 66). Is it any joy for a man to be a 'terror to himself'? (Jeremiah 20:4). Surely of the sinner's laughter it may be said, 'It is mad!' (Ecclesiastes 2:2), whereas holy mourning is the breeder of joy. It does not eclipse joy—but refines our joy and makes it better. The prodigal dated his joy from the time of his repentance. 'Then they began to be merry' (Luke 15:24).

4. Checking the motions of the Spirit. The Spirit sets us a-mourning. He causes all our spring-tides. 'All my springs are in you' (Psalm 87:7). Oft we meet with gracious motions to prayer and repentance. Now when we stifle these motions, which is called a quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), then we do, as it were, hinder the tide from coming in. When the dew falls, then the ground is wet. When the Spirit of God falls as dew in his influences upon the soul, then it is moistened with sorrow. But if the Spirit withdraws, the soul is like Gideon's dry fleece. A ship can as well sail without the wind, a bird can as well fly without wings—as we can mourn without the Spirit! Take heed of grieving the Spirit. Do not drive away this sweet Dove from the ark of your soul. The Spirit is 'gentle and tender'. If he is grieved, he may say, 'I will come no more'—and if he once withdraws, we cannot mourn.

5. Presumption of mercy. Who will take pains with his heart or mourn for sin—who thinks he may be saved at a cheaper rate? How many, spider-like, suck damnation out of the sweet flower of God's mercy? Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save sinners, is the occasion of many a man's perishing. 'Oh,' says one, 'Christ died for me. He has done all. What need I pray or mourn?' Many a bold sinner plucks death from the tree of life, and through presumption, goes to hell by that ladder of Christ's blood, by which others go to heaven. It is sad when the goodness of God, which should 'lead to repentance' (Romans 2:4), leads to presumption. O sinner, do not hope yourself into hell. Take heed of being damned upon a mistake. You say God is merciful, and therefore you go on securely in sin. But whom is mercy for? The presuming sinner or the mourning sinner? 'Let the wicked forsake his way, and return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him' (Isaiah 55:7). No mercy without forsaking sin, and no forsaking sin without mourning!

If a king should say to a company of rebels, 'Whoever comes in and submits shall have mercy', such as stood out in rebellion could not claim the benefit of the pardon. God makes a proclamation of mercy to the mourner—but such as are not mourners have nothing to do with mercy. The mercy of God is like the ark, which none but the priests were to meddle with. None may touch this golden ark of mercy but such as are 'priests unto God' (Revelation 1:6), and have offered up the sacrifice of tears.

6. A conceit of the smallness of sin. 'Is it not a little one?' (Genesis 19:20). The devil holds the small end of the telescope to sinners. To imagine that sin less than it is, is very dangerous. An opinion of the littleness of sin keeps us from the use of means. Who will be earnest for a physician, who thinks it is but a trivial disease? And who will seek to God with a penitent heart for mercy, who thinks sin is but a slight thing? But to take off this wrong conceit about sin, and that we may look upon it with watery eyes—consider that sin cannot be little, because it is against the Majesty of heaven. There is no small treason, it being against the king's person. Every sin is sinful, therefore damnable. A penknife or stiletto makes but a little wound—but either of them may kill as well as a large sword. There is death and hell in every sin. "The wages of sin is death!" (Romans 6:23). What was it for Adam to pluck an apple? But that lost him his crown! It is not with sin as it is with diseases—some are mortal, some not mortal. The least sin without repentance, will be a lock and bolt to shut men out of heaven.

View sin in the red glass of Christ's sufferings. The least sin cost his blood. Would you take a true view of sin? Go to Golgotha. Jesus Christ was fain to veil his glory and lose his joy, and pour out his soul an offering for the least sin. Read the greatness of your sin in the deepness of Christ's wounds. Let not Satan cast such a mist before your eyes that you cannot see sin in its right colors. Remember, not only do great rivers fall into the sea—but little brooks. Not only do great sins carry men to hell—but lesser sins as well.

7. Procrastination; or an opinion that it is too soon as yet to tune the penitential string. "When the lamp is almost out, the strength exhausted, and old age comes on—then mourning for sin will be in season—but it is too soon now." That I may show how pernicious this opinion is, and that I may roll away this stone from the mouth of the well, that so the waters of repentance may be drawn forth—let me propose these four serious and weighty considerations:

First, do you know what it is to be in the state of condemnation? And will you say it is too soon to get out of it? You are under 'the wrath of God' (John 3:36), and is it too soon to get from under the dropping of this vial? You are under 'the power of Satan' (Acts 26:18), and is it too soon to get out of the enemy's quarters?

Second, men do not argue thus in other cases. They do not say, 'It is too soon to be rich.' They will not put off getting the world until old age. No! here they take the first opportunity. It is not too soon to be rich—and is it too soon to be saved from sin? Is not repentance a matter of the greatest consequence? Is it not more needful for men to lament their sin, than augment their estate?

Third, God's call to mourning is always in the present. 'Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts' (Hebrews 3:7, 8). A general besieging a garrison summons it to surrender upon such a day—or he will storm it. Such are God's summons to repentance. 'Today if you will hear his voice'. Sinners, when Satan has tempted you to any wickedness, you have not said, 'It is too soon, Satan'—but have immediately embraced his temptation. You have not put the devil off—and will you put God off?

Fourth, it is a foolish thing to adjourn and put off mourning for sin, for the longer you put off holy mourning—the harder you will find the work when you come to it! A bone which is out of joint is easier to set at first—than if you let it go longer. A disease is sooner cured at first—than if it is let alone until advance stages come. You may easily wade over the waters when they are low but if you wait stay until they are risen, then they will be beyond your depth. O sinner, the more treasons against God you commit—the more do you incense him against you, and the harder it will be to get your pardon. The longer you spin out the time of your sinning—the more work you make for repentance!

