Exposition of Jude, Exegesis of Jude · Verse 4 · Part 3
EXPLICATION.
The title given to Chriſt is foreign, Lord.
foreign is a word betokening a private right to rule; Herile Imperium.ſuch as is exerciſed in the guiding and governing of a family, and it moſt properly ſignifieth a Master, Ruler, or governour over ſervants, who are bound to him. And ſuch a Lord and ruler is Chriſt; whether we conſider,
1 His Title to this rule and dominion.
2 His exerciſe of this rule and dominion.
1. His Title to it: And a title hee hath to it,
1. By a right of Creation, Joh. 1.3. All things were made by him, and without him was nothing made, that was made. Col. 1.16. by him were all things created. And this his Creation of all things the Apoſtle makes the argument of his dominion, 1 Cor. 8.6. To us there is but one Lord Jeſus Chriſt, by whom are all things, and wee by him.
2.Joh. 5.17. Sicut vaſis beneficio, potiùs quàm ſuâ naturâ accidit, ne percat aqua diffluendo; ſic Deus in ſe creaturae labilitatem continet, ita ut ejus actione conſervetur, ne pereat in nihilum recidendo. Gerſ. de vit. ſpir. lec. 1. Joh. 17.6. Pſal. 2.8. Mat. 28.18. Col. 1.15. Joh. 3.35. Act. 10.42. Of ſuſtentation and preſervation: Col. 1.17. By him all things conſiſt. If he withdraw his divine power and manutenency, they all fall into nothing; Hee is a being by his owne nature, but all others have their beings by their participation of eſſence from him, and his continuation of that action whereby hee gave them being. Heb. 1.3. He upholding all things by the word of his power.
3. By a right of ordination, deſignation, and appointment from God: Act. 2.36. God hath made him Lord and Chriſt. God hath given his elect to Chriſt, that he ſhould be their Lord and head: that they ſhould be his poſſeſſion. God hath given him power over all fleſh: he hath the right and prerogative of the firſt born, to be the Lord of all. God hath given all things into his hand: he hath ordained him to be judg, he hath appointed him over his own houſe, Heb 3.2.6.
4. By a right of unction, and reception of that furniſhment and fulneſſe of the ſpirit of grace, whereby hee was abundantly meet to be the Head and Lord of his Church. He had as much of grace as there was of grace. All fulneſſe dwelt in him; Col. 1.19.and hee received not the ſpirit by meaſure. Hee had not the fulneſſe of the veſſell, but of the fountain; all others had only a meaſured fulneſs, Luk. 1.15. Act. 7.55. 1 Cor. 12.11. 1 Joh. 16. Iſa 61.1. Luk. 1.74, 75. Tit. 2.14. 1 Pet. 1.19. 2 Pet. 2.19. Rom. 14.7.8and for themſelves; Chriſt had a fulneſs of redundancy for the whole Church.
5. By a right of redemption. Hee is our Lord, becauſe hee hath delivered us from the hands of our Enemies; and when we were bond-ſlaves to ſin, Satan, and death, paid our ranſome. The ranſomer of a bondſlave was wont to be his Lord. No bondage ſo great as ours was, no price ſo great as that which Chriſt paid; and therefore no ſervice ſo great as that which we owe.
6. Laſtly, by right of Covenant he is the Lord of Chriſtians. Wee promiſe to take him for our Lord, both, 1. By a marriage Covenant: ſo we take him for our head, guide, governour and protector. And 2. By a Covenant of hiring, and binding out our ſelves to his ſervice; not only baptiſmally and viſibly, but by an effectuall and ſaving reſignation of our ſelves to all the works of new obedience.
2. Chriſt is a Lord, if we conſider his exerciſe of Dominion: And this he puts forth,
1. By giving Laws to binde his ſervants to obedience. None but Chriſt can give lawes; and there are none of Chriſts ſervants but receive lawes from him. OnelyOnly Chriſt can ordain lawes to binde the conſcience; Mans lawes binde not as they are man's, but as they are back'd by Chriſt, nor can any beſide Chriſt ſo give lawes to which we ſhould be obedient, as withall to make us obedient to the lawes which he gives. Humane lawes can make men cover ſinne, but not make them caſt off ſinne. Chriſt onelyonly can write his lawes in the heart: Nor are there any ſervants of Chriſt, but ſo far forth as they are ſuch, receive lawes from him. Chriſts ſervants are no ſons of Belial. Every one muſt have a yoke upon him, though it be made by the ſpirit ſweet and eaſie. By becoming ſervants of Chriſt, we do not caſt off, but only change our yokes.
