Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount/Discourse I

Sermon 21 
Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount
Discourse 1
“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: And when he was set,
his disciples came unto Him:
And he opened his mouth, and taught them,saying, 
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: For they shall be comforted.” Matt. 5:1–4.
1. Our Lord had now “gone about all Galilee,” (Matt. 4:23, ) beginning at
the time “when John was cast into prison,” (Matt. 4:12, ) not only “teaching
in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom,” but likewise
“healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the
people.” It was a natural consequence of this, that “there followed him
great multitudes from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and
from Judea, and from the region beyond Jordan.” (Matt. 4:25.) “And seeing
the multitudes,” whom no synagogue could contain, even had there been any at
hand, “he went up into a mountain,” where there was room for all that came
unto him, from every quarter. “And when he was set,” as the manner of the
Jews was, “his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth,” (an
expression denoting the beginning of a solemn discourse.) “and taught them,
saying.” —
2. Let us observe, who it is that is here speaking, that we may take heed
how we hear. It is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all; who, as
such, has a right to dispose of all his creatures; the Lord our Governor,
whose kingdom is from everlasting, and ruleth over all; the great Lawgiver,
who can well enforce all his laws, being “able to save and to destroy,” yea,
to punish with “everlasting destruction from his presence and from the glory
of his power.” It is the eternal Wisdom of the Father, who knoweth whereof
we are made, and understands our inmost frame: who knows how we stand
related to God, to one another, to every creature which God hath made, and,
consequently, how to adapt every law he prescribes, to all the circumstances
wherein he hath placed us. It is He who is “loving unto every man, whose
mercy is over all his works;” the God of love, who, having emptied himself
of his eternal glory, is come forth from his Father to declare his will to
the children of men, and then goeth again to the Father; who is sent of God
“to open the eyes of the blind, and to give light to them that sit in
darkness.” It is the great Prophet of the Lord, concerning whom God had
solemnly declared long ago, “Whosoever will not hearken unto my words which
he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him;” (Deut. 18:19; ) or, as
the Apostle expresses it, “Every soul which will not hear that Prophet,
shall be destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23.)
3. And what is it which He is teaching? The Son of God, who came from
heaven, is here showing us the way to heaven; to the place which he hath
prepared for us; the glory he had before the world began. He is teaching us
the true way to life everlasting; the royal way which leads to the kingdom;
and the only true way, — for there is none besides; all other paths lead to
destruction. From the character of the Speaker, we are well assured that he
hath declared the full and perfect will of God. He hath uttered not one
tittle too much, — nothing more than he had received of the Father; nor too
little, — he hath not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God; much less
hath he uttered anything wrong, anything contrary to the will of him that
sent him. All his words are true and right concerning all things, and shall
stand fast for ever and ever.
And we may easily remark, that in explaining and confirming these faithful
and true sayings, he takes care to refute not only the mistakes of the
Scribes and Pharisees, which then were the false comments whereby the Jewish
Teachers of that age had perverted the word of God, but all the practical
mistakes that are inconsistent with salvation, which should ever arise in
the Christian Church; all the comments whereby the Christian Teachers (so
called) of any age or nation should pervert the word of God, and teach
unwary souls to seek death in the error of their life.
4. And hence we are naturally led to observe, whom it is that he is here
teaching. Not the Apostles alone; if so, he had no need to have gone up into
the mountain. A room in the house of Matthew, or any of his disciples, would
have contained the Twelve. Nor does it in anywise appear that the disciples
who came unto him were the Twelve only. hoi mathetai autou, without any
force put upon the expression, may be understood of all who desired to learn
of him. But to put this out of all question, to make it undeniably plain
that where it is said, he opened his mouth and taught them, the word them
includes all the multitudes who went up with him into the mountain, we need
only observe the concluding verses of the seventh chapter: And it came to
pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the multitudes (hoi ochloi) were
astonished at his doctrine, or teaching; for he taught them, the multitudes,
“as one having authority, and not as the Scribes.” [Matt. 7:28–29]
Nor was it only those multitudes who were with him on the mount, to whom he
now taught the way of salvation; but all the children of men; the whole race
of mankind; the children that were yet unborn; all the generations to come,
even to the end of the world, who should ever hear the words of this life.
