Commentary on the Epistles and Revelation of John, Commentary 14 · Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII. Verſe 1. Let brotherly love continue]
IT ſhall continue in heaven; pity therefore but it ſhould on earth. No ſuch heaven upon earth, next unto communion with God, as the communion of Saints.
Verſe 2. Have entertained Angels] As Abraham and Lot, who purſued hospitality, as the Apoſtle ſpeaketh, Rom. 12.13. and had ſuch gueſts as they hoped not for. The Galatians received St Paul as an Angel; ſo did Cornelius entertain Peter. Every childe of God is an earthly Angel: and in entertaining them, Angels alſo (which are their Guardians) are entertained. The Philoſopher told his friends when they came into his little low cottage, The gods are here with me. foreign.God and his Angels are where the Saints are.
Verſe 3. Remember them that, &c.] Learn hence, ſaith one, That it is no new thing for the world to put bonds on them, who ſeek to bring them out of bondage. It is very probable that Micaiah was that diſguiſed Prophet, who brought to Ahab the fearfull meſſage of diſpleaſure and death for diſmiſſing Benhadad, for which he ever after hated him, and held him in priſon.
As being your ſelves alſo in the body.] Not the body of Chriſt or the Church, as Calvin ſenſeth it, but in the body of fleſh and frailty, ſubject to like afflictions: ſo Eraſmus, Beza, Pareus, others.
Verſe 4. Marriage is honourable] And yet ſay the Rhemists upon, 1 Corinth. 7.9. Marriage of Prieſts is the worſt ſort of incontinency. Is not this to play the Antichriſt?
And the bed undefiled] Admonimus in ipſo etiam matrimonio quandam eſſe ſcortutionis ſpeciem, B…z. Confeſſ p. 194.ſiqu… puro Dei dono purè & ſanctè non utatur, ad eum finem cujus caiuâ eſt inſtitutum, ſaith Beza. The Marriage-bed, though lawfull may be defiled by exceſſe, &c. and a man may be an adulterer of his own wife.
God will judge] The Anabaptiſts of Germany, Joh. Manl. loc. com. p. 487.inferred from hence, that therefore men ought not to puniſh adulterers: for God reſerved them to his own judgement. Two of them, Monetarius and Hetſerus, were notorious whoremongers: being a pair of ſuch Preachers, as Zedekiah and Ahab were, whom the King of Babylon roaſted in the fire, becauſe they committed adultery with their neighbours wives, and ſpake lies in Gods name, &c. Jer. 29.22, 23. But what a bold man was Latimer Biſhop of Worcester, who preſented to Henry the eight, for a New-years-gift,Act. and Mon. 1594. a new Teſtament with a napkin, having this poſie about it, Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge?
Verſe 5. Be content with ſuch things] Not to be content, is to be covetous. If men cannot bring their means to their minde,Clem. Alex. let them bring their minde to their means. A little will ſerve to bear our charges till we come home to heaven. Bonus pacis indiget. See the Note on 1 Timothy 6, 6.8.
For he hath ſaid] Five times in Scripture is this precious promiſe renued; that we may preſſe and oppreſſe it, till we have expreſſed the ſweetneſſe out of it, Iſa. 66.11.
I will not forſake thee]foreign. I will not not not forſake thee. Leave us God may to our thinking, but forſake us he will not. Only we muſt put this and other promiſes in ſuit, by praying them over. God loves to be bound by his own words, to be ſued by his own bond.
Verſe 6. So that we my boldly ſay] Having ſuch a promiſe to build and found our faith upon; we may well proceed to this holy gloriation againſt all oppoſition.
Verſe 7.foreign. Them which have the rule] Gr. Your Captains, your Guides, (ſo Miniſters are called) Your Chieftains and Champions, that bear the brunt of the battle, the heat of the day, and upon whom, as upon his white horſes, the Lord Chriſt rideth about conquering and to conquer, Revelation 6.2.
Verſe 8. Jeſus Chriſt the ſame] This was the ſumme of their Sermons,Act 9.11. and is the ſubſtance of their and your faith: which therefore you muſt ſtick to, ſtanding faſt in the ſtreet which is called Straight, and not wherried about with divers and ſtrange doctrines.
Verſe 9.foreign. Be not carried about] Errour is a precipice, a vortex, or whirl-pool, which firſt turns men round, and then ſucks them in.
With divers and ſtrange doctrines] That agree neither with themſelves, nor with the truth.
That the heart be eſtabliſhed] Ballasted as a ſhip, balanced as the Bee with a little ſtone taken up by her, when ſhe hath farre to flie in a high winde, Ne leve alarum remigium praecipitent …abra ventorum, as Ambroſe obſerveth, leſt the bigger blaſt ſhould daſh her to the ground.
