Ans. 1. Mourning for sin is necessary to cure our vain rejoicing, or delight in carnal vanities ; and at our entrance into Christianity this is a duty highly incumbent upon us, because of sin and the curse which we naturally lie under. Certainly while we are out of Christ we have nothing to comfort us, nothing to answer to the terrors of the law, or to reply against the accusations of conscience, and the fears of ap- proaching misery and judgment; and what should we do, if we be sensible of it, but bemoan ourselves, and seek after God with weeping and supplications ? God's first work in conversion is to put men out of their fool's paradise, who are satisfied with the creature without himself. Therefore humiliation and a broken-hearted sense of misery is required to deaden the relish and taste of sin, and that men may more prize jmd esteem the healing grace of Christ, and set more by it than all the pleasures, and riches, and honours of the world. Can a man see himself lost, and in danger of condemnation, and not be grieved ? But all this while joy is in the making, and we are pro- viding everlasting comfort for ourselves ; for God is ready to ease us as soon as our need requireth and our care will permit : Isa. Ivii. 15-17, 'For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy ; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth ; for the spirit shall fail before me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth, and smote him ; I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.' And he saith after- wards, ver. 18, ' I have seen his ways, and will heal him : I will lead him also, and restore comfort to him, and to his mourners.' The Lord is ready to come in with sweet and heavenly cordials when the phjsic •worketh but a little kindly : Jer, xxxi. 18-20, ' I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus ; Thou hast chastised me. and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke ; turn thca me, and I
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shall be turned, for thou art the Lord in}' God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon the thigh , I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he a pleasant child ? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still ; therefore my bowels are troubled for him, I will surely have mercy on him, saith! the Lord.^ Well, then, this sorrow may be well allowed, because it pre- vents greater sorrow, namely, the pains of hell. It is better to mourn for a while than for ever ; better to have healing grief than tormenting grief; to mourn now, while mourning will do us good, than to howl at last, when all sorrow will be fruitless, and only a part of our pun- ishment, not of our cure. And besides, this sorrow maketh for com- fort : Mat. v. 4, ' Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.' When the shower is fallen, the sun cleareth up, and shineth in his full strength and beauty. The vain rejoicing being deadened, we have grounds of everlasting joy, by considering the means God hath appointed for our deliverance from sin, and death, and the flames of hell.
Ans. 2. Mourning for sin and joy in the Lord may stand well together ; for grace and grace are not contrary, but grace and sin. Those who most mourn for sin do most rejoice in the Lord, and those who most rejoice in the Lord do most mourn for sin ; as that christian Niobe wept much because she loved much ; and ' she loved much, because much was forgiven her,' Luke vii. 47. As many times the sun shineth when the rain falleth, so there is a mixture of spiritual rejoicing and holy mourning ; a deep sense of God's love, and yet a mourning because of the relics of corruption. Well, then, carnal rejoicing is opposite to holy mourning, but not joy in the Lord, there- fore these two must be mixed. Sorrow is a servant to faith, and love, and joy in the Holy Ghost ; and joy and thankfulness for the mercy of God in Christ is an help to godly sorrow : the one serves to mortify sin, the other to strengthen grace. None are so displeased with them- selves for offending so good a God as those that have tasted how good and gracious the Lord is. But more thoroughly to reconcile this holy mixture to your thoughts, take these considerations —
[1.] Godly sorrow is better than all the pleasures of sin : 2 Cor. vii. 10, 'For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of.' Many have repented of their vain pleasures or of their carnal mirth, but never any repented of their godly sorrow. Many have cursed the day of their birth, but never any cursed the day of their new birth. Whoever had any loathsome remembrance of those hours which they spent in reconciling themselves to God, though it were done with grief and bitterness of spirit ? Oh ! the remem- brance of that happy time is ever sweet and grateful to them !