5. And this all men allow, with regard to some parts of the ensuing
discourse. No man, for instance, denies that what is said of poverty of
spirit relates to all mankind. But many have supposed, that other parts
concerned only the Apostles, or the first Christians, or the Ministers of
Christ; and were never designed for the generality of men, who,
consequently, have nothing at all to do with them.
But may we not justly inquire, who told them this, that some parts of this
discourse concerned only the Apostles, or the Christians of the apostolic
age, or the Ministers of Christ? Bare assertions are not a sufficient proof
to establish a point of so great importance. has then our Lord himself
taught us, that some parts of his discourse do not concern all mankind?
Without doubt, had it been so, he would have told us; he could not have
omitted so necessary an information. But has he told us so? Where? In the
discourse itself? No: here is not the least intimation of it. Has he said so
elsewhere? in any other of his discourses? Not one word so much as glancing
this way, can we find in anything he ever spoke, either to the multitudes,
or to his disciples. Has any one of the Apostles, or other inspired writers,
left such an instruction upon record? No such thing. No assertion of this
kind is to be found in all the oracles of God. Who then are the men who are
so much wiser than God? wise so far above that is written?
6. Perhaps they will say, that the reason of the thing requires such a
restriction to be made. If it does, it must be on one of these two accounts;
because, without such a restriction, the discourse would either be
apparently absurd, or would contradict some other scripture. But this is not
the case. It will plainly appear, when we come to examine the several
particulars, that there is no absurdity at all in applying all which our
Lord hath here delivered to all mankind. Neither will it infer any
contradiction to anything else he has delivered, nor to any other scripture
whatever. Nay, it will farther appear, that either all the parts of this
discourse are to be applied to men in general, or no part; seeing they are
all connected together, all joined as the stones in an arch, of which you
cannot take one away, without destroying the whole fabric.
7. We may, Lastly, observe, how our Lord teaches here. And surely, as at all
times, so particularly at this, he speaks “as never man spake.” Not as the
holy men of old; although they also spoke “as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.” Not as Peter, or James, or John, or Paul: They were indeed wise
master-builders in his Church; but still in this, in the degrees of heavenly
wisdom, the servant is not as his Lord. No, nor even as himself at any other
time, or on any other occasion. It does not appear, that it was ever his
design, at any other time or place, to lay down at once the whole plan of
his religion; to give us a full prospect of Christianity; to describe at
large the nature of that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
Particular branches of this he has indeed described, on a thousand different
occasions; but never, besides here, did he give, of set purpose, a general
view of the whole. Nay, we have nothing else of this kind in all the Bible;
unless one should except that short sketch of holiness delivered by God in
those Ten Words or Commandments to Moses, on mount Sinai. But even here how
wide a difference is there between one and the other! “even that which was
made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that
excelleth.” (2 Cor. 3:10.)
8. Above all, with what amazing love does the Son of God here reveal his
Fathers will to man! He does not bring us again “to the mount that burned
with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest.” He does not speak
as when he “thundered out of heaven;” when the Highest “gave his thunder,
hail-stones, and coals of fire.” He now addresses us with his still, small
voice, “Blessed,” or happy, “are the poor in spirit.” Happy are the
mourners; the meek; those that hunger after righteousness; the merciful; the
pure in heart: Happy in the end, and in the way; happy in this life, and in
life everlasting! As if he had said, “Who is he that lusteth to live, and
would fain see good days? Behold, I show you the thing which your soul
longeth for! See the way you have so long sought in vain; the way of
pleasantness; the path to calm, joyous peace, to heaven below and heaven
above!”
9. At the same time, with what authority does he teach! Well might they say,
“Not as the Scribes.” observe the manner, (but it cannot be expressed in
words,) the air, with which he speaks! Not as Moses, the servant of God; not
as Abraham, his friend; not as any of the Prophets; nor as any of the sons
of men. It is something more than human; more than can agree to any created
being. It speaks the Creator of all! A God, a God appears! Yea, o oN, the
Being of beings, JEHOVAH, the self-existent, the Supreme, the God who is
over all, blessed for ever!
