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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1721)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G A L A T I A N S.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. IV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The apostle, in this chapter, is still carrying on the same general
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design as in the former--to recover these Christians from the
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impressions made upon them by the judaizing teachers, and to represent
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their weakness and folly in suffering themselves to be drawn away from
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the gospel doctrine of justification, and to be deprived of their
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freedom from the bondage of the law of Moses. For this purpose he makes
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use of various considerations; such as,
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I. The great excellence of the gospel state above the legal,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>.
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II. The happy change that was made in them at their conversion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:8-11">ver. 8-11</A>.
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III. The affection they had had for him and his ministry,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:12-16">ver. 12-16</A>.
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IV. The character of the false teachers by whom they had been perverted,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:17,18">ver. 17, 18</A>.
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V. The very tender affection he had for them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:19,20">ver. 19, 20</A>.
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VI. The history of Isaac and Ishmael, by a comparison taken from which
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he illustrates the difference between such as rested in Christ and such
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as trusted in the law. And in all these, as he uses great plainness and
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faithfulness with them, so he expresses the tenderest concern for
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them.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ga4_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Redemption by Christ.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 56.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Now I say, <I>That</I> the heir, as long as he is a child,
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differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
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2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of
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the father.
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3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the
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elements of the world:
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4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his
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Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
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5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive
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the adoption of sons.
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6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of
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his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
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7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a
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son, then a heir of God through Christ.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In this chapter the apostle deals plainly with those who hearkened to
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the judaizing teachers, who cried up the law of Moses in competition
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with the gospel of Christ, and endeavored to bring them under the
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bondage of it. To convince them of their folly, and to rectify their
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mistake herein, in these verses he prosecutes the comparison of a child
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under age, which he had touched upon in the foregoing chapter, and
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thence shows what great advantages we have now, under the gospel, above
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what they had under the law. And here.</P>
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<P>
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I. He acquaints us with the state of the Old-Testament church: it was
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like a child under age, and it was used accordingly, being kept in a
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state of darkness and bondage, in comparison of the greater light and
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liberty which we enjoy under the gospel. That was indeed a
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dispensation of grace, and yet it was comparatively a dispensation of
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darkness; for as the heir, in his minority, is <I>under tutors and
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governors till the time appointed of his father,</I> by whom he is
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educated and instructed in those things which at present he knows
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little of the meaning of, though afterwards they are likely to be of
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great use to him; so it was with the Old-Testament church--the Mosaic
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economy, which they were under, was what they could not fully
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understand the meaning of; for, as the apostle says
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+3:13">2 Cor. iii. 13</A>),
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<I>They could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is
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abolished.</I> But to the church, when grown up to maturity, in gospel
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days, it becomes of great use. And as that was a dispensation of
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darkness, so of bondage too; for <I>they were in bondage under the
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elements of the world,</I> being tied to a great number of burdensome
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rites and observances, by which, as by a kind of first rudiments, they
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were taught and instructed, and whereby they were kept in a state of
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subjection, like a child under tutors and governors. The church then
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lay more under the character of <I>a servant,</I> being obliged to do
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every thing according to the command of God, without being fully
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acquainted with the reason of it; but the service under the gospel
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appears to be more reasonable than that was. The time appointed of the
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Father having come, when the church was to arrive at its full age, the
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darkness and bondage under which it before lay are removed, and we are
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under a dispensation of greater light and liberty.</P>
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<P>
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II. He acquaints us with the much happier state of Christians under the
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gospel-dispensation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:4-7"><I>v.</I> 4-7</A>.
