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21 - Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Discourse I - Sermons on Several Occasions · Sacred Texts Archive

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Upon our Lord's sermon on the mount Discourse one. And seeing the multitudes,
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he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples
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came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
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Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted Matthew five, Verses
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one through four. Our Lord had now gone about all Galilee Matthew four twenty
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three, beginning at the time when John was cast into prison Matthew four twelve,
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not only teaching in their synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom,
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but likewise healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
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It was a natural consequence of this that there followed him great multitudes from
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Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and
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from the region beyond Jordan Matthew four twenty five. And seeing the multitudes whom
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no synagogue could contain, even had there been any at hand, he went
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up into a mountain where there was room for all that came unto him from
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every quarter, and when he was set as the manner of the Jews was.
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His disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth in expression denoting
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the beginning of a solemn discourse, and taught them, saying, let us
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observe who it is that is here speaking, that we may take heed how
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we hear. It is the Lord of heaven and earth, the creator of
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all, who as such has a right to dispose of all his creatures,
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The Lord, our governor, whose kingdom is from everlasting and ruleth over all,
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the great lawgiver, who can well enforce all his laws, being able
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to save and to destroy, yea to punish with everlasting destruction. From his
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presence and from the glory of his power. It is the eternal wisdom of
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the Father, who knoweth whereof we are made, and understands our inmost frame,
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who knows how we stand related to God, to one another, to
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every creature which God hath made, and consequently how to adapt every law he
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prescribes to all the circumstances wherein He hath placed us. It is he who
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is loving unto every man, whose mercy is over all his works, The
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God of Love, who, having emptied himself of his eternal glory is coming
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forth from his Father to declare his will to the children of men. And
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then goeth again to the Father, who is sent from God to open the
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eyes of the blind, and to give light to them that sit in darkness.
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It is the great Prophet of the Lord, concerning whom God had solemnly
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declared long ago. Whosoever will not hearken under my words which he shall speak
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in my name, I will require it of him Deuteronomy eighteen and nineteen,
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Or as the Apostle expresses it, every soul which will not hear that prophet
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shall be destroyed from among the people, Acts three twenty three. And what
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is it which he is teaching? The Son of God, who came from
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heaven, is here showing us the way to Heaven, to the place which
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he hath prepared for us, the glory he had before the world began.
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He is teaching us the true way to everlasting life, the royal way which
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leads to the Kingdom, and the only true way, for there is none
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besides. All other paths lead to destruction. From the character of the speaker,
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we are well assured that he hath declared the full and perfect will of
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God. He hath uttered not one tittle too much, nothing more than he
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had received of the Father, nor too little. He hath not shunned to
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declare the whole counsel of God. Much less hath he uttered anything wrong,
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anything contrary to the will of Him that sent him. All his words are
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true and write concerning all things, and shall stand fast forever and ever.
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And we may easily remark that in explaining and confirming these faithful and true sayings,
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he takes care to refute not only the mistakes of the scribes and Pharisees,
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which then were the false comments whereby the Jewish teachers of that age had
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perverted the word of God, but all the practical mistakes that are inconsistent with
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salvation, which should ever arise in the Christian Church, all the comments whereby
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the Christian teachers so called, of any age or nation should pervert the word
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of God and teach unwary souls to seek death in the error of their life.
