Obs. 1. You may refer it to the context thus : ' Our spirit lusteth to envy ; but he givetli more grace ; ' that is, we are envious, and God is bountiful. It is usual in scripture to oppose God's liberality to our envy, his good hand to our evil eye. Mat. xx. 1,5. Damascene calleth God d(f)6ovo'i, one without envy, because he is most liberal. The note is, that an envious disposition is very contrary to God. God is for communication, and we are for confinement.^ We would have all blessings within our line and pale ; we malign the good of others, but God delighteth in it. This may make envy odious to us ; we all affect to be like God. Our first parents greedily swallowed that bait, 'Ye shall be as gods.' We would be so in a cursed self-sufficiency, why are we not so in a holy conformity ? To set on this thought, consider — (1.) God hath no need to dispense his blessings; we stand in need of one another, the highest monarch of the meanest subject. God was happy enough within himself before there was any creature : Acts xvii. 25. ' He needed nothing.' The Trinity was not solitary ; the persons solaced themselves in one another before there was hill or mountain, Prov. viii. 30. Now, for us to desire all good things inclosed, whose happiness is dependent, and consisteth in a mutual com- munication, it must be exceeding vile. (2.) It is not only an unlike- ness to God, but an injury to him ; we would have him less good, and so do not only accuse the wisdom of his dispensations, but would straiten the goodness of his nature. Certainly, then, there is little of the Spirit of God where there is such an envious spirit. Grace standeth in a conformity to God, and therefore it is expressed by a ' participation of the divine nature,' 2 Peter i. 4. Grace is nothing else but an introduction of the virtues of God into the soul. Now, God delighteth in ' giving more grace ; ' and therefore such as are not communicative and diffusive of their good to others, or are all for an inclosure of blessings, or cannot rejoice in the parts, services, or excellencies of others, have nothing at all, or very little, of the nature of God in them.
Obs. 2. Another consideration of this clause is this : Our spirit is strongly carried to envy, but God giveth more grace ; that is, there is enough in him to check sins that are most impetuous and rnging. There is enough in God to help the creature in its sorest conflicts. See Mat. xix. 26, ' It is impossible for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God ; but with God all things are possible/ Usually we measure infiniteness by our last, and bring down divine attributes to the rate of creatures, judging of God by our own scant- ling ; as if what is impossible to our endeavours were so also to the
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350 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. IV. G.
divine grace : Zech. viii. G, ' Because it is marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people, should it also be marvellous in ray eyes ? saith the Lord of hosts/ There is more in God than there can be in nature, and Satan is not so able to destroy as Clirist is to save. Well, then, AA'hen lusts are stronp:, think of a strong God, a mighty Christ, upon whom help is laid. You cannot cure youi- spirits of envy, piide, self-confidence, or vainglory ; but God ' giveth more grace.' Sense of weakness should not be a discouragement, but an advantage. So it was to Paul ; when he was weak in himself, he was always most strong in Christ, 2 Cor. xii. 9, 10. Usually we vex ourselves with idle com- plaints : ' This is a [hard saying,' John vi. These are austerities which nature can never endure, corruptions which we shall never overcome ; and so are discouraged and draw back. Oh ! consider, though nature be not only envious, but doth iirLirodelv irpo^ (fiOovov, ' lust to envy,' yet ' he giveth more grace.' If there were a will, you would not want power ; the chiefest thing that God re- quireth of the creature is choice and will: Isa. i. 19, ' If ye be willing and obedient,' &c. All God's aim is to bring you upon your knees,, and to take power out of the hands of his mercy.
Ohs. 3. Another consideration is this : Though we are wicked and sinful, God will make his grace abound the more ; our spirit lusteth to envy, and he giveth the more grace. Observe, God taketh occasion many times to discover the more grace by our sinfulness. So Rom. V. 20, 'Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.' What a wise God do we serve, that can make our sins abound to his glory I And what a good God, that will take occasion from our wickedness to show the more grace ! It is some kind of claim, ' Lord, I am a dog,' Mat. XV. 27 ; and if Christ died for sinners, I am sure I can plead that ' I am chief of that number, 1 Tim. i. 15. If you have no other plea, offer yourselves this way to God, and take hold of the dark bide of the promises.