2.Eph. 4.11, 12 Chriſt exerciſeth his dominion, by appointing officers in his houſe. Theſe he furniſheth with gifts ſutable to their places: He makes them able Miniſters, and appoints them to be his Stewards, 2 Cor. 3.6. 1 Cor. 4.1. Luk. 12.42to diſtribute to every one in his family, their due proportion, by way of feeding and governing. The carriage of theſe Stewards is not arbitrary, but appointed. They are all accountable to their Lord, for, and from whom they rule.
3. By finding his family with all neceſſaries for body and ſoul. Pſal. 23.1. Pſal. 84.11His ſervants ſhall want no good thing. They ſhall neither pine for want, nor ſurfet with abundance; they ſhall never have ſo much or ſo little, as to make them unfit for ſervice. Chriſt loves to keep them in working caſe. Even of outward neceſſaries they ſhall have what they want, if not what they would: Chriſt gives them all things that pertain to life and godlineſſe; he encourageth them, 2 Pet. 1.1, 4.he aſſiſteth them in their work; he gives them exceeding great and precious promiſes; hee feeds them with his own fleſh and blood, 2 Pet. 1.4.he cloathes them with his own righteouſneſſe, he directs them with his own ſpirit.
4. By protecting his family from all dangers. There's no ſafety but in Chriſts family; never are his ſervants in danger but when they go out of it. 1. Sam 2.9He is the keeper of his Iſrael peculiarly. Though he ſometimes ſuffers evils to touch, Pſal. 105.14, 15.he never ſuffers evils to hurt them; he viſits them in, and delivers from all their troubles, he ſuffers not Kings to hurt any of his ſervants. He takes the wrongs offered to his ſervants, as offered to himſelfe.
5.1 Pet. 4.17. By correcting it for its miſcarriages. Judgment commonly begins at the houſe of the Lord. His ſervants are ſafe, but muſt not be ſecure; he ſuffers the world to do that which he will not endure in his own family. His ſervants will never be faithfull to him, nor find him faithfull to them, if he did not ſometimes chaſtiſe them. He judgeth them, 1 Cor. 11.32.that they may not be condemned with the world. And whenſoever the chides, he doth it not becauſe he loves it, but becauſe they want it.
6. By rewarding every ſervant according to his ſervice. He is indeed the only Lord, but he hath ſundry ſorts of ſervants. He is a good maſter; but moſt that call themſelves his ſervants, are unprofitable, and only titular and complementall, wearing his badg, but refuſing his, work: uſing the name of the Lord, and crying Lord, Lord; but ſhunning the rule of their Lord. The reward of theſe, is, to be caſt into utter darkneſſe, Mat. 25.30. who heretofore were unprofitable under light. His good and faithfull ſervants ſhall be rewarded with the joy of their Lord, even the preſence of him whom they ſerved faithfully in his abſence. Mat. 25.21.Their labour of love ſhall not be forgotten by Chriſt; but all their former toyl ſhall bee forgotten. Their work, though never ſo great, is but ſmall to their wages; nor is the weight of their labours, comparable to that of their crown; Jeſus Chriſt will pay them for every work which they have forgotten. Their ſervices are all book'd. He who formerly gave them abilities to work, will now give them a recompence for working.
2. In what reſpect is Chriſt called Only Lord?
1. Not to exclude the Father and the Holy Ghoſt, 2d Branch of Explicat.to whom with the Son, all outward works are common: and frequently to the whole Trinity of Perſons is this name of foreign, or Lord, given in Scripture, Act. 4.24. Rev. 6.10. God the Father, Joh. 17.3. is called the only true God, not to exclude the Son: and God the Son is called the only Lord, not to exclude the Father, who is repreſented in the naturall glory of the Deity, as the Son in the voluntary office of a Mediatour.