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And hence we are naturally led to observe whom it is that he is
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here teaching, not the apostles alone. If so, he had no need
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to have gone up into the mountain a room in the house of Matthew or
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any of his disciples, would have contained the twelve. Nor does it in
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any wise appear that the disciples who came unto him were the twelve. Only
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Hoi attuo, without any force put upon the expression may be understood of all
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who desired to learn of him. But to put this out of all question,
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to make an undeniably plain that where it is said he opened his mouth
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and taught them the word them includes all the multitudes who went up with him
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into the mountain. We need only observe the concluding verses of the seventh chapter,
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and it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the multitudes
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hoi okloi were astonished at his doctrine or teaching, for he taught them the
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multitudes as one having authority, and not as the scribes Matthew seven, Verses
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twenty eight and twenty nine. Nor was it only those multitudes who were with
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him on the mount to whom he now taught the way of salvation, but
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all the children of men, the whole race of mankind, the children that
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were yet unborn, all the generations to come even to the end of the
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world, who should ever hear the words of this life, and this all
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men allow. With regard to some parts of the ensuing discourse. No man,
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for instance, denies that what is said of poverty of spirit relates to
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all mankind. But many have supposed that other parts concerned only the Apostles,
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or the first Christians, or the ministers of Christ, and were never designed
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for the generality of men, who consequently have nothing at all to do with
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them. But may we not justly inquire who told them this that some parts
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of this discourse concerned only the Apostles, or the Christians of the Apostolic Age,
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or the ministers of Christ. Bare assertions are not a sufficient proof to
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establish a point of so great importance. Has then our Lord himself taught us
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that some parts of his discourse do not concern all mankind? Without doubt,
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had it been so, he would have told us he could not have omitted
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so necessary an information. But as he told us so, where in the
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discourse itself? No, here is not the least intimation of it. Has
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he said so elsewhere in any other of his discourses. Not one word so
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much as glancing this way, can we find in anything he ever spoke either
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to the multitudes or to the disciples. Has any one of the apostles or
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other inspired writers left such an instruction upon record? No such thing, No
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assertion of this kind is to be found in all the oracles of God.
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Who then, are the men who are so much wiser than God? Why
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so far above that which is written? Perhaps they will say that the reason
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of the thing requires such a restriction to be made. If it does,
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it must be on one of these two accounts, because without such a restriction,
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the discourse would either be apparently absurd, or would contradict some other scripture.
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But this is not the case. It will plainly appear, when we
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come to examine the several particulars, that there is no absurdity at all in
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applying all which our Lord hath delivered here to all mankind. Neither will it
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infer any contradiction to anything else he is delivered, nor do any other scripture
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whatever. Nay, it will further appear that either all the parts of this
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discourse are to be applied to men in general, or no part. Seeing
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they are all connected together, all joined as the stones in an arch of
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which you cannot take one away without destroying the whole fabric. We may lastly
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observe how our Lord teaches here, and surely as at all times, so
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particularly at this he speaks as never man spake, not as the holy men
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of old, although they also spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,
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not as Peter or James, or John or Paul. They were indeed
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wise master builders in his church. But still in this, in the degrees
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of heavenly wisdom, the servant is not as his Lord, no, nor
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even as himself at any other time or on any other occasion. It does
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not appear that it was ever his design at any other time or place to
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lay down at once the whole plan of his religion, to give us a
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full prospect of Christianity, to describe at large the nature of that holiness without
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which no man shall see. The Lord. Particular branches of this he has
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indeed described on a thousand different occasions. But never besides here did he give
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of set purpose a general view of the whole. Nay, we have nothing
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else of this kind in all the Bible, unless one should accept that short
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sketch of holiness delivered by God in those ten words or commandments to Moses on
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Mount Sinai. But even here, how wide a difference is there between one
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and the other. Even that which was made glorious had no glory in this
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respect. By reason of the glory that excelleth Tewod Corinthians three, verse ten.
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Above all, with what amazing love does the Son of God here reveal
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his father's will to man. He does not bring us again to the mount
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that burned with fire, nor into blackness and darkness and tempest. He does
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not speak as when he thundered out of heaven, when the Highest gave his
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thunder, hailstones and coals of fire. He now addresses us with his still
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small voice. Blessed or happy are the poor in spirit? Happy are the
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mourners, the meek, those that hunger after righteousness, the merciful, the
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pure in heart, happy in the end and in the way, happy in
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this life and in life everlasting. As if he had said, who is
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he that lusteth to live and would fain see good days? Behold, I
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show you the thing which your soul longeth for. See the way you have
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so long sought in vain, the way of pleasantness, the path to calm,
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joyous peace, to heaven below and Heaven above. At the same time,
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with what authority does he teach? Well, might they say not as
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the scribes observe the manner, But it cannot be expressed in more words.