To adjourn, and put off mourning for sin is folly in respect of the uncertainty of life. How does the procrastinating sinner know that he shall live to be old? 'What is your life? It is but a vapor' (James 4:14). How soon may sickness arrest you, and death strike off your head! May not your sun set at noon? Oh then what impudence is it to put off mourning for sin, and to make a long work, when death is about to make a short work? Caesar, deferring to read the letter which was sent to him, was stabbed in the senate house.

It is folly to put off all until the last—in respect of the improbability of finding mercy. Though God has given you space to repent, he may deny you grace to repent. When God calls for mourning and you are deaf—when you call for mercy God may be dumb 'I called you so often, but you didn't come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected the correction I offered. So I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you whendisaster overtakes you— when calamity overcomes you like a storm, when you are engulfed by trouble, and when anguish and distress overwhelm you. I will not answer when they cry for help. Even though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me!' (Proverbs 1:24-28). Think of it seriously. God may take the latter time to judge you in—because you did not take the former time to repent in.

To put off our solemn turning to God until old age, or sickness, is high imprudence, because 'death bed repentance' is for the most part insincere and spurious. Though true mourning for sin be never too late—yet 'death bed repentance' is seldom true. That repentance is seldom true-hearted, which is grey-headed. It is disputable whether these death-tears are not shed more out of fear of hell—than love to God. The mariner in a storm throws his goods overboard—not that he hates them—but he is afraid they will sink the ship. When men falls to weeping-work late and would cast their sins overboard—it is for the most part, only for fear lest they should sink the ship and drown in hell! It is a great question whether the sickbed penitent begins to mourn—only because he can keep his sins no longer. All which considered may make men take heed of running their souls upon such a desperate hazard, as to put all their work for heaven, upon the last hour.

8. Delay in the execution of justice. "When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong." (Ecclesiastes 8:11). God forbears punishing—therefore men forbear repenting. He does not smite upon their back by correction—therefore they do not smite upon their thigh by humiliation (Jeremiah 31:19). The sinner thinks thus: 'God has spared me all this while; he has eked out patience into longsuffering; surely he will not punish.' 'He says to himself—God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees' (Psalm 10:11). In infinite patience God sometimes adjourns his judgements a while longer. He is not willing to punish (2 Peter 3:9). God is like the bee, which naturally gives honey—but stings only when it is provoked. The Lord would have men make their peace with him (Isaiah 27:5). God is not like a hasty creditor who requires the payment of the debt, and will give no time for the payment. He is not only gracious—but 'waits to be gracious' (Isaiah 30:18). But God by his patience, would bribe sinners to repentance. But, alas, how is his patience abused! God's longsuffering hardens most. Because God stops the vial of his wrath, sinners stop the conduit of tears! That the patience of God may not (through our corruption) obstruct holy mourning, let sinners remember:

First, God's patience has bounds set to it (Genesis 6:3). Though men will not set bounds to their sin—yet God sets bounds to his patience. There is a time when the sun of God's patience will set, and, being once set—it never returns any degrees backwards. The lease of patience will soon be run out! There is a time when God says, 'My Spirit shall no longer strive.' The angel cried, 'The hour of judgement has come' (Revelation 14:7). Perhaps at the next sin you commit—God may say, 'Your hour has now come!'

Second, to be hardened under God's patience, makes our condition far worse. Incensed justice will revenge abused patience! God was patient towards Sodom—but when they did not repent, he made the fire and brimstone flame about their ears! Sodom, which was once the wonder of God's patience—is now a standing monument of God's severity. All the plants and fruits were destroyed, and, as Tertullian says—that place still smells of fire and brimstone. Long forbearance is no forgiveness. God may keep off the stroke awhile—but justice is not dead—but only sleeps. God has leaden feet but iron hands. The longer God is taking his blow—the sorer it will be when it comes. The longer a stone is falling—the heavier it will be at last. The longer God is whetting his sword—the sharper it cuts. Sins against God's patience are of a deeper dye; they are worse than the sins of the devils. The fallen angels never sinned against God's patience. How dreadful will their condition be—who sin because God is patient with them. For every crumb of patience, God puts a drop of wrath into his vial. The longer God forbears with a sinner, the more interest he is sure to pay in hell.

9. Mirth and music. 'You sing idle songs to the sound of the harp. You drink wine by the bowlful, and you perfume yourselves with exotic fragrances.' (Amos 6:5, 6). Instead of the dirge, they sing idle songs. Many sing away sorrow, and drown their tears in wine. The sweet waters of pleasure destroy the bitter waters of mourning. How many go dancing to hell—like those fish which swim pleasantly down into the Dead Sea!

Let us take heed of all these hindrances to holy tears. 'Let the harp play sad music, and the flute accompany those who weep.' (Job 30:31).


Some HELPS to mourning

Having removed the obstructions, let me in propound some helps to holy mourning.

1. Set SIN continually before you. 'My sin is ever before me' (Psalm 51:3). David, that he might be a mourner, kept his eye fully upon sin. See what sin is—and then tell me if there be not enough in it to draw forth tears! I know not what name, is bad enough to give to sin. One calls it the devil's excrement. Sin is a combining of all evils. It is the spirit of evil distilled. Sin dishonors God—it denies God's omniscience, it derides his patience, it distrusts his faithfulness. Sin tramples upon God's law, slights his love, grieves his Spirit. Sin wrongs us; sin shames us. 'Sin is a reproach to any people' (Proverbs 14:34). Sin has made us naked. It has plucked off our robe—and taken our crown from us! Sin has spoiled us of our glory. Nay, it has not only made us naked—but impure. 'I saw youpolluted in your blood' (Ezekiel 16:6). Sin has not only taken off our golden robe—but it has put upon us 'filthy garments' (Zechariah 3:3).

