5. This whole process, both of mourning for an absent God, and recovering the joy of his countenance, seems to be shadowed out in what our Lord spoke to his apostles, the night before his passion. [55]Do ye enquire of that I said, a little while and ye shall not see me, and again a little while and ye shall see me? Verily verily I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, namely when ye do not see me; but the world shall rejoice, shall triumph over you, as though your hope were now come to an end. And ye shall be sorrowful, thro’ doubt, thro’ fear, thro’ temptation, thro’ vehement desire: But your sorrow shall be turned into joy, by the return of him whom your soul loveth. A woman when she is in travail, hath sorrow because her hour is come. But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembreth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now have sorrow: ye mourn and cannot be comforted. But I will see you again: and your heart shall rejoice, with calm, inward joy, and your joy no man taketh from you.
6. *But although this mourning is at an end, is lost in holy joy, by the return of the Comforter, yet is there another, and a blessed mourning it is, which abides in the children of God. They still mourn for the sins and miseries of mankind: they weep with them that weep. They weep for them that weep not for themselves, for the sinners against their own souls. They mourn for the weakness and unfaithfulness of those, that are in some measure saved from their sins. Who is weak and they are not weak? Who is offended and they burn not? They are grieved for the dishonour continually done to the Majesty of heaven and earth. At all times they have an awful sense of this, which brings a deep seriousness upon their spirit: a seriousness which is not a little increased, since the eyes of their understanding were opened, by their continually seeing the vast ocean of eternity, without a bottom or a shore, which has already swallowed up millions of millions of men, and is gaping to devour them that yet remain. They see here, the house of God eternal in the heavens; there, hell and destruction without a covering; and thence feel the importance of every moment, which just appears, and is gone for ever.
7. *But all this wisdom of God is foolishness with the world. The whole affair of mourning and poverty of spirit, is with them stupidity and dullness. Nay ’tis well if they pass so favourable a judgment upon it; if they do not vote it to bemere moping and melancholy, if not downright lunacy and distraction. And it is no wonder at all, that this judgment should be passed, by those who know not God. Suppose as two persons were walking together, one should suddenly stop, and with the strongest signs of fear and amazement, cry out, “On what a precipice do we stand! See, we are on the point of being dashed in pieces! Another step, and we fall into that huge abyss. Stop! I will not go on for all the world.” When the other, who seemed to himself at least equally sharp-sighted, looked forward and saw nothing of all this; what would he think of his companion? But that he was beside himself; that his head was out of order: that much religion (if he was not guilty of much learning) had certainly made him mad.
8. *But let not the children of God, the mourners in Sion, be moved by any of these things. Ye whose eyes are enlightened, be not troubled by those, who walk on still in darkness. Ye do not walk on in a vain shadow: God and eternity are real things. Heaven and hell are in very deed open before you: and ye are on the edge of the great gulph. It has already swallowed up more than words can express, nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues, and still yawns to devour, whether they see it or no, the giddy, miserable children of men. O cry aloud! Spare not! Lift up your voice, to him who grasps both time and eternity, both for yourselves andyour brethren, that ye may be counted worthy to escape the destruction that cometh as a whirlwind! That ye may be brought safe, thro’ all the waves and storms, into the haven where you would be. Weep for yourselves, till he wipes away the tears from your eyes. And even then weep for the miseries that come upon the earth, till the Lord of all shall put a period to misery and sin, shall wipe away the tears from all faces, and the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea.
SERMON XXII.
UPON OUR LORD’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT.
Discourse II.
Matt. v. 5, 6, 7.
Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.
I. 1.WHEN the winter is past, when the time of singing is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land; when he that comforts the mourners is now returned, that he may abide with them for ever: when at the brightness of his presence the clouds disperse, the dark clouds of doubt and uncertainty, the storms of fear flee away, the waves of sorrow subside, and their spirit again rejoiceth in God their Saviour: then is it that this word is eminently fulfilled, then those whom he hath comforted can bearwitness, Blessed or happy, are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.