mh_parser/vol_split/45 - Romans/Chapter 12.xml

<div2 id="Rom.xiii" n="xiii" next="Rom.xiv" prev="Rom.xii" progress="38.60%" title="Chapter XII">
<h2 id="Rom.xiii-p0.1">R O M A N S.</h2>
<h3 id="Rom.xiii-p0.2">CHAP. XII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Rom.xiii-p1">The apostle, having at large cleared and confirmed
the prime fundamental doctrines of Christianity, comes in the next
place to press the principal duties. We mistake our religion if we
look upon it only as a system of notions and a guide to
speculation. No, it is a practical religion, that tends to the
right ordering of the conversation. It is designed not only to
inform our judgments, but to reform our hearts and lives. From the
method of the apostle's writing in this, as in some other of the
epistles (as from the management of the principal ministers of
state in Christ's kingdom) the stewards of the mysteries of God may
take direction how to divide the word of truth: not to press duty
abstracted from privilege, nor privilege abstracted from duty; but
let both go together, with a complicated design, they will greatly
promote and befriend each other. The duties are drawn from the
privileges, by way of inference. The foundation of Christian
practice must be laid in Christian knowledge and faith. We must
first understand how we receive Christ Jesus the Lord, and then we
shall know the better how to walk in him. There is a great deal of
duty prescribed in this chapter. The exhortations are short and
pithy, briefly summing up what is good, and what the Lord our God
in Christ requires of us. It is an abridgment of the Christian
directory, an excellent collection of rules for the right ordering
of the conversation, as becomes the gospel. It is joined to the
foregoing discourse by the word "therefore." It is the practical
application of doctrinal truths that is the life of preaching. He
had been discoursing at large of justification by faith, and of the
riches of free grace, and the pledges and assurances we have of the
glory that is to be revealed. Hence carnal libertines would be apt
to infer."Therefore we may live as we list, and walk in the way of
our hearts and the sight of our eyes." Now this does not follow;
the faith that justifies is a faith that "works by love." And there
is no other way to heaven but the way of holiness and obedience.
Therefore what God hath joined together let no man put asunder. The
particular exhortations of this chapter are reducible to the three
principal heads of Christian duty: our duty to God t ourselves, and
to our brother. The grace of God teaches us, in general, to live
"godly, soberly, and righteously;" and to deny all that which is
contrary hereunto. Now this chapter will give us to understand what
godliness, sobriety, and righteousness, are though somewhat
intermixed.</p>
<scripCom id="Rom.xiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12" parsed="|Rom|12|0|0|0" passage="Ro 12" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Rom.xiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.1-Rom.12.21" parsed="|Rom|12|1|12|21" passage="Ro 12:1-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rom.12.1-Rom.12.21">
<h4 id="Rom.xiii-p1.3">Consecration to God; Duty towards God; Duty
towards Ourselves; Due Exercise of Spiritual Gifts; Duty towards
Our Brethren; Brotherly Love; Love to Enemies. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rom.xiii-p1.4">a.
d.</span> 58.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rom.xiii-p2">1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, <i>which is</i> your reasonable service.
  2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what <i>is</i> that
good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.   3 For I say,
through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you,
not to think <i>of himself</i> more highly than he ought to think;
but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the
measure of faith.   4 For as we have many members in one body,
and all members have not the same office:   5 So we,
<i>being</i> many, are one body in Christ, and every one members
one of another.   6 Having then gifts differing according to
the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, <i>let us
prophesy</i> according to the proportion of faith;   7 Or
ministry, <i>let us wait</i> on <i>our</i> ministering: or he that
teacheth, on teaching;   8 Or he that exhorteth, on
exhortation: he that giveth, <i>let him do it</i> with simplicity;
he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with
cheerfulness.   9 <i>Let</i> love be without dissimulation.
Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.   10
<i>Be</i> kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in
honour preferring one another;   11 Not slothful in business;
fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;   12 Rejoicing in hope;
patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;   13
Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
  14 Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.
  15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them
that weep.   16 <i>Be</i> of the same mind one toward another.
Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not
wise in your own conceits.   17 Recompense to no man evil for
evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.   18 If
it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all
men.   19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but
<i>rather</i> give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance
<i>is</i> mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.   20 Therefore
if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for
in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.   21 Be
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p3">We may observe here, according to the
scheme mentioned in the contents, the apostle's exhortations,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p4">I. Concerning our duty to God, We see what
is godliness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p5">1. It is to surrender ourselves to God, and
so to lay a good foundation. We must first give our own selves unto
the Lord, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.8.5" parsed="|2Cor|8|5|0|0" passage="2Co 8:5">2 Cor. viii. 5</scripRef>.
This is here pressed as the spring of all duty and obedience,
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.1-Rom.12.2" parsed="|Rom|12|1|12|2" passage="Ro 12:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>. Man
consists of body and soul, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.2.7 Bible:Eccl.12.7" parsed="|Gen|2|7|0|0;|Eccl|12|7|0|0" passage="Ge 2:7,Ec 12:7">Gen.
ii. 7; Eccl. xii. 7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p6">(1.) The body must be presented to him,
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.1" parsed="|Rom|12|1|0|0" passage="Ro 12:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. <i>The body is
for the Lord, and the Lord for the body,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.6.13-1Cor.6.14" parsed="|1Cor|6|13|6|14" passage="1Co 6:13,14">1 Cor. vi. 13, 14</scripRef>. The exhortation is here
introduced very pathetically: <i>I beseech you, brethren.</i>
Though he was a great apostle, yet he calls the meanest Christians
<i>brethren,</i> a term of affection and concern. He uses entreaty;
this is the gospel way: <i>As though God did beseech you by us,</i>
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.5.20" parsed="|2Cor|5|20|0|0" passage="2Co 5:20">2 Cor. v. 20</scripRef>. Though he
might with authority command, yet for love's sake he rather
beseeches, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Phlm.1.8-Phlm.1.9" parsed="|Phlm|1|8|1|9" passage="Phm 1:8,9">Philem. 8, 9</scripRef>.
The <i>poor useth entreaty,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.18.23" parsed="|Prov|18|23|0|0" passage="Pr 18:23">Prov.
xviii. 23</scripRef>. This is to insinuate the exhortation, that it
might come with the more pleasing power. Many are sooner wrought
upon if they be accosted kindly, are more easily led than driven.
Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p7">[1.] The duty pressed—to present our
<i>bodies a living sacrifice,</i> alluding to the sacrifices under
the law, which were presented or set before God at the altar, ready
to be offered to him. <i>Your bodies</i>—your whole selves; so
expressed because under the law the bodies of beasts were offered
in sacrifice, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.6.20" parsed="|1Cor|6|20|0|0" passage="1Co 6:20">1 Cor. vi.
20</scripRef>. Our bodies and spirits are intended. The offering
was sacrificed by the priest, but presented by the offerer, who
transferred to God all his right, title, and interest in it, by
laying his hand on the head of it. Sacrifice is here taken for
whatsoever is by God's own appointment dedicated to himself; see
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.5" parsed="|1Pet|2|5|0|0" passage="1Pe 2:5">1 Pet. ii. 5</scripRef>. We are temple,
priest, and sacrifice, as Christ was in his peculiar sacrificing.
There were sacrifices of atonement and sacrifices of
acknowledgment. Christ, who was once offered to bear the sins of
many, is the only sacrifice of atonement; but our persons and
performances, tendered to God through Christ our priest, are as
sacrifices of acknowledgment to the honour of God. Presenting them
denotes a voluntary act, done by virtue of that absolute despotic
power which the will has over the body and all the members of it.
It must be a free-will offering. Your bodies; not your beasts.
Those legal offerings, as they had their power from Christ, so they
had their period in Christ. The presenting of the body to God
implies not only the avoiding of the sins that are committed with
or against the body, but the using of the body as a servant of the
soul in the service of God. It is to <i>glorify God with our
bodies</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.6.20" parsed="|1Cor|6|20|0|0" passage="1Co 6:20">1 Cor. vi. 20</scripRef>),
to engage our bodies in the duties of immediate worship, and in a
diligent attendance to our particular callings, and be willing to
suffer for God with our bodies, when we are called to it. It is to
yield the members of our bodies as instruments of righteousness,
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.13" parsed="|Rom|6|13|0|0" passage="Ro 6:13"><i>ch.</i> vi. 13</scripRef>. Though
bodily exercise alone profits little, yet in its place it is a
proof and product of the dedication of our souls to God.
<i>First,</i> Present them a living sacrifice; not killed, as the
sacrifices under the law. A Christian makes his body a sacrifice to
God, though he does not give it to be burned. A body sincerely
devoted to God is a living sacrifice. A living sacrifice, by way of
allusion—that which was dead of itself might not be eaten, much
less sacrificed, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.14.21" parsed="|Deut|14|21|0|0" passage="De 14:21">Deut. xiv.
21</scripRef>; and by ways of opposition—"The sacrifice was to be
slain, but you may be sacrificed, and yet live on"—an unbloody
sacrifice. The barbarous heathen sacrificed their children to their
idol-gods, not living, but slain sacrifices: but God will have
mercy, and not such sacrifice, though life is forfeited to him. A
<i>living</i> sacrifice, that is, inspired with the spiritual life
of the soul. It is Christ living in the soul by faith that makes
the body a living sacrifice, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Gal.2.20" parsed="|Gal|2|20|0|0" passage="Ga 2:20">Gal. ii.
