Divine Comfort. 2
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This "mourning" springs from a sense of sin, from a tender conscience, from a broken heart. It is a godly sorrow over rebellion against God and hostility to His will. In some cases it is a grief over the very morality in which the heart has trusted, over the self-righteousness which has caused such delight. This "mourning" is the agonizing realization that it was my sins which nailed the Lord of Glory to the cross. When Israel shall see Christ "they shall mourn for Him" (Zech. 12:10). So it is now when, by the power of the Spirit, the contrite sinner sees Christ by faith. And it is such tears and groans which prepare the heart to truly welcome and receive the "balm of Gilead," the comfort of the Gospel.
But our text is by no means to be confined unto the initial experience of conviction and contrition, for observe the tense of the verb--it is not "havemourned," but "mourn"--a present and continual experience. The Christian himself has much to mourn over. The sins which he now commits--both of omission and commission are a cause of daily grief to him, or should be so, and will be if his conscience is tender. An ever-deepening discovery of the depravity of his nature, the plague of his heart, the sea of corruption within, ever polluting all that he does, deeply grieves him. Consciousness of the surgings of unbelief, the swellings of pride, the coldness of his love, and his paucity of fruit, make him cry "O wretched man that I am!" A humbling recollection of past offences, "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath" (Ephesians 2:3).
Yes, "Ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves" (Romans 8:23). Does not the Christian groan when under the disciplining rod of the Father, "No chastening for the present seems to be joyous--but grievous" (Heb. 12:11). And is he not deeply pained by the awful dishonor now done to the Lord Jesus on every side. But blessed be God it is written, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof" (Ezek. 9:4). So too there is a sympathetic mourning over the sorrows of others, "Weep with those who weep" (Romans 12:15).
And these holy mourners Christ pronounced "Blessed." This is at complete variance with the world's ideas. In all ages and climates, men have deemed the prosperous and the light-hearted the happy ones--but He who spoke as never man spoke, declared "Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . Blessed are those who mourn." And why are these mourners "blessed"?
First, because such mourning proves they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who makes intercession for them "with groanings which cannot be uttered."
Second, because this holy mourning brings them into fellowship with the sufferings of Christ--when here, He was "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
Third, because they shall be Divinely "comforted."
Learn, then, from what has been before us, the folly of measuring the helpfulness of the books we read or the preaching we hear--by the degree of peace and joy which it imparts to our hearts. Ah, the truth is, dear friends, that sometimes the address which is of most help and blessing, is the one which causes us to get alone with God and weep before Him! Our souls are by no means always in a fit condition to be regaled by the sweets of the Gospel. When we have flirted with the world, or indulged the lusts of the flesh--the Holy Spirit gives us a rebuke or admonition!
"For they shall be comforted." There is a threefold reference here.
First, to the initial "comfort" which immediately follows a sound conversion (one that is preceded by conviction and contrition), namely, the removal of that conscious guilt which lies as an intolerable load on the conscience. Then it is Christ says, "Come unto Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Note that there again we have presupposed one who feels sin to be a "burden" before he comes to Christ--that is what propels him to Christ for relief. Then it is Christ gives rest to the sin-weary heart.
Then it is the Holy Spirit applies the comfort of the Gospel to the stricken soul--it is the realization of free and full forgiveness by the blood of Christ.
Second, there is continual "comforting" of the "mourning" saint by the Holy spirit, who is the Comforter. The one who mourns over his departures from Christ is comforted by the assurance that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). The one who mourns under the chastening rod of God is comforted by the promise, "afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto those who are exercised thereby" (Heb. 12:11). The one who mourns over the awful dishonor done to his Lord in the religious world, is comforted by the fact that Satan's time is now short, and soon Christ will bruise him beneath His feet.
Third, the final "comfort" is when we leave this world and are done with sin forever.
Then shall "sorrow and sighing flee away." To the rich man in Hell, Abraham said of the one who had begged at the gate, "Now he is comforted" (Luke 16:25). The best wine is reserved for the last. The "comfort" of Heaven will more than compensate for all the "mourning" of earth.
The second text is "Woe unto you who laugh now! for you shall mourn and weep" (Luke 6:25). What a solemn commentary are these words of the Lord, on the festivities of this week--indulging the lusts of the flesh under the pretense of keeping Christ-mass! O the unholy mirth and jollification of the world, with the sacred name of Christ tacked over it all! It is nothing but paganism perpetuated by Rome--alas that so many professing Christians should adopt it. "A merry Christmas"--carnal indulgement over the memory of the unwanted Son of God lying in a manger!
"Woe unto you who laugh now! for you shall mourn and weep." This is a joy that is fleshly, the pleasures of sin for a season--unto such applies "Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep--let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness" (James 4:9).
There is the less need for me to speak at length on this second text, because it enunciates identically the same truth as the first, only it gives the reverse side. "Woe unto you who laugh now." I need hardly say that the "laughter" here is not to be confined to the exercise of the facial muscles--it is a state of heart which the Lord is here reprehending. It is an indifference to God's demands, an unconcern about the claims of Christ, a thinking only about enjoying the things of time and sense. Eternal concerns are deliberately shelved--the paramount interests of the soul are ignored. Sin is regarded lightly, "There is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18).
"Woe unto you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep." Such "laugh" (though they may be too well bred to do so outwardly) at the warnings of Christian friends, considering them as "kill-joys" or fanatics. They "laugh" at the solemn truth of eternal punishment, supposing it to be a myth with which to frighten ignorant people. And so they go giddily and gaily along the broad road which leads to destruction, "laughing" while hastening to a hopeless eternity! How solemn is that word of God's "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes!" (Proverbs 1:26)
Now dear friends, I have sought to hold up these texts as a mirror in which we may see ourselves, and ascertain to which of the two classes we belong. The class of spiritual "mourners" Christ declares blessed--the class of carnal "laughers," is the one upon which He pronounces His solemnwoe. The Lord graciously grant that in HIS light, we may "see light," and clearly perceive to which of these diverse companies we really belong.
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