Chapter 8

Motives to holy mourning.

Use 2. Let me exhort Christians to holy mourning. I now persuade such a mourning as will prepare the soul for blessedness. Oh that our hearts were spiritual alembics, distilling the water of holy tears! Christ's doves weep. Ezekiel 7:16: They that escape shall be like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity. There are several divine motives to holy mourning.

First, tears cannot be put to a better use. If you weep for outward losses, you lose your tears; it is like a shower upon a rock, which does no good. But tears for sin are blessed tears; blessed are they that mourn. These poison our corruptions; salt water kills the worms. The briny water of repenting tears will help to kill that worm of sin which would gnaw the conscience.

Second, gospel-mourning is an evidence of grace. Zechariah 12:10: I will pour upon the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace, and they shall mourn. The Holy Ghost descended on Christ like a dove (Matthew 3). The dove is a weeping creature; where there is a dove-like weeping, it is a good sign the Spirit of God has descended there. Weeping for sin is a sign of the new birth; as soon as the child is born, it weeps. Exodus 2:6: And behold, the baby wept. To weep sincerely for sin is a good sign we are born of God. Mourning shows a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). A stone will not melt; when the heart is in a melting frame, it is a sign the heart of stone has been taken away.

Third, the preciousness of tears. Tears dropping from a mournful, penitent eye are like water dropping from roses — very sweet and precious to God. A fountain in the garden makes it pleasant; that heart is most delightful to God which has a fountain of sorrow running in it. Mary stood at Christ's feet weeping (Luke 7:38). Her tears were more fragrant and sweet than her ointment. The incense when it is broken smells sweetest; when the heart is broken for sin, now our services give forth their sweetest perfume. There is joy in heaven over a sinner that repents (Luke 15:7). Bernard calls tears the wine of angels. God delights much in tears, else he would not keep a bottle for them (Psalm 56:8). One calls tears a fat sacrifice, which under the law was most acceptable (Leviticus 3:3). Jerome calls mourning a plank after shipwreck. Chrysostom calls tears a sponge to wipe off sin. Tears are powerful advocates for mercy. Eusebius says there was an altar at Athens on which they poured no other sacrifice but tears, as if the heathens thought there was no better way to pacify their angry gods than by weeping. Jacob wept, and had power over the angel (Hosea 12:4). Tears melt the heart of God. When a criminal comes weeping to the bar, this melts the judge's heart toward him. When a man comes weeping in prayer and strikes on his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner, this melts God's heart toward him. Prayer (says Jerome) inclines God to show mercy; tears compel him. God seals his pardons upon melting hearts. Tears, though they are silent, yet have a voice (Psalm 6:8). Tears wash away sin; rain melts and washes away a ball of snow. Repenting tears wash away sin. That sin (says Ambrose) which cannot be defended by argument, may be washed away by tears.

Fourth, the sweetness of tears; mourning is the way to solid joy. The sweetest wine is that which comes out of the winepress of the eyes. The soul is never more enlarged than when it can weep. Closet tears are better than court music. When the heart is sad, weeping eases it by giving vent. The soul of a Christian is most eased when it can vent itself by holy mourning. Chrysostom observes, David who was the great mourner in Israel, was the sweet singer in Israel. Psalm 42:3: My tears were my food. On which place Ambrose gives this gloss: No food so sweet as tears. The tears of the penitent, says Bernard, are sweeter than all worldly joy. A Christian thinks himself sometimes in the suburbs of heaven when he can weep. When Hannah had wept, she went away and was no more sad. Sugar when it melts is sweetest; when a Christian melts in tears, now he has the sweetest joy. When the daughter of Pharaoh descended into the river, she found a baby there among the reeds. So when we descend into the river of repenting tears, we find the baby Jesus there, who shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. Well, therefore, might Chrysostom solemnly bless God for giving to us this laver of tears to wash in.

