Quest. How shall we improve this mercy every day ?
Ans. 1. Do this ; when thou hast made a breach in thy conscience, every day believe this, that God is ' the Father of mercies,' and he may well be merciful novr, because he hath been sufficiently satisfied by the death of Christ. ♦ He is the Father of Christ, and the Father of mercies.' This do every day.
2. And withal consider our condition and estate is a state of dependence. * Li him we live and move and have our being,' Acts xvii. 28. This will
* Qu. ' then ? '—Ed.
2 COKINTHIANS CHAP. I, ^^ER. 3. 48
force us to mercy, that he would hold us in the same estate wc are in, and go on with the work of grace, that he would uphold us in health, for that depends upon him ; that he would uphold us in peace, f(jr that depends upon him : he is ' the God of peace,' 1 Cor, xiv. 33, that he would uphold us in comfort and strength, to do good and resist evil. Wc are in a dependent state and condition in all good of body and soul. He upholds the whole world, and every particular. Let him take away his hand of merciful protection and sustaining from us, and we sink presently.
3. And every day consider how we are environed with any danger. Remember, we have compassing mercies, as wo have compassing dangers, as it is, ' Mercy compasseth us round about,' Ps. xxxii. 10. Every day, indeed, we have need of mercy. That is the way to have mercy. Here is a fountain of mercy, ' the Father of mercy,' bowels opened. The only way to use it is to see what need we have of mercy, and to fly to God ; to see what need we have in our souls, and in regard of outward estate, and to see that our condition is a dependent condition.
Use 4. And lastly, to viahe a use of thankfulness, ' Blessed be God, the Father of mercy,' ice have the mercy of j)Mlc continued peace, when otJiers have war, and their estates are consumed. ' Blessed be God, the Father of mercy, we sit under our own vines, and under our own fig-trees,' Micah iv. 4, If we have any personal mercies, ' Blessed be God, the Father of mercies,' this way. If he shew mercy to our souls, and pardon our sins, ' Blessed be God, the Father of mercies,' in this kind ; that he hath taken us and redeemed us out of that cursed estate, that others walk in that are yet in then- sins. Oh ! it is a mercy, and for this we should have enlarged hearts.
And withal consider the fearful estate of others, that God doth not shew mercy to, and this will make us thankful. As for instance, if a man would be thankful, that hath a pardon, let him see another executed, that is, broken upon the wheel or the rack, or cut in pieces and tortured, and then he will think, I was in the same estate as this man is, and I am pardoned. Oh ! what a gracious Sovereign have I ! The consideration of the fearful estate out of mercy, what a fearful estate those are in that live in sins against conscience, that ihej are ready to drop into hell when God strilies them with death ; if they die so, what a fearful estate they are in ! and that God should give me pardon and grace to enter into another course of life ; that though I have not much grace, yet I know it is true I am the child of God ; the consideration of the misery of others, in part in this world without repentance, and especially what they shall suffer in hell ; to consider the torment of the souls that are not in the state of grace, this will make us thankful for mercies, for pardoning and forgiving mercies, for protecting mercies, that God hath left thousands in the course of nature, going on in a wilful course of sin. This is that that the apostle here practiseth, ' Blessed be God, the Father of mercies.' The other style here is,
' The God of all comfort.' The life of a Christian is a mysteiy ; as in many respects, so in this, that whereas the flesh in him, though he be not altogether flesh, thinks him to be a man disconsolate, the spirit finds matter of comfort and glory. From whence the world begins discom-agemcnt and the flesh upbraiding, from thence the Spirit of God in holy St Paul begins matter of glory. They thought him a man neglected of God, because he was afflicted. No ! saith he, * blessed be the God of all comfort.' Our
44 COMMENTABY ON
comforts aro abovo onr discomforts. As the wisdom of the flesh is enmity to God and his Spirit in ail tliinjTs, so in this, in the jnd<];ment of the cross ; for that which is bitterest to the flesh is sweetest to the spirit. St Paul therefore opposeth liis comforts spiritual to his disgraces outward ; and because it is unfit to mention any comfort, any f^ood from God with- out blessing of him, that is the spring and fountain fi*om whence we have all, ho takes occasion, together with the mention of comfort, to bless God, ' the God of all comfort.'