PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Complete Works of Thomas Manton — Volume 4
Thomas Manton · 310,631 words · 303 reading sections
Section 61
It hringeth forth ; that is, perfecteth sin, and bringeth it to effect within us, by a full consent and decree in the will ; and without us, by an actual execution. The one is the forming and cherishing in the womb after conception ; the other, as the birth and production. Sin ; that is, actual sin ; for the Papists g…
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JaS. I. 15.] UPON THE EFIBTLE OF JAMES. 101 then way, then seat ; and a^!:2:ain, first, lualh, then siaml, then sit. You see distinctly there tliree different terms for tire persons, tlie objects, the actions : first, men like wickedness, then they ivaUz in it, then are liahituated : first, men are luithdrawn into a w…
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Ohs. 3. What is conceived in the heart is usually brought forth in the life and conversation. ' Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin.' That is the reason why the apostle Peter directeth a Christian to spend the first care about the heart: 1 Peter ii. 11, 12, ' Abstain from fleshly lusts/ and then ' have you…
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1 Qu. ' Not equal '?— Ed. 2 q^^_ . ^yjn n^t be' ?— Ed. 3 David a Maudeu in Prefat. Comment, in Decalog. 104 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 15. an abomination to God, and hated by him, in scripture ; (2.) To which a Vce, or woe, is expressly denounced ; or (3.), Are distinctly said to be worthy of eternal death …
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Mi/ beloved brethren. — Dealing with them about an error, he dealeth with them very meekly, and therefore is the compellation so loving and sweet. This verso will afford some points. Obs. 1. It is not good to brand things with the name of error till we have proved them to be so. After he had disputed the matter with …
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Ohs. 3. Do not err; that is, do not mistake in this matter, because it is a hard thing to conceive liow God concurreth to the act, and not ^ See Usser de Eritauu. Eccl. riiinorfliis, p. 221. JaS. I. IG.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 107 to the evil of the act ; how he should bo the author of all things, and not the au…
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Obs. 5. From that my beloved brethren. Gentle dealing will best become dissuasives from error. One saith, we must speak to kings, ^rjixaa-L /3ua(TLvoi<;, with silken Avords. Certainly we had need to use much tcndei-ness to persons that differ from us, speak to them in silken words. Where the matter is like to displease…
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110 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 17. heavenly places,' because thence was their original, and there is their accomplishment. And (h'sccndefh or comeih doicn ; not ' falleth down,' to show (saith Aquinas) that we have not blessings by chance, but in the way of regular means. From the Father of lights ; that is…
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Ohs. 2. Whatever we have from above, we have it in the way of a gift. We have nothing but ' what we have received,' and what we have received we have received ' freely.' There is nothing in us that could oblige God to bestow it ; the favours of heaven are not set to sale. When God inviteth us to mercy, he doth not invi…
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^ Aug. lib. iv. contra Jul. JaS. I. 17.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 113 'the Fountain and Father of lights.' Thus Mat. v. 16, 'Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify,' not you, but ' your Father which is in heaven.' If you see a candle burn brightly and purely, remember it …
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3. Carry yourselves to him as unto an immutable good ; in the greatest change of things see him always the same : when there is little in the creature, there is as much in God as ever : Ps. cii. 26, 27, ' They shall perish, but thou shalt endure ; they shall all wax old as a garment: thou art the same for ever, and thy…
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116 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 18. be a first-fruits unto God and the Lamb:' these were the chiefest, Christ's own portion. So the church is called, Heb. xii. 23, ' tlie church of the first-born.' All the world are as common men ; the church are the Lord's. The points are these : — Obs. 1. That which engage…
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Obs. 2. That the calling of a soul to God is, as it were, a new beget- ting and regeneration. He ' begat us ; ' there must be a new framing and making, for all is out of order, and there is no active influence and concurrence of our will ; therefore grace is called, 2 Cor. v. 17, Katvr] KTlai<;, ' a new creation ; ' al…
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JaS. 1. 18. J UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 119 a good God be a good Father ? Tampater nemo, tarn plus nemo i — none can be so good and so much a father as he. 06s. 4. The ordinary means whereby God begetteth us is the gospel. He begat us ' by the word of truth : ' 1 Cor. iv. 15, 'I have be- gotten you in Jesus Christ, …
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Assents are of divers kinds ; some are very imperfect. There is conjecture, which is but a lighter inclination and propension of the mind to that which is only probable ; it may or may not be true. This is discerned by carelessness and disrespect towards things that are excellent ; men do but guess, and have but loose …