Fifth, a mourner for sin does not only good to himself, but to others; he helps to keep wrath off a land. As when Abraham was going to strike the blow, the angel stayed his hand (Genesis 22:12), so when God is going to destroy a nation, the mourner stays his hand. Tears in the child's eye sometimes move the angry father to spare the child. Penitential tears melt God's heart, and bind his hand. Jeremiah, who was a weeping prophet, was a great intercessor. God said to him, Pray not for this people (Jeremiah 7:16) — as if the Lord said, Jeremiah, so powerful are your prayers and tears that if you pray, I cannot deny you. Tears have a mighty influence upon God. Surely God has some mourners in the land, or he had destroyed us before now.

Sixth, holy mourning is preventive medicine; our mourning for sin here will prevent mourning in hell. Hell is a place of weeping (Matthew 8:12); the damned mingle their drink with weeping. God is said to hold his bottle for our tears (Psalm 56:8). They who will not shed a bottle full of tears shall hereafter shed rivers of tears. Luke 6:25: Woe to you that laugh now, for you shall mourn. You have sometimes seen sugar lying in a damp place dissolve to water; all the sugared joys of the wicked dissolve at last to the water of tears. Now tears will do us good; now it is seasonable weeping — it is like a shower in the spring. If we do not weep now, it will be too late. If we could hear the language of the damned, they are now cursing themselves that they did not weep soon enough. Is it not better to have our hell here than hereafter? Is it not better to shed repenting tears than despairing tears? He that weeps here is a blessed mourner; he that weeps in hell is a cursed mourner. The physician, by letting the patient's blood, prevents death; by opening a vein of godly sorrow, we prevent the death of our souls.

Seventh, there is no other way the gospel prescribes to blessedness but this: Blessed are they that mourn. This is the road that leads to the new Jerusalem. There may be several ways leading to a city, some going one way, some another; but there is only one way to heaven, and that is by Bethlehem — the house of weeping (Acts 26:20). Perhaps a man may think thus: If I cannot mourn for sin, I will get to heaven some other way; I will go to church, I will give alms, I will lead a civil life. But I tell you there is only one way to blessedness, and that is through the valley of tears; if you go not this way you will miss paradise. Luke 14:3: I tell you no, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. There are many lines leading to the center; but the heavenly center has only one line leading to it, and that is a tear dropping from the eye of faith. A man may have a disease in his body that twenty medicines will heal; sin is a disease of the soul which makes it sick unto death; now there is only one medicine that will heal, and that is the medicine of repentance.

Eighth, consider what need every Christian has to be conversant in holy mourning. A man may take medicine when he has no need of it; many go to the bath when they have no need — it is out of curiosity rather than necessity. But what need there is for every one to go into the weeping bath! Think what a sinner you have been; you have filled God's book with your debts, and what need you have to fill his bottle with your tears! You that have lived in secret sin — God enjoins you this penance: mourn for sin. But perhaps some may say, I have no need of mourning, for I have lived a very civil life. Go home and mourn because you are only civil; many a man's civility, being rested upon, has damned him. It is sad for men to be without repentance, but it is worse to need no repentance (Luke 15:7).

Ninth, tears are but finite; it is but a while that we shall weep. After a few showers that fall from our eyes we shall have a perpetual sunshine. In heaven the bottle of tears is stopped (Revelation 7, last verse): God shall wipe away all tears. When sin shall cease, tears shall cease. Psalm 30:5: Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. In the morning of the ascension, then shall all tears be wiped away.

Tenth, the benefit of holy mourning; the best of our commodities come by water.

First, mourning makes the soul fruitful in grace. When a shower falls, the herbs and plants grow. Isaiah 16:9: I will water you with my tears, O Heshbon. I may allude to it: tears water our graces, and make them flourish. Psalm 104:10: He sends his springs into the valleys; that is the reason the valleys flourish with grain, because the springs run there. Where the springs of sorrow run, there the heart bears a fruitful crop. Leah was tender-eyed — she had a watery eye, and was fruitful. The tender-eyed Christian usually brings more of the fruits of the Spirit; a weeping eye is the watering pot to water our graces.

Second, mourning fences us against the devil's temptations. Temptations are called fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16), because indeed they set the soul on fire. Temptations enrage anger, inflame lust. Now the waters of holy mourning quench these fiery darts; wet powder will not soon take fire. When the heart is wetted and moistened with sorrow, it will not so easily take the fire of temptation. Tears are the best engines and water-works to quench the devil's fire. And if there is so much profit and benefit in gospel-sorrow, then let every Christian wash his face every morning in the laver of tears.

