An expository comment, doctrinal, controversial, and practical upon the whole first chapter to the…An expository comment, doctrinal, controversal, and practical upon the whole first chapter to the…

Lastly, Though God be the God of all comfort, and so he can if he please ¹comfort without any Paul's, any Ministers, or Christians, yet he hath appointed their service as a means by which he will comfort us. It might be thought a vain thing, to send for Minister or Christians to comfort, seeing it is God only that can do this; but you must know, God will do it by his instituted means. Whereas therefore it is the Devils great temptation to keep off such afflicted ones from coming to the public Ordinances, from Prayer, from revealing and manifesting their temptations, to those that are holy and wise: Let such troubled souls know, that this is the way to throw themselves irrecoverably into the Devils mouth; and therefore though God will comfort; yet it must be in the use of the means appointed by the Ministry, by Prayer, by Conference: Therefore though thou ⟨p. 190⟩complainest, thou darest not pray, thou darest not come to the Ordinances, for then thy temptations are most violent and fiery, yet give not them over, for in and through these God will at last communicate comfort to thee; God is the God of comfort through the instituted and appointed means of comfort. Indeed if by an absolute necessity thou art deprived of all means of comfort from others, as many of the Martyrs have been, then thou mayest expect immediate consolations from God, and that he will be in stead of all Ministers, and godly friends to thee. And so much for the second general head.

Lastly, Though God be the God of all comfort, and so he can if he please ¹comfort without any Paul's, any Ministers, or Christians, yet he hath appointed their service as a means by which he will comfort us. It might be thought a vain thing, to send for Minister or Christians to comfort, seeing it is God onely that can do this; but you must know, God will do it by his instituted means. Whereas therefore it is the Devils great temptation to keep off such afflicted ones from coming to the publick Ordinances, from Prayer, from revealing and manifesting their temptations, to those that are holy and wise: Let such troubled souls know, that this is the way to throw themselves irrecoverably into the Devils mouth; and therefore though God will comfort; yet it must be in the use of the means appointed by the Ministry, by Prayer, by Conference: Therefore though thou