God made us 'after his likeness' (Genesis 1:26)—but sin has made us 'like the beasts which perish' (Psalm 49:20). We have all become brutish in our affections. Nor has sin made us only like the beasts—but like the devil (John 8:44). Sin has drawn the devil's picture upon man's heart. Sin stabs us. The sinner, like the jailer, draws a sword to kill himself (Acts 16:27). He is bereaved of his judgement and, like the man in the gospel, possessed with the devils, 'he cuts himself with stones' (Mark 5:5), though he has such a stone in his heart that he does not feel it. Every sin is a stroke at the soul. So many sins—so many wounds! Every blow given to the tree, helps forward the felling of the tree. Every sin is a hewing and chopping down the soul for hellfire! If then there is all this evil in sin—if this forbidden fruit has such a bitter core—it should make us mourn. Our hearts should be the spring—and our eyes the rivers!

2. If we would be mourners, let us be orators. Beg a spirit of contrition. Pray to God that he will put us in mourning, that he will give us a melting frame of heart. Let us beg Achsah's blessing, even 'springs of water' (Joshua 15:19). Let us pray that our hearts may be spiritual stills—dropping tears into God's bottle. Let us pray that we who have the poison of the serpent—may have the tears of the dove. The Spirit of God is a spirit of mourning. Let us pray that God would pour out that Spirit of grace upon us, whereby we may 'look on him whom we have pierced and mourn for him' (Zechariah 12:10).

God must breathe in his Spirit—before we can breathe out our sorrows. The Spirit of God is like the fire in a still—which sends up the dews of grace in the heartand causes them to drop from the eyes. It is this blessed Spirit whose gentle breath causes our spices to smell—and our waters to flow! If the spring of mourning is once set open in the heart—there can lack no joy. As tears flow out—comfort flows in! This leads to the second part of the text, 'They shall be comforted'.

 

The COMFORTS belonging to mourners

Having already presented to your view the dark side of the text, I shall now show you the bright side, "They shall be comforted." Where observe:

1. Mourning goes before comfort—as the lancing of a wound precedes the cure. The Antinomian talks of comfort—but cries down mourning for sin. He is like a foolish patient who, having a pill prescribed him, licks the sugar—but throws away the pill. The libertine is all for joy and comfort. He licks the sugar—but throws away the bitter pill of repentance. If ever we have true comfort we must have it in God's way and method. Sorrow for sin ushers in joy: 'I will restore comforts to him, and to his mourners' (Isaiah 57:18). That is the true sunshine of joy—which comes after a shower of tears. We may as well expect a crop without seed—as comfort without gospel-mourning.

2. Observe that God keeps his best wine until last. First he prescribes mourning for sin—and then sets open the wine of consolation. The devil does quite contrary. He shows the best first—and keeps the worst until last. First, he shows the wine sparkling in the glass—then comes the 'biting of the serpent' (Proverbs 23:32). Satan sets his dainty dishes before men. He presents sin to them colored with beauty, sweetened with pleasure, silvered with profit—and then afterwards the sad reckoning is brought in! He showed Judas first the silver bait—and then stuck him with the hook! This is the reason why sin has so many followers, because it shows the best first. First, the golden crowns—then comes the lions' teeth! (Revelation 9:7, 8).

But God shows the worst first. First he prescribes a bitter portion— and then brings a cordial, 'They shall be comforted.'

3. Observe, gospel tears are not lost. They are seeds of comfort. While the penitent pours out tears, God pours in joy. 'If you would be cheerful' (says Chrysostom), 'mourn.' 'Those who sow in tears—shall reap in joy' (Psalm 126:5). It was the end of Christ's anointing and coming into the world—that he might comfort those who mourn (Isaiah 61:3). Christ had the oil of gladness poured on him (as Chrysostom says) that he might pour it upon the mourner. Well then, may the apostle call it 'a repentance not to be repented of' (2 Corinthians 7:10). A man's drunkenness is to be repented of; his uncleanness is to be repented of; but hisrepentance is never to be repented of, because it is the inlet to joy. 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.' Here is sweet fruit from a bitter stock. Christ caused the earthen vessels to be filled to the brim with water, and then turned the water into wine (John 2:9). So when the eye, that earthen vessel, has been filled with water to the brim, then Christ will turn the water of tears into the wine of joy. 'Holy mourning,' says Basil, 'is the seed out of which the flower of eternal joy grows.'

The REASONS why the mourner shall be comforted.

[1] Because mourning is made on purpose for this end. Mourning is not prescribed for itself but that it may lead on to something else—that it may lay a train for comfort. Therefore we sow in tears—that we may reap in joy. Holy mourning is a spiritual medicine. Now a medicine is not prescribed for itself—but for the sake of health. So gospel-mourning is appointed for this very end—to bring forth joy.

[2] The spiritual mourner is the fittest person for comfort. When the heart is broken for sin—now it is fittest for joy. God pours the golden oil of comfort—into broken vessels. The mourner's heart is emptied of pride—and God fills the empty with his blessing. The mourner's tears have helped to purge out corruption—and then God gives a cordial. The mourner is ready to faint away under the burden of sin—and then the refreshing cordial comes seasonably. The Lord would have the incestuous person (upon his deep humiliation) to be comforted, lest 'he should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow' (2 Corinthians 2:7).

This is the mourner's privilege: 'He shall be comforted'. The valley of tears brings the soul into a paradise of joy. A sinner's joy brings forth sorrow. The mourner'ssorrow brings forth joy. 'Your sorrow shall be turned into joy' (John 16:20). The saints have a sorrowful seedtime—but a joyful harvest. 'They shall be comforted'.

Now to illustrate this, I shall show you what the comforts are, that the mourners shall have. These comforts are of a divine infusion, and they are twofold, either here or hereafter.

