How Mourners Should Order Their Mourning
‘Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall he comforted.’ — Mat. v. 4.
6.* When thou art in a mourning condition thyself, take heed of envying at others that are not in such a sad condition as thou art in. Though thou wantest many comforts that thou dost desire, yet bless God that others have them. That heart is in a very good temper, and a good way of preparation for comfort that can heartily bless God for the comforts that others have. But this is usual when the heart is distempered with sorrow, if so be that they are in an under condition and affliction, they are ready to envy at others that are more prosperous; but take heed of such a distemper, for it will keep thee under sorrow more, and make it more bitter to thee.
Lastly, According to thy mourning condition, let there be much praying. Be sure to add much prayer to much sorrow. Never give way to thy heart to much sorrow that cannot stand with much prayer; for let thy state be what it will, thou wilt say thou art brought into such a state as thou canst not but mourn. I will grant it; but know this is an everlasting rule to be observed in such as will mourn in a Christian way — there must be a proportion of prayer to their sorrow. If there be but little prayer, let there be but little sorrow; if much sorrow much prayer. I find in Scripture that mourning and prayer are joined much together. ‘If any man -be afflicted, let him pray,’ saith the apostle James; and in that of Hosea xii., about the third or fourth verse, the text saith concerning Jacob, that ’ he wept and made supplication.’ Weeping and supplication are joined together, and afflicted and praying are joined together; and so you read in Judges ii. that the people of God did so mourn and weep that the very place had its denomination from their weeping. ‘It was called Bochim, and they sacrificed there unto the Lord; ’ but that is added to it, and they sacrificed there unto the Lord. For one to be in such a mourning estate as makes them unfit for sacrifice, makes them unfit for prayer — certainly that mourning it is not a godly sorrow. Thou hast gone beyond the mourning of true gracious sorrow if so be that Continued from previous sermon. — Ed.
it doth hinder thee from prayer. That thou canst not pour forth thy soul with that freedom before God as at other times, take heed of any such mourning. There is a notable scripture in Ezra ix., where you shall find that holy man Ezra in much aflliction, with much sorrow and trouble, so that he sat astonied, ver. 4; but in ver. 5, ‘At the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness.’ At the evening sacrifice, when the time came for him to ofl’er sacrifice, then he did arise from his heaviness, his mourning did not hinder him in duty. When thy heart is so straitened in thy mourning, pretend what thou wilt for thy mourning, thy unworthiness, or sinfulness, or anything else, yet if it straitens thy heart in prayer it is no godly sorrow. Add much prayer to much mourning; when any comes unto you, you are always complaining of your afflictions, and you mourn more than your neighbours; but do you pray more than your neighbours do? do you pray asrpucli as you do complain? is there a proportion between your praying and complaining? — certainly if there be not a proportion between praying and complaining, hold your peace, complain no further, but pray more. Many other rules might be given, but we leave them and proceed unto that which yet raises the text in a more spiritual sense.
‘Blessed are those that mourn.’
I have spoken now hitherto about those that have been in a mourning condition, and behaved themselves graciously in that mourning conchtion, and have shewn how they were blessed, and how they shall be comforted; but now that that is yet more spiritual in the text is.
That if those that are in any mourning condition behaving themselves graciously are blessed, and shall be comforted, then certainly those that mourn for sin, that make that to be the object of their mourning, their own sins, and the sins of others, and the afflictions of the church, those that make these to be the objects of their mourning, they are blessed indeed, and they shall be comforted.
In speaking of these I do not intend to launch out
BURROUGHS ON THE BEATITUDES.
into that argument or commonplace of godly sorrow, to handle it at large, but I shall only open to you something about spiritual mourners that mourn for their sins and the sins of others. Therefore I shall first shew you what true mourning for sin is; when a man or woman may be said to mourn for sin in a gracious manner.
Secondly, Wherein they may be accounted to be blessed.
Thirdly, What are comforts that belong to such mourners for sin? For the first, then, the true mourning for sin is in this manner:
Firstly, When a soul mourns for sin because it is against God. In Ps. li. 4, ‘Against thee, thee only, have I sinned,’ saith David. David had sinned against Uriah and his kingdom, and against his own soul; but, above all, he had sinned against God, and this went nearest to his heart, that it was against thee, and he repeats it again, ‘Thee, thee only, have I sinned.’ As if he should say, 0 Lord, as for any evil fruits that may come of my sin, I stand not so much upon that, but this goes most to my heart, that I have sinned against such a blessed God as thou art. I have gone cross to that blessed will of thine in that which I have done. This is godly sorrow; not so much to mourn because that sin is against thyself, as because it is against the blessed God whom thy soul doth love.