But ſecondly, in reſpect of all creatures is Chriſt called only Lord, 1 Cor. 8.6. One Lord Jeſus Chriſt, Eph. 4.5. One Lord, and that,
1. To exclude the partnerſhip of any other in the government with him. The rule is not ſhared between him and other Lords. In government he hath no copartner: He is Gods only Vice-gerent. There is no … ther name under heaven given among men. Act. 4.12. Mat. 28.18. Heb. 1.2. Iſai. 63.3. Iſai. 54.16.To him hath the Father committed all power in heaven and earth, as Pharaoh did ſet Joſeph over all the land of Egypt. God hath appointed him heir of all things. And as Chriſt had no co-adjutor in the work of redemption, ſo hath he no partner in the glory thereof.
2.1 Tim. 6.15. To note his ſuperiority and preheminency above all other Lords. In which reſpect he is called King of Kings and Lord of Lords: for,
1. He is the only abſolute Lord. All other Lords are ſubordinate to him, dependent on him, advanced by him, receive authority, lawes, gifts from him, are reſponſible for the uſe and abuſe of theſe to him, and are therefore puniſhable by him. The ſupreme of earthly Lords are, in reſpect of him, inferiour Lords.
2.Phil. 2.10. He is the onelyonly univerſall Lord. To him every knee muſt bow. The three kingdoms of heaven, earth and hell, never had any Lord but Chriſt; In the firſt of theſe he doth eminently ſhew his glory and beauty; in the ſecond his power of ruling and directing; in the third his ſtrength and ſeverity. Angels and glorified Saints in heaven; Saints, ſinners, and every creature on earth; the damned, and divels in hel, are all his ſubjects. He is Lord of all, Act. 10.36.
3.Pſal. 110.3. He is the only Lord for power and might. He is able to ſubdue all things to himſelfe, Philip. 3.21. and 1 Tim. 6.15. He is called the only Potentate: He made, and he can annihilate the world with one word. He can kill the ſoul, and throw both body and ſoul into hell. Happy we, that earthly Lords, though never ſo tyrannicall, cannot do this. He can ſubdue the hearts of men, even of his deadlieſt enemies, unto his love and obedience. Happy would earthly Monarchs think themſelves, if they could do thus. But he who only made, can only mend the heart.
4. Hee is the only Lord for majeſty and glory. All the glory of all the Caeſars, Emperours, Kings who ever were, combined in one heap, is but a black coal in compariſon of the ſplendor of his glory. Mat. 6.29.If Solomon in all his glory, was not arraied like the lillies of the field, how much leſſe was he like the Lord of the world. The glory of Agrippa and Bernice was but a great fanſie. Act. 25.23. foreign.How eaſie and often doth Chriſt ſtain the pride of the glory of the greateſt, and even cauſe ſhamefull ſpewing to be upon it. The glory of Kings is but a borrowed ray, or ſpark, from his Majeſty. When he ſhall appear in his glory, all the nightly glow-worms of worldly ſplendor ſhall be put out, and all worldly majeſty ſhall be exſtinguiſh'd. Nay, the pooreſt Saint ſhal appear with him in that glory, of which all the ſplendor of Emperours is not ſo much as a ſhadow.
