He did not deal with them as Servants, but as Friends.

467

John XV.

15.

with Referve; for the Servant is not let into the Sect. 176.
Secrets of his Mafter, and knoweth not particu-
larly what his Lord doth (a): But I have not only
in Words called you my Friends, (Luke xii. 4.
Sect. 111.) but on the whole have treated you as
fuch; for all Things that I have heard, and re-
ceived in Charge from my Father, I have, fo far
as was convenient, declared to you (b) in the most
condescending and indearing Manner, as you very
well know.

Remember that you have not first chofen me, 16
but I by my fovereign and effectual Grace have
chofen you, to the honourable Office of my Apo-
ftles and Embaffadors; and have appointed and
ordained you, that you should go and publish what
you have heard from me to all the World, and
be fo qualified and affifted, that you may bear
abundant Fruit in the moft diftant Countries,
and [that] the bleffed Effect of your Fruit fhould
continue even to the remotest Generations (c):
Yea, I have alfo raised you to fuch a happy Cir-
cumftance, and made you fo eminently the Fa-
vourites of Heaven, that, as I lately told you,
(ver. 7.) whatever you shall afk the Father in my
Name, he may perform it for you; and you may
certainly depend upon it, that he will give it you.
But then again I would remind you, that
would continue thus the Objects of these
his

if

you

(a) I do not any longer call you Servants; for the Servant knoweth not &c.] Mr. Locke (in his Reasonableness of Christianity, pag. 105.) refers this to the Caution, with which our Lord had spoke of his being the Meffiah; fome Inftances of which have been already pointed out. See Note (g) on John iv. 26. Vol. i. pag. 177.

(b) All Things that I have heard from my Father, I have declared to you.] Our Lord had, no doubt, the fullest View of the Scheme of Redemption undertaken by him; but the Apoftles not being yet able to bear many Things, (compare Chap. xvi. 12. Sect. 177.) especially relating to the Calling of the Gentiles, and the Abolition of the Mofaic Law, he wifely deferred the Discovery of them: So that these Words must be taken with the Limitation mentioned in the Paraphafe, and fignify that he had done it fo far as was convenient.

(c) That you should go, and bear Fruit, &c.] This was a Security to them, that they should be preserved from immediate Dangers, and that their Life fhould be guarded by Providence, till fome confiderable Services had been accomplished by their Means. When our Lord adds, that your Fruit fhould continue, he may allude to the Cuftom of keeping rich and generous Wines a great many Years, fo, that in fome Cafes, (which was especially applicable to the fweet Eastern Wines,) they might prove a Cordial to thofe, who were unborn when the Grapes were produced. In this View there is a beautiful Propriety in the Representation, which I hope will be particularly felt, when thefe reviving Chapters are read.

17

you, that

another.

468
The World would hate them, as it hated him.
Sect. 176. his gracious Regards, you must carefully practife mand
your Duty to each other, as well as to him; for
thefe Things 1 command you, that ye love one an-
other; and this you should the rather do, as you
will be the Mark of common Hatred and Perfe-

John XV.

17.

19

18 cution. Yet if you find the World hate and
injure you, you have no Reafon to be offended
or furprized at this; for you know, that mild and
benevolent as my Conduct has always been, yet
it has hated me your Chief and Lord (d), before
it difcharged its Venom and Malignity on you.
Indeed if you were like the rest of the World,
and your
Doctrines and Practice were conform-
able to its Customs and Maxims, the World is
fo generally under the Power of selfish Prejudices,
that it undoubtedly would love its own, and you
might expect much better Treatment from it (e):
But because this is not your Character, and you
are not thus of the World, but I have chofen you
out of the World, not only to feparate from, but
to oppofe its Vices and Enormities, and even to
be Leaders in that holy and neceffary Oppofition,
it is no Wonder that upon this Account the World
bateth you, tho' the Cause in which you are en-
gaged be indeed fo honourable, and your Lives
fo ufeful and beneficent.

20

.

20 Remember the Word

Remember, and recollect upon this Occafion, the Word which I spake to you fome Time that I said unto you, The