Eleventh and lastly, to have a melting frame of spirit is a great sign of God's presence with us in an ordinance. It is a sign the Sun of Righteousness has risen upon us when our frozen hearts thaw and melt for sin. It is a saying of Bernard: By this you may know whether you have met with God in a duty — when you find yourselves in a melting and mourning frame. We are apt to measure all by comfort; we think we never have God's presence in an ordinance unless we have joy. In this we are like Thomas: Unless (said he) I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, I will not believe (John 20:25). So we are apt to say, Unless we have inflows of comfort, we will not believe that we have found God in a duty. But if our hearts can melt sincerely in tears of love, this is a real sign that God has been with us. As Jacob said (Genesis 28:16): Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. So Christian, when your heart breaks for sin and dissolves into holy tears, God is in this duty, though you know it not.

All that has been said should make us spiritual mourners. Perhaps we have tried to mourn, and cannot. But as a man that has dug so many fathoms deep for water and can find none at last digs until he finds a spring, so though we have been digging for the water of tears and can find none, yet let us weigh all that has been said and set our hearts again to work. Perhaps at last we may say as Isaac's servants (Genesis 26:32): We have found water. When the herbs are pressed, the watery juice comes out; these eleven serious motives may press out tears from the eye.

Question: But some may say, My constitution is such that I cannot weep; I may as well try to squeeze a rock as think to get a tear.

Answer: But if you cannot weep for sin, can you grieve? Intellectual mourning is best; there may be sorrow where there are no tears. The vessel may be full, though it lacks an outlet. It is not so much the weeping eye God respects as the broken heart. Yet I would be loath to stop their tears who can weep. God stood looking on Hezekiah's tears (Isaiah 38:5): I have seen your tears. David's tears made music in God's ears (Psalm 6:8): The Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. It is a sight fit for angels to behold: tears as pearls dropping from a penitent eye.

Motivations for holy mourning.

Use 2: Let me urge Christians to holy mourning. I am calling for the kind of mourning that prepares the soul for blessedness. Oh that our hearts were like distilling vessels, drawing out the water of holy tears! Christ's doves weep. Ezekiel 7:16: "Those who escape will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, each over his own iniquity." There are several compelling reasons to pursue holy mourning.

First, tears cannot be put to better use. If you weep over outward losses, you waste your tears — like a shower of rain on bare rock, which does no good. But tears shed for sin are blessed tears. "Blessed are those who mourn." These tears poison our corruptions. Salt water kills worms. The salty water of repenting tears helps kill the worm of sin that would gnaw at the conscience.

Second, gospel mourning is evidence of grace. Zechariah 12:10: "I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn." The Holy Spirit descended on Christ like a dove (Matthew 3). The dove is a creature that weeps. Where there is a dove-like weeping, it is a strong sign that the Spirit of God has descended there. Weeping for sin is a sign of the new birth. As soon as a child is born, it weeps. Exodus 2:6: "And behold, the boy was crying." To weep sincerely for sin is a good sign that we have been born of God. Mourning shows a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). A stone will not melt. When the heart is in a softened, melting state, it is a sign the heart of stone has been removed.

Third, consider the preciousness of tears. Tears dropping from a sorrowful, repentant eye are like water distilled from roses — very sweet and precious to God. A fountain in a garden makes it pleasant and beautiful. The heart most delightful to God is the one that has a spring of sorrow flowing through it. Mary stood at Christ's feet weeping (Luke 7:38). Her tears were more fragrant and sweet than her ointment. Incense smells sweetest when it is crushed. When the heart is broken over sin, our worship gives off its sweetest fragrance. There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:7). Bernard calls tears "the wine of angels." God greatly values tears — otherwise He would not keep a bottle for them (Psalm 56:8). One writer calls tears a rich sacrifice — which under the old covenant was the most acceptable (Leviticus 3:3). Jerome calls mourning "a plank after shipwreck." Chrysostom calls tears "a sponge to wipe off sin." Tears are powerful advocates for mercy. Eusebius reports that in Athens there was an altar where no sacrifice was offered except tears — as if even the pagans sensed that nothing better could pacify an angry god than weeping. Jacob wept, and overcame the angel (Hosea 12:4). Tears melt the heart of God. When a criminal comes weeping before the judge, it moves the judge to mercy. When a person comes weeping in prayer, striking his chest and saying, "God, be merciful to me, the sinner" — this moves God's heart toward him. "Prayer," says Jerome, "inclines God to show mercy; tears compel Him." God seals His pardons on hearts that have been melted. Tears, though silent, have a voice (Psalm 6:8). Tears wash away sin. Rain melts and washes away a ball of snow. Tears of repentance wash away sin. "That sin," says Ambrose, "which cannot be defended by argument may be washed away by tears."