They are called 'the consolations of God' (Job 15:11); that is, 'great comforts', such as none but God can give. They exceed all other comforts as far as heaven exceeds earth. The root on which these comforts grow is the blessed Spirit. He is called 'the Comforter' (John 14:26), and comfort is said to be a 'fruit of the Spirit' (Galatians 5:22). Christ purchased peace, and the Spirit speaks peace.

How does the Spirit comfort? Either mediately or immediately.

[1] The Spirit comforts mediately, by helping us to apply the promises to ourselves and draw water out of those 'wells of salvation'. We lie as dead children at the breast—until the Spirit helps us to suck the breast of a promise; and when the Spirit has taught faith this art, now comfort flows in. O how sweet is the breast-milk of a promise!

[2] The Spirit comforts immediately. The Spirit by a more direct act presents God to the soul as reconciled. He 'sheds his love abroad in the heart', from whence flows infinite joy (Romans 5:5). The Spirit secretly whispers pardon for sin—and the sight of a pardon dilates the heart with joy. 'Be of good cheer—your sins are forgiven' (Matthew 9:2).

That I may speak more fully to this point, I shall show you the nature and excellencies of these comforts which God gives his mourners. These comforts arereal comforts. The Spirit of God cannot witness to that which is untrue. There are many in this age who pretend to comfort—but their comforts are mere impostures. A man may as well be swelled with false, as true comforts. The comforts of the saints are certain. They have the seal of the Spirit set to them (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13). A seal is for confirmation. When a deed is sealed, it is firm and unquestionable. When a Christian has the seal of the Spirit stamped upon his heart—now he is confirmed in the love of God.

Wherein do these comforts of the Spirit which are unquestionably sure, differ from those which are false and pretended? Three ways:

First, the comforts of God's Spirit are laid in deep conviction: 'And when he (that is, the Comforter) has come, he shall convict the world of sin' (John 16:7, 8).

Why does conviction go before consolation? Conviction of sin, fits for comfort. By conviction of sin, the Spirit sweetly disposes the heart to seek after Christ and then to receive Christ. Once the soul is convinced of sin and of the hell which follows sin—a Savior is precious. When the Spirit has shot in the arrow of conviction, 'now,' says a poor soul, 'Where may I meet with Christ? How may I come to enjoy Christ?' 'Have you seen him whom my soul loves? All the world for one glimpse of my Savior!'

Again, the Spirit by conviction makes the heart willing to receive Christ upon his own terms. Man, by nature, would bargain with Christ. He would take halfChrist. He would take him for a Savior to save him from his sin—but not as a King to rule over him. He would accept of Christ as he has 'a head of gold' (Canticles 5:11)—but not as he has 'the government upon his shoulder' (Isaiah 9:6). But when God lets loose the spirit of bondage and convinces a sinner of his lost, undone condition—now he is content to have Christ upon any terms. When Paul was struck down to the ground by a spirit of conviction, he cries out, 'Lord, what will you have me to do?' (Acts 9:6). Let God propound whatever articles he will—the soul will subscribe to them. Now, when a man is brought to Christ's terms, to believe and obey, then he is fit for mercy. When the Spirit of God has been a spirit of conviction of sin, then He becomes a spirit of consolation. When the plough of the law has gone upon the heart and broken up the fallow ground—then God sows the seed of comfort. Those who brag of comfort—but were never truly convicted, nor broken, for sin—have cause to suspect their comfort to be a delusion of Satan. It is like a madman's joy, who thinks himself to be a king—but it may be said of 'his laughter, it is mad' (Ecclesiastes 2:2). The seed which lacked 'depth of earth' withered (Matthew 13:5). That comfort which lacks 'depth of earth', deep humiliation and conviction, will soon wither and come to nothing.

The Spirit of God is a sanctifying, before a comforting Spirit. As God's Spirit is called the 'Comforter', so he is called 'a Spirit of grace' (Zechariah 12:10). Grace is the work of the Spirit. Comfort is the seal of the Spirit. The work of the Spirit goes before the seal. The graces of the Spirit are compared to water (Isaiah 44:3) and to oil (Isaiah 61:3). First, God pours in the water of the Spirit and then comes the oil of gladness. The oil (in this sense) runs above the water. Hereby we shall know whether our comforts are true and genuine. Some talk of the comforting Spirit, who never had the sanctifying Spirit. They boast of assurance—but never had grace. These are spurious joys. These comforts will leave men at death. They will end in horror and despair. God's Spirit will never set seal to a blank. First, the heart must be an epistle written with the finger of the Holy Spirit—and then it is 'sealed with the Spirit of promise'.

First, the comforts of the Spirit are HUMBLING. 'Lord,' says the soul, 'what am I that I should have a smile from heaven, and that you should give me a privy seal of your love?' The more water is poured into a bucket—the lower it descends. The fuller the ship is laden with sweet spices—the lower it sails. The more a Christian is filled with the sweet comforts of the Spirit—the lower he sails in humility. The fuller a tree is of fruit—the lower the bough hangs. The more full we are of 'the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy and peace' (Galatians 5:22), the more we bend in humility. Paul, a 'chosen vessel' (Acts 9:15), filled with the wine of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:5), did not more abound in joy, than in lowliness of mind. 'Unto me who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given . . ', (Ephesians 3:8). He who was the chief of the apostles calls himself the least of the saints.

Those who say they have comfort—but are proud; who have learned to despise others—their comforts are delusions. The devil is able, not only to 'transform himself into an angel of light' (2 Corinthians 11:14)—but he can transform himself into the comforter. It is easy to counterfeit money, to silver over brass and put the king's image upon it. The devil can silver over false comforts and make them look as if they had the stamp of the King of heaven upon them. The comforts of God are humbling. Though they lift the heart up in thankfulness—yet they do not puff it up in pride.