5. He is the only Lord in reſpect of his deportment toward his ſervants. 1. He is the moſt diſcerning Lord and Maſter: no earthly Maſters are ſo able to obſerve the wayes and workes of their ſervants as he is; for the cloſeſt and ſubtileſt among them cannot deceive him; he ſpies them in every corner, nay every corner of their hearts in them. He now (in ſome ſort) is abſent, and yet he needs no informer, but knows what every ſervant doth in his abſence, and will manifeſt every ones work to all the world. His eyes are as a flame of fire, and clearer then ten thouſand Sunnes; Heb. 4.12.all things are naked and open before him. Exod. 3.7Nor doth he leſſe obſerve the wants and troubles, than the wayes and workes of his ſervants. He hath an eye therefore as pittying, as it is piercing. For 2. He is the moſt gracious Lord and Maſter. No Lord ever bought ſervants ſo dear, he having bought them from ſlavery by laying down his deareſt and moſt precious blood for them; (never ſuch a price!) He hath given not his mony, but himſelf for them. 2. No Lord ever fed his ſervants ſo highly and ſo plentifully. The ſervants of Chriſt have various and ſumptuous diſhes: Firſt the word, after that the Sacrament. The table of the Lord is furniſh'd with the body and blood of the Lord to nouriſh the ſervants, not only to labour, but alſo to eternall life. 3. No Lord ever clothed ſervants ſo ſumptuouſly: their garments are made of that web which was woven out of his own bowels; they put on the ſcarlet of his righteouſneſſe, and the merit of his death. The fine linnen of holineſſe and ſanctification, yea, the beautifull robes of glory and immortality, which they ſhall change for the filthy raggs of ſinne and mortality. 4. No Lord ever uſed his ſervants ſo gently and mercifully. He puts them only upon honourable, ſafe, comfortable imployments. He puts no more upon them than they can go through. He is not only their Lord and Maſter, but their helper and fellow worker; when they grow faint and weary, Phil. 4.13. Pſal. 25.4. & 5.9. Hab. 1.12.he ſtrengthens them; when doubtfull, he teacheth them; when ſlothfull, ſometimes indeed, he corrects them; yet not to kill, but quicken them; and not to deſtroy them, but their ſlothfulneſſe; when they are ſick, he pitties and ſpares them; when old, he turns them not out of his ſervice; but the longer they live in it, the more they love it, yea, the more able they are to perform it. In a word, when they die, he neither ſuffers them to lie ſtill, nor ſends them to ſeek another maſter; for then they change not their maſter for another, but their work for a better, or rather for their wages. For 5. No Maſter ever rewarded his ſervants ſo bountifully. As Chriſt gives more for, ſo more to his ſervants than any maſter. That happineſſe which Chriſt gives his ſervants in this life is unſpeakable; their work ſeems to have more of wages than work: but in the next life, their joy will be ſo great, as that it cannot ſo well be ſaid to enter into them, as they to enter into it. Mat. 25.21.For why? it is the joy of their Lord, whoſe boſome is the hive and center of all goodneſſe, and that in which all the ſcattered parcels of bleſſedneſſe are bundled up. Study, but yet expect not to underſtand either the comfort or condeſcenſion of that promiſe, made Luke 12.37. to the faithfull ſervants of Chriſt, He ſhall gird himſelfe, and make them ſit down to meat, and come forth and ſerve them. Lord! did I not think that the chear and the attendance were both one, I ſhould ſay, the attendance were infinitely better then the chear. Think what it is for Chriſt himſelf to ſerve at the table. What is it but infinite delight for the gueſts to have him ſet himſelfe to ſollace them, who is infinite, as in ſweetneſſe, ſo in knowledg, to make his ſweetneſſe pleaſe them? Nor will the dignity of thoſe ſervants be leſſe then their delight, who have majeſty it ſelf to ſerve them. Certainly, in heaven there ſhall be as many kings as ſubjects.
6. He is the only Lord, for the duration of his dominion: Of his government there ſhall be no end, Luke 1.33. He is the King immortall, 1 Tim. 1.17. He only hath immortality, 1 Tim. 6.16. To other Potentates, though they be called Gods, yet he who is the true God, ſaith, that they ſhall die like men, Pſal. 82.7. Of our twenty five Monarchs ſince the conqueſt, thirteen (taking in three who are thought to be poiſoned) are ſaid to have had violent and untimely deaths.Few earthly Monarchs there are whoſe lives are not tyrannicall, and their deaths untimely. Who ruling by the ſword, commonly die by it. And ſhould they eſcape the ponyards, the poyſons, the powder-plots, bullets, axes, which have ſwept away the moſt, one diſeaſe or other will lay all their glory in the duſt. In an evening, a midday, yea, perhaps a more early cloud ſhall be the ſunſet both of their lives and raigns. But Jeſus Chriſt is the ſame yeſterday, to day, and for ever; his throne is for ever and ever. Death it ſelf, the King of terrours, and the terrour. of kings is ſubdued by Jeſus Chriſt, and that not only ſo as it ſhall never touch him, but alſo never hurt any of his ſervants.