3. Thirdly, Where there is true grace there will be weeping and mourn- ing for the church, in regard of the insolency of the churclis enemies and their blasphemous speeches. Where is now their God ? their religion ? "What is now become of their Reformation ? What child can hear the reproach and dishonour of God his Father without bowels of compassion ?
4. Again, A gracious man will weep in regard of the danger of not mourn- ing; for by not mourning we have a kind of guilt lying upon us, for we make the sins and iniseries of the church our own, as Paul tells the Corin- thians, reproving them for not mourning, 1 Cor. v. 2. Therefore as we are a part of the body, so we must have a part of the shame and grief. Again, God hath promised to' mark and single out all those that moui'u for the sins of the time ; therefore, on the contrary, those that do not mourn are in a dangerous estate, Ezek. ix. 4.
5. Again, We must add reformation unto lamentation, else the whole church and commonwealth is in danger. If Achan be not sought out and punished, the whole state is in danger, and lies open to the wrath of God.
For these reasons we ought to take to heart the sins and miseries of the times ; for the Spirit of God is in every Christian, that will not suffer him otherwise to be, than to weep and mourn for his own sins, and for the sins and miseries of others.
Use 1 . If this be so, what will become of those that take not to heart nor mourn for the miseries of the church ? that judge not aright of the poor, but censure the judgment of the afflicted, add affliction to the afflicted and misery to the miserable ? What shall we say to those that are so far from helping God, that they help the enemies of God, and are grieved at the heart to hear any cause of comfort on the church's part ? whose hearts it doth joy to hear of apy overthrow on the church's side ? Such false hearts
THE ART OF MOURNING. 67
there are, and many that are glad of the sins of others, thinking thereby to hide their own wicked courses. These men are far from mourning. Let our souls also be far from entering into their secrets.
Use 2. If this be so, that holy men ought to take to heart and weep for the judgments of the commonwealth, both felt and feared, and also for the judgment of God upon the churches abroad, then
Quest. How may we get this weeping and mourning for others ? I answer,
A)is. 1. First, Remove the impediments that hinder; as, first, a hard and stony heart, which is opposite to tenderness. Josiah had a melting heart, and therefore it was soon dissolved into tears. Our hearts are worse than brass or stone, for workmen can work upon them ; but nothing will work upon the hard heart of man. All the judgments in the world will not work upon it ; for all the Israelites saw the judgments of God in Egypt, and all his mercies and blessings unto them in the wilderness, yet it would not work upon them, because they had hard hearts. Therefore let us get a good spring of tears, that is, a soft and tender heart, and let us beg it of God, for it is his promise to give us tender hearts ; and then there will be an easy expression of it in the outward man.
2. The second. Let ?/.s beware of the love of earthbj things, and get a heart truhj loving towards God ; for love is compared to fire ; and fire, among many other properties it hath, melts the gold, and makes it pliable. Heat is the organ of the soul, whereby it doth anything, and the instrument of nature. So spiritual heat, a warm soul, warmed with the love of God and of our Christian brethren, will make the heart pliable, and melt into tears. Therefore get a loving heart, filled with love to God and Christian brethren, that we may mortify self-love, which dries up the soul. There can be no melting in such a self-loved soul. Let us therefore labour for spiritual love, to cross and subdue carnal self-love. It is this blessed heat that must send forth this heavenly water of tears ; it is the spirit of love that must yield this distillation from the broken heart ; this works all heavenly affection in us. Therefore Christ compriseth all the commandments under love. And indeed that is all.
3. Thirdly, If we would have our souls fit to grieve, let us be content to see as much as ive can, with our own eyes, the miseries of others. The best way to weep is to enter into the house of mourning, and set before our eyes the afflictions of others. The very sight of misery is a means to make the soul weep. And let us be willing to hear that which we cannot see ; as Nehemiah was content to hear, nay, to inquire, concerning the church abroad ; and when he heard that it was not well with them, it made him weep. Every man will cry, What news ? But where is the man, when he hears of the news beyond the seas, that sends up sighs to God ? prayer, that he would take pity upon his church '? It is a good way to use our senses, to help our souls to grieve.