J
U D E
CHAP. I.
We
have here, I. An account of the penman of this epistle, a character of the
church, the blessings and privileges of that happy society, ver. 1, 2. II. The
occasion of writing this epistle, ver. 3. III. A character of evil and
perverse men, who had already sprung up in that infant state of the church,
and would be succeeded by others of the like evil spirit and temper in
after-times, ver. 4. IV. A caution against hearkening to and following after
such, from the severity of God towards the unbelieving murmuring Israelites at
their coming out of Egypt, the angels that fell, the sin and punishment of
Sodom and Gomorrah, ver. 5-7. V. To these the apostle likens the seducers
against whom he was warning them, and describes them at large, (ver. 8 to 13,
inclusive). VI. Then (as specially suitable to his argument) he cites an
ancient prophecy of Enoch foretelling and describing the future judgment, ver.
14, 15. VII. He enlarges on the seducers' character, and guards against the
offence which honest minds might be apt to take at the so early permission of
such things, by showing that it was foretold long before that so it must be,
ver. 16-19. VIII. Exhorts them to perseverance in the faith, fervency in
prayer, watchfulness against falling from the love of God, and a lively hope
of eternal life, ver. 20, 21. IX. Directs them how to act towards the
erroneous and scandalous, ver. 22, 23. And, X. Closes with an admirable
doxology in the last two verses.
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Apostolic
Benediction.
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A. D. 66.
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1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and
brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved
in Jesus Christ, and called: 2 Mercy unto you, and peace,
and love, be multiplied.
Here we have the preface or introduction, in which,
I. We have an account of the penman of this epistle, Jude, or Judas,
or Judah. He was name-sake to one of his ancestors, the patriarch--son of
Jacob, the most eminent though not the first-born of his sons, out of whose
loins (lineally, in a most direct succession) the Messiah came. This was a
name of worth, eminency, and honour; yet 1. He had a wicked name-sake. There
was one Judas (one of the twelve, surnamed Iscariot, from the place of
his birth) who was a vile traitor, the betrayer of his and our Lord. The same
names may be common to the best and worst persons. It may be instructive to be
called after the names of eminently good men, but there can be no inference
drawn thence as to what we shall prove, though we may even thence conclude
what sort of persons our good parents or progenitors desired and hoped we
should be. But, 2. Our Judas was quite another man. He was an apostle, so was
Iscariot; but he was a sincere disciple and follower of Christ, so was not the
other. He was a faithful servant of Jesus Christ, the other was his betrayer
and murderer; therefore here the one is very carefully distinguished from the
other. Dr. Manton's note upon this is, that God takes great care of the good
name of his sincere and useful servants. Why then should we be prodigal of our
own or one another's reputation and usefulness? Our apostle here calls himself
a servant of Jesus Christ, esteeming that a most honourable title. It is more
honourable to be a sincere and useful servant of Christ than to be an earthly
king, how potent and prosperous soever. He might have claimed kindred to
Christ according to the flesh, but he waives this, and rather glories in being
his servant. Observe, (1.) It is really a greater honour to be a faithful
servant of Jesus Christ than to be akin to him according to the flesh. Many of
Christ's natural kindred, as well as of his progenitors, perished; not from
want of natural affection in him as man, but from infidelity and obstinacy in
themselves, which should make the descendants and near relatives of persons
most eminent for sincere and exemplary piety jealous over themselves with a
godly jealousy. A son of Noah may be saved in the ark from a flood of
temporal destruction, and yet be overwhelmed at last in a deluge of divine
wrath, and suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. Christ himself tells
us that he that heareth his word and doeth it (that is, he only) is
as his brother, and sister, and mother, that is, more honourably and
advantageously related to him than the nearest and dearest of his natural
relatives, considered merely as such. See Matt. xii. 48-50. (2.) In that the
apostle Jude styles himself a servant, though an apostle, a dignified officer
in Christ's kingdom, it is a great honour to the meanest sincere minister (and
it holds proportionably as to every upright Christian) that he is the
servant of Christ Jesus. The apostles were servants before they were
apostles, and they were but servants still. Away then with all pretensions in
the ministers of Christ to lordly dominion either over one another or over the
flocks committed to their charge. Let us ever have that of our dear Redeemer
in actual view, It shall not be so among you, Matt. xx. 25, 26. --And
brother of James, to wit, of him whom the ancients style the first
bishop of Jerusalem, of whose character and martyrdom Josephus makes
mention, ascribing the horrible destruction of that city and nation to this
wicked cruelty, as one of its principal causes. Of this James our Jude was
brother, whether in the strictest or a larger (though very usual) acceptation
I determine not. He however reckons it an honour to him that he was the
brother of such a one. We ought to honour those who are above us in age,
gifts, graces, station; not to envy them, yet neither to flatter them, nor be
led merely by their example, when we have reason to think they act wrong. Thus
the apostle Paul withstood his fellow-apostle Peter to the face,
notwithstanding the high esteem he had for him and the affectionate love he
bore to him, when he saw that he was to be blamed, that is, really
blameworthy, Gal. ii. 11, and following verses.
II. We are here informed to whom this epistle is directed; namely, to all
those who are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ,
and called. I begin with the last--called, that is, called Christians,
in the judgment of charity, further than which we cannot, nor in justice ought
to go, in the judgments or opinions we form or receive of one another; for
what appears not is not, nor ought to come into account in all our dealings
with and censures of one another, whatever abatements the divine goodness may
see fit to make for an honest though misguided zeal. The church pretends not
(I am sure it ought not) to judge of secret or hidden things (things
drawn into the light before time), lest our rash and preposterous zeal do more
harm than good, or I am afraid ever will do. The tares and wheat (if
Christ may be Judge) must grow together till the harvest (Matt. xiii.
