First Epistle of John Applied Part 1
2. To the several kinds of good which concern this life, and that which is to come. Thus love
1. willeth and endeavoreth chiefly the spiritual good of his soul, instructing his ignorance, rebuking his wickedness, exciting his negligence, supporting his weakness, resolving his doubtfullness, laying forth readily what gifts God hath vouchsafed to her; yet still within the compass of her calling, for the edification of others.
2. Next she wisheth well to, and taketh care of his temporal advantage in body, name, estate, feeding the belly, clothing the back of her brother, and so making the one her barn, and the other her wardrobe, and both her treasury, concealing those secret faults which might, and confuting those false slanders which do impair his credit; finally seeking the things of another, his outward welfare, gain, prosperity▪ as well as her own; yea when need requireth, throwing the fat dung of her wealth upon the barren soil of her brothers mean estate.
By this time you see both the intent and the extent of the a •• of love, which is here required. Pass we on to the object, whereabout it ought to be conversant, and so to a resolution of the second Question, Who this brother is, whom we ought thus to love.
To this end, you may please to take notice of a double fraternity, to wit carnal and spiritual; the one is by the blood of man, the other by the blood of Christ.
1. Carnal Brotherhood in its utmost latitude reacheth very far; nor can we too far extend the meaning of brother in the Text, according to this notion. For the clearing whereof▪ observe these particulars▪
1. Brother in the strst and strict acception, is predicated of those who have the same immediate parents; the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 coming from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 signifying 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 uterus intimateth as much; one that cometh out of the same womb, the same loins, hath the same Father and Mother with another, is most properly a brother.
2. Brother is sometimes enlarged further to affinity; and so kinsmen are in Scripture phrase called brethren. The Jews say concerning Christ, Is not this the Carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses, and of Judah and Simon, and are not his Sisters here with us? whenas yet we rationally conceive, that the blessed Virgin never had child besides him; and as he is called her first born, because none before him; so we read not of any she had after him, and therefore He her only one. So that his kindred and a •• yes are called his brethren and sisters, according to the usual form of speech among the Jews.
3. Brother is sometimes yet more largely applied to all those who are of the same country: thus where the Jews are forbid to take usu • y of a brother, and required to set him King over them whom the Lord their God should choose from among their brethren; brother is manifestly taken in opposition to a stranger, one of another nation; so that not only cognatione but natione, by kindred but country there cometh in a Brotherhood.
4. Brother is yet capable of a far greater extension, and so taketh in all men; inasmuch as there is not only identitas naturae, a specifical identity of nature, but originis, a numerical identity of original. He is in strict sense a brother, who hath the same immediate parents; well may he be a brother in a large sense, who hath the same mediate parents: thus all men came from the loins of one man Adam, and from the womb of one woman Eve, in which respect the Apostle saith, he hath made of one blood all the nations of the earth. Indeed all Angels have the same intellectual nature one with another; but they did not all come from one Angel, but were severally and immediately created; whereas God (though he could have created millions ) made but one man, and ordained that out of him all the race of mankind should proceed, in which regard every man is brother to another. And therefore • ertullian writing to the Heathen saith, Fratres etiam vestri sumus jure naturae matris unius; we Christians and you Heathen are brethren in a natural way, as having the same original. Thus as Circles in the water do enlarge themselves one greater then the other; so do the acceptions of this word. If now you shall ask me in what acception brother is here to be taken? I answer with Augustine, Estius, and Danaus: Hoc loco fratrem omnem hominem debemus accipere, in the largest, as including every man. S t Gregory speaking of this duty of love, well observeth, Aliud est quod sponte impenditur naturae, aliud quod praeceptis divinis ex charitate debetur obedientiae; there is doubtless something more intended by the precept, then what we are prompted to by nature: to love our countrymen, our friends, our brother, is that which we are naturally inclined to; so that they who do not perform it, are justly branded as without natural affection; whence by the way, we may see what an unnatural age we live in, wherein Englishmen are so cruel to one another, kinsmen worry each other, yea one brother betrayeth and supplanteth another. But surely the contrary to those horrid acts, I mean natural affection is not all that is here intended, it is the love of all men which is required of us. According to this notion, frater and proximus, brother and neighbor are of equal extent, and so the mandate is, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the love of our neighbor, or brother, which is indeed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , of every man. True it is, our love must be regular and orderly; and therefore caeteris paribus, other things being alike, we must prefer a brother before a kinsman, a kinsman before a countryman, a countryman before an alien; but yet so, that as far as we are able, the beams of our love may sea • ter themselves throughout the world.
And thus to love our brother is to love every man.
1. Sive bonum, sive malum, as well the bad as the good: God causeth his Sun to shine▪ and his rain to fall upon the unjust, no less then the just; and we must express our love to the wicked, as well as godly▪
2. Sive amicum, sive inimicum, as well enemy, as friend: it is Christ's express precept, Love your enemies, and (as S Austin truly) H • c est vera & germana charitas, this is right Christian-charity. To wish well to those that wish well to us, to do good to them that do good to us, is no more then what Publicans do, (so out blessed Savior ) nay then what Thieves, Dragons, Wol •• , and all sort of Beasts, do; so that fore-mentioned Father: But to wish well to them that wish us ill, and do good to them that do us hurt, this is that which Christians ought to practice: yea as Tertullian truly, solorum Christianorum, only they can do it. If thy enemy hunger, saith S t Paul, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink▪ the Hebrew word in the proverb whence S t Paul borroweth it, is rendered by Vatablus, Propina ei aquam▪ not only give him drink, but drink to him, as a token of love, that it may appear, however he is towards thee, thou art reconciled to him. Excellent to this purpose is that advice of Gregory, Nazianzen, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , we must say brethren unto them that hate us, and accordingly express brotherly love to them. And thus in this construction of brother, we have beheld the extension of love, how far it reacheth, in regard of the objects about which it is conversant.
2. But besides this carnal fraternity between all men, there is a spiritual brotherhood between all Christians; they have all the same Father, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who begetteth them again; they have the same Mother the Church, Jerusalem from above, which bringeth them forth; they all are washed in the same laver of regeneration, baptism; partake of the fame immortal seed, and are nourished by the same sincere milk of the Word. Finally, they are all begotten to the same undefiled inheritance, heirs of the same glory; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith Clemens Alexandrinus, we call them brethren who are born anew of the same Word, yea quanto dignius fratres & dicuntur, & habentur? saith Tertullian; how much more deservedly then other men are they called and accounted brethren, who acknowledge one Father, God, have drank of one spirit of holiness, and are brought forth of the same womb of ignorance, into the glorious light of Evangelical truth? A brother in the sense above-mentioned is only so by nature, but in this by grace; that's only a brother on the left hand, but this on the right hand; that of the earth, earthly, but this from heaven, heavenly. In this sense some Expositors, and as I conceive, most rationally take the word here, this name brother, being by the Apostle, and afterwards in the primitive times in common language given to all, and only those who did embrace Christian Religion; and which maketh this interpretation more manifest is, that our Apostle in the next Chapter phraseth it, love the brethren, which seemeth to indigitate a certain society of men so called: yea in the fifth Chapter at the beginning, he describeth him whom here he calls brother, to be one that is begotten of God.
According to this construction, that which is here required, is called by the Apostle Peter, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , brotherly kindness, and is distinguished as a particular species from its genus, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , (which is presently annexed) charity. As then there is a general love which belongeth to all men, so a special love which belongeth to all Christians; and as we must do good to all men, so especially to the household of faith; indeed seeing the Christian brother hath a double cause of love in him, that is God's image as a man, and God's graces as a Christian; we ought to deal by him as Joseph did by his brother Benjamin, whose mess was five times greater then the rest of his brethren.
If any shall yet further inquire, why our Apostle speaking of this love to a Christian, calls him by the name of a brother? I answer for these three reasons▪ because this name of brother carrieth in it an obligation to, a specification and modification of that love which is here required; since we must love a Christian, quia, quatenus, qualis, because he is a brother, inasmuch as he is a brother, and with such a love as is among brothers.
