126 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 18.
free, God makes his righteousness shine I'ortli, having received satis- faction from Christ.
(3.) Comfort and duty are brought together. The end of all reli- gion is 2Lt anima sit suhjecta Deo et pacata sihi — that the soul may- be quiet in itself, and obedient to that which is supposed to be God. Now how shall we do to retain a care of duty with a sense of comfort ? Conscience cannot be stifled with loose principles. The heathens could not be quiet, and therefore, when their reason was discomposed and disturbed with the rage of sensual lusts, and they knew not how to bridle them, they offei-ed violence to nature ; pulled out their eyes, because they could not look upon a woman without lusting after her ; and raged against their innocent members, instead of their unclean affections. And we, that have the light of Christianity, know much more that we cannot have comfort without duty; for though true peace of conscience be founded in Christ's satisfaction, yet it is found only in his service : Mat. xi. 28, ' Come to me, and I will give you rest ;' but in ver. 29 it is, ' Take my yoke upon you, and ye shall find rest for your souls.' As we must come to Christ for comfort, so we must stay under his discipline, if we would have a sense of it in our own souls. Well, now, you shall see how excellently tliese are provided for in the gospel. There is Spirit against weaknesses, and merit against defects and failings, so that duty is provided for, and comfort. They need not despair under weaknesses, having the assist- ance of a mighty Spirit ; they need not put out their eyes, having a God to quench their lusts ;i they need not despair under the sense of their defects, there being such a full merit in the obedience of Christ. In short, when they have largest thoughts of duty, they may have sweetest hopes of comfort, and say, with David, Ps. cxix. 6, ' I shall not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy command- ments.'
So much for the fiflli observation.
Ohs. 6. That God's children are his first-fruits. The word hinteth two things — their dignity and their duty ; which two considerations will draw out the force of the apostle's expression.
1. It noteth the dignity of the people of God in two regards :— (1.) One is, they are ' the Lord's portion,' Xao? irepiovcno'i , his ' peculiar people,' Titus ii. 14, the treasure people, the people God looketh after. The world are his goods, but you his treasure. The word KTccr/xaTayv in the text.is emphatical. Others are but his creatures, you his first-fruits. He delightcth to be called your God ; he hath, as it were, impropriated himself to your use and comfort : ' Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord,' Ps. cxliv. 1.5. He is Lord of all, but your God. One said, Tolle meum et iollc Dcum — it is the relation to God that is sweet, and a general relation yieldeth no comfort. Oh ! what a mighty instance is this of the love of God to us, that he should reckon us for his first- fruits, for his own lot and portion ! (2.) That they are the consider- able part of the world. The first-fruits were offered for the blessing of all the rest : Prov. iii. 10, ' Offer thy first-fruits, and so thy barns
^ ' Detnocrltus excrecavit seipsum quod muliere."? sine coucnpisceutia aspicere nou posset, ct dolerct Ki non csset potitus : at Christianas salvis oculis foeminam videt ; animo ad- versus libidiaem ceocus est.' — Tcrtul. in ApoL, cap. 46.
JaS. I. 18.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 127
shall be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with wine.' •So here ; the children of God, they are the ' blessing in the cluster ;' others fare the better for their neighbourhood ; they are the strength, the ' chariots and horsemen' of a nation. It was a profane suggestion in Haman to say, ' It was not for the king's profit to suffer them to live.' These are the first-fruits that God taketh in lieu of a whole nation, to convey a blessing to the rest.
2. It hinteth duty ; as— (1.) Thankfulness in all their lives. First- fruits were dedicated to God in token of thankfulness. Cain is im- plicitly branded for unthankfulness because he did not offer the first- fruits. You, that are the first-fruits of God, should, in a sense of his mercy, live the life of love and praise. The apostle saith the mercies of God should persuade us to offer ourselves, Eom. xii. 1. Now, under the gospel, there are no sin-offerings, all are thank-offerings. Well, then, give up yourselves in a reasonable way, XoycKr) Xdrpeia, of sacrifice. It is but reason that when God hath begotten us we should be his first-fruits. The principle and motive of obedience under the gospel is not terror, but gratitude : Luke i. 74, ' That we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, should serve him without fear,' &c. Your lives should show you to be first-fruits, to be yielded to God as a testimony of thankfulness. (2.) It noteth holiness. The first-fruits were holy unto the Lord. God's portion must be holy; and therefore of things that were in their own nature an abomination the first-fruits were not to be offered to God, as the first-born of a dog or ass, but were to be redeemed with money. God can brook no unclean thing. Sins in you are far more irksome and grievous to his Spirit than in others. You shall see, Jer. xxxii. 30, it is said, ' The children of Israel and Judah have only done evil before me from their youth.' The Septuagint read, fxovoc 7rotovvT€<; rrjv aixaprlav, ' they alone, or they only, have been sinners before me ;' as if God did not take notice of the sins of other nations : Israel, God's portion, are the only sinners. (3.) It noteth consecration. You are dedicate things, and they must not be alienated ; your time, parts, strength, and concern- ments, all is the Lord's ; you cannot dispose of them as you please, but as it may make for the Lord's glory ; you are not first-fruits when you 'seek your own things ;' you are not to walk in your own ways, nor to your own ends ; you may do with your own as it pleaseth you, but you cannot do so with what is the Lord's. First-fruits were passed over into the right of God, the owner had no property in them. Well, then :— (1st.) You are not to walk in your own ways ; your desires and wills are not to guide you, but the will of God. ' There is a way (saith Solomon) that seemeth right in a man's own eyes;' a corrupt mind looketh upon it as good and pleasant, and a corrupt will and desire is ready to run out after it. So the prophet Isaiah, chap. liii. 6, ' We are all gone astray, every man to his own way.' Oh ! remember you are to study the mind and will of God ; your own inventions will seduce you, and your own aft'ections will betray you. (2d.) Not to your own ends : 2 Cor. v. 15, ' Henceforth we are no more to live to ourselves,' to our pleasure, profit, honour, interests : we have no right and property in ourselves, it is all given up to God. Those that gave up all to God did not reserve a liberty for self-pursuits and self-