Part II (continued, part 6)
liberally, kc.
1. As being a God that giveth to all men. And this also is to be
limitedly understood of all those men who thus do, have, or shall app y themselves unto God by faithful and importunate prayer.* For he had sa 1
first, Let him ask of God ; and therefore God s giving here must be siq)-
posed to be a giving to him that asketh. Again, although it be said that
faith works patience, yet it is prayer that fetcheth and brings down the
power from God into the heart, that works both faith and patience, and all
Prayer is the midwife by which faith, the mother, brings forth patience in ^
heart. re-
2. His gracious disposition in giving is further set out
(1.) That he giveth liberally. The word av\u( both signifies a free-h<
giving, in a pure way of simplicity of heart ; as being neither moved by any
respect in us, as of worthiness, or the like, but singly and simply out of
such motives and considerations at tare in his own heart, and which his own
great and gracious divine nature prompts him t : fiv. !\. \V. jvn, rally use
to say, out of his free grace, which comes all to one with the import of the word which the apostle useth here. Therefore make that -race as thy j to him in thy r it,
<>r v, .it his hai
. abundantly, liberally, richly; as I
- Got viii. 1 , and ^ translated there. You have both in that passage
.m dicat omnfttu, ntelligit, qitipctunt. Calvin in vcrba.
PATIKKCE AND ITS PERFECT WOEK. 465
of David s, 2 Sam. vii. 21, According to thine own heart there is freely or simply hast thou done all these great things, there is liberally. And uplraideth not. That is a second property or disposition in God and
his giving; the sense whereof is, first, that when he hath given liberally, never so often, nor so much, yet he upbraideth not, as men are wont to do. Among men, he that is most liberal, yet if the same man he hath formerly
given unto will come often to him to be relieved, in the end he at least will
excuse himself, or else say, Why do you come so often, thus again and again? which is a tacit and implicit way of upbraiding, or insinuation of foregone
benefits. Surely Calvin, and Estius from him, have hit it,* who put this
scope and drift upon this clause : that no man should be afraid or solicitous
to come, though never so often, to this free and generous giver, nor be dis
couraged within himself that he should need to come so often to him, nor
forbear to continue his incessant importunities, though it be never so long a
time ere he obtains.
And thus understood, it is as if he had said, God is so free, so simplehearted and liberal in giving, as the oftener you come the welcomer, especially when for grace ; yea, he hereby inviteth us of his own free heart to come
always, to ask and pray continually and incessantly, as that parable, Luke
xviii. 1, made on set purpose, shews. So then, a frequent, constant, impor tunate continuing in prayer to obtain is hereby exhorted unto.
A second scope in his adding this clause is, that though we find that God
doth indeed upbraid impenitent men for their sins, as Christ those cities,
yet he never did, or ever will do, any sinners in this case wherein it is pro
posed, namely, when they shall come and humble themselves for their sins,
seeking for more grace to help in time of need against their corruption; and this much rather than from deliverance from or out of troubles, in this
case he will not twit them with any of their unworthiness that hath been
past ; he will pass by their iniquity, and not upbraid them. And this is a
great encouragement indeed ; for the guilt of sin and former ingratitude do
above all things deter men from coming to God, lest he should remember
their iniquities and upbraid them with them.
. And it shall be given him. He follows and confirms this hope of obtaining with this sure and certain promise, and it shall be given him. For when
the souls of men, being made thoroughly apprehensive of their own want of
a grace, are carried forth (to choose) to seek for grace, or such or such a
gracious disposition; and that before and above all deliverance out of the Mais they are in, as was before observed the Apostle had directed; in this
f *e, God that is, the God of all grace is the most ready giver of grace
o c he is of anything else. There are no requests more pleasing to him, or
that suit his divine and blessed disposition so as this doth of praying for
grace, as thus stated. For the bestowing and giving of grace thus prayed for
doth tend, above all things else, to the glorifying of himself; and it is the
aiming thereat that must and doth carry out such a heart to make this to
be the top and chief of its most earnest petitions. The God of grace is the
* "Nee exprobat:" Hoc additum est, ne quis Deum sepius aclire metu.it; qui ex
hominibus maxime sunt liberates, tametsi identidem quispiam juvari se postulet priora
beneficia commemorant : atque ita excusant in posterum. Cah-in in rcrla. Vel certe
ideo addit ne quis Deuni sepius adire vereatur Calvin s very words uonne cnim dicit,
jam toties dedi ; quid adliuc me obtundis ? Ut solent homines, etiam qui maxim6 sunt
liberales Calvin s very words again sed Deus ut est fons inexhaustus : ita ad dan-
dum, modo petas sicut oportet, paratissimus, imo ipse ultro nos invitans ad semper
petenduni/ &c. Eatius in verba. VOL. II. 2 G
46G PATIENCE AND ITS PERFECT WORK.
most free of grace. Thus Christ says, If ye then, being evil, know how to
give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ] Our Apostle hath also
told us that thougli the spirit that is in us lusteth to envy, that yet God
gives more grace that is, a counterpoise of grace unto that lust unto all them that humbly seek for it; as, chap. iv. 5-7, Do ye think that the Scrip ture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy ? But he
giveth more grace. He resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.*
I shall now go forth of my text but to fetch in one thing. I observe, when the Apostle particularly comes to that part of his prayer made for the Colos-
sians, that they might have all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness, which exactly agrees with what is the matter exhorted unto in this text, he implores the glorious power of God, in these words, Col. ill, That ye may be strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all
patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. And to draw and fix your hearts on this glorious power of God, and point your prayers thereto, is the thing which I mean and intend.
