For he has wings, that neither sickness, pain, No nook so narrow, but he spreads them there By poets, and by senators unprais'd, Which monarchs cannot grant, nor all the pow'rs A liberty, which persecution, fraud, And promise of a God. His other gifts All bear the royal stamp, that speaks them his, This liberty is the earnest of the glorious liberty of the children of God, for which the whole creation is groaning and travailing in pain: "A flight into God's arms, Ere yet mortality's fine threads give way; A clear escape from tyrannizing lust, And full immunity from penal wo."-CowPER, "Task," v. How degraded and miserable the state of those who are the slaves of sin! Are there no such slaves among us? Would God it were so. But no. There are many "committing sin, and the faithful witness proclaims, "these are the slaves of sin." We all were once such bondmen, and some of us, it is to be feared, are in shackles still. Oh, that they would but open their eyes to their true character, and see, that, if doers of iniquity, they are without question slaves-and if they remain unenfran chised by the Son," stripes and a dungeon must be their portion for ever. Let us all remember that there is still both an external and a spiritual church-a church into which men can give entrance, and a church into which none but he who opens, and no man shuts, and who shuts, and no man opens, can give entrance. The privileges of the one are of little value, when compared to those of the other-worse than useless if disjoined from them. And at best, they are but of temporary duration. Alas, alas! how many, after having been for many years in the kingdom of heaven in its external form on earth, and occupied high places in it, shall at last be "cast out," being found to be not disciples indeed, “into outer darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth !" Oh, let us all seek to be free citizens of the Jerusalem above,-let us enrol ourselves as followers of Him who is "the King" and the King's Son, and “who shall abide before God for ever."81 Let us act the part of good soldiers of Jesus Christ, that being by him made more than conquerors, we may "enter through the gate into the city," and become "pillars in the temple of our God, and no more go out." III. THE SPIRITUAL PATERNITY OF THE UNBELIEVING JEWS. JOHN VIII. 37–53. In the verses which follow, our Lord prosecutes the subject, and says much that was calculated to disabuse the Jews of those most dangerous mistakes into which, under the influence of their misjudging mind," they had fallen, with regard to the nature of their connection with Abraham, and the advantages which resulted from it. "I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father; and ye do that which ye have seen with your father."789 § 1. Not the spiritual children of Abraham. Our Lord's object is plainly to convey to their mind this sentiment, that though they were the natural descendants of Abraham, yet they had, in a moral and spiritual point of view, a very dif ferent a much less creditable-paternity. "I know that ye are Abraham's seed." 'I never thought of calling into question so certainly true a proposition as that you are lineally descended from that illustrious patriarch. In that sense you are his children, but in another, in a more important sense, you are not his children; you are the children of a very different kind of father, and the present state of your minds is abundant proof of this. You are seeking to kill me; you are plotting my destructionknow you are—and the reason is, my word has no place,' does not abide, "in you." You, very lately, professed to believe in me; and I said to you, if you abode in my word, you would be my disciples indeed. But it is plain my word has not taken fast hold of you—you have let it go already. Having found out that I am not the kind of Messiah you expected, you are now desiring and plotting the death of him whom so lately you declared yourselves willing to acknowledge as the long-expected deliverer. My doctrine not being understood and believed, has made no permanent lodgement in your mind." you 'In me you may learn what it is to have any one for a father. "I speak that which I have seen with my Father; and ye do what you have seen with your father." My doctrine is what I have received from my Father. It is what I have seen and heard when with him, as I have been from unbeginning ages-and, from its nature and tendency, it clearly shows who is my Father. Its spiritual, holy, benignant, character, tells plainly that it comes 82 ἀδόκιμος νοῦς. Rom. i. 28. 8! Psal. lxi. 7. 83 John viii. 37, 38. from Him who is a spirit; who is the Holy, Holy, Holy One; and whose nature, as well as name, is Love. HE is MY Father.' "Ye do what you have seen with your father." 'Your actions tell who your father is, as my doctrine tells who my Father is. In both cases "father" here seems to mean spiritual model-the being, after whom the character is fashioned-the being, under whose influences the moral spiritual frame is formed. The thought that lies at the bottom of the representation is, 'Men's sentiments and conduct are things that are formed, and indicate the character of him who formed them. Your actions, which are characterized by falsehood and malignity, distinctly enough prove, that, in a moral spiritual point of view, neither Abraham, nor the God of Abraham, is your father. The former of your spiritual character is not in heaven, wherever else he may be to be found.' The Jews could not but have some suspicions whither our Lord's remarks pointed; but they pretended not to observe it; and seemed to wish to represent him as a calumniator of Abraham. "They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father."'84 'If we do what we have seen with HIM, surely we shall do very well? Do you mean to slander the illustrious patriarch of our race-" the friend of God” ?' "Jesus saith unto them, if ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth; this did not Abraham," rather, Abraham acted not thus. If ye were Abraham's children in a spiritual sense-if ye were conformed to his character— you would imitate his conduct. But your conduct is the very reverse of his. You are desiring and plotting the murder of a man who has never injured you, whose only crime is that he has made known to you important and salutary, but unpalatable, truth. Abraham never did anything like this. He readily received every communication made from heaven. He never inflicted injury on any man, far less on a divine messenger who had merely done his duty. No, no! if children are like their parents, Abraham is not your father. He whose deeds he is your father.' 