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<I>When the fulness of time had come,</I> the time appointed of the
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Father, when he would put an end to the legal dispensation, and set up
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another and a better in the room of it, <I>he sent forth his Son,</I>
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&c. The person who was employed to introduce this new dispensation was
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no other than the Son of God himself, the only-begotten of the Father,
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who, as he had been prophesied of and promised from the foundation of
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the world, so in due time he was manifested for this purpose. He, in
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pursuance of the great design he had undertaken, submitted to be
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<I>made of a woman</I>--there is his incarnation; and to be <I>made
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under the law</I>--there is his subjection. He who was truly God for
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our sakes became man; and he who was Lord of all consented to come into
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a state of subjection and to take upon him the form of a servant; and
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one great end of all this was <I>to redeem those that were under the
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law</I>--to save us from that intolerable yoke and to appoint gospel
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ordinances more rational and easy. He had indeed something more and
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greater in his view, in coming into the world, than merely to deliver
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us from the bondage of the ceremonial law; for he came in our nature,
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and consented to suffer and die for us, that hereby he might redeem us
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from the wrath of God, and from the curse of the moral law, which, as
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sinners, we all lay under. But that was one end of it, and a mercy
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reserved to be bestowed at the time of his manifestation; then the more
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servile state of the church was to come to a period, and a better to
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succeed in the place of it; for he was sent to redeem us, <I>that we
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might receive the adoption of sons</I>--that we might no longer be
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accounted and treated as servants, but as sons grown up to maturity,
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who are allowed greater freedoms, and admitted to larger privileges,
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than while they were under tutors and governors. This the course of the
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apostle's argument leads us to take notice of, as one thing intended by
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this expression, though no doubt it may also be understood as
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signifying that gracious adoption which the gospel so often speaks of
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as the privilege of those who believe in Christ. Israel was God's son,
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his first-born,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:4">Rom. ix. 4</A>.
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But now, under the gospel, particular believers receive the adoption;
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and, as an earnest and evidence of it, they have together therewith the
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Spirit of adoption, putting them upon the duty of prayer, and enabling
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them in prayer to eye God as a Father
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>Because you are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into
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your hearts, crying Abba, Father.</I> And hereupon
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>)
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the apostle concludes this argument by adding, <I>Wherefore thou art no
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more a servant, but a son; and, if a son, then an heir of God through
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Christ;</I> that is, Now, under the gospel state, we are no longer
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under the servitude of the law, but, upon our believing in Christ,
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become the sons of God; we are thereupon accepted of him, and adopted
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by him; and, being the sons, we are also heirs of God, and are entitled
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to the heavenly inheritance (as he also reasons
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:17">Rom. viii. 17</A>),
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and therefore it must needs be the greatest weakness and folly to turn
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back to the law, and to seek justification by the works of it. From
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what the apostle says in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:1-7">these verses</A>,
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we may observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The wonders of divine love and mercy towards us, particularly of God
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the Father, in sending his Son into the world to redeem and save us,--of
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the Son of God, in submitting so low, and suffering so much, for us, in
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pursuance of that design,--and of the Holy Spirit, in condescending to
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dwell in the hearts of believers for such gracious purposes.</P>
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<P>
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2. The great and invaluable advantages which Christians enjoy under the
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gospel; for,
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(1.) We receive <I>the adoption of sons.</I> Whence note, It is the
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great privilege which believers have through Christ that they are
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adopted children of the God of heaven. We who by nature are children of
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wrath and disobedience have become by grace children of love.
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(2.) We receive <I>the Spirit of adoption.</I> Note,
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[1.] All who have the privilege of adoption have the Spirit of
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adoption--all who are received into the number partake of the nature of
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the children of God; for he will have all his children to resemble him.
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[2.] The Spirit of adoption is always the Spirit of prayer, and it is
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our duty in prayer to eye God as a Father. Christ has taught us in
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prayer to eye God as our Father in heaven.
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[3.] If we are his sons, then his heirs. It is not so among men, with
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whom the eldest son is heir; but all God's children are heirs. Those
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who have the nature of sons shall have the inheritance of sons.</P>
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<A NAME="Ga4_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Affectionate Remonstrance.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 56.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them
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which by nature are no gods.
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9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of
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God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements,
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whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
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10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
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11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in
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vain.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses the apostle puts them in mind of what they were before
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their conversion to the faith of Christ, and what a blessed change
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their conversion had made upon them; and thence endeavours to convince
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them of their great weakness in hearkening to those who would bring
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them under the bondage of the law of Moses.</P>
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<P>
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I. He reminds them of their past state and behaviour, and what they
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were before the gospel was preached to them. Then <I>they knew not
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God;</I> they were grossly ignorant of the true God, and the way
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wherein he is to be worshipped: and at that time they were under the
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worst of slaveries, for <I>they did service to those which by nature
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were no gods,</I> they were employed in a great number of superstitious
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and idolatrous services to those who, though they were accounted gods,
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were yet really no gods, but mere creatures, and perhaps of their own
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making, and therefore were utterly unable to hear and help them. Note,
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1. Those who are ignorant of the true God cannot but be inclined to
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false gods. Those who forsook the God who made the world, rather than
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be without gods, worshipped such as they themselves made.