10. This divine discourse, delivered in the most excellent method, every
subsequent part illustrating those that precede, is commonly, and not
improperly, divided into three principal branches: The First, contained in
the fifth, — the Second, in the sixth, — and the Third, in the seventh
chapter. In the First, the sum of all true religion is laid down in eight
particulars, which are explained, and guarded against the false glosses of
man, in the following parts of the fifth chapter. In the Second are rules
for that right intention which we are to preserve in all our outward
actions, unmixed with worldly desires, or anxious cares for even the
necessaries of life. In the Third are cautions against the main hindrances
of religion, closed with an application of the whole.
I. 1. Our Lord, First, lays down the sum of all true religion in eight
particulars, which he explains, and guards against the false glosses of men,
to the end of the fifth chapter.
Some have supposed that he designed, in these, to point out the several
stages of the Christian course; the steps which a Christian successively
takes in his journey to the promised land; — others, that all the
particulars here set down belong at all times to every Christian. And why
may we not allow both the one and the other? What inconsistency is there
between them? It is undoubtedly true, that both poverty of spirit, and every
other temper which is here mentioned, are at all times found, in a greater
or less degree, in every real Christian. And it is equally true, that real
Christianity always begins in poverty of spirit, and goes on in the order
here set down, till the “man of God is made perfect.” We begin at the lowest
of these gifts of God, yet so as not to relinquish this, when we are called
of God to come up higher: But “whereunto we have already attained, we hold
fast,” while we press on to what is yet before, to the highest blessings of
God in Christ Jesus.
2. The foundation of all is poverty of spirit: Here, therefore, our Lord
begins: “Blessed,” saith he, “are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.”
It may not improbably be supposed, that our Lord looked on those who were
round about him, and, observing that not many rich were there, but rather
the poor of the world, took occasion from thence to make a transition from
temporal to spiritual things. “Blessed,” saith he, (or happy, — so the word
should be rendered, both in this and the following verses,) “are the poor in
spirit.” He does not say, they that are poor, as to outward circumstances,
— it being not impossible, that some of these may be as far from happiness
as a monarch upon his throne; but “the poor in spirit,” — they who, whatever
their outward circumstances are, have that disposition of heart which is the
first step to all real, substantial happiness, either in this world, or that
which is to come.
3. Some have judged, that by the poor in spirit here, are meant those who
love poverty; those who are free from covetousness, from the love of money;
who fear, rather than desire, riches. Perhaps they have been induced so to
judge, by wholly confining their thoughts to the very term; or by
considering that weighty observation of St. Paul, that “the love of money is
the root of all evil.” And hence many have wholly divested themselves, not
only of riches, but of all worldly goods. Hence also the vows of voluntary
poverty seem to have arisen in the Romish Church; it being supposed, that so
eminent a degree of this fundamental grace must be a large step toward the
“kingdom of heaven.”
But these do not seem to have observed, First, that the expression of St.
Paul must be understood with some restriction; otherwise it is not true; for
the love of money is not the root, the sole root, of all evil. There are a
thousand other roots of evil in the world, as sad experience daily shows.
His meaning can only be, it is the root of very many evils; perhaps of more
than any single vice besides. — Secondly, that this sense of the expression,
“poor in spirit,” will by no means suit our Lord's present design, which is
to lay a general foundation whereon the whole fabric of Christianity may be
built; a design which would be in no wise answered by guarding against one
particular vice: So that, if even this were supposed to be one part of his
meaning, it could not possibly be the whole. — Thirdly, that it cannot be
supposed to be any part of his meaning, unless we charge him with manifest
tautology: Seeing, if poverty of spirit were only freedom from covetousness,
from the love of money, or the desire of riches, it would coincide with what
he afterwards mentions, it would be only a branch of purity of heart.
4. Who then are “the poor in spirit?” Without question, the humble; they who
know themselves; who are convinced of sin; those to whom God hath given that
first repentance, which is previous to faith in Christ.
