Obj. This seems to thwart another place of Scripture in 1 Cor. x. 13, ' God is faithful, and will lay no more upon you than you shall be able to bear ;' and yet here he saith, ' we were afflicted above strength.' How can these hang together ?
I answer, God will not sufiier his children to endure anything above strength, above that they are able to bear, especially in spiritual evils, but for sickness and persecution or such, sometimes he may lay more upon them than they have present strength to bear.
But, put the case that St Paul speaks of, inward grievance, and outward afflictions too, as both usually accompany one another. St Paul's meaning is here undoubtedly, ' We were pressed above strength,' that is, above ordinary natural strength, that unless God had made a supply by a new supernatural strength, we had never been able to endure it. Therefore take it so, above ordinary natural strength ; for extraordinary crosses must have extraordinary strength, and crosses with grievance of spirit must have more than natural strength to bear them.
Olj. Again, where it is said, ' Insomuch that we despaired of life,' as if he had cared much for his life, — this seemeth to cross another place, Phil, i. 23, 'I desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ;' and here he seems to be very careful, in a strait, lest he should die.
Ans. I answer, we must take St Paul in diverse considerations and re- spects. As St Paul hath finished his course, and done his work, so ' Hence- forth is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,' 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; so he thinks of nothing but life and glory ; he cares not for his life. But take St Paul in the midst of his course, and so he had a care to his charge. Take St Paul as he looked to glory, so he desired to be dissolved ; take him as he was affected to edify the church, so he laboured to live by all means, and so he saith he despaired of life, as desiring to live to do good to the church.
Obj. Again, it may be objected against the last, ' We received the sen- tence of death in ourselves.' St Paul died not now, and he had the Spirit of God in him, to know what he spake; how doth this agree then that he had the sentence of death passed ?
A72S. I answer, St Paul spake according to the probability of second causes, according to the appearance of things ; and so he might pronounce of himself without danger, as being no sinful ei'ror, that indeed I am a dead man, I see no hope of escaping. If I look to the probability of second causes, all my enemies are about me, I am in the lion's mouth, there is but * ' Not ' inserted here by a self-correcting misprint.— G.
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. I, VER. 8. 117
a step between me and death. He doth not look here to the decree of God, but he looks to the disposint^ of present causes. So God's children are often deceived in themselves in that respect. It is no great error ; for it is true what they speak in regard of second causes, though it be not true in regard of God's decree.
The objections being satisfied, we may observe some points of doctrine.
And out of thf first part of St Paul's trial, which some take it to be that in Acts xix., [wheL f at Ephesus, Demetrius the smith raised up a trouble against him, when they cried out, ' Great is Diana of the Ephesians.' But those are but conjectm'es. It may be it was some gi'eat sickness ; it may be some other affliction. The Scripture is silent in the particular what it was. To come then to the points themselves. In the first part, this is considerable in the first place, that
God suffers his children to fall into extreme perils and dangers.
And then secondly, that theif are sensible of it.
For the first,
God suffers his children to fall into great extremities. This is clear here, we see how he riseth by degrees. * We were pressed above measure, above strength, that we even despaired of life, we received the sentence of death in ourselves.' He riseth by five steps, to shew the extremity that he was in. This is no new thing, that God should suffer his children thus to be exercised.
It is true in the head, it is true in the body, and it is true of every par- ticular member of the body.
It is true of our head, Christ Jesus himself. We see to what exigencies he was brought, in what danger of his life ofttimes he was, as when they would have cast him down from the mount, Luke iv. 29, and when, in ap- prehension of his Father's wrath, he sweat ' water and blood ' in the garden, Luke xxii. 44 ; and on the cross cried out, ' My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?' Mark xv. 34. None was ever so abased as he was. He ' humbled himself to the death of the cross,' Philip, ii. 8, nay, lower than the cross ; he was in captivity in the grave three days. They thought they had had their will on him there, they thought they might have trampled on Christ ; and no doubt but the devil triumphed over the grave, and thought he had had him where he would. But we see afterward God raised him again gloriously.