20</scripRef>. Holy love kindles the sacrifices, puts life into the
duties; see <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Rom.6.13" parsed="|Rom|6|13|0|0" passage="Ro 6:13"><i>ch.</i> vi.
13</scripRef>. <i>Alive,</i> that is, to God, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.11" parsed="|Rom|12|11|0|0" passage="Ro 12:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. <i>Secondly,</i> They must be
holy. There is a relative holiness in every sacrifice, as dedicated
to God. But, besides this, there must be that real holiness which
consists in an entire rectitude of heart and life, by which we are
conformed in both to the nature and will of God: even our bodies
must not be made the instruments of sin and uncleanness, but set
apart for God, and put to holy uses, as the vessels of the
tabernacle were holy, being devoted to God's service. It is the
soul that is the proper subject of holiness; but a sanctified soul
communicates a holiness to the body it actuates and animates. That
is holy which is according to the will of God; when the bodily
actions are no, the body is holy. They are the <i>temples of the
Holy Ghost,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.9" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.6.19" parsed="|1Cor|6|19|0|0" passage="1Co 6:19">1 Cor. vi.
19</scripRef>. <i>Possess the body in sanctification,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p7.10" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.4.4-1Thess.4.5" parsed="|1Thess|4|4|4|5" passage="1Th 4:4,5">1 Thess. iv. 4, 5</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p8">[2.] The arguments to enforce this, which
are three:—<i>First,</i> Consider the mercies of God: <i>I beseech
you by the mercies of God.</i> An affectionate obtestation, and
which should melt us into a compliance: <b><i>dia ton oiktirmon tou
Theou.</i></b> This is an argument most sweetly cogent. There is
the mercy that is in God and the mercy that is from God—mercy in
the spring and mercy in the streams: both are included here; but
especially gospel-mercies (mentioned <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.1-Rom.11.36" parsed="|Rom|11|1|11|36" passage="Ro 11:1-36"><i>ch.</i> ix.</scripRef>), the transferring of what
the Jews forfeited and lost by their unbelief unto us Gentiles
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.3.4-Eph.3.6" parsed="|Eph|3|4|3|6" passage="Eph 3:4-6">Eph. iii. 4-6</scripRef>): the sure
mercies of David, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.3" parsed="|Isa|55|3|0|0" passage="Isa 55:3">Isa. lv.
3</scripRef>. God is a merciful God, therefore let us present our
bodies to him; he will be sure to use them kindly, and knows how to
consider the frames of them, for he is of infinite compassion. We
receive from him every day the fruits of his mercy, particularly
mercy to our bodies: he made them, he maintains them, he bought
them, he has put a great dignity upon them. It is of the Lord's
mercies that we are not consumed, that our souls are held in life;
and the greatest mercy of all is that Christ hath made not his body
only, but his soul, an offering for sin, that he gave himself for
us and gives himself to us. Now surely we cannot but be studying
what we shall render to the Lord for all this. And what shall we
render? Let us render ourselves as an acknowledgment of all these
favours—all we are, all we have, all we can do; and, after all, it
is but very poor returns for very rich receivings: and yet, because
it is what we have, <i>Secondly,</i> It is <i>acceptable to
God.</i> The great end we should all labour after is to be accepted
of the Lord (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.5.9" parsed="|2Cor|5|9|0|0" passage="2Co 5:9">2 Cor. v. 9</scripRef>),
to have him well-pleased with our persons and performances. Now
these living sacrifices are acceptable to God; while the sacrifices
of the wicked, though fat and costly, are an abomination to the
Lord. It is God's great condescension that he will vouchsafe to
accept of any thing in us; and we can desire no more to make us
happy; and, if the presenting of ourselves will but please him, we
may easily conclude that we cannot bestow ourselves better.
<i>Thirdly,</i> It is our <i>reasonable service.</i> There is an
act of reason in it; for it is the soul that presents the body.
Blind devotion, that has ignorance for the mother and nurse of it,
is fit to be paid only to those dunghill-gods that have eyes and
see not. Our God must be served in the spirit and with the
understanding. There is all the reason in the world for it, and no
good reason can possibly be produced against it. <i>Come now, and
let us reason together,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.18" parsed="|Isa|1|18|0|0" passage="Isa 1:18">Isa. i.
18</scripRef>. God does not impose upon us any thing hard or
unreasonable, but that which is altogether agreeable to the
principles of right reason. <b><i>Ten logiken latreian
hymon</i></b>—<i>your service according to the word;</i> so it may
be read. The word of God does not leave out the body in holy
worship. That service only is acceptable to God which is according
to the written word. It must be gospel worship, spiritual worship.
That is a reasonable service which we are able and ready to give a
reason for, in which we understand ourselves. God deals with us as
with rational creatures, and will have us so to deal with him. Thus
must the body be presented to God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p9">(2.) The mind must be renewed for him. This
is pressed (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.2" parsed="|Rom|12|2|0|0" passage="Ro 12:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>):
"<i>Be you transformed by the renewing of your mind;</i> see to it
that there be a saving change wrought in you, and that it be
carried on." Conversion and sanctification are the renewing of the
mind, a change not of the substance, but of the qualities of the
soul. It is the same with making a new heart and a new spirit—new
dispositions and inclinations, new sympathies and antipathies; the
understanding enlightened, the conscience softened, the thoughts
rectified; the will bowed to the will of God, and the affections
made spiritual and heavenly: so that the man is not what he
was—old things are passed away, all things are become new; he acts
from new principles, by new rules, with new designs. The mind is
the acting ruling part of us; so that the renewing of the mind is
the renewing of the whole man, for out of it are the <i>issues of
life,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.4.23" parsed="|Prov|4|23|0|0" passage="Pr 4:23">Prov. iv. 23</scripRef>. The
progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more and living
to righteousness more and more, is the carrying on of this renewing
work, till it be perfected in glory. This is called the
<i>transforming</i> of us; it is like putting on a new shape and
figure. <b><i>Metamorphousthe</i></b>—<i>Be you metamorphosed.</i>
The transfiguration of Christ is expressed by this word (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.17.2" parsed="|Matt|17|2|0|0" passage="Mt 17:2">Matt. xvii. 2</scripRef>), when he put on a
heavenly glory, which made his face to shine like the sun; and the
same word is used <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.3.18" parsed="|2Cor|3|18|0|0" passage="2Co 3:18">2 Cor. iii.
18</scripRef>, where we are said to be <i>changed into the same
image from glory to glory.</i> This transformation is here pressed
as a duty; not that we can work such a change ourselves: we could
as soon make a new world as make a new heart by any power of our
own; it is God's work, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.11.19 Bible:Ezek.36.26-Ezek.36.27" parsed="|Ezek|11|19|0|0;|Ezek|36|26|36|27" passage="Eze 11:19,36:26,27">Ezek.
xi. 19; xxxvi. 26, 27</scripRef>. But <i>be you transformed,</i>
that is, "use the means which God hath appointed and ordained for
it." It is God that turns us, and then we are turned; but we must
<i>frame our doings to turn,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.4" parsed="|Hos|5|4|0|0" passage="Ho 5:4">Hos. v.
4</scripRef>. "Lay your souls under the changing transforming
influences of the blessed Spirit; seek unto God for grace in the
use of all the means of grace." Though the new man be created of
God, yet we must put it on (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.24" parsed="|Eph|4|24|0|0" passage="Eph 4:24">Eph. iv.
24</scripRef>), and be pressing forward towards perfection. Now in
this verse we may further observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p10">[1.] What is the great enemy to this
renewing, which we must avoid; and that is, conformity to this
world: <i>Be not conformed to this world.</i> All the disciples and
followers of the Lord Jesus must be nonconformists to this world.
<b><i>Me syschematizesthe</i></b>—<i>Do not fashion yourselves</i>
according to the world. We must not conform to the things of the
world; they are mutable, and the fashion of them is passing away.
Do not conform either to the lusts of the flesh or the lusts of the
eye. We must not conform to the men of the world, of that world
which lies in wickedness, not walk according <i>to the course of
this world</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Eph.2.2" parsed="|Eph|2|2|0|0" passage="Eph 2:2">Eph. ii. 2</scripRef>);
that is, we must not follow a multitude to do evil, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.23.2" parsed="|Exod|23|2|0|0" passage="Ex 23:2">Exod. xxiii. 2</scripRef>. If sinners entice us,
we must not consent to them, but in our places witness against
them. Nay, even in things indifferent, and which are not in
themselves sinful, we must so far not conform to the custom and way
of the world as not to act by the world's dictates as our chief
rule, nor to aim at the world's favours as our highest end. True
Christianity consists much in a sober singularity. Yet we must take
heed of the extreme of affected rudeness and moroseness, which some
run into. In civil things, the light of nature and the custom of
nations are intended for our guidance; and the rule of the gospel
in those cases is a rule of direction, not a rule of
contrariety.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p11">[2.] What is the great effect of this
renewing, which we must labour after: <i>That you may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.</i> by the will
of God here we are to understand his revealed will concerning our
duty, what the Lord our God requires of us. This is the will of God
in general, even our sanctification, that will which we pray may be
done by us as it is done by the angels; especially his will as it
is revealed in the New Testament, where he hath in these last days
spoken to us by his Son. <i>First,</i> The will of God is <i>good,
and acceptable, and perfect;</i> three excellent properties of a
law. It is good (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.8" parsed="|Mic|6|8|0|0" passage="Mic 6:8">Mic. vi.