Fourth, consider the sweetness of tears. Mourning is the path to solid joy. The sweetest wine is what comes from the press of the eyes. The soul is never more relieved than when it can weep. Tears shed in private are better than the finest music at court. When the heart is heavy, weeping eases it by releasing the pressure. The soul of a Christian is most relieved when it can release itself through holy mourning. Chrysostom notes that David, who was the great mourner in Israel, was also the sweet singer in Israel. Psalm 42:3: "My tears have been my food." On which Ambrose comments: "No food is as sweet as tears." "The tears of the penitent," says Bernard, "are sweeter than all worldly joy." A Christian sometimes feels as if he is in the suburbs of heaven when he can truly weep. When Hannah had wept, she went away and was no longer sad. Sugar tastes sweetest as it melts. When a Christian melts in tears, that is when his joy is sweetest. When Pharaoh's daughter went down into the river, she found the baby there among the reeds. So when we descend into the river of repenting tears, we find the child Jesus there — who will wipe every tear from our eyes. Chrysostom was right to solemnly thank God for giving us this washing pool of tears in which to cleanse ourselves.

Fifth, the mourner for sin does good not only to himself but to others — he helps to hold back God's wrath from the land. Just as when Abraham was about to bring down the knife, the angel stayed his hand (Genesis 22:12), so when God is about to destroy a nation, the mourner stays His hand. A child's tears sometimes move an angry father to spare the child. Tears of repentance move God's heart and restrain His hand. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, was a powerful intercessor. God said to him: "Do not pray for this people" (Jeremiah 7:16) — as if the Lord was saying: "Jeremiah, your prayers and tears are so powerful that if you pray, I cannot deny you." Tears have a mighty influence with God. Surely God still has some mourners in this land — or He would have destroyed us long before now.

Sixth, holy mourning is preventive medicine. Our mourning for sin here will prevent mourning in hell. Hell is a place of weeping (Matthew 8:12). The damned mingle their drink with tears. God is said to collect our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8). Those who refuse to shed a bottle's worth of tears now will one day shed rivers of them. Luke 6:25: "Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep." You have seen sugar left in a damp place dissolve into water. All the sweet pleasures of the wicked dissolve at last into tears. Now our tears will do us good. This is the right season for weeping — like a shower in spring. If we do not weep now, it will be too late. If we could hear what the damned say, they are now cursing themselves for not weeping soon enough. Is it not better to have our hell here than in eternity? Is it not better to shed tears of repentance than tears of despair? The person who weeps here is a blessed mourner. The person who weeps in hell is a cursed mourner. A physician, by drawing a patient's blood, prevents death. By opening the vein of holy sorrow, we prevent the death of our souls.

Seventh, the Gospel prescribes no other path to blessedness but this one: "Blessed are those who mourn." This is the road that leads to the New Jerusalem. There may be multiple roads leading to a city, with travelers coming from different directions. But there is only one way to heaven — through the house of weeping (Acts 26:20). A person might think: "If I cannot mourn for sin, I will reach heaven another way. I will attend church, give to the poor, live a decent life." But I tell you there is only one path to blessedness, and it runs through the valley of tears. If you do not take that path, you will miss paradise. Luke 13:3: "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." There are many lines that converge on a center point. But the heavenly center has only one line leading to it — a tear dropping from the eye of faith. A physical illness may be treated with twenty different remedies. Sin is a sickness of the soul that is deadly. But there is only one medicine that heals it — the medicine of repentance.