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The air with which he speaks, not as Moses the servant of God,
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not as Abraham his friend, not as any of the prophets, nor as
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any of the sons of men. It is something more than human, more
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than can agree to any created being. It speaks the creator of all,
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a God, A God appears yea ooh, on the being of beings,
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Jehovah, the self existent, the Supreme, the God who is overall blessed
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forever. This divine discourse, delivered in the most excellent method every subsequent part
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illustrating those that precede, is commonly and not improperly divided into three principal branches,
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the first contained in the fifth, the second in the sixth, and
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the third in the seventh chapter. In the first, the sum of all
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true religion is laid down in eight particulars, which are explained and guarded against
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the false glosses of men in the following parts of the fifth chapter. In
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the second are rules for that right intention which we are to preserve in all
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our outward actions unmixed with worldly desires or anxious cares for even the necessaries of
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life. In the third are cautions against the main hindrances of religion, closed
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with an application of the whole. Our Lord first lays down the sum of
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all true religion in eight particulars, which he explains and guards against the false
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glosses of men to the end of the fifth chapter. Some have supposed that
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he designed in these to point out the several stages of the Christian course,
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the steps which a Christian successively takes in his journey to the Promised land.
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Others that all the particulars here set down belong at all times to every Christian.
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And why may we not allow both the one and the other. What
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inconsistency is there between them? It is undoubtedly true that both poverty of sais
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spirit and every other temper which is here mentioned, are at all times found
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in a greater or lesser degree in every real Christian. And it is equally
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true that real Christianity always begins in a poverty of spirit, and goes on
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in the order here set down till the Man of God is made perfect.
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We begin at the lowest of these gifts of God, yet so as not
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to relinquish this when we are called of God to come up higher. But
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whereunto we have already attained, we hold fast while we press on to what
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is yet before, to the highest blessings of God in Christ Jesus. The
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foundation of all is poverty of spirit. Here therefore our Lord begins, Blessed
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said he are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
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It may not improbably be supposed that our Lord looked on those who were
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round about him, and observing that not many rich were there, but rather
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the poor of the world took occasion from thence to make a train transition from
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temporal to spiritual things. Blessed said he or happy. So the words should
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be rendered both in this and the following verses are the poor in spirit.
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He does not say that they are poor as to outward circumstances, it being
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not impossible that some of these may be as far from happiness as a monarch
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upon his throne. But the poor in spirit, they who, whatever their
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outward circumstances are, have that disposition of heart which is the first step to
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all real substantial happiness, either in this world or that which is to come.
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Some have judged that by the poor in spirit here are meant those who
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love poverty, those who are free from coveteousness, from the love of money,
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who fear rather than desire riches. Perhaps they have been induced so to
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judge by wholly confining their thoughts to the very term, or by considering that
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weighty of observation of Saint Paul that the love of money is the root of
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all evil, and hence man many have wholly divested themselves, not only of
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riches, but of all worldly goods. Hence also the vows of voluntary poverty
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seem to have arisen in the Romish Church, it being supposed that so eminent
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a degree of this fundamental grace must be a large step towards the kingdom of
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heaven. But these do not seem to have observed. First that the expression
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of Saint Paul must be understood with some restriction, otherwise it is not true.
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For the love of money is not the root the sole root of all
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evil. There are a thousand other roots of evil in the world. As
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Sad experienced daily shows, his meaning can only be it is the root of
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very many evils, perhaps of more than any single vice. Besides, secondly,
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that this sense of the expression poor in spirit will by no means suit
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our Lord's present design, which is to lay a general foundation whereon the whole
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fabric of Christianity may be built, a design which would be in no wise
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answered by guarding against one particular vice, so that if even this were supposed
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to be part of his meaning, it could not possibly be the whole.
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Thirdly, that it cannot be supposed to be any part of his meaning unless
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we charge him with manifest tautology. Seeing if poverty of spirit were only freedom
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from coveteousness, from the love of money or the desire of riches, it
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would coincide with what he afterwards mentions, It would be only a branch of
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purity of heart. Who then are the poor in spirit? Without question,
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the humble they who themselves who are convinced of sin, those to whom God
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hath given that first repentance which is previous to faith in Christ. One of
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these can no longer say I am rich and increased in goods, and have
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need of nothing, as now, knowing that he is wretched and poor and
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miserable and blind and naked. He is convinced that he is spiritually poor.