1. This word Brother carrieth with it a strong Obligation to Love, In fratris voice ratio, so Danaus, It is an urgent reason why we should Love a Christian, because he is our Brother: all relation is a ground of affection: and hence it is a man loveth anything that is his: the nearer the relation the greater tie to love, and therefore the more reason why a Brother should be beloved: the nearest relation is that which is spiritual, and therefore yet greater reason to Love a Christian, who is ours, our Brother, yea, our Brother in Christ. When Moses saw two Israelites Country men struggling together, he said to them, Sirs, you are Brethren; why do you wrong one another? when Abraham and Lot (kinsmen) were likely to fall out, saith Abraham, Let there be no strife I pray thee between me and thee, for we are Brethren: when Socrates saw two Brethren striving one with another, he told them they did as if the two hands which were made to help should beat each other, so that since Christians are Brethren in the highest and closest relation, this should be a great engagement upon them to love.
2. This word Brother intimateth a specification of this love in regard of its Object, which is then rightly placed when it is upon a Brother as he is a Brother, that is a Christian, as he is a Christian. One that is a Brother in this spiritual notion, may be my natural Brother or Kinsman, and then to love him is what nature dictates; or he is my Friend and Benefactor, and so to love him gratitude teacheth, or he is able to do me either an injury or a courtesy; so that I have cause to fear the one, and hope the other: and in this respect to love him, self love prompts me, or (once more) he may be a man of rare natural and acquired endowments; and to love him, for this ingenuity moves me; but to love him because he is a Brother in a spiritual sense, this is that which Christianity inciteth to, and this only is a right Christian love. Indeed thus to love him, is to love him in reference to God and Christ, because he hath the grace of God in him, the Image of God upon him. To love him as a Brother in this sense, is to love him as a Son of God, a Member of Christ: and (as S t Jerome's phrase is, Diligere Christum habitantem in Augustine) to love God, and Christ dwelling in him.
And now if any shall say it is hard, nay, impossible to know any man to be such a Brother; and therefore how can I love him as such when I cannot know him to be such? I answer, that there is a great deal of difference between the judgment of certainty and charity, love doth not need nor require infallible, but only probable signs; and therefore whosoever doth profess the true faith of Christ, and doth not by a flagitious conversation give that profession the lie, love taketh him to be a Brother; and to love one, because he atleast seemeth to be such a one by his external Profession and Conversation, so as the more Christian graces we discover in him, the more we are affected towards him, this is that which most especially falleth under the Precept of loving our Brother.
3. Yet once more, there is in this word Brother implied a modification of that love which we must express towards Christians, to wit, that it must be such as that which is between Brethren, and that more properly in two things; the instancy, and the constancy, the fervency and the permanency of it.
1. Brotherly love is fervent, it is a relation of the greatest indearment, partly as its natural not founded in choice as it is between Man and Wife, and between Friends; and partly as it is between Equals; not like that between Parents and Children, whose love towards their Parents hath more of neverence then sweetness in it: hence it is that as no discord, so neither is any love like to that which hath been found among Brethren: such ought our love to be towards Christians, a bright shining, an hot flaming love. That exhortation of S t Paul is very observable to this purpose, Be you kindly affected one to another with Brotherly Love, where the Greek word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , is rendered by Tertullian affec • uos • , both which note an eminent measure and degree of affection; such is Brotherly, such ought to be Christian love, very affectionate. Memorable in this respect was the example of the Primitive Christians, of whom that forementioned Father saith, they did love one another ad stuporem▪ Gentilium, to the astonishment of the Heathen, so much that the Heathen cried out with admiration, Vide ut invicem se diligunt, see how they love one another.
2. Brotherly love is lasting, it is natural, and therefore perpetual, it is a relation that ceaseth not till death, and therefore the affection may well remain. A Brother if not very unnatural will own his Brother in rags, and love him in his lowest estate: such must Christian love be towards a Brother of low as well as high degree, in persecution as well as prosperity, when he wants us, not we him, nor must our love cease to act towards him, till he cease to be amongst us. This was that no doubt which the Apostle aimed at when he saith, Let Brotherly love continue, thereby minding what the love of Brethren is, and what the love of Christians ought to be, a continuing and enduring love.
And now what other use should we make of all this discourse upon the nature of this grace, but hereby to examine ourselves whether our love be of the right stamp, to wit, such a love as is ready to every good word and work, as extendeth itself to our very enemies, as is chiefly fixed upon Christians, and that because they are so; and so much shall suffice to bespoken of the first part, the Subject of the Thesis: I now proceed more briefly to the
2. Praedicates, Which are plainly two, describing the benefit of this grace; the one in regard of the condition, and the other of conversation of such a person: his condition is happy, for he abideth in the light, his conversation is sweet, for there is no occasion of stumbling in him.
1. He that loveth his Brether is said to abide in the light, it is not unfitly here taken notice of by Zanchi, that as in the Eighth Verse our Apostle argueth, à causa ad effectum, from the cause to the effect, this thing is true in you; namely, the prac • ice of love, because the darkness is past and the true light now shineth, to wit, of grace; so in this Verse, he reasons ab effecto ad causam, from the effect, to the cause, He in whom this is true, that he loves his Brother is brought out of that darkness, and abides in the light.
Light is a Metaphor variously applied in Scripture, we may here take it three ways.
1. This Metaphor of light is sometimes attributed to Christ, so by our Apostle in his Gospel, when he calleth him the light, of whom John the Baptist did bear witness, by himself when he saith, I am the light of the world, and thus abiding in the light is the same with that of abiding in him. Thus it is an undoubted truth, He that loveth his Brother abideth in Christ: that Branch which participateth of the juice and sap of the root, must needs abide in it. Love is the sap that was in Christ, and therefore he that partaketh of love from Christ must abide in him; that Member which suffereth with the rest of the Body, declareth it self to be in the Body; he that by loving sympathizeth with his Brother, manifesteth himself to be a Member of Christ.
2. Sometimes by this Metaphor of light, the Gospel together with the saving knowledge of it are represented. Both these we meet with in one Chapter: whilst S t Paul expressly mentioneth, first the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, and presently the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Indeed in the one is the light without, and the other is as the light within, and he that loveth his Brother adideth in this light; hereby declaring that he hath indeed learned and is rightly acquainted with Evangelical Doctrine: to this purpose is Justinians note, Eo lumine dignum se ostendit qui luminis ductum sequitur, by following the conduct of this light, he showeth himself in some measure worthy of it, because answerable to it.
3. But lastly, This Metaphor of light is used to set forth grace and holiness: in this sense no doubt S t Peter is to be understood, when he saith of Believers that they are called by God out of darkness into his marvelous light; and thus the light in which he that loveth his Brother is said to abide, is the same with that in the former Chapter, where we have the phrase of walking in the light, and the meaning of the word is briefly this, He that loveth his Brother is in a state of grace; Charity is an evident demonstration of sanctity: S t Paul reckoning up the fruits of the spirit, placeth love in the front, as if there were no clearer fruit of the spirits residence in us, then the exercise of this duty of love. Indeed there is a love which only argueth good nature; such is that of a Kinsman, a Friend; but to love an enemy, and that because it is an Evangelical injunction, and to love a Christian because he is a Christian, is such a Flower as groweth not in natures garden, but is a fruit of the Spirit, and so a Testimony of grace.
But because I shall have more full occasion of discussing this in the next Chapter, I pass on to the
2. Next benefit which attends upon Brotherly love, as it is expressed in those words, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
Not to insist on the several acceptions of the Greek word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as it is used by the 70. in the Old Testament, and by the sacred Writers in the new; this being already done by the late learned Annotator. It may suffice to know that here according to its derivation from 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Claudic • , it signifies any rub or block cast in a man's way, which may endanger halting or falling: and therefore is fitly here rendered occasion of stumbling. In what sense this is true, that there is no occasion of stumbling in him that loveth his Brother. Expositors somewhat vary, yet so as that they are all consistent with the Analogy of Faith, and scope of the place.
