3. That good is not always the good of the flesh, or the good of out- ward prosperity ; and, therefore, certainly the good of our condition is not to be determined by the interest of the flesh, but the welfare of our souls. If God should bestow upon us so much of the good of the outward and animal life as we desire, we could not be said to be in a good condition : if he should deny us good spiritual, we should lose the one half of the blessings of the covenant by doting upon and falling in love with the rest. The flesh is importunate to be pleased, but God will not serve our carnal appetites. We are more concerned as a soul than as a body: Heb. xii. 10, ' He verily chasteneth us for our profit, that we miglit be partakers of his holiness.' Certain it is God will chasten us for our profit. What do we call profit ? the good things of this world, the great mammon which so many worship ? If we call it so, God will not ; he meaneth to impart some spiritual and divine benefit, which is a participation of his own holiness. And truly the people of God, if they be in their right temper, value themselves, not by their outward enjoyments, but by their inward improvement of graces : 2 Cor. iv, 16, ' For this cause we faint not ; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.' A discern-
Mat. XVII. 4.] Christ's transfiguration. 381
ing Christian puts more value upon holiness wrought by affliction than upon all his comforts ; so that though affliction be evil in itself, it is good as sanctified.
4. A particular good must give way to a general good, and our per- sonal benefit to the advancement of Christ's kingdom and the glory of God. The advancement of Christ's kingdom, or the good of the church, must be preferred before our personal benefit or content- ment. Paul could want the glory of lieaven for a while, if his con- tinuance in the flesh were needful for the saints : Phil. i. 24, ' To abide in the flesh is more needful for you.' We must not so desire good to ourselves as to hinder the good of others. All elements will act contrary to their particular nature, for the conservation of the uni- verse, so for the glory of Grod. That may be good for the glory of God which is not good for our personal contentment and ease. Now the glory of God is our greatest interest ; if it be for the glory of God that I should be in ]iain, bereft of my comfort, my sanctified subjec- tion to the will of God must say it is good : John xii. 27, 28. Here you must have the innocent inclination of Christ's human nature, ' rathei:^ save me from this hour ;' and the overruling sense of hi 8 duty, or the obligation of his office, ' but for this cause came I to this hour.' We are often tossed between inclination of nature and con- science of duty ; but in a gracious heart the sense of our duty and the desire of glorifying God should prevail above the desire of our own comforts, ease, safety, and welfare. Nature would be rid of trouble, but grace submits all our interests to God's honour, which should be dearer to us than anything else.
5. This good is not to be determin'fed by the judgment of sense, but by the j udgment of faith ; not by present feeling, but future profit. That which is not good may be a means to good. Affliction for the present is not pleasant to natural sense ; nor for the present is the fruit evident to spiritual sense ; but it is good, because in the issue it turneth to good : Eom. viii. 28, ' All things work together for good to them that love God,' &c. While God is striking, we feel the grief and the cross is tedious ; but when we see the end, we acknowledge it is good to be afflicted : Heb. xii. 11, ' No affliction for the present seems joyous, but grievous ; neverthe- less afterwards it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are exercised therein.' A good, present, is the cause of joy ; and an evil, present, is the cause of sorrow. But there are two termini diminu- entes, terms of abatement, Trpo? to jrapov, and So/cel, present sense, and the conceits of the sufi"erer. When we are but newly under the affliction, we feel the smart, but do not presently find the benefit ; but within a while, especially in the review, it is good for me. It is matter of faith under the affliction, it is matter of sense afterwards. God's physic must have time to work. That which is not good may be good ; though it be not good in its nature, it may be good in its use ; and though for the present we see it not, we shall see it. Therefore good is not to be determined by feeling, but by faith. The rod is a sore thing for the present, but the bitter root will yield sweet fruit. If we come to a person under the cross, aud ask him. What ! is it good to feel the lashes of God's correcting hand ? to be kept poor, sickly, exercised with losses and reproaches, to part with friends and relations, to lose a