For ivhen he is tried, BoKL/JLo<i <yev6/jLevo^. — The word is often trans- lated approved: Rom. xiv. 18, ' Approved of man ; ' it is SoKifio'i. So 1 Cor. xi. 19, ' That hoKLfioL, they which are approved may be made manifest ; ' so here, when he is made or found approved, that is, right and sound in the faith ; it is a metaphor taken from metals, whose excellence is discerned in the fire.
He shall receive; that is, freely ; for though none be crowned loiih- out striving, 2 Tim. ii. 5, yet they are not crowned for striving ; as in the scripture it is said in many places, God will give every man according to his work, yet not /or his work, for such passages do only imply (as Ferus,2 a Papist, also granteth) that as evil works shall not remain unpunished, so neither shall good works be unrewarded.
A croiun of life. — It is usual in scripture to set forth the gifts of God by a crown, sometimes to note the honour that God putteth upon the creatures : ' Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour,' Ps. viii. 5 ; sometimes to note the all-sufficiency of God's love. It is as a crown ; on every side there are experiences of it : so it is said, Ps. ciii. 4, ' He crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies : ' but most usually it is applied to the heavenly estate : — (1.) Partly to note the honour of it, as a crown is the emblem of majesty ; and so it noteth that imperial and kingly dignity to which we are advanced in Christ : Luke xxii. 29, ' I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me.' Christ, that left us the cross, hath left us his crown also : one of Christ's legacies to the church is his own cross ; therefore Luther saith, ^ccZesm est hceres crticis — the church is heir of the cross. So you see in this place he saith BcaTidTjfjbc, I do by will and testament — so the word signifieth — dispose a kingdom to you; and that is one reason why heavenly glory is expressed by a crown. (2.) To note the endless and perpetual fulness that is in it : roundness is
^ ' Beatus vir, non mollis vel effoeminatus, sed vir, dictus a virtute animi, virore fidei, vigore spei.' — Aquinas in locum. * Ferus in Mat. iu cap. 16. v. 27.
76 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 12.
an emblem of plenty find perpetuity ; there is somewhat on every side, and there is no end in it: so Ps. xvl. 11, 'In thy presence is fulness of joy, and i)leasures for evermore.' (3.) To note that it is given after striving ; it was a reward of conquest ; there was a crown set be- fore those that ran a race: to which use the apostle alludeth, 1 Cor. ix. 24, 25 : ' They which run a race run all, but one receiveth the prize : so run that yc may obtain. Now, they do it to obtain a cor- ruptible crown, but we an incorruptible ; ' that is, in the races and Isthmic games near Corinth, the reward was only some garland of flowers and herbs, which soon faded ; but we run for an incorruptible crown of glory ; or, as another apostle calleth it, ' A crown of glory that i'adeth not away,' 1 Peter v. 4. Thus you see why heaven is expressed by a crown ; now sometimes it is called ' a crown of glory,' to note the splendour of it ; sometimes ' a crown of righteousness,' 2 Tim. iv. 8, to note the ground and rise of it, which is God's truth engaged by a promise, called God's righteousness in scripture : some- times it is called ' a crown of life,' as Kev. ii. 10, ' Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life ; ' because it is not to be had but in eternal or everlasting life : or else, to note the duration of it ; it is not a dying, withering crown, as the garland of flowers, but a living crown, such as will flourish to all eternity.
Which the Lord hath promised. — This is added, partly to show the certainty of it — we have the assurance of a promise ; partly to note the ground of expectation — not by virtue of our own merits, but God's promise. Now there is no particular promise alleged, because it is the general drift of the whole word of God. In the law there is a pro- mise of mercy : ' To a thousand generations, to them that love him,' Exod. XX. 6. When all things were ' after the manner of a carnal com- mandment,' the expressions of the promises were also carnal , and that is the reason why, in the Old Testament, the blessings of the promises are expressed by ' a fat portion,' ' long life,' and a ' blessing upon pos- terity ; ' for all these expressions were not to be taken in the rigour of the letter, but as figures of heavenly joys and eternal life : and there- fore, what was in the commandment, ' mercy to a thousand generations, to them that love him,' is in the apostle, ' a crown of life to them that love him,' the mystery of the expression being opened and unveiled.