8</scripRef>); it is exactly consonant to the eternal reason of
good and evil. It is good in itself. It is good for us. Some think
the evangelical law is here called good, in distinction from the
ceremonial law, which consisted of <i>statutes that were not
good,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.20.25" parsed="|Ezek|20|25|0|0" passage="Eze 20:25">Ezek. xx. 25</scripRef>. It
is acceptable, it is pleasing to God; that and that only is so
which is prescribed by him. The only way to attain his favour as
the end is to conform to his will as the rule. It is perfect, to
which nothing can be added. The revealed will of God is a
sufficient rule of faith and practice, containing all things which
tend to the perfection of the man of God, to furnish us thoroughly
to every good work, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.3.16-2Tim.3.17" parsed="|2Tim|3|16|3|17" passage="2Ti 3:16,17">2 Tim. iii. 16,
17</scripRef>. <i>Secondly,</i> That it concerns Christians to
prove what is that will of God which is good, and acceptable, and
perfect; that is, to know it with judgment and approbation, to know
it experimentally, to know the excellency of the will of God by the
experience of a conformity to it. It is to approve <i>things that
are excellent</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Phil.1.10" parsed="|Phil|1|10|0|0" passage="Php 1:10">Phil. i.
10</scripRef>); it is <b><i>dokimazein</i></b> (the same word that
is used here) <i>to try</i> things that differ, in doubtful cases
readily to apprehend what the will of God is and to close in with
it. It is to be <i>of quick understanding in the fear of the
Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.3" parsed="|Isa|11|3|0|0" passage="Isa 11:3">Isa. xi. 3</scripRef>.
<i>Thirdly,</i> That those are best able to prove what is the good,
and acceptable, and perfect will of God, who are transformed by the
renewing of their mind. A living principle of grace is in the soul,
as far as it prevails, an unbiassed unprejudiced judgment
concerning the things of God. It disposes the soul to receive and
entertain the revelations of the divine will. The promise is
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:John.7.17" parsed="|John|7|17|0|0" passage="Joh 7:17">John vii. 17</scripRef>), <i>If any
man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.</i> A good wit
can dispute and distinguish about the will of God; while an honest,
humble heart, that has spiritual senses exercised, and is delivered
into the mould of the word, loves it, and practises it, and has the
relish and savour of it. Thus to be godly is to surrender ourselves
to God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p12">2. When this is done, to serve him in all
manner of gospel obedience. Some hints of this we have here
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.11-Rom.12.12" parsed="|Rom|12|11|12|12" passage="Ro 12:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>),
<i>Serving the Lord.</i> Wherefore do we present ourselves to him,
but that we may serve him? <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.27.23" parsed="|Acts|27|23|0|0" passage="Ac 27:23">Acts xxvii.
23</scripRef>, <i>Whose I am;</i> and then it follows, <i>whom I
serve.</i> To be religious is to serve God. How? (1.) We must make
a business of it, and not be slothful in that business. <i>Not
slothful in business.</i> There is the business of the world, that
of our particular calling, in which we must not be slothful,
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.4.11" parsed="|1Thess|4|11|0|0" passage="1Th 4:11">1 Thess. iv. 11</scripRef>. But this
seems to be meant of the business of serving the Lord, our Father's
business, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.49" parsed="|Luke|2|49|0|0" passage="Lu 2:49">Luke ii. 49</scripRef>. Those
that would approve themselves Christians indeed must make religion
their business—must choose it, and learn it, and give themselves
to it; they must love it, and employ themselves in it, and abide by
it, as their great and main business. And, having made it our
business, we must not be slothful in it: not desire our own ease,
and consult that, when it comes in competition with our duty. We
must not drive on slowly in religion. Slothful servants will be
reckoned with us wicked servants. (2.) We must be <i>fervent in
spirit, serving the Lord.</i> God must be served with the spirit
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.9 Bible:John.4.24" parsed="|Rom|1|9|0|0;|John|4|24|0|0" passage="Ro 1:9,Joh 4:24"><i>ch.</i> i. 9; John iv.
24</scripRef>), under the influences of the Holy Spirit. Whatever
we do in religion it is pleasing to God no further than it is done
with our spirits wrought upon by the Spirit of God. And there must
be fervency in the spirit—a holy zeal, and warmth, and ardency of
affection in all we do, as those that love God not only with the
heart and soul, but with all our hearts, and with all our souls.
This is the holy fire that kindles the sacrifice, and carries it up
to heaven, an offering of a sweet-smelling savour.—<i>Serving the
Lord.</i> <b><i>To kairo douleuontes</i></b> (so some copies read
it), <i>serving the time,</i> that is, improving your opportunities
and making the best of them, complying with the present seasons of
grace. (3.) <i>Rejoicing in hope.</i> God is worshipped and
honoured by our hope and trust in him, especially when we rejoice
in that hope, take a complacency in that confidence, which argues a
great assurance of the reality and a great esteem of the excellency
of the good hoped for. (4.) <i>Patient in tribulation.</i> Thus
also God is served, not only by working for him when he calls us to
work, but by sitting still quietly when he calls us to suffer.
Patience for God's sake, and with an eye to his will and glory, is
true piety. Observe, Those that rejoice in hope are likely to be
patient in tribulation. It is a believing prospect of the joy set
before us that bears up the spirit under all outward pressure. (5.)
<i>Continuing instant in prayer.</i> Prayer is a friend to hope and
patience, and we do in it serve the Lord.
<b><i>Proskarterountes.</i></b> It signifies both fervency and
perseverance in prayer. We should not be cold in the duty, nor soon
weary of it, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Luke.18.1 Bible:1Thess.5.17 Bible:Eph.6.18 Bible:Col.4.2" parsed="|Luke|18|1|0|0;|1Thess|5|17|0|0;|Eph|6|18|0|0;|Col|4|2|0|0" passage="Lu 18:1,1Th 5:17,Eph 6:18,Col 4:2">Luke xviii. 1; 1 Thess. v. 17;
Eph. vi. 18; Col. iv. 2</scripRef>. This is our duty which
immediately respects God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p13">II. Concerning our duty which respects
ourselves; this is sobriety.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p14">1. A sober opinion of ourselves, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.3" parsed="|Rom|12|3|0|0" passage="Ro 12:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. It is ushered in with a
solemn preface: <i>I say, through the grace given unto me:</i> the
grace f wisdom, by which he understood the necessity and excellency
of this duty; the grace of apostleship, by which he had authority
to press and enjoin it. "I say it, who am commissioned to say it,
in God's name. I say it, and it is not for you to gainsay it." It
is said to every one of us, one as well as another. Pride is a sin
that is bred in the bone of all of us, and we have therefore each
of us need to be cautioned and armed against it.—<i>Not to think
of himself more highly than he ought to think.</i> We must take
heed of having too great an opinion of ourselves, or putting too
high a valuation upon our own judgments, abilities, persons,
performances. We must not be self-conceited, nor esteem too much
our own wisdom and other attainments, not think ourselves to be
something, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.3" parsed="|Gal|6|3|0|0" passage="Ga 6:3">Gal. vi. 3</scripRef>. There
is a high thought of ourselves which we may and must have to think
ourselves too good to be the slaves of sin and drudges to this
world. But, on the other hand, we should think soberly, that is, we
must have a low and modest opinion of ourselves and our own
abilities, our gifts and graces, according to what we have received
from God, and not otherwise. We must not be confident and hot in
matters of doubtful disputation; not stretch ourselves beyond our
line; not judge and censure those that differ from us; not desire
to make a fair show in the flesh. These and the like are the fruits
of a sober opinion of ourselves. The words will bear yet another
sense agreeable enough. <i>Of himself</i> is not in the original;
therefore it may be read, <i>That no man be wise above what he
ought to be wise, but be wise unto sobriety.</i> We must not
exercise ourselves in things too high for us (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.131.1-Ps.131.2" parsed="|Ps|131|1|131|2" passage="Ps 131:1,2">Ps. cxxxi. 1, 2</scripRef>), not intrude into those
things which we have not seen (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Col.2.18" parsed="|Col|2|18|0|0" passage="Col 2:18">Col.
ii. 18</scripRef>), those secret things which belong not to us
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.29.29" parsed="|Deut|29|29|0|0" passage="De 29:29">Deut. xxix. 29</scripRef>), not covet
to be wise above what is written. There is a knowledge that puffs
up, which reaches after forbidden fruit. We must take heed of this,
and labour after that knowledge which tends to sobriety, to the
rectifying of the heart and the reforming of the life. Some
understand it of the sobriety which keeps us in our own place and
station, from intruding into the gifts and offices of others. See
an instance of this sober modest care in the exercise of the
greatest spiritual gifts, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.10.13-2Cor.10.15" parsed="|2Cor|10|13|10|15" passage="2Co 10:13-15">2 Cor.
x. 13-15</scripRef>. To this head refers also that exhortation
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.16" parsed="|Rom|12|16|0|0" passage="Ro 12:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), <i>Be not
wise in your own conceits.</i> It is good to be wise, but it is bad
to think ourselves so; for there is more hope of a fool than of him
that is wise in his own eyes. It was an excellent thing for Moses
to have his face shine and not know it. Now the reasons why we must
have such a sober opinion of ourselves, our own abilities and
attainments, are these:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p15">(1.) Because whatever we have that is good,
<i>God hath dealt</i> it to us; every good and perfect gift
<i>comes from above,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Jas.1.17" parsed="|Jas|1|17|0|0" passage="Jam 1:17">James i.