1. Some understand scandal in an active sense, and thus render it, there is no occasion of stumbling given by him; he taketh care that neither by opprobrious language, injurious action, or vicious example, he give a just offense, so as may occasion the fall and ruin of his Brother. S t Paul writing to the Philippians, exhorts them to be blameless and harmless; where the former word (according to its derivation ) signifies that we must not be as beasts who push with their horns, and thereby do much harm; and the latter word signifies one, de quo nullus queri potest, of whom none can justly complain, and they are well put together: since as S t Austin aptly, quis de illo just e queritur, qui nemini male vult? he that is harmless must needs be blameless; nor can he be justly complained of by, who doth no injury to another: such is everyone who loveth his Brother. Love nec reti • tendit, nec laedere intendit; neither doth, nor desireth another's wrong, it worketh no ill saith the Apostle, and again in another place it thinketh not evil: wisdom avoideth the snares which are laid by love layeth no snares for others; yea so cautelous is charity that she will rather abridg herself of liberty, then do what may offend her weak Brother: and therefore S t Paul expressly saith to him, who did grieve his Brother with his meat; which yet was in it self lawful to eat, now walkest thou not charitably. Indeed this is that which floweth from the very nature of love: for since it is, as hath been already shown, a willing of good, it must needs infer a nilling of evil to my Brother; it being impossible that I should at the same time will and nill the same thing to the same person; and therefore since if I will good, I must nill evil: no wonder if by him that hath a true love, there be no occasion of stumbling given to his Brother.
2. Others interpret scandal in a Passive sense, there is no scandal or occasion of stumbling given to him: not but that there will be blocks laid in the way, but he passeth over them, and so falleth not at them; according to that of Solomon, It is the glory of a man to pass over a transgression To this purpose is Zanchius note upon the Text, it is not Non est illi scandalum, but, Non est in illo scandalum, finding an Emphasis in that 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , which Grotius conceiveth to be a Pleonasm; there is no offense to him, but not in him, that is, though it may be given by others, yet it is not taken by him: in which respect are those expressions of S t Paul, Charity suffereth long, is not easily provoked, beareth all things: and S t Austin observeth upon this place, Qui diligit fratrem tolerat omnia propter unitatem; he that loveth his Brother, for unities sake, beareth with all things; the back of love will sustain a load of wrongs, and when it is moved with violence, it is not removed from patience. It is S t Peters phrase, and he borroweth it from the Wiseman, Love covereth a multitude of sins; and as it covereth them from others by concealment, so, which is especially intended, from herself by connivence and forgiveness; and this she exerciseth in respect not of a few, but many injuries, herein (being to use S t Chrysostom's comparison,) like to fire which burneth up not only a few sticks, but a great wood: thus whilst faith is a resolute grace, having cedo nulli, for her Motto; love is a yielding grace, and so passing over, is not offended, those wrongs, which like stumbling blocks are thrown in her way.
3. But there is another construction of these words, which as it is of no less verity, so is of greater latitude, by scandal to understand transgressions; these being those stumbling blocks which cause us to fall and hurt, yea ruin ourselves; and thus the sense of the clause is, He who loveth his Brother escapeth those heinous sins into which others fall, walking in the Commandments of the Lord blameless. This is that which taketh in the other constructions, for inasmuch as he doth not willingly give offense; therefore he avoideth those sins by which his Brother is offended: and since he doth not easily take offense, he avoideth those sins to which others are provoked. It were easy to instance in the several Commandments, how the love of our Brother prevents the breaches of them; he that loveth his Brother, because he is a Brother, much more loveth his Father God, and loving God abborreth those profanations of his Worship, Name, Day, which ungodly men wound themselves by. Again, he that loveth his Brother, will reverence him if his superior, dare not injure him in his Wife, Estate, Name, or anything that is his. And if you please to put these two together, abiding in the light, and no occasion of stumbling, you shall find the one a manifest reason of the other. By the opposition of being in darkness, and walking in darkness, to abiding in the light, it appeareth that abiding in the light, implieth being and walking in the light, whereby he escapeth what ever might be a stone of offense, or stumbling block in his way. If any man (saith our blessed Savior) walketh in the light he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world; and thus he that loveth his Brother having the light of saving knowledge, and grace to shine before him, nunquam imping it; so Grotius, never falls; but inoffenso gradu pergit: so another, goeth on inoffensively, in the path of eternal life. Indeed we must take this with some restriction, not as if he that loveth his Brother did not sometimes fall into sin, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , not into scandalous and injurious sins, and this too with reference to his abiding in the light; it is possible for a charitable Christian to step-out of the light, and then he may▪ fall foully, but so far as he is regenerate, and abideth in the light, he is free from such sins.
4. Once more; Grotius conceiveth that the Apostle in these words hath some reference to the 70. reading of the 165. Verse of the 119. Psalm, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , great peace have they that love thy Law, and nothing shall offend them; and so it intimateth the inward tranquility, which as they that love the Law, so he that loveth his Brother doth enjoy, so as that whatsoever befalls him he is not disturbed nor distracted by it; it is that indeed which followeth upon all the former, for since he neither justly giveth▪ nor quickly taketh offense, and keepeth himself from gross sins in the course of his Conversation: no wonder if he enjoies a serene calm in his soul, and though wicked men may be offended at him, yea, raise storms of persecution against him, yet he is at peace within. Excellent to this purpose is that of S t Ambrose, Charitas pellit omnes tribulationes, non ut non eveniant, sed ut non n • ceant; quia licet exterius tribulationes insurgant, tamen vir justus interius non turbatur: Charity driveth away all troubles, not that they do not come upon, but that they shall not do hurt to him, because though tribulations arise outwardly, he is not molested inwardly. That Adage of the Wiseman, No evil shall happen to the just, the Vulgar Latin reads, Non contristabit justum quicquid ei acciderit, what ever happen to the just shall not vex and grieve him; and to use Hugo's Philosophical comparison, as an accident is present and absent without the corruption of the Subject; so tribulation when present as well as when absent doth not perplex and disturb the just. Indeed there is nothing occasions offense to such a man but sin, and therefore abiding in the light he is not stumbled at affliction. If you cast a spark of fire into the water, how soon is it quenched, so are all fears cast into a good Conscience; when the Sky is black with Clouds, the Stars though they seem to be obscured, yet retain their proper luster; and good men when they seem in affliction to be clouded with sorrow saith, S t Chrysostom • , are not sorrowful but rather rejoicing.
And now what other use should we make of all that hath been said, then to press upon us that Apostolical exhortation, walk in love? Indeed what way better for us to walk in then this, which is so bright and lightsome, so plain and clear, so pure and pleasant? It is Solomon's assertion, The way of the righteous is made plain, it is no less true of the charitable, in the way of love, there is nothing to offend or molest, whilst purity is the track, and tranquility our companion; you then that have not experienced this, begin, and you that have begun go on. I think I need not bid you, your own experience cannot but encourage you in this sweet way, till you come to that Country whither this way leads you, where the Law is Charity, the League Unity, and the life Eternity.
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF S t JOHN.
CHAP. 2. VERS. 9, 10, 11.
O Pposita juxta se posita magis illucescunt, saith the Logician, things of greatest distance, set near in place do one illustrate the other. The Sun never appeareth so gloriously as when breaking through a Cloud. A Freeman most prizeth his liberty when he seeth the Prisoners Fetters and captives chains; and Sara becometh doubly beautiful when surrounded with the swarthy Egyptians. The dolorous noise of War is the best language to proclaim the sweetness of peace. Health is never so acceptable as when it brings letters of commendation from sickness, and virtue becometh more amiable▪ when the contrary vice is represented; For this reason no doubt it is, that as Painters draw black shadows to set off their Pictures with a greater luster; and some (I fear proud) Ladies are wont to wear black patches, that their faces may seem the more lovely: So do Orators frequently set virtues and vices together, that the evil of the one may the more advance the good of the other. This way of illustration is that which is very observable in the Penmen of sacred writ; especially those two, whom I may well call Heavens darlings. Solomon who is styled Jedidiah, and John the beloved Disciple; the one you may observe in his Parables very often setting prudence and folly with such like contraties one by the other; and the other in this Epistle and more properly in these Verses, that he might the more commend the goodness of love, enlargeth his discourse in discovering the badness of hatred: He that saith he is in the light and hateth his Brother, &c.
