Thirdly, Those that are at a stay had need look to themselves ; stunted trees cumber the ground, and they that go on in a dead, power- less course do hurt rather than good ; lukewarm profession is but the picture of religion, and painted things do not grow, but keep at the same pitch. If a man were a Christian in good earnest, could he be contented with the present weakness of his faith, imperfection of his knowledge, with this creeping, cold way of obedience ?
Ver. 3. Beloved, ivhen I gave all diligence to icrite to you of the common salvation, it loas needfid fur me to lurite to yon, and exhort you, that ye sJioidd earnestly contend for the faith tuhich luas once delivered to the saints.
The apostle, having dispatched the salutation, maketh way for the matter of the epistle. This verse is the preface to the whole, wherein he proposeth two things : —
1. The occasion of his writing.
2. The matter and drift of it.
1. The occasion of writing this epistle, which was double.
[1,] His earnestness in promoting their good, beloved, ivlien I gave diligence to lorite to you, of the common salvation.
[2.] The urgency of the present necessity, it luas needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you.
In assigning his earnestness and zeal for their good, you may take notice of three things, which I shall explain in their order,
(1st.) A compellation of their persons, aydTTTjroi, beloved, a term usual in the apostles' writings: the same word is used 1 Peter ii. 11, and there translated ' dearly beloved.' It noteth not only that alfec-
94 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeR. 3.
tion which by the law of nature we owe to one another, Eom. xiii. 8, nor that love which by the law of bounty and kindness we are bound to render to them that love us, Mat. v. 46, but that singular love which we owe to them that are one with us in Christ, which is always expressed by dydTrrj in scripture, and we sometimes translate it charity, often love; the Rhemists always charity, whose tenderness in this point (as one observeth) is not altogether to be disallowed, lest it be confounded with common and impure love, expressed by epw^ ; and charity, being a church word, is wholly free from such indifferency and equivocation : so here, instead of beloved, they render my dearest, which fitly noteth the tenderness and bowels that are in Christian afi'ection,
JDoct. From this compellation observe, that Christians should be to each other as beloved ; such dearness and entireness of affection should pass between them, that they may entitle one another to their bowels and choicer respects.
The reasons are these : —
1. None can have better grounds to love another. They are mem- bers of the same body, 1 Cor. xii. Brothers born of the same womb, living in the same family, have defaced all the feelings of nature, and been divided in interest and affection. But surely no such schism can happen in the same body. Who would use an arm to cut off a leg, or a hand to scratch out the eyes ? ' Members care for one another.' Now this is the relation which Christ hath left us ; he hath not only called us into a family, but into a body, Col. iii. 15. See the same pressed, together with many other uniting considerations, Eph. iv. 4-6, ' There is one body, one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.' Let us a little go over that place. The first engagement is 07ie body; they are wens and monstrous excrescences, not members, that suck all the nourishment to themselves. Again, one member lacking, or out of joint, is a pain and deformity to the whole. The next engagement is one Spirit, which in all other relations can only be had in fancy and imagination. Friends speak as if they lived by one common soul, but here it is so really ; all believers have the same Spirit. I say in other relations, even in the nearest, every one is acted by his own soul ; but here ' by one Spirit we are baptized into one body,' 1 Cor. xii. 13. What should divide us when we have the same Spirit ? We have not all the same measures, and that occasioneth some difference ; as the soul showeth itself in some members more than in others, though it acteth all ; but the S2)irit is the same. The next consideration is one hope. Shall not the same earth contain those that expect to live in the same heaven ? Luther and Zuinglius, Cranmer and Hooper, Eidley and Saunders, shall all accord "for ever in heaven ; and cer- tainly it is through the relics of the flesh that they cannot accord here. In other relations there may be divisions, because they have different liopes, and it may be hopes that entrench and encroach upon the good of each other ; but here you have one heaven and one hope ; it is all for you : there may be a difference in the degree of glory, but none to provoke pride or feed envy. How will bitter and keen spirits look