^ ' Gubernatoris artem tranquillum mare et obsequens ventus non ostendit; adversi aliquid incurrat oportet, quod animum probet.' — Sen. ad Marc. c. 5.
^ ' Non incepisse sed perf ecisse virtutis est.' — A ng. ad Frat. in Eremo. Ser. 8.
^ ' Turpe est cedere oneri, et luctari cum officio quod seniel recepisti ; non est vir fortis et strenuus qui laborem fugit, nee crescit illi animus ipsa rerum dilficultate.' — Seneca.
* Barouius ad annum Cbristi, 357.
3o AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 4.
faith' and a continued ' patience, have inherited the promises,' Heb. vi .12.
Ohs. 3. That Christians must aim at, and press on to perfection. The apostle saith, ' That ye may be perfect and entire, nothing want- ing.' (1.) Christians will be coveting, and aspiring to, absolute per- fection. We are led on to growth by this aim and desire : they hate sin so perfectly, that they cannot be quiet till it be utterly abolished. First, they go to God for justification, ne damnet, that the damning ]iower of sin may be taken away ; then for sanctification, ne regnet, that the reigning power of sin may be destroyed ; then for glorification, ne sit, that the very being of it may be abolished. And as they are bent against sin with a mortal and keen hatred, so they are carried on with an earnest and importunate desire of grace. They that have true grace will not be contented with a little grace ; no measures will serve their turn. ' I would by any means attain to the resurrection of the dead,' saith Paul, Phil. iii. 11 ; that is, such a state of grace as we enjoy after the resurrection. It is a metonymy of the subject for the adjunct. Free grace, you see, hath a vast desire and ambition ; it aimeth at the holiness of the glorious and everlasting state ; and, indeed, this is it Avhich makes a Christian to press onward, and be so earnest in his endeavours ; as Heb. vi. 1 , with 4, ' Let us go on to perfection;' and then ver. 4, 'It is impossible for those that were once enlightened,' &c., implying that men go back when Ihey do not go on to perfection ; having low aims, they go backward, and fall off. (2.) Cliristians must be actually perfect in all points and parts of Christianity. As they will have faith, they will have patience; as patience, love and zeal. In 1 Peter i. 15, the rule is, ' Be ye holy, as I am holy, in all manner of conversation.' Every point and part of life must be seasoned with grace, therefore the apostle saith, iv waafj dvaaTpo(f)fj, in every creek and turning of the conversation : so 2 Cor. viii. 7, ' As ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, see that ye abound in this grace also.' Hypocrites are always lacking in one part or another. The Corinthians had much knowledge and utterance, and little charity ; as many pro- fessors pray much, know much, hear much, but do not give much ; they do not ' abound in this also.' As Basil saith in his sermon ad Diuitcs, I know many that fast, pray, sigh, irdaav rrjv ahdiravov evkd- fteiav iKSiavv/jbivov;, love all cheap acts of religion, and such as cost nothing but their own pains, but are sordid and base, withholding from God and the poor, tI o^eXo? rovroh ttj^; XocTTrjii dperij^;. Wliat profit have they in their other graces when they are not perfect ? There is a link and cognation between the graces ; they love to go hand in hand, to come up as in a dance, and consort, as some expound the apostle's word, iin-^^opT^'yi'jaare: 2 Peter i. 5, ' Add to faith, virtue,' &c. One allowed miscarriage or neglect may be fatal. Sny, then, thus witliin your.selves — A Christian should be found in nothing wanting. Oh ! but how many sad defects are there in my soul ! if I were weighed in God's balance, I should be found much wanting ! Oh, strive to be more entire and perfect. (3.) They aim at the perfection of duration, that, as they would be wanting in no part of duty, so in no part of their lives. Subsequent acts of apostasy make our former
JaS. I. 5.] UPON THE EPJSTLE OF JAMES. 37
crown to witlier ; they lose what they have wrought, 2 Jolm 8. All their spiritual labour formerly bestowed is to no purpose, and whatever we have done and suffered for tlie gospel, it is, in regard of God, lost and forgotten. So Ezek. xviii. 24, ' When he turneth to iniquity, all the righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned.' As under the law, if a Nazarite had defiled himself, he was to begin all anew : Num. vi. 12, ' The days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled ; ' as if he had fulfilled the half part of his vow, or three parts of his vow, yet all was to be null and lost upon every pollution, and he was to begin again. So it is in point of apostasy ; after, by a solemn vow and consecration, we have separated ourselves to Christ, if we do not endure to the end, all the righteousness, zeal, and pati'ence of our former profession is forgotten.