are many at this day who are true descendants of Cain and Tshmael; and, as long as there shall be an unconverted man upon earth, it will be found, that they, who are born after the flesh, will persecute those who are born after the Spirite. If they do not kill the saints, they will " revile them, and sepa- rate them from their company, and say all manner of evil against them falsely for Christ's sake." And are not such per- sons enemies to Christ? Yes; he considers himself as the real butt of their malice. Saul thought he was justly punishing some wild fanatics when he dragged the Christians to prison and to death ; but Jesus said to him, Saul, Saul, why per- secutest thou met ? And the prophet tells us that whosoever toucheth the Lord's people, toucheth the apple of his eyeg.]
The extreme enormity of their conduct appears in this,
II. That the hatred of Christ is, in fact, a hatred of the Father also —
Christ is essentially " one with the Father ;" and as " whosoever had seen Christ, had seen the Father," so, " whosoever hateth Christ must of necessity hate the Father also." But it is evident in other points of view that they hate the Father ; for they hate,
1. His authority —
[God commands all men to believe in his Son, to " kiss him" with holy reverence, and to honour him even as they honour the Father11. But the unequivocal language of those who comply not with his command is, " We will not have this man to reign over us ;" " Who is the Lord that we should obey him ? we know not the Lord, neither will we obey his voice." Whatever they may pretend, they are not deceived through unavoidable ignorance, or impelled by irresistible force to reject Christ ; they do it from a rooted aversion to the Father himself, and evince by their conduct the truth of that declaration, " The carnal mind is enmity against God ; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be1."]
2. His image —
[The word, the ordinances, and the people of God, all bear upon them the impression of God's holiness : and this is the very ground of that aversion which rises against them in the hearts of the ungodly. The Gospel is disliked as requiring so much purity and self-denial. The worship of God could be
e Gal. iv. 29. f Acts ix. 4. s Zech. ii. 8.
h Ps. ii. 12. John v. 23. 'l Rom. viii. 7.