Nay, God himself seemeth an enemy, and it is faith's work to believe him near, when to sense he is gone and withdrawn. Well then, You that have faith, or pretend to it, must look for trials. Graces are not crowned till they are exercised. Never any yet went to heaven without combats and conflicts. Faith must be tried before it be "found to praise and honour." It is very notable, that wherever God bestoweth the assurance of his favour, there presently followeth some trial, "After ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions" (Heb. x. 32). Some are cast upon troubles for religion soon after their first conversion; as these, as soon as illuminated. When Christ himself had received a testimony from heaven, presently Satan tempteth him. "This is my beloved Son;" and presently he cometh, with an, "If thou be the Son of God." After solemn assurance, he would fain make you question your adoption. So, "It came to pass that after these things God did tempt Abraham" (Gen. xxii. 1). What things were those? Solemn intercourses between him and God, and express assurance from heaven, that the Lord would be his God, and the God of his seed. When the castle is victualled, then look for a siege.

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You that are under trials, look to your faith. Christ knew what was most likely to be assailed, and therefore telleth Peter, "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke xxii. 32). When faith faileth, we faint; therefore we should make it our chief work to maintain faith. Chiefly look after two things: 1st, Hold fast your assurance in the midst of the saddest trials in the furnace call God father. "I will bring them through the fire, and they shall be refined as silver and gold is tried; and they shall say, the Lord is my God" (Zech. xiii. ult.). Let not any hard dealing make you mistake your Father's affection. One special point of faith, under the cross, is the faith of our adoption: "The exhortation speaketh to you as children: My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord" (Heb. xii. 5). It is the apostle's own note, that the afflicted are styled by the name of sons. Christ had a bitter cup; but, saith he, my Father hath put it into my hands: "The which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink of it ?" (John xviii. 11.) It is a bitter cup, but he is still my Father. 2dly, The next work of faith is, to keep your hopes fresh and lively. Believers always counter-balance the temptation with their hopes. There is no grief or loss so great, but faith knoweth how to despise it in the hope of reward: therefore the apostle describeth faith to be, ὑπότασις των ἐλπιζομένων, “the substance of things hoped for" (Heb. xi. 1); because it giveth a reality and present being to things absent and to come, opposing hope to the temptation, and making the thing hoped for as really to exist in the heart of the believer, as if it were already enjoyed. Well then, let faith put your hopes in one balance, when the Devil hath put the world, with the terrors and profits of it, in the other, and say, as Paul, Aoyiloμa, "I reckon (or compute) that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us" (Rom. viii. 18). All this is nothing to our hopes: what is this to glory to come?

IV. From that [Karépyalɛraι, worketh or perfecteth,] Many trials cause patience; that is, by the blessing of God upon them. Habits are strengthened by frequent acts. The more you act grace the stronger, and often trials put us upon frequent exercise. The apostle saith, "Chastening yieldeth the

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quiet fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby" (Heb. xii. 11). The fruit of patience is not found after one affliction or two, but after we are exercised and acquainted with them. The yoke, after a while, beginneth to be well settled, and by much bearing, we learn to bear with quietness; for use perfecteth, as we see those parts of the body are most solid that are most in action,* and trees often shaken are deeply rooted. Well then, ist, It showeth how careful you should be to exercise yourselves under every cross. By that means you come to get habits of grace and patience. Neglect causeth decay; and God withdraweth his hand from such as are idle. In spirituals, as well as temporals, "diligence maketh rich" (Prov. x. 5). 2dly, It showeth, that, if we murmur, or miscarry in any providence, the fault is in our own hearts, not in our condition. Many blame Providence, and say they cannot do otherwise, their troubles are so great and sharp. Oh consider, trials, yea many trials, where sanctified, work patience; that which you think would cause you to murmur, is a means to make you patient. The reason is in the unmortifiedness of your affections, not in the misery of your condition. By the apostle's rule, the greater the trial, the greater the patience; for the trial worketh patience. There is no condition in the world, but giveth occasion for the exercise of grace.

V. From that [Patience,] The apostle comforteth them with this argument, that they should gain patience; as if that would make amends for all the smart of their sufferings. The note is, that it is an excellent exchange to part with outward comforts for inward graces. Fiery trials are nothing, if you gain patience: sickness with patience, is better than health; loss with patience, is better than gain. If earthly affections were more mortified, we should value inward enjoyments, and experiences of God, more than we do. Paul saith, "I will glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me" (2 Cor. xii. 9): misery and calamities should be welcome, because they give him further experiences of Christ. Certainly, nothing maketh afflictions burthensome to us, but our own carnal affections.

