Commentary on the Epistles and Revelation of John, Commentary 2 · Chapter 2
CHAP. II. Verſe 1. Not with excellency]
SAint Pauls ſpeech was ne que lict…, ne que negl. cta. neither curious nor careleſſe. Politian could ſay, that it is an ornament to an Epiſtle to be without ornaments. And yet he had ſo little grace as to prefer Pindars Odes before Davids Pſalms. Hoſius alſo the C…dinal, thought Davids Pſalms unlearned, applying that, Scribrmus indoct… docti que pocm…ta paſſim. Os durum! The holy Scriptures have a grave eloquence, but want thoſe pompous and painted words, that carnall rhetoricians hunt after.
Verſe 2. To know any thing] To profeſſe or teach any other skill. All the wiſdom of a man is in this one thing, ſaith Lactartius, Ʋt Christum cognoſcat & colat, That he know and worſhip Chriſt. Hoc nostrum dogma, haec ſententia eſt, &c.Lactan. li… 3. cap. 30.
Verſe 3. In weakneſſe] In miſery, and in a mean condition, labouring with his hands, &c. Act. 18.3.
And in fear] Of adverſaries, or through care of diſcharging my duty amongſt you.
Verſe 4. With entiſing words] Religion is not a matter of parts, words or wit. The devil cares not for the ſons of Sceva's adjurations. Abanah and Pharphar may ſcour, but Jord…n only can cure. Gods holy things muſt be handled, Sanctè magis quam ſcitè, with fear and reverence, rather then with wit and dalliance.
In demonſtration of the ſpirit] With demonſtrations fetcht out of the very marrow of the Scriptures. It muſt be an elaborate ſpeech that ſhall work upon the conſcience.
Verſe 5. That your faith, &c.] A humane teſtimony can breed but a humane faith. Aarons bels were of pure gold; our whole preaching muſt be Scripture-proof, or it will burn, and none be the better for it.
In the power of God] In the Goſpel that lodgeth a certainty in the ſoul.
Verſe 6. Wiſdome among the perfect] Or thoſe that are grown to maturity. Some think the Apoſtle borroweth this tearm from the Pagans ſuperſtition, who admitted none to their moſt ſecret Ceremonies, but only perſons well prepared and purified for many years.
Yet not the wiſdome, &c.] Which is like the labour of Moles, that dig dexterouſly under ground, but are blinde above ground.
That come to nought] That are tumbled into hell with all their learning, which doth but light them into utter darkneſſe.Nos cum doctrinis noſtris, &c. Aug.
Verſe 7. Wiſdome of God in a myſtery] Whiles God did not divide himſelf into a mercifull Father, and a juſt Judge (as Valerius ſpeaketh of Zaleucus) but declared himſelf to be both a perfectly mercifull Father, and withall a perfectly juſt Judge; which was ſuch an act of wiſdom as the world never heard of. This is that great myſtery of godlines, 1 Tim. 3.16.
Verſe 8. Which none of the Princes] He calleth the Phariſees and Philoſophers Princes, for their learning; as being himſelf a ſcholar. Only he might well have ſaid of them, as Tuliy of others in another caſe, Mihi quidem nulli ſatis eruditi videntur, quibus noſtra ſunt ignota. I cannot take them for ſcholars,Cic de Poet… Latinu. that partake not of our learning.
None of the Princes of this world knew] Becauſe their learning hung in their light. So it fared with Vſpian the chief Lawyer, Galen the chief Phyſitian, Porphyry the chiefeſt Aristotelian; and Plotinus the chief Plaioniſt, who were profeſt enemies to Chriſt and his truth. So was Libanius and Lucian the chief ſcholars of their time. None miſcarry oftner then men of greateſt parts. None are ſo deep in hell as thoſe that are moſt knowing. They ſee no more into the myſtery of Chriſt, then illiterate men do into the profound points of Aſtronomy. As a man may look on a trade and never ſee the myſtery of it: or he may look on the letter, and never underſtand the ſenſe: ſo here.
Verſe 9. Eye hath not ſeen, &c.] It is reported of one Adrianus, that ſeeing the Martyrs ſuffer ſuch grievous things, he asked the cauſe, one of them anſwered, Eye hath not ſeen, nor ear heard, neither have entred into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. The naming of which Text ſo wrought upon him, that afterward he became a Martyr.