28-30); and then he himself will, by proper instruments, take timely care to
separate them. We ought to think the best we can of every man till the
contrary appear; not being forward to receive or propagate, much less invent,
disadvantageous characters of our brethren. This is the least we can make of
the apostle's large and excellent description of charity (1 Cor. xiii.), and
this we ought to make conscience of acting up to, which till we do, the
Christian churches will be (as, alas! they are at this day) filled with envying
and strife, confusion and every evil work, Jam. iii. 16. Or, the apostle
may speak of their being called to be Christians, by the preaching of
the word, which they gladly received, and professed cordially to believe, and
so were received into the society and fellowship of the church--Christ the
head, and believers the members; real believers really, professed believers
visibly. Note, Christians are the called, called out of the world, the evil
spirit and temper of it,--above the world, to higher and better things,
heaven, things unseen and eternal,--called from sin to Christ, from vanity to
seriousness, from uncleanness to holiness; and this in pursuance of divine
purpose and grace; for whom he did predestinate those he also called,
Rom. viii. 30. Now those who are thus called, are, 1. Sanctified: Sanctified
by God the Father. Sanctification is usually spoken of in scripture as the
work of the Holy Spirit, yet here it is ascribed to God the Father, because
the Spirit works it as the Spirit of the Father and the Son. Note, All who are
effectually called are sanctified, made partakers of a divine nature (2
Pet. i. 4); for without holiness no man shall see the Lord, Heb. xii.
14. Observe, Our sanctification is not our own work. If any are sanctified,
they are so by God the Father, not excluding Son or Spirit, for they are one,
one God. Our corruption and pollution are of ourselves; but our sanctification
and renovation are of God and his grace; and therefore if we perish in our
iniquity we must bear the blame, but if we be sanctified and glorified all the
honour and glory must be ascribed to God, and to him alone. I own it is hard
to give a clear and distinct account of this, but we must not deny nor
disregard necessary truth because we cannot fully reconcile the several parts
of it to each other; for, on that supposition, we might deny that any one of
us could stir an inch from the place we are at present in, though we see the
contrary every day and hour. 2. The called and sanctified are preserved in
Christ Jesus. As it is God who begins the work of grace in the souls of
men, so it is he who carries it on, and perfects it. Where he begins he will
perfect; though we are fickle, he is constant. He will not forsake the work
of his own hands, Ps. cxxxviii. 8. Let us not therefore trust in
ourselves, nor in our stock of grace already received, but in him, and in him
alone, still endeavouring, by all proper and appointed means, to keep
ourselves, as ever we would hope he should keep us. Note, (1.) Believers are preserved
from the gates of hell, and to the glory of heaven. (2.) All who are preserved
are preserved in Jesus Christ, in him as their citadel and stronghold,
no longer than they abide in him, and solely by virtue of their union with
him.
III. We have the apostolical benediction: Mercy to you, &c. From
the mercy, peace, and love of God all our comfort flows, all our real
enjoyment in this life, all our hope of a better. 1. The mercy of God
is the spring and fountain of all the good we have or hope for; mercy not only
to the miserable, but to the guilty. 2. Next to mercy is peace, which
we have from the sense of having obtained mercy. We can have no true and
lasting peace but what flows from our reconciliation with God by Jesus Christ.
3. As from mercy springs peace, so from peace springs love, his love to
us, our love to him, and our brotherly love (forgotten, wretchedly neglected,
grace!) to one another. These the apostle prays may be multiplied, that
Christians may not be content with scraps and narrow scantlings of them; but
that souls and societies may be full of them. Note, God is ready to supply us
with all grace, and a fulness in each grace. If we are straitened, we are not
straitened in him, but in ourselves.
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The Common Salvation; Monuments of Judgment.
A. D. 66.
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3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write
unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and
exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was
once delivered unto the saints. 4 For there are certain men crept
in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly
men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only
Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 I will therefore put you in
remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the
people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed
not. 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left
their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness
unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha,
and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to
fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example,
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
We have here, I. The design of the apostle in writing this epistle to the
lately converted Jews and Gentiles; namely, to establish them in the Christian
faith, and a practice and conversation truly consonant and conformable
thereunto, and in an open and bold profession thereof, especially in times of
notorious opposition, whether by artful seduction or violent and inhuman
persecution. But then we must see to it very carefully that it be really the
Christian faith that we believe, profess, propagate, and contend for; not the
discriminating badges of this or the other party, not any thing of later date
than the inspired writings of the holy evangelists and apostles. Here observe,
1. The gospel salvation is a common salvation, that is, in a most sincere
offer and tender of it to all mankind to whom the notice of it reaches: for so
the commission runs (Mark xvi. 15, 16), Go you into all the world, and
preach the gospel to every creature, &c. Surely God means as he
speaks; he does not delude us with vain words, whatever men do; and therefore
none are excluded from the benefit of these gracious offers and invitations,
but those who obstinately, impenitently, finally exclude themselves. Whoever
will may come and drink of the water of life freely, Rev. xxii. 17. The
application of it is made to all believers, and only to such; it is made to
the weak as well as to the strong. Let none discourage themselves on the
account of hidden decrees which they can know little of, and with which they
have nothing to do. God's decrees are dark, his covenants are plain. "All
good Christians meet in Christ the common head, are actuated by one and the
same Spirit, are guided by one rule, meet here at one throne of grace, and
hope shortly to meet in one common inheritance," a glorious one to be
sure, but what or how glorious we cannot, nor at present need to know; but
such it will be as vastly to exceed all our present hopes and expectations. 2.
This common salvation is the subject-matter of the faith of all the saints.
The doctrine of it is what they all most heartily consent to; they esteem it
as a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 1 Tim. i. 15. It
is the faith once, or at once, once for all, delivered to the saints,
to which nothing can be added, from which nothing may be detracted, in which
nothing more nor less should be altered. Here let us abide; here we are safe;
if we stir a step further, we are in danger of being either entangled or
seduced. 3. The apostles and evangelists all wrote to us of this common
salvation. This cannot be doubted by those who have carefully read their
writings. It is strange that any should think they wrote chiefly to maintain
particular schemes and opinions, especially such as they never did nor could
think of. It is enough that they have fully declared to us, by inspiration of
the Holy Ghost, all that is necessary for every one to believe and do,
in order to obtain a personal interest in the common salvation. 4. Those who
preach or write of the common salvation should give all diligence to do it
well: they should not allow themselves to offer to God or his people that
which costs them nothing, or next to nothing, little or no pains or thought, 2
Sam. xxiv. 24. This were to treat God irreverently, and man unjustly. The
apostle (though inspired) gave all diligence to write of the common salvation.