It is that part of the Text▪ I am now to handle, The Antithesis or Opposition set down in the 9, and 11, Verses. But before I enter upon the severals in this part, it will not be amiss once for all to take notice of that which we shall find very usual in this Epistle; Namely, the Repetition and Ingemination of the same sense, yea, sometimes of the same sentence. This indeed is the first time we have fully met with this: for though in the first Chapter we find the Subject of one proposition, if we say we have no sin, and the predicate of another, cleansing from all sin; yet we meet not with one entire proposition twice mentioned till now, where these words, He that hateth his Brother is in darkness, is both in the 9, and 11. Verses. Indeed this repetition is not without some variation. In the 9. Verse, there is an enlargement of the Subject▪ it is not barely, He that hateth his Brother, but He that saith he is in the light and hateth his Brother; and in the 11. Verse there is an amplification of the predicate, not only he is in darkness, but he walketh in darkness, &c. Yet still it is for substance the same thing which is intended, and the same words are repeated in both the Verses. And indeed it is that which is easily observable, not only in this but the rest of the sacred Books. That of David the sweet singer of Israel is remarkable who twenty six times warbleth over the same note, For his mercy endureth forever, and of Christ that unparalleled Preacher, who (as probably appeareth by comparing the two Evangelists) preached the same Sermon twice.
Nor are these Repetitions vain Tautologies, It is not without good reason that the Penmen of sacred writ do sometimes take this course in respect of themselves, the matter of their writing, and those to whom they wrote.
1. Those holy Penmen by these Repetitions did declare the zeal and vehemency of their spirits in pressing what they wrote upon the people. What was it which caused Solomon's Father (as himself relates it) to multiply expressions to the same purpose, yea, to iterate the same expressions in dehorting him from evil company, enter not, go not, avoid, pass by, turn from, pass away, but his sense of the danger and desire that he might avoid it. And again, what moved his Mother to amplify her appellations in the beginning of her counsel to him, What my son, and what the son of my Wombe, and what the son of my vows, but her affectionate desire that he should hearken to her? Indeed no marvel if the boiling spirit run over in words, and the zeal of the affection double, nay triple the expression. Thus was it here (as Bullinger well observeth) with S t John, prae ardore suo, such was the vehemency of his hatred of the sin of hatred, that he can never enough declaim against it, and therefore not only once but again he reproveth it.
2. Those sacred writers by these ingeminations intimate always that the things about which they write, are of more then ordinary importance, and necessary concernment to be known and believed in matters of faith, to be avoided or performed in matters of life: yea and sometimes that there is no less difficulty then necessity, and whilst they are things which must and ought, yet they are not easily believed, avoided or practiced. Upon these grounds no doubt it was that Solomon iterated his doctrine of the worlds vanity, and Christ inculcateth upon Peter the duty of feeding his sheep: nor is it improbable that S t John here had both these in his eye, he well knew how much the very being of Christianity did depend upon avoiding this sin, and exercising the contrary grace, how hard it is to cast out this poison of hatred, where it is once harboured, and withal that as the usurper being ejected, the right heir gets possession, and the old form being corrupted, the matter is easily susceptible of a new; so if he could eradicate this weed of hatred, he should with a greater facility plant the flower of love: and therefore no wonder he doth ingeminate his discourse of the vileness of this sin.
3. Those divine Scribes thought these repetitions very needful for those to whom they wrote, in regard of the dullness of their minds, and weakness of their memories, and hardness of their hearts: To write the same things to you (saith the Apostle Paul to the Philippians) for you it is safe, to wit, least at the first you should not rightly understand them, or not remember them, or not be suitably affected with them: God speaketh once and twice saith Elihu, and man perceiveth it not; our memories are of weak retention, and therefore need renewed incitation: the heart of man is by the Prophet Ezekiel compared to an heart of stone, and it is not one blow of the hammer will break it: The words of the wise saith Solomon are as goads and nails: and truly we are so dull, that these goads must be often thrust into our sides; so obdurate, that it is not one stroke will drive these nails to the head, Disciplinam praeceptorum inculcationibus densamus saith Tertullian appositely; we thicken, and so as it were we strengthen our instructions by inculcations, which is no more then what the need of the people requireth.
The consideration hereof is that which should teach, both the teachers, and the people.
1. Let it not be grievous to us Ministers to repeat, and thereby inculcate our doctrines upon the Auditors. If a Mus •• ian shall only strike one string, it maketh no music; but it is • itting for a Preacher to insist upon one and the same truth; nor must we here stand upon our own credit, when it comes in competition with the people's profit. If it were not grievous to that eminent Apostle Paul, why should it be to any of us; we are not only instructors, but remembrancers. So S t Peter accounted himself, where he saith, I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, and what is the office of a remembrancer, but to repeat things formerly done, or spoken; that cannot be often enough taught, which can never be well enough learned. Nor yet do I hereby intend to patronize those illiterate or lazy, ignorant or negligent Preachers, who use▪ iterations for want of premeditation, and therefore say the same thing again, because they know not what to say next: far be it from me; only I would mind my self and others, how requisite it is we should sometimes upon some occasions reinforce by repetition some doctrines upon our hearers.
2. Let it not be tedious to the Auditors to hear the same truths sometimes repeated by the Ministers: we must not esteem it a dishonor, nor should you account it a burden. It is that indeed to which hearers are very prone, aut nouum, aut nihil, some new thing, or nothing, is the cry of many: if we come with a scitote, something that they knew not before, they listen, but if with a mementote, something formerly delivered, they think their patience abused. As they say of drinking wine, the first is for necessity, the second for pleasure, the third for sleep, so do Auditors with a little inversion account of a Sermon, the first time they hear it with delight, not the second except of necessity, and if they meet with it the third time they fall asleep. How sad is it that if we hear an excellent lesson on an instrument, we call for it once and again▪ nay
And thus much I have thought fit to discourse of this Subject by way of Apology, not for S t John whose divinely inspired writings need none, but for myself, if in the handling of this Epistle, I should sometimes have occasion to discuss the same things, and perhaps use the same expressions.
More particularly in this ingeminated opposition, be pleased to observe,
- The sin specified, in these words, He that hateth his Brother.
- The state of the sinner described in the rest of the words: and that
- Imaginary wherein he supposeth himself to be, He saith he is in the light.
- Real in which indeed he is set forth in several Characters, in the end of the 9 th , and the greatest part of the 11 th . He is in darkness even until now, and again, He is darkness and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
1. The first of these is the hinge upon which the Antithesis turneth, and therefore I shall be the more large in unfolding it. To which end I shall discuss it two ways, by way of Restriction, and by way of enlargement; and accordingly discover exclusively what hatred is not within the compass of this sin; and then extensively how far this hatred reacheth, which is here declamed against.
The exclusive restriction of this hatred will appear in these ensuing propositions.