88 § 2. Not the spiritual children of God. you do, The drift of our Lord's insinuations was becoming more and more apparent, and the Jews were becoming more and more indignant, and more and more disposed to repel them with scorn. "Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God."87 The meaning, or rather reference, of the first clause, “We are not born of fornication,"- we are not a spurious brood, we are not bastards'--is doubtful. It may refer to what goes before, or to what follows. It may refer to Abrahamic, or to divine, sonship. In the first case, it is equivalent to, 35 John viii. 39, 40. 37 John viii. 41. 'We are genuine descendants of Abraham, Hebrews of the Hebrews. We are not Ishmaelites, or Samaritans; we are the children, not of the concubine, but of the wife; not of the bond-woman, but of the free.' From its connection, however, we think it more probable that it refers to the filial relation they claim to God. Idolatry is often in the Old Testament, in consequence of Jehovah's representing himself under the figurative character of the husband of the Israelitish church, termed fornication and adultery. "To be born of fornication" or adultery-to be the chil dren of fornication and adultery, is, according to the Hebrew idiom, just equal to, 'to be idolaters;' as if they had said, 'If you refer to something more recondite than mere natural relation, then God is our Father. We are not idolaters; we have not many fathers-gods many, and lords many. "To us there is but one God and Father." Jehovah is our Father; and surely you dare not say anything against Him.' They refer to such passages as, "Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee ?"88 "Doubtless thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting. "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers ?":"0 1189 In reply to this cavil, "Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me." These words are equivalent to a denial that God was their Father in the sense in which they claimed to be his children. He was their Father as he was "the Father of the spirits of all flesh, who had made of one blood all the nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth."792 He was their Father, as he preserved and provided for them, and blessed them. He was their Father, as they belonged to the nation of whom he had said, "Israel is my son, even my first-born," "to whom pertained the adoption ; but He was not their Father-they were not his children-in a higher sense. They were not the objects of his complacential regard, of his moral approbation-neither in spiritual relation nor character were they his children. They were not "heirs of God," neither were they "partakers of a divine nature. "If God were your Father," and you his children, then " you would love me." He was the Son of God by way of eminence, "the first-born among many brethren." Surely they could not be God's children if they did not love him; and surely they could not love Him and hate his Son, who was the image of the invisible God-the brightness of his glory-the express image of his person, in whose face the glory of the Father was mani 89 Deut. xxxii. 6. 91 John viii. 42. 94 Rom. ix. 4. 89 Isa. lxiii. 16. 92 Acts xvii. 26. 95 Rom. viii. 17. 2 Pet. i. 4. 90 Mal. ii. 10. fested. "He that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him."9" I proceeded forth and came from God." It is difficult to say whether these are two different expressions for the same thing-our Lord's divine mission; or whether the first refers to his sonship, and the other to his mission. I am his Son-I am his messenger. If ye were his children, you would love me as his Son, and readily receive me as his messenger.' "Neither came I of myself, but he sent me." 'I am no unauthorized teacherI have a commission, a clearly-authenticated commission, from Him who you say is your Father; but surely he cannot be your Father, else instead of seeking to kill me, ye would have gladly and gratefully received my message, and treated myself with the most respectful and affectionate kindness.' เ 1199 Our Lord adds, "Why do ye not understand my speech? even because you cannot hear my word." Our Lord refers here to the difficulty-to a certain extent real, to a much greater extent affected-which the Jews had discovered in apprehending the meaning of what he had been saying to them. Speech and "word," are nearly but quite synonymous. "Speech" is external address-discourse as spoken;-"word" is the same address, viewed as the expression of thought. Why do you not understand my discourse? It is because you do not relish its subject." "Hear" is equivalent to listen. 'You dislike it so much that you will not listen to it.' It is true as a general principle, that the cause why the Jews, and indeed mankind generally, do not understand the christian revelation, is, that they are so indisposed to its substance, that they are morally incapable of giving it that consideration that is necessary to its being understood. But our Lord's reference is plainly to his present discourse. 'You affect to feel great difficulty in apprehending my meaning. The reason is, you are not disposed to attend to, or believe, what I am saying." But as you seem not to comprehend me clearly, I shall state the truth in words, which you will not be able, however much you might wish it, to misapprehend or misrepresent.' § 3. The children of the Devil. Our Lord, then, in the words before us, in plain terms tells them the truth, with regard to their spiritual or moral paternity. 96 Col. i. 15. Heb. i. 3. 2 Cor. iv. 6. 1 John v. 1. Similis epitasis, non potest. 1 Cor. ii. 14.”—BENGEL. 97 93 John viii. 43. 100 λόγος. 99 λαλία. Lücké distinguishes between λañía and λóyos thus:-He regards the latter as denoting the contents or the sentiments, and the former as meaning the form, the λóyos añoýuɛvos. This is quite correct in itself; but it is evident that, in one passage, the two expressions are employed synonymously, since ahía, in connection with ywwoke, must necessarily have reference to the sentiments."OLSHAUSEN. "Priore membro stuporem eorum perstringit; altero præfractum et impotens doctrinæ odium."-CALVIN. Qui veri sunt Dei filii et domestici non possunt paternæ domus ignorare linguam.”—MÊɩ ANCTHON. |