What then will become of those who (though uninspired) give no diligence, or
next to none, but say to the people (even in the name of God) quicquid in
buccam venerit--whatever comes next, who, so that they use
scripture-words, care not how they interpret or apply them? Those who speak of
sacred things ought always to speak of them with the greatest reverence, care,
and diligence. 5. Those who have received the doctrine of this common
salvation must contend earnestly for it. Earnestly, not furiously.
Those who strive for the Christian faith, or in the Christian course, must
strive lawfully, or they lose their labour, and run great hazard of losing
their crown, 2 Tim. ii. 5. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
of God, Jam. i. 20. Lying for the truth is bad, and scolding for it is not
much better. Observe, Those who have received the truth must contend for it.
But how? As the apostles did; by suffering patiently and courageously for it,
not by making others suffer if they will not presently embrace every notion
that we are pleased (proved or unproved) to call faith, or fundamental. We
must not suffer ourselves to be robbed of any essential article of Christian
faith, by the cunning craftiness or specious plausible pretences of any who lie
in wait to deceive, Eph. iv. 14. The apostle Paul tells us he preached the
gospel (mind it was the gospel) with much contention (1 Thess. ii. 2),
that is (as I understand it), with earnestness, with a hearty zeal, and a
great concern for the success of what he preached. But, if we will understand contention
in the common acceptation of the word, we must impartially consider with whom
the apostle contended, and how, the enlarging on which would not be proper for
this place.
II. The occasion the apostle had to write to this purport. As evil manners
give rise to good laws, so dangerous errors often give just occasion to the
proper defence of important truths. Here observe, 1. Ungodly men are the great
enemies of the faith of Christ and the peace of the church. Those who deny or
corrupt the one, and disturb the other, are here expressly styled ungodly
men. We might have truth with peace (a most desirable thing) were there
none (ministers or private Christians) in our particular churches and
congregations but truly godly men--a blessing scarcely to be looked or hoped
for on this side heaven. Ungodly men raise scruples, merely to advance and
promote their own selfish, ambitious, and covetous ends. This has been the
plague of the church in all past ages, and I am afraid no age is, or will be,
wholly free from such men and such practices as long as time shall last.
Observe, Nothing cuts us off from the church but that which cuts us off from
Christ; namely, reigning infidelity and ungodliness. We must abhor the thought
of branding particular parties or persons with this character, especially of
doing it without the least proof, or, as it too often happens, the least
shadow of it. Those are ungodly men who live without God in the world,
who have no regard to God and conscience. Those are to be dreaded and
consequently to be avoided, not only who are wicked by sins of commission, but
also who are ungodly by sins of omission, who, for example, restrain prayer
before God, who dare not reprove a rich man, when it is the duty of their
place so to do, for fear of losing his favour and the advantage they promise
themselves therefrom, who do the work of the Lord negligently, &c.
2. Those are the worst of ungodly men who turn the grace of God into
lasciviousness, who take encouragement to sin more boldly because the
grace of God has abounded, and still abounds, so wonderfully, who are hardened
in their impieties by the extent and fulness of gospel grace, the design of
which is to reduce men from sin, and bring them unto God. Thus therefore to
wax wanton under so great grace, and turn it into an occasion of working all
uncleanness with greediness, and hardening ourselves in such a course by that
very grace which is the last and most forcible means to reclaim us from it, is
to render ourselves the vilest, the worst, and most hopeless of sinners. 3.
Those who turn the grace of God into lasciviousness do in effect deny the
Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ; that is, they deny both natural and
revealed religion. They strike at the foundation of natural religion, for they
deny the only Lord God; and they overturn all the frame of revealed
religion, for they deny the Lord Jesus Christ. Now his great design in
establishing revealed religion in the world was to bring us unto God. To deny
revealed religion is virtually to overturn natural religion, for they stand or
fall together, and they mutually yield light and force to each other. Would to
God our modern deists, who live in the midst of gospel light, would seriously
consider this, and cautiously, diligently, and impartially examine what it is
that hinders their receiving the gospel, while they profess themselves fully
persuaded of all the principles and duties of natural religion! Never to
tallies answered more exactly to each other than these do, so that it seems
absurd to receive the one and reject the other. One would think it were the
fairer way to receive both or reject both; though perhaps the more plausible
method, especially in this age, is to act the part they do. 4. Those who turn
the grace of God into lasciviousness are ordained unto condemnation. They sin
against the last, the greatest, and most perfect remedy; and so are without
excuse. Those who thus sin must needs die of their wounds, of their disease,
are of old ordained to this condemnation, whatever that expression means. But
what if our translators had thought fit to have rendered the words palai
progegrammenoi--of old fore-written of, as
persons who would through their own sin and folly become the proper subjects
of this condemnation, where had the harm been? Plain Christians had not been
troubled with dark, doubtful, and perplexing thoughts about reprobation, which
the strongest heads cannot enter far into, can indeed bear but little of,
without much loss and damage. Is it not enough that early notice was given by
inspired writers that such seducers and wicked men should arise in later
times, and that every one, being fore-warned of, should be fore-armed against
them? 5. We ought to contend earnestly for the faith, in opposition to those
who would corrupt or deprave it, such as have crept in unawares: a
wretched character, to be sure, but often very ill applied by weak and
ignorant people, and even by those who themselves creep in unawares, who think
their ipse dixit should stand for a law to all their followers and
admirers. Surely faithful humble ministers are helpers of their people's joy,
peace, and comfort; not lords of their faith! Whoever may attempt to
corrupt the faith, we ought to contend earnestly against them. The more busy
and crafty the instruments and agents of Satan are, to rob us of the truth,
the more solicitous should we be to hold it fast, always provided we be very
sure that we fasten no wrong or injurious characters on persons, parties, or
sentiments.