1. There is a Positive, and there is a Comparative, there is an Absolute, and there is a Relative hatred. It is very observable, That Jacob's loving Rachel more then Leah is called in the very next Verse hating Leah. That which we less love then another, we are said to hate in comparison of that love we bear to the other; and thus it is not a •• n but a duty to hate our Brother, to wit, in comparison of Christ. It is our Savior's own assertion, If any man c • me to me and hate not his Father, and Mother, and Wife, and Children, and Brethren, and Sisters, yea, his own life also, he cannot be my Disciple; an expression seemingly very harst, but easily understood: if compared with the other Evangelist S t Matthew, where he brings in Christ, saith, He that loveth Father or Mother more then me, is not worthy of me, and he that loveth Son or Daughter more then me, is not worthy of me; We ought then to hate our nearest relations, that is, not love them more, nay, (which is the meaning of the phrase ) love them less then Christ. Hence it is, that when Christ's glory and truth cometh in competition with the dearest of our relations, we must neglect Children, cast off Parents, reject the Wife of our Bosom rather then deny Christ, yea, we must be averse to them if they go about to direct us from Christ. Thus that devout Paula (as S t Jerome saith) Nesciebat se matrem ut Christi probaret ancillam, that she might approve herself Christ's Handmaid, forgot that she was a Mother: and that same Father else where asserteth it, Pietatis genus est impiumesse pro domino, it is a part of piety to be in some sense impious, and out of love towards God, to hate our Brother, and therefore this is not here to be understood.
2. It is one thing to hate our Brother, and another thing to hate the sins of our Brother, it is solidly determined by Aquinas, Love is due to my Brother, Secundum id quod a Deo habet, in respect of that which is communicated to him by God, whither nature, or grace, or both; but it is not due to him, Secundum id quod habet a seipso & diabolo, according to that which he hath from himself, and the Devil, to wit, sin and wickedness; and therefore it is lawful to hate my Brothers sin, but not his nature, much less his grace: Laudabile odium odisse vitia, faith Origen, to hate evil is a commendable hatred, and that where ever we find it not only in the bad but the good, the enormities of the one, but the infirmities in the other, not only in strangers and enemies, but kindred and friends, spying beams, nay, motes in these as well as those and abhorring them; we must hate this serpent where ever we find it, though in a garden, nay, though in our own habitations: indeed as Aquinas excellently, Hoc ipsum quod in fratre odimus culpam & defectum pertinet ad fratris amorem, this hatred of the vice is an effect of love, to the person, so much is intimated when it is said, Thou shalt not hate thy Brother in thy heart, thou shalt in any wise rebvke him, and not suffer si • upon him, by showing hatred to his sin in rebuking, we show our love to him; and if we wish good to him, we cannot but hate what we see evil in him. This hatred is so far from being sinful, that it is not only lawful and laudable, but excellent, not a wicked but a pious, yea, a perfect hatred: according to that of S t Austin, Perfectio odij est in Charitate cum nec propter vit a homines ode • imus, nec vitia propter homines amemus, it is at once the perfection of hatred, and an argument of love, when we neither hate the man for the sins sake, nor yet love the sin for the man's sake, but fixe our love on the man, and our hatred on the s • nne.
3. There is odium abominations, and odium inimicitiae, an hatred of aversation, and an hatred of enmity, by the one we fly from, by the other we pursue after, look as in love, there is a benevolence whereby we will good to, and a complacence whereby we take delight in another; so in hatred there is a strangness whereby we avoid the society, and an enmity whereby we seek the mischief of another; the former of these is not forbidden but required and practiced: godly David saith of himself, I hated the Congregation of evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked, and that of his practice was justifiable and imitable: since we must not only fly from the sin, but the sinner, yea, that we may shun the one▪ we must avoid the other. Timon was called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a man-hater, because he kept not company with any man save▪ Alcibiades, and we should all of us be hatres of wicked men, shunning all needless converse and much more familiar acquaintance with them. It is S t Paul's counsel to the Ephesians, Have no fellowship with the unfruitful w •• kes (he meaneth workers) of darkness; yea, it is the strict charge he layeth upon the Thessalonians, Now we command you Brethren in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every Brother that walketh disorderly, we ought as much to hate familiarity with the wicked, as to dread upon burning coals, or go into an infected house; and therefore this kind of hatred is not here intended.
4. Once more, All hatred of enmity in respect of others is not to be condemned if they be enemies, not so much to us, as to the Church, yea, God himself, and this not out of ignorance but malice, and so implacable we may, we ought, to be enemies to them. Holy David hath set us a pattern hereof, when speaking to God he saith, Do not I hate them oh Lord that hate thee, and am not I grieved with them that rise up against thee? I bate them with perfect hatred, I count them mine enemies. Hence no doubt are those imprecations and curses which we meet with in the Psalms, wherein we find that holy man wishing, not only disapointment to the hopes, in • atuation to the counsels, but destruction to the persons of Zion's adversaries. And surely thus far we may and ought to imitate him as in general to pray against, and wish the ruin of all the Churches irreconciliable adversaries, though as to particulars we must take heed of going too far in this way, it being difficult if not impossible for us determinately to assert concerning any one that he is an implacable enemy of God and Religion; and yet when we see one who with Julian hath professed himself to be a Christian Brother, and so far Apostatizing as openly to prosecute Christianity with utmost fury, notwithstanding manifold convictions; or who still pretending to be a Brother, oppugneth (with no less virulency though more subtlety ) the Christian Religion in its Orthodox profession, swallowing up her revenues, forbidding her public services, stopping the mouths of her Preachers, suffering blasphemies and heresies to obscure her, plucking up the pillars which should uphold her, and persecuting all that embrace her; and all this against clear convictions which he either hath, or might have, did he not shut his eyes; together with frequent and multiplied admonitions, since we can have very little or no hopes of such a man's conversion, we may and ought to desire of God (if he will not please to convert him) to confound not only his devices but his person, and to cut him off from the land of the living; only we must take heed to the frame and temper of our spirit, that this our hatred of, and wishing ill to him, purely proceed from a love to God's Church, and a zeal for his glory, not out of any personal or private respect to our own revenge.
2. Having thus dispatched the first way • proposed to tread in, Namely, the restriction and exclusion, I shall now step into the other path, and let you see the extent and enlargement of this sin in these following assertions.
1. There are two sins, namely, envy and malice, which are as it were the ingredients of this hatred: S t Paul seemeth to intimate so much, when he first mentioneth malice and envy as the species, and then hatred as the genus, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. And indeed since hatred (being opposed to love ) is both a nilling good, and willing evil to our Brother, it must needs include in it both these: For
1. Envy is (as Aquinas from Damascene well defineth it) Tristitia de alienis bonis, a sorrow for the good of another. To this purpose Gregory Nyssen, putting the question, what is the cause of this disease? answereth 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , our Brothers prosperity: for which reason Plutarch compareth it, to a blear eye which is offended with the light, and the envious man is fitly resembled to an Archer, who hath still some white paper or cloth for his mark, at which he shooteth; now whence doth this sorrow arise, but from the act of hatred which consists in nilling: since because I nill the good to my Brother which he hath, therefore I am troubled that he hath it; and hence it is, that the Egyptians envying the Israelites multitude in Egypt, is called their hating them, when it is said, He turned their heart to hate his people. Indeed envy is an affection made up of grief and hatred; grief for the thing, and hatred of the person, and the hatred of the one, is the cause of grief at the other.
Malice is (as Justinian well expresseth it) Improba adversus proximum cogitatio, a wicked thought against our Neighbor, or if you will have it in fewer, yet fuller words, it is nocendi desiderium, a desire to hurt and injure our Brother in any kind, and this is the proper act of hatred, which as it doth connote a nilling good, so it doth principally note a willing evil. This is observable in Esau, of whom the Text saith, he hated Jacob; and if you will know how that appeareth, the end of the Verse tells you, I will stay my Brother Jacob. In this regard, the Fish among the Egyptians is made an Hieroglyphic of hatred, because of all Creatures it is most greedy to devour, and hatred fills the mind with injurious and devouring desires.
