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the mourners, /or they shall be comforted.' This reason will not hold in all kind of mourning and all kind of comfort. It is no good argument to say, Blessed is the man that is in pain, for he shall be refreshed and relieved ; blessed is the man that is hungry, for he shall be fed and have his wants supphed. But yet this argument holds good, ' Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted ;' namely, with God's comforts, with the comforts of the Spirit, with the comforts of the word, the comforts of heaven. The comforts of God are beyond all the miseries and sorrows that a man can endure in this life ; and though he do mourn and weep for them, yet not- withstanding, the comforts, the wages, will so far exceed all his sorrows that he is happy in this. He cannot buy spiritual comforts too dear, he cannot have them upon hard terms possibly. Though they cost him never so many tears, never so much grief, and sorrow, and heart-breaking, yet if he have them, he is happy in having them upon what rate soever.
Yea, further, spiritual mourning carries comfort with it, besides the harvest of comfort that abides the mourner afterwards. There are first- fruits of comfort here to be reaped, so it is that the more a man mourns spiritually, the more he rejoiceth ; the more his sorrow is, the more his comfort is. His heart is never so light, so cheerful, and so comfortable, as when he can pour forth himself with some sighs, groans, and tears, before God. So that then our Saviour clears the point, that they are happy men that mourn in an holy manner. Howsoever mourning be not comfort, and misery be not happiness, yet notwithstanding, affliction and mourning may argue an happy estate and blessed condition, and that in these respects following, which we shall name to you, which shall serve for reasons of the point.
1. First, He that mourns spiritually /ja^/i a good judgment, and therefore is happy. Spiritual afiection it argues a spiritual judgment and under- standing. For the affections they work according as they receive informa- tion. A creature that is led by fancy, hath brutish afi'ections ; a man that is guided with matter of reason hath rational afiections, as we term them ; but a man that hath his mind enlightened and sanctified hath holy afi'ec- tions. So that holy mourning and holy afi'ections argues a sound mind, a holy, settled, and spiritual judgment, and that is an happiness.
2. Secondly, It argues a good heart too.
(1.) First, A tender and soft heart. For a stone cannot mourn, only the fleshy heart it is that can bleed. He that then can mourn spiritually, he hath an evidence to his heart, that his heart is soft, that he hath a tender heart, and that is a blessing, and makes a man a blessed man.
(2.) As his heart is tender, so also it is sound. It is a healthful soul and an healthful temper, as I may speak, that he hath. For mourning proceeds out of love and hati-ed ; out of agreement, if it be a spiritual mourning, with that which is good, and out of a contrariety and opposition between us and that which is bad. So that he that can mourn after good- ness, and mourn for sin and badness, if it be spiritual mourning, this man shews he hath a good heart, his heart agrees with that which is good, his heart disagrees, and stands in opposition, and hath an antipathy to that which is bad. And this is a right constitution and temper of soul, that makes a man happy. There is one reason then why he that mourns spiritually may well be deemed an happy man, because he hath a sound judgment, and because he hath a sound and a soft heart too.
2. Secondly, As he is happy in the cause, so he will be happy in the effect too of his godly mourning. For godly sorrow and mourning brings
270 SPIRITUAL MOURNING.
forth blessed fruits and effects ; the apostle in 2 Cor. vii. 10, seq., delivers divers of them, as there you see.
(1.) First, this is one thing in spiritual mourninj:^ ; it secures and excludes a man from carnal and hellish mourninrf ; yea, this orders him and saves him harmless from all other griefs. A gracious mourning, it moderates natural grief, and expels and drives out carnal and hellish grief and sorrow, like good physic, that heals and strengthens nature, and expels that poison that is hurtful to nature. The more a man can mourn for his sins, the less he will mourn for other matters ; the more heavy sin lies upon his soul, the more lightly he can bear other losses and crosses, whatsoever they be. So that this mourning prevents a great deal of unprofitable mourning. When a man bleeds unseasonably and unsatiably, the way to divert it is to open a vein and to let him blood elsewhere, and so you save the man. When a man pours forth himself unseasonably and unprofitably in needless tears, griefs, and cares, the only way is to turn his tears into a right channel, to make him mom-n for that which is mournful, and to set him to weep for that which deserves tears. If he weep in an holy and spiritual manner, he shall be secured and preserved from poisonful and hurtful tears.