Secondly, The right mourning for sin, it is to mourn for sin as the greatest evil. ‘Oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?’ Rom. vii. 24. You never find Paul crying out of himself, ’ 0 wretched man that I am! that I suffer so much affliction in the world; that I am so despised; that I have such losses in the world; or have not ways of outward subsistence.’ He never cries out for his suffering, but for his sin. ’ 0 wretched man that I am 1 who shall deliver me? ‘His greatest sorrow it was for sin.
Thirdly, Yet bo as approving of the law that forbids that sin: I find my heart afflicted for my sin, and in the midst of the affliction of my spirit for sin, I approve the law of God to be holy, to be just and good, though I be wretched and vile, Rom. vii. 12; where Paul had a great conflict in his own spirit, much troubled for the corruption that was in him, and yet then did he approve the law to be holy and righteous. Many men are afflicted for sin, and their spirits are against the holiness of the law that forbids the sin. They could wish that there were no such law. Indeed, they cannot but be troubled for their sin. But in the meantime they could wish that there were no such law that did forbid their sin, or did reveal any threatenings of God against their sin. But a gracious mourning heart that mourns for sin is apprehensive and sensible of all the evil that comes
by sin, and that through the law; and, saith the soul, ‘I would not but that there were such a law! I bless God that ever I knew the law; and I approve of the law, not only to be a righteous law, but to be a good law! ’ and that is the third thing in true mourning for sin.
The fourth thing is this. That it carries the heart to Jesus Christ. If so be that you are troubled for sin, and mourn, and think thereby to satisfy God by your mourning, this mourning it is but carnal and natural. Many men and women, when they are troubled for their sin, they think God will be satisfied; no, all the mourning that possibly can be, if thou shouldst mourn thine heart out, and be mourning thousands of years for thy sin, it could never satisfy the justice of God; all thy mourning will come to nothing except it drives thee to Jesus Christ for satisfaction unto God’s justice. The mounnng for sin that drives the soul to Christ, that is the blessed mourning; but when any man or woman satisfies themselves in their mourning, and thinks that because they mourn for sin God will accept of them without having their hearts carried unto Christ, this mourning will vanish and come to nothing.
Fifthly, It must be such a mourning as whereby the heart comes to be set against sin, not mourn for sin and live in sin, not mourn for sin and yet continue in the practice of it, but true gracious mourning for sin makes an everlasting separation between that league that there was in the soul and sin before. Every man and woman naturally hath a league between sin and their souls, but when God comes to afflict the soul for sin that it mourns in a gracious way, the soul is made so sensible of the evil of sin, as that it breaks the league between sin and the soul for ever. If God hath made sin to be thus bitter to me, then for ever adieu; through the grace of God, though I may be overcome through weakness, yet I will renounce it; it sets the soul for ever against it.
Sixthly, The true gracious mourning for sin; it is a free work in the soul; the soul is active — that is, it is not forced upon the soul whether it will or no, but such a soul as doth in a gracious way mourn for sin, it doth -willingly and Ircely apply unto itself those scriptures that may make sin to be burdensome to it; it doth not turn away from those scriptures and those truths, but if so be it hear of any truths, or read any scripture that may make sin to be heavy to it, it applies those freely and willingly; it is glad that it comes to hear any truth of God that shall discover the evil of its own sin unto it; so it is a free mourning. Such as mourn desperately, they are forced to it whether they will or no, but when the heart can ajiply itself to the word freely, and can bless God that God did ever open the eyes of it to understand the evil of sin, and that ever the Lord did apply those truths
BURROUGHS ON THE BEATITUDES.
to it that hath made sin to be burdensome, here is a gracious mourning. Many men are troubled for sin in spite of their hearts, and they wriggle and Iveep a stir, and do what they can to get the truths of God out of their hearts, and therefore they go into carnal company, r.r.d fall a-playing or drinking, that so thereby they may get truths out of their hearts; but now a gracious man or woman, when any truth comes into its heart that troubles it for the sin it hath been guilty of, it goes alone and blesseth God for this truth. Blessed be the time that the Lord hath discovered the evil of sin to my soul, and the Lord sent home these truths upon my soul more and more; he accounts it to be a great mercy, that is the sixth.