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Indeed, no spiritual good abiding in him. In me saith. He dwelleth
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no good thing, but whatsoever is evil and abominable. He has a deep
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sense of the loathsome leprosy of sin, which he brought with him from his
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mother's womb, which overspreads his whole soul and totally corrupts every power and faculty.
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Thereof, he sees more and more of the evil tempers which spring from
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that evil root, the pride and haughtiness of spirit, the constant bias to
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think of himself more highly than he ought to think, the vanity, the
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thirst after the esteem or honor that cometh from men, the hatred or envy,
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the jealousy or revenge, the anger, malice or bitterness, the inbred
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enmity, both against God and man, which appears in ten thousand shapes,
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the love of the world, the self will, the foolish and hurtful desires
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which cleave to his inmost soul. He is conscious how deeply he has offended
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by his tongue, if not by profane, immodest, untrue, or unkind
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words. Yet by decourse which was not good to the use of edifying,
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not meet to minister grace to the hearers, which consequently was all corrupt in
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God's account and grievous to his Holy Spirit. His evil works are now,
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likewise ever in his sight. If he tells them, they are more than
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he is able to express. He may as well think to number the drops
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of rain, the sands of the sea, or the days of eternity.
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His guilt is now also before his face. He knows the punishment he has
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deserved, were it only on account of his carnal mind, the entire universal
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corruption of his nature, how much more on account of all his evil desires
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and thoughts, of all his sinful words and actions. He cannot doubt for
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a moment. But the least of these deserves the damnation of hell, the
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worm that dieth not, and the fire that never shall be quenched. Above
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all, the guilt of not believing on the name of the only begotten Son
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of God lies heavy upon him. How saith he shall I escape who neglect
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so great salvation? He that believeth not is condemned already, and the wrath
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of God abideth on him. But what shall he give in exchange for his
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soul, which is forfeited to the just vengeance of God? Wherewithal shall he
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come before the Lord? How shall he pay him that he oweth? Were
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he from this moment to perform the most perfect obedience in every command of God,
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this would make no amends for a single sin, for any one act
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of past disobedience. Seeing he owes God all the service he is able to
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perform from this moment to all eternity, could he pay this, it would
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make no manner of amends for what he ought to have done before. He
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sees himself therefore utterly helpless with regard to atoning for his past sins, utterly
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unable to make any amends to God, to pay any ransom for his own
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soul. But if God would forgive him all that is past on this one
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condition that he should sin no more, that for the time to come he
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should entirely and constantly obey all his commands, he well knows that this would
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profit him nothing, being a condition he could never perform. He knows and
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feels that he is not able to obey even the outward commands of God,
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seeing these cannot be obeyed. While his heart remains in its natural sinfulness and
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corruption. Inasmuch as an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit, but he
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cannot cleanse a sinful heart. With men, this is impossible, so that
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he is utterly at loss even how to begin walking in the path of God's
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commandments. He knows not how to get one step forward in the way.
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Encompassed with sin and sorrow and fear, and finding no way to escape,
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he can only cry out, Lord, save or I perish poverty of spirit.
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Then, as it implies, the first step we take in running the
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race which is set before us, is a just sense of our outward and
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inward sins, and of our guilt and helplessness. This sum have monstrously styled
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the virtue of humility, thus teaching us to be proud of knowing we deserve
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damnation. But our Lord's expression is quite of another kind, conveying no idea
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to the hearer, but that of mere want, of naked sin, of
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helpless guilt and misery. The Great Apostle, where he endeavors to bring sinners
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to God, speaks in a manner just answerable to this. The wrath of
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God saith. He is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men
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Romans one, verse eighteen, a charge which he immediately fixes on the heathen
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world, and thereby proves they are under the wrath of God. He next
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shows that the Jews were no better than they, and were therefore under the
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same condemnation. And all this not in order to their attaining the noble virtue
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of humility, but that every mouth might be stopped and all the world become
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guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law there shall no
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flesh be justified. But now the righteousness of God, which is by faith
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of Jesus Christ, without the law, is manifested. We conclude that a
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man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law. Expressions all tending
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to the same point, even to hide pride from man, to humble him
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in the dust, without teaching him to reflect upon his humility as a virtue,
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to inspire him with that full piercing conviction of his utter sinfulness, guilt,
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and helplessness, which casts the sinner stripped of all lost and undone,
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on his strong helper. Jesus Christ, the righteous one, cannot but observe
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here that Christianity begins just where heathen morality ends, poverty of spirit, conviction
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of sin, the renouncing ourselves, the not having our own righteousness, the
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very first point in the religion of Jesus Christ, leaving all pagan religion behind.