17</scripRef>. What have we that we have not received? And, if we
have received it, why then do we boast? <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.4.7" parsed="|1Cor|4|7|0|0" passage="1Co 4:7">1 Cor. iv. 7</scripRef>. The best and most useful man in
the world is no more, no better, than what the free grace of God
makes him every day. When we are thinking of ourselves, we must
remember to think not how we attained, as though our might and the
power of our hand had gotten us these gifts; but think how kind God
hath been to us, for it is he that gives us power to do any thing
that is good, and in him is all our sufficiency.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p16">(2.) Because God deals out his gifts in a
certain measure: According to <i>the measure of faith.</i> Observe,
The measure of spiritual gifts he calls the measure of faith, for
this is the radical grace. What we have and do that is good is so
far right and acceptable as it is founded in faith, and flows from
faith, and no further. Now faith, and other spiritual gifts with
it, are dealt by measure, according as Infinite Wisdom sees meet
for us. Christ had the Spirit given him without measure, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:John.3.34" parsed="|John|3|34|0|0" passage="Joh 3:34">John iii. 34</scripRef>. But the saints have it
by measure; see <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.7" parsed="|Eph|4|7|0|0" passage="Eph 4:7">Eph. iv. 7</scripRef>.
Christ, who had gifts without measure, was meek and lowly; and
shall we, that are stinted, be proud and self-conceited?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p17">(3.) Because God has dealt out gifts to
others as well as to us: <i>Dealt to every man.</i> Had we the
monopoly of the Spirit, or a patent to be sole proprietors of
spiritual gifts, there might be some pretence for this
conceitedness of ourselves; but others have their share as well as
we. God is a common Father, and Christ a common root, to all the
saints, who all drive virtue from him; and therefore it ill becomes
us to lift up ourselves, and to despise others, as if we only were
the people in favour with heaven, and wisdom should die with us.
This reasoning he illustrates by a comparison taken from the
members of the natural body (as <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.12.12 Bible:Eph.4.16" parsed="|1Cor|12|12|0|0;|Eph|4|16|0|0" passage="1Co 12:12,Eph 4:16">1 Cor. xii. 12; Eph. iv. 16</scripRef>): <i>As
we have many members in one body,</i> &amp;c., <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.4-Rom.12.5" parsed="|Rom|12|4|12|5" passage="Ro 12:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>. Here observe, [1.] All the
saints make up one body in Christ, who is the head of the body, and
the common centre of their unity. Believers lie not in the world as
a confused disorderly heap, but are organized and knit together, as
they are united to one common head, and actuated and animated by
one common Spirit. [2.] Particular believers are members of this
body, constituent parts, which speak them less than the whole, and
in relation to the whole, deriving life and spirits from the head.
Some members in the body are bigger and more useful than others,
and each receives spirits from the head according to its
proportion. If the little finger should receive as much nourishment
as the leg, how unseemly and prejudicial would it be! We must
remember that we are not the whole; we think above what is meet if
we think so; we are but parts and members. [3.] All <i>the members
have not the same office</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.4" parsed="|Rom|12|4|0|0" passage="Ro 12:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>), but each hath its respective place and work assigned
it. The office of the eye is to see, the office of the hand is to
work, &amp;c. So in the mystical body, some are qualified for, and
called to, one sort of work; others are, in like manner, fitted
for, and called to, another sort of work. Magistrates, ministers,
people, in a Christian commonwealth, have their several offices,
and must not intrude one upon another, nor clash in the discharge
of their several offices. [4.] Each member hath its place and
office, for the good and benefit of the whole, and of every other
member. We are not only members of Christ, but we are <i>members
one of another,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.5" parsed="|Rom|12|5|0|0" passage="Ro 12:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>. We stand in relation one to another; we are engaged
to do all the good we can one to another, and to act in conjunction
for the common benefit. See this illustrated at large, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.12.14" parsed="|1Cor|12|14|0|0" passage="1Co 12:14">1 Cor. xii. 14</scripRef>, &amp;c. Therefore we
must not be puffed up with a conceit of our own attainments,
because, whatever we have, as we received it, so we received it not
for ourselves, but for the good of others.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p18">2. A sober use of the gifts that God hath
given us. As we must not on the one hand be proud of our talents,
so on the other hand we must not bury them. Take heed lest, under a
pretence of humility and self-denial, we be slothful in laying out
ourselves for the good of others. We must not say, "I am nothing,
therefore I will sit still, and do nothing;" but, "I am nothing in
myself, and therefore I will lay out myself to the utmost in the
strength of the grace of Christ." He specifies the ecclesiastical
offices appointed in particular churches, in the discharge of which
each must study to do his own duty, for the preserving of order and
the promotion of edification in the church, each knowing his place
and fulfilling it. <i>Having then gifts.</i> The following
induction of particulars supplies the sense of this general.
<i>Having gifts,</i> let us use them. Authority and ability for the
ministerial work are the gift of God.—<i>Gifts differing.</i> The
immediate design is different, though the ultimate tendency of all
is the same. <i>According to the grace,</i> <b><i>charismata kata
ten charin.</i></b> The free grace of God is the spring and
original of all the gifts that are given to men. It is grace that
appoints the office, qualifies and inclines the person, works both
to will and to do. There were in the primitive church extraordinary
gifts of tongues, of discerning, of healing; but he speaks here of
those that are ordinary. Compare <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.12.4 Bible:1Tim.4.14 Bible:1Pet.4.10" parsed="|1Cor|12|4|0|0;|1Tim|4|14|0|0;|1Pet|4|10|0|0" passage="1Co 12:4,1Ti 4:14,1Pe 4:10">1 Cor. xii. 4; 1 Tim. iv. 14; 1 Pet.
iv. 10</scripRef>. Seven particular gifts he specifies (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.6-Rom.12.8" parsed="|Rom|12|6|12|8" passage="Ro 12:6-8"><i>v.</i> 6-8</scripRef>), which seem to be
meant of so many distinct offices, used by the prudential
constitution of many of the primitive churches, especially the
larger. There are two general ones here expressed by prophesying
and ministering, the former the work of the bishops, the latter the
work of the deacons, which were the only two standing officers,
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Phil.1.1" parsed="|Phil|1|1|0|0" passage="Php 1:1">Phil. i. 1</scripRef>. But the
particular work belonging to each of these might be, and it should
seem was, divided and allotted by common consent and agreement,
that it might be done the more effectually, because that which is
every body's work is nobody's work, and he despatches his business
best that is <i>vir unius negotii—a man of one business.</i> Thus
David sorted the Levites (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.23.4-1Chr.23.5" parsed="|1Chr|23|4|23|5" passage="1Ch 23:4,5">1 Chron.
xxiii. 4, 5</scripRef>), and in this wisdom is profitable to
direct. The five latter will therefore be reduced to the two
former.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p19">(1.) <i>Prophecy. Whether prophecy, let us
prophesy according to the proportion of faith.</i> It is not meant
of the extraordinary gifts of foretelling things to come, but the
ordinary office of preaching the word: so <i>prophesying</i> is
taken, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.14.1-1Cor.14.3 Bible:1Cor.11.4 Bible:1Thess.5.20" parsed="|1Cor|14|1|14|3;|1Cor|11|4|0|0;|1Thess|5|20|0|0" passage="1Co 14:1-3,11:4,1Th 5:20">1 Cor. xiv.
1-3, &amp;c.; xi. 4; 1 Thess. v. 20</scripRef>. The work of the
Old-Testament prophets was not only to foretel future things, but
to warn the people concerning sin and duty, and to be their
remembrancers concerning that which they knew before. And thus
gospel preachers are prophets, and do indeed, as far as the
revelation of the word goes, foretel things to come. Preaching
refers to the eternal condition of the children of men, points
directly at a future state. Now those that preach the word must do
it <i>according to the proportion of faith</i>—<b><i>kata ten
analogian tes pisteos,</i></b> that is, [1.] As to the manner of
our prophesying, it must be according to the proportion of the
grace of faith. He had spoken (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.3" parsed="|Rom|12|3|0|0" passage="Ro 12:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) of the measure of faith dealt to
every man. Let him that preaches set all the faith he hath on work,
to impress the truths he preaches upon his own heart in the first
place. As people cannot hear well, so ministers cannot preach well,
without faith. First believe and then speak, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.116.10 Bible:2Cor.4.13" parsed="|Ps|116|10|0|0;|2Cor|4|13|0|0" passage="Ps 116:10,2Co 4:13">Ps. cxvi. 10; 2 Cor. iv. 13</scripRef>. And we
must remember the proportion of faith—that, though all men have
not faith, yet a great many have besides ourselves; and therefore
we must allow others to have a share of knowledge and ability to
instruct, as well as we, even those that in less things differ from
us. "<i>Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself;</i> and do not make it
a ruling rule to others, remembering that thou hast but thy
proportion." [2.] As to the matter of our prophesying, it must be
according to the proportion of the doctrine of faith, as it is
revealed in the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament. By
this rule of faith the Bereans tried Paul's preaching, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.17.11" parsed="|Acts|17|11|0|0" passage="Ac 17:11">Acts xvii. 11</scripRef>. Compare <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.26.22 Bible:Gal.1.9" parsed="|Acts|26|22|0|0;|Gal|1|9|0|0" passage="Ac 26:22,Ga 1:9">Acts xxvi. 22; Gal. i. 9</scripRef>.
