And ihis whole pedigree of joy, as it were, is excellently set down,
* Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ
our Lord,' Rom. v. 1, and have access to the throne of grace, by which gi-ace
we stand, and not only so, but rejoice. So there is justification by the
* That is, 'conscientiouBly' =with conscience. — G.
2 CORINTHIANS CHAP. I, VER. 24. 517
righteousness of Christ, and thereupon peace with God : ft''d from peace, boldness and access to God, and thereupon joy. So wo see how fixith brings in joy, because it shews the spring of joy whence it comes, it shews peace, and peace riseth from reconciHation, and reconciliation from [the] right- eousness ot Christ, Mediator, whereupon we arc delivered from all that we may fear, and set in a state of ti'ue joy, God being our friend. When God is reconciled, all is reconciled, all is ours ; have we not cause of joy then ? Therefore the apostle saith, ' The God of peace fill you full of joy in beheving,' Rom. xv. 13, shewing that faith is the cause of all spiritual joy. And the same you have in 1 Pet. i. 8, ' In whom ye rejoiced, after ye believed, with joy unspeakable and glorious.' In whom, after ye believed, that is, in Christ, ' you rejoiced with joy unspeakable and glorious.' And therefore you see the apostle might well substitute joy instead of faith, because it springs and riseth from faith in Jesus Christ, the Mediator.
Use. Hereupon we may come to make this use of trial, how we may know whether our joy be good or no. Among many other evidences, this is one.
1. That spiritual joy is good, if it spring from the xrord of faith ; if it spring from the ordinance of God unfolded in the word, shewing us the ground of believing. For he that truly joys, can shew the ground of his
joy- Herein joy differs from presumption, from presumptuous swelling con- ceits. True joy, that is, not the joy of an hj^ocrite, it doth shew from whence it comes, it riseth from grounds out of divine truth.
2. Then again, this joy doth more imrnediatehj spri)uj from faith in the 7Cord, from assurance that God is ours, and that Christ is ours ; that God is at peace with us, and that we are at peace with him. It ariseth from peace that is wrought by faith.
3. Then again, this joy, if it be sound, it is such a joy as St Peter saith is an unspeakable and glorious joy. Joy arising from the word of God, and from faith and peace, it is above discoitrarfemeut, because we have in the word of God matter of joy above all discouragements and all allurements whatso- ever. It is a joy above the joy of riches, or pleasures, or profits. Why ? Because the word shews matter of joy above all these. The prophet David rejoiced in the word of God above gold and silver, ' as one that had gotten great spoils,' Ps. cxix, 162. You see how oft he repeats it. ' It was sweeter to him than the honey and the honeycomb,' Ps. xix. 10. It puts his soul out of taste with all other things. This joy of the Spirit, it puts such a relish in the soul that it makes it undervalue all other things what- soever. The price of other things falls down when a man joys in the Holy Ghost, because it ariseth from the grounds of faith, from peace and righteousness.
And, likewise, if it look forward, from the hope of life everlasting and the favour of God, the ground of all, it riseth from things that are above all other contentments, ' the lovingkindness of the Lord ' (that faith appre- hends, that is the ground of joy), ' it is above life itself,' Ps. Ixiii. 3. Now, life is the sweetest thing upon earth ; but the lovingkindness of God is better than that.
Therefore, those that lose their souls in base contentment, and joy in the
dirty things of this Hfe, that are not fit for the soul to fasten on, to place
contentment in, but are only to be used as those that take a journey to
refresh them ; but those that are swallowed up in these things, they know
.^ot what spiritual joy is, that ariseth from the word of God, from divine truth,
filS COMMENTARY OS
that nrisc'th from fiiitli ; lor if tlicy did, tliis joy would raise them higher, above all earthly contentments whatsoever.
4. Then again, where this joy is, this spiritual enlargement of soul, which is called joy, it is from true gi-ounds, // is ivith hionilitj/ ; for the same word that diseovirs matter of joy, discovers matter of humility and grief in ourselves, by reason of the remainders of sin and of our own deservings. So true joy, it is a tempered and qualified joy. It is not joined with pride and swelling, because it riseth from those grounds that teach us what we are in ourselves. Alas ! such, that we need not be proud in ourselves, but if we will glory, 'we must glory in God,' 1 Cor. i. 31. AVell! it is not that that I mean principally to stand on, but only I speak of it because it is placed here for faith, as it springs from faith. ' We are helpers of your joy.' To hasten, then, to that that follows.