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2. Religious worship is due to none but to him who is by nature God;
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for, when the apostle blames the doing service to such as by nature
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were no gods, he plainly shows that he only who is by nature God is the
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proper object of our religious worship.</P>
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<P>
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II. He calls upon them to consider the happy change that was made in
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them by the preaching of the gospel among them. Now <I>they had known
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God</I> (they were brought to the knowledge of the true God and of his
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Son Jesus Christ, whereby they were recovered out of the ignorance and
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bondage under which they before lay) <I>or rather were known of
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God;</I> this happy change in their state, whereby they were turned
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from idols to the living God, and through Christ had received the
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adoption of sons, was not owing to themselves, but to him; it was the
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effect of his free and rich grace towards them, and as such they ought
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to account it; and therefore hereby they were laid under the greater
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obligation to adhere to the liberty wherewith he had made them free.
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Note, All our acquaintance with God begins with him; we know him,
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because we are known of him.</P>
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<P>
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III. Hence he infers the unreasonableness and madness of their
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suffering themselves to be brought again into a state of bondage. He
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speaks of it with surprise and deep concern of mind that such as they
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should do so: <I>How turn you again,</I> &c., says he,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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"How is it that you, who have been taught to worship God in the gospel
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way, should not be persuaded to comply with the ceremonial way of
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worship? that you, who have been acquainted with a dispensation of
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light, liberty, and love, as that of the gospel is, should now submit
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to a dispensation of darkness, and bondage, and terror, as that of the
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law is?" This they had the less reason for, since they had never been
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under the law of Moses, as the Jews had been; and therefore on this
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account they were more inexcusable than the Jews themselves, who might
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be supposed to have some fondness for that which had been of such long
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standing among them. Besides, what they suffered themselves to be
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brought into bondage to were but <I>weak and beggarly elements,</I>
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such things as had no power in them to cleanse the soul, nor to afford
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any solid satisfaction to the mind, and which were only designed for
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that state of pupillage under which the church had been, but which had
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now come to a period; and therefore their weakness and folly were the
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more aggravated, in submitting to them, and in symbolizing with the
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Jews in observing their various festivals, here signified by <I>days,
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and months, and times, and years.</I> Here note,
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1. It is possible for those who have made great professions of religion
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to be afterwards drawn into very great defections from the purity and
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simplicity of it, for this was the case of these Christians. And,
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2. The more mercy God has shown to any, in bringing them into an
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acquaintance with the gospel, and the liberties and privileges of it,
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the greater are their sin and folly in suffering themselves to be
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deprived of them; for this the apostle lays a special stress upon, that
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after they had known God, or rather were known of him, they desired to
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be in bondage under the weak and beggarly elements of the law.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Hereupon he expresses his fears concerning them, <I>lest he had
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bestowed on them labour in vain.</I> He had been at a great deal of
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pains about them, in preaching the gospel to them, and endeavouring to
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confirm them in the faith and liberty of it; but now they were giving
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up these, and thereby rendering his labour among them fruitless and
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ineffectual, and with the thoughts of this he could not but be deeply
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affected. Note,
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1. A great deal of the labour of faithful ministers is labour in vain;
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and, when it is so, it cannot but be a great grief to those who desire
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the salvation of souls. Note,
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2. The labour of ministers is in vain upon those who begin in the
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Spirit and end in the flesh, who, though they seem to set out well, yet
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afterwards turn aside from the way of the gospel. Note,
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3. Those will have a great deal to answer for upon whom the faithful
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ministers of Jesus Christ bestow labour in vain.</P>
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<A NAME="Ga4_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ga4_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Affectionate Remonstrance.</I></FONT></TD>
|
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 56.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I <I>am;</I> for I <I>am</I> as ye
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<I>are:</I> ye have not injured me at all.
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13 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the
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gospel unto you at the first.
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14 And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor
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rejected; but received me as an angel of God, <I>even</I> as Christ
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Jesus.