Second, the comforts God gives his mourners are UNMIXED. They are not tempered with any bitter ingredients. Worldly comforts are like wine that is mixed with dregs. 'In the midst of laughter the heart is sad' (Proverbs 14:13). If the breast of a sinner were anatomized and opened—you would find a worm gnawing at his heart. Guilt is a wolf which feeds in the breast of his comfort. A sinner may have a smiling countenance—but a chiding conscience. His mirth is like the mirth of a man in debt, who is every hour in fear of arrest. The comforts of wicked men are spiced with bitterness. They are worm-wood wine.

'These are the men who tremble, and grow pale at every lightning flash, and when it thunders are half-dead with terror at the very first rumbling of the heavens.'

But spiritual comforts are pure. They are not muddied with guilt, nor mixed with fear. They are the pure wine of the Spirit. What the mourner feels is joy, and nothing but joy.

Third, the comforts God gives his mourners are SWEET. 'Truly the light is sweet' (Ecclesiastes 11:7); so is the light of God's countenance. How sweet are those comforts which bring the Comforter along with them! (John 14:10). Therefore the love of God shed into the heart, is said to be 'better than wine' (Canticles 1:2). Wine pleases the palate—but the love of God cheers the conscience. The lips, of Christ 'drop sweet-smelling myrrh' (Canticles 5:13). The comforts which God gives, are a Christian's music. They are the golden pot of manna, the nectar and ambrosia of a Christian. They are the saints' festival, their banqueting delicacies.

So sweet are these divine comforts, that the church had her fainting fits, for lack of them. 'Stay me with flagons' (Canticles 2:5). By these flagons, are meant the comforts of the Spirit. The Hebrew word signifies 'all variety of delights' to show the abundance of delectability and sweetness in these comforts of the Spirit. 'Comfort me with apples.' Apples are sweet in taste, fragrant in smell. Just so, sweet and delicious are those apples which grow upon the tree in paradise. These comforts from above are so sweet that they make all other comforts sweet; health, estate, relations. They are like sauce which makes all our earthly possessions and enjoyments come off with a bitter relish. So sweet are these comforts of the Spirit, that they much abate and moderate our joy in worldly things. He who has been drinking choice wine, will not much desire water; and that man who has once 'tasted how sweet the Lord is' (Psalm 34:8), and has drunk the cordials of the Spirit, will not thirst immoderately after carnal delights. Those who play with dogs and birds—it is a sign they have no children. Just so, such as are inordinate in their desire and love of the creature, declare plainly that they never had better comforts.

Fourth, these comforts which God gives his mourners are HOLY comforts. They are called 'the comfort of the Holy Spirit' (Acts 9:31). Everything propagates in its own kind. The Holy Spirit can no more produce impure joys in the soul, than the sun can produce darkness. He who has the comforts of the Spirit looks upon himself as a person engaged to do God more service. Has the Lord looked upon me with a smiling face? I can never pray enough. I can never love God enough. The comforts of the Spirit raise in the heart a holy antipathy against sin. The dove hates every feather from the hawk. Just so, there is a hatred of every motion and temptation to evil. He who has a principle of life in him, opposes everything that would destroy life—he hates poison. So he who has the comforts of the Spirit living in him, sets himself against those sins which would murder his comforts. Divine comforts give the soul more acquaintance with God. 'Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus.' (1 John 1:3).

Fifth, the comforts reserved for the mourners are FILLING comforts. 'The God of hope fill you with all joy … ' (Romans 15:13). 'Ask … that your joy may be full' (John 16:24). When God pours in the joys of heaven, they fill the heart and make it run over. 'I am exceeding joyful … ' (2 Corinthians 7:4). The Greek word is 'I overflow with joy', as a cup that is filled with wine until it runs over. Outward comforts can no more fill the heart—than a triangle can fill a circle. Spiritual joys are satisfying. 'My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow, and I will praise you with joyful lips' (Psalm 63:5). David's heart was full, and the joy broke out at his lips. 'You have put gladness in my heart' (Psalm 4:7). Worldly joys put gladness into the face: 'They rejoice in the face' (2 Corinthians 5:12). But the Spirit of God puts gladness into the heart. Divine joys are heart joys (Zechariah 10:7). 'Your heart shall rejoice' (John 16:22). A believer rejoices in God: 'My Spirit rejoices in God … ' (Luke 1:47).

And to show how filling these comforts are which are of a heavenly extraction, the Psalmist says they create greater joy than when 'their wine and oil increase' (Psalm 4:7). Wine and oil may delight—but they cannot satisfy; they have their emptiness and indigence. We may say as Zechariah 10:2, 'They comfort in vain.' Outward comforts sooner cloy than cheer—and sooner weary than fill. Xerxes offered great rewards to him who could find out a new pleasure—but the comforts of the Spirit are satisfactory. They refresh the heart. 'Your comforts delight my soul' (Psalm 94:19). There is as much difference between heavenly comforts and earthly comforts—as between a banquet which is eaten, and one which is painted on the wall.

Sixth, the comforts God gives his mourners in this life are GLORIOUS comforts. 'Joy full of glory' (1 Peter 1:8). They are glorious because they are a foretaste of that joy which we shall have in a glorified estate. These comforts are a pledge of glory. They put us in heaven before our time. 'You were sealed with the Holy Spirit, which is the pledge of the inheritance' (Ephesians 1:13, 14). So the comforts of the Spirit are the pledge, the 'cluster of grapes' at Eshcol (Numbers 13:23), the first-fruits of the heavenly Canaan. The joys of the Spirit are glorious, in opposition to other joys, which compared with these, are inglorious and vile. A carnal man's joy, as it is airy and flashy, so it is sordid. He sucks nothing but dregs. 'You rejoice in a thing of nothing' (Amos 6:13). A carnal spirit rejoices because he can say that this house is his, or that this estate is his. But a gracious spirit rejoices because he can say that this God is his: 'For this God is our God forever and ever' (Psalm 48:14). The ground of a Christian's joy is glorious. He rejoices in that he is an heir of the promise. The joy of a godly man is made up of that which is the angels' joy. He triumphs in the light of God's countenance. His joy is that which is Christ's own joy. He rejoices in the mystical union which is begun here and consummated in heaven. Thus the joy of the saints is a joy 'full of glory'.