The things which God hath prepared] As he prepared Paradiſe for Adam; ſo heaven for all his. Yet he reſerves not all for the life to come, but gives a few grapes of Canaan in this wilderneſſe.
Verſe 10. But God hath revealed] The Chineſes uſe to ſay of themſelves,D…ſcrip. of the world, Chap. of China and Cathaia. That all other Nations of the world ſee but with one eye, they only with two. This is moſt true of the naturall man compared to the ſpirituall.
Verſe 11. Save the Spirit, &c.] Man knows his inward thoughts, purpoſes and deſires; but the frame and diſpoſition of his own heart he knows not, Jer. 17.9.
Knoweth no man] How can he that cannot tell the form and quinteſſence, that cannot enter into the depth of the flowers or the graſſe he treads on, have the wit to enter into the deep things of God, hid from Angels till the diſcovery, and ſince that, they are ſtudents in it?
But the Spirit of God] With this heifer of his therefore we muſt plow, if we will ever underſtand his riddles.
Verſe 12. Not the ſpirit of the world] The world lieth down in that unclean one, and is under the power and vaſſallage of that ſpirit that worketh in the children of diſobedience, as a Smith in his forge, 1 Joh. 5.19. Epheſ. 2.2. It is wholly ſet upon wickedneſſe, as Aaron ſaith of the people, Exod. 32.22.
That we might know] A ſweet mercy; The Cormorants of the world will not let their heirs know what they will do for them, till they die. But God aſſures his of heaven afore-hand. Thus we have not received the ſpirit of this world: we cannot ſhift and plot as they can; but we have received a better thing, and have no reaſon to repine.
Verſe 13. But which the holy Ghost teacheth] So that not the matter only, but words alſo of holy Scripture are dictated by the Spirit, and are therefore to be had in higher eſtimation, 2 Pet. 1.21.
Comparing] Or coapting,foreign. fitting ſpirituall words to ſpirituall matters, that all may ſavour of the Spirit.
Verſe 14. But the naturall man] The meer Animal, foreign.that hath no more then a reaſonalbe ſoul, and naturall abilities, Iude 19. Such was that ſapleſſe fellow, Pſal. 14.1. that may have a diſciplinary knowledge, that is, by hear-ſay, as a blinde man hath of colours, but not an intuitive per speciem propriam. The water riſeth no higher, then the ſpring whence it came: So naturall men can aſcend no higher then nature. If the unreaſonable creatures could draw a picture of God, ſaid Xenophanes, they would certainly paint him like themſelves, Quià ſcilicet nihil animal animàli ſuperius cogitare potest, becauſe they can think of nothing above themſelves.
Neither can he know them] They that are blear-eyed and weak-ſighted, if at any time they ſet themſelves to ſee better into a thing, they ſee the worſe: So here. Nay more,Vives in Aug. de civ Dei. l. 22. cap. 6. in our nature there is an antipathy to divine truth. We love the law better then the Goſpel, and any truth better then the law.
Becauſe they are ſpiritually] Ambroſe reads, Becauſe he is spiritually judged, being delivered up to a reprobate ſenſe. But the other reading is be…t ….
Verſe 15. Iudgeth all things] By his ſpirit of diſcerning, 1 Cor. 14. his ſpirituall ſenſes exerciſed to diſcern good and evil, Heb. 5.14. his undoubted perſwaſion of that truth he profeſſeth, Coloſ. 2.3. and whereof he hath fel… the ſweetneſſe, Coloſ. 1.9.
Is judged of no man] Of no naturall man, who can judge no more of divine truths then a blinde man can do of colours, or a ſick man of meats. And herein the pooreſt Idiot (ſaith one) being a ſound Chriſtian goeth beyond the profoundeſt Clarks that are not ſanctified, that he hath his own heart in ſtead of a Commentary, to help to underſtand even the moſt needfull points of the Scripture.
Verſe 16. But we have the minde of Chriſt] This is a priviledge confined to the communion of Saints, to have communication of Chriſts ſecrets, to be as it were of his Court and Councel. One ſaith of Dr Sibbs. That he was a man ſpiritually rationall, and rationally ſpirituall, one that ſeemed to ſee the inſides of nature and grace, and the world and heaven, by thoſe perfect anatomies he had made of them all.