2. They are here told from whom, and by whom, they should suffer these hard things. Surely hell itself must be let loose, and devils, those desperate and despairing spirits, that have no part nor lot in the great salvation, must become incarnate, ere such spiteful enemies could be found to a doctrine, the substance of which was good will toward men, and the reconciling of the world to God; no, would you think it? All this mischief arises to the preachers of the gospel, from those to whom they came to preach salvation. Thus the blood-thirsty hate the upright, but the just seek his soul, (Prov. 29. 10.) and therefore heaven is so much opposed on earth, because earth is so much under the power of hell, Eph. 2. 2.
These hard things Christ's disciples must suffer,
(1.) From men, (v. 17.) "Beware of men; you will have need to stand upon your guard, even against those who are of the same nature with you"—such is the depravity and degeneracy of that nature, (homo homini lupus—man is a wolf to man,) crafty and politic as men, but cruel and barbarous as beasts, and wholly divested of the thing called humanity. Note, Persecuting rage and enmity turn men into brutes, into devils; Paul at Ephesus fought with beasts in the shape of men, 1 Cor. 15. 32. It is a sad pass that the world is come to, when the best friends it has, have need to beware of men. It aggravates the troubles of Christ's suffering servants, that they arise from those who are bone of their bone, made of the same blood. Persecutors are, in this respect, worse than beasts, that they prey upon those of their own kind; Saevis inter se convenit ursis—Even savage bears agree among themselves. It is very grievous to have men rise up against us, (Ps. 124.) from whom we might expect protection and sympathy; men, and no more: mere men; men, and not saints; natural men, (1 Cor. 2. 14.) men of this world, Ps. 17. 14. Saints are more than men, and are redeemed from among men, and therefore are hated by them. The nature of man, if it be not sanctified, is the worst nature in the world next to that of devils. They are men, and therefore subordinate, dependent, dying creatures; they are men, but they are but men, (Ps. 9. 20.) and who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die? Isa. 51. 12. Beware of the men, So Dr. Hammond; those you are acquainted with, the men of the Jewish sanhedrim, which disallowed Christ, 1 Pet. 2. 4.
(2.) From professing men, men that have a form of godliness, and make a show of religion. They will scourge you in their synagogues, their places of meeting for the worship of God, and for the exercise of their church-discipline: so that they looked upon the scourging of Christ's ministers to be a branch of their religion. Paul was five times scourged in the synagogues, 2 Cor. 11. 24. The Jews, under colour of zeal for Moses, were the most bitter persecutors of Christ and christianity, and placed those outrages to the score of their religion. Note, Christ's disciples have suffered much from conscientious persecutors, that scourge them in their synagogues, cast them out and kill them, and think they do God good service, (John 16. 2.) and say, Let the Lord be glorified, Isa. 66. 5. Zech. 11. 4, 5. But the synagogue will be so far from consecrating the persecution, that the persecution, doubtless, profanes and desecrates the synagogue.
(3.) From great men, and men in authority. The Jews did not only scourge them, which was the utmost their remaining power extended to, but when they could go no further themselves, they delivered them up to the Roman powers, as they did Christ, John 18. 30. Ye shall be brought before governors and kings, (v. 18.) who, having more power, are in a capacity of doing the more mischief. Governors and kings receive their power from Christ, (Prov. 8. 15.) and should be his servants, and his church's protectors and nursing-fathers, but they often use their power against him, and are rebels to Christ, and oppressors of his church. The kings of the earth set themselves against his kingdom, Ps. 2. 1, 2. Acts 4. 25, 26. Note, It has often been the lot of good men to have great men for their enemies.
(4.) From all men, (v. 22.) Ye shall be hated of all men, of all wicked men, and these are the generality of men, for the whole world lies in wickedness. So few are there that love, and own, and countenance Christ's righteous cause, that we may say, the friends of it are hated of all men; they are all gone astray, and, therefore, eat up my people, Ps. 14. 3. As far as the apostacy from God goes, so far the enmity against the saints goes; sometimes it appears more general than at other times, but there is something of this poison lurking in the hearts of all the children of disobedience. The world hates you, for it wonders after the beast, Rev. 13. 3. Every man is a liar, and therefore a hater of truth.
(5.) From those of their own kindred. The brother shall deliver up the brother to death, v. 21. A man shall be, upon this account, at variance with his own father; nay, and those of the weaker and tenderer sex too shall become persecutors and persecuted; the persecuting daughter will be against the believing mother, where natural affection and filial duty, one would think, should prevent or soon extinguish the quarrel; and then, no marvel if the daughter-in-law be against the mother-in-law; where, too often, the coldness of love seeks occasion of contention, v. 35. In general, (v. 36.) A man's foes shall be they of his own household. They who should be his friends, will be incensed against him for embracing christianity, and especially for adhering to it when it comes to be persecuted, and will join with his persecutors against him. Note, The strongest bonds of relative love and duty have often been broken through, by an enmity against Christ and his doctrine. Such has been the power of prejudice against the true religion, and zeal for a false one, that all other regards, the most natural and sacred, the most engaging and endearing, have been sacrificed to these Molochs. They who rage against the Lord, and his anointed ones, break even these bands in sunder, and cast away even these cords from them, Ps. 2. 2, 3. Christ's spouse suffers hard things from the anger of her own mother's children, Cant. 1. 6. Sufferings from such are more grievous; nothing cuts more than this, It was thou, a man, mine equal; (Ps. 55. 12, 13.) and the enmity of such is commonly most implacable; a brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, Prov. 18. 19. The martyrologies, both ancient and modern, are full of instances of this. Upon the whole matter, it appears, that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer persecution; and through many tribulations we must expect to enter into the kingdom of God.
II. With these predictions of trouble, we have here prescriptions of counsels and comforts for a time of trial. He sends them out exposed to danger in deed, and expecting it, but well armed with instructions and encouragements, sufficient to bear them up, and bear them out, in all these trials. Let us gather up what he says,
1. By way of counsel and direction in several things.
(1.) Be ye wise as serpents, v. 16. "You may be so;" (so some take it, only as a permission;) "you may be as wary as you please, provided you be harmless as doves." But it is rather to be taken as a precept, recommending to us that wisdom of the prudent, which is to understand his way, as useful at all times, but especially in suffering times. "Therefore, because you are exposed, as sheep among wolves;