Seventh, the comforts which God gives his mourners are infinitely transporting and RAVISHING. So delightful are they and amazing, that they cause a jubilation which is so great, that it cannot be expressed. Of all things joy is the most hard to be deciphered. It is called 'joy unspeakable' (1 Peter 1:8). You cannot tell how sweet honey is, without actually tasting it. The most elevated words can no more set forth the comforts of the Spirit, than the a pencil can draw the life and breath of a man. The angels cannot express the joys they feel. Some men have been so overwhelmed with the sweet raptures of joy, that they have not been able to contain—but as Moses, have died with a kiss from God's mouth. Thus have we seen the glass oft breaking with the strength of the liquor put into it.

Eighth, these comforts of the Spirit are POWERFUL. They are strong cordials, strong consolation, as the apostle phrases it (Hebrews 6:18). Divine comfort strengthens for duty. 'The joy of the Lord is your strength' (Nehemiah 8:10). Joy whets and sharpens industry. A man who is steeled and animated with the comfort of God's Spirit, goes with vigor and alacrity through the exercises of piety. He believes firmly, he loves fervently, he is carried full sail in duty. 'The joy of the Lord is his strength'. Divine comfort supports under affliction: 'Having received the Word in much affliction, with joy' (1 Thessalonians 1:6). The wine of the Spirit can sweeten 'the waters of Marah'. Those who are possessed of these heavenly comforts can 'gather grapes from thorns', and fetch honey out of the 'lion's carcass'. They are 'strong consolations' indeed, which can endure the 'fiery trial', and turn the flame into a bed of roses. How powerful is that comfort which can make a Christian glory in tribulations (Romans 5:3)! A believer is never so sad, but he can rejoice. The bird of paradise can sing in the winter. 'As sorrowing—yet always rejoicing' (2 Corinthians 6:10). Let sickness come, the sense of pardon takes away the sense of pain. 'The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick' (Isaiah 33:24). Let death come, the Christian is above it. 'O death, where is your sting?' (1 Corinthians 15:55). At the end of the rod, a Christian tastes honey. These are 'strong consolations'.

Ninth, the comforts God's mourners have are HEART-QUIETING comforts. They cause a sweet acquiescence and rest in the soul. The heart of a Christian is in a state of discomposure, like the needle in the compass; it shakes and trembles—until the Comforter comes. Some creatures cannot live but in the sun. A Christian is discomposed, unless he has the sunlight of God's countenance. 'Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down into the pit' (Psalm 143:7). Nothing but the breast will quiet the child. It is only the breast of consolation, which quiets the believer.

Tenth, the comforts of the Spirit are ABIDING comforts. As they abound in us so they abide with us. 'He shall give you another Comforter that he may abidewith you forever' (John 14:16). Worldly comforts are always upon the wing, ready to fly. They are like a flash of lightning. 'They will oftentimes pass away and glide from your closest embrace'. All things here are transient—but the comforts with which God feeds his mourners are immortal: 'Who has loved us and given useverlasting consolation' (2 Thessalonians 2:16). Though a Christian does not always have a full beam of comfort—yet he has a dawning of it in his soul. He always has a ground of hope and a root of joy. There is that within him, which bears up his heart, and which he would not on any terms part with.

Behold, then, the mourner's privilege, 'He shall be comforted'. David who was the great mourner of Israel, was the 'sweet singer of Israel'. The weeping dove shall be covered with the golden feathers of comfort. O how rare and superlative are these comforts!

But the question may be asked, 'May not God's mourners lack these comforts?' Spiritual mourners have a title to these comforts—yet they may sometimes lack them. God is a sovereign agent. He will have the timing of our comforts. He has a self-freedom to do what he will. The Holy One of Israel will not be limited. He reserves his prerogative to give or suspend comfort—as he will; and if we are a while without comfort, we must not quarrel with his dispensations, for as the mariner is not to wrangle with providence because the wind blows out of the east when he desires it to blow out of the west; nor is the farmer to murmur when God stops the bottles of heaven in time of drought; so neither is any man to dispute or quarrel with God, when he stops the sweet influence of comfort—but he ought rather to acquiesce in his sacred will.

But though the Lord might by virtue of his sovereignty withhold comfort from the mourner—yet there may be many pregnant causes assigned why mourners lack comfort in regard of God and also in regard of themselves.

1. Why mourners lack comfort—in regard of GOD. He sees it fit to withhold comfort that he may raise the value of grace. We are apt to esteem comfort above grace, therefore God locks up our comforts for a time, that he may enhance the price of grace. When farthings go better than gold the king will call in farthings, that the price of gold may be the more raised. God would have his people serve him for himself—and not for comfort alone. It is a harlot love to love the husband's money and gifts, more than his person. Such as serve God only for comfort, do not so much serve God, as serve themselves with God.

2. That God's mourners lack comfort, it is most frequency in regard of THEMSELVES.

[1] Through mistake, which is twofold. They do not go to the right spring for comfort. They go to their tears, when they should go to Christ's blood. It is a kind of idolatry to make our tears the ground of our comfort. Mourning is not meritorious. It is the way to joy, not the cause. Jacob got the blessing in the garments of his elder brother. True comfort flows out of Christ's pierced side. Our tears are stained, until they are washed in the blood of Christ. 'In me you will have peace' (John 16:33).