One of these can no longer say, “I am rich, and increased in goods, and have
need of nothing;” as now knowing, that he is “wretched, and poor, and
miserable, and blind, and naked.” He is convinced that he is spiritually
poor indeed; having no spiritual good abiding in him. “In me,” saith he,
“dwelleth no good thing,” but whatsoever is evil and abominable. He has a
deep sense of the loathsome leprosy of sin, which be brought with him from
his mother's womb, which overspreads his whole soul, and totally corrupts
every power and faculty thereof. He sees more and more of the evil tempers
which spring from that evil root; the pride and haughtiness of spirit, the
constant bias to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; the
vanity, the thirst after the esteem or honour that cometh from men, the
hatred or envy, the jealousy or revenge, the anger, malice, or bitterness;
the inbred enmity both against God and man, which appears in ten thousand
shapes; the love of the world, the self-will, the foolish and hurtful
desires, which cleave to his inmost soul. He is conscious how deeply he has
offended by his tongue; if not by profane, immodest, untrue, or unkind
words, yet by discourse which was not “good to the use of edifying,” not
“meet to minister grace to the hearers.” which, consequently, was all
corrupt in God's account, and grievous to his Holy Spirit. His evil works
are now likewise ever in his sight: If he tells them, they are more than he
is able to express. He may as well think to number the drops of rain, the
sands of the sea, or the days of eternity.
5. His guilt is now also before his face: He knows the punishment he has
deserved, were it only on account of his carnal mind, the entire, universal
corruption of his nature; how much more, on account of all his evil desires
and thoughts, of all his sinful words and actions! He cannot doubt for a
moment, but the least of these deserves the damnation of hell, — “the worm
that dieth not, and the fire that never shall be quenched.” Above all, the
guilt of “not believing on the name of the only-begotten Son of God” lies
heavy upon him. How, saith he, shall I escape, who “neglect so great
salvation!” “He that believeth not is condemned already,” and “the wrath of
God abideth on him.”
6. But what shall he give in exchange for his soul, which is forfeited to
the just vengeance of God? “Wherewithal shall he come before the Lord?” How
shall he pay him that he oweth? Were he from this moment to perform the most
perfect obedience to every command of God, this would make no amends for a
single sin, for any one act of past disobedience; seeing he owes God all the
service he is able to perform, from this moment to all eternity: Could he
pay this, it would make no manner of amends for what he ought to have done
before. He sees himself therefore utterly helpless with regard to atoning
for his past sins; utterly unable to make any amends to God, to pay any
ransom for his own soul.
But if God would forgive him all that is past, on this one condition, that
he should sin no more; that for the time to come he should entirely and
constantly obey all his commands; he well knows that this would profit him
nothing, being a condition he could never perform. He knows and feels that
he is not able to obey even the outward commands of God; seeing these cannot
be obeyed while his heart remains in its natural sinfulness and corruption;
inasmuch as an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit. But he cannot
cleanse a sinful heart: With men this is impossible: So that he is utterly
at a loss even how to begin walking in the path of God's commandments. He
knows not how to get one step forward in the way. Encompassed with sin, and
sorrow, and fear, and finding no way to escape, he can only cry out, “Lord,
save, or I perish!”
7. Poverty of spirit then, as it implies the first step we take in running
the race which is set before us, is a just sense of our inward and outward
sins, and of our guilt and helplessness. This some have monstrously styled,
“the virtue of humility;” thus teaching us to be proud of knowing we deserve
damnation! But our Lord's expression is quite of another kind; conveying no
idea to the hearer, but that of mere want, of naked sin, of helpless guilt
and misery.
8. The great Apostle, where he endeavours to bring sinners to God, speaks in
a manner just answerable to this. “The wrath of God,” saith he, “is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men;” (Rom.
1:18.) a charge which he immediately fixes on the heathen world, and thereby
proves they are under the wrath of God. He next shows that the Jews were no
better than they, and were therefore under the same condemnation; and all
this, not in order to their attaining “the noble virtue of humility,” but
“that every mouth might be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God.”
He proceeds to show, that they were helpless as well as guilty, which is the
plain purport of all those expressions: “Therefore by the deeds of the law
there shall no flesh be justified:” — “But now the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ, without the law, is manifested:” — “We
conclude, that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the law:”
— Expressions all tending to the same point, even to “hide pride from
man;” to humble him to the dust, without teaching him to reflect upon his
humility as a virtue; to inspire him with that full, piercing conviction of
his utter sinfulness, guilt, and helplessness, which casts the sinner,
stripped of all, lost and undone, on his strong Helper, Jesus Christ the
Righteous.