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2. Purity of precepts. In the Christian religion all moral duties are advanced and heightened to their greatest perfection : Ps. cxix. 96, ' The commandment is exceeding broad,' of a vast extent and latitude, comprising every motion, thought, and circumstance. The heathens contented themselves with a shadow of duty. Th…
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(1.) God and man must be brought together. Some of the wise 124 AX EXI'OSITION, -SVITU NOTES, [JaS. I. 18. heathens ])laccd hapi)iness in the nearest access and approacli to God that may be, as Plato for one ; and Coelius Khodiginus, saith Aristotle, delighted much in that verso of Homer where it is said that it woul…
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126 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 18. free, God makes his righteousness shine I'ortli, having received satis- faction from Christ. (3.) Comfort and duty are brought together. The end of all reli- gion is 2Lt anima sit suhjecta Deo et pacata sihi — that the soul may- be quiet in itself, and obedient to that whic…
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128 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 19. interests.^ All plonsures, hononrs, jn-ofits, are to be refused or received as they make us serviceable to the ^lor\' of God. Ver. 19. Wherefore, my beloved bretlircn, let every man he swift to hear, slow to speak, sloiu to icratli. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, (f-c. — …
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1. They are ignorant of the nature of grace, which always upon a taste longeth for more: Ps. Ixiii. 1, 2, 'I long to see thy power and glory, as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.' When the springs lie low, a little water cast in bringeth \\\) more : so, after a taste, grace longeth for more communion with God ; they w…
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^ Socrates S.Lolast., lib. ii., Eccles. Uiat, cap. 8. JaS. I. 19.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 131 meanest gifts. There may be gold in an earthen vessel. There is none too old, none too wise, none too high to be taught.^ Let every one. Ohs. 4. From that he swift, that is, ready. The commendation of duties is the read…
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2. It showeth how ready we should be to take all occasions to hear the word. If ministers must preach * in season and out of season,' a people are bound to hear. It is observed that a little before the French massacre Protestants were cloyed with the word ; and so it is now. Heretofore they would run far and near to en…
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1. It teacheth men not to adventure upon the preaching of the word till they have a good spiritual furniture, or are stored with a sufficiency of gifts. It is not for every one that can speak an hour to adventure upon the work of teaching. John was thirty years old when he preached first, Luke iii. 1. In the fifteenth …
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3. That we be not more forward to teach others than to learn our- selves. Many are hasty to speak, but backward to do, and can better master it and prescribe to others than practise themselves, which our apostle noteth: James iii. 1, 'My brethren, be not many masters;' that is, be not so forward to discipline others wh…
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^ Tacitus. JaS. I. 19.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 137 calleth it good. In such cases you should not storm and rage, hut give thanks, and say, as David to Ahigal, ' Blessed he the Lord that sent thee to meet me this day : ' bless God for meeting with you in the word. Obs. 8. That it is some cure of passion to delay …
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Obs. 1. From the context. The worst thing that we can bring to a religious controversy is anger. The context speaketh of anger occa- sioned by differences about the word. I J. sually no aftections are so out- rageous as those wliich are engaged in the quarrel of religion, for then JaS. I. 20.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF OAMK…
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Ohs. 4. The last note is more general, from the whole ver.se: that man's anger is usually evil and uiu'ighteous. Anger and passion is a sin with which the people of God are many times surprised, and too often do they swallow it without grief and remorse, out of a conceit partly that their anger is such as is lawful and…
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^ ' IT/joeta juec ^I'X?? ^as Kad' iaiToO 5ta,3oXdj i'iro<pepuv, &c.' — Basil ad Fratrcs m Ercmo. 142 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 20. and, like broken bones, are apt to roar with the least touch : it argueth much unniortifiedness to be so soon moved. Or, (2.) Immoderate, when it cxcecdeth the merits of the cau…
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1. Nothing maketh room for Satan more than wrath : Eph. iv. 26, 27, ' Be angry and sin not ;' and it followeth, ' Give not place to the devil ; ' as if the apostle had said, If you give place to wrath, you will give place to Satan, who will further and further close with you. When passions are neglected they are ripene…
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And receive. — A word often used for the appropriation of the word, nnd admitting the power of it into our hearts. Receive, that is, give it more way to come to you ; make more room fur it in your hearts. JaS. I. 21.] UPON THE El'ISTLE OF JAMES. 145 Thus it is cliarged upon them, 2 Thes. ii. 10, that ' they received …
