Exposition of Jude, Exegesis of Jude · Verse 6 · Part 6
OBSERVATIONS.
1.Obſervat. 1. The beſt of created perfections are of themſelves defectible. Every excellency without the prop of divine preſervation, is but a weight, which tends to a fall. The angels in their innocency were but frail, without Gods ſuſtentation. Even grace it ſelf is but a creature, and therefore purely dependent. 'Tis not from its being and nature, but from the aſſiſtance of ſomething without it, that it's kept from annihilation; The ſtrongeſt is but a weakling, and can of himſelf neither ſtand nor go alone; let the leaſt degree of grace make thee thankfull, let not the greateſt make thee proud. Hee that ſtands, ſhould take heed leſt he fall. 1 Cor. 10.12.What becomes of the ſtream, if the fountain ſupply it not? what continuance hath the reflection in the glaſs, if the man who looks into it turn away his face? The conſtant ſupplies of the ſpirit of Jeſus Chriſt are the food, the fuel of all our graces; The beſt men ſhew themſelves but men, if God leave them; He who hath ſet them up, muſt alſo keep them up. Its ſafer to be humble with one talent, then proud with ten: yea better to be a humble worm, than a proud angel.
2. Nothing is ſo truly baſe and vile as ſin. Obſervat. 2.'Tis that which hath no proper being, and is below the loweſt of all creatures; It's very nature ſtands in the defection of nature, and privation of goodneſſe; what is it but the deflowring and fall, the halting and deformity of the creature? So obſcure is its extract, that there can be no being properly aſſigned to it, as its originall cauſe. It came not from nature as it was, but as it was of nothing. Sin alone debaſeth and diſennobleth nature: What prodigious folly is it to be patient under it, much more to be proud of it? what generous princely ſpirit can contentedly be a ſervant of ſervants? A ſlave to ſin is guilty of a more unſutable condeſcention; ſin alone is the ſouls degradation. We never go below our ſelves, but in ſinning againſt God. Omnis elongatio ab altiſſimo eſt deſcenſio. Pariſienſ.They who glory in ſin, glory in their ſhame; they who are aſhamed of holineſſe, are aſhamed of their glory. Sin removes from the higheſt, and therefore it muſt needs be a deſcending.
3.Obſerv. 3. In defection from God, there is an imitation of the divel. He was the firſt who left his firſt eſtate. Every backſlider followes Satan, though every one goeth not ſo farre as hee; all decayes in holineſſe are ſteps towards his condition; Satans chiefeſt induſtry is to pull others after him; he loves to have followers, and not to be ſinfull and miſerable alone; if he can make men to decline in grace, Luk. 22.31.he can be contented to let them thrive in the world; he cares for no plunder but that of jewels: and being the greateſt enemy, he ſtudies to deprive us of our greateſt happineſſe. Chriſtians! of all decayes, take heed of thoſe that are ſpirituall. Better to loſe thy gold, then to loſe thy God; to be turned out of thy houſe, then to part with holineſſe and heaven. He that loſeth all the comforts in the world, can but be a beggar; but he who forſakes God, becomes a divell. Of this largely before.
4.Obſerv. 4. 'Tis hard to be high, and not to be high-minded, to be adorn'd with any excellencies, and not unduly to reflect upon them. Its a naturall evill to make our ſelves the centers of our own perfections, 2 King. 18.33, 34, 45. Rom. 10.3. Phil. 3.6, 9. Ezek. 38.2, 6.to ſtay and reſt in our excellencies. Men of power are apt to deify their owne ſtrength; men of morality to advance their own righteouſneſſe, and to rely on their merits; men of wiſdome to ſet up their own reaſon. How juſt is it with God to hinder the creature from inchroaching upon his owne prerogative; to make thoſe low, Humiliatio humilitatis mater, Pſal. 9.19, 20.who otherwiſe would not be lowly; and to let them know that they are but men? God ſingles out ſuch to be the moſt notable monuments of his juſtice, and their own folly, who vie with him in divine prerogatives. Act. 12.23.If God hath appointed that we ſhould go out of our ſelves unto things below for a vitall ſubſiſtence, to bread for food, to clothes for warmth, &c. much more will he have us to go out of our ſelves for a bleſſed and happy ſubſiſtence; more being required unto bleſſedneſſe then unto life. Pſal. 10.14. Zeph. 3.12. Hoſ. 2.7.It's the poor who commits himſelfe to God: Nothing will make us ſeek for help above our ſelves, without an apprehenſion of weakneſſe in our ſelves. The vine, the ivine, the hop, the woodbind, are taught by nature to cling and to wind about ſtronger trees. Men commit themſelves to the ſea naked, and do not load themſelves with gold, treaſure, and rich apparel. How fearfull ſhould poor worms be of that ſin, which God allowed not in angels, and whereby they became divels! Let us be cloathed with humility, 1 Pet. 5.5. The adorned with this grace, are only meet to attend upon the King of Glory; Quis ſicut Deus.even an Archangel, Michael, hath humility imprinted on his name; Humility is the ornament of angels, and pride the deformity of divels; If heaven will not keep a proud angel, it will keep out a proud ſoul. In all conditions of highneſſe, we ſhould take heed of highmindedneſſe. As 1. in the highneſſe of worldly advancements; poverty and diſgrace are the food of humility; Riches and honour are the fuel of pride. I have read of a bird that is ſo light and feathery, that