III. The fair warning which the apostle, in Christ's name, gives to those who,
having professed his holy religion, do afterwards desert and prove false to
it, v. 5-7. We have here a recital of the former judgments of God upon
sinners, with design to awaken and terrify those to whom warning is given in
this epistle. Observe, The judgments of God are often denounced and executed in
terrorem--for warning to others, rather than from immediate or particular
displeasure against the offenders themselves; not that God is not displeased
with them, but perhaps not more with them than with others who, at least for
the present, escape. I will put you in remembrance. What we already
know we still need to be put in remembrance of. Therefore there will always be
need and use of a standing stated ministry in the Christian church, though all
the doctrines of faith, the essentials, are so plainly revealed in express
words, or by the most near, plain, and immediate consequence, that he who runs
may read and understand them. There wants no infallible interpreter, really or
conceitedly such, for any such end or purpose. Some people (weakly enough)
suggest, "If the scriptures do so plainly contain all that is necessary
to salvation, what need or use can there be of a standing ministry? Why may we
not content ourselves with staying at home, and reading our Bibles?" The
inspired apostle has here fully, though not wholly, answered this objection.
Preaching is not designed to teach us something new in every sermon, somewhat
that we knew nothing of before; but to put us in remembrance, to call
to mind things forgotten, to affect our passions, and engage and fix our
resolutions, that our lives may be answerable to our faith. Though you know
these things, yet you still need to know them better. There are
many things which we have known which yet we have unhappily forgotten. Is it
of no use or service to be put afresh in remembrance of them?
Now what are these things which we Christians need to be put in remembrance
of?
1. The destruction of the unbelieving Israelites in the wilderness, v.
5. Paul puts the Corinthians in mind of this, 1 Cor. x. The first ten verses
of that chapter (as the scripture is always the best commentary upon itself)
are the best explication of the fifth verse of this epistle of Jude. None
therefore ought to presume upon their privileges, since many who were brought
out of Egypt by a series of amazing miracles, yet perished in the wilderness
by reason of their unbelief. Let us not therefore be high-minded, but fear,
Rom. xi. 20. Let us fear lest, a promise being left us of entering into his
rest, any of you should seem to come short of it, Heb. iv. 1. They had
miracles in abundance: they were their daily bread; yet even they perished in
unbelief. We have greater (much greater) advantages than they had; let their
error (their so fatal error) be our awful warning.
2. We are here put in remembrance of the fall of the angels, v. 6.
There were a great number of the angels who left their own habitation;
that is, who were not pleased with the posts and stations the supreme Monarch
of the universe had assigned and allotted to them, but thought (like
discontented ministers in our age, I might say in every age) they deserved
better; they would, with the title of ministers, be sovereigns,
and in effect their Sovereign should be their minister--do all, and only, what
they would have him; thus was pride the main and immediate cause or occasion
of their fall. Thus they quitted their post, and rebelled against God, their
Creator and sovereign Lord. But God did not spare them (high and great as they
were); he would not truckle to them; he threw them off, as a wise and good
prince will a selfish and deceitful minister; and the great, the all-wise God,
could not be ignorant, as the wisest and best of earthly princes often are,
what designs they were hatching. After all, what became of them? They thought
to have dared and outfaced Omnipotence itself; but God was too hard for them,
he cast them down to hell. Those who would not be servants to their Maker and
his will in their first state were made captives to his justice, and are reserved
in everlasting chains, under darkness. Here see what the condition of
fallen angels is: they are in chains, bound under the divine power and
justice, bound over to the judgment of the great day; they are under
darkness, though once angels of light; so horribly in the dark are
they that they continue to fight against God, as if there were yet some small
hope at least left them of prevailing and overcoming in the conflict. Dire
infatuation! Light and liberty concur, chains and darkness how well do they
agree and suit each other! The devils, once angels in the best sense, are reserved,
&c. Observe, There is, undoubtedly there is, a judgment to come; the
fallen angels are reserved to the judgment of the great day; and shall
fallen men escape it? Surely not. Let every reader consider this in due time.
Their chains are called everlasting, because it is impossible they should ever
break loose from them, or make an escape; they are held fast and sure under
them. The decree, the justice, the wrath of God, are the very chains under
which fallen angels are held so fast. Hear and fear, O sinful mortals of
mankind!
3. The apostle here calls to our remembrance the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah, v. 7. Even as, &c. It is in allusion to the
destruction of Pentapolis, or the five cities, that the miseries of the
damned are set forth by a lake that burneth with fire and brimstone; they were
guilty of abominable wickedness, not to be named or thought of but with the
utmost abhorrence and detestation; their ruin is a particular warning to all
people to take heed of, and fly from, fleshly lusts that war against the
soul, 1 Pet. ii. 11. "These lusts consumed the Sodomites with fire
from heaven, and they are now suffering the vengeance of eternal fire;
therefore take heed, imitate not their sins, lest the same plagues overtake
you as did them. God is the same holy, just, pure Being now as then; and can
the beastly pleasures of a moment make amends for your suffering the vengeance
of eternal fire? Stand in awe, therefore, and sin not," Ps. iv. 4.
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Contumacious Professors.
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A. D. 66.