Then seventhly and lastly, A gracious mourner for sin can be satisfied with nothing else but in the removing of the guilt and uncleanness of sin. Another that mourns for sin, but in a natural way, or forced way, if so be that God would Ijut give unto him any peace, or take away the anguish that is in his conscience, take away the fears that are upon him, that will satisfy him; but now a gracious mourner for sin is such a one as can be satisfied with nothing else but the blood of Christ cleansing it from the guilt of sin, and the spirit of sin, and the spirit of Jesus Christ coming in to sanctify the soul, and this is that that will comfort the heart only; and thus briefly I have shewn you, what a gracious mourning is. If I would handle this point at large, these seven things might very well have taken up our time, but I only give you a hint of them. Now, then, such as mourn thus for sin are blessed; for,
First, By this they do much honour God. The sovereignty of God is honoured, and the holiness of God is honoured, and the justice of God is honoured. Whenas a poor creature that hath offended the sovereign, holy, and righteous God comes to be afflicted for that sin that it hath committed, God looks upon himself as honoured; whenas a sinner goes on in a proud, stubborn, stiff way in his sin, he goes in away of defiance against the great God, and doth deny the honour that is due to the great God; but now when the word of God comes and beats down this sinner, and afflicts it for the sin it hath committed, and it lies down flat before the Lord, mourning and lamenting that ever it hath sinned against the Lord, here the name of the great, holy, and just God is advanced, and blessed are they that shall advance the name of God thus; thou shouldst have advanced the name of God by thine obedience, but thou hast not done so, but hast dishonoured it by thy disobedience; now if thy heart be willing to advance it by thy mourning, there is a blessedness.
Secondly, It is a blessed thing to mourn for sin, because it is an evangelical grace. It is that that is promised in the gospel, when Christ saith, ‘I will
send the Comforter.’ What shall the Comforter do? The first work that the Comforter shall do, it shall be to convince the world of sin. You will say, here is a comforter indeed. What! to come and comfort us by convincing us of sin! It is the way of the Comforter, and therefore it is a blessed thing. There is nothing more evangelical than faith and repentance; mourning for sin in this way that I have spoken it is no legal thing, it is not a work of the law — the law takes no notice of mourning for sin — but it is a work of the Spirit of God, of the comforting Spirit, to convince the world of sin. And therefore, by the w’ay, whenas you come to hear such preaching of the word as gets into your bosoms and convinces you of sin, be not vexed and troubled at it, for now comes the Holy Ghost that is the Comforter. It is the first work of the Holy Ghost, that is the. Comforter of those souls that shall be saved, to convince the world of their sin; and therefore embrace it, and bless God for it. Now comes the Holy Ghost, and comes to make way for comfort unto my soul. In Zech. xii. 10, ‘I will pour out the spirit of grace and supplication;’ — and what then? — ‘and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced,’ — with their sins, — ‘and mourn and lament as one that laments for his only son.’ It is a fruit of the spirit of grace and supplication that was promised to be poured forth in the times of the gospel. The first sermon that we hear of Christ preaching, it is, ‘Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; ’ and he appoints his disciples to preach in that manner: ‘Kepent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Preaching mourning for sin is an evangelical preaching — a fruit of the spirit of grace that is promised in the times of the gospel. And where there is a congregation upon whom the Lord pours this spirit of grace, to look up to Christ whom they have pierced by sin, and to mourn over him, such a congregation is blessed, for the fruit of the gospel is mightily upon them.
Thirdly, Surely they are in a blessed condition, for it appears that they come now to have a right judgment. Then’ judgment is enlightened to understand what is truly good and truly evil, and to have a right temper of spirit. Before, they went on in blindness, they knew not God, nor themselves, nor those things that concerned their eternal good; but now they come to understand wherein good and evil doth consist. Before, their hearts were hardened, so that whatsoever was spoken to them did not take with their hearts; but now their hearts are in a gracious softness, and so in a right temper, and therefore they are blessed.
Fourthly, in the fourth place. This mourning for sin, it helps against all other mourning, it lielpa against other sorrows. Certainly while we are here
Mat. V. i.]
BURROUGHS ON THE BEATITUDES.
in this world there will be many sorrows; we must sorrow for something. Now the sorrowing for sin will help against other sorrows; those that are affected with the evil of their sins will not be much affected with any other evil, it will eat out the evil of other sorrows.
