(2.) And withal let us labour to put upon vs the bowels of a father and mother, tender bowels, as God puts upon him bowels of compassion towards us. So St Paul, being an excellent comforter of others, in 1 Thess. ii. 7, he shews there how he carried himself as a father, or mother, or nurse to them. Those that will comfort others, they must put upon them the affections of tender creatm-es as may be. They must be patient, they
70 COMMENTARY ON
must be tenderly affected, tlicy must have love, they must have the graces of communion.
What be the graces of commimion ? The gi'accs of Christian com- munion to fit us in the communion of saints to do good, they are a loving, meek, patient spirit. Love makes patient. As we see mothers and nurses, what can they not endure of their children, because they love them ? And they must be likewise wise and furnished. They that will comfort others must get wisdom and ability. They must get humility, they must abase themselves that they may be comfortable to others, and not stand upon terms. These be the graces of communion that fit us for the communion of saints.
What is the reason that many are so untoward to this duty, and have no heart to it, that they cannot indeed do it ?
The reason is, they consider not their bonds : they do not ' consider the poor and needy,' Ps. xli. 1. They have not the graces of communion, they want loving spirits, they want ability, they are empty, they are not furnished, they have not knowledge laid up in store, they want humble spirits. The want of these graces makes us so barren in this practice of the communion of saints. Therefore we should bewail our own barren- ness when we should do such duties, and cannot. And beg of God the spirit of love and wisdom, that we may do things wisely, that we may speak that which is fit. ' A word in season is as apples of gold with pictures of silver,' Prov. xxv. 11. And let us beg a humble spirit, that we may be abased to comfort others. As Christ in love to us he abased himself, he became man, and when he was man, he became a servant, he abased him- self to wash his disciples' feet, talk with a silly woman, and such base offices. And if the Spirit of Christ be in us, it will abase us to offices of love, to support one another, to bear one another's burthens,' Gal. vi. 2.
(3.) Again, if we would comfort others as we should, let us labour to get experience of comfort in ourselves. God comforteth us that we might be able to comfort others. He will easily kindle others that is all on fire himself, and that is comforted himself. He can easily comfort others with that comfort he feels himself. Those that have experience can do it best.
As we see in physicians, if there be two physicians, whereof the one hath been sick of the disease that he is to cure in another ; the other perhaps is more excellent than he otherwise, but he hath never been sick of it ; the patient will sooner trust himself with the experienced physician than with the other ; for undoubtedly he is better seen in that than the other, though perhaps the other may be a greater booked* physician than he. As it is with the physicians of the body, so it is with the physician of the soul : the experienced physician is the best. What is the reason that old men, and wise men, are the mercifulest of all ? Because they have had expe- rience of many crosses and miseries. A wise man knows what crosses are ; he understands them best.
The way, then, to comfort others, is to get experience of divine comforts ourselves. And that we may get experience of God's comforts, let us mark what was said before of the rules of comfort, and work upon our own hearts whatsoever may be comfortable to others ; that we may not be empty trunks to speak words mthout feeling.
He that is well may speak very good things to a sick man, but the sick man sees that he speaks without pity and compassion. Those that have * That is, ' book-learned.' — G.
2 CORINTHIANS CUAP. I, VER, 4. 71
been sick of the same disease, when they come to comfort, they do it with a great deal of meekness aud mildness. Those that are fit to comfort others must be spiritual themselves first, as the apostle saith, Gal. vi. 1. Saith the wise and holy apostle, ' If any man be overtaken,' us, alas ! we are all overtaken with some corruption or other, 'ye that are spiritual, restore such a one,' set him in joint, as the word is (7'), ' with the spirit of meek- ness, knowing that thou thyself mayest be tempted.'
The Spirit of God is a Spirit of comfort. The more wo have of the Spirit, the fitter we are to comfoi't others. We see many men will speak very good things, but they do but personate sorrow, and personate comfort. It comes from them without feeling. As he saith. If thou didst beUeve these things that thou speakest, wouldst thou ever say them so ? He that speaks good things without experience, he speaks as if he did never believe them. Those that speak things with experience, that have wrought them upon their hearts and spirits, there is such a demonstration in the manner of their spealdng, of a spirit of love and meekness, and compas- sion, that it prevails marvellously. It is so true that our Saviour Christ himself, that he might have the more tender bowels of compassion towards us, he made it one end of his incarnation, as it is pressed again and again in Heb. ii. and Heb. iv. The apostle dwells upon it, ' It became him to be man, to take upon him our infirmities, that he might be a merciful Re- deemer, a merciful high priest,' Heb. ii. 17. It was one end of his incar- nation that he might not only save us, but that he might be a merciful Redeemer, that he might have experience of our infirmities. Of persecu- tion, he was persecuted himself; of want, he wanted himself; of tempta- tion, he was tempted himself ; of wrath, he felt it himself, ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?' Mark xv. 34.