contradiction, and the firft (though never fo little) giving way to blafphemous, murmuring, luftful, ambitious, or other finful thoughts, and many other the like to thefe, which through the yet unconquer'd force, perhaps of custom, or education, or prejudice, through ignorance or want of confideration, through idleness or business, or fome other accident which throws us off our guard, the beft men are frequently betray'd into, against the general purpose of their minds they are certainly fit objects of forrow and fad reflection in us all. For regeneration does not immediately purge us from all the corruptions of that unhappy nature we were born with, but only works in us a fettled practical diflike of fin, and love of holiness and virtue; yet fo as the remains of natural corruption àre ftill left to be thorns in our fides, and pricks in our eyes, to humble us before God, and keep us in the daily practice of repentance, that we may work out our falvation with fear and trembling. The religious mourner therefore, confidering the excellency of God, and the infinite reafon there is to believe and truft in him, to love, and ferve, and worfhip him, with the utmoft zeal and application, cannot but be deeply concern'd when he reflects upon his own unworthy coldness and deficiency in any of these. He confiders the law of God as a perfect rule of life, a fair and exact copy fet him, and by the authority of a mafter whom he has the highest obligations to obey: it is his carneft defire to live up to this rule, to write exactly after this copy; and when he obferves how far he falls fhort of it, how often he offends, and that every offence (though it be through weakness or infirmity) is ftill a deviation from the law of God, he cannot but lay it seriously to heart. He is fenfible that * Phil. ii. 12. ** thefe these fins, however inconfiderable other men may think them, darken his profpect of a better life, increase the particulars of the account he is to make to God, and give the Devil fresh matter of accufation against him, and fresh encouragements and advantages farther to attack him, he cannot but look upon himself with grief and mourning; and though he cannot number them in his confeffions, he will yet confefs them in their numbers, with a general (but a true and deep) repentance. As to wilful fins, or fins of great apoftacy from God and goodness; fuch as blafphemy, prophane curfing and fwearing, drunkennefs, lewdness, contempt of God, or ridiculing religion and good men, oppreffion, injuftice, murder, lying, cheating, and fuch other horrid and notorious mifcarriages as are inconfiftent with the life and being of Christianity, without as great and fevere a repentance, I need not surely prove that these are objects of religious forrow: for if we grieve not for them, and very deeply too, 'tis at our utmoft peril; we can hope for no pardon, and peace, and reconcili ation with God, no happiness and glory, nor any thing but eternal torments in the life to come. But then, to both these there may be added that which is very becoming a christian spirit to confider; and that is, mourning for the fins of others. For understanding the Church to be a fociety of perfons, engaged upon the fame accounts to be holy in all manner of converfation, and expecting the fame rewards for their obedience, and expofed to the fame terrors of the Lord for difobedience unrepented of; it is but reasonable that where any appear to fall fhort of their duty, and confequently of the reward, the whole body fhould have a fellow-feeling of it, and be concern'd in pure compaffion and good nature for it. The Pfalmift fays of of himself, that *rivers of waters ran down his eyes becaufe men kept not God's laws. Our Saviour and his Apoftles were troubled at the unbelief of obftinate hearers. And farther to fhew how acceptable this practice is to God, let me recommend to your confideration what the Lord faid in the vifion of Ezekiel, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerufalem, and fet a mark upon the foreheads of the men that figh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midft thereof. And indeed religion, as well as humanity, requires this of us; for we fhould look upon fin (whether in our felves or others) as a dishonour to Chrift and Christianity; fhould grieve for it (whereever we find it) as the violation of an holy and excellent law, and the ftains and blemish of that body which Chrift ‡ is to prefent holy and blameless unto God. I come now to the third limitation of mourning in my text, to make it religious, and entitle it to a bleffing, which is, that though the occafion of it be purely temporal, the troubles and fufferings we meet with in the affairs of common life, it must be moderated and govern'd by the rules of religion, Christianity pretends not (like the vain and pompous doctrine of the Stoicks) to forbid us an human fenfe of evils, to root out of us all concern, and tie us down to perfect indifference, with refpect to pain or poverty, reproach or lofs of friends, or damage in our eftates, or any other calamities incident to us in this uncertain world, but teaches us to bear with moderation, and improve them well. For natural paffions are not in themfelves finful; but * Pfal. cxix. 136. Eph. v. 27. † Ezek. ix. 4. Col. i. 22. they they must be kept under proper qualifications and meafures, to render them decent and allowable in a Chriftian. And, 1. THE mourning of a Chriftian in the cafe of fuffering, must be calm and moderate, not flying out into ranting expoftulations, ftorms and fury. 'Tis a vanity in moft fufferers, (proceeding from an over-great fondnefs of themselves) that they suppose their fufferings greater than they are, and are apt to imagine that no body's cafe is fo hard and grievous as their own; and this is the excufe they make for their impatience under fufferings: whereas the truth is, they are weak and peevish, and have not obtain❜d that maftery over their paffions which reafon and religion, well attended to, would give them. And this affuredly makes their yoke the heavier: for experience fhews that things are easy or troublesome, according to the measure of ftrength and power which they have who endure them. 2. THIS mourning fhould not four them into hard thoughts of God, or murmuring against him: For be will not lay upon man more than is right, that he should enter into judgment with God. The bleffings we enjoy are not bestow'd upon us for any merit of ours, but are the pure effects of his bounty, the gift of his providence, and there is no wrong done if he take away the bleffing which he gave, and which perhaps we have abused, or been unthankful for: for fhall he not do what he will with his own? And if he lays affliction upon us, yet as he is our Sovereign Lord, we ought not to difpute it with him. Who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed fay to him that formed it, why haft thou made me thus? The chriftian fufferer therefore tempers his forrow with a due † Rom. ix. x. 20. * Job xxxiv. 23. fub fubmiffion to the will of God, and follows the example of his Saviour, when he pray'd, * If it be pofible let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt: and when he check'd his forward Disciple for attempting to rescue him from the Jews, with this, the cup which my Father hath given me, fhall I not drink it? 1 3. THIS mourning or fenfe of grief for our afflictions, ought never to go fo far as to put us upon unlawful or unwarrantable methods to get free from them. Honeft endeavours we may ufe, for Christianity allows them: but in the use of these we must reft contented, and with patience and fubmiffion wait for their success from God, or for deliverance otherwise by his hand, not giving way to the least thought of violent, dishonest, or unworthy measures. It will be proper here to add, that not only the calamities which befal our felves, or thofe of our own family and relations, which have an immediate intereft in our concern, but the fufferings of others alfo, may and ought to be lamented by us. The common ties of humanity oblige to this, and Christianity is not wanting to confirm whatever is generous and good in human nature. Remember them in bonds as bound with them, and them which fuffer adverfity, as being your felves alfo in the body, liable to the fame misfortunes which they' fuffer. By this text we fee that mourning for the afflictions of others is prefcrib'd by our religion, and therefore falls within the character of that forrow which has the promise of comfort from our Saviour. * Matth. xxvi. 39. John xviii. IL |