And indeed the consideration of this one thing will have a general influ
ence into all those three heads have been treated of in this last fourth section.
As, first, it may be no great wonder if many of us have been so deficient and
lacking in this grace ; for it is not an ordinary power, such as in ordinary
walkings holily doth assist us, but a glorious power is requisite to perfect this grace : which argues this to be so difficult an exercise above any other, and that our natures are infinitely remote from it of ourselves, which we not
minding nor considering, have not perhaps with answerable vchemency im
plored the aid of so great a power. And, secondly, this gives us a clear rea
son why prayer, of all other means, should be directed by the Apostle, and
extraordinarily set upon by us, as the most effectual, yea, as an only means
to obtain this. For seeing that power lies out of ourselves, in God, which must effect this in us, then surely nothing can be judged so prevailing as
faith and prayer, which are the graces in and by which the soul, going out of
itself, in a sense of its utter insufficiency, supplicates the grace in God s heart
to exert this power of his good pleasure, and so do draw it forth and bring
it down into the heart. And then, thirdly, this gives us the highest encou
ragement, that we may obtain this perfect work of it, however remote from
it the present temper of our spirits may seem to be to us, seeing that no less
than such a glorious power is requisite to effect it in the strongest Christians, and a power so glorious is able to work it in the weakest.
Let us pray, therefore, with all vehcmency for ourselves, as the Apostle did for those Colossians, that this glorious power may come upon us, and
strengthen our inward man as it is elsewhere, Eph. iii 1C with all mi
which might in us is the effect of that power in God as the cause.
For as this patience is to be an all patience, or else it hath not its per
fect work, so this might must be an all might you must be strengthened with unto such a patience, or you will not be perfect at it. That might you had in such or such a trial will not serve to strengthen you against the
iiext trial that shall come ; but you must still have a new special miglr
every new trial. Your dependence, therefore, is great upon Cud l >r this
: ct work of patiriK-o, and yet your encouragements are great. For as it
must be that, if God will plea*. then us under any great OJHXBUal
tent nld put fTth ni k-ss than this gtolimU j
"W<r:
80 we h;^ how, in our Apostle-, In; hath promised he will give it, and give it freely and liberally to th in that make it their main, constant,
PATIENCE AND ITS PERFECT WORK. 467
earnest business to ask it ; and therefore, his grace, if applied to, is engaged to put this power forth.
It cannot but be a great support to a weak heart that finds itself so re mote and distant from such a work of patience, and weak also in comparison of finding such an inward might, that it should have ground and cause to think and to believe that God s glorious power is engaged most freely, to be
abundantly and readily put forth, if continued to be sought unto. Why,
this, says the weak heart, will do it ; namely, this glorious power ; and I have found by some trials already that the strong God and a weak heart
will be too hard for any thing, yea, for the whole world.
And therefore, when you think your present trials that are come upon you far greater than you can bear, think withal of the glorious power of God that is at hand to help you. It is a great word that, his glorious
power, a greater attribute could not have been named or found out for our comfort, and is a word of virtue, force, and power, to hearten to or
against anything whatever. It is true thy present trial may be, and is, above that inward strength which serves and hath served hitherto to act thy
graces in thy ordinary walkings with God, holily and sincerely. A child may by its ordinary strength be able to walk up and down a room by stools
(suppose) supporting it, without any other extraordinary help; but if it be
to go up a pair of stairs, the strength that enabled it to these lesser perfor mances will not be sufficient thereunto ; he must be carried and held up in
the arms of one who is strong and mighty. And so it is here. That other
part of our Christian obedience, the active life of a Christian, prayed for by the Apostle in that place to the Colossians also, whereby he walks fruitfully,
&c., as in the seventh verse of that chapter, requires indeed God s power, for
by it it is we are kept unto salvation all along. But when it comes to
patience and long-suffering, and all patience, and that such a trial comes aa
will try all patience in you ; then it is he makes mention of that glorious
power, and not before. For it must be no less that must go to that than God s glorious power. And the promise therefore is, in such a case, that
the Spirit of glory shall rest upon us, and not the Spirit of grace only, as
1 Peter iv. 1 4. Relieve and comfort, therefore, yourselves with these things, and specially with this : that as your trials abound, so this glorious power of God will abound also towards you, for your support. Amen.
END OF VOL. n.
JUIiANTYUE AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.