The second mistake is that mourners are privileged people, and may take more liberty to slacken or sin. They may slacken the strings of duty, and let loose the reins to sin. Christ has indeed purchased a liberty for his people—but a holy liberty, not a liberty for sin—but from sin. 'But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light' (1 Peter 2:9). You are not in a state of slavery—but royalty. What follows? Do not make Christian liberty a cloak for sin. 'As free, and not using your liberty for a cover-up for evil' (16). If we quench the sanctifying Spirit, God will quench the comforting Spirit. Sin is compared to a 'cloud' (Isaiah 44:22). This cloud intercepts the light of God's countenance.

[2] God's mourners sometimes lack comfort through discontent and peevishness. David makes his disquiet the cause of his sadness. 'Why are you cast down, O my soul? Why are you disquieted within me?' (Psalm 43:5). A disquieted heart, like a rough sea, is not easily calmed. It is hard to make a troubled spirit receive comfort. This disquiet arises from various causes: sometimes from outward sorrow and melancholy, sometimes from a kind of envy. God's people are troubled to see others have comfort, and they lack it; and now in a peeve, they refuse comfort, and like a froward child, put away the breast. 'My soul refused to be comforted' (Psalm 77:2). Indeed a disquieted spirit is no more fit for comfort, than a madman is fit for counsel. And whence is the mourner's discontent—but pride? As if God had not dealt well with him in stopping the influences of comfort. O Christian, your spirit must be more humbled and broken, before God empty out his golden oil of joy.

[3] The mourner is without comfort for lack of applying the promises. He looks at sin, which may humble him—but not at that Word, which may comfort him. The mourner's eyes are so full of tears that he cannot see the promise. The virtue and comfort of a medicine is in the applying. When the promises are applied by faith, they bring comfort (Hosea 2:19; Isaiah 49:15, 16). Faith milks the breast of a promise. That Satan may hinder us of comfort; it is his policy either to keep the promise from us that we may not know it, or to keep us from the promise that we may not apply it. All the promises in the Bible belong to the mourner—had he but the skill and dexterity of faith to lay hold on it.

[4] The mourner may lack comfort through too much earthly-mindedness. By feeding immoderately on earthly comforts—we miss of heavenly comforts. 'For the iniquity of his covetousness was I angry, and I hid myself' (Isaiah 57:17). The earth puts out the fire. Earthiness extinguishes the flame of divine joy in the soul. An eclipse occurs when the moon, which is a dense body, comes between the sun and the earth. The moon is an emblem of the world (Revelation 12:1). When this comes between, then there is an eclipse in the light of God's face. Such as dig in mines say there is such a damp comes from the earth as puts out the light of a candle. Earthly comforts send forth such a damp as puts out the light of spiritual joy.

[5] Perhaps the mourner has had comfort and lost it. Adam's rib was taken from him, when he was asleep (Genesis 2:21). Our comforts are taken away, when we fall asleep in security. The spouse lost her beloved when she lay upon the bed of sloth (Canticles 5:2, 6).

For these reasons God's mourners may lack comfort—but that the spiritual mourner may not be too much dejected, I shall reach forth 'the cup of consolation' (Jeremiah 16:7), and speak a few words that may comfort the mourner in the lack of comfort.

Jesus Christ was without comfort, therefore no wonder if we are. Our comforts are not better than his. He who was the Son of God's love, was without the sense of God's love. The mourner has a seed of comfort: 'Light is sown for the righteous' (Psalm 97:11). Light is a metaphor put for comfort, and it is sown. Though a child of God does not have comfort always in the flower—yet he has it in the seed. Though he does not feel comfort from God, yet he takes comfort in God. A Christian may be high in grace—and low in comfort. The high mountains are without flowers. The mines of gold have no corn growing on them. A Christian's heart may be a rich mine of grace, though it is barren of comfort. The mourner is heir to comfort, and though for a small moment God may forsake his people (Isaiah 54:7)—yet there is a time shortly coming, when the mourner shall have all tears wiped away, and shall be brim full of comfort. This joy is reserved for heaven, and this brings me to the second particular.

'They shall be comforted'. Though in this life some interviews and love tokens pass between God and the mourner—yet the great comforts are kept in sore for heaven. 'In God's presence is fullness of joy' (Psalm 16:11). There is a time coming (the daystar is ready to appear) when the saints shall bathe themselves in the river of life, when they shall never more see a wrinkle on God's brow—but his face shall shine, his lips drop honey, his arms sweetly embrace them! The saints shall have a spring-tide of joy, and it shall never be low water. The saints shall at that day put off their mourning, and exchange their sables for white robes. Then shall the winter be past, the rain of tears be over and gone (Canticles 2:11, 12). The flowers of joy shall appear, and after the weeping of the dove—'the time of the singing of birds shall come'. This is the 'great consolation', the Jubilee of the blessed which shall never expire. In this life the people of God taste of joy—but in heaven their vessels shall always overflow. There is a river in the midst of the heavenly paradise which has a fountain to feed it (Psalm 36:8, 9).

The times we are cast into, being for the present sad and cloudy, it will not be amiss for the reviving the hearts of God's people, to speak a little of these comforts which God reserves in heaven for his mourners. 'They shall be comforted'.

The greatness of these celestial comforts is most fitly in Scripture expressed by the joy of a feast. Mourning shall be turned into feasting, and it shall be a marriage-feast, which is usually kept with the greatest solemnity. 'Blessed are those who are called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb' (Revelation 19:9). Some understand this supper of the Lamb, to be meant of the saints' supping with Christ in heaven. Men after hard labor, go to supper. So when the saints shall 'rest from their labors' (Revelation 14:13), they shall sup with Christ in glory. Now to speak something of the last great supper.

[1] It will be a great supper in regard of the FOUNDER of this feast—God. It is the supper of a king, therefore sumptuous and magnificent. 'The Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods' (Psalm 95:3). Where should there be grandeur and magnificence, but in a king's court?