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15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you
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record, that, if <I>it had been</I> possible, ye would have plucked
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out your own eyes, and have given them to me.
|
|
16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the
|
|
truth?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
That these Christians might be the more ashamed of their defection from
|
|
the truth of the gospel which Paul had preached to them, he here
|
|
reminds them of the great affection they formerly had for him and his
|
|
ministry, and puts them upon considering how very unsuitable their
|
|
present behaviour was to what they then professed. And here we may
|
|
observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How affectionately he addresses himself to them. He styles them
|
|
brethren, though he knew their hearts were in a great measure alienated
|
|
from him. He desires that all resentments might be laid aside, and that
|
|
they would bear the same temper of mind towards him which he did to
|
|
them; he would have them <I>to be as he was, for he was as they
|
|
were,</I> and moreover tells them that <I>they had not injured him at
|
|
all.</I> He had no quarrel with them upon his own account. Though, in
|
|
blaming their conduct, he had expressed himself with some warmth and
|
|
concern of mind he assured them that it was not owing to any sense of
|
|
personal injury or affront (as they might be ready to think), but
|
|
proceeded wholly from a zeal for the truth and purity of the gospel,
|
|
and their welfare and happiness. Thus he endeavours to mollify their
|
|
spirits towards him, that so they might be the better disposed to
|
|
receive the admonitions he was giving them. Hereby he teaches us that
|
|
in reproving others we should take care to convince them that our
|
|
reproofs do not proceed from any private pique or resentment, but from
|
|
a sincere regard to the honour of God and religion and their truest
|
|
welfare; for they are then likely to be most successful when they
|
|
appear to be most disinterested.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How he magnifies their former affection to him, that hereby they
|
|
might be the more ashamed of their present behaviour towards him. To
|
|
this purpose,
|
|
|
|
1. He puts them in mind of the difficulty under which he laboured when
|
|
he came first among them: <I>I knew,</I> says he, <I>how, through
|
|
infirmity of the flesh, I preached the gospel unto you at the
|
|
first.</I> What this <I>infirmity of the flesh</I> was, which in the
|
|
following words he expresses by <I>his temptation that was in his
|
|
flesh</I> (though, no doubt, it was well known to those Christians to
|
|
whom he wrote), we can now have no certain knowledge of: some take it
|
|
to have been the persecutions which he suffered for the gospel's sake;
|
|
others, to have been something in his person, or manner of speaking,
|
|
which might render his ministry less grateful and acceptable, referring
|
|
to
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Co+10:10,12:7-10">2 Cor. x. 10,
|
|
and to <I>ch.</I> xii. 7-10</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, whatever it was, it seems it made no impression on them to his
|
|
disadvantage. For,
|
|
|
|
2. He takes notice that, notwithstanding this his infirmity (which
|
|
might possibly lessen him in the esteem of some others), they did not
|
|
despise nor reject him on the account of it, but, on the contrary,
|
|
<I>received him as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.</I> They
|
|
showed a great deal of respect to him, he was a welcome messenger to
|
|
them, even as though an angel of God or Jesus Christ himself had
|
|
preached to them; yea, so great was their esteem of him, that, if it
|
|
would have been any advantage to him, <I>they could have plucked out
|
|
their own eyes, and have given them to him.</I> Note, How uncertain the
|
|
respects of people are, how apt they are to change their minds, and how
|
|
easily they are drawn into contempt of those for whom they once had the
|
|
greatest esteem and affection, so that they are ready to pluck out the
|
|
eyes of those for whom they would before have plucked out their own! We
|
|
should therefore labour to be accepted of God, <I>for it is a small
|
|
thing to be judged of man's judgment,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+4:2">1 Cor. iv. 2</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. How earnestly he expostulates with them hereupon: <I>Where is
|
|
then,</I> says he, <I>the blessedness you spoke of?</I> As if he had
|
|
said, "Time was when you expressed the greatest joy and satisfaction in
|
|
the glad tidings of the gospel, and were very forward in pouring out
|
|
your blessings upon me as the publisher of them; whence is it that you
|
|
are now so much altered, that you have so little relish of them or
|
|
respect for me? You once thought yourselves happy in receiving the
|
|
gospel; have you now any reason to think otherwise?" Note, Those who
|
|
have left their first love would do well to consider, Where is now the
|
|
blessedness they once spoke of? What has become of that pleasure they
|
|
used to take in communion with God, and in the company of his servants?
|
|
The more to impress upon them a just shame of their present conduct, he
|
|
again asks
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>Am I become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?</I> How is it
|
|
that I, who was heretofore your favourite, am now accounted your enemy?
|
|
Can you pretend any other reason for it than that I have told you the
|
|
truth, endeavoured to acquaint you with, and to confirm you in, the
|
|
truth of the gospel? And, if not, how unreasonable must your
|
|
disaffection be!" Note,
|
|
|
|
1. It is no uncommon thing for men to account those their enemies who
|
|
are really their best friends; for so, undoubtedly, those are, whether
|
|
ministers or others, who tell them the truth, and deal freely and
|
|
faithfully with them in matters relating to their eternal salvation, as
|
|
the apostle now did with these Christians.
