20 And 4 the God of pcace e ſhall |} * bruiſe f Satan jOr,vread under your feet ſhortly. The grace ot our Loid Jelus * Gen. 3. Chriſt 5e with you 4. Amen. r5.
dq. d, And to encourage you to be watchful, I dare promiſe you ſhall be ſucceſsful. e So he is called, cp. 15. 33. f The word figniftes to bruiſe by treading, : it imports the Conquelt thac the Lord gives his People over Satan and all his wick=d Inftrumencs rhat divide, ſeduce, or oppreſs his People ; the prowitse is, that they ſha overcome him and them; they ſhall deal by Satan aad his Agents, as Joſhua and his Captains did by thoſe five Kiags, Joſh. 10. 24. wid. Rev. 22. 11, This promiſe plainly bears upon the firſt grand pro. miſe in Gen. 3. 15. Thar Jeſus Chriſt, :4e Secd of rhe Woman, fhuld bruiſe the head of the Serpent : For it is by veitucof his bruiling the head of Satan, that he is ſubdued and brought 1134 -r our feet. The
Seed of the Woman in their own pertons, as well as in their repre-
ſentative, ſhall bruiſe the Serpents head. g Or ſuddenly, The:zg!h now he rage, yet ere long he ſhall be chrown down, Some retcr is ro the day of Judgment, others to the time ot” Conftantine, who over. threw Idolatry ; and that it is not enly « Promiſe, but a Prophelie alſo of the Cenverſion of the Rowan Empire. There are that think that the Apoſtle doth comfort here the believing Romans, by telling them, that the difſentions raiſed amongſt them by means of Satan; malice and ſubtilty, ſhould be ſhortly quenched and reconciled ; and that ir was eff2&ed partly by this Epiſtle, and partly by the Apoſtles Iabours airerwards amongſt them + As he beganthis E. piſtle with wiſhing them Grace and Peace, ſo he ends it. He had ſaid, chap. 15. 33. Tie God of Peace be with you. And here heath, The Grace of our [ord Jeſus Chriſt be with yzu. He was once and 2- gain ſhutting up his Epiſtle, but having more room and time, he makes ſome ſhort Additions and Supplements, as'tis uſual with choſe that write Epiſtles. This Salutation he was wont in the end of e- very Epiſtle to write with his own hand, 2 The. 3. 17. Ir is re- peated wer. 24. Hereby he intimates the necellicy ot rhe Grace of C/rift, therefore he prayeth for it agaia and again. Sce the Notes
Church : By the latter thoſe that violate the Diſcipline thereof : Others refer Diviſions to Faith, and Offences to Manners. There ae that like neither of theſe diſtinftions, but think he only cauti- ons them againſt Church-dividers ; and mentions Scandal or Of- fences as the eff:& or fruit of Church-diviltions. He ſeems to aim nore eſpecially at thoſe, who together with the Chriſtian Faith, did obrrude upon Believers, the Ceremonies of the Law, as ne- ſary to Salvation ; of theſe he ofren complains as enemies to the Goſpe] and Ciofs of Chriſt; wid. Gal. 1. 7. Phil. 3. 2, 18, 19. Tit. 1. 10. x 7. c. That you have learned from thoie that fiſt taughr you and converted you to Chriſt q 4. You have been inftru&ed in the true Do&rine of Chriſt; and there are ſame that would innovate and tcach another Dottrine, that broach Opinions that are contrary ; or at leaſt, beiides that Do-! Arine which is Pure and Apoſtolical, and fo make Diviſions and | Faftions amongſt you : Of 1uch as thole he ſpeaks what follows. ) Here are two Precepts with re{pe& to Innovators and Church-Di. viders. The ft is, That they jhould be marked. The word ſignifies ſuch a mark:ng, as a Watchman uſcth that ſtandeth on a Tower to deſery Enemies; he marketh diligently all comers, and giveth notice accordingly, for the ſafery of the place. The ſecond is, That they ſhould be avoided or declined ; the like counſel is given, 2 Thef, 3.6, 14, 1 Tim. 6. 3, 4, 5- 2 Tim. 3. 5- Tit. 3. 10. 2 John 10. Theſum is, the Church ſhould Excommunicate them, and all ſound Chriſtians ſhould turn away from them, and ſhun their Society, that they may be aſhamed.
18 For they that are ſuch, ſerve not our Lord Jeſus briſt, but their own belly ; and by good words and fair ſpeeches deceive the hearts of the ſimple 4.
| {In this verſe you have a reaſon of the foregoing admionicion, together with a deſcription of the S:ducers, whom they ſhould mark ind avoid. He ſays, They are ſuch as ſerve not the Lord Feſus Chriſt, but their own belly, i. e. They ſerve theraſelves rather than Chriſt. Though they pretend to be rhe Servants of Yeſus Chriſt, and give
WT th:mielves our for his Miniſters, yet they aim at nothing but their
Wn commodity and advantage. A further account you have of ſuch perſons in Phil. 3. 19. 17Tim.6.5. Tit. 1.11. 2 Pet. 2.3. #9. 4 AsSatan inſinuated into Eve, by pretending he wiſhed her
{food ; ſo theſe Seducers pretend they aim at nothing, but the good
Jaſon 7, and Soſipater » my kinſmen ſalute you.
ON caps I. 7.
21 * Timotheus my work fellow 3, and Lucius &, and , PPEeD
: As before he ſaluted divers perſons himſelf, ſo mow he ſcndeth the Salutation of others to the Church of Roms. This he doth to ſhew the mutual amity and Jove that is and onghr to be betwixr Chriſtians, though they are divided in reſpe& of place; yer not in reſpect of afte&ion and good will. Hz begins with 7imzr:hors or Timothy, whom he calls, his work-fellow or Felow-helper ; viz. in preact:.
ing and propagating the Goſpcl of Chriſt, This thews the humility of the Apoſtle, that he dignities ſo young a man with this title. This is he to whom he wrote aftewards rwo Epiftles ; you may read mor? of him, As 26. & alibi. k Origen and ſome others are of opi- nion that this was Luke the Evangeliſt; who was the inſ-parab'e Companion of the Apoſtle P2u!, and was with him about this ve- ry time, as appears by As 20. 5. and here he is called Lnci:4 ac. cording to the Roman inflefttion. Others think that this was L#:t-:5 of Cyrene of whom you read A#s 13. 1. | This was Pau!” Hoſt ar T:e/ſa- lonica, As 17. 5, 7. the ſameas ſome think that is called Secrnd us, Affs 20, 4. the one being his Hebrew, the orter his Roma name. -m The ſame that is called Soparer of Berea, As 29, 4. nid. wer. 7.
22 I Tertius o, who wrote this epiſtle, ſalute you, in the Lord p.
o This was the Apoſtles Scribe or Amanuenſis, who wrote this Epif1-, either from his Mouth, or from his Papers : He pur in rhis Selu- tation by the Apoſtles Licenſe, þ 3. e. 1 wiſh you ſafely from the Lord,
23 Gaius q mine hoſte, and of che whole church r, ſa- luteth you. Eraſtus the chamberlain of the cicy ; ſalucett: you, and Quartus z a brother.