VI. From the same, we may observe more particularly, that patience is a grace of an excellent use and value. We cannot be Christians without it; we cannot be men without it. Not Christians; for it is not only the ornament, but the conservatory of other graces. How else should we persist in well-doing, when we meet with grievous crosses? Therefore the apostle Peter biddeth us to "add to faith, virtue; to virtue, knowledge; to knowledge, temperance; to temperance, patience" (2 Pet. i. 5, 6); where are all the requisites of true godliness. It is grounded in faith, directed by knowledge; defended on the right hand by temperance, against the allurements of the world; on the left, by patience, against the hardships of the world. You see we cannot be Christians, without it: so also not men. Christ saith," In patience possess your souls" (Luke xxi. 19). A man is a man, and doth enjoy himself, and his life, by patience: otherwise, we shall but create needless troubles and disquiets to ourselves, and so be, as it were, dispossessed of our own lives and souls; that is, lose the comfort and the quiet of them.

*Ferendo discimus perferre: solidissima pars est corporis, quam frequens usus agitavit. Seneca.

VERSE 4.—But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting in nothing.

Here he cometh to show what patience is right, by way of exhortation, pressing them to perseverance, integrity, and all possible perfection. I will open what is difficult in the verse.

The

"Epyov Téλov, her perfect work,] For the opening of this, know, that in the apostle's time there were divers that with a great deal of zeal bore out the first brunt; but, being tired, either with the diversity or the length of evils, they yielded and fainted. Therefore he wisheth them to tarry till patience were thoroughly exercised, and its perfection discovered. highest acts of graces are called the perfections of them. As of Abraham's faith, we say in ordinary speech, there was a perfect faith; so, when patience is thoroughly tried by sundry and long afflictions, we say, there is a perfect patience so that the perfect work of patience is a resolute perseverance, notwithstanding the length, the sharpness, and the continual succession of sundry afflictions. One trial discovered patience in Job; but, when evil came upon evil, and he bore all with a meek and quiet spirit, that discovered patience perfect, or sufficiently exercised. It followeth,

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That you may be perfect and entire, wanting in nothing.] The apostle's intent is not to assert a possibility of perfection in Christians. We all fail in many things" (James iii. 2); and all that we have here, is but " in part." "We know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away" (1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10). Here grace must needs be imperfect, because the means are imperfect. But his meaning is, either that we should be sincere, as sincerity is called perfection in Scripture: "Walk before me, and be thou perfect" (Gen. xvii. 1); so it is in the original and marginal reading, what in our translation is "be thou upright." Or else it is meant of the perfection of duration and perseverance: or rather, lastly, that perfection is intended, which is called the perfection of parts; that we might be so perfect, or entire, that no necessary grace might be lacking; that, having other gifts, they might also have the gift of patience, and the whole image of Christ might be completed in them; that nothing might be wanting which is necessary to make up a Christian. Some, indeed, make this a legal sentence, as implying what God may in justice require, and to what we should in conscience aim; to wit, exact perfection, both in parts and degrees. It is true this is beyond our power; but because we have lost our power, there is no reason God should lose his right. It is a saying of Austin, O homo in præceptione cognosce quid debeas habere, et in correptione cognosce tuo te vitio non habere.* Such precepts serve to show God's right and quicken us to duty, and humble us with the sense of our own weakness. So much God might require, and so much we had power to perform, though we have lost it by our own default. This is true, but the former interpretations are more simple and genuine.

The notes are these :

I. The perfection of our graces is not discovered, till we are put upon many and great trials. As a pilot's skill is discerned in a storm, so is a * Aug. in lib. de corrept. et grat., cap. 3.

+ Gubernatoris artem tranquillum mare et obsequens ventus non ostendit: adversi aliquid incurrat oportet quod animum probet. Sen. ad Marc., cap. 5.

Christian's grace in many and great troubles. Well then, in all that doth befal you say, Yet patience hath not had its perfect work. Expectation of a worse thing maketh lesser troubles more comportable; yet trust and patience are not drawn out to the height. The apostle saith, "Yet ye have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin" (Heb. xii. 4). Should we faint in a lesser trial, before the perfect work cometh to be discovered? Job was in a sad condition, yet he putteth a harder case. "If he should kill me, yet I will trust in him” (Job xiii. 15): in a higher trial I should not faint, or

murmur.

