their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets, Luke vi. 22, 23. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls, Acts ii. 41. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool,) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is offended and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities, 2 Cor. xi. 23-30. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong, xii. 9, 10. Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory, Eph. iii. 13. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, Phil. i. 29. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me, ii. 17, 18. My brethren, count it all VOL. II. A. D. 60. joy when ye fall into divers temptations, Jam. i. 2. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him, 12. But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled, 1 Pet. iii. 14. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God, iv. 16, 17. b For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby, Heb. xii. 10, 11. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience, Jam. i. 3. VER. 4. Ἡ δὲ ὑπομονὴ δοκιμὴν, ἡ δὲ δοκιμὴ ἐλπίδα· And a patience, experience, band experience, hope: com a For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope, Rom. xv. 4. Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are forted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation, 2 Cor. i. 4-6. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the 2 P Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you, iv. 8-12. As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things, vi. 9, 10. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him, Jam. i. 12. Wherein, ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. i. 6, 7. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you, v. 10. bAnd it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of İsrael, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong, and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight, Josh. x. 24, 25. And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock; And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The LORD that de A. D. 60. livered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said, Go, and the LORD be with thee, 1 Sam. xvii. 34-37. When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came up on me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident, Psal. xxvii. 2, 3. When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and of praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance, xlii. 4, 5. But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more, lxxi. 14. Now also, when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hath done great things: O God, who is like unto thee! Thou, which hath shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. I will also praise thee with the psaltery, even thy truth, O my God: unto thee will I sing with the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing unto thee; and my soul, which thou hast redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt, 18-24. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body, 2 Čor. iv. 8-10. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory for ever and ever: Amen, 2 Tim. iv, 16-18. VER. 5. ̔Η δὲ ἐλπὶς οὐ καταισχύνει, ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκέχυται ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἡμῶν διὰ Πνεύματος ἁγίου τοῦ δοθέντος ἡμῖν, And a hope maketh not ashamed; b because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. A. D. 60. thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me, xlix. 23. Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LonD. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as spreadeth out her roots by the river, a tree planted by the waters, and that and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit, Jer. xvii. 5-8. According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death, Phil. i. 20. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 2 Thess. ii. 16. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day, 2 Tim. i. 12. That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil, Heb. vi. 18, 19. a For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Job xxvii. 8. Our fathers trusted in thee; they trusted and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered; they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. Psal. xxii. 4, 5. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we are at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore thus saith the Lord GoD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone. a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it, Isa. xxviii. 15— 18. They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded, world without end, xlv, 16, 17. And kings shall benant that I will make with the house b Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, Matt. xxii. 36, 37. But if any man love God, the same is known of him, 1 Cor. viii. S. For this is the cove of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more, Heb. viii. 10--12. We love him because he first loved us, 1 John iv. 19. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear: but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together, Rom. viii. 14-17. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose, 28. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses. One shall say, I am the LORD's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel, Isa. xliv. 3-5. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness; and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them, Ezek. xxxvi. 25-27. Who hath also sealed us and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts, 2 Cor. i. 22. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the A. D. 60. glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord, iii. 18. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, iv. 6. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father, Gal. iv. 6. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, v. 22. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation: in whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise. Which is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory, Eph. i. 13, 14. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God, iii. 16-19. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption, iv. 30. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, Tit. iii. 5, 6. VER. 6. Ετι γὰρ Χριστὸς ὄντων ἡμῶν ἀσθενῶν, κατὰ καιρὸν ὑπὲρ ἀσεβῶν ἀπέθανε. For a when we were yet without strength, bin due time c Christ died for the ungodly. a And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed: her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, and they are gone without strength before the pursuer, Lam. i. 6. b But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, Gal. iv. 4. Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God, Heb. ix. 6. Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, 1 Pet. i. 20. A. D. 60. three hundred, and slew them, and had the name among three, xxiii. 15-18. VER. 8. Συνίστησι δὲ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἀγάπην εἰς ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι ἔτι ἁμαρτωλῶν ὄντων ἡμῶν, Χριστὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀπέθανε. But God a commendeth his love toward us, bin that, while we were yet See on Matt. xx. ver. 28. clauses 3, sinners, Christ died for us. and 4. b For a scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. a Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, John xv. 13. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren, 1 John iii. 16. b A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth; he will guide his affairs with discretion, Psal. cxii. 5. : c Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles, Rom. xvi. 4. But the people answered, Thou shalt not go forth for if we flee away they will not care for us; neither if half of us die, will they care for us, but now thou art worth ten thousand of us; therefore now it is better that thou succour us out of the city, 2 Sam. xviii. 3. And David longed and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this; is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men. And Abishai the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief among three. And he lifted up his spear against a Moreover, the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord, ver. 20, 21. But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man,) iii. 3. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved: In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, Eph. i. 6-8. That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus, ii. 7. Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting, 1 Tim. i. 16. b See on Matt. xx. ver. 28. clause S. VER. 9. Πολλῷ οὖν μᾶλλον, δικαιωθέντες νῦν ἐν τῷ αἵματι αὐτοῦ, σωθησόμεθα δι ̓ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς. Much more then a being now justified by his blood, bwe shall be saved from wrath through him. a Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness: that he might be just, |