|
|
|
|
2. Ministers may sometimes create enemies to themselves by the faithful
|
|
discharge of their duty; for this was the case of Paul, he was
|
|
accounted their enemy for telling them the truth.
|
|
|
|
3. Yet ministers must not forbear speaking the truth, for fear of
|
|
offending others and drawing their displeasure upon them.
|
|
|
|
4. They may be easy in their own minds, when they are conscious to
|
|
themselves that, if others have become their enemies, it is only for
|
|
telling them the truth.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_18"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Affectionate Remonstrance.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 56.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 They zealously affect you, <I>but</I> not well; yea, they would
|
|
exclude you, that ye might affect them.
|
|
18 But <I>it is</I> good to be zealously affected always in <I>a</I> good
|
|
<I>thing,</I> and not only when I am present with you.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The apostle is still carrying on the same design as in the
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:12-16">foregoing verses</A>,
|
|
|
|
which was, to convince the Galatians of their sin and folly in
|
|
departing from the truth of the gospel: having just before been
|
|
expostulating with them about the change of their behaviour towards him
|
|
who endeavoured to establish them in it, he here gives them the
|
|
character of those false teachers who made it their business to draw
|
|
them away from it, which if they would attend to, they might soon see
|
|
how little reason they had to hearken to them: whatever opinion they
|
|
might have of them, he tells them they were designing men, who were
|
|
aiming to set up themselves, and who, under their specious pretences,
|
|
were more consulting their own interest than theirs: "<I>They zealously
|
|
affect you,</I>" says he; "they show a mighty respect for you, and
|
|
pretend a great deal of affection to you, <I>but not well;</I> they do
|
|
it not with any good design, they are not sincere and upright in it,
|
|
for <I>they would exclude you, that you might affect them.</I> That
|
|
which they are chiefly aiming at is to engage your affections to them;
|
|
and, in order to this, they are doing all they can to draw off your
|
|
affections from me and from the truth, that so they may engross you to
|
|
themselves." This, he assures them, was their design, and therefore
|
|
they must needs be very unwise in hearkening to them. Note,
|
|
|
|
1. There may appear to be a great deal of zeal where yet there is but
|
|
little truth and sincerity.
|
|
|
|
2. It is the usual way of seducers to insinuate themselves into
|
|
people's affections, and by that means to draw them into their
|
|
opinions.
|
|
|
|
3. Whatever pretences such may make, they have usually more regard to
|
|
their own interest than that of others, and will not stick at ruining
|
|
the reputation of others, if by that means they can raise their own. On
|
|
this occasion the apostle gives us that excellent rule which we have,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing.</I> What
|
|
our translation renders <I>in a good man,</I> and so consider the
|
|
apostle as pointing to himself; this sense, they think, is favoured
|
|
both by the preceding context and also by the words immediately
|
|
following, <I>and not only when I am present with you,</I> which may be
|
|
as if he had said, "Time was when you were zealously affected towards
|
|
me; you once took me for a good man, and have now no reason to think
|
|
otherwise of me; surely then it would become you to show the same
|
|
regard to me, now that I am absent from you, which you did when I was
|
|
present with you." But, if we adhere to our own translation, the
|
|
apostle here furnishes us with a very good rule to direct and regulate
|
|
us in the exercise of our zeal: there are two things which to this
|
|
purpose he more especially recommends to us:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) That it be exercised only upon that which is good; for zeal is
|
|
then only good when it is in a good thing: those who are zealously
|
|
affected to that which is evil will thereby only to do so much the more
|
|
hurt. And,
|
|
|
|
(2.) That herein it be constant and steady: it is good to be zealous
|
|
always in a good thing; not for a time only, or now and then, like the
|
|
heat of an ague-fit, but, like the natural heat of the body, constant.