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2. By way of direction. I cannot go out into all the severals of preparation, how the heart must be purged, faith exercised, repentance renewed, wants and weaknesses reviewed, God's gloiy considered, the nature, grounds, and ends of the ordinances weighed in our thoughts. Only, in the genei'al, so nmch preparation ther…
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' Arist. Khet. in Pass. od. 148 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I, 21. I see not, teach tliou me ; if I have done iniquity, I will do so no more.' Obs.5. From that word JiWnness. Sin is filtliiness ; it sullieth the glory and beauty of the soul, defaceth the image of God. This expression is often used, ' Filtliines…
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Obs. 8. The word must be received with all meekness. Christ was anointed to preach glad tidings to the meek, Isa. Ixi. 1. They have most right in the gospel. The main business will be to show what this meekness is. Consider its opposites. Since the fall graces are best known by their contraries. It excludeth three thin…
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^ Camer, lib. de notis verbi Dei. - ' Non periclitor dicere ipsas scripturoB ita dispositas esse, ut materiara subministra- rent hsereticia.' — Tertul, JaS. I. 21.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 151 it do not fall like seed on the stony jf^round, so as it cannot take root. You will know it thus: — (1.) If it be ingraft…
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Ver. 22, But be ye doers of the ivord, and not hearers only, deceiv- ing your own selves. This verse catcheth liold of tlie heel of the former. He had spoken of the fruit of the word, the .salvation of the soul ; that it may be obtained, he showelh that we should not only hear, but practise. But be ye doers of the ic…
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154 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 22. Prov. ii. 10, and serveth to better the life ; like children in tlic rickets, that have big heads but weak joints : this is the disease of this age. There is a great deal of curious knowledge, airy notions, but practical saving truths are antiquated and out of date. Seneca o…
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First, That you may build upon right principles: — (1.) It is good to ' hide the word in our hearts,' and to store the soul with sound knowledge, and that will always rise up against vain hopes ; as he that would get weeds destroyed must plant the ground with contrary seeds. When there is much knowledge, your own reins…
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Jas. I. 22.] UPON THE epistle of james. '^^)7 ficial and second report of conscience is deceitful and partial, when it hath been flattered or choked with some carnal sophisms and principles. 15ut the first and native report, which of a sndden pinch- eth like a stitch in the side, is trne and faithfnl. (2.) Wait upon t…
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* Whosoever cometh to me,' &c. They may approve of the good way, and applaud it : ' Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps that gave thee suck,' &c., Luke xi. 27, 28. They may hold out a great deal of glavering and false affection : Luke vi. 46, ' Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ?…
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160 AN EXPOSITION. WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 23, 24. selves ; it discovereth the liiddeii things of the lieart, all the deformi- ties of the soul : Mark iv. 22, ' There is nothing hidden that shall not be made manifest.' The word discovereth all things. Our sins are the spots which the law discovereth ; Christ's blood is t…
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Into the 'perfect law. — Some understand the moral law, in opposition to the ceremonial, as not being clear and full, and not able to justify, though men rested in the observances of it ; and not perfect, because not durable, and was not to remain for ever. Thus Heb. vii. 19, ' The law made nothing perfect, but only th…
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JaS. I. 25.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 163 Obs. 2. The gospel is a law. It is often invested with this title and appellation : Eom. viii. 2, ' The law of the Spirit of the life of Jesus Christ hath made us free from the law of sin and death.' The covenant of works is there called ' the law of sin and death/ because t…
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Obs. 4. That the gospel, or word of God, is a ' law of liberty.' As it is a perfect, so it is a free law. So it is in divers respects. (1.) Be- cause it teachebli the way to true liberty, and freedom from sin, wrath, death. Naturally we are under the law of sin and death, entangled with the yoke of our own corruptions,…
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4. We do it in a free state, in an estate of sonship, and well pleas- ' ' Domitrix gentium, et captiva vitiornm.' — A wj. dc Chit. Dei. - Chrysos. Horn. 19, in priorem Ep. ad Corinth. 166 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 25. ing;: Rom. viii. 15, ' Ye have not received the spirit of hondage again unto fear ; but a…
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Well, then, if we must abide in the word, then — (1.) Be sure to cherish good motions if they come upon your hearts : you are to abide therein : though the Spirit break in upon the soul of a sudden, let it not go so. Usually our religious pangs are but like a sudden flash of lightning into a dark place. (2.) Be careful…
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JaS. I. 26.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 169 were troubled about the death and resurrection of Christ, because they had forgotten what he had spoken to them in GaHlee, Luke xxiv. 6, 8. So when the Thessalonians were troubled at the growing of errors, and extremely shaken in their confidence, Paul saith, 2 Thes. ii. 5, …
