r>00 2 CORINTHIANS, IV. 17, 18. [2016.
same reason obtains with respect to all, — the world cannot endure the light of their example ^]
These troubles however shall work for his good —
[They " are not in themselves joyous, but grievous ;" but they tend to refine his soul, and to fit him for glory ; yea, inasmuch as these sufferings constitute a part of the obedience required of him, they bring with them a correspondent re- ward •■. In this view they are mentioned in the text as highly beneficial. They work for the faithful Christian a reward of glory; "a weight of glory" as great as his soul is able to sus- tain, and as durable as eternity itself. In comparison of this, the Apostle calls his troubles Hght and momentary, yea, not only light, but lightness itself; and intimates, that, if hyper- ' bole were heaped upon hyperbole, it would be impossible for language to express, or for imagination to conceive, the great- ness of that glory which his afilictions wrought for him^.]
The preceding subjects being, to appearance, so remote from each other, it will be proper to mark, III. The connexion between them —
Afflictions do not necessarily produce this effect —
[In too many instances the effect that flows from them is altogether opposite. Instead of purifying the soul, they fill it with impatience, fretfulness, and all manner of malignant pas- sions ; and instead of working out a weight of glory for it, they serve only to prepare for it a more aggravated con- demnation. " The sorrow of the world," saith the Apostle, " worketh death f."]
It is only where the pursuits are spiritual, that sufferings are so eminently beneficial —
[If the mind be set upon carnal things, it will be cast down when it is robbed of its enjoyments ; it will say, like Micah, " I have lost my gods, and what have I more ? " But the soul that affects heavenly things will be comforted with the thought that the objects of its desire are as near as ever. " While it looks at things invisible," it will be quickened in its pursuit of them : it will be made to feel more sensibly the vanity and insignificance of earthly things, and be urged more determinately to seek " a kingdom which cannot be moved :" every fresh trial will make it long more and more for the pro- mised rest ; and the storms which menace its existence, will thus eventually waft it with more abundant rapidity towards its desired haven.]
« John XV. 19, ^2 Tim. ii. 12.
* This is implied in tlic original. ^ 2 Cor. vii. 10,
2016.] of the christian in affliction. 501
Infer —
1. How infatuated are the generality of mankind! [It is but too evident that the generality of the world are
seeking earthly things, while they who are pressing forward in pursuit of heavenly things are comparatively few in number. What a melancholy proof is this of men's blindness and folly! Who is there that, however much he may have gained of this world, has not found it all to be vanity and vexation of spirit ? What comfort has any one derived from earthly possessions in an hour of deep affliction ? And what benefit will accrue from them in the eternal world ? Say, thou libertine, thou worldling, or thou false professor, what has the world done for thee ? And what hast thou of all that is past, except shame and remorse in the remembrance of it ? Who does not acknowledge the truth of these observations the very instant he begins to have a prospect of the eternal state? Yet, so infatuated are we, that though every successive age has seen the folly of such conduct, they have trodden the same delusive path, according to what is written, " This their way is their folly, and yet their posterity approve their saying." Let us, however, awake from our slumber; let us not so regard the things that are visible and temporal, as to forget that there are things invisible and eternal ; let us live and act as for eternity ; let us read, and hear, and pray, as for eternity. In this way we shall remove the sting from all present afflictions, and secure " an inheritance that fadeth not away."]