There are some staple-truths, as I may call them, some <i>prima
axiomata—first axioms,</i> plainly and uniformly taught in the
scripture, which are the touchstone of preaching, by which (though
we must not despise prophesying) we must <i>prove all things,</i>
and then <i>hold fast that which is good,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p19.6" osisRef="Bible:1Thess.5.20-1Thess.5.21" parsed="|1Thess|5|20|5|21" passage="1Th 5:20,21">1 Thess. v. 20, 21</scripRef>. Truths that are more
dark must be examined by those that are more clear; and then
entertained when they are found to agree and comport with the
analogy of faith; for it is certain one truth can never contradict
another. See here what ought to be the great care of preachers—to
preach sound doctrine, according to the form of wholesome words,
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p19.7" osisRef="Bible:Titus.2.8 Bible:2Tim.1.13" parsed="|Titus|2|8|0|0;|2Tim|1|13|0|0" passage="Tit 2:8,2Ti 1:13">Tit. ii. 8; 2 Tim. i.
13</scripRef>. It is not so necessary that the prophesying be
according to the proportion of art, the rules of logic and
rhetoric; but it is necessary that it be according to the
proportion of faith: for it is the word of faith that we preach.
Now there are two particular works which he that prophesieth hath
to mind—teaching and exhorting, proper enough to be done by the
same person at the same time, and when he does the one let him mind
that, when he does the other let him do that too as well as he can.
If, by agreement between the ministers of a congregation, this work
be divided, either constantly or interchangeably, so that one
teaches and the other exhorts (that is, in our modern dialect, one
expounds and the other preaches), let each do his work according to
the proportion of faith. <i>First,</i> let him that teacheth wait
on teaching. Teaching is the bare explaining and proving of gospel
truths, without practical application, as in the expounding of the
scripture. <i>Pastors and teachers</i> are the same office
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p19.8" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.11" parsed="|Eph|4|11|0|0" passage="Eph 4:11">Eph. iv. 11</scripRef>), but the
particular work is somewhat different. Now he that has a faculty of
teaching, and has undertaken that province, let him stick to it. It
is a good gift, let him use it, and give his mind to it. <i>He that
teacheth, let him be in his teaching;</i> so some supply it,
<b><i>Ho didaskon, en te didaskalia.</i></b> Let him be frequent
and constant, and diligent in it; let him abide in that which is
his proper work, and be in it as his element. See <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p19.9" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.4.15-1Tim.4.16" parsed="|1Tim|4|15|4|16" passage="1Ti 4:15,16">1 Tim. iv. 15, 16</scripRef>, where it is
explained by two words, <b><i>en toutois isthi,</i></b> and
<b><i>epimene autois,</i></b> <i>be in these things</i> and
<i>continue in them. Secondly,</i> Let him that <i>exhorteth</i>
wait <i>on exhortation.</i> Let him give himself to that. This is
the work of the pastor, as the former of the teacher; to apply
gospel truths and rules more closely to the case and condition of
the people, and to press upon them that which is more practical.
Many that are very accurate in teaching may yet be very cold and
unskilful in exhorting; and on the contrary. The one requires a
clearer head, the other a warmer heart. Now where these gifts are
evidently separated (that the one excels in the one and the other
in the other) it conduces to edification to divide the work
accordingly; and, whatsoever the work is that we undertake, let us
mind it. To wait on our work is to bestow the best of our time and
thoughts upon it, to lay hold of all opportunities for it, and to
study not only to do it, but to do it well.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p20">(2.) <i>Ministry.</i> If a man hath
<b><i>diakonian</i></b>—<i>the office of a deacon,</i> or
assistant to the pastor and teacher, let him use that office
well—a churchwarden (suppose), an elder, or an overseer of the
poor; and perhaps there were more put into these offices, and there
was more solemnity in them, and a greater stress of care and
business lay upon them in the primitive churches, than we are now
well aware of. It includes all those offices which concern the
<b><i>ta exo</i></b> of the church, <i>the outward business of the
house of God.</i> See <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Neh.11.16" parsed="|Neh|11|16|0|0" passage="Ne 11:16">Neh. xi.
16</scripRef>. <i>Serving tables,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.6.2" parsed="|Acts|6|2|0|0" passage="Ac 6:2">Acts vi. 2</scripRef>. Now let him on whom this care of
ministering is devolved attend to it with faithfulness and
diligence; particularly, [1.] <i>He that giveth, let him do it with
simplicity.</i> Those church-officers that were the stewards of the
church's alms, collected money, and distributed it according as the
necessities of the poor were. Let them do it <b><i>en
aploteti</i></b>—<i>liberally</i> and faithfully; not converting
what they receive to their own use, nor distributing it with any
sinister design, or with respect of person: not froward and peevish
with the poor, nor seeking pretences to put them by; but with all
sincerity and integrity, having no other intention in it than to
glorify God and do good. Some understand it in general of all
almsgiving: He that hath wherewithal, let him give, and give
plentifully and liberally; so the word is translated, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.8.2 Bible:2Cor.9.13" parsed="|2Cor|8|2|0|0;|2Cor|9|13|0|0" passage="2Co 8:2,9:13">2 Cor. viii. 2; ix. 13</scripRef>. God loves
a cheerful bountiful giver. [2.] <i>He that ruleth with
diligence.</i> It should seem, he means those that were assistants
to the pastors in exercising church-discipline, as their eyes, and
hands, and mouth, in the government of the church, or those
ministers that in the congregation did chiefly undertake and apply
themselves to this ruling work; for we find those ruling that
laboured in the word and doctrine, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.5.17" parsed="|1Tim|5|17|0|0" passage="1Ti 5:17">1
Tim. v. 17</scripRef>. Now such must do it with diligence. The word
denotes both care and industry to discover what is amiss, to reduce
those that go astray, to reprove and admonish those that have
fallen, to keep the church pure. Those must take a great deal of
pains that will approve themselves faithful in the discharge of
this trust, and not let slip any opportunity that may facilitate
and advance that work. [3.] <i>He that showeth mercy with
cheerfulness.</i> Some think it is meant in general of all that in
any thing show mercy: Let them be willing to do it, and take a
pleasure in it; God loves a cheerful giver. But it seems to be
meant of some particular church-officers, whose work it was to take
care of the sick and strangers; and those were generally widows
that were in this matter servants to the church-deaconesses
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.5.9-1Tim.5.10" parsed="|1Tim|5|9|5|10" passage="1Ti 5:9,10">1 Tim. v. 9, 10</scripRef>), though
others, it is likely, might be employed. Now this must be done with
cheerfulness. A pleasing countenance in acts of mercy is a great
relief and comfort to the miserable; when they see it is not done
grudgingly and unwillingly, but with pleasant looks and gentle
words, and all possible indications of readiness and alacrity.
Those that have to do with such as are sick and sore, and commonly
cross and peevish, have need to put on not only patience, but
cheerfulness, to make the work the more easy and pleasant to them,
and the more acceptable to God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p21">III. Concerning that part of our duty which
respects our brethren, of which we have many instances, in brief
exhortations. Now all our duty towards one another is summer up in
one word, and that a sweet work, <i>love.</i> In that is laid the
foundation of all our mutual duty; and therefore the apostle
mentions this first, which is the livery of Christ's disciples, and
the great law of our religion: <i>Let love be without
dissimulation;</i> not in compliment and pretence, but in reality;
<i>not in word and tongue only,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:1John.3.18" parsed="|1John|3|18|0|0" passage="1Jo 3:18">1
John iii. 18</scripRef>. The right love is love unfeigned; not as
the kisses of an enemy, which are deceitful. We should be glad of
an opportunity to <i>prove the sincerity of our love,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.8.8" parsed="|2Cor|8|8|0|0" passage="2Co 8:8">2 Cor. viii. 8</scripRef>. More particularly,
there is a love owing to our friends, and to our enemies. He
specifies both.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p22">1. To our friends. He that hath friends
must show himself friendly. There is a mutual love that Christians
owe, and must pay.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p23">(1.) An affectionate love (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.10" parsed="|Rom|12|10|0|0" passage="Ro 12:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>Be kindly
affectioned one to another, with brotherly love,</i>
<b><i>philostorgoi</i></b>—it signifies not only love, but a
readiness and inclination to love, the most genuine and free
affection, kindness flowing out as from a spring. It properly
denotes the love of parents to their children, which, as it is the
most tender, so it is the most natural, of any, unforced,
unconstrained; such must our love be to one another, and such it
will be where there is a new nature and the law of love is written
in the heart. This kind affection puts us on to express ourselves
both in word and action with the greatest courtesy and obligingness
that may be.—<i>One to another.</i> This may recommend the grace
of love to us, that, as it is made our duty to love others, so it
is as much their duty to love us. And what can be sweeter on this
side heaven than to love and be beloved? He that thus watereth
shall be watered also himself.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p24">(2.) A respectful love: <i>In honour
preferring one another.</i> Instead of contending for superiority,
let us be forward to give to others the pre-eminence. This is
explained, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Phil.2.3" parsed="|Phil|2|3|0|0" passage="Php 2:3">Phil. ii. 3</scripRef>,
<i>Let each esteem other better than themselves.</i> And there is
this good reason for it, because, if we know our own hearts, we
know more evil by ourselves than we do by any one else in the
world. We should be forward to take notice of the gifts, and
graces, and performances of our brethren, and value them
accordingly, be more forward to praise another, and more pleased to
hear another praised, than ourselves; <b><i>te time allelous
proegoumenoi</i></b>—<i>going before,</i> or <i>leading one
another in honour;</i> so some read it: not in taking honour, but
in giving honour. "Strive which of you shall be most forward to pay
respect to those to whom it is due, and to perform all Christian
offices of love (which are all included in the word honour) to your
brethren, as there is occasion. Let all your contention be which
shall be most humble, and useful, and condescending." So the sense
is the same with <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Titus.3.14" parsed="|Titus|3|14|0|0" passage="Tit 3:14">Tit. iii.