Not with meats] As if they were holy, or helpfull to ſalvation.
Verſe 10. We have an altar] That is, A ſacrifice, even Chriſt our Paſſeover, whoſe fleſh is meat indeed, John 6. but to believers only, not to thoſe that pertinaciouſly plead for Ceremonies and ſervices of the Law, Gal. 5.4. Hic edere, est credore.
Verſe 11. Are burnt without the Camp] And ſo the Prieſts had no part of the ſin offering: to ſhew that they have no part in Chriſt that adhere to the Leviticall ſervices. See Levit. 16.27.
Verſe 12 Without the gate] See how punctually the old Teſtament is fulfilled in the new. Hardly could thoſe before Chriſt divine what this meant, till he had ſuffered it, and the Apoſtle had opened it. Event is the beſt key to types and prophecies.
Verſe 13. Bearing his reproach] The reproach of Saints is the reproach of Chriſt, and their ſufferings his, Coloſ. 1.24. And Nehem. 4.3, 5. God is more provoked then Nehemiah. He that ſaith, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, repaies oft-times, when we have forgiven, when we have forgotten; and cals to reckoning after our diſcharges.
Verſe 14. For here we have none] Improve this argument for the working our hearts off from the things of this world: the beauty of all which, is but as a fair picture drawn upon the ice, that melts away with it.
But we ſeek one to come] And here we muſt all turn Seekers. Seek ye firſt the Kingdom of God, &c. Matth. 5.33. See the Note there.
Verſe 5. The fruit of our lips] Covering Gods altar with the calves of our lips, Hoſ. 14.3. This ſhall pleaſe the Lord better then an Oxe or Bullock, that hath horns and hoofs, Pſal. 69.31. This alſo is the ſeekers ſacrifice, v. 32.
Verſe 16. Forget not] We very eaſily forget what we care not to remember. The richer the harder, uſually.
For with ſuch ſacrifices] How improvident are we that will not offer a ſacrifice of alms when God ſets up an altar before us?
Verſe 17. That have the rule over you] Gr. That are your Leaders or Captains. But now, as once in Alcibiades his Army, moſt will be leaders few learners. See the Note on Verſe 7.
Verſe 18. Willing to live honeſtly] Tantum velis, & Deus tibi praeoccurret. David could wiſh well to the keeping of Gods Commandments, Pſal. 119.4, 5. and affect that which yet he could not effect.
Verſe 19. That I may be restored] Prayer raigns over all impediments. See this excellently let forth by M. Harris in his Peters enlargement.
Verſe 20. Now the God of peace] He that would reap praiers, muſt ſow them. What could the Hebrews do leſſe then pray for him, that praid ſo heartily for them?
Our Lord Jeſus] Here's his kingly office. God hath made him both Lord and Chriſt, Act. 2.36.
That great ſhepherd] That feedeth his people daily and daintily with divine doctrine. Here's his Propheticall office.
Through the bloud] Here's his Prieſtly office. And here we muſt begin, if we will reckon them right.
Verſe 21. In every good work, &c.] Works materially good, may never prove ſo formally and eventually: As when they are but externall, partiall, coactive, inconſtant, &c.
Verſe 22. Suffer the Word] Sharp though it be, and to the fleſh tireſome, yet ſuffer it. Better it is that the Vine ſhould bleed then die. But many are like the nettle, touch it never ſo gently, it will ſting you. Tange montes & fumigabunt. Offer to wake men out of their ſleep, and they will brawl, in that caſe with their beſt friends; yea though it be with them here, as once it was with thoſe that had the ſweating ſickneſſe, If they ſlept they died.
Verſe 23. Know ye that our brother] Good news ſhould be ſpred abroad, and are a fit matter for Chriſtian Epiſtles, as one well obſerveth from theſe words.
Verſe 24. Salute all them] This Epiſtle then was firſt read to the people, who are required to deliver the Apoſtles commends to their Miniſters: The Papiſts debarre the people, not of the Scriptures only, but of all books of the Reformed Religion: And for a terrour not to retain ſuch books prohibited I have ſeen (ſaith Sir Edwin Sands) in their printed inſtructions for confeſſion,Spec. …urop… the hearing or reading of books forbidden ſet in rank amongſt the ſins againſt the firſt Commandment.
They of Italy ſalute you] Few Saints there now: The Italians hold integrity for little better than ſillineſſe; they blaſpheme oftener then ſwear,S. Edw. Sands. they murther more then revile or ſlander. And yet even in Italy there are full four thouſand profeſſed Proteſtants. But their paucity and obſcurity (ſaith mine Authour) ſhall encloſe them in a Cipher.
Verſe 25. Grace be with you] See the Note on Philem. verſe 25.