Eighth, consider how much every Christian needs to be practiced in holy mourning. A person can take medicine when he doesn't need it. Many go to the baths out of curiosity rather than necessity. But everyone truly needs to enter the weeping bath! Think what a sinner you have been. You have filled God's book with your debts — how greatly you need to fill His bottle with your tears! You who have lived in secret sin — God assigns you this repentance: mourn over your sin. But perhaps someone may say: "I have no need to mourn, for I have lived a very decent life." Go home and mourn because you are only decent. Many a person's respectable life, when leaned upon as a foundation, has been what condemned him. It is sad for people to live without repentance, but it is worse to think they have no need of it (Luke 15:7).

Ninth, tears are only for a season. It is only for a little while that we will weep. After a few showers fall from our eyes, we will have perpetual sunshine. In heaven the bottle of tears is sealed shut (Revelation 7:17): "God will wipe every tear from their eyes." When sin ceases, tears will cease. Psalm 30:5: "Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning." In the morning of resurrection, every tear will be wiped away.

Tenth, consider the benefits of holy mourning. Our greatest blessings come by water.

First, mourning makes the soul fruitful in grace. When rain falls, herbs and plants grow. Isaiah 16:9: "I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah." By way of application: tears water our graces and make them flourish. Psalm 104:10: "He sends forth springs in the valleys." The valleys flourish with grain because the springs flow there. Where the springs of sorrow flow, the heart bears a fruitful harvest. Leah had tender eyes — she was a weeper — and she was fruitful. The tender-eyed Christian usually brings forth more of the fruits of the Spirit. A weeping eye is the watering can that keeps our graces alive.

Second, mourning protects us against the devil's temptations. Temptations are called "flaming arrows" (Ephesians 6:16), because they literally set the soul on fire. Temptations inflame anger and arouse lust. The waters of holy mourning quench these flaming arrows. Wet powder will not catch fire easily. When the heart has been moistened and softened by sorrow, it will not so readily catch the fire of temptation. Tears are the best instruments for putting out the devil's fire. Since there is such great benefit in gospel sorrow, let every Christian wash his face each morning in the pool of tears.

Eleventh, and finally: a melting, tender spirit is a strong sign of God's presence with us in worship. It is a sign that the Sun of Righteousness has risen upon us when our frozen hearts begin to thaw and melt over sin. Bernard said: "By this you can know whether you have truly met with God in a spiritual duty — when you find yourselves in a melting and mourning frame of heart." We tend to measure everything by the feeling of comfort. We think we never have God's presence in worship unless we experience joy. In this we are like Thomas: "Unless I see the nail marks in His hands," he said, "I will not believe" (John 20:25). In the same way, we are prone to say: "Unless I feel floods of comfort, I will not believe I have found God in this duty." But if our hearts can melt sincerely in tears of love, this is a real sign that God has been with us. As Jacob said (Genesis 28:16): "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." So, Christian, when your heart breaks for sin and dissolves into holy tears — God is in that moment with you, even if you do not realize it.

All that has been said should make us spiritual mourners. Perhaps we have tried to mourn and found we could not. But as a man who has dug many feet into the earth looking for water and finds none at last keeps digging until he strikes a spring — so though we have been digging for the water of tears and finding none, let us weigh all these reasons and set our hearts to the work again. Perhaps at last we will be able to say, as Isaac's servants did (Genesis 26:32): "We have found water." When herbs are pressed, their watery juice comes out. These eleven serious reasons may press tears from the eye.

Question: But someone may say: "My nature is such that I cannot weep. I might as well try to squeeze water from a rock as get a tear from myself."

Answer: But if you cannot weep for sin, can you grieve? Inward mourning of the heart is the best kind. Sorrow can be real even when there are no tears. A vessel may be completely full even if it has no outlet. It is not so much the weeping eye that God values as the broken heart. Yet I would not want to stop the tears of those who can weep. God looked on Hezekiah's tears (Isaiah 38:5): "I have seen your tears." David's tears made music in God's ears (Psalm 6:8): "The Lord has heard the voice of my weeping." It is a sight fit for angels to behold — tears like pearls falling from a repentant eye.