it alwayes flies with a ſtone in its mouth, leſt otherwiſe the winds ſhould carry it away. In high conditions we ſhall be carryed away with pride, unleſſe we carefully keep our hearts. David and Aſa were both lifted up in their outward greatneſſe: Its hard to walk in ſlippery places of proſperity, and not to ſlip by pride; we commonly moſt forget God and our ſelves when he remembers us moſt. 2. In the highneſſe of raiſed endowments, abilities and performances; Its ſaid of Nazianzen that he was high in his works, and lowly in his thoughts: a rare temper! our very graces and good works not ſeldome occaſion pride. I have heard of a man who having kill'd an Elephant with his weapon, was himſelfe kill'd with the fall thereof. And nothing is more ordinary than for high ſervices (poſſibly the conqueſt of ſome corruption or tentation) to uſher in that pride which may hurt the performers. Sciendo bona opera, neſciamus illa. Magna & rara virtus, manifeſtam omnibus, tuam te ſolum, latere ſanctitatem.We ſhould know our good works, as if we knew them not. It's a rare and noble temper, when that worth which all others obſerve, is only hid to him, in whom it is. How few are there who hide their beautifull endowments by humility, as Moſes's parents did their beautifull ſon for ſafety; and with Moſes, when hee ſpake with God, pull off their ſhoos, and hide their faces; Uncover and acknowledge the lowneſſe, the infirmities, and cover the beauty and comelineſſe of their ſervices! When Satan ſpreads our gifts and graces, let us ſpread our ſins, our weakneſſes before our eyes; and ſo the ſoul may have its ballaſt evenly proportioned, and on both ſides. There's no poyſon hurts ſo dangerouſly, although delightfully, as the contemplation of, and reflexion on our ſeeming deſervings. Scotus diſt. 6. q. 2. art. 2.Scotus calls the ſin of the angels Luxuriam ſpiritualem, a kind of ſpirituall luxury, whereby they were too much delighted in their own excellencies. Its only a Chriſtian of ſtrong grace, that can bear the ſtrong wine of his commendations without the ſpiritual intoxication of pride. Its as hard, humbly to hear thy ſelf praiſed, as it is patiently to hear thy ſelfe reproached. That Miniſter (of whom I have heard) was a rare example of humility, who being highly applauded for a ſermon preach'd in the Ʋniverſity, was by a narrow obſerver found weeping in his ſtudy (preſently after) for fear that he had ſought, or his auditors unduly beſtowed upon him applauſe. Lutb. pref. in Gen. Ridiculum eſt ſi anxius es quomodo honoraretur homo nondum creatus: tu es nihil. Nieremb. de ador. in ſpir.How heavenly was the temper of John the Baptiſt; when he ſaid, Chriſt ſhall increaſe, but I ſhall decreaſe! It was a good fear of Luther; namely, leſt the reading of his books, ſhould hinder people from reading the Scriptures. Would wee account our ſelves nothing (and indeed in our ſelves we are ſo) we ſhould think it as ridiculous a thing to be ſolicitous for our own, as for that mans honour who is not yet created.
5. The better the perſons are who become wicked, Obſerv. 5the more obſtinate they are in wickedneſſe. When angels fal into ſin, they continue in it with pertinacy; the hotteſt water cooled, becoms the coldeſt. They whoſe light of knowledg is moſt angelicall, ſin with higheſt reſolution, and ſtrongeſt oppoſition againſt the truth. The greater the weight of that thing is which falls, the more violent is its fall, and the greater is the difficulty to raiſe it up again. They who leave God notwithſtanding their clear light, are juſtly left by God to incurable darkneſſe. None ſhould ſo much tremble at ſin, as thoſe who are inlightned; obſtinacy is moſt like to follow their impiety. It may be impoſſible to recover them. Seducers (ſaith the Apoſtle) wax worſe and worſe, and do not only ſhew themſelves men in erring, but divels in perſevering. But of this before.Ver. 4.
6. The happineſſe of beleevers by Chriſt, Obſerv. 6. Eſt in nobis per hanc Dei gratiam in bono recipiendo & perſeveranter tenendo, non ſolum poſſe quod volumus, verum etiam velle quod poſſumus. Aug. de cor. & gra c. 11. 1 Pet. 1.5. 1 Pet. ult. 10.is greater than that of Angels meerly as in the ſtate of nature. Theſe had a power to ſtand, or fall; we by Chriſt have a power whereby we ſhall ſtand and never fall. By creation the creature had a power, either to abide with God, or to depart from him; But by Regeneration, that fear of God is put into the hearts of his people, whereby they ſhall not depart from God. Jer. 32.40. And this power of not falling, is in them indeed, but not from them. The faithfull are kept by the power of God, through faith, unto ſalvation. They are ſtabliſh'd, ſetled, ſtrengthned. Created will, hath a power to will to preſevere in that which is good, Prima gratia data primo Adamo, eſt quâ fit ut habeat homo juſtitiam, ſi velit; ſed gratia potentiae eſt in ſecundo Adamo, quâ fit ut velit, tantóque ardore diligat, ut carnis voluntatem contraria concupiſcentem, voluntate ſpiritus vincat. Auguſt. de Cor. & gra. c. 12.but it hath not the will it ſelfe, to preſevere, neither the act of preſeverance, as the regenerate will hath. Of this before, p. 64, 65. 83, 84, 85, &c. 72, 73.
Thus far of the ſift part of this verſe, viz. the defection of theſe angels. The ſecond followes, namely, their puniſhment; and herein firſt, that of the priſon is conſiderable; which is twofold. 1. Everlaſting chains. 2. Darkneſſe.