Ohs. 6. That seducers are apt to insinuate with great persons and men of power and interest, that having their ear and countenance, they may engage them against the truth. Having not truth of their side, they use the more craft ; as the ivy, not being able to support itself,
^ Nashati panecha, — the word signifieth, ' I have accepted thy face,' or 'lifted up thy face ; ' the Septuagint renders idav/xaffa t6 Trp6ffuiroi>, ' See, 1 have accepted thee cou- cerning this thing.'
2 Dr Jackson in his ' Treatise of Faith.'
320 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeR. 17.
twineth about the oak till it fiucketh out its heart. God's messengers cany it more opeul}^ and with a single plainness ; see 2 Cor. i. 12, Creepers and fawning parasites do but draw a suspicion upon them- selves. Surely God's cause is able to stand upon its own legs, and needeth not the support of so base an artifice.
Quest. But is it not lawful to use some prudence in this kind, and to insinuate with great men for the advantage of a good cause ?
Ans. To be over solicitous in this kind argueth distrust of God's providence, and draweth suspicion upon the way wdiich we would needs maintain: that matter is not very combustible where men blow so hard. What favour cometli in the fair way of God's provi- dence we may accept : ' All men seek the ruler's face, but every man's judgment is of the Lord ; ' and what may be gotten by honest, open, and lawful means, as by humble addresses, and the magnetic virtue of truth itself, and the holiness of them that maintain it, may be sought after. Thus the apostles dealt with the rulers and great ones, to gain their respect to Christianity, that they might with less prejudice in- sinuate the truth to the people, Acts xviii. 8, and xix. 31. ' Some of the chief of Asia ' were friends to Paul. But, now, when this respect is to be gotten by clancular and dishonest arts, and cannot be kept without flattering them in their sins, or compliance with their lusts and carnal designs, and men stretch their consciences, and make it their business to humour those that they may advance them, and trample upon all that may be called right and honesty to accomplish their ends, and magnify those whom they would have scorned if their station had not been so high, — this is to 'have men's persons in admiration for advantage.'
Ohs. 7. Usually men of a false way in religion admire those of their own party above others of known worth and integrity. This is one part of the sense. All of their own way they accounted Gnostics, that is, knowing persons ; as if others, how much soever owned by God, as having the stamp and impress of gifts and graces u])on them, were not to be compared with them. This is the genius of all sec- taries : illic ipsum esse est promereri, saith Tertullian, it is religion enough to be one of them.
Ver. 17. But, beloved, remember ye the words ivhich ivere spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Having described these seducers, he exhorteth those to wdiom he wrote to beware of them, alleging the warning of the apostles, to show that not only Enoch, who might be supposed to speak of the wicked men of his own time, but the apostles, who expressly spake of the present age, foretold that scoffers and sons of Belial should arise in the church.
There is nothing difficult in this verse, only a doubt is to be dis- cussed. Doth not this passage yield an argument against the autho- rity of this epistle ? He speaketh of ' apostles,' and of ' words spoken before' by them, pijfidrcov rwv TrpoeLprj/xevcov, as if he were of an inferior orb, and w^ritten long after their publication of the word. I answer — No. For (1.) Peter maketh mention of the epistles of Paul, yet it doth not weaken his authority, 2 Peter iii. 15, 16. (2.) In the x^lace
VeR. 17.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 321
exactly parallel to this, 2 Peter iii. 2, 3, that apostle citeth other writ- ings, yet avoweth his apostolical authority, ' Be mindful of the words spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of Jesus Christ/ (3.) This term, before spoken of, only showeth that he wrote late, when either the apostles were dead, or their writings were common in the church.
But why doth he quote the words of the apostles, neither urging his own authority, nor including himself, as Peter doth ? I answer — (1.) Partly out of modesty, to point at the place whence he had taken these things, and to show that he was not ashamed to use and allege the writings of his fellow apostles. (2.) To declare their mutual con- sent : ' In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.' (3.) His own authority is employed in vouching theirs, and before expressed, when he calleth himself ' the brother of James.'
Notes from this verse are these : —
Ohs. 1. From that beloved ; which compellation is used to note his affection in this writing: the like is used by Peter, 2 Peter iii. 1, ' Beloved, I thought meet,' &c. When we declaim against errors, we should do it out of love and a tender respect to the good of souls. In all contests we had need watch our own hearts. People suspect us to act out of peevishness and sinister affections, to serve a sect and party, and our engagement to be fixction, not zeal ; therefore, be the more careful that the flame be pure ; incense must not be kindled with strange fire, nor zealous engagements arise from a carnal impulse.