2. Though the special Object of our love be our Brother by the second Adam, yet the prohibition of hatred extends to our Brother by the first Adam; we must not think that if we be kind to those of the Christian Religion, we may exercise hostility towards Turks and Pagans. It is true, the Jews were enemies to the Nations round about them, yea, did pu • sue them to an utter extirpation, but they had an express warrant from Heaven for it; and therefore their practice is no pattern till we can show the like warrant: we cannot without breach at once both of equity and charity under any pretences whatsoever, invade the possessions, or destroy the persons of the most barbarous Savages. But yet still in this as in other sins, the quality of the Object addeth to the quantity of the offense; and though it be a sin to hate any man, it is a greater sin to hate a Christian, and the more of Christianity there is in him, the more malignity there is in our hatred, since the better the Object, the worse the act: and yet further, though it be an heinous sin to hate a Christian upon any account, yet to hate him because he is a Christian, or because he is a more exact and conscientious Christian then our selves is the highest degree of this hatred, and that which borders upon the unpardonable s • n against the holy Ghost.
3. This hatred of our Brother which is here forbidden is not only of him whilst he is our friend, but when he becometh our ne • . Indeed it is an high aggravation of our hatred, when it is of o •• that loveth us, but it is no excusation when of one that hateth us. To hate a friend is inhumane, to hate an enemy is unchristian, not only to retaliate good for evil, but evil for evil is against S t Paul's precept, and as well he that is second, as he that is first, in hating his Brother is guilty, how consonant soever it may seem to corrupt reason, yet it is dissonant to true Religion, for a man to pay another in his own coin and return cursing for cursing; nor is it enough for us not to offer an in •• ry, but we must not so much as return it, not only a velle laedere, a will to hurt, but vindicare to revenge an hurt, yea not only to will and endeavor a greater, but an equal, nay a less wrong to my brother then he hath done to me, is to hate him.
4. It is not only hurting but hating our brother which is prohibited. Indeed on the one hand a man may hurt him whom he doth not hate, through mere casualty, and then it is no sin, or through carlesness, and then it is not so great a sin. Again on the other hand a man may hate his brother, and yet through want either of ability, or opportunity, not hurt him, nor is his sin therefore the less. Look as a rich man may relieve his brother, and yet not love him, and a poor man may love his brother, and yet not relieve him; so a charitable man may hurt his brother, and yet not hate him, and a malicious man may be said to hate his brother, when he doth not hurt him: the outward execution is not a sin against charity, unless there be an inward intention, and the inward intention is a sin, though there be no outward execution. True it is, the further a sin proceeds, from thought to desire, desire to endeavor, endeavor to action, it is so much the worse, but still the very desire of injuring (though it be not accomplished) is a sin, and here called hating our brother.
5. Yet lastly, Whatever falleth short of the duty of loving, cometh within the compass of hating our brother. It is a moral axiom, Omnis recessus à viriute est vitium, whatever • ecedeth from virtue is a vice, it is true in this particular, every departure from love is a degree of hatred: the affections of love and hatred are like the qualities of heat and cold; and look as the ceasing of heat is by an accession of cold, so where there is a defect of love, there is the infection of hatred. Hence it is that an unj ••• or unadvised Anger with our brother, is a degree of hating him, indeed not all anger (for there is an anger of love as well as hatred ) but when it is an anger not of just reprehension, but vain contention, not with moderation, but excess, it is at least a disposition to hatred. Hence it is, that not only willing evil, but not willing good to our brother, is an hating him: Look as in point of equity, not dealing faithfully is cosening; so in point of charity, not loving is hating. It is a vain fancy, yea a lying deceit, with which some men please themselves in respect of an enemy▪ I do not hate him, and yet I do not love him, I will not do him any harm, but I will not do him any good; the one is as well a sin, as the other; and when our Apostle here opposeth hating to loving, he seemeth to intimate, that if we do not love, we hate our brother.
And now beloved, what great reason have all of us to reflect upon ourselves first, and next on the men among whom we live, sadly observing and bewailing the general prevalency of this sin of hatred amongst us.
To this end consider a few particulars;
1. Are there none who hate those most who are the best, to whom not only their brother, but his religious conversation is hateful, therefore reviling, deriding, yea persecuting him because he maketh conscience of his ways? Such are those sons of Belial (men at once both profane and uncharitable ) who because they hate godliness, hate the professors and practicers of it, whoever will swear, and whore, and quaffe, run to the same excess of riot with themselves, is in their account an hateful Precisian: whosoever frequenteth God's house, observeth religious duties in his own house, taking all opportunities (according to his place and power ) of instructing the ignorant, rebuking the obstinate, exhorting the negligent, is with them an abominable Puritan.
True it is, there are many, too many, nor were there ever more then in this Age, whose dissimulation and hypocrisy are manifest, who are very strict in the duties, and zealous against the sins which respect the first Table, and yet notoriously irregular in matters of the second Table; these are they whose practices are bewailed and abhorred by all good Christians, and through the sides of these, Religion is wounded by profane Atheists. Indeed some ungodly wretches are apt to pretend when by occasion of such Pharisees they inveigh against the strict profession of Christianity, that it is not Religion but dissimulation, piety but hypocrisy which they oppugn, but I shall only desire them to consider whether they be not thus invective against all that are zealous, as if they were hypocrites, though they know nothing by them; whether it be not the very exercises of Religion, their reading, praying, hearing, and the like, which they detest, since else why do they not imitate those good duties themselves, as well as abhor the hypocrisy which they lay upon those who perform them; and yet once more, whether to hear of, or know any gross sin, by one who is careful of these duties, be not an object rather of their joy then sorrow, as being glad when they can pick an hole in the coat of a professor; and surely if their consciences accuse them as guilty in answer to these Queries, whatever they may account themselves, they will be found haters, yea the worst sort of haters, because of the best sort of brothers.
2. Are there none who are so ungrateful as to repay courtesy with injury, love with hatred, who instead of loving those that hate them, hate those that love them? Thus Jehoram sought to slay Elisha, who had been friendly to him: Saul intended ruin to David, who had been faithful to him: and the Jews crucify Christ, who came to save them. It is S t Austin's complaint, Alas, no wonder if we cannot persuade you to love your enemies, when you hate your brethren! Certainly they are far from Christian love, who are guilty of such unnatural hatred.
3. Again how many are there whose hatred (as Solomon expresseth it) i • covered with deceit, who have sharp ▪teeth with soft gums, who (like the Panther which with sweet breath allureth other creatures to him, and then devoureth them) speak fair, whilst seven abominations are in their heart; and surely as Divinity reckoneth the first sort, so Morality these among the worst sort of haters, since a false friend is more pernicious then an open enemy, and ex magno appetitu ••• m •• tat modum loquendi, it is the greatness of hatred, which puts him upon this pretence of love.
4. Yet again are there not some whose hatred is so deadly to their brother, that they will be content to do themselves a loss, so they may do him a great Injury? That Apolog • e of Cupidus and Invidus, the covetous and the envious man is very observable to this purpose. Jupiter promised that whatsoever the one asked, the other should have double, whereupon they much strove one with the other who should ask first: the covetous man refused because he was desirous of the double portion, and the envious man was no less unwilling, as repining that the other should have more then himself: At length the envious man resolveth to be the first in asking; but what did he ask? That Jupiter would 〈…〉 of his eyes, because he then knew the other must lose both. Such malicious men there are, and that among Christians, who care not to deprive themselves, if they may disappoint their brother. This is that hatred which is fetched from hell, witness Dives, who desireth not that he might come to Lazarus, but that Lazarus might come to him, as if he had rather Lazarus should be miserable with him, then he happy with Lazarus.
But if there be (as I hope there are) many who can acquit themselves from these effects of hatred at the height, yet I fear we may observe those Symptoms in the most, which discover them to be somewhat sick of this disease. When the eye is evil because God is good, doth it not discover that besides the black which nature hath put in the eye as the seat of its perfection, there is another black which envy hath put into it as a seat of corruption? What doth the smoke of detraction, stander, calumny, cursing, railing, scoffing, back-biteing, which cometh forth at the lips of many men, but argue a fire of malice burning in their hearts? whence cometh betraying, quarrelling, fighting, plundering? yea, killing one another, but from this lust of hatred in men's minds? Indeed who can consider the hateful practices which are continually acted among us, and not acknowledge the great predominancy of this sin? Drop down ye Heavens, and let the Skies pour down righteousness, saith the Prophet: Drop down ye Heavens, and let the Skies pour down charity and love, may we say; for it hath left the earth, yea instead thereof the smoke of hatred ascending out of the bottomless pit, hath filled it. What calling or profession of men is free from this vice. I would to God the black Coat were not besmeared with it. What state and condition of men is not guilty of it? Oppressors plainly tread in the footsteps of hatred, and I would to God sufferers did not harbor the lust of revenge.
