Therefore, I beseech you, let us be willing to undergo anything God shall call us to ; for,
(1.) We shall find a divine energn of God's Spirit, which we never perhaps had before, nor ever shall have hereafter. Therefore fear nothing God shall call us to. The comforts of God's" Spirit, from the life of Christ manifested in the hearts of his children, are above the course of nature, for it is an high life. The life of Christ is above the life of reason or sense. There- fore suppose troubles lie in sense, the large peace and enlargement of spirit is above them all.
Now as the life of reason is above the life of sense, so the life of grace is above all conditions whatsoever. No inferior subordinate condition can prejudice the life of grace and comfort. Therefore if all tyrants in the world conspire to make a man miserable, they vex his outward life, but there is a life of Jesus, and they cannot hinder the influence of grace and comfort to the soul. They cannot hinder the inward peace of inward joy, they be comforts of an higher rank. And therefore if ever God calleth us to stand in a good cause, for justice, for rehgion, never go ofl": we shall have comforts of an higher rank.
(2.) Consider, the worst they can do is, to take this life of ours, which we cannot keep long. These things be easy to be known, for matter of under- standing, but hard to practise upon occasion ; therefore we ought to think
412 COMMENTARY ON
of them beforehand, and to labour more and more, persuaded of the love of God in Christ. And to see the life of Christ quickening them to all holy actions and duty, this is a spiritual life. As Christ, when he rose, never dieth more, so he that hath this spiritual life hath an eternal life, he never dieth more. When Christ begins to quicken our souls by joining our spirits with his Spirit, that conjunction is everlasting. And it is nearer after death than before ; when death separates the soul from the body, then Cometh the conjunction of the soul to Christ, Therefore labour after the spiritual life that makes us hapi)ier and happier still. The longer we live the nearer we are to Christ, and when we die nearest of all. Labour to feel the power of Christ's Spirit quickening our spirit, putting life into them, vigour into them, beauty on them, strength into them by his Holy Spirit.
(3.) Again, u-hen the body is severed from the life of the soid, we see hovi deformed it is, hoiv stiff and inactive it is ; ire cannot endure the sight of our dearest friend if life he gone. If the life of Christ be severed from our souls, what carrion souls have we to God. There is no beauty on the soul, no strength to duty. But now if we enter upon the first degree of life here, and find the beginning of it in altering and changing our natures, we are sure to leave* farther degrees of it in our death, and the consummation of it at our resurrection ; then body and soul shall enjoy the same life that Jesus doth now. But the scope of the apostle, which I desire you mainly to remember, is this, that you should fear nothing; nothing can befall us, though never so grievous to the outward man.
'i (4.) I add, because ive shall experimentally feci the life of Christ manifested to us. It is that that makes a Christian. Experience is the life \oi] a Christian, What is all knowledge of Christ without experience, but a bare knowledge, if the power that raised Christ's body raise not our souls ? This is to know Christ to purpose, to know the virtue of Christ. We hear that Christ is powerful to quicken his own body. You hear that Christ is gracious, and good, and full of comfort ; but what is this unless we feel it in our- selves ? It is the experimental knowledge of Christ, and of the life of Christ, that doth us good, and makes us abound in all things. I suffer bonds, saith the apostle, for the gospel, but I am not ashamed, Rom. i. 16. Why ? ' I know whom I have believed.' He felt the power of Christ in all his tribulations and afflictions. When we find by experience Christ is a quickening Spirit, hath quickened our souls to grace, comforts, peace, joy in our worst condition, then we know Christ to purpose, and then are fit to be carried through all afflictions of the world, and beyond all, and above all, to bear us through all things we meet with in the world between us and heaven. The life of Christ being a divine life, without a little expe- rience of it, all is to no purpose. And a little of this beareth down all that stands between us and glory.
VERSE 10.
Always hearing about i?i our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the Ufa also of Jesus might he made manifest in our bodies.
The apostle, as before we have heard, labours to vindicate the credit of
the gospel, and the ministry of it, preventing! all objections that carnal