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8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers
defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9
Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about
the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said,
The Lord rebuke thee. 10 But these speak evil of those things
which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those
things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have
gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for
reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots
in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves
without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds;
trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the
roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame;
wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold,
the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
The apostle here exhibits a charge against deceivers who were now seducing the
disciples of Christ from the profession and practice of his holy religion. He
calls them filthy dreamers, forasmuch as delusion is a dream, and the
beginning of, and inlet to, all manner of filthiness. Note, Sin is filthiness;
it renders men odious and vile in the sight of the most holy God, and makes
them (sooner or later, as penitent or as punished to extremity and without
resource) vile in their own eyes, and in a while they become vile in the eyes
of all about them. These filthy dreamers dream themselves into a fool's
paradise on earth, and into a real hell at last: let their character, course,
and end, be our seasonable and sufficient warning; like sins will produce like
punishments and miseries. Here,
I. The character of these deceivers is described.
1. They defile the flesh. The flesh or body is the immediate seat, and
often the irritating occasion, of many horrid pollutions; yet these, though
done in and against the body, do greatly defile and grievously maim and wound
the soul. Fleshly lusts do war against the soul, 1 Pet. ii. 11; and in
2 Cor. vii. 1 we read of filthiness of flesh and spirit, each of which,
though of different kinds, defiles the whole man.
2. They despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities, are of a
disturbed mind and a seditious spirit, forgetting that the powers that be
are ordained of God, Rom. xiii. 1. God requires us to speak evil of no
man (Tit. iii. 2.); but it is a great aggravation of the sin of
evil-speaking when what we say is pointed at magistrates, men whom God has set
in authority over us, by blaspheming or speaking evil of whom we blaspheme God
himself. Or if we understand it, as some do, with respect to religion, which
ought to have the dominion in this lower world, such evil-speakers despise the
dominion of conscience, make a jest of it, and would banish it out of the
world; and as for the word of God, the rule of conscience, they despise it.
The revelations of the divine will go for little with them; they are a rule of
faith and manners, but not till they have explained them, and imposed their
sense of them upon all about them. Or, as others account for the sense of this
passage, the people of God, truly and specially so, are the dignities here
spoken of or referred to, according to that of the psalmist, Touch not mine
anointed, and do my prophets no harm, Ps. cv. 15. They speak evil,
&c. Religion and its serious professors have been always and every where
evil spoken of. Though there is nothing in religion but what is very good, and
deserves our highest regards, both as it is perfective of our natures and as
it is subservient to our truest and highest interests; yet this sect,
as its enemies are pleased to call it, is every where spoken against,
Acts xxviii. 22.
On this occasion the apostle brings in Michael the archangel, &c., v.
9. Interpreters are at a loss what is here meant by the body of Moses.
Some think that the devil contended that Moses might have a public and
honourable funeral, that the place where he was interred might be generally
known, hoping thereby to draw the Jews, so naturally prone thereto, to a new
and fresh instance of idolatry. Dr. Scott thinks that by the body of Moses we
are to understand the Jewish church, whose destruction the devil strove and
contended for, as the Christian church is called the body of Christ in the
New-Testament style. Others bring other interpretations, which I will not here
trouble the reader with. Though this contest was mightily eager and earnest,
and Michael was victorious in the issue, yet he would not bring a railing
accusation against the devil himself; he knew a good cause needed no such
weapons to be employed in its defence. It is said, he durst not bring,
&c. Why durst he not? Not that he was afraid of the devil, but he believed
God would be offended if, in such a dispute, he went that way to work; he
thought it below him to engage in a trial of skill with the great enemy of God
and man which of them should out-scold or out-rail the other: a memorandum to
all disputants, never to bring railing accusations into their disputes. Truth
needs no supports from falsehood or scurrility. Some say, Michael would not
bring a railing accusation against the devil as knowing beforehand that he
would be too hard for him at that weapon. Some think the apostle refers here
to the remarkable passage we have, Num. xx. 7-14. Satan would have represented
Moses under disadvantageous colours, which he, good man, had at that time, and
upon that occasion, given but too much handle for. Now Michael, according to
this account, stands up in defence of Moses, and, in the zeal of an upright
and bold spirit, says to Satan, The Lord rebuke thee. He would not
stand disputing with the devil, nor enter into a particular debate about the
merits of that special cause. He knew Moses was his fellow-servant, a
favourite of God, and he would not patiently suffer him to be insulted, no,
not by the prince of devils; but in a just indignation cries out, The Lord
rebuke thee: like that of our Lord himself (Matt. iv. 10), Get thee
hence, Satan. Moses was a dignity, a magistrate, one beloved and preferred
by the great God; and the archangel thought it insufferable that such a one
should be so treated by a vile apostate spirit, of how high an order soever.
So the lesson hence is that we ought to stand up in defence of those whom God
owns, how severe soever Satan and his instruments may be in their censures of
them and their conduct. Those who censure (in particular) upright magistrates,
upon every slip in their behaviour, may expect to hear, The Lord rebuke
thee; and divine rebukes are harder to be borne than careless sinners now
think for.
3. They speak evil of the things which they know not, &c., v.
10. Observe, Those who speak evil of religion and godliness speak evil of
the things which they know not; for, if they had known them, they would
have spoken well of them, for nothing but good and excellent can be truly said
of religion, and it is sad that any thing different or opposite should ever be
justly said of any of its professors. A religious life is the most safe,
happy, comfortable, and honourable life that is. Observe, further, Men are
most apt to speak evil of those persons and things that they know least of.
How many had never suffered by slanderous tongues if they had been better
known! On the other hand, retirement screens some even from just censure. But
what they know naturally, &c. It is hard, if not impossible, to find
any obstinate enemies to the Christian religion, who do not in their stated
course live in open or secret contradiction to the very principles of natural
religion: this many think hard and uncharitable; but I am afraid it will
appear too true in the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of
God. The apostle likens such to brute beasts, though they often
think and boast themselves, if not as the wisest, yet at least as the wittiest
part of mankind. In those things they corrupt themselves; that is, in
the plainest and most natural and necessary things, things that lie most open
and obvious to natural reason and conscience; even in those things they
corrupt, debase, and defile themselves: the fault, whatever it is, lies not in
their understanding or apprehensions, but in their depraved wills and
disordered appetites and affections; they could and might have acted better,
but then they must have offered violence to those vile affections which they
obstinately chose rather to gratify than to mortify.