Fifthly, further, It is a means to prevent eternal sorrows. Certainly God will have every soul to know what sin means at one time or other. There is no sinner upon the face of the earth but at some time or other must come to understand what sin means. You must have sorrow for sin, that is a certain rule; as it is determined in heaven that all men must once die, so it is determined in heaven that all men must once sorrow. If they must repent they must needs sorrow; now how much better is it to sorrow for sin while it may be pardoned, than to sorrow for sin when there can be no help, if so be that thou shalt pass thy days away in mirth and jollity here, and never come to feel the weight of sin upon thy spirit, thou art reserved to have eternal sorrows to be thy portion, and to have the load of thy sin to lie upon thee to all eternity. ‘But blessed are they that mourn now,’ that feel what the burden of their sin means; for by feeling the burden of it now, they feel it in such a time wherein they may have hope of being delivered from that evil of sin to all eternity, and therefore certainly they are blessed. Surely blessed they are, for how many thousands of creatures, of men and women, that have lived securely, and have gone on all their lives in the hardness of their hearts, and never have been made sensible of their sin, yet upon their sick and death-beds, then they have cried out of their sin, and the Lord hath withch’awn himself from them. Now, 1 would appeal to such an one. Would you have thought it a blessed thing if you had had the weight of sin upon your souls before, in the time of your health and strength? You shall hear them upon their sick and death-beds cry, Oh happy had it been for me that I had known the evil of sin before! How happy had it been for me that those times that I spent in jollity, in mirth, in taverns, with such and such company, had I but spent those times in mourning for my sin; had I been but alone, and only God and my soul together, and there lamenting for my sin, how happy had it been for me. I should now have had comfort and peace, now I am laid upon my sick-bed; but I was led by sense, and by the flesh, and so sought to satisfy the lusts of the flesh; and I must live merrily and bravely here for a while; and now the weight of sin comes upon me. Now I feel it a load. The Lord be merciful to me! Now comes into my mind all the sins of my merry meetings; all my oaths and Sabbath-breakings; all my drunkenness and whoring; all my lying; all my neglect of God and his worship. It
had been better for me that I had been a mourner before. Therefore, ‘Blessed are they that mourn.’
Sixthly, and then lastly. It is that that fits for the grace of God. There is none that taste the sweetness of the gi-ace of God in Christ more than those that are mourners for sin. Now one drop of mercy, how sweet is it; now it is worth more than ten thousand thousand worlds! Any one drop of the blood of Jesus Christ now applied to the soul, how sweet is it. Well, blessed is that disposition that shall make that blood of Christ to be sweet! We preach Jesus Christ and the glorious mysteries of grace and salvation to you from time to time; and how lightly are those precious truths regarded by many thousands. You can come and hear them and go away, and your hearts not at all taken with them. But now were you among those mourners you would prize the crumbs that fall from the table. A few of those truths that are disregarded now would be highly esteemed then, and more worth than thousand of thousands of worlds unto you. And therefore ‘Blessed are those that mourn,’ for they are in a disposition to set a high price upon Jesus Christ, upon the great work that Jesus Christ hath done in the world, and upon the great work of God the Father; that is the chief work of his, and the great design that he hath had from all eternity to magnify himself in. Blessed are they that are in such a disposition to prize the glory of God in Jesus Christ.
Seventhly, There is one more, and that is. They are blessed; why ‘? because there are many promises that are made to those that mourn — this is one, and this is a comprehensive promise. I might mention you abundance of others, and we might spend all the remainder of the time in the very naming of the promises that are made in Scripture to those that mourn. Let but the mourners read Ps. xxxiv. 18, and Isa. lvii. 15, and it will be enough to speak comfort to those that mourn. They are in a blessed condition! why blessed? ‘Because they shall be comforted ’ — that is,
First, They shall be discharged of all those sins for which they mourn; yea, thou art dischjirged, and thou shalt one day come to know that thou art discharged of all those sins. Those sins that thy heart mourns for shall never be charged upon thy soul: thou art blessed in this thing, be assured of it. It may be yet the Holy Ghost hath not come upon thee to seal this to thy soul, but thou art one that the Holy Ghost will come upon, and will make it clear and sure to thy soul. Thy pardon is sealed in heaven already; and it shall be sealed in thy own conscience. Though there be a man which is a malefactor and condemned to die, yet if I know that his pardon is sealed, I can look upon him as a blessed man. So, though thou thyself dost not yet understand this thy
BURROUGHS ON THE BEATITUDES.
blessedness, yet those who do understand the word of God, and understand the mind of God as it is revealed in the word, such know that thou art a blessed man, and thou shalt know it one day.