|
|
Happy would it be for the church of Christ if this rule were better
|
|
observed among Christians!</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Affectionate Remonstrance.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 56.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until
|
|
Christ be formed in you,
|
|
20 I desire to be present with you now, and to change my voice;
|
|
for I stand in doubt of you.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
That the apostle might the better dispose these Christians to bear with
|
|
him in the reproofs which he was obliged to give them, he here
|
|
expresses his great affection to them, and the very tender concern he
|
|
had for their welfare: he was not like them--one thing when among them
|
|
and another when absent from them. Their disaffection to him had not
|
|
removed his affection from them; but he still bore the same respect to
|
|
them which he had formerly done, nor was he like their false teachers,
|
|
who pretended a great deal of affection to them, when at the same time
|
|
they were only consulting their own interest; but he had a sincere
|
|
concern for their truest advantage; he sought not theirs, but them.
|
|
They were too ready to account him their enemy, but he assures them
|
|
that he was their friend; nay, not only so, but that he had the bowels
|
|
of a parent towards them. He calls them <I>his children,</I> as he
|
|
justly might, since he had been the instrument of their conversion to
|
|
the Christian faith; yea, he styles them his <I>little children,</I>
|
|
which, as it denotes a greater degree of tenderness and affection to
|
|
them, so it may possibly have a respect to their present behaviour,
|
|
whereby they showed themselves too much like little children, who are
|
|
easily wrought upon by the arts and insinuations of others. He
|
|
expresses his concern for them, and earnest desire of their welfare and
|
|
soul-prosperity, by the pangs of a travailing woman: <I>He travailed in
|
|
birth for them:</I> and the great thing which he was in so much pain
|
|
about, and which he was so earnestly desirous of, was not so much that
|
|
they might affect him as <I>that Christ might be formed in them,</I>
|
|
that they might become Christians indeed, and be more confirmed and
|
|
established in the faith of the gospel. From this we may note,
|
|
|
|
1. The very tender affection which faithful ministers bear towards
|
|
those among whom they are employed; it is like that of the most
|
|
affectionate parents to their little children.
|
|
|
|
2. That the chief thing they are longing and even travailing in birth
|
|
for, on their account, is that Christ may be formed in them; not so
|
|
much that they may gain their affections, much less that they may make
|
|
a prey of them, but that they may be renewed in the spirit of their
|
|
minds, wrought into the image of Christ, and more fully settled and
|
|
confirmed in the Christian faith and life: and how unreasonably must
|
|
those people act who suffer themselves to be prevailed upon to desert
|
|
or dislike such ministers!
|
|
|
|
3. That Christ is not fully formed in men till they are brought off
|
|
from trusting in their own righteousness, and made to rely only upon
|
|
him and his righteousness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
As further evidence of the affection and concern which the apostle had
|
|
for these Christians, he adds
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>)
|
|
|
|
that <I>he desired to be then present with them</I>--that he would be
|
|
glad of an opportunity of being among them, and conversing with them,
|
|
and that thereupon he might find occasion <I>to change his voice</I>
|
|
towards them; for at present <I>he stood in doubt of them.</I> He knew
|
|
not well what to think of them. He was not so fully acquainted with
|
|
their state as to know how to accommodate himself to them. He was full
|
|
of fears and jealousies concerning them, which was the reason of his
|
|
writing to them in such a manner as he had done; but he would be glad
|
|
to find that matters were better with them than he feared, and that he
|
|
might have occasion to commend them, instead of thus reproving and
|
|
chiding them. Note, Though ministers too often find it necessary to
|
|
reprove those they have to do with, yet this is no grateful work to
|
|
them; they had much rather there were no occasion for it, and are
|
|
always glad when they can see reason to change their voice towards
|
|
them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ga4_31"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec6"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Affectionate Remonstrance.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>A. D.</FONT> 56.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear
|
|
the law?
|
|
22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a
|
|
bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
|
|
23 But he <I>who was</I> of the bondwoman was born after the flesh;
|
|
but he of the freewoman <I>was</I> by promise.
|
|
24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two
|
|
covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to
|
|
bondage, which is Agar.
|
|
25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
|
|
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
|
|
26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of
|
|
us all.
|
|
27 For it is written, Rejoice, <I>thou</I> barren that bearest not;
|
|
break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate
|
|
hath many more children than she which hath a husband.
|
|
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
|
|
29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him
|
|
<I>that was born</I> after the Spirit, even so <I>it is</I> now.
|
|
30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the
|
|
bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be
|
|
heir with the son of the freewoman.
|
|
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but
|
|
of the free.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In these verses the apostle illustrates the difference between
|
|
believers who rested in Christ only and those judaizers who trusted in
|
|
the law, by a comparison taken from the story of Isaac and Ishmael.