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This was ever hid from the wise men of this world, insomuch that
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the whole Roman language, even with all the improvements of the Augustin Age,
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does not afford so much as a name for humility. The word from whence
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we borrow this as is well known, bearing in Latin a quite different meaning.
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No, nor was one found in all the copious language of Greece till
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it was made by the Great Apostle. Oh, that we may feel what
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they were not able to express. Sinner awake, know thyself, Know and
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feel that thou wert shapen in wickedness, and that in sin did thy mother
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conceive thee, And that thou thyself hast been heaping up sin upon sin ever
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since thou couldst discern good from evil. Sink under the mighty hand of God
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as guilty of death eternal, and cast off, renounce, abhor all imagination
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of ever being able to help thyself. Be it all thy hope to be
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washed in His blood and renewed by His almighty Spirit, who himself bear all
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our sins in his own body on the tree. So shalt thou witness.
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Happy are the poor in spirit? For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.
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This is that kingdom of Heaven or of God, which is within us,
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even righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And what is righteousness
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but the life of God and the soul, the mind which was in Christ
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Jesus, the image of God stamped upon the heart, now renewed after the
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likeness of Him that created it. What is it but the love of God
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because He first loved us, and the love of all mankind for his sake.
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And what is this peace, the peace of God, but that calm,
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serenity of soul, that sweet repose in the blood of Jesus, which
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leaves no doubt of our acceptance in Him, which excludes all fear, but
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the loving, filial fear of offending our Father, which is in Heaven.
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This inward kingdom implies also joy in the Holy Ghost, who seals upon our
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hearts the redemption which is in Jesus, the righteousness of Christ imputed to us
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for the remission of the sins that are past. Who giveth us now the
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earnest of our inheritance of the crown which the Lord, the Righteous Judge will
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give at that day? And well, may this be termed the Kingdom of
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Heaven. Seeing it is Heaven already opened in the soul, the first springing
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up of those rivers of pleasure which flow at God's right hand. Forevermore,
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theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Whosoever thou art, to whom God hath
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given, to be poor in spirit, to feel thyself lost, Thou hast
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a right there too, through the gracious promise of Him who cannot lie.
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It is purchased for thee by the blood of the Lamb. It is very
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nigh. Thou art on the brink of heaven. Another step, and thou
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enterest into the Kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy. Art thou all sin
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behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world all
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unholy. See thy advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the Righteous. Art
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thou unable to atone for the least of thy sins? He is the propitiation
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for all thy sins. Now believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and all
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thy sins are blotted out. Art thou totally unclean in soul and body.
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Here is the fountain for sin and uncleanness. Arise and wash away thy sins.
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Stagger no more at the promise through unbelief, give glory to God.
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Dare to believe. Now, cry out from the ground of thy heart.
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Yes, I yield, I yield at last. Listen to Thy speaking blood,
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me with all my sins, I cast on my atoning God. Then
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thou learnest of Him to be lowly of heart. And this is the true,
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genuine Christian humility, which flows from a sense of the love of God
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reconciled to us in Jesus Christ. Poverty of spirit in the meaning of the
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word begins where a sense of guilt and of the wrath of God ends,
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and is a continual sense of our total dependence on Him for every good thought
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or word or work, of our utter inability to all good unless He water
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us every moment, and an abhorrence of the praise of men, knowing that
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all praise is do unto God. Only with this is joined a loving shame,
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a tender humiliation before God, even for the sins which we know he
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hath forgiven us, and for the sin which still remaineth in our hearts,
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although we know it is not imputed to our condemnation. Nevertheless, the conviction
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we feel of inbred sin is deeper and deeper every day. The more we
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grow in grace, the more do we see of the desperate wickedness of our
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heart, the more we advance in the knowledge and love of God through our
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Lord Jesus Christ. As great a mystery as this may appear to those who
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know not the power of God and to salvation, the more do we discern
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of our alienation from God, of the enmity that is in our carnal mind,
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and the necessity of our being entirely renewed in righteousness and true holiness.