14</scripRef>, <i>Let them learn,</i>
<b><i>proistasthai</i></b>—<i>to go before in good works.</i> For
though we must prefer others (as our translation reads it), and put
on others, as more capable and deserving than ourselves, yet we
must not make that an excuse for our lying by and doing nothing,
nor under a pretence of honouring others, and their serviceableness
and performances, indulge ourselves in ease and slothfulness.
Therefore he immediately adds (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.11" parsed="|Rom|12|11|0|0" passage="Ro 12:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), <i>Not slothful in
business.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p25">(3.) A liberal love (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.13" parsed="|Rom|12|13|0|0" passage="Ro 12:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>Distributing to the
necessities of saints.</i> It is but a mock love which rests in the
verbal expressions of kindness and respect, while the wants of our
brethren call for real supplies, and it is in the power of our
hands to furnish them. [1.] It is no strange thing for saints in
this world to want necessaries for the support of their natural
live. In those primitive times prevailing persecutions must needs
reduce many of the suffering saints to great extremities; and still
the poor, even the poor saints, we have always with us. Surely the
things of this world are not the best things; if they were, the
saints, who are the favourites of heaven, would not be put off with
so little of them. [2.] It is the duty of those who have
wherewithal to <i>distribute,</i> or (as it might better be read)
to <i>communicate</i> to those necessities. It is not enough to
draw out the soul, but we must draw out the purse, to the hungry.
See <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.2.15-Jas.2.16 Bible:1John.3.17" parsed="|Jas|2|15|2|16;|1John|3|17|0|0" passage="Jam 2:15,16,1Jo 3:17">Jam. ii. 15, 16; 1
John iii. 17</scripRef>.
<i>Communicating</i>—<b><i>koinonountes.</i></b> It intimates that
our poor brethren have a kind of interest in that which God hath
given us; and that our reliving them should come from a sense and
fellow-feeling of their wants, as though we suffered with them. The
charitable benevolence of the Philippians to Paul is called their
communicating with his affliction, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Phil.4.14" parsed="|Phil|4|14|0|0" passage="Php 4:14">Phil. iv. 14</scripRef>. We must be ready, as we have
ability and opportunity, to relieve any that are in want; but we
are in a special manner bound to communicate to the saints. There
is a common love owing to our fellow-creatures, but a special love
owing to our fellow-christians (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.10" parsed="|Gal|6|10|0|0" passage="Ga 6:10">Gal.
vi. 10</scripRef>), <i>Especially to those who are of the household
of faith. Communicating,</i> <b><i>tais mneiais</i></b>—<i>to the
memories</i> of the saints; so some of the ancients read it,
instead of <b><i>tais chreiais.</i></b> There is a debt owing to
the memory of those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises—to value it, to vindicate it, to embalm it. Let the
memory of the just be blessed; so some read <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p25.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.10.7" parsed="|Prov|10|7|0|0" passage="Pr 10:7">Prov. x. 7</scripRef>. He mentions another branch of this
bountiful love: <i>Given to hospitality.</i> Those who have houses
of their own should be ready to entertain those who go about doing
good, or who, for fear of persecution, are forced to wander for
shelter. They had not then so much of the convenience of common
inns as we have; or the wandering Christians durst not frequent
them; or they had not wherewithal to bear the charges, and
therefore it was a special kindness to bid them welcome on
free-cost. Nor is it yet an antiquated superseded duty; as there is
occasion, we must welcome strangers, for we know not the heart of a
stranger. <i>I was a stranger, and you took me in,</i> is mentioned
as one instance of the mercifulness of those that shall obtain
mercy: <b><i>ten philoxenian diokontes</i></b>—<i>following</i> or
<i>pursuing</i> hospitality. It intimates, not only that we must
take opportunity, but that we must seek opportunity, thus to show
mercy. As Abraham, who sat at the tent-door (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p25.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.18.1" parsed="|Gen|18|1|0|0" passage="Ge 18:1">Gen. xviii. 1</scripRef>), and Lot, who sat in the gate
of Sodom (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p25.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.19.1" parsed="|Gen|19|1|0|0" passage="Ge 19:1">Gen. xix. 1</scripRef>),
expecting travellers, whom they might meet and prevent with a kind
invitation, and so they entertained angels unawares, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p25.8" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.2" parsed="|Heb|13|2|0|0" passage="Heb 13:2">Heb. xiii. 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p26">(4.) A sympathizing love (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.15" parsed="|Rom|12|15|0|0" passage="Ro 12:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>Rejoice with those
that do rejoice, and weep with those that weep.</i> Where there is
a mutual love between the members of the mystical body, there will
be such a fellow-feeling. See <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.12.26" parsed="|1Cor|12|26|0|0" passage="1Co 12:26">1 Cor.
xii. 26</scripRef>. True love will interest us in the sorrows and
joys of one another, and teach us to make them our own. Observe the
common mixture in this world, some rejoicing, and others weeping
(as the people, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.3.12-Ezra.3.13" parsed="|Ezra|3|12|3|13" passage="Ezr 3:12,13">Ezra iii. 12,
13</scripRef>), for the trial, as of other graces, so of brotherly
love and Christian sympathy. Not that we must participate in the
sinful mirths or mournings of any, but only in just and reasonable
joys and sorrows: not envying those that prosper, but rejoicing
with them; truly glad that others have the success and comfort
which we have not; not despising those that are in trouble, but
concerned for them, and ready to help them, as being ourselves in
the body. This is to do as God does, who not only has <i>pleasure
in the prosperity of his servants</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.35.27" parsed="|Ps|35|27|0|0" passage="Ps 35:27">Ps. xxxv. 27</scripRef>), but is likewise <i>afflicted
in all their afflictions,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.9" parsed="|Isa|63|9|0|0" passage="Isa 63:9">Isa.
lxiii. 9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p27">(5.) A united love: "<i>Be of the same mind
one towards another</i> (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.16" parsed="|Rom|12|16|0|0" passage="Ro 12:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>), that is, labour, as much as you can, to agree in
apprehension; and, wherein you come short of this, yet agree in
affection; endeavour to be all one, not affecting to clash, and
contradict, and thwart one another; but keep the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.2.2 Bible:Phil.3.15-Phil.3.16 Bible:1Cor.1.10" parsed="|Phil|2|2|0|0;|Phil|3|15|3|16;|1Cor|1|10|0|0" passage="Php 2:2;3:15,16;1Co 1:10">Phil. ii. 2; iii. 15, 16; 1 Cor. i.
10</scripRef>; <b><i>to auto eis allelous
phronountes</i></b>—<i>wishing the same good</i> to others that
you do to yourselves;" so some understand it. This is to love our
brethren as ourselves, desiring their welfare as our own.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p28">(6.) A condescending love: <i>Mind not high
things, but condescend to men of low estate,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.16" parsed="|Rom|12|16|0|0" passage="Ro 12:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. True love cannot be without
lowliness, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.2" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.1-Eph.4.2 Bible:Phil.2.3" parsed="|Eph|4|1|4|2;|Phil|2|3|0|0" passage="Eph 4:1,2,Php 2:3">Eph. iv. 1, 2;
Phil. ii. 3</scripRef>. When our Lord Jesus washed his disciples'
feet, to teach us brotherly love (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.3" osisRef="Bible:John.13.5 Bible:John.14.34" parsed="|John|13|5|0|0;|John|14|34|0|0" passage="Joh 13:5,14:34">John xiii. 5; xiv. 34</scripRef>), it was designed
especially to intimate to us that to love one another aright is to
be willing to stoop to the meanest offices of kindness for the good
of one another. Love is a condescending grace: <i>Non bene
conveniunt—majestas et amor—Majesty and love do but ill assort
with each other.</i> Observe how it is pressed here. [1.] <i>Mind
not high things.</i> We must not be ambitious of honour and
preferment, nor look upon worldly pomp and dignity with any
inordinate value or desire but rather with a holy contempt. When
David's advancements were high, his spirit was humble (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.131.1" parsed="|Ps|131|1|0|0" passage="Ps 131:1">Ps. cxxxi. 1</scripRef>): <i>I do not exercise
myself in great matters.</i> The Romans, living in the imperial
city, which reigned over the kings of the earth (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.17.18" parsed="|Rev|17|18|0|0" passage="Re 17:18">Rev. xvii. 18</scripRef>), and was at that time in the
meridian of its splendour, were perhaps ready to take occasion
thence to think the better of themselves. Even the holy seed were
tainted with this leaven. Roman Christians, as some citizens do
upon the country; and therefore the apostle so often cautions them
against high-mindedness; compare <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.6" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.20" parsed="|Rom|11|20|0|0" passage="Ro 11:20"><i>ch.</i> xi. 20</scripRef>. They lived near the court,
and conversed daily with the gaiety and grandeur of it: "Well,"
saith he, "do not mind it, be not in love with it." [2.]