Secondly, Further, not only thou shalt be assured of thy discharge; but, in the second place, this mourning of thine for thy sin will cause God to pity thee in any mourning for thy affliction, and the Lord will sweeten the afflictions of such unto them. The reason why our afflictions are so bitter unto us, it is because sin is not bitter enough; but those that take their sin as a burden, they feel that the Lord will pity them in all their afflictions.
Thirdly, They shall be comforted in this, that thy very mourning for sin shall be blessed unto thee to help thee against that very sin that thou mournest for. That is certain — either a man’s sin will make an end of his mourning, or a man’s mourning will make an end of his sin, one of the two. If so be a man goes on in sin, he will leave off mourning, but if he doth not leave off mourning, he will leave off sinning; for certainly mourning for sin hath a special efficacy in it, it helps against the sin that thou dost mourn for. This bitter aloes that now thou hast is a special means for the helping against those craAvling worms that are in thy soul.
Fourthly, But afiove all, thou art blessed that mournest for sin, for thou shalt be one day wholly delivered from thy sin, when thou shalt never sin more against God; and will not that be a blessed time, will not that comfort thee? certainly, there is such a time. Now to open these particulars with scriptures, and to enlarge them, would ask a great deal of time, which I am not willing to do here, but shall go on in the opening of this sermon of Christ. Use. Now then by way of application for this. Hence, in the first place, the use might be very large, what shall become of those that rejoice in sin? those that can be merry in sin? those that can sin and laugh in their sin? those that are frolic in their wickedness, that make their sin to be their Maygame, and the chiefest delight that they have in the world? There are many men that have no greater delight here in this world than the satisfying themselves in their sinful ways and in their lusts. Oh, di-eadful, dreadful condition that thou art in, and dreadful is the wickedness of thy soul! hast thou nothing else to make the joy of thy soul, but only that that strikes at the blessed God himself, only that that caused Jesus Christ to be heavy to the death, and to sweat dodders of blood, and to cry out, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ‘Is there nothing else to make thee merry? Here is a black brand of a man that is reserved to eternal sorrow’s, that shall in this world make his chief joy to be in sinning against the blessed and
eternal God in the satisfying of his lusts, those lusts of thine jthat thou findest so much pleasure in now, they will be bitter one day: remember this in all thy jollity; and if thou dost go on in a way of jollity through thy sin, remember what is said against thee this day, let it come into thy mind upon thy sick-bed and death-bed, thy sin will be a burden. Certainly this is a truth; every man must know and feel sin to be a burden ore day. I remember it was a speech once that I have heard of a very jovial man, that ((being in company, and his very life lay in joviality, drinking and playing; and having some enlightenings in his conscience, on a sudden, in the midst ‘of his company, he claps his hand on his breast, and saith, ‘Well, one day I must know what a wounded conscience means.’ And I fear many many have cause to say so. Well, one day this breast of mine must know what a wounded conscience means. Oh, take heed of rejoicing in sin! Surely if Jesus Christ doth pronounce him blessed that mourns for sin, then that man, that woman, is cursed that can rejoice in sin.
And then surely mourning for sin is not melancholy; for one to mourn and be troubled for their sin is not to grow heavy and melancholy. It is the work of the Spirit of God that lays that weight of sin now upon the soul, because the Lord intends that this soul shall be blessed to all eternity. And do not think it a foolish thing for people to be troubled for their sin. I will give you but two instances: first, against melancholy; and then, against folly. For melancholy: Who do we read had more sorrow for sin than David had? Read his penitential psalms, Ps. xxxviii., li., and vi. What a grievous burden he found sin I and how he mourned for it! And yet the text saith concerning David, ‘That he was of a ruddy complexion, and of an active spirit.’ And then, for folly. There is Ps. lxxxviii. I do do not find’any psalm wherein we may see an example of a godly man more under sorrow and affliction than the penman of that psalm was — namely, Heman. Read but 1 Kings iv. 31, and you shall find that the Holy Ghost doth set out Heman as one of the wisest men upon earth; and yet in Ps. lxxxviii., which this Heman did pen, we find him a man under as much sorrow and aiBiction as any, and especially for sin: therefore it is not folly but blessedness; it is a work of the Spirit of Christ. But the main thing is that that I have to speak to such as are mourners. And,
First, To tell them what their comforts are, that are in Scripture, which we find in the word of God.