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It is true He has scarce any conception of this. Who now begins to
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know the inward kingdom of Heaven in his prosperity, he saith, I shall
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never be moved. Thou Lord hast made my ill so strong, sin is
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so utterly bruised beneath his feet, that he can scarce believe it remaineth in
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him. Even temptation is silenced and speaks not again, it cannot approach,
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but stands afar off. He is borne aloft in the chariots of joy and
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love. He soars as upon the wings of an eagle. But our Lord
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well knew that this triumphant state does not often continue long. He therefore presently
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subjoins. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Not
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that we can imagine, this promise belongs to those who mourn only on some
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worldly account, who are in sorrow and heaviness merely on account of some worldly
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trouble or disappointment, such as the loss of their reputation or friends, or
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the impairing of their fortune. As little title to it have they who are
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afflicting themselves through fear of some temporal evil, or who pine away with anxious
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care, or that desire of earthly things which maketh the heart sick. Let
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us not think thee shall receive anything from the Lord. He is not in
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all their thoughts. Therefore it is that they thus walk in a vain shadow,
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and disquiet themselves in vain And this shall ye have of mine hand,
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saith the Lord, ye shall lie down in sorrow. The mourners of whom
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our Lord here speaks are those that mourn. On quite another account, they
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that mourn after God, after Him in whom they did rejoice with joy unspeakable
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when He gave them to taste the good, the pardoning word, and the
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powers of the world to come. But He now hides his face, and
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they are troubled. They cannot see him through the dark cloud. But they
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see temptation and sin, which they fondly supposed were gone, never to return,
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arising again, following after them again, and holding them in on every
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side. It is not strange if their soul is now disquieted within them,
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and trouble and heaviness take hold upon them. Nor will their great enemy fail
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to improve the occasion to ask, where is now Thy God? Where is
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now the blessedness? Whereof thou spakest the beginning of the kingdom of heaven?
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Yea hath God said thy sins are forgiven? Thee Surely God hath not said
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it. It was only a dream, a mere delusion, a creature of
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thy own imagination. If thy sins are forgiven, why art thou thus can
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a pardon sinner be thus unholy? And if then, instead of immediately crying
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to God they reason with him that is wiser than they, They will be
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in heaviness indeed, and sorrow of heart, in anguish not to be expressed.
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Nay, even when God shines again upon the soul and takes away all
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doubt of his past mercy, still he that is weak in faith may be
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tempted and troubled on account of what is to come. Specially when inward sin
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revives and thrusts sore at him, that he may fall. Then may he
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again cry out, I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun
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my last thread, I shall perish on the shore, lest I should make
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shipwreck of the faith, and my last state be worse than the first,
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lest all my bread of life should fail, and I sink down unchanged to
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hell. Sure it is that this affliction for the present is not joyous,
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but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it bringeth forth peaceable fruit. Unto them that
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are exercised thereby blessed. Therefore are they that thus mourn, if they tarry
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the Lord's leisure and suffer not themselves to be turned out of the way by
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the miserable comforters of the world. If they resolutely reject all the comforts of
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sin, of folly and vanity, all the idle diversions and amusements of the
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world, all the pleasures which perish in the using, and which only tend
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to be numb and stupefy the soul, that it may neither be sensible of
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itself nor God. Blessed are they who follow on to know the Lord and
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steadily refuse all other comfort. They shall be comforted by the consolations of His
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Spirit, by a fresh manifestation of His love, by such a witness of
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His accepting them in the Beloved, as shall never more be taken away from
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them. This full assurance of faith swallows up all doubt, as well as
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all tormenting fear, God now giving them a sure hope of an enduring substance
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and strong consolation through grace. Without disputing whether it is possible for any of
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those to fall away who were once enlightened and made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
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it suffices them to say, by the power now resting upon them,
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who shall separate us from the love of Christ, I am persuaded that neither
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death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
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height nor depth shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
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which is in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans eight thirty five through thirty nine.