<i>Condescend to men of low estate</i>—<b><i>Tois tapeinois
synapagomenoi.</i></b> <i>First,</i> It may be meant of <i>mean
things,</i> to which we must condescend. If our condition in the
world be poor and low, our enjoyments coarse and scanty, our
employments despicable and contemptible, yet we must bring our
minds to it, and acquiesce in it. So the margin: <i>Be contented
with mean things.</i> Be reconciled to the place which God in his
providence hath put us in, whatever it be. We must account nothing
below us but sin: stoop to mean habitations, mean fare, mean
clothing, mean accommodations when they are our lot, and not
grudge. Nay, we must be carried with a kind of impetus, by the
force of the new nature (so the word <b><i>synapagomai</i></b>
properly signifies, and it is very significant), towards mean
things, when God appoints us to them; as the old corrupt nature is
carried out towards high things. We must accommodate ourselves to
mean things. We should make a low condition and mean circumstances
more the centre of our desires than a high condition.
<i>Secondly,</i> It may be meant of <i>mean persons;</i> so we read
it (I think both are to be included) <i>Condescend to men of low
estate.</i> We must associate with, and accommodate ourselves to,
those that are poor and mean in the world, if they be such as fear
God. David, though a king upon the throne, was a companion for all
such, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.63" parsed="|Ps|119|63|0|0" passage="Ps 119:63">Ps. cxix. 63</scripRef>. We
need not be ashamed to converse with the lowly, while the great God
overlooks heaven and earth to look at such. True love values grace
in rags as well as in scarlet. A jewel is a jewel, though it lie in
the dirt. The contrary to this condescension is reproved, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.8" osisRef="Bible:Jas.2.1-Jas.2.4" parsed="|Jas|2|1|2|4" passage="Jam 2:1-4">Jam. ii. 1-4</scripRef>. <i>Condescend;</i>
that is, suit yourselves to them, stoop to them for their good; as
Paul, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.9" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.9.19" parsed="|1Cor|9|19|0|0" passage="1Co 9:19">1 Cor. ix. 19</scripRef>,
&amp;c. Some think the original word is a metaphor taken from
travellers, when those that are stronger and swifter of foot stay
for those that are weak and slow, make a halt, and take them with
them; thus must Christians be tender towards their fellow
travellers. As a means to promote this, he adds, <i>Be not wise in
your own conceits;</i> to the same purport with <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.10" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.3" parsed="|Rom|12|3|0|0" passage="Ro 12:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. We shall never find in our hearts
to condescend to others while we find there so great a conceit of
ourselves: and therefore this must needs be mortified. <b><i>Me
ginesthe phronimoi par heautois</i></b>—"<i>Be not wise by
yourselves,</i> be not confident of the sufficiency of your own
wisdom, so as to despise others, or think you have no need of them
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p28.11" osisRef="Bible:Prov.3.7" parsed="|Prov|3|7|0|0" passage="Pr 3:7">Prov. iii. 7</scripRef>), nor be shy of
communicating what you have to others. We are members one of
another, depend upon one another, are obliged to one another; and
therefore, <i>Be not wise by yourselves,</i> remembering it is the
merchandise of wisdom that we profess; now merchandise consists in
commerce, receiving and returning."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p29">(7.) A love that engages us, as much as
lies in us, <i>to live peaceably with all men,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p29.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.18" parsed="|Rom|12|18|0|0" passage="Ro 12:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. Even those with whom we
cannot live intimately and familiarly, by reason of distance in
degree or profession, yet we must with such live peaceably; that
is, we must be harmless and inoffensive, not giving others occasion
to quarrel with us; and we must be gall-less and unrevengeful, not
taking occasion to quarrel with them. Thus must we labour to
preserve the peace, that it be not broken, and to piece it again
when it is broken. The wisdom from above is pure and peaceable.
Observe how the exhortation is limited. It is not expressed so as
to oblige us to impossibilities: <i>If it be possible, as much as
lies in you.</i> Thus <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p29.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.14" parsed="|Heb|12|14|0|0" passage="Heb 12:14">Heb. xii.
14</scripRef>, <i>Follow peace.</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p29.3" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.3" parsed="|Eph|4|3|0|0" passage="Eph 4:3">Eph. iv. 3</scripRef>, <i>Endeavouring to keep.</i> Study
the things that make for peace.—<i>If it be possible.</i> It is
not possible to preserve the peace when we cannot do it without
offending God and wounding conscience: <i>Id possumus quod jure
possumus—That is possible which is possible without incurring
blame.</i> The wisdom that is from above is first pure and then
peaceable, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p29.4" osisRef="Bible:Jas.3.17" parsed="|Jas|3|17|0|0" passage="Jam 3:17">Jam. iii. 17</scripRef>.
Peace without purity is the peace of the devil's palace.—<i>As
much as lieth in you.</i> There must be two words to the bargain of
peace. We can but speak for ourselves. We may be unavoidably
striven with; as Jeremiah, who was a <i>man of contention</i>
(<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p29.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.15.10" parsed="|Jer|15|10|0|0" passage="Jer 15:10">Jer. xv. 10</scripRef>), and this we
cannot help; our care must be that nothing be wanting on our parts
to preserve the peace, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p29.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.120.7" parsed="|Ps|120|7|0|0" passage="Ps 120:7">Ps. cxx.
7</scripRef>. I am for peace, though, when I speak, they are for
war.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p30">2. To our enemies. Since men became enemies
to God, they have been found very apt to be enemies one to another.
Let but the centre of love be once forsaken, and the lines will
either clash and interfere, or be at an uncomfortable distance.
And, of all men, those that embrace religion have reason to expect
to meet with enemies in a world whose smiles seldom concur with
Christ's. Now Christianity teaches us how to behave towards our
enemies; and in this instruction it quite differs from all other
rules and methods, which generally aim at victory and dominion; but
this at inward peace and satisfaction. Whoever are our enemies,
that wish us ill and seek to do us ill, our rule is to do them no
hurt, but all the good we can.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p31">(1.) To do them no hurt (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.17" parsed="|Rom|12|17|0|0" passage="Ro 12:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): <i>Recompense to no man evil
for evil,</i> for that is a brutish recompence, and befitting only
those animals which are not conscious either of any being above
them or of any state before them. Or, if mankind were made (as some
dream) in a state of war, such recompences as these were agreeable
enough; but we have not so learned God, who does so much for his
enemies (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.45" parsed="|Matt|5|45|0|0" passage="Mt 5:45">Matt. v. 45</scripRef>), much
less have we so learned Christ, who died for us when we were
enemies (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.8 Bible:Rom.5.10" parsed="|Rom|5|8|0|0;|Rom|5|10|0|0" passage="Ro 5:8,10"><i>ch.</i> v. 8,
10</scripRef>), so loved that world which hated him without a
cause.—"<i>To no man;</i> neither to Jew nor Greek; not to one
that has been thy friend, for by recompensing evil for evil thou
wilt certainly lose him; not to one that has been thine enemy, for
by not recompensing evil for evil thou mayest perhaps gain him." To
the same purport, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.19" parsed="|Rom|12|19|0|0" passage="Ro 12:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>, <i>Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves.</i> And
why must this be ushered in with such an affectionate compellation,
rather than any other of the exhortations of this chapter? Surely
because this is intended for the composing of angry spirits, that
are hot in the resentment of a provocation. He addresses himself to
such in this endearing language, to mollify and qualify them. Any
thing that breathes love sweetens the blood, lays the storm, and
cools the intemperate heat. Would you pacify a brother offended?
Call him dearly beloved. Such a soft word, fitly spoken, may be
effectual to turn away wrath. <i>Avenge not yourselves;</i> that
is, when any body has done you any ill turn, do not desire nor
endeavour to bring the like mischief or inconvenience upon him. It
is not forbidden to the magistrate to do justice to those that are
wronged, by punishing the wrong-doer; nor to make and execute just
and wholesome laws against malefactors; but it forbids private
revenge, which flows from anger and ill-will; and this is fitly
forbidden, for it is presumed that we are incompetent judges in our
own case. Nay, if persons wronged in seeking the defence of the
law, and magistrates in granting it, act from any particular
personal pique or quarrel, and not from a concern that public peace
and order be maintained and right done, even such proceedings,
though seemingly regular, will fall under this prohibited
self-revenging. See how strict the law of Christ is in this matter,
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.38-Matt.5.40" parsed="|Matt|5|38|5|40" passage="Mt 5:38-40">Matt. v. 38-40</scripRef>. It is
forbidden not only to take it into our own hands to avenge
ourselves, but to desire and thirst after event that judgment in
our case which the law affords, for the satisfying of a revengeful
humour. This is a hard lesson to corrupt nature; and therefore he
subjoins, [1.] A remedy against it: <i>Rather give place unto
wrath.</i> Not to our own wrath; to give place to this is to give
place to the devil, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.6" osisRef="Bible:Eph.4.26-Eph.4.27" parsed="|Eph|4|26|4|27" passage="Eph 4:26,27">Eph. iv. 26,
27</scripRef>. We must resist, and stifle, and smother, and
suppress this; but, <i>First,</i> To the wrath of our enemy. "Give
place to it, that is, be of a yielding temper; do not answer wrath
with wrath, but with love rather. <i>Yielding pacifies great
offences,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.7" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.10.4" parsed="|Eccl|10|4|0|0" passage="Ec 10:4">Eccl. x. 4</scripRef>.