9. One cannot but observe here, that Christianity begins just where heathen
morality ends; poverty of spirit, conviction of sin, the renouncing
ourselves, the not having our own righteousness, (the very first point in
the religion of Jesus Christ,) leaving all pagan religion behind. This was
ever hid from the wise men of this world; insomuch that the whole Roman
language, even with all the improvements of the Augustan age, does not
afford so much as a name for humility; (the word from whence we borrow this,
as is well known, bearing in Latin a quite different meaning;) no, nor was
one found in all the copious language of Greece, till it was made by the
great Apostle.
10. O that we may feel what they were not able to express! Sinner, awake!
Know thyself! Know and feel, that thou wert “shapen in wickedness,” and that
“in sin did thy mother conceive thee;” and that thou thyself hast been
heaping up sin upon sin, ever since thou couldst discern good from evil!
Sink under the mighty hand of God, as guilty of death eternal; and cast off,
renounce, abhor, all imagination of ever being able to help thyself! Be it
all thy hope to be washed in His blood, and renewed by his almighty Spirit,
who himself “bare all our sins in his own body on the tree!” So shalt thou
witness, “Happy are the poor in spirit: For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.”
II. This is that kingdom of heaven, or of God, which is within us; even
“righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” And what is
“righteousness,” but the life of God in the soul; the mind which was in
Christ Jesus; the image of God stamped upon the heart, now renewed after the
likeness of Him that created it? What is it but the love of God, because he
first loved us, and the love of all mankind for his sake?
And what is this “peace,” the peace of God, but that calm serenity of soul,
that sweet repose in the blood of Jesus, which leaves no doubt of our
acceptance in him; which excludes all fear, but the loving filial fear of
offending our Father which is in heaven?
This inward kingdom implies also “joy in the Holy Ghost;” who seals upon our
hearts “the redemption which is in Jesus,” the righteousness of Christ
imputed to us “for the remission of the sins that are past;” who giveth us
now “the earnest of our inheritance,” of the crown which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, will give at that day. And well may this be termed, “the
kingdom of heaven;” seeing it is heaven already opened in the soul; the
first springing up of those rivers of pleasure which flow at God's right
hand for evermore.
12. “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Whosoever thou art, to whom God hath
given to be “poor in spirit,” to feel thyself lost, thou hast a right
thereto, through the gracious promise of Him who cannot lie. It is purchased
for thee by the blood of the Lamb. It is very nigh: Thou art on the brink of
heaven! Another step, and thou enterest into the kingdom of righteousness,
and peace, and joy! Art thou all sin? “Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh
away the sin of the world!’ — all unholy? See thy “Advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the Righteous!” — Art thou unable to atone for the least of thy
sins? “He is the propitiation for” all thy “sins.” Now believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and all thy sins are blotted out! — Art thou totally unclean
in soul and body? Here is the “fountain for sin and uncleanness!” “Arise,
and wash away thy sins!” Stagger no more at the promise through unbelief!
Give glory to God! Dare to believe! Now cry out, from the ground of thy
heart, —
 Yes, I yield, I yield at last,
 Listen to thy speaking blood;
 Me with all my sins, I cast
 On my atoning God.
13. Then thou learnest of him to be “lowly of heart.” And this is the true,
genuine, Christian humility, which flows from a sense of the love of God,
reconciled to us in Christ Jesus. Poverty of spirit, in this meaning of the
word, begins where a sense of guilt and of the wrath of God ends; and is a
continual sense of our total dependence on him, for every good thought, or
word, or work; of our utter inability to all good, unless he “water us every
moment;” and an abhorrence of the praise of men, knowing that all praise is
due unto God only. With this is joined a loving shame, a tender humiliation
before God, even for the sins which we know he hath forgiven us, and for the
sin which still remaineth in our hearts, although we know it is not imputed
to our condemnation. Nevertheless, the conviction we feel of inbred sin is
deeper and deeper every day. The more we grow in grace, the more do we see
of the desperate wickedness of our heart. The more we advance in the
knowledge and love of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, (as great a
mystery as this may appear to those who know not the power of God unto
salvation,) the more do we discern of our alienation from God, of the enmity
that is in our carnal mind, and the necessity of our being entirely renewed
in righteousness and true holiness.
II. 1. It is true, he has scarce any conception of this who now begins to
know the inward kingdom of heaven. “In his prosperity he saith, I shall
never be moved; thou, Lord, hast made my hill so strong.” Sin is so utterly
bruised beneath his feet, that he can scarce believe it remaineth in him.