ago,,

Ser

(d) It has hated me your Chief.] The Words in the Original, (eue gator upar peplomer,) which we render, It hated me before it hated you, may (as Mr. Lardner has well obferved,j be more literally rendered, It hated me your Chief; which makes the Expreffion more lively, and exactly parallel to Mat. x. 24, 25. Sect. 75. (See Lardner's Credibility, Vol. i. pag. 404.) Thus wo apatos cue sya, (1 Tim. i. 15.) is well tranflated, of whom I am chief. (e) If you were of the World, the World would love its own.] This feems to me a ftrong. Intimation, that even in Nations which profefs Chriftianity, if true Religion fall, as it very poffibly may, to a very low Ebb, they that exert themfelves remarkably for the Revival of it, muft, on the very Principle here laid down, expect Hatred and Oppofition; and that the Paffages in Scripture relating to Perfecution are not fo peculiar to the firft Ages, or to Chriftians living in Idolatrous Countries, as fome have fuppofed. Would to GOD, the Malignity to be found in fome of us againft our Brethren, did not too plainly illuftrate this Remark! Men will probably experience the Truth of it, in Proportion to the Degeneracy of thofe around them, and to the Vigour and Refolution with which they bear their Teftimony against prevailing Errors and Vices. Yet it is certain, that the Imprudence and Bigotry of fome very good Men has fometimes made Matters worse, than they would otherwise have been, and perhaps has irritated the Vices of their Enemies, fo as in Part to have been acceffary to their own Damage, and the much greater Mischief of those that have injured them.

Servant is not greater than the Lord. If they have perfecuted me, they will alfo perfecute you: if they have kept my Saying, they will

keep yours alfo.

21 But all these Things will they do unto you for my Name's fake, because they know not him that

fent me..

John XV.

20.

The Jews were inexcufable in their Hatred of him.
469
ago, and have lately repeated, (fee Mat. x. 24. Sect. 176.
Luke vi. 40. and John xiii. 16.) The Servant is
not greater than his Lord; nor the Meffenger
greater than him that fent him: If therefore they
have perfecuted me, and Providence has permitted
them to do it, you may reasonably conclude,
they will alfo perfecute you, and cannot justly com-
plain, if you have your Share of Sufferings; and
if you have feen, that they have generally kept my
Saying, I will give you Leave to fuppofe, they
will also keep yours (f).
But when you fee, 2.r
as you very quickly will, not only my Doctrine
rejected, but my Perfon affaulted, abused, and
murthered, it must be a fenfible Warning to
you to prepare for the like Ufage; and all these
Things they will in Fact do to you for my Name's
fake, because they do not know him that fent me;
for their Ignorance of that Go D, to whom they
boaft fo near a Relation, does indeed lie at the
Bottom of all their Oppofition to me..
And 22
a dreadful Account they will have to give for it;.
for if I had not come and spoken thus plainly to
them, they would comparatively have had no Sin (g);.
but now they have no Excufe or Pretence for their
Sin, but being committed against so clear and
ftrong a Light, it ftands expofed in its most odious
Colours: Yea, it appears Rebellion against 23)
GOD, as well as Ingratitude to me; for he that
hateth and oppofeth me, hateth and oppofeth my
Father alfo, whofe Commiffion I bear (b): And

22 If I had not come, and spoken unto them, they had not had Sin: but now

they have no Cloak for their Sin.

23 He that hateth me, hateth my Father alfo..

this

(f) If they have kept my Saying, &c.] I am furprized, that fuch a Multitude of learned Commentators, and among the reft Gataker and Knatchbull, fhould contend that Tnge dogov fhould here be understood of abferving a Perfon's Difcourfe with a malignant Defign to carp at it. (See Wolfius, in loc.) Пaganpe has indeed that Senfe, Mark iii. 2. Luke vi. 7. xiv. I.. But no certain Argument can be drawn from hence, especially confidering how conftantly the Phrafe before us is taken in a good Senfe, for an obedient Regard, in this very Difcourfe, in which it often occurs. See John xiv. 15, 21, 23. xv. 10. xvii. 6,

XX. 20.

(8) They would have had no Sin.] It is fo evident from the Word of GOD, (see Rom. i.. 20, 21. and ii. 12,-15.) as well as from the Reafon of Things, that Sin may be imputed to those that have no Revelation, that it is moft evident, this is only a Hebraifm; as when. according to the pathetic Manner of speaking, especially in Ufe among the Eastern Nations, that is faid to be nothing at all, which when compared with fomething elfe, is inconfiderably Small. See Pfal. xxxix. 5. Isa. xl. 17. 1 Cor. i. 28. iii. 7. and compare John ix. 41. (b) Hateth my Father alfo.] How much is it to be wifhed, that thofe who make light of Chrift, while they pretend a great Veneration for the Father, would feriously attend to this weighty Admonition, left haply they be found even to fight against GOD! (Acts v. 39.)

(i) They

470
The Spirit when he comes, would teftify of bim.
Sect. 176. this is what they have done, after all reasonable
Methods have been taken for their Conviction.

24.