|
|
This he introduces in such a manner as was proper to strike and impress
|
|
their minds, and to convince them of their great weakness in departing
|
|
from the truth, and suffering themselves to be deprived of the liberty
|
|
of the gospel: <I>Tell me,</I> says he, <I>you that desire to be under
|
|
the law, do you not hear the law?</I> He takes it for granted that they
|
|
did hear the law, for among the Jews it was wont to be read in their
|
|
public assemblies every sabbath day; and, since they were so very fond
|
|
of being under it, he would have them duly to consider what is written
|
|
therein (referring to what is recorded
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+16:1-16,21:1-34">
|
|
Gen. xvi. and xxi.</A>),
|
|
|
|
for, if they would do this, they might soon see how little reason they
|
|
had to trust in it. And here,
|
|
|
|
1. He sets before them the history itself
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:22,23"><I>v.</I> 22, 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>For it is written, Abraham had two sons,</I> &c. Here he represents
|
|
the different state and condition of these two sons of Abraham--that the
|
|
one, Ishmael, <I>was by a bond-maid,</I> and the other, Isaac, <I>by a
|
|
free-woman;</I> and that whereas the former <I>was born after the
|
|
flesh,</I> or by the ordinary course of nature, the other <I>was by
|
|
promise,</I> when in the course of nature there was no reason to expect
|
|
that Sarah should have a son.
|
|
|
|
2. He acquaints them with the meaning and design of this history, or
|
|
the use which he intended to make of it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:24-27"><I>v.</I> 24-27</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>These things,</I> says he, <I>are an allegory,</I> wherein, besides
|
|
the literal and historical sense of the words, the Spirit of God might
|
|
design to signify something further to us, and that was, That these
|
|
two, Agar and Sarah, <I>are the two covenants,</I> or were intended to
|
|
typify and prefigure the two different dispensations of the covenant.
|
|
The former, Agar, represented that which was given from mount Sinai,
|
|
and <I>which gendereth to bondage,</I> which, though it was a
|
|
dispensation of grace, yet, in comparison of the gospel state, was a
|
|
dispensation of bondage, and became more so to the Jews, through their
|
|
mistake of the design of it, and expecting to be justified by the works
|
|
of it. <I>For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia</I> (mount Sinai was
|
|
then called Agar by the Arabians), <I>and it answereth to Jerusalem
|
|
which now is, and is in bondage with her children;</I> that is, it
|
|
justly represents the present state of the Jews, who, continuing in
|
|
their infidelity and adhering to that covenant, are still in bondage
|
|
with their children. But the other, Sarah, was intended to prefigure
|
|
Jerusalem which is above, or the state of Christians under the new and
|
|
better dispensation of the covenant, which is free both from the curse
|
|
of the moral and the bondage of the ceremonial law, and <I>is the
|
|
mother of us all</I>--a state into which all, both Jews and Gentiles,
|
|
are admitted, upon their believing in Christ. And to this greater
|
|
freedom and enlargement of the church under the gospel dispensation,
|
|
which was typified by Sarah the mother of the promised seed, the
|
|
apostle refers that of the prophet,
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:1">Isa. liv. 1</A>,
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where it is written, <I>Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break
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forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for the desolate hath many
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more children than she who hath a husband.</I>
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3. He applies the history thus explained to the present case
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>);
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<I>Now we, brethren,</I> says he, <I>as Isaac was, are the children of
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the promise.</I> We Christians, who have accepted Christ, and rely upon
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him, and look for justification and salvation by him alone, as hereby
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we become the spiritual, though we are not the natural, seed of
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Abraham, so we are entitled to the promised inheritance and interested
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|
in the blessings of it. But lest these Christians should be stumbled at
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the opposition they might meet with from the Jews, who were so
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tenacious of their law as to be ready to persecute those who would not
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submit to it, he tells them that this was no more than what was pointed
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to in the type; for <I>as then he that was born after the flesh
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persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,</I> they must expect it
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would be <I>so now.</I> But, for their comfort in this case, he desires
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them to consider what the scripture saith
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+21:10">Gen. xxi. 10</A>),
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<I>Cast out the bond-woman and her son, for the son of the bond-woman
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shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman.</I> Though the
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judaizers should persecute and hate them, yet the issue would be that
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Judaism would sink, and wither, and perish; but true Christianity
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should flourish and last for ever. And then, as a general inference
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from the whole of the sum of what he had said, he concludes
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
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<I>So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the
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free.</I></P>
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