How needful then is a dehortation to dissuade you from this sin; and indeed this very name Brother if it be (as you have already heard) an argument of love, may well be a dissuasive from hatred, if he be a Brother in the highest notion, he is Christ's Brother as well as thine, and wilt thou hate him whom Christ loveth? if in the lowest degree he is flesh of thy flesh, and wilt thou hide thine eyes (in contempt and haired) from thine own flesh: S t Paul saith, No man ever yet hated his own flesh, and wilt thou be so unreasonable? But if this consideration be too weak, go on and view the description which followeth of the state of such a sinner; and that is the next general which God willing the next time shall be set before your eyes, that if possible this sin of hatred may be eradicated out of your hearts.
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF S t JOHN.
CHAP. 2. VERS. 9, 10, 11.
A Mong the manifold excellencies of God's Law this is not the least that it is according to S t Paul's phrase, a spiritual Law, and that not only effective, because dictated by God's Spirit, but Objective, because extending to Mans spirit. Indeed it is one of the differences between human and divine Precepts, that those only reach the outward, these the inward man, those only order the conversation, these our cogitations; Finally, those take hold of words and works, these of thoughts and desires.
This is evident in matters of Religion towards God: Man requireth the external observance, but God's internal devotion; Man forbiddeth profane Oaths, but God blasphemous Imaginations: nor is it less true, in regard of our duty towards Man. Human commands inhibit the gross acts of uncleanness; but Divine, lustful affections: and to instance in no more, whereas only actual injuries of our Brother, come within the compass of Mans cognizance. God prohibits the very hatred and enjoineth the contrary affection of love to him, as here we see in the words, He that saith he is in the light and hateth his Brother, &c.
Having discussed the first general part of the opposition; Namely, the sin briefly specified, He that hateth his Brother, we are now to go on to the other which is the state of the sinner, as it is largely described in the 9 th , and 11 th , Verses.
1. That which first occurreth in this description, is the sinners own imagination, what he fancyeth himself to be, He saith he is in the light. What is meant by this phrase of being in the light, needs not again to be insisted on. It is as much as to say he is in Christ, he savingly knoweth Christ, or he is in a state of grace. This is that which he that hateth his Brother may say. Indeed this cannot be in truth: for S t John saith of him, He is in darkness, and to be at once in the light, and in the darkness is impossible: but yet he may say so, though it be not so, and that two ways▪ namely, in opinion and profession.
1. He that hateth his Brother may think himself to be in the light, and so say it in his heart: For
1. He may be acquainted in a great measure with the mysteries of Christian Religion, and much conversant in divine speculations, and for this reason imagine himself in the light. The Pharisees though a generation of Vipers for their venomous nature say it of themselves we see, and no doubt as to the letter of Moses his Law did see and know much, so may Hypocriticall malicious Christians be versed in the Theory of Christianity.
2. He may be frequent in Religious performances, and upon this account fancy himself to be in the light▪ Those Israelites whose hands were full of blood, and therefore their hearts full of malice, made many Prayers, and offered multitudes of Sacrifices. Those Gnostics in the Primitive times are Characterized by S t Paul▪ to be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , despisers of those that do good, and so void of Christian love, nay, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 without natural affection, to wit, towards their fleshly relations; to be 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ▪ fierce and cruel in their attempts, yea, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , very Devils for the malice of their tongues, and notwithstanding they were such as had a form of godliness, in regard of external observances, and so no doubt thought themselves in the light.
3. He may mistake his hatred of his Brother, for zeal, his furious persecution, for a just prosecution; and no wonder if he think in this respect, his very hatred to be an argument of his being in the light, when those wicked Jews hate and pursue Christ even to the death, they plead Blasphemy as the cause, and so justify the fact: when Saul breathed forth threatenings, and made that havoc of the Church, he saith of himself, that it was in his opinion an act of zeal, concerning zeal, persecuting the Church▪ our blessed Savior acquaineth his Disciples, That whosoever did kill them should think he did God good service; and when men do in •••• re c •• -rati • ne, nay, religione, rage against their Brother, not only out of rational but religious principles; (to wit, in their apprehensions, ) no wonder if their rage grow very high, and notwithstanding their opinions of themselves be very good.
2. And surely this being his opinion, no marvel if it be his Profession wherein he glorieth, whereof he boasteth saying it to others, that he is in the light. Indeed some there are, who say this in profession contrary to their own opinion, their consciences tell them, they are in the darkness of wickedness, and yet they say, they are in the light of grace, and why this, but that hating their Brother they may with the more certainty and secrecy accomplish their malicious designs against him.
But though (I hope) the number of these is very small, yet many, very many there are, who whilst themselves are black with hatred▪ glitter in shows of holiness, and make great br • gs of their sanctity, Ficta sanctitos oculas omnium perstring it, interim neglecta jacet charitas, • aith▪ Calvin upon this Text •• their fancied piety •• glorious in the eyes of all, whilst charity lieth neglected. We shall do no wrong either to the Papists on the one hand, or Anabaptists on the other, if we assert them to be haters of their Brethren; the bloody practices of both do loudly cry it in the ears of God and Man▪ and yet many of these think, all of them boast themselves to be in the light of sanctity, and that they are the Churches of Christ.
You have heard what this hater of his Brother saith, be pleased now to hear what he is, as his state is really & • aithfully delineated by our Apostle in three characters▪ And yet before I en • er▪ upon the particulars it will not be amiss to take notice in general, how contrary the Apostles desciption is to this Hypocrites opinion, •• e saith he is in the light, the Apostle saith, He is in, and walketh in darkness: whereby it appeareth that his opinion is very false, because contrary to the judgment of truth▪ and hence the Greek Scholiast here supplieth, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and S t Cyprian mentitur, he that saith he is in the light and hateth his Brother, lieth; whence it is easy to observe,
That the estate of a man may be desperately bad when yet in his own opinion it is excellently good. A man may account himself silver, whilst God rejects him as dross; he may in his own opinion be a Member of Christ, and yet in Christ's esteem a Child of the Devil: and whilst he dreameth that he is in the Book of Life, he may be in God's account a Reprobate. Weak Christians erring on the right hand, condemn themselves as if they were in the darkness of unregeneracy, when yet God seeth the light of his grace shining in them. Presumptuous▪ Hypocrites on the other, applaud themselves as if they were in the light of grace, when yet God seeth them in the darkness of unregeneracy.
The Pharisee justifieth himself, and condemneth the Publican, Christ justifieth the Publican, and condemneth the Pharisee. Men may be good in the estimation of other, yea, and that of good men, whilst in truth they are bad. So the Angel of the Church of Sardis had a name that he lived and was dead. Men may be Saints in their own apprehensions, and yet Devils in God's sight. So the Angel of the Church of Laodicea said, He was rich and increased with goods, and had need of nothing, when as he was wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Take we heed how we give credit either to the fair applauses of men, or the smooth dictates of our own hearts, which being deceitful, sooth us up as if we were in the light, when yet we are, and walk in darkness.
This being promised come we to a particular view of the several Characters given to him that hateth a Brother, by which three things are represented to us;
His wicked Disposition, He is in darkness even till now, and again, He is in darkness.
His vicious Conversation, And walketh in darkness.
His miserable Condition, And knoweth not whither he goeth, because the darkness hath blinded his eyes.
1. That which first occureth is his wicked Disposition; wherein we have two things considerable. The Quality, He is in darkness, and the Duration, even until now.