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Reas. 2. Because of the natural proneness that is in us to offend with the tongue : censuring is a pleasing sin, extremely compliant with nature. How prepense the nature of man is to it I shall show you in the third chapter. Speech is the discovery of reason ; corruption soon runneth out that way. Well, then, watch ove…
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172 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 26. Jesuits, qui tlicologiam in caninam maledicentiam frcuififcrunt — that, like angry curs, cannot pass by one another witliout snarling. These reasons being premised, the opening ot tiic verse will be the more easy. If any man seemefh to he religious. — To himself or others,…
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Ohs. 4. From that this mans religion is vain. Pretended religion will be fruitless : shows are nullities with God. Of all things, a man cannot endure that his serious actions shall be in vain and to no purpose ; for there usually hope is more strong, and therefore the disappointment must needs be the more vexatious. Th…
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JaS. I. 27.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 175 To visit. — Under this word by a synecdoche are comprehended all duties of love. To visit, is to comfort them in their misery, to relieve them in their necessities ; and under this one kind of charity are com- prehended all duties to our nci^^hbour. Hie fatherless and the l…
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Ohs. 5. This charity to the poor must be jierformed as worship, out of respect to God. The apostle saith to visit the fatherless is 6pT]a- Keia, worship. A Christian hath a holy art of turning duties of the second .table into duties of the first ; and in respect to man, they worship God. So Heb. xiii. IG, 'To do good, …
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VOL. IV. M l78 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. I. 27. (2.) The lusts of the world, they stain the glory find deface the excel- lency of your natures : ' Corruption is in the world through lust,' 2 Peter i. 4. Your affections were made for higlier purposes than to be melted out in lusts. To love the pleasures of the …
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Have not the faith. — Faith is not taken strictly, but more generally for the profession of Christian religion, or the manifestations of the grace of Christ in the souls of his people. The meaning is, have not grace, have not religion, &c. Of our Lord Jesus Ohynst. — He doth not mean the personal faith of Christ, or, …
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Secondly, What is this particular offence which the apostle calleth ^ See C'iirtw. in Gen. xix. '11. JaS. II. 1.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 181 the ' having the faith of Christ in respect of persons,' which was the sin of those times ? 1 answer — (1.) In the general, their having too great a care of these differenc…
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' ' Turcicum imperium, quantum quantum est, mica est quam paterfamilias canibua projicit.' — Lutk. * ' Ut dominetur aliis prius servit ; curvatur obscquio ut honore donetur.' — Anibros. » Dr Jackson in his Treatise of Faith, part ii. c. '20, p. 457. JaS. II. 1.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 183 Herod and the Pharisees…
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' 'Cur non et me qiioque torque donas, et in^ignU Lujus orJinis inilitein creaa?' — Thuan. Hist. JaS. II. 2-4.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JAMES. 185 vile for God, 2 Sara. vi. 22. To a j^^racious spirit, nothing is base biik sin and ter^aver.sation ; disgrace itself is honourable, when it is endured for the Lord of glory. …
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conveniebant Christiani ut justis legibu.s tt arbitris domesticas vel politicas communesciuu litea dirimerent.' — Ilevar. in loc. ^ ' Nee sane, quantum arbitror, putandum est leve esse peccatum in personarum accep- tione habere fidem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, si illam distantiam sedendi ac standi ad honores ccclesia…
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Are ye not 2xirtial in yourselves? — This clause is severally ren- dered, because of the different significations of the word BiaKpidrJTe. Some turn it without an interrogation, thus, ' Ye were not judged in yourselves, but,' &c. ; as if the sense were — Though they were not judged themselves, yet they judged others by…
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1 ' Genetivus hie nou est objecti, sed attributi.' — Grot. 190 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [JaS. II. 2-4. no self-design in your respects ; be not swayed by a corrupt aim at advantage : this will make us take Egyptians for Israelites, and per- versely carry out our esteem. It chiefly concerneth ministers to mind this,…
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Ohs. 4. That this is an evil thought, that men are to be valued by their outward excellency. It is against the dispensation of God, who putteth the greatest glory upon those that are of least account and esteem in the world. It is against the nature of grace, whose glory is not sensible, obvious to the senses, but inwa…
965 wordsSource & rights
Public-domain historical edition (1870); OCR text from Internet Archive. OCR may contain scanning/transcription errors. Verify quotations against page images when precision matters.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.