4. In v. 11 the apostle represents them as followers of Cain,
and in v. 12, 13, as atheistical and profane people, who thought
little, and perhaps believed not much, of God or a future world--as greedy and
covetous, who, so they could but gain present worldly advantages, cared not
what came next--rebels against God and man, who, like Core, ran into attempts
in which they must assuredly perish, as he did. Of such the apostle further
says, (1.) These are spots in your feasts of charity--the agapai
or love-feasts, so much spoken of by the ancients. They happened, by
whatever means or mischance, to be admitted among them, but were spots in
them, defiled and defiling. Observe, It is a great reproach, though unjust and
accidental, to religion, when those who profess it, and join in the most
solemn institution of it, are in heart and life unsuitable and even contrary
to it: These are spots. Yet how common in all Christian societies here
on earth, the very best not excepted, are such blemishes! The more is the
pity. The Lord remedy it in his due time and way, not in men's blind and
rigorous way of plucking up the wheat with the tares. But in the heaven we are
waiting, hoping, and preparing for, there is none of this mad work, there are
none of these disorderly doings. (2.) When they feast with you, they feed
themselves without fear. Arrant gluttons, no doubt, there were; such as
minded only the gratifying of their appetites with the daintiness and
abundance of their fare; they had no regard to Solomon's caution, Prov. xxiii.
2. Note, In common eating and drinking a holy fear is necessary, much more in
feasting, though we may sometimes be more easily and insensibly overcome at a
common meal than at a feast; for, in the case supposed, we are less upon our
guard, and sometimes, at least to some persons, the plenty of a feast is its
own antidote, as to others it may prove a dangerous snare. (3.) Clouds they
are without water, which promise rain in time of drought, but perform
nothing of what they promise. Such is the case of formal professors, who at
first setting out promise much, like early-blossoming trees in a forward
spring, but in conclusion bring forth little or no fruit.--Carried about of
winds, light and empty, easily driven about this way or that, as the wind
happens to set; such are empty, ungrounded professors, and easy prey to every
seducer. It is amazing to hear many talk so confidently of so many things of
which they know little or nothing, and yet have not the wisdom and humility to
discern and be sensible how little they know. How happy would our world be if
men either knew more or practically knew how little they know. (4.) Trees
whose fruit withereth, &c. Trees they are, for they are planted in the
Lord's vineyard, yet fruitless ones. Observe, Those whose fruit withereth may
be justly said to be without fruit. As good never a whit as never the better.
It is a sad thing when men seem to begin in the Spirit and end in the
flesh, which is almost as common a case as it is an awful one. The text
speaks of such as were twice dead. One would think to be once dead were
enough; we none of us, till grace renew us to a higher degree than ordinary,
love to think of dying once, though this is appointed for us all. What then is
the meaning of this being twice dead? They had been once dead in their
natural, fallen, lapsed state; but they seemed to recover, and, as a man in a
swoon, to be brought to life again, when they took upon them the profession of
the Christian religion. But now they are dead again by the evident proofs they
have given of their hypocrisy: whatever they seemed, they had nothing truly
vital in them.--Plucked up by the roots, as we commonly serve dead
trees, from which we expect no more fruit. They are dead, dead, dead; why
cumber they the ground? Away with them to the fire. (5.) Raging waves
of the sea, boisterous, noisy, and clamorous; full of talk and turbulency,
but with little (if any) sense or meaning: Foaming out their own shame,
creating much uneasiness to men of better sense and calmer tempers, which yet
will in the end turn to their own greater shame and just reproach. The
psalmist's prayer ought always to be that of every honest and good man, "Let
integrity and uprightness preserve me (Ps. xxv. 21), and, if it will not,
let me be unpreserved." If honesty signify little now, knavery will
signify much less, and that in a very little while. Raging waves are a terror
to sailing passengers; but, when they have got to port, the waves are
forgotten as if no longer in being: their noise and terror are for ever ended.
(6.) Wandering stars, planets that are erratic in their motions, keep
not that steady regular course which the fixed ones do, but shift their
stations, that one has sometimes much ado to know where to find them. This
allusion carries in it a very lively emblem of false teachers, who are
sometimes here and sometimes there, so that one knows not where nor how to fix
them. In the main things, at least, one would think something should be fixed
and steady; and this might be without infallibility, or any pretensions to it
in us poor mortals. In religion and politics, the great subjects of present
debate, surely there are certain stamina in which wise and good, honest
and disinterested, men might agree, without throwing the populace into the
utmost anguish and distress of mind, or blowing up their passions into rage
and fury, without letting them know what they say or whereof they affirm.
II. The doom of this wicked people is declared: To whom is reserved the
blackness of darkness for ever. False teachers are to expect the worst of
punishments in this and a future world: not every one who teaches by mistake
any thing that is not exactly true (for who then, in any public assembly,
durst open a Bible to teach others, unless he thought himself equal or
superior to the angels of God in heaven?) but every one who prevaricates,
dissembles, would lead others into by-paths and side-ways, that he may have
opportunity to make a gain or prey of them, or (in the apostle's phrase) to
make merchandize of them, 2 Pet. ii. 3. But enough of this. As for the
blackness of darkness for ever, I shall only say that this terrible
expression, with all the horror it imports, belongs to false teachers, truly,
not slanderously so called, who corrupt the word of God, and betray the
souls of men. If this will not make both ministers and people cautious, I
know not what will.
