Use 2. You that are under trials, look to your faith. Christ knew what was most likely to be assailed, and therefore telleth Peter, Luke xxii. 32, ' I have i)rayed for thee, tliat thy faith fail not.' When faith faileth, we faint ; therefore we should make it our chief work to maintain faith. Chiefly look after two things : — (1.) Hold fjist your assurance in the midst of the saddest trials: in the furnace call God Father : Zech. xiii. 21, ' I will bring them through the fire, and they shall be refined as silver and gold is tried : and they shall say, The Lord is my God.' Let not any hard dealing make you mistake your Father's affection. One special point of faith, under the cross, is the faith of our adoption: Heb. xii. o, ' The exhortation speaketh to you as children; my son, despise not the chastening of the Lord.' It is the apostle's own note that the afflicted are styled by the name of sons. Christ had a bitter cup, but saith he, ]\Iy Father hath put it into my hands: John xviii. 11. ' The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink of it? ' It is a bitter cup, but he is still my Father. (2.) The next work of faith is, to keep your hopes fresh and lively : believers always counter-balance the temptation with their hopes. There is no grief or lo.ss so great, but faith knoweth how to despise it in the hope of the reward : therefore the apostle describeth faith to be, Heb. xi. 1, vTToaTaai'i rdv i\7ri^ofiei'o)u, ' the substance of things hoped for ; ' becau.se it givcth a reality and present being to things absent and to come, opposing hope to the temj)tation, and making the thing hoped for as really to exist in the heart of the believer as if it were already enjoyed. Well, then, let faith put your hopes in one balance, when the devil hath put the world, with the terrors and profits of it, in the other; and say, as Paul, \oyi^o/xai, ' I reckon, or compute, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
JaS. I. 3.J UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 33
glory that sIkiII bo revealed in us,' Eom. viii. 18. All tliis is nothing to our hopes : what is this to glory to come ?
Obs. 4. From that KaTepyd^erai, worketh or per/ecteth, many trials cause patience, that is, by the blessing of God upon them. Habits are strengthened by frequent acts ; the more you act grace, the stronger ; and often trial puts us upon frequent exercise : the apostle saith, chas- tening 'yieldeth the quiet fruit of righteousness, rot<i j€yv/xvaafji,evoi<;, to them that are exercised thereby,' Heb. xii. 11. The fruit of patience is not found after one affliction or two, but after we are exercised and acquainted with them : the yoke after a while beginneth to be well settled, and by much bearing, we learn to bear with quietness, for use perfecteth ; as we see those parts of the body are most solid that are most in aotion,^ and trees often shaken are deeply rooted. Well, then : (1.) It showeth how careful you should be to exercise yourselves under every cross ; by that means you come to get habits of grace and jDatience : neglect causeth decay, and God withdraweth his hand from such as are idle : in spirituals, as well as temporals, ' diligence maketh rich,' Prov. x. 4. (2.) It showeth that if Ave murmur or miscarry in any providence, the fault is in our own hearts, not in our condition. Many blame providence, and say they cannot do otherwise, their troubles are so great and sharp. Oh ! consider, trials, yea, many trials, where sanctified, work patience : that which you think woufd cause you to murmur, is a means to make you patient. The evil is in the unmortifiedness of your affections, not in the misery of your condition. By the apostle's rule, the greater the trial the greater the patience, for the trial worketh patience. There is no condition in the world but giveth occasion for the exercise of grace.
Obs. 5. From that patience, the apostle comforteth them with this argument, that they should gain patience ; as if that would make amends for all the smart of their sufierings. The note is, that it is an excellent exchange to part with outward comforts for inward graces. Fiery trials are nothing if you gain patience. Sickness, with patience, is better than health ; loss, Avith patience, is better than gain. If earthly affections were more mortified, we should value inward enjoy- ments and experiences of God more than Ave do. Paul saith, 2 Cor. xii. 9, ' I will glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me : ' misery and calamities should be welcome, because they gave him further experiences of Christ. Certainly, nothing maketh afflictions burthensome to us but our own carnal affections.
Obs. 6. From the same, we may observe more particularly, that patience is a grace of an excellent use and A^alue. We cannot be Christians Avithout it ; we cannot be men without it : not Christians, for it is not only the ornament, but the conservatory of other graces. HoAv else should we persist in well-doing when Ave meet with grievous crosses ? Therefore the apostle Peter biddeth us, 2 Peter i. 5, G, to ' add to faith, virtue ; to virtue, knoAvledge ; to knoAvdedge, temper- ance ; to temperance, patience.' Where are all the requisites of true godliness ? It is grounded in faith, directed by knowledge ; defended, on the right hand, by temperance against the allurements of the world ;