170 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeR. 5.
bears, but they are posting to hell apace ; tarry but a little while, and God will ' tear them iu pieces, and there shall be none to deliver,' Ps. 1. Korah, Datlian, and Abiram were swallowed up quick. Num. xvi. ; the earth cleaves to receive them that made a cleft in the con- gregation : many act as tumultuously as they, and no doubt their day is coming. Lot's wife, whose heart hankered after her possessions, was turned into a pillar of salt for looking back, Gen. xix. They that revert, and, after they are embarked with Christ, run ashore again as soon as they see a storm a-coming, shall have their reward in due time.
Ohs. 2. The next thing which I observe in these instances is, the impartiality of divine justice ; for in all the examples brought, there are some circumstances upon which others would expect an exemp- tion from Avrath ; as the interest of the Israelites, they were God's own people ; the dignity of the angels, they were as it were fellows of God and courtiers of heaven ; the beauty and excellency of the country of Sodom : and in all the instances ye may observe the judgments fell on multitudes and societies, or collective bodies. All the murmuring Israelites, all the apostate angels, all the inhabitants of the four cities. Observe then — (1.) That no outward privilege can avail us in the day of wrath, and so God's justice knoweth no relations. He ' spared not Christ,' Rom. viii. 32 ; he * spared not the angels,' 2 Peter ii. 4 ; he spared not his people of Israel, &c. (2.) None have a privilege to sin, and therefore none are exempted from punishment ; the law includeth all, the son, the servant, them that sit on the throne, and those that grind at the mill, none have a license from heaven and a privilege to sin above others. (3.) Wicked men do not spare God, and therefore God doth not spare them. They abuse his justice, his mercy ; they spare not his glory, his laws ; and as they are im- partial in sinning, no restraints withhold them, so God is impartial in punishing.
Uses. Lean not then upon these reeds. When wrath maketh inqui- sition for sinners, outward privileges are of no use ; it is happy for them alone that are ' found in Christ,' Phil. iii. The avenger of blood had nothing to do with the manslayer in the city of refuge ; when God is about to strike, none but Christ can hold the blow. See the vanity of other things. (1.) Outward profession is nothing, your ' circum- cision becometh uncircumcision,' God disclaimeth interest in a sinful people : ' Thy people which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt,' saith God to Moses, when they had corrupted themselves, in scorn and disdain, Exod. xxxii. 7. Thy people ; he will not own them for his sheep, Deut. xxxii. 5. (2.) No dignity can exempt us; the angels were cast down to places of darkness. Dignity doth not lessen but aggravate sin ; where much is given, much is owed, and much will be required : ' Tophet is prepared for kings, for princes is it prepared.' (3.) Not outward excellency, as the pleasant land of Sodom. The disciples thought 'the goodly buildings of the temple' would move Christ to pity, Luke xxi. 5, 6, but Christ telleth them, ' not one stone should be left upon another.' Saul was checked for sparing the best. Justice is not dazzled with outward splendour. The Lord threateneth to ' punish the dainty daughters of Zion with a scab,' Isa. iii. 17, &c.
VeR. 5.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 171
(4.) Not any society or multitudes of men. He ' spared not the old world,' 2 Peter ii. 5. No leac^ues and combinations can main- tain your cause against God : ' Though the wicked go hand in hand, they shall not escape unpunished,' Prov. xi. 21. Briars and thorns may be intricated, and enfolded one within another, but when a devouring flame cometh amongst them, they do not hinder but increase the burning. Universal evils are above man's punish- ment, but not God's. There is no safety in 'following a multi- tude to do evil.' So that nothing will serve as a fit screen to inter- pose between wrath and you, but only Christ.
Ohs. 3. I observe that, in all these instances there was some preceding mercy more or less. The angels had the dignity of their nature ; the Israelites had the testimony of God's presence, and were delivered out of Egypt ; the Sodomites had eternal i blessings, and the preaching of Lot, Gen. xix. 9. It is God's usual course to give a people a taste of his mercy ere he discover the power of his anger. Judgment is his last work : there is some mercy abused before it cometh, which doth abundantly clear God in the judgments that come upon the sons of men. Their ruin may be sad, but never undeserved. * God hath not left himself without a witness,' but we are left ' with- out excuse.'
Ohs. 4. Once more I observe, that in all these instances God had still a care to put a distinction between the just and the unjust ; the race of Israel was not destroyed, but only ' them that believed not.' The good angels were preserved, the bad only fell from their first estate. Sodom perished in the flames, but Lot escaped. When the multitude is so corrupt, that we know not how they shall be punished and the rest preserved, let us thiuk of these instances, let us refer it to God : ' He knoweth,' &c., 2 Peter ii. 9.