Use 5. In the fifth place. See wherein the glory of a man, of a nation, of a kingdom consists. It is in Christ, and that which exhibits Christ. What made the Jews rejoice ? Mark the prerogatives they had, Rom. ix. 8, 4 : adoption, covenant, promises, and Christ. AVhat made the house of Judah 60 famous ? and Mary so bless herself ? ' All generations shall call me blessed,' Luke i. 48 : Christ, that vouchsafed to proceed out of her loins and from that stock. 'Abraham rejoiced to see Christ's day,' John viii. 56, though he saw it afar off by the eye of faith. And what should we glory in above the Jews, above other nations, but in this ? The veil is taken away : Christ shines, and we have the gospel in its purity. This the apostle looks * That is, a ' drone,' or stiuglcss bee.— G.
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EXPOSITION OF
for in the Corinthifins, 2 Cor. ii. 3, ' Having confidence that mj' joy is the joy of you all.' Now, what was Paul's joy ? ' God forbid,' saith he, ' that I. should rejoice, but in the cross of Christ,' Gal. vi. 14. Let us not, therefore, rejoice in peace or plenty, fortified places, or the like. No. If ■we had not Christ to rejoice in, we were no better than Turks. ' Happy is the people whose God is the Lord,' Ps. cxlvi. 5 ; for in him shall we have fulness of joy and comfort. Make use of this in time of temptation. When the devil would rob us of our joy, fly to Christ : oppose him against all ; oppose the ' second Adam ' against the first : he came to do whatever the other did undo. Learn to see the subtlety of the devil and thine own heart ; and fill thj^ heart with the Scriptures and with meditations of the promises, and they will cause our love to be so fervent, as all our service of God will seem to be easy to us ; as the time that Jacob served seemed nothing, for the love he bare to Rachel, Gen. xxix. 20.
But how shall we know whether we rejoice in Christ or not ?
Ans. I answer. By these signs :
1. First, When ice glory, see the ground whence it arises, whether from God reconciled to its or not. If otherwise, remember that of Jer. ix. 23 : ' Let not the wise man glorj^ in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength ;' all such rejoicing is evil ; ' but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord.'
2. Secondly, If we glonj in the Lord, it will stir us up to thanks. What we joy in we will praise. If we joy in Christ, we shall, like the spouse in Canticles, ever be setting forth the praises of our beloved. Thus did Paul, Eph. i. 3, and Peter, 1 Pet. i. 3 ; and therefore, where deadness and dul- ness is, it shews no true Christian joy.
3. Thirdly, Our glorying will be seen in duty. Delight ever implies the intention to do any good work, and diligence.
4. Fourthly, If we glory in Christ aright, we shall not endure any addition to Christ; and therefore, we shall abhor that popish tenent* which puts so many additions to Christ in the meritorious work of our sal- vation. A true rejoicer in Christ sees such all-sufiiciency in Christ's merits and work, that he abhors purgatory and such trash ; and so much the more, by how much his glorying in Christ is the more fervent and sincere. Christ is our husband, we are his spouse ; if we cleave to any other than to Christ, we are adulterers. No ; let him kiss us with the kisses of his mouth, and none but he. Cant. i. 2.
5. Fifthly, This joy, tvhere it is, it will breed content in all estates. Paul could want and abound, and so can a true rejoicer : in Christ he hath all. He cares not for earthly wants, so he wants no heavenly comfort. If he be poor, he is rich in heaven ; nay, what he most complains of, are good for him : life or death, all is one with him. Christ is his, and in him all things.
Quest. But it may be said. There are many Christians are not in this happy condition.
Ans. I answer. It is their own fault, to yield to the devil's policy ; and their own weakness, that will not labour to break through these clouds, and challenge the promises.
And have oio confidence in the flesh.
These words are in truth included in the former, for he that glories in Christ ' will have no confidence in the flesh.' But the apostle notes this as a plain demonsti'ation and evidence of the glorying in Christ. For by * That is, 'tenet.' — G.
PniLIPPIANS CHAP. Ill, VER. 8. 77
tlie copulative enjoining of them, it is all one as if he had said. What a man trusts to he glories in, and what he glories in he trusts to, and is con- fident of. If in wit his glorying be, he trusts to it, though it be to his ruin, as it fell out with Ahithophel, 2 Sara. xvii. 23. If in eloquence of speech, he trusts to it, and it brings shame, as it did to Herod, Acts xii. 28. If in honour, he trusts to it, and brings himself to dishonour, as Haman did, Esther vii. 10.