Of the prophecy of Enoch, (v. 14, 15) we have no mention made in any
other part or place of scripture; yet now it is scripture that there was such
prophecy. One plain text of scripture is proof enough of any one point that we
are required to believe, especially when relating to a matter of fact; but in
matters of faith, necessary saving faith, God has not seen fit (blessed be his
holy name he has not) to try us so far. There is no fundamental article of the
Christian religion, truly so called, which is not inculcated over and over in
the New Testament, by which we may know on what the Holy Ghost does, and
consequently on what we ought, to lay the greatest stress. Some say that this
prophecy of Enoch was preserved by tradition in the Jewish church; others that
the apostle Jude was immediately inspired with the notice of it: be this as it
may, it is certain that there was such a prophecy of ancient date, of long
standing, and universally received in the Old-Testament church; and it is a
main point of our New-Testament creed. Observe, 1. Christ's coming to judgment
was prophesied of as early as the middle of the patriarchal age, and was
therefore even then a received and acknowledged truth.--The Lord cometh
with his holy myriads, including both angels and the spirits of just men
made perfect. What a glorious time will that be, when Christ shall come
with ten thousand of these! And we are told for what great and awful ends
and purposes he will come so accompanied and attended, namely, to execute
judgment upon all. 2. It was spoken of then, so long ago, as a thing just
at hand: "Behold, the Lord cometh; he is just a coming, he will be
upon you before you are aware, and, unless you be very cautious and diligent,
before you are provided to meet him comfortably." He cometh, (1.) To
execute judgment upon the wicked. (2.) To convince them. Observe,
Christ will condemn none without precedent, trial, and conviction, such
conviction as shall at least silence themselves. They shall have no excuse or
apology to make that they either can or dare then stand by. Then every
mouth shall be stopped, the Judge and his sentence shall be (by all the
impartial) approved and applauded, and even the guilty condemned criminals
shall be speechless, though at present they want not bold and specious pleas,
which they vent with all assurance and confidence; and yet it is certain that
the mock-trials of prisoners in the jail among themselves and the real trial
at the bar before the proper judge soon appear to be very different things.
I cannot pass v. 15 without taking notice how often, and how
emphatically, the word ungodly is repeated in it, no fewer than four
times: ungodly men, ungodly sinners, ungodly deeds, and, as to the manner,
ungodly committed. Godly or ungodly signifies little with men now-a-days,
unless it be to scoff at and deride even the very expressions; but it is not
so in the language of the Holy Ghost. Note, Omissions, as well as commissions,
must be accounted for in the day of judgment. Note, further, Hard speeches of
one another, especially if ill-grounded, will most certainly come into account
at the judgment of the great day. Let us all take care in time.
"If thou," says one of our good old puritans, "smite (a
miscalled heretic, or) a schismatic, and God find a real saint bleeding, look
thou to it, how thou wilt answer it." It may be too late to say before
the angel that it was an error, Eccl. v. 6. I only here allude to that
expression of the divinely inspired writer.
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Exhortation
to the Faithful; Conclusion.
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A. D. 66.
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15 To execute judgment upon all, and to
convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they
have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly
sinners have spoken against him. 16 These are murmurers,
complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great
swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of
advantage. 17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were
spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 How
that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk
after their own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they who separate
themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. 20 But ye, beloved,
building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy
Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And of some
have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with
fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by
the flesh. 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling,
and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be
glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Here, I. The apostle enlarges further on the character of these evil men and
seducers: they are murmurers, complainers, &c., v. 16.
Observe, A murmuring complaining temper, indulged and expressed, lays men
under a very bad character; such are very weak at least, and for the most part
very wicked. They murmur against God and his providence, against men and their
conduct; they are angry at every thing that happens, and never pleased with
their own state and condition in the world, as not thinking it good enough for
them. Such walk after their own lusts; their will, their appetite,
their fancy, are their only rule and law. Note, Those who please their sinful
appetites are most prone to yield to their ungovernable passions.
II. He proceeds to caution and exhort those to whom he is writing, v.
17-23. Here,
1. He calls them to remember how they have been forewarned: But, beloved,
remember, &c., v. 17. "Remember, take heed that you
think it not strange (so as to stumble and be offended, and have your faith
staggered by it) that such people as the seducers before described and warned
against should arise (and that early) in the Christian church, seeing all this
was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently
the accomplishment of it in the event is a confirmation of your faith, instead
of being in the least an occasion of shaking and unsettling you therein."
Note, (1.) Those who would persuade must make it evident that they sincerely
love those whom they would persuade. Bitter words and hard usage never did nor
ever will convince, much less persuade any body. (2.) The words which inspired
persons have spoken (or written), duly remembered and reflected on, are the
best preservative against dangerous errors; this will always be so, till men
have learnt to speak better than God himself. (3.) We ought not to be offended
if errors and persecutions arise and prevail in the Christian church; this was
foretold, and therefore we should not think worse of Christ's person,
doctrine, or cross, when we see it fulfilled. See 1 Tim. iv. 1, and 2 Tim.
iii. 1, and 2 Pet. iii. 3. We must not think it strange, but comfort ourselves
with this, that in the midst of all this confusion Christ will maintain his
church, and make good his promise, that the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it, Matt. xvi. 18. (4.) The more religion is ridiculed and
persecuted the faster hold we should take and keep of it; being forewarned, we
should show that we are fore-armed; under such trials we should stand firm,
and not be soon shaken in mind, 2 Thess. ii. 2.
2. He guards them against seducers by a further description of their odious
character: These are those who separate, &c., v. 19.
Observe, (1.) Sensualists are the worst separatists. They separate themselves
from God, and Christ, and his church, to the devil, the world, and the flesh,
by their ungodly courses and vicious practices; and this is a great deal worse
than separation from any particular branch of the visible church on account of
opinions or modes and circumstances of external government or worship, though
many can patiently bear with the former, while they are plentifully and almost
perpetually railing at the latter, as if no sin were damnable but what they
are pleased to call schism. (2.) Sensual men have not the Spirit, that
is, of God and Christ, the Spirit of holiness, which whoever has not, is
none of Christ's, does not belong to him, Rom. viii. 9. (3.) The worse
others are the better should we endeavour and approve ourselves to be; the
more busy Satan and his instruments are to pervert others, in judgment or
practice, the more tenacious should we be of sound doctrine and a good
conversation, holding fast the faithful word, as we have been
(divinely) taught, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience,
Tit. i. 9; 1 Tim. iii. 9.
3. He exhorts them to persevering constancy in truth and holiness.
(1.) Building up yourselves in your most holy faith, v. 20.
