2 COIUNTUIANS CHAP. IV, VEIi. 10. 425
Security deadeth the life of Jesus. Sins of plenty, and sins of long peace, stick upon us, that there is not that vigour, that liveliness of Jesus in us that ought to be.
Now our endeavour should be to labour after an increase of this inward frame, and together with increase of grace in us, increase of continual dependency by fixith, which fetcheth all from Christ. And why should wo labour for it ? For the credit of Christian profession. What a glory is it to have a company of lively professors, in whom the life of Jesus is mani- fested, that are above all conditions, that are thralled with no condition, that can bring under all things, master their desires ! * The spiritual man judgeth all things,' 1 Cor. ii. 15, subdueth all things. lie orders them so that he makcth them serviceable to his own ends. And what a glorious thing is it to be like a lion, bold in all conditions, to be afraid of nothing but of offending God ! And then fear and tremble because God may suspend his Spirit. A wicked man may fear everything, but he feareth not God, which is to be feared above all. But a true Christian is a lord, a master above all other things, only he feareth to ofi'end God, whereby this spiritual life may be obstructed. Now in regard it is such an excellent thing to be not only a living Christian but a lively Christian, and that it is for the honour of religion to be so, let us labour more and more for it, specially considering we know not with what dangers we may encounter, with what temptations and corruptions. Having now the life of Jesus, it will be manifested more and more till it end in glory. Is it not an excel- lent* thing to have that m us, to have such a conquering principle in us, to have the Spirit of Christ in us, not only a frame of grace, but a Spirit enabling us, and acting us, and carrying us through all conditions ?
Then this life of Jesus is a life that sets us in an order above all other lives, 'inhere is a great latitude of life from that plant, the powerful life- to God, which is life itself. What a gradation is there of life ! There is life of sense, and life of reason, and the spirit. Now a Christian that hath the life of Jesus, which is a spiritual life here, and will end in a glorious life in heaven, sets him in a glorious rank above all lives under him ; for it makes him one with Jesus. The Spirit of Christ acteth in him, loveth in him, joys in him, delights in him, carrieth him through actions, bears him through crosses. Even as the soul acts his body, so the life of Jesus acts him, and sets him in a higher rank. Indeed, a spiritual man is as much above another man, as another man above another creature.
What excellency is there, you will say, of a man that hath the life of Jesus in him? What excellency! Beloved, this life makes him eternal. All other excellencies are but ' grass, and the flower of grass,' as the apostle speaks, ' but the word of life, begotten by the word, endures for ever,' 1 Pet. i. 25. Spiritual life endures for ever. He that believeth in Christ endures for ever ; for it is an everlasting life. All other things perish and fall. Put case they be the flower of grass. The flower perisheth before the grass. They be of shorter continuance. Wit, and greatness, and honour, and the like, they are of shorter continuance than life. Life is but grass, and all the ornaments of life are but flowers of the grass. These be fading things, and they must all end in death. All honours are determined in death. All excellencies He in the dust. And we must rise up equally, all kings and subjects, great and small. But this life is a life that endures for ever, and therefore called an everlasting hfe. Then we live to purpose, and never till then, when we live the life of Jesus, when that is manifested * Qu. ' of the plant, the flower ' ?— Ed.
42C)
COMMENTARY ON
in our souls, that is, vita vilaUs : the oihcr is, [Slog u(3io;, a life not worthy the name of life. The conditions of life, riches and nobility, which is a condition of life, all have their end ; but this life of Jesus is begun in Christ, and ends in glory. And therefore it is worth labour to grow in it more and more, to have it more and more manifested in us above all con- ditions and hfe whatsoever.
I beseech you, let us not pass the time as careless, but labour to have something in us above nature, to have the life of Jesus to quicken our rational life, to sanctify all. The life of Jesus hinders us not of anything, but ennobles all other excellencies. A man that hath the life of Jesus may be as wise as he will, as learned as he will, he may be noble, this doth make him more noble, it doth dignify all. It is a diamond set in gold ; it addeth excellency to all other excellencies. A Christian is irnly noble. A man that hath the life of Jesus is truly rich, truly great, truly beautiful ; he hath the image of Christ stamped upon the soul, and hath excellencies added to all other excellencies.