To them that love him. — A usual description of the people of God. But why them that love him, rather than them that serve or obey him, or some other description? I answer — (1.) Because love is the sum of the whole law, and the hinge upon which all the command- ments turn : this is the one word into which the Decalogue is abridged ; therefore Paul saith, Rom. xiii. 10, that ' love is irXrjpwixa vofiov, the fulfilling of tlie law.' (2.) Because it is the great note of our interest in Chri.st : faith giveth a right in the promises, and love evidenceth it ; therefore is it so often specified as the condition of the promises, the condition that evidenceth our interest in them ; as James ii. 5, ' The kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him.' He doth not say 'fear him,' or 'trust in him,' though these graces also are im- plied, but chiefly ' to them that love him.' So Kom. viii. 28, ' All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his jturpose : ' where love of God, you see, is
JaS. I. 12.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 77
made the discovery both of effectual calling and election. (3.) Be- cause patience is the fruit of love : Nihil est quod non tolerai qui jjer- fecte diligit — he that loveth much will suffer much : and therefore when the apostle speaketh of enduring temptations, he encourageth them by the crown of life promised to them that love God : a man would not suffer for him, unless he did love him.
I shall give you the notes briefly.
Ohs. 1. Afflictions do not make the people of God miserable. There is a great deal of difference between a Christian and a man of the world : his best estate is vanity, Ps. xxxix. 5 ; and a Christian's worst is happiness. He that loveth God is like a die ; cast him high or low, he is still upon a square : ^ he may be sometimes afflicted, but he is always happy. There is a double reason for it : —
1. Because outward misery cannot diminish his happiness.
2. Because sometimes it doth increase it.
1. Afflictions cannot diminish his happiness: a man is never miser- able till he hath lost his happiness. Our comfort lieth much in the choice of our chiefest good. They that say, ' Happy is the people that is in such a case/ Ps, cxliv. 12-15 ; that is, where there is no com- plaining in their streets, sheep bringing forth thousands, garners full, oxen strong to labour, &c., they may be soon miserable : all these things may be gone, with an easy turn of providence, as Job lost all in an instant. But they that say, ' Happy is the people whose God is the Lord,' that is, that count it their happiness to enjoy God, when they lose all, they may be happy, because they have not lost God. Our afflictions discover our choice and affections; when outward crosses are the greatest evil, it is a sign God was not the chiefest good ; for our grief, in the absence €»f any comfort, is according to the happi- ness that we fancied in the enjoyment of it. One that hath setup his rest in God can rejoice in his interest, ' though the fields should yield no meat, and the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there should be no herd in the stalls.' These are great evils, and soon felt by a carnal heart ; yet the prophet, in the person of all believers, saith, Hab. iii. 18, ' I will joy in the Lord, and rejoice in the God of my salvation.' In the greatest defect and want of earthly things there is happiness, and comfort enough in a covenant-interest.
2. Sometimes afflictions increase their happiness, as they occasion more comfort and further experience of grace : God seldom afflicteth in vain. Such solemn providences and dispensations leave us better or worse, the children of God gain profit by them, for it is God's course to recompense outward losses with inward enjoyments : 2 Cor. i. 5, ' For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also consolation aboundeth by Christ ; ' that is, inward comforts and experiences, according to the rate of outward sufferings. Now he hath not the heart of a Christian that, can think himself more happy in temporal commodities than spiritual experiences: a wilderness that giveth us more of God is to be preferred above all the pleasures and treasures of Egypt. Learn, then, that they may be blessed whom men count miserable. They are not always happy to whom all things happen according to their desires, but they that endure evil with victory and
^ 'Terpaywvos avTTip. — Arht.'
78 AN EXPOSITION, WITU NOTES, [JaS. I. 12.
patience ; the world judgeth according to outward appearance, and therefore is often mistaken. Nemo aliurum sensu miser est, sed suo, saith Salvian^ — a godly man's happiness, or misery, is not to be judged by the world's sense or feeling, but his own ; his happiness and yours differ. The apostle saith, 1 Cor. xv. 19, 'If our hopes were only in this world, we were of all men most miserable;' if worldly enjoyments were our blessedness, a Christian might not only be miser- able, but ' most miserable.' The main difference between a worldly man and a gracious man is in their chiefest good and their utmost end ; and therefore a worldly man cannot judge of a spiritual man's happiness. But, saith the apostle, 1 Cor. ii. 15, ' The spiritual man judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man : ' you think that their estate is misery, but they knoiu that yours is vanity. You cannot judge them, but by the light of the Spirit they judge all things. They that count God their chiefest good know no other evil but the darkening of his countenance ; in all other cases, ' Blessed is he that endureth : ' they lose nothing by affliction, but their sins.