(2.) That there is a special allowance of comfort for God's children in their afflictions. The Lord is more tender of his people then, when they want comfort, than at another time ; they have a more plentiful measure of the supporting operations of his Spirit then : as 1 Peter iv. 14, ' If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.' As the mother keepeth most with the sick child, so God looketh to the afflicted. This is the difference between God and the world : the world ever runneth most after those that are prosperous, and flourish and rejoice, as rivers into the sea, where there is water enough ; but forsaketh those that are in poverty, disgrace, and want; but God is most mindful of his afflicted people, visiteth them most, vouchsafeth most of his com- fortable presence to those that holily and meekly bear the afflictions he layeth upon them: 'He comforteth us in all our tribulations,' 2 Cor. i. 4. The soul is then more capable of spiritual comforts, because their taste is more ])urged and refined from the dregs of sense, and grace is more lively and exercised now ; the more grace, the more comfort. And prayers are more frequent; and prayers are seldom in vain.
(3.) That our comforts carry proportion with our sorrows : 2 Cor. i. 5, ' As our afflictions aVmnd, so do our consolations.' This cometh from the wisdom of God, that the evil may not be greater than our support; and from the faithfulness of God, ' who will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able to bear,' 1 Cor. x. 13. And there- fore, if he bring on heavy troubles, he puts a suitable measure of com- fort and cheerfulness into our hearts. This is comfort.
2. What it is to have our hearts comforted. It showeth that the heart is the proper seat of spiritual comfort : Ps. iv. 7, ' Thou hast
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put gladness into my heart.' God's comfort is like a soaking sliower, that goes to the root, and refresheth the plants of the earth more than a morning dew, that wets only the surface. Other comforts tickle the senses and refresh the outward man, but this i)enetrateth to the very heart. Christ prayeth, John xvii. 13, ' That they may have my joy fultilled in themselves.' Christ's comforts are not reported to the ear only, but felt in tlie heart. The joy of the world maketh a great noise, but in the midst of it the heart is sorrowful. But God fea.sts his children with hidden manna ; they have meat and drink which the world knoweth not of. In their outward man they are exposed to great difficulties, but their hearts are filled with 'joy unspeakable, and full of glory.' The joy of the carnal in outward things is foreign ; and as much as their senses are pleased, their hearts are full of tor- menting fears and secret disgusts. They may put a good face upon it, but dig the most jovial of them to the bottom, they have their inward stings and secret horrors of conscience. But in comforting his children God chiefly deals with the heart : Eom. v. 5, ' The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us ;' and 2 Cor. i. 22, ' He hath given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.' In establishing this comfort, God doth immediately work upon the soul. He useth means indeed ; as the word : Kom. xv. 4,
* That you through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.' There we have the grounds of comfort set forth — Christ's redemption, the promises of the gospel, both of pardon and life, and the ordinances, as the sacraments ; as the eunuch after his baptism : Acts viii. 39, ' He went away rejoicing.' So in the Lord's Supper, we come to eat of Christ's peace-offerings that we may rejoice in God : Ps. xxii. 26, ' The meek shall eat and be satisfied ; they shall praise the Lord that seek him : your heart shall live for ever.' But his Spirit worketh immediately upon the soul; either — (1.) By opening the under- standing to see the grounds and reasons of comfort : Rom. xv. 13, 'Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost ;' or (2.) By raising the heart to the lively act of joy : Acts xiii. 52,
* The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost' Cer- tainly God comforteth the heart both ways by seeing the grounds as he worketh faith. Man is a reasonable creature, and it is not ima- ginable that the Holy Ghost should comfort us we know not why : he revealeth indeed supernatural grounds of comfort ; but if they be not evident to reason, they are evident to faith. But then the very joy is executed by the efficacy of his impression. But of that more anon.
3. In what sense comfort may be said to be of God ? I answer — Three ways: —