Even temptation is silenced, and speaks not again: It cannot approach, but
stands afar off. He is borne aloft in the chariots of joy and love: He
soars, “as upon the wings of an eagle.” But our Lord well knew that this
triumphant state does not often continue long: He therefore presently
subjoins, “Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.”
2. Not that we can imagine this promise belongs to those who mourn only on
some worldly account; who are in sorrow and heaviness merely on account of
some worldly trouble or disappointment, — such as the loss of their
reputation or friends, or the impairing of their fortune. As little title to
it have they who are afflicting themselves, through fear of some temporal
evil; or who pine away with anxious care, or that desire of earthly things
which “maketh the heart sick.” Let us not think these “shall receive
anything from the Lord:” He is not in all their thoughts. Therefore, it is
that they thus “walk in a vain shadow, and disquiet themselves in vain.”
“And this shall ye have of mine hand,” saith the Lord, “ye shall lie down in
sorrow.”
3. The mourners of whom our Lord here speaks, are those that mourn on quite
another account: They that mourn after God; after Him in whom they did
“rejoice with joy unspeakable,” when he gave them to “taste the good,” the
pardoning, “word, and the powers of the world to come.” But he now “hides
his face, and they are troubled:” They cannot see him through the dark
cloud. But they see temptation and sin, which they fondly supposed were gone
never to return, arising again, following after them amain, and holding them
in on every side. It is not strange if their soul is now disquieted within
them, and trouble and heaviness take hold upon them. Nor will their great
enemy fail to improve the occasion; to ask, “Where is now thy God? Where is
now the blessedness whereof thou spakest? the beginning of the kingdom of
heaven? Yea, hath God said, ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee?’ Surely God hath
not said it. It was only a dream, a mere delusion, a creature of thy own
imagination. If thy sins are forgiven, why art thou thus? Can a pardoned
sinner be thus unholy?” — And, if then, instead of immediately crying to
God, they reason with him that is wiser than they, they will be in heaviness
indeed, in sorrow of heart, in anguish not to be expressed. Nay even when
God shines again upon the soul, and takes away all doubt of his past mercy,
still he that is weak in faith may be tempted and troubled on account of
what is to come; especially when inward sin revives, and thrusts sore at him
that he may fall. Then may he again cry out,
 I have a sin of fear, that when I’ve spun
 My last thread, I shall perish on the shore! —
Lest I should make shipwreck of the faith, and my last state be worse than the first: —
 Lest all my bread of life should fail,
 And I sink down unchanged to hell!
4. Sure it is, that this “affliction,” for the present, “is not joyous, but
grievous; nevertheless afterward it bringeth forth peaceable fruit unto them
that are exercised thereby.” Blessed, therefore, are they that thus mourn,
if they “tarry the Lord’s leisure,” and suffer not themselves to be turned
out of the way, by the miserable comforters of the world; if they resolutely
reject all the comforts of sin, of folly, and vanity; all the idle
diversions and amusements of the world; all the pleasures which “perish in
the using,” and which only tend to benumb and stupefy the soul, that it may
neither be sensible of itself nor God. Blessed are they who “follow on to
know the Lord,” and steadily refuse all other comfort. They shall be
comforted by the consolations of his Spirit; by a fresh manifestation of his
love; by such a witness of his accepting them in the Beloved, as shall never
more be taken away from them. This “full assurance of faith” swallows up all
doubt, as well as all tormenting fear; God now giving them a sure hope of an
enduring substance, and “strong consolation through grace.” Without
disputing whether it be possible for any of those to “fall away, who were
once enlightened and made partakers of the Holy Ghost,” it suffices them to
say, by the power now resting upon them, “Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? — I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor things
present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:35–39.)
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: “Do ye inquire 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,” through doubt, through fear, through temptation, through
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
remembereth 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.” (John 16:19–22.)
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, it is well if they pass so favourable a judgement upon it; if they do
not vote it to be mere moping and melancholy, if not downright lunacy and
distraction. And it is no wonder at all, that this judgement 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 gulf. 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 and your brethren, that
ye may be counted worthy to escape the destruction that cometh as a
whirlwind! that ye may be brought safe through 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.”
Category:Christianity