Receive affronts and injuries, as a stone is received into a heap
of wool, which gives way to it, and so it does not rebound back,
nor go any further." So it explains that of our Saviour (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.8" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.39" parsed="|Matt|5|39|0|0" passage="Mt 5:39">Matt. v. 39</scripRef>), <i>Whosoever shall smite
thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.</i> Instead of
meditating how to revenge one wrong, prepare to receive another.
When men's passions are up, and the stream is strong, let it have
its course, lest by an unseasonable opposition it be made to rage
and swell the more. When others are angry, let us be calm; this is
a remedy against revenge, and seems to be the genuine sense. But,
<i>Secondly,</i> Many apply it to the wrath of God: "Give place to
this, make room for him to take the throne of judgment, and let him
alone to deal with thine adversary." [2.] A reason against it:
<i>For it is written, Vengeance is mine.</i> We find it written,
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.9" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.35" parsed="|Deut|32|35|0|0" passage="De 32:35">Deut. xxxii. 35</scripRef>. God is the
sovereign King, the righteous Judge, and to him it belongs to
administer justice; for, being a God of infinite knowledge, by him
actions are weighed in unerring balances; and, being a God of
infinite purity, he hates sin and cannot endure to look upon
iniquity. Some of this power he hath trusted in the hands of the
civil magistrates (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.10" osisRef="Bible:Gen.9.6 Bible:Rom.13.4" parsed="|Gen|9|6|0|0;|Rom|13|4|0|0" passage="Ge 9:6,Ro 13:4">Gen. ix. 6;
<i>ch.</i> xiii. 4</scripRef>); their legal punishments therefore
are to be looked upon as a branch of God's revengings. This is a
good reason why we should not avenge ourselves; for, if vengeance
be God's, then, <i>First,</i> We may not do it. We step into the
throne of God if we do and take his work out of his hand.
<i>Secondly,</i> We need not do it. For God will, if we meekly
leave the matter with him; he will avenge us as far as there is
reason or justice for it, and further we cannot desire it. See
<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p31.11" osisRef="Bible:Ps.38.14-Ps.38.15" parsed="|Ps|38|14|38|15" passage="Ps 38:14,15">Ps. xxxviii. 14, 15</scripRef>,
<i>I heard not, for thou wilt hear;</i> and if God hears what need
is there for me to hear?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p32">(2.) We must not only not to hurt to our
enemies, but our religion goes higher, and teaches us to do them
all the good we can. It is a command peculiar to Christianity, and
which does highly commend it: <i>Love your enemies,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p32.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.44" parsed="|Matt|5|44|0|0" passage="Mt 5:44">Matt. v. 44</scripRef>. We are here taught to
show that love to them both in word and deed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p33">[1.] In word: <i>Bless those who persecute
you,</i> <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p33.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.14" parsed="|Rom|12|14|0|0" passage="Ro 12:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. It
has been the common lot of God's people to be persecuted, either
with a powerful hand or with a spiteful tongue. Now we are here
taught to bless those that so persecute us. <i>Bless</i> them; that
is, <i>First,</i> "Speak well of them. If there be any thing in
them that is commendable and praiseworthy, take notice of it, and
mention it to their honour." <i>Secondly,</i> "Speak respectfully
to them, according as their place is, not rendering railing for
railing, and bitterness for bitterness." And, <i>Thirdly,</i> We
must wish well to them, and desire their good, so far from seeking
any revenge. Nay, <i>Fourthly,</i> We must offer up that desire to
God, by prayer for them. If it be not in the power of our hand to
do any thing else for them, yet we can testify our good-will by
praying for them, for which our master hath given us not only a
rule, but an example to back that rule, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p33.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.23.34" parsed="|Luke|23|34|0|0" passage="Lu 23:34">Luke xxiii. 34</scripRef>—<i>Bless, and curse not.</i>
It denotes a thorough good-will in all the instances and
expressions of it; not, "bless them when you are at prayer, and
curse them at other times;" but, "bless them always, and curse not
at all." Cursing ill becomes the mouths of those whose work it is
to bless God, and whose happiness it is to be blessed of him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p34">[2.] In deed (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p34.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.20" parsed="|Rom|12|20|0|0" passage="Ro 12:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): "<i>If thine enemy hunger,</i>
as thou hast ability and opportunity, be ready and forward to show
him any kindness, and do him any office of love for his good; and
be never the less forward for his having been thine enemy, but
rather the more, that thou mayest thereby testify the sincerity of
thy forgiveness of him." It is said of archbishop Cranmer that the
way for a man to make him his friend was to do him an ill turn. The
precept is quoted from <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p34.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.25.21-Prov.25.22" parsed="|Prov|25|21|25|22" passage="Pr 25:21,22">Prov. xxv.
21, 22</scripRef>; so that, high as it seems to be, the Old
Testament was not a stranger to it. Observe here, <i>First,</i>
What we must do. We must do good to our enemies. "<i>If he
hunger,</i> do not insult over him, and say, Now God is avenging me
of him, and pleading my cause; do not make such a construction of
his wants. But <i>feed him." Then,</i> when he has need of thy
help, and thou hast an opportunity of starving him and trampling
upon him, then <i>feed him</i> (<b><i>psomize auton,</i></b> a
significant word)—"feed him abundantly, nay, feed him carefully
and indulgently:" <i>frustulatim pasce</i>—<i>feed him with small
pieces,</i> "feed him, as we do children and sick people, with much
tenderness. Contrive to do it so as to express thy love. <i>If he
thirst, give him drink:</i> <b><i>potize auton</i></b>—<i>drink to
him,</i> in token of reconciliation and friendship. So confirm your
love to him." <i>Secondly,</i> Why we must do this. Because in so
doing thou shalt heap <i>coals of fire on his head.</i> Two senses
are given of this, which I think are both to be taken in
disjunctively. <i>Thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head;</i>
that is, "Thou shalt either," 1. "Melt him into repentance and
friendship, and mollify his spirit towards thee" (alluding to those
who melt metals; they not only put fire under them, but heap fire
upon them; thus Saul was melted and conquered with the kindness of
David, <scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p34.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.24.16 Bible:1Sam.26.21" parsed="|1Sam|24|16|0|0;|1Sam|26|21|0|0" passage="1Sa 24:16,26:21">1 Sam. xxiv. 16; xxvi.
21</scripRef>)—"thou wilt win a friend by it, and if thy kindness
have not that effect then," 2. "It will aggravate his condemnation,
and make his malice against thee the more inexcusable. Thou wilt
hereby hasten upon him the tokens of God's wrath and vengeance."
Not that this must be our intention in showing him kindness, but,
for our encouragement, such will be the effect. To this purpose is
the exhortation in the last verse, which suggests a paradox not
easily understood by the world, that in all matters of strife and
contention those that revenge are the conquered, and those that
forgive are the conquerors. (1.) "<i>Be not overcome of evil.</i>
Let not the evil of any provocation that is given you have such a
power over you, or make such an impression upon you, as to
dispossess you of yourselves, to disturb your peace, to destroy
your love, to ruffle and discompose your spirits, to transport you
to any indecencies, or to bring you to study or attempt any
revenge." He that cannot quietly bear an injury is perfectly
conquered by it. (2.) "<i>But overcome evil with good,</i> with the
good of patience and forbearance, nay, and of kindness and
beneficence to those that wrong you. Learn to defeat their ill
designs against you, and either to change them, or at least to
preserve your own peace." He that hath this rule over his spirit is
better than the mighty.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p35">3. To conclude, there remain two
exhortations yet untouched, which are general, and which recommend
all the rest as good in themselves, and of good report.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rom.xiii-p36">(1.) As good in themselves (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p36.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.12.9" parsed="|Rom|12|9|0|0" passage="Ro 12:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>Abhor that which is
evil, cleave to that which is good.</i> God hath shown us what is
good: these Christian duties are enjoined; and that is evil which
is opposite to them. Now observe, [1.] We must not only not do
evil, but we must <i>abhor that which is evil.</i> We must hate sin
with an utter and irreconcilable hatred, have an antipathy to it as
the worst of evils, contrary to our new nature, and to our true
interest—hating all the appearances of sin, even the garment
spotted with the flesh. [2.] We must not only do that which is
good, but we must cleave to it. It denotes a deliberate choice of,
a sincere affection for, and a constant perseverance in, that which
is good. "So cleave to it as not to be allured nor affrighted from
it, cleave <i>to him that is good,</i> even to the Lord (<scripRef id="Rom.xiii-p36.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.11.23" parsed="|Acts|11|23|0|0" passage="Ac 11:23">Acts xi. 23</scripRef>), with a dependence and
acquiescence." It is subjoined to the precept of brotherly love, as
directive of it; we must love our brethren, but not love them so
much as for their sakes to commit any sin, or omit any duty; not
think the better of any sin for the sake of the person that commits
it, but forsake all the friends in the world, to cleave to God and
duty.</p>
</div></div2>