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II. That the exercise of grace must not be interrupted, till it be full and perfect; till it come to pyov TEλetov, a perfect work. Ordinary spirits may be a little raised for a time, but they fall by and by again, "Ye did run well, who hindered you?" (Gal. v. 7.) You were in a good way of faith and patience, and went happily forward; but what turned you out of the way? Implying there was as little, or rather less reason, to be faint in the progress, than to be discouraged in the beginning. Common principles may make men blaze and glare for a while, yet afterward they fall from heaven like lightning. It is true of all graces, but chiefly of the grace in the text: patience must last to the end of the providence, as long as the affliction lasteth; not only at first, but when your evils are doubled, and the furnace is heated seven times hotter. Common stubbornness will bear the first onset; but patience holdeth out, when troubles are continued and delayed. The apostle chideth the Galatians, because their first heat was soon spent: Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye made perfect in the flesh ?"* (Gal. iii. 3.) It is not enough to begin; our proceedings in religion must be answerable to our beginnings: to falter and stagger after much forwardness,† showeth we are not "fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke ix. 62). The beasts in the prophet always went forward; (see Ezek. i. 11); and crabs, that go backward, are reckoned among unclean creatures (Levit. ii. 10). Nero's first five years are famous; and many set forth well, but are soon discouraged. Liberius, the Bishop of Rome, who was zealous against the Arians, and was looked upon as the Samson of the church, the most earnest maintainer of orthodoxism, suffered banishment for the truth; but, alas! he after failed, and, to recover his bishopric (saith Baronius), sided with the Arians. Well then, while you are in the world, go on to a more perfect discovery of patience, and follow them that through faith," and a continued patience, have" inherited the promises” (Heb. vi. 12).

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The

1st,

III. That Christians must aim at, and press on to, perfection. apostle saith, "That ye may be perfect and entire, nothing wanting.' Christians will be coveting and aspiring to absolute perfection. They are led on to growth by this aim and desire. They hate sin so perfectly, that they cannot be quiet, till it be utterly abolished. First they go to God for justification, ne damnet, that the damning power of sin may be taken away; then for sanctification, ne regnet, that the reigning power of sin may be

* Non incepisse sed perfecisse virtutis est. Aug. ad frat. in eremo, ser. 8. Turpe est cedere oneri, et luctari cum officio quod semel recepisti: non est vir fortis et strenuus qui laborem fugit, nec crescit illi animus ipsa rerum difficultate. Senec.

Baronius ad annum Christi, 357.

destroyed; then for glorification, ne sit, that the very being of it may be abolished. And, as they are bent against sin, with a mortal and keen hatred, so they are carried on with an earnest and importunate desire of grace. They that have true grace, will not be contented with a little grace: no measures will serve their turn. "I would by any means attain to the resurrection of the dead," saith Paul (Phil. iii. 11); that is, such a state of grace as we enjoy after the resurrection. It is a metonymy of the subject for the adjunct. Free grace, you see, hath a vast desire and ambition: it aimeth at the holiness of the glorious and everlasting state; and, indeed, this is it which makes a Christian to press onward, and be so earnest in his endeavours: as "Let us go on to perfection" (Heb. vi. 1); and then, "It is impossible for those that were once enlightened," &c. (ver. 4). Implying, that men go back, when they do not go on to perfection: having low aims, they go backward, and fall off. 2dly, Christians must be actually perfect in all points and parts of Christianity. As they will have faith, they will have patience; as patience, love and zeal. The rule is, "Be ye holy, as I am holy, in all manner of conversation" (1 Pet. i. 15). Every point and part of life must be seasoned with grace; therefore the apostle saith, ¿v πáoñ ávaspopỹ, in every creek and turning of the conversation. So," As ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, see that ye abound in this grace also" (2 Cor. viii. 7). Hypocrites are always lacking in one part or another. The Corinthians had much knowledge and utterance, and little charity; as many professors pray much, know much, hear much, but do not give much; they do not " abound in this also.' As Basil saith in his sermon Ad Divites, I know many that fast, pray, sigh, πάσαν τὴν ἀδάπανον ἐυλάβειαν ἐκ διανυμένες, love all cheap acts of religion, and such as cost nothing but their own pains; but are sordid and base, withholding from God and the poor. Τὶ όφελος τουτοις τῆς λοὶπης ἀρετῆς; what profit have they in their other graces when they are not perfect? There is a link and cognation between the graces: they love to go hand in hand, to come up as in a dance and consort, as some expound the apostle's word, Επιχορηγήσατε, "Add to faith, virtue," &c. (2 Pet. i. 5). One allowed miscarriage or neglect may be fatal; say then thus within yourselves, A Christian should be found in nothing wanting: Oh but how many sad defects are there in my soul; if I were weighed in God's balance, I should be found much wanting! Oh strive to be more entire and perfect. 3dly, They aim at the perfection of duration; that as they would be wanting in no part of duty, so in no part of their lives. Subsequent acts of apostacy make our former crown to wither; 'they lose what they have wrought" (2 John 8). All their spiritual labour formerly bestowed, is to no purpose; and whatever we have done and suffered for the Gospel, it is, in regard of God, lost and forgotten. So, "When he turneth to iniquity, all the righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned" (Ezek. xviii. 24). As under the Law, if a Nazarite had defiled himself, he was to begin all anew: "The days that were before shall be lost, because his separation was defiled" (Numb. vi. 12); as if he had fulfilled the half part of his vow, or three parts of his vow, yet all was to be as null and lost upon every pollution, and he was to begin again. So it is in point of apostacy; after, by a solemn vow and consecration, we have separated ourselves to Christ, if we do not endure to the end, all the righteousness, zeal, and patience of our former profession is forgotten.

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