1. The Quality of his Disposition is described by that ingeminated expression, He is in darkness: for the fuller handling of which, take notice first of the emphasis, and then of the meaning of the phrase.
1. The emphasis of the phrase is double;
1. It is observable, That our Apostle doth not content himself to say, he is not in the light, but (as Zanchi well observeth, exaggerationis gratia, useth an exaggerrating expression, He is in darkness. Indeed the one doth necessarily infer the other, he that is not in the light, must needs be in darkness, since the remotion of the light is the position of darkness, and as the one goeth, the other cometh, but yet this latter is more full: and the Apostle that he might let us see how grossly such a man is deceived, let us know that he is so far from being in the light, that he is in darkness, and therefore he is as much mistaken as if a man in a dark night should say it were noon-day.
2. It would yet further be considered, that it is not only said of such a man, darkness is in him, but he is in darkness, even he that loveth his Brother, is not so in the light, but that there is a mixture of darkness; but he that hateth his Brother is in darkness, and so without any light. A man is then said to be in the water when he is covered over with, and so as it were under the power of it. So that the phrase of being in darkness is as much as being under the power and dominion of darkness: according to that phrase of S t Paul, where he saith, Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness.
2. And now the meaning of the phrase (if we consider what is already asserted to be intended by light,) appeareth in plain terms to be this, He that hateth his Brother is in a state of sin, under the dominion of iniquity, a slave of Satan, or in one word, an unregenerate Man.
To this purpose it is that S t Paul speaking of himself and the rest of the Christians before their Conversion, reckoneth up this as one of the black marks of that estate, hateful and hating one another; and among those many brands by which he Characterizeth the wicked Gentiles, this is one, that they were full of all maliciousness, which afterwards he calls malignity. The malicious man being the true malignant, and so deservedly accounted a wicked man.
Indeed this is such a sin as rendereth him in whom it reigneth, not only • ess then a Christian, but worse then a Man. What S t Basil saith concerning anger, is doubtless much more true of hatred, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , it maketh a man to degenerate into a wild beast; and therefore such sinners are compared in Scripture to Tigers, Dragons, Lions, Wolves, and such like ravenous Creatures: nay, indeed as Mark the Hermit observeth they are, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , more brutish then Brutes, and unreasonable then those unreasonable Creatures; for whereas wolves devour sheep, but not wolves; yea, for the most part Beasts of the same kind in their way, converse lovingly together, he that hateth his Brother hateth one of the same kind and nature with himself, nay, to carry it one step lower, it denominateth them not only beasts but Devils, yea, which is strange, worse then Devils: and that upon this very account, since as Alexander Alensis hath observed, though a Devil hateth a man, yet not a Devil, Satan is not divided against Satan, whereas Man hateth Man, well might our Apostle say of such a person, He is in darkness.
This is that which would be so much the rather considered, because so many judge of themselves and others by a partial rule, if they themselves be free, or they observe others to be free from those sensual sins of drunkness, uncleanness, vain-swearing, and the like, they presently infer, that such persons are in a good condition, whilst yet in the mean time pride, lying, covetuousness, malice, and all uncharitableness have dominion over them, whereas in truth, these are no less works of darkness then those: and therefore S t Paul reckoneth strife and envy, as well as chambering and wantonness, rioting and drunkenness, among the number. He that startleth at an oath, and yet belcheth forth lies, that abhorreth a Delilah, and yet maketh gold his darling; he that will not be drunk with liquor, and yet is drunk with hatred, is nevertheless a wicked unregenerate person. The sum is swearing, intemperate, unclean Christians are Swine, and lying, covetous, malicious Christians are Dogs: far be it from me to justi •• e the former, nor will I the latter; those are evil, and these are not good, for He that hateth his Brother is in darkness.
2. The Duration of this Disposition is that which cometh next to be inquired into, in these words, Even until now, that is, Sicut semper fuit sic est adhuc; so Zanchi, as he was? so he is still: he remaineth in darkness, etiam sub Christianismo: so Aretius; notwithstanding he liveth in the Sun-shine of Christianity.
And there is a threefold reason may be given for which our Apostle might annex this clause.
1. By way of Prevention, To take off that Plea which some would be apt to make against his accusation, Dost thou say oh holy Apostle, that we are in darkness, we have heard thyself and others Preaching Jesus Christ, we believe in his Name, embrace his Doctrine, and is it possible we should be in darkness? Yes, saith our Apostle, He that hateth his Brother is in darkness until now, Not only while he was an Heathen, but now he pretends to be a Christian, he is still in darkness. Though I have all knowledge, and faith, yet if I have not charity saith S t Paul, I am nothing, to wit, in esse gratiae, I have no being in Christ, I am nobody in God's esteem; thus is it possible for a man to be in the light, and yet to be in darkness, to enjoy the light of the Gospel, and yet remain in the darkness of sin; oh then boast not of, nor rest in external privileges, think not to say we have the Ordinances of Christ, we profess the Name of Christ; we may for all this be as destitute of true Christianity, as the very Pagan.
2. By way of Aggravation, To render such an one so much the more inexcusable. He is in darkness until now, that is, though he have enjoyed the means of being in the light, yet he remaineth in darkness. Indeed though these two be not incons • stent, yet they are very incongruous; that a man in the night time should be in darkness is no wonder; but to be in the dark when the Sun is risen and shineth forth, is strange and sad: yea, and certainly it were far better never to have the light, then having it to abide in darkness: upon this account it is that our blessed Savior denounceth so severe a woe against Capernaum and assureth her, it should be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment then for her. In very deed, a Christian hating his Boother is far more vile and abominable then an injurious Heathen; and by how much his profession is the better by so much his sin is the worse, and his state the more wicked.
3. By way of Dehortation, From any longer continuance in this sinful state, He is in darkness till now; and surely it is long enough, nay, too long to have been so till now, saltem nunc sapiat, saith Danaus, let him at length learn to be wise, and no longer continue in this estate; so that our Apostle here saith implicily what S t Paul saith expressly. And that knowing the time, it is high time to awake out of sleep, now that the Gospel is published, Christ is Preached; it is high time to come out of this darkness: and as S t Peter bespeaketh those to whom he wrote, For the time past of our life it may suffice to have wrought the will of the Gentiles▪ so S t John seemeth to say to these malicious Christians, for the time past whilst yet you were in Heathenism, it may suffice you to have been in darkness, will you continue in it still; it is enough, nay, too much, that though the Evangelical light hath shone upon you, you have been in darkness till now; let it be so no longer, break of your sins by righteousness, your hatred by charity, your malice by love, else your state is as bad still as ever it was; nay, far worse then it was in those times, when you heard not of Christ at all. So much for the first Character; pass we on from his sinful disposition to
2. His vicious Conversation, in those words, And walketh in darkness. The full latitude of this clause will appear in a twofold parallel.
1. Walking in darkness is a going on in the dark, and so intimateth a persisting in evil. This is the property of a malicious man to be obstinate in his wickedness▪ Anger is ofttimes sudden, and short, but hatred is settled, and confirmed, a passion saith S t Basel, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , such as will not admit of a cure. Hence it is, that he who is possessed with this sin is seldom reclaimed from it, especially being one who maketh profession of Christianity, and saith he is in the light; for as Solomon saith, There is more hope of a fool, then of him that is wise in his own conceit; so there is doubtless more hopes of him that is an open profane sinner hating his brother, then of him that saith he is in the light, and yet hateth him: for whereas the one may probably be brought to acknowledge that he walketh in darkness, and so be persuaded to return out of it; the other supposing himself always in the light, is deaf to all admonitions, and so walketh on in darkness. S t Austin pursuing this Metaphor inreference to all sorts of sinners, saith elegantly, Cum peccant, tenebrae sunt; cum insuper non confitentur peccata, sed ea defendunt, tenebrant tenebras suas, when men sin they are in the dark, but when they will not confess