John XV. If I had wrought no Miracle at all, nay, if I bad not done among them fuch extraordinary Works as no other Man ever did, not even their Prophets, or Mofes himself, they had not had any Degree of Sin, comparable to that which they are now under; but now, as they have rejected my fuperior Miracles, which they have feen with their own Eyes, at the fame Time that they own the Evidence of those which Mofes wrought, of which they have heard only by diftant Report, they manifeft fuch an obftinate Perverseness of Tem

25

26

་

per, that I may truly fay, they have both feen,
and hated, both me and my Father; and GoD
himself will justly refent and punish it, as an
Indignity that thews their Enmity to him.
But this is all permitted,] that the Word
which is written in their Law, or in their Sacred
Volume, concerning David, (Pfal. xxxv. 19.) might
eminently be fulfilled in me, as many antient Pro-
phecies fore told that it should, Surely they
"have hated me without a Caufe"(i).

24 If I had not done'a

mong them the Works which had not had Sin: but now none other Man did, they they have both feen, and hated both me and my Father.

25 But this cometh to pass, that the Word might be fulLaw, They hated me without a Cause.

filled that is written in their

26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will

fend unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he fhall testify of me.

But when the Comforter is come, whom, as I
told you before, I will fhortly fend to you from
the Father, [even] the Spirit of Truth, who pro-
ceeds from the Father, and is to refide in my
Church, he shall bear a convincing Testimony to
me, to vindicate my Character from all the In-
famy they are maliciously attempting to throw
And you also, weak as you now
appear, ball by his powerful Affiftance bear a
couragious and convincing Testimony to me, be-
caufe you have been with me from the Beginning of
my Ministry, and therefore are the best qualified John XVI.

27 upon it.

to

27 And ye alfo fhall bear Witnefs, because ye have

been with me from the Be

ginning.

(i) They have hated me without a Caufe.] It appears to me very evident, that Pfal. xxxv. cannnot be strictly speaking a Prophecy concerning the Meffiah, especially from ver. 13, 14. which represent a Perfon incapable of helping his Enemies, when fick, otherwife than by Fafting and Prayer; whereas Chrift (and fo far as we can find, he alone,) had a Power of working Miracles, whenever he pleased. Nevertheless, that the Enemies of the Meliah fhould bate him without a Caufe, was exprefsly foretold; (Ifa. liii. 3,9. Dan. ix. 26. and Zech. xii. 10.) not to mention the Argument arifing, from comparing all the Places, in which his Innocence and Holiness are defcribed, with thofe which refer to his Sufferings. So that I apprehend the Turn given in the Paraphrafe fufficiently juftified.

Reflections on the World's Hatred of CHRIST, &c.

471 to give an Account of my whole Conduct; which Sect. 176. the better it is known, the more it will justify

my Cause, and expofe the Wickednefs of thofe John XV. that rife up against me.

IMPROVEMENT.

27.

HE Son of GOD condefcends to speak under the Character of John xv. 15. a Friend; and with what humble Gratitude fhould we atttend

TH

to his Words! He lays afide the Majefty of a Sovereign, to affume this more tender Relation; and furely our overflowing Hearts must enquire, Bleffed Jefus, what fhall we do to exprefs the Friendship on our Side? Let us obferve what he has here declared, Ye are my Friends indeed, if Ver. 14. ye do whatever I command you. Lord, we will run the Way of these thy Commandments, when on this nobleft Principle thou shalt enlarge our Hearts! (Pfal. cxix. 32.)

He has loved us with an unexampled Affection, which has approved Ver. 12, 13. itself stronger than Death; and in Return he requires us, to love one another. How gracious a Command! How merciful to our Fellow-Creatures, and to ourselves, who fhould infallibly feel the Benefit of the Practice of it, both in the Delight infeparable from benevolent Affections, and in the Circulation of kind and friendly Offices, which, degenerate as Human Nature is, few are fo abandoned as not to endeavour to repay! Who would not imagine, that the whole World fhould feel Ver. 18, 25, and obey the Charm? And yet, instead of this, behold, they hate Chrift, and his Servants for his fake, tho' without a Caufe, and against the strongest Engagements. Miferable Creatures! who by a neceffary Confequence, whatever they may fondly imagine, hate the Father alfo, and Ver. 23, 24stand daily and hourly expofed to all the dreadful Terrors of an Almighty

Enemy.

Let us not wonder, if the World hate us; nor greatly regard, if it Ver. 19, 20. injure us. We are not of the World, nor is the Servant greater than his Lord: But furely the Oppofition, which the Gofpel brings along with it, is nothing, when compared with those Bleffings which it entails on all who faithfully embrace it. Were the Sufferings and Difficulties a thousand times greater than they are, we ought to efteem the Pearl of Price, the most happy Purchase at any Rate; and to be daily returning our most thankful Acknowledgements, that Chrift fent forth bis Apoftles, qualified with fuch a Knowledge of himself, and affifted by fuch Power from his Spirit, appointing them to go, and bring forth Ver. 16. Fruit, even Fruit which should remain to the remoteft Ages. Thro' his guardian Care it ftill remains in the World: Oh may it flourish, more abundantly among us! and may its Efficacy on our Hearts and Lives

be