And then £igfim,Jifthli/, Men do gloriously when they rejoice under the sufferings that befall them for Christ : not only to bear suffer- ings, but to joy under sufferings, to rejoice under all afflictions and troubles that may befall them for Jesus Christ. So the apostle, 2 Cor. xii. 10, saith he there, ' I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in afflictions, for Christ.' The original word, ho evSoKcb, that is rendered ' I take pleasure,' is an emphatical word. It signifies the infinite delight and contentment he did take in the afflic- tions and persecutions that befell him. It is the same word that God the Father useth to express his unexpressible delight in his Son : Mat. iii. 17, ' This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' — or rather, as the original has it more elegantly, ' This is that, my Son, that my beloved, in whom I am infinitely delighted and contented.' The same word the apostle useth to express his delight in afflictions and persecutions for Christ. So those in Acts v. 41, ' They went away rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to sufter for Christ.' 0 Christians, this is to do gloriously, for a man to rejoice that he hath an estate to lay out for Christ, that he hath a life to lay down for Christ, that he hath a tongue to speak for Christ, that he hath a hand to fight for Christ. This is to do gloriously, to rejoice in anything we sufter for Christ, and in all sorts of sufferings and doings for Christ.
Then again. Men do gloriously, mark this, when they a2)pear for the people of God, and side ivith the people of God, noticithstanding any evil and danger that may befall. Come what come can, yet they will appear for the i)eople of God, and side with the people of God. This is to do gloriously, when come what come can, I will fall in with the saints, and be one with them that are one with God. As Esther, when they were in a sad condition, and Haman had sold them to be butchered and mangled by ungodly wretches: 'Well, I will go to the king,' saith she, though there was a command that none should, ' I will venture my life ; if I perish, I j)erish.' Now she did gloriously. SoNehemiah: 'Shall such a man as I flee?' Shall I desert the saints, and turn my back on the saints ? No ; I will appear for them, and side wnth them, I will not desert them. So David's father and his brethren: 1 Sam. xxii. 1, 'David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam : and when his brethren and his father's house heard it, they went thither to him.' They did not stand dis- puting : we have estates to lose, and if Saul know that we join with David, and have taken part with him, we shall lose our heads, and lose our estates. The politicians of our times are wise : they will say they wish the saints well, but they dare not, they will not side with them. Ah, wretches ! God will save his glory and the honour of his name, and will deliver the righteous, and leave such to deliver themselves.
328 CHRIST IS THE LIFE OF BELIEVERS. [COL. III. 4.
God can «liift well enough for his honour and for his people, and leave such wretches in a shit'tlcss condition. So good Oncsiphorus : Paul speaks ot" some, 2 Tim. i. 13, 14, &c., that played the apostates; ver. 15, ' This thou kuowest, that all they Avhich are in Asia are turned away from me ; of whom are riiygellus and Hermogenes.' They played the apostates, and when he was to answer, left him to shift for himself. They would own him when all was clear overhead ; hut when he was in trouble they fall off. But Onesiphorus, he stands by him, and the apostle commends it for a glorious cause, and commends him in a particular manner to God : ' Oh that God would double his mercy on lum ; the Lord grant that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day ; and in how many things he ministered unto me thou knowest ; and he was not ashamed of my chain.' There wei'e base spirits that were ashamed of his chain, that were ashamed to side with and to own Paul ; and this world is full of such base spirits. Now this is to do gloriously — for a man to appear and side with the saints, let what will come of it. Thus J\Ioses did very gloriously : Heb. xi. 25, ' He chose rather to suifer afflictions with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.' But ah ! Lord, in how few hearts does this brave spirit of Moses breathe !
0 noble hearts, would you do gloriously ? To do gloriously is to appear for the saints, and to side with the saints, let the issue be what it will. Oh, it is a sad and a base thing in those that have appeared for and sided with the saints, but now face about and I)rove treacherous, and leave the poor saints to shift for themselves ! But it is their comfort that they have a God that will shift for his people and his own glory. And as Mordecai said to Esther, chap. iv. 14, ' If thou wilt not stir, the Lord will bring deliverance to his people some other way.' So if parliament-men, and those that have power, do not appear and side Avith tlic saints, deliverance will come another way ; l)ut they and their father's house may perish. And therefore remember to do gloriously is to a])pear for them ; and not to appear for the saints is to betray them, and so it shall be brought in on the day of account.
Then again, in the next place, To do gloriously is to do justice, and that imparticdly. Then men do gloriously when they do justice impartially upon high and low, honourable and base, father and son, kinsman and brother ; and not to dispute, this is a near kins- man, and that is my father, and the other is my brother, and that the one is too great and the other is too mean for justice, this is inglorious. The basest and unworthiest spirits on earth cannot do more basely ; there is nothing of the power of the Spirit or heavenly gallantry in such. It is said, Ps. cvi. 30, 31, ' Then stood Phinehas, and executed judgment : so the plague was stayed. And that was accounted to him for righteousness to all generations for ever.' Oh this executing of justice impartially, how it makes the names of per- sons to live from generation to generation ! If so be that the powers of this world would have their names immortal, so graven that they should never be wiped out, let them do justice. This is that Phinehas was admired for ; it was ' accounted to him for righteousness, to all generations for evermore.'
Col. III. 4.] christ is the life of believers. 329