2. judge by a supernatural light. Christ's eye-salve must clear your sight, or else you cannot make a right judgment : there is no proper and fit apprehension of things till you get within the veil, and see by the light of a sanctuary lamp : 1 Cor. ii. 11, ' The things of God knoweth no man, but by the tSpirit of God.' Ho had snid before, ver. 9, ' Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard,' &c. ; i.e., natural senses do not perceive the worth and price of spiritual privileges ; for I sup- pose the apostle speaketh not there of the incapacity of our under- standings to conceive of heavenly joys, but of the unsuitableness of spiritual objects to carnal senses. A man that hath no other light but rea.son and nature, cannot judge of those things ; God's riddles are only oj)en to those that plough with God's heifer : and it is by God's Si)irit that we come to discern and esteem the things that are of God ; which is the main drift of the apostle in that chapter. So David, Ps. xxxvi. 9, ' In thy light we shall sec light ; ' that is, by his Spirit we come to discern the brightness of glory or grace, and the nothingness of the world.
.'}. Judge by supernatural grounds. Many times common grounds may help us to discern the Hti;htiiess of our grief, yea, carnal grounds ; your counting must be an holy counting. Those in the prophet said, ' The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stones,' Isa. ix.
^ Tlieoph. in loc.
JaS. I. 2.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 23
10. It is a misery, but we know how to remedy it ; so many despise their troubles : we can repair and make np this loss again, or know how to deal well enough with this misery. All this is not ' a right judgment,' but ' vain thoughts ; ' so the ])rophet calleth their carnal debates and reasonings : Jer. iv. 14, 'How long shall vain thoughts lodge within thee ? ' that is, carnal shifts and contrivances, by which they despised the judgment, rather than improved it. True judging and counting always foUoweth some spiritual discourse and reasoning, and is the result of some principle of laith or patience ; as thus, it is a misery, but God will turn it to our good. God's corrections are sharp, but we have strong corruptions to be mortified ; we are called to great trials, but wc may reckon upon great hopes, &c.
Obs. 3. From that all joy ; afflictions to God's people do not only minister occasion of patience, but great joy. The world hath no reason to think religion a black and gloomy way : as the apostle saith, ' The weakness of Christ is stronger than the strength of men,' 1 Cor. i. 25 ; so grace's ivorst is better than the world's best ; ' all joy,' when in divers trials ! A Christian is a bird that can sing in winter as well as in spring ; he can live in the fire like Moses's bush ; burn, and not be consumed ; nay, leap in the fire. The counsel of the text is not a paradox, fitted only for notion and discourse, or some strain and reach of fancy ; but an observation, built upon a common and known expe- rience: tliis is the fashion and manner of believers, to rejoice in their trials. Thus Heb. x. 34, ' Ye took the spoiling of your goods joy- fully ; ' in the midst of rifling and plundering, and the incivilities of rude and violent men, they were joyful and cheerful. The apostle goeth one step higher : 2 Cor. vii. 4, ' I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.' Mark that vTrepTrepta-aevofiac rfj %a/5a, I superabound or overflow in joy. Certainly a dejected spirit liveth much beneath the height of Christian privileges and principles. Paul in his worst estate felt an exuberancy of joy : ' I am exceeding joyful ; ' nay, you shall see in another place he went higher yet : Kom. v. 3, ' We glory in tribula- tions,' /cav)(co/j,€9a ; it noteth the highest joy — joy with a boasting and exultation ; such a ravishment as cannot be compressed. Certainly a Christian is the world's wonder, and there is nothing in their lives Ijut what men will count strange ; their whole course is a riddle, which the multitude understandeth not, 2 Cor. vi. 10 : 'As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;' it is Paul's riddle, and may be every Christian's motto and symbol.
Object. 1. But you will say. Doth not the scripture allow us a sense of our condition ? How can we rejoice in that which is evil ? Christ's soul was ' heavy unto death.'
Solut. I answer — 1. Not barely in the evil of them ; that is so ftir from being a fruit of grace, that it is against nature : there is s natural abhorrency of that which is painful, as we see in Christ him- self : John xii. 27, ' My soul is troubled ; what shall I say ?_ Father, save me from this hour,' &c. As a private person, Christ would manifest the same affections that are in us, though as mediator, he freely chose death and sufferings ; the mere evil is grievous. Besides, in the sufferings of Christ there was a concurrence of our guilt taken into his own person and of God's wrath ; and it is a known rule,