Observe, The way to hold fast our profession is to hold on in it. Having laid
our foundation well in a sound faith, and a sincere upright heart, we must
build upon it, make further progress continually; and we should take care with
what materials we carry on our building, namely, gold, silver, precious
stones, not wood, hay, stubble, 1 Cor. iii. 12. Right principles
and a regular conversation will stand the test even of the fiery trial; but,
whatever we mix of baser alloy, though we be in the main sincere, we shall
suffer loss by it, and though our persons be saved all that part of our work
shall be consumed; and, if we ourselves escape, it will be with great danger
and difficulty, as from a house on fire on every side.
(2.) Praying in the Holy Ghost. Observe, [1.] Prayer is the nurse of
faith; the way to build up ourselves in our most holy faith is to continue
instant in prayer, Rom. xii. 12. [2.] Our prayers are then most likely to
prevail when we pray in the Holy Ghost, that is, under his guidance and
influence, according to the rule of his word, with faith, fervency, and
constant persevering importunity; this is praying in the Holy Ghost, whether
it be done by or without a set prescribed form.
(3.) Keep yourselves in the love of God, v. 21. [1.] "Keep
up the grace of love to God in its lively vigorous actings and exercises in
your souls." [2.] "Take heed of throwing yourselves out of the love
of God to you, or its delightful, cheering, strengthening manifestations; keep
yourselves in the way of God, if you would continue in his love."
(4.) Looking for the mercy, &c. [1.] Eternal life is to be looked
for only through mercy; mercy is our only plea, not merit; or if merit,
not our own, but another's, who has merited for us what otherwise we could
have laid no claim to, nor have entertained any well-grounded hope of. [2.] It
is said, not only through the mercy of God as our Creator, but through the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ as Redeemer; all who come to heaven must
come thither through our Lord Jesus Christ; for there is no other name
under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, but that of the
Lord Jesus only, Acts iv. 12 compared with v. 10. [3.] A believing
expectation of eternal life will arm us against the snares of sin (2 Pet. iii.
14); a lively faith of the blessed hope will help us to mortify our cursed
lusts.
4. He directs them how to behave towards erring brethren: And of some have
compassion, &c., v. 22, 23. Observe, (1.) We ought to do all we
can to rescue others out of the snares of the devil, that they may be saved
from (or recovered, when entangled therein, out of) dangerous errors, or
pernicious practices. We are not only (under God) our own keepers, but every
man ought to be, as much as in him lies, his brother's keeper; none but
a wicked Cain will contradict this, Gen. iv. 9. We must watch over one
another, must faithfully, yet prudently, reprove each other, and set a good
example to all about us. (2.) This must be done with compassion, making a
difference. How is that? We must distinguish between the weak and the
wilful. [1.] Of some we must have compassion, treat them with
all tenderness, restore them in the spirit of meekness, not be
needlessly harsh and severe in our censures of them and their actions, nor
proud and haughty in our conduct towards them; not implacable, nor averse to
reconciliation with them, or admitting them to the friendship they formerly
had with us, when they give evident or even strongly hopeful tokens of a
sincere repentance: if God has forgiven them, why should not we? We infinitely
more need his forgiveness than they do, or can do, ours, though perhaps
neither they nor we are justly or sufficiently sensible of this. [2.] Others
save with fear, urging upon them the terrors of the Lord;
"Endeavour to frighten them out of their sins; preach hell and damnation
to them." But what if prudence and caution in administering even the most
just and severe reproofs be what are primarily and chiefly here intimated--(I
do but offer it for consideration); as if he had said, "Fear lest you
frustrate your own good intentions and honest designs by rash and imprudent
management, that you do not harden, instead of reclaiming, even where greater
degrees of severity are requisite than in the immediately foregoing
instance." We are often apt to over-do, when we are sure we mean
honestly, and think we are right in the main; yet the very worst are not
needlessly, nor rashly, nor to extremity, to be provoked, lest they be thereby
further hardened through our default.--"Hating even the garment
spotted with the flesh, that is, keeping yourselves at the utmost distance
from what is or appears evil, and designing and endeavouring that others may
do so too. Avoid all that leads to sin or that looks like sin," 1 Thess.
v. 22.
III. The apostle concludes this epistle with a solemn ascription of glory to
the great God, v. 24, 25. Note, 1. Whatever is the subject or argument
we have been treating of, ascribing glory to God is fittest for us to conclude
with. 2. God is able, and he is as willing as able, to keep us from
falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory; not
as those who never have been faulty (for what has once been done can never be
rendered undone, even by Omnipotence itself, for that implies a
contradiction), but as those whose faults shall not be imputed, to their ruin,
which, but for God's mercy and a Saviour's merits, they might most justly have
been.--Before the presence of his glory. Observe, (1.) The glory of the
Lord will shortly be present. We now look upon it as distant, and too many
look upon it as uncertain, but it will come, and it will be manifest and
apparent. Every eye shall see him, Rev. i. 7. This is now the object of
our faith, but hereafter (and surely it cannot now be long) it will be
the object of our sense; whom we now believe in, him we shall shortly see, to
our unspeakable joy and comfort or inexpressible terror and consternation. See
1 Pet. i. 8. (2.) All real sincere believers shall be presented, at the Lord
Redeemer's appearance and coming, by him their glorious head, to the Father,
in order to his approbation, acceptance, and reward. They were given to him of
the Father, and of all that were so given to him he has lost none, nor
will lose any one, not an individual, a single soul, but will present them all
perfectly holy and happy, when he shall surrender his mediatorial kingdom to his
God and our God, his Father and our Father, John vi. 39, with ch.
xvii. 12, 1 Cor. xv. 24. (3.) When believers shall be presented faultless it
will be with exceeding joy. Alas! now our faults fill us with fears, doubts,
and sorrows. But be of good cheer; if we be sincere, we shall be, our
dear Redeemer has undertaken for it, we shall be presented faultless;
where there is no sin there will be no sorrow; where there is the perfection
of holiness, there will be the perfection of joy. Surely, the God who can and
will do this is worthy to have glory, majesty, dominion, and power,
ascribed to him, both now and for ever! And to this we may well, with
the apostle, affix our hearty Amen.
Contents
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