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This whole process, both of mourning for an absent God and recovering the
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joy of his countenance, aims to be shadowed out in what our lords spoke
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to his apostles the night before his passion. Do ye inquire of that I
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said, a little while, and ye shall not see me, And again
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a little while, and ye shall see me verily. Verily I say unto
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you that ye shall weep and lament, namely when ye do not see me,
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but the world shall rejoice, shall triumph over you, as though your
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hope were not now come to an end. And ye shall be sorrowful through
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doubt, through fear, through temptation, through vehement desire. But your sorrow
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shall be turned into joy by the return of Him who your soul loveth.
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A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow because her hour is
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come. But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth
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no more the anguish for the joy that a man is born into the world.
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And ye now have sorrow, ye mourn and cannot be comforted. But
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I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice with calm inward joy
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and your joy no man taketh from you John sixteen, Verses nineteen through twenty
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two. But although this morning is at an end, is lost in holy
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joy by the return of the comforter, Yet there is another, and a
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blessed mourning. It is which abides in the children of God. They still
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mourn for the sins and miseries of mankind. They weep with them that weep.
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They weep for them that weep, not for themselves, for the sinners
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against their own souls. They mourn for the weakness and unfaithfulness of those that
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are, in some measure saved from their sins. Who is weak and they
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are not weak? Who is offended and they burn not? They are grieved
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for the dishonor continually done to the majesty of heaven and Earth. At all
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times they have an awful sense of this, which brings a deep seriousness upon
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their spirit, a seriousness which is not a little increased since the eyes of
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their understanding were opened by their continually seeing the vast ocean of eternity without a
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bottom or ashore, which has already swallowed up millions of millions of men,
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and is gaping to devour them that yet remain. They see here the House
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of God eternal in the heavens, there hell in destruction without a covering,
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and thence feel the importance of every moment which just appears and is gone forever.
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But all this wisdom of God is foolishness with the world. The whole
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affair of mourning and poverty of spirit is with them stupidity and dulness. Nay,
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it is well if they pass so favorable a judgment upon it, if
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they do not vote it to be mere moping and melancholy, if not downright
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lunacy and distraction. And it is no wonder at all that this judgment should
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be passed by those who know not God. Suppose, as two persons were
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walking together, one should suddenly stop and, with the strongest signs of fear
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and amazement, cry out, on what a precipice do we stand? See
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we are on the point of being dashed in pieces. Another step and we
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fall into that huge abyss. Stop. I will not go on for all
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the world. When the other, who seemed to himself at least equally sharp
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sighted looked forward and saw nothing of all this. What would he think of
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his companion, but that he was beside himself, that his head was out
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of order, That much religion, if he was not guilty of much learning,
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had certainly made him mad. But let not the children of God,
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the mourners in Scion, be moved by any of these things. Ye,
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whose eyes are enlightened, be not troubled by those who walk on still in
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darkness. You do not walk on in a vain shadow. God and Eternity
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are real things. Heaven and Hell are in very deed open before you,
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and ye are on the edge of that great gulf. It has already swallowed
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up more than words can express, nations and kindreds, and peoples and tongues,
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and still yawns to devour, whether they see it or know, the
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giddy, miserable children of men. Oh, cry aloud, spare not lift
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up your voice to him who grasps both time and eternity, both for yourselves
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and your brethren, that ye may be counted worthy to escape the destruction that
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cometh as a whirlwind, that ye may be brought safe through all the waves
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and storms, into the haven, where ye would be weep for yourselves till
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he wipes away the tears from your eyes, And even then weep for the
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miseries that come upon the earth, till the Lord of All shall put a
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period to misery and sin shall wipe away the tears from all faces. And
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the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.
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End of Section twenty one