[2] It will be a great supper in regard of the cheer and PROVISION. This exceeds all hyperboles. What blessed fruit does the tree of life in paradise yield! (Revelation 2:7). Christ will lead his spouse into the 'banqueting house' and feast her with those rare viands, and cause her to drink that spiced wine, that heavenly nectar and ambrosia with which the angelic powers are infinitely refreshed.

First, every dish served in at this heavenly supper shall be sweet to our palate. There is no dish here we do not love. Christ will make such 'savory meat' as he is sure his spouse loves.

Second, there shall be no lack here. There is no lack at a feast. The multifaceted fullness in Christ will prevent a scarcity, and it will be a fullness without surfeit, because a fresh course will continually be served in.

Third, those who eat of this supper shall 'hunger no more'. Hunger is a sharp sauce. The 'Lamb's supper' shall not only satisfy hunger—but prevent it. 'They shall hunger no more!' (Revelation 7:16).

[3] It will be a great supper in regard of the COMPANY invited. Company adds to a feast, and is of itself sauce to whet the appetite. Saints, angels, archangels will be at this supper. Nay, Christ himself will be both Founder and Guest. The Scripture calls it 'an innumerable company … ' (Hebrews 12:22); and that which makes the society sweeter, is that there shall be perfect love at this feast. The motto shall be 'one heart and one way'. All the guests shall be linked together with the golden chain of love.

[4] It will be a great supper in regard of the HOLY MIRTH. 'A feast is made for mirth' (Ecclesiastes 10:19). At this supper there shall be joy, and nothing but joy (Psalm 16:11). There is no weeping at this feast. O what triumph and acclamations will there be! There are two things at this 'supper of the Lamb, which will create joy and mirth. First, when the saints shall think with themselves, that they are kept from a worse supper. The devils have a supper (such an one as it is), a black banquet. There are two dishes served in—weeping and gnashing of teeth. Every bit they eat makes their hearts ache. Who would envy them their feasts here on earth—who must have such a dismal supper in hell? Second, it will be a matter of joy at the 'supper of the Lamb', that the Master of the feast bids all his guests welcome. The saints shall have the smiles of God's face, the kisses of his lips. He will lead them into the wine cellar, and display the banner of love over them. The saints shall be as full of solace as sanctity. What is a feast without mirth? Worldly mirth is flashy and empty. This will be infinitely delightful and ravishing.

[5] It will be a great supper for the MUSIC. This will be a marriage supper, and what better music than the Bridegroom's voice, saying, 'My spouse, my undefiled, take your fill of love!' There will be the angels' anthems, the saints' triumphs. The angels, those trumpeters of heaven, shall sound forth the excellencies of Jehovah, and the saints, those noble choristers, shall take 'down their harps from the willows', and join in consort with the angels, praising and blessing God. 'I saw before me what seemed to be a crystal sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them. And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb—Great and marvelous are your actions, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!' (Revelation 15:2, 3). O the sweet harmony at this feast! It shall be music without discord.

6] This supper is great in regard of the PLACE where it shall be celebrated, in the 'paradise of God' (Revelation 2:7). It is a stately palace. It is stately for itssituation. It is of a very great height (Revelation 21:10). It is stately for its prospect. All sparkling beauties are centered there, and the delight of the prospect is personal possession! That is the best prospect, where a man cannot see to the furthest end of his own ground. This royal feast shall be kept in a most spacious room, a room infinitely greater than the whole firmament. Though there is such a multitude as no man can number, 'of all nations, kindred, people and tongues' (Revelation 7:9)—yet the table is long enough and the room spacious enough, for all the guests. One of the things which are requisite to a feast, is a fit place. The empyrean heaven bespangled with light, arrayed with rich hangings, embroidered with glory, seated above all the visible orbs, is the place of the marriage-supper. This infinitely transcends the most profound search. I am no more able to express it, than I can span the firmament, or weigh the earth in a scale.

[7] It will be a great supper in regard of its CONTINUANCE. It has no end. Epicures have a short feast—and a long reckoning. But those who shall sit down at the heavenly banquet—shall never rise from the table. The provisions shall never be taken away—but they shall always be feeding upon those sweets and delicacies which are set before them. We read that King Ahasuerus made a feast for his princes which lasted 'a hundred and eighty days' (Esther 1:4). But this blessed feast reserved for the saints—is 'forever'. 'At your right hand there are pleasures for evermore' (Psalm 16:11).

For your consolation, consider how this may be as divine cordial to keep the hearts of God's people from fainting! 'They shall be comforted'. They shall sit with Christ 'upon the throne' (Revelation 3:21), and sit down with him 'at the table'. Who would not mourn for sin—that are sure to meet with such rewards! 'They shallbe comforted!' The marriage-supper will make amends for 'the valley of tears!' O saint of God, you who are now weeping bitterly for sin, at this last and great feast your 'water shall be turned into wine'. You who now mortify your corruptions, and 'beat down your body' by prayer and fasting—shall shortly sup with Christ and angels! You who refused to touch the forbidden tree—shall feed upon 'the tree of life in the paradise of God!' You impoverished saint, who have scarce a bit of bread to eat, remember for your comfort, 'in your father's house there is bread enough', and he is making ready a feast for you, where all the dainties of heaven are served! O feed with delight upon the thoughts of this marriage-supper! After your funeral, begins your festival! Long for the Lamb's supper! Christ himself, has paid for this supper upon the cross! 'Therefore comfort one another with these words!'

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Chapter 4 Christian Meekness

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Chapter 5 Spiritual Hunger

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Chapter 6 A Discourse of Mercifulness

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Chapter 7 Heart Purity

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Chapter 8 Concerning Peaceableness

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Chapter 9 Concerning Persecution

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Chapter 10 Appendix

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