And then, secondly, To give unto them some directions and rules how to seek for the applying of those comforts to their own souls.
And then, thirdly. To shew whether our comforts that we have are right comforts or no. But for the
BURROUGHS ON THE BEATITUDES.
first, not letting such mourners go away without some portion; —
Is there any here whose hearts are down and low before God in a mourning condition? certainly there is comfort for thy soul, there is comfort many ways.
First, Know for thy comfort thou hast to deal with a God of infinite grace and mercy, thou lookest upon God as a God full of wrath and justice; but thou hast to deal with a God of infinite mercy, that delights in mercy, with a God whose mercy is his chief glory, and the greatest design that ever God had was to magnify his free grace, and therefore thou mayest be upheld in thy mourning for thy sin. If a child have a loving and merciful father and mother, and the child should get alone in a room and fall a wringing of its hands, mourning and lamenting, Oh that I could do more to please my father and mother, oh that I could do more to give them content, oh that I should do anything that should be a grief to my father and mother — this is that that goes to my heart. Suppose thou shouldest look through a key-hole and see thy child thus mourning and lamenting, and wringing of its hands for this, that there should be any grief to your hearts; and you should know that they did it in truth; that it were not a mere hypocritical thing, but in the very truth of the heart of the child there was this sorrow and mourning, would you, that have but any compassions in you — would you not have your hearts yearn towards this child? Now from whence is it that you have any yearning in your hearts towards it? Is it not from a drop of that compassion that the Lord, who is an infinite ocean of mercy, hath let out unto you? Take all the compassions of all the parents that ever were in the world, and they are unto God but as a drop to the infinite ocean; and therefore the Lord looks upon the bewaihng of thy sin, and that thou canst do no more to please him, but dost that which is a grief to him, he looks upon thee in thy mourning, and he holds his bottle, and every tear in thy mourning thus for sin drops into the bottle of God.
Secondly, Know thou hast to deal with God in a covenant of grace, Hadst thou to deal with God, as he is Creator now, and thou a creature, in the way of the covenant of works, thou wert undone, and all thy mourning would be to little purpose; if thou shouldst howl out all thy days for thy sin, God
would never regard it. Thou mightest mourn to eternity, and yet be tormented to eternity, but thou hast to deal with God in the way of the covenant of grace that he hath made with poor sinners in Jesus Christ, and their mourning for sin is accepted. If thou goest into the presence of God with the guilt of thy sin upon thee, considering how holy and righteous the Lord is, little comfort there can be to thee; but now when thou goest to God in the mediation of his Son, and in the way of the covenant of grace, didst thou but understand what the covenant of grace means, that the Lord now hath set apart some people, not to deal with them as in themselves, but hath sent his Son to come and make satisfaction, and all the ways of God towards them shall be through his Son, and all their ways towards God shall be accepted through his Son; this would be a great help and comfort to them. Upon the fall of Adam our condition was such as God might have for ever rejected us, so as not to have had any regard to any mourning for sin; but it is through the purchase of the blood of Christ that mourning for sin is regarded by God. Thou hast not to deal with God as thou art in thyself, but as through his Son, who hath tendered up to the Father his sorrows for thy soul.
Thirdly, Know that Jesus Christ hath made a sufficient atonement for sin; that is, the Lord Jesus Christ hath made up all the wrongs that ever sin hath done to God. The Lord hath not suffered more prejudice by thy sin than he hath had honour through the sufferings of Christ for sin; thy sin hath been very vile, and hath wronged God exceeding much, but the Lord Jesus hath satisfied for all that wrong. Now when there is such a way of atonement, that when I go to God for the pardon of my sin, and for help against it, that I know that God shall never have any wrong through my sin, but what is made up through the blood of his Son; if I had to deal with God in himself only, then I might think that the Lord would one day or other be avenged on mo though he doth forbear me for the present; but now when I come to understand what the atonement doth mean that Jesus Christ hath made, what the price is that Jesus Christ hath paid, I now come to see a way wherein all the wrong that ever my sm hath done to God to be made up — now this cannot but raise up the heart very much.
BURROUGHS ON THE BEATITUDES.